Operation Phoenix

by Susan Hayes

  “Why don’t you head back inside and let your people know what’s going on. I know the team’s early arrival hasn’t given you much time to brief them. I’ll see to it that the commander and the rest of his team are taken care of. Tomorrow morning, we’ll work out a schedule of interviews that works for everyone.”

  “Or you could stop by my office tonight. Then Commander Rossi’s people could start first thing in the morning.”

  “I think tomorrow will be soon enough.” She was going to have to have a word with Tony later. She didn’t appreciate the position he was putting her in. If he wanted to provoke Dax and his team, that was his choice, but there was no way in hell she was going to allow herself to be dragged into the fray. She didn‘t trust Dax, but he owed her. She’d do everything she could to make this investigation quick and painless, and then she’d ask him the same question she’d asked the day of Travis’ funeral.

  Maybe this time, he’d finally be honest with her.

  From the second he’d seen Trinity waiting for him on the tarmac, Dax’s world had imploded with the force of a comet strike. She was supposed to be safe and sound somewhere, following her dreams and making a better life for herself. He wanted to shake her and tell her to get her ass back home where she belonged. Fraxx, he wanted to peel her out of that uniform and spank her ass pink. What the hell was she doing in the IAF? Why had she changed her name? Was she married? Why was she here? He had too many questions, and now wasn’t the time to ask them. He would, though. And soon.

  He was about to start his own investigation into Lieutenant Trinity West, and he wouldn’t stop until he had all the answers. The first thing he needed to know was if Dr. Clarke and Trinity had a personal relationship. Was that the reason she had tried to keep the investigation in-house? Was she protecting the scientist?

  Clarke bid them goodbye and walked away, leaving them alone for the first time.

  She was more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair had darkened to a rich chestnut, and the curls he’d always been fascinated with were tamed and tied back in a no-nonsense braid. Her golden skin was darker now, likely because she was able to go out into the light of a real sun instead of the artificial lights of the hive city they’d grown up in.

  “Trin. I—“

  She raised her hand and gave a sharp shake of her head. “No, Commander Rossi. We’re not doing this. Not right now.”

  He’d never seen her like this. Confident. Controlled. The note of command in her voice should have annoyed him. He was her superior, and she knew it. He wasn’t angry, though. He was intrigued, and very turned on.

  The rest of his team walked over to join them, and he turned to make introductions. Before he could open his mouth, Kurt made the connection on his own.

  “Trinity Nikos? What in hell are you doing here?”

  “Meyer?” Trinity’s eyes lit up with a warm smile as she turned her back on Dax and went to greet his XO. “It’s Lieutenant Trinity West, actually. I didn’t know you were with Nova Force, now.”

  “Have been for a while now.” Kurt uttered the partial lie with ease. “I thought you were getting your degree in cybernetic engineering.”

  Nova Force wasn’t a secret anymore, but there was a time when everything about the group and their missions were classified. Even now, the men and women who served in its ranks didn’t advertise their positions. Trinity and her family didn’t know her brother had been part of Nova Force when he died. But Trin was smart. It wouldn’t take her long to figure it out, now that she knew two of the men who served with her brother were part of the same elite group.

  Trin shrugged. “I did. I graduated and then I signed up with the IAF. Because of my background, I ended up fast-tracked and sent out here.”

  Well, that explained why she’d been assigned to Victor Base. She had a foot in both worlds: military and scientific. It still didn’t tell him why she’d signed up at all.

  “Nikos? As in Travis Nikos?” Aria asked.

  Just like that, Kurt was taking over introductions, leaving Dax on the sidelines. He introduced her to the rest of the team, most of whom had heard about Travis from the ones who had known him best. She smiled and greeted them with a warmth that was missing from her interactions with him. It didn’t matter she had good reason to be cool and distant with him. It still stung.

  By the time she’d met them all, he was sure of two things. Trinity now knew that her brother was with Nova Force before he died, and despite all the years they’d been apart, she still held claim to a big chunk of his heart.

  “Commander, if your team is ready, I’ll have one of my men show you to your accommodations.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. That would be appreciated.”

  “We could use a few bodies to offload our gear from the ship, too,” Eric chimed in.

  “I’ll direct some of the off-duty guards to give you a hand, Ensign Erben.” She turned the full force of her smile on the young tech, and Eric lit up like a star going nova.

  The only one who didn’t seem to be under Trinity’s spell was Aria. As the team’s chief interrogator, she was doing what she did best, observing and compiling information. He had no doubt that before long, Blink would know more about the residents of the base then even their own families. And that meant he was going to have to tell her about his history with Trinity. She couldn’t have missed the tension between them, and she’d need to know why.

  He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

  Dax was at the window, watching the sunset paint the lake in vibrant colors. The rest of his team were scattered around the workroom they’d been assigned, comparing notes and settling in.

  Kurt leaned back in his chair and gestured around him. “I told you this place was a damned day-spa. The gym is better than the one we have back home, and they’ve got a spring-fed swimming pool, too. Did you see the menu for the cafeteria? These scientists eat better than most colonels I know. And that’s on top of the food dispensers the higher-ranking folks have in their quarters. Even the guest quarters have them!”

