The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Nikki Sinclaire

  “Computer, access my professional files and cross-reference them with the top names in nanotechnology construction within the last five years and get me a list of those nano engineers whose backgrounds would be suitable to manage the construction of a space station the size of a small town.”

  The computer quickly returned an answer. “There are six engineers in the galaxy with the experience and qualifications to lead such a project. They are Cecily Binghamton, Tiana Weiss, Claire Lawrence, Ofelia Reinhardt, Benjamin Murray and Tom Houser.”

  Tiana felt like she had been kicked in the gut.

  “Tom Houser? The ex-husband from hell? The biggest thing he’s ever built was a doll house. Don’t get me wrong, Derek, he’s smart, but he lacks the experience I was fortunate to get early in my career. That was one of our many problems. He was always jealous of my success. Computer, list out the three largest projects Tom Weiss has managed during his career.”

  “In order of magnitude, Tom Weiss has been the Principal on Franklin Station in the Omicron quadrant, Excalibur Station in the Omicron quadrant and New Sioux City in the Omicron quadrant.”

  Tiana’s mind was spinning out of control.

  “I was married to Tom his entire career. He didn’t do any of those jobs. He would have had to be on site for long periods of time and he was never gone from home for more than a couple of weeks at a time. That information is wrong.”

  “Computer, where are the six engineers you listed at this time?”

  “Cecily Binghamton is deceased, Tiana Weiss is on this ship, Claire Lawrence is deceased, Ofelia Reinhardt is deceased, Benjamin Murray is deceased and Tom Houser is on Arcadia 10.”

  “I guess that explains why he couldn’t make our court date, but what the hell is he doing on Arcadia 10? That’s our next port of call.”

  “Tiana, let’s think this through”, Derek suggested, grasping his head as if he were trying to keep all the information his brain was processing from leaking out. “All the qualified engineers are dead except for you and your ex-husband and we know someone wants you to join the list of corpses.”

  Derek took a moment, stood up and stretched. Looking up at the ceiling reminded him of ‘Play Time With Tiana’. He quickly sat down.

  “We also know that even though Earth’s population database lists your husband as being qualified, he really is not. Why would anyone alter the database to make Tom appear qualified and kill off all the truly qualified people?”

  “Well, the obvious possibility is that someone wants to ensure that Tom is considered for the job. But why? He wouldn’t be able to lead such a complex project. The nanobots involved in such construction are very sensitive. The slightest deviation in their instructions and we could wind up building a useless blob of metal. Nanoconstruction is a very precise science, and it’s not for all nano-engineers.”

  “Let’s get even more creative. Computer, list other research and development firms that have been paid out of the GSF account that also show the same pattern of deposits from the selected three accounts as Interstellar Engineering.”

  “There are four other firms whose payments follow the established pattern. These are Bowman and Grier, the Bradford Group, Holographic Dreams, Inc. and Moon Machines, Inc.”

  Tiana saw Derek’s face turn a ghastly shade of white.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Holographic Dreams, Inc. is the company I was part owner in. I was also in charge of the research and development group. Computer, what was Holographic Dreams paid for with these monies?”

  “The invoice states that it was a down-payment on the ‘portable people’ project.”

  “Derek, was that the new project you were about to start working on?”

  “Yes, and now that I think about it, it was a GSF project.”

  “What if you were framed to keep you from working on the project?”

  “True, but why not have me killed instead? It would have been easier.”

  “Yes, but think about it. By killing you, they would not have taken your company down with you. Others could have taken your notes and continued your work. It would have taken longer, but the project could have continued. With the negative publicity that the break-ins generated, they took out your firm altogether. With you in jail, it would be years before the patents for your work could be reassigned, particularly if you decide not to sell them while you were in prison. Besides that, after your conviction, your security clearance should have been cancelled and the military would not allow a convict to work on a top-secret project.”

  “How is it that you can be both beautiful and brilliant?”

  “Who says I’m beautiful?” Tiana replied half curious and half begging for him to take the credit for thinking so.

