The Human Edge III

III

For all his experience, Antonio Botella had never been this far out before.  He’d never been on a ship quite like this one, either.  For one, there was very little polish to the way things were carried out.  Back home, on NeoTerra, there was a certain decorum to how one boarded a new ship and how one treated one’s fellow passengers.

Here, the Everest’s first mate didn’t even seem to know what the word decorum meant.

“Alright, people,” She snapped out with all the subtlety of a blown airlock.  “We don’t have much time before true launch, so let’s hurry-hurry-hurry.  Come with me, one at a time; find an empty, stow and lock.”

Antonio caught Athena Giges raising an eyebrow at him.  He returned with a shrug, and the two of them looked over at the first mate, who was rushing from person to person, tugging luggage and checking weight and who knows what else.

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind,” Malina Rubisic started, but the first mate cut her off.

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind, it can wait.  We need to hit true launch in under five minutes to stay on schedule.”

“Oh.  Well then.”

The first mate – a strong-looking woman probably born and raised in space – did a circuit of the common room, corralling luggage into a large pile in the middle of the common room.  There were protests, of course - notably from that Nomad bioaugmenter Klaus – but the first mate was not slowing down for anybody or anything.  She probably wouldn’t have slowed down even if an O-12 delegation sat where they were sitting now, a full contingent of peacekeepers behind them.

Antonio just hoped that, in her obsession to get everything locked down, she wouldn’t ask for their personal belongings.  At least not until they got to the data crypt.

“I’m not used to being waited on in such style.” Antonio caught Xu Huang’s whisper to the media functionary.  They seemed well-acquainted, even though Huang hadn’t actually introduced himself to the group.  Another black mark against him.

“I suppose she knows what she’s doing.” Malina returned, but her eyes were sceptical.  “I’ve been learning that things work a little differently this far out, and the lessons haven’t always been easy.”

“No, indeed.” The man from Yu Jing smiled, nodding so subtly as to barely be noticeable.  His eyes followed the first mate as she hefted his luggage and jerked her thumb at him.  “It looks like I’m the first to go.  A privilege, I’m very sure.”

The off-the-shelf beauty favoured him with a smile that wasn’t quite as off-the-shelf as the rest of her, and re-crossed her legs as Xu Huang left the room with the Everest’s first mate.

“I’m not sure what to think of him.” Antonio said, and everything from his neutral words to the neutral way he delivered them was deliberate.

“Who, Mr. Huang?” Malina’s laugh was light, affected.  Antonio had heard it dozens of times before, even though he had just met the woman.  “He’s a businessman, simple as that.”

“You know, the PanO suit is right, though.  We don’t know shit about him.  He didn’t even bother to introduce himself.” Klaus leaned forward in his seat towards Malina.  “Sure, you know his name, but did he bother to tell the rest of us?  Hell no.  Least you could do when sharing such a packed flight is give a man your letters.  Am I right?”

“I’m sure he simply did not have the time before the first mate arrived.” Malina’s words were drawn out, melodic, but they went mostly unheard.  Corvino, the balding ship technician, grunted in agreement, and even Athena nodded slightly.  Names – letters, as Klaus called them – were important in deep space, even if they were false.

“It’s a question of politeness, is what it is.” The hardtech grumbled.  “I don’t mind it when a man is richer than I am, but I mind it when he acts like he owns the Sphere and doesn’t give a damn about everyone else in it.”

“Politeness.  Yeah.  Exactly.” Athena said.  Klaus grinned, stealing a kiss that was too long and drawn out for public.

The first mate cleared her throat.  Apparently the trip to the lockers had been a quick one.

“Next.  Hurry up, we don’t have time to dick around.  You.” She jerked her finger at Antonio.  He hesitated, not wanting to give the gathering a chance to focus on him and his business in the Human Edge.  In the end, though, he really had no choice - if he was to seem like a normal passenger, he would have to follow.

“See ya later.” Klaus grinned as Antonio walked by.  “Promise not to let Yu Jing say anything bad about ya.”

Antonio followed the first mate out of the common room.  She had a tight grip on Antonio’s bag, but the small black box was still hidden in his pocket.  The hold she had on his worldly goods was nothing compared to the hold he had on his Francesca’s future – his fingers were clenched around it so tightly that even his knuckles had gone numb.

“Got a name?” He hazarded, as they wound through corridors more suited to a sewer than a starship.

“Won’t waste any time to tell you, I guess.” She grunted.  “Petyn.”

“Antonio.” He said, keeping up with some difficulty.  He wondered, for a moment, if Huang had such trouble.  “Petyn, I have a quick question for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Just don’t take too long.  We’re almost there, and we gotta be quick.”

“Alright, Petyn.  How would you and your captain feel about making some extra money on this trip?”