gaian consortium 05 - the titan trap

by Christine Pope

  That bleariness seemed to disappear when he realized what she was holding. He sat up and reached to take the phone from her.

  “Were you expecting a call?” she asked, wondering what exactly he’d been hiding from her.

  “Not this soon,” he replied, and plucked the handheld from her fingers, then entered the code to unlock it.

  “Anyone I know?”

  He must have caught the edge to her tone, because he said at once, “It’s from our sponsor, benefactor…whatever you want to call him. Or her.”

  That information did make Cassidy relax slightly, although she wished he’d told her that he’d had further contact with that elusive person. “Then I guess you’d better answer it.”

  A smile quirked around the edges of his mouth, one that faded as he read the message. “You’re certain?”

  Because of the way he held the device, Cassidy couldn’t see the letters on the screen. All she could see was the tightening of Derek’s jaw, the way his mouth thinned as he read whatever their sponsor had just sent to him.

  “Thank you,” he said then. “We’ll follow up.”

  That must not have been the end of it, because his brow puckered as he read the next message. “We will. Thank you again for everything.” And then he did tap the screen to end the exchange, right before he glanced over at her, eyes gleaming.

  “We’ve got him.”

  “Him who?” she asked.

  Derek placed the handheld on top of the covers and then pushed himself out of bed. “The man who killed Theo Karras.”

  * * *

  It turned out that they’d slept for a good six hours, and so Cassidy checked the cockpit and the instruments to make sure everything was still operating normally, and then took a quick shower before relinquishing the stall to Derek. Although he might have liked to share that shower with her, the cramped facilities made such an activity pretty near impossible.

  But before they did any of that, she’d asked for the details on his previous interactions with their sponsor, and so he’d showed her the logs of the two brief conversations they’d had. She’d read through them quickly, then nodded and said quietly, “Thank you.”

  Maybe she had expected him to conceal them from her, but really, he had nothing to hide. He hadn’t mentioned them earlier because he had so little to tell her. Also, he thought with a grin, they’d both gotten a bit distracted.

  She didn’t look distracted now, sitting in the captain’s seat, scanning the readouts on the console, hazel eyes also flicking occasionally to the huge window that showed utter black all around them, although far off to the left was a pale orange disc that she’d informed him was Jupiter.

  “Everything all right?” he asked, settling himself into the copilot’s chair.

  “As far as I can tell. We got a transmission from Ganymede, checking our registry since we were passing in close enough that they cared who we were.”

  That didn’t sound good. “And?”

  “And they sent us on our merry way and told me to have a nice day.” Finally she turned toward him, and he was gratified to see that her eyes were dancing with amusement. “So whoever put together those fake I.D.s for us seems to have known what they were doing. They don’t mess around on Ganymede — their people are good. They would’ve smelled a badly faked registry a million kilometers off.”

  Some tension he hadn’t even known he was carrying in his shoulders seemed to ease itself slightly. “So we’re good to go.”

  “As far as I can tell.” Her expression sobered. “Since it doesn’t look like anyone intends to pursue us in the near future, maybe you can tell me what your plan is.”

  This was the part he’d been dreading. The closer they got to Gaia, the more concrete and solid this chance at retribution became. And after receiving the latest transmission from their benefactor, one he hadn’t yet shared with Cassidy because it had come in while he was in the shower, he was worried, as it seemed part of the plan would rest heavily on her.

  “The man involved, Conrad Waite, is actually an operative under contract to MonAg.”

  Some of the color left her cheeks at the mention of the megacorp that had its fingers in basically every facet of the Consortium government, but she said steadily, “That a fact?”

  “Yes. He’s been in their employ for some fifteen years. Apparently handles a lot of their dirty work, but our contact said we didn’t need to concern ourselves with that. Records show he was in Hunan Province during the right timeframe, although he left immediately afterward and went to South Africa.”

  “Doing something equally dirty, I assume.”

  Her wry tone made Derek want to smile, but he kept his voice even as he replied, “I’d say that was a safe assumption. Anyway, for the past three months he’s been working out of Chicago, although our sponsor didn’t give me any details.”

  “Chicago, huh?” She appeared to consider that prospect. “I always wanted to try deep-dish pizza.”

  A tradition the former Windy City clung to, even though so much else of the world had changed. “We’ll try to squeeze that in. The interesting thing is that this Waite seems to consider himself something of a ladies’ man.”

  Cassidy picked up on that right away. “And that’s where I come in.”

  “I know it’s asking a lot, but I think you have the best chance of getting close to him. Obviously, I have to stay far away, since he’ll recognize me on sight.”

  “It’s not a problem.” Again that little gleam of amusement came and went in her eyes. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to meet men in bars.”

  Derek lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah, really.” She tapped her fingers on the armrest of her chair and met his gaze in that forthright way he liked so much. “Do you have a problem with that, Dr. Tagawa?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “But this isn’t some shuttle jockey looking to pass the time in Luna City. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”

  Not even a blink. “I know that, Derek. But he won’t know me from Eve, and if he has as high an opinion of himself as your contact seems to think he does, then he’ll be like every other guy out there…thinking with his dick.”

