Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗

mine. I smiled at her, hoping to convey my compassion for her situation. “No interest at all?” I asked softly.

She averted her gaze and put her free hand to her mouth. “No, nothing,” she said.

“No one has shown any interest whatsoever.” I detected a subtle increase in the pitch of her voice.

“Sorry to hear that.” She was lying, I was sure of it. But why lie to me? I didn’t even know her.

“I would love to visit Portal al Porvenir’s lunar colony,” she said. “It sounds fascinating. Can you take me there?”

I was startled, both by the sudden turn of the conversation, and the direct request.

“Sorry, Marley, but there’s a no-visitors policy at Arcadia.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” She glanced away for a moment. “Excuse me, I need to visit the rest room.” I followed her with my eyes as she threaded her way through the tables to the back of the bar. While I waited, I finished my beer. Marley hadn’t touched hers.

When she returned, she slid next to me in the booth. I stared at her, eyes wide. What was going on? She gave me a little smile, then reached out to caress my cheek. I fought the urge to jerk my head back. “You are very attractive, Callisto.”

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

Now her hand was on my thigh, her caresses rough and clumsy. “Won’t you reconsider taking me to Arcadia with you? I’m positive we’ll have a good time.” She was staring at my lips.

I felt on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

I caught her hand as it traveled perilously close to my crotch. “Marley, I’m flattered, but

….” I had never been in a more awkward situation in my entire life.

She gave me an imploring, almost heart-wrenching look. “Please Callisto, allow me to come with you to Shambhala.”

First Arcadia, now Shambhala. “I can’t, I’m so sorry. It’s not allowed.” Again, a tingling at the back of my neck. It wasn’t Marley this time, but something about her persistence. Why so much interest? “I’m tired,” I said. “I’m ready to go now.”

Marley immediately stood up and turned toward the door. I signaled the waitress, and she came with her handheld scanner. I paid our bill, and as we walked together to the metro, Marley kept looking behind her.

“Marley? What’s going on?”

“There’s someone following us.”

I started to look behind us but she grabbed my arm, squeezing it tightly.

“No! Don’t look.”

The street was dark, a simulation of nighttime, with just the street lights guiding our 94

way. Surreptitiously I glanced over my shoulder, and thought I saw a shadow disappear behind a building.

“We need to get to the metro,” she said, a note of panic in her voice.

We increased our pace, the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Marley’s fear was contagious.

“I know him,” she whispered. “He’s my ex, Jonah. I can’t believe he followed me to the Moon.”

“What does he want?” I asked breathlessly, wishing we had chosen a bar closer to the metro entrance.

“He’s dangerous, Callisto! We need to get away.”

We started running, which on the Moon means half running, half flying through the air, and covered the distance in record time. When we got to the metro entrance, I looked back—I didn’t see anyone.

Marley grabbed my hand and led me to the metro platform, her face white with fear.

“Callisto, please, he’s relentless. Please let me come to Arcadia with you. I don’t feel safe in my hotel alone.”

The policy at Arcadia was strict, but maybe they would make an exception? I couldn’t let Marley go to her hotel by herself. And to be honest, I didn’t want to ride the metro alone, either. What if Jonah decided to follow me instead? Just then a metro train heading in the direction of the University Sector pulled into the station. “Come on!” I said, dragging her onto the train.

“But this is going in the wrong direction!” Marley protested as the doors shut.

I was staring out the windows, searching for Jonah, but the platform was empty. As the train picked up speed, I turned to her. “Look, I’ll have to check with Arcadia, okay?

But in the meantime we can go back to the university. I worked there before, and know my way around.”

“Okay,” she said, chewing on her lip.

At the university stop we exited the train. There was a small group of people waiting, many of whom I recognized from the conference. I took Marley’s hand and weaved through the crowd and into the university sector airlock, glancing over my shoulder as the door closed behind us. No one seemed to be paying any attention to us. “Follow me,” I said as I led Marley through the hallways of the university. “If they haven’t done any major remodeling, there’s a little alcove that hardly anyone knows about. I used to go there to be alone.”

“Thank you, Calli,” said Marley, her voice subdued.

