by MJ Blehart
Martinez joined him a moment later, narrowly missing Yael.
Jace tossed his second pistol to her. “Ready?”
She nodded.
Jace arose, screaming, and fired. Onima and Yael both stood and joined him.
All three dropped as the attackers concentrated fire on them.
But at that same moment, Martinez tucked and rolled out past the nearly destroyed couch, coming up in a crouch. She fired again and again, dropping another of the assailants.
The armor-shelled attackers had moved on the dining area, intent on taking out half the threat. That, Onima realized, was why Jace and Martinez had abandoned their position.
One of the attackers was close. Taking a deep breath, Onima leapt over the couch and directly onto an assailant.
It proved an unexpected move. As he went down, Onima wrestled the rifle from his hands.
She rolled off him, landing on her ass. She chose one of the other two and started firing the more powerful rifle at them.
Another attacker went down, but that left one standing and one on the ground. The one standing turned to fire on Onima.
But before the attacker could shoot, Jace, Yael, and Martinez all leapt to their feet, firing rapidly at the standing attacker. They dropped.
Onima was on her feet, pointing the rifle at the last shooter.
“Who are you and who are you working for?” she demanded.
The downed shooter grinned weakly, then bit down on something, gurgled, and died.
Almost as one, six hissing noises erupted from the armored shells.
“Everyone, take cover!” Onima cried, dropping the rifle and diving behind the dining room table.
The armored shells and helmets, turned red-hot, bubbling, and flashed. A loud, sizzling hiss filled the room.
As the noise died down, Onima arose. All that remained of their attackers were six piles of dust and what appeared to be hot coals. “Damn,” Onima hissed.
“I got a recording, boss,” Yael said. Onima noticed that her pilot been hit—a burn mark on her left shoulder.
“You okay?” Onima asked.
Yael grunted. “One shot got through. I’m fine. The coat is bare-minimum protection, but it did its job.”
Onima noted that Jace had three burns from grazing shots, and Martinez had a nasty gash on her forehead and another on her right arm.
It was then she realized she too had been grazed—by a shot along her hip.
“That was really ugly,” remarked Yael.
“But damn are you guys good,” Martinez said. She looked at Jace. “You haven’t lost one iota of skill since your service, have you?”
“Seems to be the case,” Jace said. “Thanks for trusting me and loaning me a gun.”
Martinez blew out an exaggerated breath. “You’re welcome.” She looked to Onima. “Thanks for arming Jace, Marshal. I see now why you like having him on your team.”
“Feroz?” Onima called, realizing she hadn’t seen them. “Maira? Dr. Steingarten?”
Feroz and Dr. Patel emerged from a door in the hallway leading out from the open spaces. Onima had not realized they’d slipped out of the room. Both still held their weapons but looked despondent.
“Oh no,” Martinez breathed.
“Sorry, boss,” Feroz said.
“I thought we got her out of here untouched,” Dr. Patel said. “Feroz got her in the room, then joined me at the door, and we waited in case they got past you. But when the shooting was over and we turned to get her, she was dead.”
“She took a shot to the chest,” Feroz said. “I don’t know how we missed that as we got her into the room.”
There was silence from all.
Dr. Patel gasped. “You’ve all been hurt!”
“Never mind that,” Onima said, taking back the situation. “We need to get out of here. But let’s do a search for any data terminals and infodrives. Yael, go with Martinez to the farthest-back room. I’ll check the next. Feroz, Dr. Patel, check in here and the kitchen. Bathrooms too. Check it all.”
The rifle Onima had taken from the armor-shelled attacker had also disintegrated. Sighing, she handed her second pistol to Jace and said, “Watch the windows there and make sure nobody else tries to come in.”
“On it,” Jace replied.
Onima stepped into the nearest room off the hallway past the open area. Poor Dr. Steingarten was seated on the ground, her back to a trundle bed, her face frozen in surprise.
Gently checking the elderly scientist’s clothes for any datadrives, Onima found nothing. She checked all the drawers and the desk in the room, discovering a terminal and several datadrives in the process.
After one more sweep, Onima took what she’d found and went back to the living room. Jace was at the broken windows on the far side, looking out over the terrace.
Feroz and Dr. Patel joined her. “Nothing useful, boss,” Feroz reported.
Onima nodded. “Feroz, get ahold of the local police force. Let them know what happened here, and that there is a body to be collected. Apologize on behalf of the Bureau that we left things in such a state.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Jace had gone out onto the terrace. Onima trusted he still had their backs.
Having found a terminal themselves, Martinez and Yael joined them.
