Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) (22 page)

The idea of it should have frightened her.
Instead it infuriated her. How dare he try to blackmail her. Take
her away from the station and her bots? It would take more than
someone like Ricardo to do that. It reinforced the feeling he was
up to something.

Her eyes drifted lower to the pad he was still
working on. She needed to get it away from him, see what held his
attention.

"The pad, grab it," she said under her breath
at the bots that had come to a stop near her feet. Several of the
miniature robots disappeared. Even louder she said to distract him,
"You're forgetting one thing."

He let out a harsh breath while raising his
head to regard her. "My patience is ending."

"You're not the only one," Tish said. "Like I
said, you are missing something."

He glared at her. "Oh fine. You want to say
something? Spill it."

Tish gave a pleased smile. "The bots and
station have accepted me."

His glare grew even more fierce, his hand
tensing on the pad. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Unfortunately for you, it means
everything."

Several small bots appeared out of the wall,
reaching out with their hands. With one fast movement they had the
pad and disappeared back into the wall. With a howl of anger,
Ricardo dove after them, but only found a standard maintenance wall
in front of him.

The wall next to her shifted, and she grabbed
the pad the bots within it held out to her. It took only one glance
to see several schematics and systems updates.

Her hands gripped so hard the surface of the
pad warped. "The warbots. You were the one giving them
instructions."

His fist hit a pipe as he whirled at her.
"Give it back."

The fury grew so much her hands shook. It
wasn't enough he wouldn't listen to the bots or the station. He was
one of those who wished Redpoint One damaged. Who had aided the
attack.

"Not that it will do much good, not with the
self-defense systems back up and running." Another overhead light
came on as she handed the pad to one of the bots at her feet. "Take
this to the head of security."

The bot chirped at her, took the pad, and
disappeared down a corridor. She turned back to Ricardo to find him
aiming something small in one hand at her.

"A weapon?" She asked, tilting her head to the
side, crossing her arms over her chest. Another certainty came over
her, and she glanced briefly up at the ceiling before smiling. "By
the way, the last of the warbots have been taken care of. You're a
pirate."

"And you are dead," he said, raising the
weapon higher. The dark glimmer in his eyes told her he was
completely serious when he said it.

The station told her to hold her ground, and
she managed not to even flinch as the small weapon fired. A small
shot of plasma erupted, splattering against an invisible wall
between them. It disappeared just as fast, leaving Tish
unharmed.

"You should worry about yourself," Tish said.
She pointed to the other side of him. "The station itself is wise
to what you are doing."

He turned and started. Not only at the line of
bots facing off from the other side of him, but at the long
swiveling white and black barrel coming out of the ceiling to point
at him.

"The station is repairing itself," Tish said
quietly, knowing he could hear every word. "And now you get to
explain why you did it."

He shook his head at her, giving her a foul
look. "Consider the secret told."

She watched as the bots surrounded and
escorted him down the corridor. With each of his steps she knew her
fate was sealed, as well.

A questioning whistle snapped her out of it.
She looked down at Crimson, who stared back up at her. "Time to
face it all, isn't it."

The sounds Crimson made back at her said that
the bot didn't really understand. It didn't matter. Tish
understood.

It all boiled down to one thing. She needed to
tell the truth, and the truth would mean she'd lost Redpoint One,
just like the truth had taken everything else away. Only this time
she was losing more.

This time she was losing part of her
heart.

Oh, but for one more time to see
Arthur.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

ARTHUR PACED THE maintenance platform. Rachel worked quietly
on a repair bench, helping a group of multiple-sized bots to repair
other bots. He should help her, but he knew he wouldn't be able to
concentrate on the job. Or would be able to concentrate on any job
until all his crew was safely back.

Rachel cast him an amused smile, but she
didn't say anything. Just as well. He was liable to say something
he didn't want.

He didn't like it. He didn't like being out of
control in this way. He'd realized on the way back to the
maintenance platform that he wasn't going to be able to be
objective where Tish was concerned. It was a danger to both of them
and his crew.

She fit in. They couldn't afford to lose her.
He had only one option. Assign her to the smaller maintenance
platform on the other side of the station under the supervision of
Allegra Benito. But even that pained his heart. He wanted her
around his maintenance platform, not another. She belonged next to
him.

Then he saw her coming down one of the
corridors. One of her bots led the way. A very satisfied smile
played on Tish's lovely mouth. He stopped at the edge of the
platform, his eyes watching the lovely mouth curve into an even
larger smile when she caught sight of him.

And he knew he was sunk, no matter what he
did.

"I see you are back," Tish said as she came to
a stop in front of him. With him on the raised platform she looked
even smaller than usual. Small, delicate, and infinitely
huggable.

He shoved his hands into his pockets,
mimicking, "I see you found your way back alone."

"I had help," she said, gesturing to her bot.
"How badly damaged was the freighter?"

"Only surface damage. The pirates wanted them
intact."

"Both? I only saw one?"

