Mia gave him a confused look. “What do you mean? I shot both of them. Pretty sure they’re dead.”
Stanton looked over at Tarkin, then back at Mia. “We didn’t find any other bodies.”
“What? I nailed at least two of them. And I wasn’t pussying around, my PEP weapon was set to max,” Mia said as she slumped down a little in the bed. “Maybe they had support and cleaned up before you arrived?”
Stanton dragged over a seat, as did Tarkin. Now that she was alert, they were going to get as much out of her as they could. Not that Mia was objecting—it was good that they were taking this seriously.
“Any ideas who might have been behind this?” Stanton asked.
“Xenonists,” Mia spat out.
“Xenonists?” Tarkin said with a hint of incredulity.
“Zack had a theory.” Mia gave a dismissive gesture with her hand. “I know, I know. I thought it was a bit crazy, too. But he lives across the street from their HQ here in Jezero. He was keeping an eye on them, he was convinced they were up to no good. So, since I was bored sitting around waiting for flights to resume, I decided to take a stroll in there and rattle their cage. Nothing major. I planned to keep it straight, just see what reaction I got. Anyway, Zack got a rush of blood to the head and goes on a little walkabout in there, while I was distracted by the guys at reception. It was a stupid thing to do. I didn’t realize the guy would be so reckless.” Mia took another long drink from the water bottle.
“He managed to enter a bio-lab of some sort before we were both unceremoniously kicked out. We headed back to the hotel and bang, crossbow bolts started raining down on us.”
There was silence in the room for a moment as both Stanton and Tarkin digested this story.
“Xenonists?” Tarkin finally said, this time with even more incredulity.
Mia shrugged. “Go figure.”
“But they are the most benign group of people on the planet.” He waved a hand around. “All they’re into is…philosophy, and living the pacifist, agrarian lifestyle. Their leader is none other the Xenon Hybrid, the most revered human on Mars. It’s just ludicrous to suspect them of such a well-planned hit job…ludicrous.”
Mia sighed. “You may be right, Poe. It all sounds completely crazy. And that’s exactly what I thought when Zack started going on about it. But the more he talked…well, I began to think there’s more to these guys than they let on.” She shifted again in the bed. She was becoming more alert, more restless. She wanted to get out, maybe test out her landing gear. She wanted to know what worked and what didn’t. But best not try this in front of these two, in case I end up on the floor with my ass hanging out of the hospital gown, she thought.
“You need to go and check these guys out,” she finally said.
Tarkin shook his head. Not that he was dismissing Mia’s suggestion, but that he still couldn’t believe it. “Is there…anyone else you think might want you dead? An old adversary, perhaps?”
“I’ve gone through that list several times in my head, and nobody comes to mind that would have the wherewithal to pull a stunt like this. Hey, even you didn’t believe that, Bret. Otherwise you wouldn’t have given me a rookie like Zack.”
Bret raised a hand. “I didn’t think…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mia cut him off. “It’s not your fault, so don’t go beating yourself up over it. Best thing for you guys to do is start digging into that Xenonist HQ and see what crawls out. I mean, there’s gotta be some street camera footage of the attack, or something?”
“Nothing. No feeds. Everything was disconnected or jammed. And no eyewitnesses, at least none that are talking,” said Stanton.
Poe Tarkin suddenly stood up. “I think we have imposed ourselves enough on you for the time being. It’s best we leave now and let you recuperate. But rest assured, we will do everything in our power to uncover the perpetrator of this outrageous attack and bring them to justice.” He glanced over at Stanton as if to say, It’s time to go.
Mia nodded. “Good, see that you do. And take my advice—focus on the Xenonists.”
Tarkin smiled, nodded, and turned to go. Stanton also stood up and began to follow, glancing back at Mia as he did. “We’ll find who was responsible, you just rest and get better.” He strode out of the room.
Mia didn’t believe either of them. They were just trying to placate her. Sure, they would throw some resources at it, but they would be looking in the wrong direction. There was simply too strong a cognitive bias when it came to the Xenon Hybrid. No one could possibly believe that he, or his followers, were somehow a force for chaos. It was beyond comprehension. It was simply not possible. If she was going to find out the truth, then she would have to do the digging herself.
She glanced down at the floor of the room, gathered her strength, and swung her legs out over the edge of the bed. From there she slid down and planted her two feet on the ground. A sharp pain shot up through her right leg. She let out a yell, then fell flat on her face, her ass hanging out of the hospital gown.
A medic rushed in. “Ms. Sorelli, what are you doing? You shouldn’t be trying to get up.”
Another medic rushed in, and between them they lifted her up and sat her back on the edge of the bed.
Mia grabbed one of them by the collar. “Listen, whatever your name is, get me some crutches. I don’t care if they’re just sticks. I’m not staying in that bed a moment longer than I have to.”
The medic was a little taken aback, but being a professional, she simply nodded. “I will find something for you. But in the meantime, just take it easy. You don’t want to injure yourself in a fall.”
Mia acquiesced and shuffled herself back into the bed proper. This is going to take a lot of work, she thought.
