The Golden Crunk of Cringle Page 6

  "I hope they kill you. Kill you both," the man called.

  Daneb exited the back of the shop into an adjoining room. He shut the door, locked it, and did a quick scan. He snatched a wallet from the table and exited the building.

  The shopkeeper's room led to a back alley, which dumped him not far from the store entrance. As he moved into the main hall, he heard someone behind him yelling into the store.

  "Where?" A bit of a pause. "You idiot."

  Daneb kept a quick but casual trot all the way back to his room. He wasn't surprised they were still looking for him, but it meant he needed to be extra cautious. If Pira was still alive, he was her only hope. He couldn't risk someone catching him, so intended to remain hidden for the rest of the day.

  *

  When Daneb got back to his room, he noticed scratches around the lock. He quickly picked the lock, drew his laser pick and rushed in.

  "Hello Daneb," Maggie said with a raised hand while sitting on the bed.

  "What are you doing in here?"

  "Are you done with room?"

  He wanted to check if the money remained hidden, but even looking towards it might give away its position. "How did you find my room?"

  "You have been here a lot, released much smell."

  "You can smell me?" He didn't want to know what all she smelled in the room.

  "I can see your smell."

  That gave him a horrible idea. "Can you smell in space, like through the vacuum of space," he asked hurriedly.

  "No."

  "Ok good." For a moment, he was worried Murrs had seen his and Pira's smells, and was able to track them that way. "Can Sintarac breathe in space?" He asked it in a casual fashion. He wasn't upset that Maggie broke into the room since it wasn't his, so long as the money was still there.

  "No. We have oxygen, same as human."

  Daneb held out a packet of dried goumi. He'd grabbed them by accident when he intended to get dried goji and didn't care much for flavor. "Take it. Sintarac have to eat regularly, don't they?"

  "Yes. There is no trade here."

  "I don't- just take it. I don't really like these, and I'm not hungry."

  "Thank you." Maggie took the bag and opened it with ease.

  The two pairs of thick opposing fingers on each hand seemed as nimble as human fingers. Either her mouth plates worked better or they didn't chew much, because Maggie shoved one morsel into her mouth after another without much jaw movement.

  "Do I interest you?" she asked.

  He knew he was staring, so looked away. "I find it fascinating. I don't know much about Sintarac."

  "You may ask." She stopped masticating the berries and focused on him with her one tiny iris.

  Daneb found the eye a little unsettling, but he wasn't afraid of Maggie. "You said you can see my smell. What does that mean?"

  "You release odor molecules. Humans smell with nose. You inhale particles. We do not smell."

  "What does your nose do?" He reached toward the small nub below her eye without intending to touch it.

  Maggie pulled away. "That is not a nose."

  "Sorry."

  "It is ok. We can see odor."

  "So no sense of smell? You make up for that with better eyes, err eyesight. How good is your eyesight? Could see my face in detail from a few hundred meters away?"

  "Yes."

  "Even through a space helmet?"

  "Yes, if not much reflection."

  There had been a good bit of reflection from the hull, but he wasn't sure how much showed on his helmet. "You can't see my face through the back of my head can you?"

  "It not possible to see through solid objects. Did you refer to something else?"

  "No, that's what I wanted to know." Humans couldn't see through solid objects, but he wasn't free of the idea that Sintarac were supernatural. He changed the subject. "Why are you here?"

  "I thought you finished with the room. I thought it safe if you stayed here."

  He wondered what had given her the impression he was finished with the room, but didn't ask. "I mean, why are you on Ben-2? You're new here, right?"

  "Yes. I am cyrmtula."

  "Sorry I don't understand. Is there a human word for that?" Many species spoke more than one language, but he'd grown up on a human colony and never had the need.

  "There is no word. Cyrmtula are cast out." She seemed to search for the words. "We are not to be queens, to bear children."

  "They cast you out because you can't have kids?" He sat next to her on the bed.

