by Terry Mixon
He nodded and turned his attention to the young guy with the unfortunate tattoo of a mermaid on his arm taking the orders. “I’ll have what she’s having. And some coffee.”
Adam eyed her milk. “How can you have that stuff in the morning? You need caffeine to wake up.”
“Not if I want to avoid the jitters. I had a visitor last night just after our little operation. One of the renegade RIS agents is back on the station. He tossed my room and planted some bugs.”
“You slept with them watching you? How can you do that?”
“Training. The fact they’re watching me means we have to change our plans. I can’t risk going into the headquarters building. You’ll have to plant the hack for me.”
Adam made a point of raising his eyebrows. “What makes you think I can do that? I’m no secret agent.”
“You don’t need to be. It’s as simple as getting into a secured office and plugging a chip into someone’s comp. Less than five seconds and it’s uploaded and running.”
“Uh huh. Then the alarm goes off and they haul me into security.”
“Normal checks won’t spot it. Even if something does trigger an alarm later, no one will associate it with you. Because, as you say, you’re not into spy shit.”
She slid her napkin over to him. Inside the fold was a data chip, which he slipped into his pocket.
His coffee arrived, and he took a big drink. “This is going to go all to hell. I don’t know why I’m even helping you.”
She gave him a cold smile. “Because someone killed a lot of innocent people on your watch and you want to see them pay. No matter what you tell yourself, you want to avenge your brother.”
He sighed. “I’m going to regret this. I just know it.”
* * * * *
When they finished eating, Rachel had him walk up the block. She went the other direction. The cameras she’d planted before heading into the café would tell her if someone was trailing them.
The way this kind of thing worked, they’d probably have a couple of people following her. They’d trade places often. That way she’d be less likely to notice them.
Basic surveillance. They’d change hats and jackets, too. Anything to look different each time she checked her six.
And she would check. If she just blithely wandered around, the former RIS agent would become suspicious. He’d expect a certain level of caution from anyone on an op, and she had to give it to him.
Whereas they could send a single person after Hale. Perhaps two, just to be cautious. A normal person would never notice anyone following them.
Not that they needed to follow him. Hale was going to work. They’d know exactly where he was. That probably meant he’d be unwatched until he got off again.
Once she was sure Hale had had plenty of time, she made a show of checking her com. The video recording showed him passing her cameras without any obvious tails.
She’d already stopped a few times to look into shops and crossed the street once, looking back the way she’d come. All standard countersurveillance moves.
There was at least one guy back there. She’d dubbed him Mister Mustache. He stopped when she did and loitered if she slowed down.
He wasn’t RIS trained. No real agent would ever do something so obvious. They’d keep on as though they had nothing to do with her and let someone else take over. This guy was purely amateur.
She made a big circle, walked past the cameras, and turned toward the port. She might as well ask a few public questions. That would match up with her fake report and keep them satisfied she was looking the wrong way.
Once she’d passed the cameras, she checked her com and found Mister Mustache in her recording. It also had the guy who’d broken into her room tailing both of them.
Interesting. Why send a pro and an amateur? That made no sense.
The ex-RIS agent seemed willing to let the other man lead the way. That suited her fine. Until she knew more, she didn’t want to trigger an overt response. Not after she’d gone to all the trouble of putting off their guard.
The station had a lot of traffic—particularly with the games taking place—so she doubted she’d find anything interesting, but you didn’t hit it lucky by sitting on your butt.
Which was true about other things as well. Maybe she could use Mister Mustache to her benefit.
She ducked into a shop entrance and waited. When he hesitantly came into sight a minute later—no doubt checking to make sure she hadn’t slipped out the back—she stepped into his personal space.
“You’ve been following me for a while. Don’t you know that’s kind of unnerving for a woman? Who are you and what do you want?”
“This is some kind of misunderstanding,” he stammered. “I was just minding my own business.”
“By being right behind me every time I checked over the last six blocks, including when I made a U-turn? I don’t think so. I can call station security, if you’d like. I’m sure they’d love to ask you a few pointed questions.”
“Ah…there’s no need for anything like that.” He slumped a little. “I was following you, but I swear it wasn’t anything sinister.”
She allowed her expression to show her skepticism. “So exactly what is it, then?”
He reached toward his jacket, and she grabbed his arm. “Slowly.”
“I’m just getting my wallet.”
Which was exactly what he produced. He extracted a card. It was a press pass from one of the larger news organizations in the system. It identified the man as Malcom Enright.
She frowned. “Why is a reporter following me around?”
“I’ve been watching you,” he said. “You’ve been hanging out with Adam Hale, one of the bigger local storm divers. Don’t deny it. I’ve seen the two of you together several times now. I’m working up a profile on you before I interview him for a system-wide broadcast.
