Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (11 page)

Roan kissed her gently. “So tell me, wife. Is it possible you can cook?”

Feeling about as content as any man could be, given the circumstances, Roan sat at the dining counter and watched his wife make his breakfast. The question earlier had been a joke since he hadn’t expected a woman with Sonja’s breaking-and-entering skill set to have a domestic bone in her body.

The joke was on him. She’d merely arched her eyebrows and told him that no farm girl from Camalin Eight could possibly get past the age of twelve without learning her way around a kitchen. Her mother had taken great pains in teaching Sonja everything in preparation for her having her own home.

From the smells emanating from the kitchen, Sonja had learned her lessons well. Roan’s mouth watered in anticipation of the combination of scrambled eggs and thin slices of meat his little wife was whipping up for him. “That looks so good.”

With a look of supreme amusement, she put the plate in front of him. “Tell me what you think.”

Grabbing a fork, Roan dug in. “Oh, yes,” he said in ecstasy at the flavorful mouthful. How she’d managed to find spices in his poor excuse for a larder, he didn’t know, but her eggs tasted far better than anything he’d ever made. “It tastes even better than it smells.”

“I’m glad you like it. The eggs are powdered, and I found the dried meat in the back of one of the cabinets. Best I could do under the circumstances.”

“Ambrosia, Sonja. Pure ambrosia.”

She smiled at him, clearly pleased, and Roan wondered if perhaps this wouldn’t be a way to win her heart. Obviously she liked being told she was a good cook. Sonja clearly wasn’t used to having her womanly talents praised. She dished up a plate for herself and sat next to him at the counter, the two of them eating together as cozily as any married couple.

A knock on the door ended the moment. With a groan, Roan went to answer, checking the security screen set in the door to see who was there. He groaned again at the happy face on the other side and opened the door. “Good morning, Allan. What do you want?”

Allan stepped inside, and his nose lifted as he sniffed. “Is that breakfast? Smells great!”

With a wry laugh, Sonja stepped back into the kitchen to serve up another plate. She put it in front of Allan, who’d already claimed a seat at the counter. Roan growled as he saw the second helping he’d hoped to eat disappear into his friend’s mouth.

She touched his arm. “After all, Roan, we did eat his pizza last night.”

Roan was tempted to tell her about the number of times his friend had mooched a meal off of him without any reciprocation, but decided in the interests of peace to hold his tongue. His new wife didn’t need to know what kind of a patsy he was for his best friend. He had another motive as well. They could use Allan’s oh-so-useful skill set.

“My wife thinks that her sisters might be here.”

Allan sat back from his plate and stared worshipfully at Sonja. “Your sisters. You mean there is more than one woman like you in the universe?”

“No one is like me,” Sonja said dryly. “But I do have some sisters.”

“What makes you think they are here?”

Sonja gave a quick glance at Roan. He nodded at her. “Go ahead and tell him. We can trust him, and Allan knows more about how to break into computer systems than anyone I know.”

She began as she had with him. “It all happened six years ago,” and she told Allan about her and her sisters’ abduction and subsequent arrival on Ares Five.

“So you see,” she finished, “I have two sisters here somewhere, and I’d like to find them.”

Allan looked dubious. “All you want is to find them?”

“I need to know they are all right. Roan says we need to break into the company’s databases to find them.”

“Breaking into the company computers isn’t that difficult once you get to an access point. Trouble is getting there.” Allan finished his plate. “You know, some javi would sure taste good.” Roan clenched his jaw to keep from laughing as Sonja practically flew to make his manipulative friend a cup.

The unrepentant scoundrel sipped the brew gratefully. “What we need to find is a place that interacts with the company computers but without all the security you’d find in the main offices. Someplace busy.”

Roan sipped his own cup. “I suppose you have someplace in mind.”

“As it happens, I know just the place.” Allan looked over at Roan. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any reason to take her to medical?”

Roan grinned. “That’s a great idea.”

“Medical? You mean a clinic?” Sonja said. “Why would I need to go there?”

Roan answered her. “The medical clinics are run by the company, and their computers have data from both the company and the prison. It is the one place the data is conjoined.” He smiled at Allan. “We’d be able to find both her sisters and the men they married.”

“Also the day after a meet, they are generally pretty busy. There are injuries as well as processing the brides who don’t have tags.” Allan perked up. “Do you have a tag?”

Sonja looked distinctly uncomfortable and rubbed the upper part of her arm. “No, I don’t.”

“Well, that’s the perfect excuse. Everyone living in the mines has to have one in case of accidents. You need a tracking tag and visiting the clinic for one gives us the excuse to check their records. You might even get them to tell you where your sisters are if you get a friendly enough tech. And I’m off work today so I could go with you.”

“Why should you go?” Sonja asked.

“While you’re with the medical tech I can sneak into the back offices and download a data scan.”

“Won’t that be dangerous?”

Allan shook his head. “The clinic will be too busy this time of day for anyone to even notice me. I’ll grab one of their coats and be in and out in a flash. The trouble isn’t getting into the back room but into the clinic itself. It would look suspicious if I went by myself, but if I’m providing moral support to a friend and his new wife, I can get inside.”

Sonja was still rubbing her upper arm. “I don’t want a tag.”

“We all have tracking tags,” Roan said. “If anything happens in the mine they need the tags to locate us. It’s a painless process.”

“Painless on insertion.” Sonja hesitated then rolled up her sleeve. To Roan’s horror, a deep scar about an inch long ran along the muscle of her upper arm. “They hurt quite a bit when you remove them.”

Allan’s jaw dropped. “How did that happen?”

“I had a tag so I took a knife and dug it out.”

