THIRTY-ONE

It was the sixth morning of the mission on the Loshad, and Hal was the first awake. He stumbled to the coffee maker and loaded it up with the coffee that they’d gotten on Al-Kimia. He’d need the caffeine and the dark brew would be just the thing.

He hadn’t been able to sleep well after the screaming wake-up call that split the night at 0200 hours. He’d been up and out of bed with a blaster in his hand before he realized what he was doing. He’d motioned to Vivi to stay put and made his way out of their door.

Lane had been huddled against the wall, a discarded blaster on the floor near her. Orin was on his knees beside her, gathering her up into a tight embrace as she sobbed into the shoulder of his black T-shirt.

Hal immediately realized what was happening, and his shooting stance dropped. The subjects of vat nightmares were common enough. Lost comrades, the fear and anxiety of past and future battles… Each one of them rose like restless corpses that would never be buried deeply enough. How many times had he, himself, struggled with the same things?

He approached the two vats. Orin looked up at Hal and signed something with one hand, never letting Lane go from his bearlike embrace.

Hal replied with a thumbs-up. “Understood, brother.”

He took Vivi’s hand. “Come on,” he said, leading her back into the room.

“Is Lane OK?”

“She will be.”

“I have the medjets Beryl gave me, if you think she needs…” She hesitated, leaving the words hanging.

Hal shook his head. “It was likely just a nightmare. She wasn’t… locked into some subroutine in her interface. I think Orin’ll bring her back around. At least that’s what he said.”

“What are the nightmares like?”

He shrugged. “Just different things. Replays of past battles. Not being fast enough, or strong enough to get the job done. It varies. Let’s just try to go back to sleep, huh?”

They laid back down, Vivi’s head resting on his chest. Eventually she drifted back off. He laid still for a while, feeling her slow, warm breaths against his skin before he fell into an uneasy half sleep himself. His dreams were full of worry and angst, searching the ship for Ty but never finding him.

The coffee maker beeped and the smell helped him shake off the night. Once it was ready, he carried it to the bridge. “Eira? What’s our ETA?”

“ETA is three hours,” Eira answered. “May I ask you a question, Hal?”

“Yeah.” He slid into Ty’s chair. “Go ahead.”

“Will Lane be functional again?”

“Yeah, she’ll be fine,” he said as he took a sip of the black coffee.

“I did not scan her because I did not wish to cause her pain. Do you know what happened?”

“I think it was a bad dream.”

“It was not an implant malfunction?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What is dreaming?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Information is available on the feeds, but I find I would rather hear your explanation.”

He was puzzled. “Um, OK. I… I don’t know much though. It’s when you experience things that aren’t, exactly, happening.”

“A hallucination, then?”

“No. It’s… it’s like a story your mind tells you while you’re sleeping. Sometimes it’s based on things that happened, sometimes not. That’s all I know. I didn’t dream until I left the ACAS.” He looked down to Ty’s display moodily. “It scared the shit out of me the first time.”

“So, only vats dream?”

“No. Natural borns have always dreamed, ever since they were kids. Vats don’t have dreams when they’re in service. Could be because of the programming we go through every night. The ACAS shoving stuff in our brains doesn’t leave a lot of time for dreaming, I guess.” He paused. “So, Mudar don’t dream, huh?”

“No. We do not. Perhaps you can understand why I find the idea intriguing. We have seen dreaming happen in biological studies, but the animals, of course, cannot have a discussion about it.”

“Right.” Hal tapped the captain’s panel to see nearby starship traffic. Two ACAS ships, a few cargo vessels and transports were on the display. None were taking notice of them. “Flying under the sensors eh, Eira? That’s what I like to see.” They were making slow and steady progress toward Chamn-Alpha – just another J-class freighter in the middle of other J-class freighters.

“Yes, I took care to match speed and flying pattern to nearby traffic.”

“Nice job.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two, during which thoughts began to churn in Hal’s mind. Impulsively he said, “I have a question.”

“Yes, Hal.”

“Do Mudar feel emotions?”

“Yes. But I believe we may experience them differently to humans. There is simply no data yet to compare the two. Why do you ask?”

For a moment, he’d considered talking to Eira about everything going on in his head about Vivi, but then he closed up as tight as an airlock. “No reason,” he said quickly. He didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling for Vivi. She’d become closer than a friend to him, and the very idea of saying some of those things out loud made him break out in a cold sweat. Suddenly he wished Ty was there. This would be easier to talk about with him.

