Espero (The Silver Ships Book 6)
Page 14
“I can activate the device the same way?” Steve asked.
“Yes, twist the halves in the opposite direction until you hear a click, Ser, and reattach it.”
“Done.”
“Please seek shelter. We don’t know at what elevation it was programmed to explode.”
Steve grabbed his carryall off the back of the flit, his personal bag, and a small satchel of food and water. Spying an enormous tree, he hid on the far side of its 2-meter diameter. “Ready.”
Julien surveyed the area, ensuring it was free of human beings, and then accessed the flit’s New Terran–style controller. Lifting the transport into the air, the machine cleared about 40 meters in height before Julien heard a loud crack over Steve’s reader and watched via the Rêveur’s telemetry as the flit exploded and fell from the sky.
“Mission accomplished,” Steve said with a sigh, already missing his flit and dreading the prospect of the long hike through the woods to reach a roadway. Then, he would have to wait while he called his backup team, who were aboard a hover car, for a ride back to Prima. His entire operation schedule had been destroyed. I must be getting sloppy, Steve thought with disgust.
“Thanks for saving my behind, Haraken,” Steve said into his reader, but belatedly noticed that the comm icon was unlit. He grabbed his gear and hiked up a hill through low brush in what he thought was the shortest route to a roadway he had flown over on the way to the warehouse.
Having slogged through undergrowth for about three-quarters of an hour, Steve broke into a small clearing and was stunned to see a brand new flit parked there. He dumped his gear and pulled out his reader. On the screen was a short text message, “A replacement gift from a Haraken.”
“I’ll be,” Steve said, grabbing his gear and hurrying to his new transport.
You’re welcome, Julien thought, with a smile. It was a pleasant experience — saving a life instead of helping others to takes hundreds, if not thousands, at a time, as they had done during the UE war at Sol.
* * *
Soon after midnight, Sarah Laurent and her partner, Fredericka Olsen, returned to a sprawling estate with a high stone wall surrounding tens of kilometers of grounds. It seemed an odd place for the delivery of a significant number of biochemical products.
However, while they observed the estate from across the roadway during the late afternoon, several grav-transports landed at the estate, and men quickly unloaded boxes of supplies, carrying them into a structure adjacent to the main building. The ancillary building was a simple metal-walled construction and was in stark contrast to the older, stone-and-timber main house.
The two ex-TSF investigators worked together on several jobs while serving and later teamed up on a couple of civilian jobs, but it wasn’t until they met Steve Ross that they considered forming a partnership.
After a tough case they solved together, the three of them spent the day together at the beach, relaxing and drinking. Steve decided to go swimming in what the girls knew would be chilly waters. Stripping down to his shorts, Steve revealed knife and gunshot wounds on his arms, chest, and legs.
Catching the women staring at his old wounds, Steve remarked, “Enjoy your pretty, unblemished bodies while you can, ladies. Stay in this business long enough and you’ll collect your share of these.”
It seemed amazing to the women that Steve was still alive. Two weeks later, Steve was seriously wounded in a gunfight with two men he was paid to locate. It was only the application of Méridien medical nanites, which had become a mainstay of Prima emergency rooms, that saved Steve’s life that day. The nanites healed the gunshot wounds and erased his old scars, which frustrated Steve something fierce.
One night at dinner, Sarah, tired of hearing Steve griping about what the medical nanites had done, demanded to know his problem. Steve, who had consumed a few glasses of wine, looked at her and said, “Fems get excited by a man with scars. They think he’s this dangerous sort, and they get turned on.”
“Nah-ah,” Sarah replied, shaking her head.
“Uh-huh,” Fredericka said, contradicting her partner, which elicited a grin from Steve.
Soon after that dinner, the two women decided to partner. The image of Steve’s wounds reminded them that having someone to watch their backs might be a smart move in their business.
Outside the estate, Sarah switched on her chronometer and shielded its light from being spotted in the dark. “Time to move,” she whispered.
“Do not enter that domicile, Sers.”
“What did you say?” Sarah whispered to Fredericka.
“What? I didn’t say anything. Is your reader on? You trying to get us torched?” Fredericka whispered back.
Sarah rolled on her side, dug into her kit bag, and yanked out her reader. She turned the reader toward Fredericka to display the screen’s strange image of moving colors to Fredericka.
“Turn it off,” Fredericka whispered.
“I wouldn’t do that,” said a voice, stemming from the reader.
“Why not?” Sarah asked.
Fredericka gave Sarah a strange look. She couldn’t figure why her partner would bother asking a question of someone who was obviously spoofing them. For all they knew, the people in the estate were on to them, and the comm was just a screen while other members snuck up behind them from deep in the woods.
“Comms indicate some ten or more people are in the estate. From the sounds of their preparations, they will employ heavy weaponry,” the voice said.
“The place is dark and it’s showed no activity for an hour,” Fredericka said, leaning over to whisper into the reader and keeping one eye out on the trees and bushes behind them. “How do we know you aren’t trying to spoof us?”
