Big Dicker, page 4
Plus he’s got that ALCOR AI on his side. I know that real ALCOR died in the explosion near Bull Station, but Harem is still going. He left a copy behind. And their station security AI’s are just as powerful. Jimmy and his brothers are already players in this war. And not just because they can breed. They are powerful in their own right. They have a whole army of sentient ships docked at their station and millions of outlaw solders at their disposal. Soldiers who would die for the home they provide.
Loyal soldiers and ships.
We breed our soldiers and pay some from other races to help us when we need it. But breeding and paychecks doesn’t inspire loyalty.
Tycho, Flicka, and I know that better than anyone.
I’ve always been curious about Harem. And I could’ve gone there instead of the station where the Loathsome One is. But I didn’t have an invitation to pass through the gates and even if I could make it to the other side, they’d indenture me for five hundred spins once I arrived.
So I didn’t. I went to the Loathsome One for help.
But now I wish I had tried. Because then Tycho would be safe. At least safer than he is now. I don’t know what they’d do with a Cygnian male on Harem, but it can’t be any worse than the situation he’s in now.
The trek back over to Fire Mountain Sector takes forever. We have to navigate a demon uprising in order to cross the Mighty River of Death and a parade going on in front of the castle shuts us off from where we need to be, so by the time we get to the gates of the receiving area we’re both exhausted.
I flash my pass, so ready to get Jimmy inside Queenie so we can blow this resort and get my escape from the Loathsome One plan back in action, but there’s a loud buzzer and the gates don’t open.
“What the fuck?” Jimmy says.
“I don’t know. My pass should work.” I flash it again, but again, there’s a loud denial buzzer.
“Let me try,” he says, moving in front of me, Mighty Pass in hand. He swipes it over the sensor, but gets the same result. “What fresh fucking hell is this?”
“Excuse me?”
Jimmy and I both turn to find a Mighty Ambassador smiling at us. “Can I help you with something?”
“Yeah, we’re trying to get into the docking bay to pick up a part for my ship.”
She smiles even wider, if that’s possible, then waves her hand up at the lights. “It’s evening here on Mighty Minions Resort, which means we’re shut down for the night.”
“Shut down?” I say, looking behind us to where thousands of people are still milling about.
“Yes, the docking bays all shut down at four PM Mighty Time for security reasons. No one in or out.”
“OK,” Jimmy says, sighing deeply as he rubs two fingers above the bridge of his nose. “Fine. We can stay the night, but I need to get into this docking bay to grab a part, then back over to my ship so we can install it.”
“I’m sorry. But no one is allowed to leave the resort.”
“I get that, but I’m not leaving.”
“If you pass through these gates,” she says, waving her hand like some kind of magic fairy, “you’re leaving. And we can’t allow it. But the gates will reopen for business tomorrow at six AM.”
“No,” Jimmy says. “No. That’s stupid. If you could just let us get the part and go back to my ship we could be fixing my ship by six AM tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “It’s the rules.”
“Surely, there is someone else we could talk to. Perhaps your manager? We came here on an emergency and so far I’ve spent nearly ten thousand credits just getting around this stupid station.”
“I could call security,” she offers.
“No,” I say, placing a hand on Jimmy’s arm, then whisper, “We do not want her to call security.” I smile at the ambassador. “We’ll come back tomorrow.” Jimmy glares at me as I pull him aside. “She’s not gonna let you through and I don’t want to get locked in Mighty Jail because you caused a scene.”
“Where am I supposed to stay? If I have to spend one more minute around all these sugared-up kids and crazy parents, I’ll—”
“Don't say it,” I caution him. “She’s still there.”
“I’m not paying for a freaking hotel room when I have a perfectly good ship I could sleep on.”
“Well, you can’t get to your ship, so looks like you have to.”
“Don’t you have a place I could crash for one night? I’d pay you extra tomorrow.”
Oh, shit. Never thought of that. If I was a local I would have a place, wouldn’t I?
