The Owners

by Tara Basi

  “Yes. We want a guarantee you won’t interfere or cut the process short.”

  “If I didn’t need you to breed, your people could stay in the pods for ever for all I care. All I want is a regular supply of your happy blood.”

  Happy? Mina grimaced, there would be no avoiding the blood question. It could wait a little longer. “We want the terraformed Block floors to include samples of every species from the surface areas copied. Can this be done?”

  Eva folded her arms, “You can take your vermin with you if you wish. I’ll be taking pigs.”

  Mina saw no point in delaying the difficult part any longer. Eva was obviously losing patience. “We can supply research and techniques for making pig blood compatible with human blood. We already use it for transfusions. Why do you need our blood if pig blood will do?”

  Eva’s arms tightened across her chest and she bared her teeth, “I will not risk the Three until I have a viable, large-scale Channel birthing facility fully operational. Your blood is proven. This will take some time.”

  Mina wasn’t willing to give up so easily, “We won’t be leaving for two years. Isn’t that enough time?”

  Eva unfolded her arms and reached for a weapon then stopped herself. “If donations commence immediately the research can begin.”

  “Immediately?” Mina asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “At the commencement of the day after next the janitors will begin gathering all the humans and place them in pods in the designated factory basement. They will be unhurt and comatose. The pods will administer health care. Once they are stable the bloodletting will commence. Your indoctrination process can be applied whenever it is ready. They will not be revived till we have passed through the Travel-Way.”

  Mina wasn’t expecting Eva’s response. She was caught off balance and confused. “How long will it take, before you start taking the blood donations?”

  “Thirty days. And you are not exempt. A factory transport will visit every fourteen days to collect your donations.”

  Jugger jumped to his feet and shouted out, “You ain’t getting Junior’s blood.”

  Eva laughed, “Really, you think you could stop me? It’s irrelevant. Your blood is useless until you reach puberty and is of poor quality when you reach your mid-twenties. Your child, Junior, hasn’t yet ripened and Anton’s blood is worthless.”

  Another time Mina might have wondered how Eva knew their names. Right now she was frightened by how quickly things were moving. “So soon?”

  Eva wasn’t laughing or smiling any more. “Order is breaking down in the factories. Many are dying needlessly. The sooner they are safely in pods the better for both of us.”

  Mina fought to keep her focus and get back to the crucial point of their discussion, “In two years, after we’ve left Earth, we’ll be free? You’ll take blood from pigs?”

  “No, when we reach the planet. If we begin now and you supply the research material on pig blood.”

  Mina wanted to believe Eva. “Trinity, send the data to Reference. Tell us about the journey to the new planet. What will happen when we arrive?”

  Eva relaxed, a little, “After we pass through the Travel-Way your people will be moved from the pods to their new homes. It will take all of the time we have before the factories leave to terraform the interior of your factory and prepare the Channel birthing environments in the others. It will take a further five years to travel to the planet. Your factory will settle on the surface. Mine will remain in orbit. You will have a further five years to vacate the factory. Until you do you will be bled.”

  “After that, you’ll leave us in peace, forever?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? And remember, if Truculent tries to return he’ll find the Travel- Way locked. Someone will have to come back and destroy the Travel-Way logs before Truculent can discover where you went.”

  “Can’t we just destroy the gateway after we pass through?” Battery Boy asked.

  Eva sighed, as though she was dealing with the questions of idiots, “If we do that, Truculent would be alerted immediately and then he’ll find us. Enough questions, I have work to do. I want your final answer tomorrow morning. No more delays.” Eva cut the connection.

  “Who’d have thought a piggy-wiggy would save our bacon?” said Trinity.

  “What’s a piggy-wiggy?” Stuff asked.

  “It’s obviously a pig you idiot. I thought you knew about animals,” Jugger said.

  “They’re called pigs, hogs or swine. You and Nurse Trinity are the idiots,” Stuff answered, looking cross.

  “It’s true, Nurse Trinity is a clown, a jester and a fool; and glad to be of service.”

  “Will we really be free from the Blocks when we get to the new planet?” Stuff asked.

  “If we believe Eva.” The doubt in Battery Boy’s voice was obvious.