Jace came back inside. “Sorry. Wanted to check the terrace. There is a box out there, but it was empty. Probably for the chair cushions.”
Onima nodded and looked around. “We checked it all?”
Everyone responded in one way or another that they had.
She looked once more at the six piles of dust. Though they had no further answers, nor confirmation that the assailants were employees of Gray and Chuang, they now had video evidence of their attackers.
The elderly scientist’s death saddened Onima. But she hoped the information Dr. Steingarten had provided, as well as what they were taking with them, would help the ongoing investigation.
“Let’s go,” Onima commanded. “I think the local officials would prefer we be gone rather than lingering around here. Too many questions and not enough answers for anyone.”
7
Onima was silent during much of the flight back. She sat alone with Yael in the cockpit while Jace, Feroz, Martinez, and Dr. Patel occupied the passenger compartment.
Yael had made one or two attempts to engage her. “At least we have something,” she said. “Video evidence of the armored shells and everything Dr. Steingarten told us.”
Onima sighed. “But the doctor was killed before she could tell us who might still be alive out there. That would have been something far more solid, perhaps.”
Yael said nothing further for a while. Then, trying a new tactic, she remarked, “Martinez proved able, don’t you think?”
“I suppose so,” Onima replied. “But I am still unsure about her.”
“I get that,” Yael said. “For what it’s worth, boss, I think she’s a good egg.”
Onima did not respond to that.
When they returned to the Aquila, Onima reached out to Captain Barr and requested he get a secure signal to her governor. Excusing herself from the team, Onima made her way to her office. She tossed her coat into one of the chairs across from her desk and engaged her terminal.
She immediately uploaded the video recording of the armored shells. She would need to review the conversation with Dr. Steingarten and write up a summary at some point. That would possibly reveal information she missed.
After a few moments, her comm beeped, and she received the signal on her terminal.
“Marshal Gwok,” her governor addressed her.
“Deputy Director Samarin,” she said. She wasted no time. “This investigation just gets more and more convoluted, sir.”
“The line is secure,” Samarin assured her. “What have you got?”
Onima transmitted data. “What you see here is six attackers in the blue armored shells. These are the same as the shooter who
murdered Palmer Cadoret and the two clones with him, and those who attacked Jace and me multiple times. More specifically, these are the same armored shells deployed by Gray and Chuang security, as evidenced by the encounter we had with them on Upsilon Gi.”
Samarin received the video and looked it over. “Were you able to speak to any of these assailants?” he asked. “Can you tie them to the company? Do you have any of the shells or guns they used?”
Onima practically growled. “Unfortunately, sir, no. Not long after we took down the last, all the armored shells and weapons flash-disintegrated. Once again, a surviving attacker committed suicide before their shell vaporized. They clearly do not want to leave evidence behind.”
“That’s apparent,” Samarin said thoughtfully.
“Sir, at this point, I believe we have more than enough evidence that, while nothing would stand up in court, per se, we can tie much of this to Gray and Chuang. It is time to act, to start bringing in the company directors for questioning.”
Samarin shook his head. “That’s out of the question, Onima.”
“How can that be, sir?” Onima demanded. She recognized the ire in her tone but was past the point of hiding it. “My team and I have been assailed by the armor-shelled attackers, and not for the first time. If my people were not such formidable combatants, we’d not be having this conversation. You’d be seeing news of our deaths or disappearance.”
Samarin raised an eyebrow. “Your team. Does that include the clone?”
“Sir, that’s irrelevant,” Onima almost barked. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then continued. “Once again, sir, on more than one occasion, agents of Gray and Chuang have thwarted this investigation, whether blatantly or subversively. I believe it is perfectly clear they have a much deeper involvement in all of this than we can uncover on our own. I again request that the company directors be questioned directly.”
After a moment, Samarin sighed. “I’m sorry, Marshal Gwok, but that is not something we can do. Despite all the connections you may be making, this evidence is wholly circumstantial. Sure, you have a recording of the armored shells this time, and yes, you can tie them directly to Gray and Chuang. However, I can tell you right now that in their defense, they will point out that they are a business, and weapons are a part of that. They will claim those suits are being employed by a third party. And without a suit or a person to testify against that, they can obfuscate the situation and give us nothing.”
Onima was about to offer a retort, but Samarin held up a hand. “Onima, you know I am on your side here, that I have been looking to find connections between Gray and Chuang and their illegitimate business associations for almost a decade. I am not standing against you here, Marshal...but you are on dangerous ground and have to be careful. The company knows your investigation is tied to them—and they do not like it. If we start hauling in the directors and questioning them, your investigation will be reassigned and shut down. Then you will suffer consequences too.”
