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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sabbath Okada was a model prisoner. Shackled to the wall of the exam room by Jaka’s smart-metal strips, he didn’t scream or curse or make demands. He was always willing to make polite conversation, and occasionally expressed regret about the urine and feces streaking his legs and the wall.

Jaka had them watch him in pairs, and it was no coincidence that each pair contained someone allied with her or under her control in some way. The following day Solana wound up partnered with Utsuro. For safety she hung back, keeping her eyes on the floor or the walls, anywhere but Sabbath’s face.

Utsuro cleaned him up and then gave him some soup through a straw. “Thanks,” said Sabbath when he was finished.

“I would release you if I could,” said Utsuro. “This is inhumane.”

“You could rip these restraints off the wall with one hand,” said Sabbath. “I promise I won’t stop you.”

Utsuro didn’t answer for a moment. “Not now. I still don’t trust you enough. Besides, it would tear the skin off of your arms.”

“You’ve wiped my ass for me, why can’t you believe what I say?” asked Sabbath.

Another pause, and then Utsuro said, “Your genes and mine are identical. Why?”

Sabbath glanced from Utsuro to Solana, then shrugged. “Made in the same lab. We came out of adjacent shikyus within hours of each other. We played and trained together for twenty standard years. We had the same job and the same boss.”

“Who am I?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” asked Sabbath, and he didn’t sound as if he was joking.

“Yes. Please tell me, I beg you.”

Sabbath took a deep breath and expelled it. “All right. Your name is Basan Okada.”

Utsuro was silent for several seconds. “Say it again.”

“Basan. Your name is Basan. Remember when we snuck down to Pavonis?”

“We rode on the outside of the elevator capsule, and glided down from ten kilometers up. Three of us. You, me, and…Ikkita.”

“Anything else coming back?”

“I went to Titan. Ikkita was there, too, I think. She and I—”

“You were lovers, and both of you thought you were keeping it discreet. We all thought it was hilarious.”

“After the mechs fixed me I tried to remember my life, and there were other bits but none of them fit together. I remember being a man, a neuter, a woman, and a herm. Was I a dragon, once?”

“That’s all you. We were both dragons—working undercover in the Magonia cycler.”

“Undercover? You make us sound like detectives, or spies.”

“Operatives. Do you remember who we worked for?”

“Major Gaulteria,” said Utsuro promptly, and then hesitated. “But who was she? I don’t remember.”

“It’s complicated, and I’ll explain everything once we get away from this bunch of idiots.”

“Just tell me why I was here in Safdaghar—was it a mission?”

“Yes. A little covert op. You were part of a team. It all went wrong.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know all the details. You and a mech were infiltrated into Safdaghar, inside a cargo pod with sensor masking. Your job was to bag a subversive hiding here. Shortly after the mission was to commence, Safdaghar went dark. Our bosses aborted the retrieval. That’s all I know.”

“Please don’t lie to me. If any of what you say is true then obviously you must know far more than that. Who was the target? Who was the mech? What was the plan?”

“I wasn’t part of the mission so I don’t know the plan, and all of this got wiped after…whatever happened here. You were teamed with a mech named Kamaitachi. I never met it, but Kamaitachi had an excellent combat record. You two worked together before. This should have been a piece of cake.”

“The target? Was I sent to kill someone?”

“You weren’t the one to pull the trigger. That was Kamaitachi’s mission. Your job was to identify and locate the guy. He was a Martian dissident. All we knew was his pen name: Pasquin Tiu.”

For a moment Utsuro said nothing, his face displaying a question mark. “I think I understand why you asked if I wanted to know. From what you’ve said, it sounds as if I was some kind of professional killer. I wish it wasn’t true, but it matches what I remember.”

“We did all kinds of ops. You were one of the best.” Sabbath hesitated just a second. “Okay, look, I’ve been spying on all of you for a while now. I watched and I listened. And I recognized you. Right away, I could tell. Inside that cyborg shell, with no memories of who you are, you’re my brother Basan. But it’s as if you’ve been reset, or something. You’re more like what I remember from when we were kids. Kind. Helpful. Always looking for the best in people. All the cynical callous professional agent stuff is gone, and I can see the real you again.”

Just then Utsuro stopped and turned his head to face the door. A second later Solana heard footsteps and saw Jaka and Adelmar approaching. Utsuro stepped out into the atrium to meet them.

Jaka had been talking about something but she went silent as she saw the cyborg standing in the doorway. His face screen showed a red hazard symbol.

