Any further consideration of Mace and their potential dynamics crashed and cratered the moment she saw the interiorof the club. She clung to his hand to steady herself as vertigo struck.
It only lasted a moment, and once it passed, she understood immediately why it had happened. The club washuge. No, she corrected herself a second later. It only looked that way. The entire space was set up like an optical illusion, and it was beautiful.
The club had a circular layout, with a stage set against the wall farthest from the door. The entire ceiling had been transformed into what looked like an open sky at sunset. That’s what had triggered her dizziness. Tish had never visited a planet. She was used to the enclosed spaces of a station. While she’d spent hundreds of hours in the void, she’d always had time to prepare for the emptiness.
This place had caught her off guard.
Mace must have understood because he stood patiently as she gawked at the unexpected interior. The walls had been made to look like black marble shot through with silver. Archways in the stone appeared to look out over the same vista as the sky, adding to the sense that she was inside an open space.
“You could have warned me,” she whispered once she had her bearings.
Mace’s tone was apologetic, and his expression was tinged with concern. “Sorry. I didn’t think about it from your perspective. You’ve spent your whole life indoors. You’ve never experienced this, even if it isn’t real.”
“I haven’t,” she admitted and squeezed his hand. “But it’s beautiful. Really. I was just caught off guard.”
“Are you ready to see the rest?” he asked.
Tish nodded. “Definitely.”
He led her deeper into the room, and she saw what he meant. This was nothing like any place she’d ever seen. Instead of a single, flat area with tables, both sides had a series of terracesthat ascended the walls gradually. Each tier was wide enough for a table and four chairs, all placed so that the occupants could see the stage.
“I’ve never seen it set up for a bigger space, but apparently the walls at the back are retractable, which allows for more seating. If the tables are cleared away and we add in more chairs, this place can hold nearly one thousand patrons.”
She caught the note of pride in his voice and smiled. She knew that feeling. Or she’d known it once, back when she worked in the family business. It told her more about this place than any description. This was the kind of place that generated loyalty, not only from its customers but also from its employees. More importantly, she hadn’t heard Mace talk about his job as a bounty hunter that way.
He led her to a table on the first terrace, not far from the door. From there, she had a clear view of the entire room, including the stage and the bar area. The floor and the bar were both covered in more of the black and silver marble, but the space between the floor tiles glowed. That would make it much easier to move around once the lights dimmed.
“This is wonderful,” she said once they were seated. He’d pulled out her chair before claiming the one beside it so they both were facing the stage.
“I have to confess, I was a little worried this place would be more like the Nova Club,” she said.
Mace looked at her in surprise. “You’ve been there?”
“Me? No. The pilot of the ship that brought me here recommended it. He said the food was amazing and the cyborgs who ran it were local legends.”
“He’s right about both those things. It’s also not somewhere I’d send a female on her own. That place can get a little rough.”
“That’s what I thought, too. Plus, there’s always a long lineup waiting to get in. You know how I feel about crowds. Do they really have cage fights? Or was Thrash making that up?”
Mace’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Thrash? That sounds like a cyborg name.”
“It is. Well, it was his name, and he was a cyborg. He’s from a colony called Haven. And you didn’t answer my question. Do they really host fights?” Thrash had told her that if she needed help, she should find the owners of the Nova Club and ask. That didn’t fit with the kind of beings she expected to host cage fights.
“They do. But it’s not what you think. Most of it is for show. The fighters all train together, and a lot of them are friends—or at least, they’re friendly. It’s real, but injuries are rare and the club pays well. They’re a lot better than most of the places that offer that kind of entertainment.”
Tish cocked her head, intrigued. “You sound like you’re familiar with that kind of place.”
Mace ignored her question and pointed to a symbol embedded in the table. “You’ll want to scan that and then put in an order. Or I can order for both of us if you like?”
“I’ll happily eat anything they serve. Oh, do they have something calledsheka? I’ve seen vendors selling it on the promenade. It smells incredible, but I’ve never tried it.”
He shook his head. “That’s Pheran street food, which we don’t serve a lot of. Sorry. Another night, we’ll hit the promenade and find it for you.”
That sounded like another date, and she was happy to agree.
“I’d like that.” Then she circled back to the topic he’d avoided. “Did you ever do that kind of work? Fighting?”
His lips twitched into a lopsided grin that only appeared for a moment. “You’re persistent.”
