Fox Hunt (Fox Meridian Book 1)

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Getting replaced tomorrow, assuming the doctors are happy with it. They tell me I won’t know the difference once it’s fully functional.’

  ‘Cool. Um… So it was Sandoval who shot me?’

  ‘I can’t prove it, but I’m fairly sure it was him.’

  Dillan nodded. ‘He relieved Watlins on the stairs and then snuck up to kill Bucksbridge. When we went up together, he got ahead of me, planted the mine, waited for me to open the door, and then shot me when I was stunned from the detonation.’

  ‘And the EMP took care of the digital evidence while the Lethe-L made sure you wouldn’t remember what happened, assuming you survived.’

  ‘Damn spook prick. Thanks for nailing him. I kind of wish he was alive so I could put him away, but…’

  ‘But he was NIX and if he’d lived, he would have vanished off into Fort Meade and come back in a couple of years with a new identity.’ Fox’s brow furrowed. ‘I’d have preferred to keep him alive, to be honest, but this way is cleaner.’

  ‘Huh. Canard is running around like the end of the world is nigh. He’s been in the office all day two days in a row taking secure calls and being unavailable. Word is he wants your head mounted on his wall as a trophy. The fact you resigned already is not helping his mood because he can’t threaten to sack you.’

  ‘I think he could do more than threaten–’

  Dillan’s smirk stopped her. ‘Not been checking the news feeds? “Tara Meridian of NAPA in another daring rescue of MarTech heiress.” Oh and, “Inspector Meridian stops maniac terrorists’ killing spree.” That was the news line on IB-Nineteen. Someone’s been leaking a lot of details to the press. You’re a hero, again. Canard’s going to have some explaining to do when people find out you quit.’

  Fox frowned, biting her lip. ‘I… I’m really starting to worry now. I am actually beginning to feel a slight hint of pity for the man.’

  ‘I’ll get one of the doctors,’ Dillan replied.

  6th February.

  The silence and the lack of additional visual information was the first thing that Fox noticed as she surfaced from sleep. Her neural interface and implant computer were offline. Jackson had mentioned that they were going to need to do some work in that area, integrating the new hardware. Nothing major, and her interface would be back up in a couple of days, but she was going to need to use a visor until then if she wanted to access anything. Well, Kit was handling her affairs and the thought of being offline for a short time actually sounded pretty good.

  Though there was the rather weird sensation in her right hand. It was kind of like an itch. The doctors had indicated that she might even feel some pain until the nanofibres fully integrated with her nervous system. Until then, there might be some misfires along severed nerves.

  She looked down at the arm and hand lying beside her in the bed. There was a support framework locked around it currently, stopping her from bending her arm and keeping the lack of mobility from damaging her hand. Just below the elbow she could see reddened skin which showed where the natural flesh joined with the synthetic. The bioplastic would mesh in fully in a day or two, but there was some inflammation there at the moment which she figured they were probably treating.

  Before they had taken her into surgery, she had been told not to touch the skin near the join. The surgeon had grinned at her and said that natural curiosity was going to win out, no matter what he said, but she should keep away from her elbow if she wanted to poke at her new appendage. Her palm, he had said, would be fine. Fox reached out, a little tentatively, and poked her real index finger through the framework to touch the palm of her artificial hand.

  ‘And the verdict is?’ It was Jackson speaking, but Terri and Sam were walking in with him.

  ‘Well…’ Fox frowned, trying to make a decision. ‘I think the fact that I can’t feel anything from that hand is affecting my views. But I guess it feels like what I expect skin to feel like.’

  ‘Spend a lot of time examining it and you’ll notice a difference,’ Terri supplied. ‘That’s one of our best-quality imitations, though, so you’ll really have to want to notice it’s different.’

  ‘Of course,’ Jackson said, ‘if you cut it, you’ll notice a difference pretty quickly.’

  Sam had walked around the bed to look down at her new limb. He reached out and then looked up at her. ‘May I?’

  ‘Go ahead. I’m sure the doctors have prodded it enough while I was out. Just stick to the hand, away from the join.’

