Here we go again.
Oh. Someone asked.
The title comes from the Star Wars Quote:
Obi Wan:
Luke, You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend
greatly on our own point of view.
C&C on all chapters is welcome.
-Chaz
Chaz sat in the quiet of the computer room slowly going over the files Sylia
had managed to coerce his subsidiary AI into giving up. He was dressed, as
usual, in blue kevlar jeans and a black, dragon print T-shirt. There had
been noises from Linna and Nene about forcing him to go shopping for 'More
suitable' clothes. So far he'd managed to charm his way out of it when the
subject came up. Mostly that meant he'd stayed out of sight when they looked
like they wanted to go.
Rubbing his eyes, he stared at the screen. From what little he understood of
the files, he could see why Sylia had been so convinced that someone was
going to be upset when they found out their 'project' had walked off. It was
bad enough that he had several, never before seen, prototype systems lodged
under his skin. He also had much of the research that had produced them
lodged in his AI. He had to have it of course. Without the design specs his
directed nanite repair system couldn't function. All in all it would
probably be a good idea if he changed his 'default' face permanently. There
were people that knew that face and he couldn't afford to be seen with it.
Mason, for one, would recognize it instantly.
He leaned back in the chair and started to rub his temples. Halfway up, the
hand stopped. Why was he doing that? His head and eyes didn't hurt or even
ache. After puzzling it over he decided it had to be habit. Amazing the
kinds of activities your body falls into when you aren't watching it.
Grinning at the continuing evidence of humanity, he finished reaching up to
rub his head.
"There you are!" yelled a strident female voice behind him. Chaz flinched.
He'd been ducking that voice since the Knight Sabers had destroyed USSD's
"Black Box" two days ago. He had known it was just a matter of time of
course. He'd fought against it just the same. But his past was about to
catch up with him. Deciding to brazen it out Chaz turned around and smiled.
"Priss! Hi! I didn't realize you were looking for me," he lied brazenly. The
second the words had passed his lips he regretted them. Despite evidence to
the contrary, Priss wasn't stupid. Her face said, in no uncertain terms,
that she didn't believe him for a second.
Priss, dressed in her usual riding outfit, just stared at him. Who did he
think he was fooling? He couldn't have been more obvious about avoiding her
if he'd tried. Exerting a little bit of discipline, she put her personal ire
on a back burner to simmer. "You were supposed to talk to Irene this
afternoon remember?" If she hadn't actually needed to find him, she doubted
Sylia would have told her where he was.
Chaz groaned. Yup. She was right. He was late. "Sorry, must have lost track
of the time."
The young singer gave him a disbelieving frown. "I thought you couldn't lose
track of time?" Her voice implied this was a flimsy excuse at best.
A vague shrug swept over Chaz's shoulders. "I can lose track of time just
like everyone else. I just always know what time it is. It's like having a
watch and never looking at it." He paused thoughtfully. "If I had thought
about it I would have set up a reminder." Reaching over he started the
sequence that would log him out of the mainframe and put its AI back on
standby. If he had wanted, he could have used the interface set. However,
there was something a little too personal about that. He'd given up after
the first try. "OK," he said as the computer gave him a final log-off
warning. "Let's go."
Matter Over Mind Productions
Presents
MegaTokyo 2032
The Knight Sabers
"A Certain Point of View"
Chapter Two: Consequences
Copyright (c) 1998 Charles S. Stitman
guyveriv@hinet.or.jp
Closing the door behind her, Priss herded Chaz towards the lounge where the
rest of the Knight Sabers waited. "I thought you wanted me to teach you how
to ride a bike?" She opened cautiously.
He debated about using his best 'who me?' face. Nah. Why waste it? Besides
it probably wouldn't work. Chaz opened the door for her as they walked
through the testing area. His best bet was probably to go on the offensive.
He looked down at her leg meaningfully. "And you were supposed to take
another three days to make sure that the bone had sealed together before you
walked without your support."
Priss grimaced. She never had been a good patient. If she'd lived back when
Chaz was born she would have had to put up with a cast for weeks. Probably
would have drove her nuts. "I'm fine as long as I don't put too much stress
on it," she said testily. Recovering her train of thought, she returned to
her original topic. "Why HAVE you been avoiding me anyway?" She thought she
knew the answer, but she wanted him to say it.
Chaz's shoulders came up in another of his expressive shrugs. "Mostly to
give you a chance to come to grips with what I am. There's no reason for me
to force my presence on you." To tell the truth, he'd been worried about how
she was handling it. He knew she'd been looking for him and had assumed it
was for some kind of confrontation.
Priss nodded to herself. About what she had thought. "You know.." she
started, "you really are an idiot. If you really want me to see beyond that,
the worst thing you could do would be to hide out from me."
Chaz stopped, stunned for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Priss said, continuing to hobble toward the lounge, "that if you
want me to see the person inside and not the body, you should make an effort
to show me who you are. Otherwise all I'm left with is a superficial image
of you." She turned to face the still shocked Chaz. "I liked you well enough
when I thought you were human. I could probably learn to like you as a
boomer if you gave me the chance."
Chaz shook his head dismally. "That was just the 33-S components," he said
morosely.
Priss stepped closer. "Maybe at first. But you are a genuinely nice guy when
you try to be." She thought about it for a moment. "You aren't using those
now are you?" she asked almost nervously.
Chaz's gloom evaporated like mist in sunlight. He grinned and stepped by
her. "That's one of the things that's completely controlled by the AI, he
teased. If it's on I wouldn't know it." Let her chew on that for a while.
Sylia had told him that the more he interacted with someone the less part
his 'enhancements' would play. After a while people just got used to them.
"Besides," he said as his grin widened, "tell me YOU'VE never used your
looks to influence people."
Priss tried her best not to look abashed and failed miserably. She settled
for looking defiant, a facial expression she had mastered early in her life.
She had to admit, if only to herself, that she'd beat people over the head
with her looks before. Chaz's 'enhancements' were just another way of doing
the same thing. They couldn't actually force anyone to do anything. Much
like perfume or makeup, they just did their best to convince. And they
really couldn't cover a bad personality for long. Still, she wished that he
could shut them off. Knowing they were there made her feel nervous. She
picked up the pace to catch up with him, and grimaced as her much abused leg
gave her a twinge of pain. Better wipe the pain off your face Priss, she
chided herself, or Sylia will put you back in the brace. Putting a mask of
studied disinterest over her pain she continued limping to the meeting.
Irene, dressed in one of Sylia's understated white linen outfits, sat next
to Linna, waiting in silence for the man who had rescued her to come to the
meeting. Despite their kindness she really didn't feel comfortable with him
or these other strangers yet. But Linna had assured her that they were the
best friends she could have. Linna! Irene still wasn't sure she could
believe it. Linna was a Knight Saber! If there was a more dangerous
profession Irene would have been hard pressed to think of it. They were
considered 'Targets Of Opportunity' by almost every multinational that had
ties to GENOM. Which meant that almost every multinational in the world
wanted them dead. She wondered what they would do with her. If they had
wanted her dead they wouldn't have saved her from the boomer in the first
place.
Nervously she looked at each of the silent women in turn. She hoped her
family wasn't too worried. She'd been supposed to call them the night she
was attacked. Her grandfather would be upset when he found out her fiancee
had been killed, and he would be livid when he found out that she'd been
attacked. GENOM had been a thorn in his side for years, and this might be
the last straw. Knowing the relative strengths of the rival multi-nationals,
she wasn't sure that was such a good thing.
Chaz walked hurriedly into the room and sat down on the couch next to Nene.
Priss walked in behind him and dropped on the other side of him.
"About time." Sylia said, exasperated. She turned to Priss. "Where did you
find him?" she sighed.
Priss looked up at Sylia. "He was right where you said he'd be." Is there
anything Sylia didn't know about them? Probably not.
Sylia nodded. Looking around, she gathered everyone's attention with her
eyes. "The question before us is what to do about Irene. She obviously can't
return to her home. That will be the first place GENOM will look. They
missed their first attack on her and lost their boomer doing it. They won't
make a mistake like that again."
"What about a safe-house?" Nene said. "It's what the police would do if they
wanted to hide someone."
Sylia nodded. She'd thought about it and agreed. It was most likely what
they would have to do with her. Not a great life, but a life nonetheless.
Linna, dressed in casual clothes and her usual headband, decided that the
question needed to be asked. "What about having her stay here?"
"Linna, you know that's not possible," Sylia said gently. Having one
additional member of the Knight Sabers would be difficult enough. Besides
Irene really didn't have any skills that would allow her to fit in as part
of the team. Chaz, at least, had the advantage of his boomer body to keep
him out of danger until his skills improved.
