The Rush's Edge

by Ginger Smith

  “Yes sir.” Corine called across her transcomm to connect her with the Beruga Starport Authority. “Lock the port down, please. The Senator is landing.”

  “Are you Max?” Hal said as he approached the nervous looking man sitting on the bench.

  The nat looked up, worry in his blue eyes. “Yeah?” he said uncertainly.

  “Keep your head down. I’m Hal. We’re your ride. Come on.”

  Max nodded, grabbed his duffel and stood up. “Thank you for…”

  “Later. Keep going.” Hal glanced around, seeing more security around than he expected. They passed another exit, where Hal noticed two more security guards had taken up posts. Did they know that this guy was AWOL? When they turned the corner, Hal caught the same expression from Lane. She’d noticed the change as well.

  Even with the increase in security guards, they were not stopped as they entered the Loshad’s concourse. But as they walked down the hall, there was a loud metallic clank that reverberated throughout the station. Hal’s heart froze. He knew what it was.

  Every ship on the station had suddenly been locked down.

  THIRTY-TWO

  “Vivi. The magnetic lock on our ship has been engaged,” Eira said.

  “What the hell?” Vivi had been focused on following Hal, Lane and the doctor throughout the station using the station’s different surveillance cams. “No, no, no, no!” she cried, her fingers flying over the panel in front of her. “Eira, listen in on security comms.”

  “There is an announcement being made over the spaceport.” Eira put it on ship’s speakers.

  …spaceport will resume. Beruga City spaceport is on lockdown. Ships will not be allowed to arrive or leave. Please make accommodations. This lockdown will last up to one solar day, after which normal operations of the Beruga City spaceport will resume. Beruga City spaceport is on lockdown…

  “Fuck,” Vivi said to herself as she cut the speaker.

  Orin passed her the terminalpad. He’d written a question mark.

  She wrote back, Spaceport locked down. Can’t leave for a day.

  Think we’re found out? he wrote.

  Not sure, she answered.

  After locking the cargo ramp, Hal headed up to the main hallway where he saw Vivi peeking out from the bridge with her hand on her blaster.

  “Hal–”

  “I heard. They broadcast it all over the spaceport,” Hal said, as they approached. “Max, this is Vivi, Orin and Lane. If they tell you to do something, you do it. Got it?”

  “Or what?” Max asked.

  Hal rounded on him and took three steps forward with a grim look on his face. “Or it’ll be a real short trip for you,” he said in a deep, quiet voice.

  Max immediately backed up. “Sorry. Look – I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

  Satisfied, Hal motioned toward the bridge. “Let’s find out why they closed the station down. Eira – scan security feeds and show me the nearest newsfeed to our location.” The longer they were in the dark about the lockdown, the more danger they were in.

  Hal tried to anticipate all the ways this could go and attempted to ignore the rising pressure to take some action, any action. Sometimes no action was best, as Ty had taught him, but this felt claustrophobic. Stay below an orange threat level, he tried to tell himself.

  He turned to see Max standing in the doorway looking around bewilderedly. Hal pointed to a seat on the bridge. “Sit there. And don’t get in the way.”

  Max obeyed without question.

  “Hal,” Eira began, “the vat facility nearby is being visited by the head of the Coalition Senate. Closing down the local spaceport seems to be standard procedure when a dignitary visits a foreign planet.”

  Hal sighed with relief. “OK. That’s a good thing. Maybe they’re not on to us yet. We’ll just need to wait this out.”

  Lane was translating Eira and Hal’s words into sign language for Orin.

  “If the guy is just touring the facility, it’ll only be a few hours,” Max said. “Even if he’s here for some kind of demonstration like they did two weeks ago, it still won’t take long.”

  “Demonstration?” Vivi asked.

  “Yeah. I was present for one of them. A couple weeks ago.” He nervously glanced to Orin, whom he had obviously identified as a vat by his size and the tattoo on his wrist. “They tested some new, um, equipment for the heads of the ACAS.”

