Point of Origin (War Eternal Book 4) (17 page)

He motioned with his hand, and his crew began pushing the crates over onto the Kemushi.

"Obviously, we need to give you something, or this will look suspicious," Eito said. "The crates are filled with nutrition bars that didn't pass inspection. They're edible, but they taste like shit."

"We can still use them," Ming said.

"You three, follow me," Eito said.

Mitchell turned to Ming. "Thank you, Ming."

"You know how to thank me."

Mitchell bowed to him. Calvin approached Eito.
 

"Show us the way," he said, taking the lead from Mitchell.

Eito led them into the resupply ship. It was a similar size to the Kemushi, but orbital only. It had no hyperspace engines, leaving it more space for cargo. They were in the massive loading space, which was at this point nearly empty.

"I'm going to tell you upfront, this isn't going to be comfortable," Eito said. "To be honest, I'm not even sure you'll survive."

"What do you mean?" Mitchell asked.

"When we land, we'll be inspected by Import to ensure we haven't brought back anything we didn't declare. The only way I can get you past the inspection is in that freezer there." He pointed across to a solid gray box in the corner. "We're bringing back a ton of fresh beef. The real thing. I can tell you; the crew is damn happy about this because we had to do something with the five hundred pounds you'll be replacing. I know Ming wanted to bring four of you, but we can't eat that much before it spoils."

"You want us to ride down in a meat freezer?" Aiko said, looking down at her outfit.

"I can't get you down any other way."

"Did Ming know about this?"

"Yes."

"And he agreed to it?"

"We have to risk it," Mitchell said.

"Anyway, you don't have to go in until we touch down. The inspection takes about thirty minutes. Do your best to stay warm."

"That's easy for you to say," Aiko said. "You're going to be on this side of the freezer door."

"That's the deal. Mr. Tio has already paid, and there are no refunds. You want to go back? The Kemushi is that way." He pointed to the open airlock.

Aiko looked at Mitchell, her eyes pleading. He put his fist to his chest, trying to signal for her to use her fear.

"We're staying," she said, nodding to him.

Eito shrugged. "Ten minutes to finish unloading the shit bars, twenty minutes down to the spaceport. Once the inspection is over and I open the door, I'll get you in one of our vans, and we'll drop you in the center of Mirai. That's the end of our agreement."

"Understood," Calvin said.

 
"I'm going to make sure my crew doesn't frig anything up. Do whatever you want in the meantime."

He wandered off, leaving the three of them standing there.

"I expect you to keep me warm," Aiko said to him.

"I'll do my best."

The ride down to the surface was fine. The thirty minutes in the freezer was some of the worst of Mitchell's life. Considering what he had already been through, and considering the fact that he was pressed tight enough against the front of Aiko that he didn't know where he ended, and she started, it shouldn't have been that bad.

But it was.

The clothes he was wearing were made for the temperate weather of Mirai, not the cold of the freezer. Calvin and Aiko were in the same position, which meant that all of their body heat escaped quickly once they were locked inside. Even holding one another barely made a dent, leaving all three of them shivering within minutes, and painfully numb by the time Eito opened the freezer door.

The minutes felt like hours, and the hours passed like days, but they survived, pulled out of their frozen embrace by Eito's men and quickly wrapped in warm blankets. They sat on the floor of the cargo bay for nearly an hour before they were strong enough to stand and move, at which point Eito led them outside into a bright sun, where a van with the company logo on it waited to deliver them. Between the shock of the cold and the strange familiarity of being on an intact planet again, Mitchell wanted nothing more than to fall to his knees and cry.

He didn't. Instead, the three of them entered the van in silence, each of them experiencing their mixed emotions about being back among a strong population of currently free human beings. Mitchell wondered if they, like him, had wondered whether or not they would ever have had the chance, or if they would ever get the chance again.

"Your stop is coming up," Eito said, looking back over his shoulder.
 

The three of them were huddled in the empty rear of the delivery vehicle, wrapped in the blankets and staying close. Mitchell had his arm around Aiko's shoulders, her head resting against his chest. Calvin was next to her, leaning into her side to catch whatever warmth he could.

Every muscle in Mitchell's body hurt. He imagined the others felt the same. At least the shivering was beginning to lessen, and his extremities had stopped itching and regained some regular feeling. He managed to meet Eito's eye and nod. The Kido employee didn't seem to care one way or another that they had lived.

"Come on," Mitchell said. "We need to start moving, or we're going to fall out of the van."

Calvin lifted his blanket off, using the wall to pull himself to his feet. He was a little shaky. He held out a hand and helped Aiko up, and then Mitchell joined them. He forced himself to move his arms and legs, fingers and toes. He could feel the blood rushing through.

"Let's never do that again," Aiko said.

"Sounds like a plan," Mitchell agreed.
 

He moved forward to stand between the vehicle's seats, looking out at civilization beyond. The streets were busy, crowded with people and a multitude of delivery vehicles, each marked with the name of their business on the sides. Calvin had explained that personal transportation was illegal in the Federation. Only business vehicles and public transportation like buses used the streets and skies. Not only did this approach reduce congestion, but it also afforded the corporations more control of their employees as many provided transportation to their workers.

