Now Rachel stared at the three Goblins preparing to depart the shuttle in their Stree bodies, and realized that Rita had been correct about the Stree looking like little fat Buddhas.
“All you guys need are yellow robes, a tambourine and a drum,” she said.
Tika and Luda looked puzzled. Rita laughed. “Never mind. Inside joke,” she said.
Tika grinned, a strange sight in her Stree body. She was wearing the uniform of a Stree Navy commander, while Rita and Luda were dressed as Stree Navy lieutenants. Rita and Luda carried large cases.
Tika gave Rachel one final wink.
“If all goes well, you’ll hear from us soon,” she said.
The three opened the exit hatch and stepped out toward the nearby Naval communications complex and listening station.
“Looks like we guessed right,” said Rita. “This place is nearly deserted.”
“Right. Here we go, then,” said Tika as they approached the building. She gave one final smile to Rita.
“Now we find out if our bodies and speech pass the test,” she said.
“Right.”
Entering the building, they approached the security desk. A short, squat Stree male stood behind the counter, watching them approach.
“Good afternoon,” he said. “Can I help you?”
“Commander Pamasa to see Sub-Captain Elvenen,” spoke Tika. “We have an appointment.”
Phoenix System
800 Lights from Stalingrad
“OK, you got rid of Hardy. Why didn’t you take out Luke Powell at the same time?” asked Turgenev. “You’re dithering around like an old woman!”
Cerutti glared at the Russian. “I do things my own way. Don’t rush me. Rushing is how mistakes are made.”
“Bullshit,” said Turgenev. “We’ve got the upper hand here. Powell put you in charge of the investigation! They don’t suspect a thing! Just kill him and let’s get on with it!”
Cerutti shook his head. “You’re overconfident, Turgenev. There are still things that could go wrong. Remember - the Council has tremendous support with the people, at least so far. If we don’t do this carefully, we’ll end up hanging from one of those alien trees down by the river.”
Turgenev shook his head. “You’re an old woman, Cerutti. Why don’t you let me take over that part of it? I can have Powell dead and buried before the next transport ship arrives!”
“No. I’ll take care of it. This week. He’ll have an accident this week. Just stay off my back, let me do things my own way,” Cerutti argued.
Even though they were in a secure location, Cerutti instinctively looked around to see if anyone was listening. It was just before midnight. They were standing in one of the small tents that housed farming implements. Two of Cerutti’s men and two of Turgenev’s men were standing guard outside. There was no danger of eavesdropping. But Cerutti was still nervous.
With a disgusted wave of his hand, Turgenev turned and left. Cerutti stepped out of the tent and watched as Turgenev disappeared into the night toward his apartment block.
Maybe Luke Powell is not the only one, thought Cerutti. I think another accident may happen very soon.
***
Zoe had been watching Cerutti all evening. Instincts developed over a lifetime of living in the slums of Chicago, and fighting in the hills of Africa, had told her something wasn’t right about Cerutti. Without Luke’s knowledge, she had tailed him all afternoon, and even as the dusk turned to darkness. As the hours wore on, she stuck with him. She knew he would slip up sooner or later.
And finally he did. She watched as he left for the east side of the colony, two guards in tow. She followed from a discreet distance as he went on a roundabout circuit through the camp, clearly checking to see if he was being followed. And she watched as he finally entered a small tent where she knew farming tools were kept.
Ten minutes later, Turgenev showed up and joined him. She didn’t try to get close enough to hear their conversation; she didn’t have to. There was only one thing they could be discussing.
Fifteen minutes later, Zoe watched as Turgenev came out of the tent. He waved to his two guards and they fell in behind him as he departed.
And then Dino Cerutti came out of the tent and stood, silent, watching the Russian stalk away. Zoe watched Cerutti wave at his guards and start back toward the west side of Landing toward his quarters.
Zoe didn’t follow; she knew all she needed at this point.
Cerutti’s dirty. And he’s in with Turgenev.
Luke’s going to be extremely interested in this.
