Obsession Read online

  2

  Mathias Ross watched as his self-defence students left the gymnasium. One, a young blonde of nineteen years looked back and smiled at him before following the others out.

  His father William who owned the place nudged his son in the side as he stepped up next to him. “I think she likes you,” he said with a smile.

  Mathias shrugged but otherwise said nothing. Instead, he locked the door and headed through into the back.

  “You still can’t be hung up about that rich girl,” William said as he followed him through.

  “No, it’s not that. Just because Kassandra smiled at me, it doesn’t mean she likes me in that way.”

  “That’s a nice name.”

  “She’s nineteen.”

  “You’re only twenty-four.”

  “I’m twenty-five, and she’s one of my students.”

  “That didn’t stop you when it came to that Lomas girl.”

  “That was different. She seemed lonely.”

  “She has all that money. She could buy herself some friends.”

  “She told me that fact in confidence,” Mathias said. “No one’s meant to know that she’s the kid of Daniel Karimi-Roma.”

  “Seems pretty obvious. That Lomas girl lives alone in that nice house.”

  “It’s not Daniel Roma nice, though,” Mathias said. “That guy was all over the news when I was a kid. He was the richest man in the Empire and a senator to boot.”

  His father corrected him. “He was the richest man in known space, not just the Empire. Well, at least before those terrorists murdered him and his family.”

  “Preia still has a lot of credits to her name, more than she could ever spend,” Mathias said, feeling a little jealous. He sometimes wished he was super rich.

  His father chuckled. “Don’t underestimate what a woman like that can spend, Math.”

  “I don’t think she’s like that,” Mathias said with a shake of his head. “She’s lonely.”

  “You’ve already said that,” William said. “It’s obvious that you still think about her. You know where she lives. Why not go see if she’s alright if you’re that worried?”

  Mathias wanted to, but it somehow felt inappropriate. “It’s been three months,” he said.

  “And? So what if it’s been three months? You both clearly cared for one another. True love is timeless. Go see her.”

  “If that’s true then why did she cut off all contact? Why did she refuse to answer my calls? Why did she pretend not to be in when I went around to her house?”

  “Only she can answer that,” William told him.

  “And what if she doesn’t want to see me?”

  “Then at least you tried.”

  Mathias didn’t like that answer. He didn’t want to try and fail, as that could cause more damage than not doing anything at all. His father was right, though, he did care for her, and he wanted to help, but he didn’t know how to because he didn’t even know what was wrong.

  He intended on finding out and helping however he could because the three months apart had made him realise that he loved her. Starting tomorrow, he would reach out to her and be the support she needed.

  He just hoped that he hadn’t left it too late.

  ◆◆◆

  Preia hated hospitals. She hated the waiting, she hated the stares other people’s eyes and she especially hated the staff that worked there. Thankfully, she didn’t have to endure any of that as she wasn’t waiting for an appointment but more of a person. Unfortunately, she still had to wait, but fortunately it was outside in the courtyard.

  It was eight in the evening when she saw him step out of the building. She knew there were rumours about the two of them having an affair. It wasn’t true and even if it was, then so what? He wasn’t married, and they weren’t hurting anyone. The truth was that she needed him and he wasn’t afraid to bend a few rules or outright break them if there was a large pay-cheque at the end of it and besides he had known her father.

  “George,” she called as she made her way over to him.

  The man who was nearly thirty years her senior turned to look at her. “Preia,” he greeted. “How are you today?”

  “I’m doing good, you?”

  “Rather tired. It’s been a long day.”

  “Mind if I walk with you?”

  “Please do.”

  The two headed towards the tram station where they boarded a car and sat down.

  George, also known as Doctor Calden spoke after clearing his throat. “I have that interface you wanted. Managed to acquire it through one of my contacts.”

  “Does it work?”

  “Supposedly, but we won’t know for sure until the thing is installed.”

  The interface was her spinal interface, and by installed he meant implanted into her back. “I have the equipment to install it back at my place,” she told him.

  “I’ll have to look at it myself to make sure it’s adequate for the job at hand.”

  “I hope so. You are helping me install it after all,” Preia pointed out.

  He didn’t look happy. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “Of course I know what I’m doing, George. I’ve done the research.”

  “Once it’s in, you can’t easily remove it, Preia,” he warned shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

  “As I said, I’ve done the research.”

  “And so have I,” George said, lowering his voice even more. “I’ve also read up on the disorders that can be caused by using the interface.”

  “I’m not backing out of this, not after how much that interface cost me.”

  “Considering I was the middle man on that deal, I know exactly how much it cost,” the doctor said. “Nearly a quarter of the worth of this station. How rich are you again?”

  “I’m not. At least not now. I’ve spent nearly all of it, and there’s still so much more I need to get done.”

  “How will you pay for it, then?”

  “I’m gonna sell the house and live on my ship, Astraea.”

  “You’re going it live out of a ship?” he questioned in disbelief.

