Echoes of Avarice

by Brendan O'Neill

  Doubt fell away as his arm slid down her body, under her panties. Her legs twitched ever so slightly as his fingers found the soft mounds of her womanhood. In spite of his restraining underwear, the tip of his erection slid comfortably against the small of her back as his hips pushed feebly against hers. Connor’s hand slipped back up her body to find its favorite place on her breast, a haven that was obstructed by a bra. Instinctively, his hand pushed the offending material aside.

  It was a curious sensation, doubt crawling its way back inside his mind again. He didn’t recognize it at first. It became more distinct at the notion that Charisma’s breast felt smaller and firmer than he was used to. The erect nipple resting comfortably between his sleepy fingers somehow seemed different as well. And her hair, while intoxicating, still had that alien smell. Deep in his semi-waking dream, he knew that meant something. That distant curiosity threatened to undermine this blissful moment in time. A pitiful moan of frustration escaped his lips as he fell away from glorious sleep.

  Suddenly, realization hit him like a hammer. He remembered everything. The desperate run to the underground terraforming bunker. Rana passing out several hundred yards short of their destination. Charisma fumbling with the frozen lock because Connor’s hands were too cold to manage the delicate locking mechanisms. Finding the medical bay and activating its emergency power and heating unit. Charisma making a nest on the floor of portable emergency mattresses. Connor stripping himself and Rana down to their underclothes as Charisma found and applied a clearish paste to their blue extremities that generated its own heat. Connor laying down with Rana in front of him as Charisma piled blanket upon blanket on top of them. Charisma crawling under the blankets in her own underclothes, laying against Rana to donate her own body heat.

  Shit! Connor thought as he scrambled out from under the covers as quickly as he could. No movement, no sign of the dangerous woman waking up. Thankfully. If Charisma had caught him she would have killed him, metaphorically speaking. If Rana would have caught him she would have killed him, probably literally. Fortunately, Charisma was absent and Rana still lay asleep on her side, the blankets yanked to her waist from his hasty departure.

  It only now dawned on him that his muscles were shaking from the cold and strain of before. He leaned on a narrow medical bed for a moment, waiting for his erection to die down, and panted as he stared at Rana’s bare back. It didn’t help the efforts to sedate his erection when the woman rolled onto her back. Her perfect and perky exposed breast was rising and falling hypnotically with each gentle snore.

  Connor momentarily considered trying to move the bra back into position, a notion that was quickly dismissed. It just might wake her and there’d be no explaining that. He shook his head to regain some composure and pulled her blanket back up to her neck, hoping that would be enough.

  A quick glance around showed both his clothing and Rana’s were missing, but two fresh sets of jumpsuits sat folded on the nearest medical table. Once dressed and slightly calmed, Connor decided to spend a moment glancing around the hallway. Unlike the unremarkable tunnels of the military complex they’d been living in, these hallways were civilian made. They had carpeted floors and patterns carved into the walls. Cheap carpets and rather simple patterns, but it was still a palace compared to those bland, boring tunnels from the military complex.

  For a moment he considered trying to pick a direction to explore. Maybe see if he could find Charisma. Or learn if Jackie and Akshay had made it here before nightfall. In the end, he decided to stay in medical with Rana. After her near-death experience, Connor didn’t want to leave her alone until he was sure she was ok. He found a table near their communal floor nest and pulled a chair to it. There wasn’t much to do to pass the time so he invented a game of balancing various medical tools in various ways.

  “Having fun?”

  Connor turned to Rana as she looked at him from the floor. She’d sat up, the once out of place bra cup already back where it belonged. The beautiful but dangerous woman showed no sign of wanting to kill him, a fact Connor was grateful to see. Her eyes wandered around the room.

  “I was starting to worry that you were going to sleep the day away,” he said.

  “When have you ever known me to do that?” she said with a hint of a smile. Rana lifted the heavy blankets a bit to peek underneath. “Where are my clothes?”

  “Gone. Just like mine.”

