"With the lower families, certainly." Ulla placed her hands on her hips and tapped her shoe. "Fortunately, I've corrected that little mistake and taken care of Rudd and his spawn. Now that my line is unsullied, I'm free to reproduce with my kind."
Oh, God. She killed her husband and children. What kind of monster was she?
"Let's go." Ulla doubled checked her hair in the mirror before strolling toward the door and out of sight. "The tracking device I installed in that crude transport is operating. We must get to the colonel before he finds the data and relays it to his bleeding heart supporters."
"I am sorry, obecht."
It's okay. It's not your fault. Even if he batted for the opposing team, he hadn't stabbed me. Ulla had.
"I'm waiting Victor."
Victor pushed to his feet and strode out of sight. A moment later the door opened and closed.
I listened until I couldn't hear Ulla's heels on the pavement.
Then listened to the sounds of doors slamming, people grunting and mattresses squeaking.
Then listened to cars start, engines die and voice ebb and flow.
Time passed.
Minutes.
Hours.
Days.
I didn't know. Tobias didn't return. The maid didn't come. I was alone with my thoughts. And without a heartbeat to keep time, what meaning did time really have? Yet I wanted to know. I counted to five. Ten. Sixty-three. When I lost count, I started again.
Come on, I screamed inside my head. Let's get this death business over with.
Do you really wish to live?
What kind of messed up question was that? Then again, my inner voice had never sounded like a munchkin doing whippets of helium. Hello?
We are awaiting input.
Input? Son of a monkey's butt! God had gone digital. No, not God. This was so not heaven, neither could it be Hell. Purgatory? I dismissed the possibility. Something weird was going on. Who are you?
We are automated analytical control, study, recording and performance check input modules.
That explained absolutely nothing and was barely English.
Your kind refers to us as Cerebral Bots.
CeeBees? You're the CeeBees. Holy Toledo! Tobias never mentioned that they talked. Hello, I didn't need another voice inside my head.
That is also correct. Please supply us with the required input.
Input. Input. It took a moment, but I caught on. Yes. Yes, I wish to live.
Which meant I wasn't dead. Maybe I was mostly dead. Unless I came back as the living dead. Good God, if aliens were real did that mean so were zombies? I didn't want to be a zombie. They ate brains, didn't they? Imagine the calories in that?
Input accepted. Define study parameters and goals.
Huh? I want to breathe, walk around, and have a heartbeat. I wracked my brain. Who knew all that the body did. I certainly didn't. It just did what it needed to do right up until Ulla stabbed me. I don't want to be dead.
Understood. Will you continue your assignment with UED and Tobias Werner, Colonel, Special Forces?
What was this? A failsafe of some kind. Either I agreed to do my job as alien steward or I'm terminated? Yes, I'll do my job. I'll be the best darn Witness Protection coordinator there ever was.
There. That should satisfy the blood-thirsty little Spam dots. I counted to ten. A fly landed on my nose and walked toward my eye. Ew. I still couldn't blink or move or hear my heart.
Hey. I thought we had a deal. I live and do my job.
Repair and maintenance ninety-three percent complete. Systems will be reactivated in two-point-zero-seven-nine seconds.
Which was about how long it took to give me a countdown, but I was going to live and that's what really mattered. Thank you.
Repairs completed. Subroutine encoded. Anomalous termination error recorded and justified. Study commencing. Data collection beginning. All systems will be fully functional in five Earth minutes.
Five minutes. I could wait that long. The fly buzzed away. A cockroach scrambled out from under the frayed edges of carpet and crawled up the wall. Wait a minute. What study is commencing?
Something told me the answer would be worse than big brother is watching me.
Study of Mary Jane Radiance Hemplewhite.
Oh no. No, no, no, no. I didn't want to be put under a microscope and dissected or drool every time a bell rang. Me? You're studying me? Why? What did you hope to learn?
More information will violate study protocols. Communications terminated.
Wait. The silence chaffed. Damn it. What had those Spam dots done to me?
More importantly, if they could bring me back from the dead, what else could they do?