  “So that’s your opinion of me?” Derek tried to sound arch, but he could feel a smile teasing around the corners of his mouth despite his best efforts to suppress it.

  Wearing a matching grin, Cassidy got to her feet and stood on her tiptoes so she could press her lips against his cheek. “I like the way you think with your dick. It’s powerful and responsive…just like your brain.”

  He could feel himself stir to life at her words, and he took her hands, pulling her against him. “Let’s see just how responsive it can be….”

  * * *

  The plan, as it stood, was pretty damn simple — their sponsor sent a list of bars Conrad Waite frequented, along with a current image of him and a second list of aliases he might be using. How their mysterious benefactor had been able to get a hold of any of that stuff, Cassidy wasn’t sure. She just knew she was damn glad that this shadowy, powerful personage had decided to come down on Derek’s side, for whatever reason.

  The murderer didn’t really look like one. No, that wasn’t quite right. He was a hard-looking man in his early forties, but just attractive enough that he probably wouldn’t have a difficult time trolling the bars and nightclubs for a quick lay. And really, if she hadn’t known who he was or what he’d done, she might have found herself attracted as well. Conrad Waite was a little older than the other men she’d been with, but not so much that she would’ve considered him out of bounds.

  They took a suite in one of the glassy high-rise hotels that overlooked Lake Michigan. Years of environmental rehabilitation had returned the lake to its original deep, deep blue, and Cassidy stood at the window, staring at the water. Yes, she’d known that of course Gaia had open bodies of water, but she’d spent her entire life in Luna City or shuttling around the Gaian system. The only expanse of water she�
�d seen that was a bigger than an aquarium in someone’s office was the reflecting pool in front of Luna City’s main administrative building.

  She wondered now why she’d never come here before this, never visited the world that had birthed both her parents. No excuse, really, save that her father had warned her off from an early age, saying that Gaia wasn’t for the likes of them, and that if she ever set foot on its surface, she’d find herself forever dissatisfied with space and the cramped confines of spaceships and domed bases. At the time she’d scoffed inwardly, although she hadn’t contradicted him, but now she realized he’d been right.

  It was beautiful here, and she wasn’t sure what she should do about that.

  Almost better than the open water and the high, drifting clouds overhead was the shopping. After they’d checked into the hotel, the whole time worrying that some red flag would be raised, that something would be off about their faked I.D.s or their credit voucher, worries that came to naught, Cassidy had taken one look at the meager wardrobe she’d brought from Triton and knew that nothing in it, not even the pretty red tunic and pants Derek had selected for her, would be good enough for the people who frequented the high-end bars on Lakeshore Drive.

  So she dragged an increasingly glazed Derek from boutique to boutique, buying what she thought would work, spending what felt like an insane amount of money, although she knew she was barely putting a dent in their voucher. And when her companion rolled his eyes after she went into the fourth — or was it the fifth? — shoe store, she told him sweetly that he could meet her back at the hotel if he didn’t have the stamina for this sort of activity.

  Of course he’d declined. She could tell he didn’t want them to get separated, even in as harmless a venue as a women’s boutique. As a sop, she’d taken him to a few men’s stores as well, since his own wardrobe was as sorry as hers, and lord knows when they’d have the opportunity for this kind of shopping again.

  At last they returned to the suite, where Cassidy hung up her new clothing and carefully arranged her shoe purchases on the floor of the closet while Derek flipped through the thousands of channels on the vid, looking for what, she wasn’t quite sure. Anyway, she’d never owned so many clothes in her life, and part of her wondered if she’d been just a bit extravagant.

  Hey, you gotta dress big to play with the big boys, she told herself, just before going in to take a shower and start getting herself ready. Although she thought she was okay with all this, she couldn’t help feeling a few nervous tremors in the pit of her stomach. As Derek had told her, this wasn’t some bored shuttle pilot looking for some fun during a layover. Conrad Waite had killed a lot of people, according to their source, and wouldn’t scruple to kill her and Derek if he discovered who they were or what they were up to.

  The suite had two bathrooms, and so Derek was getting cleaned up in the other one when she emerged from the shower and got to work. Her own bathroom was equipped with a molecular hair-setter, and so she flipped through the hairstyles shown on the screen, settled for thick, loose waves, and placed the device on her head. Within a few minutes, it beeped, indicating it was done. She lifted it away and set it back on the rack next to the sink, then inspected herself in the mirror. Damn. No makeup on yet, and she already looked about a hundred times better than she usually did.

  She’d purchased some cosmetics as well, with the help of an extremely motivated salesgirl who realized her commission that day was going to be pretty darn good. In the past Cassidy hadn’t bothered much with makeup, save some lip color when she was going out, but after following the salesgirl’s instructions and applying the new cosmetics as instructed, she thought she might have to review that policy. She didn’t know who the woman looking back at her from the mirror was, but it definitely didn’t look like Cassidy Evans. Her eyes seemed huge, almost a smoky green rather than hazel, and her mouth had a definite glossy pout.

