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.”

“Could someone hack into it?” Vivi asked.

“Hacking into it from the feeds would most likely be impossible.”

Vivi paced back and forth for a few moments, until Hal stood up and stopped her by grabbing her hand. “Veevs.”

She looked up at him.

“Veevs. Do me a favor.”

“Of course,” she said, trying to pull herself together.

“Go to the bridge and keep an eye on the security feed. I’ll feel better with someone watching it along with Eira.”

Vivi raised a questioning eyebrow, and Hal gave a small nod of acknowledgement. “OK, Hal.” With a final glance at Max, she exited.

After she’d gone, Hal shifted his unblinking gaze to Max.

“I understand why she’s pissed at me,” Max murmured.

“Caught that, did you?”

Max said nothing.

Alone with the scientist, Hal took on a friendly tone that he didn’t feel. “Hey, Maxey. Let’s just say you’re done talking about this right now. Until we get back to Al-Kimia, you’ve told her all you know. Because if you keep upsetting her, I’m gonna lock you in a crate in the cargo bay. Understand?”

Max nodded. “I’m sorry. I… I just want you to know that I will do everything I can to help. I brought all my files, notes and everything on that terminalpad. All of it.”

“That’s good. Maybe I won’t have to space you before we get back to Al-Kimia. So… Don’t go anywhere, Max.” Hal clapped him on the arm and felt the scientist start. That was fine. Scared and in line was exactly where Hal needed him to be.

Hal found Vivi on the bridge, focused on the terminalpad in front of her. She was chewing her thumbnail as she looked at the display. “Veevs?” he said, placing a hand in the middle of her back.

She turned. “Yeah?”

“You good?”

She nodded. “What about you?”

“The waiting’s getting to me, I think. The longer we go without any action, the harder it’s… It’s gonna get harder.”

“I have some amp,” Vivi said tentatively. “Beryl gave it to me in case…”

“Later. I’ll let you know,” he said, and she nodded. “I’m gonna get us out of this, Veevs.”

“I believe you,” she replied.

It was after lunch when Eira spoke over the bridge’s comms. “Hal, we may have a problem,” she said. “There are multiple ACAS soldiers entering the spaceport.” On the bridge display they saw a squad of twenty well-armed troopers. Eira followed them on the feed through the spaceport to security.

“I think it might be the time to get the hells out of here. Vivi, see if you can get that mag lock off the ship.” Hal watched her begin to work on it by tapping her node and interfacing with the computer, then his attention shifted back to Eira’s feed. “Can you tell what’s going on in security?” Hal asked, immediately tense.

“Security feeds are being scanned all over the station,” Eira said. “They’re looking for something.”

Vivi growled in frustration and disengaged her node. “Hal, it can’t be hacked remotely. I’ll have to go out there.”

“Ok, Veevs. Time for the amp.” She nodded and took off at a run. He turned back to the researcher. “They must have figured out you split, Max.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Hal said grimly. “Don’t feel bad. I half expected this all day. Lane, Orin – get the blasrifles.”

“What can I do?” Max said.

Hal shook his head. “Not much. Nothing matters if we can’t get that mag lock off the ship. You don’t happen to know anything about those?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. He didn’t want Vivi out there, but he supposed he’d have to let her give it a try. If it didn’t work, they would probably have to blow it, which could cause damage to the ship, but it would be worth the risk. After all, if it didn’t come off, they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“Actually in university, I worked as a tecker in a spaceport,” Max offered. “If I can get to the box, I think I can unlock it.”

Hal grinned. “Max, you might have just paid for your trip.”

Vivi met them in the cargo bay. Hal had been showing Max how to use a blaspistol. When he was done, he turned to see her standing behind him.

“Want me to…” she asked, holding a medjet.

He covered her hand with his own. “No, I got it.” He took the injector from her, snapped off the top and pressed it to his bicep. When the drug hit his system, it was the rush times ten.

“OK?” Vivi asked as his blackening eyes focused on her.

“Yeah. Get them.” He gestured to Lane and Orin. Vivi handed out the amp and they dosed up as well.

Once regrouped, Hal rested a hand on each of Vivi’s shoulders. “Here’s the plan. I need you on the bridge. Get us ready to fly. Lock the doors behind you on the way up and don’t open them until I tell you. I don’t want anyone to get past the cargo bay. Max here will get us free from the mag lock, and we’ll keep the soldiers engaged so he can get that done. When you get the signal from me, take off.”

“Make sure everyone’s back. I’m not leaving anyone behind,” she told him.

With a hand on the back of her neck, he pulled her in and kissed her. “Don’t worry, Veevs. I’m bringing everyone home. Go on.”

When she left and sealed the cargo bay door, he and Orin dragged some of the cargo containers full of medical supplies into different positions to give them cover.

“Hal? I need tools,” Max said, glancing around. “It’s likely to be pretty low-tech, but I’ll still need to get in there before I can do any reprogramming.”

“Try that chest over there,” Hal gestured. “Eira? How’s it looking out there?”

“As yet, there is no one converging on our position, but they seem to have a definite destination in mind. Dr Parsen’s image has been sent out to all security comms but they appear unaware that he is on board.”

“Your ship’s pretty intuitive…” Lane said, an eyebrow raised.

“Think so?” Hal asked, trying to keep a straight face. Eira would be their ace in the hole. The battle was close, and he was ready. This is what I do. This is what we were made for, he thought, glancing at Lane and Orin. They were just as anxious for the coming combat as he was.

“OK?” Lane and Orin nodded, blasrifles at the ready. Max returned with a screwdriver and some wire cutters.

“Let’s go,” Hal said, hitting the release for the cargo ramp.