by Ryan Krauter
"Yes," was all Tana could say.
Halley got up and looked at Loren, then Web. "I need to talk to you two in the other room." She looked at Merritt. "Can you keep an eye on these two for a minute?"
Merritt waved his SSK in the air. "Just looking for a reason to shoot somebody," he said with a straight face.
Halley, Loren and Web walked into a back room. "Web," she began after closing the door, "I'm sorry I haven't told you everything about my job. I've had to, well, adjust some things I've told you because of it."
"You're not really an Enkarran clone or genetic experiment, are you?" he asked, though his tone wasn't as light as the comment suggested. He could tell something was bothering her.
"No," she said, the tiniest of smirks appearing but gone a second later. "I haven't told you much about what I do, though."
"I don't think you've made a habit of lying to me," Web allowed.
"You know better than to ask a question that would force me to lie," Halley countered. She looked at Loren as she continued. "Commander Stone already knows about my real mission; he had to, all the way back on Callidor after we were forced there when we were chased off the wreck of the Dyson. I'm not just a SAR operative; I'm on a detached mission. Basically, we take our military skills and then learn spy tradecraft. We go and do the things that conventional forces can't. It's high risk, high reward stuff, and that's why you always like to comment that I can be found wherever something interesting is happening."
Web nodded. "Alright, so you can't tell me everything; you never promised me you had a normal job. We can discuss that any time. Just tell me you don't have boyfriends on every other planet you visit."
"Don't worry, Web, you're the only one for me," Halley said with a grin, which turned to a grimace as she shifted and her leg wound got her attention. "I'm telling you this now because I need you to know what it is I really do. I have nanites in my bloodstream. They make me faster, heal wounds, help me hear and see better, and they also serve as cloud storage. Everything I see and hear is recorded by them. Therefore, my entire interrogation of Tana Starr is recorded. But I can't be the only person with this information. It's too important to even limit to two people. So I want you and Commander Stone to carry this. You won't need to do anything, actually. Just live your lives. But if I get killed before I get a chance to report this, you need to go to your captain, just like you did the first time I gave you intel, Commander, and have him go through the procedure to extract and pass on the information."
There were so many questions Web wanted to ask, but now was definitely not the time for domestic confessions, so he just bit his lip and asked what he needed to do. Halley produced her combat knife and made a cut on her upper forearm, then waited for Loren to do the same. They pressed their wounds together, and finally Halley broke contact.
"If you don't hate me for keeping things from you," Halley said to Web, "I can transfer enough nanites to you in a more pleasant manner."
Web did nothing, so she stepped up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him, holding it much longer than she really needed to.
Velk sat in his chair staring at Tana Starr. She was supposed to be a Priman; idealistic, honorable, with convictions and resolve. Instead, she had become just like the humans they'd been sent to fight against. Worse, actually, because while many of the humans he's fought had done so bravely and with honor, Starr had sunk several levels below that. She was a schemer, backstabber, unworthy of the Priman heritage.
"You think I'm such a monster," Starr said from her chair. "I can see it on your face."
"You are right," Velk said softly, angrily. "If this is what our people are destined to become, we are no better than the humanoids. We are supposed to be an example of how to be better, Tana Starr, of how an evolved people should be. We would have brought them under our wings again and showed them how to be their best, and we could have done it as benefactors, not conquering overlords. Granted, we expected a much easier time of it, but if the Commander kills all of them in order to win, what was the point in returning? If this is our path, we don't deserve to win."
"Our path is to rule, of course," Starr said, though Velk got the impression it was a rote response and not necessarily her own words.
"Answer me this, Tana Starr," Velk commanded. "Think about the philosopher I was talking about earlier. If you had to live your life over and over, and make these decisions and choose these loyalties and walk this path you've set yourself on, would it be a blessing or a curse?"
Starr said nothing, though it was plain the drug was still working. She clenched her jaw, then looked at Velk. "Is that a rhetorical question?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because if it isn't, then you want me to answer, and I don't think I want to know what I'd say."
"All done," Halley said with rising spirits. "You need to go. I'll make sure Tana Starr gets taken in by the authorities; you need to take Velk and hide him. Hide him from everyone, even me, because you know by now that everything I see will be passed on."
"What will your superiors do about this?" Loren asked. "Stashing Velk, sending us off like this?"
"They've all done field ops," she replied. "They'll look at this and realize the same thing we do, Loren. There's a lot of evidence against Senator Dennix, but a lot of that is circumstantially tied to the words of an enemy agent. What we have is pretty damning, but it's not nearly enough to take action against him, not now with all the allies he has. They'll keep a lid on it; they know how to build a case and manage a crisis. This will be so secret they won't even have a code word for it. But the important thing, the crucial thing to remember here, is that my superiors, all of us in fact, serve the Confederation, not the Senator or even the Governing Committee. We'll get this to the right people eventually. But I can't know where Velk is, and so I can't know where you are, not now at least. He's safe this way."
"But who will we go to?" Loren asked. "If the Senator is corrupt, what about the Governing Committee?"
"Then we'll find someone else," Halley replied.
