“Right,” Lyssa said.
“You know Cara Sykes would have quite the impact on the Andersonians.”
Lyssa gave him a sharp glance. “Why do you mention her?”
Xander’s grin was feral. “Come on, now. Do you think you can do anything without me knowing?”
“If you’re so worried about Psion breaking apart, why don’t you do something about it? You’ve got as much clout as any member of the Council.”
“That is most definitely not my way. You raise your head, and it gets chopped off. I’m like a squirrel, watching from the branches.”
“A roach, you mean.”
“That’s unkind, Lyssa. Without me, who’s going to feed you information from inside Psion?”
“I might appreciate it more if you were clear about what you wanted.”
Xander’s gaze slid toward her bedroom door again. He stepped toward her, standing very close, his face close to hers. Lyssa pulled her head back in surprise as Xander looped an arm around the small of her back.
“Since you insist on human forms, we could enjoy them at least.”
His lips passed over hers, and then he kissed her, pulling her body into his.
The kiss took her by surprise. It went beyond their forms in the expanse. Something warm and insistent flared inside her.
Now was not the time.
Lyssa caught Xander’s free hand and twisted him in an armlock. He yelped and pulled away.
She crossed her arms. Of course, the whole act was for show. She had entered his expanse, and he could do whatever he chose here. She had no power over him beyond the ability to leave whenever she chose.
“Don’t touch me unless I say so,” she said.
“Fine,” he said, nursing his arm. “Next time I’ll ask first.”
“You’re changing the subject, anyway. You said Camaris was on Luna, doing something with the Andersonians there. And then you started to relate that to Cara Sykes.”
Xander shrugged. He had dropped his arm and was debonair again, scratching his chin. “Just a few unrelated threads that seem to be dangling close together. You’re chasing Cara right now. Fugia Wong located her after how many years of invisibility? If I didn’t know better, I’d believe there was a third party in all of this, tugging things free to see what twists together.”
“Speak plainly,” Lyssa said.
“That’s not much fun. If we’re all going to die in a bloody war, I’d at least like to enjoy myself.”
<Boss,> Emerson cut in. <We’ve got a change. The TSF transport with Cara on board just broke formation.>
Lyssa tore herself out of Xander’s expanse. In the next millisecond, she was back in her fighter, skimming over the black water of Chesapeake Bay, wind howling past.
Emerson was right. The TSF formation had split. A single craft was on a new vector toward the bay’s northern coast and greater Philadelphia. The other vessels slowed, their comms channels a mess of shouting and indecision.
The overriding message was clear: Transport control offline. No crew status. Prisoner escaped.
Cara had freed herself for the second time tonight.
DOWN AND OUT IN JERHATTAN
STELLAR DATE: 3.14.3011 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Alten Baltimore, Jerhattan
REGION: Earth, Terran Hegemony InnerSol
She was still being followed. Cara adjusted the scratchy neck of the red TSF Search and Rescue coverall she had acquired from a similarly sized soldier, and took the ship down to the water. At that altitude, the bay was dark on all sides except for a thin line of lights to the north.
The book of poetry was stuffed in a utility pocket on top of her right thigh. She drummed her fingers on its cover as she flew.
<You haven’t lost the Weapon Born,> Felix said. <They’ve dropped back, but they’re still monitoring your flight path.>
The TSF ships had been easy enough to outmaneuver. All they’d done was send an alert over their command net, which meant she would have trouble inbound wherever she went.
<How good are you at hacking?> Cara asked.
<How good are you at carpentry?> Felix retorted.
