luck schmoozing people. She was lucky if they didn’t run away in terror when they saw her fangs.
I wonder if Dubashi is behind that tidbit of information being leaked out, Casmir messaged. The last time we were here, he sent a team to try to steal some of Shayban’s ships. As far as I know, he is still in need of ships, now more so than ever.
He could hope to send another team in while the station is busy defending against mercenaries.
Or another team could already be here.
You better keep your crushers close. Dubashi still wants you dead, I assume?
Now and forever, I suspect. Thanks for the heads up, Qin.
Let me know if you need any help. Or to be rescued when you’re caught snooping around.
Funny, Kim used that same word.
It’s the right one, isn’t it?
As I told her, I’m gathering data.
Is that what snooping is called when a professor does it?
If it’s a mathematics or engineering professor, yes. Liberal arts professors are shiftier.
Prince Samar led Casmir to his father’s office, which seemed an unlikely place for a slydar detector to be hooked up, but what did he know? But all they did was pass through the office to a secret door that led down a winding private corridor and eventually up a ladder to a trapdoor.
“Are you sure you’re supposed to be showing me your father’s secret routes?” Casmir asked.
Prince Samar was a man in his twenties who reminded Casmir of a lot of the art students from the university back home. A quick network search revealed that he painted and sculpted, occasionally putting on shows at galleries around the system, but he didn’t sell much of his work. Thanks to being able to live off his father’s funds, he might not care. Thus far, he seemed more accomplice than guard dog, so Casmir was inclined to like him.
“Of course I am. He loves you. He’s five minutes away from putting you in his will.”
“I assume that’s a joke.”
“Yes. It’s probably more like five months, but if you give him another crusher, he might slip you in sooner.” When Samar reached the top of the ladder, he pressed a thumb to a biometric padlock, and the trapdoor hissed and swung open. “Do watch out for his other children, who might feel jilted if their inheritance is smaller than expected.”
“You’re somewhat fixated on your father’s death. He doesn’t have any medical conditions to worry about, does he?”
“I don’t believe so, but this is what life is like when you’re the son of a sultan. Or when you’re one of many sons and daughters of a sultan. You start speculating from a young age on your position in the family and what you might inherit.” Samar climbed out into a large, blue and gray control room that was the first place in the palace Casmir had seen that wasn’t draped in silks and decorated with potted trees or plants. It looked like the bridge of a ship.
“It sounds morbid.”
“That’s what it’s like to be born into money. You’re lucky you avoided it. I assume you did. You seem normal.”
“Nobody’s ever called me normal before.” As Casmir climbed out, he realized the control room wasn’t empty and he’d announced that to three puzzled workers. An open door also led to a busy utilitarian corridor that reminded him more of a military ship than the opulent palace.
“I’m an odd fellow, and my family is odd, so I assume everyone else is normal. Hullo, Chief Faramarz,” Samar said to a dark-haired woman in a crisp uniform who rose and bowed to him. The two men working at computer stations did the same. “This is Professor Casmir Dabrowski,” Samar added.
“The crusher maker?”
It appeared Casmir had a new job title he could put on his résumé back home.
“Yup. Father said to let him look at the slydar detector. He’s going to see if he can boost its range to locate hidden ships.”
“We would appreciate that,” Faramarz said.
“Hell yes, we would,” one of the men said. “We didn’t detect that damn mercenary’s warship until it was almost humping our asteroid.”
“Language, Caveh.” Faramarz pointed at Samar.
“Prince Samar doesn’t care. He’s not uptight like his sisters.”
“It’s true,” Samar said, “though I am an enlightened soul on a spiritual journey and prefer language that brings us closer to embracing and understanding the cosmos and our place within it.”
“See?” Faramarz swatted her colleague on the chest. “No humping.”
Caveh looked more confused than enlightened.
“Is the slydar detector in here?” Casmir had to