"As long as we want," she said, "provided I look happy when I leave." She smirked as she added, "You could help with that. Start by shucking that uniform."
"Not part of the deal," I said, as I finally realized what was happening. "What's with you behaving this way?"
"Think about it," she said. "There's no chance Shurkan could smuggle in a new senior staffer; Wei's people screen them too carefully. It took over a year to get me in here, and I already had the perfect credentials."
Over a year? That meant the CC had known about Wei's experiments for a very long time and tried only to infiltrate, not close down, his operation. The more I learned about the CC's involvement, the more I worried about its real motives.
"So, anyone he might send," she said, "would have to be a junior person. Wei treats himself to visits to the outside, but he won't let us leave here, not anymore, so he goes out of his way to indulge our personal appetites. I make sure each of the new junior staff members eventually—" she paused, as if searching for the right word "—performs for me, because that way if Shurkan ever did send someone, I'd be sure to end up alone with him or her." She spread her arms, taking in me and the rest of the room. "And it worked, exactly as I planned."
"Fair enough," I said. "It did. But what about the way you used all those people?"
"It's not like they had hard duty," she said, "and this blasted job might as well have some perks. Wei doesn't mind, and I can't imagine Shurkan would care. That little mutant has committed more than his share of sins."
"And Lee?" I said. "Why is he so angry at me?"
"I made the mistake of using him whenever no one new was available," she said, "and I think he became a little too attached. Still, he was fun."
"And now I'm making him even more jealous because he thinks I'm another one of that group."
She smiled. "Yes, you are, but if you weren't, we wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be able to explain this surveillance-free meeting." She stood and walked to me, her face almost level with mine. "We might as well enjoy our time."
I backed away. "No," I said, "we have a job, so let's do it and get the heck out of here."
She shrugged and returned to her seat. "What's your plan?"
"My plan?" I said. "You're the one who's been working here for months. You tell me: How can we snatch Wei?"
"Whoa," she said. "I assume you mean: How can you get both Wei and me off this island? I can't afford to help you and stay behind with my cover blown; after all the time I've spent with Lee, Ng would torture me just for the fun of it."
"My mistake," I said. "Shurkan asked me to take you as well, and I said I'd do my best. So, how do we get the two of you out of here?"
"That'll be difficult," she said. She stared directly at me as she very slowly added, "Someone recently tried to kidnap Wei when he was in the old city visiting that courtesan he admires so much. They blew it, and now security around him and all of us is tighter than ever. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
I held her gaze as I said, "What I know is that I need to figure out how to get Wei—and you—out of here, and you're not helping. And speaking of helping: Why did you stop sending your status reports? Couldn't you have transmitted more information?"
"Shurkan underestimated this guy's paranoia," she said. "The research network here is completely isolated and shielded. It doesn't even have wireless connections internally. Can you image that? You need a physical connection to it to access any data. I've never been able to send even the simplest message from here. I had to file status reports from the city when I was visiting it, and a few months ago Wei decided that none of the core research team could leave until we had at least one multi-week test survivor. Of course, he still went out; he's addicted to that whore."
I wanted to slap her. She wasn't trying to help, she shrugged off the deaths of children, and the way she talked about Matahi made me grind my teeth. I needed her, though, if I was to succeed, so I choked down the anger and kept my face calm. "None of the children has survived for even two weeks?"
"No," she said, shaking her head and staring at the desk, "not a one. The longest made it only three days." She looked back up at me. "When I started here, I couldn't believe what he was doing. After I saw what an infusion did to one of these kids, I could barely make it to a bathroom before I broke down. Now, though, we've gone through more than a dozen, and I don't even feel it anymore. They're just subjects that fail tests. Can you understand how that can happen?"
Many times in the Saw, on many worlds, we'd descended on the enemy and left no one standing. I'd walked through villages buzzing with insects sparkling in the sunlight with the blood of the dead that were piled and scattered all around us. I puked the first time, and the second—most of us did—but then I felt it less and less. One of the reasons I'd mustered out was that I knew I had to suppress the feelings to survive, but I was afraid of what I was becoming, of what I'd already become. I wanted to leave with at least some small spark of humanity still alive in me. As much as I hated myself for admitting it to McCombs, as much as I wanted to save those children, I had to nod my head once and say, "Yeah, I can." I wiped my face with my left hand, as if with that simple gesture I could remove not only the sweat on my brow but also all the memories inside me. "But now we can stop the tests and save those who are still alive. How many are there?"
"I'm not sure," she said. "When the inventory is low, someone recruits more. Usually, we have a few in active test and half a dozen or so in pending stock." Her expression didn't change as she added, "There's no point worrying about the ones in test; they're all showing signs of failure, so they'll be gone in a few days."
"Isn't there anything we could do for them?" I said.
"We can avenge them by exposing Wei," she said. "That's it."
"So what's your thinking on how we do it?"
"I can put the three of us together, but only once, because normally I'd never bring one of my companions to a meeting, and no guard other than Ng or Lee would ever be within earshot. Once you have us, though, you still have to get us off the island. Any ideas on how to do that? If we go topside, security will spot us and trank us long before we could get out of there. Wei never goes there, and everyone on his core protection squad knows it."
