Capital Games (Audacity Saga Book 2)

by R. K. Thorne

“You sure you’re not ready to go back to your place?” said Jenny.

  “Maybe tomorrow. If I’d done that already, I’d have missed all the fun.”

  “And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Jenny just shook her head.

  Kael should have been tired after the exertions of the day, but he was keyed up instead by the time he got out of his monkey suit and into something comfortable—and without a cape. Unsurprisingly, he had adrenaline in surplus.

  Still he forced himself to lie down, since Jenny was on the first watch. Years of training himself to sleep on demand apparently kicked in, because when he awoke to Xi’s voice from his comm, there was sunlight streaming through the window.

  He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. Didn’t whoever was after Persad know where she lived? That seemed unlikely, and after the attack the first day, the silence since seemed strange. Ominous, even.

  He was still itching with nerves by the time they were ready to head out—on foot and armored this time—for one quick stop.

  “One of the two addresses Xi was able to tie to the capsule is here on Capital,” Ellen said in their mini briefing before they headed out. “So we’ve got to be as discreet as we can.”

  “I’m ready to disable to street surveillance in the area on your cue,” said Adan.

  “We should get more cloakers while we are here, Commander,” added Jenny.

  “Are they legal?”

  Jenny shrugged. “Does that matter?”

  Ellen shook her head. “Maybe on our way out then. Remind me.”

  The building where their destination was tucked away was a skyscraper, of course. Every freaking plot of land here was either a skyscraper or a manicured park with a pagoda. But this skyscraper also went down into the earth as well.

  “You would think it’d be sandy here,” he muttered into the comm channel as they found the other entrance to the service stairwell. “Tough to dig down and build on an island. Wouldn’t you think?”

  Jenny shrugged. “The wonders of modern engineering. And all the wonderful things we use it for! Inter-solar-system colony ships, superhuman cyborg legs, colors of hair you don’t have to dye, and darker labs in danker basements.”

  Mo and Nova snickered.

  The stairwell was indeed both dark and dank. Adan broke through the outer lock in record time thanks to the downloaded data from Vala’s computer. Their unorthodox entry didn’t kick on the autolights, and they left the lights off. His armor detected safe air—and no hint of sedative, praise the Almighty—but humidity was in fact high. Dark, check. Dank, check.

  After the outer door was shut, they pulled their multis from the crate they’d floated along behind them. Armor had drawn enough stares. He doubted walking around with rifles was even legal.

  It was six switchbacks down until they came to the next door. Adan got to work wordlessly. He was wearing the old armor Jenny had brought along, which he hadn’t been a fan of. Now that they were standing here, Kael was glad Ryu had insisted. Dude just didn’t know what was good for him, most of the time.

  “How’s it feel not to be a drone?” Nova asked. They were all on the comm channel, silent outside and speaking only within the suits.

  “Just peachy.” Adan was barely paying attention.

  “Mmm peaches.” Jenny’s armor rubbed its metal belly.

  “I could go for a peach right now,” Mo agreed, expression stoic. And that said something as she was usually so quiet.

  “They have to have some down here, right?” asked Nova.

  Jenny turned toward her. “The Regency Night Market is your best bet—I’ll show you when we get back.”

  “With peaches, this’ll almost feel like a vacation.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” Ellen said as the lockpad flashed red and then green. Adan stepped back. “Everyone ready?”

  They each acknowledged in turn.

  Ellen stilled. “When governments fail to police science…”

  “Science will police itself,” Jenny finished, clutching a fist over her heart. How they determined the rotation for that little ritual, he hadn’t figured out—but he had noticed he wasn’t included in it yet.

  Hoo-ahs went up all around, and in they went.

  Kael went first, and the unlocked door opened easily. Too easily, as he slammed it accidentally against the metal walls. It echoed like they’d burst into a vast refrigerator. The air was just as cold too, from the readout. Sweeping lights from their suits revealed nothing but dusty, empty floor.

