The Vance Venture Ch. 03

Author's Note:

Time to switch it up some, and leave Jack alone for a chapter or two. As this is the third part of a longer tale, I would recommend anyone not versed in Jack so far go back and check out the previous chapters, or you may get lost.

Now, let's meet the youngest member of the team...

o

THE HACKER

Sonya Sweet revved the gas on her CBR Fireblade as she coasted to a stop before the valet at the Kuahara Hotel. The engine of the crotch rocket fired a fearsome howl that ricocheted around the covered parking area like a sonic bullet.

The valet's name was Stewart. He wore the trademark blue vest of the Kuahara Hotel Parking Staff over dark slacks and black wingtips polished to a near mirror shine. His dark hair was slicked back Jerry Lewis style, and perched on his nose were a pair of prescription lenses set in the thickest black frames imaginable. Today his pimples were located on the nose, left side of the chin, and one, two, three on the forehead. Sonya knew him to be young, only eighteen, and he was just too cute.

And he was in loooooove with her.

She could see it plainly in his every aspect each time she stepped from her motorcycle. It's why she always pulled up to him, and why he always came running to her. Too much fun.

She cut the engine and tossed the key to Stewart. It caught him off-guard, and he fumbled it nervously in his attempt to lay claim to it, nearly dropping it twice. She stepped from astride the motorcycle silkily, unfastening her helmet as he approached, and when she pulled it off, she shook out her long blond tresses for his benefit. Stewart stood in stupefied silence, his eyes wide in what could be delight or shock, an unconscious grin curling his lip awkwardly.

"Good morning, Stewart," she cooed, probing his glazed orbs with her foxy glare.

His lips shakily formed the word 'good' followed by a hesitant 'morning', but only the last two words were lent voice:

"Miss Sweet."

Just the way he said it made her shiver. The promises suggested, the emotion and devotion displayed in merely two words... he adored her. How could she break his heart?

"Take care of her for me." She unzipped her jacket about halfway, revealing only a white bikini top beneath, and of course her ample cleavage. Ooh, she was so mean.

Stewart's eyes zeroed in, locked on, and his mouth dropped open like a bomb bay door. His struggle to produce language was both obvious and amusing. In the end, he once again could barely intone, after much gaping and gawping, only two words as he tore his glance from her bosom and nodded.

"Miss Sweet."

Sonya gave him her absolute cutest smile, then demurely averted her eyes and strode past him, up four steps and through the revolving doors. She could almost feel his unrequited adolescent love chasing her all the way to the elevators.

When she reached the top floor, which wasn't much more than a softly lit vestibule with the elevator doors to one side, two doors opposite, and one at each end, she headed left. Kiki's penthouse apartment had the door with no handle or knob, no card-key access or knocker, only a small black button in the centre of the door, about a foot below what looked like a simple peephole, just like the ones on the other three doors. But those doors had handles, and Sonya knew that this one was no peephole. She pressed the black button once, and after the briefest moment the door swung silently open, as if of its own volition.

Inside, Sonya was confronted with an opulent sea of blue and green, azure and turquoise. The entire apartment was an undersea motif if ever there was one, littered with earthy plants before water-coloured walls, furniture of flowing design set atop plush carpeting the colour of sand. From the entrance, Sonya could see four long fish tanks, teeming with life, and knew there were more.

"Come on in, Sweetness!" a voice called from beyond, somewhere down one of the two hallways exiting the massive room. Across from her, a wall of windows shone radiantly blue, displaying nothing but clear sky. In the middle of the spacious room were two sofas and two plush chairs surrounding a large round coffee table made of marble.

Sonya entered the penthouse and removed her boots on the small hardwood landing. She closed the door behind her before making her way down the four steps into the living room, at which time Kiki entered.

"What's up?"

Sonya's glance flicked up to her Japanese friend. Kiki was a petite little thing, standing no more than five-foot-two, with a build both lithe and lean. Simple black track pants hung from her narrow hips, and a white tank top covered her small, perky breasts while exposing her navel, where sparkled a piercing of silver and sapphire. Her short black hair was in disarray, as though she had only just woken up, but Sonya knew that could just as easily be how she was going to wear it today. Kiki's slim lips parted in a disarmingly innocent smile, her thin dark brows arching away from her almond eyes.

Kiki took note of Sonya's open jacket and smiled.

"Playing with the valet again, were we?"

