Capital Games by R. K. Thorne

Author:R. K. Thorne [Thorne, R. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Iron Antler Books
Published: 2018-12-26T22:00:00+00:00

Kael tried not to sit stiffly beside Ellen or to chug whatever weird concoction they’d acquired from the bartender who’d hit on her, but it wasn’t easy. It was like everything in here was designed to make him crazy. The noise. Her presence and everything about her. The scantily-clad people constantly hitting on anything with legs—and the two of them in particular. Only the waterfall behind him seemed to want to help; it reminded him of Taylor’s various stress ministrations. He actually leaned into it. His breath slowed a little. Strange to be gaining control of that sort of feeling. He focused on his quest of not looking at her while scanning for Vivaan.

Of course, he had to figure the attention was because they were new here, they were in much better shape than the average partier due to their jobs, and, thanks to Josana, they were dressed to impress apparently. He might not be a Capital type, but he knew these sorts of places on other worlds, darker and dirtier ones. These sorts of places had a lot of similarities no matter the planet. The people grew to know everyone, often ad nauseam, and newcomers were a rare form of entertainment. Not every bar or club or beer hall—or supposed wine garden—was that way; some were filled with hard drinkers who had the business of drinking to do, others to watch sports together in casual and temporary company. But this one had all the indications of the sort of gossip hive that meant many eyes were on them right now, even if he couldn’t see that many people directly staring.

He needed something to keep himself busy.

“Do you have a photo of Kentt? I’m not sure I’d recognize her,” he said.

“Oh, of course. Not enough time for a briefing on this one, huh?” She pulled up a photo of a bright sapphire cape, wavy and lush hair of the same color peaking out from under it.

“Uh, you can’t see her face?”

“Yep. This was the best one we could find. Apparently she’s kept her image quite secretive.”

“Interesting,” he muttered. “Now why would she want to do that?”

“So she can wander around here without us seeing her?”

He doubted that was really true, if this place was as tight-knit as he believed. It might shield her from outsiders, but not the many regulars. But if none of them had shared a picture on the net either, perhaps he was wrong. He shrugged and kept searching the crowd.

Her comm on the table glowed softly for a second, and he glanced down at it automatically.

Dr. Crispin Ostrov: Ready for the details? I’m eager for that rematch.

He flicked his eyes away, determined to ignore the steel vise that was tightening around his chest. Not to mention the anger that rippled underneath.

She was eying something in the crowd and didn’t pick up the comm. “Look over there, by that tree with the three branches. Is that… ?”

He squinted. “I don’t… maybe.” There were many men that could

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