  “I say so.” Derek got up from his side of the couch, walked over to Tiana and settled down next to her luscious, curvy body. Gently, he reached out and brushed a stray red curl off her lightly freckled forehead. How could one woman be so beautiful, yet so naively vulnerable at the same time? It made him want to eat her alive.

  Derek lifted her chin with his index finger, forcing her to meet his eyes.

  “You are extraordinarily beautiful, sexy as hell and I am having a really hard time keeping my hands off you.”

  * * * *

  When their eyes met, the spark of passion lit a flame that Tiana felt all the way to her soul. She felt the heat of Derek’s body engulf her and send her heart racing out of control. Why did this man have such an effect on her? She couldn’t look at him. She closed her eyes as she realized she was yielding control to him. This time there were no thoughts of his not being real to take away from her sensations. He was all man. He was all flesh and blood.

  Derek’s fingers continued down as he grazed her ear with his index finger. The touch was light as a feather and sent shivers up and down Tiana’s spine. She was slowly sinking into a whirlpool of desire for this man whom two weeks ago she did not know existed, yet she now felt a certain sense of trust for. She knew he would never willfully hurt her. How she knew this she couldn’t rationally explain, she just knew it.

  As his fingers continued their upward trajectory, she felt them come together behind her head, supporting it as his thumb softly and carefully wiped a tear off her face. What was that tear doing there? The emotions were too much. She knew what was coming. She felt his breath, his masculine, testosterone-filled breath on her cheek. Her lips parted as if they had a mind of their own, ready to let him, no, ready to encourage him to kiss her. He was now so close she could taste his essence. The anticipation of his kiss stretched every second into an eternity.

  At long last, just as every nerve in her body was ready to explode from the anticipation, his mouth hungrily closed in over hers sending a rush of emotion through her that made her feel like she was the most beautiful and desired woman in the universe. Tiana further permitted her tongue to sample the velvety smoothness of his. She tasted him, as he explored her mouth with the gentleness of a lamb and the assurance of a conqueror. Derek indulged her tongue, taking it prisoner, a very willing prisoner, and then releasing it, only to do it again. He licked the very edge of her eager mouth softly, before waging an all out assault on it, staking his claim on her.

  Her hands slowly lifted off the couch, heavy with the weight of the pent-up emotions Derek was releasing within her and found their way into his soft, jet-black hair. She caressed his locks, tangling her fingers in and through them as he kissed her, taking all that she gave him, returning it with interest. One of her hands worked its way down from the softness of his hair to the hardness of his shoulders. Tiana allowed herself the indulgence of getting intimately acquainted with the finely sculpted muscles on his shoulders and chest, causing him to yield a grunt of pleasure into her already scorching mouth.

  * * * *

  Something was wrong.

  They seemed to both be losing themselves in one another, an otherworldly lightheadedness absorbing them as Derek barely realized Tiana was falling
head-first into an abyss, an abyss from which she might never be able to climb out.

  “Computer, disconnect power to all synthesizing equipment and ventilate room at maximum exchange rate,” he choked out, fighting the wave of drowsiness mixed with dizziness that fought to overcome him.

  Concentrating his last bit of conscious thought on his actions, he shook his heart’s desire in an effort to bring her back.

  “Tiana, wake up, sweetheart. You are not allowed to die on me, you hear!” He yelled with more urgency than he had ever felt for anything or anyone.

  The clean air began to clear his fogged brain. Seeing no response, he bent over her and gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, doing her breathing for her. She felt cold. Tiana did not seem to be responding. Could the strange gas have gotten to her before he realized the imminent danger?

  A slight cough burst from Tiana’s lungs as she desperately tried to suck in as much of the fresh air the computer was pumping into the room as she could.

  “That’s it, my darling, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.” Derek found himself with his arms wrapped around her and tears flowing down his cheeks as she slowly came to.

  “Damn, Derek, your kisses pack one hell of a punch,” she murmured, confused, not yet understanding what had happened.

