by Mason, Jolie
“Ari's one of my best customers”, he enthused.
She smiled. “We'll need extra on that servo lube.”
“I can give you the rest I have in stock, otherwise I'll have to order it in or have it delivered.”
“We'll just take what you have.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Emery blustered at the screen making Luca shake her head. Men were all the same.
She wandered the store looking over the shelves of parts and gizmos. When that was no longer a distraction, she looked out the large window. Luca watched people. She found it illuminating. Maybe, because she had no real memories of her own, it gave her glimpse of all the things she could be without even knowing it; a soldier, a sister, somebody's lover, somebody's mother. The last two bothered her most of all.
She still wondered what had made Ari sign her on to the Bell with no identity of her own, none but the one they'd bought her. She known somehow that she could fly anything launching, so Ari'd put her in the pilot seat for a test run, mostly to see if she was right. What they'd discovered was that she was very good at it. It seemed unbelievable to her now that Ari could trust anyone with so little incentive. She could have been lying, but Ari had believed her enough to test the theory.
Outside, a harried mother carried a small toddler and a large bag past the shop windows. A food cart sold some type of sandwiches across the lane, and two large laborers in plain workman's clothing stood on the corner, hands in pockets. She watched them a minute more. Luca wasn't sure what made her take notice, but something did. That little frisson of awareness prickled at her neck.
She observed one of the men touch the comm in his ear. He spoke for a while, and then the two went back to watching the store she stood in, and she didn't doubt this store was what held their interest. She stepped back cautiously behind a stretch of wall and window frame, peeking out.
The shop owner came back in to announce their paperwork was ready and the delivery dispatched in two hours straight to the Carry Bell's hold. She glanced back at the scene beyond the window thoughtfully.
“Stannick, this is gonna sound odd, but do you have another way out of here?”
The man laughed and shook his head. “If I had a credit for every time somebody's asked me that I'd have retired to the beach by now.”
Emery looked at her intently, then walked to the window where she'd just been standing. She knew the moment he spotted them. His eyes met hers and he nodded.
“This way”, Stannick told her.
She and Em trailed the older man through the door behind the counter into a combined store room and office, past his piled up desk and out to the alley entrance. The man handed her a folded bill of sale.
“Right leads you out to another street and back to the plaza left.”
“Thanks, Stannick.” Emery said gruffly, tapping the man on the shoulder as he walked by and in front of Luca. She noticed he'd flipped the strap on his holster.
They came to the corner, and, for the first time in their working together, Luca watched Em pull out and check the charge on a pulse iron he wore at his shoulder. He had unzipped the jacket and removed the weapon without her even seeing the movement. He, clearly, handled the thing like he'd used it all his life which wasn't that unusual, she imagined. Especially out in the Rim he claimed to hail from, the use of guns would be imperative. That niggle of instinct bugged her again.
“Nervous, Em?”
He pinched her chin affectionately. “I know an operative when I see one.”
She looked at him pointedly. “You'll have to tell me just how you know one in the first place. Seems an odd bit of trivia to have.”
He palmed the pistol at his side and took her arm pulling her out into the street. She glanced around, but she never noticed anyone remotely like the two men in the street. They made their way back to the shuttle as quickly as they could without being conspicuous.
Once in the shuttle, Emery pulled the console out and started doing pre-flights urgently. Luca sat in the copilot's seat and began plotting the course back to the Bell. “What's this?”
“What's what?” He asked her.
“You were running scans, monitoring comms, and jamming the shuttle? Why?”
“You said you had a feeling. Good thing I paid attention or they'd have been waiting at the shuttle.”
“They might. Do you always scan everything on a hunch?”
He didn't look away from his work. “When it's your hunch, I do. Or mine.”
“Huh.” Luca looked back to the scans. Nothing jumped out at her, but she didn't fully understand what he'd been looking for here. The readings weren't standard scans, but rather something more subtle, reading for specific frequencies and codes. She looked at Em's dark head over his console one more time. It was a strange skill set to have for a nav.
He had the checks done, and soon they were burning through atmo to reach the Carry Bell. Nothing had really happened, but events begged the question; just who was following her around and what did they want? Luca, suddenly, wanted to run, and she didn't really know why.
***#***
The Bell gleamed white walled and pristine, in the dim light of ship's predawn as Luca sat her shift on watch. She sipped a cup of coffee as she stared out the viewscreen at the blue green planet below. They'd gotten the supplies hours before, and, even now, below decks, the maintenance teams were busy doing the basic repairs and tasks that kept the heart of the ship beating. Luca breathed in deeply as she looked out over the black.
Outside that vidscreen, things looked so peaceful and divine, sacred, but the fact remained that the environment she stared at reverently could boil your blood in your veins.
“knock, knock.” Emery's voice came from behind her. She turned to see his smooth dimpled smile as he leaned into the hatch on one hand.
“It's nowhere near your watch.”
“Couldn't sleep.”
