Bridgebuilders

by Marlene Dotterer

  “Shit.” She tapped her ear. “Ned.” Her voice was a whisper. Sarah nodded to herself. It made sense to whisper: they had no way of knowing what Ned’s situation was. Calling was dangerous.

  His answer came quickly, matching her whisper. “Here.” No questions, no demands. That could all wait.

  “There’s a bomb at our coordinates. It’s live. Two-and-a-half hours.”

  “Any Sunnies?”

  “Negative.”

  “There’s a corridor near you. Is it empty?”

  Karen’s brow wrinkled, and the look she sent Sarah and Moira was puzzled. But she pointed with her chin, and Sarah eased the door open a crack, then closed it.

  “Clear.”

  Karen passed the word along.

  “We’re on our way. Out.”

  “Okay,” Karen said to the closed line, and shrugged at her companions. “I suggest we don’t wait for them.”

  She jumped down on light feet, then squeaked in alarm as the door began to open. Her taser was out before Sarah could blink. It was several seconds before they understood it was Ned, rather than a Sunnie guard, who was staring at them.

  “How the feck did you get here so fast?” Karen demanded.

  “They ported,” Moira said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

  How fast the young adapt, Sarah thought.

  “Would ye mind,” Ned said, “not pointing that thing at me?”

  “Porting’s a real timesaver,” Pete said from behind Ned, and Karen finally put her taser down.

  “So let’s use the time we have.” Ned waved the women out of the closet.

  Sarah was surprised when Andy stepped in, holding CERBO. He aimed it at the bomb, tapped a few keys, and just like that, the shelf was empty.

  “Had to lose a few supplies with that one,” Andy said. “It was that, or part of the wall.”

  Moira’s expression as she looked at Andy made Sarah turn away to hide her amusement. Moira looked like she couldn’t decide whether she was impressed or jealous. But then Sarah caught Sam’s eye, and her own emotions confused her: relief that he was all right, happy he was here, and furious that they were still trapped in this outrageous universe. He seemed to feel the same way, as he pulled her to him for a brief hug.

  “We’ve got a pretty safe place we’re using to reconnoiter,” Ned said. “You may as well come with us.”

  Sarah kept hold of Sam’s hand as Andy worked his magic. He’s pretty good with that thing, she thought, and then they were in a room filled with plants. It took a few minutes for all the explanations, but at last, they were all silent, sitting on the floor in a comradely circle, while Pete ran a search for more bombs, and Ned brought Arkady up to date.

  “I just went on the offensive,” Arkady said. “Because you know that Sun will be spinning the news from here. I thought I’d beat ‘em to it.”

  “How’d you do that?”

  “Sent a flash out saying we’d found bombs up here, and showing the manifests that prove Feldman set you up. I said the Sunnies were restricting our movements, but we’re trying to find the rest of the bombs.”

  Ned shook his head. “They’ll just pull the flash, Arkady. No one will get the information.”

  “Don’t sell me short, man.” Arkady was cheerful. “I know a thing or three about getting past the firewalls. Sure, the official channels will just get a few seconds, but underground will be burning up with it. And when NISS is concerned, people pay attention. There’s a reason we’ve got people up here from every country, right?”

  Phil was nodding in vigorous agreement as they all listened. Ned shrugged. “Well it can’t hurt, that’s for sure. It should be obvious at some point, that we’re trying to get rid of the bombs, while Sun is hindering us.”

  “People are getting antsy, up here,” Arkady warned. “They know the lockdown is to keep the area clear for the Sunnies to do their dirty work. People are talking about charging them.”

  “Get themselves killed, is what,” Ned said.

  “Maybe. Some of ‘em are willing to take the chance.”

  “All right. Give us a bit of time to clear some more bombs. Between that, and your news flash, maybe we’ll have ‘em on the run.”

  Ned signed off, shaking his head. “Quit grinning like a fool, Phil. We ain’t won yet.”

  Phil shrugged. “Offense is what we need. Sun wasn’t ready for us this time, and we got them on the run. I say we hit hard and keep it up.”

