The Two Towers (11 page)

Kayla looked away, knowing he was right. Yet, she wasn't willing to dismiss her feelings based on some future possibility. It might not be the practical thing to do, but she knew better than anyone how short life could be. She might as well live her life to the fullest. There might not be a tomorrow.

With a weak smile, she asked, “When have you ever known me to do anything sensible?”

He shook his head and sighed. They both knew there was no good answer to that question.

Kayla stared at the monitor in amazement. The security system in Carl’s base was more sophisticated than she first guessed. There were numerous seemingly independent layers actually overlapping each other to create a complex web.

Her fingers flew across the screen. Fascinated by the intricacies of the design, she shifted through yet another layer and admired the way it aligned with its predecessor. She pulled up another monitor to line up the two layers side by side. There were definitely some security holes, but she could fix them.

She marked off the vulnerable areas and shifted the screen to pull up the next layer. Once she had them mapped out, she would work on reinforcing those areas. But she wanted to see what she was up against first.

Cruncher leaned over and asked, “What was wrong with that last one?”

She pulled the previous layer back up and pointed to the areas she had isolated. “You’ve got some holes in your system, pal. It’s leaking like a sieve.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

“It’s not that bad. This is actually a sweet system. Who designed it?”

“OmniLab. But I made a few tweaks. Unfortunately, Ramiro’s security is similar. He’ll be familiar with the ins and outs.”

Kayla’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Oh, really?”

Cruncher nodded. “Yeah. The system was designed more to protect against ruin rats and other troublemakers. Traders don’t usually go up against traders.”

Kayla pulled out her comlink and scrolled through her files. “When I scouted Ramiro’s base a year ago, I had to analyze his system. I didn’t bother with his security system because it would have taken way too long, but I did get down and dirty with the base maintenance and monitoring systems. They weren’t well protected.”

“What are you saying?”

“You can circumvent the security by going through the maintenance and monitoring systems. Your security system isn’t linked to everything. We need to fix that.”

Kayla located the file she was looking for and uploaded it. She displayed the code on the screen. “I can make a few changes to this to link them together. I’ll essentially add another layer, rather than modifying the existing ones. I still need to plug those other holes, but this is a pretty big threat.”

“You wrote this?” Cruncher asked in disbelief as he looked through the complex code.

She looked at the screen, trying to see it from his point of view. It was decent, but nothing spectacular. “Yeah. I was pissed off that day, so it’s a little sloppy.”

Cruncher let out a low appreciative whistle. “Why do you even bother going into the pits, girl? You’re a natural tech.”

She didn't bother to hide her grimace. It might be okay for some people, but she prided herself on her ability to recover artifacts and wouldn't change that for anything. The tech stuff was more of a hobby. “No way. I belong in the ruins.”

Cruncher shook his head. “Most techs I’ve seen can’t work this level of technology.”

She shrugged and finished modifying the code. She linked it to the security system and fashioned another layer of security over the existing ones.

“I’ll need to polish this up a bit later. It’ll provide some basic coverage for the time being. But I need to go stretch my legs or something. I’ve been sitting here too long.”

“Yeah, go ahead.” He waved her off with a nod. “Do you mind if I check out your code some more?”

“Not at all.” Kayla rubbed the back of her neck, trying to stretch out the kinks, and headed toward the practice room. She was hoping Corsin was around so she could work on some locks with him. Engrossed with the idea she might be able to talk him into making a small wager, she nearly bumped into Arlisia and Jinx just inside the room.

Arlisia glared at her. Jinx glanced at her friend before giving Kayla a hesitant smile. “Hey, Kayla. What’s up?”

“Sorry if I interrupted something. I was actually looking for Corsin. He wanted to work on some locks with me.”

“Carl wasn’t enough for you?” Arlisia asked coldly. “Now you’re planning on moving in on Corsin too?”

“Whoa there, kitten,” Kayla said in surprise. “You might want to sheathe those claws before you get hurt.”

Arlisia turned to Jinx. “I’ll talk to you later. I have things to do.” Without another glance at Kayla, she walked out of the room.

