Operation Artemis (The Drift Nova Force #4) - Susan Hayes Page 0,2

grandmother as a corporate spy. Oran was Bobbi’s cousin with many of the same connections, which was yet another reason to consider her a suspect.

Complicating matters was the fact that parts of both Archer and Bobbi’s files were redacted or sealed for security reasons, and that lack of information made it next to impossible to figure out what connections they might have to the Gray Men and to each other.

Were they friends? Lovers? Fraxx, he really didn’t want them to be lovers. He might not be able to make a move on the pretty JAG officer until the investigation was over, but that didn’t mean he wanted images of her doing wild, naked things with Archer in his head either.

Normally he’d get Ensign Eric Erben, also known as Magi, to work his cyber magic and acquire the information he needed, but he couldn’t do that this time. After getting caught breaking protocol and more than a few laws to make progress in their fight against the Gray Men, the ensign was under scrutiny and would be for quite some time. Since Kurt was the one who’d suggested Eric break the rules, there was no way he’d endanger the man’s career by asking him to hack the colonel’s files.

There was also the fact that Eric wasn’t aware of the second list. Only he, Dax, and Trinity knew about it, and they’d all agreed to keep it from the team. If things blew up, they’d have deniability. The others couldn’t be held accountable for an investigation they knew nothing about. At least, that was the plan. The longer this went on, though, the more likely they were to figure it out.

He finished his last set of push-ups and got to his feet, his arms burning. He toweled off some of the sweat and grabbed a drink from the dispenser, chugging the water as he scanned the room and pondered what to do next.

The only equipment in use was the treadmill. Cris had been on it when he’d come in, and the team’s medic had kept up a punishing pace the whole time Kurt had been there. That was unusual.

Instead of continuing his workout, Kurt grabbed a fresh towel and wandered over to the lieutenant. “Pro tip. If you’re running away from your demons, it helps to get off the treadmill first.”

Cris snorted. “There’s no escaping my demons. I’m just trying to tire them out enough to grab a decent night’s sleep.”

Kurt draped the towel over the railing. “Long day?”

Cris slowed to a cool-down pace and mopped his face with the fresh towel. “Do we have any other kind?”

“Not often. Something particular on your mind?” He might not be able to solve his own problems, but helping the team with theirs was part of his job. In Cris’s case, the problem usually had to do with his teammate, Aria. One day, those two would stop dancing around what everyone else already knew. They were made for each other.

“I’ve been hearing rumors.”

“Which ones? This is a military base. There are at least fifty flying around at any given second. And for the record, I don’t believe the one about our commander being pregnant. He just needs to spend more time in the gym.”

Cris chuckled. “I hadn’t heard that one.”

Kurt stayed quiet, waiting for Cris to speak first. If this wasn’t about Aria, what had him so worried?

“Medi-bots,” the medic said at last. “There are whispers that we’re all going to be injected with nanotech soon.”

He’d heard some of those same theories, but he didn’t see it happening. “I’ve been hearing those stories since my first days in boot camp. The corporations developed medi-bots years ago. If the IAF wanted to dose their soldiers with that kind of tech, they’d have done it by now.”

“They didn’t want it spreading into the population at large.” Cris spread his hands. “But that shuttle has left the cargo bay now. Babies are being born with the nanotech already in their systems. Not to mention our new allies, the Vardarians, all carry a version of that tech in their blood.” Cris frowned. “Even my little sister has medi-bots thanks to her cyborg husbands and the rebellion.”

Kurt felt like he was missing something. “Okay, so, maybe it’s coming sooner than I think. I still don’t see the problem. Don’t you trust the tech?”

“It’s not the tech. It’s what it means.” Eric jerked a thumb at his chest. “I’m a medic. If we’re all self-healing, what’s my role on the team?