Jed M Bidwell wrote:
She awoke in the total blackness, chest tight with the fear of things
unknown, yet so familiar. Cold sweat covered her body, the thin material of
the thing they laughingly called clothing clinging to her damp skin. A war
Yuri's clothes aren't that funny.
raged in her mind, fear and confusion roaring about like volleys of proton
fire in the confines of her head.
//I am Yuri,\\ she thought, clinging to that one certainty for dear life.
//My name is Yuri.\\ That one truth was all that seemed real. In her sleep,
the images of another life invaded her dreams. Images of her and Kei in a
ship, a man behind a desk, a big red cat... images that felt so real yet so
strange. With the dreams came the pain, as though her mind were trying to
reject something. Then the humiliation as she recalled awakening, clad in
practically nothing, unable to fight them no matter how desperately she
wanted to as they... they... She nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt
the arms encircle her gently from behind. Her heart began to race faster for
a moment before the figure spoke.
"It's okay, Yuri," Kei's voice said from out of the void. "I'm here." Her
voice soothed Yuri's frayed nerves as her emotions began to settle somewhat.
Her hands found Kei's, rustling the chain on the manacles that they wore
every day and night, and locked around them, trying to draw strength from
her friend.
"What's happening to us, Kei?" she asked in a shaky voice. Kei had
confessed to having the dreams as well, though not as severe. It had all
started four days ago, and had steadily gotten worse. "Are we losing our minds?"
"I don't know, kid," Kei said in a tired voice. "I just don't know." Yuri's
focus began to fade as her eyelids became intolerably heavy. Finally, she
succumbed to the depths of sleep.
=========================================
"What the hell is going on!" Dieter Venkner screamed, causing the techs in
the room to cringe in fear of his terrible temper. The well-lit room was
filled with computer equipment of all kinds, monitors of varying sizes
showing images from all over the compound of the Schloss Venkner.
Well, moron, if you separated them you wouldn't have so many problems.
A low, almost subliminal, hum permeated the room of the Schloss' Control
Center. Every vital security function was routed through it, cameras, motion
and pressure sensors, and bio scanners among sundry other things. On several
of the monitors lining the walls were images of the other women Dieter had
in his "stable" as he so called it. They were asleep, many crying in their
slumber. On the large monitor in the center of the back wall was the image
of his two newest, and most profitable, acquisitions; the Dirty Pair themselves.
"Vital signs are stabilizing," one of the techs announced. "The
nanomachines have introduced the sedatives into their bloodstream as
programmed."
"At least THOSE are working right," Dieter snarled as he glared at the
image of the two, fast asleep with Kei's arms still around Yuri. The thin
garments the two wore left nothing to the imagination, a fact that many of
his clients appreciated.
"It seems that they are now trying to reject the program," another tech
said, a small man with tousled brwon hair and a few days worth of stubble on
"brown"
his face.
"And why, pray tell, is that?" Dieter growled. The tech gulped audibly
before summoning up the courage to answer.
"Well, sir, they ARE Luciens," the tech said, quivering as he spoke. "There
was no guarantee that the program would remain rooted in their minds, if it
even took root at all."
"I see," Dieter said in a somewhat resasonable tone. "And what are we
planning to do about this?"
"Well, sir," the technician answered, "We have a patch that will keep the
program from crashing, but we have no idea how long its effectiveness will
last."
"We can't keep relying on patches," Dieter said in that same tone.
"I realize that, sir," the technician replied, "we are currently upgrading
the program to increase its effectiveness."
"How far along are you?" Dieter asked.
"About seventy-five percent. It should be ready inside another two or three
weeks."
"You have one week," Dieter said in a voice like ice. Not bothering to stay
for the inevitable complaint that such was not possible, Dieter Venkner
turned and left the Control Room. They would finish inside the week, or they
would all be terminated.
Another incompetent master villain, who kills his flunkies before he has anyone
better.
=====================================
"Okay, Mason," Ryozo said, "something's fishy here." Flight 788 to Sigma
III was filled only to half capacity, the small commuter ship only carrying
seventy-five people. They were mainly business travellers, men and women in
suits going over various business documents.
"You're telling me?" Mason said as he adjusted his frame in the small gray
airliner seat. The chair wasn't exactly the model of comfort, but that was
the price of flying coach.
