by Dale Mayer
A contemplative look filtered across his face. He leaned back and said slowly. “The thing is, although taking a look at that issue is on the agenda down the road, it’s not today’s problems. And those are much bigger.” He tilted his fingers under his chin and continued to work through his thoughts out loud. “Maybe down the road I could use someone like Dani to go through the archives and sort out what information is actually dangerous and what isn’t based on her unique upbringing. That would at least cut down on the billions of files for the panel to make a final decision on.” He laughed. “Right now my problem is actually pulling a panel together. When I got into this, I had no idea what kind of mess I’d be taking on.”
Stephen’s face broke into a wreath of smiles. “There she is. Hi Dani.”
Levi was startled when an arm slipped around his waist and Dani stepped into the circle. He always tried to keep her out of the political scene but after putting herself front and center during the last debacle and in such smashing style, she’d made history herself.
“Hi, Stephen. How nice to see you.” She beamed up at him. “And I accept.”
Stephen frowned in confusion, then his face cleared as he understood what she was talking about. “Good,” he said, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Great, actually. It can’t be today or tomorrow, but it’ll be in a couple of months. I’ll call you in and see about setting up security for you…” he stopped and laughed. “Forget that last part; it’s Levi’s company that keeps the security intact. He can set you up with the archives. Just not yet,” he rushed to warn her. “I’m in a bit of a pickle right now.”
“I’m sorry if I helped cause that pickle,” she murmured. “I was looking back on some of my old memories and started searching for information to help fill the gaps.” She added in more formal tones. “My apologies.”
Stephen shook his head. “No worries. I’ll mark this down and I’ll get back to you about our archives in a few weeks.” He grinned. “That would be an excellent way for you to fill in the gaps of your education legally.” And with that, he rang off.
Chapter 9
The security field around her disappeared as Levi closed down the system. She wasn’t sure of his reaction to her butting into his session or the work she’d agreed to take on. She’d had Milo’s help and she’d done what she felt was right, so why did she feel like she’d done something wrong?
Because of course she had brushed up against personal and government restrictions. “I’m sorry,” she said abruptly.
He shook his head and tugged her into his arms. “Don’t be,” he said. He dropped his chin on top of her head. “It’s minor in the scheme of things that could go wrong and highlights an inherent issue with the way the government has controlled the flow of information from the public.”
Damn right. “And they need to stop it.”
“Great doing on volunteering to take the archives on, Dani,” Milo said, admiration and maybe a hint of jealousy in his voice. “It will be a heck of a way for you to get comfortable with our system.”
She nodded. “A system that is wrong in its current form.”
Levi looked down at her. “And because it’s wrong, you’re going to champion it into being right?”
“Someone has to,” she smiled up at him. “Since it’s not going to be for a few weeks to months, that should give me enough time to get caught up on the missing information I need to know.”
“I can help, too,” Charmin said. “You can work from home and between us, we can figure out their problems.”
Levi rolled his eyes, but Dani was nodding. “That’s a good point. It’s only the two of us that know how controlling your society has become. There was some secret stuff way back when and hackers got into most of it, but there was nothing like the things you guys seemed to have deemed dangerous.”
“That you know of. Maybe there’ll be more in there than you want to know.”
“Maybe.” She wasn’t concerned. “I also wanted to do something that would help me fit in.” She grinned. “Being raised in and having escaped the slaughter of the Naturals makes for a great cover.”
“And helps you to better connect to Stephen as he’s in the same boat.”
She pondered that. “Then I think my education about the Naturals needs to be beefed up so I understand what he’s talking about if he brings it up.”
“That’s a great idea.” Levi looked to Milo. “Can you make the adjustments to her program?”
“Absolutely.” Milo said with a wide grin. “This is going to be great. Now we’re going to have an inside man in the government.” At Dani’s confused look, he added, “Or should I say inside woman.”
*
Later that night, Levi, knowing how tired Dani had been earlier on, nudged her to bed. Charmin had left them a long time ago, preferring to crash on his Pacific island hammock in the bedroom with the glass floor so he could dream of all the fish beneath him. Levi wasn’t sure what he’d do with one if he actually caught it. It wasn’t like it came ready prepped in a can.
Speaking of which, he needed to remember to cancel Charmin’s earlier order of salmon. Knowing that cat, he’d have likely gone overboard and ordered dozens of cans to make sure he survived a little longer. Levi shook his head. Talk about an end of the world mentality.
Dani yawned when she came out of the bathroom. She walked to the far end of the bed and crashed.
He’d hoped for a little time alone with her. Just the two of them. Instead, she appeared to be ready to sleep. She flipped onto her back then rolled to her side. He smiled and crawled in beside her. He could fix this.
She turned into his arms, her lips already reaching for him. He was a lucky man.
He kissed her with all the emotion he felt for her welling up inside him. She responded immediately. It had always been that way between them. Right from the first kiss.
