Maya continued to pour ingredients into the cocktail shaker. “You feel like it’s all a bit too human up here?”
“Sometimes.”
Maya giggled. “And this coming from the half-human. You’ve got to appreciate the irony of that!” She turned over her shoulder again and winked at Paige before grabbing some glasses and pouring their yoll-aritas. She plonked the full glasses on the table, glanced at the oven timer, and then sat down.
Paige took one of the glasses and Maya the other. Paige grinned. “To some decent girl time!”
Maya smiled. “I’ll drink to that!” They clinked their glasses and took a sip, savoring the moment like a sacred ceremonial act. Then, quietly, they both replaced their glasses on the table and paused.
“On my ancestors,” Maya started excitedly, “what’s this about selling your company?”
Paige’s eyes lit up, and the girls started talking animatedly. “You won’t believe it. It’s just come from out of the blue. Some holding company has approached me and wants to buy the whole organization. For cash!”
“My word! Who has that much cash?” Maya took another sip of her drink.
Paige shrugged, pulling up her holo to show Maya the message. “Says it’s from Info Corp. I’ve not done a search yet to find out who they are. I’m just in a daze from it all.”
Maya scanned the holoscreen Paige had pushed over to her. She shook her head in amazement. “Who’d have thought, eh? I mean, wow!”
“Right?”
Maya sighed and sat back in her chair. “What are you going to do?”
“No idea. I can’t think straight at the moment. Plus, there are so many questions I have before I can even begin to make a decision about this.”
Maya nodded quietly, allowing Paige the space to talk it out.
“I mean,” Paige continued, “we always knew the day would come where I would have to make a big decision like this. And the bigger the company got, the more likely it was that I was going to have to choose between the mission and the company.” She bobbed her head to one side and continued to play with the stem of her glass. “Then there’s the added pressure of the university.”
Maya took another slurp of her drink. “There’s no doubt you’ve been juggling a lot.”
Paige stuck her bottom lip out. “This is true. Although in terms of actual stuff that I have to do, the teams handle that. I mostly just have to make decisions. That’s all.”
“Head space, though,” Maya pointed out.
“True.”
The girls sat in silence for a moment, contemplating all the variables.
“You know,” Maya piped up, “I wonder who this company is.” She pulled up her holo and ran a basic search.
Paige’s eyes had already glazed over.
“Info Corp, here we go,” Maya read off. “Looks like they’re the same holding company that bought up Newstainment a few months ago.”
Paige’s face registered a flicker of recognition. “So, why would they be interested in my company?”
Maya pressed her lips together as she opened a couple more holoscreens. “You know, I’m not entirely sure. It looks like these other companies are all in the media and communications sector.”
Paige regarded Maya over her glass as she drank to quiet her confusion. “You think they’re after my customer list?”
Maya sighed. “Maybe. I mean, it’s a big-ass customer database. Plus, factor in all the big data your marketing department has collected: all segmented, tagged, and pulling like gang busters.”
“How would they know that’s what we were doing?”
Maya shrugged. “Having a drink with one of your team down on Estaria would reveal that kind of thing in half an hour.”
Paige nodded, her mind churning. “I guess they would see from the accounts the profit and then be able to work back to the amount of profit we’re generating per data point.”
Maya sighed. “Quite easily, I would think. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s an amazing product. And to build something over three systems to millions of credits per annum, it’s phenomenal. No one expected that. But I doubt they’re buying you for the revenue.”
“You mean they’re after the infrastructure?”
“Yeah. And maybe the secret source you have in getting your product under the right noses. The database is only part of the asset.”
Paige’s eyes were focused off in the distance. Somewhere beyond even the kitchen wall. “Wow. This is… a turn out for the books.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” Maya agreed. “You should be super proud of what you’ve achieved.”
Paige laughed dryly and wiped her hand back across her forehead to her hair before resting her arm on the table with her head in her hand. “Yeah, if there was ever any time to sit back and smell the roses!”
Maya gave her a knowing look. “Maybe this is an opportunity to do that, then?” She paused. “How long is the offer on the table?” She nodded at Paige’s holo for the information.
“Two weeks,” Paige replied without needing to check.
“Well, we have a little time.”
Paige nodded her head slowly and repeatedly. “Okay, tomorrow we work on this.”
Maya pressed her lips together again. “Sure. Probably worth using the base facilities, too. I’d like to do some stealthy digging on this. Something’s niggling me.”
Paige frowned. “Yeah, me too. I mean, Newstainment? Something tells me we’re going to need access to all the resources we can get on this one if we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
Maya narrowed her eyes. “You’re suspecting something?”
Paige almost grimaced. “Between this and the government move on the university, I think we’d be naive to rule anything out at this stage.”
Maya’s eyebrows darted to the top of her face. “The university? What’s going on there?” The tone of Paige’s voice had her alarmed.
