Farthest Reach Page 21

  From the rear of their line, Yazzie snorted. “Dude. It’s not a smash and grab.”

  She was right. Taking the serum from Alvarez would require some finesse, some nebulous unknowable that Harding hadn’t put his finger on yet. Alvarez was an agent of unpredictable chaos wherever she went.

  Vanderberg wasn’t finished whining. His arms flailed in faux kung fu, flinging powder from his coat. “Have you seen Alvarez fight? I mean, that battle in Reno was crazy with her ice swords and shit. We need the mech suits to take her out.”

  Harding stopped abruptly, spinning around to get in Vanderberg’s face. “I was there, in case you’ve forgotten. And let me clarify something here—we are not going to ‘take her out.’ Alvarez has something we want, but we are on the same side.”

  Vanderberg held up his hands in surrender, the white thermal gloves comically large against his scrawny frame. “Okay, okay. It wasn’t me who was going to blow her brains out.”

  He made sure he had everyone’s attention. “Alvarez has complete Ringhead-human hybridization. She is literally one of a kind.” Reports from Dr. Patel and Dr. Beaufort were fascinating and terrifying. Alvarez might have been genetically altered, but she was still a good soldier and played for the same team.

  “She’s an American asset and not a target.” Harding directed his last three words at Taylor.

  Taylor reached for her rifle pack, as if to reassure herself. “Whatever you say, sir.”

  Her soft voice sounded a little more lively. The Glass was wearing off. Taylor handed Yazzie a scope from her pack. As her arms stretched out, Harding could make out the ugly black and blue tracings against her fair skin on the insides of her wrist. He was used to seeing those marks on his own skin, but it bothered him to see them on Taylor. He knew how much those hurt. Taylor should have a few more years left until her lungs started to go. Then she’d be on the same steroids that he ate by the fistful now.

  He turned his attention to the tall doors that loomed before them, set securely into the hillside. Dr. Shimizu eschewed the formality of armed guards and patrols, favoring instead a remote and defensible location where she could dig in like a tick. It had been so much nicer when she had been in Tokyo. Harding lowered his balaclava and took off his glove, pressing his palm against the small comms panel. “Tomoko, it’s me, Eli.”

  The doors snicked softly as they unlocked.

  ***

  Nobody came to greet them as Harding and Yazzie made their way into the bowels of the mountain laboratory. Harding took in the cameras above and the narrowness of the hallways. If he had to build a lab, a lab secured within a mountain sounded appealing. With each step, his anticipation grew. He looked forward to seeing Tomoko again.

  She was everything in a woman he admired and now avoided—beautiful, brilliant, and highly principled.

  He’d experienced a confusing mixture of relief and regret when she’d broken it off and taken her grant money to build this fortress in the northern reaches of Japan. In many ways, splitting up with Tomoko had steered the course of his life. Many of the decisions he’d made in the last decade would not have passed muster with her.

  The hallway emptied into a vast chamber with a high ceiling, hewn directly into the mountain. They paused when they reached the elevator, and the control panel chimed. A young Japanese man with smooth skin and perfect gleaming hair appeared on the screen. “Konnichiwa.”

  Harding returned the greeting, the Japanese rolling easily off his tongue. “We’re here to see Dr. Shimizu.”

  The young man blinked slowly once. “Yes, she is expecting you. Please take the lift to the xeno-bio lab on three.”

  As they entered the elevator, Yazzie took a step closer to Harding. “Sir, something about that guy is off.”

  Harding snorted. “Yaz, that ‘guy’ is an AI. The doc works better alone. Always has.” Harding paused for a moment. Tomoko did have pets. Well-trained pets.

  He took a moment to check his reflection in the polished metal of the elevator and set his collar to rights, covering the scars along his collarbone.

  Yazzie spoke, her gaze fixed straight ahead. “You should have returned to base.”

  His hands stopped and he glanced at Yazzie. “I’m not wasting the time I have left.”

  The lift doors opened.

  A fluffy dog with stubby legs ran out to them and placed a small paw on Harding’s boot. He looked down at the chubby Shiba Inu. “Kon’nichiwa, Mochi-chan.”

  Yazzie smiled, a flash of large even white teeth against her nut-brown skin. “That’s a cute name for a cute dog.”

