Chapter 3
Spy Games
She was shocked at how drawn she was to Flicker. Still, she knew she hid it well. He wouldn’t know, couldn’t know. Her life was too complicated with the deal she’d made with Razar. The leader was buying the scout ship from her and part of the deal for the information she’d taken from the slavers who taken her was a small farm with a home on it and citizenship of Oison.
In return, she had to help them understand the information on the data sticks and teach a group pf pilots how to handle the scout ship. These things she was willing to do. Now that she’d had time to slow down and think, she wondered if her mother had been sold to the slavers as well. Tracking her down and getting her back if she still lived would be her priority.
It had occurred to her that working for Razar gathering information might help her locate and free her mother. “Teresa!” Flicker said loudly.
“I’m sorry.” She smiled at him. “I’ve a lot going on and I was distracted.” No lie there.”
“I asked what you wanted to do. We can go to the cafeteria to eat and tour the ship a bit as we go or order in and decide what to do after we eat.”
“Why don’t you tour me around and we’ll stop when we get to the cafeteria?” She decided.
He walked to the door holding it open for her like a gentleman. It was something she was unused to. Males here were much nicer. It might be because she didn’t seem dangerous, but then again, they didn’t know her.
Once she walked out the door, he closed it and caught up with her. “Let me take you to communications and engineering first. They aren’t far.” He offered.
He was right, they were only a few doors down once they went two floors lower. Communications was a large room full of equipment of all kinds. There were two males listening to the area around them and a large machine that would send messages wherever they needed to go. This was familiar so she had no questions and she indicated she was ready to leave.
Engineering was two doors down and ten times larger. Here there was access to the engines and everything else that ran the ship as well as navigation. This ship was top of the line and she was somewhat familiar with the running of it. No need to look around here either.
“Why don’t we move on?”
“No questions?” Flicker asked and she shook her head.
“Where’s the cafeteria from here?”
“We’ll have to go back up to levels and toward the middle of the ship. Just come with me. You must be hungry.”
She let him believe it was hunger motivating her decisions. It was never a good idea to let anyone know your skills or what you were knowledgeable in. Those rules had always served her well. Now as they found their way to the proper level and approached the cafeteria, the delicious scent of food made her realize how hungry she really was.
As they entered the cafeteria, she saw a few tables full of warriors. Several looked up and silently acknowledged Flicker with a nod of their heads that he returned. She missed the feeling of belonging to a group that she’d had as a soldier and later as a mercenary. Her mercenary group would consider her exposed to outside influences and no longer trustworthy since she had dropped out of sight for an extended period of time.
The food options were both breakfast and lunch items as they would serve in a nicer restaurant on Earth. That was something hard to find there anymore. Many businesses had crashed and food was scarce. Most of the land on Earth no longer grew food stuffs. The oceans were polluted enough that it was a risk to eat fish or other animals caught from there. The Mazlans had filled the ocean with a purple seaweed that would eventually rid the waters of their pollutants now that more were no longer being dumped there.
The safest places to live were in the major cities the Mazlans had helped build. Four were under domes, three were underground, and three were under domes in the water. They were spread around the world and each held about a hundred thousand people. Those were large numbers to feed and take care of, but she’d heard they’d been set up self-sufficiently.
Her plate full, she made her way to an empty table not feeling much like meeting new people right now. Flicker sat down across from her and they both began to eat their food. Someone sat down next to her and she looked up seeing a guy that looked a bit like Flicker. “Phoenix?” She asked and he nodded quickly.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Teresa, you?”
“I’m Elm. My brother Oak is across from you. Our family served Roar’s. Do you know him?” Elm asked.
“I don’t know him personally, but I have heard of him.” She admitted.
“We don’t have many people with hair dark like yours. Can I touch it?” He asked.
“I’m sorry, Teresa. These boys are young and just now learning about how to act in public.” Flicker was obviously irritated.
“It’s okay. They aren’t hurting anything.” She picked up a few strands of her hair holding it toward Elm who touched it.
“It’s soft and silky.” He commented.