  “Take it easy, He-Man,” Ellen said as they filed in and spread out, searching the place.

  But it was clear pretty quick.

  “Why are all the fanciest Enhancer labs always cleared out before we get to them?” Nova groaned.

  “We know they use them cyclically.” Adan shrugged. “Maybe they’re planning to come back.”

  “Maybe they’re on the run,” Jenny offered.

  Ellen’s voice was darker. “Maybe they knew we were coming.”

  After searching two rooms, the hall he’d gone down dead-ended in nothing but dust and an occasional spider. He came back to the entry.

  “Hey, Theroki, how’s it feel to he standing this time?” Nova cracked her gum at him and grinned through her visor.

  “Slag off, vieja.”

  “He’s learning!”

  “Aren’t you younger than him?” Jenny rejoined them in the central area.

  “I didn’t say he was learning my language, just that he was learning.”

  Kael snorted.

  “Anybody see anything?” Ellen called from down another hall.

  “Not even one squid monster.” Kael prodded a low steel crate with his multi. It was empty.

  “Ugh, thank God.” Jenny inspected a nearby wall. Not that he could see anything there for her too look for other than sheet metal.

  “There’s… this.” Mo’s voice echoed from the back.

  Leaving Jenny and Nova near the entry, Adan, Ellen, and Kael followed Mo’s voice to the back.

  “What is it?” Ellen asked.

  Mo pointed at a deactivated force field control on the wall outside. “Looks like a cell.”

  “Maybe to hold something in?” said Adan.

  “That’s typically what cells are used for,” Ellen muttered.

  “I know, I’m such a genius,” he agreed.

  “Something?” Mo gestured with her multi at what looked like a shelf—no, a low slab for a bed—with a heavy steel cuff at each corner. “Or someone?”

  Kael shuddered.

  Ellen stopped at the edge of the alcove. “Maybe it’s for the certain contents of a little metal container we all know and love.”

  Adan took a step back and bumped into the wall behind him. “Okay, now you’re scaring me.”

  “They didn’t have anything like this on Helikai,” said Kael. “But Li was being evacuated. He must have planned to move it somewhere else before… maturity.”

  “Her,” said Ellen slowly. “Not it.”

  “Right. Her.”

  “Any idea where he was being evaced too?”

  “No. I’d suspect Desori, since that’s where he told me to take it. But really it could be anywhere. That location was only known to the evac team. Of course… Hmm.”

  “What is it?”

  “If Doug could buy one of them out and get the lab location, then—”

  “What makes you think he did that?” Ellen said sharply, stepping closer.

  “Just always assumed it.” He shrugged. “How else would he have gotten the location, just for that specific time window? I’d been there for months.”

  “There are plenty of ways, like info from one of the nukes, but go on.”

  “Well, if he bought out one of those Theroki, maybe someone else could too. Which means they could have revealed other locations. To anyone.”

  “And then they’d have to pack up, if they realized they had a leak.”

  He nodded. “And get some new security g
uards. That’s all conjecture of course.”

  “Well, whatever happened here, this cell is creepy as hell. Adan, see if you can get anything from this force field control computer.”

  “Got it.”

  “Let’s do one more sweep. Make sure we didn’t miss anything hidden. Mo, use your scanner to see if there’s anything unusual to this stuff.” Ellen wrapped an armored knuckle against the metal wall with a clang.

  Finally they all congregated by the entry. The place continued to be eerily silent outside of their comm chatter. Mo joined them last, having gone through each room alone again.

  “Nothing much out of the ordinary, just steel, except…” She hit a button on the side of her scope scanner. “That cell area has traces of opsepium. Like, thin lines of it tracing the walls.”

  Kael let out a low whistle. “The telepathy-interfering element? Is there a chance this has something to do with our little friend?”

  “I’ll see if Dremer has any updates,” Ellen said. “Wonder if that’s also what’s in Persad’s chips? Anyway, doesn’t matter. Mo, send those readings back to the ship.”

