The Syn-En Solution (33 page)

A chill washed down Bei’s spine. For the man to know of the expendability of Faso and company, he must have entered the ship’s mainframe. How long had the son-of-a-bitch been in the CIC? Given that he had a cerebral interface, he wouldn’t need long to download information, especially on Syn-En battle tactics.

Rescuing Nell wouldn’t be easy when the enemy could anticipate Bei’s every move. While he relished the challenge, he would have to discard the
Vade Mecum
and its battle-tested techniques. Of course, the task might be easier if he had an ally in the enemy’s camp. Bei walked to the side of Doc’s bed and waited until his body relaxed. “Were you able to disable Nell’s interface?”

“Can’t.” Sweat matted Doc’s black hair at his temples. “It has grown leads directly into her brain stem. Just probing it stopped her lungs and heart.”

Bei massaged his throbbing temples as fear and anger raged against their containment. If Doc couldn’t remove Nell’s implant, then she could become a threat anytime an enemy hijacked her frequency. Bei sighed, groping for a means to mitigate the danger. One thing replayed over in his mind, abandoning Nell was out of the question. But to let her live among them… “How many times did she die when you went after her interface?”

Doc grimaced. “Twice.”

Bei resisted the urge to slam his fist through the wall. The emotions dampener wasn’t doing its job. What else could go wrong? “How long will she be unconscious?”

Doc’s eyes drifted closed. More and more of his vital signs leveled off in the normal range. “I gave her enough drugs to keep her out for two hours. But if the bastard can access her cerebral interface, he may be able to bring her out earlier. Not something I’d advise.”

“Admiral.” Chief Rome’s voice came over the com system second’s before his face filled half of the screen. “
Starflight
2 is powering engines. Security sweep is reporting sealed bulkheads between them and the shuttle.”

Striding back to the com by the door, Bei checked the
America’s
schematic and overlaid it with the life signs near the docking bay. Twelve unconscious Syn-Ens were piled in a heap just outside of the airlock to the
Starflight
’s docking bay. Nell and the man’s heat signatures registered inside the shuttle. One was in the pilot seat.

The com screen blanked then a tickertape of words scrolled across the bottom of the screen. “Recall your men, Admiral or your ship will face fatal errors and the civilians and little children will suffer.”

Bei gripped the com’s keyboard and folded it in half, shattering the molded plastic. Keys pinged across the polished floor. The homicidal son-on-a-bitch was in the system again. Checking the CIC, Bei found the Dobermans collapsed under the assault of a swarm of rocket-shaped viruses. “You getting this, Chief?”

“Yes.” Chief Rome’s avatar opened a first aid kit inside cyberspace. Disembodied mouths flew out of the white box and gulped the viruses attacking the dogs.

The lights in sick bay dimmed, and another message flashed on the com screen. “Call off the tin soldiers or their deaths will be on your head.”

Bei’s gut clenched. The stranger held the advantage, but only for now. “Tell your men to stand down, Chief.”

“Roger that. Stand down, men.” On the com’s vid screen, Chief Rome worried the cleft in his chin.

Bei switched his attention to the schematic. Algiers and his security team were forcing their way to the airlock.
Starflight
2’s engines registered full power. Bei sent the order to release the docking clamps, before the bastard decided to rip a strip of hull off the
America
to prove his superiority.

Chief Rome’s green eyes narrowed and a muscle ticked in his square jaw. “Acknowledge the order, Lieutenant Algiers.”

The blue colored blips of the five men team paused two bulkheads away from the pile of disabled Syn-Ens. “Aye, Sir. Standing down.”

Chief Rome ran his fingers through his short blond crew cut. “
Starflight
2 is away.”

“Trajectory?” Bei asked as the sick bay’s door opened and two medics hustled over to Doc.

Chief frowned, then the ship’s schematic changed into a chart of the solar system. A dashed line extrapolated from the enemy’s current position, passed six planets and their moons to forecast an end on the fourth planet from the sun. “Terra Dos.”

The knowledge settled uneasily inside Bei with a familiar itching between his shoulder blades. The man made no attempt to mask his destination, which meant only one thing. Traps waited in the millions of kilometers between the Syn-En fleet and Terra Dos.

