The Girls From Alcyone (27 page)

She burst through the balcony doors. The rain slanting down onto the terrace behind her splashed into the living area. She found Hitomi waiting for her; the Lady gasped at the sight of the cuts on Sigrid's hands and face, and the rips in her uniform.

"My goodness, dear. Are you quite all right?"

"There were men," Sigrid said.

Sigrid told her immediately of the armored soldiers lying in wait for her, of her narrow escape. And of Sara.

Hitomi listened in silence, never interrupting.

When she was finished, Sigrid took out the data modules filled with the stolen files.

Hitomi waved them away. "There's no time for that now, dear. It seems we've stumbled into the midst of something. I fear we are in danger as long as we remain on Earth. We must leave, and we must leave now."

What followed was a dizzying frenzy of activity. Within minutes, the Lady Hitomi had her entire entourage packed and boarding a private transport. There would be no leisurely journey back on the TGV to see the sights this night. Tonight was all about flight.

Hitomi stared through the rain-beaded window of the transport, deep in thought. "There are more things at play in this than even I imagined. Until we get off this planet, we are vulnerable."

The
Morrigan
was still locked in high orbit, prohibited from landing to pick them up, so they had little choice but to book a return passage on the system of Orbital Elevators—the principal means of ferrying passengers and cargo from the Earth's surface into space. There was an early departure scheduled from the complex in Panama City; with luck, they'd just make it there in time.

The Panama City complex was one of the largest of the Lift Centers on the planet, with four massive elevators, each over 200 meters in diameter and six stories high. The elevators could deliver tons of material and personnel far more efficiently than the shuttles. Even more impressive were the
Lift
cables. Constructed with a carbon nanotube weave, the two-meter-thick cables stretched up 700 kilometers into the exosphere, where they were tethered to the orbital docking platforms.

They received word that the
Lift
was completely booked, but the Lady Hitomi soon crushed the will of the terrified ticket agent. Within moments, they booked a passage on the
Lift
, berthed in the most opulent accommodation.

They were halfway across the concourse, moving toward the boarding area, when a booming voice sounded behind them. "Halt!"

Sigrid spun and saw a man approaching through the main gate; he wore the blue and grey uniform of CTF Security; his shoulders bore the rank insignia of a captain. He was flanked by an entire squad of soldiers, all leveling weapons at Sigrid and her companions.

Karen squealed and her hands shot up in the air—Sigrid's hands dropped lower to rest on the pearl handles of her sidearms. She felt the Lady Hitomi's cautioning hand touch her arm.

"Easy, child," she said.

Sigrid relaxed, placing her hands behind her back, but all her attention and sensors remained fixed on the squad of security officers that surrounded them.

The captain approached them, striding briskly across the polished floor of the concourse. "Lady Hitomi. I have a warrant for your arrest—you and your party. You will come with me."

Karen shot a panicked look at Sigrid, who gave her a reassuring nod, although she herself felt a certain unease.

"My good Captain," The Lady said, in a breezy tone. "Whatever is the matter? This must be some misunderstanding."

The Captain gave her as stern a look as he could; not easy, Sigrid thought, under the withering stare of the Lady Kimura. "You are wanted for questioning regarding the break-in at the CTF Offices early
this morning."

"Questions? Why I'd be more than happy to answer anything you'd like, right here. There's no need to bother anyone else."

The Captain squirmed uneasily. "Please, Madame. We don't wish to make a scene."

More footsteps approached; a prim, thin-faced man pushed his way forward. He wore a formal black business suit and his hair was sharply groomed. He also wore a security ID for the Bernardino Lift Company. "What is the meaning of this?" the man barked, staring at the captain.

The captain shifted from foot to foot and Sigrid watched his face begin to redden; she could sense his blood pressure rising. "Um—I have a warrant…"

Lady Hitomi smiled up from her chair at the newcomer, extending her hand in greeting. "Ah, Mr. Gomez. How pleasing to see you again. We're so sorry for the disturbance. The Captain here just had some questions for us."

