Storm Divers (Book 1 of The Fractured Republic Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  He waved away the surly-looking waiter and leaned back in his chair. “Exactly how do we do that?”

  “I’ll try to figure out exactly what Zane was looking for. He didn’t say anything on the data chips, but he had a plan. He’d also have taken steps to make sure anyone following up would be able to figure out what he’d learned. Somewhere around here, he left a stash of information. We just need to find it.”

  Her com beeped. A glance told her it was the alarm she’d put on her room. Someone was there.

  She brought up the feed and saw the ex-RIS spy who’d been following her earlier was back.

  “I have to go take care of something.”

  “Problem?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. My visitor is back. I want to trail him to his hideout, so I’ll go watch the hotel.”

  “I could help with that.”

  “You ever had training to follow someone undetected? No? Then it’s best you leave that to me. Work with Cindy to find out about Zane’s visit to the port.”

  He rose to his feet. “What if you run into trouble?”

  “I can handle myself.”

  He raised his hands. “No offense intended. Call me if you need backup.”

  “I will.” She tossed down enough money to cover the horrible food and headed out.

  Rather than take the most direct route to the hotel, she once again checked herself for tails. Nobody distinguished themselves, and she made it into the hotel without problem.

  Would the intruder go out the front or use another entrance? The back way, or some variant of it, probably. That’s how spies behaved. The fewer people that knew they’d been there, the better.

  He’d take the stairs. Less chance that way that anyone would spot him. After all, who used the stairs when they could press a button and have themselves delivered to their destination?

  Rachel hit the stairs and headed for her floor. The stairwell was just as deserted as she’d expected.

  She was only a floor away from hers when her subconscious warned her something was wrong. She’d only just stopped when the door exiting the stairs flew open and the man she’d planned on following came rushing out at her.

  With no time to go for her weapon, she lashed out at him.

  He easily blocked her strike and bulled right into her, shoving her up onto the railing and most of the way over.

  “Bye,” he said as he gave her a final push. She went over the side.

  * * * * *

  Adam knew Jason was going to be busy with security for a while, so he decided to go see Cindy by himself.

  She answered the door with a seductive smile and then did a double take. “You’re not who I was expecting.”

  He grinned. “Obviously not. May I come in?”

  “Sure.” She stepped back and smiled at him more naturally. “You’re lucky I didn’t answer the door naked.”

  “I’m not sure our idea of lucky is the same. Jason is showing off the ship to security, but I need your help with something.”

  “That might be a first. You’ve usually got a handle on everything. Drink?”

  “Coffee, if you have any.” He sat on the couch and watched her head into the open kitchen. Jason was a lucky man.

  She dug around in a cabinet. “I’ll make some fresh. What can I do for you?”

  “I found out my brother was seen at the port. They’re not going to tell me anything, so I’d like to see if you could help me figure out what he was doing there.”

  Cindy poured some water into the machine and raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not in the port security department. Still, I might be able to ask a guy for a favor.”

  “I’m not sure exactly when Zane would’ve snuck in.”

  “He’s in security. If they know someone penetrated the port, he’ll know what I’m talking about.”

  She finished brewing the coffee and handed him a cup. “Sweetener? Cream?”

  “Nah. This is perfect.”

  He sipped the steaming liquid. It was perfect. Not the locally grown crap, but something imported. Better than his boss’s stuff from Ceres. Probably from Earth. Working in the port paid better than he’d thought.

  She got on the com and dialed a number. “Hey, Jimmy. This is Cindy. How are you?”

  She winked at Adam as she flirted with the unknown man for a short bit before getting down to business.

  “I have a question,” she said. “I’m hearing there was some guy that made it past security at the port. Is that true?”

  The other guy said something, and she shook her head a little. “No, I didn’t hear much. I just thought someone as plugged in as you would know what was really going on.”

  She nodded as the other man told her something longer. “That’s about what I heard. Do you know where he was headed or what happened to him?”

  “Uh huh,” she said a minute later. “No, that’s all I wanted to know. Thank you so much. No, I can’t tonight, but next week is good. I’ll call and set up a time that works for both of us.”

  Cindy disconnected. “I feel bad about leading him on, but I’ll take him out for coffee. They’re all excited about your brother. He cloned someone’s ID and waltzed right in.”

  Adam shook his head. “I thought that was impossible.”

  “Obviously not. They’re all up in arms. He said your brother slipped into the cargo storage area, but they can’t find any record he came back out. They’re searching it right now.”

  He frowned. “That makes no sense. Why break into that? And what happened to him?”

  She shrugged, an unconscious gesture that showcased her assets in a manner that would make anyone interested in the fairer sex take notice. “I have no idea. Maybe they’ll find something. I thought you weren’t interested in finding him.”

  “I’m not sure anymore. This mystery is getting weird.”

  “I’ll say. How does your brother know how to clone supposedly unbreakable IDs?”

