Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mal wandered, waiting for Xander to return with her drink.
She was stuck thinking about her little epiphany.
She was over Aston.
Completely. One hundred percent. And she’d never really been in love with him. She’d been in love with the idea of being in love.
What she felt for Xander far outweighed anything she’d felt for Aston Granger. She pressed her fingers to her eyes, and her heart plummeted to her feet. Stars, she was an idiot.
She was hopelessly in love with a CenSec.
“He must have been a fool.”
The resonant voice had her turning. Her stomach clenched. Forge leaned against a table, watching her.
“Who?” Keep it cool, Mal.
“Aston Granger.” Forge straightened and walked closer, his gaze dropping down her body. Not in a smarmy way, but there was a malicious sort of edge to it. “A really big fool to walk away from you.”
“You make a habit of eavesdropping?”
A flash of a blinding-white smile. “Every day. This is my planet and I know everything that happens on it.”
He wasn’t handsome. Not in any kind of conventional way. His long body was a little too lean and his features a little too bland. But he had a force of presence that sort of blasted out of him. His eyes were a pale brown, an amber-gold that glowed.
She looked away. Where the hell was Xander? “You have a great place here. These robots are amazing.”
“You like to work with machines?”
“Yes. I’m a salvage mechanic.”
Those amber eyes brightened even more. “My perfect woman.” His gaze bored into her. He stepped closer, into her space. “If you were mine, I’d never, never let you go.”
If Xander had said those words, she’d be delirious. Coming from this man, they made her skin crawl.
“Well, my companion mightn’t be too happy about that.”
“I hope he’s better than Aston Granger.”
“I am.”
Xander’s deep voice came from behind Mal. A second later she felt his warmth as he pressed up against her back. He leaned an arm over her and passed her a tall glass full of a pale green liquid. She grabbed it and took a hasty sip. It wasn’t alcoholic, but it was cold and refreshing.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Forge…master of this domain. ” He gave a small bow.
“I’m Malin, and this is Xander.”
Forge studied Xander’s face, his attention zeroing in on Xander’s disguised implant. “A cyborg. Fascinating. As you know, I am a creator of machines.”
“I’m not a machine.”
Forge tilted his head. “Really?”
“I was born a man. I’m enhanced.”
“Hmm. Did you get it done out here on the edge? So many hacks willing to pop in an implant for the right price.” His gaze again on Xander’s pristine implant. “They usually do shoddy work, leave terrible scars, or worse, kill their patient.”
Xander remained silent.
“Then there are the few cyborg worlds. Torgue, Cletron…Centax.”
Mal felt Xander’s body vibrating behind her. She placed a hand on his thigh, brushing the hard muscle. “It’s really a great party. And like I said, your robots—” she motioned at the one closest to them “—are fascinating.”
“Alone on a rogue planet it’s easy to feel isolated. These robots are like my family.” Forge’s smile was sharp. “And of course I love to collect beautiful and rare things.” His gaze settled on Mal.
She swallowed. The guy gave her the creeps.
“But, what is most amazing is my Technomaze.”
“Technomaze?” Mal asked.
“Yes, beneath my complex I’ve built a labyrinth entirely from scrap.” He leaned forward, his tone deepening like an expert storyteller. “A maze so convoluted and dangerous, no one has ever reached the center.”
Despite herself, Mal was intrigued. “What’s in the center?”
“My newest and greatest treasure.” He laughed. “But that is a story I will share with all my guests very soon.” His eyelids lowered. “Malin, I hope you will share a dance with me later.”
Xander stiffened. “She won’t.”
She managed a rueful smile. “My guy here is a little territorial.”
Forge gave a small bow. “I understand the sentiment completely.” With another bow, he disappeared into the crowd.
“I’m not sure he’s sane,” she said.
“He’s not stupid.” Xander was scanning the crowd. “And I think he hides a lot behind that facade.”
The opposite of Xander. He might not show emotion on his expressionless face, but what you saw was exactly what you got. Protective, efficient, and dedicated. “Do you think the Antikythera is in the maze?”
“The probability is very high.”
“Ladies and gentlemen!”
Forge’s voice rose above the hubbub of the crowd. A circular column was rising from the floor, and he stood in the center of it, highlighted by a spotlight. Mal caught the movement of Xander’s eyes.
Her own eyes widened. “Oh my stars, Xander, did you just roll your eyes?”
“No.”
“You did.” She smothered a laugh. “I’ve never seen you do that.”
He squeezed her hip. “Be quiet.”
Forge’s column stopped moving and the man spread his arms out. “As you know, I called this ball to celebrate my newest acquisition.”
Viewscreens of all shapes and sizes drifted down from the ceiling.
“I give you, the universe’s very first computer!”
An image flashed onto the screens. Mal drew in a sharp breath. She’d seen the Antikythera in person, but the way Forge had placed it on a simple, stone altar lit by soft lights highlighted the sense of age and mystery of the twisted lump of metal.
