Liberation Origins: SciFi Romance (Robotics Faction - Origins Series Book 1)

by Wendy Lynn Clark

  A flush of pride lifted his chest. “Thanks.”

  “This was part of your construction too?”

  “Yeah. Dom prefers intimate parties but has to invite hundreds of guests. How to recreate the intimate atmosphere resulted in this design. You know tea parties?”

  “Not on a stream.”

  “It’s ancient,” he said. “People floated cups down a river while petals showered them. Now, friends float down the river.”

  At each bend, a small party gathered with food and liquors. Guests selected a boat and wove to the bends, mingling between the groups.

  The boats were his crowning idea. Controlled by a magnetic system that had cost almost as much as the rubilum floor far above, the boats easily floated with, and against, the current.

  Overhead, the willows waved gently over the star-filled night.

  “In a few hours, the blossoms will release a flurry,” he added. “It smells great. Don’t miss it.”

  “You are so thoughtful, Kaolin.”

  “Dom takes care of his guests.”

  She looked up at the starry night and frowned. “Is this garden open? To space?”

  She was worried about the hitman from her rivals. “You’re safe. The only ships that could fly close enough are those already cleared by the port authority.”

  She cupped her elbows. “Anyone could be cleared.”

  “The grounds are monitored. They watch identifications,” he tapped his forehead, where an inch behind the skin was buried his chip, “and notice if anyone new shows up. I’ll take care of you, Emprezia.”

  She shivered and turned her attention to the guests.

  Partly to distract her, he pointed to a boat halfway down the garden. “There’s Dom.”

  Her lips pursed.

  “Did you want me to call him?”

  “No,” she said, a little too quickly, “I’ll meet him.”

  She stumbled forward, toward a silver-clad staff person managing the boats.

  Kaolin caught her. “Careful. The ground is uneven here.”

  She held her breath.

  Her body pressed against his side. His palm cupped the curve of her hip. A perfect resting place to grip. Heat shot through his body and pooled in his suddenly re-awoken cock. Pulsing to life, ready.

  Her cheeks tinged pink.

  With desire? Most likely embarrassment.

  Or maybe it was just his wish.

  He released her. “Okay. I’ll see you.”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  Without looking at him, she accepted the hand of the staff person to step into the boat and disappeared from Kaolin’s side, swept away by the slow current.

  He watched her all the way to Dom.

  She floated beside her fiancé cautiously. Waiting, he figured, to be acknowledged. Dom ignored her coldly.

  Why? More power plays, surely. But it was also evidence of how much Dom liked Emprezia. Kaolin had never seen Dom so mean. Other women, he charmed and sent away. Emprezia, he would test to the bitter limit and then accept into his heart.

  Kaolin’s chest ached. He rubbed the spot awkwardly. It burned like indigestion.

  Finding the perfect entry point, Emprezia slipped beside Dom. Moments later, she was chatting and smiling with his group as naturally as if she had been formally introduced and had always been there.

  Domingo had already told him. Their wedding date would be announced tonight.

  His throat clenched.

  But that was what he had to accept.

  “If you don’t want to marry her, tell her no,” he’d argued with Dom after their ill-fated bar meeting with Emprezia. “Make her take the trade.”

  “I can’t have her go to my rivals,” he’d snarled. “If it’s marriage she wants, it’s marriage she gets.”

  “You wanted to marry for love. Why don’t you just make yourself happy?”

  His friend had grown quiet and stared into his quicksilver liquor. “Because marrying for love requires the woman to love you back.” He twisted his lips and downed his liquor.

  They both made Kaolin crazy.

  The party lasted late into the night. After several retsinas and half a tray of sweet-hot tentacles, Kaolin’s mood started to improve.

  While he drifted on the river, Domingo floated up beside him. “Having a good time?”

  “Sure.” Kaolin slid a thin slice of seasoned aquapede into his mouth and chewed the rich, savory flavors. “Delicious.”

  “I caught it with my daughter on the Gion rings. She’s turning into a hell of a fisherman. You’ll have to join us next month.”

  “Next month is the Blue Line Race.”

  “Another time.” He frowned. “Where’s my fiancée?”

  Kaolin pointed down the river, at a flower-strewn enclave beneath another weeping willow tree.

  Emprezia had split from Dom hours ago. It caused Kaolin unwelcome relief. She was only making her way among the guests to win Domingo’s approval.

  Now, she rested on shore, amid yellow and lavender flowers, her dress train draped beside her like a rivulet separated from the stream. She was so beautiful she made his chest ache.

  Leaning back against the tree sat an older man. Unfamiliar. Someone he hadn’t met.

  “Chatting with the botanist.” Domingo chuckled. “She hates to be wrong.”

  Emprezia had known the guest list by heart before Domingo told her. Faces meant nothing to Kaolin even if he had met them somewhere before. Another reason they were so different.

  He was starting to lose his buzz.

  Kaolin leaned forward, causing the magnet system to start. “I need a drink.”

  Dom grabbed the boat, forcing it to a stop. “Before you go, take this.”

  He slipped a single-point laser shooter into Kaolin’s hands.

  A gun.

