by Leslie Chase
"Which is why you should run ideas like that past me first," Cooper said, pulling out a chair and joining her. "This is my area of expertise."
"Would you have said yes?" Ashley asked, resigning herself to not finishing her lunch.
Cooper made a little exasperated noise. "Maybe, after due study. Taking the appropriate precautions. Not just... yanking the jammed panel open and hoping it worked."
"Bullshit," Ashley said, trying to keep her hands from balling into fists. Maybe she should watch her tone around him, but she was tired and had better things to worry about. "How do I know it's bullshit? Because I sent you an email about the idea days ago and you haven't said a thing about it."
Cooper's face went red and his mouth worked silently for a second before he answered. "Look, I have a lot of things to deal with here. You don't appreciate how busy I am: your email is on the list."
"Yeah, well, I guess that's one less thing for you to worry about," Ashley told him. "I don't want to tread on your toes, but this is exactly the kind of thing I'm good at. You're better at reading the data we're getting than I am, and that's the important thing, right?"
Let's see if a bit of flattery will help, she thought. It was partly true, even. He did have a good eye for the data and working out what it meant, but that was meaningless without any data to work from. If he had his way, his 'Baby' would sit in the Grace of Herendar unsullied by any attempts to actually use it.
Cooper didn't seem to notice any insincerity, though. He preened under her praise, his soft face flushing slightly as he basked in what he imagined to be her adulation. Ashley was torn between annoyance and amusement at how pathetic he looked and tried not to show either.
"I suppose it's true that you've given me a lot to work with," he said, patting her hand. It took an effort not to flinch from his clammy touch. "But it was too big a risk to the Baby. So, don't do anything like that again, okay? We've got data enough for years of simulations from what you've done already."
That's as close to a thank you as I'm going to get, I expect. Ashley leaned away from the scientist unconsciously, trying to think. She didn't have years to wait for him to finish with the data she'd uncovered. Weeks maybe, months perhaps, but Michael would be dead before Cooper felt ready to authorize more tests. If he'd ever feel ready.
"Come on, just think about how famous you'll be when you crack this," she said, trying to appeal to Cooper's vanity. His chest swelled as she spoke and a smirk spread across his face. Good signs, so she pressed on. "Surely that's worth taking a little chance for?"
Nope. Even that was too far. His gaze hardened, and he looked at her as though she was a saboteur or something.
"It's not worth taking any risks for," he said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "There's no competition for this. No one else can beat me to the finish line. The only way that I fail is if you do something to damage the Baby and steal my chance."
Or if you never take any chances and waste years going through what you already know. But Cooper wasn't going to listen to her, that was clear. And it wasn't really her job to help him, she reminded herself. All she needed to do was get the data he already had and get out. Somehow. The quantum communicator couldn't handle that much data, and there was far too much to get onto her phone. Sneaking anything out of Center was an exercise in futility. The doors scanned her each time she left, and if she had unauthorized data storage on her, it would be detected.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Cooper as he leaned in close, smiling what he seemed to think was a charming smile. His ruddy face glistened with sweat but at least, this once, he was making an effort to keep his eyes on hers, rather than letting them drift down to her chest.
"That's not what I came here to talk about, though," he said. "I wanted to congratulate you on what you did manage to achieve. We ought to celebrate, don't you think? This evening at mine, perhaps?"
Under the table, his hand brushed her thigh. Ashley froze.
Oh god.
"I'd rather not," she said, suppressing her instinctive reaction. That was torn between leaping backward and hitting him, neither of which seemed like good ideas. Tempting, yes, but not helpful. She needed to keep this job and keep access to his data. That put a limit on how hard she could react.
Cooper's gaze hardened, and he made no move to back off. His smug smile faltered just a little and then twisted into a sneer. "Don't play hard to get, Ash. It's just a waste of my time."
His hand moved up her leg, and without making a conscious decision she grabbed his wrist.
"My name is Ashley," she said firmly, surprised at how calm she sounded. "Now take your hand back or I'll snap it off at the wrist, okay? If I want you anywhere near me, I'll tell you."
Not smart. I need him. But there were lines she wouldn't cross, and letting this sleazebag feel her up was one of them. If he makes trouble, I'll find a way around it.
It was grimly satisfying to watch his eyes as he tried to resist her grip. He wasn't weak, exactly, but a lifetime of clambering into ruins and hauling damaged goods back out had left Ashley with more muscles than he'd expected. His face grew redder and then he snatched back his hand, standing up and towering over her.
"Don't you talk to me like that," Cooper snarled. "You're done here. If you don't apologize right this minute, you're finished!"
Ashley stood, her heart pounding, trying not to show her fear. His rage was sudden, intense, frightening, and she wished that she had some witnesses or something, in case he became violent. The canteen was still empty, and she had no idea if someone would hear a cry for help.
But there was no way in hell she was going to apologize to this man.
