Overthrowing Heaven-ARC

by Mark L. Van Name

  The room in front of me was about two-thirds the size of the main hangar in which they'd captured Lobo and me. Lobo sat on the opposite side of the space, a thick cluster of cables linking him to outlets on the wall to my left. The walls were the same bland, washed-out yellow as the rest of the facility. The floors also had the same slightly brighter, slightly speckled look. Large portions of the left wall were active as displays. On the right wall and the one against which I now stood, a variety of chains and shackles hung from thick hooks. Twenty or more meters above us arched a jointed ceiling that clearly could slide open.

  Wei stood between Lobo and the wall and talked softly at the holo of a man in front of him.

  Ng didn't announce us or interrupt him. We all waited in silence.

  After almost a minute, Wei shook his head and turned to face me. "Welcome to the aviary lab, Mr. Moore. Many times, we'd have some new and amazing creature to show you. Today, though, we have only the one subject, and you supplied him." He motioned slightly toward Lobo. "And it's on that topic that I'd like to speak with you first."

  I waited.

  "Not one for the social niceties?" he said after a few seconds. "Fair enough; I'd gathered that fact from your treatment of our poor Mr. Lee. Unlike you, I believe in giving each person a chance to show his true character. In any case, before we address the topic of your presence here, I'd appreciate it if you would explain exactly what modifications you've made to the computing systems of our mutual friend."

  "Modifications?"

  Wei smiled. "Please, Mr. Moore, do not mistake as soft a manner bred of far too long working for bureaucracies. For the small price of a short conversation, you have the opportunity to purchase your freedom. The alternatives serve neither of us particularly well."

  No way was he letting me go, but I could buy time, and the longer we talked, the more I might learn. On the other hand, I wouldn't tell him Lobo's secret, because then Wei would never stop experimenting on him.

  I might, though, be able to appease whatever was bothering him by sticking to a truthful answer to exactly the question he asked.

  "I bought a central weapons control complex for it," I said, "and some installation programming came with the purchase." I shrugged. "That's really all I've done."

  "Did you control this programming?" Wei said.

  I laughed. "You have my background info. Does anything in it even remotely suggest I'm capable of that sort of work?"

  Wei nodded and stayed quiet for several seconds before he said, "No, but you certainly could have engaged others with that expertise."

  I shook my head.

  "In that case, might the complex you purchased have included some additional security protection?" he said.

  "I suppose so, though I really have no clue. What's this all about?"

  Wei nodded again, held up his hand, and turned away from me. A holo snapped into view beside him. He spoke softly to it, then it disappeared. He turned back to me.

  "Thank you," he said. "Our access protocol now appears to be negotiating more successfully with some superficial protection layers and should soon start delivering the data we seek. So, let us return to the topic of you." He smiled. "Where to begin?"

  He nodded to a guard near the door to his right.

  The guard exited.

  Wei focused again on me. "Your goal here is clear, Mr. Moore," he said, "but as you said, we have your background, and nothing in it suggests you would attempt to kidnap me without someone financing the effort. What agency would that be?"

  I said nothing.

  He nodded as if I'd told him exactly what he wanted. "Of course, of course," he said. "You'll insist I demonstrate how serious we are." He nodded at Ng.

  She pulled her pistol and stuck it against my temple.

  Experience has taught me that the nanomachines in my cells can heal pretty much any injury to my body. The same ability that lets me control their behavior, however, also seems to make them depend on my brain. Drug me enough, for example, and I can't control them. Consequently, I'm not sure I can survive a major brain injury, and I've been lucky enough so far that I've never had to find out.

  I didn't want to try my luck now.

  At the same time, telling Wei about the CC could end my usefulness to them and just as easily put me in the grave.

  I stared at him, forced a calm expression, and said nothing.

  After almost a minute, he waved his hand slightly.

  Ng holstered her weapon.

