"Does he have a particular time period for these visits?" I asked.

"He says within the next two eight-days. I can relay the information; just contact me by comp-vid. Here's my code," he passed that to me on a data chip. We were standing in the small kitchen inside the suite I'd been given. Ry chose that moment to walk through the door with our luggage, his own version of Jerves leading the way.

"I see your wife is already here," the assistant said, smiling at Ry. The man was smitten, that's all there was to say.

"Wife, what will we do for dinner this evening?" Ry was grinning at me, the scamp.

"I thought we might go next door and check out their menu tonight," I said.

"Good. I've been asked to evaluate the service I get in this complex of five clubs and restaurants," he nodded.

"Great. We'll check everything out while we eat," I replied.

"Mrs. Windle, welcome to Galedaro's, and if you have any issues, please let me know." Jerves gave a brief wave and left. Ry's escort was slower to go out the door, but he did eventually leave.

"Any trouble getting the job?" Ry asked, coming over to give me a warm hug.

"The Master Cook's position was filled during the interview before mine," I said. Mentally I added, and the jerk, Rjjn, was callous enough to tell the man that he had it right in front of me. "But I got the pastry and dessert cook position," I added aloud.

"Sweetheart, if they'd tasted your cooking, you'd have the other job now," Ry told me. We knew not to say anything aloud that we didn't want overheard. If there was something going on, it was a safe bet that everything was bugged in some way.

"I invited Jerves to dinner some night when I'm off," I said. "I was thinking about making the stuffed duck, or maybe the ox-roast."

"Make the ox-roast. I haven't had that in a while." Ry was hungry, I could tell.

"Hon, let's go next door and get something to eat before you cave in," I patted his stomach.

"You noticed, huh?"

"I did."

"Did you want to change?"

"Do you think I should?"

"No, you look great. Let's go." Ry walked me out the door.

"Reah suggested this, but I'm varying it just a little," Lendill said. Garde sat across the table from where Lendill sat, at Lissa's formal dining table. Everyone had come to dinner, almost, including Tory.

"What is it, and how are you varying it?" Garde asked. He was still angry about the hijacked gishi fruit shipment, and blew smoke whenever he thought about it.

"We'll label the next gishi fruit shipment as nannas, as she suggested, and when we ship the nannas out, we'll say it's gishi fruit. That's how we'll list it with the ships, too. All the crates will be sealed, and we'll see which ones get hijacked."

"It's worth a try," Garde blew out a slightly smoky sigh. "Where is the little thing, anyway?"

"Can't say, it's top secret," Lendill replied. "We're tracking down a hunch at the moment, but it might be a very viable hunch. If it turns out as I suspect it might, some mighty big heads might roll over it." Lendill refused to discuss it further.

"When did Kifirin start growing gishi fruit?" Tory asked. He now believed his oldest twins were eight. He'd come quite a way in only a few days. Lissa smiled at her second-born. She was waiting for Connegar to heal Tory's memory well enough to explain that he'd had a second set of twins. She hoped the information wouldn't be too difficult for him to accept.

"It was an experiment just a few years ago, son. Reah thought the Southern Continent would support the fruit. Turns out she was right," Lissa said gently. "Gishi fruit has become Kifirin's top export."

"Really? That must bring in a lot of money, since gishi fruit is so expensive."

"It does," Garde agreed. "We may be able to pay off Kifirin's debts, just by selling gishi fruit."

"Dad, that's great. I know what a burden all those loans were," Tory recalled the crushing debts that Kifirin faced after the comesuli were brought home to Le-Ath Veronis.

"They'll all be paid before you know it," Garde said. "Just give us a few more years and we'll be completely in the clear."

"We have Reah to thank for that idea?" Tory blinked at his father.

"Yes. We have Reah to thank," Garde dipped his head. "But on another note, we can plant some of your holdings on the Southern Continent now, and you can raise gishi fruit. It's a lucrative enterprise, son."

"You didn't do it before, so the bitch wouldn't get her hands on any of it," Tory blew out a little smoke of his own. "How are my babies? I can't believe they're eight, now."

"They're growing up fast," Garde acknowledged. "You'll see them soon, I think."

"Lendill, are you spending the night?" Lissa asked to change the subject.