Arthur straightened up, crossing his arms over
his chest as she joined him on the center raised platform. "There
was a hospital ship right behind it they tried to dock
with."

"Why would they want a hospital
ship?"

"The medications could be sold for a lot of
money, but personally, I think they wanted a new base. The hospital
ships are designed for long-term orbits with self-sustaining
systems."

The smile left Tish's face. "A new
base?"

Arthur nodded, "That's what I think. Just a
guess, without being able to ask them."

Tish's grin returned, "And we stopped
them."

"It appears you've made an impression. With
the bots, with the station," Arthur said, inclining a nod towards
her. He took a deep breath and extended his hand. "You may have
been here a short amount of time, but you are already a part of the
team. Consider the trial period over. Welcome to Redpoint
One."

Her eyes went wide as she cautiously took his
hand, her skin soft against his. "Does that mean I'm staying? For
good?"

"I think the bots would be rather angry if you
tried to leave. You've been honest in all your dealings, earning
the respect of everyone who has worked with you, a hard worker." He
put a hand on her back to guide her towards the back of the room.
"Speaking of bots."

Rachel looked up from the workbench, stepping
back to reveal a partially repaired bot body casing. The hair tie
around one eyestalk definitively identified the bot.

Tish ran forward with a cry of,
"Violet!"

Arthur stood back as Tish made much of the
little bot. Smaller bots continued the repairs. Rachel grinned at
him as she stood back and looked on.

"Violet will be okay?" Tish asked, rubbing a
hand over the shell.

"Takes a lot to destroy a bot. They're highly
repairable," Rachel said as she put several tools away. "She'll be
ready to go tomorrow morning."

Tish pulled a small cube out of the top of her
shirt, staring at it sadly. "Not always. Aqua didn't make
it."

Violet reached out with a shaky hand to take
it out of her hand, whistling encouragingly. Several bots clustered
around Violet to stare at the cube and stroke it gently with metal
hands and the tips of tools.

Tish let her hand drop. With some concern
Arthur saw a tear streak down her cheek. She took off her
identification band and set it on the bench. "And I don't belong
here."

She ran out of the room and out of the
platform before he could stop her. Crimson took off after her with
a flurry of worried whistles. Violet lifted herself up off the
bench and shakily followed despite Rachel's attempts to get her to
stay. The rest of the bots stayed on the bench, staring off at the
run-aways, one of them still holding the small white
cube.

Rachel frowned, putting her hands on her hips.
"What was that about?"

Arthur stared in the direction she'd fled. "I
don't know, but I'm going to find out."

***

Tish made it to her apartment despite all the tears. She
headed into the bedroom to grab the luggage stored in the back of
the closet. She started throwing things into them, then had to stop
and fold them right or everything wouldn't fit.

Crimson and Violet followed her around her
bedroom and the rest of the apartment as Tish grabbed her
belongings. They whistled, chirped, and beeped questions at her,
but she was crying too hard to try and answer.

She sealed one box, setting it aside. Grabbing
tissues she dried her tears so she could see well enough to
continue.

Another chime came at the door. She didn't
answer it. She didn't want anyone else around her other than her
bots, and even having them around was hard enough. She didn't want
to leave them, wishing with all her heart that she could bundle
them into her luggage to take with her.

"Tish, get out here," Arthur
yelled.

Tish jumped. She sniffed big and dried her
face one more time before creeping out of the bedroom.

Arthur stood next to the dining room table,
focusing all his attention on her the moment she emerged. He held
his body rigid, the muscles along his jaw twitching. His light-blue
shirt still showed the ravages of their day, sporting several dark
spots and streaks. His hair stuck up along the back, a faint shadow
of a beard smudging his face.

All in all, looking completely rumpled and
adorable. It was almost enough to set her right back into
crying.

He dropped the identification band on the
table where it rolled and clattered before settling somewhere
towards the middle. "Explain this?"

She turned away from him to look out the
window. Oh, how she would miss the view, even after this short of
time. But, mostly she would miss the one who stood behind her. A
man out of her reach, and yet someone she already didn't want to
live without. Yet, to even work with him on a daily basis was too
much to ask.

"Tish, what is it?" He said from just behind
her. In the glass of the sliding doors she could see him looking
down at her.

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned and
moved around him, heading for the bedroom. She pulled a small bag
out from the bottom of her luggage. She carried it into the next
room and dumped the contents out onto the table next to the
identification band.

She couldn't help but stare at the
identification band. The item that declared to everyone she was a
part of the station. A part of the crew. That she belonged. She so
badly wanted to pick it up and put it back around her wrist. Her
wrist felt bare without it.

She saw Arthur reach out and pick up one of
the bottles. And hear him say, "I see."

"I wasn't totally truthful," she started, and
then stopped unsure how much she should say. Would it make any
difference anyway? It hadn't with Walt. "I knew it didn't make a
difference to the Free Trade Association, so I didn't put it on my
application."