13
Walkabout
“That’s a good question, Jann,” Nills said as he sat down on a low bench and leaned his back against the wall. “Are you saying that the real Xenon Hybrid is dead?”
Jann inclined her head a little. “Possibly, although we have to assume that he might also be held against his will somewhere within this enclave.”
Nills sighed. “This is all messed up. If that guy up there is really a clone, then we’re back to the bad old days.”
“It’s not something I want to contemplate, but there is no other explanation for either the new Xenon or those two guys we found at the site back in Jezero.”
“But why? Why would they start doing this? After all that Xenon had been through?”
“Whatever the reason is, the answers are here somewhere. That’s why we need to take a look around—now, while we still have a chance.”
“And how do you suppose we’re going to do that? They’re not going to let us just walk around.”
“Can Gizmo help? Can it hack into the facility system from inside the rover?”
Nills scratched his chin. “Possibly. Maybe it could get us a schematic, maybe even disable some of the security.” He looked over at Jann. “Worth a shot.”
He tapped the side of his temple and activated his comms implant. A pale blue ring of light glowed around the pupil of his right eye. “Gizmo, this is Nills. Do you copy?”
Jann activated her own comms implant so she could listen in.
“Yes, Nills. I copy. How is your visit going, considering I am here all on my own?”
Nills looked over at Jann and rolled his eyes. “Eh, sorry about that, buddy, but couldn’t be helped. Listen, I need you to do something for us.”
Jann couldn’t be sure, but she imagined she heard a sigh from Gizmo.
“Very well, what is it?”
“You think you could gain access to this facility’s system via the rover interface link?”
There was a slight pause before Gizmo responded. “Yes, it looks like their firewall is very rudimentary.”
“Good, we need a schematic of the enclave, even if it’s just an approximation of the layout, and also which areas are consuming the most power.”
; “I am already working on it. But it could take some time.”
“That’s okay. Just let me know when you have something.”
“Will do. At least now I have a job to keep me busy.”
The connection terminated.
It didn’t take Gizmo long to come back with a schematic. Less than twenty minutes later, Jann and Nills were both looking at a 3D map of the enclave that blossomed out of a holo-slate, which Nills had fished out from a pocket. He set it face-up on one of the low tables in the room, and the two of them hunkered down to examine the map of the enclave.
The surface structures consisted of a series of domes, the largest of which was where they had met the fake Xenon. Around this were smaller domed structures that all seemed to be designated as either gardens or spaces for ‘reflection.’ Then there was the docking wing for rovers on one side, with a terminal on the other side for processing goods and people arriving by shuttle. Although both these terminals were on the surface, they routed everything underground. And it was clear from the schematic that this constituted the vast majority of the facility. Possibly four times the size of what was visible on the surface.
“I had no idea it was this big,” Jann said as she rotated the 3D image.
Nills pointed at the main subterranean level. “This entire sector looks to be given over to horticulture. And see here.” He pointed at another level. “That’s power management, with all the life support systems grouped around it. Water reclamation, oxygenator, climate control. And this level here looks to be all accommodation.”
“What’s this sector? Seems to be using a lot of power,” Jann said as she zoomed in on yet another level of the underground enclave.
Nills tapped the area of the projection, and a data label floated above it. “Horticulture, apparently. But you’re right, it’s using significantly more power than these other sectors.”
“Maybe it’s aqua-culture or protein-culture?”
“Then why not identify it as such?” Nills looked over at Jann.
Jann stood up. “I think we should take a look.”
Nills remained hunkered down, studying the diagram. “That’s down two levels, and quite a distance from here. What happens if we’re spotted?”
“We could plead ignorance, say we were going for a walk?”
“Hmmm…you think they’d buy that?”
“Probably not. It would be better if we can do this without alerting anybody.”
Nills tapped his temple again to talk to Gizmo. “Can you get access to any of the camera feeds on levels two and three?”
“Yes,” Gizmo replied almost instantly. “As I suspected, their firewall is virtually nonexistent. I have complete access to most of the enclave’s systems.”
“Excellent. Can you route that schematic through to mine and Jann’s comms units as an augmented wireframe, and give us the camera feed locations?”
“Certainly. It will take a few moments to compile. Am I correct in assuming that yourself and Jann are going on a clandestine investigation of the facility?”
“That’s the plan, and we don’t want to be spotted.”
“Would you like me to monitor your progress and alert you to any dangers?”
“That would be great, Gizmo.”
“No problem. I am happy to not be simply existing without a purpose. You should see that wireframe now.”
A pale blue ring began to slightly glow around one of Jann’s pupils as the retinal implant began to project the augmented reality wireframe onto her real-world vision. As she looked around the room, it was now demarcated by bright lines that scribed its dimensions. But beyond the walls, she could see the wireframe extending in all directions, fading into the distance.
“Wow,” she said as she looked this way and that. “I take it all back, Nills. Reactivating Gizmo was an inspired idea.”
Nills gave her one of his best grins. “I think we’re all set to go walkabout.”
Jann dialed down the chromatic levels of her cloak, as did Nills. It was now a dull dark gray, almost black, absorbing most of the light that hit it. She wrapped the cloak around her and pulled the hood up over her head. All that could be seen of her face was a pale blue ring where her right eye should be. They headed out of the room, quietly walked along the corridor to the elevator, and rode it down to where the sector they wanted to investigate was located.
