Fic: Red Petals [4/10]
Fic: Red Petals [4/10]
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to lielabell and her terrifying red pen of doom.
Summary: Kendall was supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Four.
The way Carlos saw it, the best thing to do was carry two weapons, one openly and one concealed. People would see the open one. Some people would decide not to mess with him because of it, and most of the ones who did mess with him would probably concentrate on what they could see and not realize there was anything else to worry about. So when he slipped out of the Rush and into the spaceport, he made sure his standard-issue CivCorps weapon was on his hip, and he slid his prized possession, a tiny Taylor Miniature 646 his father had given him when he'd graduated from the academy, under his jacket.
He headed down the ship's ramp and waved to Logan to retract it, then headed out into the port. Even a small space port like this one held dozens of ships. The yard itself was ringed by some grungy vendor booth selling food and toiletries. Most ports were surrounded by extensive businesses, rows and rows of anything a space traveler could want after weeks in transit, but this one was pretty tiny.
He paused at the giant, rusted gate around the port (it could probably close it if it had to, but ports were open 24 hours a day, so it likely hadn't in decades) to study at traffic map until he found a publish shuttle to the area of town where the Red Petal brothel was located. It turned out to be right at the edge of the city's downtown area, where skyscrapers and hotels and restaurants gave way to mansions and parks. He found the brothel easily and walked around the block twice, keeping his eyes open for any signs of Kendall. Not that he expected to just see Kendall standing there or anything, but keeping a look out couldn't hurt.
Fighting down a flare of nerves, he grabbed a table at a small café nearby, where he could keep an eye on everyone who walked in and out of the brothel. Just in case. It wasn't a perfect view, but he could make out the brothel's door when he leaned over a little. He didn't want to look too obvious, though, so he mostly watched people walking by.
Halfway through a soda, still waiting for his sandwich, a pretty girl outside caught his eye. Tallish, leggy, with shiny blond hair. He only saw her for a split second before she turned into the brothel, and he hid his smirk behind his soda. If she worked there, well, no wonder it was such a popular place, drugs or no.
When his sandwich finally arrived, he ate as slowly as he possibly could, then ordered a slice of pie, which just made him wistful. James liked pie better than cake, so for years, Carlos had been careful to always get James birthday pie. Carlos looked down at his dessert guiltily, remembering James' birthday, two months after he'd gone missing. It was before they'd learned anything about Hawk and Rebecca.
He set his fork down, barely able to swallow his bite as he remembered how hopeless they'd all felt. He, Logan, and Kendall had stayed together all day, not talking about it, none of them willing to admit out loud what James missing his birthday made them all think: after two months and no sign of him, James had to be dead.
But James wasn't dead, Carlos reminded himself. They were going to get him back. Soon. They'd been chasing him from planet to planet for five months, they'd crossed the whole galaxy tracking down rumors, checking every sketchy planet where Hawk might have stashed him. But he was on this one. Carlos could feel it.
As Carlos finally finished his pie, the blond came back out of the brothel, walking towards the café this time. Carlos reached for his wallet to pay, and as he tossed a few bills down on the table, he stole another glance at her.
He froze.
That wasn't just some girl, it was Rebecca. Hawk's Rebecca, the Rebecca who'd taken James. Carlos vaulted out of his seat so fast his chair fell over, but he didn't even stop to apologize. He hit the street and paused, not wanting to attract her attention. He glanced back at the brothel... where was Kendall? Carlos was supposed to be finding Kendall -- but then again, Kendall himself would say that finding James was the most important thing, and Rebecca knew where James was.
Rebecca headed into the residential, mansion-filled area of town, walking briskly. Carlos followed, doing his best to be subtle, but it was like Kendall had said: subtlety really wasn't his strong point. He tried to swallow his nerves, walking at what he hoped was a normal-looking pace, wishing Kendall was here with him. Kendall was way better at this sort of thing. He always knew just what to do, or at least how to fake it.
As Rebecca turned another corner, heading into one of the giant houses, another horrible thought occurred to him. Kendall had gone missing at a party at that brothel, Rebecca was at that brothel. If she'd found Kendall instead of the inspector... Oh, no. The house Rebecca walked into had a huge, open lawn, with gorgeous gardens out front. Carlos frowned a little. It was actually way too open. He didn't see any security, and that meant the security was hidden.
To be safe, he memorized the house number, and walked on past it. Then doubled around the block to see if he could spot it from any other angles. The other houses all had fences, though, and some giant trees that made it hard to see anything. Carlos glanced around, didn't see anyone, and decided to take a risk. He grabbed one of the fence posts, bracing himself in case it had some kind of electric charge or set off a siren or something. Nothing happened. He hoisted himself further up, balanced carefully, and craned his neck.
