Deadly Betrayal (13 page)

The monitors showed the tractor beam searching for us. If they grabbed us they could hold us still and shoot. Would be much easier than trying to hit a moving target.

John said, “Just a little further.”

Seconds later, we were in hyperspace.  Not safe, but safer.

“They can still track us.” Adam clearly said that for my benefit. “We need to seek out some well traveled trade routes. The more ships we meet, the harder it will be to follow us.”

John explained, clearly also for me, “If we encounter other ships, the computer has the ability to copy their signature and make a false track. We only need to keep them off our trail for twenty-four hours.”

In my imagination, the Bell would appear before us, gigantic and invincible, the moment we dropped back into normal space.

Adam turned to me. “I’ll program the internal sensors to look for nanites, okay?”

All the sensors in the world wouldn’t convince me we were safe from the crawlies, but I nodded anyway.

“What are we going to do?”

If the Confederacy was really overrun and they decided they wanted us, I saw no way to survive. They were everywhere and they would find us.

Adam reached out to caress my cheek. “I don’t know. Why don’t the two of you go get some rest. We’ll figure it out when we have some distance between us and them.”

It was a sound idea, I had been exhausted
before
our great escape, but I doubted I’d be able to sleep.

Ever.

John ran a hand over his face. “Okay. I think I could sleep standing up. Let’s go to the lounge.”

It
was
an inviting room, but for all I knew it could be swarming with wicked little creatures.

I shook my head.

Adam said, “Alex, honey, there aren’t any nanites in the lounge. If you don’t believe me, bring your IR glasses and see for yourself.”

“How do you know? You haven’t been there.”

John reached out his hand. “Come Hon, there’s only one way to find out. Adam has a lot to do and he can keep us safe much better than I can. He can do it even better if we’re not distracting him.”

I met his eyes and saw fatigue. He looked even more tired than I was. He probably worried for Anya too, more than I did.

“Alright.”

I followed him, but stopped in the door to the lounge and put on the IR glasses. I couldn’t see any tiny enemies, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

John was already in the room. He turned back, grabbed my hand, and pulled me in.

“This is what’s going to happen. We’re going to have a drink, because this turned out to be one hell of a day. After that we’re going to sleep, and nothing is going to eat you or change you, because Adam and the computer are on guard.”

“But…”

“No. No but, no thinking, no planning, and no worrying. All that can wait until tomorrow. Sit down.”

The sofa didn’t look about to eat me, but I hadn’t thought my bed would either.

“You can’t stand there all night. Sit down.”

I was pretty sure both Adam and John loved me. If they both claimed it was safe, I should believe them.

Sitting down felt good.

John handed me a glass with golden liquid and sank down next to me.

“What a fucked up day.”

He rarely cursed when sober.

I kicked my shoes off and pulled my feet up in the sofa. “I agree.”

John tilted his head. “He changed the course.”

“Do you think they found us?”

“I hope not. I don’t think either of us can deal with anything more right now. Hang on.”

He moved over to the edge of the sofa, touched something on the side, and made the seat recline. After all this time on the ship, I had no idea it did that.

John patted his stomach. “I can be your pillow.”

Good thinking. I wouldn’t be able to sleep all by myself and he probably wanted company too, but our old way of curling up in each other’s arms wouldn’t be appropriate. I rested my head on him and he brushed his fingers over my hair.

It was a matter of seconds before I slept.

“Alex, wake up.”

I opened my eyes to Adam whispering my name and caressing my cheek. He gestured to me to be quiet and murmured, “Let him sleep.”

He led the way to the corridor and the few steps to the bridge. I couldn’t stifle a yawn, which made him smile.

“You’ve slept for almost eleven hours. I’ll make you some coffee.”

My head still felt foggy, so I plopped down on a chair and waited for him to return. Adam looked tall, strong, and handsome like always, and when watching him it was difficult to believe the previous day happened.

He crouched next to me and handed me a mug. The dark brew smelled heavenly.

“Thank you. What’s up?”

“I missed you, figured it would be okay to wake you by now.” He sounded sincere and his words made me smile.

“You were right. I missed you too. Where are we?”

“Hiding. We’ve been running at full speed for so long I needed to give the engines a break. I don’t
think
they’re still on our tail.”

That, of course, didn’t mean we were safe.

I put the mug to the side and bent over to wrap my arms around him. He rubbed my back and kissed my cheek, but let me go all too quickly.

“I need to keep an eye on everything.”

I followed him, but stayed away from the consoles. If someone were to pour liquid into the ship’s systems, it wouldn’t be me.

He looked everything over and spun the chair back to face me. “Put that down for a minute and come here. Please.”

