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W e headed to Frank’s to compare notes and see if we could get a few more dossiers read before I needed to leave for dinner. I’d been overambitious to think we’d get them all done today, but I hadn’t realized how detailed some of them were.

I checked my wristband, thinking there might be a message from Hazel, some kind of update on the dead guard, but so far, nothing. I knew those things took time, but explain that to my patience.

Frank pressed his hand to the printlock, and the door opened. “Is it odd that the dossier I most want to read is Waan’s?”

I snorted as we went inside. “I’d like to read that, too. I bet she was some kind of army sergeant or something. She gives off that vibe anyway.”

“You never know.”

Gracie flew to Frank, landing on his shoulder and nuzzling her head against his. He gave her a scratch.

We went back to our spots, him in his office, me on the couch, from which Harry had apparently not moved, and returned to our work of reading the dossiers.

We’d agreed that we couldn’t afford to skip anyone, regardless of who we thought our main suspects were. I got the feeling that nothing was as it seemed in this case.

I read until nearly six, getting through another eight dossiers. No one I’d come across seemed like a possible suspect. I finished the file I was on, got up, and went into the office to see how Frank was getting on. I was going to have to leave soon.

Frank looked up. “Nearly time for dinner, huh?”

I nodded and leaned on the edge of his desk. “You want to come with me? The girls won’t mind.”

“I’m sure they’d be gracious about it, but I have no doubt it’s you they want.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just going to grab something quick, then come back here.”

“How many did you get through?”

“This one will make eleven. A couple of them were short. How late do you want to work tonight?”

“I don’t know. I’d love to get through half of the dossiers.”

He leaned back in his chair. “There were three hundred and forty people at that gala.”

“I know. I’m an overachiever.” And I seriously wanted an answer.

He smiled and got to his feet, coming around the desk to pull me into his arms. “I know you’re worried about Hazel. I am, too. Worried about both of you. We’ll get through as many of these as we can tonight and finish the rest tomorrow. We will figure this out, Els.”

I nodded, feeling very much unsettled. “I really would like to speak to Fathia tomorrow. I’m going to message Hazel about it, see what she thinks.”

“You want to talk to Fathia alone?”

“No, I’d like both of us to go. You might catch something I don’t.”

“She might be more inclined to talk to just you. Although maybe I could speak with the premier.” He snorted. “What are the odds of us actually getting to interview them?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll see what Hazel says.”

He glanced at the time. “You’d better go. You can fill me in on what Vashti has to say when you get back.”

I kissed him. “Will do. See you in an hour or so.”

“No rush. Enjoy your meal.”

Harry and I went home. I carried him, as he was sleepy, which sometimes meant his battery was running low. I didn’t think that was the case, as compdroids could usually run two to three days without recharging, and Harry charged himself all the time. More likely he was just being lazy.

I didn’t mind. Except that he was a bit of a chunk. Good thing I’d been working out lately. Once inside our quarters, I deposited him on the couch, then sat next to him and pulled up my holoscreen and called Hazel. If it wasn’t a good time, she’d let it go to voicemail.

Her face appeared. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hi. Is now a good time?”

“Yes. Did you find out anything new?”

I sighed. “No, sorry. We’re still going through the dossiers. Anything new on Navun?”

“Not yet, but I’ve told the coroner to expedite things.”

“What are the odds that I’d be able to talk to Fathia Hanth tomorrow? And that Frank could speak with the premier?”

She frowned. “Do you really think they’re involved?”

“Well … we think it’s possible that Fathia might be more than Dr. Saetang’s patron. She was at the lab when Frank and I paid him a visit, and they were in a pretty intense conversation.”

“Interesting. Let me see what I can do. It’s not exactly protocol for visiting dignitaries to grant an audience to members of the general population, even if you are special envoys.” She smiled, but it didn’t last long.

“I don’t want to put you in an awkward position.”

“Things are already awkward.” She shook her head, stress lines deepening across her forehead. “I wish I could get a bead on whether or not this is some kind of setup.”

“Maybe asking if Frank and I can talk to them would be a way to make that determination.”

“How?”

“I’m just saying we might be able to suss out their intent by speaking to them, see if they give anything away.”

“It’s worth a shot. I’ll do my best to get you an audience with them.”

“Great. Oh, also, we talked to Ayronina today.”

Hazel’s brows lifted. “You did?”

I nodded and filled her in on how that went.

She laughed when I told her about Waan. “Yes, I met her when they boarded. She’s something.”

“That’s a word for her. Listen, I have to run to dinner, but let me know as soon as you can about the premier and his wife.”

“I will. Thanks for all this, Mom. I really appreciate it.”

I smiled at my beautiful daughter. “I know you do. Talk soon.”

Thankfully, I didn’t need to change. I hustled to dinner. Tonight’s choices were chicken pot pie or veggie pot pie. I went with chicken, obviously, and got a little side salad to go with it. Everyone was at the table except Benni.

I sat by Zanya. “How was your day?”

“Wonderful,” she said. “I went to the spa so I could swim in the pool, then spent time in one of the saunas. I feel like a new woman.”

“Good for you.” I looked at Vashti. “How about you?”

She rolled her eyes. “My day wasn’t nearly that good. I sorted laundry, cleaned, and organized my office.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That’s too much work for a Saturday.”

“Tell me about it. Tomorrow, I am doing nothing but reading and catching up on my shows.”

“Perfect.” I cut into the chicken pot pie’s flaky crust, letting out some of the steam so it could cool off.

“How about you?” Zanya nudged me. “Did you and Frank hang out today?”

“We did, but it was sort of work-related.”

