The Chaos of Luck

by Catherine Cerveny

  I was pulled to my feet in one swift movement. The tube pressing against my neck and the fist clutching my hair disappeared, and I heard shouts around me. Next I heard the sounds of a weapon being discharged dangerously close to my head. A second later, the homunculus held a plasma disrupter in its hand, looking at it in annoyance. Had the homunculus just shot everyone with Novi’s weapon? From the sound of the groans behind me, the answer was yes.

  “Seems like overkill,” it said.

  “How did you move so quickly?” Belikov asked. “The limiter should have prevented it.”

  “Did you miss the part where I said I cracked your memory blocks? I’ve disengaged the limiter. This homunculus has some impressive features I’m interested in using. Allow me to give you the field test you wanted. Brody, take her,” it said, letting me go.

  I felt arms around me, dragging me out of the way. I struggled against them, twisting enough to see Brody.

  “Stop fighting me, Felicia!” he barked. “We need to get out of here!”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you, you lying scumbag!”

  “We’re leaving, even if I have to knock you out and carry you. Who do you think will rescue you while Alexei deals with everybody else?”

  “Drop her!” shouted Novi, rounding on us and pulling something from her belt. Probably another plasma discharger.

  Before she could fire, the homunculus was already there, knocking it out of her hand. Everybody scattered. At the same time, I saw movement on the other side of the warehouse space. The lightweight frames on the assembly line were climbing down from their racks. If they had legs, they walked. If not, they dragged themselves across the floor using their arms and tugging their torsos behind them. It was a terrifying sight watching all that machinery creep toward us on its own, like some robotic army intent on humanity’s destruction.

  “What’s happening?” I asked, eyes widening as the crawling frames slinked closer.

  “Alexei’s got this,” Brody murmured. “He’s sniped into the override protocols and activated the homunculi with motion capability. They’ll subdue anyone he can’t.”

  “Leave, Brody,” it said over its shoulder. “And if you lose her in the penal maze, you’ll answer to both myself and the Under-Secretary. It will not go well for you.”

  “Don’t worry: I don’t plan on losing her again,” Brody said, hauling me after him.

  I kicked at Brody’s shin, trying to free myself. “Let go, asshole! I’m not your property!”

  “Go with him, Felicia.” This from the homunculus as it cast a final look at me. “I need you to leave.”

  I met the thing’s eyes, and in that moment, I realized it…he…Alexei didn’t want me to see what was coming next. Whatever his plan, it would be horrific and he would do things that couldn’t be unseen. Things that would keep us safe, but would scar me if I witnessed them. Things I might not understand or forgive. He tried to be human for me, but to save us now, he needed to be a monster. So I gave up fighting Brody and went limp in his arms.

  “Frankly, I don’t want to see him in action either,” he said in my ear.

  “It shouldn’t have to be like this. This is bullshit.”

  “If it gets us out of here, I’m not complaining,” Brody said. “Now hold on, sweetheart, and save some of that earlier energy for later.”

  Sweetheart? “Why should I do anything you say?”

  “Because the next few hours will be crazy what with our daring prison break and the trip back to Mars.”

  Finally something that made sense! So I shut up, and let him lead me out.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Behind us, I heard horrific screams I wasn’t sure I’d ever live to forget. I clung to Brody’s hand and let him pull me after him. We ran headlong down badly lit concrete hallways that forked in multiple directions. The lower gravity on Phobos made it difficult to control where I ran, with my steps launching me in directions I didn’t want to go. Brody was constantly yanking me after him, and pulling me back into place. To me, it felt like he chose pathways at random, darting down each with little warning. I jump-ran until my body ached as much as my bruised cheek. Eventually I stumbled and fell, tripped by the stupid canvas slip-ons.

  Brody caught me before I could face-plant on the concrete. He pulled me up and against him, holding me hard to his chest.

  “This place is a shifting maze,” he explained as he stroked my back. “In the event of a prison break, the AI queenmind shifts the pieces to control prisoner movements. There’s no such thing as a perfect jailing system so breakouts do happen, no matter what One Gov tells you.”

