Capital Games (Audacity Saga Book 2)

by R. K. Thorne

  Then she grabbed the comm and chose the last person who’d dialed her on it.

  “Sarlano Crane, lead anchor, Dailyglow.” His voice was chipper and calm as ever.

  “Crane,” she barked. “This is Jenny Utlis.”

  “Oh. Hello, Ms. Utlis. I’d love to inform you that the mother you’re visiting isn’t on the planet and hasn’t been for quite some time. You must have been looking hard for her.”

  “So I lied to protect my privacy. Sue me. Would I be the first?”

  “Hardly.”

  “You want a scoop? I’d like to announce my official retirement. And I’d like to do it on the 918 in front of Block Seven in fifteen minutes. Can you make it happen?” Hopefully that was long enough. She needed the inspectors to still be wondering when she and Adan would leave the store and continue on. They’d only wait outside and watch both exits for so long before trying to come in and peek around.

  She and Adan were going to come out, but when they did, nobody was going to recognize them. And she’d be cloaked in cameras.

  If she couldn’t vanish, she’d hide in plain sight.

  Sarlano recovered from a stunned silence. “I can definitely do that. On my way. You better be camera ready.”

  “Headed to hair and makeup now.” She hung up just as Tana was knocking on the door with a slip of shiny black fabric and a giant box for the armor.

  Jenny swallowed. Wow, that was… shinier than it’d looked in the catalog. It even had a slight sparkle to it. This should be interesting.

  Changed, she plopped one of the crazy black boxes on her head and only paused for a moment as she stared at the hair colors.

  She needed something totally different. She loved red, but that’s what those inspectors were keying on. For a moment, she hesitated over a too-familiar pure white. Then she took a deep breath and slid it away. She was only who she was. Anything else would be a mistake. And hadn’t Orange Dress girl shown her matchy-matchy was in?

  It was exactly fourteen minutes before Jenny stood before Sarlano’s recording crescent—as well as those of two other reporters who’d spotted him hurrying to something and followed out of blind instinct. The black bodysuit was stopping the crowd, or it might have been the severe black bob that had taken over, leaving her green eyes the sole point of color sparkling like emeralds in a sea of onyx and cream. Makeup had covered the black eye as well as the freckles, leaving her transformed. Her mother would be so proud. At least until she heard the words Jenny was saying.

  “I’d like to officially announce my retirement from professional athletics,” she said carefully to them. As if anyone would fragging care—other than her parents. She wanted to roll her eyes. The self-important press conference had never been her thing. “As I’ve long been a member of the unaugmented athletic community, I find I’ve reached my limit in competing and would like to focus on something else. I intend to devote myself wholly to my new nonprofit foundation.”

  “Ms. Utlis!” one of the bloodhounds called out. “What about Utlis Sportswear?”

  Another cut in. “What will your nonprofit be for?”

  She hadn’t really planned on making the thing real, but she realized now they’d follow up. Fact-check her. Like they’d done with her mom story.

  “I’ll continue to support the excellent work of the artists at Utlis Sportswear. I’m still defining the mission statement for our nonprofit, but one aim will be funding legal representation for those lost in our currently overloaded legal system.” There. A respectable answer, and maybe even a good idea.

  “Ms. Utlis!” “Ms. Utlis!”

  “That will be all,” she said, turning back and heading into the store.

  Adan did an admirable job of faking being her “assistant” by holding back the reporters, waving them off, and muttering, “Ms. Utlis has no further comment.”

  Inside, Tana and Sin were beaming, and Sin had produced a tray of beverages, complete with their careful fancy seals, the kind preferred by many celebrities to ensure they hadn’t been tampered with. Supposedly. Jenny humored them by taking one and forcing another one on Adan, who looked vastly amused.

  “What are you two so happy about?” Jen said warmly to them. “Sorry to disrupt your day, by the way.”

  “No, not at all!” gushed Sin.

  “Don’t apologize. This kind of coverage is great for us. Orders will quadruple. Plus my kid said he got to see me on TV!” Tana waved a comm.

