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Chapter-12

?Transfer complete,? Cass said as Theo?s hand continued to move down along the tower. ?This is interesting.?

?What?? he coded.

?We need to make contact with Angel?s transporter. Seems that Mirror isn?t here yet.?

That was indeed odd. Mirror was usually sent in first so she could gain control of the communication network, help cover tracks. What could have delayed her?

?Is the mission in danger??

?Casanova doesn?t mention that, so I don?t expect it is.?

Theo nodded. His initial plan had called for him to spend half an hour here, looking at the tower, ?searching? for the information he?d been sent to retrieve. It was pure theater, nothing said he couldn?t have found the information quickly. With needing to resolve the issue of Mirror?s lateness, he couldn?t afford to stay.

Cass sent a message to Alen as Theo, to let her know he was done. The gravitic barrier deactivated a moment before he stepped to it and then he was back in the warmth.

?That was quick,? the hyena said.

Theo leaned against the counter. ?Even I can have some luck once in a while. The information was so easy to find even Lady Highlanding could have gotten it herself, but please don?t tell her that. She?ll think she doesn?t need me anymore.?

Alen chuckled. ?Don?t worry, your secret is safe with me.?

?And as your reward How about I treat you to a meal at the restaurant of your choice when you?re done working??

?I?d like that, but unless you want it to be a quick lunch, I?m working until five.?

?Dinner, definitely. I don?t want us to feel rushed. Here?s my comm ID, message me when and where you want me to meet you. Now I?m off to relax in a hot bath until my fur falls off.? She smiled, and Cass let him know she?d acknowledged the receipt.

?I look forward to tonight,? She said.

Theo took her hand and kissed it before leaving.

?Where to?? he asked once he was outside.

?West district, Lumbard housing apartments, level three eighteen, room eight.?

?That?s nice, and for those of us who didn?t grow up here, how about some directions??

?You do know they make things called maps, right??

Theo chuckled. ?Actually, they haven?t made maps for over two centuries. My implant is supposed to connect to the city?s network and work out the most efficient path.?

Cass was quiet for a moment, then gave a theatrical sigh. ?And I suppose you want me to do that for you??

?I would certainly appreciate it.? A path appeared before him and he followed it. ?So, any thought as to why she isn?t here yet??

?The ship her transporter is traveling on could have been delayed.?

?That doesn?t seem likely. Ships failure are rare these days, and no ship schedules their transit times based on their fastest speed, specifically so they can make up delays.?

?Then her transporter could have been delayed at the ID check, Mirrors are good at establishing false identity, but they?re not Casanova or his Betas. She could have missed something.?

?See about getting that information, maybe I know the transporter.?

?You certainly have slept with most of the male agents Anderson has.?

Theo smiled. ?We?ve all gone through Marilo?s sex class, Makes for some really fun sessions.?

?I do wish I?d been with you for those, for all you?ve told me about Marilo?s skills, second hand doesn?t beat experiencing it yourself.?

?Maybe after this I can track him down. I don?t know if he still teaches, but he can?t have forgotten anything.?

?Become an agent for the Dreamers, steal information, charm guys and girls, save the colony. Learn to have sex like a pro. With those incentives, I can?t understand why Anderson keeps complaining about not having enough agents.?

?No idea. Maybe she needs to start pushing the adventure and life-threatening side of it. I certainly know that?s what drew me to it.?

?Right, because it wasn?t like you were lacking in the sex department.?

Theo entered the transit cart and grinned dropping in a seat, which attracted a scowl from the man seated across from him. ?It?s a gift I have.?

?Hey, I know. I?ve recorded you often enough.?

?Any other ideas as to where she might be??

?Could be that her transporter wasn?t able to gain access to the communication node to insert Mirror.?

Theo thought on that. ?Unlikely.?

Theo took a moment before replying. Motion in the window next to a monkey caught his attention. When he realized it was an advertising for some alcoholic drink he looked away. ?The cover would take that into account,? he coded.

?I know, but anything else I can think of his just as unlikely. While I won?t say our job is easy, enough work goes in ahead of time to ensure we run into minimal problems. Short of her transporter having a heart seizure, I can?t see why she isn?t here.?

They all had the same training at blending in. A similar set of tools to let them bypass most security, and a Beta partner that matched their personality. So Mirror?s partner would be a fan of communications. Theo thought back on the guys in his class he?d slept with. Quite a few were what he?d considered talkers, but that didn?t mean Mirror would have been the best match. Casanova also got a lot of those who like to talk.

