Dealers' Choice - Susan Hayes Page 0,37

her with a handful of facts and not much else. She was on a shuttle of some kind, and judging by the steady hum of the engines, they’d already been underway when she regained consciousness. Her hands were restrained, and she was strapped into her seat with the release at her waist, well out of reach. She tried to read the emotions of the male beside her. It was like trying to stare into a dark pool on a starless night. There was something beneath his calm surface, but all she could tell was that it wasn’t warm or friendly. She’d have to be careful.

Her bag was absent, but she didn’t know if she’d dropped it as she’d blacked out back on the station, or if they had it stashed away somewhere. She wasn’t sure which scenario to hope for. If it was here and she could find it, maybe she could call for help. Could her comms be tracked? She had no idea. If she’d left it behind, someone might find it. If they handed it in, then surely someone would try to return it and realize she was missing?

She couldn’t tell how long she’d been out. Were Vic and Ward looking for her yet? Or were they still asleep? Veth, she’d been so stupid. If she’d listened to her instincts instead of assuming it was just residual anxiety from the other night, she might have done something differently, made a better choice.

The thought made her smile, despite her circumstances. This was exactly how Vic and Ward felt. Now, she understood it better, which might help her guide them past their self-recriminations once she found a way to work through this herself. If she had time to do that. If she saw them again. The spark of happiness flickered and died as the reality of her situation crashed down on her again.

The soft, standard chime of an incoming vid-call rang out. She looked up, the noise triggering an automatic need to find the nearest terminal and answer. Her teachers on Pheran Prime called it the Tregersal reaction. The humans called it a Pavlovian response. Details and memories from her training rushed her mind, and she had to sweep them away, aware that this was another fear response, a deluge of minutiae to distract her from the real problem.

There was a monitor secured to the bulkhead directly across from her, but the screen was still black when a voice she’d only heard in simulations came out of the speaker. “Welcome aboard, Dr. Virness. I am looking forward to working with you.”

It couldn’t be. Ariel Coal was dead. She’d acquired a copy of the female’s death certificate to show to Ward and Victor. But by all the stars above and below, it sounded like her.

The monitor flashed on a second later, and all her worst fears were confirmed. It was Ariel. It was impossible, but that was her, the sadistic bitch who had entrapped and enslaved her males.

Ariel smiled. Her face was composed of hard lines and red lips, and the expression held all the warmth of the void. “Ah, there you are. My apologies, I am experiencing some technical problems on my end.” She glanced to one side and someone out of sight uttered an instant and deeply contrite apology.

Ariel returned her attention to Xori. “I am sure you have questions. Let me address the most likely ones first. No, I am not Ariel Coal, though I have her appearance. You may call me Vivian. I am recruiting you to work for me.”

There was something odd about her. Xori wasn’t sure what it was, but there was a sense of wrongness to the exchange, like a puzzle that was missing a key piece. “This seems like a rather aggressive form of recruitment,” she replied, keeping her expression neutral and her voice soft.

Ariel – no, Vivian – blinked twice, then uttered a sharp, two-syllable laugh that set Xori’s teeth on edge. “I can see how you might think that.”

“But you don’t see it that way?”

“You are awake and undamaged,” Vivian stated, as if that explained everything. In a way, it did. And it meant she was in even more trouble than she’d thought.

“I see. And what job am I being recruited for?”

The hard-eyed female leaned forward slightly. “You are going to assist us with various cyborg development projects. You will identify the flaws in our psychological conditioning. Once that is done, you will help me eliminate it from future designs.”

Our conditioning.