by M. D. Cooper
She sucked in a deep breath and raced into the corridor, her augmented muscles bringing her up to thirty kilometers per hour in just a few strides. Banking up onto the bulkhead, Tanis unloaded both weapons into the remaining soldier as he cried out and scampered backward.
Her aim was steady, though she was rushing her foe like a crazy person, and a trio of rounds hit the exact same place where his chestplate joined with the more flexible armor over his abdomen.
Blood sprayed out, and the man fell back, writhing on the floor.
Tanis didn’t hesitate to grab his rifle, deploying a stream of nano to breach the biolock. She flipped the weapon to pulse mode, and fired a shot at the first soldier, who was still struggling with his helmet, knocking him out.
Inside were the three technicians, and Tanis let off a trio of pulse shots with her rifle as she rushed past. Screams of pain came from the techs, but she ignored them as she reached the airlock’s outer door and saw the remaining two soldiers taking up positions behind the crates at the base of the ramp.
She poured on every ounce of speed she possessed and leapt into the air, both rifles firing at separate targets, the weapons screaming along with her as she sailed through the air to land between her enemies, both of whom fell to the ground—one with blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder, and the other in surrender.
Standing between the two soldiers, chest heaving and adrenaline pumping, Tanis grinned in satisfaction.
It was at that moment that two squads of MPs rushed into the bay, weapons drawn and trained on Tanis.
“On the ground, Commander. Now!”
HIGGS
STELLAR DATE: 01.22.4084 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Military Police Sector HQ, Sector 33
REGION: Vesta, Terran Hegemony, InnerSol
“What the actual fuck, Tanis!”
Higgs stood outside of Tanis’s cell, his words of greeting not boding well for the rest of their conversation.
“What were you thinking, breaking into the bay and shooting the place up?”
Tanis clenched her jaw, and rose to address the colonel. “Sir. No one was taking the attack on me seriously. I was attacked twice more, and so far as I could tell, those assaults originated from Admiral Deering’s office. I didn’t know who to trust, so I was going it alone.”
Higgs shook his head, pacing back and forth in front of her cell, careful to stay away from the bars and their EM field. “I read through the transcripts of what you told the MP investigators, that you were attacked after trying to gain entry to the bay, and again in your suite at the Grand Éire—something that is rather hard to believe, if you ask me.”
“It’s the truth,” Tanis said, putting as much conviction into her voice as she could.
Higgs stopped and planted his hands on his hips. “Except for the part where there’s no corroborating evidence. Your suite in the Grand Éire is clean as a whistle; no signs of any fight.”
“That’s—” Tanis began, but Colonel Higgs interrupted her.
“And when the MPs checked out your billet—you know, the one we provided you that you claim not to have used this trip—well, you’ll never guess what we found.”
“Uh…a cot?” Tanis asked.
“No. Lovell.”
Higgs nodded. “He has no memory of how he got there, but there’s evidence that an AI was involved in extracting him and severing his Link access.”
The meaning behind Higgs’s words was all too clear. For some reason, he and the MPs thought that Tanis was behind Lovell’s disappearance.
“Sir, I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t go to my billet at all. And what about the people who attacked me in Bay 8129?”
He shrugged. “So far as we can tell, there are some pretty large swaths of time when you were nowhere, Commander Richards. And then we find the contraband that you were supposed to have confiscated from the Norse Wind back on the ship, and the vessel being prepped to leave. Those guards and techs were there to take the Norse Wind to impound, and you attacked them. You’re lucky no one was killed.”
“Sir…” Tanis uttered the single word, but couldn’t think of what to say next.
“Yes?” Higgs cocked an eyebrow.
“Sir,” she began again and drew a deep breath. “You know me. I wouldn’t do this. It’s all coming from Deering’s staff—she’s working with Diskers for some reason. I haven’t been able to get to the bottom—”
“Admiral Deering has been contacted about this, and she has no idea about any of it. No one in her staff issued the order to lockdown Bay 8129…there’s reason to believe that somehow you did it.”
“Me?” Tanis exclaimed. “How could I order the MPs to seal the bay?”
“Maybe you bribed them. We found an account containing considerable sums that has been linked back to you, Commander—not to mention the funds your AI has access to. What I don’t get is why you boarded the Norse Wind at all, if you were in cahoots with them. Did your ‘associates’ attack you later because you were out of commission, getting Darla installed, and they thought you’d reneged on the deal?”
“Enough.” Higgs swiped his hand in a cutting motion. “For all I know, this experimental AI installation is to blame. Maybe you’ve gone nuts and don’t know it. I’ve reached out to Colonel Green to come in and examine you. Until then, you’re not going anywhere.”
He began to walk away, and Tanis called out after him.
“What about Sergeant Connie?”
“You mean your accomplice?” Higgs asked over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, if she was involved, she’ll get what she deserves, as well.”
Tanis wanted to scream at him, but held her tongue and let the colonel walk away.
“Other than finding Admiral Deering and punching her in the face until she confesses to everything?” Tanis asked aloud, following the statement with a long groan.
Saying the words cemented that course of action in Tanis’s mind, and knowing the next step in her plan gave her a feeling of comfort.
It was Darla’s turn to groan. <’Something’. Good plan.>
* * * * *
True to Higgs’ word, Colonel Green arrived an hour later, her usual dour expression far more grim than normal. As Tanis had expected, Harm followed in her wake.
“Quite the pickle you’ve gotten yourself into, here, Commander Richards,” the colonel said from the far side of the cell bars.