Chapter Fifteen
Three-thousand-five Mississippis. Three-thousand-six— Heavy footsteps crunched on the gravel outside then the door opened and closed. Air blew across my feet. My toes twitched. Holy Toledo! I could move. I could feel things.
"Rae!" Tobias's voice boomed through the room then he was there, kneeling by my side. "What have they done?" His hands massaged my scalp, neck and shoulders before stopping. His lips thinned as his gaze locked onto my belly. "By the Creator, I knew I shouldn't have left you."
I gasped for breath. Cold air slipped around my teeth. A mule-kick to the chest jumpstarted my heart then pins and needles raced across my skin before it caught fire. I hurt everywhere. God it felt good to be alive!
"Just lie still." Tobias jumped to his feet and disappeared from sight.
Like I could do anything else? Well, maybe I could. I blinked. Yes!
Tobias ran back to my side with his duffel bag in hand and dropped it.
It landed on my foot. I felt the cool fabric drape around it and the weight press against my toes. Hmm. That should be a little uncomfortable. Maybe I wasn't completely healed or the CeeBees were numbing any pain.
"You'll be okay." He leaned over me, concern and fear darkened his green eyes. He gently probed my belly.
I felt nothing.
"I swear it." When he raised his fingers, they were crimson. "I swear it."
I managed to turn my head and glance down my body. Son of a monkey's butt! Dried blood left red and brown marbling on my legs. And, good Lord was I missing my baby toe? Motion in my peripheral vision caught my attention. My hands had curled into fists.
Ulla had done this to me.
Tobias ripped open the duffel. The zipper whined before the pull tab shot through the air and pinged against the head board. Digging inside, he tossed socks and tee-shirts in every direction before lifting out a red toiletries bag.
I shook my head then tried to lift it. Nothing doing. Pain radiated down my neck from the lead weights someone stuffed inside my skull when I wasn't looking. I gasped for breath and noticed the terry cloth feel of my tongue. Darn but I was thirsty.
"I—" It was a pathetic croak, not even worthy of a toad, but I'd take it. I'd take anything because everything meant I was alive and recovering.
After snapping open his toiletries bag, he emptied the contents on the worn carpet and fished through the items. He set his hand on my forehead before lifting one eyelid then the other while shining a bright light against the back of my skull. "Don't try to talk."
There goes my Romeo and Juliet soliloquy I had planned to recite to celebrate my return from the dead.
After clicking off the light, he tossed it into the pile of stuff by my feet and rolled my tank top up my stomach. "I need to check your injuries. It shouldn't hurt a bit."
This time, I felt his warm, calloused fingers on my stomach but no pain. Was that a step forward or back? Concentrating on my hand, I managed to lift my fist an inch off the floor. Tears leaked from my eyes. Crap on a cracker! The CeeBees seemed to have mis-wired me.
He sucked air in through his teeth and a muscle flexed in his jaw. "Ulla did this."
Was that a question? I thought I wasn't supposed to talk. I smacked his thigh with my fist.
He gently unrolled
my fingers then returned my hand to the floor. "That doesn't require a response. She signed her work."
My stomach bucked and sent bile into my mouth. I swallowed the bitterness. I really needed a drink, something much stronger than water. A fifth of vodka might do it. A low growl simmered in my gut. Unbelievable! I was hungry, ravenous. Those CeeBees had definitely mis-wired me. This combination was wrong on so many levels.
Unearthing a green square from the pile of stuff at my feet, he pinched two ends between his finger and thumb. A cone of light shot out and swept down my body. "No defensive wounds. How long after I left did she wait to attack you?"
I licked my dry lips and my tongue stuck to them. Carefully, I pulled them apart. "J-Just."
Good Lord, saying one word felt like I'd coughed up razorblades. Think positive, Rae. Right. My voice worked and sounded sort of normal.
Nodding, Tobias dropped the green box and plucked some large bandages from the pile. "And the CeeBees have taken this long to revive you?"
"No." I cleared my dry throat. The talking didn't hurt as much as before. But I was still hungry and thirsty. "Five minutes."