“I insist that you release this man Sabbath at once,” said Utsuro, with his speaker volume cranked up so that everyone in the building could hear what was happening. “He is not trying to rob us and he was not responsible for Ulan’s death, or anything else that has happened. Your treatment of him and all of us has been cruel and inhumane.”

Jaka regarded Utsuro for a moment, still with a faint smile on her face. “Hormone dispenser giving you extra testosterone today? Or did our guest sell you some sob story?”

“Release him now. Your thumbprint will deactivate the restraints.”

“No. Are you going to pull it off?” She held up one fist, thumb upraised, and wiggled it. “I think you’ve spent enough time with that guy. He’s messing with your brain. Go look for something valuable.”

After a moment Utsuro replied, “I will not give up. You will release him.”

“Maybe so, but not today.”

Utsuro went outside, leaving Jaka in possession of the field. She smiled and looked into the examination room. “Solana, take a break. We’ll let Okada think up some new improbable story. Maybe he’s secretly Adelmar’s father. I’m looking forward to hearing it.”


Everybody in the building heard the confrontation between Utsuro and Jaka, and everybody outside got the news in seconds. The tension between Yanai’s team of scarabs and Jaka’s crew had been building for days, and now they all were waiting for the storm to break.

Solana was doing some much-needed maintenance on Anton’s laser backpack when Atmin fluttered down to perch on her shoulder. “I think it would be helpful if you do not get this done before Utsuro comes again. The fewer weapons Jaka and her group can wield, the better it will be for us.”

“She told me to cycle the batteries and lubricate the tracking servos.”

The bird’s claws tightened on her. “You cannot see her face right now. Why do you still obey? I beg you, leave the work undone.”

Solana felt herself blush. Why hadn’t she thought of that herself? She was reverting to her childhood self, eager to serve and obey. “I’ll finish with the servos, but I’ll leave the batteries dry.”

“That leaves all the armaments on Jaka’s arms and Adelmar’s. We need to separate the two and leave her with no backup in a fight.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“I do not wish to see a fight break out. If violence can be minimized, will you at least stand with our team?”

“I don’t know. Without my goggles—”

“Have you no free will at all? I beg you to resist the urge to give her your obedience.”

“It’s really hard. I’ll try to keep my eyes closed.”

“Do what you must. Stay out of sight of her if that will help. When you are done with this, join me upstairs at Pera’s bed of pain. Whatever Jaka says, the time has come to send our injured friend back to Yanai.”

She hurried through the work, then cautiously looked out. Jaka wasn’t directly in sight, so she sprinted to the stairs and got up to Pera’s room without interference.

The dino lay on her left side, with the bed supporting her torso, a chair piled with pillows holding up her head, and her tail stretched across the floor. She still wore the top half of her armored suit, but the rest was heaped in the corner of the room. The stump of her missing leg was at eye level for a standing human, and Solana couldn’t help staring at the smart-matter bandage.

It had sealed itself over the exposed stump of Pera’s leg, and Solana could make out where it had formed tubes to link itself into Pera’s circulatory system, pulsing with her heartbeat.

“Damned thing’s made for humans,” Pera grunted. “Can’t make enough painkillers. Hurts more now than when that snare got me.”

“I tell you now that pain relief awaits you at the hub. Yanai can care for you but we must lift you to her care.”

Pera raised her head to look at Atmin. “You going to hold me in your beak? Or use both feet?”

“All we need to do is get your bulk downstairs. The bots can bear your weight from there, at least to take you to the spoke, where with a sturdy cable good Yanai can draw you up a kilometer to the hub. In micrograv, with other bots to help, you can proceed to Yanai’s care.”

Pera nodded. “Sounds good—but what about you? And her?”

“I hope to send Solana up with you, to help you make the lengthy climb. Once there she can remain as safe as you.” Atmin cocked his head at Solana. “I trust you will approve that plan.”

She nodded, but inside felt a mixture of emotions: fear that Jaka would find out and stop her, fear of disappointing Jaka by leaving, and down below all that a spark of hope.

“Utsuro,” said the dino. “I heard him laying down the law to Jaka. He won’t go.”

“I understand his righteous rage at how our prisoner is kept. But frankly I admit I cannot find that man Okada worth the life of any one of us. I do not like to leave him here, but if we must, we shall.”

“He says he’s Utsuro’s brother,” said Solana.

Bird and dino exchanged looks. “Is he?” asked Pera.

“He knows things about Utsuro. Helped him remember. If they aren’t brothers, they were close somehow. And he looks like that reconstructed image of his face Utsuro showed us.”

“It matters not to me,” said Atmin. “We still must get poor Pera to Yanai. Utsuro must decide what he will do.”

