Petrichor Blooms: the Halcyon Universe, #2 by Mindi Briar

Author:Mindi Briar
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781648982576
Publisher: City Owl Press

“So it’s mind-alts, right?” I say, surveying the sealed cryo-storage box Joel had us pick up.

We’ve just gone through a ridiculous dance to get the blazing thing. Joel told us to teleport to a particular Gila City rooftop, find a man wearing a snake earring, and say the password “banana peel.” That man turned out to be a security guard, and just before he threw us bodily into a zip-lift while yelling at us never to trespass again, he handed us the box.

It’s about the size of a watermelon, rectangular, quite heavy. The whole thing is wrapped in black cloth, which I guess is supposed to make it more discreet. In my opinion, it just makes the package look more suspicious.

“I don’t even want to know.” Prince kicks the box under the pilot seat. “The less I know, the more convincingly innocent I’ll look when the Authorities are questioning me.”

It’s definitely mind-alts. Something super-addictive and super-illegal, I’d bet money on it. Joel X is totally the kind of guy who smuggles drugs on the side.

I wish we had another Greenjacket contact who was less shady, but I don’t know anyone who lives away from Sherwood Base. So it looks like we have to do the deed and take the risk. Our only other option is to pry into Nox’s mind for exact coordinates, except I can barely even feel her anymore. She’s determined not to let me in.

“What was Joel’s next instruction, after we got this thing?” I ask.

“He gave me some coordinates. I guess we hand it off to whoever’s there, then bring the receipt back to Luz?”

“You don’t sound very confident.”

Prince laughs. Or at least, that’s how I interpret the high-pitched, strained noise he makes. “I don’t get asked to smuggle contraband very often. Sorry if I’m a bit on edge.”

“Fair.” I belt myself into the copilot seat. “Let’s get this over with.”

Fairy doesn’t seem terribly excited about this whole business either. Prince has to take a minute to convince zem to ’port us as ze flits around the flight deck in agitation.

“Please, Fairy,” Prince murmurs. “You know you can trust me.”

I hear zir reply, though I don’t think I was supposed to. ::It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s that creep Joel.::

I quickly block out the rest of their mental conversation, not wanting to intrude. Prince and Joel clearly have some history, and it’s none of my business why Prince trusts him or why Fairy clearly hates his guts (as much as a pacifist floaty bubble-snake is capable of hatred).

I focus very hard on staying inside my own head. It’s so effective that I nearly don’t notice when we teleport. A moment of floating, a stomach-jolting heaviness as we transition back into the physical world…

Rain lashes against the viewport. It’s night on this world, and we’ve ’ported right into the middle of a storm. Prince mutters a curse under his breath, frantically tapping the scanner as he maneuvers the ship with his other hand. “Not a lot of good landing spots here.

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