"Do I get shore leave here or am I confined to the ship?" Clark asked.

"Think you can keep him out of trouble, Jasyn?" I asked as I made note of the engine readings.

"More fun to see what trouble I can get him into."

"Why do I suddenly feel very nervous?" Clark asked.

"Ready to go?" Jasyn gave him her dazzling smile.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

I set the engine levels where I wanted them, after calling port authority to warn them I was doing some minor repairs. It wasn't enough to cause problems unless someone walked too close to the ship. I needed the engines hot in order to check the valve and pump.

I crawled into the engine and found the faulty pump. It only needed a bit of oil. The valve was a different problem. I shut the engines down and pulled it apart. The membrane had given out, not surprising considering how old the valve had to be. I found a replacement sheet of membrane and made a new filter for the valve.

I finished faster than I expected. Jasyn was back with the buyer for the ceramics. Clark helped shift the crates. I walked out to watch, wiping grease off my hands onto a rag.

Ytirus had a very pleasant climate, not surprising since it was all artificially maintained. The air was warm, balmy. A gentle breeze teased my hair.

The buyer for the ceramics was a small intense woman who watched every crate closely as Clark shifted them out of the hold. She attached a small maglev unit to each one to move them into the back of a large ground truck. Jasyn stood by with a clipboard and checked crate numbers as they were unloaded. Clark seemed to enjoy working his muscles, so I went back inside. I did make a note to look into buying a couple of the little maglev units the buyer had. They would come in handy.

The cargo was unloaded by the time the sun set. Clark shifted the rest back into balance and closed up the hatch. Jasyn brought in the credit slip. I was tempted to sign a contract with Juntis Shoot, except he was located a bit too close to people who wanted my head. Jasyn spent a few minutes updating our account.

"We're in the black, Dace," she said. "Including the amount I still owe Lady Rina. I also found a buyer for some of the jewelry in the small cargo hold. She wasn't very interested in more than a few to try. Good thing since we'd have to go back to Tebros to get more."

I remembered the fluttery butterfly necklace. I'd forgotten it after the excitement on Shamustel. I ducked into my cabin and pulled it out. "What do you think of this?" I let the necklace float near Jasyn. The strands of gold caught the light, thin traces of sparkle in the air. The creature fluttered its lavender wings and looked almost alive.

"It's absolutely marvelous." Jasyn took it gently and watched it float and flutter in the air. "Where did you get it?"

"A jewelry shop on Shamustel was full of them. The owner gave me one, I'm not quite sure why, except I said they were incredible." I watched the wings flutter. Something about the woman who made them tugged at my mind. Some detail that connected to something else I couldn't place.

"We have to go back to Shamustel." Her breath made it float higher, wings trembling.

"They won't let us land."

"Then I'll talk to them."

"What's for dinner?" Clark asked from the doorway. He looked tired and sweaty.

Jasyn stood, the necklace floating in her hands. "Let's celebrate. Ytirus has some very good restaurants. And we can afford it. I know exactly what you should wear, Dace."

"A nice clean shipsuit," I said.

Her smile grew teeth. She pulled me into my cabin.

"Wear this." She handed me the imitation Partha silk dress. Clouds of red, orange, yellow, and gold spilled from my hands.

"I can't wear this."

"You can and you will," she said. "I'll let you wear those new boots I bought you on Viya with it. You probably don't own any other shoes."

"You'll let me?"

She didn't bother to answer. She left and I knew that if I didn't wear the dress, she would be upset with me and that would make life very uncomfortable for the foreseeable future. I put the dress on.

It slithered around me, soft and slippery and utterly unlike anything I'd ever worn before. The skirt was layer upon layer of gossamer fine pieces that fluttered and shifted with every movement, a lot like the necklace I'd given Jasyn. The bodice was tight fitting, the sleeves more fluttering bits. It covered me, but in such a way that I was very aware of my curves underneath. I took the comb to my hair, determined to tame it. For once, it went where I combed it. I stared at myself in the tiny mirror of my bathroom and watched a stranger with my eyes look back. I looked down at the dress and lost what little courage I had to wear it in public. I looked like a woman. It was too much change. I reached for the fasteners. I'd wear something else, something that hid a bit more.

"You take that off and you'll regret it," Jasyn said from the doorway.

