by Naam, Ramez
She'd become something like the thing she hated. She'd stared into the abyss, and it had transformed her. To destroy evil, she'd become it.
Wats countered her superior speed by giving ground, step by step. Sam stayed in close as he did, neutralizing his advantage in reach. They moved in a blur of strikes, dodges, and blows, almost too fast for any onlooker to follow.
She could see him coming up now, see the adrenaline hitting him, making him a more dangerous foe. Behind her she felt flashes of courage and anger. Partygoers thinking of joining the fray. Before long, they would mob her.
End this now, then. A gambit. A sacrifice. She let him create a foot of space to get his comfort, parried three more blows, threw feints at groin and eyes and plexus, then came in wide and sloppy, hole in her guard at mid-section.
Wats saw the opening and threw a brutal fist at it, low and under her nearly unbreakable ribs. She accepted the fist, twisting to mute it, felt pain blossom inside her as he connected. As she twisted, she brought one hand down like a vice on his wrist, yanked him off balance as she planted a leg behind his knees and slammed her other hand into his shoulder to bring him down.
Wats saw it coming, but it was too late. The gambit had worked. He went down fast and hard.
Sam's booted foot flashed out, connected with his head, twice, three times.
She stopped herself. Don't kill. Incapacitate.
Her breath was fast, pulse elevated. She'd taken serious but not immediately life-threatening damage. Time to leave. She stepped over Wats' unmoving form towards the door.
And then she felt it. Felt him. Kade. He was behind her. He was inside her mind. She could feel his anger and hurt, his confusion, his sense of betrayal, his self-loathing at having been so easily fooled… having risked so much on behalf of so many people, and let them down. Despite herself, she felt a pang of guilt at how she'd deceived him, at the hell he was going to pay.
"No," he said.
He was about to do something to her mind, Sam knew. She saw it in his thoughts. He was a threat.
She turned. Crossed the space between them in three long steps. Don't kill. Incapacitate. She lunged forward, hard backfist snapping out at his temple.
No.
She heard him in her mind. Felt his will slam against something inside her.
Hard fist connected with civilian body. All went black.
4
THE NOOSE
Sam swam slowly back to consciousness. Darkness. Her eyes were closed, head slumped. She stayed that way. Better to feign unconsciousness as long as she could, and learn the situation. There were voices around her. People talking.
"So she's, what, a DEA agent?" That was Rangan Shankari, the DJ.
"Not DEA," a voice responded slowly. "Homeland Security. Emerging Risks Directorate." That deep bass. Watson Cole.
"ERD?" Ilya Alexander spat it out. "Fuck."
Rangan spoke again, "So, this Samara from the ERD, you think she's alone?"
"Her name's not Samara." That was Kade. "It's Samantha. Samantha Cataranes. She had some way of hiding it. Her memories were a mask somehow. The group meditation messed it up for her."
They know my name, she thought to herself.
"She's awake," Ilya said.
Sam's muscles rebelled, then. Against her will, her head jerked up, her eyes opened. Someone was in her mind, controlling her body. That realization snapped her to alertness, sent a jolt of fear up her spine. These were very dangerous people.
She was in a cluttered storage room, sitting in a straight back chair, arms tied or strapped behind her back, ankles tied to the chair legs. As if those restraints were necessary when her Nexusdosed brain was splayed open to those around her. Her left side ached where Wats had landed his blow. Internal bleeding likely.
Eyes shifted to her at Ilya's pronouncement. Rangan stood above her and to her left, arms crossed in his ridiculous Sufi robe, eyes angry and intent. He was the one in her mind. Ilya had fists clenched at her sides. Wats was to her right, an ugly bruise already covering one side of his face where Sam's boot had slammed into him. His eyes were cold and hard.
Behind them, slumped in a chair, ice pack to his head, was Kade, staring at the floor.
Rangan spoke again, "You'd better start talking, girl."
She felt a jolt of pain as he spoke, and a compulsion to speak. He was twisting something in her mind. All four of them were opaque to her. Sam could feel the hard external shells of their minds, and the hard tendril inside her own, but nothing more. She felt a brief longing for the communion she'd felt at the height of the party. It nauseated her.
Sam cleared her throat and wet her lips. She tasted blood. "Rangan Shankari, Ilyana Alexander, Watson Cole, Kaden Lane – you're all under arrest."
Wats shook his head slowly, the corners of his lips turning up slightly in admiration of her audacity. Rangan made a small noise in his throat. Ilya just stared.
"You're under arrest for the crime of trafficking in an ERD Alpha Class Prohibited Technology and a DEA Schedule I controlled substance. In addition to that, development and use of a coercion technology, attempting to construct an unlicensed NonHuman Intelligence in violation of the Chandler Act, kidnapping, and interfering with an officer of the law."
Rangan blanched.
"No Miranda rights?" Wats asked. "No right to remain silent? What if I want to see a lawyer?" He sounded coolly amused.
