“Hare,” Ship said. “I know where Johnny and the others are going. They’re heading directly for the place where Louis took Bael, and they’re closing fast.”
“Elibel, Rosalind, you’re coming with me. Elibel, start dumping data into Kli’s table, and into mine. Basto, stay here with Kli and watch everyone. Keep a special eye on the pods, and on Linda. Sorry, Linda, you are correct; we are not family, and I do not trust you. Kli, you know what you need to do. Any questions?”
“I’d rather…,” Rosalind said.
“I know, but I need you with me. You know more about Johnny and Melissa Bean than anyone here, and don’t forget; you’re in this for the lucre. Get ready to go.”
“Hare,” Kli said, “Bael and Kral are on the move.”
“IgrabbedBael.Weareonthestreetonfoot.”
“How is she? And where is Louis?”
“Patchedmostly.NoideaaboutLouis.”
“Coming to get you.”
I motioned Elibel and Rosalind though the break in the wall. We ran out into the night and up the alley and made for the screens. I could see that the flyers were still there.
“The flyers, Kli?”
“No sign of any locks, tracks, traces, sims. That’s not to say that there are none. If they exist, they’re good.”
We climbed to the larger of the two craft. No sign of enforcers or anyone else. I brought the flyer out from its hiding place and made for the shore, skimming just above the buildings. Dawn was coming, and Forest’s star was beginning to climb from the sea. The heavy gray clouds were showing outlines of pink, and a dash of orange had formed just above the water. It was quiet. In these moments before dawn, the city was remarkably free of the teeming throngs and the near-constant flyer traffic.
“Elibel, what do you think the figurines are? Are they just tokens on membership? Linda says that’s what they are, but I’m not sure that….”
“I know what they are,” Rosalind said.
“Yea?” We could see the coast, where the lights of the city stopped in a rough line. We were getting closer.
“It goes back to when Johnny was traveling with his tutors. They spent a cycle among the refugees on Banyan’s Hell, not long before they headed to Trinn. The tutors wanted to expose Johnny to the action gangs there.”
“Louis was there; so were we.”
“So was I,” she said. “Though I don’t recall you. I lied back there. I told you that Melissa introduced me to Johnny. It’s the story I’ve been telling; I almost believe it myself.”
“But…?”
“I actually met Johnny when we were much younger, on Banyan’s, well after I left Melissa’s school. She doesn’t know.”
“You were in with the action gangs?”
“Of course. They were the only game in town. We were….”
“Hold that thought. We’re over Bael and Kral. Ship?”
“I have them too. Johnny and Melissa are close. It looks like they’ve connected with a flyer and are lifting off. Move quick, Hare.”
I brought the flyer down to street level. Enhancements were no longer needed to make out the details of the street; I could see Kral in a dark doorway, holding Bael as if she were an injured fawn. She seemed barely conscious.
“Quick. Get in.”
Kral almost dragged Bael into the flyer. I brought the lid down as we were lifting.
“She’sallrightIthink.
“ThehealerwasalmostfinishedwhenIpulledheroutofthere.”
Keeping half an eye on the streetscape unfolding before us, I made a quick check on Bael. Her breathing and heart were both strong; the seared skin had been replaced. But she was definitely weak.
“How are you?”
“I’m all right, Hare. Louis’s healer was excellent, and Kral’s a wonderful nurse-protector. I just want to rest.”
“I was completely scared when I saw you. I thought they’d….”
“They didn’t, love. I’m going to rest now.”
Love. I pointed the flyer out across the flats.
“Hare. Johnny apparently has a lock on you, and he’s close, very close.”
“I see him.” The other flyer was fast. It was sending out flash bursts, though they could have been fired by a child; they were wild and wide, going off in all directions. I needed to get back to grab Linda, Kli, and Basto. But maybe this would be another opportunity. I headed to the water.