“You are Fredericka Tillman Olsen, named after your father and his brother, who were killed in a mining accident on Cressida, six months before you were born. You have two brothers and one sister. Your sister calls you Sweet —”
“Okay, okay, enough,” Fredericka said, interrupting the voice. “So if you’re not from the estate, who are you?”
“A friend. I believe your comms gave you away. The estate has sophisticated electronic detection. They probably did not break your communications encryption, but they knew they were being surveilled.”
“Thanks for the heads up, friend,” Sarah said. “We’re out of here.”
“And I wouldn’t advise that either,” the voice said.
Sarah halted in the middle of stuffing her reader away. The two women exchanged concerned looks. “Uh … why not?” Sarah asked.
“I detect three heat signatures between you and your transport location.”
“Wait. How do you know where our Haraken grav-transport is located? We flew that in here on a moonless night. They’re undetectable,” Fredericka challenged.
“To most systems, but grav drives give off a unique wave signature that is definitely detectable.”
“SADE,” Sarah mouthed to Fredericka, who nodded her agreement. Suddenly, the women were all ears to whatever the voice had to suggest.
“Any options, friend?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, yes, please remain where you are.”
“What?” Fredericka exclaimed in the loudest whisper she could manage. “Wait here while they move in on us?”
“The people arrayed against you are waiting for you to make the first move … either toward the house or back to your transport.”
Sarah and Fredericka debated their options. Walking out was considered and dropped, so was trying to take on the armed men between them and their transport. While they considered other options, a window burst in the auxiliary building. Smoke and flames billowed out and up into the dark sky.
Both women flicked down their peepers and eyed the building close up. People came running out of the main house toward the burning building.
“Oops,” the voice said. “And here I was trying to make a simple adjustment to their solar controller. Apparently, I overloaded its circuits and started a
fire. How clumsy of me.”
Sarah and Fredericka snickered and clamped hands over their mouths to muffle the sound.
“If you will be patient, Sers, Prima’s emergency response teams will be arriving shortly. I took the precaution of calling them about a quarter-hour ago. The vehicles’ announcement should draw the individuals from the woods. Please wait.”
Sarah and Fredericka continued to observe the proceedings. Obviously, they were correct in their assessment of the ancillary building as a drug-manufacturing location, because after a few more moments, with the flames growing higher, explosions rocked the building. At one point, a major section of the roof blew off and the flaming material landed on top of the main house.
Explosions continued to rock the secondary building, sending more burning debris against the main house until it was totally engulfed in flames. As the wail of emergency vehicles sounded in the distance, the estate’s people scattered, running for their transports. Those with hover cars raced for the roadway to head in the opposite direction from the emergency vehicles. Those with grav-transports disappeared into the night air.
“One has to wonder what those bad people were making in that building,” the voice said, which had the two women snorting with laughter. Moments later, the voice said, “The heat signatures have hurried away from your transport to join a hover car waiting down the roadway. You may leave safely now.”
As Cordelia closed the comm, she heard the distinct sound of a kiss being thrown her way, and she smiled.
-15-
Miranda chartered a circuitous route for the traveler, taking the fighter around the outside of the belt and entering the system so that its inbound trajectory would pass the greater moons of Kephron. This second planet outward from Ganymede trailed the gas giant’s orbit by about 63 degrees. The more desirable moons of Kephron traced elliptical orbits around the planet, and their surfaces were constantly disrupted by the tidal forces of the massive planet. However, these same moons held rare metal ores, and the miners, who worked the shafts, were well paid for extremely dangerous work.
The traveler slid past Kephron’s most outer moon and made directly for Jolares at Ganymede, the site of Peto Toyo’s pleasure domes. While en route, Miranda used the shuttle’s controller to link to the Jolares comm station. From there, she hacked into the domes’ reservation system, entering the names of the Harakens aboard. A smile crossed Miranda’s face, as she added substantial credits to each account, much more than any one person would need for the week’s stay that was reserved — unless the people happened to be big spenders.
Several Haraken engineers and techs aboard once worked for New Terran mining companies, and they spent time during the voyage educating the others on the attitude and vocabulary of miners. Svetlana had the people practicing in the aisle to evidence the bluster and boisterousness expected of the sort of high-priced miners who would risk the work on Kephron’s moons.
Arriving at Toyo’s pleasure domes, several days after launch, Miranda adopted the voice of one of the New Terran techs to communicate with the landing bay. Once she gained approval and the traveler was safely on deck, she received instructions to direct all passengers to reception.
Svetlana stood at the traveler’s exit. She eyed the group, her gaze piercing, and said, “You know your parts. Once you step off this ship never stop playing them … in your cabin, in the refresher, or in bed.” Her last words generated chuckles. “Don’t be forward in asking about our girls. Let others volunteer information to you once you start a conversation about your entertainment preferences. The people who work in these domes are practiced criminals. Expect them to be suspicious of any mistake you make, and if they come to doubt who you are, expect them to make you pay for trespassing on their grounds.”
