by Selina Rosen
Conner stopped abruptly and turned so quickly that Elantra almost ran into her.
Conner looked down at Elantra, an air of total contempt etched on her features. “Yes!” Conner screamed angrily. “Yes I do. I love you. In fact I’m fucking crazy about you. Does that answer your stupid question?”
Elantra smiled smugly. “I don’t know why you’re so mad about it.”
Well you wouldn’t, would you, you little shit. I’m standing here with my guts spilt all over the ground, waiting. Waiting to see if you’re going to reciprocate – say that you love me, too, or if I’m going to be engulfed in an awful chasm of silence, where you hold all the cards and my heart and I’m left holding hope and air.
Elantra threw her arms around Conner’s neck and kissed her gently on the lips. “I think I love you, too.”
Conner felt her guts clinching. I almost wish you’d said nothing. You don’t know how you feel. You think, as in you think you might, maybe love me. What did I expect? She’s young. I’m the only partner outside a machine she’s ever had.
“What’s wrong?” Elantra asked.
Conner hugged her tight and forced a smile. “Nothing, come on let’s get home. I’m getting hungry.”
“Hungry or hungry,” Elantra asked with a sly smile.
Conner laughed. “Are you trying to see if you can wear it out?”
Peggy had obviously really enjoyed her hobby. There were pictures everywhere, thousands of the damn things. Mishy had been feeding the pictures through the computer for days. It took the computer hours to identify a location, when it could do it at all. He had learned that his best luck came when he found pictures with plant life, rock formations and birds or animals in them. Then it started honing in on locations. This sort of animal, bird, or plant lived in these areas... these areas were close to these Constructionist colonies. It was unbelievably tedious. So far they had only locked on three possible locations, and if Hammer McVee had been in any of those locations the Constructionists were more clever than he had given them credit for.
The only up side to this monotonous task was that Tarent Powers wasn’t having any better luck finding Hammer, and subsequently his precious daughter. From his sources Mishy had learned that when you moved the base around just about anything would set it off. Tarent had spent weeks now running after one bogus signal or another, and while his attention was turned to finding Hammer, his attentions were turned away from his business. There were even rumors of infighting among the members of his syndicate.
Mishy’s people thought he ought to be happy with this. That he should discontinue his own search and concentrate on taking advantage of Tarent’s weakness, before it was a thing of the past. Some even suggested that this was much better than just killing the girl. “If she was dead, he’d grieve, get over it, and get back to business. Right now it’s a matter of pride that he get her back,” Jumpy had suggested.
It wasn’t enough. Not for Mishy. He’d let Tarent get away with killing Peggy, and as a result he’d killed Mishy’s wife and his son. While he hadn’t really given one good damn about his wife, his son had been his world, and Peggy... Peggy had been the only good part of Mishy, and when she’d been murdered so had his conscience.
His computer terminal buzzed, and then Tarent Powers was staring at him. He smiled broadly and then snarled. “What do you think I’m going to tell you, Tarent?”
“If you don’t tell me where Hammer McVee is...”
Mishy didn’t let him finish making his threat before he started laughing. “Tarent, we have been through this all before. You haven’t left me with anything, so any threat you make is empty and we both know it. Right now in fact I think I’m more in a position to threaten you.”
“Damn it, Mishy! Elantra’s not part of this...”
Mishy laughed still harder. “You made her part of it, Tarent. You made her part of it when you killed my family. When you killed my sister and my son. The children have to pay for the sins of their fathers, isn’t that what you told me, Tarent? Well, now your girl is doing the paying.”
“Mishy... Do you know where Hammer McVee is?”
“I’ve got a better question for you, Tarent. If I did, do you really think I would tell you? Computer, terminate transmission.”
