“Yes. Yeesss.” Veronika sat up suddenly. “That’s got to be where this all starts.”
“Easy peasy,” The sarcasm dripped like a slow melting icicle. Astra shook her head. “That’s insane. The amount of data that you want honed down—”
“Before we come out of jumpspace and our next dock,” Veronika added.
Astra remembered to close her jaw during the split second of anger and incredulity. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands, she loosened the balled fists. “I owe the Freedom Road a lot.”
“You owe it your freedom, Astra.” The strength of Veronika’s words slapped the air. The words rung through Astra’s head as though her ears had been boxed.
Astra looked down at the plush carpeting, taking in long gulps of air, calming the terror.
“I have very little time then,” Astra said. She rolled her shoulders back, feeling her spine straighten vertebrae by vertebrae. “Every possible option needs to be explored. And because we can’t reveal it to the security forces, we’re going to have to do a little digging ourselves. At least here in the cabaret. Right?”
Veronika tapped her desk. “I’m giving you full access, though really, you could have hacked into this if you’d wanted to. There are four new employees of the cabaret, two are temporary stopovers on the Freedom Road.”
“And what about Li’l Bo? He’s still in custody?”
“Yes. Blue Star continues to hold him in security though they have nothing to charge him with. But the second I get them to recognize me as temporary guardian, we’re going to need to watch him at every turn.” Veronika nodded. “I can’t be everywhere at once and be with him, so you’re the logical choice as his de facto big sister.”
“He won’t let me follow him everywhere. I can’t do two things at once, either; I have to have to start the worm program first,” Astra said.
“Do it,” Elias spoke with finality in her voice. “Bo will be safe in custody until we pick him up, that much I can ensure through Sutcliffe.”
“Agreed, he’ll stay there one of us gets him.” Astra said.
“We owe it to Bo to keep him safe. I don’t know the reasons why Char had him, but she loved him. And he’s our family.”
“How much time before we come out of jumpspace?” Astra asked, already pondering where she would begin to hack into the ship systems for the data they needed.
“Anywhere between eight and sixteen standard hours, if my sources in the top brass are to be believed.”
“Are you sure? I thought we had more time than that. That’s going to make this a lot trickier.” Astra shoved the chair back and stood. “Move out of the way, let me get started.”
The circuits sang to her, sending her whispers and secrets. She didn’t notice that Veronika had left the room until she the door clicked open and the woman returned bringing a container of water and a sandwich. Astra glanced at the data chronometer, forty-seven minutes of time spent. She plucked the strands of code, playing them. And each time they crossed, a new motif erupted, each needing a conductor. Until the computer worm–her repetitive rondo–was singing through the circuits. She tied it off to her handheld.
While a confidence in her work rose the second she finished, part of her, deep down, buckled in doubt. Would her work be good enough to keep Bo safe or help find Char’s killer? Would it keep the Road safe, too?
Distraction. That’s what she needed. Zane. The newness and spark of their coupling was only part of the yearning. During this nerve wracking waiting time her instincts told her to be with Zane, to find comfort there, not amusement.
Then she remembered the dare hidden beneath Sooshie’s earlier cloying compliment. Pride puffed in her bosom. The threat of the blue kitty woman was too real. There was only one way to remedy that and that would fix that kitty-cub’s blue wagon, to boot. The sooner she stamped her territory, the better.
Astra tapped Veronika’s desk, her PIT flashed a green light as it did. “Synchronization complete.” The gray words rose like a ghost in front of her eyes. Now all she needed was time.
Ten
The knock at the door was so subtle, that Zane almost didn’t hear it. He was in his quarters, sleeping. Finally. Fatigue hung on him as though he hadn’t slept at all since Char Melana’s death, since his investigation had begun. From the days of his internship, when he was forced to learn to live on less sleep, he could always take a quick catnap and get right back to work.
When the door opened, Sooshie stood there, sensuality burning in her eyes. “I’ve got a message for you. Can I come in?”
