Carol didn’t respond. She had gone into sulking mode. He recognized it well from the myriad of tiny facial cues she gave off.
The worst thing to do now would be not to keep her talking. If she was talking, she could be brought around. If she was left to sulk, the issue would fester and would no doubt blow up in a bigger problem very soon. “How on Estaria is getting some operative to marry him a good thing to do?” he asked, incredulous but not as angry now.
Carol seemed to return to logic, which was better than sulking, but dangerous territory for him. “Well, then it means he’s unavailable… and won’t get any more involved with Molly. I want him as far away from her as possible.”
“By getting him hitched?”
“Well, I didn’t know she’d go after him!” she protested, as if that were the issue they were debating.
“Of course, she’s going to go after him if she thinks he’s in danger. Which is clearly what’s happened if he’s gone dark. This is what teams do for each other. If you’d spent more than five minutes in the field, relying on anyone but yourself, you’d know that already.”
Silence hung in the air of the tiny space car.
Her face changed. If she didn’t have her wrists bound, Philip knew she’d be folding her arms right about now. He needed to keep her talking, even if they were arguing. “I mean, in what world is getting him married off a logical way to protect Molly?” he muttered, only half expecting an answer this time.
Her jawline hardened. Back to logic. “Look,” she said matter-of-factly. “Since we’re already en route, how about you undo these ties and let me sit up front?”
“No fucking way!” he said immediately. “You’re staying back there. Tied up. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“But I’m your wife! You can’t treat me like this!”
“And as your husband, I’m doing damage control. And that means stopping you from doing anything else that could put our daughter in jeopardy.”
“Hmpft,” she scoffed. “You could have at least used the newer ones that don’t chafe the skin.”
Philip ignored her and glared into the blackness of space ahead of them, his eyes scanning for signs of The ArchAngel.
The sooner they got on board, the better.
Glom Space station, Kirox Quadrant
Karina glanced nervously at her holo. She was on her second mocha, and Ronnie seemed to be halfway through some kind of fry-up.
For the umpteenth time, the restaurant door opened, pulling her attention and pushing her into high alert. A small Ogg-like lady walked in and called something to the server behind the bar, who replied back. She strode hurriedly across the room.
Staff, Karina decided. She went back to her mocha.
Just then, the door went again, and again, her heartbeat doubled, giving her a shot of adrenaline through her system. It was a tall, broad human. Karina’s emotions recognized the face before her mind did.
This was it!
She glanced anxiously at Ronnie, suddenly wishing she hadn’t created this setup. Sean moved one step into the restaurant and locked eyes with her immediately.
She froze.
Her mind spun with all the things she wanted to tell him. All the regrets and hopes she had had over the years. She willed him to come closer. To not look so intense. She couldn’t read him. Was he mad at her? Was it because she wasn’t in bindings that he figured she wasn’t in trouble? Or was this just him in high alert?
Then, everything started to happen in slow motion. She was vaguely aware of a figure moving off to his right. Sean was onto it fast. He knew there was a threat. What did she expect?
She called out to him. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down.
Ronnie fired in her direction. She ducked, her hands automatically coming up to cover her face.
“That was too close!” she shouted, forgetting the ruse. But Ronnie was gone and out on the veranda of the restaurant, scrambling back down into the walkway of the station’s main thoroughfare.
Sean took half a second to glare at her before he was off like a shot, chasing Ronnie through the crowded road.
Shaking, Karina sat back down. She needed to wait for him to come back. This was the point. Not for her to run around like the more-than-capable spy she had become.
Damsel in distress. That was what had brought them together in the first place. That was what she needed to be.
She reached for her mocha. Her hand was already steadying itself. Five years out of it, but somehow, it felt a lot like riding an anti-grav bike.
Just then, two rather large humans strode confidently into the restaurant. They were well dressed and muscly. Probably enhanced with cyborg-tech. Top of the line if her estimation about their movements was correct.
She watched them approach her before suddenly realizing they weren’t part of her plan, and there was nothing to say they were with Sean. Their expressions looked too determined.
Her brain finally clicked into gear. “Hello, boys. You looking for someone?”
“Yeah. You by the looks of it, princess!”
“Well,” she said, keeping her cool and gently getting to her feet. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you.” She waited until they were two steps from her table and gently reached down as casually as if she were picking up her purse. Instead, she put her fingers under the edge of the table and, in one swift movement, flipped it up into them.
The movement, more than the table, stopped them in their tracks.
Karina reached for her pistol strapped to her leg and started firing. A second later, her arm was in a lock, one of the men having grabbed it and taken her gun right out of her hand. She struggled, pulling sharply to free herself. But she couldn’t move.
“Damn fucking cyborgs!” she screamed in frustration.
She reached into her jacket pocket for her handheld stunner. All she needed to do was press one side of it onto one of the guys, and he’d go down. Then she could fight her way out. She got her fingers onto it in the pocket and then felt a sharp pain in the side of her neck.
A second later, her arms and legs went numb.