  “There’s no telling,” he said casually. No need to mention who his brother worked for. “Still, thanks for getting that info for me. I appreciate it.”

  She smiled. “Anytime. Maybe you could join Jason and me tonight. We’re hitting a new restaurant on the outer ring. I hear their vat-grown seafood is pretty good.”

  “I’ll take a pass on that for now. Thanks, though. Tell Jason to tag me for the bill.”

  Cindy put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “You don’t need to do that.”

  “Exactly. Thanks again.”

  He smiled at her and let himself out.

  So, his brother had wanted to get at something in storage. That could mean any number of things. The most important thing was that customs didn’t inspect anything in there, except for verifying there were no chemical, biological, or explosive readings.

  He had no idea how he could follow up on that. The port wouldn’t tell him anything or let him in. As far as Adam was concerned, that was a dead end. Price would have to do some spy shit to figure it out.

  * * * * *

  Rachel managed to grab the rail and hung on for dear life. She slammed against the side of the stairs, hanging over a drop of a dozen floors.

  The man hit her hand as hard as he could, and she almost lost her grip.

  She pulled her concealed pistol and shot him three times in quick succession. The loud blasts rolled up and down the stairs in the closed environment. They also set her ears to ringing.

  The man staggered back and collapsed. He dug feebly at something in his jacket so she shot him twice more.

  Then she had to set her pistol onto the landing and grab the rail with both hands. Her grip was slipping.

  With more than a bit of difficulty, she pulled herself over the railing and recovered her weapon. A check of the man confirmed he was dead.

  Well, this was going to be awkward to explain.

  She waited for someone to burst in and all the shouting to start, but nothing happened. Could it be possible no one had heard
the shots? That seemed unlikely.

  Or was it because the night manager had taken steps to ensure the spy had some privacy to kill her?

  She went through the man’s pockets and took everything: wallet, gun, com, and keys. He also had a wickedly sharp knife that she kept.

  He carried a number of bugs similar to those in Hale’s workshop. These must’ve been the ones he’d planted in her room. He wouldn’t have wanted to leave them for security to find during the investigation into her death or disappearance.

  So, what would he have done with her body? Leave it for security to find? That might lead to some awkward questions.

  A check of the hall found a large cart suitable for dumping linens into. It was about half full. She wrapped the dead man’s body in several sheets to keep from getting blood all over her and heaved him in. Once she had him settled, she piled more sheets on top of him.

  She used a towel to wipe up the blood in the stairwell as best she could and then went in search of a supply closet. Some cleaning chemicals made the rest of the red stain come up nicely.

  Rachel considered her handiwork and decided no one would notice it now. Not unless they brought security right to this spot to do testing.

  After one final check to be sure neither she nor the dead man had dropped anything, she pushed the cart down the hallway. There would be a staff elevator somewhere.

  After two wrong turns, she finally found it. She made a detour to her room for her things. After confirming that the bugs were indeed gone, Rachel gathered her belongings. Those went into the cart with the dead man.

  She saw a number of guests as she rolled the cart away from her room, but no one from the hotel staff. The guests might have heard the noise of her integrally suppressed pistol and disregarded it as something normal.

  The staff wouldn’t have made that mistake, so she was probably correct in assuming the night manager had directed them to steer clear of the attack zone.

  The elevator then took her right up to the lightest gravity level. Signs gave her the option of heading for the laundry or the loading dock. Since she needed a ride, she picked the dock.

  There was a small van backed up to the dock that made her wonder. A check of the man’s keys confirmed it was his.

  It only took her a minute to disable the built-in tracking device the manufacturer had installed in the van. A closer search found a more sophisticated unit that she also rendered inert.

  She opened the rear doors and slid the cart inside. It fit perfectly, and the lack of windows meant no one would see anything that aroused their suspicions.

  The navigation unit had an address highlighted. A waste disposal subunit for the station. That would work.

  Driving without a station license was the least of her worries, but she kept her speed to a safe level and positively dawdled all the way to the disposal plant.

  As an automated facility, it was thankfully empty of people. She backed up to the dock and unloaded her grim cargo. The unit used plasma from the fusion plants to incinerate waste that couldn’t be recycled, so it made short work of her problem.

  For now, she’d hang on to the van. She might need it. It was a good place to stash her things until she found a better place to camp. Now that they were trying to kill her, she needed to stay out of sight.

  She took the van to another part of the station, found one just like it, and swapped the ID plates. Now the authorities wouldn’t be able to track her with automated traffic scanning when someone reported the van missing. She swapped the plates again a short distance away. That should muddy the waters, if they reported it at all.

  Someone had obviously decided she was enough of a liability to get rid of. How would they react when their man vanished? Now, where could she hide?

  As she ran the options through her mind, one stood out. She smiled. It was perfect, even if only good for a short while. No one would look for her there.

  Besides, it was karmic justice.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Adam had almost made it home when his com signaled.

  “Hale,” he said as he brought it to his ear.

  “Meet me in residential section G, level 7, unit 745,” Price said.

