Killswitch (6 page)

Anita rolled her eyes. "It's still true, and you know it."

"But he's still technically responsible for ..." and Vanessa paused, knowing from experience the value of being a little wary, bringing up such matters around Sandy, ". . . well, for you. And Rhi. Right?"

Sandy shrugged. "Sure. Technically."

"And that's where Ari is now, meeting Takawashi?" Vanessa, on emotional issues, had somewhere along the line acquired the disconcerting ability to read her like a book.

Sandy sighed. "He got an invite. He always gets an invite."

"And how is it," Vanessa wanted to know, "that I'm not hearing about the head of the League's advanced GI neurology research being in Callay all over the news networks?"

"Because the League generally says that everyone was involved in synthetic biology development. It's their way of challenging Federation ideology-if you want access to League technology and trade, you've gotta do business with people connected to GI development."

"Major Ramoja told me that the Callayan media have been saturated with those stories," Rhian added. "You know-League trade delegations arriving that include scientists or industrialists who were involved with the League war machine. There were a lot of protests at first, but now people are getting tired of it, and the media don't bother reporting it. He said."

"Damn," said Vanessa, looking thoughtful. Sipped on her drink, eyes momentarily distant. "I bet the Fleet noticed. Admiral Duong in particular."

"No question," said Sandy. "And I bet Cognizant Systems have some pretty senior arms to twist if they could get approval from the government right now, with everything else that's going on."

CHAPTER THREE

andy awoke in her bed to find the house security network telling her that Ari was entering the side door. She uplinked to a camera, and a clear visual image of the lower corridor appeared upon her internal vision. It was definitely Ari, long black coat and all. Three in the morning-usual operating hours for Ari. She extended the uplinks further as she lay comfortably beneath the covers, and let the broad expanse of the Canas-network rush in upon her sleepy consciousness. Impenetrable multilayer barriers, constant monitoring ... everything looked secure. In the Presidential hacienda not too far from here, President Neiland would be sleeping ... or working late, or meeting with various other Federation world leaders. Asking for support. Begging for it.

Ari's footsteps ascended the stairs outside her door, then the door opened. Sandy bothered to open her eyes for the first time, and found his dark figure moving across the dimly lit room. Streetlight created a small patch upon the smooth floorboards. Brick walls and wooden bookshelves showed dimly in normal-vision. Pictures on shelves and the desk. Pictures of herself and Vanessa. Of Rhian, swimming with two of Vanessa's nephews. Of herself and Ari, at the surprise party his underground friends had thrown downstairs, many laughing faces. And one Rhian had found in a search through a League database, of Mahud, in uniform, looking cool and handsome. Her gaze lingered upon that frame for a moment, vision zooming and brightening to make the features come clear.

"Parliament went well?" Ari asked her as he took off his clothes. Not bothering to ask if she was awake.

"Like you didn't already know," she replied, in a sleepy murmur.

"Well, you're only number three on the news bulletins," said Ari. "You didn't cause another scandal and you saved that damn-fool President from getting herself blown up, so I'd say you had a pretty good day."

"I'll be the judge of that," Sandy said with a faint smile. "And what do you mean another scandal?"

Ari shrugged. "Habitual phrasing. I apologise."

"My very existence is one big scandal."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," said Ari, removing the last of his clothes and sliding under the covers. He moved immediately on top of her, a warm, welcome presence of bare skin and body weight.

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm just ..." Ari silenced her with a kiss on the lips. Sandy returned it, passionately. And smiled at him as he pulled back enough to look her in the eyes, the tip of his nose barely brushing hers. His intelligent dark eyes were fixed upon her. His jaw, she noticed, was dark with stubble. She brushed at it with one hand, and found it unusually scratchy. So he'd been busy then. The Ari she knew was normally far more attentive to matters of personal grooming. "What did I do to deserve this treat?" she asked him.

"Being gorgeous, as usual. That's all." He kissed her again. They made love, lingeringly. Perhaps even more lingeringly than usual, Sandy managed to reckon, in the spare, fleeting moment of sanity that was all she could usually muster at such moments. There was an earnestness about Ari tonight that she found wonderful, and she was determined to enjoy it. She contented herself with letting him take charge for as long as possible, before finally the strain and tension became too much, and she had to lock her hands hard to the mattress, and brace her legs apart for fear of doing him damage. She alerted him, and he paused to let her roll over. They finished with him on her back, which was much safer, her face pressed gasping to the mattress as she unlocked her clenched fists one at a time, and hoped she hadn't torn the sheets again. Ari nuzzled at her ear, affectionately.

