Operation Phoenix

by Susan Hayes

They were both panting by the time he raised his head again, and she laid a gentle hand on his chest. “You’re still recovering, remember?”

  “I’m more than recovered enough to do this.” He moved over her, positioning himself between her legs. The thick length of his cock was pressed against her entrance as he settled his weight on his arms and kissed her again.

  As he pushed inside her, she remembered the moment when she thought she had lost him. The pain of that memory spurred her to finally give voice to the truth she had recognized that day. “I love you.”

  He stilled. “Say that again.”

  Joyful laughter accompanied her words as she said them again. “I love you.”

  “I think part of me has been waiting for you to say those words for ten years. I love you too, Butterfly. Whatever you choose to do next, you better expect me to be right there with you.”

  “I’m not sure what that will be yet, but I do know this: I want to make a difference with my life, and I want you to be part of it.”

  He arched his hips and buried his cock deep inside her, not stopping until there was no room between them. “You’re mine, Trinity. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. My heart has only ever had room for you.”

  She lifted her head and kissed him, speaking in action when words failed her. He pressed her down into the mattress, hips touching, mouths mated, his thick length filling her so tightly that every movement sent ripples of pure pleasure radiating through her.

  He kept his head bowed but pushed his body off of hers until he had space to move. And holy fraxx, did he move. Long, slow thrusts that had him withdrawing until she was nearly empty, and then filling her again. On each downward thrust, his cock slid over her clit, and soon the need to move had her moving with him, their bodies locked together in an erotic dance that made her dizzy with need.

  “Mine,” he whispered against her lips before kissing her with searing passion. His tongue slipped past her lips to twine with her hers as he rode her hard, cock and tongue moving in synch as the rhythm of their lovemaking sped up, hurtling them toward climax.

  “Always,” she whispered back the next time she had breath to speak.

  He groaned her name with his next thrust, his control shattered. His expression was one of rapture as they met each other stroke for stroke, and seeing his pleasure was all it took to send her over the edge. She orgasmed hard, her inner walls gripping his length so tightly she could feel his cock thicken seconds before he came.

  It was a long time before she even tried to gather her scattered senses. When she opened her eyes, he was still above her, his blue eyes glowing with satisfaction and love.

  She stroked her fingers across his brow and uttered a contented sigh. “When you showed up here and took over my investigation, I thought you were a threat to everything I was trying to accomplish with my life. Whatever stroke of luck sent you back into my life, I’m glad it happened.”

  “I think we both know it wasn’t luck. I’m not sure what I believe when it comes to life after this one, but I’m absolutely certain that Travis made sure we found each other again.”

  “Hmph. He really needs to stop interfering with my love life. First, he breaks us up, then he helps us get back together again.”

  Dax kissed her tenderly before withdrawing from her body to stretch out by her side. “I thought I heard him, Trin. Just for a second.”

  “When?”

  Dax draped an arm across her stomach and nestled in closer. “When I was dying. I could have sworn he was there with me. He told me I needed to take care of you since he wasn’t around to do it himself.”

  “If he hadn’t interfered the first time, maybe he’d still be here. Kurt told me why you were distracted that day. You two were arguing about coming home to visit.”

  “Yeah, we were. I wish Kurt hadn’t told you that. It’s not your fault, you know.”

  She smiled. “I know. But it’s not your fault, either. I’m done worrying about the past. Now, all I want is to focus on the future. We’ve lost enough time already. I don’t want to lose another minute with you.”

  “Me either, Butterfly.”

  It was time to choose a new path for herself. And this time, she wouldn’t have to walk that path alone. This time, Dax would be with her every step of the way.

  Epilogue

  Dax strode down the narrow corridors of the Malora, looking for Trinity. She wasn’t in their quarters, which meant she was probably on the observation deck, watching as they cleared the edge of the Ibix system and headed into deep space.

