Trickster

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Delta Maura's keycard opened the door with no trouble. The corridor beyond was empty-sleep cycle. Martina braced herself, then crossed the threshold.

Nothing happened. No shock, no pain, no alarms. She let out a small breath. Her shackles lay on the bathroom floor. There was no reason to believe anything would happen to her when she left her prescribed place, but a lifetime of conditioning could not be overcome in a few seconds of freedom.

Martina chose a random direction and went. The problem was, she had no idea where to go. She reasoned there had to be ways in and out of the place, though Martina had never seen them. She should probably avoid places she knew, since they'd be dead-ends. The kitchen would be a good place to start-food delivery had to come from somewhere. It might provide her an exit, if only she could find the place.

A sudden urge to go find Keith flooded her. She had a master unit. She could release his shackles and they could run together. A firm shake of the head forced the thought from her mind. Keith was lost to her. She would have to get out herself, then find a way to come back for him. And she would.

If she could get out.

Martina opened a door and found a concrete staircase. Up or down?

Down, she decided. Martina had always gotten the sense that the dumbwaiter in her room came from below, though she had never actually seen it move. In any case, it was something to go on.

She gathered the skirts of her robe in green-gloved hands and headed downward as quickly as she dared. Delta Maura's robe was wide for her and a bit short. Her footsteps echoed off the hard walls. The stairwell was warmer than the corridor, and it smelled like hot metal.

Martina jumped, but no one was there. The voice had come right into her ear. What had- Delta Maura's earpiece. Swallowing hard, Martina whispered, "Fine. Sorry. I forgot to check in."

"I thought I might get something to eat in the kitchen," Martina said, still whispering. The voice of a whisper wasn't recognizable.

"Of course." Martina tapped the earpiece, ending the conversation. Her heart was beating so fast it made her eyes pulse in time with it. At least she had gotten a valuable clue-the kitchens were on a lower level than the person who had spoken with her.

One level down, the staircase ended. Martina found a door and opened it with her keycard. Voices raised in conversation greeted her. The large room beyond seemed to be an employee dining hall, with rows of long tables and low-backed chairs. Perhaps two dozen people ate from cafeteria trays. Two of them were dressed in green robes identical to Martina's. Martina's first instinct was to flee, but she forced herself to remain in the doorway. None of the diners took the slightest notice of her.

Martina took a deep breath and started across the room. Food smells washed over her and her stomach growled, though she didn't feel at all like eating. The kitchen should be nearby. Martina found herself keeping to the edges of the room. Stupid. Anyone who saw a Delta walking as if she belonged there wouldn't think twice. Anyone who saw a Delta trying to sneak about would get suspicious. Martina forced herself to stride openly and firmly. Silverware clattered against plates and people continued to talk. How long before the people spying on her room got suspicious about the bathtub? How long before they sent someone else to check? Martina didn't know.

One of the Deltas looked up, noticed Martina, and waved her over. Martina's veins hummed with adrenaline. She gave a little wave of her own, pretending to misunderstand, and headed for a large set of swinging doors on the other side of the dining room. Before she could hesitate and lose her nerve, she pushed through them.

On the other side lay an industrial-sized kitchen, with row of gleaming work counters, metal doors, shelves of utensils. White-clad workers chopped and mixed and stirred bubbling pots. The place smelled of cheap meat and tomato sauce.

"Is there something you need, Delta?" asked a voice at her elbow.

Martina stifled a shriek and put a pleasant look on her face. A balding, red-faced man was looking at her inquisitively. An enormous butcher knife gleamed in his hand.

"I'm just looking for the cargo lift where the food shipments come down," she said, trying not to look at the knife. "I don't come back here very often."

"Back there," the man replied, pointing. Then, with a disinterested air, he turned back to his cutting board. The knife made meaty thunks.

