SL Huang - Up and Coming - Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

The silver-haired woman at the head of the table must have sensed her discomfort. “Please, come sit next to me,” she said, gesturing to the two empty chairs to her left. “You have to excuse us. It’s been so long since we’ve had visitors.” The woman’s dark eyes darted a silent scolding to the others at the table, and then went pleasantly back to Tia and Kay.

The message made clear, the others began to smile and nod.

The woman gestured for Kay to take the seat to her left.

“Thank you,” Kay said.

Tia nodded as well. She waited behind the second chair for the others to retake their seats. Bill stood next to the woman across from her, and when her eyes met his, she caught his subtle wink and nod, a signal to go ahead and sit. When Tia lowered herself into the chair, the others sat and resumed their conversations. The waft of humanity allowed Tia to breathe a bit easier. She was accustomed to formal dinners, but felt uncomfortable because she and Kay essentially forced their invitation by what her mother would have called ‘dropping in unannounced.’ In the back of her mind, her mother and a long list of nannies were making that face between a frown and a smile.

At least Kay was by her side.

Tia may have been raised at these tables, but Kay was far more at ease. After they were seated, Kay placed her right hand onto the hand of the silver-haired woman. “Thank you so much for the hospitality,” she said in a calm, soothing tone. “Your house is so beautiful.”

“Oh, the—” the woman began to say, obviously taken by Kay.

“The room is wonderful,” Kay said, “the bath is wonderful.”

The woman appeared, not surprised, but curious, and elated at once. Kay could do that to people, Tia thought. Put them under a spell.

Kay continued, “And we’re especially grateful that you let us in without knowing us.”

Tia placed her hand on Kay’s thigh.

Kay’s head pivoted around to catch Tia’s waiting smile. “Thank you for helping us,” Kay finished softly.

Tia thought the woman’s dark eyes were about to tear. The woman was had clearly been handsome in her youth, and though the hair that must have once been raven black was now silver, her elegance remained. She gazed at Kay for a long moment and then smiled again, slid her hand out from under, and then patted the top of Kay’s. “You’re quite welcome,” she said. “My name is Allegra. Allegra Acardi. To my right is Connie Cortez, Susan Chan. You’ve met Bill. Next to him are Monica Wynn, and at the end of the table is Hector Vazquez. Across from him is Quentin Mills, Zaynah Ahmad, Walter Cain—”

“Doctor Cain, if you please,” the gaunt, grey-haired man abruptly said.

The woman next to Tia leaned into her and, in a tone mocking Doctor Cain said, “We’re all doctors here. I am Doctor Fukai, but please,” she smiled widely, “call me Emma.”

“Doctor Cain stands on tradition,” added Bill, “and we give him that. The rest of us are a bit more casual. Imagine how monotonous it would be if we all greeted each other on this small island as Doctor.” His eyes darted to Allegra. “Would you agree, Doctor?”

Kay let free a giggle, infecting the others around Tia—Connie, Susan, and Emma. Allegra kept decorum, and Tia and Kay composed themselves to follow their host’s lead.

“You’re all doctors,” Tia said. “So this is not a resort?”

“Oh, no,” Allegra said. “This is a research station, and as I said before, we don’t receive that many visitors.”

“I apologize that we came unannounced.” There, Tia said it, though Kay already thanked them, the weight was heavy.

“Almost met you with a missile,” Doctor Cain said.

“Oh.” Tia was unable to hide the alarm on her face.

Allegra frowned. “We’ve been monitoring your transponder since early this morning. We thought you might be coming to investigate the issues we’ve been having with one of the turbines.”

“We saw one of the turbines was stalled when we arrived, but we didn’t see them on the geocom.”

“You wouldn’t have seen them. We keep the turbines masked from the geocom to avoid attracting scavengers, and only a few restricted Elleron systems monitor their performance.”

“And ours was not one of those,” Kay said.

“Yet you were in an Elleron craft. Caught us off guard. Initially we were confused as to why a repair craft wasn’t announced, or a shuttle flown in, and then when we saw your speed and realized that you weren’t a repair corvette, we thought you might be—” Allegra raised her brow.

“A scavenger corsair,” Tia said. “Yes, I apologize. I do see the confusion now. You see, we didn’t realize you were even here.”

Kay shook her head. “I don’t understand the confusion. You thought we were a repair ship because of our transponder?”

“Our boat’s transponder and our geocom are in the company’s name,” explained Tia. “We appear on geocom as an Elleron craft. Scavengers use sailing corsairs to go undetected in open water and often use stolen transponders to get near an occupied area.”

“You’re lucky our defense system didn’t kick in,” Doctor Cain muttered, “you shouldn’t be out so far.”

“Again, we’re sorry,” Tia said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

Allegra peered bitterly toward Doctor Cain, and then said kindly, “To have you and your friend here, even by happenstance, Miss Elleron, is a treat for us all.”

Bill raised his glass of wine. “Hear, hear. To new friends.”

The others raised their glasses, waited for Tia and Kay to do the same, and then a cascade of “Cheers” rounded the table.

“This is lovely,” Tia said, and sipped more red wine from her glass.

“Thank you,” Hector said from the end of the table. “I grow the grapes myself, on the south slope.”

Kay added, “It’s different than any wine I’ve ever tasted. The aromas are lovely. The bouquet is fascinating.”

“Be careful,” Connie said. “If you encourage him, he will be forced to tell you that it’s the soil carried on the wind from Africa.” She moved her right hand slowly across her plate, fluttering her fingers.

Kay lifted her glass to see into the wine. “That’s what adds that dirt pie aftertaste.” And Tia was certain she meant it.

Susan held her forearm at forty-five degrees. “If you ask, he’ll tell you it’s the angle of the south slope that adds the hint of fruit.”

Tia sipped from her glass again. She tasted the soil she did not notice before. She was raised around fine wine yet only could tell the difference by color. Her Kay was a self-taught connoisseur, an autodidact in all things.

“I think it’s great you make your own wine,” Kay said. “You’d be challenged to find any real wine at the university. We only have cheap sake at best.”

Hector shrugged. “We are rather self-sufficient here. My colleagues are right, though, I know everything about Connie’s kumquats, and she in turn knows the secrets of my vines.”

“Well, I still think this is nice.”

“Then you won’t be disappointed here,” Doctor Cain said. “Perhaps Miss Elleron can tell us what she and her friend are doing so far out. With the current weather, this is a two-day sail from New Miami. Not a very safe distance with scavengers about, and the storm.”

“A pleasure cruise, really,” Tia said. “The storm was supposed to be going out, and I didn’t think about scavengers.”

Three syns, Model Seven servers, smaller and more petite in design than Sebastian, entered from the side of the dining room. They each carried a covered serving tray. In unison, they placed the trays on the table, removed the lids, and began to serve.

“Though we still take the necessary precautions, scavengers haven’t been seen in these parts in years,” Allegra said. “But the storm is a real concern. I’m afraid you’ll be our guests for the next few days.”