Pulling The Dragon's Tail (41 page)

“No.”

Nate paced back and forth, arms folded,
scratching his chin. “I don’t like this,” he muttered.

“She’s coming back now,” said Ryker.

Her head continued moving in jerky, halting
motions—an extreme exaggeration of her normal nutations.. People
were giving her a wide berth. Some children ran scared into their
parents’ arms as Es approached them. Instead of the determined,
goal-oriented transhuman she normally was, she now walked
aimlessly, appearing to be drunk.

“Was she drinking alcohol at the bar?” asked
Campbell. “Maybe her new heart and blood can’t properly absorb
it.”

The slow, mechanized walk continued to attract
attention.

Nate said, “Maybe we should meet up with her.
She looks in pain…maybe she’s injured.” He walked out into the
street and was followed by the others.

Main Street was now practically empty. It seemed
like their entourage was the only traffic in the street, the rest
having retreated into shops or watching warily from the sidewalk.
Ryker accompanied them, feeling embarrassed and wishing he was less
conspicuous.

They slowly closed the gap on Es. When she was
about fifteen meters away, she stopped. Instinctively, they stopped
too.

Dugan suddenly began running toward her,
yelling, “Security Breach, Level Three!”

Nate froze in fear. He watched as Es reached
down to her upper thigh. She pulled back a flap of concealed
clothing. Her eyes never left Nate. Slowly she extracted a weapon.
She lifted the gun and pointed it at him.

People began screaming, “She has a gun!
Hide!”

Dugan was running faster, his collie legs in
full stride. “Security Breach! Run, Skip!”

But instead Nate took two steps toward the
would-be assassin. With a sense of fatalistic self-satisfaction, he
thought
, So, I was right all along. Her true colors are finally
showing
. Then he closed his eyes and prayed.

The robotic eye targeted the center of Nate’s
brain. Her powerful index finger squeezed the trigger.

At the last second, Dugan leaped and pushed her
arm up. The full impact of his robotic body crashed into Es,
sending them both sprawling onto the street.

The bullet whizzed just over Nate’s head. Behind
him a second story window shattered from the bullet’s impact. The
street was a frenzied turmoil with people madly running and
screaming.

Ryker, who had ducked onto the ground, arose
quickly, with an angry look on his face. “If this is your idea of
Gunfight at the OK Corral, then you’re insane!”

Es lay limply on the street with Dugan beside
her. The CCR got nimbly to his feet. The gun was still in her hand.
He growled ferociously, placing a paw on her arm. Then he tore at
the weapon with his mouth and tossed it away from her body.

The others approached cautiously as Thatcher
asked, “Are we going to have to restrain her?” He didn’t relish the
idea of wrestling against such superior strength.

Es appeared lifeless and unconscious when her
eyes flew open. They jumped back in fear.

Terror shone in her eyes and she stared straight
into space. Then she screamed, “OUT! OUT! OUT!”

Her left arm shook and shot straight into the
air. Shaking her head back and forth, she grabbed her left ear,
still yelling at the top of her lungs, “GET IT OUT!” In one smooth
motion, she tore at the ear and it peeled off her head.

Thatcher grew woozy at the sight of the severed
appendage. He turned around and hastily sat down on a nearby
sidewalk.

Es gripped the ear tightly for a moment,
computer circuitry exposed on the side of her head where the ear
had been. Her body went limp again as she appeared to pass out. The
severed ear fell to the ground and lying just beyond the
transhuman’s reach.

Campbell grabbed the silicon apparatus. “A
standard transhuman robotic ear.” It was hot to the touch.

Ryker was worried. “Does she need to go to the
hospital or something?”

Campbell handed Nate the ear. “Here, hold this
for me.” She checked Es for breathing and pulse. “Vitals are
okay.”

Looking around, Ryker remarked, more to himself
than to the group, “Aw, I’m going to be in deep shit over
this.”

“Let’s take her back to the hotel room,”
announced Campbell.

“Agreed,” said Nate. Handing the ear back to
her, he picked up the limp body of the transhuman and began
carrying her up the street. “Dugan, does she have any more weapons
that we need to disable?”

“Only one that we can safely remove without
injuring her. The other weapons require her access code, which I do
not possess.”