  "I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your response," Wei said, "though I suppose another reasonable explanation is that you're simply stubborn and stupid. I prefer, however, to believe you're considering your situation carefully. So, let me give you something else to consider."

  He beckoned toward the door to his right.

  McCombs entered, a guard right behind her. The guard guided her by her shoulder. McCombs glared at Wei but did not speak; the tape sealing her mouth ensured she could not.

  "Though we've found no data yet to prove that my associate here helped you," Wei said, "we obviously know that you've spent time with her lately. One might reasonably assume, therefore, that the two of you share the same master. Perhaps her death might persuade you of the seriousness of our intent."

  I shrugged, looked straight at him, and worked to keep my voice calm. "She's pretty enough, and she's not a bad way to pass half an hour, but that's all I know about her. Do what you want."

  Once again, Wei watched me carefully.

  Once again, even though my mind was racing, I forced myself to stare calmly back at him. I had condemned him for taking innocent lives, and now I was playing a game that might cost McCombs hers. She, however, had chosen to accept her assignment; the children had not. The difference was everything—and I clung to it tightly.

  I couldn't stay silent all the time, however, or Wei would definitely proceed to interrogation. Even if I could escape, it would take a while. I needed to buy time, to find a way out. To do that, I had to give him something.

  I broke eye contact with him and looked down. "She was a secondary target. We figured if I couldn't get you, maybe she could give us the information we wanted." I looked at him again. "I don't even know who hired me; it was all anonymous. These kinds of jobs are."

  Wei opened his mouth as if to speak, but then a holo appeared beside him. He stared at it for a moment, whispered something, and faced me again. "Let's pause on that topic for a moment. Exactly how intelligent is Lobo? Was he beginning to interrogate me under your direction or on his own?"

  I had to hope Lobo wasn't dead and protect him as long as I could. "You know PCAVs don't contain significant interrogation software. I gave it a script to use on you while I finalized our exit."

  "Your failed attempt to kidnap me, you mean."

  I nodded.

  "So the emotion in his voice, the threats—that was all in your script?"

  I shrugged. "I had to make it look convincing. I wanted him to warm you up so the real interrogators could wear you down more quickly."

  "This time I definitely don't believe you, Mr. Moore. The knowledge of my past research suggests too strongly that Lobo has records of those times. For that to be possible, he must have somehow hidden information from the programs we used to wipe his data." Wei shook his head. "But if the cells of the children we used in the experiments on Lobo ultimately melded with the nanomachines, why aren't we seeing the same successes here?"

  I didn't answer. I had no clue, but that was not my concern. What worried me now was that his revelation of what he'd done in the past meant there was no way he'd ever risk anyone putting me on trial.

  "No matter," he said. "This time, we'll copy everything in him, then take him apart and figure out what's going on."

  McCombs was paying very close attention now. Her expression had changed from fear to intense curiosity.

  Wei had slapped me with another problem: If McCombs got away, she would relay the news about Lobo. The CC would come after him,
either here if we couldn't escape or wherever we went if I could figure a way out of this. I wouldn't abandon Lobo—I couldn't do that, wouldn't do it—so the CC would end up hunting me as well.

  My employer had just become another enemy.

  My situation was not improving.

  At least I now knew all the problems I was facing.

  "Ah, well," Wei said, "we can revisit that topic. Let's return to our original interest: your employer." As if I were going to speak, he raised a hand to silence me. "I think I can offer you some additional motivation to indulge my curiosity." He waved toward the door. "Though I appreciate the tactical value of distraction, surely you must have realized that the probability of two such major tourist outbursts at the same time was too low for us to consider them chance."

  The door opened.

  Matahi and Pri shuffled in, one guard behind each of them, a pistol to each of their heads.

  Chapter 55

  Wei watched me as the two women entered. I did my best to focus on him even as I fought to stay calm, to control my expression and give away nothing. Despite my best efforts, I could feel my skin tightening; I had to hope Wei couldn't spot it from that distance.

