“And then they’re on their own?”
“I guess. We could always look at getting them some security, or give them a few contacts they could call if things heated up again. But if someone ultimately wants them dead, it can happen fast. If they want to take that risk, then we can’t stop them.”
“But we need to make them aware of the dangers.” Molly qualified what he was saying.
He nodded. “Yes. And then let them make their choice.”
She turned to look to her left. “D’you think they’ll both want to go?”
“You’ve been enjoying having Paige around, eh?” Joel had noticed that the two women had been getting on really well. He knew that if it came to this, Molly would be sad to see her go.
Molly nodded, some of her bubbliness gone.
Joel wandered over to her and put his arms around her. Molly resisted at first, but then let him pull her close against his firm chest.
Wow, I think Joel has been working out more.
He has. He’s increased his gym time by 11% over the last week.
Must be getting focused on the tasks we have coming up. Heck, Oz, do you monitor everything in this place?
I get bored.
No sooner had she settled in to enjoying the hug than there were voices and a racket in the common area as the troops made their way through to the kitchen.
Molly pulled away, and Joel released her. “It’ll be okay. We just need to be clear about what they’ll be walking into,” he said again before busying himself with opening the pizza boxes.
“Something smells delightful in here!” Brock announced his arrival.
Crash was a step behind him, looking expectantly at the food laid out.
“Oh my gods, I love our pizza days!” exclaimed Paige as she too tumbled in through the door a moment later.
People started sitting down and helping themselves to food, chattering and laughing. Garet wandered in a minute later, not quite as exuberant but joining in nevertheless.
Molly noticed the difference in his demeanor. There was no way he was going to stay here and let this political thing lie, no matter what they said to him. She sighed, taking a bite of cheesy awesomeness into her mouth.
“You know how you can figure out where humans have been in the galaxy?” piped up Crash between mouthfuls. His question broke the strange hush that had settled when everyone started eating.
Joel looked over at him. “No. How?”
“Mm, I know!” Paige interrupted between chews. She cleared her palate a little before continuing. “It’s the trail of death and destruction they leave!”
Everyone laughed.
Molly was perhaps the only one who, deep down, actually thought that she might have been at least half right.
Crash shook his head.
“The politics?” Garet guessed. “But I think Sarkians are way worse, for the record.”
Crash shook his head again. “Nope.”
“Well, how then?” asked Brock, his curiosity piqued.
“It’s pizza!” Crash announced, with the air of a wise old sage. “Think about it.” He explained, “it doesn’t matter what hellhole you end up in. if humans have been there, you get pizza parlors!”
“Right, and if they haven’t been there, then there is a distinct absence of holy food shrines!” Brock added, grinning at the observation. “The one food that is truly intergalactic!”
“I think there’s something to be said for factoring in the length of time humans have been in a place with a certain population density threshold, but it’s a good hypothesis,” Molly added quickly, qualifying Crash’s observation.
Everyone’s groans turned into laughter.
Joel picked a piece of pepper off his pizza and threw it across the table at her. “You don’t have to keep reminding us that you have an IQ larger than the rest of the group put together!”
The pepper whacked her on the face, causing her to wipe her cheek with the back of her hand. “Just you watch, Joel Dunham. We start training tomorrow. You don’t want me to remind you that you threw pizza at me when I have you on your ass on the mat, do you?”
The team’s activity continued to buzz around her, but she stopped, suddenly remembering something. Joel had been relieved when she mentioned that Oz had been looking at Garet’s downloads.
Oz, what’s Joel been downloading?
Trust me on this, Molly, you don’t want to know that.
Yes, I do.
No. It’s not compromising security or the mission, and you don’t want to know.
Yes, I do.
Okay, it’s to do with how 4077s get issued.
God-fucking-damn!
Told you that you didn’t want to know.
She paused another moment.
Next time you say that, I’ll believe you.
Looking across at Joel, who was chewing pizza and interacting with Brock, she couldn’t help but subconsciously shake her head in horror.
Joel looked up and saw the look in her eyes. Fuck. Oz just told her.