As he stood in the doorway, clad only in boxers, it occurred to Zane that perhaps this wasn’t a good idea.
“I’m tired right now.”
“I can find ways to wake you up.” Sooshie’s pink gummed smile turned from a lighthearted grin into a feral smolder. Without any additional encouragement, his boxers grew.
“I woke at least part of you up.” Her growl turned to a purr.
She placed a hairless palm on his chest, he noticed that her nails were polished a shimmering silver to match her hip-circling chains.
It took all the will in his brain to pry her fingers from his chest, sliding his own palm out beneath hers. Sooshie wasn’t letting go. She drew his hand to her breast. Her grasp was insistent and strong.
“Look, I know what you’ve been told about me but I’m not like that anymore," he said.
“Your pants say otherwise.”
“My pants aren’t in charge. What’s your message?”
“Veronika wants to see you at your earliest convenience,” she said.
“Tell her I’ll be there when I’m done.”
“With me?” She slid her body closer, sidling her smooth short-haired pelt across his skin. It tickled his primal hindbrain, kindling his sexual animal. He tried to think of why this was a bad idea but logic proved unreachable as her groin matched his.
“No, now you need to go.” He was pushing her away, but she was just like her genetically feline ancestry, limber and slinky. Zane remembered a snake that, as a child, he’d once attempted to catch. It slithered away from his grasp.
“Step… away… from… him… now.”
“Awww, both of you aren’t any fun. I was hoping to find you both much more amenable. Whatever. I’ll relay your message to Veronika, then. Ta-ta.” Sooshie gave an extra jangle of her hips and tail before she swished down the hallway, pushing past Astra. Astra, for her part, did her best not to push back but Zane could see the fury in her eyes.
“I swear. It wasn’t.”
That was all he could get out before she pushed him back into his quarters.
“I don’t want to talk about her. She’s on my list.” Astra sneered the words. Her eyes flashed to the door, there was a moment of indecision that flickered across her smile. The next second, it was gone as she swiveled her neck back to him and grabbed the waistband of his striped boxers.
“You look like you could use a hand.”
Zane couldn’t help himself. He wrapped his arms under her bottom, lifted, and backed into his room.
Port warnings blared through the chamber speakers. Astra sat up, disoriented. She wiped her hair from her eyes and shook her head. It was a moment before she remembered she was in Zane’s bed. At once she smiled at the memory of the last two hours of insane sexuality where her acrobatic skills had impressed and exhausted her partner. She lay back, seeking the comfort of his arms, but he was already sitting up.
“We’re coming out of jumpspace but we're not near the port.”
“Already? It hasn’t even been...”
“We’re twelve hours ahead of minimum schedule. Must have had a minor misjump. Not that unusual, but not convenient either.”
“No. Not at all.” Astra looked at the time on her own handheld. Her blood ran cold. She jumped up out of bed. “Holy asteroid! I'm late.”
Astra fumbled for her panties and shirt, shoving the latter down over her head then following it up with a hop and sc
otch maneuver getting her panties shimmied up.
“You’re not getting some crazy idea to try to find Char’s killer, are you?” Zane asked.
“Yes. No. I have to go. Slag it!” she cursed. “I have to go check to see if I can get Bo at the security offices. Veronika’s temporary custody claim should have come through by now. He’s going to be furious with me if he’s had to wait for release. Kiss me goodbye, and promise you’ll come to tonight’s show?”
She bounced across the bed and wrapped her arms around him, tousling his beautiful blond mess with fingertips that lingered in the messy quiff of thick blond hair. “You might want to comb that before you report in.”
He drew her closer. “Come on, you’re already late. Show doesn’t start for hours.”
“Oh no,” Astra started to protest but his hand slid up under her shirt, grazing his nails across her bare torso. “Oh. Well. Yes and no. Stop. Please?” She begged, half believing herself while the other half was trying not to give in and failing.
Zane nibbled through the soft chambray cotton, up her belly to tease the bare nipples beneath. Betrayal. Her nipples bloomed, hardening at the tiny teasing bites. Her will was losing to her body. “I'll make it worth your time. Promise.”
