Ghost of Jupiter (Jade Saito - Action Sci-Fi Series Book 1)

by Tom Jordan

  Sensations bloomed and swelled, and she was lost within them until Marco pulled away. Before she could react, he gripped behind her underwear and flight suit and pulled everything off in a single motion. She lay completely bare on the bed’s soft comforter. She rested back on her elbows and rubbed her legs together, pressing her thighs to avoid feeling exposed.

  “Mmm.” Marco looked pleased. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Saito.”

  This is happening.

  She felt the prickly rush of nerves, but she played along, trying to act natural and comfortable—the way Marco always seemed to be.

  “It’s your turn,” she said with a grin. She beckoned with a finger. “Come on.”

  Marco removed his boots one at a time, taking a leisurely pace. He was in no rush, and it was intensifying Jade’s desire. Did he know what he was doing to her? She suspected he did.

  He stripped off the rest of his flight suit and underwear, and then crawled toward her on the bed. Their bodies entwined and pressed together as they kissed.

  They shared the darkness, and Jade’s problems were a world away.

  Chapter 20

  Tommy’s tears welled in his eyes and fell, spotting the clean comforter with damp dots.

  He sniffed and wiped his nose, trying to get his breathing under control. He was a grown-ass man, and didn’t need to be embarrassed at his emotions. Especially here, alone in the hotel room.

  But he couldn’t fight his sorrow. It was an evil ghost, looming. It was there, and nothing he did to banish it was working.

  Was Marco in a room that looked exactly like this? Was he giving it to Jade right now?

  God dammit!

  He fell deeper into his gulf of misery. His efforts to compose himself were fruitless. He looked around, trying to focus on something else. Anything else. Takeout-food containers littered the nightstand. The wall screen played a movie in the background, but he hadn’t been able to pay attention.

  Earlier, he’d done some more prodding of the mysterious crate and then departed without a word. Henning had given him a silent nod, as if willing him to be strong. They both knew what was happening with Marco and Jade, but neither had spoken of it.

  Tommy had left, found his room, and watched the movie for a while as he began eating. It still failed to keep his attention, so he read some local news. Keillor was under sanctions from some corporations since it had purposely loosened AI restraints for its robotic workers, citing increased efficiency. It’d come back to bite them in the form of mining-industry robots forming their own union. That was something unheard of, and it at least kept his attention while he ate.

  Tommy arranged for Ghost to be moved—via Keillor’s array of internal elevators and conveyors—to the same bay as the rest of the team. He ordered a new flight suit and had it delivered to Ghost of Jupiter down at the dock, then coordinated repairs and resupply for the ship before leaving Jade some messages, which went unanswered. He distracted himself trying to deny his emotional response to what was happening with her, but once he began setting up her wrist computer for his own use, the emotions overtook him. Jade’s device just reminded him of her, and even had a faint scent that recalled memories of her presence. He struggled with his thoughts until he fell asleep from exhaustion, then woke back up some hours later, remembering the situation and agonizing anew.

  Suddenly, his earpiece beeped. Someone had joined the channel. The small transceiver was so comfortable he had forgotten it was in.

  A growl cut in, followed by Henning’s voice. “Who’s on this channel? It better not be fucking Marco, so help me God!”

  Tommy attempted to quickly get himself under control. He sniffed and took a quick breath. “Tommy here. What’s going on, man?”

  “Son of a fucking bitch!” Henning yelled, causing Tommy to wince until the earpiece normalized its output to compensate for Henning’s high volume. “The little shit took my ship, and the cargo with it!”

  “Wait, what?”

  “You heard me, mate! That son of a bitch took my ship!”

  “How do you, I mean, how do you know it was him?”

  “Because the prick hit me with a stun gun and pushed me down the ramp! He smirked while I…never mind! Get the fuck down here! And bring Jade!” Tommy heard something crash in the background, followed by more cursing.

  Tommy put a hand down to steady himself, reeling with what he’d just heard. Marco had stunned Henning and stolen Audacity and the crate? Would he really do that? It couldn’t be. But Henning wouldn’t say such a thing for no reason.

