by Jacob Holo
“I can’t believe it!” Seven said. “It really is you!”
“I guess it’s true what they say. You do meet everyone twice.”
“But what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Six.”
“Actually, I changed it to Seven. I added ‘stealing from the wrong people.’”
“Well, you never were very bright.”
“Isn’t that the truth!”
The two Martians embraced each other. Seven clapped him on the back of his armor.
“God, it’s good to see you!” Seven said.
“You too, man. You too.”
“Huh,” Naomi said. “You think they know each other?”
Ryu shrugged.
Three-Part held Seven at arm’s length.
“I thought you were dead,” Three-Part said.
“Come on,” Seven said. “I’m not that easy to kill. By the way, what happened to the hand?”
“Europa happened to it. What else?”
“Friend of yours, Seven?” Ryu asked.
“Not exactly,” Seven said. “We met when I was in the Olympian Special Police.”
“I was a counter-terrorist with the Mars Free Peoples at the time,” Three-Part said. “We were working the same case for different governments. Things got complicated and could have easily turned bloody.”
“And then you arrested me,” Seven said.
“Yes, but in my defense I did help you break out.”
“It paid off, didn’t it?”
“Right,” Ryu said. “Okay. This problem seems to have sorted itself out.” He turned to Cat and Naomi. “Let’s go find our jet.”
The three dragons made their way to bay A10. The liquajet floated on two slender foils under its hull. Kaneda exited the liquajet from a hatch at the rear and walked down the ramp to the concourse.
“There he is,” Cat whispered.
“Yeah? So?” Ryu whispered. They were still far enough away that Kaneda couldn’t hear them, even with his enhancements.
“This is the first time I’ve seen him face to face,” Cat whispered.
“You okay?”
“I’m just feeling a little conflicted right now.”
Ryu could understand. On one hand, here was her long lost brother. On the other, here was a sworn enemy who had just killed a close friend.
“Just remember we have a job to do,” Ryu whispered. “Keep that in mind.”
“I know ...”
Cat took a small box off her belt. It was the one Toshi had tossed her before leaving. She fiddled with the unbroken seal, then returned it to her belt pouch.
“I don’t like it any more than you do,” Ryu whispered.
“I’ll be okay,” Cat whispered. “I promise.”
Kaneda spotted them and walked over. His scorched armor had been patched up in a few places, but it had seen better days.
“Ah, Ryu,” Kaneda said. “Most of the fleet is ready to leave, but some of our repairs haven’t gone smoothly. Nine jets will not be combat worthy for at least another hour, maybe longer. I recommend we go now. We need to reach North Pacifica as soon as possible, even if it means leaving part of the force behind. Do you concur?”
“You’re asking my opinion?”
“I am.”
“Well, yeah. The sooner we leave the better.”
“Good,” Kaneda said. “I’ll reassign those squads. They can join the teams building up Capitol City’s defenses.”
“You mean repairing the damage you caused,” Cat said.
“And who are you?”
“I’m ... uhh ... I’m ...”
“Speak only if you have something worth saying, dragon,” Kaneda said. “Ryu, let’s go. We should get on board.”
“Lead the way,” Ryu said. The dragons followed Kaneda through the rear hatch into the liquajet’s cramped interior. The crusaders stood in tightly packed rows. Ryu picked the space across from Kaneda and leaned against the wall.
“Ryu?” Kaneda said.
“Yeah?”
“I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I really do.”
Ryu shrugged. “Life sucks sometimes.”
Three-Part and Seven’s sniper team joined them a minute later. They were the last soldiers on board. The ramp closed and the liquajet dove beneath Capitol City. Ryu checked the status of the liquajet fleet on his overlay. The eighteen jets from Port Saito formed up with another twelve from Port Kichida and thirteen from Port Yoshida. The fleet of forty-three attack jets aligned itself with North Pacifica and accelerated to full speed.