Removing her gun from the belt loop, they began
walking down the street, the odd procession having all the markings
of a funeral dirge for a fallen comrade. After a few minutes, Ryker
offered to carry her.

Soon they marched past the town center and Es
began to stir. The farther they got away from the site of the
disturbance the more the crowds following them dissipated. But
Ryker knew he had not heard the last of the incident.

“Any security concerns, Dugan? We’ve disarmed
her somewhat, but could she still be dangerous?” asked Nate.

Dugan replied, “It is difficult to ascertain,
but I believe we are safe.

“Why don’t we head for that park over there?’
asked Campbell.

“Good idea,” responded Ryker. To their left lie
a large tree-lined park encompassing about a dozen acres at the
center of town. A lake with ducks and rowboats sat behind the front
row of stately shade trees.

They laid Es down beneath a large maple. Runners
and walkers made their way by them on the winding path. Ryker
somehow produced a jacket and put it behind her head.

Campbell knelt beside her. “Are you in
pain?”

Es blinked several times, groaned, and tried to
sit up. She finally sat up on her elbows and took in her
surroundings. “Yes, I am in pain. I have tried to kill my friend.”
Fighting back tears, she seemed to be having trouble seeing
clearly. “Where are you, Nate?”

He came around the other side and got down on
his knees next to her.

Es burst into tears. “Nate, you have every right
to kill me. If that is not your choice, you must dismiss me from
being your protector. I have failed you miserably.”

“You know that’s not my way.” He took her hand.
“Can you tell us what happened?”

She sat upright, fear blazed in her eyes. “My
ear!” She reached to the left side of her head and discovered the
missing appendage. “Do you have it?”

“Yes” said Campbell.

“Oh, good!” Es breathed a sigh of relief. She
lay down on her back and stared up at the tree above her. “What a
pretty bird’s song that is. What kind of bird is that?” she asked,
pointing upward.

“I believe that’s a tail finch,” noted Campbell,
gazing upward.

“The grass is soft on my hands. I think
someone’s grilling a steak somewhere nearby.” A smile spread across
her face. She closed her eyes tightly and drank in the fresh air. A
moment later she opened them, and was met with concerned looks
hovering around her.

Campbell spoke first. “You’ve got to tell us
what went on back there.”

“Help me sit up.” She grabbed the extended hands
of Thatcher and Nate and slowly adjusted herself until she rested
against the tree. “I’m sorry, but I’m feeling a bit faint. Could I
get a glass of water or something?”

A moment later, Ryker brought her a cup of ice
water from a nearby ice cream shop. She eagerly sipped it with deep
satisfaction, enjoying it as if she had been famished. “That is
absolutely the best water I’ve ever tasted,” she exclaimed.

A moment later she said, “I’ve been
disconnected.”

“You mean the ear?” asked Thatcher.

“Yes, the ear.”

Campbell shoved it toward her.

“Ugh! Keep it away! I don’t want that thing
touching my body!”

Noting everyone’s curious looks, she said, “It
looks like I have some explaining to do. You see, the bionic ear
served as my audio link to the doctor and his operation. It also
controlled the video implant in my right robotic eye. When I ripped
it out, I severed all those connections. Oh!” she said, lamenting,
“I must have made quite the sight out there, writhing and
jerking.”

“Not to mention your gun play,” said Nate, with
gallows humor.

“He wanted me to …to…override my mission to
protect.”

“Who? Sheridan? Did he break through somehow?”
queried a somewhat paranoid Nate.

“No, not Sheridan. I tried to resist. It’s not
in my programming to hurt the ones I guard. I don’t know what
happened. Why would he change? It’s not him. It can’t be him.
Something else must be going on. Oh, it’s so confusing!” She buried
her head in her hands.

“What on Earth are you talking about?” asked
Campbell.

Es looked up. “I’m sorry, Campbell. I apologize,
to you all. I’m just rambling. I guess I’m only creating more
questions. Let my try again. I work for an, ah, operation, a
corporation of scientists. They created an artificial intelligence
entity a number of years ago. It was designed to create an
artificial reality of which the scientists could become part, an
advanced version of virtual reality. The point was to try to
integrate the human mind with that of a computer. These scientists
work alongside an artificial intelligence called MAGNUM on projects
by participating inside its brain, so to speak, through essentially
VR hookups. This allows heightened awareness by the scientists, as
well as MAGNUM being able to probe their minds and bodies.”