The crew watched as Svetlana, who had adopted a commander’s stern demeanor for her announcements, relaxed. Her eyes softened. Her body took on a suggestive stance, and she reached out a hand to Deirdre. “Come, love.”
Deirdre, who had been intently following Svetlana’s directives, closed her eyes and switched mental gears. Then she too transformed, smiling up at Svetlana from her seat and taking her hand. As Deirdre stood up, the two women melded together.
The crew, watching the performance, followed the women’s lead, and suddenly the traveler was filled with the raucous sounds of miners anxious to have some fun. One of the crew members yelled, “You two fems can play all you want once you get your rear ends out of the way. I got a thirst to quench and credits to burn.”
Svetlana and Deirdre couldn’t help but grin at each other. Svetlana signaled the hatch to release and lower. Miranda’s two escorts clambered down first and reached up to brace the SADE and swing her lightly down, despite her avatar’s weight. Her feet never touched the hatch steps.
For Toyo’s employee, Marty, who waited to check in new patrons, it appeared a woman in a slinky, green dress floated from the vessel to the deck on the arms of two men. He couldn’t take his eyes off the way she walked or, better said, the way she glided. In his brain, the question as to why she didn’t look like a New Terran never occurred to Marty — he didn’t care.
Then to rattle Marty’s young brain further, a vision of feminine dark and light appeared behind the woman in the green dress, helped to the deck by the same men. Raven-haired and white-blonde, the beauties were entwined with each other, as they sauntered toward him. His eyes repeatedly flicked from the green-dressed woman to the exotic pair behind.
Miranda, watching the young man’s eyes widen as she approached him, signaled Svetlana and Deirdre,
At the reception desk, Miranda gave the employee a brilliant smile. “Well, dear, what do you desire from me?”
At the moment, Marty was thanking the stars for his bunkmate, who asked to trade shifts. Clearing his throat, he did manage to regain some control over his brain. “Who are you?” he asked.
“A wealthy woman, dear, here to experience what you have to offer.”
“I mean … where are you from?” Marty stammered. “You’re not New Terran.”
“How perceptive of you, child,” Miranda said, smiling and patting the young man’s hand. “My two companions and I are from an outer colony of the Confederation so that we can live far away from tiresome questions.” Miranda punctuated her last sentence with a penetrating stare, which did get through to the boy’s brain.
It was at that moment that Svetlana nuzzled Deirdre’s neck and whispered in her ear, to which Deirdre laughed softly, and Marty’s brain went into overload as he struggled to focus on his job.
“I don’t understand. If you’re from the Confederation, why are you traveling with these miners from —” He stopped to consult his monitor, “from Flides.”
“Oh, my dear boy,” Miranda replied, gently squeezing Marty’s forearm, as if he had just made the most charming statement, “I’m not with them. They’re with me. That’s my ship,” she said, flourishing a languid hand at the traveler behind her. “I did say I was a wealthy woman, didn’t I?”
“The miners are with you?” Marty asked, totally confused.
“Dear, you’re repeating me,” Miranda said, laughing. “Why, yes. My companions and I had this sudden urge to see some primitive habitats … you understand … like you have on your moons. We have nothing so basic, so dangerous, as these mining camps of yours. I arranged transport for my vessel aboard a passenger liner from my world to your system, and while we were visiting Flides we discovered these rambunctious boys were waiting for transport to your establishment. Your pleasure domes sounded like a marvelous adventure, so I offered them passage with me.”
On Miranda’s cue, a massive New Terran–built Haraken crowded behind her, scowled at the Toyo employee, and said, “Hey, short shaft, what’s holding up the line? You’re messing with our downtime.”
Two of the man’s equally enormous friends flanked him and wore the same angry expression. The belligerence of the three men sent a single messa
ge to the employee — a riot was imminent if these miners didn’t get to the bar and the fems soon.
“My guests appear perturbed, young man,” said Miranda, smiling winningly.
Marty attempted to swallow, but his throat had dried up. He checked Miranda through quickly. When he processed the entangled twins, the light one traced the back of her finger along his jawline and pronounced him cute, scrambling the remainder of Marty’s thought processes. He passed the miners through in a fog without bothering to follow security protocols. The only thought that did surface in Marty’s mind was to wonder how the three delicate women managed to travel safely with such a bunch of hard cases.
The dome ID cards of Miranda, Svetlana, and Deirdre were scanned by a young woman, who escorted them to their suite, two levels below the moon’s surface but still within the primary dome. The escort’s eyes constantly flicked toward the three women, as they navigated the lifts and corridors.
Once in their suite, Deirdre fell out on one of the luxurious beds and sent,
Looking around the suite, Deirdre sent,
Miranda said, smiling, which doubled the women up in laughter.
When Svetlana regained control, she glanced at Miranda and Deirdre.
* * *
Toyo glanced at the comm panel on his desk, as it played an ancient dirge. The macabre instrumental was reserved for one caller and hearing it gave Toyo a thrill.