His hands caressed her like the precious gift she was, only she wasn’t having any of it. She shifted restlessly, pressing against him, a whimper catching at the back of her throat. Then she wrapped a leg around him and thrust upward. Oh Lord, she was killing him. No, she was bringing him to life.
“Love me,” she choked out. “Love me now.”
Her words hit him in the heart. She was like a furnace, and he was the fire inside her. He shuddered then reached down to tug her hips into a better position. He pulled down his pants and kicked them off, then eased into her, slowly, achingly, hearing her moan as he filled her.
Heat rolled through him, swamped him. He loved her so much. She called out his name then pulled his head down and gave him the hottest of kisses.
Damn. He never wanted this to stop, never ever ever, but he couldn’t stop the need driving him forward.
He drew back, just an inch. “No!” she cried. “Don’t pull away.”
“Shhh. It’s too fast,” he said. “I have no control tonight.”
Her laughter was wild, as wild as he felt inside, with the passion consuming him.
“Can’t you see?” Her eyes were bright; her cheeks flushed. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down against her. “Neither do I.”
The fire inside him blazed, and he made a noise he didn’t recognize. Primitive. Possessive. Passionate. Unable to hold back, he plunged once, twice, and once more. She called out his name as she pulsed against him, around him, then called out his name again.
He was a goner, losing control. He threw his head back as he came apart, rejoicing in her cries beneath him until her cries died down and he fell into her embrace. Both of them shuddered with emotion and completion and the wonder of their love. They stayed like that for minutes, their breaths slowing, holding each other tightly, a sheen of sweat on their bodies, not ready to let go.
“I love you.” Her voice was languid and sleepy, her body relaxed.
“You’re my heart,” he said, and kissed her tenderly.
“Mmmm.” She was half asleep in his arms.
He let her go, and she
snuggled down onto her side of the bed, her breaths slow and steady. With a gentle smile, he eased to the side then tucked her in.
She was exhausted.
He, on the other hand, was wide awake. Happy. Invigorated.
And he wasn’t quite ready to sleep.
He walked back out the living room and brought up the main computer.
Considering Stephen’s earlier call, he hacked his way into the government databanks and behind their privacy laws and security guards. There he searched out the information Dani had been looking for. Though he didn’t understand why she’d search for something she’d already experienced many times over. As he read through the information, he shook his head at the government. Anything religious had been locked up. Except that Christmas apparently only had a religious overtone for some people. The others had taken to it as a fun celebration. Wondering what she was up to, he checked his mail and made sure there were no new issues at work. Just as he was about to close down the computer, he noticed the symbol on the top right corner. Saved searches.
He frowned. He hadn’t searched for anything recently and never saved anything. One never knew when a system would get hacked. In fact, the computers deleted all information and ghosted all tracks at the end of the day. That was standard operating procedure.
He clicked on her saved searches and sat back with a heavy sigh. She was missing her old life. Here was evidence. She’d spent hours trying to find things like Christmas trees, decorations LED lights, whatever they were. Bringing up the other government information, he cross-referenced the information so he could see what she was looking for and why. When he was finally done, an idea was forming in the back of his head.
But was it a good one? If she wanted to do something – did she want to do it alone?
And if he stepped in, would that ruin it for her?
Chapter 10
Dani woke early the next morning, but the household was already up and busy. She wandered into the kitchen in search of coffee – and found Milo and Levi wearing business suits. She stopped. “Going somewhere?”
Levi looked up, saw her, and walked over to kiss her good morning. “Hey. Sorry, we both have an early morning meeting.”
She nodded. “Okay. How long are you going to be?”
She hated to be alone in his world, but this gave her the freedom to work on her gift for Levi. She didn’t have anything for Milo and couldn’t even begin to imagine what she could give him, but when she saw him and his shiny black pants with almost glow-in-the-dark white dots on them and the orange Mohawk, she had the beginnings of an idea…if she could find what she needed.
That only left Charmin to find something for. And that was minor. With his endless stomach, anything food-oriented would be perfect.
And while the two were gone, she and Charmin could work this ordering system just fine.
She smiled up at him. “Feels very homey, sending you off to do a day’s work.”
He grinned that lopsided grin of his. “It had better not be all day. I expect that Milo will be home in a couple of hours, and I’ll be home by mid-afternoon.” He hesitated, glanced around the room, and said, “If you need anything…”
“We’ll be fine,” she said, pointing to the portal. “Go. Take care of business and come home when you can. We’ll be fine.”
A small frown of concern appeared on his forehead, but he dropped a second kiss on her lips and walked through the portal. Milo waved at the two of them and followed his brother to the office.
Dani picked up Charmin and danced around the room. “We’re alone.”
“And…”
She laughed, plunked him on the counter, and ordered up a huge mug of coffee. “I have plans, and you are needed to make them all happen.”
He preened. “Of course. That makes perfect sense.”
And because he was such a perfect ass of a cat, she poured him some cream, too. Then she picked up her coffee and said, “Follow me.”
