Haywire (24 page)

“
We’re on the
Bonny Lad
,” his mother replied. “We just landed on Hygeia.”

Artemis slid her gaze over and tilted her head. After blinking several times she nodded and drew herself up in her seat. “Right, right. We’re on our way to Mars. So then I wasn’t dreaming.”

“
I’m afraid not,” Shawn said, holding up his metal-shrouded hand.

The Titan looked at his gauntlet, then glanced out the window. “How long until we lift off again? Every second counts.”

Shawn’s mother unstrapped herself and leaned forward in her seat. “The captain informed me that the unloading and reloading process would take approximately five hours. While she does that I’m going to leave the ship and see about using the colony’s beam transmitter. Do you think you’re up for a walk?”

Artemis lifted her chin and unlocked her seat restraints. “It’ll be better than sitting here feeling my body break down bit by bit.”

His mother rose to lend a supportive hand to the Titan while he got up and opened the cabin door. Outside their room were the sounds of people busily working. Captain Finnegan was still in the cockpit, coordinating efforts there while her crew occupied themselves in the rear cargo hold.

“
I’ll let the captain know we’re leaving,” he said.

“
Good,” his mother replied. “Tell her we’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Shawn nodded and walked to the bridge. There he found Finnegan hitting buttons and leaning toward a monitor.

“
I already told ya, get tanks two and four out first,” she said. “Do I have to come do it myself? No? Then get it done.” Her last word had barely left her lips before she slammed her headset on a hook on her instrument panel. When she turned and saw him standing behind her she jumped in surprise. “Don’t go sneakin’ up on me like that! I’m old, and my heart can’t take it.”

“
I doubt I could do you any damage, even if I wanted to,” he replied, chuckling.

Finnegan grinned. “Eh, prolly not. Anywhose, what can I do for ya, young sir?”

“
I just wanted to let you know we’re about to debark. We should be back in about two hours.”

The captain nodded her thanks for the update and then turned back to her duties.

The boarding umbilicus was already connected by the time he reached it, and Artemis and his mother were standing on the other side, ready to make their way into the mining colony.

Outside the ship, the air had the too-clean smell that came from industrial-grade environmental scrubbers. It was dry and stale on his tongue. He swore he tasted bleach, but the atmospheric information floating in his eyes didn’t mention it.

“
So where do we go from here?” he asked.

His mother hiked a thumb over her right shoulder, pointing down a corridor that led directly away from the ship. He looked past her and saw the words MAIN OFFICES and arrows pointing into the asteroid stenciled on the walls of the hallway. “Are you two ready?”

Shawn checked his spacesuit to make sure he hadn’t accidentally torn it and exposed his armored skin. Blue material covered him from his toes up to just beneath his jaw line, and a hard helmet hung from a magnetic hook on his belt. Metal nanites covered the rest of his body like a second skin, but he could feel the spacesuit’s material as though he were naked. More of the nanites pulsed in time with his heart around his throat, ready to rise up and enshroud his face at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t normal, but he looked it, and he hoped the lie would hold out awhile longer.

Artemis looked much the same, though her sheer size was something that couldn’t be hidden by clothing. She was taller than his mother by a good foot, which made her a bit taller than he was, and the breadth of her shoulders more than matched his own. There were small tears where spikes had thrust through the material earlier, but there wasn’t anything they could do about that.

“
I’m as ready as can be,” the Titan said. A tightness around her eyes said she was fighting hard to look better than she felt.

Shawn’s mother began to say something, but then sighed and gestured for them to go. Together they walked down the mining corridor, the two women in front and Shawn bringing up the rear. The metal plating beneath them clanked as they walked, the sound echoing down the stony corridor.

Soon they passed through an open airlock and entered a large chamber called THE PROMENADE according to a sign on the wall. A dozen or so workers milled about, some chatting in small groups while others reviewed data pads or talked into headsets. Signs pointed toward various offices and destinations. One led to a cafeteria, and Shawn’s stomach grumbled again.