Paige took another long sip of her drink. “Well, I kinda knew something was coming. Garret warned me the other week. But we didn’t know quite what form it was going to take. Plus, from past history, he’s not the most reliable source.”
“What do you mean? What’s coming?”
“I received a notification from some government division about some bullshit health and safety review that the university is under.”
“Why? What for?”
“From what Garret was saying, someone in the government is out to shut us down. I dismissed it at the time because it was coming from him. I figured, why was he just telling me? If it were genuine, he has protocols with Molly to alert the team. But he didn’t. I figured it was just a ruse to get talking again.”
“So, you ignored it?”
“Yeah. And then I got this holocomm from the board of health and safety.”
Paige pulled up another holocomm she’d received that afternoon. She flushed as the anxiety flooded through her body again.
Maya read the comm and then pushed it back toward her. “Shit. That looks…”
“Serious?” Paige said grimly. “Yeah, you’re telling me.”
“No wonder you needed a drink,” Maya said sympathetically. “So, what are you going to do?”
Paige’s face fell, and her shoulders rolled over. She rested both arms on the table. “I dunno yet. Molly left me in charge. I suppose it needs handling. But I’m not really sure what we can do.”
Maya took a deep breath, then stood up to check the oven. “Okay, well, who might know?” she probed.
Paige thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. “Ah! Yes! Good point. Gareth. The guy who helped us set up the institution in the first place. He’s got a good idea about rules and regulations. Let me message him.”
Paige typed quickly on her holo, hoping that the alcohol wasn’t influencing her just yet. She hit send. “Okay, we’re fixing an appointment to talk tomorrow. Hopefully, he’ll be able to give me a han
d.”
Maya had pulled the snacks out of the oven. “Okay, that’s one down. Now what are you going to do about your company?”
Paige’s eyes returned to the grim look of dismay. “I have no idea.” She sighed. “That’s something I can’t think about sober.” She smiled weakly before raising her half empty glass to Maya.
Maya got the message. “Okay, snacks and drinks. And no more talk of difficult decisions until tomorrow!”
Chapter 5
Glom Space station, Kirox Quadrant
Four days earlier…
Karina waited for her server to place the mocha she had ordered on her table and then walk away. She pulled up her wrist holo again and reopened the screen. The long-range call was astonishingly still connected.
“I dunno what kind of tech this is,” she blurted out in a low voice, “but I know if your government found out…”
Carol Bates leered arrogantly back at her. “Actually Karina, dear, it’s your government too, remember? And those who need to know are well aware we have it. Our collective job is protecting the planet, and long-range comm technology is hardly a misuse.”
Karina’s nostrils flared defiantly. “Unless you count harassing people who traveled excruciating distances and even braved cryo-stasis to avoid your interference!”
“Now, now,” Carol Bates retorted in a warning tone. “No need to be rude. You may be a long way in terms of light years, but one wrong move, young lady, and I can arrange to have you snapped back in an instant. And if that happens, our deal is off.”
“Well, you won’t have any need for that, just as long as you keep up your end of the bargain.” Karina’s tone softened. “I do this, and we both walk. No more bullshit. No more missions. You let us live in peace.”
Carol glanced down at her nails and pretended to be disinterested and aloof. “I’ll keep my end of the bargain. Though I can’t imagine you’ll be at peace with that… man.”
Karina’s gaze darted around the area offscreen as she checked the restaurant. She’d deliberately chosen one out of the way so she could prepare in peace. Carol’s annoying interruption was ruining that peace now. But she also wanted somewhere that would minimize casualties.
Timing was going to be everything.
“Look,” Karina huffed, her gaze snapping back to the holoscreen. “If there’s nothing else, some of us have work to do. He’s on his way.”
Carol raised her hands in a mocking surrender gesture. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave you to get on with it. But remember,” she looked menacingly into the camera lens, “you fuck this up and you’re done.”
Karina felt a shudder creeping up her spine. She desperately didn’t want Carol to see that she was getting to her, though. She made a conscious effort to maintain her facial expression as best she could and closed the call.
Then she shuddered.
That woman is the biggest bitch I’ve ever known. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be her daughter.
The restaurant door opened and her hired flunky stepped in. Spotting her across the restaurant, he bumbled his way between the rows of empty dining tables, furtively glancing around as he did.
He was clearly packing.
Karina rolled her eyes. “Could you draw any more attention to yourself?” she asked casually, kicking a chair out on the other side of the table from her. She nodded at it. “Sit.”
He pulled the seat out and sat down obediently. This was a man who was used to taking orders.
Karina leaned over the table and spoke slowly and deliberately. “Okay, the beacon has been destroyed, which means that he’s on his way here right now.”
The flunky nodded.
“So, you know what you need to do?” she asked.
“I sure do. I wait until you give me the signal and then I start firing.”
“Yes. In my general direction, but for Ancestor’s sake, don’t hit me. Or anyone else. Is that clear?”
“Yep. That’s clear. I can do that. I once went to shooting practice with the boss and never shot a thing.”
