“All right, Abby. I don't like it, but I trust your judgment."
“Thank you. One last thing. I've got a present for you. Kiki!” I called out.
A flower sprouted out from midair, the bud angling toward us and the roots spreading over much of the landscape. Blossoms started popping up all over, but the largest bud kept reaching toward us. When it was less than a meter away, it curled around until it was pointing straight up, then blossomed. Kiki was standing inside.
“Hi, boss!” she exclaimed with happiness. Then she caught sight of Mike and started blushing. She'd had a crush on Mike ever since the two first met. Mike was polite, but kept his distance, being in love with me. In my wildest dreams, I'd have never imagined that writing programs would lead to a love triangle.
“Hi, Kiki! I've been telling Mike that I'm going to be hard to reach for a while. I've given access to Scott Ressler."
“Oh! The doctor working with TAU? He seems nice."
“He is, but that's not why I'm letting him into our little club. We need to keep the plan going, and I might not be able to help much longer.” Her eyes got wide. “Mike will fill you in later. Right now, 1101001101 010101001000111010101101.” I stopped and shook my head.
“What's wrong?” Mike's eyes were as wide as Kiki's.
“I—I do110100100101010 n't kno 10001001010110101010.” I covered my mouth, and Kiki screamed.
“Abigail! Your color!"
I looked at my body. My figure had become angular, and the color was fluctuating between yellow and steel blue. My head 11010010111001 was getting knotty and 1101001010101 di0110m.
“Geez! She's sharding! In the puterverse!” Mike jumped forward and grabbed my arms. I felt the pure UTC flood through me, and my mind cleared.
“Kiki! I've got to go 1101001! Did you finish the access package for Mike?"
“Yes. It's going to require several hours for him to assimilate, but..."
“Give it to 11010001 him. Permission gran11010010 ... permis11010 ... Mike! Help me!” I screamed He entered me completely. I felt a hot twisting in my gut and leg. My thro1101001101t clo110100101sed up. But I had to 110100110 get one 110100101 last command out.
“Kiki! Permission granted!” Her eyes lit up and I saw a green diamond begin 1101001 glowing 1101001 in h11010er che1101st. I wa1101001s lo1101sing.
“end access ... 1010010100 0101 1010010100100101 101 1101010101010 10101010 101010 10110 101 101010 1101 01 1011 100101 1010101 0101010100101010011110010010010101001010101 01010 10110 101010101010 1010101010101010 101010101011011010101101001101010 110101011010 110 101101100101010110101010 1011001101010101001010101010101 0110010101 1010101010101001 1010 110101....
...1001010100101010010101010100101010100101100100110010101 101 101011 1 110101010 10 1010 10 1001010 001 101 10 101 1010 101 101 010101 0 100 110110 10101010101 101 10 1My eyes snapped open. Where...? Everything was clear. Did I have a nightmare? My leg still ached, and I felt a weight on my chest. I looked around the sickbay, but it was pitch black.
“Doctor Ressler?” I called out, trying to rise to my elbows. I couldn't. The restraining field was on, pinning me to the bed. “Doctor?” I called out again.
“He's not here, Shard.” Posen's voice came from the darkness. “Don't you remember? You killed him."
“Liar!"
He called for the lights, and they came up until there was a dim glow from the ceiling and I could make out Posen's form as stepped up close. Terror, stark unreasonable terror, rose up inside me. I forced it down.
“I'm not lying. That's what my log will say, and who's to be believed? A respected regimental lieutenant, or some Shard?” I felt a tightening in my chest that had nothing to do with the field.
“Where's Doctor Ressler?” I demanded. Posen shook his head sadly.
“Poor creature. Can't even remember your own handiwork, Shard? Here, let me help. Computer! Full lights!” The room flared and I winced at the brightness. I opened my eyes and looked at Posen.
He had stepped to one side, to let me see beyond. On the examination table lay the body of Gina Hawthorne. Why would he show ... wait. The figure beneath the sheet was too big.
“No,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Posen corrected and pulled the sheet back.