I turned around slowly. She looked me up and down and nodded approvingly. Blue, purple, lavender and pale pink fluttered around her bare legs. She wore shoes that were little more than jeweled straps. The necklace floated around her neck. Her hair was twisted up in an elegant looking knot.

She handed me my boots and watched as I pulled them on. I still wanted to take off the dress, wear something different. Her eyes told me that I shouldn't even think about it. I straightened up and she nodded again.

I followed her out of the cabin. Clark waited for us. He wore a loose yellow shirt and tight blue pants. They looked very good on him.

He shook his head. "You win, Jasyn."

"Win what?" I asked.

Clark smiled. "You look very nice, Dace. Jasyn told me and I didn't believe her. That's all."

A personal transport waited for us, a tiny little flitter with a clear bubble top. We climbed in. I clutched my skirt, not trusting it to stay where it belonged. Jasyn moved with her usual grace, as if she wore elegant dresses all the time. Clark took the single seat in the front and punched in our destination. The bubble closed and we took off.

"Relax, Dace," Jasyn said. "You act as if you've never been out to a restaurant before."

"I've never been to one that required dresses like this. The last time I was this dressed up was when we went to visit the collector with the Eggstone. That night was a disaster."

"To put it mildly."

"Are you going to tell me the story?" Clark asked.

Jasyn told him before I could say no. She skipped over most of the beginning where her brother Jerimon and I had run away from the Patrol, the Targon Syndicate although we didn't know it at the time, and the Sessimoniss. She made it sound like fun.

I stared out the window, trying to shut out Jasyn's voice. I didn't want to remember the Sessimoniss and the Eggstone. I didn't want to remember telling Tayvis to go away. The flitter banked to the left, tipping so I could look down. The ocean below glowed with streamers of pale green and blue, sparkling purple blooming across them. The city lights twinkled over the water, adding another layer of lights.

"Look at it," I said, interrupting Jasyn.

They looked out, watching until the craft leveled out again. Clark watched me, an amused expression on his face.

"I'm acting like a frontier girl out for the first time, aren't I?" I said.

"I think it's nice to see someone who isn't so jaded," he said.

"There it is." Jasyn pointed forward, past Clark's head. "It looks just like the picture."

The restaurant was located at the top of a tall building that jutted out over the multicolored glowing ocean. The flitter landed on a pad tucked discreetly to one side behind a screen of plants, blooming white vines, in deep planters. The bubble clicked open. Jasyn climbed out, making it look easy. Clark was just as graceful. I did my best to copy them. I didn't trip and fall on my face.

We were met on the other side of the vines by a woman in a tall black dress. She wore a tiny com button on her collar. She greeted us and escorted us into the restaurant. We got a table near the window that looked down mostly over the city. It was a fairyland of lights.

"The ocean view was more expensive," Jasyn whispered as the lady glided away.

"This is just fine," I said, looking out at the lights.

The menu hovered over the table. I hadn't heard of any of the dishes. I let Clark and Jasyn order.

They enjoyed themselves. Jasyn told another story, this one involving a night at the bar on Nevira where she had worked for a while before Jerimon tangled her up with me and the Sessimoniss. I listened and smiled when appropriate. I was too nervous to relax. It was all too different.

Clark told us stories about his adventures as a pilot over dessert.

"You've been quiet, Dace," Clark said when they cleared away our dishes. "Your turn to tell us a story."

I racked my brain for something to tell that wasn't depressing or ugly, and came up empty. "We should probably get back to the ship."

"Let's go dancing," Jasyn suggested.

I tried to protest and was overridden.

Clark took one arm, Jasyn took the other, and, for the first time in my life, I went dancing.

The nightclub was loud, bright in flashes, and very dark in between. It was located on another rooftop not far from the restaurant. The music vibrated the floor. Jasyn led us to a table jammed up against the far wall. I sat down, back to the wall, and warily watched people dancing.

Clark disappeared for a long minute and came back carrying three glasses. He set them on the table and took the chair next to me.

"Relax and enjoy it," he shouted into my ear. He had to talk loud or I wouldn't have been able to hear him. "You look like you expect an attack."

