Expelled (Interplanetary Spy for Hire Book 1)

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  “It’s basic PKI,” Jayne shrugged. “I don’t see what’s got your panties in a wad.”

  Merry pointed the cursor at a key Jayne hadn’t immediately noticed. “Other than realizing I’m not wearing panties, I’m a wee bit concerned because this public key has an equal and opposite private key.”

  “Was he searching a password-protected site?” Jayne squinted at the screen and folded her arms.

  Merry looked up at her with a combination of disbelief and annoyance. “Just follow me on this one. Think about PKI for a minute. What types of sites have corresponding public and private keys?”

  “Deep web, protected data stuff?”

  “Uh huh,” Merry nodded and searched through the messages. “What public information-type site do you know of that requires a password protect to interview doctors? No Government data bases I’ve ever hacked into go that far.”

  Jayne shrugged again.

  Merry sighed and concentrated her gaze fully at the screen. “Look at this. What do you notice about the indexes here?”

  “I… don’t see any.”

  “What does that tell you?”

  “Deep, deep web stuff?”

  “Too shallow. Dive deeper.”

  “Like ocean floor deep?”

  “Deeper.”

  “What’s deeper than the deep web?” Jayne felt the air leave her lungs and knew the answer about a half second after she asked the question. “The Shadow Web.”

  “Any darker and it would be a singularity,” Merry nodded. “The question is, why would your G-man delve into the world of cloned organs for harvest and mad scientist pharmaceuticals for this treatment?”

  “Probably because nothing else worked.”

  “He has the connections to do something less risky if he wanted.” Merry switched the crisscross of her legs. “I didn’t see any code words for street drugs or black-market meds. At least none that I’ve heard of, and, believe me, I’ve heard them all. And taken most of them. Whatever he’s getting for Celia might be a custom order.”

  Jayne got up and dusted herself off.

  Merry’s gaze snapped to her. “Where are you going?”

  “To deal with the roommate situation.”

  Merry did a small happy dance and opened the XaaS site. “I’ll order you a couch bed,” she announced, grinning.

  “Okay. Nothing too expensive. Just comfortable.”

  Jayne gathered her messenger bag, taking a quick peek inside to make sure she had the necessities, and grabbed her comm. “Call Fred,” she instructed it.

  “Hi Jayne,” he answered on the first alert.

  “Hey. I need a favor.” Jayne checked for neighbors as she stepped out of the office and onto the walkway. Good. It was empty.

  “Okay.”

  “We got this case today and there are a lot of things that feel fishy.” There was a short pause while Jayne got her bearings and headed out towards the car dock. “It’s a little on the complicated side. How are you with getting information in Stealth Mode?”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice in my line of work. Why?”

  Jayne attempted to hail a cab as she talked to him. The first one passed right by her.

  “It’s a lot of hush-hush Government stuff,” Jayne explained.

  She attempted to hail a second cab. It zoomed straight past her about a meter too high. Fuck!

  “Not a problem,” Fred confirmed. “What do you need?”

  “I need you to do some research. The client has a 15-year-old niece—Celia Wilson—but I’m not sure if that’s a cover up or not.” Jayne attempted to hail a third cab. This one stopped on the curb in front of her.

  “What’s Celia’s story?”

  Jayne continued to give Fred instructions as the cab’s suicide door opened for her. “She has some sort of terminal illness and our client says he helped her get some experimental treatment, but can’t confirm any of this. We only have his word. This guy is a G-man who is in way over his head and I’m not even sure he gave us his real name, ditto on the niece. While you’re at it, would you check to see what you can find out about a Gerald Wilson? First and foremost if he even exists.”

  The cabbie’s patience was running out about as fast as his meter, which he had already started. “Where to?”

  “Tesla University,” Jayne responded before dismissively returning to her conversation with Fred. “Repeat back to me what I asked you to do.”

  “Find out if Celia Wilson exists,” Fred sighed. “If she does, find out if she’s really sick. And with what? And who’s treating her? Then see what I can find out about this Gerald Wilson.”

