Transmuted (Dark Landing Series Book 1)

by Robin Praytor

  “I’ve known about it for over a year now, and I still can’t believe it. But, it’s true.”

  “And that breach allowed you system access through my desk?” he asked.

  “Not directly. You can imagine the consequences. We notified the Earth Technology Oversight Commission and made excuses to examine all the units sold for what we’ve been calling a ‘virus,’ in case they were similarly infected. We’ve been working with the ETOC ever since—without success unfortunately—to discover how it could happen and who could have pulled it off.”

  Letty rubbed the fatigue from her eyes and continued. “With their authority, we developed a subroutine and pushed it out to each unit as an upgrade. A nanoid search commences each time a user logs in. It runs continuously throughout the session and again at logout. Every action is tracked. Only Dad and I and the ETOC head, Secretary Rostenkowski, know about it, and we’re the only three who can recover the data from each unit.” She reddened, the clearance was never meant to be used as the cheap parlor trick she’d pulled on Cutter. “Of course, the tracker can’t be hidden. Anyone could find it, but who would think to look?”

  “That part about you being my boss?” Drew asked.

  “That . . . I might have . . . that may have been an exaggeration.” Taleen Industries could own Dark Landing for all she knew. They had holdings in every corner of the Known Universe.

  In the same quiet tone that so alarmed her before, he said, “So, when you were in my office, with, according to you, the future of Earth and the Planetary Alliance at stake, you were showing off, running a bluff?”

  “Pretty much.” Though her words sounded flip, she regretted her actions and averted her eyes from his gaze.

  In silence, Chief Cutter secured the wall monitor and walked out of her cell. The cell door closed and locked behind him.

  As his footsteps continued down the corridor, she whispered, “You may be in charge of this hick station, but I’m one of the most powerful people in the K.U.” But he couldn’t hear her, and that fact failed to comfort her. Just thinking it made her feel mean and petty. For the first time since her father disappeared, she sobbed uncontrollably.

  Chapter 9: Bad News

  When Drew returned to his office, he was thankful Doc and Fitz had both left. He sat at his desk, head in hands, physically and mentally exhausted from the events of the last twenty-four hours. Hell, he thought, it hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours.

  His com purred. “Mattie, I need a few minutes to myself right now.”

  “Sorry, Chief, Doc tapped while you were in with Miss Taleen. She asked you to contact her as soon as you came out. It sounded important. End all.”

  Give me a break. He tapped his com—Dr. Jameson.

  Doc answered immediately. “Drew, we have a problem.”

  “More of the same or something new?”

  “Both. They delivered Trammel’s body early this morning. I’ve scheduled the autopsy for tomorrow. The blast almost decapitated him and mangled his facial features.”

  “It was in the reports along with some dreadful images,” Drew replied. “I’m not surprised. He was carrying the nitro on his back, just below the neck.”

  “Right. But his ship’s identification vial survived the explosion, and a little while ago Mattie transmitted Trammel’s employment profile from Taleen Industries. The image on the Temperance ID and the image on the Taleen employment record don’t match. They’re two different men.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “It gets worse. He’d shaved his head on the Temperance ID, but I pulled an image of George Speller—”

  “No!”

  “I’m sorry. I ran the DNA to confirm. It matches Speller’s Earth Citizen Record.”

  “Doc, is there any way you could be wrong?”

  “I’m afraid not. Listen, Drew, when you tell her . . . I mean, if you need me . . . ” She paused.

  Drew was on emotional overload. The security issue Letty described terrified him. It would be cataclysmic if people knew. He was simultaneously overcome with compassion for what she faced next. There was no time to process either set of feelings. He focused on what needed to be done, pushing his conflicted emotions to the background.

  “I can’t tell her and then leave her in that shitty cell. I’ll take her to the inn. It might be a good idea to send some tranqs over. Also, Doc, submit your preliminary report tonight and complete the autopsy as soon as you can.” Then, more to himself, he added, “I don’t understand anything that’s happened.”