“Pretty cold,” said Pera.

“Would you wait for his return? I fear some conflict will result, and how then will we get you out of here?”

“Okay. Get my suit on me and find my laser,” said Pera. “Whatever happens, I’m going to need them both.”

Getting a two-hundred-kilo dinosaur into her armored suit took a lot of time and effort. Even with the suit’s quick-seal systems and self-adjusting material, Pera had trouble getting it on. Solana had to help roll her from side to side, and more than once wished Utsuro was on hand to lend his strength.

Atmin went in search of the laser, and came back using his sphere’s limbs to crawl awkwardly along, dragging the powerpack on the floor with the actual laser weapon trailing at the end of its power cable.

With Pera fully dressed, Solana improvised a pressure seal on the missing leg of her suit so she could manage in the airless hub.

“I wish we’d kept the leg,” said Pera.

“An extra fifty kilograms of meat and bone would be a lot to move,” said Atmin. “By now black mold and other filth has spread upon that limb, and cells within are dead. Simpler far to grow one fresh for you. Now we should not delay. Solana: find the bots and ready them to move our Pera to the spoke. All other preparation I can do.”

Solana hurried downstairs and found her own suit, but just as she prepared to seal the hood over her head she felt a tap on her shoulder.

It was Jaka. “What’s up?” she asked cheerfully.

“I need to check the bots.”

“What for?”

“Maintenance.”

Jaka stepped in front of her and looked directly into Solana’s face. “It makes me sad when you try to lie to me,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Atmin wants to use the bots to help Pera get to the spoke, so Yanai can pull her up to the hub.”

Jaka’s eyes narrowed, but then she smiled again. “What a great idea! That bird’s a clever one. I’ll see if Adelmar can help. If we all pitch in we can get your dino friend moved safe and sound up to Yanai. Go on, get to work. Sorry to interrupt.”

Solana sealed up and went through the airlock. Outside the silence seemed even more oppressive. The bots were nowhere in sight. She sent out a ping on their channel. No reply. She tried again, then linked up to Yanai.

“Where are the bots?” she asked. “I need them. Atmin wants to move Pera to the spoke.”

“They aren’t responding,” said Yanai. “The last status check was four hours ago—they were responding to a tag on the opposite side of the ring.”

“We haven’t checked that part yet,” said Solana.

“Can you move Pera without them? It will take time to print a new one and send it down.”

“She’s heavy. We’ll need someone strong. Maybe Utsuro can do it.”

“He is approaching your position now, but has shut off comms.”

Solana spun around and saw the big cyborg marching stiffly up the center of the street. His face screen still showed the hazard glyph, and the bright red in the darkness looked very sinister.

She waved to catch his attention. “Are you all right?”

“I am well,” he said. “I have been thinking. I didn’t want to act on impulse, or do anything unwise. But I have made up my mind: Jaka must be stopped. Her treatment of Sabbath Okada is cruel and unjust, and I fear she is putting all of us in danger by ignoring his warnings.”

“Atmin wants to move Pera first.”

“That is a good idea, but I think we should take Mr. Okada with us. I will not leave him behind.”

“Be careful, Utsuro.”

“I will be fine. Letting us all leave is the most logical thing for Jaka to do. She will have the entire wealth of Safdaghar for herself. There may be some posturing to satisfy her ego, but I’m sure she will agree.”

He cycled through the airlock. Solana followed, still fearful.

Jaka, Adelmar, and Tanaca were in the atrium, sitting on couches facing the entrance. Solana couldn’t see Anton. But she could see that both Jaka and Adelmar were armed. They had their missile pods on, and Ulan’s needle rifle was on the floor within reach of Adelmar’s right hand.

“Get out here. Utsuro’s back,” she sent to Atmin.

The cyborg walked into the atrium and stopped about five meters from the couch. “Jaka, I must insist you release Mr. Okada. We will take him back to Yanai now and depart Safdaghar.”

Her golden lips were smiling but she shook her head. “Sorry. He’s too dangerous. If I let him out of those restraints he could kill us all. How about this: why don’t you and Adelmar help the dino get to your ship? Much more sensible. Then we can talk about it all together. Maybe take a vote.”

“I will not listen to your words. You twist the truth and distract everyone from what is important. If you will not release Okada I will do it myself.”

He turned toward the exam room where Sabbath was shackled, but Jaka leaped up from her seat on the couch and hurried to block his way. “No, no, no, you don’t! This affects all of us. You can’t just decide on your own. We should reach a consensus.”

“Get out of my way.”

