by M. D. Cooper
“None,” Nathan replied. He lifted his hand, palm facing the agent, to the military vehicle. “I did as I was instructed.”
“You did indeed. I heard all about it—had a hand in confusing their pursuit, as well. The attention was lamentable, but worth the risk. Fortunately for us, the relevant authorities seem entirely perplexed by your act. They are still debating whether or not it was only a moronic prank. All of which is to our advantage. Although you are now more of a vehicle than a human being, I had a strong suspicion that additional transportation would be necessary, and I have been proven correct.
“Nathan, I bring good news,” the agent went on. “The picotech is to be used again. They are too hasty to create their new, perfect world. The technology is just too tempting for them. Why take days or weeks to build something when it could be finished in minutes? But there’s more to it than that.”
Myrrdan’s agent came inside the cave and walked over to Nathan. “I’ve uploaded all the data you require into this.”
Nathan looked down at the long pin, like a toothpick, in the agent’s hand.
“Bend down to me so I can insert it.”
Nathan did as he was instructed, though he didn’t know exactly what part of his new body the agent needed access to.
A pair of human eyes stared into Nathan’s own. He saw the pointed end of the pin draw nearer, and then the agent pushed it into a port in the corner of his eye. The insertion was painless, though the sensation was odd. He found that he could immediately access the new information. He saw that the picotech was to be deployed to help build the second space elevator. He also saw the positions of all the troops that were guarding the site and supporting armaments. Finally, the secret locations of three military pinnaces were revealed.
“I am sure you can see their intention, can you not?” Myrrdan’s agent asked.
Nathan’s enhanced brain had indeed reached the conclusion the agent was referring to seconds beforehand.
“It is a trap,” he said.
It was the first time he had uttered a sound since his enhancement. His voice sounded unfamiliar. It was another person’s voice, recreated via circuits.
“It is indeed a trap,” confirmed the agent. “They intend to capture you. Perhaps that is their entire reason for using the picotech again. No matter. They will not succeed. You see the plan? You are confident that you understand?”
“I do, and I am.”
“Hmm. Tell it to me then. I want to be sure.”
Nathan related the scheme that had been uploaded to his mind, word for word, exact and emotionless. He was, however, experiencing emotions—strong emotions—it was only that the artificial voice he had been given did not convey them. He felt joy and great excitement. Finally, he would be able to complete the task.
“Yes,” Myrrdan’s agent said. “You have it perfectly. How I would love to be there when you deprive them of their precious picotech. I would love to see the looks on their faces when they realize they were outwitted before they even thought up their pathetic attempt. But, sadly, I will be elsewhere, patiently maintaining my little confection of deceit. Ah, well.”
Myrrdan’s agent returned to the cave opening. “Good luck, Hart. Or whatever you are now.”
“Wait,” Nathan said. Desperation clawed beneath the monotonous voice.
He had discovered that the plan was missing an essential element. Myrrdan’s agent had forgotten the most important part.
“What is it?” the agent asked. “What’s wrong? I can’t stay much longer.”
“I cannot see…” Nathan checked the new information. It was not there. He was sure. “What happens after? I cannot see what I am to do after I have stolen the picotech module.”
The agent scowled. “Don’t be stupid. Isn’t it obvious? I found you here, didn’t I? I will find you again to retrieve it. That is all.”
The dark figure quickly left, and Nathan heard hurried footsteps across the rough, loose rocks. He didn’t dare follow the agent. He knew it would be wrong. It was daylight outside. He had to avoid discovery at all costs, and the agent would not want to be seen with him. But the person hadn’t answered his question. He hadn’t been asking how he would give over the module; that was obvious.
What he wanted to know was: When and how will I be taken to Myrrdan?
THE STRAND
STELLAR DATE: 12.07.8935 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Thracian elevator site, Island of Cyprus
REGION: Carthage, 3rd Planet in the New Canaan System
“It’s more flexible than I thought it would be,” Erin said. She was wearing the armor Major Usef had commissioned for her, and making exaggerated movements with her arms and legs.
“Yeah, well, when people are shooting at you,” Usef replied, “it helps to be able to move around.” They were back in the basement that looked out upon the space elevator construction site.
Erin put on her helmet, which the major had also been obliged to especially commission. She sealed it and turned to the hulking man. “What do you think? How do I look?”
He regarded her solemnly for a moment before replying, “If any fire comes our way, feel free to stand behind me.”
“Oh, come on,” said Erin, slightly miffed at his vote of no-confidence in her ability to defend herself. “I’m not that helpless. I thought I was going to have a weapon, too?”
“I got you this,” Usef said, handing her a multi-function PR-99 rifle. “Do you know how to use it?”
“Of course I do. All senior personnel have to undertake basic weapons training. Didn’t you know?”
The major looked unconvinced. “Just don’t point it at anything you aren’t prepared to kill.”
