Nigel was sitting with him in the galley. They spoke quietly over steaming cups of synthetic coffee. Nigel smiled at her and excused himself, leaving Boro reclining alone at the table. "Time to check on Dorian, er, Dori. Maybe get my fat lip fixed," he said as he passed her.
Spin sat down, not looking forward to the news she had to break to Boro, who greeted her with a smile. It faded when he saw her expression, and she wondered how dire she actually looked. "Something's on your mind."
"You know where we're going," she said. "Probably the most boring pit stop in the galaxy if you're not a biologist or getting treatments."
"I was surprised you knew where to take our Dori to get fixed up," Boro said. "Hopefully they can do a good job below list price."
"I don't know that they can do anything for him. It's a research and testing facility, like a new Geist system, only with regulations."
"Aye, but the profile said they treat people’s major genetic disorders or with special requests. Why else would we go there?"
Spin took a deep breath and decided that she would tell him the bad news as quickly and simply as possible. She was sure he could understand the intricacies, Spin had no doubts about his intelligence, but she was tired of being a sad case. "In two months my body will shut down. It's genetic, and any effort to change or treat it will only reduce the time I have or kill me. That's why we're going to one of the largest research facilities in the galaxy. There are probably people there who worked in the facility that developed my genetic code, maybe even someone who grew me and my partner, Larken. I have to find out if there's a way to fix me so I can have a normal life expectancy. The only other alternative is to go to Geist, where I was made."
"Less than two months? Aye, we have to find a way to fix that." His eyes were focused on hers - intense, urgent - and it was almost too much to take. No matter how much distance she put between herself and Boro, her death would hurt him. It was too late to keep him from harm by cutting ties.
"It would have been well over a year, but Sun dosed me with something that triggered the genetic defenses when she cleared some mood-altering drugs from my system. She thought she was helping."
"Fucking meddler," Boro said, shaking his head. "Always thought she looked down her nose at everyone, now I know it. She was the queen of everyone, no one else could have a different opinion, she'd argue it out of you."
"She was a good friend who made a mistake," Spin said. "She's out there now, trying to find a cure her own way."
"Well, at least she's trying to make amends," Boro said. "I'll do everything I can to get you that cure, even go to bloody Geist. Why did it have to be Geist?"
"I guess the company needed to be where the most advanced research and manufacturing centers in the galaxy were. I'm state-of-the-art, maybe?" she offered, trying to balance Boro's irritation and grief by playing cute.
"That, I can believe." He said, calming down. He was like a lot of people she'd known; after hearing of any injustice, they would transfer their anger to the first culprit they could name. Boro wanted to solve the problem, but he also wanted to take revenge on someone in her name. Among the people who she met since escaping the Countess, she found most of them reacted the same way.
"I just want to concentrate on finding a cure," she said calmly. "And if I find out there isn't enough time for me, I'd like to make sure other dolls have a better chance, and to leave my ship to someone who'll take care of the people I leave behind."
"Don't talk like that. We'll find a way," Boro said.
"I have to face reality. Besides, I’m not so special. There were at least seven Aspen's made. Maybe we were a little different thanks to upbringing, but you can say there were genetic matches to you - like identical twins but closer - out there."
"You haven't met my brother yet," he said. "From what I've heard, he's gone military, and the outfit he's with has all kinds of helpful toys. I bet he'll come with whatever he could borrow, buy or steal to help us. He's crossing whole sectors in two days. I've done the math over a few times and I can't figure out what kind of ship he's using to move so fast. The fastest thing I could find would take fifteen under the best conditions. Imagine what else he's got? We'll get you to Geist if we have to."
"I hope we won't," Spin said. There were thousands of technology companies in the Geist system, all contributing to a defence system while they maintained their own. With artificial intelligences in control of most of the solar system, she could only imagine how tough it would be to get anywhere near the facility that made her. Then, they'd have to face what was inside. "As far as I know, that's all the bad news," she said. "Oh, and we need to name this ship. I was thinking about something airy, light, especially since a lot of these models are turned into small carriers."
