by White, Gwynn
23
There’s one thing that PC and I know going into this: trying to find a dismantled android on a space station during an evacuation is like trying to find a speck of space dust in an asteroid field. We both know that it’s close to impossible, but to my relief, PC doesn’t try to talk me out of it or say that we shouldn’t keep looking.
The only obvious place I can think of is the junkyard, a place all space ports have where they recycle metal and computer components to sell or to repair the port itself. A lot of the Free Agent space stations are made up primarily of space junk, but this Lifer base is immaculate.
I wonder what kind of junkyard we’ll find, because most junkyards I’ve been to have been piled high with tons of rubbish. If Orion is in there, we may never find him.
But we keep heading toward the location on the map my retina shows me.
PC and I move together in a unit, with me at the front wielding my zapper while he follows at my back, keeping an eye out for any looters. I keep the bag of vials close at hand. I thought I should give them to Oliver, but in case I don’t make it in time, I need to have them with me for however long I’ll live.
“So, what happened to you?” PC asks, his tone oddly conversational.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, last time I saw you, you were unconscious on the floor after Venice touched you and turned into sewage.” He grimaces at the memory. “Orion went nuts for you, you know. He immediately went to the bridge, and no matter what we tried telling him, he refused to go anywhere but Alpha. You were infected, you know. We all thought you were going to die.”
It feels odd, hearing this story now after a month of speculating what happened. “And then?” I ask.
He frowns. “Well, we docked, and everything seemed peachy keen until the doors opened and the soldiers came in wearing biohazard suits. They knew exactly what they were getting into, Clem. They were treating this like some sort of recovery operation.”
“It was,” I mutter, remembering how happy Maas was that he found one of the virus’s original test subjects. “They told me that they had to power down Orion before they were able to retrieve me,” I add quietly.
“They shot him with a zapper first—with a blast that was meant to kill, and if he’d been a human, he’d be dead.”
No wonder they used him for scraps. I grit my teeth. “They’re assholes,” I say.
PC snorts derisively. “That’s the understatement of the century. Then they fired at us, and…the next thing I know, you’re waking me up in that glorified casket.”
I nod. “Basically, that’s it.”
“But…what happened to you, Clem?”
“I was infected,” I say, “and now I have it under control.”
PC stops short and gives me a hard look. “You mean you’re—”
I shrug, not wanting to get into it. And footsteps save me from having to explain further. Both PC and I fall silent as we sidle up to a wall to see our intruder coming around the corner. I meet PC’s eyes as we both wait…
And then I step out in front of the human running along the hallway. He’s a civilian, with a bandana tied around his forehead, with the distinct grease stains and look of a mechanic. In fact, he looks like a less severe version of Daisy.
As luck would have it, we’ve found one of the very people who may know where Orion is. I remember Maas wondering if there was a higher power that controlled everything. I’m starting to wonder that myself.
Without a cyborg part to help regulate his vitals, he immediately starts hyperventilating as he stares down the barrel of my firearms.
I level the zapper at him. “Quiet, or I’ll kill you,” I say. PC gives me a surprised look, but I’m not playing games. Time is running out and we have to get going.
“Please don’t kill me,” the man says, and I smell ammonia. The poor man’s pissed himself, he’s so frightened at being held at gunpoint. I almost feel bad.
“Are you a mechanic here on Alpha?” I ask.
He swallows, the nob in his throat bobbing up and down. “For ten years, ma’am.”
“So you’re familiar with the junkyard then?”
He hesitates, his eyes flicking to PC, as if begging for help.
“Answer me,” I growl.
“Somewhat?” the man says, sounding unsure.
Maybe we don’t have a miracle here. I fight back the disappointment that tries to bubble out of my throat. “I have an android that I’m looking for that has been wrongly dismantled. Where would you keep him?”
He blinks. “What?”
I cock the zapper. “Android. Dismantled. Where?”
The man glances back at PC again, his expression confused. “Hey, don’t look at me,” PC says with a shrug. “The lady’s asking you a question, I suggest you answer.”
“We’d, uh, put the android in the junkyard,” the man says.
I don’t move my gun. “Take me to it. And the faster you do that, the faster I’ll let you go.”
The man nods wildly, looking between us. “Okay, okay, okay!”
He scrambles back in the direction he came, and I see the reason why he’s acting shifty. He has a pack full of parts that he must have looted. Some of the electronics are brand new, making his haul impressive.
I don’t really care as we follow him back out to the main dome and he ducks into a silo that hugs the side of the dome. My inner map tells me that this is the largest of the three junkyards on the station.
There’s two others. And I can’t help the rising panic if we are going to the wrong one.
The man palms open the door, meaning that he’s actually far more familiar with junkyards than he had originally let on. The door opens and the three of us step inside.
Remarkably, despite the evacuation, the junkyard remains untouched, even though looting is rampant in the main city. It’s either a sign that the residents know there’s nothing here worth looting or they’re already so well off, they don’t care about a load of junk.
It’s mostly a pile of different metals, wires, pieces of glass, and even some other trash that the residents of the stations have discarded. The pile is nearly thirty feet tall and feels remarkably unstable as I peer up at it.
