Ghost Black

by Matthew S. Cox

  “You’re gonna need to get better at this game,” said Kree.

  “Yeah.” Risa glanced at Everett. “I guess I am.” 「Can I trust Maris… or Garrison?」

  Everett wiped a hand over his mouth, then tapped a finger on his chin for a moment. 「Maris is a good man. He has refused any order to strike a friendly civilian target. He’s also ducked a few requests to hit so-called ‘low-value’ military targets command was willing to sacrifice for ‘the greater good.’」

  「You mean propaganda. Or scaring the Senate into approving more money for military operations on Mars. What about Garrison?」

  「Colonel Tanais is a former APSE intelligence commander, ex-Delta soldier… He retired, but Maris handpicked him and brought him back. That’s all I know. I haven’t seen anything to cast doubt on him.」 Everett raised his greying eyebrows. 「Are you wondering because he killed your father?」

  Risa smiled. 「No, General. Colonel Tanais is my father. He didn’t even know.」

  Everett coughed, near to choking. 「What?」

  「Serena Var was my mother. Garrison met her while doing black ops on Earth, Central America. They got married only three months before she got the assignment to watch Voronin. I must’ve been conceived a week or so before she started.」

  「That’s…」 General Everett scowled. 「You were going to carve me up like a turkey because you thought I ordered the death of a man who wasn’t even your father.」

  Risa flashed a cheesy smile. 「Sorry. I’ve been known to act before thinking sometimes.」

  His seriousness shattered to laughter. 「Suppose I got you back for that.」

  「By making me think I was being carted off to my execution, or by not telling me you had Pavo alive?」 She tapped her fingers on the controller while Kree’s character hovered by an enormous machine of unknown type, ‘planting a bomb.’

  「Somewhere between the two, I suspect. Look. I’m not about to force you to carry out clandestine operations on enemy territory, but… if you want any chance at all of walking away from this in one piece, I am going to need your assistance with a very delicate matter.」

  Risa sank in on herself. Could she bring herself to conduct a targeted killing? Ever since she’d gotten enough hardware to have people call her a Tí-zhèn, everyone assumed her to be an assassin. The mere word made her blood boil. Of course, Everett did have a point. Her bombs had likely killed far more people than most ‘assassins’ ever murdered over their entire career. If it took one more death to buy peace and security for the people she loved… how could she say no to a single drop added to an ocean?

  「I understand, sir. I’ll await further orders.」

  General Everett smiled. 「Good to hear, Lieutenant. Keep your head down for the time being. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.」

  His apparition faded, tricking her brain into seeing that part of the room darker for it. If only she knew who she could trust. Maybe a shuttle ticket for Chaia wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. Having a mind reader along would make everything so much simpler. She wobbled her head side to side to match the rhythm of their virtual commandos tromping with heavy boots down a metal corridor inside the alien base. The repetitious clank, clank, clank of digital boots felt as though it tapped on her brain.

  Damn. She sighed. No. I can’t drag another child into this mess. This fight is all mine.

  10

  The Eye of the Storm

  At 6:10 a.m., Risa dragged herself up to the apartment door. Half an hour ago, her “I’m going to see Pavo, do you want to come?” elicited a calm “no” from Kree, but also a frightened stare. The child had backed into the corner, as if expecting to be hauled bodily out of the safety of their room. Risa tried something new. She sighed, said “okay,” and trudged out with an expression like her dog died.

  Kree seemed caught off guard, but didn’t follow.

  Risa let herself in, not surprised, but also not comfortable with the sight of Genevieve and Aurelia entwined on the sofa bed in the living room. She shied away, hurrying past them to the hallway beyond. Being around Genevieve in the MLF shower room didn’t bother her, but seeing her ‘big sister’ in a romantic context was an entirely different matter.

  She crept up to the bedroom door and peeked in. Pavo lay at a diagonal across the king-sized Comforgel pad, arms splayed to the sides like a crime victim. Forest green satin covered him to the middle of the stomach. Light snoring escaped his open mouth.