"So, we're just moving on," Boro said, his blue eyes focusing on hers like he was reading her, like she was all that mattered.
Spin nodded. "I don't have anything else to say about it. Sun's gone, Leland's done what he could, and I'm hoping we can get more information from Beta Bio. Until then…" she shrugged.
"All right," he said quietly. "A ship name; maybe we look at this like a ship with a purpose? Expedition ships were always named for the kind of mission they were going on, or the gumption they were putting behind the cause. Maybe…"
"Help!" Nigel cried, skidding into sight through the galley hatchway. "Dorian's locked herself in the medbay!"
Spin and Boro rushed down the hall and looked through the transparent metal medbay door. Dori was hurriedly punching selections on the drug dispenser machine. As soon as she saw Spin and Boro in the door, she picked a prybar up and smashed the screen with the tip, jamming it in. "Holy shit, she knows how to get into a pharma machine," Boro said. "They're reinforced on the sides, where they close, but the middle behind the screen in only a millimeter or two thick. She'll get through soon."
"Dori, let's talk this out. I know you're probably still shocked, there's a lot of change…" Spin started.
"A lot of change?" Dori screamed. "Nothing's the same. Even anger's different!" She hurled a metal stool at the hatch savagely. "Try waking up remembering that you were someone else but being so different that they're gone. It's like my body fucking died but every memory I have is taking way too long to die behind it." She picked the prybar back up and stabbed at the middle of the drug dispenser. "Meanwhile, I feel like letting all that shit go is the best thing for me. What the fuck is that about? For free people, the British sure like their mind control."
"I did that to you, Dorian!" Nigel cried through the door. "I'm sorry, I told them to do everything they thought was right to make sure you were whole on the other side. I didn't know that meant changing so much."
"I'm going to open the door, get ready," Spin said, entering the Captain's security code into the panel.
"Fuck you, Nigel! I was my damage, and they made all that shit hazy and weak. If you wanted your buddy back, you fucked up!" She opened the machine enough to reach inside and rummaged quickly.
Leland was running down the hall towards them in shorts, he looked like he woke from a deep sleep. Spin pieced the picture together then; Dori told Nigel she was going to the medbay to get checked by Leland, but she knew that he was asleep in his quarters. It was just a way to get some distance so she could do something drastic. As soon as the door was open, Boro rushed through, grabbing Dori's wrists and pushing her away from the drug dispenser. Nigel was right behind. He tried to grab her legs and was rewarded with a solid kick to his middle that sent him out of the medbay and into the bulkhead across the hallway outside.
Leland rushed into the medbay and retrieved an injector from his locked station. Spin looked for a way to help. It took all of Boro's strength to marginally control Dori, who was much less robust physically. Dori was laughing, struggling kicking at Boro, who raised his knee in time to block a devastating blow to his crotch. "You were a good lad when you were growing up, Dorian. Got into trouble from time to time like all the young sharks
, but good at heart. Maybe that changed along the way, but I bet it's back. I bet if you calm down, give it time, you'll find it again."
That gave Spin an idea. She brought up an image of Dorian in his half-trashed long coat, rough, damaged head of hair, and obvious cybernetics. It was the portrait of a patchwork man, and she projected it life-sized. "Do you want to be this again?" she asked. "I remember seeing you and wondering if you were suffering in that body. If you were in pain. Maybe you thought you were scary, a bad-ass, but that's what most people were thinking when they saw you; 'I wonder how much it hurts to be him? I wonder if he's still human enough to feel anything?'"
Leland fired his hand injector, a dose of medication crossed the room, impacting against Dori's cheek as subtly and as painlessly as a focused puff of air. Boro caught her as she collapsed then picked her up and put her on a gurney. Nigel limped back into the room, moving to her bedside. "I looked at what they did," she said mournfully. "I had a whole, warrior gene thing going on, and they didn't just turn it down, they turned it off."
