by White, Gwynn
In front of them, a woman sat up in her bed, leaning against the headboard with a lopsided smile. Her gown hung open down the front and revealed one giant breast in the center of her chest. The skin was stretched thin and appeared as if someone had attempted to fill it like a floatation device.
What was the point of these experiments? What had they been trying to manufacture with consequences like this?
Keva followed Hale and Sparrow down the pathway through the brightly lit room.
“What happened to them?” Reach asked.
Keva couldn’t say anything out loud. That would make it more real somehow. The things the scientists had done, and the horrors sure to come.
“They’re botched experiments,” Sparrow bit out.
“Batch D-65?” Hale asked.
Sparrow shrugged. “Maybe” She fingered a tag on the end of one of the beds. “Batch C-12.”
She walked to the next bed. “Batch D-39. The scientists aren’t squeamish about what happens to their test subjects.”
“And they thought releasing that bioagent on the population was acceptable.” Keva stated, choking on the words.
“This is why the people dying were lucky,” ILO said.
“I’m still going to talk to you about the use of tact.”
“I am quite fluent in tact, Keva,” ILO said, her voice lowering as if she saw what they did. “I didn’t gauge the moment as warranting the time necessary to use it.”
“Well said.” Sparrow shook her head and stopped, looking around. “This could have been Red Sky.”
A hand latched onto Keva’s arm.
She spun, her other hand reaching for a knife.
The man on the bed held onto her gun arm. His body appeared undamaged, for the most part. His eyes had been replaced with the amber mods so many opted for, but the enhanced optical tech shined through, must be even more enhanced than what was on the market. The hand that held her was more metal than skin, and it looked like he had been equipped with a metal leg as well.
Keva blinked and tried to step back.
The man’s grip tightened. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Only a toxic breath.
Keva wrenched herself away, his fingertips digging into her skin and ripping away a layer of skin.
He fumbled for a moment, then his arm dropped to the bed. The tech in his eyes dulled and he went silent.
Keva took in a deep breath. “Come on. We have to hurry.”
“The remaining devices containing Batch D-65 should just be on the other side of that door,” ILO said.
Leading the way, Keva briskly walked down the line of beds to the door on the far side of the room.
The next room was large and filled with exactly what they were looking for.
Hale grinned, pulling a charge off his utility belt. “Let’s blow up this little moon.”
Keva looked around, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. “ILO, how many are here?”
ILO took a moment. “Twenty-three.”
Crap. “Where are the rest? Do you have another reading?”
“No. This is the only reading I have.”
“When you set those off it’s going to ignite the device, setting off a chain reaction of chemical explosions and releasing Batch D-65 into the air. We need to make sure everyone is as far from here as possible before it blows.”
“Or die trying,” Hale smirked.
Shit. Everything had been way too easy and she didn’t want to see any of them die if she could avoid it. “Set the charges and let’s split up.”
Sparrow nodded and gestured to the right. “I’m going that way. I’ll take ARO.”
Keva reached into her pocket to pull out the comm patch.
But the unit was nowhere to be found.
Frowning, she looked around, patted her pockets trying to figure out where it could have gone. Dammit, what was that AI up to? She shook her head. “I don’t have him. Fuck me! Does anyone have a link with Dottie? I’m going to kill the two of them.”
“Go with Reach,” Hale said, giving Keva a look that told her to stop issuing orders to his crew. “Come on.”
Keva found a door on the other side of the room and headed for it. They were missing a lot of weapons. Even with fifteen of those nasty things, the Elite could inflict a shit ton of damage to the spacers and terrans.
She opened the door, stepping into another long, room filled with containment tanks for growing or transporting engineered humans. Electricity hummed around her, these tanks had people in them.
High Councilwoman Poe stepped into the middle of the open space with a long, graceful stride, her hands clasped behind her gray-robed back. “Kadira Saqqaf,” she said as she faced Keva. “I have wanted to speak with you for some time now. Please. Let us talk.”
30
Imagine my surprise in seeing your face again.” Poe smiled, widening her arms, her palms out. “Everywhere I go, it seems, there you are.”
Keva didn’t have any interest in a conversation with Poe. The charges were being set, and Hale would prime them soon. She was running out of time. This room was filled with podtanks. People like her were inside them. Maybe not her pod, but her brothers and sisters none-the-less.
She needed to get them out.
She needed to locate any stores of Batch D-65 and destroy them. That and the lab. Dottie was right about that. Destroying tech wouldn’t stop them from making more unless out the plans were destroyed too.
There wasn’t time to do it all.
Keva didn’t believe Dottie could hack into the Heliac Nine’s security and locate the self-destruct sequence. That required some high-end coding and, while Dottie had done a lot on her ship, military code was a whole other universe. Keva doubted there even was a self-destruct on this station.
Poe blinked and walked slowly forward. “I killed Kadira Saqqaf. Do you know why?”
Keva went cold.
“Because her father shared too much information with her. He had worked on the ground floor of our operations here. He knew my intentions. Had seen my grand plan.”
Keva didn’t think she wanted to see the grand plan.
A sinking feeling in the pit of her gut told her Poe was a key piece of the mastermind puzzle. But how far did her reach extend?
