Cassandra's War: A Sci-Fi Corporate Technothriller (The SynCorp Saga Book 2)

by Pourteau, Chris

  Luca nodded but stayed silent. Graves turned his attention to Hannah.

  “Captain, we’re running out of time. We’re in a war here. The Neos are armed and dangerous and it’s just a matter of time before they decide to attack. Take the next step. Get it done.” Graves turned on his heel and left them alone in the lab.

  “Luca,” Hannah began.

  “I know, I know.” She opened her office door and let Leroy into the lab.

  The beagle happily ran in circles around them until Hannah picked him up and put him on the table. “Stay,” she said. Leroy watched her with glowing eyes, only the tip of his tail wagging. “Good boy,” Hannah said with a catch in her throat.

  Luca dialed in the right genetic sequence, her stomach roiling. She checked her numbers, then checked them again.

  This was what real scientists did. They made hypotheses, then validated their results in the real world. Except in this case, the real world was an innocent dog named Leroy who loved tennis balls and happened to have a brain full of potentially evil nanites.

  She positioned the transmitter to point directly at the dog’s head. Leroy stretched out his neck to sniff at this strange thing pointed at him.

  “Stay,” Hannah said. Leroy drew his head back, a guilty look in his eyes for having disappointed her.

  “I’m ready,” Luca whispered.

  “I’ll do it if you want.” Hannah took her hand .

  Luca shook her head, tears already forming. “No, it’s my responsibility.” She clenched Hannah’s hand.

  I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Leroy .

  She triggered the pulse.

  With a yelp, Leroy collapsed.

  Luca closed her eyes and gripped the cold steel table to steady herself. She could hear Hannah’s labored breathing.

  What have I done? Luca clenched her eyes shut, her whole body shaking. What have I done?

  “It’s okay, Luca.” A warm tongue licked her hand. “He’s okay. He was just stunned for a second.”

  Luca used the scanner to test for active nanites. There was no response.

  “It worked.” Luca scanned him again, just to be sure. “It worked!”

  Hannah hugged her. “Congratulations, Luca. I knew you could do it.”

  “Yeah.” Luca bent down, letting the dog lick her face. She tried not to think of the next demand from General Graves.

  To test the treatment on her sister.

  Chapter 14

  Remy Cade • Haven 6, Blue Earth, Minnesota

  “Hello, Mr. Cade? Are you with us?” Jansen’s tone dripped with enough condescension that Remy thought he saw other people in the room shift uncomfortably in their seats.

  “Sorry. I was distracted.”

  “Now that you’re here again,” Jansen said, “what’s the status of the South Carolina refugee evacuation?”

  Remy tossed a graphic onto the wallscreen. He’d been given a hard target of safely moving nearly half a million residents from the South Carolina lowland country into neighboring states, mostly Georgia, to prevent uncontrolled migration.

  The chart showed he was less than halfway to his goal.

  “What seems to be the problem, Mr. Cade?”

  He sometimes worried Jansen was onto his espionage mission for the Neos. She certainly didn’t trust him, that much was clear. The irony was, he was taking seriously this relocation assignment by Graves. The South Carolinians just wanted a home again, somewhere to feel safe. He got that .

  “Ma’am, I’m not getting a lot of cooperation at the local level—”

  “I didn’t ask for excuses, Mr. Cade. You are at this leadership level to deliver results, not whine about local politics. Now, what about the LUNa City quota?”

  Remy swallowed. That situation was even worse. He’d been tasked with finding billets for 2,000 refugees on the Moon base and he’d found exactly fifty.

  “We are behind quota, ma’am.”

  “‘We’? The other relocation officers seem to be meeting their targets, Mr. Cade. All of them except for you.”

  Remy felt himself redden under Captain Jansen’s glare.

  Jansen looked around the table. “That’ll be all for today, everyone. Mr. Cade?”

  Remy stopped on his way to the door.

  “Please stay for a moment.”

  He reluctantly took his seat again as the room emptied out, pretending to study a spreadsheet.

  “Mr. Cade?”