  “Then how do we get out?” I panted into his chest.

  “Vieira gave me the access override codes to hack the queenmind and the floor plan to the maze. I’ve essentially shut down the whole prison and we have ten minutes before the queenmind automatically reboots it. In that time, we need to get to the launch area where the prisoner transfer jet is docked. Then I fly us out of here. Easy.”

  “And if it takes more than ten minutes?”

  “Then we’re crushed when the maze shifts and repositions itself.”

  “Why not just create a system to put everyone back in their cells instead of killing them?”

  “Because if you can escape Phobos, you don’t get a second chance to redeem yourself. Death is the only option,” he said, pushing me back onto my feet. “Can you run? I estimate we’ve just lost a minute on this informative chat.”

  I nodded grimly. “Can you really fly a jet?”

  He grinned, apparently high on adrenaline. “Babe, I can fly anything.”

  We resumed running down more hallways, Brody leading us unerringly. At last, the screams behind us faded, either because we were too far away or Alexei had finished whatever he was doing. But then I could hear other sounds: the grinding of cement sliding against cement. In the distance at first, then much closer. Brody swept me up over his shoulder since I wasn’t fast enough and kept bouncing everywhere in the awful low gravity. He put on a burst of speed that made me gasp and cling to him. I heard more walls shifting, sounding like it came from behind, beside, then on top of us. The floor beneath us began to tremble, then buck like a wild animal.

  Abruptly we spilled out into another cavernous space. I saw yellow, red, blue, and black lines painted on the floor from my upside-down vantage point over Brody’s shoulder. Then it felt like we were running up steps and into a darkened, confined corridor. Along the way, Brody smashed into every wall and conceivable piece of furniture in the universe, bumping me with him, both of us swearing like sailors. Eventually he dropped me then pushed me hard enough that I fell. I shrieked until my fall was abruptly halted by a cushioned chair under my butt.

  “Strap yourself in. This is a one-way trip to Mars, taking us directly to the Under-Secretary’s backyard. If we’re lucky, no one will shoot us down.”

  “I’m not sure my luck’s holding anymore,” I muttered, searching for my shoulder strap then securing it in its buckle. I was in the cockpit of a jet, sitting in a high-backed black leather pilot’s chair, surrounded by dials, buttons, and levers. In front of me was a pressurized window. Outside, I saw a launch bay door beginning to open. Beyond, the blackness of space and the blue-tinged Martian horizon.

  “I was kind of hoping you’d be lucky enough for both of us.” He flicked some switches and I could feel the jet rumble to life around us.

  “Don’t AI units do the flying?” I asked as he punched buttons.

  “I want to be ready in case the weapons system outside the launch bay doors isn’t offline and they start firing.”

  Great. “Just when I think I can stop worrying, up pops another disaster.”

  He grinned at me. “Hold on. It might get bumpy.”

  And he launched us into blackness.

  I passed out from the g-forces pressing down on me. Not that Phobos had a huge escape velocity, but Brody wanted the speed to evade any automated weapons. Made sense, but it w
as damned uncomfortable with all that pressure squeezing me into my seat. Passing out had been a lovely blessing. I came to when I felt something being smoothed across my throbbing cheek. The pain faded to a dull ache until even that disappeared. I opened my eyes in time to see Brody plunk back in his seat.

  “Web-compress and skin renewal patches,” he said, scanning my face with a critical eye. “I found some on board and figured you could use them on that hit you took.”

  I touched my face self-consciously. “Thanks,” I said. I looked out through the window to see Mars looming ahead of us. “How soon until we land?”

  “Two or three hours. Doesn’t seem like anyone’s giving pursuit. I’m not picking up any chatter either, so we’re clear.” He tossed a hair band at me, both of us watching it float by in the zero-g. “You might want this. Your hair’s all over the place.”