Then she heard a rustle behind her. She had just enough time to turn her head and see a dark form.
A tremendous blow hit her in the head, and everything went dark.
Chapter Nineteen
Stree Prime
Stree Listening Station #144
Rita sat in Sub-Captain Elvenen’s office chair, smiling at him as he lay on the floor beside her, trussed up like a pig ready for slaughter. Luda sat on his chest, holding him in place. His grunts through his gag had finally died away as he glared at Rita with utter hatred in his eyes. Beside him, Tika stood, holding one of the large cases they had brought into the building. On the floor in front of the desk, Elvenen’s adjutant and aide lay unconscious.
Rita looked at Tika.
“Have at him, guys,” she said. Tika knelt down, opened the case, and took out a metallic helmet covered in microcircuits. Elvenen jerked violently as Luda reached up and grabbed his head, holding it in place. Tika pushed the helmet over his head, winking at him as she did so. She pushed a button on the side of the helmet, and Elvenen went limp.
Luda moved to the open case beside Tika and checked some dials inside. “Connection is good, scan is starting.”
Rita stood and walked over to the window. It was a severe clear day - the blue of the sky was remarkably like Earth, and Rita felt a tremendous pang of homesickness for her native planet. Looking out at the distant mountains, she decided they reminded her of the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. With some surprise, she realized she had never seen the Sierra Nevada - it was one of Bonnie’s memories that was coming to the fore. Even after all these years, she was still sometimes surprised by the phenomenon of remembering things she had never personally experienced - wayward memories from Jim or Bonnie, loaded into her brain when she was cloned.
The thought of Jim and Bonnie brought another pang of nostalgia and loneliness. For several seconds, she allowed her mind to go to a place she rarely permitted - she let Bonnie’s memories take control. In those few seconds, she became Bonnie. It was easy to do. All of Bonnie’s knowledge, memories and emotions were still there in her brain. All she had to do was relax and let them come to the fore, and she was Bonnie. It was a strange, but somewhat liberating feeling.
As Bonnie, she remembered the day when she had fallen in love with Jim - the wonderful days and nights they had together before Rita was created. And she felt, deep in her gut, what Bonnie had lost when Rita had taken Jim away from her.
A tear rolled out of her eye. She kept her head averted from the others as she dabbed it away. Quickly she returned to her own true self, to Rita, and pushed Bonnie’s memories and emotions back into the recesses of her mind. She re-focused on the distant mountains, trying to stabilize her emotions.
“God, it’s beautiful out there,” said Rita. “How can a species with a planet this beautiful make war on everyone else?”
“One has nothing to do with the other,” said Luda. “The planet may be beautiful, but the people are ugly. Warped. Perverted.”
Rita nodded. “True.”
A beep came from the helmet. Luda checked his dials and smiled up at Rita. “Scan complete. Are you ready for transfer?”
“Ready,” said Rita. She returned to the chair and leaned back. As she closed her eyes, Luda transferred a copy of Elvenen’s consciousness into a read-only spot in Rita’s extended memory. After a few seconds, Rita opened her eyes again.
“Got the installation command codes side-loaded,” she said. “But God, what a pervert! I’m going to take great pleasure in whacking this asshole’s scan as soon as I get the chance!”
Stree Prime
Stree Listening Station #144
Grunting, Stree Private Taclayo pushed the long, heavy crate out of the shuttle cargo bay onto the forklift. When he had it positioned safely, he wiped his brow and looked over at Corporal Cetnexi in the driver’s seat of the forklift.
“What the hell are we doing?” he asked.
“I have no fucking idea,” Cetnexi said. “Sub-Captain Elvenen sent an order for us to fetch these crates to the storage area, so we fetch the crates to the storage area.”
Taclayo nodded. “Yeah, OK. It all pays the same, right?”
“You got it,” replied Cetnexi. Reversing the forklift expertly, he turned and headed for the back of the building, with Taclayo walking behind. Reaching the rear, Taclayo opened the large door into the storage area and stepped aside as Cetnexi carefully drove the forklift inside. Cetnexi lowered the big crate to the floor, backed the forklift off to one side, and shut it down.