  “Okay.” Ned spread his hands and tossed the ball to Pete. “How many bombs have you found?”

  “All of them.” Amid their exclamations, Pete tapped a few keys and his display lit up. The large number of red dots silenced everyone. Sarah wondered if they were all as shocked as she was.

  Pete pointed at the display. “There are nineteen left,” he said.

  “Nineteen?” Ned leaned in, his finger tracing a path among the dots. “What are they doing? If that many bombs go off, there won’t be a molecule left of the station.”

  “Can’t figure it.” Pete followed Ned’s finger with narrowed eyes. “We haven’t examined any of the bombs. Maybe they’re all low-charge. Maybe Feldman’s trying to limit damage, but he’s covering all his bases by having them all over the station.”

  “The bastard’s psychotic.”

  “No doubt.” Sam said. “How many of them are live?”

  “Three. No way of knowing what our time frame is.”

  “Fuck me.” Ned whispered it as they all leaned in to examine the display. “Guess we do the live ones first, eh?’

  “That’d be my advice.” Pete tapped a key and three dots began blinking. None of them were near any others.

  Sam entered the coordinates into CERBO. “Let’s get moving, and hope our luck holds.”

  Chapter 35

  The screams brought Feldman out of Dinnie’s office. She knew he was coming by the sudden silence of her team, as if they were withdrawing into themselves. She didn’t bother to look up, couldn’t think past the sick knowledge that Mike was dead. She couldn’t help him. She couldn’t help any of them.

  “What happened here?”

  Dinnie did not look up to see if Feldman had addressed the question to her. The guard answered.

  “Mr. Ontrera was sabotaging the Detector, sir. I ordered him to desist and to step away. He did not obey.”

  “Dr. Warner, what are you doing?” Feldman’s voice was hard.

  Asked a direct question, Dinnie struggled to respond, to think of something coherent to say. All she managed was, “He’s dead.” She still did not look at Feldman.

  “Officer Carmichael, was Dr. Warner a partner in Mr. Ontrera’s sabotage?” Feldman asked, and Dinnie held her breath. What would Carmichael say?

  He took his time answering, but when he spoke, he sounded as if he was sure of what he said. “No sir. She appeared to be as surprised as the rest of us. In fact ...” he trailed off, as if he was now uncertain of his words.

  “In fact, what?”

  “Well sir, I had the impression it was a spontaneous act. There was no plan behind it at all.”

  “I see,” Feldman said. Dinnie heard the message in those words. Feldman knew it had been his own shouting that caused Mike to snap. He began giving orders.

  “Dr. Warner, get this Detector fixed. You, and you,” he pointed to two of the nearest people, “take care of this body. The rest of you, back to work. I don’t have time to baby you.”

  As they moved Mike’s body from her arms, Dinnie saw that Feldman was already back on a call. She didn’t want to be near him, but he was standing next to the Detector. Careful not to look at him, she slid into a chair to look over the damage. Feldman continued to give orders, this time to his henchman on NISS.

  “I can’t trace them anymore, but they’re still there. I want you to turn off the computer.”

  Dinnie was so numb by this time that she did not stop moving at all at this statement, but around her, she sensed everyone pause. To
Dinnie, Feldman’s decision made perfect sense. Turn off the computer on NISS. Lose gravity, life support, and orbital maintenance.

  Of course. One dead person is never enough.