The house she'd gone into just looked like... a house. Well, mansion. He could make out a couple of windows, but didn't see anyone through them.
Frowning, Carlos dropped back to the ground.
Then someone said, "Put your hands on your head and don't move." A weapon prodded the back of his skull.
Shit.
Carlos did what he was told slowly, carefully, not wanting to provoke someone with a gun to his head.
"Turn around. Slowly. One wrong move, and I will shoot you."
As he turned, he could see the person behind him -- the woman. She was petite, even shorter than he was, with long, dark curls. She held up her free hand and waved it in front of his face. For a moment, his eyes felt funny, buzzing, and as they started to water, she announced, "Carlos Garcia. Wanted for deserting CivCorps."
He grimaced. If she had retina scanners built in to her hand, that was biomech. The only people who got that kind of thing were inspectors. Like the one who'd reported in on the brothel that morning.
She reached for the gun in his hip holster. He tensed when she took it, but didn't move. She tucked it into her own belt and didn't check for anything else. That was something.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Well. Um. Just going for a walk?" he tried.
She didn't look too impressed by his answer. "You were following someone."
"No, ma'am," he lied.
"I watched you. You ran out of that café and trailed her. Now you're spying on her house. Don't lie to me, you're in enough trouble already." She narrowed her eyes. "What do you know about her?"
Carlos hesitated, wishing he was the kind of person who was good at lying. The inspector didn't look very impressed by his long silence, but she just waited, her weapon and her gaze both fixed on him. Whoever she was, she was good -- well, all inspectors were, but Carlos had never found such a small person so menacing before. And she'd apparently followed him all the way from he café, without him noticing her at all.
"Well?" the inspector finally demanded.
The only thing Carlos could think of was the truth: "All I know is that she works for Hawk. So she's bad news."
"Funny, coming from a criminal."
"I'm not -- well, not really," he amended. "It's all a big misunderstanding."
"Uh huh."
"It was! I'm sure CivCorps will clear us when this is all over." At least, he hoped so. Kendall probably had a plan for that.
"When what's all over?"
Carlos mentally kicked himself. This was why someone else usually did the talking. But at least this was an inspector, not one of Hawk's minions. Inspectors worked for the Civ Council, sometimes they even worked directly with the Corps. That meant they were on the same side.
"I'm just looking for a friend," Carlos confessed. "We -- I mean, I think Rebecca might have him. He disappeared and... it's a long story. Anyway, that's why I deserted the Corps."
"And stole a ship?"
He nodded. "How else was I going to chase him down?"
She gave him a long, considering look, then did that weird twitchy thing with her hand that inspectors sometimes did -- Logan said it was how they accessed in-eye displays, which of course looked weird to outsiders, since they couldn't see whatever the inspector was reading. Then she said, "To my great surprise, you seem to be telling the truth."
He shrugged modestly. "I told you it was a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding or not, I've got to bust you. I'm sorry about your friend, but that woman you're following is -- it's classified. But I can't have you interfering."
"I don't want to interfere! I don't want to go near her," he said, which was absolutely true. Rebecca was terrifying. "It's just that two of my friends are missing now, and I, I need to help them. Maybe I can help you!"
"How?"
"Umm..." He glanced around desperately and finally managed, "I could be your backup."
"I caught you in about 45 seconds without breaking a sweat," she pointed out.
"Yeah, well, sneaking isn't my strong point, but I'm great in a fight," Carlos promised, and tried to give her puppy-dog eyes. He couldn't count the number of times his puppy-dog eyes had gotten him out of trouble growing up. "And I'm good at playing along if someone else gets the ball rolling. And I'll do anything you need if it'll help my friends."
She lowered her weapon. "Look, I don't want to bust you. I've been building my cover for months, and do you know what a pain in the ass it is to get someone into police custody in secret?"
He gave her a hopeful smile.
"But this is too important to have an amateur around screwing up. Your friend isn't the only one who's vanished. This is serious."
"I'm serious," he half-snapped, ignoring the fact that she still had a gun in her hand. "We've been -- I've been tracking her for months. You think I'm not serious?"
"You have?" the inspector asked.
"I told you, she's got my friend, and I'll do anything to get him back."
The inspector paused, then stepped back, sliding her gun into -- somewhere. It seemed to disappear entirely under her dress somehow. "What if we made a deal, Garcia?"
"Uh, that sounds good. What...?"
