Jay shrugged. “I hear your warning, but you can trust me. You got a kid attached to one who can help me take care of them? I’ll need two for my research.”
Bryce pursed his lips. “The Blakey kid is pretty conscientious despite those ears of his. How about I throw in an exercise ball as a bonus? His gebbit is named Sam, by the way.” He pointed to a nearby cage where a brown, tan, and white gebbit wiggled an ear at him. “And that’s Gerty.” A nose wiggled and another gebbit hopped forward from behind Sam.
“It’s a deal.” Jay gathered up the two caged gebbits in one hand and a plastic ball in the other and started to whistle as he exited the lab.
***
Settling the gebbits in his lab, Jay contacted Tommie Blakey’s guardian to let him know Sam and Gerty were with him and ask if the kid could help with their care. He had cajoled Elise into providing him his own lab that included shiny new incubators, various computers, and a number of cabinets to store future medicines and equipment. It wasn’t large, but it was his. He examined the place with immense satisfaction.
Enthusiastically, he outlined his project to the senior Luttrell, garnering even more ideas on how to proceed with his experiment. He was on his way to grab something to eat when he saw Jacob walking with the commander and talking in a highly excitable manner.
“I can’t find Jennie,” Jacob was saying. They both stopped in the corridor to acknowledge him as he went to pass, but something told Jay to stop.
“What’s wrong?”
Elise looked worried. She glanced at her companion. “Jacob can’t locate Jennie.”
Just then, a plastic ball whizzed past his feet with a gebbit inside hightailing it in the direction of the husbandry unit.
“Oscar!” he shouted. “It’s Oscar.” He pointed at the speeding gebbit. “Stop that gebbit.”
The other two stared at him like he’d lost his mind.
Realizing they’d be no help, he raced after it and returned with an agitated animal still trying to run somewhere.
“Where’s Chrissy?” he asked, absently pulling out a treat from his pocket and stuffing it into the ball. The gebbit quieted as it nibbled on the snack.
“You talking to gebbits now, Doc?”
He glared at the man. “Does anyone know where Chrissy is?” He spaced out the words, heavily emphasizing each one.
“Chrissy is missing too?”
“I’d like to find her and ask why her gebbit is out running loose.”
Jacob snapped his fingers. “Dazz would know where they are.” He accessed his comm. “Alpha team leader report immediately to headquarters. Code red.”
Within minutes, the fiery hair of Razzle Dazzle Espirito came into sight as he jogged toward them.
Breathing heavily, he stopped in front of Jacob. “Alpha two reporting in, sir.” He bent over to catch his breath.
Jacob placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you or anyone on the team know where Jennie or Chrissy are?”
Dazz tapped his earbud. “Lexi, you seen Jennie or Chrissy lately?” He looked up. “Chrissy was going to the husbandry unit to exercise…” He glanced at the plastic ball with the munching gebbit inside. “… Oscar.” He frowned. “That’s him.”
Jay nodded. “So, where’s Chrissy?”
Dazz tapped the earbud again. “Lexi, organize a station-wide alert for Jennie and Chrissy. Inform me immediately if anyone spots them. Yes, yes, a total call-out. Homework can wait. Yes, I’ll cover it.”
Dazz heaved a deep breath. “We’ll find them, sir.”
***
Several hours later, the girls were still missing. By this time, kids and grownups from all over the ship were searching the corridors and crawling through conduits. Deuce and Richard stood with Jacob and Elise in her headquarters.
Jacob stared into the distance going over scenarios. “If they’re accidentally stuck in a conduit, the kids will find them.”
“If they’ve been kidnapped,” Richard added, “they still have to be on the station. No shuttles have left since they disappeared, although one is due for imminent departure. I’m told the captain is anxious to keep to his schedule.”
Turning to the group, Jacob asked, “But where are they? And who would want to kidnap them?”
“And why?” Deuce added.
Richard started to pace. “Since that broadcast, lots of Alysians are eager to spend big money to sponsor a Terran. It’s becoming a mark of prestige. A black market for Terrans is forming.”
