Betrothed Episode One (16 page)

I could
see the police. I could see them coming for me. Captain Fargo,
even, chasing me down this very walkway.

But then
the vision slipped and changed.

Now I
could see myself running forward, as fast as I could, legs pelting,
arms pumping, breath a constant wheeze in my chest.

I
followed the vision. I could feel my feet launch forward like shots
from a gun.

My arm
jostled into someone by my side, but I didn’t fall down. I twisted
around and kept running.

I could
see a building before me, both in reality and in my
vision.

There
was a door.

I
reached it, slamming my palm onto a panel lodged into the
wall.

A biometric scan appeared under my hand, even though the wall
had been smooth and seamless before.

With a
beep, it registered my bio scans, but the door didn’t open. “Access
denied.”

I
slammed my hand back onto the scanner, a frustrated, terrified cry
splitting from my lips.

Then my
hand darted back to the scanner, but this time I didn’t beat it. My
fingers snarled around the edges, my nails cracking and tearing in
my frenzy to tear off the casing.

Fortunately no one tried to stop me. I didn’t know what I
would have done if they had. No, not me, the vision. If it had told
me to turn around and take a swipe at them, I would have. If it
told me to go for their throats and try to throw them off the
railing, I would have.

There
was nothing I could do but follow.

Finally,
somehow, I managed to gain the purchase I needed to tear the casing
from the wall. Rather than let it tumble to my feet, I caught it
with my other hand, then brought it up and started to get into the
wires.

There
was a blaring alarm, one I ignored as I continued to dig at the
wires feverishly. Finally I located one, right at the back,
protected by a thin line of shielding.

I shoved
my hand towards it, ignoring the pain that blistered along my
fingers as soon as I touched the electrified field.

The
shielding was obviously some kind of communications dampening
field, and not designed to stop a forceful desperate hand from
grabbing right through it.

After a
few more seconds of exploding pain, I managed to rip it right out
of the wall.

My hand
was burnt, badly burnt, and skin would have to be replaced. But
that didn’t stop me from reaching my good hand in and manipulating
a few more wires.

Finally
the door opened. I ran through it just as I heard sirens echo
around the platform.

As soon
as I was through the door, thankfully it closed behind me. There
was another panel by the door, and I darted towards it,
manipulating it with frightening ease.

Every
second, the vision told me what to do. Every step, every minute
movement of my hand.

This had
to be some bad dream, some horrifying hallucination.

Yet even
as I thought that, I knew it wasn’t.

This was
real.

I had
never felt more terrified, not even when I’d lain in my hospital
bed dying 400 years ago.

Fortunately there was no one in the building, and as I ran
through it, I figured out why. It was some kind of systems hub. It
didn’t have the smooth clean feel of the rest of the city; it was
rough and poorly lit. Obviously people only ever came in
here
when they
needed
to
for
maintenance
activities
.

Yet now I ran, feet thundering over the floor.

I wanted
to cradle my hand, but I couldn’t. That wasn’t part of the
vision.

The vision had me throttling forward, like a ship entering
light speed.

My eyes were fastened wide open, and no matter what I did, I
couldn’t blink.

My hair was a sweaty mess tapering down my neck and
shoulders, and it itched where it touched the skin. I couldn’t
scratch it. I couldn’t pause and lock a hand over my stomach and
chest as I tried to breathe in a calming breath.

I
honestly couldn’t do anything but watch and follow.

As I ran
through the winding maze of maintenance tunnels, I paused
periodically to access panels. I didn’t know what I was doing – not
a clue – but my hands clearly did.

Whenever
I finished with a panel, there would be a whirring down noise, like
helicopter rotors coming to rest.

As I
darted forward again, I started to mumble. It took me a few seconds
to realize what I was saying.

Short
bursts of hurried, frantic words. “I’m Anna Carter. I’m Anna
Carter. And I can see things. You need to help me.”

It was
like I was rehearsing what I was going to say to Illuminate
Hart.

The words trembled and broke from my lips like water running
down panes of broken glass.

Finally
I started to ascend, climbing ladders with one hand while I held my
badly burnt arm against me, jamming it into the rungs for
support.

Though
my mind was well and truly occupied, my last bastion of reason
realized something. This was it. If this ever stopped, and I was
captured, I would be thrown into prison forever.

There
would be no going back.

A short
week ago I had been terrified by the prospect of being betrothed;
now that didn’t matter.

Nothing
did.

No, my
mind suddenly interrupted. Getting to Illuminate Hart
mattered.

With
sweat slicking my brow, my burnt hand trembling against my chest, I
staggered forward, telling the corridors and walls and panels I was
Anna Carter and I could see things.

...

Captain Fargo

She’d
entered one of the primary maintenance towers. She’d locked us
out.

The city was
on
high alert.

My
technicians were working feverishly to gain access to the building,
but they couldn’t.

Miranda was a terrorist ... an extremely capable
one.

She had
hacking skills that could put even the most powerful and
sophisticated AIs to shame.

She couldn’t be a newfound one. If her file was correct, and
she’d woken up a short number of months ago, then she had learned
more about subverting the security of critical systems in those few
months than I would ever be able to master in my whole
life.