“I… I have roommates. And actually, I’m late on rent. That’s why I was taking on extra work. So… sorry.”
We both look back at the ambassador and find her waving and smiling. “My Mighty Interface is telling me there are rooms available at the Lava Mountain Spa. Would you like me to make you a reservation for the night?’”
“No,” Jimmy says.
Just as I say, “Yes, please.”
“Can I have your pass?” the smiling minion asks.
Jimmy gives her his pass, she passes it over her wristband, and then hands it back. “There you go. All set. You can check in at the Flame Demon’s head. Enjoy your stay!”
She walks off and Jimmy just stares at me. “So you’re staying with me?”
“Oh, thanks,” I say, playing it off. “I was hoping to get this job done tonight so the roomies would let me back in. But if you’re offering, that’s great. I really appreciate it.”
He furrows his brow at me. Maybe taking a second look at me as well. Shit. He’s suspicious all right.
“Do something,” Flicka buzzes in my ear. “Quick, before he starts asking questions.”
“Uh… so you know my name but I don’t know yours. We should probably get that little formality over with if we’re going to spend the night together.”
“Jimmy,” he growls in a low, deep Akeelian alpha-male voice that kinda gets my lady bits tingling.
“Jimmy,” I say. “Nice. That’s a nice name. Unusual, for sure. But very catchy.”
“Is it?” he asks. “That’s funny.”
“What’s funny?”
“Almost no one can pronounce it but it seems to roll off your tongue just fine.”
“No one can pronounce it?” I exclaim. Truth. It is a very strange name and my lips needed a lot of practice to say that J sound correctly. But the Loathsome One got tired of my mispronunciation and threatened me with death if I didn’t get it right before I left. “That’s weird,” I say. “It’s so simple. Jim-meeeeeee.”
I’m praying to the sun gods that he lets this go.
But he just stares at me, questions written all over his face.
“Shall we?” I ask, panning my hand towards the resort. “We wouldn’t want to keep the Flame Demon’s head waiting.”
He grumbles something under his breath but, to my relief, he just walks past me and out into the crowds.
CHAPTER SEVEN - JIMMY
I try to think back to the last time someone has gotten my name right the first try. Maybe Crux. But he doesn’t count. We’ve been friends since we were kids. I’m not even sure Luck, Tray, and Valor got my name right at first. And hell, it took Serpint and Draden months after we came to ALCOR to say it right. It’s just a hard name to say. I get it. I’m used to it.
But this Delphi gets it right the first try.
How?
Dicker pings my wristband as I follow Delphi over to the Flame Demon’s head. “Yeah,” I say.
She sighs. “How much longer? I’m sick of this place. Bunch of maintenance people just came by and said I have to shut down all my exterior lights until morning.”
“Well,” I say, “I have bad news. We can’t even get out of the resort until tomorrow. I’m stuck spending the night in a freaking hotel that’s probably gonna cost several more thousand credits. No wonder these assholes gave us priority clearance to dock. They knew they could squeeze all this money out of us. We’ve been here less than one day!”
“Calm down,” Dicker says. “At least you have a room.”
“I don’t need a room. I have a perfectly good ship on the other side of the station that I’m not even allowed to board.”
“Their station, their rules. No sense worrying about it. Just get up early and grab that water generator before this Queenie ship bails with my winnings. I don’t trust her.”
“Yeah. Can you imagine how much it would cost to buy a Mighty Demon water generator from this place? I’d kill someone.”
“Just… try to relax a little. Ride one of the rollercoasters or check out that new zipline. Might as well make the most of your Mighty Pass.”
She chuckles like this is all good fun, but I’m not in the mood to joke about it just yet. I’m too annoyed. I should be snug inside my medical pod getting my DNA scramble booster right now. Tomorrow morning I’d be on my way… somewhere that is not here. And now I’m a full day behind.
“Oh, that’s us,” Delphi says.
“Who’s that?” Dicker asks.