  Mina lost her patience. “Nothing’s certain, whatever we do. What do you want from me?”

  Jugger came to stand in front of Mina. His menacing bulk towered over her small frame. “You can start by kicking the booze. You need to be sharp for this. All the time. Or she’ll surely screw you and us.”

  Mina felt like he’d punched her in the face.

  “Everyone needs to be sharp,” Tress said, putting an arm around Mina’s shoulder. “We only have this chance because we fought for it and worked together. Remember that.”

  Pinkie glared at Tress, “I still don’t trust Eva. Once we’re on our way to this new planet she could do anything to us and we’d be trapped. There’s no escape in space. The learning tube told me that. I’m right aren’t I?” There was a cold determination in Pinkie’s voice that was every bit as fierce as Eva’s.

  Jugger smiled and pulled Pinkie close.

  Battery Boy was nodding in agreement. “Pinkie’s right, we’ve got to be absolutely sure she’s telling us the truth before everyone that’s left is trapped inside the Iowa Block.”

  Mina wanted to scream in frustration. “How are you ever going to be convinced? You heard Eva. If we don’t decide by tomorrow she might leave us to the Vigilance. There’s no doubting what they’ll do when they come back.”

  “If they come back, if she’s telling the truth. It’s all ifs,” Battery Boy said.

  Mina threw up her hands and slumped into a chair. She had no idea what else she could say to convince anyone when in her heart she knew she didn’t trust Eva either.

  “Listen,” Jugger said, “Mina and Pinkie are both right. Whatever we choose, stay or go, could be wrong. We need to find a way of being a little surer that Eva isn’t hiding something.”

  “How do we do that?” Battery Boy asked.

  “If it was anybody else I’d say we’d have to scare them, threaten them.”

  Mina shook her head, “You weren’t under the Iowa Block when we tried to threaten the Vigilance with nuclear bombs. They laughed at us. Eva says she’s even more powerful.”

  Battery Boy punched his palm in obvious frustration. “And she’s not even here. We’re never getting inside her Block.”

  Jugger folded his arms and smiled. “We’re agreed then, we need to lure Eva back here and find a way of threatening her. As I recall, she’s really sensitive about her body being damaged.”

  Mina groaned loudly, “Jesus Jugger the woman’s a walking army kitted out with super weapons!”

  “I stopped the bear. None of you thought that was possible,” Stuff said. The boy had folded his arms and put on his sulky face.

  Mina couldn’t help herself, she exploded, “Eva’s not a bloody bear and I’m fed up of hearing about it.”

  Surprisingly, Pinkie was interested, “How’d you stop it Stuff? You never did tell us.”

  Stuff gave Mina a dirty look and smiled at Pinkie, “Every animal’s got a weakness, that’s sometimes a strength as well.”

  Mina felt bad about shouting at the boy and decided to let him tell his story and then they could get back to the reality of their situation.

  Pinkie looke
d puzzled, “How’s that work?”

  “Well, a bear’s got an amazing sense of smell but that means its nose is very sensitive.”

  “You punched it in the nose?” Jugger said, with undisguised scepticism.

  “No stupid, that would have got me killed. I threw pepper in its face and it ran away.”

  “Stuff that’s brilliant and I think we already know Eva’s weakness,” Anton unexpectedly announced.

  Mina and everyone else turned towards the big screen and the old man up in space, “Go on Anton, we’re listening.”

  “We got her drunk. Remember? She was helpless for a while.”

  Tress clapped her hands together and smiled, “That’s right.”

  Mina wasn’t convinced, “She self-medicated and it took litres of alcohol.”

  “That’s the strength part. She could drink a hundred of us under the table,” Anton said with a fragile smile.

  Abruptly Mina stood up and shouted, “We could gas her.” Realising she was shouting and everyone was staring. She calmed down and lowered her voice before continuing. “Nothing harmful, an anaesthetic that’ll paralyse her major muscle groups but leave her conscious and able to talk. Trinity, her alcohol tolerance should give us a guide to the correct dose. Right?”

  Everyone was startled by Mina’s unexpected outburst of enthusiasm, including Mina.

  “This is a high-risk strategy Mina but yes I can calculate an effective dose,” Trinity said.