"What about blowing away the guy that sent them after her?" Priss put in,
leaning back into the sofa. It seemed the most direct way to deal with the
problem. She liked direct solutions.
Sylia allowed a slight frown to spread. "Quite apart from the fact that the
Knight Sabers don't do casual assassination, who, precisely, do you
recommend we kill? Even if we knew who he was and 'blew him away', as you
put it, GENOM would still keep trying to kill her." Irene gasped as Sylia
said it. "I think Nene has the best answer. I have a couple places in and
out of Japan where she should be safe."
"I don't think so Sylia," Chaz interrupted quietly. "I think Irene knows
someplace she'll be much safer." He paused and looked Irene in the eye. "If
she's willing to ask for help."
Irene's eyes widened as she choked back on her emotions. He couldn't be
implying what she thought. Grandfather had said her records were flawless.
He couldn't know! "I don't..."
"Chaz, you better explain what you mean by that." Sylia wasn't used to
having her decisions challenged. If he wanted to put Irene's life back in
danger he had better have a damn good explanation ready.
"Give me a minute Sylia," Chaz replied calmly. "It's not my secret to tell."
He looked Irene in the eyes again. "If she chooses not to go back, I won't
try to change her mind."
Tears began to form in Irene's eyes. He knew. Somehow, he knew. He wouldn't
force her to go back. He suggested it. But he wouldn't force her. When her
fiancee had been killed she'd considered and rejected the idea. Going back
would mean returning to the world she'd left behind. Considering the
circumstances it was likely to be a one way trip.
Slowly she nodded. If nothing else the Hou Bang had the power to help her
get revenge for her fiancee. She couldn't return to a normal life now
anyway. "I'll call him," she said in a quiet voice.
Sylia looked at Chaz puzzled. "Who?" The question also implied 'How?' and
'Why?' None of Irene's records indicated ties to anyone with enough power to
deal with this.
Chaz waited until Irene gave a small nod of acquiescence. "Her grandfather
is the leader of the Chang Conglomerate, also known as the 'Hou Bang'. They
should be more than able to protect her from GENOM."
"The crime cartel?" Priss asked incredulously. She watched Irene's small
nod. The volatile singer threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh Great!
They'd sell us out to GENOM in a hot second!" she said vehemently.
Irene's head snapped up like she'd been slapped. "NEVER! Gulf & Bradley used
a GENOM supplied assassin to kill my mother and my father, my grandfather's
only child. Grandfather would sooner kill himself than cooperate with GENOM
in any way." She started to cry. "I left the family with grandfather's
consent because I didn't want to become caught up in the family politics."
With tears streaming down her cheeks she looked into Priss's face. "My
sister Reika and I are next in line to inherit the Hou Bang. GENOM killed my
fiancee and tried to kill me! Do you really think I'd allow them to....."
She broke down and started sobbing.
Linna shot Priss a dirty look and reached over to comfort Irene. Sylia stood
up and motioned Chaz to join her by the window. Sighing resignedly, Chaz
stood and walked over to the window.
When she judged they were out of earshot, Sylia turned to face Chaz. "Well?"
she asked in a voice that implied, 'This had BETTER be good.'
Chaz looked briefly back at Linna comforting a sobbing Irene. "In the
original sequence of events, Irene's death was the final blow for her sister
Reika. A few months from now she would have dropped out of her singing
career and gone back to the Hou Bang. At some point in the future she would
have come back to take revenge. Unfortunately in that time-line the Knight
Sabers were hired to protect one of the people that Reika was after. During
the infighting she finds out about the Knight Sabers. Linna talks her out of
a life based on revenge and Reika returns to her 'normal' life. She still
retained her control of the Hou Bang. In that universe, Reika became, if not
exactly an ally, than at least a friend." He paused and looked past the
leader of the Knight Sabers to where a still sobbing Irene was slowly
regaining control of herself. "There's no reason to suspect Irene would be
any different. The Hou Bang is very honorable for a cartel and her
grandfather knows a debt of honor when he sees one."
A frown creased the face of the leader of the Knight Sabers. "So what you're
recommending is that we return Irene to her grandfather?" Sylia summed up.
"What about her life on the outside?" She already knew the answer, she just
wanted to see if he'd thought it out that far.
Chaz felt the gentle prod of a test and thought for a moment before
answering. "Sylia, her old life is gone and any knowledge of the future I
had is gone with it." He lowered his voice. "You know it and I know it. But
if she truly wants to start over, it's going to take more resources than I
think even you have to do it. Either way, it's probably best if she goes
back to her family."
"Probably," Sylia sighed. She wasn't sure that it wouldn't have been easier
to let Irene die. She stopped and mentally slapped herself for the thought.
That's how Quincy thinks, she chided herself. "All right. After she makes
arrangements to go home, you'll go with her as protection until she gets
back. You have the best chance of evading any security and fixing any
'problems' that show up."
Chaz nodded. He hadn't thought about it, but she was right. If GENOM was
going to try for the young Chang they would have to do so before she came
under the protection of her family. As for getting her home secretly. . . In
any large organization like the Hou Bang there were bound to be at least
some small security leaks. Even if everyone was loyal that couldn't be
avoided. "Okay. How am I going to get her home?"
Sylias mind quickly evaluated and discarded several solutions. "You'll have
to take her in the KnightWing, a commercial flight is too big a target."
Chaz's jaw dropped. "Uh... Sylia. I can't fly that you know." A sudden
thought struck him. "What about Mackie? He could fly it."
Sylia was a little uncertain about her brother going. "I don't think it's a
bad idea but.."
Chaz smiled his best 'trust me' grin. "Relax, I just want him so that I can
deal with larger menaces. It'll be good experience for him," Chaz
interjected. "Besides we aren't really expecting trouble are we?"
*****
Madigan rode in the elevator leading up to the Chairman's office. Her calm
exterior belied the excitement inside. This was her chance! It was the first
time since her debacle that she had been summoned to His office. For Madigan
there was only one Him, Quincy, the Chairman. She was under no illusions.
Quincy was no god, not even a messiah. To her, Quincy represented something
even greater, the perfect businessman. He never seemed to let emotions
intrude into his thinking. His plans seemed to take into account almost
every contingency and, within certain guidelines, he seemed to be completely
ruthless. All these things, Madigan aspired to. If she had to, she would
kill Mason with her bare hands to get back into His good graces. She smiled.
This promised to be even better. According to her sources Mason had botched
his last couple of assignments. If true, his position was in definite
jeopardy. That would leave Madigan free to step in. If she could. All she
needed was one triumph, one assignment to go perfectly and she could put
Mason in HER shadow for a change. Working to hide her smile once more, she
checked her reflection in the outside glass walls one more time before the
doors opened into His office.
Quincy sat behind his desk watching unconcernedly in his desktop monitor as
the elevator began its final approach to his office. 'Ah Madigan, you really
do have your ambitions don't you?' he thought as he saw her finish her
self-check and give a small satisfied smile. Always so perfect in dress and
manner. The corporate world expected a certain style of dress of course.
Quincy, on the other hand, couldn't care less what his assistants wore
provided they didn't disgrace the company and they got results. In the end,
even a small disgrace to the company could be forgiven if the results were
good enough.
The stone faced man suppressed a small sigh. Mason was turning into a
disappointment. The young executive had one more chance to recover his place
before he would be replaced. The board met in two weeks. Quincy intended to
hand them the Integrated Technology Area plan as a fait accompli. After
that, Mason had better be able to deliver the property. If he could, he
would remain. If he couldn't, Madigan would take his place. There would be
no reprieve.
With a faint sigh, the elevator door opened silently and Madigan walked out
into the office. It had been redecorated again. Somewhere there was
undoubtedly a interior decorator scrambling feverishly to meet the time
table for the next change. The Chairman liked to put the people he talked to
at a disadvantage. One of the many methods he used was to continually change
the environment they met in. Looking around as subtly as she could, she had
to admit, it worked. The great crystalline columns extending from the floor
almost to the ceiling were incredible against the matte-black marble
surrounding it. The Chairman's desk, the only constant in the office, sat
atop a huge slab of marble facing into the room. Behind it the Chairman sat,
seemingly absorbed in the view from his window. Madigan absently wondered if
he ever actually noticed the view or if it just provided a place to rest his
eyes. Her attention snapped on to him as he began to speak without turning
around.
