Today they needed control and restraint, a precision that was missing from their usual rush and a welcome change. I wondered out loud if this would be a viable therapy in a low-tech, zero-G environment. It seemed like something Surgeon MacFinn might find interesting. The TDF marines would find it interesting.
For that matter, dance troops would find it exciting. If the guards ever needed to move invisibly, they could form a troop and put on performances as they travelled. Who would guess?
They laughed at the ludicrous image. That finally broke the sombre mood left from my telling of the Manila Bay incident. One of the guards allowed with a giggle that they invited their spouses and closest friends once a month, but those sessions were done in the nude with lots of perfumed oil and typically ended with everyone making love in a giant body-ball. We spent the rest of the morning trying to incorporate low-G dance moves that I remembered from my spacer days into their exercise routine, careful to work my belly without overstressing the muscle I had pulled.
When we broke for lunch, Officer Baintree asked to join us. She told us that our transport home had been arranged, then gave a quick update on the situation around Prosperity Square. Poloff Vo had survived the night. He had been admitted to the CI operating room, the only medical facility they could reach during the lockdown. The bones in his arms and legs had been shattered in several places. He could expect to walk again in about three months, a much longer recovery than usual because one of the bullets had been poisoned.
She did not go into much detail, but I recognized the symptoms. I am sure MacFinn had spotted the similarities immediately, that Vo’s internal damage was almost the same as mine, that the toxins in the bullet were almost the same as those generated by the failure of my med monitor. Alexander had warned me that the med monitor could kill me; I realized with a sickening lurch that the faulty programming might not have been due to incompetence or accident.
Sa’id was waving a hand in front of my face. He said, “Surgeon MacFinn recognized the poison immediately. He sent me the summary of his report while you were sleeping. He and Kaahurangi understand that they are now targets and are taking precautions. The Viceroy has tentatively approved their program and Wang signed off as well. They are moving to a secure wing of the hospital behind Commerce and are recruiting medical personnel from the hospital, CI and the Imperial crews under guard in the city. Their first patients, of course, will be drawn from the crew of the Lansdorf and the other crews under suspicion. There are few injuries, but many cancers and early-stage degenerative diseases.
“I will tell them about the exercise-cum-dance routines. Rumour has it that some of the Belter factions may be able to supply trainers, with more appropriate clothing, of course.”
He said the last bit with a definite twinkle that let me relax again.
Baintree continued, “They managed to open a path through the service corridors into Prosperity Square early this morning, probably the one where you had already opened most of the doors, so the people trapped yesterday have all gone home and the cafés have resupplied. Other than automated delivery vehicles, they are not letting anyone from outside into the locked-down areas around Commerce until they are brought back to rights, but the cafés in Prosperity are still busy. They freed everyone from the blackout in Flourishing by routing them through Commerce into Prosperity, where they promptly refilled the cafés, having had nothing to eat since yesterday.
“They also pushed into the service corridor off Flourishing that was the source of the blackout. An unauthorized ‘work party’ was trapped inside. They were saboteurs, carrying concealed explosives and guns, but were too badly injured to put up much of a fight. They had just planted an explosive with a timer on the power cables from the substation when the lockdown trapped them beside their own bomb. They did not know how to defuse it, so cowered at the end of the tunnel until it exploded. They had intended to use the confusion of the first explosion to cover their activities as they planted five more around the venue to be used for the announcement of the Imperial Directorate of Commerce.
“Ummm, I should not tell you this, but the one who was still conscious has been interrogated by an Officer of Truth. He apparently was sent by Viceroy Wolong. Half of the fleet that Wolong sent has started back to their stations as ordered by the Emperor, but the other half is still in place. No one knows yet who they are going to obey.
“Scary times. Before I let you go, I should also tell you that I woke feeling nervous yesterday, not at all today because I had to work all night on stims to write that report. I put in the effort to confirm as much as I could of what you told me. Everything is as bad as you said. I expect to wake up screaming tomorrow because I applied to transfer to a more active position before coming to lunch. I cannot thank you; I hate what happened but at least I’m not living in a delusion of safety anymore. Battleship Baintree reporting for duty, Sir.”
Sa’id looked back and forth between us a few times. When neither of us clarified her remark, he said, “Huh. You do have that effect. Are we done lunch and ready to move?”
2357-03-28 03:00
The Scouring
An hour later we were back in our lodgings. An urgent call was waiting as we entered, so I swung to face the monitor and signalled that I was with Commander Sa’id but was ready to talk. A few minutes later, Katerina, Leilani, Doctor Toyami, and Raul faced me through the monitor. They greeted Sa’id and welcomed me home, but the tension was obvious.
Doctor Toyami started, “Brian, you scared the shit out of me, literally, for the second time. Never do that again! Even knowing that Mustafa was protecting you did not help. Knowing that you have verified a hopeful path just made it worse that you are being so reckless. Never again! Do you hear me? Leilani and I have spent two days in hell. NEVER!”
Raul chimed in, “That goes for all of us. We just got Baintree’s report from the Admiral’s Office and the summary makes the trip sound productive, but the cost was horrendous for all of us. Please give more consideration before you start these escapades.”
