Once home, Meeki took a walk around the surrounding farmlands of Kiluana's ranch. After a five hour flight it was the only way to combat the stiffness those benches gave her. The evening slowly approached, prompting most of the working men and women to abandon the fields for the day. Only the androids stayed behind to work a few extra hours. Meeki paid them no mind and watched over the distant hills, cherishing what was left of the sunset. It would have been quite lovely if it weren't for the terrible ache in her arm. It was hard to ignore a gunshot injury even after treatment.
Kiluana joined her some time later in a green evening gown which shimmered in the sunset. Living the life of a deadly businesswoman, this was her idea of casual attire.
“Kinjeur and Braya told me what happened. Is there anything you want to say?” Kiluana asked.
“Did they tell you what I learned from your father, that we can't win against that assassin group?”
“Yes, Braya told me about that, but I wouldn't worry about it. Your former cultist leader's an arrogant fool, and his minions are even more worthless. This other group my papa told you about might prove interesting, but it's nothing I can't handle. I see no reason to back out.”
Meeki wasn't so sure. It was bad enough that they were already so deep in the situation. What if Payne was right about Kiluana being unable to fight them? If Kiluana wouldn't give up, Meeki had to think of some way to save herself.
“So, uh, how bad did Kinjeur say I was?” Meeki asked.
“She didn't say you were bad.” Kiluana stepped in front of Meeki and stared her down. “Why would you think that?”
“I used to want to do this kind of work, you know. I really tried hard to learn things I thought would be good for a spy job. But now that I've tried, I realize that I'm just no good. But anyway, Kinjeur just seems like an angry person, especially with me.”
“Kinjeur's not really so bad. Because of what happened to her, she just has, well, special ways of expressing herself. Still, she's a really good girl and knows when to do the right thing. She was alone on the streets for years before I found her, you know. She had to pickpocket and fight people to get money for cheap food, and other times she'd be forced to steal the food itself. Can you blame her for being angry after living that sort of life?”
“I understand, but there was one thing she said that I think you should know.”
Kiluana folded her arms with a very cautious curiosity.
“On the flight home, she was pissed off and said that you're obsessed with me,” Meeki explained.
Kiluana's eyes widened for a second. Meeki feared that something like this would be the response. But the girl returned to her usual self with a smirk.
“Adorable, I guess she's jealous for my attention,” Kiluana said, smiling with some kind of strange pride.
Meeki figured it was sarcasm, but she wasn't very much amused by it. Kiluana withdrew her smile.
“There are some things she does that I can't explain. All I can say is, she has issues with trust. It took her a while to warm up to anyone here, maybe she's just taking her time with you.”
“If you say so,” Meeki said.
Kiluana watched the backyard of the house for a moment. She had that stern and emotionless face the police usually employed.
“Dinner will be special tonight. With the bills you had signed, we have a great deal of money to spend on supplies tomorrow. Think of it as a little celebration for your first success.”
Kiluana walked toward the house in her ginger way, and Meeki returned to watching over the fields. Thinking back to the gun training and the recent mission, she began to suspect what was happening. Kiluana was trying hard to get her settled into the Innocent Girls. Seeing as Meeki had no real talent or skill for this line of work, it was a question of why. She resolved to have a good talk with Kiluana the next morning in order to find out.
* * *
The special meal for the night took place in the backyard just outside the house. The servants slid a number of tables together and gathered around to eat and converse under pale yellow lights. Despite a relatively small staff devoted to cooking, the tables were well stocked with a wide variety of colorful food. Even though Meeki was never very sociable in loud groups, it felt exhilarating to eat in such a warm environment of camaraderie. On this night a number of the servants congratulated her for the recent mission, admitting in private their sympathy for being injured on one of Kiluana's jobs.
The meal was interrupted by the arrival of an old car, which hovered over and landed near the house. The pilot walked through the back door a moment later, and most of the crowd greeted him. He responded with a empty smile and walked to Kiluana. As he whispered a message, her face darkened with the news. Everyone fell silent as they noticed something was amiss.
“I've had a really bad feeling since we got back, maybe this is it,” Braya whispered to Meeki.
The pilot finished his message and returned through the house into his car. Kiluana stared to her soup in silence as the pilot returned to the car and flew back in the direction he came.
Everyone looked to their speechless leader. Every second of her silence inspired fear in them.
“What's up?” asked Haurtanna, who was sitting just beside her.
The question pulled her back into reality. She pushed her chair back to stand up and address them.
“Okay. Listen up. We've got some bad news,” she said.
Everyone seemed to think the worst of it and clamored on between each other. Meeki felt compelled by the noise to wonder if the assassinations had already happened. Braya was silent, but she stared at the table without so much as blinking. With her ears sinking down, it looked like she was terribly sad.
“Shut up, all of you!” Kiluana shouted to them. They immediately quieted down and watched her.
“Our friend the assassin changed his mind for the worse. One of my newer covert friends discovered that the assassin plans to act tomorrow instead of his original time. We will respond to this urgent threat, of course.”
“Tomorrow?” a servant from the table barked. “That's insane. This is the Gonsalez tower we're going to deal with, we're not ready to work in an environment like that!”
Once again the audience began talking all at once, Kiluana quieted them down with another shout.
“It's going to happen just after business hours tomorrow. No matter what, we'll have to do what we can to stop him, any objections?”
“Why don't we just let him kill the administrators? Didn't you want to take them down anyway?” Kinjeur asked. She received some positive support from the crowd for this. Meeki remembered wondering this same thing several days ago.
“No!” Kiluana barked harshly. “I won't let that man have even the slightest taste of victory. We'll own this planet in due time, but that assassin would probably be a real pain in the ass if he manages to take control of this planet before we do.”
No one disagreed with that.
“No objections? Then it's settled. Tomorrow we protect the administrators and kill this assassin. We'll begin the preparations in the morning.”
Most of the servants resumed the dinner as if nothing happened, but Meeki had a hard time keeping down her meal. She experienced what must have been the same awful feeling Braya mentioned. A deep dread in which one might never escape. It was hard to enjoy a meal knowing that tomorrow could possibly change the world as they knew it. And despite how much Meeki once dreamed of changing the world, today's mission in that warehouse proved that she didn't have what it took to accomplish anything so grand. Not in this violent way.
There was also the issue of determining Kiluana's real feelings. One morning's conversation wouldn't be enough to find out anything about Kiluana's attachment. Without a way to break down Kiluana's attachment, Meeki would end up getting forced into the conflict and risking her life yet again. She couldn't stomach any food when plagued by the thought of time running out so quickly. The somber faces of the servants masked their anxiety as they tried to relax for this one night. Meeki's face was anything but relaxed, she was terrified.
Tomorrow morning she would try to get out of there. She'd force her way out if necessary. There had to be a way.