"Madigan, there is a situation within the company that has come to my
attention." His voice, even when echoed from the window, seemed controlled
and even. "Mason took it upon himself to rid GENOM of a petty nuisance. He
failed." The word hit the desk like a solid entity leaving a hole in the air
she could practically feel. "During the attempt the instrument, and the
nuisance disappeared." He paused to let that sink in.
Madigan stood and silently translated. Mason had tried to have someone minor
assassinated. Not only had the attempt failed but he'd lost track of the
boomer assigned and his target. Which left her to clean up after him.
Perfect. Madigan suppressed a smile of satisfaction. This was just the sort
of thing she'd been hoping for.
Quincy turned his chair away from the window, still not facing her. "Mason
also failed to research his target thoroughly. As a result he may have
opened GENOM to a much larger problem than the one he sought to fix."
Madigan's thoughts came to a screeching halt. Oh Shit! With a bit of effort
she carefully controlled her expression. The Chairman NEVER referred to
individuals as problems. A problem in His opinion was at least a small
organization. A large problem was likely to be another multi-national. No
wonder Mason had screwed up.
"The nuisance was connected to an old friend of GENOM's. Through other
sources we've learned that the rescue was performed by another adversary of
ours." His voice took on a slight growl. "The Knight Sabers."
It was as much emotion as she'd ever heard in His voice. If he was this
upset why wasn't Mason out already?
Quincy closed his eyes and continued. "It may already be too late to stop
the two from joining forces. Your task is to create as much disruption
between the two as you can." Without looking he shoved a folder from his
desk to the floor in front of Madigan. She bent over and picked it up.
"That, is the extent of the information GENOM has on all three
participants." He turned to face her his gray eyes burning into hers.. "It's
important that the hand of GENOM NOT be seen in this."
Despite the warning a thrill went through Madigan. He'd turned to look at
her! Even if only to give a warning, it was sign she was being given a
chance to get back into his good graces! The Knight Sabers! That had been
Mason's pet project! Despite the odds Madigan was determined to salvage
something from this mess. The Chairman turned back to the window. Madigan
turned to leave, already thumbing through the material. Many of the
documents had the Chairman's own hand written notes in the margins. He'd
done some of the research himself? This was more serious than she had
thought! Still scanning the material, she stepped into the elevator.
Quincy listened as the office swallowed the last echoes of Madigan's heels
as she left. He hadn't exaggerated. This promised to actually be an
interesting problem. At this point he had done everything he could. If
Madigan's plans failed he could always hope his own would work. Quincy
scowled. If only he'd had more time. Mason hadn't told anyone of his
failure. A routine check for boomer transponders had spotted the problem.
Quincy's scowl dissolved into a slight smile. If his plan worked things
might be stopped yet. If not, he might have to start getting involved
personally. Even together, the Hou Bang and the Knight Sabers were not much
of a match for the might of GENOM. It should at least be interesting.
Satisfied, Quincy turned his attention to details of importance.
*****
Chaz stretched his arms out to their fullest length to relieve the itch that
was building between his shoulder blades. A small smile played across his
features. He didn't have to put up with the discomfort if he didn't want to.
He could turn them off any time he wanted. Suppressing the smile he left the
program on and turned his thoughts to other topics.
Sweeping his eyes over the complicated machinery he examined the inside of
the KnightWing. It was probably just as well that Mackie was coming along,
Chaz reflected as he helped Irene up the stairs. He really didn't have any
idea how to fly the KnightWing. Sylia had said it was fairly easy to get a
pilot's license today and most people in the military were trained for it at
some point. Chaz shrugged, he'd probably have to learn at some point, and
finished climbing aboard.
According to Irene's grandfather, the Chang Conglomerate had a private
airfield somewhere in Hawaii. They would meet there. Something about the
meeting place had struck him as being a little fishy, but Irene seemed to
trust her grandfather implicitly. If Irene's family wasn't there they would
have a problem. The KnightWing wouldn't have the fuel needed to allow it to
return. Sylia had mentioned something about fixing that in the next
generation. For now, however, they were stuck with it. Chaz made sure that
Irene was comfortable and joined Mackie in the cockpit. Looking over his
shoulder Chaz read some of the controls and whistled. Not bad at all. "What
kind of armament are we carrying?"
Mackie looked back and frowned. "Not much. The missile racks are almost
empty to save weight." He pointed at a gauge on the HUD. "That is just
enough fuel to get us there with a small amount in reserve." He shrugged.
"The KnightWing wasn't designed for extended trips like this and you can't
fit drop tanks next to the V-tol system." He smiled. "We aren't completely
defenseless though." He nodded back to the cargo area. "We're carrying a
full suite of ECM equipment back there and if things get real tough there's
a 25mm APSSDU (Armor Piercing Superconductor-Sheathed Depleted Uranium)
railgun setup in the tail and another under the nose."
Chaz whistled again. They 'aren't completely defenseless' he said. Those
railguns had a kill range measured in kilometers. If you managed to get a
solid hit on something you could pretty much write it off. A thought
flickered through his mind. "What about armor?"
The teen shrugged expressively. "Pretty much like the hardsuits," Mackie
explained. "The idea is that you don't get hit. The KnightWing can take a
pounding but it's not a juggernaut and it's a big target." He laughed. "On
the flip side you have to FIND it first!" He waved at a large bank of
switches and attached monitoring station to his right. "When all of those
are on the only way to track the KnightWing is visually. Sis says that when
she can get a cloak fabric that can handle the punishment she'll install
it." Sylia's voice came into Mackie's headset. "OK." He turned back to Chaz.
"Better go strap in. Sis said that the sun's gone down. We'll be leaving in
less than a minute."
Chaz nodded. Despite the muffling from the padded headphones he'd heard
Sylia's message. He'd particularly liked the bit about staying out of the
sun. Suppressing a grin at Sylia's maternal protectiveness of her brother,
he walked back into the cargo area. Irene sat in her jump seat a look of
sadness on her face. "Hey Irene. You all right?" Chaz asked as he strapped
in next to her.
Irene shook her head slowly. "No...No, I'm not." Her moist eyes looked up at
him despairingly. "I'm going back to a life I thought I'd left forever." The
engine noise picked up a little. "All the reasons I left are still valid. I
don't WANT to go back." Her eyes scanned his face searchingly. He seemed
sympathetic but she wondered if he could really understand how she felt.
According to Linna he wasn't quite human himself. Irene dropped her head to
her chest feeling a little lost and alone.
Chaz put his arm around Irene's shoulder and tried to avoid noticing the
slight flinch. "Whether or not you want to go back you know you have to," he
said gently. Irene nodded. "When I mentioned it, you could have still chosen
to go to Sylia's safehouse. Why didn't you?"
Irene felt funny about having his arm around her. It felt nice. Kind of like
a warm blanket on a cold day. Briefly she debated about mentioning it. In
the end curiosity go the better of her. "Why did you put your arm around
me?" she asked quietly.
Chaz squirmed uncomfortably in his seat and looked down at Irene. "You
looked like you needed someone to hold you," he replied more calmly than he
felt. "Besides, I have the only shoulder available for you to cry on."
Irene's eye looked up into his own. "But how would a machine know how I
feel?" The second she said it she felt his body stiffen.
Chaz cursed and tried to loosen up. He had better start getting used to
that. Of the six people who knew, two had reacted badly. "I am or rather I
was completely human for more than twenty-five years you know. I've had my
share of emotional situations. Being turned into what I am didn't remove my
ability to feel hurt." Despite overrides to the contrary his own eyes were
filling slightly. "It could have been worse I suppose. I could have just
died."
Irene felt a wetness on her cheek. Tears? Irene didn't know how to react.
He'd been human? Than when... "I'm sorry," she said softly. "When Linna said
to be careful about mentioning you weren't human I though she meant you were
a boomer."
"Boomers feel emotion too you know." He watched Irene's eyes widen. "Oh yes.
Not just me. From what I understand, most feel emotion. The one's GENOM uses
for combat are twisted. They only feel anger and other dark emotions. But
there are others...." His voice drifted off.
"I'm sorry," Irene mumbled. "I didn't know." Her own problem seemed almost
trivial in comparison. He'd lost his body but not his humanity.
"No problem," Chaz reassured her. "I have to get used to it someday." He
remembered. "You didn't answer my question."
Irene snuggled closer. He really did feel nice. "I just decided that you
were right. Grandfather really can protect me best. Besides," she sighed
sleepily. "GENOM destroyed my main reason for straying from the family."
Closing her eyes she settled into the crook of his arm. "Plus, if I go back
I can help you and Linna and the Knight Sabers rather than.." She yawned.
"..being a burden." Relaxing she felt herself falling asleep. She hadn't
felt this safe since. . .since Akira died.
