by Scott Rhine
Red blushed. “No.”
“Vanessa is his kid sister’s best friend.”
“Sorry.”
“Come back day after tomorrow. Let the wound scab over.”
“What are you talking about?”
Herk said, “You’re the genius, figure it out.”
“Wait . . . he knew Vanessa before the party? Lou kept thanking him. Did he introduce her to Lou at the party?” The tips of her ears turned crimson.
Herk tried to remain stoic, but her empathy talent pulled the truth out.
“He’s so going to pay,” she vowed, and stomped off again.
“Wait till Risa comes back at the end of the week,” Herk shouted. “Talk to her!”
When she was gone, he pulled out a walkie-talkie, and said, “Control, tell Taggart our boy may need a safety escort for the friendlies, too.”
****
Zeiss passed the Extreme Environment tests and physicals with ease.
He wore his visitor’s badge hat and a new, black student uniform splattered with blue paint when he met Alistair. As he approached the door to the dojo, the former TA laughed, “A-man, turns out I suck at firearms but I make a really big target for the other newbies.”
The referee handed him a padded helmet and whispered in a serious tone, “Z, your goal is to survive. Use your fencing skills to block, redirect, and avoid.”
Zeiss’s escort guard took a step back.
“Why are you telling me this, A?”
“’Cause I’m the ref, and I like you; I don’t want your first week at the Academy to be in traction. You know that Red’s wicked aggressive, but this morning, she was pounding the dummy with a vengeance.”
“And?”
The referee handed over a printout of Zeiss’s face, obviously crumpled in the center. “She taped your face to it.”
“Clear the dojo!” called Zeiss.
The spectators grumbled. Alistair gaped, “Are you nuts?”
Zeiss’s guard was already in the hall. The former TA said, “Please. It’s personal.”
Alistair nodded and left with the other witnesses.
After the main door closed, Red swept into the room, barefoot. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The two faced off in the white circle.
Zeiss said, “You’re angry. Tell me why.”
“I don’t know what burns me more.” She made an obvious punch toward his crotch and he pivoted to the side. “That you were going to leave without telling any of your supposed friends . . .” She stomped toward his instep, and he blocked using his superior reach before disengaging. “That you meddled in my recruiting and love life . . .” A knife hand darted for his throat and he barely bobbed back in time. “Or that since you’ve been demoted to student, my whole team hates me.”
She aimed a blow at his solar plexus, which he dodged.
“Your team doesn’t hate you,” he said.
On her return to position, she clipped him in the kidney. He blurted, “Damn it, woman, you’re out of bounds.”
Coldly, she informed him, “This isn’t a tournament, Mr. Rules. The terrorists won’t play fair. You know the basics of blocking and dodging drunken frat boys and floozies. Let’s move on to throws. ”
“We need to clear the air,” he insisted. She performed a vicious leg sweep that knocked him on his ass. He kept the momentum going and rolled clear of the circle, breathing heavily. He slowly returned, crouched and ready.
“You didn’t include yourself on my team in that last answer,” she noted, as she walked around him.
“I don’t hate you,” he said, waiting for the arm on his shoulder that would begin the next exercise.
Instead of the standard drill, she hopped onto his back like a deranged flea. “You chose to leave your position and told no one!”
He lurched forward and tossed her off. “I never got to choose.” There was an edge of anger to his voice.
She managed to keep a grip on his arm as she slammed to the mat. She gave a jerk and pulled him over as well. He grunted in pain as she gave his an extra twist. “Why did you sabotage me with Lou?” Red demanded.
“Arr . . . he wasn’t right for you,” Zeiss panted. “He would’ve insisted on sex the first night.”
She released her hold and he whimpered to his feet. “That’s my decision.”
“You didn’t tell him you’re infectious,” Zeiss whispered. “It wasn’t informed consent.”
“I . . . could’ve told him.”
“If condoms are 98 percent effective, that means 2 percent chance of pregnancy. Then all your plans—the needs of the whole world—are put on hold.”
She hated that he was right. “Now attack me,” she insisted.
“I won’t hurt you, Mira.”
She grabbed his arm and started to throw him forward over her shoulder, but he was ready. He curled his whole body around her, gripping under her knees.
She shouted, “You’re not my parent!”
When she couldn’t complete the throw, he picked her off the floor like a five-year-old.
“Ouch,” she cried when he pressed the sunburn on her shoulder blades. Instinctively, Zeiss relaxed his grip to lessen her pain.
Between the ease with which he’d neutralized her and the sting of the sunburn, her irritation level exceeded her common sense. She used the extra freedom to butt his face with her head.
He dropped her as the blood gushed out of his nose. “And I’m not your punching bag,” he snapped. “We’re done sparring.”
The former Grunt-Monkey raced in, giving the injured man rolls of cotton for his nostrils. Trina entered not long after. “Problems?”
“My fault,” said Zeiss. “I told her she had cute, little feet.”
Sojiro and Alistair burst out laughing. Red growled and stomped from the room. “I guess I don’t bleed right, either,” the former TA added.
