“Did Jake violate your trust? Other than not being who you thought he was?” Joan asked, tilting her head to the side.
Dario looked up at her again, eyes challenging, but then softening. “No, I suppose he didn’t. Everything he did was at my direction. And he pushed me toward compassion. Which I’m grateful for, because it’s right. I’m honestly madder at the company for the way they disregard life, including his. That’s where I feel betrayed.”
Joan grimaced. “I know exactly how you feel. Even though I’m here now, and that might make this seem less than earnest, I’ve been just as upset with the Star Empire as you are with your company.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I was a part of the military for a while. Not just in a loose capacity like this, but actually in the Navy. I enlisted as soon as I was old enough to.” She felt herself blushing. “I might have fudged my age a little bit. But that doesn’t matter. I felt trapped on the ship. The officers treated us like scrap, and we were barely paid enough to survive—even with lodging aboard a ship. Confined quarters, working menial tasks like cleaning the relievers for twelve to sixteen hour shifts. It was a nightmare.”
Joan stared out the window, recalling those days all too vividly. That part of her life had been horrible, and she hated bringing those up again in her head, remembering how her forearms ached after each shift. How she’d returned to her cramped quarters, unable to sleep from the vibrating hum of the nearby engine core. In hindsight, running off after her parents had died, with no one to guide her, no one to even care whether she lived or died was a huge mistake. But she’d persevered through that.
“You’re getting upset,” Dario said. He reached out a hand toward her, but dropped it, seeming to reconsider.
Joan considered that gesture for a moment, which likely made her appear more upset than she was. She would have welcomed his touch, but shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Yeah, sorry. Well, it was bad enough that a few of us took to stealing supplies out of the requisition department. We’d find some good things there, freeze dried meat—hard to find out on a Battlecruiser—datapads and comm equipment, all sorts of things. We’d trade them around for whatever we could, offloaded them at various port planets. One guy became a little too cocky though. Took too much. They came down on him, and I found out fast that people you think are your friends can turn on you when their lives are on the line.”
“You went to jail?” Dario asked
“Yep, the lovely Rayknii Military Prison up on Eldris’s eastern ice cap. Talk about disillusionment. I mean, if the Navy had treated me at least a little fairly, I wouldn’t have been there.” She shrugged and looked out at the stars beyond. Those stars were so bright when they were up close, but barely twinkled at the distance. She found herself longing to be back out in space again.
“Wow,” Dario said, following her eyes to the window. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why do you work for them now?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a choice,” Joan said, laughing despite herself. “They thought my thieving skills might be an asset at breaking someone out of a prison here.”
“Makes sense.”
“I guess so,” she said. “But I don’t mind it either. No system’s perfect. There’s always going to be people who do better than others. Some have more talent, more luck, more willingness to work hard, all sorts of things. I really didn’t have it that bad in retrospect. Not as bad as the people on your lower levels by any means. So, as to why, I’m trying to help people, my people, stay free to make their own decisions.”
Dario went silent for a long moment, pressing his hand up against the glass in front of him. His reflection showed a deep somberness.
Joan wondered what was going on in his head. Even in her limited interactions with him, Joan saw that he was the type that took a moment to process matters, fully considered them and didn’t rush into action. The opposite of her. That thought brought a small smile to her face.
“Joan?”
“Yeah?”
He turned around toward her one more time, walking up to her, that same stern look on his face. He stood about a half a head taller than her, which made Joan have to look up into his eyes. He reached out and took her hand by the fingertips before sandwiching it in between his hand.
It was warm. Joan tried not to get too distracted.
“I’ve decided I want to help you. Maybe this is the wrong move. Maybe you’re just some sort of mastermind at manipulation and trying to get me into this situation. But I don’t think so. I think you’re honestly trying to help, and I think Jake was too. I want to honor his memory as best I can.” He let out a deep sigh. “So the question is… what do you need from me?”
Surprised, Joan took a deep breath as she composed her thoughts. “Well…”
Chapter 26
On the Run
Regency BioTech Central Office—Mid-Level Quarters, Mars
Local Date February 14th, 2464
The hallway outside Dario’s quarters disappeared behind Joan. Her feet kept her going much faster than she thought they would, but this time not out of any running away, but out of pure excitement. Her gamble had paid off, and big. She had a new friend, someone with real authority in the Trade Federation. More than that, Joan relished the distinct feeling of not being hungry for the first time in days.
Dario had promised to help her! He trusted her and didn’t ask for anything in return. Trian would flip to hear this when she found him. That wasn’t exactly true. He would respond in his calm, measured way as he always did. But he would be happy inside.
She looped around the hallways and down a couple of levels back toward the cargo bay where she and Trian had set up shop, trying her best not to smile like an idiot.
“Ms. Shengtu?” G.O.D.’s voice rang in her ear.
Joan jumped despite herself, not expecting to hear the voice of her AI. “I thought I’d shut down your vocal protocol. Why are you breaking the commands?” she asked with a scolding tone. The last time he had broken through against her explicit orders, it had been to help her when she had danger. As much as the AI had problems with its programming, Joan could only take this as a warning.
