"Are you really that stupid?" Damien asks. "They have artificial gravity simulators on the space station."
"Oh. That would have been cool. I could have done some super flips while flying through the air."
Damien takes the other bottle of tequila away from him. "I think you've had enough to drink, buddy."
"So who is this inquisitor?"
"Don't know yet. Seth didn't give me a name. Whoever he is, I suggest you don't make mention of being a M.A.G.E or an escaped criminal."
"Fine." Byron says. "When are we going on this little mission?"
"In three days. Don't worry. Space transports are the safest form of transportation available."
"Is that why that one crashed?" Byron asks.
"There was no one in it, stupid."
"Exactly. What if there had been?"
Damien rolls his eyes. "This is going to be a long mission."
* * *
"Niko, please come in here with me. We need to go over some details for the mission."
Isidore puts the remote control down and goes into Blice's office. He looks down at the floor, not wanting to risk angering him. This is the first time he's talked to him directly in a while and Isidore doesn't know what kind of mood he's in today.
"I will be in this office the entire time you are in space. I will have direct communication with you through this." Blice puts a watch around Isidore's wrist.
Isidore winces as something pricks his skin. "Is it supposed to hurt?"
"Just temporarily. It is connecting to your nerves and veins in your wrist."
"Oh God, Blice. It burns."
"It's okay." Blice says. "It will go away in a few seconds. This way I can continually monitor your vital signs and transfer information to your microchip without any delay. Feel better yet?"
Isidore holds up his wrist and looks at the tiny screen. "Yeah. It's okay."
"Good. I have one too." Blice holds out his arm to show him. "They are directly synced to each other. No one else has one like this. No amount of interference can get in the way of one of us communicating with the other." He turns to the computer and opens a program. "Check it out."
Isidore looks at the screen where all of the information is displayed: his pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar, oxygen levels, brain functions, temperature, and all the details of his processor and microchip. "Impressive."
"This way I will know if something is going wrong at the exact moment it does." Blice takes his hands. "I want you to be safe, okay? I mean that. I realize that you probably don't believe me, but I'm telling the truth. There's really not much more I need to tell you to prepare you. You will go up in a transport and it will honestly be really uneventful. Once you land inside the space station, you will be greeted by the T.I.M.E.s there and your work will begin. I will be talking to you the entire time and walking you through the process so there's nothing you need to worry about. Oh, and one more thing. You are the captain of this mission. What you say is law while you are up there. I spoke with the technology department and we all agreed that you can do this. Damien and whoever he brings will be under your command. Can you do that?"
Being in command of Damien? Yeah, he can do that. "Yes, Blice."
"Also, here is your revolver. You are to keep this on you at all times just in case. We're not taking any chances."
"Thank you." Isidore says.
Blice flips through a red book on his desk. "I think it's time I tell you of your secondary objective while you are at the space station. I don't like it, but Damien is in charge of W.A.N.D. so I really don't have much of a say. While you are staying at the space station, you will have your own room for a week. You are to investigate the problems, try to find a trace of this Inquisitor Dark, and impregnate as many T.I.M.E. women as you can."
Isidore looks up at him. What did he just say? Is this some kind of joke? "Excuse me?"
"You need to pass your DNA on to as many T.I.M.E.s as you can that way we can have more with your features and similar specifications."
So he wasn't joking. Well, this seems absolutely awful. "Do I have to?"
"If it was up to me, I would say no. However, I have no say in the matter. My father is siding with the Outlander Force so Damien gets to control that part of the operation."
"Blice . . . I've never had sex with . . . actual humans or things like humans." Isidore says.
"I know. Now go into your bedroom."
"Why?"
"Just go into your bedroom and you'll see." Blice says with a smile.
Isidore obeys and dreads what kind of horror is waiting for him behind that door. He closes he eyes and turns the doorknob. The door swings open and someone calls to him.
"Hello, Isidore."
His eyes flash open to see Clara sitting on the edge of his bed. "Clara?"
"I came to give you some good luck before you go off and leave us down here."
Blice shuts Isidore's door and goes down the hallway. "I'm leaving for a while, Niko. I'll be back in a few hours. I have some errands to run."
Isidore can't take his eyes off of Clara and he bites his lip to distract him from the growing arousal that is trying to consume him. He has to stay strong and not give in, not that he actually wants to. Computers don't actually want to be with women, do they? No. They don't. He's only going to talk to her. "Hi, Clara. How are you doing?"
She goes to him and pulls him to the bed. "Lonely."
"Why are you lonely?"
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." Her hands on his hips aren't helping the situation. "Um . . . so Blice knows you're here?"
"He wanted me to come and teach you some things."
Isidore's breathing quickens. "What kind of things?"
"About your secondary objective."
Not this. Anything but this. This is Blice trying to get him to disobey. He specifically forbade Isidore sleep with human women then he brings one to his bedroom and leaves? It's all a dirty trick. But . . . Clara's smile and the tiny specks of gold in her pastel green eyes draw him in and comfort him. "I don't know what to do."
Clara kisses him, her warm lips against his, then removes his shirt. "Make love to me however you feel is right."