Trina stifled a smile of her own. “You practice the paintball drills with the other newbies on Saturdays this semester. The Collective Unconscious page arrives on Monday. We’ll do the induction as soon as it gets here.”
He stared at the floor. “Yes, sir.”
The professor glanced at him tenderly. “If you need me, just say the word.”
Sojiro clapped Zeiss on the back. “You survived with no breaks. Good job. You just made me ten bucks.”
“Drinks are on you then,” Zeiss insisted.
Chapter 31 – O Buys a Clue
Trina ambled to the women’s shower and waited for Red. Swinging her legs off the edge of the washing machine, Trina invited, “Care to talk?”
“He’s so infuriating,” Red growled.
“Apart from his recent transgression of trying to save you from yourself, what do you feel when you scan our young astrophysicist?”
“Rare roast beef, with brown gravy, and a side of garlic mashed potatoes—a little dull but something your body needs once a month.”
Trina snickered at the analogy. “Didn’t you just tell me that you’ve been dreaming about visiting New Orleans and having a poor boy at Mother’s Restaurant?”
The girl relished the thought. “Oh, yeah! They cook the beef all day till it’s so tender it melts in your mouth; it’s called debris. They serve this bread pudding on the side with just a hint of fruit flavor and bourbon. I wake up hungry every time.”
Trina laughed at the Freudian nature of her dream. “How does Conrad feel lately?”
“I can’t read him. He’s all churned up, blocking me on purpose. He stares at me, like I have spinach between my teeth. I have to keep checking mirrors so see if I have another zit.”
Her aunt tried a different tactic. “Do you trust him?”
“With my life. I gave him my crypto key the day we met and he’s never abused it or read my files.”
“Would you consider him a friend?”
Red deflated. “Yes. The best.”
“Other than those annoying rules, does he have any flaws?”
“He needs calcium and more exercise. He’s never navigated a real plane. He refuses to hit me, even when I push him as hard as I can.”
“So the reason you visited his bedroom after hours was to give his bones exercise?”
Red blushed. “I needed aloe.”
“Hmm . . . you couldn’t get any from the clinic, or the BX, or the cabana on the beach you terrorized?”
“Hotel security made me leave the party early, and I needed someone to do my back.”
“I’ve been there, honey,” Trina said with a husky chuckle.
Red made a sound of exasperation. “Risa wasn’t here.”
“So you were lonely.”
“A little.”
“From the reaming you gave our physicist in there, it sounds like you’d picked Lou to be your first time.”
“Sort of.”
“Lonely, horny, and in pain, you sought out someone kind who you knew couldn’t say no.”
“Nothing happened, damn it.”
“The question is: did you want it to?”
“He would’ve been very gentle, but he ran away!”
“And that pissed you off.”
“Yes!”
“The truth rears its ugly head. You’re punishing him for not sleeping with you.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“Did you have a condom?”
“What?”
“You went there planning sex. Having seen the catalog of all his earthly possessions, I know he didn’t have one.”
“Oops,” Red said, biting her lip.
“I listened to the tape. If he hadn’t run out then, you would’ve taken the risk without one.”
“Yeah, I would have. Hoo. Everything he did to me felt wonderful. But he didn’t say anything about protection that night. I repulsed him, and he ran—two guys in the same night.”
“Assuming you’re not Quasimodo, why would a man refuse such an obvious offer?”
“I thought he was gay.”
“That he was in love with Sojiro.”
“But now I don’t even have that to fall back on.”
Trina rolled her eyes. “You’ll have to work this out yourself.”
“Another hint, please? He’s being so weird now, saying no to all sorts of things.”
“You don’t like it when people don’t obey you.”
“Cut that out. You make me sound like . . .” Red struggled to find a metaphor that didn’t describe her behavior, “a tyrant. He said we’re still friends, but he won’t even let me read his dissertation.”
“His summary will change the face of the Sirius Project, but the dedication was my favorite because it made me cry.”
“That’s just mean,” Red said resentfully.
“Daniel’s read it too.”
“Why can’t I?”
“Because your uncle put his copy in his safe and said you couldn’t read it until Zeiss showed it to you himself. I think you deserve a look. It’s a shame that he only printed one copy from the machine in the sublevel and then wiped it from the system.”
Red furrowed her brow. “Part of it would still be in the printer security log, wouldn’t it?”
“I never said a thing.”
The young woman ran to the library elevator to read the forbidden document.
Once she reached the secure workroom, Red punched buttons on the printer, talking to herself as she did so. “Why are there pictures of me on here? That’s a little creepy.
“Here we go. Title page. On the Nature of the Sirius Artifact and the Implications for our Landing, by Conrad Zeiss and Miranda Scarlett Benson. Cool, he gave me credit. Page forward. Dedication.” The print was miniscule but she could just make out the words, “To Mary Smith, you opened the world to possibilities never imagined. Without love, all technology is but the tinkling of a cymbal.”
Mira staggered down the hall in a daze. Trina was waiting for her in the elevator. “He left me because he’s in love with Mary Smith. I thought she was in Paris. Did he meet her on break?”
Trina shook the girl. “You told him you were Mary Smith your first year.”