"I want to know where Rebecca has been and everything else you've gathered on her. You hand all that over, and I don't bust you."
Carlos clamped down on his instinct to accept it immediately, even though it was a pretty good deal. He just didn't exactly have all of that stuff memorized. It was back on the ship. With Logan. If it was just Carlos, he'd agree, but Logan was also wanted. And Kendall was even more wanted.
"Well? This is a good deal, Garcia, and if you don't take it, I'm going to arrest you."
"Yeah! Yeah, I want to. The thing is..."
"You've got other crewmates to protect?"
He gaped. "How did you know?"
"You said 'we' by accident twice." She rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm dealing with a serious threat to Civ. I don't honestly want to bother with you, but I want that information. Give it to me, help me if I need it, and you and your crew are free to go when I'm done."
"You swear?"
She held out her hand. "Swear."
"Okay. We'll need to go back to my ship. Uh, and I'll probably need to know your name. Or your cover. Or whatever."
He shook her hand. She pulled his gun from her belt and slid it into her purse instead as she said, "It's Camille. Let's get going."
--
Camille got them a private transit to the south space sport. She sat next to Carlos and leaned in close enough to murmur in his ear, "I'm an actress. If anyone asks, you're a friend on the planet to see my show."
He nodded. She hoped he really was good at playing along, as long as someone else took the lead. Otherwise, this wasn't going to work. Not that she was going to ask him for anything other than the information, though she wouldn't have minded having some real backup. Rebecca was a top-level threat, considered to be one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy.
His ship was small and light, which meant it was probably designed for speed -- useful for a bunch of criminals who wanted to avoid getting caught. It had definitely seen better days, though. Judging by the amount of scuff and dents, they must have had some run ins with authorities after all.
Carlos hit the signal that sounded the ship's inner whistle. A minute later, the loading ramp extended. Carlos led the way up, retracted it once they were inside, and led her to the bridge.
There was only one person there, a dark-haired man who was bent over a computer console. Without looking up, he said, "It's about time, seriously. Did you --"
He looked up and spotted Camille.
She waved.
He cleared his throat. "Either Kendall's had a lot of very sudden work done, or you forgot what you were doing again."
Carlos laughed. "Uh, Camille, this is Logan. Logan, this is Camille. She's, um. The inspector."
Logan's eyes went. Camille held up her hand, retina scanner flickering to life, and as his eyes watered, his Civ profile came up in her in-eye. Like Carlos, he was wanted for deserting and stealing the ship. He had medic training and a science background, and had worked through the academy on an academic scholarship.
"You... she... you brought her here?" he yelped. "What happened? How did you get caught? Carlos --"
"It's okay," Carlos interrupted, holding up his hands. "She's on our side."
"On our -- she's an inspector. It's her job to arrest --"
"I have more important things to do than to arrest a couple of CivCorps deserters," Camille interrupted. "We made a deal. I'm investigating the Red Petals and Rebecca. Give me information, and I forget I ever saw you."
"Carlos --"
"What was I supposed to do?" he interrupted. "I saw Rebecca. Coming out of the brothel where Kendall was."
"Oh, shit," Logan said.
"Kendall?" Camille interrupted. She brought up her in-eye and flicked through Logan's file. He'd been assigned under a Captain Kendall Knight -- who had masterminded the ship theft, apparently, and now had a surprisingly steep price on his head. But that made no sense. "You told me you stole the ship to find a friend. Kendall Knight was with you when you stole it." She went for her gun, certain she was quick enough to take the two of them if she had to. "I don't like being lied to."
"I didn't lie!" Carlos yelped, hands going up, palms out. "I didn't. The three of us took the ship to find our friend James. Hawk and Rebecca kidnapped him. We tracked Rebecca here, and Logan can give you all the coordinates we spotted her at, it'll just take a sec, and, uh, Kendall went looking for James last night. He went to some party at that Red Petals place and never came back. I was looking for him when I found Rebecca and you found me. See? No lies."
"Wait, hang on. Someone went missing at the party last night?" Shit, if she'd been sober enough to do her job properly, she might have seen something, might have prevented it. Yet another screw up.
Carlos and Logan exchanged a look she couldn't quite interpret, and Carlos said, "Yeah, uh, Kendall. Why? Wait, do you know anything about that party?"
She nodded, not willing to confess how badly she'd screwed up to these strangers, and instead said, "I have an in at the Red Petals organization. Do you have a picture of this guy? If he's been around, I might recognize him."
Logan hit a few keys on his console, and the main screen came up with Kendall Knight's wanted poster. "Anything?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Sorry."