“That’s amazing!” said Campbell.

“I help monitor some of their projects and
inventions which all these scientists have collaborated on. They,
the doctor in particular, employ a number of transhumans who are
assigned to follow the outcome of projects around the world. They
also try to make money on the side doing other things.”

“Is that how you and Dugan got hooked up?”
wondered Nate.

“Well, sort of,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“But it’s more involved than that. Anyway, the doctor follows me
everywhere he wants to, that is, he can see and hear and tune in
when he so desires. Inexplicably, he just ordered me to kill you.
His codes were authentic, I think. His voice passed the security
codes for identification. They attempted to take my ethical codes
off-line. Then …” She froze and looked at Campbell.

“I must have the portal, the ear, back! Now!”
insisted Es.

Campbell was taken aback. She looked over at
Nate. “Um, I’m not sure, Es. A minute ago you felt terrorized at
the sight of it. Why?”

“Please! Trust me!”

Nate’s hands slowly made the sign of CHOFA. He
said, “Give it to her, Campbell.” He then saw the barrel of the gun
they had removed from Es lying against a nearby tree. He felt a bit
safer, but felt guilty for trusting a gun more than the Father.

Es quickly re-attached the ear, plugging in two
of the three ports that extended out from the side of her head.
Getting to her feet, the others back away. She ran to the other
side of the tree. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to
re-establish the link. Her head turned back and forth in the now
familiar style of nutations. Suddenly she stopped.

Running back to Nate, she tried to explain. “I
need to show them that I have killed you. They must think I have
succeeded. I need you to pretend—”

“To be dead?”

“Well, yes. That’s better than to really be
dead.”

Nate looked over at the others, who urged him
on.

A moment later he lay on the grass, a red stain
in the middle of his chest. Es stood menacingly over him. She
switched on the third port in her ear and said hoarsely, “Target
has been killed. TH 437 has sustained wounds from local militia.
Not able to—”

She cut off the visual connections and then
input another code. Finally she ripped off the ear once again and
handed it to Campbell. She sat down beside Nate, looking
exhausted.

Ryker looked up and noticed a group of
townspeople approaching. The mayor was surrounded by an agitated
crowd. Harshly spoken phrases could be heard. “They’re dangerous!
We won’t tolerate their presence any longer!”

He excused himself, shoulders slumped. Although
he towered over all of them, Ryker looked like a little kid who was
in trouble. The mayor pointed an angry finger at him, but Nate and
the others could not make out the content, until the last two
words. Very clearly they heard, ‘”tomorrow morning.” Then the crowd
broke up and Ryker came meekly back to them.

“I’m sorry, but this incident has cut short your
stay. Y’all will have to leave Four tomorrow morning.”

Nate silently cursed himself.
I should never
have let up. Look what happens!

“I can stay with you for a while if you want.
But I hafta appear at the Council meeting tonight.”

“They going to punish you? You know, you’re not
responsible for any of this!” Thatcher said with righteous
indignation. “Hey look. I can come and explain, uh, defend you. I
don’t know what I’ll explain, but…”

“It’s a gracious offer from you folks, but I
can’t accept it. Non-residents are never allowed in a Council
session.”

“What’ll they do?”

“No doubt severely fine me, maybe even send me
out for another dangerous assignment. Banish me perhaps.”

“Oh, Ryker!” exclaimed Campbell. “I sure hope
it’s not that!”

“Me, too. I’m getting tired of all this, you
know. Um, I’ll plan to see you off in the morning. I’ll stop by
your residence, say, 7:30 a.m., okay?”

“That’s fine. Hey! Thanks.” Nate shook the giant
man’s hand.

Ryker then got down on his knees next to Es.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with you and your friends. And you
really lost me with your explanation of artificial intelligence and
scientists. It’s not my place to know. But what I’ve seen of you,
with all of your computerized implants, is two things. You’re one
damn fine soldier.”