  Matahi and Pri were supposed to have caused a fuss at slightly different times, attracted a few guards each to lower the number of troops Ng could summon, apologized, and then left with friends. They must have lingered too long and given Wei the chance to put it all together. Now, I had to worry about them as well as the children and Lobo.

  Pri slowly scanned the room, making a show of it, her head moving with her gaze, doing her best to give away nothing. She didn't slow down as she looked at and then beyond me, but her shoulders slumped slightly when she realized I was a prisoner, too. Great. If I'd noticed it, I had to assume Wei had, too.

  Matahi looked around for a few seconds, then settled on staring angrily at Wei. She shook her head in clear disgust and said, "Jorge, what exactly are you doing? Why is this man pointing a gun at me?" She shook her head again. "To think I let you into my home."

  Wei smiled, but he was obviously forcing it. He must have fallen for her. I wondered how many of her clients did, how much I had.

  "You let me into a great deal more than that, my dear," he said, "but I, not you, am the aggrieved party here. I trusted to the safety of our relationship and your house, and you violated that trust and assisted this man—" he pointed momentarily at me "—in his attempt to kidnap me while I was with you."

  "You think I helped someone trash my own building?" Matahi yelled. "How stupid would I have to be to do that? If I'd wanted to help anyone kidnap you, I would have told them your location as you were leaving."

  "So it's a coincidence, Andrea, that you've spent two evenings in a hotel with Mr. Moore?" Wei said.

  So much for her disguise being effective. I should have realized it had all gone too smoothly.

  "That was after they told me what you were doing here," Matahi said, the disgust evident in her tone.

  I admired her principles and her anger, and in that moment she was as beautiful and focused as I'd ever seen her, but I needed her to stop talking. Those unfamiliar with interrogation tend to make assumptions about what the questioner knows, and those assumptions all too often provide a wealth of previously secret information.

  "Matahi," I said. When she didn't look at me and instead continued to stare at Wei, I said, "Andrea."

  "Not now, Mr. Moore," Wei said, smiling.

  I opened my mouth to speak again.

  Ng touched her holster and shook her head.

  I closed my mouth.

  "What exactly did they say was happening on Wonder Island," Wei said, his expression innocent, hurt.

  "It doesn't matter," Matahi said. She glanced at me, then back at him. "It doesn't matter at all."

  Wei waved his hand as if swatting away an annoying insect. "And you, Ms. Suli," he said, turning to face Pri, "in what capacity are you part of this failed endeavor?"

  Pri glared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "One minute, I'm protesting your abuse of the poor animals here, and the next your goons drag me underground—in complete violation of my rights, mind you."

  "So your visit has nothing to do with your missing son?" Wei said. "What's his name?" He stared into space for a few seconds. "Ah, yes: Joachim."

  Pri slumped as if someone had kicked her in the stomach. Her face clouded as loss overcame anger.

  I leaned forward, wanting to help.

  Ng put her hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.

  "What do you know about Joachim?" Pri said, her voice low but clear.

  "Quite a bit," Wei said, "but most of all that if he were my child, I would not have left him alone, an obvious target for predators, without monitor sensors in such a busy public place. We deeply regret ever having to use any child, but our acquirers only took those who appeared to be neglected or unwanted."

  I wanted to kill him, but I stayed very still and watched as tears rolled down Pri's cheeks. She fought to stay quiet and sobbed in silence.

  Wei stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded to himself as if checking off an item on the day's work list. He smiled and faced me. "Mr. Moore," he said, "I believe we've both seen enough to understand how these proceedings will unfold. You're going to explain to me everything you've learned about Lobo, and then you're going to tell me about your employer. Shall we begin with Lobo?"

  I took two slow breaths to make sure my voice would stay calm. "No," I said. "As I'm sure you realize, it's not in my best interest to answer your questions."

