I noted all this in passing, obscured behind a mask of jaded disdain as I traipsed across the pavilion in a manner which said ‘standing in seemingly open space with the galactic core as a backdrop is so very passé. I’m bored already.’ I made sure my eyes were vaguely unfocused, since as a member of the Idoni Dynasty I would be presumed by all in attendance to be high on at least one hypna, more likely several. Always, lest the horror of existence come crashing in.
My assigned contact worked the delectables area of the pavilion that stretched the length of the left side. I wove my way through a sea of patrons, trying to balance the disinterested attitude against the reality that I was on a short timetable.
A virtual overlay in my vision gave me a reference, but I only dared access the overlay in short pulses. On an Arx an unauthorized comm network became perilously susceptible to detection, and detection was guaranteed to bring a merciless punishment.
The Novoloume who the overlay proclaimed was my contact meandered among the crowd dispensing dollops of hypnas onto the tongues and into the eyeballs of buzzing Anaden revelers with a smooth grace which was as mesmerizing as it was expected. Her shimmery pearl skin transformed the light from the core into rainbows, the hues shifting as she did.
I shook my head as minimally as possible in an effort to break out of the reverie before I approached her.
She held the dispenser aloft, ready to provide a dose of synthesized bliss. I started to decline when she placed an elongated, delicate hand on my waist with a sultry smile. Her breath wafted across my ear as she leaned in.
“I know, my dear, but one must maintain appearances. Trust me.”
Trust was not something that came easily in my world. But this was her world... I offered the tip of my tongue while glaring a fierce warning at her.
The tip of the dispenser touched it, but no further sensation followed. It was empty.
First test passed. I nodded politely. “I’m Eren asi-Idoni.”
“You may call me Maeli.”
“But it’s not your name.”
She shrugged faintly as her gaze drifted over my shoulder. “It is as much a name as I allow myself to have. It is the same for you, no?”
“No. Eren asi-Idoni is my name.”
“Yet the soul behind the name no longer exists, does it?”
I cut my eyes into the crowd, searching for threats. This was all getting far too mystical for my tastes. “Not in the Annals. I’m on a tight schedule here, so—”
“Dance with me.” Her hands grasped mine in a display of surprising strength.
“I don’t dance.”
“All Idoni dance.”
“Damn, that must be why I never fit in with them.”
She pulled me closer. “There is a Praesidis Inquisitor approaching. Dance with me.”
I didn’t panic, but I did allow her to sweep me along the smooth pavilion floor as I reviewed my limited options.
I kept a neural layer on tap which allowed me to pass as a proper Idoni connected to the integral on casual contact with other Idoni Dynasty members. But Praesidis members always saw through the charade. Praesidis Inquisitors, doubly so. And once they did, it was a swift trip to null for me.
The fact I wasn’t already dead, however, meant the Inquisitor hadn’t come here for me. If I played the part of a... well, a typical Idoni, I stood a chance of escaping notice.
I tried to relax in her embrace and flow with her movements. She was of course correct about the dancing—the natural, innate rhythm was encoded in my genetics. Annoyed, I allowed instinct to take over.
“You have stunning eyes. They are as twin starbursts in the night sky.”
I swallowed, feeling heady enough I started to wonder how empty the dispenser had been. “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” She swept me between two other dancers in a lengthy, dramatic spin.
“That thing you’re doing.”
“It is not a thing I am doing, Eren asi-Idoni. It is a thing I am.”
So all the Novoloume insisted. The pheromones they secreted were not intended to send most mammalian species into a sexual froth; in fact, they had no knowledge of such an effect until they encountered those species.
I’d insist as strongly it was a lie they professed to hide the nature of their blatant manipulation of others, except the talent hadn’t gained them any greater freedom than the other species were permitted. Still, it was no wonder they had been decreed an Accepted Species in record time following contact. Rumor had it the Idoni Primor kept a stable of twenty Novoloume as pets.
I wasn’t immune to her beauty, both real and sense-induced—the Novoloume, regardless of gender, were among the most lovely sapient creatures living. I was nonetheless able to resist the mesmeric aspects of her presence, but the act of resisting was itself distracting. I tried to focus my thoughts on other, more relevant matters.
“Is the Inquisitor gone yet?”
She smiled blithely. The core spun around us, or us around the core. “Nearly. He is currently disposing of a troublesome Ch’mshak.”
That sounded like a show worthy of observing, but I didn’t dare cast my gaze toward it. “Successfully?”
“If bloodily.” Her attention flitted to the left then back to me, and her tone remained studiously casual. “You are the first Anaden anarch I’ve worked with.”
“There aren’t so many of us. It’s not an easy task, breaking away from the integral.”
“I can imagine.”
“You really can’t.”
Her chin dipped. “As you say. The Inquisitor has departed the pavilion.”
“Good.” I grasped one of her hands firmly and dropped the other. “I’m in a bit of a rush. I was told you could get me into the maintenance channel, so make that happen.”
“As you wish.” Her manner became purposeful but no less graceful as she guided me past the crowd to the staff area and onward to the rear wall. A server unit dawdled above a cylindrical tunnel, and Maeli indicated for me to wait.
When it vacated, she gestured to the tunnel. I peered down it to get an idea of what awaited us.
It was tailored for product delivery, not personal travel, and it held no transport implement.
I raised a questioning eyebrow at my escort. “You know how to do this?”
She nodded.
“Then, after you.” No way was I plunging into the unknown shadowy depths and leaving her standing up here surrounded by every creature comfort, where she might decide the trip wasn’t worth taking.
A flash of defiance sparked in her magenta irises as she leapt into the shaft. 3... 2... 1... and I followed.
Falling.
The towering Arx had a thousand levels. I suspected I’d be doing so for a while. The snug, curving walls whooshed by in silence, unmarked and unrelenting. They threatened to become as suffocating as the Idoni integral had been.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the mission details.
The ways in which the mission could fail were legion.
A thruster suit was impossible to smuggle onto the Arx. A stealth, external breach by vessel ipso facto failed due to strict security protocols. An antimatter-tipped long-range missile, in the improbable event it penetrated said security, stood to cause significant damage, but not enough. Multiple distributed detonations were required, and follow-up missiles would doubtless be intercepted.
Turning a ship into an antimatter bomb was arguably viable in theory but an absurd risk in practice. The amount of antimatter needed to be stored on the ship in order for the reaction to reach the target when the vessel ignited was so large it created a sixty-eight percent chance of blowing early.