“We’ll have control of them?” I asked.
“Yes, through the booster Kasta made. It won’t quite make it all the way to the dig site, so we’ll have to either bring it with us on one of the cars, or we’ll have to have Persephone land near the site so we can use her signal boosters.
“What about my onboard tech?” Kasta asked as she tapped her skull.
“It will work, but be kind of slow. So if you tell them all to attack something, the drones within a hundred meters of us will respond, then it will have to transfer to the others. It might work, but I’d feel safer if we brought the booster.”
“I like the changes,” I said. “I don’t think Renalta or Tunar-Roz will realize that we have tampered with the drones until it is too late. Of course, they could always just attack us.” I turned to Zea.
“So here’s what I got,” the hacker said as she flipped her blonde bangs back from her face and turned to her screen.
“I’ll walk Eve through the process of uploading this to the government system. The code is almost identical to the original except I can hijack it. Here is the thing though, I don’t know how they intend to control the doors to the bunkers. They can drive this software from the terminal in the government center, or they can do it from their ships in orbit. If they do the latter, I added a Trojan Horse to the code.”
“Trojan Horse?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve got a back door so that we can do what we want to the bunker when we want, but this other part of the code will infect their ships. Now, I don’t know anything about their systems, so I had to write a shitload of different attack protocols in a shotgun approach. I’m targeting their communication systems, which is normally pretty standard. It might not work, but if it does, their ships won’t be able to talk to each other, or anyone on the ground until they dig my shit out.”
“Genius,” both Kasta and Paula said in unison, and I saw Zea blush a little.
“Well, I dunno if it is really going to work. Like I said, I don’t know their systems, but it should work. The main issue I’m having is reducing the file size.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They gave us this code. If they make a move to interface with it, they might see that the file size is different. Fortunately, whoever wrote this wasn’t skilled, and I was able to trim a bunch of fat. Unfortunately, when I said ‘shotgun approach’ earlier I really meant ‘everything, including the kitchen sink.’ The file is fucking huge, and I’m working on a compression algorithm to try and shrink it down. I’ll need a piggyback executable to run the decompression. I’ll have to make the package something Eve can just plug and play while those fucks are staring at the terminal screen over her shoulder. I don’t even know if I’m halfway done with it, and we really are running out of time.”
“Shit,” I said.
“No, it isn’t that bad. I’m being overdramatic.” Zea let out a chuckle. “I’ll get it done in time. Just starting to fade. I’ll push through it.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Paula asked.
“Do you know anything about compression algorithms?” the hacker asked as she rubbed her fingers over her eyes.
“Not especially,” Paula said, “but I can take a look at it.”
“I can take a look at it after I take a shower.” Kasta gestured to her dirty overalls.
“Okay. I’ll wait till after you take a shower, so I don’t have to explain it twice,” Zea said.
“You should take a break also,” Eve said to Zea. “You’ve been working non-stop since--”
“I’m fine,” Zea said, but then she raised her hand to cover her yawn. “Alright, maybe a cold shower might wake me up some.”
“That sounds uncomfortable.” Kasta chuckled.
“Better off than dead!” Zea laughed as she got out of the gunner’s chair. “Come on, beautiful, I’ll ride the elevator down with you.”
“Sounds fun,” Kasta said, and the pair waved at us before walking toward the elevator.
“Can I speak privately with you?” Paula asked me as soon as her sister left with Zea.
“Sure,” I said.
“I’ll take the bridge,” Eve said as she slid from her seat. She gave both of us a smile and then walked toward the front of the bridge. Then she lowered herself into her copilot’s seat.
“We can talk in my room,” I said as I pointed toward the elevator. Paula nodded, and we walked down the hallway to my suite.
“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as we sat on my couches.
“I don’t want to waste too much of your time with this,” she said as she fixed her blue eyes on me. “I wanted to apologize for Kasta.”
“Uhh. Why?” I asked.
“She’s made a few passes at you. She told me you asked her to keep the relationship professional, but to her, that means you are playing hard to get.” Paula shrugged. “So I’m sorry.”
“I don’t see why that’s your problem,” I said.
“I did program her.” Paula smirked at me.
“Oh, well. Yeah. I guess you did.”
“She likes to say that she is more reserved than me, but it isn’t true. My sister, I mean the one who was lost, was always more outgoing. She loved talking to people. I was always the shy one. I was always in her shadow. When I made Kasta, I wanted to… ahhh. You understand?”
“Yeah, I get it. I’m sorry again for your loss,” I said, and it was true. I gave up my freedom so that my sister and mother were taken care of, and while the Yakuza was a criminal organization, they kept their word of honor and understood a blood debt. One day I’d make it back to Ganymede and check up on them, but I had confidence that they were fine.
“Not your fault. You’ve been great to us. That is why we are attracted to you, but I understand you want to keep it professional. We want to stay onboard Persephone so I will try to reel in my sister.”
“Okay. Thanks,” I said, but the inflection in her voice and the look in her blue eyes convinced me that they didn’t want to actually keep it professional.