The computer hummed again, and this time it showed him a picture of his sister sitting against a tree trunk. In the background you could see a cliff that jetted out over the ocean. He smiled. “Ah, Peg, I miss you. You understood me in a way no one else does.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Peg. Sorry because if I wasn’t who I am, you’d be alive right now, and it wouldn’t matter where your big, dumb, cop, mate is. Where the fuck is she, Peg? She couldn’t just disappear. You know where she went. Where did she go?”
The computer hummed. “The picture was taken on the California coast, in Big Sur,” the computer said. “The closest Constructionist town is WrenchTown.”
Mishy smiled. “Thanks, Peg.”
Tarent fumed as he looked at the swirling colors on his screen.
“Maybe it’s time to give it a rest, Dad,” Buddy said from his seat across the desk from Tarent.
Tarent spun on the young man and glared at him. “Did it ever occur to you that without Elantra, there will be no marriage? Without a marriage there will be no merger, and that you can stop calling me Dad.”
From the look on Buddy’s handsome face, it hadn’t. “But all these years... You’ve groomed me to run the business, to...”
“Because you were going to marry my daughter, be the father of my grandchildren.” Tarent stared at his desk. “All my plans laid in the dust by some technology-hating cyborg with a nail gun.”
“There’s no reason for our business deal to end,” Buddy said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure my father is going to make sure that you don’t back out on our deal.”
Tarent stood up behind his desk and glared down at the young man. “Buddy, your family is a very little fish in my rather large pond, so I want to make damn sure that you didn’t just threaten me. You didn’t, did you?”
Buddy swallowed hard. Tarent was the one who’d taught him to be ambitious and ruthless. Of course he wasn’t supposed to use those talents against Tarent. “No, sir... I just... I like working with you. I have plans, too.”
“Good...Because I would hate it if you were to suddenly become so distraught about the loss of my daughter that you would throw yourself from the top of PowersTowers,” Tarent said.
Buddy’s lip curled into a snarl, but he was silent.
Perhaps your energy would be better expended helping to look for my daughter, your fiancé,” Tarent said. “Computer, send Wayne in here.” In mere seconds Wayne was there.
“Need something, boss?” Wayne asked.
“Yeah... Poor Buddy is just sick with worry over Elantra’s abduction, and he wants to help find her. I thought maybe you could outfit him and take him with you when you go down to SlumTown to shake up the locals and find out what you can about this McVee character. Our man at Brakston said she had connections down there. Find out who, and find out why.”
“Yeah, sure thing, boss.”
Buddy looked at Tarent, a look of defiant terror on his face. “I... I can’t go to Slum town, Tarent. I won’t.”
“Don’t be so modest. I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Tarent said, and the tone in his voice, if not the murderous look on his face, said that he would not be denied. He waved his arm dismissively in the air. “Wayne.”
“Right away, boss,” Wayne took hold of Buddy’s arm and escorted him from Tarent’s office.
Buddy looked up at Wayne. “How dangerous is SlumTown?”
“Don’t be a wuss, it’s not like you aren’t going to be wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a gun,” Wayne said.
“My... my father isn’t going to like this.”
Wayne laughed. “Maybe not, but he ain’t gonna say shit unless he’s a whole lot dumber than you are.”
When they’d walked into the club
, some woman had laid a big, wet kiss on Conner. They sat at the table in the corner, where they usually sat. Elantra glared daggers at Conner, but said nothing.
“What?” Conner asked.
“What! We’re together. Aren’t we together?” Elantra asked hotly. Slinging her hand back and forth between them.
“If you want us to be,” Conner said, smiling at the waitress as she set her drink on the table.
“I want us to be,” Elantra said. “If you stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” Conner asked with a laugh.
“You didn’t have to smile at that waitress...”
“I was being friendly...”
“What about the woman at the door?” Elantra asked hotly.
“She kissed me!” Conner defended.
“Yes... Well, you didn’t have to enjoy it,” Elantra spat.
“OK. I won’t,” Conner said.
“I don’t want it to happen again,” she said in an angry whisper. “I don’t want other women to kiss you, and I sure don’t want you to kiss them. It’s bad enough I share germs with you. I don’t want to share their germs as well.”