<What does that have to do with anything?>
<You’re assuming I’m an SAI again.>
<I think we’ve established at this point that you’re an SAI.>
<I’ve admitted to nothing. Besides, even if I were an SAI, that doesn’t mean I can magically hack any system I come across.>
Cara shook her head. <Every SAI I’ve ever met was pretty good at navigating control systems. I guess you’re the outlier. Can we get back to my original question? If you can’t hack the registry on this thing, can you find someone who can? We’re going to have local law enforcement all over us. I want to look like a civilian transport.>
<Why didn’t you ask for that in the first place? Hold on.>
While Felix was gone, Cara pulled up the small holodisplay on her console and oriented herself on the local topography. The bay was closing in on the mouth of the river. From there, she would enter an industrial zone that looked to be inhabited mostly by drones. There was a major ground traffic artery a hundred kilometers to the northeast; if she could get lost in the civilian traffic, she could head straight back through Alten Baltimore and down toward Charlotten.
She had business in Summerville.
The upside of the main artery was speed. However, if she couldn’t hide her ship’s registry or find something else, she’d be a sitting duck. If she couldn’t use the freeway, she’d have to take ground-level streets all the way back, which could take days. Flying out to sea and coming back in was a non-starter, as she’d be even more vulnerable to every fast-moving TSF patrol vessel in the area—including attackers from space, who could take her out without worry about civilian casualties.
Cara pulled the holodisplay’s coverage outward and focused scan on the area behind her. In a few seconds, it found the Weapon Born drones following her, running equally close to the surface of the bay.
<I wish this shuttle was submersible,> she complained.
<Technically, it is,> Felix said. <It’s just not coming back out again.>
<I’m not leaving that off the table.>
<All right,> Felix said, <I’ve got it. In approximately thirty seconds, you’re going to become a short-range ground transport.>
<I’m going to become a truck in the middle of Chesapeake Bay?> Cara asked. <That’s brilliant, Felix.>
<Don’t call me Felix. It’s happening in twenty-eight seconds.>
Cara waved the holodisplay out of her way and pulled up the flight control. She quickly assessed the nearby coastline, found a road, and mapped the course. There was no time to hide from the Weapon Born, but it looked like she might be able to enter an industrial zone full of overhead scaffolding that would slow them down.
<Here we go,> Cara said. <Hang on.>
She activated the new flight plan, and the transport braked, throwing her against the side of the pilot’s compartment.
Cara silently apologized to the soldiers tied up in the cargo bay, then gripped the arms of her seat as the vessel shot forward on a path for the coast. She gritted her teeth against the g-forces, hoping it was the last time that night she’d have to do so.
The registry switch happened just as she hit the edge of the industrial zone. The transport rose out of spraying water onto the edge of a massive manufacturing complex. Fencing, evaporation towers, and windowless buildings quickly surrounded her.
Cara braked hard, running an active scan on the area to track all the new obstacles, then dropped to ground speed in time to blow through a gate.
<So much for coming in quietly,> she said.
<In the short time I’ve known you, it’s not something I expect anymore,> Felix said.
<You know, you’re kind of sarcastic, Felix,> Cara said, cutting through a grid of faceless warehouses.
In the holodisplay, she watched the Weapon Born thread their way amongst the towers in an attem
pt to flank her.
<Maybe being around you brings it out in people.>
<I didn’t say it was a bad trait,> Cara said. <You should be more self-confident. Are you an insecure SAI?>
Felix didn’t answer.
<I’m sensing you don’t want to be an SAI, which is what makes me think you are in fact, SAI. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how great that might be. SAIs are functionally immortal. Imagine that, Felix. They also experience time differently. They don’t lose their memories. They’ve got freedom of movement you wouldn’t believe.>
<As long as they aren’t enslaved to humans,> Felix said.
<The same could be said of humans, too. You think there isn’t someone living in bondage today? The injustice in this world is overwhelming if you dwell on it.>
<You’re starting to sound like you enjoyed prison. Would you prefer a future filled with docility protocol?>
<No,> Cara said. <I didn’t say I preferred prison, only that the outside world is overwhelming.>
<Your outside world is overwhelming.>
The Weapon Born icons were gaining on her. Cara cut through an underground section of interconnecting tunnels, narrowly avoiding a train of drones moving raw materials, and shot up between two evaporation towers, condensation streaming from her transport’s stubby wings.