Jasyn found someone to dance with, and then someone else, and then another. She swirled gracefully, laughing and enjoying herself. Clark sat next to me, watching her. The music paused, the quiet was full of talk. The lights blinked and a new band began to play, softer music, more suited to the late night magic of the ocean lights reflected in wide windows.

"Dance with me, Dace." Clark took my hand.

"I don't know how."

"Is that why you're sitting there?" He pulled me to my feet. I tried to pull away, but not very hard.

He put one hand on my back, at my waist, and took my other hand in his. "Follow me," he said in my ear. His breath tickled my neck, warm on skin suddenly cool. "Watch my feet."

I tried. He led me through a series of steps that he swore were easy. I kept stepping on his feet. He laughed about it. He had me laughing, too.

Jasyn came by, her current dance partner whirling someone else away.

"I'm done, Clark," I said. "I'll feel guilty if I step on your feet again."

"Let me try." Jasyn led him away as the band started up a faster dance song. They twirled off into the crowd. I watched Jasyn laugh, her steps graceful. She never stepped on his feet even though she never looked down.

They looked good together, dancing as if they were one person, each step matching the one the other took. Jasyn's hair slipped out of its pins. Curls swung with each step, brushing her neck. I still felt the warm print of Clark's hand on my waist. The room felt too small, too hot, too loud. I took my drink out onto a balcony lined with planters of night blooming plants. The smell was heavenly, a sweet blend of fragrance that reminded me of vanilla and lavender, two of the only good things I remembered from my childhood. I leaned over the rail farthest out, watching the ocean far below.

Waves of iridescent color lifted and ebbed with each breath of the sea. The faint scent of salt water blended with the flowers as a gentle breeze stirred my hair. I leaned farther out, my dress wafting around me in flame colored swirls.

"Would you do me the pleasure of dancing with me?"

I turned at the unfamiliar voice, my peace shattered by the intrusion. Three men I'd never seen before watched me, crowding the balcony. They didn't look like they belonged. They looked like thugs.

The one in the middle didn't wait for an answer. He stepped close. His hand was rough on my arm. "Daddy should have never let you out of his sight."

Something sharp pricked my shoulder. The world spun briefly and went black. My last conscious memory was of hard arms holding me around the middle before dropping me off the side of the building.

Chapter Eleven.

Clark led Jasyn through a fast dance. She felt good in his arms and her smile was brilliant. The music ended. Jasyn stepped back, Clark let her go a bit reluctantly.

"Where's Dace?" Jasyn asked. The table where they'd sat was empty.

"She must have gone outside," Clark said, hoping it was true. He felt a twinge of unease. "I'll go look."

No short, slender women in flame-colored dresses waited on the moonlit balcony. He turned back inside. He made his way through the thick crowd and the pounding music, checking every corner of the dance club. Dace wasn't anywhere.

Jasyn met him, her dress floating around her in clouds of lavender and blue. She looked worried.

"Did you find her?" she said, leaning close to talk over the music.

Clark shook his head.

"She wasn't in the restrooms," Jasyn said.

"Let's ask the servers. You start at that end." He pointed to the far end of the bar. He took the end nearest the doors.

The server was very busy. She answered his questions in staccato bursts between filling glasses. Yes, she had noticed a woman in a red and gold dress. Yes, she'd gone out on the balcony. No, she hadn't seen her after that. It was only a few minutes ago, well maybe half an hour ago that she'd gone out.

Clark checked the balcony again, asking the couples out there if they had seen Dace. Most of them had been otherwise occupied and hadn't noticed her at all. One woman said she might have seen her, out at the far end of the balcony.

Clark crossed to where the railings met in a sharp angle, the planters to either side forming an alcove open to the soft night breeze. Below, far below, the streamers of light in the ocean twisted and flowed with the artificial tides.

Jasyn came up behind him, her sandals whispering on the stone paving. She shook her head. "No one saw her leave. She wouldn't have gone back to the ship by herself." She looked like she hoped Dace had, but knew she probably hadn't.

"They saw her come out here," Clark said.

Jasyn looked over the rail. "What's that?" She reached farther down to pluck it off the ledge, bringing it into the light spilling from windows above them. It was a single scrap of flame colored imitation Partha silk.

"Dace?" Jasyn called, panicked. "Dace!" she shouted, leaning over the railing.

The sea far below shifted in slow rhythms.