gaian consortium 06 - zhore deception by Christine Pope

she would ever be able to master these skills enough to successfully conceal herself in Zhore society, and he was wishing he’d been tapped for this project instead, even if that meant looking as creepy as she did now. And below that was impatience, because he didn’t want this all to drag out too long, since he’d just gotten an upgrade on his VR equipment, and the new model he’d programmed as his companion was even hotter than the last, and….
    “And you think I’m a loser,” she remarked, pulling herself out of his thoughts and thinking she’d like a shower right about then. “At least I sleep with real people.”
    Blake’s eyes widened in shock, and then he scowled. “Yeah, see where that got you. Computer-generated girlfriends are a lot more trustworthy.”
    Well, Trinity couldn’t really argue with that. And even as she lifted her shoulders to give a fatalistic shrug, Blake seemed to pause, realizing at last the actual implications of her comment.
    “You got in.”
    She nodded.
    “All the way in. And…I didn’t feel it.” He jabbed at his glasses with his index finger, pushing them farther up his nose. “How’d you do it?”
    “Trade secret.”
    His frown deepened. “You shouldn’t withhold that kind of information. It may be a technique I could use as well.”
    “I doubt it,” she replied. Maybe he was right; maybe she was breaking some unspoken rule by not telling him everything. But unless Gabriel came in and forced her to divulge how she’d managed that infiltration of Blake’s thoughts, she wasn’t going to say anything. The last thing she wanted was to give him a weapon he might use against her.
    “Trinity — ”
    The door opened then, and Gabriel stepped in. Trinity stiffened at once, thinking for sure he was going to compel her to explain how she’d gotten past Blake’s defenses so easily. But he surprised her by saying,
    “Well done, Trinity.” His gaze shifted over to Blake. “You can’t really expect her to give up all her secrets, can you? But then, I suppose you don’t have a lot of experience with women who aren’t of the virtual kind.”
    Blake bristled. “Refusing to share information with fellow team members isn’t in anyone’s best interests.”
    “Perhaps.” Gabriel gave a negligent wave of his hand. “Leave it for now. I’d like to take Trinity to show her something.”
    She wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that, but she knew she had no real choice. Rising from her chair, she gave Blake a sticky-sweet smile, then went over to meet Gabriel by the doorway. He watched her closely as she walked toward him, and a shiver went through her. Something about that intent stare made her want to turn and run in the opposite direction.
    Stop trying to scare yourself, she thought. He’s probably just looking you over to make sure there isn’t anything about your walk that’s too un-Zhore-like.
    Then again, how would he even know the way a Zhore female might walk? No, there must be recordings of some kind. The Zhore didn’t come to Gaia, but there were other worlds and space stations they did visit occasionally, and it must not be that difficult to get surveillance footage from the cameras in those locations so it could be thoroughly analyzed.
    She stopped a foot or so away from Gabriel. He looked past her to Blake. “Write up your findings from this session and send them along to me. I’ll expect them within the next two hours.”
    “Sure, boss.” There was such a sneer in Blake’s voice that she expected Gabriel would call him on it, but he didn’t. Instead, he pointed down the corridor toward their left, saying,
    “This way, Trinity.”
    There was nothing for it but to head in the direction he’d indicated. The hallways were empty, but that didn’t surprise her. They were always empty whenever she ventured out of her rooms. After two days in recovery, the doctor, whose name Trinity never learned, said she was healed enough to go back to her suite,