Lover

by Valerie J. Long

  Come on, Jo, I chided myself, the Major can truly solve the Air Force problem alone, so focus on the suits.

  Where was the last patrol? From the expected direction, I heard neither steps nor sounds of battle. Could I checkmark this opponent then? No, of course not. I had to have a look myself.

  On my way through Palmdale, I heard silent noises from many houses. Their occupants had noticed that something was going on, but they didn’t dare to come out—good for them. Or was a curfew in effect?

  Oops, slow! Ahead, the marked area began. I didn’t want to accidentally step into the special paint. The view from the distance sufficed—yes, an armor suit with heavy burns was lying there, very likely dead.

  I turned away. My conscience accepted the necessity of taking lives. Deep inside I knew though how wrong this situation was. It should have never got that far! We all were paying the price now.

  Damn it, Dragon empress. I was paying the price now.

  “All teams have secured their positions. We can call the cars in to salvage the injured. But we can’t get in, damn.”

  “Why not?” Alan asked the Major. I was curious, too, and I was invisibly standing behind the two and attentively listening.

  “Our grenade launcher caught several hits. I don’t know how we should take out the damned Ironstorm. Plasma rifles could work—if I’d send my men into the open fire. I don’t know whether they’ll follow me. We had way too many casualties.”

  “Nobody could expect that skunk.”

  “And that the damned suit runs straight back to the factory, no. Nevertheless, I should have provided a backup for this case. I’m bearing the responsibility for our losses. I will ask for my relief.”

  “How many?”

  “Eleven dead. Fifteen injured, three of them so severely that I don’t know whether we’ll get them out alive. And it could have been much worse.”

  “Worse yet?”

  “We had help. According to the reports, two camouflaged suits were hit by aimed shots. Three more suits were deactivated, and nobody knows how that could be possible at all. Someone’s been running straight through our ranks and systematically supporting us. Without this help, we’d all be dead now.” He focused on Alan. “There’s only one explanation. The person in question is wearing a nano armor suit with camouflage capability herself—and knows about our mission in every detail. We both know who this applies to, don’t we?”

  Alan nodded.

  “Damn—I was so angry that she simply ran off. Insubordination, cowardice, desertion—no, don’t say it. She didn’t submit under my command, that was very clear. So she couldn’t desert, she only gave a big bonehead the cold shoulder. And if there’s one thing you can’t accuse her of, it’s cowardice. I believe every survivor can give witness to that.”

  “And now?”

  “And now we’re facing the mission’s failure despite her help.”

  “That can’t happen. We need the suits for the next step.”

  “Isn’t there another way?”

  “We don’t have time. I shouldn’t disclose that, but it doesn’t matter anyway. By pure luck, we’ve found out where the President and his family are held captive—and that the Cartel’s organizing a transport. That’s our chance.”

  “Damn.” The Major clenched a fist. “Okay, then we’ll have to get inside somehow. I’ll try to convince the men. Perhaps we can deactivate the installations somehow. Perhaps a few of us will make it through.”

  “I’ll do that,” I heard myself saying. My invisibility gave place to the black of my Velvet costume. Both men turned around.

  “Jo?” Alan’s green-painted face showed joy.

  “Johanna?” The Major stared at me for a moment. Then he rose and slowly held out his hand. “In the name of my men, I want to thank you and beg your pardon for my behavior.”

  Was he serious? There was no false sound in his voice, no reservation in his body language. He went on, “I’m convinced that a clear chain of command is advantageous. Every trooper must be able to trust everyone else knowing his position and task, and that their superior assigns everyone tasks according to his skills. That’s how the military works, that’s how I’ve learned it. In your case, I was wrong. I’d never have been able to assign you according to your skills—and you’ve impressively proven your reliability.”

  With a smile, I took the hand offered so honestly. “I’m an anarchist, Major, I just can’t submit. But it’s not my style to let someone down.”

  “We’ve seen that—or rather didn’t. You’re wearing a camouflage suit, right?” He examined me closely. “I don’t see a hood or mask?”

  Alan leaned forward, too. “No. And yet you were entirely invisible. How does that work?”

  “There’s no point in pretending there’s nothing, is there?”

  “No,” both said together.

  “No.” Camouflage.

  Before the two men’s eyes, I simply disappeared. Without suit. It was too late anyway. I had never planned to expose myself so far, but it had happened. Now the cat was out of the bag.

  “Kiss my ass,” Alan uttered. The Major had a slightly better self control and left it at a quiet curse.

  Off. “A nano suit needn’t be thick to camouflage.”

  “Where did you get that?” the Major asked. “That’s no standard material, or is it?”

  “Stolen,” I admitted. “The usual acquisition method.”

  He smirked. “Well. You said you can deactivate the Ironstorm? Can you get close enough without the detectors spotting you?”

  “That would be an option.” Or can I switch it all off?

  —Yes.—

  Really? Execute. “Come with me.”