  Mochi wagged his short tail and stood up on his hind legs. His front paws began to move quickly and Harding instinctively started copying the motions by tracing his forefinger on the side of his thigh.

  Yazzie backed up a step. “Is that dog doing sign language?”

  Mochi stopped and turned toward to her, giving a short bark.

  “No, that would be absurd. Dogs don’t have thumbs.” Harding gestured at Mochi, “Dozo yoroshiku.”

  After a few moments, Mochi dropped to all fours and scampered to the lab. Harding watched him go, unexpected nostalgia creeping up on him. “She wants us to wait here for now.”

  Something made him turn to Yazzie and say, “Head back out, scout concentric circles from the lab, and see if you can find any trace of Alvarez or her ship.”

  Yazzie raised her dark eyebrows, and though her mouth merely said, “Yes, sir,” her eyes told him she thought the assignment was bonkers.

  Harding couldn’t put his finger on it, but something felt off. Had Alvarez beaten him to the punch again?

  Yazzie left, and the elevator pinged softly with her exit. Harding walked closer to the double doors and they slid open partially, revealing an immaculate lab interior. Immediately, he saw that his hunch was correct. The icy globe rested on the table, his package from Kurilenko. A hazy fog hung inside the case, a few tendrils spilling over the edge. A pale green flaw marred the center of the white globe. So much potential in such a small package.

  Tomoko ignored him. She turned to her lab table and lifted a syringe, one of many arranged neatly in immaculate trays. A pale green liquid glowing with faint internal light filled the chamber. “Are you here for the Anti-Freeze, Eli? Leaps and bounds better than what we had back last year. It has dead Ringhead components coupled with nanites and works much better. Even this took two years to synthesize and we had vastly more material to work with!”

  Harding narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Anti-Freeze. His own doc kept trying to get him to get that shot. Over his dead body. He was leaving this planet the way he showed up. No alien cocktail injections required. It Tomoko knew how long how he had avoided treatment, she would probably inject him herself.

  Fair Trade

  He eased the doors all the way open and walked in, wet boots squeaking on Tomoko’s pristine floors. Tomoko looked at him with a familiar mixture of exasperation and horror that told him he’d just offended her strict Japanese sensibilities.

  A chittering sound brought his attention up and his eyebrows lifted as a small furry shape detached itself from an overhead light and leapt for his head. Harding gave a small smile and froze in place, ducking his head down. The white flying squirrel glided down and landed on the nape of his neck. The squirrel scampered around his neck before coming to a rest on his right shoulder, her small paws resting on Harding’s ear. He reached up with one finger and scratched the top of her head. “Konnichiwa, Yuki-chan.”

  Tomoko’s bemused resignation let him know he wasn’t really in trouble. Yet. Barely missing a beat, Harding lunged for the workbench and plucked the ice globe from the open briefcase. The cold bit into his fingers and set his scars alight with pain.

  Tomoko gasped, aghast. “Eli! What are you doing?!”

  Harding rolled the sphere between his fingers. “Tomoko, you know Alvarez is too reckless to be trusted with this. We might never see another live Ringhead until they’re bearing down
on us from low orbit again. I can use this to ensure we’ll be ready when they return.”

  Tomoko waved her hand dismissively. “You talk like it’s still war time. The aliens are gone. We need to concentrate on healing our walking wounded now.”

  He shook his head, and his voice lowered. “We haven’t seen the last of those bastards. We need to be ready. This juice is the key to perfecting our biofilm.”

  A crash sounded, and phasing out of the backdrop of the curtains, Alvarez dropped into a crouch, her gaze fixed on the ice globe. The lights flickering on her armor flared and flowed down her arms. Pale mist gathered around her arms.

  Harding’s adrenaline surged. He knew it!

  “You’d better put that back before I come take it back.” Cam’s head had ducked into an almost reptilian sway as she focused on the globe he held. Despite himself, he felt an unwelcome primordial response within, the hindbrain sending up the impulse to step away from an apex predator.

  Tomoko’s voice rose in volume. “Damn you, Eli! Camila, no! This is my home; you will not do this!”