“Sorry about that.” Jinx apologized, shifting her weight uncomfortably. “I hope you don’t judge Arlisia too harshly over it. She’s a good person, she’s…well, she’s got it pretty bad for Carl.”

Kayla tried to keep her expression neutral. She wouldn't normally be interested in camp gossip, but given her own interest in Carl, she couldn't help herself. “Carl mentioned they had been involved.”

Jinx nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty stupid of Carl. He started trying to recruit Corsin about a year ago. Corsin was interested in joining up, but didn’t want to leave his sister behind. They went back and forth about it for awhile. Arlisia isn’t a scavenger and we weren’t looking for more techs. They eventually came to some sort of agreement and Corsin signed up.”

Her eyes widened, surprised at the news. “Arlisia is Corsin’s sister?”

“Yeah, I thought you knew.”

When Kayla shook her head, Jinx shrugged. “Well, when Corsin brought her here, Arlisia sort of developed this hero-worship mentality about Carl. You know how some ruin rats are around traders. At first, I think he was flattered and thought it was cute when Arlisia would trail him. But it got a little intense. He screwed up and ended up fooling around with her. Carl immediately regretted it and tried to call things off with Arlisia.”

Kayla knew exactly what she was talking about. She'd seen quite a few ruin rats fall all over themselves in an effort to get into a trader's good graces. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in Carl that he'd gone along with it. At least he realized his mistake and tried to put a stop to it though. “Did that cause problems with Corsin?”

“Yeah, some. After Carl told her he wasn't interested, she freaked out and was pretty miserable around here for awhile. But after a few weeks, it started getting a bit better. Then, when Carl started telling Xantham and Cruncher to track your movements, she lost it again.”

Kayla jerked her head in surprise. “He was tracking me? For how long?”

Jinx grinned. “The past few months. We’d all heard about you. Carl was wondering if you’d be a good fit for the team. He had Xantham hack into your coms a few times, but you kept finding out. That impressed the hell outta’ both Carl and Xantham. Most scavengers don’t have a lot of tech skills. But then he had Cruncher manually install a sniffer directly into Leo’s system a few weeks back, figuring you didn’t handle the system coms. It was pretty risky, but he didn’t think you’d find that one.”

Kayla swallowed, not sure how she felt about the news. She knew Carl had been watching Leo's camp but she didn't realize she was the reason. It seemed Leo was right. She wasn't good at staying under the radar. “We found it. But not until a few days ago.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Pretty awesome work routing it to that awful sound clip.”

Kayla shrugged and managed a small smile. “Not really. It looked like it had been on there for weeks. Our techs didn’t catch it.”

Jinx nodded, looking proud. “Xantham designed it. He’s good at what he does. Carl had him capture your transmissions. He started tracking your movements and Leo’s financials. When he realized how much you were scavenging right under his nose, he decided to be more aggressive in recruiting you.”

“But why is Arlisia upset if I’m just a recruit?”

Jinx was thoughtful for a moment. “At first, I think it was because Carl was focused on something other than her. But then she overheard Cruncher and Carl talking about the run-in they had with you over at Sector 12. Cruncher made some comment about how you were the most skilled ruin rat he had ever seen and Carl told him you were also the best looking one. It pissed Arlisia off.”

“Look,” Jinx continued. “We’re a small crew. You can’t sneeze in here without someone knowing the color of your snot. It sounds like the boss is probably into you. You seem like you can handle yourself, so play him or not. It’s up to you. You know the risks. I hope you don’t judge Arlisia too harshly. She’s normally a sweet girl, just a little confused.”

Kayla nodded. “I get it. Thanks.”

Jinx gave her a dismissive wave and turned back to her equipment. “No problem. If you’re looking for Corsin, I think he’s either in the com room or in the crew’s quarters.”

Still mulling over her conversation with Jinx, Kayla headed back toward the communications room. Carl and Xantham were leaning over the desk studying some readouts on a monitor. Xantham had an earpiece on but lowered it when she entered the room.

