Desperately, she looked around her for any place to take cover, and as she did so, she saw that a third ‘car was arriving. It was coming up fast behind the first two machines, and behind it, was a police cruiser. Which meant that whoever was flying the Metro ‘car, was probably in Angelique’s employ as well.
Maya didn’t have the luxury of wondering about this however, or worrying over the fact that the odds against her had just gotten exponentially worse. Pavement began to shatter all around her as the lead ‘car’s railguns let loose and ranged in.
Crying out in terror, she covered her head and ran as fast as her injured leg would allow, embracing her symbiote every few seconds to avoid the slugs that were raining down. Pieces of masonry, shattered and sent flying by the attack, slashed at her flesh in a hundred small places every time she came back into the normal time-stream.
But adrenaline, and the desperate animal urge to escape, overrode any sense of pain. The only thing that dominated her consciousness was the imperative of getting out of the range of the hovercar’s guns.
Fighting a black wave of symbiote-induced nausea, she spotted a stairwell and threw herself down into it. She hit the cement treads with her shoulder, grunting in agony as she half-rolled, half-tumbled to the grimy bottom. There was a door there, and struggling to her feet, she reached for the latch and instantly regretted the decision. The fall had injured her right side, and she could barely raise her arm. Working with her left, she tried the latch. It was, of course, securely locked.
The whooshing sound of a missile being fired filled her ears next. This is where I’m going to die, she thought. Here, at the bottom of a dirty stairwell in an alley.
As she prepared to feel the explosion rip her apart, another noise replaced the missile’s engine. It was the sound of pieces of metal hitting the ground, immediately followed by another set of rockets going off, and then the hollow report of explosions.
Somehow, and against all odds, Maya realized that she was still alive. Gingerly, she worked her way back up the stairs to take stock of her situation.
It wasn’t easy to manage. Her left leg was now all but useless, and putting any weight on it was excruciating. Instead, she was forced to rely on her right, and what support the stair rail offered. When she was almost at the top, she lowered herself, and peeked over the lip of the landing.
The first pair of aircars had vanished. In their place were two columns of smoke coming up from behind the buildings across from her. She couldn’t tell if this had anything to do with the vehicles, or if they had been caused by all the ordnance that they had been throwing around. The only machines that were still in the air were the third ‘car and the police cruiser. And they were descending.
Frantically, Maya reached for her needle gun, and to her horror, she realized that somewhere in the chase, or perhaps during the fall from Rebá, she had lost it. The only weapon that she had at hand was a stubby sheath knife that she carried on her leg.
She drew the knife and retreated back down the stairs, crouching as far into the meager shadows as the space allowed. Clearly, her pursuers had chosen to come at her on foot, and she had every intention of taking at least one of them out with her.
Then someone called her name. Maya stayed right where she was though. It was the oldest trick in the universe, and she wasn’t about to fall for it. She liked her head right where it was; attached to her neck and not splattered all over the place.
Another voice sounded from above. This time it was behind her. “Maya! Come out!”
She knew this voice. It was Signysdaater.
This was when enough of the shock wore off for her to finally recognize who the first speaker had been. It was Skylaar taur Minna.
“Maya, please come out,” the Nemesian urged. “We have to get moving.” Cautiously, Maya raised her head and saw her martial arts teacher and then Signysdaater. Both women were toting military energy rifles.
“Gaane an, rookie,” Signysdaater said, “ve have to get you za fek out of here!”
“Wait—!“ Maya protested, shaking off the hand the kaaper had placed on her good arm. “What’s going on?”
“Zere’s no time to explain,” Signysdaater replied. “Ve have to go bevore zey zend back-up.”
Skylaar nodded in agreement. “Things are not as you think, Maya. But this is not the time or the place to explain.”
Reluctantly, Maya allowed Signysdaater to help her, and using the woman’s shoulder for support, let herself be led to the cruiser.
