They waited nervously, watching the time. Tamara would be at the lab at any minute, and they might have to act quickly. Doug had four disposable PAs, and one was on now, a specified AI moving his backdoor around the system at inhuman speeds. The problem was that the company AIs were rapidly closing off areas in the system, leaving fewer and fewer areas in which the backdoor could find refuge. It was only a matter of time until it was surrounded with nowhere to go. At that moment, Doug would be locked out of the system.
“Come on, Tamara, come on,” Michi implored.
She was more nervous now than before the attack on the Marines. They were so close, and they might have the means to finally hit back at the company where it would hurt them.
Even if they destroyed Blue-99, however, the company would recover. It could license out another algae from a competitor while trying to rush one of their own research strains to the market. That would take time, though, and quite a bit of funds. More importantly, it was sending a message that Propitious Interstellar could not be trusted to deliver. In the galactic marketplace, that message could cost the company more than the mere destruction of the algae.
“Shit!” Doug said looking at the PA monitoring the backdoor. “That was too close!”
Michi didn’t ask for an explanation. “Too close” was not “it’s over,” so she let it be.
“She’s running out of time!” he said.
Tamara had been given the worm in a small optical drive, one like any other used throughout the planet. The lab, like all others in the company, was shielded, against transmissions, so a wireless transfer was impossible. There was no wireless inside. It would have to be an old-fashion optical read. She would have given up her PA as always, but with her clearance and position, they hoped she would not be searched. If she was and they found the drive, she was to feign forgetfulness and just abort the mission, picking up the drive from security as she left.
Doug had given her the location of the three computers in the lab that would work for their purposes. All she had to do was to hold the drive in front of a reader, even if for a split second. Doug would have probably less than five seconds to send the worm to the three Blue-99 farms on the planet as well as the secured foundation library in the vaults. If he were too slow, the worm would get booted by the lab security AIs.
Doug wasn’t sure the worm would even work. He’s cobbled it together from a number of programs, even getting one of his co-workers to complete a tricky part of the programming. He’d had to think about that, but the string was beyond him, and his co-worker didn’t seem to wonder about what that string could be used for. He programmed the string in 30 minutes, and then was off on his next project, his curiosity un-piqued.
“I can’t take this!” Michi yelled, just as Doug shouted out, “She’s in!”
He pushed the “send” on his control PA just as the backdoor PA flashed red. That was the signal that his backdoor had been finally been cornered and destroyed.
“What happened?” Michi shouted, pulling on Doug’s arm. “Did you get it out?”
“I don’t know! I think so, but I can’t check now. Look, it says here it went out,” he said, pointing to his PA.
“But did the worms get there, and are they working?”
“I don’t know, Michi, I just don’t know,” he said, slumping down in his chair. “What do you want to do?”
Michi thought for a few moments. She didn’t know if she could get off-planet, and she was not going to live the rest of her life hidden in an apartment. She had to trust that the worm was delivered and that it worked.
“I’m going through with it,” she said with certainty.
“You sure?”
“Damn diddy well, I’m sure,” she said.
“OK, you’ve got the code?” he asked.
Michi pointed to the side of her head. “Right here.”
“It won’t take long, so you’d better go. I’ll leave right after you,” he said.
Michi didn’t know where Doug was going, nor did she ask. What she didn’t know, she couldn’t give up.
He picked up the disposable PA that the code Michi had memorized would reach. Depending on what message he received, he’d either have the worm extract itself or allow the suicide switches to be thrown. The switches would already be cocked, so-to-speak, so if his PA was cut off, there would be no turning back. Every Blue-99 algae cell on the planet would be destroyed and the matrix hopelessly corrupted.
Michi strapped on the pistol belt. She didn’t have a weapon and wouldn’t be carrying one even if she had, but they had decided that the more she looked like the Michiko MacCailín of the camcording, the better. She was not trying to hide, and she wanted attention.
Doug looked around the condo. “I’m going to miss this place,” he said.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be back. We’ll be back.”
Michi leaned over and kissed Doug on the cheek before turning and walking to the door.
“Gokigenyou, Michiko, and God be with you,” Doug said after her.
Michi smiled for a moment. Doug didn’t speak Japanese, but he’d searched for the right thing to say, a version of “good luck.” She wiped the smile from her face, walked to the elevator, and pushed the button. As the door opened, she saw one of the ladies from the 23rd floor was already on. Michi didn’t know her name, but she’d seen her out and about. The lady raised her eyebrows at Michi, but if she seemed surprised at seeing the Michiko MacCailín, in full regalia, she showed no sign of it.
They arrived at the lobby and walked to the front door. Michi held it open for the lady, who calmly thanked her before heading off to the right, probably to the small tea shop on the corner. Michi turned toward the left, toward the Propitious Interstellar headquarters, leaving the sidewalk and taking the middle of the street. Within moments, people spotted her and stared. A few paced her along the sidewalk, those few growing in a bigger group as more people joined. Whether they were there as some sort of honor guard or to try and cash in on the reward, Michi didn’t know, nor did she care. Either would serve her purpose.
