gaian consortium 05 - the titan trap Read online

  Derek wondered briefly when he and Cassidy had become “we,” but he decided not to mention it. In a way, it felt good. Actually, it felt damn good, although he didn’t want to ascribe too much meaning to what most likely was just a slip of the tongue. After all, she was probably running on fumes right now. Since he’d already been dubious about the gin, he ignored the shot glass. Not that he couldn’t use a drink right about now, but he figured he could wait to get something from a more reputable source. If, of course, there was such a thing here on Triton.

  The bartender returned, holding a translucent credit voucher in one hand and a bag that jingled faintly in the other. The cash, Derek supposed.

  After pushing the voucher and the bag across the counter toward Cassidy, the man said, “Five thousand cash, the rest on the voucher. The ship?”

  “Just a sec,” she replied, digging in a pocket of her coveralls and producing her handheld. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I check this?”

  “Not at all,” the bartender said with a yellow-toothed grin.

  She passed the voucher over the screen and waited briefly. Although Derek couldn’t see exactly what it said because of the angle at which she was holding it, he assumed she was pleased with what she saw, as she nodded.

  “It all looks good. I appreciate doing business with you.”

  “Our pleasure,” he replied. “I’d recommend the Trident, if you’re staying over.”

  “Thanks for the rec,” she said, and downed the rest of her gin. Derek was surprised she could still stand upright after that, but she hopped off her barstool in a surprising show of dexterity, adding, “Let’s get going. I could use some sleep.”

  That, he thought, was probably the understatement of the century. But he nodded and got off the stool where he’d been sitting.

  “Hang a right as you leave the bar, then another right at the next intersection, then a left. You can’t miss it.”

  Cassidy gave the barkeep a thumbs-up and headed in the direction he’d indicated, Derek a pace behind. She’d slipped the voucher in the same pocket as her handheld and put the bag of units in another, where it made something of a bulge against her thigh. Not much, not enough that you’d notice if you weren’t looking, but it still made him uneasy. The people they passed on the street looked like they’d mug a person for a lot less than a quarter-million units.

  But maybe the word had gone out, or maybe he and Cassidy appeared rumpled and poor enough to not merit a second glance. In either case, they made it to the Trident unmolested. Surprisingly, it was almost respectable-looking, a two-story prefab building that at least was clean and whose interior was sleek and up-to-date, with dark laminate floors and pale gray walls. An angular crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the lobby. Derek could almost imagine he was back on Gaia in one of the modest establishments he’d frequented during his business travel. Environmental science wasn’t exactly a field for those wishing to get rich quick, or who preferred more posh surroundings.

  He wondered whether Cassidy would ask for one room or two. They weren’t together in any sense of the word, but it seemed safer for them to stick close by one another. She appeared to have the same idea, as she asked if there were any suites available, and seemed to relax slightly when the clerk informed her there was a two-bedroom unit on the second floor.

  “We’ll take it,” she said, not even bothering to ask the cost. Then again, it probably didn’t matter all that much.

  “Luggage?” the clerk asked.

  “It, um…got lost,” Cassidy replied. “We’ll be going shopping later.”

  “Very good,” the clerk, a young man in his early twenties, replied. How he’d managed to end up on Triton, when he appeared to be perfectly respectable, Derek wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d been born here?

  It didn’t really matter one way or another. The important thing was that he stopped asking questions and pushed a key card across the countertop. No mention of a deposit, no request for their personal information for the hotel’s database or anything like that. Well, it was entirely possible that they did things very differently on Triton.

  Cassidy murmured a thank-you and scooped up the key card, then headed for the lifts. Once they were inside, she leaned back against the polished stainless-steel wall and let out a sigh. “I kept thinking for sure someone was going to jump us.”

  “You’re not the only one.”

  “But we’re safe now.” She grimaced, shaking her head. “That is, it seems like we’re safe now. They could still send someone to get that voucher back, but there’s not much we can do about it. If I don’t get some sleep, I’m going to fall over.”

