Bei clamped down on the rage pumping through him and managed not to slam his fist through the cargo bay's blank com screen. Burkina Faso had him kill the woman, a citizen. Now her corpse hovered behind him, the emergency blanket wrapped around her trim frame like a silver halo. Except for the belch of the gas lines, silence filled the cargo bay. Debris even stopped hitting the magnetic field confining the Starfarer's atmosphere. Although he had murdered for the right reasons, doing so had violated the basis of Syn-En existence. He should have protected the citizen, not killed her.
Shang'hai's soft voice cut through the hum of the engines restarting and the rasp of metal as the Smart Metal Alloy reformed the hull of his ship. "I knew I hated that bitch. Faso recorded you killing the citizen."
Turning to face the other three members of his strike team, Bei nodded. His hand settled over his forearm. The woman had touched him, willingly, and there had been no disgust or fear on her face. He still felt the imprint of her hand burn his NDA.
And he had ordered her killed.
Her terror replayed in his mind, an endless loop on a bad circuit.
First medical officer, Los Alamos Cabo stepped forward. The salvaged wreckage floating in the room cleared around the doctor, repulsed by the magnetic charge of his armor. "I can-"
Communicate on the WA only, Bei warned. He ushered the three Syn-Ens, away from the computer bank. Although the com system remained dark, he wouldn't put it past Faso to leave the signal open. Bei would. If only to know his enemy's plans.
Stopping near the citizen's coffin-shaped stasis chamber firmly affixed to the floor, Doc Cabo pushed the clear face form of his enviromask on top of his curly black hair then held his hand over the citizen's body still held between the chief and Shang'hai. Green beams of light radiated from his open palm down to her petite form, feeding information to his MedPak analyzer. I can revive her, Admiral. I think.
With her enviromask perched on her short, pink crew cut, Shang'hai drew the citizen away from the chief, cradled her and smoothed the light brown tresses out of the woman's face. Sorrow weighted the array. Why does she float?
A memory stirred deep with Bei. He tried to grasp the thought but it eluded him. Somehow he knew it had to do with the citizen. There was something about her?
She's completely biologic, Admiral. The doctor's awe quickly spread through the WA. Doc scratched his trim black goatee before laying his hand on the citizen again.
Security Chief Rome stroked the citizen's tapered fingers, then folded his arms across his broad chest. His security insignia gleamed in the white glow of the cargo bay when he quickly placed the woman's transport between himself and the others. "I can't believe anything this delicate could survive in space let alone go undetected on one of our ships."
"She couldn't have for long. I think she was pulled aboard with the wreckage, but there's no damage to her stasis chamber." The hair implanted into Bei's synthetic skin stood on end. He surveyed the rectangular stasis unit, not finding any matches to the writing in any of the Command In Control's databases. The human had no ident chip and no metal plating on her bones for space travel. His mind swarmed with the implications. Not one outcome was good. Most made no sense. What was the woman doing here? Shang'hai tear that stasis chamber apart. I want to know where she comes from. How she got here. Everything.
Shang'hai's almondine eyes narrowed. "Aye, Admiral."
Doc Cabo lifted the lid of the human's right eye. The pupil didn't react to the white light that was emitting from his tan finger. He glanced over his shoulder at Bei, standing near the citizen's feet. Admiral, I don't know how long she can remain this way before death becomes permanent.
For a moment, Bei allowed himself the luxury of options. If she never woke up, the Syn-En might not have to return to Earth, might not have to acknowledge their failed bid for freedom. But he had to protect the citizen. The drive went beyond duty to something more, something deeper. Almost an instinct. He nodded to Doc. Bring her around.
The emergency blanket crinkled when Doc tugged the woman out of Shang'hai's arms and laid her carefully into the life pod's dark interior. The unit didn't power on at her presence. Was it because her life signs didn't register? Or something else?
As soon as Doc released her, an air current carried the citizen toward the ceiling.
Bei grabbed her slim ankles and pressed them against the cushioned interior while the Chief held her down by the shoulder. How could the citizen possibly think she could save the Syn-En? Had Earth known about the collapsed wormhole? Chief, where are the mutineers?
Sensors report they're in Cargo Bay twelve. Chief Rome's white teeth glowed in his feral smile. They're attempting to start Starflight's engines. Shall I lock them down until intercept?