Roan gasped. “Why didn’t you just use a neutralizer?”

“I didn’t have a neutralizer. I did have a knife.” She explained to Allan how she’d escaped the slavers. “I was in a life pod, and I knew they could find me through the tracker so I dug it out and disabled it.” She gave both men a steady stare. “And no one is going to put another one of those things inside of me.”

Allan looked troubled. “But Sonja, you can’t go longer than the three-day waiting period before getting a tag.”

Before she could say anything, Roan broke in. He didn’t need his friend knowing that his relationship with Sonja was as tenuous as it was. “I understand why you’re reluctant, honey. We can wait a couple of days to let you get used to the idea. In the meantime we have an even better reason for visiting a clinic.” He rolled up his sleeve and pointed to his still-bandaged arm. “We’ll tell them you insisted I get this wound sealed. That’s as good an excuse, if not better, for going this morning.”

“You got hurt last night?” Allan looked horrified. “How? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You should see the other guy. The other man who attached to her may have had a knife, but today he’s probably got a couple broken ribs in addition to having been stunned by the guards. My wound is small, bandaged and under control.” He smiled at Sonja. “And I came home with the prize. My lovely Sonja.”

“You lucky dog.” Allan smiled. “I’d be envious if I didn’t like you so much.”

Roan wasn’t sure how lucky he was given how he had to bribe his new wife to stay with him, but he appreciated his friend’s support. “Let’s finish breakfast and get over to the clinic. Anything you need to break into the offices you should get now.”

After Allan headed for his apartment, Roan turned to Sonja. “Let me get you something to wear.”

She looked down at what she was wearing, the multi-pocketed pants from last night and white blouse she’d worn with her skirt.

“I have clothes.”

“I’ve seen them. You are my wife, and people will expect that you’ll be dressed that way.”

Her jaw went up, and Roan knew she was going to argue with him. Funny how he’d called it right on her having a stubborn streak based on that one facial feature.

“I don’t want to take anything more from you.”

“
You
are my
wife
,” he repeated, making sure that this time she heard the emphasis. “It’s important that you be dressed well, otherwise it reflects badly on me.”

She looked bothered. “If you don’t like my clothes from last night, why can’t I wear my skirt and blouse?”

“I actually liked last night’s outfit. You looked comfortable in it. You didn’t look that way in the skirt.” He stood up. “Just trust me, Sonja. I think you’ll like what I have to offer.”

Chapter Nine

Sonja watched Roan disappear towards the back of the apartment and resisted the urge to follow him. She might be curious about what kind of clothes he thought appropriate for his wife to wear, but she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of letting him know how much she was interested.

Instead she cleaned up the breakfast dishes and scrubbed the kitchen counter and asked herself how long it took a man to pick out clothes when he wasn’t back right away.

When Roan returned he had a bundle under his arm, which he separated into individual garments and laid them out on the couch. “Come and see,” he said. Uneasily, Sonja went into the living room. Who knew what kind of clothes he would consider appropriate for her? She was surprised when she realized how close he’d come to matching her taste.

Roan had brought two pairs of pants, one in black and one in a dark blue, plus a long, slender skirt in a black pseudosilk. Several blouses in light shades of blue, green and a deep red, as well as one black sleeveless blouse with rich embroidery in silver thread were laid out with them. All of it looked like it would fit, and the colors were exactly what she would pick, given the opportunity.

Sonja picked up the red blouse and stroked the silky fabric. “Very nice.”

“I’m glad you like them.” He indicated the collection. “This should be enough for the next couple of days. I also found some underwear but left it in the bedroom for you.”

Reluctantly she put the blouse down. “This is very generous, Roan, but I don’t need all these. Maybe one outfit, or two.” She pointed to the skirt and silver top. “I don’t think I’ll need anything like that.”

“You’ll need all of them sooner or later. There are places where you must dress the part to fit in. You’ll need to look like a wife of Beta Residence when we go to the clinic, and if we need to go to another residence later on, wearing finer clothes will tell everyone where you are from.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Beta Residence is the most expensive of the residences, and everyone knows it. Most people will be more cooperative if they think we’re from here.”

“I see.” Sonja wasn’t completely convinced, but Roan knew the mining colony better than she did. She also knew that she didn’t want to stand out. She picked up the clothes and carried them to the bedroom.

Her husband—no, she wasn’t going to think of him that way. He wasn’t her husband, and she wasn’t his wife. But if Roan wanted to dress her in fine silk, she’d let him, so long as she found her sisters in the bargain.

Half an hour later she was back in the living room, wearing the dark blue pants and lighter blue blouse. Roan smiled. “I thought they’d fit.”

“They fit perfectly. And I like the colors, particularly the blouse.”

He stepped forward and lifted her chin with the back of his hand. “I thought so,” he said softly. “It matches your eyes. Now let’s do something about the hair.”

She’d put it up in her usual bun. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

“It looks too severe pulled back like that. You’ll blend in better with your hair worn down around your face.”

“Will I…or will you just enjoy seeing it down?” She hadn’t missed how he’d insisted on taking her hair down last night before they went to bed. Obviously Roan liked her hair loose.

“I’ll like it better too. But it will just look more natural down as well.”

With a sigh Sonja undid her carefully crafted bun and allowed her hair to fall to her shoulders. Roan smiled. “Now you look charming…and completely harmless.”

“I’m not harmless, Roan.”

His smile turned into a grin, and he tapped her on the shoulder. “I know. But we don’t want anyone else knowing that, do we? The element of surprise is our friend.”

A knock on the door told them that Allan had returned. The man stepped in and gave her an appreciative smile that told her better than words that he approved of her appearance.