She turned back to the black and white of space and took another swig of the coffee. Luca didn't look at him, but she could swear she felt his every movement into the room as he moved like a lazy cat to sprawl in the pilot's seat.
“You got Caden on comms?” He asked it knowingly. She looked sharply at him before she answered.
“Yes, I got him.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Tell him what?”, she asked innocently.
“Oh, about the men following you around port?”
“He'd do what about it exactly? I told him about his arms deal and gave him an ETA for our arrival on Taarken.”
She pinned him with her gaze. “Besides, how do we know they were following me? You're the one who recognizes operatives when you see them, which leads me to some interesting questions.”
He folded his arms defensively and leaned back. “Well, I'm a Pisces. I like long walks in the moonlight and cuddling by a fire.” His slow perusal of her body had been meant to distract. It wouldn't work.
“Very interesting. So, how does a guy from a Rim backwater like Sarcossas know what to expect from an operative? I assume we mean spies here.”
He shrugged haphazardly.
She moved till he couldn't avoid her eyes, “You might as well tell me now.”
“I have some intelligence experience. Let's leave it at that, Luca.”
“Oh ho. I don't think so. Where did you get this intelligence experience?”
He looked away with that little masculine muscle tic in his jaw. Why did they all seem to do that? Why did it make women go stupid in the brain was a better question?
“All right. What made you think they were operatives and not petty thieves?”
He pushed away from the wall stuffing his hands in his pockets. “The signal they were using was Imperium encoded. Each of them was packing a standard issue silent pulse pistol in regulation shoulder holster, and their behavior and cover was consistent with a standard bag and tag.”
“A bag and tag?”
“Partnered agents, one for distraction and on
e for the take down. They never took their eyes off your position. They would have stayed on us until we separated, then one would ask you for directions or if you'd seen his puppy or the like, whatever would work, then drug you while the other brought the transport. This is assuming, of course, that the target is wanted alive. It's not required.”
“I should drop your ass back on this planet.”
“That is certainly one response.”
Luca stood. “Your CV was certainly devoid of this colorful work history. Were you ever even a nav?”
“Yes, I have expert level Nav training.”
“How long did you work for whoever you worked for?”
Chagrined, he cast her an annoyed look. “Three years, until I decided the career path was not for me.”
“So, they just let spies quit?”
He shook his head, again crossing his arms tightly. “I burned my identity just before I shipped out with the Bell.”
“Burned”, she said.
“I made the man I was disappear. There's a grave and everything.”
“Emery,” she said n surprise then swiveled to stare at him open mouthed. “Oh, but that's not your real name, is it?”
“No,” he told her brusquely. “And don't even ask. I won't tell you.”
She'd expected as much. Even now, betrayal ran through her blood like hot lava down a hillside burning everything it touched. His lies were beyond anything she'd ever experienced. He was none of the things she'd thought him, except apparently a decent navigator. It burned. She'd thought they were friends. Were they friends?
“What made you decide to give up the life?”
Her entire demeanor settled into a stiff and unbelieving posture. Skepticism colored every word she said. His face went gray, and he wouldn't look at her. She didn't think, at first, he would answer her.
“They finally gave me a target I couldn't kill.”
She drew back imperceptibly, crossing her own arms now. “So an assassin then, not a spy.”
“Every spy is an assassin. Some of them just haven't killed yet. They always send you to kill. It's just a matter of time.”
***#***
He was still lying to her. She couldn't know that this was all falling on her head because of him in a way. His handler had finally figured out that he was rogue. He wasn't bringing Luca in, and he wasn't killing her.
He'd known one of the operatives from the field. It had been sloppy to send him, but he imagined Morgan might be running out of men in war time, or pre war time anyway. He knew their target because she'd been his, and he'd known their tactics because it was what he'd do.
Emery had been placed in the Carry Bell to determine her threat level, or so he'd been told. There was nothing unusual in that. In fact, it was somewhat routine to do basic background on retired assets. He'd thought nothing of it, until he'd realized his handler was working off the books, and she was no ordinary asset.
` Then, he'd been ordered to bring her in. He couldn't be sure why, but he'd known he wasn't going to be the one to do it. He'd realized long before it happened there would come a day when he'd be asked too much, to go too far. Turns out, it had been a blonde with an angel face who loved the stars and had a smart mouth, that had been his limit.
The shocked look on her face told a story. He'd known he'd have to tell her pieces of the truth to get her to take the threat seriously, but, now he wondered, if he had shared too much.
“How many...” She swallowed. “How many times did they send you to kill someone?”
He couldn't pull his eyes away from her horrified face. “Twice. The second time, I didn't go.”
“But, the first time.” The words hung in the air between them.
“I did”, he said. “He was a bastard, and I never lost a second's sleep over it.” She only nodded. His harsh words stunned her.
“Now, I've come clean. Your turn.” She had to remember who she was. It was the only way out of this mess.
“I know what you know.” She said it testily, like she was tired of answering this question. He didn't care. These guys wouldn't wait for a convenient time, and they wouldn't stop.