"Okay, what do we know?" Ryozo asked. "Maybe there's a clue that we missed."
"The Dirty Pair..."
"Kei and Yuri," Ryozo said. Mason scowled slightly at the younger man.
Dirty Pair, Lovely Angels, Kei and Yuri, it was all semantic nonsense.
"Kei and Yuri," he snarled, "were investigating Morn Pharmaceuticals after
an allegation that the corp had been runing illegal biotech experiments.
Then, they disappeared."
"Which would mean that they got close to something, and that someone got a
bit antsy," Ryozo said.
"But who, and what did they find?" Mason asked.
"No idea," Ryozo replied. "There's also the matter of just how they managed
to get Kei and Yuri."
"True." Mason was well acquainted with the Dirty Pair's reputation, haiving
"having"
seen the results of their investigations once or twice. Whoever had managed
to kill them had to have an entire army at his disposal, complete with
reserve stocks. Nothing ever happened quietly with those two, it just wasn't
in their makeup.
"Also, where are they being held?" Ryozo asked.
Mason only sighed in exasperation. He'd had a feeling that the kid was
still green, but not THIS naieve. "Use your head, kid," Mason said, "Do you
"naive"
honestly think they're still alive?"
"There's no reason to think they're dead!" Ryozo said hotly, distrubing the
couple occupying seats across the aisle. Mason flashed them a cold look,
which caused the couple to immediately return to their laptops.
Mason nearly said something to him, but instead let the subject drop. Now
wasn't the time to school him on common sense. He'd either learn it on his
own, or he'd end up dead.
"What are you doing?" he asked when Ryozo produced his own laptop and
plugged it into the dataport of the seat before him.
"Some research," Ryozo said, a hint of anger still in his voice. "It's time
we stopped chasing out tails and checked out Morn Pharmaceuticals."
Mason watched the small monitor as Ryozo logged onto the UG network.
Looking at the small padd in his left hand, he accessed the 3WA archives.
After passing the password check, the search engine for the archive popped
up on the screen.
//Not even sworn in, and he already has access to the archives?\\ Mason
thought in mild surprise. A lot had changed since he had pulled time in 3WA.
At times, he still wondered what force had led him down the path he took
from Touble Consultant to commando and field spook for United Galactica.
"AJ Development?" Ryozo asked as the result popped up onto the screen.
"AJ Development," Mason muttered, his mind forming a few tentative
connections. The name was definitely familiar, something about some biotech
research that 3WA stumbled upon.
"According to the records," Ryozo said, "Kei and Yuri were sent to the
planet Ukbar on request by one Connie Brighten to safeguard a little girl
named Misuni. As for why, it's been clasified, but I doubt it was just to
"classified"
babysit."
"She was a telepath," Mason said as the realization hit him. The details of
the AJ Development case came rushing back from the depths of his memory as
he read on. "UG was definitely interested in a case of natural telepathy.
It's not every day you find a mind reader."
"And just how do you know?" Ryozo asked, looking at him with a critical
expression.
"Let's just say that I do and leave it at that," Mason said cooly. "Now,
"coolly"
what's connecting all this to Morn Pharamceuticals?"
"We have the Lovely Angels," Ryozo said, "and biotech research. Pretty thin
connection of you ask me."
"There has to be more than what we're seeing," Mason said with an intense
stare at the laptop's screen, "otherwise this wouldn't have come up."
"I'll run a check on AJ Development," Ryozo said, ordering the search
engine to cross-reference AJ Development and Morn Pharmaceuticals. The
computer processed for a few moments as the search engine went all over 3WA
Archives for the requested intel. After what seemed like an eternity, which
was in reality not even a minute, the search engine returned with a complete
corporate tree for AJ Development.
"Well, Olan Garcia had his fingers in a lot of pies," Ryozo commented as he
looked over all the subsidiary companies that answered to AJ. They
represented a vast range of interests from computer software to...
"Pharmaceuticals," Mason said as they found Morn's label on the tree. "When
Olan Garcia was killed, along with the population of Ukbar, the parent
company went under in a hurry. These others were left to fend for themselves."
Activating the next option on the screen, the current status of all AJ
Development's subsidiaries appeared on the screen. Many of them had gone
bankrupt soon after AJ did, with only a handful that managed to keep their
heads above water.