  The Major and Alan followed me across the street to the main gate. Surprised calls followed us when other troopers recognized me—no big deal, considering my size. I waved at them, thinking of their injured fellows who were waiting for the cars to arrive.

  Both briefly hesitated when I walked past the pavilion and toward the construction hall gate, behind which they knew the dangerous, computer-controlled weapon turret with the twin machine guns from my description.

  Can I as well take out suits remotely?

  —No. Frostdragon security installations, including Martian vehicles, are designed for signature control, but suits are not.—

  A pity. Status?

  —Deactivation confirmed.—

  No shot rang when I entered the hall. So I had effectively proven the success of my measure. After few steps, I turned back to the men and spread my arms. “Help yourself.”

  “What?” Alan asked in disbelief.

  “All deactivated. Your way is free.”

  The Major was already talking into his neck microphone without waiting for or expecting an explanation. “Primary target is secured. Advance for salvage. Where’s the transport, what’s the distraction doing?” Then he listened, and his features darkened.

  “Trouble?” Alan asked.

  “Seems so. The Air Force is preparing fighters.”

  “Dragon flush,” escaped me. “Don’t they know when it’s time to stay out of trouble?”

  “We only have one option,” the Major declared. “We must shoot them with the plasma rifles when they’re taking off—if we can.”

  “It would be better if the planes wouldn’t start rolling,” I disagreed. “You can get along here alone.”

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Five

  “Should we send someone with you?” I heard behind me. But what would that be good for? Neither of the troopers could run that fast, neither of them could become invisible.

  As soon as I had left the construction hall, I did both. I had to reach my destination before the planes started, otherwise I’d have no chance. And I had to evade the distraction that we had deployed between the factory and the airport, which cost me an additional detour and precious time.

  Time that I could then save at the fence by simply jumping across. The poor surveillance with
night-vision cameras and a few infrared light barriers didn’t bother me—this way or that, the Air Force would soon learn about an intruder.

  Another few hundred meters separated me from the hangars and the two planes parking in front. Ordnance technicians were loading the hardpoints under the wings. Air Force soldiers with night-vision goggles guarded the area. Okay, boys, you’re in for some work!

  Now I urgently needed an inspiration on how to prevent the planes from starting. Most importantly, it had to be a quick solution, as the first surprise shock wouldn’t last long.

  —Resource warning.—

  Dragon piss. Yes, okay, I had quite decently exhausted myself tonight. Pursuing cars, invisibility for hours, and a few close combats had of course eaten from my power, but I hadn’t noticed my reserves running empty.

  Well then. As long as the folks ahead were still loading, I didn’t need top speed, so I could grant myself a few more seconds. That also eased my camouflage. I realized that the energy consumption probably rose exponentially, the faster my outside had to adapt. Hey! Then I could as well save by moving my arms less and trying to keep my torso steady while running. Oh yes, that made an enormous difference.

  Again learned something new, Jo. Better late than never. Nevertheless it would become tight to sabotage the planes and then get out of here—time for a plan B.

  First the planes. No, I didn’t have to damage them completely. I only had to prevent them from starting for half an hour. Hum.

  I ran in an arc to approach the planes from the side, so that they were parked in one line for me. Then I accelerated again, sprinted through under their bodies—and my sharp nano claws cut the steel rods of their nose gears. The newly arriving pilots had to watch their jets bowing down before them.

  I had no time to watch their puzzled faces—I had to leave, had to hide between the airport buildings, followed by surprised calls but no shots—an externally induced event was only logical, but if they hadn’t noticed anything, what had happened how? Could they instantly conclude that an invisible person with a nano blade had to be the cause?

  Luckily, they didn’t come up with that idea soon, didn’t counter my action with a blind barrage. Before me, a gap in the steel gate of another hall yawned, an ideal opportunity, so I slipped inside and looked around.

  I found a place in the open steel frame design under the ceiling. Here, a static camouflage pattern sufficed. Now I only had to wait until the agitation faded. Again, I was on my own.

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Six

  My hunger and I, we killed the time together. Outside, excitement and confusion ruled, while it remained peaceful under my ceiling. The hall was searched, too, but my camouflage did its job. After all, who would seriously expect a saboteur making herself comfortable hanging from a steel beam? If you’d call my position, locked into the beams, comfortable—still, it was better than hanging from the ceiling using my claws.

  With daybreak, the unrest faded. They had probably found out that the attackers had withdrawn, so that they could return to daily routine. If everything had gone according to the Major’s plans, there were no injuries among the Air Force. The Cartel and the plant didn’t belong to their area of responsibility. Only the two damaged planes were an annoyance.

  They’d have to replace the cut gear, but otherwise I’d expect the body to withstand the sudden fall on its stump leg—a landing surely meant more strain?

  It already has come that far, Jo, that you’re worrying about the American taxpayers’ money, I thought with a grin. And soon you’ll make them bleed even more.

