Saving Morgan

by MB Panichi

  After a beat, Shaine dropped her gaze. The broad shoulders fell, but she didn’t release her hold. “I can’t,” she said quietly.

  Morgan jerked her arm free, wincing when the motion pulled the bruised muscles across her upper back. She glared at Shaine, expecting anger in return, but the woman’s expression only showed regret, resignation and hurt.

  Shaine whispered, “I did not lie to you.”

  Morgan closed her eyes. She wanted to believe those words. She truly did.

  “I swear to you, Morgan. Please.”

  Morgan reacted to the desperate tone and swallowed hard. She felt her anger seep away.

  Shaine’s arms slid around her, gently pulling her close.

  She nodded into Shaine’s shoulder, her arms wrapping tightly around Shaine’s waist. Damn, don’t let me be wrong about this.

  Chapter Twelve

  As expected, Rogan’s agent buzzed Shaine’s apartment almost exactly an hour later. Morgan was impressed by the promptness. She watched silently as Shaine went to the door, tapping the intercom when she reached it. “Yeah?”

  “Kries.”

  Shaine palmed the lock and moved to the side of the door. She held a small laser pistol drawn and ready.

  A compact, muscular man walked into the room. Though Shaine loomed over him by at least a head, Johann Kries seemed to take up at least as much space as her. He scanned the room, stopping briefly on Morgan before returning to Shaine. A slight smile pulled up the edges of his wide mouth. “Wendt. Long time,” he said. His voice growled deeply in his chest. “Didn’t know Rogan still had you on staff.”

  Shaine scowled. She shoved her gun into a holster at the small of her back. “He doesn’t. I got dragged into this assignment.”

  Kries snorted. “Kicking and screaming, huh?” He shot her a grin. “Rogan said you’re headed to Earth. Shuttle’s on standby, so we need to go.”

  Morgan stood up from the sofa, shouldering her duffel bag. Shaine motioned her to follow Kries while she brought up the rear, pausing to lock the door behind them.

  He hustled them out to a sleek, silver hover-car with tinted windows.

  Shaine opened the back door for Morgan, then folded into the cramped seat beside her.

  Morgan sank into the seat as Kries stomped on the accelerator and guided the hover-car through the Moon Base streets, out the primary air locks, and across the Moon’s gray surface to the public spaceport ten kilometers away.

  Morgan watched out the windows as the car quickly ate up the distance. The spaceport was perhaps a third the size of the main Moon Base dome. Kries piloted through the public air lock opening into a circular central plaza. Around the circumference of the dome, several shuttle companies had their own sealed passenger terminals accessible through secondary air locks. The larger passenger shuttles were docked on the dome’s exterior, connected by umbilical walkways to the terminal.

  The hover-car pulled up beside an air lock opening to a private docking space with the Mann-Maru corporate logo painted on the door. Kries got out, tapped a code into the sealed entrance and stood for a retinal scan. After a moment, the hatch slid open. He motioned for Shaine and Morgan to get out of the hover-car and follow him into the docking bay.

  A midsized shuttle waited at the center of the sealed bay. A boarding ramp extended down from an open hatch amidships.

  Kries said, “Go in and get settled.” He pulled a communicator from his pocket. “Captain, your passengers are here.” He nodded at Shaine. “Safe flight, ladies. Good luck.” He turned on his heel and let himself out of the private terminal, sealing the hatch behind him.

  Morgan let out an airy whistle as she took in the details of the mirror finished silver and white detailing, the pristine condition of the hull. “Jesus. Nothing like overkill.” Though the vessel looked similar to the early Earth-orbit shuttles circa 2000, this ship had more elegant lines. The short wings were sharper, flatter and more swept back than the originals. The cockpit had a larger front viewport.

  Shaine shrugged. “Yeah. C’mon.”

  Morgan let Shaine lead the way up the boarding ramp and into the passenger compartment. The interior was finished in rich dark wood, the floors covered in thick, dark brown carpeting. No portholes, but an oversized vid-screen covered most of the far wall, showing a live exterior view. Oversized leather recliners shared space with small cocktail tables. Plush sofas lined the outside walls. She followed Shaine toward a pair of recliners placed on either side of a cocktail table at the rear of the cabin.