Paula stared at me for a few moments, and I returned her gaze. She was incredibly beautiful, intelligent, and clever, but I didn’t really have any feelings for her other than the beginnings of a friendship. My life was more complicated than it should be right now, so I wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t interested in her or her sister romantically.
“If there is nothing else, I’ll see you on the bridge in half an hour,” I said as I stood.
“Nope, thanks for speaking with me. My sister and I feel as if we have a new home here. We don’t want to mess up our relationship with you or Eve or Zea.” Paula stood and smiled at me.
“We like having you on board also. You both have been great friends and valuable crew members,” I said as I crossed my arms.
“Thank you, Adam.” Paula stared into my eyes for a few more seconds. “So, professional?”
“Uhhh, yeah?” I gave her a questioning look, and her mouth twisted a bit.
“I’ll keep Kasta in line. You let us know if anything changes.” Paula turned and walked toward the door to my suite.
“Anything changes? Uhh. Paula, nothing is going to ch--”
“Thanks for the talk, Captain!” She waved at me and then turned the corner. I thought about stepping after her, but my door closed again
“Fuck,” I hissed. Then I hit the switch to lock the door to my suite. Maybe it didn’t matter that Paula had tried to make a last pass at me. I’d told her I wasn’t interested, she said she wanted to keep it professional also, so now we wouldn’t need to talk about it anymore.
I really needed to get some other men on board Persephone. The beast who lived in my soul liked all the attention. It wanted to be the alpha male with the pride of females devoted to him. Maybe part of my male human soul also wanted it as well, but my life was already too complicated with Eve, Zea, and our quest to help those who could not help themselves.
I stripped off my overalls and toss
ed them in the laundry chute. Then I walked into my bathroom and hit the switch for my shower. A second later I was washing off all the grease from my skin while the hot water relaxed my muscles. My mind wasn’t relaxed though.
My plan was still shit.
There were too many variables, too many situations that could go wrong, too many unknowns. Eve was going to be all alone with six possible assailants, and we were counting on her defeating them if they attacked her. Zea would also be alone on Persephone, and we were counting on her to keep the starship safe if the other six Lith Dae vessels attacked her.
Paula, Kasta, and I were going to try and work the bunkers with the car-drones. We had no idea what we would find in each bunker, or where the controls were for the other bunker’s door. We were all sorts of blind and all sorts of overextended.
But then again, that was how all of our missions were. Nothing had been easy so far. The odds might have been worse for Zea, Eve, and I to steal Persephone in the first place, and we did it. We took on a whole Alloprize army on Jatal’s moon, and we defended a massive space station from Nebula Gammon’s coup and armada attack.
We had been lucky. Very lucky.
But in less than ten hours, we would find out if our luck had run out.
Chapter 13
“Are all your drones in position?” I asked Kasta as we loaded up one of the cars later that day.
“Yes, Captain. We’ve put three recon drones at each of the bunkers, and one with Eve. I won’t be able to control all of them and the cars at the same time, but I can switch off when we get to the bunker.”
“How about you?” I asked Paula as she set a small metal suitcase inside of the armored car.
“I’m ready, Captain. I can control our recon drones with this if Kasta needs me to.” She pointed to a rectangular bracelet on her wrist. “We can also view their feed with it.”
“Got it. You both checked your rifles and your side arms?” I asked.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t mind if you recheck them for me,” Kasta said with a mischievous smile.
“I’ll check them for you,” Paula groaned.
“But you don’t have experience,” Kasta giggled as her sister reached for her.
“I have experience tickling you!”
“No!” the android’s giggles erupted into a fit of laughter as her sister pressed her fingers into her. Their pre-mission antics were totally un-military, but I didn’t care. We all might die today, so they might as well get a laugh in and enjoy themselves before we faced this challenge.
It is a good way to think, my love. We need our laughter, and our joy, especially you.
Eve had walked up behind me, and I turned to face my friend.
“Are you ready?” I asked as my eyes roamed the perfect lines her jumpsuit made over her body. She wore a cloth satchel over one shoulder and her gun belt around her hips. The belt only had one pistol in it, but I knew that she didn’t need a weapon to kill people.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I have a drone and the data stick in here. Zea will walk me through the process.”
“I’m worried about you,” I admitted.
“I will be fine. They do not know what they are up against.”
“I know, but I still wish I could be there to pro--”
“I wish that also. I never want to be apart from you, but the need here is bigger than ourselves.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, but even though Eve was confident she would be fine, I still dreaded losing her.
Our eyes met, I reached out to her, and she stepped into my arms eagerly. Our kiss was brief because of the twin sisters giggling behind us, but our lips still found time for passion, and my head spun when we parted.
“You be safe too. I also dread losing you,” Eve whispered.
I nodded to her, and then she stepped out of my arms and vaulted into the armored car she would take to the government center building. Eve gave me one last look, and then she pulled closed the metal hatch. She could drive using the monitors inside of the car, but Kasta could also control it from anywhere in the city or from inside of Persephone.
“Zea, Eve just left,” I said through my transponder.
“I know, I watched you on the cameras,” the hacker said, and her voice was flat.
“Can you open my communication with Captain Renalta?”