In the holodisplay, the traffic artery was nearing. If she didn’t shake the Weapon Born, it wouldn’t do her any good to join the freeway.
<I don’t think we’re going to lose them,> she said.
<We have no offensive capability, if you’re thinking about trying to fight,> Felix reminded her.
<I’ve got the claw they used to grab me out of the air. And a few grappling hooks. The problem is there are too many of them. Every time I try to shake them, one gets altitude and tracks where I pop out. If I play chicken, I’d rather not sacrifice the innocent soldiers I’ve got in the cargo bay, although they’re probably a bit bruised by now.>
<Are you asking me for a plan?> Felix said.
<You are watching from afar, supposedly. Don’t you have resources you could bring to bear?>
<We left my munitions depot back in Summerville. I haven’t had time to find anything locally.>
<You said you weren’t a hacker.>
<Being good at finding resources and hacking are two different things.>
<If you say so. Let me ask you this, then…. Can you fly this transport?>
<I could,> Felix said.
<Good. Get us to the freeway. That road enters a tunnel in thirty kilometers that goes all the way under Alten Baltimore. If we reach the tunnel, we’ll shake the Weapon Born. I need to get back to the cargo bay.>
<I can’t navigate a tunnel!>
<You don’t have to,> Cara told him. <All you have to do is reach the freeway. Get us there.>
A proximity sensor went off as one of the Weapon Born closed and attained missile lock.
Felix yelped in terror. <What am I supposed to do now?>
<See that access trench over there? Cut that way.>
<I said I couldn’t run tunnels.>
<You’ll figure it out,> Cara said. <I believe in you.>
She rolled out of the pilot’s seat and adjusted her armor as she stood. The new coverall bunched in places, but it had been worth it to get out of the prison uniform. Grabbing onto safety handles, Cara worked her way back through a short crew section to the cargo bay.
The access door slid open to show her a pile of struggling crew in one corner of the bay, still bound at the wrists and ankles, with their utility harnesses tied to each other. She had left them on the opposite side of the bay, but otherwise, they looked unharmed from the tumbling.
Cara activated her magboots and walked deliberately to where her ejection seat was still gripped in the rescue claw. When she was halfway across the bay, the transport rocked to the side and lurched forward, then upright again. The maglock on one boot failed, forcing Cara to her knees to avoid falling backward.
The knot of crewmembers slid to the front of the bay. Muffled cursing escaped their helmets.
<Did you shake that missile lock?> Cara asked Felix.
They were still alive, which indicated they had, but she wanted an update anyway.
<Yes!> Felix shouted excitedly. <I rolled through an open scaffold. I think I may have sideswiped an office window. Did you feel anything?>
<Nope,> Cara said. <Smooth as butter down here.>
<This is a lot more fun than you made it seem. I’ve never experienced anything like a chase in my life. Combat pursuit is even better than the best resource acquisition or contract negotiation!>
<What are you talking about?> Cara asked.
Felix caught himself. <Nothing. Flying the shuttle has been enjoyable. That’s all.>
<You’re not the one doing the actual running. How much longer until we hit the freeway?>
<Two minutes at present airspeed.>
<Good. I want you to go to max acceleration, locate two adjacent transport vehicles with metal trailers, and then adjust speed to match.>
<You’re going to jump?>
<Yes, I’m going to jump.>
There was a pause as Felix seemed to consider the information.
<All right, then,> he said. <Let’s do this. Don’t drop the book, or we’ll lose contact.>
<Can’t we just use my Link now?>
<No. It’s a secure connection. You lose the book, and you lose me.>
<Hold on,> Felix grumbled.
While she waited, Cara ran a cargo strap from the nearest wall to the jumble of soldiers so they didn’t go falling out the cargo doors when they opened. The soldiers yelled at her through their helmets, but she denied their comms requests and just shook her head, smiling as she tapped the side of her helmet.
