Chapters (26)
“We have quite a lot of things to take care of at the moment, ma’am.” This was, Kiva knew, as close to fuck you, I’m busy as Magnut was ever going to get.
“Yes, I know, but this is a thing that needs doing.”
“What is it?”
“I need you to get someone to discreetly—as in actually fucking discreetly, not just saying the word—tell me who the Count of Claremont is and why the duke would give a shit about him in any way. The count’s children, too.”
“Yes, ma’am. The time frame on this?”
“An hour ago would be great.”
“Understood.”
“And while you’re at it, get someone to tell me why the hell Ghreni Nohamapetan is on this planet and what his relationship is with the duke.”
“We already know he’s an advisor.”
“Right, and I know that twice in the last three days his ass has been the one crossing my path on matters involving the duke. And maybe you see that shit as coincidence, but I don’t.”
“The same time frame, ma’am?”
“Yes.”
“That will take money.”
“Spend it.”
“How much?”
“Whatever it costs. Tack it onto the boarding price of the next person who wants passage.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kiva punched out of the conversation and used her tablet to access one of the Yes, Sir’s external cameras, right outside the shuttle bay. Ghreni Nohamapetan’s shuttle was receding into the distance, toward the imperial station.
“What are you up to, you motherfucker?” Kiva said, out loud to herself. “And what is your family up to?” Because whatever Ghreni was up to, it was just part of some larger Nohamapetan plan. And whatever those assholes were up to, it was no good for anyone else, including the House of Lagos. Or the imperial House of Wu, for that matter. Or the Interdependency as a whole, come to think of it.
Kiva looked at that shuttle, a speck now, and wondered whether she shouldn’t just order the Yes, Sir’s defensive grid to launch a missile into it. Yes, there would be explaining to do. Yes, technically it would be murder. Yes, it would probably start a war between the House of Lagos and the House of Nohamapetan, which the House of Lagos, for all its power, would probably lose in the long run.
On the other hand, at this very moment, it would make Kiva feel really good.
Kiva reluctantly put down her tablet and decided to do something else with her time, a decision, by her own admission, that she would later come to regret.