by Saxon Andrew
Desiree smiled, “I’m flattered that you know me. However, it is my job to defend Victoria Lenora De La Pascal. Both of us have a job to do and I didn’t bring a blaster because I do respect the importance of Mr. Romanov. However, the two swords are something My Lady insists on being carried for good luck. She feels the presence of her former husband through this gift he gave her. If you rather, we can conduct this meeting over communicators.”
Victoria looked at the Chief and said in a slow drawl, “When I wear my sword, I can feel his presence taking care of me, honey.”
“Excuse me.” The chief stepped away and contacted Serge. “Sir, they refuse to take off the swords they have with them.”
“They what?”
“They are both carrying swords under their garments. The ditzy blonde insists that they represent good luck pieces from her former husband.”
Serge was baffled by the situation and asked, “Could they do anything to harm me with those swords?”
“I don’t think so. I’m going to sit with you across the large table from them with a blaster in hand and I have eight blasters trained on them if they make any sudden moves toward you.”
“And they refuse to remove them?”
“They do, Sir. They said to just call off the meeting if they’re forced to give them up.” Serge hesitated and the Chief said, “They told me to sit beside them with my blaster drawn if I was so frightened by them.”
“Sitting on my side of the table is a good idea. They are rather bossy, aren’t they?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Have them order their meal and order me my usual. I want to take a look at them before I come in.”
“Yes, Sir.” The Chief went back to the table and smiled, “Mr. Romanov says that you may keep your swords.”
“Why thank you, Sir,” the blonde said.
“He requests that you go ahead and order your dinner and he will be here momentarily.”
Victoria smiled at the Chief and batted her eyes, “What would you recommend?”
“Mr. Romanov likes the meat and seafood combination.”
“Then that is what we’ll have as well, right Desiree?”
“Yes, My Lady.”
The Security Chief sat across the table from them and placed his blaster on the table in front of him. Victoria began asking questions about the restaurant and the planet and the Security Chief had to admit that she was very pleasant company. He also realized from the DNA scan that was made when they entered that she was definitely not Ana. He knew that Serge had also received that information by now. The restaurant was crowed and what the two women didn’t realize was that everyone in the room was a Romanov Security Agent and all of them were armed. He wondered how the two women would react if they knew it.
Chapter Fourteen
Serge watched the two women talking with his Security Chief on his monitor and saw that the blonde was perfectly at ease while the pretty woman with her kept looking around the restaurant. Ummm…Desiree Daniels. She was an officer in the Tenth Legion and was highly respected as a great tactician. How did she wind up with this bimbo? Well, it had to do with the man that went to the treasury to set up some accounts a few months back. Was it the same man that was with Ana when she disappeared? He wasn’t going to find out staring at this monitor. He stood up and left the vehicle parked outside the restaurant; his personal body guards followed him inside.
He arrived at the table and smiled, “Good evening ladies, I’m sorry I’m late; I was held up by a small issue.”
Desiree looked at him, “Checking out our DNA scans, I imagine.”
Serge looked at Desiree and smiled, “As a matter of fact, that is exactly why I’m running late.” The waiters arrived with their meals as Serge sat down across the table from them, “Please, enjoy your food. We can talk while we eat.”
Serge’s bodyguards stood behind him with drawn blasters and stared at the two women. Victoria smiled and said, “I’ve heard ever so much about you, Mr. Romanov.”
“Please, call me Serge.”
“You are one of the wealthiest people in the universe and you’ve accomplished so much, Sir.” She forced her feelings out of her mind as she smiled at the man who she had once called father. It was all she could do to not come across the table and cut that arrogant expression off his face.
Serge looked at Victoria and couldn’t decide if she was being honest or not. “Why, thank you for your kind words. I understand that you came here to question why I’ve been trying to locate your ship.”
Victoria waved the hand without a fork at him as she took a bite of the fish, “That was Desiree’s doing. She insisted we come here.” Victoria looked at her, “Isn’t that right, Honey?”
Forcing a smile, Serge turned to the pretty woman with short dark hair and blue eyes and asked, “Why would you want to do that?”
Desiree’s expression was all business as she glanced at the two body guards behind Serge, “Because it’s foolish to allow someone to surround your vessel in open space without witnesses to see what’s going on. It’s also bad tactics. If you have issues with us, it’s better to confront them and get them out of the way publicly.”
Serge took a bite of meat and said, “Go on.”
“If you have an issue with us, we should resolve it without delay.”
“Why is that?”
“Because if you confronted My Lady while she was among friends, it would frighten them away and that is not something Lady Victoria likes to happen.”
Victoria nodded as she looked at the two body guards, “You know how it is, blasters have a way of doing that, Dahling. First thing you know, someone opens fire and the party will end abruptly. I just deplore ending a party before its time.”
Serge stared at Victoria and wondered if this loon was for real. He turned back to Desiree, who appeared to at least have some intelligence and said, “I am searching for one of my daughters and I have reason to believe that you might have something to do with her disappearance.”
“What? You have in your mind that I know your daughter, Honey?” Victoria answered instead of Desiree.