“That makes more . . . Ohhh.” Red slumped against the metal wall. “Oh no.”
Her aunt steadied her. “The penny drops.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried. You kept changing the subject to Lou and abusing the poor man more.”
Red covered her face. “He probably hates me! Who else did he tell?”
“He didn’t have to tell anyone. He was one lovesick puppy. Anyone not looking in a mirror could see it the moment you walked into the room. Daniel says he compared every woman he met to you, and they all fell short.”
“Is that helpful?”
“This is a good thing, Kitten. Assuming you feel the same way.”
“I don’t know how I feel. It’s so weird, like the first time I flew inverted. He’s my best friend.”
“In a few months, you can start slow: dating. Well, dates with just the two of you, because you’ve technically been going out on group dates for two years; you just didn’t know it.”
Red punched her aunt in the shoulder. “Why months?”
“Because if you hook up now, everyone will know you’re O.”
“O?”
“For orgasm. It’s your code name in UN security. They’re convinced you’re the latest Mata Hari. They’ve studied the audio tape extensively for clues. All we had to do to get Z into the astronaut program formally was promise that he’d give a seminar on foreplay to the delegates.”
“This isn’t funny!” Red insisted. But Trina’s laughter was infectious.
Eventually, the older woman laid her hand on her surrogate daughter’s face and said, “I wish Jez were here to share this.”
“Me, too,” Red said, hugging her. “It was weird seeing Mom’s picture on his computer.”
“He had a thing for her?”
“Not the usual way. He idolizes her ‘elliptically elegant mind’.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from that tree.”
“Thanks.”
“It takes a special man to tolerate—”
“I get that!”
“I think it’s very telling that your father was rule-driven as well.”
“Enough!” Red smiled.
Trina squealed and stomped her feet. “I can’t help it. Somebody loves my baby—for who she is.”
“Although, it’ll be good to know if he likes my body too.”
“Would you stop! Daniel did say he’s an ass man.”
“That helps. Did he say anything in particular about mine?”
“The interrogator did say he admitted if the cops hadn’t knocked down his door, he would’ve done anything you wanted.”
“Aww . . . that’s so sweet.”
“But loathed himself for the rest of his life for being a pervert who took advantage of an innocent he swore to protect.”
“Look, could you just locate Z for me and let him give me the severe tongue lashing?” Red asked impatiently. When Trina burst out laughing again, the young woman demanded, “What?”
Chapter 32 – Moon Goddess
Kaguya Mori was making tea in the cafeteria kitchen when her phone buzzed. She was wearing skin-tight hose and a Philippine Catholic schoolgirl uniform that was several sizes too small. Seeing the guard on the other end of the phone, she affected a longing purr, “Oh, I’d been hoping to hear from you soon.”
Nervous, the guard whispered, “Goddess, they let the Monk through the security checkpoint onto the island proper. They’re tracking him with the orange guest ID and at least one set of eyes.”
“We knew that yesterday, pet.”
“I found out this morning that they planted a listening device on the ID as well, so they could hear everything people said to him. Taggart really wants to find O.”
“Well, done. Do you wish to be rewarded?”
The guard’s voice shuddered, “Yes, goddess.”<
br />
“Are you someplace private?”
“Yes!”
She sang into the phone, “Enter the gates of my heaven.”
The man on the other end dropped his phone as he began convulsing with pleasure. She sighed and severed the connection. When she turned around, Conrad Zeiss was standing in the doorframe.
She dropped the phone in panic and it skittered across the floor. Blast, he’d crept up on her again.
“I’ve been looking for you Miss Mori,” he said, deadpan, as he picked up the phone. He walked with a limp, winced from shoulder pains, and his nose was a little puffy. He’d obviously been in an intense fight. Had he just dropped the net on her men?
She reached behind her for the kettle, it wasn’t hot enough to scald, but she could bludgeon the spy hunter with it before he slapped on cuffs. Instead, he handed her phone back politely. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just owe you that favor and wanted to pay up as soon as possible . . . in case I wash out this week.”
Kaguya put the phone in her pocket with one hand and poured a cup of tea with the other. “You’re a man of your word, then?” She remained neutral, uncertain if he was toying with her.
He actually blushed. “You don’t have to worry about improper advances; Sojiro is my chaperone in the other room. I can call him in.”
Her demeanor shifted from prey to predator. She made her voice seductive. “That depends on what you consider improper. Could I offer you something?” When he looked away, she added, “Tea, I mean. You look very sore, and this might help loosen your muscles.”
“Only if you’re having some.”
She smiled, and served them both. Kaguya held up a finger and said, “I have just the thing to sweeten this.” She stood on a chair to rummage through a cabinet. As she did so, Zeiss could glimpse under her miniskirt to the tights beneath. The fabric became see-through where it stretched the tightest, accentuating every curve, and revealing her narrow vee of black underwear.
Zeiss stared into the teacup and drank, admiring the bone-china design. “Very pleasing to the eyes, warm on the lips, and fits in the hand perfectly.”
“You turn a girl’s head. Did that work with many of the students?”
“No, I never . . .”