  “Yeah, um, let me think a sec. Let me see if I can get her and get over there. Just…wow. Hang on,” Tommy said.

  “God damnit, get your ass over here right fucking now! Her ass too! Both asses! Fuck!”

  “Okay, okay. Out.”

  Tommy had to find Jade, but how? He had her wrist computer, and her earpiece obviously wasn’t in. He realized this turn of events meant that Marco wasn’t with Jade. His first thought was a sense of relief that perhaps nothing had happened between them after all. Then he felt selfish for wishing such a thing when he should have been focused about more important priorities.

  He settled on a concern: if Marco had taken out Henning to steal his ship, then could he have done the same to Jade? Was she okay?

  He had to find her.

  Something pulled Jade from her blissful slumber. She floated in serenity, wanting to delay waking so she could keep enjoying the soft sheets against her naked skin, but the noise was nagging, insistent, and her eyes popped open. She awoke and smiled with the immediate memory of what had happened: steamy, intense…and tiring.

  It really happened!

  A rhythmic electronic chime was sounding from somewhere in the room. She rolled over toward Marco. “Do you…”

  Marco wasn’t there.

  Jade frowned and glanced around the room. The door to the bathroom was ajar and she could see inside. No Marco. She looked into the corners as if expecting him to appear somewhere. It made no sense. She laid a palm on his side of the bed: cold.

  What the heck?

  The screen on the wall pulsed a soft green glow in time with the chime. “You have an incoming call,” it prompted after the chime went unanswered.

  “Answer, please. Hello?”

  “Jade?” Tommy asked. “This is you, right?”

  “What’s going on?” she asked tiredly.

  “I called you but you didn’t answer. I had to go down to reception and…never mind. Never mind! Marco just tazed Henning and took his ship. His whole ship! The crate too! It’s gone! The crate is gone!”

  Jade bolted upright. The sheets fell off her bare torso. “What?” She squinted, peering sleepily around the room looking again for Marco. Her mind tried to wrap around what Tommy was saying. She understood him, yet the words put together didn’t make any sense.

  “Marco screwed us. He’s gone. We need to get back to the hangar, right now.”

  She scratched her tangled hair at the back of her head. “What? I’m…hold on. I’ll get ready. Where are you?”

  “Meet me in the lobby. I’m already there.”

  Jade spotted Tommy waving across the pristine lobby. Ferns decorated rectangular planters, adding an organic touch to the smooth refinement of the polished stone floors, probably the original rock of the asteroid. Tommy fidgeted, looking stressed and unkempt.

  “Tommy, what the hell is going on?” Jade asked.

  “Walk with me,” he said, tugging her upper arm. He set a quick pace and took them out of the lobby into the neon night of the city hub. Pedestrians in wild Keillor fashions walked by in animated discussion. Sleek, silent transports and single-rider bikes whizzed overhead. This hotel was in an upscale hub, and it showed.

  “It’s like I said. Henning called me. He said Marco knocked him unconscious, rolled him out the ramp, and took his ship. He’s gone with the crate and Audacity.”

  Jade’s mind reeled. “How can that be? He cou
ldn’t just take his ship like that. He wouldn’t do that to us.”

  Tommy stared, unfocused, at the passing traffic. “Would, and did.”

  Jade felt the last vestiges of her passion-induced happiness dissolve. She didn’t know what to say. How could Marco do this to them? To her, after where their relationship had just gone?

  Everything went away: the damp air, the voices, the lights, the asteroid roof high overhead. Tommy continued to talk and walk farther ahead, but Jade stopped.

  Marco had used her. All the pieces of it locked together in her mind. He’d told her exactly what she wanted to hear, fed her just enough affection to hook her, and she’d bought it all. How could she have believed in him? She’d ignored all the signs: Marco’s switch from caring toward her to being dismissive of the others, his rudeness to Tommy, his putting the crate before the team members.