Negative. Their surprise pinged Bei's WA receiver. Even if another strike team managed to arrive in the next five minutes, no weapon on board could penetrate the Starflight's hull. The mutineers would destroy his ship from the inside before leaving, killing everyone on board. After all, there was only one way for Faso to go and they would soon follow. With the wormhole collapsed, the return to Earth was inevitable.
Doc unraveled plastic tubing from a compartment in his arm, removed the sterile covering from one of needles at the end and pierced the citizen's jugular. A whirring sound filled the cargo bay as he pumped, cleaned and oxygenated the cyanide-laced blood through the unit located in his left bicep. Once the treated blood spurted from the free needle, he inserted it into the woman's carotid artery. I'm running a full panel on her fluids. That should give us a good idea of her point of origin and places she's visited.
Chief Rome placed the woman's arm across her belly. It rose lifelessly toward the ceiling. You have a plan to get down to the surface of Terra Dos without the Oppenheims and the Starflights?
While Bei admired his men's tenacity to see the mission completed no matter the cost, he knew this time their faith in him was misplaced. They'd never reach the alien planet let alone need to land using the Starflight prototypes made from salvaged parts. He, as admiral of the fleet, would have to declare the mission a failure and order the Syn-En back to Earth.
So many of his people had died for nothing.
I came here to save you.
The citizen's words replayed across Bei's cerebellum. There was no saving the Syn-En, only servitude and death. His fingers bit into the woman's soft skin before he forced them to relax.
Orders, Admiral. The chief's anger growled in the background like a riled beast. The vibration hummed along the WA.
Shang'hai ran her hands over the strange symbols on the stasis chamber while her gaze locked with Bei's. They're opening bay doors.
She stated the obvious as if the Starfarer's internal sensors hadn't fed his implants and relayed the information to him as well Bei slid his hands down the citizen's satiny skin. The sensors in his NDA reveled in its amazing texture while reporting her vitals. Her body temperature registered a full degree below normal, but he detected a heartbeat, slow and strong. Disable Starflight's weapons and let the traitors leave.
Shang'hai jerked as if his words had slapped her. Leave? That bitch killed twenty of our people and you're just letting her go?
Chief Rome growled at the engineer. There's only one way for her to go. Once our engines are online, we'll be on top of the Starflight before Faso blinks.
Shang'hai grinned. We'll take her alive.
Bloodlust roiled through the WA. Every Syn-En wanted to spend time with Burkina Faso.
His black eyes snapping with anger, Doc Cabo glanced up at Bei. I could keep the traitor alive until we reached Terra Dos. Citizens are always rattling on about the benefits of recreation.
Bei felt the expectation in the WA. Unlike humans, Syn-En used swift justice. They policed their own and enforced their common will and the punishment always fit the crime. Faso should have paid better attention. I need a quorum of captains giving approval for the sentence.
Ayes flooded the WA. The computer recorded no dissent
among the fleet's command staff.
So it shall be. Without an ounce of remorse, Bei sealed Faso's fate. Too bad her co-conspirators wouldn't meet the same end. Civilians required a court presided over by a citizen. Bei stroked the arch of the woman's left foot and felt the slickness of blood and the rasp of her cuts against his thumb. One hundred percent organic. He could use her to get justice for his kind. He could use her for a lot of things. Citizens tended to be easy to manipulate, except perhaps this one.
He had ordered her killed after all.
Chief Rome cleared his throat. Admiral?
Reluctantly, Bei stopped exploring the woman's soft skin. He had a job to do. She could be dealt with later. Complete rescue operations of life pods.
Shang'hai tugged on the left panel at the foot of the human's stasis chamber. What about our people?
Rescue the occupied pods first. Bei tamped down his rising irritation. He'd ordered the Syn-En to abandon the life pods in case Faso targeted more of his men. They'd be fine for a while, but the radiation limited their time in space. Once the Starflight is clear, have them re-board their pods, using their oxygen for thrust and maneuvering, and wait for retrieval.
Chief Rome set his hand on the citizen's belly and held her inside the chamber's interior. Faso still has control of the com system. She could order a self-terminate on the life pods.