Leilani interrupted this line of discussion before it could get out of control – I recognized her expression and the change in tone. “We have several updates that are important, but we need advice and are almost paralyzed with indecision.
“The worst is that Wolong continues to defy the Emperor. He has identified all of us, even the doctors, published our pictures and accused Fenghuang of treacherously protecting the Ghost and all his followers. He included a list, hundreds of people accused of being Ghost Followers. We are the obvious ones, but all the Ministers are there as well, including their delegates. There are a bunch of doctors from the earth and dozens of others we cannot even identify.
“He has issued an ultimatum that if she doesn’t turn everyone on the list over for execution within two days, he will invade the Moon and, as he put it, ‘scour this nest of vermin’ to find us. Until Viceroy Fenghuang surrenders, he has ordered a total blockade of the Moon. If there is any opposition, he threatens to attack us from orbit to destroy all the lunar cities.
“Wang doesn’t believe he has the strength to do it and has vowed that the TDF will defend every Lunar citizen, but we cannot leave and cannot stay.”
Raul added, “His fleet has divided almost evenly between ships obedient to the Emperor’s order who have returned to their stations near the Earth and those that remained close to the Moon. The latter have themselves divided. Some have very quietly applied to transfer to the Lunar fleet, an act of treason in any army. The rest declare that Wolong is the only true ruler of near-Earth space. Wang has a plan to disable his ships and destroy their missiles but is concerned that they might be reinforced from the fleets near the Earth, L1 and L2, whose ultimate loyalties are still unknown. He estimates we can hold out for a month against sustained hostilities, limited primarily by the total cessation of trade while Wolong’s fleet has us blockaded and the pirates attack everything not under military escort.”
Leilani picked up
again. “I’m not sure if you have been informed yet about the assassins that swarmed around Commerce, but they may not have been targeting you specifically. At least two of the teams were saboteurs who claim to be from Wolong’s fleet. They are lying, of course, but their loyalties seem clear. We are not sure when or how they arrived, but it must have been some time ago because there has been no traffic between the surface and Wolong’s ships.
“The worst part is that some of them were Earth-born, members of the hidden armies. They came directly from the Earth without passing through the mandatory bio-cleansing. The ones we caught have been quarantined, but who knows what diseases they may have brought with them? Doctor Marin tells us that hospitals all over the city are reporting cases of diarrhea, rhinovirus and acne. They used to see one case every few years; now there are dozens. And who knows how many others there may be? Can you imagine an epidemic of the flu or measles here, where no one is immune? It is in several of the nightmares, so I suppose you can.
“Other than Father Paul, the assassins were mostly sent by Viceroy Wolong but were searching for the Sultan Mustafa, not us. Several more were part of a campaign to disrupt the announcement of the Imperial Directorate of Commerce, which they insist is a violation of Wolong’s sovereignty over near-Earth space. There were even some who claim allegiance to the Sultan Mustafa. Most of the latter were Lunar citizens and intended to kill anyone of high rank who showed up for the announcement. It will be a while before we understand their purpose because they were driven so insane with terror that some died after capture and the rest are being held in medically induced comas until there are sufficient resources to handle their cases. Security has been increased around the new venue and the announcement is proceeding as a clear statement of Viceroy Fenghuang’s loyalty to the Imperium, but tensions are very high.”
“The closest thing to good news we have is that the proposal by Surgeons Kaahurangi and MacFinn to start a joint hospital service has been given temporary approval, but even that is being kept quiet because the entire operation is under suspicion of being treasonable. I cannot understand why, except that all the medics, healers and patients are being drawn from the crews of the eight ships being held in custody here.
“The Emperor himself is encouraging but refuses to send more ships than are currently in transit. He is apparently is too tied up with affairs on Mars to deal with Wolong in person. We don’t know how many ships are currently in transit.
“We should be helping, but it is all we can do to remain hidden. What can we do?”
Evgenia added quietly, “Brian, I will not let them take me alive.”
“Nor I,” said Leilani. “If you can, you should escape and finish your mission but we have all taken a vow to die at our own hands rather than let them control you through our suffering.”
I choked as the Cripple grabbed control, “Leilani, you must live. You must.”
She replied, “Brian, he is a monster and will kill us all without thinking. I did not want to show you this but you need to know. This video appeared on one of the underground news feeds. Forgive me, please forgive me.”
She started a video in a window that popped up on my screen. I recognized the inside of a church in Regina. A line of soldiers stood in the aisle leading to the altar. The soldiers wore two different styles of uniform, possibly a merger of a hidden army with the local militia. In their midst, an officer in powered armour directed them forward.
Facing them was a woman in a white surplice. The image was jerky and the sound quality poor but I recognized her immediately: my little sister Lucille. She had stayed in Winterpeg to attend university with me after the rest of the family moved to Madrid in Europe Castilla. Our extended family had decided to gather in Madrid a few years after my period in witness protection had expired. It was safer and more prosperous than home, an easier linguistic and cultural transition than Noram Prairie, and had a spaceport like the one in Winterpeg. The same company ran custodial services in both facilities, so Dad had arranged a transfer to help reunite the family.
