Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(54)

After a frustrating ten minutes, I found one pair of pants that weren’t horrible. I went back to see if they had more of that style, and of course they didn’t. So I settled for what I had and went to find Marcus.

He lounged by the door, package already in hand. I paid for my purchases and joined him. We exited the shop and kept going, drifting farther and farther from the good parts of the district.

“You looking for something or just trying to find trouble?” Loch finally asked.

“Can’t it be both?” I asked. He didn’t even grin. “If you must know, I’m looking for a weapons dealer that used to be around here, but he must’ve moved. I don’t know what’s on the ship, but I’d like a new blast pistol and some more ammo.”

“In that case, we’ll need a transport. I’ve been here before.”

I ordered a transport to meet us at the next landing. We climbed in and Loch set the destination. We crossed the city then descended to the ground. I raised an eyebrow.

“Rhys has done very well for himself in the last few years,” Loch said.

I only knew of one Rhys who sold weapons in Sedition, but I kept the knowledge to myself. “An old friend?” I asked.

“Something like that. Let me do the talking and try to look inconspicuous. What kind of blaster do you want?”

“Small. A Mosey or Ketchum if he has one, otherwise anything that is small enough to be easily concealable. I don’t need any fancy extras, but I won’t turn them down as long as they don’t make the gun bigger.”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing specific, but I’m not opposed to buying more. Really depends on what he has.”

The transport rolled to a stop in an alley. A single steel door broke up the expanse of wall. Yeah, this seemed like an ideal place to get murdered. If I wasn’t pretty sure we were meeting Rhys Sebastian, I would’ve bailed.

“I’ll go first, you stick close. If anyone gives you shit, let me deal with it.”

I paid for the transport then touched my thumb and pinky, reverting to the likely compromised identity of Irena Hasan, just in case. No reason to burn a perfectly good identity, because while scanning identity chips without notice was against the law, I doubted a black-market arms dealer much cared.

Loch stepped out but didn’t offer me a hand. I pulled up the hood of my cloak and climbed out on my own. The transport slid away. Loch pounded on the door.

“Wha’da’ya want?” a rough voice asked from a hidden speaker.

“Tell Rhys that Loch is here to see him.”

We waited in silence. Finally the door swung inward to reveal a long, dim hallway and nothing else. We stepped inside and the door slammed shut behind us. Loch didn’t even pause.

We climbed two flights of stairs then came out in a small foyer. A beautiful brunette sat behind a gleaming, spotless desk. “Please sit,” she said, indicating the leather chairs behind us. “Mr. Sebastian will see you shortly.”

Loch crossed his arms and didn’t move. The receptionist shrugged a delicate shoulder and turned back to her com terminal. Time ticked past in tiny, frozen increments. Standing behind Loch, I settled in for a long wait.

Perhaps twenty minutes later, the brunette looked up from her com terminal. “Mr. Sebastian will see you now,” she said. She indicated the door to her right.

I trailed Loch through the door into a richly appointed office. Real wood floors covered by antique Persian rugs led to a wall of windows looking down on the main avenue through Sedition.

And between us and the windows sat Rhys Sebastian. Rhys and I had started off as friendly acquaintances and had slowly morphed into true friends.

Rhys had acquired a few hard-to-find items for me back when I worked for House von Hasenberg. Thanks to that acquaintance and my knowledge of his skill and discretion, he was one of the first people I’d turned to when I escaped. But back then, he’d been operating from up in the two hundreds.

Rhys had definitely done well for himself. We’d kept in touch regularly over the last two years. He had mentioned his business was doing well, but he had failed to mention how well.

And he knew Marcus.

I smiled under my scarf. This would be interesting.

Rhys stood. He was as tall and nearly as broad as Loch, with the same sense of contained violence that his expensive suit did little to hide. His hair was blond and cut close to his skull. But where Loch was roughly attractive, Rhys was perfectly, classically handsome—a statue of an ancient god brought to life.

“Loch, what brings you to my piece of the world?” Rhys asked as he came out from behind his desk. Rhys’s age had always been difficult for me to estimate, but after seeing him with Marcus, I guessed they were the same age—mid-to late-twenties.

“My friend needs a little something for personal protection,” Loch said. “I figured you could help out.”

Rhys flicked a dismissive glance at me, then paused and looked again. He pulled a blaster seemingly from thin air and pointed it at Loch. “Move away from the lady.”

Loch crossed his arms and stepped closer to me, blocking Rhys from view. “No.”

“It was not a request. Move or I will shoot you, and I won’t be aiming for a limb.”

“You can try,” Loch said.

I peeked around Loch’s shoulder. “Gentlemen, while this is all very amusing, perhaps we could get to the business at hand. Rhys, put the gun away unless you’re planning to shoot me, in which case, Marcus, you have my permission to shoot back.”