The Girls From Alcyone (39 page)

Sara calmly re-holstered her sidearm. "We have a new problem, ma'am. We're under attack."

"I know we're under bloody attack. Don't be stupid."

Sara shook her head. "No. Not the CTF. It's
them
—the other girls from Alcyone. They're here. I suggest you get your people to the shuttles while there's still time. I'll take care of the girls."

Nicola nodded slowly. This girl—she was so strange. They all were. "Very well. I'll wait as long as I can. Just get them all. I'll get Farrington and that other doctor. We still need her."

Sara turned. "I'll be there. Just don't be late."

* * *

Sigrid led the girls back up the corridor, retracing their steps to the airlock. She would have thought it nearly impossible for forty-two girls to proceed up the corridor without causing a racket, but to their credit, they all kept remarkably silent. She'd already received word from Christian that the CTF troops were landing and entering the base through the main loading bay. The two crippled destroyers were trailing slightly behind, with the larger force still days away. But their little fracas in ore-processing had clearly raised the alarm.

"
Whatever you're doing, do it fast,
"
Christian urged over the comlink.

"We're on our way back to the airlock, just be ready when we get there."

"
Aye, ma'am.
"

Sigrid heard a combination of screams and gunfire behind her. She desperately wanted to run back to investigate but she had to keep leading the girls forward; Suko and Khepri were back there. She had to trust them to handle whatever trouble had transpired.

Finally, they arrived at the airlock door where they'd come in. "We're here!" she said through her comlink. Christian acknowledged; he was already on his way. "Clear a path," Sigrid called to the girls, waving them against the wall. The girls did as they were told. Sigrid ran back to find out what had happened. The fight was already over. None of the young ones had been injured but Khepri was dragging Karen along while Suko kept watch.

Sigrid ran to her. "Karen!" Her chest was bloody and her face ashen, but her eyes were open—though not sparkling like they usually did.

"He got me," she said, sounding more surprised than hurt. But Sigrid could see that the wound was serious.

"Christian, we're going to need some medical assistance," she said over the comlink.

"Affirmative. We're already here—I've got Rodney fixing the emergency collar. But Sigrid…"
Christian's pause made her nerves tingle.
"We can't keep the cloak up with the collar on. They'll know we're here."

"I understand. We'll do this quickly." She looked down worriedly at Karen, and Khepri who was still tending to her. "Take care of her."

Turning, Sigrid ran back to the airlock. Through the window, she could see Rodney, clad in an environmental suit, working to affix the flexible collar to the outer door. She could also see her ship;
not good
. Everyone would know they were there. She drummed her fingers in time to the minutes dragging on as Rodney did what he did best; there was nothing Sigrid could do to speed up the process.

"Got it!"
Rodney signaled.

Sigrid had the door open and was already hoisting the first of the girls into the short, flexible tube that extended to her ship. One by one, the girls scurried through the tunnel. Dragging Karen through was a bit more awkward, but Khepri took as much care as she could.

"Go on," Sigrid said to Suko, who was holding up the rear.

"What do you mean,
go on
?"

"The other girls—we can't just leave them. And…I made a promise. I have to find Dr. Garrett."

"Sigrid, they're not…
themselves
anymore. I saw what they did to Lei-Fei. You can't rescue them. They'll only try to kill you."

Sigrid's jaw tightened. "I have to try."

"All right, then I'm coming with you."

"Suko, you're hurt—half your implants are deactivated."

Suko sealed the airlock as she stepped clear. "And you're wasting time."

Sigrid sighed and keyed her comlink. "Christian…get the ship out of here."

"What? Sigrid, we're not leaving without you."

Sigrid couldn't contain her frustration. "Will everyone stop arguing with me! I'm not asking you to abandon me—just get the ship safe. I can't leave yet."

"Sigrid…"
It was Selene's voice this time.
"That base is crawling with CTF troops. I—we just thought you should know."

"Thanks. We'll be careful. And don't go too far. I'll want you on station when we're ready."

"We'll be there before you can sign off. Don't worry. And, Sigrid…good luck."

"What's that?" Suko asked, not having heard the exchange.