  Jenny raised her newly sculpted eyebrows. “News travels fast.”

  “Sure does.”

  The two of them continued to beam at her and Adan. “Uh… we should be going,” Jenny said after another sip. “Do you have any sunglasses?”

  “Absolutely.” Sin abandoned the tray and dashed around the corner, returning with a whole tray to choose from.

  “Put it on my bill,” Jenny said, sliding on a large round pair that would hopefully help further hide them from inspector eyes.

  “No, no,” said Tana. “Our compliments.”

  Jenny raised her eyebrows again, started to turn to go, then paused. “Uh… you want a picture?”

  “Yes!”

  Adan was again forced into photography service, and then they were out, their “purchases” floating behind them as the slipped into a huge luxury flyer the store had called. Reporters now lined the way from the store’s door to the flyer’s. She caught a glimpse of a frowning inspector shrugging at his partner before she slipped into the flyer. Now to just hope they wouldn’t follow.

  A small wood box lay on the seat inside.

  “What’s that?” Adan said, as he shut the door behind him.

  She picked it up and carefully opened it before she burst out laughing. “Two cigars.”

  He laughed too and snatched one. “Did they leave a lighter, and a… ah, yes.”

  They sat and puffed smoke into the flyer, surely against some rule. What was one more violation today?

  She took another puff, then squinted critically at the cigar. “This doesn’t count as my prize, you know. I said a nice one.”

  He chuckled. “These are way nicer than what I had. And besides, I didn’t think I should hand over my best to the officers if I failed spectacularly and got caught trying to save you.”

  “That’s fair. Still. You owe me.”

  He smiled, catching her gaze. “I owe you a lot more than that. What you did—tricking those officers—”

  She shushed him. “Don’t worry about it. I couldn’t just let them… you know.”

  “I know. I just… thank you.”

  “Seems like we’re even, Adan.” She turned and gazed out the window at the tall white towers floating by. Of all her trips to Capital, this was probably the best, which said a lot considering she’d been arrested and groped besides. “It’s all right. Anything for you.”

  They rode in warm silence for a while.

  Finally, Adan spoke. “Hey, I feel like a bastard. I need to contact Kael. He’s probably wondering where the hell I am.”

  “Go for it.” She waved at the comm in his hand.

  Adan hit the button, left it on video so she’d hear it as well.

  Kael answered almost immediately. “Where the fragging hell have you been? I’m going to—”

  “Look, long story. You can kill me later. Where are you?”

  “Is Ellen with you? I can’t find Ellen.”

  Adan frowned. “What?”

  “I can’t find her. And… we found out that Ostrov claims to know Arakovic’s whereabouts. But for some reason he wanted to trade me for them.”

  He had Jenny’s full attention now. She sat forward on the seat. “What the—”

  “She said no, then vanished.”

  “Uh-oh.” Adan’s expression darkened.

  “Look, I have a plan to get that info from Ostrov, but I need your help. To at least make sure the data gets back out alive.”

  “We’re on our way,” Jenny said without thinking, then eyed Adan. “That okay with
you?”

  Adan smiled and leaned back on the bench with a sigh. “One adventure really wasn’t enough for the day. I’ll adjust course from the ship to the apartment.”

  Jenny looked back to Kael. “Don’t go on any suicide missions without us. You wait right there, Kael Asidian.”

  He snorted. “No promises.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I feared my hypothesis was correct.” As soon as Kael had hung up with Jenny and Adan, Xi’s voice suddenly came from—where the hell was it? There were at least three computers in the study where Kael was pacing, going over his plans. “Kael, I must object.”

  “Look, I appreciate your concern, Xi, but getting captured is not the plan. I’m going to do my best to give him the slip. But I’m getting the info. One way or another.”

  Xi proceeded to try an array of arguments to sway him while they waited for backup to arrive.

  “Kael?” Jenny’s voice came through the open study door, followed by Jenny herself.

