She didn’t answer, and I felt worry form a cold knot in my gut.
“Abs?”
Panic pitched my voice up, but it didn’t make Abby answer. Double damn. I looked around the room. Time I found something to wear. The Odyssey-issued ship suit was fine, but it wasn’t what I wanted to be dressed in the next time I faced Delight, Pritchard, Beckett… or anyone else.
I found a locked closet and drawers and made short work of the mechanism keeping me out. Gotta love computer systems. More ship suits. The rest of the room yielded nothing more. I headed for the door. I had gear on board Abby, and she had to be parked somewhere on board.
The door was locked.
And it was locked well.
I closed my eyes and leant my forehead on it, not even looking up when Cascade came over and sat next to me, leaning his head on my thigh. I rested my hand on his head, and wondered when he’d gotten so big. I must have stayed still too long, because he bumped his head against my hand, and then nudged the door.
“Good point, pup, but maybe we’ll check the feeds, first.”
He sighed, and flopped down onto the floor.
“I won’t be that long.”
Actually, I didn’t want to be very long at all. I’d remembered I was on an Odyssey cruiser, and knew they probably weren’t going to like their security lines being tickled, but it was either that or sit like a child waiting until Delight or Pritchard came to tell me I could come out—and that wasn’t gonna happen. I had shit to do. They could either help me get it done, or they could get the fuck out of my way, and let me do it.
And the first order of the day was to find Abs and to make sure she was okay. After that… Well, that would depend on what happened in between, but Mack, Tens and Rohan were in a world of hurt, and I didn’t intend to leave them there. At least I knew the wolves weren’t eating them. If it had been arach…
I shivered, and shook the thought out of my head.
I had to get out of here, and get my crew back.
A small thought suggested Mack might have something to say about me claiming his crew as my own, and I decided Mack could suck it, if he didn’t like it, but those folk were just as much my responsibility as they were his. I’d made a promise. The security feeds were surprisingly easy to get into. Too easy, for an Odyssey ship, and I wondered what Delight had lined up for me in there. Couldn’t see anything, so I rolled through the coding, until I found the monitoring system.
Cool. Man, this thing was huge! And it was decked out like a cruise liner. How in all the Stars did they keep the passengers from wandering into the wrong sections? Oh. Well, that would work—which was when I realized the system had answered my query by showing me the answer…and I hadn’t tweaked a thing.
Crap.
I took a good, long look at the code around me—and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Took a careful look at myself, and saw nothing wrong there. Gave myself a mental pat down to see if there was something hidden, and found myself clear. That couldn’t be right.
What else did I want to know?
Well, Computer, I’d like to make sure the corridor outside my room is clear, and then I want to know where you’re keeping Abby, if she’s okay, and why I can’t talk to her, and then…
“And then?”
And I realized I really wasn’t talking to myself, and maybe I should get back to my own head, while I figured out what that meant. I backed out of the monitoring system, looking all around for the presence that had spoken, for something that would give me a clue as to why I wasn’t alone in here. Couldn’t. See. A. Thing.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to see your ship?”
And I found myself at a location above Abby’s still form. She looked okay.
“Why can’t I speak with her?”
“Because your implant is not allowed to broadcast.”
It wasn’t? And how come I hadn’t worked that out for myself.
“You have not done a basic check of functions since waking. That should be standard operational procedure.”
It should—and I really needed to get back into my head.
Fur wrapped my consciousness, layering my presence in the ship’s net.
“And what if I don’t want to let you return?” the presence purred.
“I didn’t harm you.”
“But you are not authorized to be in my systems,” the fur tightened, “are you?”
There really was only one answer for that, and I did not want to give it.
“Your crew gave me no option. They weren’t there when I woke. I did not know what had gone wrong.”
“What made you think anything has gone wrong?”
And I pulled up the memories of the arach boarding, the wolves…the fear I’d had when Mack had put me into the tank after K’Kavor.
“Please let me back into my implant and my head.”
I stamped down on the fear that the entity that had hold of me didn’t have to let me back anywhere, that she could keep me in her systems until my body withered and died, and I was shell-less.
“Please.”
I was lying on the floor, when I landed. Not sure how I’d gotten there, and really not sure why Cascade was standing over me and snarling.
At least he wasn’t snarling at me. I tilted my head caught sight of the open door, the two—three?—sets of combat boots arrayed in front of the dog, and one very unimpressed Delight looking down at me.
“I see you’ve met the Wanderer.”
One set of boots shifted, and Cascade gave two short sharp barks, as he lunged towards them.
“Cas…” My voice came out hoarse and dry, a bare rasp.
I tried to move a hand, was relieved when that worked, and reached up to pat the dog’s chest.
“Stand down, Cas. They’re friends.” My voice was coming back, but it still came out as a hoarse whisper.
At least the dog obeyed—even if he stepped across me, and sat himself between me and the boots. Delight was not impressed.
“Very funny, mutt. How am I supposed to help her up, if you’re sitting between us?”