Martina breathed an inward sigh at her luck. She hurried to the rear of the kitchen and through another set of swinging doors. Beyond them was a short hallway that ended at another lift, this one big enough to haul freight. It opened to her keycard, so she got in and checked the displays. The kitchen seemed to be in the basement, as she had guessed. There were five floors above her. Which one did she need? Not the first floor-she had just come from there. She thought a moment. Exits were more likely to be on one of the extremes. Fifth floor, then. Martina pressed the button. The lift came to life with a swooping noise that made her jump again.

After a long moment, the doors opened onto another plain corridor faced by several doors. No people in sight. Martina got out and looked for promising signs of an exit. None were in evidence. Martina ground her teeth in frustration. How the hell was she supposed to get out of here? There had to be a way.

The doors slid shut and the lift dropped. Martina thought about calling it back again, then decided against. A stairwell should be nearby-there it was-and she could easily try another floor. Maybe the exit was in the middle, on the third floor? But what if- The lift made a swooping noise behind her, and the display indicated it was climbing back up. It climbed fast, passing the fourth floor and halting at the fifth.

Gretchen fell backward with a grunt and crashed to the ground. The tray went flying. Food splattered ceiling, deck, and bulkheads as Isaac Todd planted another kick squarely in Gretchen's stomach. The breath whooshed out of her and she lay still. Without hesitating further, Todd sprinted off down the empty corridor, leaving his shackles on the floor behind him. After a long moment, Sister Gretchen Beyer stirred and slowly sat up. Her stomach hurt like hell and every breath burned like fire.

"Well, shit," she said.

Martina Weaver peeped through a crack in the stairwell door as the lift opened. A tall man dressed all in black slipped out and crept down the hall. The lower half of his face was covered with a mask, and he wore a close-fitting hood. A tool belt circled his narrow waist. Martina narrowed her eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was someone else who didn't belong here. And he probably knew a way out.

The man chose one of the doors, slipped a keycard through the lock, and went inside. Martina stood for a moment, torn by indecision. If she approached the man, he might be willing to let her follow him out in exchange for her silence. Or he might just kill her. All life, was this an opportunity or a trap?

The lift dropped again. After a few more hurried moments of thought, Martina decided to approach the man and take her chances. She was just emerging from the stairwell when alarms blasted up and down the hallway.

Kendi Weaver closed the research lab door behind him and ghosted over to one of the terminals in semi-darkness. The red arrow vanished from his vision. He slotted Jeung's false key into the terminal and pressed the yellow thumb against the plate. A display winked to life, granting him full access, just as Ben's mock IDs and keycards had granted him access to the Collection. It had almost been anticlimactic. Even the cameras in the hallways couldn't detect him-Ben was using Giselle Mallory's security access to upload false images of empty hallways.

The lab itself was pretty impressive, even in dim light. Stone-topped tables were scattered around an enormous room. Cabinets filled with equipment marched along the walls, and silvery cryo-units hummed to themselves, preserving who-knew-what. It smelled faintly of chemicals and singed cloth. The only light came from a table lamp left burning at one of the workstations.

Kendi was still nervous as a hunted lion. Success depended on so many factors beyond his control. Martina and Utang were depending on him-and they didn't even know he was here. Suddenly Kendi was tired of keeping secrets, tired of making plans, tired of the entire business. The idea of settling down on Bellerophon with Ben and a houseful of children became more attractive by the minute.

Kendi shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Forcing himself to concentrate, he produced the yellow thumb and Jeung's key from his tool belt and logged onto one of the terminals. Good Evening, Dr. Jeung.

"I'm on, Ben."

Following Ben's instructions, Kendi searched around until he found the medical database and the files he needed. He was just finishing up when the alarms blared. Kendi jumped, his heart in his mouth.

"Attention! Attention!" shouted the computer over the noise. "Alpha subject has escaped indoctrination area. Lockdown initiated. Attention! Attention! Alpha subject has escaped indoctrination area. Lockdown initiated."

