The Cleanway

by Tim Niederriter

  “That shouldn’t be,” said Kamuek. “There’s no way it had that much physical ammunition on board.”

  Ryan chewed his lip. “Could it be that someone doesn’t want this ship investigated?”

  Alesia glanced at them. “I’m not seeing anyone else down there.”

  “We’ve done what we can,” said Kamuek. “Keep looking for anything suspicious while I take the ship north.”

  “Yes, Captain,” said Alesia.

  She seems glad to be in a military power structure again, Ryan thought. He and Conner continued to scan the forest, looking for the renegades, survivors, and whoever had collapsed the barrier. He suspected the renegades, but without a motive behind them, he couldn’t be sure.

  Uncertainty covered everything so far. No information, but plenty of trouble went with the encounter. Who sent this ship? Sudhatho? Another high aeon?

  Ryan grimaced and kept searching as the ship pulled north.

  The small light ship lowered in front of the van, a good distance ahead, but barring our movement forward. Ryan’s presence was obvious aboard the boot-shaped vessel, along with the minds of the rest of his team. He sent me a message.

  Jeth, I know you have one of the renegades with you. Let my team take her in. We’ll find out what she knows.

  I agreed immediately, grateful for the chance to put some distance between myself and my friends, and this dangerous woman. Then I tapped Thomas on the arm from my position behind the driver’s seat.

  “Hey, Ryan wants to help us with our unfriendly passenger.” I motioned to Carol, who lay slumped in the seat behind me next to Rebecca.

  Thomas frowned. “Since when does Ryan have the pull to requisition an aeon’s ship?”

  “No idea,” I said, “but he’s definitely on board.”

  “Fine,” said Thomas. “I suppose its for the best.” He gradually braked, so the van stopped about ten meters from the light ship’s floating hull, which hung less than a meter from the ground. Such precise flying made me wonder how the machine really worked, but I doubted I’d ever have the chance to find out.

  People looked from windows and the sides of the street as Rebecca and I carried Carol out of the van. Ryan and the former purifier, Alesia, met us halfway to the light ship. They took Carol.

  Ryan nodded to me. “Thanks. We’ll make sure she gets questioned properly.”

  He grunted as he and Alesia carried Carol back to the light ship. The two of them looked awkward, with her being considerably taller and stronger, but they made it back and took Carol inside through a hatch on the back of the boot, under the glowing power sphere.

  Rebecca turned to me. “I hope I never have to see her again.”

  “Me too. But this isn’t over. Those other three renegades are still out there.”

  “I know.”

  She led the way to the van. We both climbed back into the passenger’s seats. Elizabeth glanced us. “You think they’ll treat her fairly?”

  “Fairly?” Thomas snorted. “She almost killed us.”

  “She could have, but she didn’t,” said Elizabeth. “Is it weird I feel bad for her?”

  “Yes,” said Thomas, “and that’s because she’s as crazy as any rogue star.”

  “The barrier collapsed,” I said. “Do you think Yashelia is free?”

  Thomas shook her head. “The sentry will get her.” He set his jaw, and I didn’t have the heart to disagree.

  The light ship climbed vertically from street level. Soon, it was flying away over steep rooftops and moved north against the same stiff wind breaking against the van’s front window.

  We rode in silence for a while, but Rebecca spoke up as we approached Lotdel Tower.

  “Thomas, the sentry is resourceful. Whether she stops Yashelia or not, I’m sure she’ll make it out of the garden.”

  “I hope you’re right” Thomas’ voice sounded tight. “I wasn’t kidding when I said she owes me for the train station.”

  Elizabeth managed to smile, though her face still looked pale. “Right. She doesn’t seem like the sort to forget that kind of thing.”

  Thomas chuckled. “Look at me, I barely know anything about this person, and I already care. Jeth, Liz, I think you two are rubbing off on me.”

  I laughed, hoping it did not seem too strange, and we drove back into the parking garage under Lotdel Tower.

