by Steve Perry
"To Nemesis?" Briggs asked, too quickly.
Lara shook her head. "No. Well, originally to the Nemesis, but there were some problems with the initial transfer, so we backed it up. I sent a locked copy to one of Pop's-Commander Izzard's --- personal channels. He had a few accounts that weren't on Company file."
She smiled weakly before pushing on, a sheepish look on her face. Jess was impressed.
"I know it's not reg, but he seemed to think it was important to have a duplicate-and it was an order., And since the Nemesis was destroyed ..."
Briggs tried to put on a look of admonishment, but couldn't quite pull it off. "You're right, it wasn't regulation. Personal transfers of Company information is not only unethical, it's illegal." A pause, a conspiratorial look that made Jess grind his teeth. "But, since you've admitted it openly and you were following his orders, I see no reason for any disciplinary action ...
He smiled, the all-forgiving suit once again .
...and to be honest, that log is important to Weyland/Yutani. I'm just glad it survived the, ah, tragedy."
You used that one already, Briggs, how 'bout "catastrophe, " or maybe "misadventure"? Jess hated him and what he stood for, he was a liar and a front man for liars, for murderers, keep it together, Jess, don't give in
Another shark's smile, and a nod to one of his guards. "So ...account number?"
Lara met his gaze evenly. "I'd like some insurance first, Mr. Briggs. That we'll have safe passage back to Earth. In fact, I'd like to get to Earth before we turn that information over to you."
Briggs frowned, still smiling. "Ms. Lara, you have my word."
That was it. Before he could stop himself, Jess opened his mouth.
"We all know what that's worth, don't we?" Jess sneered. "Come off it, we know what you're trying to cover up, so stop already with your fuckin' song and dance!"
Silence, and everyone was looking at him, and Jess was too pissed to care, the man was a goddamn liar, if he was going to bribe them, at least let him be up front about it, about something. Jess didn't give a shit if Briggs killed him, there was a redness in front of his eyes that pounded at him, heat and fury, making him clench his fists and step toward the lying murderer-and the resignation and sorrow on Lara's face stopped him. It wasn't just his life. Jess closed his eyes for a second, forcing the red haze away, forcing some measure of control back.
Fix it, gotta fix it
"Jess-" Lara said, but Briggs cut her off, fixing his now not-so-warm gaze on Jess's. The guards didn't move away from the back wall, but they unfolded their arms, watching closely.
"And just what am I trying to 'cover up'?" Briggs asked.
Jess took a deep breath, exhaled it sharply. He hadn't screwed it for them, not yet, he could still salvage Lara's plan.
If I'm careful, very fucking careful.
"What the Company did to those people," he said, working his anger, watching Briggs's eyes for any hint that the suit wasn't buying it. Briggs didn't twitch one way or the other, play it through.
"You want the log, you're going to have to give us a little more than new contract negotiations," he snapped. "Lara and Ellis and I want to be the hell away from you before we give it up-and we're looking for bigger money than a goddamn H/K bonus."
There was another silence, long enough for Jess to realize that the impassive Briggs knew he was faking. It was over, he'd just committed suicide and dragged Lara and the kid along for the ride. His temper, his goddamn temper, Lara, Ellis, I'm so sorry
Briggs grinned-then laughed, shaking his head. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped half an octave, becoming as cold and hard as only a heartless suit's could be. No more apologies, no more playing.
"All right, you've got us," he said. "Let's talk numbers."
Jess wanted to be relieved, but could still feel the rage swirling in his gut like some boiling river. And every second they were with Briggs, it was going to get harder and harder to control:
Lara felt her insides melt. Briggs had bought it, Jess had pulled it off, but it had been close. She'd known Jess long enough to know that he'd been doing some serious dancing to cover for a slip, and she wasn't going to risk letting it happen again.
As if I could stop it ...She had to try. Ellis was getting worse; he'd been dreamily silent most of the afternoon and was now watching all of them as though he were some distant observer. They had to get him to a doc, and fuck the Company anyway. They could file charges when and if they made it home.