Chaz waited. After a couple of minutes Irene's breathing evened out and he
knew she was asleep. He smiled. He was adjusting slowly but surely. He
didn't even question it when he KNEW things anymore. He just accepted the
information. The smile died a little. That could be trouble if he started
letting the AI decide all the time what he needed to know. Moving slowly, to
keep from waking her, he arranged Irene's jump seat into a sleeping
position. Checking quickly to make sure she was still secured, he went back
up front to check on Mackie.
Mackie stretched languidly and relaxed. Outside the window the stars shone
brightly illuminating the tops of the clouds with a faerie light. The teen's
eyes roved over the tell-tales looking for anything out of the ordinary. The
KnightWing pretty much ran itself. If any of the sensors registered anything
they'd sound an alarm. Satisfied that all was well he leaned back to checked
on Chaz and Irene. They seemed to be relaxed and talking quietly. He
shrugged to himself. He still wasn't sure that Chaz wasn't a threat, but he
was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. He looked again.
They looked like they'd be occupied for a while. Grinning mischievously,
Mackie reached over and queued up one of the videos he uploaded to the
KnightWings data storage. With a slight flicker his side monitor came alive
with a picture of Nene getting into her soft-suit. If any of the Knight
Sabers ever found out about his collection. . . He shuddered. He didn't
THINK they'd kill him. However, it WASN'T a sure bet. It was going to be a
long trip, he rationalized. After all he had to stay awake somehow. Watching
the videos, a small smile spread across his face. Nene might not have the
body that Priss did but... Heh heh. Not that he had anything against... "You
got anything on Priss in there?" Chaz said from behind him, nearly scaring
Mackie out of half a years growth.
Chaz grinned. He'd been watching the show for a good ten minutes now. He
knew that Mackie had managed to gather video footage on the Knight Sabers.
But Whew! Where WERE some of those cameras placed!?
Mackie slowly turned around and confronted one of his worst nightmares. Chaz
stood there openly ogling the screen. Almost melting from the effort, his
brain tried to come up with a suitable explanation. How was he going to
explain this? Then the question hit him. "What do you mean 'Do I have
anything on Priss in here?' " he asked carefully.
"What part of the question didn't you understand?" Chaz replied, not taking
his eyes from the screen.
Mackie thought about it for a moment. Maybe he had looked at this the wrong
way. Chaz was a normal guy. Well, kind of. He decided to switch tactics.
"Sure, I've got some on Priss and on the others too." He pulled up the
keypad and typed a quick command. The computer obligingly put Priss's videos
on the screen.
Chaz thought he'd blush. If he hadn't ordered the AI not to allow it, he
would have. "You know what would happen if they found out don't you?" he
asked teasingly.
Mackie felt a brief chill run down his spine. "You won't tell them will
you?" he asked in a panicked voice. He hadn't even taken a woman on a date
yet. He didn't want to die before that.
Chaz watched the Mackie's face pale and decided to let the teen off the
hook. "Nope. Just checking to see whether or not you knew the consequences."
The boomer smiled evilly. "I see you do." He nodded towards the monitor.
"You said you had the others too. Everybody?" he leered.
Mackie panicked. If he told the truth Sylia might find out. If he didn't
tell the truth Chaz might turn him in. Thinking with a speed that would have
made his father proud Mackie came up with a plan. He'd try to brazen it out.
"What, do I look like the kind of guy who spy on his own SISTER!?" he said
in an outraged voice.
Chaz nodded absently, his eyes still following Priss's movements on the
screen. "Yes, as a matter of fact you do." His eyes flicked to the teens
face. Mackie's expression was priceless. But it was time to let him off the
hook. "I said I wasn't going to turn you in Mackie. Relax. Besides, I
wouldn't think Sylia would be caught too easily on camera," he added
casually.
"What are you kidding!? I have almost as much on her as I do on the rest."
The teen smacked himself on the forehead, as he realized his mistake. He'd
just told him. What kind of pervert did Chaz think he was now?
Chaz shrugged expressively. "I really thought Nene would be more your speed.
She's closer to your age after all." Besides, I think that Sylia probably
knows. He couldn't tell Mackie that of course.
Mackie squirmed uncomfortable and scratched his head in embarrassment. "I do
like Nene. A lot. It's just that I have a hard time talking to her." Mackie
sighed regretfully. It wasn't like he hadn't tried before. "As for the
others." He shrugged. "I'm only human." Being surrounded by young, nubile,
not to mention gorgeous, women would have stressed any male's hormonal
levels.
Chaz reached over and turned the monitor to get a better look. "No problem.
If you do get caught though. I'll deny all knowledge." He smiled. "You
know...I just might be able to help you with Nene."
"Let me gather my thoughts on that first OK?" Chaz nodded absently, still
engrossed by the action on the screen. Mackie thought about it for almost a
full second. "I've gathered my thoughts. What do you have in mind?" he asked
hopefully.
Chaz waved airily. "Dinner, dancing. Nothing fancy. Just a pleasant night
out. I'll break the ice as a go-between in private. Then, all you have to do
is make sure you don't talk about anything technical during the date."
"I don't know...That's kind of old fashioned and what if she says 'no'?"
Mackie asked unhappily. That had always been what held him back. Fear of
rejection.
Chaz smiled knowingly. "I know how you feel. Honest. But I don't think
she'll say no." His smile became a broad grin as his face and hair quickly
changed to match Nene's. "Besides I think she likes you," he said in perfect
mimicry.
Mackie looked at what had been a man's face with trepidation. "I wish you
wouldn't do that." Part of his mind wondered how far down the changes went.
The rest of his mind immediately pounced on that part and proceeded to
bludgeon it to death.
Chaz's face shifted back to normal. "Sorry. I tend to get carried away
sometimes," he apologized. "The face and voice are easy. I'm never going to
fool anyone about the rest." He gestured. "The rest of the body is packed
too full to allow me to shrink very much."
Well, that answered that question. Mackie looked back at the monitor where
Priss was changing into her stage costume and smiled proudly. He'd had to do
some real work to get a camera into her guitar case. "So all I have to do is
not talk about technical things?" Mackie asked as Chaz turned to leave.
Chaz glanced over his shoulder as a nearly nude Linna appeared on the screen
and began to strip for a shower. "Nope. Not unless she bring them up." He
shrugged. "Talk about how you feel, the weather, just about anything will
do. If you feel lost just let her control the conversation."
Mackie relaxed as Chaz walked back to the main bay. His eyes turned to the
lithe dancer on the screen as his shell shocked brain began to relax
slightly.
Chaz ducked back into the cockpit, with a manic grin on his face. "Oh. And
you might want to avoid mentioning that you've already seen her naked."
Mackie flinched.
Privately sympathizing with Mackie, Chaz slipped back to the cargo area.
He'd been that age once too. Entering the cargo bay, he looked down at the
sleeping figure of a young woman not all that much older than Mackie. She
looked almost childlike as she slept; all of the worry and stress were wiped
from her face.
She shivered. Chaz checked the temperature quickly. Yep, a bit cold.
Stepping to the medical center, he got out a thermal blanket. He didn't
really feel the cold anymore. Cool yes, cold no. He knew what temperature it
was and his body could make the appropriate reactions but the actual
feeling. . .Nope. Shaking the blanket out to it's full size, he gently
covered her. As he brushed her hair out of her face she smiled in her sleep.
Chaz glanced at the smile and then at his hand. A frown momentarily crossed
his face as he considered her reaction to his touch. Despite the arguments
he'd given Priss he wondered if he should get Sylia to cut the power to that
neural stimulator. It made him feel uncomfortable. People liked his touch.
They couldn't help it. He'd liked the reaction at first. But as time wore
on, he was beginning to feel it was cheating. Deal with it later, he finally
decided. He looked around the KnightWings interior.
He suppressed the urge to whistle as he admired the tightly compressed
layout of the KnightWing. Sylia had obviously been determined to make the
most of the space available. There was a medical center, a large computer
and even a small suit repair facility been built in back here. The armory
was especially impressive. It looked equipped to completely re-outfit every
motoroid and hardsuit the plane could carry. Carefully labeled lockers and
cabinets, mostly empty for the trip, had been installed in every space not
allotted to machinery or supplies. Farther back he found clearly outlined
spaces for the motoroids, also empty, and a smaller open area that he
guessed she'd left open for an emergency.
As he turned to go a slight anomaly caught his eye. A tarp lay covering
something in the middle of the unreserved space. Everything else was either
bolted in place or strapped down. This wasn't. He walked over to the
intercom. "Mackie. I'm in the rear cargo area. What's under the tarp?"
