Gideon held up his finger to silence her, placed a hand on each of her shoulders, and looked directly at her. “Prove me wrong.”
The docking bay doors opened. Gideon grabbed her hand and smiled as people cheered for them. He pulled her onto an open docking bridge, causing her to take a stutter step.
Nora’s head bounced around, taking in the sights and watching other couples rushing about the Ekahau space station, heading straight for the loading ramp for the space cruise liner. Virtual confetti landed around her, and she put her hand out as a holographic butterfly landed in her palm.
“Uh, Nora, smile and act surprised,” Gideon said out of the corner of his mouth.
Nora gave a smile that turned into a grin from ear to ear once they reached the boarding ramp.
Hovering scanners came down and scanned their eyes to verify their identities and relayed the information to the datapad the cruise greeter was holding. They were lucky that Nora’s AI body could fool a scanning system.
“Mr. and Mrs. Gideon and Nora Tucket from the Science Division of the OTKE Corporation. Congratulations on your marriage. Are you two excited for your honeymoon?” said the greeter with a flair.
Gideon knew this was the moment of truth. They must succeed here or crash and burn.
“Well, I declare, honey,” Nora said, smacking Gideon in the chest, “do you see the size of that ship?”
His mouth fell open as Nora smiled with great enthusiasm at him. The over-the-top old Southern United States accent threw him off.
“I…ah—”
“It would appear that my husband is as excited as a possum eatin’ a sweet tater.”
The ship’s greeter bounced in joy. “I love it when couples are excited.”
“Y’all can bet that we’re excited and can’t wait for some alone time. Work has us busier than a moth in a mitten. Ain’t that right, honey?”
Gideon turned to face Nora, who had her hands behind her back and was smiling at him as she rocked back and forth.
“She’s right, you know. We got married, then there was an urgent work request, so this will be the first time we’ve had a chance to be alone.”
He returned her smile and was forced to take a step to balance himself when Nora threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Oh, you two are making me blush. Please continue onto the ship. You will find your personal ship concierge with your name above their head. They will cater to all your needs while on this voyage.”
“Honey, this is going to be an adventure. Let’s hurry now.” Nora grabbed Gideon’s hand and excitedly pulled him toward the ship.
They held hands as they reached the entrance tube and boarded the platform that would levitate them down the tube and through the disinfecting gases before allowing them to enter the liner.
Nora crossed her arms and looked at Gideon.
“Fine, that look is quite familiar to me. I owe you an apology,” said Gideon. “You proved me wrong back there, and I’m sorry.”
Nora dropped her arms. “Apology accepted. We will keep up the act when in the company of others.”
They both watched the end of the tube coming up, and the sounds of tropical music grew louder.
“I will say, though, the kiss was a really nice touch. A lot of emotion behind it,” Gideon said with a grin.
Before they reached the end of the tube, Nora turned to Gideon. “That wasn’t acting.”
Gideon wanted to say something, but Nora rushed off the platform. He watched her walk over to another ship greeter and interact with her. He smiled when it occurred to him she used a contraction in her unexpected statement—something AIs normally don’t do.
“Darlin’, wait for me,” yelled Gideon, stepping off the platform, waving with a renewed interest in getting to know Nora better.
Gideon walked up to her and put his arm around her waist. Nora looked at his hand on her hip, turned, and gave him a wink.
“Honey, you need to move a little faster if you plan on keepin’ up with me.”
“Sorry, I was admiring you from afar.”
They made eye contact and held it for a few seconds.
“Well, I assume you two are eager to get to your room. Over to your right by the ela-tubes you will see some people with blue coats. You will find your concierge over there.”
“Much appreciated,” said Gideon, taking Nora’s hand and leading her over.
They quickly found their concierge. He was a dark-skinned man with a trim gray beard and bald head.
“Mr. and Mrs. Tucket, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Please follow me this way,” said the concierge, leading them onto one of the ela-tubes, which moved up, down, and sideways as it quickly brought them to their floor. The door slid away to reveal a grand hallway with three doors.
“Your room is on the left. One of the most private of rooms.”
The room door slid open, and the concierge waved them to enter.
Gideon whistled as he stepped in. The room was huge, with an open second floor. The entire ceiling and outside wall were one-way glass. You could be anywhere in the room and look into space.
“This is some room. A lot more than I was expecting,” said Gideon.
“I’m told your corporation upgraded your stay as a thank you for your hard work.”
“I’ll have to remember to thank them.”
“The room AI will cater to your every desire, and I’m also available should you need anything.”
“Honey, it looks like we’re being treated like royalty,” said Nora.
“We do our best, Mrs. Tucket. Tomorrow night is the Honeymoon and Lovers banquet, and a table has been reserved in your name. Feel free to wander the ship and enjoy all it has to offer. Again, you can call upon me at any hour should you need anything.”
“And whom should I call for?” asked Nora.
The concierge walked to the door, exited into the hallway when the door slid open, and turned around to face them.
“You may ask for me by name: DeMarcus Saint. Have a pleasant trip.”