  Secure Memory, Anonymous Identity, Animal Monitor Feed

  A lone crow winged his way over the canals and thoroughfares of the city, oblivious to the alterations tapping into his senses. But it noticed the smoke. A plume of acrid black billowed from a metallic spear shoved with its broken end into the side of the canal.

  Security technicians would soon swarm the site to clear the wreckage from where it impeded the canal. Before that, however, there would be security and purifier teams sent in to ensure safety and verify the disappearance of the rogue star.

  The crow did not consider the coming events. He simply glided as far from the stinking smoke as he could, as if he understood the true danger posed by the garden. The team of sensor agents watching through his eyes from the hollow sites of the city’s most secret security center took notice the animal never would. The team leader thought the bird was smarter than he seemed.

  Sure, sensocycling could be useful, but if one knew where to find eyes and ears, the feeds provided less ichor-intensive ways of keeping track of people.

  Then the team switched sensor sets to get closer views.

  Secure Memory, Anonymous Identity, Animal Monitor Feed

  The stray cat perched on a concrete overhang across the canal from the burning garden cared even less about the fire than the crow. She rolled her head back and tried to catch the sunlight the best she could, now that the warmest part of the day had arrived. Her tail flicked back and forth, satisfied with her last meal.

  Her eyes remained half-closed but pointed at the opposite side of the canal.

  Two humanoid figures, one huge and gray, the other smaller, slimmer, and spotted with gold-flowing wounds, reached the edge of the crash site.

  Only the lead agent on the sensory team recognized the pair of aeons. An electric charge ran down her spine at the sight of them, and she immediately relayed the rest of her team to switch. She would keep an eye on these two. As soon as the others switched, she sent a message over the secure channel to the office of her real boss.

  Sudhatho would be very interested to hear about this. The team leader smiled. Perhaps a raise was in her feature.

  She stored the records of her observations in a secure part of her psyche and locked them away. She doubted anyone would come looking, but when dealing with sensitive material, one could not be too careful.

  The team leader cleared the security logs created automatically when she first spotted Yashelia and Tooth. That would be between her and Sudhatho. No one else needed to know.

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, Purifier Secure Site

  Ryan waited outside the interrogation room, watching Carol through the two-way mirror. After the application of two internal regeneration patches, the renegade soldier seemed healthy enough for questioning. She sat at the desk in the small room, looking deceptively small and fragile. However she looked, Ryan wondered how much he could get from her, given her and her team’s shadowy position.

  They appeared to lack a strong motive, but that must be an illusion. Something drove these people. Ryan would find it, he promised himself. The renegades had been soldiers. His background research into Cannwald’s information confirmed that. However, the battle they had fought in had gone unreported in the general media.

  That was suspicious.

  Ryan finished his mental preparations. He stepped back from the window.

  A thick-necked, bald, purifier interrogator, Linniker walked past Ryan and unlocked the door to the cell.

  The woman glanced at Ryan. “You gonna join me, Detective?”

  “Of course, Captain.” Ryan removed his black gloves and stuff
ed them into the back pocket of his trousers. Memeotecture was mostly blocked at this black site, but touch could still connect two people.

  She grunted and scratched the tattoo of a bear face and claws that climbed one side of her neck. Such body-art existed throughout the city, but the bear belonged to a unit of military rangers. Until recently, ex-military purifiers had elicited more curiosity from Ryan than suspicion, but thanks to Sudhatho one replaced the other. He followed the interrogator into the room where Carol sat.

  “Hey Butch,” said Carol when she saw the bald captain, “And Tiny,” she added, as Ryan entered. “Let me guess, he’s the good cop.”

  Captain Linniker scowled. “Carol Avery, I know that’s not your real name, but let’s work with what we have.”

  Ryan knew Carol’s enlisted name from the files Cannwald shared with him and the team. He kept that to himself, not seeing any point in letting on more than necessary. Any advantage could prove useful.

