Broken Protocols 1-3

by Dale Mayer

  Weeks? With a tired nod, she walked back to the small room that had the pod. Fully dressed, she climbed inside and closed her eyes. Hot tears threaten to pour out. Instantly, the pod hummed as it worked to heal her. Only there was no healing this.

  How did one heal a lack of self-confidence, a feeling of being overwhelmed, and a knowledge that she was always going to be the stupid relative from the fringe society in which others thrived?

  She closed her eyes, curled up in a fetal position, and sobbed.

  *

  Levi reached out a hand as Dani walked past. She didn’t see him, and his hand dropped away. He didn’t know how to help her.

  As she disappeared around the corner, he was afraid he’d seen her shoulders shake. She’d had an incredibly trying couple of days.

  “Well, go fix it.” Charmin gave him a flat stare that made Levi pause.

  “And how would you like me to do that?” he asked.

  Charmin’s gaze never blinked. “How about the same way you fixed it last time?”

  And damn if heat didn’t climb up Levi’s neck as he realized just how much Charmin understood.

  “How did you fix it last time, bro?” Milo asked, walking closer, as if that would help him understand the solution.

  Levi groaned silently. “Never mind.” He spun on his heels and hurried after Dani. He wished he could fix it like last time, but somehow he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Not now that Lina had become involved. He’d avoided her after that one weekend because she’d become possessive. Meddlesome. Unlike Dani, Lina was the kind to push herself into situations where she wasn’t wanted. And laugh while doing so. But her actions today…he’d have to contact her and sort it out. And he also needed to talk to John as he hadn’t passed on the message about Dani’s whereabouts. Not for the first time, he wondered at the loyalty of those he employed.

  Dani’s subdued sobs reached him in the hallway. Shit.

  He bowed his head. He had to stop putting her in situations where she ended up in tears. They were obviously her coping mechanism. But how sad that she ended up crying as often as she did right now.

  He walked to the pod and opened the lid. He sat down at the end and tugged her into his arms so he could look into her teary eyes. “First, I’m sorry you had to go to the Council this morning.”

  She blinked those wet baby blues at him.

  “Second, I’m even more sorry that you had to deal with Lina this morning. I’ll get to the bottom of what she was up to. I promise.”

  She blinked several times.

  He waited curiously. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “And as for helping you to learn the world around you, I’m going to take the next few days off work to go over the basics. Then we can hook you up to an education system and go through the lower levels first. Milo will be able to help you learn faster.”

  “Faster,” she asked cautiously, a glint of curiosity peeking through the waterworks. Thank heavens.

  “Yes, we have modules you can listen to while you’re asleep, and you should be able to assimilate the information at a rapid rate.”

  Her curiosity turned to excitement. “Now that would help,”

  He smiled. “I’m not going to leave you in the dark about my world. I should have taken a few minutes earlier to make you understand the ports. They are in all major centers like the Council. As long as the circle is empty when you step into one and you are tagged,” he lifted her wrist as a reminder, “Then the ports take you home or to work. If someone is already in transit, the arrival is delayed to sequence landings in the proper order. Ports read your tags automatically.”

  “But I didn’t go to either of those places.”

  “No. Lina’s tags were coded for her office and the Council as part of her work. Not everyone can use them all the time.” He paused, wondering how to clarify it. “The Council is an important part of the system and requires easy access for people in law enforcement. People working in police stations, lawyer’s offices, parole board, the jail system, and others in the same field have to have access so they can bring someone with them. They have an override. So even if you wanted to go home, because Lina was there in an official capacity, she would have automatically overruled you – unless you knew how to change the coding to come home.”

  “Then learning how to change the coding is what I want to learn first.”

  He paused. “That’s actually not a bad idea. You were in computers before, weren’t you?”

  She shrugged. “Only in a small way. And nothing like your computers of today.”

  “No, but it shows an aptitude. And that’s something we can build on.”

  Without realizing it, he’d shifted her position so she was in his lap, cuddling her against his chest. He dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head. “We will make this work.”

  “There are so many pitfalls out there,” she muttered, but her tone was softer, more relaxed.

  “There are, but we can teach you.”

  “And Lina, is she likely to be someone I have to see a lot?”

  She pulled away slightly, as if withdrawing into herself. He tugged her back. There was no way he was going to let her go. Or give her a chance to squeeze more distance between them.

  He dropped a kiss on her forehead. She stiffened slightly then melted. She wasn’t completely comfortable in his arms, but she wasn’t against it. He, personally, didn’t think he’d be able to get enough.

  Chapter 4

  Dani hated it when she’d behaved badly. Crying was getting to be a habit, and she had to stop it. She wasn’t weak, just overwhelmed. As in she’d hit the wall.

  Sure, she’d had a shock. Sure, she’d been scared, but she also knew people, and this wasn’t going to be the last time she came up against someone who didn’t like her presence in Levi’s life. The fact that he’d married her would add to that disgruntlement and disbelief from other women.

  Lina had wanted more from Levi than he’d been willing to give – she likely still did. Dani didn’t know what had been on her mind this morning, but she’d just as soon avoid seeing her again. “I don’t get how Charmin sent you a warning. Even if he did get the enhancement.” She wasn’t sure how to reconcile the amazement and jealousy she felt over that bit. “How did he alert you?”