He slept with too many guys to be able to reduce the pool of potential candidates. Not just from his class, but anytime he?d met another agent, if he?d been male compatible, sex had happened. Like Cass had said, he?d slept with most of the male agents. And all he had to work with was his memory. Cass didn?t have images of them. Even those recordings had been scrubbed so all that remained was the bodies without any identifying marks. Anderson couldn?t risk having an agent being compromised and his Beta being accessed.

Cass would erased himself before revealing anything, but without an external scrubbing there was always artifacts left, In time a lot of information could be reconstructed. Theo hoped that Angel?s transporter had made some leeway into figuring out Mirror?s location.

The transport deposited him a few blocks from the Lumbard building, a giant tower that looked like it touched the dome from where Theo stood. It was gray, but not as dull, there was a red tint to it, and had flourishes along the wall, which told Theo the building wasn?t owned by SolGov, but no corporate insignia told him who did.

The ride up to the three hundred and eighteenth floor was quick in the grav-lift, and moment after stepping out he was before door number eight. It opened and a rabbit in slacks and bra motioned him in.

?I don?t like this,? she said once the door was closed. ?We?re not supposed to meet.?

?I know, but this is an unusual situation. We need to figure out where Mirror is, she?s critical to the mission.?

?Not as critical as you think, but yeah.? She indicated the kitchen. ?You want something to drink? Eat??

?I?ll take some tea, orange mint.? Her apartment was small. A small living area, with food preparation area on one side, table, chairs. Couch and screen on the other. A door at the back had to lead to the bedroom, while the other the bathroom. ?How long have you been here??

?Two weeks. It took three days for me and Angelica to deliver Angel to the central library.?

?You?ve been looking for Mirror since??

?We spent two days searching hard, but after that I ran out of idea. We scrubbed every database we could think of, no trace of Mirror in them.?

?Do you know who transported her??

She glared at him.

?Hey, I?m just asking. Even with all the procedures against us knowing each other, it?s impossible not to meet and exchange information.?

?Especially when you sleep with all of them.?

Theo raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. ?Come on, I?m partnered with an Angel Beta. The first thing we did together was worm our way into the agent?s database and look at it. You?re over ten years ahead of me, so you already had a reputation on file as sleeping around. No wonder you?re with a Casanova.?

Theo smiled proudly.

She sighed. ?You have got to be the only person who takes that much pride at all the sex he?s had.?

?I can think of an entire corporation who does. But that?s beside the point. I hope Anderson doesn?t know you have a copy of her database.?

?I don?t have it anymore. She caught me and Angelica, scrubbed it out of her memory, but I have a near photographic memory. I remember a lot of it.?

Theo didn?t ask what kind of safeguard Anderson had put in place to ensure she couldn?t divulge anything. A good memory was an asset in their work, but he counted on not being able to remember important details to ensure it couldn?t fall in the wrong hands. Cass handled that stuff.

?Okay, so you went through the arrivals, right??

She nodded.

?How far back did you go??

?Six month. I doubt Mirror was planning to arrive that far back, but I didn?t want to take a chance.?

?Alright, and you didn?t see anyone there who?s one of us??

?I saw a few, but none who are associated with Mirror.?

Transporters were always selected from a pool with a Matching Beta for compatibility issues. A lot of the times Once the Alpha was delivered the transporter needed to stick around and do some of the work in the real world. Having them matched ensured there wouldn?t be personality conflicts. Theo couldn?t imagine working for Angel, with her constantly critiquing how he did his work, trying to micro manage him. The others she saw had been here on other missions.

?You have a copy of that database you can send me??

?Received it,? Cass said. ?There?s over eighteen million names.?

?Mars is a popular place.? He finished his tea. ?Do you mind if I stretch out on your couch? This is going to take a while.?

She shrugged. ?Go ahead. I?m not going to need it.?

Theo lied down and got comfortable. ?Okay, Start with the most recent and go backward, keep it there for two seconds and switch.? He noticed something with the first picture. ?Give me a minute Cass.? He looked at his hostess. ?This starts a week ago. Did you keep an eyes on the arrivals since then??

?Yes, but I haven?t cataloged them. When I saw you arrive, I figured you were Casanova?s transporter, and I couldn?t think of a reason Mirror would arrive after you.?

?How did you know it was me? I wasn?t using my name.?

?Your stripe pattern is distinctive. I remember it from the picture in Anderson?s files.?

Theo nodded. ?Can you grab the arrivals from then till now? If I can?t find anyone in what you?ve already given me, I?ll check through that, just in case.? He closed his eyes again and coded to Cass to keep going.

He fell in a sort of trance, looking at the face and with a quick code marking them as familiar or not. He?d do that for as long as he could stand it, then take a break, possibly sleep to clear his mind before going over the familiar faces.

