“Maybe. One of his bodyguards is the former reporter Cygni Lau Aragón. I used to listen to her stream.” Reika’s ears twitched and her cybernetic tail wagged in the air behind her. “But, could it be true?”
“Do you believe it? That mind control stuff is nonsense, you know; old spacer tales.” She found a silky, cream shift and slid it on.
“I—” Her friend hesitated. “No. It’s probably as you say.”
“As long as Baron Keltan holds up his end of our deal, I’m not sure I should care even if it were to be true,” she said.
“You wouldn’t care if the VoQuana ran things?” Reika frowned.
“I’m not saying that.” Meia hesitated. “We won that war. They’re gone.”
“What if they are coming back?” Reika’s tail swished through the air behind her. “Would you still be such a mercenary about it?”
“A mercenary?”
“Not caring what side you’re on if you get paid,” Reika said.
“Yeah, I get what you mean.” She chuckled and crossed her arms over her stomach. If Baron Keltan was being controlled by the VoQuana they were doing a great job of acting opposite to their reputation. Their deal freed her from being marooned on Calemni. He was in the process of getting her a chance at revenge on Captain Solus and Zalor Revenant. That wasn’t evil or bad. She would be a fool to jeopardize what she was getting out of it.
“What if we’re wrong about the VoQuana? Captain Solus spread lies about me through the fleet. He turned my own crew against me. This could be the same thing.”
“That’s different,” Reika said.
“Is it though? We fought a war with the VoQuana, one that happened before you and I were born. We were raised to believe they are evil, but what if we’re wrong? What if those are just old lies from a war long dead? What if the VoQuana are just trying to survive same as everyone else? Doesn’t that make more sense?”
“Same as you on Calemni, you mean?” Reika’s ears twitched.
“Yeah, just the same. With the quarantine the VoQuana are imprisoned against their will, marooned like I was. The VoQuana born since the war don’t deserve that no matter what their parents did. They could just be trying to get justice for themselves, right?”
“Maybe…” Reika looked uncomfortable.
“What if they’re not ‘controlling’ Baron Keltan, but helping him? He’s a good man, right? He could be helping them end the injustice of their imprisonment. He would have to lie about it given their reputation. It would be easy to turn a video of them meeting into something that looked wrong.”
“Do you just want to believe that or do you really believe it?” Reika shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“I don’t know. I guess what I’m saying is that we won’t know unless we see the original unaltered recording. How do we know we have?”
“All right, I guess you have a point.”
“Reika, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I—”
She held up her hand. “Don’t be sorry. We’re just talking. Are you done for the evening?”
She nodded, worried that she might have upset her friend. “We’ve got to be ready for tomorrow.”
“You do, but pilots don’t raid underground tunnel networks.”
“I don’t know about that. You’re pretty good with a gun.” She winked.
“The last underground fight cost me an eye. I’ve learned my lesson.” Reika sighed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—” She felt her gut plummet to her feet.
Reika waved her off. “No need to apologize. You saved my life and that of my charges. I am indebted to you.”
“No, you aren’t. I’d have done the same for anyone. You know that.”
“I’m grateful,” she said.
Meia waved her hand in the air between them.
“We never got a chance to talk about what’s going on with Shiragawa. Do you want to?”
Reika cocked her shoulder to the side and looked down. “I guess I work for Baroness Cronus now. I haven’t heard anything from the SDF command, though. Until I do, I’m going to just keep following my last orders. It doesn’t feel right to serve anyone but the Mitsugawa—”
The door chime startled both of them. She blinked and let go of Reika’s arm.
“Yes? Enter.”
The door slid open, and to her surprise, Lina entered.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you two.” Her eyes flickered over Meia and her lips curled downward.
She and Reika bowed.
“Not at all, Heiress. How can we help you?”
Lina took a step into the room and clasped her hands before her waist. She bit her lip for a moment before speaking.
“I know you two are both relatively new, but we had the trip over from Calemni to get to know each other a bit.”
Meia exchanged a look with Reika. The heiress and Baron Keltan spent most of the trip in the ship’s Cyberweb node, though they did have something of an opportunity to talk over meals. She wouldn’t say they became friends.
“I know this is a difficult question, but have you noticed Cy behaving strangely?” Lina asked.
“As you said, I haven’t known him long enough to tell,” she replied.
“And I don’t know him that well,” Reika added.
“Of course.” Lina sighed. “Well, I’ve been worried about him for a while, and in particular since we left Calemni. Could you both do me the favor of keeping an eye on him? Maybe, let me know if you notice anything out of the ordinary?”
Meia tensed, appalled that the heiress would ask such a thing.
“No.”
Lina’s blond eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”
“No, I won’t. My deal is with Baron Keltan. With all due respect, I don’t work for you. I work for him. It’s generally a bad idea to spy on your boss.”
Lina’s eyebrows met over the bridge of her nose. Reika looked back and forth between them.
“I’m sorry, but it applies to me, too. My last orders said to help him. I don’t feel comfortable spying on him.”
“It’s not spying.” The heiress’ tone hardened. “I’m just asking you to keep an eye out for your employer.”