  “Holy shit, what happened to you two?” Kael blurted. Jenny looked like a high-paid model, with brand new jet-black hair and sunglasses the size of oranges. Behind her, Adan was in a suit not far below her in style.

  “Long story,” Jenny said. “We needed disguises.”

  “I don’t know how we’re going to justify this to Simmons.” Adan sighed.

  Jenny waved him off. “We’re not. I paid for it.”

  “What?” Adan cocked his head in alarm, and Kael had to wonder just what the price tags had been.

  Jenny gave a theatrical bow. “Courtesy of Utlis Sportswear Intergalactic Corporation. Now—can we get to the matter at hand and keep Kael from throwing himself to his demise? Maybe actually work like a team for five minutes?”

  The men nodded, and Kael quickly gave them a rundown of his plan. It basically consisted of forcibly smashing the door open and grabbing Ostrov by the throat. And maybe squeezing.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t just do that.” Adan was shaking his head.

  “The probability of success—” Xi started.

  Kael held up a hand. “I don’t want to know.”

  Jenny rubbed her chin. “You can’t go alone, and you can’t just barge in there. What if he tries to screw you over, not give you the information?”

  “Well, that’s pretty much a given.”

  Xi was undeterred. “Perhaps instead you’d be interested in the likelihood of mission failure, which is—”

  “No thank you, Xi.”

  “Wait, wait. I know.” Jenny brightened. “We’ll go together. What if we pretend we betrayed you and brought you in?”

  “Yeah,” Adan nodded. “We’ll be your wingmen.”

  Kael raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between them. “You two are very chummy all of a sudden. Where were you again?”

  Jenny waved his concern aside. “No time now. When did you last see the commander?”

  “When she spoke with Ostrov and he made the offer. Not sure what time it was. I can’t find her. I didn’t particularly want to—she’s just going to try to stop me.”

  Xi’s tone was unusually clipped, louder. “This is because she is an intelligent being. With a sense of self-preservation. Kael, you mustn’t—”

  Jenny held up one finger. “Uh, here’s an idea. I have a mild sedative in my kit. And an inhaled antidote for it. Maybe we use it to make it look like we drugged you and brought you in.”

  He ought to ask what kind of “antidote.” But that wouldn’t really tell him anything. Dremer had warned him his body might respond weirdly to stimulants, but she wasn’t entirely sure how. The response could be heightened—or deadened—or a little of both. Between his built-in scrubbers—now assaulted and then field repaired—and his worn-out, amped-up nervous system, who knew what the hell would happen? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know at this point, anyway.

  “Sounds like a pretty good plan,” he admitted, his voice rough.

  “But we’re not there for the info. We want to get in good with Arakovic.” She tapped a finger against her chin, thinking.

  “He said there’s a bounty. Money.”

  “Oh, even better.” Jenny nodded. “We’re there for the money. We don’t care who it comes from or where you’re going. Then we give you the antidote, and as he lets his guard down, we knock him over the head and have our way with his computers.”

  “It all comes down to physically assaulting him one way or another, doesn’t it?” Kael smiled. “As long as someone hits that asshole at some point.”

  “I suppose I could also try to sedate him.”

  “Sounds less gratifying.”

  “But it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan,” Adan chimed in.

  Jenny stood. “Give me just two minutes—I’ll go get the drugs.”

  “Should we suit up?” Adan rose.

  Kael shook his head. “You should. I shouldn’t. Gotta make it convincing that you two overpowered me.”

  “Hey, now.” Jenny grinned as she strode out. “I could take you, Theroki.”

  Kael snorted.

  “Hey, he’s not a Theroki anymore. Right, Kael?” Adan looked at him, eyes laughing.

  “At least someone is listening to me on one matter.” If AIs could sigh, Xi would have. “Can I offer you another important bit of information? I know the commander’s whereabouts, and I hypothesize you will wish to know as well.”

  Now Kael stood, suddenly tense. “Where, Xi?”

  “She headed for Dr. Ostrov’s residence, and I lost track of her when she entered. There seems to be something jamming the signals going in and out of there, as you observed the other evening. So you will be on your own. I won’t be able to help you.” She sounded bitter.

