Beneath the Fallen City

by Jamie A. Waters

  “Not at all.” He pointed to another monitor. “You can set it up over on that screen.”

  She scooted over to the far side of the desk and pulled up an additional monitor. She scrolled through the data on her comlink until she found the program she was looking for. She uploaded the file and then paused as she recognized an old video file she'd never been able to bring herself to remove.

  Glancing up, she saw Cruncher was still engrossed in the screen. She slipped on her earpiece and watched the video in silence. A soft smile crept on her face and she blinked back the tears that threatened when the video ended.

  With a sigh, she turned away from the comlink, determined to focus on her task. She scanned through Carl’s system and looked for trouble spots.

  * * * *

  An hour later, Carl walked back into the tech room. He was anxious to find out how his newest recruit was getting along. Cruncher was hunched over a monitor reviewing some of the security system data.

  “Where’s Kayla?”

  Cruncher turned to look at Carl and put a finger to his lips, motioning to him to keep his voice down. He nodded over to the corner of the room where Kayla was sitting with her head in her arms on the desk. She'd fallen asleep at the computer.

  Carl’s mouth twitched in a smile. She was always so fiery and passionate. It was strange seeing her like this and he felt as though he were witnessing some forbidden rite. Some of her dark hair had fallen over her face and she appeared almost angelic in her repose.

  Cruncher's whisper cut through his musing. “That girl is freaking unbelievable. I showed her the systems and she jumped right in. She’s got some serious tech skills. Within minutes, she ended up recalibrating the cooling system here in camp. It’s some damn nice work too. She’s got it running about 30% more efficiently. When she finished that, she reconfigured a bunch of our new equipment that was causing glitches.”

  Carl rubbed his chin in thought. He'd known she was talented but Cruncher didn't hand out praise lightly. She must have really impressed him. “She’s definitely a find. Thanks for your help today, Cruncher.”

  “Did you hear anything more about Ramiro?”

  Carl bit back a curse, thinking about the unscrupulous trader. “Yeah, he got the notification from OmniLab about Kayla joining us. Xantham tapped into his coms and heard him yelling about it. He’s going to start targeting us, so we’re going to have to focus on security, here and out in the field. I want groups of at least four people at every scavenge site until this is done. He’s getting desperate.”

  Cruncher nodded and turned back to his monitor. “I’ll get started on it.”

  Carl glanced at Kayla again, debating whether or not to disturb her. She'd been through a lot over the past few days. All things considered, she'd handled it well. He tucked her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trail along her cheek. She didn't stir.

  Making the decision to let her sleep in her own bed, he picked up her comlink off the desk and tucked it in his pocket.

  “It’s bedtime,” he whispered before scooping her out of the chair.

  At the sound of his voice, she snuggled into his chest. He felt a moment of surprise at the feeling of possessiveness that coursed through him. There was something about her that got under his skin. He was fascinated by her intriguing mix of contradictions. She seemed to have no problem going toe-to-toe with him and anyone else, but he also sensed a vulnerability below the surface.

  He carried her to the crew’s quarters and gently laid her on the bed. She curled up in a ball and he pulled the blanket up over her, tucking her in. Unable to resist, he brushed a small kiss along her temple before activating the privacy setting for her personal area and leaving.

  Carl headed toward his office and sat down at the desk, the movement making him realize he still had Kayla’s comlink in his pocket. Determined to give it back to her in the morning, he dropped it on the desk and then pulled out his own to scroll through his messages.

  In addition to his daily trader responsibilities, he still tried to maintain an active presence within the towers. It was difficult, but he was determined to eventually move up into a director position at OmniLab where he could try to make some real changes. He was the youngest trader to have ever been recruited, a fact which had earned him some notoriety.

  He sighed and rubbed his forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache as he read through his messages. The corruption and animosity on the surface between the ruin rats and OmniLab seemed to be reaching a crescendo. The latest situation with Ramiro and Kayla seemed to reinforce his concerns. Something needed to be done before the situation deteriorated even more.

