Chaos Theory (10 page)

“
Standard, but that doesn’t mean you should settle for less
than you deserve.”

“
Trust me, I’m not settling for anything. He’s
breathtaking.”

“
Bloodcurdling, you mean.”

“
I like him, I’m dating him, and I’m wearing my ceremonial
cloak because he’s special, and deserves that honour.” She tugged
roughly on the toggles running down the front of her cloak as she
did them up. The expensive material suddenly felt oppressive. “Get
over it already.”

Pushing the wearisome saga of her Caste aside, Kali twirled,
and gave her reflection a high five, because Max refused to show
love.

Kali had taken such care with her appearance, and that told
her a lot. She was hoping for the beginning of a real relationship
with Blue – something that was non-existent in nearly all HiCaste
family units.

They were cold and dysfunctional.

Kali craved the kind of love her parents had. Most HiCaste
unions were of convenience, but she’d seen a love match in action,
and knew it was possible have love and success.

Looking pretty was not the formulae for a lasting
relationship, but it could act as a catalyst.

Blue had messaged her less then an hour after she’d left the
range and she’d been thrilled. She’d been checking her TalkMe every
five minutes. Despite feeling like a stalker, she’d spent hours
staring at his BeepMe profile, shovelling iced cream into her
mouth.

Considering how much information the profile could hold there
wasn’t a lot.

He had one RecRom encounter logged, was four years older than
her modest eighteen, and had lived in Quadrant18 after moving away
from his birth quadrant when he turned sixteen. He’d worked for
Pluto’s for the last two years. He’d spent credits on cosmetic eye
enhancements and not corrective ones. That puzzled her, but the
opticals looked good on him. He had an approved procreation license
too, which was odd for a male. It wasn’t unheard of for
applications to be submitted by females as soon as they turned
sixteen as they took years to process and were valid for a decade.
Many women disliked getting married then having to wait years
before they could take the risk of getting pregnant. The fine for
illegal breeding was severe financially and on the
reputation.

Kali had one in processing even though she’d already decided
breeding was not for her.

Completely ignoring Max’s spluttering about how Blue was
strange – normal was so subjective – Kali shot a nervous look at
him. “Do I look okay?” She grabbed her bag and slung it over her
head. The strap crossed her front and the nylon bag sat on her
hip.

“
Why are your clothes so tight?” Max pinched her sleeve and
rubbed the material between this thumb and forefinger. “Are you
looking to rec?”

“
Do you think of nothing but sex?” Admitting to herself he was
not far from the truth was discomforting. Kali yanked the fabric
from his grip. “Why are you still here?”

He sighed. “Curious, I guess.”

She glowered as she smoothed her top. “We’re going stargazing.
His HoloVid mentioned Quadrant18.”

“
Stargazing is boring, and Quad18 is dangerous. Already this
isn’t working out.”

Being so close to the OutRim was dangerous. Criminals and
LoCastes converged in Qudrants17 and beyond for recreational
activities, but Kali took solace that actual crime reported was
exceptionally low. That could be because nobody cared to log the
violence or those subject to it never got to tell the
tale.

Her life had been sheltered, but she wasn’t a coward. Blue
wouldn’t take her anywhere she could get hurt, Kali was certain of
that.

She had such a strong feeling about him.

“
Only you could think of dangerous as boring.” She scowled.
“And I think it’s romantic. I haven’t been stargazing since I was a
minor, and he said he’d bring food.” Kali rubbed her stomach.
“Already this date is going well. I like stars and I love
food.”

Max leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms.
He studied her. “Did you tell your parents?”

She avoided his gaze. “Yes.”

It wasn’t an outright lie. She told them she was going out out
of respect. She was legally an adult, and they gave her freedom to
do pretty much what she wanted as long as she was sensible. They
assumed it was Max taking her out and that was on them. It wasn’t
as if she was worried they might say something about Blue being
LoCaste. Her parents were the most politically correct and
benevolent people she knew. Kali didn’t want them to worry, or
force her to choose between the date and bending to their
will.

