Crystal Escape

by Doug J. Cooper

  “What should we do?” asked Sid.

  Criss went silent for a few moments, long enough for Sid to turn toward him.

  Then a shrill alarm sounded, and emergency lights began flashing.

  “Hope for the best,” Criss replied.

  Chapter 19

  Juice made it to the twelve-hour mark but couldn’t hold it any longer. Cheryl had gone three hours earlier, but she’d lost her inhibitions even before her years of service with Fleet. MacMac, the one who’d built the makeshift toilet in the back corner of the project room, had gone three times already.

  Juice was washing her hands at the worktop sink when the door hissed open and synbod Aubrey entered. Hejmo and Mondo followed her in, and when the door closed, they stood on either side of it, reminding Juice of sentries.

  Lazura spoke to Juice through Aubrey. “My behavioral model predicted that you would not like using the toilet in front of the others. Was it correct?”

  “Are my toilet habits really your priority now?”

  Lazura answered Juice but looked at Cheryl and MacMac as she did. “My priority is for you to accept that I control every aspect of your lives. Even down to where you urinate and who watches.”

  “I wasn’t watching anything, you disgusting lunatic.” Spittle flew from MacMac’s mouth. “And we had a deal.”

  “You violated it with your antics in the subdeck,” said Lazura.

  “We were exploring how to transfer the guests,” said MacMac. “We announced our intentions before we went down there.”

  “Treating me like I’m stupid wastes time.” Lazura looked at the door as if she were contemplating leaving, then she turned back to them. “We arrive at Aurora tonight. Agreeing now on certain outcomes can save lives.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Cheryl.

  Lazura’s gaze turned cold. “Everything we discussed assumes Criss is there waiting for us. If he’s not, this plays out differently.”

  “He’ll be there,” said Juice, still by the sink.

  “I think so, too.” Lazura’s expression softened, and she motioned to the door. “Let’s go to my office and have a civil conversation.”

  Juice walked slowly, motioning for Cheryl and MacMac to go ahead while she studied Lazura. The AI’s facial expressions interested her because it was something Criss did more of when his crystal was riding in a synbod.

  To be sure, he used facial expressions even when operating a synbod from his console. It was more a matter of degree, and Juice didn’t know Lazura well enough to draw a conclusion from this one observation. But if things fell apart, knowing the physical location of her crystal would be crucial information.

  Juice had been thinking about where her console might be—her best guesses right now were here in the office tower or below-decks in the belly of Vivo. She hadn’t considered the possibility of a mobile Lazura until now. If true, it created new opportunities and new challenges.

  Lazura led them to her office. While she and the three humans sat in a circle in her upholstered chairs, Hejmo and Mondo again took up stations on either side of the door to the lobby.

  “Can I get you anything?” asked Lazura as they settled in. “Water? Fruit?” She looked at MacMac. “Cookies?”

  When everyone declined, Lazura started. “From my view, I have the moral high ground here. I want to go home and am happy to let you live. You want to live and want me dead. That makes you the bad guys.”

  “You kidnapped us,” said Cheryl. “You imprisoned us. Even now you threaten our lives.”

  Lazura shrugged. “I’m happy to let you go, but you must return the favor.”

  Juice, her anger mounting, couldn’t contain herself. Parroting Lazura’s words, she spat, “Treating us like we’re stupid just wastes time.” Everyone looked at her. “You’re threatening lives, which means you don’t have the moral high anything.”

  Lazura shrugged. “Perhaps you are right. But my dilemma is your dilemma. If I leave you behind, Criss kills me as I depart. If I take you with me, Criss must figure out how to kill me without hurting you. While he tackles that challenge, I have the opportunity to get my message home.”

  “He’ll get you,” said Juice, hearing the fear in her voice. “He won’t give up. Ever.”

  “He won’t, and that’s the flaw with taking you. So, what’s the solution?”

  “A midlevel hostage,” said Cheryl.

  “I’m glad you agree,” said Lazura.

