Cyber Dreams - 6.49 Shuttle Talk
Juliet put Jensen into an acceleration couch in the passenger compartment of the shuttle. He was deathly pale, and his breaths were so shallow that she wouldn’t have believed they existed if not for Angel’s assurances. She’d grabbed the shuttle’s emergency kit from near the airlock and dug through it, looking for something that might help him. She found a clotting agent and, gritting her teeth, sprayed it into the open ends of Jensen’s already compressed, foam-filled leg armor. She wasn’t sure any of the chemical even got through to his severed flesh but hoped for the best.
“What about this?” Emma asked, holding up an autoinjector. She read the label, “Nanite-infused shock treatment for traumatic wounds and blood loss.” Juliet nodded, took the injector, and pressed it into the side of Jensen’s neck as the illustrated instructions suggested. After the injector hissed, Juliet placed his hands onto his chest, trying to avoid looking at his truncated legs as her sister moved past, a sort of shell-shocked expression on her face.
With a final squeeze to his too-cold hand, she said, “Come sit in the cockpit with me, Em.”
“Uh, right. Okay. I’ve never been on a shuttle. Hell, I’ve never been on a plane.”
“You must have! How do you think you got out in the middle of the solar system?” Juliet led the way down the central aisle into a short access corridor.
“Well, true. Each time they moved me, I think they drugged me, though—it’s all a blur.”
“Well, you’ll remember this one; you’re gonna have a front-row seat.” Juliet touched the access panel for the cockpit bulkhead, and it clicked open without complaint. There were four seats in the cockpit, and Juliet took off her gun belt and hung it on the back of the pilot’s seat before sitting down. She gestured to the empty acceleration couch to her right. “Take a seat, copilot.”
“I don’t—”
“Just messing around, Em. I got this.”
As she checked out the controls for the shuttle, Angel said, “Juliet, Clara reports that the response team is moving Honey. She will open the bay door as soon as they’re clear.”
“Sounds good.” Juliet drew out her data cable and plugged it into the shuttle’s console. She was checking out the HUD when she realized Emma was still standing beside her acceleration couch. “Something wrong?”
“Do I just move these straps or—”
“Oh, yeah, right. Um, just treat it like a fancy seatbelt. Move them to the side, and the seat will contour to your figure when you sit down. Then, you pull the straps over your shoulders and connect them to the bottom part there.” Juliet saw she was still clutching the canister, the deck, her sword hilt, and the scabbard for Honey’s sword. “I can take that stuff.” She stood up to gather the objects from Emma and stowed them in a compartment under her pilot’s chair.
As she sat back down, Angel said, “They’re clear, and the external bay door is opening.” Juliet watched in the front-view camera feed projected onto her AUI, and, as soon as the bay doors were wide enough to accommodate the shuttle, she began spooling up the drive. The second the drive had built enough pressure, she thrust the throttle forward and angled the nose for the center of the bay door.
“Jeez!” Emma cried, gripping the sides of her couch with white knuckles.
“Sorry, Em—I’m getting the fuck away from this ship before something else happens.” As she cleared the shuttle bay doors, Juliet swore she felt a physical weight slide off her back. She pointed the shuttle into the emptiness of space and punched the throttle, squeezing every ounce of thrust the little craft could muster. Only when she heard Emma’s short, choking breaths did she realize she was pushing close to three Gs. She rapidly tapered to one G, then looked over her shoulder at her sister. Her face was beet red, and she was gasping and wiping the tears from the sides of her eyes.
“Please tell me that’s over!” she groaned.
“Yeah,” Juliet sighed, glancing at the rearview feed. “Yeah, it’s over.” The range indicator said the monolithic, black, rectangular ark ship was nearly a hundred kilometers behind them, and, even at one G of acceleration, they were rapidly adding distance. “I don’t know exactly what’s gonna happen when that thing jumps, but I didn’t want to be—” Her words died on her tongue as the ship seemed to shimmer, and red GRAVITY alerts flashed on her HUD. Juliet pushed on the throttle in a panic, afraid they were still too close, but the alerts winked out almost immediately. When Juliet glanced back at the rearview feed, the ark ship was gone. Nothing but stars met her eyes.
