She collapsed over him, bawling.
Other figures in MDF armor gathered around him. One man yelled something about implanted bombs, ordering the others to stay away from anything dead.
Risa grabbed at his helmet, twisting and yanking on it in a futile effort to open it. Tears rendered the world in total blur. She gave up on the helmet and pounded her fist into his chest, yelling, “No!” four times before succumbing to sobs.
“Stop being an asshole,” said Aurelia.
Risa froze, sniffled, and leaned back to look up at an armored woman. “W-what?”
“Not you. Him.” Aurelia kicked him in the leg. “His vitals are fine. He’s being an asshole.”
Pavo groaned. “Huh? What?”
The gore all over him belonged to someone else.
“Or, maybe it knocked him loopy.” Aurelia took a knee and hit a tiny button on the side of his helmet that caused the faceplate to open.
A little blood trickled out between Pavo’s teeth. “Oh, hey.” He coughed. “Damn, I love this armor.”
Risa fell on him, hugging, crying with elation, and not wanting to ever let go of him.
“How’d I wind up on the floor?” asked Pavo. His breath smelled like smoke.
“LADs,” said Aurelia. “That shithead blew up when his heart stopped… and you were too close.”
“Last act of defiance,” muttered Genevieve. “At least”―she coughed into her fist―“that’s the unofficial name for that implant.” She fell into Aurelia’s arms. “I wanna do you right here.”
“Medic,” yelled Risa, then muttered, “For all three of us.”
Pavo raised his hand, pointing at the ceiling. “I second that.”
A dull whump came from the far side of the square, seconds before a rain of smoking electronics and melting plastic ‘flesh’ pelted the area.
“Stay away from the bodies,” barked a man. “Medical unit’s three minutes out.”
The fast pattering of small bare feet on metal ground grew louder.
“What idiot brought a child to a gunfight?” asked an unknown man.
Kree ran over and leapt onto Risa.
“That would be this idiot,” said Aurelia, pointing at Pavo. She picked Genevieve up as if to carry her over the threshold. “You, young lady, are going to the med center.”
“Hey,” wheezed Genevieve, pointing at Risa. “You owe me ’cue.”
“Right.” Risa pulled Kree and Pavo close. “As soon as I can move.”
Pavo grunted, sat up, and kissed her. “You’re bleeding.”
Stinging pain in her hip worsened. “So are you.”
He licked at his upper lip. “Yeah, I s’pose I am.”
Risa squeezed Kree and Pavo tight, no longer able to hold back her need to cry for Garrison.
29
Retirement Plan
Five blue dragons flew in formation against dark clouds lit by intermittent flashes of lightning on a 130-inch screen. The new holo-bar synthesized fragrances as well, making the living room smell like rain, ozone, and someone’s best guess at a fire-breathing lizard’s breath. Risa, in a white tee and sweat pants, sat at the left end of the couch with her bare feet tucked under a pillow to her right. Kree lay at her side, resting her head on Risa’s thigh. She hadn’t bothered changing out of her pajamas, a soft powder-blue top and pants covered with cartoon vampire bunnies. Stretched out, the child rested her heels on Pavo’s leg. Tamashī sprawled in the middle of the floor on her stomach like a teenager, swinging her pink-socked feet back and forth.
Pavo had one arm across the seatback, close enough for his hand to occasionally tease at Risa’s hair. He’d taken full advantage of finally getting a day off, skipping both shower and ‘outerwear.’ He lounged in charcoal-grey sweat shorts and tank top, a synthbeer in his fingers, dangled over the armrest.
Genevieve sat on the loveseat to Pavo’s right, jumping and clinging to Aurelia at scary parts in the video, even ones that Kree didn’t bat an eyelash at. This, of course, caused Pavo to joke she was the youngest in the room. Aurelia laughed; Genevieve replied with a raspberry. The two of them had been as giddy as schoolgirls since making ‘the announcement.’ They were pregnant. Each carried an embryo consisting of their own egg fertilized with genetic material constructed from the other’s DNA. In essence, both were mother to the embryo they carried and father to the other.