“Sorry, princess,” she heard the gruff voice gloating. “Someone important wants to see you.”
Then, everything felt hazy before her vision blacked out.
She was down.
Aboard The ArchAngel, undisclosed location
The door swished open, and Lance hauled himself up from his console in his private study. He arrived in his main office to see Barb readjusting the portrait on his wall.
“Barb!” he called amicably. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“No problem, boss. Anything I can do to help.”
“I’m glad you said that.” He paused, letting it sink in. “This is a little out of your normal operational scope, I’m afraid. But I’d very much appreciate your help.”
Barb stepped away from the picture she’d been adjusting and, satisfied it was now straight, wandered over to the sofa area where Lance was inviting her to sit.
“It’s also rather delicate,” he added.
Barb smiled confidently. “Which is why you needed a woman’s touch.”
“Something like that,” he admitted, sitting down at one corner.
“So, what gives?” she asked, sitting down on the sofa around the corner from him.
“You remember Carol Bates? Head of clandestine operations down on Estaria?”
“Boy, do I. That woman—”
Lance held his hand up to silence her. “I know. But the less said…”
Barb pressed her lips together and nodded.
Lance continued. “So, she’s on her way up here.”
Barb frowned. “Oh? We’re in the Sark System?”
Lance smiled. “Yes. You missed the announcements?”
“I guess,” she said sheepishly. “I’ve had my head in some research for Frank. Trying to get done before we take a break toget
her.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, anyway,” she continued, staying completely focused on the point. “What do you need me to do? Babysit her while she’s on board?”
Lance took a deep breath. “Actually, it’s more than that.”
Barb raised her eyebrows.
Lance looked serious. “I need you to get her talking. Find out everything she’s been up to. Sean’s gone missing, and she’s got something to do with it.”
Barb frowned. “Don’t you have people who can do this kind of… interrogation?”
“Yes, but, well… Carol is the mother of one of our best assets in this system. And well, there’s a bigger picture.”
“How so?”
“Well, I think we all know that Carol’s issue with the Federation is very specific. But she and her department have a lot to offer. I’m afraid big things are coming for this little system, and it won’t be long before it’s going to need to make a decision about joining the Federation officially… or fending for itself. Obviously, if it chooses to go against us, that will have implications.”
Barb nodded slowly. “So, you’re thinking if we can get her on our side, we can influence things to bring them into the fold gently?”
“Exactly.”
Barb narrowed her eyes and regarded the young-looking general carefully. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Well, there are specific threats I think she’ll be helpful on. But she doesn’t have that level of clearance. I only want to loop her in if we know she’s coming on board. And the other complication is her daughter.”
Barb frowned. “Why? What about her?”
“We have reason to suspect they have a strained relationship,” Lance disclosed. “Very little contact. Not quite sure what’s gone on there. But we need her to align with her daughter, so we need that mess fixed, too.”
Barb shook her head and breathed out rapidly. “Wow. You don’t ask for much, do you? You realize I’m not a trained psychologist or anything?”
“Yes, Barb, I know that. But if you’re able to talk Frank around and keep Giles in line long enough to survive puberty, I think you can talk Carol round.”
Lance shifted on the sofa as if to get up, then changed his mind. “Oh, and one more thing. Turns out she’s pretty talkative when she’s had a few martinis.” He shrugged. “God knows how she became a spy with that issue, but…”
Barb sniggered. “So, you’re sanctioning me to get her drunk? And then find out what she did to Sean? And then convince her to patch things up with her daughter? And then to join the Federation?”
Lance chuckled, getting up. “Just intel on Sean would be good to begin with. One step at a time, eh?”
Barb breathed heavily through her nose, clearly amused. “Okay, I’ll get onto the research and see what I can do. Wanna let me know when she gets here?” she suggested getting up and wandering back across the office.
“Sure thing. Thanks, Barb.”
“Any time,” she replied. “Frank’s lack of organization was driving me nuts. I’m glad of the break.” She checked the picture on the wall one last time before waving and heading out of the office.
Lance watched her, smiling to himself and shaking his head. Good ol’ Barb, he thought before turning his attention back to work.
Chapter 6
Glom Space station, Kirox Quadrant
Ronnie Matherson was a loser.
But when he was brought into the family by his uncle, there were those who thought that maybe it would be the making of him. After all, how hard would it be to just show up, look tough, and deliver the odd message now and again?
Right now, Ronnie wished that he’d stuck to the original tasks that his employer had assigned him. Bill always said that thinking wasn’t his strong suit.
Ronnie turned sharply right and headed down a passage between two establishments. His eyes scanned for somewhere to hide. An air vent. A cupboard. A garbage chute.
Anything to escape the advancing cyborg that was hot on his trail.
Karina was pretty. But not pretty enough to die for. No amount of money she had paid him was worth this.
He thought it was going to be easy. Easy money and easy pride. A job: one he could finally pull off on his own.