“All ships cut engines.” Entering cyberspace, Bei made his way to CIC. The Dobermans limped, but kept vigil despite the holes in their pixilated bodies. Telemetry reported all ships had complied with his orders, but the fleet still hurtled toward Terra Dos at eight thousand kilometers per second. Bei withdrew from the WA, choosing to send his orders through the com. “Emergency staff meeting in five minutes.”

Chief Rome’s image disappeared from the screen, leaving only his verbal acknowledgement. “I’ve secured the conference room on deck three. Commander Keyes is implementing a new encryption program so we’ll be able to include the fleet officers.”

Bei consulted the schematic. More of his men had gathered outside
Starflight
2’s abandoned airlock. Not putting it past the bastard to sabotage the sensors, Bei ran a second diagnostic on the hull doors to confirm they were sealed and maintaining pressure. “Security Team you have a green light to retrieve the downed crewmen from the airlock. Sick bay prepare for incoming.”

“Aye, sir.” From behind Bei, Doc cleared his throat. “We’ll check for viruses before bringing them online.”

Bei cleared the com’s screen then headed for the door. “Join us in the conference room when you’ve finished.”

“Aye, sir.” Doc’s voice followed Bei into the hallway.

Cradling his rifle, Chief Rome pushed away from the beige wall, and joined the trek to the elevator at the end of the corridor.

Bei swore under his breath. He didn’t want company at the moment, but short of locking the other man’s armor, he couldn’t find a way out of the escort. “Say what’s on your mind, Chief.”

“Letting her go was the right choice.”

The right choice. Bei shook his head. He’d made the only choice. He hoped Nell didn’t suffer for it. Clasping his hands behind his back, he checked the clock in the WA, counting down Nell and the bastard’s arrival at Terra Dos. One hour thirty-seven minutes. The Syn-En fleet would be longer in coming, especially if they had to overcome traps.

Rome slanted Bei a look. “Of course, we’re not going to let the bastard have her for good. We’re just going to pick the battlefield.”

A fight involved action. Unless the Syn-En found a way around the bastard’s codes, Bei and his strike force would end up statues on the field of engagement. There had to be a way. He sent his command code to the elevator, arranging for it to open so neither of them had to break stride to enter.

“Nell’s a smart woman. She knows we’ll come for her.” Rome leaned against the mirrored wall of the lift as the doors closed.

Bei pressed the three button and the lift glided smoothly up. How could they circumvent technology, when the Syn-En were more machine than man? Boost the defender programs and virus watches? Hadn’t made a bit of difference the last time. So where did that leave him, besides ready to rip off someone’s head? Bei pressed the speaker button on the panel. “Doc, figure out how the bastard sent his code to decommission you, the crew, and Faso.”

“Aye, Admiral,” Doc acknowledged. “I’ll have someone bring me the head of the traitor. Oh and sir, every one of the comatose crewmen has been infected with viruses, Trojans and spybots. I, uh, apparently let them loose when I uploaded my memories of the attack.”

“Understood.” Releasing the button, Bei rocked back on his heels. The transmission would be heard by everyone on the ship. Already, he felt a stirring in cyberspace as his men began to hunt the renegade code and eliminate it. The clever son-of-a-bitch had attacked on two fronts, and tried to turn Bei against his own men. That would not happen.

Rome fiddled with the power switch of his energy rifle, switching it from stun to kill then back again.

The door opened. The overhead lights reflected off the corrugated metal wainscoting and lightened the burgundy paint. More children beamed from the LCDs adorning the wall at regular intervals. Bei moved forward.

Rome delayed their exit by setting his hand on Bei’s arm. “Admiral, if you’re going to do anything stupid…”

Bei smiled before stepping onto the tan carpeted hallway. Leave it to his cohort to ask to go along on a suicide mission. Then again, Bei also knew the chief was a bit nuts. “I’ll be sure to invite you along.”

“If this is about rescuing Nell, sign me up.” Shang’hai rounded the corner. A braid of white fiber optic cables trailed from her short pink hair down her back. She looped her arm through Bei’s as she fell into step. “I don’t want to miss the fun.”

Bearing to the left at the fork in the hallway, Bei spied the faux mahogany panels. His heart beat an irregular tempo before his interface compensated. Once his executive officers heard his news would they still be set on rescuing Nell, or would they demand her termination?