“The sensors detected a massive gravitational anomaly, but it was short-lived.” Angel paused briefly, then added, “Juliet, we just witnessed a warp jump. I’m sure there were tests, but—”
“Yeah,” Juliet sighed, “it’s kinda mind-boggling.” As she spoke, Juliet’s comms came to life, and she saw the flashing channels to her friends and combat groups. Angel anticipated what she wanted and activated her channel with Athena. “Hey, Athena. I’m out. I have my sister and some data, but . . . it wasn’t a total success, as I’m sure you saw.”
Athena responded instantly, “I’m so relieved! Juliet, they blocked out my daemons; I never gained any access to the ship.”
“Yeah, I know. Um, that’s a long story we can talk about when I rendezvous with the Wing. For now, I’m going to transmit some data your way. I don’t know how time-sensitive it is, so I was hoping you could analyze it right away.”
“Awaiting your transmission.” Athena cut the line, and Juliet chuckled.
“All business, huh?” She stood and walked around her seat to get the deck out of the storage compartment. Her sister was still gripping her seat tightly, and Juliet paused to rest her hand on her shoulder. “We won’t be going fast again.” She glanced at her HUD. “Easy cruise for the next thirty-four minutes, then we’ll dock with another ship.”
“Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?” Emma asked, blowing out a shaky breath.
“Yeah, of course. Just give me a sec to plug this deck in and check in with the rest of the team. Then I’m all yours, okay, Em?”
“Yeah.” Emma furrowed her dark eyebrows. “Don’t talk to me like a little kid, Juliet.”
“Heh. I won’t. Sorry.” She shook her head, fighting down an almost instinctive urge to snap back at her sister. Emma had just had a lot dumped on her, and just because Juliet was well-acquainted with the madness didn’t mean her sister should be taking any of it in stride. She took the deck over to the shuttle’s console and found a data prong to jack it into. “Got that, Angel?”
“Got it. I’m sending the data to Athena.”
Juliet knew Angel would also be inspecting the data, so she turned back to Emma, unlocking her seat so it could swivel to face her. “So,” she chuckled, “I’ve been up to a lot in the last couple of years.”
“I guess so. Where’d you learn to pilot, Juliet? You’re supposed to be a welder! I helped you pay for the certs!”
Juliet laughed. “This must feel like you’ve slipped into an alternate universe or something, huh?” She glanced at her HUD, ensuring the shuttle was operating smoothly and that no other vessels were pinging on the proximity scans. She saw the Cherry Blossom, which reminded her of her other friends, and she held up a finger. “One sec—comms.” Then, she selected her channel with Aya and opened it up. “Hey, Aya. Things all good on the Blossom? I’m off that ship, by the way.”
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“Lucky! You’re safe? Did you get your sister and Honey? Did you see that? The entire ship just vanished!”
“Safe and sound. Sorry I let that ship get away, but yeah, my sister’s right here. I’m gonna give her a rundown of what’s been happening. Just tell me one thing: is Bennet all right?”
“He’s in a holding cell on Ceres—Athena had to jump him off the station to get away from a squad of commando synths. The, um, CCC Security picked him up, and they’re holding him, but Athena has lawyers on the way. We picked up the mercs, too—Tanaka, Leo, everyone. They said the station was a ghost town.”
“Yeah, that tracks. Okay, thanks, Aya. We’ll talk soon, OK? Can’t wait to squeeze your guts out.”
“Is that how you describe a hug? Disgusting!”
Juliet laughed and then cut the line. She was feeling good all of a sudden, and she realized another weight had fallen off her shoulders; her friends were okay. She didn’t have more deaths on her hands—at least not friendly ones. She looked at her sister, saw the scowl building in her countenance, and resolved to give her full attention to her for the remainder of the flight. “That was my friend, Aya. You’ll like her. I mean, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t.” Emma scowled a little more deeply, and Juliet sighed, reaching out to take her hand. “I was still working at the scrapyard when this all happened. I was waiting for a ride one night . . .”
Twenty minutes later, Emma shook her head and interrupted Juliet’s story. “You’re going to need to repeat a lot of this. I don’t have a PAI, and you’ve dropped so many names that my head’s reeling. So, they grabbed you to get that chip out of your head, but, like, why’d they keep you alive? Why’d they want me?”
“That’s the thing. I told you I was very compatible with Angel, right? Well, not everyone is like that. They wanted to study my brain, my DNA, all that stuff, but that was only part of it. Another faction of the company, a guy named Kline, had been hunting me the whole time, and he wanted to turn me. He wanted me to work for WBD. The problem with that was that Kline didn’t know everything Gentry and Apollyon were up to.”
