Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 Read online

  “You’ll need all of them sooner or later. There are places where you must dress the part to fit in. You’ll need to look like a wife of Beta Residence when we go to the clinic, and if we need to go to another residence later on, wearing finer clothes will tell everyone where you are from.”

  “Why would they think that?”

  “Beta Residence is the most expensive of the residences, and everyone knows it. Most people will be more cooperative if they think we’re from here.”

  “I see.” Sonja wasn’t completely convinced, but Roan knew the mining colony better than she did. She also knew that she didn’t want to stand out. She picked up the clothes and carried them to the bedroom.

  Her husband—no, she wasn’t going to think of him that way. He wasn’t her husband, and she wasn’t his wife. But if Roan wanted to dress her in fine silk, she’d let him, so long as she found her sisters in the bargain.

  Half an hour later she was back in the living room, wearing the dark blue pants and lighter blue blouse. Roan smiled. “I thought they’d fit.”

  “They fit perfectly. And I like the colors, particularly the blouse.”

  He stepped forward and lifted her chin with the back of his hand. “I thought so,” he said softly. “It matches your eyes. Now let’s do something about the hair.”

  She’d put it up in her usual bun. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “It looks too severe pulled back like that. You’ll blend in better with your hair worn down around your face.”

  “Will I…or will you just enjoy seeing it down?” She hadn’t missed how he’d insisted on taking her hair down last night before they went to bed. Obviously Roan liked her hair loose.

  “I’ll like it better too. But it will just look more natural down as well.”

  With a sigh Sonja undid her carefully crafted bun and allowed her hair to fall to her shoulders. Roan smiled. “Now you look charming…and completely harmless.”

  “I’m not harmless, Roan.”

  His smile turned into a grin, and he tapped her on the shoulder. “I know. But we don’t want anyone else knowing that, do we? The element of surprise is our friend.”

  A knock on the door told them that Allan had returned. The man stepped in and gave her an appreciative smile that told her better than words that he approved of her appearance.

  Roan took Sonja’s arm and led her to the door. “Let’s go see if we can’t find your sisters.”

  They went back to the bubble’s shuttle station and stood in line for a capsule. The men and few women in the shuttle station were dressed as she and Roan were, in tailored pants and shirts made of fine fabrics. Allan stood near them but didn’t attempt conversation with them.

  As well dressed as they were, they didn’t stand out, and Sonja realized that Roan had been right about dressing better to avoid notice.

  After a short wait the shuttle arrived, and they moved on board. It was far bigger than the one they’d taken last night from the spaceport and already loaded with people. Roan found her a seat and stood over her as people crowded around them. Sonja noticed that the women were all given seats while the men stood, hovering protectively nearby.

  They traveled down a much shorter stretch of rail than the one from the spaceport and after a short time arrived at a bubble easily twice the size of Beta Residence. Roan identified it to her as Alpha Centrum and said it was the main bubble of the complex and the location of the company’s major businesses, including the main medical clinic.

  Roan explained that while there were small satellite clinics in each of the residence bubbles, the main one would give Allan the best chance of finding an isolated terminal to log-in to the main company database.

  This bubble lacked the tall residence buildings but had shops and dining places as well as office buildings. Sonja checked out the shop windows, but the mannequins were dressed in clothes that weren’t nearly as nice as what she was wearing. Even so she noticed that many of the people who’d been in the capsule and who were now walking the pathways around them were dressed in clothes as nice as what she and Roan were wearing.

  Roan was right. She did blend in better dressed this way.

  They arrived at the clinic, and as soon as they were inside Sonja understood why Allan thought he’d be able to break their security here. The place was a madhouse, with men and women either sitting on chairs moaning in pain or arguing with medical techs dressed in white coats, shouting to be heard over the pandemonium. There were even a few infants and small children waiting with their parents, although none were over the age of four or five.

  With Allan and Roan on either side of her, they marched up to the desk where a harried-looking woman attempted to listen to two other people at once. Roan caught her attention, spoke quietly to her and flashed his data wand, and the next thing Sonja knew a blue-coated uniformed orderly ushered the three of them down a long hall and into a private examination room.

  Sonja whispered to Roan, “How did you get us such fast service?”

  He held up his wand. “Service at all of the company-run businesses is based on how much you can afford. It comes in handy from time to time.”

  Allan waited until the blue-coated orderly had been gone a while before slipping out the door himself.

  “What if he gets caught?” Sonja said.

  “He’ll tell them he was looking for the sanitary or something like that.” Roan sat on the examination table. “Don’t worry about Allan, he’ll be fine.”

  Sonja sat in the visitor’s chair and clutched her knees anxiously. She wasn’t used to being this dependent on people she barely knew and wasn’t sure she completely trusted.

  She didn’t think Roan would betray her unless it would get him what he wanted. He wanted to keep her with him, and he had to know she’d never stay with a man she couldn’t rely on. She had to be able to trust him.

  Even so it was hard being so dependent on Roan and Allan or anyone other than herself.