  All he could do was hold her to his chest, her now-warmer cheek pressing onto his very wet one, while he gently and possessively stroked her hair as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world, mostly because, well, it was. Just then, Derek heard a noise directly outside the front door. Someone was out there trying to get in. The door lock was being overridden. It had to be the killer, coming after his precious Tiana.

  Derek responded quickly. “Computer, materialize fully loaded laser disruptor set to scatter mode, security code Derek Hart.”

  Chapter 15

  Derek Discovered

  “So, Captain, how do you like these long deep-space runs?” Delaney asked. The two men sat across from each other at a small table on the starboard side of the bridge, sipping Tallasian tea as they anxiously watched Commander Hollinger, hunched over the console at her post conducting genetic scans. Neither one liked the idea of a convict running loose amongst 1,200 unsuspecting passengers.

  “It’s only a two-and-a-half-week run each way with some time in between, it’s not bad. When I was in the military anything less than six months was considered a short run. Besides that, our ships weren’t exactly this nice. We were just glad they had a toilet.”

  “Was that during the Terrilian war?”

  “Yeah. All available space on a star destroyer back then was used for fuel, weaponry and ammunition. You always had a lot more room on the return trip.” Captain Maverick dropped his eyes to the table sadly, remembering what it was like. “If you were lucky enough to get a return trip. I was a young lieutenant fresh out of the Academy back then. Lost a lot of great friends and some not-so-good friends, but regardless, they were all good people. Damn Terrilians!”

  “Is that why you like flying this sector of space?”

  The Captain smiled an acknowledgement to the Marshall that he wasn’t far from the truth.

  “Marshall, once a military man, always a military man. I left the service, and now command a pleasure ship. Most people on board aren’t even traveling to any specific planet or station. They are on this ship just to relax, enjoy themselves, and then return to Earth to their regular lives. And mind you, there’s nothing wrong with that. To me, however, this ship, this quadrant of space, is my life.

  “I think of myself as still being on duty. In my mind, I am patrolling this sector of space, monitoring Terrilian activity. If I sense anything amiss, I report it and do anything I can to keep those arrogant humanoids out of the quadrant. After I was wounded during the war, the military gave me a Galactic Medal of Honor, patted me on the back and put me behind a desk. Marshall, let me tell you, it’s boring behind a desk.”

  “Do you have a family, Captain?”

  “I surely do. My crew,” the Captain stated with pride. “But I know that’s not what you mean by a family. Yes, there was somebody once, but I’m afraid the Terrilians stole that from me.”

  “Captain,” interrupted one of the Bridge Engineers, Bradley Milton, from his post “we seem to have a malfunctioning food synthesizer in one of the Executive Level suites. Suite 1005. We have tried taking it offline to repair it, yet we have been unable to. It seems to be locked up in some kind of a synthesizing loop.”

  “Are you sure it’s not one of our passengers making enough caviar for their five-hundred closest friends?” the Captain responded with a sarcastic twist to his words. He’d seen the excesses that his wealthy passengers went to in order to try and outdo each others’ parties.

  “I’m positive, sir,” replied the younger man. “It seems to be working with a significant quantity of carbon and hydrogen molecules. I don’t know of any known food item that requires high concentrations of those two elements.”

  “Mr. Milton, send an emergency relief crew to the room immediately and, whatever you do, shut off that synthesizer.”

  “Captain, the malfunction has us completely locked out of the suite’s computer. It will have to be done from inside the room”

  “Then get us an emergency crew up there. I’ll go disable it. Commander Hollinger, you’re with me.” As he headed out with his Security Officer, the Captain turned back to his engineer. “Mr. Milton, tell the relief crew to bring artificial breathing equipment.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that, Captain,” interjected Marshall Delaney as he jumped into action, “I’ll go with you.”

  “Just stay put Marshall. A broken food synthesizer is not a law-enforcement concern.”