  “That’s perfect,” Jayne beamed.

  “Why can’t Merry do this?” There was that good ol’ trademark whine from Fred.

  “You think this case only has one avenue we need to explore? I’m just giving you a task I think you can accomplish. Merry’s got plenty to do already, like order me a couch bed.”

  Fred groaned.

  “Thanks, Fred. Oh, one more thing. We’ve got a five-day fuse before this all goes boom. Is this something you can get done, like, today?”

  “I’ll see what I can do. May I ask how big the boom is?”

  “Big.”

  “How does it compare with the literal bombs we just dealt with?”

  “I’m going to be honest, Fred. It doesn’t. I encrypted this call, so I don’t mind telling you – geopolitical, backroom dealing. There might be history books devoted to this entire event big.”

  Even Fred couldn’t help but feel a little excitement. “Now we’re talking.” He hung up.

  Man, Jayne felt invincible calling the shots! Who knew it would suit her this well? There was just something synchronistic about how it was all coming together. Nothing - literally nothing - could knock Jayne off her cloud. And then the gnawing started in her stomach.

  Jess.

  Ahhhh, yes, the roommate situation. Poor Jess. Sometimes she envied the simplicity of Jess’ life. Jayne hadn’t known her for long, but who knew what Jess was thinking? Sometimes Jayne wasn’t even sure if Jess knew. Then again, maybe she wasn’t as oblivious as she seemed. Maybe she thought Jayne’s behavior was odd and had already started asking questions… And who would she be asking?

  Still, Jayne wasn’t entirely comfortable explaining why she was leaving. The thing about lying was she would have to remember what she said and when. And it had to sound totally plausible. The truth was completely out of the question.

  Heyyyyy, Jess, I can’t be your roommate anymore because I’m really a spy-for-hire and need my own space to sort through confidential government documents and shit. Oh, and there might be explosions…

  Jayne didn’t exactly see that working for her, but it did make her chuckle to herself. The cabbie studied her in the rearview mirror.

  “Just thinking about my homework,” Jayne shrugged.

  “Whatever works, Miss.”

  +++

  Jayne’s Quarters, Tesla University Dormitory Room, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros

  Jayne took a deep breath as she approached the door.

  She opened the door and stepped inside. There was no one else there.

  A 500-pound weight lifted from her chest. She hurriedly started putting clothes and holo-book drives into a duffel bag.

  “Hi Jayne.” The bathroom door swung open.

  Jayne jumped. “Oh my god! Jess! I didn’t know you were home.”

  “Yeah. I thought I could get more done here than at the library, you know? Besides, the place is a mess…”

  “About that,” Jayne started.

  “You’re going to help me clean?” Jess flashed a grateful smile. “That would be great!”

  Jayne watched Jess buzz around the room, deciding what to keep or throw. It struck her that she never really participated in her life here and realized that she should probably feel guilty about that.

  “I mean, yeah, I should,” Jayne stammered, “but there’s something else too.”

/>   “Sure, roomie.”

  “We need to talk about our arrangement here.”

  “Like chores and stuff? Because I can’t function in this kind of mess.” Jess picked up an old food wrapper for emphasis. She shook her head as she tossed it into the trash.

  “Sort of, but…”

  “Maybe we should do a chore chart,” Jess looked at Jayne expectantly. “I never know when you’re going to be home—it’s almost like you barely live here. Which is cool! Like, live your life, I’m all about it —and I know I’m going to need to study more…”

  “I don’t know if that would—”

  “But a chore chart would keep it fair,” Jess interrupted. “Look. Jayne, I like you. I do! But you don’t help out around here. It’s like living with a ghost who leaves stuff around. I appreciate that you don’t make a lot of noise or bring questionable types over-”

  “I’m moving out at the end of the week,” Jayne blurted out, her heartbeat accelerating to the point she thought it could break the sound barrier. “I, uh, just need my own space.”

  “Oh.”

