Cassandra's War: A Sci-Fi Corporate Technothriller (The SynCorp Saga Book 2)

by Pourteau, Chris

  She shook her head gently. “I am Her vessel, not her creator.”

  He resisted the annoyance building up inside him. Someone was behind the Neos, someone with deep pockets and a willingness to play the long game against Anthony’s interests. If Cassandra was nothing but a tool in this fight, then who was wielding the weapon?

  He glanced at the digital report on his desktop. The psychiatrist who’d examined Elise Kisaan had concluded that she was not mentally ill. Fanatical, yes. Single-minded and cold-blooded in her actions, yes. But crazy? No.

  And if she knew who was behind Cassandra, she wasn’t about to tell him .

  “Well?” she said again. Her wisp of a smile mocked his discomfort.

  “Well, what?” This was his meeting, his office—why was he playing this ridiculous guessing game?

  “My seat on the council? Have you decided?”

  He swiped the desktop dark, stood, and paced to the window, buying time again. Tony’s second dome was almost complete, ahead of schedule. Nighttime had fallen across Valles Marineris, hiding the deeper corners of the canyons in shadow. The view offered him no solace. He missed the reassuring glimmer of the Pacific Ocean. He missed Earth, if he was being honest with himself.

  Elise was silent behind him, thankfully. He really had no choice but to come to an agreement, not if he wanted Earth as part of the equation. While the destruction of the Neo space station had stopped the weather war for now, Elise assured him the Lazarus nanites were still under her control. She’d simply made them dormant. A demonstration of her power to Anthony and the others on the council. Her leverage. Even Viktor could not guarantee that separating the key from Elise Kisaan would mean recovering control of Lazarus.

  The weather crisis was solved—for now. Maybe that was enough—for now.

  The council was in place and he was firmly in control again. Viktor and Adriana could be counted on to support him. Xi Qinlao had gotten what she wanted—Ruben, anyway—and had committed to supporting Anthony. He felt a twinge of regret for the way he’d treated Ming, but it had been necessary at the time.

  He would find a way to make it up to her. Maybe a seat on the council for her as well. Now, wouldn’t that be interesting? Xi and Ming on the same governing council.

  “You need me, Anthony,” Elise said in his ear, making him jump. He’d been so lost in his own dreams of what the council could accomplish, he hadn’t heard her approach.

  “Need you?” He tried to laugh like the king of CEOs that he was, but it sounded forced, even to his ears.

  “Your council has expansion plans,” Elise said, her breath moist against his skin. Anthony restrained a shiver. “Mars, the Moon, Titan, asteroid mining … you might even launch a mission after those Haven ships. You need me, Anthony.”

  How the hell did she know all that? Fear walked on tiny feet up the back of his neck. It seemed to linger where a Neo tattoo would be.

  “You’ve no doubt considered the size of the workforce you’ll need to make that happen,” she continued, still uncomfortably close. “I can reshape the Earth into the breadbasket of the solar system. Food for thought?”

  Elise withdrew, chuckling quietly at the pun. She perched on the corner of his desk, her ankles crossed.

  “What about the people?” he said.

  Elise’s confident smile slipped. “The people are the problem. It is Her will.”

  “And you have military forces in place to handle any, um, issues that come up with the Earth governments.”

  “She will provide.” Confidence brimmed again in her gaze.

  “And where is Cassandra now?” Anthony asked. “Was she destroyed in the explosion?”

  “Cassandra is everywhere,” Elise said. “Cassandra lives through me. ”

  Anthony swallowed. If that wasn’t crazy talk, he didn’t know what else these shrinks needed to make a diagnosis. Still, whatever her mental state, she was right: if he was going to make the council work, he needed Earth firmly in his pocket, and that meant he needed her and her agricultural family ties.

  “All right, I’ll allocate a seat on the council to the Kisaan family.”

  “No,” Elise said, her smile evaporating.

  “No? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

  She advanced again, less subtly this time. Anthony fought the impulse to take a step backward. When she leaned in, he could smell her perfume. “I have no family except Cassandra. The seat is mine and mine alone.”

  Anthony nodded, wanting more than anything for this creepy encounter to be over. “The seat is yours.”

  She held out a delicate hand. Her grip was cool and dry. “And I will give you the Earth,” she said.

  He watched her walk away, straight backed, her dark hair swaying gently with each step. No trace of the lurking menace that hid behind the elegant exterior. He didn’t relax until the door closed behind her.

  Anthony settled himself behind his desk and reopened the report from the team of doctors who’d examined Elise Kisaan. For all her self-confidence, he wondered why she hadn’t brought up what she surely knew the doctors would report to Anthony.

  Elise Kisaan was pregnant.

  Chapter 28

  Ming Qinlao • Taulke Headquarters and Habitat Complex, Mars

  The light rapping at the door stirred Ming from a fitful doze. She’d turned off the pain meds in an effort to be mentally sharp. That might have been a mistake.