“Done,” he said. “That’s the last one. I’m outta here.”
“I’m with you,” said Taclayo. “Let’s get changed and into town before Elvenen finds something else for us to do.”
As the two Stree left, closing the outside door behind them, Luda stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the storage area. He moved to the large crate and started unpacking it. Fifteen minutes later, he had removed all the framing and packing materials around the bodybuilder. With a silent radio signal to Rita, he waited for the next step.
Phoenix System
800 Lights from Stalingrad
Rick Moore knew something was wrong. Zoe had told him she had something to do, but she would return by 1 or 2 AM at the latest.
So when 2 AM came and went, he knew she was in trouble. He called her on her portable radio, but there was no answer. He got up, dressed, and went out, roaming around the camp looking for her. There was no sign of her. Periodically, he called on the radio, but no response was forthcoming.
By 3 AM, he was becoming seriously concerned. He didn’t know what she had planned to do - she had not confided in him - but he knew Zoe. He knew it had to be something to do with Turgenev. He knew Mark Rodgers and Luke Powell were both suspicious of the Russian. And Bob Hardy had just been killed by persons unknown. He had overheard Mark and Luke discussing it, and Turgenev’s name had been mentioned. He was sure Zoe had overheard the same conversation as she came into the headquarters tent.
And Rick knew how her mind worked. Although she had other duties, she saw herself as the prime protector of the Governor and the Council. If she thought something was a threat to them, she would be all over it.
So it had to be Turgenev. In some form, she was investigating him. Rick was sure of it.
But where? Where would she be?
Running back to the headquarters tent, Rick entered and ran to a locker. Unlocking it, he took out a drone and checked the battery. It was fully charged. Grabbing a controller, he ran outside toward the east side of the colony. He jogged across the wide expanse of green that had been named Central Park, until he came to the shuttle landing zone. Several shuttles were parked, silent in the night, dew gathering on their exposed surfaces. Rick moved into position behind one and paused, looking across the park. On the other side, between the park and the open fields, was a large tent - Turgenev’s headquarters for management of fields and pastures. As he expected, the tent was dark.
Rick had been thinking it through. If Turgenev was dirty, then somewhere he had to have a secret headquarters. A place where he could plot and scheme without fear of interruption. Logically, it would be to the east, because all his key activities were on the east side of the colony. That was where the fields were being planted. That was where the river was for irrigation.
Somewhere out here, Turgenev had Zoe. He was sure of it. And Rick had to find her.
Stree Prime
Stree Listening Station #144
“Hallway is clear,” said Tika, looking down the hallway from Elvenen’s office toward the rear storage area. “The building’s locked up, everybody’s gone home for the day.”
“Awesome,” said Rita. “Let’s get this done.” Reaching down to the inert body of Sub-Captain Elvenen on the floor, she lifted it effortlessly and slung it over her shoulder. With Tika ahead of her running point, she left the office and quickly moved to the storage area. Luda held the lid open as Rita dumped Elvenen’s body into the bodybuilder. Quickly and efficiently, Luda and Ollie stripped the clothing off the unconscious Stree and closed the lid of the bodybuilder. Luda pushed a button, and a slight hum started as it began scanning Elvenen’s body.
“How long until we have a new body?” asked Rita.
“Two hours,” Luda responded. “Thirty minutes to scan the old one, one and a half hours to build the new one.” Luda looked over at Tika and grinned. “Is it too late for me to change my mind? I’ve always wanted to be a Captain.”
Tika laughed. “No, sorry, Luda. This one goes to Rita. I get the adjutant and Rachel gets the aide.”
Rita smiled. “Sorry, Luda.”
“We’d better get the other two out of the office and down here to the storage area,” Tika said. “Then get the extra materials loaded in the bodybuilder. It’ll finish scanning soon and it can’t start building a new body without some additional materials.”
