Part 26 (2/2)
”That's an interesting observation,” Devin warned. ”But of course we don't know if that data has either missed s.h.i.+pments involved with the spinners, or includes s.h.i.+pments that have nothing to do with them. It's all guesswork, so a couple of anomalies aren't much to go on.”
”We have no evidence that Vineaux Genomix is suspect,” Vendrati said. ”And we have their a.s.surance that nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Including a message from Alec Vineaux himself.”
Bren shrugged. ”My answer is based on data from the s.h.i.+pments alone. I wasn't thinking about that aspect.”
Jameson nodded.
”We'll proceed to Camelot. Besides being operated by companies that we know have been involved, it's considerably closer to us than the other two stations, and we know time is of the essence. Let's get back to work and make sure everything's ready for our next target.”
Bren and Nicole found Aldriena pacing in her quarters. Bren thought he'd be used to her looks by now, but seeing her still stirred something inside him and activated parts of his brain that didn't care anything about logic or the mission.
”I'm glad you're alive,” he said. ”You know when we breached Avalon, Meridian told me you were dead.”
”Who is Meridian? I thought I was dead myself. Between the spinner and the marines, I don't know who's worse!”
”Meridian is one of our lucky a.s.sAIL machines. A heavy, like you saw in the examination room ...”
”With the naked woman?”
”Er, yes. That one.”
”Well, what's so lucky about it?”
”It's made it through all the incursions so far, a survivor.”
”Maybe it made its own luck,” Aldriena said. ”How smart are those things? Smart enough to be dangerous?”
”How about we get to the point?” interrupted Nicole. ”We want you to go in first at Camelot.”
”Why should I? Don't you know what happened? The one person I trusted as an ally was shot dead at the s.p.a.ceport. I would have ended up the same way if Claw hadn't thrown me in the brig to interrogate me later. As it was, I think they almost shot me anyway when they found me in there. Those marines had orders to shoot everyone. It's not safe working for you people!”
”We never claimed your job was safe,” Bren said. ”I thought you liked it that way.”
”Maybe, but who deserves to be shot by the people on their side?”
”Then we'll double your retainer and a.s.sure you make it to someone's quarters before the next incursion,” Nicole suggested.
”No more attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the Reds,” Aldriena said. ”Let's stick to the safer stuff.”
”Do you know what went wrong with your attempt?”
”No idea. But I've learned not to underestimate these things. Not only did the attack fail, but also that spinner was on to me in seconds. It knew what I was doing, figured it out somehow, maybe even before the attempt.”
Fourteen.
Chris wrung his hands and looked at yet another s.p.a.ce force representative. The man looked fit. He was tall with short black hair and a serious set to his mouth.
”Look. I've been talking to a dozen people, and I don't think my message is getting through,” Chris said. At first, when his shuttle had been intercepted by the UNSF in deep s.p.a.ce, he had felt elated. The chances of being intercepted by any vessel before arriving near Earth had to be low. Then he'd fallen into despair as he'd told his story and no one responded the way he'd hoped. Then they'd sent him to doctors and he'd begun to doubt his own sanity.
”You're talking to the right people now. Tell us about Red.”
”The what?”
”The spinner. The alien you've been talking about.”
”Oh. Are you a psychologist?”
”No, I'm Major Creighton. I work for s.p.a.ce force intelligence. Like I said, you're talking to the right people now.”
Chris leaned forward.
”I was beginning to think it was hopeless.”
”I understand your frustration. That's behind you now. Tell us about the cyborg.”
”Well, they call one Captain. Alec says that it's their leader.”
”Their leader? At Synchronicity?”
”Yes. And there's a second one called Slicer.”
There was a pause. Chris a.s.sumed his inquisitor was shuffling along information on his link.
”So there are at least two of them? How long has the station been under their control?”
”I think only two. I don't know how long they've been in charge at Synchronicity. Longer than three months. There's some kind of alien s.h.i.+p there. I don't know where it comes from. The people have been wearing these suits-”
”Chris, this information is very important to us. Important enough that we need to verify the facts, make sure we don't miss anything, or get anything wrong. We have some equipment that will help us do that. Would you be willing to let us hook you up here so we can take some readings?”
”Well ... sure. Yeah. I've been asking people to give me a lie detector test since I started trying to tell the UNSF about this. It'll prove that I'm telling you the truth.”
”Good,” said Creighton. A couple of seconds later, a bald technician in a red overcoat came into the room pus.h.i.+ng an equipment cart before him. The machine was larger than Chris expected, about the size of a motorcycle with a bright red sh.e.l.l.
”This man will get you set up. Then all you have to do is answer the questions. I'll be listening in with my link. Nice to meet you, Chris.”
”Sure. Thanks, Major Creighton.”
The major nodded and walked out of the room. Chris watched the technician for a second, but he didn't meet Chris's gaze. Chris realized immediately that he didn't like the man, could never like him. The man's face held some intrinsic detachment that made Chris uncomfortable.
Maybe they're just playing along. They might think I'm crazy and this is a sanity examination.
Chris hid his dislike and forced himself to speak.
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