Space Wrangler (33 page)

“Except Belker.”

“Yeah, he's a dead man for sure.” Rick gave a vengeful laugh. “That's the one thing Angelus and I agree on one hundred percent.”

For their last night before the “raid” as Rick now called it, they spent the night together in his bunk. Thanks to their stints in the ACTs they were well rested, but couldn't resist tiring one another out again. Alexia suspected he shared her unspoken concerns, not just about success or failure, but whether this would be their last night together before she either went home or died trying.

In the shower the next morning, he was all business, going over the plan with her one last time, step by step, even though she knew it by heart. Every stage was dangerous, but the big concern revolved around finding TJ and forcing him to order the third-floor guards away and the cameras turned off as he'd done the last time Alexia visited the sentient. Without that, it didn't really matter if the sentient would recognize his sister and let her through the door of the computer room, because they'd never make it down the hall to get there.

Rick had a great rapport with the lobby guard and was hoping he'd let him enter the elevator no questions asked. Maybe even let him keep his weapons. If not, Rick would need to incapacitate the poor guy before he could signal for help. And what if there were additional guards given the troubled times?

It's so frustrating
, Alexia decided as Rick turned off the water and activated the blower. The warm breeze usually felt wonderful in her hair and on her damp skin, but this morning, she barely noticed it as she lamented, “I'm hoping the sentient will recognize me from the hall and let me in, so we don't even
need
TJ's palm or retina. Just his voice so he can order the guards to stand down. But to get that, we've got to capture the rest of him.”

Rick started to respond, but she held up her hand to stop him as her own words rang in her ears. “All we need is the voice. So… Hey, Sensie?”

“Yes, Alexia?”

“How closely can you imitate TJ's voice?”

“I can replicate it exactly.”

Rick stared at her. “Would we know what she should say? The magic words or whatever?”

Alexia smiled mischievously. “Sensie? Repeat the following, but in TJ's voice: This is TJ Seaton. De-activate the cameras on the third floor and clear the hallway. I'll be there for thirty minutes and I don't want to be disturbed.”

The computer spoke the words clearly and distinctly, sounding so much like the Sea-Mont CEO it sent a chill down Alexia's spine. “That's
perfect.
Can you tap into building security?”

“Yes, Alexia. That system is not run by the sentient so it is easily infiltrated.”

“Easy for
you
, you mean,” Rick told the computer reverently. Then he flashed a dazzling smile in Alexia's direction. “This mission just became a milk run. So get dressed while I double check my pistols, then we're good to go.”

She waited as he donned jeans and a black shirt and strode out into the control room, then she found the stretchy white dress and boots. Dressing quickly, she carefully positioned the newly-shortened blonde wig over her dark locks, then applied several layers of exotic eye makeup even though she'd be wearing sunglasses. For the finishing touch, she moved her contraception patch to the telltale position below her ear, then readjusted the tight, sleeveless neckline of the dress until her breasts were almost popping out.

Not bad
, she congratulated herself, trying to focus on the adventure ahead without thinking about the high stakes. She might be communicating with her brother in less than an hour! Or she might be dead. Rick might be dead. Everyone might be dead.

Except Trent won't let that happen. And neither will Rick.

Thus inspired, she sauntered out into the control room, then had to laugh when Rick actually did a double take, his expression hovering between admiration and lust.

“Thanks,” she told him with a playful smile. “I'm ready to go when you are.”

“Change of plans. I'm gonna need a few minutes with this.”

She pretended to scowl. “I'm still a
person
, Captain.”

“A bio-person,” he corrected her. “Man…” Advancing on her, he hoisted her up in his hands and positioned her on the console.

“Sensie!” Alexia called out happily. “Close your eyes!”

Rick grinned, nuzzled her amorously, then spread her legs apart, entering her with powerful, almost reckless thrusts as she burst into gales of laughter.

For a few moments he seemed unstoppable, then he climaxed with guttural appreciation and started laughing himself. “Man… Are you okay?”

“You owe me.”

“Absolutely.” He rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “More blue specks. I thought we finally got this cleaned up.”

“It's eye shadow. Pretty, right?”

“Yeah, you're amazingly beautiful.”

“Mmm…” She tousled his hair. “This was so much fun.”

“And now the fun is over,” Sensie told them curtly. “You are supposed to be finding my cyber brother.”

Alexia laughed. “Do I sound like that when I talk about Trent? All whiny?”

“Yep.”

“Wow, just shoot me next time.” She smiled wistfully. “I guess I should get cleaned up.”

Cradling her chin in his palm, he said, “Promise me you won't take unnecessary risks. Just stick to the plan. And if anything seems off, signal me right away.”

