Sample from Arcadia’s Children 2: The Fyfield Plantation (out Feb 2019)

Klaien Mygael glanced at the SSIAT building and took a deep breath. Even though she knew there was a protection droid ready to come to her aid if anything went wrong, she still felt very exposed. Having lived a sheltered middle class life until then, being asked to break the law didn’t come easy.

Psyching herself up, she slipped on the distortion collar Alton had given her and walked towards the tall building. Crossing a pedestrianised area, she glanced at a reflection of herself in a nearby window and was pleased to note the collar had totally altered her appearance; it had also made her look twenty years younger.

Reaching the main entrance of the SSIAT building, she saw one of the outer shutters was still retracted and a lift door was visible. Activating her percom, she locked onto the building’s external comm’s port and waited. A few seconds later, a power bubble formed and the image of a droid appeared, an Alpha 300.

Without prompting, the machine said, “It’s after hours, the facility is closed.”

Klaien hadn’t been anticipating a robotic response and a mild wave of panic ran through her; something had gone wrong. She was seriously considering abandoning her mission when the bubble content suddenly changed and Unnan Vardis’ image appeared.

“Sorry about that, the automated system cut in.”

“Have you got the money?

Klaien held up a large brightly coloured paper bag. “It’s in here.”

The contents of the bag moved slightly. She realised Rover was getting restless from being cooped up and hoped Vardis hadn’t noticed. “Are you going to let me in?”

“Okay,” Vardis replied. “Come up.”

There was a slight whirring noise and an outer lift door opened. Once inside, Klaien was whisked up to one of the upper floors. When the doors opened, she found herself in a lobby.

A woman waiting there said, “Come this way. Unnan’s through here.”

As she pushed her way through a set of fire doors, the woman glanced back and added, “I’m Marci, by the way; I’m Unnan’s partner.”

The comment surprised Klaien because during previous conversations, Vardis had implied he lived alone. Marci led the way through an open door into a spacious living area. Klaien caught a glimpse of a charging unit though the slightly open door of an adjacent room and immediately worked out the truth. Although Marci looked human, simple logic implied she was a humanoid.

 Noting the expression on Klaien’s face, Marci glanced towards the open door and  said, “Ha! I see my little secret is out. I hope you’re not offended.”

“Why should I be?”

A male voice said, “Some people are.”

Glancing around, Klaien saw Vardis standing in a doorway. “Well I’m not. I was just surprised because you said you were single.”

“In the eyes of the law I am,” Vardis replied. “Marci and I are partners but it’s not recognised.”

Getting straight to the point, he added, “So let’s see the money.”

Klaien nodded and pulled out two large denomination money cards but kept a firm hold onto the bag. Vardis gave her a sharp look, “That’s only half of what we agreed.”

“You’ll get the other half once the job’s complete,” she said, passing over a sheet of plastimetal paper. “Those are the teleport co-ordinates.”

She glanced at her watch, “As agreed, in a few hours, two separate groups of people will come here. The first group wants to teleport to Salus Transporter Nine and the second group wants to go to Awis Oasis.”

“I want the rest of the money first,” Vardis growled.

 “Very well,” she said, “It’s in the bag.”

As Vardis was about to reach into the bag, it rustled and a small rugby ball-shaped droid emerged.

“What’s this?” Vardis sounded startled.

“My insurance policy,” Klaien replied. “This is Rover. He has the other cards in his internal safe and has orders to pay you the balance once we’re all safety teleported.”

Vardis gave her a hostile look. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I once heard of a teleport operator who cheated a group of people,” Klaien replied. “He promised to teleport them if they gave him a large sum of money. He took their money but instead of teleporting them, he put them into stasis. He then called the police and denied receiving any payments.”

Vardis clicked his fingers and gestured towards Marci. “And she’s my insurance policy.”

Glancing round, Klaien saw that Marci was holding a stun gun and it was levelled at her.

Vardis said, “Now get your droid to hand over the other money cards.”

Klaien gave Vardis a sharp look, which made him smirk. “You were right. I have no intention of getting your people out of here. Illegal teleporting is a criminal offense.”