Allison was swimming with Vaedrick. The pair were several feet under water with liquid metal rebreathers over their faces. Allison was wearing a conservative bathing suit to please her mother. The consort-in-waiting which was Vaedrick’s official title was a different beast then Edward. He was full of flowery language but his hand never touched Allison, nor did he ever make physical contact with her. Ratoan men had a genetic disposition to being completely subservient to women. To the point Vaedrick had issues ordering employees who happened to be women around. Whenever he and Allison were together, he deferred to her for everything. She made all the choices. Any touching would be at her insistence. Allison wasn’t sure if she liked that or not.
What she did want to try was kissing the Ratoan prince. She’d also pondered biting him but decided that it would be extremely inappropriate. As it was it took her half the morning to finally try it.
Allison pointed towards the surface and she swam upwards. Vaedrick followed her. She pulled herself up on the raft they’d rented and leaned down to offer her hand to him. He seemed hesitant to take it but he did. She pulled him up and they took their rebreathers off.
She rubbed the back of her neck as they floated on a raft letting the dome’s ambient heat dry them. Finally, she rolled over on her side and reached her hand out to touch Vaedrick’s chest. He jumped slightly as their skin touched. He blushed. She ran her fingers over his soft skin.
“Is this alright?”
He calmed slightly when she spoke. He whispered.
“Yes, is it appropriate for us to touch in public?”
Allison gave a half smile.
“I don’t know. You just looked so soft. Is there…”
She bit her lower lip.
“Do Ratoan’s kiss?”
His ears went bright red and he nodded. She gave a soft giggle in spite of herself. Vaedrick reminded her of Tyler, especially now when she had him all alone out on a raft. Allison leaned over, their lips were about to touch and she would know if Vaedrick even had a chance with her when Major Ghai’s face appeared on her AR HUD overlaid with Vaedrick. She jolted. The superposition of the Major’s and Vaedrick’s faces ruined the moment for her. She fell back on the raft and fought the urge to yell, Are you serious!?! Vaedrick looked very confused. This confusion only grew when Allison started talking to someone he couldn’t see.
“Hello, Sir.”
Major Ghai looked her up and down.
“You are now on active-duty lieutenant. Report to my room for a briefing immediately. I understand from Hope you know exactly where that is. Mission is eyes only. Tell no one. Ensure you ditch your security detail.”
Allison groaned.
“Sir, is this because of last night?”
Major Ghai blinked a few times.
“Lieutenant, all you should be saying right now is: yes sir, right away sir.”
Allison took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Yes sir. Right away sir.”
He disconnected the call. She sighed and looked over at Vaedrick who was still very confused.
“Sorry, I need to go.”
Vaedrick looked terrified at this point.
“Have I done something to offend you? How may I be better?”
Allison touched his hand gently. Vaedrick visibly relaxed at her touch.
“No. I just received a comm and I need to handle something. I promise, I will be back as soon as I can be. I really do want to kiss you.”
She slapped the rebreather on her face where the liquid metal expanded to cover her mouth eyes and nose. She dove deep, activated the attack programs to once again conceal her precise location, and tapped the navigation pane on her AR HUD. She stayed underwater swimming through the various schools of fish that had been seeded in this false ocean. As far as security would know she was walking off the beach and into a change room. She sighed and swam to shore when she reached the nearest point to Major Ghai’s hotel. As she walked across the beach, she did a bump and grab which netted her a pair of feminine sunglasses then picked up a sun hat that had blown away from its owner.
She stuffed her hair up under her new hat and slid the sunglasses on before reaching the hotel interior. They tended to be the most secure points here. She gently knocked on Major Ghai’s room. He opened the door and motioned her inside. His wife and Hope were absent. He placed down a secure holo-display and touched it with his finger. It acknowledged a DNA match and projected the images of a few dozen people along with their files most of which included some form of criminal record.
“Lieutenant, your next assignment is to infiltrate a criminal syndicate that is gathering here. Command and Internal Security are eager to know what they are up to. They are concerned about instability on Earth from their activities.”
Allison looked down at herself.
“I’m a sixteen-year-old girl, how could I possibly even get close to these goons?”
He paused in his briefing.
“If you would let me finish, Lieutenant.”
Allison pulled her hat and sunglasses off.
“Sorry sir. Please continue sir.”
He nodded. He flicked the image and Allison’s heart fell when she saw Edward, Wendy Deacon and the rest of her friends.
