Chapter 17

His trip to the infirmary had been quick. After three rounds in the fighting pit, Ferro felt he had worked off enough stress to safely make his way through the rest of shift without biting off the head of someone else. His presence had been a surprise when he stepped into the practice room, but no one had questioned his arrival. They had sized him up and placed their bets. He lost two of out three.

He pinged Riata when he emerged from first aid, but she didn't respond. He wasn't surprised. In the commissary he sat down at an empty table and was joined by others by the time he had taken two bites of his food. One was his roomie, Fatn, who was a bit quiet. She was short and built like a piston, Ferro decided. She had breasts and a butt, but her short legs were thick with muscle as were her arms.

He admitted to meeting the marines in exchange for a description of a brief sighting of his fuck bunny, who couldn't say anything at the time and looked harried. Sitting among Family made the rest of the universe melt away for a little bit of time. When Ferro sat back from his clean plate, he did so with some renewed contentment. He felt at home even if he was cut off from his office.

How life had changed again. He also wanted a mug of kru-berry but he couldn't leave the level. Fatn wasn't willing to run to the bar for a couple of mugs to go, even if he paid for them. She didn't give a reason and before Ferro could try further persuasion, they were forced to surrender their seats to the next wave of diners.

As they stepped into the corridor, his computer pinged with a message. The order instructed him to return to his quarters. Signaling to Fatn because she couldn't have heard him over the crush in the corridor, Ferro made a dash for their apartment.

When he rushed through the door, the first thing he saw was a pile of equipment stacked in the middle of the room. Looking to his left, he noticed the door to his bedroom was closed. Ferro peeked inside his room and watched Riata snore softy, still dressed in her clothes. He quietly approached the bed and gently removed her shoes before retreating back out to the main room.

"Ree's sleeping," Ferro said to explain why he was closing the door. "What's this mess?"

Fatn looked up from behind the kitchen counter. The cooking unit shuddered as she moved it.

"It's your new portable office. According to the instructions, we are supposed to unplug this cooking unit and plug in the power converter from the top of the pile to run the portable drawing board and the security scrambler."

"Do you know how to do that?" Ferro asked.

"It's not rocket science," Fatn said as she grunted. The cooking unit shifted again. "You can come and help me though. This unit is bulky and the space is tight."

Together they wrestled the unit until finally they pulled it away from the wall and partly into the kitchen space. The power connector and its cable had to be disconnected before the unit could be moved far. Fatn climbed over the top of the unit and reached down the back to undo the power coupling.

"Do you like staring at my butt," she called up as she worked to release the coupling.

Ferro was going to deny looking but then decided that lying wasn't worth it.

"It's a fine ass. My guess is that it's Grade A prime ass," Ferro said. "Do you need a hand?"

"A hand I don't need but an adjustable ratchet I do," Fatn said. Ferro pulled the tool from the tool box that had been included in the stack. He had to climb up on the counter and pass the tool down to her while steadying himself with a hand on her butt.

At that moment, Quiyo stepped through the front door, announcing her arrival. She gave the two of them a once over and declared, "Ferro, there is an easier way to get into her pants."

"I know," Ferro said. He turned his attention back to Fatn, holding her hips so that she could lean further forward.

"New toys?" Quiyo called out as she surveyed the pile.

"I'm confined to the Family level for now and this is my new office," Ferro said. "Keep your voice down: Ree is asleep in the other room. She was so tired she fell asleep with her boots on."

"It's decoupled," Fatn said. "Pull me out of here. I hate this feeling of all the blood rushing to my head."

"Happens to Ferro all the time," Quiyo said as she came over and grabbed Fatn's ankles. "Ho! Fatn, dear, you need to lay off the desserts."

Fatn came up from behind the unit and sat on the counter. She patted her thighs. "Put your head between my thighs, Quiyo. Let me show you how a little padding can still crush your skull."

For the first time, Ferro saw how Xerba felt riding herd over him. "Fatn, Quiyo, may we put aside the bone crushing for later and get the digital unit set up."

"Look who is being a good boy and staying on task," Quiyo said.

The three of them grasped the heating unit, twisting and pulling it until it was completely free and able to slide across the floor. Their hands were coated with dust and grease. Ferro, who was pushing from behind, was still trapped between the wall cabinets on one side and the kitchen counter on the other. He climbed over the counter instead of waiting any longer. He pulled out the power converter and snatched up its coupler. The connection was simple.

After the converter showed 100% on its diagnostics panel, Ferro called for the security scrambler and plugged it in. The new digital unit was already sitting on the counter ready for him when he stood back up. Matching all twelve leads from the scrambler to his digital table, Ferro held his breath until the digital unit gave a "happy beep" as he called it, meaning all connections were proper and functioning.

He clambered over the counter, glancing at the screen as the computer ran through its protocols. The two women were already collecting packing materials and stuffing them into an empty container. Combing through the remainder of the packaging looking for a stylus, Ferro couldn't find it. The unit was nearly useless without one.

"Where is it," he grumbled.

"Looking for this?" Quiyo said holding up the stylus. "If you want your pointer, you will have to come and get it." She shoved it down the front of her pants.

Ferro looked at Fatn hoping for a clue of what to do, but she just rolled her eyes. Ferro turned back to Quiyo and the smirk on her face. He knew what he shouldn't do, which was grab the stylus.