Eternity's End (76 page)

"Please sit, Rigger," said the tech, in a tinny voice that came from a speaker embedded in the front of his throat.

"Go fuck yourself."

The tech squinted at him, as if unsure how to proceed in the face of opposition. After a moment, the tech twitched an eyebrow; one of the guards grasped Legroeder's arm to move him toward the seat, and Legroeder yanked it away. "Get your hands off me." The guard grabbed
both
arms, this time with augmented strength, and lifted him straight into the seat. Before Legroeder could get his breath back, two other guards were strapping him in with restraints that seemed to come out of nowhere. "You bastards," he hissed, gasping for wind. "Are you
trying
to screw up the data?"

"Certainly not," said the tech, in an admonishing voice. "The boss said that you needed some help in opening access to your augment stores. It may be that your resistance here is being mediated by the augments themselves, so we'll just move things along and do our best not to cause any pain or discomfort. You'll probably find it easier to cooperate once the procedure's underway."

"Like hell I will," he grunted. He found himself suddenly thinking of Bobby Mahoney—who, if he was still alive at all, was probably living a life full of this kind of crap. Legroeder hadn't gotten a chance yet to ask again about the boy.
Where the hell's Tracy-Ace when I need her?

The tech smiled faintly. "Bear with me for one moment."

There was a soft whine, and Legroeder just glimpsed out of the corner of his eye a set of padded flaps rotating up from the headrest. Before he could react, his head was clamped in a vice. He felt a tingle in his temples, and an instant paralysis, leaving him with heartbeat, breath, and eye movement—and little else. He saw Lieutenant Zond off to one side, looking studiously indifferent.

"Put your implants into handshake mode," the tech said.

Legroeder tried to snarl, but what came out was a mumble.

"All right, let's see if this works." The tech drew an opaque visor down over Legroeder's eyes.

Legroeder felt a sheet of white noise slide across his consciousness like an ocean wave.
Drowning—!
His thoughts blurred and lost coherence; he watched his own conscious thought vanish into a haze, like milk swirling into coffee.

He was gasping; his
neurons
were gasping.

He was twisting on a synaptic connection; something was trying to illuminate the way into the implants attached to his brain. It was finding no entry, but the effort filled him with a sense of violation, and danger. He could not speak...

An external voice rasped and
scree
ed, and another voice answered from within...

// No connection is possible at this time... //

The screeing voice changed pitch, dropped to a growl.

// No connection is possible... //

A metallic resonance.

// No connection is possible... //

There was a brief, sharp interaction that set his teeth chattering. Then, with an abrupt
thunk
, the pressure against his thought let up.

Legroeder tried to refocus; he felt a rush of claustrophobia, his heart racing. There was a rasping sound in his ears, rhythmic and urgent, frightening. His breath.

He tried to cry out.
What—are you—doing—to me?

The tinny voice of the tech: "This isn't working. Let's try something else here..."

There was a
twang
, and then the world went away...

Incessant heartbeat
.

   
Scratching, a bird's feet on metal
.

   
Pulsing shocks of fear
.

   
Muttering voices, incomprehensible
.

   
Time passing like molasses
...

More voices, in another time and place, discussing the possibility of surgical extraction of implants... but they were too deeply interwoven into his neural matrix; the risk of killing him was too great
...

A pity... it might have been so quick, so easy
...

When he came to, Legroeder felt dizzy and nauseous, with ringing memories of voices clashing like armies. But the visor was off; he could see. "What... how long...?" he rasped.

A different tech came forward. A woman this time; she had a flesh-and-blood face, thin and birdlike. Her voice was deeper than the previous tech's. "You were out for twelve hours. We couldn't get a thing. You aren't holding your augments back, are you? The Boss assured us you were trying to get access."

Legroeder blinked furiously. His eyes were gritty; his head hurt from the clamp pads. But it hurt even more on the inside.

"We'll keep trying," muttered the tech. "There are some other approaches that might—"

The nearby door slid open. A female voice shouted, "Get him out
now
, I said!"