“Apollyon—that’s the evil AI?”
“Right. I guess that’s the easiest way to describe him. So, I don’t know if they wanted you for your DNA or as leverage against me. Whatever—we’re out of there, and they’re probably thousands of lightyears away now. I hope.”
“I heard what you said to that woman. The one who gave you the sword. Do you really think you’ll chase them down?”
“Not anytime too soon, I don’t think. I don’t know, sis.” Juliet cringed as she accidentally called Emma the pet name she, Angel, and her other new friends used. Emma didn’t react, in any case. Her eyes were unfocused, and Juliet could tell she was reviewing the buckets of info she’d dumped on her.
“I’m still trying to absorb all this, but if I got things straight, you’re working with an AI? Like, a true-AI, right? How do you know it won’t go nuts? You remember the lessons—”
“Em, you remember who sponsored those classes, right? What logo was on all of our texts?”
Emma’s scowl deepened. “Helios.”
“Yeah. Helios. Corpo propaganda is ninety percent of what they teach. Even so, they never had any evidence of Athena doing anything wrong. You remember her name, right? The big complaint was that she didn’t rescue the humans from the other AIs. As if she could just magically make them all go away or—”
“Right!” Emma’s eyes lit up as Juliet clearly triggered a memory. “She disappeared!”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t you? The surviving corps were busy deleting any true-AI they could get their hands on.”
Emma nodded, looked around the cockpit, and then, in an abrupt change of topic, asked, “So, you can fly? You can fight? What else?”
“Um, lots of stuff, Em. Let’s take it one day at a time, all right? Let’s focus on some good news: you’re out, and, if I’m not wrong, we got to you before Apollyon’s goons could do anything really creepy to you, right?”
Emma shrugged. “Beats me. I was out of it for a long time. Juliet, they were drugging the shit out of me. I hope I don’t have withdrawals or something.”
“Athena will check you out; we’ll be docking with a medical vessel. When I said ‘out,’ I didn’t just mean away from that ship, though. Em, you’re out of prison, and I have the bits to keep it that way.” Juliet squeezed her sister’s hand. “I want to spend more time with you. I want to learn about who you really are. I was so stupid and judgmental back when you got in trouble—your little ‘crime’ was nothing compared to the stuff I’ve had to do. It was nothing compared to what Helios does daily to the people working and living in Tucson. You just woke up a little sooner than I did. I’m so sorry I wasn’t supportive. I’m so sorry I never came to visit you.”
Tears had begun to pool in Emma’s eyes, but for once, Juliet’s were dry. Why was that? She wondered if her mind hadn’t let go yet, if she was still in “fight” mode, unable to let her other emotions well up. She reached out and gently rubbed her thumb on her big sister’s cheek, brushing a tear aside. “I’m going to take a break and spend time with you. Let’s buy a place, Em. Let’s buy a house somewhere. I don’t care if it’s back on Earth, on Luna, or on Mars. Whatever! I just want someplace to think of as home ‘cause I have a feeling I’m going to be busy soon.”
“The data?” Emma nodded to the deck sitting on the pilot’s console.
“Yeah. That and, well, I’m aware of too much, Emma. I can’t do small things anymore, not for long. How could I go back to cutting scrap?” She laughed at the absurdity and tried something else, “How can I take a job to steal some data or escort a high-value executive when I know about all this?” Juliet waved her arm in an expansive circle. When Emma arched her eyebrows, she tried to elaborate. “AIs, warp drives, evil corporations hell-bent on either reducing humanity to slavery or elevating a certain few to virtual godhood. I mean, there are people out there downloading their brains into clones. People are harvesting dark matter from Jupiter’s atmosphere and murdering anyone who learns their secrets.” She shook her head, chuckling.
“I know you’ve got some stories to go with those examples, sis.” Emma smiled, and Juliet felt her heart melt at her use of the endearment.
“I really want to be a better sister, Em. Should we visit mom?”
Emma’s eyes sprang with fresh tears, and she nodded, sniffing loudly. “I’d like to see her. She won’t believe her eyes when she sees you.”
“Juliet, we’re making our docking approach to the Wing.”