Tanis shrugged. “I’m innocent, it’s a frame job. But, yes. I am in a pickle for sure.”
Darla interjected.
“Even now, you’re wisecracking?” Harm said with a scowl as he approached the cell. “I assume you two are going to plead some sort of insanity, saying that the L2-AI pairing went bad?”
“That’s going to be a pain to keep under wraps,” Colonel Green said, while shaking her head. “This is a real mess you’ve made, Tanis.”
She didn’t reply. There was no reason to engage further; she just had to wait for Harm to do whatever it was that he was going to do to get her out of there.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” Harm asked, as a pair of MPs approached and the bars lifted.
Tanis shook her head. “You two seem to have already made up your minds.”
“I’m just pissed that you turned out to be such a spectacular waste,” Green muttered as the MPs walked into the cell.
“Turn around. Face the wall,” one of the MPs ordered.
Tanis obeyed, and something cold encircled her neck.
“Link and nano suppressor,” Harm explained from somewhere behind her. “You’re off the grid ‘til it comes off.”
The guards then placed a cuff on each of Tanis’s wrists.
“Touch your wrists together,” one of the MPs said, and Tanis complied, feeling her wrists lock together behind her back.
“OK, Commander,” Green grunted out the words. “Come with us. We’re going to look you over in the medical facilities here.”
Tanis turned and followed the first guard out, while the other one stayed close behind her. The moment she was beyond the cell’s dampening field, Harm’s voice came into her mind.
<’Florence’, eh?> Tanis asked.
The man’s snort came into her mind loud enough to almost make her jump.
Tanis breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was a record from someone pointing to her innocence. So long as Harm would be believed, when push came to shove.
He is MICI, she thought to herself. If he says shit’s going down, they’ll believe him.
OK, so much for my premature optimism.
she said, glancing around as she was led out of the holding cell blocks and down a long, white hall.
Tanis bit back a laugh.
she asked.
Harm gestured for Tanis to enter an examination suite, while telling the guards to remain outside.
“Sir?” one of the MPs asked.
“She’s restrained, and you’re right outside,” Green said to the MPs. “Room’s too small for all five of us. Plus, what we’re checking for is classified.”
Harm grinned and glanced at Green, who was unpacking a case of equipment.
Tanis threaded a filament of nano from the port on her left hand onto the cuffs, taking advantage of the suppression collar’s non-suppressiveness to disable her restraints. While that was underway, she looked over the small room, and saw a case on the wall containing tranquilizer hyposprays.
A label on the case read, ‘Emergency Restraint’.
She took a step back toward the case, counting down the remaining five seconds before her nano ate through the cuff’s locking systems.
5…4…3…2…1
The cuffs fell off, and Tanis whipped an elbow back, her prosthetic limb knocking the cover off the case of hyposprays. In one fluid motion, she snatched two of the injectors and lunged across the examination room to jam one into Green’s neck.
The colonel went slack in an instant, and Tanis only just managed to catch her before the woman’s head hit the deck.
“Considerate of you,” Harm replied dryly as Tanis rose and turned to face him. He glanced at the case he’d carried in.
Harm took a step toward Tanis, fists up, and she tossed the remaining hypospray from her right to her left, then jabbed her right fist out, slamming her steel knuckles into Harm’s eye.
He grunted as he fell back, and Tanis hit his neck with the hypospray.
With the MICI agent out, she turned her attention to the door, waiting for the guards to burst in.
Darla said.
Tanis nodded, and turned to his case. She opened it to find an array of medical devices, plus a pulse pistol and a shimmersuit.
Tanis didn’t waste any time, divesting herself of the loose pants and shirt the MPs had given her after being arrested, and pulling on the shimmersuit.
It didn’t have a fastener of any sort, so she stretched open the neck hole, squeezing her body in. Once it was in place, she reached back and pulled the attached hood over her head, and then Linked to the suit’s control systems.
Darla commented.
Tanis found the full-camo option in the suit’s menus and activated it, watch
ing her body turn from a matte grey to transparent.
Just as she was double-checking the scene, the door swung open, and the MPs rushed in.
“Motherfucker!” one of them swore as Tanis backed into a corner.
“Where the hell is she?” the other guard demanded as he walked around the examination table and began to pull open cupboards.
The first guard crouched beside Green, and Tanis took the opportunity to edge around the MP and slip out through the still-open door.
Tanis shrugged as she strode down the corridor.
LIKE A PLAGUE-RIDDEN BEE
STELLAR DATE: 01.22.4084 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: #7744, Terra Spires, Sector 127
REGION: Vesta, Terran Hegemony, InnerSol
Tanis eased into the apartment, releasing a pair of microdrones to scout it out as she gently closed the door.
The space was roughly eight meters square, and contained a couch—which she presumed folded out into a bed—a table, a kitchenette, and a san in the far corner.
After surveying the space, Tanis’s gaze flitted back to the case sitting on the round table next to the kitchen counter.
“I wonder what surprises Harm left for us,” Tanis said as she strode toward it. “You know…if it wasn’t for the whole ‘my name is mud’ thing, I think I’d like being a MICI. Cloak and dagger is kinda fun.”
“Garish clothing is fine if it’s on someone who is not ‘Tanis Richards’. Florence Lanny can wear whatever she wants; Tanis has a reputation as a ship’s captain to uphold.”
Tanis shrugged. “Something like that. I’m sure it’s my father’s fault…He was always so hyper-critical.”
