Lana said to Abby.
A moment later, the door opened and Lana slipped inside. She found herself in a long corridor which wrapped around the back of the assembly hall. Lana crept along the inside wall, the sound of bubbling water growing louder the further she went.
At the end of the hall she reached a large room with a waterfall cascading down one wall into a pool with a fountain. Chairs and sofas dotted the area, and beyond them were several armed guards wearing light armor.
They stood near the doors Lana suspected led into the assembly, near where Fra-X was sitting.
They wouldn’t hesitate to take her down if she gave them a reason to. Which meant she would have to not give them a reason. As she walked into the room they didn’t move and she suspected they weren’t going to worry about some girl passing through.
In theory, anyone in the room should be there.
She walked across the room—doing her best to appear casual—to the hall on the far side, which continued to wrap around the assembly changer. Once she was out of sight of the guards, she ducked behind a potted tree and peered back toward the doors.
A moment later the doors opened and Fra-X stepped out.
she commented to Abby.
Lana said.
Fra-X ignored the guards and walked across the room, headed in her direction. Lana moved further down the corridor and crouched behind a chair.
As he approached, Lana thought about what she was doing, how reckless it was. Then she jumped out from her hiding spot and grabbed his arm. “Hey, remember me,” Lana yanked him back toward the wall. She kicked him in the stomach and he flew backwards, his sunglasses flying as he crashed into a fern.
“What the—” he stopped mid-sentence and his mouth fell open. “Who the hell are you?”
He tried to rise, but Lana pushed him back down, then straddled him and grabbed his shirt. “Sure, as hell ain’t the pied piper.”
She slammed her fist into his nose and his head snapped back against the floor. “I’m sure you can tell now how strong I am. Stronger than I should me.”
“All I see, sweetheart, is a girl tripping on something she shouldn’t be on. Whoever you are—.”
“Whoever I am?” Lana’s eyebrows raised. “Maybe you need a reminder, Fra-X. Maybe you’ll remember the job you sent me to do and that little coffee shop we met in.”
Fra-X lifted his sunglasses to give her the once-over. “Hell.” His smirk turned to a fully-fledged grin, “Lana. Well, you look gooood.”
Lana smirked. She did, didn’t she?
“Whatever’s happened to you, we compensated you well.”
“Yeah, to betray Silstrand. I was stupid to ever take you up on your offer.”
“It was your choice, good or bad. Now, you going to help me up?”
“Help you up?” Lana raised her fists and Fra-X raised his arms in defense.
Lana’s eyes narrowed. His blasé attitude was making her even angrier. “I was a fool and now I’m going to make everything right. I—”
Lana stopped speaking as something cold and hard pressed against the back of her head.
“You’re not going to anything, miss. Let the man go and please keep your arms up where I can see them.”
Fra-X laughed and stuck his chin out. “Gotcha, girl.”
Lana didn’t think so. Her heart sped up and before she had even formed a plan, she pivoted on her heel and grabbed the weapon, kicked hard at the man’s right knee, then swept the other.
He went down like a sack of potatoes.
She turned the gun on the man before even considering it may have a biolock, and fired. The weapon fired a focus pulse blast into the man’s head and crushed his skull.
“How’s it feel?” Lana’s lips snarled.
Fra-X rose up behind her. Lana turned to see a small device in his hand. She didn’t worry about it and cocked her head to the side, raising the weapon to take him out with a point-blank range shot.
“I don’t think so,” Fra-X whispered and pressed a button on the device. Everything inside of Lana tensed up and a loud ringing in her brain threatened to make her ears leak.
“Uh!” Lana dropped and crashed down to her knees. She clamped her hands over her ears and arched her back, just wishing the noise would go away.
Fra-X leaned over her with a leering look. “Failsafe on the nano just in case someone got a little carried away. The folks at S&H were very thorough.” As he spoke, Fra-X injected something into the back of her neck.
“Who has who now, Lana?”
* * * * *
“Lana!” Winter called out as he ran through the open doors and down the back hall. He skidded to a halt and “Shit!” slipped out of his lips as he caught sight of a group of guards.
A dead body lay on the floor in a pool of blood, a pulse rifle nearby.
Galactic levels of shit.
Lana was nowhere to be seen, but it didn’t take a quantum physicist to figure out what had happened. The guards were splitting up, starting a search for the shooter. That meant Lana was out there somewhere.
When Winter got his hands on her, he was going to wring her neck. If the GFF Tower’s surveillance caught any of this, she would be imprisoned and executed. Maybe not even in that order.
That girl was a wrecking ball. Made Winter appreciate what people were always saying about him.
Winter ran back down the to a stairwell. He took it down several flights, calling out her name, but she never answered. When he pushed through a set of double-wide doors, he tried the Dauntless.