  "I can bear, but only queen can receive. Males only mate with queens. Queens are strongest."

  "Do you determine who's the strongest with a fight, you know, like physical?"

  "No. We do not fight Sintarac. It's strength inside. We touch our dobula and look-" she struggled to find the word, "inside."

  "Dobula?"

  "This." She pointed at the small nub below her eye.

  "So you stand face to face, and stare into each other's eye? What do you see?"

  "I cannot say."

  Daneb wasn't sure if she couldn't express it, or wasn't supposed to talk about it. "So you have this contest, and the losers are kicked out. That seems somewhat barbaric. What are you supposed to do out in space by yourself?"

  "No course."

  "So yeah, they just kick you out and you're left to fend for yourself. Can you take a mate? Are there rogue male Sintarac you can hook up with, start a family."

  "Not possible."

  "Does it take more than one male to make you pregnant?" That was definitely an odd concept.

  "No. One male could not support brood."

  "Brood? How many kids do you have?"

  "Thousands."

  "Shit." He remembered her saying she had thousands of brothers and sisters, which finally made sense. "So you're kind of like me. My family didn't kick me out though. My sister and I fled our colony just before a band of raiders wiped it out. My mom, she-" An audible sound of discomfort escaped him and he looked down at his hands. Keeping contact with Maggie's eye was difficult, as was talking about his parents, even though he wanted to.

  "My parents gave something to one of the merchant crew and he helped us stow on the ship. The raiders were already in orbit, but they were letting the merchant ships leave. No one wants to mess with the Merchant Guild. My dad caused some kind of distraction. My mom... the guy said there wasn't room for her. She went back to help my dad. The raiders killed everyone in the colony."

  Maggie placed a cold hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her surprised. "Is this not correct?" she asked and pulled her hand away.

  "No, I mean yes. That's correct."

  Maggie returned her hand to his shoulder, which caused him to smile. He couldn't tell if she was smiling back because Sintarac mouths didn't move the same, but he imagined she was.

  They spoke for a while longer and then rested, she on the bed, he on the floor. Daneb never imaged sharing space with a Sintarac, but Maggie seemed more afraid of him than he was of her. It was a restless nap though.

  *

  By that night, Daneb was ready to go out again.

  Space stations didn't have day-night cycles like planets and moons, but there was a lull in activity. Even criminals had to sleep, see their families, and do whatever else criminals do in their off time. Daneb needed to exercise caution, but he doubted they were actively hunting him at night.

  "I need to go out to look for my sister. Do you want to come?" They wouldn't be looking for a human with a Sintarac, so it was in his best interest to bring her.

  "Yes."

  After a quick food stop, which he paid for, he had Maggie's services for the night.

  "Can you see my sister's smell?" he asked as they made their way to the lower levels of West.

  "No. I have not met."

  "Can't tell her smell since you know mine?"

  "Odor molecules are unique."

  If Pira was alive and still on the run, she wouldn't have gone far
since they'd never been to Ben-2. That meant she was likely still in West, and she had to eat, so they went to a food stall several levels below the building with the white pillars.

  A short, old woman was sitting behind a metal grill on wheels. The smell of flesh coated the air.

  "Can I have a protein and cheese?" Daneb asked as he walked up to the cart.

  The woman eyed Maggie as she labored to stand. "Just the one?"

  "Yeah," he said without getting confirmation from Maggie. He intended to make several stops, and they needed to buy food at each to have any chance of getting the vendors to talk. Nothing is free.

  The woman turned a knob on the side, and turned a crank by hand. In under a minute the grates were red hot. She then took strips of meat from a cooler near her chair and placed them on the heat. Though he'd already eaten, the smell made him salivate. There was something divine about grilled flesh, no matter the source.

  She flipped the meat for a quick sear, and then set it aside. Afterwards she pulled out some kind of flat bread, grilled both sides briefly, then laid the meat on it, and topped it with cheese.

  "Can I ask you something?" Daneb queried after he paid for the food.