---
Paige arrived at the conference room. Joel, Garet and Molly were already there making small talk around the cluster of desks that doubled as a conference table.
“Hey,” Paige said as she came in and plunked herself down next to Joel.
“Hey,” Molly said, getting up to gently close the door, now that Paige had arrived.
Garet finished what he was saying and then Joel and Garet acknowledged Paige’s arrival. Molly sat back down.
“Okay, so the reason we asked to have a chat with you both,” she started, indicating Garet and Paige with her hands, “is to see what you’d like to do about your future. Bringing you off-world was originally a temporary measure to keep you safe while everything was settling down. But it’s important for us now to have a conversation about what you want this to look like.”
“I’m ready to go back, if you guys think it’s safe,” Garet began as soon as it was polite to start talking. “I’ve been watching the news reports and things have pretty much moved on. They’re speculating on Dewitt’s replacement and the public seems to agree that Paige and I were victims of trying to do the right thing.”
Molly listened intently. She’d expected as much. She looked at Paige.
“I can go back whenever you think it’s safe.” Her voice was flat, and a little quieter than usual. She looked a little shocked that this conversation was happening. “At least then I’ll be able to wear any one of my 133 shades of red nail color!” she added more brightly, as if making an effort to be positive.
It was Joel’s turn to add to the conversation. “We think it’s probably safe, but there are no guarantees. There hasn’t been any chatter that causes us any concern, but we don’t know what your return will trigger. The Syndicate may notice you’re back on their doorstep and just want to clean up loose ends.”
He was watching them both intently, looking for micro expressions to tell him how they really felt about the prospect of going back. Experience had shown him over the years that there was very little correlation between what people said and what people really wanted to do. Especially after hostage situations and life-threatening events. It was just the way it was.
Molly looked across at Joel as if waiting for his assessment. Seeing he was still gathering data, she continued.
“The thing is, if someone decides they want you dead, that’s it. Game over. There will be no time to swoop in and save you. We’ll of course put you in touch with other security people. It’s up to you if you want to bring them in to follow you around.” She was looking particularly at Garet. “But the reality is, the best way for you to be safe is to stay off-world. At least, much longer than we’ve already been away.”
Joel presented the other alternative they’d been working on. “The other thing we can do is get in touch with the local police precinct that was running the Dewitt investigation and offer you up as witnesses who need security to talk. You may be eligible for protection
, but that in itself might raise a flag to the Syndicate. We probably should at least let them know that you’re back, to keep them from hunting you down if they suspect you of hiding anything. Plus, their questions might give us a little more insight into who these guys actually are and what the threat level is.”
“It sounds like what you’re saying is that we can’t really tell until we get there, but our presence may well alter the status quo,” Garet summarized.
“Yes,” confirmed Joel seriously. “Going back to Spire may well create the danger.”
“And if we stay here?” asked Paige, anxiety written across her brow and around her eyes.
“You’ll be a shit-ton safer,” responded Molly quickly. “But we’re not just hiding out here. We’re working on a lot of things to potentially disrupt the system even more. I mean, we’re safe now because no one knows we’re here. But if and when that changes, you’ll be in danger, as will we all.”
Joel and Molly exchanged glances. This was the most serious conversation they’d had in weeks, and it felt like work. All the planning they’d been doing with Crash and Brock had been fun, lighthearted, and downright entertaining at times. But they were building a mini military base of badassery, an operation to make the System a better place for everyone involved.
They were working to change their world.
Now they were discussing the future of two clients who had become their friends, and helping them make decisions about how the rest of their lives looked.
“And if we stay, we can become part of the operation? The mission?” Paige queried.
Molly suddenly realized what she was asking. “I mean…erm, yeah.” She scrambled, trying to think what Paige could contribute to the team. “We can think of something you could do to help out. And maybe there will be a way to pick up some nail polish from somewhere?”
Paige grinned.
Garet rolled his eyes. Joel caught it and smiled too.
“Maybe it’s something you want to think about for a few days. Talk about it together, and with us. There’s no hurry to decide.”