Great. Perfect. If this day didn’t get any better…
Rogers asked.
Truer words were never spoken, but she had been Winter’s responsibility. He knew Lana had come along just to impress him, which wasn’t a great reason, but she was a fun kid and he had let that cloud his judgement.
But this, this wasn’t fun at all.
TESTIMONY
STELLAR DATE: 09.23.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: People’s Republic Tower, The Futz Spire, Freemont
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
Kylie stood on the platform with all eyes in the GFF assembly on her. The official senatorial committee which was hearing the testimonies—and would also ultimately determine if Vaax would be sworn in—was sitting in the first two rows.
A scan suite rested on the podium in front of her, already taking careful readings of her vitals, watching for any sign of a lie.
“Why don’t you start with why you were at Jericho?” one of the senators—Hersch, by the indicator on Kylie’s HUD—asked
She adjusted the audio pickup. “Officially, I was there to drop off a ship we had salvaged and resupply. Just like normal. But Maverick knew I was on Jericho. He summoned me and I had no choice but to answer.”
She tilted her head toward Maverick who wore a simple smile on his face. He leaned back and crossed his arms, pleased with himself. To watch Kylie admit to a room full of people that she still came at Maverick’s beck and call? He really got his jollies off on that—the knowledge of which made Kylie more than just a little bitter. However, this was the stor
y she agreed to, and this was the one she’d tell.
Still, it was hard to keep her eyes off Nadine. She was worried it may come off as a tell that she was lying. If the GFF decided she were less than honest it wouldn’t go well for her or her crew.
“But from what President Vaax has told us, that’s not the only reason you were there, was it?”
Kylie shook her head. “No, we were on a mission from General Samuel.”
“That’s General Samuel of the Silstrand Space Force’s High Command?” another senator asked.
“Yes,” Kylie replied. “The same. I served in his division back when I was in the SSF.”
Several of the senators looked to one another, and Kylie suspected they were having a conversation over the link.”
“Please explain that mission,” Hersch said.
“Someone had kidnapped Samuel’s daughter, Lana. We were to rescue her,” Kylie replied.
“From Maverick?”
“Well, Samuel thought Maverick had taken her, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.”
Hersch sighed. “Why don’t you carry on with what happened when you met with Maverick?”
Kylie shrugged. “He was same ol’ Maverick. Planning and running his business. When he’s dialed in like that, he likes his girls. He considers me one of his finest, you know. We like to party together.” She gave him a wink.
Maverick couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
“And that’s when…” Hersch appeared impatient with the speed at which Kylie was laying out the details.
“That’s when a hired gun broke in and shot the place up. I would have been killed if it hadn’t been for Ms. Devonire. She saved me and I did my best to save Maverick. He told me about a traitor in his midst, but I couldn’t believe it. I mean, Harken’s always been happily running her favorite aspects of Maverick’s business, even though, well, I mean, for three years he kept her in the cage…”
“The cage?” another senator asked.
Kylie nodded. “Where Maverick’s sex toys sleep when he’s not using them.”
“A sex toy? Like yourself?”
Kylie didn’t need to act offended; she was offended. “No. I was always one of Maverick’s special girls. I was his slave, yes, but he treated me better than the others. I was given every luxury a woman could ever want, so long as I pleased him. So, I did. The cute ones, the well-behaved ones, we’d do anything to stay out of the cage. Maverick does love to drape himself in pretty woman. Too bad for Harken.” Kylie gave a shrug and a wink.
A few of the senators laughed politely and talked among themselves. Others scowled and shook their heads. Kylie could imagine what they must be saying.
More than one was giving her an appraising look, as though they wouldn’t mind sampling some of what Maverick had taken.
Her face reddened and she wanted to say something. Glancing over at Nadine’s serene expression was the only thing keeping Kylie from going off the rails.
The senators continued to press her for another hour. Going over specific aspects of her story; why Harken had her hunted down after Jason left, and why she attacked Harken’s brothel on Perseverance.
“We thought Lana might be there,” Kylie said.
“And why was that?” Hersch asked.
Kyle glanced at Maverick. “We had some intel suggesting Harken was up to no good there. She was modding and selling girls, but that was it.”
“So, you never saw this girl, Lana,” one of the other senators asked.
This was it. This was the point where Kylie had to out and out lie and fool the vitals monitor.
Marge said.
Kylie replied.
“No,” Kylie replied to the senator.
The vitals monitor stayed steady and no one batted an eye at her response.
Kylie wished she could present Lana and prove what Harken had been up to, but that would be a death sentence for Lana—even if it would take Harken down.
She had to remind herself that Harken’s comeuppance wasn’t going to be meted out by these politicians. Winter’s rifle would be judge, jury, and executioner.
“Tell us about Cardine,” Hersch instructed.
