Freedom's Last Gasp

by M. A. Rothman

  A slight commotion erupted at the end of the hallway. Stef had arrived, initiating a “discussion” with the security detail about whether she was allowed through. Apparently that was a discussion Stef won, because she soon walked over, wearing scrubs and looking particularly radiant.

  “Stephanie, it’s good to see you,” said Governor Welch. “Is it okay for me to go into the girl’s room and take a look?”

  Stef nodded. “Sure. But I’m just about to give her another exam, so—”

  “I won’t get in your way.”

  “I’ll wait out here,” said Terry. “The room is small enough as it is.”

  “Good thinking.” She leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Tom’s already in there, and I’d prefer to have only one meathead in there at a time.”

  Priya’s world was dark and cold. She was lying on her stomach, and someone had put warming blankets across her back and shoulders, but it did little good. She also felt someone holding her left hand. But that was it. Beyond that, she felt nothing.

  She heard a beep, and sensed people moving somewhere around her.

  “My God. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that was Neeta Patel in the flesh.” A woman’s voice. One Priya didn’t recognize.

  “Well, they are related.” That was either Terry or Tom. Priya thought about it, and decided it was Tom. He sounded worried, just as he had at the church.

  The woman spoke again. “What’s her condition?”

  A new voice. Stef. “She’s stable, but it’s a miracle she’s alive. If Terry hadn’t applied the nanites to the wound when he did, and Tom hadn’t gotten her here in record time, I don’t think she’d have made it. But even so, I can’t explain how she’s healed as quickly as she has.”

  “You mean she’s getting better?” Tom asked. “How can you tell?”

  Stef let out an exasperated breath. “You meatheads have to meathead, don’t you? I know because I’ve done nerve conduction tests on her extremities. When she got here, there was no signal propagation from her core to her hands or her feet. Now, her core is talking to the rest of her upper body—though the legs are still nonresponsive. Also, by the look of her EEG, she seems to be semi-conscious. I’m still not sure if she’s better off sedated or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she wakes up soon.”

  “Oh, thank God,” said Tom. “You’ll be back to giving us all that deadly glare of yours soon enough.”

  Priya felt someone move the blankets off of her. The fabric moved down her back, but the sensation stopped at her waist. Then fingers gently touched the middle of her back—the place she’d been hit.

  “What happened to the wound?” Tom said. “It doesn’t even look bruised.”

  “The nanites?” Tom’s mother asked.

  “No. They’re working on the nerve damage and repairing the membrane that helps keep the cerebrospinal fluid in place. This rapid healing… like I said, I don’t understand it.”

  “Um, Stef?” said Tom. “Maybe you should avoid touching that area. I mean, the guy who attacked her got his head lopped off by something Priya’s got on her. I don’t want something to happen to you by accident.”

  Priya felt Harold’s taps on her right shoulder. “Don’t worry. These people have evidenced no harmful intent. We’re repairing your damage. You’re safe.”

  Priya’s mind raced as the pieces fell into place. It wasn’t a falling rock that had slammed into her. She’d been attacked!

  And Harold had defended her.

  And now Harold was probably covering her wound. Maybe even helping with the healing.

  Feeling was coming back to her, and noises were becoming more pronounced. She felt the weave of the cloth under her right hand, and the warmth of Tom’s hand in her left.

  “She just squeezed my hand!” Tom practically shouted.

  “Priya.” Stef’s voice, only inches from her ear. “You’re in the hospital. Everything’s fine.”

  Priya tried to say something, but managed only a croak.

  “What’d you say?” Tom asked.

  Priya opened her eyes. Tom was in front of her, his eyes bloodshot, a worried expression on his face.

  “Tom…” The word barely escaped her dry throat.

  “I’m here, Priya. I can hear you.”

  The room began spinning, and Priya closed her eyes. She felt Tom’s breath on her face, it smelled of mint. She licked her lips and managed two more words before the darkness closed in once again.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I was never told why I was really here other than some trumped-up story about finding out who some terrorists might be,” Priya said.

  She was sitting in her hospital room with Terry, and she was telling him everything. All of it.

  These people had saved her life. She was done with the lies.

  She even had Harold in her lap, in kitten form, comforting her.

  She continued. “Years ago there were some terrorist attacks on Earth, and one of the attacks killed my parents. I was told that clues indicated the attackers came from the colony. But at this stage…” She shook her head. “I don’t think I can believe anything they told me.”

  Terry frowned. “I totally get how they got their hooks into you. You do this thing for us, and we’ll let you have the career you’ve been training for since you were a child. But what does that have to do with level twelve? Do they seriously believe there’s some secret cabal of terrorists hiding in the lower levels of the mines?”

  “I don’t know.” Priya’s chest tightened. “From what I can tell, the memories they shoved in my head are the memories of past people they sent here. Like their implants transmitted info back to Earth, and they took those visuals and whatever else and fed them into me. I’m such a bloody idiot.”

  “No.” Terry put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Stop beating yourself up over this. You’re the victim here. I’m just sorry this happened to you. We all are.”

