Page 60 of Pets in Space 10
Silently, he stepped closer to Amalena and showed her the announcement about a special governing board meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Her expression hardened as she met his gaze. More proof they’d been sidelined, as she’d said.
He tapped the directory and selected a name. “I’m calling Rhys.” A second later, a no-comms message flashed on the screen. Out of curiosity, he tried Amalena’s company pingref, which should have found her tablet, which was right there on the table, but got the same message. He showed it to her.
“I can’t get through to Iovanna, either,” Amalena said, frowning at her datapad. She crossed to the room’s wallcomp and activated it. “Comm Tech Okonye, please.”
When he answered a moment later, she identified herself and asked if company and private comms were working.
“Depends on your definition of ‘working.’ But it doesn’t matter.
” Okonye sounded weary and irritated. “We just got orders that ad hoc external communications are blocked under a ‘temporary heightened security protocol’ for the special cargo. No outgoing, no incoming until we get to Cartha… oh shit, not again. Sorry, gotta go.” The wallcomp went silent.
“Shit is right.” Amalena blew out a loud breath. Both felines gave her an anxious glance.
It occurred to Gaerynx to check his personal datapad to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with.
It was locked to his biometrics, but slick techs could get around that given time and tools.
The opening display looked the same. He swiped through the contents, but nothing looked obviously out of place.
“I’m no expert. I can’t tell if this has picked up anything new. ”
“Probably have to assume the worst of our roommates.” Amalena frowned. “So, we’re stuck. We can’t submit our reorg appeals. We can’t tell Rhys or anyone else about our suspicions. Not that they’d believe us. We don’t even have the archived records that might make them at least take a second look.”
Her words made a connection in his mind as he stroked the edge of his tablet.
“I wonder… The ship has a computer room. Interstellar starships have their own systems built into the navigation and engine areas. They don’t need specific rooms for computers.
Rhys said both the company ships regularly sync corporate records and archives.
What if that’s all the records? Mokele’s tech said the company has multiple off-site backups.
Complete hypercube copies in the ship computers could be part of their data recovery plan. ”
Amalena’s eyes widened. “That would be quite efficient, actually. The backups would always be physically distanced, and Rhys and the other employees could be productive while in transit. Automatic syncs would handle any current changes.” She tilted her chin toward the tablet in his hands.
“See if our tablets connect to the shipcomp.”
He found the ship system readily enough, but it wasn’t good news. “No comms, no networks. It’s only letting me see the ship map, the captain’s emergency procedures manuals, and what looks like the name of a twitch game.”
She snorted. “Maybe they figure passengers need something to keep them awake after going through the manuals.” She looked down at her knee, where Pavrel was sniffing her pant leg. “Hello, there, handsome.”
Gaerynx smiled, glad that his feline was interested in Amalena. He knew he certainly was. But it was bad timing. “We could try one of the offices… or better yet, the Deck Five executive conference room. One of them is bound to have a live gate to the company hypercube.”
“If they’re working.” She blew out a noisy breath. “Okonye’s ‘oh shit, not again’ didn’t inspire confidence.”
He glanced at the clock display on his tablet.
“I hate to cut our feline dance party short, but we’re running out of time.
Our protests are due in eight and a half hours.
If you take Merix back to your room, you could check the conference room while you’re up there.
I’ll take Pavrel back the long way and check the small conference room on this deck. ”
“Sounds better than anything I can come up with. And I’d really like to find those archived records, if they’re here.
” She crossed to her pet carrier and crouched to seal it.
“Sorry, Merix, but we’ll have to take a delay date for making new friends.
” She stood and slipped the carrier’s strap over her shoulder.
“Meet back at the kitchen? There’s a cup of espresso calling my name. Want one, too?”
“Hell, yes,” he said with a grateful smile. He stooped to pick up the leash to Pavrel’s harness. “Come on, buddy. I’ll break out the good treats for you, too.”
***
Gaeryx accepted the company mug from Amalena, letting fragrant steam tease his nose while he struggled not to frown at Toldt and Pivada as they slowly rummaged through the stable-foods pantry, looking for chaos only knew what.
He’d barely made it out of the Deck Three conference room when he’d nearly run into Pivada.
She just happened to be headed for the Deck Four kitchen and rode the lift up with him.
Thankfully, she ignored Pavrel, who did the same for her.
Then he’d run into Toldt at the Deck Five lift doors, where the man just happened to be waiting when Amalena came out of her room.
Tilting his head toward the serving counter, he led Amalena toward the high stools. “Thanks for making this,” he said in a normal tone, then much more quietly, he murmured, “Deck Three conference room has no live hub, but a new little dome.” He jiggled the datapad in his hand. “I’m making a map.”
“You’re welcome.” As she set her cup on the bar and pulled the stool out, she added quietly, “Sypher was already in the executive conference room. Said nothing in there was working.” Her lips thinned with annoyance. “Might even be true.”
He pulled out his own stool, then set his cup and datapad on the counter.
“Something’s changed. Our roommates are now wearing earwires.
” He sipped the very decent espresso and glanced at Toldt and Pivada, who had gone silent and almost still.
“Might be how they’re hearing us and finding us so fast. I suspect they aren’t going to let us be alone anymore. ”
“Just farking fabulous.” Her disgruntled tone perfectly matched his feelings. “We’ll just have to find places we haven’t been. They can’t have decorated every room yet.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw subtle movements on Toldt’s throat that suggested the man was subvocalizing into his earwire.
