Corruption_Age Of Expansion_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Sarah Noffke

  Daniel’s pencil lurched forward an inch before rolling off the table again.

  “Good, Daniel,” the instructor said, kneeling down to retrieve the pencil once more. He laid it back in front of the boy. “Now do it again.”

  Yep, that’s as much praise as we get for giving ourselves migraines. ‘Good, now do it again,’ was all they ever heard for their success. A little positive encouragement would go a long way, Dejoure often thought.

  She did so now, and then pushed her black hair out of her face. It used to flow down her back, but apparently having long hair interfered with potential psychic abilities, or something. Dejoure wasn’t really sure why they’d chopped her hair off when she entered the school, or why they’d thrown out her combat boots and favorite sweatshirt.

  A little individuality never hurt anyone, she groused to herself.

  A rustling sound on her left caught her attention. She kept her head down, but flicked her eyes up. There was nothing there, but she could have sworn she’d heard a noise. Dejoure looked down at the floor, and noticed slight indentions on the carpet in the shape of footprints. They disappeared almost immediately, but led to the door to the dormitory, aka ‘Boringville’.

  At the orphanages, the dormitories were where the kids stayed up late telling secrets or having pillow fights, but not these kids. Everyone went to bed as soon as the lights went out, and they all did everything they were told, the first time.

  It was so boring.

  “I need to use the restroom,” she said to the instructor, grabbing her stomach in an exaggerated manner.

  “It’s not time for a restroom break,” the instructor said, not looking away from his clipboard.

  “Pleeeease?” Dejoure drew out the word, knowing her tone got on the boring scientist’s nerves. “I have to go really bad. I can’t hold it.”

  He pursed his lips and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Fine, Dejoure, but make it fast.”

  “Dejoure,” she whispered to herself.

  Once in the hallway, she rushed past the bathrooms, toward the dormitory. If Whatshisface could be bothered to remember anything about her, he’d know that she had a bladder of steel—a product of having to share a bathroom with fifteen other girls most of her life.

  She halted in the hallway, peering into the bedrooms. The cafeteria doors at the end of the hall had been opened. She walked toward them and stood in the entryway, scanning the large room that smelled of food.

  That had been the one nice thing about SB: the food was good, and the meals regular.

  I guess hungry children can’t predict the future as well.

  Dejoure could hear the kitchen staff working in the back, and the sounds drowned out any other noises she might pick up. She was about to admit defeat when something flickered in the distance.

  It’s a…

  Dejoure squinted. She couldn’t believe it. The figure came in and out of focus, but she knew exactly what it was, and watched as it sped for the service elevator on the far side of the room.

  That intruder is going to get a rude awakening.

  It had happened to Dejoure the first time…and the second, and the third.

  Although the woman was still flickering in and out of focus, Dejoure saw her pull a keycard from her pocket. The woman passed it over the reader, and a light glowed green. The doors to the elevators parted a moment later, and she stepped into the compartment.

  Dejoure sped up, sliding along the wall. She reached the doors of the elevator as they were about to bounce closed.

  Taking a quick breath, she sidled into the elevator and stared up into the face of the flickering woman.

  “Hi,” Dejoure squeaked, a big smile on her face.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Starboards Corp Headquarters, Tangki System

  Bailey froze, looking down at the smiling girl. She was roughly twelve years old and had short, black, wavy hair. One of her eyes was green and the other brown.

  “Uhhhh…” she said in response to the girl’s greeting.

  If the new addition had been the custodial worker, he’d be facedown on the floor of the elevator. She would even gag and restrain one of the puny scientists in the white lab coats. However, she didn’t know how to subdue a child pursuer.

  “What are you doing here? Is this a covert operation? Are you a spy?” the girl asked, her voice a rush of excitement.

  “I’m from the twenty-fifth floor, and we’re conducting an experiment,” Bailey lied. “I need you to get off this elevator and not tell anyone that you’ve seen anything.”