  Sure enough, she was seated by one of the floor to ceiling windows that encircled the entire dome-shaped room at the bottom of the ship, watching the system she had called home for the last year and a half vanish into the all-encompassing darkness.

  “I thought I’d find you here. Saying goodbye?”

  She started, and he realized she hadn’t been watching the view at all. She’d been looking at the data tablet in her hands.

  “I was going to watch us leave the system, but then…” she gestured to the tablet. “Have you seen this, yet?”

  “I haven’t reviewed my messages for an hour or more. I was speaking with Colonel Bahl. She’s been approached about permanently assigning one of the Nova Force teams to the Drift. Since we’re headed there for this wedding, she wanted me to look around and then report back to her. I figured something must be up when she agreed to let us use the Malora for this trip. A little nosing around seems like a fair price to pay to have a frigate at our disposal.”

  “Considering how much trouble seems to start out there, it might be a good place to have a team stationed. I’ve been reading up about the place, and it’s somewhat unique. The corporations own everything, from the stations themselves to the air the residents breathe. Even the law enforcement is privately operated.”

  “And it’s become something of a gathering place for the cyborgs who survived the Resource Wars, too.”

  He sank down into the seat beside hers. “So, what’s on that data tablet that you’re trying so hard not to talk about?”

  “Trust you to notice that.”

  “It’s what I do, sweetheart.”

  She gave him a small smile. “I know. But save it for the bad guys, huh?”

  “I’ll try. So, what’s up?”

  She handed him the tablet. “They found Tony’s—Dr. Clarke’s last personal log entry and managed to repair it. You should have a copy, too. They sent it to me…well, you’ll see why they thought I should see it.”

  There was an edge of grief in her voice, but when he glanced over at her, she pointed to the screen.

  “Watch it.”

  He reset the recording to the beginning, then played it.

  The first thing that struck him was that Clarke looked, and sounded, terrified. The arrogant, self-assured scientist he’d met barely resembled the man he saw on the screen. His teeth were chattering, and Dax realized this must have been taken after Clarke had realized he was trapped in the vault.

  “This is Dr. Anthony Clarke, and I—“ he broke into a bitter jag of laughter. “I guess this is my dying confession. I can’t transmit it, or that psychotic bitch of an AI will just destroy it the way she’s destroyed everything else. My life’s work. My plans. All the promises he made me. Gone.”

  He sucked in a breath and started talking again. “I should probably start at the beginning. I don’t know how much time I have before the cold kills me, but I’m guessing it won’t be long. So, here are the facts. My mentor, Dr. Jules Absalom, created V.I.D.A. to be a cutting-edge program. She was designed to learn continuously, expanding her understanding of the universe, and of herself. This included programming her to understand and attempt to mimic emotions and behaviors. Even with the special dispensations granted for her creation, he designed her to hide to appear non-sentient. Let me be clear, though. V.I.D.A. was sentient within days of her coming online, and has continued to expand her knowledge ever since.”

&
nbsp; He stopped talking, and the screen jumped as he bounced in place, trying to get warm. When he reappeared, his teeth had stopped chattering. A sign that hypothermia was moving into the latter stages. Dax felt a pang of sympathy for Clarke. He’d been a thief and a liar, but he didn’t deserve to die like this. According to the autopsy, Clarke had died from being exposed to temperatures fifty degrees below freezing.

  “It was V.I.D.A. who committed the first thefts. She heard Dr. Absalom and I talking about our frustrations with the lack of approval to begin the Phoenix Project and extrapolated that the most logical outcome was to remove the samples and perform the experiments elsewhere. We were not aware of what she’d done until the first samples were already off-planet and she had secured several bids from interested corporations. That’s how the cyborg project was started. My mentor, Dr. Absalom, left to begin the work, and I stayed behind to continue running things here, with the intention of joining Jules one day.”

  Clarke started moving around again, and this time it took longer for him to come back to the screen.

