Chapter 12

Long shadows flickered through the windows of Chigs's transport as he zipped between the buildings. He'd lost sight of Emmy in the flow of traffic, and his hearts thudded rapidly against his ribs. He checked his data pad, verifying the tracker was working. Emmy's dot moved steadily along the road ahead.

He looked out at the city lights peppered with corporate advertising. He didn't trust Dafari, not one bit, especially when it came to Emmy. Not only was the man an obvious Syndicorp supporter, Chigs had seen the desire in the man's gaze when they'd shared drinks earlier. It had been blatantly obvious the qumli was trying to impress Emmy—despite the fact his new girlfriend sat right beside him.

Chigs knew he had no right to be jealous, but at some point, his feelings for Emmy had crossed a line, and now it felt there was no turning back. He'd been ready to confess his desire for her this afternoon, to give up on his vision. Then Dafari had called, reopening their path forward. Guilt squeezed Chigs's chest. If Ellam Cua had picked his perfect mate and shown him the path to find her, then it was wrong to want Emmy. But no matter how much he tried to reassert his faith, he couldn't stop yearning for what might have been.

Ahead, he spotted a towering building at least eighty stories high with a gold sign out front proclaiming it as the Velvet Enigma. The building's exterior was a smooth, matte black that seemed to absorb the light around it like a black hole, as if daring anyone to penetrate the secret dealings inside, and several transports lined up out front, allowing patrons to step out under the massive gold awning leading up to the entry.

He didn't need the tracker to verify Emmy's diminutive, red-clad figure stepping from a transport as he passed by. He directed his transport to pull to the curb a few blocks away before hurrying to the bar after her. A doorman dressed in smart black and gold livery held open the door to the lobby, where soft music played. The air lingered with the scent of expensive cologne.

A woman with curly yellow locks and dark brown skin stood behind a dark marble hostess counter. "Welcome to Velvet Enigma," she greeted with a blinding white smile. "Would you like to experience our newest theme, a visit to the ancient city of Sula'terran?"

"No, thank you," said Chigs, stepping toward the tables he could see in the bar behind her. "I'm meeting someone."

The hostess stepped from behind the counter, politely but assertively blocking his way. "The guest's name, please?"

He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. "I'm sure I can find her, thanks."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the privacy of our guests is of the utmost importance. I can't let you in without a reservation." She blinked, revealing the flash of a cybernetic connection embedded in her eye. Alerting security? Emmy had mentioned that this place was known for its clandestine meetings.

Chigs lowered his head, speaking to the hostess in a confidential tone. "I'm here to meet the woman in a red dress who arrived just before me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit chip. "I'll make it worth your while if you just point me in the right direction."

The woman looked at the credit chip with derision. "The buy-in for our VIP level is ten thousand."

Of course Dafari would want to meet in the VIP level—he wanted to impress Emmy. Luckily, with Doug's ability to forge nearly infinite resources, Chigs would have no trouble competing. He winked at the hostess. "Not a problem. But I'm only in town for a night, so if we could speed things up…"

The woman's expression shifted to one of calculation. "There's also the matter of the review board... They only meet once a month."

Keeping a smile plastered to his face, Chigs said, "You seem to know a lot about the application process." He pulled a handful of credits from his pocket. "Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement?"

"If you can transfer the ten thousand right away, I think we can make something work," she said, pulling a tiny data pad from the bodice of her dress.

Without hesitation, Chigs transferred the credits, knowing full well they'd never reach the review board. Once the transfer was confirmed, the hostess tucked the data pad back into her dress and escorted him into the dimly lit bar. Low-hanging chandeliers cast intimate pools of light over tables surrounded by stylized velvet chairs where men and women in tailored suits and elegant gowns sipped on exotic cocktails. An escalator in the center of the room rose toward the upper levels, its entry guarded by two burly security officers, but the hostess bypassed it, heading for a velvet curtain to one side of the bar where two more security officers stood watch.

The hostess muttered a few words to one of them, passing over a few credits, and he pulled the curtain aside, allowing access. Beyond the curtain, an alcove held a gleaming metal elevator door.

The hostess stepped through and keyed an access code into the control panel. "This will take you directly to the VIP level where you'll have full access," she said. "However, I must warn you that the other levels require a pass. Any suspicious behavior, and you'll be escorted out immediately." As the elevator doors slid open, she turned to him and smiled. "Enjoy your evening, sir."

Chigs entered the car, and when he turned, he found the doors sliding closed, leaving him alone in the sterile metal cube. There didn't appear to be a control panel inside the car, and his belly dropped as he began to rise. He pulled his data pad from his breast pocket. At least he was alone now, so he could check the tracker.

A blank screen met his gaze. Scowling, he restarted the device, but the screen remained blank. Anaq. The Velvet Enigma must be running a signal jammer; not surprising considering the hostess's insistence on guest privacy. Momentarily worried it might also jam his holo-projector, he glanced at his reflection in the metal doors, relieved to find he still looked human. Losing the tracker simply meant he needed to find Emmy on his own. Hopefully, the hostess had pointed him in the right direction.

The elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open. He was nearly bowled over by a crashing wave of sound, color, and smell. Before him, a massive room was filled with undulating bodies, all in various states of undress. The heavy musk of sex choked the air.

His mouth fell open. Dafari brought Emmy here? The man really must be depraved. Had Emmy expected this? The thought made Chigs's stomach churn. He knew little about Emmy's previous relationship other than she claimed the breakup had been ugly. Now his mind replayed the way she'd laughed at Dafari's flattery and his fleeting suspicion that she might still have feelings for her ex.

