by Saxon Andrew
Jack laughed, “Yes, we did! Follow me.”
“I know where it is, Jack. I was present when this ship was built.”
“There’s been some changes, Sir. The conference room is not where it was originally. Gem expanded the training room into the former conference room and his former lab is now the conference room.”
“Oh. Then I’m glad you’re here. You’ve saved me some steps walking to the front of the ship.” They arrived at the new conference room just as Gold and Gem entered the door. “Gem, it’s good to see you.”
“And you as well, Leonidas! Welcome aboard.”
Leonidas entered the room and Desiree and Victoria came out of their chairs to embrace him. He returned their hugs and smiled, “It’s really good to see both of you again. How did your training go?”
“Just like you said; it was incredibly painful and we’re glad that’s over,” Victoria replied. She smiled and said, “Gem has a sword for you.”
Leo looked at her, “A sword?”
Gem clacked, “I’ll show it to you after the meeting.” Leo smiled and Gem looked around the room, “Why don’t we sit down and start this meeting?” Everyone went to their chairs and Gem clacked and then said, “The main issue we have to discuss is the Romanovs looking for Victoria’s ship. Does anyone have ideas on how we’re going to handle this problem?”
Everyone was silent and Leo smiled, “I took a nap before coming here and before I went to sleep, I thought that the only way to deal with this is for Victoria to remain away from our Galaxy…”
“But that won’t work!” Victoria interrupted.” Leo looked at her and she quickly added, “I’ll have to go back to collect funds to continue our travels. The master account is in our galaxy and I’m running low now.”
Leo smiled, “I understand that.” He looked at Gem, “The problem is what is going to happen when the Romanovs find Victoria, right?”
“Pretty much,” Gem answered.
“What will a DNA scanner determine when it’s pointed at her? Won’t it show that she is not the one they’re searching to find?” Leo asked.
“That’s true.”
Victoria and Desiree’s heads went back and Leo smiled, “Then we just need to let them scan her and that should resolve the issue.”
Desiree tilted her head, “Are you saying that Victoria’s DNA now matches the former Victoria?”
Gem tilted his head to the left, “Yes it does.”
“Then this is not the problem I thought it was,” Desiree said as she sat back in her chair.
Leo nodded and Gem looked around at the gathering, “You’ve not thought it through completely.”
Leo jerked around to Gem as his eyes narrowed, “What am I missing?”
“They will think that Victoria is not the one they’re searching to find but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be satisfied that Romanov’s daughter is not on her ship.”
The room was silent and Leo closed his eyes and sighed. Victoria looked at him, “Why is that a problem?”
“Because they will want to come on board and scan all of the crewmembers. If they do that, what will they discover?”
Victoria shook her head, “I’m not sure what you mean?”
Desiree sighed, “They will find out that everyone on this ship served with Leonidas in the Legion. They will know that you and he are connected.”
Leo nodded, “And they will put two and two together and know that Romanov’s daughter was with a man when she disappeared. Their suspicions will only be heightened by that discovery.”
“They already know that our two ships are connected,” Victoria stated. “All we need is a plausible cover story on how that connection happened.”
Embree spoke up, “Have either of you thought about explaining how Victoria was on Kellinger at the same time this Romanov Daughter disappeared? Whatever story you concoct will have to include that piece of information.”
Barney nodded, “Not only her, but the story will also have to include Leonidas being there as well.”
“Just how rich is Victoria supposed to be?” Carl asked. Everyone turned to him and he shrugged, “I’ve watched Victoria on the planets we’ve visited and she appears to be a rather wanton woman spending credits like there’s no end to them, no offense, My Lady.”
“None taken,” Victoria responded.
“Anyway,” Carl continued, “She could have just picked up Leonidas on Kellinger after he left the Starliner and bribed him to provide her a crew along with instructions on how to build a new pleasure yacht.”
“But Leonidas may have been recorded on Kellinger with Romanov’s daughter,” Desiree added.
Leonidas smiled, “That didn’t happen. I was using my electronic defenses built in the card to prevent that.” Victoria shook her head and Leonidas said, “What?”
“My sister saw me going with you when we left the Starliner. I told her that I was going to use you to avenge the death of Lyla and my former husband.”
Desiree looked at her, “Former husband?”
“I’ll explain it later, Desiree.”
“Explain it now!”
“It can wait, Desiree!” Leonidas said sharply. Desiree looked at him and then nodded. “It might still work.”
Gem looked at him, “And how will you cover that item?”
“Victoria will simply say that she encountered me on Kellinger and after a few days, asked if I would assist her in building a new ship. She’ll tell the Romanovs that I told her that I was with the daughter after the Starliner landed and refused to assist her in extracting revenge against the Pirate that attacked her Starliner. She’ll tell Romanov that I told her that the daughter told me that she had discovered someone in her family’s business that was going to assist her and she had to go back to the ship to carry out their instructions.”
“That’s stretching it, Leonidas.”
“Not really, Gem.”
