Supergiant (Gigaparsec Book 2) (19 page)

“Every new species they find gives
them another piece of the puzzle of life and a new outlook.”
Maybe they were
hoping for another hint from the Forerunners
. Roz steered away from topics
she couldn’t discuss with Humans. “We have to be careful who we tell about the
loophole. The aid mission should get us past the military base. We still need
to acquire the jump vector and optimum velocity for Niisham, but Kesh is
convinced he can buy that information at the shipyards.”

Alyssa said, “True. Whoever does
the retrofit for the extra life-support modules and bunk beds will probably
throw that in under the table to win the contract. We’d have to show convincing
plans to segregate the crew from the children and a process to ensure no adults
escape the prison.”

As the cab pulled into the hotel
driveway, Roz shut off her star display. “But we want at least one of them to
escape.”

“Then we should find Bats willing
to stay behind with loved ones or terminally-ill folks who we can pay ahead of
time to switch places.” Alyssa tipped the driver. When they were alone in the
hotel elevator, she decided, “I like that model. It adds an air of wonderful
tragedy to the opera. We should start recruiting tonight.”

“What does all this have to do with
the engagement party?” asked Deke.

“We’ll play up how soft-hearted our
famous humanitarian Roz is. Hero Max will announce the rescue mission to the
prison system in an effort to prove his love to her. However, the enchanting
Shiraz has vowed not to wed until the children she’s seen in those photos are
healthy and well-fed.”

Following the ladies to their room,
Deke asked, “Why would she care?”

“Because she suffered in similar
circumstances in Napa,” said Alyssa. “We add just enough truth to set the hook
and enable her to speak convincingly. We’ll paint her as timid heiress with an
unexpected inheritance who wants to use her fortune for good. She’ll need more
dresses, of course.”

“You can’t make things up on a
whim,” Deke said.

“Oh, but I can and do,” Alyssa
said. “It’s all metaphorically true. When I’m finished, this identity will be
more real than her old life. Even people who met her before will swear they
knew these secrets all along.”

Roz was already on the network.
“I’ll start by searching for child specialists on medical leave.”

Roz scratched at the front door of a local pediatrician, a
technique Bats used instead of knocking. “Dr. Lisheen’s house is nice. The
gardens show a lot of care.” The rest of the urban neighborhood looked drab and
smoke-stained by comparison.

Nervous, Deke put a finger to his
lips. In Banker, he said, “You disturb the harmony.”

A small, coal-black female opened
the door a crack. “My harmony will never be restored.” The Bat wore a housecoat
and slippers. Tears stained the fur around her muzzle. Roz couldn’t judge age,
but her eyes were definitely intelligent.

Deke bowed. “Forgive us. I told her
we shouldn’t have intruded.”

“A bell cannot be unrung. What
brings a Human to my door when my own people shy away for fear of my disease?”

“Children need your help.”

Dr. Lisheen held out a hand so Roz
could see her tremor. “The hospital wishes to avoid malpractice, and the
children fear contamination. I have given all I can.”

“No. Your expertise is still
valuable, and we’re not afraid of you.” Roz wiped away the makeup over her scar
and had Deke lift a pant leg. “On our crew, we have volunteers from every
species, and we’re all outcasts. But we’re the best.”

“You have my attention.” The door
swung open wide. “Step into my parlor. I’ll find some treats.”

“We don’t need—”

Deke elbowed Roz. “She is capable,
and this is a host’s duty. Allow her this.”

The dark-furred woman smiled wanly
at the copilot. “I like his manners.”

Inside, over tea, Roz showed her a
photo album of Bat children at Niisham. “Our charity wishes to help these
unfortunates and many others.”

As she flipped the pages,
horrified, Lisheen asked, “Were these Bats prisoners of war?”

The crew members glanced at one
another. Deke said, “Pardon, honored specialist. These images were taken at one
of our own prisons.”

“What could these innocents
possibly have done?”

“Nothing. They were born into
captivity in the Niisham colony,” Deke said.

While the doctor was still reeling,
Roz said, “Could you listen to this recording and see if you can detect any
effects of malnutrition?”

She played a sample of Jeeves
speaking rudimentary Bat. “No more work. Please food eat.”

The doctor gasped, lapsing into her
native tongue, translated by Roz’s earbud. “This is unspeakable.”