There was a brief silence before the teen hesitatingly answered. "Um...
That's mine. Sis won't let me build a hard suit for myself so I've been kind
of using the suit repair facilities in the KnightWing and the equipment in
the garage to make one."
Chaz winced theatrically. Ouch. If Sylia found out about this there would be
hell to pay. "Mind if I take a look?" he asked.
"Go ahead. There's not much to see right now." Came Mackie's voice absently.
Hmm... probably still watching his videos. Locking the intercom open, Chaz
flipped back the tarp. OK. It WAS strapped down. Mackie just hadn't tied
down the tarp. It looked like a giant set of medieval armor had been spit in
half and spread out. Half finished pieces of myomer joints lay open and
access panels hadn't even had the doors attached yet. Even when assembled it
would still be at least twice the size of a normal hardsuit. "What are you
planning on arming it with?" He could almost hear the shrug across the
intercom.
"I'm working on the ammo feed for a Gauss Minigun. But I'd like to put in a
Gatling X-Laser if sis ever figures out how they made yours."
Chaz thought about it. "Going for the bigger hammer theory huh?" Made sense
really. The suit was too large for the sort of dodging the rest of the
Knight Sabers did. It would make a nice big target if it didn't serve as a
support suit. Mackie voice confirmed his opinion.
"My hardsuit isn't designed with a close quarters fight in mind. It's a
support version. With the cannon and a couple of other things I should be
able to hold my own."
Chaz nodded absently to himself. Sounded like Mackie was getting tired of
sitting around worrying while the rest of the Knight Sabers got shot at. He
could understand that. "OK. But you're going to have to tell her sooner or
later you know."
Mackie sounded resigned. "Yeah. I kno... Holy Shit! Get up here quick!" The
whole plane dipped into a sudden dive, forcing Chaz to grab a rail to stay
upright. Whatever had scared the teen couldn't be good.
Mackie's board was alight with red tell-tales. Someone down there had just
fired at them! He'd dropped into a dive and started evasive actions, but
they really didn't have the fuel to spare for this sort of thing. The
KnightWing traded speed and range for cargo capacity. Even stripped they
were cutting it close.
Chaz poked his head into the cockpit. "OK. What's with the dying swan act?"
Mackie tried to grin. "Someone down there thought we were a different kind
of waterfowl. A high energy laser missed us by inches. If it had hit us it
would have torn a hole through the armor." Another beam speared up from the
darkness ahead of them missing even more narrowly. "I don't even know how
they're aiming at us." His instruments finally managed to track the beam.
"There they are. Must be six of them. Looks like some kind of big water
craft." He checked his other sensors. "Yep, and heavily armed to boot. A lot
of laser cannon and what looks like a particle beam weapon." He gulped. "A
big one. There's no laser lock." Another beam passed just in front of the
nose blinding him for a second. His eyes nervously flicked to the ECM
controls. Everything glowed a cheery green. "How the hell are they tracking
us?!"
A bolt of greenish light flashed through the air near them rocking the plane
with a clap of thunder and making sparks jump across the heavily insulated
armor.
Mackie's heart surged as his anger grew to cover his fear. "All Right! I'm
pissed! Do those bastards have any idea how much time I put into maintaining
this thing!?" Mackie's hands flew over the keypad and weapons controls. He
designated a series of targets for the railguns and let the heavy
electromagnets pound away at the shooters for a while.
Chaz looked out the windscreen. Another near miss struck through the
darkness and power estimates crawled across the HUD and his own internal
monitors. Looking past the rather large numbers, he scanned the night sky. A
clear beautiful night. Hmm. Clear night huh? "I have an idea. Drop closer to
the deck. I think they're using occluded stars to pick out our silhouette."
Mackie nodded and dropped the nose sharply. With a roar the engines added
their power to the dive. Behind them a strike from the laser seared the air.
"Damn!" Mackie swore. "If we had some cloud cover we could duck into that."
Chaz muttered something behind him about wishes and fishes. The plane
dropped to fifty meters above the deck and leveled off. Behind them a plume
of water was pulled up in their wake as their huge gain in speed slowly bled
off. The lasers stopped. Mackie sighed. "Do you think they gave up?" he
asked Chaz.
"I've no idea. I wouldn't have expected them to attack at all." Chaz
frowned. "But the implication is that they knew where we would be going.
They had to have blasted the clouds away in advance to ensure a clear field
of vision." Which meant someone was probably ahead of them! "Mackie get us
back into the sky quick! Someone else is down here waiting for us!"
Mackie pulled back on the stick. "We can't do this again you know," he said
worriedly. "We're pushing the fuel margin as it is." The plane lurched to
the side as a particle beam nicked the wing leaving an after image and a
roar like thunder. Mackie gulped and checked the damage estimate. "That
thing strikes home and whoosh! Sayonara." He checked his navigation. "We're
almost there. If we can make it another 20 kilometers without being hit we
should be fine. After that we can shut down the engines to some extent and
coast down." Another small hit rocked the plane. "Provided we live that
long," he amended. From somewhere in back came a wail of fright.
Chaz spun towards the sound. Shit! Irene. He ducked back out of the cockpit
in time to see Irene attempt to sit up against the bucking of the aircraft.
"Irene stay there!" Irene was either unable to hear him over the noise or
she had panicked and wasn't paying attention to anything. Damn! Grabbing the
straps that bound her, he pulled them tight and moved the buckles out of
reach. When she seemed to stop panicking, Chaz went back up to the cockpit.
"What's the news?" he asked Mackie.
Mackie sat concentrating on his instruments. "The bad news is we're
outgunned in a severe way, we're running low on fuel and ammunition and I'm
getting readings which are probably three or four flight optimized combat
boomers coming up on us from the rear. The good news is the ECM system is
giving them fits. Of the five ships left ahead of us three didn't have their
generators shielded well enough. We put a hole through them wide enough to
pass a C-55. The other two have shut down their heavy energy weapons for
fear of giving their position away." He grinned. "Might have worked too with
any other plane. This one has more sensors than you can shake a stick at."
The grin dropped. "The trouble is we don't exactly have a lot of ammo left.
So there isn't much we can do to them until we pass them and can use the
tailgun."
Chaz watched as the last of the boomers were blown from the air. It was
frightening how much damage those heavy railguns caused. The boomers weren't
being holed so much as they were being shattered.
"What about moving the ammo from the back to the front?" Chaz jerked his
thumb to the rear of the plane.
Mackie shook his head. "Even if we could, by the time you finished we'd need
the ammo where it is." He paused thoughtfully. "What's the range on your
lasers anyway?"
Chaz shrugged. "According to the computer they're fully effective for about
600 meters, after that dissipation sets in and you might as well be throwing
rocks." High powered rocks but rocks nonetheless.
Mackie looked up. "That's not much. Probably sacrificed range for more
close-in power. Would have been useful if it had been longer. There are a
couple gunports built into the fuselage." He opened the engines to full
throttle. "I've been keeping the engines as low as possible to try to shake
anything they might have on us," he explained over the roar of the hungry
engines. "But if we're going to make a run for it now would be the best
time."
Chaz shrugged. "What I know about flight tactics you could fit on to the
head of a monofilament pin with room left over." Chaz watched as Mackie
played with the engines to keep them just under Mach One. "What is the
KnightWings top speed anyway?" he asked curiously.
Mackie checked the speed gauge and cursed. One of the engines was
overheating. He'd have to tear it down and check it when they got back.
"You're looking at it. The flight characteristics go to hell after Mach. The
engines have more thrust to give but the KnightWing was designed for payload
not speed." He waved at the screen and smiled as relief washed through him.
"That lost them. We probably left an infra-red plume that a boyscout
couldn't miss but they thought we were going to try to maintain stealth." He
looked at his instruments. "Well, one smart boy did manage to get a missile
off but the ECM took care of it." He throttled back. "You should go strap in
and make sure Irene's OK. We'll be coming up on the airstrip in a couple of
minutes. Hold onto your seat when we come in though." With a sputter the
starving engines began stalling. "I don't think this is exactly going to be
a fun landing."
Chaz nodded and walked back. Irene lay on her jump seat glaring at him. Chaz
walked over and strapped in next to her. Reaching over he loosened the strap
to let her move her arms.
Irene's eyes bored into him. "About time! Was that truly necessary for a
little turbulence? I would have been fine if I hadn't been having a
nightmare. What if we'd crashed?" The tone with which she asked implied that
any answer he gave would be the wrong one.
Chaz shrugged. "I didn't have the time to do anything else. Someone took a
couple potshots at the plane."
