She slumped against the hallway wall. A holo of the Trade Federation Exchange Ticker scrolled behind her, lights flashing. Maybe this was the end of the line. Being on a foreign Central Office in hostile territory with not so much as a contact…
What about the corporate spy who helped them? Jake? Joan paced down the hallway again, not sure she wanted to stay in one place for too long. Jake would be helpful, but how could she get hold of him? Yui and Trian had his contact, but Joan hand only just been introduced, not having exchanged comm information.
Wait. One person had given her his information. Joan reached to her handtab, pulling up her contact list. Dario Anazao. The man she’d met at the party. He’d been sympathetic toward real people.
Yui had told her when in a social situation with a man she should wait a couple of days before contacting him, though really the best thing to do was to let him contact her. Joan didn’t particularly care for games, nor did she understand what Yui meant. Besides, that advice could hardly apply to a situation like Joan had now. Her finger hovered over the button to call.
What could she tell him anyway? It wasn’t as if she could simply say: “Hi, my name is Joan and I’m a Star Empire spy trying to break into your corporation. Looks like my fake identity isn’t working anymore. Can you help?”
Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t eaten since the night before, which was part of the reason for the trip outside their quarters. At the very least, maybe he’d be sympathetic enough to share a meal with her.
That settled it, good plan or no, Joan had to take the risk. No other alternatives came to mind.
Joan hit the button to open the comm line. It rang for several moments before Dario’s face appeared—a still image, but him the same. Joan had her video activated.
“Hello?” Dario asked.
“Hey,” Joan said. “It’s Joan, from last night. You remember me?”
“Do I remember you?” Dario laughed on the other end. “Of course I do. We had a good conversation. A little surprised to hear from you though.”
“Why?”
A pause. “Ah, it’s nothing. What’s going on?”
“I’m having a bit of trouble to be honest. I don’t suppose you’re free?” Joan asked. With as important a person he was within the corporation, or so Yui and Trian had impressed upon her, he should be very busy. She hadn’t considered that before calling.
“What’s wrong?” Dario asked, concern in his voice. “And yeah, I was on first shift, so I have some time off.”
“I’ll talk about it in person,” Joan said, mostly to delay. She still had no idea what she would say to him, or what she could ask of him. Even though he acted friendly, Dario remained a complete stranger.
“Okay sure. Where do you want to meet? Hu’s On Third shouldn’t be too busy yet. Have you been there? It’s pretty popular.”
What kind of place was that? Joan didn’t want to give away too much of the fact that she was an outsider. She had been “invited” to that corporate gala after all. “No, I don’t think that’d be a good place. After last night, I really want somewhere quiet. To talk.”
“Oh,” Dario said. “Well, I’d invite you to my quarters. I… don’t mean anything inappropriate by that.”
“That’d be fine, best actually,” Joan said, not hesitating.
Dario laughed again. Was his laugh nervous? “Okay, I’ll send you over my apartment address.”
Despite all of the tension in the day, Joan couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds good. See you in a few.”
Chapter 22
Together
Regency BioTech Central Office—Mid-Level Quarters, Mars
Local Date February 13th, 2464
The door chime rang, and the first time in as long as Dario could remember, that sound brought anticipation rather than dread. He’d had few visitors outside of work since he’d started this new management position. Though he’d always had somewhat of what others would call a sad social life, perusing the nets by himself, learning, or just relaxing and playing games had its perks. Why bother to frequent popular hotspots to socialize in what tended to be superficial capacities?
“All right, AI. You can turn yourself on. Please be helpful and don’t clutter up my vision field,” Dario said.
Thank you, Master Anazao. The words displayed on the lower third of his internal display.
“Call me Dario,” he said, making his way to the door to greet Joan. Over the comm, she had sounded disturbed, not as confident as the woman he’d met the prior evening.
Yes, Master Dario.
“Just Dario. No master. Ahh, what about Ms. Shengtu? What does she like? Music?” Dario asked.
I can play songs from her most frequent playlist prior to my transfer.
“Let’s do that,” Dario said. Music was always a good way to make someone feel comfortable. He tapped the door console to open it, and at the same time a shriek and what sounded like the whine of the machinery of the bodymod factory blared from the room’s internal speakers. Dario recoiled backward.
Joan Shengtu, appearing confused at first, inclined her head at the door. Her eyes brightened, beautiful in the corridor’s light. “Is that Project Noise? They’re my favorite. I hadn’t realized anyone heard of them here.” She stepped into the apartment and past Dario, surveying the room around her. “Nice place.”
Dario scratched the back of his head, turning to follow her into his quarters’ main living area. “Yeah, it’s not bad. Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to be so loud,” he said. “AI, lower the volume please.”
The music did fade into the background. Joan gave him a weak smile. “It’s okay. I’m a fan. It’s nice to hear that. It reminds me of…” She stopped herself, frowning.
“Hopefully nothing too painful?” Dario asked, cocking his head toward her.
“Just reminds me of home is all,” Joan said. “It’s been awhile. I miss it.”
“Where are you from?” Dario asked, moving over to his table, motioning for Joan to take a seat. “Want a drink or anything?”