  Remy looked up, and to his surprise, Jansen was actually smiling at him. “I have an opportunity for you.”

  “Ma’am?” Remy was on his guard.

  “I’m running a humanitarian mission up to the border in the morning. I need another body on security.”

  A ray of hope opened up in Remy’s mood. “Security? Off-site? I’m in!”

  Her smile widened. “I thought you might say that. Meet on the flight deck at 0800 for the pre-mission brief.” She paused. “We’ll need to make sure you’re up to date on your shots. ”

  “I’m up to—”

  Jansen cut him off. “Remy, it’s not optional.” She stood and strode out of the room before he could say anything else.

  Remy sat back in his chair. That was odd. She’d called him Remy. Jansen had never called him Remy before. Maybe this was a sign that they were reaching some kind of equilibrium in their relationship after all.

  And he was going off-site! After weeks cooped up inside Haven 6, he was no closer to knowing about the mysterious power plant the Neos cared so much about. His security badge gave him access to most of the Haven with the exception of one R&D deck and anything beyond level 36. As far as he could tell, there was nothing of interest to the Neos here. Just a few thousand people willing to throw their lives away to live in a hole in the ground for the next hundred years.

  The ark of humanity, they called it. Well, they could keep it, as far as he was concerned. All he cared about now was finding something—anything—about this project that could justify a trip back to Elise.

  • • •

  The flight deck of Haven 6 was crowded with three heavy air transports. Two were packed with supplies, and the ground crews were in the process of closing the loading ramps. A crowd of mostly civilians clustered near the open ramp of the third transport. Captain Jansen, dressed in civilian clothes but looking every inch the military officer, stood at the top of the ramp. She began to speak just as Remy joined the crowd.

  “This mission will be traveling approximately three hundred miles north to the Canadian border crossing at Emerson, Manitoba,” she broadcast to the data glasses in the crowd. Remy slid his glasses on and saw an aerial flyby of a large crowd of people hunkered in the snow. A temporary border wall of cyclone fencing delineated the Canada–US border, a political barrier slicing through the flat, snow-covered, wide-open prairie. “In the past week, the crowd has grown to more than fifteen thousand people, forcing the US government to close the border crossing.”

  “What do they want?” someone called.

  Jansen shrugged. “Our biggest fear is that this group is headed here, to the Haven. We have enough crowd control issues already without adding to the misery, so we’re going to play offense. We’re taking supplies and a portable medical unit to the border to see if we can encourage these people to stay where they are.” She highlighted three spots on the Canadian side of the border. “We’ll set up two supply depots and a medical unit. This is strictly a humanitarian operation. We have light security with us, but they’ll be making themselves scarce. This is a milk run, people. We make a drop-off, do some good, and get back in time for dinner.”

  Remy sought out Jansen after the briefing. “Remy, glad you could make it. See Sergeant Whittaker for your gear and you can check in with Vasquez”—she nodded to a dark-haired woman with the medical team—“for your shots.”

  “I tried to say before, Captain, that I’m up to date on my vaccinations—”

  “See Vasquez, Mr. Cade, or head back to your desk.” Jansen walked away
.

  He resisted the urge to snap back at her. She was doing him a favor by letting him out of the Haven for the day. The woman she had called Vasquez was facing away from him, so Remy tapped her on the shoulder. He was surprised to see it was the young woman who had scanned him the day he arrived at Haven 6.

  “Well, hello again,” he said.

  “Hi.” She met his eyes for a second, then looked away.

  “I feel like I’m at a disadvantage here,” Remy continued. “You’ve seen me naked and I don’t even know your first name.” He stuck out his hand. “Remy.”

  “It’s Luca.” She took his hand. “Hannah told me to give you a shot.”

  “I’m up to date, I just spent some serious time in a hospital—”

  “This is new,” she interrupted. “A new … disease. Gene-hopping vaccine. Very new.” She fumbled in her bag and drew out a heavy hypo-gun.

  “Whoa, you use that on people?” He meant it in fun, but it was not like any hypo he’d seen in the hospital.