He shook his head. No. Not his Emmy. This wasn't her scene. He felt that in his soul. But how far would she be willing to go to get information about the lab? She was as determined as he was to follow through with the mission—perhaps even more so. He needed to put a stop to this before things went too far.

Stepping off the elevator, Chigs scanned the room for any sign of Emmy or her red dress. Besides humans, he saw species from across the galaxy. Enayshuans sheened in body powder, saluqan with lavender skin and iridescent veins, finofan with colorful flared ear frills, and even a massive, six-legged yanipa-nimayu. It was an orgy the likes of which he'd never imagined. Ellam Cua, where's Emmy?

A tentacle-faced posungi female locked eyes with him and rose from a pool of glistening liquid, all eight of her pointed orange nipples dangling with piercings. "You're new here, aren't you?" she said in a phlegmy voice, facial tentacles writhing. She slid one hand along the glistening curve of her hip suggestively. "How about you let me show you around?"

He swallowed thickly. Posungi were cold-blooded humanoid egg layers, but were known to enjoy copulating with warm-blooded companions. His dick shriveled at the mere idea. Hoping to divert her intention, he pulled a credit chip from his pocket. "Actually, I'm looking for a woman in a red dress. Have you seen her?"

The posungi sidled closer to him. Before he could blink, her tentacles shot out and swept the credit off his palm, stashing it Ellam Cua knew where. Then she looped her arm through his. "Come with me."

Every inch of his skin wanted to peel away from the posungi's clammy touch, but he allowed her to guide him through the crowd, stepping around bodies and evading groping hands. Scattered clothing included more Syndicorp uniforms than he'd care to count.

The room was filled with all sorts of erotic furniture and fixtures, from chairs of various heights and shapes to plush pillows in every imaginable color. In the center of the room, a pair of swings hung from ceiling chains, suspending two couples swaying in wild acts of pleasure. Tucked away in alcoves in the walls, padded platforms surrounded by mirrors created what appeared to be an infinite number of thrusting, gyrating sex acts. Other pieces of equipment like chains, floggers, bondage masks, and vibrators rested on scattered shelves and tables about the space.

His posungi escort halted and pointed to a woman lying on her back in one alcove, red dress bunched around her waist. Two enayshuan men pleasured her with their mouths, while a third human male jacked off while he watched.

"Shall we join them?" gurgled the posungi.

Chigs felt like he couldn't breathe. He stepped closer, dreading what he was about to see past the bunched up red dress. In one of the many mirrors, he caught sight of the woman's face, chin thrust upward as she gasped in pleasure, hands gripping the sides of her short blond hair.

He released a shaky breath. "That's not her."

The posungi shrugged. "Well, that's the only woman in red who came in here tonight."

He glanced out over the crowd. Emmy wasn't here. He could sense it. The hostess had sent him after the wrong red dress. Which meant he needed to get out of here and somehow find Emmy without the tracker. But the hostess had already warned him the other levels required a separate pass.

Reaching into a pocket, he withdrew a handful of credits. "Can you point me to the stairs?"

"This is a secure level. The stairwell is locked."

"Let me worry about that. I just need to know where they are."

She shrugged, and the credits once more disappeared among her tentacles. Turning, she began walking through the throng, stopping several paces away from a wall with a gauzy curtain where a human with gleaming metal arms stood watch. "There. Behind the curtain."

A chill ran down Chigs' spine. The man was a cyborg, a deadly adversary, even for a denaidan. He was aware Syndicorp bigwigs hired them out as bodyguards, but he'd never met one outside of Doug and his crew. Glancing around, he spotted several more cyborgs staged around the perimeter, including one near the elevator, who he'd missed in his shock at seeing the orgy.

The posungi turned to leave, but he caught her arm. "Wait."

"Change your mind, honey?" One of her facial tentacles looped out to trail a cold, wet line down his chest. It froze as it contacted his beard. Her orange eyes widened as she stared at the empty space below his chin.

Uminaq. Chigs seized her hand, dragging her a few steps away from the guard. "Don't say a word."

She pulled free of his grip, a slimy tongue snaking between her lips as she assessed him. "Oh, I can be discreet. For a price."

Chigs dug out more credits. "I also need you to cause a distraction."

She laughed thickly. "This entire room is a distraction."

"You know what I mean."

She eyed the credits again. "If I cause trouble, they'll punish me. Possibly for weeks. You need to make it worth my while."

He frowned, wondering if she was a slave. Syndicorp didn't publicly condone slavery, but he knew from experience that there was still a market. You don't have time to worry about that. Right now, he needed to get out of here and find Emmy. He retrieved the remainder of his credits and held them out.

The posungi grinned and took the money, her tentacles undulating as if they were about to launch her into flight. "Give me a few minutes and you'll have your distraction."

Turning, she sauntered back into the crowd.

Praying she'd keep her word, Chigs turned his attention back to the guard near the stairwell. He wasn't sure what the posungi had in mind, but he needed to be ready. Pretending to examine the couples for a chance to join in, he moved closer.

A minute later, there was an earsplitting shriek from somewhere on the other side of the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around in confusion.

The guard moved away from the door, clearly intending to investigate if there was trouble. Not wasting a second, Chigs hurried forward and pressed his hand to the exit's control panel, using a quick ionic pulse to short-out the lock. Pushing into the stairwell, he closed the door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. Now he just had to hurry and find Emmy.