  “Oh, sorry.” I took a few minutes to braid and secure my out-of-control hair. Then I tucked the braid into the back of my shirt. “Lotus keeps telling me to cut it.”

  “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’ve always liked your hair,” he said, eyes on me.

  I looked away, watching Mars get closer, uncomfortable and not sure what to say. I checked with my gut, surprised to find no reaction. There we were, utterly alone together, with at least two hours before we landed, and nothing. Not one twinge, pull, tug, or kick. Absolutely nothing. Apparently now that I didn’t need a knight in shining armor anymore, the pull had faded. The intense attraction was gone, tucked back into whatever box inside me it had escaped from. I was embarrassed by my own feelings and the fickleness of the luck gene.

  “Do you want to talk about what happened?” he asked, tone deceptively neutral.

  “I can guess. Belikov took me to coerce Alexei into testing the homunculus. Then he planned to transfer himself into his new body using Alexei’s brain-transferring code. We’d all be dead and Consortium would have gone on to take over the tri-system, with everyone living in their new ‘Built on Phobos’ homunculus. Except you, Alexei, and my grandfather worked out a truce and got me back. Now we’re safe, with the tri-system none the wiser. Does that sum it up?” I asked, studying my fingernails. My lovely sea foam green manicure hadn’t survived all the excitement.

  “No, I figured that stuff was obvious. I meant about what happened with us,” he said patiently. “You and me.”

  No, I didn’t want to talk about it. I felt too brittle and confused. “You’re like Alexei. They engineered you with some off-the-charts MH Factor and t-mods, and hoped you’d be the next stage in human evolution. You were supposed to lead the Consortium to greatness, but that didn’t work out. Did I guess right?”

  He sighed. “Close enough.”

  “Can you pilot the homunculus too?”

  “No. I was part of a different program, with altered physiological specs. Unlike Alexei, I’m closer to the base DNA.”

  “So you’re more…human than he is?”

  He shrugged. “I guess that’s one way to look at it. With me, you wouldn’t have the incompatibility issues that exist with Alexei.”

  “Meaning we could have a baby?”

  “Meaning we could have everything, if you wanted it.” And now I could see why my gut had reacted to Brody the way it had. As far as the luck gene was concerned, Brody was perfect. He could be everything I’d ever need.

  “Why is there a difference between you?” I asked instead.

  “My program was meant to infiltrate One Gov and take it down from the inside. Consortium, who didn’t seem like Consortium—that’s what I was supposed to be. I can snipe into One Gov’s queenmind like there’s no tomorrow. With a little effort, I could probably dismantle the queenmind and cripple One Gov.”

  “Was that the plan for you?”

  “Who knows? Konstantin scrapped the project. I do know I had no desire to run the Consortium. I didn’t really want anything, just sort of coasted half-asleep through life until I met you. Then I woke up and realized there was something in the tri-system I wanted. Belikov wanted you too, mostly so he could splice your luck gene into the Consortium breeding pool. However, there was no way I was letting that happen. Belikov may have pointed me in your direction but from the first moment I saw you, I had no intention of letting him get his hands on you.”

  “And you ended up serving three years on Phobos for your trouble,” I said, finally looking at him. “I’m sorry for that. I didn’t know. If I had, I would have done something.”

  He chuckled softly. “I actually believe you. And you know, I’m not angry about it. Well, I am, but not like I was. When Belikov approached me, I agreed to everything he wanted just to get off Phobos. I lived a miserable, hellish existence there. I lost time, my life, and part of myself. But when I saw you again, I just wanted to be near you. Maybe it’s because I hated Belikov and his casual cruelty more. Or maybe not killing Alexei and taking over the Consortium makes me the biggest fool in the tri-system.”

  “I want to be mad at you, but I can’t,” I admitted. “You may have created this façade in Nairobi, but you didn’t try to influence me or make me do anything I didn’t want to do. You didn’t try to recruit me for the Consortium or haul me into some secret scheme. You were there for me when I needed someone and made me want to start living again. That meant a lot to me. I don’t want to tarnish that by hating you now.”