  The girl reached out and pressed the top button, labeled ‘25’. “I’ve never seen the twenty-fifth floor. I’ll accompany you there,” she said.

  Bailey hit the stop button. “I must insist that you get off the elevator. You’re not authorized for that level.”

  The girl ran her eyes over Bailey, who was completely solid now. The belt was definitely having problems. It had probably run out of crystal juice.

  “You’re not authorized for the twenty-fifth floor either, or any of the floors in SB,” Dejoure said.

  “Yes, I am, and unless you disembark from this elevator, I’m going to have to report you,” Bailey threatened.

  The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, challenging the lieutenant. “Report me to who? If you’re with SB, then you know who is in charge of my department. Everyone knows that.”

  Oh shit, Bailey thought. Maybe it wasn’t too late to put the girl in a chokehold… “Look, kid, I don’t have time for your games. I’ve got to—”

  “You don’t know his name, because you’re not from SB. You’re a secret agent spy,” the girl said, her multi-colored eyes wide with excitement.

  “I am with Starboards Corp, and I’m tired of arguing—”

  “No, you’re not,” the girl insisted. “For one, you’re wearing black. No one here wears anything like that. It’s part of the dumb dress code.”

  Bailey wanted to laugh. It was dumb. Even the security guard had a white suit on, which was a huge mistake.

  “It’s a special protocol for my department,” she fibbed.

  “Another reason I know you’re a secret agent is that you’ve got weapons,” the girl said, pointing at Bailey’s gun. “The security people only have tasers. And your security badge totally doesn’t look like the other ones.”

  The button for level twenty-five clicked and glowed.

  Bailey’s eyes widened with disbelief. “What are you doing?” she demanded of Lewis, who was still cloaked.

  “She obviously has us figured out,” his disembodied voice reasoned. “We’ll have to take her along until we’re done.”

  The girl’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa, there’s another one of you?”

  “What are we going to do with her?” Bailey asked, looking at the blank space where she knew Lewis was standing, probably wearing a smug grin.

  “We’ll lock her in a broom closet,” Lewis said, a laugh in his voice.

  The girl rubbed her hands together, glee written on her face. “Oh my gosh! I get to go on a super-secret mission with invisible agents.”

  Bailey knocked the side of her cloaking belt, trying to get it to work again. “Not all of us are invisible.”

  “I think I can help you fix it, if I take some of the crystals from my belt,” Lewis said as the doors opened.

  Bailey peered out into the empty white hallway. “Okay, well, let’s do that in a minute. Right now we’re clear. Let’s find the nearest workstation.”

  “If you were truly from SB, you’d call those ‘source terminals’,” the girl informed them, further deconstructing their story.

  Bailey ignored this as she glided out of the elevator, her back against the wall as she cleared most of the hallway. She noticed through a floor-to-ceiling window that the first office she came to was occupied. The scientist was busy working at his source terminal, and didn’t notice when she slipped by.

  She slowed at the next office and pee
ked through the window. Also occupied.

  At the third office, she finally caught a break and slipped the door to the empty office open. She sped over to the computer, inserting Hatch’s Quick Key into the drive.

  A message, “Error 1458658,” ran across the screen.

  “Dammit, it’s the same error as before,” Bailey said.

  Lewis’s form flickered, and he materialized in front of her, messing with the box on the side of his cloaking belt. “Then we resort to plan B, and take the computer and the files it holds.”

  The girl came around the corner into the office and looked up at Lewis. “Well, hey there. You’re cute, but way too old for me.”

  He blinked in surprise at her. “Uhhh…thanks, I think.”

  “And you don’t have the right authorization to get into the source terminal,” the girl said, pointing to the computer.

  “I have an all-access key,” Bailey argued, her voice a hush.

  The girl shook her head. “The only ‘key’ is being a real SB prisoner.” She held up her wrist.

  Her meaning dawned on Bailey. “You have an access chip.”

