Sparks in Cosmic Dust by Robert Appleton Page A

Suck-baits out here dealt in practical machines and obedient beasts of burden. Perhaps the mare had been shipped around between colonies so much, been dealt a brutal, impatient hand so often, they’d hammered this space dizziness into her. Maybe they were disposing of her because she had no practical use and they had no idea of her true value—a few hundred thousand clips, if she was unmodified.
    “How much do you want for her?” Varinia gripped her credit purse and held her breath.
    “Come again, darlin’? You say you want her?”
    “Uh-huh. How much?”
    “Good Lord…let see, we paid four thousand. You can have her for two. By all means, she’s yours for two.”
    She felt like screaming for joy. Her very own mare, rescued from oblivion, and for a bargain. This expedition was suddenly the most exciting prospect she’d encountered since her arrival years ago at Pont de Rêves, the Selene finals resort. There was treasure waiting to be gathered, a new world to be explored, a gorgeous man to make love to, and now this—her own legendary horse to ride into the sunset. To hell with what the others said. She’d pay out of her own hard-earned money and they’d have to like it.
    “Done,” she said. “I’ll take ten months’ worth of food as well. Can you ship her over to flop-port J with the rest?”
    “Sure thing, darlin’. Just pay my man on your way out an’ he’ll arrange everything.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Safe journey, darlin’.”
    Varinia sprouted a grin she couldn’t conceal. If only he knew…
     
    “You, come with me.” Grace yanked Varinia’s dirty mack. The old woman panted, out of breath, but it didn’t stop her jogging back along the empty street she’d already traversed at an impressive clip to reach Varinia.
    “What’s this about?” Varinia winced as her second-hand shit-kickers rubbed the skin off her heel. Solomon had bought them for her after fleeing El Oso Negro, but this was the first time she’d run in them.
    “Your alter-ego is on the wanted list,” Grace explained.
    “Excuse me?”
    “Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t matter to me what you’ve done, but I’ll not have my intelligence insulted. Quick, up the side alley. This is a shortcut.”
    “ Wait. ” The bastard boots were killing her. She wrenched the magno-laces free and tore the boots off, flinging them with venom at alien graffiti on the alley wall. “So what do you know about it?”
    “That you’re wanted in a bad way, and we need to leave right now.”
    Shit. That’ll be Arch and his heavies. Not much time left.
    The inner airlock doors were shut when they reached the loading bay. Three figures wearing spacesuits stood on the opposite side of the glass, waiting for the outer doors to close and the airlock to re-pressurize. Only three trolleys remained in the bay—one holding the pots, pans and camping gear, another stacked with freight cubes containing the animals Varinia had just bought, and the third, her last-minute equestrian purchase, of which her crewmates knew nothing. The corral guys had delivered right away, in under twenty minutes. Impressive.
    “What’s in the big one?” Grace approached the cargo.
    Varinia responded hurriedly, “A little something I bought to cheer myself up. Don’t worry, I didn’t use our clips, I used my own.”
    “Yeah? Holding out on us, Dixie? I knew your man was lying when he said three thousand.”
    “What of it?”
    “Nothing. Like I told Clay, as long as you’ve bought a stake, you’ll have a cot on this ship. We’re partners from now until we return. All of us.”
    The doors whooshed open and Solomon, Clay and Lyssa took their helmets off and puffed with exhaustion. It had been hot work in the suits—their brows glistened and Lyssa’s face was covered in pink and white splodges. Varinia started toward Solomon when a clear voice rang out behind her, from the alley she’d just taken. It made her jump.
    “You ladies must be late for something. I fetched