“My apologies, but I noted an elevation in your heart rate and pheromone production. I had a concern for your health, which my safeties then override other commands,” G.O.D. said.
Joan smirked. Her fears had been for nothing. Her AI was looking to gossip of all things. “I’m walking quickly.”
“Yes, your vitals indicate more than that exertion, however. I believe the cause may have to do with Mr. Anazao.”
“He did say he’d help us,” Joan said, continuing toward her hideout. Fortunately, no one had noticed her abrupt stop or jump because of the AI frightening her. “That’s the best news I’ve had in a while.”
“I believe you may be missing the point, Ms. Shengtu.”
“Oh?”
“Your vitals match his in what I discovered to be his desire to mate with you.”
Joan dodged to avoid colliding with a wall. Her eyes went wide. Then she doubled over laughing. “G.O.D., you can’t be serious. I’m not thinking about that. I have work to do.”
“Biological necessities of mating do not stem from logical thought processes.”
She did her best to recompose herself. Was G.O.D. trying to set them up? It wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned Dario’s desire for her, and Dario hadn’t exactly been subtle in the way he looked her over when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. Still, they’d only just met each other.
That being said, his hands had been warm. And they felt good on her skin.
Joan shook her head and continued on. “Table the discussion,” she said.
“As you wish, Ms. Shengtu,” G.O.D. replied.
A few people passed Joan by. She slowed her pace. The big cargo bay doors were around the corner. Lingering while waiting for a service bot to open the doors could be dangerous if the wrong people noticed her.
> When she did round the corner, she stopped in her tracks.
The cargo bay doors were already open. Four armed security guards in riot gear stood in front of the cargo bay where Trian and she had made their home the last evening. They talked amongst themselves.
Okay, breathe, Joan thought. One step at a time. She had to keep her head low, in case they’d seen security footage that brought them here. Joan had handled these situations before. Even when someone had a clear image on a holovid, seeing the person in front of them didn’t always register. The key was to make sure she didn’t draw attention to herself.
She took slow steps, trying to act like any pedestrian. They would avoid security like anyone else, no eye contact. Joan watched the wall to the right of her, which displayed advertisements for Regency BioTech’s new RetroSilver bodymod line.
“According to security vids, they were just here an hour ago. They’ve been seen around the promenade, where we arrested the other one. Rodriguez, Encarnacion, post up here. I’ll take Bahr and we’ll circle around for their other known locations. They can’t hide forever.”
Joan definitely made sure to keep her face to an angle, hoping she wouldn’t be recognized as she passed them. For now, the guards seemed too engaged in their conversation, but she bet if she walked back down this hallway again she’s find a plasma gun in her face before she could shout “don’t shoot.”
She’d made that mistake once before.
Within moments Joan was out of earshot, not slowing or lingering long enough to hear more. Though it would have been nice to get more details of their plans to find her, getting caught wouldn’t be worth that.
At least those guards hadn’t mentioned looking for a “they”. It meant that Trian had managed to escape their notice as well. She’d lost him again already, irritatingly enough. Making the same mistakes twice boded ill for the mission and their future survival.
The problem was that she worked alone. Staying together or making sure she could find her teammates never occurred to her. With luck, G.O.D. would be able to direct her to Trian.
She continued down the hall, taking a couple of turns to head back to the lift. The safest place for right now would be back with Dario. No one would be looking for her there. But she had just left him, and did want him to have time to think. What alternatives did she have?
Next time, she would set up a backup location to meet Trian. Somewhere they hadn’t spent a significant amount of time before, like an abandoned shop, or an ice cream parlor. The latter sounded very good right about now.
The corridor stretched out for a long ways, various corporate personnel quarters on either side, with, other than the unit number, very little to differentiate them.
She took a right toward the lift, passing by a lounge that had several tables and people conversing and mingling.
“Joan,” a voice said.
She turned around and looked back. Trian was seated, facing away from the way she was walking, not looking up from a datapad which concealed about half of his face. “You have to stop sneaking up on me like that. I swear I’m going to deck you one of these times,” Joan said, giving a quick scan to see if security had followed her. All looked clear, so she seated herself across from him.
“We probably shouldn’t stay together for long,” Trian said. “Security is onto us. They have our faces, our old idents, our real identities, everything. They must have tortured Yui. Or Jake. I don’t know,” he said, voice barely over a whisper.
“Jake’s dead, Trian. Dario told me. They disintegrated him.”
If his face had been solemn before, it turned as white as a ghost with this news. “Jake…” he said. His eyes closed for a moment and he breathed in through his nose, and out again. His eyes fluttered open and locked on Joan. “There’s no time for grieving, not now. Part of me wishes you hadn’t told me.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you gave me vital information. It shows the corporation here isn’t fooling around. They’re out for blood for whatever reason. We will have to move quickly.”
“Move? Where?”