She cleared her throat, drawing the exec's attention back to her. "We can worry about that after you get us the hell off of this rock," she said coolly, continuing Jess's ploy. "Don't worry, we won't ask for more than we think it's worth. Now, why don't you see what you can do about a ship?"
Briggs laughed again, all pretense of sympathy and sincerity gone, and Lara felt her own anger rise up. She'd never loved the Company, but hadn't hated them, either, not until Pop had admitted his orders from Grigson. This man was laughing over the graves of hundreds.
She shot a warning glance at Jess, hoping to God that he didn't lose it again.
Briggs finally chuckled to a stop. "Of course, of course. I can't tell you how-surprised I am, I suppose you could say. I had no idea that the three of you would turn out to be ...Company loyal."
Jess smiled, but his eyes were dangerously bright. "Are you kidding? A break like this doesn't come by every day, not for people like us."
Jess, don't, don't fuck around-
Briggs nodded. "Once in a lifetime. We've experimented before, but this was the first full-scale operation."
"Really?" Jess asked. "I would have thought-"
"Jess, I want to get out of here, get a bath," Lara interrupted, praying that she sounded casually disinterested in their conversation, praying that he'd shut the hell up. "And Ellis needs to get some rest, remember?"
"I'm okay," Ellis said, looking at Briggs as if seeing him for the first time. "What were some of the experiments?"
Fuck.
Briggs lowered his voice conversationally, leaning toward them with a smug half smile. Now that he wasn't pretending to be their favorite uncle, he'd relaxed considerably.
"I'm really not at liberty to discuss these things," he said, with the tone of a man who wanted very much to discuss them. To tell them how extremely clever he was. "I mean, you understand how important it is for the Company to maintain its edge over the competition, and what the XT means to our military applications programs ...so let's just say that nobody would want to buy what we're selling if they didn't have the proper documentation. DS 949 was specific to how fast an infestation spreads through an isolated community, but we've also done extensive work in other arenas. I'm sure you can deduce the rest."
Oh, God. Oh my God.
"It wasn't an accident," Jess said dully, and Lara didn't know how to stop him, didn't know if she could, her mind reeling. She felt sick, and shocked beyond simple repair.
On purpose, they did it on purpose, and sent us in to gather the results ...
Briggs's eyes narrowed at Jess's tone, but he didn't seem to understand, not yet. "Of course it wasn't an accident. Believe me, it wasn't a decision that was made lightly, either. We had several billion dollars invested in that installation. And we did not tell Commander Izzard to kill you people, I hope you understand that ...
He trailed off, looking between the three of them, the realization dawning in his eyes.
"You don't have it, do you?" He asked.
Amazingly, it was Ellis who had the presence of mind to answer him. "Oh, we have it. And if anything happens to us-"
"You fucking bastard!"
Jess leapt for Briggs, his eyes wild, spittle flying from his lips. He grabbed the surprised exec's shoulders, still screaming, shaking him.
"They fucking DIED, they died, do you fucking understand
"Keene, Nirasawa!"
Jess was hauled off of the sputtering Briggs by the guards, his furious shouts cut short by a s
harp, violent jab to the gut from the blond man. The Japanese grunt put one hand on Lara's shoulder, one on Ellis's, and squeezed hard enough that tears sprang to Lara's eyes. Behind them, Vincent let out a surprised squeak.
Gasping and doubled over, Jess vomited bile on the shuttle floor. Briggs stepped back, a sneer of distaste on his thin lips, straightening his suit with quick, angry fingers.
"Keene, again," Briggs said.
With a small, mean smile, the blond held on to Jess's collar, half-supporting him, Jess still trying to get his air back. Keene punched him once in the face, a hard blow to the jaw that rocked Jess's head back. Blood flew from his gasping lips.
"I will have that access code, make no mistake," Briggs spat, staring straight into Lara's wet gaze. "The only question is, how long will your friends have to suffer before you give it to me?"