Irene's angry expression changed to one of horror. "Not GENOM!?"
He gave a helpless shrug. "I don't think so. Maybe hired thugs. I really
don't know." Frustrating as that may be at times. "Anyway, we got away.
Mackie said we should be landing soon."
Irene turned the glare back on. "You Jerk! You could have told me you know.
I'm not a child."
"I know. I'm sorry," Chaz said contritely. "I didn't have a lot of time to
think about it."
Irene flashed an imps grin. "You know I could just sit here and make you
suffer, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to forgive you, like the
good soul I am." This time.
The plane shuddered and began slowing even more drastically as the landing
gear extended. Mackie double checked the altimeter and airspeed. Shouldn't
be a problem There was enough fuel left, barely. A couple of key-presses
activated his ground scanning macro. Hmm.... With a flick of his finger he
activated the intercom. "Chaz, the whole area except for the landing field
is hidden from most of my sensors. From what I can detect through their
jamming I'd say that there are at least fifty heavily armed men out there. I
'm also getting some kind of sensor shadow that looks like a spider crossed
with a tank." His voice took on a concerned note. "We really don't have the
fuel to take off again. So when you talk to them make it good." Checking the
ground carefully Mackie, made his final approach to the lighted landing
zone.
*****
Kou stood watching as the stealth plane coasted in. His sharp eyes took in
the bared metal where some of the armor had been damaged and the stealth
coating destroyed. He eyed the approach warily it looked smooth enough if a
little fast. Shouldn't the engines be slowing it down? As if on cue, the
black plane pulled up sharply to break it's speed and then dropped into a
perfect V-tol landing. Kou gasped. To dump speed like that was dangerous at
best. Why? Then the question answered itself. With a final distinctive gasp
the last of Mackie's fuel poured into the turbines. Kou suppressed a smile.
He'd heard that sound once before and he wasn't about to forget it. It also
meant that the plane couldn't take off without help. Perfect.
Inside the plane Chaz resisted the urge to strangle Mackie and unstrapped.
Irene followed suit and they were soon standing by the exit hatch. Chaz
rested a hand on the opening mechanism and turned to Irene. "Mackie's going
to stay inside and blank the windscreen. If anyone asks, I was the pilot. If
anyone mentions it, I'm completely human. Given your families history with
boomers I'd rather not tell them right away." Irene nodded nervously. Chaz
pushed the button that opened the loading ramp and led the way out.
The airfield was dark, the only light coming from the landing lights on the
helicopter pad and the light streaming from the inside of the KnightWing.
Carefully scanning, Chaz motioned Irene to stay inside and walked out on to
the field. The enhanced olfactory sensors went to work and his nose flared
as he drank in the night air. Despite the electronic jamming he could still
distinguish scents. Mackie was right. There were at least fifty people out
there, most holding some kind of machine-gun and one with a heavily shielded
railgun. He smiled. Someone had forgotten to cover the power cell. He couldn
't see the GBX-1 though. Mackie's voice came over his radio. "I know you've
spotted the first one by now. But did you spot the other railgun pointing at
your chest from the other side of the pad? There are also two missile arrays
out there quite capable of blowing the KnightWing into scrap. I've leveled
the nose gun at one of them and the tail gun at the other." Chaz couldn't
make a response without giving the game away. Telling his AI to stick to
passive sensors, he continued to survey the area. A high pitched whine
inaudible to most humans pricked his attention and the AI immediately
identified it. A few people out there had military lasers. Not good. The
railguns he could conceivably dodge if he heard them building up a charge
before they fired. The machine guns he could largely ignore. Well, maybe not
the chaingun he heard spinning. The hand-held automatic lasers were a
problem though. One or two hits wouldn't be bad but there were at least
fifteen out there. He couldn't pick up any serious sensors. So they didn't
know what he was yet. He wondered why the reception was so big. "Don't move
we have you surrounded." Came an amplified voice from back by the first
railgun. Chaz stifled a snort. No kidding.
An asian man in a gray business suit stepped out of the shadows, his laser
carbine leveled on Chaz's chest. "Where is Miss Chang?"
"Kou!" Irene ran down the ramp and put her body between Chaz and Kou. "What
the hell are you doing?" Kou's arm twitched up to move the point of aim to
Chaz's head. "Come over here Miss Irene," he said calmly. Chaz noticed that
Kou's gun never wavered. Well, at least he would be killed by a
professional. A smile fought to creep over his face. Well maybe not killed
but certainly inconvenienced.
Irene didn't budge. "Kou, put that gun down. What's going on here? This is
the man who rescued me!" She seemed near tears but the anger in her voice
was unmistakable. "Is this how we treat someone to whom we owe a debt?"
Chaz watched as a plume of infra-red sprang up around Kou. Jeez! That pissed
him off! He wondered why... Oh, of course. Stepping back from Irene, Chaz
dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. Mackie's panicked
voice came over the radio. "Chaz what the hell are you doing?" Chaz cursed
and decide to risk a brief transmission. "We've been set up. GENOM planted a
rumor of some kind. Kou is mostly afraid for Irene's safety. Everybody here
is willing to lay down their life to protect her." Which means that they
would only shoot if he thought she was in danger. "What they will probably
do is make sure it's her while I am kept in 'protective custody'. If you or
I do anything that puts Irene in danger they will do their level best to
kill us and keep Irene alive." Chaz spoke out loud. "Irene walk very slowly
towards Kou. It's all right, they're just concerned."
Irene hesitated, then, with a steady stride, she walked over to Kou and
slapped him! "Once you find out the truth. You WILL apologize to him!" She
was led out of Chaz's sight.
Ouch! Chaz could see the imprint from her hand without magnification. He had
to give Kou credit. He hadn't flinched and the gun hadn't moved more than an
inch.
Kou gestured. "Get up slowly. Hands in the air, palms forward."
Chaz complied. Humored by the whole situation. Kou, if I wanted to I could
blow a hole through you without moving my hands from this position. He had
to direct his AI not to draw a laser bead on Kou for that very purpose.
X-ray or not they MIGHT detect it and the last thing he wanted was the
arsenal out there opening fire.
Kou waved four men forward. The first two put a set of handcuffs on him
carefully. While he was being cuffed the second two ran hand scanners over
him. "Nothing sir." The second team called back. "He's clean."
As Kou walked forward, the field lights came on. Kou stood before Chaz
appraising him in the now adequate light for a moment. "We received word
from our agents today that Miss Irene was set up in that incident you
'saved' her from. Word was that the Knight Sabers had taken a contract from
the Gulf & Bradley Corporation to kill the head of the Chang family." He
paused. "It COULD be a trick to make us distrust you. We took that
possibility into account." A group of men headed for the KnightWing.
"Don't let them go in there." Chaz said in as rough a voice as he could. The
warning also served as a message of their intent to Mackie. His ears could
just make out the subsonics his voice system added to make the message more
effective.
Kou shivered slightly but rallied. "Why not?" he asked.
Chaz looked him in the eye using the hypno at its lowest setting. "Would you
like people walking around in one of your planes while you weren't present?"
'Sounds reasonable.' Kou found himself thinking. He shook himself. What did
he mean 'sounds reasonable?' That's the one of the weakest excuses he'd ever
heard! He looked hard at the man in front of him. Something was not right
here. His thinking was interrupted by a voice from behind. "It's Miss Chang
all right sir. She seems to be in her right mind. She says this man flew the
plane alone and dodged some incoming fire on the way in. She's also saying
she wants to speak to her grandfather." The man looked sheepish. "More of a
demand really." Kou winced. This is where things were going to get tricky.
He half-turned to give orders. "Recall the inspection team. Leave the plane
alone for now. Put our guest somewhere comfortable. I'll contact Mr. Chang
for Miss Irene myself." Incoming fire huh? That would explain the beams of
light his men had spotted off the coast a little while ago.
*****
Mackie was uncomfortable. The men searching the craft had been called off
after a couple of seconds. But it had still been pretty close. If they had
thought to check the hardsuit lockers they would have found him. He could
probably assume that they had left someone at the door and a couple of
people around the KnightWing to guard it. Mackie quietly walked back to the
cockpit. The passive sensors didn't require much power and could run off the
batteries indefinitely. To use the railguns would use up the little bit of
power left in their capacitors, maybe two shots apiece. Determined to use
them if he had to, Mackie decided to settle in with his sensors to keep
watch over the watchers. Distracted by his thoughts, Mackie walked by the
armory and didn't notice an empty bin where a gun module should have been.
