AZU-1: Lifehack (14 page)

“
When did this
happen?”

“
During the
evacuation.”

“
..... We still have to get
you out.” Alisia picked up her comm, which was nearby. “Major?
Parker?”

Regan laid down on the mattress and did
her best sex-kitten pinup pose while smiling at Alisia.

After a few moments, Parker’s voice
came through. “Captain!? You’re alive? I don’t believe it! There’s
a team headed your way to-“

“
Don’t bother, I’m fine.
Speaking of teams headed in, did they get Kensington
out?”

“
Yeah, and she’s not
infected.”

“
Thank god. At least that’s
something.” Alisia had plenty of complaints about getting members
for her team, but she wasn’t about to complain about how fast the
Major could put a team together when someone needed to get
out.

Just then, the Major broke in.
“Captain! Good to hear you! Report!”

“
I was rescued by my
objective, Sir. I’m here with her now. She’s apprehensive to
leave.”

“
What? Who is she? What’s
her name? Why doesn’t she want to leave?”

Regan slipped a comm out of her pocket
and joined in. “Hello boys,” she teased, “My name’s Regan. Regan
Grier. Thank you ever so much for sending this incredible specimen
to come play with me. She’s wonderful.”

“
Uh... huh?” Parker’s full
attention was now at Regan’s command.

“
But,” Regan continued, “I
don’t plan to leave Autar until I find the thing that uses my
brother’s body, and bury them both.”

“
Grier......” It was audible
that the Major was typing and pecking away at his keyboard. “Yes.
Yes, I have your record. Not surprisingly you’ve been declared
dead. Brother... brother.... Yes, I have it. Doctor Harold Grier.
Oh my, quite a brain..”

“
Yes,” Regan sighed,
“AutarLabs. Big stupid genius.”

“
You know that AutarLabs
employees of his importance were implanted with
trackers....?”

“
....What?” Regan seemed
both ecstatic, and infuriated. “You mean he’s been running around
with a tracker in him all this time?!”

“
Correct, if we had his
electronic signature, we could even put a VTag on him.”

Regan dug into her pocket, and pulled
out a card with a logo, a name, a barcode, and a magnetic stripe.
“Would an AutarLabs ID card work?”

“
Absolutely.”

Regan grabbed a nearby visor, and
pointed it at the card. “There ya go, read the barcode.”

“
Sorry,” the Major said, “We
need the mag stripe too. You’ll have to bring the card
here.”

“
Damn.” Regan weighed her
options. She could send the card back with this redheaded goddess.
But then she didn’t know if she’d get her precious momento back.
Also, if she went back with this yummy creature, she could get more
time with her, and maybe make her understand how much they were
destined to be together. Yes, that’s the way it must be. Besides,
going to the outer wall isn’t like she’s really leaving Autar, and
it is to find Harold. “Alright.”

“
You’ll come with me?”
Alisia hoped.

Regan smiled her most evil, seductive
smile. “To the ends of the earth.”

~~~~~

Chapter 19: A Day Out

~~~~~

The south gates slowly opened before
them. Regan dragged a small cart of personal possessions behind her
and looked about with mild curiosity as they entered the bay. It
was big enough to hold a small jet plane if needed.

The gates closed and clamped tight
behind them. The back wall had three features. A bed-sized machine,
a garage-sized door, and a normal sized door. They all looked
sturdy as heck, and probably airtight.

The Major’s voice came out on a PA
system. “Welcome back, Captain, and welcome to the Autar wall, Ms.
Grier.”

“
Thank you sweetie!” chirped
Regan.

“
Ms. Grier, we’re going to
have to go through your possessions, and irradiate them to kill any
infection that may be on them.” the Major’s voice stated
plainly.

“
That’s not really
necessary, but do what ya gotta.”

“
Captain, if you would sound
off the items and place them in the irradiator?”