  Kaolin’s fingers closed around the cool, air-light metal cylinder. It molded itself to his grip. The dot at the top of the cylinder gleamed red. A deadly point.

  “Have you used one before?” Dom asked.

  “Not in real life.”

  “Real life?”

  “Outside a holo.”

  “Ah. First, it’s a charged laser. The harder you grip, the more powerful the charge.”

  Kaolin squeezed. Nothing changed in the red, inhuman laser eye, but the cylinder became heavier in his grip.

  “The first ‘throw’ gesture selects the target. The second one shoots.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “Make sure the targeting laser has lit on the correct target before you fire.”

  He snorted. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. It’s especially important in a crowded area, such as this party.”

  “I don’t need it here.”

  “Security is good,” Dom conceded. “But I don’t want any surprises. Right?”

  Hmm. Kaolin slipped it into his pocket and echoed his words to Emprezia. “Can’t be too careful.”

  The cylinder felt out of place, bulky, and dangerous.

  Sure, all Dom’s security officers had them as well. But he was the only guest who had a weapon. The guests were all inspected and disarmed well before reaching the island.

  “You okay?” Domingo asked.

  He shook his head. “Racing might be safer.”

  “Welcome to my world.”

  Out in the racing world, the danger and exaltation was all in the open. Feeling the rush of coming up on a corner too fast, straining the gyros. Engines fought the rules of physics and pilots pitted his dreams against reality. There was no room for subterfuge. If he lost, dreams smashed into a furious death.

  Here, dangers lingered on the underside of every smile.

  He preferred to live in a world where he could trust in smiles.

  Funny how he had never thought these things before Emprezia. Dom had sheltered him from ugly truths. Or maybe he had deliberately closed his eyes.

  With Emprezia, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  Actually, he’
d taken his eyes off her for some time. Kaolin glanced back to the willow enclave where she was last seated.

  The older man was still there, his back resting against the trunk.

  Her boat still bobbed gently in the stream.

  But she wasn’t there.

  She wasn’t across the river. She wasn’t at any of the other bends, with any of the other guests.

  Shit.

  She was gone.

  Moments earlier…

  Emprezia sat on the shore, her legs splayed to the side, mermaid style, while she spoke to the botanist resting his back against a tree.

  “So you work for the research facility next to the protected cloud whale sanctuary,” she summarized, sifting through the man’s answers for something useful to give Domingo to prove her skill. “And the only way on is to kick an existing researcher off?”

  “It’s murder out there,” the botanist said, mumbling. “You think science is dull? People stab you in the back. Then they kick your body out an airlock and publish your papers as their own.”

  “Brutal,” she agreed.

  Domingo’s genetic heir had recently turned to ichthyology, the study of fish. As a devoted parent, he was certain to have invited this botanist to the party to gain favor. No wonder he wanted her help on this.

  “Are you concerned your spot will be occupied when you get back?” she asked.

  “Hell no.” The man wiggled his brows. “I’m bringing the funding.”

  So if Domingo paid enough, he’d get his daughter on board.

  Well, she needed to tell him something new about it. This was a point of pride.

  She rose. Sneaking back to her room through the hedge labyrinth, she would research the cloud whale station more thoroughly, and return in time to have their wedding announced—

  On the river above, Domingo had grabbed Kaolin’s boat. What had he slipped to Kaolin? The expression on Kaolin’s face was open shock. She strained to see what he held in his hands.

  A woman bumped into her.

  Emprezia steadied herself. “Excuse me. I overlooked you.”

  “Sure.” The woman reviewed her communicator, searching for the floor map to return home. “You know the way out of this place?”

  Emprezia had memorized Domingo’s house plan before setting foot in it. “Yes. I believe it’s down this way.”

  Conveniently, she could sneak through the maze while guiding the woman. Emprezia entered the maze. Down one blind alley, she saw a gigantic man.

  He stared at her. Silent, huge. Strange and frightening.

  She came to full alert.

  Oh, he was wearing the security uniform. He faded into the darkness.

  She recovered and continued on. This was a terribly isolated area. If he came back, or if anyone else found them alone here, it would be the perfect place for a hit.

  Emprezia quickened her steps to return to the more occupied part of the garden. In sight of the doorway, the woman thanked her and rummaged in her purse. Emprezia continued into the house alone.

  “Oh hey, excuse me?” the woman called.

  Emprezia paused and turned. “Yes?”

  “There was one other thing you overlooked.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  The woman threw something at her.

  Emprezia jerked. A target laser flashed in her eyes and centered with deadly precision on her chest.

  The woman smiled. “I’m not an invited guest.”

  Chapter Eight

  No.

  Her heart froze in her chest. All of the blood drained.

  Kaolin.

  Emprezia lifted her hands. “Wait!”

  The woman lifted her wrist to complete the execution.

  Floodlights snapped on and flared down on them.

  Domingo’s head of security, a mountain of a man, stepped out of the hedge and clobbered the assassin.

  She fell and rolled. Her weapon lost its target.

  The wild gunshot crackled with electricity. It leapt around the hedge, snarled around itself like a rabid dog, and tangled in deadly fury before harmlessly dissipating.