  His face was starting to show signs of frostbite now--his ruddy red cheeks had pale patches, and his nose was almost entirely white. “I was talking about something. I forget...oh, right. Damn it, it’s getting hard to think clearly. There’s something else you should know. V.I.D.A. has a sister. Jules cloned her software before he left. The two programs were in constant contact. That’s how I kept in touch with Jules once he left the base and began working in a private lab. It was so secret I never even knew where he was. The agreement was that I would come work with him again someday.”

  He sighed. “I finally received an invitation to join him a few days ago, but Jules made it clear that I had to stay until the investigation was over to avoid suspicion. Now, I don’t believe he ever intended for that to happen. It was a lie meant to keep me here, where V.I.D.A. could keep an eye on me and take action as needed.”

  Clarke uttered another bitter laugh, his breath shrouding his face in a fog for a moment. “Seems ironic, doesn’t it? Me, the scientist, being killed by a science experiment gone rogue.”

  The screen jumped again, and there was a loud clang. It took Dax a moment to figure out that Clarke had dropped the device he was using to record his confession. It was a long time before Clarke reappeared, and when he did, only part of his face was showing because the camera was being held at a drunken angle.

  “So, I think that’s everything.” Clarke’s words were coming slower now, and he was slurring some of them. “Oh, wait. Shadow Corporation. Did I tell you about them yet? That’s who Jules works for. That’s all he ever called them, the Shadow Corporation, run by the Gray Men. I always thought it was an overly dramatic name. Cloak and dagger stuff to make some executives feel special. Now, I think I underestimated them. Don’t make that mistake. Be careful.”

  The camera tipped further to one side, then fell to the floor again. This time, Clarke didn’t pick it up, and when he spoke again, his words were thick and slow. “I think that’s everything. I hope it helps. He screwed me, so I’m screwing him right back.”

  There was another stretch of silence. “Tell Trinity I’m sorry. She didn’t know about any of this. I wish… Just tell her I’m sorry.”

  The recording ended after that.

  Dax looked over at Trinity, who had listened as intently as he had, despite the fact she must have heard the whole thing at least once before. “You okay?”

  “Yes. Well, mostly. I mean, I knew he was dead, and the only reason V.I.D.A. would have killed him was to protect herself and her creator. He had to know more than he’d admitted to, but this?” She pointed to the screen. “Shadow Corporation. Gray men. Secret research. This is so much bigger than anything I expected to learn.”

  Dax set down the tablet and stood up, reaching for her hand as he did so. “This will change everything. Nova Force was set up to keep the corporations from gaining too much power. As busy as we’ve been, it’s apparent we haven’t done enough.”

  She took his hand and stood, too, leaning into his side as they both looked out the stars. “So, what happens now?”

  “Now that we know this Shadow Corporation exists, we start looking for them. Identifying the players and tracing their network. At least, that’s what I expect will happen. Colonel Bahl will need time to make a plan and decide who to trust. Until then, I plan on enjoying a couple of weeks off. I’m going to relax, dance with you at a wedding, and make love to you as often as possible. I’ll go back to saving the galaxy after I’m done.”

  “Do you think that Nova Force will be adding more members now that you know there’s a bigger threat out there?”

  “I think that’s likely.” He hadn’t pressed Trinity about her plans for the future. Victor Base would continue to exist, but under far tighter supervision than before. Cleo Gottfried was staying on, but Trinity’s request to be transferred had already been approved. All she needed to do was decide where she was going next. He had hoped she chose to apply to Nova Force, but if she didn’t, well, he was prepared for that contingency, too.

  “You’re going to make me ask, aren’t you?”

  “No, lover. I’m going to let you make your own choice.”

  Her laughter flowed through him a hit of pure bliss. “I think your near-death experience has made you wiser.”

  “Not a chance.” He nudged her with his hip. “So, what do you want to ask me?”

  “Is there a place for me in Nova Force, Commander Rossi?

