Chapter 10

She hurried down the hallway, wondering what she had done wrong. Ken seemed so angry. What had she done except play her role as a geisha as best as she could? And she had been so successful tonight, in spite of the fact that Nick had spent much of the evening leering at her and groping her. It was a small price to pay to help Ebony and to stop Galactor in its tracks.

Her eyes remained downcast as she scurried down the corridor, not paying attention to what was around her. Suddenly, she slammed into someone in the hallway.

"Ebony!" Jun cried. "I didn't expect you to be awake at this hour! I'm so sorry!"

Jun helped Ebony up off of the floor.

"It's ok, Jun. I've just had a hard time sleeping since all of this happened, and you know how it is, sleeping in a strange place."

Jun nodded. "Yes, I do."

"But I am thankful that Dr. Nambu offered to let me stay here at the base until this case is solved. I feel much safer here."

Ebony suddenly appeared concerned. "You look sad. Is everything going well?"

"Sad? No, I'm fine." Jun tried to cover up her feelings. "We have learned a lot about the Galactor activity at the Secret Garden, and I think we'll be able to put a stop to it."

"I hope you know how much this means to me, Jun." Ebony beamed and hugged Jun tightly. "I need to feel that my sister did not die in vain."

"Don't worry, Ebony." Jun squeezed back. "We'll do our best."

"Well, look who's up."

A familiar baritone voice echoed through the hallway. Joe and Ken had walked out from their debriefing.

Joe placed his hand on Ebony's back, and grinned. "How are you doing, beautiful?"

Ebony pulled away from Jun and smiled back at him. "I'm taking it a day at a time."

"Thoroughly bored, yet?" Joe grinned mischievously. He knew he'd better give Jun and Ken a chance to talk things out. And what better way than by entertaining a lovely young girl?

Ebony nodded.

"How about going for a swim with me?" Joe smiled. "That always relaxes me."

"Sounds good to me." She answered. Then the pair walked down the hallway together towards the swimming area.

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Jun leaned against her door and looked at Ken. "Well?"

Ken scowled back at her. "Well what?"

"Are you going to keep it all bottled up or are you going to talk to me?"

"I thought you liked the strong, silent type." Ken growled, turning his back to her.

Jun placed a hand on his back and tried to spin him back around. It didn't work. "What are you talking about, Ken?"

"You were taking your role a bit too far tonight, weren't you?" Ken turned his face toward her and shouted. He didn't care who heard him.

"What?"

"You and Nick. Do you enjoy him feeling you up?" Ken glared at her. "You are supposed to be working, you know!"

Just then, Joe and Ebony returned from the pool area.

"I don't believe it, closed for maintenance." Joe muttered. Then he heard Jun and Ken's heated argument.

"Ken, what the hell?" Jun yelled. "What about you? You and Ana were getting mighty close as I recall. Aren't you supposed to be undercover, too, Mr. Owashu???"

She flung her body around, sending her dark curls flying as she turned her back to Ken.

Joe immediately stepped in.

"Hey, guys, I thought you would talk it out, not yell it out."

"Tell that to Ken-san, here." She thumbed back at him. "He seems to think I enjoy being groped by Nick. I thought he knew me better than that." Her voice cracked as she finished speaking, and then stalked into her room and slammed the door behind her.

Ebony's eyes widened.

Joe walked in front of Ken and looked him in the eyes. Ken tried to avoid eye contact. "Ken, didn't you see what happened when Jun was leaving?"

"I saw that she and Nick were getting too cozy. I didn't need to watch any more."

"She was pretending to be sick so she could get away from him." Joe explained. "Give her some credit, man; she can't blow her cover any more than you can."

Ken's brow unfurled as he suddenly realized what he was doing. I am judging her for doing her job too well, and I know that she is just as dedicated to being believable as I am. She is probably as repulsed by Nick as I am by Ana.

Instead of admitting he was wrong, Ken decided to sleep on it. Pride was indeed a powerful thing. "You may be right, Joe. I'm going to bed."

Joe turned to Ebony. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Ebony. That guy is the most stubborn, pigheaded person I've ever known. But he'll come around. He always does."

He placed an arm around her shoulder. "How about going to the cafeteria for a midnight snack?"