“I will.” Her heart ached for him. “I'm so sorry I dragged you into this.”

He touched her lips with his fingertip. “I wouldn't miss it. Not for anything. So yeah,” he added with a warm smile, “get cleaned up. Then we'll do this thing. Together.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rick expected the Trading Post to be quiet at this mid-morning hour, but still, the meager scattering of patrons surprised him. Four men, each sitting alone and nursing what appeared to be whisky for breakfast; and three women, two acting as waitresses and one—the attractive but fragile Kai—lurking at a corner table. He had hoped to find Lana, since she was the chattiest of the bunch, but he settled for her quieter friend.

“Hey Kai, mind if I join you?”

Her long, oval face lit up. “Captain Gage! We didn't expect you back for months.”

“Yeah, I made an unscheduled drop of bio-metal so I figured I'd stop by.”

“I'm not on duty, but if you're in a hurry—”

“Nope. Just looking for someone to talk to. Especially about Alexia Montoya. I assume that's why everyone's so grim?”

Kai glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Our hearts are broken. But it's not just Alexia. It's her and Jamie and everyone. And they closed the sinkhole indefinitely. You heard about that, right? It's so intimidating, especially with David Seaton on the platform.”

He could see he was making her nervous, so he patted her hand. “Thanks for the update. Things will get better soon, I'm sure.” He tried for a casual tone. “I wanted to say ‘hi' to Lana too. Do you know her schedule?”

Kai took a deep breath, then blurted out, “She's in the infirmary. She's fine, or at least, that's what we're told. But they won't let me see her.”

Rick studied her warily. She wasn't just upset. Or sad. She seemed scared to death. And so even as he asked, “Is Lana sick?” he knew the answer would be something quite different.

“She has a broken wrist, or at least that's what we're told. There was an incident the night Alexia died. We were all drinking and crying, and Mr. Seaton came in.”

“You mean David? Or TJ?”

“We never see TJ, since he's in mourning. His father's running things completely. Anyway, you know how TJ always gave such inspirational speeches when we lost someone in the sinkhole? It seemed like Mr. Seaton was going to try and do that. No one liked the idea. It was creepy, frankly. And of course, Lana couldn't keep her mouth shut.” She gave a wistful smile. “I miss her.”

“So she objected to the speech? And…?”

“She didn't object to the speech, she objected to
him.
She was tipsy and started accusing him of things. Horrible things she never should have said, but still…” Kai's backbone straightened. “They didn't have to get so rough with her. The enforcers, I mean. One of them grabbed her and jerked her arm behind her back. I
heard
the crack, Captain Gage.”

Rick was half out of his seat with fury. “Which enforcer? Belker? I'll fucking kill him.”

She grabbed his hand and whispered, “It was Sampson. Belker's friend. But these days, it hardly matters. They
all
act like power-hungry bullies.” She licked her lips. “When Alexia died, everything changed. It's like the Seatons are gods now. The enforcers can do anything they want, and no one will stop them. And we c-can't go home.”

“Hey.” He gave her an awkward hug. “It's gonna be okay. You have my word.”

“There's nothing you can do. You should probably just go. You have a ship. You can get away. Not like us.”

“It's going to be okay,” he repeated stubbornly. “I can help you but I need more information. The last news bulletin said arrests have been made. Do you know who they mean?”

“No. We don't get news updates anymore. I just know they have Lana. And they had Gabby but she was released yesterday, thank God. We were so scared for her.”

“They arrested Gabby?”

“No, no. She was in the infirmary like Lana. She tried to kill herself when she heard Alexia and TJ got married. So Dr. Meg pumped her stomach. Or at least, that's the rumor. Poor Gabby.” She sobbed into her hands. “I just can't bear it anymore.”

“Hey, Kai?” He waited for her to look at him, then smiled. “I gave you my word, didn't I? I'll get you out. Not necessarily today, but soon. The army trained me to rescue people and I'm pretty damned good at it.
Your
job is to keep a low profile. Just like you're doing.”

“You'll rescue Lana too? And George? And…” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “It has to be everyone. Because everyone's afraid. They've never closed the sinkhole for more than a day or two before—”

“And now it's been a full week? I agree, time to re-open it.”

She leaned back and tried to smile. “I keep telling myself the UN will do something soon. So don't put yourself in danger on our account. We just need to wait it out. Low profile, like you said.”

Rick wondered if the UN could really intercede. Diplomatically, sure. But they had handed Sea-Mont the keys to the kingdom, mostly on the strength of the Montoya reputation. If David wanted to keep the sinkhole closed, it would take weeks and a full-scale battle, not to mention a horde of physicists and fighter pilots, to ram through from E-side.

