by Kate MacLeod
“Can Tubbins be moved?” Viola asked, brushing past Scout to get to the bar.
“I should think so,” Warrior said. “He’s going to sleep pretty deeply until the nanite is done working, and he’ll be groggy for a bit after that. But no reason you can’t keep him near you.” Warrior scooped up the sleeping cat and poured him into Viola’s waiting arms.
“I’m so sorry for this,” Scout said, but Viola just nodded, clutching her cat close to her chest and passing through the communications room and barracks to her private space beyond. “Come on, Girl,” she said, and Girl got clumsily to her feet.
Ebba and Ottilie were packed together in one narrow bunk near the door. Ruth was getting Clementine settled on the opposite side of the room one bed further on. Liv had moved herself from her chair to the bottom bunk two beds down from Ebba and Ottilie and was using a handheld device to direct her chair to park itself at the open space near the closed door to Viola’s room.
Scout frowned at the zigzag pattern of the taken beds. Clearly no one wanted to be right next to anyone else, but there were no more open beds a bunk apart from the others. She was going to be annoying somebody, whatever her choice.
“You should take a top bunk,” Warrior said from behind where she was hesitating in the doorway.
“With the dogs?”
“Precisely. We need to be sure they don’t go wandering about looking for more trouble. If they try to get down from up there, they’ll wake you doing it.”
Scout could see this was true. Shadow could make such a jump, but Girl would likely break something. She picked up Shadow first and put him up on the bunk near the door, across from Ebba and Ottilie, but once she was up in it they’d be out of sight from each other. Warrior helped her hoist the squirming Girl up, then Scout pulled herself up after.
“Where are you going to be?” she asked Warrior.
“I don’t sleep much,” Warrior said. “I’ll probably pass the time in the communications room, watching information flow.”
“And standing guard?” Scout guessed.
“That too.”
They were both distracted by a soft whining sound that turned out to be coming from Clementine; it seemed she didn’t want Ruth to leave her even to move to the bed directly across the corridor. Ruth gave in with a sigh, lying down at the very edge of the bed. She didn’t look comfortable, and Scout doubted she’d get much sleep while balancing like that. Ottilie and Ebba were tucked in together like spoons and seemed to be already fast asleep. But Scout couldn’t fault Ruth for not wanting to cuddle up to that strange little girl.
“Good night,” Warrior said, patting Scout’s knee before turning to head back into the communications room. Scout took off her boots and set them on a shelf that ran alongside the bunk, built into the wall of the room. She put her hat next to it, then slipped off her father’s shirt and wadded it up before stuffing it on the shelf too. Shadow was already pawing at the blanket and sheet, wanting to get under the covers. Girl was not so picky. She waited for Scout to get herself and Shadow situated in the bedding, then flopped down at the foot of the bunk, her head on Scout’s ankle. She seemed to be looking into the communications room, the light from the screens reflecting off her eyes.
A moment later, now that everyone had gone still, the barracks light shut off with a soft click and the greenish glow from those screens was the only light in the room. Scout tucked an arm under her head.
She had slept in caves before, but never so far underground. She tried to guess how deep they were, remembering the sloping corridor that had taken them down this way, then the spiral staircase. But it was hard to judge; the land here was still rolling hills, and the entrance they had found had been at the top of one of those hills. If they weren’t under a hill now, they might not be all that deep.
Surely there’d be more time for exploring in the morning, especially now that Viola was bending and even becoming welcoming. Perhaps there’d even be jolo.
Scout slipped into a restful sleep, her hand on Shadow’s warm belly feeling the soft rise and fall as he breathed.
Then there was a thump, and the air was full of screams.
13
Warrior charged into the room and the lights snapped back on. Scout kept Shadow tucked close to her and leaned out into the room to see Ruth lying facedown on the floor. Well, that had been inevitable, precariously perched as she had been.
Only Ruth wasn’t moving. And someone was still screaming, one continuous blast of sound without seeming to need to draw breath.