“Intelligence suggests any of these would be suitable infiltration vectors. As you are their age, you are the perfect one for this task. Your cover is as a data infiltration prodigy. Our goal is internal access to the Syndicate network. As we are well aware, based on your test marks, that you are anything but a data infiltration prodigy we have an outside contractor who will be breaching the Syndicate defenses while you are tracking what they’re interested in. As for your figment you will need to set that up and arrange for it to be entered into the Pleasure Dome record.”
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a credit chit.
“Once you have convinced the syndicate of your credentials as a data infiltration specialist you will arrange to have your mother use this credit chit up.”
Allison took the credit chit and blinked a few times.
“Sir, am I expected to do this without my kit, a gun? What if my cover is blown and they’re not happy?
“That is up to your discretion, adapt and overcome, Shadow One. You have your orders, you are dismissed.”
Allison briefly stood at attention before donning her disguise again. She grumbled and made her way back to her suite. No one was there, which worked out well for her. She swiftly cut her hair short again and changed it to blonde. Then she made her eyes blue. She decided on a bikini and a sarong. She looked in the mirror and realized a normal human girl with her complexion would be nowhere near that pale after a time in the dome. She pulled on the latent power in her blood once again trying to force her skin to be darker. Slowly her skin grew more tanned. She decided on a slight sunburn on her shoulders. She looked herself over in the mirror and gave a nod. Anything she could do to distance herself from being Allison Wanjala would help.
A few minutes later she was on the public side of the resort and walking along the boardwalk carrying Edward’s ball cap and sunglasses. Her calm exterior hid a roiling emotional teenager’s impotent rage at this interruption to her fun. She had to ditch Vaedrick to hang out with Edward to get his parents arrested. Was that her lot in life? To date boys so she could get their parents arrested? She sighed when her mother called. She left it as voice only. She did not want to explain her appearance to Apiyo. Her frustration came out in her voice.
“Hi Mom. What do you want?”
Apiyo blinked at her through the holo.
“What do I want? Allison Wanjala, you are getting more disrespectful by the day!”
Allison sighed.
“Look mom, I’m busy, what do you need? Please?”
“Busy? Busy?!? You left Vaedrick just floating out there alone and now your security detail is complaining they can’t find you! You are so irresponsible.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Allison spotted Edward and his friends along with their families in a restaurant. She blinked a few times when she saw Hope there. She should have assumed she would be with how much kissing was going on with the twins, but it was a complication she hadn’t anticipated. She reached her hand up to disconnect the call. She was going to be in serious trouble for doing it but she didn’t feel like finishing the conversation anyway.
“Love you mom. Gotta go.”
She tapped disconnect then swept her finger to send all the rest of her mother’s contact attempts directly to holo-message. Edward was looking a little under the weather. Possibly even mopey. She sighed. This would basically destroy her innocent teenage crush and she knew it in her heart of hearts. Not that it would have led anywhere. She was not built for Earth living. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a mission. She was going to complete it. Though she still wasn’t sure how to tell everyone she was an elite hacker, without… telling them she was an elite hacker. Hope noticed Allison and rushed over to grab her arm.
“Hey, look what I found!”
Edward’s face brightened when he saw Allison out in the light of day. He rushed over when Hope dragged her into the restaurant. Allison picked out Edward’s parents easily. He was almost his father’s twin. Though his father was not quite as fit as Edward. Allison didn’t stand on ceremony she wrapped her arms around Edward’s neck and kissed him on the lips. He did not seem to mind how forward she was being.
“Hey, thanks for letting me borrow these, Eddie.”
He blushed when he noticed his father and mother watching them expectantly.
“Allie, come meet my parents. Mom wanted to know who broke my heart.”
He took Allison’s hand and gently pulled her to the family gathering. Allison pulled her sunglasses off. Edward’s mother looked her up and down.
“So this is my son’s Cinderella.”
Allison glanced at Hope and based on the fact she’d been playing along so far just made the gamble she’d keep going.
“Hello, ma’am. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your family gathering. Hope told me Edward was here, but she left that part out.”
Edward’s mother looked at her husband when Allison said ma’am.
“Well she certainly knows how to be polite, maybe she’ll rub off on Edward.”
Edward’s father laughed. He stood and offered his hand. Allison shook it firmly. He grinned. Edward’s mother motioned for everyone to shift around so Edward and Allison could sit together.