At university in Winterpeg, Lucille fell in love and married. After graduation, she had two children, a boy and a girl. They had moved to Regina before the Incursion to be closer to her husband’s family. He had retained business ties in Winterpeg and perished there when the city was destroyed during the Incursion, just as the rest of my family perished in Madrid. Lucille’s children sang in the choir, but I could not see either of them in the video.
Over the scratch of shuffling feet, I heard her say, “My brother died on Mars fifteen years ago, defending the people from Governor Ngomo’s terrorists. I’ve been a supporter of Martian independence ever since that day. He cannot possibly have been the Ghost. Everyone hates the Ghost.”
The officer screamed with the power of an amplified voice, “THIS PIECE OF SHIT IS THE GHOST BITCH, THE SISTER OF THE GHOST AND DAMNED FOR THAT CRIME. ARREST HER SO SHE CAN FACE JUSTICE IN THE STREET!”
The soldier at the head of the line protested, “Sir, I’ve checked her against the Genetic Database. What she says is true. Her brother died on Mars before the Ghost began his reign of terror. He cannot have been the Ghost.”
The officer was enraged, “ARREST THE GHOST BITCH OR I WILL CHARGE YOU AS A GHOST FOLLOWER, YOU STINKING TRAITOR.”
No one in the congregation dared to move. The soldiers shuffled forward, but turned to form a wall between the officer and the woman. The officer lifted a powered arm, shoved the soldiers aside and shot the woman five times, shattering the wooden altar behind her and spraying blood over the cross, the ruined altar and the choir beside them. The entire congregation screamed and the soldiers surged forward over the officer. They did not have powered armour but the very heavy power frame gave less of an advantage on the Earth than in the low-G environments for which it was intended. Nor was it a well-designed TDF frame. The soldiers held him down long enough to remove the power connectors. He was hauled out into the street. In the background, I could hear sirens approaching; someone must have called the local police. The video cut off abruptly.
Leilani’s voice was shaky, “Was that who I thought it was?”
I was icy under the control of the Ghost. “That was my sister Lucille. I did not see her two children.”
“No,” said Katerina. “They were at the top of the list for immediate protection. I’m sure LE got there in time. She must have sent the children into hiding but stayed herself. I am so sorry, Brian.”
Lucille could have run but must have realized the futility. By now, her children would have new ID’s, new names, and new homes far away from Regina. They would never see their grandparents again.
Katerina continued, “The news feed claimed that she stayed in the church for two days, doing continuous masses with a rotating group of priests. The officiating priest was dragged out first and beaten but has disappeared. The soldiers have all been executed as traitors. They were heroes. The entire region has been put under a news blackout.”
They found her. When I first realized how wild Mars was and that Agents changed their ID’s all the time, I found a way for her to do it too. I told her to change her name every five years, to move to a new location and to request a new ID when she did. And I knew she had done it. It should have been nearly impossible to find her, but they did. Had they broken the Genetic Database?
Or had they broken my office? I had watched her quietly for years, and every time I did a search I left a trace somewhere. Had I killed her by watching from orbit?
“We must trust LE to keep the children safe. None of us will search for them or attempt to contact them, no matter how indirectly. They may have found her by tracing what I looked at in my office.”
Leilani looked stricken. “Or my office. I watched her, too. Brian, there was very little about your life before and after Mars that I did not uncover.”
Evgenia was shaking her head, “No, there was an easier way to track her. Brian, when you officially died on Mars at the start of the Incursion, sh
e inherited some fraction of your estate, which I assume was invested. If they realized who you had been on Mars, all they needed to do was follow that chain of investments.”
Money, property, friends, family, all the things that tied us to the world. We would have to leave them all behind. I said, “Evgenia is right. There are probably a dozen ways they could have identified her. We should not beat ourselves up wondering how they did. Give me a minute.”
I communed privately with everything I knew about her. I had no doubt that she believed the reports of my death on Mars. I knew how my obituary claimed I had died, protecting loyal citizens from the rebel assassins. I knew what I had told her before the rising tension had censored all the truth. She would not have known how I reacted to the Incursion and would have drawn her own conclusions.
She had studied Social Dynamics at university, a field in high demand in every large corporation, regional government and advocacy group on the Earth. She had instead taken a low-paying evangelical position with the Church. I suspected that she might have become a nun if she had not already married when she graduated.
Perhaps not, though, because she had been her mother’s daughter, an indefatigable activist constantly at work for reconciliation and justice within her community. She would have liked Chandrapati. Each time she changed ID, she launched a new crusade for justice. She was a regular, cheerfully tolerated nuisance to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, especially to Bishops Anne and Margaret who took several of her issues to the Vatican for resolution. I did not believe either bishop realized that the same woman was behind each cause.
There was not much I could do to support or guide such a career. Since I had officially expired on Mars, I had been scrupulously careful to avoid direct contact. I had from time to time encouraged people to donate to causes that she espoused, but usually not in Noram Prairie itself. All of that, of course, had happened after I was working in CI and had developed a certain measure of stability.
Lord Banshee Lunatic (Nightmare Wars Book 3) Page 18