  Hal had shrugged off his jacket and tossed it in the captain’s chair during Max’s description. “Keep talking. What kind of equipment?” Hal asked, sensing Max’s nervousness and rounding on him.

  Max took a deep breath. “It’s what I was hinting at in my message. The ACAS has created a kill switch that affects vats. When it’s pressed, the subject – I mean the vat – dies. Almost instantly.” At the anger on Hal’s face, Max’s voice faded out. “I’m sorry…” he said hoarsely, “I didn’t know they were doing things like that. I only found out what they were doing when we had those ACAS visitors. When I did, I contacted my friend on Al-Kimia and told her I was ready to leave the ACAS. For good. I couldn’t be a part of that anymore.”

  Hal could see out of his peripheral vision that Lane was signing their words to Orin rapidly and violently. She was obviously just as angry as he felt. When she finished, the big man looked over at Max.

  “Hal?” Vivi whispered.

  Max was now staring at the vat tattoo on Hal’s wrist. He stood up. “Wait. Are you… Are you all vats?”

  Hal’s thoughts began to sharpen and focus as he realized that Max could have the kill device on him. Perhaps they were part of a demonstration for the visiting senator. Faster than was humanly possible, Hal had drawn his weapon and put it to Max’s forehead. “Don’t move,” he said. Suddenly aware of how much danger they could be in, his instinct took over and he felt the rush hammer his brain.

  Max remained perfectly still. “I don’t have the device…” he whispered helplessly.

  “Veevs – take his bag and search it for a device. Lane, search him.” He didn’t move his eyes from Max.

  “Handheld,” Lane said, holding up the object.

  “Smash it,” Hal said. Even if it wasn’t the kill switch program, it could still be tracked.

  “I have a datapad,” Vivi said. “But it’s locked.”

  “What’s the code?” Hal ordered, eyes fixed unblinkingly on Max. He’d learned the trick not long after getting out of the ACAS; for some reason, not blinking intimidated the hell out of nats. The only sound in the entire room was the subtle whine that meant his blaster was fully charged and ready to go.

  Hal tilted his head to the side. “Don’t make me ask again, Maxey.”

  “9H12JK24,” Max whispered. “I swear, I’m not…”

  “Stop.” Hal shook his head slowly, still not blinking. “Veevs?”

  “I’m in. I’ve disconnected the datapad from the feeds,” Vivi said from behind Hal. “Signals can’t come or go from it now.”

  Hal nodded, lowering his weapon ever so slightly. “Sit down, Max.”

  The researcher dropped back into his chair, looking very much like he was about to throw up. Hal lowered his weapon but kept it in hand and ready.

  “What was your job at the complex?”

  “I… I altered the DNA of the vat embryos and activated or suppressed genes before packing them into the exowombs.”

  Vivi had been standing slightly behind Hal, but now she stepped forward, glaring at Max. Hal stepped aside to give her room. “How long did you work for them?”

  “Fifteen years. My first job was implanting the interfaces into the one year-olds.”

  Vivi surprised Hal by punching Max without any warning; the researcher’s head rocketed back with the force of the blow. “How can you even look at yourself in the mirror?” she cried.

  “Woah there, firecracker,” Hal said, holstering his weapon and pulling her back with an arm around her waist. Half of him was stunned that she would do something like that, the other half
was proud. “Lane, keep an eye on our guest.”

  Lane nodded as Hal walked Vivi over to her station, standing between her and Max. “You OK, Veevs?”

  She glared at Max by peering around Hal. “He deserved it.”

  “I know.” Hal put his hands on both of her shoulders. “But I need you calm, Veevs. OK?” He dipped his head to punctuate his sentence, appreciating the irony of the moment. “Take a seat a moment and cool off.”

  When she nodded, he knew she would be fine, so he turned back to Lane and Max.

  The researcher licked the blood from his split lip. “I… I’m sorry. I want to… to make it right.”

  “You can never make it right. Never,” Vivi said, turning away.

  Lane had stepped up to take a shot at Max too. “It must not have bothered you too much, nat.” Lane narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you feel sorry when you pulled those helpless children out, split open their skulls and inserted interfaces into them? Anything to save the lives of your precious Coalition citizens, right?”

