Beneath the Fallen City

by Jamie A. Waters

  Veridian whistled in appreciation and watched the screen. Kayla barely spared them a glance, clutching the sensor in one hand and digging through some of the other boxes with the other. It'd be interesting to find out how difficult it would be to smuggle the sensor out of Carl's camp.

  Carl cleared his throat to get Kayla’s attention. “If you can manage to put the sensor down, we picked up some new lock cracking tools too. I’ve got Zane working with them in the testing room. I’ve heard you have an interest in locks. You’re welcome to take a look.”

  Kayla's head jerked up, trying to decide if the man was serious or toying with her emotions. It would be an evil prank if it were the latter. “Really?”

  Carl chuckled and nodded. She carefully replaced the sensor, but not before giving it one last longing look. She offered Carl a small smile. “You’ve definitely got some cool toys in here.”

  There was no mistaking the pleased look on his face at the compliment. Motioning for them to follow, Carl led them past what appeared to be the communication room and into the testing room. Remembering their purpose, Kayla shot a meaningful look at Veridian. He returned a barely discernible nod.

  The testing room was only slightly smaller than the tech room and had a wide variety of different locking mechanisms set up like an obstacle course. Kayla recognized most of them from her scavenging expeditions.

  There were two men in the room. One had rich caramel colored skin with short dark hair and eyes. He lounged against the wall and flashed a smile when they entered. Kayla had met him several months earlier and recognized him as Xantham, one of Carl’s communications experts. She wondered briefly if he had been the one to plant the sniffer on Leo’s system.

  Kayla didn’t know the other man sitting on the floor working with one of the locks. He possessed an average build and fair skin. His blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he seemed to work the locks with an intimate familiarity Kayla recognized.

  Carl cleared his throat and the man on the floor looked up expectantly. “Xantham and Zane, I’d like you to meet Kayla and Veridian. Xantham is in communications and Zane is another one of our scavengers and master locksmith.”

  Xantham winked at her and said, “We’ve already met, Carl. Besides, I feel like we’re already intimately acquainted, given how often you’ve asked me to intercept her communications.”

  Kayla crossed her arms and gave Carl a dark look. He offered her a sly smile in response. “I protect my interests, Kayla. You’ve caused a significant dent in my revenue over the past year.”

  “Ah, sad but true,” Xantham lamented.

  Zane stood up and wiped his hands off on his pants before offering his hand to Kayla in greeting. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard quite a bit about you. Cruncher says you’ve got a knack for locks?”

  Kayla studied the lock he abandoned. “I’ve been called more than fair. That’s an 8600, right?”

  Zane nodded. “Yeah. We brought it up a few days ago to let some of the others practice on it. It’s one of the most difficult in the series. I figure if they can crack this one, they should be good on most of the others in the line.”

  Cruncher said, “No one’s been able to beat Zane’s time yet. With our new equipment, he’s running at one minute fifty-four seconds.”

  “One minute forty-six seconds,” Zane corrected proudly.

  Kayla cocked her head and said casually, “Is that so? Well, how about a friendly wager? I’d be willing to give it a shot.”

  Zane looked interested. “Sure. How much are we talking?”

  “A token. How about twenty credits?”

  Zane nodded at the amount. Carl rubbed his chin and considered Kayla for a moment. “If you don’t mind, I’ll sweeten the pot a bit. One hundred credits for the best time.”

  Surprise crossed Kayla’s face, but she shrugged in response. It wasn't an exorbitant amount, but it wasn't chump change either. “Your money. V, would you mind grabbing my equipment for me?”

  Veridian nodded and headed back out the way he came. Carl considered Kayla carefully for a minute and then motioned for Cruncher to follow him. Kayla flashed a charming smile at Carl, inwardly cursing his intuitiveness. “I’m sure your equipment is nice, but for a hundred credits, I prefer to handle something I know can get me where I’m going.”