Pavo had made a lame joke that humanity had no further use for men, argument bait that Risa, Genevieve, Aurelia, and Tamashī all refused to bite on.
On the giant holo-panel, the dragon flight circled a castle built into the peak of an impossibly high mountain, bombarding it with streams of blue fire. Men and women riding them either held on for dear life or added magical spells to the attack, streamers of scintillating blue (lightning) or red (fire). Risa hadn’t been paying enough attention to the vid to understand who they were or why the dragons tried to chew on each other; she’d spent more time watching Kree’s reaction. The child thrust her arms into the air and kicked her feet into Pavo’s leg in an alternating jackhammer motion when one of the castle towers broke off and fell into a deep fog-filled chasm.
“Monwyn’s gonna save the prince!” Kree squealed.
A ping came from the door.
Risa’s chest constricted. She looked around for a weapon.
“Want me to get it?” asked Pavo.
“I’m fine.” She grasped Kree’s shoulders and lifted her to sit upright. “Be right back.”
The front door, across the living room from the small sofa, stood in perfect view of everyone. She held back the worry of what might wait outside and padded up to the console. At one finger’s touch, a hologram of the hallway appeared at eye level.
A white and red delivery bot bearing the logo of ‘Q-Gasm’ hovered outside.
“Oh.” I am an idiot. She slouched, giggling. “It’s the food.” Her smile ran off. It could be a bomb. Damn you, Shiro. Why did you have to say that?
Tamashī paused the movie and switched to a net station playing a kid-safe game show involving a real-life recreation of a platform jumping game. Ion suits let people leap as though gravity didn’t apply to them.
Risa pushed the door open button. The wondrous fragrance of barbecue sauce filled the outer hallway. A white-haired man from two apartments over stared at the bot as he passed, sniffing. He had his NetMini out after three steps.
Risa laughed. The bot dropped off a massive red-and-white striped box, which Risa carried in and set on the coffee table. Beneath the ‘Q-Gasm’ logo, a faux yellow warning label cautioned that the contents were considered legally addictive. Inside, one large bucket of chicken and two of baby back ribs, one regular and one with ‘Nashville hot wildfire’ sauce.
Kree scrunched her nose. “What’s a Nashville?”
“I dunno,” said Genevieve. “Maybe some mythological creature?”
“You both need to go to school.” Pavo shook his head. “It’s a prewar location in what used to be the United States. Badlands now.”
“I knew that,” said Tamashī in sing-song.
Risa rolled her eyes. Earth. Who cares? “What does that have to do with hot sauce?”
Pavo shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe just a catchy name? Lots of places name stuff after the old world. Some kinda retro thing.”
Aurelia fished out smaller buckets of mashed potatoes and another full of little yellow bits.
“Those peas don’t look right,” said Risa.
Genevieve threw a pillow at her. “That’s because its corn.”
After fetching plates from the kitchen, Risa handed them out and helped herself to two pieces of chicken, a glop of the mash, and a small ‘test portion’ of corn. Tamashī loaded up a plate with ribs and sat cross-legged by the end of the coffee table; Kree scooted to the floor and knelt next to her, gnawing on a rib. After a few minutes, their faces had more sauce on them than the food.
Risa glanced at Pavo out of the corner of her eye, and winked. He smiled. Aurelia h
eld up some ribs and licked them in a suggestive manner while giving Genevieve a meaningful look. Since Kree had moved to the floor and couldn’t see, Risa traced her tongue around the end of a drumstick while making the same face at Pavo. He shifted.
All the adults laughed.
Kree looked back, confused. When no explanation was offered, she frowned, and went back to gnawing on a bone. “You guys are weird.”
For about twenty minutes, Risa felt… normal.
Doorbell.
She jumped again.
You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, said Shiro’s voice.
“Die in a fire,” she muttered.
“Uhh.” Pavo fidgeted. “What…?”
“Not you. I got it.” She jumped up, holding her barbecue-sauce-covered hands up like a surgeon as she walked across the living room. An elbow tap on the console turned on the camera. “Who is it?”
