by J. N. Chaney
“You need me to sign something?”
“I need your word.” Suddenly, his face became cold and he lowered his voice. “You will keep it a secret, sharing it only with whom I say and when I say it, no questions asked. A breach of this confidence will result in your termination.”
I recoiled a little, not liking how serious this was getting. “Is that a threat, Min?”
“Just a promise, Flint. Your life and the knowledge of the vault go hand-in-hand.”
“I mean no disrespect, sir—Min—but no amount of stuff stored in a vault is worth a human life.”
“You’re right,” he said, acting completely unfazed by my statement. “It’s worth billions of lives.”
“Billions? I’m not following.”
Oragga got up and walked to the gazebo’s railing, leaning against it. Then he looked back at me and said, “If I told you that tomorrow the Sellion City, the entire platform was going to plummet into its gas giant of a planet but could be saved by securing one small thing in a vault somewhere, would you retrieve it?”
“All things being equal? Of course.”
“Because you’re a rational man who’s in concerned with the welfare of a few million people.”
“So… you’re saying that whatever was in your vault has the potential to save lives.”
“Not the potential. It will save lives.”
“Semantics.”
“Not at all. One exists only in the context of hypotheticals, the other within the realm of certainty.”
“And that’s enough for me to die for?”
“I don’t know, Flint. Is it?”
“I guess that depends what it is,” I said, “and what the job is.”
“And I can’t tell you that until you agree to my terms of secrecy,” Oragga said.
“You know, it sounds like you’re making this out to be a pretty big deal.” I stood and moved to join him at the railing.
He turned back toward the sunset and took another draw on his cigar. “It’s the biggest deal,” he said. “And the enemy knows it too.”
“The enemy?”
“Oubrick and his men were just the beginning.”
“The beginning? Of what?” When Oragga didn’t respond, I said, “Right. The agreement.”
Oragga nodded but didn’t look at me.
I took a long breath, staring at the remains of the scotch in my glass. “Listen,” I said, “I’m honored you’ve done all this for me. Really, I am. But I’m not sure I’m ready to hitch a long-term ride on your hover cart right now. I’ve been a free agent for two years and I kinda like it.”
Oragga nodded. “Yes, your file said you had a problem submitting to authority.”
“I don’t have a problem submitting to authority!”
Oragga raised an eyebrow at me in silent protest.
Dammit.
“I’m offering you a position off the books. You’ll be your own boss. You can build your own team. However, you will be a slave to the knowledge you gain. And divulging it will cost you your life. In fact, I dare say it’s in jeopardy already.”
“Wait, my life’s in jeopardy?” I asked, getting the feeling that I was being pushed into a corner. “So you are threatening me.”
“Oh, it’s not me,” Oragga said. “Trust me when I say that I will always be the least of your worries. In point of fact, I hope to be your greatest benefactor. Instead, you’d best look to the stars.”
“Excuse me?”
“They’re coming, Flint. They wanted what was in my vault enough to kill for it. And right now, the last person to have seen the vault open, to know the names and whereabouts of their people, is you.” He jabbed my arm with his index finger.
“You’re saying… you’re saying someone might be coming for me?”
“Not might, Flint. They already are.”
“That settles it,” I said. This guy was a lunatic. I swirled the scotch in my glass and then tossed the rest to the back of my throat. “Listen, thanks for the offer, but I don’t like being threatened, and I’m not too keen on all this conspiracy stuff. A little too loose and fast if you ask me. I’m looking to settle down, you know? The quiet life.”
“Because that’s exactly what you dream about at night when you drift off to sleep,” Oragga said, smiling as he puffed his cigar.
“Hey,” I said, hearing the anger rise in my voice. Maybe it was the scotch talking, or maybe this eccentric gazillionaire was being a little too whacky for me. Either way, he was starting to make this personal, and I didn’t like it. “My business is my business, and I don’t care how much money you have, you’re not buying me like you buy everyone else.”
“Look who’s making it personal now,” he replied, staring off at the darkening sky.
I placed the glass on the railing and laid the cigar across the top. “Thanks for the party, Min. It was touching. And thanks for the business opportunity. But I’m out.”
The man didn’t miss a beat. “There will be a substantial insurance settlement deposited in your bank account at the top of the week,” Oragga said as calmly as if he were telling someone the weather forecast. “Likewise, you will be compensated for every month of work that EnerTron is unable to employ you due to reconstruction efforts. Should you wish to return to us as an employee, your place is secured. Should you wish to resign, a generous severance package will be arranged for you.” He took a long drag on his cigar. “If you play your hand right, I suspect you will never have to work again a day in your life. Enjoy your life, Flint. You’ve earned it.”
I stared at him for a long moment, but his eyes were fixed on the horizon. And for a fleeting moment, I thought he looked sad. Like somewhere deep inside, he was watching the world burn down and couldn’t do a damn thing about it. A chill went down my spine and I felt the flesh on my arms prickle.