Engine noise echoed in the hold. Ryu rested his head against the cool, vibrating wall. He saw Kaneda muttering to himself and ran a cheat to read his lips. His brother was praying.
I should have known. Why does he do that? It’s not like it helps.
The liquajet fleet cut through the icy waters at high speeds. It reached the halfway point in less than an hour.
“So you’re Kaneda,” Cat said.
Kaneda glanced at her. His face held no expression. “That’s right.”
“You’re not as intimidating as I thought you’d be.”
Kaneda looked away.
“Don’t ignore me,” Cat said.
Kaneda said nothing.
“Hey!” Cat shouted. She walked up to Kaneda.
Three-Part thrust his arm out to block her. “Do not cause trouble, dragon.”
“Back off,” Cat said. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“And why would you be?” Kaneda said. “We are all skilled warriors, but we are also bound by our word. You will come to no harm in our presence.”
“I just ...” Cat said. “Look, I just want to talk, okay?”
“Hey, Kaneda,” Ryu said. “I know it might not look it, but this is a conversation you want to have.”
“If you say so,” Kaneda said. “Stand down, Three-Part. Allow the dragon to speak.”
Three-Part stepped back.
“Now, young dragon, you may speak your mind.”
“I want to know why you betrayed Europa,” Cat said.
“You are mistaken. I have never betrayed Europa.”
“There are some dead dragons who would disagree!”
“I’m sure they would,” Kaneda said. “But they do not see the worlds clearly. They cannot separate the good of Europa and the good of the quantum mind. I can.”
“But how can you say that? Haven’t you been used by Caesar?”
“So it would seem,” Kaneda said. “I offer no excuse for the part we played, but those actions were not a betrayal. They were an error caused by ignorance. We did not know Caesar still existed, and so were blind to his influence.”
Cat crossed her arms. “You’re an arrogant piece of work, you know that?”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“You don’t even know who I am, do you?”
“Should I?”
“Go ahead,” Cat said. “Ask.”
“If you wish to give your name then give it.”
“Catherine Kusanagi. I’m your sister.”
“What?” Kaneda’s mask of indifference melted away. He looked at Ryu.
“Kaneda, meet your little sister,” Ryu said. He pointed to them in turn. “Kaneda, little sister. Little sister, Kaneda.”
“I did not expect this,” Kaneda said. He looked Cat up and down. “Apparently, a lot can happen in ten years. How old are you?”
“Four.”
“I see,” Kaneda said. “Then the quantum mind accelerated your growth?”
“I also had a memory imprint.”
Kaneda shook his head. “That’s horrible.”
“What is?” Cat asked.
“The quantum mind filled your head with whatever it wanted,” Kaneda said. “I’m sorry, but you’re no sister of mine. You’re a walking, talking puppet of a machine. You’re its slave whether you realize it or not.”
“I am not a slave!” Cat shouted.
�
�I’m sure that’s what it wants you to think.”
Cat swung at him. A normal crusader would not have been able to react, but Kaneda wasn’t normal. He caught her fist and pushed it back.
“It seems you still need to grow up,” Kaneda said.
“You killed Toshi,” Cat said. Tears streamed from her eyes. “You shot him. He burned to death because of you!”
“Did he now? Shall I assume this was an innocent victim and not someone trying to kill me?”
Cat collapsed to her knees and wept. “You bastard,” she whispered.
“Do you think your suffering makes you unique?” Kaneda asked. “Did you love him? Did he love you?”
“Of course!”
“Then consider yourself fortunate,” Kaneda said. “Because some of us only realize what we’ve lost when she lay dead at our feet, killed by a dragon.”
Cat rubbed her eyes. “I hate you.”
“We have both suffered,” Kaneda said. “Shall we lay our burdens on a scale and see whose are heaviest?”
“Kaneda?” Ryu said.
“Yes?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
* * *
“Approaching North Pacifica now,” the liquajet pilot said.
“Well, it doesn’t look too bad from the outside,” Ryu said. He watched the city draw closer with a segmented part of his vision. “Lights are still on.”