  “Come,” she called in a harsh whisper.

  Tony sauntered into the room, brandishing his smile like a shield.

  “I hope you feel better than you look, Ming.” His dark hair curled precisely over his left eye, and he grinned at her in a lopsided way he probably assumed was adorable. She ignored his greeting.

  “I know about the station,” she said.

  His smile slipped a fraction, then returned.

  “What station?”

  “The one that went boom . The registration was hidden, of course, but I dug through the shell companies and aliases to the original founder. Taulke Industries.”

  The discovery had come from the mounds of data MoSCOW fed her when they’d first boarded the station. At the time, she was too focused on her mission to notice the detail. The days since had helped it float to the surface of her conscious mind.

  Tony shrugged. “My father has his fingers in so many pies—”

  “But it wasn’t your father, was it? It was you.”

  The skin around his eyes hardened and he scowled. “There’s no way you can know that.”

  “I know it.” Her voice box was drying out again, and she desperately wanted a drink of water. “And I know about the arrangement with Lander, too.”

  Tony’s demeanor took on a stony, piercing quality. “You didn’t call me here for a confession. What do you want?”

  “You owe me.”

  More at ease now that negotiations had begun, Tony found a friendly smile again. “You want a favor from Taulke Industries that you can keep in your hip pocket?”

  “No, I want a favor from Tony Taulke when I need it.”

  He stared at her, then nodded. “In exchange—you keep what you know to yourself?”

  “That’s the deal,” she said. “And one more thing, Tony. Lander works for me.”

  He blew out a breath. “You can have him, and good riddance. Anything else, Queen Ming?” He moved to the door, his back rigid. He’d been bested by a half-dead woman with only one good eye, and it stung.

  Her self-satisfied smile came easy, but she was feeling the lack of morphine now, and there was still work to be done. Time-sensitive work. “Just leave. This is supposed to be a clean room.”

  As Tony retreated, Ming heard him offer snide congratulations to Lander .

  Lander reentered, frowning. “I work for you now?”

  “Consider it a gift for saving my life. Besides, when Tony and the old man clash, you don’t want to be in the middle.”

  There was genuine relief in his face. “Thanks, Ming. I
owe you one.”

  She pressed a button to jack up her pain meds. Bliss coursed through her system like cool water. Ming closed her eyes before she spoke again. “I need you to do one more thing before you go get the bath you so desperately need.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  She cracked open her good eye. “Tell Anthony I need to see him as soon as possible.”

  After Lander left, Ming drifted off again. The sound of the door opening woke her, but she feigned sleep. Let him see what kind of damage he’d caused. If he had any sense of decency left, that might give her an edge.

  She heard his breathing, knew he was close.

  Ming opened her eye. His face was soft with worry, his eyes damp. Good.

  “Why did you send Ruben back to my aunt?” she said in a small voice.

  He startled when she spoke, then sat on the edge of her bed. “I’m sorry, Ming. I didn’t have a choice. Your aunt demanded Ruben in return for helping us.”

  Ming forced herself to reach out and take his hand. “I understand.”

  “You do?” He gripped her fingers. Ming hoped her enjoyment of this moment didn’t show. It was too easy. Anthony was as easy to manipulate as a child .

  “She won’t touch Ruben,” Ming said. “Auntie Xi knows better. But I need your help.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Anything.”

  “I’m afraid, Anthony. Tony sent Lander to kill me.”

  Shock turned to anger on Anthony’s face. “Tony did that? Why?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” She waited a beat. “He sees me as competition.”

  “Competition?” Anthony seemed genuinely perplexed.

  “For your affection.”

  The permutations of what that could mean played out on his face.

  “Ming, that’s absurd,” Anthony insisted. “Tony wouldn’t try to kill you just for—”

  “Ask Lander.”

  Anthony took her hand in both of his. “How can I help?”

  “I need your protection, Anthony. No one can touch me if I’m part of the council. My aunt won’t dare make a move against me if I’m under your protection.”

  “Consider it done.” He bent over her, and Ming closed her uninjured eye. She fought not to flinch as Anthony’s cool, dry lips kissed her on the forehead. “You’re like a daughter to me,” he whispered. “Maybe Tony’s not wrong about that.”

  “I feel the same way,” she lied. “But … I need sleep.”

  “Rest,” he said, standing up. “Won’t your aunt be surprised to see you at the next council meeting?”

  Ming let herself smile. Genuinely, this time. The morphine was working.

  “Yes. Won’t she, though?”

  • • •

  Ming knew what to expect when she entered the newly minted boardroom.

  Eyes. All on her.

  She directed the maglev chair to enter the room at a modest speed, the better to let their gazes linger. They could have thought of her in so many ways—deposed CEO, kidnapper and fugitive, the mysterious badass who’d delivered Elise Kisaan to the Taulkes—but their eyes held only one emotion: pity.