Doctor Ressler's faded eyes looked back at me. He'd been dead for hours at least. But it seemed only moments ago that he allowed me access to the puterverse.
“I didn't kill him,” I said weakly, almost certain that I hadn't.
“Of course you didn't, Shard. I killed him. With this.” He pulled out a disk, less than five centimeters in diameter. “A handy little device. Quite top secret, of course. But used by a few trusted members of NATech Xeno forces.” NATech Xeno forces were the equivalent of TAU's counterintelligence. Little was known about them, but it was a well-known fact that NATech units hated them as much as we did.
“You can't be a member of Xeno,” I blurted out, my anger getting the best of me. “You don't have the intelligence or self-control."
“Indeed?” he tried to answer calmly, but his voice approached a shriek. “I am a relatively new member, but they choose only the best."
“Apparently they've lowered their standards,” I said acidly.
His mouth became a white slash and he walked up to me. He raised his hand to strike me. I turned my head and winced,
PLEASE, HIT ME HARD, MASTER.
but the blow didn't come. Instead, I heard him chuckle. I looked back at him. He was at my side, smiling. There was something about his eyes and smile that...
No...
“Let that be a lesson, Shard.” He brought the disk up to my eyes. “It's really an ingenious little toy. It attaches right here.” He reached for my head and held it against my temple. “See? Now all I need to do is activate it and all your persona walls come crashing down. Then, I give you a few choice words, a key phrase, or perhaps an action, and you're sharded. Hawthorne used it on you just that way three nights ago.” Three nights? That meant I'd been out at least twenty-four hours.
“It's only meant to be used on Shards, of course. Use it on a real human being, and well, it tears down barriers that don't exist. I think it's called a massive cerebral hemorrhage. I'm sure that's what Doctor Ressler would have called it, had he survived to diagnose his own condition."
I turned my head and looked at him with hatred.
“Access."
“Uh-uh.” He wagged a finger at me. “We'll have none of that, Shard."
“Stop calling me that!"
“Why? It's true. Or will be soon. How many times have you sharded since you've been here?” He laughed, enjoying himself. “Let's see, there was that delightful sex toy that Hawthorne called up. I'm afraid you were too much for her. She had complete freedom to do as she wished, and she lost herself in it. It would seem pleasure ripes prove the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. When she was located two days later, she'd killed herself rather than deal with what the two of you shared.” He looked at me with admiration. “You're quite an intense little slut, Abigail."
I called him a vile name. “That wasn't me!"
“Yes, it was. Believe me, I know.” I felt sick. “After that, you sharded into some sort of computer. That was easy. After stunning the good Doctor, who didn't have a very good alarm system in place, I just pressed this against you and whispered, ‘1101001’ a few times, and off you went on another sharding adventure. According to my official log, it was then that you killed Ressler. That would have been last night. I arrived, but alas, I was too late. We've confined you to the sickbay and sealed off access to everyone except myself. It was only now that you came out of your sharded madness.” He held up the disk. “With a little help. Sadly, you're about to go off sharding again.” He pressed it against my temple.
I wanted to cry, to lash out. I wanted to plead. But I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
“Oh, before you go, Abigail, I wanted to thank you.” I looked at him, fearing what he was going
to say, but still determined not to give in to my terror. It was very hard.
“When Hawthorne didn't show up to report the night of your beating, I had to go find her. She was gone, but you weren't. It was I who carried you back to your bed, getting your blood all over my tunic. It seemed you owed me for the inconvenience, so I helped myself to payment. You were unconscious, but that was probably for the better, seeing the effect you had on Hawthorne. And since you couldn't resist, it made our time together far sweeter. I enjoyed you thoroughly.” He leaned down and kissed me on the lips, raking his teeth over them and drawing blood. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
“You're a dead man, Posen. If not by me, then by the NATech Xeno forces using you and your ego. Either way, you're a walking corpse."
For a moment only, he cracked. I saw the flash of fear in his eyes as the certainty of my statement hit him deep. Then the moment passed and he smiled his sick smile and shrugged.
