Maxar (The Mating Games Book 4) Read online

  Maxar knew with that much help he could get a lot done. That was good since he hoped to be mated in less than a month if Razar would do the right thing. He felt no need to hunt his mate, he had already found the one he wanted. All he needed to do was convince her which was harder than a hunt anyway. Getting into his hover car, he headed to work.

  The start of the day went almost perfectly which should have set off some bells. Just after lunch everything went to hell and it was centered on Ernie’s area. One oven sheared some part he had never heard of while another oven burned out some element that had been replaced recently.

  “This isn’t right, Maxar. This is too smooth, it looks like it was cut by a laser.” Ernie explained as she showed him the part.

  Maxar had to call Razar who immediately suspected Ernie of sabotage even though she had been the one to point it out to them. “Maybe she did that to avert suspicion. It certainly worked where you were concerned. Was there trouble in any other areas?”

  “Yes, the usual dose of trouble on the farm that we’ve come to expect. Two of the loaders on the dock broke and a packaging machine also went down. Only the labeling area run by Jerry had no difficulties which is weird in itself because he is the worst of my mechanics.” Maxar admitted.

  “We need to get everyone in here one at a time and find out what they know. Let’s start with this Jerry since he had no trouble.” Razar suggested.

  “Fine.” Maxar agreed but he knew deep down to his core that Ernie would never be involved in anything corrupt. She, more than anyone else, appreciated the opportunities working for them afforded. He stepped out of his office calling to his assistant. “Favar, would you call Jerry into my office?”

  “Sure. Are you finally going to get rid of the lazy jerk?”

  “Not this time. It is simply to talk to him.”

  “Too bad. I’ll get him.”

  “Thank you.” Maxar thought about how no one seemed to like Jerry yet he seemed to be the only obviously innocent party. It made no sense but that was the way things appeared.

  Maxar went back to his office where he and Razar waited for Jerry in an uncomfortable silence. Favar got him quickly so at least the wait wasn’t long. Jerry walked in the office acting closer to what one might expect from a normal human than Maxar had ever seen from him. For some reason that bothered him.

  “Hey, Boss. You wanted to see me?”

  “Yes, thank you for coming, Jerry. We’ve had a few mishaps with equipment and we’re trying to figure out the cause. If someone is being sloppy, we need to put a stop to it.”

  “Yes, Sir. I understand that but I assure you I am being very careful to do all my maintenance and keep up all my logs.”

  “I’m sure you are, Jerry. You’ve had no problems lately and we’re grateful for that. We just wondered if you’d seen or heard anything that might give us a clue where to look?” Razar guided him.

  “It’s not my way to complain or cast doubts on my boss, Ernie.”

  Maxar thought that was a load of shit. Jerry complained all the time and tried to make everyone else look bad. He looked at Razar but he seemed to be buying into it.

  “I’m sure it’s not but if we can’t keep the lines running, no one will have a job.”

  Jerry looked at Razar as if the two of them were sharing a secret. “Well if you put it that way. Ernesta has been acting funny and she’s the most likely of all of us to stay late. If she’s doing extra maintenance, then why is everything breaking down?”

  “That’s a good question and we’ll be talking to her later.”

  “Could you do me a favor? Don’t tell her I told you that. I have to work for her and she can be vicious when crossed.”

  The man was clearly lying but to what end Maxar couldn’t figure out. Razar nodded. “I’ll keep you out of this if at all possible.” Maxar kept his mouth shut, he wasn’t agreeing to anything.

  Once Jerry was gone, Razar wanted to talk. “I think we’ve found our saboteur. It makes sense since she is the best at fixing things she’d know how to break them best too.”

  “It’s not her. Ernie wouldn’t do that.”

  “You’re confused because she’s an attractive female and you want her. This is why dating employees is never a good idea.”

  “You’ve already judged her and found her guilty. What happened to investigating and hearing all sides? You also aren’t showing much faith in my judgement.”

  “Investigating is what we’re doing now. As far as your judgement is concerned I think it’s tainted by your interest in her. Call in the next mechanic.”

  Maxar went to the door feeling decidedly agitated. “Favar, I need Bella next.”

  “You got it.”

  Again the waiting even though it wasn’t long, grated on his nerves. “Sir?” Bella came in and he indicated the seat near the door.

  “Thank you for coming, Bella. You had a breakdown in your department today and we’re trying to figure out what happened.”

  “I had a packaging machine breakdown. A piece wore out prematurely but it was no big deal.”

  “You’re right.” Razar agreed smoothly. “It would be no big deal if machines hadn’t broke down all over the factory within minutes or hours of each other.”

  Bella was a feisty young human female who had signed on from the same station Ernie had. “You think we’re responsible?” She glared at Razar.

  “Not you, Bella but someone on the inside.”

  “The only one I would suspect would be Jerry but he’s too lazy to purposefully break something he would have to fix.”

  “Jerry didn’t have any breakdowns.” Razar informed.

  “That’s amazing but Ernie probably helped him stay caught up.”