“You appear to know the man she was last seen with.”
Victoria looked at Desiree with raised eyebrows, “Who is he talking about, Desiree?”
Desiree looked at Serge, “Are you talking about Leonidas?”
Serge took another bite, “I am, if he was the one on the Starliner with her.”
Desiree looked at Victoria, “Did he mention another woman to you when you first met him, my lady?”
“No…well…I don’t think it was this daughter you’re looking to find. He wasn’t with a woman when I ran across him.”
Serge’s eyes narrowed, “What did he tell you?!”
Victoria batted her eyes as she took another bite of fish. She looked up at the ceiling focusing and said, “When I first met Leonidas, he told me that he had some crazy woman trying to hire him to go after some pirate but he told her to forget it. He said she was acting foolish.”
“Go on.”
“There’s not much else to tell. She told him that she was going to meet someone that worked inside her family’s business to do something about something in a safe or something. He mentioned that he didn’t see her after she left to go back to the Starliner. I met him after that and decided to hire him to help me acquire a ship and crew.”
“Who was this person she was going to meet?”
Victoria raised both hands, “He didn’t say, Dahlin. You should ask him. I don’t ask my male friends anything about other women; it seems to make them nervous most of the time for some reason. By the way, Serge, are you married?”
Serge stared at the woman and wondered if anyone was as ditzy as this woman appeared to be. He turned to Desiree, “And I suppose he suggested that she hire former members of his unit to crew her ship?”
Desiree smiled, “Can you think of anyone better qualified to take care of her? And she asked if you are married?”
/> Desiree stared into Serge’s eyes and he said, “Lieutenant, you need to keep in mind just where you are.”
Desiree smiled sweetly, “I am.” Serge stared at her and his eyes narrowed as she continued, “Your body guards have pretty much given away that everyone in this restaurant is one of your employees.”
“And just how did they do that?” the Security Chief quickly asked.
Desiree looked at him, “They haven’t looked at anyone but us; normally, they would be watching the entire room. That is a clear indicator that they aren’t worried about anyone else here tonight. My Lady is not capable of using her sword, but I assure you I am.”
Serge lowered his eyes and sneered, “And you think you could get to me before you are killed?”
“If I didn’t think so we wouldn’t have come.”
Victoria said, “Desiree, Desiree, Desiree, I’ve taught you to be polite when we’re invited out. We’ve told Mr. Romanov that we don’t know anything about his daughter and that should clear up any misunderstandings between us.” She looked at Serge, “Isn’t that so, Mr. Romanov?” Victoria batted her eyes at Serge.
Serge realized two things in that instant; first, this idiot didn’t know anything about Ana and second, that woman might just be able to do what she was saying. Desiree looked at Victoria and said, “My Lady, Traffic Control told you to mention your purchase to Mr. Romanov when we arrived.”
Serge’s head went back as Victoria hit her forehead with her palm, “Silly me; I forgot. Is it important?” Desiree nodded. Victoria shrugged and turned to Serge, “Desiree insisted I purchased a Cartian Personal Protection Insurance Policy before we left orbit. I’m not sure why she demanded I do it but I always do what she insists on.”
Serge stared at Victoria and said in a deliberate tone, “Why would you do something like that?”
Victoria pouted, “Desiree insisted. Did I do something wrong, Mr. Romanov?”
Serge looked at Desiree and she shrugged as she said, “Perhaps a room full of blasters and security agents would call for it. They were quite willing to sell it to us because we were meeting with you and felt the risk to us was exceedingly small.” Desiree paused and tilted her head, “Is it small, Mr. Romanov?”
Serge knew that he would not do anything to these two, his ships would lose the use of filaments for six months if he did. He smiled and looked at Victoria, “I must complement you on your protector.”
“Why thank you, Serge. She has kept me out of trouble many times while we been visiting other galaxies.”
“Other Galaxies?”
“Why yes. I would highly recommend you visit Jester. It’s not too far from here and it has some great entertainment establishments.” Victoria tilted her head and cooed at Serge, “However, none of the men there are anywhere near as handsome and wealthy as you are, Dahlin.”
Serge looked at Desiree, “I need the contact number of this Leonidas.”
Desiree looked at the Chief of security and began reciting the numbers. Serge stared at the Chief until he nodded. Desiree stared at Serge, “Does this clear up any issues between us?”
Serge stared at her for a long moment and then smiled, “I will need to discuss this with Leonidas but, for the moment, it does.”
Victoria smiled and lifted her glass. Desiree pulled her up by the arm and said, “It’s time to go, My Lady.”
She almost spilled it but managed to catch herself. She looked at Serge with wide eyes, “Perhaps we can get together again to do some dancing?”
Serge rolled his eyes and shook his head, “I’m sorry. I’m much too busy to go out dancing.”
Victoria lowered her eyes and smiled, “You should make time; you might find it’s more fun than you think.”
“Thank you, I’ll think about it.”
Desiree led Victoria out of the restaurant and Serge watched them leave. The Security Chief said, “Do you want them followed?”