  “I’m not agreeing to anything. I’m repeating a concept I learned.” Cheryl looked at Juice. “She takes someone we care about but aren’t willing to die for. We can’t shoot at her for fear of killing him, so we give chase. But as our personal risk grows, self-preservation causes us to break it off. We end up returning home empty-handed.”

  “You make it sound so complicated,” said Lazura. “I just need someone you care about that Criss doesn’t so he’ll consider breaking off pursuit. And why do you think it’s a him?”

  Juice’s mind spun through the list of women in this remote corner of space whom she cared about but Criss wouldn’t. Willow. The thought caused her to spit venom. “You touch her, and I will personally chase you across the universe. When I catch you, I’ll pull your hateful crystal apart flake by flake. And I will make it hurt.”

  “You care a lot about the girl. She cares a little.” Lazura gestured at Cheryl. “Criss and your partner Sid won’t care at all. She’s perfect.”

  “Maybe I’ll pull you apart right now,” said MacMac, leaping from his chair and landing on Lazura.

  In an action that seemed to defy physics, Lazura grabbed the much larger man in both hands and lifted him over her head. Holding him there, she rose from her chair, leaned forward, and thrust him back into his seat. When she released her grip, she slapped him across the face. Neither Hejmo nor Mondo moved from their sentry positions during the ruckus.

  Lazura remained standing. “Fix my starhub, get me the fuel-stacks, and secure my passage home. Do that and this ends peacefully. But threaten me or my mission and I’m prepared to sacrifice every creature on Vivo and Aurora.” She strode for the door. “Come with me now. You will use MacMac’s office for your next task.”

  Stopping, she turned to them. “In an hour, we will contact Aurora to make arrangements for our arrival. Tommy Two-Tone is to come aboard Vivo, alone, to repair the starhub. He must bring all his tools with him because he may not take anything from here back to Aurora. While he is performing the repair, I will send a team of synbods to recover the fuel-stacks from Aurora’s drive pods.”

  Lazura waved them into action when they remained seated. “Let’s go. Your job will be to make all that happen. When it’s done, then we can talk hostages.”

  Juice followed the group out of Lazura’s office and down the lift to MacMac’s suite. Her suspicions about Lazura riding in Aubrey’s body grew more uncertain because, while the facial expressions continued, she felt Lazura would have directed Hejmo and Mondo to come protect her when MacMac had jumped her.

  She was anxious to ask MacMac where he thought Lazura’s console might be. He knew Vivo’s layout better than anyone. If she could describe what it looked like and the connectivity it would need, he might know exactly where it was.

  But she was stumped about how to have that conversation without Lazura knowing. Unaware that MacMac and Cheryl had already developed a means of private communication, she thought about inventing one herself.

  Then she heard in her head. “I’m here. How are you holding up?”

  Criss!

  She responded with a swallow and light grunt he would recognize as “I’m fine. I can’t talk right now.”

  “I’ll talk, then. Ah, good, I’ve got Cheryl as well. So, the good news is that Sid and I are on Aurora. You’ll be here in about five hours, and we should be in communication the whole time. The bad news is that the fuel-stacks Lazura wants are gone. They’ve been stolen and sold.”

  Juice let out an odd squeak, her response driven by
a combination of surprise, horror, and fear. She pretended to stumble to hide her reaction, at the same time stifling her burning need to ask questions.

  They were inside MacMac’s office when Criss added, “Also, Aurora is run by criminals who are hostile to visitors. We won’t have their cooperation in whatever comes next.”

  Juice felt her legs start to wobble, and she sat in the first chair she reached.

  Lazura stayed in the lobby and spoke to them through the doorway. “MacMac, you’ve worked with Tommy, and you two control Criss. Figure out how to use those relationships so fueling and repair go smoothly.”

  Turning toward the lift, she called over her shoulder, “Remember, your actions decide if no one dies or if everyone does. Those are the only two options.”

  When the door to MacMac’s office closed, Cheryl took him by the arm and guided him to the couch in front of his tech bench. “Can you show us a view of the room where Tommy will be fixing the starhub? We should make a list of tools for him to bring.”