“Damn girl, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“That she is,” Carl agreed, his eyes warming. He stepped away from Xantham and motioned for her to come closer. “We’re still monitoring Ramiro’s chatter.”

“Oh?” She moved to peek over Xantham’s shoulder.

Xantham tapped on the screen. “Yeah. He’s been trying to get into our system for the past two days. He hasn’t been able to do it yet but he’s persistent. I imagine he’s pretty pissed off about it.”

“Xantham’s been doing an excellent job at keeping him out.”

“Shit, Boss,” he said and grinned at Carl's compliment. “I could do this with my eyes closed.”

Although Kayla was appreciative of their efforts, she felt a pang of guilt at being the one responsible for the heightened security. Although, she reasoned, it was Carl's own fault for contacting OmniLab. If he'd left things alone, they wouldn't be in this situation. Xantham didn't have anything to do with it, though, and she didn't like having anyone else take care of her problems. “Anything I can do to help?”

Carl shook his head. “Xantham has this under control. But I still need to speak with you in my office if you have a few minutes.”

She gave a half-hearted shrug. There were worse things than being alone with a gorgeous specimen of a man.

* * * *

Carl slipped his hand around her waist to lead her toward his office. Once inside, he enabled the privacy divider and then pulled out the bottle of scotch and two glasses. She raised her eyebrows as he poured her a glass and handed it to her.

“What’s this for? I managed to get through today injury free so far.”

He smiled. “I just thought you’d enjoy it.”

Far be it for her to refuse his generosity. She picked up the glass and took a sip. Deciding to take the opportunity to explore, she wandered around his office. It was surprisingly neat and organized with a few Old World artifacts on display. She recognized some items from previous scavenges but others were unfamiliar.

A strange vase on one shelf caught her attention. She studied the lines of it, admiring the way it had been painted. It was simple, but extraordinarily beautiful.

Carl approached her and gestured to the item. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It almost seems to change colors when you move past it.”

“That’s one of my favorites. I purchased it from Warig. One of his scavengers found it. I had to have it.”

“It’s beautiful.” She took another sip, moving away to continue her exploration. She paused at a small red button on the wall. Curious, she pressed it and a panel slid open. It would have been handy if she'd known about it the other day.

“You have another entrance to your private quarters through your office?” she asked as she looked inside.

“Yes. It’s convenient and I enjoy my privacy.”

Kayla remained at the doorway and glanced around the room. It was almost as neat as his office. There were a few personal touches, but not many. Based on his office and bedroom area, she figured he was a man who enjoyed simplicity and beauty.

Finished with her brief tour, she turned around to face him. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“A few things.” He took the empty glass from her and refilled her drink before handing it back to her. “Mainly, I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Kayla sat down on the edge of his desk and twirled the scotch around, trying to figure him out. Perhaps it was paranoia, but she wasn't used to such scrutiny. “What do you mean?”

“I know it was a difficult decision for you to join. I hope you’re not regretting it.”

“Nope, I don’t believe in regrets.”

“No?”

She took another sip. “It’s our mistakes that make us who we are.”

He regarded her for a long moment. “You continue to surprise me, Kayla.”

She shrugged. “I get that a lot. It’s usually not meant in a good way either.”

He laughed and refilled her glass. Kayla eyed it skeptically. “I thought you warned me against drinking too much of this.”

“I did,” he admitted. “It definitely sneaks up on you. But I didn’t think you backed away from a challenge either.”

There was a mischievous glint in his eye and she couldn't help but smile in response. This playful side of him was appealing. “What are you up to, Carl?”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he took a long drink and put his empty glass on the desk. She laughed in delight. “All right then.”

She drank down the scotch and put her empty glass on the desk next to his. He refilled the glasses and moved hers toward her.

Kayla watched him toss back his drink before she grinned and did the same, wincing slightly as the liquid burned her throat. She put her empty glass next to his, tapping for a refill. She was beginning to understand what he meant about it sneaking up on you. There was a pleasant warmth in her belly and her limbs were feeling much more fluid.