I had to work with her, and we were supposed to be on the same team, but her manner put me off. Was her grief not genuine? Was I still annoyed at her comments about Matahi? I couldn't be sure, but I definitely didn't trust her, so I kept my response deliberately vague and downplayed how quickly Lobo could respond. "If I could send a signal to my people," I said, "and get us all to a landing hangar, they could pick us up within three or four minutes. The problem is, I can't transmit from here."
She sat straighter and for the first time looked hopeful. "This can work," she said. "When supply ships land at the main hangar, we open external comm links in that area so we can let the government patrol ships know that everything's okay and the suppliers have our permission to come and go. I know you must have seen the main hangar; it's where Ng sends the new meat for training."
"Yeah, I've been in it."
"A few guards will be watching the supply ship—standard protocol—but that place can handle multiple vessels. If we time it so you and I meet Wei while suppliers were unloading there, we'd at least be in the right spot."
"Wei meets those ships?" I said. "That seems like a real security risk."
"He doesn't normally," she said, "but I've been selling the idea that he needs to meet with a particular supplier of ours, and I'll talk him into doing it sometime soon." She smiled. "I can be very persuasive, and he's already going stir crazy being trapped down here." Her tone turned angry. "Unlike the rest of us, he was accustomed to going out regularly."
"Even without comm shielding, I still can't contact my people." I held my arms away from my sides. "The moment we report for duty, they confiscate anything that might even remotely be able to reach the outside world. If we want to talk with anyone who
's not on the staff here, we have to use a company comm."
"That won't be a problem," she said. "Right next to the main personnel entrance to the hangar there's a communications hub with guards who monitor all incoming shipments. They watch for trouble, seal the hangar if anything goes wrong, and have outside comm links, in case they need to call for help."
"It has to be sealed," I said, "and none of the secure doors will admit me."
"They will when I give you clearance," she said.
"Won't that raise alarms?"
"Of course, but because you'll have permissions but not actually have done anything, the first step in the alarm process will be to contact me to see if I really approved you. As long as I make the change right before I leave to meet Wei—"
"I should have a few minutes to get in."
"That's right," she said, nodding. "You'll have to take them out quickly, which won't be easy, because they'll see you on the monitors and be ready."
"I'll manage," I said. "Once they're out and I've called my people, what else do I need to do?"
"You'll have to deal with the other guards. Usually they're mid-level staff, because we isolate the hangar while visitors are in the facility. Can you handle that?"
"Probably," I said, recalling the ineptitude of my fellow trainees. "How many are there likely to be?"
"Two inside the hangar on either side of the main door, three who'll come with Wei, and a couple more on the outside of at least two key doors. The external guards won't matter; I can shut down hangar access once you're inside."
"They can't override you?"
"Of course they can," she said, her irritation apparent. "But it will take a few minutes. Are you up for this or not?"
I considered my memory of the hangar. All I had to do was take out the comm center guards and then survive long enough for Lobo to get there, because once he arrived, he'd handle anyone I couldn't. If I worked this right, I could talk to him and arrange for him to stay no more than two minutes away. If Wei and McCombs were already there, and I arrived in the hangar partway through the unloading process, there should be plenty of cover.
"It could work," I said, "but I need to talk to my team, which means I have to wait until after the next time I'm off the island. I've been volunteering to stay, so I don't know when that will be. Can you track my shifts?"
"Easily," she said. "Remember: Wei lets me have my pick of the junior staffers, so Ng gives me access to their work assignments."
"Then watch for when I go off duty and return. Once I'm back, you can call at any time."
"As soon as you're back," she said, "I'll check on the resupply schedule, then request you again on the right day."
"Do they always give you anyone you want?"
She smiled. "Wei likes to keep his key scientists happy."
"Then that's it," I said.
She nodded in agreement. "That's it—as long as your team is very, very good, and very, very fast." She stood and walked again to me, but this time fear, not lust, dominated her expression. "If they're not, we'll become Wei's first adult test subjects, even though he knows the infusions will kill us. He'll do it just to see how we die." She put her hand on my chest. "You have no idea how much pain the nanomachines cause the subjects before they pass out. No idea. I do not want to go like that."
I recalled the screaming in the labs on Aggro, my own and Benny's and that of the other prisoners. I remember watching grown men blubber, then twitch and go silent as their bodies melted or vanished millimeter by millimeter as the nanomachines failed to meld with their cells and instead disassembled them.
I knew exactly what it felt like, but I didn't say a word. I stared at her for a few seconds, then forced a smile and said, "My team is that good. We'll be fine."
I maintained the smile as I walked out of the room and the door closed behind me.
I turned to head back to my original station and almost bumped into Dan Lee.
He punched me in the face.
Chapter 49
I staggered backward and used the momentum to keep moving and create some distance between us.
It didn't work.
Lee rushed after me and swung wildly with his right.
I got up my left arm in time to catch most of the blow along my forearm, but he had enough power and I was slow enough in responding that he managed to tag my nose again.