"They revived you five minutes ago?" Rocking back on his heels, he ran his hands through his short blond hair. "That means you were dead for more than fifteen minutes."
From his tone, I took that to be a bad thing. Then again, I didn't know when being dead was a good thing. Ever. Of course, it had spared me the pain of Ulla's torture. So maybe I had found a death benefit.
"Given what Ulla did to you, the CeeBees protected you the best they could." After shaking the bandage, he ripped the paper packaging apart. "Did she admit to killing her husband while she was…" He pursed his lips for a moment as if seeking the right word. "Working on you?"
I nodded. Oh joy, my head moved easier too. Now if only I could lift it. "The k-kids too."
Tobias whistled while removing the plastic from the adhesive tabs of the bandages. "Her children too? God, what a bitch! I had my suspicions when I looked at Kim's and Torunn's bodies."
It would have been nice if he shared that bit of information earlier. Maybe I wouldn't have been killed so easily.
"The trajectory just seemed off. And there was the fact that Torunn didn't wear a vest but made sure his wife did." Tobias flicked the papers from his fingers. "Rudd Torunn was the most paranoid of the APres Guarda. And that's saying something."
It was telling me that the Astral Presidium had better not get their mitts on Earth. We had enough problems without adding their brand of fanaticism to the mix. I needed to get better, like yesterday.
Tobias set the bandage on my belly and smoothed the edges flat. "Please tell me you didn't feel this."
I raised my head to try to look at the damage but my breasts blocked the view. Maybe that was a good thing. Gasping for breath, I collapsed back onto the carpet. God I felt so weak. And hungry. And thirsty.
"Don't worry, the CeeBees will erase the scars."
Like I cared about stupid scars. I drew air in slowly and held it for two seconds. What had the CeeBees meant about a study? Dare I ask Tobias? My sigh stirred my bangs. Maybe later.
Tobias used his teeth to open another bandage. "Your legs will be as beautiful as ever once the CeeBees finish the repairs."
Right, like I believed that when he looked ready to chew lead and spit bullets. Still I appreciated the thought.
Frown lines appeared as he worked the plastic off the taped edges. "But I swear to you, I'll remember them. Every one of them."
And Ulla will pay. I read that subtext, but he'd have to stand in line behind me when revenge was served up. "Thank you."
"Don't. I shouldn't have left you." He smoothed the next bandage on my stomach.
My fingers tingled as if I'd touched an electrical outlet but in a good way. The edge faded from my appetite and I lifted my hand to my belly. "What was that?"
"Energy patches." Working quickly, he pasted another one onto my stomach. "It'll keep your CeeBees fed to finish their repairs without knocking you into a coma."
Not being in a coma sounded nice. My fingers teased the edges of the bandages and felt the tug on my skin. As for the CeeBees… Now was as good a time as any to get a few answers. "They talked to me."
"Ulla isn't one to shut up." Tobias ripped open another three packages and smoothed them in place. "She bragged about culling her property of unsavory characters after the Antaries Uprising. Twenty of their second-class citizens live in a twelve-by-thirty foot cabin. Rumor has it she made each cabin select two family members to be killed. Afterwards, she selected another two—the ones she viewed most libel to cause the trouble—and had them executed. Thousands of bodies were nailed to the cabins for weeks as a warning for anyone else who dreamed of freedom."
Antaries Uprising. Many of the names on Tobias's memorial armlet were from that battle. I'd look it up later. Right now I needed to concentrate on getting well. I had a job to do. I worked myself up onto my elbows. Not bad for being nearly dead ten minutes ago. "We have to stop them."
"We will." He scooted closer and slid his arms under my back and knees. "But first we have to get that data off your arm and into the right hands."
I managed to wrap my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the ground. Dang but he was strong. Staring at my feet, I counted my toes. All present and accounted for. Had I imagined the one missing? No. My right baby toe looked pinker than the others, like the skin was newer. I refused to look on the ground. If my toe was there, I'd rather not know.
And if Ulla had taken it as a trophy? My conscious tossed back at me.