"Well, Mason," Ryozo said with a touch of excitement, "I think we just
found our connection."
"It would seem so," he said noncomittaly. While a connection had been
"noncomittally"
established, it didn't answer any of the burning questions. However, any
information was better than none. As a wise man once said, "There is no
knowledge that is not power."
Of course some of it is really unimportant power.
"I think we should start re-tracing kei and Yuri's steps once we get to
"Kei"
Sigma III," Ryozo said after shutting down the computer.
"Sounds like a plan," Mason said, revising his opinion of the kid. He may
be green, but he did seem to have a decent head on his shoulders after all.
He only hoped that Ryozo would keep it.
=================================================
"They're alive," Agito Makashima said to the man standing opposite his
desk. The office was simple and spacious, the large oak desk the main piece
of furniture in the room. On both sides of the picture window behind him
were two potted trees, their leaves green and full in the sunshine.
Recessed into a wall was a monitor that displayed an image of the Dirty
Pair, chained by their wrists to a ceiling pipe in what looked to be a dank
cellar.
"Explain," he said to the man. Agito was not very tolerant of failure.
Clyde Moore would have to produce a damn good reason in order to save his skin.
"It would appear that Horace has betrayed us," Clyde said as he turned to
face Agito. His black hair fell to his shoulders, a pitch goatee working
with his intense stare to give him an almost devilish image. "I take it the
vid isn't a fake?"
"I had our technicians go over it with a fine tooth comb," Agito replied
cooly, "it is definitely genuine."
"I believe we should have a conversation with Horace," Clyde said in his
most professional tone.
"Do not state the obvious, Clyde," Agito snapped. "Just tell me what you
plan to do about it!"
"Being that I just learned of this," Clyde said, "I have no concrete plan
as of yet. However, I will set to work on this as soon as possible."
"Do not be sarcastic with me," Agito warned, "Just fix this. Now."
"Yes, sir," Clyde said, turning on his heel and striding out of the office.
Once outside, he allowed himself to vent some of his anger, striking a
nearby wall with savage force.
Rubbing his throbbing knuckles, he started walking down the plush carpeted
hall. the thic material beneath his feet muted his footfalls, halogen lights
"The thick"
in the ceiling casting a soft glow on the walls and floor. He never liked
that Makashima, something about the man just rubbed Clyde the wrong way.
The Dirty Pair were still alive, and that was unacceptable. They were a
loose end that needed to be cut off, and soon.
==============================================
"So this is Sigma III," Ryozo remarked as he and Mason left the spaceport
terminal to the waiting street beyond. The sky was slate grey, the air damp
from the frequent rains that pelted the planet's surface frequently. The
cloud cover only managed to break one or twice every month for a day or so,
earning Sigma III the handle "Waterworld".
The skyscrapers that lined the wet streets were the same gunmetal shade of
"as"
the sky, color seeming to be a foreign concept on Sigma's third planet. In
fact, the only colors they could find were those of the rainslickers and
umbrellas everyone seemed to be carrying.
Bags in hand, Mason and Ryozo turned left for the rental car parking lot.
They travelled light, Mason carrying a bag and a small black case while
Ryozo had a small suitcase and his flat-toned cylinder which Mason noticed
Your cylinder needs tuning.
he seemed to almost cradle.
A few minutes of walking brought them to a small black compact, a ground
model car just large enough to fit the two of them comfortably. The car's
body, like that of nearly every other car in the lot, a sleek aeordynamic
"aerodynamic"
design with each curve flowing into the next. Without a word, Mason popped
the trunk and set his luggage inside, leaving it open for Ryozo to do the same.
Mason started the car, the engine kicking over with a high-pitched whine as
the safety belts automatically slid into place. The inside was comfortable,
if not a bit small. He had no reason to complain, however. Having spent a
few days sharing a surveillance van with four other men in the middle of a
deadly bug hunt had definitely helped him cope with cramped spaces.
"Our next move is to find a place to sleep," Mason said as they pulled out
onto the busy throroughfare. "I doubt 3WA was kind enough to arrange it for
us." That much Ryozo could agree with. ViralTech, his former employer,
didn't often spring for lodgings for its covert crews.