“It tends to be that way most of the time. How did you think it would feel?” She asked.
“Hair can be soft or it can be coarse. My sister Willow put too much conditioner on hers once and it was greasy for a week.” Elm said and Oak chuckled.
They really were overgrown boys. She and Flicker finished their food. “We need to go now.” Flicker insisted.
“Bye boys.” She said with a little wave. Both of them waved back and smiled. She and Flicker dropped off their trays and headed out.
“You shouldn’t encourage them.” He observed.
“They’re just young and enthusiastic.”
“Let’s go back to our suite.” He suggested.
“Whatever you say.” She cheerily agreed.
Following along behind Flicker gave her the opportunity to observe his ass which was covered by tight uniform pants. It was well shaped and clearly muscled. She had to overcome the desire to grab it and squeeze. Goodness, she felt a bit warm and needy. This was not the usual thing for her at all. That told her she needed to keep her distance from her personal guard. Yeah, that was funny. How could she manage that with him sharing the suite she stayed in and shadowing her everywhere she went?
A few days passed with her staying in her room researching information and trying to discover if her mom was alive or dead. She’d uncovered some information on Pettigrew Wilson. He’d been a rich man at one time but lazy and slovenly enough even then that it had made it into the story about his drop from the wealthy class.
The man had been cruel, but a little bit stupid and his servants had robbed him blind. Too lazy to do anything that appeared to be work, he’d placed his money in the hands of others. As to be expected, it hadn’t turned out well and at the age of forty, with no abilities, he’d no longer had a place to live or a way to support himself. He’d gone to live in a group home. Since males were hard to come by, he’d sold his services to desperate women wanting children who couldn’t afford artificial insemination.
Even that had required too much since he’d had to stay fairly clean and try to get along with the women who paid him. The writer of the story had checked back several times and the last time he’d no longer been in the home. No one had known where he’d gone but there had been rumors that he’d turned to a life of crime. The bastard deserved the death the slavers had dealt him. Now the slavers deserved to be served some punishment too.
That was her next goal, after finding her mother, dead or alive. Right now her personal goals were on hold as this ship sped toward Oison. Avoiding Flicker wasn’t easy and he’d figured out she was keeping her distance. Elm and Oak visited her every other day or so and Flicker hated that too. His face seemed frozen in a frown.
“So what are you doing today, my lovely one?” Elm teased. He was the more talkative of the two. Oak was a watcher and even though he acted care free, he saw everything and filed it away.
“Since you two Romeos are here. I’ll catch the captain and get an update. Don’t leave until I come back.” Flicker said his voice almost a growl.
“I thought he’d never leave.” Oak chuckled.
“We’ve got some information you’re not going to like.” Elm added.
“Is she dead?” She asked.
“We don’t think so. We’ve tracked down Pettigrew who many of his associates called Pete. None of them liked him and most are thrilled he’s dead. It seems he sold females to the slavers and they in turn sold them to Hattie’s whorehouse on Worlington station. That’s where they were headed when you escaped.” Elm explained.
“Why was no mention of that place made in the computer files?” She asked.
“They were purposely left out in case they were caught. The owner of that whorehouse is Dr. Amerson. He’s a devious and dangerous criminal mastermind. He’d go after every member of the crew if his business was connected to their crimes.” Oak observed.
“I understand. As soon as I’m done meeting with Razar, I’m going to take down that house of ill repute.” She declared.
“If Razar will let us, we’ll go with you.” Elm suggested.
“Exactly.” Oak noted.
“I’ll see what I can do. We have a week to get through before we arrive.” She pointed out.
“We’ll make it somehow.” Elm suggested.
Now with the work done, she ordered snacks that were quickly delivered and they settled in to watch a movie marathon. These two were like two little brothers that were too smart for their own good and trained as warriors. It was odd how she was growing attached to both of them so quickly.
Almost a week later, after many movie marathons and pigging out sessions, they’d been told Oison was near. “We’ll still be able to see you, won’t we?” Elm asked as he and Oak looked at her with puppy dog eyes.
“Of course you will. Probably not as often, but that will make our time together that much sweeter.” She admitted.