  Max could say nothing back, and simply dropped his head.

  Orin signed something, then gestured to Max as if to say, tell him. She shook her head, causing him to slap one hand frustratedly onto a nearby computer console. He repeated the gesture.

  “What did he say?” Max asked.

  “Orin believes it’s possible that maybe you have had a change of heart.” She shrugged. “Unlike me, he’s an idealist. I would shoot you, y’know, except that my captain sent us on this mission. He thinks you may be of some use to us.”

  “Yeah, don’t make us change our minds, Maxey,” Hal added.

  Dr Riley Balen listened to the voice message from Parsen again. Something wasn’t right. It was unlike Max to miss a day’s work; in fact he’d only called in sick twice in the fifteen years he’d worked for the ACAS.

  He called the security station. “I need someone to check on a researcher for me… No, I don’t have time because the senator is coming today. The researcher’s name is Max Parsen – number’s on file. Call me when you find him. This could be a runner situation.”

  * * *

  Maddie was helping Ty strap the exoframe to his legs in the physical therapy room, when Beryl got a message from Patrin. Your message was delivered. They understand and send back love and thanks.

  Ty smiled with relief as Beryl read it aloud. He hoped things would go off without a hitch, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he wasn’t there. He shouldn’t be resting, not when his crew needed him.

  “They should be getting that doctor out now by now. They’ll be headed home soon,” Beryl said.

  “Then I need to get busy over here.”

  With help, he leaned forward in the suspensor chair he’d used for travel and stood up for the first time since the attack. He swayed a bit but soon stabilized himself.

  “Good,” Maddie said, watching him. She’d attached the sticky electrode sensors to the lumbar plexus; they would communicate wirelessly with the rig and help him move. “OK. Take a step.”

  With his hands on the rails beside him, Ty began. Beryl stayed close in case he faltered. He took a deep breath and tried to move his leg, managing a small sliding step forward.

  “That’s good,” Maddie said, encouragingly. Ty’s second step with his other leg was more pronounced. His foot lifted about a quarter of an inch off the ground. “Brilliant, Ty. See, you’ve got more strength in that side. The other will come along as the computer begins to recognize your signals and compensate for it.”

  “It’s like walking in EVA boots,” he said, with a shaking chuckle.

  “That’s what they usually say,” she replied. “Again. Concentrate on the movement you want your leg to make. Exaggerate the movement of your hip muscles a bit.” Ty’s next step with the weaker leg was better. “OK. You got it. Walk it, soldier.” She stood in front of him, at the end of the walkway, smiling with her hands out. He concentrated on each leg, thinking about the movements he needed to make, and it helped him take the final steps to Maddie. She grabbed him by the forearms and squeezed tightly, steadying him. “Good work. Try it again.”

  With concentration, Ty found he was able to turn around and go back down the rail-lined path without help. Two more passes and he was exhausted, in pain and ready for a nap.

  “If you decide this is what you want, we can implant some permanent sensors and that way you can just put this on and go,” Maddie said.

  “That sounds good,” Ty said. He wanted to be as independent as possible.

  “Let’s stop for today,” Maddie suggested, pushing his chair to the end of the path.

  “No. Not… not yet,” he said through gritted teeth.

  He fought his way to the end and back two more times.

  Only then did Ty sink back down into the chair. “Gotta build up my stamina. That was pathetic.”

  “Ty. You almost died. You’re learning to walk again. It’s going to take you more than a day to get back at it,” Beryl said.

  “Yeah,” Tyce said, unconvinced. He glanced up at Maddie with determination. “I want the surgery. As soon as you can do it. I want out of this godsdamned chair.”

  Lieutenant Seros knocked on Max Parsen’s apartment door, glancing at the two soldiers with him. There was no sound from inside, so he used the buzzer again. “OK. Let’s go in.” He gestured to the two men and stepped back while they broke the lock on the door.