  Rhyder evidently asked for clarification, because Feldman’s next words were as cold as ice. “Then you’ll have to make certain you finish your job in time to start it again, Mr. Rhyder. I trust you understand that it’s your problem, not mine.”

  ~~~

  “We waste time with every bomb, trying to find a space big enough to hold six people. Everyone doesn’t need to go. Send just Phil and Lisa, for protection.” Sam rubbed a hand over his head, frustrated and tired of the argument.

  “Maybe, if it were just you. But you insist that Andy go along, and I’m not taking chances with the only two people who run that machine.” Ned rarely argued with people. He just gave orders and ignored anything he didn’t want to hear. Sam supposed he was lucky that Ned was still responding.

  “Sarah can run CERBO in a pinch.” That was stupid, of course. Still true, though.

  Ned poked a finger in the display. “Send us here. Do it now, we’re losing time.”

  Sam glared at the display but pressed the button, then looked over his shoulder to see a vast expanse of space through a floor-to-ceiling window. He’d known this location was on the outer rim, but wow. That was some view.

  Fortunately, his bodyguards paid attention to their jobs rather than the view. When Phil bashed into him a few seconds later, he knew they were under attack. He curled around CERBO, trying to keep it safe, while over and around him, tasers sizzled. A few terrifying moments later, Pete shouted in his ear, “Crawl left! Stay down!”

  He’d never been in the army, but Sam could belly crawl with the best of them. It was harder with CERBO, but he managed it. He arrived at a console the same time that Andy did. Andy gestured for Sam to go first, and he didn’t argue. Once they were both on the other side, they stayed down, arms over their heads, until they heard Ned yell, “It’s clear! Go!”

  There was still shooting going on, but they both half stood and raced for the corridor where the bomb was. Their guards, four of them as Ned insisted, were keeping the Sunnies busy in the other direction. They leaped over a body blocking the hallway, and followed the rim’s curve until an inner door appeared.

  Which was locked.

  “Damn.” Andy began picking at his Pad. “Hang on, I’ll override this thing ...” Three seconds later, Sam heard the lock beep. At almost the same time, Andy jerked back and tapped the side of his Pad. “What the hell?”

  “What is it?” Sam pushed the door open and peered inside.

  “Don’t know,” Andy said. “Think I lost my connection. Do you see the bomb?”

  “Yeah.” The room was a private office, just a desk, virtual screen and a file cabinet. There were two chairs, and according to his locator, the bomb was attached under the seat of the guest chair. To Sam’s great surprise, that’s where it was.

  Careless. It could have blown up at any time.

  Andy flattened against the doorjamb. “Someone’s coming.”

  Sam sent the bomb to oblivion and turned in time to see Andy relax. “Lisa,” Andy muttered, and they stepped out of the office to meet her.

  “All done,” Sam said.

  “Brilliant,” she said. “Ned says there’s something wrong with the computer.”

  The others turned the corner and joined them. Ned pointed his chin at Andy’s Pad.

  “Is that working?”

  “No. It went down practically the same time I unlocked the door. Good thing I got that done first, or we’d still be trying to get in.”

  “Communications are down,” Ned said. “I can’t get any station interaction at all.”

  “Are they blocking us somehow?” Sam asked.

  “No, it’s worse than that.” Andy was flipping through screens on his Pad. “I think they’ve shut the computer down.”

  Everyone went silent. Sam glanced around the group. “I’m waiting for someone to explain that.”

  “It’s a fail-safe,” Ned said. “Very last-try stuff, in a life-or-death situation. Which I guess they think this is.”

  “You mean the computer that runs the station’s systems?” Sam asked.

  Everyone nodded. “Exactly that,” Ned said. “Systems run on automatic for six hours, but if the computer is not up and running by then, it all goes dark. Gravity, temperature, shielding, that sort of thing”

  “I get it.”

  “We’ve got cached files,” Andy said. He brought up their bomb display, which showed two live bombs still blinking. They’d destroyed one of them, but without the computer, there was no update to show the number of bombs left.

  Ned nodded. “Let’s get the last one, then go back to Hydro and figure out our next step.”

  Sam ported them to their selected spot, an exercise area. There were no Sunnies, but everyone surrounded Sam and Andy anyway, tasers out and watching for opposition. Andy, who was holding the bomb display, pointed to a door off to the left. Sam tried the handle, relieved when it turned. But there came a sound of scrabbling from inside, and Phil stepped between Sam and the door. Lisa motioned Sam and Andy to back off and she took up a position behind Phil, while Pete and Ned continued to guard the room.