“We usually keep them here,” the man says, gesturing for us to follow him. He rounds the base of the pile toward the other side, and…
“Orion,” I breathe, almost in disbelief. My zapper on the man wavers as I look at what remains of the android, piled on top of other broken and discarded androids, like a mass grave.
True to what I’d been told, he’s been dismantled. His arms and legs are gone, leaving him as a quadruple amputee. Thankfully, though, his torso is mostly intact, which is where his personality is housed. We can find replacements for his arms and legs. We can’t find a replacement for him.
“PC, can you see if you can find some arms and legs for him?” I ask. “Just…anything to tide him over until we can find replacements.” Surely in this pile of stuff, we can find something for him.
“Uhhh, sure,” PC says, as he jogs over and starts digging through it.
The man clears his throat, drawing my attention back over to him. “You’re free to go,” I say, gesturing with the zapper. As the man turns, I shout, “Wait!”
The man freezes midstride, as if expecting me to shoot him in the back. That’s not what I had in mind, though. I grab a spare arm out of his pack that he must have picked up when he looted the city. “I’ve got a left arm,” I shout to PC, as I take it with me. The man gapes at me, and I gesture for him to keep going.
He runs.
Now to get Orion.
I tug him out of the pile, trying to ignore his naked body—which is generously anatomically correct—and gently lean him against the wall. I crouch in front of what remains of the android, and get the uneasy feeling that he’s dead. There’s something so strange about a part of a body that’s so still, especially when it’s someone I care about.
Will he boo
t up? I guess there’s only one way to find out.
I reach for his right ear lobe, where there’s an on-switch and flip it on.
Three agonizing seconds pass by as I wait, wondering if he’s damaged beyond all repair.
Suddenly, a light flickers behind those familiar eyes, and he blinks slowly. “Clementine?” He sounds disoriented, as he should be since he just woke up in a strange new place without his limbs and facing the person who he thought had died.
“Hey,” I say, smiling at him. “I heard you got into some trouble.”
“You are alive?” he asks, relief in his voice.
I nod. “You saved everyone by bringing us to Alpha.”
He tries to move, but he quickly finds that he’s limited in movement, so he just blinks rapidly and makes a pained face. “Why can I not move?”
“That’s because,” PC says, jumping down from a spot on the pile, carrying two legs and a mismatched arm, “you were blasted by some zappers the second we landed on Alpha. You went crazy back there.”
Orion watches him for a confused moment before turning his attention back on me. “I did,” he admits, almost musing to himself. “I did lose myself back there. And are you okay, Clementine?”
I snicker softly. “Well, we’re here, and alive. But not for much longer if we don’t move. PC, can you carry him somehow?” I realize then that I had no idea how I’d get him to the ship without PC’s help.
He sometimes knows best.
“Always making me do the hard work,” he grumbles good-naturedly.
I roll my eyes as I check how long we have. 157.7 seconds until I told Daisy and the others to leave us due to the infection spreading that much closer. And who knows if they actually made it to the docks and found a ship.
As if reading my thoughts, I’m alerted to an incoming call and I immediately answer it. “Where are you?” Taka asks on the other line. “We have a ship, but for not much longer. I’ll send you the coordinates.”
A second later, a blip appears on my retina map, showing their location. We can make it before the virus gets to them if we sprint. I glance over to see what PC has done with Orion, and nearly laugh out loud. He has the android in a sling with the spare parts sticking out at odd angles. Orion doesn’t look too happy at the arrangement, but at least they’re both ready to.
“We’ll be there,” I promise Taka as I turn off the call. “PC, follow me.”
And we break into a run.
24
There’s an unspoken desperation between the three of us as PC and I sprint even faster than before. The deadline is too close for us to make light of the situation. All we can do is run.
I can’t help but feel like our luck will run out and we won’t make it to the ship in time. Either the infection will catch up to us or we’ll be caught or Daisy will be forced to leave without us.
We don’t speak to each other as we move, not even bothering to try to move stealthily—the hallways and the main city are mostly empty by this point, and the only things we have to dodge now are scattered signposts, trashcans, and broken glass.
My retina counts down the timer, a constant reminder that time is running out until the virus reaches us. I can’t see the virus, but I feel it behind us, reaching out towards me.
I exchange an uneasy glance with PC as I pass him, and the dock comes into sight.
We’re so close. So damn close. Just a little further and we can leave this nightmare behind. At least for now until I have to figure out another solution for my infection.
A blast from a zapper goes wide and fries the doorframe in front of us. Both PC and I screech to a halt, freezing as there’s someone who’s armed behind us. I meet PC’s gaze, and his eyes glance behind me, going wide.
“Miss Jones.” I cringe at the voice behind me. How could he have found me in the pandemonium during the outbreak? And now of all times, when we’re so damn close to making it off this doomed ship.
I slowly turn around and see Chairman Maas standing behind me with a group of soldiers poised in front of him, their zappers aimed directly at us. The message is clear: the first shot was a warning, the next will be to kill.