"You aren't my boss," she said, taking a careful step back and getting a little distance. He was between her and the door. Of course he was. "You can't fire me. And if you try, if you make anything of this, the fuss won't do your reputation any favors. Maybe the dragons won't let you keep working on your Baby anymore. Why don't we just both get back to work? You get to be famous for your discoveries, that's what you want, right?"
Narrowing his eyes, Cooper took a step after her and then paused. The anger warred with caution in his eyes. That's what Ashley'd been counting on — this was a man who wanted fame and wouldn't take a single chance to get it. Would he risk his place here to get revenge on her for turning him down?
Yes, she realized. Yes he will, but not right now and not right here. I'll have to watch my back from here on out.
"You think you can talk to me like that, just because Kosar's sweet on you?" Cooper shook his head, disgust showing, but he turned away. "I'll show you. I'll show you both, don't you worry."
Great. Now the scientist sounds like a mad scientist. Ashley carefully let out a breath as he stalked away. That was another pressure on her to get her work done and get out. As if she'd needed more pressure.
Time to get back to work.
8
Kosar
The stardrive was both the most valuable target in the Center and the most dangerous. The combination made it the most likely target for a spy, too. And that, in turn, made it Kosar's priority.
Davenport had a glint in her eyes when Kosar told her where he'd be focusing his investigation, and she didn't need to say anything. They knew each other well enough that her amusement was clear: of course he was going to focus his attention on the lab where his mate worked.
He wanted to tell her that he had perfectly good reasons for expecting that to be the target, but he knew that his protests would only amuse her more. And he couldn't really argue — any minute he spent in Ashley's presence was a good one. It would be tempting to focus his investigation on her work even it wasn't the most likely thing for the spies to be targeting.
The investigation was frustrating, though. Dr. Cooper and Ashley were the only humans with regular access to the stardrive chamber, and though Cooper had always brought in his own technicians, Ashley worked alone. On the security side, Davenport had access. But she was the one who
'd brought the problem to his attention. It made no sense to suspect her.
His first thought was to move on, to assume that the thief was after something other than the stardrive. There were plenty of other valuable secrets in the Center: every piece of dragon technology that the humans didn't yet have was piling up to be examined in the hope that, together, they could crack it.
But it all paled into insignificance beside the stardrive. Only the terraforming technology was close, and that hardly mattered if whoever stole it couldn't get to another star system to use it. What else was there? The medical secrets of the healing pools would be worth taking, but there were enough of those on Mars that no one would have to steal them here.
The airmakers would be valuable, too. But Kosar didn't believe that would be the thieves' target. He'd checked out the other laboratories, of course. Interviewed everyone again. There hadn't been any significant changes, any reason for a spy to signal out with a quantum communicator. Even if they had a spy in their midst there was no need for them to act.
Kosar sighed, flexing his wings and wincing at the pain. Another reminder of how much effort the humans would make to steal the secrets under his protection. Another reason to take this seriously. The attack that had left his wings injured had come at the same time as the first quantum interference had been detected.
The same day as Ashley had arrived at the Center. His mind wouldn't let that thought go, and his investigation kept circling back to her work.
Kosar looked up at her, sitting cross-legged in front of the stardrive. Every few seconds she'd move one of her sensors a few inches along and sent a pulse of light into the crystal. The holographic display shifted in response and she took notes, her computer recording everything from every angle.
She's thorough, and she's gotten more out of that machine in a week than Cooper did in a year, Kosar thought. And she's my mate. It can't be her.
But she was still the most likely suspect. No matter how much he told himself she couldn't be the spy, logic wouldn't let him dismiss the idea. She'd arrived on the first day of the transmissions. She had access to the information that Earth's corporations would literally kill for. And she was an independent contractor, rather than someone with established ties. It wasn't hard to imagine that she'd been bought.
Except that Kosar couldn't believe that of her. His dragon soul wouldn't allow him to, it was enraged by the thought. I should hand this investigation over to Davenport, he told himself for the hundredth time. But he knew why he didn't. She might find something out about Ashley that he didn't want to know.
Across the room, Ashley threw up her hands in evident disgust and dropped her sensor on a table. The sudden movement pulled Kosar out of his reverie and he was glad of the chance to think about something, anything else.
Standing, Ashley looked at her computer screen and muttered something under her breath. She pushed her hair back and glared at the data as though it was attacking her, and Kosar couldn't help smiling at the sight of her. Her passionate focus always lifted his heart.
"Look at this," she said, seeing him watching. A hint of a smile tugged at her lips as she looked at him and Kosar felt his worries wash away.
I need to focus, he thought. But he was already on his way over to her, the response almost automatic. A flush spread over her face as she looked up at him, and for a moment she seemed to forget what it was that she wanted to show him.
It would have been funny if it wasn't so aggravating.
"Um." She bit her lip, a gesture that made her look even cuter, and then with an annoyed noise in the back of her throat she turned away. "Here, these readouts."
Her screen displayed graphs and charts, a dizzying amount of data. Despite having watched her work, Kosar was astounded by how much information Ashley had gotten since they'd pried open the inspection hatch together.
"What does it mean?" he asked, watching it.