  “He called Milo on the house com. We had just returned to the room where we left you and with Charmin’s info, Milo could track you easily. It’s because of Charmin that your wrist went crazy. He noticed your vitals were rising so he ran a scan that set your wrist off. He called us after that. I have no idea how he thought to do that, but he did somehow.”

  She didn’t know what to think. “So Charmin didn’t know where I’d gone?”

  “Not really. He only knew that you’d moved and that your vitals had gone off the wall.” He grinned. “To put it mildly.”

  “Yeah, the meeting with Lina wasn’t exactly a warm bonding experience.”

  He laughed. “Lina was never into warm or bonding. She’s into what’s in it for her.”

  “Nice. Not.” Dani said, “You have interesting choice in women.”

  “Not my choice,” he said almost absently.

  “What?” She froze and gave him a wide-eyed stare. “You mean Milo chose her for you, too?”

  He started. Then a rumble started deep inside his chest as his laughter rolled freely. “No, he didn’t,” he gasped when he could. “Sorry, I meant to say I met her at a weekend party. I had nothing to do with her after that. She called many times but I wouldn’t go out with her. Never had any intention of doing so.”

  “Well, guess what? The silent treatment isn’t working. Because you never said no, she’s still working that angle thinking that maybe this time you will say yes.”

  He glanced down at her in surprise. “This was a year ago. She’s not still interested.”

  “If she’s not still interested, then she’s happy to get a little revenge instead.” Dani did understand women. And that was something
in her experience that men never seemed to get. Rejection was a bitch. And some bitches never forgot.

  “I’ll make sure she stays away from you.”

  Dani wasn’t so sure. “She’s a lawyer and could make a lot of trouble for us if she chose to.” She knew to her regret how some lawyers acted. Not all of them were the same, but Lawrence had been bad enough to give her a warped perception.

  “No,” he said with such surety that she started to relax. “She won’t.”

  “Yeah, I hate to bother you two, but John is calling, bro.” Milo’s voice filtered overhead from the built-in sound system. “You need to deal with this.”

  “Damn,” Levi said. “You stay here in the pod, and I’ll go talk to John.”

  She tried to slide off his lap only to find herself being lifted then laid down on the wide bed. He lowered the lid, clicked a few buttons, and walked away.

  Immediately the pod started to hum again. Disappointed that he didn’t kiss her good-bye, she rolled over and closed her eyes. Suddenly the pod opened again and he was there in front of her. With a heated look, he lowered his head and kissed her.

  Heat licked down her spine, her toes curled, and her mouth surrendered to his onslaught.

  Then he was gone.

  She sighed happily, tucking up into a contented ball.

  “Really? Do you have to moon around like that?” Charmin said from the floor level. He jumped up and padded toward her. The lid slowly closed over them.

  She laughed. “Moon? I think they need to work on your vocabulary, Charmin.” She shuffled backwards to give him more room, her hand instinctively reaching up to pet her best friend. “Thank you so much for telling the brothers where I was this morning. That was a horrible experience.”

  He leaned into her hand, rubbing his head against hers. “They shouldn’t have taken you out there.”

  “I agree,” she exclaimed. “But the orders were explicit.”

  “Hmm.” He padded in a circle before curling down in a ball. “I wonder why?”

  She tilted her head to look at him closer. “Charmin? What are you wondering about?’

  He started to snore.

  She frowned. “Are you just pretending to be asleep?”

  “No.” But he kept his eyes closed and the snores kicked in again.

  “Right.” He might not be pretending at this point, but he was only one step away from making it reality. She rolled over, giving the pod access to her back.

  She could feel herself getting sleepy. Nothing like nerves, shock, and then recovering under soothing warmth to wear one out.

  She closed her eyes and slept.

  *

  “John, what’s up?” Levi stood in front of the HoloKomp, trying to remain cool and collected when all he wanted to do was go back and finish what he started. Dani was warm, wet, and willing. And he was a newlywed. He wanted to get back to his wife.

  That thought brought a smile to his face.

  “I don’t understand the humor in this situation.” John said stiffly, his gaze hardening in the holographic image in front of the wall. “Glad you think this is all a farce.”

  Now what? “As I don’t understand the situation, perhaps you could fill me in.” He kept his voice cool, professional, and just on the edge of pissed. That was the thing about lawyers, they seemed to always forget who paid their paychecks. John more than most.

  “Lina quit the firm. She says she can’t protect you and your new wife in any court scenario. She is citing irreconcilable differences between her and…” John looked down as if reading from a sheet of paper. “Dani.”

  Levi wanted to cheer. That was perfect if she quit. “I’m delighted to hear that. I can’t say her behavior this morning was anything but one step short of criminal.”

  John’s eyebrows shot up even as the look of anger receded slightly to be replaced by confusion. “What? Did I miss something?”

  “I have a question for you that pertains to this morning’s issue. Did you receive a communication from Lina stating that Dani was with her in her office?”

  John frowned. “Not that I know of. Why? Wait, Lina’s office? Why was Dani there?”