“Stop it,” Warrior said calmly as she knelt by Ruth’s side. “Calm yourself.”
Girl was growling, her hackles rising into a terrifying ridge of black fur. Ebba got out of her bunk and crossed over to sit on the edge of Clementine’s bunk, pulling the girl into a tight hug. At last the screaming stopped as suddenly as it had begun.
“She’s dead,” Scout said. Warrior nodded.
“How?” Liv demanded.
The door to Viola’s room snapped open and Viola stood there in a flannel nightgown and a fierce scowl that only deepened when she saw Warrior kneeling over Ruth’s still form.
“What happened?” she demanded.
“I don’t know,” Warrior said to both of them. “But she’s dead. Cold already, even.”
“Natural causes?” Ebba asked softly. “She really didn’t look well.”
“No, she didn’t,” Warrior agreed. “I can test for a few things. I’ll bring her out to the table so I can get a better look.”
“Not the table, we eat on that!” Viola said. “She’ll fit on the bar, like the cat.”
Warrior gathered Ruth up into her arms, turning her over in the process. Her hair spilled around with the movement, covering her face like a veil but leaving slashes of exposed skin that looked bluish under the barracks light.
Scout’s heart clenched coldly. As much as her life was defined by those she loved being dead, she had never been near a dead body before.
Scout kicked back the blankets and reached for her boots. The others were getting up as well, Liv summoning her hover chair as Ottilie went to stand by Ebba’s shoulder.
“We should give her something,” Ottilie said, pointing at Clementine with her chin.
“Sleeping pill?” Viola asked.
“I was thinking hot chocolate,” Ottilie said.
“With a splash of brandy,” Viola said, not quite under her breath. “I can go the rest of my life without hearing that scream again, thank you.”
“She’s not likely to do that again,” Ebba said, pulling the blanket off the bed to wrap around the girl like a shawl, then keeping an arm around her shoulders to guide her back to the kitchen.
Clementine looked up at Scout as she passed the bunk, almost smirking. Strange reaction to having one’s guardian die suddenly while lying next to you on the same bed. Girl’s ongoing growl deepened and Scout put a hand on her head to calm her. Viola was glaring up at the two of them, and Scout leaned over to whisper softly to Girl until she quieted. Only then did Viola follow the others back out to the main room.
Scout put on her shirt and hat and jumped down to the floor to lift the dogs down one by one. They stayed close at her heels through the communications room to the main room beyond. Scout fought back another wave of cold revulsion and made herself cross the room to stand by Warrior’s elbow and watch as she studied the screen of a device shaped like a table standing on needles, which she had stabbed into Ruth’s now-exposed belly.
“That will tell you what killed her?” Scout asked.
“Maybe, if it was something obvious,” Warrior said. “In my line of work, most causes of death are one of the obvious ones, but you never know when you’ll run into something way too unique.”
“Like what?” Scout asked, but Warrior didn’t seem to hear her.
“I was afraid of that,” she said.
“Afraid of what?” Ottilie asked, trying to examine the screen for herself, but nothing was labeled. It
was just an array of colored lines and dots.
“Poison,” Warrior said.
“But there’s not a mark on her,” Ottilie said, picking up Ruth’s arms to examine the pale skin. “It could be just a pinprick, but still.”
“Scout, give me your arm,” Warrior said. Scout readily complied. Warrior had something smaller in her hand that pricked a needle into Scout’s arm, but it was done and she had turned away before Scout could even hiss in a breath from the pain. “Yes, I was afraid that’s what it was.”
“I’m poisoned too?” Scout asked.
“We all are,” Ottilie said, not a guess.
Warrior nodded, still studying her screen.
“There was soup left over, in the kitchen,” Scout said, rubbing at the spot on her arm where the machine had pricked her. There was no blood, only a tiny red dot on her skin like a cherry-colored freckle.
“I can check that. But don’t worry, you didn’t get a fatal dose,” Warrior said.