Erin frowned. “I nearly took out Hart last time round. Hit his leg instead.” She raised the weapon and looked through the sights, comparing them to the targeting overlay on her HUD. “Second shot,” she added.
Usef’s disquiet about arming her seemed to ease, though he didn’t say anything.
Evening was approaching. They had been waiting all day for the picotech to arrive. There had been a delay at the lab, then the transportation via heavily armed escort had been slow. If anything screamed, ‘Here comes something highly sensitive and potentially dangerous’, it was a heavily armored escort. They might as well have put a massive sign on the shuttle and advertised on every vid and sim channel.
Eventually it had arrived, and Bourke began to set up the fabrication module with his team.
Not that the obvious nature of their work mattered. Erin was confident that Hart would know one way or another. He’d been drawn to the pico at the SATC site like a wasp to jelly. It was a weird situation. Each side knew what the other was doing and what each wanted. Hart wanted the picotech. They wanted him. The only things yet to be revealed were what would happen and who would win.
Erin couldn’t see how the traitor could possibly succeed. They had enough troops and weaponry to defeat a hundred Harts. He only had himself, and unlike the encounter at the SATC, he wouldn’t be sneaking in in secret. He would be arriving knowing that they were prepared and waiting for him.
If he tried anything, it would be a foolhardy, entirely reckless attempt. In fact, it would be suicidal. Major Usef and his Marines wouldn’t pull their punches once he showed up. She wondered what was motivating Hart to do it. Surely, if he sold the pico to their enemies, he could name his price. It was worth more than the entire star system of New Canaan itself. But was it worth risking almost certain death to get it?
“Major,” Erin said, “what do you think would motivate a man to behave like Hart? He’s come all the way to New Canaan from Sirius. He’s arrived somewhere with endless possibilities of living a long and happy life. But he’s going to throw it all away. And for what? More riches than he could ever spend? Power? What’s his point, do you think?”
The major had rested the muzzle of his gun just inside the open window that looked out on the space elevator site. Without removing his gaze f
rom the view outside, he replied, “I prefer not to think of them as men.”
Erin sighed and lifted her weapon into position too. It was clear she wasn’t going to get any kind of conversation from Usef, which was understandable. The laconic major had a job to do. But it would have been nice to talk. She was tense about the upcoming fire fight, and she was confused.
What had happened between her and Martin the previous evening? Strike that. She knew what had happened. What she didn’t know was what the hell she was doing.
Like the time she’d spent with Isa, everything had felt perfect. She and Martin had really clicked after their bumpy start at the SATC. Everything had felt right.
Yet nothing that had happened with the scientist had diminished her feelings for Isa. If anything, she’d become more familiar with the sense of completeness she’d experienced. Why did she feel the same way about two people? How weird was it that after long years of being alone, she now had two people she cared about?
She hadn’t mentioned Isa to Martin. She still hadn’t contacted her, but when she did, what would she say? I want to see you before I leave Carthage? I want to see you again, soon, while I still can, but there’s just one thing—there’s someone else I also like.
No matter how she tried to phrase it, she sounded sleazy. Isa deserved better than that. Erin thought she should leave Isa alone and only see Martin. But the thought of never seeing Isa again tugged at her heart.
Creating the nanotubes and feeding them up the a-grav column to the Hercules Platform wouldn’t take long. If Hart intended on stealing the picotech while it was working, he had only a small window in which to do it.
The silence was deafening as Bourke’s team fed out the nanotube strands. Night was falling. Hart had to be on his way. Erin could feel it. The man who she’d fought with at the SATC site, who had nearly drowned her, was approaching.
A minute ticked past, and then another.
Where is Hart?
“I knew it,” said Usef. “He’s approaching from the southwest. He’s been sighted. As expected, he’s in an armored vehicle. This is going to be a piece of cake.”
The figures who had been helping the head engineer pay out the nanotube strands stepped away and ran across the site to shelter and safety.
Major Usef and his troops would, of course, wait before acting. They had to let Hart inside the site before closing the net around him. The major’s expression was intense as he communicated with his Marines.
“I’ve given orders to withhold fire until Hart’s approaching the module,” he said to Erin. “We need to be sure we have him.”
Erin waited and watched. Seconds stretched to minutes. She wondered how far away Hart had been when he was spotted. He was taking his sweet time.
It was odd; she would have thought he would have gone as fast as possible, not crawl forward as he was. She looked up at the major, but he was staring intently outside, apparently also on tenterhooks, awaiting Hart’s arrival.
“Any news?” she asked. “I thought he’d be here by now.”
“He’s less than a klick away, proceeding slowly,” Major Usef answered.
“Stars, this waiting is stressful,” Erin said. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Everything happens too slow, until it happens too fast.”
All around the site, nothing stirred. There wasn’t a sound, until she did hear something—the distant hum of an approaching engine, and the turning of large tires on a paved road.
“Here he comes,” said Major Usef.
Then the feeling that Erin had felt the previous day returned. A little tickle that told her something wasn’t right.
