by John Purcell
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour and a half later, we were untying our lines and casting off from the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Three had stomachs filled with the blue porridge Lewis had served them, which they all agreed was delicious. He’d also given them a going-away present: three collapsible umbrellas, to be used as parasols.
There was no need for them yet. The sun was making its ascent into a cloudless orange sky, but the temperature was only 83 degrees and the breeze off the water was cool.
If we equaled yesterday’s pace, it would take us at least 4 hours to get to Washington, DC. I spent the first 90 minutes rowing hard.
Satisfied with our progress, I eased up a little and reminded Bim he was going to tell me about Scarlett Veiny. At the sound of this, Luma and Dogan pricked up their ears.
Bim reached into his back pants pocket. “Most of what I know comes from this.” He pulled out his folded piece of paper and held it up for us to see. “I got this one day in Archibald’s pub. There was a Finder there who’d just returned from the west. He told me he’d gotten it from someone who’d escaped the Aspen Domes. He didn’t seem to think it had much value. I’m not sure he even connected it with Queen Scarlett. In any case, we traded. I gave him my copy of Little Big Man.”
I repeated Bim’s words.
Luma gestured at the paper. “What is it?”
“It appears to be the first page of a GR report. It’s pretty self-explanatory.” He offered me the paper. “Teo can read it to you, if you’re interested.”
I stopped rowing and took it from him, repeating his words.
Luma said, “Interested? Read it, read it!”
Dogan chimed in. “Yeah, read it!”
I unfolded the paper. A typewritten report covered both sides.
Final Report, Aspen Complex Massacre.
Subject Profile:
Name: Scarlett Pierce Thorndike. Birth date: 1.22.2122. Place of birth: Dome One, Aspen, Colorado. GRID # 7712-2335-7692-8319.
Subject is eldest daughter of Carl Thorndike and Christine Pierce, co-directors, Computer Science Research Division, Aspen Complex. Parent’s Level 12 GR clearance may have enabled subject to illegally access DataStream.
Subject History:
At age 5, Subject experiences severe psychological trauma. Subject’s 7 month old sister, Carla, suffocates in crib. Afterward, Subject receives extensive psychiatric treatment. IQ tests show extreme high intelligence.
School reports, grades K through 8, document Subject’s inability to form friendships with classmates. Parents compensate with material possessions, notably iPups and private laboratory.
School reports, grades 9 through 11, contrast Subject’s academic achievements with open hostility toward classmates and teachers.
Also documented: Subject’s obsession with Aspen International Science Competition. Obsession leads Subject to submit illegal and unethical competition entry, resulting in expulsion from high school and denial of further education.
This outcome believed to be Subject’s motive for massacre.
Massacre Timeline:
Date: 1.22.2138. Subject’s sixteenth birthday.
8:02 AM: Subject gains access to DataStream, assumes control of Dome One functions.
8:16 AM: Subject sends commuter train into Dome One rail station at 176 mph, striking stopped train, killing 142 people. Resulting impact collapses tunnels in both directions.
8:17 AM: Subject seals off elevators, escalators and stairwells, trapping victims inside.
8:17 to 8:48 AM: Peacekeepers assemble, attempt to reach victims.
8:48 to 9:00 AM: Subject releases reprogrammed iPups, walks to rail station. Over next two hours, iPups attack 38 people, killing 33, including Subject’s parents.
9:00 AM: As programmed by Subject, all lights go out, including artificial sun. Subject enters rail station equipped with broadsword and night vision goggles, begins killing sightless peacekeepers.
9:00 to 9:02 AM: Peacekeepers don night vision goggles, begin fighting back.
9:02 AM: Lights come back on, blinding peacekeepers. More peacekeepers killed.
9:02 to 9:04 AM: Peacekeepers remove goggles, fight back.
9:04 AM: Lights go out, blinding peacekeepers again.
9:04 to 9:07 AM: Subject kills remaining peacekeepers. Total dead: 45.