Sonya looked down, and then unzipped her leather jacket the rest of the way. Holding one side open, displaying her skimpy white top, she glared right back into Kiki's accusing brown eyes and mischievous grin.

"I'm wearing a bikini," she explained. "It's not like I showed him my tits."

"No," Kiki replied, feigning innocent understanding. "Not today, at least."

Their laughter filled the room.

Kiki was the youngest member of A.I., at twenty-one, but that didn't mean she lacked in experience. She had been hacking secure databases at age twelve, developing her own cryptology software at fifteen, and though she never boasted or bragged, had once claimed simply that, 'If it's connected to the Web, it's connected to me. That means it's mine.' When it was information they sought, it was Kiki they brought.

"So... are you here on business or pleasure?"

"Jack sent me."

"Ah." Kiki's smile faded in mild disappointment. "Business then."

Kiki moved to one of the sofas and sat down daintily. She reached under the lip of the marble table and flicked a switch. Sonya sat in one of the adjacent chairs as the room was suddenly alive with faint sounds both mechanical and electrical. Screens flickered as what had appeared to be a wall of windows showing an azure sky suddenly became a wall of changing images and information: television channels, websites, streaming information screens, camera monitoring displays. The soft whir of computer systems waking up could be heard from beneath the table, and then two small panels, previously invisible to the naked eye, slid away on the surface: one before Kiki, where appeared a wireless keyboard and flying mouse, and one in the centre of the table itself, from beneath which rose a small pyramid of dark prismatic glass.

Kiki snatched up the mouse. Sonya watched in silence as the floor-to-ceiling screens began to clear up, the various feeds and displays shutting down at the click of a button.

"Ooh! Check this out," Kiki laughed as she clicked and dragged what appeared to be a camera display across one giant screen and onto the centre one directly before them. Another click, and the screen exploded in size, now some six feet across.

On the screen, in lifelike digital video, were a man and woman having sex. The woman was tall, blonde, and dressed in black lingerie and garters, fishnet stockings and spike heels of impossible height. She was on her back, on a bed, with her long legs spread for the short rotund man who was thrusting himself into her with everything he was worth. His dark hair was short, and not limited to covering only his head, but most of his body. His round buttocks, like his love handles, wiggled and warbled with every thrust, and he was sweating profusely.

"Ooh, ooh! We need sound."

With another quiet click, the picture was suddenly accompanied by booming digital sound, the voices of the two lovers blaring around Kiki's massive living-room-become-command-centre. The blonde on the screen didn't exactly sound highly aroused.

"Yeah, baby... Oh baby... Give it to me baby..."

In fact she sounded downright bored. She continued her lazy dirty talk with an utter lack of energy while the chubby fellow worked himself quickly in and out of her, his panting breaths punctuated by occasional grunts and short moans.

"What the hell is this?" Sonya asked.

"Room 916," Kiki replied, then looked over at Sonya and smiled. "Live."

Sonya's jaw dropped as she looked at Kiki in unabashed shock. "Downstairs?"

Kiki nodded giddily.

"So... what are you saying? You have the whole place wired?"

"Well, yeah." Kiki's smile broadened. "It is my hotel."

That was true, Sonya had to concede. Much of the cryptology software that Kiki had invented at fifteen was still used by millions of people every day. Money was not something Kiki Kuahara would ever have to worry about again. The hotel she lived on top of was one in a chain of nine around the world that she had been building since her first real money was made five years ago, and which now afforded her living space in major cities around the globe. Every Kuahara Hotel was possessed of a private penthouse, which was only given to patrons with express permission from Kiki herself. They were otherwise kept empty for her sole use.

And though Sonya was appalled at Kiki's illegal spying, she was also, she had to admit, intrigued by the voyeuristic nature of the whole set up. Could she access any room, in any of her hotels, at any time? Sonya was afraid to ask. She had stayed in some of those hotels on numerous occasions, and suddenly found herself remembering some of the naughty things she may or may not have done in them.

Kiki must have read Sonya's thoughts in her face, for she giggled and quickly said apologetically, "Don't worry. Nobody sees this stuff unless I show it to them."

Sonya wasn't at all sure that made her more comfortable with the idea. They had been working together for two years now; how could she not know about this?

"Have I never shown you this before?"

"No."

"You should come over more often."

"Yes."

Kiki laughed.

