Shockball

by S. L. Viehl

  “You don’t need Kegide.” Reever sat up as I disconnected his leg shunt from the machine. “The outcasts will do it.”

  “How do you know they can? Or will?”

  He gave me a mild look. “They told me all the Night Horse know how to operate the subway. They are also very grateful for what you’ve done for them.”

  “Then by all means, let’s capitalize on their gratitude.”

  Reever was weaker than I thought, and had to lean on me to make it the last hundred yards into the sewer pipe. Before we reached the shack, one of the men came out.

  “We heard your footsteps.” He stared at Reever. “Nilch’i‘, you are ill. What is wrong?”

  “Nilch’i‘ needs help,” I said, and explained the situation.

  The outcast stroked his chin. “If the chief discovers we have done this, he will kill us all.”

  “Then we’d better be quiet, and hurry, don’t you think?”

  The man disappeared into the shack without another word. Just as I was getting ready to give up hope, he emerged with three more men and a makeshift litter.

  “Put him on here. We will carry him for you.”

  I helped Reever stretch out, and wrapped a blanket one of the men handed me around him. “I need to get into the underground research facility, where Rico found us. Can you take us on the subway, and guide us there?”

  “Yes. But you must return to the tunnels before morning comes.”

  “I can do that.” I was starting to believe my own story.

  The outcasts carried Reever through the sewer system up to the subway platform. From there, only two of the men went with us on the old transport. We had to travel nearly an hour before we reached the sewer system beneath my creator’s estate.

  The men carried Reever to the same access panel Milass had brought us through, and helped me get him in. I refused to let them accompany us inside.

  “Is there another place you and the other hybrids can go to, where Rico won’t find you?”

  The outcasts nodded. “You are not coming back, are you?”

  I couldn’t keep them in the dark any longer. “No. He’ll die without this surgery tonight. I’m sorry.”

  The hybrid smiled slightly. “You lie for him, not yourself. We will make ourselves safe. Walk the rainbow, patcher.”

  I figured Joseph hadn’t reprogrammed the lab and maintenance drones to deal with me voluntarily returning to the facility, so when the first one approached, I tried using the old medical priority access command imperative.

  “Unable to comply. That command series has been deleted.”

  Well, he’d been smart enough to figure out how I’d overridden the system the last time. I was prepared for that, though, and squeezed Reever’s arm.

  “Emergency surgical procedure, initiate assistance to surgeon Dr. Cherijo. This file supersedes all contradictory submenu commands,” he said, exactly the way we’d rehearsed it.

  “Identify for voice analysis.”

  I’d scored another point; Joseph hadn’t bothered to create a voice-print file for Reever in the facility database.

  “Identity: Duncan Reever, chief of Surgical Services, New Angeles Medical Center.”

  What Reever had done was make himself, in essence, my creator’s old boss. The old hospital hierarchy files kicked in, and the drone responded exactly as I’d hoped.

  “Thank you, Dr. Reever. Emergency surgical procedure file does not exist. Create, or cancel?”

  “Create.”

  The drones were now under Reever’s complete voice control.

  “Emergency surgical procedure new directive: All commands issued by Dr. Cherijo equal commands issued by Dr. Reever. Supersede all contradictory submenu command directives and acknowledge.”

  “New directive acknowledged.”

  At last I could say something. “Prepare for organ transplantation procedure in Development and Engineering.” Reever started to sag, and I tucked his arm over my shoulders. “Move your rollers!”

  I managed to support most of his weight and helped him over to the berth nearest the organ specimen wall. He collapsed and slipped into unconsciousness. After I checked his vitals, which were terrible, I ran to the console. Since the new commands enabled me access to Joe’s full database, I keyed up the organ stock inventory in a few seconds.

  “Okay, colon, heart, intestine large, intestine small—There, kidney stock available.” I ran my finger down the screen, following the column of tissue types. Then I input an inquiry, and got the final answer.

