We came to her place and she opened the door.
The apartment was completely unfurnished. Looked unlived in. Except for the druggie sitting on the bare metal floor against the wall.
“Hank, this is my brother,” Jyen said, pointing.
I didn’t really care. Yeah it was unusual for someone who was maybe 5’2” with electric blue skin and practically tentacle-like ears to say she was related to a 6-foot lanky man with pale skin, an oddly misshapen face, and from what I could tell under an unkempt mass of scraggly hair, normal-sized ears. But it was simply none of my business.
What was apparent, though, was that all these drugs were for him. If anyone on Belvaille was an addict, it was this guy. His fingernails were long and yellow and almost beastly, and they picked at his uneven face with an insect-like rhythm.
“Where do you want this?” I asked, looking around. But there was no difference between here and there, as there was no furniture. So I just put it on the ground.
The junkie immediately moved closer. He could probably tell what kind of drugs they were just from the sound they made when they were laid on the floor.
“Jyonal, this is Hank. He’s the one who’s helping us,” Jyen said somewhat maternally.
I wasn’t sure how much I was “helping” them, unless they had an incalculable fear of living long lives and being aware of their surroundings.
“So,” I began uneasily, “I’ve got these notes on the drugs.”
Jyonal scurried over and untied the sheets with his skinny fingers. He spread out the drugs and his mouth opened in what approximated awe. He brushed his hands over them, turning this and that, lifting some, smelling others. It was almost animalistic.
He then grabbed one that particularly caught his eye. He looked at me and reached out and took my hand in his. I don’t have much of a sense of touch in my palms, but his skin felt rough and flaky. He then sprinted out of sight into one of the other rooms.
“Yeah. So about the payment and such. I didn’t make the time we agreed on, I know. And I didn’t quite—”
“Are there really Dredel Led on the station?” Jyen interrupted.
“What? Uh, yes. I mean I didn’t see them personally, but I saw a video. We have people looking for them.”
“Have they ever been here before?”
“Not to my knowledge. I mean, I don’t think they’ve been anywhere in Colmarian space, right? Not for a long time. But about the drugs.”
She looked down at the pile for the first time.
“We said twenty thousand? Or was it thirty?”
I didn’t know if she was testing me or was really this forgetful about money. But that seemed unlikely. No one is that absentminded. Not about credits.
“It’s ten thousand. I didn’t get it to you in 24 hours. Not even sure if it was 48 hours, I’ve been on a weird schedule lately, what with the robots and all.”
“Oh,” she said casually, like she was perfectly okay with giving me thirty grand for this mess of drugs she didn’t ask for.
“So then ten thousand?” She walked to a neat little section of belongings at the other side of the room and took out her tele.
“Actually, it’s just three thousand. I still have seven left over from buying.”
I don’t know. Maybe she needs the money more than me. For upcoming funeral expenses if nothing else. Or to buy a chair for this apartment.
Jyen looked back at me with an inscrutable expression. She started to beam me the credits when the building began to shake.
This was a space station. With metal buildings. Protected by all manner of shielding and engineering wizardry. Nothing shook here. Ever.
“Hey! Did you feel that?” I asked.
It was a completely foreign sensation, like being incredibly drunk yet with a clear head. And then I looked at the walls and they were bending. Warping, but not shattering or cracking like logic said they should. Maybe I didn’t have a clear head.
My first thought was that the Dredel Led were doing something. But when I saw the walls, I figured that some drugs must have somehow seeped into me or I had accidentally inhaled their fumes. Who knows what broke apart or came undone while I was carrying them? But I felt fine. I could see normally. My skull, when I shook it, did not feel clouded. I wished I had paid more attention to Grever’s drug talk so I could ascertain what I had absorbed.
And just as abruptly as the swaying and shaking started, it was over. Completely. I patted the cold metal wall next to me and it was as solid as ever.
I looked down at the drugs and they were still there. But Jyen was gone. Was I high? Had I simply imagined a blue lady, and if so, what was the psychological significance of me giving her such oversized ears?