Ill Wind (Chaos Witches Volume Two)

by Tal Turing

  “Do you know where you are?” Ann asked, apparently desperate to get even trivial answers.

  “Please tell me we are back in Techview!” She sighed heavily, knowing that was too much to ask.

  “I'm afraid not. We are guests of SkyTran Dome. Miriam, I...we have some bad news for you.”

  Miriam looked again at Uncle Ryk and back at Ann.

  “My child?”

  Ann looked confused and traded looks with Uncle Ryk.

  “No, no. The child is fine, Miri, it's just that things have happened since...”

  “Then tell me, Ann,” Miriam demanded. It might be him. She realized that. Given how things had been going, she was surprised the whole damn place hadn't gone up in flames. And the Bugs had incapacitated her!

  Ann continued. “There was a...a problem at Humantis Dome. It failed and nearly everyone was lost.”

  “And he was there?” Miriam asked, feeling the Bugs for the first time. She checked Ryk's eyes and was sure. Even as Ann started to nod, Miriam rose up in her bed, as much as she could her eyes flashing.

  “You all know that I would have saved him? Right? I never would have let it happen. I was the reason he made it this far.”

  “Miri, I am so sorry...” offered Ryk.

  “No!” Miriam protested. “You need to hear this. You need to be on board with what I tell you. I loved him, but that man would be have died a long time ago if not for me. And I could have saved him, I would have saved him but I couldn't, I was prevented.”

  She knew they would not understand but she stared them both down and they nodded their heads while she turned her attention inward, to the loathsome creatures who had limited her, incapacitated her.

  You bugs killed him. Traitors! And now all we have left is his child. My child.

  And, for the first time, she felt the Bugs cower.

  Steve's Gambit

  It was during the Transom trial that Steve, confident that there would be a major leadership change at Transom, made one of the many moves he had planned so carefully. He reasoned that the Top Five would never revoke a corporate charter, it would be too dangerous a precedent, leaving executive expulsion their only recourse. But the coming consequences, whatever they would be, was all anyone could talk about and left them completely distracted. Thus it was the perfect time and perfect opportunity for a trip, a hugger trip around the valley.

  Of course he needed help to arrange it all. He used passwords which he had obtained from Brad to access a series of progressively elevated accounts, one of which bridged into one of Ed's privileged accounts. It was not difficult at all; it just took a little persistence.

  Finally, he was able to spoof Ed's credentials in order to arrange the hugger, requisition a pilot and send out the official notification to his target.

  "Where is Patron?" the brash olive-skinned asset asked as she took a seat and fingered the restraint switch. "I've hardly exchanged five words with him the entire time I've been here."

  "Looks like they're up front, because we're starting off," Steve replied absently as he chose a seat where he could face her. Steve had ridden on a hugger engine previously with his brothers. The damn thing flew as smooth as anything inside the dome but he remembered that, despite it, Ed was full of cautions and instructions which had taken away from the novelty of the experience and left Steve with no interest in ever being outside of a domed city again. Until today.

  "Soooo" drawled Steve, "I was in the Top Five meeting this morning. Very unfortunate this whole episode." Cyn's demeanor changed slightly and she looked out of a view port, silent. So he prompted her. "I assume you would agree with that?"

  Cyn looked over. "Sure, it's unfortunate for many."

  "I mean," Steve assumed a teaching pose, "I mean its unfortunate how Patron chose to handle it. He didn't consider all of the factors. And neither did you."

  Cyn looked up at him. "Explain."

  Explain. He hated the easy way she said that, as if he had any need to tell her anything. She should be pleading with him for an inkling of what he knew. Still, he needed to have this conversation, so he continued.

  "Well, imagine a resolution to the issue which involved only Humantis and ourselves. We would have the evidence which would have destroyed their reputation in both the corporate and villager communities, they would have been forced to agree to a very one-sided merger and we would have the product base which we desperately need as well as control of a very interesting technology. A strong new technology would have moved us into the Top Five within a year."

  "What new technology? They were imprisoning and raping women!" she huffed. And Steve realized that she really didn't know. She hadn't taken the time to ask the right questions.

  "Several new technologies, really. I guess that just proves the point that you shouldn't act when you don't have the intelligence to do so." He enjoyed the double meaning of the word. Then he added. "But our advantage was lost due to Patron's hasty arrest of Humantis officers and his disclosures to the council. And I have to say it, Patron might have even had some choices if you had sent your cries for help back to us and only us."

  It really irked him to see his plan come so close to perfect fruition and then be screwed up by a stupid asset. But the result would be the same because his plan was that good.

  Cyn was silent, considering. "It wasn't soley my choice."

  "Ah, but it was your job to consider what was best for Transom and convince them, right? That's what we pay you for..excuse me, that is why we suffer you. So much for Techview training. As it is, I hope you can find a way to make things right with Donnie."

  He stood now, his arms attached to what he presumed to be a safety bar suspended from the ceiling. He glanced out the view port. The Hugger was sliding smoothly on its route toward the valley wall.

  "Donyden Cabb is in de facto jail. I doubt I'll be seeing him or that I need to," Cyn replied hastily, some chill creeping into her voice.

