Caldwell switched back to channel one.
"Zhang," he said. "Do you copy?"
"I copy," came the reply. Zhang sound exhausted and more than a little annoyed.
"Listen to me," said Caldwell. "I have nothing against you. I understand that you're just following orders. The fact that events beyond our control have forced us to become enemies is incredibly tragic. But for now, we're just a couple of worthless idiots floating through space."
Zhang chuckled. "I agree with everything you just said. But what's your point, really?"
"My point is that we might as well talk things through while we wait to be retrieved."
"Okay. I'm listening."
"First, you might as well tell me what you know. I'm just a professor, not a soldier. Not a killing machine. Nothing you say will give me any real advantage."
"Well... it was yesterday afternoon when Tao rang me up. He told me the objectives of my mission and nothing else. He said nothing about how the decision to confiscate the Seed was reached. But I can make a pretty good guess."
"So can I," said Caldwell. "They got tired of waiting for the Seed to do something, to show what it was planning, so they decided to force its hand."
"That's about what I surmised, too."
"But what about the Seed? What the hell is it? What's its purpose?"
"No one knows that for sure. And I'm telling the truth about that. But we have some strong theories. The Seed is the original consciousness, the first to arise in the infancy of the universe. It is one of the universe's architects, a template and a builder all in one. We think it's purpose was to guide the formation of the stars and planets, to rein in the chain of events that the birth of the universe set in motion and to give them some sort of form. Some sort of purpose. Now this Seed has decided that you are important, somehow. It has some kind of plan, a change in design, and for some reason it wants your help."
"If it's so powerful," said Caldwell, "why would it need me?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. As good as Tao's. The point is, Tao wants the Seed for himself. I know what kind of man Tao is. He's not a warm sort of guy. Or a friendly one. But he does have the best interest of the species in mind. He will want to use the Seed to make us immortal. To give us everything we could ever want or need."
Zhang's tone changed then, to one of disbelief.
"I don't know why he didn't just come here and talk to you," Zhang continued. "I think he has some idea that you wouldn't play along. That you would fight back. So he decided to plan a preemptive strike. I think it has something to do with Rama Ishmael."
"That weirdo?" asked Caldwell. "I haven't seen him in over a year."
"Neither have I. The president took him under his wing. You must have thought it was odd when he followed you here, became your shadow for all those months."
"I stopped noticing him after a while," Caldwell admitted. "And I didn't think it was odd. I would have been more surprised if no one followed me."
"Well, he apparently saw something he didn't like. I think he's somewhere behind the scenes, whispering in Tao's ear. And now you know everything that I know. Everything important, at least."
"What does that mean? Is there something else?"
Zhang laughed. "I could tell you about how I burned my tongue on my coffee this morning, or about how I know that Sheya is doing her best not to capture you."
"Hey, that's not true!" Lady Stanford cried. It was the first word she'd spoke in a long time. Caldwell had almost forgotten she was still on this channel.
"It is true," Zhang replied. "But I understand. Tao may be our president, but he doesn't always speak for us. Or act according to our wishes. He has a such a high view, he is so far above everything, that he has lost all objectivity and morality. He sees human life as data. Sometimes this is beneficial, but not when he orders us to try and hurt people we care for."
"Or any human at all," said Lady Stanford. "I thought we left that behind centuries ago. The real enemy is time, isn't it? Time and entropy. There's no reason to fight with each other."
"All old things become new again," said Zhang. "And all the new things turn to dust in the past... that's the way of life. Edwin, I hope you know that I am not as soft as Lady Stanford. I will do everything I can to fulfill my orders."
"I understand that," said Caldwell. "I don't mean to make it easy on you."
"That's fair. I wouldn't want you to."
Finally, the big doors in the University's hangar opened and the retrieval squad appeared. Caldwell switched over to their channel. It was encrypted, accessible only by Skyway personnel. It was possible that Zhang had found a way into it, but Caldwell doubted it.
"Get me first," he told them. "I'm injured in here. I need immediate help."
The injury was a lie. But the retrieval crew believed him. They made a beeline over, and a minute later Caldwell was being carried toward the hangar. Looking backward, he could see that some other retrieval personnel were just now grabbing onto Leonel. Caldwell had about a forty second head start. Hopefully that was all he would need.
***
What is this?
I've just read my logs from the past. My journal. I haven't written in them for almost a year, because I forgot I even had them.
But "forget" is not the right word. It's as if my knowledge of the journal never existed at all.
But the handwriting is undoubtedly my own.
My wife told me about the journal. That I used to write in it all the time. She never snooped, and I never talked to her about it. So she never knew what I was writing. And now I wish she didn't know. They're the words of a lunatic. Someone who had totally lost his mind. Somehow, I have returned to my senses. But to think I was once so lost, so confused, so crazy... it's frightening.
What's even more frightening is that the words of that madman ring true. They are stirring something in me. A remembrance. A... reunion with my past self. Am I simply going mad again, or is there some truth in these journal entries?
