Blue Maneuver

by Linda Andrews

  But I don’t know about sitting here like ducks waiting to be roasted.

  “Yes.” Tobias winked at me. “Your plan is brilliant.”

  My plan is insane. Forty seconds. My heart beat competed with the rumble of thunder to fill the silence.

  Tobias clasped my hand and stroked the back with his thumb.

  Pleasure nipped at my mounting fear. Thirty-five seconds.

  Fabric rustled in the backseat.

  “I never did look up douche.” Tobias grinned at me. “Maybe you could tell me what it means.”

  Thirty-two seconds.

  Wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, I blinked. What was that supposed to mean? Were we going to die?

  Thirty seconds.

  Shards of glass glittered as they fled in front of tongues of fire. They sailed around us but didn’t even nick the car’s silver paint.

  “She’s early.” I shouted above the roar of wind carrying twisted metal over the hood.

  Tobias started the ignition. “As I said, APres Guarda’s countdowns are not accurate.”

  Nausea burned at the back of my throat. He knew. While I’d been helping these people thinking I had all the time in the world, he’d known. I tucked my shaking hands between my trembling thighs. Crimson flowers blossomed around us as another explosion rocked the building. “Thanks for not telling me.”

  My stomach growled.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll feed you.” He shifted the car into gear and followed the truck out of the inferno. “I picked up your favorites while I was out.”

  The passengers in the bed watched the show without expression.

  Holy Toledo! Did this kind of thing happen to them often? “I’ll have to find them homes.”

  Tobias nodded and turned onto another side street. “After they’ve been debriefed and double-checked for any tracking devices.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance. The burning building filled my side view mirror.

  I combed my fingers through my hair and relaxed against the seat. “At least it’s over.”

  “For now.” Tobias pulled to the side of the road as the fire truck trundled past.

  “Uh, Mistress.” Springs creaked as a minion dug his thick fingers into my cushion.

  My seatback jiggled right before his profile appeared in my peripheral vision. “It’s Rae, not mistress.”

  He nodded once. “Before you arrived, Mistress Torunn authorized Operation Exposure to begin.”

  I’d heard that name before. Goosebumps rose on my skin. Ulla had gloated about it. “Do you know what it is?”

  The minions wagged his head and stared at the floor. “No, Mis—Rae.”

  Aw snap. Ignoring the pounding starting inside my skull, I forced my jaw to relax. Why had I trashed Ulla’s cell. I could practically hear the sadistic witch cackling from her gooey grave.

  “Double time it, guys. We’re not off shift yet.” Tobias’s hands strangled the steering wheel as he stood on the accelerator. “We’ll be at Beta station in twenty minutes.”

  “It could be all over by then.” Adrenaline warmed me and focused my thoughts. He had a phone. Lurching forward I patted his hip and down his thigh.

  He squirmed toward the door. “What are you doing?”

  “I need your cell.” I lunged for his opposite pocket.

  He hissed and tried to cross his legs. “It’s in my breast pocket.”

  My greedy fingers raced up his belly to delve into his pocket. I brushed his cell before plucking it out. “Show me what operation Exposure is.”

  My eyes devoured the words as they rushed across the screen. Fear and disbelief tumbled through me. Cold sweat popped out of my forehead. Oh man, oh mama. This was worse than I thought.

  “Well?” Tires screeched as we took the turn ahead.

  “APres Guarda is kidnapping the UED’s protected witnesses and placing them in secure locations to be discovered in all their scaly and alien glory in the morning.” I glanced at the clock. Four o’clock which was seven on the East coast. I stomped on the floorboard on my side, begging the car to go faster. “Given that it’s Friday, banks and credit unions might already have opened their vaults.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Don’t worry, Rae.” Tobias took the turn into the industrial park on two wheels. Dawn bruised the horizon but the storm clouds creeping from the west threatened to choke off any chance of light. “The UED has managed to contain worse threats than exposing the existence of aliens on Earth.”

