AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Stark willed himself not to explode and scream in front of the entire center staff.
“You people told her nothing about what to expect,”he said simply, turning back to Dr. Oppyx. “Does she know about the gestation period?”
“Gestation period?” Olivia echoed, her voice slightly higher, as if she were scared.
“Let’s head back to my office,” Dr. Oppyx said softly. “We can discuss it there.”
“We have to enhance our bond,” Stark said to Olivia, having no more patience for the center staff and their theatrics. “If we don’t, the baby won’t thrive. If we do, the baby will grow faster, and your gestation will be shorter.”
“How much shorter?” she asked suspiciously.
“Normal gestation for a Maltaffian pregnancy is a week or two,” Dr. Pan told her gently. “But a strong bond could mean you’re giving birth in a matter of days.”
Olivia’s eyes widened, and for a moment Stark was afraid she was going to run. But where could she go?
“I want to see Oberon’s servers,” she said suddenly. “Alone. After that we can talk about… bonding.”
“Of course,” Dr. Oppyx said quickly. “I’ll just walk with you. It will be good to move around a little. And you can ask me any questions you’d like.”
Stark watched the two of them walk away, panic rising in his chest.
“The baby will be okay if she takes half an hour to cool off,” Dr. Pan said softly. “And you’ll feel better too.”
“She blackmailed me,” he said to himself, shaking his head.
“Are you sure about that?” Dr. Pan asked.
He frowned. Something about it didn’t add up.
With what he had paid over the security exploit, shewouldn’t have had to be a surrogate, not unless she’d bet it on the Zarrian races.
“Excuse me,” he said, pulling up his comms.
He strode off to the far end of the space, where he could have a little privacy from the staff, some of whom had turned back to the food on the tables.
The food looked awfully familiar. As he passed the largest table, Stark realized it was leftovers from the booths at the winter fair. Some of the staff who had played the various workers at the fair were there too.
Tapping his bracelet, he pulled up Fayren, his most capable finance guy.
“Hey boss,” Fayren said instantly. “What can I do for you?”
“About a standard year ago a hacker found a hole in one of our residential security features and demanded a ransom,” Stark said. “Can you confirm the name and amount for me?”
“Sure thing,” Fayren replied, his forehead wrinkling as he studied his glass.
Stark looked around the cafeteria at all the people whose job it had been to help him impregnate Olivia.
Please let me be wrong about her…
“Yeah, that was a million credits, and the slime bucket in question was an Olivia Sinclair,” Fayren said. “We paid her and then plugged the hole.”
“Did you handle it yourself?” Stark asked, sighing.
“No,” Fayren said. “We put that on the lawyers. I can look into it, if you want?”
“Do that,” Stark said. “And get all the details for me.”
But he knew Fayren kept accurate records. There wasno question that Olivia had made a demand and Stark had paid.
