The Forlorn(111)

The long, laterally flattened bed spear of the red-cross emblazoned, red-light flashing, rescue unit came in at head height, slid down onto the dying woman, and scooped her up. If they thought it had come fast, the speed at which it left was terrifying.

"Patient will be taken to Morningstar II General Medical. Staff have been alerted and are awaiting. Time of arrival twenty-eight seconds. End communication." The wall speaker clicked silent.

Keilin tried speaking to it. Tried typing "HELP" again. Received a curt "MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ONLY," or "ENTER ACCESS CODE."

Wolf smelled the discarded clothing in the corner. He grabbed Keilin's shoulder. "Come." He said, "We'll follow my nose instead."

Like a questing pack, the Gene-spliced sniffed off into the passage.

* * *

Shael didn't know where she was going. She just kept on crawling. And when she could crawl no further, she climbed down the metal rungs. She kept on going downwards as long as she could. Finally, when her arms were tired, she moved off into a horizontal shaft. There was a grille ahead. She got over it. Kicked it. It wouldn't budge outwards. And there was nothing to give purchase to lift it by, once she'd got it off.

A voice said, "Allow me."

He flicked the grille aside, and Cap's strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her security. "Did you really think you could fool the computer system by hiding in the ventilators?" he said with a sardonic curl of the lip. "My girl, if you oppose me, you'll always come off second best." He twisted her arm behind her back and took the bag of core sections out of her pocket. "Let's go and give these a try . . . my way."

* * *

The sniffers' trail had led to the set-into-the-wall metal doors of an elevator. It had taken awhile to figure out how to open the handleless metal things. Fortunately someone had tried the button off to the side before Hamesh had got busy with his battle-axe. Having encountered buttons once, they were rapidly found and understood in their context. But there were seventy floors. None of the buttons had Cap's scent. He'd plainly retained voice control for himself.

They were sixteen from the top, so they settled for going up one and smelling there. Nothing. So the next. They'd tried seven floors when Keilin thought of touching the core sections. "They've gone down. A long way down." Abruptly he disappeared.

* * *

She was tied down over the transmitter control center. Lashed facedown onto the bed that Evie Lee had had fitted. There was a little flue into which Cap had poured the core sections. All around them the electronic muscles and brain of the matter-transmitter system clicked and flashed with electronic life. The drug he'd injected into her was one she'd never encountered before. She thought she had heard of all of them. But she'd not come across this one. It made her feel as if every nerve was supercharged. Her sense of touch seemed most heightened. She could swear that she could feel the individual threads of her shirt touching her.

And the steely sound of a knife being sharpened was horribly magnified. Cap had not said what he planned to do. But tied like this, spread-eagled and helpless . . . It wasn't going to be pleasant . . . and not actually knowing made it worse. She wished Keilin would come . . .

He was there. Abruptly. A little stunned.

"That's one method I failed to take cognizance of," Cap said coldly. "Now I suppose I'll have to kill you after all. I'd decided I didn't want to do that."

"I'm afraid of you. Make one hostile move and I'll panic. I've got the rest of the core sections. The real ones. I stole them from Leyla. I'll use my power to scatter them into the sea." Keilin's voice was a little too unsteady to make the threat truly effective. "Let her go. Let her go and I'll give them to you."

"You know," said Cap conversationally, "I'd decided not to kill you because you're my only descendent. Evie lost a child in Dunbar when I nearly managed to get the bitch. Our child. I've been thinking about it. That pendant . . ."

"That pendant came from Arlinn," said Keilin. "My father claimed to be a prince on the run. He was probably nothing like that . . . but my mother loved him enough to leave her rich merchant family for him. I've nothing to do with you. Let Shael go."

"Hmm. He probably was from Arlinn. Before I got to Evie she'd spawned a whole pack of brats off various men. I suppose your mother's line . . . yes, that must be mine."

"Leyla said you couldn't have children. Not with your tastes. I don't believe Queen Lee ever had anything to do with you," spat Shael.

"Phew! You're a poisonous bitch, aren't you? To talk like that from the position you're in. But you're wrong. I seduced her very carefully. If I couldn't have the captaincy one way . . ."