Approaching Omega (7 page)

Jenny Li was still up there, clinging to the cliff-face as if paralysed with fear.

As he watched, willing her to move herself and descend to safety, he saw movement in the sheer face of the bulkhead beside her. A hatch opened quickly. If the sight of it hadn't been so fraught with horror, Latimer might have appreciated the comic aspect of the sudden flapping open of the hatch, for it resembled nothing so much as the door of an ancient cuckoo clock.

Then something crab-like scuttled out, reached for Jenny Li with a claw, and grabbed her. He saw her EVA suit spasm with fright, and then commence a frantic struggle as the roboid dragged her back towards the hatch.

On the way in, Li managed to snag the side of the opening with a gloved hand. For a second she held on, and Latimer could only imagine the terror that moved her to resist.

Then she could hold on no longer. She vanished within the opening and the hatch snapped shut with terrible finality. It was as if the onlookers had been spared, then — but the respite was only short lived.

Jenny Li opened radio communication with them and screamed: "Help me! Somebody please help-!"

Then silence.

He had a sudden flashback of Jenny Li, childlike in her red bodysuit, and choked down a sob.

He faced the others, gestured for them to huddle. On their knees, like supplicants, they faced each other and touched helmets.

"What now?" Latimer said.

"She's dead," Emecheta snapped. His voice sounded tinny.

Latimer thought about that in the absolute silence that ensued. Then he said: "I don't think so."

Emecheta: "What?"

"I said, I don't think they'll kill her—"

"So all that fire back then," Emecheta said, "they weren't trying to kill us, Ted?"

"I... I don't think they were. They were trying to separate us. And it worked.  Think about it. They said they wanted Jenny — so why try to kill her?"

Emecheta said: "And now they've got her... the firing's stopped."

"Jesus Christ," Renfrew whispered

"So," Latimer said, "what now?"

Emecheta said: "We go on as before. Down to the core. Burn Central. That's the only way to save her. The only way to save us, too."

Latimer's wrist-com flashed. He realised that the others were being paged, too. He stared at the screen embedded in the arm of his suit.

Renfrew said, staring at her own screen: "Christ, it's Jenny. She's signalling."

Emecheta pulled the softscreen from his sleeve and pasted it to the deck. The knelt, like kids around a board game, as Emecheta jacked the softscreen into his wrist-com.

Seconds later a schematic of the
Dauntless
showed on the 'screen. Emecheta tapped at the key of his wrist-com, and on the schematic of the cross-sectioned decks a bright light flashed. It was moving.

"That's Jenny," Emecheta said.

"Where are they taking her?" Renfrew whispered.

Latimer stared at the schematic, tried to make sense of the labyrinthine complexity of passages and levels. Then he had it.

He hit the 'screen with a gloved forefinger. "There," he said. "The medical bay. There's an op room, a theatre."

Sure enough, the flashing light was heading in that direction.

Latimer said: "So... do we still head for the core, try to blast Central before they start cutting Jenny up?"

Emecheta hesitated. "Hell... we can't just leave her, now that she's signalling..." He indicated the map, effectively taking command. "We're here, top of level fourteen. The op room's back up on level thirteen, what's left of it — beyond the bulkhead. If we find a hatch around here, access the next service tube via the crawlspace, we can get up to level thirteen and the op room, no problem."

"And then?" Latimer asked.

Emecheta hesitated, then said: "There's an observation gallery runs around the theatre. Maybe we can get into that, hit 'em from above."

Latimer glanced though his faceplate at Emecheta and Renfrew. They looked frightened, their faces beaded with sweat.

Renfrew said: "We've got to do it, for Jenny. We've got to try to save her."

Latimer nodded. "We just can't walk away," he said in a small voice.

They regarded the 'screen again. The flashing signal that was Jenny Li had reached the operating theatre.

"Okay," Emecheta said. "Let's do it."

Nine

The Nigerian looked around the deck and indicated a hatch. "There. Wait till I reach it and get inside, then follow me, okay?"

Latimer nodded. He watched as Emecheta flattened himself against the surface of the deck and squirmed across to the hatch like a sniper. He reached it, entered the code, and then pulled himself head-first inside.

Latimer turned to Renfrew. "Now you."

She hit the deck and crawled, gained the hatch and poured herself through the narrow aperture. Latimer looked back over the flange. He saw no sign of movement.

He left the cover of the flange and crawled towards the hatch. Renfrew was waiting just within its neck, and when he reached the lock she pulled him in and slammed the cover shut behind him.

They were in a dusty crawlspace perhaps a metre high. The erratic illumination of dim glow-tubes every three metres showed a layer of pipes and wires sandwiched between the metal plating. Emecheta was already leading the way, flat on his belly, dragging himself along on his elbows. Renfrew followed and Latimer brought up the rear.