  “Which is why I’m so incredibly valuable to your super-secret mission,” the girl said, striding over and waving her wrist in front of the computer. The button on the front flashed green, and the error message was replaced.

  “Hello, Starboards Corp User.”

  Bailey went right to work, using Hatch’s Quick Key to access the network. “This should only take another minute to copy.”

  “Which gives us another minute to fix your belt,” Lewis said. He came over carrying a purple crystal he’d extracted from his own belt. “Here, stand up and I’ll put this in.”

  Bailey cooperated, keeping her eyes on the computer and the transfer in progress while he worked on her belt.

  “You know they are going to find out that I came up here and accessed this source terminal,” the girl said.

  Bailey gave her an irritated look. “So?”

  “So I’ll be in loads of trouble,” the girl answered.

  “We told you to stay behind,” the lieutenant reminded her.

  She was trying to think if she’d seen a broom closet anywhere. Maybe we can tie her to this chair and close the door. That would buy us enough time to get away, although I would have preferred to have no witnesses…Now Starboards Corp will know we’ve been here, and they’ll react. Maybe send another robot to blow us up.

  “Okay, your belt should work now,” Lewis said, standing back.

  “Thanks. Just another couple seconds, and then we can jet,” Bailey said, gathering up wires from the back of the computer. They would work to bind the girl’s hands.

  “Take me with you,” the girl said, her voice urgent.

  Bailey paused, giving the kid a look of repulsion. “Are you insane? You don’t even know who we are.”

  “You’re cool, super-secret agents who want to bring SB down,” the girl stated.

  Bailey shook her head. “No, and you need to quit watching so many movies.”

  “Pleeeeeease,” the girl said, drawing out the word into multiple syllables.

  The transfer was complete. Bailey pulled the Quick Key out of the computer, and then ripped out the power cable.

  The girl backed up. “Look, you can’t leave me here. They beat me. It’s awful.”

  Lewis cast a cynical look at the girl. “Where are the bruises?”

  She looked down at her pasty arms. “They are mostly on the inside, but still, it’s horrible here.”

  “What do they do to you?” Bailey asked, curious.

  She hadn’t liked watching the children in the large room. Her own curiosity had brought her into the space, but once she’d seen what went on there, she didn’t want to see anymore. Kids should be playing and making messes, not confined to stark, white rooms, and forced to do seemingly impossible tasks.

  “They make me train for ten hours every day. It’s the worst ever,” the girl said, her tone matter-of-fact.

  “But they don’t hurt you?” Lewis asked.

  The girl shook her head, her black hair knocking into her chin. “No, but it’s boring, and there’s no one to play with. Everyone is a freaking robot.”

  “There were over a dozen kids in that room with you,” he pointed out.

  “Those kids won’t play,” the girl said. “Please. I’m a lot of fun; I promise I won’t be any trouble at all. I clean up after myself, I’m good with math, and I have psychic abilities.”

  Now you’re talking, Bailey thought. “What’s your psychic ability?”

  The girl’s eyes drifted to the side with uncertainty. “Well, mine hasn’t really surfaced quite yet, but Dr. Ass says it takes time.”

  ‘Dr. Ass’? Bailey let out a sigh, winding up the wire. “Sorry, kid. We really can’t bring you along. It’s not safe.”

  “Seriously, please,” the girl said urgently. “I know so much about SB, and I have the chip! Who knows how that could help you in the future? And I cook and tell jokes, and I’ve been told that I have a good singing voice.”

  “Wait, did you say you can cook?” Lewis asked.

  Bailey shot him a punishing glare. “Seriously?”

  “Come on, we both admitted that we don’t know how,” Lewis argued. “I can’t even boil water.”

  “We don’t need a child on the ship,” the lieutenant insisted.

  The girl clasped her hands to her chest. “Oh my gosh. You have a ship. Seriously, I’ll do whatever you ask. Just. Take. Me. With. You.”