  “Why would she do that?” Razar asked.

  “She’s the boss, she helps anyone that gets behind.”

  “So she goes all over the factory.” Razar asked.

  “Yes, but only if we get behind.”

  “Did you get behind recently?”

  “No, I haven’t been behind in weeks.” She informed them proudly.

  Maxar was getting upset. Razar was concentrating on anything that made Ernie look guilty. Every word made her look worse in Razar’s eyes. “You may go now with our thanks.” Razar dismissed her.

  “You’re only listening to the things that make her look guilty.”

  “So you agree she looks guilty?” Razar asked.

  “No, I agree you are only looking at the few things that were said that might make her look that way. You are usually fairer than this.”

  “Our whole Oison weed industry isn’t usually at stake. Someone is out to get us and right now it looks like it’s your girlfriend.”

  “Let’s take a look at this from a different view. She can’t be doing anything to the equipment coming in for the farm. Ernie doesn’t see it until it breaks. Once she fixes it, we have no problems with that equipment.”

  “That just means she’s working with someone else. She’s doing a good job after the farm machinery breaks so we won’t suspect her. It’s not working because we’re smarter than that.”

  “It sounds to me like you had your mind made up to begin with.”

  “She’s looked guilty from the start of all these problems. I’m not even looking for it but signs are falling from the sky telling me to look at her instead of anyone else. Bring in the next one.”

  Maxar’s heart felt heavy. He went to the door. “Favar can you get Doxy?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Maxar didn’t have much to say to his brother. He didn’t like the way things were headed but the more he tried to head things off, the worse they got. Doxy was another feisty Earth female. It seemed to be what they got. She’d come from another space station a lot like the one Ernie had come from.

  “Am I in trouble?” She asked quietly. The female had an air of resignation like she expected to be blamed for anything and everything. Ernie had explained to Maxar that females were treated poorly by mana
gement anywhere connected to Earth. Here, she had said, was different but it hadn’t taken long for them to be painted by the same brush.

  “No, Doxy. We’re just trying to figure out why we are having so many breakdowns.”

  “Is there anything you can tell us?” Razar asked.

  “Shouldn’t you be asking Ernie?”

  “Why is she doing something to cause this?” Razar asked quickly jumping on the chance.

  “No.” Doxy looked at them accusingly. “Because she’s in charge of us. She should be interviewing us not you.”

  It was true. The way they had started this investigation made it clear they suspected Ernie of something. Even Bella who was dense about things like this had picked up on something. “We saved the best for last.” Razar said but his attempt at humor fell flat.

  Doxy left in an evil mood and Maxar didn’t blame her. Only Jerry out of the crew of mechanics had no loyalty to Ernie and Jerry was a jerk. The next step would be to call Ernie in even though it was nearly quitting time. Razar looked at him, yeah, he knew what needed to be done. Going to the door, he almost wished Favar had gone home early, but there was no such luck.

  “Favar, could you get Ernie?” Watching her being railroaded while his own brother drove the train, was frustrating as hell. Maar knew it was wrong but other than vouch for her integrity, he had no proof either way. “You are aware, Razar that all you have is conjecture? There is nothing substantiated, no real proof.”

  “It’s enough to take a cautionary step.”

  “What would that be?”

  “I plan to take her off work with pay of course, while we investigate.”

  “You usually take more care in your actions. It’s far too soon to take any action at all. She wouldn’t do it. I would swear to it.”

  “Wouldn’t do what?” Ernie asked from the door.

  Maxar turned red, even Razar had the grace to flush. “We were just wanting to ask you a few questions.”

  “Why bother? It sounds like you’ve already come to a decision.” She sent Razar a look that could make a grown man cry. It might have worked if Razar was a man, but he wasn’t human.

  “Ernesta, you need to understand we’re in a delicate position here. One of your coworkers has all but accused you of causing the mishaps.” Razar justified.

  “Let me guess, shifty conniving Jerry? Maxar, I know you tried to help me and I appreciate it. I’ll just pack my stuff and head back into space.”

  “No. Don’t go Ernie. You’ll be vindicated, I know it. Meanwhile consider this a paid vacation courtesy of Razar that won’t use up any of your time off.” Maxar shot Razar an angry look.

  “Okay, for now.” She shot Maxar a warm look before turning to leave. As soon as she was out of haring range Razar had his say.

  “You should have let her leave. It would have been for the best. When I prove her role in this, she won’t be able to get a job on a garbage scow.”

  “When she’s vindicated, you will have to make this up to her in a big way.”

  “You’re living in a dream world. It has to be her. No one else had access and opportunity.”

  Chapter 3

  A Crying Shame

  Ernie hated that when she got mad she often cried. Men always looked at that as a sign of weakness. That was just something a woman had to live with. The saddest thing was she had thought things would be different here. A place to start over and get away from all the ill treatment of the past. She’d been a fool to expect fair and equal treatment. Something had gone wrong and the male in charge supports the man making accusations without any proof. Why? Because apparently this was a man’s world too just like Earth.