"The back of your head is really a ... a lovely view," he offered in a low voice, with typical off-handed humour, "but your eyes are really much nicer ..."

"We'll buy a mirror," Sandy offered, half-muffled against the mattress.

"Kinky, but inconvenient."

"Forget it, Ari," she told him, "I'm not going to risk it. This is the one moment I really do lose control. It's dangerous, do you understand me?"

"I trust you." He brushed hair away from her cheek, and kissed her there.

"Then you're a fool. I don't trust me, not then. You're just a thrillseeker."

"I'm not a thrill-seeker, I'd just appreciate the pleasure of once being able to look my lover in the eyes when she comes."

"It could be the last thing you'll ever see."

"Sure, but how romantic is that?"

He ran a hand along her shoulder, feeling the receding tension in the muscle, a gathering, tingling softness. It genuinely didn't seem to bother him. Sleeping with a GI, one of her CDF comrades had less than charitably observed, was like sleeping with a hydraulic alloy press. A malfunctioning one, with a hair-trigger.

She rolled over, easing him off to one side. Ari surprised her by climbing straight back on, kissing her gently. But she was pleased, and more so when he entered her once more.

"Ari," she managed to gasp in his ear, "what's the matter?"

"What do you mean? You think because I happen to feel like making love to you that something's the matter?"

"You normally fall asleep or go straight out again," she replied, trying to think rationally. Something in her brain chemistry made that difficult, at such moments-although Vanessa professed that she was hardly a sim-tech scientist herself during sex. Ari's body moved wonderfully against her, and she gasped, wrapping her legs reflexively about him.

"Not tonight," he murmured, running a hand through her hair, then kissing down her neck. She tried to breathe evenly, thinking that it was probably nothing more than he was feeling horny ... which suited her fine because so was she. But it had been so hectic lately, especially for someone in Ari's line of work.

"Ari." She took his head in both hands-gently, but in a way that gave him little choice but to pause, and look her in the eyes. She made her gaze as firm as possible. "You found something, didn't you? Something concerning me?"

Ari sighed. Cocked his head on one side to gaze at her, with reluctant admiration for her deduction. "I didn't want to tell you straight up," he conceded.

"You wanted to soften me up first?" With affectionate humour. "Well, it worked."

He kissed her again. Ari was a good kisser. Not a great kisser, perhaps, but what he lacked in sophisticated technique, he made up in honest appreciation. Then he rested his forehead against hers, and sighed.

"Sandy, someone's trying to kill you." She nearly laughed. Ari registered her mirthful restraint, and frowned. "Sandy, I'm serious, this is nothing to laugh about."

"Ari, someone's been trying to kill me from the moment I arrived on Callay."

"This is different!" His eyes were very earnest, and somewhat frustrated at her evident lack of common sense. Her humour faded somewhat. She cocked her head on one side, and gave him a reluctant look, daring him to alarm her. Ari's expression grew even more frustrated. "I don't know who it is! It's not that kind of information, it's -"

"Hearsay."

"No, it's not hearsay ... or, okay yes, maybe it is hearsay, but it's damn good hearsay! Sandy, my source was very specific. The threat comes from inside the government, Sandy ..." Sandy rolled her eyes with tired exasperation. "No, don't ... don't do that thing with the eyes, you're not listening to me."

"Ari, how many times have you warned me that President Neiland wants to get rid of me?"

"I ... I didn't say that at all! I said that you're fast becoming a political liability to her and she'll come under tremendous pressure to get rid of you one way or the other."

"It's the same thing, Am" She took his face in her hands. "I appreciate the concern, seriously I do, but face facts-you just don't like Neiland. She's not going to get rid of me. She's my friend."

"Sandy." He removed her hands with determination, and fixed her with a very firm stare. "If your beloved President has to choose between forging a new alliance to complete the relocation, or saving your neck, which do you think she'll choose?"

Sandy gazed up at him defiantly. "What, you think my removal will be a precondition? Like the rest of the Federation doesn't have important things to worry about?"

"You're the public face, Sandy! It's ... damn, it's never been about what you actually are, it's always been about what you represent!" Searching her eyes for some small sign that she'd understood, and was going to take his concerns seriously. "Look, at least tell me you'll be careful. All right?"

