by James Chalk
When I got there, three of them were still alive. Although, one was really already a goner. Baihu jaws were clamped around his throat. She was holding him on the floor of the tunnel. They lay side by side, his body shielding her from the stream of slugs his compatriots were firing. The ‘thump, thump, thump,’ of the weapon impacts were accompanied by jerks and sprays of blood from the dying man’s body.
I slipped behind the two shooters and drew my knife across the first one’s throat. I held him against me as the second one turned the deadly stream towards me. The first guy jerked and spasmed in my arms. At this firing distance, his value as a shield was extremely short-lived. I was about to throw my knife at guy number two when Baihu landed on his back with her teeth in his neck.
Just as suddenly as it had started, we were alone again, nothing but dead, bad guys around us. Baihu was sitting on the floor, cleaning the fur on her paws, and Fifi was… Well, Fifi is a pretty disgusting little dog. Consider her former master. Fifi’s nose was buried inside the gut of one of the bad guys. Baihu had exposed his intestines and Fifi was taking full advantage of the feast.
That disgusting little bitch bit me when I tried to pull her loose from the body. Despite her tiny size, those sharp, little teeth hurt and the white gleam from within that red-stained muzzle was truly disturbing. I stumbled away, physically and emotionally drained. The horrible things I had seen and done would haunt me for years to come. I needed to set it all aside for Carla’s sake and to stop Father Timothy. I needed to contact Brenda.
If Sanctity were a normal colony, I would have been able to reach out to Brenda through my neurointerface. No such luck. Sanctity suppresses and controls all network communication. One of the few advanced technologies they have embraced successfully blocks almost all access to the intercolonial-network known as the “Spookynet.” My only recourse was to find a physical communications terminal and attempt to contact her over Sanctity’s government network.
Baihu chose this moment to move along. She trotted down the tunnel with Fifi following like a demented clown-dog. Baihu’s choice of direction was at least as good as any other, so I formed up at the end of the line and our little circus procession marched on.
We wandered for what felt like forty days and forty nights, but was probably about forty minutes. We found the housing for a maintenance services supply station. Inside the housing, I found a toolkit, a map of the tunnels, and a communications terminal. I was able to use the default authorizations for the maintenance terminal to patch directly thru to the Intercol frigate, which was moored to Sanctity’s central hub.
I only had to talk my way through a handful of people before I was connected to Brenda. Strangely, she didn’t seem surprised to hear from me. She was very pleased when I told her that I had the dog. She insisted that we stay where we were until a team from Intercol could reach us. That’s when I told her about taking the Bishop’s data-pad and what I had learned from it. I told her that Intercol had to save Carla and arrest Father Timothy right away!
I did not like her answer. A bunch of bullshit about local jurisdiction and how Sanctity did not recognize me as a legitimate witness or participant in the evidentiary chain; how Sanctity still considered me wanted for mass murder.
I told her, “Never mind about me, and never mind about the fucking Inquisition! Just send some of your agents to Father Timothy’s estate!”
Then, using that sing song voice, she recited, “At Intercol, we aim to facilitate intercolonial police cooperation, even where diplomatic relations do not exist between particular colonies. Action is taken within the limits of existing laws in different colonies, and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our Constitution prohibits any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.”
Fucking déjà vu. “What fucking good is an intercolonial law enforcement agency that never enforces that fucking law?” I demanded. “Okay,” I said, “I’m going after her myself. You can have the dog when I’m done. For that matter,” I continued, “what good is the dog if I’m in the evidentiary chain? Why is the dog-data okay but not the pad-data?”
“Jonathan,” she responded, “You must wait for the retrieval team! I have to have the dog’s data! There is no other way to stop them. You have to trust me. The data is encrypted, stored in a virus, in a dog. Trust me. The chain of evidence is uncorrupted.”
That gave me an idea for compromise. “What if I could transmit the dog-data to you right now, over this terminal?” I asked. “Would the chain of evidence be intact?”