“The fact he has a new girlfriend will make it to the top of the sports feed. Your face is going to be all over the system by this time tomorrow. Let’s go have a cup of coffee, and you can give me an exclusive that puts you in the best light before everyone starts digging into you.”
She felt the color drain from her face. The last thing she needed as a spy was to have her image potentially seen by billions of people. This was a disaster!
Chapter Twelve
Adam sauntered into the Janus Corporation headquarters building as if he owned it. That didn’t stop him from being hassled by the security guys behind the desk, though.
He couldn’t blame them with the Disruptors lurking in the shadows. He hardly ever came here, so most of them had never met him.
The smaller of the two scanned his company ID and let him pass. His partner frowned as though there was something wrong and he was trying to figure it out.
Maybe that was on purpose. Get people to act guilty and then follow up.
Adam gave them a smile and headed deeper into the building. Most of the execs insisted on being down at Earth gravity, but the construction boss was on station standard.
That was probably because she spent almost as little time in the building as Adam did. Except for the early shift paperwork. Not that they used real paper anymore, thank God.
Kira Houston had been in her position as the manager of the construction crews since before Adam had hired on. Unlike most of the stuffed shirts in the upper levels of the company, Adam respected her.
She went out with the teams most days and got her hands dirty. She’d hired on as one of them twenty years ago and knew their jobs intimately.
He made his way to her office and rapped his knuckles on the door.
She looked up from her comp and smiled. “I was wondering if I’d see you today. Come on in and have some of this swill I call coffee.”
Adam dropped into the chair in front of her desk. “Your coffee is better than mine. Of course, at your exalted salary, you can afford to have the good stuff imported.”
“If by ‘the good stuff’ you
mean imported from Ceres, sure.” She rose from her desk and made them both a cup of her admittedly decent coffee. She knew how he liked it.
She handed a mug to him and perched herself on the edge of her desk. “I hear you had a mechanical failure yesterday. I’m glad to see you made it back up. You know that crazy shit will get you killed, right?”
“It was a close call,” he admitted. “I think it might have been sabotage.”
She straightened abruptly. “Seriously? Have you called station security?”
“Not yet. I don’t want to kick something like that off when I’m not sure.”
Kira set her mug down on the desk. “You should call them. Get the investigation started. They’ll have a lot of potential suspects to screen. You’re not the most lovable guy.”
He grinned. “I knew I could come to you for a pick-me-up. Seriously, though, it could just be a mechanical failure. Jason Chang is looking over everything. If it was tinkered with, he’ll know.”
After a sip of hot coffee, he continued. “I hear Dick Dickerson made a new record on depth.”
She nodded. “That’s what I hear, too. Almost thirty bars deeper than the previous record. That may not sound like much, but every new milestone means we can build better probes to understand the big guy. It might get him a gold medal.”
“I guess I’ve never understood why Janus is so interested in the technology we’re developing. They pay big money for it. What do they use it for?”
Kira shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Not my department. They drop a bunch of probes into the atmosphere and blather about their commitment to science. With what that costs, plus what they pay you crazy people, they must mean it.”
She leaned forward. “How are you? If you need a few days off, you’ve got them coming. But not if you’re going to pull some fool stunt and try to win those stupid games.”
He shook his head. “My ship is toast and I’m not doing this for any kind of recognition. Let Dickerson sweep the damned things.
“I’m a little off balance, but I need to get back to work. That’ll get me on the straight and narrow. I knew you’d be wondering, so that’s why I dropped in. I appreciate you wanting to give me space, but I’m good.”
“Well, if that changes, I expect you’ll tell me. I still think you need to clue security in. If someone tried to kill you, they’ll probably try again. Or they might attack someone else.
“You need to stop people like that before they get a chance to hurt other people. Besides, we kind of like you.”
That brought a smile to his face. “Thanks.”
He set his empty mug down by the coffee maker. “I’m taking the telemetry down to the dive coordinator. My ship took a couple of pretty heavy lightning strikes. Nothing worthy of a payout, I suspect, but they’ll want the data.”
She shook her head. “You’re nuts. You need to quit while you’re still alive.”
“Maybe I will. After one more big dive.”
“You’re absolutely hopeless. Get out of my office and go do something useful. We’re on a deadline with Javelin. I want to turn her over to FTL today, so your people need to hustle.”
Adam shot her a salute. “You got it, boss lady. See you around.”
He went to the nearest lift and down to the executive level. The security there was tighter and more observant. With the Disruptor threat, he couldn’t blame them for wanding him again.
Leo Gentry, the man who took the data, was a vice president of something, but Adam wasn’t sure what. He only did the dive stuff on the side and always seemed a bit surly. Like it was beneath him. It probably was.
The guard escorted Adam to the door and knocked. Gentry looked up. His expression soured just a bit. “Come in. Hale, isn’t it? I hear you had some kind of issue yesterday.”
Adam sat without asking, earning a scowl. “I took a couple of lightning strikes. It knocked out two of my thrusters and all my electronics. I barely made it back out.”