Conner laughed. “That’s cute.”
“What?”
“You’re jealous. That’s so cute.”
“I’m glad you’re amused,” Elantra bit off. She started to get up and leave, but Conner grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her chair. “Would you please stop woman handling me? How would you like it if I just went around letting strangers kiss me?”
“I wouldn’t,” Conner said honestly.
“Well, I don’t like it, either. So quit it.”
“If someone touched you, I’d tell them to quit. If they didn’t, I’d beat them senseless. If you don’t want people to touch me, I suggest you tell them so.”
“You tell them,” Elantra insisted.
“Why? I don’t care if they touch me,” Conner said smiling wickedly.
“That’s it! I’m going home. I knew this was a bad idea.” She started to get up again, and again Conner grabbed her and pulled her back into her seat. “Conner McVee, if you don’t...”
“Dance with me.” She got up and pulled Elantra behind her to the dance floor. Elantra fell into her arms. She was mumbling about having her arms pulled out of there sockets and being treated like an old sock. “Lanny?”
“Yes.”
Conner kissed her lips gently. “Shut up.”
Elantra smiled at Conner in spite of herself. “I would call you really bad names if I knew any. You really are mean to me.”
“No I’m not.” Conner swung Elantra around, and she laughed.
When the song ended they went back to their table. Elantra took a drink of her beer. It tasted especially good tonight, and the band was good, too. She asked Conner to explain the different instruments, which she did happily. She was enjoying herself, but she’d almost rather be home alone with Conner than to have to share her with everyone else, and when people weren’t coming by every few minutes to chat, several women were making no bones at all about the fact that they were drooling over Conner McVee. Dedra entered the bar and headed their way. Elantra’s distress must have shown on her face because Conner smiled. “Don’t let her kiss you,” Elantra ordered in an angry whisper.
“Tell her,” Conner said, smiling wickedly.
Dedra was there then, and she leaned over to kiss Conner.
Elantra stuck her hand between the two of them. “Please don’t do that,” Elantra said forcefully.
“Wow! I feel a chill.” Dedra straightened and looked at Conner with raised eyebrows.
“We’re together,” Conner said to Dedra.
“Damn! Well, I knew the way you were fighting it was only a matter of time.” Dedra snapped her fingers. She pulled up a chair and sat down looking at Elantra. “We could share her,” Dedra suggested.
“No, we couldn’t,” Elantra said, making a face.
Dedra slapped Elantra on the shoulder. “Loosen up, kid, I was only teasin’ you.”
Dedra’s words did anything but put her at ease. Dedra was treating her like a child. Using her lack of knowledge about the world outside the building against her, and she didn’t care what the woman said, her body language was doing the real talking and she, at least in her mind, was all over Conner McVee.
Dedra struck up a conversation about closet making, about which Conner apparently knew a great deal, Dedra knew very little, and Elantra knew absolutely nothing.
Elantra was loath to leave the table with Dedra there, but she’d had to pee for ten minutes, and she couldn’t put it off any longer.
Dedra waited till Elantra was a safe distance away. “Isn’t the building brat a little young and way too green for you, Hammer?”
“Lay off Elantra, Dedra... Now, you’re bugging the hell out of her, so why don’t you not be here when she gets back?” Conner suggested.
Dedra laughed. “Are you in love with this girl, Hammer?”
“It just so happens that I am, so why don’t you bugger off?” Hammer said, not without good humor.
Dedra stood up. “Never let it be said that I don’t know when I’m licked.”
“Or when you’re not, as the case may be,” Conner said with a smile. Dedra laughed and left. Elantra came back to the table, still zipping up her fly. She hadn’t wasted any time. She was glad to see that Dedra was gone.
“I’d like to dance again,” Elantra said, liking the tune that was being played. Conner nodded and followed her out to the floor. “She really...”