"Damn." He sighed. "So the Red Petals are really dangerous, huh? I mean, dangerous enough that you're here?"
"I can't really talk about it," she said. "I just need the information he promised me. And then you need to stay out of my way."
"I thought you wanted our help," Carlos said. "Rebecca has our friends --"
"Your friends aren't the first ones who've disappeared," she interrupted. "The best thing you can do to help them and all the others is let me do my job."
"We didn't come this far to just sit back and --"
"Hey," Logan interrupted. Camille and Carlos both turned to look at him. "This is a long shot, but if you've got some kind of spy in the brothel or whatever, and Rebecca's been around... I don't know, but..." He paged through the wanted display. "Maybe you've seen our other friend."
She looked up at the screen. He'd stopped on a photo of four men: the two of them, their missing captain, and --
"That's him?" She pointed. "Who you're looking for?"
They exchanged another look and nodded in unison. "Have you seen him?" Carlos asked.
Camille nodded. Their missing friend was her mystery man from last night. Oh, god. She swallowed, staring up at the photo of him laughing with his friends, and asked, "What's his name? I didn't... I wasn't able to find that out."
"James Diamond," Carlos said. "Is he okay? Where is he? Is he -- just tell us he's alive."
"He is. Or he was, around dawn this morning," she said. Logan's eyes went wide, his mouth slightly open, and Carlos broke into a grin. She hated that she had to do it, but she cut their joy off quickly: "He's not in good shape, though."
They both sobered, and Logan said, "Tell us everything. Please."
She paused, deciding how much she really could say, considering it was all classified. Then again, she'd come this far, and now she knew exactly who was being held in the brothel. That was something.
"The Red Petals run a drug ring," she started. They both nodded like they'd already know, so at least she wasn't spilling a major secret. "And they've somehow turned their petal dust into something a lot stronger. Some kind of serum, we think. We've found test subjects all over the galaxy -- people who were already addicts, burnouts, no one anyone would notice was missing, but the local reports couldn't figure out what drug they'd been taking. The symptoms were all the same, though." She swallowed, hating to think about it. "It saps a person's whole... personality. Their memories. Everything. It turns users into zombies, and its base is definitely an aphrodisiac, because the victims are also all... Well, they're sex addicts, to the point where they neglect basic necessities like eating and sleeping when they try to get off."
"Jesus," Logan mumbled. "And James is... what, one of those zombies?"
She nodded. "It gets worse."
"It's addictive," he guessed.
"No. Not as far as we can tell -- there don't seem to be any withdrawal symptoms, anyway. But it is irreversible."
"Irreversible?" Carlos repeated. "As in, James is... James is..."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know you've been searching for him, but what's left of him isn't..." She trailed off, wondering what he'd been like before the petal serum. He must have been something special, if his friends had all risked their careers and their futures -- their entire lives -- to find him. "He isn't really there anymore."
Carlos just stared at her, and Logan shook his head. "That's not acceptable."
"I know that can't be easy to hear, but --"
"It's not acceptable," Logan said again. He looked over at Carlos, and they did that same silent communication thing, and Logan said, "Can I see the science? The research your people have done?"
"They haven't found anything that helps."
"I'm a scientist," he said. "And I'm kind of a genius. I might be able to come up with something."
"What, a cure?" She raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Here, in some rinky-dink ship lab, when half the top-level scientists in Civ have been trying for months?"
"You don't get it," Carlos said. "Logan's really a genius."
She called up his file on her in-eye camera again, and paid more attention to the notes this time. And... wow. They weren't throwing around the word lightly; by every report, Logan Mitchell was, literally, a genius. He'd had the top science schools in Civ fighting over him, and apparently they hadn't been thrilled when he'd turned down their offers and accepted Civ's academy scholarship instead.
"Okay. So you're a genius," she conceded. "The odds aren't exactly in your favor, but..."
"It's James," Logan said. "I have to try. I'll need a sample, though, and access other researchers' information."
She reached for her purse and found the vial Mercedes had given to her last night. It was still mostly full. She set it down in front of him and said, "The head of the Red Petals herself says this is the good stuff. It isn't the same, but it's from the same plant. Close enough?"
"It'll have to do." He picked it up, peered at it.
"Just be careful. It's very strong. As for the research, that's all stored in a classified section of the Repository. I can get you in. But if I log in from a stolen ship, it'll get traced. They'll know exactly where you are. I agreed to let you all go if you can give me info on Rebecca, but once they've got a clear trace on your ship, that's it. It'll only be a matter of time before the Corps arrives and you're busted."
Another long look between the two of them. Finally, Logan nodded, and Carlos said, "Okay. Bust us."
