MoonRush (35 page)

Gil opened up his vid link and connected with Talon. “Get the hov
er
trucks ready.”

Talon’s face, shrunk to fit the screen, perked up with that statement. “You found the Rogues?”

“Even better than that. Inform M
oonb
ase that we’ll need some backup.”

The henchman’s expression fell at that. “Um…
That’s a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Gil would brook no delays here. Not now that he was so close to whatever the Rogues and Mia were on to.

“Nickel Products was bought out by Amalgamated Industries last night, who sold American Justice to Cops R Us…” Talon continued
,
listing the mergers and acquisitions that had gotten them to their present straits, but Gil had stopped listening. This information was
so
yesterday’s news. His gaze had locked onto the old man with his protective unit. This was where the future was. At least for the moment.

“Looks like we just need to merge with another pack. Get everyone loaded.” Gil heard Talon confirm the order even as Gil was closing the link. He was on to bigger and better things.

Gil strolled over to the other side of the bar, seating himself in the chair next to the academic, who seemed less than thrilled about the new seating arrangement. Gil launched in without preamble.

“I’ve caught the scent of a major ‘kill
,
’ but I need more muscle to bring it down. Your muscle.”

The man…
he had the haughty air of a scientist
…demurred.

“I can assure you that I have no idea whatsoever about
—
”

“Does ‘mother
lode’ ring any bells?” Gil wasn
’
t interested in some old guy being coy. He
stopped
the man’s excuses in order to cut right to the chase, just like a good predator should always do.

“Now. Take me to the man who jerks these guys’ leashes…” He indicated to the two poorly disguised soldiers to either side of the scientist. “… Or you can spend all afternoon explaining to M
oonb
ase what you’re doing out here without clearance.”

The two men looked at one another before reaching for what Gil could only assume were concealed weapons. The older man laid a hand on each of them, shaking his head. He then turned back to Gil.

“Follow me.” The three men rose and walked across the bar toward the exit, drawing stares as they went.

Gil chuckled and mumbled to himself.
“Like lambs to the slaughter.”

* * *

The time for whooping was over
,
and the time for finding some
S
tar
D
iamonds had begun. Jarod followed right behind Mia as she calibrated the little black device. Everyone else
was
hot on
Jarod’s
heels. Finally, Mia pointed at a patch of smooth moondust.

“Here!”

Everyone dropped to their knees, including Mia, panning the dust, looking for glimmers of rainbows. Jarod swished the dust around in his pan, riffling his fingers through the dust. A bright gleam painted his face in color. He fished out the tiny diamond. As small as it was, it was the largest Jarod had seen up to this point. He called out, his voice cracking in his excitement.

“You’d better come see this!”

Everyone crowded around, awe clear on their faces. Even Buton showed a more
-
than
-
scholarly interest in the gemstone. Possessed by a sudden wicked impulse, Jarod tossed the stone at Buton, watching as the scientist clutched at the shard to keep from dropping it. Jarod cackled at him.

“That’s what fate looks like, buddy!”

Mia seemed to be picking up additional readings, as she darted off to a new area. “The sensors show more over here.”

The entire crew swarmed over the new area, panning furiously. Rob let out a whoop as he uncovered another diamond. Jarod grabbed him up in his arms, squeezing for all he was worth. Rob almost lost the gem in the hug and the two men had to bobble a bit to keep it safe. Jarod grinned at the boy and rubbed the top of his helmet, like he was ruffling his hair. Rob ducked and smirked back.

Mia was like some kind of deranged homing pigeon, now off in a third direction, calling out for everyone to follow.

“It’s still registering!” Her voice had gone up almost a full octave in her excitement.

Jarod called out to her. “Hang on, Mia. Wait for us!” He had to stifle a laugh as he watched Mia almost pitch herself down the hill in her enthusiasm.

He finally caught up to her as she began panning at the third site. He settled in next to her and starting working alongside her. He noticed her scorpion pendant swinging in time with her movements. She glanced up at him and practically glowed.

“Can you believe this?”

Jarod reached out a hand to stop her almost frenetic panning. “Mia, we need to talk.”

Mia cut off her action and laid down her pan. Her face was a mask.

“I was so excited…I forgot this isn’t even my stake.”

Jarod blinked at her, uncomprehending. Then he barked a laugh. “No, not about that. We’ll more than compensate you for your device.” They both started panning again. Jarod tried to find the right words for what he wanted to ask.

