Future Prospect (20 page)

Colan looked at Lia, wondering how to approach this particular situation. He could hardly ask her to wait here, or suggest she curl up in his bed and wait for him to return, if there was going to be another explosion just across the street. But he didn’t want to lose track of her either.

“Lia, head back to the residence. I’m sending everyone over there to clear this section of the settlement,” Zashi said.

“Right. I’ll help out over there.” Lia stepped back in to get her boots, and Colan repressed a rumble of dissatisfaction. Their time together was ending far too soon. But Zashi was right; she’d be safer there.

“Are Gina and the boys safe?”

Zashi nodded as he stepped aside so Colan could put on his own footwear. “She wanted to join in the negotiations, but her boys were frightened, so she went with them.”

The security officer started back down the steps, his armor making him nearly invisible in the gloom. “Tor, meet me at the science station. Lia, be careful.” Then, he disappeared into the night, leaving Colan a few minutes of privacy with Lia. Civilized man, that Zashi.

“Lia—”

“There’s no time…be careful, Colan.” She slid away from his hand and clattered down the ladder before he could react. What had just happened? No embrace, no emotional goodbye? He might be going to his death, and she just walked away? He shook his head and tamped down his temper. Now was not the time to contemplate what motivated Liliane Frei. He had to negotiate with a delusional scientist sitting on top of who knew how much explosive substance.

* * * *

The science station had an eerie aura of tension. All the lights blazed from windows, and there were no people other than one woman in deep blue clothing standing at the entrance, her firm stance a clear signal she was there to prevent entry. Colan didn’t recognize her, so she must be one of the new settlers, recruited to help with security. As he approached her, she gave him a searching look.

“Citizen Nestor?”

As he nodded, she stepped aside, and he noticed the stunner hanging from a holster at her waist. Zashi certainly took this seriously. He entered the building, and the woman closed the door quickly behind him as if someone would try to sneak in. The main corridor was also deserted, but since he knew where Riva’s office was located, he went that way, trying not to think about Lia and concentrate on whatever he might be facing soon.

Turning the corner, he saw several people clustered in the hall; all were in various stages of dress, all radiating stress. They turned to him with expressions of concern, and he identified himself, hardly wanting to be stunned down. One of the men pointed farther down the hall, and Colan edged past them as they quietly pressed against the walls to let him by. One more turn and he saw Zashi crouched behind a makeshift barricade of an overturned desk.

Alert to movement, the other man spotted him and motioned to join him behind the barrier.

“She’s in there. Thermal reads indicate she’s alone, but there’s some hot equipment which could be obscuring another body’s presence. All the monitors are covered up with some sort of foam. She’s turned on some motors, so it’s hard to get an audio link to her for a remote stun attempt. And she’s refusing to use her datpad for communication. So we have to shout which just raises everyone’s stress level.” Zashi paused in his report to shoot Colan an appraising look. “Lia leave all right?”

“Just after you did.” As if she couldn’t wait to get away from him. Again.

The security officer nodded once and turned back to face the closed door of Riva’s office. Colan knew it well. He didn’t need the small name tag attached to the wall to orient himself.

“I’ve sent in three nerve bots, but whatever equipment she’s turned on is interfering with their telemetry. I can’t get visual, audio, and I certainly can’t get a clear shot at her.”

“You’re going to shoot her?”

“Anesthetic. When it’s safe to do so.” Zashi glanced at some small displays scattered behind the desk. All they showed were cascades of static other than one which showed a very useful view of the floor, including the legs of a table and chair casters.

“Riva!” Zashi raised his voice, not shouting or sounding angry. Colan wondered if he’d be able to sound so calm. “Colan Nestor is here to talk with you. Open the door so you can see him.”

“No!”

Colan heard Riva shout her refusal from the locked office. Zashi tapped his datpad a few times and shook his head. “Colan. Are you really there?”

“I am, Riva. Come on out so we can talk.” Colan spoke loudly but increased his volume when the security officer wound his finger in the air.

“I can’t, Tor. I can’t. I need to tell you something.”