“And to report to you. That’s spying. I’m sorry, Heiress, I can’t do it.” Meia met her gaze with cool eyes. She could see the other woman was flustered. “I was raised to honor a contract. I just can’t do what you’re asking without violating that principle.”
“It’s in your contract not to tell his fiancée how he’s doing?” Lina snapped.
“It would violate the spirit of the relationship,” she responded.
“The spirit? Are you joking?” Lina’s mouth worked without sound. “Just where do you get off with this?”
Reika took a step closer to Meia. Her pointed ears vibrated in the air.
“And you? You’re just a guest here. Why do you think you’re entitled to refuse me in my own home?”
“Heiress, with respect, this is Baron Keltan’s home,” Reika said in a sheepish voice.
Lina glared at each of them in turn. Her skin flushed red.
“Fine.”
Meia watched as the heiress turned on her heel and stormed from the room with her fists clutched.
“We’ve just made an enemy,” Reika said.
“I’m afraid so, yeah. Still—” Meia turned to her. “We did the right thing.”
“I know. Should we tell him?”
They probably should. Lina was asking them to spy on Baron Keltan because she was conspiring with terrorists. The recording Mr. D made proved it. She was trying to make them into Gaian spies. That seemed more likely than the heiress having fallen for the Premier’s trick with that faked video stream. Just the thought of the woman’s betrayal enraged Meia. How dare she even try to pull them into her treachery.
“I’ll let Baron Keltan know after the op. Let’s keep an eye on her in the meanwhile. If it goes well tomorrow it might cushion the blow.”
&nbs
p; “That sounds like a good idea,” Reika said.
“He’s got enough to worry about for now.” She sighed. After all her years in Star Corps, and the months on Calemni, she forgot how stressful dealing with barons could be.
“I’ll keep an eye on her tomorrow. I don’t have anything else to do,” Reika said.
“Thank you,” Meia said.
“I’m going to get out of here for now. I need a drink.” Reika’s ears twitched. “Care to come along?”
“Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later,” she said.
Reika saluted her and brought a smile to their faces before she left.
“It is wise to watch the heiress,” Iapetus said once the door shut.
“I think we should turn her in to the Praetor. I don’t know why Baron Keltan hasn’t yet.”
“He is emotionally attached. His vitals deviate in her presence. According to records available on the Cyberweb his entire demeanor has changed since their betrothal.”
She frowned and stared up at his sensor dome. “From her or from something else?”
“Insufficient data to form a hypothesis.”
“It could just be what’s going on, or the pressure of his chance to grab the seat of the Premier,” she mused.
“All of these are possible.” The lights beneath Iapetus’ skull blinked.
She sighed and made for the lavatory. “I’m going to take a shower and a nap, I think.”
“Very good, Meia. Would you like a relaxation session before or after?” Iapetus took a half-step towards her. “Your system experienced record levels of oxytocin when I activated my defensive electrification function at 1.2% during our last session.”
The memory of it formed a warm spot deep in her gut. Her lips stretched into a tired smile. “I wish I had the energy for it, but I think I just need to rest right now. I won’t be able to calm my mind down enough to enjoy it otherwise.”
“Understood, Meia. The settings are stored. Please feel free to use them at your leisure.”
Was he disappointed? She had him program himself to enjoy it since things started between them on Calemni. Had she inadvertently caused him to experience disappointment, or was she just reading into it? She resolved to ask him after her shower. With the stress of this afternoon and the op tomorrow she needed to rest. Everything else could wait. That, she realized, was one of Iapetus’ greatest qualities; infinite patience. He would wait until she asked. He was the most unselfish partner she ever had and because of that she owed it to him to make sure he was okay with how things went. She doubted she could have as contented a relationship with anyone else.
Chuckling at herself, she entered the lavatory. Who knew she’d have found something like this with an AI? The galaxy was a strange place.
The shower was hot, and had several pulse functions that weren’t available to her since she left Ninlea. Having one at all, after years of zero-gee sponge-baths in Star Corps and months of conserving water in the Calemni desert, was an extreme luxury she found exhilarating. The thought of Iapetus’ offer churned in her mind and she found herself tense as well as wet when she got out of the shower.
“Iapetus?” She re-entered the bedroom in only her freshly-dried skin.
“Standing by.” His green sensor-dots flickered in a wave across his skull.
“I think I will take you up on your offer. Is it still open?” she asked in a coy voice.
“Of course, Meia.” He got down on one knee.
She licked her lips. Her body tingled with heat in anticipation. Knowing how patient he was, she knew she was teasing herself more than him when she took a single step forward and swayed her hips. Her nostrils flared, and the smell of her dampness mixed with the faint hint of ozone and machine oil in her nostrils. She shuddered, then took another step, and then another, bringing herself before his jutting, armored knee.
“Load the settings,” she whispered. Her body shook.
“Loaded.”
Her gut was on fire, her muscles twitched as she ran her fingertips back and forth across her abdomen. Goosebumps rose in their wake. She inhaled as she took another step forward and his cool, poly-ceramic steel plates touched the inside of her thigh. Her last step brought her body up against his broad, armored chest. She straddled his leg, shaking her hips against the bands of armor on either side. Their cool touch made her shudder again.