  Lazily hanging around in a maintenance hall was no solution for my resource problem. I needed something edible, and the obvious source for that was the mess on the airport grounds. This was a very ordinary challenge for an ordinary master thief, for which I hardly needed my nanos.

  As long as nobody but me frequented the maintenance hall, I didn’t need camouflage to climb down from my rest position and sneak to the exit. There were no cameras inside.

  The way across the grounds, in bright daylight, was a different animal. I mused for a while whether my camouflage was required. It was surely useful and meaningful. But if I diligently checked the windows from which I might be seen, and if I attentively listened for other people outside, I could do without camouflage.

  Crazy? No, only consequential. After I had ruthlessly exploited my resources for the largest part of the past night, now was the time to use it as sparingly as possible until I had built up a reasonable power level again. In the future, I’d pay more attention to my status and use my power reserves more observantly from the start. Now I only had to get away unseen, and to that end I had to replenish more power than I’d have to use for its acquisition.

  At least, my refined senses consumed almost no power. So it wasn’t difficult to find an appropriate moment and scurry across to the mess barrack.

  Several garbage bags placed next to a large container offered a promising first hideout, from which I could get my bearings and then could enter the barrack itself. But a dim rustling stopped me—I wasn’t alone!

  No reason for panic. The source of this sound was close to the ground and behind one of the bags, so it couldn’t be a guard. Instead, soon the cute eyes of a raccoon stared at me in puzzlement.

  The little one was hungry too, was he? Perhaps last night’s search parties had disturbed him, so that he had to continue his raid now, in the early morning. But why was he here at all? The metal containers were meant to keep such cadgers away from the garbage. However, I didn’t assume that the animal had come for the garbage for the first time today, so someone was sloppy here.

  Well, that wasn’t my problem. Just the opposite—here I could replenish my resources without having to enter the building and the raccoon would serve as my scapegoat.

  I only had to bring myself to feed on garbage.

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Seven

  You eat with your eyes first. How true. The black garbage bag was truly no nice table dressing, and the assortment of leftover food looked in no way appetizing. But except for a small part, the fresh leftovers were completely okay, for me as well as for the raccoon. Indeed, its quality was better than quite some things I had eaten so far—starting from the discount offers my mother had found in the supermarket up to the unidentifiable meat objects at Barney’s, the deli in San Francisco where I had worked for a while.

  The food was cold, but cooked or fried and seasoned, which a visit to the pantry wouldn’t have offered me. After devouring the equivalent of four trucker servings, I felt more than ready to take the Air Base on.

  I winked at my little dinner company and became invisible.

  Before I left the area, I wanted to have another look at the crime scene, at least from a distance. But when I saw the slender female shape leaving the newly arrived helicopter, I spontaneously changed my plan. Jana!

  She had reacted darn soon. Now I was curious on what she had to say. So I had to get closer—a double to the side, between the buildings, then across the rooftops, and to the fence.

  Status of security installations?

  —Deactivated until instructed otherwise.—

  Cool. And, Jana, what’s your view on it?

  One leap over the fence, a few steps to the construction hall, and I was close enough. No, I didn’t have to get inside, as I knew how Jana looked and what it was like inside—no, what it had been like, before our boys had cleared it.

  “Now?” she just asked.

  A male voice answered. “They’ve taken the suit production line, plus a dozen complete unadjusted suits and six containers with raw nanos.”

  “What about the guards?”

  “They’ve got them all and taken them along. We had four suits at the gates and four on patrol, camouflaged. They obviously came with sticky nets and paintballs—we’ve found the remainders—and this way rendered the camouflage useless. The battle must have been ugly—we found a lot of blood, surely not only from our peop
le.”

  “Do we know how many they were?”

  “There must have been at least nine teams. Four for the gates, four for the patrols, and one team blocked the way for the Air Base guards.”

  “Four teams for the patrols? Then the attackers knew how many patrols we had deployed?”

  “That’s the only logical conclusion, yes. They knew exactly where they wanted to go. And I thought the existence of this location was a secret?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s hard for me to say it, but we must have a leak. I had thought my people would be clean. I’ve put them all through the acid test myself.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll revisit all records, and I’ll most thoroughly grill all people off duty again.”

  “What about the surveillance recordings?”

  “I have no access.”

  “What?”

  “The entire installation is deactivated and can’t be restarted. If there are any recordings, we can’t access them.”

  Delete.

  —Confirmed.—

  “The installation’s deactivated? But that’s impossible!”

  “That’s what we thought, too. All genuine Frostdragon, and nothing works.”

  “Damn. What about the Air Base?”

  “They couldn’t even get through to us. Then they prepared two jets for an air attack. Before the jets could start, someone sabotaged the nose gear.”

  “On the base?”

  “The planes were heavily guarded, and nevertheless the gear was cleanly cut, like with a laser.”

  “Across what distance?”

  “We couldn’t find out.”

  I felt like being able to hear the wheels in her head click.

  “Leave your men alone. The enemy has some new trick. Damn, we could’ve urgently used the suits.”