It took him about twenty minutes to figure her cookbook stuff out and before long, she was copying recipes that she remembered from her childhood – or rather recipes that sounded like the ones she had as a kid – putting them into a book program, and voila! She ran to the bedroom where the printer was.
“Oh my God. The book is on material.” She held up the cloth item and shook her head. “This is not what I want.”
“At least it’s washable that way,” he said with irrefutable logic.
“True, but I want paper, or whatever passes for paper in this time, with lots of glossy photos.”
Charmin looked at the printer, made a few adjustments, and back they went to the computer. It took four more tries before she got something even close to what she wanted. And then, while proofing it, she found several errors and had to fix those. When the final product was in her hand, she laughed and ran outside to sit in the sun and look at it. “Thanks, Charmin, it’s exactly what I wanted.”
“Yeah, but you said it was for him.” He rubbed against her. “Why would he want that? Besides, it’s not like there are any good recipes in there for me.”
She grinned. “Ah, but now I’m not limited. I can do what I want and create as many of these as I want.”
He sprawled on the deck beside her. “As you wish.” And he promptly fell asleep.
Crap. She needed to know more about the ordering stuff. As she glanced at him, she realized she could work on some of it alone. As the men could be home any time, she desperately wanted to hide the evidence of their work. She ran back inside, hid the book with her clothing, and dashed to the computer to write down the rest of her instructions so she could recreate her morning’s work later. Feeling as if she accomplished a lot, she cleared the computer’s memory.
It took a few moments before she realized she was in the clear. Except…for the failures. The projects that hadn’t worked out so well.
She ran to throw everything into the recycler. Just as she was done, both Milo and Levi strolled back in. She stood with her hands behind her back and wiped the guilty look off her face.
She hoped.
*
Levi eyed her in amusement as he walked toward her. He had no idea what she was up to, and that was fine. She was entitled to her privacy.
But he was curious. His gaze was drawn to the recycler and the flashing lights on the side. Something she’d put in there was being processed – just not very well. Then again, she had little experience with recycler jams. Still, to point it out to her now would be awkward and might destroy whatever surprise she had been planning. He kissed her lightly. “I’m going to get changed, then prepare some food. I’m starving.”
She backed away and took a quick glance in the direction of the bedroom. His curiosity ramped up another notch.
He went into the room and shut the door. After a quick shower to help wash away the distaste from his last meeting, he finally walked through the bedroom looking for new clothes. He couldn’t stop himself from looking around, wondering what she was up to. Her face was too open to hide anything. He reminded himself it was her secret and he’d have to wait until she was ready to share.
He walked back out to the kitchen and started pulling sandwich fixings out of the fridge. Neither Milo nor Dani were around. He frowned, checked the time, and reassured himself he hadn’t been gone that long. He walked outside to the deck, sure that Dani must have gone to her favorite spot, the hammock. Instead, it was empty, too. Worried, he walked through the place looking for his family.
Ten minutes later, he was frantically punching codes on the locators to find out where Dani and Milo had gone.
And where the hell was Charmin?
It was that damn flashing light on the recycler that caught his eye as he stormed past. He opened the machine and out popped Charmin, spitting and hissing like the cat he was.
“Charmin!” He heard the alarm in his voice. “What happened to you, and where are Dani and Milo?”
Charmin hopped to his back feet, his front paws p
unching air and his eyes glittering with temper.
“A bot took them. Walked right into the kitchen, didn’t even say a word. He just threw something around Dani and Milo and the next thing I know, he’d shoved me in there.” Charmin spun around and glared at the recycler. “He could have killed me.”
Levi stared at the machine and then at Charmin. The whole point was to kill him. Clean up so no one was left behind to set up an alarm about the missing two. They hadn’t known that Levi was here. Now was this a sanctioned Combot or was this something else again? He strode to the holo unit on the wall, put it in secrecy mode, and called Stephen. When his buddy’s tired face came on, Levi quickly explained.
Thankfully, Stephen started punching numbers then shook his head. “It’s not us. We don’t have an order in place to pick either of them up.”
Signing off, Levi went to the big kitchen computer and turned on the trackers. Damn. According to this, Dani and Milo were still on the island. He stared outside, trying to sort this out. Why would anyone come here, take prisoners, and not leave the island?
Unless they were waiting for him to show up.
Shit.
Chapter 11
Dani could spit, she was so mad. How could Levi and Milo have such advanced technology and yet be so prone to break-ins? It was one thing if this was a government-sanctioned raid and retrieval, but it wasn’t. There was no way this guy was legal. Hell, he wasn’t even human. Or was he?
She eyed him closely. He appeared to be a cross between a bot and man. Big beer gut with a mechanical hand – maybe two mechanical hands. She couldn’t tell with the other one. And he was big. Surely no human would have taken Charmin and dumped him in the recycler like he’d done. That was just wrong. The only reason she wasn’t in full-blown panic at the thought was because she had seen that it was jammed. At the time, she’d been more concerned that Levi would be the one to notice and try to unjam it, but now she had bigger things to worry about. Like this asshole.