Alexander/converse, “What room are you in. I do not think I can stay here with... Brian.”
Alexander scrambled out of the room, closed the door, and never said another word that I could hear. It was a pity, because I did enjoy talking with him, but it was probably also a wise decision. Rejecting me as soon as he learned who I was could be an important point in his favour if he ever had to face Martian justice.
Raul/converse, “You know how I frequently tell you I cannot talk about the fun things I do because they are classified? Well, this time I can. I got to run a mission in powered armour. They attached a proper frame to my armour, slid some traction gloves over the hands and added a few special effects. There was ink in the gloves so if I punched bare flesh it would leave a nice fake bruise, and very small blades that would just slice the skin enough to bleed and look terrible without leaving visible wounds a day later. I went in accompanied by two marines carrying the”
Sirens screaming. The whole ship went into lockdown, with bulkheads slamming shut along the hallways.
Begum/converse, “Nobody leave the room. Bomb in the infirmary!”
Me/converse, “Where is Alexander? He just left my room heading for you, and surely has not got there yet.”
Begum/converse, “He says, ‘I am coming. These doors open for me. I wrote the code.’ I will have to ask him about that. It sounds insecure. Anyways, he does not have far to go and should be at your room in a few minutes. Luciana, who was transferred into the theatre vacated by Brian and Sergei?”
Toyami/converse, “Nobody. We made a lot of noise about who to move in. Equally loudly, we declared we were leaving the original occupants in place and would put on a stronger guard. In fact, we left a couple of broken suits stuffed with trash from the machine shops in place of real people. We moved Brian and Sergei out because of the security risk and did not want to inflict that risk on anyone else. Besides, the arrangements had already been made for the transfers to the Hai Ba Tru’ng and Quetzalcoatl, and there were no urgent medical cases waiting to use the theatre, so moving real people would have created confusion for no purpose.”
Begum/converse, “Raul keeps telling me you are the best, and you are... The bomber has been captured and paralyzed. She is going into that room herself. They have an ID. One of the farmers, a supervisor. Name of Nizhoni Rouseth. Remember how that facility currently is configured with a surgical theatre and a physiotherapy room separated by a small prep room? She apparently snuck into the prep room after the guards had moved away on patrol, closed and locked the airlock, and tossed a grenade into the theatre. They say she got cut to pieces by shrapnel from the suits. How did she get a grenade onto this ship?”
Leilani/converse, “Probably inside her. An organic grenade can be almost invisible in most scans. Bloody expensive and hard to acquire, but Mindy had one.”
Begum/converse, “Surgeon says it is all surface wounds. She says the pain and shock from so many small slices must have paralyzed her temporarily. They will heal easily, but we are going to leave her there in a medical coma until we get to the Moon. Forensics will want to examine the room without any more disturbance than we have already caused.”
Toyami/converse, “She was one of the people I spoke with. I tried to give her hope. She was hoping to kill us all.”
The bleakness in her voice bordered on despair.
Leilani/converse, “Luciana, she was an undercover warrior. I know the type. I am one too. So are Raul and even Brian, although it was never his preferred style. She waited until a target made itself apparent, waited again until it was possible to reach the target undetected, then struck. You may have given her hope of success, but she would likely have done it anyways. Our next stop is the Moon, and she will face justice there. It may be a while before we discover her true motives, and even a while longer before anyone can decide which court tries her case. Dealing with these kinds of people is one of the hazards of being an agent. Do not beat yourself up over her choices. There are other people who will make better use of the hope you offer, starting with me.”
The siren stopped, and I could hear people greeting Alexander, although he never spoke to me.
Raul/converse, “Does anyone still care what happened?”
Leilani/converse, “I am sorry, Raul, we do seem to have trouble with distractions this time. What say you come here between Luciana and me, so we can both gaze at you with big, adoring eyes while you finish the tale? Begum, I expect you are too busy to join us, so Raul will have to make do with the memory of your eyes.”