  It took him almost an hour to finish mailing his contacts and set up necessary appointments. When he finished, he pushed away from the desk and stood up.

  His gaze fell on Kayla’s comlink and he picked it up, considering the worn device. It was an older model and he wondered if she'd enjoy receiving an upgrade. He still chuckled at the wonder on her face when she'd seen their newly acquired prototypes. So much for her being a hard-hearted thief.

  He flipped open her comlink to get a better idea of which model style she preferred and noticed she'd been watching a video file. There was a moment of hesitation before his curiosity got the better of him and he hit the replay button.

  The video had been recorded down in the ruins some time ago. It was obvious Kayla had been the one filming since she was laughing while a young man with shoulder-length brown hair tried to explain how to pick a complicated lock. Carl smiled at the sound and wondered about the identity of the young man whose eyes twinkled as he tried to keep from laughing.

  “Kayla, knock it off and pay attention. We don’t have a whole lot of time down here. Ramiro’s going to be pissed if he catches us.”

  Her teasing voice came over the audio. “I can’t help it, Pretz. You sound so serious.”

  Pretz cleared his throat and tried to maintain his composure. “This is the 8600 and it’s tough as hell. When you can crack this baby in under a minute and a half, this will be worth it. Now here we--- Damn you, Kayla! You look ridiculous.”

  His face broke into a grin and he laughed, tossing his lockpick down. “You’re impossible.”

  With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he made a grab for the camera. There was a squeal from Kayla and then more laughter as the video ended.

  Carl flipped the comlink closed, a wave of mixed feelings coming over him. He'd seen a hint of Kayla's playful side when they battled wits against each other, but there was an edge to it that wasn't present in the video. He wasn't sure if it was because he was a trader or if there was something else.

  Veridian mentioned the name Pretz when he was trying to talk Kayla into joining earlier. He rubbed his chin, recalling her agitation, but he'd assumed they were talking about another ruin rat from Leo's camp. There were too many of them and they were much too secretive for him to know all their names. Some memory tickled in the back of his mind but he couldn't put his finger on it. He frowned and headed out of his office toward the tech room.

  Cruncher looked up when he entered. “You’re still up, Boss?”

  Carl handed Kayla’s comlink to Cruncher. “There’s a video on her comlink she was watching right before she fell asleep. Do you know a ruin rat named Pretz? I keep thinking his name is familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before. He mentioned Ramiro on the video.”

  Cruncher scratched his head. “Didn’t Veridian say that name earlier when he was trying to convince Kayla to join?”

  “Yes, but I think I’d heard it before then.”

  “Just a second.” Cruncher turned to his computer and entered in a few commands. Almost immediately, an image appeared on the screen.

  Carl leaned over to get a better look at the screen and saw the young man in the video. His name appeared along with an OmniLab contract and identification number. “He’s not a ruin rat. He’s part of Ramiro’s crew.”

  Cruncher shook his head an
d pointed toward the bottom of the screen. “Not anymore, Boss. According to this, he was killed in a scavenging accident about a year ago. His body was discovered by Ramiro.”

  “That’s around the same time the Aurelia Data Cube incident happened,” Carl mused, considering the potential implications. “I wonder if they’re connected.”

  Cruncher leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the desk. “I still have a contact in Ramiro’s crew I could get in touch with without pissing anyone off. We go way back. I could ask him about this guy and find out what he knows. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

  Carl nodded. “Yeah, if you can trust him, go ahead. Let me know what he says. My gut says there’s more to this story.”

  Chapter Five

  “We finished running the additional security scans last night. The problem is going to be traveling outside our monitoring areas.”

  Carl nodded at Cruncher's assessment and took another bite of food. He glanced around the table at his crew and considered his options. They couldn't close up shop while they waited for a resolution of the issue with Ramiro. No matter what he decided, their productivity would take a hit.

