Raven glared at her forkful of meat. She stuffed it in her mouth and chewed fiercely before saying, “Terrific. So there is no extradition.”
Daagiis gave her a cold smile that made her hair stand on end. “No need, since we’re not going to try him in a court of law. But there is death, if we can pull it off.”
Vendeen stared moodily into his goblet of amber liquid. “The trick is discovering exactly which of his hiding places he’s operating from right now and then getting close enough to deal with him.”
Raven considered. “So we’re waiting for Taambaa’s ‘bot to start transmitting his location. Then we can follow him and hopefully find Hanos as well?”
Daagiis nodded. “Exactly.”
“And if he doesn’t lead us to the big bad guy?”
Vendeen gave her an unpleasant smile. “Then you execute Taambaa and the attempt to catch Hanos outside the borders of Collective space begins again.”
Raven finished the last bite and leaned back in her chair. She thought over the situation, examining it from every angle she could think of. It occurred to her that catching up with Taambaa and teaching him the error of his ways, while her chief concern, was only part of what she was here for.
She looked at Vendeen, noting once more how barbarically stunning he was. Those stunning Oriental features with that metallic-looking skin and golden hair, plus a body that wouldn’t quit … amazing. Damn, she had had sex with this man. The thought made her shift uncomfortably in her chair.
“Beyond personal vendettas, I’m supposed to protect you. Do I get to use light sabers? Phasers? Photon beams?”
Vendeen looked at her with confusion, but Daagiis chuckled. It was the face-changer that said, “We’ll begin your training right away. You have a lot to learn, especially about your own body, which is always your greatest weapon.”
Raven looked forward to that. Physical tactics back in her academy days had been her favorite class. She wondered what a shape-shifting alien could teach her about hand-to-hand fighting.
* * * *
Daagiis provided Raven with a sleek, one-piece garment like his and Vendeen’s. He referred to it as a ‘camosuit’. She wasn’t sure why it was called that since it had none of the olive and green or desert splashes of color she’d come to associate with camouflage clothing. The iridescent black shimmered beautifully in the light. It had attached feet, the soles of which were made for serious traction like hiking boots. It also had a hood to cover her head with, along with the attached gloves.
When she pulled it on, she discovered the thick padding over her torso and back. At her questioning look, Daagiis nodded. “Body armor, similar to the Kevlar vest you weren’t wearing the day you got shot.”
Raven scowled at that dig, but Daagiis was absolutely right. Arizona desert heat or not, she should have been better protected. Not wearing her vest had been a stupid mistake, one she’d very nearly paid the ultimate price for.
As soon as she had the bodysuit on, Daagiis said, “Say, ‘activate camouflage’.
Raven did so and gasped to see her body disappear. Well, not quite disappear. It simply showed everything behind her. Her long, black hair seemed to float in thin air.
“If you put your hood on, your head will be camouflaged as well,” Vendeen said. He demonstrated with the suit he wore. Other than a slight distortion in the air when he moved, he had become invisible.
“It even works for the face though there’s nothing over it,” Raven noted with awe.
“It emits a field that takes care of that part of you.”
“Cool,” she breathed.
Vendeen said, “Deactivate camouflage,” and reappeared. Raven followed suit.
“Anyone wearing thermal goggles will still pick up your body heat, but you’ll escape most detection by the naked eye,” Daagiis said. He pulled out one of the dining chairs. “Sit down.”
Raven did as she was told. Daagiis surprised her by pulling her long curls back and quickly tidying her hair in a long, sleek braid.
Minutes later, she walked down the corridor with Vendeen and Daagiis. She was a little amused and even delighted to see how people moved out of the trio’s path. Daagiis led the way down the busy hall with Vendeen about a foot behind and Raven at the bronze-skinned man’s heels. Doing so seemed natural, even instinctive. She watched everyone they passed, keeping an eye out for potential trouble.
They didn’t go far before Daagiis stopped before a doorway that opened obediently for him. He went in, his gaze sweeping over the room. Vendeen followed him in. With one last look up and down the corridor, Raven also entered the room. The door shut behind her.