  Bailey gave her a long, cold stare. The girl sort of reminded her of Lola, her youngest sister. She missed her—she hadn’t had a chance to go home in so long.

  “What if we’re bad guys who kill and pillage and plan on blowing up this floating building?” Bailey asked the girl.

  She shrugged. “This place is evil. They do all sorts of strange things here, not to mention that they make us train every single day. Seriously, we don’t even get Saturday mornings to sleep in.”

  “But what if we’re murderers?” Lewis asked.

  The girl shook her head. “You’re not. I would see it in your eyes. You’re a soldier,” she said, pointing to Bailey. “I can tell by the way you move. And you.” She looked at Lewis and blushed. “Well, you’re not as tough, but you have the looks to make up for it.”

  “Why thank you,” Lewis said, sliding his hand along the side of his head.

  “Seriously, his ego is big enough,” Bailey said.

  “I say we take her,” Lewis said.

  “You’re saying that because she called you cute,” she shot back.

  “Well, we should reward good judgment,” he replied. “Also, she could come in handy. She knows inside information on Starboards…not to mention that she has the chip. And we really can’t leave a young mind to waste away in boredom, can we?”

  “Try me,” Bailey said, eyeing the door. They needed to get to the stairs.

  “Will you please take me,” the girl begged, stepping into Bailey’s line of sight, blocking her view of the door. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Bailey heard a noise, and motioned for them to slide behind the door. The girl complied at once, and Lewis activated his cloaking belt, disappearing.

  A person strode past the door and continued on down the hallway. Bailey let out a breath. The girl was good at following directions, and there was something in her odd green and brown eyes that was endearing.

  She considered her for a moment, then finally said, “Okay, we’ll take her with us—”

  The girl threw her arms around Bailey’s neck. “Thank you. You won’t regret this.”

  Cinched tightly in the girl’s grasp, Bailey said, “I think I already do.”

  The girl let her go and stepped back, collecting herself.

  “How are we going to get her out of here?” Lewis asked.

  “Good question,” Bailey said, not having considered that yet. “Oh well, we tried. Sorry, kid, you have to sta
y here.”

  “No, no, no,” the girl said. “I know! I’m already at the twenty-fifth floor, so I’ll go up to the roof, and you can pick me up there.”

  Lewis looked at Bailey, only marginally hiding his impressed expression.

  “How do you know that the stairs lead to the roof?” Bailey asked her.

  The girl rolled her eyes. “Because I’ve tried to run away a dozen times. They always catch me, as you can see. But the time I got closest to getting away, I went up to the roof. If I had known how to fly a ship—and had access to one—I would have been gone.”

  Bailey had to admit that putting the building on a floating platform had benefits. Like being damn difficult to escape from.

  “How do you know that our ship can get up to the roof to get you without being noticed?” Bailey asked.

  “Because it’s probably got the same technology as your belts,” the girl said.

  Lewis gave Bailey a look that seemed to say, ‘See, she’s quick.’

  Bailey shook her head. “Okay, fine. We will come and pick you up if you can get up there undetected. But if there’s anyone else up there, the deal is off.”

  “Don’t worry, there wasn’t last time,” the girl said. “I actually got freezing cold and ended up coming back down on my own and turning myself in.”

  Yeah, Bailey thought, the top of the building was probably incredibly uncomfortable, especially with the balloon. “Fine,” Bailey said, activating her cloaking belt. Thankfully it worked. “Let’s go to the stairs. If you get caught, it’s on you.”

  “I won’t,” the girl said. “Just please come and pick me up.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Q-Ship, Starboards Corp Headquarters, Tangki System

  “It’s a good idea,” Lewis reasoned, half trying to convince himself that his spontaneous decision to take the girl had been a smart one.

  Bailey’s focus was on her preflight checks. “I can see some logical reasons for taking the girl, but I think she really played to our emotions.”

  Lewis scoffed. “Impossible. I always operate based on logic, especially when I’m on a case.”