“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church, may God give you pardon and peace. I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
“Amen,” Fiona responded.
“God has forgiven your sins. Go in peace.”
“Thanks be to God,” she said with a smile. “Father, I would like to take a few minutes to pray before I leave.”
“Be at peace,” he said, blessing her.
Fiona carefully placed the package into the kneeler as she had been instructed, bidding its contents a silent farewell. Then, she prayed, content with her life now for the first time that she could remember. The church itself was small, but she could truly feel the presence of God. The doctor could not explain why, but somehow, she just knew it. The priest had not been at all what Fiona had expected. The large, gentle man had taken the guilt and self-loathing from her in a way that no confessor ever had. She sorely wished that she could return here, but knew that it was unlikely. Doctor Kinsale put the thought from her mind, meditating on the presence of the Lord.
A disheveled and dirty man in tattered clothes looked furtively about before ducking down the alleyway. He was called Slats by most, and Slats was very, very nervous about the man he was about to meet. The man had approached him about looking out for a woman, a Doctor Joyce Keane. The man … if indeed he was even human, had given him a holo of a middle-aged woman with long, graying, blonde hair. If Slats saw her, he was to follow her and report on her destination to the man, the man whose name he did not know. Waiting at the agreed upon location, the back entrance to a black market parts wholesaler, was the man in question. He was tall and dressed head to toe in black. He wore a long, black hooded-cloak that covered most of his head. The man’s nose, mouth and jaw were covered by some kind of breather and what little of the man’s face that was visible, was pale and badly scarred.
“I followed her from the ship,” said Slats, looking around nervously, “just like you asked me to.”
“And where did you follow her to?” The man in the black cloak asked courteously enough, but it was clear that he expected an answer. The man’s deep voice was muffled by the breather over his mouth and nose, but his question was plain.
“Stuff first,” said the junky. “I didn’t stay alive this long givin’ out information without gettin’ paid first.”
“Very well,” said the cloaked man as he handed the junky a small box. The junky opened it and inspected the four vials in the box. Satisfied, he closed it.
“She’s at the Shrine of Saint Joseph,” replied Slats, delivering on his end of the bargain. “Mass started about twenty minutes ago, so she should still be there.”
“This is fortuitous,” said the robed man. “You have done well.” Then, he leaned in close to Slats and said ominously, “But if you’ve lied to me, there will be a reckoning.”
“N … no, Sir! I would never lie to you!”
“See to it that you never do,” replied the cloaked man, who turned and strode away in search of his doomed quarry.
Once the cloaked figure walked away, Slats ran as fast as he could. The deal was done and he never wanted to see that … that thing again.
Kendrick had just returned from Abby’s “private gig.” He hated doing that sort of thing, but as it turned out, it was a good thing he had; Abby had information for him regarding some of the Fujin crew that explained more fully why Lorgen had been so willing to simply blow them up. It seemed that several were wanted in the United States for various crimes and at least one was a professional saboteur who had done work with several radical groups before joining the Fujin crew and changing his name.
As far as Abby went, she was true to her word; a dalliance with her would buy Abby’s silence and she refunded him twenty percent of the money he had spent earlier. Resources being what they were, he needed all he could get, though he felt that the act was a betrayal… to Fiona of all people. Selena had actually encouraged him to follow through for all of the reasons that had prompted him to meet Abby’s demand, again reminding him that Selena was a gynoid. He realized that he perceived her almost as two separate people; when he was in her presence, all of the love and attachment that Kendrick had to his late wife was renewed, but when away from her, he still thought of her as a simulacrum of Selene Royce.
Fiona was different. Prior to finding the android, he had begun to develop feelings for the wayward doctor and she for him. Though their relationship had not progressed beyond that of two very dear and affectionate friends, it had gotten close to crossing that line more than once. While Kendrick knew that he should not feel guilty about his time with Abby, he still did and the thought of disappointing Fiona really bothered him. Kendrick’s thoughts drifted from his relationship questions as he approached the ship. He was pleased to see that she was back to her usual shimmering self, Jasper and his crew just wrapping up.
“Repairs are complete, Captain Royce,” said Jasper. “You want to inspect her yourself?”
“Damn straight I do,” replied Kendrick. As he went up the ladder with Jasper, he saw Selena exiting the ship. “Lena,” he called aloud, unconsciously using the diminutive of her name. “Where are you heading to? Once I’ve inspected Jasper’s work, we’re cleared for take-off.”
“I am aware of that, Sir,” she replied. “But Doctor Kinsale exited the ship earlier and I need to locate her.”
“Damn! She was supposed to stay put.” Kendrick did not like this at all. He knew that the doctor was probably trying to wrap up some loose end related to her being on the run and the captain knew that he should be angry. Instead, he felt an overwhelming sense of concern for Fiona. “Find her and get her back here quickly.”
“Yes, Sir,” replied Selena, saluting him. He saluted her back, then got back to inspecting the hull repairs. He was very thorough, though he could not take his mind off of Fiona’s slipping away, or Selena’s being out alone looking for her. Should have sent Mun with her, he thought. Finally, he finished the inspection and was amazed by the quality of the work.