  Steve didn't deign to look at the tart. He spoke calmly.

  "Donnie and his people are actually guests of SkyTran Corporation if you didn't know. It's too bad you aren't allowed in the meetings or you could see for yourself the havoc your little adventure has caused.

  Things aren't going well at all. My prediction is that the entire Transom executive core will be dismantled and I will be the next Patron."

  He sighed at the thought of the burden of that leadership. But of course it would have to be and Patron had no one to blame but himself. Steve spared a couple moments for that statement to sink into her small brain. Then he dropped the second bomb. "And since your actions led to the deaths of the entire Humantis executive, I would imagine that Donnie will move up faster than we thought, perhaps he'll be the next Humantis Patron. So it would be a good idea for you to be on terms with my good friend Donnie."

  He could see her expression change out of the corner of his eye. He longed to hear her confused, panicky voice.

  "Good friend? I thought, I thought..."

  "You thought what we wanted you to think," he laughed, turning to her. “And it was part of my plan for everyone to think Brad was helping Donnie. And if you've forgiven Brad, then you should forgive Donnie as well."

  "I'll forgive whom I wish!" she sauced. "Something was done to Brad, he was drugged or something similar. You obviously know about his breakdown, have you been to see him? He is inconsolable, I can't believe he helped anyone take me of his own free will. I don't remember much from all those years ago, but I remember he was always one of the nicest people. And what do you mean 'we'?"

  With one hand, Steve verified that the stun glove was still in his pack, while the other hand checked the piece of nostalgia that he had secured to his thigh.

  "I knew Brad was weak, he was never cut out for this life. Patron should have seen that and replaced him and I would not have had to use him such.

  As for we, I am talking about the Doctor, whom I am told is no more, Donnie and myself. We were already terrorizing assets and vi
llagers and pointing the blame at Transom in order to expose Patron's weak policies and poor decision-making. Naturally, I would be chosen as his replacement. Meanwhile Donnie would advance to the executive based on some interesting product ideas which you wouldn't understand. But, thanks to you and my brilliant planning, Donnie will advance even faster than we had thought and the rest will be the same."

  "You are pretty sure of what will happen in council. What if you're wrong?" Cyn asked, but she looked worried.

  "The wheels have started turning, even if they do not complete their cycle today, they will soon. In either case, as far as you are concerned, I am Patron, and unlike my predecessor, I like to break in my assets."

  Steve smiled as he raised his stun-gloved hand.

  "You'll want to do everything I say." he added, "and I like lots of begging."

  The look on her face. It was something he had been dying to see. And he saw it. It was a long time coming. Almost a decade.

  Cynnamon

  Cyn had already noticed that he was attempting to put a stun glove on his hand. The device was not really intended as a weapon against an active combatant, it was more for intimidation or to disable an already restrained but not docile individual. Still she pretended that she was intimidated.

  "You'll want to do everything I say." Steve smiled, "and I like lots of begging."

  Cyn kept her legs crossed, her back relaxing even as she raised her hands in a pseudo-defensive manner, as if to say, 'don't come closer'. But she had to fight to keep her concentration, she did not expect this, at all, and it raised some real worries in her mind...like could Patron really be on board? If not, who was?

  "I've heard that phrase before!" She protested.

  "From Barrett?" Steve grinned, "Yep, I told him that you were fatally submissive and that kind of talk would be an easy way to fuck you. Actually, I told lots of people that. Isn't it true? I'm sure you let ole Donnie do whatever he wanted back in the day when he was protecting you from the rest of us and it seems like he didn't have much trouble with you the other night either."

  She stared at him. She was surprised but she wasn't sure why. Steve had always been a jerk, it was just that he seldom acted like he knew it. But why now? Why on a survey trip? Who else was on board? She had received an official assignment from Patron himself..."

  "Why are you telling me all this?" she demanded as she fought off a tendril of panic. "I thought we are surveying a border valley? It's hard to believe you are just passing the time...with that...thing on your hand."

  "Don't confuse your village brain...there is no survey...think of this trip as a meet and greet with your new Patron."

  She stared at him, waiting for him to make his move but hoping he would stay away. He took a step closer and the panic grew.

  “I have something else to show you,” he smiled.

  “What?” Cyn fought the worry, at this point she wished he would just attack her rather than tell her more things she didn't know.

  She watched as he reached into his pants, under the fabric to his outer thigh and pulled out a long, copper-colored, metallic object. Her eyes widened. She knew what it was, the piece of cane broken off from the statue in Transom Gardens.

  “Something for later...” he looked at her. And now she could not help the horror from creeping onto her face and she remembered the sound of metal on concrete. He was the clown, of course. Was this all to just be a repeat? After all this time?

  She had thought she could handle Steve. But he was so sure of himself, he had obviously planned this out. And as if reading her mind, he pounced.

  "There is no help for you there. You still don't get it, do you? This whole thing is my idea. A little reward for months of brilliant planning and maneuvering on my part. I have some asset driving this thing and he doesn't care what happens here. Wondering how you received an 'official' mission message on your AI? Well, little girl, the only thing easier to break than Bradley's loyalties was little brother Eddie's so-called security."