  With a heavy weight pressing on him, Drew tapped his com and requested Landers Keep. When he’d finished making arrangements, he called in Mattie.

  “Have you had a chance to go through Miss Taleen’s baggage?”

  “Yes, but only a quick search. No inventory yet. There’s mostly clothing and shoes. She has a little of everything—casual, business, warm, cool. Also, she packed a few pieces of men’s clothing. Maybe she expected to run into her father. There are three data vials, but they’re user-encrypted.”

  “Pack it up, including the vials, and have it delivered to Landers Keep. I’ve booked a room for her.”

  “You’re releasing her? I thought—”

  “I don’t know who Jonas Trammel is, or if he even existed, but it was Letty’s father, George Speller, who died in the airlock explosion. Doc confirmed it.”

  “Seriously? Could this get any more bizarre?”

  “I’m going to take her over to the inn now and break the news.”

  “Poor kid,” Mattie said. “It’s hard to lose one family, but two! That’s not fair, not even for a twit like her.”

  Determined to remain focused, Drew went on. “No reason to keep it from Curtis now, so fill him in. I want an incident database merging everything we have on Miss Taleen’s visit and the airlock explosion, except her station access. I’m still researching that, and I don’t want it on the record yet. It’s not clear anymore what crimes have been committed, but it all intersects somehow.

  “I’m naming you and Curtis co-leads. Arrange the schedules so everyone, including Doc and Fitz, will have a couple of hours shift overlap in the late afternoons to meet for situation reports. We need to figure out what it all has to do with Dark Landing. That’s it for now.”

  After Mattie left, Drew spent several minutes reviewing Curtis’s diagnostic reports. There’d been no activity at his station from when he’d left to get something to eat early yesterday evening until after he’d returned to find Letty in his office. There was no mention in the report of finding a tracker either. Letty’d been right. Who would think to look for one? He’d never given it much thought before, but as tech-reliant as the Alliance was, perhaps they’d become too security-complacent over the last half-century of peace and prosperity. He scanned his in-file for new information and, finding nothing critical, reluctantly headed for Letty’s cell.

  She was sitting where he’d left her an hour earlier: on her cot, pressed into the corner, her knees drawn up and her head down. Her uneaten dinner sat on the pop-up tray at the end of the cot. When she lifted her head, he could tell she’d been crying. She looked so miserable; this news was going to crush her.

  “Letty, I want you to come with me,” he said, opening the cell door.

  “Where?”

  “I’ve arranged quarters for you at Landers Keep.”

  “Why?”

  “You should have more comfortable accommodations.”

  “Why?” She hadn’t moved an inch from her spot in the corner.

  “Letty, please, come with me. I’ll explain when we get there.” He could see the apprehension building in her eyes. “I’m not going to touch you. We’re moving you to someplace more comfortable. These cells aren’t meant to hold anyone long term.”

  She seemed persuaded by the last. She untangled her arms and legs and reached under the cot to retrieve her shoulder pack and hat, and stood, a little wobbly at first. Drew didn’t move to assist her, but let her s
teady herself against the wall.

  Neither of them spoke on their way to Landers Keep—one level down from Security HQ. Drew sat her in a chair in the small lobby. He kept a watchful eye on her while he confirmed with the desk that the hatch to her room had been reset for Security access and egress only, and the room’s processor had been disabled. This wasn’t the first time they’d sequestered someone at the inn until a ship arrived to take them off Dark Landing. The clerk handed him a small package sent over from medical.

  As they crossed the lobby, a security employee arrived with Letty’s baggage. She looked surprised to see it. The man accompanied them to the room, delivered her belongings, and left quietly.

  When they were alone, Letty took a defensive stance. She appeared prepared to bolt if he came closer, though she had no place to go. Under different circumstances, Drew might have laughed. But he only wanted to take her in his arms and console her. Why was she was so threatened by him? She’d been suspicious since she’d arrived. Not remarkable now that he knew her story.

