by Jeff Taylor
They traveled the tram at least twice around the city. The crystalline buildings seemed surreal, as if they were carved out of diamonds for display and not for dwelling. Smaller versions of them jutted up from the glass pathways and sidewalks flashing multiple colors of light and playing advertisements of the current attractions featured at each building.
Their hotel was beyond anything Eve had ever seen. Rising forty-seven stories, the Hotel Brioult was an elegant edifice, crafted to resemble a pillar of pure quartz. The interior was warm and entrancing with its generous use of red paint and antique furniture.
When the couple reached their suite, Eve noted that it was not particularly large but the decor was very elegant. She felt like a princess entering her palace. A king-sized bed at the far end had already been turned down and Eve felt it calling to her. She haphazardly discarded her bags as she crossed the room and let herself sink into the soft mattress as if it were a heavenly cloud calling to her from eternity.
“Hmm,” she moaned, letting her eyes close. “I don’t want to move from this spot.”
Nelsonn threw his jacket onto the antiqued chair beside the bed and sat down next to her. He gently stroked her cheek. “Well then, you won’t mind if I go meet up with Aeron and do some sightseeing?”
A prick of disappointment stabbed at Eve’s heart. That was not exactly the response she had expected from him. On the ship, he had been very attentive and affectionate. But now that his gang was in town, he repeatedly referred to them when she would hint at any time alone. “Okay. I guess I’ll take a nap and then disappear into that swimming pool-sized tub,” She said dreamily. “Will you pick me up for dinner?”
“Absolutely. Regina changed our reservation to eight,” Nelsonn said, rising from the bed. “I don’t remember the name of the place but I think she said it was formal attire. I assume you have something in that little bag over there that will leave every man in the restaurant dreaming about you for years?”
Eve smiled. That was more like the Nelsonn she knew and loved. She shook her head, her eyes still closed. “You better believe it. My favorite baggy sweats will be just the thing.”
They both laughed.
“I’ll browse the hotel’s online catalogue while I’m in the bath and have something brought up,” she assured him. “I may just be someone else when you get back.”
Nelsonn leaned forward until he was only inches from her face. “I can’t wait,” he said playfully. The touch of his lips surprised her as he pressed them against hers. She recovered quickly, prolonging the kiss while she let her fingers work his reemerging brown hair and the upturned collar of his maroon shirt.
“Don’t be too long,” she said, gazing into his gray eyes.
“I won’t be,” he said. He retrieved his jacket from the chair then briskly left the room.
For a moment, she lay still on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, waiting to be sure Nelsonn wasn’t coming back. When she finally decided it was safe, she rose from the downy mattress and crossed over to the bathroom to fill the massive, granite tub. She adjusted the settings on the illuminated control pad on the wall to the correct water volume and temperature then returned to the bedroom.
Every room in the hotel was equipped with some antiquated, though still useful, motion sensing technology that made life a little more effortless. The central hub of this technology was an electronic eye, strategically placed in the chandelier hanging in the middle of the suite. Eve located the eye and waived two fingers in its direction. A large, transparent screen then lowered from the ceiling above the foot of the bed and powered up with the hotel’s logo and program menu brightly lit.
She retrieved her bags from across the suite and dropped them onto the bed. Her small black toiletry bag was removed from the carryall. From the bag, she took out a black mascara tube that had a gold band around the center. Twisting the top and bottom sections of the tube at above and below the band, she ejected a thin, gray disc no larger than her smallest fingernail into her palm. Setting the tube on the Victorian-style table to the side of the bed, she approached the television and secured the disc on the bottom edge near the settings controls.
The television screen flickered, distorting the Hotel Brioult logo and menu until they looked like a smeared watercolor painting. The calligraphic hotel logo finally vanished and was replaced with a crisp, yet slightly discolored image of the elegantly decorated hallways of the hotel. The wobbling of the view gave the impression that the person holding the camera was walking nonchalantly toward the exit. Several passing faces of other staff and guests grew larger as they courteously said “hello” and then disappeared out of view. While the camera operator descended the gilded elevators to the main floor, Eve removed her traveling clothes and wrapped herself in a crimson, silk robe. She stood before the screen and watched as the view eventually changed to the street just outside the hotel. Soon, three men came into view waiting at the valet kiosk just outside the hotel gates. As she had expected, the men were Nelsonn’s associates, Bledri, Mbenago, and Kim.
Eve trusted her husband. She loved him a great deal, but the circumstances of how his gang had coincidentally appeared gave her pause. To put her fears to rest she had gently placed a transparent dot no larger than the head of a pin on his neck between the folds of his collar. The exact science of the miniature camera embedded on the disc was foreign to her, but she had never questioned its effectiveness. Somehow the contraption was able to project the sights and sounds around an individual using only the electricity naturally generated by the subject human wearing it. The disc she had affixed to the television was able to receive the signal from anywhere within a twenty-mile radius of the transmitter. As long as Nelsonn stayed within range, she would be able to see and hear everything he did.