“Apart from the bill that Dewitt was pushing through. It might still go through, from the looks of things,” Garet added.
He noticed everyone looking at him, as if waiting for an explanation.
He continued, completing the thought, “If that bill goes through, they’ll make it illegal for people not to be paying thousands of dollars to the healthcare companies who sit between the healthcare providers and drug companies and the public. If that happens, there is nothing stopping the healthcare companies from just eating up people’s money by jacking up prices.”
“I thought it was about making sure they made healthcare available for everyone?” Paige asked.
“That’s part of it, and that’s what they want you to think, but the clauses that they’ve been playing down are all about changing the law to basically rig the economy for their own ends. They need to be stopped. That’s all I’m saying. And if I get back there, maybe I can find a position in one of the Senate offices where I can help fight it.”
“Okay,” Joel said finally. “Have a think about what you want to do. We’ll support whatever decision you make.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Upper atmosphere, about 10,000 kilometers above Spire
Crash swiped a few controls while Molly sat and watched, wondering how long it might take her to learn how to fly this ship. It had been a mere two days since the serious conversation in the conference room and Garet was still adamant that they should take the risk and return to Spire. Paige was less enthusiastic but had packed up and agreed to go back all the same. So here they were.
“Not long now,” said Crash loudly over the noise of the engines. “The descent into the atmosphere is only bumpy for a few minutes, and then we’ll be able to lock onto the landing pad.”
He was talking Molly through the details just in case she ever needed to be aware of the process. In reality they would probably end up getting Oz hooked in to the ship, but that was the last thing she wanted to mess with midflight.
“Just a few more minutes, folks,” Molly called through the open door to Paige, Joel and Garet. Brock had stayed back at Gaitune-67 to receive the numerous supplies they’d been ordering. Plus, Molly didn’t want this to turn into a permanent stay in the Central Systems. They were here to get Garet and Paige settled in, and then they would turn around and get back to Gaitune.
She glanced back through the door, seeing the two of them sitting together. They made a cute couple. She wondered if it would last, though.
“I’m ready to stretch my legs!” announced Joel loudly, so that Crash and Molly would hear.
“Me too,” seconded Garet. He’d spent most of the trip studying the situation he would be walking into. Molly even overheard him telling Paige he’d filled out a few job applications for different government departments.
For the next fifteen minutes the passengers of the XC-0094B were in limbo—unable to walk around or chat over the sound of the engines, yet anticipating touchdown on a real planet again. Molly found herself wondering about the relative gravity and whether they would notice the difference between here and the artificial stuff they had on Gaitune. Then again, the gravity differential was likely to be the least of her problems.
Beaufort-Montgomery Residence, Downtown Spire
The new apartment was everything that Molly had hoped when she saw the pictures the first time. The pale blue walls and carpets made it cool and homey, but airy at the same time. She loved the amount of natural light that came in through the big windows down one side. In fact, she was almost a little jealous that she couldn’t stay here and have a normal-ish life herself.
Is it the lifestyle or the decor you’re attached to, though?
Hmm, good point. Maybe both.
If it’s of any help, the wall coloring is duck egg blue made by a local company here on Spire. We can always order some and have it delivered to the hangar before we leave.
That’s really thoughtful of you, Oz.
I aim to please. Besides, you freed up more processing power when you were enjoying the environment. I’ve been testing a hypothesis that the happier you are, the more processing power I get.
Oh, so it’s self-serving after all, then?
Yes, you could say that. But then, what did you expect from an AI?
Molly smiled to herself. Oz’s very existence had turned her life upside down, but she would never choose to go back to not having him with her.
Paint has been ordered. It will be at the hangar tonight. I left a note for them to leave it around the side even if there is no one to sign for it.
Excellent. Thanks, Oz!
Anytime.
Who paid for it, by the way?
Technically, you did. But it came out of the general account where you have me deposit the funds from the legitimate market trading I do.
Nice emphasis on the word legitimate.
Well, I’m glad that we were able to find a way to fund your expensive taste in spaceships and military hardware without breaking any more laws or bending ethics.
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