* * *
Chapter 17
Irwin was as drop-dead as Windy remembered, bright, casually sexy, and possessing a mouth that she probably shouldn't kiss her mother with; he liked that in a woman, femme types could be such a drag, and though they'd only flirted around back in training, he was hopeful for what the evening might bring.
They sat in control, sharing a flask of inexpensive blended synth and catching up. The door to the main observation deck was standing open, the soft night sounds of the jungle floating in on a balmy breeze, and they were alone, except for Evans. Technically, Windy was still on duty until midnight, but there weren't going to be any calls coming in; the most excitement they'd had in months was already parked outside, and Evans was catching a nap in the corner, drooling on his own arm. If Windy got tipped and anything important happened, he'd just wake him up; Evans owed him,, anyway.
" ...so I'm screaming emergency, the intake spike is hitching and my VTOL is out, right?" Irwin said. "And the dumb bitch tells me that she can't clear me until I send her my compressor reads."
Windy laughed, keeping his voice low. He didn't want to wake Evans up. "What did you say?"
Irwin grinned. "I told her, 'I'm about to drop six gross of barrel fuel oil all over your goddamn strip,' and if she wanted my reads, she could read them off her own ass after I branded 'em there."
"And what'd she say?"
"She told me I was cleared to land, not even a blink." Irwin sipped from the flask, handing it back to Windy. "I made it down, obviously. But I found out later, she walked the same day. Said she couldn't take the pressure."
Windy laughed again, shaking his head. "She should've taken this job. In the last eight months, I've landed four ships, including that shuttle and you. Most of my working time is spent listening to air and playing cards with Evans, or Tom Cabot ...
Irwin raised her arms over her head and stretched as he spoke, a movement that did wonders for his point of view. She caught his appraising look and deliberately shook her chest from side to side, grinning widely.
"Enjoy it, Windy, it's as close as you're going to get," she said sweetly. "Probably."
"Probably?" he asked. "Any chance of upgrading?"
Irwin shrugged, reaching for the whiskey. "We'll see. So, no interesting stories, huh? No wild-animal attacks out here? No secret jungle cults? Station fever?"
Windy sighed. "No. Hey, a couple of our survey guys went missing today, does that count?"
Irwin shook her head. "Probably not . . : although that reminds me, I saw something when I was coming in, couple of klicks that way-" She pointed vaguely south. "Flash of light, real brief."
Windy frowned. "Huh. Maybe that's them. We don't have any perimeter set up, so it had to be-"
Ka-chink!
From just outside, like something metal being dropped onto the deck.
"What's that?" Irwin asked nervously.
Windy didn't know. "Something fell off one of the landing decks, maybe ...
There was a shuffling sound, like leaves brushing one of the smaller stabilizing envelopes-and then a soft clattering sound, like a bone rattle being shook underwater. They both stood up, looking toward the open door, Windy suddenly feeling stone sober in spite of how much drink he'd had. Eight months of quiet Bunda nights, learning every natural sound that the planet had to offer, and he'd never heard anything like that.
"Something hanging off the platform, scraping the trees or something?" Irwin asked.
Windy shook his head. It was a calm night, and the nav computers automatically adjusted for flux when the wind was blowing. He knew he should take charge, walk out and look around and tell Irwin that it was nothing-but he didn't want to go outside. In fact, he felt quite strongly that it was a shitty idea.
Don't be a wooze, not with her watching!
He was being stupid, and he also knew the longer he waited, the less he'd feel like moving. It was five meters to the door and he could see the deck past it, a piece of railing against a backdrop of darkness. Nothing, there was nothing there.
"Wait here a sec, okay?" He said, finally having shamed himself into heading for the door. Irwin ignored him, following one step behind; he decided that he didn't mind.
Snap out of it, you're too old for-this ...
Windy paused at the door, searching for movement, and saw nothing. He hadn't realized how tense he'd become until he relaxed, the perfectly normal, ordinary sight of nothing at all confirming how paranoid he was. He walked toward the railing, grinning at himself.