"I have no fucking idea," Ashley answered, her frustration matching his own. "Look, I've worked out what the outputs are, here. But what it means? There's no way I can tell. Unless..."
He looked away from the screen to see her staring at the stardrive. The little frown of concentration on her face was delightful and Kosar struggled to restrain himself.
"Unless what, Ashley?" he prompted.
"I think we need to fire it up."
"Out of the question." Kosar's response was out before he could think, and he regretted the tone instantly. But not the words. A stardrive was a weapon as well as an engine, and this one was damaged. He couldn't allow that, not even for Ashley.
Perhaps especially not for Ashley. She'd be standing right next to it when it activated, whatever it did.
She didn't pay his objection any attention though, reaching out to run a hand over the cracked crystal surface of the drive.
"I don't mean full power," she said after a long pause. "But I can see how to cut out the output. It won't try to go anywhere, just... power up fully, and let me see what that does. And I'll set up a panic button in case something goes wrong. You can stop it before it goes too far."
"No. Impossible. There's no way to do that safely."
She turned to look up at him. "Yes, there is. I just told you I can do it, and you know I'm right. If it makes you feel safer, we could haul the ship into space for the test."
Her confidence was clear, though the nerves under it showed through. Kosar didn't hold that against her, though. Who wouldn't be nervous, considering this idea? He certainly was when he thought of her standing next to an active, damaged stardrive.
"No," he said again. Before he could add more, she interrupted.
"In that case, I guess I'm done. This is all I can do, Kosar. I don't know what to make of this data, maybe Cooper can do something. But I do know how to get machines to work, and how not to get myself killed by them. If you're not going to let me use that skill, I may as well head back to Earth on the next ship."
That hit hard, and he wondered if Ashley knew just how hard. Kosar couldn't face the idea of her leaving the planet, of his mate abandoning him. Suddenly he knew a hard truth — if she returned to Earth, he'd follow. He'd walk away from the Empire and from his work, from all that was left of his people, if it was the only way to be with her.
Let's try not to let it get that far, he told himself. A few minutes ago I was worrying that she might be a spy. Now I'm considering following her to another world. I need time to think, and so does she.
"There's no need to rush things," he said, forcing a calm and quiet voice. "Nor for you to do something that extreme. I'll speak with Dr. Cooper and with the emperor and see what they say. Perhaps the scientists can come up with some other way to run your tests."
Ashley snorted, her opinion of Cooper's abilities clear. Kosar had to admit that he shared them. Not that the man wasn't brilliant, but he was so cautious that Kosar couldn't imagine him even considering actually firing the stardrive up to learn from it.
But the discussion would take a few days, and that gave Ashley a chance to think of something else. Or for Kosar to convince her to stay on Mars as his mate.
9
Ashley
Late at night was Ashley's favorite time to work. All the others working on the Grace of Herendar were finished for the day and she could sit back in the darkened room, lit only by the faint, alien glow of the drive. It was a good time to think, to try and plan.
"What am I going to do with you?" she asked the stardrive. It sat there, unmoved by the question, and she sighed.
"A girl could go off you, you know." It didn't care about that either. Enigmatic and silent, it just mocked her with its impenetrability. Ashley stood and stretched, looking at her computer banks. They were filling up with data, useless and mysterious, and she knew that she wasn't going to get any closer to solving her problems here.
Her outburst to Kosar had been a gamble, but it got her some of what she wanted — time alone with the stardrive. But the scanners at the exit would pick up a
ny attempt to smuggle out a computer with the information she had. She wasn't even clear that the data here would be enough for her employer. She'd been telling the truth when she told Kosar that she couldn't make any sense of it, and if Dr. Cooper was having any more luck than she was, he wasn't talking.
Which probably meant he had nothing. Ashley couldn't imagine him giving up the chance to explain her own findings back to her.
It was frustrating. She couldn't do either of her jobs here. Dr. Cooper guarded the stardrive like it was a literal baby and would never allow her to do anything that endangered it. And Kosar's security was enough to keep her from stealing the data her employer on Earth wanted from her. Nothing was going to happen unless something changed, and every day Michael got sicker.
Maybe there's something else I can do, she thought. If I can find a way to get the data off the ship, even if I drop a disk out of an airlock and then have to trek out here across the sand to pick it up.
It was a vain hope, but it gave her something to do. Something other than staring at the stardrive and trying not to think about Kosar. Looking around the alien spaceship on her own was something that she'd wanted to do since she arrived, and if nothing else it might distract her from her worries.
Standing and brushing herself off, she opened the door and stepped into the dark corridor outside. It felt a lot like exploring an abandoned building on Earth, and that sent a familiar thrill through her as she crept deeper into the Grace of Herendar.
The corridor ran the length of the ship, from the engine room to the bridge. She'd never been forward of the halfway point, where the airlocks were. Tonight, Ashley decided, it was time to visit the bridge.
If there was anyone else aboard she couldn't hear any sign of them. The faint thrum of the airmakers was the only noise, and she could entertain the idea that she could just steal the ship. Fly off into the vastness of space and escape all her problems.
