Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) (9 page)

Wyatt’s eyes narrowed.
Damn straight.
He was going to make Veraine show him each one.

In the early hours of last night, Wyatt had had time to consider what this supposed secret information from Veraine might mean. There were three possibilities. Number one: Veraine was telling the truth and Carron was actually intending to smuggle diamonds inside the robot soldiers to ensure a comfortable retirement for himself. Number two: Veraine was setting up his boss to make it
look
like Carron was smuggling diamonds, undoubtedly to get the High Council to replace Carron with Veraine. After all, just yesterday Veraine had told Wyatt,
I’m an ambitious man
. Although, the only problem with this second scenario was how Titus Veraine could get his hands on stones this valuable. There was even a third possibility – that Veraine and Carron, working together, hoped Wyatt would go running back to Theus with this conspiracy tale, only to have it disproved when the machines arrived in Terra Acer, discrediting Wyatt in the Council’s eyes. So whether truth or lie, Wyatt was determined to make Veraine play this out.

He nodded.

Veraine glanced around, in an obvious move to make sure no one on the manufacturing floor was taking particular notice of them. As if to insure their cover further, Veraine raised his voice to be heard above the whine of the factory machines. “You wish to randomly inspect the soldiers? Certainly, agent Wyatt!”

Veraine moved thicker into the midst of the rows of robots, then stopped. “Three-thousand-three.” He repeated the process with the soldier’s jaw, revealing more diamonds. Four-thousand-four and one-thousand-one were the same. Soldier number one was a bit trickier to examine, since it was in the first row, in full view of the factory floor, but Wyatt stood in front of Veraine to provide cover as the programmer pointed out the felt pouch in this robot’s mouth, too.

So. Veraine was telling the truth. At least to this point.

But Wyatt wouldn’t give Veraine the satisfaction of knowing what he was going to do with the information, if anything at all at this point. “I need to do my head count.”

Veraine’s eyebrows rose in apparent surprise at Wyatt’s lack of response to the diamond cache, but he nodded and stepped aside as Wyatt made sure all five-thousand robot soldiers were accounted for. When he was finished, he turned to Veraine.

“Just out of curiosity, why did you make them all male? Wouldn’t an enemy hesitate to fire on a female soldier, even if it was a robot? That extra moment might be all the advantage we’d need in a battle.”

Veraine’s eyebrows rose higher, as he considered Wyatt’s question.

“That’s a brilliant suggestion, agent Wyatt. I’ll have to bring it up with Mr. Carron. It’s too bad you don’t work for us.”

Wyatt snorted.
As if I’d ever throw in my lot with a double-crossing traitor who nearly killed my partner.

He straightened to his full height. “Two military airships should be enough, if these soldiers can be stacked. That is, unless their sophisticated circuitry makes them delicate?”

Veraine scoffed. “If they were delicate, agent Wyatt, they wouldn’t be able to go into battle. Or crush cement blocks with their bare hands.”

“Right. No need to worry about their comfort on the planes, then.”

“Not for anyone except you and me and Mr. Carron.”

“And Callex Industries’ military strategist Zan Talesin. He’s been assigned to us by the High Council.” Wyatt waved a hand toward the silent robot army. “Since they’re ready, I’ll arrange for trucks to start transporting them to the airfield this afternoon. We’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

“As you wish.”

“Good.” Wyatt cleared his throat and purposely put a little hesitancy into his voice. “Now… if it’s all right with you… I’d like to go back to your lab to make the travel arrangements. It’s… quieter there.”

And Ginger is there.

The look exchanged between the two men told Wyatt that Veraine knew exactly what he was hinting at. But now that Wyatt had alerted Theus, he had no fear of falling into any trap that Veraine might set. In fact, he was looking
forward
to the trap. He needed to speak with Ginger. Sex would just be a perk.

Right. Just a perk.