  Carl smirked. “There’s no doubt in my mind my equipment can take you well and beyond where you want to go.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Veridian and Cruncher returned a few minutes later. Judging from his demeanor, Kayla knew he had been able to plant the listening device. He handed her the equipment and she walked over to the lock, confidence in each of her steps.

  “Start the timer, boys, and I’ll show you how it’s done.” She knelt down and placed her frequency detector on the safe. With practiced motions, she slid her lock picking tool into the lock and easily worked through the combinations.

  With a flourish, she pulled the handle and the door swung open.

  “One minute fourteen seconds,” Cruncher said in amazement.

  Xantham chuckled in amusement while Zane stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve never seen anyone work a lock that fast.”

  Kayla sauntered over to Carl, holding out her hand and rubbing her fingers together. “I believe that’s another hundred credits you owe me?”

  “Apparently so.” His eyes skimmed up and down the length of her body, as though assessing and considering her in a new light. “If you’ll join me in my office, I’ll transfer the credits now.” He turned to Zane. “I’ll do your transfer as well. I believe you owe her twenty?”

  Zane nodded sheepishly. “Mind if I take a look at your equipment, Kayla?”

  She hesitated for a moment before handing her equipment to Zane. Motioning for Veridian to stay behind and retrieve the device when Zane had finished trying it out, she followed Carl back toward his office.

  “Protective of your equipment, are you?”

  “I like to keep my toys clean. Nasty things happen when they leave my sight.”

  “But you left them with Veridian,” Carl pointed out.

  “Yes, I did. They’re safer with him than they are anywhere.”

  “You have that much trust in him?”

  Kayla frowned, becoming uncomfortable with the personal direction of the conversation. “You ask a lot of questions, Carl. But, yeah, I do. Veridian is…I guess you could say he’s like a brother to me.”

  “A brother then,” Carl mused. He nodded as though that cleared up some question in his mind. “He mentioned family yesterday. Is that important to you?”

  Kayla shrugged. “Only Veridian. Most other people are a waste of perfectly good oxygen.”

  “I see,” he observed, stepping back into his office. Kayla hopped back on the edge of the desk and watched while Carl initiated the credit transfer. When it was complete, she verified the transaction.

  He put down his comlink and leaned across the desk to study her. “Now that we have that settled, I’d like to talk to you about the reason I asked you to come here.”

  Kayla tucked her hair behind her ear and cocked her head. “Is this the part where you start trying to turn me into a legitimate scavenger?”

  Carl smiled. “Something like that. You’ve met most of my crew, with the exception of Jinx. She’s out mapping some of the sectors right now. I asked the crew to stick around today so you could meet them. But we usually try to do two separate shifts. One group is on one day and the other on the next. It seems to work out well for us.”

  Kayla nodded. Most crews scavenged that way. She was scheduled to be back underground tomorrow.

  “I know what most ruin rats think of us. But we’re not bad people. In fact, the majority of trader crews are made up of former ruin rats.”

  “Yeah.” Kayla blew out a breath. “Ruin rats who decided they’d rather sell themselves and live under OmniLab’s thumb.”

  “It’s not that bad, Kayla,” Carl insisted. “The benefit
s far outweigh the negatives. I’m prepared to offer you a salary with an added percentage of whatever you scavenge. This percentage would be directly from an OmniLab trader with no negotiation fees attached. It would be far more than you’ve ever seen working with Leo.”

  “How much?” Kayla asked, not really interested, but trying to hurry the conversation.

  Carl walked around the desk to stand next to her. “Five hundred credits a month with a twenty percent bonus to whatever you bring in. I’ll pay for all of your equipment and you can spend your credits on whatever you want. Send it back to Leo, for all I care. I want you, Kayla.”

  Kayla was momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting such a generous offer. But either way, there was no way she’d accept the offer of a trader. The thought of working for OmniLab left a bitter taste in her mouth.

  “No, thanks. I wouldn’t ever leave Veridian.”

  Carl studied her for a long moment. As though he came to a decision, he said, “If you want him, you can have him too. He'll have a salary of two hundred fifty a month. No bonus, though, since he doesn’t scavenge.”