  “Frankly, I’m surprised you haven’t fallen over already.”

  She shot him a brief, weary grin. Then the elevator doors opened, and she got out, moving to the left, apparently following the signs. Their suite was at the end of the hall, and when they went inside, Derek was once again impressed by their surroundings. Muted cool tones of gray and deep red, soft carpet underfoot. No windows, but there wasn’t much to see in this domed community. However, there were two huge vid screens on opposite walls, both of them currently set to show a spectacular vista of the Grand Canyon.

  “What is that?” Cassidy asked.

  He turned to her in surprise. “You’ve never seen it before?”

  “Why would I? I’ve never been to Gaia.”

  As he’d grown up outside Tucson, Derek was more than familiar with the rugged beauty of Normerica’s Southwest. “It’s the Grand Canyon. You know, in Arizona?”

  “Oh,” she said. “It’s beautiful.” Then she yawned and shook her head. “I can’t worry about geography right now. All I want is a shower and a bed.”

  “Looks like the bathroom’s in there,” he told her, pointing.

  “Perfect.”

  Without further comment, she disappeared into the chamber in question, and a minute later, he heard the water turn on. Real water, not a steam shower. Luxury, indeed.

  Since he had nothing else to do, he made a quick inspection of the suite. Two bedrooms, as advertised, one slightly larger than the other, but both with good-sized beds and their own vid screens. He took the smaller one and sat down on the bed, then turned on the vid. Most of the programming didn’t interest him much, as it was the same pre-packaged crap beamed everywhere in the Gaian system. However, there were a few local channels, one of which seemed to advertise a service that would deliver pretty much anything you asked for to anyplace in the dome. And if you were staying at one of the local hotels, you could have the requested items added to your bill.

  Tempting. He knew he needed some fresh clothes, and Cassidy as well. As to her size, well, she was slender. If things came in small, medium, and large, he’d guess that she was a small. And it would only be a few things. She could get the rest later.

  He scrolled through the offerings, chose a few pairs of pants and some shirts for himself, a package of underwear, a jacket. The same for Cassidy, including a beautiful silky tunic in a deep crimson shade, with matching slim pants and flat shoes. He had no idea what her shoe size was, but if they didn’t fit, he supposed she could exchange them. That outfit was one she probably didn’t need, but for some reason he wanted to see her in something attractive and flattering, and not simply utilitarian.

  The requested items were delivered with such alacrity that Cassidy was just stepping out of the shower, bundled in a gray robe she must have found in the bathroom, as Derek was closing the door and setting the package on the low table in the sitting area.

  “What’s that?” she inquired.

  “A few changes of clothes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could face getting back into these things after taking a shower.”

  Her face lit up, and she came into the sitting room, watching as he opened the packet and began making separate piles for the two of them. “That’s amazing. You just ordered them?”

  “For an outpost populated by thieves and smugglers, they do seem very
efficient around here.”

  “Yeah, it’s amazing what can get done when you don’t have the Consortium bureaucracy getting in your way.” She went to the pile of her own clothing, reached out to touch the silky crimson tunic. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I had to guess at your size — ”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’re a scientist, right? I’m sure you have very keen powers of observation.”

  This last was said so wryly that he had to grin at her. She smiled back, but almost immediately the smile stretched into a yawn. “As much as I want to try this stuff on, I really need to get a few hours of sleep.”

  “I’d say more than a few hours.” He tilted his head toward the larger of the two bedrooms. “Go ahead. Get as much sleep as you like.”

  “Okay. And after that, I’m buying you dinner.” An almost comical frown pulled at her brows. “Or lunch, or breakfast. Whatever it ends up being.”

  “Sounds good.” He was hungry now, but he’d see if they could send something up while she was sleeping. Something light, just to tide him over.

  “’Night. Or morning. Or…whatever.”

