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

by Wendy Lynn Clark

  They fell asleep.

  When she awoke, an alarm was going off, warning her that she had twenty minutes to catch the flight. The shower was running in the cubicle. Wait, now it was on dry mode.

  Kaolin was singing off-tune.

  She smiled, stretched out all of her shaking, unfamiliarly-strained muscles, and shut off the alarm.

  It continued.

  Her personal comm chimed.

  She rolled over, checked the hour, and answered.

  Her mother looked back at her. Tall, proud, beautiful. With her midnight-black hair swept up on the crown of her head, loose tendrils caressing her wide cheeks, and crackling blue eyes that could be warm as a tropical ocean or dangerous as a stormy sea, her mother was her role model and her ideal, the one she sought to impress and surpass.

  “How go the negotiations?” her mother asked.

  The urge to lie and tell her it was still in progress rose up in her chest. But she would not lie. She had decided not to marry Domingo. Their negotiations for the ports were over.

  “Domingo will allow us pass-through privileges.”

  “Not sell us the ports?”

  She shook her head. Free travel was not a total loss, but it was much less than they had hoped for the rich rubilum contract, and disappointment showed on her mother’s face.

  Then, she brightened. “I suppose there’s always the old-fashioned way. Piracy.”

  “Hey,” her father yelled from the other side of the room, off the recorder screen. “I heard that!”

  As a former military commander, he had been swept away when her mother had successfully taken over a base he had been assigned to defend. She gave up petty piracy, or so she claimed. Her father said she stole his heart.

  “Well, I’ll let our convoy know,” her mother said. “They’re landing at a port soon.”

  “I thought the convoy had been attacked and ransomed.”

  “One attacker made the mistake of boarding Sirus’s ship. His mercenaries took over the enemy ships, and as a bonus, their holds were full of stolen Laredo merchandise.”

  “Which we are giving back,” her father shouted.

  Her mother tapped her lips.

  “Anyway, if I take over Domingo’s ports through illegal means, then Sirus’s mercenary unit will simply be dispatched to take them back.” Emprezia smiled into the screen. “Brother versus sister is something I’d prefer to keep to holiday gatherings rather than stake our professional careers.”

  “Always the reasonable child.” Her mother’s wild eyes sparkled. “If anyone wins a seat in the Antiata Star Chamber, it will be you.”

  Ah. Nerves stabbed her. She gripped the screen and straightened. “There is a very slight possibility that I could be married to someone who is not Domingo. Or any of the equivalent families.”

  She blinked. “Outside of the chain of succession?”

  Emprezia nodded.

  “You would lose your opportunity to ascend to the main family. And the Star Chamber of the corporation.”

  “Yes.”

  Her mother grinned. “Is he very handsome?”

  Well, she thought so, and her heart thumped. “Yes.”

  “Did you have to steal him?”

  From Domingo? “Yes. In a manner of speaking.”

  “Hey,” her father cried. “What’s that? Who’s she marrying?”

  She swallowed. “Domingo won’t exercise the broken engagement clauses.” Probably. She had been so focused on catching up to Kaolin she’d lost her head and not cemented his agreement.

  “Emprezia.” Her mother looked deeply into her eyes. “You have always been a responsible, ambitious child. I have complete faith that even if you marry the worst enemy of the Antiata family, you will find a way to use him to increase our fortunes. Go be happy. And when we make our final assault on the Star Chamber, I expect you to have bribed the perimeter security to sneak us in.”

  Emotion welled in her chest. She swallowed. “Yes.”

  “And whatever that asshole Domingo threatens to steal from you, I’ll figure out a way to make him regret it. Personally.”

  She laughed, although her mother was deadly serious. “Thank you, Mama.”

  Her father looked into the screen behind her mother. His military demeanor had relaxed after the adventures with his wild wife, but he retained the correctness of form that identified him as her dad.

  “What she said,” he confirmed, rubbing her mother’s bare shoulders, “minus the illegal parts. There’s no shame in retiring at the general level. Most people don’t make it past lieutenant.”

  “Thank you, Papa.”

  Her mother snorted. “Our daughter will never settle.”

  “It’s not settling. A general still commands an army.”

  They concluded the call and she had the idea her parents would have something new to amuse themselves with. She set aside the screen and lay back in the bed.

  As soon as the Red Line Race was over, and they picked up Aris, the next stop would be home to introduce her new husband.

  She promised.

  Another alarm went off.

  Oh, no, that was the door chime.

  She wiped herself off as much as possible, wrapped the blanket around her—because she didn’t care about impressing anyone on this planet—and opened the door.

  Her pilot stood on the front step. “Ah. You are here.”

  “I told you I’m taking a public shuttle. What do you want?” she asked.

  He stepped forward. His strange metal hat shifted. “I have news on the hit man.”

  Something that had slipped by Domingo?

  She let him in, rubbing her mussed hair and hoping she still had time, after this interview, for a shower. “And?”

  He closed the door and glanced at the cubicle. “Your husband is in the shower?”

  “He is.”

  “Now, don’t make a scene. I don’t want him to come out.”