I don't know. My only hope now is that I find out the truth before Tao's men catch up to me.
***
Caldwell lurched free of his Starframe. The retrieval personnel tried to grab him, tried to shove him onto a stretcher. For a moment he fought them, worried that they had already been won over by Tao and were trying to capture him. But then he remembered his lie. His supposed injury.
"I took a nasty impact in there," he told them. "I suspect internal bleeding. Get me to the medical bay quickly. There's no time to waste."
There was confusion and fear written plainly on their faces. But they weren't worried about Caldwell; the med bay would be able to fix any injury they had. They were only afraid for themselves, for their futures. Things had changed at Skyway; the president of humankind was now involved.
To their credit, the retrieval crew got Caldwell to the med bay in record time. He made up even more time on Zhang. There was no doctor ready to see him, so the retrieval crew left him there on his stretcher with a promise that someone would arrive within a couple of minutes. Right now, some doctor was being roused from a nap or interrupted in the middle of a meal. They were being paged to the med bay. Caldwell meant to be gone by the time the doctor arrived.
The retrieval crew had made a cursory effort to keep him here. The stretcher was fitted with velcro bands to hold patients in place during transit. They had snugged these into place over Caldwell's chest and waist, holding his arms to his sides. All he had to do was flex and strain his muscles and the velcro popped away.
He hopped to the floor and ran toward the door. Other than the floaty, loose feeling he always got after spending too much time in the arena, he felt completely fine. And very alert.
There were voices in the hall. Caldwell peeked through the window in the door. There were two men out there, sucking on stim-sticks and conversing loudly. By their cocky demeanors and slick uniforms, it was almost certain they were government agents. The type of guys who spend their lives zoo
ming around the galaxy, laying down the law and never feeling sorry for it.
How had they gotten here so fast? Not even the doctor was here yet.
No matter. Caldwell knew his way around Skyway. There were other ways of getting out of the med bay.
The first that came to mind was the cadaver transportation belt, used for bringing test subjects into the med bay for medical students. It was a conveyor belt that led from room to room, moving through the dead spaces between walls. Like a luggage system at a starport.
Caldwell ran to the belt. It wasn't moving, but he could still crawl along it.
Just as he disappeared into the wall, pulling his feet through the flapping doorway behind him, the door of the med bay opened and the two loudmouth govvies wandered in.
"Alright, then," one of them yelled. "Where is this idiot?"
"Just look in the mirror," Caldwell muttered to himself.
He pulled himself into the next room. A storage area, full of drums of various acids and compounds. The freezer doors stood dead ahead. To the left, another door led into an access corridor. That would take him all the way into the main promenade, where he could quickly lose whoever was pursuing him.
It would be easy enough to get out of Skyway. He could run far away, give himself as much time and freedom as possible.
But life is never as simple as that. There's never a time when you just have to worry about yourself and no one else.
If he escaped, they would take Lynn hostage. They would use her as leverage against him, threatening her with injury or death to force Caldwell into letting them take him.
Even the government was subject to law, and law disallowed violence outside of war or self defense. But Caldwell wasn't naive enough to think Tao wouldn't bend the rules to get what he wanted.
As he ran through dark hallways, navigating by the green, pulsing glow of his arm, he wondered how many men there would be. And whether they had already taken Lynn into custody. She could be light years away, by now.
But it made more sense to keep her right here, at Skyway. It was the fastest way to capture Caldwell.
Unfortunately, he was going to have to run right into their trap. He had no choice.
Chapter 13: Language
Zhang finally arrived at Caldwell's apartment. He was in a fury, spit flying from his mouth as he yelled and shouted orders. He was not angry with Caldwell; he was angry with the government men, and their apparent incompetence.
"Sorry, sir," one of them said, quickly hiding the stim-stick in his pocket. "We searched the entire med bay. He must have escaped before we got there."
"And the rest of the ship?" Zhang demanded.
"We're working on it. It's a big place and Tao only sent eight guys. We're also working with the local security personnel to hunt him down. The problem is, they don't install trackers and refuse to program backdoors into the personal devices of their staff. There's no way to trace him electronically. We just have to find him the old fashioned way."
"Hide and seek," said Zhang. "Tao should have just let me work alone. He shouldn't even have gotten Lady Stanford involved. I would have handed Caldwell to him on a silver platter."
The govvie barely suppressed a laugh. "You're friends with Caldwell, I thought."
"Not really friends. I just saved his life once. Rescued him. When you do that for someone, you get a certain attachment. Almost like... Well, let me say this; I'm a professional. I hope you can say the same thing with a straight face."
Zhang brushed past the men, into the apartment. Here, two other men stood around with scanners in their hands, searching every bit of the room for hidden devices. They looked quite a bit more dependable than the dopes in the hallway. Zhang approached them.
"Got anything?" he asked.
"Nothing," one of them said. "I don't think this Caldwell guy is nearly as resourceful or devious as we thought. I think he just knows his way around the University. And he's highly motivated."