She’d gone only three blocks before two jacks showed up, running toward her.
“Stop there!” one of them shouted. “You’re coming with us!”
They grabbed her, pulling her arms in back of her.
Michi didn’t resist, but she shouted out, “I am giving myself up to Propitious Interstellar Fabrication. I demand a meeting with the board. If my demands are not met, the entire stock of Blue-99 will be destroyed!”
“What?” asked the jack who was about to ziptie her hands. “What are you talking about?”
“Just as I said. You want to take me in. Fine. Get your reward. But take me into company headquarters. You will still be the heroes. If you do not, and what I am saying is true, then you’ll wish you’d never been born,” she said quietly but with as much conviction as possible.
“Bullshit!” the jack said. “Destroy Blue-99? No blooming way.”
“If I’m lying, then what do you have to lose? Present me as a prize to the CEO himself. Get noticed. If I am right,” and Michi desperately hoped she was right and the worm had gotten through, “then you are still heroes. Either way you win.”
“What’s she saying about Blue-99?” a voice called out from the crowd.
Many, if not most of the people there probably worked for the company, and anything that damaged one of the main products would affect them all. The two jacks paused to look at each other.
“It wouldn’t hurt now, would it?” one asked the other.
“I, uh, well I don’t see how it would. Like she says, we still get the reward either way. Let’s take her to headquarters and let them sort it all out.” He turned to Michi and said, “You got your wish, but you better not try anything, you hear?”
“Lead on,” Michi said.
This had been a tricky point. If they had insisted on taking her to jail, she would have had a much more difficult time, and the delay could interject more
variables. Simple and to the point was best.
Two more jacks came running up, but her two captors guarded her like dogs over a bone. They were not going to split the reward with anyone.
The crowd grew as they walked towards downtown. A vehicle came to pick her up, but by that time, there were probably over a thousand people pacing them, a good portion camming the scene. Overhead, a news drone appeared.
There were probably fifty jacks present, and after some discussion, the senior jack decided that walking was just as good.
As they entered Prosperity Square, where Michi’s entire journey really began, five black-uniformed fuckdicks in riot gear blocked their path and demanded that Michi be turned over to them. The one on the end, not saying a word, was Chopra, and Michi thought she could feel his eyes burn into her.
The jacks were having none of it, though, and pushed past the federal officers, escorting Michi up B Street and into One Propitious Interstellar. They moved around the Cornucopia Fountain and to the front doors where a flunky, a high-ranking flunky, but a flunky none-the-less, awaited her.
The jacks had taken on an almost festive air as they brought Michi forward.
“And what is this all about?” the flunky asked.
“I need to see someone higher on the food chain,” Michi said with what she hoped was a tone of disdain. “Like the CEO.”
The crowd, many who had their PA directional mics trained on her, hooted and hollered at her words.
“I’m afraid you don’t have much say here, Miss MacCailín, and you are going to enjoy being our guest once again,” he said, his voice dripping venom.
Oh, they picked a good one, Michi thought despite the intense situation.
“I think you had better contact your bosses. Ask them about the Blue-99 in the vault.”
This was the key. If the worm hadn’t made it, and if they even checked, the algae in the vault would be fine, and she would be back in the hands of the FCDC. If the worm had arrived, but didn’t work, she’d be back in custody. But if the worm had functioned as designed, then the algae in the vault, the foundation batch, would be destroyed.
The flunky hesitated, and Michi could see his emotions war with each other. After several moments, he spoke into this throat mic, then came back to an easy stance, feet apart, hands clasped in front of him, the very picture of cool, collected control.
Do they have a school for that, she wondered as she tried to portray the same degree of control.
They waited, staring at each other, Michi matching the flunky’s easy smile. Behind them, the crowd was getting restless. It took almost ten minutes, but the flunky put his hand over his ear to cut out the crowd noise. He nodded, said something, then looked up.
“If you will come this way, Miss MacCailín, the CEO will see you now.”
The crowd erupted behind them as the people shouted. Michi couldn’t tell if they supported her or they thought she was going in to be given her just desserts. She held out her bound hands to the jacks. They looked to the flunky, who nodded. Off came the zipties. Two more jacks, but jacks on steroids and in designer uniforms, appeared, and the street jacks muttered, but stepped back. Michi hoped her two jacks would still get their reward.
The four of them walked to the elevator. Before getting in, one of the jacks searched her for weapons. Her bammers and top couldn’t hide much, but he was still thorough. He pretty much checked everything, but with a manner that did not leave Michi feeling violated.
They rode up to the 50th floor, hallowed ground within the company. A woman in another tailored suit awaited them, and without saying a word walked them to the right, down a corridor, and into a conference room with a glass wall, giving a beautiful view of the city. Michi ignored it, instead, turning to the four men sitting at the end of the huge stone table. She recognized David del Solar, the CEO of Propitious Interstellar.