Onima took a deep breath and let it out as she considered Samarin’s words. Even though she disliked it, he was right. “Where do you advise I go from here, sir?”
Samarin leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and stroking at his chin. “I want you to continue your investigation, but keep a wary eye out. Gray and Chuang has many, many contacts politically, as well as in the CBI. You should also know that Director Rand is looking for any reason to recall and reassign you.”
“Is that why he sent me Deputy Marshal Martinez?” asked Onima.
Samarin sighed. “Yes. And I couldn’t deny it because you had no deputy marshals under you. But you should know...she was not his first choice, Onima. He wanted another, whom I suspect he has far more control over. While Martinez is governed by Rand, her record speaks for itself.”
Onima took the meaning of Samarin’s warning. Martinez’s motivations were unclear, but were not necessarily all about spying on Onima’s team.
More caution was required, but Onima had expected that.
“I can’t deny that Martinez has proven herself quite able,” Onima admitted.
“Good,” Samarin said. “Keep it up, Onima, but use your best judgment. You are treading on dangerous ground - but know that I have the utmost confidence in you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Onima said.
“Samarin out.” And with that, his image winked off the screen.
Onima leaned back in her chair. One executed company executive had exposed a convoluted, difficult conspiracy. Everything tied back to Gray and Chuang—except that someone else was the probable cause of this virus infecting the clones.
If the aim was to overthrow the AECC, who were they, and how far had they come?
Onima decided it was time to stop sulking. She took three minutes to practice deep breathing to calm and center herself. When she was done, she arose and left her office.
Onima found Jace, Kara, and Feroz together at Feroz’s station. Feroz was looking over three different holographic screens, while Jace and Martinez were each looking over two.
Jace was the first to notice Onima had joined them. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Once more, Onima was struck by the fact that even though he was a clone, Jace didn’t entirely lack empathy. “Yes,” she said. “Looking over what we found in Dr. Steingarten’s apartment?”
“Yes,” Martinez said, turning. “Marshal Gwok, I understand that you are unfamiliar with me. While I have read the basics of this case, I am still working out details. Why did we go and speak to a cloning scientist?”
Onima looked to Jace and Feroz. Neither gave any signal to withhold information, so she began, “As you are aware, this all started when the CBI was called in to investigate the murder of Palmer Cadoret, a Deputy Director of Gray and Chuang Industries. Jace here witnessed that—and recognized an execution when he saw one. The two clones murdered alongside Mr. Cadoret were not simply victims of circumstance: they were with him and targeted as such.”
“I’m with you so far,” Martinez said.
Onima continued, “You are familiar with the affliction that suddenly began to kill and liquefy clones about two years ago?”
“I am,” Martinez said. “Or, rather, I am aware of it. I am not terribly familiar.”
“That’s not a surprise,” Jace said. “Clone welfare isn’t a priority.”
“Which is tied to this,” Onima said, taking the conversation back. “In our investigation of Mr. Cadoret’s murder, we learned that he had somehow gotten information about this affliction. It’s a virus that is targeting clones. But not to kill them—it is intended instead to control them.”
“Oh.” Martinez’s eyes went wide. “And that was why you wanted to get this information. To learn about the potential for taking control over the clones.”
“Exactly,” Onima said.
“But to what end?” asked Martinez.
“That’s part of what we’ve been trying to work out,” said Feroz.
“Dr. Steingarten only offered us a more comprehensive explanation of information we had already gotten,” Jace said, “but what was merely speculation before, we now have clearer information about.”
“So,” Martinez started, “you had a murder, which led you to a connection between the deceased and this mysterious virus intended to take control of clones via dormant programming, but that is instead killing them.”
“More or less,” Onima agreed.
“Which is why you are investigating the clone angle,” Martinez continued summarizing. “In your attempt to solve a murder, you’ve uncovered something bigger and potentially darker. Yet it is still tied to the murder.”
“Execution,” Jace asserted. “By someone in a blue armored shell with a black helmet.”
“Identical to our attackers today,” said Martinez.
“Yes,” concluded Onima.
Martinez leaned back in her chair, obviously considering what she had just learned. Onima went over what they had just told her and det
ermined that nobody had shared anything potentially compromising - or that Director Rand might use against them, should Martinez report on the investigation to him.
“How much have you looked into the life of the late Palmer Cadoret?” Martinez asked.
Onima considered her question. “We paid a visit to his office on New Terra and spoke to an associate there. We looked over his old apartment, but it was stripped clean. It became apparent rather quickly that the tie to the clone virus situation was the conundrum to be unraveled. We believe that’s what Cadoret was working on when he was killed.”