  Nodding, he reached down and slid his fingers over her palm and the ball of her thumb, where he could get to the skin there anyway. Fox watched, irrationally annoyed that she could not feel him touching her. She knew it was going to happen when the nerves bedded in properly, but for now it was very much as if the arm was not there.

  ‘That,’ Sam said after a second or two, ‘is some very fine work. I have a couple of clients with prosthetics and the skin they have is not as good as that.’

  ‘We’ve made a number of advances in production over the past couple of years,’ Jackson said. ‘I think you’ll really notice it when the skin has meshed in properly. Older variants tend to give more of an obvious join. This should look quite natural. It’s the one place where variations in texture are more obvious, however. That’s where you’ll really be able to tell.’

  ‘Someone would have to be paying a lot of attention to your arm though,’ Terri pointed out, grinning. ‘And if they’re paying that much attention to you, I’d expect them to be paying it to other areas of your body.’

  ‘Teresa…’ Jackson grumbled, his cheeks colouring.

  Terri giggled. ‘We want her happy with it, not worrying over people spotting it’s artificial.’

  ‘How long before my implant computer is working again?’ Fox asked, mostly to save Jackson from further blushes.

  ‘Two, maybe three days,’ Jackson replied. ‘We took the opportunity to make some modifications, however. We shifted the main processing capability into larger processors in your new arm. There’s still some smaller units in your skull and those will come online sooner than the ones in your arm. You’ll have telepresence in a couple of days.’

  Fox looked at him, deciding not to ask what he was up to just yet. ‘That’s cool. I’m actually rather looking forward to a couple of days of not being connected.’

  Sam chuckled beside her and patted her shoulder. It came as an irrational surprise that she could feel that. ‘I give her twelve hours before she’s demanding a headset.’

  Terri looked across at him, narrowing her eyes. ‘Twenty-four,’ she said in a tone that was part musing and part challenging.

  ‘I’ll start a sweepstake,’ Jackson said, smiling broadly.

  9th February.

  Fox stepped off the maglev at her station and started for the slideway which would take her to her apartment block. The air was fresh and cool, and it felt good in her lungs. Her right arm was settled in a harness over her chest, but she was starting to get feeling in it and some motor function. She had confounded everyone by not even starting up her implant comms until she was walking out of the MarTech hospital wing, and that was just to let Kit know she was on her way. Everything could wait until she was home.

  With her implant running only minimal software and her VA still offline, she almost missed the pair of cops hanging around the lobby of her building. She recognised one of them, Cant, an inspector who had got there by making sure his nose was firmly glued to Canard’s behind, and that was the only reason she tagged them for NAPA. She doubted they were standing around in an entrance lobby for no reason, and she doubted they had been waiting there for the last few days, which probably meant Canard had put her ident on the watch list so that he would know when she left the MarTech building. That was getting close to pointless harassment.

  ‘Meridian,’ Cant said having closed the distance as she crossed the lobby.

  ‘Inspector Cant,’ Fox replied, pausing and giving him a smile. ‘What brings you to t
his corner of Manhattan?’

  ‘Captain Canard would like a word.’

  Fox’s smile remained in place. ‘I’m still on medical leave. Captain Canard knows this. I can be contacted via telepresence if required once I’m in my apartment. Unless you plan to arrest me and take me in, obviously. Do you plan on arresting me, Inspector Cant?’

  The delay as Cant glared at her was just long enough to make Fox suspect that he was conferring with Canard. ‘We’ll be in touch regarding a suitable date for you to attend HQ for an interview. IA will be–’

  ‘Oh, excellent!’ Fox interrupted him, her smile brightening. ‘I’d love to get the opportunity to talk to IA.’

  Anger flared in Cant’s eyes, but he just said, ‘We’ll be in touch,’ and then he started off with his slightly baffled-looking partner in tow.

  ‘Jackass,’ Fox muttered and headed for the elevators.

  Kit was beaming at her when she finally got into her apartment. ‘It is so good to have you back!’ The kitsune’s tail was flicking back and forth and she was bouncing a little with her hands clasped before her. Fox could certainly tell she was happy. ‘I have a lot to tell you, but I thought you might like coffee first.’