“Our engineer. Long story I’ll explain tomorrow. Bye.” I end the connection before Dicker can ask any more questions because I’m not in the mood to be teased about how I’m the only guy she knows who can stop at a kids’ vacation station and end up fucking a girl a few hours later.
Because I’m pretty sure how this night is gonna go. I just have this thing for attracting the ladies. I can’t help it.
“Name, please?” the Demon Ambassador asks us.
“Jimmy,” I say, flashing her my Mighty Pass. “We have a reservation for tonight.”
“Ah, yes. Mr. Bittenbelter.” I roll my eyes and don’t even bother trying to correct her. “I see you’ve booked the Minion Maker penthouse.”
“Minion what? Oh. No. I don’t need a penthouse. Just a standard room, OK?”
“Ooooooh,” the ambassador says. “I’m afraid we’re all booked up. In fact, this room is the only one available in the whole resort. Should I cancel it and give it to someone else? We have seven families on the wait list.”
This ambassador is good, I’ll give her that. Because she doesn’t even blink when she tells me that lie.
“No, that’s fine,” Delphi says.
I glare at her.
“What?” She shrugs. “It seems to be the only option.”
I want to take a moment to explain that they’re lying. That there’s probably a hundred other rooms available in some other part of the resort and this is a scam just like everything else on this place. But why bother pointing out the obvious?
“We’ll take the room,” I tell Mighty Scammer.
“Great!” Scammer says, coming around the counter and waving a hand towards a hallway. “The penthouse comes with a private lift bot at your disposal all weekend and room service is—”
“Wait,” I say. “Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say… weekend? We’re not staying the weekend.” I look at Delphi. “Did she just charge me for a weekend?”
“I don’t know,” Delphi says.
“Oh, I thought you knew,” Mighty Scammer says.
I did, I think to myself. Oh, I did. I saw this scam coming a billion miles away. Or I should’ve. Because this place is filled with more chancers, and cheats, and backstabbing snakes than Harem Station.
“The penthouse has a mandatory three-night booking.”
“Of course it does,” I say.
“Your Mighty Passes have been updated with your room keys and… the lift bot awaits! Enjoy your stay!”
Mighty Scammer turns away smiling.
“How do they do that?” I ask.
“What? Cheat you out of your firstborn daughter?” Delphi laughs.
“No. I know how to do that. How do they do that wearing a creepy evil smile?”
“Yeah, I got nothing for that,” Delphi says. “They are super creepy. Anyway, we get a lift bot.”
I blink at her and the whole reality of my situation starts to sink in. I’m stuck in the Vacation Sector just a few million klicks from where I dropped Xyla off this morning, Dicker got a virus and is down a water generator, I’ve probably spent more than twenty thousand credits this afternoon alone while wearing a Mighty Boss hat, and I’m about to share a room with a uni-horn.
“And I think she was going to say room service is included before you interrupted her.”
“You do?” I say. Then I just laugh.
“I like to see the bright side,” Delphi says.
I am literally speechless. So what can I do but wave my hand towards the lift bot and say, “After you, princess. Our chariot awaits.”
Unlike the lift bots on Harem, which are just small circular platforms with no railings, this one is roomy enough for luggage, kids, and has a clear plasti-glass railing so no one falls over the side.
We ascend slowly and dozens of kids down below start pointing at us, begging their parents for a ride on a lift bot even though there are three different rollercoasters running in and around Fire Mountain alone.
But you know what? Pretty soon I can’t hear the little brats. Pretty soon the chaos and confusion down below fades into nothing but a mixture of white noise and waterfalls.
“Ah, that’s better,” Delphi says, turning around to face me and leaning back on the railing. “I know it’s a scam but it might actually be worth it.”
I nod, studying her. Because she doesn’t add up. But I’m too tired to care at the moment. I just want to enjoy my escape from Minion Hell.
The lift bot docks at a large open-air patio and the moment we step off all the noise from down below cuts out.