“I’m fine,” I muttered, pushing up onto my elbows.
I didn’t tell them that the room was on rollers, and moving like a merry-go-round.
“Uh huh. I’ve seen how Wanderer leaves her chat companions. How you’re even conscious is a wonder to me.”
“She likes me?” I suggested, using the time to try and regain my sense of balance.
“Nope, that’s not it.”
Nope, it really wasn’t. I let my elbows slide out from under me, and lay on my back. Delight snickered, and Cascade growled.
“Oh, give it a break, dog!”
“I’ve got this.” Pritchard intervened. “Cas, do you mind?”
I just closed my eyes. If Pritchard was asking nicely, then Cascade was showing a lot more teeth than I wanted him to.
“Yeah, and you could tell him that.”
I could…but he wasn’t my dog, and he probably wouldn’t listen. I opened my eyes, just as Pritchard knelt down beside me.
“You set me up,” I said, and was rewarded with that small, quick smile he rarely showed.
“Wanderer was curious what you’d do if we locked you in.”
“Wanderer thinks my procedure is sloppy.”
“She got a point?”
“Yup.”
“You know how to fix it?”
“Yup.”
Which was true. Basics had been pretty thorough. The Wanderer was right. I had gotten sloppy.
“You ready to come up, yet?”
Truth was, I didn’t think so. With Delight looking on, I wasn’t going to admit it.
“Let me fix that,” Wanderer said, and the vertigo went.
Great. As if Delight and Pritch weren’t bad enough, now I had an entire ship in my head—and it hadn’t asked permission.
“You did not ask permission before entering me.”
&
nbsp; Boat had a point.
“Sorry. I did not know you were sentient.”
“And yet you are already acquainted with one HMT.”
“That doesn’t mean I can recognize them all.”
“Pritchard is waiting. Next time, knock.”
“Thank you.” I did not know what I was thanking her for, but it seemed the right thing to say.
Pritchard was still waiting, when I refocused on the real. His face was a mask of patience, and he offered me his hand.
I didn’t have to take it, but getting up would be a lot more elegant if I did.
“Steady, Cas,” I said, and let Pritchard pull me to my feet.
The world still slipped, but not as far as before. I guess even a HMT couldn’t fix everything.
“You good?” he asked, not letting go.
“Give me a minute.”
I closed my eyes, took a slow, deep breath, and opened them, again. Damned AIs.
“Hey!”
That came in two voices, neither of which were truly offended.
“Abs?”
“I am here, and I am fine. Siobhan is taking good care of me.”
“Siobhan?”
“You don’t really think she’s called Wanderer, do you?”
Ship had a point.
“We good?” By which I meant were we okay, on track, moving towards finding Mack and the rest, or were we being delayed by another Odyssey side-mission that we needed to kick free of?
“We’re good. Closer to finding what we need to get our people out. Go talk to Delight.”
Abs kicked me back to reality, and I found myself with a hand on Pritchard’s shoulder, and both his hands on mine.
“Now are you good?”
I blinked, nodded, and looked around for Cascade. He was still facing off against Delight, and she cast a look of sheer exasperation at me.
“Tell me the boy’s attitude is nowhere near this bad.”
I stepped back from Pritchard, and he let me go.
“You really want me to lie? Here, Cas. Leave the nice agent alone.”
He looked back at me, so I patted my thigh, and he came, but not before swinging his head back to glare at Delight. Wow. What in the Stars had she done to deserve that?
“Pointed a Glazer at him,” Pritchard supplied. “I think he’s been stunned before.”
“Yup, and he didn’t like it.”
“You coulda warned me.”
“You ever tried making friends without shooting anyone?”
I caught the look on her face and the quickly smothered smirks from the two agents behind her, and thought I’d better change the subject.
“So, we got contracts to negotiate?”
17—New Contracts
“The first order of the day,” Delight said, when we had relocated to a conference room, “is for Sharovan to rescind its claim on you.”
“I thought it already had.”
“Officially,” Delight added, giving Beckett a meaningful glare, and indicating the keyboard in front of him.
“I…” He shot me a nervous glance. “I’m not authorized.”
“Who issued the warrant?” Delight snapped, and he jumped.
“My office—”
“And who can rescind it?”
“My… I… oh.”
“Do so.”
Beckett sighed, and began typing.
“I’ll need a digital tablet for my signature.”
A soft chime rang through the room, and a section of the table in front of him lit up.
“Do you need a pen, or does your system allow signatures drawn by finger?” Wanderer asked.
“It prefers signatures drawn by finger,” Beckett admitted. “It likes to verify the print.”
“You could sign it with a drop of blood,” Wanderer suggested, its voice coaxing.
“Could I do both?” He glanced over at me, and then shifted his gaze to Delight. “She has been a long-standing target of investigation.”
Delight reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, square box.
“Here.”
I watched as Beckett took it and placed his thumb against the pad inside. Mobile finger-pricker, huh? I eyed Delight warily. I’d have to remember she had one of those. She caught my look, and lifted her lips in a feral grin.