"I'm always careful."

"Sandy ..."

"Okay, okay." She held up both hands in defeat, somewhat amused at his persistence. "I'll be careful. I'll be such a political cynic, I'll make you proud." And she rolled him over with an effortless twist, positioning herself comfortably on top. "You're adorable when you're worried about me," she told him. And kissed him on the lips. He didn't respond. Sandy sighed. "There's more, isn't there?"

"There's a killswitch."

Sandy frowned at him, not understanding. "A killswitch? What about a killswitch?"

Ari gazed up at her for a long moment. His expression was more than reluctant. As if this were something he'd seriously, seriously not wanted to have to tell her. Watching him, Sandy felt the first stirrings of genuine trepidation. Ari put both hands on her bare hips. Ran them over that pronounced curve to her waist, then up her sides and over her shoulders. The thumb of his right hand pressed firmly on the bone behind her left ear, fingers beneath her hair upon the very top of her upper vertebra, hard under the rear of her skull. Right where the insert implants were-small nodules of artificial resistance beneath his fingers. The fingers moved two centimetres to one side, and stopped.

"Right there," said Ari, quietly. "Fused to the brainstem. Triggered by some kind of attack code. Killswitch."

Sandy stared down at him, slowly growing cold all over. At first, she didn't believe it. But the look in An's eyes triggered doubts and suspicions of her own, long harboured but mostly ignored until now due to a lack of solid evidence. She didn't always trust An's political hunches, because she reckoned An's own obvious political biases usually got in the way. But where technology was concerned, he was deadly objective, every time. Particularly when that technology concerned her, and how she functioned.

"Oh no," she said, disbelievingly. Then, with a surging, profound frustration, "Oh no. How fucking dare they?"

"Sandy, come here." Ari put both hands on her shoulders and tried to pull her into a comforting embrace. Sandy resisted effortlessly, arms braced hard upon the mattress either side of him.

"Who told you?" she demanded, fixing him with a stare that would have turned most straights to jelly. Ari looked pained, but for an entirely different reason.

"Reliable sources," he said apologetically.

"It was someone at that fucking Cognizant Systems party, wasn't it? Who? A League engineer? Someone who worked on the advanced GI projects?"

"I'm sorry, Sandy, I really can't say. It's not in your operational brief as CDF second-in-command. I was actually working there, you know, it's not just a junket. I maintain sources and do research." Ari looked very concerned. Well, she supposed that was understandable. Given that the affectionate, beautiful, naked woman on top of him had suddenly transformed into an angry, eyes-blazing, steely limbed monster on his lap, arms braced like a cat ready to pounce.

"Shit," she said with that realisation, and sprang from the bed. She paced for a moment in the cool air, bare feet on the floorboards, hands on her hips and trying to get her head back into some kind of order. Ari sat upright in bed, pulling the bedcovers up to his waist, watching her with continuing concern. She pulled loose hair back from her face with both hands. "What else do you know about it?"

"Nothing," said Ari. "I've been trying to find out. But I don't know what codes you should watch for ... I reckoned you'd know better than me anyhow."

"I don't suppose we can remove it?"

"No, it's ... it's right in the spinal cord, Sandy. Inside the vertebrae. Maybe ... maybe if some of the doctors took a look at it, they could find a way to neutralise it, or ... or something, I don't know. But you know how good League tech is, that's why no one ever spotted it without knowing what to look for."

"It's not survivable?" Knowing better than to even ask. But she had to be sure.

"It'll fry the whole brainstem, Sandy." And then, somewhat cautiously, "You've never seen it used, then?"

"No." She stood still upon the floor, gazing through the gap between curtains and wall, where the street lighting fell upon the balcony beyond. Green tree-fronds swayed in a gentle night breeze, glistening with recent rain. The night air was cool upon her bare skin. She folded her arms. "No, not with us little obedient goody-two-shoes. Oh shit!" As another thought struck her, and she clutched both hands to her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "Now I know why they did that ... shit, shit, shit!"

"Did what?"

"Oh ... just a Dark Star file I broke into while I was there, warning of precautionary measures in case a GI commander went crazy. Shots to the head, that kind of thing. But nothing for me. No procedure. I guess the solution was too obvious." She looked sideways at Ari, sitting upright in bed. Watching her. "What about Rhian?"