Something wasn’t right, but it was useless to keep telling
myself that.

Things
had gone to hell on my watch in the space of less than a
day.

Right
now, all I could do was watch. Watch, and wait for the technicians
to blast their way in. Once they did, I was going to find Miranda
and stop her before she could finish whatever she had
planned.

...

Lieutenant Mark Havelock

I’d
found her, or rather the police had. For some crazy reason she was
holed up in one of the main maintenance towers.

I didn’t
have time to wonder how she got there; now I knew where she was, I
had to get to her before the police did.

I still
hadn’t taken off my uniform, which was risky, but it was a risk I
knew I could take.

I had
friends. Other people in this universe who wanted the same thing I
did and were willing to sacrifice everything for it.

And
those friends had power.

I knew there was a warrant out for my arrest; the detestable
Captain Fargo had lodged it. It didn’t matter though. There were
ways around the police.

As I ran
along one of the sky bridges, I tapped my wrist device. It was
currently sending out a subtle jamming signal that would stop
identity scanners from locating me. It would also obscure my
appearance in any footage.

To top
things off, I had a dermal disguise holographic implant lodged just
under my jaw. With a single word, it would activate, and my
appearance would change.

In the
unlikely event I ran into somebody who knew me, I’d be able to
change my appearance before they saw me.

Technically, I should use the implant now. It didn’t have a
limited power source or anything like that. The reason I hadn’t
turned the thing on was because… I didn’t want to. Not yet. I had
something to prove to this universe. I wanted to demonstrate that
it wasn’t as goddamn perfect as it liked to believe.

My psych evaluation had identified me as a needless risk
taker. That was true, but it wasn’t a character default. I found
power in what others shrunk away from.

That’s
why I was perfect for this task.

The
universe was relying on me, and I wouldn’t let everyone
down.

...

Anna Carter

I was in a daze now. I barely recognized what was going on,
and only watched the vision with half a mind. It was as if the
rational, aware side of my personality was shutting down from too
much abuse.

I was
tired, bone tired, but there was nothing I could do to stop the
feverish movements of my limbs.

In fact, as I continued to run through the labyrinthine
building, accessing panels here and there, my movements became even
quicker.

New
visions flashed before my mind. Not just ones telling me how to
escape, but others too.

They flitted by, and I could barely catch hold of them, but I
caught enough to realize this was some kind of practice run. Some
kind of simulation. It was as if my brain was running through every
possible scenario in the blink of an eye.

It was
such an incredible thought, and one I could barely comprehend as I
tried to stop the feverish movements of my body.

All of a
sudden, they stopped on their own.

I
stumbled, and for a short few seconds, I regained complete control
over myself.

It was
long enough for me to let out a terrified scream.

Then I
dropped to one knee as something struck me. My head jerked back,
and I saw a flash of another vision. This one more complete than
the half hallucinations that had torn through my mind for the past
hour and a half.

It
wasn’t on the same delirious level as the vision I’d experienced
about Illuminate Hart, but it was close.

And it
left me with a distinct undeniable conclusion that I was in
danger.

I had to
get off this planet. I had to get off this planet.

That new thought echoed through my mind, growing louder and
louder with every reverberating heartbeat. It felt like it shook
through my body and enveloped every cell.

I
staggered back, my eyes glassing over as I stared at the
vision.

Getting to Hart no longer mattered. Not right now,
anyway.

I was in
danger, critical danger, and I had to escape.

Get off
the planet, the vision screamed.

And I
screamed with it.

Clutching two sweaty rigid hands to my head, my fingers
pressing and dragging against the skin, I lurched
forward.

I looked
like a wreck, like a crazy woman, but it didn’t matter. Nothing
mattered.

Only
getting off this planet did.

I staggered through the maintenance shaft, and with every
step, the vision gained more control, until my hand dropped from my
face and my glassy stare focussed ahead. My eyes darted to the left
and right, watching the vision, not my environment. I could see
myself escaping.

And
escape I would.

...

Captain Fargo

The impossible was happening: my technicians couldn’t get
through. Nearly every data or security scientist in Cluster had
been recruited to the task, but no one was successful.

Whatever Miranda had done to lock us out of the building, the
smartest minds in the universe could not reverse it.

“
A Cluster-wide alert has been issued,” a security officer
said to me, her words nervous and jumbled. She would never have
seen anything like this, at least not in the Central System – the
most protected place in all the universe, aside from an Illuminate
ship. “Critical personnel are being evacuated.”

“
Does that include the Illuminates and Anna Carter?” I asked,
even though I knew the answer.

She
offered me a curt but still nervous nod.

Despite
the distraction of my city falling apart, I found the time to turn
and search out the Illuminate tower on the horizon. My eyes
narrowed and locked onto it, and sure enough I saw a few distinct,
sleek ships take off from the top of the tower.

If I
didn’t know the import of the Illuminates, I would take their
evacuation as cowardly. But I knew what they did for me, for
everyone, for the entire universe, so I prayed for their successful
and safe departure.