“Can you come up to the bridge?” Zea asked.
“I’ll need to leave as soo--”
“You’ve got some time. Well, at least a few minutes after you talk to Renalta. They haven’t sent down their shuttle yet, and I doubt I’ll be able to hack the system through Eve in less than a minute. Unless you don’t want to see me before--”
“I’ll come up,” I said as I pressed the button on my transponder to close the connection. Then I handed my rifle to Kasta and nodded to the front of the hold. “I’ll be back in a minute. Get the cars ready to go. Double check your guns.”
“Aye, Captain,” the twins said with mirrored smiles.
I ran out of the hold, into the waiting elevator, and then stepped onto the bridge. Zea was sitting in her usual spot and she waved her finger in a circle before pointing at the screen.
“This is Captain Renalta,” the man said.
“We just sent one of our computer experts out to the government building. By our clock, the sun should set in half an hour.”
“Excellent. Where is the rest of your team?” he asked.
“We’ll be heading to the southeast and northwest bunkers. When will you send down your marines?” I asked.
“In a few moments. They are suited up.”
“Alright. If you want to talk, you can relay us a message through our ship,” I said.
“I’m assuming your computer tech will have a communication device on him? Commander Tunar-Roz will speak to you through that.”
“Our tech is a woman, and yes, she’ll have a transponder.”
“Then I’ll talk to you after the mission is complete. Then we can arrange payment.” Captain Renalta cleared his throat, and then Zea signaled that the communication had been cut off.
“What a prick,” she spat.
“We’ll be done with him soon,” I said.
“Yeah.” Zea looked at me, let out a long breath, and then bit her lip. “Okay, I know you have to go, can I speak for a few seconds?”
“Of course,” I said as I prepared myself for her anger.
“It really bugged me to see you kissing Eve. Damn it.” Zea shook her head and sighed again. “This is my fucking fault. I knew you and Eve were together. I knew you two were-- fuck! On Queen’s Hat I thought, no, I wished you were into me. Then when we kissed I knew it. You say you love me, I love you, I thought I was okay with Eve in the mix, but my heart wanted to explode when you kissed her. It’s not fair because I’m the one moving in on her. I was the one who trespassed. I’m the catty homewrecker. I like Eve so much. I thought I’d be fine with this. Fuck, I was even starting to think to myself ‘Hey Zea, it is the fifty-first century. Eve is really hot, maybe you should get it on with her and Adam, you’ll probably like it’, but all that changed when I saw you two kiss.”
“I understand, I--”
“And now I’m sitting here super jealous because you kissed her, but I don’t want to seem all petty and demand a kiss from you if you don’t want to kiss me, but then I think I don’t want her sloppy seconds, but then I think my logic is fucking ridiculous because you might die, and I might die, and Eve might die. We are all probably going to die, and I shouldn’t be worrying about this right now.”
“Kissing me or--”
“That’s it too! I shouldn’t be worrying about you kissing Eve or me because we are all probably going to die. But then I think: ‘shit we are going to die. This might be my last chance to kiss Adam,’ and I think that it is the most important act I can do right now.”
“Yeah, I can see how--”
“And you know what the craziest thing about this is? It is Eve!” Zea let out a laugh and cl
osed her eyes. “I want to talk to her. I can tell her all of this, and she’ll say one of her Buddhist monk poems, and then I’ll feel a hundred times better. She just gets me. She understands me better than I understand me. It is crazy.” Zea opened her eyes, and they bored into mine like plasma fire. “I love you. I love her. I just don’t know how to reconcile any of that up here.” She tapped her shaved head where her datajack was. “Or in here.” She tapped her chest over her heart. “I feel like I’m a terrible person because I started all this.”
“You didn’t star--”
“Who straddled you in the club and made out with you? I said I wanted to prove our relationship to Byron, but that was a fib. I thought there was a crack I could wiggle into, so I took it. I knew Eve would find out, but I didn’t care. Then she pulled some crazy emotional aikido move on me and said it was okay, now I’m the one who is hurt because I tried to take her man. I can only blame myself.”
“Look, Zea,” I said. “You aren’t really giving me any agency here. I kissed you as well. I told you I have feelings for you. I could have ended it right after you kissed me, but I didn’t because I want you.”
We stared at each other for a few moments, and she slowly nodded.
“Then fuck you,” she said with a wry smile. “This was all your fault. You shouldn’t have kissed me back and told me you had feelings for me. Then I’d just be…” Her voice trailed off and she sighed. “I’d still feel like crap.”
“Yeah. I’m sor--”
“Don’t die, okay? We don’t know what the fuck is in those bunkers, or in that haunted alien temple, or if my code is going to work, or if the drones are going to lose their taste for kitty-cat fur.”
“I’m not going to die,” I said, and I was a bit surprised at how confident my voice was. “But if I do, you’ll try to get everyone off the planet. If we all die, then you’ll fly back to Queen’s Hat and let Juliette know.”
“I know the plan.” Zea looked away from me for a few moments. “So, I guess you should go.”
I tried to think of something to say to make her feel better, but Eve told me multiple times that we needed to let Zea work through her feelings.
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