“No. You’re being unreasonable. We should talk it over.”

Utsuro took a step forward. “I’m afraid I won’t take no for an answer any longer. You will do as I ask.”

“Or what?”

Utsuro took another step toward her. “You cannot stop me.”

“Don’t touch me!” shouted Jaka. “He’s threatening me with harm!”

“I am not threatening you. Get out of my way.”

Solana saw Adelmar behind Utsuro, reaching for the rifle. She wanted to scream, to jump down to the atrium floor, do something—but all she could manage was to clutch the top railing of the gallery and watch in horror.

Utsuro and Jaka spoke at the same time. “Don’t come—”

“Please let—” He reached for her.

“Help!” Jaka screamed, and Solana screamed with her, involuntarily. Four minimissiles shot from the pods on Jaka’s upper arms.

One struck Utsuro’s face, shattering the screen and his sensor cluster. The second curved around to strike the back of his abdomen, where the power unit was. The other two shot straight forward at the armored sphere in his chest holding his brain.

All four of the little shaped-charge nitrogen-polymer warheads went off simultaneously. Utsuro’s head blew apart into glitter, his power unit sparked and began to emit black smoke, while clear support fluid gushed from the ragged holes in his chest.

Still upright, Utsuro clamped one metal hand onto Jaka’s wrist, and Solana heard a staticky comm signal. “Please…Don’t…” The comm shut off and Utsuro fell heavily to his knees, still holding Jaka’s arm.

“Shoot it!” said Jaka, tugging desperately at her trapped arm. Adelmar obediently emptied the needle rifle into the kneeling cyborg. White-hot pinpoints blossomed all over Utsuro’s back, and dark red streaks appeared in the leaking fluid.

“Help him!” cried Atmin, swooping past Solana to dive at Adelmar’s face with claws extended. The chimp stumbled back, flailing with his free hand, but the bird swept past untouched and circled back to land on the bleeding cyborg.

Solana took the stairs in three jumps and grabbed the emergency kit from the pile of gear just inside the entrance.

Jaka finally managed to pry Utsuro’s fingers open and stepped away from the body, breathing heavily, her eyes fixed on the motionless shell. “He was going to hurt me! You all saw! I had no choice!”

Solana struggled to even find how to apply the treatment patches to Utsuro’s metal body. She tried wrapping one around a broken tube but it didn’t seal on.

“I’ve got no vitals from Utsuro,” said Yanai inside her head.

Solana used her all-purpose tool to get the blackened metal of Utsuro’s chest open. The brain tank inside was cracked, and she could see burned wires and severed tubes everywhere.

“Jaka, I need my goggles,” she said.

It took Jaka a second to shift her attention from Utsuro to Solana. Then she shook her head and backed up a few steps. “No. Not on your life. Not now.”

“He’s going to die!”

“Dead already,” said Adelmar quietly. He pointed with the barrel of the rifle at four needle holes in the back of the brain case.

“You planned this in advance. You murdered him—and who will now be next?” Atmin croaked.

The accusation snapped Jaka out of her panic. In the face of physical danger she showed real fear, but in the realm of words she was once again supremely confident. “I was in danger. You all are witnesses. He grabbed me. I’m just a legacy human, much weaker than a big machine like him. He could have killed me. I think he might have broken my arm.” She rubbed it, a bit unconvincingly.

“Utsuro never would do harm to any living thing. The only danger was that he defied your power here and threatened to deprive you of a victim for your spite.”

“You’re crazy. Everyone saw it. Adelmar and Tanaca can back me up. It was self-defense. He shouldn’t have attacked me.”

“I will not hear your lies,” said Atmin. “Begone and take your pirate thug band with you. This we should have done before you set a single foot upon the decks of Safdaghar. Begone, I say.”

“Who’s going to make me leave?” said Jaka, calmly and quietly. “None of you are armed. I guess that puts me in charge, not you. It’s for my own safety. From now on everybody does what I say or else.”

“Or else what?” said Pera. Solana looked up to see the dino supporting herself on the parapet around the upstairs gallery. She had her laser in one hand, pointed at Jaka.

Solana stood frozen, helpless. She wanted to please Jaka, but watching Utsuro die was more than she could bear. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Daslakh crawl under a chair. Anton stood in the kitchen, his posture oddly stiff—as if Jaka had told his implant not to let him do anything.

“Well, hi there,” Jaka called up to Pera. “I didn’t expect to see you up and about. How’s the leg?”

“Take off your missile pods. Tell the chimp to do the same.”

