Mark Tiedemann: Chimera

She glanced back. One bin bounced randomly among the others, a thick spray of gas squirting powerfully from a hole in its side. She considered shooting it again, but that might only make it worse. She kept running.

Finally, near the warehouse end of the transport maze, the banging ended and the shifting bins stopped shifting. Ariel looked back into the altered landscape and thought, Even if very little is damaged, getting all this straightened out is going to take some doing…

When it was clear that nothing else was moving, she started back.

"Ambassador." The TBI team leader came up alongside her. "The warehouse is secured, we have nine people in custody, and we found four robots in stand-by niches. Your assistance is required to secure them. "

"Are they moving?" Ariel asked.

"No-"

"Then they already are secured. Forget about them. Coren's out here."

"Ambassador. " The woman stepped in front of Ariel and stopped. Ariel came up against her outstretched hand. "Please go back. We'll find Mr. Lanra."

"You can accompany me. "

"Please, I insist-"

"Something started this disaster," Ariel said, waving her hand around at the jumbled bins. "Coren's vonoomans located no other people than those you already have in custody. Which means?"

"Ambassador-"

"Which means you can accompany me, but I'm going. "

Ariel stepped around the agent. She heard a sharp hiss of breath-a signal-and then running feet. Two more agents joined her, along with the team leader.

They spread out laterally and worked their way through the labyrinth of containers.

The number of damaged bins grew the further they went. Clusters of toppled containers formed tangles. Ariel held her blaster in both hands, her pulse racing.

I must remember in the future that I don't really have to do this, she thought.

She heard voices. Moving toward them, it became clear that one of them was Coren, but the other-rasping and low-was not even clearly human.

Ariel came around a pair of mashed bins and saw Coren dangling by one arm from the grip of the cyborg. Coren nodded as the cyborg spoke to him, its head tilted forward on enormous shoulders.

Ariel licked her lips. Now what?

In those seconds of indecision, the cyborg suddenly straightened and looked around. It saw Ariel.

Indifferently, it dropped Coren.

In that instant, a blaster shot splashed against its back. "No!" Ariel shouted, then pressed the stud on her own weapon.

Gamelin's pain came out like dust-laden wind. The cyborg took a few more steps, and fell. Coren squirmed and pushed and managed to crawl away. The stench of scorched fabric, melted plastic, and meat filled Ariel's nostrils.

Ariel hurried forward, along with the TBI agents. One of them grabbed Coren's jacket and dragged him further from the cyborg.

Ariel stopped a meter from it, keeping her weapon aimed at its head. It lay face down. Smoke wafted up from three burns on its back and shoulders.

The team leader took its arm and heaved, turning it over.

Gamelin surged up suddenly, brushing away her weapon and clutching her jacket.

"Oh, kill me slow, gato," it said. "It's the only thing I have left to feel."

It placed one enormous hand over her face and squeezed. Bone snapped with sickening delicacy, and the team leader screamed.

Ariel jerked the trigger of her blaster; the shot grazed Gamelin's arm. The cyborg stood and tossed the body of the team leader at the other agent, turned, and fled. Ariel tried to hit it again, firing repeatedly. But none of the shots found a target, and Gamelin soon disappeared among the cargo bins.

Ariel's breathing came heavy as she went to Coren. Sweat covered his face, but he was conscious.

"It knows," he said. "I told it."

"How bad are you?" Ariel ran her gaze over him, settling on his right arm. She reached for it.

His other arm came up and stopped her. "Hurts."

"We'll get help."

"Tresha must already be in transit," Coren said. "Contact Sipha…make sure…"

Ariel felt momentarily frantic about his injuries, but she nodded and stood. She went to the other agent, who held the team leader in his arms. Her face was turning black already. One eye bulged hideously.

Somehow, though, she was still alive.

Ariel raised her comm and started issuing orders. Derec listened absently to the tense comm traffic being monitored behind him. He gazed out of the office across the empty dock, waiting for the instant the bay doors opened and the shuttle for which they waited slid into the station.

Masid came up beside him.

"Reports from groundside indicate a rousing success, " Masid said.

Derec glanced at him. "How come you don't sound pleased?"

Masid raised his eyebrows. "It's not finished. I'm never happy till it's over."

"All the Settler bays in question have been seized," Derec mused. "We have prisoners, some of whom are already giving up information-"

"Ah, but they don't really know a lot. Most of it won't amount to very much unless we can persuade this one-" he nodded toward the bay below them "-to talk. Tresha's the key to the whole thing."

"You never struck me as a pessimist. "

"Pragmatist. Big difference."

"Coren's been hurt," Palen announced.

Derec and Masid turned toward the room. Harwol sat behind one desk, hand to his ear. Palen occupied another desk opposite him. She looked at Derec.

"Ambassador Burgess is all right," she said. "The cyborg got away."

"Damn," Masid said.

"Is Lanra hurt badly?" Derec asked.

"Crushed forearm," Palen said. "Reparable. Tresha is in transit." She touched a contact. "Look sharp, people-the main fish is coming into our net. "

Derec turned away. One cyborg still loose. They had found no others. Part of him was reassured-at least they would not have to deal with any more right now-but he could not convince himself that these represented the only two. From what Polifos had told them, it was an old and ongoing program. Somewhere, there were more.

Maybe Tresha could tell them.

"Damn it!" Palen shouted. "Her shuttle is changing vector. It's heading to another bay. Who gave clearance for that?"

Harwol looked up. "I'm moving my people now. Do you have the new destination?"

Palen listened intently. "Working on it…come on… shit, it's going to a Solarian dock."

Masid leaned close to Derec. "What did I tell you?"

Derec went to an empty chair and pulled himself to a comm. He tapped in a code and waited. Ambassador Setaris appeared on his screen.

"Ambassador," he said, "we have a new situation. Our last target has switched destination from the Settler dock she was scheduled for to the Solarian section."

Setaris's eyes widened. "What do you need, Mr. Avery?"

"We're moving on her regardless," Derec said, glancing at Palen and Harwol, who both nodded. "You might want to start working on smoothing things over with Ambassador Chassik now."

"Thank you for the warning. Good luck. "

"Move, " Harwol said, looking at Palen. "Your station, your arrest. "

Palen jumped up and headed for the exit.

Masid nodded for Derec to come along. When they reached the dock in question, Solarian security-Keresians-blocked access. Palen pushed her way through the knot of TBI and station security. She brought her face close to the chief of Solarian security.

"Chief Palen," she said. "Stand aside. This is a lawful entry."

"I have orders-" the Keresian started.

Palen shoved him to one side and stabbed the access panel. The door opened.

Her people poured through.

They crowded into the control booth. Operators started to abandon their positions.

"Sit down!" Palen shouted. "You're receiving an unauthorized shuttle. When will it be in the bay?"

"Your pardon, Chief Palen, " one of the operators said, "but we received authorization fifteen minutes ago."