  Priya said nothing. She was a victim, but she was more than that, too. She had come here willingly, fully intending to spy on these people.

  Terry withdrew a metal disc from his shirt pocket. “I found this in your dorm. Exactly where you said it would be. What do you know about it?”

  She had already told him about the fire alarm and the guy who pressed that disc into her hand before disappearing into the crowd.

  “I don’t know anything, really, but I think it’s a key, based on my flashes of memories.” She tapped the side of her head. “In one of them, someone used it to get past a locked door down in the mines.”

  Stef walked into the room. “How’s my patient doing?”

  Priya gave her a weak smile. “I’m better.”

  “Well, let’s see about that.”

  Stef stood at the foot of her bed and ran something along the sole of Priya’s foot.

  “Stop! That tickles!”

  Stef chuckled. “Good, it’s supposed to. Now let’s check your nerve timing.” She pulled out a device that looked like a miniature cattle prod, and pressed it against a nerve in her leg.

  Priya’s leg spasmed. “Bloody hell, that’s worse!”

  “Sorry.” Stef looked at a readout. “Okay, now wiggle your toes for me.”

  Priya did. “Thank you for doing all of this,” she said. “I’ll never forget what you guys have done for me.”

  “No need to thank any of us.” Stef pointed at the purring furball on Priya’s chest. “From what I can tell, it’s Harold you should thank. He seems to have had at least as much to do with your healing as we did.”

  She then turned to Terry. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave for a bit. I’m pretty sure neither my patient nor I wants a meathead around for the rest of her exam.”

  Terry hopped up from his chair. “Okay, I’ll leave you two to do your thing. Tom should be here in half an hour. And we still have security posted outside.” He gave Stef a quick peck and left the room.

  As the door closed
, Priya asked, “How long have you guys been married?”

  “Five years.” Stef removed some of Priya’s blankets and prepared to start more nerve conduction tests. “Though it took me two years before that to get that doofus to propose. The Chapper men are stubborn types.”

  “What about Tom? Is he married?”

  “Ha. Seven years later, and Tommy’s still single. He’s even more stubborn than Terry.” She wielded her two-pronged electrode once again. “Okay, relax and think of happy times …”

  Despite the discomfort of the exam, Priya’s mind drifted to what it would be like to be married. She’d always imagined herself ending up with someone in the sciences. But perhaps that was only because those were the only people she ever encountered. She’d never had time to meet anyone outside of school or work.

  “How did you and Terry meet?” she asked. “I wouldn’t have guessed you two would have crossed paths.”

  Stef’s cheeks turned pink. “I’m kind of embarrassed to say. I saw him at an airport, thought he was cute, and… I kind of just walked up to him and introduced myself.”

  “Really?” Priya laughed. “Who’d have thought it could be that easy?”

  “Well, like I said, it wasn’t that easy. It took me two years to land him. But he’s the best. I’d have waited for however long it took.”

  Priya rested her head against the pillow and closed her eyes. “It gives a girl hope.”

  As Stef continued with her exam, Priya thought to herself, What the hell is wrong with me? I’m lying in a hospital bed, not even able to walk, and while I’m getting zapped and prodded, here I am thinking about what it would be like to kiss my doctor’s brother-in-law.

  Terry looked at the disc in his hands. “This little thing contains a quantum computer that can crack every security algorithm in the colony? How is that possible?”

  Nwaynna shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible. I mean, sure using just about any quantum computer using Shor’s algorithm for integer factorization, you’d be able to crack any of the standard security algorithms we’ve used for the last two hundred years. But with the synchronous stream ciphers we now use, we’ve long believed they couldn’t be cracked even by a quantum computer. It seems we were wrong.”

  Governor Welch shook her head. “Nwaynna, let’s pretend for a moment I know nothing about quantum computers or Shor’s algorithm. Let’s pretend I’m just a politician. What did you just say?”

  “Sorry.” Nwaynna looked a bit embarrassed. “What it boils down to is that our colony’s encryption methods for internal security can be broken by this disc. Luckily, our external-facing comms use alien tech that’s beyond that key’s capabilities.”

  Terry set the disc on the table in front of him. “Is this alien tech? Or is it just an Earth-based technology advancement we didn’t anticipate?”

  “We don’t know, but we have a theory. To crack a password using a computer, you really just need to be able to guess enough times until you get the right answer—which is why we use large-key symmetric ciphers, because then even the best of computers would be guessing for thousands of years until they stumbled upon the right answer. However, back at the end of the twentieth, a man named Lov Grover came up with an algorithm that improved things sufficiently that the standard response was to use double the number of bits, basically making it computationally impractical to crack. We think that this disc may employ a new algorithm, coupled with a much stronger quantum computer than we have at our disposal.”

  “But that’s just speculation,” Terry said.

  “Well, yes,” She gave him an uncharacteristic frown. “You only gave that thing to me yesterday. I’d like to put it through our scanners, figure out what makes it tick, but that’ll take at least a week or two.”

  “Nwaynna,” said the governor, “how sure are you that our comms are secure?”