  Luca smiled at him nervously. “Yeah, it’s a big dose. I’m afraid it’ll sting a bit. This is best if it goes in the back part of your shoulder. It dissolves slowly over time.”

  “Okay.” Remy stripped to his T-shirt and rolled up his sleeve. But instead of attacking the fleshy part of his shoulder, she slipped the gun under the collar of his shirt. He heard a psst as the hypo delivered its payload and a sharp sting lanced under his shoulder blade. He spun around, clutching his back. The source of the pain was out of reach of his fingertips. “What the hell?”

  Luca reddened. “Like I said, this one’s different. It needs to dissolve over time. The shoulder blade protects the capsule, er … dose. I’m sorry. ”

  Remy rotated his shoulder. The pain was already lessening, and he still needed to see the security officer for his gear. “It’s okay, but the next time you plan on shooting me with that elephant gun, maybe buy me a coffee first.”

  “You’re funny, Remy.”

  He winked at her. “That’s what you say to all the boys, I bet.” She was cute, and it had been so long since he’d had a real conversation with anyone here.

  Her blush deepened. “Not so much.”

  Remy found Sergeant Whittaker and secured a light armored vest and a Glock with rubber bullets. “There’s only six of us, Cade, so we’ll be spread real thin. No live ammo. Last thing the captain wants is a dead body. You got it?” Whittaker had a nervous facial tic that did not bode well for a security guard, in Remy’s opinion. “We’ll put two men each on the supply depots and the med tent. One at the entrance, one rover.”

  Remy nodded. “I got it. I’ll be on the med tent.” Luca Vasquez was on the medical detail.

  Whittaker shrugged. “Suit yourself. Just don’t shoot anybody.”

  Remy grunted an answer and headed for the transport. He spotted an open seat next to Luca and quickly took it. She peered at Remy over the rim of her data glasses. “You again?”

  “I’m like a bad penny,” he replied. “Ever been to Canada?”

  “No.” Her cheeks grew rosy again, and she avoided his eyes. “I—I’m looking for a day out of this place, that’s all. Hannah said I could go if I behaved myself.”

  “Funny, she said the same thing to me, Luca. Maybe we have more in common than I thought. What’s your day job in the Haven? ”

  “Me? I … um … work in medical.”

  Remy had been to medical at least once a day for the past month for his refugee resettlement job and he’d never seen her there. “Really? Which department?”

  Luca took her glasses off. She obviously wanted to talk, but every answer felt strained. “Research,” she said. “Deck thirteen.”

  Thirteen. The restricted deck. Remy lowered his voice and leaned closer to her. “Is it true?”

  “What?” She was whispering too.

  “You have an alien on deck thirteen?”

  Luca smiled, a real smile. “I hadn’t heard that one.”

  “It’s true. General Graves himself told me.”

  “You know the general?”

  Remy felt his laugh grow hollow. “Oh, the general and I go way back. Old army buddies, you know.”

  “You’re serious.” Luca was looking at him intently.

  “Serious as a heart attack.” He leaned in again. “I know about the Neo tattoos, too.”

  “You do?” Luca’s eyes went wide. “That’s top secret.”

  Remy shrugged as if he didn’t care, but his internal alarm triggered. “I know you figured it out,” he said.

  Luca looked around, then leaned closer to Remy. “It wasn’t just me … Hannah gave me the idea for how to deactivate the implant.”

  “Congratulations,” Remy said, his heart pounding in his ears. “That’s a big win for you—for us, I mean.”

  Luca’s face clouded. “I can stop them,” she said in a forceful tone, like she was spitting the words. “I know it. They won’t be able to control— ”

  The ramp at the back of the transport started to close, interrupting their conversation. The seat next to Remy was filled by a younger member of the security team who was determined to engage Remy in conversation.

  His mind raced as the younger man droned on. He had said “Neo tattoo” and she had gone immediately to “deactivate the implant.”

  Elise . A tiny flicker of hope started deep in his belly as Elise’s actions suddenly started to make more sense. Elise wasn’t making her own decisions. She’d been implanted. She was being controlled.

