The Cage of Zeus (4 page)

One by one, the members of Shirosaki’s team began to wake from the hibernation chambers. Shirosaki played Hasukawa’s message intended for his team on the ship’s screen.

The message’s tone had been calculated to neither flame their fears nor put them on edge, but to rally and boost the team’s morale. Nevertheless, the nineteen members instantly sensed the gravity of Hasukawa’s message. The mood grew tense, as though they might draw their guns at any moment.

Shirosaki assured the team that they would not see action very soon after they arrived, and that as this was a joint mission, they had more than enough manpower to overwhelm the attackers. They were to recondition their bodies back to full strength before docking at Jupiter-I. Shirosaki told them that he would have more concrete directions after meeting with the supervisors of the station. Then he dismissed the staff. As the security members dispersed throughout the ship to begin their reconditioning, Shirosaki called over his second-in-command Naoki Arino and discussed plans for their arrival.

A week later, the ship carrying the relief team arrived at Station No. 1 Jupiter-I.

Jupiter-I was a cylindrical space station on one of the Jupiter-Europa Lagrange points. Its center was hollow, much like a pineapple after being cored.

The station was three hundred meters in diameter and eight hundred meters long. A central axis, running straight through the hollow center, housed the gravitational control system. The axis rotated the alloy pineapple-shaped station, creating a 0.3 G atmosphere in the residential district.

The central axis was connected to the outer shell by a series of spokelike support shafts, inside of which were high-velocity elevators running at a thousand meters per minute. A separate network of elevators running along the length of the outer shell was used to travel from one end of the space station to the other.

The central axis, which was longer than the space station itself, protruded at one end. The docking bays were located there. All vessels entered the cylindrical structure at the tip of the axis and were required to pass a security check. Anything suspicious, and the passengers were forbidden to disembark. If everything turned up green, on the other hand, they proceeded from the docking bays to the corridor where one of the high-velocity elevators carried them away to the residential district. Unmanned vessels were transported by an automated system from the docking bays to a designated mooring inside the core.

The docking bays were kept apart from the rest of the station as a safety precaution against collisions. The docking bays had been designed to disconnect from the rest of the station in the event of a fire or explosion caused by a docking accident. In this way, the protruding tip of the axis was like a lizard’s tail, able to be cut away from the body by disengaging the lock.

Of course, this was also one of several measures to protect the station from terrorist attacks. Even if an explosives-laden vessel were to enter, the docking bays would be separated in order to protect the residential district.

Upon entering the docking bay, Shirosaki’s vessel passed through security, and they were authorized to disembark. Shirosaki and the nineteen security personnel under his command proceeded through the double doors and down the corridor, and boarded the elevators leading up to the central axis.

Once there, they boarded another elevator traveling through the support shaft and arrived at the entrance of the residential district in about five to six minutes.

Standing at the entrance of the residential district, which was maintained at 0.3 G, were three men and a woman.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late forties, lithely stepped forward and spoke in English. “Welcome to Jupiter-I. I’m Liezel Kline, the supervisor of Jupiter-I.”

Shirosaki shook her hand and introduced himself as the commander of the relief team.

Kline smiled. “We can use all the help you can give. We’re grateful you’re here.”

A man older than Kline spoke next. “Dan Preda, assistant supervisor.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Shirosaki. He proceeded to explain that his team would be procuring their food and oxygen from the stores that had been brought with them to resupply the space station. But he assured them that a supply vessel had left Mars soon after these orders had been handed down and would arrive before the station’s supply was exhausted.

Preda nodded. “No worries, we always keep a reserve supply on hand.”

A man about Shirosaki’s age came forward next. He was wearing the special security uniform. He shook Shirosaki’s hand, stone-faced. “Commander Jeff Harding. If it weren’t for these damn threats, my team would be back home on Mars by now.”

The man standing next to Harding also held out a hand and flashed a smile. “Sub-commander Larry Miles. Nice to meet you.”

