by T. Y. Carew
Xander fought off a smile brought on by the look on Mattie’s face, which, despite the smile, promised swift and painful death to this human clamp. To prevent an incident the general would not think in the least funny, he said, “Captain Adair is pretty harmless when unarmed, Doctor Cardew. No need to restrain her with all your might.”
His comment had the desired effect. The Red Lady let out a well-rehearsed tinkly laugh and let go of Mattie, who took an immediate step back, out of range.
Catching the drift, the general took Evelyn Cardew’s arm and led her away smoothly, leaving Xander and Mattie to exchange bewildered looks behind their backs.
It wasn’t until the end of the meet, when people began saying their goodbyes and leaving the room, when Mattie’s control was tested again. Glowing with the rush of enthusiasm, Doctor Cardew approached Mattie, General Kelton still in tow.
“The good general tells me you are always eager to spread awareness of the benefits the metal Adamanta has for both the military and our run of the mill, everyday lives. Is that true, Miss Adair?”
Just say yes, just say yes, Xander chanted wordlessly.
Mattie smiled widely at her, not uttering a word, and Xander cheered inwardly.
“Well, I so happen to have organized a little soirée at my place, in a couple of days’ time. How would you like to have the opportunity to speak to all my guests, show them face to face what it means to you—to us all— to command such exquisite material?”
Xander could easily read the struggle on Mattie’s face. On one hand, this could be the kind of opportunity the general was trying to draw them into, the chance to hook in more investors, the chance to at the very least bring to public notice the very real need to continue research into the uses of this metal. At the same time, he knew Mattie had an inherent dislike of this person, and more so of public speaking on whatever level. Which side of her would win today?
A moment later Mattie smiled wider. “I would be thrilled at the opportunity, Ms. Cardew. Is this a black-tie event? Should I shop for an evening dress?”
The Red Lady laughed as if she’d heard the best joke ever and glossed right over Mattie’s faux-pas. Xander wondered whether she really wasn’t the type of person to care for a title, or perhaps would do her best to retaliate at a later date in a more covert way. Suddenly, he was seized by the insane urge to step in and formally forbid Mattie to attend the soirée.
“How wonderful!” Doctor Cardew was saying, and the moment to intervene slipped through Xander’s virtual fingers. “And how perceptive of you to have read my intentions so easily. Truly, your intuition is spot-on, my dear. Though I could not comment on your choice of attire for the night, it is indeed a high society function, and I expect many celebrities to grace me with their attendance. Perhaps… lose the heavy weaponry? Security would strip you at the gates anyway, so probably best to leave your swords at home this time around.”
Mattie smiled and bowed her head slightly in acquiescence.
“How many people are you expecting?” asked Xander on a whim, realizing a second too late he should have thought before speaking. He hoped against hope the doctor would not be offended by his brazen nosiness.
But she merely laughed again. “Oh, a few hundred, I think. Probably no more than a thousand. I never make lists—they’re so tedious, don’t you think?”
Xander agreed wordlessly while watching Mattie work on controlling her shock. He decided it was a good thing he’d asked; this way she would be prepared.
The Red Lady turned around in the doorway and added, “And there’ll be some photographers there, too. The media, you understand.” She mouthed the word ‘lipstick’ and mimed its use toward Mattie, then swept from the room, holding onto the general’s arm with both hands.
“Oh, I do love a man in uniform,” Xander heard her say as they rounded the corner. He wondered what agonizingly boring function Kelton would have to sit through with this infuriating woman dangling from his arm. His barely subdued inner rage gave him a stab of satisfaction at the thought, and he hoped Kelton would have a truly dreadful time. He deserved it.
Then Mattie turned towards Xander and let out a little frightened squeak, a sound he’d never heard her make before, and Kelton and his evening swept right out of his mind.