  No match available.

  I ground a few molars together. “Always has to be a challenge, doesn’t it?”

  I input another inquiry, this time for the cellular sample stock inventory. I got lucky. Joseph had stored a sample of kidney cells that matched Reever’s tissue type.

  I pulled the sample, examined it, and loaded it onto an organ scaffold. “Begin whole kidney formation process. Extrapolate approximate length of time for cloning full organ for transplantation purposes, and display.”

  “It takes four weeks,” Joseph said behind me.

  I went motionless.

  “Where have you been, daughter?”

  “We took a long walk through the mountains.” I took a deep breath. “He doesn’t have four weeks. He doesn’t have four hours.”

  “You should have taken that into consideration before attempting this larceny.”

  He was calling me a thief. If that didn’t ice the cake. “Transplantation isn’t my specialty.”

  Reever, who’d suddenly woken up, jerked into a sitting position. “Run!”

  “I can’t.” I went over to the table and made him recline, then saw his eyes. Icebergs were warmer. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “You knew. You knew he wouldn’t catch us here.”

  “I was pretty sure he still kept the floor sensors armed. That’s how he caught me sneaking out a few times during secondary school.” I turned to my creator, who was recoding the door panel. “Don’t bother. We’re not going anywhere. We need your help.”

  Joe smiled slowly. “You must allow me time to properly appreciate this moment.”

  “Gloat next week. He’s in critical condition.” I put a hand on Reever’s forearm when he tried to sit up again. “Stay put and act like you’re in critical condition, please.”

  My creator made a leisurely survey, then started curling his upper lip again. “Why should I help you? He means nothing to me.”

  “Because if you do save him, and release him when he’s healed, you get me.” I wondered if I should have him sign something. “Along with my full and voluntary cooperation, and use of my body for whatever twisted, sick experiments you can think up, for the remainder of my existence.”

  Reever made a harsh sound. “No. I won’t let you.”

  “Lay back down, or I’ll sedate you.” I turned to my creator. “Well?”

  Joe’s smile got wider. “I agree.”

  Reever argued with me until the very last moment before we started, when I infused him with Valumine. “You could have escaped. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself for me.”

  I snapped on my gloves and peered over the edge of my mask at him. “Too late.”

  He fought to keep his eyes open. “Cherijo, you despise him. Don’t trade your soul for my life.”

  “What if it were me on the table, dying, and you were the one he wanted? Wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

  “Yes.” He closed his eyes. “But—”

  “No buts.”

  I’d never operated side by side with Joseph. He’d observed many of the procedures I’d performed as a medical student, but only so he could tear apart my technique once I got off shift and came home. Now we stood on opposite sides of our patient. The man I loved. The rival he hated.

  Joe leaned over the table. “Are you ready?”

  “Wait.” I went to the monitors and double-checked the leads. “I want to make this crystal clear before we start. If you t
ry anything, mess up anything while we’re working on him, I’ll know.”

  “Obviously, you will.”

  “I’ll also have a laser and several sharp instruments close at hand.” I nodded toward the setup trays. “You’ve seen me perform an emergency colostomy, haven’t you? Imagine how it would feel without anesthetic.”

  “I took the same oath you did. I also gave you my word. I will not harm him.”

  “Good. I hate eviscerating people. So much noise, so much mess.” I checked Reever’s brain waves. He was sleeping peacefully. “Since we don’t have a donor organ, and we can’t clone a new one in time, what are you going to do?”

  “You should have kept up with your research journals.” Joseph powered up the laser rig. “I’ve developed new procedures since you left Terra.”

  “Gee, I thought you were too busy chasing me around the galaxy to get any serious research done.” I held out my hand. “I’ll open him up.”

  He held on to the lascalpel. He really was afraid of me. I enjoyed seeing that.

  “Don’t get your gown in a knot. I gave you my word.”

  “You’ve lived with alien barbarians for three years. I’m not convinced I can trust you.”

