His younger brother’s light eyes widened. Out of eight Vartik royal children, Calabez had the lightest eyes, a shade of jade that caused women to swoon at the sight of him. “And swearing too? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”
Zelup rubbed his hands over his eyes and blew out a breath. He’d get nowhere with Calabez if he didn’t calm down. “What needs my attention?”
His brother cocked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know what you were up to last night but it sure sent the females into a tizzy.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Zelup responded, instantly on alert. He hadn’t shared his club membership with his family and didn’t want them to know. It was his only chance to be himself, to relax without the heaviness of the Vartik crown weighing on him. Besides, he’d been to the Double V many times without provoking any reactions. “What do you mean, a tizzy?”
“Jazmine, Mayra, and Kara were having one of their girls’ nights, full of unspeakable rituals and feminine mysteries, I’m sure,” Calabez drawled. “Then suddenly, Mayra had one of her spells. Kara was affected to, making Jazmine’s light powers kick into effect. I swear I’m going to wear sunglasses around that woman from now on.”
Kara was his sister by birth, Jazmine and Mayra by marriage. All three had powers that set them apart from your average female. Kara was an empath, able to sense a target in the vastness of space. Mayra was an oracle, able to see alternate futures and visions that helped them along on their mission. And Jazmine, the half-goddess half-human reformed thief, held his oldest brother’s balls in her delicate hands. With their powers combined, Zelup couldn’t imagine the trouble they could cause a man.
Their mission was to rescue Jazmine’s twin brother from the evil clutches of the Crown Prince of Hell. It was turning out to be more complicated than they’d bargained for. Before they could invade the Prince’s planet, Danzmin, they had to assemble a squad of Guardians, each imbued with a special power granted by the Goddess of Light, a.k.a. Jazmine’s mom. Mayra was the first Guardian they’d discovered, her power being foresight. Now Zelup was hunting up another Guardian while trying to keep under the radar of the Seekers, a band of demons created by the Prince to capture the light twins.
The whole drama was crazy, but Zelup believed in their mission. The light twins were integral for surviving the coming Battle of the End, as were the Guardians. And protecting his planet from some kind of demonic apocalypse was the only goal that made any sense. So off he went to the asteroid belt, with no more information than to start looking there.
“Mayra came out of her trance and started babbling at Kara. After an hour or so, they came to us. Kara said you’d met the person who was keeping the Guardian safe, the person in the asteroid belt. Mayra gave us the usual alphabet soup, saying the Fox-Friend was the one you had to find. In a lab on the third biggest rock in the bunch. Nojan took those scraps of info and worked his research magic, and now I’ve got a name for you.”
“Huh?” Zelup asked, feeling a bit punch drunk. “Just like that, you have a name for me?”
“Dr. Dawn Illya, independent developer of technology, holder of almost a hundred patents for fun little devices. Apparently, her lab’s logo has a little fox head in it.”
“Fox head?” His head was pounding, and he was in no shape to follow their convoluted conversation.
“An animal from Territh,” Calabez said, eying him. “Keep up, Zelup. Anyway, Nojan shared what he’d found with the ladies and they all agree. She’s the one you need to meet.”
Zelup scratched his head. “That’s all rather circumstantial, isn’t it? And besides, if Kara said I’m looking for someone I’ve already met, I can tell you right now that I don’t know any Dr. Illyas.”
Cal shrugged his broad shoulders. “Sorry, bro. I’m just the messenger. Well, actually, I did have a little bit to do with the next bit. Nojan gave us all the info he could find on Illya, and it turns out she might be discreetly looking for a capital infusion. I figured the best angle you could use to poke about in her lab would be as a potential investor.”
Zelup shook his head. “I don’t know anything about investing, Calabez. I’m head of the defense forces, not the central bank.”
His brother smiled. “You don’t need to know anything other than: money good, failure bad. Just bluff your way in. Mayra said you’d be looking for a treasure hidden inside the crystal, whatever that means. So fake out the doctor, find the crystal, and report back for further instructions.”
“This is so fucked.”
Cal laughed. “Wow, what a potty mouth you’re turning into. I should mention it to Mother.”
Zelup scowled at his brother, then broke the connection. He made it a few paces toward the bedroom before the infernal buzzing resumed. Hitting the connection, he frowned when Calabez’s face reappeared.
“One more thing, bro. Don’t forget to put on some pants.” With a laugh, the connection was cut again.
“Asshole,” he grumbled as he made his way into the bathroom for a hot shower. He wrapped a towel around himself after and made himself wash down a piece of toast with a glass of milk. His head finally starting to clear, Zelup padded to the wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear.
“Investment tycoon,” he mumbled. “What would you wear?” Tight leather pants were out, and a shirt was most likely required. He found a pair of pinstripe pants and a dark sweater, probably left there by Nojan. The old Space Scout always overprepared. But Zelup couldn’t complain. The outfit looked sharp. He took a moment to give himself a clean shave, then slid into some leather shoes, frowning that it was the only bit of leather the outfit allowed.
“Ah well,” he said, taking a seat at the command console and putting in the coordinates Cal had sent. Dr. Illya’s lab address wasn’t listed, but Nojan had ways of finding information when he needed it. He set the ship down at the nearest public pad and hooked on a breathing apparatus for the short walk from his ship to the lab. Pallas barely had an atmosphere, and gravity was artificial. His steps were light as he approached the door.
It was nondescript, gun-metal gray, and locked. Zelup knocked. He waited a few moments then knocked again. It wasn’t until his third bout of knocking, much harder and more rapid than the others, that he got a response.
“No, thank you. We don’t want any more visitors, well-wishers, or distant relations,” said the cultured voice that came out of the intercom.
“I’m looking for Dr. Dawn Illya?” he asked, confused by the greeting. “May I come in?”
“The doctor is out, I’m afraid,” came the well-modulated response. “Please leave a message.”
Zelup shook his head, pushing down the desire to laugh. It didn’t sound like a female, whoever was doing the talking. In fact, it didn’t even really sound human. “My name is—”Shit, I really should have thought of a cover name before now. “Jeffrey Sloane. I’ve heard you’re considering potential investors and I’d like to throw my company’s hat in the ring.”
“I will let her know.” The intercom clicked off.