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The next day, Jun avoided Ken and left for the tea house a little earlier than usual. Damn him and his accusations! How could she fall for a man who didn't trust her?

She hovered in the doorway of the Secret Garden Tea room, surprised to hear that the other girls were sitting down together, having a deep discussion with Peter and Kevin. Quietly, she slid into a nearby storage room, hoping to listen in to the conversation.

"Can't we just bump her off, like we did that Ivory girl?" Ana growled. "She's in the way, and she's heard too much already, just like Ivory and the others."

"Shut up, Ana!" Peter scolded. "You'll do as you're told. She makes Nick happy for the moment, so we're keeping her…until we have no more use for her."

Kevin spoke up. "Your job is to make Mr. Owashu comfortable. Use your power of persuasion to make him accept our deal tonight. Do whatever you want, just make him feel…agreeable."

"And then what? Are Lord Katse's orders for you to kill us as well?" Seiko grumbled. "Because it won't be that easy."

"Don't be ridiculous." Peter interjected. "You three are high ranking Devil Stars. It takes too much time and money to train you. Why would he kill you? You'll just go back to your positions in the Galactor forces after this."

"You might even receive a promotion." Kevin added. "Now, it is getting late. Get yourselves prepared for this evening. It is time to pull out all the stops."

Jun held her breath as she watched and waited in the shadows. Her instincts were right. Kevin and Peter were Galactor agents, and the three women she was working with were Devil Stars. It all made sense. Their clumsiness, lack of training, brash remarks…Galactor had been replacing the original geishas with Devil Stars, gradually taking over the tea room, so they could use it for negotiations.

Now it was clear that it was Ana's job to get close to Ken, and to make him feel comfortable enough to close the munitions deal.

Jun took a deep shaky breath. So Nick was a free agent, negotiating with both Galactor and the ISO. She was a little surprised by this, as he seemed as though he would fit right in with those smarmy Galactor agents.

They intended to kill her once they were done using her to influence Nick Frye. She guessed they hadn't counted on Nick preferring her over the other girls.

Galactor was planning something big. They needed weapons from Ken and Loronium from Nick. She'd make sure they didn't get their hands on what they wanted.

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Joe started the car as Ken sat down and buckled his seatbelt. It was time to negotiate his new munitions deal with Galactor. Now that all of the details were coming together, he felt even more uneasy about the situation.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ken. You didn't talk things out with Jun, did you?" Joe scolded, as they pulled away from the base.

"I haven't even seen her today."

"Well, you know you two are going to have to work this out sooner or later."

"I'd prefer later." Ken mumbled, staring out the window.

Joe thought for a minute and then chuckled softly. "Jun wasn't thrilled with your behavior with Ana, was she?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm just doing my job." Ken stated, matter-of-factly.

"So is she." Joe remarked. They were approaching the tea house. Ken straightened his tie.

"You ready for Ana?" Joe couldn't help but to throw in a jab at his superior. He began to tease in Ana's baby voice. "Oh Ken-san, baby, take me, I'm yours!"

Ken suppressed a grin as he exited the car and walked up to the entrance. "Shut up, Joe!" He waved a fist at Joe playfully and then walked inside.

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Kevin Dean and Peter Vamos continued their discussion in the private tea room after the three women left to make preparations for the evening.

"Did you run the background checks?" Vamos asked.

"Yes. On both of them." Dean answered. "Dead ends."

Peter Vamos wore a shocked expression on his face. "You mean you found nothing on either Nick Frye or Ken Owashu?"

Kevin shook his head. "Nothing."

Vamos pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. "Sounds suspicious to me. I'm not so sure we should take this any further."

"I ran it by Lord Katse." Dean stated. "He gave it the green light."

"Are you kidding?" He flicked his lighter and lit the cigarette, puffing for a moment before he spoke again. "Katse's not so bright, is he? I thought he'd be more careful who he deals with."

Dean laughed. "You'd better watch your mouth, Vamos. If Katse heard that, you'd be a dead man."

Dean then pulled the cigarette out of Peter's mouth and threw it down, squashing it out under his shoe. "Besides, we need to get out there. They'll be here any minute."

"Hey! That was a perfectly good…" Vamos began, only to be cut short by Dean.

"Don't worry about it." He looked down at the ashes on the floor. "The girls will clean up this mess."