  Shaine stowed their bags in a wide storage locker built into the wall while Morgan settled into one of the chairs. She leaned her head back against the soft leather and closed her eyes, letting a slow wave of exhaustion roll over her. It had definitely become a long damned day.

  She heard Shaine drop into the seat beside her and opened her eyes to see the woman reach to her right and pull out the safety harness hidden in the side of the chair. The light webbing unrolled across her upper body and clipped at the top and bottom to inset hooks on the opposite side.

  Morgan sighed. Nice. Like I would ever have thought to look for crash webbing in a lounge chair. After a moment, she located her restraints and pulled the safety harness into place. She wondered how many times Shaine had been in shuttles like this one. She seemed so comfortable, as though she belonged here.

  Morgan ran what she knew about Shaine’s past through her mind and realized it wasn’t much. Rogan, the head of Mann-Maru corporate security, had been Shaine’s boss, which suggested Shaine had held a powerful position, especially given the way the two interacted. It certainly pointed to a higher rank than she’d suggested in the story about the purse snatcher.

  Rogan’s threat to Shaine hadn’t gone unnoticed either. Morgan questioned Shaine’s role in Mann-Maru’s Security Department. She got the distinct sense that Shaine’s involvement hadn’t been on the periphery. If Shaine had gone that high up the corporate security ladder, what did it say about the woman? A vague shudder slid down her spine.

  Morgan didn’t trust corporate bureaucracy. It seemed to her the bottom line always fell to the profit margin and to hell with the workers. The politics was crap, always had been, and probably always would be. But a person had to make a living, right? And she, like her dad before her, would spend her life more or less owned by Mann-Maru. Of all the mega-corporations, Mann-Maru was probably the best of the bunch, she thought. Certainly, they were the biggest. They paid the highest wages. On Moon Base, Mann-Maru was almost the only option, anyway, since they owned and ran most of the primary facilities and operations.

  The com system beeped for attention. The pilot’s cultured voice came over the speakers. “We have launch clearance and will be taking off momentarily. Please strap into your seats and prepare for departure. I will let you know when it’s safe to remove your restraints. Thank you.”

  Shaine shifted and leaned back into the soft leather seat. Morgan wished she felt as comfortable as her counterpart in the extravagant surroundings.

  The hum of the engines shifted to a growl.

  Morgan looked past Shaine to the vid-screen on the starboard wall. The outside view showed the external bay door rolling open. The shuttle taxied slowly out of the sealed docking area, the sun painting its black shadow onto the flat gray plain. Beyond the runway, dark gray peaks of a distant mountain range created a jagged horizon against the velvet blackness of space.

  The flooring vibrated more strongly as the engines revved. I’m going to Earth, Morgan thought, slightly disbelieving. She’d only been there twice before in her life. Given the situation, she wasn’t sure if she should be excited, scared, or angry. In the last three hours she’d been attacked and injured, learned someone was trying to kill her, been told that for some reason the CEO of Mann-Maru cared about her safety, and discovered the woman she was beginning to really like wasn’t quite who or what she seemed.

  What have I gotten myself into, or caught up in? Will I get answers when we get to Earth
? The ship vibrated roughly. Morgan closed her eyes as the shuttle shot away from the ground. G-forces pinned her into the cushions for several seconds before the engines settled into a steady hum under her feet. She opened her eyes.

  A few minutes later, the pilot announced they could move freely around the cabin.

  Morgan released the safety harness, but remained seated.

  Shaine got up. She crossed to the small bar against the wall and ducked behind it, coming up a few seconds later holding two bottles of juice. “Want one?” she asked. “There are sandwiches in the cooler, too.”

  Morgan asked, “Are you supposed to be back there?”

  Shaine grinned. “Hey, if Rogan and Maruchek are going to drag my ass around the system without asking, then I’m gonna have lunch on them. Besides, I’m hungry.” She grabbed two wrapped sandwiches, poked around until she’d found a plate, knife and fork, and brought her stash back to the table between the two lounge chairs. Popping the tops of the juice bottles, she handed one to Morgan. She set one sandwich on the plate with the silverware, and started unwrapping the other sandwich.

