Senescence (Jezebel's Ladder Book 5) (25 page)

“Never.”
She knelt and gazed adoringly into his eyes. “Tell me your secrets. I’ve shared
everything with you.”

“Some
secrets aren’t mine to share. If you still want me after your tour of the ship,
I’d be proud to carry you over the threshold of our farmhouse.”

“Is
it the fact that you could live so long?”

“What?”

“My
techs estimate two-hundred fifty years. If we bond, you’re probably afraid that
I’ll die after fifty and take you with me,” she whispered.

He
wrinkled his brow.

Laura
sat beside him on the sofa. “Nobody told you?”
I
didn’t think I’d
spend my wedding night teaching these particular facts of life
. She
explained telomeres and cell repair in layman’s terms. “Don’t be afraid. I’m a
genius genetic engineer, and Mom is a world expert on pair-bonding. We’ll
figure out some way to keep you alive.”

“Smart
and beautiful,” Stu said, eyes roving over her body as if he wanted to memorize
every inch. “None of those other girls shine like you.”

She
took off the tuxedo jacket to give him more opportunity to observe. The moment
she did, he noticed the bruise on her arm. “From the taxi hitting me,” she
explained. “You know, if our date hadn’t been interrupted, we’d be kissing
now.”

He
kissed her damaged spot chastely.

Laura
wiped the makeup off her cheek to show him the slight discoloration there.

Licking
his lips, Stu kissed her cheek with equal tenderness. His eyes carried more
hunger, though. She responded with passionate kisses on his scars. This poured
gasoline on his already raging campfire. They devoured one another for a
delightful time, neither speaking other than soft encouragement. She drank from
his pleasure like that bottle he had offered in Cairo.

The
dress crept up steadily, with a mind of its own.
Bad, bad dress.

Stu
touched her bare behind by accident. He pushed back, panting, onto the large,
square coffee table, crushing the peak of her tiara.

She
made up her mind right then.
Inside, he’s still thirteen, but a chance at a
farmhouse with him feels better than being a queen in Tokyo.

Picking
up the bent tiara, he said, “I’m so sorry. What can I do to make this up to
you?”

Hopping
onto his still-clothed lap, Laura nuzzled his neck. “What boyfriends and
girlfriends do.” The wooden table collapsed, rolling them onto the floor. She
whooped, and they both laughed. He let her shift to be on top. She sat up and
began wiggling to adjust the top of her outfit back into place.

“Don’t.
Careful,” he begged, biting his lip.

“Oh
…” she said, realizing that any contact below was pushing him dangerously close,
despite the layer of clothing between them.

Even if you don’t stay with me, I want this night etched in your dreams.
“There’s one bruise you haven’t kissed yet.” She
raised the hem of her dress ever so slightly to reveal the discoloration on her
hip … and the fact that she wore no underwear.

Eyes
wide in shock, he drew a ragged breath. “I can’t. Please.”

Laura
held him in place, limbs tangled around him. “This
is
our wedding night.
I want it to be memorable.”

“What
can I give you instead?”

He
would do anything for her. What
did
she want? She could get a sample any
time she cared to. Instead, she asked for something she had never experienced.
“Share the bed with me tonight.”

“The
marriage was to keep you safe from prison and a lobotomy. You don’t have to—”

“You
can keep pajamas on, but I’m your partner. Where you go, I go.”

Stu waited for a limo at
the university front gate. He was telling everyone how lucky he was to have
married Laura. “I never thought just holding someone would feel that great.”

Mo
said, “I’ve heard that Japanese women know how to treat a man like a king.”

“It’s
more than that,” Stu replied. “She woke up early just to start work on our
recruiting project. She ordered me breakfast and then warmed my shower and
towel. She’s everywhere at once, three steps ahead, just like her mother.”

Without
warning, Kaguya tapped Stu on the shoulder. His face went rigid when he
recognized her. She pulled him aside, and he immediately apologized. “It was a
slip. It’ll never happen again.” He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“You
know her secret?”

“I
grew up on
Sanctuary
. How could I not? The Zeisses helped raise me after
my mom and dad … passed on,” Stu whispered. “Laura tried to pry it out of me,
but I didn’t tell. I wouldn’t hurt her like that.”

“Just
like you said there would be no sex?” Kaguya said.

“There
wasn’t. Who—?”

“The
whole campus is talking about the noises, the broken furniture, and the tiara
you demolished by banging into the headboard.”

He
looked down, ashamed.
So much for discrete guards and maids. At least people
will believe the marriage was consummated.
“She wanted to kiss. It got a
little out of control. I take full responsibility.”

Kaguya
drew him close into a hug.

“Don’t
kill me,” he begged.

She
smiled. “A healthy respect for your mother-in-law is a good thing.” She
regarded him for a moment. “Do you love Laura?”