“What if I ate more than her?” Ottilie asked.
“I can test you,” Warrior said.
“I have antidotes in my medical stores,” Viola said. “Give me the name of the poison and we can all take a dose, just to be sure.”
“How did she die if we all got a nonfatal dose?” Scout asked as Warrior pricked Ottilie’s arm and watched the results on the screen.
“Perhaps an underlying condition,” Warrior said.
“She did look ill,” Ottilie said. “I’ve seen her on video feeds before, and she doesn’t usually look so malnourished.”
“But what does this mean? Who poisoned all of us?” Scout asked. “Is someone in here with us? Someone who followed her out here, trying to kill her? Someone from the rebel group she was trying to meet up with?”
“There’s no one here but you,” Viola said.
“But how can you be sure?” Ottilie asked.
“I saw you all come in, or I did until you took out the camera.”
“Cameras can be worked around,” Warrior said. “Bypassed or slipped past. It happens all the time. Which doesn’t make it the most likely scenario,” she added. She showed the screen to Viola, who nodded and marched off toward the locker room and showers. The medical supplies were down that arm of the complex, Scout guessed.
“What about what Ruth knew?” Scout asked. “She must have had proof. A data file or something.”
“You can look for it if you like,” Warrior said. “I’m not sure if it really matters. Facts so rarely do in things like this.”
Viola came back with a loaded vaccination gun and pressed it to her own bicep while Scout and Warrior watched, flinching as she fired a dose into her own flesh. Then she reached for Scout’s arm.
“I’ll be fine without it,” Warrior said.
“I bet you will,” Viola said. “Didn’t your nanites give you a warning you’d ingested poison?”
“She didn’t eat anything,” Scout said, realizing as she said it that it was true.
“That’s suspicious,” Viola said, narrowing her eyes.
“Not really,” Warrior said blandly. “I require little sustenance, and when I do I have my own supply of high-nutrient liquid. Can’t remember the last time I chewed anything.”
“Ew. Also, kinda sad,” Scout said. Warrior just shrugged.
Ottilie summoned Ebba and Clementine out of the kitchen and Viola gave them each a shot, lastly Liv, who had remained in the communications room studying the screens.
“I watched the playback on all the camera feeds since the beginning of the storm,” Liv said. “No one is in here but us. Which means one of us is a poisoner.”
“I told you so,” Viola said.
“It was your food, and you made it pretty clear you didn’t want us here,” Liv said.
“I ate the same as the rest of you. She didn’t,” Viola said, pointing to Warrior.
“I have no motive,” Warrior said.
“Who does?” Scout asked.
“Who has motive? Now, with war about to break out? The dead woman being someone carrying information to take down her own government? I think that should be pretty obvious,” Liv said, glaring at Ebba.
“Not on your life,” Ottilie said, moving to stand between Ebba and her accuser. “The war is over for us, and it always will be. We’re done.”
“We can point fingers at each other all night, but it’s not going to solve anything,” Warrior said. “You can summon your government officials when the storm breaks and they can run an investigation. They’ll have the equipment and the capability to track the history of the poison, find the buyer or at least the seller. They can get to the bottom of this.”
“This storm is supposed to last for four days,” Viola pointed out.
“I guess we won’t be sleeping much, now that we know we’re all trapped here with a murderer,” Ottilie said.
“I’ll make some coffee,” Ebba said.
“I’ll do it,” Viola said. “No one else goes in my kitchen. I’m programming the doors with alarms and countermeasures. No one leaves this room but me.”
“Quite reasonable,” Warrior said. “For the rest of you, I can test the coffee before you drink it if you’re worried Viola is the poisoner.”
“That means trusting you too,” Liv said. “I’m not sure I do.”
“All you’re trusting is that Viola and I aren’t in league together. Do the math. Or don’t have coffee, I don’t care.”
“What about the body?” Ottilie asked. They all looked at Ruth still laid out on the bar, that strange device perched on her bare stomach.
