“I am afraid I cannot speak of the details, Ms. Halford. Rest assured, I made this bargain freely, and consider the prize worth the cost. If you wish to know more, please ask one of the masters. This hive has no human servitors, so I expect they would be interested.”
Not for all the gold on Psyche.I suppressed a shiver at the idea, no matter the promised reward. Taking my silence asdismissal, he bowed and withdrew without another word. For all his earlier flirting, he at least took my refusal with grace.
As soon as the door shut, I fished out the datachip I’d plucked from Varok’s pocket and plugged it into Debbie’s reader port. I didn’t have to worry about anyone noticing I’d stolen it—unmarked, nothing about it said it belonged to Varok, and Debbie streamed the contents to my eyepiece, away from the Collectors’ spying gaze.
And theywerespying on me. While I examined Varok’s beautifully forged documents, Debbie scanned for prying eyes. It didn’t surprise me to learn that the room was full of bugs. I’d expected as much—the Collectors didn’t take chances, and they didn’t trust outsiders near their art.
That was okay, though. As long as they didn’t suspect me specifically, they had too many guests to watch us all. Debbie mapped out the various cameras and microphones while I read Varok’s file and unpacked. The first challenge—getting to my luggage on the ceiling—was easy to solve. Carpeted paths led up the wall, and I found that, as long as I stayed on the carpet, the ‘floor’ was whatever surface I stood on.
My luggage, of course, showed all the signs of a thorough but discreet search. Not a problem, the only contraband I’d smuggled in looked innocuous, and had apparently passed their tests.
The watching cameras made me awkward about changing my outfit, but attending a red-carpet event in my travel clothes would be worse. Packed in a neat box tied with a gold ribbon was the best dress my employer could source at short notice.
I wish they’d taken more time over it, or let me find my own. Unfortunately, this entire plan was short notice, and that was that. At least the dress fit, and I reluctantly had to admit it looked good on me. Unfortunately, it did that by showing off more skin than I was used to.
The deep-cut V-neck showed a lot more cleavage than I was comfortable with. With a hip-high slit, it left little to the imagination. And of course it had no pockets, nowhere to hide my tools. I lacked the confidence to wear anything like this, but today I didn’t have a choice. I sighed and put it aside to get cleaned up.
The vibro-shower made it quick and easy—no warm water to tempt me to stay, just a rush of vibrations taking off any dirt and sweat. And leaving me dizzy enough that I needed to sit down, since it wasn’t exactly a gentle process. It gave me another chance to look through the stolen paperwork, at least.
‘Varok’ was a well-constructed identity, and I only knew it was fake because I’d used enough of my own to spot the telltale signs. Most real IDs were messier. Varok’s fitted his cover perfectly, including an official-looking antimatter license, a certificate from the Argentian Academy of Arts, and a variety of references.
It all lookedtooconvincing. Too neat, with everything in its place. Machines have a hard time spotting that, but give me time and data access and I’d find holes to pick in it. Unfortunately, I had neither, so I kept searching. And found it—a hidden file taking up most of the chip’s storage. It would take me hours to crack, perhaps days, and I didn’t have the time. That didn’t matter, though. The guest roster included three people who’d decode it as easily as breathing.
Okay, Varok, all I need to do is show this to the Akedian artist-in-residence, and you’redone.She’s a spy as well as an artist, she owes me a favor, and I’m damned sure she’ll be able to get into this.Suppressing a pang of guilt, I slipped the datachip into the discreet purse that came with the dress. I didn’t want Varok fed to the arena monsters, just kept out of my way.
I pushed the thought aside, took a deep breath, and stood. A hologram image of me flickered into existence, and I blushed to see exactly how revealing my outfit was. Yeah, I’d never have chosen this for myself.
At least I got to ‘accessorize’ with my kitbag. One advantage of a journalist cover story was that I had an excuse to bring equipment with me—Debbie’s charging unit, editing gear, extra lenses…and my little surprise. Yes, I looked ridiculous wearing a backpack over that dress, but it reminded me I was on a mission. That made the outfit more acceptable.
“Right, Debbie, let’s party.” I grinned at the drone, and she whistled and bobbed in the air, her equivalent of a nod. When I first learned that she housed a small AI, about as smart as a cat, it weirded me out. Now I appreciated having someone to talk things over with. Someone who couldn’t abandon me or rat me out was a rarity in my line of work. The last time I’d tried confiding in another sapient being, I ended up running from a furious security team and barely getting off-planet in one piece.
No thanks. I’ll stick to working on my own; ‘partner’ is just another word for ‘vulnerability.’
Debbie hovered after me as I stepped out into the hall, pushing a confident smile onto my face.
And walked straight into a living wall of muscle. I careened off him, struggling to keep my balance by whirling my arms. Just as I thought I had it under control, my heel caught on the carpet, tripping me.
The forcefield, designed to stop wind and cold, didn’t even slow me as I tipped back off the walkway and into the freezing winds outside. The cold sucked the air from my lungs and, far below, the snow-covered plaza beneath the Hive looked almost hungry for me to fall to a bone-shattering demise.
Somehow, I was more annoyed than afraid. What aperfectend to this stupid evening a broken neck would be.
I jerked to a stop before I fell far. Silver hands gripped my arms with a surprisingly delicate touch, golden eyes bored into mine, and full, strong lips curved into a smile.
Varok leaned through the forcefield, holding me up. We hung there, anchored by his weight, staring at each other. It felt like a billion years passed before he spoke, and when he did, I strained to hear him over the howling wind.
“Careful there,” he said, his voice a low rumble that sent a shiver through me even though I could barely make out his words. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself. Especially not while you have my ID.”
“Fuck you,” I replied. Not my wittiest retort, but the best I could muster while flustered and hanging over an abyss.
He didn’t show any anger at my rudeness, which irritated me even more. Laughing, he pulled me closer. “Return my property, Penny.”
That’s not all you want.I bit back the words. I’d already pushed my luck, and taunting the man holding me over a deadly drop wasn’t the best idea.
“No idea. What you’re. Talking about,” I said instead, gasping for breath as the freezing wind ripped the warmth from my shaking body.
Varok bared his teeth in a predatory smile, baring teeth that could tear out my throat. It should have been terrifying. Instead, my pulse raced for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.
“We’re here for the same reason. Give me back my datachip, and I don’t care what you steal as long as you don’t get in my way.”