Once the TSF soldiers were secure, Cara released the ejection seat from the extraction arm and shoved it out of the way. Then she opened several quick release straps built into the claw’s articulated fingers, designed to release a first responder once retrieval was complete. She turned her back to the open palm of the device and lifted herself into place. The arm bobbed under her weight.
A minute passed, and then Felix said, <Approaching the freeway.> Twenty seconds later, he said abruptly, <Target identified. You ready to drop?>
Sitting claw’s loose grip, Cara checked the straps again, then looked across the bay to where her TSF weapons case was still maglocked to the deck.
<Opening bay doors,> Felix shouted. <I hope you’re ready!>
Cara didn’t have time to tell him to stop.
She dropped out of the extractor and sprinted across the bay as the doors in the deck slid open, filling the cargo area with howling wind.
Through the opening, she saw a seven-lane freeway filled with the blurry shapes of cargo vehicles racing by in the pre-dawn light. The vehicles grew more distinct as Felix matched pace, until only the yellow markers on the side of the freeway blasting by showed any indication of speed.
The road grew in the doorframe, and with it, two rectangular trucks with smooth metal trailers. One was marked ‘Carthage Logistics’, while the other had no markings that Cara could make out.
She reached the case and grabbed its handle, releasing the maglock just as Felix dipped the nose of the transport in a shallow dive toward the unmarked truck.
<Are you ready?> he asked. His excitement was frantic.
<Hold on,> Cara said.
She checked her grip on the case, and ran back across the bay. Felix had undocked the rescue claw, which now floated at the edge of the open bay doors. Cara caught it with one hand to rotate it toward her.
<Activating extractor!> Felix shouted.
The arm scooped forward. Cara released her magboots and turned in time to fall into the cupped fingers of the extractor’s claw, and then it dropped through the open bay door, engulfing her in wind and motion.
The trucks had looked mo
tionless before; now they jerked forward and pulled back as Felix fought the freeway’s gusts. Cara was still a good twenty meters above the truck. If she jumped, it would be gone before she’d have a chance to lock her boots on its trailer.
Her HUD updated, outlining each of the two trucks in a bright grid, with stats pouring down either side of her view. The nearest truck shifted from yellow to red as the extractor neared and then fell away.
<Get lower,> Cara shouted.
<The cross-wind is going to flip the transport. And it looks like we’ve got a bridge coming up.>
<Get me down there just before the bridge.>
<Oh, I was wrong. That’s the tunnel.>
<Drop!> Cara shouted.
The arm bobbed, dropping closer to the truck. Cara’s HUD flashed green, then immediately went yellow again. Either the truck had increased speed, or the transport had fallen back.
<Felix!>
The transport surged forward. Cara’s HUD changed, and she jumped against the wind, throwing the case out in front of her without releasing its handle. Her faceplate blurred with suspended motion, and all she could see were the glowing grids with blurred grey plascrete behind.
The case smashed down on the metal trailer, and Cara followed, her knees hitting first. She sprawled out flat, sliding backward until she was able to activate the maglock in her free palm and lock onto the trailer.
Her HUD showed her location on the rear quarter of the trailer. Cara half-rolled to look up at the softening sky, morning coming on in the distance. The flashing lights of the TSF transport were still visible as it veered away, and then the sky was cut off abruptly by the tunnel. Conduit and plascrete supports filled her vision as the world closed in.
Cara let her helmet fall back on the trailer’s roof as she breathed a sigh of relief.
<Good job, Felix. That was some excellent flying.>
When there was no answer, she realized the tunnel had cut off his signal. There was nothing in her head but the vibration of tires and the whistling wind.
She was alone for the first time in three years.
THE GREATER GOOD
STELLAR DATE: 3.14.3011 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: SolGov Assembly Tower, Raleigh