by Leslie Chase
With that he closed his communicator, ignoring Davenport's objections. It didn't matter whether it would be a good idea to take a day off, he knew himself better than that. No matter what, he'd be in by noon and helping track down Cooper.
The only question was how much sleep he'd have had by then. Right now, he wouldn't be able to sleep a wink. I guess I'm looking for an airlock and going for a proper flight.
It didn't take long to reach the edge of the dome, and there were regular airlocks around the colony. Kosar shook his head at the primitive technology — it worked, yes, but a dragon city would keep the air in with a forcefield. That would let people come and go as they liked rather than needing to go through the limited number of openings Olympus Colony had.
Eventually, though, he was outside on the red sands of Mars. A breathing mask gave him air, and unlike a human that was all the protection he needed outside the city. The cold, the near-vacuum of the thin atmosphere, none of that bothered him. And outside the dome, he could finally stretch himself.
His wings still ached, the joints burning, but that wasn't going to stop him. Jogging out to get some distance from the city, he looked back. It was pretty, he had to admit. Like some kind of ornament, a city under glass. He felt a smile tug at his lips as he looked, seeing the building in which Ashley waited. Hopefully she was asleep now, resting from her ordeal.
Was I stupid to turn away from her? I could be there now, with her, protecting her. Kosar snorted, laughing at himself. If he'd stayed with her, neither of them would be getting any rest. Both of them were at the ragged edge of their self-control, and he didn't want Ashley to regret his presence in her life even for a second.
Once we sleep together she'll know the truth, his instincts insisted, but he ruthlessly pushed them down. When she was ready, he'd know. Right now the look in her eyes when she was with him told Kosar that it wasn't the right time.
And he was a dragon warrior, not a thug who took what he wanted. Ashley had too much of that in her life as it was. Kosar could, would, be better than that.
Closing his eyes, Kosar let his body shift. Feeling muscles stretch and change and grow, his body twisting as he changed into his warform, scales thick enough to turn missiles and flame burning hot enough to cut through steel. Talons dug into the sand, and his wings stretched wide, catching the energy fields of the planet.
Leaping into the air, he let the currents of energy carry him skywards. Dragons didn't need the pressure of air under their wings, not when they could fly on the gravity field of a planet, and without the dome hemming him in it was a glorious feeling. Worth the pain in his joints, worth the ache as he pushed against the planet.
His heart ached with a longing to share this feeling with Ashley. To show her Mars from the skies, to feel her against him as he swooped and soared through the black sky of the red planet.
Soon, he promised himself. Soon we'll share this, and everything else.
13
Ashley
Sitting on her bed, Ashley hugged herself and stared at the drive through the tears in her eyes. It sat in her hands like a lump of leaden guilt, weighing her down. It was tempting to take a hammer to the damned thing and fuck what her mysterious employer demanded. The pain it was going to cause Kosar couldn't possibly be worth it.
But that would be the end of her brother, and Ashley couldn't risk that. God damn everything, she said to herself, dropping the drive onto her bedside table before she could give in to the urge to throw it across the room.
What do I do now? She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to calm herself. Slow, even breaths. Count to five. Let the anger and the pain out. It wasn't easy, but she'd come this far. She had to finish the job, or it had all been for nothing.
Pulling out her phone with trembling fingers, she typed in the code to activate her implanted communicator. It didn't take long for Mr. Johnson to respond, voice buzzing in her head.
"Good morning Ashley," he said, sounding a little surprised. "I hadn't expected to hear from you this early in the day."
"A lot happened tonight," Ashley said, voice tight and trying to keep her emotions from showing. "That's not important. What matters is I've got your damned information. Everything that the dragons have on the stardrive, plus everything I've learned since I got here. We're done."
"Good girl," the voice in her head replied, and Ashley had to bite down to avoid grinding her teeth. The last thing she needed now was to be patronized.
"Can you transmit it?" her employer continued, apparently oblivious to her anger. Ashley looked at the drive and let out a pained laugh.
"There's a lot of data," she told him. "I don't know how long that would take, and if anyone's monitoring data traffic in the colony I think it would stand out."
"Don't worry about that. I can cover it up easily enough."
"Oh sure," Ashley said. "And leave me holding the bag when the dragons come and kick down my door. No thanks."
"I don't want you caught," he said, voice sweet and cloying. Ashley expected he thought he sounded reassuring. "The longer this stays undetected the better for me. You can trust me."
This time Ashley did laugh. It wasn't a happy sound. "No, I really can't. Once you've got what you want, how can I hold you to your promise?"
A long pause followed, long enough that she wasn't sure he was still there. Then he spoke. "I understand your concern, Ashley. But you're going to have to trust me with the data sometime. Tell you what, I'll show that I trust you and unlock your payment. We can meet halfway."
"You know the money isn't why I'm doing this," Ashley said, but almost without her deciding to do it, she opened her banking app. The money wasn't in her usual account, of course. That would have been far too obvious, far too easy for someone to track down. Instead, she had to use another hidden app that connected to the secure, private account with the Ardashev Bank. Yesterday it had been empty, but now it held a stunning amount of money. Ashley blinked at the sight of it. Yeah, that's more money than I need for the rest of my life. Maybe I can trust him.