It wouldn’t be long now and she had all her stuff packed, not that she had much. She had all her money in a bank account so old Pete hadn’t been able to get any of that and she’d left it alone too. She gotten some clothing and other essentials by trading things she’d taken from the slaver captain’s room or personal things off the scout ship. Those were all the things she had with her and they all fit in a duffel bag.
She heard the call over the PA system alerting those disembarking on Oison to go to the bay to board a shuttle. There was no reason to waste time so she hurried to the bay and went out in the second shuttle.
When she arrived on the planet, she looked around. It was easy to see Razar and Lista standing there greeting those who came off the shuttles from the ship. She was trying not to be noticed, but Razar had obviously seen her.
“That works out well because here she comes.” She heard Razar say to those with him.
The woman looked about her size but she had blonde hair and was dressed like a female. She, on the other hand, wore a mechanic’s style jumpsuit and also wore a hat. Her sunglasses further camouflaged her so no one could really tell what she looked like. Old habits die hard. The guy was cute and looked friendly. The two made a nice couple as did Razar and Lista who she would recognize anywhere from all the pictures she’d see when she’d researched them.
“Teresa!” Lista said loudly and she approached them.
“Lista?” She asked even though she was sure it was her.
“Yes, I’m so happy you’re here. This is Glint and his mate George. She is also from Earth like the two of us are. She’s agreed to help if you have any questions or concerns. Oison is new to her too so maybe you can explore together.” Lista said.
“I’m sure once we get our work done we can look around.” She said.
“What do you do?’ George asked.
“I’m a spy.” She admitted as she looked around to see if anyone heard.
“My job is similar to yours. I’m a communications office.” George admitted.
“That’s interesting. I didn’t think the Mazlans had any tech heads.” She observed.
“You never know what a military unit has. They keep it secret.” George noted.
“Well now that we’ve spilled all our secrets, why don’t we go inside and have some refreshments?” Razar asked.
“Where’s my babysitter?” She asked wondering where Flicker was.
“You mean Flicker?” Razar wondered.
“I do. I’ve been with him nonstop the whole trip here. It feels almost weird not to have him following me around.” She declared.
“I gave him some time off. He hasn’t had any in a few months and he went home for a break. He’ll be back in a week or so.” Razar explained. “Whenever you leave the guest housing, you only need to go to the guard house and they’ll assign you an escort.”
“Alrighty. At least I’ll have some time to myself in my room.” Teresa said. She didn’t really sound all that happy about it. He wondered if his friend may have found his one.
“Glint can escort you and his mate to the housing. They’ll have you on the list and get you into you quarters. We won’t do anything until the morning after you’ve rested.” Razar assured.
“We’ll go right now.” Glint agreed and he escorted them.
The building loomed ahead. “Is that it?” She asked. “It looks like a modern hotel on Earth.”
“It’s even better with its high tech additions. There’s a spa, a pool, and a game room as well as a restaurant or cafeteria. You can eat at either without charge. The cafeteria is good for a quick meal. Their restaurant is a gourmet experience. I believe you’ll enjoy the food. You can also order clothing and personal care products by calling the desk.” Glint explained.
“Sounds almost too good to be true.” Teresa commented. “Will you two be working while you’re here?”
“Part of the time. Our assignments are being set up and we don’t know how long we’ll be here. What about you?” George asked.
“Oh, I’ll be working the whole time. When the job is done, I’ll be settling here.” She confirmed.
“I’ve heard so much about this place. It’s so different from Earth. You need to be careful around the ocean though because these huge creatures can get you if you stand too close. The dessert also has many large predators.” George informed.
“Lista told me about that too. She had personal experience. I bet that scared the shit out of her.” She giggled.
“Would me.” George admitted.
Glint just walked beside his mate and listened to them chit chat. He showed her to her door and she went in. She was sure Glint and George would both be great friends for her to have. Razar met with her the next day and she began giving them information and helping them assess the data sticks. She filled in her free time doing things with George. A few days before her new friends deployed, Flicker came back to Oison.