“
There,” his mother said, pointing at a sign that read PUBLIC COMMS.

Inside the communications office were rows of booths. Some were small, only large enough for one person, while others were large enough for group calls, but all of them had doors for privacy. None of the booths were in use, so they walked to a large room near the back of the office. Inside it were four chairs in front of a computer terminal. His mother took the centermost chair, while he and Artemis sat on either side. Their chairs groaned as their weight settled onto them.

As his mother powered up the communication equipment, she said, “I need the two of you to stay quiet while I make this call. Sheldon is an old friend, but he’s always been a bit… gruff.”

Shawn and Artemis nodded as she shifted the computer display away from them. After inserting a credit chit into the slot, she entered a call routing sequence and then sat back to wait for the line to connect.

“
This is Dr. Hofstadter,” a tired voice said a minute later. Shawn could just barely make out a broad, bearded face from his oblique angle on the display. “Considering the lateness of the hour, I’m hoping someone has died or is in the process of it.”

The look that crossed his mother’s face said she’d forgotten all about the time difference. “Shelly, it’s me, Alicia. Sorry for waking you.”

The harsh inhale Dr. Hofstadter took sounded like a windstorm through the comm’s speakers. “Alicia! Dear lord, girl, what happened to you?”

“
Happened?” The skin between his mother’s eyes wrinkled as she stared at the display in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“
It’s all over the news! They say terrorists laid siege to the museum on Callisto, people have been killed, and you and your son are among their hostages. Is this true?”

His mother was silent as she chewed on her lower lip. Dr. Hofstadter opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could she sighed heavily and said, “Yes and no.”

“
Yes and no? What on earth does that mean? Come on, girl! Speak clearly!”

She nibbled on her lower lip again for several long seconds before replying. “Yesterday a group of pirates kidnapped me and my son. They came to my home and took us, all in an effort to gain access to a site deep beneath the museum, a site we’d never known existed before. I don’t know how we missed it, or what hid it from us. Once we were down there things… became complicated. Afterward we were able to escape them and make our way off Callisto.”

“
Off?” Hofstadter asked. “Why did you leave? Certainly if you’d escape their clutches you could have found safe harbor somewhere on the moon rather than fleeing into space.”

“
Shelly, we had to leave. Down in Groesbeck’s hidden lab we found something, and I couldn’t involve the authorities. Not yet anyway.”

Dr. Hofstadter’s beard twitched as he absorbed the news. “And so now you need my help for some reason?”

His mother nodded slowly.

“
I see. So then… what was this discovery that set you on the lam, as it were? What could possibly be so earth-shattering?”

The struggle that played across his mother’s face was as epic as it was brief. With a harsh wave of her hand she gestured for Artemis to lean in next to her. The Titan moved without question.

“
And who is this?” Dr. Hofstadter asked. “Is this one of those… pirates you mentioned?”

“
No, Shelly. She’s…” She turned to Artemis and looked down at the gloves of the Titan’s suit. Her face was pained, but the clenched set of her jaw let everyone know she had no other choice. “Show him.”

Artemis looked at her and then at the screen before she raised her hands up and undid the straps that kept her gloves locked in place. After they were off, she held her armored hands out toward the display.

“
And what is that?” Dr. Hofstadter said, his tone unimpressed. “The latest fashion in ladies’ gloves?”

He’d barely finished speaking before long blades grew from Artemis’s fingers like liquid pouring upward. The keen blades of her hands glinted in the light of the booth, and then flowed back down into their normal gauntlet form.

“
Oh dear lord,” Dr. Hofstadter said in a rush of breath. “Is that… Is she…?”

Shawn’s mother nodded. “Yes.”

“
Is that… I mean, is
she
what you found down in that lab you mentioned? Has she been down there all this time?”

Another pained look hit his mother’s face. “No. As I said, it’s complicated. Suffice it to say, something terrible is about to happen, and in order to stop it I need your help. Will you help me, Shelly? Can I count on you, and your discretion?”