When a jaw cracking yawn broke his concentration he paused the scroll. He looked around.

?She went out three hours ago. Angelica said they were going out for a run.?

Theo nodded. ?Tell me you ordered me something to eat.?

?Just did, you?ll have hot Chiboli in ten minutes.?

Theo started drooling at the thought of those thin strips of meat in that sweet and sour sauce. ?How is she? Angelica?? he asked as a distraction.

?She?s nice. Not really my type. She kept asking me to join them at the table. She critics children?s books in her spare time. I am so happy it isn?t movies. Can you imaging what she?d have to say about my movies? Considering how Angel constantly goes on about Casanova?s books, it would be insufferable.?

?Casanova doesn?t seem to mind.? Theo rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache. ?I mean he keeps working with her, even back on Eiffel. If he minded the critics, he?d make arrangements not to interact with her, wouldn?t he??

?He?s more tolerant than I am. I looked at some of Angelica?s critics, and she?s pretty harsh. I mean they are kids books, not high literature. Listen to this. The language in this book is so broken and half hazard as to barely be recognized as such. The author should??

?Stop.?

?I know it?s pretty??

?No, just stop. Cass, don?t judge what she does.? Theo leaned back and rested he head.

?Theo, I don?t have to be a writer to know that?s she?s being unfair.?

?Did you read that book??

?Well, no, you know I don?t care for reading.?

?Then for all you know, she?s right.?

?The book is for three years old.?

?And I?m sure there?s some sort of rules about how they?re supposed to be written. You said there are rules to making porn. That?s why you didn?t want to make that sequel. I don?t get what those rules are, as far as I?m concerned, porn is just about getting a cock into a mouth or an ass; a vagina if it?s female compatible porn.?

?Story matters.?

?So you say. I?m sure she knows how to critic those books, and that she wouldn?t needlessly hurt the writer.?

?I guess. Food?s here. I?m letting it in.? The door opened, and a floating half sphere entered the room. ?You?re going to have to go get the food. The restaurant drone doesn?t have any manipulators.?

With a groan Theo got off the couch. The drone was floating three feet off the ground. When he stood before it the dome retracted, revealing three white boxes and the delicious smell of the Chiboli. ?What?s the sides??

?The standard, corn and mashed potatoes.?

Theo Took the boxes and quickly put them on the table shaking his hands and cursing lightly. Cass chuckled. When he looked at the door, the drone had left. He made tea, grabbed a plate and spoons, putting one in each box and then dumping a third of each box on the plate.

?This so beats making something, no matter how much it costs. Thanks.?

?It helps that we?re not paying for it.?

Theo made a questioning sound as he ate, mixing the meat with corn and potatoes.

?I charged it to the SolGov investigative account. Don?t worry, they can?t trace it back to us. I moved the fund through a dozen names, all of whom have diverted funds before.?

He?s eaten half his plate when the door opened and Angelica?s transport entered. Theo hadn?t asked for her name because it was clear she didn?t want to offer it. She was only allowing the meeting because it was necessary. And since he wasn?t going to have sex with her, he didn?t have to worry about whose name he?d be screaming. It was bad form to scream someone else?s name in the middle of fucking.

?Help yourself to the food.?

She came to the table, sweaty. ?What is it??

?Chiboli.?

She made a face. ?How can you eat that stuff. It?s full of sugar and salts, no to say the fats.?

?It?s good.? Theo went back to eating.

?How can you look like that, if that?s what you eat??

Theo looked up at her, ears tilted.

Cass groaned. ?See? This is what I mean. Angelica is the same. She has very strong opinions and has no problems letting me know about it. And in case you?re interested, she?s sitting across the table from you. Do you want a visual??

?Sure,? Theo coded, and a stern looking woman appeared. She was a jaguar, dressed sharply in an attire Cass identified and pre-war school teacher and had rich brown hair held in a bun with styluses.

?I?m not giving you sound. Trust me, you don?t want to hear what she?s going on about.?

Theo fixed his gaze on the rabbit. ?I exercise, and have a lot of sex. For the last week I?ve been in the conference hall on my feet walking for close to ten hours every day.?

?Am I supposed to feel sorry for you??

?No, but I?d appreciate it if you didn?t judge my food choice.?

She shrugged and pulled a large bowl from her cooler. In it were all sort of vegetables. ?How did the search go??

Cass told him and Theo groaned. ?I went through about eighteen thousand faces, so that?s about four hours? worth of arrivals. I started with the most recent and I?m moving backward since I expect Mirror arrived here around the same time you did. If I don?t recognize the transporter withing two weeks of your arrival, I?ll be surprised.?