“Just what the hell have you done, young lady?” the man sitting next to the CEO said.
“It’s not what I have done that’s important; it’s what you are going to do to save your precious company,” she said as she armed herself for battle.
Chapter 40
Michi got out of the company hover without a word and looked up to the condo where she knew Doug was waiting. She was empty, an emotionless husk. She—no, the people—had won. They had gone up against the most powerful entity on the planet, they had challenged the very Federation, yet somehow, unlike as on Ellison or Fu Sing, they had won. Part of Michi realized that and was amazed. A bigger part of her felt like she had lost.
It hadn’t been easy, but as the three roommates had known, the company had no choice. They had to give in if they wanted to survive without damage as a major Federation fabricator. The trick was to make sure whatever the company agreed to would be upheld and there would be no adverse consequences once things settled down.
There had been screaming and threats in the conference rooms. “Traitor” and “saboteur” might have been the least-inciteful names she had been called. When Mallory Yamauguchi, the company CFO had accused her of trying to destroy the company, she had bristled and attacked back.
“It’s you who are trying to destroy the company, not me! The company is the lifeblood of the planet, and we need the jobs. My own family made their living servicing the company. We need you, just like you need us. We only want you to follow the charter and treat us, all of us, including Class Fours, as valued partners!” she had shouted, standing up, hands on the table as she leaned into the man, wanting to jump over the table and beat him senseless.
David del Solar had called a recess to let things calm down, telling the others to leave. Alone with Michi, he had asked her just what they wanted. Still fuming, Michi hadn’t trusted the CEO’s frank demeanor, but had given the brief outline that Doug, Tamara, and she had come up with. It had been based on previous demands from various opposition groups, and it gave only the basics.
He had listened and then invited her into his office. Sitting on his couch, the two of them had communicated, not merely talked. David listened to the arguments she had prepared, but Michi had also listened to his concerns. She was holding the company hostage, a knife at its throat, but the two of them were calmly, and rationally coming to some sort of middle ground.
Michi had wanted a number of things. Strict adherence to the charter was non-negotiable. She wanted some sort of independent oversight of charter and company policies and action, and that oversight entity had to have real power to enforce adherence. She demanded that Class Four workers have the real ability to pay off their indenture. The three of them had considered demanding an end to the indentured class of worker, but that was ingrained in the Federation, so they retreated back to what they thought they might actually achieve.
David had pointed out that the Class Four program enabled people mired in poverty and hopelessness to get a fresh start, and if the company couldn’t get their investment back, there would be no impetus for them to offer people that chance. He hadn’t insulted her intelligence by pretending that the company didn’t use shady and even illegal methods to keep the indentureds in thrall.
With the jacks so involved with day-to-day living, something had to change. Michi had demanded that the jacks be cut in strength and only have authority on company property. To fill the void, city police forces would be beefed up where they would take care of civil protection. With the company the ultimate power on the planet, Michi had known this would not make a huge difference. The city governments, even the planetary government on Dundee, were all funded by the company, so any enlarged city police force would still be beholding to PI, but at least the symbolism of such a change should be a significant step. To her surprise, David hadn’t even argued the demand.
Despite their surprisingly civilized discussion, she had known the man wouldn’t hesitate to crush her as soon as the threat to Blue-99 was over. She had to protect not only herself, but all the people who had risen in protest. This was the tricky part. He had been only tal
king to her then because with one push of a button, the rest of his precious algae would be gone. If she and Doug followed through and incapacitated the worm, the two of them, and Tamara, would be vulnerable.
Michi had told David that she wanted full immunity for any person who had joined the protest as well as the survivors of the attack on the Marines. She also wanted restitution for those killed and injured. Specifically, she named Doug, Tamara and herself. David had raised his eyes when she mentioned Doug and Tamara, but said nothing. On another personal matter, she had told him she wanted her family’s property restored.
One thing she didn’t request was immunity for common criminals. Without it, she could be prosecuted for Gerile Fountainhead’s death. As far as she knew, though, only Tamara and Cheri knew that she was his killer.
Restitution had been a sticking point. People who were injured during a legal protest was one thing. His security was responsible for protecting the people, after all, so that could work. But attacking the Marines was a different matter, totally illegal, and not even something that the company could address. That was a matter for the Federation, not Propitious Interstellar They had gone back and forth on this for almost 30 minutes before his logic made enough of an impact that Michi had withdrawn the demand.
On his side, David had demanded full cessation of any protests, a full return of the workforce, and most of all, the destruction of the worm. Michi had readily agreed, adding the caveat of protests by people she could control. She couldn’t be responsible for every person on the planet, but she had agreed to make another camcording asking for peace. As far as the worm, she had reminded him that she didn’t want to destroy the algae, so when they were finished, she would give the order for its destruction. She had also left him, though, with the inference, at least, that a new worm was waiting in the wings should the need arise.
Two hours after the two had started, they had a framework to end the conflict. David had called in for some snacks and told her he would bring in his legal team to write up the agreement.
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