“He wanted to stop me. He released sensitive information to someone. I do not know who.”
It had to be the Syndicate, though how he’d managed it when no one knew who the players even were…
Poe rubbed her chin in thought, then flicked her fingers away. “Small minded. He was going to send his daughter away, into the Black as you call it. Can you imagine how that would have ended? I did her a favor, bringing an end to her suffering before it began.”
Oh, she was a kind-hearted soul. That was certain.
“And then you arrived months later, taking her place, asking questions.”
Keva’s instinct told her to parry, gather whatever she could from the woman before killing her, but she didn’t know what she could ask without tipping her hand, and time was getting shorter by the second. She didn’t need Poe discovering she was a Jay. Instead, she inched her fingers closer to her knife.
“I sold your father's debt to Ajian Memta. He did not have any real substantial debt. He paid it off to give Kadira—the real Kadira—true freedom. But with him dead and you taking her place, I needed something to take your power away.”
Keva couldn’t believe what she heard. Not that she couldn’t believe it was true, but why would this woman tell her this? Now, when the station was about to blow up all around her? It was like the master villain in a holovid, telling all her secrets in the final act. Who did that?
She flicked her eyes toward the tanks, noticing the lights and buttons on the front. If only she could get close enough to figure out how to open them.
“You did not realize how much power you had to play with. Even now.” Poe sighed dramatically. “Oh, if only I had been the one to retrieve you.”
Retrieve her? That grabbed Keva’s attention.
Poe’s brilliant blue eyes flared. “Yes,” she whispered. “Retrieve you.”
Keva must have let the surprise show on her face, but there was no way Poe would know—retrieve her from what? When she’d been Kadira, she hadn’t…well, she’d run from Terra Qar the first time. Maybe she meant that, but the sinking feeling deepened.
“Keva Duste,” Poe cooed, something akin to motherly pride shining on her face as she advanced. “I have been watching you for a very long time.”
Keva’s breath expelled from her lungs in shock.
“Yes.” Poe beamed a smile. “You are mine.”
“You’re the—you were one of the scientists—” Keva couldn’t even finish her question, her mind so slammed with shock.
“I acted as the leading scientist with your pod.” Poe reached for Keva, trying to touch her face.
Keva scrambled backward, dropping her hands, completely forgetting her blades or any instinct to fight. She was disgusted and intrigued and curious and…She wanted to throw up. “You knew. The entire time I was in Q’ian’Set. Both times.”
“Oh, I did. I sold your debt to Ajian Memta. I manipulated her to develop a marriage contract with the Zerveks. I had intended for you to marry Sexton. I wanted you to kill him.”
“But I ran.”
“You did.” Poe frowned.
“I overrode the command,” Keva said, a small amount of pride rising to the surface. “That’s why I was spaced.”
Poe paused before her expression split into a wide smile. She raised her face to the ceiling and paced away for a moment before returning. “Oh, my dear lovely Keva. You thought you were kicked out because you failed? I never sent you a command for Sexton. I naively didn’t imagine I would need to. Do you even remember the test you were given? The one that got you ‘expelled?’”
She didn’t. She’d always assumed she had failed to perform some command sent to her because her brain had rejected the task. No one ever sat her down and explained what she’d done before spacing her. It wasn’t like she’d been given a trial.
“You remember Yling, don’t you?”
Of course she did. Each enhanced human was grown in a tube with two identical embryos. A pod twin, the scientists liked to call it. Yling had been hers. They’d been inseparable.
“I commanded you to inject her with a serum until she lost consciousness, and then leave her for dead.”
Keva would never do that. She was bonded to Yling like no other.
“You succeeded.” Poe tipped her head and folded her clasped hands in front of her. “You passed every single test perfectly every single time.”
That wasn’t possible. Keva wasn’t that kind of person. She was a fighter. She’d never hurt Yling. Her stomach clenched at the thought of hurting the one person in the entire universe who knew her completely. The one person she loved.
“After your test, you went into a kind of convulsive state, your mind rejecting what the chip had made you do. It necessitated a ‘reboot’ if you will. You see, Keva, I don’t just own you, I own your mind, your memories, your very soul.”
If Keva had hurt Yling, what else could they make her do? Did that mean she’d never succeeded in overriding the chip? But she had the J-gene. It was supposed to make her immune to the chip’s commands, that was the whole reason her DNA was the key to decoding the Syndicate messages? Was she an anomaly within an anomaly? None of this was connecting for her.
“We have spent generations trying to fix the J-gene’s ability to overrule the chip. We succeeded with you.”
No.
“I purchased your release, Keva.” Poe walked toward a stack of boxes and idly traced the sigil on the side. “You were spaced because you were meant to come home to me.”
That…didn’t make sense. Did it? Why…just, what—Keva’s mind stumbled.
“But when I went to the rendezvous point to collect you, to save you, you were gone.”
The Syndicate.
“It was Evelyn, was it not?” Poe looked off into the distance. “Evelyn Starider,” she said with a twist of her lips. “What a stupid name. She was always one for drama. I bet she was the one who gave your ship that ridiculous name. Ghost Star. She should have just given you a banner stating you were trying to infiltrate my star.”
