Aneka Jansen 5: The Greatest Heights of Honour (6 page)

‘The same as the one which attacked…’ Aneka began and then cut herself off. ‘Well, I’ve seen one before.’

‘It is one of the standard Herosian military vessels,’ Aggy replied. ‘Its crew were, however, sloppy.’

‘When they hailed us to demand that we allow them to board the Hyde,’ Drake said, ‘Aggy hacked their computer systems through their own communications channel.’

‘I should point out,’ Aggy said, ‘that I would not have had the time to do so if Captain Drake had not kept them talking. It was a joint effort.’

‘All my blustering would have got us was a laser in the nose if you hadn’t been there to do the hacking.’

Aneka grinned. Neither was going to accept the credit. Drake had been career military, the captain of a frigate, until his ship had been ordered into an impossible situation and he had lost almost his entire crew. He still looked like a naval officer: tough, rugged, with a handsome face capped by hair cut within an inch of its life. His nose had been broken at some point and he had let it set slightly twisted, which just made him look more like an experienced spacer than a punch-drunk boxer. ‘What did you do to them?’ she asked to stop the mutual honour shifting.

‘Closed down their reactor and then opened all the airlocks,’ Aggy replied.

‘Which
really
showed how inexperienced they were,’ Drake added. ‘We didn’t detect any of them in a full pressure suit when we checked for survivors. You don’t go into combat without your helmet at hand.’

Aneka winced. ‘How many?’

Drake heaved a sigh. ‘They weren’t carrying a full complement, but… two hundred and fifty.’

‘And another ten on the surface. Jesus… two hundred and sixty lives lost just to get to me. Bastards.’ Aneka shifted in her seat.

‘It’s not your fault, Aneka,’ Shannon said. ‘You couldn’t have known they’d do something like this.’ Shannon Patton was Drake’s partner, and the co-pilot of the Hyde. She was short, blonde, big-breasted, and looked a lot like some sort of space bimbo right up until the point you discovered she could fix the Hyde’s warp drive if it broke. She was also a telepath, which was useless against Aneka, but it had made her quite a useful psychologist as well as a rather empathic person. ‘And it
was
stupid,’ she added.

‘Indeed,’ Aggy agreed. ‘I was able to pull the orders which dispatched that ship here from their computers. They were signed by one of their Admirals.’

‘Right…’ Aneka said, frowning. ‘They really fucked up; I just can’t help but think they’re going to find a way to worm out of this.’

‘It wouldn’t surprise me,’ Drake agreed. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘Send a private message ahead to New Earth. By the time we get back there someone may have come up with a plan. If not… Well, then we turn the heat up on the Herosians.’

Part Two: Fuel

Yorkbridge Mid-town, 29.9.528 FSC.

‘You didn’t feel like waiting?’ Aneka asked, humour in her voice as she walked into the lounge with a naked Ella clinging to her. The lithe redhead had given a small squeak as Aneka entered their apartment, and had then flung herself across the room. Now her long legs were wrapped around Aneka’s waist, and she was showing no sign of letting go.

‘I’m just out of the shower,’ Ella mumbled into Aneka’s neck. ‘I’m due at work in an hour. You’re a day early.’

‘Given what happened, we figured being ahead of schedule might be a useful precaution.’

‘Uh-huh. Well, we can wait until tonight for me to worry over that.’

Aneka frowned. It was not like Ella to leave her worrying until later. ‘What’s happening tonight?’

‘Tonight we’re going to Shin You?’

That
was
surprising. ‘I figured you’d want me all to yourself tonight.’

‘Well, yeah, I do. But we have all weekend and I was told we were to go as soon as you got back, so tonight it’s Shin You.’

‘You were told, huh? Okay, I guess we can go if you were told…’

Ella giggled. ‘It’s not going to be an entirely normal evening there anyway.’

