Walking Contradiction by Nancy Jane Moore

Author:Nancy Jane Moore [Moore, Nancy Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, military science fiction, action/adventure, SF, ambigender, feminist science fiction, space opera
ISBN: 9781611383669
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2014-03-04T08:00:00+00:00

Nohow Permanent

We came into Procyon’s commercial port on third watch. I’d picked the time and place on purpose. Bribing third watch officers is easier than first watch ones, and the commercial port hustles along little ships like mine so they can get to unloading shuttles from the big transports parked out in orbit. Plus I grew up around there—my mom worked port crew for a while when I was small—so I know some of the officers. Sometimes that helps, sometimes it doesn’t.

My passenger wasn’t happy. Nothing new about that; he’d been griping since I first picked him up. People on the lam for political reasons always complain a lot. Refugees, now, they tend to be grateful. And criminals know it’s just business. I guess the revolutionaries and other regime opponents think they deserve better for doing what’s right; they don’t realize no good deed goes unpunished.

He stood next to me on the bridge, staring out the front viewport. “It’s dark in here,” he said. Procyon is an old moon, and the settled parts—including the port—are all carved out of the interior. The only thing that happens on the surface is regolith mining. There’s some natural light through what natives call the Window—an opening that always faces the sun. But it’s an old sun, far past the visible light stage.

“It’s always going to be dark in here unless you get some infrared goggles. Or have a little eye surgery.”

My passenger shook his head firmly when I said “eye surgery.” He was still having trouble looking at me, even after a couple of weeks on board. I’ve got three eyes, myself: one for infrared, one for ultraviolet, and one for what the humans call normal. Lighting on my ship adjusts to all three, though I’d kept it on visible light for the sake of my passenger. You jump the wormholes around this part of space the way I do, you end up seeing suns at all different stages. Best to be prepared.

“I want to stay human,” he said. Clear that he didn’t think I was.

Which is okay by me. I don’t worry about things like that. Though my mom always said we were human somewhere back up the chain.

“Suit yourself.” I was looking forward to getting rid of him.

He hadn’t been quite as irritating at first. Someone had sent him my way when I was docked at the primary station in the Testudines. He was a well-proportioned man, with the wavy blond hair and tan skin of someone who’d always lived in a place with a temperate climate and friendly sun. Outdoorsy, in a civilized sort of way. Gene tweaks, I’m sure; no planets like that out here. But it’s the in look among humans.

He also looked over his shoulder every few seconds while we talked. His left eye twitched, and his hands clutched the handle of a small satchel he carried. He was, in short, terrified.

“I’m Vlad Pyotrvich,” he said.

Terrified and dumb, at least when it came to survival. Vlad Pyotrvich was his real name.

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