Raven blinked to see the room was completely empty. The gray walls and floor were bland to the point of making her head hurt.
The two men turned to her. Daagiis said, “No camouflage for this exercise. We’ll go hand-to-hand and test your abilities.”
Raven looked from one to the other. She was used to being the smallest kid on the block, but she was still up against two muscled men who had unknown fighting abilities. She scowled.
“No weapons? Me against the two of you? And this is fair because—?”
Daagiis grinned at her grumpy tone. “Because I am going to load a program into your interface. It contains all the information you need to defend yourself against two larger, stronger assailants. Hold still. You’ll go offline for a few moments.”
Before Raven could ask him what he meant by going offline, the face-changer grasped the underside of her jaw, holding her still while he plugged something into a small port at the base of her skull. Daagiis had pointed it out to her as he’d braided her hair. The idea she had an actual computer port in her head plus a computer had been surreal, to say the least.
She was definitely not in Kansas anymore.
The instant Daagiis plugged his device in, Raven couldn’t move. A strange buzzing, felt more than heard, filled her skull. Her mouth fell open and in a voice not quite hers, Raven said in a monotone, “Download successful.”
Daagiis unplugged what looked like a slender rod from her port. Raven could think and move again, and she staggered a little. Vendeen grabbed her shoulder to steady her.
Raven shook her head. “Holy shit. That was not pleasant.”
Vendeen thumped the back of his hand against her abdomen, letting her feel a slight thud from his knuckles. “Your bodysuit is flexibly armored. It will record any kill blows we land, but other than extreme pain—” he grinned evilly “—you will not truly be harmed.”
Daagiis added, “Head shots to you are off limits, but you are free to attack us in any way you wish.”
Raven gave him the meanest look she could summon. “You don’t think I can do any harm?”
Daagiis rolled his eyes. “Of course you can. If we are foolish enough to allow it, we don’t deserve to live. That’s why I also deactivated the command that limits the strength on your robotic arm. It is now at full power.”
Raven stared at him in shock. The two men were serious about this. The grim looks they gave each other told her they meant business.
Vendeen narrowed his black eyes at her. “Let’s see what you know, my protector.”
The two men abruptly came at her, Daagiis ahead of Vendeen. In an instant of crystal clarity, things seemed to slow down. Raven felt as if she had all the time in the world to look over the situation and to gauge their positions and distance from not just her, but each other.
Daagiis was coming in low, his body leaning forward as he reached for her with both hands. Raven set her feet, as if she would meet his rush by standing her ground. At the last possible second, as his arms swooped in to grab her, she dropped to the ground and rolled hard against his shins. He went sailing over her body with a yell.
Raven didn’t stop to enjoy the success of her instinctive ruse. She kept rolling, getting into a crouch on all fours and launching herself into Vendeen’s midsection. His armor took most of the impact from her shoulder, but his forward momentum a
dded to the blow. Breath left his body with a satisfying grunt, and he doubled over.
Raven stood up straight, ready to slam her forearm into the back of his golden head. Unfortunately, Daagiis had already recovered and was swooping down on her. His arm clotheslined across her chest, sending Raven flat on her back.
She moved so fast to get away from his attack that she made herself dizzy. She wasn’t even having to think; every move was pure instinct. Still, Daagiis and Vendeen were fast too, their attack relentless. For every time she got a hit in, they returned it. Yet, even though they were bigger and there were two of them, they weren’t getting the better of her yet.
It was exhilarating. Raven’s body did things she’d never learned before, stuff she’d only seen in Hollywood fight sequences. Spinning to kick, finding all the small but vital areas not covered by the men’s armor – she whirled like a tiny cyclone, becoming a fighting dervish that only grew more dangerous as Raven learned she could let the programming Daagiis had loaded into her brain take charge.
It was like having a martial arts and fighting champion directing her body. Raven knew exactly how to defend herself against the men’s attacks. She saw millisecond openings and took advantage of them, returning blows to send her opponents reeling. One right cross to Vendeen’s chest sent him flying halfway across the long room. Raven gasped and signaled Daagiis for a timeout.