  “On it, Commander.” Mo started entering further commands into her scope. That thing was even fancier than he’d realized.

  Ellen let out a breath and scanned around them. “Well, we checked. Let’s get out of here. Adan, lock us back up on the way out.”

  Back at Persad’s, Ellen had them all poring through records and news feeds, trying to find something on where any of those girls might have ended up. She tried to read herself, but mostly she just paced like a caged tiger and made annoyed moves in Ostrov’s stupid game. He’d chosen a much more tedious and lengthy one this time.

  Kael had found a rumor that one girl had been spotted on the ice world Ifjornof, and Adan had found a way into several of their net accounts, but it hadn’t taught them anything. Overall, the team was striking out.

  The room’s holodesk lit up, indicating an incoming call. It darkened as Persad answered it somewhere else in the place.

  Ellen’s stomach dropped, though, when Persad walked out a moment later.

  “It’s for you.” Chayana gave her a look of sympathetic chagrin. “Guess you didn’t wear enough bug spray.”

  “God, not him again.” She rose and felt the eyes of the others on her as she followed Persad out, which only added to the heat in her cheeks. She plopped down in front of Persad’s large, sleek holodesk in her study. “What.”

  He grinned. “It’s so silly we’re playing three floors apart. Especially when I have this wonderful table you love so much. Come and join me again.”

  She stared at him. For a good long two seconds, maybe more. The search for an excuse not to go was in vain. She released a breath like an explosion. “Fine. Be right there.”

  His grin broadened as he ended the call before she had the satisfaction of doing so.

  She shook her head as she stood up. It was going to feel good to beat him. Again. Might as well get this over with. But first, armor.

  She didn’t meet any of their eyes when she stomped through a few minutes later, fully armored and with a sigh. “I’ll be back. Hopefully I won’t be long.”

  “Good luck, Commander,” Jenny muttered in her wake.

  As she hit the elevator tube, she frowned at herself. Avoiding the eyes of her crew now? All of them—or one in particular?

  She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and resolved to thrash Ostrov and end this game right now.

  He had the door open before she reached it. Hmm. Either he had a camera that watched the elevator, or he’d been waiting there the whole time. Probably the former; he didn’t seem like the desperate type.

  “I see I’ve earned so much of your trust,” he said, tone dry. He’d traded in the usual long black jacket for a navy one that did things to his eyes. Blech. She hated noticing anything nice about him.

  She retracted the helmet after the readout was clean and his door was shut. “You got what you got. I am what I am. Take it or leave it.”

  “Oh, I’ll take it. Come.” He swept out an arm toward the gaming room, and she marched on in.

  He set down a box of juice in front of her, with a gesture like he was presenting the finest champagne. Not a box of her choosing, she noted. She met his gaze, her own level and not concealing her annoyance, as he sat one hip on the table beside her. He smiled, and his eyes flashed brightly. How odd that when she was actually in his presence, his amorous overtones always morphed into feeling more lethal than affectionate.

  “It’s a real woman that can make a suit of armor look so stunning. Although I must say I prefer the blue satin.”

  She went rigid and hoped he couldn’t tell. “This is more comfortable.”

  “Truly? I’m surprised. You looked plenty comfortable from what I saw. More sushi?” A tray of cold little white and red meat arranged neatly on rice awaited her too.

  “You’re quite prepared to have someone over.”

  “Oh, it’s an addiction. They’re just delicious little creatures, what can I say?”

  “I’m full.”

  “Can I interest you in a sparkling jelly tart?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Got a few in the kitchen.”

  “I already ate.”

  “That’s a shame. There’s this delightful unicorn steak—”

  “You’re breaking my flow,” she said, groping for an excuse for the irritation in her tone. “Can we just get on with this?”

  He gave her a little head shake and tongue cluck as he straightened and headed to his side of the table, pulling the game to life before them. It was her move, and she took it as he spoke. “Your appearance sans armor last night made quite the splash.”