Chapter Five
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to lielabell and her terrifying red pen of doom.
Summary: Kendall was supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Four.
The way Carlos saw it, the best thing to do was carry two weapons, one openly and one concealed. People would see the open one. Some people would decide not to mess with him because of it, and most of the ones who did mess with him would probably concentrate on what they could see and not realize there was anything else to worry about. So when he slipped out of the Rush and into the spaceport, he made sure his standard-issue CivCorps weapon was on his hip, and he slid his prized possession, a tiny Taylor Miniature 646 his father had given him when he'd graduated from the academy, under his jacket.
He headed down the ship's ramp and waved to Logan to retract it, then headed out into the port. Even a small space port like this one held dozens of ships. The yard itself was ringed by some grungy vendor booth selling food and toiletries. Most ports were surrounded by extensive businesses, rows and rows of anything a space traveler could want after weeks in transit, but this one was pretty tiny.
He paused at the giant, rusted gate around the port (it could probably close it if it had to, but ports were open 24 hours a day, so it likely hadn't in decades) to study at traffic map until he found a publish shuttle to the area of town where the Red Petal brothel was located. It turned out to be right at the edge of the city's downtown area, where skyscrapers and hotels and restaurants gave way to mansions and parks. He found the brothel easily and walked around the block twice, keeping his eyes open for any signs of Kendall. Not that he expected to just see Kendall standing there or anything, but keeping a look out couldn't hurt.
Fighting down a flare of nerves, he grabbed a table at a small café nearby, where he could keep an eye on everyone who walked in and out of the brothel. Just in case. It wasn't a perfect view, but he could make out the brothel's door when he leaned over a little. He didn't want to look too obvious, though, so he mostly watched people walking by.
Halfway through a soda, still waiting for his sandwich, a pretty girl outside caught his eye. Tallish, leggy, with shiny blond hair. He only saw her for a split second before she turned into the brothel, and he hid his smirk behind his soda. If she worked there, well, no wonder it was such a popular place, drugs or no.
When his sandwich finally arrived, he ate as slowly as he possibly could, then ordered a slice of pie, which just made him wistful. James liked pie better than cake, so for years, Carlos had been careful to always get James birthday pie. Carlos looked down at his dessert guiltily, remembering James' birthday, two months after he'd gone missing. It was before they'd learned anything about Hawk and Rebecca.
He set his fork down, barely able to swallow his bite as he remembered how hopeless they'd all felt. He, Logan, and Kendall had stayed together all day, not talking about it, none of them willing to admit out loud what James missing his birthday made them all think: after two months and no sign of him, James had to be dead.
But James wasn't dead, Carlos reminded himself. They were going to get him back. Soon. They'd been chasing him from planet to planet for five months, they'd crossed the whole galaxy tracking down rumors, checking every sketchy planet where Hawk might have stashed him. But he was on this one. Carlos could feel it.
As Carlos finally finished his pie, the blond came back out of the brothel, walking towards the café this time. Carlos reached for his wallet to pay, and as he tossed a few bills down on the table, he stole another glance at her.
He froze.
That wasn't just some girl, it was Rebecca. Hawk's Rebecca, the Rebecca who'd taken James. Carlos vaulted out of his seat so fast his chair fell over, but he didn't even stop to apologize. He hit the street and paused, not wanting to attract her attention. He glanced back at the brothel... where was Kendall? Carlos was supposed to be finding Kendall -- but then again, Kendall himself would say that finding James was the most important thing, and Rebecca knew where James was.
Rebecca headed into the residential, mansion-filled area of town, walking briskly. Carlos followed, doing his best to be subtle, but it was like Kendall had said: subtlety really wasn't his strong point. He tried to swallow his nerves, walking at what he hoped was a normal-looking pace, wishing Kendall was here with him. Kendall was way better at this sort of thing. He always knew just what to do, or at least how to fake it.
As Rebecca turned another corner, heading into one of the giant houses, another horrible thought occurred to him. Kendall had gone missing at a party at that brothel, Rebecca was at that brothel. If she'd found Kendall instead of the inspector... Oh, no. The house Rebecca walked into had a huge, open lawn, with gorgeous gardens out front. Carlos frowned a little. It was actually way too open. He didn't see any security, and that meant the security was hidden.
To be safe, he memorized the house number, and walked on past it. Then doubled around the block to see if he could spot it from any other angles. The other houses all had fences, though, and some giant trees that made it hard to see anything. Carlos glanced around, didn't see anyone, and decided to take a risk. He grabbed one of the fence posts, bracing himself in case it had some kind of electric charge or set off a siren or something. Nothing happened. He hoisted himself further up, balanced carefully, and craned his neck.