  After setting her coffee on the bureau, she shrugged out of her weapons harness and boots and slipped off her ballistic suit. Nude, she crawled onto the bed and climbed over him, draping herself low enough to graze the tip of his morning erection. When she reached his face, she lowered her lips to his. He awoke in a few seconds, and smiled.

  “I’m not supposed to be up till six thirty.” He slid a hand over her cheek and gripped the back of her neck. “You look ready to pass out.”

  “Stayed up too late. I’m a horrible parent. We didn’t crash until almost two.”

  He pulled her into another kiss, and rolled her to his left so they lay on their sides facing each other. “I want to wake up to this every morning for the rest of my life.”

  Risa’s heart raced. She hated the phrase ‘rest of his life,’ as it could mean only minutes on a bad enough day. The idea brought immediate tears, but also a wide smile. “Can we stop making bets on your lifespan?”

  He stroked her hair. “I can’t get over how different you look.”

  “You lied.” She smirked. “You wanted me to get them back.”

  “Guilty. I’m glad you made the choice on your own.”

  Risa flattened her palms on his chest and slid them up and over his shoulders. “I know. My body and everything.” She narrowed her eyes. “Speaking of implants. There’s something else I’m hoping to have put inside me.”

  “Bigger claws?” He cocked an eyebrow.

  “You’re either not awake yet or messing with me.” She swatted at his head.

  Pavo chuckled for a second before kissing her again. A moan escaped her as his lips pecked at her skin, tracing a path down over her neck to her sternum. Writhing, she arched her back as he circled a tongue around her nipple while sliding a hand up between her legs. Risa closed her eyes, surrendering to waves of ecstasy coursing through her. A good while later, when her breaths became short and rapid, he grasped her shoulder and pushed her onto her back. She cooed, expecting him to move on top, but shot him a mischievous glance as his arm slid under her. He drew her close against him, the coarse hair on his pectorals teased at her shoulder blades. With one arm across her chest, and their legs entwined, he entered her.

  Risa gasped, floundered at the bedding for a few seconds before grabbing the forearm that held her tight to him. Her eyes clamped shut. Her toes curled. She let out a low, deep groan and shuddered. For a handful of perfect minutes, she flew free of all care, until a rush of pleasure locked every muscle in her body. She bit her lip, trying to stifle the moans so Gen didn’t hear too much.

  Once his gyrations slowed to a halt, he kissed the nape of her neck and dragged his beard stubble over her shoulder. She twisted around and kissed him again.

  “Is this real?” Warmth spread over her face and chest. Worry pushed tears to the corners of her eyes. “Am I really here? Did I die on The Strand? Is… this all happening in the three-tenths of a second my brain has left?”

  He made a contemplative face for a second, and pinched her nipple.

  “Ow!” She curled up, covering her ‘wounded’ breast with both hands. Laughing and angry, she tried to jam a finger into his groin. “What the hell was that?”

  Pavo caught her hand. “You’re not dreaming.”

  She rubbed her breast, scowled at him a second longer, and snuggled against him. “I’m going to have retribution for that at some point.”

  “Are you ever going to tell me what happened there?”

  Risa stared at the black forest of hair spread over an arctic white c
hest an inch in front of her face. “You don’t want me to.”

  “Almost got yourself killed?” He squeezed her.

  “Yeah.” She traced circles around the sheet with her finger. “I thought you were dead. Maris got orders from on high. They wanted someone to kick the Corporates in the balls where they’d never expect it. I’d been trying to hold on to the hope you might not really be dead, but everyone kept saying…” The lump in her throat grew too large to speak past.

  He leaned up and put an arm around her. “Promise me you won’t give up again, no matter what happens.”

  Her hand on the front of her neck, she nodded.

  “I need to get ready for work.” He rubbed her back for a minute or so before moving to get out of bed.

  She grabbed his hand, doing her best attempt at a child’s ‘please don’t go’ stare. “I won’t. Give up, I mean. The Front isn’t going to last much longer.”