An answer didn’t come for several long moments. The air in the comm booth was thick with expectation and dread. Finally Dr. Hofstadter said, “Of course, Alicia. This is… Well, this is really quite something. What can I do?”

His mother’s face softened as relief washed over her. “We need access to the site you recently discovered in Bellona. It’s possible Dr. Groesbeck hid a cache of nanites there. Or, conversely, a kill switch to them.”

“
Kill switch?” Dr. Hofstadter replied. “You mean some sort of anti-agent? A nanite-killing nanite?”

“
That, or perhaps a deactivation beacon. Maybe even a specialized EMP device. Something, anything, that might help stop a Titan.”

“
But don’t you have one right–”

His mother didn’t let the man finish his question. Anger flashed in her eyes as she said, “Dammit, Shelly, stop! I know. Saying ‘it’s complicated’ doesn’t go very far in explaining what’s going on or what I need. You just have to trust me. The more time we waste here, the more chance we have of losing everything. Just… help me, all right?”

Dr. Hofstadter’s eyes were wide, but he nodded. “The two of us have far too many miles traveled together for me to refuse you. When will you be arriving on Mars?”

“
Hopefully within ten hours or so.”

“
I’ll assume, then, that you won’t be arriving through normal channels. Do you know where the site is? I could meet you there.”

“
I know it’s in the nethers, but that’s it.”

“
Indeed. When you get to Bellona, take a lift down to sub-level five and head for Horkos Square. It’s in the center of the level; you can’t miss it. Just follow the scent of cooked vermin and unwashed flesh. I’ll meet you there.”

“
Sounds lovely. We’ll be there as quickly as we can.”

“
Good. Hopefully by the time you arrive I’ll have found… something.”

“
Thank you,” his mother replied.

“
Be safe, Alicia,” Dr. Hofstadter said. “And be careful. Right now the news has you as a victim, but it wouldn’t take much for that to shift into something far more… sinister. Keep that head of yours down, and if the gods are willing I’ll see you shortly.”

His mother’s mouth curled into a grateful smile. “I will, Shelly. Thank you again. See you soon.”

As the comm line closed, Shawn shifted in his seat and said, “Mom, you know if he’s aware of what happened at the museum, then dad will be too.”

“
I know,” she replied.

“
He has to be freaking out. I should call him.”

“
And say what?” Artemis asked, her voice sharp and edgy.

Shawn ran her question through his mind, angry that the idea of speaking with his father was even up for debate. “I could at least tell him I’m okay. That I’m not, you know, dead or held hostage. He doesn’t have to know the details.”

“
That won’t work, Son. I know your father. He’s going to want to know everything that’s happened, from beginning to end. I’d want the same thing. We can’t take the risk he–”

“
Fine,” he replied, spitting the word out. She had a point, but that didn’t mean he still couldn’t try and get word to the people he loved. “Then let me call Ilona. She won’t demand answers the way dad will, and I can have her talk with him afterward, letting him know we’re okay. That would work, right?”

His mother’s pursed lips told him it wouldn’t, but she surprised him by nodding. “All right. I don’t like it, but I can’t have your father just sitting at home scared out of his mind. I know how I’d be in his shoes, and it’s not a feeling I’d wish on anyone. He needs to know you’re… well, okay isn’t the word for it, but it’ll do. Call her, but tell her nothing more than you have to.”

Artemis grumbled and curled her hands into fists in her lap. “Have you people never heard of operational security? Good god, the word’s out enough already without us adding fuel to the fire. Why not just call a press briefing and get it over with?”

“
This isn’t an operation,” his mother said, her tone fierce as she turned on the Titan. “It’s our lives. Because of you... because of what happened to you and the rest... By this time tomorrow we might all be dead, the entire human race, and this moment right here won’t have mattered for anything. So, if Shawn wants to call his girlfriend and spend a few minutes with her, then he’s going to do that. He’s just a boy, for god’s sake. Let him have what peace he... Just let him make the call. Or haven’t we done enough for you?”