  They went in hot, checking the apartment, but found no one. Seros peered in the closets and bathroom, finding empty hangers and drawers. Even the guy’s toothbrush was missing. “Oh yeah, he’s a runner, alright. Call it in, Severs. One good thing: we’re on lockdown. He won’t have got far.”

  THIRTY-THREE

  On Hal’s orders, Orin and Lane had gone to crash for a while. Hal was awake, monitoring feeds on a terminalpad in the galley while Vivi made coffee and Eira monitored the security comms for any changes in patterns.

  “You should get some sleep too,” Vivi offered, setting a cup down in front of Hal.

  Hal shook his head, not looking up. “Can’t. Not until we’re out of here.”

  Max said nothing as Vivi handed him a cup.

  Vivi sat down beside Max with his datapad. “Dr Parsen, I want to know how this kill device works. Draw it out for me so I can see.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know exactly how it works.”

  Hal glanced up, his pupils still so large his eyes were black in the subdued lighting. “Do what she says, Max,” he spoke in a low voice, full of the promise of violence.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t. I have some theories as to how it might work, but I wasn’t privy to that kind of information. You can try and beat it out of me if you want, but I don’t know anything,” Max looked nervously from Vivi to Hal. “They keep plans like that classified.”

  “OK. Tell me your theory then,” Vivi said.

  “I think it orders the nanites in a vat’s blood to clump together and cause massive clots everywhere in the body. Of course, they could also deliver a shock to the heart that would stop it. Either way, it’s a quick death.”

  “Vats have nanites?”

  “Yeah. They circulate in the blood stream, repairing battle damage and working with the interface.”

  “I knew about the interface, but not that it used nanites,” Vivi said, glancing to Hal. Eira had not mentioned them specifically, but she had said Hal had Mudar technology inside of him. She should have made the connection. “Explain how it works.”

  Max’s voice grew stronger, as he returned to familiar territory. “The nanites are merely an extension of the interface. There are different types. The interface tells them what to fix in the body, when to increase the noradrenaline, and when to ramp down. The psychological programming through the interface controls the length of the rush, which happens when there’s danger or a mission to be completed. When the mission’s completed, the rush will either fade naturally or a commander will give them the order to sleep.
When they pass out, they get reinforcement through the connection with their interface.”

  Vivi felt nauseous as Max finished up. “So, you brainwash them through their interface,” she said flatly.

  “It’s…” He trailed off, realizing that she’d summed it up perfectly. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  “Go on. It’s what? It’s not enough that you alter their biology? It’s not enough that you take away any real beginning to their lives? It’s not enough that you make them follow your every objective because they’re programmed like a computer? What?”

  “Veevs,” Hal said gently. “It’s OK.”

  “No, Hal, it’s not,” she snapped. “Go ahead, Max. Tell it all. Explain why you even bother letting them go after they’ve spent their whole lives enslaved to the ACAS, only to have them die when they turn thirty-five!”

  “Veevs…” Hal touched her arm.

  “It’s – um… We were told they die because their organs fail. Due to wear and tear from the increased adrenaline,” Max said, a pained look on his face.

  “Adrenaline fatigue syndrome,” Vivi said.

  “Yeah,” Max said softly. “But… But when I began to understand how the system worked, I wondered why the nanites didn’t just repair that damage. They repair other things inside the vat’s bodies: bruising, torn ligaments, internal bleeding and the like. So why wouldn’t they repair the damage to the major organs? I asked Command, but they could never give me a clear answer. I even offered to work on the problem, but they ignored me.” He looked down at his hands. “I always believed I was doing my best to help vats survive better on the battlefield by editing their genes. It… It was all I knew to do to help them.”

  Vivi shook her head and walked into the hallway for a minute to clear her thoughts before she turned back abruptly.

  “Is there some way to reprogram the interface? To order the nanites to try and repair the organ damage?”

  “You would need the right codes, but no one holds those except the Office of Military Security. We weren’t even allowed to see the codes. They have layers upon layers of encrypted security for that. And, all interface codes are unbreakable, to prevent an opponent from taking control of the vats. Old codes are inventoried and locked away in a computer database.”