  Mochi leapt up and placed himself between Alvarez and Tomoko, his hackles up and a rumbling growl in his chest. Tomoko’s eyes flicked to the wall and a large red button that would blanket them all in fire suppression gas.

  Harding took a wary step to the side and Alvarez mirrored his movement. Tomoko hunkered low, gripping Mochi’s fur.

  Harding felt Yuki shift on his shoulder, the movement triggering a distant memory. Before he could react, the nimble squirrel leapt from his shoulder and stole the ice globe from his hand, wrapping her long tail around the ball and gliding to the ground. In the split second of stunned silence, Harding cursed his stupidity.

  The wispy fog shrouding Alvarez’s hand thickened in an instant and she pulled an ugly sword of milky ice from it. She whirled and slashed down at the fleeing squirrel.

  Anger flared hot and bright, and Harding was moving before he knew it, ramming his shoulder into Alvarez’s hip. “Don’t hurt her!” They collided and tumbled to the ground, the ice sword whistling past and striking sparks off the metal floor. Yuki scampered away and disappeared into an air vent.

  Harding untangled himself from Alvarez, rubbing his sore shoulder. “Crap! I thought you made them smart, Tomoko!”

  Tomoko glared daggers at him and she clutched Mochi by the scruff. “Baka! You’re the one who trained her to play catch!”

  No one else had ever called him an idiot. Hearing it from her lips made him feel strangely close to her. Before he could linger on the sensation, Alvarez sprang up and sprinted for the elevators.

  Harding gave chase, but he didn’t have her speed. She beat him soundly to the elevator and he was stuck in the hallway. “Yazzie, Taylor... she’s on the move.”

  Yazzie responded, “Roger, we’re in position.”

  Mochi scampered out, Tomoko a few feet behind. “Be careful, Eli.”

  “Worried about me?”

  Tomoko rolled her eyes. “No. That serum is literally the only one we know of in existence.”

  That was one of the many things he’d always liked about her. Pragmatism over sentiment.

  “Besides, you can take care of yourself.”

  Okay, he liked that too. The elevator finally arrived and he turned and locked eyes with Tomoko. “Douka kushinrai kudasai.”

  She bowed slightly and then shooed him away, turning with Mochi back to her inner sanctum.

  Harding entered the elevator and turned to watch Tomoko disappear behind the closing doors. He barked into his comms, “Sitrep.”

  Taylor’s calm voice came on. “We’ve got eyes on the exits. Don’t see anything yet, sir.”

  “Remember, we want her alive, and for god’s sake, whatever you do, don’t shoot the flying squirrel.”

  “The what?” The sniper’s calm dropped for a moment and Harding heard confusion in her voice.

  Harding checked his flechette pistol and primed it. “Dr. Shimizu’s pet squirrel grabbed the serum. Don’t shoot the fucking serum or the squirrel.”

  “Sure thing, sir.” To her credit, Taylor said nothing further.

  Yazzie’s voice cut in. “I’ve got eyes on the package. It’s in a tree, your ten o’clock from the front door.”

  The spotter had beat Vanderberg to the locating their quarry.

  “Here’s the plan. When I step out, the squirrel will dive for me.” Harding mapped it out in his head. The elevator crawled up at an agonizing pace. The pleasant young man on the monitor announced the levels he was passing. Harding clenched his hands. The dull ache in his thigh had faded, but bright points of pain were beginning to flare in his left shoulder, tracing their way across this chest.

  “”Dammit! Where is Vanderberg? Can he make this damned elevator go faster?”

  “Sorry, sir. He’s a little busy right now.”

  “Fucking… of all times to take a leak!” The doors slid open and Harding squirmed through, running for the outer doors. “I’m at the doors, cover me.”

  Harding burst out the doors, dazzling sunlight reflecting from the snow momentarily blinding him. He ran from the door, squinting through the glare and looking for cover. The back of his neck itched and crawled. He ducked around an icy outcrop and took a breath. The stabbing in his lungs sapped his strength, turning his legs to jelly.

  He pawed his pockets until he found a dermal patch and smoothed it onto his neck, feeling the warm bath of drugs soothe his nerves. “Yazzie. Where’s the package?”

  “Hasn’t moved. Alvarez is hunting in the low brush on the opposite side of the clearing. We have a clear shot at both of them.”