Since the cargo had automatically been unloaded and transported to the residential district, Shirosaki ordered the team to deliver the cargo to the appropriate destinations. With his sub-commander Arino in tow, Shirosaki followed Kline and the rest of the welcome party to the meeting room.

When they arrived, another staff member was waiting for Shirosaki.

The figure that stood before him was in eir early thirties with spindly arms and legs and slight features. Eir silken hair, cut evenly at the chin, shone as it moved. Although difficult to guess eir ethnic origin and not exactly beautiful, ey had strangely magnetic eyes.

“My name is Tei,” ey said. “My people don’t use family names, so please call me by my given name. Or Doctor, if you prefer. I’m in charge of medical matters on the station.”

Shirosaki exchanged greetings with the doctor, despite wondering what a doctor was doing at a strategy meeting.

“A female doctor,” Arino said, cracking a smile. “Nice to see I’ll be in good hands if I’m wounded.”

A faint smile came across Tei’s pink lips. Shirosaki moved to caution Arino, sensing that the smile on the doctor’s face was one of cynicism rather than delight, but Tei spoke first. “I’m not a woman, Sub-commander Arino.”

Arino’s cheek twitched. “My apologies.”

“And incidentally, I’m not a man either,” Tei added. “I’m a human from the special district that you’ve come to guard. I’ve come as a representative of the special district.”

“By a human from the special district, you mean…”

Preda noticed Arino’s appalled look and let out a chuckle that sounded like a purr. “Forgive me, I should explain. The doctor is a Round born in the special district—a bigender. Do you understand what that means?”

“The doctor is male and female at the same time,” Shirosaki said. “Yes, I read the report.”

“Unlike what our society calls intersex, Rounds are absolute hermaphrodites possessing functioning genitalia of both sexes. They are a new type of human born on Jupiter-I. Dr. Tei acts as an intermediary of sorts between the special district and the rest of the station, which is why we requested the doctor’s presence here today. Since the Rounds don’t ever leave the special district, they communicate with those on the outside through an intermediary as necessary.”

Suddenly looking indignant, Arino glared at Preda for withholding this information as if he’d been testing them. Shirosaki, wanting to avoid an altercation from the outset, used his implant communicator to send a message directly to Arino’s inner ear. “
Take it easy, Arino
.”

“We’re here risking our necks on this mission
,” Arino answered through his communicator, “
and they’re mocking us
.”

“We’re only familiar with their society from what we’ve read. And they only know us through the data they have on us. They’re just trying to feel us out. Don’t let him get to you.”

“I had no idea hermaphrodites looked so feminine. Do you think everyone in the special district looks like that?”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Just get back to the meeting.”

“Ms. Kline,” Preda continued, “perhaps we ought to explain to Commander Shirosaki about the culture inside the special district. About why the Rounds were created and how they came to be absolute hermaphrodites.”

“Let’s not start with a lecture,” Harding interrupted. “What we should be discussing now is how we stop the terrorists. We don’t have time for cultural lessons.”

“Gruff as usual, I see.” Preda flashed a sardonic smile. “The relief team is seeing a Round for the first time. We should be able to afford a little time to explain.”

“If I thought it would help us to come up with a strategy, I’d be all for it, but I don’t.”

Harding looked at Shirosaki. “Well, what do you have to say? Do you want to sit around and listen to a cultural lecture? Or would you rather get to work and talk about how we deal with the terrorists?”

Shirosaki answered, “I’d like us to discuss strategy. Maybe we can talk about the special district another time.”

Preda shrugged, but Harding remained expressionless, not acknowledging Preda with so much as a smile or frown.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Kline said, frowning. “We won’t come to any decision while we’re standing.”

“Indeed.” Preda nodded. “We may be here a while,” he said, pulling up a chair.