Karina was about to continue but halted as she processed what she just heard. She frowned, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
“Is there anything else Ms. Karina?”
She gathered herself again and moved the mocha cup closer to her. “No, Ronnie. That’s everything. But make sure you sell it. And then disappear. I’ll do the rest. We just want him to feel like I’m in danger, okay?”
“Yes, Ms. Karina. I can do that.”
Karina nodded abruptly once. “Okay,” she said definitively. “Go sit over there and order something. And wait for my signal. And for goodness sake, don’t keep looking at me… or don’t make it look like you’re watching me.”
“Got it.” Ronnie got up and moved to a booth nearer the door where Karina had indicated.
Karina sipped her mocha. She hoped to hell this was going to work because getting Ronnie killed in her little ruse wasn’t something she wanted to have to live with.
Philip’s car, just outside Estarian satellite orbit
Carol found herself in the dark, gradually becoming aware of her surroundings. And a headache to end all headaches.
She shifted herself, feeling a hard surface beneath her. Then she remembered.
Philip!
She struggled, discovering that her wrists were bound.
And her ankles.
“What the—”
Well, at least she wasn’t gagged. “Philip!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. The board she was lying on moved and she lurched sideways.
Dammit. She was in the trunk of a car. How… amateurish, she thought.
She shuffled around to figure out which way she was facing. She started feeling the outer edges of her space as best she could with her hands bound. Noticing the lull of the car from side to side, she deduced they were already in space. She didn’t want to open the trunk in that case.
She shuffled over onto her other side. This would take her into the car. Carefully, she searched with her fingers for the pull switch that would put the back seats down. She knew that if they were in Philip’s car, they would go down.
Unless he’d tied them so they wouldn’t.
She found the catch and pushed. It moved. She pushed again, using all the might she could muster without putting her foot through the trunk.
The seat back fell forward, letting light into her little cubby hole.
“You fucking arsewipe!” she screamed into the car. “What the fuck are you doing?”
She started clambering into the main compartment of the car, her headache only exasperating her foul mood now.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Philip said casually. “Hello, dear.”
“Don’t you ‘hello dear,’ me. What the fuck?”
Philip watched her struggling through the back of the car in his rearview mirror. “It’s the only way I could get you to come with me.”
“Why?” she demanded. “Where are you taking me?”
“To someone who can talk some sense into you.”
“What are you talking about?” She fell inelegantly forward into the footwell of the opposite side of the car, dragging her bound legs behind her.
Philip kept his face straight, knowing full well he would never hear the end of it if he started laughing at her now. “Lance has requested a meeting with us,” he said simply.
“That pompous asshole!” She elbowed her way back up onto the seat. “He doesn’t need a reason to throw his so-called authority around. Just because he has bigger guns and alien tech doesn’t mean he gets to boss the rest of the world around.”
“Actually, it does,” Philip corrected her.
Carol finally managed to swing her legs down and sat herself up, bringing her eyes up to the mirror to glare at her traitorous husband. A thought occurred to her. “It was you who had been accessing my files!”
“And ADAM,” Philip confess
ed. “Seems someone has been a very bad girl.” His tone changed to something rather seductive.
Under any other circumstances, Carol knew she would respond differently. Right now, though, he was in the dog house.
“I have been no such thing!” she said angrily.
“Right. And that is why I’ve had orders to get you up there?”
There was a pause as Carol fumed in the back seat, coming to terms with the inevitability of the meeting.
“Anyway,” Philip said, keeping the tone light, “you should probably know before we get up there, there’s been a problem. They’ve lost Sean.”
“Well, that’s no big loss,” Carol chuffed.
“And Molly’s gone after him,” Philip added.
Carol Bates turned instantly pale.
“Anything you want to share, Carol? Before you have to confess your sins to the big guy?”
Carol was silent for a moment, her anger diffusing right in front of Philip’s eyes. She hesitated before responding. “No. Nothing.”
“Are you sure?” he pressed. “Because this has Carol Bates, Head of Estarian Clandestine Operations, written all over it.” He added, “I know my wife.”
Her eyes flicked away from the mirror and fixed on something outside one of the windows. “Well,” she said slowly, thinking as fast as she could, “I might have arranged to have Sean lured out to another sector.”
“How?”
“An old operative. Someone who has history with him.”
Philip closed his eyes briefly in frustration before searching for her gaze again. “What exactly did you do?”
“I just encouraged her to get him away from this system and…” She paused again.
“And what?” Philip demanded.
She coughed a little before she responded. “Marry him.”
“What the fuck, Carol? Are you fucking insane?” The car swerved off track, and the auto-navigation started beeping loudly.
“Careful!” Carol shouted back. “You’ll get us killed, you crazy old goat!”
Philip reset the steering and flicked the alarm off. He shook his head, composing himself outwardly, but clearly still seething. “You’re the one that’s going to get our daughter killed.”
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 176