by Sayuri Ueda
Tigris called out Calendula’s name, but ey did not look back.
Tigris could only watch helplessly as Calendula’s figure quickly receded down the corridor.
4
KARINA LAY ON her back on the floor and worked her fingers along the chain of the handcuffs. Clamping the chain link between the thumb and middle finger of both hands, she began to pull.
The steel cuffs couldn’t normally be snapped by human hands. However, both Karina’s arms were artificial, having just the necessary strength to break the chain link.
Karina had been injured countless times working for Libra. Every time a limb had been damaged beyond healing, she had replaced them with artificial limbs. As a result, the skeletal structures of both arms were made not of bone but of metal alloy. The skin and muscle were also made of synthetic materials.
Since the synthetic tissue covering the alloy limbs contained both nerves and blood vessels, Karina bled and felt pain when cut. Which was why no one ever suspected her of being a cybernetic organism, why Karina was able to pull the wool over the security staff’s eyes.
Karina operated the panel hidden in the roof of her mouth with the tip of her tongue. In the event of undue stress on her skin and muscle, Karina was able to shut down her neural pathways with a flick of her tongue. The effects, however, were only temporary and the pain would return in time.
After temporarily shutting down nerve function in her fingers, Karina broke the chain link in two with her fingers.
Sitting up on the floor, Karina breathed a sigh of relief.
She examined her fingers. Though rivulets of blood were beginning to form around the deep cuts, Karina felt no pain. The molecular machine inside her body would heal the cuts completely soon enough.
Although Dr. Tei’s treatment had been superficial, ey had stopped the bleeding and bandaged up Karina’s leg wound. Karina’s ribs had also been bound with a brace. Since Karina had shut down much of the neural function in her body, the pain from her various injuries had disappeared. She also changed the neural settings on the interface in the roof of her mouth to minimize the sensitivity to sudden pain stimulus such as a gunshot wound. While this would do nothing to regenerate cell damage, by manipulating the nociceptors that transmit pain impulses to the brain, Karina would be able to keep on running despite the physical damage she incurred.
Karina slowly flexed her muscles. Her body, now completely rid of any pain, felt entirely artificial. She had gritted her teeth through the pain of the interrogation to keep her pain-inhibition abilities secret. Every time they had beaten and brutalized her, she had cried out in pain, but it was an act to lull the torturers into complacency.
Harding had appeared pleased with himself while Shirosaki had tried to restrain him and had benevolently sent the doctor in to care for her wounds. Karina was convinced she had not let on about her special abilities.
Karina remembered the faces of the security team and gnashed her teeth. If I run into any of them during my escape, they’ll pay for what they did. I’ll kill every one of the bastards who laughed at my torture.
Karina removed her left leg from her body suit. Pressing her nails against the inner thigh, she carefully began to peel back the epidermis. She pulled the skin back without any loss of blood, as there were no blood vessels running through the permeable dermal layer. It peeled away like a sticker, revealing a deep fissure resembling an old wound underneath. Karina stuck her thumb and forefinger inside the fissure that ran down the length of her thigh. Fumbling inside the synthetic muscle sac, slowly she pulled out a slender bundle slightly smaller than the size of her arm.
Protected by synthetic tissue, the bundle had remained dry and free of blood and other bodily fluids. Karina massaged the opening in her left thigh with both hands, and the fissure melded shut into its original form. She covered the fissure back up, and after pressing down on the skin layers for several seconds, slipped her left leg back into her body suit.
Then she retrieved the shoes that had been tossed about by her torturers. Since the neural inhibitor was set to maximum, she was able to slip them on without any pain, despite her broken toes. She should be able to run without much trouble.
She unraveled the bundle that she’d removed from her body.
There was a long, silver cylinder inside.
They’re desperate for the data on the parasitic machine, so they can’t kill me. That’s my advantage.
Karina had known from the start that Kline would reject her demands. It was a move worthy of a station superintendent. In fact, Karina wanted to salute her bold decision. Though if Kline had agreed to the deal, the outcome would be so much easier for everyone involved.
What about Shirosaki? Is he thinking about what I told him? Or did the offer of a trade only arouse suspicion? Whatever, at this point he’s the only one who might be open to making a deal. I’ll have to use that to my advantage.
Karina smiled.
The security division must be convinced that I’m only after a deal. I told them as much from the start. Tei and Shirosaki must have sensed it in our conversations. But my aim isn’t to escape with my life, it’s to protect Europa.
I’m fighting for Europa. I’m prepared to die to save her.
5
SHIROSAKI, ARINO, HARDING, and Miles gathered in the meeting room to discuss options.
Unbeknownst to Tei, the room where Karina was being held had been bugged so the security team could listen in on Tei and Karina’s conversation. Shirosaki had listened to Tei’s report after having heard the entire exchange between Tei and Karina.
As a result, the four men had overheard something they had never intended to hear—the secret of Tei’s physiology. None of the men had said a word about it afterward, recognizing that silence was the bare minimum of courtesy that they could extend to Tei.