  After that she emerged from the bathroom, selected a slinky dress in a dark, dark brick-red color, and fastened a pair of pewter-toned high-heeled sandals on her feet. Before today she’d owned exactly one pair of heels, so she practiced walking back and forth a few times before deciding that she thought she could manage things as long as she didn’t have to break into a run. Then a pair of dark silver hoop earrings and a wide cuff for her right arm to match, and she thought she was pretty much done.

  Derek was still in the other bathroom, so that was why she found herself staring out at the waters of Lake Michigan, watching as the light changed subtly, the sun slipping behind the tall buildings and casting long, rippling shadows on the surface of the lake. She realized she was missing her first Gaian sunset, but she didn’t know where she could’ve gone to watch it, except possibly the hotel roof. There would be other sunsets.

  At least, she hoped there would.

  Derek’s voice came from behind her. “Holy shit.”

  She turned away from the window, saw him standing a few feet away, staring at her. “What’s the matter?”

  Something about the expression in his eyes seemed almost glazed, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was looking at. “Uh — nothing’s the matter. It’s just — ” He broke off and shook his head. “You look incredible.”

  “I do?” she asked, feeling absurdly pleased, and fighting the impulse to go inspect herself again in the mirror. Funny how, if asked, she would have protested that she didn’t care all that much about appearance and fashion. It had never seemed to matter to her. But now, seeing the look on Derek’s face…well, she was very glad that he thought she cleaned up well.

  “You’re stunning. That is, I always thought you were beautiful, but — ”

  “‘Always’?” she teased. “For the whole three days you’ve known me?”

  “Yes,” he replied, clearly refusing to be baited. “The first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I was in big trouble.”

  How in the world could she reply to a statement like that? She settled for going to him and wrapping her arms around him, although she restrained herself from reaching up to kiss him. That would only lead to makeup ruination, and she wasn’t about to redo all that hard work. She’d just have to remind herself to kiss him an extra few times, once all this was over with.

  He held her tightly but made no move to kiss her, either, which told her he knew the reason for her current reticence. After a moment, though, he released her and took a step back. Some of the warmth in his eyes disappeared, and he suddenly looked very businesslike.

  “So you know what you need to do,” he said.

  Cassidy nodded. The list of bars wasn’t all that long, and had been arranged in order from most to least frequented. So she would go to them one by one until she came across Conrad Waite. And if not tonight, well, there was always tomorrow. She didn’t much relish the thought of having to go through all this preparation over and over again. But if she came up empty tonight, at least she’d be looking good for an intimate evening with Derek and some room service.

  “A couple of drinks, food if he insists…and then the oh-so-casual suggestion that he come with me back to my room.”

  “Perfect. He should fall for it. Don’t make it too easy, though…you don’t want him to get suspicious.”

  “Not a problem.” She’d done that tease before, the show of false reluctance, all the while knowing exactly where an evening was going to end up.

  Earlier Derek had asked to borrow her handheld, and now he pulled it from his pocket and gave it back to her. “I’ve linked our devices. Keep an open channel on yours, and I’ll be able to hear what you’re saying and doing. If it comes to it, I can be there in a few minutes, but then our chance will be gone forever.”

  That sounded dramatic, but she knew it was only the truth. If Conrad Waite caught sight of Derek, he’d know this wasn’t a casual pickup. Worse, he’d know exactly where Derek was, and even if he didn’t try to take out the escaped convict then and there, he’d definitely be in contact with his superiors so they could send in the author
ities.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said calmly, although she wasn’t feeling all that calm. “He has no reason to suspect anything. Even if his handlers have sent out my image, saying it was my ship that took you away from Titan, I doubt he’d recognize me. Right now I don’t look much like my official I.D.”

  Derek actually chuckled at that comment. “Well, that’s true enough. I suppose I should thank God for unflattering identification photos.” He glanced down at the expensive chronometer on his wrist…another of that afternoon’s purchases. “It’s almost nineteen hundred. Are you ready?”

  “Ready.” Was she? Well, it was too late to back out now, so she’d have to pretend she was, even if nervous little chills had begun to tickle their way down her back.

  He reached out and took her hand, gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll be great.”

  After that there wasn’t much to do except pick up her silvery metal mesh evening bag, slide her handheld, some spare cash, and her tube of lip color inside, then give one last nod to Derek before exiting the suite. All during the elevator ride down to the lobby, she forced herself to take in soothing breaths, to stare off into the middle distance when more hotel guests got in to ride along with her. One was a businessman in a dark, high-collared suit, and Cassidy could feel his eyes on her the whole time. But since she didn’t make eye contact, he said nothing to her, and left the elevator without incident.

  As she exited the hotel, a mech manning the doors hailed her an autocab. “The Borealis,” she said as she climbed in, letting the computerized car know her destination. In truth, it was only a block or two away, a distance she could have easily walked…except that the woman wearing this expensive dress and these expensive shoes, and staying in that expensive hotel, would never walk when a cab could whisk her to her destination in comfort and privacy.

  The car’s windows were filtered, so she couldn’t see much. Probably just as well, since she would’ve been gawking like a tourist, and that was not the sort of impression she wanted to make. Of course there was no human being driving to observe her behavior, but Derek had told her that all of the autocabs had digital surveillance, and if anyone were to go over the footage at a later date, better that she not do anything to draw attention.