“Something weird is happening on Johnny’s flyer,” Ship said. “My probes show that Johnny’s adrenalin is high; his heart is pumping. Melissa seems to be unconscious.” I brought a magnification of the other flyer up in front of my left eye. As I watched, the flyer’s side vaporized. It began to move erratically.
A voice came on the comm. “This is Captain O’Flaherty. I have taken control of this craft, such as it is. We will ditch in the sea in fifteen seconds. Assistance requested.”
“Captain, are you on this channel?”
“Yea, Trieste.”
“I’m on top of you. I’ll fish you out as soon as you’re down.”
“Johnny’s mine.”
“Until we get this all straightened out, no. But later, you can have him, as long as I get a say in what happens to him afterwards.”
“A say, and nothing more. Agreed.”
It was pretty simple. She brought the flyer down, then canted it on its intact side, so it would float, but barely. We fished them out of the foundering craft. Bean was indeed unconscious, while Johnny was trussed and listless, as though drunk. Thick red welts ran along the side of his head. They looked painful.
“What happened back there?” I asked the Captain. I brought the flyer up and we headed for the Trinn’s house. “How did they get away?”
“Simple. One of the monkey crowd was on fast forward, and during the initial chaos dashed over to cut the constraints, both the cords and the power constraints. When the moment was right, Johnny grabbed me and we were out through the break.”
“This could be a set-up….”
“It’s not. I also waited until the moment was right. They were careless, relaxed my freeze. As I said, my plant is second to none.”
“Hare,” Kli said, “we’re under attack. I’m out of here.”
“Kli? Basto?”
“Sorry, Hare. No warning,” Ship said. “Two flyers suddenly moved into position over the house and have flooded the break.”
“What are you seeing?”
“They’re removing the pods now, and a few of the fighters. They have Linda. The others…they’re just burning…no sign of Kindness. I think Kli got away.”
“I did. I’m on the street, looking for a place to hide.”
“We’re on our way and tracking you.”
“Not for long. I’m about to obfuscate. I’ve got you. I’ll let you know when you’re close.”
“Basto?”
Nothing.
“The flyers are pulling away, Hare,” Ship said. “The house looks empty. I detect no residual tracking.”
We found Kli readily enough, or more accurately, he found us. We checked and double checked the Kindness house and saw nothing, so I dropped the flyer to the break. I told everyone to stay put, and the Captain and I went inside. It wasn’t pretty.
The room was littered with bodies, mostly the Captain’s and Linda’s people. Some had been burned; others had been hit with precision cuts. All were dead. A couple were the monkey’s fighters, but most of those were gone. As were the three pods and Linda.
“Linda, I know this is one of your channels. Can you connect?”
Silence.
The Captain moved slowly through the room, looking incongruous in the rumpled tatters of her dress. She stopped, and her tall frame folded beside on of the bodies. It was man with the burner.
“Oh, Lieutenant Gora,” she said. “Oh, Bory.” Her voice quavered. She took a medallion from around the man’s neck, paused for a moment, and kissed his forehead. Then she stood.
“Where is your Basto?” she asked.
We scanned the room and finally found him, lying beneath one of the Captain’s fighters, or what remained of her. His frame was inert, but mostly intact. A precision cut had disabled his processor, but I figured that he could be reconstituted…until I saw how the cut had severed one of the core nodes. His identity was intact but locked. It was true that an AI could be reconstituted, in the right lab with an ID imprint. We had neither. And the Rollot pattern I’d used back in the shed had meant that any ID imprint we could find wouldn’t match anyway. The shutdown lock only complicated matters.
“Kli, come in. I’m going to need your help.”
Kli appeared in the gap, bowled over by Rosalind, who pretty much leaped over him. She saw us and ran across the room, screaming. She fell on Basto, sobbing as she cradled his head, her thick gray hair falling across his shoulders. She knew enough about AIs to understand the trouble he was in.
“I think I can save him,” I said.
To Be Continued