"Shit!" Kendi all but leaped across the room to make for the door. It was locked. With chilly fingers, Kendi produced his false ID card. The door didn't budge. He tried Jeung's fake thumb and his key. Nothing. The alarms honked and blared, pounding his ears into his skull.

"Attention! Attention!"

"Ben!" Kendi shouted.

The door burst open. Kendi jumped back as a small crowd boiled into the room. The lights burst into full illumination, and Kendi shielded his eyes. When they adjusted, he found himself surrounded. Edsard Roon stood red-faced next to Isaac Todd, who looked triumphant. A pair of uniformed security guards, one male and one female, were holding a beautiful young woman in a green robe that was a size too large for her. Kendi stared at her face and the strength drained out of his legs.

A thousand thoughts and memories poured through him. He wanted to run to her, grab her in a hug. But he remained still. It would be a terrible mistake to let Roon know who she was and what she meant to him.

It was only then he noticed that Roon and Todd were holding neuro-pistols.

"Alice!" Roon barked. "Silence those damned alarms!"

The alarms went instantly quiet. Kendi's ears rang in the stillness.

"Imagine my surprise," Roon said. "I was on my way up here, acting on certain information that there would be a break-in at the labs, and I happened to stumble onto an escaped Alpha, trapped in the hallway by the lockdown. My luck."

Kendi said nothing. His eyes darted about the room, seeking an exit. Roon noticed the gesture and smiled condescendingly. "Alice, re-initialize lockdown."

The door behind him locked with an audible thump.

"You can't escape, Father," Roon said. "That is your title, isn't it? You're a Father with the Children of Irfan. Except I was lead to believe that there would be more of you here. Mr. Todd?"

Todd's face darkened. "There have to be more of them around here somewhere."

"Alice, page Rafille Mallory and tell her to get her ass down here immediately," Roon barked. The refined, friendly demeanor he had shown Kendi in his home had all but vanished. "Then tell Security to initialize a level-by-level search for unauthorized personnel. Security personnel are hereby granted access through lockdown."

"Working."

"Let me go!" Martina snarled, trying to twist away from her captors. The man expressionlessly twisted her arm until she yelped with pain and stopped struggling. Kendi clenched a fist.

"You, girl," Roon said, reminded of her presence, "are going back to the Alpha pool, though I think we'll have to use stronger methods on you. I think you'll be the first one impregnated by the breeding program, for a start. It's harder for pregnant women to escape, and their children make fine hostages to good behavior."

Martina spat at him. The female guard slapped her.

"Maybe we'll give you twins, then," Roon said, and turned back to Kendi. "I know all about your plan, Father. How you intended to trick us into thinking two of my Alphas were sick with Selene's disease so we'd sell them cheap and you could buy them. Ironic, isn't it? You were trying to rescue this woman, and here she was trying to escape on her own."

"Rescue me?" Martina said. "What are you talking about?"

Kendi still said nothing, though the sound of Martina's voice tore his heart.

"It wouldn't have worked, you know," Roon continued. "We would have sought a second, outside opinion and would have realized the disease was mere gelpox. You Children think you're so smart, so clever. It never occurs to you that other people can be clever, too."

Todd stepped forward and punched Kendi in the stomach. Caught off-guard, Kendi doubled over with a groan.

"Don't damage him," Roon snapped. "He's valuable."

"I owed him that," Todd said. "Him and his-"

"Attention! Attention!" interrupted the computer. "Medical emergency level one. Containment of experimental virus XR-476 has been breached. Airborne virus detected. Medical isolation of sector CLCT4 initiated. All personnel are directed to stand by for evacuation. Repeat: all personnel are directed to stand by for evacuation." Alarms, different ones, began to blare as the computer repeated the warning.

"What the hell?" Roon said. "It's got to be another trick. Alice, end medical emergency."

"Unable to comply. Level one medical emergencies must be terminated by direct order of the Chief Physician of SA Station. Attention! Attention! Biological containment of experimental virus XR-476 has been breached."

