Free Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) by Jenna Ives Page B

might come in handy during the course of this assignment.
    “Don’t forget me,” Wyatt said plaintively, hinting at the sexual frustration Veraine obviously hoped he’d feel.
    Veraine gave him a sly smile. “Oh, I won’t, agent Wyatt. Don’t worry.” He glanced at a readout on the wall of the outside lab. “See you at 1330.”
    And then he pulled the door closed.
    Wyatt got right down to work. Using his personal – and more importantly, secure – communication device, he arranged for two military airships to fly to Terra Acer tomorrow. It was amazing how quickly a huge logistical undertaking like this could be accomplished at the mere mention of Theus’ name. Then he secured four military transport trucks to ferry one-hundred robot soldiers at a time from the Beautiful Dolls factory to the air base. The continuous round-trip convoy would probably take the rest of the day, but the five-thousand robot soldiers should be fully loaded onto the airships and ready to go first thing tomorrow. He’d oversee the boarding and packing of them himself this afternoon.
    A call to Callex Industries helped coordinate the weapons delivery. He knew Alyn Rekos from a previous assignment, but Wyatt had never met Zan Talesin. A quick conversation with Rekos was all it took to assure Wyatt that Talesin was the right man for this particular job.
    Good. Wyatt needed people around him he could trust.
    There was just one call left to make.
    Knowing that Titus Veraine had cameras in his lab – and by now, probably Ginger’s utility closet as well – Wyatt hunched over his communication device to hide it from a potential camera’s view while punching in the numbers to a high security line. He wasn’t worried so much about a microphone recording his end of the conversation; he knew to keep it generic.
    As soon as Wyatt punched in the last number, the connection was immediate.
    “This is Tau Cetus police agent Leith Wyatt. Premier Theus is expecting me.”
    The call transfer was almost as immediate.
    “Agent Wyatt.”
    Wyatt straightened in his chair, even though the premier obviously couldn’t see him. “Sir. All arrangements for tomorrow’s deployment to Terra Acer are complete. Have you spoken with regulator Jaqan yet?”
    “I have. He’s expecting you, and very grateful that you’re coming.”
    “We’ll do our best to keep Terra Acer safe, sir.”
    “Or use it as bait to draw out those damned missing stinger missiles.”
    Knowing the destruction the two small warheads could cause, Wyatt wasn’t sure which outcome he was hoping for. Theus’ position, on the other hand, was clear. He was a ruthless leader.
    Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He was looking at the bigger picture: keeping the planet – and everyone on it – safe.
    The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
    Especially when those sacrificed would only be robot soldiers. Highly technologically advanced, yet relatively easily replaced. Still, Theus was in a difficult position. There would undoubtedly be collateral damage to property and innocents. And national politics. Thank God Wyatt wasn’t the one making the decisions. “Yes, sir.”
    “Good. Be in touch tomorrow when you arrive in Terra Acer.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The line went dead.
    Wyatt blew out a breath, and stared at his hand-held device. The home screen readout blinked 1315. Organizing the transportation of five-thousand robot soldiers had taken less time than he’d expected, giving him a full fifteen minutes now to think about Ginger before Veraine returned for him.
    He could either idle the time away working himself up into a full-scale hard-on while visualizing various sexual fantasies, or he could take charge of the situation and head to Veraine’s lab right now.
    Which also might give Veraine the impression Wyatt was so eager to see Ginger that he couldn’t stay away.
    That pseudo-vulnerability might reinforce Veraine’s false sense of power where Wyatt was concerned. And