“Wrap her in a sheet,” Viola said, waving a hand dismissively. Warrior picked Ruth back up and carried her back to the barracks to lay her on one of the bunks. She fussed over her briefly, then came back to the common room, tucking her device away in its place on her belt.
Viola went into the communications room to reprogram the doors. Scout caught her on the way out of that room to the kitchen. “What about the dogs? Are these countermeasures dangerous?”
“Keep them close with you,” Viola said shortly, then headed into the kitchen. An invisible barrier across the doorway lit up green as she passed through it and returned to invisibility.
Scout went back to the shelf where Viola had gotten the thick pad for the dogs to do their business on and took another one down to spread close to one wall near the bar. It was the closest thing to a mattress she was likely to find. The dogs scrambled to curl up close to her as she flopped down, still exhausted from the long day.
“Get some sleep, kid,” Warrior said, pulling one of the barstools over to sit near the pad. “I’ll keep watch. You trust me, right?”
“I do,” Scout admitted. Girl was already conked out, head on Scout’s ankles, but Shadow was fussing over the lack of blanket. He would just have to sleep out in the open for one night, fussy as he was. She stroked around his ears, keeping her head down but certain that even at a whisper Warrior would hear her. “There was someone else, someone no one pointed a finger at.”
“They were all thinking it,” Warrior said, barely loud enough for Scout to hear.
“Clementine,” she said anyway. “She is creepy, and Girl doesn’t like her. Not a bit. Shadow barks at anything and everything, but not Girl. She’s more selective.”
“I’ve noticed that. And yet you keep telling me she’s not all that bright,” Warrior said.
“I don’t know. I guess I trust her gut instinct,” Scout said.
Warrior didn’t say anything for a long time, just watched as the others got settled on the floor. Clementine was still clinging to Ebba as her new protector despite Ottilie’s palpable annoyance. The back of Liv’s hover chair hummed as it moved to a nearly horizontal position, and from somewhere inside the thing she produced a light lap blanket that she drew around her shoulders. Then a canopy slipped over the top, enclosing her as if in an egg. Scout guessed she’d feel pretty safe inside such a thing as well.
Viola emerged from th
e kitchen with a self-heating samovar of coffee, which she plunked down on the table before retreating back to her own room, to her bed and her comatose cat, the doorways flashing green as she passed through them.
Ottilie got up from the floor, fished a mug out of her bag, and filled it from the samovar, then brought it to Warrior perched on the barstool. She held it out without comment and Warrior plucked a gadget from her belt and aimed it at the mug’s contents, then gave a sharp nod. Ottilie nodded back in thanks, then returned to her position on the floor, now with a steaming mug in her hands.
Scout’s eyes were getting heavy, and Shadow’s deep, even breathing and the warmth of his form tucked against her belly were wooing her to sleep.
“I don’t have an official capacity on this planet,” Warrior said, her voice pitched even lower than before. Scout suspected some sort of ventriloquist’s trick, throwing her voice to where only Scout could hear it.
“You’re saying this isn’t your problem?” Scout asked in a whisper.
“No more than it’s yours. If the girl has been poisoning her guardian, is that our concern?”
“She poisoned all of us, though.”
“To get to Ruth. I don’t think she’s likely to do it again. In the meantime, we keep an eye on her, keep her away from the food and water, wait out the storm. The planetary authorities can have her then.”
“You’re saying don’t confront her?” Scout asked.
“I don’t see a reason to. Firstly, we have no real proof. But secondly, we know she’s a threat; she probably knows we know. Enough said.”
Scout was too tired to argue. She could see that Warrior intended to stay awake, and Ottilie was sitting up with the posture of one also intending to stay up all night, eyes on Ebba even as Ebba attempted to soothe the emotionless Clementine.
“Keep your dogs close to you,” Warrior said, her low voice intruding even as Scout started to drift off to sleep. “I’ll watch over you, but keep the dogs close.”