  Fox looked down to see the little house robot holding up a mug of coffee with one of its slim limbs. ‘Thank you, Kit, and thank you, robot.’ She took the coffee in her left hand and, sipping from the mug, started across to the sofa. ‘Did you know about the cops in the lobby?’

  ‘I identified them when I saw them approaching you. I had not thought to watch the area until I noted you entering the building. My apologies.’

  ‘Not a problem. If I’d had my VA up and running… Well, that’ll all be sorted out soon.’

  ‘Yes,’ Kit replied, somehow managing to sound quite excited about it in a single word, ‘and the police are one of the things I need to talk to you about.’

  ‘Canard’s been attempting to contact me?’

  The window screen began scrolling a message log, all of the entries tagged as from someone at NAPA and quite a few of them directly from Canard. ‘That is a very concise summary of the facts. Some might say it was something of an understatement.’

  Fox grunted and sat down. ‘Someone should have mentioned they were getting this annoying about it.’

  A second window appeared beside the log, which was still scrolling, and Fox peered at it, trying to make out what she was seeing. ‘I received this yesterday,’ Kit said. ‘It appears to be a quite genuine message taken from a conversation chain between Captain Canard and Detective Sandoval.’

  ‘When’s it dated?’

  ‘January fifteenth. The conversation may be longer.’

  ‘This indicates that Canard knew Sandoval was a NIX plant. That was back when I was still in space, and they were talking about the Hunt case.’

  ‘Yes. This clearly indicates NIX involvement in your assignment to the case. NIX involvement in internal intelligence is not illegal, however, and it is not unreasonable for Detective Sandoval to make his status known to Captain Canard if this furthered his mission.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Fox replied, ‘but it sheds an entirely different light on Canard’s behaviour following Sandoval’s death, and it’ll open up the suggestion that Canard was involved in illegal attempts to obtain commercial secrets from MarTech. Commercial espionage is something NIX are not allowed to do. This could even suggest Canard was complicit in the UA plan to kill me and the four homicides, though we’d be damn lucky to see that one stick.’

  ‘Of course, I was sent this anonymously and I have been unable to trace the source.’

  ‘Thought and memory again?’

  ‘That metadata tag has been added, yes. This is not admissible evidence, however.’

  ‘Nope, but if I give it to IA, they would dig into the NAPA message logs, find the original, and eat Canard alive. And just having IA on his back, even if they cleared him of any wrongdoing, would crash his reputation. He’ll lose delegated votes like rats on a sinking ship.’

  ‘Then… um, our mysterious benefactor sent this to us as blackmail material?’

  Fox narrowed her eyes at Kit. ‘Kit? Have you figured out who this guy is?’

  ‘No. I have no proof, only conjecture. I was going to bring it up.’ Fox continued frowning at her. ‘The only reference I could find to “thought and memory” in the same phrase outside of scholarly articles on the brain was to Huginn and Muninn, two ravens said to belong to the god Odin in Norse mythology. Their names mean “thought” and “memory.”’

  ‘Okay…’

  ‘Also in Norse mythology, Vali is the son of Odin and a giantess, Rindr, born to kill Hodr in revenge for the death of Baldr.’

  ‘Oh. You think Vali might be responsible for these… Let’s call them “leaks” for now and you think your boyfriend is responsible.’

  ‘He’s not my– Are you making fun of me?’

  ‘A little bit. You think it’s him?’

  ‘I have a trail of evidence which would not convince anyone if they simply looked at the facts. I find it hard to believe that someone, even a programmer of his obvious skill, could obtain this information alone. The video evidence was obtained from a vast array of sources very quickly, and the message was clipped from the NAPA internal servers. Could a single person achieve that? I also believe that he is helping us.’

  ‘Well, we can both agree on that last one. Unless we find out he’s doing things we think are… less helpful, we’ll keep quiet on the source. I think he’s earned that much.’

  ‘Thank you, Fox. I was hoping you would say that.’

  ‘You were worried I’d want to arrest him or something?’