“How?” Vashti asked.

Benni arrived before I could answer, setting her tray next to Vashti’s. She’d gotten the chicken pot pie with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy and had already picked up a piece of chocolate layer cake from the dessert selections. Benni could afford to eat like that. She burned a tremendous amount of calories in her job as an EMS, or Exterior Maintenance Specialist.

She was one of only six people on the entire starliner who made regular trips outside the ship, and the reason she did that was because she and her partner, Will, ran maintenance on a large section of solar collection panels on the hull.

“Hey, guys. What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet,” Vashti said. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah. Will and I hiked the Grand Canyon for two hours on Simdeck 9 today. It was incredible.”

Zanya shook her head. “I don’t know how you find the energy.”

“Gotta stay fit,” Benni said, forking up a big mouthful of mashed potatoes dripping with gravy. “Kind of part of my job’s requirements.”

“That it is,” I agreed.

Vashti made eye contact with me. “You and Frank kind of disappeared from the gala. Although not before you spent a little time on the dance floor, I noticed.”

I smiled. “He’s a good dancer. That was fun. But, yes, we did leave early.” I took another bite before asking her the big questions. “Did you see anything odd at the gala? Overhear anything strange?”

Vashti’s brows bent. “Like what?”

I shrugged. “Like anything.”

“Other than the lights going out, you mean?”

“The lights went out?” Benni asked.

Zanya nodded. “It’s been all over the Nexus.”

“Has it?” Benni dug into her mashed potatoes. “I’m hardly ever on there.”

I needed to have a look at the Nexus again, see if there was anything valuable there. Never knew when someone might say something they weren’t supposed to.

Vashti shook her head. “Nothing other than that, really. Dr. Saetang left early. Is that something? I think his assistant stayed until it was officially over. She’s a big Ayronina fan, apparently.”

“Lots of people are,” Benni said. “I don’t get it. All that pop music sounds the same to me.”

“She didn’t just sing pop stuff,” I said, not quite sure why I was defending Ayronina. “But I hear what you’re saying.”

Vashti wasn’t so ready to give up on the question, though. “Why did you ask about the gala? What happened?”

There was no point in keeping it from them. They’d hear something eventually, and I’d rather they were listening for any tidbits we could use. “Okay, you have to keep this quiet, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

I paused to choose my words. I couldn’t tell them the Star had gone missing. That was definitely restricted information. I did my best to be vague. “Something very valuable was stolen that night. And now, someone who is believed to have been involved has been murdered.”

Zanya and Vashti gasped. Benni, who had a mouthful of chicken pot pie, shook her head slowly in disbelief.

Vashti leaned in. “What was stolen?”

“I can’t say. I’m sorry. It’s not something I can share at this time.” As much as I wanted to tell them about Frank and me being made special envoys, I kept that to myself, too. That felt like it would be a dead giveaway that the premier was involved.

“Are you helping to investigate this?” Zanya asked.

“I am. Frank, too. We were there and sort of indirectly involved, so…”

Benni swallowed. “How were you involved?”

“Frank was the one who got the lights back on.”

“Good for him,” Benni said. “Can’t go wrong with a mech.”

I smiled as I forked up a bite of salad. “No, you can’t. Anyway, if you guys will keep an ear out, let me know if you hear of anything odd or whatever, I’d really appreciate this.” I ate my food, my mind going back to Hazel. “This incident might not be so good for Hazel.”

“Oh, no,” Vashti said. She reached over and put her hand on mine. “You need anything, you just let us know. And you bet we’ll keep our ears and our eyes open.”

Zanya nodded, putting her hand on top of Vashti’s. Benni added hers as well. “You know we’ve got your back. And Hazel’s.”

“Thanks.” I wished I could tell them the truth, but until Hazel said it was okay to share, I wasn’t saying anything.

The conversation shifted to what we were all doing tomorrow. The most I could say was I would still be working on the case with Frank.

Dinner done, Zanya and Vashti went up to get dessert, but my heart was too heavy with thoughts of Hazel to indulge. I could always have something later.

Benni went to work on her chocolate cake. “There’s more to this, isn’t there?”

I nodded. “There is. But I can’t say.”

“I know. And I’m not asking. But if things get heavy and you need someone to lean on somebody, you know I’m your girl, right?”

I smiled. “Thanks, Benni. I appreciate that. But Frank was a Space Marine, so if we need to rough somebody up, he can probably handle it.”

“I’m sure he can. But sometimes you need a woman’s touch. That’s all I’m saying.” Benni punctuated her words with a jab of her fork. “Especially if that little singer’s involved.”

I frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Benni licked a dollop of fudgy icing off her fork. “I don’t like her. I saw her through the window of her suite two days ago when I was cleaning those panels. Must have been right after she got on board. People never think anyone’s going to see them from the outside.”

“No, they don’t.” I certainly didn’t.

“She has some woman that looks after her, right?”

“Big woman? Gray hair in a tiny knot? Looks like she eats nails for breakfast?”

“That’s the one. Anyway, that little girl was yelling at the older woman, pointing and gesturing and, from the looks of things, having a regular old temper tantrum. Looked like a spoiled brat to me.”

“Is that so?”

Benni nudged another bite of cake onto her fork. “Yep. I can guarantee you she doesn’t act like that in front of her fans, who probably all think she’s some kind of magical fairy princess made of sugar and rainbows.” She snorted. “I bet her voice is synthesized. She might have even had a synth implant. Wouldn’t that be something if it got out?”

“It would be,” I said. And suddenly I was wondering what else Ayronina didn’t want anyone to know.