Part 20 (2/2)

”I never liked watching this part,” Chris stated matter-of-factly. ”Let me know once he's told you.” Chris fled from the room, barely keeping rein on his emotions.

Behind him, the pilot let loose with a strong, panicked scream. The wavering wail made Chris wince. His hands moved nervously over his body.

Oh, my G.o.d. Did she cut something off?

Chris froze, transfixed between a need to see what had happened and a need to run and hide. The pilot screamed again. It was a long, strained wail of despair. Chris shook his head and paced.

Thirty seconds later, Cinmei emerged from the room. There was blood on her knife. He knew it would, but somehow seeing the blood forced him to accept what had happened. A part of him decided he was glad she had done it. Now he could get home and put this behind him.

My hands are clean. She did everything.

Their gazes interlocked. He looked for any sign of horror or pleasure on her face. She gave Chris a faint smile.

”We have authorization,” she said.

Chris nodded. He couldn't utter a word of criticism.

She did what was necessary. I couldn't have done it. Should I ask ... what exactly she did?

”I locked them out of computer,” she told him. He nodded again.

Chris remembered his security training and realized the pilot was probably a VG man like himself.

”Wait,” Chris said. ”I know you're good. But he didn't say the pa.s.sword was argus five zero five, did he?”

Cinmei stared at him.

”How you know that?”

Chris shook his head. ”I work for VG, remember? Argus five zero five is a security alert pa.s.sword. If you use that, the s.h.i.+p will lock down. He's been trained to give you that pa.s.sword. It changes every month.”

Cinmei stood still for a moment. Chris wondered if she would believe him.

”Wait here,” she said. Even through the suit, Chris could detect the edge to her voice.

The screams started quickly. This time, he forced himself closer to the door. It wasn't an airtight seal. He could hear the awful noise inside very clearly. He kneeled down and put his ear close to the door.

If she gets that pa.s.sword, I need to know it, too.

The screaming continued for more than a minute in intermittent, ragged bursts. Then the other man started to scream. But only once. Chris heard a sob.

”Give me,” Chris heard Cinmei demand again.

”Zeus five. Capital eight nine nine,” a man said.

She got it. She really got it. Capital eight? Oh. He must have said 'capital A.'

”Zeus?”

”Z, e, u, s. With a capital Z,” the man clarified.

Chris quickly backed away from the door. A second or two later, Cinmei came back out.

This time the knife was covered in blood. The black glove of her suit had been splattered with gore. She threw the b.l.o.o.d.y knife onto the floor in front of her.

Cinmei pulled off her gloves and let them drop. She detached an arm piece from her gear. Her brown skin was covered in a sheen of perspiration. She dropped the other arm covering and started taking off the torso armor.

Chris copied her slowly. He was still looking at the knife when he caught a glimpse of her body and refocused on her. She had removed the gear from her top, revealing beige undersheers clinging to her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Am I scared or attracted? Both, I guess. How is that possible?

She glanced up and met his stare with a frown. Then she started to remove the gear leggings. Chris resumed his own stripping, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from her. He shook his head. His time on Synchronicity had really changed him.

Cinmei finished removing her gear. She looked great for a longtime s.p.a.ce station inhabitant. He appreciated her slender figure and smooth brown skin. Her undersheers hadn't been designed to be s.e.xy, but they were so scant and translucent that they showcased her body nicely. Chris wanted her again.

How can I care at a time like this? Oh, well. That impulse is never rational.

”This way,” she said.

Chris dropped the last of his gear and gazed at the locker. It appeared secure. His link reported that Cinmei had locked it and placed a watch alarm on the mechanism.

Cinmei returned to the c.o.c.kpit. She didn't get into the acceleration couch, but Chris could tell she worked on the controls because she stared blankly out the window.

He watched the guest display in his PV to keep track of the shuttle's destination as she worked. He saw a pane with the shuttle's position and a slender line extending through s.p.a.ce before it. He panned out and followed the line with his mind. The display altered and the Earth came into view at the end of the line. The current destination was central Europe.

After a minute, the logged destination in Europe disappeared from the target queue. The line s.h.i.+fted. The destination was listed in a side pane: Qian Nian Men, a near-Earth Chinese station.

Chris took a deep breath and considered his situation. The shuttle had departed. The onboard staff had been incapacitated, tortured, and locked up. He didn't feel his life was still in direct danger. But he wasn't heading home. The shuttle's course ultimately brought him to a near-Earth station in control of the Chinese bloc.

When we get there, I'll be put on subsistence. If I'm lucky enough to survive interrogation and whatever punishment the Chinese decide to inflict. In fact, if I don't do anything, the next one to get tortured will be me.

He turned with his back toward her. He accessed the controls through his link.

”Authentication failed, Chris Adrastus.”

Chris ignored the warning and used the emergency authorization option. He entered the pa.s.sword: Zeus5A99.

”Emergency authorization enabled, Chris Adrastus.”

Chris changed the pa.s.sword quickly: GetMeHomeNow. He saw Cinmei's authorization and flushed it from the system. Then he faced her again.

She looked up at him, a surprised look on her face.

Chris brought his weapon up and pointed it at Cinmei. She recoiled immediately, holding one arm up between them.

”What you do?” she asked.

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