  Kayla’s eyes widened, her fingers gripping the edge of the desk so she wouldn't fall off. She hadn’t expected him to take both of them. Veridian was skilled, but he wasn’t a scavenger. Most trader crews had plenty of techs but there was a high demand for people who could actually navigate the ruins. “Holy shit. Um, wow. Uh, I guess I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

  “Of course,” Carl said easily with a trace of a smile on his face. He tapped a few instructions into the keyboard on the desk and pulled up a contract. “I’d appreciate it if you could read through this. I’ve outlined the salary, bonus percentage and other benefits. The contract is for a year. At the end of the year, we can renew it for the same terms or renegotiate. Veridian will have a separate contract.”

  She sighed as she glanced at the lengthy contract. “You want me to read through this now?”

  At Carl’s nod, her shoulders slumped in dejection. Resigned to her task, she pulled her hair into a ponytail to get it out of her face.

  Carl froze, studying the back of her neck. “Is that from yesterday?”

  “Huh? Is what from yesterday?”

  “You’ve got a particularly nasty bruise back there.” Carl frowned, his gaze fixed on her neck. She reached up to touch the area in question and winced when her fingers brushed against a painful bruise that crept up from the back of her shirt.

  “Yeah. Guess so,” she said with a shrug. “It tends to happen when you fall through the floor.”

  “I heard about that. I’ve got something that can help.” He moved around the desk. “You should probably take a couple of days off to heal. Your muscles won’t be relaxed and you could injure yourself even more if you try scavenging too soon.”

  Kayla scoffed at his statement. “Some of us don’t have the luxury to take days off. I’m amazed you don’t have people lining up at the door if you treat all recruits like this.”

  “Not all,” Carl admitted and reached into a drawer to pull out a bottle of dark colored liquid and two glasses. “Just the promising ones.”

  He opened the bottle and poured a small amount into each glass. She accepted the offered beverage, sniffed it apprehensively and grimaced. “You want me to drink that?”

  He didn't reply. Instead, he lifted his own glass and took a long sip, savoring the drink before putting his glass back on the desk. Kayla looked at his glass and then considered her own. It seemed harmless enough. Raising it to her lips, she took a drink, making a face at the unfamiliar taste. Her eyes watered from the burn in her throat.

  “Hell’s balls. What is that?”

  He chuckled at her reaction. “It’s an Old World drink OmniLab recreated. It’s called scotch. It helps relax the muscles.”

  “Hmm.” She licked her lips. “It’s not too bad once you get past the burn.”

  She reached over to confiscate the bottle and poured herself a slightly larger amount. Swishing it around the glass, she took another drink. This time, it went down a little easier. She examined the bottle while Carl watched her in amusement.

  “You might want to be careful,” he warned. “It packs a hell of a punch, especially if you’re not used to drinking it.”

  He reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a small tube of cream. She recognized the OmniLab medicinal cream used to promote healing. It was extremely expensive and, in Kayla’s experience, should only be used in dire emergencies.

  He tried handing it to her, but she pushed it back toward him with a look that clearly let him know she thought he was nuts. “It’s a bruise, not a gaping wound.”

  He shook his head and said in exasperation, “Use it. It’s a medicinal cream that reduces healing time. You ruin rats don’t take care of yourselves and wait until someone’s near death before trying to fix the problem. If you use it, you’ll heal faster and it could help prevent further injury.”

  Kayla rolled her eyes. “If you say so.” She put a tiny amount of cream on her finger and rubbed it halfheartedly on her neck before handing the tube back to him.

  He sighed at her lackluster display. “Well, there’s not much point if you’re going to do it that way.”

  He flipped open the cap and squeezed a generous amount of the cream onto his fingers. When he touched her neck with the cream, she yelped.

  “Hey! That’s cold.”

  “Shh. Don’t be such a baby.”

  She scowled, but kept silent. Gentler than she thought he’d be, he massaged the cream into the back of her neck and shoulder. She relaxed against him and closed her eyes as his fingers caressed her skin.

