Justice Keepers Saga - Books 4-6

Chapter 6-1

Banks of lights in a very high ceiling cast a kind of golden radiance down on a field of lush green grass with elm trees dotting the landscape. A cobblestone path slithered its way around flowerbeds and the odd boulder. That a place like this could exist inside a starship…Two days ago, he would have never imagined it.

insideDressed in beige pants and a dark blue t-shirt, Jack stood with arms crossed behind the railing of a small balcony. “You weren"t kidding,” he muttered. “When you say a ship is designed for comfort, you mean it.”

Gabi stepped up beside him in a pair of black pants and a matching blouse, her long dark hair tied in a ponytail. “Some people spend much of their career on ships,” she said. “So we try to make them as hospitable as possible. The lights are designed to match the natural frequency of sunlight and to wax and wane in a twenty-four-hour schedule.”

“I"ve always wanted to go to space,” he replied. “But I"m not sure I could live most of my life on a ship. I need fresh air.”

Of course, the air in here did feel fresh. It was even a little muggy. Summer found the experience quite pleasant. From what he had been told, the Leyrians were prone to constructing environments like this on all their space stations.

did“Come on,” Jack said.

He descended a set of steps two at a time, keeping his head down. “I want to get a good look at this place,” he added as he stepped onto the path. “It"s not every day you see a whole ecosystem inside.”

They walked in silence for a little while as he marveled at this indoor…park. There were even bees floating about over the flowers. It was truly remarkable, and he couldn"t help but cringe at the insane amount of maintenance something like this would require.

Then he saw it.

A small, cylindrical robot about the size of a footstool went rumbling through the grass, and where it passed, the blades were shorter. Not far ahead, human-shaped bots stood over flowerbeds, spraying them with some kind of solution.

It wouldn"t be water – he understood Leyrian thinking well enough to know that would be handled by an automated sprinkler system – but perhaps it was a fertilizer of some kind. One robot glanced in his direction, its camera lens focusing on him, and then it went back to work.

thatJack stopped under a tree.

He slipped his hands into his back pockets, then spun to face his companion. “So we meet with the professor the day after we arrive,” he said softly. “You have any plans in the meantime?

Gabi shut her eyes, breathing deeply and then letting it out again. “I was hoping to visit my mother,” she replied. “I haven"t been home in nearly two years. She"ll want to know what"s going on in my life.”

Chewing on his lower lip, Jack bowed his head to her. “Is that an invitation to join you?” he asked. “Because my mom keeps nagging me to make you come to dinner.”

“I didn"t mean-”

Jack turned away from her, starting up the path. “It"s fine,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I really didn"t want to push…I just thought we won"t get another chance to visit for a while.”

In his mind"s eye, he saw her walking with a hand pressed to her stomach, her eyes downcast. “I didn"t mean it like that…” she murmured. “It"s just…We haven"t even defined what this is or how long it"ll last.”

Jack felt his face burn, tension flaring up in his chest. “Well, it"s not for any lack of trying!” he snapped. “At this point, I"m honestly thinking of cracking open the Big Book of Rom-Com Clichés.”

“Jack…”

“Oh, don"t worry; you"ll love it,” he pressed on. “It features such stock dialogue as "what is this to you?" and "where do you see this relationship going?"”

His voice had more bite than he would have preferred, but it was hard to keep the bitterness from creeping in. Summer urged caution – relationship advice from a Nassai; now there was a new one – but he couldn"t help himself.

It had been three months, for f**k"s sake! He was beginning to think of Gabi as the Queen of Mixed Signals. Every time he started to wonder if maybe it was time to call it quits, she did something that made it abundantly clear she really liked him. But ask her what she wanted, and she froze up.

reallyHe turned.

Gabi stood on the path with hands folded over her stomach, her face stern but not angry. “Are you finished?” she asked, raising a dark eyebrow. “Because I"d like to make sure I"ve heard the entire adolescent rant before I respond.”

entireJack felt the heat of anger that wasn"t his. Apparently Summer was pissed off on his behalf. Not that it surprised him much. His symbiont would gladly b***h-slap anyone who did him wrong. “Yeah,” Jack said. “I"d say this conversation is pretty much over.”

A railing overlooked a dance floor in a night club where the walls lit up with fierce blue light, bathing everything in a cobalt glow. Down below, people shuffled about, some grinding up against one another.

Jack gripped the metal bar in both hands, leaning over to watch the crowd. “Well, Summer,” he said. “The results are in. Just three short months, and I"m back to awkward wallflower. What do you think? New record?”