Shang'hai bent a metal sheet into an arc and wedged it across the opening of the stasis chamber. Banded over the citizen's abdomen, the wide bar would hold her in place. Especially if that bitch sees us rescuing our men.
Annoyance shot through Bei. His men frowned upon him touching the woman, but they had no problem doing so. Even unconscious, she caused trouble. He'd have to deal with the citizen. Problem was, with his men triple bunked, the only space he could keep her out of sight would be his quarters. The notion kicked him in the chest. Bei initiated a diagnostics on his cardiac implant and stared at the scorched emblem on the metal. The image of a hazy white planet with a single red ring lying on a star-studded blue background stirred a dormant memory. Where had he seen the icon before?
Chief Rome removed his hand from the citizen and fingered the cleft in his chin.
She drifted up. The band of metal caught her across the abdomen, holding her firmly within the stasis chamber's confines, but the jagged edges cut into the blanket wrapped around her and tore at the skin underneath.
Bei clasped his hands behind his back to prevent himself from holding her away from the serrated metal. As a citizen, she could strip him of leadership and cost more Syn-En lives on this fruitless mission. Yet there was something about the texture of her skin. He could almost feel the heat and moisture sighing from her pores and the fine hair tickling his fingertips. Can you take Starflight's com system offline?
Shang'hai snorted. Our people reclaimed the latest pieces of technology to build that shuttle. It won't be easy to wrestle control away from the bridge, but I'll try.
Black eyes filled with concern, Doc Cabo glanced at Bei. His tan fingers settled on the buttons of his MedPak. I'm ready to revive the citizen.
Bei nodded. Questions formed and reformed inside his head, each vying to be the first asked.
Seconds after Doc pushed the button to release a chemical cocktail into the citizen's bloodstream, she gasped for breath. Her eyes flew open. Their color was startling, bluer than the Earth's oceans from high orbit. She looked at the doctor then Bei and groaned. "You people really need to make up your mind. Do you want me dead or alive?"
People. Bei stiffened. He'd explained they were Syn-En. Had the time in stasis damaged her higher brain functions? Monitor her. All systems. Scan for internal injuries.
The human wiggled in her stasis chamber. "Ow!"
Red blood bubbled from the cut on her arm. Instead of running along the metal band like normal magnetized fluid, it floated toward him.
Bei caught the drop, squished it between his fingers. The moisture turned them warm and slick. Activating his CBR sensors, he felt the liquid being sucked into his armor for analysis.
Doc quirked an eyebrow before laying a hand on her sternum and pushing her back, away from the sharp edged band. Her blood still pulsed through the tubes attached to his forearm. "Try not to move. I've only filtered four liters."
The woman twisted and turned until her hands latched onto the sides of her stasis chamber. Using her hold as leverage, she managed to wiggle into a sitting position.
Like all humans, Bei noted, she did not heed the advice of a Syn-En.
Then she noticed the tubes.
"What! Good Lord." Her fingers played with the tubes, followed them from her neck to Doc's arm. She leaned over the lip of the pod. "How are you doing that?"
Doc set his free hand gently on her shoulder and held her still. "The enhancements in my left are primarily for triage under CBR conditions."
The woman's eyes grew wide in her face. "CBR? What's that?"
"Chemical, biological, and radiological events." Smiling, Doc removed the needle from her jugular. Her blood bubbled from the hole and Doc frowned.
Turning her head, the woman tried to look at the wound. "What's the matter? Didn't it work? Am I going to die again?"
Using his thumb, Doc applied pressure to the damaged skin. "You are free of cyanide and the injection should have prevented any brain damage during your short death."
"Short death? That's a convenient term. Well, you see judge, it was only a short death soo?." The citizen raised her pale hand and slapped it over the doctor's darker one. "What do you mean should have prevented damage?"
Bei swallowed his amusement. Her thoughts were more erratic than most citizens he'd dealt with.
Maneuvering her finger over the seeping hole, Doc worked the needle out of her artery. Blood spurted from the opening, spraying him across the face.
The woman yelped and slapped her other hand against her throat. The red blood seeped through her fingers and swirled in the air. Her skin seemed paler than a second ago. "Give me something to stop the bleeding."
Doc patted her hand, tugged an ampoule from the compartment in his right forearm and snapped off the top. The medicinal scent quickly filled the air. "You did not respond as expected."