Would the AIs second-guess their attempt to rescue their colleague, he wondered? Would they have guards posted around the op room? He tried to shut out the thought.

Up ahead, Renfrew had halted. Beyond her, Emecheta was opening a service hatch. He did so with extreme care, Latimer saw, and peered through. A second later he turned awkwardly in the confines of the crawlspace and gave the thumbs up. He vanished through the hatch, followed by Renfrew.

Latimer came last, his breathing ragged.

They were in a lighted corridor, eerily empty and silent. Emecheta consulted the softscreen and gestured ahead. They followed him to a hatch set flush with the wall. He opened it and stepped through. Latimer looked up and down the length of the corridor, expecting at any second to see a cyborg turn the corner and fire at them.

Renfrew snagged her suit on the opening, backed out and tried again.

Latimer sweated, willing her to hurry.

She squeezed herself through the hatch, lodged a booted foot on the lowest rung of the ladder and began climbing. Almost crying out in relief, Latimer hauled himself through the gap, closed the hatch behind him and climbed.

The ascent seemed to last an age, allowing Latimer time to dwell on the task that lay ahead. How feasible was it that they might effect the rescue of Jenny Li? What chance did they have, attempting to storm the no doubt heavily guarded  op room? The AI's wanted Jenny Li for a purpose, and they would not give up their prize without a fight.

But there was no other alternative, he told himself. For Jenny's sake, they had to attempt to save her.

Renfrew stopped, and Latimer butted her boots with his helmet.

Above them, Emecheta was slowly opening the hatch. He peered out, pulled back his head and signalled AOK back to them. He opened the hatch fully and stepped out. By the time Latimer reached the opening and eased himself through, he realised that he was shaking uncontrollably and sweating so much that the fluid had pooled in his boots.

They were in another empty corridor, and it seemed to him that the very emptiness, the silence, was ominous. They know we're here, he thought. They're waiting for us.

Leading the way, Emecheta crept along the corridor, laser at the ready. Latimer unclipped his own weapon and levelled it at imaginary foe.

From his recollection of the schematic, Latimer guessed that they were very near the theatre now. Around the next bend was a pair of double doors which gave access to the surgical unit.

Emecheta paused, staring at that section of the softscreen wrapped about his forearm. He touched helmets with the others. "There's a service hatch around the corner," he whispered. "We get into it and climb. It gives on to the gallery. Ready your lasers. Okay, after me..."

He crept forward, peered around the corner. He gestured at them to follow. Latimer looked over his shoulder, jumpy. He raised his laser as he followed Renfrew around the bend. Emecheta was entering the code into the hatch. Renfrew was covering the corridor ahead. Latimer turned and raised his weapon, covering their backs.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Renfrew disappear through the opening. He squeezed in after her, quickly closed the hatch behind him, and let out a long breath.

He gathered himself and climbed.

Minutes later Renfrew came to a halt above him. Latimer peered up, past her bulky suit, and watched, his heart thudding painfully, as Emecheta cracked a hatch and squinted though. He closed it immediately and looked down at them, shaking his over-sized helmet in an exaggerated negative.

So the AIs had the gallery covered...

Emecheta gestured for them to continue their ascent.

Latimer climbed. If the gallery was guarded, then what chance did they have of rescuing Li? They could dive in with all lasers blazing, but there were only three of them, against how many AIs and cyborgs?

So where was Emecheta taking them now?

Above him, the Nigerian was opening yet another hatch. He crawled through, Renfrew after him. Latimer followed and found himself in another cramped and dusty crawlspace. They were on all fours, facing each other. They banged helmets.

Emecheta said: "The gallery was crawling with the bastards."

"Was Jenny in the op room?" Renfrew asked.

"Couldn't see over the rail. I'd guess she was, by now. Anyway, they have the place guarded, as if they were expecting us."

"So what now?" Latimer asked.

Emecheta gestured along the crawlspace. "There's an inspection cover further along here. We might be able to see what's going on, see if we have any chance of..."

He let the sentence drift, then turned awkwardly and crawled into the dimness. He came to a halt seconds later and gestured to a panel in the floor of the crawlspace.

Delicately, taking great care, he slid it aside.

A block of light filled the crawlspace, and all three peered through.

~

They were high above the operating theatre, looking down from the ceiling. The blindingly white chamber was packed with cyborgs and AIs and a host of medico-roboids.

They were gathered around an operating frame, suspended in which was a naked Jenny Li.

Around the periphery of the chamber, a dozen armed cyborgs stood guard.

Emecheta slid the hatch across the opening, so that only a thin strip gave view of the horrors taking place below. All three lay on their bellies, applying their faceplates to the strip, and stared down.

They were, it appeared, too late to save Jenny Li from the depredations of the AIs. She was trapped in the suspension frame like a fly in a web; the frame resembled a gyroscope, movable to give surgeons free and easy access to their patient.