“I was going to…Um…Do you have a…” This was not going well. Dear God, where did his mojo go? “You know…Do you have a partner here?”

Mia’s panning slowed down to a near halt.

Jarod tried once more. “You came to the
M
oon alone?”

Mia shook her head, gaz
ing
off to the side where Jarod couldn’t see her expression. Her voice came out flat, emotionless.

“I needed a pilot and kind of talked this other grad student into it, but…” Mia turned her face back toward Jarod, tears glistening in her eyes. “She didn’t make it off the station.”

That wasn
’
t the answer Jarod had been looking for. He groped around, looking for the right words to say, but all he could think of was,
“Oh, sorry…”

Mia shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but the glistening tracks down her cheeks told another story.

“So is she.”

* * *

Dr. Weigner faced off with Captain Stavros, ready to do battle
.
But
Weigner acknowledged to himself that he and the captain were closer to having the same opinion than they ever had been before. The subject of their standoff, Gil, was off to one side, striving to look like he had no interest in what the men were saying to one another. Weigner knew differently. He had looked into the man’s eyes and seen his soul. What he
saw
there
did
not impress him.

The man did have his uses, however.

Stavros was not inclined to give the man the time of day. “Are we really going to waste our energy on some two-bit
M
oon scavenger?”

Weigner
struggled with himself once more. His intellect
,
and some other unidentifiabl
e
feeling…were at war with one another. He agreed with the captain on his assessment of Gil. The man was not trustworthy. Nevertheless…

The doctor made the choice to go with his intellect. His knowledge and intelligence had always served him well in the past.

“As much as I am loath to admit it, Captain, you should hear this man out.”

Stavros held Weigner’s gaze for a long moment. Perhaps to others, the staring contest would have been uncomfortable. Luckily, Weigner had never been one to assign much import to social cues. He returned the stare, unperturbed.

At length, Stavros snapped a curt nod at Gil, who seemed to take this as a sign to step forward. The captain waved at the treasure hunter in a clear indication to speak.

“We have a chance to cut in on the biggest score ever known. Jarod’s out there with a woman who claims
that
she has a scanner for
S
tar
D
iamonds.”

Stavros rolled his eyes at Gil’s hyperbole. “Who is this Jarod? For that matter, who are you? ‘Score’? This whole thing sounds like snake oil to me.”

Weigner interjected
,
“I know one of these Rogues personally. Dr. Buton Desei. He left a tenured position at MIT to join their organization.” The implied compliment to Desei, as oblique as it was, left a bitter
taste
in
Weigner’s
mouth.

Captain Stavros lifted his eyebrows at the unexpected information. “You’re kidding.”

Gil interrupted, his tone like silk. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

Stavros looked the opportunist straight in the eye without blinking. “For some, perhaps.” The captain made it very clear just what he thought of Gil.

Weigner felt another twinge of his
…
what? Instinct? Gut? It was a disconcerting sensation. One that he would rather not be plagued with any longer. One thing was becoming crystal clear
. T
reasure hunting…like politics…made for strange bedfellows.

Weigner vowed to keep one eye open w
hile he slept from here on out.

* * *

After the initial flush of finding the diamond shards wore off, Cleo was starting to feel like they were now spinning their wheels. The Rogues were all still following Mia around like lovesick puppies. Well, Jarod like a lovesick puppy, everyone else like anxious treasure hunters looking for a big score. Unfortunately, her device was no longer making the happy noises it had been. They had found four gems, each one larger than the last, but now…nothing. And what Cleo had just seen on her wrist sensor was not good news. Not good news at all.

Mia stopped, pivoting around in all directions with the scanner. “It’s not picking up anything. Maybe those four stones were all there were.”

Jarod made a motion as if to push his hair out of his eyes, banging his hand against his helmet. He tried to turn it into something a bit cooler, resting the offending hand on top of his helmet and cocking his hip to the side. Smooth. “Are you sure? Maybe the battery is just drained.”

Mia checked the black object in her hand and shook her head. There was nothing there. It was time to call it
quits
. Cleo caught Jarod’s eye and pointed to her wrist. “Jarod, I hate to be the one to break this to you…”

Jarod blew out air in a huff. “I know
.
W
e’re getting low on oxygen. I noticed that about fifteen minutes back.”