“Allie, please join us. Edward’s been moping all day it’s been depressing.”
Edward started blushing. Allison slipped her arm around his waist.
“He’s not the only one. I just couldn’t wait to see him.”
Allison snuggled beside Edward her hand, found his thigh. He’d been pretty stiff but once they got settled, he loosened up. He smiled at her. She squeezed his thigh. There was no way on Eden Prime she’d usually be this… forward with no alcohol involved, but her training in espionage had been extremely clear, that as an intelligence officer she should use every attribute she had to ensure she completed her mission. Their entire make out session the night before had been alcohol driven. She was desperate to take the edge off and relax so she could be less stiff. So, when a waitress came by and started taking orders, she requested a triple. When she attempted to pay with her fake persona’s credit store it did not go through. She tried again. The waitress put on a fake smile and looked nervous.
“Ah, it must be the reader ma’am, just, one moment.”
She hurried off. Allison did not like that reaction. Something was off, she swiftly disentangled herself from Edward. She made an excuse and stood up she made it two steps before she was faced with three men and a woman who had appeared as if out of nowhere. They had their hands on stunners. The woman spoke.
“Stop right there.”
Allison feigned confusion.
“What’s going on?”
The woman frowned.
“You thought you could fool Pleasure Dome Security? This is the most secure facility in the System’s Alliance. Oh, you are in so much trouble kid.”
Hope rushed forward causing them all to react by drawing their stunners. Hope held up her hands.
“What’s wrong Allie?”
Allison shrugged and made a motion with her head. She tapped her fingers on her palm.
“I have no idea. This is the worst service. Just because my holo-phone didn’t work for payment… you didn’t even check my ident chit!”
The woman who was rather severe looking cracked her neck.
“There is no record of you checking in kid. Facial rec pinged you as soon as you took your hat off. So, what’s the con? Convince some witless rich kid you’re the love of his life? If that’s your game you’re on the wrong side of the resort moron. Or are you here to assassinate the Princess. Give it up.”
Hope stepped in front of Allison.
“Do you know who this is?”
Allison winced realizing Hope was about to blow everything.
“This is Allie MacDonald, as in BMC MacDonalds. So, she wants to keep her ID concealed you go and blow it up on her? Rude. Oh… her great grandfather is going to be so pissed, doesn’t BMC own this place?”
The security guards looked rather confused. Allison quickly moved behind Hope and shifted her holo-tablet to display mode. The security team couldn’t see what she was doing but Edward’s father and the man beside him could. She quickly relaunched Zebra’s attack daemons to reinsert her false ID, modifying it to be Allie MacDonald flagged as a platinum level client. She flicked it with her finger and swept her hand over her wrist to hide the display when one of the guards got too nosy. Hope put her hands on her hips.
“Well, check your facial recognition again! You prats couldn’t secure a room with no doors and you had a map.”
One of the men double checked. He looked like he was going to faint. He quickly tapped the woman on the shoulder.
“LT, check again. She’s uh…”
He lowered his voice.
“Platinum level client who specifically asked to be left alone and for a room on the public side.”
The woman who had a nice tan went very pale.
“Uh, I am so sorry ma’am. We’ll just get out of your way.”
Hope looked at Allison and made a motion with her head. Allison took the hint. As she spoke she tapped her fingers on her palm.
“Oh, you think it’s going to be that easy? You ruin everyone’s meals, and insult me personally with your baseless accusations and you think that’s it, it’s over? No. Not by a long shot, I want your supervisor here. I want the head of guest relations here and I want them now. If you do not comp every single person here’s meal, their drinks and their fee for today, I will personally see that you’re all fired. Con? Assassinations? Do you even have a brain in that tiny head of yours?”
Allison did a double take when she saw Morgan approaching. She sighed inwardly. She had overplayed her hand. She was about to get caught. Morgan bowed her head slightly.
“Ma’am, I apologize wholeheartedly for this terrible mistake. I am Morgan, VP of client relations. I agree. This is completely unacceptable. I heard what you said, and I agree. This is not representative of our service.”
Morgan addressed the restaurant.
“I apologize to everyone here. Miss MacDonald is a registered guest. I will see to it that you are all comped for your meals, your drinks, and your hotel fee for today. Please enjoy the rest of your meal and the rest of your stay.”
She moved closer to Allison, she touched her pendant and whispered.
“In her name, chosen daughter.”
Allison blinked and watched Morgan herd the security team away. Hope smirked at Allison.