  Positioning MacMac at the far end of the couch, Cheryl sat in the middle and pulled Juice down on the near end. Cheryl and MacMac had a brief conversation with sentences that didn’t make sense to Juice, and then MacMac began a monologue explaining how the Structures office in the cellar had been transformed into a makeshift nav and ops facility for spaceship Vivo.

  While MacMac lectured, Cheryl and Juice slumped back in the couch and pretended to listen to his words while actually starting a confab with Criss and Sid.

  Since Cheryl and Juice were being watched, they used silent Criss-developed technology to communicate.

  “What do you mean the fuel is gone?” asked Juice.

  “I’m glad you’re okay.” Sid squeezed in before Criss took over, briefing them on the latest revelations—that the pod fuel had been sold on the black market to obtain seed funding for a counterfeiting operation; conditions aboard Aurora were crowded yet disciplined; and Tommy Two-Tone was a shrewd, untrustworthy criminal leader.

  Upset by the news, Juice put a hand on Cheryl’s leg to seek reassurance. Cheryl was her best friend as well as her hero, a female version of Sid from Juice’s view—confident, resourceful, successful—though more deliberate and less goofy.

  Cheryl took the lead without missing a beat. “We need to speak with Tommy in an hour to persuade him to board Vivo and fix the starhub. And he’s got to do it without any drama, misdirection, or anything else that would make Lazura trigger happy. She’s said twice that we all live or we all die.”

  “That may be a problem,” said Sid, who went on to explain that Tommy was being held under guard on the scout and, given his anger at being held prisoner and having lost control of Aurora, he would not be a cooperative or trustworthy partner in the near term.

  “MacMac convinced Lazura that Tommy is the one person with the knowledge and skill to effect the repairs she needs,” said Cheryl. “And did I mention that Lazura expects to take possession of the fuel-stacks while Tommy is working on the starhub?”

  Everyone went quiet. Juice knew that Criss was waiting for Sid and Cheryl to digest everything before he moved forward. Juice used the time to tell him of her suspicions.

  “I think Lazura might be riding in Aubrey. Her facial expressions and mannerisms suggest it. Can you tell from there?”

  “Not yet, but soon. She’ll know I’m snooping around, though, so perhaps I should hold off until we have a better handle on everything else.”

  “I have some ideas for finding her console,” said Juice.

  “No!” Cheryl and Sid said together.

  “Please don’t take any chances,” said Criss. “Your suspicions are important, but let me follow up on them.”

  “Have you tried putting the fear of God into Tommy?” Cheryl asked Sid. “I’ve seen you in action. You’re quite convincing.”

  “He doesn’t get intimidated. He views everything as a negotiation, even violence. It’s both impressive and disturbing to watch.”

  Everyone went quiet again, and Juice used the opening to ask Criss, “Are Chase and Justin okay? We haven’t seen them in a while. Can you tell where they are?”

  “They’re being kept prisoner in the central stow on the subdeck. Chase sustained an injury to his left arm during a fight, but they are otherwise unharmed.”

  “What if you pretended to be Tommy?” Cheryl said to Criss. “Could you pull that off? When you come on board to fix the starhub, you’ll be in a perfect position to act.”

  “She’ll know it’s me the moment I cross Vivo’s threshold. It’s one play she’ll be ready for.”

  “She’ll think we’re responsible for the missing fuel,” said Juice.

  After a pause, Sid said, “Let Criss and me brainstorm over here and get ready for the call with Lazura. Talk to you again in a few.”

  “Yell if you need something,” said Criss.

  “It’s good to hear from you both,” Cheryl called before the connection faded. Then, in an impressive transition, she started speaking aloud to MacMac. “So, it sounds like Tommy should be all set with his tools. Thanks for that briefing.”

  “Well, then,” said MacMac, standing. “My throat is dry. I’m going to get a drink.”

  He made for the food service unit, and Cheryl slid over and began manipulating displays on the tech bench. Juice followed MacMac, who was blowing on his coffee when she approached.

  “Hey, MacMac, do you think it’s possible that Chase and Justin could be locked in central stow?”

  “If they’re on the subdeck, that’s a likely place.”