Her fingers trembled as she shut down the phone. She wasn't naive enough to think this was for her benefit — now her employer could turn her in, even if she destroyed the drive rather than hand it over. She could hardly deny the evidence of the payoff.
Still, it did mean he didn't have a reason to betray her. There was no way for him to get his money back.
"I didn't do this for the money," she repeated shakily. "What about Michael?"
"Your little brother is fine, trust me. I will get him into the Masterton Clinic for treatment right away, and as soon as you're back on Earth you'll be together again." That wasn't as reassuring as he might have hoped, but Ashley didn't have a way to argue with it. The Masterton Clinic was supposed to offer the best treatment money could buy. On Earth, anyway — after her recent experience with dragon medical technology, Ashley was no longer sure it was the best in the solar system.
But Mr. Johnson was hardly going to let Michael come to Mars. While Michael was in the hands of her employer, Ashley didn't have much of a choice about what to do. They wouldn’t be free until Michael was cured and out of the clinic’s control.
She looked at the balance showing in the hidden account. That was freedom. With that, she and her family could be safe somewhere far away from anyone who wanted to hurt her. She had to hold on to that.
"Alright," she said, embarrassed at how squeaky her voice sounded. Sudden wealth would do that. "Fine, yes. I'll send it now. Then I can head back to Earth."
"Ah." That simple syllable made her pause in the middle of plugging in the disk. "Not quite yet I'm afraid."
"What the hell do you mean, not yet?" her voice rose as she spoke, and her hands balled into fists so hard that she felt her nails digging into her palms.
"If you vanish straight away, it'll give away that something's wrong," he said reasonably. "No, you'll need to do some work on the data with the Center before you leave. Don't worry, you won't have to do
much, just enough that you don't look like you're running."
That was annoyingly sensible, Ashley knew. She could finish her work for the Center in a few days, insist that she had learned all she could, and leave for Earth without it looking too odd. If she just vanished now they'd know something was wrong. Kosar would likely tear the spaceport apart looking for her before she could catch a ship home.
Kosar. The thought of the pain she'd cause him by leaving made her want to cry all over again, but she didn't dare lose control. It wasn't going to be easy to face him and say goodbye, though. Part of the reason she just wanted to vanish tonight was that if she didn't, she'd have to face the dragon shifter and tell him that she was leaving. Somehow.
There wasn't much choice, though. Unlike Cooper, she didn't have a plan ready to get away unseen, and the Imperial Research Center had enough connections to stop her just getting on a ship. She had to make her excuses, one way or another.
Taking a deep breath, she plugged the drive into the apartment's computer system and let her employer do the rest. The data transfer would take hours to complete, but it was done. She'd held up her side of the bargain.
The hollow feeling in her stomach left her wondering if that was the right move, but she thought of Michael and suppressed her doubts. If she didn't go through with this, her brother would die — whether from his illness or her employer's vengeance didn't matter.
"Excellent," the voice over the quantum communicator said. "Now, isn't it time for you to be heading back to the Center? You don't want to be making them suspicious by being late."
"I'm not working today," she snapped, instantly regretting her tone. This was still the man she had to trust to look after Michael until she made it home. "I was attacked yesterday."
"Oh." The confusion she heard in his voice was preferable to anger, at least. "Well. I am sorry to hear that."
Ashley felt a ghost of a smile touch her lips. He had to handle her delicately, she realized, or she could just yank the cable from the drive and deny him the data he'd spent so much time and money stealing. The two of them were locked in a polite little dance until the transfer was finished, neither daring to upset the other. That might have been funny if the stakes weren't so high.
Just a few more days. Then I never have to speak with him again. Michael will be safe, and we can settle anywhere we want to on Earth. It'll all be worth it.
The sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she knew better. Ashley didn't believe it would be that simple.
Ashley had only intended to sleep for a few hours while the data transferred. Her body had other ideas, though, and as soon as her head hit the pillows she fell into a deep sleep that her alarms couldn't rouse her from. By the time she woke up the sky outside the window was starting to lighten again. Checking the clock, it had nearly been a full 24 hours since she'd gone to sleep.
Damn it, she thought, hurrying to check the data transfer. It had finished hours ago, and Ashley muttered a curse as she yanked out the cord connecting the drive to the network. As long as the it was connected there was a slim chance that someone could detect it, and that would be the end of her. Just have to hope no one spotted that much data moving at once, she thought. And that it's enough for Mr. Johnson.
She was pretty sure that she was safe, though. If it hadn't been spotted by now, it probably wouldn't be. Seems like I've gotten away with it. So far.
The hardest thing would be facing Kosar, of course, but she didn't want to think about that. A cold dread stole over her at the idea of lying to his face.
That was exactly what she had to do, though. Unhappily getting to her feet, Ashley made her way to the shower. As the warm water washed away her tiredness she tried to get her lies straight, trying to work out a reason to leave the Research Center and Mars. Perhaps she could tell them that she was frightened to stay after being attacked? It sounded weak, like an excuse, but it was at least something.
