Gaea

Chapter 17

by Baybelletrist

Elsewhere

8/6/2098

A beam of afternoon sun caught dust motes as it streamed through the office window unnoticed by the man in the hoverchair. Outside, trucks hauled cargo from the supply plane parked on its landing pad and uniformed men and women scurried to and fro, but the four walls of the office held only order and quiet.

"Insert HTZ33 at locus 7q36.1 and run simulation."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement. Silence settled over the office, broken only by the soft hiss of a breather as it forced air into the man's lungs. A coffee cup sat ignored, its contents long since cold, on the desk near the man's right hand. Several minutes passed before the computer beeped again. The man leaned forward as data poured across the screen, and then he settled back with a frown.

"Again," he mused. "Still the chemical imbalance. —Computer, note: HTZ33 produced unsatisfactory results at locus 7q36.1. Insert—" The chime of an incoming comm message drowned out the computer's answering beep and cut short his command. He touched a key, and the screen split. A young man's face blinked into the left-hand frame.

"Latham here," he said curtly. "What is it, Delacruz?"

The young man swallowed, his coffee-colored skin gone pale. "Uh, Dr. Latham—I'm sorry to report that, uh, that Batch 27883 was apparently—damaged in shipping on the way from Texas. Sir."

On the right armrest, Latham's hand curled into a fist. "Damaged."

"Uh, yes, sir. Uh, it looks like the coolant hose for the nutrient pump got crimped somehow, and so, uh—"

"The pump stopped. Of course." A muscle in Latham's jaw flexed. "How many of the fetuses were affected?"

Delacruz swallowed again. "I, uh... Sir, of the thirty, nine are dead and the rest are severely damaged. We're trying to find out how it happened now." He flinched, obviously expecting an explosion. "I'm sorry, sir," he almost whispered.

"Yes," Latham said quietly. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Delacruz. Report to me at once when you're done." He cut the connection.

Coffee splashed across the rug. Thrown with insufficient force to reach the far wall, the cup fell with a soft thump to the floor. And Latham, rigid with frustrated fury, clenched his hands around the armrests of his chair.

His eyes narrowed suddenly, and his face grew thoughtful. Staring at the coffee cup lying far too close to his motorized chair, he slowly let his hands relax. He straightened, resolved and once again calm.

"Computer, access latest data on tissue and nerve replacement technologies," he ordered. "Onscreen." Windows opened on his workstation, and he stared at the data, intent.

"Computer, comm on. —Mr. Hunter," he said crisply, eyes never leaving the screen. "Report."

BETA Mountain, Earth

8/9/2098, 1416

Zachary Foxx rubbed one hand over his face and made a small, resigned gesture with the other.

"I'm sorry, Captain Dansky," he said. "That's really all there is to tell you. We brought Nicole Galloway—or I should say, the girl using that name—back to Earth, she disappeared from BETA Mountain, and next thing we knew she was blowing up someone's merc squad along with parts of three buildings in downtown New Corpus Christi. There are no records of her on Earth. We're hoping to trace her DNA to whoever it was who created her, because she was obviously an illegal construct. We're guessing it might be an illegal clinic running with black-market designs, but so far we've got no leads. We're as much at a loss as you, sir. I know that's not much to take back to the mayor."

Karel Dansky sighed. "So what you're saying is that there's nothing to add to the report?"

"That's about it," Zach agreed.

Dansky let one corner of his mouth quirk in a sardonic smile. "I don't suppose the chief of police in New Corpus Christi is any happier."

Zach laughed shortly. "No, sir, you 'don't suppose' correctly. Captain Shapiro is definitely not happy. You had a fire, Captain—and a few deaths, of course, not to minimize them. She had heavy laser assault rifles discharged inside city limits, and that poor abused parahuman girl destroyed more than one office building during rush hour. The Planetary Defense Corps had to be called in to help clean up the mess. The captain's been on the comm at least once a day since then, wanting answers, and I don't have any more to give her than I have for you."

"Well." Dansky sighed again. "Your final report is filed here, Captain Foxx. Thank you for your help."

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more, sir."

Dansky waved away Zach's words. "No need to apologize. You were doing your job. As far as I'm concerned, you and your team are welcome in Mars City any time. If we can ever help you, please let us know."

"The same for us," Zach answered.

Dansky smiled, the first real smile Zach had seen from the man. "Oh, Captain—Detective Lee had a message for one of your team members, Ranger Niko. 'Maybe next time,' she said. I'm afraid I don't know what she meant."

Zach laughed. "I don't either, Captain, but I'm sure Niko will. Thanks again. Zachary Foxx out."

The comm went dark, and Zachary leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

Lies on lies, he thought sadly. I don't like where this is taking us. I wish you were with me, Eliza... Now and always.

BETA Mountain, Earth

10/14/2098, 1828

The setting sun slanted over the terrace outside Niko's quarters, but the pavement still held some of the heat of the day. Her loose gown draped over the cushions as Niko settled into her lounge chair and leaned back with a sigh.

She stared out at the desert for a while, sifting through thoughts and memories, before picking up the letter that lay in her lap. She ran her eyes over Audra Miles' tidy writing and smiled. A vacation on Daibar? It'd be nice to see Mistwalker again, but I could do without the bugs...

"Niko?"

She started violently and turned in her seat. A black-clad figure separated itself from the shadow of a support pillar and stepped forward.

"Shane," she said in surprise. "When did you get back?"

"Just now. Thought I'd come say hello."

Niko smiled. "Hello. Please, sit," and she indicated the chair next to her lounge.