  Pavo pulled her into an embrace. “I got that feeling. The PVM isn’t going anywhere, and I’m still loyal to them.”

  “You’re…” She coughed. “Even after what they did to you?”

  He cradled her face in both hands, smiling. “What did they do? They saved my life. Okay, being stuck in a tiny room for a few weeks, I could’ve done without, but I get why they did it.”

  She let her forehead thump into his shoulder. “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  “Trust your instincts. You knew I wasn’t dead.” He patted her on the head. “I’m willing to see if their ‘political change’ methodology works… but we’ve got an actual foreign enemy to deal with before we try to change things internally.”

  A chill tickled at Risa’s heart. She snapped her head up. “What if they don’t really want to? What if the Corporates and the Senators are working together? Endless war for profit.”

  He blinked. “Whoa. You have been doing this too long. You’re starting to spin conspiracies out of thin air. Some of the stuff I’ve heard makes that sound impossible.”

  She pushed him toward the bathroom. “You’re going to be late.”

  “I’m going, I’m going.” He jogged over to the autoshower.

  They shared a wash, after which she plodded back to bed while he shaved.

  Risa closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the e-razor humming. In what felt like a split second, his hand touching the side of her head woke her. He had his MDF duty armor on and smelled like cheap spray soap.

  “Enjoy spending all day in bed.” He winked.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not. I’m going to spend the day trying to talk Kree into letting me bring her here.”

  “Okay.” He stood and leaned back to stretch while glancing around. “I’m going to need a bigger place.”

  Pavo pulled the blanket up, tucked her in, and backed up to the door.

  Three and change hours of sleep made her limbs feel leaden―and the pillow feel amazing.

  11

  Genevieve

  Risa’s eyes peeled open, breaking a thick glue of crumbles. She forced herself from the bed to the shower at 9:28 a.m. Since she’d brought only her armor to wear, she ran the dry cycle twice to ensure no trace of moisture remained, and stepped out into a room cold enough to make her squeal. Compared to the bathroom, the air in the bedroom felt arctic. She cringed, and slid a leg into the smooth, freezing suit. At the instant the crotch made contact, she sucked a breath between her teeth. Once the paralytic effect faded, she slid her arms in and sealed the MolWeave fastener up to her jawline.

  Boots could wait a few minutes.

  Risa padded to the kitchen, where Genevieve appeared to be well into a staring contest with the food reassembler, scratching her left calf with her right foot while drumming her fingers on the countertop.

  “Hey,” said Risa, heading for a chair at the table. “Dial me up some eggs?”

  Genevieve straightened. “Why don’t you do it? You know I have shitty luck with these things. Oh wow, you really filled out that armor.”

  “They’re still talking about the vindaloo incident… and thanks.” Risa changed course for the counter. “What did you want?”

  “French toast.” Genevieve took a seat at the squarish white table.

  Pavo had gone economy. Everything in the place had been styled in ‘postmodern bachelor’ with a touch of Epoxilboard, the kind of furniture people had to put together themselves. She felt certain he had a drawer somewhere overflowing from all the leftover screws, grommets, and pegs. One chair still had its reference stickers, the ones they put on each piece in case someone bothered to look at the instructions.

  The ’sem beeped as Risa selected French toast and inserted an empty plate. When she hit the ‘start’ button, a half-dozen metal spider legs inside whirred to life, ‘printing’ the breakfast out of molecularly reassembled OmniSoy protein strands. Before long, the smell of cinnamon filled the kitchen. While the machine worked, Risa used her implanted comm to order coffee from the nearest Morning Bean. ’Semmed food was one thing, but doing that to coffee constituted a crime against humanity.

  Risa carried the plate of pseudo-French-toast to the table and set it in front of Genevieve. She raised an eyebrow at red lines around her friend’s wrists. “What happened to your arm?”

  “Perks of dating a cop. You should ask Pavo to try it sometime.”