Roz continued in Banker. “We need
to know what sorts of doctors to recruit. Can you tell if there has been any
mental retardation?”

“Calcium deficiency,” said the
doctor, holding in emotion.

“You can tell that much from such a
short clip? You’re amazing,” Deke said.

The doctor’s ears tipped back
slightly.

Roz asked, “Could we interest you
in a trip to our ship to see our facilities?”

“I did work with a children’s
hospital founded by … a famous actor. Any of them would be fascinated by this
collection of photos. Do you have any more audio?”

Roz said, “Our ship is a Magi
courier. If you’d agree to a tour, Far Travel Unlimited could tell you so much
more.”

The doctor said, “I’ll set up an
appointment for after the end of shift today. You’ll have no lack of
volunteers, but I’m not the most qualified for travel.”

Roz asked, “How long do you have
left?”

“Perhaps eight to ten years.”

“Do you want to spend that time
hiding in your hole, or would you rather visit every corner of this realm
before you go? I got to watch a Turtle pin a medal on my boyfriend, and
Saurians threw him a beach party. I’ve seen more exotic places since I met him
than I had since birth.”

“Please,” Deke said. “You have much
still to give.”

His plea influenced her more than
Roz’s. The doctor excused herself to dress and make calls.

****

One of the staff recorded Roz’s pitch to the hospital staff,
photos and Jeeves’s plea included. By the next morning, hordes of health-care
providers had submitted resumes, including Lisheen. Over an elaborate breakfast
buffet on the penthouse balcony, Roz sorted though them. She ate twice what her
mother and Deke did but failed to make a dent in the ostentatious spread. “We
only need four volunteers, and the Church of the Void wants to help us. How
ironic is that? These applications are from nuns who minister to plague
victims.”

Deke explained, “Fear brought on by
the war brought unprecedented strength for the church. We suspect they
disappeared about half the prison’s population.”

“The church would add to our air of
respectability.” Alyssa mused. “Donations are pouring in already: entertainment
cubes, educational computer pads, stuffed animals, money, and a ton of frozen
peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches.

“I’ve had a dozen interview
requests so far. I’ve deferred them all to the engagement party. We’ve
scheduled a photo session for the couple afterward and five minutes per
journalist.”

Someone knocked at the door, and
Deke peeked through the peephole. “Guys, this is one interview you’ll have to
take now. Federal police from their outfits.”

Roz’s eyes grew large, and she
estimated how far the drop would be to the balcony below. “I’m busted.”

“Relax,” Alyssa said. “I asked them
to come. I petitioned the governor for Niisham maps under the allied freedom of
information treaty.”

“Governor?” Roz squeaked.

“Let me do the talking,
querida
.
The bigger they are, the larger their appetites. This will work out to
everyone’s advantage.”

Roz remained mute while her mother
ignored a small army of armed men in order to schmooze the governor. Everyone
enjoyed the delicacies at the buffet. The crew members each posed for photos,
shaking hands with the man. When the dust settled, the governor agreed to
provide prison aerial views as well as military advisors on the journey. “This
makes the humanitarian mission a joint venture with my administration. You
will, however, need to sign a non-disclosure agreement that forbids you to
discuss anything you see in the Niisham system, including any photos yet to be
released from your Blue Claw sources.”

“I couldn’t agree more. The
security of your people is foremost, Your Honor. We only want to help the
children.”

****

The snowball kept growing. By the day of the party for a
thousand dignitaries, the coffers for the charity held millions of credits.
Posters made from the photos were plastered in public places. The cameras
outside the ballroom terrified Roz. Fire jugglers were practicing in the side
hall while she peered into the crowded dining area. The small pediatrician sat
at the head table next to Deke.

Roz whispered to Herb, “Maybe
giving mother free rein was a mistake.”

“Can’t put that genie back in the
bottle. My restaurant started as an idle comment I made about wishing I could
get decent ice cream. She just took over from there.”

“Is being an avalanche a bad
thing?” Roz asked.

“I prefer to call her a hurricane
of fun,” Herb said, adjusting his tie. “Just go with it. There are no elephants
this time.”

“I meant, is Max going to have this
problem with me?”

“It’s not a problem if you love
someone. Ooo, Mandarin oranges, my favorite. How did she manage those?”

