The Omega Cage (11 page)

That from Raze.

Maro nodded. "I need a couple of minutes with Scanner, first. You can listen."

The circuit-rider said, "I've got the confounder specs and the basic hardwiring is done. It'll take some programming to make it work, but I think I can manage it.

The biochips for the Bender and the stick-links are on the way. Parker is helping; he thinks he gets the pornoproj unit when we're done. I had to use Fish and Berque, they had contacts we needed, and I'm stalling them, but they'll want to know what we're doing pretty soon."

"Berque is a pipe to the warden, you said?"

Scanner nodded.

"All right. We can use that to feed him what we want him to know, maybe. What about Fish?"

"He's crazier than a burnt din, but he wants out pretty bad. I dunno. You'll have to decide on him."

Sandoz said, "Come on, Maro. What's the play here? Scanner has been laying smoke since you went into the Zonn Chamber."

Maro took a deep breath. "Okay. There's a theory about the Zonn: the walls of the cities they built aren't walls at all, but energy fields. And they have locked up, somehow, the same kind of power that a Bender uses to shift from real to sub-space for FTL travel. I knew some scientists who owed me favors, and I had it all checked out before they shipped me to the Cage. The story's in pieces— some on one world, some on another, some in the Galax InfoNet, some of it not. But if you put it all together, it might mean a way out."

Raze looked at Sandoz. "I think I understand. You said it before, remember?"

Sandoz looked blank.

"Through the walls," the bodybuilder said, with a short laugh. "He thinks we can walk through the walls."

Sandoz stared at Maro. "Is that right?"

Maro took a deep breath. "Yes."

"You're crazy," Sandoz said flatly.

"Maybe not," Scanner said. "We won't be able to test it until we put it all together, but it looks like it might work. Either that, or it'll clean the Cage completely off the face of the planet, along with most of the continent. We're talking a
lot
of pent energy here."

Sandoz laughed. "I like that. Go out with a bang and fuck 'em."

"That's not what we want to do," Maro said.

"Either way is fine with me," the assassin replied. "Stark loses with both. I'm in.

Whatever you need me to do, let me know."

Maro nodded. "Good. Anybody else want to walk now?"

Nobody said anything.

"Good. From what I hear, we've got less than a week. Let's move."

Chapter Twelve

When Stark left his office, it took only a second for him to notice what was missing: his cooler was not following to protect him from the heat with focused currents of chilled air. Dammit, where was it? Juete was in solitary, and it was only programmed to respond to the two of them. The heat in the hallway was not nearly as intense as it was outside, but it was enough to trigger his sweatpoint in a hurry, and the robotic sensor was tuned to that.

It took him a few minutes to find the mobile unit. It was on its back, just past the turn for the infirmary view. By this time sweat had soaked the cloth under his arms and across his shoulders and he was in no mood for jokes. One of the goddamned guards or prisoners had turtled the machine. Very funny.

As he got closer, however, he saw that the problem with the cooler was much more than a prank. The belly plate was open, and proteinprint circuit boards lay scattered and dripping around the cooler.

It had been gutted. Destroyed.

Lepto stood impassively as Stark shouted orders at him. "First, find out who had passes to be in the hall! And I want the duty roster checked! Second, figure out what biochips were taken, if any. I don't want somebody cranking up a laser on me with parts spagen-rigged from my own damned cooler! And I want all this done stat!"

"Yes sir."

"Go! What are you standing around for?" Lepto left, and Stark stared through the denscris window at the yard. Damn them all! The one piece of comfort he allowed himself and the bastards had killed it! Somebody was going to pay.

Somebody was going to be sorry they were ever born.

"He was very upset," Juete said into her com.

In the shadow of the Cage's outer wall, Maro allowed himself to chuckle. "Too bad."

"He won't let it just lie, Dain. When he left here, he was still smoking with it. He was… rough with me."

Maro felt a surge of anger curl his hands into fists. "I'm sorry, Juete."

