by Sayuri Ueda
It was dark. Ted turned on a flashlight, and they took a moment to orient themselves to the surroundings.
The shaft was high enough for an adult to walk through without bumping his head. A taller man like Ted had to stoop a bit to make his way. Originally designed to accommodate maintenance machines and repair robots, the shafts were in no way comfortable for humans.
When they arrived at the rendezvous point, Ted sat down to rest. “Are you sure we can execute the job?” he asked Von. “The enemy is trained in counterterrorism. The longer this drags out, the greater will be our disadvantage.”
“If you have doubts, you’re welcome to leave. I won’t stop you.”
Pulling out a case she’d hidden in the shaft, Von opened it and checked its contents. The case was essentially a small armory of guns and ammunition. Von took one gun, put one bullet in the chamber, and stuck the gun in her waistband. She tossed another gun to Ted. Then she began to assemble a sniper rifle.
“I promised to get you and Wolfren out alive. It’s better you worry about what happens after you get back to Earth. The Vessel of Life can’t be trusted. You never know what more they’ll want from you.”
Ted dropped his head and sighed, draping his arms across his knees. “I still don’t feel right about leaving you here.”
“Don’t worry yourself about it. That was always my intention.”
Von opened another case, took out two bulletproof suits and protectors, and handed one of each to Ted. Turning his back to Von, Ted took off his jacket and slipped into the environmental suit. He activated the sensors on his glove and then went to work connecting his wearable and implant communicator. Once the data goggles were turned on, he was able to see in the dark.
Suddenly, they heard the whirr of a machine coming closer.
Ted shone the light in front of him. A maintenance machine appeared out of the darkness. Someone was hanging on to the back of the machine, like he was hitching a ride on the back of a trolley car.
Ted pointed the light and his gun at the approaching figure.
The man put on the brakes and stopped the maintenance machine. Shielding his eyes from the light, he asked, “Are you the Vessel of Life? I’m Barry Wolfren. Don’t shoot.”
“Prove it.”
The man tossed his ID card and memory plate at Ted’s feet. Picking them up, Ted checked the ID card first. A holographic image of the young man from the waist up materialized. Barry Wolfren. Maintenance engineer. History. Length of service. Everything checked out with the information he’d been given. Ted checked the contents of the memory plate next. It contained the data about the station he’d requested.
He lowered the light.
Wolfren breathed easier. “Your name?”
“David Lobe,” answered Ted.
“Is that Karina Majella behind you?”
“Yes,” replied Von, standing.
Von had changed into an elastic environmental suit and was wearing a bulky jacket over it. She now had the look of a seasoned soldier rather than a scientist.
“So,” said Wolfren, marveling at the sight of her. “The rumors about Karina Majella were true. You are a woman.”
Von didn’t answer.
“You’re lightly dressed. You going to be able to protect yourself against their task force?”
“This isn’t a combat mission. I’ll be fine.”
“At least put on a flak jacket. You better not be wearing just lingerie underneath that suit.”
“This is a ballistic enviro suit. They’re very lightweight lately. Nothing for a child to worry about.”
Wolfren shot her a crooked smile and waved them over. “Come with me.”
There were two maintenance machines standing by behind the one Wolfren had ridden on.
“One for each of you,” said Wolfren. “I’ll be controlling them from my wearable, so you just need to hang on. They’re automatically set to run. Just follow me.”
“Is it faster than walking?”
“What do you think?”
Wolfren, Karina, and Lobe rode the maintenance machines down the shaft. Lobe was impressed by the smooth ride and relieved at having been spared the anxiety of walking the low-ceilinged shaft in a stoop.
As he stared at Karina’s back, he reflected on how quickly two years had passed.
He remembered how vehemently Karina had fought for the time to prepare for this mission as if it had happened only yesterday.
When he and Eddie Morgan had gone to Cryse University two years ago, Karina had completely erased her past and had been living a life as a researcher. Lobe and Morgan had made contact with Karina, who’d come to the symposium to present a paper, and confronted her with the proposition.
Karina had changed her name to Von Chaillot and surgically altered her face. She’d completely left behind her teen years, when she’d been an Earthside terrorist.
Morgan had presented Karina with a job to sabotage Jupiter-I, citing the ease with which she could execute the mission using her present position. Kline and Von had been friends for ten years. With someone working on the inside, the leaders of the Vessel of Life had figured they would be able to execute their plan without being discovered.
Karina had flatly rejected the offer.
At first, the woman was nothing if not cynical, but Morgan had made a compelling argument. “We’ve taken something you treasure above everything else hostage. If you refuse the job, the hostage will die.”
As enraged as Karina was, Morgan had succeeded in persuading her. Lobe remembered his own shock. He knew everyone had an Achilles’ heel but didn’t quite expect taking a hostage would prove so effective against Karina.
Morgan had assured her that not only would she be paid handsomely, she would also be remembered as a hero if she succeeded. Then he added, “The hostage will die even if you refuse the job via suicide. Simply put, you have no choice but to take it.”
That had been the decisive turn of the screw.
Karina gave several conditions for her enlistment. First, she wouldn’t be able to execute the mission on her own. She would need an assistant.