Tall buildings stood on either side of the thoroughfare, spires of a number of modern architectural designs stretching upward in daring configurations of alloy and carbonate.

"How many people live in Mirai?" he asked.

"Twenty million, give or take," Eito said. "The city also has the highest density of offices and is the home of the Yokohama Exchange. The food is the best on the planet, and in my opinion in the Quadrant, as well."

"Do you have any recommendations on driver services?"

"You want automated or human-piloted?"

"Human. Definitely human. Preferably one without an ARR."

"Hmm... You're one of Mr. Tio's, which means you don't have a receiver. Did he send you with a handheld?"

"No," Calvin said, moving forward. "This was a last minute assignment."

"Aren't they always?"
 

Eito leaned over and opened the storage box between the seats. He dug down to the bottom. As he did, Mitchell noticed an assault pistol resting beneath a pile of old candy wrappers and garbage.

"Here. You can have this one." He pulled out a small, thin device and handed it to him. "It's untraceable."

Mitchell took it, flipping it in his hand. It was a piece of clear carbonate with a small sliver of metal at the bottom. He had no idea how to use it.

"I'll take that," Aiko said, reaching forward. Mitchell passed it over to her.

"Look up HPT," Eito said. "It stands for Human Powered Transportation. They can get you where you want to go, no questions asked. Transportation services aren't liable here on Yokohama."

"Not liable?" Mitchell asked. "So you can kill someone and then hop in a taxi and drive away?"

Eito seemed offended by the suggestion. "If that was your desire, I suppose you could, but the authorities will catch up sooner or later regardless. This isn't the Alliance or the Rim. Crime in the Federation is nearly non-existent. Why would anyone steal anything when the corporations provide for all of us? Besides, over half of the transportation services on Yokohama are automated. How would a machine know that you did something illegal? The laws must be consistent."

"Thank you, Eito-san," Calvin said.

Aiko had already turned on the handheld device. The screen was no longer transparent, and a small hologram floated above it, providing a view similar to that of a p-rat. He could see her navigate to HPT.

The van slowed to a stop.
 

"This is you," Eito said.
 

The back doors swung open, and repulsers lowered the vehicle to the ground. Aiko turned off the device, and the three of them climbed out to the street. As soon as they were clear, the doors closed and the van lifted and rode away.

"Goodbye," Mitchell said to the rear of the fading truck.

"HPT, how can I help you?" a voice said behind him. Mitchell looked for the source, finding the handheld on again, a holographic image of a woman in a suit similar to Calvin's floating between them.

"We just arrived in town," Calvin said. "We'll need a driver for the next forty-eight hours."

"Nonstop?"
 

"Yes."

"What experience level?"

"Very. I also want them to be implant-free."

"It will cost extra."

"That's fine."

"That will be twenty-thousand Federate. Please transmit your routing keys."

Calvin took the card Ming had provided them from his pocket and handed it to Aiko. She tapped it against the handheld.

"Thank you," the receptionist said. She paused. "I'm afraid I can't pinpoint your location."

Mitchell smiled. Untraceable. He liked that.

Aiko scanned the street. "We're in the center of Mirai, outside of the Justice building."

"Very well. A driver will meet you in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," Aiko said. The channel disconnected.

"So," Mitchell said, looking around at the city and still feeling a mixed sense of both relief to be around civilization and impending doom for the same civilization. "Where do we find the Black Hole?"

The driver picked them up almost exactly fifteen minutes later. She was a petite, serious woman with short black hair and opaque glasses that hid her eyes. She wore a fitted black-on-black suit and gloves and didn't get out to guide them through the automatic doors.

She was silent while she waited for them to tell her where they wanted to go.

"Fourteen seventy-five one-hundred-sixty-seventh," Calvin said.

Mitchell thought he saw the driver's eyebrow rise a fraction of an inch. She headed off without comment.

They rode in silence, reaching the destination ten minutes later. The building looked like many of the others - tall, reflective, rich. Mitchell tried not to think about what it would look like once the Tetron fired a plasma stream down on the city.

"Wait three blocks over," Calvin said.

The driver handed a black card back to him. He passed it to Aiko, who tapped it against the handheld. Then they got out of the car.

"None of this is illegal?" Mitchell asked.

"Technically, no," Calvin said. "Like I told you, transportation services can't be held liable, as long as all they do is drive. If she speaks one word, she becomes an accomplice."

"The Federation has strange rules."

"And the Alliance doesn't? You still arrest people for using natural occurring substances that have been proven harmless for centuries."

Mitchell couldn't argue that. "So she knows we're up to something?"

"Whether she does or not, she would treat us the same. Come on."

Mitchell looked at the building. Men and women in ordinary, fashionable suits were entering and exiting. Even so, it didn't look like anything special.
 

"This is the Black Hole?" he asked.

"No," Calvin said. "The Black Hole is across the street."

Mitchell cast his eyes that way. The building across from them was more nondescript than the one they were in front of. A higher volume of people in suits were coming and going from that one, both on foot and in dark cars that stopped in front.