At this late hour, the hallways were empty. After a few wrong turns—it had been years since I had last visited—I found my sanctuary. “We should be safe her for the moment,” I said in my most reassuring voice, though my pulse was pounding in my ears. The alcove was just as I remembered it, full of abandoned crates covered in a thin layer of Moon dust. I brushed one off with my sleeve, and indicated that Marley sit down.

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“Listen, I’m going to call a friend of mine at Arcadia, see if we can get you in there, okay?”

She looked up at me and nodded.

I input Berit’s contact info into my wrist computer, the tone which indicated a call in progress sounding in my head, thanks to my implant.

“Calli?” Berit’s voice was heavy with sleep. “What’s going on? Why are you calling me?”

I stepped out into the hallway. “Sorry to call you so late,” I said, voice low. “I’m with a friend, and she’s in a jam.”

“But I don’t understand? Aren’t you on Shambhala?”

“Oh, sorry. No, I’m here on the Moon, in the University Sector. I’ll explain everything later. I’m with a woman I met at the conference.”

“You mean the space travel conference?” she asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay. Tell me what’s happening.”

“We were at a bar having a drink, and when we left, a man started following us.

Marley, the woman from the conference, said it was her ex, and she’s really afraid, says he’s dangerous.”

“But are you okay now? Where are you?”

“We took the metro back to the University Sector. We’re hiding out in a little alcove on the other side of the library. It’s kind of a forgotten storage area.”

“Okay. What can I do to help?”

“Marley wants to come there, to Arcadia. She says she doesn’t feel safe staying in her hotel.”

“I don’t know, Calli. You know the policy.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what else to do. She’s scared.”

“Wait! I know! Let me make a call. I have a friend who works security in the University Sector, the night shift, he can help. Name’s Frank, and he’s a great guy. Just give me your coordinates.”

“I’ll send them now. Thanks, Berit!”

“Let me know what happens!”

I disconnected, then went back into the alcove. Marley had been standing at the doorway, though I doubted she had been able to hear my side of the conversation.

“Let’s sit,” I said. “My friend Berit is taking care of the situation.”

“Oh thank god!” said Marley. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”

“So Jonah followed you here? All the way to the Moon?” I asked. It didn’t make sense to me—he must have been on the same T-L Express flight from Earth, so it seemed strange she hadn’t seen him there.

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Marley said, chewing on her thumbnail.

“Okay, sure. We just need to sit tight until Berit’s friend gets here.”

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“Friend?” She looked at me. “To take us to Arcadia?”

“No, he’s a security guard. He’ll know what to do.”

“But I told you I wanted to go to Arcadia with you.” Her voice was cold, angry, and her face flushed. “I trusted you!”

I stared at her. Wasn’t I doing everything in my power to help her? But of course, she was probably terrified. Footsteps sounded in the corridor, and I stood up as two security guards came to the doorway. “Calli?” The man asked, looking from me to Marley. He was a nice looking man, with even features, medium build, and a strong, reassuring presence.

“That’s me,” I said. “You must be Frank. Thanks so much for coming.”

The other guard, tall and lanky, turned to Marley, her expression soft. “Hi, I’m Jeanne. Someone is following you?”

Marley nodded, her face still mottled with anger.

Jeanne sat down on the crate beside Marley and put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “Where are you staying?”

“At the Starlight Hotel,” Marley muttered.

“Okay, we can escort you to your hotel,” said Jeanne.

“I’ll call the security at the Starlight,” said Frank. “We’ll make sure you get there safely, and they can take over from there. We’ll input a ‘do not disturb’ message in the concierge A.I., that way no one will be able to locate your room. I promise you will be completely safe. And tomorrow, just call me, and I’ll send an escort to accompany you anywhere you want to go.” He held his wrist computer next to Marley’s, and there was a single chirp. “Now you have the emergency contact info, just ask for me, Frank.”

“We take security here on the Moon very seriously,” added Jeanne. “We’ll be revising all the video feeds from tonight. Don’t worry, we’ll find your stalker.”

Marley looked at me. “Calli, I’d feel better at Arcadia.”

Frustration boiled up inside of me. How had Marley suddenly become my responsibility? And here were two people ready and willing to keep her secure, who were trained to do so, and still she wanted to come with me? If we were friends, it would be different, but I didn’t even know the