“No, it’s not like that at all. She’s like—she’s just like I remember. It’s my sister.”
Nicola pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’ve discussed this. Those girls have had their genetics scrambled, mutated and reassembled. Dammit—they have a controlling chip in their brain! They’re nothing but a bunch of trained assassins, programmed for a CTF murder-squad.”
“And now you want to reprogram them for yourself.”
She gave him a sympathetic look, but her voice remained firm. “The damage has been done.”
Riku stared contemptuously at Farrington. “Well, I’m not letting him touch her, not after what happened to the others.”
“They’ll be fine,” Farrington said, unimpressed, not bothering to look at him. “I’m still tweaking the program. You can’t expect me to undo years of work in a day.”
“We’ll fix it, don’t worry,” Nicola assured him. “We’re going to need all those girls for the next phase. We need you for this, Riku. You’re a valuable member of the movement, but if you’re having doubts…”
Riku nodded away his reticence. “I know. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
* * *
As soon as the Morrigan emerged through the Relay and blasted its way toward Aquarii, they could tell something was wrong. The closer they came to the planet the more the surrounding space became littered with the wrecked hulks of ships orbiting the planet, some Kimuran, some of unknown origin. Sigrid gasped at the devastation.
They landed without delay. On the tarmac, Sigrid could see more evidence of the attacks—burned wrecks of fighters and service vehicles mostly, but several buildings had been crushed under the bombardment. Cleanup crews were busy everywhere repairing and salvaging what they could, and hauling away what was beyond repair.
Sigrid stepped through the airlock. She was fully armed and dressed in her combat outfit, sporting a short pilot’s jacket. She helped Hitomi onto the lift, steadying her as they were lowered to the tarmac. Selene, Karen and Christian followed close behind, climbing down the short steps.
They were greeted by Markus Emerson and Hitomi’s son, Shinji, who rushed to the base of the stairs. Both men were surrounded by a squad of marines in full battle gear. Sigrid noted another man in their midst, grey-haired and thin, he wore a black suit with the Federation emblem on his collar. Her PCM confirmed him as the Federation Envoy to Aquarii.
Hitomi wheeled herself forward to meet them. “Shinji, Markus. What on earth happened?”
Markus scanned the scene of destruction. “Independents, from what we could tell, but…I’ve never seen them operate in such numbers. It happened nearly two weeks ago—soon after you left.”
“We must convene an emergency meeting of the Board. We’ll need to deal with this immediately. I fear it’s more than just the Council that is moving against us. We’ll also need to send a force to Alcyone—”
“Mother,” Shinji said, distress haunting his face. “Alcyone is…gone.”
“No…” Sigrid moaned.
Hitomi put a steadying hand on her arm.
“What? When?” Hitomi demanded.
“A ship came back, soon after the attacks here.”
“Survivors? On Alcyone?”
Markus shook his head. “Unknown. The ship barely made it away itself. We haven’t been able to launch a rescue mission—not with all the work to do here.”
Sigrid felt sick. “Mistress…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll investigate right away.” She turned to Markus and Shinji. “How many ships do we have available? We must return in force to Alcyone immediately.”
Sigrid watched as Markus and Shinji looked uncomfortably at each other. Hitomi picked up on it as well.
“Markus…?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Milady,” the Federation Envoy said, stepping forward at last.
Hitomi shot the man a disparaging look. “Markus, what is he doing here?”
The envoy answered for himself. “Alcyone and all materials pertaining to the project known as Andraste are now property of the Council for Trade and Finance.” His gaze fixed on Sigrid. “All materials, Milady.”
Hitomi’s eyes hardened on Markus Emerson and her son. “I don’t believe it. You took the Council’s offer.”
Markus cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Milady…after the attack. We had little choice.”
“You always have a choice, Markus. You made the wrong one.”
The envoy stepped forward, placing his hand on Sigrid’s arm. “The girl must come with me, of course.”
