***
Kyrena awoke on Spook’s bed, her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. Their clothes were a little disheveled but otherwise intact. For a few fleeting moments, Kyrena was almost disappointed that things hadn’t progressed further, but mostly she was glad. Rushing this would only cheapen it. God, Kyrena. Have you gone mad? Are you really fantasizing about making love to an alien? The scientific side of her brain kicked into motion, wondering whether a valerian could have a baby with a human, and then the inappropriateness of that thought had her blushing like a prepubescent girl with a crush.
Pull it together!
Spook jumped from the bed, and suddenly Kyrena realized that he had already been wide awake, his eyes following the various camera feeds.
She slipped off the bed and stepped behind him as he sat in what he’d called his ‘command chair’ and surveyed the mindless intelligence gatherers that were Berengi Dome’s electronic eyes.
"Anything?" she asked. As her eyes frantically scanned it felt like she was playing a game of ‘Find the Needle in the Ocean.’ Then…wait…wait. "Hold it, there’s one!" She pointed to a figure standing outside the Jeylani-Berengi transit tunnel. He looked like the one who had spoken to Angry Guy, but he was no longer wearing the fake Jeylani uniform.
Spook frowned. "That’s what I was afraid of. My hope was that they would give up, but instead they’ve regrouped and decided to blend in so that they can nab you when you try to make it back home through the tunnel."
Spook’s fingers were typing at a dizzying pace, bringing up some screens and minimizing others.
"What I’d like to know is what happened to the real security detail that was supposed to come get me" Kyrena said.
Spook nodded. "My thoughts too. Before we, uh, took a nap to wait things out I started a search algorithm of several likely security cams they would have passed, starting with the transit tunnel between the two Domes." Furious typing followed several infuriating delays, but at last Spook was pulling up the relevant vids, playing each one in a separate window.
"How far do the feeds go back?" Kyrena asked.
"Just a day’s length. I can’t afford to save more data than that. The power usage I’m consuming is bad enough as is, and I’ve had to use some creative tactics to mask it."
"There, that’s Magnis!" Kyrena interrupted, pointing to the security team on the left-most screen. Apparently they had come for her.
Spook froze the image, rotated it, altering the man’s face from a grainy blur to something crystal clear. "You’re sure that’s him, and not another imposter?"
Kyrena nodded emphatically. "That’s Magnis. I’d know that big nose and stubbly beard anywhere."
Spook resumed the feed. Kyrena watched as the team turned down a deserted side street, hemmed in by the abandoned stalls of food sellers. Six men stepped out, approaching from the rear, raising weapons and firing without hesitation. Magnis fell first, blood pooling from his head, and his team writhed and toppled while still reaching for their weapons.
Spook’s sharp intake of breath matched Kyrena’s, and when he turned he saw her eyes glistening with tears.
The truth was she’d always held contempt for her Dad’s obsession about her safety. She felt that his need to keep her close was more to allay his own selfish paranoia, so he wouldn’t have to worry about her while he went from one business crisis to the next. The truth is that he’s right, Kyrena. There are monsters in this world. You’re at least partly to blame for those deaths.
"Hey, look at me." Spook was gently slapping her cheek, trying to get her eyes to focus. "Don’t you dare go there. I see that look in your eyes. This isn’t your doing, Kyrena. Those bleeders killed your father’s people in cold blood. They should’ve been prepared. They had the training and the gear. They were complacent Kyrena, and on Omega Station that’ll get you killed. It’s not your fault, Kyrena. They know what they signed up for. Do you hear me?"
Kyrena nodded, the tears trailing down her cheeks. She swiped them away, offering a sad smile as his hands gently massaged her by the shoulders.
"Let’s focus on getting you home safe," Spook insisted. "And law enforcement is out, unfortunately. Too many are on the take, and we don’t know who’s behind this."
Kyrena sank onto Spook’s lap, his arms enfolding her like a warm blanket. They sat, deep in thought, each of them trying to formulate some plan.
Minutes seemed like hours, and Kyrena finally closed her eyes because the bank of feeds was starting to give her a headache. She remembered back to something she’d read long ago. Maybe, just maybe…it applied here:
"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable." – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Words to live by. Kyrena’s eyes hardened like mercury morphed into steel, and her lips became a grim line. She turned back to look at Spook.
"I have an idea."
Tales from Omega Station: Abduction Page 4
