[Avia]

The shuttle was a boxy white interstellar transport with the Omni-Corp logo stenciled prominently on two sides. After hacking the ship identification beacon and the corporate registry, I renamed it the Sable. The flight controls were fully automated, run by an AI, but there was a pilot seat up front with an auxiliary control panel and view screen that provided exterior views. The passenger area comprised five rows of four seats, separated by a center aisle. Other than the head and a rear cargo area behind a small galley, there was no privacy. Fortunately, the seats were comfortable and reclined for sleeping.

As we took our seats, Greta, wearing another in a long line of form-fitting jumpsuits, pushed past me and slinked into the seat beside Zach, leaving me alone in the row behind. Turning, she placed a hand on his shoulder and launched into some inane erotic laced drivel about how much she thought about him. I fumed. That shouldn't have irked me — Zach can associate with any bimbo he wanted — but it did.

Greta tried to make every moment of the two-day journey excruciating, watching me with suspicious eyes when she wasn't fawning over Zach. Every time I got close to him, she would insert herself between us. It would have been humorous, if not so annoying. The Red Caste men — Grange, Stone, and Rico — were not any more friendly, but at least not openly contemptuous.

Zach seemed to enjoy the attention, but eventually, even he became annoyed. Greta's eyes shot hate-fire, much to my guilty pleasure, when he sat beside me. Might regret this later, but just to twist the emotional knife a bit, I leaned in, grasping his arm while laying my head on his muscular shoulder. I didn't realize Greta's face could turn that fiery red. Zach turned to me and wrinkled his forehead.

After Greta huffed off to the head, Zach explained, "Ex-girlfriend. She got excessively possessive, so I dumped her." He grinned. "I think she wants me back."

"Ya' think? What was your first clue?" I scoffed.

A half-grin sprouted on his face. "Why? Are you jealous, Avia? Do you want me all to yourself?"

"Who? Me? Oh, no..." I stammered, sucking in a breath while pulling away. "Why would I be jealous?"

Zach leaned over, well into my personal space, and put on that bad-boy smirk. "Yes. Why would you be jealous?"

I clamped my mouth shut, yet warmth again filled my cheeks. God, he was infuriating.

*****

The Coronis Station was as much art as technology. Above a sterile proto-planet, it gleamed in the light of an unnamed star. With interconnected globes and long pointed spires at top and bottom, it resembled an old-fashioned gothic finial. The docks were located along a flat ring that circled the station equator, connected with four circular spokes to the main station. No doubt, the station was the best that corporate money could buy.

Menacing robotic weapon drones patrolled an outer perimeter like vicious guard dogs. If this didn't work... Best not to dwell on that.

"Coronis Station, this is shuttle Sable," said Rico over the coms from the pilot seat. "Request permission to dock."

"Transmit authorization code," a monotone voice replied.

"Transmitting now."

I gritted my teeth, and for good measure, crossed my fingers that I correctly inserted the code. For an agonizing moment, we all waited in silence.

Then it came. "Sable, power down for the docking tug. Welcome to Coronis."

We all let out a collective breath. So far, so good. The robotic tug latched on to the Sable and delivered us to an open docking port.

The Red Caste people wore standard white worker apparel with the blue Omni-Corp logo prominently displayed below the right shoulder. Zach and I wore typical business executive clothing — black slacks, gray buttoned shirt, and a black suit coat. I also wore clear, wrap-around data glasses that projected code before my eyes and carried a stolen tablet-viewer. I actually didn't need them, but they fit the profile of a computer security expert.

Because of entry number restrictions, Rico and Grange remained on the shuttle while everyone else entered the station through a short docking tunnel. Greta carried a briefcase, posing as Zach's personal assistant. Two workers, a man and woman, in white uniforms awaited us within a well-lit docking bay.

"Welcome, sir," said a short, auburn-haired woman with hands clasped behind her back. "My name is Mia. We are here to escort you. Is there anything we may get you?" Mia extended a hand, but Zach merely scowled at her. Gulping, she withdrew her hand.

"Let's dispense with the niceties, Mia." Zach grumbled, playing the role of an impatient executive. "I wish to wrap this up as quickly as possible."

"Yes, sir," Mia responded, bowing her head. "If you would follow me to the entry security station?"

To enter the station proper from the docking ring, we had to pass through a security screening. First, they checked our corporate identification badges, which I had altered to match our genetic profiles. No problem. The regulations prohibited bringing in our own com-viewer, instead they provided us with temporary devices while within the station. In short order, I hacked the coms so the station security staff could not monitor them.

But the part that most concerned me was the physical scans. The Red Caste members had insisted on bringing plasma blasters, shaped like rods and hidden within their uniforms. I argued long and hard that if our plans went wrong, no amount of weaponry would save us. The detection risk was far greater, but I was overruled.

Now, I had to hack the scanner on the fly, and before we walked through. But small AIs like that controlling the scanner were actually difficult to access remotely. As the blue uniformed female guard motioned for Greta to pass through the oval-shaped device, my widened eyes shot up to Zach. I was not ready.

Zach understood, and he reached out to stop Greta with a hand on her shoulder. "Is this necessary?" he huffed to the young guard, drawing down eyebrows as he played the hard-arse high-level corporate executive. "We have important work to do and no time for this."

"I'm sorry, sir," the guard answered with a trembling lip. "But it is necessary. No one can enter without proper screening."

Zach gave me the extra moment I needed to connect and mentally disable the scanner function. It would appear to function properly, but nothing now would set off the alarm. Glancing up again at Zach, I gave him a slight nod.