Gideon and Nora both looked at each other as the door closed.
“It would appear we found our contact with the divine name,” said Gideon.
“That would make sense. What do we do now?”
“Explore the ship as giddy lovers.”
“Understood. Explore, take inventory, and plan for all possible scenarios,” said Nora.
“I was thinking more like swimming, eating, games, and more kissing, but I guess that works too,” mumbled Gideon.
“Did you say something?”
“Just agreeing with you, dear. Let’s go explore the ship.”
An owl-crossed woman with beautiful blue and gold feathers covering one side of her face watched from the balcony as people entered the cruise liner. She was a descendant of someone from the old gene wars when races created humanoid and animal hybrids.
A small holo-camera hovered near her and zoomed in on each passenger. She shook her head in amazement that people would spend tens of thousands of credits to see a bunch of giant bacteria that look like pigs jump into a wormhole.
A ding brought her out of her thoughts about the stupidity of people, and she accessed her internal data relay with the camera. Not only was the camera taking an image of each person boarding, but it was alerting her when a person of interest was identified. This time it alerted her to a tall, blonde female with a taller, well-built man. The camera AI identified her as Nora from the OTKE corporation. Fredrick had informed all of his operatives to be on the lookout for Ryan Hunt, Dr. Katalina Winslow, and Nora.
The woman placed a small disk on her non-feathered temple to raise a secure communication connection.
“Reader, this better be worth my time,” said Fredrick.
Reader could hear by hi
s tone that he was still angry with her. She had overlooked the assassin blade that Lord Devyn had gifted to Ryan. The same blade that eventually killed Mr. Jingles. She was lucky Fredrick had not killed her, but keeping as far away from him as possible probably helped. Then again, she was now stuck with all the boring and low-level assignments.
“Sir, Nora from OTKE has boarded the Honeymoon and Lovers cruise, which is destined to see giant Tardigrades in the remote Karyot system of Morto.”
There was a long pause that made Reader look around for an assassin.
“That is excellent news, Reader. So, they have decided on a stealth approach to rescue Commander Seymour.”
“Sorry, sir. I’m not following.”
“Oh, you will. Everything is falling into place, and I believe I also have an idea of how to lure Miss Van Buuren out of hiding. I want you to head back to your quarters and wait for further instructions. I will have my assistant contact you with the details.”
“Yes, sir. I will wait for further orders.”
“And Reader.”
“Yes.”
“Fail me again, and you will get added to the naughty list.”
Fredrick dropped the communication before she could reply. She had to make sure this went correctly because death would be better than ending up on that list.
Chapter 6
Eyeball and Chaos
Ryan followed Kat onto the streets of Diero, and he smiled when he felt the warm heat hit him. The thoughts of trips to Florida flooded his head like the last time he was here, except for some noticeable differences. This time the organized chaos of people and cargo moving along the streets was replaced with emptiness as they moved deeper into the town. Anyone they did run into rushed by them with a look of concern on their face.
Kat tapped Ryan on the chest to break him from his trance. He nodded, and they headed toward Eyeball’s shop—or pawn store as Ryan thought it to be.
The shop had an open front door and no visible windows. It was made of some unknown weathered metal with a virtual hologram sign above the store that kept changing into pictures or words in a variety of alien languages and symbols.
Eyeball was in the usual place behind the counter, covered in a large greenish robe and fiddling with something. A small grouping of eyes on stalks shot from under his hooded robe to look in all directions, making Ryan smile. The C-Tecs always amazed him. Each one was unique, and you never knew what surprises they held. The first time he met Eyeball he was startled when the eyes shot out from under the robe’s hood. This time, he was ready for them.
A few eyestalks turned to look at them, while the others moved to focus on what Eyeball was working on. “Dr. Kat and Mr. Hunt, how glad I am to see you again. I like the purple hair stripe and glove – a color I’ve not seen you wear before, Dr. Kat.”
“Glad to see you too, my friend. I’m expanding my color palette, and I think I’m liking the purple, but will probably go back to the red color tomorrow. How are things with you?” asked Kat.
“Keeping busy. I’m glad to see Mr. Hunt is still alive.”
“I do my best to keep in one piece,” said Ryan.
Eyeball snickered. “You’re modest, Mr. Hunt. You’re making a name for yourself. Killer of the bounty hunter Larnex, took down Mirt in a gunfight, killed a Woland ambassador in hand-to-hand combat, defeated green-blooded enhanced creatures, rescued the vampiress Victoria Van Buuren, and outwitted the mercenary leader Fredrick LaRue. Based on that, your name is starting to carry some weight, let’s say, in darker places.”
Ryan looked at Kat, not knowing what to say.
“Most of that is not known to anyone,” said Kat.
“Information has ways of making it to my ears. Shall we move on to you and some rumors about energy manipulation?”
Kat’s face went pale. “I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Eyeball shook his metal index finger at her. “Now, now. We’ve been friends far too long. I know when you’re deceiving me, but I will give you some advice. In the future, you may want to make sure you kill the people you use your power on.”