  The time she was off that they paid her she would take to find another job and sort through stuff she hadn’t found the time to do before. Her husband had been gone long enough now she could let him go. She had a dozen boxes to go through he’d been a bit of a hoarder. The man had collected things but he’d always told her that he’d give it all up in a second if she wanted him to. Why would she care if he found things that gave him pleasure? She allowed him a closet to fill to bursting if he wanted but no more than that.

  It would hurt, but she was hurting anyway for a different reason. Everything had seemed to be going so well but it was pipe dreams. She picked up her daughter at the child care center. They noticed nothing since it was close to the usual time.

  “Shandra won’t be back for a few days. I’m taking a little time off to settle in.”

  “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” Zandal said clueless to how Ernie’s world had been turned topsy turvy.

  “You’re welcome. Have a nice evening.” Ernie was thrilled to get out of there without breaking down. She clung to her child who began to fuss. Shandra was affectionate but only when she chose to be. That was alright, they were in the hover car now and it was safe to break down. Shandra would be caught up with the view out the window so she wouldn’t notice a thing.

  They got home which made Ernie feel more relieved. Now she could hide away from the world as she fell to pieces. Once Shandra was asleep, Ernie had a date with a bottle of wine. She would try not to go past tipsy since she and Shandra were alone. Tonight it would be leftovers, she didn’t have the fortitude to cook or do anything that required a brain. Not that her brain was what had been hurt here.

  It wasn’t like she knew Razar that well because she had only spoken to him a couple times. His mate was different because she was more like a friend even if she didn’t see her often, she liked her. Ernie knew Maxar supported her and that had saved her from a crushed heart. She hadn’t wanted to feel anything for him except what an employee might feel for their boss, but it wasn’t what she felt.

  What this whole mess had done was steal her hope that things might ever be different for a woman no matter where she went. Ernie had let herself hope that she could be judged by her ability not her sex. If only her character was considered not just the fact that she was female which clearly meant she was guilty of something bad they just had to figure out what. This was the reason she had left Earth.

  Putting supper in the microwave, she got out the wine deciding to have one glass to relax before Shandra went to bed and she could drink more. The first box of her husband’s things was a shoe box. It contained a collection of various small jewelry items. Wanting to be sure she didn’t give away anything of value, she started with the top item, took a picture and searched for it on Oison’s answer to the internet. The alarm went off letting her know their food was ready. Dropping everything, she went to get Shandra so they could sit down to eat.

  “What’s wrong, Mama?”

  “Nothing, Baby. Why do you asked?”

  “We didn’t read today.”

  “Mommy isn’t working the rest of this week so we will have time to read tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Shandra said as she went back to eating. Ernie was grateful little ones were so accepting.

  When they were done, she let Shandra play for a while until she had everything cleaned up.

  “Time for bed, Kiddo.” Such a good girl she got up and came to her. It only took a few minutes to get her to sleep.

  Ernie was ready for her wine which would help her to have an ugly cry. She needed it to reset her system and let her absorb all that was happening. Checking for another job was essential, clearing out her late husband’s belongings would make the move easier. Not all companies paid for moves. Even though Ernie had some money saved up, she didn’t want to use it all up to pay for a job change.

  Pulling down her resume, she updated and improved it before downloading it to every job site available. If the right job came up she would leave as soon as she could. The thought of leaving hurt but she had nothing holding her here. Maxar was a dream that would never come to fruition just like equality for women in this universe.

  Ernie sat on the computer working going through the box looking to see what she would keep for Shandra. Regardless of what she decided about finding a man in
the future, she wanted Shandra to know everything about her father. By the time she was through with the box, the bottle of wine was gone too. She fell into bed sleeping deeply until morning.

  “Mama, Mama, get up!” Shandra pulled on her PJs. Sluggish and still half asleep, Ernie reacted to her daughter’s need.

  “What is it Baby?”

  “Somebody’s outside. I hear them.”

  “It’s alright. Go back to your room and I’ll go scare them away.”

  “Aren’t you scared, Mama?”

  “No, not when I’m protecting you.”

  Ernie watched her little girl go back to her room before she got out of bed looking for a weapon. She took a hammer, it was the best weapon she could find and went to the door listening from her side. There was no noises outside at all. She turned on the outside lights thinking it might scare anyone lingering outside away. Opening the door a crack, she peaked out seeing nothing. It looked like Shandra might have dreamed the danger. Relief came over her but to be certain, she stepped outside looking around. When she turned back toward the door, she gasped and stifled her need to scream.

  A small animal unfamiliar to her was nailed there bleeding all over her porch. Looking down she saw she had trailed through the blood spreading it around. Ernie thought later that she should have thought things through more carefully but she didn’t. She ran inside slamming the door and locking it. Grabbing the phone she called Maxar’s personal number nearly hysterical. He answered immediately.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh my god, Maxar.” The rest of what she said was slurred and impossible for him to understand. Even when she tried to slow down she couldn’t.