"Don't be. I can deal with him. But he's got
everybody
searching for whoever wrecked his cooler."

"He can look until he goes blind," Maro said. "The pass was electronically issued and then deleted. The door computer won't remember admitting the one who did it. We're covered."

"
Why
did you do it? It'll only make things tougher."

"We needed a part. That was the only available place to get it."

Silence for a moment. "Is it going to work, Dain?"

"I think so. I hope so."

Maro shuffled across the heat-shriveled grass toward the shade of the tool shed.

As he approached he heard what sounded like a flute, and somebody singing.

The voice was high and clear—a soprano—and the flute's tone almost seemed to sparkle. He listened to the words:

His face is like rainy skies, stormy and gray

She told him something bad, what he won't say

But I know if I wait awhile, the sun will shine again
On the face of my darling, my lover, my friend.

He moved closer and saw that the instrument was not just a flute, but an arofloj, an electronic version of that instrument. He didn't know who was playing it, but whoever it was was good, had programmed a whole run of contrapuntal beats to work against the melody. The singer swung into the chorus:
And I laugh when he thinks it's not funny

And sometimes I make him so mad

But he's still with me after all these years.

The best friend that ever I had.

It was Raze. To hear that sweet song coming from her muscular form astonished him. He stood silently along with a dozen others, listening until she finished the ballad. There came a strong burst of applause then, and Raze grinned at the small crowd. Most of the listeners drifted away, and Maro moved closer to Raze.

"Nice song," he said.

"Thanks. I used to sing it to my lover, back when I was in the Real Galaxy. He was a teacher; taught children how to play music. Never knew what he saw in me."

"You loved him a lot?"

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing. I liked the song."

She softened. "Yeah. He was all right, Celine was. We got along pretty good. I wonder where he is now."

"Maybe you can find out."

She turned to face him. Muscles roiled in her neck and shoulders like a ripple spreading in a pond. "You really think we can make it out of here?"

"What have to got to lose?"

"I copy that, Slick. I'm at the point where I want to swing on Lepto every time I see him. I might even take him, but it'll cost me. Everything in here costs. Too much."

"Tomorrow night we should have everything patched together enough for a test.

We'll know then if we're just spinning dust or if we have a real chance."

Raze looked at him with a peculiar expression of mingled humor and bitterness.

"I don't know if I like you, Maro. You've made me hope this'll work. If it doesn't work, I'll probably be real disappointed."

He laughed. "If it doesn't work, I'll probably be real dead. And if not, you'll have to stand in line to take it out on me."

"I'll be right behind Sandoz," she said, grinning.

He returned the smile and turned to leave. "Where you headed?" she asked.

"I need to go start a pipeline to the warden. We don't want him spoiling things before we're ready."

Berque disgusted him even more, possibly, than did the Mindfucker, but Stark wore a smile for the fat man. For whatever reasons, Berque had contacts both in and outside of the Cage. And he was one of Stark's best dips. Besides, what Berque had just told him was worth a hundred smiles.

"You're sure about this?"

Berque flashed one of his own toothy grins. "Yes, Warden. We got to talking, you know how it is, about things that went down. So I asked him, 'What's all the static about you and the Confed ghoul?' He didn't want to say, at first, but I told him some stuff about me, and after a while, he opened up."

"You don't think he was just bragging?"

"Negative. I can tell when somebody is pumping sewage, believe me. I've given you some first disk material, haven't I?"

"Yes. You've been very helpful to me."

"Anyway, so after awhile, he says, 'Yeah, all he wants is to know the Black Sun dogs and whips and how the scramble runs. I can't believe they don't know about Tweel and his curs, and the bankers from Muto Kato.'"

Tweel. Muto Kato. Somebody's name, and a world in the Bruno System. He had it! "He say anything else?"

"Not anything you're interested in."

"I'm interested in
everything
he says. Listen, Berque, I want you to stay with this.

Get everything you can from him. You do this right and your perks will triple."