  Morgan studied the sandwich she’d been given. She looked across the table at Shaine. “Why would someone be trying to kill me? And why would your old boss or the CEO of Mann-Maru give a flying fuck about it?”

  Shaine chewed a bite of her sandwich. She spoke slowly without looking up. “I’m not sure. Rogan wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  Morgan regarded Shaine a long moment, trying to read the suddenly expressionless face. If you can’t look at me, you’re lying. “Don’t bullshit me.”

  Shaine’s gaze snapped up and met Morgan’s before she looked away again. “I’m not lying. Rogan’s being a bastard and not talking to me. I’ve got a guess about what might be going on, but I don’t want to say anything until I get some answers first.”

  Morgan stared at Shaine for another couple of seconds. No, you’re a lot more certain than you’re admitting. I’m not stupid. Shaine had seemed so open last night, so readable, her intentions pretty much right out there, her emotions and vulnerabilities so close to the surface. Now she had closed down, obviously hiding her thoughts.

  Morgan sighed and sipped the juice. Finally setting down the bottle, she unwrapped her sandwich. How in the hell did she manage to be so absolutely inept at reading the women in her life? She attempted to open her mouth wide enough to take a bite. Pain seared through her cheek and jaw. Making an annoyed hiss, she ripped off a small piece of bread with her fingers and chewed gingerly on it.

  Shaine said, “That’s why I brought you the silverware.”

  Morgan smiled sheepishly. “Right.”

  She remained silent awhile, working on her juice and sandwich.

  Shaine finished first and leaned back in her chair with a sigh. She stretched her arms over her head and groaned when she let her long limbs flop down.

  Morgan watched silently, appreciating the view despite the fact her head still spun from the rapid pace of events. On top of everything else, she still ached from Digger’s death. Each day at work had gotten easier without him. By the end of the week, she’d managed to pull on the black striped vac suit without wondering if her power pack might blow up in her face. She’d even almost stopped thinking about how Digger would have done something, what he would have said, or what he would have thought. And each day, Shaine had been there, not trying to fill Digger’s shoes, not doing anything but her job. She was a solid, quiet presence lending her support to the crew.

  Morgan knew she hadn’t wanted to like Shaine. The first couple days, she’d resented Shaine for taking Digger’s place. Now she wasn’t sure what she felt. Who are you, really? And how much are you hiding? Last night, she’d thought she was getting a sense of Shaine. Then again, how much could she read into an evening or a kiss?

  At dinner, Shaine had said she didn’t want to work security anymore. Morgan wanted to believe her, but doubt ate at her. Too many unanswered questions floated around her mind. Rogan told them she was in danger. But from whom? And why? I’m a damned mechanic. I don’t know anyone important. She wasn’t a troublemaker. Fights in the bar or during grav-ball games didn’t count. She’d never even been arrested. Well, okay, not since she was a teenager. What would anyone want from her? And why would Rogan keep it hushed up?

  The thought of Rogan raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She sensed something dangerous about the man. She didn’t trust him and she didn’t like him. Not only that, the antagonism between him and Shaine had been obvious.

  Damn, it, why won’t Shaine tell me what she’s thinking? Shaine had as much as said she had suspicions. It pissed her off that Shaine wouldn’t share. She found it difficult to believe Shaine acted completely in the dark. Did this threat have something to do with Digger’s death? She wasn’t a suspect. Rogan had told her so in the interrogation room. She shivered. Was Rogan lying? Could he possibly believe she’d been somehow involved? Or had she actually been the target of a less-than-random terrorist act?

  Morgan glanced over to where Shaine leaned back in her chair staring at the ceiling, her expression far away, gaze focused inward. She had so many questions. If she asked, would she get a response? If she got a response, would it be one she wanted to hear? She scowled, realizing there was really only one way to find out. She wrapped her courage around herself and asked into the silence, “So when you used to work for Rogan, what did you do? How did you end up working for him?”

