Lady Luck Read online

  And I want to say everything that just ran through my mind as I walked over here.

  It was fate, I want to tell him.

  I did a good thing.

  Cha-Cha is top-notch. She’s not Beauty, no one will ever replace Beauty. But she’s a good person. And she’s got my back. Definitely had my back when all those evil borgs came at us back on the Lair Station.

  And then, of course, I want to say… I miss you, dude. Life isn’t the same anymore and I don’t know how to change it back.

  But one of the yellow pod ID’s goes to red and begins flashing.

  Valor doesn’t even have to do anything. That’s how redundant this job actually is.

  Baby ALCOR is on it. And a few seconds later the pod ID lights up white, indicating the player has been pulled and is already receiving medical attention.

  Still, Valor doesn’t look at me. Just pretends that outcome depends on his care and focus.

  But I came here for more than that conversation.

  I came here to be close to him. To make this ache go away.

  So I grab a wheeled stool from the corner and scoot up next to him. “What’s up?” I say. “How ya been?”

  He side-eyes me for a moment, then goes back to sipping his coffee and staring at the screen.

  “Do you blame me?” I ask.

  “For what?”

  “Beauty?”

  He shoots me a crooked frown. “Why would I blame you for that?”

  “I dunno. You just… don’t really talk to me anymore.”

  “I’ve got a lot on my mind, Luck. It’s not personal. I’m just… thinking about shit.”

  “What kind of shit? Maybe I can help?”

  “Well, I guess it is personal.” He looks at me straight on. We lock matching violet eyes. “Because I’m not really interested in sharing it with you.”

  And just like that, all that sadness inside me turns to… rage.

  CHAPTER FOUR - NYLEENA

  I like most of the levels here on Harem Station.

  Except this one.

  The one that actually contains the harem.

  Every time I come up here these low-level princesses glare at me like I’m the enemy.

  Which… OK. I probably am in their minds. See, they are all golds and oranges. Or greens. Or blues and reds. In Cygnian System, these girls have no pedigree. Only the pinks and silvers have that. So they resent us because we are upper-class.

  And that makes me a little screamy. Because look, bitches. You get a real job back home. You get husbands. And homes. And a boy child or two to raise, if your husband is rich enough to buy one. And that means you get to play Mommy. And hang out with your other pretend-mommy girlfriends while those little boys kick balls around or hit them with bats.

  It’s a fucking cakewalk compared to what my job is.

  I’m a goddamned bomb. That’s what I want to scream at them. Which would you rather be? A trophy wife or an explosive device?

  But they all know this and they still glare at me every time I come up here.

  I’m glaring back at them—daring them to say something to me—when the cyborg master comes up and taps me on the shoulder. “Can I help you with something, Nyleena?”

  “Yup,” I say, planting my hands on my hips. “I want to speak with Crux.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Do you think I have an appointment?”

  His one red eye races across the elongated rectangle on the upper third of his face.

  “It was a rhetorical question, OK? Just… where is he?” But then I spy him on the other side of the glass in his office. “Never mind. I see him.”

  I walk off, half expecting the cyborg master to stop me, or at least attempt to stop me, but he doesn’t.

  I don’t bother knocking, just burst through the door and stand in front of Crux’s desk.

  Crux taps something out on his air screen, then closes it down and says, with a heavy sigh, “Yes, Nyleena?”

  “I want to go on the Veila hunt. And I am not taking no for an answer, buddy. There’s no way I’m gonna get stuck fighting like a gladiator for money or busting overzealous bots.”

  “I’m sorry?” he says, giving me one of those fake perplexed looks.

  “You know what I’m talking about. I know you guys are all planning something. Some stealthy trip to go trap Veila and bring her back here so you can free your precious Queen Corla. And I want in.”

  He leans back in his oversized chair, making it creak a little. Stares at me with those piercing violet eyes. Rubs his hand over his scruffy jaw. Blinks. Then says, “Is there some particular reason you feel qualified to go on this so-called Veila hunt? If there is one, and I’m not saying there is.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’m a goddamned force of nature.” I nod my head.