"Nothing but me and thee and a shitload of trees," he said, and heard Irwin actually giggle behind him. Yeah, tonight was looking good, he couldn't remember having ever heard Kelly Irwin giggle-
"Hey, what's this?" he said absently, moving toward the rail. There was a metal claw hanging off of the top bar, like a grappling hook, a taut rope disappearing down into the leafy dark. Was someone actually trying to climb the station? Bullshit. It was possible, the ground was only ten meters down, but who'd want to scale an ME when there was a lift? And even if one of the techs wanted to climb something, the area they'd picked was incredibly dangerous; if they happened to snag one of the stabilizers, they could do some serious damage-
Suddenly, the air in front of his eyes shifted, blurring, and a bitter, oily scent flooded his nostrils, and there was a sound like metal again--and then a scream, a howling, feral shriek that was so close Windy could feel its stinking heat across his face, and then heat on his throat, wet and sharp and complete, and then he couldn't stand up anymore.
The sudden scream was terrible, a bestial, animal cry that seemed to come from thin air, and then Windy fell backwards, and all Irwin could see was blood. A pumping, solid sheath of red that was dressing him, enveloping him from the neck down.
"Oh!" It was all she could think, confused and shocked. He was just standing there and now, now he's-
There was a distortion in front of her, in the very air; part of the railing seemed closer for just a second, as if it had been magnified, and Irwin heard a trilling sound coming from the distortion, a sound like a choking bird, and she'd seen and heard enough.
She turned, sprinting back into the control room, screaming at the sleeping man in the corner, slamming her hand down on a panel of buttons that might close the door. "Sound the alarm, man down! Man down, something got him, sound the fuckin' alarm!"
Behind her, the door dropped shut-and at the same time, the floor shifted violently underfoot, tilting at a fifteen-degree slant before swinging back down. The flask on the console hit the floor, the air filling with the sharp smell of liquor, and from outside, another scream. A clicking, rattling shriek of fury, not human and not alone, another cry rising to join it, and a third.
Irwin spun, desperately searching the thin air for that blurred strangeness, and saw nothing. The sleeper, Evans, was on his feet, stumbling for a control board and asking what had happened, what was happening.
Irwin didn't know, and Windy was surely dead. Shivering, she stumbled to a cabinet in the control room's corner to try and find some kind of a weapon.
The convict was only half-conscious, and Lara had starte
d to insist that there was no download; the psych projections had suggested as much, and also that beating Jess down was the surest path to her eventual submission. Briggs let Keene continue, hoping that she'd give it up before the guard battered him to death; Briggs was a civilized man, and while violence was a valuable and often necessary tool, he didn't particularly enjoy watching it.
Their young teammate only seemed half-conscious himself, staring at the exo suit, lips trembling, as Lara screamed for Keene to stop. It really was fairly brutal. Briggs was starting to think that he'd have to drag the whole lot to the nearest Company lab for an expensive chemical flush when the station suddenly moved. Violently.
Briggs wheeled his arms, grabbing one of the handholds on the wall as the floor settled back down, but at a slight list. Nirasawa still had Lara and Ellis in hand, although Keene had joined Jess on the floor. Vincent was clutching the pilot seat, an expression of alarm replacing the queasy look he'd worn for the last ten minutes.
"Vincent, what's going on?" Briggs demanded, his heart fluttering from the unexpected jolt. Keene was on his feet again, looking to him for instruction, his knuckles red and swollen.
Vincent shook his head, his eyes wide. "I-I don't know, the. whole platform like that, it has to be someone at the main controls."
Wonderful.
"Show me," Briggs said, monumentally irritated by the rude interruption-and a little uncomfortable with the naked fear on Vincent's mousy face.
"Nirasawa, come with me. Keene, stay here. Let our ...prisoners have a moment to think about how they want this to end."
Keene stepped up to take Nirasawa's place, holding Lara and Ellis. It was a setback as far as keeping the pressure on, but Briggs wanted to be here when the woman finally broke. After all the effort he'd put in, he didn't want to miss the moment of triumph.
An alarm was sounding from somewhere lower on the station, an annoying bleat like some small animal being stepped on repeatedly. It bled up into the night sky, making Briggs even more uncomfortable.