The house she'd gone into just looked like... a house. Well, mansion. He could make out a couple of windows, but didn't see anyone through them.
Frowning, Carlos dropped back to the ground.
Then someone said, "Put your hands on your head and don't move." A weapon prodded the back of his skull.
Shit.
Carlos did what he was told slowly, carefully, not wanting to provoke someone with a gun to his head.
"Turn around. Slowly. One wrong move, and I will shoot you."
As he turned, he could see the person behind him -- the woman. She was petite, even shorter than he was, with long, dark curls. She held up her free hand and waved it in front of his face. For a moment, his eyes felt funny, buzzing, and as they started to water, she announced, "Carlos Garcia. Wanted for deserting CivCorps."
He grimaced. If she had retina scanners built in to her hand, that was biomech. The only people who got that kind of thing were inspectors. Like the one who'd reported in on the brothel that morning.
She reached for the gun in his hip holster. He tensed when she took it, but didn't move. She tucked it into her own belt and didn't check for anything else. That was something.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Well. Um. Just going for a walk?" he tried.
She didn't look too impressed by his answer. "You were following someone."
"No, ma'am," he lied.
"I watched you. You ran out of that café and trailed her. Now you're spying on her house. Don't lie to me, you're in enough trouble already." She narrowed her eyes. "What do you know about her?"
Carlos hesitated, wishing he was the kind of person who was good at lying. The inspector didn't look very impressed by his long silence, but she just waited, her weapon and her gaze both fixed on him. Whoever she was, she was good -- well, all inspectors were, but Carlos had never found such a small person so menacing before. And she'd apparently followed him all the way from he café, without him noticing her at all.
"Well?" the inspector finally demanded.
The only thing Carlos could think of was the truth: "All I know is that she works for Hawk. So she's bad news."
"Funny, coming from a criminal."
"I'm not -- well, not really," he amended. "It's all a big misunderstanding."
"Uh huh."
"It was! I'm sure CivCorps will clear us when this is all over." At least, he hoped so. Kendall probably had a plan for that.
"When what's all over?"
Carlos mentally kicked himself. This was why someone else usually did the talking. But at least this was an inspector, not one of Hawk's minions. Inspectors worked for the Civ Council, sometimes they even worked directly with the Corps. That meant they were on the same side.
"I'm just looking for a friend," Carlos confessed. "We -- I mean, I think Rebecca might have him. He disappeared and... it's a long story. Anyway, that's why I deserted the Corps."
"And stole a ship?"
He nodded. "How else was I going to chase him down?"
She gave him a long, considering look, then did that weird twitchy thing with her hand that inspectors sometimes did -- Logan said it was how they accessed in-eye displays, which of course looked weird to outsiders, since they couldn't see whatever the inspector was reading. Then she said, "To my great surprise, you seem to be telling the truth."
He shrugged modestly. "I told you it was a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding or not, I've got to bust you. I'm sorry about your friend, but that woman you're following is -- it's classified. But I can't have you interfering."
"I don't want to interfere! I don't want to go near her," he said, which was absolutely true. Rebecca was terrifying. "It's just that two of my friends are missing now, and I, I need to help them. Maybe I can help you!"
"How?"
"Umm..." He glanced around desperately and finally managed, "I could be your backup."
"I caught you in about 45 seconds without breaking a sweat," she pointed out.
"Yeah, well, sneaking isn't my strong point, but I'm great in a fight," Carlos promised, and tried to give her puppy-dog eyes. He couldn't count the number of times his puppy-dog eyes had gotten him out of trouble growing up. "And I'm good at playing along if someone else gets the ball rolling. And I'll do anything you need if it'll help my friends."
She lowered her weapon. "Look, I don't want to bust you. I've been building my cover for months, and do you know what a pain in the ass it is to get someone into police custody in secret?"
He gave her a hopeful smile.
"But this is too important to have an amateur around screwing up. Your friend isn't the only one who's vanished. This is serious."
"I'm serious," he half-snapped, ignoring the fact that she still had a gun in her hand. "We've been -- I've been tracking her for months. You think I'm not serious?"
"You have?" the inspector asked.
"I told you, she's got my friend, and I'll do anything to get him back."
The inspector paused, then stepped back, sliding her gun into -- somewhere. It seemed to disappear entirely under her dress somehow. "What if we made a deal, Garcia?"
"Uh, that sounds good. What...?"
"I want to know where Rebecca has been and everything else you've gathered on her. You hand all that over, and I don't bust you."