The Captain held out the pad that displayed the warrant, but the prim little man slapped it away. "I believe you're a little out of your jurisdiction here, Captain."

"Sir, my orders are quite specific. If you do not let us proceed in our duty—"

"The Bernardino Lift Company is
not
a member of your
Federated Corporations
, sir. We are an independent organization.
You
are now in BLC territory."

"Sir," the captain's voice remained firm, "I must insist you allow us to remove the Lady and her entourage."

Gomez raised his index finger as a signal. Instantly, the concourse filled with more security, this time dressed in the red outfits of the Bernardino Company. "And I too, must insist."

Sigrid studied all the men and women, now faced off against one another; the problem was that she and her friends were standing in the middle of a potentially explosive situation. Sigrid lowered her hands, resting them again on the handles of her pistols. She made a quick calculation of the rounds available in each weapon, choosing a selection of primary and secondary targets.

The Captain and Gomez stared at each other coldly. Gomez stood erect and calm. Sigrid saw the Captain scan the group of BLC Security that confronted his own men; he was outnumbered two to one. His chest rose and fell heavily, the smallest trickle of sweat escaped from below the brim of his uniform cap.

At last, the captain nodded, with some reluctance, relenting. "Very well. Stand down." He signaled his squad to lower their weapons. "I will have to report this, Lady Hitomi. I'm sure the Council will be in touch."

Hitomi gave a slight nod as answer. The captain retreated, followed by his men.

"I'm so sorry for all this fuss," Hitomi said to Mr. Gomez.

"Not at all, Milady. It is always a pleasure to have you aboard our Elevators. You must let me know if there is anything we can do to make your trip more enjoyable."

Hitomi chuckled. "I think just the fact that we
are
making the trip…I can't thank you enough, Mr. Gomez." She held out her hand; Sigrid gave a little gasp as she saw the man kiss Hitomi's gloved hand—she'd never seen such a gesture.
The Lady really is…a Lady,
she decided.

With the excitement fading behind them, the group proceeded through the waiting airlock to the
Lift.
Only once safely inside, only when she felt the giant machine start its slow climb into space, did Sigrid allow herself to relax.

The Lady Hitomi headed immediately toward their rooms down the hallway. Sigrid and Karen followed, shadowed closely by Hitomi's personal guard. "Now, let's go take a look at what you brought, Sigrid. Perhaps we'll find some of the answers there."

They reached Hitomi's suite, locked the door and Sigrid began uploading the stolen files to Hitomi's pad.

Next, Hitomi did something astonishing; Sigrid watched as Hitomi took out a data-uplink module and proceeded to insert it into the access port in the side of her head. Ever since she'd spotted the telltale port hidden behind Hitomi's ear, there had been a question Sigrid had wanted to ask.

She decided to ask it now. "Mistress—
Hitomi-san,
are you…are you like
us
?"

Hitomi put down the data-uplink and took Sigrid's hand. "No, my dear. It was my hope…but no. I am not like you. I am a failure."

"A
failure
…?"

Hitomi laughed and rubbed at the telltale slot. "This—this is nothing more than a testament to my own hubris. I had thought I could enhance myself as we have with you. But…" she looked down at her crippled legs in their mechanical harness, "…as you can see, I failed."

Sigrid looked at her worriedly; she hadn't meant to upset her.

Hitomi took up the data link again, reconnected it to the port and winked. "Don't worry, my dear. I still retain some benefits. At least I won't have to
read
through all these communiqués."

Despite having been up all night, the Lady Hitomi sat diligently working her way through the walls of security and decryption that barred her way as message after message sparked along her synapses. It was much like Gillings had said. The Council intended to appropriate,
or seize
, all
materials pertaining to
Project Andraste
and take over every one of the girls' contracts, either by paying-off Kimura or by force of sanction. If necessary, military action was also listed as an option. Gillings was confident that the extreme measures would not be necessary. But the Council was resolute—they would not suffer another 'Daedalus'.

More disturbing to Sigrid were the clauses pertaining to the girls. If the girls could not be properly controlled, they were to be—how had the Council put it—
deconstructed for the purposes of reverse-engineering.

