Stone Blade (44 page)

As the man walked away he rubbed what little chin he had. Long ago his father told him that would make it grow; the man smiled at this wisp of memory. By the time he finished the short reminiscence a host of details clicked into place.

The game had just grown more complicated.

***

Robin roused slowly. No beeping alarm meant the weekend and vestiges of horrible nightmares still haunted her. Her mouth and throat, parched beyond belief, had a disgustingly foul taste that exceeded its dryness. That would teach her to drink! The warm light trickling past her eyelids finally dispelled the last of her dreams.

"Awake, my dear?"

Robin's eyes snapped open. The ceiling she saw didn't belong in her apartment and neither did the fancy hangings on the walls. She tried to sit up quickly and managed it slowly. A man sat close to the bed, relaxing in a chair that matched the room and definitely not her apartment!

"Not to worry, darling Robin. The disorientation will pass quickly."

Everett! With that name the past few days snapped back into focus. She tried to back away only to find the wall. He rose, walked to a table and filled an elegant crystal glass from a pitcher no less oppulent. He sat casually on the bed and offered Robin the glass, which she made no move to accept.

"It's only water," he said, smiling, "You may rest assured that I did not go to all the trouble of capturing you only to kill you. If I wished you dead then dead you would be." He took a small sip from the glass. "It's quite safe. I know the mist dried your throat. Come, my darling, you'll feel better for it. When you're ready you shall have a breakfast fit for a queen."

Robin didn't want to take the glass but as he spoke she felt a burning thirst. Her hand shook as she took the glass but she still managed several good swallows. Everett's smile widened. When she fnished he took the glass and set it beside the bed.

"Good, my dear. You see? You can trust me. As promised I've taken care of the small problems troubling you."

"But... Why? What do you want?"

Everett took her hand in his. "You, of course. I truly do have need of someone with your skills. I must say your talent on the net is quite exceptional." He rose. "But enough of that for now. You'll find a fresher there and ample clothes in your closets. Take your time, my dear. We'll save our business for after breakfast."

Once Everett left Robin searched her room thoroughly. She did indeed find a fresher if that simple word suited a room half the size of her apartment dedicated to the purpose. The closets, three of them, contained more clothes than Robin had ever owned. Two massive windows dominated one wall. When she tried them she found them locked. The view they gave was of a forest-backed lake in the medium distance. Closer in she saw a large yard with several fountains, countless flowers, a few outbuildings and a large pool. Nothing about any of it gave a clue to her location.

"Do hurry, my darling," said Everett over the comm, "You won't want your breakfast cold."

Robin considered just staying in the room but dismissed that thought as pure silliness. Everett had her thoroughly caged and her only hope of escape lay in knowledge.

Robin washed her face and hands carefully. To her dismay all the clothes she saw showed entirely too much of her. She finally selected the most modest she could find and dressed quickly.

Outside her door Robin found Aaron waiting. He wore his blaster openly along with an air of...

Aaron examined her closely. She only thought his eyes cold before. Now she knew, for full truth, how a groundrunner must feel under the paralyzing gaze of a bogsnake. The barest hint of a smile touched his lips and when he walked she follwed.

Everett sat at a table in a heavily-windowed alcove overlooking the scene Robin saw before. On the table sat enough food to last Robin a week but something about Everett's mien told her he would discard any leftovers.

"Ahh. You look ravishing, my dear. Why you would hide such beauty escapes me." He rose and held a chair for her. "Do help yourself. You will find the fare here quite good. I believe in nothing less than the best and most exquisite."

Everett sat and filled his plate. Robin took small portions at first but the delicious smells wafting from the various bowls and platters plus her hunger soon had her eating more. Everett nodded with approval and she found the food every milli as good as he said. When she finished her plate he took her hand and led her to a sitting room. He gave her a packet of drugsticks and a lighter, both very expensive.

"Now to our business, my dear."

Robin lit a 'stick casually but focused her attention microscopically on Everett.

"I need someone who can manage data for me," said Everett, "This data is quite varied in its nature and source and I shall need it processed quickly, efficiently and accurately. That, my darling, is something at which you excel."

