Close Contact (3 page)

Smith’s lips turned up in a smile as she glanced at Dr. Daniels. “She’s like me, all right. No doubt about it. At the very least, a normal GEP would take a healthy share of bruises during training. I suspect if one of the instructors did manage to get a hit in, she healed so fast no one noticed she’d been injured.”

He put his cup down on the small table between our chairs and stood. “I’d better go order a ship prepared for her.”

Was it my imagination, or did Smith’s smile turn a bit nasty? “Give her to Lillith. I have a feeling they were made for each other. Plus, it will get the ship out of Max’s hair. She has a horrible case of hero worship and is driving him to distraction.”

“Excellent idea,” Dr. Daniels said. “Agent Adams, you might want to return to your quarters now and pack. You’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”

I finished off my wine and set the glass aside. “Who, exactly, is Lillith?”

“She’s an artificial intelligence Surge Zephyr, just like my ship,” Smith said. “Oh, and when you’re packing? You might want to lose the designer clothes and pack a good supply of jumpsuits. They’ll last longer.”

Right, I was going to take fashion advice from someone who stuck a strip of material between her legs and called it good.

Without further adieu, I took my leave. I was all the way back in my quarters before I realized the dratted dragon bird had followed me.

Ignoring the creature, I sank down on the end of the bed, my entire body shaking. Yeah, I put on a good show, but the truth was, I’d never been so scared in my whole life. I wasn’t created to be an agent. I was created to excel at management and organization. Even with all my retraining I was doomed to fail, because I didn’t have a clue how to go about this agent business. I was only biding my time, pretending to go along with the status quo. GEPs are long-lived, especially with rejuv treatments, and I figured sooner or later the furor over Gertz’s creations would die down and I could go back to doing what I’d been designed to do.

I could go back to doing what I’d been designed to do as long as I didn’t have any psi abilities. One whiff of talent and my old bosses wouldn’t let me come back under any circumstances. Which gave me a huge problem if Dr. Daniels was right about those psi tests, a problem I was going to do my best to deny existed.

Faking my way through life wasn’t helping my state of mind, though. For the first time ever, there was nothing for
me to organize, nothing to manage. And I’d never felt so lost, so inadequate, so alone. Let’s face it. I’m no Kiera Smith and never will be.

I desperately wanted my old life back. Instead, I was setting out for who knew where, to do who knows what, with an unknown psi ability waiting to ambush me and ruin all my chances at normalcy. The uncertainty was making me crazy.

Yes, Kiera Smith should eat worms and die. And take her damn dragon bird with her.

I
t was amazing how many colors jumpsuits came in, I decided, admiring my reflection in the plate-glass window at the front of Alien Affairs docking station. Not only did the bright pink make me look good, it was a nice contrast to Peri’s iridescent purple feathers. I’d even found boots and a holster for my blaster in the same shade of amethyst.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t like animals. But the silly thing made such a racket when I tried to leave without her that everyone was staring. I had to let her sit on my shoulder just to shut her up.

And at least we were color coordinated.

Now, to find my ship. Checking the orders in my hand, I compared the docking slip location to the numbers lit up along the back wall of the station. Looked like my ride was at the far end.

Good thing I didn’t have a lot of luggage to tow along with me. I’d sent most of my clothes to storage and had all the jumpsuits I’d ordered delivered straight to the ship, except for the one I was wearing. My carry-on held a few fancy dresses and accessories I couldn’t bring myself to part with.
After all, a girl never knows when she’ll have to dress for a party at a moment’s notice, and it’s best to be prepared.

I strutted down the aisle, aware of all the admiring glances I was getting from the males working around the docking station. But there was no time for fun and games right now. I was scheduled to undock in fifteen minutes and I’d never been late in my entire life.

When I reached the ship, I let my carry-on slide to the floor and stared at the closed hatch. What now? I had no idea what the rules were for boarding one’s ship, and there didn’t appear to be a latch.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the smooth surface of the entry. “Lillith?”

“Who goes there?” The strident voice was that of a middle-aged female. It issued from a speaker I hadn’t noticed, and immediately set my nerves jangling.

“I’m Agent Echo Adams. I have orders to report to this berth.”

“Identification.”

Okay, enough. The ship damn well knew who I was. Everyone who passed through the doors of this place was identified to a fare-thee-well. Even without my biochip I had been scanned and my DNA and brainwaves compared to what Alien Affairs had in their databases. That information was checked against the orders on file and instantly transmitted to an agent’s assigned ship. Plus, the hard copy of my orders had been instantly verified by a hidden code embedded in the electronic laminate page.

“How’s this?” I drew my blaster and pointed it at the speaker. “If you don’t open that hatch in two seconds, I’m going to start firing.”

“There’s no need to get ugly about it,” the voice said with a sniff. The door slid open silently. “You can’t be too careful these days, what with all the riffraff hanging around stations.”

My teeth ground together as I put my blaster away, picked up my carry-on and stepped through the opening into the air lock. “Are you implying I look like riffraff?”

