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Harlow did a quick internal check and found that she was indeed hungry.
‘Fine by me,’ she told him. Surely there wasn’t any harm. Though she’d no feelings for the man, she was practical. If she didn’t have this catch-up he’d been bugging her about for days, she’d never be able to shake him off. One quick kahawa, and hopefully, that would get rid of him for good. At least, that’s what she hoped.
Then again, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to Ruben than he let on. Under his charming veneer, she sensed a touch of cynicism and a disingenuous streak. She’d no evidence to the fact, just a nagging sense of unease about him, so she further indulged his request. Maybe having a face-to-face with him would reveal more of what he was about. And Harlow was nothing if not curious by nature.
She led him to Skylab’s cafe, bustling with life and giving off delicious smells from behind the counter. Harlow had become especially fond of their quiches, and she stepped up to the counter and ordered one with a fresh herb salad alongside a steaming hot brew. Ruben put his order in, and they found a table.
‘So Harlow, heard you’re this kick-ass propulsion engine scientist,’ he said once they settled into their seats.
She nodded noncommittally.
‘I’m working on a few components for a fusion fuel reactor,’ he went on. ‘Need to get your thoughts on what sort of system such a device might employ - that would offer reliable, predictable control, including propulsion, braking, and rotation?’
‘A fusion fuel?’ Harlow murmured.
‘Yes, potentially made using sources in abundant supply and easy to manufacture or contain, or if a reactor is required - and able to be stationed onboard the vessel and be maintained by an engineer. I heard you’re the expert on this kind of shit and need your insight.’
Harlow’s hackles rose. He was describing something too close to her undertaking for comfort. ‘Who’s commissioned the components you’re speaking of?’
He hesitated for a beat. ‘It’s a personal pet project,’ he replied with a glint in his eye.
‘Ah, one of those. We all have pet projects. I’ve had them for many years,’ Harlow drawled. Internally, her mind’s wheels whirred as alarm bells went off, and she quickly thought of a diversion. ‘In fact, I’ve got one of my own right now. A fully intelligent digital form of me that does not have a body but lives inside a very complex data centre network; and communicates with other life forms via technology. Eventually, my digital entity would form dedicated thinking and action modules and might set out for the stars looking for more information and things to ponder. It might start as an extremely large automata -‘ she droned on and on.
Ruben made eye contact, smiling fondly as if he was listening to her, taking in her utterly ridiculous made-up-on-the-spot concept, giving her his full attention. He even nodded like he was hearing and appreciating her. If she didn’t know better, she’d have drank in his unadulterated attention and used it to feed her ego.
Instead, she studied him keenly. She watched his reactions - the fake smiles and tense body posture - alongside his reduced blinking rate. There was more to his ‘pet project’ than he was letting on.
‘So, is your research something you’re sharing with The Sable Group?’ she probed. ‘Because it may’ve some crossovers with what the team here are doing in R&D.’
‘Oh no,’ Ruben countered, with an extra loud laugh as he tried to deflect the question. ‘Not at all.’
‘Then you must know that, unfortunately, I’m bound by an NDA,’ Harlow smiled back. ‘I can’t discuss any experimental tech outside my lab. The Sable Group is super strict about security, and I wouldn’t want to accidentally spill the beans to someone in here and have our words captured by the many eyes and ears all around that we can’t see, from hackers or even con artists and frauds who may have infiltrated the complex. The best thing is to run your fusion fuel idea past the powers-that-be here, especially Kage Sable, as I hear he’s keen on anything that’ll make his ships run faster. Once you’ve cleared it with him, we can discuss it further. I’d be delighted to.’
His eyes narrowed, and she caught a flash of deep annoyance across his face.
‘Forget it. It’s nothing TSG would be interested in - it’s too trivial,’ he said quickly. ‘So, tell me, have you eaten any good food at the rock’s markets? I hear some of the stalls are fantastic,’ he said, enthusiastically changing the subject.
She grinned and launched into her experiences of Eden II’s food scene. At the same time, her mind mulled over all the shady vibes Ruben was giving off. The unblinking eyes, the Q&A deflect, the swift disengagement on the topic of possible murky actors.
Kage had been right, to some extent.Ruben had secrets. Which she’d no time or energy to explore. She made a mental note to take her concerns to Kage. He could deal withHis Shadinesshere himself.
Kage
‘Dammit,’ Kage ground out, staring at a screen showing security footage.
‘There’s no doubt, brother,’ Xion said quietly. ‘The rat nibbled.’
The two men stood in Skylab’s surveillance room used to monitor and control the security of the entire Sable Heavy Industries facility. The high-tech setup comprised a range of monitoring equipment, from cameras and alarms to sensors, consoles and control panels, used to detect and respond to any alerts, threats and vulnerabilities within and without the complex.
The room also had a massive bank of screens and monitors where security personnel scrutinised the surveillance feeds in real-time. An enormous air conditioner pumped cool air to keep the temperature of the massive machines in check. But, unfortunately, it did little to cool Kage’s wrath.
He swore as his eyes raked the screen, the harshness echoing in the typically quiet and subdued space. The other personnel in the room looked up from their screens, then glanced away quickly. The Riders were not known to take to security threats very well.
This tense atmosphere ratcheted as Kage and Riv watched a recently filmed breach unfold.
They followed the action onscreen as a figure left an office, paused, and sneaked into a storage room. The footage shifted to the cameras inside the storage room.
The figure inside slid a tiny flash drive into the comm tab in their hands.