“God,
yes.” He closed his eyes. “Other guys have just used her so much for her
talents and her body. I don’t want to be like that. I’m trying to do the right
thing … get her to slow down so we can build something that lasts. It’s just so
hard when I have to fight everyone, including her.”

“Let
me take some of the weight then,” Kaguya offered.

“Pardon?”

“What
could possibly be important enough to drag you away from your bride on your
honeymoon?”

“I’m
interviewing construction companies. Oleander says that the security in the
embassy is a joke. We need better electronic systems, thicker doors, and
(cough) sound-insulated walls.”

“Delegate
that to me. As my family, your safety is my concern. I know how to deal with
contractors and tell who is lying. More to the point, no one will shoot at me.”

Stu
took a deep breath. “Two points. First, is this safe with your condition?”

“Sweet
boy. I have medication, and as long as I have Laura to look forward to on my
return, I’ll be fine. Second?”

Fortunately,
nearly every woman he knew could kill him if angered, so he had practice with
diplomacy. “The Zeisses warned me not to trust any Moris.”

“Laura
and Conrad are the only people in this universe who matter to me. As long as you
continue to make her skip like a school girl, I won’t allow a hair on your head
to be harmed.”

“I
can take care of myself.”

Kaguya
snorted. “The bounty on your blood sample went up to 250 million today. Do you
know how poor this country is? If you show your face in public, my daughter
becomes a widow. I won’t allow that. Oleander has my early wedding gift for you
in the interrogation room, proof that you can trust me.” She whispered, “Go
talk to CEO Hollis about why she had to miss your wedding.”

My aunt’s here!
Grinning,
Stu said, “How can I ever thank you?”

“Get
your tight butt back inside, and let an old woman take the risks.”

“You’re
not old,” Stu corrected, “and I won’t let you travel anywhere without Mo. If
you came back with so much as a splinter, my wife would take it out of my
hide.”

Kaguya
kissed him on the forehead. “You’re such a gentleman. I told them you’d
insist.”

****

Luca Maurier stood guard
in front of the interrogation observation room in the campus police
headquarters. Both corporate and campus security guarded the hall. “Ambassador,
can I talk you out of the having the entire school attend the reception?”

Stu
shook his head. “We need to spot the talents. It’s the easiest way.” Lowering
his voice as he shook the man’s hand, Stu added, “I also need to present a
unified front showing support for my wife. Someone posted footage of her
scratching herself in Cairo and implied she had crabs. The sound track was ‘Lie
Down with Dogs, Get Up with Fleas.’”
Probably Freya, but I’ll deal with that
later. I need a way to bolster Laura in public.

“Ouch,”
Luca said. “You do need to develop a working relationship with the folks in
Rio. If you stick around, Ms. Hollis is going to put you in charge of the
trust.”

“How?”

“The
last wish your mother transmitted was that a member of the Llewellyn family be
on the board.”

Stu
considered this for a moment. “I wouldn’t have time. Could I appoint Laura?”

The
head of security shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Ask the Golden Goose inside.
She’s not used to waiting.”

“Thanks.”
Stu stepped into the office.

His
Aunt Mary, a.k.a. Mira Hollis, greeted him with a hug. “Did you tell Laura
about my other identity yet?”

“The
real Mira wanted to be the one to break the news to her.”

Mary
nodded. “You kids are a good match, corporate royalty. If you stay, and I hope
you do, you can both take over my role as head of the empire.”

He
opened his mouth, but no words came.

“I
understand,” she said. “Nobody volunteers to work seventy hours a week on a job
where the whole world criticizes or tries to kill you. You’re both in my will.
For now, enjoy your bride and some quiet time together.”

“Kaguya
said she had a gift for me in here?”

Mary
gestured toward the wall screens. Instead of a two-way mirror, the
interrogation room had a dozen cameras, infrared sensors, pulse monitors, and
voice-stress analyzers. All were focused on an Asian woman cuffed to the table.
“We found Eowyn for you.”

“Fantastic.
How did you track her down?”

“Easy.
She came to us … on the same flight as her sister, Kelly Quinn.”

“That’s
Mo’s fiancée. I told him he could invite her. There has to be a mix-up.”

“We
started the investigation because Kelly was suspected of selling knockoffs to
foreign governments, but there were no bank records, just a few unexplained
biosample containers.” Stu knew the genetic slang. Since the non-Ethics Pages
had gone blank at
Sanctuary’s
departure, no one could read the Override
Page anymore. Therefore, foreign governments paid attractive women to collect
sperm from existing talents in order to breed the next generation of soldiers.
Governments had borrowed the fashion term because the Chinese were suspected of
mass-producing copies of decorated soldiers.

Stu
fumbled for an explanation. “Kelly tracks diseases for a living. Maybe it was
related to her job.”

“The
street value of those samples was more than she makes in a year. He calls her
every night, but she hasn’t contacted him once.”

“He’s
in love.”