"Then I think we should try to re-trace Kei and Yuri's steps," Ryozo said,
"see if we can pick up anything."
"Good idea," Mason said. Such an act was a common procedure for finding
missing people. He still felt that there was almost no chance of ever seeing
them alive again, and many missing persons were never found in one piece,
but it was a start. "Once we find a place to crash, we can go over their
mission data and determine a path to follow."
"They're alive," Ryozo said as he gazed out at the traffic, "I know it."
============================================
The motel wasn't exactly the Waldorf, but it was more than adequate. The
room was small, one bathroom and two beds with a table between them and a
small vid unit on the far wall. The wallpaper was a dull beige color, with a
heavily trampled carpet of the same shade beneath Mason and Ryozo's feet.
Ryozo tossed off his black overcoat, his white dress shirt and tie still
remaining in place. Mason followed suit, the air in the room being too
stuffy to wear such things.
The bags were unpacked, their clothes hanging in the tiny closet set next
to the bathroom. Mason's case and Ryozo's cylinder remained sealed, neither
questioning what the other held.
Both took seats on a bed, Mason opening his case briefly to produce several
padds containing information on the Angel's last case. Ryozo reached into
his coat pocket, pulling out a map of Deling City, capital of Sigma III's
northern continent.
"According to the Pair's last communique," Mason said as he looked over one
of the obsidian padds, "they were preparing to infiltrate Morn
Pharmaceuticals' Lab Complex.
"That's about ten kilometers southwest of here," Ryozo said, drawing a line
from their current position to the spot where the Complex rested.
"Now, from what I understand," Mason said, "they are brash, impatient, and
more than willing to leap before they look. However, I don't think they were
stupid enough to go to the lab first, not without knowing what to look for
and where."
"I agree," Ryozo said tersely. "What do the other messages say?"
"There aren't any," Mason replied, "The last one was all we got."
"Now that's weird," Ryozo said, "Why just give us that one?"
"Wish I knew," Mason said. "But their first move had to have been Morn's
HQ. It only makes sense."
"That's a click and a half east of here," Ryozo said, connecting the points
with his pen. "Now here's where it's bound to get interesting."
"True," Mason said. "They went to HQ first, and most likely found something
to lead them to the labs, but what?"
"Whatever it was," Ryozo said, "It got their cover blown."
"Not necessarily," Mason said, "from what I've read of their files, Kei and
Yuri are right decent hackers. It is possible that they managed to get away
without being discovered."
"Yeah, their last message would suport that," Ryozo agreed. "If they had
"support"
been discovered breaking into Morn's computers while at their own HQ, they
would have been taken in on the spot."
"Resulting in one helluva shoot-out, with the entire building probably
ending up flattened," Mason said.
"So we can safely assume that they got in and out of Morn's HQ undetected,"
Ryozo said. "Which would leave the lab."
"They go in, get discovered, and then vanish," Mason said. "Somehow, it
doesn't fit."
"I know," Ryozo said. "If it ended up being a fight, they would have gotten
out."
"And left the labs in serious need of repair, an incident the media would
be all over, especially now with the whole Englesson Incident."
"Hell of a thing to call the death of a planet," Ryozo said with a note of
anger.
"So, the news media isn't carrying anything on damage to Morn's property,"
Mason went on, ignoring Ryozo's comment. "Morn isn't powerful enough to
doctor newscasts, so we can assume that they haven't suffered any."
"They were taken quietly?" Ryozo asked in disbelief
"I know what you mean," Mason said, "those two never do ANYTHING quietly."
"But if they were taken down without any fuss," Ryozo said, "Then that
would mean that..." he paused for a moment, his face turning slightly pale.
"Oh, man, I really don't like this."
"A mole," Mason said. "Covert Ops are well-protected. Somebody in 3WA with
enough clearance to know about this op and who was on it ratted them out to
Morn."
"But who, and why?"
"I don't know," Mason said, his mind pulling pieces of this twisted puzzle
together. A mole in 3WA would explain a few things, like why he had been
pulled out of retirement, and why he had been paired with a TC trainee. The
conspicuous absence of a rescue detail, however, hinted at something bigger
and considerably more imposing.
"We're not going to get anywhere sitting on our asses," Ryozo said with
conviction, "it's time we paid Morn Pharmaceuticals a visit."