Heaven's Fall (22 page)

He retraced his steps back to the side of the hospital, where he had originally exited and spotted the attackers. Yes, there were the other members of the team, in full retreat.

Another Indian guard lay on the pavement—still alive, as far as Zeds could tell. He considered offering medical assistance but rejected the idea; he knew nothing of human physiology and could do nothing for the man.

And his appearance might worsen the guard’s condition. Best to return to the hospital and summon aid.

As quickly as possible, he made his way back through the side door and down the hallway. He could hear noise in the hospital now and saw four Indian guards hurrying past.

“Please!” Zeds shouted.

One of the hurrying men turned toward Zeds and stopped. It was Wing Commander Kaushal, the stout, energetic Indian Air Force leader who, at full height, reached barely to the middle of Zeds’s chest. “What are you doing out here? Are you injured?”

“No,” Zeds said. “Why do you ask that?” Of all the humans he had met since landing, Kaushal seemed the least ill-at-ease. Perhaps it was due to his age or seniority.

The wing commander gestured to Zeds’s midsection. Looking down, the Sentry realized that the front of his e-suit, and his two right arms, were covered in human blood. “I’m not injured. Sentry blood is a different color,” he said. “There is a human outside that door who requires assistance.”

Kaushal spoke, and two of the guards sprinted off in the direction Zeds indicated, leaving one behind. “Come with me, please,” he said to Zeds.

He didn’t wait for comment. Zeds saw no grounds for argument; in any case, he had been on his way back to the chamber.

“Are we under attack?”

“I can’t say at the moment,” Kaushal said. “How did you come to be so bloody?”

“I encountered three attackers,” Zeds said. As they walked, Kaushal’s deputy used a communication device—a cell phone, Zeds realized, something he had always heard about but never actually seen—to listen to reports from around the facility.

“They were human?”

“What else would they be?”

Kaushal ignored the question. “So it was self-defense.”

Zeds didn’t understand what Kaushal meant. “I was simply taking a walk.”

“How did you get out?” Kaushal asked.

Zeds considered several possible responses. A complete answer would require many words, so he settled on, “I opened the door.”

They had just reached the entrance to the isolation chamber. The heavy steel-and-glass door lay tilted against the wall; the hinges and locks were in pieces on the floor.

Kaushal glanced at his deputy, who was wide-eyed. “You had no help from anyone?”

“No.”

Kaushal reached for the door; he couldn’t move it. “You may have to wait a while for us to get you safely put away—”

“Commander,” the deputy said, waving the phone. Zeds chose that moment to march past Kaushal into the chamber. “I don’t need to be put away. I will reseal the door myself.”

To demonstrate, he picked up the heavy door and started moving it back into place.

Kaushal and his deputy backed away. The last Zeds saw of them was their backs.

ISRO PRESS RELEASE

Bangalore, April 14, 2040—The five humans and one Sentry in the crew of spaceship
Adventure
are continuing their adjustment to Earth at an air base in southern India in spite of a power system failure. “A transformer providing power to the hospital where the crew resides overloaded and exploded,” says Mrs. Melani Remilla, ISRO official supervising
Adventure
’s welcome. “It resulted in quite a fireworks display, but fortunately no one was injured.”

The crew will make its first public appearance Saturday at ISRO Headquarters in Bangalore.

Can you believe this bullshit? The Web is filled with reports and images of an attack on Yelahanka Air Base (yes, we know where the crew is being held) in which at least four people were killed. The identity of the attackers isn’t known, but ought to be obvious.

Pray for this crew, that somehow they can get free of ISRO.

COLIN EDGELY TO THE KETTERING GROUP,
APRIL 14, 2040

“They’re calling it green on green,” Taj Radhakrishnan said.

“What does that mean?” Pav said. Rachel noted that her husband was no longer hiding his impatience, not even from his father.

“The attackers were Indian Air Force,” Wing Commander Kaushal said. “At least six of them. Three were killed, three got away.”

With the exception of Yahvi—Rachel desperately wanted to shelter her daughter from this discussion—they were all in the conference room. Rachel and Pav, Xavier. Zeds on the video link. (Rachel had visited Zeds earlier and been horrified to learn that the Sentry had been part of the firefight.) Taj doing the briefing, Tea sitting next to him.

Next to Tea was Mrs. Remilla, and next to her, Edgar Chang. The gent was now a permanent part of their “team.” Also present were Wing Commander Kaushal and his deputy.

“You’re certain they were Indian Air Force?” Xavier said.

Kaushal answered: “They were carrying military ID. They were stationed on this base—”

“And you’re fine with that?” Xavier snapped.

Kaushal sat up as straight as he could. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Our attackers wore the same uniform you do! And don’t pretend you’ve been Mr. Helpful so far—”

Now Kaushal stood up. “If you’re suggesting that I had any role in this—”

“Commander!” Remilla said. She was literally out of her chair, her hand on the Indian counselor’s forearm. “No one is suggesting complicity.” She shot a look at Xavier that, to Rachel, clearly meant,
You’d better
not
be suggesting complicity!

In the calm that descended on the room, Pav said, “Do we have any idea what this was all about? What was the mission?

“Isn’t that obvious?” Rachel said. She was pleased that Pav was acting as the voice of reason. That had never been her role. “They were coming to kill us all.”

“Or take you prisoner,” Kaushal said.

“These soldiers?” Taj said. “Not a chance. They were assassins.”

Now Remilla spoke. “Your landing has stirred . . . religious anxieties.”