Legroeder tried to turn.

"Miss Alfa," said the tech in apparent surprise.

"Do you understand
now?
" Tracy-Ace/Alfa, in her black work outfit, strode into view, gesturing angrily. The tech seemed frozen in alarm. Tracy-Ace peered down at Legroeder. "My God, what are they doing to you?" She slapped an open palm down on one of the controls. The clamp-pads fell away, releasing him abruptly. Legroeder gasped, his head rolling on the headrest. He could barely control the movement.

A hand on his shoulder, Tracy-Ace bent to peer into his eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Uh..." His lips felt as though they'd been anesthetized.

Tracy-Ace yanked open a drawer and snatched out a handheld paramedical probe. She thrust it against his chest. "Hold still. Okay—you're not having a cardiac event—but your cortical activity looks scrambled." Muttering under her breath, she peered into his eyes again. Her augments flickered, illuminating her face. "Rings, Legroeder, I wish I'd gotten here sooner."

"I... it's..."
It's all right
.

No, it's not all right. Where the hell were you?

"Christ, I'm sorry."

"Been here... twelve hours..." His voice was a whisper.

"
Damn
that fucker! I was with
Impris
. YZ/I didn't
tell
me he was sending you here. I'll kill him." Tracy-Ace's brow was furrowed, her gaze deep and probing as she studied him.

Was she telling the truth? He had to steel himself not to be drawn into those eyes. Not until he knew.

She released the straps. "Come on, we're getting out of here." She turned and hollered, "Lieutenant Zond!"

Back at his quarters, Tracy-Ace fed him a dinner that she'd sent Zond to fetch. Some kind of noodles; he swallowed without noticing the taste. When Tracy-Ace was satisfied that he wouldn't keel over, she said, "You need rest and I need to talk to YZ/I. I'll leave Zond outside, with orders to let no one in except by my authorization."

Legroeder tried to choke back an angry reply. It bubbled up anyway. "A lot of good Zond will be. He's the one who
took
me to that place. How do I know he won't take me back there the minute you leave?"

Tracy-Ace bristled. "He will obey my orders."

Legroeder flushed. "Were those your orders, for me to be worked over by the inquisition?"

Her eyes widened in shock. "Is that what you think?"

"Well, you just said—"

"
Damn
. That
is
what you think, isn't it?" She studied Legroeder with narrowed eyes. "I did
not
send you there. YZ/I did it, without letting me know. I have now transferred authority over Zond back to me."

"And YZ/I can't take it right back?"

Tracy-Ace stared at him hard, the flickering around her eyes slowly dying down. "He won't," she said softly. "I will see to that. Believe me, I will."

Before he could respond, she leaned forward as though to kiss him on the cheek. Instead, she gripped his shoulders and squeezed, giving him a quick hug. Then she was out the door, leaving him reverberating with a welter of confused images from the contact.

Legroeder finished his meal in a state of shock. How much of that was he supposed to believe? He ought to call Deutsch, or the Narseil. But he was so exhausted. He needed to stretch out on his bunk to rest. Just for a few minutes...

When sleep came over him it was deep and filled with angry dreams.

He dreamed of distant, crackling contact through his implants... flickering images of Tracy-Ace and Yankee-Zulu/Ivan... and echoes of shouting voices...

Fucking bastard! WHY DID YOU HIDE THAT FROM ME?

Am I supposed to show you everything?

When it matters like that—yes, dammit! You deliberately—

Spared you a distraction when you had other responsibilities. I think you're letting your personal feelings—

Fuck my personal feelings!

Now, Tracy-Ace/Alfa, I suggest you calm down
...

CALM DOWN? I'll calm down after I've wrung your miserable neck, you lying manipulative sonofabitch!

Watch your tone, Node Alfa
...

It's about the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do
.

I said, watch your tone
...

The connection hissed and faded...

Legroeder was awakened by Tracy-Ace, bringing breakfast. He sat up, holding his head, trying to sort dream from reality. He could not. "What the devil's going on?" he gasped.