  “Their network is incredible.” Eric had spent the last hour hooking into the local system, transfixed by what he’d found. “And V.I.D.A. is something else. She’s a biotech system, with off-the-charts computing power. I think I’m in love.”

  “I thought there was a total ban on any system that combined biotech and AI.”

  “According to what I’ve read, she was designed by one of the most brilliant minds of his generation. Dr. Jules Absalom was so gifted that he was given carte blanche control over this base and everything researched here. He even got special dispensation to disregard the Pinocchio Protocol when he designed V.I.D.A. She was originally one of the research projects here, and she worked so well, she was permitted to continue running the base.” Eric was clearly enthralled with the program.

  “It’s been running the base that long?” Aria looked up from her tablet. “You realize what this means, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m in love with an older woman,” Eric retorted.

  “You mean the AI or the lovely Lieutenant West?” Dante asked.

  Dax had to bite back a growl of displeasure at the mere idea of Eric, or anyone else on his team, thinking that way about Trinity.

  Kurt spun around in his chair so that he was looking at Aria. “It’s a computer program, why does it matter how old it is?”

  “V.I.D.A. was active when the thefts took place. It could have recorded something, an image or order that could point us in the right direction.”

  Dax nodded. “It’s your lucky day, Magi. I need you to get intimately acquainted with V.I.D.A. and see if you can find anything related to the thefts.”

  Eric groaned in delight. “Oh baby. I’m going to make you tell me all your secrets.”

  “I’m starting to worry about your judgment, Erben. You seem to have a thing for women with secrets.” Aria looked straight at Dax. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

  “Always. You know that.” />
  “For this topic, I thought you might make an exception.”

  “You want to ask me about West.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you want us to give you the room?” Kurt asked.

  He considered the offer and then rejected it. They all needed to know that he had a personal connection to this case. “Stay.”

  Everyone went quiet and looked at Aria, who settled deeper into her chair and then asked the question he’d been waiting for. “What happened between you and Lieutenant West?”

  “I grew up in a hive city on Earth. My parents worked opposing shifts, which meant I was on my own most of the time. One of the other families in our housing block more or less adopted me.”

  “The Nikos family.” Aria guessed.

  “Travis Nikos was more than a friend, he was my brother. Wherever he went, I followed. We both wanted to get away from Athens Two and see the galaxy. There were only two ways out. Work for one of the corporations, or join the military. Travis chose the IAF, and I went with him.”

  “And West?”

  “As you now know, she’s Travis’s little sister. She thought her older brother hung the sun, the moon, and every star in the sky. When he went away, she was devastated. The night before we shipped out, she snuck into my sleeping cubby and made me promise that I’d keep him safe and make sure he always came home alive.”

  “Shit.” Dante scowled, an expression that made his mixed-race parentage instantly recognizable. Apart from his size and the strange midnight-blue shade of his eyes, he usually looked mostly human. It was only when he got angry or flashed his fangs that his Torski side appeared.

  “So, she blames you for Travis’ death?” Aria asked.

  “She does, but that’s not the real reason she’s angry with me. Until today, she had no idea her brother was part of Nova Force. Back then, the teams were still an experiment, and every mission was classified.”

  “We couldn’t even tell his family how their son died,” Kurt said.

  Aria tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair. “That doesn’t explain the way she looked at you when you stepped off the ship today, though. If looks could kill, she’d be up on murder charges right now.”

  Dax ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Our personal history is…complicated. I’ll be investigating the lieutenant myself. Aria, I want you to focus on Dr. Clarke for now. Erben, I need you to become intimately acquainted with your new love interest, V.I.D.A. Everyone else, pick a focus. Either you’re on interviews or reading up on what really goes on at this base. This place is thick with secrets, and we’re not leaving until we’ve uncovered them all.”

  “Yes, sir.” They answered as a team.

  He nodded to them and took his leave. They knew their jobs and didn’t need him micromanaging their every move. He hadn’t gone ten feet when his comm device chimed, alerting him to an incoming message. It was from Kurt.

  “Travis was a good friend, but he wasn’t always right. Remember that.”

  He chuckled and put the comm device back in his pocket. At least Kurt was on his side. Now, all he had to do was convince the woman he’d walked out on that she could trust him. Kurt had been right, this mission was full of secrets and surprises, and one of them had already sunk its fangs into him. Trinity was here.

  3

  It was several hours before things settled down enough for Trinity to take a moment for herself. The moment she did, she was caught up in a whirlwind of old memories and raw emotions. She had convinced herself that she’d never see Dax again. What were the odds of the two of them crossing paths like this?

  She sank onto the edge of her bunk and started to undo the braid that bound her hair back, loosening it first with her fingers, then with a thick-toothed comb. It was part of her nightly ritual, but tonight it didn’t bring her any comfort. The knots in her shoulders didn’t loosen, and the ache in her heart only worsened as she let herself remember the day Dax Rossi broke her heart.

