by Susan Hayes
“I didn’t know.” She decided it was time for a confession of her own. “I don’t talk to mom and dad much. They still can’t accept my choice to join up. I know it’s because they’re afraid they’ll lose me, too, but it makes things…strained.”
“You didn’t tell them why?”
“I think they guessed, but no, I never told them. That would be like making them a promise I might not have been able to keep. The whole mission is classified. The only ones who know are the ones who were there.”
He looked down at his hands for a moment, then lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “If I tell you what you want to know, would you finally be free to make your own choices about what you want to do with your life?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I’ll find out on my own. I realize now I wasn’t being fair to you. You don’t have to tell me.”
“Maybe I need to. I’ve been carrying this around with me for five fraxxing years. Maybe it’s time I told you why I didn’t keep my promises.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I just need to know. You won’t get into trouble.”
“We work for the military, Trin. They take their secrets very seriously. But, classified intel or not, you deserve to know.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “And this is one secret I don’t want to carry anymore. Besides, you’ve already figured out some of it.”
“He was a part of Nova Force, along with you, and maybe Kurt?”
“We were still a fledgling group back then. There were only two teams, and our only mandate was to keep watch over the corporations and make sure they were behaving. The Resource Wars were over, the cyborgs had just announced they were sentient, and there was a lot of shady dealings going on all over the galaxy as the victors divided up their spoils.”
“So the IAF didn’t want the corporations to know they were being watched? That makes sense. But why is it still a secret? It’s not like you’re an unknown element anymore.”
His expression turned stormy. “The corporations are a necessary evil. Some of what we saw… what we tried to stop, it can’t ever get out. It would send the whole galaxy spinning into chaos.”
“That bad?” she asked, her stomach twisting into knots as she considered the ramifications of what he was telling her.
This time, he was the one who reached for her hand. “Your brother died trying to stop the wholesale slaughter of nearly a hundred cyborgs that should have already been freed. The cyborgs had been locked up. The employees had already abandoned ship, and the corporation was going to do a remote override and blow the hatches. Not even cyborgs can exist for long in a total vacuum.”
She thought the truth would help her get closure. That it would be easy to hear the details because she needed them to move on. It wasn’t easy at all. She fought back her tears as she gripped Dax’s hand. “If there was no one there, how did he...” Her throat tightened, and she couldn’t finish her sentence.
“The automated defenses. When they found out we were coming, they activated them. We walked into an ambush.”
“You couldn’t have known you were leading everyone into a trap. I can’t believe they’d do that. You were only there to protect the cyborgs.”
His jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened to a stormy blue. “You think I led him to his death? I wasn’t in charge, Trin. I didn’t get this command until last year. Commander Petr Revak was our CO, and he was a hell of an act to follow.”
“I just assumed you were, because, well, you are now.” She bowed her head. “I guess part of me is still looking for a reason to blame you for what happened. I’ve been angry at you so long, it’s not easy to let it go. I’m sorry. I haven’t been fair to you.”
“Trin I—“
The food dispenser beeped, interrupting him as it announced that their dinners were ready.
“Saved by the beep,” he murmured before releasing her hand. “Come on, I want to see if you can actually replicate your mother’s cooking.”
She gave him a haughty look. “Are you saying I can’t cook?”
“I’m saying that in all the years I knew you, I saw you cook once, and you charred it so badly neither Travis or I ever knew what the fraxx it was.”
She got to her feet. “It was a carp, and Travis knew exactly what it was. He bet me I couldn’t get you to eat fish again. He lost.”
The big, tough soldier turned a subtle shade of green. “That bastard.”
“What, no words of condemnation for me?” she teased, already on her way to retrieve their dinners.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
They bantered and reminisced as they ate, revisiting happier times. When they were done, Dax poured the last of his brandy into their glasses and settled back in his chair with a satisfied sigh.
“Don’t tell your mom I said this, but your version might actually be better than hers.”
“I think that’s the brandy talking, but thank you, anyway.”
There was a stretch of comfortable silence, and then he spoke again. “Tomorrow, I’d like to go down into the vault. Would you accompany me?”
“How long have you been planning to ask?”
“Honestly? I wasn’t going to bring up work again tonight, but then I realized that advanced notice might be better than waiting.”
“I appreciate it. I should warn you though, there’s not much to see. Why do you want to go?”
He shrugged. “Because it’s the scene of the crime. I know it’s a long shot, but this afternoon I got an updated list of which samples were targeted. I’d like to check for fingerprints or any clue as to how our thief got access.”
“I’ve been down there, and I can tell you, there’s not much chance of you finding anything. It’s the cleanest, emptiest space I’ve ever been in.”
“I have to see for myself, and I’ve got a few tools I can use to improve our chances of finding something. We’d have been down there already, but your Dr. Clarke was doing all he could to block our access.”
