Zero Flux, page 6
“Did Sivía kill her sister?”
“My intuition says yes, but again, no proof. My father’s death could’ve been an accident, or erasing a witness, or cutting out the broker. He was always mixed up in shady deals, and selling the Jumper’s corpse to the highest bidder would definitely be on his star chart.”
She wondered how she’d feel in Luka’s place, but had nothing to compare it to. The brutal CPS trainers who had raised her deserved whatever they got, preferably slowly and painfully at the hands of whatever trackers they were still abusing.
“Will you…” she began, not sure of what she was asking. Finally, she said, “Are you happy that he’s dead?”
Luka sighed. “No, but I’m not unhappy, either. Einar once said my mother’s illness and death made my father permanently angry at the universe. Since he couldn’t beat up the universe, I was the next best thing, because I reminded him of her. He never looked for me when I left town, or even Lumi Silta. To be honest, I don’t think he even noticed I was gone.”
It distressed her to think he’d felt so unloved. She tightened her arm around him and looked up at him. “I would miss you a great deal if you left.” Even the thought of it made her chest feel hollow.
“Thank you, elskan.” His tender smile melted her insides. “I love that you’re in my life, and that I’m in yours.” He pulled her into his arms in a loose embrace.
After a long moment, she asked, “What else did Einar say? Has he decided what to do about the Jumper’s body?” Luka had strongly recommended to Einar that he not try to find out who the Jumper had been, because the CPS might want her back, and no one would be safe if they got involved. Fortunately, the determinedly self-sufficient Lumi Siltans had little fondness for the Central Galactic Concordance government, especially the meddlesome CPS, so Einar had readily agreed.
Luka took in a breath, then let it out slowly. “Yeah, he gave her to me.”
Mairwen pulled back and looked up at him, startled. He was perfectly serious.
“Einar wasn’t lying about finding a record with the location of the ice cave. Because of an old law most people have forgotten about, Lumi Silta keeps a legal paper archive of geomark claims, in case the planetary data hypercube fails. It never has, but the law was never rescinded. My father’s claims are still there, and I’m his only heir, so development and mineral rights for the whole mountain, and eleven others, all belong to me.”
She could feel the rising tension in his back. She wanted to soothe him, but he needed to talk. She settled for moving into him again, increasing the contact between them.
“What about your mother’s family, or his?”
“He was an outlander orphan, and he hated the Ragnheiours as much as they hated him. They squandered their land rights generations ago, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did the dangerous exploration work all by himself and filed the geomark claims just so he could rub their noses in it.”
Some things in the civilized world still baffled her, and spite was one of them. Just win and be done with it or move on. “What do you want to do?”
Luka snorted. “Tell Einar to do anatomically impossible things with a goat, but I can’t.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because Willum formally admitted to killing my father, Lumi Silta law says the families of his victims—that’s me and the Bjartmars—are owed ‘majority recompense’ from his estate. He had no significant assets other than the thirty-three patents, so we each get eleven patents. Because Einar is willing to swear on his warrant that Willum tried to kill me, too, I get first choice.” He ran his fingers through his hair, a sure sign he was feeling pressured. “The hell of it is, Einar probably thinks he’s looking out for me.”
She loved his brilliant mind, but sometimes he got tangled in chaotic clusters of facts. Of course, it helped that she had no emotional stake in the case. She started to offer him alternatives, but hesitated. Sometimes, she’d recently come to notice, people wanted commiseration.
She slid her hands up to his shoulders. “I’m sorry you’re feeling conflicted.” She took his handsome face in her hands and stood on tiptoe for a soft, lingering kiss. She pulled back before her rising hormones derailed her thought process altogether. “Do you want ideas for solutions?”
He blinked, then laughed. “Yes.”
“Send me to destroy the lab and the Jumper’s corpse; ask your energy-engineer cousin Rorno to make the patent choice on your behalf; and gift Einar with the land rights.” She ticked the three points off on her fingers.
He shook his head. “You can’t go back to Lumi Silta alone. It’s too dangerous.”
She noted that he didn’t object to the other courses of action, which probably meant he’d already thought of them. “I could ask Jerzi to come with me. He’s discreet.” He already knew her skills far exceeded those of an ordinary security guard, and hadn’t ever said a word. He also knew his way around explosives from his military days in a forward intelligence unit.
“You are a very unusual woman, and I’m a very lucky man.” He kissed her, then took her hand in his and gently pulled her toward the door. “Come, my angel, I need a shower and we both need to eat. And to ping Jerzi. I think he could use the distraction right about now.”
She followed Luka up the stairs, admiring the view of his glorious backside in the tight runner’s leggings. “I could order takeout,” she offered.
“No, I’ll cook. It’s the least I can do for the woman who says she’s going to move mountains for me. Well, one mountain, anyway.”
“Just doing my job as transport manager.” It was their in-house joke about her willingness to drive in Etonver’s horrendous ground traffic and his willingness to let her. “If the patents turn out to be good, you could buy a small flitter.”
Luka kicked off his running shoes and left them at the top of the stairs. “If they’re worth what I think they are, I could buy a top-of-the-line interstellar voyager and hire a permanent crew.”