The figure outside resembled a vagrant; shredded green coat, loose fatigue pants, unshaven, hands in his pockets and gaze down. He probably smelled it from outside. Oh, whoa, did that dude from the vent track me down for the money I promised him? Risa glanced back at the buckets, and sighed. Before she could offer him food, he looked up at the camera.
Garrison, slightly charred.
Risa yelped, and mashed her sauce-covered hand on the console. She dove into him, wrapped her arms around, and made a noise into his shoulder halfway between screaming and cheering. The scent of metallic soil and burned cloth filled her nose.
“Hey, Bit.”
She squeezed hard and took a step back. Relief and anger got into a catfight on her face. “I… thought you were dead.”
“Oh, wow,” muttered Tamashī.
“I’m sorry. I would’ve made contact sooner, but…” He walked in. “I had to go into a comm blackout until they assessed the level of threat remaining after that assassination attempt.”
“I’m still not sure I believe it came from the ACC. I didn’t think they allowed synthetics to exist.” Risa walked to the kitchen. “Sit. I’ll grab you a plate.”
“Only ones they make and can control. They’re not sentient. Wash your hands while you’re in there.” Garrison approached the couch, but didn’t sit.
“They do that on purpose.” Tamashī licked sauce from her fingers and picked up another rib. “Use synthetics so people think it’s not the ACC.”
Garrison smiled at her. “You didn’t tell me Kree’s got a sister.”
“That’s Tamashī,” said Risa.
He blinked in disbelief. “I thought she was… quite a bit older.”
Tamashī stuck out her tongue, then giggled.
Risa hurried to the sink, rinsed the sauce from her hands, and returned with a clean plate for him.
Garrison reached into his green military jacket and pulled out a familiar pink princess doll. “You left this behind.”
Risa covered her mouth. Her lip quivered and tears gathered. “Y-you ran off to grab that… You could’ve gotten killed.”
“I… knew what I was doing?” He smiled and took her spot, near the left armrest.
She sank between him and Pavo. “I… I’d been begging my fa―I mean, Andriy for it when I was little. I couldn’t tell if he was going to get it for me. He… didn’t live to see my ninth birthday.”
Garrison put a hand on her leg and squeezed her knee. “Your father did get that for you.”
“You…” Risa sniffled, thinking back to the strange delivery bot that brought her a birthday cake and a doll while she hid near the ceiling on her favorite vent cover. “How? Tamashī said the order came from Araphel.”
“An angel told me you once wanted it.” He looked down, guilty. “I asked him to send it because I didn’t want you taking it as me trying to manipulate you.”
Risa clung to the doll and leaned into him, sniffling. “Yeah, you’re right… I probably would have. Thank you for the doll.” She stared at him. “But you shouldn’t have risked yourself for a toy.”
“It’s more than a toy.” He kissed her atop the head. “It’s a memory. One of the few good ones you have.”
She sniffled, but smiled. “I’ve got more than you think… and you’re in most of them.”
Tamashī gnawed on a rib. The noises Genevieve made while eating sounded like they belonged in a bedroom.
Garrison raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, these must be some damn good ribs.” He fixed himself a plate.
Before long, everyone moaned or rubbed their stomachs, though it looked like enough food remained to feed everyone a full meal all over again. Pavo got up to toss the leftovers in the fridge, making a comment that they were living on the ‘high end’ because the place actually had one.
Kree walked off down the hall. “I’m sticky.”
Risa shivered and curled in a ball, clinging to the doll.
“What’s wrong?” whispered Garrison.
“I keep waiting for the bad news… the bomb to drop… something.” She collected herself and sat up, planting the doll in her lap.
“Things are under control.” Garrison set the plate of picked-clean remains on the table. “I never did understand why they make bones in vat-grown meat.”
“They skipped them at first.” Pavo chuckled. “You try eating ribs… with no ribs. No one liked it.”
“Under control?” Risa grabbed carpet with her toes. “What does that mean? Usually that phrase makes me think someone’s about to go boom.”
“Beer?” Pavo glanced at Garrison, and stood.