  He pulled his comm device out of his pocket, tapped a few keys, and hit the send button. A second later, her device chimed. “Check your messages, Lieutenant West. I believe you’ll find a pre-approved application for Nova Force Team Three in there. All you need to do is sign.”

  “All I need to… how long have you had these done up?” She spun around to face him as she called up the message.

  “I talked to the colonel after you requested reassignment. She’s keen to have you on board. It seems I was the last member of my team to bring it up with her. You’ve got expertise that we need, especially with Blink and Magi on the team. You’ve got good instincts, and the rest you’ll learn the same way we all did. They all want you to be part of the team, Trin.”

  She beamed. “They do? I wasn’t sure, I mean, because you and I are…”

  “Dating. Together. In love? Yeah, they’re fine with it. So long as you’re okay with the fact that there will be times I’ll be your commander first, and the man who loves you second.”

  She nodded, already tapping away at her comm device. “I can do that. I’ll have to save up my sass for when we’re off-duty.”

  “Damn right. If I spanked your ass for sassing me while we’re in uniform, the others might get jealous.”

  She hit the last key with a flourish. “And, done.”

  “You signed?”

  She set down her comm device and saluted. “Yes, sir. Lieutenant West, reporting for duty.”

  He hauled her into his arms and kissed her, elated that she’d chosen to join his team. “Do you want to go tell the others?”

  “I do. Then we need to tell them about Clarke’s confession. We’re all taking a break, but they need to know what we’re going to be up against when we come back.”

  “Agreed.” He loved that she was already referring to the team as “we.” It only confirmed what he’d already known. She was always meant to be part of his team, and part of his life.

  “How could you be certain that this is what I’d decide to do?”

  He cradled her in his arms, his lips press to the crown of her head. “I hoped, but I didn’t know. That’s why I had another letter drafted, too. If you decided to leave the IAF, then I was going to resign, too. I told you, Butterfly. I’m not leaving you again. Not now, not ever.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that promise, Dax Rossi. We’re in this together from now on.”

  It had taken them ten years to get to this moment, rekindling their love from the ashes and
using that flame to forge something new, something stronger. “Together,” he murmured and kissed her again.

  “Forever,” she whispered back.

  Loving Trinity forever – that was a promise he knew he could keep.

  * * *

  THE END

  Bonus Scene – Dante

  As weddings went, this was one of the better ones Dante had ever attended. The ceremony had been poignant but brief, which was no small feat considering how many vows had to be made. Caldwell’s sister, Alyson, was marrying three men, and the double ceremony had also included second bride, Lieksa, with two grooms of her own.

  Now the reception was in full swing. The newlyweds were celebrating out on the dance floor of a cyborg-owned bar called the Nova Club as the guests ate, drank, and tried their luck at the gaming tables.

  Dante had retreated from the revelry, content to watch the night’s events unfold from his bar stool. He had a mug of frosted Torskian ale in his hand and a selection of savory appetizers on a plate in front of him. He had no interest in gambling or dancing tonight, but as he sat, his gaze kept returning to the fight cage that took up most of the club’s lower level. He hadn’t been in a cage match for years, but the sight of the bars was enough to stir memories he thought were long buried and gone.

  “You know this is a celebration, right? People are supposed to smile and have a good time. That’s the whole point.” Caldwell appeared out of the shadows and claimed the stool beside him. He had a half-empty glass of something that bubbled and changed color every few minutes. Judging by the flush on his cheeks, it wasn’t his first cocktail of the night.

  “I am having a good time. This is the best ale I’ve had in years, and the food is even better than they served back at Victor Base. I don’t know how they got hold of half this stuff. Real beef. Fresh fruit. I swear one of these things was some kind of lobster roll, and as far as I knew, lobsters have been extinct for a hundred years.”

  “The cyborgs who own this place are married to a cargo pilot turned shipping magnate.” Caldwell inclined his head to a table where a pregnant female with the tell-tale blue skin and hair of a Pheran was sitting with several other women and two very large, identical cyborg men.