Senescence (Jezebel's Ladder Book 5) (33 page)

“Thank you. I wanted that but
couldn’t ask,” Mira admitted.

Laura panicked a little. “Isn’t
that the Magi device you strap someone into and drown them in antibacterial gel
until they pass out from having their blood filtered?”

“We’ve all been through the
process, Herk and Lou several times. It’s a quick nap, and you wake up a lot
healthier,” Conrad assured her.

“For Stu’s sake,” Laura said.

****

Taking off her clothing in the chilly decontamination area
made Laura nervous all over again. The long tube under reconstruction by the
doorway, Stu described as some sort of generator they had scavenged. However,
the two-meter, gray toadstools in the center of the room were certainly not
human technology. “Will the ship try to probe my brain?”

“No, we had to outfit Stu’s
special.” Mira pointed to golden frills dangling from the mushroom cap above
Stu’s head. “These are called dendrites.”

“Like the connectivity brain
cells,” Laura said.

“The golden Page material we
salvaged from the first pod is psychoconductive.” Stu reclined in his pod,
wearing only his trademark underwear.

“None of this bothers you?” Laura
knelt beside him.

“You mean other than the fact that
Snowflake may have been a girl this whole time? No.”

Laura kissed him good-bye. “Why
can’t your mother, Mercy, imprint Snowflake again?”

“She’d need to be unconscious.
Right now, she’s keeping the habitat’s hundreds of grav generators running.
Without her concentration, the whole balloon deflates.”

Mira pulled Laura back as the
doctor lowered the clear sides of the pod. Stu resembled Houdini during an
escape as tentacles wrapped his wrists and ankles and pink fluid filled the
tank. Even before the fluid covered him, the golden dendrites entangled his
head like a Portuguese Man of War consuming its prey. His eyes closed.

“Come back to me,” Laura begged.

“Your turn,” Mira said, guiding her
toward the next pod. “It’s very restful. You can’t have slept much the last
couple days. You need this.”

Laura crawled under her toadstool.
“When you meet someone important, priorities shift. You find out everything you
put your time into before them was rubbish.”

“I know what you mean.” Mira placed
her hand against the glass bubble and exuded comfort.

Laura matched the hand with one of
her own.

In the loading dock, Kaguya paced the shuttle nervously.
Now
that she has her biological parents, will Laura forget all about me?

Eowyn appeared in the airlock,
startling her.

“The unloading is almost done. How
is Laura doing?” Kaguya asked.

“Better than her husband,” Eowyn
replied. “They’re rushing him to a pod for repair. Turns out he hurt himself
during the rescue. She’ll need a quick rinse in the pods to keep from killing
him with germ warfare their next make-out session.”

“Stu would take the risk. He’s that
devoted,” Kaguya said, happy for her daughter. “How’s Conrad?”

“You’ve aged. He and his lovely
wife haven’t,” Eowyn said cruelly. “He’s never going to leave her for you. Mira
isn’t likely to forgive what you’ve done.”

“They’ll put me in stasis because
they won’t know what else to do with me. By her mid-thirties, Mira will succumb
to Fortune syndrome like the rest of her family. When she dies from overusing
her abilities, the others will beg me to save Conrad. He came close to bonding
with me before. I can arrange it again.”

“You deluded harpy. What makes you
think he’ll let you sink your filthy claws into him again?”

Kaguya removed her right glove so
that her touch could incapacitate the deranged woman.
Engage her. Remind her
I’m human.
“I’ve sacrificed everything for twenty years to achieve this
goal. What do you recommend I do instead?”

“Solve the problem your family
created.”

“Pardon?”

“Koku is patterned after your
mother. I helped to create the monster. A transfusion from your personality
could alter it, give it a conscience.”

“You overestimate me,” Kaguya
explained. “My personality would do more harm than good. I care nothing for the
charter or the masses of humanity. My family is my only concern. Speaking of
which, my daughter is injured, and I’d like to check on her.” Empathic
influence didn’t seem to be working.

Eowyn pulled out a pistol. “Stay
out of my head! You’re a wanted fugitive in several countries—the death of
dozens of men in Rio, a mass prison escape, and the theft of an Icarus-capable
shuttle, which counts as a weapon of mass destruction. All of this makes you UN
jurisdiction and permits me to employ lethal force. I can force you to pilot
this craft to the UN Moon Base and face incarceration in the very prison colony
you raided.”

During Eowyn’s self-justification
under the charter, Kaguya could see the transparent girl, Joan, point to the
airlock handle and hold up three fingers, followed by two, and then one.

When the airlock clicked, Kaguya
was ready. She deflected the gun with her sling and struck the base of Eowyn’s
skull with a psi-bolt. She followed up with one to the base of the spine for
good measure.

Mouth stuck open, Eowyn collapsed.