Veraine gave Wyatt a knowing smile as the two men headed back toward the lab. Veraine obviously thought he had Wyatt in the palm of his hand where Ginger was concerned, but before they reached Veraine’s black door, Veraine unexpectedly steered Wyatt to a small side office. There was nothing in here but an unadorned wooden desk and a matching chair. The room was lit by a harsh overhead bulb.

Wyatt gave Veraine a questioning look.

“It’s both quiet and private in here,” Veraine explained. “I’ll give you an hour to make your preparations, and then I’ll come back to take you to Ginger. I’m sure you’ll want to say your personal…
goodbyes
…to her, since we’ll be leaving on our assignment tomorrow.”

So. Veraine was attempting to increase Wyatt’s anticipation by delaying his sexual gratification for an hour. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the psychology of this man. The insight might come in handy during the course of this assignment.

“Don’t forget me,” Wyatt said plaintively, hinting at the sexual frustration Veraine obviously hoped he’d feel.

Veraine gave him a sly smile. “Oh, I won’t, agent Wyatt. Don’t worry.” He glanced at a readout on the wall of the outside lab. “See you at 1330.”

And then he pulled the door closed.

Wyatt got right down to work. Using his personal – and more importantly,
secure
– communication device, he arranged for two military airships to fly to Terra Acer tomorrow. It was amazing how quickly a huge logistical undertaking like this could be accomplished at the mere mention of Theus’ name. Then he secured four military transport trucks to ferry one-hundred robot soldiers at a time from the Beautiful Dolls factory to the air base. The continuous round-trip convoy would probably take the rest of the day, but the five-thousand robot soldiers should be fully loaded onto the airships and ready to go first thing tomorrow. He’d oversee the boarding and packing of them himself this afternoon.

A call to Callex Industries helped coordinate the weapons delivery. He knew Alyn Rekos from a previous assignment, but Wyatt had never met Zan Talesin. A quick conversation with Rekos was all it took to assure Wyatt that Talesin was the right man for this particular job.

Good. Wyatt needed people around him he could trust.

There was just one call left to make.

Knowing that Titus Veraine had cameras in his lab – and by now, probably Ginger’s utility closet as well – Wyatt hunched over his communication device to hide it from a potential camera’s view while punching in the numbers to a high security line. He wasn’t worried so much about a microphone recording his end of the conversation; he knew to keep it generic.

As soon as Wyatt punched in the last number, the connection was immediate.

“This is Tau Cetus police agent Leith Wyatt. Premier Theus is expecting me.”

The call transfer was almost as immediate.

“Agent Wyatt.”

Wyatt straightened in his chair, even though the premier obviously couldn’t see him. “Sir. All arrangements for tomorrow’s deployment to Terra Acer are complete. Have you spoken with regulator Jaqan yet?”

“I have. He’s expecting you, and very grateful that you’re coming.”

“We’ll do our best to keep Terra Acer safe, sir.”

“Or use it as bait to draw out those damned missing stinger missiles.”

Knowing the destruction the two small warheads could cause, Wyatt wasn’t sure which outcome he was hoping for. Theus’ position, on the other hand, was clear. He was a ruthless leader.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He was looking at the bigger picture: keeping the planet – and everyone on it – safe.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Especially when those sacrificed would only be robot soldiers. Highly technologically advanced, yet relatively easily replaced. Still, Theus was in a difficult position. There would undoubtedly be collateral damage to property and innocents. And national politics. Thank God Wyatt wasn’t the one making the decisions. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Be in touch tomorrow when you arrive in Terra Acer.”

“Yes, sir.”

The line went dead.

Wyatt blew out a breath, and stared at his hand-held device. The home screen readout blinked 1315. Organizing the transportation of five-thousand robot soldiers had taken less time than he’d expected, giving him a full fifteen minutes now to think about Ginger before Veraine returned for him.

He could either idle the time away working himself up into a full-scale hard-on while visualizing various sexual fantasies, or he could take charge of the situation and head to Veraine’s lab right now.