  I squeezed the ‘oh snap’ handle above the door so hard I swear I left behind fingerprints. “You don’t understand.” I glared at the clock. On the East coast it was seven-thirty-three and someone showing up at work was about to get a nasty surprise. “These are aliens in secured locations. The US government is going to sit up and take notice.”

  My mind grappled with the possibilities. I would feel better knowing where they intended to stash the extraterrestrials. Maybe. Unfortunately, Tobias’s phone didn’t have enough memory to download all the files, let alone sift through the information. I’d have to wait until we reached the base.

  In the back seat, Minions One and Two sat as silent as stone gargoyles.

  Technician Minor alternated between stroking his moustache and fiddling with his cell. “Nothing is coming across the news channels.”

  I rolled my eyes. Could he be any more ignorant of American paranoia? “Do you really think there would be? The Feds aren’t about to let it slip that we’ve been invaded.”

  “You haven’t been invaded.” Tobias barreled through the four way stop. The car slowed as we approached the turn. “And anyone they do discover, we’ll get back.”

  Tobias cranked the wheel. Tires squealed. We slid around corner and up the curb before he corrected and brought the HHR back across the street into the right lane.

  “Like that’s going to help matters.” The seat belt bit into my hip and dug into my belly. Right and his maniacal driving was supposed to convince me that the situation was in hand. “First aliens show up in bank vaults, then they’re stolen right out from under Big Brother’s eyes. That kind of thing is liable to drive the US government right into the APres Guarda’s clutches.”

  Minor cleared his throat. “I have sent a high priority alert to all active UED stations. Personnel are standing by.”

  “I think you’re overreacting.” Tobias grunted as the car jumped the curb into the parking lot.

  “Not hardly!” When he hit a pothole, I bounced in my seat and my hair brushed the car’s ceiling. “The US government is in a precarious position. Between the wars, the religious crazies, the rising trade deficit, the sucky economy and the outrageous debt, Big Brother will make a deal with the devil to retain military and technological superiority over our enemies. Tell me APres Guarda won’t promise them that in exchange for some secret pact.”

  Tobias tapped the brakes as we skidded around the corner of the building. “By galactic law, it’s illegal to give advanced technology to developing worlds.”

  “Yeah and the APres Guarda is so keen on following universal laws.” I poked the seatbelt release and almost lost a nipple as the car hungrily slurped up the strap. My heels restlessly tapped the floor boards.

  “The information you carry will go a long way to seeing those responsible punished.” Tobias stood on the brake, laying rubber on the black top behind us.

  I braced one hand on the dash to keep from rocketing through the windshield. He just wasn’t getting it. How could I make him understand? Resting my other hand on the automatic lock button, I waited for the car to shudder to a stop. “Even if you do manage to rescue the aliens, think about the consequences for the UED. Aliens in their protective custody have been kidnapped and exposed. Not many folks are going to trust you to keep them safe after that.”

  As soon as the stop threw me back against my seat, I thumped the locks and shoved the door open. Warmth seeped into my cold toes as I leapt out. Dashing around the ticking hood, I ran for the entra
nce.

  “Rae!” Tobias’s boots rasped the asphalt as he chased me.

  I halted before I plowed through the glass doors and yanked on the handle. On the first jerk, metal clicked against metal.

  “You need a code to open the doors.” Tobias huffed to a stop next to me and aimed his key fob at the lock.

  I tugged on the handle again and staggered back as the door flew open. “Thanks.”

  I dashed inside then halted when the hallway branched. Which way? Left were doors and white walls. The view on the right was identical.

  Tobias grabbed my hand as he jogged by. “This way.”

  I jerked to the left then sprinted to match his long-legged strides. My pounding heart competed with the saw of my lungs for dominance of my hearing. God, I was out of shape.

  He led me right at the next corridor then tugged me through the first door on the left. Flat monitors striped the square room. On one, Kuma steered the truck down the street toward the building. The screen underneath it targeted each face in the cab as well as the bed. Small heads popped up on the monitor, key features and measurements were taken and the mainframe began searching for their identities.

  Tobias tugged me to the left. Three keyboards sat on a desk area. He jerked out a high back office chair. “Sit.”