  She’d been in love with her brother’s best friend for as long as she could remember. What had started out as an extension of the hero worship she felt for her big brother had slowly grown into a girlhood crush that never faded. By the time she was fifteen, she knew it was more than a crush, despite her mother’s gentle warnings and Dax’s disinterest. She accepted that she’d have to wait. One day, she’d be old enough to make him notice her. She was certain of it. One day he’d see what he’d been missing. Only before that day came, he and Travis joined the IAF and left her behind.

  They didn’t come home again for three long years. But when they did, it happened. He finally noticed her. Instead of going to the bars and recreation decks with his friends, Dax had spent time with her. She told him about her goal of becoming a cybernetic engineer, and he’d told her stories about the places he’d visited, and what it was like to be a soldier.

  “Sometimes, when it was late, and I couldn’t sleep, I’d think of you,” He told her one night when they were alone for a few stolen moments.

  “Why me?”

  He cupped her cheek in his hand, sweeping his thumb over her lower lip in an intimate caress. “Because you were young and sweet, and I wanted to make the galaxy a safer place for you.”

  “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. You make me feel like my stomach’s full of butterflies.”

  His laughter sent those butterflies into a flapping frenzy. “It’s corny as hell, but it’s true. You’re one of the good ones. I hope you never change, my sweet Butterfly Girl. I need to know there’s some good in this world.”

  “I think you’re one of the good ones, too.”

  He leaned in until he was looking into her eyes, his breath fanning her lips. “If I were one of the good ones, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

  Then he’d finally kissed her, and a lifetime of daydreams hadn’t come close to the reality of being kissed by Dax Rossi. He’d been gentle with her, teaching and teasing her until she was dizzy with desire. When she’d leaned into him, he drew her in close and crushed his mouth to hers. At that moment, she believed that he might love her as much as she loved him.

  Oh, how wrong she had been. He’d taken all she offered him, her heart, her trust, and her innocence. Then, on the last night before he and Travis’ leave was over, he ended it. She’d gone to meet him, but he wasn’t there. All she found was the note he’d left for her.

  I warned you. I’m not one of the good ones.

  Take care of yourself, Butterfly Girl.

  D.

  Hurt, humiliated, and heartbroken, she’d cried until she didn’t have any tears left. Then, she crammed the note into her pocket and headed home. By the next morning, a transformation had started. She became guarded and slower to trust people.

  The transformation was complete the day she saw Dax again. She’d walked up to him and asked him to tell her how her brother died, and he’d looked her in the eyes and told her he couldn’t do that. She had filled in the last chinks in the walls around her heart and continued to set herself on a new course. One that would give her the answers she needed.

  She’d joined the IAF to learn the truth, but she’d wound up stuck on Victor Base instead.

  Rising to her feet, she crossed the room to look at an old holo-pic of her family. It was taken the day before Travis had left for basic training. He stood in the middle, with her parents on either side, her standing in front with his hand on her shoulder and a cocky grin on his face. She touched the image, and a wave of sadness washed over her. “I miss you, big brother. He promised me he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Out of all the lies he told me, that’s the one I can’t forgive him for.”

  Leaving her room wasn’t a conscious decision. One minute she was looking at the picture, and the next she was striding down the gleaming corridors that led to the rooms she had assigned to their Nova Force guests.

  The base itself had been established decades ago, but the buildings had been renovated
only a few years ago. The research, and the people doing it, were highly valued. Because of this, they were provided with the best of everything. High-tech tools, excellent food, and a vast array of creature comforts were available to help the resident scientists deal with the isolation. Even the color scheme and soft blue lighting were supposed to create a sense of well-being and calm.

  It wasn’t working.

  There was nothing serene about her mindset as she marched up to the door of Dax’s quarters and rapped sharply on the metal doorway.

  “Who is it?”

  “Lieutenant West.”

  “V.I.D.A., open the door to my room and let the Lieutenant in.”

  “Of course, Commander Rossi.”

  Dax hadn’t expected to see Trinity again so soon. He had assumed it would take days before he’d be able to talk to her in an informal setting. There were things he wanted to tell her, and he had a hundred questions to ask. About her, her family, and why she’d turned her back on her dreams and joined the IAF. Re’veth. This wasn’t what Travis had wanted for her at all. Didn’t she know that?

  Once the door opened, he knew she wasn’t here for a chat. She was still in uniform, though her hair was out of its braid and tumbling around her shoulders in a familiar cloud of curls. He’d changed after dinner, and he felt underdressed in his plain black shirt and loose-fitting workout pants.

  “What can I do for you?” he asked and gestured for her to join him. He’d been working at his desk but had gotten to his feet while V.I.D.A. opened the door. His quarters were far more spacious and comfortable than he was used to. There was a sitting area by the windows, a workspace complete with a desk and a small table and chairs for meetings. His sleeping area was hidden behind a translucent screen, providing a sense of privacy without taking away from the overall space of the room.

  She crossed into the work area but didn’t sit down. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and asked the one question he should have expected, but still wasn’t prepared for.