Outrageous Fortune-Errant Freight Book One

Chapter 24

In the end, Tariq opted to release Mary and Colin, without their weapons, and with the warning that any further sightings in the vicinity of Tariq's family would lead to a much more permanent solution.

"Your family is safe," Mary said from the front door, now open to the weather which, despite being clad in only a thin sari, she seemed not to notice. "Our only interest is the cargo." Here she looked at John, "Which of course means we will continue searching for our client's property."

"I can suggest a few places to look," Jagati commented as Ysabel ushered Colin and Mary out the door. At a nod from Tariq, she followed the larcenous pair off the property and, John presumed, onto the nearest rickshaw, tram, or recycling lorry they passed.

The door had barely closed behind them when Izaldine turned to his mother to declare, "I'm hungry."

"Of course you are," she said. "Go on, then." He took off at a run and she swung after him with a syncopated thump of her crutches.

John gave Jagati a look and jerked his chin after the pair, indicating she should go along with them.

She, in reply, jerked her chin at him, indicating he should be the one to follow.

In return, John cocked an eyebrow in reminder she'd given up her shot at being captain and Jagati, predictably, bared her teeth, thus informing him she'd follow the nonverbal order, but to expect some very verbal repercussions at a later date.

Then she stomped out of the library.

"Do all your orders have such an effect?"

John turned and looked at Tariq who, by his expression, had not only seen the entire nonverbal exchange, but had understood every unspoken syllable. "Not all," he said, "but enough to keep things lively. Do you think they mean it?" he asked, indicating the door through which Colin and Mary had departed. "That they'll leave you alone?"

"As she said, their only interest is in the cargo." Tariq began to shrug but stopped as the motion pulled at the crossbow bolt still in his shoulder.

"The cargo," John repeated, looking at the other man who, he suspected, was not a typical member of the shadow trade. "About that..."

* * *

"... if I'd known how much trouble it would be, I'd never have nicked the smogging thing," Sameen said as she poured boiling water from the kettle into a squat brown teapot set on a small, sturdy, cart. Immediately the kitchen filled with the robust scent of Avonion Breakfast tea.

Jagati set the mugs Sameen had pointed her to on the table and Izaldine, already seated, poked through a bowl of overripe apples and pears.

Having not eaten most of her own dinner back on the Errant, Jagati considered grabbing a piece of fruit for herself as payment for being put on KP.

Then again, she understood John didn't care so much about KP as gathering more intel on the smogging calculator.

Which was why she'd steered the conversation in said direction, all while taking in the expansive kitchen, designed with enough space for someone wielding crutches to navigate, and possessed of hybrid-powered cooking and fridge units that screamed efficiency to her.

An efficiency she found echoed in Sameen's movements.

In fact, observing the other woman maneuvering around her kitchen—pulling biscuits from the cupboard, filling the kettle, warming the pot, filling it with leaves—not a motion wasted, Jagati had a sudden, visceral flashback to her days aboard a Corps airship, preparing for a jump.