There was a brief and deliberate hesitation as the outer panel closed behind me. “Of course not. It’s just that I’ve never seen an agent dressed so…colorfully before.”

“Get used to it. Just because I’m alone on a ship doesn’t mean I’m going to start wearing those drab, cheap uniforms. I have standards.”

“You mean all your uniforms are that bright?”

“Of course not.” The ship gave a sigh of relief before I continued. “I got one in black just in case I have to sneak around at night.”

Ahead of me, the inner door slid open and I stepped through onto the ship’s bridge. It was bigger than I’d expected, and roomy in spite of the equipment consoles lining the space. At the very front, two stationary chairs faced a command center over which a broad, tempered plexisteel window let in light from two of Alpha Centauri’s suns.

“Your quarters are down the hall, first door on the left,” Ms. Snide-and-Superior informed me. “Sick bay is on the right, and there’s a gym in the rear. The deck below this one has three guest quarters and a mess hall…. Oh! You have a dragon bird!”

That last came out in a syrupy sweet tone and I figured I’d just gone up a couple of notches in the ship’s estimation. “What did you think this lump on my shoulder was, a growth?”

“Well, now that you mention it—”

“Her name is Peri,” I said curtly.

Now that we were on board and the creature in question had decided I was stuck with her, she was sitting up and peering around the command center inquisitively.

“If you know Kiera well enough to have your own dragon
bird, you must know Max, too,” Lillith gushed. “Isn’t he wonderful? So smart and strong. And wow, what a hull.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” I said, moving down the hall. “But we’ve never met.” I rolled my eyes. Only I could wind up with a ship deep in lust. “Peri attached herself to me yesterday during a meeting with Kiera Smith.”

“But Max and Kiera—”

I held up one hand to cut her off as I stepped into the room she’d designated as my quarters. “I don’t want to hear it. Isn’t there something you should be doing? Like taking off, heading out, getting the show on the road?”

My new quarters weren’t bad, considering they were on a flying love machine. They had plenty of space—even a full-sized bed against one wall, and lots of storage. There was even a big mirror over a built-in dresser. Peri hopped off my shoulder and strutted in front of her reflection, extending her wings as she admired her image.

Vain creature.

I deposited my carry-on on the bed, moved over behind her and checked my own appearance as the ship continued. “It would help if I knew where we were going,
Agent
Adams.”

“You mean you don’t know?” Instantly, my palms started sweating. “Didn’t Dr. Daniels give you the locations of the six most plausible quartz-bearing planets?”

“Yes, he did.” Her voice was caustic. “Would you like me to go ‘eenie meenie’?”

Taking a deep breath, I stiffened my spine and lifted my chin. If I was going to fake being an agent, it was time to start pretending I knew what I was doing. “No, I’ll be right there.”

Leaving Peri examining the lav, I went back to the bridge and took one of the seats. “Show me a map with the systems marked.”

A holovid of the Milky Way sprang to life in front of me, its spiral arms extending outward from a flat central disc comprising billions of stars. The six systems, all marked with red arrows, were spread out across the Orion arm.

I stared at them intently, waiting for inspiration to hit, but my attention kept drifting to a spot in the Sagittarius arm, close to where it intercepted the main disc.

And every time I looked at it, the Imadei would pulse against my skin. Faintly, but enough that I could perceive the change.

“What’s right here?” I asked, pointing.

“Where?”

“Here.” I jabbed my finger through the holo.

Lillith ruminated for a second. “That’s the Trinal system. It has three lone planets, and Madrea, the last in line, is the only one with sentient life.”

Giving a satisfied nod, I leaned back. “Madrea. That’s where we’re going.”

“Oh, no we’re not. It’s not even one of the choices.”

My lips turned down in a scowl at her impertinence. “Yes, we are,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “Who’s the agent here, me or you?”

Her response was sulky. “You, I suppose. But I really think you should get Dr. Daniels’s permission first.”

“Did Kiera Smith get his permission before she acted?”

“Well, no…”

“And did Max argue with every decision Smith made?” I asked triumphantly.

“No, of course not. But then, she never told him to go to the Trinal system, either.”

“What’s so bad about the Trinal system?”

“It’s banned, off-limits to all Federation traffic. That’s all I know, because the information is classified.”

Well, schite. Didn’t it just figure? “Patch me through to Dr. Daniels.”

“Excellent idea,” the ship said, back to being her smug, know-it-all self.

There was a flicker from my right and I swiveled my chair around in time to see Dr. Daniels’s image materialize on the deck. “Agent Adams. Having problems already?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “No problem. I just need all the information you can get me on the planet Madrea in the Trinal system.”

His eyebrow arched and a worried expression filled his eyes. “Why Madrea?”

“Because that’s where the Sumantti is.”

“You’re sure?”

“As sure as I can be without knowing more about this thing.” I touched the stone concealed under the front of my jumpsuit.