  “Please sit down. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  She sat gingerly on the edge of the chair next to a small desk.

  He pulled the only other chair from the side of the room and set it a few feet in front of her. “What I have to say is very difficult. It’s about your father.”

  She sprang to her feet. “You found him?”

  “Yes, but it’s not good news. Please sit.”

  She remained standing, arms ridged at her sides, hands balled into fists.

  Realizing she wasn’t going to sit back down unless he forced her, Drew reluctantly continued. “The man in the airlock explosion . . . Letty, it wasn’t Jonas Trammel as we thought . . . it was your father.”

  For a few moments she stared at him as if she hadn’t understood his words, and then she charged. “You lying bastard! I don’t believe you,” she screamed.

  Drew grabbed her arms when she came at him, pushing her back and awkwardly standing up.

  “Let me go. I hate you. It’s not true. Why are you lying?”

  He held her arms tightly, afraid to let go. When she kicked his shin, he pulled her roughly against him, pinning her arms between their two bodies, wrapping his own arms around her. All the while she squirmed frantically and stamped at his feet.

  He held her that way for several seconds while she struggled. Suddenly her body went limp against his. He continued to hold her, afraid to let go in case it was a ploy.

  She spoke haltingly, sobbing, gasping for air, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. “I . . . d-don’t believe you. You’re lying. I w-want to see him.”

  “No, Letty, you don’t.”

  “Y-yes I d-do. It’s not true. There’s been a mistake.”

  He relaxed his hold enough to see her face. “Doc checked the DNA of the man in the airlock.” He avoided the word body. “It matched your father’s Earth Citizen Record. There’s no mistake.”

  He backed her toward the bed. It sat in an alcove, away from the small lounge area. “I’m going to let go now, okay? Can I trust you?”

  “Y-yes.”

  He gently maneuvered her against the edge of the bed and down until she was sitting, then sat next to her. He kept one arm wrapped securely around her waist.

  “If I can see him for myself,” she begged.

  “I won’t stop you if you insist, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. It was an explosion, Letty, his head and face . . . there was a lot of damage.”

  Her crying turned into a low mewling, the most heartbreaking sound he’d ever heard. More than anything he wanted to fix it for her and make everything all right, but he couldn’t.

  They sat like that for several minutes. Sure she wouldn’t become physical again, he left her side and poured a glass of water from a pouch on the desk. He took a small phial from the package Doc had sent over and emptied it into the glass. The water turned lavender to indicate it’d been altered. He offered her the glass and she drank it submissively. Her eyes were so swollen, he doubted she could see what she was drinking, or cared.

  He spoke in a calming tone. “Lie back on the bed. I’ve given you a mild sedative. It’ll relax you. I’ll sit with you for a while and check back in the morning. Doc will stop by sometime tomorrow to answer any questions.”

  With no struggle left in her, she lay back on the bed as he’d asked and pulled her legs into a fetal position, crying quietly. Within ten minutes she was asleep.

  Whatever Doc sent over was more than a mild sedative, thought Drew.

  He tapped his com. “Mattie, would you send someone down to stay until morning?”

  “Of course,” Mattie said.

  He was grateful she hadn’t asked how Letty had taken the news. “Thanks, Mattie.”

  He pulled a light blanket over Letty and moved his chair next to the bed. He sat, his eyes never leaving her until the relief staff arrived.

  Chapter 10: Morning After

  When Drew entered Letty’s room the next morning, a different woman was standing in front of a mirror putting the final touches on her hair and makeup. Dressed in a tailored gray jacket over darker slacks that draped loosely from a wide leather band at her slim waist, she appeared every bit the professional superstar one would have expected of the head of Taleen Industries. Her jewelry comprised of a silver chain around one slender wrist.

