When she raised her gaze, she could just make out the ephemeral shimmer of the force field above and around the city. It seemed strange to see it there, fuzzing the stars above. Even though most major cities had them, they’d never been switched on except to ward off the most vigorous hurricanes and tornadoes. Now they were all on permanently.
“It’s still the same, isn’t it,” Alessandra said, coming up to stand behind Mellanie. “Somehow I was expecting changes when I got back. But it’s wonderfully reassuring to see. I’ve stood here for hours myself just watching.”
It had taken several days before CST resumed its standard passenger service between planets. Millions of refugees from the invaded worlds were given priority as they sought accommodation throughout the rest of the Commonwealth. Wessex still hadn’t returned to full operational capacity. CST was busy repairing the wormhole generators that had been damaged during Nigel Sheldon’s battle of exotic energy above the planet. Services to that whole section of phase two space remained patchy, though its worlds were still connected to the unisphere. But the express train between Augusta and New Iberia had resumed, allowing Alessandra to return home three days after the Desperado’s final flight.
This was the first time Mellanie had come back to Alessandra’s penthouse. She and the last of the Randtown refugees had finally left Ozzie’s bizarre asteroid two days ago, walking through the wormhole that had been realigned on Augusta. The intervening time had been spent with Dudley, reassuring him and taking a break to compose herself. With all the SI’s inserts now quiscent, her newfound confidence had receded somewhat. She wasn’t sure what kind of shape her investigation into Myo and the Starflyer would take. Dudley probably had more information lurking amid his confused memories. It would take a while to be sure she’d gotten everything she needed from him. For now, he was safely stashed away in a cheap coastal holiday resort chalet on Oaktier, a place where she’d spent many early childhood vacations. Nobody would be able to trace him there, at least not straightaway.
Alessandra’s hands slid over Mellanie’s shoulders. “We’ve been hearing some strange stories from the Randtown refugees. Some of them say they were in an alien starship.”
“They’re lying. It was an old dormitory station for a deep-space industrial facility that CST is decommissioning. The wormhole was still working, luckily.”
“Interesting.” Alessandra’s grip tightened, giving a small massage. “That’s the only part of the whole invasion that senior management prevented us from carrying. None of the other media companies carried it, either. Somebody’s been putting pressure on. And that’s a hell of a lot of pressure.”
Mellanie turned to face her, looking intently at the statuesque woman’s perfect classic features. “Not guilty.”
“Humm.” Alessandra stroked a finger lightly along Mellanie’s cheek. “You’ve changed.”
“I was there on the ground when we got invaded by aliens. It kind of makes you focus, you know.”
“I’m sure it does, darling.” She leaned forward for a kiss. Mellanie put a hand out. “Not yet.”
“Oh, really?” One of Alessandra’s elegantly plucked and shaped eyebrows rose slightly. “Well, you’d better get yourself in the mood pretty quickly. I’ve got Robin Dalsol coming over later for dinner, he’s Goldreich’s senior aide. I need to know how much money the executive is planning on pumping into the navy for our retaliatory strike. The two of you should be good together; he’s only ten years out of rejuve.”
“Fuck him yourself,” Mellanie growled.
“Mellanie, darling, I don’t do that anymore. I don’t need to, I have you to do it for me; you and fifty others.”
“Fine, call one of them.”
“We’ve had this discussion before. It’s starting to get boring.”
“I don’t care about the navy budget. It’s hardly going to be a secret, they’ll tell us as soon as it goes to the Senate.”
“God help us! Darling, it’s not that we will know, it’s when we know. I’m the best because I can break news first.”
“But what about my story?” Mellanie almost shouted. “That’s the only one that counts. For God’s sake, we’ve just been invaded, and we can track down the cause. There is nothing bigger than that. I came here to find out who my research team is, when we can start, not to suck some asswiper’s dick for you.”
Alessandra frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The Starflyer!” Mellanie hissed. “I’m going to track it down.”
“Oh, that nonsense.” Alessandra put her hand on her brow theatrically. “You’re wrong. I had it checked out for you. Cox Educational is completely legit, and still going strong. I think Bunny actually talked to one of the trustees, Ms. Daltra. She assured us their funding is all aboveboard, the accounts are filed with the charity commissioners every eighteen months, as required. Take a look at them if you want.”
“What!” Mellanie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“You were wrong, darling. No big deal. We all make mistakes on the way up. If you want my advice, you should stop screwing Dudley Bose, he’s got a lot of psychological problems. Re-lifers generally do. They get over them eventually.”
“No.” Mellanie shook her head. “No, that’s wrong. Dudley only…”
She trailed off as the real shock hit her, strong enough to raise the goosebumps all along her arms. She gave Alessandra an incredulous stare. It was all she could do not to back away from the woman. “I don’t understand.”
“You made a mistake,” Alessandra told her. Her smile became humorless. “Another one. And I’m not really into this ‘three strikes and you’re out’ crap that the judiciary practices. Frankly, the show’s only keeping you on now because of your report from Randtown. That showed promise. But face facts, darling, you’re not an investigator. God, you’re too dumb even to get to college; everybody goes to college and gets a degree these days. So let’s focus on what you are good at, shaking that shapely little ass of yours at the men I tell you to. Clear?”
Mellanie bowed her head, and even managed a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob. “Yes.”
“Good girl.” Alessandra put her hands on either side of Mellanie’s head, and kissed her crown, as if performing a blessing. “Now why don’t you go and put something nice on for Robin. You know, he asked for you specially. I think he was impressed by Randtown as well. You’re a celebrity now, darling.”
“All right.” Mellanie left the living room, careful to close the door behind her as she went out into the penthouse’s main hallway. “Are their any special safeguards on the front door?” she asked the SI.
“Just the standard security systems and alarms.”
“Great.” She almost bolted to the tall double doors. They opened for her, and she looked wildly around the marbled vestibule outside. There were only three other doors to the remaining penthouses, two lifts, and the stairwell. Her e-butler interfaced with the skyscraper’s management array, and told her the lifts were on their way up. She was too worried that Alessandra would follow her out to wait for them, so she went straight to the stairwell and ran downward. “Get a lift to stop for me on the sixty-second floor,” she told the SI.