Brushing aside the woman's hands, Doc waited for a small pulse of arterial spray to stop then smeared the ampoule's contents on the puncture.
The citizen hissed through clenched white teeth but kept her fists against the interior of her stasis chamber. "Are you saying you didn't mean to kill me?"
Surprise scattered Bei's thoughts. The human actually trusted the Syn-En doctor to heal her. That fact alone made her dangerous to him and his kind. He'd prefer his enemies to be clear cut. "No. You needed to die."
The citizen focused her attention on him, and he felt it almost like a physical caress. For a moment, her attention drifted down to his mouth before she shook herself slightly and met his gaze. "Then why bring me back?"
"Your death was not meant to be permanent." The truth slipped from Bei. Even killing a citizen for a short time was a capital offense.
She nodded and her shoulders relaxed. A tentative smile flirted with her full lips. "Just long enough to satisfy Grace's bloodlust."
Bei's attention snapped back to his mission. Was the woman about to reveal something important? "Grace?"
The citizen shrugged and jerked her head in the direction of the com panel. "The African-American woman on the computer with big white teeth and a sadistic appetite who ordered you to kill me."
Disappointment filtered through Bei. He had to remember that her apparent respect for the Syn-En was an act, a means to keep his kind in their proper place. Even her excessive chatter was meant to divert his attention from the mutineers. Not that he could do much with his ship dead in the water, crippled with damage and weapons offline. "Her name is Burkina Faso."
The citizen focused on her thumbnail, tugged on the cuticle until she ripped it off and blood beaded on raw skin. "What happens if she agai
n orders my death?"
Bei replayed the scenarios in his head. Could she be in this with Faso? Not likely, given what he knew of the traitor's character. "Faso is not in command."
The human looked up. Hope blazed in her blue eyes. "You killed her?"
Storing the reaction to be analyzed later, Bei shook his head. "No."
"Why the heck not?"
From her position next to him, Shang'hai snorted but blasted her anger over the WA. See. Even the human agrees the bitch should not have been allowed to escape.
Bei felt the rage swirl inside his own body but quickly controlled it. Save your energy for finding the stasis chamber's flight recorder. I need to know how soon she was sent after mission launch. Earth might have tried to renege on its promise of freedom for the Syn-En even before we reached Terra Dos.
Shang'hai crouched at the foot of the stasis chamber, examining the end.
As he expected, the reminder of past injustices against his people tempered his command staff's infatuation with the citizen. He walked over to stand next to the Chief near the head of the chamber, while the engineer continued working on at the opposite end. Pressure built up on his forearm. He looked down and saw the citizen's hand.
She squeezed gently. "I'm sorry Burkina killed your people because of me."
Although Bei's systems registered only sincerity in her words and features, he couldn't trust her. Citizen betrayal was too much a part of his past. He'd promised his people freedom and freedom they would have. Heat flared along his cerebral computer interface, a reminder of their differences and his pledge to protect citizens. "We are Syn-En."
The sentence explained everything, yet the woman didn't seem to understand.
Chief Rome cleared his throat, picked at a ragged seam on his blue uniform. "Starflight has cleared the fleet. The bitch is scanning us, probably looking for a target."
The human shrank back into her life pod and tucked the hem of the blanket between her thighs. Her heart raced and her pupils dilated. "Can Burkina detect that I'm alive?"
"No." Bei glanced at his security officer. Was his Chief deliberately trying to scare her? Either way, Faso needed to be neutralized. Bei had no doubt that not firing upon the shuttle would be viewed as a weakness. Did you confirm that the Starflight's weapons are offline, Chief?
Aye, Admiral. Chief Rome switched his attention to the human, then her hand on Bei's arm before cocking an eyebrow.
Bei returned the look. The citizen liked to touch. He wasn't about to let on that he understood her game, using contact and the ease of it to seduce him into doing her bidding. Faso had taught him well in the ways of human women. Besides, it wasn't as if he enjoyed the contact.
The citizen's grip tightened on his arm. "What's going on and don't say nothing. I've seen that look before. It means there's a big 'but' coming. I didn't spend twenty years as an administrative assistant to some very powerful men not to recognize a whammy on the horizon."