“This goes beyond anxieties,” Rachel said.

“Then let’s say hatred—the equivalent of a fatwa, if you know what that is.”

But here Zeds spoke for the first time. “I would appreciate clarification.”

So Remilla explained the meaning of
fatwa
, an Islamic term ordering the faithful to kill an infidel for sins against the faith. “Do you have any evidence that it was Muslims?” Xavier said.

“None,” Remilla said, after a nonverbal consultation with Kaushal, who added, “Nor is it Hindi or Christian. But realize that the, ah, religious environment has changed considerably since 2019. There are new movements like Transformational Human Evolution, and new movements like THE tend to be quite sensitive—”

“And aligned with the powers that rule the Free Nations,” Edgar Chang said, opening his mouth for the first time. “This has all the signs of an Aggregate operation—using disgruntled or mercenary soldiers as surrogates.” He turned to Rachel and Pav. “They are the ones who shot at your spaceship.”

“That would have been my first guess,” Xavier said. Of all those in
Adventure
’s crew, he was the most obviously terrified of the Reivers and saw their motives behind every action.

Not that, in Rachel’s opinion, he was unduly paranoid in this case—

“We have no proof of that, Mr. Chang,” Remilla said.

“We’ll never have
proof
, Mrs. Remilla.”

“Whoever did it,” Rachel said, “it’s done, and it’s shown us that we aren’t safe here.”

“What could be safer than a military base?” Kaushal said.

“We’d like to find out,” Pav said.

“Look,” Rachel said, “our original plan was to move off-base within forty-eight hours. We extended that because of Sanjay’s condition. It seems that we should go back to that plan.”

Now Tea spoke. “And go where?”

“Downtown Bangalore,” Xavier said. “Some ritzy hotel where, if nothing else, it costs more to bribe the help than it does here.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Pav snapped.

And Kaushal was about to explode again. “They may have worn the uniform, but those were not my men!”

“Everyone!” Rachel said. “We understand, and shut up,” she said, looking at Kaushal, then at Xavier—who was fortunately the kind of person who could be so addressed. “We need to move to a more isolated base, or a ranch of some kind, preferably in another city. Or even another country.”

“You can’t still be thinking about the U.S.!” Kaushal said. “Even if you could sneak in, that entire country will be hostile.”

“What about China?” Tea said. The mention of that name caused Remilla to flinch, too. “I know they’re your big enemy these days, but they have strict control over their populace—”

“Or so they like to claim,” Remilla said.

“I have contacts in China,” Chang said, smiling and spreading his hands in acknowledgment of his surname and ethnic background. “My companies can’t operate without that market.” He turned to Remilla and Kaushal. “And I can tell you that a horror like last night’s attack could not occur there, not if Rachel and the others were sequestered at a military base.

“To be honest, though, it would be extremely difficult to place you on such a base. The most likely—”

“Let’s be thinking quickest, too,” Rachel said.

“—likely and quickest option would be to get you to a city like Shanghai, into some luxury hotel complex where my media work can commence—”

“And the money can begin to flow,” Xavier said.

Rachel saw no better option. “Can you get us out of here tonight?”

“By early morning . . .” Chang frowned. “I don’t want to promise what I can’t deliver.”

“Then please arrange for an early-morning departure,” Rachel said, looking toward Pav, then Xavier, then Zeds, and finally Tea and Taj. The humans indicated their acceptance of the plan with nods. Zeds clapped all four hands, which meant the same thing.

Chang cleared his throat. “How many of you will be going?”

Rachel turned to Kaushal. “Sanjay still can’t be moved?”

“Under no circumstances!” the commander said. “Moving him would jeopardize his recovery.”

“In that case,” Rachel said, turning back to Chang, “it’s the five of us.”

“We’re just going to
leave
him?” That was Yahvi, speaking for the first time. Yahvi had found the weakest spot in Rachel’s argument. She didn’t know whether to hug her daughter for displaying empathy and courage, or tell her to shut up and listen.

“Yes. He’s better off here than on the road—”

Pav weighed in. “And we have to move. It’s clear we are no longer safe here.” He looked at Remilla and Kaushal, as if daring them to argue. They remained silent.

Not Yahvi, however. “What if they come after him again?”

“We can put out a story,” Chang said, “let people think he’s been moved elsewhere.”

“We’re going to have to put out a whole bunch of stories,” Rachel said.

Chang stood up. “Which means I have a lot of work to do.”

Before he could exit, Taj caught him by the arm. “One moment.” He turned to his granddaughter. “Yahvi, I will take personal responsibility for Sanjay’s care—”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Pav said.

“Yeah, Husband,” Tea said. “What about it?”

Taj looked at his son, then at his wife. “Tea will go with you. She and I will be in constant communication.” He glanced at Chang. “Someone needs to coordinate the travel, and I have the most experience.”

“More than I do,” Chang said, sounding grateful.

“I can help, too,” Pav said. “With Zeds.”

“It would have been
nice
to be in communication prior to the announcement of your decision,” Tea told Taj, with an edge in her voice that Rachel knew well.

She realized she had to play peacemaker for the various factions. “Tea, I know Taj would have talked this over, but this just came up, right?” Taj nodded.

“It’s settled then,” Rachel said. “We move tomorrow morning.” She pointed to Xavier. “We need to deal with the cargo, too.”

She was glad to have something practical to do, because if she allowed herself to consider the odds against the
Adventure
crew right now, she would probably curl up in a panicked ball.

Day Three

SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2040