North Pacifica was a collection of smooth disk-shaped habitats held together in a flexible frame of tunnels and docks. The city had grown organically over the years with new tunnels and habitats added in no clear pattern. Many of the habitats housed carefully controlled fisheries and farms. Others serviced and maintained the city’s expansive fishing and ocean bed farming operations. During peacetime, Capitol City imported a third of its food from North Pacifica.
“No sign of other craft or wreckage,” the pilot said. “No active enemy trackers detected. The only thing unusual is a powerful jamming field over the city. I’m getting nothing but white noise on the public channels. Your SolarNet links aren’t going to have much range in the city.”
“I see.” Kaneda said.
“I didn’t think it would be this quiet,” Ryu said.
“It would almost be better if we were being shot at,” Kaneda said. “That would at least tell us how well established Caesar’s forces are. I was expecting some evidence of what’s happening inside. Maybe fleeing civilians or wreckage from a battle.”
“You sunk most of our ships getting to the capitol,” Cat said. “There are a hundred thousand people in North Pacifica, and they’re trapped inside because of you.”
“Thank you for your pointless commentary,” Kaneda said without looking at her.
Cat crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.
“Do we change the plan?” Three-Part asked.
“No,” Kaneda said. “We need to know what’s happening inside. The jamming poses a threat, but I believe our allies have a solution. Ryu?”
“If the jamming is too heavy in an area,” Ryu said. “The dragons will act as relays for the command channel. Our TangleNet links can’t be jammed or intercepted. Anything picked up by one of us will be distributed to all dragons and then to any nearby crusaders through our secondary SolarNet links. The cost to our illusion effectiveness will be minimal. Our links have very focused signals that are difficult to intercept.”
“No surprise there,” Three-Part said.
“An excellent idea, Ryu,” Kaneda said. “This will also help motivate my crusaders to protect the dragons attached to each platoon.”
“Actually, I can’t take credit for this. Cat set it up.”
“Is that so?”
“Surprised?” Cat asked.
“You have been nothing but one surprise after another,” Kaneda said. “If only they were all this pleasant.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cat asked.
“I’ll signal the fleet,” Kaneda said. He switched to the command channel. Ryu listened in, but he could do more than that if the situation warranted. Kaneda had given him a copy of the command channel’s send key.
“First wave, dock with your designated habitats. No deviations from the plan.” Kaneda switched off the command channel. “Take us in.”
“Yes, sir,” the pilot said. “Now approaching the Pacifica Fishing habitat.”
“Let’s go,” Kaneda said, turning away from the pilot.
“Yes, sir,” Three-Part said. The crusaders filed out of the cockpit.
“So we’re just going to barge straight in?” Cat asked.
“I know,” Ryu said, walking into the hold. “Not exactly my style. Come on.”
They joined Naomi and Seven’s team behind all the crusaders. Might as well let the crusaders charge in first.
The liquajet glided through the waters around North Pacifica. A group of six slowed underneath the Pacifica Fishing habitat and ascended into the bay near its outer edge. Their heavy dorsal turrets breached the water and scanned the interior. Ryu connected to the visual feed. It was a liquajet bay like any other, with platforms intersecting the docks and cranes hanging overhead. Bright lights glared down on the turrets poking out of the water.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” Ryu said.
“That worries me,” Kaneda said. “People run for the exits in a crisis, but we have no bodies or signs of combat.”
“It could be because this is a corporate dock,” Ryu said.
“Hmm.”
“Or it could be they never made it this far,” Three-Part said.
“No signs of hostiles, sir,” the pilot said.
“Proceed,” Kaneda said.
The six liquajets rose onto their foils. Water cascaded off their bright hulls. The rear hatch lowered, letting the glare of the bay lights into the jet’s interior. Crusaders charged down the ramp. Ryu waited for them to fan out before he and his squad slipped into the open quietly. He stepped off the ramp and onto a platform piled high with blue shipping containers. Each was numbered and bore the Pacifica Fishing logo and their cartoon salmon mascot.