  “The aliens use swords, not lasers. Just relax.”

  “Why do you want to open him up?”

  Now he was starting to get on my nerves. “Look, the repair work is yours, the grunt work is mine. Hand it over.”

  He reluctantly gave the instrument to me. “Very well.”

  I waved it in front of me. “See? I’m not burning your face off with it. Much as I’m tempted.”

  I made the initial incision, over the freshly healed scar of his previous operation, and clamped back the tissues to reveal a kidney that was, for all intents and purposes, dead.

  “Damn. How bad?”

  He scanned the organ. “It’s eighty-one-percent nonfunctional. Necrotic tissue is present, though the amount is negligible. You’re fortunate you decided to return when you did. Another couple of hours and the organ would have been unsalvageable.” He paused for a moment, lining up the scope. “How did you get out of the lab?”

  So he hadn’t found the access hatch. “We tiptoed.”

  “You said you’d been in the mountains. The closest mountain range is over sixty kilometers from the estate.”

  “No wonder my feet hurt.”

  He held out a gloved hand. “Lascalpel.”

  I didn’t want to give it back to him, so it hit his palm with a little extra, unnecessary force.

  Joe ignored that and looked through the scope. “It appears you repaired the original trauma and restored systemic circulation. However, the cellular damage was too extensive for the organ to continue functioning. The other kidney is missing. Removed?”

  “He doesn’t know. It could be a birth defect, or it was excised during infancy.” Though how that could have happened without leaving a scar, I had no idea.

  “Interesting. The remaining kidney should be enlarged.” He carefully entered the organ with a scope probe and surveyed the interior. “You must have worked on him at some kind of medical facility. Which one?”

  “Oh, I did that in the mountains, too. Amazing what you can accomplish with a sharp stick, a few vines, and some moss.”

  He held out his hand again. “Hypercellular injector.”

  I glanced at the tray. “The what?”

  “The long instrument to the immediate left of the suture laser.”

  I picked up what looked like a syrinpress that had been miniaturized, with a few dozen infusion ports added to the tip. “What’s it do?”

  Dark blue eyes narrowed above the edge of his mask. “Do you want me to teach you this procedure, or perform it?”

  “I want you to tell me how many patients survived it.”

  “All of them.”

  I slapped it in his hand. “Remember what I said.”

  Whatever Joe was doing was fine, delicate work. He stayed in the organ and on the scope for the next two hours. Occasionally I had to apply suction and take care of a few bleeders, but otherwise I was made to feel about as useful as a structural post.

  “There.” Finally Joe pushed the scope away and tossed the bloodied injector onto the discard tray. “I’ve repaired the vascular occlusions, and seeded the organ with hypercellular implants. The new cells will restructure the kidney, and replace the dysfunctional tissue.”

  I wasn’t going to take his word for it. “I want to see what you did on the scope.”

  He stepped aside. “As you wish.”

  I upped the magnification and studied the work he’d done on Reever’s kidney. New, pink organ cells were already beginning to flush the gray surface of the organ. “It looks almost like cancer.”

  “It operates with a similar replication and replacement process, at a far more rapid and efficient growth rate. Like carcinogenic cells, the organic hypercells will replace existing tissue and reinstate organ function without further treatment.”

  “Will he need anti-rejection therapy?”

  “No. The cells rebuild themselves by utilizing existing systemic material. His body will not attack it.”

  “Congratulations, Doctor.” I pushed the scope aside and grabbed the lascalpel. “I’ll close, and monitor.”

  “You may, until this evening. The drones will care for him while you will change for dinner, and our night together.”

  Oh, yes. Our night together.

  I spent the next six hours monitoring Reever, scanning the site and witnessing the gradual reformation of his kidney. The hypercells replicated and replaced the damaged tissue with astonishing speed. It was probably the most miraculous process I’d ever seen, outside of the development of a human fetus. Once again, Joseph had found a way to radically change Terran medicine for all time. He’d also saved Reever.

