Shig, being short, had also managed to squirm his way through the crowd, adding, “This young woman is special to me. She doesn’t know our ways, so please be polite. If you take the time, I think you will find she is most remarkable.”

And in an instant, the mood changed, as if Shig’s benevolent words set the tone.

“Go on now.” Talina made a shooing motion with her free hand.

Shig crossed his arms, looking down at Hofer. “You do get yourself in the most remarkable messes. Do you need to go to the hospital? Raya’s in surgery, but perhaps after she resets it Vik could find a cold pack for your nose.”

“Go to hell, Shig,” Hofer rasped through his swelling larynx.

Kylee took a deep breath, sighed. Gave Talina a disgusted look. “You can see into the ultraviolet, too, right?” She gestured around. “You ever notice all the dried urine splashed around in here? And look. Right there where Hofer landed. Like, yuk!”

Dek had stepped close, voice low. “Yeah, but humans can’t see it, so don’t go saying anything to Inga, okay?” Then he reached down, giving the whimpering Hofer a hand. The man tottered on his feet as Dek pulled him up.

Slapping the man on the back, Dek started him for the door, saying, “You know, if I were you? I think I’d forget this ever happened.”

“Why?” Hofer asked hoarsely.

“Do you really want the whole town to remember that the rough, tough, brawling, and randy Hofer we all know and love got beat up by a sixteen-year-old girl? And her, just a little slip of a thing?”

Chapter 17

  17  

Kalico hated having to take the time away from Corporate Mine and Southern Diggings, but here she was, back aboard Vixen. Shig, Yvette, and Talina really couldn’t conceive the nature of the threat that Soukup posed. Dek did, but while he might be worried about her, he wasn’t about to lose everything based on a Corporate IG’s whim.

In fact, he was in an enviable position. No matter what message his sister might be carrying from Miko, Fabio, or his father Claudio, Dek had already accepted the fact that he was going to tell them to fuck off. Lucky Dek. These days he considered himself a Wild One.

Ultimately, Kalico Aguila was the Board Appointed Supervisor on Donovan and subject to The Corporation’s rules and governance. A position that put her right in the middle of Soukup’s crosshairs. That the IG, too, was Board Appointed? That translated into almost unlimited authority that in many cases exceeded her own. Kalico’s best option was to blunt as much of the threat as she could, as rapidly as she could.