  Her face was still a horror show. She’d decided to shave her head for now, since all the hair on the right side of her scalp had fallen out. She could have worn a wig, but Viktor assured her that the hair loss was only a temporary condition. Her right eye was open and mostly functional, although the sclera was still crimson. That too would pass. The regrown skin on the right side of her face had a pinkish tone to it that made her look younger than her age. Who knows, maybe she’d start a new cosmetic treatment: burn off all the skin on your face and get new skin grafted on.

  Let them see her as weak—she would turn it to her advantage.

  Anthony nodded to her from his place at the head of the table. As he explained to the group how he’d designed the room especially for council meetings, Ming noticed Tony’s impatience to get started. She scanned the wall behind Anthony’s head. The corporate logos of the five family businesses—Taulke, Rabh, Erkennen, Kisaan, and Qinlao—were arrayed. A worm turned behind her breastbone when she saw that Xi had altered her father’s design, adding what looked to Ming like a scar of jade across the center.

  But today—today was about beginnings .

  She sat next to Anthony, who wore a pseudo-military uniform with the Taulke logo on the left breast of a dark blue tunic that buttoned on the shoulder. Tony wore a stylish jumpsuit that emphasized his lean frame as he lounged in a chair to his father’s right. He appraised Ming with a cool detachment, as if they’d never spoken of assassination attempts and suspicious ties to the New Earth Order.

  Viktor chatted quietly with Adriana Rabh on Ming’s left. The banking matron was attempting to school him in the subtle points of fine wine. Elise Kisaan openly stared at Ming from across the table. The cryptokey glittered on her wrist. According to Lander, Elise was the liaison between the Neos—considered friends now—and the council.

  The holo pod in the chair next to Elise sprang to life. Auntie Xi was seated behind Ming’s desk in her father’s office in Qinlao headquarters, the Shanghai skyline behind her. The view caused a hard pang of nostalgia.

  Xi’s eyes flared when she saw Ming, then she nodded stiffly. “Niece,” she said, her voice filtered through the speaker.

  Ming stared at the image until her aunt broke eye contact.

  Anthony rapped on the table with a piece of Martian rock. “This meeting of the Council of Corporations will come to order.”

  Ming half listened to the drone of the conversation as it unfolded on such mundane subjects as the assignment of roles at board meetings and the establishment of bylaws. She silently assessed the board members. The aloofness of Elise Kisaan, the businesslike authority of Anthony, the practiced insouciance of his son. Viktor’s mad scientist enthusiasm next to the elegance of Adriana Rabh .

  And Xi. She felt the icy glare of her aunt and met Xi’s disdainful gaze without fear. But behind that scowl was an unease. Ming could see it even if no one else could.

  Let it fester in your soul, Auntie. I will be there soon.

  A vote on some triviality was required and she voted with Anthony. He favored her with a smile, which she returned. She would remain his faithful ally—until the time was right.

  Her attention wandered. She was still weak, at least in body. Attending this council meeting was probably not the best idea, but her plans required gathering real-time data.

  Without reflection, she formed a thought: Record the meeting. Notify me of any required interactions .

  “Yes, Ming,” replied a familiar, comforting voice.

  The response felt natural, like drawing a breath or blinking her eyes. It felt like she was whole again.

  Ming Qinlao let her mind drift.

  Did you love Cassandra's War ? Want to see the Director's Cut?

  The character of Luca Vasquez was originally supposed to be in Book 1, but (sadly) she was left on the cutting-room floor, as they say in the movie biz.

  But fear not, Team Luca! We’ve created a bonus package exclusively for reviewers with the deleted Luca scenes, which introduce a proto-Luca Vasquez character, Luciana Vargas. This material is only for people who review the book. Here’s how you get it:

  Leave a review on Amazon or your trusted review service.

  Send a link to your review via email to syncorp@davidbruns.com

  And we’ll send you a copy of the exclusive Reviewer Bonus material.

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  About the Authors

  Chris Pourteau and David Bruns

  David Bruns is a former officer on a nuclear-powered submarine turned high-tech executive turned speculative-fiction writer. He mostly writes sci-fi/fantasy and military thrillers. Find out more at davidbruns.com .

  Chris Pourteau is a technical writer and editor by day, a writer of original fiction and editor of short story collections by night (or whenever else he can find the time). Find out more at chrispourteau.com .

  Copyright Notice

  First Kindle Edition: October 2018

  This e-book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the authors.

  Copyright © 2018 by David Bruns and Chris Pourteau.

  All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of Hip Phoenix Publishing, LLC.

  Cover design © 2018 by Adam Hall. http://aroundthepages.com . All rights reserved. Used with permission.

  Editing by Sarah Kolb-Williams: https://www.kolbwilliams.com/ .

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio. http://polgarusstudio.com .