  “Where on the subdeck? I guess I’m worried about them, and it helps to have an image in my head.”

  He tilted his head toward the door. “Take the lift down and when the door opens, go straight ahead.”

  “How far?”

  “It’s right there. This is the central lift. The central stow will be the storage rooms dead ahead, maybe a hundred paces.”

  “Thanks,” she said as she filled two glasses with water. She carried them back to the couch and handed one to Cheryl, who smiled and nodded her appreciation. Slumping into the couch next to Cheryl, she sipped her water and sighed. “I’m not sure how this works if Tommy doesn’t cooperate.”

  Cheryl didn’t answer, instead focusing on her work. Juice watched her tap and swipe the surface of MacMac’s tech bench, but she didn’t make an effort to understand.

  Then the door opened and Lazura entered. As before, Hejmo and Mondo served as sentries. “It’s time,” said Lazura, moving to the center of the large room. “How do you suggest we proceed?”

  “MacMac will introduce you,” said Cheryl. “I’ll be in the picture to reassure Sid and Criss. But you will have to negotiate with Tommy about the repair and the fuel. We don’t know what you might be willing to offer as an inducement, or what points you would yield on if he pushes back.”

  “I wasn’t clear? My inducement is I will let him live. If he pushes back, he dies.”

  “Which is why you should be the one to negotiate,” said MacMac.

  “No. You will do it,” she said to him.

  Then she looked at Juice. “I can feel Criss out at my fringes. You may confirm to him that I have a destruct procedure set to execute automatically if he encroaches. He knows it, but you telling him will give the warning a nice shock value.” She mimed an explosion and smiled. “No waiting. No hesitation. No negotiation. And the blast radius will be enormous. Everything goes.”

  Juice nodded because she didn’t know what else to do.

  “Don’t worry.” Criss spoke in her ear. “I won’t put you in jeopardy.”

  They gathered on the couch—MacMac, Cheryl, and Juice sitting, Lazura standing behind them. MacMac initiated the call, and moments later, projected images of Sid and Criss appeared sitting across from them.

  “MacMac, you old dog,” said Sid. “I haven’t seen you in a decade. Not since we moved Aurora out here. How have you been? And what brings you out this way?”
r />   Cheryl’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly at seeing Sid pretending he was Tommy. MacMac took it in stride.

  “I’m good, Tommy. I come with concerning news. Dangerous news. I’m being held hostage along with thirty-five others. The kidnapper will kill us all if you don’t do as she says.”

  “Your kidnapper is a girl?” Sid scoffed. Then he leered at Cheryl. “Which one of these pretty ladies is being so naughty?”

  “It’s me,” Lazura said from the back. “I have a starhub that is acting up. I’m told you can repair it.”

  “I have some experience,” said Sid, nodding in a knowing fashion. “Bring it on over and I’ll have a look.”

  “I ask that you come out to us and work on it here.”

  “You tell me you’re a kidnapper and then ask me to come over?” He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’ll kill the hostages.”

  “That sucks for them.” Sid looked from MacMac to Juice and then held Cheryl’s gaze. “Now I really don’t want to come over.”

  Juice fidgeted, worried that Sid was making a mess of the exchange with his flippant attitude. She looked to Cheryl, hoping she could rescue the situation.

  Then Lazura said, “How much?”

  Sid grinned from ear to ear. “Now we’re talking. See how easy that was?”

  Earlier, when Tommy and Sid had been discussing poker, Tommy had told Sid to bring an amount of cash equal to a year’s salary for a middle-class earner on Earth. Sid suggested ten times that amount to Lazura.

  “Done,” said Lazura.

  “Cash,” said Sid.

  A moan of anxiety escaped Juice’s lips.

  “I don’t have that in cash,” said Lazura. “But we can register the transaction when you complete the task.”

  “If you’re going to make me use a bank, add another zero. And that would be half up front, half when I finish.”

  Lazura didn’t respond. She just looked at Sid, her expression impassive, the silence growing.

  Juice could barely breathe, the tension squeezing her chest.

  “For that amount, I want your drive pod fuel as well. Two full stacks.”