  And Rico … he’d killed himself. Was that because of the implant as well?

  Her will be done. Rico’s last words. Not a blessing, a command.

  And Luca had figured it out.

  Remy nodded at the security man as he talked, all the while keeping his attention on the young woman sitting beside him.

  • • •

  The transports circled the area twice before settling down in the wet, ankle-deep snow.

  Remy got a good look at the crowds they’d be helping. His first impression was that Jansen had bad intel. Fifteen thousand was a low-ball estimate. It might have been double that number.

  The Canadians had set up a sort of shanty town with crooked rows of recreational vehicles, tents and other vehicles forming a rough grid. In the center of the action stood a tall, 3-D–printed building sporting a lighted symbol of Cassandra .

  Luca paused on the ramp when she saw the Neo sign, her lip curled in disgust.

  “You okay?” Remy asked.

  “I didn’t know they’d be here.” Her tone reflected her sour expression. This wasn’t just a professional issue for her, this was personal.

  “I know what they’re like,” Remy said. “I lost my girlfriend to them.”

  Luca smiled savagely. “I took my sister back from them.” She looked out across the ragged town, columns of people already walking toward them. “They take advantage of people like these, people who have nothing. They brand them, and they use them like animals.” She looked at Remy. “And I’m going to stop them.”

  Remy followed her to the medical unit, which was already unfolding into a multiroom assembly line for treating almost anything. The med team were seasoned professionals and the field hospital was operational within a half hour. His opposite number on the medical security team turned out to be the chatty guy who’d sat next to him on the flight up. Remy volunteered to be the roamer and spent the new few hours wandering the outskirts of the medical tent, trying to piece together what he’d learned from Luca Vasquez.

  A long line of people waited patiently in the slush for their turn to see the doctor. A few nodded to him as he trudged around the med tent and the surrounding vehicles. It took him a few passes along the line to notice what should have been obvious from the first: everyone in line was branded by Cassandra.

  That struck him as odd. In the general population of the US, the number of active Neos might be one or two in ten. He would have expected Canada to be similar. He walked the line
again, just to make sure. Every single person was branded—and most of the tattoos looked new.

  Concerned now, he entered the tent looking for Luca. At the sight of his body armor and weapon, the nurse running the floor pointed to the door. “No weapons in here. This is a hospital.”

  “I’m looking for Luca Vasquez,” Remy said.

  The nurse snorted. “You and me both. She took off thirty minutes ago on a break and I haven’t seen her since—”

  “Thanks.” Remy stepped back outside. The gray overcast clouds seemed to press lower now. He scanned the crowd again, but she was nowhere to be seen. His gaze lighted on the Temple of Cassandra in the center of the makeshift town.

  He shook his head, at war with his own feelings. She wouldn’t…

  Then he recalled the way she had spoken about the Neos on the transport and he knew where Luca Vasquez had gone.

  It never really occurred to Remy to call it in. After all, he didn’t really know where she’d gone, he just had a hunch. Besides, he didn’t want to get her in trouble, and they’d made a connection of sorts on the flight up.

  But mostly he wanted to know everything about how to kill the Neo implant. If he knew that, then maybe he could extract Elise from the cult before it was too late.

  He started at a quick walk, but his pace increased with the tempo of his thoughts until the Temple loomed large before him. The building was meant to inspire awe amidst the squalor of the town. Nearly three stories tall and made of faux stone, broad steps swept up to a set of ten-foot-high double doors that stood open. The architecture was a clever blend of a traditional Christian church, a mosque, and sweeping futuristic lines. Something to make everyone feel comfortable. The backlit image of Cassandra emblazoned the side of the building, her half-exposed faces seeming to smile down on him.

  Around the side of the building, Remy caught sight of the back end of an ancient yellow school bus, an anachronism next to the modernity of the Temple. As he watched, a group of young children burst out of the doors, trailed by a pair of teenagers encouraging them to slow down.

  They all wore fresh Neo tattoos. Was it even legal to brand a child that young?