The days after his returning to himself had offered few opportunities for tenderness and after all this new trauma I was more than happy to sit on his lap. He wrapped an arm around my waist and brushed a lock of hair off my face.

“How are you holding up?”

“I… I think…”

He waited, patient as always, and I drew a deep breath. “If I think about it, my head might explode. That, I mean the Bell, was the safe and secure place that would always be there.”

And now it was anything but safe. The world had changed and I needed to accept it.

“What do you want to do?”

Who? Me?

“I don’t know. You?”

His lips sought mine and he murmured, “I don’t know. We could wake John up to watch the ship and sneak away. I want to take your clothes off and kiss my way down your body.”

It wasn’t the type of thing I had in mind, but a much better idea than anything I could think of.

“For an android, you sure have a one track mind.”

“Of course. A part of me always thinks of you.”

He probably said that just to cheer me up. Still, he sounded serious.

He kissed me for real, but pulled away just as I was getting into it. “I know what we
should
do, but it’s not what I
want
to do, and it might be beyond the three of us.”

I sighed. “You think we should reclaim the Bell, find a way to get rid of the nanites and other threats, turn the crew back to normal, and go after whoever is responsible for all this so we can return the Confederacy to its former stability and glory.”

John entered in the beginning of my summary, scratching his chin. “Damn this itches.” His stubble was turning into a beard.

He grabbed my cup and took a couple of deep gulps. “That is a horrible plan.”

Adam gave a slight shrug. “It’s not what I
want
to do. It’s what we
should
do. There’s a difference.”

I said, “You always do what’s right.”

“Not since I died.”

Good point. The experience changed him in many ways.

John put my mug down. “It is a horrible plan but we might not have a choice. If we don’t try to settle this, where will we go? The Confederacy is everywhere.”

Another good point. We weren’t exactly self-sustaining and John and I needed food. We could find a place to hide out for a while, but we wouldn’t be able to stay hidden forever.

John nodded towards the consoles. “How are we doing?”

“We’re still free, so well for the circumstances.”

Adam’s serious voice emphasized the grave situation.

He fell silent and when no one else spoke, he said, “I brought something from the Bell. A surveillance video. It’s from the day I died.”

I already knew I didn’t want to see it. It was a moot point. A hologram showed a miniature version of engineering and I could just as well watch it.

He paused the recording and pointed. “See these thick cables? They come in from the Tokamak.”

I had done my best to forget the black hole monster machine that resided in the bowels of the Bell. This ship probably had one too, but I didn’t want to know.

“Watch Jia’Lyn.”

My old friend went over to one of the engines, clearly inspecting the feed from the Tokamak. Nothing strange about that. She had been the head of engineering and ran a clean house.

The recorded miniature version of Jia’Lyn proceeded to the other side of the room, clearly inspecting the cables there too. Then, she headed for the middle of the room, stumbled, and fell as the ship shook.

Smoke rose from the engine compartment and the scene changed to one of chaos and destruction. Adam paused the recording at a spot where no burning people were in sight. Thankfully.

“Look at the time. The explosions in the engine room took place several seconds before the Grendl fired.”

“Jia’Lyn sabotaged the ship.”

He nodded and restarted the recording, but slowed the speed and zoomed in on our friend. She was fast, but not fast enough to fool an android eye. When Adam pointed it out, it was impossible not to see her attach small disks to the power couplings on each side.

One of my best friends started the chain of events that led to Adam’s death and all the following misery.

“Do you think she did it willingly?”

“No. She was probably already under their control.”

Shouldn’t we have noticed? Thinking back didn’t do much to bring clarity to the mystery, not until I realized we didn’t meet her after returning to the ship.

“We were on shore leave and it seems like all hell broke lose while we were away. Then we returned to the Bell, went to the Captain’s office, and everything happened.” I talked more to myself than to the others.

Adam nodded. “We never met her.”

John said, “Maybe they promised her the ship. Or promised everyone on the ship would be fine if the Bell surrendered. There are many possible explanations.”

I slipped off Adam’s lap onto my feet, snatched my mug from John, and went to get more coffee.

Coffee was good. Coffee was my friend.

“I have a suggestion.” Deeming from the looks on their faces, they didn’t expect me to say that.

“What is it, Hon?” John looked honestly curious.

“Let’s go find Blake and Ima. If they are still unchanged we’ll have a better chance of succeeding with whatever plan you two come up with. Five is better than three. If they’re altered, maybe we should go back to our original idea of seeing what life outside Confederacy space might be like.”

“I know where they are. Or, at least where they were sent when they left the Bell.”

John and I stared at Adam and he flashed a smile. “I had some time to spend with the computer when you two visited Jia’Lyn.”