  The woman glanced again at Maggie, who had remained silent the entire time. "Sure," she agreed in a gruff voice.

  "I'm trying to find my cousin. She was staying with my mom and me but ran off. She's about this tall, light hair. Have you seen anyone like that?"

  Her eyes flicked again to Maggie. "No."

  "All right thanks."

  When they were away from the cart, Daneb started to rip the sandwich apart. "You want half of this? I'm not sure I can eat the whole thing."

  "Not possible."

  "Are you too full from the little bit we had before?"

  "My biome cannot process animal proteins."

  "So you can't eat meat at all? That's a bummer." He took a big bite. With his mouth half full he added, "Yeah it's a bummer. This is really good."

  "I can eat meat. It is waste. I cannot process."

  "Like insoluble fiber for humans?" Daneb wasn't sure where that nugget of information came from.

  "Yes."

  "We eat it though, and consider it good for, you know, helping to move the rest of the stuff through." He took another bite. "You sure you don't want some? It tastes like pork. Not sure how they got pork all the way out here, but that's what it takes like."

  "No." Then she added, "Thank you."

  Maggie didn't convey the same sincerity a human did, but he appreciated the effort.

  At the next food store, he let her pick something then gave her some money and waited outside.

  "So?" he asked when she emerged.

  "This man has not seen your sister."

  "Can you drink alcohol?"

  "Yes."

  "I guess I mean do you drink alcohol. Do you want some? I don't think I can eat anything else."

  "Yes."

  The next stop was a liquor store, where Daneb selected his favorite, Red Marble. It was hard liquor made from goji. Maggie deferred and got the same.

  "Ask the same thing, but ask it in a different way. Say you're looking for a bounty or something."

  Daneb gave her more money and again waited outside. He could see her exchange with the shopkeeper, a middle-aged human with a full beard. The man shook his head.

  "Damn," Daneb mumbled to himself. He had plenty of money to spend, and he had to eat, but he wasn't making any progress.

  "The human said he has not seen."

  "Yeah, I saw him shaking his head."

  "He was lying."

  Daneb pulled her down a side alley, out of view of the store. "You have something that lets you see when people are lying?"

  "He anxious, producing more odor molecules."

  "Oh." It didn't seem much different from how human's guessed others were lying, but it was the best lead they had. "You sure?"

  "High possibility."

  "What exactly did you say to him?"

  "I am bounty hunter, looking for girl, and gave description. He anxious when I say bounty hunter."

  "Nervous?"

  "Is anxious not excited? I have only recently learned human language. Sorry it is poor."

  "No, you're doing great. I was just- confused." He wasn't sure why anyone besides a criminal would be anxious around a bounty hunter. "Can you tell if he's still inside, like sense him from around the corner?"

  "No."

  "Can you sniff out his trail? I mean, see out his trail. Tell where he's been?"

  "I cannot see molecules if you think that. The odor need be dense. I see clouds, like some planet's atmospheres. His odor in the shop. I cannot see it elsewhere. I would be able to see it in him home."

  They opted to wait around and keep an eye on people that came and went from the shop. It was boring, since not many people were active at that time of night, so he decided small talk was in order.

  "So do you see farts as clouds?"

  "Yes."

  "Are they the same color as the rest of a person's scent?"

  "Yes. Gas waste is part of your smell."

  "I know I ask a lot of dumb questions. I'm just curious. You don't have to stay if you don't want. It might be a while."

  "I am contracted to you."

  "Are you talking about the food? That's ok. You've already helped me enough for that little bit of nothing." He sat on the ground and leaned against a bare metal wall. "You can go if you want."

  "I am contracted to you. You are first human that nice to me. You are only race nice to me." She sat next to him.

  "Not a lot of love for Sintarac. I thought the same thing. Sorry I didn't help you during the crazy stuff at the club. Does your arm feel any better?"

  "It does not."

  "Is it itchy? The few times I've been burned by lasers, they were itchy for days. Do you even get itchy?"

