Page 43 of Red Scale Daddy
“I won’t.”
“You just did.”
“Fair.”
That answer surprises her. Her lips part slightly, then close as she reassesses. I like watching her recalibrate. It is almost enough to distract me from the fact that she is right to be angry.
Almost.
I lift both hands from the console and rest them where she can see them. “I will respect the ship.”
“And the rules?”
“The ones keeping us alive.”
“All of them are intended to keep us alive.”
“Then we will have fewer arguments than expected.”
“I doubt that.”
“Good instincts.”
The docking clamps release with a heavy mechanical shudder that passes through the hull and into my chest. The Lamplight rises smoother than I expect, lifting from the bay floor with controlled grace. Outside the viewport, maintenance lights slide downward across the canopy, and the launch corridor opens ahead like a throat lined with cold stars.
Roma faces forward. Her voice over comms is crisp, stripped of every private edge. “Docking Bay Twelve, Lamplight departing under private clearance. Confirm vector.”
Dock control answers through a wash of static. “Vector confirmed. Safe travels, Lamplight.”
Before Roma can respond, another voice cuts into the private channel.
“Safe travels?” Loklo says. “That is what people say to grandmothers visiting a market. Dux, if you die, I am selling your good liquor first.”
Roma’s head turns slightly toward the comm display. “How did he access this channel?”
I settle deeper into the harness. “He has hidden talents.”
“He should not.”
Loklo’s voice crackles with offended dignity. “I can hear you, terrifying red-haired lady.”
Roma’s hand moves across the console. “Good. Then hear this clearly. If you interfere with my communications again, I will route your inventory records through station tax compliance.”
Silence floods the channel.
Loklo finally replies in a hushed voice. “Dux, I approve of her. Bring her back too.”
The line cuts.
Roma stares at the dead channel as if it has personally betrayed several principles of order. “Your bartender is a menace.”
“He grows on people.”
“So does mold.”
“Some mold saves lives.”
She gives me a sidelong look. “Do not compare your employee to medicine.”