  “I figured that out for myself, professor. Where are they?”

  Connor shrugged and smiled at her, tossing the smaller jumpsuit to her. Rana tried twice to stand on legs too shaky to support her. For a moment, Rana looked at the onesie as though considering how to dress while seated. Then she held her hand out to Connor.

  “How about a hand, hero.”

  Smiling, Connor shuffled over to help. The pair worked hard to get her on her feet since his legs were only slightly less worn out than hers, but stubbornness eventually prevailed. She leaned heavily on him as she worked herself into the jumpsuit.

  Rana was squirming her hips into the jumpsuit when Jackie strolled into the room. One look at the half-naked woman and his hand covered his face in disbelief. Chuckling, he walked over and whispered into Connor’s ear.

  “You have a unique way of getting women out of their clothes,” he said. “I’d pay anything to learn how you do that.” Jackie stood back and smiled at the two, shooting Connor a wink before turning for the door. “When you two are done with… whatever it is you’re doing, you can find the rest of us in the communications room.” He nodded to the left side of the hallway as he reached the door. “Left, left, then a right. Says communications right on the door. You can’t miss it.” He shot the two one last grin before disappearing.

  “You know…” Rana said with a half smirk, “…one of these days his mouth is going to get his ass kicked.”

  “Maybe,” Connor agreed. “But hopefully not anytime soon. I have a valuable commodity to trade.” Rana actually laughed as she finished dressing. He was shocked at how warming he found the sound. He was also confused by the sudden thrill he felt having his hand on her bare waist.

  The navy-blue jumpsuits were unexpectedly comfortable. Deep pockets on the front, rear, chest, and legs weren’t the only utilitarian advantages. It also had two snap-together belt loops on each side for fast and easy interchangeability with any work belt. The only downside was the gigantic and gaudy circular globe emblem entirely wrapped by the words Voyager Terraforming in huge yellow lettering on the back.

  In spite of weakened muscles, the pair reached the communications room in just over a minute. Charisma and Jackie were standing behind Akshay, who sat before an active monitor.

  “How’s the leg?” Rana asked the tall Indian.

  “Ok, thanks to Charisma,” he said. “She had some nanite stuff…” Akshay’s voice trailed off as he looked at Charisma for the name that escaped him.

  “Nanitic Solution,” she finished. “And you’re welcome. Again. Just try not to get shot anymore. The medical bay only had enough for three more doses.”

  A familiar voice from the monitor made Connor cringe.

  “I’m glad you’ve finally arrived, Mr. Harper and Sgt. Lavi. I trust you’re well. Now we can make plans.” Krieger’s voice sounded harsh through the electronic speakers of the communications device.

  “Plans?” Connor asked skeptically. He’d learned to like the man, no denying that. Or, at least counted him an ally. But Krieger also heralded trouble. Anytime he was in Connor’s life, things invariably went bad.

  “Yes, Mr. Harper, plans. I have discovered the location of the Council members. You must act quickly in case circumstances change. I have a list of individuals who are ready to stand with you.”

  “Ok,” Connor said. “But we can’t go yet.”

  “I don’t think you understand…”

  “No, you don’t understand!” Connor broke in far more angrily than he’d expected. “They tried to kill us out there.” His mouth opened to con
tinue, but Krieger spoke first.

  “I understand perfectly well, Mr. Harper. Ms. Adams has informed me of the occurrences.”

  “Well she must have forgotten to tell you that they must have Danielle!”

  Krieger’s voice softened. “I assure you, she’s told me everything, Mr. Harper. It’s unfortunate, but Lieutenant Tejeda’s a casualty of war. The Council must take precedence. I’m sorry.”

  “So, you would have me leave her here?” Connor growled through clenched teeth.

  “I understand the position you are in,” Krieger said softly. “But without the Council, the Initiative will remain in control and this war may never end. I’m sacrificing one life for billions.”

  “Are you telling me that this whole mess can’t wait just one day?”

