Salvation

It’s exciting, too, which is what you really like, he thought, but he wasn’t going to say that to her face. “Sorry, sorry. You know I just get concerned for you.”

“I know. It’s very sweet. But your work is physically dangerous, too; one slipup, and you’ve got a disaster area on your hands. And I know how dedicated you are. So just think how you’d feel if I asked you not to take the worst assignment.”

“Emergency detoxification isn’t quite as extreme as the media plays it up to be. And I’m not asking you to give security up. I was just showing an interest in my wife’s work, like a good husband.”

“Nice try,” she mocked.

“Er, it’s not really unsafe, is it?”

“You judge: There’s this evil billionaire with a fiendish plan for world domination—no: solar system domination. My assignment is to use all my feminine assets to seduce him and steal the plans from his bedroom safe.”

Callum grinned lecherously. “That should work, ’cause those are amazing assets.”

She laughed and kissed him again. “Actually, this one is really boring. I go around university campuses pretending to be a student and showing up at anti-corporate rallies and meetings—with particular attention to anti-Connexion gatherings—seeing who’s there, who’s the angriest of them all, who’s the silent smoldering type, who’s all talk…We’re monitoring potential future troublemakers.”

“That sounds quite sinister, the company keeping profiles on a bunch of twenty-year-olds. Is it legal?”

“They’re kids, Cal. Ninety-nine percent are just rebelling against their parents now they’ve finally left home. But they’re susceptible to radicalization. Somebody’s got to stop them being exploited by the real zealot shits; the university deans don’t do a damn thing.”

“Also true.”

“It’s important work. Work I’m proud of. Urban violence is in decline for the first time in decades, Cal.”

“I wasn’t arguing. So how exactly does this prevent you from telling Yuri about me?”

“I’m in the middle of an assignment. It was a miracle I managed to swing this four-day break. If I tell him about us on Tuesday when we get back, he’ll lift me from the job until you’ve been vetted. And if I’m away for too long, it might make the group I’ve been hanging out with suspicious. The whole assignment collapses.”

He frowned in confusion. “It can’t take more than a couple of hours for them to read through my file, surely?”

“That’s not how you vet someone, Cal. Internal Assessment will put a couple of case officers on reviewing you, and now that we’re married you’ll have to come in for an interview. If you’re clean, it’ll only take a week; but if there are any question marks, you’re looking at months for verification.”

“Bloody hell! If I’m that questionable, how come they let me do what I’m doing? Look at how potentially dangerous my job can be; I could cause Connexion more grief than any street mob. Just one hesitation or wrong action, and tons of toxic crap leaks out, into the water, across a city…”

“You’re not getting it. Intelligence gathering is about acquiring information and analyzing it. What we do is try to find the people who are looking to subvert you. Yes, if you’d been turned you probably could cause two or even three bad toxic spills before Security realized you’d become a militant. Our job is to halt that subversion before it happens.”

“Are you telling me if one of my cleanup operations does go pear-shaped, Security will come looking for links with fanatics?”

“Depends on how big the damage is, but basically: yes. And if there are suspicious patterns in behavior or your data footprint, our division’s G5Turings will find them.”

“Shit on a stick! I didn’t know that. It’s not even a whisper in the department.”

“Which, as you’ve now got an undercover security agent lying about her relationship with you, is going to be really bad if they do stick a pattern analysis on you. So we’re both on the line here. Don’t screw up your next job.”

“Hell! I’ll do my best.”

Savi kissed him, resting her face against his. “I love you, husband.”

“Not as much as I love you, wife. So how long before we can shock everyone with the announcement?”

“Couple of weeks. No more, I promise.”

“You’re not going to be away all that time, are you?” he asked in dismay.

“I’ll try and finish as quickly as I can. But be prepared, contact’s going to be difficult while I’m active.”

“Come on, you can sneak a minute to call me. Just an email will do. Let me know you’re okay.”

“If I can, I will, but I can’t risk blowing my cover, Cal.”

He found that frustrating, as if she wasn’t willing to make the effort. Which wasn’t fair. Like she said, to get where she was at just twenty-six must have been tough. That resolve of hers, pursuing what she wanted without hesitation every time, was intoxicatingly attractive.

“I understand,” he told her.

“Thank you.” Savi rolled onto her back and stretched sensuously. “This is the first day of our honeymoon now, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“That means I’m entitled to sex with my husband all day long.”