?You?re acting like you?re sure the transporter is male. Mirror sees herself as female.?

?They don?t stick to the same genders as themselves. And while I have had sex with most of the male agents, I have met almost everyone, male and females.? At her tilted ear he added, ?Us Casanovas are very social.?

She shrugged and sat in the chair next to where Angelica was seated.

?I have less than two hundred faces flagged as familiar. I?ll go over them after I?ve slept, then I?ll get back to work.?

?So you went through four hours? worth of arrivals in ten hours.?

?Four and a half to be precise.?

?At this rate it?s going to take you months.?

?You have a better idea??

Angelica turned to him and her lips moved. Theo didn?t react. While most Beta?s had a form, it had been Theo?s observations they didn?t usually showed themselves to other agents. Cass was giving him the image, but that didn?t mean Angelica wanted him to see. Although considering how she looked to be addressing him directly, maybe she did want to.?

?Cass, sound.?

?Trust me, you don?t want to hear this. I?ll translate afterward if her transport doesn?t, but Angelica doesn?t have anything nice to say.?

?Aren?t you listening to her?? the rabbit asked.

?Cass tells me it?s better if I don?t. Something about not being flattering.?

?If your Beta doesn?t think you can handle come honest criticizing, how did you manage to make it in this occupation??

Theo stared at her. ?Wow. How did you manage to pass Madam Sabina?s Socializing class with an attitude like that??

She glared at him.

?I told you. I socialize a lot. I can take criticisms, but considering that Angelica is now growling at me, I don?t think there?s much constructive in what she?s saying. Look, I get you?re not happy with this. You prefer working alone, that?s obvious, and that?s fine. I?ll leave and continue on my own. I?ll call on you only if I need help with something.?

The two of them exchanged a look. Angelica said something to which the rabbit nodded. While they conversed in silence Theo took his empty place and cup, washed and dried them.

?Okay,? Cass said. ?That I wasn?t expecting. Seems they don?t like you because of how indiscriminately you sleep around. Angelica has very strict rules as to whom Patricia can sleep with, and she feels I should be controlling your sex life.?

Theo rolled his eyes, since he had his back to them, but didn?t otherwise react. Patricia, he?d make sure not to say her name out loud, seemed to dislike him as much, but it seemed to be for how she felt he treated his body. He put them away and turned, leaning back against the counter, keeping his face neutral.

?Okay,? Patricia said. ?You?re right. We usually work alone, and I barely passed that class. I?m not the most social person, which is why I get along with an Angel so well. Here?s our suggestion. Since you?ve determined the most likely window for Mirror?s arrival, flip it around.?

?Why??

?Because according to the plan, she should have arrived before I did. But don?t just start with the oldest time. Angelica wrote a randomizing algorithm, which puts more weight on the older arrivals.?

Theo tried to understand the use of randomizing the search. ?What do I gain by doing it that way? I freely admit that higher level math wasn?t my strength.?

Patricia looked at Angelica a surprised expression on her face.

?Wow,? Cass said, ?That was harsh.?

Theo raised an eyebrow.

The rabbit cleared her throat. ?Yes, well, a linear search only guaranties it will take time. Adding a random element changes the equation, and statistically it can shorten the length of time it takes.?

?Okay. Send the algorithm to Cass and we?ll use it.?

?Just like that?? Patricia asked.

?You?re the one with an Angel Beta. Data search is your strength, not mine. I?ll take your advice over anything I can come up with.?

The rabbit studied him. ?Yes,? she told Angelica, ?Working with him might not be entirely insufferable.?

?I have the file,? Cass said.

?I?ll head to my apartment. Cass will leave you my contact ID, if you want, give him yours. If not, I?ll leave a message with your apartment if I need your help.?

?Okay,? Patricia said, still studying him.

?She gave me her ID,? Cass said as Theo left. ?Wow, quite the characters they are.?

?Angel tends to become focused with her work, it makes sense that her agents would share that attitude to a degree.?

?Yeah, but that Angelica, she had nothing good to say about either of us.?

?Are you surprised??

?What do you mean??

?You had little good to say about her. Your base opinion is from Casanova, who for all that he likes her, still thinks she?s overly analytical, gets offended at little things and doesn?t have any respects for other ways of doing things. It?s been what? Six years since we?re had to work with an Angel? Angie It was. And you two had trouble getting along. Your Alphas have a slightly antagonistic relationship, it?s normal that it will carry over to their Betas.?

Cass was silent for a moment. ?Sorry, I was looking around here to figure out where you?re hiding one of Doctor Zym?s personality analysis program.?

