The Owners

by Tara Basi

  Mina wanted to believe the human race didn’t have to be farmed by anybody but for now she nodded.

  “We cannot farm the Channels or you. Not directly. The Shard have never had a physical presence here that is capable of doing more than observe and subtly steer the Vigilance. My presence in a body that can do so much more has never happened before. It’s a unique opportunity for us to farm the Channels independently of the Vigilance. This is the most important development in our history for millennia. I am alone here without access to Shard technology, but I control the factories, the orbiting weapons platforms and much else besides. I have Truculent’s command codes. But I cannot force you to co-operate. I must therefore make it an acceptable trade off. Your blood in return for your freedom and protection from the Vigilance. If you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to accept your decision and turn my attention to Truculent and seek some measure of control that way. The Vigilance will farm you and you are already aware of what that entails. You have only to choose.”

  Tress asked the question Mina wanted answered, “Why do we have to choose either?”

  “Chickens don’t usually have any choice. I’m offering some measure of control over your fate. You do not ask very sensible questions. Which is odd, given the future of your species is at stake.”

  Mina had a question but it wasn’t for Eva, “Trinity, do we still control Reference?”

  “No.”

  “Shit.”

  “Again, your reaction to the facts is strange. I’ve taken control because I have a plan for your escape and future well-being. If you refuse the Shard, I’ll give you command back and I’ll leave this planet and your race to its fate. Truculent will never know I was here. They think Tress is still being punished. No one will ever bother to check. I will rise in the Vigilance hierarchy with the very ambitious Truculent. He now has the potential to produce the highest quality HIQ their Empire has ever seen. I’ll attempt to achieve the Shard goals that way. Though it will take longer and be less certain. Direct Channel control is much preferred.”

  “What should we be asking?” Anton asked.

  His intervention startled Mina but she was grateful for it. She was finding it difficult to keep up with the implications of Eva’s revelations or lies.

  “The details of my proposal so that you can make an informed choice between the Vigilance and the Shard.”

  “Then tell us,” Mina said.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “This body is reviving. I will establish a base of operations in the factory under which we first met. There I will prepare a detailed proposal and contact you via Reference when I am ready. It will take a spin or two.”

  “You mean a day or two?” Mina asked.

  “What else could I mean? These are the sorts of moronic questions that could get you killed before you ever get a chance to decide. For your own safety we won’t meet again like this. I shall confine myself to the factory. We’ll communicate via Reference. Be careful though. While it might reduce the chances of this warrior body overreacting if it can’t attack you with blades it might call down an orbital strike. That would be a terrible loss for both of us. I cannot risk damaging it again through forced sedation. You have been warned. I will leave now.”

  Eva abruptly shot to her feet, shook her head, glared at everyone, grabbed the furry balls in the net and was enveloped by a smoky bubble that immediately vanished.

  “I don’t trust anything she says,” Jugger said.

  “Like I said. We shouldn’t trust anyone. We can test some of what she said. Trinity can we launch a probe or something? See if the shield she talked about actually exists?”

  “Is it just me? I think she’s kind of sexy. One big fruity mamma.”

  “Trinity!” Mina shouted.

  “There’s a launch facility in Jersey. We can send something straight up. See how far it gets.”

  “When?”

  “It all looks operational. Take a couple of hours for fuelling. Anton can monitor the flight.”

  “I can do that,” Anton confirmed.

  “Do it.”

  “What else can we test?” Tress asked.

  “Nothing I can think of right now,” Mina answered. She slumped in a chair and looked around at the faces which wanted answers she didn’t have. “Let’s take a break, think it through. Meet back here when Trinity tells us the launch was successful.”

  Slowly the room emptied till only Tress and Mina were left with Anton, who said, “We know what the Vigilance will do to us. Better the devil we know?”

  “At least the craziness about the formula makes some sense now,” Tress added.

  Mina seethed inside at the mention of the formula. “It was supposed to kill the bastards, not gift them some invaluable wonder drug. We’ve no idea what we’re doing, whatever we do. That’s the truth. Isn’t it?”