Joan averted her eyes at the first question, only answering the second. “Whatever you’ve got is fine.”
Dario decided not to press and glanced to his fridge. For the first time in his life he wished he had alcohol. At least a little wine would have been perfect. But he had nothing for real company.
Joan’s favorite drink is Comet Cola, the AI chimed in.
“Thanks,” Dario said. That he had. Not that he drank it very often, but enough to keep a couple of cans in his refrigerator. He opened the door, grabbing one from the second shelf and moving back to the table.
“Thanks for what? I should be thanking you,” Joan said with another small smile. She took the can into her hands and popping the tab open. “Nice music, my favorite drink. It’s nice to have something comfortable, after all that’s happened.”
You are welcome.
Dario returned her smile this time, sitting across from Joan to allow her the window view from his exterior apartment on the station. He watched her sip the cola, her expression returning to something more of the unsure look he saw when she greeted him at the door. “Of course. What brings you here? It doesn’t sound like just a social call.”
“It is. I mean isn’t,” Joan said, looking down at the drink in her hands. “It’s both really. I wanted to talk to you again, but not so much this way. I’m not sure how much I should lay on you, though.”
Joan, Joan. Take me home. Joan, Joan. I’ve been so alone.
That didn’t help Dario’s understanding in the least. What an odd AI to be programmed to display rhymes in his vision. Without sounding odd himself, he had no easy way to shut down the AI. He focused on Joan instead of the hovering words, trying to figure out what she meant. What could be so wrong that she’d be hesitant to talk about? Not only that but who was she? What did she do? He hadn’t learned much about her, in their prior meeting.
“Well, you can trust me,” Dario offered. Unless she was a murde
rer on the run he couldn’t imagine himself betraying any confidence she could bestow on him.
“I hope I can.” She appraised him, eyes dark and large. “I don’t really have many other options. We talked the other night about problems with the company, you remember?”
“Of course I do,” Dario said. Not only that, but the problems he had with the company had compounded since then. He still had to see what security was doing with Jake and figure out how he could help. Even though Jake had lied to him, it wasn’t as if Jake had tried to harm anyone. The opposite. He had to have his reasons for what he did.
Joan let out a deep breath. “I don’t actually work for the company. My ident, my whole reason for being here, it’s fake. I’m taking a big risk by telling you this. I really don’t know you.”
Dario’s eyes went a little wide with that, but he wasn’t as shocked as he thought he should be. He’d been walking around with a fake ident just a couple of days before, after all. Even so, her having a fake one meant something different. She wasn’t infiltrating somewhere like the underlevels, but Dario’s company, his home. “Are you a spy from another company?” Dario asked.
“Not exactly,” Joan said. “I’m not doing anything to hurt your company. Not really, anyway. I’m just looking for someone I was told was here. On Mars at least. I don’t know more than that.”
“Where are you from?” Dario asked for the second time, raising a brow.
“Far away. That’s all I should say, at least for now. Even that information’s dangerous. Your security is very tight here, much more than I’m used to.”
“I know it,” Dario said, remembering how they’d taken Jake in the conference room this morning. As it stood, he had two options: listen or turn her in. The second didn’t feel right, especially in light of how his father had whisked Jake away. He couldn’t let Joan share that fate. She didn’t seem dangerous. “You said there’s something wrong though. What is it? I’m not sure how I could be of any help to you.”
“I don’t know either yet. My ident stopped working. One of my colleagues with me was taken by security. They were on her from the moment she scanned her handtab in the market. I was too scared to scan mine anywhere, even to access my own quarters. That’s why I came to you. You’re the only person I know here outside my team,” Joan said, setting the can of cola down.
“Wow,” Dario said, taking a moment to process everything Joan had just said to him. If she couldn’t scan her ident anywhere, she couldn’t do anything on the Central Office. Her only options would be to be smuggled off station somehow, or to stay with Dario. If only Jake were still around. He could probably get into the security system, find her a new ident. It became all the more imperative to find out where he was. “I have a friend, Jake, who can probably help, with the ident that is. I may need some time to track him down though. He ran into some problems with security himself.”
“That’d be great,” Joan said. She arched a brow in recognition. “Wait. Jake? Jake Dylan?” she asked.
“You know Jake?” Dario asked, equally surprised. Then he connected dots in his head. If Joan were from off world, or at the very least off station, not a corporate spy, and Jake was as well, they probably worked for the same outfit. Her goals may have aligned with his. “Is he the person you’re sent to find?”
Joan shook her head. “No. He’s the person who set us up with our idents in the first place,” she said, motioning her handtab toward him.
Dario couldn’t help but laugh. “Jake gave me a false ident as well. It didn’t work on first scan, was nervous that I’d get caught.” He remembered exactly how that felt, standing in the security line, helpless. He lowered his voice. “You must really be scared.”
“I’ve been in worse situations,” Joan said, crossing her arms then tucking them closer around herself. “But yeah. A little. It’s hard not knowing anyone.”
Are you going to return my program to her possession? A message displayed directly in Dario’s field of vision.