“I ordered the Operations Center to stop all traffic,” Elise said, looking up from her comm. “Both to ships and Alysia.”
Deuce tapped Elise’s desk. “Chrissy is small enough to be anywhere, but Jennie needs something big to hide inside.”
“I have men and women thoroughly checking every unit on the space station,” Jacob said.
“If they went out an airlock, an alarm would have activated,” Deuce added as he fiddled some more with the comm array around his waist.
Elise winced. “Gads, that’s a grim thought.”
“No alarms so far,” Deuce informed Richard. “I’m going to check the shuttlebay one more time. If I were kidnapping someone, I’d want to get them off station as soon as possible. That means I’d hide them in the shuttlebay. They have some good–sized crates in there.”
Richard nodded. “Good idea. If they smuggle the girls onto Alysia, it will be impossible to find them there. Shuttlebay is a good choice to search again more thoroughly. I’ll go with you.”
Dazz showed up. Everyone spun around with the same desperate question on their face. Glumly, he shook his head. Shoulders slumped at the gesture.
“Shuttlebay it is.” Deuce strode out.
“I’ll stay here and monitor the Operations Center,” said Elise.
Richard sighed. “I need to contact Trace. Wait for me, Deuce. I’m coming.”
After notifying Trace, Richard entered the shuttlebay. A shuttle waited in the clamps ready to depart as soon as workers finished loading. One of the dock workers was arguing with a loader. Richard noticed Lexi following him, holding one of those crazy plastic balls with a gebbit inside.
“Do not let that animal get loose in here!” Richard said to her. He could only imagine that scenario on top of their current crisis. “You know kids aren’t allowed in here.” He started to shoo her out, but Deuce began arguing with the shuttle captain and their shouting escalated into pushing.
Richard moved in closer to investigate the problem. Lexi stayed with him, right at his heels.
“I lose money every minute I sit here waiting on this nonsense,” the shuttle captain shouted at Deuce. “I get my pay cut if I’m behind schedule. I need to get this cargo out.” He waved his arms about, getting red in the face.
Richard narrowed his eyes. Stacks of crates lined the shuttlebay—perfect for stashing someone Jennie’s size. He remembered recently hiding behind some during a firefight. But if the girls were here, finding them would be impossible.
While Deuce argued with the captain, Richard decided to walk along the crates, running a finger over each one. He had walked along one line almost to the shuttle and began heading back when behind him, he heard Lexi shout, “Stop!”
Surprised, he turned to see the gebbit having a fit.
“Check this one.” Lexi pushed the ball forward. The gebbit grew agitated, but when she moved it to another crate, it paused. She moved it back and the critter went crazy again.
“Open that crate.”
Her comment brought the two shuttlebay workers over in a hurry. “No kids allowed in here,” one yelled at Richard as he raced over. “Get her out.” He flapped his arms at them.
Leaving the shuttle pilot, Deuce moved in behind them and carefully drew a stun gun.
As Merek entered the shuttlebay, Richard pointed to the crate. “Open this one,” he ordered.
Merek searched the area for a pry bar while keeping an eye on the developing situation. In no time, he located one.
As s
oon as he saw Merek look away, one of the loaders tried to grab Lexi, but she kneed his groin and ducked under his arms and out of his grip.
He gasped in pain. “Damned kid,” he wheezed, bending over.
Richard gripped her arm and thrust her behind him. Deuce put his stun gun to the dock worker’s head. “I wouldn’t move if I were you. I wouldn’t even breathe heavily.” Glancing at the other, he added, “Same for you.”
With the two shuttlebay workers subdued, Merek raised the crowbar and pried off the front of the crate.
The two loaders exchanged looks of consternation.
When the lid popped off, there nestled in a bed of blankets slept Chrissy.
Lexi leaned forward, “Chrissy, wake up.” She dropped the ball next to her and the gebbit started a thrumming noise that filled the crate. But Chrissy didn’t stir, apparently deeply drugged.
Merek attacked the next crate. That proved empty, but a crate closer to the shuttle revealed the unconscious Jennie.