"What if everyone is corrupt?" Loren asked softly, a sinking feeling setting in.
"Then I fear for the Confederation." She searched for something to offer. "Look, there will be somebody that can help us. But we need to build a better case, so this needs to stay quiet for a while. We'll find the right person, and we can even take it to the public if we run out of options. But right now, you need to go."
"What about your leg?" Loren questioned.
"I have the nanites clotting the blood and dulling my pain receptors. I'll be fine until I can get to a medical facility."
"And you're just going to wait for law enforcement to show up?" asked Loren.
"Actually," said Halley with a dry grin, "there’s been a change of plans. I'm going to walk right out the front door before the police arrive." She looked at their surprised faces and continued. "If I get brought in, I'll be required to make a report, and everyone will know about Starr and your part in finding her. Connect her to Velk and the breakout, and it will take about three minutes before somebody asks where you four are and if you have Velk. You don't need to go AWOL here; you'll figure out something. But the only way to get the time to do that is if everyone still thinks we're looking for him."
Web filled in the story. "So, you call the police and tell them Starr is here. They take her into custody and everyone assumes we're all out still on Velk's trail?"
"That's the plan."
"As far as plans go," Web offered, "I suppose it could be worse."
"Unless the Senator finds out and changes your plans," Loren said darkly.
"I've already called my superiors. A full squad of SAR troops will conveniently arrive at the same time as the police and offer to provide security. Nothing will happen to Ms. Starr."
"And it might be some time before we see you again," Loren said, more a statement than question.
"If we want to guarantee security for you, then yes," she repli
ed.
Loren nodded, already trying to figure out what to do. "In that case, I'd better let Web say his goodbyes. I'll give Cory a call in, too. Let's say two minutes, ok?"
Halley agreed.
Halley and Web's goodbye was private, but that wasn't Loren's concern at the moment. He needed to hide Velk and themselves from, well, everyone. They couldn't just stay on Delos forever, either; what Loren really needed was a place to drop Velk into and be able to leave him so they could get back to Avenger and carry on. Nobody could know what they were doing. It was already giving him heartburn as he realized he was going to have to lie to almost everyone, perhaps even the captain, if Elco was to stay blameless. Loren didn't want his subordinates to feel like they needed to follow his increasingly troubled path. He couldn't take the Priman back to Avenger, because as much as Elco would try to protect them, he couldn't disobey an order to return the man and that would only put the captain in a very unpleasant position. He felt like a fugitive from his own people, but by the time they'd marched Velk upstairs to the roof, given Halley one final wave, and shoved their prisoner inside the hovercar, Loren had a plan.
Loren sat in the rear seat, with Velk in the middle and Web on the other side. Merritt and Cory sat up front.
"Where to, Commander?" Cory asked conversationally.
"I'll tell you in a minute," Loren replied. "Just keep on busy streets for now, but don't leave the city."
He pulled out his personal comm device and entered a contact he'd memorized. The icon only spun for a few seconds before the screen activated, showing the recipient of the call.
"Commander Stone," said the man in a friendly manner. The face was slightly different than he remembered, Loren noticed; probably one of those quick-apply face masks used to distort and alter features and protect his identity.
"Catch you working, Mr. Drayven?" Loren asked, brushing his chin theatrically.
"I am in fact on the job, Commander," Garrett replied lightly, "but I can spare some time for you. Are you looking for my relocation services or something more, oh, subversive, let's say."
"Definitely subversive, Garrett," Loren said seriously, and when the other man just nodded for him to continue, Loren pressed on. "We're on Delos and need a place to lie low. No, I'm not in trouble with the law or running from my bookie. But without letting too much slip, I need to find a place to cool my jets for a while. I thought you'd be able to find a place."
"You're not looking for a hotel or rental," Garrett stated. "You want a safehouse."
"Yes."
Garrett sighed. "How big does it have to be? I suppose you don't need to tell me too much detail, but you don't work alone, Loren. Will a single bedroom do, or do you need more?"
Loren just chuckled. "Two would be sufficient."
"You also realize you're asking me to burn one of my own safehouses. I suppose Confed will be good for the bill?"
"In time," Loren said with a slight wince. "Once they find out. For now, I'll have to cough up the down payment on my own. Either way, you'll get paid."
Garrett just shook his head. "Oh, for the love of..." He looked at Loren appraisingly. "Save your money; I want payment from Confed, not you. All this selfless behavior will give me no end of guilt if I take your own credits." Garrett stared up at the ceiling of the room he was in, which was almost dark. It looked like some sort of study, maybe a lab or work room. "I'm trying to think of a way to get you to the drop where the location is stored, but I need to be cryptic because this isn't a secure channel." He bit his lower lip, then looked back at the screen.
"You remember a while back, you came to meet me in orbit in a particular system to purchase some intel about the Priman DNA virus?"
Loren remembered all too well. He and Web had gone to meet Garrett in the gigantic orbital station over the planet Lordes, which the system was also named after.
"Sure," Loren replied.