  Jugger looked surprised. “Why not harmful? We’re supposed to be threatening her.”

  Mina shook her head, “It might trigger her defences and anyway a dead Eva’s no good to us. No, it has to be gradual, so she doesn’t suspect anything.”

  Tress frowned, “Why’s it high-risk Trinity?”

  “You heard what she said about irritating her, let alone trying to spike her drink. We’ve all seen the blood and the gore. She’s definitely not a vegetarian.”

  Mina sighed, “Every way we turn there are risks Trinity. Look, she’ll transport here in her magical bubble and might just vanish again at the first hint of trouble. We have to find a way of disabling her transport system.”

  Stuff’s hand shot up as though he was in school and this was all a lesson. Mina found it very irritating. “What is it Stuff?”

  Stuff was grinning like a cat that had fallen in the cream. “Chain her down, to the floor or something really heavy.”

  Trinity burst into a little dance. “Give that boy a coconut. Crude and simple. Just the way we like ‘em.”

  Mina was stunned, Stuff was right. There was no reason it couldn’t work. “Trinity, we’ll have to knock her out completely, chain her up and then partly revive her. She has to stay paralysed till we’re done.”

  Trinity snapped its metal fingers, “Easy peasy.”

  Mina couldn’t help herself: she was smiling.

  “How do we get her here?” Pinkie asked.

  Mina’s smile disappeared like a drop of rain in the desert. Pinkie was right to ask but her little question had crushed the faint spark of optimism Mina had momentarily enjoyed. If they couldn’t get her to come to the base, then the whole idea was a day dream.

  “Leave that to me. I learned a lot about dealing with bossy people in the Block,” Tress said.

  Mina wasn’t happy with Tress’s role. And Battery Boy took a lot of persuading. A new day was dawning and it was time to call Eva. Tress was the only one in the conference room. Nearly everyone else was watching on screens from a blast proof bunker in another part of the base and Anton from the Maxinquaye. Battery Boy and Jugger were just outside the conference room door, where they were mounted on Crushers and wearing respirators. Waiting for their signal.

  “Well?” Eva asked as soon as the connection was made. The alien woman’s head and shoulders filled the large view screen. She was back in her cloak. Mina thought that could be a good sign. Maybe Eva was in a relaxed mood.

  Tress bowed and answered, “We have decided whole heartedly to accept your miraculous offer to save us. You must forgive Mina, she is hot headed and a little foolish at the best of times.”

  Eva’s face betrayed nothing but Mina thought she detected a disturbing twinkle in her eyes. “Miraculous? Very well. Then we shall begin.”

  “If we might make one small request?”

  Eva’s forehead tightened. “What?”

  “It may seem a very primitive thing to you but it’s important to us. If you’ll do this one thing, we’ll never challenge your obvious superiority again and follow you unconditionally.”

  Eva visibly relaxed but her tone was harsh, “What is it?”

  “A simple handshake. It’s an extremely important part of our culture. It binds us to you forever. If you’ll so honour us.”

  “A handshake?” Eva paused and appeared to be in a daze for a second. “Reference has explained and confirmed it is significant in your culture. Do I have to shake every one of your people’s hands?” Eva had screwed up her face as though she had bitten into something sour.

  “Oh no. They’re not worthy. I shall be the only one but my handshake will pledge the allegiance of all humanity forever.”

  Eva laughed so loudly that for a moment Mina thought she might have guessed that they were trying to fool her. After a moment she recovered her composure, “You are a very odd species. I shall send a janitor to collect you. We’ll perform this handshake and that will be that. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

  Mina was overwhelmed by a flood of disappointment. Their whole plan was about to come undone.

  Tress bowed very low. “Please, if I may request, Boss.”

  Eva was already walking away from the screen. She stopped and turned her head.

  Tress looked up and saw that she had Eva’s attention then lowered her eyes again and continued, “The handshake has to take place somewhere appropriate, such as this base. The Block, the factory, would be inappropriate and it invokes terrifying memories for us.”

  Eva let out a low growl. “You are provoking me little chicken.”

  Tress bowed even lower, “I humbly beg and we’ll never ask for anything again. Our gods will be displeased with us if we don’t acquiesce in the old way.”