“
Yes Sir.” Alisia held out
her hand to Regan, to get the handle of the cart. Regan gave it to
her in a manner that let Regan stroke Alisia’s hand, while she did
her best to stare down into Alisia’s very soul. Alisia rolled her
eyes, and took the cart.

She wheeled it over to the bed-sized
machine and opened up the side, revealing a large empty space.
After taking off her jacket and throwing it into the irradiator,
Alisia pulled out Regan’s P90 from the cart.

“
One FN-P90, personalized
with stickers and paint. Six mostly full ammo clips.” She placed
them into the irradiator, unaware that Regan was slowly coming up
behind her. Alisia then pulled out a small bundle of clothes,
announced them, and tossed them in. This continued until she came
to the last item.

“
One small cardboard box.”
She failed to notice the writing ‘toy box’ on the other side of the
box and opened it, to list off the items inside.

Alisia looked down upon the most
dazzling array of plastic perversities she’d ever seen, complete
with batteries. Regan chose that moment to delicately caress
Alisia’s shoulder, brushing down the strap of her shirt. Alisia
froze.

“
See those two?” Regan
whispered in her ear, “We can share them. I like the blue
one.”

Alisia neared panic. Her breathing
became a bit labored, and Regan mistakenly took it as a positive
sign.

“
Captain?” The Major’s voice
interrupted the horrified trance.

“
Uh, personal effects,
Major.” Alisia stammered, “Toothbrush, hair brush, that kind of
thing.”

“
List them off,
Captain.”

Alisia hesitated enough for Regan to
step in. “Oh, Mr. Major Sir, a lady has to have some
privacy.”

“
Oh! Oh, right, my
apologies. Load them in, Captain.”

Alisia slowly closed the box’s flaps as
if she were handling a landmine. She shook it off and then lifted
the cart itself into the irradiator. She closed it and turned a
dense handle, locking the thick lid into place. “That’s it,
Major.”

“
Very well, Captain. Hit the
showers. Report to my office when you’re ready.”

Regan bristled with excitement at the
mention of showers, and her eyes darted between the smaller door
and Alisia. “Ooh! I should put my clothes into the irradiator!” She
excitedly began taking off her jacket.

“
Halt!” Alisia sharply
commanded as if calling drill. “Ah, I mean, there’s a smaller
irradiator in the showers for that. Let’s go.”

Regan skipped ahead, turning
periodically to make sure Alisia was keeping up. Regan opened the
door, and stepped in to the three by one meter shower room. Seeing
the irradiator box in the far corner, she rushed over, preparing to
strip.

“
Have fun!” Alisia said,
stepping back into the main room, and reaching for the
door.

Regan whirled to face her, and all the
joy was lost. “But-“ was all she could get out before Alisia’s
grinning face was obscured by the closing door, which made a
satisfying ‘foomp’ as it sealed. Alisia leaned her back against the
door and slid to a seated position at the base.

The doorknob rattled. “Aleeeeesha....”
came a sing-song voice from inside. Alisia let out an exasperated
sigh before replying. “Put your clothes in the irradiator and let
em nuke while you take your shower.”

Regan put on her most ‘innocent’ voice
“But.... don’t you need to be clean too?”

“
Yes, but I can
wait.”

“
Don’t be silly!”

Alisia needed to think fast, or this
could go on for a while. “The... the irradiator in there is only so
strong. Your stuff has been in Autar for a long time, so I want to
make sure they get good and nuked.”

“
Oh. I see.” Alisia heard
the appropriate sounds for Regan to strip off her meager clothes
and put them in the irradiator. The hum of it started up and soon,
the sound of water. A few moments passed.

“
Oh, Alisia!” sung
Regan.

“
Yes?” Alisia’s voice
sounded like that of a tired mother.

“
I guess I should scrub
well, huh?”

“
Yes, Regan.”

“
Hmm... what should I scrub
first?”

“
Whatever!”

“
Aleeeeeesha....?”

“
What?”

“
Guess what I’m rubbing, I
mean.. scrubbing, now?”