“Yes, if the encryption hasn’t been tampered with.” She answered. “If you have that ability, please do so immediately. We have reason to believe that an Inquisition cleanup team has been dispatched to assassinate you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said, “we took care of them.”
“Damn it, Jonathan! Don’t tell me shit like that. Those are lawful representatives of Sanctity and you are compounding the list of crimes against you. I’m really, truly grateful for you saving my ass and all that, but I can only cover for so much. I’m going to assume that by ‘took care of them,’ you mean you eluded them. Now, say no more and send the data! Got it?”
I picked up Fifi and pulled out my knife. As gently as possible, I made a tiny, little cut on her ear. I sampled the blood by touching the end of the knife to the tip of my tongue. It didn’t really taste like much, just a little coppery, like all blood. My nanobots took over then. The microscopic robots performed the very same job Intercol’s lab technicians would have. The still-encrypted data was soon ready-for-transmission. I just needed to interface with the terminal. I found its primitive, physical input slot and placed my thumb over it. The nanobots in my finger took care of forming the connection, and then it was only a matter of seconds before Brenda had it all.
“Okay,” I said to Brenda. “You have your evidence. Now bust them!”
“We will,” She said. “We will… but not today. It will take weeks, maybe months, to coordinate and synchronize our raids. You understand that their operation spans many colonies, don’t you? We must be sure to get them all, not just Colonel Leakey, AKA Father Timothy. Listen Jonathan, I understand how you feel. I was a victim too. I feel for Carla, I do. But this is much bigger than Carla. I’m sorry. Now please remain where you are until the team arrives. We will escort you out of Sanctity’s jurisdiction.”
“Please Brenda, just give me some extra time. You owe me that much.”
After a long pause she responded, “Okay Jonathan, I tell you what - I’m canceling the retrieval team and I’m giving you forty-eight hours to get your ass back to the civilian spaceport. A shuttle will be waiting to take you to your ship, which is currently in the hold of our frigate. Should you miss that deadline, there will be nothing I can do to help you. Again, I’m sorry, and good luck.”
I was upset that I was on my own, but grateful for the forty-eight hours. I was also more than a little shocked to hear that the Mary Rose was aboard the Intercol ship. I had no time to spare if I wanted off this colony and onto my ship. Although actually, at that point, I didn’t really care, as long as I got a chance to save Carla. The urgent pit in my stomach was screaming for me to get moving. I couldn’t help but imagine that Carla was being raped and brutalized that very moment! I wanted to scream, to roar my defiance like Baihu.
I took a deep, centering breath, remembering Uncle Hari’s favorite saying, Breath so you know you are alive. Then take a step toward where you are going. So Baihu, Fifi, and I set out to rescue Carla.
Chapter 11
Fort Leakey
“When we started baby we were friends, but that’s not how this fairy tale is gonna end, see I was thinking and it clicked one day, that no one else has ever made me feel this way.” - N’Sync
“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” - Kahlil Gibran
“I suppose you expect me to talk?” - James Bond
“No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.” - Auric Goldfinger
*******
We used the map I had found to locate a maintenance tram. The tram was really nothing more than a big, floating platform with a windscreen and control panel. It was electromagnetically suspended over a track that, according to the map, spiraled through all of Sanctity’s rings. I was especially pleased, because Father Timothy’s estate was located far-off in the thirteenth ring - the last ring before the three military ones at the end of the space station.
We boarded the tram and I entered our destination into the console. There was a faint whine and vibration as the tram started to accelerate. I could hear the wind whistling past the sides of the conical windscreen. Columns and pipes started to whip by faster and faster as we continued to accelerate. The lights made a strobe effect, alternating light and dark, rapidly revealing and hiding our surroundings.