“Nice,” I say. “It comes with an atmospheric silencer.”
I flash my pass at the security panel on the wall and it turns transparent and slides open. Inside is a suite. And I guess I knew that—it is a penthouse, after all. But I really thought we’d get up here and it would be nothing more than an upgraded standard room you’d find on the Outer Highway.
It’s not.
It’s actually pretty fucking spectacular.
Easily two stories tall. Maybe even two and half. And there’s a reception area with guest bathroom, two chairs, and a small table. Past that is a large, open living area with pale yellow couches, light blue chairs, and accessory tables made out of white quartz.
There’s a fully stocked bar on one end and a dining room off to the side of that. On the other end is a kitchen sporting a massive autocook that makes me wonder if room service really is included.
Directly in front of us, on the other side of two massive double doors, is the bedroom. The biggest bed I’ve ever seen. The four posts are easily five meters tall and have long, cascading panels of the most luxurious light-blue silk flowing down from the canopy. The bed cover is pale yellow silk.
Delphi and I both enter at the same time, looking around.
I spy a huge wall screen, she exclaims delight at the spa-like bathroom, and then we both breathe a sigh of relief.
“This is nice,” she says.
“Yeah,” I say, walking back out to the bar and helping myself to a bottle of top-shelf whiskey. “I don’t really care how much it costs right now. I’m gonna make the most of this shit.”
The best part of the whole thing?
I can’t hear one damn screaming kid.
I take my stupid Mighty Boss hat off and fling it across the room. It lands in the middle of the floor and a servo bot bursts out of a hidden wall panel to scoop it up with grabby appendages and places it on a table.
Delphi laughs. “Holy shit. We get a private maidbot!”
But you know what? Seeing that servo bot makes me kinda sad. If I was Old Jimmy—the Jimmy I was before Corla and Lyra came to Harem Station—I’d be liberating that bot. Xyla and I would be scrambling its processor and sneaking it back onto the Dicker. Whisking it away to a better life.
Why did I stop liberating bots again?
I don’t recall the state of mind that preceded that decision and I suddenly miss my partner, my ship, and my station.
I miss the old Jimmy.
Everything has changed since Serpint stole Corla and Lyra came to Harem. ALCOR is gone—and that baby AI will never make up for that loss. Valor and Luck aren’t even partners anymore. Crux is so preoccupied by his sleeping soulmate, he hasn’t talked to me in months. Draden is dead, Tray is antisocial, and Serpint isn’t interested in being a bounty hunter anymore.
Add in Angel Station warning me at that meeting I had with them about some fucked-up war I want no part of, but which seems to center around me and my brothers, and you’ve got yourself a proper shit show.
How did all this shit happen?
How did my life become so unrecognizable so fast?
CHAPTER EIGHT - DELPHI
This place is actually tasteful. And unlike everything built for the masses down below, there’s no sign of Mighty Boss anywhere. Not one thing in black and red. Not one logo, not one reminder that I’m here on Mighty Minions Resort.
Except… Jimmy.
He’s gone along with this so far. Letting me, a stranger, stay the night with him in a room, even though I’m supposed to live here on the station and be working as a ship engineer.
Why?
I don’t know. I feel like maybe he’s on to me and this is a setup.
There’s a mirror behind the bar and I catch sight of my reflection in it. My black and red horn with everlasting holo flames shooting out the top. My Mighty Hime princess hologram running through my bodysuit.
“Ugggh,” I say, hating what I see.
“What’s up?” Jimmy asks.
“This little get-up I’m wearing.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that? They make you dress this way in engineering?”
“Yeah.” I sigh, then reconsider because tomorrow we’re going to be back in the docking bays and he will surely notice that no one is sporting shooting flames and horns. “No. I was… I have… a side thing. You know, to get extra cash. Entertaining the kids in this stupid Mighty Minion battle.”
He raises a single eyebrow at me, downs his drink, sets his glass on the bar, and then says, “You know what?”
