Kalico found her way to her old stool beside Talina Perez’s where it stood on the far-right side of the bar. To her surprise, Shig Mosadek was seated at his accustomed place. He had a half-full glass of red wine, was staring thoughtfully at the back bar with its mirror and bottles, jars, and jugs. The man’s unruly thatch of hair reminded her of a stiff mop gone gray at the sides. Shig’s expression looked pinched around his blob of a nose. He’d taken his quetzal cape off and hung it from the back of his chair.

“I hear you’ve had a rather tough time of it down at Corporate Mine.”

“Lost the Number Three. When it went, it took two of us with it.” She caught Inga’s eye. The woman was stretched up to write a charge on the big board where she kept her accounts. Inga jerked her a nod as she scribbled with her chalk.

“Anything Yvette or I can do?”

“Turn back time?”

“Been to Freelander recently?”

The reminder of the ghost ship up in orbit sent a shiver down her back. “If I could figure a way to go up there and warn myself, I would. Problem is, you never know what you’re going to get. That creep-freaked wreck isn’t exactly reliable when it comes to messages from the future.”

“I heard it was the aquajade.”

“Yeah.” She propped her elbows on the bar. “Don’t let it get saturated.” A pause. “Talovich is going through the Number One right now. Checking every single piece of aquajade for potential failure. Soon as we landed, I ran down Lee Halston. Bought up every chabacho timber he had that might be used to replace a compromised aquajade. Until Talovich finishes his survey, Corporate Mine is officially on standby.”

“Businesses here will welcome that. Gives your people time to come spend money.” He shot her a sidelong glance. “What about Maritime Unit? Two Spot tells me that your parting of the ways wasn’t amicable.”

“My presence wasn’t welcome.”

Inga came lumbering down the bar, two fingers of whiskey, neat, in a glass. Inga flipped the bar towel from her shoulder and took a couple of swipes before she set the glass on the battered chabacho-wood bar. “Heard it’s been a tough time down at Corporate Mine,” Inga told her. “That one’s on the house. From all of us. Anything else I can get you?”

“On behalf of my people, the drink is deeply appreciated. Whatever’s on special, I’ll have it. Haven’t eaten since breakfast. Way I feel now? I could eat a bucket of slugs. Raw.”

“No slugs on the menu.” Inga turned, headed back down toward her taps, bellowing, “One special for the Supervisor. Extra portion. The lady’s hungry!”

Shig grinned. “Wouldn’t the Board love to have seen that?”