  “Exactly what I’d like to know. Apparently Lina grabbed her arm and shoved her into a port and took her directly to her office. She treated Dani like a criminal, offering no explanation for her actions. Dani was traumatized by the actions of a woman who is supposed to be helping me and mine.” His voice gained a sharp edge at the end. “I hardly see that as appropriate behavior. I left explicit instructions for her to be in that seat when I returned. I don’t care if you don’t like my instructions, John, but I do expect them to be carried out.”

  John’s face shifted from frustrated to startled to worried. “I have no idea what she was thinking. She said the girl was making a spectacle of herself and she tried to calm her down. When that wasn’t working, she went back to the office.”

  “Spectacle?” Levi said in an ominous tone. “In what way was she making a spectacle of herself?”

  “I don’t know, honestly. Just that many people were staring at her. She’s odd, you know,” he said apologetically. “Different.”

  “Natural is the insult that Lina used.” And now that he had a better idea of what Lina thought about Dani, he was delighted she was leaving. Levi watched the rush of emotions slide across the face of a man who had worked for him for a long time.

  “Levi.” Milo worked on the big 3D monitor in the kitchen beside Levi and just out of John’s sight. Milo was on one of the many computers in the house. He’d been clicking like a madman for a few moments, then he punched a fist in the air.

  “Look at this.” He punched a couple more buttons and suddenly the feed from this morning showed up on the HoloKomp where both Levi and John could watch.

  All three men watched as Lina approached Dani, sitting quietly in the chair, oblivious to Lina’s approach. After a short conversation, Lina checked her watch, glancing around at the crowd. The crowd moved past Dani but in no way was she making a spectacle of herself.

  Lina left. Dani’s wrist started flashing. It was apparent that she was trying to cover it up. Lina returned, said something, then she tugged Dani upward, almost dragging her to the ports. Lina pushed Dani into the closest one. Levi’s gut clenched as he watched the shock and fear on Dani’s face before she disappeared from the screen.

  “Jesus,” John’s shocked exclamation came through clearly before he managed to cover it. “I don’t know what was on her mind, but I will be speaking with her about this.”

  “And will she still be working for your firm after this?”

  “I had planned on asking her to reconsider her resignation.” At the sound coming out of Milo’s mouth, John winced. “She’s very popular with our clients.”

  “Male clients,” Milo said in disgust. “I bet she doesn’t work with any female ones.”

  They both watched surprise light up John’s face before his features twisted as he considered the issue. “You know, I think you might be correct.” His lips twisted downward. “Let me talk to her.”

  “And get back to me with an answer. Then I can make my decision as to how I will proceed.”

  Before John could respond, Levi disconnected the HoloKomp.

  As the screen went black, Levi turned to Milo. “Send him a copy please, and keep that recording in case we need it again.”

  “Done.” He was busy tapping the flat counter screen, obviously searching for something. Levi watched his brother work. When Milo went on the hunt, there was no hiding anything from him. “What are you doing now?”

  Rather than answer, Milo grabbed the corners of a small window and stretched it enough for Levi to see Lina’s office clearly. Then Milo switched the time clock, backing it up to when Dani should have arrived. Last, he clicked on the speakers.

  Levi grinned. Milo had tapped into Lina’s security feed.

  There was a weird popping sound, and all of a sudden Dani arrived in the office. Scared and
stumbling to maintain her balance – in more ways than one as she bent over suddenly, her face green.

  They watched the next few minutes in silence until the two of them arrived at the office after Charmin alerted them. At one point, Milo stopped the feed, enlarged it, and backed it up so they could replay the section when Lina sent a message.

  Dani was right, at least as far as she understood. Lina had left a communication for John, but the name wasn’t clearly audible. Was it for the same John or a different one? Or was it a fake communication? A coded message? Levi lived in a world of corporate espionage. He didn’t take anything at face value.

  Milo voiced his doubts. “I wonder who she left that message for.” He switched cameras and zoomed in on her wrist com. There were a series of numbers. None of them were John’s code. So she’d left a message for a different John. Milo immediately started a search. Within seconds, he had a name.

  Johan Strand.

  Not John but Johan. His old friend. One on the run himself. And one who was taking way too close an interest in Levi’s affairs. With one of Levi’s lawyers.

  Was he a friend? Or not any longer? Had he ever been?

  The one thing he knew about Johan, the man was an opportunist.

  So what the hell was he up to now?

  Chapter 5

  Dani surfaced to a feel good stretch with warmth bathing down on her. These pods were something. She was so happy to be in here. Registered or unregistered, the pod was a huge help and she was grateful. She could just imagine those with arthritis lying here after a long day and feeling the healing rays beat down on the swollen joints. Or those with physical jobs. It used to be that having a Jacuzzi tub was the best way to end the day, but with one of these babies…wow.

  Then she had to wonder if there was such a thing as physical work anymore. Did labor jobs exist? And that just took her to labor. Did women still go through labor or did they give birth in a pod? Or did they go to sleep and wake up with a newborn? She laughed. Most likely there was no such thing as pregnancy or labor. Kids were probably created in test tubes now.