“The name of its creator is lost to the distant past. But when it was pulled from the bottom of a Terran ocean millennia ago, even then it intrigued the people of Earth. Something so modern, so clever, made well before it’s time.
” He smiled. “And now, it is mine. It’s found its perfect home in the hands of the Technomancer. ”
After a few hushed whispers, the crowd erupted in applause.
Forge shushed them, patting his hands in the air. “For those who might covet my new possession, it is well protected in the greatest of mazes. The Technomaze.”
Music swelled around them. On the screens, images whirled. It showed different views of Forge’s maze.
Mal gasped. It was completely unreal. She’d never imagined such a crazy place was even possible.
The maze walls were made of junk stacked, welded, and fused together.
The walls didn’t run in anything like straight lines but twists and turns with crossroads, junctions, and dead ends.
Robots like those on show in the ballroom marched around, others stood still at attention.
In some places, she saw giant vents spewing flames, huge cranes picking up clawfuls of junk before dropping it down, and huge presses slamming together and leaving junk pressed into tiny cubes.
She leaned into Xander. “More like technohell.”
He smoothed a hand down her arm, his gaze still documenting everything on the screens.
“Looks like a junkyard to me,” some enterprising—and by the sounds of his slurred voice, inebriated—guest yelled out.
Forge frowned, his gaze running over the crowd, searching for the one who dared spoil his show.
A few more in the crowd muttered their agreement, or made scoffing noises.
“Doesn’t look so scary to me.” The drunk was obviously enjoying his moment of fame.
Forge’s fluid stance was now stiff. “You want proof of how dangerous my maze can be?”
“Yeah!”
A scary smile crossed the Technomancer’s face. “So be it.” He slashed an arm down through the air.
There was a clank and a whirr. The crowd gasped and like the other guests, Mal looked up.
A huge metal claw swung through the air, and before she could work out what was happening, the claw swooped down and picked up the dissenter.
The man let out a scream as he sailed into the air, his arms and legs thrashing wildly.
The claw retracted, then swung over the crowd.
Mal’s fingers dug into Xander’s arm.
Doors retracted into the wall, and the claw and the man disappeared.
Seconds later, the holo-screens showed the man being dropped in the middle of the Technomaze.
Xander watched the ball-guest-turned-mazerunner push himself up from his ungainly sprawl. His mouth was slack with terror and he swiveled his head in all directions, taking in the giant walls of metal surrounding him.
Xander saw the man relax a little.
And knew it was a big mistake.
Forge whirled to face his shocked crowd. “Now, I am not an unfair man. There is a way to the center of the maze.” He turned to the screens. “And, my friend, if you make it there, I’ll give you the Antikythera.”
Malin shook her head and whispered, “It can’t be that easy.”
Xander knew she was right.
“So here it is. The clue, the riddle, the key—” Forge paused for effect “—flames are your friends and never take the easy road. Find the point and become the master. Reach the treasure.”
“That’s crazy!” The man in the maze wiped a shaky hand across his mouth. “It makes no sense.”
A robot, hidden amongst the junk wall, pulled itself free. Xander heard Malin gasp.
She gripped his arm. “Jesus, Xander. What do you think—?”
The man saw the robot and screamed. He turned and ran.
The robot gave chase, pumping its metal arms with precise movements.
The man rounded a corner and found himself at a junction with three paths heading in different directions. He stepped toward one, then back. When the clank of the pursing robot got louder, he hurtled down the middle path.
The next instant, a giant claw swooped down from above. Xander’s hands curled into fists and Malin gasped. The man ducked with a wild scream and somehow avoided the claw. He kept running, his garish shirt flaring out behind him. He looked back over his shoulder and fell into a hidden pool of water.
The slick sides of the water trap made it impossible for the man to climb out. He flailed in the water, trying to climb up the smooth metal, only to slide back down.
The robot reached him.
The machine’s arm extended and hooked the man at the back of his shirt. As the man rose out, he kicked his legs violently.
Holding the man aloft, the robot lifted its other arm and slammed its claw hand around the man’s neck.
A quick twist and the sound of the man’s neck breaking echoed through the hidden speakers in the ballroom.
Then there was only a horrified silence.
“Well.” Forge dusted his hands together then gestured to the band. “Maestro, please play something…upbeat. Everyone, let’s dance!”
No one moved or said a word.
Forge's smile froze, his eyes narrowed. “I said, let’s dance.”
There was a rush of movement as a small group of people hurried onto the dance floor. Smooth music flared and the party was back on.
But there was no missing the dark undertone. Xander’s sensors detected several people with elevated heartbeats and adrenaline levels.
“Stars, Xander, what do we do now?”
“I need to get you somewhere safe where you can hide until it’s time for the teletransportation back to the Infinitas. Then I want you off this planet.” He wanted her off now, but Forge had made it so he had all his guests’ undivided attention. It left them with no option for escape.
“And what are you going to do?” Her gaze moved over his face, then she hissed in a breath. “You’re going into the maze!”