For a 140-year-old man, Maas looks rather spry as he crosses his arms, looking at us. “There is one ship left in the dock with an intrepid crew keeping everyone from boarding it. Everyone but you and your companions here.”
“We stole it fair and square,” PC says.
Maas pointedly ignores him. “I thought you were destined for great things, Miss Jones. I just never thought you’d be the cause of an outbreak like this.”
PC glances at me. “What?”
I open my mouth to protest, but what am I supposed to do? I give him a helpless expression, but he looks at me like I’m some sort of alien. Over his shoulder, Orion watches me calmly, as if he’s trying to see if this is fake or not.
Maas titters in laughter. “Oh, you didn’t tell your crew how you escaped?”
“PC, he’s just trying to keep us from getting to the ship,” I say softly. “There was never a cure for Louis. There was never a 300 million Space Yen payout. What he wanted to do was have us deliver him a virus so that he could take over the galaxy and monetize treatment for it.”
“Such brave words from a young woman,” Maas says, “who is still infected with the virus.”
Both PC’s and Orion’s eyes widen. “What?” they ask together.
“I have it under control,” I tell them.
“And I thought I had it under control as well,” Maas says, spreading his hands wide. “And look at what it did to my space station. All because this wench is unpredictable. She’ll kill you just to get her way.”
“You know that’s not true,” I whisper, closing my eyes.
“I can’t let her off this space station,” Maas says. “She’ll infect the rest of the galaxy. She’ll do exactly what you’ve been trying to avoid.”
I look at PC, pleading with my eyes to believe me. Believe me about what, I’m not sure, as everything Maas says has either been true or can be a possibility. But this is his game; this is what he wants.
We can’t just give it to him.
PC watches me and gives the barest of nods. Relief spreads throughout my body that despite everything, my adoptive brother still trusts me. When the world goes to hell, I can trust my family and friends.
Now is just the waiting game. Because as we stand there, my timer counts down to zero, heralding the arrival of the virus in our section. My stomach clenches in warning, sensing it coming ever so closer. I welcome the distraction, but hate coming face to face with it again.
Some things are unavoidable though. And if I have to face the virus again to save everyone, I will.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Jones?” Maas taunts. I hear the clicks of the zappers as the soldiers ready themselves to shoot at me, like a firing squad. I wish I could say that I feel nervous about that, but after everything that has happened, I am just out of fucks to give.
So I lay it on the line for him and everyone present.
“What do I have to say?” I ask through gritted teeth. “You dare ask me that? When you paid desperate parents to take young girls away just so you can experiment on them? And you’ve spent the last twenty-five years trying to develop a virus worse than the space flu, just so you can wipe out the competition? When you’re willing to do everything to make a buck? Am I painting a good picture for you, yet?”
I see the zappers waver the longer I speak. The chairman may feel 100% confident in his troops’ loyalty, but it’s hard to believe that’s true when the head of your company is willing to lay your life on the line.
“It’s just business,” Maas says coldly, narrowing his eyes at me. “Any other corporation with our resources would have taken the same chances.”
“And the fall of Delta is just business, too?” I put my hands on my hips. “Hundreds of thousands of people dying from a virus you can’t control?”
More wavering
. I’m getting through to the soldiers.
“Delta was not our fault,” Maas says coldly. “I told you that there was a rogue scientist who tried selling our secrets to the competition.”
“Because of practices like this. All you corporations are the same.”
Some of the zappers finally lower as the soldiers stand up straighter, my words finally hitting home with them.
But by this point, it’s too late for them. I gnaw on my bottom lip as I see the wave of crimson rounding toward the corner. I can almost feel the pull of the virus, calling out to me, inviting me to join it in its quest for domination.
“And you all can go fuck yourselves,” I mutter at the group.
I hold my ground as the wave of the virus sweeps through the group of soldiers, bowling over Maas, and the old man lands on top of the soldiers. The screams just as loud as I remember Louis’s scream was, and I wince as I step away. PC does the same thing out of reflex, trying to put as much distance between him and the virus.
“We have to go!” he shouts above the din, grabbing at my arm.
I nod dazedly. “Yes,” I agree. I can no longer see Maas as a separate entity among the surge of the virus, although I see one of those clear blue eyes watching us. “Long live the chairman,” I say to it. “And fuck you.”
We have to leave now. PC palms the door, and it easily opens, showing us the dock. And as we step through the door, we both slow, seeing Taka sit in front of a huge cruiser space ship complete with torpedo bays and an awesome paint trim on the side.
The engineer smiles at us and gets to his feet, hefting his own zapper in his hands. He takes off the spectacles and crunches them under his feet, as a final farewell to Alpha. “Didn’t think you guys would make it,” he says.
“We got caught up,” I say as we run up the ramp. PC glances at me, his expression suspicious, but he doesn’t mention what Maas said. I could hug him for that. “We need to move, now.”
“Daisy has it all fired up,” Taka says, ushering us onto the platform, leading up to the ship. “We just needed you guys.” He tilts his head towards Orion. “Glad to see you again,” he adds amusedly.