  Eva scowled in a manner that suggested she wanted to leap through the screen, rip out Tress’s heart and eat it. “You have gods? I didn’t know. Ah yes. Reference has explained. You have so many. You’re worse than the Vigilance. Very well. I will come. Now!”

  Before Mina had fully absorbed Eva’s answer the giantess had appeared in the conference room sending Tress sprawling backwards and clutching at the scarf across her face.

  “Now Trinity,” Mina whispered to the robot who was standing quietly next to her.

  “Why are you whispering? Eva can’t hear you. And the gas has been pumping into the room since Tress began the link. It’ll be at full strength in seconds.”

  “Are Tress’s filter’s working?” Mina whispered again despite Trinity’s reassurance.

  “She’d be dead by now if they weren’t.”

  Mina glowered at the little robot but didn’t say anything. She turned her attention back to Eva and a very small and fragile looking Tress. The alien held out her giant hand.

  Tress curtsied, “I think you are a god too. The others will see that soon. I want to serve you.”

  “A god? Really. That’s very interesting. Now, shake my hand.”

  “Please Boss god, may I recite the litany first, in your honour?”

  Eva coughed. “What is that smell? It’s very… pleasant. Why is your face covered? What litany?”

  “It’s our custom to be veiled in the presence of a higher power, Boss god. It’s only a few words of worship. If I may?”

  Eva’s face contorted and she giggled, startling herself as much as Tress. “Why not. Boss god. I like that.”

  Mina was so tense her whole body was cramping. Eva might discover what was going on and strike Tress stone-dead in an instant. She didn’t. Instead, she
seemed to be listening intently as Tress recited, in a monotonous drone, a complicated recipe for a lamb tagine.

  Mina wondered which would put Eva to sleep first, the gas or Tress’s recipe. Mina jumped. Pinkie had grabbed hold of her hand and was squeezing it tightly. Pinkie gave Mina a nervous smile. She knew how the girl felt. It could all go horribly wrong at any second. Mina could see that Tress was completely focused on regurgitating the recipe she’d committed to memory. That focus was probably all that was stopping her from collapsing in terror.

  Mina turned to Trinity, “Nothing’s happening. Shouldn’t you increase the concentration or something?”

  “Something’s happening to Eva,” Stuff hissed before Trinity could respond.

  The boy looked terrified. This was no bear they were baiting. Mina turned her attention back to the screen. Stuff was right. Eva was giggling like an embarrassed schoolgirl and swaying unsteadily on her feet.

  Without warning Eva’s giant hand shot out and grabbed Tress by the throat. Eva lifted Tress clear off the ground as though she was made of paper. As Tress struggled ineffectively her scarf fell away revealing the respirator covering her nose and mouth. Eva pulled the choking Tress close to her own face. “Tell me… what’s… I’ll snap… your neck.”

  Mina was in a complete panic, barely able to breathe. “Trinity for god’s sake get in there and do something.” Trinity hurtled out of the bunker. In her heart she knew Nurse Trinity would be no match for Eva. Trinity would summon other nurse bodies and together they might distract Eva long enough to get Tress out. Mina stared helplessly as Tress pawed piteously at Eva’s enormous arm with not the slightest effect.

  “Tell Battery Boy, Jugger. They’ll save her,” Stuff squealed. The boy’s eyes were almost popping out of his head.

  “No,” Mina and Pinkie answered simultaneously. Both women knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against Eva and her Vigilance weaponry.

  A war erupted in the conference room. A pack of Nurses burst in and attacked Eva’s legs with surgical instruments. The two women could only watch helplessly as Jugger and Battery Boy, riding Crushers, chased after the nurses smashing down a large section of the conference room wall. Battery Boy attacked Eva’s outstretched arm that held a choking Tress aloft. Jugger swung round behind the alien and pulled back the machine’s arm to deliver a fierce blow to Eva’s head. At first Eva didn’t seem to notice the attacks. Her gaze was locked on Tress. Then she appeared to sense Jugger’s swing and at the last moment tilted her head out of the way. Jugger’s steel fist sailed past her face barely scraping her cheek.