  “Typing will take too long.” Shaking my head, I pulled free and walked to the bank of black boxes on the opposite wall. I laid my hand on one. Tingles raced down my arm and out my fingertips. “This way is faster.”

  The screens above the mainframe cleared off the alien writing and replaced it with the green graphic of the APres Guarda. Pages popped up only to be replaced less than a second later with another and another.

  There were so many documents. Too many. How were we to find the sites in time? I gritted my teeth. “Show me the sites selected for Operation Exposure.”

  Heat flared inside my skull. Raising my hand, I lifted it to my aching temples.

  “Even with your CeeBees, the file is too big for your brain to sort and digest at the same time.”

  Footsteps pounded behind me, followed by the rattle of plastic. I didn’t turn. Couldn’t really. My muscles had seized, locking me in place. The noise in my head had soared to the battle of the bongos.

  “By the Creator!” Awe tinged Minor’s voice. “She’s doing that by touch.”

  I blinked. The motion felt like sand paper against my eyes.

  “Where are the APres Guarda’s overseers?” Tobias brushed his fingers over my forehead.

  The contact whipped through me like cold fire. Uh-oh. The man usually was a toasty furnace. I must be getting sick. Well, too bad. A chill invaded my bones. I needed to see this through.

  “In interrogation rooms one and two.” Minor’s reflection ghosted through the blur of information flashing across the screen. Glass tinkled then water splashed.

  My nose twitched. Did I smell grape soda? My tongue felt like velvet in my mouth. Please let me have smelled grape soda.

  Wedging himself between me and the servers, Tobias raised a glass brimming with fizzy goodness. He brushed stiff plastic across my bottom lip. “I need you to drink this. It will help your muscles relax.”

  That would be good. Parting my lips, I latched onto the straw and inhaled. My tastebuds rejoiced in the sweet wetness.

  A whisper of movement swept across my consciousness.

  “That’s good. Drink it all.” Tobias swept my bangs out of my eyes. “Kuma, are the others secure?”

  A chair creaked and then keys clicked on the keyboard. In my peripheral vision, the screens changed. “I’ve locked them in the conference room. They’re taking turns washing up, changing clothes and eating.” Kuma’s soft baritone overrode the humming in the room. “I’m not sure about the pregnant one. From the way she clutches her stomach, I think she’s in labor.”

  I sucked air through the straw before spitting it out. Pages disappeared from my screen to drift through the surrounding monitors.

  “The others can tend her, if necessary. Start looking through the data for anything on Operation Exposure.” Tobias crouched down for a moment. When he straightened, he held an open two liter bottle of soda. Purple foam frothed to the top as he poured more into my glass. “Rae, can you move your free hand?”

  Pins and needles pricked across my skin. Shunting aside the pain, I managed to twitch my fingers. “Guess not.”

  Smiling, Tobias returned the bottle to the floor then aimed the straw at my mouth. “It’s enough. Stretch your fingers as far as you can. When you touch the mainframe, I need you to authorize Minor to search the WitSec files for those people in our custody. Can you do that?”

  How was I supposed to know? He had more experience with CeeBees than I did. But what the hey. “Sure.”

  “Good.” He tucked the straw between my lips.

  I greedily slurped up the liquid.

  Still holding the glass, Tobias moved behind me. His muscular chest flattened against my back while his free arm slipped around my waist. Cool breath washed down my neck and stirred my hair.

  Oh man, oh mama. The man felt good against me.

  Muscles flexed against my belly. “I’m going to move you.”

  “Hmm.” I murmured, draining the rest of the soda. Ignoring the desire crackling through my head, I focused on my free hand. I could now move it at the wrist. Yay me.

  He lifted me just enough so the pads of my feet still brushed the antistatic mat. In quarter inch increments, he moved me closer to the next computer tower.

  With my hand seemingly fused to the other mainframe, pain exploded in my shoulder joint. A moan scratched at my throat.

  “Do you need me to stop?” His fingers splayed across my ribcage while his thumb brushed the bottom of my breast.