  Great job, Jade. You threw out your dignity and judgment for a little attention from Mr. Perfect.

  She suddenly felt dirty, shattered. And so lonely. She sobbed, choking on the tears and her trembling breaths.

  Tommy was there, his arms soft around her. Her tears poured out and she leaned her head into his neck.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

  All she could do was cry. After her faltering career and slide into debt, her life finally seemed to have some hope for a promising future. And now Marco had stolen it from her. Were her struggles and injuries—and the loss of Tommy’s ship—pointless? How could she have fallen for Marco’s scam?

  Tommy said nothing, just holding her while she cried it out. After a time, she was able to fight back a little against the current.

  She met Tommy’s gaze and wiped her tears one final time, and then said, “Let’s go.”. She had to put away what had happened and get to the docking bay. She’d worry about the next step after that, and figure out how to keep going.

  Tommy looked into her eyes, not shyly averting his gaze the way he usually did in moments of gravitas. He nodded.

  Jade shouldered her shore-leave bag and rushed with Tommy through the city hub. He stopped periodically to consult the wrist computer before turning down different paths and tunnels within the gargantuan asteroid, getting them closer to Henning’s hangar with every escalator and corridor they traversed.

  “I think he put us up in that hotel because it was so far from the bay,” Tommy said. “It got us out of his way. He found a different way to distract each of us while he took out Henning and escaped in his ship. Ugh.” He put his face in his hands. “I can’t believe this.”

  Jade could only nod. Marco had certainly found a way to distract her.

  It took them nearly half an hour, including another bike rental to traverse the final corridor again, but they made their way to the same set of sleek, circular elevators they had used the first time they made it down to Henning’s bay. They entered the first available lift. Their eyes met, and they nodded. Tommy’s eyes seemed to gaze far away. He seemed unsure of what was to come. Jade felt the same way.

  The lift shot downward through alternating layers of rock and machinery, which were visible through the glass walls. The doors whooshed open upon reaching the bottom. The booming bass of advertising voice-overs and music echoed back and forth across the hangar, filling its cavernous space.

  Jade scanned the area and searched for Audacity. She didn’t see it anywhere, and then remembered that it had been taken by Marco. The thought of it hit her like a knife in the gut. With the ship absent, she realized how much it’d felt like the flagship of their tiny fleet.

  “There,” Tommy said, pointing. She didn’t notice anything, but followed alongside him. They stepped across the textured metal panels of the hangar floor, ducking beneath ships and sidestepping racks of maintenance equipment.

  Henning sat against the front landing gear of Rebel Star. He was wearing only boxer briefs, and, strangely, a single sock. His head hung in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. Seeing him without his shirt, Jade was struck by his physique. He looked thick and strong, and bulged with mounds of muscle. The colorful designs of his forearm, upper-arm, and shoulder tattoos swirled into one another, creating an intricate and artistic display.

  Jade and Tommy walked over, and Henning looked up. His face had none of its usual mirth or intensity. He stared ahead, sullen and empty, then looked back down and shook his head from side to side. “I had it locked up. No idea how he got in.”

  On an impulse, Jade knelt and put her arms around him. She decided, in light of her own feelings of vulnerability, that Henning needed some comfort too.

  After a short moment, Henning patted the small of her back with his meaty hand. “Thanks, mate,” he said.

  Tommy also knelt and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? Physically, I mean?”

  Henning ignored the question. “It would be one thing if he screwed us out of the job, but that ship was my retirement. It was for my family. Lex said while I was away that the girls started keeping a list of planets and moons and stations they want to visit. Told all their friends.” He looked at each of them in turn. “That shitbag just stole eight years of work from me. From my little girls.” He shook his head. “What am I gonna tell them? Fuck!” The last word echoed through the hangar, and Henning pounded a fist onto the floor. It slammed down with a metal thud. “I knew he was an asshole, but I didn’t think he was that big of an asshole.”

  “I didn’t know any of that,” Jade said, touched. “About your family.”

