Jade Darcy and the Affair of Honor

Chapter 2: Rix’s Place-1

Chapter 2: Rix’s Place

Jade made it to the ingesterie with a few minutes to spare. She slipped in through the back door and descended the broad stairs to the employees’ area. Nodding hello to the kitchen help, she walked through the aisles between tables loaded with enormous cooking vats and the fresh fruits and vegetables that were one of the luxuries which brought customers to Rix’s place.

On her left was a table full of those obscenely knobby, fluorescent chartreuse slime-eggs, oozing inside their gelatinous skins. Jade always felt slightly nauseated just looking at them. As she passed the next table, a Lemmant was unloading a shipment of pink dirda melons, and Jade frowned. Dirda melons meant two things. First, they were only transported by the Furgato sect of the Restaals, and the Furgatos always came to Rix’s when they were on Cablans. Watching over them would be like dealing with a circusful of clowns.

Second, the only beings who really liked the dirda melons were the Palovoi, on whom they acted as both an intoxicant and an aphrodisiac. Since the melons had to be eaten quickly, Rix would be notifying his regular Palovoi customers of their availability right now, and they’d show up within a couple of hours—during Jade’s shift.

She didn’t relish the thought of facing drunken, lecherous Palovoi and thieving Furgatos when she was already on edge from Lorpet’s call. Maybe she’d be lucky and the Furgatos and Palovoi would be in someone else’s quadrant so she wouldn’t have to worry about them. The way her luck was running this morning, though, she doubted it.

Passing through the kitchen, she came to the door of the security staff room, where the shift briefing would be held. She placed the back of her left hand against the security scanner so the door would recognize her computer’s pattern, and waited for the familiar click as the door unlocked for her. When it came, the door slid open and she walked into the briefing room.

Even though she was on time, she was still the last to arrive. Her colleagues watched her as she strode across the room and settled on one of the soft, wide benches that were the universal seating arrangement on Cablans, built to accommodate most kinds of alien anatomy. Jade smiled, nodded, and looked right back at them.

As usual there would be four arbiters on this shift, including herself. On the bench beside Jade’s chosen spot was Hiss!arr, the only arbiter on the entire staff who was smaller than she was. The Purrchrp was covered in short golden fur with black markings on his face, and his long prehensile tail was wrapped around his waist, as usual when it was not in use. He seemed rather heavyset for his height, but Jade had seen him move and knew he was scarcely slower than she was, with perhaps a bit more strength. He had a squashed-in face and wore only a wide belt for modesty.

The two coworkers on the bench behind Jade were considerably bigger than she and Hiss!arr. Kokoti looked like an enormous fat beetle sitting up, using two of his limbs for walking and the other four for manipulation. His shell was an iridescent blue-green, wrapped in a gauzy material that was spun around him fresh each day by a tiny symbiote. His head was in constant motion, sweeping back and forth; it was a trait that always disquieted Jade, even though she knew Kokoti needed it to see depth and achieve peripheral vision.

Beside Kokoti was Cyclad Arik, another insectoid. With long, oddly jointed limbs sporting razor-sharp serrations, she resembled a giant praying mantis except that she had a hawklike beak strong enough to rend meat from bone. Physically she was the most imposing of the four, yet Jade knew she was actually the calmest and most easygoing of the lot. Still, if Jade had to pick one other person to have at her back in a fight, she’d have chosen Cyclad Arik without hesitation.

Jade and her coworkers shared the job title of “arbiters,” but Jade knew a more colloquial word for it: “bouncers.” She and her colleagues were the security force for the ingesterie, one of the most wide-open public establishments on Cablans. Their task was to keep social frictions to a minimum and preserve the ingesterie’s reputation as a gathering place among the many varied species that came to Cablans. The arbiters themselves referred to their clique, only half in jest, as the Ingesterie Diplomatic Corps.

Disson Peng-Amur, pod brother of the owner, Rix, noted Jade’s arrival. He resembled nothing so much as a big blue tree with three main roots, and a ring of tentacles that always seemed to be busy on a dozen things at once. When Jade was seated, he spoke in a loud, slow croaking voice that Jade’s u-trans interpreted for her. “Since we’re all here, even if it’s a few minutes before the official shift start, I’ll begin the briefing. Reservations for this shift are light so far. Hiss!arr, you’ll of course have first quadrant.” First quadrant contained most of the specialized environments, and Hiss!arr, with his short, lush fur, preferred that section because it was kept considerably cooler than the rest of the building. “Kokoti will have second quadrant today, Jade Darcy third, and Cyclad Arik fourth. So far, first and fourth look to be the busiest, but that’s bound to change.”

Disson next proceeded to discuss the reservations that had been made. Some of them were regular customers, about whom little needed to be said; the arbiters were already well familiar with their customs and practices. Others, either individuals they saw less frequently or members of races they were less familiar with, required more discussion.

A thorough briefing always started with physical details: what members of that race looked like, whether they required a special environment, what they ate and drank, and whether they’d requested any special items like privacy walls or screens. Then there’d be a discussion of how they could be expected to behave: what they considered a threat, insult, or a compliment, how large a zone of privacy the average member had, what other races they were antagonistic or subservient to, and how they were normally affected by the intoxicants and drugs they usually ingested in public. Finally the most practical aspects would be discussed, how to deal with them in a fight: whether they were normally armed and with what weapons, whether they had any natural defenses such as stings, venoms, or shells, what their fighting posture was, what their vulnerable points were, and—most important—what their surrender signals were. It was a huge amount of information delivered in a shorthand code peculiar to these highly skilled professionals.