"This is Donald Whelby. He stays here a lot. Never with his wife, though." Kiki turned to Sonya and winked.

Sonya smiled and nodded. That explained the blonde's lack of enthusiasm.

"More baby... yeah... come on already baby..."

"I hope he doesn't tip her."

Kiki laughed again in response. She then closed the display and cleared the rest of the screens, except for a favourite music channel, which she left on with the sound turned low. The soothing sounds of German speed metal ricocheted softly around the spacious room. An empty data entry window appeared, a tiny square in the centre of a wall of blackness, with a tiny blue cursor blinking in anticipation. Kiki's narrow brown eyes locked on Sonya with cool intrigue.

"So. Who are we looking for?"

Sonya smiled, knowing that this was what Kiki lived for. Discovery of secrets was her addiction, keeping them her passion. The harder it was to find, the more fun it would be for Kiki. She loved researching criminals and politicians best, because they always had the most to hide, and some had the means to hide it well. With what she knew, conspiracy theorists around the world could be forever satisfied. If knowledge was power, Sonya didn't think it a stretch to say Kiki Kuahara was one of the most powerful women in the world.

Sonya produced the business card given to Jack by their newest client and handed it over. Kiki studied both sides of the card briefly, and then began typing.

Within a few short minutes, she was getting results and display windows ripe with information were once more spattered across the screen wall. One held a picture of an older guy whose dark hair was going grey. He had a stern look on his face, like a lawyer or a strict professor. Beside his picture was displayed in bold letters: MAXIMILIAN OSWALD VANCE.

"Is that the guy?"

Kiki's sublime form was perched on the edge of the sofa cushion, huddled over the keyboard, her head tilted up to the screens, eyes darting from one display to another, absorbing information and filtering it into commands for her fingertips to blaze across the keyboard.

"I guess so. I didn't meet him."

Sonya looked at her friend, watching with concern her hunched-over position on the edge of the couch.

"Don't you get sore sitting like that?" Sonya reflected on her ergonomic workstation back at the office, appalled at Kiki's horrid posture.

Kiki shrugged nonchalantly.

"Everything's cordless. I can always move." Then she stopped typing and looked askance at Sonya, a sly smile on her parted lips and coy expectation in her almond eyes. "If you're that concerned, you could maybe... rub my back."

Perhaps because of her morning frivolities with Jack, perhaps because she had shortly thereafter missed out on more, a sly smile formed on Sonya's face as she slowly looked Kiki up and down, unconsciously licking her lips as her mind suddenly filled with images of doing a lot more than rubbing the hot little brunette.

"I mean," Kiki added, "as opposed to just sitting there, looking sexy." She then abruptly turned back to her keyboard and wall-sized screens.

Raising an eyebrow at the challenge in Kiki's voice, her smile bloomed as Sonya studied the playful brunette. Without a word, she rose and peeled off her form-fitting jacket and pants, making of them a pile of white leather on her seat. Kiki pretended not to notice. Clad now only in the revealing white string bikini she had donned for Stewart the valet's benefit, Sonya stepped up onto the aquamarine sofa and dropped herself down into the velvety cushions behind Kiki. Stretching her legs out to either side of Kiki's slender form, she made herself cozy and set her hands to Kiki's waist.

Silkily Sonya ran her hands up Kiki's sides, until she reached the white tank top covering Kiki's upper torso. Hesitantly she slipped her fingers under the hem of the shirt and began slowly lifting it from Kiki's body. Cooperation was eagerly forthcoming. Kiki paused what she was doing and absently, lifted her arms to allow the top's removal. Sonya stripped it from her and tossed it on the table, imagining the sight of Kiki's perky breasts falling lightly from beneath the soft fabric. Sonya bit her lip as she returned her hands to the task of massaging her friend.

Gently she stroked her hands across Kiki's golden skin, kneading softly the tense tendons of her shoulders, easing the tension down her spine, softening the tight muscles in her lower back. Sonya worked slowly as Kiki worked quickly, massaging special attentions into each of her long, increasingly sensual strokes as Kiki's dextrous fingers flew across the keys before her.