She watched as Kim hailed a taxi and the four men got inside. The driver was overly friendly, obnoxiously so, and gave the men little time to speak amongst themselves. The crystalline streets vanished quickly beneath the taxi like streaks of light as the driver raced through the central downtown area, taking what seemed to be an overly circuitous and random route to wherever the passengers had asked to go.
Despite the driver’s seemingly aimless wanderings, the cab ride was short. By the time the quartet reached their destination, Eve had barely had time to view the hotel boutique’s online catalogue, select a dress for the evening, and have the electronic eye’s sensors scan her measurements.
The four men exited the taxi, tipping generously the over-talkative chauffeur then wandered over to the plaza immediately in front of the asteroid’s main casino and hotel, The Glitz. Eve always wanted to see the marvelous dancing fountains adjacent to the casino and for a brief second felt slighted that Nelsonn had gone there without her. Her interest though was more focused on the men as they stopped at the fountain’s edge. The crowd noise behind Nelsonn, combined with the jubilant music accompanying the fountains’ performance, made it difficult for Eve to hear what was being said as the four men began to converse in hushed tones. She swiped her finger along the bottom of the screen and the playback sound amplified, sorting out the excess background noise. Nelsonn was speaking while the others listened but did not look at him while he spoke.
“We’ll have to organize quickly,” declared the unmistakable voice of her husband. “How soon can your man get us inside?”
The heavily accented Mbenago replied. “Within the week, if necessary.”
Nelsonn shook his head, “We can’t be ready that soon, not with what needs to be done. If Regina had the intel and we started tonight, it would still probably take a month to set everything up.”
Bledri now spoke. “Do you want me to acquire a ship for us?”
“There’s no time for that,” Nelsonn answered, sharply. “There’s cruise ship heading back to Earth in two days. It’ll be the first one out of dock and will be stopping at Selene on its way there so that’s our ride. Kim, get working on some false ID’s so we can board as passengers.”
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br /> “That ship will take three months to get back,” Mbenago objected, clearly frustrated with the suggestion. “Aeron could bolt together something much faster and be there in a couple of days.”
Again, Nelsonn shook his head. “On a smaller ship, we would be too conspicuous. No, we need the cover a large crowd of tourists can provide.”
The group remained silent for a moment. The plan had been devised; Nelsonn had spoken. Eve knew the next step would be for each of them to walk away and begin their assignments. Kim and Bledri each disappeared in turn. Mbenago started to go, but then stopped.
“What about your wife?” he asked.
Eve couldn’t see her husband’s face but she knew him well enough to know from the tone in his voice that he was smiling.
“Are you kidding? She’s the greatest killing machine in the solar system. I’m sure we can find some use for her.”
The dark African frowned. “She’s not going to be happy about this?”
“That’s true. Going back to the moon was not what she expected us to do when we left. I could send her on her way with the promise that I would meet up with her on Mars in a couple of months,” Nelsonn said. “It’s possible she’d take me up on that deal.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Nelsonn let the silence hang in the air far too long. Eve stood transfixed, wishing she could see the eyes of the man she adored, but hoping not to see the words form on his lips that would change her heart forever.
“Then we’ll kill her.”
CHAPTER 18
PERSUASION
“Julia, wait for me!” Strinnger shouted over the din.
The grand opening of the newly-relocated Diana Club drew a large crowd of socialites and wannabe elites. In fact, by Strinnger’s estimation, most of the people thrashing around on the dance floor were too young to be there but too rich to be turned away. Their bodies bobbed up and down, gyrating in every direction imaginable in sync with the overwhelmingly loud music and the ghastly odor of alcohol mixed with perfume. He searched for his overly excited charge in the crowd, but she had vanished. She had been very eager to go to the club that night and immediately shot toward the dance floor before he could stop her. His eyes scanned the reddened faces of each person but saw no sign of her. Amid the chaos, he didn’t notice Julia Kratin reemerge from the throng until she took him by the arm, her face beaming up at him.
They had spent a lot of time together the last several weeks. His first assignment on the security team had been to escort her to a photo shoot in Los Angeles. The pair had immediately hit it off. More than once she had called and requested that he be her escort to one function or another. At first, he was flattered that such a beautiful young creature would want him hanging around her, but the constant parade of parties, fashion shows, and clothes fittings were beginning to wear on him. The sudden emergence of the adrenaline junky in her was becoming quite entertaining, though. Hang-gliding, scuba certifying, spelunking; any kind of adventure sport she could think of she convinced him to try. The grand opening of the club was her latest demand on his time.
“Isn’t this fun?” she yelled into his ear as she bounced in time to the eardrum-splitting music.
“I’m sorry,” he shouted back. “I can’t hear you over the hemorrhaging in my skull.”
Julia laughed. “You’re such an old man.” She took his other arm and dragged him onto the dance floor. “Come on. We need to loosen you up.”
Strinnger only partly resisted her urging. “Julia, I don’t think this is such a good idea. This place is a security nightmare. You don’t know what could happen in a crowd like this. I can’t vouch for your safety.”
His warnings may as well have been shouted into a turbine engine as she continued to tow him through the raging sea of humanity. Once they were onto the dance floor the music changed to a song with an even more intense beat than the one before. Julia finally stopped and smiled broadly at him.