  “Chickens were around long before mankind. It’s likely they’ll be around after we’re gone. Maybe we could learn something from them?”

  “Like what Anton?”

  “Survive, outlive the bastards. Anyway we can.”

  Mina didn’t get the chance to argue the point. Jugger burst into the room.

  “Pinkie’s going into labour.”

  Mina and Tress raced after him. Maybe, Mina thought as she ran along the corridor, this is what Anton meant. This is how we fight back.

  Chapter 15 – Planning for a Trip

  Battery Boy wandered around the base without much purpose while he waited for Trinity to confirm that the launch had been successful. Eva disturbed him and he wasn’t easily unsettled. Not after all he had been through. She made him feel like a little boy again, being chased by hunters through the wastes. No. It was worse than that. She made him feel like the chicken Truculent said he was, powerless and insignificant. Is that all it was going to come down to? Choosing the best battery farm? No. Maybe that’s all the choice he had for now. Later, he would have his revenge on the Blocks, Truculent and Eva. No matter how long it took.

  Trinity interrupted his thoughts of revenge: there was news.

  Everyone reassembled, even a pale and a still surprisingly swollen Pinkie with the latest addition to their group, baby Jugger Junior. They were all there, the last of the free. Mina and Tress looked like they’d been happily crying, Anton appeared more haggard than ever.

  “Well?” Battery Boy asked. He was impatient to get on and do something.

  “It smashed in to an invisible barrier about half way between the moon’s orbit and Earth.” Anton said, then looked down at his off-screen hands as though he was ashamed of what he had told them.

  “Sexy mamma’s telling the truth about the shield.” Trinity added.

  Mina groaned and shook her head as though she’d been desperately hoping that Eva was lying about everything,

  “This isn’t funny you damn tin can.” Battery Boy boiled over. He was sorely tempted to shoot Nurse Trinity.

  “Don’t blame me sucker. Old girl over there’s responsible for the programming. I kind of like it. We can’t be crying all the time.”

  Battery Boy was torn between drawing his gun and smiling. In the end he did neither. “So now what?”

  “Me and Pinkie have already decided,” said Jugger. “We’re taking Junior and heading out. We’ll make our own way from now on. You can do whatever you want.”

  “There’s millions we can still save,” Mina protested.

  “We’re not stopping you,” Jugger answered.

  Jugger had his arm protectively around Pinkie who was gently rocking Junior. Pinkie put a hand on Mina’s shoulder. “Mina, I’m sorry if I’ve been hard on you but nothing’s worked out. More die. Maybe it’s time we thought about ourselves and we’re never going to risk Junior. You understand?”

  Mina didn’t seem to be listening as she gently stroked the baby’s head. Tress stayed back. She seemed uncomfortable around the new-born.

  Battery Boy was puzzled, Jugger was usually more cautious ab
out making difficult choices until he absolutely had to. Maybe Junior and a more assertive Pinkie were making all the difference. “Don’t you want to hear what Eva’s got to say first?”

  “Sure. It would be stupid not to. I’m not expecting the… mamma to change our minds, whatever she says. Just so you know.”

  “Why are you so sure, now, that this can’t work out?” Battery Boy asked.

  “I don’t see why she needs us. If I did and the offer was good enough we’d stay.”

  Battery Boy understood. “Don’t we all have the same question? Why does she need us to farm our own species, and why would she do it any more nicely than Truculent?”

  Mina raised her head to meet Battery Boy’s eyes, “I don’t have any answers any more. I can’t think straight.”

  Anton spoke, “I think Eva’s already told us. She’s alone. For whatever reason. And I don’t think she knows how to farm us.”

  Jugger was suddenly interested again, “What do you mean?”

  “Look, it took time to set up the Blocks. Get it all working smoothly? And who organised that?”

  “The Owners?” Stuff suggested.

  “Sure, it was their factories but we organised everything else. Think about it.”

  “Tracy,” Battery Boy said, finally understanding what Anton was saying.