“Captain Hasukawa’s orders were to eliminate the terrorists,” said Shirosaki. “But we’ve also been ordered to protect the special district. And to protect the Round inhabitants, we need to get whatever information Karina’s holding about the dispersed substance. Until we do, we can’t kill her.”
“I still say we beat it out of her,” said Harding. “All the doctor’s talking didn’t get anything useful out of her.”
“Well, we learned something. Karina seems to be more forthcoming with the doctor. It was the doctor who got us the description of the agent.”
“All we have is that. We got nothing unless we learn how the damn thing works.”
“Karina seems to bear some sort of grudge against the Vessel of Life. If we play this right, we can get her to make a deal.”
“We’re wasting our time. Let me get another crack at her,” Harding said.
“Karina won’t talk as long as we continue these coercion tactics. If she were going to submit to violence, she would have done so already. She has no allies here, no one to save her. That she refuses to talk is a strong indication that she believes she’s holding a powerful bargaining chip. I have to believe the information she has is real.”
“Then what are you suggesting we do?”
“All we’re doing is going around in circles,” cut in Miles. “I’m for resuming the interrogation. Torture aside, we won’t get anywhere in this meeting room. Let me try talking to her. You can talk me through it with the implant.”
“You’re just going to go in there?” Harding asked.
“Maybe the talk with the doctor got her thinking. Maybe talking to someone else could yield something more. I’ll start there.”
Miles took two of his men with him to Karina’s cell.
Karina lay on her back on the floor. One of the guards made a straight line to where Karina lay and kicked her in the side. “Wake up. Naptime’s over.”
The woman’s hands were cuffed behind her back. But Miles stopped dead in his tracks, sensing something was amiss.
Her shoes.
He realized Karina was wearing shoes. When did she put them on? Did the doctor put them
on for her? For what purpose?
In that instant, Karina sprang to her feet and pointed a silver cylinder at Miles.
Something shot out of the cylinder and plunged into his carotid artery. Miles instinctively pressed a hand up against his neck, but it was too late to stop the bleeding.
A hot spray spurted forth from between his fingers. Miles recognized in an instant that his molec machine would not be able to repair the wound. He reached for the gun in his holster but fell to his knees before he could find the grip. He put out his hands to stop his fall, but his blood-soaked hands slipped across the floor.
Miles fell sideways in a pool of his own blood. Jesus. So this is where I die. Without having even drawn my gun.
As Miles panted for air in a sea of red, the two security guards were struck down in the same way. With one swing of Karina’s arm, the slender spear that had brought down Miles arced like a snapping whip and pierced one guard’s windpipe and medulla and the other through the side of the throat.
Karina bent down and stripped the bodies of weapons. She holstered one gun on either side of her waist and held another in her left hand.
She strode over to the door and kicked it down.
The guard outside the door reflexively pointed his gun at Karina before he had time to grasp what was happening. But Karina’s spear had already found its target, plunging into the guard’s eye. The monomolecular carbon tip pierced the skull and brain and emerged through the back of his head.
Pressing a button on the cylinder, Karina retracted the spear back into the tube. The guard’s body twitched uncontrollably as he slumped to the floor.
The speargun required neither gunpowder nor batteries, so it was capable of taking down the enemy without a sound. Since it was propelled by an elastic sling and reeled back into the barrel, there was no worry about running out of ammunition. Although the speargun necessitated shooting at closer range than a gun, it could be just as lethal as a bullet. Karina’s spear was made of monomolecular carbon, capable of piercing flesh and bone and also effective against ballistic suits.
Karina took off the guard’s soft vest and put it on over her body suit. Though not as protective as a reinforced ballistic vest, it would keep her alive as long as she didn’t take a bullet at close range.
Karina also seized the guard’s data goggles and submachine gun. Taking the side arm out of his holster, she removed the clip and shoved it in her pocket.
Karina started to run in the direction of the escape shuttle.
Miles’s implant had gone dead soon after he had entered Karina’s cell. Assaulted by a feeling of dread, Shirosaki, Harding, and Arino ran immediately for the room.
Harding felt his knees go weak, aghast at the brutality wrought inside the room.
The security guards were already dead.
Harding lifted Miles off the floor and drew the man’s colorless face closer to his chest. Harding shook with grief as he tried to keep from crying out.
Arino averted his eyes and let out a gasp.
Shirosaki bit his lip. Desperately fighting back the chaotic feelings roiling in his soul, he evaluated and reevaluated his actions thus far. Where did he go wrong? Where had he strayed? What was the next course of action? Shirosaki was working his brain a mile a minute to devise a counterstrategy. It was all that kept him from going to pieces like Harding.
At that moment, the three men received a transmission over their implants from a security team member in the special district. The officer gave a brief account of the brawl between the security guards and Rounds and warned that Calendula had escaped the special district.
Coming to his senses, Shirosaki clicked his tongue. “Dammit, we don’t have time for this!”
“Should we go after em, sir?”
“We don’t have the manpower to spare. Karina’s escaped. Our priority is to go after her first.”