“Looks good,” he said. “Like she’d never been hit! I have to say, I’m impressed.”
“I figured I owed you,” said Jasper. “You paid, you paid well, and you didn’t try to get nothing outta me for free. Besides, this ship is a dream to work on. Whoever designed her made her for quick and easy repair.”
“Owed me or no,” remarked Kendrick, “On such short notice, this is impressive! You’ve earned your pay.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Captain. Too bad Suzy didn’t get to see you.”
“Tell her I said ‘hello’, Jasper.”
“She’ll be happy to hear that! Say, no chance of you and her…”
“None whatsoever,” Kendrick said firmly.
The two men shook hands and Jasper and his crew packed up and left. The ship was now mechanically ready and with essentially an entirely new and upgraded computer system installed, she was in better shape than she was before the virus. All the Selene needed for takeoff was its AI and its doctor.
Doctor Fiona Kinsale had just crossed herself, having finished her prayers, and had stood to leave, when the church doors blew off their hinges. A black cloaked man holding a large gun in his right hand stood in the doorway. As soon as the man saw Fiona, he began moving menacingly in her direction.
“This is a house of God,” objected Father Ronan suddenly, unexpectedly moving between Fiona and the cloaked man. “Holster your weapon!”
“I have no quarrel with you, Father,” said the cloaked man in a deep, but slightly muffled voice, as he was speaking through a breather of some kind. “She is a fugitive and I am not under contract to kill you.” The man then looked directly at Dr. Kinsale. “And do not force me to chase you, Doctor Joyce Keane,” he said threateningly. “They don’t need you to be whole; only al
ive.”
She quickly put her hands up. The priest put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, but she shook her head and pushed his hand away.
“Thank you, Father,” she said, her eyes tearing up. “I can go with peace thanks to you. I will not put you in harm’s way.” She walked past the priest, toward the cloaked man.
“A wise decision,” the man said in his deep voice.
She got to about two meters away and dropped to her knees, her hands behind her head. The robed man put away his rifle and extended his left hand which held a large pistol. “Sleep,” he said as he fired the gun. Fiona was struck with a bolt of energy causing her to go rigid. She collapsed to the floor, consumed by pain and barely conscious.
Agent Velos had accomplished his goal. He had tracked Doctor Joyce Keane to Atlas Station and had obtained her. The moment was anticlimactic. He had hoped to test the skills of Captain Royce, the man Xing seemed so worried about. He was about to take hold of Doctor Keane when the priest ran up and grabbed her arm, beginning to pull her away.
“No,” he said, “I cannot allow you to take her.”
“Don’t interfere, priest,” threatened Velos, raising his pistol. “My not being hired to go after you won’t prevent me from killing you. Step away and forget you ever saw me and I will return the favor.”
“I cannot do that,” said Father Ronan, interposing himself between Fiona and Velos.
“Very well,” replied Velos. “As a priest, I assume that you’ve made your peace with God.”
He squeezed the trigger, but the priest stepped in quickly and struck the pistol with an open palm, causing the shot to err to his left, missing the priest. Velos rapidly stepped back out of the priest’s range, surprised by the cleric’s apparent skill, and fired again, when his hand was struck by a kick from a woman who had flanked him. His shot went wild. He was less annoyed than curious as to how she did so without him noticing. He quickly turned to face her and knew the answer immediately. He fired at her, but she closed before he got the shot off, striking the pistol from his hand.
“Grab her and run,” the woman shouted at the priest. The priest nodded and complied as Velos brought his rifle to bear, but the woman brought her left foot up and performed the fastest axe kick the hunter had ever witnessed, pulling the weapon from his grasp and slamming it into the ground, shattering it. She struck him with both palms, knocking him back almost six meters, clearing the way for the priest who had by now, picked up the doctor and had begun to run away. The woman picked up Velos’ discarded pistol and covered their escape before turning to escape herself.
Velos reached out and pointed at her with his right hand, a pistol sliding into his grip from a mechanism in his sleeve. He squeezed off a three round burst, striking her in the back and saw a spray of what would have been blood on a human. He smiled. She had actually caught him off guard. Now that he was onto her and knew what she was, that would not happen again. But he preferred not to use his own abilities in view of others unless it was unavoidable. The rounds he had fired into her would bring her down. And he could then collect on two contracts.
Selena felt the bullets enter her spine, carrying her forward. She suddenly was overloaded by an electrical pulse from the bullets. She hit the ground face first, convulsing as she lay on the ground. She felt her body being turned over and saw the black robed man looking down at her. His nose and mouth were covered by a mask of some kind, but his eyes and facial muscles indicated that he was smiling.
The man recovered his pistol, the gun he had used to stun Doctor Kinsale. Selena lay helpless, unable to escape. He calmly returned and pointed it at her abdomen. The electrical discharge from the gun would likely rupture her power cells at this range. She did not expect to survive the encounter, but all she could think about was the fact that she had fixed the ship’s computers, enabling Kendrick to escape after she died. The bounty hunter was about to fire when he unexpectedly looked up. Suddenly, a shot from a large caliber pistol went off from somewhere past her. The black robed man leapt into the air, avoiding the bullet. Selena was relieved to hear Kendrick’s voice.