“Do vats experience emotions?” Eira asked.

“Yeah, I guess. They didn’t spend a lot of time on that in our training.” That was an understatement, he thought.

“I sense stress in your voice, and your heartrate has risen by fifteen beats per minute.”

“That’s got nothing to do with anything.”

“Does talking about this bother y–”

“No,” he said quickly.

“Hal–”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Let’s just drop it,” he said, standing up. “I’ll be in the galley if you need me.”

He made his way back, feeling irritated for some reason he couldn’t put his finger on. When he rounded the door, he saw Vivi stood by the coffee maker, her back against the counter, wearing the same cropped green sleep shirt and sleep pants she’d worn to bed. She smiled in welcome.

“Hi,” he said, giving her a tired smile. She made the jumble of thoughts in his head smooth back out.

“You don’t usually wake up first,” she said, turning her cup in her hands. “Did you sleep OK?”

He shrugged as he approached. “It’s no big deal. I’m just a little keyed up for the mission. I’ll sleep after.”

She nodded as he slipped up beside her.

“How long till we reach Chamn-Alpha? Just a couple of hours, right?”

“Three,” he nodded.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take me or Orin with you?” They’d decided that Vivi needed to stay and get the ship ready to leave as soon as they returned with the scientist, and Orin simply stood out too much in a crowd.

“Yeah,” Hal nodded. “It’s just a retrieval. We’ll call the guy, tell him where to meet. Eira can tap into the security feed, like you said, so we can check it out before we go get him. Make sure it’s not some sort of ambush.”

“OK. You’re the expert here,” she nodded. “I’ll go take a shower.”

He grabbed at her hand and tugged her back to him. He wrapped an arm around her, and slowly nuzzled at her ear. “We’ve got some time. Want some company?”

She leaned into him and smiled, giving him all the answer he needed.

Ty was sitting straight up for the first time since he’d woken from the coma. He was still wearing the godsdamned brace on his neck and back, but the metal bar across his forehead had been removed so at least he could see better and move a little. But being stuck in bed was starting to get to him. He felt like a cranky old man.

He loathed being useless. Just sitting. Just existing. He’d managed to spend some time on the feeds using a datapad, but that distraction only lasted a short while. Besides, holding the screen up hurt his arms so he was loathed to try for longer than five minutes at a time.

Now he was back to bitterly staring at the two new things in the room that Maddie had brought in earlier that day. The first made his stomach churn; an anti-gravchair that he could barely face looking at, but which he knew at least would get him out of the bed. The second scared him, but he was smart enough to know it was the better option against the first: an exoframe. It would allow him to walk by himself, using sensors that hooked into his nerve impulses that read the signals from his brain. It would both support and move his legs, allowing him to walk unassisted.

I’m ready for this, Ty thought. Screw the chair.

He glanced up from thinking to see Beryl standing in the doorway. “Stop feeling sorry for me,” Ty grumbled.

“I’m not,” Beryl replied. Ty sighed, knowing the lie but refusing to call her on it. Beryl was on his side; he knew that, and it was impossible to be angry with her. “I brought you something.” She came in and placed a handheld in his hand.

“Vivi took it off your attacker and gave it back to me right before they left.” It had a cracked screen, but other than that, seemed to be in working condition. The cheap, scratched plasglass screamed untraceable shredder handheld.

“Whose device was this?”

“It belonged to the man who attacked you,” Beryl began. “Seren’s people unlocked it for me. In the ‘Pictures’ file, there’s just one.” She reached over and tapped it until a still of Vivi’s face looked out.

“Vivi? She’s… Wait. Where is she again?” He was having trouble remembering what they’d told him; he just couldn’t seem to hold much information in his memory. “I know you told me…” he said, grimacing.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s normal to be a little forgetful after what you’ve been through, Ty. She’s with Hal. They went to Chamn-Alpha to rescue a vat researcher who wants to change sides.”

“We… We should let them know. Just in case the ACAS is on the lookout for her.”

Beryl nodded. “I thought so too. I contacted Patrin, and he’s on his way here right now.”

“OK,” Ty nodded, letting out a huge sigh. He looked down at his would-be killer’s handheld and wondered about the man that had carried it. The events of ten days ago were wiped completely, but Beryl had told him enough. The fact that the man was a vat had stuck with him. Suddenly he felt sick as he imagined Vivi trying to defend herself against a similar opponent. The training Hal had given her wouldn’t be enough to stop him. They had to be warned.