Aneka laughed. ‘Sure, we’re not going to get humped by dozens of men until quite late.’

~~~

Shin You was exactly the sort of place that could not have existed in the world Aneka had come from, and which she would not have gone anywhere near if it had. The throbbing music was reminiscent of a dance club and there was dancing going on, but only as a prelude to other forms of rhythmic movement. Shin You was the only club in Yorkbridge devoted to sex pure and simple.

As far as Aneka was concerned, that said two things. The one which most Jenlay pointed out was that Shin You demonstrated just how liberal Jenlay society was, and how safe. This was a club where people went to have sex with total strangers. A lot of total strangers in fairly rapid succession usually, in total safety and without any form of social censure. And that was true as far as it went, but what Aneka noticed was that Shin You was the only club of its type on New Earth. The Jenlay liked the place to show their tolerant attitude to all tastes, but the majority of them were not prepared to actually go there.

Aneka only enjoyed herself there because Ella did. Sure, Jenlay were generally pretty good at making sex an enjoyable experience, and the patrons of Shin You got more practice than most. Sure, the atmosphere was kind of fun. She actually figured the more conservative Jenlay would enjoy the atmosphere, which was carefree and fun-loving, as well as sexually charged. Not erotic. Not to Aneka’s mind anyway. Eroticism needed something Shin You lacked: a sense of mystery.

There were couples, threesomes, foursomes, and some piles of bodies and limbs on all sides as Aneka and Ella walked through from the entrance toward the dance floor. A few were naked; most were dressed in some form of clothing which did not limit access to the body beneath unduly. Aneka and Ella were appropriately dressed in micro-skirts and cropped tops, giving unrestricted access to groping hands, though to be fair Aneka had had worse experiences in Japanese nightclubs. No one bothered you in Shin You until you wanted to be bothered, and they were not looking like they wanted to be bothered just yet.

‘Do you see her?’ Ella asked, though her lips did not move. The voice came over an interlink between Ella’s computer implant and Aneka’s brain. It let them talk without talking, and it certainly saved overstressing the vocal cords.

‘Not yet,’ Aneka replied. ‘She’ll be in the back somewhere, past the dance floor.’

‘You mean, in the back where the heaviest stuff goes on?’

‘Yeah, but it’s a little darker and the people back there have taken more drugs. None of them are going to be paying anyone much attention aside from themselves and the person they’re fucking.’

‘True.’

The drugs were not illegal, and they did not make you high, but they did tend to increase your focus, the sensitivity of your nerves, and your libido, while decreasing your inhibitions. Aneka was unsure why any of the patrons needed the last two. Maybe some people came to the club because they felt they wanted to but did not quite have the nerve for it once they got there.

Something about the throb of the music made you horny anyway. It had some effect on Aneka, but not much. It always seemed to work exceptionally well on Jenlay, especially the women. Ella had said something about resonance effects on the clitoral tissues, but whatever it was, it tended to result in a fair amount of squirming after about ten minutes in the building.

Aneka spotted crimson hair moving through the body piles and flagged the location through to Ella. The couple moved in perfect synchronisation toward the woman in the translucent red swimsuit and red, thigh-high boots. The woman glanced in their direction, flicked her hair, and moved away from them, deeper into the room where the light was a dull red and visibility was restricted to only a metre or so for most people. Aneka could see perfectly well, and Ella’s cybernetic eyes were better in the dark than natural ones would have been. They followed the woman through the islands of cushions until she lowered herself onto an almost empty one. Then they lay down on either side of her, hands sliding up her body, faces close to hers.

Of course, the closeness just facilitated conversation. ‘Secretive meetings should always be conducted like this,’ Winter said, a smile tugging at her lips.

‘I admit it has a certain weird something,’ Aneka replied, ‘but pretty soon Ella’s going to be swallowing your tongue, so you’d best talk fast.’

Winter gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. ‘Your report on the Herosian assault on Farrington’s World was received by the Administration. Dowler would have had a significantly easier time dismissing it if it were not for the data Aggy retrieved from their computers.’

‘That was why we sent it.’

‘Yes. It worked. Elroy and Ollander are both on Obati Four screaming at the tops of their lungs and the Herosians are trying their best to manufacture reasons why it was not some government conspiracy. This Rear Admiral Sh’Shanis, not a man noted for his tolerance actually, has had a psychotic break according to the latest reports. They are trying to hunt him down to bring him to justice.’

