Overthrowing Heaven-ARC

  "So you can appreciate how different it is here," Park said, "how much better it is. I run a bunch of second-rate wannabes—present company excluded—and we protect corporate data assets. Those assets happen to be animals, weird animals, but animals that make kids and even adults gasp in wonder. Have you ever watched children touring this place?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "It's amazing. We're doing some good, even if only by providing entertainment. Even better, most of the time, no one fires at us, and on the few occasions when someone has, everyone's come home alive."

  I forced myself to maintain the same expression, but I was relieved that none of the guards had died in our assault on Matahi's house.

  "I get that," I said, "and as I told you, safety is one of the main reasons I'm here and not in the militia." I held up my hands in surrender. "I'm not trying to complain. I'm glad to have this job. Your comments about the animals as the main assets just made me realize that there's no way around the fact that all the security here is rather unusual, so Wei must be a pretty paranoid fellow."

  Park stared at me for a long time, then grinned slightly and said, "I've wondered the same things now and again, but when has questioning command worked out well for you?"

  I smiled in return. Park didn't know. I looked into his eyes, and as best I could tell, he really had no idea. The way he'd talked about children, if I could show him the truth, he might even become an ally. "Not real often," I said, the same answer every grunt knows to give, "not real often at all."

  "So how about that drink?" he said. "Ng's orders, so I can expense it." He waved me toward the dispenser on the wall opposite us. "And when we've had a few, I'm kicking you out—you heard the woman."

  "Fine by me," I said. I could use the rest of the day to coordinate with Lobo, Pri, and Matahi. If this all worked out, the next time I left Wonder Island, I'd be flying in Lobo with Wei as my cargo.

  Of course, if it didn't, I might be joining his child prisoners, a thought that caused me to stretch so I'd be in motion and Park wouldn't notice my face tightening with tension.

  This time, I didn't care whether Park or Ng had people following me. It didn't matter. I was sticking to a pattern, and they'd like that. As far as they were concerned, I was going to visit the same paid companion as last time, and that action would make sense to them. I'd seen a lot of squad mates do it, and no doubt Park and Ng had, too. I used the shuttle rides to assemble the final details of the plan for extracting Wei.

  I waited in the armored isolation foyer of the SleepSafe while the hotel's security system verified that I was a permitted caller and connected me to Matahi.

  An avatar's face appeared in the call holo. Smart: If someone was with me, they wouldn't see her until she had time to dress in the bodysuit in which I'd last met her.

  "Yes," she said.

  I thought it extremely unlikely that anyone could monitor us here, but I appreciated her caution and went along with it. "I'm sorry I didn't call ahead, but I got an unexpected one-day leave and was hoping you were available."

  She didn't answer for several seconds. I hoped she was checking outside for any possible threat; it's certainly what she should have been doing.

  "I've told the hotel to admit you," she said. "Come on up. You know the room."

  * * *

  As soon as Matahi let me into the suite, I went to the room I'd used last time and initiated contact with Lobo.

  "Are you going to explain what's going on?" Matahi said.

  "Yes, but only once, which is why I need to wait until we connect with Lobo and Pri."

  Matahi sat on the edge of the bed and watched me. "You never really answered my question," she said.

  How did she do that? I'd been gone for several days, our last conversation was already a memory, and she still managed to pick up exactly where we'd left off.

  "Maybe later," I said, "but not now."

  "Yeah, right," she said.

  Lobo's voice came over the comm. "Why are you back in the SleepSafe," he said, "and why are you not alone?"

  Fighting with him would only waste time and distract me, so I answered his questions. "Because it's a secure location, and because I need to brief Matahi and Pri."

  "I'm Matahi, and she's Pri!" Matahi stood and glared at me.

  "As smooth as ever," Lobo said. "But first, I have news: Our employer has moved into the neighborhood."

  "What?" I said.

  "The Sunset is in distant orbit," he said, "not far from the jump gate. An EC command ship of similar size is parked the same distance from the gate on its other side."

  "So Shurkan has grown impatient," I said.

  "It would appear so," Lobo said, "though of course his presence could be due to something entirely different. We have no way of knowing."

  "Then let's not worry about it," I said. "When we succeed, we won't have to jump to reach him, so I'll treat this as good news."

  "Let's hope it is," Lobo said, "though I generally prefer that the CC stay away from us."

  I couldn't argue with him, but I saw no point in continuing this conversation. "I need to brief Andrea and Pri," I said, remembering this time to get the names right. "Put on Pri, and let's get to it."

  Lobo's pilot area snapped into view.

  Pri stood in the middle of it. Lobo zoomed on her face as she said, "Any news, Jon?"

  I stood and stepped back so I was at equal angles to the two women. "Yes," I said. "I have a way in, and I believe that if Lobo and I execute well, we should have Wei sometime in the next week, maybe sooner."

  "Really?" both women asked at once.

  "Yes, or I wouldn't have said so."

  "Can we help?" Pri said.

  "You should already know I'll do anything I can to assist you," Andrea said.

  It was Pri's turn to glare. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but I cut her off.

  "Yes, but you'll have to work together to do it."

