Realizing that her resistance was futile, Julia acquiesced. Apparently she would have to watch on the sidelines until her new body was ready. “Very well then. Let’s get on with this, shall we?”
Babysitter Extraordinaire
Mikhail ended the comm. Babysit the prime minister? He was partially relieved to have an assignment again after all these weeks off, but he had never worked security for a head of state before.
He had been in the playroom with the twins when the call came from Banks. The twins were growing too fast. It seemed like just yesterday they had been born, and now they were crawling around and jibber-jabbering to anyone who would listen. As Mikhail watched them play, he felt the overwhelming urge to keep them safe and happy at any cost.
The poison from the knife had nearly cost him his life. If that junkie from the Third hadn’t called the paramedics, he shuddered to think were he might be right now. The dose, along with the stab wound, was meant to be lethal, and it was well on its way, but the paramedics had been excellent at their craft and administered the antidote in time to help save his life. The real heroes had been his nanites. They slowed the bleeding and negated the majority of the poison before they exhausted themselves. Every last one of them had expired saving his life.
Mikhail had woken in a hospital bed three days later. The events were still a little fuzzy—he had made his way to a safe house and managed to contact Banks back in the Seventh. He was extracted a day later and debriefed. He didn’t remember much after the poison, but he couldn’t forget what had happened before.
Despite his injury, he had still managed to partially make his drop. The Shadows who were supposed to be following him had turned out not to be Shadows after all. Which actually made sense—Shadows were called that by the Strangers because they were elusive, you rarely caught a glimpse of them. But whoever was responsible for the attempt on his life was not from the Sixth. They had used Seventh tech and had used it proficiently. He couldn’t rule out that the two men were Shadows disguised as Strangers, but that possibility just didn’t make much sense at all. Why would they disguise themselves as Strangers, even going so far as using comms and the Seventh’s jump-gate system? No, someone from his own verse had tried to silence him, but who? And why?
The prime suspect was his own government, but if they had wanted him dead, why didn’t they send a team to finish the job when he made contact in the Third? The more Mikhail tried to find some answers the more questions he ended up with. Needless to say, he didn’t trust anyone right now, except for Jenni and the twins, of course.
His suspicion was why he still hadn’t replenished his nanites yet. He’d told his superiors some bullshit about needing to unplug and relax and spend time with his family, and that wasn’t entirely untrue, he did need some down time, but mostly he just didn’t trust the tech right now.
Mikhail was getting dressed for his assignment when Jenni came in the bedroom.
“Comm for you,” she said, holding out the receiver.
He kissed his wife as he took the receiver. It was strange to talk on a hand-held device, but without his nanites, it became necessary. “Yeah, Banksy, what is it?”
“Listen very closely,” a strange voice was on the other end. “If you want answers, do exactly as I say.”
Mikhail listened as the voice gave him instructions. It didn’t take long.
“When do I get my answers?” Mikhail asked.
“When I get my package.” The line went dead.
“Jenni!” Mikhail yelled to the other room.
She poked her head in the doorway, one of the twins on her hip. “What’s up, babe?”
“Who did that man say he was on the comm?”
Jenni furrowed her brow. “He didn’t say… I just assumed it was somebody from the office. Was it not?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she knew something was out of place. “Is everything alright?”
“No, yeah, everything is fine… Just a weird call is all.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. Hey, look at me… I just got you back together again, I don’t want you going off and getting into trouble.”
He smiled, trying to reassure her, but in truth he wasn’t very assured at all. “No worries, love. Everything is fine. I’ve gotta get going. I may not be home for a few days, but I’ll be on world. Call me if you need anything.” He kissed her. “Anything at all.”
“Just be careful, Mikhail.”
“You know me…” he said, bringing a smile to her face at last.
“Yeah, that’s the problem, I think.”
“Love you,” he said as he walked out the door.
“That’s the problem too,” Jenni said as the door closed.
It all happened just like the man on the comm said it would.
Mikhail showed up at the office of some downtown body mech by the name of Mesham. He made his way down to the lab and crunched over broken glass to meet with his charge.
The prime minister was dressed in her usual head of state garb, but she was in a different body altogether. It took Mikhail by surprise when she introduced herself. “Mikhail, good to meet you… I can see by the look on your face that I’m not quite who you expected, but nevertheless, this body is my home for the moment. The minister of defense tells me that you come very highly recommended. I was sorry to hear of how your last assignment ended. Hopefully this one will have a happier ending, or at the very least, a less painful one.”
“Lady White, I, uh, don’t know what to say… Thank you.”
Mikhail was given the protocols that he was to follow when interacting with the prime minister. No one was to touch the Lady White, including Mikhail, unless her life was under an immediate threat.
The rest of the plan was a bunch of fancy words that boiled down to him and the prime minister sitting alone in her quarters for possibly up to forty-eight hours or until her new body was ready for her. She would be exposed only twice—once on the way to her apartments, and once on the way back. Once she got to her quarters one would need an army to get through her fortifications. Or a man on the inside, he thought to himself as he wondered, not for the first time, who the man on the comm had been and how he had known about this situation.