  With that she drifted into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Derek felt vaguely disappointed, as if he thought she should have left it open. No, that was foolish. She deserved her privacy, to sleep undisturbed as she got some well-deserved rest.

  As for him…well, he was no fan of watching the vid, but that was what he’d do for now. Who knows…maybe he’d even find something of interest. Stranger things had been known to happen.

  Such as escaping from MaxSec and evading a squadron of GDF fighters.

  He shook his head at himself, and went to his own room.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Although she knew she’d only had the one shot of gin, Cassidy felt positively hung over when she finally opened her eyes and blinked up at the flat gray ceiling overhead. It was farther away than the low ceiling in her quarters, and so she knew she couldn’t be on board the Avalon. And the bed was luxuriously soft, and large. She doubted the mattress could have even fit into her cabin.

  No cabin left for it to fit into, she realized. The Avalon was gone, along with everything she owned. Her meager wardrobe. A few holo-portraits of her parents, among them the treasured one of the couple in front of a brand-new Avalon, her father beaming with pride, her mother wearing an oddly worried smile, as if she somehow knew the ship behind her was going to be the destruction of her marriage.

  All of it now dust. Not even dust, really…more like blown to its constituent atoms. The thought felt oddly unreal, as if it was someone else’s ship that had been lost. Probably hadn’t sunk in yet.

  She was on Triton, in a hotel there. Derek was somewhere in the suite, she supposed. She couldn’t imagine him wandering around the settlement’s streets unaccompanied. And then she remembered the money, shoved into a pocket of her coveralls.

  They were lying draped across a chair, exactly where she’d left them before she collapsed into bed the night before. Or the day before. She hadn’t really noted when they were according to local time. The chronometer next to the bed said it was almost nineteen hundred hours, but she had no frame of reference for that reading. Had she slept for five hours? Fifteen?

  Well, she’d figure that out soon enough. First things first. She slid out of bed and went to the coveralls, let out a little gasp of relief when her fingers found the reassuring bulge of hard currency in one pocket. It didn’t appear to have been touched.

  All well and good, but since the chunk of their payout for the GDF fighter craft had gone on a credit voucher, they could still be up shit creek if their mysterious benefactors had decided to withdraw the units they’d assigned to it. A difficult transaction, but certainly not an impossible one.

  She slipped her handheld out of her coveralls’ pocket, then pulled out the voucher as well and passed it over the screen. Almost at once it displayed the reassuring number: 245,000.

  So far, so good. Now she realized that the closet door was open, and hanging within it were several sets of clothes, all of which she recognized as the items Derek had ordered before she passed out the night before. And stacked on the shelf above the closet rack were packages of unopened underwear, as well as a small sterile bag that contained a toothbrush and toothpaste, face wash, a battery-powered disposable razor, colored lip balm…in fact, just about everything a girl might need to make herself feel more human.

  All this had to be Derek’s doing, of course, which meant he’d come in here while she was asleep and hung everything up. She paused for a second to decide whether she minded or not, then realized she didn’t. It had been thoughtful of him to get all this stuff for her, even though she wasn’t sure how he’d managed it, since all of their cash appeared untouched.

  Well, she’d ask him in a minute. She’d showered before bed, so she didn’t need to do that again, but it still felt wonderful to brush her teeth and wash her face, tidy her hair, apply some lip balm. Her hazel eyes stared back at her from the mirror, and by some miracle they didn’t appear all that shadowed. Maybe she really had slept for fifteen hours.

  There were two sets of practical-looking clothing: dark trousers and shirts, all of which appeared to be her size. But there was also that beautiful dark red tunic and matching pants. When was the last time she’d worn a color like that? Cassidy couldn’t really remember, but she knew it had been a long time ago. And it was close to dinnertime. If the dome city on Triton had a hotel this decent, there had to be someplace they could eat that was up to snuff.