Morgan insisted that she would be able to carry out the mission on her own. For this kind of job, the fewer their numbers, the higher the likelihood they would succeed. Sending one terrorist was more effective than dispatching a squad, he had told her. In the event of an investigation, the Vessel of Life would be able to cut her loose and dissociate themselves from any wrongdoing. They had planned to make Karina a lizard’s tail.
But Karina had argued just how unrealistic it would be to go at it alone.
That was when Morgan had pointed to Lobe and offered him up as an assistant. She was free to do with him as she pleased.
Lobe had protested immediately. He was Morgan’s bodyguard. If Karina turned violent in the negotiations, Lobe’s duty was to protect Morgan. Short-term or otherwise, it was not a part of his job description to live on Europa. He pleaded with Morgan to reconsider.
But in the end, Lobe could not refuse an order.
Lobe’s history had been falsified so he could accompany Von Chaillot as her lab assistant.
The second condition of Karina’s enlistment was to wait two years before the plan would be set into motion. “I haven’t done this in twenty years. My stamina and instincts aren’t what they used to be. I’ll only fail if I try something now. I’ll also need weapons. I may know the station staff, but they’re not going to allow me to walk in with explosives and ammunition. I’ll need to transport everything piece by piece over many trips. And that’s going to take some time.”
Morgan had scowled at such a timeline, but knowing Jupiter-I could not be infiltrated otherwise and acting on the Vessel of Life’s behalf, he had no choice but to relent.
The two had continued to volley their demands back and forth for some time until, finally, they had agreed upon several terms. In exchange for accepting Karina’s conditions, Morgan had made her accept a couple of his own. One was for Karina to
remain on the station until she had seen the mission through to completion. And the other was to get Wolfren, their informant, safely off the station.
Karina had agreed.
Karina had educated Lobe, who did not have a biology background, in how to play the part of a researcher. How to act and behave like a lab assistant. And to think and speak in the way scientists do. Every time Lobe wanted to throw up his hands, she had looked at him with those kind eyes. “I’m not saying you have to write a report. But you should at least be able to read the data and prepare specimens.”
In the time he’d spent as her assistant, not once had Karina revealed to him her face as a terrorist. Had Lobe not witnessed the rage with which she had attacked Morgan at that first encounter, he would not have believed that this woman had perpetrated terrorist acts on Earth twenty years ago. Von Chaillot was an intelligent, decent, and quiet woman.
Was this woman really capable of carrying out a sabotage mission on Jupiter-I? Twenty years was an eternity. No doubt much had happened in that time. Perhaps the aggression in her had simply melted away.
But once the preparations began in earnest, Lobe had changed his estimation of her. Around the time she began to strategize a plan of attack, Lobe sensed a frightening change in her demeanor. That transformation was akin to a round rock being pounded by an even harder rock, its rounded edges being chipped away bit by bit until it was fashioned into a sharp point. By the time that rock had transformed into a steely weapon, Karina and Lobe had left for Jupiter-I.
And it was only moments ago when Lobe had seen the way Karina deftly handled her gun that he finally realized this was a woman to be reckoned with.
She was prepared to do it herself.
She would take on forty counterterrorist task force team members herself and carry out the mission to its successful and inevitable completion.
4
FORTIA SAT BEFORE the computer terminal and endured Dan Preda’s barrage of instructions for several moments.
“There’s been an incident in the docking bay. It’s likely the terrorists are behind it. The infirmary and lab were hit as well. I have a feeling the terrorists may have infiltrated the station during the commotion. I want you to keep the access door to the special district secure. Even if someone on the staff requests access, I want you to check with control first.”
“How many of them are there?”
“We don’t know.”
“Just what was the security staff doing?”
“Let’s just say they dropped the ball.”
“Utterly useless,” said Fortia. “We would have fared better if we’d been the ones carrying the guns.”
“What’s done is done. Just stay alert.”
Fortia ended the transmission and went into the next room.
Album was sleeping in the double bed with the covers pulled over eir head.
“Wake up,” said Fortia, patting Album on the cheek several times. “Nap time is over. We have to issue an alert.”
Album tossed languidly beneath the covers and opened eir eyes a sliver. “Do it without me. I’m feeling tired. I might be pregnant. What about you, Fortia?”
“I don’t recall doing anything that’d get us pregnant, do you? Come on, hurry up and put some clothes on. The terrorists are somewhere on this station.”
Album lowered the covers a bit and eyed em suspiciously. “Really?”
“Unless Preda’s gone completely batty from the daily boredom, I think he’s telling the truth.”
“Do you think they’re coming here?”
“That depends on our intrepid security team.”
Album rolled out of bed and began to pick up the clothes strewn across the floor. “I swear these Monaurals are a pain in the ass. We’re forced to live here because they want us out of plain sight and at arm’s length. And still they barge into our territory.”
“They can’t help themselves. That’s just their way.”
“Fools. They come all the way out here and to do what? Murder people. If they have time enough for that, they should help maintain the station for a while.”
While Album fixed the collar on eir tunic in front of the mirror, the intruder alarm sounded. Fortia knitted eir brows. Album quickly reached for the utility knife on the table.