“I will follow you,” Skylaar told the policewoman. “Go to Euxine Regional Spaceport.”
Signysdaater inclined her head affirmatively. “Yah, zat zounds good. You keep zem off us, if zey come nozing around, ‘kay?”
“I will,” Skylaar promised.
Using the First Aid kit from the cruiser, Signysdaater quickly dressed the largest of Maya’s wounds and as soon as she was satisfied with her work, took the pilots seat. When the machine rose up into the sky, Maya finally discovered what the source of the smoke had been. Down below them, the two aircars that had been chasing her were engulfed in flames. To her eye, any survivors seemed highly unlikely.
She also knew who had destroyed them. It had been Skylaar. Her teacher had just killed several agents to save her life. And Signysdaater had helped her to do it. They would both be hunted women now, just like she was.
But that was what real friends did for one another. Despite the potential consequences, they stuck together. They were loyal.
As incredible as it seemed, her gamble had actually paid off. For once, friendship was not a lie. It felt good.
***
Dana bel Hanna breathed a virtual sigh of relief. Skylaar had had Maya under constant surveillance ever since she had come back to Thermadon, and Signysdaater had assisted her. But when Angelique had sent the kill order, Maya’s file had been locked to everyone but her hunters.
Although the onboard AI’s of the two aircars had resisted her efforts to coopt them, it had been a relatively simple matter to append the restriction, and re-add the veteran kaaper and the Nemesian.
And just as she had anticipated, they had rushed to Maya’s rescue. The fact that the RSE computers had detected the change, and reported it, was regrettable, but in the end, this damage could not be undone, and it was the outcome that really mattered.
Maya was alive. To be sure, it had been a close thing, and the young woman had certainly played a decisive role in ensuring her own survival. But she was, just as her dossier suggested, a very resourceful and tenacious girl, and now that she was safe, and among friends, Bel Hanna felt far less trepidation about the future. Together, they would see to it that she met her destiny.
Erasing the data trail that pointed back to her, she was sorely tempted to return to her re-write of the Encyclopedia Soriritas, and other acts of sabotage that she had in progress.
She also knew better. Her work in Thermadon was done for the moment, and possibly forever.
Instead, she conducted a search and located the C-JUDI-GO. Once she found it, she severed her links with the Encyclopedia and transferred herself over to the little ship. The resident AI, although sophisticated enough to handle the business of managing the JUDI, was no match for her. In just a few seconds, she breached its security and found a place for herself deep within its data base. There, she settled in and waited.
From this point on, ‘Judi’ would be the mask that she would wear for the next part of her performance. To anyone unaware of the situation, this might have seemed a miniscule role compared to her tenure aboard the Athena, or what she had set in motion throughout the omniplex.
In reality, it was far more important. The fate of the Sisterhood, and even the very galaxy itself, hinged upon what would happen next. And although no one except the Galaxy Mind itself would ever know it, the outcome of their little drama might utterly depend on the part she would play in it. In time, it was possible that she would find a point where she would be able to let her mask d
rop, and reveal herself, but first, the play had to end and the curtain had to drop. Until then, she would have to be the JUDI.
Euxine Regional Spaceport, Euxine, Thermadon, Myrene System, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1049.01|13|08:01:21
Euxine Regional Spaceport was one of the dozens of smaller landing fields that serviced Thermadon. It acted as an overflow for traffic coming downside from space and tended to be sparsely visited except for the occasional private starship, and a handful of merchanters. It also lacked a manned control tower, and used an automated system instead.
As a result, when the two aircars landed at the edge of the runways, the few people that were around took no notice of the fact that one of the passengers had to be helped aboard the CSS C-JUDI-GO. They also didn’t pay attention to the fact that a police vehicle had delivered her, or that the aircar which had accompanied it was being abandoned to fly home on its own.
Inside the JUDI, and out of view, Zara and Jeena met Maya and her companions in the cargo bay. The Engineer was carrying the ship’s portable medkit.