After everyone took their seats, Kline began the discussion. “According to the data sent to us from Captain Hasukawa, it’s likely the terrorists will be coming in on a research vessel from one of the Jovian satellites or a cargo vessel from Asteroid City. The research vessel has a particular route; it picks up specimens and materials from the experiments conducted on each of the satellites. The vessel from Asteroid City transports mineral resources and the water necessary to keep Jupiter-I operating. In order to enter this space station, the terrorists will likely have to come in on one of the spacecraft. They may have commandeered an unmanned ship, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the terrorists have taken hostages.”

“When will the next ship arrive?” asked Shirosaki.

“In two weeks.”

“Then we ramp up security at the docking bays. We check all of the cargo there in the presence of guards. If a fight were to break out, it’d probably happen in the cargo bay. Of course, the terrorists have probably thought of that.” Shirosaki asked Kline, “Where are the research facilities and special district located? Those are the two terrorist targets. They’re sure to head there first.”

Kline nodded. She punched a button on the control panel on the table and a three-dimensional schematic display of the station appeared. “Jupiter-I rotates with one cylindrical end facing the surface of Jupiter. The station has defensive walls that, when activated, can seal off each section of the station in an emergency.”

The schematic showed partitions being lowered. Each of the sections were now highlighted in different colors. “The areas highlighted in blue are the research facilities, the orange area is the residential district for the staff, the green areas are the administrative facilities, and the red area is the residential district for the Rounds—the special district. There is a zero-gravity laboratory and a factory in the central axis area, along with a relaxation room.”

Next, a glowing grid was superimposed over the entire station.

“And this?” Shirosaki asked.

“The network of maintenance shafts used to maintain the outer shell of Jupiter-I. The defense shield to resist the radiation and magnetic field around the Jovian system is installed on the inside of the outer shell. A thick composite layer made of materials such as high-density tungsten, water, and ferromagnetic metals with a high relative magnetic permeability covers the entire space station. The maintenance system constantly monitors the shield and sends a signal to the control center when it’s in need of repairs or periodic maintenance.”

“What are the dimensions of the shaft?”

“About as high and wide for five to six adults to walk through holding hands.”

“The security inside the maintenance shafts?”

“It’s possible to load a security system onto a repair robot. But you can’t enter and exit the shaft just anywhere,” Kline said. “Access is restricted. The access points are only located in the control center and residential district for the staff. The special district can’t be accessed through the maintenance shafts.”

“But once someone is in the shaft, can’t they cut their way out through the ceiling?”

“Not likely. The shaft isn’t made of anything so vulnerable. Even if someone were able to cut their way out, the noise alone would alert the Rounds in the special district. Not to mention the intruders would be picked up by the heat and vibration sensors.”

The special district was located on the Jupiter end of the station, farthest away from the docking bays. It had been built there deliberately to keep intruders at bay.

“What about the possibility of their breaking in from the Jupiter side?”

“Jupiter-I is equipped with a surveillance system. We’re capable of destroying any spacecraft that tries to approach us.”

“Looks like the special district also has an air lock.” Shirosaki pointed to the schematic. “What are these capsules along the walls here?”

“Emergency shuttles. There are also four shuttles dedicated to the special district.”

“Its capacity?”

“Eighty. The shuttles are fully equipped to fly to Asteroid City.”

“How many people are on this station now, including the Rounds in the special district?”

“Exactly one hundred staff members, forty task force members, and one hundred fifty-eight Rounds, which makes two hundred ninety-eight.”

“Then all we need to do is guard the docking bays,” Shirosaki said.

“In theory, yes.”

The task force was forty strong—more than the number necessary to monitor the ships coming in to dock.

“The Vessel of Life has two goals: to stop the bioscientific experiments going on at the station and to destroy the facilities and existing data. The fact that they’re coming out here rather than inciting demonstrations on Earth and on Mars seems to indicate that they think they have a fighting chance. We can’t take this threat lightly.”

“Is there any chance the terrorists will simply give up? That they’ll turn around and head back after realizing the security precautions we’ve taken?” Kline asked.