Colan wondered what sort of embarrassing or incendiary statement she was going to make. Despite the imminent threat of being blown up, he really didn’t want Zashi to hear anything from Riva about their long-ago relationship. The security officer would be bound to report it back to Lia, and then where would he be? Alone in his bed, that’s where. Not that his current situation was all that desirable an alternative.

“Tell me, Riva, then we can go get something to drink at Joli’s, like old times.”

“I did it, and I’m so sorry, Colan.”

“What did you do?” He didn’t want to hear her confession. He didn’t want to have to accept that the woman he’d been involved with had murdered innocent people.

“I’m stopping the genocide, that’s all. I killed them, and I can’t believe it was even me. Why aren’t they leaving?” Her muffled voice grew even more difficult to hear behind the door, and against his better judgment, he leaned forward. He thought he heard a sob.

“Why did you do it, Riva?” Zashi nodded his head at Colan as if he said the right thing all while his fingers flew across the datpad. He seemed to be trying to activate something, and Colan glanced down at the displays to see a pair of feet pacing in front of the bot with a clear signal, the small device perched on the floor under a work table. Maybe it was far enough away from the running machines on the bench to maintain its transmission. From what he could see on the shaky datpad display, Zashi was trying to coax the tiny bot into position as Colan talked with her.

“All those poor creatures, innocent, not knowing they’re going to be destroyed by greed. I mixed up that brew the boys were so proud of. Those boys are a menace, making dangerous substances. Gina should have sent them away when their father disappeared rather than keep them so isolated out here. She doesn’t have time to care for them properly, and they run wild—”

Riva stopped talking, and Colan watched as her feet moved out of camera range. Damnit.

“Riva, it would be great if you would open the door. I want to make sure you’re all right.”

“Why? You didn’t care if I was all right when you broke things off with me. Crushing my heart and ignoring me. Going off on a survey like I didn’t matter!” Riva shrieked the last, but her feet had appeared again. Colan glanced at Zashi, but he was apparently too engrossed in the view on the display to react to Riva’s commentary about Colan’s lack of sensitivity in the relationship department.

“Keep her talking. This bot is near the door, and that’s where she stands when she’s trying to be heard,” Zashi whispered as he nodded at the display.

“I’m really sorry about that, Riva. I should have handled it better.” He could have, but he hadn’t really thought she was all that engrossed in him before he’d headed out on a survey of the highlands last year. He’d been gone for six great weeks, doing some geomorphology studies. When he returned, Riva had acted as if he’d betrayed her with another woman. Her outsized reaction had made it easy for Colan to allow their personal association to wither. He’d been relieved at the time. Riva hadn’t been an easy bed partner to please. But thinking of sexual compatibility made him recall Lia shuddering in his arms, and he felt an ache in his gut. What had he done wrong?

“I’ll make you sorrier!” Riva threatened in a howl, and Zashi tensed. Colan ducked even farther behind the fragile barricade and shook his head at the other man. The security officer made a ‘keep talking’ motion with his hand, and Colan swallowed despite his suddenly dry mouth.

“Please, Riva, come out so we can talk face to face. Wouldn’t you prefer that?”

“I would, Tor, I really would.” She sounded close to tears now—rapid emotional swings, not a good sign this would end without a tragedy of some sort.

“Then please, open the door and come to me. I’m right here, ready to listen.”

The display showed her slippers very close to the bot’s lens now, and Zashi nodded slowly and tapped a small button on his datpad. The image shook and steadied to show Riva’s feet shuffling away, even as her outraged screech came through the closed door. A crash sounded from within the office, and Colan flinched, wondering if that was the start of a chain reaction of explosions. The display showed Riva stumbling, and then she fell, her legs visible to the tiny bot under the table. As soon as she was on the floor, Zashi was up and rushing the door while calling out to his personnel to advance. Colan stayed behind the desk as three people in deep blue jumpsuits raced around the corner and leaped to back up the security chief, who had somehow opened the door.

