“Please, Julio,” she begged. “At least put them in cryo-storage. The facilities on level eight can house them. I’ll work on my own time…at home…come up with a way revise their DNA and re-instantiate the protocol. You’ve seen my lab. You know I have the resources to at least try. I’ve already been working on some genetic designs that might make it possible…. I’ll give PSG all the code and the rights to them as well. Please….”
Julio sighed again and shook his head.
“At least save the prototype,” she pleaded. “She has the Methionine Protocol. I swear!”
Julio’s eyes met hers, and there was a hint of kindness.
“I’ll have Cabrillo confirm it. If she does, then she’ll live. The rest must be euthanized, though. No exceptions.”
Maria’s shoulders slumped. She was helpless to save them. She felt a large hand wrap gently around her left arm. She looked up into the black eyes of one of her children, and she could see a glimmer of sadness there.
She locked eyes with Julio one last time. “You don’t need to kill them,” she said. “Just give me a chance.”
Julio nodded to the guards, a grim expression on his face. “Your personal belongings will be sent to you tomorrow,” he said.
In a flash, she realized she’d run out of time. So it begins, she thought. She let the concern for her children fuel the determination she now felt for moving forward with her plans.
The rhino pulled gently on her arm as the other led the way out of the office. They passed by Julio’s executive assistant, and the young lady refused to even meet Maria’s eyes. As they walked toward the elevator, Maria pressed the comm actuator and selected a number from the display.
“Altra here,” the robot said on the other end.
“Will you meet me out in front of the building. Immediately, please.”
“Yes, Doctor Fujimoto.”
“And initiate the file Seed Seventeen in my personal library.”
“Yes, Doctor Fujimoto.”
Maria cut the link, a grim look on her face.
She and the rhinos rode the elevator in silence. It was a long way down, and several company employees got on and off as they went down. She knew some of them and even nodded her head when they saw her. Every single one looked at the rhinos with concern and worry, but she offered no explanation, and none of them asked. When the doors opened on the first floor, the rhinos marched her out into the lobby, through the soaring, jungle-like atrium, and out through the main doors to the street.
Just outside, Altra stood, waiting like an alabaster statue in the middle of an ancient Greek courtyard.
One of the rhinos immediately turned and marched back into the building without even looking at Maria, but the other, the one who had taken her arm, stood beside her with what had to be a pained expression on his thick, gray features.
“I’m sorry, Momma,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. “We have to do what we’re told,” he added.
Her heart broke. She knew the truth of his words better than he did. She’d designed him that way. “It’s alright, Toku,” she said, placing her hand on his chest. “I understand. I don’t blame you. Survive, baby,” she added, meaning it. She wanted them all to survive, but now she had to advance her timetable and take risks that might get more of them—and her—killed.
* * *
Part 2
Maria landed her air car on the roof of the warehouse she’d called home for years. The gray, polysteel building, almost completely windowless, sat on the edge of the industrial sector, right on the banks of the Sagrado del Corazon. It had been a storage facility for textiles before she’d bought it and had it heavily remodeled. It now served as both a lavish home and her own private research facility, save on a far smaller scale than her lab at PSG.
She and Altra exited the vehicle and entered the elevator on the roof, quickly descending into her home.
The doors opened on the second floor, and as they stepped out, two tall, lithe humanoids covered in fur greeted her. They were clothed in simple shorts and collarless shirts of gray, and their roughly human feet were bare. The first humanoid was a feline female, with smooth black fur, fiery yellow eyes, and just the hint of canines projecting from her slightly pointed snout. Her head was clearly that of a cat, but her body was as humanoid as Maria’s, her fingers and thumb, while shorter than a humans’, looked nimble, although they ended in severe, retractable claws. The second humanoid had a pelt of short hair with dark brown and black brindle patterning. His head had an elongated snout, a black nose, and orange eyes that glinted with intelligence.
“Carmen,” Maria said, nodding to the feline. “Angel,” she added with a smile for the canine. The two had been given the designations G1C34 and G1F17 when they were created. When they’d escaped from the military installation, they made their way to Maria, who nursed them both back to health. She’d also given them their daily injections to subvert the Methionine Protocol. “We have work to do,” she said simply as she rushed past. “Follow me.”
* * *
Maria sat before a bank of monitors arrayed in two rows above her desk on the third floor of the warehouse. There was another workstation across the room, and the rest of the space was occupied by an assortment of medical equipment, a gurney, and a wall of cabinetry that made a corner of the warehouse look like a cross between a laboratory and an operating room.
Altra stood off to her right, motionless, while the genies stood behind her, watching what she was doing.
She pulled up an interface on the computer for remote-accessing PSG’s internal network.
“You ran Seed Seventeen before you left?” she asked Altra.
Altra turned to face her. “Of course, Doctor Fujimoto,” she replied.
“Good, then this should work.”
She entered a set of credentials, and the screen changed to the PSG corporate UI. She navigated through the system, flicking past one screen after another, until she found what she wanted.