  A white-coated man, older but with a full head of greying hair, came into the room wearing a smile and carrying a small p-tab. Sonja itched to get her hands on it, knowing that it was likely tied into the clinic’s records and therefore would have access to her sisters’ names.

  “Mr. Duman, I’m Dr. Goodman. What can we do for you today?”

  Roan rolled up his sleeve and showed his bandage. “I have a cut that needs sealing.”

  The doctor had Roan remove his shirt and then carefully unwrapped his arm. He clucked sympathetically over the deep cut on his biceps. “And how did that happen?”

  “Marriage meet last night. The other man had a knife.”

  The clucking turned disapproving. “I wish they’d search the men better. We have enough to do with mining injuries without having to deal with marriage meet fights as well.” He eyed Sonja. “Would you be the new bride?”

  “Yes. He didn’t want to see a doctor about this, but I talked him into coming in.” Sonja took Roan’s arm. “I couldn’t bear the idea of him being hurt.”

  She thought she saw Roan suppress a grin at her acting. The odd thing was that she wasn’t sure how much she really was. She hadn’t liked him being hurt last night and didn’t like it now.

  “Well, we’ll fix him up, and then we’ll get you into the system. No point in your coming back later for it.”

  Sonja stiffened. “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean take your name and medical history. I’d suggest putting in your tracking tag today as well, but as it happens we ran out of them this morning. We’ll have to give you a call when a new shipment comes in.”

  Sonja relaxed at the reprieve. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if they’d insisted on giving her a tracking tag today.

  The doctor had busied himself with the wound sealer and missed Sonja’s sigh of relief but apparently Roan didn’t. She felt his hand squeeze hers in gentle sympathy and realized that he did understand what it meant to her that she not get another tracking tag inserted. Warmth fill
ed her at his understanding.

  When the doctor was done there was only the barest indication of a break in the skin. “Should heal now without any scarring.” He looked over the rest of Roan’s torso and shook his head. “You’ve enough of those already.”

  He turned his attention to Sonja. “And now, young woman, let’s deal with you.”

  “What do you need to know?”

  “Let’s start with name, place of birth, date, the usual.” He held his p-tab and stylus, ready to take notes.

  Sonja started to answer his questions, wondering how she was going to ask her own about the location of her sisters. She carefully spelled her last name and the doctor entered it then frowned. “That’s interesting. Two other Deems with the first initial of S are already in the system.”

  Her heart beat harder. “Really? What does the ‘S’ stand for? Not Sonja, I hope. That could be so confusing.”

  “Sulla and Suna. It says they are sisters.”

  “Two sisters here?” Roan broke in. “What are the chances of that?”

  The smile on the doctor’s face suddenly seemed strained. “Not as surprising as you might think, given where so many of our new brides come from. Where did you say you were born?”

  For a moment Sonja considered telling him the truth but then decided that the less the doctor knew, the less he could tell anyone else. Her intention was to get her sisters out of the colony, and if anyone became suspicious enough to watch her, that might be difficult.

  The doctor was far too intelligent to believe that a third woman named Deems from the same small planet as the other two wouldn’t be related. She wanted to know where her sisters were but would have to rely on Allan to find out. At least she knew now that they were here.

  Sonja told the doctor that she’d been born on one of the space stations that dotted the Outer Colonies, easy to make up and hard to prove otherwise. If the doctor stared at her a little too long after she answered, at least he didn’t say anything about any doubts he might have.

  Ares Five was a place of secrets, and hers were just a few more to add to its store.

  When they were done with her health history the doctor patted her shoulder. “That’s enough information to get us started. As soon as we get that new shipment of tags I’ll let you know.”

  “So we’re done now?” Roan asked.

  “Done and done.” Dr. Goodman winked at Sonja. “Glad to have you here, young woman. It’s always nice when we get new women to keep the men company.”

  It would be even nicer if most of the women had a choice in the matter, she thought. But she thanked the doctor and said nothing else as Roan led her back to the waiting room.

  “What about Allan?” she whispered.

  “If I know him he’s probably waiting for us.”

  Sure enough, when they got back to the waiting area, which was still the madhouse it had been earlier, although the people involved seemed to have changed, the tall blond man with his characteristic grin was sitting in one of the chairs. He rose to join them, in his haste nearly running into another man standing near the door with a bandage around his torso.

  The other man stopped and grabbed Allan’s arm. “Watch where you’re going.”

  Both Roan and Sonja halted on hearing the other man’s voice. Roan glanced at his face and took Sonja’s arm, pulling her to the other side of the waiting area.

  She didn’t need an explanation for his action. She knew that voice, recognizing it as belonging to the other man who’d attached to her and who’d sliced up Roan’s arm.

  Taking advantage of Allan’s temporary distraction of the man, Roan led her to the building’s side exit. “Keep quiet,” he said softly. “He’s probably here looking for us.”

  Sonja stared at him once they were outside. “What do you mean?”

  Roan’s face was grim. “It’s not an uncommon ploy. That was the man who also attached to you last night.”

  “I know that. But what could he hope to gain from finding us?”