Breathing hard, his eyes darted from shadow to shadow, looking for a hiding place that might save him. The chatter of the main station thoroughfare behind him fell like a curtain, offering him a false sense of protection from advancing doom.
He found a recess in the wall behind a panel. It was narrow, but it was going to have to do. Darting over to it like a tiny space rat, he pulled himself round, clumsily catching the back of his hand against the sharp edge of the panel. He pressed himself up against the side of the next building and tried to slow his breathing. He felt beads of sweat dripping from his head and down his neck and face. He felt like he’d been running for hours.
It was likely only a few minutes, though. That, he knew. And cyborgs don’t get tired.
He felt his own body heat warming the air around him now he was stationary. He hated himself. He hated how he got himself into these messes. And he hated that this time, out on his own, with no one from the family to mop up his mess, he was going to die.
Peering from behind the panel, he saw the silhouette of his pursuer appearing in the alley.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, he cursed silently. It wasn’t fair.
He tried to hold back his whimpering. It was only a matter of moments before he was going to be found. His eyes welled with tears of terror and sadness.
The cyborg started moving toward him, getting closer and closer with each step.
No way was he getting out of this.
“I see you, dumbass,” the man called. His voice was tough. Tougher than any of the hard asses he’d ever worked for. Like Federation-tough.
Ronnie accidentally let out a whimper.
The voice called him again. “Come out of there, space rat, and I might let you live.”
Ronnie’s face clenched up in anguish. He had never been so afraid in his worthless life.
“Come out!” The man ordered again, making Ronnie jump out of his skin.
As if his legs had grown a will of their own, or at least an obedience to his executioner, they marched him out from behind the panel of atmospheric controls.
“Good,” the cyborg said with an undertone of menace. “Now, we’re going to go right back to that restaurant, and you and Karina are going to explain to me exactly why she told you you were shooting ‘too close’.”
Ronnie’s face dropped. Then he realized that he had automatically put his hands up. He started lowering them before he realized the threat hadn’t passed. He quickly put them back up.
“Come, now,” Sean ordered, striding back out of the artificial alleyway.
Knowing he had neither the balls, firepower, nor speed to do anything else, Ronnie resigned himself to his fate and followed the all-powerful cyborg promptly.
The unlikely pair wove their way back through the corridors they had given chase down just minutes before.
The cyborg never once checked behind him to make sure that Ronnie was following.
Probably got some kind of biometric lock on me, Ronnie thought to himself dejectedly.
It took some minutes to return to the restaurant, but as they approached, they saw two rather large, enhanced men carrying Karina.
“Oi!” Sean shouted out to them. People in the crowd looked at him. Before Ronnie understood what was happening, Sean was on the move. “Move and I’ll find you and kill you,” he shouted back to Ronnie. Ronnie froze on the spot.
Sean barged his way through the people, trying to get to the men carrying Karina. “Oi!” he shouted.
One of the men took Karina over both shoulders now, and the other one turned, pointing a weapon at Sean.
Sean could see, even from this distance, that Karina was out cold. Her body hung limply,
but Sean refused to believe she could be dead. It wouldn’t make sense to carry a dead body like that.
The second man fired a warning shot just above the crowd. There were screams as shoppers and diners scattered like ants, suddenly aware of the danger.
Sean lunged to the side of the street, finding cover behind a raised walkway. Immediately though, he started advancing again.
He peeked up over the edge of the raised platform that was used by the restaurants as a patio. He could see the two goons hurrying away: one with the girl, the other with a pistol sweeping their path behind them, fending off any attacks.
Sean drew his weapon and scuttled after them, keeping low and out of sight.
He watched as they disappeared around the corner, and then ran as hard as he could through the crowd of frightened punters who still hadn’t managed to get out of the way. Turning the corner, he saw them running in extended gait: something only cyborgs could do with their enhanced muscles and reflexes. He pounded down the corridor after them, pushing his own reflexes and power into extended mode.
Thump thump thump thump…
He felt the vibration of the station structure through his joints as he ran, weapon held up ready to fire as soon as he got a clear shot.
The pair disappeared around the next corner.
Thump thump thump thump…
It would have taken a normal human at least three times as long to cover this distance. His brain turned to figuring out where they might be going. On a station such as this, there were going to be very few places they could hide. Though weapons were allowed, they didn’t look like they were packing more than a pistol or two, and they were heading to the outer reach of the station, not inwards.
That means they’re going for the docks, he decided. He needed to reach them before they got her onto a shuttle. Otherwise, they’d be gone forever.
His mind flicked through the possibility of going back to Scamp. But Scamp was on the other side of the station, back the other way. With the number of ships coming and going, there was no way he’d be able to find the right one once they got space-borne.
He pushed harder, trying to keep up. He slowed a tad just to take the corner. He placed his feet carefully, so as not to slip, his keen gaze assessing the speed and positioning faster than everything was happening. He raised his gaze as he rounded the corner. His body reacted before his brain had processed what was happening. One of the cyborgs was right there, pointing his gun down the corridor, poised and waiting for Sean to appear.
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