Zero Site 1607 Read online

  “Move, move!”

  Someone was giving chase, but she didn’t bother to look back. Speed was her friend now. She dodged around a woman standing in the hallway like a deer frozen in the headlights and then caught a glimpse of her potential salvation. A sign over the door at the end of the corridor showed what clearly looked like a stick figure walking up a staircase.

  A man in a lab coat nearly stumbled into her path. She elbowed him in the head and sent him careening into the wall like a rag doll. One of the guards must’ve fired off a shot with his lightning gun because she heard the telltale singed air effect, but it was well wide of the mark.

  She reached the door, knocked it open, opted for the steps leading upward and began ascending three steps at a time. She ignored the fatigue building up in her legs, focusing instead on the goal.

  “I would strongly recommend that you surrender,” Roy said.

  I told you to piss off, she thought be didn’t say aloud. She didn’t want to waste her breath.

  “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.”

  What?

  “I’ve always wanted to say that. It’s from a movie.”

  I’m not afraid.

  “You should know that all of the facility’s exits are now on lockdown. There’s no way out.”

  There’s always a way. Perhaps it was time to take someone hostage. Someone important. She reached the top of the stairwell and ran through the door into yet another corridor.

  Oops.

  At least a dozen soldiers were waiting for her, and the one in the middle had a big gun. She torqued wildly out of the way as he fired but saw too late that she was in serious trouble. A fine-meshed net flew out of the barrel and spread out nearly from wall to wall, hitting her in the shoulder and then wrapping around her.

  Lightning coursed through her body and everything went black.

  * * *

  Saeliko’s eyes fluttered open and took stock of her new environment, a process that took a while on account of the blurriness. She was on a bed, but with the upper half inclined so that she was nearly in a sitting position. Her wrists and ankles were in the now-familiar black loop restraints. Here we go again.

  Next to the bed, Dr. Eliska Tannishoy sat in a chair with a concerned look on her face. Whether it was concern for Saeliko’s well-being or discomfort at actually being here wasn’t clear.

  “Well,” Saeliko said through cracked lips, “that didn’t work.”

  “Don’t try to move. You’re going to feel groggy for a while, but it’ll pass.”

  “Okay.”

  “Are you in pain?”

  “My bones hurt.”

  “Fifty thousand volts will do that to you.”

  “Fifty thousand what?”

  “You can’t keep getting electrocuted, you know. It’s not good for you.”

  “Neither is imprisonment.”

  “Now that you mention it, I’m here to talk to you about your imprisonment.”

  “Has your boss decided to let me go?”

  “No, but we have an option that you might be amenable to.”

  “Who do you mean by we?”

  “My boss and I.”

  Saeliko shot her a scowl. “I miss Lofi.”

  “Huh?”

  “She was my friend, and she always told me the truth. Not like you.” Saeliko turned her neck to better look at Eliska, though the effort made her grimace. This was worse than the first time she was electrocuted. Everything inside her was aching, as if a thousand miniature blacksmiths had spent the last few hours inside her body hammering away at her internal bits. “You’re a messenger,” she told the doctor. “You’re a pet on a leash sent to come placate me. You twist the truth and hope I won’t notice.”

  “Yeah, I know, I know. I don’t have a spine. You told me that already. Look, Saeliko, I’m here to tell you what’s going to happen to you.”

  “Do you have any thoughts of your own on the matter?”

  “Yes, but . . .”

  “I don’t think you do. I think you’re just spouting your boss’ messages because he’s too cowardly to come see me himself.”

  Eliska offered a skeptical look. “Would you even talk to him if he did come see you? He is a man, after all.”

  Saeliko had to admit it was a fair point. “Who is Roy?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Roy?” This caused the doctor to pause. “Well, let’s see. That’s a bit difficult to explain. Could we maybe leave that until later?”

  “How did he know where I was?”

  “The decoders in our necks,” Eliska said, tapping her own neck with her own fingers to demonstrate. “They send out a signal. Roy uses those signals to locate us.”

  Amazing, Saeliko thought. They’ve turned themselves into slaves so willingly. In any case, she’d have to take that into account for her next escape attempt.

  “And no, you can’t take out your decoder,” Eliska commented. “I know you’re considering it. Don’t even try it.”

  “The thought never crossed my mind.”

  Eliska let that slide. “Now do you want to hear our plans for you?” she asked.

  “His plans.”

  “Fine. Do you want to hear his plans for you?”

  “Not really. Maybe later.”

  “Honestly,” Eliska sighed, shoulders slumping. “You’re hard to talk to sometimes.” She scratched her head. “All the time,” she amended.

  “That’s because I have a working brain, unlike most of the useless walking sacks of meat around here.”

  “Does that include me?”

  “The jury’s still out.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “Not yet. We had a deal, remember? You’re going to give me information, and I’m going to help you fulfill your potential.”

  “Saeliko, I really don’t have time for these games.”

  “So, tell me what happened.”

  “Look, I don’t know what . . .”