Blice is going to kill him. Or is this part of Blice's plan to get him to carry out what Damien needs him to do for W.A.N.D.? But at this point, he doesn't care. He needs her with the same passion and intensity that he ever needed Vanessa. Clara's soft hands are warm as they move over his bare chest and down to his pants.
Isidore pushes her back onto the bed and crawls on top of her. He breathes in her fragrance, the sweetness of vanilla and apples. His hands tremble as he touches her face and traces her pink lips. He unbuttons her blouse and stares at her breasts in the satin bra. What is he supposed to do with those?
Clara pulls off her blouse and unclasps her bra. "Do whatever feels right, Isidore."
"Clara . . . I don't know." Isidore removes her skirt and his eyes trace the curves of her legs and her hips. "I can't do this."
"What's wrong?"
Isidore stands up and turns his back to her. "I can't. Get dressed, please."
"Please."
"You should go." Isidore goes into the bathroom and locks the door behind him.
* * *
Isidore sits in the bathtub and lets the freezing water from the shower pelt against his skin. He didn't even bother to take his clothes off. He had to shock himself back into his senses. Every time this happens, he loses a part of who he identifies himself as. There is no way in hell he is going to be able to follow through with his secondary objective. He starts to shiver, but stays and holds his face in his hands. What will Blice do to him if he isn't able to complete the secondary objective? Then there's Damien. Isidore might be in charge, but Damien will take charge and Isidore can't go back to the abuse he suffered from him. He can't really make Isidore sleep with them, can he? He doesn't want to think about it.
"Niko, I'm home." Blice calls for him
from the hallway.
Perfect. This is just what Isidore needs right now. He goes against his better judgment and ignores him.
Blice knocks on the bathroom door. "Isidore? I need to talk with you."
Isidore turns the water off and finds a towel. He changes into some dry clothes and goes into the living room. "What do you need, Blice?"
"You look absolutely miserable. What happened to you?"
"Nothing."
Blice grins and crosses his arms. "What did you do while I was gone?"
Isidore doesn't return the smile. "Not much."
"Are you hiding something from me? Do we need to watch the footage your camera recorded?"
"Go ahead." Isidore says as he dries his hair with the towel. "You were trying to set me up for failing you, anyway." He follows Blice into the office and sits in the chair behind the desk.
Blice pulls up the program and starts watching. "You totally did her, didn't you? I knew you liked her." As he watches the footage, Blice smiles then his smile vanishes. "What . . . you didn't go for it? How could you just tell her to leave?"
"You told me not to sleep with human women. So I didn't."
Blice looks shocked. "I . . . thought for sure that you would. I wasn't going to be mad. I thought you liked her so I was trying to do something nice for you."
"It was nice to see her again. I didn't want to disobey you, Blice. Plus, I just can't do it. As much as I want to sometimes, I can't be with a human. I keep getting distracted by technology and I get scared." Isidore says.
Blice turns to him and takes his hand. "You do want to follow my orders, don't you?"
"Yes, Blice."
"Well, I have nothing to say besides thank you for obeying my orders. I could have sworn you would go for it, though. I'm worried about you."
"Why worry about me?" Isidore asks. "It's not like you've actually cared."
"But I have, Niko. I have." Blice says as he looks into Isidore's eyes. "Even when I did those terrible things to you, I still cared. You have to know that. I let you keep those memories you took off of my computer. I shouldn't have taken them from you in the first place. Go ahead. You have my permission to watch them all. I want you to know. It's too late for me to pretend that none of the bad times happened. They most certainly did. But I want you to know one thing. We had good times too. If we had been together in a different time, a different place, around different people, we could have been friends and nothing bad would have happened between us. I know you don't believe me when I tell you I did it to protect you from a much worse fate that my father would have put you through. That's fine. You don't have to believe me. If I was in your position, I wouldn't believe me either. When you leave this planet and go out there into space, just know that you have someone right here waiting for you to return safe and sound."
* * *
This is Isidore's first time on a space transport and he hates it. It's only been three minutes and he hates it with a passion beyond any emotion he has felt before. It's not that he hates the vehicle itself. If he was alone for a few minutes with it, he's sure they could get very close. The problem is more of who is in the transport with him. He's stuck in the middle between Damien who is flying the stupid thing and Byron who managed to sneak some tequila on here. Needless to say, it has been an agonizingly long three minutes.
"Are you ready for your secondary objective?" Damien asks with a grin and elbows Isidore in the side.
Byron shakes his head. "He doesn't even know what a woman looks like."
"Well . . . that's not true anymore." Isidore says.
Damien turns to him. "What?"
"My temporary administrator who took care of me after I got shot was in my bedroom. I, um . . . saw her naked."
"I'm so proud of you, man. You finally had sex that counts as sex." Byron holds up his hand for a hi-five, but Isidore only glares at him.
"No. I couldn't do it." Isidore says.
"Really? What is wrong with you?" Damien asks. "You had a naked woman in your bed and you told her to go home?"
"Yes. Why is that a bad thing? Just stop talking and leave me alone until we get there." Isidore pulls a blanket around him and stares out the window as they move farther from Earth, leaving behind all that he has ever known. Here he can say farewell to the pain, the memories, and the constant threat of not being adequate. Perhaps space is where he was always meant to be.