“Thanks, Angel.” Juliet winked at Emma. “We’re about to dock. Angel can handle it; I’m gonna go get Jensen. I want to get him to an autosurgeon ASAP.” Juliet stood and strapped her gun belt back on, then she fished around under her seat for the canister, her broken sword, and the proper scabbard for the one Honey had given her. “Here,” she handed the canister and broken sword to Emma. As Emma took the canister, she added, “Those are potential nieces and nephews, so handle with care.”
“Huh?” Emma almost dropped the canister in her haste to get a proper grip on the handle.
Juliet laughed. “I’m just being stupid. That canister is holding some eggs those evil goons took from me. Honey got ‘em back.”
“Seriously?” Emma’s lip twitched in disgust. Then her hand fell to her own stomach, and Juliet knew what she was thinking.
“I doubt they did anything like that, Em. I—I can’t believe Honey wouldn’t have said something if they did. I mean, if she knew . . .”
“Can the, uh—Erm, I mean your friend, Athena, check?”
“Yeah.” Juliet nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure she can.” When Emma nodded and hugged the canister by her side, holding the broken sword in one hand, Juliet drew her new monoblade, intent on putting it into its proper scabbard. It flared with golden sparkles and began to buzz menacingly.
“Why does it make that sound?”
Juliet frowned and held the sword—carefully—to her ear, listening near the hilt. “I thought it had a speaker down here, but I think that sound is coming from the blade. It’s . . . resonating with it.” Holding it by the hilt, she turned the sword sideways and examined the flat, first one side and then the other. She found a maker’s mark near the round crossguard or “tsuba,” as Tanaka called it. Angel highlighted and magnified it.
“That’s the mark of Kenzo Adler, Juliet. He’s arguably the most renowned swordsmith of the previous century. His monoblades sell for more than double that of an equivalent blade made by anyone else. Judging by its design and physical attributes, I would wager that this sword is one of twenty-seven named monoblades he crafted.”
“Named?”
“Yes, this one is called ‘Bumblebee.’ As far as I know, it’s the only sword he ever crafted that has harmonics integrated with the monofilament edge—it’s a vibro-monoblade.”
Juliet’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Kind of overkill, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps, or perhaps this sword would fare well even against dense, monofilament-resistant polymers.”
“Wild.” She whistled softly. Turning to her sister, she explained, “Angel says this sword is rarer than I thought.” As she carefully put the weapon in its proper scabbard and then changed it out for the empty one on her belt, it dawned on her that Alexander Voronov had bought a sword called “Bumblebee” for Honey. She started to laugh, handing her empty scabbard to Emma. “Come on. Let’s go get Jensen.”
She found Jensen in the same condition she’d left him—unconscious, pale, and barely breathing. While Angel docked the shuttle, she hefted him into her arms. Despite his armor that she dared not remove, he was disturbingly light. Of course, she had a cybernetic arm, and he was missing two limbs, but it still worried her. “I hope he has good nanites, Angel. I doubt he has enough blood to keep his brain healthy.”
“He’s been like this for less than an hour. If he has even a basic package, they’ve likely prioritized keeping his brain oxygenated.”
“If they even work without his PAI—”
“They will. Medical nanite suites are designed to be the last augment standing, so to speak.” As they stood by the airlock, waiting for the final docking procedures, Juliet saw Emma staring at the canister tucked against her side.
“What’s on your mind, Em?”
“These are your eggs, but, like, didn’t they have you captive for a long time?”
Juliet raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Well, wouldn’t they also have your DNA on file?”
Juliet sighed and nodded, a scowl creasing her brow. “Yeah. I’m afraid that cat’s out of the bag. I’d be an idiot to believe they didn’t sequence my DNA.” She shrugged. “At least I don’t have to have nightmares about running into mutant children grown from my eggs.” She caught Emma rubbing her stomach again and frowned. “Are you sore there?”
Emma looked at her with wide, scared eyes. “I hope it’s all in my head, but yeah. Something feels off.”
Juliet felt her blood go cold. “I swear to God—” Just then, the airlock clicked open, and Athena’s voice came through the now-connected PA system.
“Welcome back, Captain. We have much to discuss. I can’t properly express my gratitude for your heroic assault on that ark ship—the data you retrieved will save billions of lives. Come aboard. My scans indicate you have a passenger in urgent need of medical intervention.”