  He pulled his hands away far too soon and closed the cap on the cream. Kayla opened her eyes in disappointment and watched as he dropped it back into the drawer.

  “That’s much better. You looked like you were starting to fall asleep. I can’t let that happen when you’ve got important reading to do.”

  “Yeah, right,” she grumbled and turned back to the detailed document. She was relatively quiet for several minutes while she skimmed the monotonous legalese, making occasional colorful mutters about boring contracts. When she finished, she pushed the tablet away and hopped off the desk. She pulled out her ponytail and shook her hair.

  “All done. Is that it?”

  Carl nodded and crossed the desk to stand in front of her. “For now.”

  He looked down into her eyes and a warm feeling crept into the pit of her stomach. Yep, I should have clocked him yesterday when I had the chance. He’s too damn pretty for his own good.

  “Ah, looks like I missed some,” he added when he spotted a tiny bit of cream still on her shoulder. He ran his hand along her shoulder and gently massaged it into her skin.

  Yeah, too damn pretty and I’m a sucker. A sucker with a bug to plant. Kayla placed her hand on Carl’s chest, curling her fingers into his shirt. With her other hand, she discreetly slipped the listening device out of her pocket and attached it to the underside of his desk.

  She leaned closer to him, closed her eyes and tilted her head back. That was all the invitation he needed.

  Carl lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her lips with his. He tasted like the scotch, warm, spicy and surprisingly soft. Damn, the man could kiss. Might as well enjoy this.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. This time, she didn’t resist. She pressed her body against his, winding her arms around his neck. She let out a soft moan and he deepened the kiss in response. His mouth moved against hers, nipping and teasing and she clutched him tighter, wanting more.

  A loud beep interrupted them.

  “Damn,” he swore as he broke the kiss.

  Kayla blinked in confusion, trying to get her head around what happened. He pulled back slightly, but didn't release her. Running his thumb along her swollen bottom lip, he gave her a long heated look. Kayla swallowed and managed, “What was that?”

  She wasn't sure if she
was talking about the kiss or the noise. Carl smiled, looking amused and smug by her flustered state. “It’s probably Cruncher and Veridian. Your friend is probably worried about you.”

  “Oh, right.” She slipped out of his grasp, casually straightening her shirt. She glanced up to see Carl still watching her. She flushed and nodded toward the door to remind him about the visitors. He sighed in resignation and hit the button to open the door.

  Cruncher and Veridian stepped inside. Veridian was grinning and held up Kayla’s equipment. “Zane wasn’t able to beat your time even using OmniLab’s fancy equipment. He seemed pretty frustrated and wants to watch you again at some point.”

  Cruncher took a quick glance around the room, his eyes moving to the bottle of scotch on the desk and then settled on Carl’s annoyed expression and Kayla’s mussed hair. His mouth twitched in a grin.

  “So, how goes the recruitment, Boss? Convince her to switch sides yet?”

  Carl frowned, giving Cruncher a dark look. “It was progressing nicely. I think I covered most of the major points. Did you have any other questions, Kayla?”

  Kayla shook her head, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “Nope, I think you covered everything.”

  The door beeped again and slid open. Xantham stepped through the door and tsked at Kayla like she was a naughty child. He held up a small metal device no bigger than his thumb. “Hey, Boss. You know how you mentioned you wanted me to do a sweep after Kayla and Veridian passed through to make sure they didn’t accidentally leave anything behind? Well, I managed to find this little bug. It must have gotten away from them.”

  He slid the listening device across the desk toward Carl. Carl picked it up and examined it closely. He tossed it back down on the desk and looked at Kayla expectantly.

  She looked down at the bug and then back up at Carl, giving him her best innocent look. “Gee. Looks like you’ve got bug problems here too. Nasty little things. You know, we had that same problem up until last night. Seems like there’s something going around.”

  “Imagine that,” Carl replied. He turned to Xantham. “Start scanning my office.”