Carlos clamped down on his instinct to accept it immediately, even though it was a pretty good deal. He just didn't exactly have all of that stuff memorized. It was back on the ship. With Logan. If it was just Carlos, he'd agree, but Logan was also wanted. And Kendall was even more wanted.
"Well? This is a good deal, Garcia, and if you don't take it, I'm going to arrest you."
"Yeah! Yeah, I want to. The thing is..."
"You've got other crewmates to protect?"
He gaped. "How did you know?"
"You said 'we' by accident twice." She rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm dealing with a serious threat to Civ. I don't honestly want to bother with you, but I want that information. Give it to me, help me if I need it, and you and your crew are free to go when I'm done."
"You swear?"
She held out her hand. "Swear."
"Okay. We'll need to go back to my ship. Uh, and I'll probably need to know your name. Or your cover. Or whatever."
He shook her hand. She pulled his gun from her belt and slid it into her purse instead as she said, "It's Camille. Let's get going."
--
Camille got them a private transit to the south space sport. She sat next to Carlos and leaned in close enough to murmur in his ear, "I'm an actress. If anyone asks, you're a friend on the planet to see my show."
He nodded. She hoped he really was good at playing along, as long as someone else took the lead. Otherwise, this wasn't going to work. Not that she was going to ask him for anything other than the information, though she wouldn't have minded having some real backup. Rebecca was a top-level threat, considered to be one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy.
His ship was small and light, which meant it was probably designed for speed -- useful for a bunch of criminals who wanted to avoid getting caught. It had definitely seen better days, though. Judging by the amount of scuff and dents, they must have had some run ins with authorities after all.
Carlos hit the signal that sounded the ship's inner whistle. A minute later, the loading ramp extended. Carlos led the way up, retracted it once they were inside, and led her to the bridge.
There was only one person there, a dark-haired man who was bent over a computer console. Without looking up, he said, "It's about time, seriously. Did you --"
He looked up and spotted Camille.
She waved.
He cleared his throat. "Either Kendall's had a lot of very sudden work done, or you forgot what you were doing again."
Carlos laughed. "Uh, Camille, this is Logan. Logan, this is Camille. She's, um. The inspector."
Logan's eyes went. Camille held up her hand, retina scanner flickering to life, and as his eyes watered, his Civ profile came up in her in-eye. Like Carlos, he was wanted for deserting and stealing the ship. He had medic training and a science background, and had worked through the academy on an academic scholarship.
"You... she... you brought her here?" he yelped. "What happened? How did you get caught? Carlos --"
"It's okay," Carlos interrupted, holding up his hands. "She's on our side."
"On our -- she's an inspector. It's her job to arrest --"
"I have more important things to do than to arrest a couple of CivCorps deserters," Camille interrupted. "We made a deal. I'm investigating the Red Petals and Rebecca. Give me information, and I forget I ever saw you."
"Carlos --"
"What was I supposed to do?" he interrupted. "I saw Rebecca. Coming out of the brothel where Kendall was."
"Oh, shit," Logan said.
"Kendall?" Camille interrupted. She brought up her in-eye and flicked through Logan's file. He'd been assigned under a Captain Kendall Knight -- who had masterminded the ship theft, apparently, and now had a surprisingly steep price on his head. But that made no sense. "You told me you stole the ship to find a friend. Kendall Knight was with you when you stole it." She went for her gun, certain she was quick enough to take the two of them if she had to. "I don't like being lied to."
"I didn't lie!" Carlos yelped, hands going up, palms out. "I didn't. The three of us took the ship to find our friend James. Hawk and Rebecca kidnapped him. We tracked Rebecca here, and Logan can give you all the coordinates we spotted her at, it'll just take a sec, and, uh, Kendall went looking for James last night. He went to some party at that Red Petals place and never came back. I was looking for him when I found Rebecca and you found me. See? No lies."
"Wait, hang on. Someone went missing at the party last night?" Shit, if she'd been sober enough to do her job properly, she might have seen something, might have prevented it. Yet another screw up.
Carlos and Logan exchanged a look she couldn't quite interpret, and Carlos said, "Yeah, uh, Kendall. Why? Wait, do you know anything about that party?"
She nodded, not willing to confess how badly she'd screwed up to these strangers, and instead said, "I have an in at the Red Petals organization. Do you have a picture of this guy? If he's been around, I might recognize him."
Logan hit a few keys on his console, and the main screen came up with Kendall Knight's wanted poster. "Anything?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Sorry."
"Damn." He sighed. "So the Red Petals are really dangerous, huh? I mean, dangerous enough that you're here?"