Well, I'd find out when Tobias arrested her. Right now, I wanted a few answers about those Spam dots inside me. "The CeeBees talked to me."
"That's not possible, Rae." Tobias dipped slightly to grasp the door handle. It jingled before he managed to get the door open.
Humid air washed over me. I inhaled the scent of wet asphalt and ignored the other, more pungent smells of the rent-by-the-hour motel. "They said if I didn't work for you, they wouldn't revive me then they went on to say they were studying me. Are they?"
With his foot, he eased the door shut behind us. "No, the CeeBees are just left over Archa technology. They have no programming until the UED inserts it. While the UED might deactivate the CeeBees, I doubt they could make them kill you for not co-operating."
I didn't know if I believed him. But I knew the CeeBees would kill me. I just had to find a way to find out about this study. Surely there was something in a database somewhere. I rested my head on Tobias's shoulder. Aw snap. I'd just volunteered myself to research the problem.
I hated research.
I needed to change the subject before I thought of something else I could spend hours trying to find out. A snippet of dialogue surfaced from a hidden compartment of my brain. "Victor said he didn't kill Pascel. And since he thought I was dead and Ulla is his employer, I see no reason to suspect he lied about it."
Or that I imagined it.
Tobias splashed through a puddle in the pitted parking lot. "APres Guarda has plenty of spies on Earth. The problem is we can't seem to figure out what their overall game plan is."
I glanced up at the sky. A few stars peeked though the sparse cloud cover. Oh geez, how could I be so stupid? How many thrillers have I watched where the bad guys were tracked by Big Brother's eyes in the sky? "Can't Ulla and her stooges track us through the satellites?"
"No." Tobias juggled me in his arms then a double chirp pierced the night. The headlamps of a dark HHR flashed on but the interior remained dark. "We're able to create an invisibility bubble around us and our vehicles. Even your government's most sophisticated technology isn't able to track us. The APres Guarda would need a Class I battle cruiser to find us. And trust me, the world would know if one of those was in orbit around Earth."
That was something at least.
He pressed another button and the door eased slowly opened. Bending at the waist, he set me in the front seat, folded my
legs inside and reached for the safety belt.
I beat him to it. Time for me to stop feeling like an invalid. "I can handle this, thanks."
He nodded, then walked around to the driver's side and climbed in.
My fingers felt sausage thick as I fumbled to insert the tab into the slot. Once. Twice. The third time it clicked home. I melted into the seat and dug my toes against the carpet. Those patches certainly helped, but I was still hungry and thirsty.
The engine roared to life.
"What about our stuff?" And the pizza? I pressed my nose against the window, staring at the door as he backed out of the parking space. Cold pizza would taste heavenly right about now.
"It can be replaced, you can't." Tobias waited for a car to pull up to the curb by the hotel and talk to a rotund prostitute leaning against the wall before easing into traffic ahead of the John.
I swiped at a tear leaking from my eye. That was the sweetest thing anyone had said to me since I returned from the dead. It also wasn't true for so many reasons.
"You mean the data, don't you?" I touched the blue tattoo on my forearm. The terabytes and terabytes of data stored in the blue light ink would expose a traitor in Tobias's government and protect Earth, my family and friends. I didn't need to be alive for him to retrieve it.
At least I didn't think I did. I added the question to the list I would look up once I got my nifty Spam dot communicator slash Smartphone.
"I meant what I said." After slanting me a look, he aimed the car for the interstate.
***
Fifteen minutes later, we pulled into a corporate park. For sale and lease signs rose from the desert landscaping like tombstones. Yellow streetlights reflected in the abyss of tinted windows while white lights danced like specters in empty buildings. Here and there, the ghostly imprint of businesses remained burned onto the paint.
I shivered in the decay while my stomach growled. The energy patches had worn off, leaving me with a bad case of the shakes and a ravenous appetite. I pressed my trembling hand to my belly. "What are we doing here?"
Blue Maneuver-Urban SciFi/Fantasy (Extraterrestrial security program) Page 18