Gaerynx irritably thought about testing his kinetic talent to see if he could strip the earwires off their jawlines, but even if he could, the momentary satisfaction wouldn’t be worth the fallout.
They’d probably lock him in his room and charge him with assault once they got back to Ivyar.
Minders didn’t usually get the presumption of innocence consideration like everyone else.
Amalena drummed her fingers gently on the outside of her mug. “If the company network isn’t connecting, maybe we could find where the data hypercube is stored and access it at the source.” Her expression soured. “Unless it’s in the space on Deck Three south that the security team took over.”
Memory sparked. He started to speak, then shut his mouth with a clack of teeth. “Let’s find one of those places we haven’t been yet.”
The puzzled look she gave him turned speculative. “We could check our cargo.”
“Good idea.” He shot her a sharp smile. “Let’s finish our coffee, then take a stroll.”
“If we split up,” she murmured between sips, “they’ll have to divide their team to keep an eye on us.”
A part of him didn’t want to be separated from her, but he ignored it. If his idea panned out, they’d need to know how long it took the security team to react to unexpected behavior. “I’ll take the long way from here if you take the short way.”
She nodded. “I want my coat. I’ll meet you at the Deck Three lift or the cargo hold.”
Quelling his restlessness, he made himself sit quietly with her and finish their coffees.
Knowing that Toldt and Pivada had to keep up the pretense of caring about what was in the pantry made the delay a little more enjoyable.
When Amalena unexpectedly entered the lift to Deck Five and he headed toward the lift on the far side of the staterooms, he had to hide his smile at the sudden whispered argument he heard behind him.
According to his datapad’s clock display, he was out of sight nearly four minutes and into the Deck Three lift before Sypher narrowly slipped through the closing doors, then stared at the ceiling like it had the winning lottery numbers.
The man’s idea of pretending to be an anonymous stranger, apparently.
Gaerynx had already checked the lift for extra little domed decorations, but hadn’t seen any, and it would be hard to hide one on the perfectly smooth, gray surfaces.
At Deck One, he stepped out of the lift.
Sypher exited, too, but didn’t follow Gaerynx as he headed north around the corner and down the wide corridor toward Cargo Hold CH-6.
Gaerynx leaned his shoulder against the wall and woke his datapad. He added a little squiggle to the part of his map that showed the lift he’d just ridden was clear of monitors. The shape of a plan was forming in his head, but the loose threads kept distracting him.
Several minutes later, the sound of voices signaled Amalena’s arrival.
“…Kirilov, is it? Your partner went that way.” Sypher’s word choice had a hint of innuendo.
“My ex broke the restraining order?” The exaggerated shock in Amalena’s reply made Gaerynx smile. “Oh, you mean my coworker, Mr. Triplo.”
She sailed around the corner moments later, amusement playing across her face.
He gave her a quick grin as he palmed the hold’s access panel.
The door frame flashed green before the door irised open and lights came on inside the featureless room.
He and Amalena crossed the wide entry. As he stepped closer to the unmarked green crate, she veered toward the interior wallcomp and palmed the access panel below it.
The hold’s door obligingly irised closed.
“Okay, Gaerynx, talk fast, or Sypher will think we’re in here for a quick hot-connect against the wall.”
“In his dreams. I think the company hardware is on Deck Two in a room labeled ‘Computer Nexus.’” He briefly explained how he and Pavrel had found it. “Ships don’t need rooms for comps because their command and control systems are built into the walls and consoles.”
“That sounds promising, but how do we get there without our roommates stopping us, or get enough time with the computer before the crew finds us and kicks us out? I figure it’ll take at least thirty minutes to get it to share its secrets.
” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “We might need one of our company tablets to gain access. And, assuming we find the records, we’ll need certified copies, which always takes longer. ”
He frowned. “Maybe I’m being paranoid, but if we do this, I think we should take our cats. I don’t trust Rishi’s crew not to hold them hostage or something.”
“You’re right. Rishi would love to have leverage. Besides, maybe we can use the excuse that we’re having another go at introducing them to each other.”
“If we can distract the security team, that might give us enough time to get to the Deck Three stairway. It looks disused, so I’m hoping the team doesn’t know about it.”
“As much as I want to jump on this, I doubt we can do it tonight.” She tilted her chin toward the hold door.
“After this little foray, we need to be dull and predictable for a while so they relax. How about zero-dark thirty tomorrow morning? Then we can figure out how to send them to Rhys.” She frowned. “Do starships have nights?”
“With a skeleton crew, who knows? The common-area lights seem to be on movement sensors.” That added another dimension to his still-forming plan. “Is zero-five hundred a dark enough hour?” He winced at the thought.
She quirked a quick smile. “If it will help, you could absent-mindedly take a cup of triple-shot espresso to your room. Cold coffee is better than no coffee.”
“I’ll need it.” He smiled ruefully and patted the green container that took up the bulk of the floor space. “I think we’ve inspected every inch of our cargo by now. Let’s go be boring for a few hours and meet for dinner at nineteen hundred.”
As she palmed the access panel to open the door, he wondered if it was bad of him to wish it could have been a clandestine hot-connect instead of a plotting session.
No, not bad, he decided, just honest. Except that if he and Amalena ever got together, he’d want soft lights, a warm and comfortable bed, and far longer than three minutes.