Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (18 page)

“In addition to everything else, the company is squeezing profits,” she said. “For example, only taking care of the parts of the bubbles that are highly visible. They leave the plants to overgrow in the rest and don’t repair things that get damaged. That encourages crime.”

Tron nodded. “There aren’t enough guards, and the ones they do have are little better than criminals themselves. It isn’t safe here anymore, and I want my wife and child out of danger.”

Roan leaned forward. “You realize if we smuggle them out we’ll have to send them to the Outer Colonies. Back to where Sulla came from.”

“That’s fine. You take them to the planet and her family’s farm. Once I’m released I can find them there.”

“Have you talked to Sulla about this?” Sonja asked.

“I’ve tried a couple of times, but she won’t consider it. I can’t keep her in danger, though. I’ve got to get her out of here.”

Sonja was going to say more, but just then one of the company men at the other table stumbled to his feet. He balanced himself against his chair back and then with a sheepish grin began to weave his way towards the sanitary at the back of the bar. Without a word Sonja got to her feet and slowly headed after him.

Like most bars where the clientele was mostly men, there was only one sanitary. Keeping her cap down to shield her face, Sonja closed the door behind her and quickly took note of the situation. There was a single long trough suitable for most men’s use and one lonely stall. Her target was using the trough and fortunately there was no one else inside.

Her hand went into her pocket and found the small tranquilizing dart she’d pulled from her duffle bag. Turning her back, she adjusted the dosage to its minimum, far less than she’d given Roan, then thumbed off the needle cover. Before the man even noticed she was behind him, she stabbed him through his clothes.

He started to fall like a sack of grain, and Sonja barely managed to catch him and ease him gently to the floor.

Sonja put the cover back on her dart and replaced it in her pocket. With the amount of alcohol this man had consumed, anything more than the minimum dose could have been lethal. What she wanted was for him to wake up thinking he’d merely passed out while taking a piss.

Quickly, she searched his pockets and found his p-tab. She hid that inside her clothes and headed out of the sanitary back to her table. Roan looked relieved to see her, and it warmed her that he’d been worried about her.

As soon as she was back she handed the p-tab to Allan under the table. “How long do you need?”

Frantically he began to enter the data. “Five minutes.”

Sonja shook her head. Too long. The dosage of the dart she’d given the man would keep him out for two minutes, no more. After that he would take a few moments to get back to his feet and make his way back to his table. If he found he was missing his p-tab right away they could be in trouble. Perhaps he might be too disoriented to notice at first.

“Just get it back to me as soon as you can,” she said.

Allan’s fingers seem to fly over the miniature screen. The minutes passed slowly and Roan, Tron and Sonja waited with bated breath. She kept an eye on the door to the sanitary, but no one went in or out.

After a while Allan blew out a great breath and handed the p-tab back to her. “That’s it. Suna Deems is on the list now. I made it seem like someone high up in the company asked for her in particular. Anonymously, of course.”

Sonja took the p-tab and slipped it into her pocket. The man she’d left in the sanitary still hadn’t come back, so she got up and headed for his companion. Weaving a little as she got near their table she tripped and fell against the other man’s chair, knocking him onto the floor. He started to get to his feet, but Sonja was already helping him up and back into his chair, brushing off his clothes as she did. He grumbled something and pushed her away.

She moved quickly and apologized, speaking softly so the man wouldn’t realize she was a woman. After weaving around the room a few moments she was once more back at Roan’s side.

From the sanitary came the other man, weaving towards the table and looking perplexed. He whispered to his companion who sat up and stared. “What do you mean you lost it?”

“I had it. I’m sure of it. But now…” The man looked panicked. “Have you seen it?”

The man at the table shook his head but checked his pockets. From one he pulled a p-tab. Then he pulled an identical one from another. He handed the second one over to his obviously relieved companion. “Here it is. I guess I must have thought it was mine and picked it up.”

The pair laughed and called over to the bartender for another round.

Roan, Allan and Tron all stared at Sonja, who just blew on her fingers and brushed them against her chest. “Some knacks just come back to you no matter how long it’s been.”

All three men burst into laughter, even the gruff-looking Tron.

“I guess our work here is done.” She drank the last of Roan’s beer and put the glass down. “Why don’t we go someplace else and get a real drink?”

“We could go to my home,” Tron said, “but I don’t know that we have anything but javi there.”

“I don’t think your place would be a good idea,” Sonja said. She fixed Tron with a steely stare. “Before we go any further, I think you better tell my sister what you have in mind for her. She might have different ideas, and to be honest I don’t think you need an audience.”

Tron stared at her a long time, then his lips twisted up into a wry smile. “You’re probably right,” he said.

Sonja decided that when Tron smiled he actually was quite handsome. Not as good-looking as Roan, of course, but she could see why her sister might have fallen in love with him.

“We only have one day to get prepared,” Allan said, and he rose to his feet. “I have lots to do in that time.”

Roan stood and pulled Sonja to her feet. “I think we need to head back to Beta,” he said quietly. “I’ve been warned that there’s a company man looking for me and we should stay close to home. But give us a call tomorrow,” he told Tron, “and we’ll come over to finalize plans.”

Sonja eyed her empty glass wistfully. “So no drink?”

Roan chuckled and tugged her hat down over her eyes. “Not unless you change clothes first. There’s a place over in Beta I know you’d like, but if I take you there I don’t want anyone thinking I’m dating a boy.”

Chapter Sixteen

Roan had described Tree Top as Beta Residence’s finest nightclub and said she’d like it. It was almost scary how well this man she’d married had come to know her.