  “Do you remember Mr. Gould?”

  “Uh… yeah. He’s one of the Council members.”

  “Ms. Petrenko was able to spirit off his husband.” A round of relieved gasps escaped the group gathered around the communications screen. “But the intelligence network of the Initiative is almost as extensive as ours. If we can find the Council so quickly, how long do you think it will be before the Initiative finds the other Mr. Gould. Lyle I believe his name is.”

  Connor’s mouth started working soundlessly as he tried to formulate some form of response, some way of forcing Krieger and the circumstances to help Danielle. Suddenly, the screen started to flicker with static and interference. “Mr. Connor, I… the future… you need…” Then the screen went black.

  “What happened?” Connor asked.

  “Looks like the signal degraded,” Akshay said as he pulled a fist full of the viewscreen’s wiring and electronics from below the monitor. “Old electronics tend to fall apart. Should take me a day or two to repair the damage.” A round of smiles congratulated his initiative.

  “I guess this means we’re definitely going after Danielle,” Charisma said.

  “We’re not leaving her behind!” growled Connor.

  Rana placed a calming hand on Connor’s shoulder. “He’s right,” she said, staring hard at Connor as a warning to regain his self-control. “We don’t leave our own behind. But we can’t ask you two to come along.”

  “Wait a minute!” Jackie said. “She didn’t leave us behind on Sanctuary. None of you did! And she’s my friend. We’re coming with.”

  “I appreciate your loyalty,” Rana said gently. “We all do. But neither of you have the training, and Akshay’s leg is still not fully healed. I’m sorry.”

  Akshay’s stony face was unreadable, but Jackie showed his anger and frustration. “You expect us to just stand by and do nothing?”

  “I didn’t say that. We’ll need backup outside in case something goes wrong. Besides, if we go in the way I’m planning, I doubt you two will make it.”

  Jackie fixed her with a hard stare for several seconds before deflating. “Yeah, ok,” the South African said. He still didn’t look happy, but he nodded in understanding. “I get that. But how do you plan to get Danielle out of a heavily defended compound when we’re low on ammunition?”

  Chapter 27:

  Charisma stomped her feet in a vain attempt to beat the chill out of her numb appendages, drawing a harsh stare from Rana. She cast an apologetic look to the other who turned her attention back to Connor. He worked diligently on, what normally would have been, a relatively simple electronic locking system.

  While individual plans to infiltrate the compound varied between each member of the group, they did agree on one point: an attack was impossible. Any kind of assault would get them all killed. In the end, it was Rana’s plan that offered a dim ray of hope.

  During their time of enforced inactivity thanks to the murderous cold, she’d been exploring every nook and cranny of the compound. Being one to think ahead, she’d memorized the entire ventilation system. A ventilation system that should have been easy to break into. Except that Connor had never been trained to bypass a lock in these conditions. Being unable to feel his fingers made the delicate work extraordinarily frustrating.

  The forest around them was dead silent as they waited for the lock to give. It hadn’t been easy to dodge the three patrols on their way to this point, and every extra second Connor took increased the chance they’d be discovered. But this was the only way in. All they could do is wait.

  “Finally!” he hissed as the mechanism clicked. Each took hold of the heavy grate and heaved with all their might.

  “Why did they make the blasted thing so heavy?” Charisma gasped as they struggled to move the heavy grate aside.

  “Because the engineers were assholes!” Connor growled as they heaved it out of their way. They dropped the grate next to their helmets, its weight driving deep into the snow.

  Rana pulled out a flashlight and shined it down the narrow passage while the other two panted from exhaustion. Ice crystals glittered like an iridescent coating on the frozen stone. About two feet wide and half as high. Maybe less. They’d have to leave their rifles behind. Rana had been right about Jackie and Akshay staying behind. There’s no way those guys would have fit.

  With a commanding nod toward the tunnel, Rana slid inside. Connor balled up the spare arctic gear they’d found at their terraforming station and followed. Charisma crawled in last. The passages were carved out of the solid rock, so narrow that the trio had to crawl on their stomachs. Its frozen rock bled cold through their protective gear as they worked deeper into the mountain.