***
“Don’t worry. I’ll be there, right by your side,” Xander said, but Mattie barely heard him. Her ears were abuzz with the imagined ring of a thousand clapping hands, all welcoming the Red Lady onto a vast stage, introducing her, Adamanta, to her guests. One thousand of the most influential people on Netera looking up at her, waiting for her to speak, expecting her to wow them with her knowledge and expertise. One thousand opportunities for funding she had to make the most of.
Oh no! Would she be expected to answer questions from the public?
She swayed on her feet and shot an arm to the side in search of support, finding Xander. He drew her to his chest, and Mattie hoped the warmth his proximity provided would never leave her. Xander was more than a friend, he was comfort and encouragement, a fortress of strength and a well of wisdom. She knew she could rely on him.
“Why am I not surprised?” came a drawl from the doorway.
Mattie spun around at the sound of that voice, taking in the empty room as she went, and her eyes alighted on the polar opposite of the man who held her in his arms right now.
“Simon.”
“I’d be careful,” he nodded in their direction, “doing that in public. Now that all the media’s eyes are trained on you, Adamanta.” The word sounded almost vulgar in his mouth. “They might get the… right idea.” He winked and was gone.
“Bastard,” Mattie spat through gritted teeth. She pulled out of Xander’s arms and ran to the doorway. Simon had stopped at the end of the corridor, by the bank of elevators.
“If anyone gets any wrong ideas about anything, it would be because of you, Simon. You’re the cause of all this. I hope you’re proud of what you’ve done.”
Simon turned to her, smirking as he always did when he was intent on keeping his distance. “What would you know, little girl, or the games of men bigger than you?”
The elevator doors slid open and then shut behind him before Mattie could think through his reply. And when she did, she didn’t like it one little bit.
Xander’s hand swept over her shoulder, and she turned to bury her face in his chest in the most natural gesture in the world. Nose deep in his uniform, she mumbled, “That man is poison.”
Beneath her cheek, she felt Xander’s rumble of agreement.
Chapter 4
Mattie had spent some time with Xander and the rest of the team over in the mess hall, dissecting all the possibilities relating to the Red Lady’s invitation. She felt a little better about it now. In fact, her worst nightmare would be the process of finding an evening dress comfortable enough to allow her to feel at ease while still looking good for the cameras. For this, Mattie had enlisted Tyra’s help, and the two would hit the shops before lunch that very day.
When she voiced her concerns about being able to answer any of the truly technical questions, Xander had come up with the idea that they should lean on Kelton to get Drew into the function room, too, so Mattie could call on him should the need arise. So now Drew was feverishly searching for a tux to borrow for the night, as he didn’t see the point of owning one outright.
“When will I get to wear it again? Not quite the kind of thing to wipe my greasy fingers on after checking the hydraulics in the cargo loading bay, is it?”
Then he’d made some comment about women using every opportunity to buy a new dress. Tyra cut his piss-taking right off, asking him what he thought the press would say if they found out Mattie, the face of Adamanta, attended a high-society function in a borrowed dress.
As the conversation drifted to more practical issues, Mattie confessed to not being comfortable going to a strange place without at least some of the less obvious weapons on her person.
&nbs
p; “Maybe I could just hide a couple of zappers or some needles in my outfit,” she said to Xander. “Or maybe bring my weapons pack into the grounds so it’s close enough for me to call should the need arise?”
Xander sighed and rubbed his chin, a sign he shared her concerns. “I’ll see what I can do about getting your weapons pack into the grounds, but chances are the security will be so tight, there’s no chance anyone will be allowed in with even a matchstick if it’s too sharp, in case it can be used as a weapon. Remember, that place will be so full of celebrities, no one in their right mind would think of attacking it.”
“No?” she asked.
“Of course not. They’ll go rob all the unattended residences of the rich and famous instead.” He shrugged and she laughed at his perfect logic. She tried hard, after that, not to worry.