‘With no luck, I assume?’ Someone was sliding a hand up Aneka’s right thigh. She ignored it.

‘Such a surprise.’ Winter’s eyes twitched. Ella was kissing her neck in what appeared to be quite a distracting manner. ‘I’ll keep monitoring, but you’ve lit a fire under the Herosians. They were not expecting you to leave that planet in one piece, let alone bring back evidence they would need to counter. They won’t come at you directly, that would just cause a bigger political incident, but they might try something. Your partner really knows what she’s doing, doesn’t she?’

The hand on Aneka’s leg had moved, sliding between her thighs. She figured she had a couple of seconds before the owner took her lack of reaction as an invitation. ‘She’s exceptionally good, yes. I heard about the problems back on New Earth. You got the warning through?’

‘I did. I’ve had no reply, but there have been reports that the attacks there have stopped. They had a plan to deal with the problem, and it apparently worked. They destroyed the “pirate” vessel which was attacking their shipping.’

‘Destroyed it, that’s a…’ She stopped as two fingers slid into her. The invitation had been accepted. ‘That’s a shame. Our neighbours have noticed us.’

‘And Ella’s hands are getting very insistent. I’ve nothing else to report. You?’ Aneka shook her head. The probing fingers were starting to stroke quite firmly. ‘In that case I think we should get on with enjoying our cover story.’

Aneka shifted her thigh to give her unknown partner easier access. ‘I don’t think we’ve much choice,’ she said softly.

30.9.528 FSC.

Aneka looked back at the bed where the two redheads were still asleep. Winter’s body was manufactured to be sexy, exotic, voluptuous, but Aneka thought her own little redhead looked better.

Ella was on her back. Aneka had warned her that getting her breasts enhanced would mean sleeping on her stomach was never going to happen again. Her pale skin never held a tan; now it was a marked contrast to the black of the Nusilk sheet she was lying on. Her red hair had grown out a little in the last year and it lay in a pool of red strands across the pillow. In sleep her face was still and a little solemn, but when she smiled her green eyes lit up and she made the world a better place.

Grinning, Aneka left the room and walked across the lounge to the bathroom. A shower was going to do her good. She had her hand on the controls when the apartment’s computer spoke.

‘Three members of the Federal Security Agency are requesting admission.’ Aneka glared at the ceiling. Really the voice was far too monotonous for an announcement like that.

‘I should get you replaced with an AI,’ Aneka commented. ‘I would if it wasn’t illegal. Let them in. Instruct them to come up.’ The computer did not seem to take offence. Turning, Aneka walked back out into the lounge to wait.

It was not long before three men in dark suits entered and came to a grinding halt. Well, she was still naked. ‘Gentlemen,’ Aneka said. ‘Stop standing there like you’ve never seen a naked robot before. This better be important, I have a guest.’

The leader of the trio, a dark-skinned man with very short hair who looked as though he really should have been wearing dark glasses, spoke. ‘Agent Ian Plug. You are Aneka Jansen?’ Aneka tilted her head to one side and looked at him until he coughed and went on. ‘Yes, well… We’ve been ordered to take you to headquarters to discuss the incident on Farrington’s…’

‘Dowler give the order?’ Aneka asked, interrupting him.

‘It came from the Agency head’s office, yes.’

‘Everything was in the report we sent ahead of us. Unless you’re arresting me for something, I’m disinclined to assist in your enquiries. As I said, I have a guest who I am hoping to persuade to stay for the rest of the weekend, mostly in a horizontal position.’ It was a lie, but it did make Plug’s cheeks colour.

‘The Agency has some questions regarding your report,’ Plug tried.

‘You mean Dowler wants to try to figure out how he can stop the Herosians being to blame for what happened.’ Plug looked like he was going to respond to the statement, but Aneka got in first. ‘I’ll consult a legal advisor and come to be interviewed, with legal counsel, if I am advised that it would be in my interests. It’s the weekend, so that will be the day after next. If you want me to go sooner, get a warrant, and good luck with that.’

Plug opened his mouth to speak, but was once again interrupted, this time by a voice from the bedroom. ‘Aneka? Aneka, come back to bed. It’s cold without the extra…’ Winter strutted out of the room, stopping when she saw the three men. ‘Oh! I didn’t know there was anyone else here. Are they staying?’ She put just enough suggestion into her tone for the last sentence that all three men went slightly pink. Then she strode over to Aneka, sliding up against her and wrapping her arms around Aneka’s waist.

‘No,’ Aneka said. ‘These gentlemen were just leaving.’

‘Shame… Though if they’re gentlemen we don’t need them.’