"I can't really talk about it," she said. "I just need the information he promised me. And then you need to stay out of my way."
"I thought you wanted our help," Carlos said. "Rebecca has our friends --"
"Your friends aren't the first ones who've disappeared," she interrupted. "The best thing you can do to help them and all the others is let me do my job."
"We didn't come this far to just sit back and --"
"Hey," Logan interrupted. Camille and Carlos both turned to look at him. "This is a long shot, but if you've got some kind of spy in the brothel or whatever, and Rebecca's been around... I don't know, but..." He paged through the wanted display. "Maybe you've seen our other friend."
She looked up at the screen. He'd stopped on a photo of four men: the two of them, their missing captain, and --
"That's him?" She pointed. "Who you're looking for?"
They exchanged another look and nodded in unison. "Have you seen him?" Carlos asked.
Camille nodded. Their missing friend was her mystery man from last night. Oh, god. She swallowed, staring up at the photo of him laughing with his friends, and asked, "What's his name? I didn't... I wasn't able to find that out."
"James Diamond," Carlos said. "Is he okay? Where is he? Is he -- just tell us he's alive."
"He is. Or he was, around dawn this morning," she said. Logan's eyes went wide, his mouth slightly open, and Carlos broke into a grin. She hated that she had to do it, but she cut their joy off quickly: "He's not in good shape, though."
They both sobered, and Logan said, "Tell us everything. Please."
She paused, deciding how much she really could say, considering it was all classified. Then again, she'd come this far, and now she knew exactly who was being held in the brothel. That was something.
"The Red Petals run a drug ring," she started. They both nodded like they'd already know, so at least she wasn't spilling a major secret. "And they've somehow turned their petal dust into something a lot stronger. Some kind of serum, we think. We've found test subjects all over the galaxy -- people who were already addicts, burnouts, no one anyone would notice was missing, but the local reports couldn't figure out what drug they'd been taking. The symptoms were all the same, though." She swallowed, hating to think about it. "It saps a person's whole... personality. Their memories. Everything. It turns users into zombies, and its base is definitely an aphrodisiac, because the victims are also all... Well, they're sex addicts, to the point where they neglect basic necessities like eating and sleeping when they try to get off."
"Jesus," Logan mumbled. "And James is... what, one of those zombies?"
She nodded. "It gets worse."
"It's addictive," he guessed.
"No. Not as far as we can tell -- there don't seem to be any withdrawal symptoms, anyway. But it is irreversible."
"Irreversible?" Carlos repeated. "As in, James is... James is..."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know you've been searching for him, but what's left of him isn't..." She trailed off, wondering what he'd been like before the petal serum. He must have been something special, if his friends had all risked their careers and their futures -- their entire lives -- to find him. "He isn't really there anymore."
Carlos just stared at her, and Logan shook his head. "That's not acceptable."
"I know that can't be easy to hear, but --"
"It's not acceptable," Logan said again. He looked over at Carlos, and they did that same silent communication thing, and Logan said, "Can I see the science? The research your people have done?"
"They haven't found anything that helps."
"I'm a scientist," he said. "And I'm kind of a genius. I might be able to come up with something."
"What, a cure?" She raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Here, in some rinky-dink ship lab, when half the top-level scientists in Civ have been trying for months?"
"You don't get it," Carlos said. "Logan's really a genius."
She called up his file on her in-eye camera again, and paid more attention to the notes this time. And... wow. They weren't throwing around the word lightly; by every report, Logan Mitchell was, literally, a genius. He'd had the top science schools in Civ fighting over him, and apparently they hadn't been thrilled when he'd turned down their offers and accepted Civ's academy scholarship instead.
"Okay. So you're a genius," she conceded. "The odds aren't exactly in your favor, but..."
"It's James," Logan said. "I have to try. I'll need a sample, though, and access other researchers' information."
She reached for her purse and found the vial Mercedes had given to her last night. It was still mostly full. She set it down in front of him and said, "The head of the Red Petals herself says this is the good stuff. It isn't the same, but it's from the same plant. Close enough?"
"It'll have to do." He picked it up, peered at it.
"Just be careful. It's very strong. As for the research, that's all stored in a classified section of the Repository. I can get you in. But if I log in from a stolen ship, it'll get traced. They'll know exactly where you are. I agreed to let you all go if you can give me info on Rebecca, but once they've got a clear trace on your ship, that's it. It'll only be a matter of time before the Corps arrives and you're busted."
Another long look between the two of them. Finally, Logan nodded, and Carlos said, "Okay. Bust us."
Chapter Five