“That’s where we got Lana back. We were trying to get the mercenary, Jason, who had been working for Harken, but he didn’t survive the encounter.”
Kylie looked at Vaax who was shaking her head sadly. It was just a show—though Kylie knew Vaax was pissed about Jason’s death.
“There’s just one problem with this,” a senator named Justine said. “There are no reports on the feeds about the general’s daughter. We’ve sent an inquiry to Silstrand, but that will take several weeks to return.”
“There have been skirmishes between SSF ships and Black Crow vessels. Some have said your ship, the Dauntless, was involved, Captain Rhoads,” another senator said.
Hersch waved his hand. “There are always skirmishes with SSF ships in Gedri. Even though active patrols are to be left to Gedri Armed Services ships. Inquiries we’ve sent to the SSF have corroborated some of this, but they have not responded about Lana, or Samuel.”
Hersch had to be in Vaax’s pocket because his statement seemed to have precluded her from needing to reply to the other senator’s accusations.
“Thank you, Miss Rhoads,” Hersch said. “For now, you can step down. We might recall you if any further questions come up as others testify.”
Kylie stepped down and as she walked past Vaax’s section, Maverick stood. He took her hand and placed it against his lips but his eyes never wavered from her face. She lowered her eyes as he kissed her hand, and sighed as Maverick leaned into press his lips against her cheek.
For all her verbal support of Maverick, she still fantasized about taking him down some day. He was a womanizing brute of a pig and the universe would be a better place without him. But Maverick served a purpose in Gedri. Without him there would be a dangerous power vacuum.
One that a bitch like Harken would step right into.
So, Kylie stuffed all those thoughts down deep and smiled sweetly at Maverick before pulling her hand back and returning to her seat.
As Kylie sat down her lover’s focus remained forward. Despite the progress they’d made on the walk to the tower, Nadine still seemed distant.
Nadine’s mental tone was aloof.
Nadine’s eyes misted as she turned to Kylie. Her fingers stretched out for Kylie and she readily took them.
One of the side doors opened, and a pair of guards escorted a tall woman in. It took Kylie a moment to recognize her as Harken. She had only ever seen the woman in tight and sexy outfits, mostly kinky fetish ones at that.
But now she wore a long red dress with a fitted bodice and a long flowing skirt. Though the outfit was obviously of the highest quality, Harken moved awkwardly in it, apparently also uncomfortable in the clothing.
She stepped up onto the platform and glared impatiently at the technician as he placed the vitals monitoring pads on her.
Just seeing Harken made Kylie’s skin crawl. The woman was a soulless bitch, and one Kylie would be all too happy to see die.
Harken appeared to feel the same way. When her eyes met Kylie’s they narrowed, filling with rage. Still, she held onto her temper, and when the technician was done, she smiled at the senators.
“That was a bit of revisionist history we just heard
from the spiteful liar known as Kylie Rhoads, but I’m here to correct perceptions about me and tell you about how Kylie and Maverick have concocted this whole thing.”
Well…that sounded grim, didn’t it?
Anytime, Winter, Kylie thought, waiting for the shot that would end Harken’s testimony and life.
Nothing came and she glanced at Nadine, who appeared impassive, though Kylie did notice her foot begin to tap.
Kylie called out over the Link and received no response.
Nadine said.
Kylie replied, If he hadn’t already been caught and arrested.
“Kylie Rhoads didn’t come to Montral on some top-secret mission from the SSF. She came to the station to play Maverick, steal information and free herself from his influence. She’s not scared of him anymore than she is of a fly. Kylie Rhoads planned to pull one over on Maverick, and because he’s a bumbling idiot, she would’ve been successful, too—had I not intervened.” Harken smirked and stared Maverick down.
There was enough truth in her words that Maverick began to redden and shift uncomfortably upfront in his seat.
His reaction made Harken’s smirk turn into a grin.
“They have no proof!” Harken called out. “There’s no record of this Lana girl being missing. The SSF on station hasn’t gone after Maverick, me, or Kylie—which you would expect if this were all true. It’s all a fabrication that Maverick and Kylie have put together in a desperate attempt to use you, ladies and gentlemen of this assembly, to take me out of the picture. Stars know Maverick doesn’t have the balls to do it on his own. And even if he did, I control all his assets. He’s just a shell of a man trying to live off a legacy that I long since took control of.”
Maverick swore and was about to rise when Vaax leapt to her feet.
“Are we really going to allow this hateful slander to be part of the official testimony?” President Vaax asked. “It’s about as distasteful as that dress.”
“I apologize,” Harken said while holding her nose firmly in the air. “In the future, I shall reframe from…embellishments, but these words are the truth. You just have to look at Kylie Rhoads to know she engages in nothing but double speak. She’s a damn junker, for stars’ sake.”
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