When she finished her stammering explanation, she sunk back against the wall and started bawling hysterically.
Alice's heart began to race. Leo could be the name her target had assumed, and Annabelle seemed to know him. If Annabelle cooperated, she would be an invaluable resource to the mission by giving insight into his fears, desires, and motivations.
"Annabelle, I know you're scared, but everything is going to be okay," Alice said comfortingly. "I want to help you, and I want to save Leo too, but I need to know how you know Leo. I need to know everything you know about him."
Annabelle continued crying and covered her eyes with her hands as she sank to the floor and curled into a fetal position.
"I can't do it. I want to see my daddy. He'll beat me for disobeying him, but I want to see him. I want to go home... I don't want to do this anymore!
"We do not have time for this!" Idi suddenly roared in Alice's mind. "Bring her to the Epiphany by force! Now!"
"No, she's been through enough. She'll come willingly!" Alice stubbornly thought in reply.
Alice took on an attitude of brusque harshness as she tried to cut through Annabelle's hysterics.
"Listen! I can help you. I am your best friend right now. The allinium acid that sprayed on your face is causing you to feel this way, and the antidote is clouding your mind even more. I'm going to take you to my ship and give you treatment. I'm going to make you feel better and keep you safe. I promise."
Annabelle shook her head. "I don't want to go. I want to go home. Take me home, please. My daddy will pay you."
Alice tempered her frustration. Annabelle was not in her right mind.
"Damnit!" Alice swore. Instead of making Annabelle more pliant, the chemicals had made her into a blubbering heap.
"Bring her to the Epiphany now, Alice!" Idi ordered. "I will administer treatment. She is not beyond help."
That struck a note with Alice. She wanted to help Annabelle, especially since she understood the damage allinium could do.
Alice kneeled and put her hand on Annabelle's shoulder, hoping the sensation of bodily contact would provide some small comfort.
"Annabelle, the acid that sprayed on your face has done a lot of damage. If you don't let me take you to my ship's medical bay, your wounds will leave permanent scarring, both to your face and your brain. You are a beautiful girl and very smart. You don't want to walk around with acid scars on your face and a damaged brain for the rest of your life, so please, let me help you."
"These methods are a waste of time!" Idi declared, but Alice ignored her.
After a few quiet sniffles, Annabelle stifled her tears and looked up at Alice. "Okay, but you have to help me, and you have to help Leo. Promise you will."
Alice smiled and spoke honestly. "I promise I'll help you, and I promise I'll help Leo."
Annabelle nodded, climbed to her feet, and wobbled in place. Then, Alice gently took her hand and began to lead her north along the Grand Promenade, towards Hangar 111 and the Epiphany.
Alice and Annabelle received several concerned stares as they walked, but no one spoke up or tried to interfere.
Neither spoke for a minute, but as they entered Hangar 111, Annabelle drowsily broke the silence. "Who are you anyway? You're not Osiris security, and not just some random person... How did you I.D. me? How did you see through my cloaker?"
Alice didn't answer as she considered how much she should reveal. After a short internal debate, she decided the truth would inspire the most trust, and would best help her get the information she needed.
"You must not reveal our mission," Idi reminded Alice, and the words felt like an electric shock in her mind.
Alice had become tired of the A.I.'s orders, so she ignored the unpleasant sensation and continued anyway.
"I'm an operative of the Origin Council. I have top-level clearance and have been installed with special implants, like the ones that allowed me to identify you and see through your cloaking device. I also have other implants and equipment that will help me protect you and save Leo."
Annabelle didn't seem surprised at the revelation. She looked as if she already knew what Alice had just told her.
"Leo told me you people were after him. He said you wanted to kill him."
As Annabelle finished, they reached the top of the ramp and entered Alice's private docking bay. The entry ramp to the Epiphany was already lowered, and its entry hatch was open.