“He’s not my anything, except for an occasional pain in my ass. He’s protective of the work that goes on here. I think he feels responsible for the stolen samples, even though he wasn’t in charge when the thefts started.”
“Or he’s covering his tracks because he’s the thief.”
“I don’t believe it, and if you knew him like I did, you wouldn’t believe it, either. Tony’s not that kind of man.”
“He might be. How can you be sure?”
She got to her feet. “Are you questioning my judgment now?”
His hands lifted in a placating gesture. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that we’re short on suspects, and he’s one of the few who has been here since this all started.”
“I’ve become a pretty good judge of character. I learned a long time ago that it’s important not to put your faith in the wrong people.”
“You will never know how much I regret my choice back then.”
“Maybe one day, you’ll tell me why.”
“One day, I will. Soon.” He glanced over at the empty bottle of brandy. “Once I re-supply. Trust me when I tell you we’re going to need more liquor to get through that conversation.”
“Why is nothing with you ever easy?”
He gave her a slow grin that banished her anger and filled her with a very different kind of heat. “The hard way is always more fun, Butterfly Girl.”
“Don’t call me that.” It’s not that she didn’t like it. It’s that she liked it too much.
“I won’t call you that if you answer one question for me.”
“What’s the question?”
“You say you’re a better judge of character now. So, what am I, Trin? Do you still think I’m one of the good ones?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Her thoughts were whirling, confused and so tangled up she couldn’t think of anything to say. Finally, she raised her hands palm up in an uncertain gesture. “I don’t know.”
His eyes crinkled a bi
t at the corners. “Right now, neither do I. You should probably go before I do something to remove any doubt.”
He got to his feet, and she held her breath as he walked toward her. She half expected him to kiss her again, but instead, he walked past her and went to stand by the door.
“Goodnight, Dax. I’ll see you after breakfast. We’ll visit the Vault of the Fallen.”
“Goodnight. And Trin?”
She paused, her hand over the keypad. “Yes?”
When she looked back, he gave her a lopsided smile. His hand lifted slightly, then lowered again. “I’m glad you know, now.”
“Me, too.”
She turned back toward the door but stopped again. “I have one more question to ask.”
“What it is it?”
She didn’t look back at him this time. She kept her eyes locked on the keypad and tried to ignore the burn of tears that threatened to fall. “The day he died. How many of the cyborgs did you manage to save?”
“We saved them all. Your brother died a hero.”
“Thank you.” Grief tore through her, jagged and raw. It was what she had always wanted to know. Travis hadn’t died in vain. He’d saved people. He’d made a difference. He’d saved Dax…
She opened the door and walked into the corridor, her emotions locked down behind an unreadable mask. At least, she hoped it was unreadable. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. The men and women under her command needed her to be confident and strong, and that’s what they’d see.
Once she got back to her room, she’d start dealing with everything she’d learned. This evening hadn’t gone anything like she expected. Instead of accusations and arguments, she’d reconnected with an old friend and finally gotten the truth about what happened to her brother.
She had a lot to think about, and right at the top of the list was a question she never imagined she’d ever have to consider. How did she really feel about Dax Rossi? Until tonight, she would have said she hated him. Now, she knew that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be because when he’d pulled her into his arms, she’d let him kiss her, and when he’d walked her to the door tonight, part of her wished he had kissed her again.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and blew out a sharp huff of air. “Out of a whole damned galaxy, why did the universe have to send him here?”
Another thought crossed her mind, one she didn’t dare speak out loud. “This better not be your doing, Travis. I don’t need you messing with my love life. When you died, you lost your right to have an opinion.”
6
“I don’t want him down there,” Dr. Clarke declared for the fourth time since he’d entered Trinity’s office.
The scientist was pacing and gesturing like an actor on a tiny stage, his voice rising ever higher as he rattled off his list of grievances. Dax wasn’t even sure the man had drawn a complete breath since he’d burst through the door demanding to be heard.
Dax had let Trinity deal with the dramatics until now, but he was running out of patience. “He is standing right here, and he has been granted access to your vault by the people who control your funding, Dr. Clarke. You may not want me down in the vault, but I will be going there, shortly. You’ve had your say, and your protests have been noted. Now it’s time the lieutenant and I were on our way.”
“He doesn’t know the protocols! The contents of that vault are priceless. What if he destroys something?”
Apparently, Trinity had reached her limits, too. “Commander Rossi has every right to be down there. His clearances are in order, and while he doesn’t know the protocols, I do. This is going to happen. It has to. If you don’t stop interfering, I’m going to have to make a report. We’re in the middle of an investigation, and the more you protest, the more it looks like you’ve got something to hide.”
Clarke recoiled as if he’d been backhanded. “The only thing I’m guilty of is trying to protect the research being done here! Trinity, you know that. This is my life’s work.”
It rankled him that Clarke kept using her first name instead of her rank, and it wasn’t just because it set his teeth on edge to hear the possessive way the doctor purred her name. She was an officer in the Interstellar Armed Force and deserved the man’s respect.
