Steven Harper - Trickster

Kendi said nothing. His eyes darted about the room, seeking an exit. Roon noticed the gesture and smiled condescendingly. "Alice, re-initialize lockdown."

The door behind him locked with an audible thump.

"You can't escape, Father," Roon said. "That is your title, isn't it? You're a Father with the Children of Irfan. Except I was lead to believe that there would be more of you here. Mr. Todd?"

Todd's face darkened. "There have to be more of them around here somewhere."

"Alice, page Rafille Mallory and tell her to get her ass down here immediately," Roon barked. The refined, friendly demeanor he had shown Kendi in his home had all but vanished. "Then tell Security to initialize a level-by-level search for unauthorized personnel. Security personnel are hereby granted access through lockdown."

"Working."

"Let me go!" Martina snarled, trying to twist away from her captors. The man expressionlessly twisted her arm until she yelped with pain and stopped struggling. Kendi clenched a fist.

"You, girl," Roon said, reminded of her presence, "are going back to the Alpha pool, though I think we'll have to use stronger methods on you. I think you'll be the first one impregnated by the breeding program, for a start. It's harder for pregnant women to escape, and their children make fine hostages to good behavior."

Martina spat at him. The female guard slapped her.

"Maybe we'll give you twins, then," Roon said, and turned back to Kendi. "I know all about your plan, Father. How you intended to trick us into thinking two of my Alphas were sick with Selene's disease so we'd sell them cheap and you could buy them. Ironic, isn't it? You were trying to rescue this woman, and here she was trying to escape on her own."

"Rescue me?" Martina said. "What are you talking about?"

Kendi still said nothing, though the sound of Martina's voice tore his heart.

"It wouldn't have worked, you know," Roon continued. "We would have sought a second, outside opinion and would have realized the disease was mere gelpox. You Children think you're so smart, so clever. It never occurs to you that other people can be clever, too."

Todd stepped forward and punched Kendi in the stomach. Caught off-guard, Kendi doubled over with a groan.

"Don't damage him," Roon snapped. "He's valuable."

"I owed him that," Todd said. "Him and his-"

"Attention! Attention!" interrupted the computer. "Medical emergency level one. Containment of experimental virus XR-476 has been breached. Airborne virus detected. Medical isolation of sector CLCT4 initiated. All personnel are directed to stand by for evacuation. Repeat: all personnel are directed to stand by for evacuation." Alarms, different ones, began to blare as the computer repeated the warning.

"What the hell?" Roon said. "It's got to be another trick. Alice, end medical emergency."

"Unable to comply. Level one medical emergencies must be terminated by direct order of the Chief Physician of SA Station. Attention! Attention! Biological containment of experimental virus XR-476 has been breached."

"Alice, lower alarm volume in this lab by half," Roon ordered. The alarms and warnings became much quieter.

"That computer's on," Todd said, and dashed over to look as Kendi slowly straightened.

"What's he been accessing?" Roon demanded, neuro-pistol still trained on Kendi.

"Checking," Todd said.

Roon twitched, then pressed a finger to his earpiece. "Edsard Roon," he said. "Yes, Madam Chair. I'm in the research lab right now. No, I have no idea if any of the Silent have been infected. But the alarm is only a-yes, Madam. Yes, I'm familiar with the protocols, but we don't actually have to-no, Madam, I would never gainsay you. I know how important the Silent are to the company, but if you would just listen for-no. The entire sector has been sealed off, and there is no company ship big enough to accommodate all personnel in one trip. But that doesn't matter because the alarm is just a-the circus? Madam, I'm afraid I don't understand what that has to do with our current situation. Oh. Yes, I suppose the Emporium's ship would be large enough for everyone, but-"

Roon paused. "Madam Chair, what was the middle name of your second husband?" Pause again. "Just answer the question, Madam Chair. The middle name of your second husband." Yet another pause. Roon looked at Kendi. "She broke the connection. Imagine that. Who was that really, Father? It did sound very much like the Chair."

Kendi refused to answer. His stomach was so tight, he thought it would burst from his body.

"Take the mask off, Father," Roon ordered. " Now! "

Slowly, Kendi obeyed. Martina gasped, but didn't speak. Roon shook his head.

"Mr. Qiwele," he said. "God. I should have known you were too good to be true. Let me guess-you copied my access key when those clowns were making up my face."

"Mr. Roon," Todd said from the computer. "He accessed the medical database and medical safeguards. That, and the records of virus X-476."

Roon barked a harsh laugh. "So the gelpox was a double-blind. You deserve more credit than I thought, Father. Tell me if have the right of it. You knew Todd here was communicating with me, didn't you? Do answer. You're going to tell all in a moment anyway. Hypnoral, you know."

"Yes," Kendi said hoarsely. "We detected the signal right off."

"So you arranged for him to overhear certain conversations, knowing he'd relay them to me." Roon kept the neuro-pistol absolutely level. "Then while I was worrying about false reports of gelpox and people breaking into the Collection, this medical 'emergency' would catch me by surprise. Everyone, including the two Alphas you came in here for, would be evacuated to the Emporium's ship, delivered neatly as you please, straight into your hands."

Kendi didn't answer.

"Well, now that I know the medical emergency is no such thing, I'll simply call the real Madam Chair and tell her-"

"The release was real," Kendi interrupted.

"What?" Roon said.

"I really did release the virus," Kendi said. "It's going to hit the ventilation system in about ten minutes. Check the logs and the sensors. You have to evacuate, no choice. Your Madam Chair will tell you the exact same thing. Good thing there are only two ways to get out of here-the main entrance and the airlocks. They won't let you through the main entrance and into the station proper until you clear quarantine, so that means if you want to avoid little X-476, you have to escape through the airlocks. And the Emporium's ship is the only one close enough with the cargo space to hold everyone. We checked the records. None of the other ships in the area can get here in time."

"I have my private ship."

"Not big enough. We checked that, too."

"Then I won't evacuate," Roon said.

"And let all those Silent die? All those valuable resources? What would Madam Chair say to that, Mr. Roon, especially after all the money Silent Acquisitions sank into this project? Sure, you know the real story, but there isn't anything you can do about it." Kendi gave Roon a crooked grin. "Did you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to walk in here all by myself if there were any way I could fail? You've lost, Roon. Time to admit that."

"Escape pods," Todd said.

Roon looked around at him so fast, he put himself at risk for whiplash. "Explain, Mr. Todd. I'm tired of cryptic phrases."

"The station is equipped with escape pods. Evacuate with those and Security can pick them up, no problem. It'll take longer to gather everyone up, but so what? And you can also destroy the Emporium's ship, while you're at it."

Kendi launched himself at Todd. Roon fired his pistol, and white-hot pain wrenched through Kendi's body. He dropped writhing to the floor. Martina screamed.

"Put shackles on him," Roon told the security guards. "And on the Alpha. Don't forget to remove the Father's earpiece. Then get them both to an escape pod and stay with them until you get picked up."