  Shaine sighed and closed her eyes. “It’s a long story, starting back when I was in Earth Guard.”

  “We’ve got time,” Morgan offered.

  Shaine took a long breath. She didn’t open her eyes. Her words came out slowly, as though she were telling someone else’s story. “About a year into my stint in Earth Guard I got assigned to a unit doing patrols out in the Belt. That’s where I ran into Rogan the first time.” She paused and opened her eyes to glance at Morgan, who nodded for her to go on. She closed her eyes again. “Remember when there was all that pirate activity out in the Belt maybe ten, twelve years ago?”

  Morgan said quietly, “My mother was killed in one of the early raids.”

  Shaine swallowed visibly. “God. I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Thank you. Go on, though.”

  “My ship was using Mann-Maru’s primary mining facility as a base of operations, since that was easier than going back and forth from the Moon Base Guard Station. Rogan was Maruchek’s head of Security even back then. He and my CO were running the whole anti-pirate operation. I was a squad leader. Most of the time it was just routine patrols.

  “On one mission, though, we were down deep in a pirate holding in an abandoned mining facility, setting charges so when they blew, the whole thing would just collapse in on itself. Because of the high iron content of the rock, we were out of radio contact with our base ship, so we didn’t know the pirates were incoming. It was a bad fight. I made it out with one of my guys, but that was it. We lost four men.

  “When we got to the surface, the main facility was compromised—no air—and we figured we were pretty well screwed. We only had about an hour of air left in our tanks. We called for an emergency pick up and hoped for a lot of luck. By the time the EG responders reached us, we were half-conscious and sucking backwash. We detonated the charges as we left.

  “Anyway, Rogan noticed me when he and my CO debriefed us. I got a rank promotion for my so-called ‘bravery’ and started working a lot more closely with him and my CO. Not long after that I entered Special Ops training. Was a commando for six years. When I got out of the Guard, I had to find a job, and there were a lot of security positions open with Mann-Maru. It was familiar work, so I applied. Didn’t take long for Rogan to recognize me. I ended up working with his covert corporate security group.”

  Morgan asked, “What’s covert security?”

  Shaine mulled over her question before she replied. “Spying on the competition, spying on employees suspected of passing information to the
competition, making sure the information was either recovered or destroyed, ensuring no further information changed hands.”

  Morgan processed what she’d been told. It was no real secret that big corporations like Mann-Maru were practically laws unto themselves. There were regulations governing corporate power, but the fact that they operated outside the law was simply a given. Especially out in the Belt. Earth Guard patrolled there, but Earth Guard wasn’t a police force. Security in the Belt was primarily up to the corporations mining there. Because of that, most corporations ran their security like private militias. Mann-Maru wasn’t as bad as some. But she had no illusions about the kind of work Shaine had probably been involved in.

  She got the feeling Shaine wasn’t going to expand on her rather limited summary, so she jumped to the next question. “How’d you end up being a mechanic, then?”

  Shaine rubbed her hands over her face. “I tried to quit Security. Thing is, I know too much and Rogan sees me as a liability. I think he would have just killed me, but he probably figured he’d be able to use me at some point.” A bitter smile twisted her lips. “Why throw away a valuable asset, you know?” She shrugged at Morgan’s widened eyes. “Anyway, we settled on a compromise. I got training to be a mechanic, and he gets to keep me under his thumb and make sure I don’t stab him in the back.”

  “But you wanted out.”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Shaine hesitated. Morgan thought she was going to say more. The woman seemed lost in thought before she shook her head and continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’ve been a mechanic for about three years, mostly out in the Belt. I got transferred to Moon Base about a month ago.” She shrugged. “And that’s about it. Life was beginning to feel something like normal. I ended up on your crew. And then I got a call from Rogan last night, telling me to keep you alive. And here we are.”

  Morgan sat silently a few moments. She watched Shaine stare at the ceiling, furrows across her brow, clearly caught in something dark and uncomfortable, frustration and resignation slipping across her face. She asked, “He really just called you last night?”