Sigrid jerked her arm from his grasp; Hitomi wheeled herself forward, putting herself between the two. “Impossible. The girl is contracted to me personally. The Council has no claim on her.”
“My orders are explicit, Lady Hitomi. I am to retrieve all materials. Kimura has already signed the girls’ contracts over to the Council.”
“Not this contract. She has been granted special dispensation as a private operator under the Guild Act.”
“A technicality, Milady. You may file a grievance with the local CTF office, of course.”
“Magistrate, you are the local CTF office.”
The envoy ignored the remark and grabbed Sigrid’s arm again.
He gurgled ever so slightly as Sigrid’s free hand gripped his throat, lifting him clear off the ground. His eyes bulged and he grabbed frantically at her arms, his feet kicking madly as his outstretched toes reached for the ground.
“Sigrid!” Hitomi’s hand came up, half-covering her mouth in surprise.
Sigrid had as little intention of going with the envoy as she had with Sara. “I’m afraid I won’t be taking that contract offer from the Council at this time,” Sigrid said, her eyes locked fiercely on his. “You may file your own grievance.”
“Goodness. Just don’t…kill him.”
Sigrid put him down and shoved him backward; he clawed at his throat, choking and gasping for air.
Sigrid turned to Selene behind her. The pilot had her sidearm drawn and pointed at the envoy on his knees before them. “I think we should be going now, don’t you think?”
“Aye, ma’am.”
Selene holstered her weapon and backed up the stairs toward the ship.
Still clutching his throat, the little envoy waved at Sigrid, calling to the troops behind him, “Stop them! Arrest them.”
The squad of Marines looked to each other uncertainly and then to Markus, who nodded. The Marines stepped forward, weapons raised.
“Markus?” Hitomi exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, Milady. But this is no longer Kimura’s affair. The girl must be turned over to the Council.”
The envoy was back on his feet, gesturing frantically to the Marines. “Take her! Arrest her!”
Sigrid’s pistols were in her hands; she was already locking her HUD on the nearest targets.
But Hitomi’s reaction was just as quick, and she grabbed Sigrid’s arm, pulling herself to her feet—shielding Sigrid from the oncoming squad.
“Sigrid, no!”
Sigrid stared at the woman in disbelief; her heart was pounding. “Mistress…”
Hitomi gave her a warning, cautioning look. “Sigrid, they’ll kill you.”
At that moment, Sigrid wasn’t sure she even cared. She only knew she wasn’t going to let them take her. She had to get to Alcyone—she had to know if Suko was alive, and she wasn’t going to let them hand her over to the Council. She shook her head again. “No, Mistress.”
“Sigrid, please. Trust me.”
She looked at the soldiers surrounding her; fourteen soldiers stood just feet away from her, assault rifles leveled at her. Sigrid made the calculations, but she couldn’t see how even she could defeat those odds. And then there was Hitomi, still clinging to her arm, looking to her pleadingly.
Sigrid dropped her weapons. The soldiers surged forward, moving the Lady Hitomi out of the way and stripping Sigrid of all her weapons, which wasn’t an easy task. When it was
over, the tarmac was littered with knives, pistols, even the tiny pinhead grenades she’d stitched into her bra. With wrists shackled, Sigrid was marched off.
She was their prisoner.
Chapter 18
Prisoner
The prison on Aquarii was modern, clean and comfortable, the inmates well taken care of. But it was still a prison.
They placed Sigrid in their maximum security facility, in solitary confinement and under constant guard, monitored by scanners and armed guards who never left the front of her cell. She’d studied the layouts for days, but not even she could calculate a method of escape.
And Sigrid knew well that she had to escape. Alcyone had been attacked, that much was obvious, but the fate of the girls and of Suko?…well, she wasn’t going to find the answer to that question trapped in her cell. Sigrid studied the clear perma-glass door again. It was as solid as steel and incorporated a simple mechanical locking mechanism. There was no way for her to interface with it or tamper with it at all. The rest of the walls were of ultra-dense reinforced permacrete. There had to be a way out, but for the moment, Sigrid couldn’t see one.
