By Cea Green
Before his world flip-flopped, Lachlan Lendur was having a pretty good day.
He delivered a cacophonous shuttle-load of House Azure design assistants and their paraphernalia to the Jade Fashion Expo. He flew toward home in blissful quiet along Azure’s sunny coastline. He watched cat vids. Then the shuttle ruined his morning by rolling belly-up.
At least his “lucky” four-leaf clover plant stayed contained in its new pot.
As Lachlan hung upside-down in the cockpit, pushing aside his beard to see the console, hollow thuds and a squeal echoed from the supposedly empty cabin. Before he could make sense of the readouts or the noises, the shuttle abruptly righted itself, dropping him back into his seat.
Lachlan sighed. Another one of those flights.
He engaged the autopilot and entered the bedraggled cabin. Abandoned coffee cups and trays of scones had painted the posh blue-on-blue interior with muddy browns, accented by orange marmalade smudges. Hopefully Donahue wouldn’t assign him the cleanup.
The scuffling from the luggage compartment sounded like a giant rodent. Maybe his passengers had forgotten a fabric steamer. Maybe a jewelry cleaner. Maybe…
Lachlan yanked open the compartment door, and a disheveled girl in a shimmering gold dress tumbled out onto the carpet. They forgot a model?!
“Who—?”
The lights went out.
“What—?”
The lights came on. The girl just sat, blinking.
“Why—?”
The ship began swerving like a mouse evading a cat.
“Strap yourself in,” Lachlan yelled, ricocheting toward the cockpit. The shuttle rolled twice, then the autopilot re-engaged.
Lachlan scanned the controls as Model-Girl eased into the other chair and tried to corral her long brown hair.
“Your ship’s broken.”
“Apparently,” he muttered. “Good thing you weren’t hiding in the loo.” Lachlan turned toward the stowaway and crossed his arms, aiming for “stern.”
“Toilet water,” she shuddered. Her wide eyes, one blue and one green, peered through oversized glasses that clashed with her makeup, which clashed with her dress, which clashed with her jewelry. So, not a model, at least not from Jade.
He raised an eyebrow.
She semi-smiled.
He frowned. The girl reminded Lachlan of his little sister, Angelica, so he distrusted her instantly. “Who are you?”
Not-Model’s eyes shifted just like Angelica’s did when she concocted a story.
“I’m Catherine Smith.”
Yeah, right.
She offered her hand, which Lachlan shook politely.
“And you are?” she asked.
“Lachlan Lendur. Why are you here?” An alarm sounded, then silenced before he could identify it. Great.
“Your nametag says ‘Lucky.’”
“It’s my callsign. My boss’s idea.” He scowled. “Quit stalling.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “My mom wants me to be a model.” Her eyes still shifted. “She dragged me here for the Expo, but I ran away and hid.” She crossed her arms. “Then your crazy ship bruised me from head to toe, and here we are.” She had started tentatively and finished with righteous indignation, just like Angelica telling the Saga of the Broken Vase.
Lachlan frowned. He’d try poking holes in the story and see if the truth fell out. “Your look is all wrong. Those big round glasses say ‘schoolgirl,’ but the dress says ‘escort.’ And your makeup says ‘amateur.’”
As she sputtered, red-faced, Lachlan evaluated the dress. Gaudy and pricey, at least several thousand IPs. And the jewelry…
The pendant, a stylized obsidian kitten curled around a blue sapphire ball, hung on an unusual black wire necklace. Dozens of tiny sapphires circled her matching bracelets. Was she just a rich kid with no fashion sense?
“The glitzy dress belongs on a House Scarlet model,” he continued. “The elegant jewelry says House Azure.”
“What does a shuttle pilot know about fashion?!”
He snorted. “On Jade, we live and breathe fashion. Any two-year-old here could tell you the same.” A slight exaggeration.
“Fine.” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “I’m in disguise. I’m a spy for—”
Before she could concoct another story, the shuttle shot upward, slamming her into the seatback.
Lachlan gritted his teeth. He still had no alarms, no controls, no comms. After his thirteenth flight fiasco, he’d studied every shuttle schematic. Nothing could cause all these glitches…
Glitches. Yesterday morning’s passengers had been discussing glitches. Some piece of gear wasn’t ready for the Expo because it made nearby tech glitch. Bad kitty, one had called it. And another said…
“‘Black cats are bad luck’!” Lachlan grinned.
Probably-Not-Catherine scowled. “No, they’re not!”
“Right, but that necklace is.”
They were leaving the atmosphere, still pointed straight up, when the engines cut out. Lachlan groaned and pulled the harness over Not-Model’s head before she could float away.
“Look, I know you stole that jewelry.” He struggled to keep his voice matter-of-fact, like Dad did when Angie lied. “It’s prototype tech from House Azure.” He paused until she met his eyes. “And it’s going to kill us.”
She started to answer, but stopped, wide-eyed. Lachlan’s stomach fluttered. Jade’s gravity had killed their forward momentum. They were falling.
“You have to turn it off now!”
“I don’t know how!” the girl wailed. “I never turned it on!”
The powerless shuttle began to pitch and yaw as it fell through thicker atmosphere. They needed to isolate the shuttle’s systems from the jewelry’s interference… The isolation locker!
“Give me the jewelry!”
“No! It blocks sensors. I need it to help—”
“Not if you’re dead!” He lowered his voice. “The luggage compartment’s isolation locker will block it from interfering with the shuttle.” He forced a smile. “You aren’t trying to get us killed, right?”
Tears welled up as she handed him the necklace and bracelets. “No, I’m not.”
Lachlan struggled through the tumbling shuttle, bouncing from chair to ceiling to floor. He wedged himself in the luggage compartment, shoved the killer jewelry into the isolation locker, and sealed the door.
The engines re-engaged, and the shuttle straightened up and flew right.
Lachlan returned to the cockpit, exhausted, bruised, and sticky with marmalade.
The girl gave him a real smile. “My name is Kytt Windthorn. Thanks for saving us.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucky Lendur #2. Enjoy!
Fun story!
Glad you liked it!
Loved this! The dialogue is fast and witty. The characters are compelling. Brava!
Wow. Thank you!
Nice one! I love the writing (beautiful and lyrical, with lovely descriptions) and love the characters, too. A great version of Kytt, and Lucky is a fantastic character.
A necklace that disrupts tech is the perfect gift for a husband to give his insta-addicted wife. It’ll sell like crazy!