  Xantham leaned over, swiping a fruit stick off Jinx's plate. She glowered at him and snatched it back, bopping him on the head in the process. Ignoring their antics, Carl turned back to Cruncher with the intention of continuing their conversation. He fell silent at the older man's expression.

  “Hot damn.” Cruncher’s jaw dropped.

  Carl looked up to see Kayla striding into the room. With a cheerful “Good morning,” she flashed a smile to the group and headed toward the cabinet that stored their prepared meals.

  Carl swallowed and couldn't help but gape as she bent over the cabinet. Her shorts hung low on her waist and hugged her curves seductively. The small top was low cut and accentuated her breasts while leaving her midsection bare. Oblivious to the reaction she’d caused, she pulled out one of the breakfast meals and programmed the computer to heat it.

  “You’re going to have to beat off the potential recruits if they get a look at her.”

  Carl eyed her appreciatively, agreeing with Cruncher's comment. It was more than her appearance though. There was such an effortless sensuality to her movements. Something about her captivated him and judging from the reactions of the other men in the room, he wasn't alone.

  Corsin was close to drooling and Xantham nearly fell out of his chair trying to get a better look.

  Jinx looked at the men in mock disgust. “You know, I don’t remember getting that kind of reaction when I wore the same outfit.”

  Xantham’s eyes didn’t leave Kayla. “Much love to you, Jinx, but you don’t have a body like that.”

  Jinx rolled her eyes, taking a large bite of her fruit stick. Carl cleared his throat and Xantham had the grace to look abashed. Kayla brought her food tray to the table and sat down.

  “Sleep well?” Carl asked her as she uncovered her plate.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Those privacy dividers are nice. I didn't mean to sleep so late.”

  He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. You haven’t missed anything.”

  “Oh, thanks again for the clothes, Jinx. I’m hoping Veridian will be here this morning with my things.”

  “Yeah, thanks for the clothes, Jinx,” Xantham echoed, putting his head in his hands to gaze at Kayla.

  Jinx kicked him under the table. He jerked upright and grimaced at her. Jinx turned back to Kayla and smiled. “Anytime, Kayla. Ignore Xantham. He was dropped on his head when he was a kid.”

  Kayla laughed. “So where’s Arlisia and Zane?”

  Jinx looked slightly uncomfortable and so did the men. “Uh, Arlisia wanted to get out of camp for a bit. They’re running the perimeter to check for security flaws.”

  “Oh?” Kayla asked, curious about their reaction.

  Before Jinx could reply, Carl pushed away his plate and changed the subject. “Kayla, I have some comlink appointments this afternoon, but before that we’re planning to do some preliminary testing on some of the equipment. If everything is quiet with Ramiro, we’re planning on going underground tomorrow to see how some of these new toys handle. You interested?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she exclaimed, acting shocked he would even consider it. “I’m in.”

  Xantham gave a dreamy sigh. “The face of an angel, the body of a goddess, and the mouth of a ruin rat. I think I’m in love, Boss.”

  Jinx smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to yelp. “Excuse us.” Jinx stood and grabbed the back of Xantham’s shirt to pull him away from the table. With an apologetic smile, she said, “I think Xantham needs to go take a cold shower.”

  Carl shook his head at Kayla’s look of confusion, while Cruncher and Corsin both laughed.

  Corsin stood up and dumped out the empty plates before turning to Kayla. “I’m going to be working on some of the system maintenance while you guys are testing. If you get some time later, Kayla, I’d love to see what you can do with some of the locks. Zane wouldn’t shut up about it the other day.”

  “Sure.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you a bit later.” He waved and headed out of the room.

  Cruncher finished eating, stood up, and dumped his plate before looking at Carl. “I’ll start prepping in the tech room while you two finish up.”

  Carl nodded and Cruncher headed out of the room. Kayla looked around at the empty room. “It sure cleared out fast around here.”

