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Earth, Barren Caverns
Alex stood on the hill, the remote in his hand, watching the readout intently as he waited for the twin's signal. It should come any moment.
Further down the hill, Val was barely visible, hidden in tall grass, having taken a sniper's posture, taking out any of the reapers that ranged too close to her group.
Nearby, Magnus stood, watching as Tessa baited, then fought, the reapers. He raised his ice blaster, picking off reapers that tried to flank Tessa's position. "Hurry up, Alex. Even she can't fight all of them at once."
"Waiting for the signal so we don't have to do this again," Alex said calmly. His fingers twitched, wishing for the blaster on his hip to be in his hand.
"Hey boss." Yolanda pushed her way through the trees, rifle on her shoulder.
Magnus stared at her. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be watching the south entrance."
"We closed it off with a small hill-slide. But I left the rest of my team there, just in case any of the little beggars manage to dig their way out." She turned her attention to Alex and the NTU. "Is that it? Have you turned it on yet?"
"The NTU? Yeah, but it isn't on yet. Still waiting for the signal," Alex said, never taking his eyes from the readout.
There are forty-one in the kill box, Smart Alex.
"Now!" Tessa's cry echoed up to them, providing confirmation.
You should start the NTU now, before Dr. Tessa is overwhelmed.
"One, just call me Alex. No adjectives needed." He reached down and pressed the button. "And two, it's on."
"Are you sure?" Magnus asked. "I don't hear or see... wait, it's working. The reapers are stumbling, I... Tessa!" He spun on his heel. "Turn it off! It's killing her."
"That isn't possible," Alex said, but he was already lifting the remote.
Yolanda brought her rifle down and shot him. The laser grazed his neck, spinning him. A second shot to his leg dropped him. Alex's eyes widened as he crumpled to the ground.
"What the hell?" Magnus ran toward her and she leveled her gun at him.
"I really don't want to kill you, Magnus, so don't make me," Yolanda said.
"Alex!" Val pelted up the hill, firing at Yolanda as she came.
Yolanda ducked, returning fire. Frantically, she jerked a second weapon from her holster as Magnus went for the remote control.
Slapping bandages on Alex's neck and leg to stop the bleeding, Val released a stream of curses dark enough to make a pirate blush. Tears stood in her eyes as she glared at Yolanda/Atah. "You take care of that mess, or I will, Magnus."
"Don't, Magnus." Yolanda stood shakily, her blaster leveled at Magnus's head. "I don't want to shoot you, but I need the bounty on Graham."
Shock slackened Magnus' features. "You're... Atah Totepe?"
"And Yolanda, and Beatrice Leveaux, and a host of other names as the need arises. But I have to admit, Atah is my favorite. Now, if you'll just slide that remote over here so I can turn it back on..."
"The NTU will destroy her."
A grim smile played on Atah's lips. "That was the plan."
We do not like that plan.
Keeping her blaster trained on Magnus, Atah slowly turned her head. The Syfe sat a few feet away, eyeing her steadily.
"Don't–"
And we don't like you.
The Syfe concentrated and Magnus disappeared. Atah gasped. "What did you do to him?"
Nothing. You should be more concerned–
About what we did with your shield.
The twins split the response between them, and Atah's eyes widened as her rose-gold circlet glinted in the grass at her feet. She dove for the illusion, and Pan jumped on her back, knocking the real shield from her head. Dora waited until it cleared her forehead and launched her mental attack.
Atah screamed, dropping her gun to clutch at her head with both hands as she fell to her knees.
Go help Tessa, Handsome Magnus. We will take care of this one.
With a single glance at his former friend, Magnus clicked the remote to turn off the machine and ran down the hill.
Earth, Gaia’s Creation Cave
"...convulsions?" The word swirled through the dark, and Tessa knew the voice, but couldn't name it. There was a gap where the connection should be in her mind.
What had happened?
"...specifically programmed to exclude her nanotype. This shouldn't..." A second voice faded in and out, as if her reception was faulty, only allowing her to hear three words in ten.
"...fault. You said this couldn't..." Magnus? He sounds so angry.
"...catastrophic failure. I can't repair..." The second voice again. So much pain and guilt in it. Who was that?
"But I can." The first voice. Who?
A faint clicking, like mandibles, and fear snaked through her chest, enveloping her heart and squeezing. No. That isn't... This can't be happening again.
She drifted, for how long, she didn't know, but the bugs kept their distance, and that had to be enough.
*>*>*>
Light bloomed along the stone walls, sending shadows dancing across the sandy floor. A stone block took up the middle of the room, with what remained of Tessa's body laying on it.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Magnus asked, his voice ragged with anger and grief.
Gaia's look held sympathy, but also determination. "No. Her soul is still there, still attached. But it can't hold on for long. If I don't do something, we will lose her."
"So do something!" Magnus raged. "I can't lose her, too!"
"This isn't something I can rush, Captain Caravaggio. And it will go much faster if you step aside and let me work." Gaia's eyes were gentle, but steel sharpened her tone.
"What are you going to do?" Val asked quietly. "Make another nanocyte body?"
"No." Gaia replied as Magnus backed a few steps away and she took his place at Tessa's side. "The time for that is done." She shot a glance at the viewscreen, where her brother watched the proceedings in silence. He had made the nanocytes that had served as Tessa's body since they found her soul in the orb so many years before. If he objected...
But no. He was nodding in agreement. Her way would limit Tessa's abilities, but it would also bring her closer to her human origins. This was best for Tessa. She had given enough.
