Читать книгу The Pleasure Palace - Evangeline Anderson - Страница 7

Tyson was right on time at Gate Three in the private sector of the space port, which was considerably cleaner and more luxurious than the port proper. The huge, arching white shield wall looming above him was meant to protect the privacy and safety of the ultra-rich and famous, the only people who could afford to own their own ships.

Shaina was only five minutes late. She arrived a little out of breath from having run all the way from the main gate. She was carrying a small velour knapsack despite the Minister’s instructions. Tyson wasn’t surprised. Shaina always had about a hundred items she absolutely couldn’t do without and couldn’t possibly find in her purse at any given time.

“Is it good?” She nodded at the sheaf of paperwork, the only item he had brought with him as per instructions. Tyson smiled a little. Of course Shaina knew him well enough to know that he would have spent his time getting the contract checked out. The only real family he had to say good-bye to was his younger brother, Brad, who was out on his own and doing well in university.

She, on the other hand, had probably been placating her mother with wild lies and half-truths. Ty had met her mother once and he liked Mrs. McCullough immensely, mainly because she shared his views about keeping Shaina out of harm’s way.

“It’s good.” He nodded confidently at the large contract. “You can sign it. Lawyer says it’s airtight but fair. The Chancellor must be really desperate to get his son back.”

“Wouldn’t you be?” With no warning she changed tacks. “Ty, why are you coming on this mission with me? Really.”

Tyson thought about it. He could say he was coming to take care of her, to keep her from getting her fool self killed. This was no training exercise; it was flat-out espionage and death was a real possibility. He wondered if Shaina knew that. Really understood it in her bones the way he did. Yes, he could lecture her about putting herself willfully into danger but that would only start another argument, and that was a bad way to begin a mission where they would have to trust each other with their lives. So instead he said as lightly as he could, “I’m coming for the five million credits, of course. After this I can quit my job and live in the lap of luxury,”

Shaina gave him a skeptical look and shifted her flowing mass of silky hair from one slender shoulder to the other with that defiant little toss of her head. In the afternoon solarshine, it looked like a mass of molten copper running down her back and Ty had to restrain himself from reaching out to touch it.

“You love the job.” She gave him a direct, serious look. “You’re a great officer; you’ll never give it up. So why are you really coming? What is it about if not the credits?”

He decided to drop the pretense. “It’s about you, Shaina.” His voice was quiet and he looked directly in her eyes. “Maybe I just wanted to spend some time as your personal pleasure slave. Did you ever think about that?” He grinned at her to lighten his words, but she blushed and dropped her eyes. Unable to help himself, Ty moved in closer and leaned down, whispering into the pink shell of her ear. “Maybe I just want to serve you, want to be on my knees before you, pleasuring you in whatever way you command, Mistress…”

He saw a shiver go through her, and when she raised her eyes to his again, the pupils were dilated and drowning deep with some emotion he couldn’t read.

“Don’t…I can never tell when you’re teasing.” Her low voice trembled slightly.

“I’d never tease about something so important.” God, she smelled good. She was wearing some light, floral fragrance but underneath it, Ty swore he could smell her heat, an intoxicating feminine musk that spoke of her need for him. Why wouldn’t she ever acknowledge it?

“You promised to stay out of my life.” Still looking up at him, she searched his eyes for his true motivations.

“I lied.” He reached over and ran one large hand through the silky strands of her hair as he had wanted to earlier. She pulled away, a frightened, hunted look in her eyes. Tyson kept his face neutral, but inside, he swore angrily to himself. Damn it, he had pushed her too far again…

“Well, well, right on time. I must beg your pardon for being just a touch late myself. Business with the Chancellor, you know, most pressing. Well, come in.” The Minister came bustling up, oblivious to the tension between them, presented one wide gray iris to the optical scanner, and mumbled a complicated series of code words. Ty couldn’t make out more than one in ten. Then the huge, arching white barrier melted and they were inside the private port.

Scarlet real-wool carpeting ran along a luxuriously decorated corridor hung with holo-prints of the rich and famous. Because he’d been to the private port before, investigating a homicide, Ty knew that the discreet pearl buttons to the left of each print would start a bio-spiel. The narrator told the listener everything interesting about that particular celebrity, plus some juicy lesser-known facts as well. He wished for Shaina’s sake that they could take a little more time to explore, but at the rate Minister Waynos was going, they both had to practically run to keep up with him. For such a portly little man, he could certainly move, and Tyson wondered if he had had a dose of symbiotes himself.

Once at the shuttle bay, the Minister stopped them and introduced a distinguished-looking gray-haired gentleman who looked to be in his early forties. In one hand, he was holding a flat case with a locking mechanism on it that Ty had never seen before.