  I really needed to get a padded bra. My tongue pushed out the straw. “No.” I panted through the fire consuming me. “I need to do this.”

  Everyone on Earth needed me to give Minor permission to find the aliens on Earth.

  Tobias’s growl rattled around my ribcage. “Tell me to stop before you pass out from the pain.”

  “If you get me more soda.” My fingertips brushed the black metal covering. Almost there. I eyed my shoulder. Son of a monkey’s butt! The thing felt like it was about to break off.

  “Now that your mouth is working, I’ll give you those weird chips you like.” Tobias eased me another inch.

  Tears sprang to my eyes right before my arm went numb. Was that a good thing or bad? I’d ask later. I hooked my fingertips to the edge of the server. “Got it.”

  Above the new mainframe, the monitor blanked for a minute then an image of North America popped up. After tossing a yellow bag at Tobias, Minor strode to the screen placed his hands on the edge of the map then spread them wide. The display ballooned across three other monitors, effectively dividing the continent into quadrants. Standing back, he removed the electronic tablet tucked into his waistband and tapped the screen. “Calling up all WitSec protectees now.”

  Using his teeth, Tobias ripped open the yellow Funyuns’ bag. He speared several rounds on his index finger and offered them to me.

  I lipped one before pulling it into my mouth. Mmm. Salty onions.

  Colored dots mushroomed on the map. Soon the smaller states on the East coast were completely obliterated. In the west, only half the states were covered. Holy Toledo! My jaw swung open. How many alien did the US have?

  Tobias laid two small rounds on my tongue. “Now show the ones away from their homes.”

  I crunched the chips as the dots disappeared from the map. My shoulder twitched then my toes. Praise Buddha, I was defrosting.

  Tobias fished out a few more rounds then twisted to stare at Minor. “Anytime now, we’re on a deadline.”

  And I’m hungry. I eyed the speared chips.

  Furrows appeared in Minor’s forehead and his black brows met above his nose. “I’ve called up the information, Colonel.”

  I leaned forward at the waist
and closed my mouth around the rings.

  Tobias whipped his attention back at me. Desire darkened his green eyes to the color of spring leaves.

  Shrugging, I pulled the Funyuns off his finger and munched. The chips practically dissolved after the second chomp. I swallowed what remained and licked the salt from my lips.

  Tobias stared at my mouth for a moment then shook himself. “So everyone is at home and accounted for?”

  He fished in the bag for more Funyuns. When his hand emerged this time, he held two rounds between his thumb and index finger.

  I opened my mouth and he set them on my tongue. This whole feeding me bit would be much erotic without the witnesses and the rampant hunger.

  “No one is outside their homes.”

  “Everyone’s safe.” Tobias knelt down, filled my glass then offered it to me. “You can let go of the terminal and drink. The overseers must have gotten the day wrong.”

  I shook my head. A thought niggled at the back of my conscious but wouldn’t come to the fore. “No. The day was on the cell. I pulled it up.”

  “Run it again, Minor.” Sighing, Tobias set the bag of chips on top of the computer server. “It is possible the mission was delayed.”

  The map blinked off then returned. No colored dots marred the surface.

  I glared at the screen and my palms itched. What was I missing? When I tried to lift my hand from the second server, it wouldn’t budge. So the CeeBees thought so too. But what did they know that I didn’t?

  “I’ve found something, Colonel.” Kuma spoke from the other side of the room. “I think it’s a list of targets.”

  The monitor in front of me blinked free of files before projecting one sheet of paper. I stared at the alien writing for a moment.

  Tobias whistled through his teeth. “You were right, Rae. The APres Guarda seems to be trying to exploit the United States’ vulnerability.”

  “And her allies,” Kuma placed his hand on the screen in front of me before sweeping it toward the quartered map of North America. The continent shrunk to include Western Europe and the Pacific Rim nations. Besides those in the US, cross hairs popped up in Britain, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and Australia. “Why would nations continue to ally themselves with the American’s unpopular agenda if she couldn’t promise to keep them safe?”