Trinity came back at Dr. Clarke with righteous fury, her clipped words and tone making her opinion crystal clear. “Your behavior is putting the research at risk. What do you think will happen if we don’t find out how those samples were removed? Do you really think that the IAF is going to allow this place to continue when it’s a known security risk?”
Holy fraxx, she was hot when she was pissed off. Part of him was tempted to get her fired up the next time they were alone so he could enjoy it. He wouldn’t do it, though. Not yet. Kissing her last night hadn’t been something he’d planned on, but it had happened, and he intended for it to happen again. Soon. That wouldn’t happen if he reminded her of all the reasons she should still be mad at him.
Dr. Clarke muttered a few half-assed retractions and retreated with his tail tucked firmly between his legs.
“It’s not even noon yet, and I’ve already exceeded my quota of drama for the whole day. Nicely handled, by the way.”
“He’s not usually that difficult.” She wrinkled her nose and sighed. “Actually, he’s often that difficult, but usually he’s not that loud.”
“You have no idea how grateful I am that I’m with Nova Force and not stuck in an assignment like this. I don’t know how you do it without causing bodily harm on a regular basis.”
Her expression softened, and she uttered a soft chuckle. “I think you’re safe. I know what kind of grades you got in school –when you bothered to show up. I got this gig because of my degree.”
“Hey, I graduated!”
“Barely.”
“Still counts.” He nodded to the door. “Ready to show me the Vault of the Fallen? I promise not to touch anything without your say so.”
“Did you just promise to listen to me?” She laid a hand on her chest and gasped. “The world must be ending.”
“I don’t remember you being this sassy.” He tapped a hand to his rank insignia. “And remember, I do outrank you.”
The moment he said the words, he regretted them. Her easy-going manner vanished in a heartbeat, replaced with the crisp formality of a model officer.
“Yes, sir. You do. If you would follow me, I’ll show you the vault, sir.” She started toward the door, a move that brought her temptingly close to him.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. And forgive me for my previous comment. This is…new for me.”
She gave him a sidelong glance, then nodded. “For both of us.”
The door opened before he could say anything else, which was probably a good thing. Until Trinity had walked back into his life, he had never considered getting involved with a fellow officer. It wasn’t forbidden, but that didn’t mean it was easy to maintain a balance between military protocol and a relationship. He needed to figure out how to do this without screwing up too badly.
The trek to the vault passed in relative silence. Dax had discovered that the base was never truly quiet. Even when there was no one around, the hum and buzz of machines were constant. V.I.D.A. maintained the entire base, but she didn’t do it alone. She had several hundred minions under her control. Some were autonomous droids, others were mindless drones, but they all responded to the AI’s instructions.
Trin paused to explain each security protocol they underwent. He’d been inside of some of the most secure sites in the galaxy, and this ranked up there as one of the most heavily protected he’d ever seen.
There were two checkpoints before they even reached the mag-lift, and once they were inside the lift, Trinity had to provide a handprint and voice scan before the car would move.
“How long ago was all of this implemented?” he asked as the car started to descend deep underground.
“It was all here before I arrived. As far as I know, the vault has been well
protected for years, though the latest round of upgrades probably arrived when the building was last renovated, which was only a few years ago.” She glanced over at him. “You thought this had been added since we found out about the thefts, didn’t you?”
“I’ve seen the reports and plans on this place, but seeing blueprints is one thing, actually experiencing it is quite another.”
“V.I.D.A. does most of the retrievals remotely. It’s more secure that way, and a lot less time-consuming.”
“I can imagine. How much longer before we’re in the vault itself?”
“We still need to go through decontamination, put on the cleanroom gear, and pass through one final level of security after that. Then, we’ll be in the vault.”
“What decontamination? I think I missed that on the plans.” He sure as hell would have remembered if any part of this journey included getting to see Trinity out of uniform.
“We’re entering a sealed cleanroom environment that’s maintained at below freezing temperatures. All of this security isn’t just to protect the samples from theft or tampering, it’s to keep them away from any contaminants. We have to be sure we don’t bring anything with us that could affect the samples.”
“I’m starting to understand why no one bothers to come down here often.”
“It’s tedious but necessary. Just like the adorable disposable jumpsuits we’ll have to wear while we’re inside. They have flowers on them. Pink ones.”
“That sounds…very unmilitary. Are you sure those are regulation?”
“I’m quite sure they’re not. Gottfried – my administrator – is the one who ordered them. I think she did it to mess with the scientists. She thinks they take themselves too seriously sometimes.”
The doors opened, revealing a stark vista of white tile and gleaming steel. Their boots rang sharply on the floor tiles, and he tapped it several times with his heel. “Metal?”
“I asked the same thing. Apparently, it’s some kind of bacteria resistant polymer.” She scuffed her boot over the surface. “It’s fine now, but watch your step once we change into the booties--this stuff is slick.”