"Alice, lower alarm volume in this lab by half," Roon ordered. The alarms and warnings became much quieter.

"That computer's on," Todd said, and dashed over to look as Kendi slowly straightened.

"What's he been accessing?" Roon demanded, neuro-pistol still trained on Kendi.

"Checking," Todd said.

Roon twitched, then pressed a finger to his earpiece. "Edsard Roon," he said. "Yes, Madam Chair. I'm in the research lab right now. No, I have no idea if any of the Silent have been infected. But the alarm is only a-yes, Madam. Yes, I'm familiar with the protocols, but we don't actually have to-no, Madam, I would never gainsay you. I know how important the Silent are to the company, but if you would just listen for-no. The entire sector has been sealed off, and there is no company ship big enough to accommodate all personnel in one trip. But that doesn't matter because the alarm is just a-the circus? Madam, I'm afraid I don't understand what that has to do with our current situation. Oh. Yes, I suppose the Emporium's ship would be large enough for everyone, but-"

Roon paused. "Madam Chair, what was the middle name of your second husband?" Pause again. "Just answer the question, Madam Chair. The middle name of your second husband." Yet another pause. Roon looked at Kendi. "She broke the connection. Imagine that. Who was that really, Father? It did sound very much like the Chair."

Kendi refused to answer. His stomach was so tight, he thought it would burst from his body.

"Take the mask off, Father," Roon ordered. " Now! "

Slowly, Kendi obeyed. Martina gasped, but didn't speak. Roon shook his head.

"Mr. Qiwele," he said. "God. I should have known you were too good to be true. Let me guess-you copied my access key when those clowns were making up my face."

"Mr. Roon," Todd said from the computer. "He accessed the medical database and medical safeguards. That, and the records of virus X-476."

Roon barked a harsh laugh. "So the gelpox was a double-blind. You deserve more credit than I thought, Father. Tell me if have the right of it. You knew Todd here was communicating with me, didn't you? Do answer. You're going to tell all in a moment anyway. Hypnoral, you know."

"Yes," Kendi said hoarsely. "We detected the signal right off."

"So you arranged for him to overhear certain conversations, knowing he'd relay them to me." Roon kept the neuro-pistol absolutely level. "Then while I was worrying about false reports of gelpox and people breaking into the Collection, this medical 'emergency' would catch me by surprise. Everyone, including the two Alphas you came in here for, would be evacuated to the Emporium's ship, delivered neatly as you please, straight into your hands."

Kendi didn't answer.

"Well, now that I know the medical emergency is no such thing, I'll simply call the real Madam Chair and tell her-"

"The release was real," Kendi interrupted.

"What?" Roon said.

"I really did release the virus," Kendi said. "It's going to hit the ventilation system in about ten minutes. Check the logs and the sensors. You have to evacuate, no choice. Your Madam Chair will tell you the exact same thing. Good thing there are only two ways to get out of here-the main entrance and the airlocks. They won't let you through the main entrance and into the station proper until you clear quarantine, so that means if you want to avoid little X-476, you have to escape through the airlocks. And the Emporium's ship is the only one close enough with the cargo space to hold everyone. We checked the records. None of the other ships in the area can get here in time."

"I have my private ship."

"Not big enough. We checked that, too."

"Then I won't evacuate," Roon said.

"And let all those Silent die? All those valuable resources? What would Madam Chair say to that, Mr. Roon, especially after all the money Silent Acquisitions sank into this project? Sure, you know the real story, but there isn't anything you can do about it." Kendi gave Roon a crooked grin. "Did you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to walk in here all by myself if there were any way I could fail? You've lost, Roon. Time to admit that."

"Escape pods," Todd said.

Roon looked around at him so fast, he put himself at risk for whiplash. "Explain, Mr. Todd. I'm tired of cryptic phrases."