The pantry and refrigerator had been stocked full of every kind of food imaginable. Apples, oranges, bananas, mango, coconut, and any other fruit Mikhail could think of, it was there. The same went for vegetables and cuts of meat. The cupboards held flour, sugar, and spices as well as already prepared and prepackaged baked goods.
The prime minister spent most of her time on the comm or watching the news vids while Mikhail watched her. She must have found it unnerving as she suggested that he would better use his time “whipping something up in the kitchen.” So that is just what Mikhail did.
He made roasts and pies and main courses and side dishes and desserts, just stopping long enough to have a bite or two of the previous dish before moving on to create the next one.
The hours passed. Every now and again Lady White would pop in, still in mid-conversation with someone on the line, and make her assessments: “More salt… Mmm, that stew is excellent, it’s venison, no…? Rhubarb pie? I haven’t had one since I was a child. Perhaps a touch less sugar and a bit more butter in the crust.”
After running out of counter space and clean dishes, Mikhail decided to call it a day. He put what he could fit into the fridge and left what could stay on the counters out. He loaded up the dish washer and ran it through a cycle. With the dishes washed and the kitchen relatively clean, Mikhail suddenly realized that he was famished. He fixed himself a large plate of the various dishes he’d created and warmed them up. He was going to sit down at the table and eat but then thought better of it and took his dinner to the couch where he planned on remaining for the rest of the evening. He turned on the vidscreen and found the latest episode of Play Things. Checking the time, he wondered if Jenni had already watched the new episode, or if she had decided to wait until she could watch it with h
im. During his rehab, they had fallen in love with the show, and since then had watched every episode together. It had become one of their favorite times together.
As the opening credits started to play, Mikhail abruptly canceled the playback, deciding that he would wait for Jenni. Instead he flipped through channels until he landed on a news program. On screen the host was interviewing the special guest. The caption on the screen read: IS CHANGING BODIES A POSSIBILITY?
Mikhail chuckled to himself, if only they knew.
That was the way technology usually filtered out, though. The government would have a working model for several years before they started leaking stories like this one out into the general population. It was one of the ways they ensured control.
Mikhail finished his meal, returned the dirty dishes to the sink, and eventually fell asleep on the couch.
He woke early to find Lady White already up and on the comm talking with someone. She waved briefly, in greeting, and then continued her pacing around the spacious quarters. At least she’s still in her night robe, he thought, feeling a little better about being the last to rise. Or did she even go to bed at all, he wondered.
Mikhail liked to start out his day with some stretching. It helped to wake him up as well as keep everything in working order.
The day wore on with most of the focus on eating instead of cooking. It was a good thing that this assignment was almost over, or else he would need a new wardrobe soon. Finally, quarter to eight rolled around, and it was time to move.
Mikhail and Lady White stepped out on to the parking terrace where their transport was waiting. The evening air was cool outside, a slight breeze was blowing.
Flashes of red light lit up the sky from the roof of the adjacent building. Blaster fire rained down on the transport and the security team stationed just outside. Some men shouted orders as others returned fire, and some just ran around, blindly seeking shelter.
Mikhail’s first instinct was to grab Lady White and hold her close, ushering her back inside the building, despite having orders not to make contact with her. Civilians were scurrying all around them, some trying to re-enter the building, and some just trying to get out of the way.
Off to the right was a stairwell that would offer much better protection. Mikhail led the prime minister there. By the time the door closed, Lady White was already on the comm with someone, shouting to be heard over the screams and cries of the mass hysteria surrounding them. “No, we’re pinned down inside the building! We never made it to the transport!” She was silent as the reply came back from the other end. “I know it’s not what we wanted, but it’s the less risky of the two.” She shook her head no, in a gesture that would not be seen by the intended recipient. “I don’t think we can take the chance, we’ll just have to tie up the loose ends later, I’m sorry… I’ll see you soon.”
She ended the call and turned to Mikhail. “Listen closely, agent. Under no circumstances is anyone to take this body I’m in. Do you hear me?”
Mikhail nodded his understanding.
“When I uplink, the girl, whose body this is, will return in control of it. She’s not to be trusted. She’s a traitor and is harboring a deadly threat to our entire way of life. You are to bring her to the lab as originally planned, is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mikhail answered.
The prime minister groaned, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she collapsed into Mikhail’s arms, unconscious. Again, wondering how the man on the phone had gotten his information, Mikhail pulled out a syringe and inserted it into the woman’s neck. When the syringe was as full as possible, he removed it and transferred the blood into a sealed vial. He pocketed the vial and threw the syringe into a waste bin as the woman started to come to.
Her eyes fluttered as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She was on her back, staring up at the ceiling, which resembled stairs. No, she was staring down at stairs… but why was she laying down? Her vision finally stabilized. The ceiling was made of stairs, but stairs that were a level above them.
Mikhail helped her sit up. “It’s okay, I got you.”
The woman shrieked and jerked free of his control backing into the corner of the stairwell. She looked frightened and nervous, like a drug addict who was beginning withdrawal.
Mikhail moved toward her and she jumped. “No, stay back! Leave me alone!”
He raised his hands showing her his palms, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. “Relax, take it easy. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I heard what she told you to do, I heard everything she said! You’re going to bring me to Mesham’s lab and they’re going to kill me!” The woman was near hysterical.
Trying to keep his voice as calm as possible, Mikhail said, “Your name’s Ava, right? Ava, if you heard everything, then you must also have heard what they plan to do with me?”
Ava’s expression changed as she realized that it was true.
“I take it from that look that they had nothing pleasant planned for me?”
She shook her head no.
“I figured as much. Somethings just didn’t add up right. Like my last mission for starters, it’s not like the Shadows to try to kill an agent over some outdated gate technology.” He glanced up, realizing that his audience was not understanding any of this. “Never mind it now, but we need to get out of here before they discover there was no real threat out there.”
An evil grin came across Ava’s face as she pulled her hand out from her vest pocket. “How about this?” she asked, holding up a jump-watch. “She kept it on her just in case she needed to save her sorry ass.”
Mikhail thought it over for a moment. The girl wasn’t part of the original plan, but then again, he never liked the original plan.
He was supposed to send the sample to a dead drop in the Third, and leave the girl to whatever end awaited her, but now that she was in front of him, threatening tears, he found that he couldn’t do it. Besides, not having nanites might make it easier for him to avoid capture in the Seventh, but it would certainly make it harder to leave also. That settled it for him. “Alright, we run. If I can get you to my people in the Third, you might be safe there.”
“Might be?” Ava asked, eyebrows raised high.
Mikhail shrugged. “It’s the best I can do… Or, you could stay here and take your chances.”
“But I have the jump-watch!” she cried, holding it up. “You’ll do as I say or—”
Mikhail’s hand flashed out, faster than the eye could follow, and snatched the jump-watch from her grasp. “That will be just about enough of that!” He was not in the mood to deal with a little brat who clearly couldn’t recognize a good deal when she saw one.
“Hey! Give it back!”
“I don’t think so. I think I’ll hold on to this until you learn some gratitude.”
She licked her lips and batted her eyes seductively as she took a step forward.
“Don’t,” Mikhail said. “The only thing sadder than a whore is a rejected whore.”
She tried to look offended, but couldn’t manage to pull it off. Mikhail began putting their destination on the jump-watch. As he did, Ava made another grab for it. Mikhail side stepped and Ava’s hand went sailing through the air, finding nothing. “We can do this two ways: you can be awake, or asleep. Your choice, but choose now, we’re leaving.”
Her shoulders hunched over and she began to sob as she realized that the last bargaining chip she had was now gone.
Mikhail groaned as the sobbing intensified. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said. He put a reluctant arm around her shoulders and activated the jump-watch, wondering what he had gotten himself into as he was transported from one verse to another.
Julia opened her eyes as if waking from sleep. She had not been sleeping, however, she had been within the Mother. It was only a matter of minutes that she had spent without a body, but it felt much longer. The phantom limbs that still follow your consciousness shouldn’t be pos
sible without a physical link to the body, or so all the experts said, but nonetheless, there she had been, floating in darkness, feeling a body that wasn’t there. What made it worse was that she couldn’t tell whose body it was. Was it hers or Ava’s?
When the Mother was fully operational, there would be fully developed environments that consciousnesses could experience with a virtual body that had all the feelings of a real body, or none of them, or any combination of the two. The choice was part of the experience. Time would move differently for different environments and people, and without the worry of death, or the need for more resources, humanity could evolve at their own pace. Without an environment and a sense of space and dimension, the experience was quite disturbing, she found. No doubt, given enough time, one could learn to be comfortable, but she preferred to never experience the empty construct state again.
Julia blinked her eyes and became aware of the lights and sounds of the room she was in, slowly rising up to awareness through layers of mental fog.
“Julia… can you hear me?” she heard someone say. She nodded.
“Good, good. Give yourself a moment to settle into your new skin. You may feel some tingling for a while, it’s perfectly natural, I assure you.” Julia finally placed the voice. It was Dr. Mesham. Looking over she could see him now and Dorian behind him. He looked relieved.
Julia sat up slowly, groaning as she did. She went to brush her hair back and nearly poked herself in the eye.
“It may also take your mind a few moments to adjust to the new length of limbs from your previous body.”
“Yes, I can see that,” she spoke. Hearing her own voice again, and not Ava’s, was disconcerting. She wasn’t entirely sure that it was her own voice. Had she always sounded like this? How come she had never noticed it before?
“Do I sound alright to you?” The question took the two men by surprise.
Strangers and Shadows Page 29
