Free Shooting the Rift - eARC by Alex Stewart Page B

say: Remington’s expression softened, and Aunt Jenny positively beamed.
    “Told you he was forthright,” she said.
    “That you did,” Remington agreed, ducking his head as the drone came back, bearing two tumblers of whisky and my tankard of ale, which had been chilled to the point where the last lingering vestige of flavor had been completely expunged—a Skyhaven foible I immediately regretted having forgotten about. The Guilder turned to me. “Jen’s just been filling me in on your university career. That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing an Avalonian gentleman normally gets up to.”
    I felt a hot flush of embarrassment rise up my neck.
    “That’s because most of them haven’t got a thought in their heads beyond how they look in tight trousers,” I snapped, and took a gulp of the over-cooled beer that made my teeth ache.
    “True enough,” my aunt agreed. “Though most of them occasionally consider how their actions will affect their reputations and their families.”
    I must admit that blindsided me; after all her support in the face of familial disapproval, I’d hardly expected her to start expressing the same kind of sentiments.
    “I didn’t consider it, because I didn’t plan on getting caught,” I said, feeling I might as well be honest about the affair now she’d brought the whole thing up, even if her motives for doing so baffled me. Clearly she’d been hoping Remington would help to find me a place on a merchant ship, although calling my integrity into question seemed a strange way of going about it. “And even if I was, I knew it would be hushed up,” I added, bending the truth a little, though not by much. I had panicked for about five minutes after getting the first summons to the Dean’s office, before realizing that my clients’ social connections—not to mention their families’ financial contributions to the university—would render me pretty much untouchable. Apart from being rusticated, of course, which had brought me back into the orbit of Mother’s ire.
    Remington smiled. “Sounds like you know how to work an angle,” he said, in surprisingly friendly tones. He took a sip of his drink. And you’ve a definite talent for sneakware. Our ‘spheres intersected, and I found a copy of the datanomes I’d given my aunt floating in the shared space between us. You really put this together yourself?
    I shrugged. “Everyone needs a hobby.”
    Remington laughed. “That they do. Just don’t practice on any of the nodes aboard the Deck , unless you want to try walking back to Avalon.” He spoke so casually, it took a moment for the full import of his words to sink in.
    “You’re taking me on?” I asked, not quite able to believe my good fortune. “Just like that?”
    “I’ll give it some thought,” he said, although he seemed to be addressing my aunt more than me. “If the deal’s right.”
    “You’ve got your contract, John.” Her tone was casual, but I’d attended enough of my mother’s soirees to spot the steel beneath the pleasantries, a knack Remington clearly shared. “It’s not up for renegotiation.”
    “And it doesn’t cover babysitting either,” the guilder replied, in equally casual tones.
    “You won’t have to hold his hand, I can assure you.” Aunt Jenny took another sip of her whisky.
    Remington looked thoughtful for a moment. “Tell you what I’ll do,” he said, as though it wasn’t precisely what he’d been willing to offer all along, “I’ll give him one run, out to Numarkut, see how he does. If it all works out, and he’s as good as you say, I’ll take him on, full Guild apprenticeship. If not, he’s on his own. Plenty of opportunities for a smart lad in a system like Numarkut.” Abruptly, he turned to me. “What do you say?”
    “You’re on,” I heard my mouth reply, before my brain could catch up with it. If this went wrong, I’d be stranded beyond the borders of the Commonwealth, with only my wits to rely on, and no