Richard notified Jacob who was already on his way. As soon as he arrived, he reached in to lift Lexi out while Deuce gathered up Chrissy and the gebbit.
“What’s happened?” Jennie croaked as she revived and leaned shakily against Jacob. She looked around, confused and disoriented.
“Is Chrissy alive?” Merek asked in a worried voice. Reaching to relieve Deuce of his burden, he felt for a pulse and put a hand above her mouth. “I feel her breath,” he said, relief in his voice. “She has a pulse, too.” His own breath whooshed out as he released anxiety.
“Thank Fate, she’s alive.” Richard swung around to glare at the two Alysians. “Gentlemen, I believe you have some explaining to do.”
His answer was two scowls. Shifting unexpectedly, the closest man made a desperate attempt to grab Deuce’s stun gun, but Deuce chopped his neck with the edge of his palm, and the criminal collapsed to the floor.
Smiling, Deuce wiped his hand across his matte silver pants. “Sometimes, I.N.Sys training comes in handy.”
Richard stepped toward the remaining conscious kidnapper. “I’d start explaining while breathing oxygen is still one of your options.”
Jacob and Merek pulled up a reviving attacker off the floor and handcuffed both of them.
Merek marched them off to the interrogation pod while Richard alerted Elise, and then Trace, to tell them the girls had been found alive, but it had been a close call.
Chapter 14
An Abrupt Departure
Elise whirled on Richard, fire in her eyes. “It’s unconscionable that Alysians could have kidnapped an innocent child and a vulnerable young woman.”
“I agree. But you can’t blame a whole planet for four greedy criminals.”
“Yes, I can! I want to talk to someone in charge. President Armstrong or that Shenji person. Someone who will get us off this station. Someone other than you.”
“Elise, I’m in charge. They can’t do any more than I’m doing—probably less.” She noticed the strong jaw clench in frustration. Well, she was frustrated with him as well.
“You report to Trace Walker.”
“In a sense, yes. We talk. He listens to me, but I don’t work for him. Trace runs I.N.Sys and has other responsibilities. A worldwide committee has been selected to handle your alien invasion, but you know how committees can be.”
“Whoever is in charge better…”
He held up a hand as she tried to interrupt. “Now, listen. What I proposed, and they agreed to, is to let your brother, Elija, and a hundred vetted stationers onto the planet and start developing the area around the mountain cabin. Meanwhile, we’ll pick a minimum of a hundred qualified stationers and find sponsors so they can immigrate to various parts of Alysia.”
“My brother? Elija’s not technically my brother.”
Richard’s eyes widened. “Your son?”
Scrambling to answer him, she said, “No, not that.”
“You could be twins.”
“He’s younger.”
Richard’s hands danced in the air. “Okay, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
Elise stepped up nose to nose with him. “You tell your committee that they would be wise to accelerate the process. I don’t want to resort to threats, but my fleet is capable of worse destruction than a little old comet. You do understand what twenty-eight armed ships can do to your world?”
A muscle jumped in Richard’s cheek. His face turned stiff as he held his breath. Letting out a gust of air, he said, “Oh, I wonder what weapons you really have. You seem intent on not letting us onto your ships to find out. What are you hiding?”
She felt her face heating up, fueled by fury. “Don’t try my patience, Director Steele—whatever you are director of. No one has clarified that point to my satisfaction.”
He blinked and stepped back. His face drained of color.
She’d hit a nerve.
Regaining his composure, he said, “Trace assured me the kidnappers would stand trial and be punished, as we need to nip any criminal activity in the bud. I understand your anger, but this isn’t my fault. I’m trying to help all I can.”
He heaved a sigh and stared at her, then said, “Maybe you and I need time apart to think over our relationship. Perhaps someone else would work out better as a liaison for your people. I need to go handle events downside, anyway, before they get out of control. If it makes you any happier, I’ll leave on the next departing shuttle.”
She watched him stiffly gather up his papers and march out, leaving her to regret her hasty words. She sank into her chair and wondered how she would function without him.
“Captain.”