  He sighed. “You were never some task the Consortium assigned me. Being with you was one of the bright spots in my life.” He reached up and pushed a few buttons on the dashboard, shutting off some of the blinking lights. “Vieira’s offered me a position in One Gov. Maybe he did it out of pity, or maybe he has a use for me. I think I’ll take him up on it since I’m pretty sure there isn’t a place for me in the Consortium now.” I felt him look at me. “Vieira said you agreed to work for him as well.”

  I shrugged. “The exotic Tarot card reader thing isn’t doing it for me anymore.”

  “It means we’ll be working together then. Probably seeing a lot of each other. We could be what we were before, if you wanted,” he said softly. “In fact, it could start right now.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not? Is it as good with Alexei as it was with us, because what we had was amazing. It was simple, uncomplicated, and perfect. You know it was, Felicia. And it would be the easiest thing in the world to have that again.”

  I met his eyes because I couldn’t say what I needed to say while looking down into my lap, afraid. “Maybe that’s because we were both hiding who we really were. We didn’t let ourselves worry about the big issues. Maybe if we had, it wouldn’t have worked.”

  “You don’t know that. How can you say that when we never even tried?”

  I shook my head. “Maybe, but I can’t do this with you. I love him.”

  “And you don’t love me,” he said flatly.

  “Not the way I love him. I’m sorry.”

  He swore, his knuckles white as his hand gripped the throttle, as if he might snap it off the control panel. “How many times has he broken your heart already? How many more times will he smash it before you wake up and realize you’re making a mistake?”

  “Brody—”

  “If that’s the life you want, maybe you deserve it. All I know is I walked away when I shouldn’t have and now I’ve lost four years with you because of that mistake. I can wait awhile longer because I know Alexei can’t help but fuck things up with you again, but I can’t wait forever.”

  I could think of absolutely no response to that, and because there was nowhere else to go in the tiny jet, we both sat in the cockpit, neither looking at the other. The rest of the trip passed in uncomfortable silence laced with my own guilt over being such a fickle, silly creature, which I decided was probably better than I deserved.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  We landed in the Under-Secretary’s backyard, beside the rosebushes, and nobody arrested us—which had to be a personal best for me.


  Brody lowered the loading ramp and opened the hatch once we landed. Despite the tension, he helped me from my seat, checked the progress of the web-compress and skin renewal patch, and removed them when he said my bruise was gone. Then he escorted me out when my legs felt like rubber and wouldn’t support me. He didn’t have to do any of that, which proved his feelings went deeper than I realized and made me feel even worse. Then we were outside, with the autumn sun shining down on us from a cloudless sky. The lawn was torn up from the landing, but at least the roses were okay. Considering the week I’d spent pruning, I probably would have started crying if they’d been ruined.

  I saw him then, standing beside Felipe and some others I couldn’t take the time to recognize. He looked tense, anxious, and so rumpled, I wanted to tell him to comb his hair and put on another shirt. Then again how he looked didn’t matter, only that he was there. I wanted to go to him, but walking felt impossible on my shaky legs. It became easier the longer I stood on solid ground, until I found I could creep toward him. He did the same, except he moved much more purposefully.

  Alexei caught me in a hug that lifted me clear off the ground, holding me so tight, it almost hurt. I threw my arms around his neck, enjoying the feeling of his solidness, and the fact that he was there. If I was mad at him, I couldn’t remember why. I couldn’t recall what we’d fought about last or why it mattered or if it was going to matter in the future. All I wanted was his arms holding me as if I was the most important thing in his universe like he was in mine.

  I started crying into his shirt—just awful, gasping sobs where I could barely catch my breath. I knew I looked terrible and probably smelled worse. I wanted to tell him to put me down because I was sweaty and gross, but I couldn’t. All I could do was cling to him, afraid that if I let go, this might not be real and I’d be back in my jail cell.

  “I want to go home,” I whispered. “Please take me home.”

  “I am,” he promised, cradling me against him.