“On second thought…” She reached up and grabbed the turrets on his shoulders. She bit her lip, wondering if she should do what it was her body was aching for. It only took until she lowered her hips and felt the polyceramic steel. She pressed her groin into the hard plates occupying the space between his hip and his knee until she felt the stretching pressure take on the sharp edge of pain. “Let’s make it 1.3% today.”
“I will not exceed your body’s tolerance limit, Meia.”
“I know you won’t harm me,” she whispered.
“Never,” he said back.
She smiled, her eyelids half-closed. “1.3%, my darling. I need it.”
“As you command,” Iapetus responded, his tone softening to a deep purr. She hadn’t taught him that.
She hummed. A smile formed on her lips. She rocked her hips back and forth, leaning in and pressing her breasts hard into his metal chest. With care, she ground her toes into the carpet below them, making sure she was well grounded for what was to come.
“Hit me. Do it.”
The first jolt was sharp and hard like a full-body smack from the inside. Every muscle in her body flexed at once. The breath exploded from her lungs as electric fire burned through her neurons. It tingled and stung as she rode the pulsing spasms out. Stars danced in her vision and she felt her head swim as the current cut out. Pain and fire drained from her twitching body. She gasped and shuddered anew with the cocktail of endorphins and adrenaline being pumped through her veins by her racing heart. She savored the unique sensation they discovered together on a lonely, dark Calemni night. She took a deep breath, and another, clearing her head just enough to prepare herself for the next jolt.
“Is the door locked?” she whispered, leaning her head on his chest. The acrid smell of her sweat joined the musk, ozone, and oil already in her nostrils.
“It is now, Meia.”
“Then hit me again,” she whispered. “Harder.”
The next bolt made her cry out and grin with mad, lightning pleasure.
Chapter Twelve
Ol’Lekhura World-Ship, Deep Space
J2400:3293
Docking-pod 75-S’s market block was one of several such spaces attached to the world-ship’s facilities meant to serve as a first-access sales floor for newly arrived goods. Common on the larger space stations, chefs and fresh-food shopkeepers were usually first to clog the market after the arrival of a cargo shuttle from an FTL vessel. Dealers in delicate items that could not be locally printed and raw materials would come next. The last group typically sighted in such places was what surrounded Nero now. He identified many of the beings as craftsmen and brokers by their style of dress and accoutrements.
“I don’t want to say it.” Kae stood beside him among the crowd of sentient beings pressed into the large, warehouse-like chamber.
“Say it anyway. I deserve it.”
Kae scowled and sighed. “You thought you were doing something good for him.”
“How does that matter now? We lost him on the Kor’alan.” He rubbed his face with the palm of his hand.
Acting as an Abyssian, Athame was working with the local security force. He and Kae were physically searching the accessible areas of the vessel, but it was taking forever. The world-ship was as large as a moon, and there were many areas the public weren’t allowed to access that their quarry could be. It was only through luck that security spotted the spacer approaching this docking bay; a fact that did not bode well for Rune.
Athame, using her Abyssian authority, pulled the spacer’s identity from the dock records on the world ship. His name was Laska Kurev, and he was
the principal officer with a contingent of Magnetar Bond Corp mercenaries. It was confirmation that they were being hunted.
The Urgoryth could be carrying raw materials for trade as normal FTL vessels would. Prospero said. Though the vessel’s public shipping records available on this station doesn’t make it look that way.
You’re not helping things, Nero thought back. I’m worried enough as it is.
“Keep looking,” Kae snapped. He was patched into the same private network with Sorina and Athame. He was being so forgiving about everything, given the circumstances, that Nero felt even worse about Rune’s kidnapping and Ameluan’s death.
“I have eyes on Kurev,” Sorina transmitted from the other side of the room. “He appears to be alone. He is 286 degrees from your position. Rune is with him.”
Take it easy Kae, don’t spook him, he sent, but knew that Kaeden would already be shoving his way through the crowd to get to his son. He turned to his left but a wall of eager Relaen merchants blocked his view. With a grunt he pushed through them to the sound of their protests.
A long, low tone caught his attention. One of the seven large bulkheads leading into the market blinked yellow and white. Moments later, the bulkhead door parted like a curtain. An Orgnan treaded through the open aperture followed by a blue-eyed, male-phase Galaenean whose pink and purple-mottled skin matched the colors of the leathery pants and long coat he wore. The Galaenean’s bare chest was on display between his lapels like he was some kind of Cyberweb drama star.
The brutish Orgnan ahead of him snorted through his V-shaped nostril and grabbed the buckle of his leathery space-suit. He swept his beady, red eyes back and forth across the assembled crowd. The bulging abdomen of his wasp-like body bobbed close to the ground as he walked across the raised loading platform with his knees flexing both forward and backward with every step in a manner that was impossible for a human leg. When he stopped he stomped one foot to gather the attention of the room.
“Greetings from the Urgoryth,” the Galaenean said in hiss-accented Relaen. As the Galaenean spoke, more Orgnan and a few of niur own species began to appear through the doorway with large metal crates born on pulsing fields of dark energy.
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