Bei started. The woman had picked up on something. Six months aboard the ship and the Syn-En had begun to express their emotions outside of the WA. It wouldn't have been a problem before, but now they had a one hundred percent organic citizen on board, one who could assume command of the fleet just because she had no tech.
Whammy? Citizens have a strange way of talking. The Chief blinked then frowned as external sensors fed new information to the WA. "Starflight's weapons are charging."
Shit. Bei had hoped Faso would be so afraid of Syn-En retaliation she'd burn out the engines in a quick retreat. Instead, she'd decided to neutralize as many Syn-En as she could before they hunted her down. Blanking the anger from his features, Bei shunted a flash of annoyance at his security officer. "Why aren't weapons offline?"
Chief Rome clenched his jaw. His irritation flared across the WA. "One of Faso's lovers is a very talented hacker. Tim's happy fingers demoted him from citizen to civilian and earned him ten years in the service of the Syn-En."
Found the flight recorder. Not that it will be much help if Faso hits our engines. Shang'hai yanked off a square section from the foot of the citizen's stasis chamber. "The bitch is targeting our people again."
Get control of those weapons, Chief. Bei felt the hum in the WA as both his security officer and engineer sent override commands through cyberspace to the Starflight's bridge.
The citizen wiggled out from under the band of metal keeping her in place. She half crawled and half floated over the edge. Once clear, she smoothed the emergency blanket wrapped around her lithe form and hooked her heels into the indentation at the base of the chamber.
Bei watched her progress. Did she think to escape them? Where would she go on his ship that they wouldn't find her eventually?
"Targeting your people?" She blinked, then clasped her hand over her mouth. "As in going to kill them?"
Doc pinged Bei. Admiral, my systems have detected some anomalies in the citizen.
Later. Bei ground his teeth together. Status, Chief.
That bastard Tim has set up firewalls. Chief Rome squeezed his eyes closed, focusing most of his consciousness in the WA. I'm trying to knock them down, but there seems to be a subroutine that adapts to my every move. The fucker is using our own technology against us.
Engineering controls are locked out, Admiral. Unless I can get on the Starflight's bridge, I can't override helm controls. Shang'hai growled through the WA. The tips of her knuckles shone white as she gripped the flight recorder.
Without opening his eyes, Chief Rome grabbed the citizen's arm and kept her from drifting up. I'm in the telemetry core, trying to access targeting.
The human's brow wrinkled as her gaze bounced off them all in turn before settling on Bei. "What's happening? Why aren't you doing anything, like jamming the signal or blowing her out of the sky?"
Typical human. Thinks we're stupid. Shang'hai rolled her eyes.
Disable those weapons permanently, Rome. After freeing her from the Chief, Bei used his body weight to gently pin her between him and her stasis chamber. Frustration coiled low in his belly at having to let his senior staff do the fighting, but too many cyberspace presences would definitely register on the Starflight's sensor. Right now, a surprise attack through the WA was their only means to limit the damage Faso could inflict.
The citizen grabbed onto the front of Bei's uniform, digging her fingers into the navy material. "I know, why don't you loop what she sees over and over again like in National Treasure or Speed?"
Doc Cabo skirted the stasis chamber to stand at their side. Admiral, the human is displaying unusual cerebral spikes. The medicine may be having a side effect. It wasn't meant for pure organics.
Later, Bei shouted through the WA and focused on the Chief.
Rome opened his eyes, fear blazed in their light blue depths. Tim's blocked every entrance. I've been locked out. Weapons are charged and I can't do a damn thing about it.
Shang'hai punched the citizen's stasis chamber. "Two pods have been destroyed. Seven Syn-En reporting suit damage, switching to hibernation mode. They can't use their location beacons or she'll target them." Another minute and the Starflight will be out of range of the WA.
The human flinched, as the unit shoved her against him. "Can't you change what she sees so she thinks everyone is destroyed, like trick photography? Why are you just standing there when your men are dying?"
Her lower body ground against Bei's. With his implant sensors heightened in battle mode, the feel of her supple legs snug against his interjected a spurt of lust, scattering his control. Her heart rate increased when he set his hand on her bare shoulder. For a moment it seemed as if her desire was fueling his inside the WA.
Dammit Bei, that bitch Faso is killing our people. The chief's disgust roiled through the WA.