*****
Chaz was taken to a brightly lit tent stocked with refreshments and released
from his handcuffs. The guard withdrew leaving the flap of the tent open. So
they don't trust me not to try something. NOT very reassuring. Probably
Kou's standing orders. Chaz looked out the flap. Two guards holding
machine-guns sat some distance apart and were looking into the tent from
different angles. Very efficient. Even if I had a weapon I couldn't use it
without one sounding the alarm. The way they sit makes it impossible to get
both quickly. At the same time their field of vision covers most of the
tent. He smiled. Wouldn't stop me though. I can draw a bead on both of them
and fire while they watch me. Neither one would know a thing until it was
too late. Then he spotted his mistake. Shit! They have watchers for the
watchers! Besides the two guards he could see, he could detect that there
were two more guards. He could see the signature of the power cells in their
laser rifles and the smaller ones in their thermograph headsets. And from
their positions they could see the sides and back of the tent. Anyone in the
tent would have assumed that the two guards out front were all that was
there. They were certainly enough against most people. That thought gave him
a chill. They had either assumed he was a premiere assassin or they thought
he was a boomer. Neither thought was conducive to good health.
*****
Kou leaned back in his chair. This whole mess was giving him a headache.
First Miss Irene almost gets killed by a assassin boomer. She's rescued by a
man from out of nowhere. The man turns out to be a member of the Knight
Sabers. After hiding Miss Irene for two days the Knight Sabers contact Mr.
Chang and offer to return Miss Irene. They agreed to the location of the
pickup without argument. Meanwhile an agent in Gulf & Bradley dies while
transmitting the news that all of the above is false. That in fact the
Knight Sabers had taken a contract to kill Mr. Chang. The craft lands where
it was supposed to. With, Kou admitted, sufficient caution the supposed
captors returned Miss Irene. Kou didn't believe for a second that 'Chaz' was
the only person besides Miss Irene that was on that strange jet. However, he
didn't let that worry him too much. The missile launchers had been manually
aimed at the spot where it sat. No ECM in the world would stop them. 'Chaz'
was what worried him most. Despite the information the Hou Bang had
gathered, 'Chaz' remained a complete blank. Kou closed his eyes. Even Miss
Irene hadn't been erased as thoroughly. The Knight Sabers had never been
seen to have any male members. He wasn't a boomer. They had checked THAT
very carefully. The Hou Bang had learned the hard way to be careful of
boomers. He'd passed on all the information that he'd had to Mr. Chang it
was up to him now. He stood up. Miss Irene should be finished by now.
Irene walked out of the communication tent. She stretched as she took in the
jungle scented night air. It had taken a while but she thought she had
convinced him. God! He could be so stubborn at times. She admitted that she
might have been duped at first. But not over the course of several days. If
they were actors of that quality. . . She shrugged. At least she would be
killed by the best. She smiled. It didn't seem very likely. Humming she
walked off into the star studded night to find Kou. Behind Irene a shadow
broke away from the wall and followed her.
*****
Mackie leaned earnestly against the console and replayed the last few
seconds of the video segment again. There! That section. Now, just a little
more enhancement. This could be the most important section of the whole
video. Cool sweat lightly beaded on his forehead as he concentrated on the
work before him. It had taken him almost two days to develop the program
that was sifting the information in a few seconds he would find out if it
was worth it. Pixel by pixel the image began to reassemble itself. Relief
sighed through him. It'd worked. Smiling with satisfaction Mackie pressed
the play button. One by one the female Knight Sabers doffed their towels and
walked into the now easily viewed shower room. The frosted glass that had
previously blocked his camera was no longer a problem. The program deduced
the refraction pattern from the shape of known objects and put the disturbed
pixels back where they belonged. Relaxing, Mackie lounged back in his chair
and watched as Priss squirted Nene with cold water. Now all he had to do is
figure out how to get clear sound over the interference of the running
water.
Moving through the jungle after his quarry Irene's shadow was regretting
everything. If what he was doing could be called thinking. One look in his
eyes would convince any competent psycho-therapist that this man needed
serious help. Inside his head his thoughts were running like scared rabbits
trying to avoid a fox. He hated to do it. There just wasn't really any
choice. It was his family or Miss Irene. The Knight Sabers had chosen the
wrong enemy this time. His family lived in Japan. They said they would kill
them! He couldn't watch his daughter. . . He didn't have a choice! He slowly
pulled the small laser module he'd stolen from the Knight Saber's aircraft
and aimed it at Irene's back. She was all alone. It should be easy. He
wished it wasn't.
Kou rounded the corner. His mind had barely enough time to take in the scene
and realize what was happening before his body was in full motion. "Nooo!"
he screamed. With a speed unexpected in someone his size, he ran for the
would be assassin.
The shadow was startled by the noise. Without thinking his hand clenched on
the trigger. When Kou's body slammed into him it had been too late for half
a second.
Irene heard the cry and had half turned when the pain hit. Screaming, she
dropped to the ground. The pain wouldn't stop! She could feel it burning in
her abdomen. Still screaming, her hands flailed trying to put out flames she
could feel burning her.
Chaz heard the cry and was moving at full speed before his conscious mind
had recognized the voice. "Irene!" Plowing furrows in the semi-hard ground,
he went through the wall of the tent, the tough, knife proof material barely
slowing him. The guards on that side of the tent barely managed to bring
their guns up before he ran past them.
Kou was desperately calling for help. The man he had tackled was fighting
like he was possessed. No matter what he tried he couldn't get away to help
Miss Irene! Using every skill he possessed he tried to finish the fight
quickly. To no avail.
Chaz, his legs and arms a blur of motion, had run over two guards and
through two more tents before the alarm began to sound. Irene was just
ahead. He knew she was. Her voice had gone hoarse in seconds but he could
still make out her moaning. The odor of burning human flesh only made him
want to run faster. Breaking into the open, he saw Irene lying on the ground
writhing in pain and Kou wrestling with someone directly on top of him.
Without breaking stride, Chaz kicked out and knocked the man off Kou. He
heard ribs snap briefly as he ran by. Then he was beside her.
Kou didn't even see the kick. One second he was fighting, the next his
opponent lay on his side holding crushed ribs. Kou hardly noticed him. Miss
Irene needed him! Scrambling to his feet he started running.
Irene felt a slight break in the white hot pain that surrounded her. A
slight pressure on her skin that seemed to chase the pain away slightly.
With each passing second the pain seemed to be getting farther away. Irene
opened her eyes and looked up. "Chaz?" She could barely feel his hands
moving over her and around her. "What happened?" Her voice was soft and
frightened. "It hurts."
Kou's men were running towards them with their guns drawn. Kou yelled for a
doctor and dropped to his knees beside Irene's prostrate body. "Irene?" The
question a hope and a prayer.
Chaz knew she wasn't likely to make it. The laser had blown a hole through
her lower spine, lung and liver. There was very little bleeding but the
shock alone was likely to kill her. "Irene? Irene hon can you hear me?" Chaz
felt his eyes begin to fill and quickly overrode the impulse.
Irene was having trouble focusing. Everything was beginning to feel cold.
"Kou? Chaz? I'm scared. Hold me tighter." He still felt good. Even through
the pain she could feel his soothing touch. But why was he holding her so
lightly? "Don't stop holding me. You feel so nice," she said sleepily.
Somewhere in the back of her head she knew she was probably dying. Odd. It
didn't hurt as much as she had thought it would. Part of it even
felt....pleasant.
Chaz looked up at Kou's numbed face. "Kou, I can't hold her any tighter
without hurting her. She's going into shock," he said his voice thick and
sad.
Kou just stared at the sad, tearless face across from him. How could he have
made such a mistake? Irene was dying and it was his fault! He looked into
the face of a man he hardly knew. How could I have been so wrong?
The gray hared and rumpled doctor arrived at a dead run. He was fully aware
of how unprepared he was for an emergency. They had been preparing to leave!
All the equipment had been packed! What was he supposed to do!? He shoved
Kou aside and was nearly punched before the anxious young man realized who
it was. "What happened?" he said in as calm a voice as he could manage.
Years of practice kept his hands and his face steady as he started pulling
things from his trauma bag.
Irene was basking in the pleasant feeling coursing through her. The pain was
still there but it was as if it were muffled. Why couldn't she feel her
legs? What was wrong? It was so hard to think. "Kou? Where are you?
Grandfather? Reika? Somebody?" Panic seized her until she felt a light burst
of pleasure as Chaz kissed her forehead.
Kou took Irene's hand and held it tightly. At the touch a light, not
unpleasant tingle ran through his fingers. "I'm here Irene." He turned to
the doctor and waved at the moaning man being strapped to a stretcher. "He
fired a laser at Miss Irene. It caught her in the back and passed through to
the front...."
