Scent of Treachery, Smith, T.L. [best short novels of all time .TXT] 📗

Scent

of

treachery

An

Interstellar Alliance

Novella

T. L. Smith

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places, organizations and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances are entirely coincidental.

Scent of Treachery

Copyright© 2013 by T. L. Smith

All rights reserved.

Cover Design by T. L. Smith

Cover Art contributing photographers:

M-Gucci/Getty Images

Wonwoo Lee/Getty Images

Milos Markovic/Getty Images

Vasiliki Varvaki/Getty Images

ISBN-13: 978-1494338022

ISBN-10: 1494338025

Acknowledgements

There are so many people to acknowledge, I have to keep it simple.

A huge thanks goes to my mother, Patsy, who never discouraged me from going after whatever I wanted, even if secretly she thought I was crazy for wanting to be a writer. And yes, Chuck, I am writing at 3am.

Another thanks to the rest of my family and friends, who cheer me on as I stumble over each hurdle. The kids-Denita, Adam, Devion, Jayden and Kullen. Rick and Brenda, my movie night buddies, and my brother Bill, who introduced me to Science Fiction.

A special thanks to all my writing friends, particularly Gini Koch, the Wyked Women Who Write and Dr. Bruce Davis, for helping me learn to do my craft better and who make Cons a blast. And my dear friend Sandra Bowen. Love our editing sessions over long lunches, or is that the other way around?

And always, I have to thank thereaders who want to share in my insanity. Read on!

Want more from

T. L. Smith?

Check out her other books.

Defending Hippotigris - an Interstellar Alliance novella

You can’t tell a secret if you can’t remember it, but for Shara Batista her secret life draws her husband and best friend to a strange new world, where they are forced to protect their alien friends from the worst humans have to offer.

The Thing Down the Road

Be wary of road-side freak shows. You may not like what you find.

Or visit her at:

http://www.tlsmithbooks.com

CHAPTER ONE

Interstellar Alliance - 2544 CE

Despite the best automation, the manufacturing process still required human supervision.

The trouble was finding anyone willing to take this job. Jayda hadn’t balked at the conditions. It was the perfect job for her and she was on her eighth year.

She initiated the filtering process and waited until all the lights went green. It would take a while to complete this step. A flip of the latch freed her from the lab chair and she gently pushed away from the console.

Floating freely through the sterile lab, she caught a handgrip as she neared the bulkhead. She had propulsion down to an art and could do it in her sleep. In seconds she slipped through the decon chamber and into the station.

Jayda entered the galley and grabbed a snack before settling into her favorite lounger. This was the last batch before the next cargo ship arrived, but she had other work she could be doing while she waited.

She opened her files, hoping to get some work done before being called back to the lab. She was annoyed to not find any messages giving her the go-ahead on her latest personal project.

Preliminary tests had come back with such enthusiasm that picking a producer almost turned into a bidding war. Ultimately she stuck with the company she’d done business with before, but she’d never been left hanging so long.

Jayda shook off the disappointment and turned back to her computer screen, noticing the comm-link blinking at her. “Computer, who’s trying to call in?”

“XPRC cargo ship Dolan Four. Captain Dolan requesting contact.” The computer automatically accessed the ship registrar attached to the contact request, confirming it was the scheduled cargo ship.

“Open a line.” She leaned forward, narrowing her video image. “This is Maldonado, Sienna Outpost Lab. Are you calling to confirm arrival?”

“Maldonado?” A face appeared on her screen, not too clear, either a bad comm-link or bad equipment on his end. “Yes, we were scheduled to dock tomorrow, but will be earlier than anticipated. Will that be a problem on your end?”

“Well, I don’t know. Sometimes ships line up out here. You might have to wait your turn.” Jayda couldn’t help a flippant response to a stupid question.

One side of the man’s face crinkled up into either a half-smile or snarl. “Was just trying to be courteous and not show up in the middle of your night cycle. You lab rats out here got your own schedules.”

Great, piss off the new cargo captain, Jayda chastised herself silently, trying to put on a more pleasant face. “You’re new on this run.”

“Yes, ma’am. Have to do time in the badlands before getting the prime cuts.” He glanced away from the screen for a second, speaking to someone else, still leaning towards a possible snarl in his expression.

He focused back on Jayda. “Sorry for the lousy feed. We’re picking up some kind of interference.” His snarl showed a few more teeth, maybe a real smile now. “So, Maldonado, who’d you kill to get banished out here?”

Jayda ignored his comment. “Docking procedures are fairly standard. I’ll be ready to transfer the shipment by the time you arrive. What is your ETA?”

“Expect us around 0830GT.” He was definitely snarling now. “Standard hit-n-run.” He signed off.

Great, a hit-n-run meant no maintenance layover, but a schedule change meant staying up all night to finish the last batch. Jayda shut down her programs to go set up the rest of her supplies.

She sat through each filtering step, then watched as bottles were swept into the filling chamber. Once bottled, the chemical compounds of the perfume would remain stable. Absolutely no oxygen exposure was allowed until the end user gave the atomizer that first squeeze.

Perfume this rare required perfect, expensive packaging. Crystal was the only thing the company allowed, so the filled bottles were scanned as they came off the line.

If they passed, the bottles were slipped into cushioned shipping boxes. Robots added the last full box to the outgoing shipment.

On the reject table was the one bottle that failed the final scan. The contents were airtight, but a flaw showed up once it was filled, a shadow in the amber crystal. She drew it through