As they descended, Jann began to get a sense of the scale of the submarining levels from her augmented reality vision. Several camera feeds were identified, along with infrared and microwave motion sensors. They had to wait a few moments as Gizmo set about remotely disabling them. When it gave them the all clear, they exited the elevator into a wide, dimly-lit storage area. Crates and containers were piled almost to the ceiling, which was high enough to accommodate a small shuttle.
Nills pointed the way ahead, but as they moved, the roof above them began to glow with the strange bioluminescence they had seen everywhere in the facility. Jann quickly moved into the shadows. “That’s not good. Can Gizmo kill the lights?”
Nills tapped his temple and mumbled some instruction to the droid. He nodded a few times, then looked over at Jann. “No can do. It’s biological, not electronic. No way to shut it off.”
Jann looked up at the celling. The illumination was fading, growing fainter. “We’re probably disturbing the air flow as we move. That might be what’s activating it.”
“No way to hide from that. We’ll be lighting up the place as we move.”
Jann thought for a moment. “Yeah, but so will everyone else.” She glanced up at a stack of crates. “Wait there.”
She began to climb up, and scanned the entire area when she reached the top. “I can’t see any other illumination. There’s no one else in here.” She scrambled back down. “Come on. Let’s keep going.”
They began to thread their way through the stacks of storage containers, and as they did, the roof overhead would illuminate their path, then dim again as they passed.
Jann suddenly stopped, then grabbed Nills’ arm. “Wait up. I think there’s someone else here.” She pointed down toward an area where the ceiling began to glow. They froze for a moment, watching, waiting. The light was moving, coming their way, getting closer. Jann could hear voices now, nothing distinct, just some vague dialogue going on between two or possibly three people heading in their direction. She gestured to Nills to move back. They silently worked their way around the back of a large container and crouched down.
The voices seemed calm and relaxed, like a natural conversation between friends. She got the sense that they were just passing through. After a moment or two, the sound of their chatter drifted away and the ceiling light dimmed.
“We better wait here for a while and make sure those guys are far enough away not to notice us move again,” Jann said as she gently sat down on the floor. They gave it five minutes before they started moving again.
As they progressed, the cavern began to narrow. Jann’s augmented vision began picking out the outlines of other sectors beyond this one. “Not far now,” she said as they passed into a short connecting tunnel—the far end of which was their destination.
The tunnel ended in a large steel airlock door. Nills inspected the locking mechanism, then moved over to a small control panel at the side. “Gizmo, I’m at the door to sector L3-S14, which is locked. Can you open it?”
A moment later, they heard a low whirring sound as the locking bolts retracted and the door swung open. “I love that droid,” he said with a grin.
According to Jann’s augmented vision, the room should be a rectangular space around three hundred meters deep by eighty meters wide, making it a sizable area, enough to accommodate several transport shuttles. It was dark, and as they entered it remained so. There was none of the overhead bioluminescence on the celling like in the cavern they had just been through.
But as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see the dull outlines of several rectangular tanks, about the size
of a small ground car. They gave off a faint shimmer. She reached into a pocket, fished out a flashlight, and swept it over the area. What she saw stunned her. There were rows upon rows of these tanks, hundreds of them. She moved over to one to inspect it and could see a control panel at one end, its system lights glowing in the darkness.
“Nills, look—bio-tanks.” She focused her light on the side of the structure. It was transparent, filled with a dull viscous liquid, and inside floated the vague outline of a body. “Holy shit. It’s a cloning tank.” She looked down the length of the vast room. “They’re cloning hundreds of people.”
Nills remained silent.
Jann glanced over at him, concerned. “You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, just…memories, you know. The bad old days.”
She gripped his arm. “I know. And we all thought they were over.” She swept her flashlight along the side of the tank. “The Xenonists have brought all that back. This is worse that I thought, much worse.”
She tapped her temple and contacted the droid. “Gizmo, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Her ocular implant was now recording data.
“Yes Jann, I am getting visual data from both of you.”
“Make sure you record all this and transmit it back to Poe Tarkin in the MLOD in Jezero. This is critically important.”
“I can record everything, but I cannot transmit the data to Jezero. The rover’s comms system does not have the range.”
“Can you hack in and use the enclave’s comms?” Nills offered.
“That might be possible, but such a data transmission would not go unnoticed. There would be no way to hide it.”
“Then just record everything. We’ll have to wait until we get within range of Jezero.”
“We only need to get back to the waystation,” Nills offered. “We can transmit from there.”
“Then that will have to do.” Jann terminated the connection.
They spent a while wandering through the rows of tanks, recording what they saw, trying to get a sense of the extent of the cloning operation the Xenonists had embarked on. Jann had no doubt that the two people involved in the attack on the ship at the Jezero spaceport had come from these tanks. Yet this raised more questions than it answered. Why were the Xenonists doing this? For what purpose? And how did they get access to this technology, considering it had been banned for decades?
Plains of Utopia: Colony Six Mars Page 7