“I’m Dr. Dulupe. Nice to meet you.” He extended a hand for them to shake and smiled pleasantly all the while, showing white, even teeth.

“This is the neurobiologist I told you about. Also happens to be the Chief of Staff at the largest private hospital on planet and the Chancellor’s private physician.” Minister Waynos introduced them proudly. “And this, Dr. Dulupe, are Officers McCullough and Tyson, both very experienced in undercover operations. They are going to Syrus Six to try and rescue our Paul.”

“Ah, yes, of course. So they are.” The doctor continued to smile pleasantly.

“The symbiotes, Doctor, if you please. Time is of the essence.” Waynos waved impatiently. The doctor nodded and raised the small, locked case up to eye level. Ty now realized it was chained to his wrist with a length of titanium wire. He stared fixedly at the lock for a moment, as though thinking very hard about something, and suddenly, with a small pop, the case opened. Inside, lying on a cushion of black crushed velvet like precious jewels, were two perfectly huge hypodermic syringes.

Tyson heard Shaina draw in a nervous breath and he didn’t blame her. He didn’t like the look of the long, sleek, wicked-looking silver barrels any more than she did.

“I apologize for the old-fashioned needles instead of a nasal spray but the symbiotes have to be given as an intramuscular injection. Roll up your sleeves, please,” the doctor ordered in a no-nonsense tone that said he wasn’t used to being disobeyed. He pulled one of the monstrous syringes out of the case and adjusted a minute knob on its side until he appeared satisfied. “All right, who’s first?”

“Wait a minute, I’m still not completely sure about this.” Tyson frowned and put himself between the large needle and Shaina. “Are you absolutely certain there are no adverse effects? How exactly do the symbiotes work?”

“My dear Officer Tyson, we really have no time for this…” Minister Waynos began, but the smiling doctor held up one hand and shook his head.

“No, Minister, I don’t mind answering. Briefly, young man,” he said, addressing himself to Tyson, “the symbiotes I am about to inject each of you with were bred from the same colony of neurobacteria. Once injected into your body, they will migrate to the speech and thought centers of your brain. Because the symbiotes are from the same bacterial colony and are always in communication with each other, they will enable you to form a neural net, a link, if you will, with your partner. This link will make thought transmission possible from a distance of up to one standard mile. The symbiotes, as I’m sure our good Minister has already told you, will also keep you healthy and give you increased regenerative abilities. And there are absolutely no contraindications or harmful side effects. I’ve been injected with symbiotes myself and you can see for yourself how healthy I am.” He nodded at his fit body and smiled that blindingly white smile once more. Tyson wondered who would want a neural link with this guy.

“Are there any other questions or can we get on with this? You only have thirty minutes to make your launch window.” Minister Waynos seemed more agitated all the time. Reluctantly, Tyson rolled up the flexible arm of his black pleather jumpsuit and allowed Dr. Dulupe to skewer him with what felt like a harpoon. Shaina did the same, wincing only a little at the bite of the huge needle. Tyson waited to feel something or to hear Shaina’s thoughts, but there were no strange sensations at all.

“I don’t feel any different,” he said, rolling down his sleeve.

“No, you won’t for a while. It takes the symbiotes a while to migrate into your bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier,” the doctor explained. “They will become active in your bodies sometime in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Of course, you’ll be in hypersleep by then, so really, you won’t notice the effects until you wake up in orbit around Syrus Six. Don’t worry, no pain is involved; you’ll simply start to sense your partner’s thoughts.” This wasn’t exactly what Waynos had promised but before Tyson could point it out, Shaina spoke up.

“But, then…how do we turn them off or tune them out or whatever?” Ty thought she sounded a little panicky. Was she really that nervous about having him inside her head? Or was she worried about being inside his?

“Faron will tell you everything and help you master the symbiotes without fail. And now, you must go. The launch window is closing even as we speak.” The Minister pushed them toward a small, recessed door that led to the private shuttle.

“Wait a minute…” Ty started to say but the door hushed closed and he found himself in a small, oval space with four comfortable-looking chairs that had multiple straps hanging from them. The entire shuttle was a uniform pale lavender, even the carpet and walls, and there were no windows. Only the strangely shaped air ducts set high on the walls provided relief from the monochrome effect; they glowed a dull silver. A low, female voice could be heard saying, “Will all passengers please be seated and secure your safety harnesses. We are due for liftoff in three minutes. Will all passengers please…”

“Well, guess we’re on our way,” Tyson remarked, glancing at Shaina, who was already sitting down in one of the plush lavender seats and trying to figure out the complicated tangle of buckles and straps. “This your first trip off-world?”

“Yeah,” she grinned shyly at him. “I’m a little scared, you know?”

She should have thought of that before volunteering for this crazy mission, Ty thought but aloud he only said, “Me too, McCullough. Me too.”