I do not know whether Raul took that suggestion, but she said it with what I hoped was a twinkle of mischief.
After a moment, Raul resumed. “Our cover is that we are a crack team of commandos, but Begum would not let Leilani or Brian leave until you are both more stable. Leilani was asleep and Luciana was tending Brian. As commandos on special assignment, two of you could have accompanied me to the interrogation centre, but with only Sergei available we had to improvise. As an arresting officer, I could not officially carry the body bag, so I needed two marines. They are fussy in Valhalla and will not accept sailors for that kind of duty. We decided to fake the issue by drafting Sergei as a pseudo-marine for the twenty minutes needed to go in and fetch Alexander out. Begum issued him some fake insignia. It would have helped if we could have reconfigured our suits in standard marine colours, but we did not yet have that upgrade. Alexander did the installation along with our new OS, and I see that both Sergei and Luciana are still proud of our Banshee pajamas from the Soiree.”
There was a pause while I thought Alexander might be speaking.
Toyami/private, “I was furious when I realized what they were doing. Leilani woke up as Sergei left. She went into the exercise room and wrapped a cable from one of the machines around her neck. I barely got there in time to stop her. I gave Raul and Sergei hell when they got back, but never told them why. That was her third attempt at suicide. Brian, I am scared that we will not be there when she tries again.”
To Toyami/private, “Have you told Begum how important it is that Leilani not be alone? She could have forbidden that exercise. But my poor Love is deep in grief, fear, and a completely misplaced sense of responsibility. Would it help if you asked her to talk about the times she and I spent together? She is probably rehearsing these privately, but it sometimes helps to say the words to someone else.”
Raul/converse, “Even marines under command of an authorized officer are not permitted to enter Valhalla Security where the detention centre is located, so I had to leave our real marine and Sergei at the gate for the few minutes needed to fetch Alexander. I will let Sergei pick up this part of the story.”
Sergei/converse, “Raul and I both got to wear powered armour! I had used lower-class armour while I served in the Asia Manchu militia, but this was so much better. I did the talking at the gate because I spoke classical Mandarin and had some experience on Mars for inspiration. It was at least easy to express contempt for the rival factions.
“The guard at the entrance demanded to know why our armour was not standard TDF issue and kept tripping intruder alarms. We explained that our new suits were still being reconfigured for joint Terrestrial and Imperial service, and the alarms that they triggered were due to the mods not yet being ready to propagate through the system.
“He sneered that the TDF had collapsed like a pile of dry sand and wondered that we had even been able to fend off the Qinghai traitors. I told him the TDF was obeying orders from the top and would soon turn against the traitors themselves. We had come in a single ship and had fought off five warships in the last attack without taking a scratch ourselves. One was too slow to keep up with us. It may have turned and run, but I heard that our missiles finally caught up with the cowards. They and three of those that remained in the fight were disabled. The fifth was vaporized. We were sloppy. All five should have been turned over to Martian Justice, who would have made proper examples of them.
“That got a smile,
so I finally got some use out of the hatred I had been forced to learn on Mars. His next comments seemed notable, ‘Shame it has to be baby-hugging Syrtis justice. Sultan Mustafa would have given them something to worry about.’ I have passed the verbal log of the discussion along with my report and highlighted that part. I remember that the few native-born Martian Intelligence agents I met while I was there all revered somebody called Mustafa, but it was a popular name so I do not know if they meant the same man.”
“Raul arrived back dragging poor Alexander on a leash with an electro-collar and with his arms bound behind him. As he came through the gate, the guard was startled to see that he had a different ID than he normally used, but before the guard could examine Alexander more closely, Raul smacked the back of his head and we two ‘marines’ stuffed him into the bag. Just as we left I looked at the guard and sneered back at him,
‘So, you had the prize within your grasp and lost it. The Emperor will be so pleased.’
