Children of Scarabaeus (7 page)

She didn’t watch the screen. She couldn’t bear to see Finn stumble and fall again.

With the cypherteck off guard, she let the data chunks flow down the link and into the box, where she amplified them to the limit of the device.

“Come on, Edie. Don’t let him suffer. I know you care deeply about him. I know you want this to be over.”

“It
is
over…”

Edie forced the data packet out along the remote connection in one nightmarish jolt, and fired it directly into the cypherteck’s brain.

Instantly, the intruder was gone.

The box lit up with a flashing red telltale to indicate the
broken connection. Theron noticed immediately. His gaze swooped on Edie as she slumped back into the seat.

“What happened?” he demanded.

His voice sounded distant and fuzzy. The female milit rushed over to Edie and lifted her head to check the link connection. She checked the unit as well.

“I don’t know, sir. The connection overloaded. I think—”

Theron’s commlink beeped, an insistent clear signal above the sound of rushing blood in Edie’s ears. Shaking uncontrollably, she lifted her head to meet Theron’s furious glare.

“Get her out of here,” he barked.

West looked confused. “Sir?”

“I don’t care where! Take her to the brig on the
Learo Dochais.”
His comm beeped again. “Dammit.” But he didn’t answer it.

West reset Edie’s restraints to cuff her hands in front of her, and pulled her out of the chair. She regretted her earlier conclusion that he was a nice guy. He was Crib. She must never let down her guard with the Crib. Stumbling on weak legs, she went docilely now only because she was emotionally exhausted, and because Finn was in the brig. She would get to see him at last.

West took her down the exit ramp into the hangar of the
Learo Dochais
, catching the woman on duty in the control room off guard.

“Is she sick?” the woman asked, rushing along the cat-walk and down the steps as West and Edie crossed the deck.

Edie knew she must look a sight—exhausted, soaked in sweat. She was roiling in so many emotions, she couldn’t speak. The woman’s comment reminded her of the leash, and that Finn sensed her strong emotions as an irritating white noise through his chip. That could only have made his torture worse. If he was conscious again now, for his sake she had to clamp down on those feelings.

“She’s not sick. Colonel Theron interrogated her.” From West’s tone, Edie realized he was angry with Theron but holding it back. Perhaps he hadn’t known what was in store
for her when he was ordered to participate. In any case, her opinion of West rose marginally. “He’s sending her to the brig until Natesa’s ready to take over.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s necessary.” The woman checked her palmet. “She’s been assigned quarters on Deck D. Ship time is oh-five-hundred. Administrator Natesa will be available in three hours.”

“Perhaps you should wake her immediately—”

“No. I want to go to the brig,” Edie said. Her voice was scratchy, her throat raw from screaming. “Take me to Finn.”

“Who?” The woman looked genuinely confused, which filled Edie with sick worry. Was Finn’s presence on the ship so trivial that it was unknown to the dockmaster?

“Permission to visit the brig?” West said.

To Edie’s relief, the woman nodded.

West led Edie to the lift, where he undid her restraints. For a few seconds they stood in silence as Edie rubbed the red marks where she’d bruised the skin while struggling.

Then West spoke, not looking at her. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Colonel Theron told us the man was a Saeth. I thought…I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know you would suffer.”

Edie didn’t trust herself to answer. The Saeth were fair game to the milits. The milits had been fair game to the Saeth, in their time. She stood in silence as the lift ascended, and the doors opened.

The lean lines of the
Learo Dochais
’s corridors brought back unwelcome memories. Edie had spent half her adult life on Crib ships like this. Spotless black gravplating, reflective blue bulkheads, and gleaming silver trim forming endless parallel lines. Security and maintenance toms skittered along the edges of the deck.

The brig was little more than a small annex that led to a couple of even smaller cells. In the annex, a medic was in conversation with the guard on duty. The workstation showed a holoviz display of the interior of one cell, the same view Edie had watched from the
Peregrine
. Finn lay on his side on the deck, a med cuff on one wrist.

“Why haven’t you taken him to the infirmary?” Edie demanded.