She raised her eyebrows and blinked. “You want to travel?” He seemed to prefer life at home, a least since she’d known him. Perhaps he’d given up a dream in an effort to become more domestic because of her. It disconcerted her a little.
He shook his head. “I got my fill of traveling when I worked for the military.” He padded barefoot toward the fresher, with its oversized shower and multiple jets, pulling off his shirt as he went. “But having our own ship would let us accept more off-planet cases.”
It would also give them a way off the planet that didn’t require help from others, which appealed to her independent nature.
She watched with unabashed interest as he stripped off his leggings, revealing his lean, muscular body. She scooped up his clothes, intending to run them through the sanitizer with her own. If she followed her impulse to help him get clean in the shower, they’d have a much later dinner than planned. “I meant to ask earlier, are the land rights worth anything?”
“Not to me, if it means going back to Lumi Silta.” He turned and gave her one of his breathtaking smiles. “I’ve got everything I want right here.”
She smiled and brushed his cheek with her fingertips. “I’m a very lucky woman.”
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Thanks for reading Zero Flux, and I hope it was time well spent. If you liked it, I invite you to read the other books in the Central Galactic Concordance series.
This novella is book 2.5 in the series. Overload Flux, Book 1, introduces Luka, Mairwen, and the CGC universe. Minder Rising, Book 2, centers on a mystery involving a covert office of the Citizen Protection Service. Pico's Crush, Book 3, features new and returning characters in a fast-paced adventure on a paradise planet. Each book is a complete story, and can be enjoyed without having read the series, but your experience will be enhanced if you read the series in order.
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If you’re enjoyed the book, please post a quick review your favorite ebook retailer. Even if it’s short and sweet, it really helps. Reviews are what get books noticed and read by others. Think of it as paying forward for the last time someone recommended a book you really liked.
Find out about new releases before anyone else by signing up for my newsletter at http://bit.ly/CVN-news. I promise not to send photos of my cats or vacations (unless it’s somewhere off-planet).
I’d love to know what you think about the story, and what you’d like to see in future books in the series. Visit my website and blog at Author.CarolVanNatta.com and comment or drop me a line, or connect with me on Facebook at CarolVanNattaAuthor.
I owe thanks to my friends and brave beta readers T3, Ann, Meredith, Jill, Roger, and Melisse, who kindly pointed out ways to improve the story I wanted to tell. I am also grateful for the professional editing services provided by Shelley Holloway of Holloway House, and cover design by Ann Harbour.
In case you want to know something about me, I'm a science fiction and fantasy author. I share my home in Fort Collins, Colorado with a sometime-mad scientist and various cats. Any violations of the laws of physics in my books are the fault of the cats, not the mad scientist.
BOOKS BY CAROL VAN NATTA
Space Opera
Overload Flux (CGC, Book 1)
Minder Rising (CGC, Book 2)
Zero Flux (CGC, Book 2.5)
Pico's Crush (CGC, Book 3)
Jumper's Hope (CGC, Book 4) – COMING SOON
Fantasy
In Graves Below (Magic, NM) - paranormal romance
Retro Science Fiction Comedy
Hooray for Holopticon (coauthor)
BONUS: Keep reading for an excerpt from Overload Flux, the first book in the Central Galactic Concordance series.
EXCERPT from Overload Flux
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DESCRIPTION
The only vaccine for a deadly galaxy-wide pandemic is missing … and the only ones who may be able to find it are a powerful talent on the verge of a meltdown, and a security specialist hiding her extraordinary skills in a menial job.
Brilliant investigator Luka Foxe must act fast if he's going to save the civilized planets of the Central Galactic Concordance. For as a pandemic sweeps across the galaxy, someone is stealing the vaccine. To make matters worse, Luka's hidden mental talents are out of control, leaving him barely able to function in the midst of violence and a rising body count. The convoluted trail leads to a corrupt pharma industry and the possibility of an illegal, planet-sized laboratory. In the face of increasing threats, he must rely on an enigmatic, lethal woman who has secrets of her own.
Mairwen Morganthur hides extraordinary skills under the guise of a dull night-shift guard. The last thing she wants is to provide personal security for a nova-hot investigator, or to be plunged into a murky case involving sabotage, treachery, and the military covert operations division that would love to discover she's still alive. Worse, she knows that two more deaths won't bother their enemies one bit. Their only hope for survival is to share their darkest secrets. With everything in their universe at stake, can they learn to trust one another?
"Overload Flux is a brilliant, suspenseful tale that will keep readers captivated from beginning to end." ~ S.E. Smith, New York Times & USA TODAY Bestselling Author of The Alliance series.
* * 2014 SFR Galaxy Award winner * * 2015 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award Finalist * *
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CHAPTER 1 * Planet: Rekoria * GDAT 3237.026 *
THEIR FOOTSTEPS ECHOED in an empty corridor of Rekoria’s planetary spaceport. Mairwen Morganthur caught herself touching the outside of her coat pocket that held the wirekey, and ruthlessly controlled herself to keep her uneasiness at bay. Though neither man she accompanied down the tall, wide corridor had said so, she had the feeling they didn’t want to be discovered doing whatever it was they were about to do.