  “So you say. But—”

  “So I say?” I huff. “Just ask anyone.”

  “I mean… what are your specific skills, Nyleena? Can you list them for me?”

  “My skills?” I huff again. “I’m tough. I can fight. No, I can kick ass. I’m not afraid to take a punch, either. I’ll get my ass kicked a little. That’s fine. But I’ll still win in the end.”

  “Hmm,” he says. “Can you fly a ship?”

  “Asked no one ever.” I laugh. “We have sentient ships. No one needs to fly them.”

  “Do you have a sentient ship?”

  “Me? Personally?”

  “Yes, you.”

  “I’m sure I could get one.”

  “How?”

  I shrug. “There’s always poker games. Or I could talk the Baby ALCOR into giving me one. He likes me.”

  “Does he now?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I nod. I think he does. He calls me into his office all the time. Mostly to yell at me after getting arrested, but still. I think he likes me.

  “OK,” Crux says. “Well. I can see that you are a formidable princess.” I smile. Because I am. “But I’m not sure anyone wants you to go. If we go.” He leans forward and lowers his voice. “No one likes you, Nyleena. You’re kind of a pain in the ass. So if I convince them to let you go on one of their ships—say, Lady Luck, for instance—you’re gonna have to do me a big favor in return.”

  “What kind of favor?” I scowl at him. Because I don’t want to make deals. I want to make demands.

  “You say Baby ALCOR likes you?”

  “He does. He’s very nice to me. Always checking in to see if I need anything.” This is only half true. He does check in on me regularly, but that’s mostly because I’m always up to something he disapproves of.

  “Well, I need something from Asshole ALCOR.”

  “Oh,” I say. “I don’t really have a relationship with him.”

  “Oh,” Crux says, once again leaning back in his chair. “Then I don’t think I can do it. I really need this info.”

  “What info?”

  He stares at me. Chews his lips for a moment. Lowers his head a little so he’s peering down his nose at me. Then sighs. “Have you ever heard of people being… leveled up?”

  “Maybe?” I lie. “It’s kinda ringing a bell. But I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Well, Asshole ALCOR does. And I need to know what this leveled-up thing means. Because we’ve been told that our maybe-dead brother, Draden, was leveled up so he’s actually not dead. We’d like to find him. So I’ll tell you what. If you can get Asshole ALCOR to explain what this leveling-up bullshit is, I’ll make sure you’re on the Veila hunt mission. In fact…” He pauses here. Looks me dead in the eyes. “I’ll give you your own sentient ship.”

  “You will?” I say, excited.

  “Mmmm-hmmm. Can you do that?”

  “Get you information from Asshole ALCOR. Just to be clear, this is the one trapped inside the Pleasure Prison with the Succubus thing, right?”

  “The very one.”

  “How do I get in there?”

  “Ask Tray. He can get you in. But getting you a mee
ting with Asshole ALCOR is gonna be harder.”

  “Tray, huh? That’s it? Just go ask him?”

  “Yup. I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you.”

  “OK,” I say. “You’ve got a deal.”

  “Great,” Crux says, pinching the air with his fingertips to open up another screen. “Let me know when you have that info and I’ll let you choose a ship from the recent arrivals.”

  I quickly turn on my heel and walk out before he can see the huge smile on my face.

  Holy fucking suns! I totally came out ahead on this deal.

  I’m gonna have my own ship by the end of the day. Hell, who needs a Veila hunt now? These assholes can do that. I’ve got my own list of people I’d like to capture and kill.

  I could be gone tomorrow on my own personal revenge mission.

  This thought makes me so happy, I don’t even bother glaring back at the little princesses in the harem when I pass. I just get in the elevator and take it down to the Pleasure Prison level.

  But as soon as I get off and walk down the short hallway to the control room, I can hear fighting.