The medic glanced from West to the guard, as if waiting for permission to speak. When neither said anything, he answered, “I’m not sure exactly what happened to him. His vitals are stable. We have a far more serious problem in the infirmary. I have to get back there.” He spoke to the guard as he left. “I’ll monitor the prisoner from my station.”

“Let me in to see him,” Edie said.

The guard was not happy with the request, but West gave him a look and he snapped the hatch. Edie pushed past the guard and went inside.

“He’s sedated,” the guard said.

Edie knelt to touch Finn’s hand. Someone had wiped some of the blood from his face, and the med cuff displayed promising vital signs. Edie kept herself calm, forced down a new wave of tears and anger, not wanting to fire up the leash.

“Finn…”

He stirred and turned his head toward her voice. She leaned over to press her forehead against his, willing him to forgive her.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

As she pulled back, his eyes opened. Where they should be white, they were blood red. Edie gasped and gripped his hand. He looked at her, recognition slowly dawning.

The guard stepped forward. “Uh, that’s temporary, the doc says. Burst capillaries, nothing serious.”

Edie could think of half a dozen angry things to say to the others in the room. She kept them to herself. Natesa was the one who had to answer for this.

“I won’t let them hurt you again,” Edie told Finn.

He closed his eyes without speaking.

The cell walls closed around Edie as she felt the Crib tightening its grip on her life. Natesa had promised not to harm him, but here he lay, tortured and near unconscious in the brig. That woman had a lot to answer for.

A commotion outside the cell drew her attention. What now?

Liv Natesa burst into the cell. Her hair was pulled back hurriedly into a ponytail, and her face was scrubbed clean of makeup. Her face was taut with anger, but in her eyes was a stricken expression that Edie had never seen before.

“What did you do?” Natesa cried.

Edie’s composure dissolved. “You promised he wouldn’t be hurt!”

As she rose, West jumped forward and took a firm grip on her arm to hold her back. “Don’t make me regret taking off the restraints,” he muttered.

“What’s going on here? What did you do to her?” Beneath Natesa’s anger, Edie saw fear and shock rising to the surface. She wasn’t used to such a blatant display from Natesa, whose poise was legendary.

West started to explain. “Colonel Theron questioned her on the
Peregrine
—”

“I’m not talking about
her
.” Natesa glared at Edie. “I was just informed that you put my…one of my cyphertecks into a coma.”

Edie found it hard to care. Especially when Natesa didn’t care about what she and Finn had just been through. “I had to stop them. They tortured Finn. We had a deal—”

“I assure you, I did not authorize any torture.” Natesa’s voice was flat, cold. Her sudden calmness seemed to take great effort. She glowered at West. “Your crew is to return to the
Peregrine
. I want your ship out of my hangar—immediately.”

West shifted his feet stiffly. “I’ll relay your message to Colonel Theron,” he countered with a touch of insolence. Natesa wasn’t a milit, or the captain of the
Learo Dochais
. She didn’t have the authority to throw around such orders.

Natesa’s lips settled into a hard line. “Just stay out of my way.
You
”—she jabbed a finger at the guard—“Have someone escort Ms Sha’nim to the infirmary for a physical, and then to my office by oh-eight-hundred.”

“Wait!” Edie cried as Natesa turned to leave. “Finn’s the one who needs to be in the infirmary.”

Natesa cast a glance at the motionless man on the deck as though he were an irritating complication. As she brushed past the guard on her way out, she said, “Fine, take him. Keep him under guard.”

CHAPTER 6

One bay in the infirmary was the subject of a good deal of activity. Edie couldn’t see the bunk or its occupant, but medics wandered in and out giving each other terse orders and reports. It must be the cypherteck behind those screens. She wanted to ask how the woman was, but pride held her tongue. She refused to feel guilty—she’d only done what she had to, to protect Finn. Still, she’d intended only to stop the cypherteck, not put her in a coma.

After a long wait, Finn was brought up to the infirmary on a stretcher and sequestered in another bay, also out of Edie’s sight. Soon after that, a middle-aged doctor finally arrived to do her physical. Dr Sternhagen had just come on duty and knew nothing about the condition of the other patients. Edie complied with the questions and examinations to get the ordeal over with as quickly as possible.