  Phil kicked the door, which slammed against the wall. But instead of entering, he dropped his taser and raised both hands. Behind him, Lisa did the same, her face twisted into a bitter scowl. Sam realized that whoever was in the room could probably not see anyone other than Phil and Lisa. That gave them an advantage. But to do what? He needed to see where the bomb was. Then from inside the room, he heard a voice, young and nervous, but filled with defiance.

  “You’re smart, aren’t you? Not going to mess with me, right? Right, that’s good. Let’s just all stay still a while, eh?”

  Phil nodded once. “We aren’t moving, kid, I promise.” His voice was soothing, as if he were talking to a frightened animal. Sam began to get a sick feeling of what Phil and Lisa were seeing. Phil continued.

  “Have you really thought about this, mate? It isn’t necessary.”

  “Yes it is,” the voice yelled back. “You’re interfering with the government. You’re stinking rebels, and we’ve got to get rid of you.”

  “No need for you to blow yourself up, though,” Phil said. “You can take it off and let it do its damage without you.”

  “No, I can’t. You’ll move it off the station just like the others ...”

  Sam stepped up next to Phil, and the kid stopped talking, snapping the gun he’d had on Phil to aim it at this new threat. He was around Moira’s age. His face was colorless, except for his eyes, which glittered dark and terrified through beads of sweat falling from his forehead. He wore a Sunnie uniform, and wrapped around his ribcage was a belt of explosives. Near his hip, a clock counted down. Two minutes.

  “Put that down,” the kid demanded, pointing at CERBO. “Put your hands up.”

  “Do you know how we’re moving the bombs off?” Sam asked. “Did your superiors tell you anything?”

  “I don’t need to know it,” the kid said. “I do what’s necessary.”

  “Then let me tell you,” Sam said. “I press this button that my thumb is on, and the bomb is instantly transported into space, away from the station. Instantly. There’s no way to take it back. If I could, I’d narrow the field to just the bomb, but I can’t discriminate that much. It’s wrapped around you, you go with it. Please don’t make me do that.”

  “Fuck you. I’m willing to die for what’s right.”

  “Right doesn’t want you dead, kid.” Sam stole a glance at the time. One minute, 25 seconds. The hand he kept poised over the button was visibly shaking. “What’s your name?”

  The kid’s bloodless lips tightened and he renewed his grip on his gun.

  “Mine is Sam. In the next few seconds one of us is going to kill the other. Can we at least exchange names?”

  He could see the kid re
asoning through it, trying to decide if his superiors would like it. Next to Sam, and behind him, his comrades stayed still, silent. Giving Sam a chance. One minute, five seconds. The kid’s jaw twitched, and he finally spoke. “Benjamin.”

  Sam nodded. “Benjamin. Benjamin, I don’t want you to die. You don’t really want to, do you?”

  “It’s my part.” His chin came up. “I volunteered. So you fucking rebels don’t win.”

  “Nobody wins if you die, Benjamin. You’re so young. You have your whole life to live. I know there are things you want to do.” Forty seconds. Sam began to choke on his words. “Please Benjamin, take it off. Just put it on the ground and I’ll get rid of it.”

  The gun wavered, then leveled. “No.”

  “Please don’t make me kill you. Take it off. You’ll live. We’ll make sure you’re okay.”

  Thirty seconds.

  “Please Benjamin. I’m begging you, don’t make me do this. Please. Dear God, please.”

  Twenty seconds.

  Benjamin was shaking as hard as Sam was, the gun he held jerking in uncontrollable directions. Sam felt the heat of his glittering dark eyes, staring right into him. He curled his fingers back, exposing the one finger hovering over CERBO’s button. He yelled.

  “Take it off!”

  “No!”

  “Don’t make me kill you!”

  “No!”

  Sam jabbed the button. Benjamin disappeared before the final tones of his last word reached their ears.

  “Nah!” Sam clutched CERBO to his heart and swung a vicious kick into the wall, then kept kicking, each one punctuated with his screams of rage. Then he put his back to the wall and sank down, sobbing into his knees.

  No one said anything, until Andy knelt beside him, and with gentle hands, pulled CERBO from his grip. “Let me take us back, Sam.”

  Chapter 36

  “I can’t talk to Arkady with the computer down.” Ned was tapping his Pad, as if he thought that would bring communications back. Moira thought he looked older than he had when she first met him a few hours ago.