  She kept her eyes trained on the game. It was a night for dodging gazes. “Got my breather ripped out for my trouble.”

  “I saw.” He ordered his move on the computer as he leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the table.

  “You saw?”

  “It’s all over the nets.”

  She winced. “That wasn’t my intention.”

  “You’re quite the little killer, aren’t you.”

  She stopped and finally met his gaze. For the first time, she could detect some honest intrigue there, some kind of curiosity now under the arrogant facade. “You study… whatever it is you study. How to make brighter rainbows. I have studied something else.” She reached out and pushed her piece into her desired location with precise force.

  He chuckled. “Brighter rainbows. Good one. Blue A84 to C26.” His piece moved based on the command.

  “I try.” She shuffled through the next move, capturing six of his pieces one by one. He watched with a mild frown and pursed lips, more out of consternation than annoyance or surprise.

  “For someone so smart, you’d think you’d be more comfortable with technology.”

  Ah, so she was getting under his skin. “Why would you say I’m not?”

  “Manual interaction with a holo? It’s more tactile, sure, but far from efficient.”

  She’d argue that was hardly true, but he wasn’t worth it. Instead, she simply narrowed her eyes. “This info of yours better be worth it.”

  “Trust me, it is.”

  They fell silent for the next few moves. When she could see him working toward another bit of small talk, she decided it was time to take more of an offensive role in the verbal game they were playing. She waited until his eyes were on her making her supposedly inefficient tactile move.

  “Anaka Cho.”

  There was a flicker of something before he was able to cover it. Oh, he knew something all right.

  “Some folks at the club last night were talking about her. Happen to know her?”

  “I may have heard the name. The Elderflower is one of my many haunts. An inspector’s daughter, was it?”

  “I have no idea. I just know she has some friends who are looking for her. Can’t seem to find her.”

  He forced a smile now, a
nnoyed more than anything else. “Well, I’m sure she’ll turn up eventually. They always do.”

  She cocked any eyebrow. “They do?” Did his definition of “always” include them turning up dead in the ocean too?

  He nodded once, curt, his upper lip twitching. He tried to hide it behind a drink of something dark and amber colored. “Oh, they do. If you know the right people, they know where to look. She’ll find her. She always does.”

  She pounced. “She? Who is she?”

  His eyes widened just enough to acknowledge that he’d given something away. He waved dismissively. “Her friend. Whoever is looking. I assumed it was a woman. Or was it a lover?”

  “No. Just a few friends. Of a variety of genders.”

  “Ah.” He took another drink. Buying time, she thought. “Are you sure I can’t get you some grilled uni—”

  She held up a palm. “I’m sure. Don’t make me raise the helmet too.”

  “You’re a tough negotiator.”

  “You’re a tedious one. What is the point of all these games?”

  “I need to be sure you’re one of the few who can act on the information I’m going to give you. Only a few are that good. Rumors say you’re one of them. But I have to be sure.”

  “Are you sure yet?”

  “Not when I’m about to beat you. Are you sure you wouldn’t like any sushi?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just play.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Hours. He’d been reading news feeds for hours. Kael leaned his head back against Persad’s swanky, bent wood recliner and blinked at the ceiling. Why couldn’t that dang laboratory have been filled with crazed evil scientists and monstrosities that needed dispatching? Instead, he was stuck playing detective. Or worse, the detective’s overlooked research assistant. While the detective was off… He didn’t want to know. Isn’t this what they had inspectors for?

  But the inspectors weren’t doing anything. Yet another mystery. At this point, the chances of actually finding answers seemed dimmer than ever.

  He glanced around to see if anyone else was flagging. Jenny was curled up in a nearby orange armchair, frowning determinedly over her work. Mo brooded at the window over a tablet of her own but spent about half the time simply staring out at the people below, possibly planning their violent demise. That was basically standard behavior for her. She didn’t exactly scare him—he’d lived with Theroki for a decade after all—but if any of them were going to scare him, it’d have been Mo.