"A lot," she said tightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy." He drew a slow, painful breath. Memories of the inquisition were already crowding out whatever remained of the fragments of his dreams. "I guess returning-hero status is pretty short-lived around here."

"I have just had a long and unpleasant talk with YZ/I about that very question," she said severely, pouring him a cup of murk from a thermal pitcher. She put a plate with a breakfast roll and a citromelon slice in front of him. "Let's just say, your status has been restored."

He squinted, shouting voices echoing in his mind. "Yeah? How wonderful."

She frowned. "You don't believe me."

He didn't look at her. "I didn't say that. Thanks for breakfast."

"Legroeder..." She frowned harder. "You
don't
believe me, do you?"

He didn't answer, or look up.

"Legroeder, I would have stopped it sooner if I'd known. I really would have. I'm
sorry
."

He finally raised his eyes, and tried not to sound too acid. "I thought you were this all-fired powerful
node
. How could you not have known?"

She stared at him, open-mouthed.

"I thought so. Maybe you should leave now."

"
Legroeder
. Look, I know you're mad at me, and I don't blame you. I should have been there to look out for you. But YZ/I blindsided me; he kept me from seeing what was happening until after you'd been worked over."

He remained silent.

"Will you please believe me?" When he didn't answer, she pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of him. She grasped both of his hands in hers. The sudden electric connection took his breath away. He felt her gaze, and her presence...

And then, as suddenly, the connection ebbed away. Tracy-Ace drew back, her augments winking. "What are you doing? Are you blocking me?" she whispered. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

Legroeder stared down at her hand grasping his. He felt no sensation except the physical pressure, and that seemed a million miles away. He searched inward. The implants had been there for an instant, allowing the connection; but now they were gone. Without the implants there could be no link with Tracy-Ace. And he had a distinct feeling—perhaps they had left him a subtle message—that they had shut themselves down for the duration. Meaning, until they were in a place of safety. A Narseil place of safety.
Oh, Jesus
.

Tracy-Ace was squeezing his hand harder, as if she could force the connection. "What's
wrong
, Legroeder? What's wrong with your implants?"

He shook his head. "They've closed down. It's not me. I don't know why."

Tracy-Ace rocked back in consternation, still holding his hand. "Are they damaged?"

"I don't think so. No."

She looked at him for a long moment, disheartened. Then she drew a breath. "Legroeder—can I tell you this? I
missed
you. I'm very glad to have you back. And not just for
Impris
."

He couldn't react; his thoughts were too tangled.

Tracy-Ace pursed her lips together; finally she nodded and drew herself erect. "As soon as you're ready, we're going to have a very interesting talk with YZ/I. We'll be joining a few people there."

"A few people?"

"You know them."

"Legroeder, I'm so glad to see you're... unharmed! Come in," YZ/I said, breathing sincerity from every pore. Before Legroeder could reply, YZ/I extended a hand past him. "And Commander Fre'geel—thank you for coming! And Riggers." Legroeder turned to see that Fre'geel, the Narseil riggers, and Deutsch had come in right behind him. "And... Tracy-Ace/Alfa! How good of you to join our meeting." YZ/I's gaze at Tracy-Ace suggested he was less than happy to see her.

"I wouldn't miss a chance to help out with the debriefing," Tracy-Ace said coldly. She turned to greet the others. Then she gave a brief nod to the man Legroeder just now noticed standing to one side and little behind YZ/I's chair. Lanyard/GC. What was he doing here?

"And," Tracy-Ace continued, "I thought perhaps I should be here to help make sure nothing
else
went wrong." She stared hard at YZ/I.

Legroeder glanced at his fellow riggers, wishing he could convey with his eyes what had happened.

YZ/I sighed heavily. "Rigger Legroeder, please allow me to apologize. I did not intend for you to be treated roughly by my analysts. My instructions were to try to release the information—but to treat you only with courtesy and respect. I regret... that you had such a difficult time of it."