  Steve's lips pulled back into an ugly smile; a smirk that Cyn remembered he used to flash whenever he was able to beat one of his brothers at some game.

  The engines whined as the hugger made a slight altitude adjustment. It was then she heard a sound from the wall which separated the cabin from the navigation cockpit. The sound was not unusual but from her vantage point she saw something as well. A berth had rotated from the other side and a harness chair appeared. She did not look but she was certain the chair had an occupant. Someone else was now present.

  A deep voice filled the small chamber and Cyn gasped.

  "Just because you accessed an account, does not mean that you've hacked it, brother."

  Steve stood, still facing Cyn, swinging his body from the bar as if he were on a playground with the other children. And then, slowly, he turned to face the newcomer.

  "Ed, what are you DOING?" Steve's face became astonished as if trying determine an answer to his question simply through the intensity of his own confused gaze.

  "Well, you did arrange this whole trip from my account, correct? So I figured I was invited at least." Ed's face was serious as usual but with a sarcastic, menacing twist.

  "No harm. I couldn't do it on my own, why would you mind?"

  "Not sure, why wouldn't you ask?" Ed replied quickly and when Steve didn't respond, he continued. "I think my favorite thing about your clumsy debut as a 'security hacker' was watching you try to guess Brad's password. You seemed pretty sure that his passwords were fixated on his family so when you tried 'BradEddie', I figured I would let you in. I was bored with the game. And of course you knew that I had a bridge from Brad's account into mine. Not that it was active at the time, but I activated it for you; it was the least I could do right?"

  Ed wasn't smiling.

  "Fine, Eddie, so I was wrong. Didn't think it could be all that hard, so maybe it is."

  Cyn guessed that Steve was trying to keep Ed cool, from starting one of his famous tirades. But she still sat frozen. Were they arguing among themselves about some minor point or did Ed genuinely not know what Steve had said...what he planned to do. She thought through the many times she had seen her expectations, her hopes, her assumptions completely destroyed she assumed the best from corpers.

  "Wrong, Steve?" Ed spat. "Wrong is something you do once, like entering the wrong room or giving the wrong answer. To consistently make mistake after mistake is really much more than wrong, it's just incompetent. Failing to hack Brad's account but thinking you did. Failing to hack my account with all its privileges and thinking you did even though you could only do what I let you do. Didn't you wonder about all those random errors you received when you tried to do certain things? Service unavailable? Connection timeout? Those errors meant that I'm playing with you and there are limits to what the cat lets the mouse do."

  "Okay, Eddie..."

  "Oh but there is more. Some of this I had put down to your natural desire to intrude in everything and anything, I am not sure I would have realized exactly what else you were up to except for...except for this asset."

  "What? She didn't..."

  "Left to myself, I would have been happy to let Patron play games and mishandle his assets any way he wanted. But that wasn't enough for you, you went out of your way to call her out as a problem. You spent so much time telling me how 'dangerous' she was, how much a threat she was. So naturally I knew I would need to speak with her when you weren't watching and interrogation did the rest. Did you know we are already rounding up your people and they have nothing but good things to say about you.”

  "What people, Eddie?"

  Even from across the room, Cyn could see Ed roll his eyes. He was struggling to contain his anger and she was concerned that they hadn't spoken about her, it was if they were arguing about their own power struggles. Slowly, panic was consuming her and she reached for the release harness. But what could she do against two of them?

  And, as if reading her mind, Ed looked over at her, his f
ace just as stern as it ever was.

  "But still the surprises weren't over. It was only when Stym told me how concerned she was about someone entering her room that I started to audit all of the access overrides and I discovered that the day she was abducted was not the first time her lock was overridden. You did it the second night she was here.”

  "What?!" Cyn blurted.

  Ed's face did not change at all.

  "That was Steve?!" Cyn spat. But she saw Steve take a lazy step forward. Then she added. "You know he has a stun glove, right??"

  Steve shrugged and smiled. "I was protecting you, Bro. I just scared her a little, told her to keep her mouth shut, to do what she was told and it worked because that's exactly what she did, right? You should thank me. And you can do that by driving us around a little while I explain some new rules to Miss Uppity. Besides, you owe me. It's my turn now."

  Ed sighed and looked at Cyn again.

  "You are going back."

  "Back where?" she demanded.

  "Back to Techview of course? I'm sure you have had enough of New Berlyn and the Harillas..."

  "It was Brad and Donnie who took her, Donnie just wanted to talk..." Steve laughed a deluded laugh.

  "It was you who used the security override, Donnie did the work and poor Brad could only follow and try to keep anything from happening to Cyn. So why Brad, Steve? He's not cut out for this stuff, he doesn't even WANT to be a part of it. Why him, why not me or Barrett. Tell me."

  Steve looked at Ed and took a test step in his direction under the pretense that he had lost his balance. The hugger was riding smooth as silk at this point.

  "He was the weak link, Ed. Its basic game theory."

  "No, its not," Ed barked. "Game theory says you should weigh the rewards with the risks and the difficulties. Brad couldn't really help you that much, Barrett could have done everything for you. It was a poor strategy, surely you see that now."