I think Yuri and Kei had a sense of immortality, not surprising considering how lucky they often were. Angels is certainly the right name for them, some greater power seems to be watching over them, a whole flock of guardian angels more than likely. The problem was that the people around them tended to lack such divine protection.
I suppose they never realized this. Is it any
wonder their plans often did not take other people into consideration
until it was too late?
-Philasia Drast's Guns, Bad Karma and Babes (Unreleased, unauthorized and under litigation biography of the Lovely Angels)
Tamikia stepped out of her shower, the soft rug on the bathroom floor absorbing some of the water that dripped from her. She took a towel from the rack and wrapped it around herself.
"So is there anything of great importance?" Tamikia asked the air.
"Not really. You should take care of that problem on the moon of Triesius," the computer told her.
"Why don't you handle it, I have some things that need my personal attention. Has all the data on Melkar been dug up and loaded into accessible files?"
"Yes."
"Good, have a report ready for me at the end of the day."
"Yes ma'am."
Tamikia dried herself off and completed the rest of her morning rituals before leaving the bathroom.
She took a well-tailored, dark grey, business skirt/suit from her closet. It's long skirt ended just below her knees and the jacket had a slight military look to it. A white blouse with a red tie completed the outfit.
She let her hair hang down her back and pulled her bangs back with two small, ebony combs. Almost as an after thought she pulled her pistol from under a pillow on her bead and slid it into the jacket's inner pocket.
Kei and Yuri were waiting in her office when she entered.
Yuri was wearing a blue dress that matched her eyes; the long skirt almost brushed the floor. Kei had on a pair of tan walking short and an off white shirt. The khaki jacket that had been tossed on the floor was no doubt hers.
"Good morning ladies." Tamikia walked towards the wet bar. "My, don't we look dressed this morning, can I interest you in breakfast?"
"Just some tea if it wouldn't be a problem," Yuri said.
"Espresso," Kei said.
Tea had already been put on as well as coffee. The espresso maker had come on when Kei mentioned her desire for some. Tamikia filled a cup with tea and another with coffee. Yuri came over and took her tea.
"I suppose you want to see what information I have on Melkar?" Tamikia returned to her seat behind the desk.
"A good place to start." Kei walked over to the bar to wait for her drink. "Yuri already dug up some data, let's see if your people have anything she couldn't find."
"Right." Tamikia touched a few of the controls on the steel and glass desk causing two screens to swing out of the desktop and a portion of the glass to become a keyboard. "Vecroy Melkar, age 50, born January seven, 2091, owner of Melkar Cybernetics, no criminal record worth mentioning, citizen of United Galactica, the planet Sesstan, and the planet Teern, which is not a member of the UG."
"Not too exciting." Kei took her cup of espresso from the machine.
"True. Do you want to hear the rather boring stuff, parents, genetics, early schooling?"
"No," Yuri said, taking a seat, placing the cup and saucer on her knee. "I already dug up the boring stuff."
"Okay, then let's take a look at the man." Tamikia brushed her fingers over the keyboard. The windows darkened, some of the room lights went out, and there was a low hum as she activated the holo projectors. A man, a bit under two meters, appeared in the middle of the room. He had blue eyes, blonde hair, muscular build, very handsome, except for his smile, which made his mouth look hard. He wore a very expensive looking pin stripped suit.
"Nice holo projectors," Yuri noted.
"Nice body," Kei said. "Pretty good for a man of fifty."
"This was taken two years ago but yes, he has held up remarkably well," Tamikia agreed. "Very much a self made man."
"Why don't you have anything more recent?" Yuri asked.
"He's made himself very scarce over the past few years, no one really has any idea where he is."
"Which means he could have been on that ship waiting in orbit." Kei looked the hologram up and down.
"And he could also have been almost anywhere in the galaxy with a rock hard alibi." Yuri said.
"If Melkar was behind this, he was very likely aboard that ship. It's the sort of person he is. My psych techs tell me that he is the type who likes to get as close to the action as he can as long as he doesn't put himself at too great of a risk."
"Would have been nice if we could have nailed him that easily," Kei said.
"No such luck." Tamikia turned her attention to the keyboard. "Here's something I'd like you to see." She touched a few keys. The hologram's clothes disappeared.
"Nice, can you make it dance?" Kei asked. Yuri blushed, but did not look away.
"Now girls, let's keep our minds out of the gutters." She touched a few more keys. This time skin on one half of his body faded out to reveal cybernetic limbs: his arms and legs with some torso mods, his eyes and other skullware. "Both his arms and legs, torso enhancements, heart, kidneys, liver, lung modification, eyes, and other things. This is all based on information about four years out of date. My psych techs tell me that he may have gone the way of full conversion by now."
"Self made man indeed," Yuri said.
"Not much into humanity is he?" Kei looked the hologram over once more.
"I'm willing to bet he's a little insane now, but my opinion is no doubt coloured," Tamikia admitted.
Kei put her hands together in the shape of a gun and pointed them at the hologram.
"How do you take down a full conversion borg?"
"Missile launcher or assault cannon," Yuri suggested.
"Might work." Kei pulled her hands apart.
"Do you need to know anything else?"
"How converted was he when you met him?" Kei asked.
"I think he only had his eyes replaced then. I believe he lost his originals in a vehicle accident, decided to go for cybernetics instead of cloned replacements."