"You kicked me ten meters across the floor," Nigel croaked. "There's something aggro left in there."
"What were you trying to do in here?" Leland asked gently, scanning her then starting a scan on Nigel.
"I wanted to put something together that would bring it back, Doc. Just get some of that edge back."
"Time for a new edge, maybe," Boro said. "You've definitely still got the fight for whatever edge you want."
"As for the fading memories," Leland said. "I can take care of that in three doses over three days. They did a lot, yeah, but we can work through some with drug and talk therapy. I wish you opened up to me sooner, I'm here to help."
"I'm sorry," Dori said.
"It's all right, I'm sure I'll get patched up fine," Nigel said.
"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Leland. You can take a walk through the nearest airlock, buddy."
"Well, you broke three of his ribs, if that makes you feel better," Leland said.
"A little, but whatever you just gave me is making me feel a lot better, Doc," Dori purred. "It's like I'm becoming a cloud in a nice, blue sky."
"That's the same euphoric they have in stuff like Jupiter Whirlwind shots, Lumo liquor, or Noganto Ale, only in a much higher concentration. It's an easy mental state without the suggestibility; enjoy."
"Oh, I will, thanks," she said.
"Meanwhile, let's get your ribs mended," Leland said, gesturing for Boro to help Nigel up onto the next bed.
"I'll be on the bridge," Spin said, satisfied that things had calmed down and there was little she could do to help.
"Spin?" Dorian called after her. "Are you going to kick me off your crew?"
"I'm not sure you were ever really a member, but you're welcome to join up. Just try to look at the upside of your situation. The first being the most important; you're still alive."
"The second?" There was desperation in her tone despite the strong euphoric in her system.
"Everyone here wants to help you," Spin offered with a little smile. "And we're all eager to see who you become."
Nineteen
The Gain Skipper, Boro’s refurbished courier ship, was more of a large fighter than a small delivery vessel. Sharon was at the controls, her hands deftly handling the older style systems as Boro managed the navigation station. Spin was happy she didn’t take much space. The Gain Skipper didn’t have much room for anyone, especially Nigel, who was too tall for every part of the vessel so he walked hunched.
Aldo was a surprise; one of Kort’s personal guards, she recognized him immediately. He was still a young man, not much older than her, but there were lines on his face. He lived under stress. Whatever he experienced or saw while he was in Kort’s service didn’t suit him.
The moment she sat down beside him in the cockpit – which had two full seats for the pilot and co-pilot – and four smaller seats for supplemental crew, he looked nervous. It took Spin a few moments to figure out all the particulars of the computer system, but after she was comfortable with the communications suite, she smiled at him. He was watching the secondary sensor screen but noticed her attention instantly. “Hey, I’m Spin.”
“I know,” he said tentatively. “I’m Aldo. I was the servant who scanned everything you ate for about a month before I went back to school. After that I returned as a guard.”
“Boro didn’t say you had a history on the estate,” Spin said.
“I don’t really tell people about that. I felt like I was part of the slavery problem most of the time. Something about being one of a few paid servants when most people doing the same work didn’t even have their freedom. It’s good to see you again, though. You were always nice to the people around you.”
“I like to think so,” Spin said. “I know I took some of my frustration out on a few people who were just bystanders, though, so that wasn’t always true.”
“You were one of the nicest people I remember,” he said.
Spin decided to move on to another topic, they had several minutes before they reached the outer range of effective communications with the Beta Bio facility. They were accelerating through the inner asteroid belt. Boro was counting down to thruster cut off. “Thank you for freeing Boro,” Spin told him. “Everyone thought he died, so there was no rescue coming. You were his only chance.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner.”
“You did it, that’s all that matters. Now, you’re free too.”
Nigel got out of his seat and started to leave the cockpit.
“Where are you going?” Boro asked over his shoulder.
