Cruise ship
Hud
Taking a deep breath, I rap a knuckle on her door. The sight that shows is not anything I expect. Charlie’s Angel is dressed in a one-piece orange with black tiger markings stretchy suit. When she turns from the woman on her bed to me at the open door, she loses the big smile pretty fuckin’ quick. “Hud, everything go okay?”
That’s a weird question but I nod. “Yeah, I can send you a workbook in the chat.”
She nods leaning closer. I take a step back and she leans to the side to see around me. I turn seeing the rolling bot.
“You know how to order from them?” I just got the instructions when Alder put it up for me to read to the procurement guy and Captain.
She looks up but I think she was just rolling her eyes. It doesn’t matter now with her eyes on mine showing annoyance. “Yeah. I worked in the lab and helped Asa and Akai get the book made for the presentation here.” She’s never fazed by me and always answers like she’s bored by the question.
It figures. “I was going to tell you about the book. I’ll just send what I did tonight so you know what the little President already did.”
She bends for the rolling robot and opens the front. I didn’t see this one, it has drinks in little clear compartments held by a claw. It’s like a small rolling refrigerator. “Thanks.Alder sent me the schedule before we left so I wouldn’t have any changes he makes on it.” She turns holding two drinks with fruit and colorful flower umbrellas in them.
I want to tell her not to overdo it, but stop. She’s a Lead. My eyes are drawn to her ass with a tail hanging down, then the giggle across the room.
“Sophie doesn’t drink while she’s working,” the dark woman with soulful eyes says. I’ve never seen her before.
I nod and pivot to about face. “I’ll send what we did, Brother.”
She wasn’t answering my knock, she thought it was the bot.
Her foot kicks the door shut before I take a step. Whatever.
Chapter Four
One day
Cruise ship
Hud
Shots fired is not normal. The hit to walls tells of bad aim. I roll off the bed and hit the floor. No light at all means the threat is real. The shots were suppressed but the bullets that hit the wall weren’t. Alder took the room by Charlie’s Angel Sophie’s team. I hope she heard that.
§*§*§
Sophie
My eyes open when shots are fired as if I was trained to react to that particular air-in-motion sound, or maybe it’s the impact on the wall a few meters away from my door. With the automatic roll and crouch, I reach for my gun and glasses, then crab walk my way to the connecting door. No clock, charger, security, or any kind of light at all shows in this room. Checking the door to Alder’s room, I’m surprised it’s unlocked. I see Mucimi and Aurora on Alder’s bed and breathe. Alder has his gun in his hand and glasses on but the breath he lets out slowly shows he is ready to defend himself and probably Aurora - not that Mucimi would let anything happen to any of them. With a nod to me, he waves a hand at Mucimi. Mucimi signs for me to stay alert and signs he’s got Alder. I back into my room and stand in the corner by the door, waiting. Mucimi isn’t here fornothing.
Every little sound of the someone coming toward the room feels muted but amplified because I’m focused on it. A key slides in the door knob telling me this is a planned attack. The keypad is out with the electricity but a door lock is manual. Slow opening, muted click of the door close, breath let out, foot hits the chair leg, no lights but the tiny prick of a pen light sweeping like a lighthouse off a coast.
I roll my eyes, like that’s not noticeable in a pitch-black room. His light keeps me focused on more than his sounds. Now, if you’re looking to surprise a person in the room, you might want better tools. I stand in the corner with night vision glasses watching this hoser try to make his way to the door by me.
He goes to the bathroom and clears it, I guess that’s something, so he’s not a total inept hoser. While he’s in there, I bend lower but stay comfortably ready.
“Where is she?” The mumble is soft but he’s not that far from me, so I keep the statue pose and watch his little prick of a light go right over me to the door showing a 20cm ray of light circle on the door.
Green isn’t a good color for him. He’s a big guy, a few inches over six foot, muscular, hairy, making age a guess at forties. I lift my hand and shoot the laser dropping him. Scanning his shaking face right by my foot, I note closer doesn’t make the green look any better.
“Jed?” The voice from the dark hall gives me another target but the only move I make is an eye shift and slow-motion hand honing in on sound with my finger moving to ready.
“Too long, let’s go.” The voice sounds anxious.
I hear a body hit the floor down the hall and shoot Jed’s partner before he has a chance to alert anyone. He falls just inside the door.