Bei clamped down on the out of place emotion and handed the citizen off to the doctor. "Keep her still and quiet."
Nodding, Doc Cabo cupped both of her shoulders. Her skin glowed green under the monitoring of his MedPak.
/>
Bei stepped back, closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to enter the WA. Using his command code, he merged with his avatar in cyberspace and materialized inside the CIC mainframe. Bundles of data, hearts, lightning bolts and other symbols of emotions whizzed by his digitalized body. Latching onto a cartoon image of a brain, he rode a stream of information into his ship's data core. The busy terminal had bits and bytes traveling in every direction, each stamped with a unique identification code. Spotting the Chief's security over-ride command, Bei's avatar climbed on board the yellow data packet. The missile shaped code carried him off his ship, through open space and into the Starflight's information port.
Roadblock signs lowered on the data streams, prohibiting access. The Chief's code disintegrated under Bei. Jumping onto a platform, he called forth the command protocols citizens always demanded be embedded in Syn-En technology. A key materialized in his hand and an emergency door appeared in front of him. Staring at the emblem of a ringed planet on starry background, he appreciated citizen paranoia for the first time. After touching the key to the door, he watched the barrier dissolve, and he stepped into the Starflight's mainframe. Scanning the hexagonal shaped room, he noted the six closed doors, one for each of the hubs on the bridge. I'm in the com system. Chief, I need images of the life pods against our current position.
Rome's surprise blipped across the WA. Aye. Images captured.
The photograph of capsules glowing against the luminescent walls of the wormhole flickered inside the picture frame that materialized in Bei's palm. Loop it through one of the fight simulator programs.
Done. Sending file.
A bright yellow package replaced the picture frame.
Received. I'm allowing you access. An avatar of the blond Chief appeared next to Bei. Opening the box, Bei removed a red crystal containing the program. He tugged on the ends, pulling it apart like taffy, then handed one of the two pieces to Chief Rome. For a moment, Bei stared at the closed doors ahead, then pointed to the one marked weapons before taking his position in front of communications. I need you to disable the weapons deck on my command.
You're using the humans' idea? Red flags and lightning bolts exploded like fireworks around the Chief's head.
Yes. Bei glanced at his friend, knowing that if Tim was as savvy as his record told, he could have tracked Bei's entrance and even now be locking them inside the Starflight's computer. Their bodies would soon die without their consciousness.
On my mark. Opening the command door, Bei stepped inside a closet sized room. Bright, multicolored crystals stuck out of the black walls. He set his hand on the one flashing green in the sensor panel. Ready?
Aye. Chief Rome sent another burst of lightning bolts.
Mark. Bei quickly replaced the green crystal with the red one in his hand. The Trojan program lit up, indicating it went live.
Shang'hai's laughter thrilled in Bei's physical ears. "It's working."
Bei's avatar joined the Chief's in the foyer.
Of course, it's working. Animated strutting roosters floated around the Chief. We're Syn-En.
After his avatar locked both doors with the command key, the digital man carried Bei's consciousness to his body before melting into cyberspace. He opened his eyes and glanced around the cargo bay.
Chief Rome grinned back at him.
Bei shook his head once. The roosters might be gone but the chief's cockiness hadn't diminished.
"What is working?" The citizen tugged on his sleeve, her confusion written in the wrinkles of her forehead.
Shang'hai answered the human. "The admiral disabled the Starflight's targeting systems."
Bei's attention drifted to the image of a ringed planet on the metal band across her stasis chamber. Although not quite the same as the emblem on the Starflight's backdoor, it was too close to be dismissed. He used his ocular implants to snap a picture of the symbol and sent the package to his avatar to run a query through Jane's Space Recognition Guide.
"So Burkina won't be able to kill anyone? That's great!" The human practically vibrated and her smile broadened, revealing a slightly crooked front tooth.
Its appearance shocked Bei. Citizens didn't suffer imperfections in their appearance, especially when a dental fix involved no technology penalties. What manner of human was she? Before he could ask the doctor to report his findings, Bei's query returned two results. His gut clenched. Both entries regarded the Terra Dos probes.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to chatter so much but I just woke up, then died, then was revived and that crazy woman started blowing people up and? Well, I guess?"
Chief Rome pinged him. What's with the search in Jane's?