Robin almost relaxed at this. Only Aaron's presence and his and Everett's actions the previous night kept her guard up.

"B-but why," she asked, "If that's all you need then why did you... I mean..."

"Bring you here," asked Everett with a smile, "It's quite simple. The data I need is protected behind the most sophisticated security. Before you can process it for me you must first acquire it."

Robin swallowed the fear trying to form inside her.

"Y-you want me to steal it?"

"Steal, my dear, is far too ugly a word for such a beautiful mouth. Think of it as retrieval and archiving. Or, perhaps, aggressive offsite backup."

"B-but I'm a data tech. I'm not a burner or a cracker."

Everett rose, walked to her and cupped her chin in his hand.

"Please, my dear. You sell your talents far too short. Of course you are a burner and a very adept one."

"I'm not," said Robin with the beginnings of an idea, "No! I'm not a...."

Robin's head snapped back and spots swam before her eyes as Everett slapped her hard. The side of her face stung and tears formed in her eyes. He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to meet his gaze.

"Do not lie to me, dear Robin," he said mildly, "You will not find that at all pleasant. You are a very adept burner, a cracker, a cryptonixer, dog-stomper and file pirate. Using only openware and apps that you yourself modified or created you broke through the security at Data Secure, Larston Industries, Rofic-Robertson and Capital Interstellar among others. Each of those companies employs young burners, coders and crackers to maintain their security yet you slipped past them as though they were statues. Then, after stealing data from each you managed to hide it so well that neither the CA nor my associates were able to find it."

Everett ran a finger down her face.

"In addition to that, my heart, your efficiency as a data tech is second to none."

Robin realized, with horror, that Everett's fingers traced a scar down her neck. She wanted to flinch away but Everett's gaze held her as solidly as Aaron's.

"You do in one morning," continued Everett as he started another scar, "more than most of your peers do in a full day. Or longer! Your supervisor had you fast-tracked for advancement." His finger stopped. "It is, truly, a pity what happened to him."

"W-what happened?"

"Robin, my sweet, you must learn not to ask questions you don't want answered. Trust me, my darling, you truly do not want to know. Besides, I can offer you horizons he could not even conceive."

Robin considered this before forcing the question out of her mind. Later, perhaps, when this was a bad memory she'd find out.

"Now come along, my dear. Come and see your new toys!"

Everett led her down the hallway to a room near her bedroom. Aaron followed, not visible but certainly felt.

The room had a large window, no doubt with an exquisite view, but Robin felt her attention drawn to the room's contents. On a desk with a comfortable chair sat a terminal several orders of magnitude better than Robin's. Beside it was a fan of dedicated coprocessor cores complete with independent storage and chip burners, all meshed to the main terminal. On and around the desk lay boxes of applications, modules and programs. Robin saw every security program she'd ever used along with every greyware penetration app, or its commercially-available version.

"I trust this is to your liking," smiled Everett, "I've tried to provide adequate tools for your... assignments. If these will not suffice you may download what you will. The net connection here leads to a five-node automated hardwired jumping spline. The pipe is T-alpha, hard-spliced through at least seven anonymous links." He handed her a chip. "Here are your first objectives. Have them done by this evening."

Everett smiled again and left. Aaron settled into a chair beside the door.

A spark of hope blazed up within Robin. She had no doubt Everett would monitor her progress but she felt he himself had little net expertise. With a nervous glance at Aaron she went about installing and configuring warez.

Robin downloaded all her familiar openware apps as a matter of course, including a chat client. Infrequent glances at Aaron showed the man slumping in his chair. She could think of few things more boring than watching someone install software and she acted on that. One of the first things she grabbed was a music browser and now it worked through a long playlist of soft, relaxing tunes. Robin carefully set her encryption tunnel in place and gave Aaron one last look. His eyes were closed and his breathing slow and steady.