  She could feel her face turn a deep red. “It’s not personal, I swear! I’ve just got, um, stuff to work out…”

  Jess nodded and handed Jayne a spray bottle of cleaner and a rag. “No, I totally get it. You don’t seem like the campus type anyway.”

  Jayne smiled as the blood redistributed through her body. She hadn’t given Jess enough credit, but Merry was right. It probably was better to keep the espionage stuff out of their room.

  “We’ll still see each other around, right?”

  “You bet,” Jayne nodded and took the cleaning supplies, and the hint.

  Jess continued over to her side of the room to dress. Jayne turned her attention back to packing, and now also cleaning.

  They talked about which professors were cool and which were just straight pieces of work. Jess would occasionally dance around the topic of where Jayne was going and what the nature of her mysterious unresolved stuff was. Thankfully Jess was too timid to keep pressing beyond Jayne’s deflections.

  Both girls looked around the sparkling clean dorm room, feeling accomplished and proud of the cleaner air.

  “To new beginnings?” Jess motioned for a hug and Jayne accepted.

  “To new beginnings.” Jayne felt a lump in her throat as they hugged it out. “Hey, I’ll still be living here part time through the end of the week.”

  “I’ll see you around then.”

  “Yeah. See you around.”

  Jayne picked up her duffel bag, but before she could hoist it over her shoulder, Jess attacked her with a big hug.

  She squeezed tight. “Sorry, but you’re not getting away without one of these.” Even Jayne was impressed by her strength. Jess finally stepped back. “Good luck, roomie.”

  Jayne smiled. “Thanks… roomie.” She laughed a little bit, genuinely touched. She threw the duffel over her shoulder a second time and, with a quick glance behind her, hit the door button and headed out.

  Jayne, surprising even herself, wanted to hold onto Jess’s pure, selfless kindness. But, unfortunately, there wasn’t the time for that.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Ridgeview General Hospital, L64, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros

  “Make sure Celia Wilson, age 15, really exists.” Fred closed out of the list Jayne sent him and put his handheld back in his pocket.

  Might be easier if I knew what her major malfunction was… Fred frowned and adjusted his lucky glasses. Showtime.

  Fred approached the welcome kiosk and scrolled through the floors. He heard a nurse approaching up the hallway. Fred’s scrolling got faster and more random.

  “Sir?”

  Scroll. Scroll. Scroll.

  “Sir? Can I help you?” A tanned nurse with a sweet, round face touched Fred’s arm. She had on so much makeup she looked like a gingerbread man.

  “Oh… I…” Fred felt himself turn red. “I’m looking for my friend’s niece. I mean, I need to hit the gift shop first, but I definitely need to find her.”

  The nurse’s cake frosting smile faded. “Well, I can’t confirm or deny anyone’s presence here, but if you tell me what she has I can tell you what floor.”

  Crap. Now what? “That’s the thing… I’m not quite sure.”

  “Your friend never said why she’s in the hospital?” She even looked saccharine when her arms were folded incredulously.

  “Ummm, no,” Fred hesitated. “See, all he really said was that it was terminal and she felt weak a lot. She’s really young, 15, and she’s had it for about, uhhh, three years?”

  “I see… That poor angel.”

  “She really is… An angel I mean! But she’s not dead or anything… Otherwise I’d be a little underdressed right now!” He laughed, but the nurse wasn’t too impressed.

  The nurse shook her head and touched her chin with one hand.

  Fred looked around the lobby for the gift shop. This required props. “Does that sound like anything you’ve heard of?”

  “There’s no way I’d know for sure unless I saw her chart, but most of our minors are on Pediatrics. Third floor, in the north wing.”

  “Thanks, nurse…?”

  The nurse called attention to her name badge. “Candy. Nurse Candy.”

  Weird.

  “It suits you.”

  Nurse Candy laughed a surprisingly horse-like guffaw and walked away. Fred zeroed in on the gift shop and went right to the flowers. He bought the biggest bouquet of pink and blue Holo-Vase daisies he could find, along with a fuzzy black teddy bear. He shelled out an extra 30 credits for a bear big enough to hide his face. Fred knew anything related to kids’ healthcare had several extra layers of legal protection. Best to pour on the doting family friend charm.