“I
didn’t believe she was an agent until Kaguya showed me the ticket and hotel
reservations that her handler, Eowyn, had reserved under an alias.”

Wheels
turned in Stu’s head. “Mo was
working
for her?”

“Whether
intentional or not, he’s been passing information to Eowyn. Weeks ago, she
pulled strings to get a junior officer like him assigned to your case.”

“You
rigged it so Kaguya would accompany him. Is she going to kill Mo?” He had
trouble breathing. Up until now, the whole mission had been a lark, another
manga adventure.

“Kaguya
is
one of the few people qualified to take out an Override talent, but that
depends on how the interrogation goes.”

“Why
is she cuffed to the table?”

“For
your safety. The prisoner refuses to talk to anyone but you. Check out her
dossier.” Aunt Mary handed him a sheet of smart paper.

Eowyn’s
real name was Eleanor Quinn, a resident of Hawaii. Her British ancestors had
migrated from Hong Kong after the island returned to Chinese possession. He
couldn’t tell if her long, black hair came from Hawaiian or Asian influences.
She wore glasses to read, the sole indicator of being in her late thirties.
However, she could qualify on the gun range without them. She also spoke at
least four languages. Her father was a detective and her mother a psychologist
with Empathy. Although Eleanor hadn’t inherited the family talent like her
sister, her high test scores in school had earned her the opportunity to read
the Mind-Machine Interface page before it vanished. If Stu had to choose one
adjective to sum her up, it would be capable. Beneath the UN cybercrime
investigative services, Eleanor’s résumé listed the Atomic Energy Commission.
She had worked as an inspector for space-bound devices.
Impressive
.
“That’s how she put in the Trojan onto the radio telescope. Who does she work
for: Irish, British, Chinese, or US intelligence?”

“Keep
reading,” said Mary.

Eowyn’s
first job had been as a coder for Mori Electronics, which still paid her an
annual stipend in exchange for keeping an airtight confidentiality agreement.
“Oh, shit.”

****

Stu walked into the
interrogation room with an earbud. Oleander, Mary, Luca, and a few others
kibitzed on the other end. He tried to ignore them and turned on the charm.
“Ms. Quinn, I hear you came for a vacation with your younger sister and wanted
a word with me.”

Eowyn
glared at him. “Was your marriage to Salome business or pleasure?”

“I’m
asking the questions here,” Stu replied.

“Not
until I can trust you.”

Stu
sat down beside her. “That ship sailed when they sent a killer to babysit Mo.
If you don’t spill everything before he’s scheduled back, they’re going
eliminate him just to be safe.”

The
UN investigator paled. “Please. He’s the one decent man I found in the US.”

“Help
me save him. Who are you working for?”

“The
UN.”

“What
work did you do for Mori?”

The
programmer winced. “Before I could leave, I had to submit to Ethics formatting.
I can’t violate the letter of my confidentiality contract or even tell you what
it says.”

“You
can’t lie?”

“No,”
she said.

Not
everyone was formatted to this depth. He needed a way to test this claim. “Do
you think Mo is good looking?”

“He’s
highly appealing both physically and morally.”

“You’d
sleep with him?”

“If
not for the chain of command and my disability, in a heartbeat. Do you know the
kind of control members of the Rescue Corps have over their bodies? It’s
something every girl should try at least once in her life.”

“Don’t
you think your sister would object to that characterization if we played her
this tape?” asked Stu.

Meeting
his gaze, she said, “We discuss such things openly in my family. I told Kelly
my opinions before I introduced them. She’s also more his age. Just because
I’ll never be happy doesn’t mean she can’t be.”

The
knockoff accusation still nagged at Stu. “Did you know she took sperm samples
from him?”

“That’s
legal and probably relieved Mo’s pain and depression.”

“Why
so many times?”

“She
certainly didn’t profit from it. You’ve seen her bank accounts—the flight here
drained them. I think the first time was to ‘unload his gun’ for safer sex.
Maybe he kept asking for it. Kelly used the results to investigate techniques
for gender selection. She tells me that if they have a child, she’s confident
that she could steer the gender to female with near certainty.”

“Why
would that matter?”

“Women
never inherit the Override talent. No one knows why.”
Somehow the talent
would cause women to suffer, and the Magi built in a chromosomal key safeguard
into their gift.
“If she could force the gender, her child would be safe
single- or no-talent. If she helps other women avoid similar pain, I see no
harm under the charter.”

The
phrase made his anger flare. “If you’re bound by the charter, how did you write
malicious software to take control of radio telescopes?”

The
abrupt turn threw her for a moment. “I did so as a tester to
prevent
their launch.”

“Pardon?”

“The
space consortium wanted to use a much larger version of the telescope. I proved
that it could be weaponized and blocked deployment. The AEC allowed a smaller
version in space that didn’t have the fuel capacity or targeting capability for
ground assaults.”