The Book of Apex: Volume 1 of Apex Magazine by Jason Sizemore Page B

stopper from the
vial to his nose, Penn inhaled slowly. Against the neutral backdrop of his
ship’s cleanroom, he picked out aromas of quince, elderberry, and bright
Martian soil that hinted of blood, with undercurrents of cinnamon and Zeta
Epsilon’s fragrantly sweet longgrass. He sighed, blowing the scents out again.
The perfume was still out of balance.
    The boarding chime rang,
letting him know that Madison had returned. The round tones resonated off the
glass labware and sent vibrations across his scalp as it slowly, slowly faded.
God, it was gorgeous—picking up the temple bell when they were on Mosholu had
been one of his better choices. He’d eventually get the whole ship converted to
real things instead of all the virtual hoo-ha it came with. Well, maybe not the
whole ship; the skip drive had to exist in quantum state, but by God, the
controls at least were made out of real ebony and brass.
    The intercom buzzed and
Madison’s honeyed voice came over the wires, “Hey there, Mr. Man. Got a
surprise for you.”
    “A musk lion?”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. Come on
out.”
    “I anticipate the pleasure of
your discovery.” He slid his left hand forward until he found the wire stand
that held his work trials. His fingers followed the trail of braided metal up
to the smooth glass vial. He slipped the stopper into it with practiced ease.
    With one hand touching the
stainless steel work bench, Penn paced the distance to the cleanroom’s door.
Opening it brought a chaotic swirl of scents containing the dark mineral oils
that lubricated the doors, and the green plants grown to filter the air, and
dog and...something else. Something new. Penn lifted his head, scenting in
anticipation. Madison, that tease...she must have found a musk lion.
    The boarding chime rang again.
Maybe more than one. Good.
    “Cody?” He held his left hand
down while the tick-tick-tick of claws hurried to his side. Cody thrust her
damp nose into Penn’s hand, and licked once with her warm tongue before sliding
forward into working position.
    Penn fondled his dog’s silky
ears, as she slipped past to bring the harness under his hand. The leather
handle was warm where it had lain against Cody’s back.
    “Airlock.”
    Without hesitation, Cody led
him down the hall, her shaggy tail beating against the back of Penn’s legs.
Truth be told, even if his blindness were repairable, he would be hard pressed
to give up his dog. She was a real lady. Not like a machine or electrodes in
his brain. Loyal and true. Hell’s bells. The fool dog was so excited to be working
that Penn didn’t even have the heart to let on that he knew the ship well
enough to find his way to the airlock without help.
    The new scent was so rich.
Pungent with sexual intensity and spices that only flirted with the familiar.
Penn quickened his pace; his clients would pay top dollar for a perfume with
this. “Smell that, Cody? That’s why parfumiers like Lenox will never rise to
the sublime. Synthetics. Feh. Any Joe with a copier can make a fake.” That’s
why he did expeditions to new worlds before they were opened for colonization.
Hitting the market with a unique ingredient guaranteed that he maintained the
top position in his field.
    Around the corner, something
heavy scraped against the metal deck of the ship. Penn had wanted oak floors,
but had to concede that they would not survive the heavy traffic through the
boarding area. The thing, probably a cage, held something that squealed with a
high rough voice. “Sounds like Madison had a successful expedition, eh, Cody?”
    She whined in response.
    The new aroma was definitely
coming from the boarding area. It was mixed with the more familiar smells of
Cody and the salty tang of Madison, but even with those distractions, the spicy
musk begged him to breathe deeper and absorb the aroma into his pores.
    As they neared the boarding
area, Cody hesitated.
    The boarding chime rang a third
time and with it came a dry hissing, like sand