Patrin entered the room. “Captain Bernon. Nice to see you awake.”

Ty nodded. “Thanks. Is there any way we can get a message to my people?” He tapped the comm. “The vat that tried to kill me had a picture of Vivi on his handheld. The people that were after us could be after her if she shows her face on…” he hesitated, trying to drag the information out of his malfunctioning memory “…Chamn-Alpha.”

Patrin looked grave. “We shouldn’t send a message from here, in case their transmissions are being monitored. But I can message my people in different sectors and get them to contact your ship. They should have the message to your people in a couple hours.”

Ty nodded. “Thank you. Can you also tell them that I’m awake and, um, OK, so they don’t worry?”

“Of course. I’ll let you know if I hear anything back. If there’s anything else we can do…”

“I just need my people to come home OK.”

They were on the final approach to Chamn-Alpha when Eira chimed them. “Hal. We are being hailed.”

Hal made his way to the bridge, followed by Vivi.

“OK, open the channel.”

A red-haired female came on screen, calling them by their cover name. “Independent ship Sombra – my name’s Dai. Are you Hal?” She was young, not much older than twenty-four, and dressed as a spacer. Her hair was long on one side and shorter on the other and her eyes were smudged with dark eyeliner. She wore her permanent smile like a shield.

Hal nodded. “That’s me.”

“Alright, good. I have a message from your friends. Your captain says that you should all be careful on your short vacation. Hal, keep your eyes on everyone, especially your girl. You shouldn’t let her go out alone. There are people out there who know her face. Understand?” The woman looked at them meaningfully.

Hal’s blood ran cold. “Yeah,” he replied, nodding. “Loud and clear.”

“Good. He also wants you to know that he is OK, in case you were worried about him. That Celian flu has all cleared up now, and he’s feeling a lot better. We’ll keep this channel open a while for your reply.”

“You don’t need to. Just tell him we’re glad that he’s well and we’ll be home soon.”

Vivi spoke over his shoulder. “And please tell him that we send our love.”

“You bet!” she replied, lifting a hand to her temple and giving them a casual salute. “Safe travels, oppos.”

“You too, err, oppos,” Hal replied. It seemed a curious goodbye.

“Oppos?” Vivi murmured.

“Friends,” Lane said from behind them. They turned to see she’d entered the bridge while they were talking. “Oppos is a term used on Al-Kimia to mean comrades, compatriots. People in the movement have taken to using it to recognize each other.”

“Oh.” Vivi nodded.

“I just came to find out how far out we were. Orin’s still sleeping.” She rubbed her face tiredly.

“We’re on final approach so probably best wake him now. You’re go for the mission, right?” Hal asked, checking Lane’s reaction. “If you’re not, I can–”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, we’ll be ready, Cullen. Five by five.”

Max had received the message on his shredder before 0400.

0800. West concourse.

He’d been awake since then. Wide awake. He’d taken his last shower in the tiny apartment bathroom, got dressed, and packed a black duffel bag with several changes of clothes. There wasn’t much else to take. Since his graduation from university, he’d been solely focused on his work; his personal life had always taken the hit. He felt a grief for his old, comfortable life but knew there was no way to return to it. Not now.

He scanned through the feeds on the wall monitor as he waited until it was late enough to call in sick to the lab. At 0709, he commed the office number and keyed in Balen’s extension.

The lead researcher didn’t answer. Max licked his lips nervously, then left his message. “Hey, this is Dr Parsen. I’m calling to say I won’t be in today,” he said in a weak sounding voice. “I might have food poisoning… or a really nasty virus, I’m not sure. Been sick to my stomach all night. I’m going to see if I can just sleep it off. Call me if you need anything.”

He hung up rapidly, unsure that his message would be enough, but he knew he’d be long gone by the time Dr Balen realized something was going on. They wouldn’t know he’d gone on the run until at least tomorrow. Somehow that made him feel safer.

He switched off the wall display, grabbed his duffel and took one last look around the empty, lifeless apartment. This was his past. It was time to focus on the future. On making things right.

“You’ve hacked into the security feed? Nice.” Lane entered the room, wearing a pair of black fitted pants and a long-sleeved plum colored shirt. Her hair was loose and she wore a scarf wrapped around her wrist to hide her vat tattoo. She looked fashionable, just like a natural born from the Inner Spiral, Vivi thought.