He didn't even think twice. A choice between his secret and Irene's life was
no choice at all. Chaz waved his hand for Kou to be quiet. "She was shot in
the fifth lumbar vertebrae. The bone was cleanly sliced. The spinal cord is
definitely severed. The beam continued through the left lung and liver.
There's no major blood loss from the incision and both the lung and the
liver have been cauterized. The lung is partially collapsed and slowly
filling with fluid."
The doctor didn't ask, he didn't need to know. "OK roll her gently onto the
back board. We need to get her to a hospital right away. Keep her warm.
Don't let her fall asleep." He lifted a syringe. "I can't give her anything
for the pain it might make her fall asleep. This will help keep her awake."
Kou came around. "What can we do?"
The doctor looked to Kou. "Miss Chang has to go to a hospital immediately.
If he's right the wounds won't kill her immediately but the shock might."
Kou nodded. "I'll get a chopper we'll take her to..."
"The KnightWing has an level three med-center. Will that do?" Chaz asked.
The doctor nodded. "Perhaps. If not, it should be faster than a helicopter."
A level three med-center was equipped for most trauma situations. If he
couldn't stabilize Miss Chang there she likely wouldn't make it to the
hospital no matter how fast they went.
Kou waved an attendant over. "Start fueling it. If we have to leave we'll
only need enough fuel to make it to Tripler Medical Hospital." If we don't
leave soon it won't matter anyway. The thought wasn't a pleasant one.
To his credit the attendant didn't waste time talking, he just took off at a
dead run.
Chaz called Mackie over the com-link. "Mackie prep the med-center. Irene's
been shot with a laser. We need everything ready to go when we get her
there. Close and lock anything we can't let others see and keep careful
track of who comes in."
Irene looked up her eyes wide with fright and growing pain. "Chaz? Kou?
Don't leave me." Her voice sounded tired. "I can't feel my legs." Her hands
gripped theirs tighter. "I don't want to die." Chaz gently removed his hand
from the back of her head as he let the neuro-stimulator go back to it's
normal setting. Irene tensed as the pain began to return.
"That's the drug working." The doctor noted as they carried her into the
KnightWing. "It's helping her stay awake."
Kou and Chaz placed Irene on the operating table and were brushed aside by
the doctor and his team. Mackie remained to help them with the equipment.
*****
Kou walked off to deal with their would be assassin. Chaz remained sat
outside the KnightWing and waited. Around him scurried men with purpose and
though it went against the grain he couldn't help without getting in the
way. After a couple of hours Kou came back. "What's the story on your
friend?" Chaz asked Kou quietly.
Kou looked sick. He'd been betrayed by one of his own people. Kou looked up
at the waning moon just setting behind the mountains. What he'd had to do to
that poor tormented man to get him to tell what had occurred would haunt him
for years. Only long practice enabled him to put his professional face back
on. When he spoke he was all business again. "He was in near hysterics. He
kept saying he was a Knight Saber and that he had to kill Irene." Kou took a
deep breath. "His name is Nakayama. He's been with us for years. I don't
know what someone did to him but he's been broken. He'll never be a whole
man again." He shrugged. "I don't think he ever knew who had his family."
Chaz didn't even pause to think. "GENOM."
Kou didn't argue. "Probably. We'll never know for certain. The laser he used
isn't one of ours. He probably got it when he searched your plane. He was
supposed to kill her and frame you. That much I managed to get out of him."
Kou swallowed. "I'm sorry. I misjudged you."
Chaz waved it off. "You were doing your job."
Kou looked towards the med center. "Not well enough." His head dropped. "If
your plane hadn't had a medical facility she wouldn't have made it." The
thought alone was enough to make his heart ache. Despite his professionalism
he was beginning to get the shakes. He'd known Irene since they were kids.
She was family.
Together they sat in silence until the doctor came out.
Gray hair plastered to his head with sweat he dropped exhausted into the
offered chair. "Miss Chang is stable. We took care of most of the damage."
He shook his head. "I don't know if I can make the nerves regenerate or not
yet. She could be crippled for life." The doctor started to cry. "I did the
best I could." He'd served the Hou Bang for years. He'd been present when
both Irene and Reika were born. Like so many others close to the Changs he
considered them family.
Kou moved to comfort the man. "It's all right we all know you did. At least
she's alive."
Chaz watched while Kou comforted the doctor like a brother. So this was the
way their organization kept loyalty. A better basis than most, he admitted.
The doctor gathered himself returned Kou's hug quickly and stood. "She's
awake and asking for both of you." His expression turned stern. "You've got
two minutes. That's it."
Irene looked up from her bed at Kou and Chaz standing side by side. "Did you
apologize to him yet?" she asked quietly.
Kou nodded. "Yes, Miss Irene." He looked at Chaz. "I misjudged him."
Irene sighed. "Good." She smiled a little. "That makes me glad to hear." Her
smile faded a little. "The doctor says that I need to go to a real hospital
where they can watch over me."
Kou reached down and took her hand. "All the arrangements are being made.
Mr. Chang and Miss Reika will be there to meet you when you arrive."
Irene looked up at Chaz. "Aren't you coming?" She didn't want him to go.
"I can't stay," he said shaking his head. "For better or worse my life isn't
in the US anymore." He smiled. "But I'll call you when I get the chance."
Irene's eyes filled with tears but she understood. She lifted her hand and
took off her ring. "My fiancee gave this to me when he proposed. I'd like
you to have it." She placed it in his palm and wrapped his fingers around
it. "Will you hold me one more time before you leave?"
Chaz wrapped his arms around Irene and for the second time that night turned
up the stimulator. Irene seemed to melt into his arms as her pain
disappeared in less than a minute she fell asleep.
*****
Kou and Chaz walked outside in the compound. Around them Kou's men finished
breaking down the airfield and camp. Chaz's gaze drifted over to the
KnightWing where Mackie was busy keeping people away from the planes more
sensitive and secret systems while they refueled it. They walked to the edge
of camp away from everyone else. Kou brushed off a fallen log and sat facing
the camp. Together they watched the final preparations being made. Kou
finally broke the silence. "Does she know?" he asked tentatively.
Chaz didn't feel like playing guessing games. "Yeah."
"You know she loves you?" Kou asked.
Chaz shook his head. "That's just shock and loss. She needs more right now.
I can't give it to her." He raised his hand to forestall Kou. "I care for
her. But not like that. I only met her for the first time less than a week
ago. I don't really know her yet."
Kou thought about it. "I think it may be more than just that. You came to
rescue a woman you didn't know at the risk of your own life. That shows a
strength of character that many don't have."
Chaz couldn't meet Kou's gaze. "Wait for her to stop grieving for her
fiancee," Chaz said, "then we'll talk about it."
Kou nodded gently. That was as close to a request to drop it as he was
likely to get. "On another subject Mr. Chang told me to give you this." Kou
pulled off his ring. "After Irene's gift this seems shoddy in comparison.
Still, I beg you to accept."
Reaching out Chaz accepted the ring. He looked at it. A black signet with a
gold stylized tiger on it, was held by a solid silver band. The ring of the
Hou Bang. "Why?"
"Mr. Chang told me to tell you that the Hou Bang owes you the greatest debt
it has ever been under." Kou paused to let that sink in. "That ring is the
second oldest in the family. Mr. Chang wanted me to give you his ring. I
told him I would prefer to give you mine. You are part of the family now.
And your family is also."
Chaz just looked at the ring in shock. The Knight Sabers. He meant the
Knight Sabers. "I'm honored. But I can't accept for the others." I'm dead.
Sylia's going to kill me. If Linna doesn't get me first.
Kou waved it aside. "Whether they accept or not the debt is still extended
to them." He smiled sadly. "Mr. Chang would also like to request that his
new son visit him when his grand-daughter is better. He wishes to meet the
man that can so erase himself from the world."
Mackie opened the throttle and started the race against the sun that would
end with the KnightWing back in its garage before the end of the night. He
wasn't quite sure what he was going to tell sis about this trip. The truth
wasn't especially pretty. He looked in the back. Chaz was still playing with
the ring. Ah well. He'd get over it. The Doc had said that Irene would get
better after all. Turning his attention towards more interesting thoughts
Mackie keyed up his Linna videos. God! Sometimes he wondered if she was that
flexible in bed too. Probably. Not that you're ever likely to find out, his
mind pointed out. "I thought you were interested in Nene," Chaz spoke up
from behind him. Mackie nearly jumped out of his skin! "Don't do that!"
Chaz's laughter echoed through the plane all the way home.