“Pisses you off,” Conner finished for her.
Elantra laughed, falling into Conner’s arms. “Yeah, I think so. Did you ever... were you ever... you know... with Dedra?”
“Yes. It was a long time ago, and it wasn’t very good,” Conner said.
“Well, apparently that’s not what she thought.” Elantra looked across the room at where Dedra was chatting up some woman and snarled at her. She didn’t want to think about Hammer being with anyone but her, but that wasn’t really realistic. After all, Conner had been married to Peggy.
“Conner... what happened to Peggy?”
“She died,” Conner said. “I told you before, it doesn’t really matter how.”
Someone tapped Elantra on the shoulder. She decided that if she turned around and saw Dedra there she was going to punch her, if she could figure out how. It was the Contractor. He smiled at them both, and putting his arms across their shoulders led them back to their table. How he knew which table they had been sitting at was a question she never got to ask. They sat down and he smiled broadly. “I’ve got good news. We’ve found Doc Pherson, and he’s on his way now. He should be here by morning.”
Conner sighed with relief. “A blessing on you, and on your tools, and on your children,” Conner said.
He smiled and stood up. “You’d better get some sleep. A blessing on you, and on your tools, and on your house.” He started to walk away, but stopped and walked back over to the table and leaned down. “This time, Conner,” he looked at Elantra and smiled. “This time start a family. Yours is too rich a tradition to have it end with you.” He walked away, and Elantra tried to absorb what he had just said.
“Did he just...”
“Yes, I think he did,” Conner said with a laugh.
“I don’t even want to know how you people go about procreating...”
“We carry our own young.”
Elantra covered her ears. “I said I didn’t want to hear. I’m not doing that. Do you hear me, Conner McVee? No way, that is just too prehistoric.”
Elantra didn’t know why, but right after sex she always wanted to talk. Conner mostly wanted to cuddle and then go to sleep. Of course, Elantra most felt like talking at the moment that it looked like Conner was almost asleep.
“Conner McVee?”
Conner jerked. “Damn it, Elantra! I was almost asleep... again.”
“How dangerous is the operation?”
“It’s not life
threatening if that’s what you mean, but if my luck holds true it won’t be a walk in the park, either. I won’t really know till I see Doc Pherson tomorrow, and he runs some x-rays to find out just where the device is.”
“X-rays! That’s a little primitive, don’t you think?”
“It’s adequate for the procedure.”
“If you say so.” Elantra shook her head in disbelief. “When it’s done... When it’s done then we don’t have to worry anymore, do we? We can stay here together, no one can find us.”
“I hope so, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, baby.”
“I want to tell my dad about us...”
Conner laughed. “Are you crazy? He’ll have me killed for sure.”
“I know you think my father is some horrid gangster, but he’s not...”
“I don’t want to get into this right now, Elantra...”
“Well I do. You haven’t even tried to put the computer back together.”
Conner smiled wickedly. “You’ve been keeping me pretty busy, baby.”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Conner McVee. My father must be worried sick by now. I want him to know that I’m OK. I want him to know about us...”
“Elantra, think about that for a minute. Your father has a husband picked out for you. A very nice little marriage of convenience, which should breed wonderful little petri-dish babies. I’m a woman, a Constructionist, and I’m a police agent. Somehow I don’t think Daddy’s going to be very pleased about our union.”
Elantra wasn’t listening any more. She was running her hand down Conner’s arm, liking the contrast in color between her skin and Conner’s. She liked all the things that were different about Conner and all the things that were the same. She didn’t really care what her father thought, and right then she didn’t care whether her father was worried or not. She was hot again. She rubbed her body against Conner’s expectantly.
Conner laughed, “You are the horniest bitch who ever lived.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Elantra breathed.
“No.”
Elantra was appalled by the primitive medical equipment all around her. She knew what the instruments were, but not from any classes she had taken in practical medicine. She recognized them from her medical history class.