  Adan sprang to his feet while Xi was still talking, even as Kael was jogging for the door. “When? How long ago?”

  “Six hours, I estimate. It is similar to her other visits there. But they were not planning to play a game. I think something is… wrong.”

  “Let’s hope you’re not right, Xi,” Kael muttered.

  But he had a feeling that she wasn’t.

  Ellen squinted her eyes against the beam of the laser splitting the darkness. She kept her wrists as close to the wall as possible for a broader range of movement. The beam from the little forearm gauntlet lasers built into the suit were burning into something, although weakly and it was hard to see exactly what she was hitting. They weren’t multis, but they were definitely a start.

  The cuffs pinned her hands within a few centimeters of each other, so she couldn’t angle her gauntlet quite right to cut them directly, but with a little trial and error, she managed to cut into the chains beyond the cuffs. The laser took some time, but that was one thing she seemed to have.

  And this felt better than just listening to whatever the frag was squirming around, trying to crawl up her boot. She kicked at her assailants and scowled at the wall.

  Ostrov should have really invested in a can opener, but she was glad he hadn’t. In spite of the reinforced chains, clearly he wasn’t familiar with all the capabilities of power armor. Thank heavens.

  Another sickening squish made her want to cut wildly at the floor too, but that might eat through it and tip him off before she was ready. She was already concerned about the light her laser was throwing off, not to mention the burning smell.

  She held the sustained beam as carefully as she could in one place, averting her eyes but also afraid of leaning into its path. Still, she couldn’t resist looking down as her eyes started to adjust to the pale blue light cast off by the laser. The white bathroom tiles lining the entire place caught the light and amplified it happily. And indeed, there was a shower, a sink, a toilet, a bath.

  She was in a sort of fancy bath-shower stall, she realized. So maybe he wasn’t joking about the blood. As her eyes drifted down, she tensed, but it wasn’t enough to prepare her for what she saw.

  It wasn’t just a fish slapping around down there, or one creature making
that squishing sound.

  The floor was covered. White-tentacled creatures, almost translucent, seethed in a mass around her boots. They seemed unable to find purchase on the slick armor, but not for lack of trying. They could be two or three deep. Or—she didn’t really know. They looked like tiny versions of the creatures that had erupted from Vala, and the telepath on Upsilon.

  She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. They looked like the little creatures perched on the sushi.

  Had this been his plan all along? What even were they? She’d thought monsters, aliens, something—what did this mean? And how in all the systems could she get away from them, as soon as possible?

  The chains chose that moment to fall loose, just as she wasn’t watching. She gasped and slipped, losing her balance. She cursed entirely too loudly, groping at the walls as she fell.

  One hand caught the remains of the chain, and she righted herself savagely. She refocused the beam on the metal plate to give herself more light. She tried to slow her panicked breath as she—very, very carefully—stepped first one foot and then the other over the ridge of the tub. Out of the enclosure.

  A single determined creature stuck to her foot. She shook it once, kicked, then again. Harder. Suddenly, it went flying. Her heart jumped into her throat.

  The thing hit the wall with a splat and flopped down, back amid its brethren.

  She thought again about barbecuing the seething mass with the laser, but it seemed hardly justified as they just sat there like lumps, not harming anything. Yet.

  No, that’d be a waste of power anyway. She studied the room.

  There. Above her. The fan. The bathroom fan should lead to the ductwork—maybe where she should have started in the first place.

  She climbed onto the sink—holding to the light fixture so tightly for balance that she bent it—and got to work.

  For a luxury building, the ducts were filthy. She knew she was getting close to the main living area from peeks out the vents, and she must be near the foyer, because she heard the door chime. Perfect. Whoever was ringing, once they’d cleared out of there, she could use the apartment computer mounted in the wall to try to reach his computer. If she could at least plant a nuke, or a worm, or whatever she could find in her suit inventory along those lines, then maybe Adan or Doug could finish the job later and get her Arakovic’s information. And then she could get out.