  "Such a pity," Wei said, shaking his head, "but understandable. You still doubt my resolve. Fortunately, there's a simple way to address that issue, and you're going to help." He stepped closer to Matahi and Pri. "It really is a wasteful exercise, but we do have two subjects."

  He pointed first at Matahi and then at Pri.

  "So, you decide, Mr. Moore: Which one of these friends of yours do my guards kill to convince you of the seriousness of my intent?"

  Chapter 56

  I couldn't read Wei from this far away. I didn't even know if I could figure out his real plans if he were half a meter in front of me. If he was bluffing, then nothing had really changed—nothing except for the expressions on Matahi's and Pri's faces, both of them now staring at me in horror, waiting for me to answer. If he wasn't bluffing, then we were all dead anyway, because there was no chance he'd let me witness a murder and live to tell anyone about it. I could create a nanocloud and have it kill Wei and all the guards here, but it would take long enough to gain size and speed that if he was willing to do it then at least one of the two women would be long dead before the nanomachines could do us any good.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, shut my mouth tightly, and then opened my eyes. I stared directly at Matahi and Pri as I shook my head slightly.

  "Your decision, Mr. Moore?" Wei said.

  I wanted to close my eyes again, to hide, to pretend nothing was going to happen and I had no role in any of this if it did, but instead I forced myself to look at all three of them: Wei, his smile gone and a look of great intensity on his face; Pri, the tears now vanished in favor of an expression of sad defeat; and Matahi, face tense, a few drops rolling down her cheeks, her eyes pleading with me.

  "What the hell?" Ng said. She pointed at Lobo.

  I glanced at him and saw guns, half a dozen or more of them, sticking out of spots all over the side of him closest to Wei, each aiming at a different angle.

  As quickly as I could register what I was seeing, they all opened fire, pairs of shots slicing through the room.

  All the guards fell. None still had complete heads, Lobo's shots having blown big holes through their skulls or decapitated them entirely. Most lay still. Ng and another guard near the door twitched. The smell of blood and excrement filled the air. My stomach churned, and my ears rang from the shots.

  "You're safe," Lobo said to me over the machine frequency, his voice cl
ear and calm in my head.

  "I thought you might be dead," I said over the same frequency.

  Wei and McCombs ran for the door closest to them. They slammed into each other and then into the door, but it stayed shut.

  Matahi and Pri bent and retched.

  "As if I wouldn't have detected a back door in my software," Lobo said. "I told you I was constantly improving myself."

  "That you did," I said, "and I'm very thankful for it." Wei and McCombs were still trying to open the door. "Why can't those two leave?"

  "I've sealed us in for now," Lobo said, "but we don't have a great deal of time. I'm staying on this comm channel; the less they know about my capabilities, the better."

  "Agreed," I said. "You can't get out," I yelled to Wei and McCombs, who were now arguing.

  "Tell McCombs and Wei that as long as they behave they'll be fine," Lobo said, "unless you'd like me to kill them as well."

  "I would have preferred you not kill anyone," I said.

  "Too many people with too many weapons in play," Lobo said. "If anyone was resistant to or even a fraction of a second slow to respond to a trank round, one of ours might have died."

  "What's going on?" Matahi screamed. Her voice wavered on the edge of hysteria.

  "Get Joachim!" Pri yelled even more loudly.

  Her cry yanked me back to the job I had yet to complete. "How long do we have?" I said to Lobo.

  "About the same as you had in the hangar: maybe twenty minutes. I let their software enter far enough that it encountered an active agent, which you were wise to tell them they should deal with. Once I was into their system—"

  "Tell me later," I said. "What do you control, can you download all their research and then wipe it from their systems, and where are the children?"

  "I'm in their net now," he said. "I've been downloading everything that might even possibly be related to their research. I'll delete the source shortly. I control everything, but they can shut off the power and manually override the doors. Even though I'm spoofing all their security systems, when no one comes out of this room they'll figure out something is wrong and go for the power. Look at my side nearest you for the map."