  “Sure. I have some more info on—”

  “Save it,” she said, cutting him off. “Tell me in person.”

  After she abruptly disconnected, he shook his head. Spies. Who could understand them?

  Getting into the residential section was simple enough. It was supposedly secure, but he managed to walk in behind a teen talking on her com without any trouble.

  He took the elevator down to level seven and looked around. A discreet sign pointed him in the right direction.

  The door to the unit opened when he signaled. Price gestured for him to come in and glanced out into the hall, probably to make sure someone wasn’t following him.

  The quarters were neat to a fault. Obsessively so. And somewhat masculine, so probably a man’s home.

  “Whose place is this?” he asked.

  “Vasily Aslanov’s,” she said as she activated the door lock. “He’s the night manager at the hotel and a pain in my ass, so I’m going to ask him some awkward questions when he gets home. I’m assuming he’s at work right now, helping to cover up my murder.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re pretty spry for a dead woman.”

  “It didn’t take. At least not for me. One of the ex-spies won’t be troubling us again, though.”

  “Seriously? You killed someone? That’s not good.”

  “I didn’t have much choice in the matter. It looks as though I’ll have to go into hiding. Someone obviously thinks I’m a pain in the ass, too.”

  He smiled. “So, this guy is on the take? Have you tossed the place yet?”

  “I’ve looked around in some of the obvious spots, but I wanted that backup you offered before digging in. I can’t watch the door and search effectively at the same time.”

  “Well, before you get started, Cindy came through. Zane went into the cargo storage area and never came out. At least not that anyone admitted to her. What could he want in a place like that?”

  “Equipment, maybe. The RIS occasionally ships mission equipment. He might have brought something more serious than his kit and needed access to it. Either that or someone was storing something of interest to him.

  “In any case, we’ll need to try to find out what that was. I suspect sneaking in right now won’t be possible. Not after the breach they’ve just discovered.”

  He wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. No beer. “So, we let it go?”

  “Don’t touch things,” she said as she came in behind him and wiped the handle down. “We’ll try to find out the details from the people that took him. Or we figure out where he stashed his ongoing report.”

  “It’s a big station. He could’ve hidden it anywhere. Or nowhere. They might have caught him before he had a chance to leave notes. Hell, it might be electronic. We’re never going to find it.”

  “Don’t be so pessimistic. He’ll have left it in a place I can find it. I just have to figure out where that is. Now stop looking for booze and watch the door.”

  He took up a position near the door and occasionally looked through the vid plate beside it out into the hall. It was late evening, so there was a lot of traffic and a lot of false alarms.

  And one positive one.

  The manager he’d bullshitted last night walked up to the door and started fishing in his pocket.

  “Heads up!” Adam said as he ducked behind the door. “We have company.”

  “Don’t let him see your face or hear your voice,” she said as she hurried into the room and stepped out of direct sight.

  The man walked in, looking straight ahead as he walked toward the kitchen. Adam pushed the door closed, threw himself on the guy, and clamped a hand over his mouth as he took him down.

  The guy was wiry, but the contest of wills was short. Adam planted the man face down on the fl
oor.

  Rachel slipped a heavily folded cloth around the man’s eyes and tied it tight. Then she held a device up to her mouth. “Scream and you die. Nod if you understand.”

  The voice coming from the device sounded nothing like her. It was flat and obviously comp generated. If Adam hadn’t been looking, he wouldn’t have known if it was a man or a woman.

  The manager’s head jerked spasmodically. “What do you want?”

  “We’re going to tie you to a chair. You won’t see our faces or hear our real voices. Cooperate and we won’t need to kill you.”

  At her nod, Adam jerked the man to his feet and hustled him into the kitchen. One of the hard-backed chairs would work for this.

  He held the man in place while she used plastic ties to secure him. Then she strapped his ankles to the chair legs. The man might still get up, but he wouldn’t be resisting very effectively.

  “Well, Mister Aslanov, you’ve been a very naughty boy,” Price said. “You let someone into our associate’s room. Now we can’t find her anywhere. Why don’t you tell me all about that?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said in a terrified voice. “What woman?”

  Rachel sighed theatrically. “You want to make this hard? We can do that, I suppose. It’s your blood and tears.”

  Adam spoke softly in her ear. “I’m not going to torture him and neither are you.”

  The look she gave him either meant she thought he was a wimp or an idiot. He wasn’t sure which.

  She pulled the device away from her mouth and spoke softly in his ear. “I’m not going to hurt him. Permanently, anyway. Go make some noise searching the kitchen drawers. Use a hand towel on the handles.”

  “My associate is looking for a rolling pin,” she said through the device. “Do you bake, Vasily? You might not look at fluffy pies the same way once we finish with you.”

  Adam found a rolling pin and banged it on the counter. Aslanov twitched so hard he almost fell over.

  At Adam’s gesture, she handed the device to him, and he held it up to his mouth. “Where should I start? His knees?”