Page 26 of Red Scale Daddy
That last part matters.
More than I want it to.
I release Pell and let him drop. “Loklo.”
“Already on it, beloved tyrant.”
As Loklo and two suddenly cooperative patrons drag the intruders toward the side exit, the bar exhales. The music sputters, catches, and resumes as if even the speakers need a drink. The ceiling leaks plaster dust in a soft gray drift. I turn to her.
She is already looking at me, suspicion fully restored.
“You are still not coming,” she says.
I glance at the Kiphian twitching on the floor as Loklo drags him by one ankle.
“You sure? We make a pretty good argument for it.”
“We survived a bar fight.”
“We won a bar fight.”
“That distinction is emotionally important to you, I’m sure.”
“It is professionally important.”
She touches the swelling on her cheek and winces before she can hide it. I do not comment. If I do, she will turn the tenderness into a weapon and stab us both with it.
Instead, I say, “You listened.”
Her eyes narrow. “To what?”
“When I yelled left.”
“You had a better angle.”
“You trusted that I did.”
“No,” she says. “I made a rapid assessment that your warning aligned with available threat vectors.”
I smile.
She scowls.
I say, “Sure.”
“It was not trust.”
“Never said it was.”
“You implied it.”
“I breathed in your direction. You did the rest.”
Loklo returns from the side exit, brushing dust off his hands. “Good news. The alley has accepted three new applicants and remains our most reliable employee.”
Roma gathers her compad. “I need to leave before more of Venn’s incompetence arrives.”
“You need an escort,” I say.