“What if we run into Calendula?”
“Do what you need to disable em. We can’t have the Rounds getting in our way.”
Harding lay Miles back down on the floor and stood up slowly. “I’m going to kill Karina Majella,” he said, turning to Shirosaki. “You got any complaints?”
Shirosaki did not answer.
Harding grabbed him by the collar. “Say something,” he said, his teeth clenched.
“I have to agree with him, Commander,” said Arino. “Keeping Karina alive is a mistake. Even the Rounds have risen up against her. It’s clear everyone’s reached their boiling point.”
“Then what about the data on the parasitic machine?” asked Shirosaki. “Without it, the special district will be wiped out.”
“Karina’s been playing us because she thinks we can’t touch her,” Harding said. “She’s got to be stopped. The fact that she escaped can only mean she doesn’t have anything on the parasitic machine.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I’m tired of these guessing games. Even if she gives us the information we need, it’s still not going to bring Miles back. Or the Round children. Don’t you see? Karina’s got you completely wrapped around her finger.”
Suddenly, the lights went out. This was no burned-out light panel, but rather a power outage that appeared to be affecting much of the station.
With Harding still clutching him by the collar, Shirosaki reached down and contacted Kline on his wearable. “What’s going on? Has something happened?”
“The system shut down the power generator. We’re trying to locate the cause now.”
“How long before you can get it working again?”
“That depends on the damage. Stand by.”
Harding, realizing the gravity of the situation, finally loosened his grip on Shirosaki.
The three men waited in the dark for Kline’s response.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kline responded, “It’s no good. There’s a problem with the mainframe.”
“Was it sabotaged? Blown up like the medical labs?”
“No, this time it’s fungi and bacteria.”
“Fungi?”
“A fungus called Cladosporium resinae and the bacterium Desulfovibrio, both of which corrode metal and circuit boards. They were found growing all over the circuit boards in the server room.”
“But the mainframe should be made of bacteria-resistant materials. How did the stuff work its way into the circuitry?”
“The antibacterial coating must have been peeled off somehow. The server room is usually kept in dry environment conditions, but the air-conditioning settings were tampered with so the humidity and temperature have been rising steadily. What is considered a comfortable humidity and temperature for humans is also an ideal breeding ground for fungi and bacteria. At 20 degrees Celsius, they’ll multiply at an alarming rate and will grow only more rapidly as the humidity rises.”
“That takes some planning. Someone must have planted this surprise in advance.”
“Barry Wolfren,” Kline said. “He must have sabotaged the mainframe well before he was captured. Then all he had to do was hack into the air conditioning system at the right time.”
Shirosaki recalled belatedly that Karina’s area of expertise was microbiology. No doubt she had genetically manipulated the fungi and bacteria so they could not be easily exterminated.
“Check the other facilities immediately. If Wolfren got to the electrical systems, there’s a good chance he tampered with the rest. If the station’s life support goes down, especially the atmospheric controls, none of us will survive.”
“The station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System can’t be so easily tampered with. We’ll check, of course, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about. First, we’ll lower the temperature and humidity in the station. That should stop the fungus and bacteria from spreading. We’ll be able to restore electricity quickly by replacing the damaged parts.”
“Understood,” Shirosaki said and ended the transmission.
“Why the electrical systems?” asked
Arino.
“I don’t know. With the power generator down, the high-velocity elevators will be inoperable, and the various security locks will be harder to disengage. I don’t see how Karina stands to gain an advantage.”
“The surveillance cameras,” said Harding. “With the electrical systems down, we won’t be able to get a visual lock on the terrorists’ location with the surveillance cameras. And the emergency partitions won’t come down to hinder their escape.”
“Where do you think Karina is headed?”
“Either the cargo vessels from Asteroid City or the escape shuttles,” Harding answered.
“Shuttle number two’s cockpit console was destroyed in the shootout with Lobe. That leaves five. We’ll have to dispatch security teams to each of the shuttles.”
“How many to a team?”
“Excepting the casualties, I’d say about five or six to a team. Not exactly a sure bet against Karina.”
“Five or six men is plenty if they shoot on sight,” Harding said. “Listen to me, Shirosaki. We’ll be split into teams to guard the shuttles. We don’t actually know where Karina’s headed. If she shows up where you are, you apprehend her however you please. But if she finds me, I’m going to kill her. Any complaints?”
Shirosaki pulled his lips taut and nodded slowly. “All right. But if I find out Karina’s gone to you, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop you.”
“Fine,” Harding said. “By the time you get to me, Karina will already be dead.”
6
THE PLAN HAD been for Wolfren to remain in a coma for three days. At least, that had been his intention when he crushed the capsule embedded in the base of his tongue.
He had been wafting along in a dark but pleasant and dreamless slumber, when he abruptly found himself back in reality.
Wolfren squinted at the light from above and felt an uncomfortable bed beneath him. A dull pain shot through his shoulder and the base of his neck. He remembered Harding kicking him to the floor, chair and all, during the interrogation and suddenly flushed with anger.
“Looks like it worked.”