  "We can do that," Pri said.

  "No problem," Andrea said. "What do you have in mind?"

  "Let me run it down for you," I said, "and then I'm going to kick you out and work out the rest with Lobo."

  "I do so love being special," Lobo said.

  "Why can't we hear the whole plan?" Pri said. "I'm supposed to be your partner in this."

  "And I've done everything you've asked of me," Andrea said. She smiled slightly.

  Pri stepped forward, toward where Lobo would be showing our image.

  I took a deep, slow breath and shoved away my mounting irritation. "You can either stop asking questions and follow my instructions, or Lobo and I will do this without you."

  "Fine," Andrea said.

  "No problem," Pri said, her tone entirely too sweet. "Anything you need."

  I shook my head and took another deep breath.

  "Here's what I want you two to do."

  Chapter 50

  I woke up early, a couple of hours before sunrise, my body tense and jittery. Planning a snatch and go from a secure facility was beginning to look like simplicity itself compared to dealing with Andrea and Pri. After the briefing, I'd followed Andrea into her bedroom, then headed back to the sanctuary of mine. I wasn't blind to her or to Pri, but both of them were too nice for me to risk involving them any further in my life than I already had.

  I shook off the thoughts and ran through a series of body-weight exercises until I was soaked with sweat and my muscles were sore. Working out always helps clear my head and focus me; there's something purifying about the concentration necessary to push yourself to your physical limits.

  I cleaned up, took a deep breath to prepare myself to face the morning's inquisition, and told the door to open.

  Andrea was still asleep, a sheet wrapped around her body, the glow from the security monitors flickering over her like water dappling a mermaid floating near the surface of a clear, clean ocean on a sunlit morning. Her hair fanned out on the pillow, and her mouth was slightly open, as if she had been about to speak and then fallen into sl
umber. Beautiful.

  I left quietly, not wanting to disturb her—and, I had to admit to myself, unwilling to face the questions she would ask if I woke her.

  The problem with some questions is that the answer you know you have to give is not at all the answer you wish were true.

  * * *

  I scanned the perimeter monitors in the SleepSafe lobby before stepping into the misty gray morning. Shards of light punched their way through a cloud cover as thick and dense as armor plating. Mist covered the bits of grass beside the faux old buildings of this part of the city, and fog stood guard in the streets against the oncoming day. I didn't know when the action would come, but now that it was near I had that familiar feeling of complete presence, as if at the knowledge that you were about to do something very dangerous your entire self suddenly becomes hyper-aware.

  Not that this assignment should pose all that much danger, not if we did it right. Even if I couldn't handle the security, even if a platoon of soldiers as skilled as Ng or Park emerged from the walls, once we let Lobo into the place, it was as good as over. I hadn't seen the ultra-secure area, where I assumed Wei's team conducted their experiments and held their prisoners, but nothing in the rest of the place suggested they had any armament strong enough to take Lobo.

  Every rational part of me knew we were good to go, so I should have been able to relax, but I couldn't, I just couldn't.

  The hotel had clearly decided I needed a ride, because a shuttle pulled up, but I waved it off. I was early, so I took off jogging in the direction of the square where I'd met Andrea. I ran, a ghost in motion in the early morning, passing through the world but not disturbing it, moving in covering fog, touching nothing, and nothing sticking to me. Same as always, I thought, but even as the feeling materialized I recalled Andrea, Pri, Joachim, Jennie, Maggie, Benny, and many others, some right here right now, others true ghosts, and I knew it was not true, knew it for the lie I told myself so I could reach the hard and cold place inside me where only the job mattered, and then I shook off those last connections and was finally, truly where I needed to be: Alone in the darkness, a weapon in motion, doing exactly what it was supposed to do.

  Same as always.

  I wanted to stay in the cold, clear place I'd found, but I also needed to come across normally until it was time for action. I tried to balance the two as I finished changing and hit the café an hour before anyone was due for duty.

  Park was already there, of course, sitting alone at a corner table, eating a roll and sipping something whose steam rose in front of his face and gave him a mysterious cast.

  I chose a fruit blend from the dispenser and nodded at him.

  He motioned to the chair opposite him.

  I smiled, pulled the chair so it was next to him, and sat.

  He chuckled. "Half the idiots I have to hire possess less situational awareness than a newborn."

  I shrugged, sipped my drink, and stared at him. I couldn't help but like him, so I didn't want to believe he was part of all this. He said he'd never been in the main research area; maybe I could trust him. Though everything should go well, having an ally on the inside was always a good thing.

  "I don't expect you to run off at the mouth," he said, "but you're particularly quiet this morning. Bad night?"

  I smiled slightly and shook my head. "Most of it was good. A little bit bothered me, though."

  "What?"

  I paused several seconds. "You know I hired this local, right?"

  "The one from before, when we tailed you?"

  "Yeah."

  "So what?"

  "So I saw her again last night," I said, "and I mentioned working here. From the moment I did," I paused again, "well, let's just say she changed from enthusiastic to barely present."

  He put down the last bit of roll. "Why?"

  I looked at the table and lowered my voice. "Rumors," I said, "probably stupid rumors, though she certainly believed them."