"We're going to have some more company."

Suko winked. "Brilliant."

Sigrid watched the collar retract as her ship blasted away from the asteroid's surface. She suddenly felt very, very alone. Suko grabbed her arm and gave it a squeeze. "Come on. We've got work to do."

"One sec," Sigrid said, bending and rummaging through the bag she'd brought; it still lay on the ground in the airlock. She pulled out the bulky weapon and slung it over her back.

"That's a little
inelegant
, don't you think?" Suko said, eyeing the hulking rocket launcher.

Sigrid laughed. "I also have a little something for you." She bent down and pulled an auto-loading-grenade launcher from the bag. She handed it to Suko. "I think the time for
quiet
has passed."

"No kidding."

With no one to slow them down, they made swift and silent headway toward the habitat—to the one place Suko had seen Dr. Garret: the Medical Facility. The deeper they went into the base, the more they could hear of the battle being waged—growing louder, ever closer.

"At least it's keeping them occupied," Suko said.

"For the moment."

The medical center was three levels below. The two girls leapt down the metal stairs as fast as they could. They burst through the doors, startling the three medical technicians cowering there. Sigrid's pistols were in her hands and two quick shots went into the legs of two of the men. The technicians howled in pain, falling to the floor. The last one, a woman, raised her hands and screamed.

"Dr. Garrett," Sigrid demanded. "Where is she?"

Terrified, the woman pointed; Sigrid grabbed her by the collar and pushed her to the front to lead the way. The frightened woman led them down two more corridors before she pointed again. "There! She should be there."

Sigrid clouted her on the back of the neck and eased her smoothly to the floor.

Suko looked at her with wide eyes. "You don't mess around, do you."

Sigrid snorted.

The door the woman had indicated was locked so Sigrid kicked it in rather than slowing to hack the electronic lock.

An astonished Dr. Garrett looked up at her rescue party. "Girls!" She ran to them, wrapping them in her arms.

Sigrid had only ever seen Dr. Garrett when perfectly put together; she was always neatly groomed and dressed. But the woman Sigrid saw before her was almost unrecognizable. They'd taken her clothes and dressed her in the same grey coveralls that they'd given to Suko and Khepri. Her hair was matted, and she looked exhausted and filthy.

"How did you find me? When did you get here?"

"Later," Sigrid said. "Dr. Garrett…Lei-Fei, Tara, Christi…we still need to find them."

Dr. Garrett grabbed Sigrid's arm. "I know where they are, but…Sigrid, I don't know if they…I'm not sure if we can save them."

"Why? What happened? Do you know what they did?" Sigrid asked.

"Yes, they…" Dr. Garrett studied the floor, ashamed. "They…
I…
altered their Control Program. I didn't want to…they made me. I was afraid if I didn't—I thought it would be worse."

"It's all right, Doctor."

Suko fixed her eyes on Dr. Garrett. "Sara said you did the same to us. Is it true?"

Dr. Garrett looked up. "What? No!"

"But it's possible, isn't it," Suko said. "You
could
program us."

Dr. Garrett nodded slowly. "It was part of the…contingency. It was a mistake. I'm sorry."

"We can discuss this later," Sigrid said, with some urgency. "Doctor, you have to take us to the girls. We have to try."

"Of course. Follow me—quickly."

Dr. Garrett led them through the twisting corridors to another room. This one held several beds, all of them hooked up to banks of monitors and computers. Suko recognized the room—the same one where she had been brought—but now it looked abandoned.

"They were here," Dr. Garrett said. "This is where they were treating them…It's where they worked on the girls. I saw—"

"Wait!" Suko said, and Sigrid saw it too—the one bed, in the far corner held a shape, almost hidden under the sheet draped over it.

Sigrid pulled back the covering. It was Tara. Her eyes were closed and there was no color in her face. She was dead.

"Bastards!" Dr. Garrett cried. "I warned them. I told them, but they wouldn't listen."

Sigrid squeezed her shoulder. "Come on. We still need to find the others."

She nodded, steadying herself. "Of course. They must be in the programming facility. Come, I'll take you there."