The pain lanced through me, and then the nanomachines shut it down, shut down everything that hurt, and at the same time my rage clicked in.
I turned so I appeared to fall back against the wall and let him charge me. When he was almost on me, I spun aside and added to his momentum with my left hand on his back.
He crashed into the wall.
He started to push off it, but I kicked the side of his right knee.
His scream came less than a second after the sharp crack.
As he was falling, I grabbed his shirt, punched him in the side of the neck, and shoved him harder into the ground.
He sprawled there, his right leg twisted unnaturally beneath him, his eyes shut with pain, his hands instinctively clutching his throat as he gasped for air.
I bent to finish him, blood pounding in my ears, the familiar metallic taste of adrenaline in my mouth, the world condensed to only this: My fury and the man who was about to pay for attacking me.
I pushed against my own knees to stop myself.
I could control this.
I could control myself.
I would control myself.
I finally had a shot at capturing Wei, and now I'd risked it by attacking a superior who could probably fire me because of my behavior. I would not let that happen.
I took advantage of being bent over to straighten my nose. He'd broken it, but the nanomachines would heal it soon enough. With luck, no one watching would have noticed the extent of the damage.
I kneeled next to him and said, loud enough that those listening would hear me clearly, "Lee, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you. I was just defending myself. Let me check your breathing." I leaned close to him as if listening to make sure air was reaching his lungs. As I did, I covered my mouth with my arm and whispered, "I need this job. You complain, and next time I will kill you."
I straightened and said, "You're okay. Let me check out that leg."
I heard the footsteps as I crabbed toward the knee I'd broken.
"We'll take it from here, Moore," Ng's voice said.
I lifted my hands, stood, and turned to look down the hall to my right, toward the sound.
Ng, Park, and a man and a woman lugging a stretcher jogged toward me.
I backed away from Lee and turned so he was between them and me. "Look," I said, "he caught me off guard. I reacted by instinct and had no idea—" I stopped when I saw Park stare at me and ever so slightly shake his head.
"I saw it on the video," Ng said. She bent to look at Lee's face, neck, and then his knee. She touched him with a gentleness I'd never seen in her. Her face hardened in anger, but she held her position for a few seconds. She stood and said to the man and woman, "Take him to the clinic. Get them working on that knee."
Ng faced me. She said nothing for a few seconds, her anger obvious, her stare never wavering. "I think it's clear what happened here. Don't you agree?"
I said nothing.
She continued as if I'd responded. "Lee was running security spot checks, was surprised by your exit from the room, and thought you might be an intruder. He tried to subdue you. You were equally startled and defended yourself. Just an unfortunate accident that could happen to any two people." Without turning, she said, "Is that what you saw, Tomaso?"
"Sounds right to me," he said.
"Moore?" Ng said.
"Exactly right," I said.
She stared at me for a few more seconds, then nodded her head slightly, turned, and walked in the same direction they'd taken Lee. As she passed Park, she said, "Get him cleaned up, buy him a drink, and then give him the rest of the day off. I thi
nk everyone could stand to cool down a bit."
When we'd gone about fifty meters down the hallway in the opposite direction, cut through a large room that appeared to be a storage area, and were in another hall, Park said, "Damn, son, you looked fast! Did his jealousy make him that bad, or are you that good?"
I shrugged and said nothing. My use of the nanomachines definitely constituted an unfair advantage, but Lee's own enhancements were obvious, so I didn't feel guilty. More importantly, in the end what matters is that you walk away from the fight. Lee acted stupidly by attacking an enemy of unknown strength while letting his emotions rule him, and he paid the price for that error. I could easily lose control of my anger at what Wei and his team were doing to the children, so I needed to learn from Lee's example.
"Relax," Park said, misinterpreting my silence as caution. "You can talk here. We're in one of the research zones, where Wei doesn't want anyone listening to the staff's conversations. The recording software even automatically obscures the mouths of anyone talking; Wei doesn't want to risk lip-reading."
"Sounds like a paranoid guy," I said. I didn't want to blow the first chance Park had given me to fish for information about Wei, but not commenting would be out of character. When two sergeants are alone, odds are good the CO will come up.
Park chuckled. "He is that. He is that indeed. You'd think these mixed-up animals they create were portable jump gates for all the protection we have to give their research data and Wei's team." He led me through another room and down a short stretch of hallway. We emerged into the cafeteria through an entrance I hadn't used before.
"If you ask me, it's more than a little odd," I said, nodding my head. "The times I've seen security like this, a lot more than animals were involved."
Park stopped and put his hand on my chest. "Look," he said, "you need to understand something. What I used to do—the kind of work you used to do, too—led me into a whole lot of shit I wish I could forget."
I nodded my head in understanding as more bad memories stormed my consciousness: A screaming woman, a colleague of mine, slashing the throat of an enemy who'd gone too far, the air thick with insects feasting on the dead bodies stacked all around us. Benny's screams over the comm as he vanished. I pushed them away, easier to do now, in daytime, than in the night. "It does that," I said.
Overthrowing Heaven-ARC Page 32