Beneath the Fallen City, Jamie A. Waters [ebook reader .TXT] 📗

“I don’t know. We got there, and she met her mother. That seemed to go well, although Kayla was a little freaked out. Then we went to dinner. I don’t know what the hell happened after that.” Veridian crushed the hydrating pack in frustration and tossed it on the table.

Jinx sat beside him. “Did something happen at dinner?”

Veridian shrugged. “I don’t know. I got caught up talking to one of the potential traders. I shouldn’t have left her. Kayla and Alec disappeared at some point. Seara, that’s Kayla’s mother, came over to me after dinner and asked me to accompany her back to her family’s quarters. We sat around for a while talking and waiting for Kayla to come back. Suddenly, Seara got this strange look on her face, jumped up in a panic, and ran out of the room.”

Veridian scratched his head and continued, “Seara came back a little later with Alec. She was quiet, and it looked like she’d been crying. Alec said Kayla started remembering things. He told me Kayla wanted to be alone for a while and asked me to come back here.”

Carl frowned, his unease growing. “You didn’t talk to Kayla?”

Veridian threw up his hands in frustration. “No. Alec said she didn’t want to talk to anyone. Next thing I knew, I was on my speeder heading back here.”

Carl shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense. There’s no way Kayla would have told you to leave. She’s always been adamant about not being separated from you.”

“I thought so too. But maybe remembering her past changed things? I don’t know. It seemed to make sense at the time.”

Carl drummed his fingers on the table. Jinx rested her hand on Veridian’s arm. “Veridian, why don’t you call her and find out if she’s okay?”

Veridian pulled out his commlink, but Kayla didn’t answer. He sent a message asking her to contact him and closed his commlink. His shoulders slumped. “I shouldn’t have pushed her. She told me she didn’t want to go to the towers. I should have listened.”

Jinx shook her head. “I’m sure everything’s fine. She’s probably just sleeping. You can try her again in the morning.”

Hope filled Veridian’s eyes as he raised his head. “You think so?”

Jinx offered him a reassuring smile and nodded. “Yes. You should get some rest too. You look exhausted. We’ll find out what’s going on. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Veridian stood and muttered a goodnight before heading out of the room.

“Anyone else think this reeks?” Xantham said when he was gone.

Carl nodded. If there was one thing beyond reproach, it was Kayla’s loyalty to Veridian. “Kayla wouldn’t have sent him away. I don’t care what she remembered.”

“Maybe you should go to the towers a day early,” Jinx suggested. “Go check on her and find out what’s going on.”

“That’s not a bad idea. We’re low on inventory anyway. I could use that as an excuse,” Carl mused. “In the meantime, we should get some rest. Maybe Kayla will call Veridian in the morning and straighten this out.”

They murmured their agreement. Carl said goodnight to the group and headed back to his office. Pushing aside the inventory list Jinx had given him earlier, he pulled up a copy of Kayla’s OmniLab contract. He stared at her picture for a long moment and then shut it off in annoyance. He was acting like a lovesick teenager.

You were the one who encouraged her to go.

Mentally kicking himself, he headed to his bedroom. He pulled off his shirt and threw it on the floor in frustration. Resting his head in his hands, he sighed. Sleep would be a long time coming.

Several hours later, Carl woke to the sound of his commlink. He grabbed it and flipped it open. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and read the message from OmniLab.

So they narrowed down the selection of potential traders.

The message requested his presence at the towers in two days for the final decision. He studied the qualifications of the proposed trader candidates and chuckled when he saw Rand’s name on the list.

Carl scrolled through the rest of his messages and was about to close his commlink when he noticed a draft message marked urgent. He couldn’t remember creating an urgent draft. Curious, he opened it up and stared in shock at the short message.

Carl,

Hope you’re doing well. If you happen to stop by OmniLab, I’d love it if you could break me out of here. Seems like these zap-happy circle freaks are into some weird shit and have decided they want me to join their little club. Apparently, they don’t like to take “no” for an answer either.

Oh, you might not want to tell Veridian about this little mix-up. I don’t want him to worry—not to mention I’ll never be able to live this down once he finds out.

K.

His fingers tightened reflexively on the commlink. Jumping to his feet, Carl headed out into the common room. Cruncher and Zane were sitting at the table having breakfast and talking.

“Morning, Boss,” Cruncher said. “I heard Veridian came back last night.”

Carl tossed Cruncher his commlink. “Read the draft message.”

Cruncher opened the commlink and read through it quickly. When he finished, he looked up at Carl, his eyes filled with worry. “Shit, Boss, is this for real?”

Carl nodded grimly. Given Kayla’s penchant for getting into trouble, he shouldn’t be surprised. “Get Xantham and Veridian. We’re going to the towers early. I want to find out what the hell is going on.”

Zane looked confused. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Kayla hacked into my commlink somehow and sent me a message. She indicated she’s being held against her will.”

“But I thought her family was one of the higher-ups in those towers.”

“They are,” Carl informed him. “That’s why this doesn’t make any sense.”

Jinx walked into the room and saw the tense faces. She frowned. “Did something happen?”

“We got a message from Kayla. I think she’s in trouble,” Carl explained. “Cruncher, I want Xantham and Veridian ready to leave in thirty minutes. It’ll take us a couple of hours to get to the towers.”

Cruncher nodded and headed out of the room. Jinx walked over to Carl and put her hand on him reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Kayla’s proven to be pretty resourceful. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Carl hoped she was right, but the incident with Ramiro was too fresh in his mind. If he managed to get her out of this mess, he was going to have to find a way to keep her permanently out of trouble.

Less than thirty minutes later, Carl, Cruncher, Xantham, and Veridian were on their speeders heading toward the OmniLab towers.

As they approached the towers, Carl frowned. It had been almost a year since he’d last visited the towers. Surprisingly enough, he realized he didn’t miss it. He understood why many traders ended up extending their contracts and staying in the field longer. There was something about being on the surface and working daily with your crew that made it feel more like home than anywhere else.

Carl pressed a button on his speeder, triggering the large overhead doors. As they opened, Xantham whistled and said into the headset, “Damn. I never thought I’d see these towers this close.”

Carl chuckled and replied, “Wait until you see the inside.”

They climbed off their speeders and entered the lower level entrance area. Three armed men wearing the distinctive Omni security uniforms stood near the door, eyeing them with suspicion. An elderly blond woman with a stern expression pointed to a panel on the wall. “Identify yourselves.”

Carl pulled off his helmet and hung it up on the rack. Pressing his hand against the panel, he spoke his name in a clear voice.

The woman glanced at the tablet she was carrying. “You’re early, Trader Carl Grayson. We weren’t expecting you for another day. Welcome back to OmniLab Towers.”

Carl motioned for everyone else to do the same. They each checked in one by one. Once they identified themselves, the woman said, “Traders don’t usually bring so many of their crew members to the towers. Is there a problem?”

Carl gave her his most disarming smile. If they were turned away now, there was little he could do about it. “We need to pick up some supplies. I’ll need their help to bring the items back. Veridian Levanthe is a close friend of Mistress Kayla Rath’Varein. He intends to visit her while he’s here.”

The woman eyed Veridian speculatively and didn’t appear impressed. “We haven’t received a notification from the Inner Circle about any guests. I’m sorry, but without authorization, access to their tower is denied.”

He’d