  “Plenty of people live on ships.”

  “People that haul freight or are Spacers.”

  “So?”

  “So, this obsession of yours is going to leave you penniless and homeless, if not dead.”

  “The ship will be my home.”

  “Preia, that ain’t no life. Living from port to port and for what? So you can kill some former terrorist group that hide out in the Independent Systems?”

  Preia looked around to make sure no one was listening. She then lowered her voice. “We can talk about this later.”

  George folded his arms. “You don’t even know how good you’ve had it. All the money in the world and it isn’t enough.”

  “Those bastards killed my family. I lost everything.”

  “No, you still had daddy’s money and more than any one person should ever need. And what have you done with it? Squandered it all on some obsession.”

  “This isn’t an obsession,” she snapped. “Now shut up. We can talk about this at the house.”

  By the time they had reached their stop Preia was in a sour mood. What he had said had struck a little too close to home. She had spent years of her life with a singular goal, and while at one point it had seemed like a crazed fantasy, now it was near being a reality, even if it was essentially suicide.

  It didn’t matter, though, at least not to her. She had no family, no real friends. She was mostly a loner, and she knew that it was by necessity not by choice. They had to pay, and the method of payment was death.

  Her house was a short walk from the tram station. Neither said anything to the other as she unlocked her front door. He followed her inside, and she locked it behind them before taking him straight to the workshop.

  The moment the security door was open, he stepped inside and took a long look around, his eyes settling on the assault suit. “So th
at’s it,” he said moving closer. “That’s the reason you’re mutilating yourself.”

  “I’m not mutilating myself. If I want a chance at killing those monsters, I have to become stronger. A regular interface will be too slow. I need to be able to move and react as though I am the armour.”

  “Or you might be in so much pain that you can’t move. There is a reason that these interfaces aren’t used anymore, Preia.”

  She moved over to a modified Auto-Surgeon machine in the corner. She pressed a button, and it opened up. “This is what will install the interface,” she said. “You told me you’d take a look at it.”

  “I’ll be honest,” he began as he stepped over. “I don’t know what I’m even looking at. I’m a doctor, not a mechanic.”

  “Then why did you want to look at it then?” she questioned.

  “To make sure it wasn’t a rusty piece of shit,” he put bluntly. “This looks almost new.”

  “That’s because it is almost new. It’s been modified, not refurbished or taken from a recycler. It should be able to operate without issue.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “I ran simulated operations. The patient survived without any issues.”

  George shook his head. “Simulations aren’t real.”

  “No, but they’re so close to reality they practically are,” Preia pointed out.

  “Only if there aren’t any faults in the programming,” George said. “I don’t think you’ve honestly thought this through. What you’re doing will change your life forever.”

  “I’ve been thinking it through for eight years. If that isn’t thinking it through, then nothing is.”

  The doctor turned his back to her as he stared at the assault suit. “You could have led a comfortable life, Preia. Instead, you’ve wasted all of your credits on some stupid crusade which will probably end up with your death.”

  “Even if I do die, I’ll be ridding the galaxy of a bunch of murderous terrorists in the process.”

  George glanced back at her. “I’ll bring the interface over tomorrow.”

  “When are you available to help me install it?” Preia asked.

  “Same day if you want?”

  Preia shook her head. “I want to do a full diagnostic on it beforehand.”

  “We could still install it on the same day. It should only take around two to three hours,” he pointed out. “Unless you’re having second thoughts?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

  “Bring it over. If it checks out, then we will.”

  “I’ll see you on Saturday, then.”

  “Sure,” she agreed. “I’ll see you out.” Preia walked him out of the workshop over to the front door. Without saying a word, he left. She closed the door behind him and made her way through into the kitchen where she activated her food sequencer. It gave her a warning that she would need to replace some of the food cartridges soon, but she chose to ignore it.

  While the sequencer was cooking up a pasta bake, she checked her messages to find, much to her surprise, that she had received one from Mathias. She decided not to read it as she knew she couldn’t afford to. He was a nice guy, but there was absolutely no way she could get into a relationship, even if deep down she really wanted to.

  Preia had met Mathias at the gym his father owned. He was a self-defence and martial arts teacher. She had gone there for around a year-and-a-half, trying to learn everything she could. Unfortunately, she had not been the best student as she had found Mathias to be too much of a distraction, or at least that had been her excuse. There was so much on her mind with her assault suit, her ship build, getting her pilot’s license, her dealings with her black market, and a plethora of other things on top of all that.

  Mathias though had been incredibly sweet to her. He had almost inadvertently made her give up on this quest of hers when he had asked her out. She had gone not just on one, but several dates before she had decided to call it off. There was no room for him in her life, and it was unfair to him to continue the charade.

  It had been near three months since then, and she hadn’t been back to the gym or spoken to him in all that time. She didn’t know why he was trying to contact her again now, but she couldn’t afford the distraction even if it was tempting.