The last person Kat hit with her innate energy blast was Vicki, and Ryan stopped Kat from killing her.
Kat slowly turned to Ryan and stared at him.
“No worries, Dr. Kat, your secret is safe with me. What brings you to my establishment this day?”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Kat said to Ryan, then turned to Eyeball. “We need some information about a person who may have come through Diero.”
Kat stretched out her non-gloved hand, and a small screen appeared above it with Commander Tucket’s brother’s photo on it.
“Well, that’s some cool new tech,” said Ryan, happy to change subjects.
“I had it installed last week. So far, it’s been extremely helpful.”
“Hmmm, I may have to think about that one. Maybe get—”
Ryan stopped as two eyes of the eyestalks kept switching back and forth, watching him and Kat.
“You seem a lot more comfortable with each other since our last discussion.”
“Never mind us. Do you know anything about this guy?” asked Kat.
“Yes, I can provide information, but there is always a cost, and I sense that payment is what I detect in Mr. Hunt’s backpack.”
“It is,” said Ryan.
“Then I agree to the terms. What does this one do?”
Ryan reached around and brought out a small handheld game. The last time they were here, they traded information for a hangman game.
“This one has a creature shaped like a cheese wheel. You need to maneuver it through a maze, eating up food while avoiding ghostly creatures bent on stopping you.”
“Sounds intriguing,” said Eyeball. A metallic hand shot from under his robe, grabbed the handheld game, and pulled it back into hiding.
Ryan laughed. “It amazes me that you find those things interesting. I thought everyone would be into some type of super virtual reality system by now.”
“Seriously?” said Kat, looking at Ryan. “Please tell me you’re not one of them.”
“One of what? We had virtual reality way back in my first go around in life. It was a lot of fun. You felt like you were experiencing the moment.”
“Is that why you won’t discuss certain things about us? You’re into Virtuals?” exclaimed Kat.
Ryan took a step back and put his hands up. “Whoa, whoa there. Let’s calm down a second. I’m not into anything. I just liked killing zombies and swinging swords. What are you talking about?”
“Oh, ah, never mind,” said Kat, her face turning red.
Kat and Ryan looked back at Eyeball, who now had four eye stalks up close looking at them. “Please continue, I normally don’t get this type of drama on Diero.”
“Someone care to explain?” asked Ryan.
“Mr. Hunt, I blame Dr. Kat for not explaining this to you. Virtual reality is pretty much banned across most planetary systems except for pleasure places.”
“Say what?”
“I guess I should have mentioned that,” said Kat. “Virtual reality became so lifelike and real, a few hundred thousand people died in their homes hooked to the devices. Their minds believed they were eating, drinking, sleeping, and interacting with people and they failed to realize they really weren’t, and they died. Also, some people got addicted to Virtuals, which are pretty much virtual prostitutes.”
“Really. You thought I was into virtual women?”
“It would explain some things.”
Ryan folded his arms and glared back at her.
“Fine. We’ll add this to the other things we need to discuss later,” said Kat, crossing her arms.
Ryan put his arms back down and focused on Eyeball, who now had six eyestalks looking at them. “Now, back to business. What inform
ation do you have on the guy?”
Eyeball’s eye stalks retracted. “The gentleman in question came by about a month or so ago. He was looking for a woman who had come through here a few weeks before he arrived. I recall the woman. She was middle-aged and inquisitive. She was a writer chasing down odd rumors and was asking questions I could not answer, so I gave her some recommendations.”
“What was she asking about?” asked Kat.
“She was interested in cargo deliveries rumored to be delivered to somewhere in uncharted space. She didn’t have any coordinates or additional information she wanted to share.”
Kat and Ryan looked at each other as they pondered the information. Eyeball took the opportunity to shuffle over to another workbench, grab something, and come back.
“I can already guess your next question, Mr. Hunt. What happened to the woman and the gentleman I’m speaking of?”
“Yeah, good guess,” said Ryan.
“I referred them to the Ombroso transport depot on the Rogue Planet Perdita. If anyone knew, it would be someone from there.”
“Why them?” asked Ryan.
“It makes sense,” said Kat. “The Ombroso transport depot is an independent place to hire transports, pilots, and people with unique skill sets. More organized, but rougher than Diero, but that is the place to go if you want to hire privateers. Plus, most of the pilots have traveled to a variety of worlds, seen things, and have a lot of information…for the right price.”
“I guess I know where we’re off to next,” said Ryan. “Hey, that looks like my hangman game you’re holding. What did you do to it?”
Eyeball held up the game that now had wires connected all around it and two small additional boxes.
“I improved it. The game now—”
Eyeball stopped as two men walked into the building and stood behind Ryan and Kat. One was a human, and the other a Chamai with half his face covered. Both wore multiple layers of clothing and had las-rifles unslung and pointed toward them.
The Chamai looked around, then waved his hand over the wall near the door to close it.
Second Life of Mr. Hunt: Book 3: Failover Page 6