Shortly before the big
presentation, Roz sat on the platform holding Max’s hand, flanked by
four-meter-tall photos of prison children. She whispered to him, “Where’s
Kesh?”

Cutting a dashing figure in his
formal attire, Max replied, “Some of his underworld contacts hinted they may
have more recent maps of the prison colony.” Casually, he brushed a strand of
hair away from her face.

Roz shivered, and not just from the
cool breeze coming from the Cupid ice sculpture. The intimacy made her pulse
race. “So is Echo the culprit, or are decorations going to be falling from the
ceiling when I kiss you?”

Reflexively, Max glanced at the
ceiling to check for hazards. “Echo investigated. Turns out the autonomic
systems of the ship are tied to her more tightly than we imagined.”

Roz blinked. “You mean if she dies,
all life-support systems in
Sphere of Influence
shut down as well?”

“Yes. We’re putting in more gardens
and emergency heaters until she can shift some of the control systems over to
you and me.”

“When will that be?”

“We’re taking the first step with
our engagement tonight,” Max explained.

“You mean this is
real
?”

Max sighed. He interrupted the
master of ceremonies to grab the microphone. “I’m afraid we’ve allowed all of
this fanfare to overshadow the real reason for our party tonight.” He paused to
allow the AI translator time to catch up. Then, he knelt on the stage before
her. Max held out the biggest ring she had ever seen, a silver trefoil inset
with three of the large diamonds from the ruined tennis bracelet—one stone for
each member of the triad. “Shiraz Mendez,
querida
, would you do me the
incredible honor of being my female mate?”

The translators would convert this
to the more acceptable “wife.”

Roz stared for a moment. “Our lives
are one. Where you go, so do I.”

He slipped the ring on her finger,
and the TV lights flared to catch the glint of the stones.
Still no L word,
but this just got real.
The kiss brought her to tears on camera.

The rest of the night was a blur.
Overwhelmed, Roz left early with Ivy.

Back at the hotel, Roz changed for bed while Ivy swept the
room for bugs. The spy gave her a clean bill of health. “You’re secure. The
walls in here are even mu-shielded so out-of-body travelers can’t eavesdrop.”

Roz stopped brushing her hair. “You
mean Echo can’t see us?”

“Neither can my people,” Ivy said.
“Is there something you wanted to discuss in private?”

This might be the last time Roz
would ever be unobserved in her life. “What do your Anodyne spy people know
about the Magi?”

“What do you need to know?”

Roz waved her arms. “Everything.
I’m marrying one, for God’s sake, and I know nothing about them. They take
mysterious to a whole new level. No other species are allowed on their worlds.
I don’t even know how they reproduce.”

Ivy put away the scanning gear
Reuben had loaned her. “I can’t share all my family secrets just because I like
you, honey. You need to give me something in return.”

The secrets Roz did know about the
Magi were sacred. What could she offer that might interest Ivy? “Echo’s
original triad met with Black Ram Xerxes.”

“The big guy himself? That must
have been almost 150 years ago. Why?”

“Together, the four developed the
theoretical underpinnings to both the subbasement drive and the device used to
destroy that star in the Mnamnabo system.”

“Holy crap. Do you think Reuben
knows?”

Roz shrugged.

Ivy took a deep breath and sat
beside her on the bed. “Okay, but you can’t tell anyone this secret, except Max
when it’s time for you to get pregnant.”

“I promise.”

“We suspect the child inherits
mitochondrial DNA from the neutral. Her contributions also mitigate recessive
genes.”

Three sets of donors for one child.
“How did you find out?”

“Rumors from my sister in medical
branch,” Ivy whispered. “We can’t let the Magi suspect what we know, or my
whole lineage might disappear.”

“I’ll take it to my grave.”

“You can’t even tell your
children,” Ivy said. “We believe the Magi have world memories like Laurelin.
Your children might function as living records as well. Do you still want to
know?”

Roz considered millions of dead philosophers
all aiding the Magi in solving the Enigma.
But I cracked the last part
because none of them ever held the implementation in person, never got their
hands dirty
. That’s something Humans were good for. “I may not want to, but
I need to.”

Ivy paced the bedroom. “When
Sanctuary
returned to Earth after the test on Labyrinth, the crew faced accusations of
illegal genetic manipulation. They founded the Anodyne colony rather than face
the UN charges.”