Colan followed after they made their way into the room, to see Zashi presumably looking for the explosive material as one of the other people crouched next to Riva who lay in an uncomfortable looking heap on the floor, wedged awkwardly between the edge of a table and the wall. Her face was pale, and he could see she bled from her temple. It seemed her head had struck the edge of the table as she’d fallen. The person checking her over glanced up and called for Zashi.

“She needs medical attention, Chief.”

“Call for it immediately. There should be two corpsmen just down the hall. Copton, you find anything yet?”

“No sir, not yet,” another grim-faced man answered as he scanned under tables and over workbenches. Colan had no idea what to do since Riva wasn’t talking anymore, so he eased back out of the room to wait for further instruction, suddenly exhausted.

* * * *

Lia strode down the admin corridor. Zashi’s short message flashed in her brain like a warning;
Pick Tor up and take him home.
There hadn’t been an alert that anything dreadful had happened during the standoff with Riva Estep, and she certainly hadn’t heard the sound of any explosion. She would have noticed that. In fact, she would have probably flung herself under a chair in a terrible flashback of fear if she had.

She’d left behind the large group of Pearlites huddled in the dining hall, which waited for the all clear so they could return home. Cordon would be able to direct them when the time came. He was the acting magistrate after all. She needed to find Colan. Surely Zashi would have mentioned if Colan had been injured. Not knowing what had happened to him made her lightheaded.

Lia entered the new security station to find it was full of busy people, all of whom were new to the planet. She recognized no one, but they all seemed to know what they were doing; talking, moving, scrolling through data on large displays. Zashi wasn’t anywhere to be found. She also didn’t see Colan or Riva. She interrupted one of the least intimidating-looking men and asked where Colan was and received a blank stare in reply.

After invoking Zashi’s name, he indicated the door of a room in the far corner. Lia thanked him and made her way there, stepping aside as a formidable woman passed her carrying an immense rifle. Were they going to shoot Riva?

Knocking on the door, Lia heard Zashi call out to enter, and she opened it to find the security officer staring at a wall packed with displays and monitors, all showing different angles of a room filled with tables, cabinets, and the fallen body of a woman. A replay showed the woman standing, moving on her feet, falling, and striking her head on the edge of a table before crumpling to the floor. Again and again.

“Zash, what is this?”

“Reconstruction of the incident. Citizen Estep is in medical with a brain bleed.” The security officer said it all in a monotone as he watched the fall again. “I hit her with the paralytic and caused it.”

With an exhalation, he shut down the views and swiveled to face her. For the first time since she’d met him, Zashi looked tired. He’d been through more than anyone in the past few days. Lia reached out and patted his shoulder, the first familiarity she’d ever allowed herself with him.

“Tor is next door. He’s in rough shape. Can you get him home?”

Lia nodded and squeezed his shoulder. He reached up and patted it once, and she gave him a smile. “Get some rest. I feel like I can start running with you again.”

“Let me know when so I can carb up.”

Leaving the room, she opened the next door to find Colan seated at a table staring at his hands. There were lines of exhaustion etched on his face, and his rich brown hair was even more messy than usual. Her heart ached for him. He glanced her way and seemed unsurprised to see her standing there. Or perhaps he was too tired to react.

“Lia. Why are you here?”

“Getting you home. Under orders.”

“That’s the only way you’d be here, isn’t it?” Colan didn’t even sound angry when he said it, and Lia bit back her response. What else was would he think about her leaving him the way she had, after what they’d done together just a few hours ago? She’d run scared. It was a weak excuse, but between the fierceness of her orgasm and the emergency, her brain had shut down and all she could manage to do was retreat as ordered.

Despite the regret, her body warmed at the memory, and she stepped closer to him. His eyes were red and bruised-looking smudges circled underneath them as he glanced at her face and then back down to his calloused hands clenched on the tabletop. Taking a breath, Lia reached out and rested her fingers against his cheek, and he sighed, closing his eyes.

“They don’t know if she’ll live.”

“You care about her.” She was ready for rejection or anger. Even silence, Colan’s favorite mode of expressing himself. What she wasn’t ready for was the quick movement of him wrapping his arms around her hips as he pressed his face to her waist, breathing hard, his shoulders tense under her touch as she quickly returned the embrace.