“Of course, of course. If that’s what will make you happy.” Jaka pulled the pods off her upper arms and set them down on the floor in front of her, then nodded to Adelmar. The chimp tossed down the needle rifle and then took off his own pods, but kept them in his hands. “See?” said Jaka. “Safely disarmed. Now you put away that laser.”

“No. Leave. All of you. Now.”

“If you really want us to, fine. I wish I could stay, though—it’ll be pretty entertaining to watch you get all the way back to the hub with nobody to help you but the bird.”

“Solana and I can manage.”

“Solana’s coming with me—aren’t you, dear?”

She didn’t want to. She wanted to help Pera. Somewhere deep inside her she wanted to smash Jaka’s grinning face. But what she said was, “Yes, if you wish.”

“See? We’ve bonded.”

“Give her the goggles and then let her choose.”

“I don’t have them on me. I’ve got a better idea.” Jaka looked directly into Solana’s face as she spoke. “Solana, please take Pera’s laser away from her. It will make me very happy if you do that.”

Solana didn’t hesitate. All the horrible conflict went away once she had a task to perform, and someone to please. She trotted briskly up the stairs.

“No, Solana. Stop this,” said Pera, still watching Jaka. “Listen to me, I’m trying to protect you.”

“Give me the laser.” She held out her hands.

“No. Go away. You don’t have to do what she says.”

“Please?” When Pera didn’t respond, Solana took a deep breath and then grabbed at the laser in the dino’s arms.

Needless to say, it was no contest. Pera’s arms looked small and weak compared to her massive legs and torso, but they were still bigger and stronger than any un-augmented human’s. Solana might as well have tried to arm-wrestle a construction mech.

But her futile tugging did get Pera to glance at her, and that was all the distraction Jaka needed. She snatched up her missile pods and rolled behind a couch for cover. An instant later four micromissiles arced up from her hiding place and curved toward Pera. At the same moment Pera pulsed her laser at the couch hiding Jaka, setting it on fire.

Then the beam went wild, scrawling a black line all over the atrium as everyone downstairs scrambled for cover. The missiles struck Pera’s arms but did not explode. Solana heard the hiss as they injected something through the armor.

“Stim. Hip pouch. Hurry…” said Pera, and then fell over like a tree toppling.

Jaka watched for a second to see if she moved, then called up, “Solana, would you get that laser pack off her? I think we can all agree it’s safer that way. Anton, Adelmar, get that stupid lizard back into the treatment room and see if there’s any way to restrain her or lock the door from the outside.”

“And what of me, for only I remain now free of your control?” asked Atmin. “Shall I return to Yanai and depart, my work all forfeit to your greed? Or will you murder me in turn?”

“Nobody murdered anybody. Your cyborg pal was threatening me. I have a right to protect myself. The same with Pera. You’ll notice I even used tranq rounds on her. That shows restraint. She’ll recover in a few hours, good as new. Except for the leg, of course.”

“Or did you scorn to use a lethal round to strike at Pera as she stood in pain because you had none ready then to fire? Yanai, I think it time for us to leave. My plans have failed, and nothing now remains to keep us here.”

“Have fun moving your one-legged dinosaur,” said Jaka.

Yanai spoke via comm, limited now to just Solana and Atmin. “You have to get Solana out as well.”

“What reason do I have for doing that? She has betrayed us all.”

“Not voluntarily.”

“That matters not a bit. If she can make a choice, then treason has she picked. If she cannot, then neither you nor I can change her mind. No matter if she merits pity or deserves to suffer blame, the end result is still the same. I say, away, and leave her here.”

“No,” said Solana. “I want to go with you. Please?”

“If Jaka bid you stay with her, what would your answer be?” asked Atmin.

She couldn’t respond.

“Atmin,” said Yanai, “do you believe this Sabbath person? You are better at reading humans than I am.”

“Of him I cannot say if he speaks truth—or simply has great skill at telling lies. The former is my guess, for I do not believe in Jaka’s claim that he has come to scare us off and so reserve the choicest loot. This hab is big. Far simpler would it be for him to hide from us, and gather goods from places we have yet to check, then leave with us no wiser than before. I do not think that he would injure Pera then reveal himself to save her life.”

“That means there really is some threat still hiding in the hab. The bots are gone. You need the help of the others to get Pera out. The chimp, at least. You have to win his loyalty away from Jaka.”

“And how shall I accomplish that? I have no bribe to offer him, for anything of value he can simply take from me. I am no threat. And I would be a fool to even try appealing to his sense of right and wrong.”

“As I said, you’re better at interactions with biologicals. Figure something out. Change the conditions.”


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