Then we ran for the ship and got aboard just before Valhalla Security showed up.
“Regrettably, that slowed the three marines bringing Colonel Dilsizian as they were checked and rechecked for anything suspicious. I suspect it also slowed our refuelling. Sorry, Begum. Next time I will try harder to keep my tongue under control.”
Even the Ghost was almost gasping at the audacity of that remark. Raul’s stratagem would leave everyone wondering who had been extracted, with the Ghost as the prime candidate. Sergei’s sneer would solidify that suspicion into a certainty. They would now be hunting for Alexander with a real vengeance. Or would they tear apart Valhalla, worried that the Ghost had just arrived and was trying to distract them with a phony departure? If so, would their suspicion fall on Raul, Sergei or the silent marine?
There was a pause that I suspected indicated some fairly sharp words, but no one saw fit to relay them to me.
Begum/converse, “Sergei, that probably accounts for some of the hostility we faced when we left Valhalla and I am going to double our precautions as we return to the Moon. We are in so much trouble already, please be more careful.
“For Brian’s sake, I will mention that our delays were primarily caused by having to take on more fuel than originally expected, as well as by having to check and clean every item we requisitioned as it came aboard. Almost all our new food supplies were poisoned, drugged, or full of bugs. We have frozen, powdered and oxidized almost all of it, keeping a few samples back for testing on the Moon. Now it makes perfectly adequate reaction mass for the engine. We are not short of anything, but it was a useful test of both our suppliers and the detection systems that we jury rigged as we left the Moon. Alexander has promised to look at improvements while he is on the Hai Ba Tru’ng. It does give a frightening measure of the threat we face.”
2357-03-13 23:00
Hai Ba Tru’ng
I woke alone in an opaque body bag. Surgeon MacFinn had come by shortly after the tale of Alexander’s rescue wound down. He warned me that it would be a complicated transfer. I would move in a body bag, first onto the FAS Hai Ba Tru’ng along with most of the farmers, and then onto the Lunar Recovery hospital ship Quetzalcoatl. The Columbia was badly overcrowded, with farmers and pirates crammed together in separate rooms but too close for proper security. The confusion had allowed Superintendent Rouseth to sneak out of her assigned room. It was essential to move as many people as possible to the other ships.
Begum wanted to get the most controversial people to the Moon as quickly as possible and would leave as soon as the lawyer arrived from the Quetzalcoatl. By controversial, she meant all the Banshees except me, and most of the pirates. Superintendent Rouseth was still unconscious and under heavy guard in the infirmary. She was facing criminal charges from the TDF, probably the simplest legal case on board.
Begum also wanted to sort the farmers into compatible groups. They were an angry lot, and badly confused about who was responsible for their distress. Toyami reported bitter arguments and recriminations in the overcrowded rooms on the Columbia. It was urgent to separate them from the pirates, but also necessary to keep those suspected of collaboration away from their colleagues. Those who were suspects, or just needed protection, would be held under guard on the Hai Ba Tru’ng.
LR had the best hospital facilities in space, so the Quetzalcoatl would transport almost everyone who had been seriously injured: farmers, pirates, and myself. LR was practiced in handling difficult people and did not anticipate trouble keeping us separated. They also had an abundance of space to carry uninjured farmers who were not suspected of wrong-doing. We would all transfer temporarily to the Hai Ba Tru’ng while the Columbia prepared for an urgent departure.
Most of the uninjured farmers wanted the Quetzalcoatl to take them back to LUVN. They were demanding that both FAS stay nearby to defend them. That could not happen, but the TDF and Imperial forces were both scrambling warships to “protect” LUVN. Begum wanted to be far away when they arrived.
MacFinn had declared himself happy to have no part in those decisions. He had stuffed me into the body bag, still attached to the medical field station, and had dosed me into a coma that should have worn off on the Quetzalcoatl. I had expected to wake up in a private room, since my angry shipmates were not supposed to know I was there.
