Alyce’s brow furrowed. “No, I can’t say that I did. Why do you ask?”
Holly hesitated, then decided to be direct. “I’ve been going through Charles’ financial records. There’s a discrepancy. A big one.” She shook her head. “Based on the station’s income over the years, his fifty percent cut should have added up to far more than what was in his account when he died. And there are no expenses to explain where thenitswent.”
Alyce’s expression grew troubled. “That is strange. Sam and I have access to the station account, as you know, but we were never authorized to purchase anything beyond the recurring transactions Charles had already approved. Wenevercircumvented his authorization.”
“I know,” Holly said quickly. “Your recordkeeping has been excellent. Both of you. I’m not suggesting anyone was stealing.”
Alyce relaxed slightly. “I appreciate that. We both collect our pay for the services we provide, but nothing more.” She paused, thinking. “You believe Charles had a secret account?”
“I think it’s possible. I’m trying to find where he may have stashednits.”
Alyce was quiet for a moment. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he did,” she said slowly. “Charles was a secretive man. But why would he hide his own currency from himself? What purpose would that serve?”
“Maybe he knew his mind was failing,” Holly mused. “We need thosenitsfor work around here.”
Alyce reached out and touched Holly’s arm. “If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”
“I will.”
To Holly’s amazement, Alyce pulled her into a brief hug. It was quick but genuine, and Holly hugged her back, surprised by how much she missed the simple contact. Surprised by how easy it was for some. Her parents were huggers, but there was no public touching at all on Nova, ever. She’d gotten used to it. But being here, among these people whom she genuinely liked, she didn’t want to get used to it. It was nice to hug friends. It was nice totalk. Really talk.
“I need to check on the irrigation system,” Alyce said as she stepped away. “But we should have tea sometime. Just for fun. Not for station business.”
Holly smiled as her chest felt warm. “I’d like that.”
They parted ways, and Holly continued toward the spaceport with a lighter heart.
The spaceport was in its usual state of controlled chaos. Holly followed the sounds of clanking metal and muffled cursing to the maintenance bay on the bottom level, where she found Sam with his upper body buried inside a large, cylindrical device. Threemismatched bots rolled around him in a frenzy, their various appendages waving as they searched through bins and shelves.
“Flow laminator!” Sam’s voice echoed from inside the machine. “Someone give me the flow laminator. It’s right there on the blasted shelf!”
The bots rushed to comply, but they were barely waist-high, and the shelf Sam was referring to was well above their visual range. Holly spotted the tool immediately. A slim, silver instrument sitting on a high shelf, completely invisible to the frantic robots.
She picked it up, walked over to the device, and poked her head inside the opening. “Looking for this?”
Sam jerked in surprise and bumped his head against the interior casing. “Ow.” He backed out of the machine, rubbing his scalp, and took the flow laminator from her hand. “Thanks. Where was it?”
She pointed to the shelf. “A little too high up for them.”
“They’re not good with anything over waist height.” He cast an apologetic look at the bots. “Sorry. I thought I left it down here.” They chittered in buzzy noises that sounded like retorts.
“What is this thing?” Holly asked, peering at the device.
“Rubbish-recycling unit.” Sam wiped grease from his forehead with the back of his hand. “It’s been acting up. We have three left. Can’t afford to lose this one.”
Holly nodded. “I wanted to thank you for taking the time to give Luv a tune up.”
“She needed it,” Sam said, shrugging. “Long overdue.”
Holly put her hands in her pockets and felt the small plastoid bag for collecting Bean’s messes. “That reminds me of something else I wanted to ask about.”
“What’s that?”
“Cleaning bots. Does the station have any?”
“We do, but they’re all decommissioned.” Sam set down the flow laminator and crossed his arms. “About ten years ago, when the population dropped and I took on more duties, the cleaning bots were one of the things I let go.”
Holly nodded. “I’ve noticed that quite a lot of trash has accumulated in the forest over the years. And, well, animal waste.” She grimaced. “I’ve been cleaning up after Bean, but there’s only so much I can do. The forest needs to be clean to stay healthy.”