"And very intelligent," said the other man.
"Do you have his wife?" asked Zhang. He clasped his hands together. "Please tell me you have her. She's the only way we can hope for a peaceful resolution."
The two men shared a look, like they knew something Zhang didn't. Apparently, they found his desire for peace to be an antiquated notion.
"We have her," one said. "She's in the bathroom."
Zhang clapped the man on the shoulder, thanked him, and went into the bathroom.
He had been keeping tabs on Caldwell ever since finding him on Planet 14. When the professor married, Zhang was one of the first people to know about it. He knew all about Lynn, from a data standpoint. Her past, her upbringing, her career and achievements. Her faults and her quirks. But he had never seen her in person.
She was stunning. Even more so with the flushed cheeks and moist eyes of a woman in emotional pain. Zhang felt his heart flutter. He had a weakness for women in distress. He always wanted to help them. To save them. It was a flaw that he had successfully suppressed for most of his life.
"Lynn Caldwell," Zhang said, crouching at her feet. She stood in the corner, staring down at him. "I'm Commander Zhang. Would you sit here with me? Just for a minute."
She sat, sliding down the wall until she was cross-legged before him.
"You already know that your husband is in trouble," said Zhang.
"And for no reason," Lynn spat. "He's done nothing wrong."
"I'm afraid right and wrong don't factor into this situation, Mrs. Caldwell. The fact of the matter is that your husband has something important, and the president has decided that the rest of humankind deserves to benefit from that thing."
From the look on Lynn's face, she was probably less than five seconds from punching Zhang in the face.
"Don't," he said, putting up his hands. "I've already been pummeled enough in my career. Your husband gave me a beating of his own, earlier. I wasn't hurt, but the Vitality Replicator ensured I felt every bit of it."
"Why shouldn't I make you feel more pain?" asked Lynn.
"Because I want what you want. Well, mostly. I want Edwin Caldwell to be safe. I want his life to continue just as it is now. There's no reason he should feel so attached to one bionic arm, when we could grow him a new one. A real one, an actual biological piece. Are you frightened?"
"How could I not be?" Lynn replied, her lips white.
Zhang wanted to touch her arm, to comfort her, but he didn't wish to add a black eye or bloody nose to his daily troubles.
"Here is what your part will be in this," Zhang said. "I'm afraid you have already been cast in this role, and your own opinion doesn't matter. What will happen is this; we will use you to get what we want. Whether or not that comes to... unpleasant means is up to your husband. If he cares about you more than he does about a damn fake arm, there's no reason to worry. Do you understand?"
She nodded quickly.
Behind Zhang, there was a small clattering noise. He turned, expecting to see one of the government men coming in to give him an update.
Instead he saw, on the floor, the cover for the air vent in the ceiling.
He looked up, just in time for a foot to come crashing into his face.
***
I don't like violence. Maybe that's one of the reasons I've felt so... different from the rest of humanity. Like I don't belong.
Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, even far back in history, you see violence. And if you use the lens of history and knowledge to really study these old conflicts, you'll see that there was always a peaceful resolution that could have happened. But peace requires that people stop acting stupid, petty, foolish, immature, shortsighted. Unfortunately, those are innate qualities in the vast majority of humans.
But why am I different? Why can I alone see the peaceful resolution that is just over the horizon? All that these people have to do is close their mouths and open their minds. They just have to realize that, in an infinite universe with infinite promise, everyone can have wha
t they want.
But I don't think humans will ever learn. Not even with the Green Seed. What will happen, if the Seed falls into their hands?
Well, I ask you this; what happened when atomic power fell into their hands? Did they really use it to make everyone's life better?
I see no reason why the Green Seed would be different. President Tao claims he would use it to ensure continuous life and prosperity. I think he is a liar. And he doesn't even know he's a liar. Humankind has an infinite capacity to take powerful things and find a way to use them as weapons. The good usage, the peaceful usage, never crosses their minds until later.
So, you see, humankind cannot be allowed to hold the Green Seed.
And I will have to act against my own nature.
I hate violence, but it's the only language that my enemy will understand. I cannot talk sense into them. No one can.
The one and only choice I have is the one which they left for me, in the ashes of my home planet.
***
Caldwell dropped to the floor and squatted to inspect Zhang. He was unconscious, and bleeding from the nose. He would probably have a black eye, as well. But there would be no permanent damage.
Rushing to the door, Caldwell stood up and listened for a moment. There was no noise from outside. He didn't think the disturbance in the bathroom had been overheard by the other men. They were safe for now. He turned and went to his wife.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, taking her face in his hands.
"No," she whispered. "Edwin... I love you... You have to give them what they want, or they'll hurt both of us."
"My love," said Edwin, "if they get what they want, they'll hurt everyone."
He saw something over her shoulder. Something wedged between her and the wall. A pile of pages. He pulled them out and looked at the writing.
"What is this?" he asked.
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