“How will you explain the purple card they knew you were carrying? Remember the proctors that came on board made that determination and I’m pretty certain that Romanov knows about it.”
“I agree, he probably does know a purple card agent was on board but after she went back to the Starliner, there were no images taken of my being with her.”
“What about the Treasury?”
Leo rolled his eyes, “You’re right. She was seen with a man there but they won’t have a clear image of me; my devices would prevent that. They might be led to believe that it was someone working against them inside their organization that went with her to the treasury. They might even believe that she was planning to take the funds out of her account from the beginning at best and may believe she is the one in charge of the Spider’s secret organization at worst.”
Gold spoke up, “They will insist on a meeting with you to confirm her story.”
Leo looked at him and then shrugged, “Probably.”
Billy said quietly, “They will also take an image of Leonidas to the Treasury and ask if it was the man that came with the Daughter originally.”
Everyone looked at Billy, who usually had nothing to say. Leo chuckled and shook his head, “That is the only hole in the story. However, I don’t think he’ll tell them it was me.”
“Why not?” Victoria asked.”
“I just don’t think he’ll cooperate with them. Let’s leave it at that.”
Victoria stared at him and Desiree said, “This story would at least explain our being on this ship.”
“Yes, it would. But that takes us back to the original question.” Leo looked at Gem, “Just how rich was Victoria?” Gem was silent and Leo smiled, “Don’t tell me you don’t know.”
Gem’s thorax swelled and he said, “She originally had about fifty billion credits in her accounts but I convinced her to move them into some stock accounts. Her current worth is about six hundred billion credits.” Even Victoria’s eyes went wide with that announcement.
“Do we have access to those accounts?�
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Gem shrugged, “Yes.”
“Will you give us the account numbers?” Leo asked.
“Why do you need them?”
Leo tilted his head as he said, “Gem, the original Victoria will never need them. Why are you so reluctant to allow us to use them?”
Gem blew out a breath, “I don’t know. It’s something that was a part of her and I’m reluctant to touch anything that was hers.”
Victoria looked at him, “You must have loved her very much.”
Gem looked at her and twisted his head to the left, “I’ll give you the numbers. Since this Victoria has her DNA, the cards will operate normally.”
“I’m sorry, Gem. I’ll try not to use any of those funds.”
“Go ahead if you need to, Victoria. I’m being silly about this.”
Gold stared at Gem and wondered what was going on. Gem looked at him and said, “Keep this information between us and no one else.”
“Yes, Majesty.”
“That includes my mother!”
Gold hesitated and said, “If she asks me a direct question about them, I cannot be untruthful with her, Majesty.”
“I realize that but don’t tell her anything that would prompt a question about it. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Majesty.”
Victoria listened to the exchange and realized that Gem loved Victoria very much. It was his love for her that caused him to work with them and she wondered how seeing her everyday affected him. It had to be painful.
Leonidas smiled, “Well, then the only way to put this plan into motion is to be outrageously audacious.”
Everyone looked at him. Gem smiled, “This is where my ideas agree with you.”
Desiree said, “Audacious?”
Leo nodded, “Yes, you’re going to take the ship to Romania and ask to speak to Serge Romanov about wanting to find your ship. You’re going to demand why he has sent out orders for your ship to be stopped and searched. You will act righteously indignant at his attempting to violate your privacy. You’ll act like the spoiled rich girl you are.”
Everyone stared at Leo and Billy said quietly from the corner of the table, “Just tell them you’ve been visiting other galaxies and one of your lovers informed you when you returned of what was happening. Tell them you’re outraged at your privacy being violated and just who does he think he is?”
The table was silent and then everyone burst into laughter. Desiree managed to say, “I think that will be outrageously audacious.”
“What if he wants to see you, Leo?” Victoria asked.
“Give him my contact frequency.”
“When are we going to do this?” Desiree asked.
“In three days. Both of our crews can use some shore time on Jester. I’m going to keep the Thermopylae close by Romania in the event something goes wrong. We should be able to fight our way out if things go bad, Victoria.”
Desiree looked at Victoria and she nodded, “Three days it is. Let’s go have a party.”
Leonidas nodded and looked at Billy, “Once again you’ve amazed me with your insights.”
Billy smiled, “It comes from being around Carl.”
Carl looked at him and scowled, “Don’t blame me. You still can’t hold your booze.”
Billy reached in his pouch and pulled out a bottle of water, “I learn quickly.” Carl tried to maintain his gruff expression but finally gave up and laughed, “I imagine you do.”
• • •
The meeting ended and Victoria went to Gem, “When we go to Romania, I want you to move to Leonidas’ ship.”
Gem looked at her with his head twisted right, “Why?”
“I don’t want you to come to any harm if things go bad.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“For the same reason. I’m not going anywhere!”
Victoria stared at him and put her hand on his arm, “Thank you.” She went to her toes and kissed Gem on the side of his head. She then turned and went to her quarters. Gold watched them and wondered what was going on. This was highly irregular.