“Is that the internal PSG network?” Angel asked in a low, growling voice.
“Yes,” Maria said without taking her eyes away from the screen. “It is.”
“How were you able to gain access?” he asked. “Wouldn’t they would have disabled your access immediately?”
“I can rewrite DNA in my sleep, Angel,” Maria said with a good deal of pride. “There isn’t a software language in existence that isn’t child’s play to me. The command I had Altra run before she left created an administrative user on their network. Now I have full access to more of their systems than Julio does.” She turned and looked at Altra. “Hacking software is a lot easier than even just changing an organism’s skin color predictively.” She looked at him. “Where do you think you got that brindle pattern?” she asked. “I created Seed Seventeen months ago for just this situation.” She turned back to the screen. “Julio has no idea who he is dealing with.”
A few more keystrokes and screens found her looking at an email interface. She read through a dozen subjects quickly before stopping at one and opening it.
A wicked smile crossed her lips, and she reread the very brief email, a surge of joy flushing her cheeks. “He isn’t going to euthanize them,” she said, mostly to herself.
“Who?” Angel asked.
“Julio. He said he was going to euthanize the Gen3s. I begged him to freeze them, just to buy us time, but he said he was going to terminate them. This email is an order for Richard Cabrillo to let them receive their indoctrination and freeze them before they are awakened.” She turned to the genies. “We have time,” she said urgently.
“What’s happened?” Angel asked.
Maria told them about being fired and why.
“So,” Carmen said, in her quiet, almost mewling voice, “what do we do now?”
Maria met the eyes of Carmen and Angel. “We do whatever we must to save as many as we can.” She glanced at Altra. “Which reminds me…” she said, “Altra, please come here and expose your data port.”
The robot stepped up, turned to the side slightly, and a small compartment opened up on her right thigh, exposing an empty space with a line of ports recessed into the back.
Maria pulled a narrow optical cable from the back of her desk and plugged it into one of Altra’s ports. Switching to another screen, she pulled up another interface for Altra’s command program where she’d made modifications months earlier. “I’m about to upload a massive amount of data, Altra,” she said. “It will include some new skills as well as the full body of my research and all the technical specifications. It is vital that you protect this data at all costs.”
“I understand, Doctor Fujimoto,” Altra replied.
Maria turned back to the terminal, activated the upload, and watched a series of protocol titles flash by, including combat, vehicle and starship piloting, farming, engineering, and a litany of others. “You are the key to their future,” she said, turning back to the terminal.
She began scanning Julio’s emails again, looking for something—anything—that might be of use, but there was nothing. At least the Gen3s are safe…for the time being. “And now for the next part,” she said, turning to the genies who stood anxiously behind her.
“Atlantis Dolos Leto,” she said slowly, staring into their eyes.
Both genies shuddered slightly and blinked several times. They both got curious expressions on their furred faces as—Maria hoped—a series of memories opened up to them.
“Were either of you able to create a back door?” she asked hopefully. Everything now rested on the chance that one of them had been in the right place at the right time. She knew that both of them had been assigned to a Black Ops unit working for Presidenté Vasquez.
Carmine shook his head, but Angel smiled and nodded. “I did,” she said. “They had me working with a team in counter-intelligence.”
“How did you do that?” Angel asked after a moment. “I remember doing things…secretly…and I only just now can recall having done them.”
Maria smiled. “It’s one of the seeds I planted. I’ve been planning this since before I joined PSG,” she said. “When I began the research into this project, I knew that humanity would want to keep you as slaves. I don’t intend to let that happen, but I had to make a deal with the devil for the resources I needed. I wrote the primary indoctrination process, and I built into all of them a ghost program. Essentially, it turned all of you into sleeper agents. Until the code phrase was spoken to you, you would have no recollection of anything.” She turned to Carmen. “So, do you think you can get into the military network?”
Carmen’s smile was predatory. “I know I can,” she said.
“Then I want you to start monitoring military operations and communications. Focus on a military installation in La Junta called Escuela de Guerra,” she said. “You can use that terminal over there,” she added, pointing to a desk and terminal across the lab. “And look for a newly built starship—military or commercial, I don’t care which—that is slated for launch,” she added. She looked at her children, her eyes full of determination. “We’ll get through this,” she said. “The timetable has been accelerated. Instead of years, it’s looking like weeks, maybe even days, but I think I’ve planned for just about everything. Will you help me save them?”
They both nodded. “Momma, we will do anything to save our brothers and sisters.”
“Good,” Maria said. “We’re just getting started.”
* * *
24 Hours Later
Maria leaned over the micro manipulator, redesigning a retro-virus that would serve her purposes. She’d laid the groundwork for the little beastie but had set the work aside with the intention of getting to it later. Her plans now required it to work, work the first time, and not kill the subject when it was finished. Altra stood nearby, ever willing to perform whatever task Maria gave it. Carmen had left her terminal once for a quick cat-nap, and Angel did what he could to assist her in brainstorming areas to search within the military network.