By the time we orbited a large and sand-colored planet, I’d had time to second-guess my suggestion.

For all I knew, the entire planet could be filled with remote-controlled copies of people. Adam said it was a prison world so it might not be a priority for the power-hungry terrorists behind all our problems, but on the other side of the coin, people had to be pretty bad to be shipped off to a separate
planet
.

My thoughts led me around and around, from one disastrous scenario to another.

Adam’s hands on my shoulders helped me return to reality. “You don’t have to go down there. Maybe you should stay here and watch the ship.”

“Because I’m so good at that. If it needed watching, you or John would do it.”

“I just don’t want to pull you into another dangerous situation.”

I managed a feasible resemblance of a smile. “I think that ship has sailed.”

He cupped my face in his hands. “I’m sorry. We can still leave.”

“No we can’t. Let’s do this.”

His lips sought mine and I clung to him. For all I knew, it could be our last kiss.

“I love you. I love you so very much.” I sounded pathetic, but it was okay. He wouldn’t mind.

“I love you too, you know that. We have been through a lot together, and we’ll handle this as well.” He sounded confident.

“I guess we should go to the bridge.”

He nodded and we walked through the ship hand in hand. John didn’t even glance back when we entered; he was arguing with someone on the radio.

“Yes, a cat. What do you mean what kind of cat? I didn’t say I’m looking for a
cat
, I’m looking for a person who
resembles
a cat.”

The anonymous voice answered, “I’m not authorized to divulge information about the prisoners.”

Jia’Lyn had made it sound like a new assignment. Sending the captain and chief medical officer to a prison planet as
inmates
was much worse.

Adam leaned over the console and pressed a button. “You are speaking with a Confederacy Commander. Allow access to your computer and I will transfer my command codes. I am here with orders to retrieve Blake and Ima Jones, and I suggest you comply.”

His tone of voice made me feel I should salute him. Another part of me claimed my husband was the boss of the universe and everything, and it was
hot
.

His own codes were probably canceled since he was technically dead, but knowing him, he had something up his sleeve.
That
wasn’t surprising, but the fact that he lied and was good at it made me feel I needed to sit down. He had always been the worst liar I ever met. Where and how had he picked up these new skills, and had he changed in more ways?

Maybe Mr. Honest-and-Trustworthy wasn’t all that honest and trustworthy anymore?

The calmer part of my mind claimed the situation was close enough to the truth for him to deal with it in a convincing manner. And, even if he
had
learned to lie, I had no reasons to think he wasn’t truthful about everything else.

I needed to stop being so suspicious.

The voice on the radio returned after an eternity or two, and it sounded less snarky than when addressing John. “I understand, Sir. You are welcome to have them, but you will need to collect them yourself.”

“That is not an acceptable solution. Do I need to report you?”

“No, Sir. It’s just that we’re having a riot, Sir.”

“Very well. Transfer their coordinates.”

He winked at me.

Decisive Adam was
sexy.

John said, “Got it. C’mon, let’s take a shuttle. Alex, do you want to stay here or come with us?”

“Come with you, of course.”

He nodded and explained, clearly for my sake, “I’ll transfer control of the ship to the shuttle, just in case. I don’t think anyone else will stop by here, but you never know.”

Adam said, “I’ll go put on my uniform and meet you downstairs.”

He bent over to kiss my cheek, but seemed absentminded.

I wanted to object and say the uniform would aggravate people on the planet, but there would be guards and officials too, and looking the part would help deal with them.

Trotting after John I couldn’t hold my questions in. “Why do we have to go down there? Can’t we just teleport them aboard?”

“In theory, but we don’t know what shape they’re in. We don’t want them up here if they’ve changed. And, there’s a risk of grabbing the wrong people, or someone tagging along. It’s safer to go down.”

*****

When I peeked out the shuttle window, I saw sun, sand, and more sun. It might not be as hot and dusty as my imagination painted out, but the place did not look hospitable.

John let the shuttle hover over a small group of ragged houses.

As we approached, the cameras on the shuttle showed people running from our craft, but it didn’t take long before they looked out from their hiding places. I expected someone to throw something at us.

Adam said, “I suggest you two stay in the air and return to pick me up.”

It sounded like a great idea. I wanted to stay in the shuttle with John, I really did.

My mouth had other plans.

“I should go with you. Both Blake and Ima think you’re dead. It will be easier to persuade them you’re really you if I’m with you.”

John shook his head. “I don’t want you going down there, Hon.”

“I don’t want to go, but I probably should.”

I didn’t expect Adam to agree with me, but he said, “Alex has a point.” He shifted his gaze to me. “Just be careful down there, and stay close to me.”

