“Never mind,” Nailer said again. “She’s fine.”
Tool shrugged and went back to his food. They all sat in silence. Beyond the ring of their firelight, there was nothing except animal sounds and insects, the black wildness of the jungles and swamps, the swelter of the interior. From the distant sound of the surf, Nailer guessed they were at least a mile from shore. He lay back on the ground watching the flames flicker. The food had been good, but he was tired again. He let his mind drift, wondering what his father was planning, and why Pima looked so worried, and what was going on behind Lucky Girl’s swank eyes. He drifted off.
“Damn, boy, you’re awake, I hear.”
Nailer opened his eyes. His father crouched over him, smiling, his tattooed dragons and bright crystal slide amphetamine eyes on him.
“I knew you’d make it,” his dad said. “You’re tough like your old man. Tougher than nails, right? Just like I named you. Just like your old man.” He laughed and punched Nailer ’s shoulder and didn’t seem to notice Nailer flinch at the pain. “You look a lot better than a few days ago.” Richard Lopez’s skin was pale and sweating in the firelight and his grin was wide and feral. “Wasn’t sure if we’d be putting you down with the worms.”
Nailer made himself smile, trying to gauge his father’s crystal-bright mood. “Not yet, I guess.”
“Yeah, you’re a survivor.” He glanced over at Nita. “Not like the rich girl. She’d have been dead a long time ago, if it wasn’t for me saving her swank ass.” He smiled at her. “I’m almost hoping your dad doesn’t show up, girl.”
Nailer sat up and folded his legs under himself. “Her crew hasn’t showed?”
“Not yet.”
His father took a swig of whiskey and offered the bottle to Nailer. Pima spoke up from across the circle. “Doctor said he’s not supposed to drink.”
Nailer’s dad scowled at her. “You trying to tell me what to do?”
Pima hesitated. “Not me. Lucky Strike’s doctor said it.”
Nailer wanted to tell her to shut up, but it was already too late; his father’s mood had shifted, a storm gathering where there had only been clear skies before.
“You think you’re the only one who heard that damn pill man?” Richard asked. “I’m the one that brought that pill man out. I paid him and I got him to put my boy back together.” He went over to Pima, the whiskey bottle swinging loose in his hand. “And now you’re telling me what he said?” He leaned close. “You want to tell me again? Just in case I didn’t hear you?”
Pima had enough sense to shut up and duck down. Nailer’s dad examined her. “Yeah. Smart girl. I thought you wanted to shut the hell up. No sense, kids these days.”
He grinned at his goons. Blue Eyes and Moby grinned back. Tool just studied Pima with his dog eyes. “You want me to teach her a lesson?” he rumbled. “Remind her?”
Richard asked, “What do you think, girl? You need a little lesson from Tool here? Maybe see if he teaches any better than me?”
Pima shook her head. “No, sir.”
“Look at that.” Richard smiled. “Polite now, ain’t she?”
Nailer tried to intervene. “How come the swank’s still here? Where’s her people?”
Richard’s attention swung back to Nailer. “Wish we knew, don’t we? Girl says there’s people looking for her. Says someone gives a damn. But nobody’s come looking. No ships. No people in on the train, looking on the coast. Not a single swank showing up, asking questions.” He licked his lips as he studied Nita. “It’s starting to look like no one gives a damn about one little rich girl. Maybe she’s not even worth her kidney weight. Be tragic if we ended up scavenging our rich girl for spare parts, wouldn’t it?”
“Should we try to reach out to her people?” Nailer asked. “Find a way to tell them where she is?”
“Wish we knew where they were. From over in Houston, she says. The Uppadaya Combine. Some kind of shipping clan. Lucky Strike’s got some people trying to track them down.”
Nailer startled. “Uppadaya?” He broke off as Pima flashed a warning signal. Nailer glanced at her, puzzled. Why had Nita lied about her name? If she was really with Patel Global, there should have been ways to contact her people, right here on the beach. “What’s your plan?” he asked instead.
“Hard to say. I’ve been thinking she must be worth a lot, seeing as how swank she is, but I’m also thinking that she’s a bit of trouble for us. Maybe these Uppadaya have big connections, boss connections, the kind that bring their skull-crackers in and make trouble for hard-working people like us.” Nailer’s father paused, thoughtful. “Maybe I’m thinking she’s too damn dangerous and we’re better off if she’s feeding the pigs. We already have her ship, and sure as hell she knows too damn much about us now.” He said it again, quieter. “Too damn much.”
“But she’s got to be worth something.”
Richard shrugged. “Maybe she’s worth a whole hell of a lot, and maybe that’s even worse than if she’s worth nothing.” He looked up. “You’re a smart kid, Nailer, but you should pay attention to your dad. I’ve got some years on my skin, and I’ll tell you, a swank like her always means trouble for people like us. They don’t give a copper yard about us, but they sure like their own. Maybe they pay us for her and then maybe they come back with guns and clear us out like a snake nest, instead of saying thank you.”
Nita protested. “We wouldn’t-”
“Shut up, swank.” Richard’s voice was flat, disinterested. He turned his cold eyes on her. “Maybe you’re worth something. Maybe not. But I know for damn sure that your flapping mouth annoys the hell out of me.” He pulled out his knife. “I hear much more out of you and I think I’ll take those pretty lips off. Make you smile even when you’re sad, little swank.” He stared at her. “You think your crew would want you back without your lips?”
She fell silent. He nodded, satisfied. He sat down with Nailer, put his head low, close, almost touching. Nailer could smell the sweat and whiskey of him, see the redness of his eyes.
“You had the idea, boy.” Richard glanced at the girl. “But the more I think about it, the worse it sounds. We got a big score off the ship. Everything’s going to be different now. We’re damn rich, all set up with Lucky Strike. That clipper’s down to the ribs now. Got real crews stripping it. Another couple days, it’ll be like that ship never existed.” He grinned. “Not like breaking one of those old tankers. These little ships come apart easy.” He glanced over at Lucky Girl. “This girl doesn’t do us any good, though. Maybe she makes big bosses pay attention to us. Maybe she makes us targets. Maybe gets people asking questions about scavenge and where it came from and who owns it and who gets rich from it.”
“No one would say anything to the swanks.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Richard muttered. “They’d sell their mothers for a chance to pull a Lucky Strike.”
“Give it time,” Nailer whispered. “Give it a little time and we’ll be even richer.”
All he could think of was how badly he wanted to get away from his father with his twitchy eyes and fast, high smile, the face of a man deep in his slide.
Richard’s eyes went to the girl again. “If she wasn’t so pretty, I would have bled her out already. She draws too much attention.” He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
Nailer said, “Maybe we can get her people to pay for her without knowing who sold her. She’s still secret, right?”