  "Of what?" he said.

  I lifted my head and shook it slightly. "I need this job. I like it here. I don't even mind sharing the café with the rest of the staff."

  Park popped the last of the roll into his mouth, chased it with a swallow of his drink, and stood. "I have some early checks to make. Walk with me."

  He didn't speak again until we had returned to the research zone where I'd spent time with McCombs. As we entered that area, he slowed his normally quick pace to a leisurely stroll and gestured at a doorway ahead of us as if he were explaining something to me. "What exactly have you heard?" he said, his voice low but clear.

  I pointed to the same doorway. "Are we in a safe-to-talk zone again?" It never hurts to know more than they think you do, and though I wanted to trust Park, I still had to assume he'd be on the other side if a conflict arose.

  He nodded.

  "So why the theater?" I said.

  "Because we're here off-shift," he said, "so in case anyone wonders why and checks the video logs, I want it to be obvious that I'm training you."

  "Fair enough."

  "So, I repeat: What have you heard?"

  "Rumors," I said.

  He stopped and turned to face me as if explaining a difficult point. "I like you fine, Moore, but you're starting to piss me off."

  "Sorry," I said. "The companion I hired turned cold when I mentioned where I worked. She said kids were going missing, and the word was that they ended up here and never came back. She said the head researcher, some guy named Wei, was experimenting on children."

  "And you believe her?"

  "Hey, Sarge, it seemed like crazy stuff, but she sure believed it."

  "What was her source?" Park said.

  I stared at him for several seconds before answering. "What does it matter?"

  "Just answer the question."

  I shrugged. "She said a good friend of hers had lost a son and knew Wei had the boy." I pointed down the hall as if asking a question. "That's it. That's all I heard."

  Park turned and started walking. "You like this job, right?" he said.

  "Yeah," I said, "like I told you."

  "So what would you do if the rumors were true?"

  I stopped.

  He did, too, and turned again to face me.

  "Are you saying they are?" I said.

  He shook his head. "No, not at all. It's just that I've heard the same rumors, and each time I've asked myself what I asked you: What would you do if they were true?"

  I paused and watched him intently. "I suppose I'd have to find another job," I finally said, "because I don't think I could ignore that kind of crime. I'd have to turn in Wei."

  "To what?" Park said. "The government? They own this place. Wei works for them."

  "I don't know," I said, "and frankly I'm not real comfortable with this conversation. I need this job, I like this job, and I intend to keep this job. Rumors are just that: rumors."

  Park stepped closer, so close our noses were almost touching. "I like it here, too, and I've been here a lot longer than you. They transferred me here, and now all I want to do is live quietly. Despite all that, if I learned those rumors were true, I wouldn't just leave; I'd find a way to take down this place in the process." He backed up. "Which is why I'm glad I've never seen a shred of proof that supports them."

  He turned and waved at me to follow him. "Let's get back. It's almost time to earn our pay."

  I followed him, but for several steps I let him lead and watched his back, liking him even more than I had before but, despite that good feeling, wondering in my cold center exactly how I could take advantage of his feelings should the need arise.

  The rest of the day passed in the kind of monotony that is soul-crushing if you do it for years but that was perfect for me right then: no troubles, no hassles, nothing to distract me from the impending mission, just the hours flowing away while I waited for the call that would start it all.

  It came half an hour after Wonder Island closed to tourists that evening.

  Chapt
er 51

  McCombs wants you again," Park said. He didn't even try to hide his smirk.

  My pulse quickened; this was it. I hung my head slightly as I said, "Great."

  "Come on," Park said, "it's not hard duty, at least not according to the reports I've heard."

  "It's also not anything I'm seeking," I said, "and I sure don't need another run-in with Lee."

  "You shouldn't have to worry on that front," Park said. "Though he's out of the clinic, he's walking slowly and able to do that much only because the prosthetic's doing most of the work while his knee heals. Besides, Ng has him on a short leash: He's stuck with supplier meet-and-greet duty until he's fully recovered."

  I'd been acting reluctant to this point, but now my misgivings were real: I'd have to deal with Lee again, and soon, if he was working the main hangar. Even hurt he was more of a threat than most of the guards I'd seen on Wonder Island. I forced a smile and said, "At least I have that going for me."

  "You better get moving," Park said. "From what I've heard, McCombs does not like to be kept waiting, so unless you want a spanking—" he paused, then laughed at my reaction, "yes, I've heard she does like giving those, so if you don't want one, you better haul butt to her. Same room as last time."

  I threw him a lazy salute and said, "Sergeant, yes, Sergeant."

  He was still laughing as I walked away.

  "About time," McCombs said. She leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. "Most of my callers are a bit more eager to get here."

  "Rushing wouldn't have been consistent with what they know of me so far," I said. "We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves today than is absolutely unavoidable. And besides, I'm not here for your usual reasons."

  "As if any of that will matter once we're done," she said. "I'm finally getting out of here, and I can tell you: I am way past ready. The guard choices are either barely acceptable or—" she tilted her head at me "—uninterested, so I'm ready to leave this boring underground trap and rejoin civilization."