  “Okay, get ready.”

  Harding looked to the tree Yazzie had spotted and stood up, putting aside the anxiety of standing out in the open with no cover. He put his fingers in his mouth and gave a piercing whistle. The top of the tree rustled and Yuki scampered along a branch, leaping off the end. She flared her limbs and began gliding across the clearing, chittering excitedly. The icy sphere containing the serum sparkled, wrapped in her long fluffy tail.

  She was moving too slowly.

  Alvarez exploded from the brush and crossed half the clearing in the blink of an eye. Then she was airborne, reaching for Yuki, the fingers of her hand extending into wicked claws of ice.

  Yazzie’s voice, calm as still water. “Take her.”

  Taylor’s shot rang out, a thunderclap rolling across the mountain. Alvarez jerked in midair, ripped off course by Taylor’s shot. The distinctive blast launched from Big Blue to tear through her abdomen, exiting in a wide spray of bright green blood and viscera. Alvarez tumbled to the snow, landing in a tangle of limbs, green blood soaking into the snow.

  Unfinished Business

  Yuki finished her glide, landing neatly on Harding’s shoulder. He plucked the sphere from her tail and gave her a quick scratch on her head before shooing her off. “Go. Find your mother.”

  As the squirrel ran off, he walked toward Alvarez’s body, disappointment welling up. “Goddammit, Taylor, I said we wanted her alive.”

  Her protest was unconvincing in her Glass-induced monotone. “I didn’t go for the headshot.”

  Harding’s response died in his throat as he froze in place, not believing his eyes. The snow under Alvarez’s body was melting.

  No, it wasn’t melting. It was disappearing, clearing a ten-foot circle around her body. Alvarez’s arms twitched, and her elbows popped up, levering her chest off the ground. As she stood up, the hole in her abdomen shrank, twisting filaments of alien goo stretching across the opening and pulling the edges together. By the time she was upright, the hole was gone. Alvarez’s eyes shone piercing blue, so bright they were hard to look at.

  “I hope that wasn’t your best shot.”

  Harding’s hand dropped to his pistol, even as he knew it was going to be useless. Jesus, Dr. Beaufort’s files didn’t mention any kind of regen like that.

  A second shot rang out and Alvarez dodged out of the bullet�
�s path, her neck bending at an obscene angle. She straightened and looked up, sighting directly along the flight path to Taylor’s perch. Alvarez raised an eyebrow. “Shoulda gone for the headshot first.”

  Harding backed up, his hand still on the butt of his pistol, the serum clutched in his right hand. “Alvarez… We don’t have to do it like this. We’re on the same side; we want this to be used for the right reasons.”

  She stalked across the snow. “Like you used Keenan for the right reasons?”

  Well, fuck. But Harding wasn’t taking the fall for her boyfriend’s death. “Keenan knew his job. He chose to use the biofilm. I didn’t make him do anything.”

  Alvarez stopped, her face stricken. Harding knew he had scored.

  A crashing noise had them both turning. Harding couldn’t fucking believe what he was seeing. A gargantuan beast of laminated armor plate rose out of the snow. The mech suit stood fully nine feet tall and sported a cartridge of miniature missiles on the left armature, and—god, that idiot!—on the right side, a six-foot battle-ax his lab had forged from jumpship debris.

  Within the protective chest cage, Vanderberg’s scrawny body banged around like a pencil in a cup. The mech’s right leg slammed down, spraying snow and ice with the impact. Vanderberg overcompensated and sent the mech stumbling to his left. The mech tipped, knocking aside trees and rocks, carving a jagged pathway through the trees.

  “Stand down, Vanderberg.” A crackling sound followed by a dull buzzing sound was all he heard from the comms. That little shit!

  The mech lifted its left arm and a brace of rockets rotated out and cocked, ready to deploy. Harding realized that, with his lousy luck, his own guy was going to take him out with a stray rocket from an experimental mech suit.

  Before Vanderberg could fire the rockets, Alvarez sprang into the air, landing on the launcher mechanism, looking down at Vanderberg. She swung her short sword into the cockpit, right at Vanderberg’s head. He brought up his arms and the mech responded, swinging the right arm up to parry the sword with the giant ax.