“Son, are you sure that’s a decision based on logic?” John sounded both curious and amused.

Adam shook his head. “No. We’re still going.”

John sighed, grabbed one of his blasters, and pressed it into my hands. “Remember, there’s no point in having a gun if you let someone take it. I’ve set it to stun. If someone comes too close or does anything that feels threatening, shoot. Don’t hesitate, don’t think about it, just do it.”

He let the small ship hover a few feet over the ground. Adam jumped down and reached up to help me, and for a long moment I hung in his arms. Once I had my feet on the ground and his arms around me I thought he would kiss me, but his mind probably reported it wouldn’t be appropriate. He whispered, “Stay close.”

On my own I would have been blinded when John took off, sending up a small sandstorm, but Adam shaded my eyes with his hand. As soon as the ship was gone, he caught my gaze.

“John was correct, bringing you here is bad judgment on my part, I just don’t want to do this alone.”

“I know. We’re a team and we’re in this together. And, I have a gun the size of my arm.”

“Hold on to it.”

Someone yelled “Confederacy scum” and a brick came flying our way. Adam caught it with ease and sent it back with a flick of his wrist.

“On second thought, stay right here. This is supposed to be their house. I will be right back.”

He headed towards the small insurrection, leaving me much too alone.

I glanced over my shoulder at the building. If Ima and Blake lived
here,
the world was in sad shape. It wasn’t much of a house. It might have been in the past, but now it looked like a dilapidated hut.

Approaching it was probably a bad idea. Adam told me to stay put and he wouldn’t have left if he thought it put me in danger, but curiosity got the better of me. I was only a couple of steps away from the door, and going over there to knock should be pretty safe.

Especially since I held a giant gun.

The door swung open when I rapped my knuckles against it and I peeked into the dark interior.

“Hello?”

No one answered, but I heard a soft rattling as if something small fell over, and my feet took a couple of steps forward without involvement of my brain. A moment later a hissing fiend jumped down on my back and knocked me over. Sharp claws dug into my flesh.

“Ima, stop. It’s me! Alex, I mean, it’s Alex. Goddamn those things are sharp!”

It was probably my cursing more than anything that persuaded her I was real. The weight disappeared, making breathing easier.

“Alex?”

I rolled over on my back and didn’t hesitate when she offered a paw to pull me up.

“Yes. I don’t know what’s going on, but we came as soon as we heard.”

“We? You and John?”

“Yes. And we have someone else with us. You’ll see.”

The normally impeccable physician was a mess. Dirty, with torn clothes, and many pounds lighter. Surviving on this planet could not be easy.

Adam entered seconds later, immersed in his role as Confederacy Commander with his back straight as a pin. “The insurrection has been stifled, but I doubt it will last, so we should hurry.”

Ima stared. “You’re dead.”

“I
was
dead. I’m not dead anymore.”

I reached for her hand. “We can explain all that later. Do you know where Blake is?”

“Yes. He is in the mines.”

“Mines?” Knowing what the living area looked like, I didn’t even want to imagine a
mine.

Adam held up a hand, motioning for me to be quiet. “Ask her something.”

What? Oh, he wanted to check that Ima was still Ima. I should have thought of that.

“Do you remember when I first woke up on the Bell and Adam took me to the guest quarters, and I called for him because I wanted to talk to you?”

Ima’s tail wagged, and not in a patient manner.

“Of course I remember that. He was driving me crazy.”

“Well, the first time he went to get you for me, what was I wearing?”

“A towel. Ridiculous behavior.”

I glanced over at my husband. “I think it sounds like her.”

A shadow of a smile tugged at his lips. “I think so too. Make sure. I will retrieve the captain.”

As soon as he left, Ima hissed, “Impossible man. Not even dying changes him.”

It did, but hopefully not all that much.

“I’m happy it didn’t. He just wanted to make sure you’re really you, and that you haven’t been… changed.”

She narrowed her eyes to slits. “How do you know about that?”

I told her about our misfortune in being spotted by the Bell.

“I saw them too. Someone had sprinkled them all over our bed and they were multiplying. I see different frequencies of light than humans do, both infrared and ultraviolet. When we didn’t change overnight I think they assumed Blake somehow fought off the nanites and that they didn’t work on me, and before we knew it, we were in restraints on the way here.”

I groaned and ran a hand over my face. “I don’t suppose you know how to exterminate them?”

“Cobalt-60 radiation.”

“And I’m guessing that’s bad for people?”

She gave a slight shrug. “In the doses required, can be. It’s a moot point, I don’t see a feasible way to eradiate the entire ship.”