  Daneb's attention fell onto a rough looking man in a heavy coat walking by, so he didn't hear her answer. He traced the stranger with his eyes, but didn't turn his head.

  Once the man passed, Daneb leaned in. "Have you ever seen that guy before?"

  "I do not remember him."

  Daneb didn't recognize him either, but he appeared annoyed. "Stay here for a minute."

  Daneb crept out of the alley and over to the last corner that hid the shop. His hearing was good, and there weren't many other sounds, so he could just make out what the one was saying.

  What...look like? Sure? Four and a half... Now. Hurry up.

  The rough man started in Daneb's direction, so he hurried back to the alley. Recognizing gaits was another way they tracked people on ships.

  "What has happened?"

  "Sit back down, like we were before. Tell me about something, like how you reproduce." He hadn't meant to say that, it was just the first thing that popped into his head.

  "I cannot I am cyrmtula."

  "Right, lots of males, brood," he trailed off and rolled his hand excitedly for her to speak.

  "The queen receives all the males' embryos."

  "Male embryos?" he asked, not needing to feign interest. "So it's not sperm from the male and an egg from the female like humans?"

  "No. Males produce embryos. I think you say clones. They place in cloacal sack. Thousands of males place embryos, this why queens must be the strongest."

  Daneb imagined a conga line of tentacled aliens gangbanging a giant vagina. "There's- I'm not sure what to say to that. Clones?"

  The rough man passed the entrance and Maggie paused to watch him. Daneb was facing her, so couldn't see him.

  "Yes, embryos are clones of male."

  "So Sintarac are the same from one generation to the next?"

  "No. Cloacal sack of strong queen makes stronger offspring."

  "Do they only do it once and die off or something?" He was intentionally asking stupid questions to keep the conversation going.

  "No. Why would die? Males only mate with one queen. Each queen only has o
ne brood."

  Daneb stood, but motioned for her to continue talking. He crept to the corner and counted the man's footsteps.

  "It takes many males to support brood. The process drains queen, so only do it once." She paused, but Daneb motioned for her to continue. "Males from that brood go other colonies. When females come of age, they enter the Umpgra. That decide next queen."

  Daneb didn't think it a coincidence the stranger appeared after Maggie asked about Pira. There was a bit of foot traffic in the main halls, but not much, and they were in a side hall.

  "I'm going to follow this guy. I think he might know something." He pulled some money out of his pocket. "Can you stay here until I come back? Keep an eye on the shopkeeper, and a look out for my sister."

  She pushed his hand away. "I will do this for you."

  "Thank you, really." He gave a smile and slipped away.

  *

  Daneb often did solo explorations of ships when they stowed. It was normally a relief to be away from his sister's prattling and smart mouth, but they hadn't been apart for that long since leaving the colony. He missed her, but was glad he was alone at that moment so he could concentrate on his own safety.

  After crossing several halls and taking a couple of turns, the man he was following stopped at a pair of buildings that were half a meter apart. He looked both ways, then turned to the side and slid between them. Daneb waited for the man to pass through before following. When he got to the end, he listened for a twenty count. Something was dripping high on the building to the right and there was a whirring machine nearby, but nothing else.

  Daneb emerged into an alley. On the far end, a yellowed light flickered. He chose the other direction, which was dark, and slipped along with quiet confidence. His breathing and footsteps were so slight that even he couldn't hear them. When a door slammed shut in the distance he jerked in surprise.

  The dark part of the alley ended in a cul-de-sac of eight doors, each attached to a tiny room. Two possessed windows but emitted no light, while three of the others leaked light through their poorly fitted panels. That meant they were add-ons, cheap backrooms used for illegal activities. He skittered between two of the lights and listened.

  The cold smell of metal was strong, but there was also a waft of aged perfume. He could hear the higher pitch of a woman's voice, but couldn't make out what she was saying. There was a grumbled response and then heavy footfalls thudded for the door.