Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (17 page)

“I know of it.”

“Meet me there tonight. Twenty-one hundred hours. You can bring back-up if you want, but understand what kind of place it is.”

“I know what it is.” Nick’s Bar was a miner’s hangout, a place where hard drinks were sold to men who wanted to get drunk fast. No wives were allowed there. He’d have to call Allan for back-up because no way was he going into Delta Residence by himself with a company goon on his case, not to mention the possibility of running into the men he and Sonja had disarmed earlier in the day.

“Okay, then I’ll see you there.”

“Wait a minute. How will I know who you are?”

The man on the comm laughed a little. “Oh you’ll know me. I’ll be the guy behind the bar,” he said, then disconnected.

“Who was that?” Roan turned to see Sonja standing next to the door wearing the robe he’d given her last night. It still looked really good on her, but he wasn’t about to let that distract him. He related what Tron had told him.

Sonja looked worried. “You aren’t thinking of going by yourself.”

“I’ll call Allan. He helps me out with stuff like this.”

“Why can’t I go?”

Her face did not look happier as he explained about the strict no-woman policy at bars like Nick’s. But while her jaw set and eyes narrowed, she didn’t say anything as he called Allan and told him to come to his apartment in an hour wearing clothes suitable for a miner’s bar. He did the same, dressing in dark pants and a coarse fabric shirt that had seen better days. He pulled on a cap to cover the stylish cut of his hair and checked out his reflection in the mirror. He looked rough and ready for trouble.

Allan arrived, and Roan prepared to leave.

“I shouldn’t be gone more than a couple of hours. Wait for me, and we’ll do something fun later tonight.” Her answering smile made him think she’d do just that.

He really should have known better.

Sonja waited three minutes after Roan and Allan left before dressing in her black multi-pocketed pants and shirt. She tucked her hair back in its usual tight bun, under a low-fitting cap she found in Roan’s closet and headed for the door. Thanks to her earlier excursion with Roan, she knew how to get to Delta Residence. She also knew where Nick’s Bar was, because Roan had looked the place up on his datastore before leaving, and he hadn’t thought to clear the history after his data search. She had already learned his password from watching him earlier.

So she knew where she was going and was dressed to go there. She took one more moment to collect a few more goodies from her duffle bag’s hidden compartments, and she was ready to go.

She slipped out of the apartment door, this time not worrying about alarms. After all, the man she needed to be worried about was in front of her this time.

He might not think he needed her help, but he was going to get it anyway. It was her sister whose safety was at stake, and she had to help, even if Roan didn’t think she should.

Besides, it was a matter of pride. She couldn’t let her husband go to a seedy bar without her. Why should he have all the fun?

Nick’s Bar was about as lowlife as a bar could be on Ares Five and still be legal. The place was small and dark, meant for people who didn’t want to see anyone and who’d prefer not to be seen while they were doing it. It was crowded, and as predicted there were no women there, and no one Roan recognized.

It was exactly the sort of bar he’d gone to in his early days of being a convict, and for a moment Roan almost felt nostalgic.

He and Allan headed for the long bar that stretched the width of the back of the room. It was standing-room only for a few moments, but when a couple of men in front got their drinks, they moved to a table, leaving space for Roan and Allan to claim their stools.

Roan eyed the bartender as he came over, a burly man nearly as tall as he was but much wider. Clearly the man could also operate as a bouncer if he needed to. Roan caught the man’s speculative gaze just before he spoke.

“You the Dealer?”

“You Tron?”

“Yep. What can I get you?”

Roan and Allan ordered the prison-brewed beer. A gleam of amusement showed in Tron’s eyes as he poured two glasses and placed them on the bar. As Roan and Allan lifted their drinks, Tron moved down the bar, checking on the rest of the patrons’ orders.

Roan took a sip from his glass and winced. The local brew was still as underwhelming as it always had been, made from old grain and brewed for too short a time with too few hops.

Allan actually smiled as he tasted his. “Wow. This brings back memories.”

“Not good ones.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It has character. A nice body, good head.”

“It tastes like old socks.”

Allan nodded. “Probably used them to filter the yeast. But at least it has alcohol.”

“Too much,” Roan said. “They’ve boosted it with the refined stuff.”

Allan laughed. “You have gotten so spoiled.”

“I suppose.” Roan pushed his glass away. “I’ll let it sit for a bit and see if it improves with age.”

Tron was back. “Something wrong with your beer?” he asked, eyeing the nearly full glass in front of Roan.

“Nope, it is just what I expected,” Roan said smoothly. “But we came here to talk.”

“Yeah. My relief will be here in five minutes. Sit tight and we’ll find a table.” Someone down the bar called, and Tron went to answer. By the time a second burly man showed up to take Tron’s place behind the bar, Allan had drunk half his beer. Roan’s still sat untouched but he picked it up and carried it as Tron led them to a table at the far end of the room, well away from anyone with curious ears.

They sat together, Tron with a small glass of what had to be homebrewed whiskey in front of him. He took a small sip and grimaced. “Yeah, they don’t make this stuff back on Gaia, do they?”

“You said you had a deal for me?” Roan prompted.

“I figured we should meet, us being related. Brothers-in-law.”

“Good point. But why here? Why not at your place?”

“This isn’t a conversation to be had where my wife could hear it. I understand you want to take Suna out of here. How do you plan to get to her?”

Roan and Allan shared glances, and after Roan nodded, Allan told Tron about the idea of snatching Suna while on her way to a marriage meet. “We need to find a way to get her entered into the meet and then have some kind of distraction so we can get her away from the guards. Another man would be a big help that day,” he finished.