  Linniker prowled to the table where Carol sat. “The admin staff remembered you. Not so polite now, are you?”

  Carol shrugged. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

  Ryan frowned. “You do know this site is strictly off-the-books. Your friends will never find you.”

  “They aren’t looking for me.” Carol slumped slightly.

  “Why not?” asked Linniker. “Your accomplices came east together, and now they’ll just abandon one of their own.”

  “Not something you rangers would understand,” said Carol, “but then, you always were better at grunt work than anything requiring a brain.”

  Linniker seethed with poorly-concealed anger. “The only way you leave this site in one piece is if you talk. Tell us the truth, Carol.”

  The renegade grimaced. “I have a feeling you wouldn’t like what you hear if I did.”

  “Try us,” said Linniker, “and believe me…” she motioned for Ryan to approach the table, “I’m the good cop here.”

  Carol raised her eyebrows. “Do your worst, Tiny.”

  “You heard her,” said Linniker. “Do it.”

  He sat down across from her, and then grabbed her wrist.

  The moment their skin touched, he had access. His preparation over the last hour had been to martial an army of attack drones, info-probes, and decoy divers, all so he could break through Carol’s most sophisticated defenses.

  Her system should be dry of ichor thanks to that rogue star relieving her of her supply the previous night. Even someone skillful enough to control cleans by remote would not last long against his assault while only partially conscious of the network.

  Carol struggled to pull away. Linniker clamped her arms to the table with meaty hands. Seconds later, Ryan’s lead divers broke through into the memory storage regions of Carol’s thought process. The brain was complex and alive, but once organized for memeotecture and then dried of the dose its access points came close to resembling the file-system of an old-world computer.

  Ryan searched deep for the memories he wanted. The information Cannwald had been reluctant to share about the battles Carol and the others had fought spilled into Ryan’s conscious thoughts. He went on retrieving thoughts and memories for several minutes. He ransacked Carol’s mind by the time he opened his eyes again.

  Her head lolled back. Her eyes were glassy and her limbs loose. Linniker released her.

  Ryan had never seen the aftermath of a personal dive like the one he had just performed. Typically the subject—no, the victim—would recover in six to ten hours. Ryan almost felt sorry for Carol as he buried the memories he had taken that Cannwald would not approve him having deep in his own systems.

  Carol shuddered. Her head fell forward. Linniker caught her before she hit the table.

  “Well, that was kind of you,” said Ryan.

  “You’re the bad cop. I told her the truth. Goddamn, Carter, you wrecked her.”

  “She’ll recover,” he said.

  “Probably be pretty pissed when she does.” Linniker let Carol settle onto the table. She turned to Ryan. “Deliver everything to our analysts here. Once we have it all, you’ll erase your copy. After that, one of mine will show your team out.”

  “Of course, Captain.” He stood up, letting go of Carol’s wrist at last.

  Linniker whistled. “I hope I never end up on the wrong side of what you just did.”

  “Me too.” Ryan walked to the door but hesitated there.

  If they caught him trying to hide the information he had buried he might find himself in the exact position where Carol was now.

  “Good luck analyzing what you find,” he said.

  The door closed behind him. Ryan shuddered and went to find the analysts. Within an hour, he and the others rejoined Kamuek in his light ship. They flew north to report to Cannwald in person.

  Unregistered Memory, Thomas Fenstein, Lotdel Tower

  He returned to the Mangrove Suite, still shaken from the battle, but needing to check on the business as he did every evening. Every day it seemed worse to sell the bodies of cleans, even though they never objected to the clientele. No matter how terrible, ugly, or rude, the cleans treated everyone equally.

  In some ways, they were better than people with full sets of memories.

  Thomas stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to the desk. He nodded to the manager at the front, a woman he had thoroughly background-checked after the mess with Yashelia’s servant taking over a few months back. It was always a somewhat fragile a situation, running a brothel, so she had not complained at his insistence on vetting.