Ignoring his security chief and the woman's prattling, Bei opened the first data clip. It contained information about the discovery of the wormhole and the first probe sent to explore the event horizon. While the planet emblem matched, the dimensions of the logo were too large to fit on the initial small probe. That band of metal could not have been towed in their wake from the event horizon. Bei closed the entry.
Rome rolled his eyes as the citizen waved her arms to punctuate her point. Whatever you do, Admiral, don't let her know about the WA. No one will ever get any sleep.
"Well, I just mean, I know soldiers stick together. No man left behind and all that." Frowning, she waved her hand, hitting a piece of starship shrapnel that had drifted too close. She grimaced and her brown eyebrows met in a vee above the bridge of her upturned nose. "Or is that the Marine's saying? I guess it doesn't matter, does it?"
The unguarded play of emotions fascinated Bei. He felt a stab of envy at another freedom denied him and his kind. When she filled her lungs for another long winded speech, Bei spoke, "No. It does not matter."
She blinked. Red tinged her pale skin as she looked up at him. "Thank you. For not killing me for forever. I never thought I'd say those words. Then again, I'd never thought I'd be here. I'm in space. I always wanted to go to space, but really who wouldn't when?"
The Chief's annoyance flickered through the WA. Does she have an off-switch, Doc?
Bei silenced his security officer with a look. She may tell us why she's here. A reason other than to save them.
She's telling us everything but. Rome glanced at her hand still on Bei's sleeve. His concern flared hot inside Bei's skull. Think I'll go someplace quiet, like the receiving area for whining, complaining and recently rescued civies.
Doc shook his head. She's nervous. I'd give her something to calm her down but I'm afraid of how she'd react.
Bei watched his security chief stride from the cargo bay before switching his attention back to the citizen. She'd changed topics from space and floating and something called Christmas ornaments, but it was the fear, joy and chagrin flitting across her oval face that fascinated him against his better judgment. What have you discovered about her, Doc?
I'm detecting intermittent cerebral spikes which could be due to the meds being incompatible with pure organic tissue. Her tox panel confirms a liquid diet, such as was proposed for long term space flight twenty years ago. Which is odd in and of itself without her titer report.
Bei glanced at her hand. If her titer panel was odd, did that make her a carrier of some disease? While viruses and germs wouldn't harm their synthetic limbs and organs, it would interfere with powering and maintaining their few remaining organs. On the bright side it would give him a reason to quarantine her. What's in the titer?
I have seven unknown antibodies and six antibodies of diseases that were eradicated a century ago. Doc straightened the curly hair at his temple. Hell, Admiral, if it wasn't for her ME571 immunity, I'd say the citizen was placed in stasis prior to the 2010 pandemic.
Shang'hai shook her head dismissively. Impossible. Not even Syn-Ens live to be a hundred and fifty years old.
I said 'if it wasn't', Doc replied defensively.
Before either of them could launch a ridiculous debate over whether or not fully organic humans could live beyond a
hundred years, Bei changed the subject. When will you know anything from the flight recorder, Shang'hai?
Shang'hai scratched her fingers through her short, pink hair before holding out the box in her hand to Bei. So far all I can say is this flight recorder is too advanced for the citizen to be from the past. It has wireless capabilities, but none of my frequencies can open more than basic information and that's in code, similar to the text on her life pod.
Can you unscramble it? Bei asked, unzipping the second emblem entry in Jane's.
I've yet to meet a code I can't solve, Shang'hai bragged with reason and tapped the square flight recorder against her palm. I'm going to take this with me to engineering. I can run the decoder program while checking the fusion engines.
The citizen folded her arms across her chest and watched his engineer leave the cargo bay. "Are you guys even listening to me?"
"No," Bei answered.
"Fine." The force of her sigh blew her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "I'll just suffer in silence."
"You have yet to be silent." Bei prodded her, half expecting a lecture on citizen communication rights.
Instead, she clicked her teeth together and glared at him.
Doc scanned her with his MedPak. I don't think she can stop talking. Her anxiety levels are extremely high.
The woman held her silence for all of five seconds. "How did you get Burkina to stop firing? You never said another word or left the room or? Oh. You used the wireless array."
Ignoring the picture of a probe uploading inside his head, Bei focused on the citizen. So much for her being from the past. The WA had been created only sixty years ago. "What do you know about the WA?"