“Well, we all die. Some sooner than others.” There was a push on the side of my head and I heard a high whine. He leaned close to savor the moment. His voice a harsh whisper, he said, “And some die over and over. Goodbye, Wyeth. Pleasant dreams, Shard."
My thoughts started getting cloudy and jumpy. I felt the weight sliding off my chest, then felt my chest disappear, followed by my arms and legs. Soon all of me disappeared. Where was I? Who was I? Was I?
“Pour. Press. Cool. Reset.” A disembodied voice filled my being. I looked to see where it came from, but I had no eyes and I was nowhere and I was no one.
“Pour. Press. Cool. Reset,” it repeated soothingly. Why did it say that? Was it telling me what to do? But who was I? Was I me? Or was someone else me? Since I was no one, I couldn't be me.
“Pour. Press. Cool. Reset,” the voice said. Was that my voice? But I wasn't a me, I was a ... a...
“Pour. Press. Cool. Reset,” I who was not me said. “Pour. Press. Cool. Reset. pour. press. cool. reset. pour press cool reset
POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET POUR PRESS COOL RESET...
* * * *
Posen detached the disk from her temple and admired his work. She was staring sightlessly into space, barely breathing. He switched off the restraining field. Her arms fell to her sides, but otherwise she was motionless. He kissed the unresponsive mouth, savoring the taste of her blood. There was a burning inside him. Licking his lips with anticipation, he placed his hand on her soft leg and began sliding it up under...
There was a crackling sound from the doorway behind him. He jerked his hand away and turned quickly. Three men, followed by Eyer, burst in. She looked around, her gun drawn, and saw Posen. Her eyes glanced down at Wyeth, then returned to him. Was that an accusation he saw in her look?
“We came as soon as you called, sir. The door was sealed, so we had to burn through it. What's the problem?"
“Problem? Problem?” His voice tight with anger and frustration. “There is no problem except with your breaking valuable property, Sergeant. There's also a problem with your story. I did not call for help.” He waved a hand at Wyeth. “As you can see, this private of yours has sharded again. I've decided she is no longer a contributing member of this regiment. Please arrange for her transport to that refuge town...” he waited for Eyer to tell him.
“Glendale, sir."
“Yes, yes. Glendale. I want her taken there tomorrow morning.” A thought came and he spoke crisply. “Yes, tomorrow morning. In the meantime, secure this area."
“Very good, sir.” Her tone contradicted her statement, it wasn't very good, but he let it slide. The sooner he got rid of her, the sooner he could ... she was still talking. “Shall I post a guard, sir?"
“A good thought, Sergeant, but unneeded. She poses no threat to us.” He looked at the limp girl sadly. “I'll stay behind for a while though. It's very hard, losing such a vibrant, youthful soldier under your command."
“Yes, sir,” Eyer said woodenly. “May I advise you to reconsider, sir? She may still be a threat, and it wouldn't be wise to risk our commanding officer unnecessarily."
“What threat, Sergeant? This Shard's no threat.” His choice of words contradicted his concern of only a moment ago. Would she catch it? Probably not.
“That's what we thought last night, sir, when we found her like this after she killed Doctor Ressler.” The unspoken word “apparently” hung in the air for all to hear.
Damn! He hadn't thought of that. Now he was in a corner. He very much wanted to enjoy this Shard one last night, but to do so would certainly raise the suspicions of an already wary Eyer. He made a command decision.
“You're right, of course, Sergeant. Very well. Let's take this one step further. Go ahead and...” He almost said dump, but caught himself. “...transport Private Wyeth to her new post. I will begin the puterwork to give her an honorable discharge. Carry on."
Sergeant Eyer saluted. “Yes, sir.” She turned and began giving out orders. Posen walked past them and went to his quarters, trying to figure a way to make one last visit to the sickbay.