“You were amazing.”
Hope went back to settle down between the twins. Allison was feeling uncomfortable now that she’d just caused a huge scene. She suddenly frowned. Major Ghai must have had the hacker they’d hired pull her fake ID without warning her. Allison clenched her fists then took a few breaths before opening her hands.
She smiled and returned to her seat beside Edward. He seemed pretty nervous until she put her hand on his thigh and leaned in to touch his neck gently with her lips. He stiffened and moved his thigh closer to her. Their legs were pressed against each other. It was a new experience to have someone wrapped around her finger like that. She wasn’t sure she liked it. It felt dirty. Everyone relaxed eventually and the conversation started up again. Allison’s triple arrived. It was strong enough that her nanites couldn’t clean her blood without more energy leaving her in a nice state of touchy feeling bliss but with a clear enough mind.
The meal passed without any further incidents. No one directly addressed the encounter with security. Unfortunately, with food the nanites were able to clear her blood of any alcohol. Thankfully it had reduced her inhibitions enough that mother nature kept things rolling. She was eating the real meat steak a rare cut of beef, she wanted to be eating the much more precious red fluid running through Edward’s veins. It was getting to the point she couldn’t resist any longer so she quickly excused herself once again. Edward looked confused all over again. Allison couldn’t worry about his feelings if she bit him here, she would definitely get caught. Edward’s father was just outside the restaurant smoking a cigar and chatting with three men and a woman. The rest of the parents had gone off on a birdwatching tour. They got quiet as Allison approached. She smiled and waved to them.
She kept it together until she could get behind a wall out of sight of most people. She started pacing back and forth. She was trying to do the breathing exercises Aryna had taught her. She kept opening and closing her hands. She was whispering to herself.
“Please stay in, please stay in.”
Her fangs were right there. Demanding to come out. She was almost in tears. Every time the bloodlust came over her and her fangs came out she felt like she wasn’t in control of her body anymore. She smelled the cigar smoke before she heard his footsteps. Thankfully she’d gotten herself under control before he had his eyes on her. Edward’s father chuckled when she looked at him.
“New to this? I saw you in the Dome security system. You must be good, getting through security like this. On the fly. While they were distracted. Hell of a drug, adrenaline. When it wears off though and you realize just how close you came to getting caught. Guts start rebelling… then you realize, walking that edge… it makes you feel alive.”
She shook her head. This was the hard part. Making the lie obvious, but not too obvious. She tapped her fingers on her palm.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He blew out a puff of smoke.
“Good. Now convince yourself. After that performance out there, I thought you’d be a better liar. You have a tell. Tap your fingers on your palm when you’re lying. That’ll get you every time in a con. So, let’s see what we know about you. Your name is Allie. Good, use a name you’re familiar with. You like my boy, but you’re not usually the type to be so forward. So, you order a triple. You somehow get rid of most of it, but you drink enough to take the edge off. You’re shit at applying UV protection. Hope is your friend… or is she your partner? You do go to school together. Definitely new at this.”
He rested the cigar against his chin. Allison feigned embarrassment.
“It was that obvious?”
He took a pull from the cigar.
“Sure was, but hey, got to start somewhere. You have got good instincts. You and that Hope girl. Can’t train that. I thought you overplayed your hand there, kid, I really did. Granddaughter of a corp owner. Hard to pull off.”
Allison rubbed the back of her neck.
“Hope messed up. I had to… well sell it.”
He laughed.
“So, what is this? Seduce rich kids? Get access to their accounts? What’s the game here?”
Allison shrugged.
“We’re on vacation. Not sure how my guest ID got removed. Might have missed a daemon patrol or something. It won’t happen again. Look, I’m sorry, I’ll stay away from Edward. I didn’t know he was connected. We’re just here to have fun. I have no idea who any of you are. He’s just fun…”
Allison blushed. This wasn’t a hard sell. She wanted nothing more than for a repeat of the night before maybe even with less clothes. She silently cursed her teenage hormones. He let out a puff of smoke.
“Nah, you’re good. Just watch yourself. We’re not the kind of people you fuck with, kid. You want to make it in the life, you best figure out the whose who so you don’t step on the wrong toes.”
Allison blushed at the thought of actually dating Edward. He walked off leaving her alone. She pulled her sunglasses and hat on. After a quick stop by a shop to pick something up to conceal her fake sunburn from her mother she headed to find Apiyo.