Theo laughed, which earned him a few glares. ?I don?t need that. I studied Casanova?s personality before we became partners. I wanted to have an idea what I was getting.?

?So what you?re saying is that I need to give them some leeway in how they treat us because of our base personality.?

?Yes, and with how inexperienced they are. She was what? In her early twenties? She can?t have been working for more than four years, keeping in mind how long it took her to come here, I?m going to guess this is her third mission, at the most, and that?s if she didn?t go home between two of them, so no direct debrief, only reports and comments back about her results. No chance to go through extra courses to soften the edges. You can bet that if it wasn?t for the shortage, she wouldn?t have been picked for this job.?

?Those are valid points. Does that mean I have to like her??

Theo laughed again, and ignored the looks he got. ?Of course not. Sounds like she is difficult.?

?That?s putting it mildly. I didn?t realize knowing the entire language databases would lead to such foul language.?

Theo tightened his lips to avoid laughing again. He didn?t want to get a fine right now.

?Oh, I contacted Alen on your behalf before she finished her shift. You apologized, and told her you had been called back to do extra work. I asked Casanova to put in the schedule change in SolGov?s files. Since he?s here I might has well let him do that work, it?s so easy for him.?

?Thanks. Did you?I?make arrangement to go for dinner again??

?Not at this point, you didn?t know when you?d be done with this job.?

As he arrived to the transit station, Theo saw colors ahead and headed for them. ?Good. We?re going to have enough to do with finding Mirror and figuring out what to do with the conference. I can?t afford to go, but if I miss too many sessions, they?re going to come looking for Marcus.?

Theo was standing before a flower garden and for a moment it reminded him of home. The scents were the same and the arrangement so familiar it was eerie. He walked the path and found a bench to sit.

?With Casanova?s help I can arrange for your schedule to be shuffled enough it?ll take a few days for them to notice anything, but I don?t think I can safely stretch it more than five days.?

Theo nodded. ?Do the best you can and we?ll go from there.? He closed his eyes and breathed in the scents from home for a moment. Even the sound lendtthemselves to the illusion. Back on Eiffel everyone treated Caduceus? flower parks with reverence. Here the SolGov quietness mimicked it.

He stood and headed back for the transit station.

?Do you want me to arrange for a massage to be waiting?? Cass asked.

Theo considered it. ?Not the massage, just the sex. As much as I?d enjoy it I don?t have the time. Some fun, then sleep, and back to work.?

?Anyone special??

?Just surprise me.? Theo closed his eyes. They snapped open. ?But no one from the Orrs. I don?t care how badly you want a record of them. I?m not risking my description getting back to the ship?s captain.?

?It isn?t like he?d care who you sleep with.?

?But him finding out I?m using Marcus? name will cause problems.?

?True.?

?How about that Vanguard tiger then??

Theo groaned. ?No. I need to enjoy it, not be ordered about. Just get me someone local.?

?I?ll see what I can do,? Cass said.

* * * * *

Two days later Theo jumped off the bed. ?Got him!? He hadn?t needed to flag him. The moment he?d seen his face, he knew it was him, that indeterminate gray canine face, the floppy ears with a notch in the right one, the scar on his muzzle. Even with those he looked young. He was young.

?He?s so young, what is he doing transporting Mirror here?? The name on the arrival file said Steven Bolivar.

?Rodrick Huntington,? Cass said. ?I?d never expected to see him in the field.?

?Anderson said she had a shortage. Can you contact Patricia? Visual, just me and her.?

A moment later the rabbit appeared, looking like she was seated on a chair before him.

?I found Mirror?s transporter.?

Cass sent her the file.

?How do you know? I don?t recognize him.?

?He graduated a bit after you I?m guessing; he wouldn?t have been in Anderson?s file when you read them. I met him at his graduation, helped him and two of his friends celebrate. He?s a signer, and a really good one at that. He sacrificed his left leg to house his Beta, and he?d been told Mirror had accepted to give him one of hers. He was ecstatic.?

She nodded. ?Okay, I believe you. Like you said, you?re a Casanova. You know people. I take it you need me to locate him??

?The arrival file doesn?t have any information about where he?s staying. He was here as a performer, so they aren?t restricted to specific living areas. Cass can find him, but time is of the essence.?

Patricia smiled. ?And database searches are my strength.? She turned to stand, but stopped. ??My name is Patricia. Patricia Almers, And I know your name is Theodore Paso.?

?Call me Theo, Patricia.?

She nodded, then vanished.

Theo soaked in a hot bath for as long as he was able. He had a feeling that once he knew where Rodrick was, he?d be busy. If he was on the planet, but Mirror wasn?t in the systems, something had gone majorly wrong.