  “As I said, all official colony communication is done using alien tech. Even if our signals are intercepted, the alien tech uses a hive database that contains randomly generated one-time pads that rotate per use. I don’t care what type of computers or algorithms they have, we’re hack-proof on the comms. I’m confident.”

  “And what do you suggest we do about internal security? Are there any defensive measures we can take to keep this disc from working?”

  Nwaynna nodded. “I can strengthen our current algorithm by making the bit length obnoxiously long. That might be enough. We can test that on this thing, and if it works, my team can recompile and start the upgrade process as early as tomorrow morning. We can update biometric keys while we’re at it. But Madam Governor, it’s probably only a stopgap. If they have tech like this, they’ll adapt.”

  “Do it.” The governor pointed at the metal frame Nwaynna had brought. “Let’s move on. You’ve got Earth-based intel?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Something interesting from General Duhrer’s office.”

  Nwaynna set up the frame so it was facing the governor, and Terry shifted his seat so he could get a better viewing angle. The center of the frame turned black, then Duhrer’s office filled the frame from edge to edge.

  A man wearing fatigues walked into the office and closed the door behind him. The general motioned him toward a chair.

  “Sergeant Dixon, I hope to heaven and hell that you have good news for me, because I’m up to my eyeballs in crap today. What’s the story on our colony asset?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think—”

  “The UN doesn’t pay you to think, soldier, just spit it out.”

  “Sir, we lost the signal on our asset and—”

  “Shit.” The general made a time-out sign. “Is she dead? Just tell me and don’t pussyfoot.”

  “No, sir, she’s alive.” Dixon sounded almost upbeat. “The colony reported to us that she was injured in an attack, but that she’s okay. She’s being treated at one of their main hospitals. I don’t know specifics of her condition, though. The entire floor is locked down, and nobody can get there, not even our security assets.”

  Terry and the governor exchanged a look. Someone in colony security was dealing for the other side.

  The general fell back against his chair. “She’s alive. That’s good. Do we know who attacked her?”

  Dixon shook his head. “No, sir. They weren’t forthcoming with details. But I don’t think it’s them—the girl’s a Radcliffe, after all.”

  “Don’t be an idiot, of course it’s not them. If they wanted to kill her, they wouldn’t be telling us she’s alive. But if it isn’t one of the colonials…” He frowned. “Did our girl get down to level twelve before she went dark?”

  “The last transmission we received, she’d gotten only as far as level eight.”

  “Soldier, I’m not sure if it’s possible to have a mission go more sideways than this one has. This is totally fubar’d.”

  “Yes, sir.” Dixon sat still in his chair, but his fidgeting feet gave away his nerves.

  The general sighed. “Let’s bring her back. If they give you any crap about medical transport, tell them we’ll send a space ambulance, if there even is such a thing. We’ll take responsibility for her welfare, they just need to present her. I’ll call some folks and get a shuttle ready to roll. You just get me a confirmation from those bastards that she’ll be at the departure when our shuttle arrives.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The general motioned toward the door. “Dismissed, soldier.”

  The scene faded to black.

  “That’s it?” asked the governor.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Nwaynna. I need to talk to Terry in private, but if you get anything new, please let us know right away.”

  “Absolutely.” Nwaynna packed up and left the room.

  The governor turned to Terry. “What’s the story with the guy who attacked her?”

  Terry cracked his knuckles. “A miner. He wasn’t born here, but he had relatives here, so he was allowed to immigrate. His pare
nts are farmers who sell exclusively to UN Agribusiness for distribution. From his immigration interview, it seemed like his family was sympathetic with the Rebels; they resented the way farmers were being treated, that kind of thing.

  “But here’s the interesting part. Our attacker’s academic resume showed a gap of three years between secondary education and mining university. So I’m thinking this guy got hooked up with the UN opposition.

  “Also, we interviewed several people who said he’d been asking questions about Priya. They figured he was just starstruck, so they didn’t think anything of it, but apparently it was much more than that.”

  Governor Welch frowned. “I’m getting sick of these troubles with the Rebels. Have you talked with that prisoner who said he wanted to keep Priya safe?”

  “I did, and I may have screwed up on that one. The message he got from Earth was ominous, but it could be read to support his claims.”

  “Suggestions?” the governor asked.

  “Actually… I was going to ask you for permission to set up an infiltration. Hunt down the various leads on Earth and figure out what’s really going on with the Rebels.”

  The governor pursed her lips, then nodded. “I think it’s a good idea.”

  Terry was surprised. She hated sending people on missions.

  “But,” she added, “you’re not going. Find someone else.”

  “But, I have all the background—”

  “And you have other things to do. You’ve got rats in your organization. Son, that’s your job one.” The governor leaned forward and grabbed his hand. “Besides, as a leader, you need to learn when to delegate. You aren’t the only one who can lead a mission. Send Tommy. He’s part of the hacker community down there, he’s got contacts that you don’t, and he’s a better shot.”

  Terry sat back in his chair, feeling deflated. But his mother was right.

  “What about Priya?” the governor asked. “I suppose she’s not willing to stay?”