"I don't want to kill Leo," Alice stated as she pulled Annabelle forward. "I need his help. We are going to save a lot of people, and we're going to do it together."
That statement seemed to inspire some confidence in Annabelle, and she turned her head and smiled at Alice as they entered the Epiphany.
"Well, that's a good thing. If that's really what you want him for, I bet he'll help you... He's a good guy..."
Alice quickly led Annabelle through the ship to the small, but state-of-the-art medical bay in the rear.
Annabelle looked around curiously as they entered the small, sanitary space. "Wow... "
"Take a seat while I scan you," Alice calmly ordered as she gestured to the examination chair in the middle of the brightly lit room.
Annabelle wobbled over to the chair, flopped down in it, then looked around the sparse, white-walled room with wide eyes.
"This doesn't look like any medical facility I've seen. Where is the equipment?"
"Initiating full-spectrum medical scan," Idi announced. Her soothing voice emanated from the walls of the medical bay, rather than Alice's mind, and Annabelle's face fell into shock.
"What?" Annabelle asked fearfully. "Who said that?"
Alicegave her a reassuring smile. "It's the ship's artificial intelligence, Idi. Idi is scanning you now to see what kind of treatment you need."
"A.I.? Ugh, I hate A.I. They are so dumb!" Annabelle groaned. Then, she crossed her arms and looked at Alice doubtfully.
"I believe you will find me to be more intelligent. and more helpful than any other A.I. you have encountered previously," Idi retorted.
Annabelle jumped at Idi's loud reply and stammered a halfhearted apology. "I was just joking, I'm..."
Idi was quick to interrupt her. "I have completed the scan, Alice. I've detected signs of allinium toxin within the subject's central nervous system as well as severe acid burns to the subject's face and hands. It appears that a crudely formulated topical Allinium antidote was applied to the subject's skin, and the acid's superficial effects have been slowed. However, the subject is afflicted with acute Allinium poisoning. If we do not administer treatment immediately, the subject will suffer permanent neurological damage."
Annabelle's eyes lit up with horror as she listened to Idi's diagnosis. "What does that mean? What's Allinium? What kind of neurological damage?"
Alice grabbed Annabelle's shoulder. "You're going to be okay. Allinium acid is what was sprayed on your face. It's a hazardous psychoactive chemical that can cause changes to your brain and burn your skin, but we can treat it, can't we Idi?"
"Yes," Idi replied. "The treatment will require an injection of specially programmed nanites. It will take me several minutes to synthesize the necessary amount, but when they are ready, I will inject them into the subject's cerebellum. They will stop any further neurological damage."
A look of grim realization came over Annabelle's face. "Further damage... So, will there be permanent damage?"
"Yes," Idi replied. "The structural damage to your face and hands is reversible, given you receive the correct cosmetic surgery, but the neurological damage you have suffered is not, at least by using conventional means. Some experimental, or illegal procedures could possibly improve your neurological function after your initial treatment, but that is a matter for a later time."
Annabelle sunk back into her chair and closed her eyes. "I feel fine..."
Alice watched Annabelle and felt sincere sympathy for her. A lot had happened to Annabelle, and the gravity of it all was taking a toll on
her. There was pain on Annabelle's face, and regret, and shame. Alice knew those feelings all too well.
Alice was at a loss. She didn't know how to comfort Annabelle, though her heart yearned to provide some reassurance.
"Begin the interrogation now, Alice," Idi commanded in her mind.
Alice nodded regretfully. She felt sorry for Annabelle and wanted to comfort her, but she was doing all she could, and she couldn't forget about her primary purpose. She needed to gather intel on Leo and the people who had captured him.
"Idi, make the nanites. Perform the injection when they're ready," Alice ordered. "Now, Annabelle, I've helped you, and it's time for you to help me. I want to rescue Leo from the people that did this to you. I want to know how you met Leo, what you know about him, and how he was abducted.
