Page 57 of Pets in Space 10

Reading between his words, Amalena assumed the offices had listening devices, but the exercise room didn’t. “Yes, that would be good.”

Sypher and Pivada dumped their mealpacks in the recycler and walked by them silently on their way to the lift. Their exit was like a weight off Amalena’s shoulders.

She had to consciously remind herself not to stare at the way Gaerynx’s sweater defined his lean, muscular shoulders. She wished they were sharing this meal because they wanted to get to know each other better, not because their careers were on the verge of falling apart.

After they loaded their dishes into the sanitizer and wiped down the counters, they headed back up to Deck Five. Gaerynx led her to the exercise room. She could see where the array of machines would appeal to an adventurous feline.

They ended their tour in the media room across from the stairway.

It had comfortable-looking chairs and a massive holodisplay.

He fiddled with the control panel until he found the preview of a noisy, shouting space war game.

Judging from the costumes, it was based on a millennia-old historical conflict from the Third Wave.

“This room and the exercise room next door don’t seem to have the extra audio devices,” he said over the sound of simulated beamer fire.

“But that could change.” He invited her to sit in one of the chairs, his expression serious.

“Before I forget to tell you, my brother’s CPS friends used to insist that pilots and navigators — even busy ones — sometimes get their thrills by listening to passengers via the emergency comms system built into the stateroom wallcomps.

We can’t assume any of the staterooms are completely private.

” He rubbed the corner of his eye. “That said, I don’t think the security team has access to the ship’s comms system, or they wouldn’t have had to install the audio devices. ”

“I think we’re being corralled,” she said. “Kept off-planet and under observation so we can’t interfere with whatever Sainik is planning.”

“I agree.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. “This morning, Mokele, the campus security manager, called me in for a ‘chat’ about the archive fire. It was more like a soft interrogation. It got me thinking, though. What if this isn’t about the CPS?

Maybe the simpler explanation is internal politics. An executive power play.”

She paused to consider it. “I went through the Governing Board’s meeting records.

Not the abstracted summaries, but the full, unfiltered recordings.

Thank the universe for RyoGenomica’s transparency policies.

” His theory helped solidify her own. “A power play fits with what I found. There’s an upcoming vote on a full licensing agreement for HM-8544.

The drug concept portfolio is a gigantic mess, but the vote call suddenly appeared on the agenda three days before Sainik’s reorganization announcement. ”

“I know we keep coming back to this, but why the rush?”

“Because,” Amalena said, realization dawning, “in the meeting three days before that, the acting leader announced that Board Leader Margoth is coming back from her off-planet sabbatical thirty days early. I think Sainik and Dequer are trying to ram this through before she gets back and shuts them down.”

Gaerynx’s eyes narrowed in thought. “I wonder if Margoth is coming back because she suspects something.” He met her gaze. “Rhys Ma’afe has a good relationship with her. I could ask him about her return, or about board-level gossip for that matter, and let him think I’m just trying to save my job.”

“Perfect.” Information was critical to getting out of this mess.

“But it has to be while we’re still in-system.

Realspace comms don’t work in transit space.

” Another thought struck. “The deadline for submitting the reorg decision review request is tomorrow, but we’ll be in transit by then.

Now I’m sorry I didn’t do it the first day.

” She frowned. “Maybe that’s why they sequestered us?

” Shaking her head, she answered her own question.

“No. That’s too complicated. They could just lose the requests, or delay the decision. ”

“Hmm,” said Gaerynx. “The big conference room down the hall has a full virtual holopresence system, but even if we disabled the surveillance devices, we’d need the crew’s help to use it. We need our tablets back. Or our personal datapads.”

Amalena shook her head. “I doubt we’re getting those back before we get to the jump poin—”

The game noise suddenly muted, followed by a three-tone chime.

The crisp, amplified voice of Captain Lecuyer filled the room.

“Attention. Ms. Kirilov and Mr. Triplo, please report to the Deck Three passenger airlock immediately. The special cargo has arrived and requires your sign-off.” After the message repeated, the game noise started up again.

Amalena stood. “Let’s go see what the cargo is. Maybe one of the crew can help with our communications problem.”