• • •
The Chief of Security appeared on Serge’s wall monitor, “Sir, we have an issue!”
“What is that?”
“The ship we’ve been searching for has just come off the filament and will arrive here in four hours.”
“WHAT?!”
“Yes, Sir. The owner of the ship has informed Traffic Control that she has a problem with Romanov Industries and is coming to resolve why her privacy is being violated. It appears she has been informed by someone that we’ve been trying to find her. I saw the recording of the conversation with Traffic Control and she appears to be quite upset.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“No, Sir. What do you want me to do?”
Serge sat back in his chair and was stumped at what was happening. Finally he said, “Well, welcome her to Romania and see if you can figure out what’s going on.”
“Yes, Sir.” The monitor went dark and Serge thought about the situation. He finally decided that something weird was happening and pressed a button on his panel. The Security Chief appeared again and Serge said, “Set up a meeting with this woman and myself.”
“Is that wise, Sir?”
“You will insure that I’m in no danger, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Then set up the meeting. This woman has me curious about her motives. She has to have some sort of connection with Ana and I intend to find out what it is.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Desiree looked at her console and read the message that arrived from Traffic Control, “Victoria, your father wants to meet with you personally.”
“What?!”
“He just sent a message along with the location of the restaurant where he’ll meet you.” Desiree looked at her, “Are you up to this?”
Victoria started shaking her head slightly, “I don’t have a choice. I’m going to play the role of Victoria and thank goodness I’ve been practicing over the last six months.”
“I’m going with you.”
“I don’t know if that’s wise, Desiree.”
“If I don’t go, then you’ll be breaking form. I can also help bail you out if things turn dicey.”
“I guess you’re right. It would also support members of Leonidas’ Unit being present.”
“Hold it together, Girl.”
“I’ll do the best I can.” Victoria answered.
• • •
The Spider looked at the monitor on the console and fell back in the chair. Now this was not something that was expected. It did sort of confirm that this woman was not Ana but coming here was crazy…or was it. If this woman really wasn’t Ana and was as rich as the rumors suggested, then she probably was furious about Serge issuing orders to stop her ship. But…there had to be some sort of connection to Ana. Ummm…this was going to be interesting. The Spider sat back and waited to see what would happen.
• • •
Barney looked up from his console, “Leonidas, Victoria has been summoned to a face-to-face meeting with Serge Romanov.”
“Where?”
“At a restaurant called the Black Flower.”
“Can we get any of our crew there?”
“No, Captain,” Barney answered. “The restaurant is sold out and no seats are available.”
Leonidas pursed his lips and said, “Have a shuttle from their ship ready to go down if necessary to get them out.”
“They went in with their swords, Sir.”
Leonidas nodded and wondered if they would be allowed to keep them. He had spent the last three days working with Gold at learning how to use the one Gem purchased for him. The sword was incredibly dangerous in the hands of an enhanced human. He still had a lot of work to do learning how to draw it and put it back in the scabbard but he knew they were more dangerous than a blaster in close combat.
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Still, he saw ten Romanov Warships surrounding Victoria’ ship and knew there were fifty more close by. This was going to be up to Victoria to pull this off. He should have anticipated Romanov personally meeting with them. It was too late to back out now. His ship was not going to make a difference in what was coming. He looked at Barney and said, “Take us out to the intersection.”
• • •
The Chief of Security watched the two women enter the Black Flower restaurant and saw that one of them was the blonde he had been trying to find for months. The other woman was dressed in a full dress with puffy sleeves. His scanners revealed that both of them were carrying something made of metal on their backs inside their clothing. He looked closer and saw that they had the shape of swords. This just wouldn’t do. He waited for them to be escorted to their table and then walked over to them, “Excuse me ladies, but I notice that both of you are carrying weapons. I cannot allow you to be armed in Mr. Romanov’s presence.”
Desiree stood up, “Then this meeting is over. Let’s go, my Lady.”
The Chief held up his hands, “Wait a moment, you must understand that Mr. Romanov’s safety must be assured.”
Victoria looked at the Security Chief, “You are carrying a blaster, Sir. What chance would little ole us have against that?”
Desiree looked around the room and said, “You also have four others in the upper floor with blasters trained on us as we speak. So it’s fine for you to be armed to the teeth while we aren’t allowed to carry swords that were a gift to My Lady from her former husband? Remove all of your weapons and we’ll still leave. My Lady goes nowhere without her sword and she has ordered me to always carry mine when I’m with her.”
“Ladies, I’m sure that…”
Desiree sneered, “You deliberately violate My Lady’s privacy and come armed with blasters. Have your master sit across the table from us out of harm’s way. We couldn’t do anything before you shot us. You can sit with us and keep your blaster pointed at us if you’re that afraid of two simple women.”
The Security Chief stared at them as information came in over his ear-piece. “You are far from simple ladies. You are Desiree Daniels and served with the Tenth Human Legion on Regulus. You are not as defenseless as you insist.”