Wearily, he lifted a hand and rubbed his forehead. “Then we have a big problem.” He lowered his hand and sighed. “The Madrean king shuns the Federation because he thinks our advanced technology threatens his rule. The planet was colonized by a group of technophobes, and he has the charter to prove it. As a result, the planet was banned to all Federation traffic. Unfortunately, the situation is a lot more complicated than merely honoring the king’s wishes, or we might have won him over with diplomacy. A wrong step on Madrea could plunge the Federation into a civil war.”

He hesitated, reluctance to divulge potentially dangerous information lining his face. I decided to help him out of his dilemma. “I still have a top secret clearance from my previous job, so there shouldn’t be a conflict in giving me what I need.”

“Yes, I know.” With a sigh, he leaned to the right and did something out of the holo’s view. “I’m sending the informa
tion to Lillith’s data banks. Don’t share it with anyone. And make sure no one finds out you’re an agent for Alien Affairs. Not only could it spark a battle we don’t want, you could end up very dead.”

Curiosity filled me as he straightened and drummed his fingers on his desk thoughtfully, but I reined it in as he continued. “Once you’re there, contact a man named Marcus Kent. He runs a bar, called the Terpsichore, that’s near the main castle in the capital city of Bastion. I’ll arrange to let him know you’re coming.”

“Who is he?”

“A former agent of ours who passes on interesting tidbits of information from time to time.”

“A spy?”

“Of course not.” His lips tilted the tiniest bit on one side. “We would never stoop to spying.”

“Of course we wouldn’t. Sir,” I gave him a smart-ass salute and his smile became full-blown. “Requesting permission to continue, sir.”

“Permission granted. Be careful Agent Adams. We don’t want to lose you.” His image vanished and I suddenly felt very much alone again.

I swiveled my chair back around to face forward. “Have you got the info yet, Lillith?”

“It’s still loading. There seems to be quite a bit of it. This may take a few minutes.”

“How long will the jump to Madrea take?”

“Approximately four and a half days.”

“Okay.” I stood. “Let me know when the info is finished loading. I’ll look at it later.”

“Where are you going?”

I smiled in anticipation. “To organize and color code my clothes.”

“You mean you have more colors?” The ship sounded appalled.

“Yes, I do. Wait until you see the lemon-yellow jumpsuit.” I sighed in pleasure. “It’s made of a synsilk and linen blend, and I have gorgeous lime-green boots and a matching holster to go with it.”

“Sit!” the ship bellowed.

Automatically, my butt hit the chair. “What?”

“You can start reviewing the first of the material now, while I download the rest.”

“What’s the fritching hurry? I mean, we have almost five days.”

“The hurry is because you’re going to need new clothes. I can transmit the order and your measurements ahead to space station ZT Twelve and they’ll be waiting when we arrive. But you have to pick them out first, and they have to be typical wear for the Madrean culture. You certainly can’t go dirt side looking like you do now. They’d spot you two seconds after you landed.” The ship mumbled something I missed.

“What was that?”

“I said, a person on Old Earth with a pair of binoculars wouldn’t be able to miss you in those jumpsuits.”

“Hmph. There hasn’t been anyone on Old Earth since the last big plague. You’re just jealous because you can’t wear nice clothes. And it’s a good thing. You obviously have no taste. But don’t worry, I have enough for both of us. When this job is finished, I think we should have your hull done over in a nice shade of turquoise with deep violet trim.”

“No,” the ship sputtered. “You aren’t touching my—turquoise? Really?” She sounded thoughtful.

“Really,” I assured her.
Round Two to my side
, I thought a bit smugly. Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms.
“So, how am I supposed to know what typical Madrean clothing looks like?”

“There are vids included in the information. From what I can tell so far, it seems we had agents on the planet until five cycles ago.”

“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”

A vid sprang to life in front of me. It was an open-air market, located on a well-trod, grassy field. Overhead, the sky was a deep blue with fluffy white clouds drifting by, and in the background loomed a massive mountain range. Some of the peaks were so high they were draped in a blanket of snow.

Masses of people swirled through and around booths that held merchandise of every sort imaginable. Voices rang from every direction as the recorder moved through the crowd, some murmuring, others calling attention to their wares. There was a feeling of merriment that dominated the whole affair.

Most of the shoppers were men, but here and there small groups of women eyed trinkets or bolts of material, and a few haggled over live fowl or produce.

And every single one of them was covered from their neck to their toes.

I started to frown as I looked them over. It was obviously a warm day, since most of the men were dressed in sleeveless jerkins. But the women wore long skirts in drab colors, long-sleeved tops, and their hair was tortured into stark knots at their napes.

It was the most horrid clothing I’d ever seen.

Just as I opened my mouth to protest, a flash of color captured my attention. “Stop! Go back.”

Lillith paused the vid and then slowly reversed it until the woman I’d seen filled the image. She was beautiful. Her straight blonde hair fell almost to the small of her back, and
she was dressed in a gauzy skirt belted low enough to show her belly button. Her top was some kind of halter that snuggled around her breasts and tied behind her neck. Each ear was adorned with dangling gold that matched the bangles on her wrists.