“Yeah, no big deal.” Vivi shrugged. She could have done it herself, but Eira had done most of the work with a nanite or two. “This is the west entrance security feed.”

They watched people coming and going, huddling together against the cold as they went outside. It had begun to snow when they flew into the spaceport, which had cut down on the traffic a bit.

Vivi gestured to the travelers. “You look like you’ll fit right in with the people out there.”

“That’s the idea,” Lane said, pulling her hair into a long ponytail, winding it into a knot and then tucking the ends underneath.

Orin entered the bridge along with Hal. With a nod of acknowledgment to Vivi, Orin went over to Lane, took her by the hand and led her aside to talk to her. They were rapidly signing back and forth while Hal took a place beside Vivi.

“What’ve you seen on the feed?” Hal asked.

“Just people. Foot traffic,” she said.

“What about patterns? Troop or security force movement? Timing?” Hal’s voice was tense.

“I saw security pass twice. They didn’t seem to be searching people or anything.”

They watched the movements on screen for a while. A man entered the spaceport, brushing the snow out of his hair. He was in his late thirties or early forties and carrying a duffel bag. He had a grey scarf wound about his neck and was glancing around, seemingly expecting someone. He bore a resemblance to the man in the picture they’d been given.

“That could be him,” Hal said. Together they watched the man walk to a nearby bench and take a seat. The man checked a handheld, then shoved it back into his pocket.

Hal took the cheap device he’d been given and sent a message to Parsen’s preprogrammed number as Vivi looked on.

Where are you?

The man pulled out his handheld again, read, then typed a response before looking around nervously.

At west entrance, came the reply.

“That’s him,” Hal pointed, and Lane turned to examine the man’s features.

“OK, let’s go get this done,” Lane said.

Vivi smiled as Orin enveloped Lane in a crushing hug, but she just laughed softly as she signed to him.

He flashed two number fives. Vivi had been around Hal long enough to understand what that meant – five by five.

Lane shouldered a crossbody pack that contained her blaster and Vivi watched as Hal strapped on his own. It wasn’t against the spaceport rules to carry a weapon, but he put a coat over it anyway. It wasn’t impossible to see what he was carrying, but it was enough that it didn’t scream “armed citizen.” He tugged a black knit hat down over his spiky hair to complete the look.

“Be careful,” Vivi said.

He turned and hugged her. “I’m always careful, Veevs,” he told her gently. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, before letting her go.

When he stepped back, she could see something switch off in his eyes. Like all his training shifted into gear in one moment. “Alright, Lane,” he called. “Let’s do this.”

He turned and they left together.

The ACAS ship Bountiful dropped into orbit around Chamn-Alpha as the airspace in and around the planet was cleared. In a few minutes, they would land in Beruga City. Roger Triuna, Head of the Coalition Senate, stood up and stretched; he was tired from the long flight and ready to tour the vat facility and get back to the capital on Haleia Prime. The Chamn-Alpha vat facility was the largest creator of Vanguard Assault Troops in the entire Spiral. It was home to several researchers responsible for advances in vat technology over the past two decades.

Vats were big business in the Spiral. Corporations like Nyantek, MagnaPharm and Exoplast benefited from the Coalition’s specially-grown soldiers. Exoplast made the artificial wombs they were grown in. Nyantek made the interfaces that allowed them to program vats with whatever information the ACAS wished. Countless other companies and corporations would benefit from extending the vats’ period of service. If the researchers could figure out how to keep the soldiers in service longer, members of the government and corps stood to make a great profit. Vat troops meant more government contracts for amp, its antidote, and other programming drugs.

The military didn’t like the way that the freed vats had been allying themselves with Al-Kimia. Triuna wasn’t a fan of that himself. Al-Kimia, Noea and Betald were three places causing him an awful lot of headaches lately. They had allied themselves and the best solution, in his opinion, was to wipe all three off the starcharts for good. From what he’d been hearing, the Chamn-Alpha facility had come up with a solution to take care of any traitor vats.

The lead administrator at the Chamn-Alpha facility was one Dr Riley Balen. The Senate leader had been informed that Balen had developed a kill switch for vats, and Triuna had come to find out what stage the project was in. Perhaps they could go to Al-Kimia, set off the device, and kill half of the planet’s troops in one fell swoop. It would certainly be a neat solution to the growing problem.

“Sir? The airspace is cleared. We can descend on your orders.” His assistant Corine had come in from the cockpit.

“Very good, Corine. Let’s do this. Should be an interesting day.”

“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.