The man sat up straighter. “Lightning? Let me see the data.”
A little nonplussed at the hint of eagerness in the man’s tone, Adam handed him a data chip.
He plugged it into his comp and frowned. “This is empty.”
“Sorry, try this one.” Adam handed him the telemetry chip and took Price’s spy one back and tucked it away.
There was no indication of an alarm, so she must’ve known what she was talking about when it came to security.
Gentry studied the data on the screen for a few minutes and started nodding. “This is good. We haven’t gotten any detailed records on the behavior of lightning and the strikes. We’ve lost a number of probes to stuff just like this, and the data will come in very handy.”
He pulled a chip from his desk and put Adam’s away in the drawer. “I’ll talk with the port and have them waive the rescue charges and cover your medical treatment. That’s standard when someone gets injured on the job. Since we’re buying your data, I’ll treat it that way.”
That was uncommonly, and somewhat suspiciously, generous. “Thank you.”
“It’s our pleasure. Here’s a record of the agreement.” He handed Adam the new chip. “The payment will be in your account shortly. Janus thanks you for your assistance.”
Recognizing the somewhat curt dismissal, Adam rose to his feet. “I’d best be getting to work, then.”
The guard escorted him back to the elevator and sent him on his way. He checked his com while it rose.
The deposit was already in his account. It was significantly larger than he’d expected. More than he’d ever received at any one time, in fact. More than enough to fix the ship and give Jason and him a big payday.
This made no sense. What was really going on?
* * * * *
Rachel stared at the reporter in unfeigned horror. Having her image all over the system would ruin her career as a covert operative. She had to derail this guy before he even got started.
“You have this all wrong,” she said with as much calm as she could muster. “I’m not his girlfriend. I’m here looking for his brother. He and I are supposed to be married and he’s missing.”
Enright frowned. “A brother? I didn’t know about a brother.”
“Zane Hale. He came out here a few months ago from Earth and never came back. Station security is aware of it.
“Honestly, before you make a big mistake and say Adam Hale has a new girlfriend, you’d best check. I’d hate to see you make a fool of yourself. You seem like a nice guy.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Seriously? Why are we just hearing about this?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe they’re keeping it low-key to investigate. All I know is that I need to find him. I don’t want my face plastered all over the system saying I’m seeing someone else before my wedding.
“I just arrived yesterday. What kind of woman do you think I am? And how big will the lawsuit be when I sue you for screwing my life up?”
That made him back up a little and raise his hands. “Hey, now. Let’s not get too hasty. I’ll look into this, and if you’re telling the truth, I’ll keep you out of it. A missing brother is bigger news than a new girlfriend, anyway.”
Not the best outcome, but better than nothing. “I don’t want my name or picture used. I’m not a public figure and I’m not part of the story.”
Of course, in outing him, she’d just thrown her partner under the proverbial bus. He’d be out, but at this point, having his picture in the public eye might be for the best. If he wasn’t dead, someone might come forward. Even if he was, the RIS might figure something out.
The reporter nodded. “I’ll keep you out of it, but I want you to give me the information on the brother. I’ll have you as a confidential source and keep you in the deep background.”
“Let’s go find a place, and I’ll give you an hour. I want to get to the port today and see if anyone saw him.”
The man nodded. “I have a number of sources. I can get his pictur
e out and see if anyone remembers him. I’ll share everything with you in exchange for the exclusive. That means I’m the only reporter you give an interview to.”
Rachel smiled. “I promise that I’ll avoid every other reporter like the plague.”
* * * * *
Adam felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he exited the headquarters building. It still didn’t mean they wouldn’t discover what he’d done, but it made him feel as though he’d gotten away with it.
He took the next shuttle out to Javelin and floated his way up to the habitation torus, the extended ring that allowed centrifugal force to keep the crew in a semblance of gravity once the ship was in motion.
His people were hours away from delivering Javelin to the FTL team. The hull was finished, the decks were in, and the regular drives were operational. At this point, all that remained was verifying the control systems.
The station crews were stocking the cargo area with backup equipment, spares, and food. All the things a crew in space would need. The FTL team only had to install the black box drive and complete the final workup. A few days would see the ship delivered to the customer.
That’s how the construction process worked. Different crews would work on each stage of construction and then hand the ship off to the next group when they finished their part.
Adam and Jason had been on the finishing team for five years now. They’d get the ship done and test out the normal space systems prior to handover. Sort of like a preliminary shakedown cruise.
Jason was filling in for him. Not that his people needed much supervision. They were pros. They’d all worked on every aspect of ship construction other than the FTL systems.
His friend floated over and clapped a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I didn’t expect to see you in today, bro. You were in the hospital. You should take it easy.”
“I feel fine. Besides, I had to go turn in the telemetry data. They paid us for it and forgave the rescue and hospital fees.”