When he reached his quarters, he still hadn't worked out a plan to be with Wyeth, but he'd come up with something better. Wyeth wasn't the only Cue out there. He could request from TAU the opportunity to begin a riping rescue. Then, with a few successful raids on the biophysical plant in Nkongsamba, he'd be in a position to explore this new interest of his. It would work nicely.
“Computer. Seal my quarters. Visual, sound, entrance and exit."
“Yes, sir."
Posen whirled around. Who gave that order? It sounded like his voice.
“Computer,” he said loudly, “unseal my quarters."
“I'm sorry,” it responded tonelessly, “but you are not authorized to unseal Lieutenant Posen's quarters."
“What?” he shouted. “But I AM Lieutenant Posen!” Stupid computer! Making a supreme effort to control his temper, he said, “Computer. Identify me."
“You are Lieutenant Randolf Posen, commander of the 179th Regiment of the Resistance. Service number 8T—"
“Yes, that's me. Now, computer, unseal my quarters."
“I'm sorry,” it repeated, “but you are not authorized to unseal Lieutenant Posen's quarters."
“Then,” Posen responded triumphantly, “if I'm Lieutenant Posen, and only Lieutenant Posen is authorized to seal and unseal his—I mean my—quarters, who did seal them?"
“I did."
Posen turned again, this time facing his desk. Seated behind it, its feet up on the desk, was a glowing green person who looked to be no more than a teen. Its eyes were a brilliant green, and its gaze felt warm. Posen frowned at the creature, trying to look imposing. It didn't help his image when he backed up a several steps.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
“Close, flesh. Who the hell am I? I'm your hell, Posen. Your private little hell on Earth before I send you to the eternal Hell.” It put its feet down and stood up, walking up toward him. Posen backed up again, but came up hard against a corner.
“Stay away! I've got a gun!” He pulled his sidearm.
“Geez!” the creature complained. “You sound like a cheap detective novel.” It laughed when Posen set the charging gun to lethal. “You're as predictable as one, too."
The gun toned charged and Posen pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He pulled it again. Again nothing. He threw it at the creature's translucent green body. It was a good throw, but the gun passed through it without harm.
“What are you doing here?"
“Hey, just following orders, flesh. Listen.” It put a hand to its ear.
“You're a dead man, Posen. If not by me, then by the NATech Xeno forces using you and your ego. Either way, you're a walking corpse.” Wyeth's voice deafened him. He clapped his hands to his sudden
ly burning ears. They felt wet. He pulled his hands down. They were covered with blood. He screamed.
“Oh, please. You are such a wuss.” The thing motioned a hand and Posen's screams cut off. “Much better. You can still talk, but any screaming will be muted.” It seemed to consider for a moment, then added, “For now."
Posen didn't know what to do. He felt terror, but needed to control it. He forced down the bile in his throat and tried to take the offensive.
“I'll ask again, creature. What are you doing in my quarters?"
“'Could you repeat the question, Alex?'” It laughed. “The question should be: What are you doing in my quarters, flesh? And the answer would be: You're dying."
Posen looked around, it was still his office, though the walls were a little shinier than normal. And the light seemed to come from everywhere, not just the ceiling. But the amount of light was right.
“These are my quarters."
“Really?” It looked around. “Yeah, I guess I did do a pretty good job, didn't I? But tell me: Can your quarters do this?” The thing raised its voice. “Level seventeen."
Immediately, Posen's skin began crawling with living, biting, invisible insects. The bile in his stomach came up again and wouldn't be denied. It spilled out onto his clean uniform. His ears continued to bleed, the deep red liquid splashing on his shirt and mixing with the filth already there. He slumped to the hard floor and looked up at his tormentor.
“Why are you doing this? Stop it! Stop it at once!"
“Uh-huh. That's your first wish. Sorry, but you're not allowed to make that wish.” It looked at him, its face impassive. “Level twenty-three."
The floor underneath him burst into molten lava. Posen jumped to his feet, but instead found himself on stubs of shattered bone and raw flesh. His feet had burned away. He lost his balance and fell to his hands, which disintegrated in an agonizing flash as they touched the floor.
Shards [Book Three] Page 14