  She turned from the mirror to face him. The only remaining evidence of last night’s tragic news was a deep sadness in her eyes and a lingering puffiness to her eyelids that makeup failed to hide. She stood straight, looking at him with authority and a sense of purpose. All traces of the silly little girl he’d met earlier were gone.

  “Did you make arrangements for Dr. Jameson to meet with me?” she asked without a customary greeting, as if Drew were her personal assistant and not her jailer.

  “Yes, she said she’d be by after she completes the aut—other business.”

  “My father’s autopsy?” she asked in a strong, sure voice.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. She’ll be able to answer my questions. Did she say when I can expect her?”

  “She’ll come when she’s available,” Drew spoke sternly, trying to gain control of the conversation. Then softer, “How are you feeling?”

  “How do you expect?”

  Well, not this, he thought, but he didn’t answer her. “You look as if you were going out.”

  “It’s the first opportunity I’ve had to shower and change since I arrived,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “I see. Have you had breakfast?”

  “No, I’m not hungry.”

  “Maybe not, but you should eat something—even just fruit and toast. I have additional questions, and it might be more comfortable for us both over breakfast. We can eat in the inn’s café if you want.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “Well, I thought . . . since you’re dressed and everything. You’ll be spending a lot of time in this room and maybe . . . if you’d like . . . ” His control was short-lived. He felt like he was asking her out on a date. Why on Earth does she affect me like this? I’ve never been timid around beautiful women before.

  “Fine,” she said, without emotion.

  Drew opened the hatch. They moved into the corridor and boarded the conveyer for the lobby.

  “About that—spending a lot of time in the room—is it possible for me to have a processor? I’ll remove my access from your desk. I need to be physically at the unit to pull the captured user data, and I couldn’t enter system commands or initiate a search for other information anyway.”

  “I only have your word on that. I’d have to speak with our tech engineers first, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to do that. We could feed entertainment vids to your room if that would help.”

  “No, that won’t help. You said I could contact my legal advocate, and I need to talk to my office.”

  They’d entered the café from the inn lobby and Drew
steered her toward an empty table next to an invisiwall with a view of a busy main corridor.

  “By the way,” she continued when they’d sat down, “what exactly are the charges against me? You can’t still believe I was involved in the explosion that killed my father.” Her jawline clenched, but otherwise she appeared emotionless.

  “Final charges are up to the Earth prosecutors once they review the case. There might be MCTT charges as well, if they suspect you knew your dad was transporting a dangerous substance,” he said. “Personally, I don’t think you’re responsible for the explosion, no. But I think Speller sending you here, you both traveling on the same ship, his death, and maybe the security issue you described are connected.”

  “Yes. It’s all connected. Just how, I don’t know. But, I intend to find out,” she said, chin lifted in determination.

  “Then, that’s something we have in common.”

  They placed their orders through the document screens set into the table in front of each seat. After ordering, Drew picked up the conversation again. “I’m required to remind you, you don’t have to answer my questions. You can wait until you talk to your legal office if you want.” She shook her head resignedly, and he went on. “It’s hard for me to understand how you and your father could travel on the same ship for a month without running into each other. Can you explain that?”

  “No, except he wasn’t a passenger. I stayed close to the passenger quarters. They’re on the same level with the mess and common areas. I had no reason to go exploring. The Temperance is a cargo freighter, not a luxury liner. I’ve learned crew on cargo ships can be rough. I avoided interaction as much as possible.”

  “How could he know you’d be traveling on that particular ship unless someone told him?”

  “I’m not sure he did. It might have been a coincidence. I waited several days to catch a ship heading this far out, and only my senior assistant knew about it. He wouldn’t mention it to anyone.”

  “You realize how far-fetched this sounds.”

  “I know it does. But if Dad knew I was on the ship he would’ve contacted me. Or . . . maybe he knew, but avoided me for my own protection. Without more information, I think he meant to meet me on Dark Landing, not escort me here.”