Tree Top was built on the roof of the tallest building in the middle of Beta Residence and was open to the sky…that is, to the bubble that rose to its tallest point just over the building. The transparent plastisteel gave an amazing view of the sky, especially at night when the stars were out.

With bushes and sculpted trees forming green walls around the perimeter of the roof and the clear bubble above, it was the closest she’d been to being in a tree in a long time. Sonja leaned back in her chair and smiled at the stars. “This is wonderful.”

Roan saluted her with his glass. “I’m glad you like it. Was it worth changing clothes?”

Sonja glanced down at the black sleeveless top with its sparkling silver embroidery, long black skirt and delicate sandals Roan had dug out of his inventory and insisted she wear. She missed the boots and their hidden knives but had compensated with a sheath strapped to her thigh under the skirt.

She had to admit, her feet looked cute in the sandals and the rest of the outfit made her feel beautiful. It also made her fit in, since the other women in the place were dressed similarly elegantly. She’d wondered why Roan had insisted she’d need the dressy outfit, but he had a point about wearing clothes that suited the environment.

The men wore dark pants and colorful shirts under their jackets, just like Roan had changed into. Even so, he filled out his red shirt and black jacket better than most of them.

Or did she just think he did? Sonja couldn’t tell anymore. All she knew was that Roan looked better than any of the other men, no matter who they were.

Sonja lifted her glass of white wine, sipped appreciatively and grinned at her husband. “I have to admit, it feels good to dress up now and then.”

“You look beautiful.”

She took another sip. “I feel…beautiful, I guess.” She stared into the depths of the glass. “I’m not used to this sort of thing.”

“Not used to feeling beautiful? You are, you know. A very beautiful woman.”

“I suppose.” She’d been told that so many times in the past. Trouble was, it was always by someone who wanted something from her.

Roan was the same. He wanted her to stay his wife. But at the same time she also believed him. He did see her as beautiful.

“I think my nose is a little small and my chin is definitely on the stubborn side of pointed.”

Roan laughed and reached forward to lift her chin, tilting her head up. His eyes held nothing but warmth. “There is nothing wrong with your nose, and I like your chin, stubborn point and all. Gives your face character.”

“Like the scar on your forehead,” she said.

His lips twitched into a smile. “You like my scar?”

“It makes your face looked lived-in.”

Roan pursed his lips together. “You are an interesting woman.”

“And you like that about me?”

“Oh, yes.”

She fingered the fragile stem of her glass. “You know I have to leave. I can’t let my sisters go alone to the Outer Colonies, not even with my partners’ help.”

“Who are they? Your partners.”

Sonja hesitated but decided she should trust Roan. “They are a couple of slave runners I hooked up with six months ago.”

“Slave runners?” Roan looked appalled. “No wonder you don’t trust them.”

“Former slave runners, I should say. Denn Fuller owns the
Bronda
, a small freighter, and he has a crewman, Steven Kwam. They used to work for a big slaving operation in the Outer Colonies. Some friends of mine and I took out the slavers after they made the mistake of kidnapping the women of the Traveler village we were living in.” She shook her head. “Big mistake.”

Roan looked intrigued. “How’s that?”

She grinned at Roan. “Travelers are descendents of an ancient Earth tribe that moved to the stars a couple centuries ago. They are a proud and resourceful people who don’t like authority. To put it mildly, their women didn’t take well to enslavement. After I used my skills to break them out of confinement and got them weapons, they quickly took over the slaver’s ship.”

She chuckled. “I actually had to keep them from doing worse to the men we captured than just using stunners. I rescued Fuller and Kwam from them and got them back to their ship after making them promise to help me find my sisters.”

“So they brought you to the mining colonies and to a marriage meet. What makes you think they’re waiting for you?”

Sonja leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “Fuller and Kwam are waiting for me at the spaceport in the
Bronda
, and they’ll be there for at least two more days. I trust them because they know what I’ll do to them if they don’t honor their promise.” She grinned wickedly. “They are a lot more frightened of me than they are of anything else.”

Roan laughed heartily, but when he stopped he looked thoughtful. “You shut down a large slaving operation, and all this happened six months ago?”

“Yes. Why?”

He nodded. “It was after that I noticed how few women were coming in for the meets.”

“You’ve been going to marriage meets for six months?”

Roan didn’t meet her eyes. “Over that. About two years now.”

“Two years?” Sonja couldn’t believe he’d been trying for so long.

Roan studied his wine and didn’t look at her. “Once I knew I could afford it, I decided to return to Gaia with a wife. Trouble was, I didn’t attach, even when there were a lot of women. There was always something missing.”

“The women were mostly slaves. Maybe you didn’t want someone who was frightened or had been forced into the meet.”

Still looking at his glass, Roan smiled slightly. “Maybe. Or maybe I was just waiting for you to be there.” He raised his gaze to meet hers and what she saw in those green-flecked brown depths warmed her more than the wine. “Do you believe in destiny?”

“I don’t know.”

“I do. I believe everything happens for a purpose.” He finished the last of his wine. “My finally attaching, you being here to find your sisters, the way things are here on Ares Five. I think the universe is telling me there is something I need to do.”

Disturbed, Sonja sipped her wine and wondered that the flavor, which had been delicious, suddenly seemed a little flat. “What do you mean, Roan?”

“I’m not certain. But I have a couple days to figure it out.” He pushed his glass forward. “It’s getting close to curfew. Let’s go to back to our apartment.”

She finished her wine and rose to her feet, swaying a little. Not drunk, but the wine and the stars and this delicious man who cared so much for her combined to throw her off balance.

“I want to make love to you,” she whispered when he moved to put his arm around her.