Gaia studied the mangled shape before her and was glad Tessa was unconscious. One hand was gone entirely, and both legs were fleshless, leaving the long silver rods that served for femur, tibia, and fibula – part of the scaffold that supported her nanocyte body.
Her face was nearly non-existent; only one eye and part of her cheekbone remained. The torso was largely intact. The body had shut down before Sirius' device could destroy the nanocytes there.
“Atah Totepe caused this, and she must not get a second chance. Where is the assassin now?” Gaia asked.
“The twins took care of her,” Magnus said, shrugging. “I don’t really care how.”
Gaia nodded and turned her attention to another large screen, this one covered with pictures of Tessa. Not the lavender-skinned, black-haired version they had all known for so long, but the curly haired, dusky skinned human being she had been before Rhea stole her soul.
This is what Gaia could return her to. This was the goal.
Returning to Tessa's damaged form, Gaia set to work.
Earth, Hillside above the Barren Cavern Entrance
Atah gaped as Magnus disappeared. “What did you do to him?” she demanded.
Nothing. You should be more concerned–
About what we did with your shield.
Eyes wide, Atah followed their gaze to the grass at her feet. The rose-gold metal glimmered between the long leaves. She dove for it, then collapsed to the ground under forty pounds of Syfe landing between her shoulder blades. The cool metal of the mind shield shifted up and slid across her hair even as she scrabbled in the grass for it. Dread settled into her thoughts as her hand touched nothing but grass and dirt. They'd tricked her. Oh gods. She was exposed.
Pain ripped through her mind, and Atah screamed. Her gun fell from nerveless fingers as she pressed her hands to her head, trying to keep it from exploding. Black spots danced before her eyes as she collapsed.
Faintly, over the roaring in her ears, she heard the twins speak to Magnus. Go help Tessa, Handsome Magnus. We will take care of this one.
Her pulse rocketed through her body until her entire being throbbed. The pain ebbed slightly, just enough to allow her to stop screaming and speak. "Please, don't kill me."
Why not? There was no malice in the question, only curiosity.
You have killed many others, yes? And if we let you go, won't you just continue to take bounties, killing persons for money?
"I... I won't... I'll stop. Please, make it stop," Atah whimpered. She huddled on the ground, her forehead pressed into the dirt.
“I understand the temptation.” Val sat with Alex, her fingers twitching against the trigger of her blaster, her body stiff with resistance. She studied Atah's writhing form dispassionately. "But if you kill her, you make yourselves murderers."
She shot Alex. We saw her. She tried to kill Dr. Tessa. The Syfe looked at Val. And she is guilty of much more, by her own admission. Does not justice demand her death? they asked in unison.
Alex struggled to sit up, then relaxed back against Val, red peeking through his bandages. "You are not interstellar judge, jury, and executioner. And even if you were, the interstellar court does not have the death penalty," he said.
It should, Pan said decisively.
Truly, Dora concurred.
"But it doesn't. So make your choice carefully," Val said. She glanced at Atah, who lay prostrate, moaning, and then forced herself to holster her weapon. Everything in her wanted to put the blaster’s muzzle against Atah's head and pull the trigger. But Alex was OK. He would heal, so... "Do not make yourselves murderers for her. She isn't worth the stain on your soul.”
The Syfe looked at each other, their heads tilting and nodding as if in conversation. Finally, they directed their attention to Atah. You will see that she is arrested and tried for her crimes? they asked Val.
"Gaia will. She arrived a few minutes ago, according to Dash," Val said. "She's already with Tessa."
Will Dr. Tessa live? Dora asked.
Val closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, they were dark with pain. "I don't know. But that doesn't change what I said before." But her fingers twitched closer to her blaster. It was hard... so hard, not to pull it out and fire.
If you wish it so, we will not kill her, Foster-Val, Pan said.
But she cannot be allowed to continue as she is. She might escape, or be acquitted on a technicality or through the court's foolishness, Dora continued.
"What I wish is beside the point." Val looked at Alex, his head in her lap, the bandages around his neck still seeping red. "I need to get Alex to Dash. His wounds need stitching." It wasn’t true. His nanocytes were stopping the bleeding and would seal the laser burns given a few more minutes. But she needed distance or Atah wouldn’t make it off this hillside alive.
She helped Alex to his feet, and he leaned against her. "You keep watch on Atah until Gaia can send someone to take her into custody."
We will watch her, the twins said in unison, then waited solemnly as the couple made their way down the hill.
When they were out of ear-shot, Pan turned to Dora. Are we ready?
We are ready.
The pain in Atah's head stopped suddenly, and she let out a sob of relief. "R-ready for what?" she asked.
The twins stared at her. This.
Atah cried out, her body arching and twitching as the twins began their work. Her blood fizzed and something inside twisted, popping almost audibly as they changed the foundation of her being.
A moment later it was done, and Atah sagged. "What... did you... do to me?" she gasped.
Try to hurt someone, and you will know, Pan said.
Kill someone, and you will die with them, Dora said.
A pair of elves strode up the hill, each armed with dagger, bow and sword.
Atah lunged to her feet. The first elf pulled a dagger from her boot while the second brought his bow to bear, aiming for Atah's heart.
Atah's hands clenched into fists, and she balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to fight, but an instant later, she paled, wrapping both arms around her stomach. "What... is happening?" she choked out.
You intended to hurt them, Pan said.
You can no longer do that without hurting yourself. The worse damage you mean to inflict, the worse your pain, Dora said.
"No!" Atah screamed. But she didn't fight the elves when they placed shackles on her wrists. "Undo it," she cried, but the twins were already headed down the hill. If they heard, they gave no sign.