They had opened Jenny Li's back, revealing ribs and spine, and were busy implanting jacks down the length of her vertebrae. A dozen roboids swarmed around her trapped body, dipping into the operation with drills and scalpels, as fast and precise as industrial robots manufacturing a piece of machinery. Blood dripped on to the white tiles, the contrast garish and bringing bile to Latimer's throat.

As he watched, the roboids backed off and a cyborg turned the frame so the Jenny Li was on her back. For a brief second, Latimer found it hard to believe what he was seeing.

Jenny Li was still conscious. Her eyes were open, and staring upwards, wide with terror at the knowledge of what was happening to her.

The roboids approached again, with quick whirring implements, and swiftly removed the top of her skull. They inserted implants with deft assurance, one roboid arm following the other in with millimetre accurate precision, while all the while Jenny Li stared in silence, her anaesthetised face straining to give some expression to the terror she was experiencing.

At one point, Latimer was sure that she had seen them, looking down on her. Something like a light of hope showed briefly in her dark eyes, and then was just a quickly extinguished with the realisation of the hopelessness of her situation.

Latimer rolled away from the opening, and Emecheta had obviously had his fill, too. He slid the cover shut and hung his great, helmeted head.

Latimer felt something turn within him, and he thought he was about to vomit. Until now, the thought of Caroline at the mercy of the AIs had been almost an abstract concept — part of him had even clung to the hope that she might somehow have survived their attentions. Now, after what he'd seen them do to Jenny Li, he realised he was kidding himself.

He knew that something very similar had happened to Caroline — something similar, or even worse.

They came together, touched helmets.

It was a while before someone spoke.

Renfrew: "What now?"

"We don't stand a chance," Latimer said. "If we try to save her... did you see those guards? We'd be sitting ducks."

Emecheta said: "So let's get going."

Latimer nodded. He could not banish the image of Jenny Li's staring eyes.

Emecheta examined the softscreen. "There's a service dropshaft ten metres along here. It goes down three levels, all the way to level ten. The we've got to get out and find another chute. Okay?"

"Let's get going," Latimer said.

They followed Emecheta on all fours towards the hatch of the dropshaft, leaving behind them whatever remained of Jenny Li.

Emecheta hauled open the hatch and was about to slide in feet first when Renfrew gestured for them to come together. They touched helmets. "Wait," she said. She was sobbing.

"What?" Emecheta said.

"Jenny..." she wept.

Latimer said, softly: "There's nothing we can do, Serena."

She shook her head. Through her faceplate, Latimer saw that her features were contorted in grief. "We've... we can't just leave her like that—"

"Renfrew," Emecheta snapped. "Pull yourself together, girl. Jenny — the Jenny we knew — is dead. We've got to look after ourselves, now."

Renfrew sobbed. "That's... that's what I mean, you bastard! Don't you understand? Jenny... whatever she is now... she
knows
what we're doing. She knows we're planning to hit Central—"

Latimer said: "Chances are that they guessed our intentions anyway."

"But they didn't know how we were getting there — using the service shafts."

Emecheta said: "Jesus Christ Almighty."

Renfrew choked on a sob, then managed: "We've got to... to..." She broke down. "Don't you see, we'd be putting her out of her misery, too."

Oh, Christ, Latimer thought. He shook his head. "I don't think I could," he began, then went on: "Anyway, if we did kill Jenny we'd be giving our position away."

Emecheta thought about it. "Not necessarily. If one of us used a projectile pistol. They're silent. The AIs wouldn't necessarily know where the shot came from."

Emecheta looked from Renfrew to Latimer. "Any volunteers?"

Silence. After a second, Latimer shook his head and whispered: "I couldn't..." He thought of Caroline, and what she might have become. She would still have life, after a fashion. He said: "Who are we to say that she should die?"

Emecheta snorted. "It's us or them, buddy. Don't forget that. She's got to die." He turned his helmet minimally so that he was staring into Renfrew's faceplate. "Serena, could you pull the trigger?"

A quiet sob, and a slow side to side shake of her helmet.

As they watched, Emecheta slipped his pistol from its holster on his thigh, checked the weapon. They touched helmets again. "Okay, get into the chute. This won't take long." Emecheta turned and made his way back to the sliding panel.

Renfrew climbed through the hatch and descended. Latimer followed her in. He gripped the rung of the ladder, closed his eyes and waited while the Nigerian administered the
coup de grace
.

A minute later he saw movement above him. Emecheta entered the chute, pulling the hatch shut after him. He dropped fast, squeezing past Latimer and then Renfrew, to take his rightful place, leading them down into the bowels of the ship.

As he brushed past him, Emecheta avoided Latimer's questioning gaze.