Page 86 of Mongrels United
She applied a gro-patch and sealed the edges, her heart working too fast. While Clip issued a standard analgesic and water for Nash to take, Grady took a shower, trying to shake off everything she had seen in the forest, and in the buried lab. She had climbed down into the dark belly of theEndurance. Literally. That it even existed still astonished her.
How little she knew of the ship for which she had worked all her adult life!
But she had to be a serene Chief of Staff and friend to the Mongrels, now.
Grady dressed carefully—casual clothes, but nottoocasual. A little bit dressed up, to show she cared about the game. While she dressed and put on light makeup, Nash ran a shower cycle and limped around the bedroom, printing new pants and a clean shirt.
Jack and her interrogators would, by now, be at work sweating the prisoners they’d pulled out of the lab. They needed to extract the names of the people who owned the lab, as swiftly as possible, before those people learned the lab had been raided. For Jack, there would be no happy tankball grand final.
When they were ready, Grady moved into the main room and over to the printer. She printed a large meal for both of them, raiding Nash’s favorites files. She arranged the dishes on the little table, while Nash settled himself carefully on his chair.
Grady ate mechanically and only because she should, not because she was hungry. “It will be hard, trying to enjoy the game, knowing what Jack and her people will be doing.”
“You have to look like you’re having fun,” Nash said. “Or the wrong people will notice.”
Grady nodded. She was glad, now, that for the entire season, she had not jumped up and down and bounced around in her seat or screamed and gestured. She had clapped often and smiled. It wouldn’t look odd if she did little more than that, tonight.
She moved her curry around on the plate, unable to eat another bite. What was wrong with her? She should be pleased that the Bellish lab had been found, that the men working in it had been apprehended, and that with only a bit more work, the entire Bellish business on the ship would be over and done with. She would ensure the Bellish was really, truly gone, this time. She would have all the records of the formula destroyed. She would have Jack and her squad go through the ship from top to bottom, searching out the very last of the Bellish and destroying it, even if it meant upsetting a few people who didn’t want their apartments searched.
So why wasn’t she deeply satisfied that this affair was drawing to a close?
Grady looked up at Nash. He was staring at his own plate, possibly trying to bring himself to eat, too.
She traced the corner of his jaw, the corner she liked to kiss.
A deep chill settled over her as she realized what was gnawing at her. The Bellish business was nearly ended. Did that mean she and Nash were, too? He’d never spoken of anything permanent, or even long term. They’d come together under the circumstances. It didn’t matter that they fit together well. That Nash had turned out to be a different man entirely from the one who’d propositioned her in the Field of Mars alley.
He’d never followed up on the public date they’d agreed to, after the first disastrous attempt. He’d made none of the changes that would, as he had said, let him be with Grady in a way that wouldn’t damage her and her career.
Had he just been saying what she wanted to hear? Siran Carpenter’s sarcastic question about whether she had fallen for an ages-old empty promise returned to her.
Grady lurched to her feet, picked up the plate and utensils and took them to the recycling maw and shoved them in almost violently.
How could she doubt Nash? Everyone else had done that to him all his life.
But…
Grady used the printer panel to call a taxiboat, then pulled on her jacket, while Nash watched her from the table. He still hadn’t spoken.
She held her jacket fronts together. “I guess I’ll see you in the owners’ box.”
“I’ll be at the arena, yes,” Nash said. “I have to be,” he added grimly.
Grady hovered, torn. She wanted to grab him, shake him and demand to know what he was thinking, what he really wanted from her. At the same time, her pride demanded she walk out with her chin up.
She settled for stoic, instead. She turned and trudged out of the apartment and out to the landing pad, to wait for the taxi. She couldn’t put her chin in the air. But she didn’t look back, either.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Grady thought she would arrive early for the game, but she hadn’t allowed for the congestion around the arena. Most of the partygoers had remained in the Aventine, still drinking and dancing. Big screen emitters had been set up around the open market area, so those without tickets for the arena could watch the game there.
There was a line up at the public printers, as people printed off temporary seats to use for the game. The food printers were busy, too. Some of the stall owners who sold prepared food and drinks had re-opened after the official business of the party had ended and were doing a brisk business, too.
Those wandering about, looking for food or drinks or seats, or something else, were stopping and talking to others, too.
There was a holiday air about the Aventine, with people lingering, laughing and talking. It struck Grady that no one looked furtive or afraid for their own safety, even though the evening was about to arrive, and the lower lights and petty crimes with it. There were too many people here for the criminals to single out lone victims.
Around the arena itself and especially near the wide doors into the concourse, everyone came together in a thick soup that was near impossible to simply walk through. Grady found herself standing with everyone else, stepping forward a pace at a time and edging toward the doors. She could see just inside the doors that arena security were watching as everyone scanned their tickets, looking for jumpers. But even security guards looked like they were enjoying themselves. They were chatting with people as they passed through the arches, and sometimes giving them directions, and answering their questions.