“Thanks, Min,” I said.
“Lars will see you out.”
I turned around and saw the butler standing behind us. The man extended his arm to the side, indicating the pathway leading back to the roof’s elevator vestibule. As I left the gazebo and thought about walking all the way back down the stairs with the medals clanking around my neck, I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking away from the opportunity of a lifetime.
All because you’re a stubborn-ass son of a bitch, Reed.
29
I typed in the entry passkey on my front door and stepped over the threshold into my apartment. My first clue that something was wrong was that Tiny failed to greet me.
“Lights on,” I said to the unit’s automated system.
“Welcome, Mr. Reed,” it replied.
The lights came up in a gentle glow, complementing the night environment outside. Maybe Tiny was already asleep. I walked to the kitchen and checked his cot. But it was empty.
“Tiny?” I said, now wondering if I’d left the doggy door open to the backyard. I reached down and checked the miniature door, but it was locked. So I opened the backdoor and looked into the small lawn. “Tiny, where you at?”
The night air was quiet save for the crickets.
After I closed the door, I turned around to check my room, but someone was standing in the shadow of my bedroom doorway.
I reached for a knife from the cutting block and held it up. “Come out!” I demanded, ready to charge whoever it was if they didn’t start moving right away. Fortunately for them, they walked forward until a body emerged in the kitchen’s light.
“Rachel?” I asked with no attempt to hide my surprise. She wore a sleeveless white top and white dress pants. Her black hair was pulled back in a braid, showing off her high cheekbones and large dark eyes.
“Hi, Flint,” she said, gently stroking the top of Tiny’s head. The dog leaned against her side, his eyes struggling to stay open. A beautiful woman, rubbing his head? The damn dog was in paradise.
“What the hells, Rachel?” I said, placing the knife down on the counter.
“I figured you might not want to s
ee me if I asked, so… I let myself in.”
“I can see that,” I replied. I didn’t know whether to feel violated or excited. Tiny clearly didn’t have any problem with this arrangement. But he hadn’t seen her go from a distressed-looking hostage to a full-throttle killing machine. “You almost got a knife in your chest,” I added, looking to the cooking utensil.
“You would have missed,” she replied with a cute smirk.
“I don’t miss.”
“Which is why you didn’t need any help killing Oubrick.”
“Hey, I had that under control,” I protested.
“Right up until he stabbed your chest.”
“My flask blocked it.”
“Oh really,” she said, crossing her arms. Tiny looked irritated. He whined, asking to be petted again. Rachel kissed her index finger and touched the top of his nose.
“Sure,” I said, pointing to the dented flask by the sink. “Thought I’d keep it to show my doctor.”
“And why’s that?” she said.
“It’s proof.”
“Of?”
“That drinking is actually good for my health.”
She smirked. It was a bad joke, but one I believed was true nonetheless. “But a partner is even better for your health,” she added.
“Partner?” I asked.
“Sure. Oragga offered you a job, didn’t he?”
I tried containing my surprise, but I’m sure my face gave it away. “How’d you know about that?”
“And you accepted, so you’ll be needing—”
“Hold on, lady. I didn’t accept anything, and how’d you know about that in the first place?”
“I just figured that, given the way you protected his employees and his artifacts, he was likely to—”
“Artifacts?” I asked.
Rachel cocked her head. She studied my face for a second, calculating something. “You mean he didn’t tell you what was in the vault?”
“No, and I didn’t want to know either.”
“You didn’t?”
“No way,” I said. “That’s his business.”
“And you didn’t take the new position with him?”
“I already told you, no.”
She held her elbow with one hand and rubbed her chin with the other. “He threatened you then.”
“Huh?”
“He probably told you that you had to accept his terms before hearing more about the job.”
“No.”
“And because you’re a stubborn ass, you refused him.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “What, do you work for him or something?”
She laughed. “Oragga? No way.” When I didn’t say anything more, she added, “That hostage bit was just a ruse.”
“I kinda figured.”
“Was my acting that bad?”
“Ha,” I chuckled, “the acting was superb. It was your knife throwing at the end that gave it away. Though, at first, I couldn’t tell whose side you were on. I will say, however, that your aim needs improvement.”
“My aim?” she asked.
“Sure. Had you stuck him in the head and not the shoulder, we would have had an easier time escaping in the elevator shaft.”
She scrunched her lips to one side. “I’ll be sure to make a note of that for next time.”
“You do that. So you gonna tell me why you broke into my apartment?”
“I already did. I was here to see if you wanted a partner for your next mission.”
“And I already told you, lady… Wait, next mission?”
“Gods, are you always this slow?” she asked, taking the stool on the opposite side of the counter.
“Hey!” My finger was up and pointing at her face. “I’m not slow I’m just content with where I’m at and don’t need Oragga or anyone else telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing.”
“Easy, easy,” she said, holding her palms up. “So defensive.”