He assessed her quickly; no eye contact, defeated and closed body posture, biting her lower lip because she was nervous. She was lying all right. He waited until she looked up. He hit her with a look that said, really?
She sighed. “I've been having dreams. Nightmares. I'm in a dark place. It smells like a hospital and there were doctors there. They hurt me. That's all.”
“And you think these dreams really happened?”
“Maybe. Or maybe some version of it. I don't know what to think.”
It was his turn to sigh. “Then that's where we start. We get to Taarken in four standard hours. Think Caden will loan me a satellite?”
2
Taarken was a level two arid, desert environment. Normally, you couldn't pay Luca to disembark on a level two desert planet. She was not a creature of the sun, and had never pretended to be. She hated heat. She hated desert. Truth be told, she preferred the predictability of environmental controls aboard her ship.
If Ari hadn't made her home on this godforsaken dust bowl, she wouldn't have set foot on Taarken without a payday. Technically, this was a payday since Caden had entrusted her with his weapons delivery that was technically just skirting the law, and therefore almost crime. Come to think of it, she thought. She'd have to charge more next time.
Ari would have bartered her new husband right into the poor house, but Luca hadn't because it was Ari. She didn't have a lot of trouble pricing other people right off their budget.
Emery had pulled out the big shuttle just after the crew had crowded out the cargo bay doors for shore leave. They'd left the new pilot on board to hold down the fort, while she and Emery went to Ari's estate. It was all very clandestine.
She climbed in beside him and pulled the console out silently.
“Thruster diagnostics showing some pull to the right.” If it hadn't been for the pre-flight, she might have let him stew for a year.
“Ignore it. It's a sensor malfunction.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because it's the upgrade causing the sensor to read too much burn. I'll upgrade the sensors this week in port. Caden has them waiting for me.”
“I don't recall giving you permission to tear my ship apart.”
“But you did”, he said with that slow grin.
“When?”
“Oh, I recall it happened when we were coming off that textile job that turned out to be not so above board, and you shouted through the cargo bay. 'You're the genius. Make em burn hotter then!”
“I didn't expect you'd do it.”
“After I'd just observed that this shuttle couldn't outrun a sparrow in atmo? You're lucky I didn't rebuild it.”
“We got out of it.” He laughed at that and continued his approach to the estate Caden had built for Ari. Every time Luca saw it she was struck with wonder. He'd built that for her, almost on faith. The two of them had a timeless kind of love that confused the hell out of Luca. As with most things, she didn't know just why, but it did.
Ari and Caden owned a sprawling mansion built right into a lush desert oasis with ponds and palms, and the most gorgeously extravagant pool ever made. Caden had put it together piece by piece and then filled it full of Badus. Ari's brother and sister-in-law lived on an adjoining property with a house and fruit orchard. Arden Badu tended the new hydroponics operation, his first love in life, that was going to be a major part of Caden's plan to make Taarken more hospitable. Jace, Ari and Caden's son lived in the main house, and the whole place was never quiet, never resting. Someone was always up and around and… living.
She and Emery filed out of the shuttle with overnight bags containing a change of clothes on their shoulders, and she stared up at the sturdy, rock-like structure that stretched up two floors and ended in a large sparkling solar roof. She heard sounds beyond them, inside the double doors leading
into the house. Very human and very familial sounds that always squeezed her heart a little echoed across the veranda as children and animals spilled out followed by Caden Carnes, CEO, sophisticate and best father in the world.
Luca watched him approach in his so approachable, smiling way. It made him successful at business, but, with family, it had made him the center of the world, even for the hard boiled Luca Brine. He felt like family, like what she imagined to be a father. She had to imagine it, since she had no clue if she'd ever had one. For all she knew, she was cloned.
Em shook Caden's hand firmly in greeting and asked him immediately about the satellite and secure codex connection. Caden simply looked at both of them strangely and said of course. Emery walked briskly ahead.
“Well, Luca?”
“Well, what?” She replied. He fixed her with a searching gaze that made his ruggedly handsome face look very paternal all of a sudden.
“What's going on?”
“It's extremely complicated and dramatic. You shouldn't worry your pretty little head about it.”
“Fine. Fine”, he brushed her attitude away. “Ari will tell me later.”
She sighed because it was true. “Emery thinks someone sent people after me for some reason.”
They walked side by side into the house, through the long hallway that led through to the back of the property, and straight to Caden's library where Emery had already set up his sat connection. He looked up at her as they walked in with an expression she couldn't quite read.
“I have a search going for missing persons of your description now.”
“We did that before, didn't we?” She asked him wearily.
“This time I'm going to widen the search”, he said. Determination lit his eyes as he looked at the screen flickering image after image of missing, curly haired blondes with sky blue eyes.
“That could take days.”
He nodded. “It might”, he said. “What else do we have to do?”
She sighed again. “I'll let the Bell know. They can head to the charge relay whenever they want.”
The library door opened to allow Ari's son, Jace to stroll in slowly leaning heavily on his cane. “You sent a message you needed me.”