  She pulled out the red outfit, opened the package of underwear, and got dressed. Amazing what a difference it could make to be clean, to have fresh new clothes and a nice chunk of sleep under your belt. Even the shoes more or less fit, although they seemed a little loose. That was fine, though…as long as they didn’t have to end up running anyplace. Then it was one last pass of the brush through her hair, and she thought she was more or less ready to face the world.

  Or at least face Derek Tagawa.

  He was sitting on the sofa in the main living area of the suite when she emerged. His attention was focused on a new and shiny-looking handheld, and he was wearing a trim pair of black pants and matching jacket, so obviously he’d done a bit more shopping for himself while she was passed out. As soon as she entered the room, though, he set the handheld aside and offered her a polite smile. She could tell it was something of an act, though, as the smile couldn’t hide the surprising look of admiration in his eyes.

  Feeling absurdly pleased by that, she still managed to casually say, “Sorry I conked out for so long.”

  “You needed it. I slept some, too, but not as long, since I spent most of the trip here passed out.”

  True. He sounded sheepish, but she saw no reason for him to be. There hadn’t been anything else for him to do on that long, long flight. “Been doing some more shopping, I see.”

  That remark made him look even more apologetic. “I suppose I should’ve waited to ask you if it was all right, but since we had absolutely no luggage, no personal items, I figured doing a bit of replenishing our supplies couldn’t hurt too much.”

  “No, I appreciate it,” she replied, one hand brushing against the silky fabric of her tunic. “And this is beautiful. Thank you. But how did you pay for everything?”

  “Added it to our tab. The hotel management didn’t have a problem with it. I get the distinct impression that we have some sort of fairy godmother watching over us.”

  His tone was half-joking, but the expression on his face told Cassidy that he was sincere. She wasn’t sure she would’ve phrased it exactly the same way, but she had the distinct feeling someone was looking out for them. Why, she couldn’t begin to guess, unless it was the way they’d managed to steal that starfighter literally from under its pilot’s nose. She supposed that sort of stunt might earn them a few points with the people who ran Triton base. Fans of the Consortium, they were not.

  “I’m willing to go w
ith that for now,” she said. “And if we’re more or less safe here, I say we go get something to eat. I’m starving.”

  “As you should be. You were asleep for more than twelve hours.”

  Shit. She’d worried it was something like that. “I’m really sorry — ”

  “Don’t be. I slept some, as I said, ordered up some halfway decent soup and a sandwich.” The dark eyes were warm, watching her, and she could feel an uncharacteristic blush rise in her cheeks. “But I could definitely do with something a bit more substantial.”

  Cassidy nodded, saying, “I’ll get the funds.” As she retrieved the pouch of units and the credit voucher, along with her handheld, she realized she didn’t have anyplace to put them. Neither the tunic nor the pants she wore had any pockets. And of course, being a man, Derek hadn’t thought to get her a new bag to go along with her new clothes. Well, for the time being, she’d slip the voucher inside her bra, and Derek could carry the cash. She wasn’t worried about him taking off with it — after all, where would he go? Five hundred units wasn’t enough to get him anywhere.

  Some part of her mind wanted to chide her for even entertaining such a thought. She knew deep down that he would never abandon her and take the money with him, even if the voucher represented a far larger portion of their current assets. Why she was so certain of that, when she’d known him for a total of approximately forty-eight hours, a good portion of which either one of them had been sleep, she wasn’t sure, but something told her Derek Tagawa was an honorable man. Hell, even while she’d been passed out trying to catch up on her sleep, he’d done more to take care of her than her father ever had.

  “Can you take these?” she asked, handing the pouch of units to Derek. “Love the outfit, but it’s a little short in the pocket department.”

  “Of course,” he replied immediately, and stowed the money in an inner pocket of his jacket. It bulged a little but didn’t look too bad. And she could tell he was surprised and pleased that she’d trusted him with it at all. In an apparent attempt to cover that up, he added, “I did look up where we could eat around here. There’s actually a fairly large hydroponics setup on the far side of the dome, so some of the food is fresh. But if you’re a big meat eater, you’re out of luck.”