  Jugger smiled, “She needs Block Bosses. I’ll talk to her.”

  Jugger had handled Tippese well enough but Battery Boy didn’t trust Jugger’s sudden enthusiasm. “No. It should be Tress. She knows more about Tracy than any of us. And Eva did save her and bring her back.”

  Jugger shrugged. Anton looked more than happy to let Tress lead. Tress looked hesitant, “Me? I can’t. I don’t know enough technical stuff.”

  “We’ll all help. To ask the right questions and analyse what Eva has to say. If the first session doesn’t work out someone else can try,” Battery Boy said, hoping his words would encourage Tress to take the lead with Eva.

  “You’ll be great. You’re so brave,” Stuff added, lacing his fingers with Tress’s.

  “I’ll try,” Tress answered, as she squeezed Stuff’s hand.

  “You get my vote. Mummy’s meltdowns are so unpredictable,” Nurse Trinity said, pointing a long thin digit at Mina.

  “Rust off, you little bastard.” Mina said. She looked close to tears again.

  “No one’s bossing us around again, ever.”

  For a moment Battery Boy wasn’t sure who’d spoken and then realised it was Pinkie. She’d gone to sit at the back of the room and was nursing Junior. Jugger smiled proudly and moved to sit next to her. It was obvious that those three would always have their own priorities. And he couldn’t blame them.

  Pinkie wasn’t finished. “That woman, Eva, has an angle that she isn’t telling us about. I just know it. Worry was the same. Told me everything was going to be great and I’d be living free in the dark under the Block with him and his lovely tribe of lunatics. And it wasn’t that bad till I found out the price was having my eyeballs scooped out before I got old enough to run away.”

  Battery Boy shuddered at the memory of Worry and his gang. He remembered that if it wasn’t for Pinkie they would have been blinded and probably died under the Block. Stuff looked like he was going to be sick at the mention of Worry. Pinkie’s warning only seemed to make Mina even more frantic.

  “Are you okay with this?” Pinkie asked Mina who had her arms tightly wrapped around her shoulders and was trembling as if she was bitterly cold.

  “Okay? Do I look okay? No, I’m not. How can we trust anything she tells us? She could be crazy, a criminal. Maybe that’s why Truculent left her behind.”

  Battery Boy didn’t know what to say to Mina any more. Luckily Anton spoke up for everyone. “Mina, we don’t know anything really. We’re trying to survive and save whoever else is left. It’s all on us. There’s no one else.”

  “I know Anton. I know all that. And Pinkie’s probably right about Eva. Yet, everything I do, everything we try only makes things worse. My head is stuffed full of guilt, horror, regrets. There’s no room for any more.”

  Jugger had no sympathy for Mina. “Make room. There’s more coming either way. You can sit and watch this lot screw up or screw it up yourself.”

  “I could run away and hide. Like you. Selfish bastard.”

  “That’s me Mina, you ain’t made like me. You’re made for suffering. Is that why you flew away in your spaceship to try and escape? Didn’t work did it?”

  Mina flew at Jugger, her fingers clawed, ready to slash at his face. Battery Boy caught her by the waist and spun her away. Jugger might have hurt her. If he didn’t then Pinkie surely would have. He set the sobbing woman down in a chair. Tress sat beside Mina stroking her hair. Stuff patted her hand. Jugger muttered something and left with Pinkie cradling Junior. After a while Mina stopped crying and looked up at Anton.

  “I can’t take another failure Anton. I’ll snap, permanently.”

  “I know you feel it worse than anyone. Life before the Blocks is still fresh in your memory. I’ve had time to adjust. And the others don’t know any other way of life. You’ve never had the time to absorb all of this, the Blocks, the impossible number of dead, the Owners and now Eva. Everyone will help and then we’ll never ask you again. I promise.”

  Battery Boy knew why Anton could make that promise. If Eva betrayed them they’d probably never get another chance to be free and Mina would be mad or lost at the bottom of a bottle. She was already close.