Dario flicked his eyes to remove it. He hadn’t even thought about what to do with the AI yet. There was so much to process here. He needed more information. Joan was actively working against the corporation. At least in some capacity. But she trusted him and had presented nothing that sounded malicious. What if she had a talent for manipulation, though? No, Joan was genuine, that much he could tell from their couple of meetings together. So was Jake for that matter. One thing was certain, they weren’t from the underlevels, ruling out his original theory on Jake.
Joan had mentioned she was from far away. That meant other systems, maybe even the outer colonies. Dario’s eyes widened, putting together the pieces. It all clicked together with the way his mother spoke when talking to Dario about his problems. Joan was here looking for a friend, as she had put it. Jake and her weren’t people fighting for underleveler rights; they were infiltrators from the Martine Star Empire.
“Something wrong? You’ve gone quiet,” Joan asked, concern in her eyes.
“No. Yes. I’m thinking. No one’s ever laid anything this heavy on me before,” Dario said. That much was true. If they were operatives from off world, he had to tread lightly around Joan. A real spy meant real danger. And he was alone with her.
Please return me to Ms. Shengtu. She is my rightful owner.
The AI started to irritate Dario. If that thing worked for Joan, it could disable his vision, leave him helpless.
“I know. I’m sorry. If I had other options I wouldn’t be troubling you, trust me,” Joan said.
On the other hand, if Joan was as dangerous as he thought, and he’d been alone with her this whole time, she could have subdued him already—or worse again. It wasn’t as if Dario had any weapons on his person. He could try to call for security, but with the AI already in implants, that wasn’t very likely to succeed. He was being paranoid. Sincerity radiated from Joan’s face. Doubting her was foolishness.
When in doubt, the best tack was honesty. That’s what his mother always told him. Might as well see what Joan says. Dario leaned back, cautious. “Your friend,” Dario said, “the one who you’re here to find.”
“Yeah?” Joan raised a brow.
That inquisitive look gave Dario butterflies, despite his reservations. He had to stay on point. “Her name isn’t Commodore Zhang by chance, is it?”
Joan did react to that, tension apparent in her jaw and shoulders. Her eyes darted away from him. “I don’t—”
That was enough confirmation “She is. You’re from the outer colonies. Both you and Jake. You’re not here to help the underlevelers.”
If you do anything to attempt to harm Ms. Shengtu, I will delete all of your ocular data storage and short your vision capacitors. You will not be able to contact security. Transmissions from this room are already blocked by my algorithms.
The AI just threatened him… Dario took a deep breath, tensing as much as Joan.
That reaction brought intense worry to Joan’s eyes. She scooted back her chair and stood. “This was a mistake.” She looked to the door, as if uncertain what she should do.
“Hold on,” Dario said. “Don’t do anything rash.” His words were as much to the AI as to Joan. He needed more information before he knew what to do, and with a spy in front of him and an AI controlling all of his implants and quarters systems, he didn’t want to end up dead.
Joan did pause in her step, anxious, watching him. “We’re not here to hurt anyone. I promise. We just want to find the Commodore and get out of here.”
“Then use her to wage war on the Trade Federation!” Dario said.
“We’re just trying to make a life for ourselves, not be under the control of your corporations. Not end up like the people down on the planet,” Joan said, anger plain in her voice.
“That’s not fair.”
“It’s very fair. The corporations only concern themselves with their profits. I saw what it’s like down below. I’ve seen what it’s like out on the colonies. Not only struggling
to survive for a living with no options, but being at the risk of an attack from the Lly’bra who destroy everything in their path.”
The Lly’bra? Dario thought. Then he remembered that was the true name for the Blob. He’d not heard them referred to by that name except in history textbooks back in his lower class course studies.
Joan took his silence as confirmation of her points, nodding. “It’s hard. I’m not saying the Star Empire is much better. I’ve had it hard enough, but at least they’re giving a little freedom, some options, not leaving billions of people stuck without even the ability to try something different. That’s what your corporate structure does. It may roll in the credits, but it does more harm than good. At least for us, and probably the people on your lower levels, too.”
Dario frowned then. It was as if she accused him directly of ruining people’s lives. All he did was manage quality control operations for a product, couldn’t she see that? He stood and took a couple of steps forward.
Joan backpedaled.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise,” Dario said. “Look, I’ve been down to the lower levels, I’m one of the few who’s seen it firsthand. I know there are problems and I’m working on them. It’s not all bad. No one here wants to hurt anyone else, it’s just that people get lost in their jobs, and often we don’t take the time to think and empathize. I’m trying to change that.”
“Well, our people still want to be free. Your ‘nice’ corporation can’t change that fact.”
“No, I guess it can’t,” Dario said.
“So what are you going to do? You going to turn me in?” Joan asked.
Dario shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You’ve put me in a spot. I mean I don’t know that I can legally help Star Empire spies. It could put me in jail for my whole life.”
“We’re trying to help real people. Your company, all the companies in the Trade Federation are hurting them. Whether they mean to or not. Right now, my friends are in trouble. I have to do something about it and keep myself safe at the very least.”
Star Realms: Rescue Run Page 17