Sigrid gasped. "How could they do that?"

"I'm afraid the Council feels they can do with you whatever they like. And more than likely, they will try." Hitomi patted her hand. "Fear not. I won't let things get that far. I have no intention of letting Gillings or any of his cronies get their hands on you or any of your sisters."

Hitomi set about repairing the partially destroyed message Sigrid had found. Sigrid watched, open-mouthed, as the Lady's fingers flew over the pad as she wrote, from scratch, a program to reconstruct the scrambled data.

"Well, isn't this interesting." Hitomi scrolled quickly through the message; her repairs working, slowly filling in the blanks. "Look, here. There's a reference to Gliese…"

"Gliese? That's the planet Selene mentioned—where Tarsus was headed."

"Indeed. And look, there's more." Hitomi highlighted a section that referred to a Dr. Joseph Farrington, but Sigrid didn't understand any of it. "Dr. Farrington is an old colleague of mine," Hitomi explained. "We worked together several years ago on your…well, on this project. He had some interesting theories, but the man was, frankly, erratic. I had to let him go."

"Is he…do you think he's behind all this?"

Hitomi laughed. "Farrington?
Definitely not. The man couldn't organize his day-timer let alone a military action. No, but I have no doubt that he's working with whoever is."

Hitomi paused in her scrolling, causing Sigrid to shift uneasily in her chair; the Lady had found the same name that had captured
her
attention:
Tansho
.

"Suko…" Sigrid said. "Is it about Suko?"

Sigrid watched as more words merged into repair, filling in the sentences around the name. Hitomi shook her head. "I'm not sure. A large part of the data is still corrupted. But, Sigrid, these can't be coincidences. Tarsus, Dr. Farrington—the attacks…and now we find a link between them and one of our girls. We must consider the possibility…"

Sigrid stiffened. "No, Mistress. It's impossible. Suko's no spy, she'd never betray us." Sigrid knew Suko felt no love for Kimura, but to work with men who would attack them? Kill them?
Not Suko—never.

"I know how you must feel, Sigrid. But someone is clearly working with them. We must consider—"

"No!" Sigrid couldn't believe it.
I have to tell her
, Sigrid thought. "Mistress…Suko and I…well, I just know it's not possible. She would never…"

Hitomi considered her words for only a moment. "Very well. If you are certain, then that is all I need to know."

Sigrid suddenly noticed the fatigue etched in Hitomi's face; the effort of deciphering the messages and the long hours had clearly taken their toll.

Hitomi seemed to realize as much herself. "It will take more time to repair the rest of the message, but for now—
sleep
. Unlike you, my child, being up all night is a little hard on me." She directed her wheelchair to the small bedroom just off the anteroom where they'd been sitting. "I suggest you do the same. The
Lift
won't reach the orbital station for at least another thirty-seven hours."

"Yes, I will, Hitomi-san. Shall I come by later?"

"No. I'll be busy here. There's little more you can do. Go enjoy yourself. Go do…whatever it is you young girls do nowadays."

Sigrid bid the Lady goodnight and headed to her own room. She felt exhausted as well. For the first time in over a month she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Long Fall

April 18, 2348

Alone in her room above the girls' dormitory, Suko rolled over on her bunk and took a last look at the picture of Sigrid before folding the pad back up and putting it away. She'd made up her mind and wasn't going to back down. Suko clipped on all her weapons, threw on her jacket and grabbed up the small backpack she'd prepared. The door to her room led out to a short staircase behind the dormitory. Suko carefully scanned the grounds with her optical implant. All clear. The gates would still be guarded by the mercenary squad stationed there. She was free to come and go, but Suko didn't want anyone taking note of her departure; she'd need to remain undetected if her plan was going to work.

The wall that framed the Academy was only twenty feet high, so Suko scaled it easily with the rope and small grappling hook she'd fashioned. She paused at the top to take one last look back at the Academy. She felt a moment of loss, thinking of the young girls, her students; she'd grown attached to them so quickly. She worried about what would happen to them after she was gone. But they weren't her responsibility, she told herself.