Trian lowered the datapad and pulled up a command on his handtab. “Handtab please,” he said.
Joan, confused, lifted her wrist.
Trian hit a transfer command and Joan’s handtab started to glow. The process was quick, the files pulling up almost instantly.
A picture, a retinal scan that matched hers and a name of someone completely different. A new ident. “How did you…”
“I’m here to be the political operative. I make friends and have other sources. In case you get compromised, it’s best for you not to know more. We’ve already had too much given up through Jake and Yui. Until we’re out of the corporate reach and down at the underlevels,” Trian said. He glanced back over his shoulder, scanning carefully.
“Okay,” Joan said. “But what about the mission? I’m making some pretty good progress. If I just had another day or two…”
“We may not have another day or two. I don’t know right now, but our safety comes first. Getting captured does no one any good. Anyway, we should split up again. Meet at the bar on the underlevels when we first arrived here, okay? You remember where that is?” Trian asked.
“Yeah. At the very least G.O.D. can find it,” Joan said.
Trian nodded and slid out of the chair, moving into a brisk walk a moment later, datapad tucked under his arm. He slipped off as quickly as he had found her.
Joan slumped in the chair. They were getting so close to finding Commodore Zhang. Why did security have to catch onto them now? She grimaced. What could she do? Could she risk doubling back to Dario’s again? She may be on camera, and the security guards might well be checking her formal paths. It would be a very big gamble. One she wouldn’t take without guidance. “G.O.D.?” Joan whispered, trying not to draw the attention of nearby tables.
“Ms. Shengtu,” her AI said, before his singing voice took over again. “Are we, are we, are we ready to party it up all night, like there’s no daybreak in sigh-ight?”
“Something like that. I’m going to hope that your singing virus doesn’t actually hinder your processing capability too much,” Joan said. “I assume you monitored the recent conversation?”
“Of course. I monitor every conversation unless privacy mode is engaged. That’s part of my matrix’s standard programming. Would you like me to replay a portion of it?”
“No, that’s not exactly what I was asking,” Joan said. “I was more curious your thoughts on the situation.”
“My analysis of your situation is that Mr. Mubari’s plan gives you the highest probability of potential outcomes for safety, but diminishes your probability of mission success.”
“How much does it diminish mission success by?”
“Fifty three point two five percent.”
“And what were the odds of success before?”
“Approximately eleven point three seven percent.”
“So this leaves us with about a five percent chance of success.” Joan shook her head. That was about as bad as it could get, though she was somewhat surprised to hear that her potential success rate was even as high as eleven percent. There had to be another option.
“G.O.D. is there a safe place I can open a comm link and talk to Dario?” Joan asked.
“Processing. Stand by.”
Joan waited, watching a couple leave a table in the lounge by her. She scanned the area, but still no sign of security for now.
“There is a private communications booth in sector 7 that should meet your requirements. Coordinates transmitted to your hand… your hand, I just wanna hold your hand.” He started singing again.
This time the AI didn’t stop singing. Joan couldn’t turn it off other than silencing him once again on her handtab. She wished that she had time to ask G.O.D. a few more questions. She really could use his full help right about now, especially with odds of her mission success being so low. At least he did give the directions.
&
nbsp; Perhaps Dario had some better ideas as to what she could do before vacating the Central Office. Joan had a feeling that if they left this place, they’d meet with dead ends down below. She’d seen the way the people there were treated. They had access to nothing. That thought didn’t seem appealing.
She slid out of her chair, turning to head down another hallway, the same direction Trian had gone. Her handtab directed her to turn left and left again before she found a row of communication booths as promised. The only gamble was the new ident that Trian provided her. Would it work? Hopefully the corporation hadn’t traced her prior identity and weren’t monitoring Dario’s calls.
As with far too much lately, Joan felt she had little choice.
She tapped the door control to open it. Inside was a small cushioned seating area, a holodisplay and a single light that shined down to give a clear image of her face. She contacted Dario.
Dario’s comm came through audio. “Joan? Is everything okay” he asked.
“Yes. No. I have to get off the Central Office here. It’s not safe. I wanted to let you know… or to see if you had any other suggestions.”
“What? What happened?”
“Security discovered us. They found our identities, where we were hiding, traced our recent whereabouts, everything. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”
“That’s not good,” Dario said, concern apparent in his voice.
“No, it’s not.”
“I don’t see any alternatives.”
“You could always stay with me.”
Joan stared at the sound-proofed foam wall for a long moment before replying. She wished she could take him up on that offer.
“Joan?” Dario asked.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that. It’s too dangerous. They’re looking for me already. This might even be monitored. No, I can’t put you at risk like that. It’d likely get us both into big trouble.”
“I’m willing to take the risk.”
“I know you are. It’s very sweet of you, and don’t think I’m unappreciative. That’s not what I mean at all,” Joan said. His offer did bring a little warmth to her chest. She thought about what G.O.D. had said earlier. Maybe he was right. She did like Dario.
Star Realms: Rescue Run Page 20