The living room door blew open. A man and woman stormed in with their guns raised.
“Don’t move,” said the woman coolly. “Try anything funny and you’re dead.”
“Who are you?” asked Fortia bravely.
“We’re with the Vessel of Life.”
“I’m asking what your name is.”
“Karina Majella. You must be Fortia.”
“Yes.”
“If you want to live, you’ll round up all of your associates in the assembly hall. Every last one of them.”
“And what if I refuse?” Fortia said.
“That boy growling next to you like a guard dog—I’ll blow his pretty little head off.”
Fortia looked Album in the eye and gestured for em to lower the knife.
“But why?” Album protested.
“I don’t want any bloodshed here. We can at least talk in the assembly hall.”
“She called me a boy. The bitch.”
Karina snickered. “You move and I’ll shoot you dead.”
She produced some wrist ties from her pocket and tied Fortia’s hands behind eir back. As she moved to restrain Album, ey twisted away and swung an elbow at Karina’s face. Karina dodged the attack without any difficulty. Wringing the Round’s arm up behind em, she threw em down on the floor, drew the gun from her waist, and pumped a bullet into Album’s right leg in one fluid move.
Album screamed. Twisting eir face in agony, ey balled eir body on the carpet with both hands squeezing eir leg. Fortia let out a bestial cry. Ey charged head first at Karina, but Lobe hit em with the butt of his gun, and ey landed on eir back.
Fortia spat out blood at the floor where ey lay. “You murderer.”
“I told you I’d shoot if you moved. You were given fair warning.”
Fortia sidled up next to Album and, after exchanging several hushed words, looked up at the intruders. “Help em, please. If you don’t do something ey’ll bleed to death.”
“Go right ahead. I’m sure you have some towels lying around.”
“You think I can walk after what he’s done to me?”
Karina went to the bed and shredded the sheets into thin strips with her knife. After instructing Lobe to keep Fortia back, Karina knelt down next to Album and wrapped the cloth strips tightly around the wound.
With the bandage acting as a tourniquet, the color began to return to eir face. The tension leaving eir body, Album lay on the floor and breathed easier.
“He’ll live for now.” Karina turned to Fortia and said, “But like you said, he’ll only get worse. If you gather the rest of the Rounds, I’ll make sure he gets the proper treatment.”
“How do I know you’ll keep your promise?”
“If you don’t trust me—fine. We’ve got nothing to lose here.”
“All right. Help me over to the terminal.”
Lobe took Fortia to the computer terminal and tapped a few buttons on the panel. Once a channel was established, Fortia sat down in front of the terminal and calmly began to speak. “To the residents of the special district. I have an announcement to make.”
All of the Rounds—in their living rooms, in the garden, and in their beds—waited for Fortia to speak.
It was rare that their leader would make a district-wide announcement outside of the assembly hall. The Rounds instantly recognized that something had happened.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re all at work, but I’d like you to come to the assembly hall immediately. That means everyone—no exceptions.” Then ey added, “On the orders of the terrorists standing next to me.”
Lobe glared and tried to snatch Fortia away from the terminal.
But Fortia twisted free from his g
rasp and threw emself against the terminal. “Get out of here, all of you! Tell security the intruders are here in the special district!”
Karina kicked the chair out from under Fortia. The microphone picked up the sound of a thunderous crash and terrible cry.
Across the special district, Rounds who’d already been on the move stiffened and stood dead in their tracks.
Karina’s voice echoed overhead. “Listen carefully. We have taken Fortia and Album hostage. Album’s been shot and is severely injured. One false move out of any of you, and Album dies first. And if you still resist, we’ll kill Fortia too.”
Recovering eir feet, Fortia charged at Karina and staggered back to the terminal. “Don’t listen to them!” ey shouted. “Forget about us and get yourselves to safety!”
Karina hit Fortia with the butt of her gun. Eir knees buckling, Fortia crumpled to the floor. Karina jabbed the Round in the ribs with a kick and turned to Lobe. “Start shooting with the sniper rifle when the Rounds get to the exit. Wait until they’re all crowded around the door. Wolfren should have jammed the lock, so they won’t be able to open the door immediately. That’s when you shoot.”
“Understood. All of the capsules?”
Karina nodded. “Do it.” Then she took one look at the terminal and stared down at Fortia lying helplessly on the floor. “She pulled a fast one on you, Dave. The channel’s been open this entire time.”
“What?”
“She must have hit the switch with her shoulder when she threw herself against the terminal. The entire station must have heard. Along with Kline in the control room.”
Switching off the transmission, she muttered, “You must think you’re very clever, but not so. We’ve planned for every contingency.”
After having heard Fortia’s announcement, Tigris and Calendula gathered their children and rushed outside. Tigris insisted they go help Fortia, to which Calendula replied, “Ey told us to get to safety. Our priority is to follow the leader’s orders.”
“But—”
“I’m not about to let some opposition group from Earth hurt our family.”
A mob was already pushing and shoving each other before the only door in and out of the special district. Unable to open the door from the control panel, some of the Rounds were trying to disengage the lock manually, but the door did not budge.