  The food sequencer beeped indicating that her meal was ready. She opened it up and took the piping hot pasta bake out, which sat on a thermally shielded plate and put it on the table before retrieving a knife and fork. She was about to sit down when the doorbell rang.

  With a sigh, she brought up an image of who was at the door on her wrist computer. Her pulse quickened when she saw that it was Mathias. Despite her better judgement, she almost ran to the front door and opened it, her heart full of longing and excitement.

  “Hello, Preia,” Mathias said almost immediately. “How have you been?”

  “W-what are you doing here?” she stammered.

  “I know it’s been months, but I was worried,” he said. “Is something the matter? Did I do something wrong?”

  Her heart told her to let him in, but her brain told her she shouldn’t. Again, she followed her heart rather than her head and stepped to one side. “Please, come in. I was just about to eat dinner, do you want something?”

  “Uh, no, I’m fine,” he said stepping inside.

  Preia closed the door and walked him through into the kitchen. “Do you mind if I eat?” she asked as she sat down.

  “No, of course not,” he said as he remained stood by the kitchen door.

  She picked up her fork and scooped up some cheesy pasta before looking over at him. “You can sit down if you want.”

  Mathias moved over to the small table and sat opposite. “How have you been?”

  “Fine,” Preia answered.

  “So, it’s been a while.”

  “It has and to answer what you said at the door. You didn’t do anything wrong. The truth is I’m leaving soon.”

  His brow shot up in surprise. “Leaving? Why?”

  Preia ate a mouthful of pasta, leaving Mathias’ question hanging until she had cleared her mouth. “I’m having a ship built. Decided to go out there and explore the galaxy.”

  It was not entirely truthful. Preia was having a ship built, sure, but she certainly wasn’t going out there to explore.

  “Alone?” he asked.

  Preia put her fork down and rested her elbows on the table as she steepled her fingers. She wanted to tell him the truth but knew that was not an option. “This is something I have to do on my own,” she finally answered as she picked her fork back up and scooped up some more pasta.

  “Is that why you broke contact? Because you’re leaving?”

  “Yes,” she said simply. “Yes, it is. I can’t afford any distractions.”

  “So you’re going out there alone?” Mathias asked in disbelief. “To do what? Die?”

  Preia stared at him in shock. It was a little too close to the truth, and that made her uncomfortable. Could he read her that well? While she didn’t plan on dying she had always known that it was a real possibility and she had come to terms with that a long time ago.

  “To explore,” she said uneasily. She could tell Mathias wasn’t convinced.

  “What’s going on really?” he asked, clearly having seen right through her lie.

  “Nothing, I want to go out there and see the galaxy. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

  “Preia, you can tell me. Whatever it is that’s happened or is happening, I’ll listen.”

  “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

  “Preia, please.”

  “I’m not hiding anything,” she said before adding a mental much.

  “I’m your friend,” he said, visibly wincing as the words left his mouth.

  She shook her head. “No, we were far more than that, Mathias. I wish we could be a thing, I so desperately do, but we can’t. Our lives are heading in two very different directions.”

  “So that’s it?” he demande
d.

  Preia didn’t answer and focused on eating her dinner. Just him being here almost made her want to give up on her plans and be with him. She loved him, she knew that, but she could not allow him to get in her way.

  “Can I see it?” Mathias asked.

  Preia cleared her mouth and answered. “See what?”

  “Your ship.”

  “Yes,” she said before she could stop herself. Preia closed her eyes. “Come by on Monday morning. I’m getting a tour of the interior then.”

  “Monday,” he repeated.

  She smiled at him but quickly forced herself to look away. Out of all the hardships and setbacks she had endured over the years, Preia couldn’t believe that it was Mathias who was the biggest threat. Deep down she welcomed it, wanted him to pull her out of the pit she had found herself in. But there was a snake at the bottom, one that she had to defeat or die trying.

  Preia looked down at her barely touched meal, then back over at Mathias. “Do you want to share this with me?” she asked him.

  The questioning look on his face suggested that he was uncertain. Preia stood up and made her way over to the drawers and retrieved a fork, passing it to him before sitting back down.

  He still seemed unsure, so Preia encouraged him. “I can’t eat it all on my own,” she said pushing the bake into the middle of the table.

  That seemed to confuse him even more. “Then why did you cook it? Were you expecting company?”

  “No, I usually eat what I can then let the sequencer recycle it.”

  “Right,” he said as he leant forwards and forked out some pasta. “Pretty good,” he said after taking a bite.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I programmed the recipe myself. Took quite a bit of experimentation, but I finally made the perfect pasta bake.”

  He looked around the kitchen. “I see you still don’t have an oven.”

  “Why the hell would I need an oven when I have a sequencer?”

  “You want to go out exploring without knowing how to cook and prepare food?”

  “I’m gonna have a sequencer on the ship, too,” Preia pointed out.