  I had no problem dealing with that. Joseph owed me.

  As Reever’s condition continued to improve, I turned my attention to what I had to do tonight. Pulling off the rest of my plan presented some problems. It was all going to be very tricky. I’d also have to leave Reever alone for several hours. A couple thousand variables were involved.

  Anything might happen.

  Reever stirred, then gradually came out of the anesthetic. He immediately tried to reach for me, so I took his hand. “Cherijo.”

  “Hey, blue eyes.” I stroked the blond hair away from his brow. He was still pretty groggy. “How many wives do you see?”

  “One.” His voice rasped on the word. “Joseph?”

  “He’s up in the mansion. Don’t worry about him.”

  He tried to lift his head from the berth, then grimaced and closed his eyes. “What happened?”

  “I talked old Joe into helping us out. He’s invented a new way to handle organ damage. He injects replacement cells into the organ, and they replicate and rebuild it. You’ll have a brand-new kidney in a few hours.”

  “Complications?”

  “All kinds of them.” I rolled my eyes. “None that will bother your kidney, I hope.”

  He didn’t appreciate my joke. “What does he want?”

  “Something he’s not going to get. No, don’t try to sit up. Look at me.” I checked his pupils. At this rate, he was going to be ambulatory in a few hours, so I removed the restraints. “You stay here and rest. I have to go and deal with him now.”

  He didn’t like hearing that, either. “Stay with me.”

  “I wish I could. Duncan, you know I have to put an end to this. Trust me, I won’t resort to violence.” Unless I had to. “I’m going to try to reason with him. If he doesn’t cooperate, I’ll drug him. Then we’re getting out of here and leaving Terra. Sound good to you?”

  From his expression, I could tell he wanted to argue with me. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” I kissed him. “Rest now.”

  The lift was open and waiting for me. So was Joseph, just outside the door panel up in the house. He took my arm.

 
“I meant what I said,” I told him. Not yanking out of his grip took some effort. “I’ll cooperate.”

  “Forgive me if I find your sudden acquiescence suspect.”

  Normally Joe was completely oblivious to anything but his own schemes, but occasionally he anticipated me. Time to do my song and dance.

  “Look at it this way. Even if I wanted to walk out of here, Reever is in no shape to be moved. I’m not going to trade his life for my freedom. Besides, is there any possible way for me to get out of this fortress now?”

  “I did not think so, until you escaped the last time.”

  “You taught me a lot of things, Joe. One of them was how to keep my word.” I didn’t mention the fine art of lying through my teeth I’d picked up since leaving Terra. “I want Reever alive, and out of here.”

  “We shall see.”

  He took me to my room, where one of the housekeeping drones stood waiting with more impractical garments.

  “I haven’t had a decent shower in a few weeks,” I said, and pretended to scratch my scalp. “Mind if I clean up before the experiments begin again?”

  He gave me a vaguely alarmed look. “Do a dermal parasitic scan before you cleanse. You have thirty minutes.”

  I waited until he left, then tried to dismiss the housekeeping drone. It ignored me completely, which made it very easy to disable. A server of water dumped over it shorted the control panel long enough for me to yank the power core. “One down, two to go.”

  I retrieved my treasure box, and as promised, Maggie’s cache of discs were hidden inside. I turned on the cleanser unit to full stream and let it cloud up the lavatory before going in there. I had to hide the discs on me, which took a silk scarf and some creative tucking and draping.

  The dress Joe wanted me to wear was fully and conservatively cut, thank God, so the scarf didn’t look out of place. I unbraided my hair and let it get damp, then stepped out of the fog back into the bathroom.

  A study of my reflection made me adjust a few folds. Whatever was on the discs, there was no way I was letting Joseph get his hands on them. “Okay. Best I can do.” I went to the console and did what I needed to do there. “Time to ruin Daddy’s entire night.”