“Those claims were bogus if I
remember.” Roz struggled to recall her interplanetary history class. “Because
he had so many psi talents, as the first Human born in space, Stewart Llewellyn
would have died without certain treatments. He shared the technique with Earth,
and it quickly became the standard for psi prenatal care.”

“History glosses over the other
child born on that mission, Joan Dahlstrom. Shortly before he died, the doctor
on Labyrinth injected Joan’s mother with a treatment that was supposed to make
the complex Llewellyn process unnecessary. The pregnancy went so smoothly that
no one suspected the real goal of the experiment until Joan reached her teens.
She failed to develop breasts or begin her period.”

“She was a neutral like Echo? How
is that possible?”

“Dr.
Baatjies was a mad nanotech genius, with emphasis on the mad,” Ivy said,
hugging herself nervously. “He found evidence of a Magi crash that had happened
on Labyrinth about a thousand years ago. Since he believed the Magi couldn’t be
trusted, he used poor Joan to smuggle that evidence off planet.”

“Humans and Magi might be
reproductively compatible?” That certainly changed the prospect of this
marriage. “So Max might be able to knock up Echo and me at the same time?”

Ivy shrugged. “Chromosome counts
and stuff are above my security level. Maybe that’s why Joan was sterile, like
a mule. A donkey can cross with a horse, but the line doesn’t continue.”

“Then how does this three-parent
sex work?”

“I don’t know about Magi, but when
Laura Llewellyn was pregnant with twins, she needed blood. As one of two
candidates that had never contracted an Earth disease, Joan volunteered. She
had always loved Stewart and didn’t want to see his children suffer.”

Rising to her feet, Roz connected
the dots. She knew from earlier discussions that the Llewellyn twins had been a
fluke. Each of their parents’ seven talents had a 50 percent chance of
manifesting, yet they developed only one—a very deep and powerful form of
Collective Unconscious. “Joan’s blood carried some of the mitochondrial DNA
from the crash site, enabling children of the same egg to communicate with each
other over any distance. You’re descended from the twins.” People had reason to
mistake Ivy for a Magi.

“Joan’s death founded the Laurelin
world memory. Our bond with her blood is why we’re all buried in her stand of
trees. We join that memory. This secret is why I can’t let my blood fall into
the wrong hands and why most of our agents die young if we’re injured in the
field.” Ivy turned her face away. “Why I’m a freak.”

Roz embraced her friend. “You’re
not a freak. My own children are probably going to be like you. I could never
look down on you … on family.”

For the first time in their
friendship, Ivy let her guard down completely and wept.

****

At three hours past midnight, the buzz of her ship’s communicator
from the hotel nightstand woke Roz. She fumbled to stick it in her ear and not
wake Ivy who was lying on the other side of the huge bed. “Huh?”

Max said, “I need you. Your eye for
detail. Downstairs.”

Roz bolted upright. “What is it?
What happened?”

“God, we shouldn’t have let Kesh go
to the cigar club alone. I’m in the back room now. I need your help finding
them fast.”

She was already hopping into a
repair jumpsuit and prodding her roommate. “What are you looking for?”

“Kesh’s fingertips. They declawed
him without anesthesia. Any tips I can find in the next hour we can reattach in
the regeneration pod on the ship.” Roz recalled the huge tank in the captain’s
suite, next to the lone cryogenic sleeper leftover from the last owner. Max
sent the club’s GPS coordinates to her wrist unit. “After that, I’ll have to
order prosthetics. Deke is waiting in the shuttle to take off as soon as we
have the parts.” She had a dozen questions but no time for any of them.

“Come in the back,” Max said before
terminating the link.

Roz hopped into her boots as she
told Ivy, “Knock on Mom’s door. Tell her emergency evacuation. Meet at the
shuttle in under sixty minutes.” She opted for the armored jacket, just in
case.

“Screw the luggage. I’m getting you
to the exfiltration site safely,” Ivy said, throwing on shorts and a jacket,
with not even a T-shirt beneath. The snug jacket resembled latex, accentuating
her curves.

Growling with frustration, Roz
pounded on her mother’s door. Herb answered, wearing red boxers and a pistol.
She struggled to block out the image. “Someone tortured Kesh. Get everyone and
everything back to the shuttle.”

Ivy tossed her room card to the
former cop as she followed Roz to the swank elevator. As they descended, Roz
called the front desk for a cab. The club was only a few blocks away, but they
would need to race to the spaceport afterward.