Poe seemed to have a little more information on Evelyn than Keva did. And when she said the name out loud like that, something clicked into place. They were connected. What was she in the middle of?
“How did she know you would be there?” Poe turned on Keva. “How deep does her operation go?”
Keva wasn’t going to tell her even if she could.
Poe clenched her hand into a fist and roared, “Tell me!”
“I don’t know,” Keva heard herself answer.
Without her say? Without her will? Without her control? Rage rose inside her, fueling her. She took a step forward. Her gun was in her hand the next instant. She was going to kill that woman.
Her entire body froze, mid-step.
Poe studied Keva, still, expectant, waiting.
Keva was going to kill her. She was going to destroy that woman.
Her muscles contracted around her abdomen.
Keva was going to slaughter that woman.
Every muscle in Keva’s body went rigid. The pistol fell out of her hand as she convulsed, unable to take in a breath.
She couldn’t kill Poe. She was controlling her somehow. There was no way to—
Keva’s body relaxed, releasing her to gulp in the air she needed to survive.
She scrambled away, staring at Poe in disbelief.
“My perfect, beautiful daughter,” Poe said softly.
Keva gasped, her mind scrambling. What could she do? Anything?
Poe turned away. “But of course, my sister would not tell you anything.”
Sister? Evelyn Starider of the Codex Syndicate was the Elite High Councilwoman Poe’s sister?
“She had to have known.” Poe spun on Keva, her expression twisted. “That you were broken to her, that you were still mine.”
“I am not yours,” Keva hissed, the words shooting out between her teeth.
“Oh, my love.” Poe’s expression softened as she advanced. “You are and you always will be. And I will always find a way to bring you back to me.”
What was she even talking about?
“Now, where is that lovely AI I had you bring with you?”
Keva looked away, her mouth dry. If Poe had wanted ARO and Dottie, then she would also know about the charges somehow. Their entire plan was useless. Did she have a worm in her head? Like Ritta did?
“That was a lucky find,” Poe said. “I have been searching for a sentient AI for ages. When he scanned you, he sent off warnings in my system. You do realize he intends to upload himself into you?”
“He admitted it,” Keva said in a numb stupor. “But…he couldn’t. I didn’t meet his requirements.”
“Lucky for you. Though,” Poe said with a shrug, “a sentient AI sharing your mind? Imagine that power, that knowledge, the abilities.”
Keva swallowed and then a thought slapped her in the proverbial face.
Poe didn’t know about ILO.
So, no mind worm. Probably.
“Is he close?”
Keva fingered the pocket his comm unit had been in and bit down on her tongue, refusing to speak until the words shot out of her mouth. “I don’t know.”
Poe narrowed her eyes minutely, but then let it pass.
“What did you want with Dottie?” Keva asked. “What is she to you?”
“A means to an end.” Poe sighed, bored. “A brilliant girl, but completely wasted. No, I could use her mind, but at the end of the day, she’s just another Elite girl, no matter how smart. All I needed her for was to goad Wilmur into following you.”
“Why?”
“Because I intend on killing him, Keva,” Poe said as if Keva was being
dense. “He has outlived his purpose.”
Without a Zervek heir…
“I have set Ajian Memta to be head of Z-Corp. She is much easier to manipulate and she is much more reliable. Also, when I tell her to wed someone, she will not kill him within the first year.”
Keva blinked her gaze away. Her entire life had been nothing more than one huge political conspiracy.
“I’m going to give you a choice. You can stay here with me.” Poe folded her hands primly. “Be my daughter fully.”
“You will have to command me.”
Poe raised an eyebrow, her lips curled. She gestured to the podtanks to her right. “Stay here and you can save your pod. They are suspended in their tanks, awaiting the next stage of our experiment, but if you go forward with your plan, they won’t survive the destruction of setting off bombs on my station. Helpless in their pods, it would be a slaughter.”
Keva jerked a step forward. A chance to reunite with her brothers and sisters, perhaps with Yling? She couldn’t pass that up.
“Or you can destroy the remaining stores of Batch D-65. They are on a ship orbiting the station. It has slip drive, so if you do not catch it in time, you will not be able to locate it later.”
Keva’s heart hammered in her chest. She knew which decision she should make. The logical one, the one that would save lives and didn’t bend to the emotional manipulation of a woman like Poe.
Poe smiled. “I will not control you in any case. This choice will be your own, and the consequences will be yours to carry.”
Be the one who was responsible for killing her pod, or be the one responsible for allowing this woman to continue killing thousands of others.
“Do you see how generous I am, Keva?” Poe reached up and cupped her cheek. “Choose well. You are running out of time.”
31
Poe turned away and exited the room, closing the door behind her.
What was Keva supposed to do? Leave her pod here? Her brothers and sisters? She went to the pod closest to her. Setta. She’d always been kind and happy. She’d been the clown, always trying to keep everyone in good spirits.
Keva put her hand to the plasteel case.
Setta’s hand flattened against the glass, her dark eyes open over the ventilator mask, her dark hair billowing around her head in the green suspension liquid she had been encased in as she kicked.