Oleander retrieved the weapon and
checked the clip. “Nothing in the chamber. The first lunatic didn’t stand a
chance.”

“I’m the wronged party here,”
Kaguya insisted. “How did you know she was threatening me?”

“The red wristband broadcasts on
security channels whenever the wearer is alone with another crewmember.”
Cuffing Eowyn, Oleander said, “I don’t disagree with anything she said, just
her methods.”

“What about the things I said?”
asked Kaguya.

Oleander shrugged. “I stole another
woman’s fiancé. I’m not exactly the poster child for healthy relationships.”

“So you’d allow my stasis idea if I
found a way to mitigate my father’s out-of-control pet?”

“Maybe after we fix Herk. It wouldn’t
hurt, but there’s no guarantee any prince is going to wake you with a kiss.”

“Deal,” Kaguya said, handing the
gun to the head of security butt-first.

Oleander gave an uneasy snort.
“What would you have done if I said no?”

Shot you and blamed Eowyn.
“Sooner or later, someone would have agreed.”

“What makes you think Z would ever
accept you?”

Kaguya smiled sweetly. “I gave him
two fine children, a shuttle, and founded the
Near-Earth Rescue Organization
fleet. With me, he can finish
stocking for his next colonial mission, rescue Stu’s aunt, and fly up the
surgical team Herk requires. Without me, none of that happens.”

“Oh, you should have led with
that,” Oleander replied. “Typical Mori—never ask for what you can’t take.”

“Don’t let him know about the
threats. I want him to accept me for me.”

“Why wouldn’t I warn him?”

“With controlling interest of NERO,
I can make sure your brother is the pilot of the supply ship that delivers the
gear you need. If I get my dream family, you get yours.”

The head of security stared at her,
weighing the carrot. “Even if I keep my mouth shut, Z will be too good for
you.”

Kaguya sighed. “By then, he won’t
remember a few youthful indiscretions, only the woman who gave him his beloved
children. Remember his motto—everyone deserves a second chance.”

Oleander shuddered.

****

Kaguya arrived at the control saucer with Joan. The girl
talked like she was thirty, but still had no discernable curves. Looking up
through the skylight of the round room, Kaguya was baffled. “We’re upside
down.” Whole forests and rows of crops were visible above them. Stranger still,
giant slots in the ground let in light.

Nurse Yvette, a shorthaired French
woman, sat in the control chair. “Since the lens is facing Earth at the moment,
most of the sunlight has to come in from the mountainward hemisphere.”

“Where’s Z?” asked Joan. “We’d like
to talk to him without Mira.”

“They’re waiting for the Llewellyns
to come out of decontamination,” Yvette explained. “Mira will be waiting below
for as long as it takes. When the shuttle has been unloaded, in around twenty
minutes, the commander will run another orientation. Has Ms. Mori had her
physical exam yet?”

“No,” Joan replied.

“Then you cover the bridge while I
check her over. Since she recently had medical attention for that sling, I
should be able to borrow most of the data from that exam.”

“Broken left scapula. I ejected
into a tree,” Kaguya explained.

“Ouch. Better than staying in the
cockpit of the helo when it was vaporized, though. Joan said you saved them
all. You can pull Z aside after the welcome lecture while I’m inspecting the
rest of the newbies.” Yvette led Kaguya to the medical lab.

“Are we all accepted as
crewmembers?” Kaguya asked.

“Officially, you’re here for the
tour, but no one gets beyond the saucer without approval. Anyone on the crew
can veto a candidate for any reason. I’ve washed out one prisoner so far—a
smoker. Addictions of any kind are bad in space, particularly ones that burn
communal air. Oleander vetoed Eowyn. Both will be returned.” Yvette closed the
door. “Medical alert card?”

Kaguya handed over the
platinum-edged ID. “Eowyn seemed okay to me before the gun. What happened?”

“I don’t know. Based on her hormone
samples, Eowyn had some major stressor that tipped her scales. Something got
her all worked up over the moral imperative to stop Mori’s evil plan. Did you do
anything to antagonize her?”

Reviewing the incident, Kaguya
admitted, “She didn’t go off the deep end until I exerted Empathic controls.
Perhaps she’s overly sensitive because her mother, also an empath, tried to
direct Eowyn’s behavior too often with the talent growing up.”

“Maybe. The only other people she
had contact with beforehand were the Nyxians. Since they’re not talking, I’m
shipping her home.” The nurse ran the card through her reader. “Strip down. Lay
on the exam table. Last period?”

“I don’t remember. Laura takes care
of that for me. I lose track of time.”

Yvette started a log on her
computer pad as Kaguya unzipped her flight suit. “Subject is a
forty-three-year-old female with astronaut training. Weight is? Oo. You’ve got
a little belly there.”