Berque leaned back in his chair, his exopthalmic eyes almost exploding from his face. "Ah, Warden, you're too kind. Have you thought about what I asked you last time we talked?"

Stark felt his teeth grind together. He forced the smile back to his lips. "Yes, I have given it some thought. And if you get this for me, Berque, I'll see that you get the job of morgue attendant."

The fat man's smile was radiant. It made Stark's stomach turn. What Berque wanted to do with the bodies… well, it didn't matter. If some parts of them didn't get cremated, who would care?

When the dip left, Stark punched the names into his computer and instructed the unit to begin a search over the InfoNet. If the names looked as though they might be legitimate, he would be sitting in the pilot's seat when Karnaaj returned. Stark would make very damned sure that the Confed knew that
he
had gotten the information and not that zombie Karnaaj. He smiled at the thought.
Try to
steal
my woman, eh? We'll see about that. Commander Karnaaj.

* * *

"What about your parents?" Juete asked.

In his cell, Maro smiled into the darkness. "What about them?"

"Were you happy at home? Brothers, sisters? Extended family or nuclear? Traditional or open marriage? Did you feel loved and wanted? Were your—?"

"Wait, hold it. One question at a time!"

"I'm sorry. It's only that I want to get to know all about you."

"Why? It's not that important who I was."

"Yes it is. Who you are comes from who you were. You can't escape your past; it follows you like a shadow."

He listened to the soft tones from the compatch, and smiled again. There was a lot more to this woman than met the eye. You looked at her and all you saw was the body and flawless skin, the shock of white hair and the pale eyes. And when her pheromones reached you, your own hormones stirred in response. But there was more there. She had a mind, and Maro found that more intriguing than her looks or even her enhanced sexual appeal.

"I suppose you're right. Okay. Let's go back to the first question, then. My parents…"

In the quiet of his cell, separated by thick walls and distance, he told the lonely woman about himself. And found that, much to his surprise, it did not hurt at all.

When the com clicked off, Juete rolled over onto her back and grinned foolishly.

It was probably too soon to tell, but she thought she loved this man. He talked to her like she was a person and not just a sexual toy. That meant more to her than she would have believed. If they were together, it would be physical—she knew that. But it would also be more. She felt a connection with Dain that she had never felt with anyone before. She liked the feeling.

Maybe his plan to escape would work. Maybe it would not. At this point, it did not matter so much. If they could be together, even briefly, that would be worth it. She was being romantic, she knew, but she could not help the giddy feeling she had. Had anyone ever made this kind of connection long distance before?

Surely someone must have. There had to be people who lived worlds apart, who talked only over White Radio or by recordings, who had come to appreciate and even love one another. Even so, it felt no less magical to her. He did not have to come for her when he escaped. But he wanted to, and that made all the difference. Dain would not use her; he would love her and respect her, she was sure of that.

Feeling that sense of newfound power, Juete no longer was afraid. She might be locked away in solitary, but she knew that she was no longer alone. She clutched that thought to herself as she fell into a peaceful sleep.

In the yard the next day. Scanner pulled Maro aside. "It's done," he said. "I don't know how long it will run, or even
if
it'll run, but it's as good as it's gonna get with what we've got."

"Can you get it to my cell?"

"Your cell? Why?"

"For the test."

"Hey, I built this twinky;
I
test it."

"It's liable to kill you, Scanner."

"Oh, and it won't kill you? What makes you immune?"

"Remember the Zonn Chamber?"

Scanner looked exasperated. "I was afraid you might say that. You think you'll need whatever you did in there to make this work?"

"I don't know. But it's better to have it and not need it—"

"—than to need it and not have it. I've heard the argument before."

Maro grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "If it works, you'll be the first to know."

"And if not, you will."

Maro shrugged. "It's a risk. Somebody's got to take it, and it was my idea."

The thin man made a gesture of capitulation. "Okay. I'll get it into your cell. But Maro—if you blow us all up I am really going to be pissed at you."