"Perhaps he's a megalomaniac," Yuri said.
"Been reading your dictionary again?" Kei taunted.
"At least I can read."
"So do you two have a plan?" Tamikia said, hoping to interrupt a potential argument. The women were almost as bad as her kids at times.
"Glad you asked," Kei said. "Yuri, take over."
"You cancelled a visit to some sort of convention thing on Peledies nine didn't you?"
"How did you know that?" Tamikia could not remember mentioning it to the trouble consultants.
"I checked your calendar," Yuri explained.
"But that's protected."
"Is it?" Yuri asked.
"You'll have to forgive Yuri." Kei told Tamikia. "If the defences aren't trying to fry her hardware, crash her software and burn her wetware she isn't likely to notice them."
"Are you sure there were defences?" Yuri sounded honestly confused.
"Tanis," Tamikia called out, "has there been any unauthorized entry into my personal calendar?"
"No such access is evident," the computer told her.
"Check deeper."
"There is a thirty one percent chance of unauthorized access," the computer conceded.
"Great, she breaks into my system and doesn't even leave a trace." Tamikia scowled at Yuri. She suddenly had an idea. "Tanis, who has access to my calendar right now?"
"Yourself and trouble consultant Yuri."
"I see." Tamikia looked nastily at Yuri. Yuri looked very uncomfortable. Kei sounded as if she were stifling a laugh.
"Sorry," Yuri tried.
"Do you do this sort of thing to everyone that you're assigned to?"
"She likes you," Kei said.
"Lucky me. If 3WA ever decides they no longer want your services you'll have to come and work for me."
"What would you be offering as starting salary?"
"Perhaps we'll talk. As for you original question, yes I did cancel the trip. With all that has been happening I considered it a wise thing to do."
"What exactly is it, the convention?" Kei asked.
"It's sort of a meeting for medium sized corporations. They get together with one or two other corps and make deals that benefit all of them. It's also a chance to trade information and set things up. When I first started out I found it very useful. Now I go just to see which of the up and comers might be a threat so I can buy them out."
"You should go," Kei told Tamikia.
"Why?"
"It will draw Melkar out," Yuri said.
"Pardon?"
"If we don't get him soon he'll simply wait until 3WA pulls us off this case," Kei said.
"We have a month, maybe two at the most before 3WA decides there is no more threat. They'll think we took care of the problem when we took out Daniel or when those three were killed at the party. The stuff we have so far on Melkar won't mean much, especially considering how we got it. We've been running on intuition for the most part and, while 3WA gives our hunches respect, they don't trust them enough to let us sit around waiting for a maybe," Yuri told Tamikia.
"How long can Melkar wait?" Kei asked. "Just from what I've read and heard so far he can probably wait a couple of years before trying again. Catherine will be vulnerable to manipulation for several years yet, especially from a father if she had just lost her mother."
"I could give her warning," Tamikia said.
"You could."
"And for all I know it won't do any good. So, you don't think there's anything else I can do?"
"Who knows?" Kei shrugged her shoulders. "You're the owner of this Mega Corp, can you do anything that would stop him from taking over if he got his hooks into Catherine?"
"No, nothing that would hold up if Catherine backed him. I could make Susanne my primary heir, but that would just make her a target as well."
"We also have to draw him out so we can take him down," Yuri said. "He's a dangerous man, he might decide to kill you and your family simply because you stopped him from getting what he wanted, your psych techs seemed to believe he was more than a little unstable. Once he's dead he's no longer a threat."
"That's rather cold... but true. How do you know if he'll even show if I go to Peledies Nine?"
"Too much of a temptation, if he sees a chance to get you and you kids he'll take it, it matches his psych profile," Yuri told her.
"And what if he sends someone else?"
"He won't." Kei's tone held no doubt. "He won't have time to arrange freelance help and cover his trail. If he can't do that he'll be in on it personally. His psych profile again."
"You're sure of that?"
"Your own people put together the report. Mind you, I never trust these things one hundred percent but it makes sense."
"I don't like the thought of putting my children in such a dangerous position, but for the moment I'll consider it. What's your plan?"
"Can you get a ship here, cruiser class at least, chartered for a run to Peledies Nine?" Yuri asked.
"Yes. I own several shipping lines and having one diverted won't be a problem. I can get something here by tomorrow."
"Make sure it's a ship that wasn't already going there, that will make it less likely Melkar will have agents on it. Once it's here we leave immediately," Kei said.
"Melkar will know what I'm doing a few minutes after I do it, you can't hide something like that. He'll be able to catch us before or after we warp, even if I use secure channels and codes he'll find out in a few hours."
"That's what we're counting on. He probably won't try for us until after we reach the Peledies system. More than likely he'll try to board and take you. We can take him out with the Angel, quick and clean." Kei slammed her left fist into her right palm.
"And if he doesn't show?"
"Then you go to your convention and we come up with another plan," Yuri said.
"I suppose that is something. I'll get to work on getting the ship; if it's going to be big it might as well be one of the best, first class all the way. I'll use secure channels, that will slow Melkar down a bit, make it seem less suspicious. Are you sure that you'll be able to fight off whatever her brings with the Lovely Angel?"
"Trust us," Kei said. Her smile was almost a perfect match for Yuri's smile.
"Why do I feel like I should be running, screaming onto the streets?"
"I'm sure it's just nerves," Yuri said.