9:07 to 9:14 AM: Lights remain off. Subject exits rail station, walks to Center Complex, enters DynaLink West Headquarters.
9:15 to 9:27AM: Lights come back on. Subject barricades President’s office, takes hostages, including DynaLink West President, Toby Kim.
9:27 AM: Subject demands to speak by phone with Wu Quon, President, DynaLink International.
9:44 AM: Wu Quon cannot be reached. Subject speaks instead to Wu Peng, Junior Vice-President, DynaLink International. While Subject is engaged in conversation, assault team prepares to rescue hostages.
9:44 to 10:36 AM: Conversation continues for 52 minutes.
10:37 AM: Wu Peng ends conversation with Subject, lays out terms of agreement to Toby Kim. In return for safe passage out of Dome One, Subject agrees to release all hostages, neutralize iPups, and relinquish control of Dome One functions.
10:43 AM: Assault team ordered to stand down.
10:45 AM: Subject exits DynaLink West Headquarters, enters waiting vehicle. Subject’s subsequent movements unknown.
Massacre Aftermath
From first official account onward, Subject is alleged to have died in massacre, killed by her own iPups after leaving DynaLink. To back up allegation, disfigured body is presented for public viewing. Wu Quon supports son’s handling of negotiations, specifically his decision to—
I had reached the bottom of the page. I said, “That’s all there is.”
Luma was scowling. “She killed all those people and they just let her go?”
“DynaLink can do whatever it wants. Without the DataStream, the GR would be helpless.”
Dogan seemed bewildered. “So DynaLink let her get away because…why?”
I said, “I’m not sure, but whatever she said to Mr. Wu on the phone convinced him to spare her life.”
Luma looked shocked. “Mr. Wu? Don’t tell me Wu Peng is your boss!”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Honestly?”
“I’m serious.”
“But he’s so nice!”
“I’m not sure what to think. His decision probably saved a lot of lives. Perhaps he was trying to prevent more bloodshed.”
Luma looked thoroughly unconvinced. “Maybe. But don’t you think he should have locked her up? I mean, just look at her now!”
I had no reply to that.
Dogan was still confused. “And all this happened because of her science project?”
Luma sighed. “Yes, Dogan. It got her expelled and they weren’t going to send her to college. Boy, was that a mistake!”
Bim said, “They didn’t have any choice.”
I repeated Bim’s words.
Dogan said, “How bad can a science project be?”
“That’s what I asked the Finder. He repeated the story he’d heard, but he couldn’t vouch for it. Neither can I.”
I repeated Bim’s words.
Luma waved her hand. “Okay, fine. Just tell us.”
“All right. Supposedly, Scarlett cloned her dead sister.”
This brought the story to a screeching halt. Bim had to explain cloning to me, and I had to relay the information to Luma and Dogan, who had never even heard of genetic engineering. Eventually, Bim started up again.
“So Scarlett cloned her dead sister. It’s impossible to believe her parents knew anything about it. She made three copies, but she wasn’t really trying to bring her sister back to life. She was only interested in the heads. She kept the bodies submerged in tanks of fluid that prevented them f
rom developing, even though the heads grew at a normal rate. The bodies still had to function, though, otherwise the heads would die. That was the trick, and she managed to pull it off. The heads could eat and drink and breathe. Once they were old enough, they could even talk. At that point, she taught them to sing. When she presented them at the competition, they sang ‘Three Blind Mice,’ as a round. The crowd almost tore her apart.”
I repeated all this to Luma and Dogan.
When I finished, Luma said, “That’s just plain horrible! No wonder they expelled her! Did she really think they were going to give her a prize for that?”
Bim said, “I don’t think she cared about the competition at all. I think she wanted to show the GR what she could do, the more outrageous the better. And it worked.”
I said, “Are you saying Mr. Wu gave her a job?”
“Why else would he let her walk away?”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but it stands to reason. His father had put him in charge of the research division. He had dozens of scientists working under him. All he had to do was add her to the payroll.”
Luma was eyeing us with a sour expression. “How many times do I have to say it? No secrets!”