***
Markus’s eyes slowly fluttered open as a distant buzzing dragged him out of his link with the data crystal. Eventually he drew in a sharp breath and glanced around his apartment, wondering what in the hell could have possibly been making that much noise…
His holopad was glowing on the table in front of him, and he swept it up and glanced down at the screen. It was Grier, and apparently this was the third time in as many minutes that she’d tried to call him.
“Coveri,” he breathed.
“What the hell have you been doing?” she growled. It sounded like she was running. “We have a serious problem.”
“I was linked with one of the crystals. What’s going on?”
“I just tried to contact Firth for an update on Vale. He isn’t responding.”
Markus cleared his throat as his brain tried to catch back up with the real world. Linking with these things was draining and distracting; he felt rather like he’d been immersed in a good book…or maybe just pumped up on hallucinogens.
“When did this happen?” he asked as he brought up the suppression collar tracking program.
“About five minutes ago. It wasn’t time for him to check in yet, but I just wanted to be certain.”
Markus grunted. He had a hard time imagining Grier handing off her babysitting responsibility to anyone. He’d almost expected her to juice up stims for a few days rather than let Jen out of her sight. Though given what was at stake, he couldn’t really blame her for being cautious.
“I’m showing her out on the western concourse approaching the docking ring,” he said, frowning. He couldn’t think of many good reasons why she’d be heading that way, but he could think of a whole lot of bad ones. Had she somehow managed to subdue Firth and take his weapon? Her only chance of escape was to try and steal a shuttle and leave, but she had to realize how difficult that would be. The docking pads were guarded and locked, and of course the moment he caught wind of her plan he could remotely zap her into submission…
“I’m heading there now, but you’re closer,” Grier said. “You should incapacitate her just in case.”
He stood and dashed for the door as he scowled down at the viewscreen. “Shock her in the middle of the street? Yeah, that wouldn’t make a scene at all.”
“It’s better than taking the risk she’s gotten free,” Grier countered. “You know what will happen—”
“I’ll meet you there,” Markus interrupted before closing the channel. He wasn’t going to shock Jen unless she got a lot closer to the docking ring. There had to a be another reason she was heading that way, just like there had to be a reason Firth wasn’t responding to calls.
But even as he threw open the door and rushed out into the street, he realized he couldn’t think of a single one.
The Spider and the Fly Page 28