“I’m finding no residual effects from the cryosleep,” Dr Sternhagen said as she slipped her hand into the dataglove at her console to make notes. “The team on the
Peregrine
did an excellent job in resuscitating you. I’ve seen the results of rushed awakenings from cryo and it’s not pretty. Unbalanced salts, clogged lungs, permanent cell damage…”

She stopped babbling to concentrate on what she was
writing. As Edie looked around the infirmary, wondering if they’d let her see Finn, something familiar caught her eye. She slipped off the bunk and went to the cabinet across the room. Half a dozen identical boxes were stacked behind a clear plaz door. They were the same size and color as the box of implants Beagle had stolen for her.

All these neuroxin implants just for her? Or were there other Talasi on board? It was hard to see why there would be. As far as Edie knew, she was the only Talasi ever taken from the camps. The Talasi had no formal education system so it was unlikely any of them were qualified for this mission. So why all these implants?

Edie put that puzzle aside for now. What this really meant was a renewed hope for escape. If she could steal a supply, she could survive without the Crib’s help for a few years at least, until the drug degraded.

She returned to her seat as the doctor returned.

“Overall, you’re in excellent health,” Dr Sternhagen announced with a professional smile. “Get some rest today, and I’ll declare you fit for duty tomorrow.”

“What about Finn?”

“I haven’t examined him myself. I’ll consult with the medic on his condition. Administrator Natesa has asked me to investigate the link between your interface and his boundary chip.”

“The leash—don’t try to disable it. You’ll kill him.”

“Rest assured, his health is my primary concern.”

“And I don’t want everyone here knowing about it. People have tried to use it against us.” She was thinking of the
Hoi
’s XO and the way he’d manipulated them.

“I understand. There’s no need to worry about that.”

They were back in Crib hands on a heavily guarded ship. That was reason enough to worry.

Two silent milits escorted Edie to Natesa’s office on Deck A, the admin suite. Unlike the bland, uniform Crib décor on the other decks, the admin rooms were plushly appointed and
accessorized. Edie recognized Natesa’s touches everywhere, from the custom-framed portholes lining the corridors to the large stone water feature in the main annex. This deck was designed to impress. Why Natesa needed to impress anyone with décor was something Edie could only guess at.

Stepping into Natesa’s office, Edie saw that no expense had been spared here, either. The curved rear wall of the room was a transparent window that overlooked a vast chamber. The chamber housed a lush indoor garden bursting with exotic greenery. Stylish woven rugs covered the deck.

The woman herself stood behind a large polished desk that was positioned exactly in the center of the room to give the appearance that it was partially surrounded by the garden. She was a good deal more composed than before, now wearing a fitted gray suit with her hair twisted into a tight bun, and her lips a dark streak across a pale face. Her staid appearance was in stark contrast with the overly appointed office.

“A few examples of Prisca’s native flora,” she said, noticing that Edie’s attention was drawn to the garden. “Prisca is the planet we’re orbiting—the first candidate world for our project.”

“In other words, these are examples of the native flora you’re in the process of destroying.”

Natesa’s thin mouth formed a half-smile. “Not destroying, Edie. Changing, recreating, molding into something more useful. And after I prove the validity of the project here, we’ll move on to other worlds.” She moved around to the front of the desk and sat in one of two high-backed armchairs angled in front of the desk. “Sit. We have a lot to discuss.”

“No one will tell me anything about Finn.”

“He’ll be released soon from the infirmary. In return for his safety, you promised me your cooperation. So let’s talk about—”

“After what just happened to him, don’t expect me to cooperate with you.”

“As I told you before, I am not responsible for Colonel Theron’s actions. I’m as horrified as you by what he did, not only because of the deal we made but because of the consequences of his little interrogation.” She paused, as if distracted. Presumably she was referring to the cypherteck Edie had injured.

“So will Theron have to answer for it? I mean, are there any consequences at all for torturing an innocent man? Or does he get away with it because he’s a high-ranked officer of the Crib?”