“Get the Doctor on the ship, Mun! I’ll get Selena!”
A large priest held the doctor and Mun led the cleric away from the melee.
The man in black had avoided Kendrick’s shot, but the captain rushed in, firing at the bounty hunter right before he hit the ground. The shot caught the hunter in the right shoulder, causing him to twist to his right and lean back, almost going down. The bullet went clean through the cloaked man, blood spraying the wall behind him. Before the man could recover, Kendrick fired again, but the man was inhumanly fast and deflected the shot with his left gauntlet. Instead of a clean deflection, however, the bullet penetrated the gauntlet enough to graze the man’s hand.
Kendrick squeezed off two more rounds; one at the left hand and the other at the man’s left knee. The man deflected the shot to his left hand, swatting it away rather than receiving it, but as Kendrick had intended, the hunter took the one to the knee, causing Selena’s attacker to fall to the ground, holding his left knee in pain. Kendrick grabbed Selena, threw her over his shoulder and made for the ship. Mun came back, having gotten the Doctor onto the ship, and covered Kendrick as he carried Selena back to the ship. Kendrick was not sure what Fiona had done, but he knew that this cloaked man’s appearance was related to it. Suddenly, he felt a lot less guilty about Abby.
Thankfully, the church was not far from the ship, so they were able to lose their wounded pursuer and make it to the ship in less than ten minutes. Kendrick closed the door and immediately set to getting the ship moving as he laid Selena in her seat at the bridge and took his own controls, plugging in and transmitting his departure codes.
*Can you hear me?* he asked mentally.
*Yes,* she replied. *Cognitive functions are unaffected. Only my body’s mobility.*
*Good,* he replied. *Cause now, we get the hell outta here.*
With that, he got the Selene moving. As soon as he had cleared the station’s artificial atmosphere and dome, he set course for Mars and initiated a massive burn. The Selene vanished from view of the station and was now careening for Mars.
*You got the controls?* he asked her.
*Yes, Kendrick,* she said. *We are on course.*
“Good,” he replied aloud. “Let’s see about getting you fixed up.”
Velos was unhappy with being hit, but he was also quite pleased to have had the chance to face Royce. A worthy opponent, he thought. In fact, the priest seemed to be more than he appeared as well. Velos looked forward to encountering both men again; a true personal challenge was a rarity for him and both of these men were exceptional, worthy of his attention.
Velos concentrated very hard and ignored the pain from the wounds left by Royce’s large caliber pistol. Bullets, he thought; Royce plays rough, I see. Even better. He then stood up, using his levitation to simply stand without bearing weight on the injured knee. He could go after them, but there were onlookers and he would prefer not to engage Royce in public. It was best to tend to his injuries and resume pursuit of Royce later. The musician captain could only go one place from Atlas, so Velos could afford to be patient. The woman who came to their rescue was now of particular interest to him and to others. How fortuitous, indeed, he thought.
Jack O’Hare retrieved the stolen embryos from beneath the pew where he had instructed Keane to leave them. She had duct taped them to the bottom of the kneeler, just as she had promised. Also, the container had the OSD containing Doctor Keane’s formula inside of it. He quietly left, careful to avoid the authorities. When he got to his motel room, he set up the scrambling equipment and hooked his data pad into it, and made the call.
“This is a secure channel,” said his contact through a voice disguiser. “Please send authentication codes and recite the pass phrase.”
“The water is running,” Jack said, reciting the pass phrase for his contact and sending the codes.
“Pass phrase
authenticated, codes received,” replied the disguised voice at the other end of the call. “Authentication codes validated. You have my attention, Mister O’Hare. Now, give me the good news so that we can enrich you.”
“I have the merchandise,” replied Jack. “The target was attacked by an assassin; it looked like she and a female member of the fugitive crew were shot, possibly fatally. They got to the ship and took off.”
“You wouldn’t be covering for her because you’ve worked together, now would you?” The voice at the other end was suspicious, but Jack shook his head in spite of it being an audio only transmission.
“Fuck no,” protested Jack. “I owe them nothing. Besides, there were quite a few witnesses; it was all out in the open. Check with the Port Authority; they’ll confirm. I expect to be well paid, and I expect the offer of amnesty. Then I’m disappearing.”
“See to it that you do,” replied the voice. “The funds will be transferred to the account you provided to us and I will send you verification of your amnesty, as soon as the merchandise is received and its authenticity confirmed.”
“Aye, you’ll have your goods,” Jack replied. “Say, for a wee bit more enrichment, I can offer you something more valuable than the doctor.”
“I’m listening,” replied the voice.
“Her formula and a list of her faction members and their locations,” he replied.
“Oh, I think your enrichment for that would be more than just a ‘wee bit’ my friend.” The transmission ended as unceremoniously as it had begun.
The Silver Liner: Takes Flight! Page 20