“Oh, Maya,” she said, clucking her tongue at all the bandages. “You’re a fekking mess. Can’t leave you alone for one nano, can we?
Maya smiled weakly. “You should see the other girl.”
“Let’s take her to Sarah’s cabin,” Zara instructed. “I’ll work on the leg there.” No one, not even Maya, argued with this. In addition to her role as the Ship’s Engineer, Zara was also a paramedic. This was a legacy from her days in the Star Service, when she had served with Bel Lissa aboard a tiny interceptor where such cross-training among the crew was mandatory.
When they reached Sarah’s bed, Maya was eased down onto it and Zara brought out an applicator bottle from her kit.
“This’ll help with the pain, and make you rest,” she said, turning Maya’s arm over to expose her inocular. Whatever was in the bottle hit Maya quickly and the pain in her leg began to fade.
She was starting to become drowsy just as Jeena came into the cabin, carrying an armload of objects. One of them was her sword, and another was her bodysuit. Maya managed a weak grin, glad for the sight of her most precious possessions. In her flight, she had thought them lost to her forever.
“Where do you want this stuff?” the neoman asked.
“Just in the corner for now,” Zara told him, and then to Maya, “We had Jeena pop by your apartment to pick them up. Thought you’d want ‘em.”
Maya was now more confused than ever. “There were agents there—how did you get in?”
“It was easy,” Jeena answered nonchalantly. “One jumpsuit is pretty much the same as another. I just told them I was with maintenance and that you were being evicted. They were real nice. They let me right in.”
Then the neoman spotted something on Maya’s bodysuit and quickly produced a rag to wipe it away. It looked very much like blood, but she was becoming so groggy that she wasn’t certain.
“Oh, sorry, I must have missed that,” he grinned, “There! All clean now.”
“W-what--?
“Later,” Zara insisted. “Now rest. I’ve got to get this metal out of your leg and then we’ve got to get the ship clear. You know how Inish is without anyone to help her—all thumbs. She’ll fly us right into a star if I don’t keep an eye on her.”
Maya was too tired to laugh. She closed her eyes, and let the darkness take her.
***
Sarah had always considered herself to be a detail-oriented person, but somehow, she had neglected the obvious. And as far as she was concerned, Angelique had every right to be angry with her.
Maya’s memory should have been scrubbed, and her symbiote locked off. But for some reason that she couldn’t fathom, she had simply forgotten to take care of these important tasks.
How could I have been so stupid? she asked herself. How could I have let things go this far?
For anyone else, the shock of Trina’s death might have been a good enough reason, but Sarah had been an agent for too long to allow herself to hide behind such an excuse. She had simply become complacent, she decided. Now, she would have to clean up the mess.
Even though Maya had covered her tracks well, and had somehow managed to evade the agents who had been sent to terminate her, Sarah knew where she had gone, and she had a fair idea of who had helped her get there.
“Aria,” she said to her aircar’s AI, “Bel Sharra. Search for the JUDI’s berth. Let me know if they are still downside.”
A moment passed before the AI returned with her results. “The C-JUDI-GO is still downside. They are not at Bel Sharra however. They have docked at the Euxine Regional Spaceport. Shall I divert us there?”
“Yes,” Sarah replied. “Use the police lanes, and expedite. I don’t care how much fuel we have to burn to do it, just get me there as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, mistress,” Aria answered. Right away the car gained altitude, activated its RSE transponder, and entered the emergency flightlanes. Then the afterburners engaged.
***
Skylaar was waiting on the JUDI’s cargo ramp when Sarah arrived, but she wasn’t surprised to see her. Her presence merely confirmed everything that she had suspected. Maya was there, and for some reason the Nemesian had aided in her escape.
She drew her needlegun and pointed it at her. “Are you going to try and stop me?” she asked. She didn’t want to fight her friend, but she would if she had to. Too much was at stake.