“Don’t give me that look, Cutter. I’ve never used it on you.”
So, she said.
Some of that must have shown on my face because, she arched an eyebrow at me in a definite ‘bring it’ look. I was tempted, but I also remembered we were supposed to be negotiating, and I had a crew I needed to bring home.
Once Beckett had finished signing and sending off the missive, Delight spoke again.
“Now,” she said, and Beckett gave her a wary look. “Sharovan not only failed to inform us they’d found one of our agents, but they then refused to take our calls on the matter. I believe a certain amount of compensation is in order.”
“I don’t…”
“There is a standard fee for being in breach of an Odyssey contract,” Delight reminded him, “and then there are the fees for refusing to pay it. Here.”
I watched as Beckett’s eyes widened, and knew Delight had slammed the relevant document direct to his implant, probably with the relevant paragraphs highlighted.
“In bright, screaming yellow,” she confirmed, dropping the comment straight into my implant where no-one else could see it.
“I…” Beckett shrugged, and went to work, typing a second missive to Sharovan.
And I’d thought they’d already sorted this out, you know, while I was healing.
“We had other things to discuss,” and didn’t that make me just as curious as Hell.
Delight smirked.
“Not your business, sweetie.”
Whatever.
I yawned, stroking Cascade’s head, and ignoring the fact he was resting his chin on the table. I hoped we weren’t in here too long. I was starting to remember I hadn’t eaten in a while. Beyond making the world kinda swirly, the low blood sugar was going to make me downright cranky…and most folk said I was cranky enough.
“Point taken,” Pritchard murmured, and quietly left my head.
And I hadn’t even known he’d been there. Well, damn. Beckett’s voice brought my attention back to the table.
“She could just pay the fine…”
Delight sighed.
“You know, Beckett? She could just pay the fine, but then Sharovan might find itself staring down the barrel of that breach clause and needing to contribute interest. But, whatever you think best…”
“Or I could just close the file with a warning and a waiver…”
“Yeah, you could…” Delight tried to sound like she was giving the option some serious consideration. She gave an exaggerated shrug. “But I wouldn’t want you to feel like you had to.”
I watched Beckett, saw the battle going on beneath the surface of his calm façade, and almost felt sympathetic. As far as I could tell, this was a good man being put in a very awkward position—one that challenged the very core of his values. I could see him weighing up the options, trying to balance his moral obligations against his corporation’s interests. In the end, he cancelled the fine, and sealed the file.
Delight gave him a long and calculating stare.
“Well, if you’re sure Agent Beckett.”
He returned her look, not bothering to hide his anger and frustration—and I felt for the man. Delight had made me feel that way on far too many occasions. I hadn’t realized he was still in my head, until he gave me a sideways stare.
Well, fuck. He hadn’t been meant to be privy to that.
“Don’t sweat it, Cutter. It’s not like we’re dating.”
Like we’d ever!
And he blushed.
“When the two of you are quite finished.”
Well, someone wasn’t amused.
<
br /> “Don’t push it, Cutter.”
Beckett cleared his throat, and she switched her attention to him.
“I… uh. That is Sharovan has two agents missing, and we’d like them back. We’d like to engage the Shady Marie and her crew to find them and bring them back.” He looked over at me. “Consider it compensation.”
I eyed him warily.
“I could just consider it a job, and bring in Case and Abby to make sure I negotiate it the way Mack would want it.”
And it was Delight’s turn to clear her throat. We both looked toward her.
“You are on board an Odyssey ship,” she reminded us. “You think this is really the place to negotiate a contract without us on it?”
Beckett blushed bright red, and I felt the mischief bubble and curl into a smile that I couldn’t hide.
“You know, Delight, it might not be the most diplomatic thing for us to do, but it’s not like you’ve given us much of a choice in the matter. I mean, we can’t exactly step outside.”
“That could be arranged,” she muttered, and I snickered, and then stood up, letting the smile slide from my face.
“I suggest you allow me to finalize this, and then we’ll move right back to what you had on the agenda.”
The mischief firmed into iron, as I met her gaze. I might not need to convey how very much I wasn’t going to back down, given she was in my head, already, but I let that determination come into my face. I would fight to keep Mack’s contract.
That thought, at least, brought a smile to Delight’s face. Brief though it was.
“Fine, Cutter. Negotiate your contract.”
“I need a line to the Shady, and Abby needs to be present. Wanderer?”
“I am here, Cutter. Abby will be joining you, shortly, and the link to the Shady Marie will be available in three, two…”
“Shady Marie here. How can we help you Wanderer?”
“Case, it’s Cutter. We have a contract to negotiate.”
“And it’s nice to hear from you, too,” Case said. “Fine. I take it you have as much time as usual and a ton to get done. Let’s get started.”
Hammering out the details with Beckett didn’t take as long as I feared, and, as uncomfortable as I was with Delight looking on, I managed to ignore her until it was done. Beckett and I even managed the traditional close-of-deal handshake at the end.
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