Motion-sensor lighting triggered as they approached each segment. At ninety-four minutes before midnight, the noisy passenger area of the spaceport had been as busy as ever, but the commercial shipping section where they now walked was deserted. Trending galactic headlines and bright vids flashed silently on the continuous overhead displays along the corridors, creating constantly changing lights and shadows. It could have been worse; in the passenger section, the animated displays took up entire walls.
She walked two paces behind the two men, like any average, incurious security guard, and kept her expression blank. Her company uniform and long topcoat passed as conservative corporate wear at a casual glance. As long as no one noticed her heavy boots, she wasn’t likely to draw unwanted attention to their group.
Personal security detail wasn’t her usual assignment. While she did usually work nights, it was mostly as a solo guard or security systems monitor at large industrial complexes in marginal sections of town. This was supposed to be her night off.
She hoped the only reason she’d been chosen for tonight’s activities was because she was a name on a La Plata Security Division “night-shift available” list of dozens, and not because she’d stood out in some way. She’d been careful to stay unremarkable. This was the first time in months she’d allowed herself to open her extraordinary senses even a little, noting and cataloging the distant sounds of automation and the stale scents of people. She shouldn’t be doing it now, but the increasing tension of the two men she was accompanying was contagious.
The older man, Velasco, about her height, was entertained by the flashy wall displays in a variety of languages, and softly repeated the words that caught his attention. He again switched the padded strap of the large forensic kit he was carrying to his other shoulder. Lukasz Foxe, taller than Velasco by a dozen centimeters, stood straighter and carried two bags slung over his right shoulder, a smaller hardcase and a larger curved bag, and had a winter greatcoat over his left arm. He was leaner and clearly in better shape than Velasco. So far, Foxe hadn’t said much.
When she’d received her orders from dispatch to check out a company vehicle, pick up the wirekey and a forensic kit for Foxe from the office, then pick up Velasco from a restaurant and take him to the spaceport, she had assumed she would then remain with the company vehicle while Velasco did… whatever it was he was here to do. Instead, for reasons unknown to her, Velasco had told her to come with him to collect Foxe from the gate of an incoming interstellar ship. The need for her presence certainly wasn’t for her company or conversation, because once they’d entered the brightly lit spaceport, Velasco had all but ignored her. She was relieved. From what she remembered from meeting him once at a company event, he had nothing worth saying.
She’d never met Foxe before tonight. Dispatch’s orders had included his company photo, which didn’t do him justice. Even though he was obviously tired, he was handsome, with light brown skin and wide, angular cheekbones, and wore his casual business clothes with more style than Velasco’s ultra-trendy but unflattering suit.
She was already familiar with Lukasz Foxe’s name. She’d memorized most of the Investigation Division’s investigator names and titles so she’d know whom to avoid. She didn’t want the possible attention that came from being in the orbit of a blue-hot company star. She didn’t know what a High Court-certified forensic reconstruction specialist did, but she had the feeling she was about to find out.
She hadn’t quite figured out what Velasco’s role was. From something he’d said in the first burst of jabbering he’d subjected her to as she drove him to the spaceport, he was with the Security Division of La Plata, but assigned to Investigation. She’d mostly tuned him out for the rest of the trip, choosing instead to focus on traffic, which wasn’t well automated, day or night. Etonver city drivers were allowed to disable vehicle autopilots, and mostly did, making for bad ground traffic, twenty-five hours a day.
The spaceport corridor split, and they turned toward the section with commercial interior warehouses. When they rounded a corner to the left, Velasco pointed halfway down the hall to a large cargo bay door of opaque flexglass. The logo said “Centaurus Transport” in huge letters. A smaller, human-sized door farther down to the left had the same logo. The two men stopped in front of the bay entryway, and Foxe looked to Velasco.
“Anything from the Port Police?”
One of the benefits of working for a security company was official access codes for police bands. Foxe’s first order after arriving had been to tell Velasco to monitor the frequency from his percomp. It had been Mairwen’s first clue they were expecting trouble.
Velasco activated the company-issued percomp he wore strapped to his wrist. It was a more recent model than hers; night shift tended to get refurbished leftovers. Tech Division had been nagging her to surrender her clunky hardware for an update.
“Nothing,” Velasco said after a moment. Mairwen got the impression he hadn’t been paying attention to it until asked. Fortunately, his assessment was accurate. Even though she hadn’t been ordered to do so, she’d been monitoring the same frequency via live audio sent to the earwire adhered to her jawline, and had heard only two routine communications in the last eleven minutes.
Mairwen was becoming increasingly resentful at being kept off the net as far as what she was being dragged into. She had no idea why investigators from her company were going to the warehouse office or what they expected to find, other than something that would need a forensic kit. Meaning it was more than a simple slice by interstellar jackers or some ground-based theft crew. But she couldn’t ask without drawing unwanted attention to herself, so she stayed quiet. It was one of the few times she’d ever wished she was a telepath. Most telepaths she’d ever met were under the thumb of the Citizen Protection Service, and she knew the steep price of that all too well.