Mortified, Kaguya stopped
unzipping. “Having a child and frequent bouts of computational catatonia will
do that.”

“I’m sorry. That was insensitive.
With the Ethics Page, I don’t have much of a filter on what I say. To me, only
a few months have passed since we saw you last. You were a pop star in Spandex.
Now … it takes a little getting used to.”

Kaguya hugged herself. “Don’t tell
anyone. Please. I still spar and keep active on my flight hours, but the other
things I let slide. The preparations take so much of my time.”

Yvette scanned several pages of
medical documents. “It’s okay. Zip up and talk to me. What preparations?”

“For
Sanctuary’s
return.”
The Mori heiress described her shuttle designs to fit the landing bay and the
equipment each had access to at a moment’s notice. Because Yvette was such a
good listener, Kaguya described the experts she had recruited and the large
quantities of frozen human and animal embryos stored at the NERO Moon Base. She
took off her sapphire ring and said, “All the specs are on here.”

“You’ve put a lot of time and
resources into planning the next colony. Why?”

“I want to go along on
Sanctuary
this time. I want to be with … my daughter. I’m sure as an ethics officer,
you’ll support my claim.”

“This should be good,” Yvette said,
sitting back with folded hands. “Why am I going to wrangle Mira into accepting
the woman who tried to rape Z and turned her uncle Daniel into a vegetable?”

“Without Laura, I lose my anchor.
It would be inhumane to separate us,” Kaguya reasoned. “Since you’ve invested
so much of your limited resources to clean her and due to her unique status as
Index, she shouldn’t leave this ship. Therefore, you’re ethically bound to
accept me into the biosphere as well.”

“You waited until we couldn’t stop
your daughter’s scrub cycle to announce this. Slimy.”

“My father’s influence. Forgive
me.”

“Oleander mentioned that you’re
blackmailing us. You haven’t changed.”

Kaguya removed the gift envelope Mary
Smith had handed her at the wedding reception. “A good-faith offering. Both the
imposter and I signed off, and I completed the transfer before we left Rio.”

Yvette opened the envelope and
gawked. “Stu and Laura now own controlling interest in NERO?”

“I have placed myself at your mercy
and demonstrated twenty years of service toward your community.”

Yvette cursed for a moment in
French. “What? You studied our journals to find just the right thing to say?”

“This is too important to leave to
chance. Let me present my designs to Conrad. He’ll agree.”

Yvette shook her head. “You’re
right that this is significant enough to call a meeting of the whole crew, but
you and Mira would eventually claw each other’s eyes out. I don’t see any way
this could work.”

“Oleander agreed to keep me in
stasis until Mira dies.”

“Oh. Wow. That’s dedication. Why is
Mira going to agree?” asked Yvette.

“Because she’s all about revenge. I
can arrange a forced Ethics Page reformat for the individual responsible for
the murder of those aboard
Ascension
and rigorous enforcement of the
charter throughout the Solar System.”

“That would do it,” Yvette agreed,
“but how do you plan on accomplishing that coup?”

“We overlay my image onto the lunar
portion of my father’s AI, Koku. Once my mother dies, the newer codes should
become dominant on Earth as well.” Anticipating the next question, Kaguya
explained, “I’ll fly the shuttle to NERO base. With gear Sojiro can provide,
I’ll attach to the Koku at the spill site on the far side of the moon. Then
I’ll return on a fully stocked NERO cruiser, manned with whatever personnel you
people pick from the résumés on that ring.”

Yvette smiled. “A few small flaws
in your plan.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll need access to the accident
site.”

Kaguya nodded. “I have Officers Onesemo
and Quinn at my disposal. I can select any number of NERO experts necessary to
fight our way back out of the facility.”

“And you need to be reformatted
yourself to succeed in infecting the AI.”

“
Merde
,” Kaguya echoed. She
searched for an excuse to avoid the treatment. “The old Pages are kept in a UN
vault in New York.”

Yvette sat on the exam bed next to
the worried woman. “Actually, we have one here. It used to be instructions for
operating the escape pod. Once the pod was vaporized, the instructions changed
to the same default as every other Page—a copy of our charter, humanity’s
agreed-upon behavior code for space.” She put an arm around Kaguya. “As a
subset, it wouldn’t force you to tell the truth in all cases, like the original
Page did for me. However, you would be incapable of violating the charter’s
principles.”

Reformatting was a horrible fate,
reserved for the worst criminal offenders. The sentence required the agreement
of three Active judges. Kaguya leaned her head on the nurse’s shoulder. “I
don’t have much me left. I don’t want to lose the rest.”

“You’ll still be you, but people
will be able to trust you.” Pausing, Yvette added, “Z could trust you then. He
might meet with you alone.”

“I’ll do it,” Kaguya said.