  The pilot rummaged in his briefcase.

  So, he knew she was married. How awkward that a staff member knew before her own parents. She hoped he wasn’t getting her a wedding present.

  Emprezia pinched the blanket with her armpits. “We have a shuttle to catch.”

  “Don’t worry. This will only take a moment of your time.”

  Her pilot pulled out a gun, aimed it at her chest, and fired.

  Chapter Twelve

  The scream ejected Kaolin from the shower cubicle.

  There was his wife, naked in the middle of the room, the blanket at her feet on fire, and there was a man he didn’t recognize wearing a big metal hat, holding a gun and gesturing.

  A target circle appeared on her chest.

  “You asshole!” Kaolin shouted. “Don’t shoot! I’ll kill you.”

  “I told you not to make a scene,” the man said, reasoning with Emprezia. “Now look what you’ve done.”

  Kaolin dropped to the floor and grabbed the cylinder out of his pants pocket.

  “I’m going to have to kill the both of you.”

  He rose to his feet and threw the gun at the man.

  The targeting circle smacked on the stranger’s chest. He jerked back in surprise.

  But Kaolin was so excited, and still wet from the shower. The gun itself flew out of his hands, hurtling at the target.

  The man ducked.

  His metal hat hit the ground with a clang. Kaolin’s gun bounced off his shoulder and rolled into the corner.

  Fuck!

  Kaolin leaped after it.

  The man, dressed in a pilot’s outfit, stopped him. “Don’t. Or I’ll shoot her.”

  He froze.

  The pilot took a deep breath, studied the helmet on the floor, and decided he didn’t need it.

  Emprezia, stark naked with a target on her chest, also took a deep breath.

  Kaolin’s target moved across the pilot’s back as he turned away from it. “This is so unpleasant.”

  “You should’ve crashed us when you had the cha
nce,” Emprezia said.

  “The Corleons are too trigger-happy,” her pilot said. “I have no interest in resurrection. My debts to your family are deep enough.”

  The blanket crackled, blacker and blacker, turning to charcoal. A thick smoke pooled on the ceiling.

  “Now.” The pilot focused on her. “What to do with—”

  The hotel’s fire warning blared, loud enough to eject a man’s spirit from his body, and cold water abruptly flooded down on them.

  The pilot jumped.

  Kaolin leapt for the lost gun. Emprezia raced past the pilot, through the blinding deluge, but he turned to follow and raised his hand to fire.

  The hotel door burst open, slamming the pilot backward into a wall.

  Domingo’s security forces poured through the door and apprehended him. Hotel staff raced right behind, put out the fire, and calmed the situation.

  With Domingo’s force taking over, Emprezia and Kaolin managed to dress in the hotel staff’s loaned suits and get the hell out in time to catch their shuttle Upstairs.

  It wasn’t first class, but in a few days they’d match orbit with the passing trans-galactic model that would convey them around the Hubs to the distant stars.

  “This will be an adventure.” Emprezia looked around their tiny room and smiled, finally relaxed.

  Kaolin bounced around their new room, unable to sit still.

  He had almost lost her again. He was unfit to do this. He was crazy to call himself her husband.

  “You saved me,” she said simply, stroking his cheek. “Once again.”

  “I gave the gun to the enemy!”

  “Wear the strap next time.”

  She showed him how to pull it out of the bottom, and then disappear it back inside.

  “Domingo didn’t show me that one,” he said reluctantly.

  Her mouth thinned.

  He practiced holding it. “So. Another hit man. Your own pilot, even. Why?”

  “Gambling debts. My mother holds his liens. Someone else must have made him a better offer.”

  “You knew he was a danger but you let him fly you anyway?”

  “Kaolin, when you have as much money and power as my family does, most people are a danger.”

  “I’ll never endanger you.”

  Her brow softened. “That’s why you are priceless.”

  His chest warmed. She stroked his cheek, appreciating him with her soft caress, and the world felt like a better place.

  Then, she sighed. “Someone must have made him a better offer.”

  “The Corleons?”

  “Yes, actually.”

  “Domingo’s going to be pissed.”

  “I’m expecting their conspirator to call directly.”

  He dropped his hands. “You know?!”

  The screen chimed. A hail from Domingo.

  “Ah,” she said, “let’s see what he has to say about it.”

  Aw, no. Kaolin didn’t want to believe it. But since he had seen so many new sides of his friend in the past few days, and since Emprezia was never wrong….

  His friend’s familiar, pleasant smile appeared on the screen. “Emprezia. I’m glad to hear that you survived the most recent attempt on your life.”

  “Yes, that was thanks again to Kaolin.”

  “Kaolin.” Dom’s smile widened. “Ever useful, that man.”

  She dipped her head. “Your security was late.”

  “We had been searching as soon as we received reports that the first assassin was not acting alone. Funny how wearing a really thick, obvious helmet could fool advanced sensors!”

  She shared his laugh. “Yes. Well, since my pilot was obviously acting with your awareness, I assume you will pay for his resurrection.”

