Read Online Daisy Wong, Space Marshal: The Case of the Runaway Concubine by Freddi MacNaughton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Freddi MacNaughton
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moment or two," Snakeskin
said. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."
They did.
It would have been difficult not to, given the quality of
the chairs. Genuine leather. Real wood.
The tea was Chinese, as in from China, Earth, not Chinese as
in from a greenhouse in New China, Mars.
They talked about life aboard Diligence , about Captain
Spaulding's generosity in allowing Daisy to take a few weeks away, about
Muffy's vacation, about the myriad varieties of snakes in India.
Daisy set her cup down. "Enough beating around the
bush. Why are we here? Who's gone missing and why is it up to us to find
them?"
"You sound just like a red-haired monkey,"
Snakeskin said. He laughed and added, "How rude you have become."
Daisy caught a glimpse of her uncle's canines. They were
lengthening into fangs. Would he develop poison sacks and ducts as well?
Daisy shuddered.
She forced her instinctive revulsion to one side. Were
fangs any worse than scales? Were scales any worse than the thousands of other
ways in which people adorned themselves?
Daisy said, "I sound like a cop with better things to
do than traipse halfway across the solar system to drink tea."
"I understand," Snakeskin said, and offered a
polite nod of his head, more than an acknowledgement but far less than an
apology. "Very well. Some months ago—"
"How many?" Daisy asked.
"Ten," Snakeskin said. "Ten months ago, Meizhen
Fitzgerald and I fell into a silly row. I—"
"Who's Meizhen?"
"One of my newer concubines. You've never met her.
She's not one of your Aunt Hester's favorites." Snakeskin shook his head in
regret. "Sadly, Hester has a point, but then she has always been most
perceptive. Oh, Meizhen is a charming-enough girl, but she's also somewhat vain
and prone to flashes of temper. There is little extra room in her universe for
anyone other than Meizhen."
"I see," Daisy said. "Was she an active part
of the household?"
"Oh, yes, of course. She had her duties and she discharged
them flawlessly, as far as I'm aware."
Daisy tried not to show her disapproval, or her bewilderment.
The domestic ways of the Martian tongs, of the Martian Chinese in general,
seemed utterly out of kilter to her. Yes, she'd grown up in a tong family, but
they'd lived way out on the fringes of the Asteroid Belt. And out there, women
were at a premium. Any of them would have fed her husband's balls to the dogs
if he had dared to add a contract mistress to his establishment.
"What about the 'silly row'?"
"Ah, yes. The row. I did my best to make amends, but without
success. Meizhen and I went our separate ways for the evening."
"And then?" Daisy prompted.
"And then in the morning I learned she had packed her
belongings and left my house. She'd placed her cancelled contract on her bed
for me to find."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!" That seemed impossible.
"My house is not a prison."
"Then I don't see your problem. She got angry and
skipped. So what?"
"At first, I saw no problem, either. As I said, she is
a hot-tempered girl. I expected her to sulk for a few days. To teach me a
lesson. That sort of thing. You're well aware of how these games are played."
He left the slightest of pauses. "But the days stretched into
weeks."
"How many?"
"Six. I admit I let the matter slide for far too
long. I was about to begin a search when I heard from her. Meizhen said she
was staying at one of the lunar resorts."
"Which one?"
"New Telluride."
Jimmy Fingers stepped in and handed Daisy a slip of paper.
It had a New Telluride address scribbled on it.
"Thanks," Daisy said.
"It's a fake," Jimmy Fingers said.
"Too bad," Daisy said. Turning back to Snakeskin,
she asked, "Why did she get in touch?"
"There were funds owed on her contract. She asked me
to deposit them in a special account, not the one she normally used. It seemed
a trifle odd, but I did as she asked. I had no reason not
said. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."
They did.
It would have been difficult not to, given the quality of
the chairs. Genuine leather. Real wood.
The tea was Chinese, as in from China, Earth, not Chinese as
in from a greenhouse in New China, Mars.
They talked about life aboard Diligence , about Captain
Spaulding's generosity in allowing Daisy to take a few weeks away, about
Muffy's vacation, about the myriad varieties of snakes in India.
Daisy set her cup down. "Enough beating around the
bush. Why are we here? Who's gone missing and why is it up to us to find
them?"
"You sound just like a red-haired monkey,"
Snakeskin said. He laughed and added, "How rude you have become."
Daisy caught a glimpse of her uncle's canines. They were
lengthening into fangs. Would he develop poison sacks and ducts as well?
Daisy shuddered.
She forced her instinctive revulsion to one side. Were
fangs any worse than scales? Were scales any worse than the thousands of other
ways in which people adorned themselves?
Daisy said, "I sound like a cop with better things to
do than traipse halfway across the solar system to drink tea."
"I understand," Snakeskin said, and offered a
polite nod of his head, more than an acknowledgement but far less than an
apology. "Very well. Some months ago—"
"How many?" Daisy asked.
"Ten," Snakeskin said. "Ten months ago, Meizhen
Fitzgerald and I fell into a silly row. I—"
"Who's Meizhen?"
"One of my newer concubines. You've never met her.
She's not one of your Aunt Hester's favorites." Snakeskin shook his head in
regret. "Sadly, Hester has a point, but then she has always been most
perceptive. Oh, Meizhen is a charming-enough girl, but she's also somewhat vain
and prone to flashes of temper. There is little extra room in her universe for
anyone other than Meizhen."
"I see," Daisy said. "Was she an active part
of the household?"
"Oh, yes, of course. She had her duties and she discharged
them flawlessly, as far as I'm aware."
Daisy tried not to show her disapproval, or her bewilderment.
The domestic ways of the Martian tongs, of the Martian Chinese in general,
seemed utterly out of kilter to her. Yes, she'd grown up in a tong family, but
they'd lived way out on the fringes of the Asteroid Belt. And out there, women
were at a premium. Any of them would have fed her husband's balls to the dogs
if he had dared to add a contract mistress to his establishment.
"What about the 'silly row'?"
"Ah, yes. The row. I did my best to make amends, but without
success. Meizhen and I went our separate ways for the evening."
"And then?" Daisy prompted.
"And then in the morning I learned she had packed her
belongings and left my house. She'd placed her cancelled contract on her bed
for me to find."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!" That seemed impossible.
"My house is not a prison."
"Then I don't see your problem. She got angry and
skipped. So what?"
"At first, I saw no problem, either. As I said, she is
a hot-tempered girl. I expected her to sulk for a few days. To teach me a
lesson. That sort of thing. You're well aware of how these games are played."
He left the slightest of pauses. "But the days stretched into
weeks."
"How many?"
"Six. I admit I let the matter slide for far too
long. I was about to begin a search when I heard from her. Meizhen said she
was staying at one of the lunar resorts."
"Which one?"
"New Telluride."
Jimmy Fingers stepped in and handed Daisy a slip of paper.
It had a New Telluride address scribbled on it.
"Thanks," Daisy said.
"It's a fake," Jimmy Fingers said.
"Too bad," Daisy said. Turning back to Snakeskin,
she asked, "Why did she get in touch?"
"There were funds owed on her contract. She asked me
to deposit them in a special account, not the one she normally used. It seemed
a trifle odd, but I did as she asked. I had no reason not
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