"Of course," Zach said with a smile. "That was a security test, which you passed. Well done."

A relieved smile appeared on the guard's face. "Oh, thank you, sir."

After walking through the scanner without incident, we entered a large airy plaza that bustled with activity. With colorful murals decorating the curved walls, a burbling water feature swimming with koi fish, numerous fragrant flower boxes, and a shiny metallic sculpture in the middle, the plaza was aesthetically pleasing to the senses. Clusters of soft chairs supported small group conversations. At the back, rows of tall tables surrounded a snack and beverage bar. Above it all, a blue Omni-Corp holographic logo shimmered.

We didn't stop there, instead passing along a row of small transparent-walled conference rooms. A tall woman with short, chopped white hair rose from an oval glass table to greet Zach, extending a hand. "Welcome, Mr. Green, I am Helena Rafe, Coronis Station Director." When stern-faced Zach did not extend a hand in return, she gulped and withdrew hers. "With me is our security director, Gideon Lief." She did not introduce the white-uniformed young woman about my age with short, curly dark hair who stood stiffly to one side. With a touch of a button, Helena turned the conference room walls dark-gray opaque.

With a fit, lean body and buzz haircut, the security director looked ex-military, but also vaguely familiar. Then I remembered — he was a marine officer during my Cyber Assault Force years, although our paths only rarely crossed. I held my breath and turned away as his eyes snapped my way and narrowed. I was just a girl then, but if he recognized me, well, that would be bad, really bad...

Standing, Gideon leaned with both hands on the table and focused on Zach. "I can assure you, Mr. Green, all fragments of the cyber attack have been removed. It caused only minimal damage to the computer systems. There was no need for you to have come here."

"Darius Welde is not so convinced, Mr. Lief," Zach spat back, glaring. "But it is in both our interests that we wrap this up quickly." He tipped his head toward me. "My assistant Avia Brown is here to perform a data system security audit. I expect full cooperation on your part. In the meantime, I would like to review your physical security processes."

Gideon narrowed his eyes and frowned. An angry retort formed on his tongue, but the station director responded first. "Of course, Mr. Green." She motioned the young woman forward. "Zoe, please show Ms. Brown to the core room and provide her with whatever she requires."

"Yes, ma'am," Zoe said. "If you would follow me, Ms. Brown?"

As I turned, Zach left a parting instruction, scowling, "Oh, Ms. Brown, I expect regular updates. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," I responded with a tremble, bowing my head. He played the demanding boss almost too well.

As we passed back through the plaza, Zoe asked, "Would you care for a refreshment, Ms. Brown?"

Actually, I could use something sugary to power my cybernetic implants for the task ahead. "Perhaps some fruit juice? And please call me Avia."

When Zoe returned with a plastic bottle containing a fruity dark red-liquid, I smiled and said, "Thanks, Zoe. Sorry about Mr. Green. He can be such a prick sometimes."

Zoe's face visibly relaxed, and she smiled in return. "He was intense."

I rolled my eyes up. "I think they all learn hardassery in corporate executive school."

Zoe put a hand to her mouth, but could not stifle a giggle. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

The core room, as they called their primary computer system access point, was a cyber-nerd's playground. Soft overhead lighting illuminated a semi-circle of computer terminals with colorful holographic displays floating above. Beyond those, four meshed enclosures protected the quantum-core processors that ran the station and held its secrets. And if Arthur's information was right, there were also secondary and tertiary data backup systems located elsewhere on the station. I had to erase them all.

To get here within the Coronis Station bowels, Zoe had taken me through two levels of security guarded by blue-uniformed security personnel with scary-looking black shock-batons at their waists — I've witnessed those things turn a buff marine commando into a quivering deck heap. Not something I wanted to experience.

"So, Zoe, how did you end up at a secret research station in this remote corner of the galaxy?" I asked. We settled into the core room and I cracked open my juice bottle.

"Well, long story short, I grew up on Earth, one of the few left on that wasted planet. We sure weren't Elites, but between what my parents could scrape together and a few scholarships, I went to university on Mars." A smile grew on her face as she recalled her past. "Wrote code to make ends meet, and did it well enough that Omni-Corp noticed. They offered me a job here as a data engineer and I jumped on it. Except for the usual corporate politics, it's been good." She turned to me and lifted an eyebrow. "What about you Avia?"

"My life's not very exciting," I replied with a shrug. I hadn't created a backstory and thought it best not to improvise, so I made a diversion by making my station-issued com-viewer beep as if I received a message. "Oh great, Mr. Green wants an update already. Better report in or he will throw a tantrum. It's not pretty..." 

I typed the message: At the core. Beginning audit. Met Gideon Lief many years ago when I was in the service. Not sure if he remembers me.

I was unsure about telling Zach about Gideon, but he should know. I had hacked our com-viewers so the station could not monitor them, but there was always the risk someone else might view the message as Zach did.

A curt response came: Carry on.

Sitting before the center terminal, I activated the virtual keyboard, connected my tablet-viewer, and secretly linked my cybernetics. "I'll be at this for a while, Zoe," I said. "If you have somewhere else to be, I'm okay here." I liked Zoe, but also hoped she would leave.

"The rules require that I stay and monitor your actions," Zoe responded, biting her lower lip. "I hope you understand."

"That's okay. I'll mirror my work on another terminal so you can follow along." A twinge of guilt rose in my gut. With what I was about to do, Zoe may lose her job. Or worse.