  “Emprezia! I wouldn’t dream of breaking family law and taking out a hit on another family member. Not even if she threatened to go to my rivals and contacted Carture Laredo.”

  “Perhaps you would look the other way when the Corleons bribed their way down to the planet.”

  “Shocking! That would be equivalent to breaking into my house and stealing my best friend.”

  She smiled. “I underestimated you.”

  “Well, it pleases me to hear you say it.”

  “You are going to take responsibility?”

  “Without any admission of guilt, since your pilot certainly was contacted by an agent of the Corleons, it is taken care of.”

  “Wait.” Kaolin stepped forward, drawing Domingo’s startled eye. “You really allowed her pilot to get employed by the Corleons? Really? We almost died.”

  “You wouldn’t have died,” he assured Kaolin.

  That didn’t help. “I thought we were friends.”

  Dom’s pleasant expression faded to sadness.

  “I did steal your fiancée,” Kaolin admitted.

  “More like I stole you,” Emprezia said.

  “Yes, more like that,” Dom agreed.

  Kaolin shook his head. “You’re crazy. Both of you. You know that?”

  “Money and desire,” Emprezia said.

  “No way.” He would never understand how the elite class lived.

  “So,” she retook control of the conversation, “Domingo. I will neglect to tell my parents about this assassination attempt if you neglect to file grievances for our broken engagement.”

  “Certainly. And I have considered your proposal about making up lost revenue by charging the Corleons. As they have embarrassed me on my own planet twice, I will now begin taxing them, as per your suggestion.”

  “You are too kind.”

  “Aren’t I?”

  They both nodded.

  Truly, a crazy bunch.

  “Well,” she reached for the transmission cut-off switch, “that puts us even—”

  “Not quite.” Domingo grew deadly serious. “You’ve still stolen my personal friend.”

  She lowered her chin. “I’ve paid you in an extremely powerful rubilum contract.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I pledged to protect your son.”

  “I told you about Valorious.”

  They studied each other like cobras, weaving and darting. Neither giving in, neither backing down.

  “I’ll consider it a loan.” He signed off.

  She closed the screen, leaned back in her seat, and sighed.

  “That’s it?” Kaolin put his hands on her soft shoulders and squeezed. She lolled back into his arms. “It’s over?”

  “Yes.” The beautiful goddess—his own wife—put her arms around his midsection and squeezed. “Time for the next adventure. Running the Red Line Race.”

  “And getting back your son,” he said. “As soon as it’s over, he’s the next stop.”

  She looked up into his eyes. So vulnerable and so hopeful. “Do you really think his father will release him?”

  “Why not?”

  “Yes, you’re right. Once I tell him that together we wrangled a pledge of protection from Domingo Chen, he’ll be excited to know what other contacts we can get for him.”

  Kaolin had meant that she would be a wonderful mother, fiercely protective and wonderfully loving, but he said, “Sure, his father will be thrilled. You are that amazing.”

  “Maybe I should call him now. Or his current wife. Set things in motion.”

  He released her to do what she needed to do, and got himself that long missed beer.

  Nasty dockside swill wasn’t on the menu in this stateroom. He selected a different beverage. As with meeting people, he wasn’t afraid to try something new.

  On the other hand, as he had so recently learned, being flexible wouldn’t keep his new wife safe.

  Where most people thought a few moves in advance, his wife thought everything through to the end. She was a master. And she’d tied herself to a guy like him. A guy who didn’t even think the current move through.

  “I need to up my game,” he mused.

  She finished her calls and glanced back at him. “In what way?”

&nb
sp; He told her.

  She tapped her lips. “Maybe so.”

  Fuck. He sucked in a breath.

  “And yet, whether I plan a thousand moves in advance or whether you simply take the next step, when your hearts are tied to the same goal, you can both end up on the same square.”

  “What are you saying?” he asked. “I’m going to luck my way into your fortune?”

  “Well, you already have,” she said, “and it wasn’t luck. You have your own talents. I’m saying whether it’s me or you, together, we’ll both be just as happy.”

  Yeah. Fair enough.

  Together, she was absolutely right.

  Then, she turned to him and reached out her arms. “Kaolin, I’m sore. It’s your fault.”

  “Uh oh.” He lifted his new wife out of her seat and helped her to the bed. “What can I do?”

  “I might need one of your massages to see me through.” She lay back and caressed his chin. Still scratchy from his interrupted shower. “You said you needed the practice.”

  “Practice makes perfect,” he said.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  They kissed.

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  About the Author

  Wendy Lynn Clark is from the vibrant green Pacific Northwest. She writes contemporary and science fiction romance with sexy heroes and undefeatable heroines, as well as sweeping epic fantasy and creative nonfiction. Her words are infused with wonders from her travels—teaching in Japan for three years, earning her MA in Brighton, and studying abroad in Greece. When she’s not hiking in the Cascade mountain range, she’s writing on her couch with a steaming cup of tea and her two snuggly calico cats.

  Her books are a mix of soaring imagination, blockbuster action, and thrilling romance. They are recommended for anyone who enjoys a well-told story with a happy ending guaranteed.

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