  I run forward and walk in on Valor and Luck slugging each other in the face.

  “What the hell?” I say, jumping in between them. “What’s going on?”

  But just as I say that I notice the gaming pod lid has popped open and Tray is jumping out, face red with anger.

  “Oh, hey, Tray!” I say brightly. “I have a question for you about—”

  “What the fuck?” he yells. “What the fuck are you assholes doing? Do you have any idea how much the equipment in this room costs? And what would happen if any of it broke?”

  “Oh, no, wait,” I say, putting up a hand. “I wasn’t involved—”

  “Get. The fuck. Out!” Tray yells. And there’s veins popping out of his thick, meaty neck, that’s how pissed off he is.

  “But I need—”

  “Out!”

  “Come on,” Luck says, glaring back at Valor as he hooks his fingers around my upper arm and begins to tug me towards the door. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER FIVE - LUCK

  “What was that all about?” Nyleena asks, once we’re back on the main concourse that runs down the middle of the station. There’s not much up here at this level. All the fun levels are a hundred or more levels below us. So it’s relatively quiet on the large, expansive terrace surrounding the Pleasure Prison control center.

  “Not important,” I say. Because no way. I’m not talking to Nyleena about Valor. “Why were you up there?”

  She stops and smiles.

  Like actually smiles. And it’s not one of those I’m-going-to-eat-you smiles either. The kind she likes to flash before she punches you in the face, or shoots you with an electrodart, or knocks you out with drugs, puts you in an enviro-suit, and throws you out an airlock.

  All things she’s been arrested for by Baby ALCOR since Crux decided to wake her up.

  It’s a real smile.

  “OK, don’t be upset with me.”

  I rub two fingers in that little dent in the center of my forehead, right between my eyes. “What did you do now?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Yet.” She raises her eyebrows when she says, Yet. “I’m just warning you, because you might not like my plan. That’s all.”

  “What plan?” I sigh. God, she makes me tired.

  “I’m leaving Harem Station.”

  “You are?” I chuckle. “When?”

  “Probably tomorrow. I made a deal with Crux.”

  “What kind of deal?”

  “Oh, you know.” There’s a glint in her eyes. A literal glint. Little crackles of silver flash across her irises, like she’s lightning in a bottle, ready to strike. “The kind that involves my own sentient ship.” That last part is practically an excited squeal.

  She looks different when she’s filled with excitement.

  Don’t get me wrong. Nyleena is bombshell-hot every moment of the day. But it’s a dark kind of hot. A dangerous heat that rises up off her skin like steam. And right now it’s more like a warm-slice-of-cherry-pie kind of heat. Soft and a little mushy, but still very tasty.

  “Do you know how to fly a ship?” I ask, as I start walking towards the private elevators that go to the highest levels. I really am tired. I’m going home.

  She stomps her foot and stands her ground. So I turn to face her just as she says, “No one flies ships. For sun’s sake. Why do people keep asking me that? I mean, what is the point of a sentient ship if you have to know how to fly it?”

  “Well, it comes in handy, you know. In case there’s an emergency. Have you set up an interview process?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You can’t just partner up with any ship, Nyleena. This is a huge decision. You’re not gonna be flying out of here tomorrow on a sentient ship.”

  “Why not?” she asks, walking towards me again.

  I turn and continue heading towards the elevator. “Because you have to choose the right one or things will not go well. Just ask Delphi. Did she ever tell you—”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she says, putting up a hand to stop me. “I heard her story. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  “And how are you paying for this ship?” I ask, pressing the call button. The elevator doors open and we step inside.

  “I’m not paying for it. That’s the point. Crux is giving it to me.”

  “How are you buying fuel, Nyleena? How are you paying for air, and water, and—”

  “That’s the ship’s problem,” she says. “I’ll just choose one that has a good water generator and life support system.”

  “And fuel?” I ask, pressing the button for my quarters.

  “How much do fuel pellets cost?”

  “Where do you want to go? Do you want the ship to have weapons?”