“This looks like a good spot.”
To Strinnger’s surprise, Julia wrapped her arms around him and thrashed around wildly. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if she was dancing or having a seizure. When it became clear that she was indeed having a good time, something dawned on him; she was flirting with him. Swiftly, he pushed her back a full arm’s length.
“Whoa. What do you think you are doing?”
Ignoring his protest, she continued to spin in place, whipping her ponytail in circular motions. After a couple of revolutions, she brought her face back around to meet his.
“Just having a good time,” she said.
Strinnger shook his head. “Well I’m not. This is not a date. There’s probably a hundred paparazzi in here.”
Julia giggled, obviously indifferent to what he said.
“I think we should go, right now.”
Julia continued to smile, intoxicated with joy. “You are forgetting who is in charge here,” she said, poking his chest. “We go when I say we go, and I say we stay.”
A tall man with dark, floppy hair came bounding up to her. Julia gladly seized the opportunity to dance with someone other than her bodyguard, turning her back to her protector and melted into the crowd. The speed with which she vanished again frightened Strinnger. The young man she’d gone off with was tall enough to be seen over the herd of youth, but Strinnger was afraid that she would switch partners and disappear from his sight. After several vain attempts to locate her, he pressed his finger up to his ear and raised his eyes to the catwalks suspended halfway up above the dance floor. “Anybody got eyes on her?” he asked.
“Roger that,” a husky voice replied. “She’s found some of her model friends and is with them near the stage.” Strinnger whirled around to where the large black man, whose black T-shirt was barely large enough to cover his massive chest, was positioned on the catwalk.
“Good. Keep an eye on them, Tom,” Strinnger answered. “I’m headed to the back to watch on the surveillance feeds.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Julia had told him about the reopening and that she’d wanted to attend, Strinnger recruited some extra help. The events of Schulaz’ death fresh in his mind, he gathered a small group of people, both within and without the company that he knew he could trust to watch over her. A four man, one woman team now wandered about the club with the specific task of watching Julia Kratin. Two of the men and the woman were already on the Carsus security detail, while the other two were freelancing officers of the SFPD, one of which happened to be Ferdinand Drake.
Drake was assigned to the security office of the club. His police credentials allowed him access to the video feeds and the fact that the club’s new chief bouncer participated in the sergeant’s weekly poker game helped the team patrol unimpeded. Strinnger found him at his post behind the surveillance monitors. He grabbed a three-legged stool near the door and pulled it with him as he walked toward his friend.
“You know,” Drake said without turning to look at his friend, “when you said we would be going to a club and watching a bunch of supermodels and celebrities dance, I didn’t know you literally meant that I would be ‘watching’ them dance.” He motioned to the large monitors lining the control console directly ahead of them.
“Hey, I’ll gladly trade you places,” Strinnger replied. “It’s a mad house out there. Besides, you’re here to work, not play.”
He knew perfectly well Drake would never shirk his duty, though he didn’t mind rubbing in the fact that they were at a party and he was stuck on the outside looking in.
“I know, I know. But nobody would die if I just took a little stroll through there and to find out how many phone numbers I could get, right?”
“As if you could get any,” Strinnger chided.
“Hey, if I were in uniform those girls would be all over me.”
“Only to distract you while their boyfriends hid their stash. There’s so much drug use going on down there it’s like a cannabis convention.”
The two men chuckl
ed once more and then silently watched the monitors. Almost immediately, Strinnger spotted Julia, her straight blonde locks standing out among the crowd.
“Anyone down on the floor with her?” Strinnger asked over his team’s channel.
“I am,” sounded a woman’s voice in his earpiece. “I’m at the bar, about ten feet away.”
“Good, keep your position, Arla. Tom move down to the main level and watch the door. Don’t let her leave without us.”
“You got it,” the husky voice responded once more.
Again, the two men watched the monitors in silence. Finally, Drake spoke but did not take his eyes from the screens.
“Daeman, are you really going to do this the rest of your life? I mean, coordinating security for a spoiled rich girl? You are capable of so much more.”
Strinnger didn’t immediately respond. He’d been thinking the same thing ever since he’d escorted her to that first photo shoot. His body had healed from the surgeries better than he could have imagined. He was practically a superman. The enhanced tissue engineered from his own cells and placed around his artificial limbs had been miraculously accepted by his body without complication. The results felt as natural as if the new limbs were his own. The implants and materials of the prosthetics gave him increased strength and dexterity. And his electronic left eye made him feel like a supercomputer with legs. He could easily return to the police force and be fully back up to speed within six months. Whenever he thought of returning, however, he remembered his promise to his Loura and suppressed the craving for his old life.
Loura wanted so desperately for him to live without the danger a life with the badge brought. Before his accident, they had never discussed anything specific about their future. But since they had set a date for the wedding, June 2nd, she had been talking of children and a family and he knew that she would never have considered such a thing had he stayed with the force. That development was not the only reason why he forced himself to stay on this new job. The generosity of the Kratins gave him the chance at a normal life. The debt he owed them was too great not to repay. He knew he’d never be able to cover the costs of the procedures, but what he could give them was his loyalty.