They could be oh so wilful when they thought she approached
trouble, and Blue had a powerful energy that might set her parents’
protective instincts off.

“
Did you tell them where you’re going and who with?”

She glared at Max’s reflection in the VidSee, knowing standing
where he was he wouldn’t see her.

Her silence was enough.

He smouldered in silent protest. He would never say a word to
her parents because it would be a serious breach of trust. She’d
covered for him after his countless shenanigans, and she wasn’t
even doing anything wrong.

The doorbell chimed and the fluorescents bracketing the door
turned green as the BodyScan signalled a friendly presence. People
who wore suppressants to conceal weaponry turned the scan result
orange, and had Blue displayed characteristics considered
threatening the colour would have flashed red.

Still fussing over her reflection, she glanced at Max. “Green.
See, he has no immediate plans to hurt me. Would you get the
door?”

“
Do I look like a FetchMe?”

Ignoring him, she smiled brightly in the mirror. Smoothing a
hand over her neat ponytail, Kali turned her head side to side to
check her profile and make sure her hair was even. The end bobbed
at the middle of her back jauntily. She vainly brushed strands from
her side-swept fringe that covered one of her hazel eyes, and
flattered her face. The baby hairs on her hairline looked
airbrushed onto her skin they were so fine. She was thanking her
stars she’d worked on the settings of her make up box the night
before. The natural cosmetics applied looked subtly provocative.
Her coffee-coloured skin looked dewy, and her cheeks pleasantly
flushed. Lightly coated in black mascara, her upper lashes looked
lush, and her lips dusky pink.

Most women had the cosmetic pigments tattooed directly into
their epidermis, but Kali liked to wake up, look in the mirror, and
see her natural face staring back.

Confidence securely in place, she skipped to the door, but
changed that overly excited bounce midstride to a slow, hip-rolling
walk.

“
Stars,” Max muttered. “This should be interesting.”

Howl sniffed the door. He scratched at it, and she shooed him
away. Creighton would blow bosons if he spotted claw
marks.

Okay, she was nervous, and a little sweaty. Her heart pounded.
Kali felt the skin over her pulse jumping at the side of her
throat. This was never a fun moment. Blue didn’t seem to have
picked up on any of her smaller tics when they were at the shooting
range, but he was about to see a pretty embarrassing one. The
butterflies in her stomach were making her ill they flapped so
hard.

He’d either accept her repetitive behaviour as cute, or see it
as demented and rush off babbling some lame excuse.

Excited, she opened the door and beamed. He looked better than
Kali remembered. All black leathers made his white hair that much
more angelic. His full-face helmet was tucked under his arm, and a
shell of dark tissue paper rested by his thigh. His FloBi was
parked on the curb, dangerous looking, and she freaked inwardly at
the thought of having to actually get on the thing.

Blue hesitated on the stoop. When he shifted his weight to
step forward, Kali shut the door in his face.

Humiliated, she opened the door, this time stepping aside, her
cheeks red from blood not cosmetics. “Won’t you come
in?”

Striding past the threshold, Blue glanced at her
questioningly, but let it go.

Closing the door twice more, Kali breathed a sigh of relief
when she didn’t feel any anxiety. She’d held the door open longer
than she usually would have been able to without having a
full-scale meltdown.

Blue spun and thrust out an arm. A fat bunch of brightly
coloured wild flowers was held in his fist wrapped in a neatly
coiled sheathe of black paper. “You’re lovely.” His gaze roamed her
body appreciatively before focusing on her face as he offered this
quietly sincere compliment.

Blooms were incredibly expensive, and bought at memorable
occasions. Kali’s family unit had them in the habitat because
Rikard particularly loved them. She was stunned. Nibbling her lip,
Kali calculated how much credit he must have blown to get these.
They were just perfect. She couldn’t see any hereditary flaws or
signs of genetic crossbreeding at all on the waxy pink
petals.