“Hold on!” she screeched, deflecting blows dealt by the face-changer. “How the fuck did that just happen?”
Daagiis gave her a bloody grin. She’d tagged him good with a kick earlier, splitting his lip. “Robotic arm, remember? Nice hit, by the way.”
He pressed the attack, and a few seconds later, Vendeen was back in action. All three of them were getting a brutal pounding. Raven hurt all over now, except on her face and head, which the men had declared out of bounds. Despite the growing pain, she was ecstatic by her own fighting prowess. She felt like she could do this all day.
Perhaps she’d gotten too cocky. Somehow Daagiis managed to trip her up, knocking her on her back. The men were on her in a twinkling, and Vendeen’s big fist slammed into her gut. Raven didn’t even have breath to scream, and a gong-like sound reverberated through the room. She barely noted the sound as she tried to re-learn how respiration worked. The punch had hurt like hell.
Daagiis simulated cutting her throat with one finger. “Guess what, Virtue? You’re dead again.”
Raven finally whooped in a ragged gasp. She writhed in agony, kicking her feet in the air. She grunted, “Fuck. That hurt!”
Vendeen crouched over her, his gaze pitiless and knee pressing down on her solar plexus. “You lost focus for a moment. You let me have all your attention which gave Daagiis the opening he needed to take you down.”
Daagiis grinned. “Don’t worry. The interface recorded the mistake and will not allow it to happen again.”
Raven could only groan. The worst of Vendeen’s punch ebbed, allowing all her other hurts to clamor in its place. She pushed at Vendeen’s pinning knee. “Great. Meanwhile, I’m about to puke up my dinner. Get off me, Vendeen.”
He arched a golden eyebrow at her.
Raven was in no condition to argue. “Please.”
Vendeen smirked and stood, as did Daagiis. As if they hadn’t been beating the shit out of her only moments ago, they both offered their hands to help her up. Perfect gentlemen, Raven thought sarcastically.
Vendeen looked her over and nodded with seeming satisfaction. “Quite impressive.”
“Not really. I’m dead, remember?” That made Raven feel grumpy, along with the growing misery of her bruised body.
Daagiis patted her shoulder. “You held out longer than the program alone should have allowed you to. We deliberately went after the weak spots in it that we knew about. Your own training and practice kept us at bay far longer than we expected.”
Vendeen nodded. “I think your friend Taambaa is in for a very ugly surprise when you catch him. Well done.”
He dipped his head, as if to bow in respect to her. Raven felt a wash of pleasure at his approval. Damn if it didn’t make her feel almost … happy.
She swallowed, worried why his praise should mean so much to her.
Chapter 9
As they returned to Vendeen’s quarters, Raven caught herself scanning all around her surroundings, evaluating the people that they passed as potential enemies. She frowned.
“Daagiis?”
He shot her a quick glance over his shoulder. Once more he was in the lead, with Vendeen between them. “Yes?”
“Did you download a program before I woke up? Something that makes me automatically protect Vendeen?”
The face-changer chuckled. “Discovered yourself on guard, did you? Yes, you do have a protector program in place.”
Vendeen snorted. “And here I thought you were instantly in love with me.”
“Dream on, oh lord and master.”
Vendeen shot her his half-grin. “Lord and master. I like that. Feel free to call me that anytime you wish.”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Typical male.”
They entered a lift. “My office,” Vendeen commanded.
“So you do more than fuck and fight?” Raven said. “Nice to know you’re slightly above the beasts.”
“Fucking and fighting are all you’re required to do however,” Vendeen purred. “So does that put you on the level of a beast?”
Jerk. Raven had the urge to punch him a few more times.
They reached Vendeen’s workspace a few minutes later. Two desks sat in the middle of the room facing each other. Each one had a chair, which Vendeen and Daagiis immediately appropriated. Raven frowned. She did not want to kneel at Vendeen’s feet. She settled for standing between the desks and the closed door, trying to look like hired muscle while she had a look around.