  “Something happened since the last time we talked. I can see it all over your face. You’ve got bags under your eyes, you’ve had about, what, an hour of sleep in the last twenty-four, and your fingernails look like a starving dog chewed on them.”

  “Nothing happened.”

  “Sure.”

  “My job can be stressful sometimes. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “Stop lying to me.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Are all the doctors in this place so dishonest?”

  Eliska laughed. It wasn’t hearty. It was a laugh of exasperation. “You know, when we have these little chats, it’s hard to tell who’s the prisoner.”

  Saeliko smiled. Even that hurt. She groaned a little and said, “I consider myself more of a temporary guest than a prisoner, if I’m honest.” That caused Eliska to shake her head, make a little ptff sound and lean back in her chair with crossed arms.

  “Want to make another deal?” Saeliko offered.

  Another ptff.

  “Tell you what. You tell me your problems, and after that, I’ll listen politely while you tell me what your boss has planned for me. I’ll be a model prisoner for you.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “Have I ever lied to you before?”

  She thought about it for a half-dozen seconds. “Actually, no.”

  “Eliska Tannishoy, I promise you right here and now that anything you tell me will be strictly confidential. I give you my solemn word.”

  “Roy is listening to us. Nothing I say to you here is confidential.”

  “Tell Roy to stop listening.”

  “I, umm, can’t . . .”

  “Stop lying, Eliska.” They dropped back into silence again, but Saeliko knew the tipping point had been crossed. She could see it in the doctor’s eyes.

  “Fine.” Eliska looked up at the ceiling. “Roy.”

 
“Yes, Dr. Tannishoy,” Roy said out of nowhere. Saeliko was still mystified as to how that was possible.

  “Turn off all monitoring devices in this room until I tell you otherwise.”

  “I don’t recommend that course of action.”

  “Follow my orders, Roy. I have the necessary clearance.”

  “Yes, Dr. Tannishoy. Please note that you will no longer be able to contact me until after you exit the room.”

  “That’s fine. Bye, Roy.”

  “Goodbye, Dr. Tannishoy.”

  Eliska returned her attention to Saeliko and said, “Satisfied?”

  “Yes.”

  She took a deep breath. “Here’s my problem in a nutshell. Basically, I just don’t know who to trust.”

  Saeliko nodded. “And?”

  “And nothing. That’s it. One person is telling me one thing; another person is telling me a different thing. I don’t know which one to believe. It’s making me lose sleep at night.”

  “No,” Saeliko said. “It’s more complicated than that, Eliska. People like you don’t lose sleep and bite their fingernails over a simple matter of trust.”

  She shrugged. “There are some complexities to my dilemma.”

  “Stop dancing around the truth. What are the consequences of believing one person over the other?”

  “That’s where it gets difficult,” she said. “If the first person is being honest, then things will probably work out just fine. Better than fine. Progress might be made on a problem. However, if the second person is being honest, that means the first one is lying, and some people might get hurt. They might even get killed.”

  “And you care about the people that might get killed?”

  “Of course I care. They’re innocent.”

  “You’d feel guilty if they died?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Then the solution is obvious,” Saeliko said. “If you’re not sure which person is telling the truth, you can’t make a decision based on trust. The only thing left is to make a decision that ensures people don’t die.”

  “There are some serious repercussions if I do that.”

  “Like?”

  “Like, if anyone found out, I’d lose my career, my freedom and everything else I care about.”

  “Then you better make sure you don’t get caught.”

  1.9 KETTLE

  Kettle sat across from Dallas in the mess hall halfheartedly poking and prodding some vegetables with his fork. He was finding it hard to enjoy his meal when his thoughts kept returning to the upcoming mission. The military brass had allotted for the extra day at ARCOB to allow Haley and Kettle the additional time necessary to get rested and mentally prepared. They needn’t have bothered; he wasn’t going to sleep much.

  “You going to finish those?” Dallas asked. The United States Marine was never one to let the rigors of life affect his appetite.

  “They’re all yours,” Kettle said and slid the plate forward. “Didn’t you already have two hamburgers.”

  “Yeah. That was one of the worst things about our life in the Sollian – no burgers.”

  “You mean, aside from the pirate battles and constant threat of death.”

  “Yeah, aside from that.”

  “Which reminds me, our favorite pirate tried to escape again today. They had to use an electrified net to stop her.”

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  “I kind of feel bad for her.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Really?”

  “Not even a little bit. That woman beat us, tortured us, mind-fucked us and got a lot of people killed.” Dallas stopped chewing and looked straight at Kettle. “She even made you punch a hooker.”

  “I wish you’d forget about that.”

  “Not going to happen. Anyway, Saeliko’s been taking it easy on them.”

  Kettle leaned back and took a swig of water from his cup. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, chucklehead. Think about it. How many people has she killed in her two escapes?”

  “None, I think.”

  “Exactly. Zero kills. Does that sound like Saeliko?”

  Kettle’s mind recalled the vision of Saeliko striding across the Triumph, her scimitar hacking and slashing into flesh, viscera splashing across the deck. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “She’s testing them,” Dallas said. “Probing around the edges. Having a look around.”