“Checking the capacitors. They all say they’re at ninety-five percent charge except for number Twelve. That one’s only going up to fifty-seven.”
“That’s because it’s almost half burnt. I had to remove a bunch of cells to make it safe for a bigger charge. Don’t worry, this ship’s in good shape.”
“Another look couldn’t hurt,” Nigel said.
“Never mind another look. Now’s not the time to go fiddling with capacitors. Either have a seat right there or in the rear gun.”
“We shouldn’t need gunners right now. This station is covered by British Alliance military,” Sharon said as she deactivated the main thrusters. They reached their maximum recommended speed for approach. Boro deactivated most of the systems on the ship, reducing their scan profile just in case. His hand hovered near the mechanical switch that would deactivate their transponder.
“I’ll be in the rear gun,” Nigel said, crouching extra low through the cockpit hatch then closing it behind him.
“Don’t know what’s up with him,” Boro muttered. “Ever since he got mule-kicked by Dorian, he’s been as quiet as a mouse.”
“He’s carrying a lot of guilt,” Spin said. “Everyone thought you were dead, so we gave up on you. I carry that too, but he tried to save his best friend and changed him so much that I doubt anyone would recognize him, even if he looked like himself before he became a cyborg.”
“It’s all just mixed luck,” Boro said. “You thought I was gone, and thanks to my new friend here, you found out you were wrong. That’s lucky. He thought he was saving Dorian and now she’s pissed that she’s Dori. Dorian may as well be dead, but something’s still in there. Dorian always liked his recreational substances, I was almost relieved to see him trying to break into the Pharma Machine. I was wondering; did Leland say what he was after?”
“Dori wanted to get at the Tendi. He thought it would reverse a bunch of the work they did on his brain.”
“Would have turned him into a vegetable, or a complete psychopath until he rejected his new body,” Boro said, shaking his head.
“Or maybe a psycho vegetable?” Sharon offered under her breath.
The mental image of a furious carrot flashed through Spin’s mind and she burst into laughter. Everyone else in the cockpit were seconds behind in their mirth. “Sorry, that was so dark,” Sharon said as they calme
d down.
“It’s okay, things have been so tense lately, I think we just needed a release,” Spin said, sighing. “I think Dori will be all right, it’ll just take her time to settle into herself. I bet Leland is the best one to take care of her. I get the feeling he’s seen a lot.”
“This is The Lady Grace; declare your intentions in Beta Bio Station Space,” came the casually spoken demand from the communications system.
Spin cleared her throat and answered; “This is the Gain Skipper. We would like to meet with a doctor who has experience with proprietary gene locks. I’m sending you my ident. A file should have been sent ahead.”
“One moment,” the operator on the receiving end replied. The image of the Lady Grace appeared on the tactical scanner, a less detailed version occupied a small space on Spin’s communications system.
Boro whistled in appreciation. “Five-tiered mission carrier, never seen one of those before. Fifteen hangars with repair systems.”
Spin looked the ship over and shook her head. There was a massive central hull and five long, thick sections extending from it. “Those are hangars?” she asked, noting that each section was more than half a kilometre long.
“Aye,” Boro said.
“You could run a war from that ship,” Sharon said. “Something’s going on. There’s a picket fleet of destroyers and corvettes all around Bio Beta station. That carrier and the battlegroup around it aren’t in the same formation at all. They’re not here to defend the station, they’re mustering for something else.”
“I’m talking to Spin: Ident Three-Five-Zero-Seven-Zero-Seven,” the operator said.
“That’s me,” she replied. “Is there a problem?”
“No. We’re sending you a Navnet Data Header now, your pilot will confirm. Please don’t deviate from the course we assign to you. Welcome to Beta Bio.”
“We should signal the Convoy King to come in and dock,” Sharon said as her station populated with a Navnet course and she synced the ship’s autopilot to it. “It’s going to be a lot safer here than it would be hiding in the outer asteroid belt.”
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