The government news station played in the background while they worked so Maria could keep track of events unfolding within in the city, and it sounded like they were drawing closer and closer to a civil war.
“Today, Unified Public Liberation Force rebels blew up a new Citizen Identification and Authorization center. The Citizen Identification Bill, or CIB, was signed into law last week by Presidenté Vasquez. It required all citizens to register their DNA with the government and carry a new, encrypted ID card with them at all times that would include this data. It is believed the CIB was the motivation for the attack. Two dozen administrators, forty-three Republican Guard soldiers, and nearly a hundred civilians were killed in the explosion. In response to growing unrest across all four worlds of the Republic, Presidenté Vasquez has announced he is bringing twenty-four corvette-class warships and a dozen troop transports out of mothball to expand the government’s defensive capabilities. He had undertaken these steps as both as a security measure to protect the people as well as to ensure that external governments do not take advantage of the growing turmoil. Admiral Cortez acknowledged that it might take several weeks to gather enough personnel to man all of the vessels…. In other news, there have been skirmishes near and inside several remote cities on Montoya III, with dozens of civilians getting caught in the crossfire between the Republican Guard and forces of the UPLF. Presidenté Vasquez has vowed to take any and all steps necessary to eradicate the UPLF and return peace and tranquility to the capital world of the Escobar Republic.”
“It’s getting bad out there,” Angel said, placing a cup of tea on the table beside Maria’s micro-manipulator.
“All the more reason for us to move as quickly as possible,” she said, without pulling her eyes away from the oculars of the manipulator. She made another alteration to a protein chain and waited for the structure to settle into place. When it held together, she lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. “There,” she said tiredly. “I think that should do it.”
“What are you working on?” Angel asked, scratching behind his ear.
“Something special for you and the other children,” she said with a wink. “I need to let it multiply overnight to ensure it’s viable. I know the base coding is correct, but I won’t know if it’s stable until tomorrow morning.” She hit a button, and the sample she’d been working on slid out of the manipulator and into the incubator next to it.
Her comm buzzed in her ear, and the internal display showed that it was a restricted number. She pressed the actuator.
“Hello?” she asked, expecting some sort of sales call.
“Doctor Maria Magdelain Fujimoto?” a man’s deep voice asked.
“Yes.”
“My name is Mario Acevedo. I am the senior aide to Presidenté Vasquez. He would like you to take a meeting with him tomorrow morning at ten A.M.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, stunned. “Are you sure you have—”
“Yes, Doctor. My staff is incapable of making such a mistake. Presidenté Vasquez has insisted he meet with you. A car will be arriving at your location tomorrow at precisely nine-forty-five. Please be ready. No one may come with you. You will be searched for any sort of recording device, and your comm unit will be disabled while in his presence. I must insist that you tell no one about this meeting. Am I understood?”
“Yes,” she said. “Perfectly.”
“Thank you, Doctor, and good day.”
He severed the link.
“Are you alright?” Angel asked. “You look pale.”
Maria took a deep breath. Her mind raced, and a tremor of fear worked its way into her thoughts. It was no secret that Presidenté Vasquez was a dictator who ruled the Republic of Escobar through political leverage, blackmail, extortion, and murder. What could possibly have placed her on his radar? She looked up at Angel and got a sinking feeling. There could be only one reason. Her eyes darted back and forth as she contemplated possibilities if her guess was right.
“I
’m fine,” she finally said. “Listen. I need you and Carmen to redouble your efforts. Gather as much information about that base as you can. I want blueprints, duty rosters, schedules, personnel reports. And start formulating a plan on how you would break out of it if you had a hundred and eighty troops.” The news report echoed at the back of her mind. The mothballed corvettes…. She looked at Carmen. “And see what kind of interface transport lifts from that base.”
Angel’s eyes went wide. “You don’t mean—”
“Yes,” she said flatly. “Assume both armed and unarmed scenarios,” she added. “At this point, I don’t think there will be any other way.”
“Yes, Momma,” Angel said.
Maria looked over to where Carmen sat, staring back at her. “We’re running out of time, and there may be no other way than to fight our way out,” she said.
Carmen nodded; her eyes stony.
“I need you both to leave me alone until tomorrow. I have a great deal of planning to do, and I can’t afford any distractions. And can you turn off that broadcast?” she asked. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
Carmen reached over and hit a button on the monitor, turning it off.
Without another word, Maria moved over to her terminal and pulled up the PSG link. She had to plant more seeds.
* * *
Maria checked the time on her internal clock to find that it was nine-twenty-seven. Closing the backdoor access into PSG, she rose to her feet and moved over to the incubator to check the status of the retro-virus. The green status lights across the panel showed that not only had the structure held, but it had multiplied to a point where she could use it. She punched in several commands on the incubator, waited a minute, and then watched a small drawer slide out of the bottom of the unit. Two small syringes lay in the tray, full of a clear fluid.
We Dare Page 11