When they split up, at the end of what was an incredibly stressful day, they all knew what they were supposed to do in the day and a half before the function. Mattie and Tyra would shop for a dress and attempt to figure out a way for Mattie to conceal at least one weapon in the garment. Drew would look for a tux, and Xander would press Kelton to add his name and Drew’s to the guest list. Drew, as the tech guy, would get in easily, Mattie thought. She wasn’t so sure Xander would make it in, however. The guest list, whether the Red Lady liked making lists or not, was bound to be limited to only the most important people on Netera.
The Lentarins would stand out in a sea of humans, so they couldn’t even sneak in under the age-old guise of being part of the catering staff, and so Mattie resigned herself to keeping cool throughout the event without the support of her best friend, Tyra. Trey would be busy, anyway. If she knew Xander at all, Trey would be set the task of supervising the Lady Contessa, and she wouldn’t be in the least surprised if it came out later that one of the Contessa’s crew had tampered with the electronics so she would be unfit for action. Would Xander sabotage the military to keep his ship safe? His love for his ship was probably unsurpassed by any living being, so maybe. It was a close-run thing, Mattie decided.
The day of the event found Mattie shaking with nerves. She felt ill.
“Keep still or you’ll stab yourself with your own needles,” Tyra muttered as she cinched the waistband of Mattie’s dress, tugging it a little too tightly.
The light-peach layers of gauzy material fell in a soft fluted shape around her legs, making her look more like a fragile doll than a warrior. Mattie frowned at the mirror and tugged at the tight bodice.
“You think you can let me breathe in this thing? Might help the public image if I don’t asphyxiate on stage.”
Tyra laughed but loosened the ties slightly. “Better?”
Mattie growled out a “Camo pants would be,” but held still as Tyra picked up six of her zappers and slid them one by one in the specially-sewn pockets around her waist. Hopefully, they would look like nothing more than decorative pieces, part of the dress itself.
When she’d read the write-up for the event while out shopping for the dress, Mattie’s eyes snagged on the mention of additional security. She wondered why that would be necessary, but Tyra had eased her worries with a simple explanation.
“As soon as a person becomes wealthy, they know they need to protect themselves and their possessions from those who want what they have and are unscrupulous enough to steal it. That’s one person. Imagine what a bunch of people who collectively hold about 90 percent of all the wealth on Netera must feel like. I’m personally surprised they haven’t called on the military for extra guard duty.”
Mattie had laughed and relaxed, though with no news from Xander about a plan for bringing her weapons pack into the grounds if not into the house itself, she still thought it sensible to try to sneak some weapons in the best way she knew how—on her person.
“There you go. You’re ready,” Tyra said with a smile, gently lifting her chin so she was facing the mirror full-on.
“Let’s go then,” Mattie said after glancing at herself just long enough to reestablish she still hated the dress. Now that the thing she feared most—the public speaking—was getting closer, she was eager to be done with it.
“Relax. You’ll be fine,” Tyra said and gave her a one-armed squeeze as they walked side by side to the futuristic, swish-looking vehicle that was waiting outside Mattie’s building. “See you tomorrow. You can tell me all about it over coffee and cake.”
“You can count on that,” said Mattie, and stepped inside the vehicle.
***
Sitting on the plush, velvet-covered bench inside the sumptuous interior, Mattie couldn’t help wondering what she’d gotten herself into. Modeled on the old-fashioned limousine automobiles, the vehicle was designed to make its passengers have the perfect traveling experience. Consoles bearing markings describing toiletries, food or drink items were set into the surrounding frame, while comfortable chairs that took the shape desired by their occupants lined the back of the vehicle and the side windows.
Mattie thought she might have been able to enjoy the trip if the vehicle had a driver. Frowning, she glanced once more over her shoulder at the front console, separated from the main part of the vehicle by a sheet of toughened glass, and set in a space too narrow to accommodate a human. Bright lights seemed to chase each other over its surface, and a vehicle-wide screen bore a stylized map showing the approximate course they had been and would be traveling.