  It got dark quickly. Too dark. Often the only way he could tell Rana had stopped was when his hands jammed into her feet. Charisma had the same problem with him. He’d always dreamed of being sandwiched between two women, but this was a sick perversion of that wonderous fantasy.

  They must have crawled hundreds of feet, past cross-section after cross-section. Connor’s arms and chest were burning by the time they reached the first grate to the inner compound. There was enough light trickling through the grate that he could easily see Rana signal for him to stay. She slid closer to the grate, spending a split second to look around, then back to the group.

  “Fighter bay,” she whispered over her shoulder. There wasn’t enough room for her to turn around. “We’ll have to go back and take the first left.”

  Agonizing as it was, they slithered backwards almost thirty feet before they reached a tunnel facing the correct direction. Over and over, it was the same. Crawl to a grate, wait for Rana to look out and gauge their position in the complex, then slither back to the nearest adjoining tunnel and start the process again.

  Mercifully, the process ended almost an hour later. Connor had gotten so used to the pattern that when Rana motioned him forward, he actually backed an inch. Instead, they came out in a store room full of prison supplies.

  “We can’t trust anybody,” Rana whispered. “Not even the CPF soldiers. By now they’ve been told we’re renegade. Avoid contact with everyone at all costs. If you have to engage, use your hands or knives.”

  “Wait,” Charisma gasped in disbelief. “You want us to kill them?”

  “No, which is why I said avoid contact. But we also can’t let anyone know we’re here until we’re gone. So, don’t get caught.”

  Charisma looked about to argue further when Rana motioned at the two with the flat of her palm, pointed at her chest, eyes, then the door. You two wait, I’ll look outside.

  A dark, rebellious look took hold of Charisma’s face as Rana stuck her head out the door. An instant later, the rest of her followed and the door closed.

  “We are NOT killing anyone!” Charisma’s whisper was so vehement that Connor backed a step.

  “Let’s just make sure no one sees us and we won’t have to worry about it, ok?”

  “And if we do?” She growled, barely keeping her voice a whisper. “Are we just supposed to murder an innocent person?”

  “We don’t know they’ll be innocent.”

  “Of course, they will be!” Charisma was losing control of her voice a
nd gesturing wildly, desperately. “Most of the people in this complex will be innocent. There’s probably only a handful of people here that are loyal to Rhondak.”

  The door burst open before either of them could say anything more. Rana slipped quickly in and closed the door soundlessly behind her.

  “What the fuck are you to doing?!” she growled in a hush. Rana looked directly at Charisma. “I could hear you halfway down the corridor!”

  “We’re not killing anyone!” Charisma said in a barley contained defiant whisper.

  The CPF sergeant held up her hand ending the conversation. “Danielle isn’t in the prison cells. I have an idea of where else they may have taken her and we’ll have to cut through one of the ventilation substations. We’ll talk about it there.”

  There was a frigid air about the group as they pushed through the ventilation tunnels that had nothing to do with the cold of Zlotoff IV. The relative silence broken only by their grunts of effort, was slowly drowned out by the hum of a mechanical equipment. Cold rock eventually gave way to a metal that was warming with every inch of progress. By the time they reached the ventilation pumping main the temperature had risen drastically.

  Unlike other grates, this one faced directly down. A ten-foot drop put them in a locked maintenance pit.

  “We’re going to have to climb out,” Rana said as she stripped her cold-weather jacket off. Unlike anywhere else in the compound they’d been, the pumping room was shockingly warm. In fact, it was downright hot.

  Rana gazed at a catwalk far above her that paralleled the vents. One end of the catwalk lead to a mass of brightly lit controls and pipes deeper in the pumping station. The other end lead to a door. Rana eyed the door like a wary predator.

  “Before we go, we have to discuss this murder situation.” Charisma growled.