  “How do you know?”

  Dallas put down his fork and brushed some gravy off his chin with the back of his hand. “Let me put it for you this way,” he started. “I’m a pretty tough guy. I’m good with my fists and fast on my feet. Plus, I’ve been trained by Earth’s most advanced military. I can hike into deserts, jungles, arctic tundra or anywhere else you want to send me, kill a bunch of baddies with a rusty knife and find my way back out again. That’s not just speculation either. The United States government spent a lot of money make sure I could do all that stuff. I’m something of a badass.”

  “Modest, too.”

  “Not trying to toot my own horn here. Point is, compared to her, I’m an amateur. I’m a big boy playing with toys and she’s some sort of goddess of death and destruction.”

  Kettle nodded. “Point taken, but to play devil’s advocate, she hasn’t fared well against modern technology.”

  “She’s a quick study,” Dallas countered and went back to his vegetables. “Mark my words, give her enough time and she will escape. The only question is how many people she’ll end up killing to do it. Kettle, you shouldn’t feel sorry for her; you should feel sorry for everyone in this base. They don’t know what’s coming.”

  Kettle put down his cup. Dallas talked a lot of crap from time to time, but he wasn’t one for hyperbole, so regardless of whether his analysis of Saeliko’s capabilities was correct, he was being sincere. Kettle also had to admit that he hadn’t considered Saeliko’s escape attempts in that light. Maybe she was just experimenting.

  “And while I’m speaking all sober-like,” Dallas went on. “I want to tell you something else.” His expression grew more serious.

  “Ahh, okay.”

  “Back on the Skag, after the Epoch sank.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You done good.”

  “Sorry?”

  “Things got real, and you handled it. You stepped up. You did what you had to do. Frankly, I didn’t think you had it in you, but I’m glad I was wrong.”

  “Oh, wow.” Kettle grinned. “That was a compliment! You actually gave me a compliment.”

  “I was going to say, ‘don’t let it go to your head’, but I can see I’m too late for that.”

  “Yep.”

  “You’re still a dipshit.”

  “I love you too, Dallas.”

  “Piss off.”

  “Seriously though, thanks. I appreciate it.”

  Dallas gave Kettle another meaningful look and then looked around the mess hall. “So,” he said. “What do you think of all this?”

  “What, exactly?”

  “Everything. These people. Zodo Corp. Your mission tomorrow. The stuff they said about you being Zero Stock.”

  Kettle leaned forward, put his elbows on the table and thought about how to respond. He didn’t know how to express his feelings in words, probably because there were so many feelings pushed up against one another. “I don’t know.” His mouth stayed open to say something else, but nothing came.

  “Come on, give me something.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to hide anything. I’m just all mixed up inside, like part of me thinks this is all a made-up nightmare, and another part of me is actually happy because I’m finding my destiny. It’s good for the ego, you know, when everyone tells you that you’re important, that your life has critical meaning. And then there’s this whole other part of me that is really hard to talk about.” He looked at Dallas and wondered if he should continue.

  “Spit it out, garbage man.”

  “It’s ha
rd to describe. It’s like my lizard brain is growing and taking over. Do you know what I mean? It’s the primal animal inside you, the part that likes pain and violence and conflict. You said it already; I used to be a garbage man. I was about the most conflict-averse person you could imagine.”

  “You tried to punch me the first time we met,” Dallas reminded him, which made Kettle smile again.

  “Yeah, but I thought you were so hammered that you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself. If you had been sober, I wouldn’t have ever tried that.”

  “And now?”

  “Let’s just say I’m not the same person.”

  “Well, that’s a good thing, right?”

  “Depends on whether or not I can control the lizard brain.”

  Dallas took his index finger and pointed at Kettle’s head. “Not just your lizard brain,” he noted. His finger dropped down until it was pointing at Kettle’s nether regions. “The lizard between your pants, too.”

  “I’ll thank you very much to leave my gentleman parts out of this.”

  Dallas essayed a sly smile. “I heard what that doctor said about you. Your sex drive is working overtime now. How’s that working out for you?”

  “This conversation just took an uncomfortable turn.”

  “You’re horny as hell, aren’t you?”

  “Not going to answer that.”

  “I think you just did.”

  “Ha ha. You finished?”

  “Not even close.”

  “Oh, leave it alone.”

  “I bet you’re having trouble leaving it alone.”

  “Real mature.”

  “So, if regular guys think about sex once every seven seconds, you must be thinking about it constantly.”

  “That’s a ridiculous statistic. Nobody thinks about it every seven seconds.”

  “Are you hard right now?”

  “Jesus! No, I’m not hard right now.”

  “You know what I haven’t figured out yet?”

  “Oh, please. Enlighten me.”

  Dallas stroked his chin and halfheartedly attempted to suppress his grin. “If your sex drive is all ramped up, and Haley’s sex drive is all ramped up, then why haven’t the two of you been speed-humping like rabbits in heat across the last three planets we’ve been on?”