A long sigh later, Mattie turned back to the window and decided to trust the machine to know where it was going.
In only a few more minutes, the vehicle descended smoothly over gardens covered in a multitude of twinkling lights. Just before it became obscured by the walls of an expansive mansion, Mattie caught sight of a wonderful view opening over an abyss. It seemed Doctor Evelyn Cardew’s place was set on top of a cliff.
Mattie was escorted from the vehicle by a bellboy dressed in red satin. He left her at the bottom of the wide staircase leading into the mansion and disappeared into the darkness before she could ask him what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. With little choice, she began walking up the marble steps. Two steps later she was assaulted by furious flashes of unmanned cameras set on stands.
“Motion detection,” Mattie said to herself. She smiled wide at each of them and made her way up to the top of the staircase as gracefully as she could in the stilettoes Tyra had made her put on her feet. Once on the top step, the cameras ceased flashing, and Mattie walked through the open door.
Two guards welcomed her into Doctor Cardew’s residence and explained the process they would go through to ensure no weapons or personal communication devices made it past the front door, for the guests’ safety and privacy. They asked her to step through a tight chamber shaped like an airlock, and met her on the other side, where they asked her to remove the Adamanta pieces in her dress.
Damn! The technology they were using could not only detect a metal item, but also what kind of metal it was. Not wanting to cause a scene, Mattie complied. She deposited the six zappers and two needles in the box they provided, along with her long-distance comm. In return, they issued her with a token bearing the number of the box in which she’d left her items.
Oh well, she’d just have to rely on the standard of security being as high as everyone said it was. She still had no idea whether Xander would be able to smuggle her weapons pack somewhere onto the grounds.
Smiling broadly, as she didn’t know when she’s be ambushed again by motion-detecting cameras, Mattie proceeded into the vast antechamber, from where she was escorted into the amphitheater-shaped function room. A quick mental scan for Adamanta revealed masses of it within the building and nearby, but none of it registered in the slightest as familiar to her. Mattie felt her stomach drop with apprehension but kept putting one foot in front of the other, telling herself this function could not last a lifetime. Soon enough, she would be able to get back to her own business, her dear friends, and—oh no!—the upcoming small-craft piloting exams.
/> Preoccupied, Mattie walked through a set of hideously ornate double doors and into a huge amphitheater. A bunch of people milled at the front, right before a stage set back and above the main floor of the room. That would be where she’d have to stand when she gave her talk. Mattie took a deep breath and stepped forward. She hoped she’d find a drink on a tray somewhere, because she was suddenly desperate for one.
Chapter 5
The lights dimmed gently until the amphitheater was shrouded in darkness, with the stage flood-lit in warm cream hues.
Doctor Evelyn Cardew, clad fully in red, stepped on the stage amid a flood of light flashes from cameras all over the vast room. She picked up the mic and smiled graciously at her guests, riding the barrage of light like the seasoned celebrity she undoubtedly was. Mattie fixed a smile on her face and froze it there. Evelyn Cardew brought the mic to her lips.
“Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! It’s such a pleasure to have you here today, at the opening of my newest venture, the Porteus Tactical Initiative, which could prove to be of utmost importance in the future strategy employed by human military forces in both defense of our homeland and scouting missions in far-away corners of the universe.”
Her words were met with thunderous applause. Evelyn Cardew pressed a button on a small hand-held device and Mattie watched the starlit background of the stage drop out of sight to be replaced by a huge banner bearing the words,
PORTEUS
Where Research, Innovation and Business Come Together
to create
THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the Red Lady continued after another loud outbreak of applause, “allow me to start this evening of enlightenment by welcoming on stage a very fond friend and valuable business associate of mine, Mr. Simon Dantos of Dantos Engineering and Aeronautics. We’ve been working together for a whole year now, and it gives me the greatest pleasure to lend him the center stage for a few moments. Believe me, it will be worth your time and attention.”