"Ok," Garrett continued. "There's a bank in the western outskirts of the city center there on Delos. It's on a street named after that system. The bank never closes, just like all the major ones in the city. You remember which parking slip you were assigned when you came?"
Loren nodded again, though how in the hell Garrett knew that and could also remember it off the top of his head was beyond him.
"Take that number and subtract one hundred forty-seven from it. That's the deposit box you want. In it is hardcopy with the location of a safehouse on it. Don't take the info; just memorize it, destroy it, and go. I'll have your DNA and retina profile uploaded as an authorized user for the bank and safehouse security system by the time you get there."
"Just reassure me you don't use your powers for evil, Garrett," Loren said. It was somewhat unsettling that the Fixer was treating an item like a confidential, counterfeit-proof thing such as a DNA/retina profile as no big thing to dig up and pass around.
"Profit, yes," Garrett said with a smile, "Evil, no. Call me using one of the secure comms I have installed there when you arrive."
The bank was not a Galactic Bank office; rather, it was a smaller chain that was based on Delos only. After their scavenger hunt took them from the bank back across the city and to the east side, they entered a recently developed housing area. The place had formerly been light industrial, but the buildings were all remodeled and renovated into loft-style units. Some of the buildings were twenty or thirty stories tall, and that was on the top tier of the wide-thoroughfare streets. There were fully six tiers of development below them, and the outside spaces were checkered with cutouts so some measure of sunlight and fresh air could make it to the lower levels.
They parked in a garage bay on the fourth floor. In fact, half the fourth floor belonged to Garrett, including the private garage space.
They marched Velk into the condo after Merritt did a quick sweep of the garage and vestibule; Loren's retina scan opened the door.
The loft was well appointed. At first glance, it was trendy and fashionable, with the latest popular materials: light woods for the cabinets and doors, metal for the countertops and accents, glass frosted to varying degrees of opacity for much of the rest. The exterior walls were corrugated metal, with large banks of windows that afforded a fairly spectacular view of the city. Loren watched for a minute as the city twinkled around them; lights from buildings, hovercars, ships and the rest all mingled together to create a moving mosaic of pinpoints of light.
"Put him over there," Loren said, indicating a dining table with chairs for eight.
Web and Merritt attached Velk to one of the chairs by chaining together several pairs of stunner cuffs.
"Now what?" asked Web.
"We call Garrett again," Loren replied easily. "Make sure you three and Velk stay out of the camera's field of view."
They all moved to the large vidscreen in the main living area. Loren tapped the touchscreen on the wall near it and the display flared to life. He once again entered the address he'd memorized for Garrett.
Seconds later, Garrett's face appeared on the screen. This time, he looked like himself and was in what appeared to be a cockpit.
"Loren," Garrett began, "you made excellent time."
"I was very motivated," Loren replied. "So, I'm checking in like you asked."
"It's around two in the morning on Delos," Garrett began as his eyes left the screen. He looked at some sort of readout, then flipped a few switches and returned his gaze to the camera pickup. "I can be there by around noon this coming morning. Can you stay out of trouble until then?"
"I wasn't going to ask you to get involved," Loren began.
"Loren, I think I know you well enough by now to be able to tell that something very serious is going on there. I will be there soon, so why don't you and whoever is there with you get some rest? Come now, you can tell me if Web and Merritt are there, right?"
Loren was torn, but motioned for the two to step into view. Cory stayed out of sight.
"Can I trust you three to not completely defile my safehouse tonigh
t?" asked Garrett.
"I can't make promises," Merritt replied. "I'm a bed wetter."
"Violent night terrors," Loren added.
"I have sex with furniture," Web said, trying to look shameful.
"You were serious about that?" Loren asked of Web as he played along. "You told me that was a joke."
"I told you a lot of things, Commander," Web replied.
Garrett grimaced. "There are disinfectants and cleaning supplies in the hall closet. I'll see you three in ten hours or so."
Dawn was just breaking; it was that time of the day when the sky was growing orange but the sun wasn't visible yet. Loren let the first rays warm his face as he stood in front of one of the windows.
Cory silently padded over to stand next to him. Web and Merritt had taken the first shift; one watching Velk, one watching the condo and surroundings. Now that the two of them and Velk were asleep, Loren and Cory stood there, watching the peaceful city of beings who were woefully unaware of the galaxy-changing events unfolding in an upscale condo just outside of downtown.
"So," Cory said softly, "what's our play here?"
"I talked to the captain when I was supposed to be sleeping," Loren admitted, and Cory gave him a disapproving glare. "I said we could be back aboard in the early afternoon, which he said was great because he's run out of reasons to stall the port authority on taking Avenger out of orbit." He turned to look at her, determination in his eyes.
"You still think we can trust Garrett?"
"I think he's loyal," Cory began slowly. "We know enough about him to realize that he values us, at least as clients, maybe more. And if he accepts a job, he'll see it through- that's his code."
"Good," Loren replied, leaning his head back and blowing out his breath. "Because I'm about to make a very tough decision. I want to have Garrett look after Velk while we go back, at least until we can sort out what to do with him on a more permanent basis."