The room was remarkably bare. In fact, besides the desks and chairs, there was only one framed picture hanging on the middle of the buff-colored wall opposite Raven. She squinted to see a picture of Vendeen, a scowl sitting on his face, standing next to an older man who beamed enough happiness for the two of them. The man had the same bronze colored skin as Vendeen, but his long hair was silvery-white instead of her master’s golden shade. Raven didn’t miss the stiff set of Vendeen’s shoulders in the photo despite the other man’s arm slung about it.
“Computer on,” both Vendeen and Daagiis chorused. They gave each other amused looks.
Raven gaped as their desk surfaces suddenly illuminated. Screens with start-up menus appeared, along with keyboards and commands. “Wow,” she said, impressed. “The whole desk surface is a computer screen? Awesome. When do I get one?”
“We don’t play solitaire here,” Daagiis teased. “You won’t find Angry Birds on these computers.”
“Ha ha.”
“As your duties increase, there may be a need for you to have a computer,” Vendeen said, tapping commands onto his desk with blurring speed. “Right now, you’re the – what do they call it? Hired muscle?”
Raven was startled to hear him echo her earlier thoughts. She shook it off and said, “Great. If it doesn’t work out guarding you, I can always become a bouncer. You do have bars here, right?”
Vendeen gave Daagiis a questioning look. The face-changer chuckled. “Setting your sights low, Virtue? Yes, we do have places where drinking is considered a viable entertainment measure.”
A red light abruptly began flashing on Daagiis’ desk/computer screen. “Display,” he ordered and studied the information that scrolled across. His grin was suddenly more nasty than nice.
“Taambaa’s ‘bot has activated. He’s heading for the Jito Territory.” Daagiis flicked his gaze in Raven’s direction. “That would be the wrong side of the tracks, my darling. The only law there is whoever is the best or luckiest shot.”
Vendeen added, “Or has the biggest army of goons.”
She sighed. “Of course it is. Where else would he go?”
Vendeen
leaned over to peer at Daagiis’ screen. “Jito is also where Hanos has one of his strongholds. With any luck, Taambaa is heading straight to the bastard to report in person.” The big man’s hands blurred once more over his desk. “I’m shifting my duties to subordinate judges, Daagiis. If you’ll be so kind to ready a transport?”
Daagiis’ fingers were moving almost as rapidly. “Already working on it.”
The pair fell silent, each frowning strenuously as they worked. To Raven, it looked like they were having some bizarre typing race. It was actually giving her a headache to try and follow their finger movements.
Instead, she looked at the one decoration in the room, the picture of Vendeen and the older, grinning man. Because she was bored, she commented, “You’d be a lot more photogenic if you’d smile. The guy next to you sure looks happy.”
Vendeen’s hands froze. He looked over at the picture. Raven was shocked to see his lips pull back from his teeth in a vicious snarl.
The feral expression lasted only a moment, but it was more than long enough for Raven to know for a fact that she never wanted Vendeen to look at her like that. He’d looked almost insane with rage. If murder had a face, it would look like Vendeen’s in that instant.
Resuming his usual cool but sharp-eyed mien, Vendeen glanced over at her. “He’s happy because I awarded his lawsuit with a victory. I’m unhappy because he’s Hanos.”
“No shit.” Raven moved closer to the picture to study it carefully.
“No shit.” Vendeen took a deep breath, becoming even more non-expressive. “The Corporation was sued for fixing the financial shares market. Which it probably does, but we’ve gotten no real evidence on that. What’s more, the company bringing the suit was shown to have altered the evidence they offered for their own gain. I had no choice but to dismiss the charges. Hanos was quite delighted I had to give him that victory.”
“That’s a bitch.” Raven knew the sick feeling that engendered; she’d gone through something similar that day in court with Wills. Having to testify that her partner had admitted to her … well, more like gloated … that he’d ‘fixed’ the Miranda warning issue had made her feel every bit as furiously sickened as Vendeen looked in the photo.
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