  He watched her pick at her food for a moment. A strand of hair fell across her cheek and he resisted the urge to tuck it behind her ear, not knowing if he'd be able to stop touching her once he started. “Sorry for not waking you. I thought you’d enjoy sleeping in today since we didn’t have anything on the schedule.”

  In an effort to keep his hands busy, he reached into his pocket and withdrew her comlink. Sliding it over to her, he said, “You left your comlink in the tech room last night. I would have returned it to you last night but didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Thanks.” She flipped it open and read through her messages. A small frown marred her features. “Well, it looks like you were right.”

  “About what?”

  “V says someone from Ramiro’s crew contacted Leo last night asking about us. Leo told him we were both gone and staying at your camp now.” She took another bite of her breakfast, chewing while she finished reading the message.

  Carl's jaw tightened at the news. It wasn't any more than what he had expected but it still pissed him off. “Veridian is okay?”

  She flipped her comlink shut and pushed away her plate. “Yeah, he should be here in an hour or two.”

  Carl stood up. He'd feel better once Veridian had arrived. The moment both Kayla and Veridian agreed to work for him, they fell under his protection. It was a job he didn't take lightly. “If you’re finished eating, let’s go check out the new equipment. I know you’ve been dying to get your hands on it.”

  Kayla nodded eagerly and dumped her plate. He led her into the tech room, where Cruncher had pulled out some of the new sensors.

  “Great,” Cruncher said when he saw her. “Kayla, grab that one there and see if you can configure the uplink to our system. Then you can start calibrating it.”

  Kayla knelt down to pick up the unit he pointed out. There was no hesitation in her movements as her nimble fingers ran across the monitor to locate the specific uplink frequency. She scrolled through the data until she detected the frequency and then initiated the connection.

  Cruncher motioned to Carl, letting him know he wanted a private word. “I’ll be right back.”

  She gave an absent nod, completely engrossed in her project. Anxious to learn what Cruncher had found, Carl followed him into the next room.

  When Cruncher was sure Kayla was out of earshot, he said, “While you two were finishing up, I managed to touch base with my contact. His name’s Minko. He’s been working with Ramiro for several
years.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said Pretz was a good guy. Solid. Brought in a steady stream of profit and could work locks like no one he’s ever seen. But he was head over heels for some ruin rat. He said it caused some problems with Ramiro.”

  “Did he know anything about how he died?” Carl asked with a frown.

  Cruncher shook his head. “Not much. Ramiro was the one who told everyone Pretz had fallen through two levels in one of the cleared sectors. It surprised everyone since Pretz wasn’t careless and those sectors had already been cleared. Minko said he never found out why Pretz was in a cleared sector on his scheduled day off. But Minko saw the body and it was mangled pretty badly.”

  Carl frowned. It was unfortunate but accidents sometimes happened in the ruins. The fact that he was in a cleared sector was suspicious though. “Thanks, Cruncher.”

  “No problem, Boss.” Cruncher leaned forward, lowering his voice even more. “There was one more thing though. The day after Pretz died, Minko said Pretz’s girl showed up and demanded to see Ramiro. He said she was a hot little number with dark hair and a lot of attitude, which sounds a lot like our Kayla. Ramiro took her into his office and the next thing everyone knew, the Aurelia Data Cube had been stolen.”

  “So the timing fits,” Carl mused, glancing at the door where Kayla was working. “It sounds like I need to have a talk with Kayla. I think we’re missing a pretty big part of the story.”

  Cruncher nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Sounds that way. I’m not sure how well it’ll go over, talking to her about it though. Ruin rats don’t like discussing their private lives, especially with traders. It doesn’t matter that she’s part of the crew now.”

  “I’ll figure something out,” Carl promised. The alternative wasn't acceptable.

  * * * *

  Kayla looked up as he entered and flashed him a huge smile. He nearly stumbled, entranced by the way she lit up the room. She was sitting on the floor, surrounded by equipment, and her eyes sparkled in excitement. “You guys have got some amazing toys here. Carl, I want to show you something.”