Rita nodded and they headed back to Elvenen’s office. As they walked, a thought occurred to Tika.
“What if one of these three had an appointment for later tonight? Wouldn’t somebody get worried or raise an alarm?”
Rita shook her head. “We’re good. Elvenen didn’t have anything when I checked his sideload scan. Luda checked the scans of the other two, and they don’t have any pending appointments either. All of them are scheduled to be at Command Headquarters in Komihu tomorrow morning for their new assignment, so it appears they’ve already cut their ties here. That’s the good news.”
“What’s the bad news?” wondered Tika.
“I’m having second thoughts about this plan. We’re going to walk right into the lion’s den. So many things can go wrong. The slightest mistake on our part and we’re caught.”
Tika nodded in agreement. “Well, yeah. I know. But that’s war, isn’t it? Everything’s a risk. We could get caught. But we could also be with the Goblin fleet at Stalingrad and get blown to hell there. Or be shot down as we approach the capital because we have the wrong codes. Or lose an engine and crash into the mountains on the way out of here. There are no guarantees in life, you know.”
“I know. But I hope this works.”
“Well, if you wake up back on the Armidale in your old body, you’ll know it didn’t work.”
Rita laughed. “Yeah. Restored from backup. That’ll suck, because I won’t know why the mission failed.”
Phoenix System
800 Lights from Stalingrad
Zoe came back to her senses slowly. Her head hurt as badly as it had ever hurt in her entire life. Her wrists hurt like the devil, too. She realized her hands were tied behind her, tightly, the ropes cutting into her skin. She was up against something hard and rough, hurting her back. There was a blindfold over her eyes.
Someone moved in front of her, and the blindfold came off. She looked up to see Turgenev in front of her, a wicked smile on his face. Behind him she could see forest, the alien blue forest that surrounded the colony in all directions. She realized she was tied to a tree, someplace well away from the colony. Around her she could see several tents and the equipment of a small camp.
“Welcome back, DeLong,” he said. “I trust you are feeling somewhat better?”
“Fuck you, Turgenev,” she managed to get out. She realized her ribs were bruised - evidently they had smacked her around a bit while she was unconscious. There was more blood drying on her cheek where i
t had dripped down from her scalp.
“Ah, dear Zoe, how wrong you are. It will be the other way around. One of us will be fucked, but it won’t be me, my dear.”
Then, casually, he reached up and hit her in the face. It was not the hardest hit he could have given her, but it was hard enough to knock her head to one side and break her lip.
“Now. How much have you told the others? Luke Powell and Mark Rodgers? What do they know?”
Zoe spat blood from her broken lip. “They know it all, you slimy bastard,” Zoe said.
“I doubt that,” Turgenev smiled. “In fact, what you just said leads me to believe they don’t know anything at all. Because it would be impossible for them to know everything, and the mere fact you say that tells me you are lying.”
And Turgenev hit her again, this time with his left hand, breaking her lip on the other side. A fresh gout of blood streamed down her chin, dripping down on her thigh as she stood tied against the rough surface of the tree.
“Now,” said Turgenev. “That was for lying to me. I will ask you again. And this time, the consequences of lying will be much more severe. This time, if you lie to me, I simply walk away. Which leaves you to my guards. To do with as they will.”
Turgenev leaned forward, leering into Zoe’s face. “And they will do you up right, DeLong. Of that I can assure you. Now - for the last time…how much have you told the others?”
Chapter Twenty
Phoenix System
800 Lights from Stalingrad
The radio woke Luke at dawn. Half asleep, he grumbled and cursed at the radio as the voice of Rick Moore - heavily mixed with static - pulled him out of sleep.
“What?!” he yelled at the radio.
Luke came suddenly awake. He sat up in bed. Something - some instinct, some built-in circuit designed for trouble - fired in his brain.
Turgenev.
He knew it instantly, as certainly as he knew his own name.
Turgenev has her.
“Where are you?” he called.
Remnants: Broken Galaxy Book Five Page 14