As they crossed the lobby, Roz
said, “You look like a hooker in that jacket. Are you chewing gum?”

“I always maintain the character.”

The lights in front of the cigar
club were out. The cab dropped them in the alley behind, and Roz asked the
driver to wait.

The nearest door had been sheared
from its hinges and set awkwardly back in place. “Max is this way.”

Ivy helped her move the broken door
aside. Before they proceeded into the dark, Ivy said, “I sense Max and six
Saurians.” She handed Roz a dark, metallic ovoid. “You can’t pull your
disappearing trick when someone is watching you. If anything goes wrong, drop
this smoke bomb and bail.”

Roz nodded, with no intention of
abandoning her boyfriend. He had taken so long to find. Who knew if she would
ever find another? “I’ll be a ninja.” She followed the trail of zip-tied and
unconscious Saurians down the hall until she found her fiancé.

He crouched under a round table
covered in white game tiles. Saurian ball chairs had rolled away, and four of
the aliens were tied up behind the bar. When Max spotted the ladies, he handed
Roz a pair of surgical gloves and a specimen bottle. “I’ve found five of the
eight claw tips.”

Ivy had a weapon out already. “I’ll
cover our backs while you search. Did they torture him for information on us or
because he was gay?”

Max shook his head. “Neither. When
we couldn’t dock at Cocytus, it was the second missed payment on the loan.
Mutilation is the standard punishment. Evidently his brother Zrulkesh missed
one before, and he had to carry a Blue Claw crew as insurance. We annoyed them
when we violated that restriction. If Kesh misses a third payment, they’ll kill
him.”

“God, I told Kesh they wouldn’t
care if he skipped a month or two,” Roz said. “This is my fault.”

“No. Stop. I can’t keep you from
getting hysterical
and
find his fingers.”

Ivy interceded. “She’s never been
on a battlefield before, but she’ll do fine. Why aren’t you helping Kesh now?”

“When I found Kesh in the alley, I
contacted Deke. A certain female doctor was already with him, fully dressed.”

Swallowing the hurt, Roz nudged the
piles of poker chips and snack food on the floor. “Where did you discover the
first five tips?”

“These guys were using them to bet
with.”

Roz forced out all emotion.
“There’s not a lot of blood.”

“Saurian ceremonial knives are very
sharp.”

“I mean in this room. It’s too
tidy. They did the deed in another room and brought the trophies back here to
play.”

Max grabbed her in a brief embrace.
“You’re a genius, as usual.” He ran into the bathroom. The mirror and counter
had been splattered with blood. Roz couldn’t look as he rummaged through the
trash. “I’m sorry I reacted so emotionally. I’m protective of my team.
Hellfire. They botched this one. Took them two tries. He must have wiggled.
This one, too. Blasted amateurs.”

Roz turned her head, heaving up the
exquisite engagement banquet into a toilet.

“How do we get even with these
guys?” asked Ivy. “Pose them naked in a daisy chain and post the pictures on
the web?”

“No. We stay professional and avoid
really pissing them off,” Max replied, bottling the final claw nub.

Bored, Ivy called Deke on her comm.
“Package inbound.”

As they sidestepped the bodies of
two guards, Roz asked, “Did you really take out all six of these Saurian
gangsters yourself?”

“Eh, the security measures were
mainly geared for keeping out Bats, not Humans. Reuben took over their cameras.
He helped me ambush the guards, and then he set off the fire alarm. The last
few were fish in a barrel.” As he peeled off the bloody gloves, Max had an edge
to him that both frightened and excited Roz.

In the alley, Roz nodded to the
cab. Holding hands, she led Max to the back seat.

Ivy climbed in the front seat with
her zipper half undone. The gray-muzzled cabby wouldn’t be able to describe any
of the other fares based on where he was staring.

Max asked, “How fast can you get to
the spaceport?”

The cabbie said, “Hold on.”

While they swerved through the
streets at high speed, Roz had time to consider the sequence of events. “Why
didn’t you call us sooner?”

“I needed to keep you safe,” Max
whispered in English.

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt, but
you risked every life in our triad when you invaded that club.” Roz held up her
ring. “We make decisions
together
that affect all of us, or this doesn’t
work.”

He nodded his understanding.