But to the stranded, terrified denizens of the platform, a rescue party from Earth probably seemed like the last, best hope. Who was he to take that away from Kai? So he told her briskly, “You'll be back home in no time. I'm sure of it.” Then he cleared his throat and added, “If someone asks what we talked about—”

“I'll say we talked about Alexia. Lana says you had a crush on her.” She winced. “I'm sorry, Captain. And maybe Alexia was right all along. Maybe the people in the sinkhole are still alive.”

He nodded. “Maybe so. Meanwhile, just lay low. Someone will come for you soon, I promise.”

“Thanks, Rick.”

“It's my job,” he reminded her. Then he stood up and strode out of the bar.

As soon as he was a safe distance away, he contacted Sensie. “Did Alexia leave yet?”

“Yes, Captain. Is something wrong?”

“It's worse here than we thought. But if she's on her way, then so am I. Which means it's time for you to impersonate TJ.”

“I won't let you down, Captain.”

“Yeah, I know.” He exhaled sharply. “So let's get this done.”

Alexia had feared a run-in with the enforcers on the space dock, but to her amused surprise, those guys already had bio-girls in the booth with them. Apparently, TJ was running a loose ship these days, which worked for her, so she strolled—alone and unnoticed—across the platform, surprised by how few residents she saw.

They're all depressed
, she decided.
Two sinkhole losses in less than two weeks. It must be so scary for them.

She sighed, knowing they'd be even more frightened if they knew what the Sea-Mont CEO and his father were
really
capable of, namely attempted murder. She only hoped it hadn't progressed to actual murder, given the ominous assertion that “arrests have been made”.

Don't think about that. Think about the sentient.

A shiver of excitement ran along her bare arms. If even a fraction of her brother's ingenuity resided in that computer, and if she could access that brilliance and pair it with Rick's experience and fearlessness, the Seatons would be finished for good.

And if some vestige of her brother's personality still existed in this world? Did she dare hope for that?

Her heart pounded as she sauntered—hooker style—through the lobby doors of Sea-Mont headquarters and up to the guard. “Hey, handsome,” she said in her huskiest tone. “TJ is expecting me.”

The man gulped. “He called a minute ago. You can go right up, or wait for Captain Gage. I understand you're
his
date.”

“I can handle them both,” she insisted with a wink.

The guard laughed. “I bet you could. But Mr. Seaton's grieving, you know that, right? He's a widower now, like me. Poor guy. At least I had thirty great years with my wife.”

Ugh
…

The idea of TJ masquerading as a bereaved husband angered her more than his treachery. She almost understood the bullying and the jealousy, but this? Trading on people's sympathies? Truly the lowest point yet in his fall from grace.

“Here's the guest of honor now,” the guard announced cheerfully. “Welcome back, Captain Gage. Mr. Seaton said to give you the royal treatment, so just let us know what you need.”

“Looks like you've already read my mind,” Rick congratulated him, eyeing Alexia greedily. Then he slipped his arm around her waist. “Hi, honey. I'm Rick. Ready to go upstairs and have some fun?”

“You make a terrible sleazeball,” she told him as soon as they were safely in the elevator.

“Too bad, because you're built for action.”

She laughed, then quirked an eyebrow. “How's Lana?”

A shadow passed across his face, but all he said was, “Things are grimmer than we thought.”

She nodded, remembering the deserted platform. “It must be so weird for them. But now they have
us
.”

“Yeah, let's hope Sensie's impersonation works wonders again.”

On cue, Sensie's TJ voice gave confident, clipped instructions to the security system.

“Can you believe this?” Alexia asked in relief as the door opened on the third floor. “Now it's up to me.”

He turned her to face him. “He'll let you in. That's what big brothers do, right?”

She stared into his green eyes, dying to declare her feelings once and for all. He was everything she ever wanted or needed in a boyfriend, and now he was actually doing the impossible: helping her reconnect with her long-lost brother.

Moistening her lips, she settled for saying, “I'm so glad you're here with me.”

He nodded, then took her by the elbow and led her down the long, white, empty corridor. The guards had cleared out, which meant Sensie's ruse had worked. The cameras would be dark, too.

If only Sensie could open the door to the computer room as well. But that would be up to a
different
sentient.

“You can do it,” Rick told her as they approached the sensor pad. “Just rest your palm there, look up into the red light, and speak your name clearly.”

She gulped and nodded, then rubbed her hand against her dress to ensure good contact. With one last smile at Rick, she took a deep breath and firmly positioned her palm on the pad.

Before she could utter her name, or even blink for the retinal scan, the door slid open. Her knees buckled from the shock, but Rick's arm caught her, propelling her forward.

And just when she thought it couldn't get any better, a familiar voice drawled, “Hey, sis. What took you so long?”