Without betraying his thoughts, he followed Shang’hai and the Chief into the conference room, and then stopped under the arched entrance. A border of carved rosettes topped the six foot tall paneling. Bei ran his hand over the gleaming, polished surface. Real cherry wood.

Chief Rome nudged Bei. “Check out the floor. If that’s not quarried marble from the European Consortium, I’ll eat my fingers.”

Bei glanced down. Black and gold veins infused the glossy white squares. Quarrying marble had been outlawed in 2083. Obviously, the Supreme Council considered themselves above such trifles as the law. “I think your fingers are safe.”

Bei inhaled a steadying breath and detected a hint of leather. His attention focused on the padded, high back chairs and their dark brown upholstery. His fingers sunk into the supple material as he pulled out the chair at the head of the long, oval table. Genuine cowhide, another forbidden luxury. His hands shook with anger. Once this mess was settled, Bei would send pictures of these accommodations back to all of Earth’s news networks and the backdoor codes to all the Council’s private files. Since the citizens viewed the Syn-En as little more than machines, it was apt revenge to turn their trusted machines against them.

Commander Keyes’s curly brown hair bounced as she finished running cables to the block of LCDs at the end of the table and caught Bei’s eye. “Just one last check and we’ll be ready.”

“Admiral.” Amazon Petersburg, captain of the America, walked into the conference room. When she held out her hand, the cuffs of her sky blue air support uniform rode up her thin arms to expose the coppery skin of her wrists. “Nice to have you aboard. On behalf of the fleet, I want you to know we stand ready to retrieve Nell Stafford.”

“Thank you.” Bei shook her hand before gesturing to the seat on his left. If those who had never met Nell offered their lives for her, how would they feel once they met her, heard her laugh or saw her smile? He set his palms on the wooden conference table to steady them.

XO Penig quickly entered and lowered himself into the seat on Bei’s right. Smoothing the fringe of white hair circling his pink scalp, he smiled. “Whatever it takes, we’ll get her back.”

Bei nodded and motioned for the
America’s
remaining three officers to sit, then watched Shang’hai and Commander Keyes take the remaining two chairs. The bank of screens filling the wall at the end of the rectangular room flashed blue then subdivided into quadrants, each filled with the executive staff of the fleet ships.

“Whatever it takes, Admiral,” each officer vowed as he or she signed on with their rank and name.

Chief Rome boosted himself onto the granite countertop of the wet bar to the right of the table. “The civilians are screaming for blood. They want Nell back.”

Bei stared at the five people in the room before facing the camera lens rising from the center of the oval table. “As you know, we’ve been infiltrated by this man. Since we don’t know his name, I’ll call him Bastard.”

Ignoring the keyboard tucked under the mahogany tabletop, Bei entered the WA and retrieved the image from Doc’s memory clip. The spherical holographic projector dropped from a cubbyhole in the ceiling and displayed the man in three dimensions in the middle of the table.

“Bastard has a neural interface and is capable of overcoming our firewalls to incapacitate us. He’s killed before.” Bei brought up the crime scene photos from the
Starflight 1.
The decomposition exaggerated the violence done to the twelve corpses. Revulsion rippled through his men, transforming to anger when the display of Faso’s remains appeared.

XO Penig leaned closer to the hologram. His frown cut deep grooves alongside his mouth. “Didn’t they display heads on poles during the Dark Ages as a warning to others?”

Bei watched the faces of his men as they digested Bastard’s message. He relaxed when resolve settled over their features. The warning had turned into a challenge—one no Syn-En would back down from. Too bad, Bastard had his own allies. “Chief, perhaps you’d like to update us on your investigation.”

Chief Rome slid off the wet bar and paced the space behind Bei. The camera tracked his movements. “From what we’ve discovered, Bastard doesn’t have any synthetic enhancements. Or if he does, they’re biologically based. It’s important to note that none of his victims had defensive wounds. That includes Faso.”

Bei allowed the silence to stretch as each digested the new information. From the chief’s facts to Bei’s deductions was a big leap. Would his men take it? He couldn’t blame them if they didn’t. All he had to back up his theory was gut instinct. If only Bastard hadn’t erased Doc’s scan of Nell’s brain.

If onlys never won the war. Bei drummed his fingers on the tabletop. It was equally unlikely that his ‘proof’ would either. “I have reason to believe that Nell and this man were supposed to be paired together.”