  “Since he did it once already, he knows that if something happened to me he could probably reattach to you without any trouble. So he goes to the clinic to see if a man with a new wife comes in with a knife wound…”

  Sonja understood. “Then it is most likely the man he attacked last night. Kill the man…”

  “And he can claim the woman.” Roan finished.

  She shook her head. “He’d be wasting his time. I wouldn’t accept him.”

  “I know that but he doesn’t. I’d also rather not have him trying to ambush me.” Roan pulled her around to the front of the building, out of sight of the main doors. “Besides, we can’t have him following us around. Our task will be hard enough as it is.”

  “Why not just report him to the authorities if he becomes a problem? Surely using a knife last night would get him into trouble.”

  Roan shook his head. “Unfortunately that’s going to be part of the problem. Didn’t you notice his uniform?”

  Sonja hadn’t noticed, but now she recalled the man was wearing the same blue shirt and pants as the security men at the marriage meet. “You mean…” she began.

  Roan nodded grimly. “I mean he is one of the authorities.”

  Chapter Ten

  After a few moments Allan came out of the building and joined them. Without a word Roan took Sonja’s arm and led the way to the row of small dining establishments that stretched along the street. It was nearly time for lunch anyway, and they’d be less obvious in a restaurant if the man who’d attacked him last night was to follow.

  The fact that the man had been wearing a company security guard uniform was not good news. It would not take him long to use his influence to find out the names of every man who’d come in today with a cut on his arm. Add to that the fact that Sonja was now in the system as well, and the man would soon be able to track the pair of them down.

  Just his luck that Sonja’s other “admirer” would be one of the few Gaians here as an employee rather than a prisoner. He might have guessed that would be the case when the man had said how many wives he’d had. One of the perks of working here was free access to the marriage meets, and only someone who worked for either the mining company or the prison would have been able to afford so many wives.

  There were a number of restaurants to choose from, but Roan selected the busiest one with the least number of tables visible from the street. He led them inside and flashed his data wand at the man manning the front desk. Allan frowned as they sat at a table towards the back. “What’s going on, Roan?”

  Quickly he filled his friend in on who it was who’d been lying in wait for them. Allan’s frown deepened as he listened.

  “The guy with the bandaged ribs. I got his name, Oran Wilcan.” Allan had a worried expression. “You really did mean it when you said I should see the other guy. Trouble is you didn’t do enough damage to actually incapacitate him. He wasn’t hanging out in that waiting area for his health. The only reason he let me go without any trouble is that I wasn’t wearing a wristband.” He shook his head. “You were right about not wanting to get that wound sealed. Now Wilcan will be able to find you.”

  Roan shook his head. “We’ll deal with that when and if it happens. In the meantime we got confirmation Sonja’s sisters are here.”

  Immediately the blond man brightened. “I’ve got better than that.” Allan held up a data wand and looked smug. “I know where they are.”

  Sonja leaned forward eagerly. “Can we see them now?”

  “One of them for sure. Your sister Sulla is in Delta Residence. She’s married to Tron Froman. He works the third shift over at shaft eighty-four.” He hesitated as if worried he’d be giving Sonja news she wouldn’t like. “They have a three-year-old girl.”

  Sonja stared at him, her expression stunned. “She’s a mother? Already?”

  Roan reached for her hand. “You should have known that would be a possibility.”

  She shook her head. “No. I imagined that they
would have used birth control. Why would anyone decide to have a child in a prison?”

  “Sometimes babies happen without planning.”

  “I know that. But still.” She looked upset, and Roan thought he knew why. If her sister had a baby, there was a strong possibility she wouldn’t want to leave her husband. Roan was certain Sulla wouldn’t want to leave anyway. He didn’t believe a Gaian wife would leave her husband under any circumstances, even if she hadn’t been eager to go to the marriage meet. Once married, Gaian couples formed a strong bond.

  Sonja simply didn’t understand how strong that bond could be. At least not yet. He hoped he’d be able to convince her in the next two days.

  For him the child was good news. This sister at least was unlikely to abandon the father of her baby. Maybe if neither of her sisters wanted to leave, Sonja would want to stay here to be near them.

  “What about Suna? Didn’t you find her?”

  Allan hesitated. “I found her in the files, but her address was marked as invalid. She was married too, to a man named Miles Gordon.”

  “Miles Gordon?” Roan frowned. “That name’s familiar.”

  “I know. It rang a bell for me as well, but I couldn’t think of where I heard it. I was going to search more, but someone came by and tried the door to the office. I’d locked it, but I decided it would be better to leave as quickly as possible, so I copied the rest of the files without reading them. I’ll look through them later on. In the meantime, perhaps your other sister knows more.”

  “Well then, we’ll have to go talk to her and find out,” Roan said. “But not now.” He waved one of the waitresses over to take their order. “Let’s each lunch first.”

  Stuffed from lunch, Sonja leaned back against the seat of yet another capsule on the long shuttle ride to Delta Residence, where her sister lived. She and Roan were traveling alone, Allan heading back to Beta Residence to study the files he’d copied and find a clue as to Suna’s mysterious whereabouts.