TUELLER: “Thank you Ryo. Your plan got us here. You got us in a room with her. My name couldn’t have done that without you.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “You’ve been far more capable than I’ve given you credit for.”
RYO: “Kind of you to say, Mr.,” he catches himself, “Tueller.” He nods, genuinely appreciatively. “But I don’t think that my part did all that much. I’m . . . so impressed by you.” He then looks at Millie. “Both.”
TUELLER: “Epaphus will also do, if you must call me Mr. Something.”
RYO: “Mr. Epaphus dem lo bin Sol.” He nods again.
TUELLER: “I prefer nicknames, though.”
TUELLER: “No need to go the full mouthful.”
RYO: “It’s actually growing on me.”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head. “I don’t know. It’s too long.”
MILLICENT: “Grandiose.”
RYO: “Precisely!”
RYO: Ryo beams.
Chapter 72
TUELLER: “Can someone please buy me a drink?”
RYO: Ryo stands. “Whatcha having?”
TUELLER: “Well whiskey.”
RYO: Ryo goes to the bar, and orders three whiskeys.
STORY: The bartender thinks you’re hot, Ryo, and gives you a free upgrade to the good stuff. He also gives you a wink.
RYO: Ryo winks back. And leaves a big tip. He returns with the drinks. “To a plan.” He raises a glass.
MILLICENT: “A plan, at last!”
TUELLER: Tueller drinks his whiskey. “Ugh, well whiskey is going to be the roughest part of this entire affair.”
MILLICENT: Millie drinks. Looks twice at the glass.
Chapter 65
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head. “I’m with Noma, I think. We’re locked up. I broke into Tormod’s room and he locked me up. He wants me to look through Nikau’s deck. There’s. There’s a message there for me. And Noma was working with him. He convinced her, I think, not sure how. But then she betrayed him. Don’t know how that happened either. Just. A lot to parse.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods, trying to follow along.
TUELLER: Tueller interrupts “I became king of the Maitri, by the way.”
TUELLER: “I abdicated shortly afterwards. It was a thing.”
Chapter 63
TUELLER: Tueller turns, “My associate just wonders, as friends, if we can ask what the Trirubidium was for?”
TUELLER: “As former inhabitants of Sol, we have a certain curiosity.”
STORY: “You may not.”
STORY: “Thank you for asking.”
JENNY: Jenny nods. “Thank you.”
TUELLER: “May I ask what, if anything, you may share with us if we are able to find the Trirubidium that Proog was unable to provide to you?”
STORY: “My gratitude.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods, “Thank you for your time, your grace. We must leave now; the authorities gave us only 10 minutes to discuss with you. Is there an easier way to reach you than talking our way through the police cordon outside, for our further conversations?”
STORY: The Antaam looks you up and down. “Why would you desire an easier way?”
JENNY: Jenny nods. Under her breath, understanding Thasht a little better, “Ohhhhh.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods, “Indeed, your Grace. Until the next time.”
Chapter 62
ALEJO: Alejo is there, sitting, with a bottle and two glasses. As Tueller walks in, he pours a glass for him and slides it across the table without looking up. Then he pours his own.
ALEJO: “Time for a talk.” He raises the glass.
TUELLER: “I didn’t see what happened, but it looks to me like things got bad and you went off and made them worse. That about right?”
ALEJO: “No,” he takes a modest sip and then a deep breath, collecting himself. “No, what happened is that everyone except Thasht did exactly what I said not to do. Tux wanted to play hero, though he should have never been on a field op. Kahn followed me even though I told him to go back to the ship. You and Millie didn’t leave with the most important item in the fucking galaxy when I told you to.”
ALEJO: “And now Chandra has Millie, Noma, and the deck.”
ALEJO: “Oh, and probably Kahn.” He drinks again.
Chapter 58
MILLICENT: “I’m pretty sure that Tux is about to do something monumentally stupid.”
TUELLER: “Well it is a weekday.”
ALEJO: “’Course he is.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t have any details. I practiced some extreme restraint. He asked me to help him with something, fine, no problem, and not to Alejo, which I, using my extreme restraint balked at. Then he clammed up.”
ALEJO: “Yeah, he’s keeping shit from me too. He’s worried I’m gonna shoot him in the head. Which, sometimes does seem very tempting.” He takes another drink.
TUELLER: “Hey, are you guys exes?”
TUELLER: “You seem like exes.”
TUELLER: “Like, you seem more like exes than Loll and I, and we’re actually exes.”
ALEJO: Alejo shrugs. “I crewed his ship.” The evasion is not lost on anyone.
Chapter 56
STORY: “Your business partner, Sergio Ndrangheta.”
STORY: “I need him.”
TUELLER: Tueller perks up.
TUELLER: “In what sense?”
STORY: “Intact.”
TUELLER: “In what sense intact?”
TUELLER: “He’s already missing a limb.”
STORY: She looks at you patronizingly.
STORY: “He is CJH section chief on the Ark. I can’t simply send A-Sec to pick him up. I need you to bring him to me.”
TUELLER: “I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m asking…do you need him compromised, or just standing in front of you?”
STORY: “He’s already compromised. I simply need him present.”
STORY: “Will you help me?”
TUELLER: “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know our help was ever in question on this.”
TUELLER: “Of course.”
STORY: He makes sure there’s enough space between you two and Millie before lowering his voice conspiratorially. “I want to talk about how you blew it with the doc.”
STORY: “How bad was it?”
ALEJO: Alejo sighs in answer. Then shrugs. “Complicated.”
STORY: Tux throws back his head and laughs. “What isn’t with you?”
ALEJO: “Yeah. I know.”
ALEJO: “I’m trying to reform.”
STORY: “So does that mean…” He points to her and himself, questioning.
SWEET: “He’s asking if you mind if he takes a shot at it, buddy.” Sweet says as he walks past them.
ALEJO: Alejo does a double take as he walks by. “Uhm. I mean. . .” he hesitates. “Sure,” he finally says, unconvincingly.
STORY: Tux tilts his head to you. “That doesn’t sound like enthusiastic consent, Soto.”
ALEJO: “I mean, she’s remarkable. You’re remarkable. So . . .” He swallows. “Makes sense.” He keeps his gaze forward.
STORY: Tux tries to make eye contact with Sweet.
STORY: Pointing between Alejo and Millie, mouthing, “WHAT HAPPENED HERE?”
SWEET: Sweet points at Alejo.
Chapter 53
STORY: Loll turns to face Sweet. “Sweet. I met this man.” She gestures to Tux. “He is ridiculous.”
STORY: “But he is a good man, and this child obviously knows nothing. He needs his father.”
STORY: Erwin, from the corner, “Hey!”
STORY: Loll continues, ignoring him. “I believe you can help Millie. And I will be here to help you when you return.”
SWEET: “Okay.”
SWEET: Sweet’s smile returns like it never went away.
SWEET: “Okay, dear.”
SWEET: His smile is up like a shield and his expression gives nothing more away.
STORY: “Now.”
STORY: “Who can make a hole in your spines?”
Chapter 28
MILLICENT: “So, on the one hand the grell have the capacity to turn a large part of the galaxy into the third act of a horror movie. On the other hand the nahar have imprisoned an entire sentient race, used them to develop their technology, and literally eat them.”
STORY: Zura and Vorlou look at each other, the first time this has happened since you entered the room. They both nod. Vorlou: “More or less, yes.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks to Tueller. “I just want to be clear that solving a moral dilemma of two entire races isn’t what I had in mind when I proposed this job.”
MILLICENT: “This is outside of the scope of our original task and I intend to invoice accordingly.”