The support columns were very close to the sides of the tram, and Baihu was playing a dangerous game with them. She kept sticking her head out past the windscreen. She seemed to revel in the way the wind pulled at her cheeks and jowls. Her eyes were squeezed to slits and her lips were pulled back; they wiggled around her gleaming exposed teeth and jaws. With exquisite timing, she would retract her head behind the screen whenever a column went by, and then pop it out again. I tried to get her to stop, and when she ignored me, I tried not to watch. At least Fifi wasn’t pulling the same stunt. I didn’t want a decapitated, little dog on my conscience, no matter how disgusting she was.
We got to the thirteenth ring at what my Uncle Angus would call the “wee hours of the morn.” Suddenly everything was different. The tunnels were extremely well-lit and I could see automated weapon systems tracking our motion. Baihu jerked her head back behind the windscreen, hunkered down on the floor, and began a low growl. The fur on her back began to rise, and then, in front of my very eyes and without so much as a twitch, she just disappeared. Only I could still hear her growling right next to me!
I activated my “combat senses,” or that’s what I like to call it. Harkon Department of Defense calls it a SEAP - Senses Enhancement and Analysis Process. I can use my combat senses to see and hear frequencies well beyond normal humans. Also, I can split the feed from my senses into multiple parallel channels that convey different information, and then attend to all of them at once.
As soon as my combat senses were active, Baihu’s personal electromagnetic field became apparent. However, she remained completely transparent to all visible and thermal detection. I had no idea she could do that! Baihu was always amazing and surprising me, but this was a doozy! I began to have a new appreciation for the twinkle in the eye of that old Zhōng Xiàn gentleman. Baihu was a very special gift. I owe the Zhōng Xiàns much.
I fired up my own mimetic-camouflage, but unlike Baihu, it takes a couple of minutes for the nanobots to form and exude from my skin. Once active, for the next twelve hours they are able to provide perfect camouflage at the speed of thought. Although after that, they slough off and you have to form new ones. Also, for the effect to work, I had to strip out of all my clothes and give up my weapons and holsters.
I wondered if Baihu’s instantaneous transformation meant that her tech was different? Later, I found out that it was. Her coat is always displaying an image. She is able to appear invisible, or paint herself with any pattern or color she chooses. The white coat with black stripes is just her default appearance. She once attended a party in neon pink, but that is another story.
That the autoweapons had not yet opened fire on me was encouraging. I guess they assumed I was a maintenance worker. I did not think that would last. So, as the tram came to a stop, I reluctantly abandoned my weapons and clothes. Baihu and I hopped off the tram, leaving Fifi behind. I kept my fingers crossed that Fifi would stay put and not set off any alarms.
We found an access hatch, but it was locked and monitored by a security device. Our camouflage would get us past the scanners, but it wouldn’t unlock the hatch or disable the alarm when it opened. I quickly pressed my thumb to the lockscreen, and my nanobots did the hard part. Soon the lock clicked open and the light on the security device winked off.
We emerged on a hill between a bush and the back wall of the estate. Before us lay an impeccably groomed garden that stretched for about a half mile before terminating at an enormous, fortress-like, house, surrounded by an inner wall. It was still dark, but the artificial moonlight cast a silver glow over the landscape. About a third of the gigantic garden was devoted to a big hedge maze. The dark walls of the hedge looked to be about ten feet tall, with carpets of dense, close-cropped grass forming the paths between them. I could see a tower poking up from the center of the maze with an observation platform perched at its top. The platform looked like it might be high enough to get a view of the house over the inner walls of the garden.
I headed toward the maze, intent on climbing that tower. Baihu saw, or sensed, where I was going (though I haven’t a clue how) and loped ahead. I rushed to keep up and we soon plunged between the silver-shadowed walls. I worried that we would get lost, so I mentally activated a mapping display to track our progress. I should have known better. Baihu unerringly led us to the center. She’s a very talented cat, far more so than I realized at the time!
When we climbed up to the observation platform, I saw that the house was heavily guarded. In fact, it looked a lot more like a military compound than a private residence. Dawn hadn’t even broken and already the compound was active. I could see pairs of armed guards patrolling along the fence, and there was foot traffic on the grounds behind the wall. The gate was manned by another pair of guards and more were stationed in watchtowers at the corners of the wall.