"The station is equipped with escape pods. Evacuate with those and Security can pick them up, no problem. It'll take longer to gather everyone up, but so what? And you can also destroy the Emporium's ship, while you're at it."

Kendi launched himself at Todd. Roon fired his pistol, and white-hot pain wrenched through Kendi's body. He dropped writhing to the floor. Martina screamed.

"Put shackles on him," Roon told the security guards. "And on the Alpha. Don't forget to remove the Father's earpiece. Then get them both to an escape pod and stay with them until you get picked up."

"We aren't going to your ship?" Kendi asked.

"And risk you finding some way to escape and take over? Hardly. I'm done underestimating you, Mr. Qiwele, or whatever your name is. There's nothing you can do on an escape pod except wait, so off you go. The shackles, Guard. Now!"

"Yes, sir," said the male guard, moving to obey.

"No!" Martina screamed, but the female guard clapped a band around her wrist in a single lightning movement.

"Alice," Roon said, "activate sector-wide public address."

"Activated."

"This is Edsard Roon. Due to the medical emergency, we must evacuate immediately." His voice echoed from the loudspeakers as he spoke. "All personnel are hereby directed to move immediately to the escape pods. Repeat: move immediately to the escape pods. Do not stop for possessions. You will be picked up as quickly as possible. There is no need to worry-the virus has not yet reached the ventilation systems. Deltas, remain with your Alphas and Betas. Alice, deactivate public address."

Kendi tried to fight as the guard clamped shackles on his wrist and ankle, but his muscles refused to respond. For a moment he was twelve years old again, torn out of cryo-sleep and shackled in a slave ship. Then he was being jerked to his feet. Pain marched through every nerve, and he was only vaguely aware of Martina beside him.

"Evan," she was saying. "Evan, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming. It's my fault. All life, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"We'll speak again, Father," Roon said as the guards hauled them away. "At great and painful length."

The evacuation was quick and quiet. Only the Alphas, Betas, and Deltas actually lived in the Collection's sector. Most of the food service, research personnel, clerical workers, and other such employees were off-shift, meaning only about a hundred people were present and therefore obliged to evacuate. They moved swiftly and without panic to a particular corridor on the outer wall of the Collection, where dozens of small airlocks lay open. When three or four people had filled one of the little, rounded capsules, the airlock cycled shut and a small charge shoved the pod away from the station. Kendi let himself be half-dragged toward one of the airlocks, and he was aware of people speaking in hushed voices around him as they boarded their own pods.

"I'm sorry," Martina whispered beside him over and over. "I'm so sorry."

The guards dragged them, brother and sister, across the threshold of the airlock. There was barely room for the four of them, and they crowded against the pod's rudimentary control panel. A single round porthole looked out into empty space. Already several dozen other pods were drifting away from the station. The female guard cycled the lock shut and her male counterpart hit the activator. A heavy thump, and stars began to move slowly past the porthole. Martina slumped to the floor and put her hands over her face.

The male guard put a hand to his ear. "Yes, Mr. Roon, we've evacuated." Pause. "One moment." He tapped the control panel and a small vid-screen winked to life. Edsard Roon's long, serious face appeared.

"I've boarded my ship, Father," he said. "If you will look out the portal to your left, I'm sure you'll find something worth seeing."

Kendi couldn't help but obey. An enormous hulk of a vessel was drifting slowly toward a clump of escape pods. The words Kalopolis Intergalactic Traveling Emporium of Wonders was painted in large, fancy letters along one side. A much smaller, sleeker vessel rushed toward it and opened fire. A dozen missile trails streamed forward like hungry fingers. Kendi stared as the big, defenseless ship exploded in a dazzling fireball that dwarfed the sun. Debris pinged off the escape pod's hull. After a long moment, Kendi turned to the male guard and held up his hand. The shackle gleamed, silver and heavy, at his wrist.

"Take this thing off me," he said.

"It would be my pleasure," said Prasad Vajhur.