The door down the hall to her section rattled open and Karen burst through, pushing her way past the guard. She saw Sigrid and ran forward, pressing her hands up against the perma-glass of Sigrid’s door.
“Oh, Sigrid, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe they did this to you.”
Sigrid frowned. “I’m learning to believe a lot of things.”
“Listen. Kimura isn’t going to take you to Earth. They’re keeping you here until a CTF transport comes to get you. That won’t be for another five days.”
Five days! In another five days, where would Suko be?
“I…I just thought you should know,” Karen said tearfully. “I also wanted to finally thank you. On the elevator—you were so brave. You saved us all. You saved my life.”
“You would have done the same for me. I just did what any of us would have done.”
Karen laughed. “Don’t be silly. You were incredible. I’ve never seen anyone do the things you can do. You were so cool and calm.”
“Please! I was terrified!”
“Well, I’d never have known it.” Karen put her hand up on the glass. “They won’t let me stay—I just wanted you to know. I’ll try to come back tomorrow.”
“Thanks.”
Karen disappeared back down the corridor, prodded along by the attending guard. Sigrid suddenly felt very alone.
She had more visitors that day; Christian came by, muttering several scathing comments about Kimura and their betrayal. Sigrid cautioned him not to say anything that might get him in trouble, but he didn’t seem to care.
Selene Tseng came as well. Sigrid hadn’t stopped to think about her or what would happen to the Morrigan. She’d just assumed that Kimura would confiscate it, claiming it derelict. They had tried, but Selene had stopped them.
“You should take the ship, Selene,” Sigrid said. “It doesn’t look like I’ll be needing it anytime soon.”
Selene put her hands on her hips, considering the offer. “Tell you what, I’ll take it, but only under a Stewardship. You may find yourself needing it some time in the future.”
“It doesn’t look like I have much of a future at all.”
Selene gave her a reassuring smile. “You’re a very remarkable girl, Sigrid. If anyone can figure a way out of this, you can. I’ll keep the ship in good order. It will be ready and waiting for you.”
The one person who did not visit her was Hitomi Kimura. ‘Trust her,‘ she’d said. How could the Lady Hitomi allow her to be handed over just like that? But where was she? Sigrid had a terrible thought; if Hitomi’s own company had truly turned their back on her, perhaps even the Lady herself was powerless against the influence of the Federation Council. If that were the case, then Sigrid knew to trust herself alone.
She needed to effect her own escape.
They would have to remove her eventually to transfer her to the CTF transport. That’s when she would make her move. They’d be expecting it, but Sigrid was determined. She could not let them take her to Earth.
Sigrid hardly slept for the next few days; it was as if she could feel the CTF transport coming for her, looming ever-closer. The day the ship was to arrive, Sigrid was at her bleakest; she barely looked up from where she lay on her bed when Karen came to see her.
“Hello, Sigrid,” she said.
There was something odd about the way she’d said her name; there was an urgency in her eyes. Sigrid sat up.
“I wanted to come say goodbye. And I wanted to give you something. It’s not much, just a souvenir.” Karen took the Ensign insignia off her collar where it was pinned. She started to hand it to Sigrid through the tiny slot in the door, but the guard in attendance rushed over to stop her.
“Wait!” the guard cautioned, grabbing for Karen’s hand. “You can’t do that. She’s not allowed to have anything.”
Karen twisted her body, holding the pin out of reach of the guard. “No, it’s nothing—it’s just a little pin—completely harmless. See?”
The guard glared at her. “Hand it over.”
“Please…”
“Now!”
The guard held out her hand for the pin, her other hand rested on the handle of her sidearm.
“Oh, all right.” Karen looked reluctant, then thrust the pin into the palm of the guard’s hand, pressing down firmly. The guard was completely startled and began to protest, but the heavy dose of flunitrazepam entered her system and her eyes rolled back in her head.
Karen eased her to the ground, blinking frantically at Sigrid. “Well—come on!”