Goose ambled over and perched himself on the edge of the seat. Inwardly she frowned, for his face was drawn and weary. But he seemed content only to share her company, so she held her tongue. They watched the sun setting in companionable silence. Idly Niko focused her mind to lift a match from the tin box just inside the door and strike it on the pavement. With a thought she used it to light the old-fashioned hurricane lanterns sitting against the terrace wall and then dropped the match into the flame to burn.

There was a brief silence.

"How is she, Shane?"

He paused for a long moment. "She's good," he answered. Slowly a smile spread over his face.

Niko suppressed a brief—and totally irrational, she told herself firmly—flash of jealousy. "She's recovered from what Latham did, then?" she asked softly.

"You'd hardly know her, Niko," Goose said with a kind of quiet delight. "She makes jokes, she laughs—damn, that girl's got a sense of humor! We..." He shook his head and chuckled. "I'm starting at the wrong end of the story."

"Doc's plan worked?"

"Oh yeah. We clocked out as Elma and Gooseman and came back into Earthspace under a different registry. Remind me to set up getting back at Doc for that, by the way."

"What?"

"How would you like to be named Wilbur Hellman?"

Niko couldn't hold back a giggle. "Not very well," she admitted.

"Yeah, me neither. After we left Corpus Christi—and that damn snooty rental-car onboard AI—we took out for Kirwin." Goose fell quiet. Shoulders bowed, he rested his forearms on his knees and stared down at his hands.

"Her recovery went well?"

"Yeah," he answered slowly and paused again. "Dr. Keimo really—Niko, it was—" He broke off with a choked sound and turned his face away from the light.

Niko heard his roughened breathing and saw his shoulders jerk once or twice. She reached out, gently took his hand, and sat quietly with him as he let go the tension and the pain.

The sky had darkened further and the stars had begun to come out before Goose rubbed a hand tiredly over his face and unbent from his hunched posture. He squeezed her hand lightly in unspoken thanks and released it.

"The deprogramming was rough," he said quietly. "She went through hell, Niko. She went through it twice, once for real and once in her memories. But I could see when she started to get better—slept through the night, stopped jumping at shadows, stopped... crying so much." He clenched his fists, relaxed them. "Dr. Keimo gave her recordings to listen to, to build back up what OPS tore down. But even if she listens to them every day for the rest of her life, I don't think she'll ever stop being afraid of Latham. And for that I want to see his hide nailed to the wall."

"I know, Shane," she answered softly, and paused. "You said... she laughs."

He smiled, a subtle quirk of the corners of his mouth. "Yeah. She laughs. She likes doughnuts and curry and pickles, though not all together—" he grinned at Niko's laugh— "she plays chess like a fiend, she's curious about everything. I took her shopping."

"Shopping?" She stared incredulously at him. "Shane—you hate shopping."

He laughed self-consciously. "She thought I was nuts, too, but—Niko, the kid's never had a decent outfit of her own. Everything in that little bag of hers was made over from somebody else's clothes. So I told her I didn't have another kid sister to spend my money on and dragged her to the stores."

Niko stifled a laugh.

"Oh—um..." Goose looked awkwardly at her and rummaged in his shirt pocket. "She... wanted you to have this. We saw it in a shop window and, uh..."

Niko blinked at the little paper packet he laid in her palm. "Goose," she said in surprise. "You didn't have to—" She broke off. "Thank you," she added quietly. The paper rustled softly as she unwrapped it. "Oh..." she breathed, staring down at the tiny golden locket inside. The delicate engraving caught the flickering light of the lamps, and the fine chain glimmered softly as she lifted it out of the tissue. From the gold, warmed by the heat of Shane's body, rose images: a shy young man in his Victorian best; the sweet smile of a black-haired young woman; a grey-haired lady, small and fragile with age. She blinked in shock. This is almost two hundred years old, she realized. It must have been fabulously expensive. Niko smiled wryly, softly, and looked up at Goose. "She chose it?"

He reddened. "Yeah, I guess," he mumbled.

"Thank you, Goose—and my thanks to her, too." She hid another smile and fastened the delicate chain around her neck as he looked away.

"So... you've heard my side of things," he noted. "What's been happening Earthside?"

Niko gazed peacefully at a lamp, its light flickering in a vagrant breeze that sprang up and died in a moment. "We got back from New Corpus Christi several hours after you left and gave our report to the commander. The skin and hair and blood samples Gaea gave us backed up the official statement that she had died in the explosion." Niko paused thoughtfully. "You know, it's very rare that I find anything worth falsifying a report for."

He quirked one corner of his mouth again. "Yeah, I know."

"The fuss died down after awhile, but for a few days the news media were full of theories and speculation."

"Yeah, a constant stream of 'No comment' won't keep the public's attention for long," he observed dryly. "You three come in for any flack?"

Niko shook her head. "Commander Walsh was very angry that they took her right from BETA Mountain, you know. He doesn't like anyone making us look bad." She met his eyes with a little smile. "I don't think it took him very long to decide to support Doc's idea. Zachary's been great, too; not a word about falsifying case reports and the rest of it, and he's been handling all the contacts with Captain Dansky and Captain Shapiro."

He smiled in return and said, "And to think I used to think Zach couldn't keep a secret." They sat quietly for a while.

"Is she settled, then?" she asked finally.

"Yeah. Doc's program worked like magic, as usual. She picked a name, we plugged it in, and that thing went to town. She's got a complete history—and every one of you can say in all honesty that you have no idea where she's living or what name she's using." A dark expression flickered across his face. "And me... I'm used to keeping secrets." He looked down at his hands again—and when he looked up at her again a smile blazed in his eyes.

"I did it, Niko," he told her softly. "We did it. She's free."

Gaea - Chapter 17

From Betamountain.org

Gaea

Chapter 17

by Baybelletrist