  “Oh, fuck yeah,” she says. “Cannons. SEAR cannons,” she adds dreamily.

  “OK, well. That shit takes a lot of fucking fuel pellets. Where are you going? Can you pay for the gates?”

  “Pay for gates?”

  “Gates aren’t free. Surely, you knew this.”

  She pauses. She did not know this.

  “Lady Luck has a pass paid for by Harem Station. We flash it as we enter the gate and they charge us for passage.”

  “How much do those cost?” Nyleena asks, just as the elevator doors open to my quarters.

  I step out, then stop and turn, one hand on the doors to prevent them from closing. “Last time I checked they were like two point five million credits for unlimited access for a four-hundred-spin year.”

  “Two point five what?”

  “You’re not leaving tomorrow.” I laugh.

  She deflates. And I admit, I’ve never, ever seen a deflated Nyleena. Her lips pout. I have never seen her pout either. It’s very cute. In a dangerous kind of way. The way dragonbee bots are cute the first time you see one. Those pretty filigree wings and that soft buzzing they make. And then you realize they cook up poisons inside their bellies and fart out death.

  But I kinda dig that. And even though we just had sex like an hour ago, my cocks are ready for more. It’s pretty cool that being with your soulmate means your cocks work as a team and you don’t actually have to fuck twice in a row to fully get off. Once the two of you are in sync, it’s like all the sexy stars in the universe align just so and work together.

  I could go another round though. For sure.

  “But I have plans, Luck. Big plans. And once a Cygnian princess gets a plan in her head, she sees it through. I will be leaving tomorrow.”

  “Well, if that’s the case.” I grin at her. “You wanna come inside and have one last go at mind-blowing sex before you take off?”

  She glances down at the growing thickness under my tactical pants, then back up at my face. “We just—”

  “I know,” I say, cutting her off. “But…” I shrug. “And if you’re leaving tomorrow, then we should probably—”

/>   “Whatever.” She shrugs, pushing her way past me. “So this is your place, huh?”

  “Yeah, when I’m here,” I say, releasing the elevator doors.

  She looks around. It’s all pretty high-end standard. Dark gray auto-mold couches, a small dining area. Small kitchen with a giant autocook. A large wall screen for entertainment.

  “You want a drink?”

  “Sure,” she says, plopping on the couch. The auto-mold shapes around her hips and she wiggles a little, smiling as it shifts to make her comfortable. “Tushberry juice, if you have it.”

  “I can order it,” I say, walking over to the autocook to tab through the menu. “So what kind of deal did you make with Crux to earn this free ship?” I ask, ordering her some juice. Then decide I’ll have a juice too. Not really in the mood to have a real drink. I’m just too fucking tired.

  “He just wants some information from Asshole ALCOR.”

  “So that’s why you were up in the Pleasure Prison control room? To go inside and… what?” I laugh, just as the autocook dings, signaling our drinks are ready. “You’re gonna ask ALCOR for a favor? He’s not that kind of dude. What are you gonna give ALCOR?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I take the drinks, walk over to her, hand hers off, then sit down on the other side of the couch and lean back, closing my eyes. “He’s not called Asshole ALCOR for nothing. He’s gonna want something in return.”

  “Well,” she says, pausing to take a sip of her juice.

  I open my eyes for this part. Because when a Cygnian princess drinks tushberry juice they recharge. Or something. And they glow a little. And even though I don’t really like Nyleena, I do like to look at her. Especially when she’s recharging.

  She displays more than most princesses when she does this. Both Lyra and Delphi are quite dull compared to Nyleena. But then, she’s a silver and they are both pink.

  She smacks those perfect lips and smiles. “Whatever he wants, I guess.”

  “Hmmm.” I smile, closing my eyes again. “That’s pretty dangerous. He could want anything.” I open one eye and peek at her. “He could want you to get him out of there. He’s pretty desperate right now.”

  She shrugs. “So? I can get him out.”