“Yeah,” said Tamashī.
“Not till you’re older, kiddo.” Pavo winked.
Tamashī gave him the finger.
“Great idea.” Garrison leaned back in the sofa. “We have the NewsNet scaling down their coverage of MLF activities. In a few months, most people won’t even remember what the Martian Liberation Front was. General Everett has taken back the reins, though Maris is still the OIC for the field. There’s no point using a hidden safehouse anymore; that’s why we decided to blow it.”
Risa tried to swallow a lump in her throat. “I can’t believe it’s gone… it’s like watching my childhood home burn down.”
“You might have grown up there, but that was no home.” He accepted a silver synthbeer canister from Pavo, transferred it to his left, and stroked a hand over her hair. “I’m sorry for taking you there. I didn’t want you to wind up on the street and I wasn’t strong enough to walk away from the agency.”
“I’m not angry with you, Dad.” She fussed with the doll’s dress. “I… Yeah, I would’ve been a completely different person if I’d grown up with dolls and cute and who knows what else. I don’t blame you for the way my life is. I’m just terrified it’s going to end.”
“Senator Nur has officially been charged with a number of financial crimes related to the way she moved money between the government and certain corporations. They’re keeping treason on the back burner for now, and threatening to press murder charges for everyone who died in Arden as well as two other operations you’re too young to remember if she puts up much of a fight. The head of the inquest commission has even gone after Andreas Beyer with the information you”―he chuckled, shaking his head―“blasted all over cyberspace. Aegis Industries isn’t going to want a long media frenzy. I’m sure he’ll quietly disappear. Everett wasn’t too happy about that leak.”
“Oops.” She shrugged. “Worked, didn’t it?”
Pavo returned, handing out beers. He teased Tamashī for a few seconds, holding it too high for her to reach before she gave his crotch a meaningful look. Laughing, he handed her a canister and flopped back in his seat.
“That it did. I told him Raziel was so deep in your head he helped himself to it and you didn’t know.” He sipped his beer. “Damn, boy.” He leaned forward to glare around her at Pavo before settling back. “Buys the cheap stuff.”
“Tell your friends in Paramount City to raise Defense Force pay.” Pavo held his beer up in mock toast.
“Did anyone tell you what they’re going to do to me?” Risa shuffled her feet back and forth.
Kree walked back in, smelling of autoshower soap and wearing a coral-hued knee-length dress. She crawled into Risa’s lap and rested a damp head on her shoulder.
“Everett wanted to keep you on the payroll. I told him you weren’t at all interested. He asked how you’d feel about intelligence gathering missions. Spy stuff, minimal risk.”
“I have a daughter to think about.” Risa threaded her arms around Kree, holding her close. “I can’t see myself agreeing to anything he asks me to do. Maybe I’d be up for testing domestic security… nothing where I’d be shot at for real.”
Garrison chuckled. “I’ll tell him to check back when she’s in university.”
“Shame to waste all that hardware,” said Pavo, grinning.
“Oh, I’ll find some use for it.” Risa’s smile faded to a flat line. Raziel’s going to call in that favor eventually, and who knows what Heitzenroeder is going to ask me for. “I was thinking of getting an office job.” I’ll probably wind up spying for Everett anyway… he’s got too much on me, but I have to at least try to walk away.
“Dustblow.” Pavo choked on his beer, coughed, and poked her. “I don’t believe that for a hot second.”
“She’s an expert at reinstalling operating systems now.” Tamashī winked.
“So what happened to everyone else?” asked Risa.
Kree pointed at the holo-panel. “Put the movie back on.”
“Well,” said Garrison. “The Martian Liberation Front is done. The people we could salvage―not criminals, I mean―are being brought on board as official staff. Right now, most of them are on their way to Earth for proper training. If the Corporates are ever given the boot off this rock, I suspect the PVM will take a good hard look at our government and figure out what to do.”
Risa fussed at Kree’s hair. “Think I need to tune up the dry cycle. Her hair is so thick it’s still wet.” She looked sideways at her father. “What are you going to do?”
Ghost Black Page 37