“Cat,” Ryu said. “See if you can find anything on the local networks. There should be a hard line connection somewhere.”
“On it.”
“Naomi, let’s help out the crusaders. Their trackers aren’t as good as ours.”
“Right behind you.”
The crusaders swept through the bay with such aggressive speed they were more likely to run into Caesar’s robots than catch them on their trackers. Between their patrols, the powerful active trackers on the liquajets, and the dragons lurking and watching, Ryu doubted any robots could avoid detection.
When the sweep was complete, the six liquajets sealed up and dove back into the water. They began patrolling the habitat’s exterior.
Ryu met Kaneda and a full platoon in front of a two-story tall freight door. Four sets of overhead rails ran against it. Cat crouched next to a SolarNet node box beside the door. With her illusion active, she was only a green outline on his overlay. She stood up and closed the box.
“The city’s infostructure is completely compromised,” Cat said. “The whole thing is swimming with some of the nastiest attack viruses I’ve ever seen. I didn’t get far, but Matriarch is working on a vaccine. I set up a portable TangleNet link so we can keep trying.”
“We’re wasting time,” Kaneda said. “Get this door open.”
“Sir!” Three-Part said. “Squad Alpha-Two! Cut us a path!”
Two crusaders stepped forward carrying thermal lances. They engaged their cutting beams, stabbed into the center of the door at head height and slashed across in opposite directions. The edges of the metal glowed and dripped to the ground. When they were done, they kicked the bottom of the door down.
Cat gasped at what she saw.
“Fuck me,” Ryu said. He felt his stomach churn.
The freight tunnel was a slaughterhouse. Glistening pools of blood covered the floor. Severed arms and hands
sat in puddles alongside spilled intestines and chunks of people’s faces, but he didn’t see a single whole corpse. The robots had taken all of them.
Kaneda crossed himself.
“You were right,” Ryu said. “They did run for the exit. They died within sight of it.”
“This looks recent, sir,” Three-Part said.
“There may still be survivors,” Kaneda said. “Move out.”
The crusader platoon marched down the tunnel.
“Seven, have your squad stick with the crusaders,” Ryu said. “You’re our communication relay. Cat, keep an eye on the rear. Naomi, you’re scouting ahead with me.”
“Lead the way,” Naomi said.
Ryu and Naomi climbed up the wall to the overhead freight rails. Several shipping containers hung from the rails. He scampered along the ceiling on all fours.
“There are a lot of hiding places up here,” Naomi said.
“Then let’s make sure no one’s using them.”
Ryu checked his overlay. Kaneda had deployed three platoons to the Pacifica Fishing habitat. The crusaders moved through the habitat in a rough line with dragons ranging ahead and behind each platoon. Ryu and Naomi followed the freight tunnel for half a kilometer until it forked.
Naomi stopped above a shipping container and retrieved her rifle. She tagged a location on the map.
“There,” she said. “Ground level. Just around the bend.”
“I see it,” Ryu said. “Caesar’s smartskin is good, but not good enough. Kaneda?”
“Go ahead.”
“Tank-spider ahead of you. Sending its position now.”
“Good work. We’ll move ahead normally. No need to tip our hand. Get ready to support us.”
“Understood,” Ryu said.
Naomi pulled a turbo-devastator out of her breast pouch and loaded it.
“How many of those do you have?” Ryu asked.
“Three, including this one,” Naomi said.
“That’s it?”
“They didn’t have many left.” Naomi dropped off the ceiling and landed silently on the top of the shipping container. She crawled to the edge and unfolded her rifle. “Ready.”
“Hold your fire until we’re closer,” Kaneda said.
Ryu dropped down, grabbed the rifle off his back, and joined her. He checked down both of the tunnels.
“I don’t see anything else,” Ryu said. “But there could be more hiding nearby.”