“No,” Skylaar replied calmly. “In fact, I’ll take you to her. She’s in your cabin right now, under sedation.”
Sarah blinked in surprise, but she knew by reading the woman, that she wasn’t lying. “Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Practical necessity,” Skylaar answered. “I am a professional after all. I understand the odds, and my situation.”
Sarah immediately detected the slight taint of a lie in her words, but it was so subtle that she couldn’t puzzle it out. She decided to play along until Skylaar betrayed herself.
“Lead on,” she said.
The Nemesian turned on her heels and walked up the ramp. Sarah kept a careful distance from her, ready to embrace her symbiote and watching for any sign that the situation was about to change.
But the woman’s manner remained relaxed, and when they reached the cabin, Skylaar entered it and took up a place in the corner where she could be kept under observation. As incredible as it seemed, Skylaar taur Minna was cooperating. And just as she had indicated, Maya was there, and completely unconscious.
Keeping Skylaar in view, Sarah walked up to the bedside. A sharp pang of doubt stabbed at her as she looked down at the young woman, but she had expected as much, and quickly suppressed the emotion. Although she had come to feel a deep affection for her—and even a certain degree of love--she knew what had to be done.
It wasn’t the first time that she had contemplated killing Maya by any means. Their initial encounter at the spaceport had been the first. The second had come the night that Maya had been given the choice to either join the JUDI, or pay the ultimate penalty. On both occasions, Maya had been allowed to live.
Now, here they were, and Sarah’s choice was between sparing her, and what the Conversâzi required. There really wasn’t any question in her mind about which it would have to be. The chance to rescue the Sisterhood from its moral decay, and lift it up from its weakness, was too great a thing to sacrifice for the sake of just one woman. No matter who she was.
She knew that she would hate herself for what she was about to do, and that she would store the pain of it with all the other hurt that she had locked away. It would go into a dark, secret place in her soul. A place that Trina, and now Angelique, had the key to. It was what she had done ever since the very first time she had been compelled to take a human life.
Without even asking for it, or wanting to see it, the memory of that distant event resurfaced, just as clearly as if it had happened only the day before. The victim had been a fellow agent, and she had betrayed her comrad
es to a cartel of glass dealers in exchange for a promise of safety and credits. Her actions had cost the other operatives their lives, and Sarah’s mentor, Lady Ananzi, had chosen her to be the executioner.
She could still feel the rain hammering down on the three of them, and the pitiful expression on the woman’s face as she cringed on her knees, pleading with them for her life. They had been friends before her betrayal, Sarah recalled. But she had still pressed the trigger. She had still taken care of business.
And she would do the same thing now, she vowed. She would do it quickly. One squeeze of the trigger was all it would take. Then, when it was over, she could hate herself just a little more than she already did. Over the years, she had discovered that this, and not some flaming Marionite afterlife, was what hell really was, and she was as much a prisoner of it as any sinner.
That didn’t change the facts however, or the demands of duty.
She lifted the needlegun, placing it almost tenderly against Maya’s temple and glanced at Skylaar, half-expecting her to intervene. The Nemesian remained still however.
Her finger moved to the trigger, and she willed herself not to close her eyes. That was the coward’s way, and she owed Maya more than that. Then she began to squeeze.
Inexplicably, her digit froze as if it possessed a will of its own. She redoubled the effort, and when nothing changed, she switched the weapon over to her left hand, with the same shocking result.
She could not shoot. Something had been done to her, and for a split second, Sarah wondered if Skylaar had hidden the fact that she was actually a psi herself. It was the only explanation that she could think of.
Immediately, she turned the weapon on the Nemesian, and made another attempt to fire--and failed again. She couldn’t detect any sign of talents coming from Skylaar though. Something else was intervening, and whatever it was, was absolutely irresistible, and utterly invisible to her senses.
“What is this!?” she demanded. “What have you done to me!?”
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