The spatial awareness that came with his Bond had its perks. Without even looking, he could sense half a dozen single people spaced out on this balcony and also the couples who clung to the wall, making out or talking quietly.

Ben approached in a pair of gray pants and a black t-shirt, his dark hair now falling to the nape of his neck. “So here you are,” he said over the music. “Gabi"s been trying to get a hold of you.”

“I"m sure she has.”

“Everything okay?”

“I"m fine,” Jack answered with a curt nod. “Just reviving my grand tradition of avoiding all things fun and sociable. It"s important not to lose touch with your roots.”

His friend stepped up to the railing, frowning down at the crowd below. “She was saying something about dancing with you,” Ben said. “I think maybe she wants to make up for…whatever"s going on.”

Jack paused for a moment.

There were times when he forgot his friend had a knack for reading emotions. He hadn"t said anything to Ben about the fight, and it was very unlikely that Gabi would have confided in the other man. But the ability to read a situation was the most useful skill in a spy"s toolkit; Ben had told him more than once that he would fit right in at LIS.

very“I can"t dance,” Jack said.

“And you can"t talk either.”

Clamping a hand over his mouth, Jack shut his eyes and trembled with laughter. “I think I"m gonna have to stop you right there. Any more, and Phil Collins will be forced to sue for copyright infringement.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Jack spun around to lean against the railing with fingers laced over the back of his head. “So, she wants to dance with me,” he said. “You really think my spastic gyrating is going to improve the situation?”

“We"re gonna be stuck on this ship for another two days,” Ben answered. “Do you really want to spend them fighting with your girlfriend?”

There was some truth in that, though Jack had to resist the urge to point out the fact that Gabi was not his girlfriend. Not yet anyway. He still held out some small hope that might change, but he was beginning to suspect that it wouldn"t.

A set of stairs led from the balcony to the first floor of the night club, bathed in the soft light that radiated from the walls. Jack made his way downward with a grunt. At the very least, he could have some fun this evening; from what he"d read on the subject, it was a truly pleasant experience.

At the foot of the stairs, a hologram appeared under the overhang of the balcony. The image was that of a tall man with fair skin and dark hair that he wore parted in the middle. “Good evening, sir,” he said. “Can I be of some assistance?”

“Who picks the music here?”

The hologram flickered for a moment, then reappeared, standing straight and tall with a vacant expression. “The music is selected by software that measures the mood of the crowd,” he said. “Would you care to make a request?”

“Got any Dexys Midnight Runners?”

“I"m afraid not, sir.”

Jack shuffled passed the hologram, making his way out to the dance floor where he could feel uncomfortable in time to the music. If you were going to make a complete a*s of yourself, it was best to do so with rhythm.

It wasn"t hard to spot her.

Gabi was still dressed in her black pants and matching shirt, and she swayed to the music while snapping her fingers. A young man with copper skin and black hair that he wore in a long ponytail danced in front of her. The pair of them seemed to be having a good time.

Odd…Jack would have expected himself to feel jealous, but while he did have his concerns about the future of this relationship – if you could even call it that – the sight of Gabi with another man didn"t provoke them. Was that a bad thing? Should he feel a little more jealous?

ShouldSomeone tapped his shoulder.

He whirled around find a woman in a pink halter-top dancing in front of him. She was a gorgeous young twenty-something with tanned skin and dark hair that fell well past her shoulders. “Come on,” she said with enough volume to overpower the music.

Jack closed his eyes, exhaling softly. “You probably don"t want to do this,” he said, shaking his head. “I"m not a very good dancer. When the whole thing"s over, you"ll have nothing but sore feet and a bruised ego.”

She didn"t hear him, of course – the music was much too loud for that – and before he could say one more word, she took his hands and pulled him close. It occurred to him that his instinct to shrink away from a woman like this was the product of a bad habit he"d been trying to break. On some level, Jack still saw himself as utterly undesirable, but it was time to do away with such nonsense.

The woman smiled up at him, her green eyes sparkling as she held his gaze. Well, this is nice, he thought as she lifted his hand to twirl underneath it. It"s not so bad. I pretty much just stand here while she-

Well, this is nice,It"s not so bad. I pretty much just stand here while she-The woman turned, pressing her back into him, then reached up to clamp one hand on the back of his neck. She writhed against him, and suddenly he felt very much like a boy at a sixth-grade dance.