Dr. Garrett hurried out into the hall just as Sigrid's sensors exploded in alarm.

"Wait, Doctor!"

Dr. Garrett looked back over her shoulder. Sigrid grabbed her arm, pulling her back from the hall just as she felt the concussive surge of a blast. The ground exploded before them, sending them all flying backwards. Sigrid hit the wall hard, shielding her face from the falling debris. Suko landed on top of her—both girls coughed, wiping at their stinging eyes.

Dr. Garrett lay beside them, bloodied, but still, somehow, alive. "I'm okay," she assured them.

Sigrid and Suko were both on their feet, grabbing up their dropped weapons. Sigrid's scanners showed a platoon of fifteen soldiers moving toward them down the hall. She signaled to Suko, indicating the number and direction. Suko nodded, hefting the grenade launcher. She fired three times, bouncing the little grenades off the wall and out into the corridor. In an instant it was awash with searing flame and falling debris and charred body parts.

Sigrid launched herself into the fray, charging into the corridor. Even through the smoke, her targets were displayed and locked in her HUD. Sigrid fired quickly, shot after shot from her pistols, never stopping, always moving. Her programming functioned optimally, anticipating and logging each threat, reacting before any threat could be brought to bear on her. Ducking, rolling and diving, she came up in the midst of the surviving soldiers and drew the katana. In her hands, it became a spinning whirlwind of death. The cries of the dying gave way to silence, and as the smoke cleared, Sigrid counted the bodies of the fallen CTF soldiers at her feet. All accounted for.

Dr. Garrett was still reeling from the concussive effects of the blast; she let Suko help her along.

"You're shot!" Suko cried as they approached.

Sigrid looked down and saw the wounds; her leg had a deep gash where it had been grazed by a bullet. There was a long, bloody tear below her breast in the fabric of her outfit. Another bullet had penetrated her forearm, passing clean through. She could already feel the nano-swarms moving to repair the damage, even shielding her from the pain.

Suko steadied her, trembling as she scanned Sigrid for further injuries.

"I'm all right," Sigrid assured her. "I'll be okay."

Their brief respite was broken by the sounds of more troops heading toward them—many more.

"We're not getting out that way," Sigrid said.

There had to be another option. Wehr had given her as much information as he was able, but they were hardly detailed schematics.

"Back," Sigrid said, gesturing to the stairwell at the other end of the corridor.

Suko frowned. "Back?"

"We need to head down. We'll go through the mines."

"Whatever you say, boss."

The two girls hoisted Dr. Garrett off the ground and set off at a searing pace. Down the levels they went, back to the depths of the mining facility, slowing only when Sigrid was sure there was no more sign of pursuit. They found themselves in one of the many access tunnels that led even further into the belly of the asteroid. Ahead, it was completely black, the tunnel having long been vacated by the miners.

"I think we lost them," Sigrid said.

"Well, yeah! That's because there's no way out this way."

Switching to her night-vision, Sigrid scanned the blackness ahead. It was cold, empty and creepy. "There's got to be a way out. A ventilation or maintenance shaft, or
something
."

"How's that?" Suko asked.

"Because there's still air. It has to lead somewhere."

"Yes. It leads
down.
"

Sigrid shrugged and chuckled. "It's an asteroid—if we go down long enough, we'll eventually be going up."

* * *

Selene looked over her shoulder as Christian came into the bridge. "How is it back there?"

"Crowded," Christian said, settling into his seat. "Karen's hurt, but I think she'll be okay."

Rodney's voice came over the com.
"Hey, guys.
I think we have a problem."

Selene hit the com. "What is it, Rodney?"

"Uh…it's this whole stealth thingy…"

"I believe that's the technical term," Christian muttered.

"
Uh—I don't think it was ever meant to be used this long.
"

"What's the problem?" Selene asked.

"
I think…
"

"Rodney!"
Selene said, in earnest. "Get to the point."

"
I think it just broke.
"

* * *

Sigrid jumped, startled, as she heard her comlink buzz for her attention. Someone from the
Morrigan
was trying to get through, but the signal was weak, blocked by hundreds of meters of rock.