“
I don’t care! I’m going to
check on the main irradiator.” Alisia jogged off before Regan could
come up with a comeback. Of course she didn’t need to check on the
main irradiator, but at least it didn’t hit on her. She sat by it
for a few moments when she heard banging from the showers. Alisia
ran over.

“
What’s going
on?”

“
Alisia, the door’s locked!
Let me out!”

“
You’re clean now, Regan,
this room’s dirty. You have to leave through the other
door.”

Regan talked softly, forcing Alisia to
lean nearer to the door. “Speak up!”

“
I said,” came Regan’s
sweetest voice, “I’m still aaaawwfully dirty.”

“
Just get out of there so I
can finish this up! I don’t want to be out here all
day!”

“
Ach, Fine. You’re just no
fun.”

Alisia heard the sound of the inner
door opening and closing. She opened the outer door, and was a
little surprised to find that Regan wasn’t still in there waiting
for her.

Meanwhile on the other side, Regan met
a handful of the wall’s male compliment, all of which seemed very
interested in Regan, with her micro-skirt and all-too-small tank
top. Regan took delight in their attention. She had no interest in
them, but enjoyed the mental torture she could inflict.

She put her leather jacket back on ever
so slowly, arching her back much more than needed. As hard as she
tried, she didn’t quite slip right out the bottom of the tank top.
Ah well, the tease is often better than the show.

“
So.... boyssss... What can
you tell me about our little Alisia?”

Just then, the men’s superior officer
came by, and assessing the situation, ordered them all away. He
looked sternly at Regan. “Sorry to have let them trouble you,
miss.” He left, leaving no room for reply.

Regan felt like a puppy that had just
been swatted on the nose, but her disappointment was cut short when
the shower door began to open. Alisia stepped out, eyeing Regan
with great suspicion.

“
I was good.” Regan said in
mock innocence. “Let’s go see your boss guy, and get my brother’s
tracer tagged.”

After a short distance, Regan yanked
Alisia into a tight side-hall. Alisia was less than surprised.
Regan leaned in so very, very close. Alisia could feel the warmth
of her breath, and was paralyzed with a brand of fear never found
in combat.

“
Are you finished?” Alisia
snapped nervously as she broke free, and continued down the
hall.

Regan lagged a bit. “Not nearrrly” She
hummed to herself.

With Alisia still storming ahead a few
meters, they soon entered the Major’s office. Regan tossed the ID
card on the desk and sat down. “Heya Mister Major, Sir! Here ya go!
Now stick a VTag on my bro, so I can go find him.”

“
It’s not that easy, Ms.
Grier. I’m going to have to do a little research to match things
up. Get proper authority from the parent company of AutarLabs,
etcetera, etcetera.”

“
What? What a gyp. How
long?”

“
About a day or so,
depending how fast various people get back to me.”

“
Pffft. Well, then I’ll just
go home and wait, then.”

“
What? You’re going back
into Autar?” Despite the fact that Regan had been living in there
since the evacuation, it still seemed odd that she’d want to go
back now.

“
Well what else am I going
to do?” Regan said, absent mindedly scrolling her eyes over to
Alisia’s body.

“
Well,” the Major said, “I
can assign you some quarters and you can stay here until we’re
ready.”

Regan mulled this over, pretending to
have some hesitation, all the while imagining ‘accidental’
situations she could get into involving Alisia. “Yeah, OK,
fine.”

Alisia cringed visibly.

“
I don’t suppose, Ms. Grier,
that you could spend some time answering some general questions
about your experiences in Autar?”

“
Eh, sure, what the
heck.”

“
Good,” Alisia cut in, “In
the mean time, I’ll take care of a few things.”

Regan turned to Alisia with pleading
eyes. “You’re not staying with me?”

“
Sorry,” Alisia replied
unsympathetically, “I have things to do.” She left the office,
feeling Regan’s eyes pawing at her back.