Clearly, I was not on the Quetzalcoatl yet. Did MacFinn realize I had a second med monitor and could clear drugs from my system faster than other people? Probably not. No loss. They just wanted me to look like I was near death, and with my armour rigid I could be an excellent imitation corpse. It had been a long time since I could just lie still and listen to the sand without a constant patter of worry. I turned my microphones way up and listened to what was happening around me.
Not sand, of course, because I was not buried in a Martian sand dune. Instead, I could hear two women talking quietly, sounding frightened.
[1] What is going to happen to us?
[2] I do not know. They separated us from the others and put us with this corpse. I am scared.
[1] Me too. I wish I could hold my temper better. Because of Rouseth, I collaborated with the pirates, and now we are both stuck in this holding cell.
[2] It is OK, sis, they will not charge you. You were just trying to protect the others.
[1] I am afraid they will anyways. Rouseth told me I was a scum who deserved to go with the pirates, so to spite her I did. All anyone else saw was that I helped herd them into the cages on the pirate’s ship. And that you came to protect me, like you always do. Now, Rouseth is free again and is sure to take revenge against both of us.
[2] I do not want to think about Rouseth right now. Did you see the Angel in the hall on the Columbia?
[1] Who? The strange woman with the mask?
[2] Yes, her. Like on the earth stations. I saw her bounding down the hall like someone who had only been in space for a week, but then she had a big argument and disappeared. Even the marines did not know where she went. What can that mean?
[1] I did not recognize her as one of the Angels from the Deng, but you are right. Now you are scaring me even more. She was my counsellor.
[2] You spoke with her? What was she like? What did she say?
[1] I have never met anyone like her. She started out like every shrink who ever tried to reform me, all “be nice to others”, “forgive and you will be forgiven”, blah, blah. But then I started to tell her what had happened. It was like she melted into me and felt every insult, every threat, every blow. I ended up telling her far more than I had intended. It was the first time in years that anyone ever listened. I wish every counsellor was like her. Maybe I would not be here now.
[2] I overheard the marines talking about another Angel. They called him the Banshee King. They said he charged naked into the gunfire from the pirates, healed them of their madness and got them to turn off the reactor before it could explode. We were all locked in those damn cages and would be dead if he had failed. They said he was shot to pieces and was taken away in one o
f the bags. But he was not dead then. Do you suppose...
[1] Here? In this bag? No, absolutely not. Why would they put somebody important with us, even as a corpse? Are you sure they were not just blowing off?
[2] Pretty sure. The marine said they gave the King some heavy painkillers. Remember when we got those bootleg TDF painkillers after the brawl on the Kennedy, and what the ones with the muscle relaxants did to men? She said he had a dancer’s legs, a swimmer’s chest and arms, and was so big she would be having hot dreams for a month.
[1] That does not sound like the usual I-am-the-greatest tall tale. Now I am going to have a hard time getting that image out of my mind.
[2] Oh, I wish an Angel would come for me. I hope he will be the last thing I think of when they cut off my head.
[1] WHAT?! Bea, what are you talking about?
[2] Sasha, the Martians are going to kill me!
[1] They cannot do that! What have you ever done to them?
[2] Sasha, you never took the drugs. I did. I am an addict, a slave to... my supplier... who was very proud of Martian justice and showed us the trial of Governor Kigali so we would know what happened to traitors.
[1] They cut off his head?
[2] No. The Emperor declared there were extenuating circumstances and in his great mercy commuted the sentence to eternal slavery in the mines. They are going to work him to death. For me there are no extenuating circumstances, just a long list of arrests for brawling. They will probably use torture to make an example of me before the beheading.
[1] Bea, it was my bad temper that started most of those fights. They were not your fault. You would come to save your stupid little sister and the only reason we got arrested was because I would chicken out and call Station Security when things got scary.
Lord Banshee- Fugitive Page 40