Jade Darcy listened attentively to the briefings on the patrons who’d be seated in her colleagues’ areas, since it was always possible she’d be called on to back them up in a tight spot. She noticed that an old troublemaker had been scheduled for seating in the second quadrant. Jade had discovered an effective way of dealing with her last time she was in, but had neglected to mention it in her report that day; she made a mental note to tell Kokoti about it before they went on shift.

When Disson came to describe the patrons who’d be placed in the third quadrant this shift, her worst fears proved justified: both the Furgatos and the Palovoi would be seated in her area. Jade braced herself. Neither group was especially dangerous under most circumstances, but they’d both be rambunctious in their own ways. She was good at handling both, but she’d have to be prepared for an active shift.

Then Disson added, “There will also be a triad of Commancors dining in Red 69 and 70, scheduled at 1400 hours. Do you need a briefing on them?”

Jade frowned again and took a deep breath. “I’m quite familiar with Commancors, thank you.”

None of the other arbiters needed a briefing, either. The Commancors were one of the most aggressive races in the known galaxy. They’d fought with almost everyone at one time or another, and as a result had made themselves and their culture well known, if not well loved. Commancors were always trouble; if they weren’t causing it themselves, they were attracting it.

The rest of the briefing was routine, but Jade was still fuming inwardly at the notion of Commancors in her quadrant as well as Furgatos and Palovoi. She didn’t need trouble today, not on top of the nightmare and the nervousness Lorpet’s news was causing. She realized she’d have to keep a close watch on herself as well as on the patrons, because she’d like nothing better than an excuse to wade into the Commancor party with fists, feet, and knives. Still, the Commancors were patrons of the ingesterie, and as such deserved her respect and protection.

Disson closed the briefing with his usual admonition, “Be careful up there,” and the arbiters had a few minutes to relax before they were due to relieve their colleagues currently working the floor. Jade assumed a lotus position on the bench and performed some breathing exercises while the others talked among themselves.

Finally Cyclad Arik came over and knelt beside her. Although Jade knew intellectually that Cyclad Arik was a very mild and pleasant mantis, a slight trace of entomophobia combined with her enhanced reflexes to make her stiffen in expectation of a fight.

“My senses detected some agitation when you were apprised of the scheduled presence of the Commancors,” Cyclad Arik said as the u-trans rendered her high squeals into English.

“I don’t like Commancors,” Jade said simply.

“Nobody likes Commancors,” said Cyclad Arik. It was one of the bluntest and most unkind remarks Jade had ever heard this kind, polite creature make. The giant mantis continued, “But that information by itself would not have created the intensity of your reaction. You don’t like me either, but we function together without dissonance.”

Jade looked startled. “What makes you think I don’t like you?”

“I’ve seen your body flinch and shudder when I approach. I try not to make such approaches frequently, but this afternoon I was concerned there might be trouble on the floor if this matter isn’t discussed now.”

“It’s...it’s just an instinctive reaction,” Jade apologized. “There’s a very predatory insect on my home world, and you look like a giant version of it. Even though I know you’re a sensitive, intelligent creature, my instincts keep telling me to protect myself.” The very reflexes that made her such a good fighter also exaggerated her instinctive reactions to Cyclad Arik, and Jade had to be constantly on override whenever her coworker came within range. “I...admire you and respect you greatly,” she finished weakly.

Cyclad Arik tilted her head at a strange angle and clicked her beak a couple of times, a body expression Jade had never been fully able to interpret. “This still does not explain your reaction to the Commancors,” Cyclad Arik continued.

“It’s a personal matter,” Jade said, and even she could tell her voice was a little too loud.

“It ceases to be personal when we’re all upstairs working,” the other said. “Our lives may rest in one another’s hands. Surprises can be fatal. We must know as much as possible to prepare for all contingencies.”

Jade sighed. Cyclad Arik was right, of course, but trusting still came hard, even after all this time.

“My planet was overrun by the Commancors,” she said softly. “My father, brothers, and uncle all died fighting them. I swore then I’d get even—but right after I finished my army training, before I had the chance, the Greest ordered the Commancors to cede the planet to us and we weren’t at war with them anymore. I still feel some anger and frustration, but I can handle those feelings once I know to expect them. I’ll treat the Commancors like any other patrons.”

“It’s advantageous to know your sentiments on the matter,” said Cyclad Arik, standing up again and turning to leave.

“Thank you for your concern,” Jade said, so quietly it was barely more than a whisper. Cyclad Arik did not respond, and it was possible she didn’t even hear Jade’s comment.

Needing to shake off the emotional load that had just built up within her, Jade went over to where Kokoti was completing a discussion with Disson. As soon as was polite—etiquette being very important to the Kettcens—she said, “I heard you’ll be having Marphle in your quadrant today. Would this be a convenient time to discuss something I found out about her?”

“Of course, my dear, any time for you,” Kokoti replied. “I regret I have no refreshments to offer you right now. I do hope you’ll forgive me.”