  Besides, don’t all teenage girls like flowers, rainbows, ponies, and shit?

  Pediatrics was decorated with holograms of fountains and bubbles. Fred stepped over twin boys playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe on the floor screen. He situated the Holo- on the intake counter and his face behind the bear while he scanned the desk for a roster.

  C’mon, c’mon…

  He could see that the roster scrolled up every five seconds on the screen in the middle of the desk. Fred started fidgeting with the camera on his watch, nonchalantly hitting the shutter button.

  “Oh!” A startled nurse put a hand on her chest. “I didn’t see you behind the bear. GRRR!” She growled and held her hands up like claws. Then laughed, awkwardly. “Sorry, I’m so used to playing with the kids, I forget how to talk to adults sometimes. Have you been helped?”

  “Yeah.” Fred scanned his watch’s screenshots. He couldn’t find the right photo, and he was afraid of stalling too long. He just went for it. “Celia? Uh… Wilson?”

  “Oh, yes. Such a sweet heart. Hallway B, to the right, room number six. Just around that corner.”

  Fred smiled and nodded in thanks. His skin crawled. The smell of sanitizing agents contrasted sharply with the overly cute décor. Hospitals were not his thing. Fred approached Room 6 B.

  “She’s sleeping now,” a crisp, business-casual voice explained.

  Fred jumped and turned to face the voice. A tall-ish nurse with a ballerina bun and slight frown focused on her tablet.

  “Oh. Can I leave these things for her?”

  The nurse nodded and took the bear and vase.

  “So,” Fred admired the view as the nurse situated the vase on Celia’s bedside table and activated the daisies. “She’s my friend’s niece. This sounds awful, but I don’t know much about her condition.”

  “Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Type 6?”

  Fred was sure to make eye contact as the nurse evaluated him critically. “Yeah. I mean, my friend—another friend—his brother has it too…”

  “His brother,” the nurse’s green eyes burned a hole in his chest, “does he have Klinefelter’s Syndrome?”

  “I never got that personal with him.”

  �
��Right,” the nurse eyed Fred, suspicious for a moment, but instead decided he just wasn’t very bright, “well, he must have an XXY Chromosome. CMT is on its sixth mutation and is only present with double X chromosomes. It’s a genetic disease that affects girls.”

  “Yes. Yes, I know. That’s exactly what makes it so hard on him.” Fred nervously played with his glasses. “What else do I need to know about… CMT, was it?”

  The nurse nodded and scribbled something in the tablet chart with her stylus. “We’ve seen more and more cases of it in the last 150 years. It used to be rather rare, but now we see it affecting one in every 80,000 girls. It attacks the nervous system. There’s no cure, only maintenance.”

  “So Celia and my friend’s brother can live normal lives?”

  “Hardly.” She motioned for Fred to follow her out of the room where the petite blonde was sleeping. Celia had doll-like features, which lended to her sweet, angelic expression.

  “What happens to them?”

  “Your friend’s brother has a better chance because he has a Y-chromosome as a buffer, but Celia’s case,” the nurse inhaled deeply, “Celia’s case is aggressive. CMT usually causes the nervous system to degenerate slowly, eventually wasting the lower body muscles. CMT kids usually just come off as clumsy and there aren’t many red flags till they hit about seven. Parents just think they have deformed feet.”

  “But Celia has it worse?”

  The nurse nodded solemnly. “She’s been better lately. She went two months without a hospital visit. And then last week, well…” She leaned onto the doorjamb and watched Celia sleeping, peacefully. Finally, she scanned her thumb and the hospital room door slid shut.

  Fred forced a smile. “Well, if everything I’ve heard about Celia is true, then she’s a fighter. She’ll hang in there. Anyway, thanks.”

  Fred smiled at the nurse and got out of kiddie hell as fast as possible.

  As soon as he was back in the main hospital he opened up his comm and tapped Jayne a message.

  She exists.

  +++

  Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros