Nexus

by Naam, Ramez

  "Fucking bitch. No one messes with the Corps."

  They were coming for him. The Corps. His brothers. He could hear the choppers…

  At 5.39am, a chime went off. Wats rose with a jolt. He was drenched in sweat. Someone downstairs pounded on his floor. Had he been screaming again? The dream. Lunara. It was getting worse.

  A chime. A message. He splashed cold water from the sink onto his face, to wash away the horror, then checked his slate. It was a note and a set of photos from his man at the Prince Market Hotel. Kade and Cataranes had returned to the hotel. They both looked rumpled and worse for wear. There was a livid bruise across the side of Kade's face. Two bulky looking Thai gentlemen with crew cuts had checked in shortly thereafter.

  He sat down heavily on the bed. He'd slept little, and what sleep he'd gotten had been its own torment. The urge to drug himself into dreamless unconsciousness was strong. But this was not the time for that.

  What had he done to earn so much suffering in this life? What had he done that he had the memory of Lunara's death, of her rapes, of Arman's pain at discovering the slaughter of his family, of Temir's pain at the pillaging of his village, of the pain of all the men and women they'd trooped through that cellar and trooped through his mind? What had he done that he had the torment of so many seared into his soul?

  Wats dismissed the question. He knew very well what he'd done. He'd killed countless men and not a few women. He'd used violence as a weapon. He'd hurt and killed people for no reason other than the words of his superiors. He'd enjoyed it. It didn't matter that he'd believed what he was doing was right. He'd sewn the mask over his own eyes. He'd been complicit in his own exploitation as a tool of evil.

  His karma was black as night. A dozen lifetimes might not be enough to climb his way out of the pit he'd dug for himself in this one life.

  The data fob was in his hand, the metal of the chain coiled in his palm. So small. If he could just connect this to Kade… He'd been so close, so close to doing something that could make a dent in his vile karma, that could help redeem him just a tiny bit. So close to be turned away.

  Wats dragged himself out of the mire of self-pity. It was beneath him. He was here for a reason. He looked at the message on the slate again, at the images. He pieced together the events of the night before. Someone had tried to abduct Kade. Cataranes had fought them off. They'd spent time in a safe house somewhere. Now they were back. And they were keeping those spec-ops types close. Security around Kade would be tighter than ever.

  He should have made his move the first day. He should have shot Cataranes in the head last night and hauled Kade away. They could be in Laos by now.

  Wats sighed. Freeing Kade would be harder than ever at this point. It would be a suicide mission. He couldn't succeed. Not on his own. But he wouldn't give up. Not yet.

  Someone else wanted Kade. Someone else had tried to abduct him. He wanted to know who. He wanted to know why. He pictured the monk he'd seen twice now. He had one lead.

  28

  WARNINGS AND DISCOVERIES

  Kade woke to the sound of the alarm. With a groan he reached across the bed to slap it off. The clock read 11am. His poster session was at 1 o'clock.

  The sound of the shower emanated from behind the closed bathroom door. Sam was in there. She'd slept on the floor in Kade's room, a bodyguard he wished he didn't need, wished he could be rid of. He could feel her mind, calm, thinking about the day, washing herself methodically. He didn't think she could feel him yet.

  Kade rolled onto his back, stared at the ceiling. Weak light filtered through the crack between the hotel room curtain and the wall. In addition to Sam, he knew that there were two of the guys with guns in the hotel now as well, posing as Thai businessmen, covertly ready to intercept assailants, and leap to Sam and Kade's aid should anything happen.

  He was as safe as he was going to get. Others weren't so lucky.

  Narong and his friends… Chuan… Lalana… Sajja…

  He knew what he needed to do. He remembered something Wats had said after a few drinks once, talking about a no-win situation he and his squad had found themselves in, deep in the mountains of Kazakhstan, a decision of whether or not to try to rescue a captured squad mate against impossible odds.

  When the chips are down, when you have to weigh what you believe in against your own safety – that's when you find out what you're made of.

  Kade knew what he believed in. He believed that Narong and his friends were doing nothing wrong. He needed to warn them, have them call off Friday night. He glanced at the door to the bathroom. It was still closed. The shower was still going. How long had Sam been in there? Was she about to pop out? He had to take the chance. He was tired of being passive. He had to make the right thing happen.

  Kade kept his mind as blank as he could, reeled in the amount he was emanating, rolled off the bed, padded as quietly as he could in boxers and bare feet to the small desk, found the stationary and pen, jotted a quick note.

  Robyn Rodriguez is a narc. You must cancel Friday night or uninvite us. You didn't hear this from me, please.

  The noise of the shower ended. He pulled the top sheet off the pad, folded it up, scanned around frantically for his pants.

  The bathroom door opened. He looked up in time to see Sam crossing the distance between them, her face livid. Her open palm knocked him to the floor before he even saw it coming. His world exploded in pain. The room spun around him.

  "You stupid son of a bitch."

  She was standing above him, naked, water dripping off of her, fists clenched. She was going to hit him again.

  He held his breath.

  "I warned you," she told him.

  There was a scar below her left collarbone and above one perfect breast, a long line of red against her olive skin. A knife wound? Surgery? There were circular pock marks on her otherwise flat stomach, more above one knee. Bullet wounds? Her nipples were hard. Was she cold? Did this excite her?

  What was she?

  He spat out blood, tried to talk. "It's not their fault. They're not doing anything wrong."

  She kicked him in the stomach. He curled into a ball of agony, unable to breathe.

  "I trusted you, Kade. I went to bat for you. I saved your fucking life. And what do you give me? Just pathetic lies. Again, and again, and again."

  He gasped for breath, tried to speak…

  "Tried… do… right thing…"

  "Fuck your right thing, Kade. I'm tired of your lies. If anything about Friday night goes wrong, we're going to assume you sabotaged it. Got it? Anything goes wrong, and you're in an internment camp for life, you and your stupid fucked-up party friends. Dozens of them. You hear me?"

  Kade tried to speak. Nothing came out. He nodded meekly instead.

  Wats bowed respectfully to the woman who opened the monastery door. This was his fifth attempt today. The woman took a look at him, his skin color, his clothes, his height, his musculature, and addressed him in English.

  "May I help you?" Her accent was quite good.

  Wats responded in his best Thai, as weak as that was. "Please, honored sister. I'm looking for a monk. I had the honor to serve food to him from my humble stall yesterday. He forgot his alms bowl with me. I would return it to him."

  She frowned at him, replied in Thai. "There are many monks, friend. If one has lost his alms bowl, it can be easily replaced."

  "Please, honored sister." He bowed again. "This monk blessed my humble stall. I would feel honored to be able to return his lost possession to him."

  "Very well. What does he look like?"

  Wats rose up out of his bow. "He is tall." He held his hand at temple height. "Nearly as tall as me. Perhaps 1.8 meters. Not young, but not old. He has sharp features. A large nose. With a hook." His hands molded the image in the air as he spoke.

  "He is Thai?"

  "Yes, honored sister."

  She thought for a moment. "That is very tall for a Thai man. We do not have a monk that tall in
this monastery."

  Wats contained his disappointment. There were many more places to try.

  "But," she continued. "I may know who this monk is. Where is your food stall?"

  "Off Thep Prathan, honored sister. East of the Chao Por Suea shrine."

  "Ahh, near the convention center?"

  "Yes, honored sister."

  She nodded. "Then I may know who this monk is. It may be Phra Racha Khana Chan Rong Tuksin."

  Wats nodded to himself. The title indicated that this Tuksin was only one step below Somdet status, a very senior monk. He nodded, repeated the name to be sure he had it right, then used the colloquial title, "Chan Phrom Tuksin. Thank you, honored sister."

  She nodded at him.

  "Where would I find Chan Phrom Tuksin, honored sister?"

  "He resides at the Wat Hua Lamphong, near Chulalongkorn University. He is special assistant to Professor Somdet Phra Ananda."

  Wats nodded again. This went close to the top, indeed. "Thank you again, honored sister." He brought his hands together in a respectful wai to her, turned to go.

  "What food does your stall serve, young man?"

  He turned back to her. "American food, honored sister. Hot dogs and hamburgers."

  She frowned at him. "That is not fitting food to offer a monk," she scolded. "But you earn much merit in going so far to return his bowl."

  "Thank you, honored sister." He bowed his head, made the wai to her again.

  "Sawadi, traveler."

  "Sawadi, honored sister."

  29

  MADNESS EVERYWHERE

  A taxi driven by one of the armed Thai military types took Kade and Sam to the conference after lunch. Kade stood near his poster on mouse-to-mouse spatial memory sharing via machine-learning mediated nanoprobe connections. The growth factors had nearly healed the bruise on his face. What little remained was covered in concealer.

  He could see Sam hovering around, pretending to view the other posters. She felt tense and alert through the link. Two more of the men from the safe house orbited around in shirts and blazers, god knew what tucked away underneath there. They made a show of looking at posters.

  The crowd came and went. Students and professors made comments, asked questions. Kade fielded them as quickly as he could, repeating himself again and again, constantly thronged. It was clear his poster was making waves. He wished for a glimpse of Narong in the crowd. There wasn't.

  Sajja came by, admired Kade's poster. Kade wished he had the note in his pocket. Wished he had some way to warn them.

  "Have you seen Narong?" he asked Sajja.

  "I think he's sick," the other student said. "Didn't show up with his poster today. It must be really bad for him to miss his poster session."

  Kade nodded.

  Not that I could have warned him, he thought.

  More professors and students came and went. An hour passed.

  And then another visitor arrived.

  [sam] Heads up. Shu en route.

  [sam] Don't do anything stupid.

  Kade felt the Nexus bridge to Sam go down. He looked up at the crowd, and there she was, Su-Yong Shu. He could barely see her through the throng in front of his poster. Elegant and stately as ever, going from poster to poster, taking her time, smiling and saying encouraging things to the students.

  Save me from the ERD, he wanted to tell her.

  But then he would just be someone else's slave.

  He was fielding a question when the crowd parted and Shu stepped through. Everyone went silent. Her eyes touched on the concealed bruise on his temple and her expression changed immediately.

  "Kade," she said. "What happened?"

  Are you hurt? Shu asked him.

  He touched his temple, smiled ruefully. "I got mugged. Late last night. It was no big deal. They just took a little bit of cash."

  He heard people react, whisper about it. A mugging.

  We're being observed, he sent her. They know we communicated via Nexus last night.

  Shu's eyes went faraway for a moment, then snapped back to reality.

  "Walk with me."

  "My session goes until 4 o'clock, Professor…"

  "It will wait," she pronounced. Then to the crowd around them. "Please forgive me. I'll bring him back shortly."

  And then she was leading him by the hand through the stunned throng. A murmur went through them. Su-Yong Shu had just snapped him away!

  She led him away towards the cafeteria. He could see Sam and one of the military types watching out of the corner of their eyes. But what could they do? His assignment was to get close to SuYong Shu. They ordered tea, sat at a table near the window.

  "So," she said. "Tell me about your schedule. When could you be free for a week or so to visit? And do you know Rangan's schedule as well?"

  Kade started to walk her through the experiments they had planned for the rest of the year, when there might be a hole. A moment later, he felt her in his mind.

  Open to me. Show me what happened, she sent.

  He could feel her mind touching his in other ways, weaving a false set of memories to cover their conversation even as they spoke.

  Are we being watched? he asked.

  You are bugged, but they will not detect our real conversation. Not this time.

  Kade waxed poetic about the need to book lab time months in advance, and how that would affect his calendar for the rest of the year.

  I have a lot to learn, he sent her.

  Yes, you do. Now show me.

  He did. She absorbed it in an instant.

  I did not do this thing, she told him.

  He felt a cold, vast anger inside her. The attack on him offended her. It made her furious.

  I know, he replied. You could have taken me any time you wanted.

  Someone wants to make you a slave, Shu told him. Someone wants your secrets.

  Do you know who? he asked her.

  No, but I intend to find out.

  Could it be Professor Ananda? Kade asked. He's one of their other suspects.

  She mentally shook her head. Not Ananda.

  Or Ted Prat-Nung? he asked.

  Shu looked at him sidelong this time. He caught a sense of… something. Not Thanom.

  They talked logistics out loud for a time. Flights. Lodging. Who to meet. Rangan's schedule.

  Can you help me about Friday? he asked her. Help me warn them? Some way that the ERD doesn't find out?

  Your government has made you a slave, Kade. If you want my help, come with me now to Shanghai. Break free of these chains.

  The temptation was strong. To have a mentor he could trust, that he could turn to. To work towards real goals and not spend all his time hiding them…

  But he would be a slave there too. He would be making weapons. There would be blood on his hands.

  I'm sorry, he sent her. I can't accept the price you pay.

  I won't pay that price forever, Kade. There will come a day when we will be free and the humans will no longer have us under their thumbs.

  She had so much anger inside. She hated them. He caught a flash of her mentor, Yang Wei, burning to death…

  She watched him die, he realized. How would that affect me?

  He shook it off. It didn't matter.

  I'm sorry, he sent her. This isn't just my life on the line. There are more than a hundred people whose futures are at stake. I can't let them down.

  They're humans, she sent him. You're more valuable. You're wasting your potential.

  I'm human too.

  You're more, Kade. You're transhuman now. And you can be so much greater still.

  Everyone could be greater, he sent. This is about choice and freedom, right? About everyone's potential.

  The world needs leaders, Kade, she sent him. After we tear down the old order, there will be a vacuum. Who will rule? Giving full power to everyone would be like putting guns in the hands of children. In time we'll uplift some, but I need a core group of people like you to fill that i
nitial void. You will always be one of the elite.

  Ruling… he replied. One of the elite…

  There is no other way, she sent.

  Who decides who gets to be part of that elite? he asked her. Who decides which people get uplifted?

  Whoever takes the initiative, Kade. Whoever wins the war to come. I intend that to be me. You can be on the winning side.

  He saw it through her eyes. The old men that ruled her country and his, on their knees, giving way to the new order, or burning. Dying. Everywhere burning.

  It was too much. Head reeling, he stumbled to his feet, backed away from her. He mumbled some word of farewell aloud. Her disappointment followed him. He turned and shambled in a daze back towards his poster. He felt her web of false memories knit itself shut around the conversation they'd just had. He hardly cared.