8
"There it is. Welcome to the space station. Sixty billion dollars, six years of labor, and help from two other countries." Damien says.
And to think that Blice spent more money keeping Isidore alive and replacing his damaged organs than was spent on this entire ship. That is both concerning and oddly touching. "Hey, Damien-"
"Yes. Congratulations. You are worth more than the ship. We all know it. Think that makes you special?"
"No." Isidore says.
"Good."
"Will you two stop?" Byron asks. "Let's land inside then go meet these computers."
Isidore puts his red sunglasses on and checks to make sure his watch is working. That was the longest ten minutes of his life. Now they have to spend an entire week here. Then he remembers his secondary objective. Well, instead of hell on Earth, this is hell above Earth.
"That's odd. The airlock is already down. They must have been waiting for us." Damien flies in and lands the transport smoothly like he has done this many times before.
The airlock activates behind them and they leave the transport. Isidore slips on his tan trench coat and looks around at the stark white emptiness. The immediate thing he realizes is the silence. Then the cold. He holds the blanket tightly around his shoulders until Damien takes it from him.
"What kind of Inquisitor needs to carry around a blanket? Man up, Isidore."
Isidore pouts. "You're a jerk."
"Get over it. Let's go introduce ourselves."
The automatic doors slide open and they walk down the entryway into the main hall. It's empty. The fluorescent lights flicker in the motionless air.
Isidore takes a few steps into the white room. "Hello? Is anyone here? I am Inquisitor Williams and this is Chief Outlander Investigator Montgomery. We found your transport after it crashed and we were sent to help."
When no one answers, Byron turns to Isidore. "Something's not right. Call it in, Isidore."
Isidore presses the blue button on his watch. "Blice, there's no one here."
"What do you mean no one there? There should be over a thousand T.I.M.E.s on board that ship."
"There's no one. Looks like it was abandoned a long time ago."
"Look around and see if they're in their rooms or something." Blice says. "I will be sending you a layout of the entire ship."
"Okay. Thanks." Isidore ends the call.
"Well, let's go look around the ship." Damien says. "This thing is huge, so don't get lost. Let's go down the first hallway on the right and see if there's anyone there. Lead the way, captain."
Isidore draws his revolver just to be safe. There is a feeling in the air that makes him want to turn and run back to the transport. It's a very tempting idea, but he has to continue with the mission. Isidore's boots splash in something on the floor. He stops. "Please tell me I just stepped in water."
"Not unless water is red now." Byron says.
"Oh God."
"That's blood." Damien says. "I guess there was an accident. Come on, no need to stay here."
Heavy footsteps echo in the hallway and they turn around with weapons at the ready. There's nothing. Only the sterilized white and gleaming metal. Raspy laughter scratches across Isidore's ears. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah. Please tell me that was one of you two." Byron says.
Damien shakes his head. "Just keep moving."
"Here's a door." Byron throws his weight against it. "It won't open. Isidore, you got that map yet?"
He checks his watch. "Not yet. I'm calling him back. Blice, pick up."
"What is it, Niko
?"
"Did you send that layout of the ship?"
"Sending it now. How are things looking? Tell me you found someone."
"There's no sign of anyone being on board this ship. Though, we keep hearing footsteps down the hallways after we go down them. Everything seems fine, except a puddle of what Damien thinks is blood. There's one door we can't get through, but I don't know how to open it. We're going to go look around some more. Damien, you . . ." Isidore suddenly feels very alone. Where did they go? "Byron? Damien!"
"Niko, what's wrong? What's happening?" Blice asks.
"They were right here with me and now they're gone."
"They probably went to search the ship. Calm down."
"You're right. I'm just freaking out." Isidore jumps when the previously locked door slides open and reveals a dark room. "The door just opened."
"Well, go inside."
"I'd rather not." Isidore says.
"Do it. It's not going to hurt you. I have to go tend to some stuff. I'll be back later. If anything happens, you hit the emergency button and it will sync to Damien and Byron's sensors as well as to the emergency system here in Paradise."
"I'm scared."
"There is absolutely nothing to be scared about. Okay? Trust me."
"Bye." Isidore ends the call and pulls up the tiny holographic map. This place is complicated. Hallways lead to other hallways, stairways going up multiple floors, tiny rooms in different sectors. The T.I.M.E.s could all be on the other side of a wall and they'd never know it. He closes the map and steps into the dark room.
It seems to be a restroom. He reaches over for the light switch, but the lights only momentarily snap then go black again. He takes a few steps into the large room. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He walks past a row of sinks and mirrors as a cold breeze tingles his skin.
Isidore spins around and aims his revolver at the darkness. There was a man there. He swears there was a face in the mirror over his shoulder. He takes a few deep breaths and makes his way back into the lit hallway. The fluorescent lights flicker and the footsteps approach him to the right. He grits his teeth and gathers the courage to look towards the sound. Nothing. The hallway is empty. It had to be Byron or Damien. Where are they? The silence is deafening and a chill runs up Isidore's spine. He repeatedly calls Blice until he answers.
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 33