Renna’s stomach lurched at the sight of the needle, threatening to revisit dinner once more. She squeezed her eyes shut as it pricked the skin at the base of her skull.
“That’s a nasty scar you have there. Ever think about getting it taken care of?”
She knew he wasn’t talking about the implant site. She opened her eyes, forced her fingers not to trail the white gash running across her throat. “Don’t you like it? I think it gives me character. My clients are always very impressed.”
He chuckled. “Every beautiful thing needs a flaw.”
“Doctor, are you flirting with me?” She smiled up at him, and Aldani shook his head.
“If I were a younger man, most definitely. Now lay back and turn your head to the side. This will just take a minute.”
Renna obeyed. While she couldn’t feel whatever Aldani was doing to her implant, she could occasionally feel his fingers as he brushed against the skin of her neck or smoothed her hair out of the way. He hummed softly under his breath as he worked, and Renna’s eyes drifted shut.
“Earlier you said I was familiar with your work. Care to explain?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.
She let out a soft sigh. Before this job was over, the entire traverse would know who she was. But Aldani needed to know she was good at what she did, and this was the one way to convince him. “I did a job a few years ago that got a lot of attention. You may have heard of the Seralline Star Sapphire heist?”
His fingers froze on her neck. “That was you?”
“Yes. But I would never have taken the job if I’d known it was going to be so high profile.”
“You stole a priceless heirloom from one of the most dedicated military planets in the galaxy and you didn’t think it was going to cause waves?”
She resisted the urge to shrug. “I didn’t realize it was going to capture the imagination of the entire galaxy. I also thought the Trezians would keep quiet about it, not wanting to lose face.”
“For anything else, you would have been right, but the sapphire is too important culturally for them not to go to any lengths to get it back.”
“Yeah, I figured that out.” She ignored the flecks of blood coating the tweezers Aldani set down on the tray beside her. “So what’s your story? How did you end up as Myka’s guardian?”
“My brother and his wife had no other family, and when Banos Prime was hit, they sent him to me. I expected they would follow, but they were killed before they could get off-planet.”
Poor Myka. Renna chewed her lip as a thought occurred to her. “Could it be possible that the attack on Banos had something to do with Myka?” Maybe it was the first attack. Maybe someone had been after him longer than they’d thought.
The doctor shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’m starting to wonder.”
“Dallas said Myka’s parents had found some interesting technology. Do you know anything about that? Did it have to do with whatever drug they were developing?”
Aldani frowned as he moved to stand behind her. “Hold your head still, please.”
Renna clutched at the edge of the table as a buzzing sound filled her head and the room spun. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe through the electric flashes of pain shooting through her skull. Lightning bolts danced across the back of her lids. She’d been knocked out the first time her implant had come online. This was hellish.
“Hang in there, I’m almost done.” Aldani rested a warm hand softly on her forehead. “All right. It’s working again. Just needed a little rewiring. Now I’m going to install the upgrades. You may feel slightly dizzy while they install.”
Dizzy was an understatement.
Something cold pressed against the back of her neck, and she tried not to jump.
“Easy there. Just a few more moments.”
Renna’s eyes fluttered as Aldani finished the software upgrades and her brain accepted them.
“So where does one even go to find a black market implant?” he asked. She could hear him tapping on his tablet near her ear, but she kept her eyes closed a little longer.
“I have good connections. IMS supposedly stopped making cybernetics after the ban passed, but if you know the right people…”
“Seems dangerous. Back alley surgery can lead to complications.”
“Oh, it wasn’t back alley. There are a few private hospitals on the Outer Rim that will perform the surgery if you pay well enough. With no paperwork left behind.” She smiled at the memory. The doctor who’d installed the implant for her had been young and handsome. They’d spent a week together after she’d “recovered.” He’d had an amazing bedside manner.
“I’m glad it wasn’t a hack job. There. That’s the last download.” He swiped something cool and wet across the incision site on her neck. “Keep an eye on this for the next day or so, but I think you should be all set.”
Renna sat up slowly and turned her head from side to side. The familiar overlay across her vision was back. She grinned at Aldani. “Amazing. There’s a whole new suite of comm tools here.”
He nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting. “I’ve upgraded your omega-net access and local scanning systems as well.” He moved to the sink and scrubbed his hands, talking over his shoulder. “I trust you’ll remember I helped you and not use those tools while you’re in my facility.”
Renna stiffened on the table before forcing herself to relax. “Of course I’ll remember. I appreciate the help. I’m going to need all the tools I can get to break into that facility.”
Aldani dried his hands under the UV light and turned back around to face her. “I need to go check on the progress of the gamma destabilizer. Can you find your way back to your room now?”
“With this back on, I sure can.” She hopped down from the table and held out her hand. “Thank you again, Doctor.”
He shook it, his large hand swallowing hers. “Don’t make me regret helping you, Miss Carrizal.”
SIXTEEN
Aldani left her at the elevators and headed off to his private lab. Renna watched him disappear around the corner, his flapping white lab coat at odds with his more formal dining attire. She frowned. She had two options now: go back to her room and get some rest or continue with her plan.
Guilt coiled heavily in her chest, and she stared down at her hands. The hands of a thief, her mother had always said. It hadn’t been a compliment.