On the other hand, there really wasn't much work left for her to do here. The stardrive had given up all the information it would without powering it on, and Kosar had vetoed that idea. So she could argue that they no longer needed her, and that might be enough.
The fewer times she had to face Kosar, the better. And the sooner it was done, the better. Firming up her resolve, Ashley got dressed and walked out to meet her fate. She hesitated at the door, then went back and picked up the hard drive. Taking it back was a risk, true. Still, she thought it was a risk worth taking. If she could sneak the drive back into the computer she'd taken it from there'd be no evidence of her theft. That was, she decided, worth taking a chance for.
Besides, leaving it in her apartment was an invitation for trouble.
By the time she reached the Center the cold hand of fear had a hold on her heart. Every step felt like she was getting closer to her doom, and she half expected the doors to slam shut behind her and guards to pounce the minute she entered the imposing building. Don't be ridiculous, she told herself. If they knew, then they wouldn't wait for me to come in. There'd have been cops kicking down my door in the night or something.
And sure enough, no one paid her any more attention than usual as she made her way through the building towards the Grace of Herendar. A few odd looks came her way, each one making her feel guiltier. But she knew it was probably just that people had heard about Cooper's attack. They weren't angry with her, they were sympathetic.
She could almost believe that she'd gotten away with her crime.
"Ashley!" Kosar's angry voice echoed through the ship as she opened the door to the engine room and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Biting down on a nervous squeak she looked at him, trying to keep her composure. He stood beside Davenport and a man Ashley didn't know, examining her computer. It was open, part-disassembled, and the empty space where the drive she'd stolen should have been stood out clearly.
Ashley felt the blood leaving her face and could only hope that she didn't look as guilty as she felt. Was this it? Was she caught? Ashley would have preferred anyone other than him to catch her, if only to avoid seeing the pain and disappointment in his eyes. Unfortunately, she didn't have a choice in the matter. All she could do was resolve to face the music with as much dignity as she could muster.
To her surprise, Kosar didn't grab her. He stood and towered above her, and the rage in his eyes would have been terrifying from anyone else. Even now, though, Ashley knew on a level deeper than reason that she was in no danger from this man. Whatever might happen, he wouldn't hurt her.
"Cooper was here," he said after a moment's struggle to get his feelings under control.
Ashley felt her face pale at that and kept quiet, not trusting herself to speak. Kosar's wings fluttered angrily, and she could see the death he intended for whoever stole from her. For a moment she wondered what he'd do if he knew it was her, not Cooper, who'd taken the data.
He can't know. Not ever. Ashley made herself the promise, not just for her own sake. She couldn't do that to the man in front of her, who'd only ever tried to help. It would destroy him.
"What happened? How do you know?" she asked, hoping she sounded the right kind of curious.
"One of your computer's drives is missing," he said, and she swallowed nervously. That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but at least it wasn't too bad. She'd hoped to return the drive this morning so that it would go unnoticed, but apparently she was too late for that. I won't shed any tears over Cooper being blamed, he deserves some payback.
But if he was caught he'd be able to tell Kosar the truth, or at least some of it. She tried to calm herself — Cooper didn't actually know anything about her, after all. He'd make some accusations, that was all. It was still a worry, though.
"Do we still have the data?" she asked, knowing that it was all still there. The computer tech nodded.
"I don't think anything was erased," he said, sounding unsure of himself. "But whatever the thief did to cover their tracks was sophisticated — I can't tell when the drive was r
emoved, or what was copied to it. I guess I can't say for sure that they didn't also mess with what they left behind."
"Let me look," Ashley said, stepping in front of the screen and scrolling through the files. At least she could reassure them on that front. Scrolling through the files quickly, she nodded. "It doesn't look like anything's changed, and I should know."
Kosar breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that we haven't lost your work, Ashley. Bad enough that someone else already has it. Now whoever Cooper sells the data to will be experimenting with a stardrive and that could be a disaster."
Davenport nodded, looking uncharacteristically fierce. "We have to get ahead of them," she said. "I've heard you talk about how badly experimenting with stardrives can go, Kosar. I don't want that to happen to Earth."
Ashley felt her face freeze and made an effort not to look around. It was true that the stardrive channeled a ridiculous amount of energy, and it could certainly be dangerous to use. But was it really that bad?
"I'm sure whoever took it will be careful," she said. "I mean, no one wants to lose their only planet, do they?"
Kosar rumbled something under his breath in his own language before answering. "I'm sure they'll try to take care. But I'd still rather we got out in front of them, so they don't have to take any chances at all. Once we can build stardrives, humans and dragons will share this technology, and no one needs to try to get there first. That's the whole point of the Imperial Research Center, after all."
And that's why a corporation will kill to get there first, Ashley added silently. Even once they'd cracked the mystery, it would take years to start producing working stardrives. Anyone who had them early would be able to make a fortune in the time before they had any competition.
So yes, she could see someone with their eyes on the bottom line pushing research too fast and taking unnecessary risks. Their investment would only pay off if they beat the Center to production after all.