Ducking her head shyly, she accepted them. He brushed his
fingers against hers, and smiled, a devastating show of pearly
teeth that Kali wanting to babble and blink a lot. She broke eye
contact and rubbed her arm, feeling discombobulated. Rather than
allow herself to feel intimidated, she closed the gap between them
and kissed his cheek to say thank you.

He smelt beautiful. There was the zesty lime smell most people
had from passing through decontamination checkpoints, but
overpowering that was a spicy, more earthy scent that was all his
own. Kali sighed at the cool and soft skin under her lips, and
stars, did she nuzzle him?

Realising she lingered too long, Kali backed off with a
nervous giggle.

His eyes turned from sea blue to forest green with hazel
flecks.

There was nothing normal about Blue, but he was trying. That
was what counted, was all that mattered to her. He could be
eccentric, a little odd, as long as he cared for her.

“
Thank you for the flowers. I’ll pop them in a suspension beam
then we can take off.” She turned and collided with Howl who
sprawled on her boots, head cocked inquisitively. “Oh. Blue, this
is my FetchMe, Howl. Would you mind if he sampled you? Do you have
a companion?”

Seeing intelligence in the creature’s eyes, Blue inclined his
head and offered his palm. “Yes,” he answered. His eyes flicked up
to bore into hers. “My Hypatia is a raptor breed. Then there is
Caesar.”

Howl set his nose on Blue’s hand and inhaled
deeply.

The FetchMe catalogued Blue’s scent. If Kali wanted to program
the borg to accept voice commands from Blue, or track him, she
could now. The FetchMe would remain relaxed, and no longer perceive
Blue with stranger status.

She fiddled with a flower, stroking the waxy stem. “You have
an avian? They’re so … rare.” Avians were not so much rare but
illegal. “And you named her after the Roman philosopher, the first
female mathematician.” Did that mean Blue respected women of
intelligence, or was the naming a chauvinistic insult? Unable to
make a judgment call, not seeing how he was with his FetchMe, she
shelved it for later inspection. “What a big name for such a small
creature. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“
If I’d known I’d have brought her, but the breed is not
exactly welcome in these quads.” He smiled faintly, and she’d like
to think it was tinged with affection for his companion. “Shall I
summon her now? Hypatia can easily avoid the drones that would try
to shoot her out of the sky.”

“
You have a direct ComLink to your borg?” She gawped at him. “I
wanted that so badly, but Papa refused the neural implant.” She
shook herself. “Please, don’t take the risk. Give me a nanosec and
we’ll take off.”

Fascinated, Kali spun to ditch the flowers, so they could
leave.

Max still leaned by the arched doorway, watching them.
“Erikson,” he grunted by way of a greeting.

Not exactly loving his standoffish tone, Kali sent him a look
of warning as she passed to reach the kitchen.

Max was pissed she wasn’t taking him but she so didn’t care.
This was the first date she’d had in years that she was excited
about and had faith in. It might lead to something interesting.
Kali was not about to let him tag along to make fun of them, or
make things weird. She knew he would on purpose for his own
entertainment if he felt Blue was wrong for her.

“
Max,” Blue responded in the familiar, frowning, trying to work
out why he was there. “You’re joining us?”

“
By the Virgin, no.” Kali spun and lowered her voice. “Um, I
mean, not tonight.”

Max bit back laughter. “Kal wants you to herself.” He wrapped
an arm around her shoulders.

Kali slumped, knowing to bicker with him would mean getting
hot and bothered.

“
Take care of her,” Max ordered. “You’ll have people to deal
with if you don’t.”

Blue heard the threat loud and clear. “I’m taking her to
Quadrant18 on my FloBi. It’s surrounded by SafeZones, and shares
one border with the OutRim.” He leaned in. “She’ll be
safe.”