  “Based on your hurry and level of alarm, I believe it is, Captain. Besides, as an officer of the law I am allowed to walk anywhere on this ship I deem necessary.”

  Captain Maverick clenched his teeth. He didn’t need a self-righteous, egotistical cop getting in his way, but he knew that the Marshall was correct, it was a law-enforcement officer’s right. Who knows, it might turn out to be useful to have an extra pair of hands along. It was probably nothing, but he didn’t like the sound of those two elements ‘cooking’ together.

  The last time he remembered a situation similar to this one … Well, he was not going to think about it. It couldn’t be. Not this long after the war and surely not on a pleasure transport.

  No words were uttered as Captain Maverick, with Commander Hollinger and Marshall Delaney following closely behind, rushed to Suite 1005.

  Once at the suite’s door, the Captain ordered:

  “Computer, override lock and open door. Security code, Captain Jonathan Maverick.”

  The computer quickly complied. The emergency crew hadn’t arrived yet, but the Captain went ahead and entered the room, followed by his Chief of Security and Marshall Delaney. They were met by the wrong end of a disruptor pointed straight at them by a nice-looking man he immediately recognized from the picture the Marshall had shown him of Derek Hart, the escaped convict, with a beautiful red-haired woman laying on the couch directly behind him. Captain Maverick assumed she was probably one of his passengers. Derek Hart appeared to be protecting her, from them.

  “Don’t move a muscle if you would like to keep all of your body’s molecules within the same general vicinity,” Derek stated sternly. “Computer, contact ship security and have them send a small detachment.”

  “I am ship security,” stated Commander Hollinger, stepping up beside the Captain.

  “Then why are you trying to kill this passenger? And you, Marshall, how are you involved in this plot?” Derek responded.

  Marshall Delaney stepped up and addressed Derek.

  “Mr. Hart, nobody is trying to kill anybody. The Captain here is excited about something having to do with your food synthesizer and, frankly, I’m here to take you back. If you go willingly and nobody gets hurt, I’ll see to it that your sentence is no
t increased for your escape.”

  “A professional assassin just tried to kill Ms. Weiss by synthesizing some lethal gaseous concoction. I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t just take your word that you’re on the right side of the law.”

  It was Captain Maverick’s turn to try and talk some sense into the escaped convict.

  “Mr. Hart, I’m not going to lie to you. You are correct to be concerned, but we are the least of your worries. Somehow your food synthesizer, got locked out of the central network and flooded the suite with Methane. My crew detected this malfunction and that’s why we are here.”

  Marshall Delaney looked at Derek and challenged, “Mr. Hart, you are one of the few people around who could have pulled off a stunt like this. How do we know you’re not the one who tried to kill Ms. Weiss?”

  “Kill me? He saved my life. If it wasn’t for Derek I would have fallen asleep and never woken up,” Tiana defended Derek.

  “Marshall, in case you haven’t noticed, I was in here with her. I would have died too. Besides, I designed the system that runs everything in this suite. I know it backwards and forwards. If I had done whatever it was that just happened, I would have covered my tracks and you would have never been the wiser.” Derek paused, unable to keep a mischievous grin off his face. “By the way, how are Mr. and Mrs. Leckelman doing? Incidentally, Captain, I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered them a bottle of champagne and paid for it from your entertainment account. I figured it was the least you could do.”

  The Captain couldn’t keep a smile from his strong countenance even though the joke was at his expense. Clearly, this character knew his way around the ship’s computers. Turning to the Marshall, he stated what was obvious to everyone in the room.

  “Marshall, I can’t speak for his prior crimes, but I have little doubt that Mr. Hart was not the source of this accident. If he—”

  “It was no accident!” Tiana interrupted. “A professional killer is trying to kill me, and if it wasn’t for Derek he would have succeeded. Marshall, where were you and the rest of ‘our galaxy’s finest’ ten minutes ago? Captain, is this how you protect and take care of your passengers? From my perspective, you should be thanking Derek for picking up the slack and doing the job that you should have been doing!”