Claustrophobia

Chapter Three - Acquaintances - 4

The six of them at the table finished their meal in pleasant company, with no more horror stories from Lar.4G to be told. Their conversations were suitably elegant and more refined, especially as the princess seemed to have taken the reigns of their talking topics after the racing driver's disaster. Z9 laughed when appropriate, looked astonished whenever the tale being told required wide eyes, but kept most of her attention focused on trying to engage Kassre in the conversation. She didn't have too much luck. She smiled when necessary, but for the most part kept herself to herself.

It wasn't long after their meal, perhaps ten minutes after cutlery had been put down on clean plates and their plates then cleared away, that the announcement came over the speakers.

'Ladies and gentlemen, the captain would like to inform you that we have now passed out of hyperspeed and have begun to cruise. Outside you will see a dazzling collection of reds and rich purples with streaks of blue as we pass near the stunning WildFire Nebula. We invite you to view this astonishing work of nature from the decks which are, now, open once again. Thank you and enjoy your cruise aboard Helios.'

'And now the fun begins,' Lar.4G said.

'You know what they say,' said Z9, 'it's all fun and games until someone breaks the bed.'

'And whose bed would be broken?'

'Depends who started the conversation.'

'As much as you two flirting is highly amusing,' Shahaz remarked, 'I'd quite like to see this nebula. Anyone coming up on deck with me?'

'I'll join you,' Yvatra said, rising from her seat. Kassre looked across at her with a frown on her face.

'Do princesses not leave tips for the waiters and waitresses?' she asked.

Yvatra smiled. 'My dear, they're getting paid for a free cruise. They don't need any rubies from me.'

Kassre didn't reply. She simply got up from her seat and, with a swish of her dress, walked swiftly away into the rising crowds and out of the room. The rest of the table watched her go with spellbound fascination.

'Interesting one, that DyGleyre,' Lar.4G remarked. The girl sat beside Shahaz, Wollenshere, nodded in agreement, though Z9 couldn't make out if her agreement was genuine or just to get on Lar.4G's good side, and hopefully into his bed sheets.

'Strong willed, certainly,' the princess remarked.

Z9 stood there, computing quickly in her mind whether or not she should go after Kassre. She knew that perhaps the best way to get the information out of her was to befriend her and then catch her off guard, but then she had no absolute proof that she was on the cruise for any explicit criminal reason. She had no evidence that Guran Mysen or any of the five targets she was after, were here for criminal intent. And yet the idea that they were here for any reason besides one of an unlawful nature defied belief. Z9 found herself, not for the first time, flying blind.

She eventually decided not to go after her. She would see her around, and even if she didn't on the ship, she knew where to find her when they got there. Staring out at the Abyssal Cluster from the balcony of a resort for the richest and most famous in the Empire, she would be perfectly framed by a setting sun, a silhouette of minute beauty.

Z9 looked across at the table that she had spied Mysen sitting at before, finding his table empty, all its occupants having already departed after their meal.

'Z9?' It was Shahaz calling her.

'Sorry,' Z9 replied, 'I zoned out there for a second.'

'I asked if you were coming with us to the deck to see the nebula.' She leaned to her left and patted Lar.4G's sturdy chest. 'This one's coming with us as well, aren't you?'

'Apparently so,' Lar.4G said, a little bewildered. He seemed to only have just registered that his constant flirtation and stories, along with his fame and good looks, had actually pulled the two girls now linked through his arms and beginning to escort him out of the room. He looked like one who was waking up from a hangover with the singular thought of 'oh shit, what have I done?' on his face. It made Z9 want to double over with laughter; he looked so incredibly innocent and naïve. It therefore came to be that the Korcanth princess and she were left standing behind their seats.

'What a delightful dinner that was,' the princess said. Z9 smiled.

'Forgive me for saying so, your highness, but you don't seem like a princess at the moment. You seem, well, like a kid on a school trip.'

The princess laughed at her. 'What makes you think I'm not?'

To this Z9 had no answer ready in the wings waiting.

'Come on,' she said, 'let's go up to the deck and see what we can find. Two single ladies on a cruise; it can't be that hard, can it?'