  Risa shivered. The last time she’d made love to him before thinking he’d been killed, he’d held her down and taken her from behind. That was scary enough… binders? No thanks. “Uhh, I’ll take your word for it. I’m really happy for you. The two of you make a great couple.”

  Genevieve blushed and smiled, sectioning off a piece of toast with her fork. “Thanks. She’s been lonely for a long time.”

  “So have you.” Risa returned to the ’sem and dialed up an omelet.

  “What’s bothering you?” Genevieve stabbed her fork into the little square of egg-saturated bread slathered in syrup, and raised a hunk of it to her mouth.

  “I’m that transparent?” Risa contemplated if all that sugar would have the same effect being it had all been rearranged from OmniSoy, or if it would retain the same nutritional value as the beige slime from whence it had come.

  “Please…” Genevieve smirked. “I’m practically your mother.”

  “Sure, if you had me when you were like eight.” Risa took her breakfast from the machine and sat catty-corner at the kitchen table. “That works both ways you know. Something’s bothering you too.”

  “You first.” Genevieve excised another bite of her meal with surgical precision.

  Risa muddled through an explanation of Kree being terrified to leave the MLF safehouse, and her indecision regarding how to handle it. “I tried guilt this morning, but it didn’t work.”

  “You could slip her something to knock her out? You know, sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Genevieve sopped up stray syrup around the edges of the plate with a square of French toast impaled on a fork. “From what you’ve been saying, a storm’s coming. You need to get her out of there before something goes down.”

  “Pavo said the same thing.” Risa shook her head. “I’m not doing that. She trusts me… not an easy thing for a kid in her situation. I’m not going to betray it.”

  “But it’s in her best interest. You need to be her mom first, friend second. She might not see it that way now, but later on, when she’s older―”

  The doorbell rang. What little color existed in Genevieve’s face evaporated.

  “I ordered coffee. It’s okay.” Risa stood.

  “Bring a weapon.” Genevieve seemed ready to crawl under the table.

  Risa held her hand up and waved her fingers as she walked out. “I am a weapon.”

  A cube-shaped delivery bot hovered outside, bearing the logo of Morning Bean: a cartoony man with glasses and ‘electrocuted-Einstein’ hair holding two enormous mugs. She retrieved her order without incident, and returned to the kitchen.

  The re
dhead sniffed at the cup Risa put in front of her.

  “Cinnamon spice latte.”

  “You remembered!” Genevieve seized it in both hands.

  Risa finished off her omelet before it could melt back into goo. Her two-extra-shot cappuccino made the perfect ender. Maybe it’d give her enough energy to deal with Kree. “So, what’s yours?”

  “What are you gonna do about the kid?” Genevieve slurped her coffee. “Oh, wow this is… Damn.”

  “Forty credits a cup.” Risa winked. “It’s worth it. I’ll figure something out. I’ll give her another day and if she doesn’t come around, I’ll carry her out screaming. I won’t trick her though. Your turn.”

  “Nothing’s really wrong with me. I’m worrying to worry.” She kept her gaze on the coffee cup.

  “It’s about Aurelia, isn’t it? Expecting problems?”

  “No.” Genevieve looked up… too fast. “Not really.”

  “Remember that ‘been around you long enough to know when something’s not right’ thing?”

  “Yeah.” Genevieve picked at the cup. “Aura offered to let me move in with her. Wants me to go out to eat and she keeps talking about this live theater company. Can you believe there are really still people out there who act? Like, not computer generated?”

  “You’re afraid to go outside.”

  She blushed. “I’m… Yeah.”

  “Gen… Garrison didn’t try to kill you. Neither did Maris.”

  “So who did?” She cringed.

  “I don’t know.”

  Genevieve shivered. “What if they’re still out there? What if I get seen?” A nervous laugh leapt out of her mouth. “I guess I’m just like your kid now. I’m terrified of leaving this apartment in case whoever tried to kill me sees me.” She whined. “I should’ve stayed in Araphel. At least I could sleep there.”