  Thomas walked around the desk and continued to his office. He closed the door behind him and sighed. The lone sentry thought she could sacrifice herself to protect him and the others, and he had been powerless to help her.

  She has to survive. I have to find her, and not because she owes me. I owe her. Too much. For the train station, and now the garden.

  Despite the danger of discovery, he reached out to his contacts in the clean-trade. All cleans were changed into their current state by an aeon. Maybe, just maybe, those aeons could lead him to the lone sentry.

  Only one aeon came to mind who might talk to him about anything dangerous. Celsanoggi. In Thomas’ military days, they had been assigned in the same areas. Hopefully, their years without talking wouldn’t leave her unreceptive.

  If the sentry survived the garden, he would find out, and he would meet her, no matter what.

  Unregistered Memory, Elizabeth Ashwood, Lotdel Tower

  As soon as she returned to the building, Elizabeth sought out Nageddia to report her safety. After a brief conversation with the aeon governor of Lotdel Tower, where Elizabeth promised to provide full details and an apology by the end of the day, she returned to her apartment on a higher floor.

  Elizabeth took off her filthy suit jacket, then her flats. She sat cross-legged on the rug beside her bed. Her breaths came and went evenly. She closed her eyes, meditative, but not focused, simply grateful for every moment of life.

  From that position, she reached out to contact Sarah Harper’s assistant.

  The network message she got upon establishing a link was encouraging. Sarah will be glad you’re alright. Stand by for auditory connection.

  “Elizabeth,” Sarah said, “Thank god you’re okay. My people have been looking, but we only got a break this morning.”

  “Thanks for your concern. I can’t really talk about what happened right now.”

  “I don’t expect you to. But thanks for getting in touch.”

  Sarah sent a current of relief over the network, and Elizabeth’s mood improved as she accepted it.

  “About your terms,” said Elizabeth. “I’ve talked with my partner, and we are in agreement. We can move forward.”

  “Wonderful,” said Sarah. “Speaking of—Miss Ashwood—Elizabeth, do you play chess?”

  “When I was younger,I’d play with my sister. So, not in a long time. And yes, you can call me Elizabeth.”

>   “I make it a point to play a game of chess with every new officer of my network. Let me know when you have some free time to join me. I’ll accept one game for both you and Mister Gall.”

  “Thank you,” said Elizabeth, “I will make the time. For now, I need to get in contact with some of the talent I’ve been looking to hire.”

  “Of course. Good luck, Elizabeth.” Mutually, they ended the connection.

  Elizabeth laid her back against the mattress and opened her eyes. “Chess, huh?” she said. “How strange.”

  Rebecca and I sat across from each other in the living room of my apartment.

  She sighed. “You shouldn’t have gotten between them back there.”

  “I didn’t see another way.”

  “Another way to do what? Get yourself killed?” Her voice took on a bitter tinge. “Your life matters too, Jeth.”

  “We all did what we thought we could. I gave you the gun—”

  “And then you blocked me. I couldn’t take the shot with you trying to negotiate with a lunatic aeon!”

  “You know Yashelia from before, and you’d be alright with killing her?”

  “To protect you? Yes, I would!” Rebecca hunched forward, clutching the sides of her head. “Jeth, she’s never been a good person, even before she went insane.”

  “That’s not the point!”

  “She caused more harm than good, even when I worked for her. Believe me, Jeth, we’d all be safer without her. But now she’s out there. The barrier collapsed. That means, she’s free again.” Rebecca got to her feet. “Sorry. I’m just scared. You know?”

  “I get that part.” I frowned. “And you may be right about Yashelia.”

  “She probably won’t come right back at us, what with security as high as it is now. Probably.”

  “Probably. Yeah…”

  She looked at the revolver on the coffee table a short distance away. “Let me keep that, just in case.”

  “Sure,” I said. “You’re probably a better shot than I am, anyway.”