Which also might give Veraine the impression Wyatt was so eager to see Ginger that he couldn’t stay away.

That pseudo-vulnerability might reinforce Veraine’s false sense of power where Wyatt was concerned. And keeping an enemy off balance was always a good thing.

Who are you kidding? You want to have sex with Ginger as much as Veraine wants you to have sex with Ginger.

But how the hell was he going to question Ginger without Veraine discovering his true motives on camera?

He’d have to play it by ear. Take advantage of any opportunity that might present itself.

Decision made, Wyatt pulled open the door of his tiny office, and headed for Veraine’s programming lab. He passed through the outside lab with its twelve identical work stations, all eerily deserted now that the robot soldiers were suited up and ready to go. Wyatt paused outside Veraine’s black lab door at the back of the room. As he’d seen both Rhean and Anson Carron do, he knocked once, then pushed open the door.

Veraine was at his computer screen. Seeing Wyatt, he glanced at his digital time readout, and the sly smile Wyatt expected spread across Veraine’s face.

Wyatt shrugged nonchalantly. “I finished organizing the transportation details early.”

“Of course you did. And how could you not, with such a delicious reward waiting for you at the end of it? Tell me, did you enjoy congress of a cow yesterday? I didn’t get a chance to see you before you left.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose. The man had nerve. Wyatt hadn’t expected Veraine to ask for the specific details of his and Ginger’s sexual encounter. Maybe Wyatt had played his part too well earlier. He growled a warning low in his throat. “Veraine—”

The programmer laughed. “Oh, don’t be such a….
gentleman
…agent Wyatt. She’s a Beautiful Doll. Her sexual skills are unparalleled.” He turned back to his keyboard. “Just a minute. Let me get out of this program.”

Wyatt’s jaw tightened.
Get out of a program? Or start your damned cameras?

“There. Done.” Veraine swiveled his chair around, then stood and headed for Ginger’s utility closet. He opened the door. “Ginger? Agent Wyatt is here to see you.”

As it had yesterday, Veraine’s use of the Doll’s name activated Ginger from her hibernation mode. Wyatt watched as her eyes slowly opened, and her gaze took in Veraine, then turned to him. That familiar warm smile spread across her face. “Hello, Leith.”

That silky caress of her voice sent a shiver down his spine. Damn, everything about her excited him. Why did his visceral reaction to her always surprise him? She was a machine, for heaven’s sake. “Hello, Ginger.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone,” Veraine said, then turned to Wyatt. “I’ll be in Mr. Carron’s office. Why don’t you come there after you’re done here? We’ll need to know details of the travel arrangements for tomorrow.”

Wyatt’s eyes never left Ginger’s perfect face as he answered. “Fine.”

Veraine laughed again, then took a step closer to the Doll and whispered something in her ear

Ginger blinked slowly. “Yes, Titus.”

Wyatt would have given next week’s pay credit to know exactly what Veraine had just told the Doll, but he was sure he’d be finding out shortly. It was undoubtedly an order for another sexual position to try out on him. But ironically, Veraine’s whisper had just given Wyatt an idea.

Take advantage of any opportunity…

“Enjoy yourself, agent Wyatt,” Veraine said as he headed to his lab door.

With that, he was gone.

Wyatt turned back to Ginger, and watched as the Doll took a step out of her utility closet and toward him. Once again, he was amazed at the perfection of her naked body, but before Wyatt got caught up in the mind-blowing sex he was sure was coming, he had to try to get some information from her.

“Ginger? You’re programmed to please, correct?”

The Doll paused, and tilted her head. “Yes, Leith.”

Damn, when she did things like that, she seemed so…human. Just like a regular, normal woman tilting her head in curiosity. He cleared his throat. “Then I would like you to do something that would please me.”

“Certainly, Leith.”

“I’m going to kiss your ear. Then I want you to kiss mine.”