“I can do that,” Tron said. “But I think I can help more now. When Sulla told me what you were planning, I thought you might need access to one of the company men’s personal p-tabs.”

Allan’s eyes brightened. “Sure could. We could use one to get into the company’s mainframe and assign Suna to the next marriage meet. Trouble is those things are hard to get hold of. Company men keep them close and guard them well.”

“They do, normally. But there are a couple of company men who like to hang out here, for some reason.”

Tron shook his head in disbelief, and Roan knew why. The company had their own bars, which were far more upscale than Nick’s Bar. Why would company men hang out in Nick’s…unless they just liked cheap booze.

“The reason I called you is that those guys are in here tonight, and as usual they’ve been drinking. A lot.”

He lifted his glass and gestured towards a table a few meters away where a pair of men dressed in blue company uniforms were laughing over a game of cards with nearly empty glasses by their sides. The laughter was a little too loud and their faces a little too flushed for them to be sober.

Allan smiled. “So all we need to do now is get hold of one of their p-tabs. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Not hard at all,” came a soft-pitched voice from behind them. Roan startled, then groaned, as a slender boy-like figure dressed in black pulled a chair up to their table, cap pulled low over the face.

One hand sneaked forward to steal Roan’s beer and the figure took a deep sip. “Hmm. Not all that bad. I’ve certainly had worse.”

“Who the hell is this?” Tron asked.

Roan couldn’t help shaking his head. “This is my wife.”

Sonja raised her head, and Roan thought she looked extremely pleased with herself. She winked at him. “Hi, honey. Did you miss me?”

Chapter Fifteen

“So who do you want me to steal a p-tab from?” Sonja glanced over where the men had been looking when she’d crept close enough to hear what they were saying. Two men wearing blue uniforms were sitting together playing cards and arguing good-humouredly in loud voices. She figured they must be the targets.

“I might have known you’d follow us,” Roan said.

“I didn’t, really. But since I knew where you were going it was easy enough to find you here.”

“This isn’t the kind of place a man brings his woman,” the big man sitting with Roan and Allan hissed at them. “Suppose someone sees her here?”

Sonja shrugged. “Then they’ll think I like to dress like a man and drink in bars.” She grinned at him. “I know plenty of people who’d be happy to confirm that’s true.” She gave the big man a once-over. “You must be Tron, my sister’s husband.”

“And you must be Sonja. And you should be going.”

“Go now, just when things are about to get interesting? Never. Besides, you need me.”

“What do we need you for?” Tron asked.

Sonja gave each man at the table a withering glance. “Would any of the three of you happen to be trained as a pickpocket?”

“A what?” Tron looked at Roan and Allan, both of whom had apparently decided to sit back and let Sonja run her own defense.

“Pickpocket. One who steals stuff from other people without them noticing.” She took another sip of the truly awful beer. “That’s what you’re going to need to get one of their p-tabs from them.”

Roan rolled his eyes. “Are you saying you’re trained that way?”

“It’s been a while, but sure. How do you think I managed to get hold of a knife back when the slavers were holding me?” She looked at Roan and Allan, who both nodded. Apparently the pair of them remembered the scar on her arm.

“I learned more than lock-picking from that friend of mine. She was a career criminal with more than one trick up her sleeve.”

The three men leaned together and had a quiet discussion that omitted her. Sonja decided not to take offense. After all, they were just getting used to her. Clearly Roan favored giving her the chance to prove herself. Smart man. Sonja appreciated him more with each moment she spent with him.

Finally they nodded agreement. Roan leaned forward. “So what do you need us to do?”

“Just keep an eye on them and let me know when one of those guys decides to head for the sanitary. Given how much they’ve been drinking, that shouldn’t be all that long.”

“What should we do in the meantime?” Tron said.

Sonja had a ready-made answer to that one. “You said you had a deal for us. Why don’t you tell us what you want in exchange for your help?”

Clearly taken aback, the big man stared at her. Then finally he nodded. “What I want is for you to take Sulla and Alice as well as Suna.”

“What?” Roan sat upright, clearly shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“I want you to get my wife and child out of here. Out of the prison and to safety.”

“But she’s your wife. She should be with you,” Roan said.

“She’s my wife and I love her. I can’t keep her here when things are the way they are.”

Tron shook his head. “I work here five nights a week, in addition to my job in the mine. I hear things. Bad things about what happens sometimes. The men with young wives, particularly those who haven’t had kids yet, they sometimes end up with the most dangerous jobs.” He gestured to the men at the other table, the company men who were still drinking and playing cards.

“I’ve heard them say things that make me think some of the accidents that have happened aren’t really accidents. We know they keep the widows and put them into marriage meets. I think that sometimes they’re responsible for making them widows in the first place.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Roan said, but Allan didn’t argue. Instead he looked thoughtful.

“Every once in a while I get to thinking about the accidents we’ve been having. There weren’t nearly so many two years ago.”

Sonja wasn’t surprised at all. After all, she knew firsthand the kind of men that became slavers, and if there was a company working with them, you could bet they wouldn’t have a lot of scruples. “You think you might be in danger if Sulla is here?”

Tron shook his head. “Not really. Sulla and I have a kid, and that does change things. They might keep a woman from her husband’s family but never his kid. But I don’t like what’s going on, and I worry about her safety. A couple years ago the bubble we’re living in was nicer, the grounds kept up well. You didn’t have to worry about getting attacked on the pathways. Now…”

His voice trailed off, and Sonja remembered how just that afternoon she and Roan had been attacked leaving Sulla’s building.