“This is crazy,” she said to the major. “It’s much too easy.”
“I think you’re right,” Usef replied, eyes narrowed. “I just haven’t figured out what we’re missing yet.”
“Maybe he’s put a bomb in the vehicle,” Erin said. “What if he’s planning to blow the place up?”
“I don’t think so,” Major Usef replied. “What would be the point of that? Revenge? That isn’t what he’s after. He would destroy the picotech module, and that’s not what he wants.”
“What if he’s devised something to explode tactically and not blow the module up,” Erin suggested, “but blow it away so it lands somewhere he can retrieve it?”
“The module is very well protected, but it’s possible.” The major frowned. “If it is something like that, it doesn’t matter. The minute he’s here, we’ll—”
The nose of an armored vehicle appeared from the end of a street. The vehicle trundled forward until it was inside the site.
Major Usef spoke. “Halt.” His voice reverberated around the site.
Erin realized he had set up a broadcast comm from his helmet’s mic.
“This is a prohibited area,” the major said. “Stop immediately and step out of your vehicle with your hands up.”
The vehicle rolled smoothly on.
“This is your final warning,” said the Marine. “Stop and exit your vehicle, or we’ll fire.”
Major Usef gave Hart a second to comply. When the vehicle didn’t stop, he gave the signal for the Marines to open fire. Simultaneously, shots erupted from the buildings all around, brilliant flashes lighting up the night. In the blaze of weapon fire, Erin saw the vehicle’s wheels shot out and the windshield and windows smashed by the incoming fire.
Though it was heavily armored, the vehicle’s protection was no match for the onslaught of energy and kinetics directed at it. Only a few meters on from the spot where the platoon had initiated their barrage, the vehicle rolled to a stop, holed and smoking.
There had been no explosion, so it looked like Hart hadn’t been transporting a bomb or anything of that sort. He had just driven in and allowed himself to be killed, like he’d had some kind of death wish.
Major Usef was frowning. “Don’t go out there,” he said to Erin. “Not yet. This isn’t over.”
She had a horrible feeling he was right.
LANDFALL
STELLAR DATE: 12.07.8935 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Landfall, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, 3rd Planet in the New Canaan System
By the time Isa returned from Athens, she understood what she’d been doing wrong. It wasn’t a job that she needed—rather, she did need a job, but that wasn’t what was important. Her problem was she’d spent so long helping other people find a career, she’d grown to believe that she needed one too; that if only she could find the right job, she would be happy.
But her near-drowning had thrown everything into perspective. She was the kind of person who probably wouldn’t ever have a true vocation. When it came down to it, she just didn’t care. A job would only ever be a means to an end for her. As long as she found something to do, she would put in her hours and come home every day, content to have done something productive and earned enough for a few luxuries.
And that was OK.
I’m not missing a sense of purpose, she’d realized. I’m missing a person.
What she needed in her life was a connection with another human being. Purely and simply, she was lonely.
Growing up on the Noctus mining platforms hadn’t exactly made her the most congenial, sociable person. Living on the edge of survival in the Sirius System, she’d learned not to get too close to anyone.
She’d never known when an accident might take them from her. If Usef hadn’t introduced himself on the Athens flight, she would have spent her entire vacation alone and not thought anything about it.
But her life had changed. By the intervention of the Intrepid, she’d escaped a return to slavery—or, more likely, death. She no longer had anything to fear. It was time for her to move on, to grow, and to allow herself to be close to someone.
Isa had gone over all this a few times in her mind since arriving back in Carthage. She’d come to the conclusion that what she needed to do was check up on the details of other matches Murry had found for her. She hadn’t heard from Erin, which was a pity. She’d been half-hoping that when she returned, there might be a message from her…but she had nothing in her queue. Isa had been disappointed as she sadly concluded that the one night they had spent together would be the last she would ever see of the funny, beautiful engineer.
Nevermind.
Murry had sent her the details of several others who she strongly matched with. She only had to begin the process of arranging to meet them. She’d imagined it wouldn’t be too hard to find the same connection she’d had with Erin.
So it was that Isa found herself at the rocket skating rink on Naxos.
Getting there had been quite a trek. First a shuttle to Naxos Space and Air, and then a maglev across to Laynesville on the western end of the island. The journey had reminded her of her final client when she worked at Placement Services. That fellow Sirian. She’d tried to take him on the same route that time, but the maglev had malfunctioned. This time, it had worked fine when she used it, and she noticed all the planned tracks had also been built.
The rocket skating rink was also new. Four kilometers in diameter, the round, slightly concave surface was ultra-smooth. It had to be. The skaters, covered head to toe in protective gear, raced around the rink at high velocity, their speed enhanced by tiny rockets fitted at their ankles and elbows. Any minor bump or other imperfection could easily send a skater off balance. The resulting pile-ups were quite spectacular, especially among the veterans, who raced at amazing speeds.