I realized that, even with our camouflage, it would be very difficult to infiltrate the compound. I needed an edge and a plan. I decided to wait for the next night, when fewer people would be about. That would give me time to observe and contemplate, perhaps even form that plan.
Baihu settled down on the floor of the platform. Her ghostly electronic outline shimmered and then faded and disappeared completely. I cycled my vision through the entire electromagnetic field, but could not detect her. Who ever designed her mimetic-camouflage must have been a genius! I had never even heard of such effective, personal stealth technology. I reached my hand down and stroked her fur, reassuring myself that she was still there. She was very clearly unhappy about our exposure. She let me know with a low rumbling growl that was barely audible, even with my ears turned up.
I sighed and settled in for the long day ahead. My mind was in turmoil. Things had been moving so fast. I really hadn’t had the time to process my feelings about Carla’s death. Now that I knew she was alive, those feelings were welling up, threatening to overwhelm my common sense. I felt a burning need to see her, to touch her, to know she was okay. I was torn up internally. My mind waged a war between intellect and emotion. I knew that waiting was the right thing, but every fiber in my body screamed for immediate action.
Morning had been creeping up and now the artificial sunlight glinted off the side of the building. From my vantage point, I could see that a side gate was opening and a hoverbus was exiting the compound. I focused on the windows, zooming in to get a better view. The bus had about twenty women aboard. They all appeared to be naked, confirming my suspicion that this was a shipment of “meat dolls.” I wondered why they didn’t even bother to clothe the poor, overgrown babies. I tried not to think about the horrors they would be facing, or of the disgusting men who would use and discard them.
Hours went by. The hoverbus regularly departed, full of “meat dolls,” and returned empty. My rage grew and hardened with each shipment. “Where are they taking them?” I wondered. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, than the answer bubbled up to my consciousness. My search agent was still on the job, culling useful information from the dead bishop’s files. They were being transported to Sanctity’s military base - rings fourteen through sixteen.
From there, they would be shuttled to a military ship and exported to various backwater colonies throughout the solar system.
The nuclear sunlight grew hotter as the day progressed. It glared down on the platform, poaching us in our sweat. I watched the guards’ patrol patterns and changes of shifts. I watched the windows, doors, and gates. There were lots of cargo and personnel vehicles entering and leaving the gates. I wondered if this was normal, or if something special was happening? The answer, “no, not normal” bubbled to the surface of my mind. I yawned and tried to get more comfortable as I pondered the possibilities.
Time slipped by, and the monotonous regularity of the traffic began to lull me into a kind of trance. Still awake, but not all the way, I began to miss the in-between moments, only noting the actual comings and goings. Another hoverbus exited with more “meat dolls,” but I hardly noticed. The warm platform felt nice under my exhausted body, pushing me further into the trance, and then all the way to true sleep.
*******
In the early evening, I awakened with a start. Something was wrong. I mean something besides the fact that I fucking fell asleep! It was pretty bad. In fact, I was fairly well screwed. While sleeping, I had missed the expiration deadline for my mimetic-camouflage and all of the nanobots had sloughed off without replacements. I was now naked, weaponless, and way too visible, on an open observation platform in enemy territory! I was also surrounded by at least a dozen, heavily armed guards. They were yelling that I shouldn’t move or I would die. I believed them and didn’t even twitch. I just hoped they hadn’t captured Baihu.
They bound me at the ankles and wrists, arms behind my back. They slipped a black bag over my head and I felt rough hands lifting me. They swung me back and forth and then released me into the air. I felt myself falling and screamed, sure that they had tossed me off the tower! My scream was cut short when something hard slammed into my face and body. The wind was knocked from my lungs, my nose crunched, and my face wet from blood. I gasped with pain and relief as I felt the familiar sensation of a hover platform in flight.