Sam locked eyes with him. "Those don't apply. Your research is designated a potential threat to humanity. You have no rights in that situation. Your best option is to give up now. It'll go easier on you if you surrender. If my support squad moves in, I can't guarantee your safety. They won't hesitate to use force."
Wats' eyes narrowed. He turned to his compatriots. "See what I mean?"
Rangan cut in, speaking to Sam, "Your transmission didn't make it out of the building. There's no cavalry coming. You're stuck here with us."
Sam tried to shake her head, found that Rangan's vice-like mental hold wouldn't let her. She spoke firmly, with more confidence than she felt.
"Think it through. The ERD knows I'm in this building with Kade. They know that you're here too. By now they know everyone that's gone in and out of this building for the last week. Eventually my backup will come knocking. And if I disappear, they're going to tear this place and all of you apart looking for me. The kid gloves are on right now. They won't be on for long."
Always project confidence, Nakamura had taught her. Even when they have the physical upper hand, you can have the psychological advantage.
Ilya turned to Rangan. "What can you do to her memories?"
Rangan thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head and turned behind him. "Kade?"
Kade didn't reply. His eyes stayed glued on the floor.
"Kade," Ilya snapped. "Focus. Can you erase her memories of tonight? Fuzz them out?"
Kade looked at Sam for the first time. Their eyes met. Sam wished again that she could feel his mind. She hated that fact.
"Nothing subtle," he said. "Probably nothing very effective. And it might do some other damage along the way."
Sam didn't like where this was going. That cold chill was creeping further up her spine. She broke Kade's gaze, looked hard at Ilya. "I thought nonconsensual mindfucking was rape? Isn't that what you wrote last year? The worst kind of violation possible?"
Rangan rolled his eyes. "Oh, this bitch is good."
Ilya looked at Sam. She looked hard and aristocratic. "I'd rather wipe your memories than kill you. Be grateful." Her Russian accent was flaring up.
"There will be no killing here," Wats pronounced.
Kade spoke up. "It doesn't matter. They know she's here. They know who we are. We're made."
"So what's the alternative, Kade?" Ilya asked.
Wats cut in. He spoke slowly, firmly. "We need to evac according to our plans. Her memories are irrelevant. It's time to do what we've prepared to do – leave here for a safer place."
Ilya laughed nervously. "You're kidding, right?"
"No," Wats replied. "Kade is right. This woman isn't here on her own. She was sent. Secrecy has been compromised. That means we're all in danger right now. At this point, every second counts. If we act immediately, we might slip the net. The longer we wait, the worse our odds."
Sam spoke up. "Listen. Just stay calm, OK. You're not going to make it out of here. This place is under a magnifying glass right now. My team has been tracking me constantly. There'll be stealthed ERD scopes aimed at every exit. Running is not going to help. Give up, and it'll go easier on you. Try to run, or mess with my memories, you'll get the book thrown at you."
"She's lying," said Rangan.
"I'm not lying."
"Then you're holding something back. What is it?"
Sam took a deep breath.
Rangan pushed against her thoughts. Something in her mind bent.
He's doing something to my mind…
She found herself speaking again.
"It's Kade," she told them. She looked at him. "My superiors want you to do a job for them. My mission here was twofold – to get intel on what research you were really doing, and to get leverage that could be used to compel you to take part in an upcoming ERD mission."
Kade looked surprised. "What do they want me for?"
Again she felt the pressure from Rangan. She tried to resist. Words tumbled out. "We want him to get close to someone. Someone building a mind control technology, possibly based on Nexus."
"I won't do it," said Kade.
Ilya rounded on him. "Wait, Kade, think about it. If they want you for something, that gives you leverage. You can negotiate to get the charges dropped."
"What about everyone else here?" asked Kade. "All the people who came to the party?"
"We're not local cops," said Sam. "We're ERD. We care about the technology. If you cooperate, your guinea pigs here probably aren't in much trouble. If not… you and everyone here are in a deep pile of shit."
"I want them all off the hook. Rangan and Ilya and Wats too. No arrests, no jail, no probation, nothing."
Sam wanted to shake her head again, but couldn't. "I'm not the person for you to bargain with. Surrender and come in with me. Just you four. No one else has to even know what's going on. Then we can negotiate."
Wats spoke to Rangan. "Can you blur her senses? Make it so she can't hear us? Can't read our lips?"
Rangan nodded. Sam started to object, found that she couldn't speak. Her vision started to fail. It narrowed into a tunnel, grayed out, then simply vanished. She didn't see blackness. She simply didn't see. Sound disappeared. She was blind and deaf.
Sam fought to choke down a rising panic. Few nightmares were worse for her than losing control of her mind and body. Breathe, she told herself. She could still feel her body, still feel her chest rise and fall, still feel her arms tied behind her back and her feet tied to the chair. She clung to that solidity.