"I know it is a means to communicate between two computers like wireless network, WIFI or Bluetooth, except you all can do it with your cerebral interface kinda like telepathy." The citizen smirked, obviously proud of herself.
"Then you know the Syn-En are prohibited by law from using the WA except in emergency situations." Bei returned to the Jane's article. According to the entry, this probe had been sent through the wormhole to Terra Dos. While orbiting the planet, it had sent back pictures of the lush, Earth-like planet.
Then it had self-destructed and its pieces had rained down into Terra Dos's oceans.
The hair at the base of Bei's skull stood on end. How could the debris have gotten from a planet's ocean back to the wormhole and in the cargo bay of his ship? Could another probe have been sent? Although he'd only heard of two being launched, he repeated the search but received the same results.
Fury slammed into Bei. Earth had lied. The second probe had never reached an alien world. It had collided with the closed end of the wormhole. The United Earth Nation's Council must have known about the collapse.
The Syn-En had been sent to die.
Bei clenched his hands. There had been rumblings about the growing power of the Syn-En. The purity movement had demanded reforms and this citizen was completely organic.
"Leave," Bei spoke to Doc.
The citizen frowned at Bei. "Where am I to go?"
"Aye, Admiral." Doc quickly strode to the door. She's fragile, Admiral. It won't take much to get to the truth.
The citizen strummed her lower lip between her teeth and watched his men leave. "Oh, you meant them."
Bei could almost taste her fear. Despite the ease with which he could read her expression, he trusted only his tech when dealing with citizens. He placed his hand on her chest, his fingers splayed over the swell of her breasts.
Her heart raced almost as fast a hummingbird's wings beat the air. She glanced down at his hand on her then frowned. "Guess I should have introduced myself before. I'm Nell. Nell Stafford. Ring any bells? The Save Our World Foundation should have told you I was coming."
Nell. Not citizen Nell. Just her name. Contacting CIC through the WA, Bei initiated a search for the foundation and her government file. "Just answer my questions."
"And no one gets hurt, right?" Perspiration beaded her upper lip and a nervous laugh escaped in a series of gasps. "I'll try."
Bei grimaced. Nell was close to hyperventilating. If her breathing didn't stabilize soon, she'd pass out. He resisted the urge to release a low dose of serotonin to calm her. Any drug could potentially help her lies come out as truth yet he didn't want to hurt her. Hell, at the moment, he believed his cerebral implant would fry his brain if he tried to. Yet if Earth had sent the Syn-En to die, why would they send a citizen to save them? For all he knew, she might be a victim too. "State your mission."
"To help." Nell raised her chin and looked him in the eyes. Her heart slowed and her breathing became more regular.
She believed what she said. CIC returned no results on the Save Our World Foundation, nor was there any record of a Nell Stafford being born, growing up or working anywhere in the last one hundred years. The Doc's words replayed in Bei's mind. Could she be from an earlier time? Impossible, even current stasis technology wouldn't stop her from aging. "Who have you come to help?"
"You. Humanity." Nell shrugged. "One person can make a difference."
Humanity? The men and women on his ship were Syn-En and Civilians, they had few rights in the eyes of the citizens. And absolutely no sympathy among the purists. Something else was going on. He couldn't fathom that an organization large enough to send someone into space could elude the government. But the government might conceal the truth from him, much as it had the real purpose of his mission.
"Who sent you?" The Syn-En had been told to hurry to Terra Dos with undue haste. If the ships hadn't encountered so many problems, not even the Oppenheims detonations would have been enough to stop them from splattering against the wormhole's dead end.
"I volunteered," Nell whispered. "I want to help."
Again, he detected only honestly from her. What did her presence mean? And what remained for the thousand Syn-Ens Bei had left behind on Earth? Should he lead the fleet on a rescue mission? Or should he encourage the Syn-En to desert?
If Earth truly had sent them into the wormhole to die, he owed Earth's citizens no loyalty. The Syn-En had paid for their freedom in blood.
But first, he needed answers.
And Citizen Nell Stafford would provide them one way or another.
We have given you the best body technology can provide.
Use it to protect us from disasters and strife, but remember
underneath it all, you are still subject to human failings.
Syn-En Vade Mecum
Chapter Six