  The air smelled like burning leaves and ozone.

  The assassin leapt back, snarling.

  Emerging from the maze to her right, Kaolin led the rest of Domingo’s security forces.

  “Stop right there,” he said.

  The assassin froze.

  “Because you are not an invited guest….” The risk assessor, Robeson said from a safe position behind Kaolin. Her voice was pleasant but firm. “…We have a few questions we’d like you to answer before we force you to leave in chains. Who are you working for, and how did you get in? That sort of thing.”

  The assassin growled.

  The security head stepped forward to capture her.

  She crouched and leapt impossibly high, up on the floodlights.

  “Oh, hell.” Robeson held her briefcase to her chest. “Don’t let her get away!”

  The security forces scrambled.

  Kaolin hurried to Emprezia, put his arm around her shoulders, and rushed her inside to safety.

  Everything had happened too quickly. The fear, which hadn’t had time to flood her in the gardens, did so now.

  Inside, in the quiet room well sheltered on all sides, surrounded too by staff and security forces, Emprezia struggled against the tsunami. It crawled up her throat and stung the inside of her mouth.

  But worse than the fear of death was the stunning realization of her final thoughts.

  It didn’t matter if she died. She’d get resurrected. Domingo would owe her money on top of the marriage.

  She couldn’t lose her memories of Kaolin.

  Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

  That shook her up almost more than the near-death incident.

  And it got worse.

  Taking long, deep breaths, she infused herself with Kaolin’s safe, masculine scent. His leather-clad arm remained firm around her shoulders. His strength gave her all she needed to regain her own control.

  Staff offered her food, drink, a blanket. She stepped out of his embrace and accepted it all, as was fitting of her status as a person who had nearly suffered grievous injury.

  They sat on the couch.

  She sat stiffly beside him, so close their knees almost touched. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

  “N-no problem.”

  His knee bounced against the seat. His arm trembled without the anchor point of her shoulder.

  Oh.

  She breathed deeply for both of them and allowed herself a tender stroke of his iron-hard thigh. “You were so brave.”

  “I reacted.” He laughed at himself, at his stutter. “Are you going to eat that soup?”

  She gave it to him, and the hot drink, and she put her blanket around him until the white faded from his face.

  He had been terrified. And yet, he had led a security team to find her.

  “You’re not shaken,” he said.

  “I’ve been threatened at gunpoint before. Quite a few times, actually.”

  “You and Dom. Racing is less dangerous.”

  She snorted. He continued to surprise her, which never happened. “You spoke to her. I was frozen.”

  “I told you—I’ll talk to anyone.”

  He shook his head again at her calm, and consumed two more bowls of soup. When he was calm, exhaustion hit, but he refused to leave her in the hands of the staff. Shortly thereafter, Domingo found his way to them. His early groom’s present remained in his possession.

  “The assassin escaped,” he briefed them. “We are chasing her in the port now, and she’s giving the authority some trouble.”

  Emprezia stood.

  Kaolin remained seated

  “Well, that was some excitement.” His raised brows took in the two of them, and he thumbs-upped at Kaolin. “How does it feel to be a security officer?”

  He swallowed. “I’ll stick to races.”

  “You still look pale. Why don’t you check in with medic
al?”

  Kaolin wobbled to the medical technician. Emprezia wanted to go with him, put an arm around his shoulders, assure him it would be alright. Domingo watched him for a long moment, clearly wishing the same thing.

  For that reason, no matter what happened, she would never hate Domingo. Anyone who truly cared for Kaolin was a worthy man.

  “Back to business.” Domingo turned to Emprezia, and his concern flattened. “The last guests are leaving. You’ve missed the opportunity to announce our wedding.”

  Yes. She had realized that. “It was interrupted by an assassin, on your own grounds, after being assured such an incident was impossible.”

  His smile thinned. “I assure you, it was a one-time oversight.”

  “Then what are you going to do about it?”

  “I am sorry, Emprezia. I cannot call our guests back.”

  “Announce our date at the centennial.”

  “Before the opening ceremonies,” he promised, and ran a distracted hand through his hair.

  This assassin really had surprised him. She felt better knowing that it hadn’t been his own hit.

  “I’ll announce our rubilum contract, ports transferal, and two-year marriage,” he said.

  “Unlimited,” she said.

  It was easier to focus on business without Kaolin around, and she did so enjoy negotiations like this. Pitting herself against her adversary in an all-out contracts fist-fight. Domingo was a great sparrer.

  “Two-and-a-half years, starting from the announcement, including visitation rights for your son.”

  “Twenty years and it’s not in writing.”

  “Three years and it is.”

  “Three years is a tiny holiday. The Corleons will start their attacks all over again.”

  “You’ll own the ports,” he said. “And visit with your son.”

  Damn them. Damn him. Even with Kaolin across the room, taking off his shirt for the med tech and revealing his gorgeous abs, he was in her head, promising her feelings were worth something.

  “You might find I am useful to keep around,” she told Domingo. “You may even fall in love with me.”

  “That’s as likely as you wanting to stay married once I no longer suit your purpose.”

  “I put in a good word for your daughter with the botanist,” she said.