She looked up into Carter’s intense face, peering in at her from the open entrance. “Sorry to bother you, but I have some ideas I want to talk over.” He gazed after Richard’s departing back.
Gathering her wits, she motioned him inside. “Any ideas would be appreciated. I’m fresh out. Come in and close the door after you, please.”
Complying, he closed the panel, tucked an electronic tablet under his arm, dragged over a chair, and tabbed open the device. He checked notes. “I propose we work through Deuce and set up a facial recognition screening system for anyone coming and going through the shuttlebay. Deuce may appear eccentric, but he has skills and contacts that are important. Those criminals killed the food delivery workers coming up from Alysia and assumed their identities. Once on board the space station, they grabbed the girls and would have gotten away with the kidnapping because no one expected it. Never in a million years did Deuce, or anyone, suspect Alysians would smuggle out Terrans. Also, Deuce is security. You can’t blame Richard.”
“Facial recognition?” The idea startled her.
Carter grinned. “You heard me say that, huh? You know I’m good with tech. I’ve been working on a facial recognition system for my robots. Doing a stand alone would be easy.”
“We’d need twenty-eight—one for each ship.”
“Cake.”
“Can we offer anything to help the Alysians?”
“You still want to help them? Even after the kidnapping?” Carter’s raised his eyebrows.
“Like Richard said, four greedy criminals don’t add up to a whole planet.”
He gazed at her, his eyes narrowing. “Would you really order the ships to fire on them?”
“My threat to nuke them isn’t very valid. I realized that as soon as I said it. We didn’t travel all this way to destroy the one habitable planet we find. My goal is to live there. Carter, it’s beautiful and green and alive. But Richard doesn’t need to know I feel that way.”
“And right now, it’s got widespread pollution. All the same,” he wiggled a bit in his chair and tapped the device again. “Jimbo has an assistant, Megan, who is brilliant, and she has blueprinted a CO2 scrubber and air cleaning system. It’s several stories high and expensive, but it’ll clean the atmosphere over a large area. Set a few of those around at strategic spots, and the environment would be a lot cleaner. The k
nock to the planet’s axis we can’t fix, but it has benefitted a number of regions. Jensen Dane has been doing a geological study, now that we are in orbit, and he has less navigation duties. Take a look at it. Alysia’s axial shift has improved the weather in the area we were allocated.”
“I’ll bring Deuce and mention it. I want you to join me and explain your ideas to him.”
“What about Director Steele?”
She looked away. “He’s leaving the station for awhile.”
Carter leaned in. “Elise, don’t make the same mistake the captain made with me. Sometimes, you need to listen to your heart. You can have both worlds if you really want them.”
“I don’t know how to stop him, Carter.”
Rubbing his face, Carter answered, “Just say, ‘Don’t go. It’s all Elise needed to say to me… but, she didn’t.”’
***
She thought about it, but she couldn’t bring herself to beg Richard to stay. Instead, she waved goodbye as he left with Megan Jenkins and her ideas on how to clean up the atmosphere. Joining them, Elija and fifty vetted stationers boarded the first shuttle where they headed toward a place for Terrans in the Diechwrathe Mountains where they would build a home. Elija insisted on calling the area the Homestead.
It’s going to open up more room on the station, she thought. The idea of a virus coming onto the station worried her.
Watching the shuttlebay doors close with finality brought heartache, and her eyes blurred as she stumbled from the departing shuttle that carried Richard away. She’d vowed to be stronger than the first Elise. As a child, she’d watched the original Elise return to the arms of Dr. John Luttrell over and over. As she grew up, she deliberately limited contact with Luttrell’s clone, not wanting to repeat the mistake. But right now, she needed Jay’s arms around her and his reassuring voice in her ear. So many times, while they were children growing up together, he had comforted her. She felt herself falling into her mother’s trap, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Groping her way to the new Medlab and the comfort of her childhood friend’s embrace, she fretted that she, too, might come to regret her action, but right now she needed him.
Somewhat Alien: The Station (Terran Trilogy Book 2) Page 10