After several minutes Sonya's ministrations led her back to Kiki's sides, where she softly caressed her obliques, smoothly running her palms around to Kiki's abdomen. Kiki sighed her approval, moving her elbows out from her sides to allow Sonya better access. Sonya softly rubbed Kiki's flat stomach for what seemed an age before moving her hands up to the long curves beneath her breasts. She drew slow lines across Kiki's ribs, caressing the sides of her petite mounds, occasionally dragging a fingernail to elicit a shiver or subtle gasp from the busy brunette. Sonya's breath was a warm breeze across Kiki's shoulder as she cuddled up close, her full breasts pressing against Kiki's naked back as her hands further explored her chest. She stroked around Kiki's breasts, her fingers teasing the erect nipples, her palms tracing the shape of Kiki's girlish bosom.

Kiki moaned softly, her fingers momentarily stilled as she slowly rolled her neck, eyes half-lidded with enjoyment, breathing deeply. When she returned to the keys, her efforts were stuttered, staggered with brief pauses as her breathing became heavier.

Eventually Sonya's hands drifted away from Kiki's breasts to steal silkily down her abdomen. Kiki spread her legs as both of Sonya's hands reached down between them, briefly cupping her mound through her track pants before separating to glide up the inside of each thigh. Sonya pulled Kiki's legs wider as she reached her knees, then encircled her kneecaps and dragged her nails back up the outside of her thighs and over the curve of her hips, pulling slightly at the fabric, teasing the supple hidden flesh. She slipped her thumbs into the waistband of Kiki's pants, tracing her thumbnails across the skin beneath and around to her middle before removing them with a flip of fabric to slide her hands languidly along her thighs once more.

When she again pulled her nails up to Kiki's cute little ass, achingly dragging the fabric up in bunches as she did, Sonya nuzzled her chin into Kiki's neck, her lips grazing an earlobe. Ever so softly she tickled Kiki's ear with her tongue as this time she slid whole hands behind her waistband. With maddening pace and precision, Sonya trailed her fingertips down the erogenous creases atop Kiki's thighs, leading inexorably to a small patch of short hair, and the happy realisation that Kiki was without panties. As she guided the pads of her fingers lower, teasing the tender folds of Kiki's nether lips, Sonya gently blew on her earlobe, eliciting a gasp and a shudder from the aroused brunette. Sonya was beginning to find it difficult not to tear Kiki from her work and explore her unhindered.

Instead, surreptitiously under cover of track pants, she parted Kiki's distended lips, soothingly caressing. Kiki's muscles tensed and a shiver ran the length of her body as Sonya's expert fingers found her clitoris and teased it softly. Sonya took her lips from Kiki's ear to massage long, wet kisses into the nape of her neck as she toyed with clit in one hand and labia in the other, her agile fingers dabbing ecstasy on Kiki's senses.

At length Kiki's fingers stopped their tedium at the keyboard, her breath coming ever faster, more ragged as she hung her head in distraction, absorbed by the pleasures assaulting her body. To Sonya it seemed an eternity before Kiki finally turned from her task.

"Oh, fuck work," she breathed, turning her head sharply to gather Sonya's lips to her own. Sonya returned the kiss eagerly, her mouth accepting Kiki's invasive tongue with delight as both women's tension broke like a wave, washing them with relief.

Kiki turned her body, lifting her right leg onto the sofa and throwing an arm around Sonya's shoulders, pulling her lips tighter against her as she explored Sonya's mouth insistently. Sonya pulled one hand from Kiki's pants and enfolded her waist with it, clutching the smaller woman to her as two fingers from her other hand delved deeply in Kiki's pussy. Their kiss was broken for the briefest moment as Kiki gasped, her eyes widening in elation as Sonya probed within her, then falling shut as she again crushed her mouth on Sonya's. They tasted of each other as if their very lives depended on it while Sonya worked her fingers with increasing abandon, stoking the fire of her own arousal as surely as she was fuelling Kiki's.

Eventually Sonya was able to pull her lips from Kiki's, whereupon she trailed moist kisses down her throat while pushing Kiki back onto the end of the couch. Kiki acquiesced, turning her face to the ceiling as she lost her fingers in Sonya's long blond locks, tugging at her playfully as pleasurable sensations washed through her body. Sonya continued her oral trek, sliding her tongue around the hollow at the base of Kiki's neck, trailing kisses across her clavicle, and finally lowering her mouth to Kiki's breasts. She traced Kiki's luscious mounds with her tongue, enveloping her nipples in the moist heat of her mouth, her tongue darting at the sensitive nubs, her teeth tantalizing tender flesh.