Annabelle nodded, then opened her eyes and stared hopefully at Alice. "Please don't kill him. I've seen what he can do, and I can think of a few reasons why the Council wants him, but he has a good heart, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone."
"He has hurt a lot of people," Alice interjected. The admonishment came out before she could catch herself, and she immediately regretted it.
However, Annabelle seemed to accept the statement without a fight.
"Yes, he told me about some of that, but it was only because you gave him no other choice. Leo didn't want it. He didn't want any of it. He doesn't want to kill people, and it tears him up inside when he has to."
Alice didn't want to debate the morality of Leo's actions. It was a debate an operative of the Council could never win, and especially not her.
Annabelle gave Alice a stern look. "Does it tear you up inside when you have to kill?"
Shonn's voice echoed as a memory in Alice's mind. "It's not your fault, Alice."
Alice was silent for a few seconds as she tried to control her emotions, but In spite of her efforts, she couldn't stop a single tear from escaping her eyelid and dripping down her cheek.
"Yes, it tears me up inside..." Alice whispered.
Annabelle said nothing, but her expression softened as Alice continued.
"The Council doesn't want Leo dead, and neither do I. We need his help, and we need your help, so please, tell me how you met Leo."
Annabelle sighed, then began her story. "We met at O'Hearn's. He seemed like a nice guy, so I offered to buy him a drink. Then... It happened."
"What happened?" Alice demanded.
Annabelle looked down at the floor. "I have no freaking idea. You people probably know more about it than I do. The crazy drunk guy tried to shoot up the place, but Leo stopped him. I don't even know if it really happened. It's like the memory of it is slowly slipping away from me. It's like trying to remember a dream..."
"Time is of the essence," Idi reminded Alice in her mind.
Alice immediately quickened her questioning. "What did you do when all this happened?"
Annabelle closed her eyes. "I cloaked myself, then got out of there. But, I was drawn to him. I was curious... So, when he left the bar and ran like crazy, I thought I'd follow him. I figured he was trying to leave the station, so when he headed towards Hangar 111, I hopped on the mag-lev and got to his ship before he did. It was easy for me to figure out which one was his. I just hacked the Hangar database, hacked his ship, then I had a little fun with him. He wanted to leave, but I knew the station was already on lockdown, so I convinced him to hide in Club 111 for a little while."
As Alice listened, she put Annabelle's story together with her findings, and the two fit together perfectly.
Alice was impressed. Annabelle seemed to have quite a few tricks up her sleeve. Hacking the hangar database was especially noteworthy.
"You met again at his ship, but he couldn't leave, so you took him next door... How long were you in Club 111 before the gas grenade went off?"
Annabelle looked at Alice with wide eyes. "I don't know. We were just talking, and it was a good conversation. I kind of lost track of time..."
"The conversation..." Idi shouted in Alice's mind.
Excitement shot through Alice. "What did you talk about?"
Annabelle looked back to the floor, then answered. "Just stories. It was almost like a date. I told him about me, he told me about him. We made small talk."
"Dig deeper..." Idi implored.
Annabelle was definitely glossing over what had undoubtedly been a much more interesting conversation, so Alice pressed her. "Did he tell you about his past. Did he tell you about his abilities?"
Annabelle shook her head. "Only a little. He told me you people had experimented on him, and when he escaped, you chased him. He said you wanted to capture or kill him. I didn't believe him at first, but I guess he was telling the truth. Why else would you be here?"
As Annabelle spoke, she stared at Alice defiantly.
Alice held her gaze. "The Council made mistakes in how they treated Leo in the past. But now, I want to make amends. I want to help Leo so that he will help me save billions of lives. What did he tell you about his abilities?"
Annabelle's expression softened, and she began to reveal more. "He called it a curse. He doesn't think he can control it, but I think he can. He just doesn't know how yet."
"Why do you think that?" Alice asked.