'[system]FoxBird is in +UptownCafe+'

Several of the reggies posted huggles and smoochies but Robin had no time for them

"Help me," she typed, "I've been kidnapped and I don't know where i am but you can trace me please notify the cas Im in a lot of trouble and i need your help..."

'{action}FoxBird *huggles* and *smoochies* all her friends.'

Robin watched aghast as those words appeared in place of what she entered.

'{action}FoxBird has a long job ahead of her and I probably won't be here for a while.'

'Thanks, Birdie,' posted BAKBLAST, 'We were worried.'

'Aww... Thanx. gtg! *hugglez* and *smoochies*. Bye.'

The client disconnected from chat and purged itself from memory. The door opened and when Robin turned she saw Everett walk in and Aaron fully awake.

"My dearest Robin," said Everett, "I am so, so disappointed with you. Cyril predicted you'd try this and I thought he was wrong. You really mustn't try to leave me. You have nothing awaiting you but a long time in prison. No excellent food, no net access... Nothing but a waste of your life."

"I'm sorry," said Robin meekly, "I'm sorry! I won't try again."

Robin tried to cling to her chair as Everett and Aaron each took an arm. She struggled vainly as the two men dragged her to the door and into the hallway. Aaron held her arm in a painful lock that only hurt worse when she tried to wriggle out of it. She tried to kick but Aaron ignored it and Everett simply wasn't there.

The first thing Robin saw in the room was a pair of shackles hanging from the ceiling. She struggled harder, screaming and kicking, uncaring of the pain it caused her. With no apparent effort Aaron shackled her and began pulling her upward. When the tension in her body finally silenced her Robin saw Everett standing before her with... something.

"In case you don't know," he said, "this is a nerve lash." He fingered it lovingly. "It has ten settings. The lower ones cause the least pain but you stay conscious longer." He grasped Robin's shirt and ripped it away. "The pain is much more intense on the higher settings but unconsciousness comes more quickly."

Everett's eyes took on an obscene glow.

"Ordinarily, my sweet, I would let you choose your own setting. Since this is your first time..." He set it. Then, using Robin's hair for leverage, he forced her head down and kissed her cheek. "The true pity is that the lash doesn't leave scars. At least not visible ones."

Robin tried as hard as she could not to cry out. Her resolve lasted through the third stroke. Then, with fire and cold and simple pure pain blazing across her back she began to whimper. Then she cried out, then screamed and screamed and screamed...

Finally, mercifully, blackness overcame her.

***

Lorna Gallaway scowled at her terminal. She had all her current cases prepped pending court action so she had some free time. The terminal displayed all data relevant to the Macy case. She had all the notes she made, documents returned from her discovery and the other evidence she'd collected. She firmly believed Macy innocent and her subsequent disappearance simply didn't sum up. LaGrange still hadn't shown up and Railing expressed concern over that. She tried to convince the CA but without success; they simply marked her fugitive and subject to mandatory incarceration upon arrest.

The Personnel office at Durastel was vehement about not hiring Macy. They allowed Gallaway an amazing amount of access to verify it for herself. She had contract numbers and crypcerts for hires starting before and finishing after Macy's claim and she didn't appear on any of them.

Gallaway visited the address Macy gave her and found no Durastel branch there. True, there was an office complex but it was available for rent and had been so for the past three months.

Still not convinced, Gallaway called Richmond Garry, an investigator who had done excellent work for her before. He hadn't yet produced any results but she knew he would find anything findable.

If Macy was innocent she was probably also in a lot of trouble. If not... Few people managed to fool Lorna Gallaway. If Macy belonged on that short list she'd pay the admission dearly!

***

Robin woke curled in her bed. Her shirt still hung in tatters and her back burned with remembered pain. She moved a little and the pain vanished.

"Time to get up."

The voice belonged to Aaron and Robin didn't really want to face the man. Not, it turned out, that she had a choice. Rough hands stripped back the covers.

"I said get up. You still have a lot to do today."

Gathering her shirt as best she could Robin rolled over and made to rise. Aaron gazed at her as he would some interesting animal, or perhaps a slab of meat he planned to cook for dinner. Somehow that made it worse.