"I'm going to visit my father after dinner. I think he'll announce which of my brothers is next in line for King sometime soon."

"I hope it's somebody you can live with," Lissa said and turned back to her dessert.

"Me, too," Lendill agreed.

"Too dry," I pushed the cake away with a sour face. "And the raspberry sauce is too tart. How's yours?" I looked expectantly at Ry, who'd ordered a puff pastry with redberries and cream.

"Nothing near yours," he pushed it toward me. I took a bite and agreed with him. The pastry was too thick around the filling and the cream not quite sweet enough. I could only imagine the other desserts also needed work. We'd asked the waiter to bring us their two best desserts and this is what we'd gotten.

"We're ready to pay," I said when the waiter appeared at our table. He scanned Ry's employee chip, we left our unfinished desserts on the table and left. "At least the waiter was good," I said as we slipped out the door of Chrestin's, the second-best resort on Stellar Winds. The food had been decent, if not of the highest caliber. I'd ordered a chicken dish, Ry had asked for steak.

Stellar Winds was in the fall season upon the tiny planetoid, but one wouldn't know it unless one walked outside the glassed-in tunnels and tubes that ran from one place to the next, all climate-controlled. Trees, plants, waterfalls and small ponds were scattered here and there, decorating spaces in and outside the resorts. Some even had exotic animals held behind clear plexi.

"Feel like going to the bar inside Galedaro's?" Ry asked as we passed the left turn that led to the business wing. The hotel portion was much taller and attached on the right side, leaving the restaurant and bar area in between. All five of Zendeval Rjjn's properties were built in a circle, with glass tunnels available to get to the other resorts, brothels and game facilities. Gambling was prohibited on Stellar Winds; it wasn't licensed for it. I figured there was some going on somewhere, though, legal or not.

"We can go for a little while, but I'm tired and I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow," I told Ry, slipping my arm inside his Crm agreed w. He lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed them. "After this, I'm going to put you out by a pool somewhere and make you sleep for a week," he said.

"You'll make me?" I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Absolutely," he grinned. Two women, passing by, ran into one another while staring at Ry. "Ladies," Ry nodded to them. They were whispering furiously when they went on their way.

"Is it good to give women orgasms just by smiling?" I laughed up at him.

"I'm working on perfecting my art," he said. "Want another cloudy sunset?"

"I'll take one. Two will put me to sleep," I said.

"We'll order two, then," he told me. Normally it would take more than that, but I was truly weary. Ry and I had a tough road ahead of us, if we were to learn anything about the disappearances, Bel's included. Lendill was now keeping track of all the people who booked passage on ships bound for Stellar Winds. He was prepared to watch for further disappearances to check against that database.

"Two cloudy sunsets, with Yadeli," Ry ordered as we took seats at the bar. We'd passed several drunken (or drugged) people in their twenties. Some had undressed, one completely, and were dancing beneath the strobe lights on the dance floor.

Security was discreet but present. If anyone became a disturbance, they'd be hauled to a drunk room to sleep it off. If they became violent, they stayed inside a padded cell until the drunk wore off. Two infractions meant a dismissal from the planetoid with no refund. Everyone signed a release before setting foot on Stellar Winds.

"I have to inspect the voyeur parlors tomorrow," Ry grimaced as he sipped his drink. I didn't think it was the drink—mine was very good. Some visitors agreed to participate in sex acts while others watched behind one-way glass. I shuddered, just thinking about it. Ry was going to be exposed to all of that.

"I'm making desserts," I said, shaking my head at him.

"Reah, I may not be in a good mood when I come home tomorrow night," he said.

"Do you want me to fix something for you?"

"Just bring something to the apartment. That'll be good enough," he said. "That way if I'm not hungry, I won't insult your good cooking by not eating it."

"I will," I nodded, rubbing his back.

Ry and I leaned into each other as we took the elevator to the fifth floor inside the business wing. At least the loud, thumping music from the bar didn't penetrate that far up. "Thank the stars; quiet," Ry sighed in appreciation and settled me on a sofa in the small sitting area. We had a single, large bedroom, a small sitting area, the equally small kitchen and a nice bath with a tub and shower. Ry had brought our bags over when he'd first come up so at least we had clothing and toiletries.

"Let's sleep late tomorrow," Ry said. Do you want me to sleep on the sofa?