“To what end? If there’s anything to be found out, that Leonidas fellow is the one that would have the information.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Serge looked at him, “Do you think she could have harmed me?”
“I don’t see any way she could…but she genuinely believed she could.” Serge nodded. He saw it in the woman’s eyes as well. “We could arrange a little run in with a pirate, Sir,” the Chief suggested.
Serge thought about it and shook his head, “If they had anything to hide, they would have just stayed in the other galaxies they were visiting.”
“Could they be hiding Ana on their ship?”
“I thought about that but if they were, do you think they would have come here?”
The Chief thought about it and shook his head, “No, they wouldn’t take the chance of us searching their ship. That body guard was right about coming here to clear things up. Our ships did not detect any armaments on their yacht.”
“If you had to guess, do you think they have any?”
“I have no doubt they do. That Lieutenant would insist on arming the ship.” The Chief paused, “Do you want me to contact this Leonidas fellow?”
“Yes, I do. You’re the best I have at seeing if someone is lying. Find out what he’s doing; I might want to hire him to see if he can find Ana.”
“How would he be able to do something we can’t, Sir?”
“Because she knows him and might come out into the open if she learns he’s looking for her. She might have gone to Tortuga to try and get revenge on this Blakey Pirate.”
“I doubt she’d do it herself.”
“I know, but she can hire someone to do it and if this Leonidas fellow can catch the one she hires, he can trace her back to where she’s hiding. Her working with the mole in my business has me concerned.”
“I’ll make the contact in the morning, Sir.”
“Let me know what you find out.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Victoria boarded the shuttle and was steaming. “I should have killed the arrogant bastard!!” She looked at Desiree, “And why did you up and threaten him in a room full of security agents armed with blasters?!”
“I needed to take their attention away from you, Victoria! I saw in the pattern that you were considering doing something stupid and had to do something to stop you!!”
Victoria took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “I wanted so much to separate his head from his shoulders. It was all I could to do to keep that silly grin on my face going when I so wanted to kill him.”
“Did you consider while you were thinking about killing him that if you did attack him and you were killed, all of the members of our and Leonidas’ crew would have lost their retirement pay?”
Victoria’s shocked expression showed she didn’t, “I forgot all about that!” Victoria shook her head, “I’d never want that to happen!”
“Then in the future, keep it in mind and don’t forget it!” Desiree said sternly.
Victoria fell back in her chair, “Thank you, Desiree. I just want to kill Serge more than I can say.”
“You’ll have a chance someday when he least expects it. For now, we need to keep a low profile.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“Stay in character and go party hard somewhere. I’m reasonably certain that Serge will still have us followed depending on whether or not Leonidas can convince him otherwise. However, I must commend you on your performance. Serge thought you were as dumb as a stump and even that Security Chief didn’t pick up on your hatred. Are you ok?”
Vitoria sighed heavily, “I guess. I keep trying to tell myself that as far as Serge is concerned, getting me killed wasn’t personal. I was a paid for asset and he’d use me the way he felt would help him the most.”
“Victoria, he would have had to tell you someday what was going on.”
“Why?”
“Because you are his closest living relative, according to the world at large. One day he would have to trot his real beneficiaries
out to leave them his estate. That’s when you would have found out.”
Victoria’s eyes widened and then immediately narrowed, “Desiree, do you not think he would arranged a couple of accidents to remove me and my sister before that became an issue? I suspect that’s part of the reason he sent all of us on that Starliner together along with my nephew. He was hoping that pirate would kill us one by one to force his twin to reveal the safe combination.”
Desiree stared at her and blew out a hard breath, “You’re right. And when the wrong combination was given, he would have continued killing your family thinking the twin was lying. He was hoping that pirate would have killed all of you and that would remove you as a future problem. If it didn’t happen this time, he would have arranged it again.” Desiree lifted her communicator, “Jack, get the ship ready to exit the planet.”
“Wait a minute!” Desiree turned to Victoria. “If we’re supposed to be in role, how can we just pick up and leave when this planet has so many party spots calling our name?”
Desiree smiled, “Now that is incredibly, outrageously audacious! Jack, cancel that order and tell the crew they are being given shore leave.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS, CAPTAIN!?”
“Yes, I am. Choose the crewmen to go with Victoria and me and give the others shore time.”
“How long will we be here?” Jack asked.
Desiree looked at Victoria, “The Cartian Insurance Policy is good for a week.” Victoria shrugged and Desire smiled, “Six days, Jack. Let the crew know.”
“Sir, Traffic Control will insist that some of their security guards go down with you and be present wherever the two of you go. They will have to pay off if something happens to you and I’m sure they will make sure nothing does.”
“That makes it even better. Romanov will be crapping bricks hoping that nothing does happen to us while we’re here. Set it up and make another reservation for the restaurant we just left.”
“Yes, Sir, if you say so.”
“I say so, Jack.” Desiree looked at Victoria and saw her smiling, “I think this is a great idea, Victoria. He’ll be really glad to be rid of us by the time we leave.”