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knew? I shrugged. “Then it’ll just be like every other day, won’t it?”
    Slinkie sighed. “Why do I stay on your crew?”
    “Because it’s hard to leave the best.”
    “Lethargy and comfort zone,” Randolph suggested.
    “Fear of the unknown,” the Governor offered.
    “Because you like the Captain despite his many flaws.” I tried to focus on the positive portions of Audrey’s sentence, versus the “many flaws” portion. Reconsidered how much I was going to like sitting next to her. Maybe Randolph could install a Captain’s Mute Button.
    “I don’t have many flaws! I have hardly any flaws!”
    Slinkie shook her head. “Let’s go to the baths. I’ll list your flaws for you on the way, Nap. Trust me, I have them all memorized.”

CHAPTER 18
    T he mineral baths on Herion couldn’t compete with those on Thurge, but for a non-volcanic planet, they weren’t bad. Sadly, Slinkie hadn’t been pretending—men and women were in separate areas, so I was stuck in the baths with the Governor.
    I managed to enjoy myself anyway, because while the customers weren’t allowed to mingle, Herion wasn’t run by stupid people, and the attendants were female, quite attractive, and happy to see me. They seemed to like how I tipped, at least.
    The Governor saw fit to give me a lecture as we finished dressing. “Alexander, how does your having, ah, sexual relations with each of the female bath attendants equate with your desire to land Miss Slinkie on a permanent basis?”
    “Boy, are you old. I mean older than even I think you are, apparently.”
    “And you’re stupider than I think you are, apparently.”
    I shrugged. “Slinkie either will or won’t come around. I don’t think I need to become an Athriall monk in order to get her to see reason.”
    “No, but you might not want to make her worry that by touching you she’s open to every venereal disease in the galaxy.”
    “I take precautions. No diseases, no little Nappies running
around. I have a perfect record, too.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. “Why the sudden focus on the me and Slinkie idea?”
    “Oh, no reason.” He was lying, and not trying to hide it. Meaning there was a reason, but he wasn’t going to tell me, just wanted me thinking about it. Not for the first time, I wondered why I’d left Great-Aunt Clara behind only to be saddled with her male counterpart.
    We left the men’s side to find Slinkie waiting for us, looking extremely bored and annoyed. I got the vulture-glare. Not good. Presumably, she’d figured out why we were delayed. “I think I’m going to take Bryant up on whatever he offers me tomorrow night.”
    I gave her my patented “guilty boy you can’t resist” smile. “Aw, c’mon, Slinkie. You know the difference between distraction and infatuation.”
    She snorted as she stood. “Right, Nap. You’re infatuated with being distracted.” She strode out. The positive was she looked amazing from behind when she walked like this. I chose to focus on said positive.
    I didn’t get to focus on it too long. As Slinkie reached the street, an autofloater skidded next to her, tires screeching. A door opened, and someone pulled her into the vehicle. I heard her scream my name, right before the door slammed.
    Pilots have quick reflexes, and I was the best pilot in the galaxy. I didn’t think, I just ran and jumped onto the back of the ’floater before it got away. This was an older model, so there was a passenger board all the way around and a decorative hold-bar on the roof—these had been popular a couple of decades prior, when someone had thought it was a good idea for people to have their families stand on the outside of an ugly, moving, box-like thing. Stupid on the streets. Moronic in the air.
    Happily, I had a good hold on the bar and got decent footing on the passenger board. Sadly, the driver realized I was on the ’floater and went airborne.

    The windows were tinted, but I was pretty sure I saw a