  A day later they were all back, waiting for Eva’s call, which was due any moment. Tress found herself sitting front and centre with the others arced in seats around her. Anton’s little face stared back, smiling encouragement from one corner of the large screen. Nurse Trinity was standing by her side. It was a comfort. She had grown to like and appreciate its moments of irreverent humour. There was so little to laugh about. Tress only felt guilty at smiling when it said something horrible to Mina. This morning, Mina had given as good as she got, which Tress thought was a welcome sign that Mina was recovering from the shock of the Block massacre.

  “Incoming signal. Sexy mamma on the line.”

  Tress didn’t find that particular comment funny any more. Eva was an androgynous grotesque. She took a deep breath and tried not to tense up. Eva appeared on the screen and Tress forgot about being relaxed. She muffled a scream and pushed her chair backwards. Eva was wearing a bizarre bikini made out of some sort of chain mail. In one hand she held an axe in the other a spiked club. That vision alone would have been enough to scare Tress half to death. There was more. Eva was splattered with blood and gore. Tress turned to the others. They were all looking shocked, disgusted or both. Mina couldn’t look. She’d buried her head in her hands. Only Jugger was unreadable. Pinkie had averted Junior’s eyes and pulled him close. Stuff looked nauseous. Battery Boy leant forward and whispered in her ear, “Stay calm. Just listen.”

  “To maintain this body in peak condition, and to ensure a modicum of calm it must engage in regular combat. This,” Eva stretched out her arms which were dripping with blood, “is something you must become used to. No viable stock were injured. You are already too depleted for that. This factory has many brain-dead cybernetic weapons. In sufficient numbers they provide an adequate test.”

  Eva stared, challenging anyone to question her. Tress didn’t. She shivered at the memories of the people-spiders from the Crusher simulations. Those things were better off dead. The others kept their silence.

  “Good. I must have your blood to which I will add the formula. This concoction is called Three, and it is on the Three that the Channels will feed. In this we have the same aims as the Vigilance. Where I, the Shard’s representative, differ is that you must be willing to donate your blood as payment for something of value. I cannot coerce you. You must be content with our arrangement so that you thrive and your numbers rapidly increase. They are at dangerously low levels. In return for regular, modest and safe blood donations I
will release every viable soul from the factories, and provide you with a pleasing environment in which to live. You will be completely free to do as you wish so long as you do not risk extinction. And, I will keep you safe from the Vigilance. If everything I say can be shown to be true, would you be satisfied?”

  Tress was surprised that Eva had asked her a direct question. It wasn’t something she had been expecting. She looked around at the others, at Anton. Everyone, except a still cowering Mina, looked as if they were still digesting what Eva had told them. Tress had her own question, “When would we be completely free? From you and the Vigilance?”

  Eva bared her teeth. It was obvious she wasn’t smiling. She pointed her axe directly at Tress and then swung it back and forth in front of her massive chest, straining the metal of her bikini top and splattering blood everywhere. “When you can defeat the Vigilance in battle, you will be free of them. Or if you can stay hidden. For the Shard I can say that you are an inefficient species to farm. Pigs show promise. With genetic modification they could suffice. It will take many years of development using the primitive Vigilance technology. Perhaps, in ten years you wouldn’t be needed any more. You would also be of little value and would therefore be ejected from the factories to make room for the pigs. At that time, you may do as you wish. I ask again, is this satisfactory?”

  Tress didn’t hesitate, “Yes, for now. We need to understand the detail.”

  “Good. In another day I will present the comprehensive plans.” Eva studied her arms still dripping with blood. “And, next time, I shall be… cleansed.”

  The screen went blank. Tress shivered, Eva was very frightening. Had she done the right thing? Tress picked up her chair and turned around to face the others, “Well?”

  Battery Boy came to Tress and wrapped his arms around her, “You did great.”

  Nurse Trinity did a little dance. “Bloody sexy mamma. Does it get any better?”

  “I don’t like her, she scares me,” Stuff said.

  “She scares everyone Stuff,” Tress observed, hoping to reassure the child.