Sigrid glanced up at the monitors.
“They’re out,” Karen said. “We’ve got two minutes, but we must hurry.”
Sigrid tried the door—to her surprise, it slid open for her.
“Lady Hitomi…” Karen breathed in explanation. She was already busy unzipping the guards uniform and pulling it off her.
“Ah…what are you doing?”
Karen looked confused. “I thought…I thought you could wear her clothes as a disguise…”
Sigrid laughed. “I’ve got something better.” She stripped off the paper coverall she wore, even taking off her socks and underwear.
Karen started with embarrassment as Sigrid stood naked before her. “Um…what are you…?” And then she gasped as Sigrid shimmered and disappeared. “Oh my!”
“Come on,” Sigrid said, suddenly right next to her, causing Karen to squeal in astonishment.
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises.” Karen reached out with her hands, touching Sigrid, as if to make sure she was still there for real.
“I could say the same of you. Careful! That tickles.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re taking an awful risk doing this.”
“You saved my life. I can’t stand by and let them do this to you.”
Karen led her out into the guard room. There were three security personnel there; two at monitoring stations and one man, a corporal, who appeared to be supervising. Sigrid noticed the younger of the two guards give Karen a subtle, knowing look.
“One moment, Ensign,” the corporal’s voice boomed out, stopping Karen cold.
She turned, lashes fluttering an innocent who me? look. Sigrid rolled her eyes.
“You need to sign out,” he explained, extending a pad to her and unfolding it.
“Oh—right.”
Karen was about to put her thumb to the pad when one of the guards at the monitor called out, “Sir! She’s gone!”
“What?” The corporal turned and headed for the monitor.
Sigrid knew she’d only have a moment before they keyed the alarm. She hurled herself at the corporal, grabbed him by the neck and clocked him hard on the back of the head. He collapsed sack-like to the ground. Sigrid had lost the shrouding effect and the two guards stared in shock at the abrupt sight of the wild, naked girl appearing in front o
f them. One of the guards rose from his chair, hand moving to his sidearm; Sigrid kicked him in the throat, sending him sprawling. She was on him quickly, jabbing him with her fist, applying pressure exactly as Rosa had drilled into her. He made a gurgling sound and his shoulders drooped. He was out.
The last guard had his hands raised, but Sigrid already knew he’d been the one who had helped them. She walked slowly to him. “Sorry, but this is for your own good.”
“No—wait!”
Sigrid sent a measured punch to his mouth; his knees buckled, threatening to give way.
“Ow!” he cried. “Thanks a bunch.” He wiped the blood from his torn and swelling lip with the back of his hand
“It’ll leave a nice mark, but there’ll be no lasting damage—and you still have your teeth…”
“I’ll try to remember that…”
Karen tossed a set of binders to Sigrid.
The guard, still holding his jaw, looked imploringly at Sigrid. “Oh, man?”
“Sorry. But there’ll be fewer questions for you.”
Karen quickly bound the other two guards and the two girls ran outside, where a large, black ground-car was waiting for them. Sigrid and Karen piled in the back.
“You!” Sigrid cried, staring across at Hitomi Kimura seated opposite them.
“I told you to trust me,” Hitomi said, with a broad smile. She tapped the glass that separated them from the driver, and he gunned the car forward. “No one harms my girls.”
“Here, put these on,” Karen said, handing Sigrid a bundle of new clothes.
Sigrid took them; it was a Kimura naval uniform. “Only an ensign?” Sigrid said with a wink.
“You’re a little young for Captain,” Hitomi said, amused.
“Hey—I’m an ensign,” Karen protested.
Sigrid chuckled as she dressed quickly in the new Naval uniform while Karen helped tidy her hair, knotting it quickly into a neat bun. She’d just finished buttoning up her collar when the car came to a stop at the security checkpoint off the aerodrome.
“Shhh!” Hitomi cautioned both girls as they saw the fully-armed guard approach the driver-side window. Another guard stood a few feet back, also holding a rifle.
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