  ‘The thought had crossed my mind.’

  ‘Maybe I should,’ Fox said, ‘but the evidence is hugely circumstantial and I already quit NAPA.’ She looked up at the AI’s image and smirked. ‘And I couldn’t bring myself to lock up your boyfriend.’

  11th February.

  It was as Fox rolled around to slip her legs out of bed that she noticed that her arm was responding normally for the first time. She paused, lifting her arm and looking at it as she flexed her fingers, watching them respond as she would have expected them to. Stroking a finger over her palm gave the sensation she expected, and she realised that she had felt the sheet under her hand when she sat up.

  ‘My hand’s working,’ she said aloud.

  Kit appeared beside the bed almost instantly. ‘There is still a little inflammation around the joint, but integration is almost fully complete. The processors in your arm are functional. Wait a second… There!’

  Fox blinked as a second copy of Kit appeared beside her, also looking at her arm. ‘Uh…’

  ‘Running full diagnostics,’ the second Kit said.

  ‘Kit…?’

  First Kit smiled. ‘Your arm contains a pair of quantum processors. The cooling required for those is not compatible with implantation in a body, but works well enough with prosthetics. One of those is powerful enough to run a slightly downgraded copy of me as your VA.’

  ‘That’s me,’ second Kit added. ‘I’m not quite as bright as she is, but I should be quite capable of handling your needs. Your arm is essentially fully functional. You should rest for at least another day before using it normally, but light exercise is suggested. You should try out the blade.’

  ‘Oh…’ Fox said, lifting her hand again and peering at the skin between her two middle knuckles. You could not really see it, but there was a slit in the skin there. Closing her hand into a fist popped up an in-vision control, which was more or less there to point out that the weapon mounted in her hand was there. A thought popped ten centimetres of ultrafine-edged ceramic blade out from between her knuckles. It was not long, but it was sharp and, in an emergency, a nasty thing to have available. ‘That’s… got a fair bit of punch even without me swinging it.’ Another thought pulled it back and there was a brief instant where she could see the skin closing behind it, then it was more or less impossibl
e to see again. ‘Seems to work. So, you’ll be able to come with me everywhere I go now?’

  ‘Yes,’ the second Kit said. ‘I’ll handle your personal requirements, synchronising with my other self when required. We will be an exceptionally effective personal agent for you.’

  ‘We promise,’ first Kit added.

  ‘Okay,’ Fox said, looking between them, ‘but try to keep it to one avatar at a time in the house. This stereo thing is confusing.’

  ‘We will,’ they chorused, and then they started giggling. Fox shook her head and started for the shower.

  ~~~

  ‘I’m going up to Jenner on Monday,’ Terri said from her position leaning against the wall of the room where Fox was being checked by her surgeon. ‘I was thinking maybe we could go out Friday night, or Saturday?’

  ‘Let me consult my physician,’ Fox said, looking at the man who was going over the skin on her arm with a multispectral visor.

  ‘As long as you don’t stress this too much, that should be fine,’ the man replied without looking up. ‘Limit your alcohol, and if you’re going to engage in intercourse, be a little careful. This is meshing in very nicely, but it has a little more to do before it’s completed.’

  ‘All the function seems to be there. Kit says the internal diagnostics are good.’

  ‘They are,’ Kit supplied. ‘I checked them this morning when I was able to load myself onto one of her internal processors.’

  ‘That sounded so wrong,’ Terri said, grinning. ‘How’s her calendar looking, Kit?’

  ‘We have agreed to a meeting with Captain Canard on Friday morning.’

  ‘Better make it Saturday night,’ Fox said. ‘Always the possibility that he’ll lock me up for the night.’

  ‘No,’ Terri said. ‘He might lock you up, but he’s not going to keep you there longer than five minutes.’

  13th February.

  Fox had taken her jacket off when she walked into the interview room and was busy examining the skin on her forearm when Canard and Cant walked in. She did not look up as the two men took seats across from her.

  ‘Captain Grant J. Canard and Inspector Johnson P. Cant initiating interview with Tara Meridian,’ Canard intoned.