“Maybe? Just a little bit.” Astra trembled.
Zane stood and for a second she thought he was going to let her go, but his urgency pressed hard at her belly. Expert caresses slid down across her bottom, the panties that she’d just slipped into place were shooed out of the way, past her knees, her ankles, and kicked off as more teasing petting beckoned. Astra didn’t care where she had to be. Desire blazed in a flash of paper in fire.
Warm breath caressed Astra’s nape as she bent, bottom up, over at the edge of the bed. It felt dirty and delicious as they moved together. His hands moved between her legs and his phallus, hard and ready, nudged between her desire soaked labia before pulling out again. “No,” she pleaded.
“Yes,” he insisted. “I want to make you fly under me. Again.”
Magical light and precise fingers borne of surgeon’s skill, slipped in. They caressed hidden pleasure centers Astrid never knew existed. Her eyes widened, and her mouth yawed with a silent scream of joy. Astra reached out above her as if seeking the silks, tightening every muscle, arching her back while her partner manipulated folds within folds. Masterfully, without her even realizing what was happening, the rhythm never changing, he removed his magic digits and replaced them, entering into her. First a slow tease. Halfway. Then, a little more. She squeezed her eyes shut, moving her head side to side, and let out a low deep groan of satisfaction as he finally thrust into the center of perfection.
“Yes!” She said.
“Paradise,” he gasped.
Sturdy hands gripped her hips more tightly, steering each stroke.
They were one. Breath quickened in unison with their movements like hoofbeats pounding across hard ground. Thoroughbreds across the surf, their bodies came to the water’s edge where Zane slowed their gallop.
Astra whimpered, “Please. ”
“Astra.” His voice a strangled cry, her name an exclamation of joy.
His breath warmed the curve of her spine.
“I want you. I’ve wanted you since I came back to this ship. Now that I have you, I don’t ever want to let you go.” His voice rose in strangled urgency. “Come with me, stay with me.”
She groaned each word with every thrust. “Yes. Yes. Yes. ”
Like the surf, they crashed. Hard. Unrelenting. Pounding onto the sand reaching and stretching to the smooth shore in a trickle of foam.
Eleven
Shoving her shirt into the back of her slim fitting jeans, Astra ran down the last stretch of corridor of security to the main pickup area to retrieve Bo. She arrived, panting, disheveled, and probably late. “I’m here to get Bo Melana. He was supposed to be released to my care.”
She let the guard at the tall desk scan her for the implanted crew tag. He nodded and checked another screen.
“He’s not here.”
“Oh boy, he’s not here? Who picked him up?” Dread gripped her, chilling her fingertips, and squeezing her chest.
Another guard showed up and looked over the first’s shoulder. “Blue. Somebody blue.”
“What? Blue Sooshie? She’s not supposed to get Bo.”
“She had an authorization from Veronika.” The first security officer at the desk shrugged and turned the screen so that she could see.
“That can't be right.” Astra could feel every vein had popping like a line of firejacks down a cord. Snap. Pop. Crackle. She steadied her breathing. Calm. Stay calm.
“What’s the problem?” It was the deep voice of Chief Sutcliffe behind her. Astra whirled.
“I’m here to get Bo. Bo was supposed to be picked up by me or Veronika Elias. Didn’t Veronika tell you that?”
“I haven’t gotten anything from Miss Elias all day,” said the burly man.
“All day? Not the last couple of hours?”
“No, why?” The gruff inspector’s voice commanded an answer, his mustache twitched impatiently, “What’s going on, Miss Faraday?”
“It’s complicated.” Astra started.
“Ah.” He held up a hand, “I see. Come, join me.” The burly detective cupped the hand and made a motion for her to follow while his other hand tugged at his uniform collar. “My office.” He stood and opened the door, waving her in. As it sealed behind them, he turned and crossed his arms over his chest,
She got a sinking feeling in her stomach realized he was blocking the exit.
“First of all, why would Miss Elias need to contact me?”