  “I should be able to track the ship,” Tommy said. “I have trackers on all our ships.”

  “How?” Jade asked. “What do you need?”

  “I…” Tommy pointed across the hangar and nodded toward some unknown destination. “Come on.”

  Jade gave Henning a hand up. He didn’t seem cold or self-conscious at all about his state of undress. She figured he—and Tommy and herself—all had bigger problems.

  They followed Tommy around the hangar floor. He led them between a few landed ships, occasionally walking through holographic advertisements that appeared in their path. He turned the final corner and Ghost of Jupiter appeared. Its angled body rested low on its landing gear. Its hull composites seemed to draw in rather than reflect any of them.

  “How did Ghost get here?” she asked. She and Tommy had landed on an entirely different part of the asteroid.

  “I took care of it,” Tommy said, waving the question away. “Come on.”

  Tommy tapped at the wrist computer and lowered Ghost’s access ramp. He led Henning and Jade inside the ship, the whirrs of the hangar machinery and the noises of advertisements fading as they boarded.

  They made their way to the cockpit, where Jade saw the canopy exterior covered in meter-long maintenance robots perching on their articulated legs like artificial spiders. The robots bolted and welded on the new canopy, which had apparently already been fitted onto the ship.

  “You did this too?” Jade asked as she turned to Tommy. She felt a pang of guilt that she hadn’t thought about her ship with everything that had happened since getting to the hotel, and that Tommy had been so attentive to it.

  “Yes. The new cockpit was quick to fabricate. I got us a high-end polymer that’ll be more resilient than the old transparent aluminum.” He gestured to the hardworking robots. “These little guys should have it attached within another—” he checked the wrist computer, “—fifteen minutes.”

  Tommy never seemed to stop thinking of Jade and her best interests. In contrast to Marco, Tommy had always been a caring friend, not because he was flying with her now or because he thought it’d make him rich, but because of his simple concern for her well-being. She could see it clearly now, and it meant more than it ever had. He was her best friend.

  She put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close.

  “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear. “For…everything. For being you. I’m so…” She sniffed. “I wasn’t…I’m sorry.”

  Tommy returned the s
ideways hug. She pulled back to see his face. His features were etched with a look of caring and surprise. He nodded, and then flopped into his seat and turned on the controls.

  “Tracking,” he said, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat, then spoke in a sturdier tone. “Stand by.” Henning paced the small space between the two pilot chairs, looking bored, angry, and depressed all at once. Tommy flipped a few switches next to his chair, and the holoemitters blinked to life. He held out his forearm and switched his attention to the wrist computer, which he tapped at for a few moments, then looked down at the circular holomap above where his lap would be if were sitting in the chair.

  “Just have to wait for a read,” he said. “Quantum entanglement would be instant, but this takes a little longer since it’s going through public relays.”

  Jade nodded and ducked out of the cockpit. She grabbed the spare blanket from one of her cubbies in her cabin.

  “Jade,” Tommy said from the cockpit. “We’re getting a call here. You expecting anyone?”

  “No,” Jade said. She walked back into the cockpit and handed the blanket to Henning.

  “It’s…” Tommy looked back over his shoulder at Henning. “It’s Audacity.”

  Henning stepped forward. “Put it on,” he said.

  Green dots materialized in space and coalesced into a three-dimensional, life-sized model of Marco’s head and torso. His image floated before them like a green specter.

  “I felt I owed the three of you some closure.”

  “What the fuck are you doing with my ship, you little shit?” Henning said.

  Seeing Marco rendered in the rough resolution of the green hologram flared Jade’s emotions to life. She watched his lips while he spoke, betrayal crushing her like a vise.

  “I thought you’d have that figured out by now, Freeborn.” He spoke slowly, evenly. “I’m sorry, but I’ve taken the crate. I’ll be geeting all four shares of the profit.”

  Rage built inside Jade like a flame in a furnace. “You fucking snake!” she yelled. Tommy turned, his eyes as wide as they could go. “You get us all to trust you and then you do this?”