“I’m not being defensive! I just don’t want to play games with billionaires. The guy’s got a few screws loose if you ask me.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” she said. “Every one of them I’ve ever worked with has been a little eccentric.”
“You’ve worked with more than one?”
“Billionaires? Yeah. You might say it’s my market.”
“Your market is working for billionaires, plural?”
“Working with,” she corrected. “I only work for myself.”
“But I thought you said you needed a partner.”
“No, you need a partner. I was just going to offer my services.”
“But doesn’t that make you a partner too?”
“Not if I don’t claim to be one.”
I chuckled. “Look who’s stubborn now.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? At least I own it.”
“Careful, lady…”
“What? It’s true, isn’t it? Something tells me you’re actually dying for the next adventure. You’re just scared of commitment.”
“I’m not scared of commitment,” I said defiantly. Rachel studied my face from across the counter. She seemed to buy it. Because it’s true.
“Then you’re scared of getting burned.”
Okay, now that was just low. But I couldn’t think of something snappy to say back. Dammit.
“I’m not scared of anything,” I said at last.
“Except heights, you told me.”
“Dammit, lady. You’re almost as bad as…”
“As that AI you were talking to the whole time?”
I stared at her, not liking how much she seemed to know about me—about what had gone down inside the Oragga Complex. I didn’t like that she’d shot that thug Travis in the base of the neck and was still able to act like it was her first time killing someone. This woman was cold. And yet she didn’t seem like a crook. And she wasn’t working for Oragga… if she was to be believed. But wasn’t that the thing about all this conspiracy business?—you never knew who was telling the truth and who was lying. At least, that was what the holo-films said.
“How’d you know about the AI?” I asked at last.
Rachel tapped her earlobe. “You weren’t the only one with an ear comm.”
“You were listening the entire time?”
“Most of it, yeah. Once I decrypted the right channels.”
“Like you were trying to decrypt the vault all the way from Reynolds’ office?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” she said with a shrug.
“So you could help Oubrick break in.”
“I already told you, I wasn’t there with Oubrick. I was there… for a job. And if I—”
“Couldn’t get to the whatever it was first, you’d settle for plan B, which was preventing Oubrick for getting the goods for himself.” When she didn’t reply, I said, “Gods, lady, you’re creeping me out. Your name’s probably not even Rachel, then, is it?”
“No, that much is true.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“It is, really,” she insisted.
“Eh, there’s just way too much top secret spy shit going on for my taste.”
“And you can get in on it too if you want,” she said.
“I already told you—”
“I bet Oragga even offered you a starship or something, didn’t he.”
“That’s it.”
“What?”
“You work for him, Rachel. Get out.”
“I already told you that I don’t.”
“Yeah, ya do. And he sent you here to try and persuade—”
A flash of green light caught my eye. It was there and gone in an instant. From under my couch.
There it was again.
“Hold on,” I said, leaving the kitchen and walking into the living room. I squatted and looked under the couch to see a blinking green light. It was attached to something silver with glass pods that glowed a soft blue.
It took me less than a second to realize what it was
. My heart leaped in my chest and a surge of adrenaline tightened my chest and arms.
“Get out!” I yelled at Rachel.
“Listen, I hardly think—”
“GET OUT!” I sprang from the floor, ripped her off the bar stool, and commanded the door to open. I heard Tiny bark, following after us. We were one pace from the threshold when gunfire erupted from the front yard. Rachel and I ducked as bullets stitched along the wall and blew apart my shelves.
We dove for cover in front of the couch—the same one with the bomb beneath it.
“Flint?”
“Yeah?”
“Is there a reason there’s a neutron bomb under your couch?” Rachel asked, pointing to the device.
“Disgruntled fans,” I said, covering Rachel’s head with my arm as the windows shattered above us. “I’ve heard my haircut isn’t rating well in the polls.”
“We’ve got to get out of here!” she exclaimed.
“Back door. Ready…? Now!”
We pressed up from the ground and ran in a crouch across to the kitchen and to the back door. Bullets pinged off my pots and pans, swinging them around like firing range targets. The sound was louder than I expected. More rounds pelted my fridge and blew chunks out of my porcelain sink.
Rachel opened the door and had barely taken a step when more gunfire tore into the door’s frame. She rolled back inside the kitchen, knocking into my legs. I tried to steady us both but fell backward onto the tile.
“No good!” she yelled.
“Bedroom,” I said.
“But, Flint, we’ve only just met!” She winked at me. It was a rare woman who could joke in a fire fight. Hells, I didn’t even think I could joke like that. She was either nuts… or she’d lived through her share of battles.
We crawled on hands and knees as bits of the wall rained down on us. The carpet in the living room was covered with debris. I stole a quick glance at the neutron bomb’s blinking green light and blue glow, wondering why they hadn’t detonated it yet. Whoever was out there was surely connected with Oubrick. Maybe they were saving it as a last resort—for if we returned fire.
Which was exactly what I planned on doing.