“Be-because,” she stammered. “Because only me or Veronika were supposed to get Bo,” she said.
“Reasonable.” He leaned forward scrutinizing her, his dark eyes seeming to flick across her face. “You’re unusual, Astra, there’s something in your eyes. I’ve never seen it before. And—”
Astra tilted her head and backed away. The song of the circuitry was coming from his eyes. The purity of light and strands of colors danced. “You’re,” she blinked twice. “You’re cyborg. Your eyes.” she said.
Sutcliffe stood up straight with a start, “How did you do that? Are you cyborg?”
“What? I’m not cyborg. No implants, nothing. My medical records show me as one hundred percent human. Why do you think I’m a cyborg?”
“My eyes see things yours don’t and yours, obviously see things mine don’t. I don’t know exactly what you are, Miss Faraday, but you are not a regular everyday humanoid. What did you see just now?”
“Lights?” she gulped. “I-It’s hard to explain. I see the lines of logic like light, sometimes I hear it like a whisper of music.” She admitted.
“Hrm, I knew of such units in the military.” Sutcliffe said. “DNA spliced. That makes more sense.”
The phrased ‘DNA spliced’ echoed in her brain, tunneling to the past. She didn’t remember the time before ‘the family’ had her. Would she ever? The world went swirly.
Suddenly, Sutcliffe was holding her elbow. “Steady girl, sit down. Have you ever heard the term ‘technopathic’?”
“No.” She shook her head and pulled her shoulder away from his hand. A drumbeat grew louder as her heart thudded in her chest. Astra crossed her arms over her chest, willing the anxiety away, squeezing her arms tight. There wasn’t time for her to start an existential monologue of how human she was. “Wouldn’t that have come up on a test?”
“No, I’m afraid not. A technopath is typically a human, but with nano-dynetic enhancements in their mitochondrial DNA.”
“My what?” She blinked at the technobabble.
“Mitochondrial DNA tech isn’t exactly widespread. These changes are written into your DNA on a sub-microscopic level. I only saw it because I looked directly into your eyes, my cybernetic implant, you see" he tapped his temple. “It detected an anomaly in your genetics but I can’t tell what. It wouldn't have c
ome up on any standard medical test. Cuts and bruises or whatever don’t make people do genetic testing. The eyes truly are a window to your soul, as the ancients used to say.”
“Well, but I’m human?” Astra searched for reassurance in the stern man's face.
“Yes. But you’re a very special human.” His great walrus of a mustache quivered into a smile. The effort smoothed her thoughts and heartbeat.
Astra didn’t know what to say. Their conversation came to a halt by the beeping on her handheld. “First sequence complete.” A gray mist of words wavered in front of Astra eyes. She began to read it and saw the curious look on Sutcliffe’s face. “Your cybernetic implants don’t see that?”
“What should I be seeing?”
Astra pointed and waved her hand through the floating text. “Nothing there?”
“I see nothing. There’s something there?” Sutcliffe squinted at the space between them.
“Yes. Words.”
He nodded “What do they say?” His voice rose as intrigue buoyed his normally gravel tone. Sutcliffe blinked a few times. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a colored strand emanating from the detective’s ocular implants.
Astra shook her head and shushed him as she read the information and pursed her lips. Remaining calm, she plucked at the light strands and grabbed one emanating from Sutcliffe’s sclera.
He jolted and narrowed his eyes at her, “Why do you have that look on your face? What? Young lady, I’m not to be trifled with.”
Ignoring him, Astra tied colored strands of light together, crossing them, knotting them together until she could hear a faint hum.
He stopped and blinked. “Remarkable.”
She followed his eyes as they scanned the floating data. “What have you and Veronika been up to?”
“Veronika might be in trouble. We need to find her and Bo.”
He tapped his desk with an impatient staccato drum of his fingertips then swirled them in a shape on the center. “A security detail is going over to the cabaret to look for her. You and I still have some business. What does all that mean?” He waved his free hand through the light and logic tapestry that she was now poking through with her fingers.
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