Annabelle pursed her lips tightly, then answered. "He seemed like he could control it. I don't know, maybe it's only when he's in danger, or someone else is. Even he doesn't understand it, and he's had it for so long, so I don't know..."
"Time, Alice!" Idi urged.
Alice knew that her time was running short. She needed to follow Leo's kidnappers before they could discover the trackers she had attached to them.
"I need Leo's help, Annabelle. Do you think he'll agree to help me if I ask?"
Annabelle shook her head. "Probably not. He hates the Council, and for a good reason."
"But what if billions of lives are at stake? What if he can save them?" Alice asked, desperation creeping into her voice.
Annabelle was silent for a few seconds before she answered. "Maybe. It depends on if he believes you. If he trusts you, he'll probably do anything for you, but if he doesn't, he isn't going to help you no matter what."
"Leo can trust me..." Alice assured her.
Annabelle didn't look entirely convinced. "Why do you need Leo's help anyway? Isn't the Council all-powerful? Why the heck would they need the help of some ancient experiment gone wrong?"
Alice thought back on her mission briefing. She had asked that same question of the Council.
Councilmember Mir had given her a simple answer before Zary had delved into a more in-depth explanation.
"He is one who possesses profound and unique attributes, just like you, Alice."
"You possess a unique resistance to nano-weapons, as demonstrated by your survival on Ganymede, and our subsequent tests. This will allow you to survive and persevere through situations in which others would not."
"He is the only known human who can manipulate space and time in such a way that no one else can control or counteract. If you are both able to coexist and share the purpose of destroying Exony's weapon, you will have the highest chance of success possible."
"All simulations in which the two of you are unable to cooperate have failed."
As Alice's thoughts returned to the present, Idi screamed in her mind.
"NO!"
"Yes!" Alice thought defiantly, then she answered Annabelle's question. "I need his help to stop someone that wants to kill billions of people. Without his help, I'll fail. You've seen what he can do, so you know that if he is on my side, I'll be able to do things that should be impossible. If we're going to stop Exony, we're going to need to do the impossible."
A look of recognition came over Annabelle's face. "Exony. That bane sounds so familiar... Where have I heard that name before?"
But then, Idi's voice sounded within the medical bay, interrupting the interrogation. "The nanites necessary for the subject's treatment have been generated. I r
ecommend administering them immediately to avoid further neurological damage."
Hope lit up in Annabelle's eyes, but it quickly turned into desperation. "Please! Please, give them to me!"
An internal debate quickly began to rage within Alice. Annabelle was young, scared, and already permanently damaged from her ordeal, but there was much more information she could offer.
Alice looked down at Annabelle and felt something move within her.
"Okay..." Alice whispered.
She could not cause Annabelle more pain and hardship not in the ambiguous name of some greater good. She would not add even more to the list of terrible things she had done. She had already gained enough information to move forward.
Based on what Annabelle had told her, she now knew she needed to appeal to Leo's humanity, and she also had to gain his trust. If he did have a good heart as Annabelle claimed, then the prospect of saving billions would surely persuade him.
Maybe she wouldn't even bring the Council into it, she thought. There would be no easy way for her to convince Leo to trust the Council, but she could at least get him to trust her. She could use honesty to win him over and demonstrate her trustworthiness through her actions.
"Idi, administer the treatment," Alice commanded.
"Very well, Alice," Idi answered, and Alice thought there was a bit of smugness that tinged the response. "The subject should know the process will be excruciating and prepare herself accordingly."
A look of blossoming hope quickly gave way to terror on Annabelle's face. "Oh, god! Please, no! Not more! Can't you just knock me out, or give me a sedative or something?”
Alice remembered the numerous times she had undergone nanite injection. It was the worst pain she had ever experienced, and there was no way to prepare for it. Annabelle would have to persevere on her toughness alone.
"One cannot inject bio-nanites into an unconscious subject," Idi informed them. "They rely on active neurological function to operate correctly."
The Ganymede Legacy Page 12