Wats exhaled slowly. How to convince these kids of what was necessary? "Listen, this woman will say anything to you to achieve her goals. She's lied from the beginning. She's going to keep on lying. Once the ERD have you in custody, you're theirs. You won't get a lawyer. They can do whatever they want to you, and you won't ever get out from under it. You understand?"
He looked around the room. Ilya met his eyes. Rangan was nodding, his face pale. Kade still had his eyes on the ground. Wats could feel their emotions. Rangan: fear and anger. Ilya: defiance. Kade: guilt and self-doubt. He was reprimanding himself for creating this situation.
"Kade. Sit up straight, my friend. It doesn't matter how we got here. We're here." Wats saw Kade nod at his words, felt the kid get fractionally more of a grip on his emotions. "Look, our getaway plans are solid. If we stay, they have us for sure. If we bolt right now, we have a chance. It's a deep dark hole or a chance at getting out. We've got to do the sensible thing."
He paused, looking around. Rangan was ready. He didn't know what to make of Ilya and Kade's emotions.
"OK, you all ready? Rangan, can you knock her out and leave her that way for a few hours?"
"I'm not going," Kade said.
Wats paused again. Then, "Kade, if you stay, it's over. You won't ever get free of them."
Kade nodded. "I know. It's just… If we run, what happens to everyone else here? Antonio, Jessica, Andy… The volunteers that measured out the doses and hooked up the repeaters. Do we tell all of them to run too? They don't have fake passports. They don't have someplace to run to. They just get fucked. Hell, what about Tania, Wats?"
Wats flushed. "If you stay here, you get fucked too," he replied.
Kade shook his head. "Ilya's right. If they want me for something, then I have leverage. It's a bargaining chip. I can get other folks off the hook."
"You have bigger things to attend to," Wats replied.
Now Kade exuded anger. "That's a cop-out, Wats. We created this situation. It's our responsibility." He calmed himself, spoke more softly. "Actually, you know what? It's my responsibility." He shook his head.
Wats let his breath out slowly again. He had to reach this kid. "Kade… It's important that you get out of here. All three of you. What you're doing here is powerful. It has potential. It can save a lot of lives. It can end wars. It's bigger than you. It's more important than just this party. You're more important."
"I'm not more important than the hundred people out there," Kade said sharply.
"Your work is."
Ilya cut in. "Wats, we can't let the ends justify the means. These people haven't done anything wrong. We haven't done anything wrong. We have to fight. We can take this public, take it to the press…"
Wats shook his head. So naïve. "Ilya, they're not going to let you, don't you see? You have no rights in this country, not as of tonight. They're not going to let you near the press. And even if they did, no one would care."
Ilya stood her ground. "We have to try. We have to stand up and fight for what's right." She exuded resolve, defiance.
This wasn't going to work, Wats saw. As much as he'd tried to educate them on the realities of the world, they wouldn't ever understand until they'd experienced it first hand.
He turned to Kade.
"Then give me the code," he said. "The design, the blueprints, the recipe, all of it. If you disappear, I'll get it out into the world."
Kade shook his head. "It's not ready yet."
"Kade, if you go to jail, it'll never get out. This may be your only chance left to make a difference with it."
Kade kept shaking his head. "It's too easy to abuse. Look at what we're doing to her right now." He gestured towards the now blind and deaf ERD agent tied to the chair. "If we let it out now, people will get hurt."
Wats kept his breathing steady, held onto his calm. "Then I'll find someone trustworthy to keep working on it until it is ready. Don't let it go down the drain."
Rangan interjected, "I'm not staying either."
Kade turned and looked at him. There was no surprise there. He just nodded. "OK. I'm the one with the bargaining chip. The rest of you get out of here. You too, Ilya."
"I'm with you," she said. "We have to fight for what's right."
Wats relaxed fractionally. Rangan had the full code and design. If Rangan got out too, then all was not lost. Then he looked again at Kade and at Ilya. These were his friends. The best friends he'd made since he'd left the Corps. He doubted he'd ever see them again. He let his eyes drink up the sight of them.
Wats picked Kade up in a bear hug. Kade winced, then relaxed into it. Wats moved on to Ilya, picked her up off the ground and twirled her around. She squealed, despite the grave circumstances. There were tears in her eyes. Then Rangan said his goodbyes as well.
At the door, Wats turned and soaked up the sight of Ilya and Kade once more. "I won't forget you," he promised. "Good luck." Then he and Rangan were gone.
Saturday 2040.02.18 : 2108 hours
Department of Homeland Security – West Coa
st Tactical Situation Center
Three hundred and fifty miles to the south, ERD Special Agent Garrett Nichols watched the developing situation with some interest. Five of them clustered in the command and control room at the Department of Homeland Security Tactical Situation Center outside Los Angeles. The Drug Enforcement Agency liaison and the Department of Homeland Security Counterterrorism Division liaison sat quietly behind him. This was a joint operation, but given its nature, the Emerging Risks Directorate of DHS had operational command.