Running With Argentine (23 page)

On
Trinity

Gossip had lost consciousness and was
very pale.

The lieutenant had done everything he could and at least the
bleeding was down to a slow ooze. Whether that was because he was running out
of blood or not was anyone’s guess.

They’d knocked on the door and the eyes of the old man who’d
opened it had gone wide with his first look at them. The lieutenant had barely
started in on an explanation when he’d pulled them in and quickly cleared a
table for Gossip.

This wasn’t a hospital or a clinic; it was a home… and a
small ratty one at that.

It wasn’t long after that the sound of a door opening came
from the back of the home and the doctor rushed in with her arms full of plasma
bags and other supplies.

Without so much as a hello she went straight to Gossip and
got to work.

“Do you know his blood type?” she asked without looking up.

“I think there’s a tattoo on his neck.”

Once she found it she said to the old man, “Jamis, take the
back way to the clinic and bring back five bags of O positive… and be careful.”

With a nod the old man disappeared with a nimbleness that
defied his age.

“Your friend is as lucky as you are stupid,” she said while
setting up an IV. “I’ll start him on oxyplaz while we grab some blood - we have
his type on hand.”

He didn’t respond. There wasn’t really anything to say or do
until the doctor finished her work.

ΔΔΔ

The old man returned with
the blood supply and whispered something into the doctor’s ear.

She immediately leapt into action…

“You’re going to have to carry your friend into the back
bedroom. You,” she said while pointing a finger at the professor, “…need to get
this blood cleaned up. And you’d better do a good job - your life depends on
it.”

“What’s happening?” Lieutenant Stark demanded as he lifted
Gossip.

“Jamis says the City Police are already at the clinic asking
questions. Apparently you weren’t too discreet about making your get-a-way
from… wherever.”

“Will your people talk?”

“Yeah, but they won’t give us away… By now they’ll have
reports of anywhere from one to five men leaving in every direction.”

“They’ll search the neighborhood.”

“No doubt. But in case you didn’t notice, this bedroom has a
disguised door and this first sweep will be superficial.”

As he laid Gossip down she continued, “It’s tomorrow we have
to worry about.”

As she started setting up the IV again he explained, “We won’t
know until dawn tomorrow if we still have a ship or not. If we do, we can get
out of your hair quickly. If not…”

She stopped what she was doing and for the first time since
ordering him out of the clinic, looked him straight in the eye… You have a ship?”

On
Trinity

"If you
have a ship that means you're working with the Lords. If we would have known
that, someone would've already turned you in by now. You've got a lot of nerve,
seeking our help."

"Yeah, well… The problem with that is that we’re not
working with the Lords. We met with this guy, Lord Tiren, and he double-crossed
us… tried to take us prisoner, actually."

"If you think anyone around here cares about thieves
double-crossing each other…" she said with subdued vitriol.

"Thieves! That's pretty harsh. I don't want to piss you
off; I mean, you are saving my friends life and everything… But you don't even
know us. Maybe we don't deserve your hatred?"

"Don't you? You’re business partners with the Lords. So
as far as anyone around here is concerned, you're just as…"

Just then, there was some muffled shouting coming from the
street.

"Be quiet!" she suddenly insisted.

Next came a loud banging on the front door.

They quietly huddled in the cramped hidden bedroom. The only
thing they could hear were the muffled sounds of the police quick walking
through the apartment, and the old man's feeble protests.

After what seemed like an eternity their door opened and the
old man stuck his head in.

"Let me out of here," the professor said. "I
need some air."

"The smell of blood obviously doesn't bother you,"
the doctor said almost as an aside. She busied herself with rechecking Gossip’s
vitals.

"I've seen too much of it, that's true," the
Lieutenant responded. "But I'm not a fan of it.”

After watching her work for a minute more, he said,
"I'd like to explain our situation; I think you’ve got the wrong idea
about us. But first, can I know your name?"

She stopped what she was doing and once again turned her
focus back to him…

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. But I do think you
owe me an explanation… What happened; why are the police looking for you?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Normally, no. But under the circumstances… I may lose
my home, my clinic, my friends… And maybe even my life. So yeah, if it's all
the same to you, I think I'd really like to know."

Lieutenant Stark sighed. She had a point.

"We didn't mean to endanger anyone; we were just trying
to save ourselves," he said. "I didn’t involve you on purpose."

"No, your type never does,” she muttered. “If you're
not doing business with the Lords then you must be with the resistance; and you
resistance types are all the same. You play your silly games and act all noble
and take glory in dying for your cause… And you never give a thought to all the
innocents that get caught up in the bloodshed that you leave in your wake.

"You may not care, but for some of the people around
here that clinic is the only thing that keeps him alive. It's the only place
they can get treatment, and now… Now I don't know what's going to happen."

The Lieutenant caught a glimpse of the wet glint in her eye
and was surprised. This tough woman had a soft side to her after all.

"Ah… Doctor, I don't know about this resistance of yours
but I know that we're grateful for your help. If this man lives it’s all
because of you.

"Like I said, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about
us. We're not with your resistance, and we’re no partners of Lord Tiren. Most
of us didn't even want to stop on this cursed planet of yours – no
offense…"

For no particular reason, he started at the beginning and
then proceeded to explain the entire damned if you do, damned if you don't,
can’t find any work, can’t seem to catch a break, professor/fossil fiasco…

"So, although I could laugh at the irony of it, in this
case I think we’re probably some of those innocents you're talking about."

She got a thoughtful expression on her face and said,
"You were serious about having a ship? I mean, a real ship? Not a boat,
but something that can take us off this planet?"

The lieutenant had more or less trapped himself. He knew
what she was probably angling for but it was kind of late to deny it now…

"Well, yeah we do. At least we did. Something exploded
in orbit and if it
was
our ship… we are just as stuck here as you
are."

"So the people on the ship… They’re good friends of
yours?"

After a reflective moment, he responded, "It's a little
too early to tell."

“And this man here?”

The lieutenant gave a large exhale, “I’ve known him the
least long of all.”

"And you won't know anything until tomorrow
morning?" she asked.

He just shook his head,
no
.

“And if your ship is there?”

“Then we’ll make our way out of town so they can pick us
up.”

“We?”

“I didn’t think I had a choice; I figured you’d want to come
along.”

“You don’t have a choice; not if you want this man to live…

“But there’s something I don’t understand?”

When he didn’t respond she continued…

“You don’t seem overly fond of the professor, and you say
you haven’t known this man very long… Why are you sticking around? It would be
a lot safer for you to escape on your own.”

If she expected an answer to that, she was going to be
disappointed…

ΔΔΔ

"You know
there never were any fossils, don't you?" she said.

The three of them were sitting around a small kitchen table
while the old man kept watch over Gossip. It was still several hours before
dawn, but no one had even suggested trying to get any sleep.

"No fossils? What do you mean!" said the
professor. "I saw the holograms…"

"Those are easily faked," she continued. "At
first, I thought you were in on the scam. But it turns out you were just the
dupes."

"I don't understand," the professor insisted.

"Ehmn…" the lieutenant cleared his throat.
"Maybe you could explain that to us."

Now it was the doctor’s turn to sit back and sigh.

"The Lords have always been the ruling class on our
planet. Generations ago, when they first started delving into the genetic
sciences it was hailed as a good thing. Huge advances were made quickly. I
hadn't been born yet, of course, but they tell me we rapidly started wiping out
diseases and genetic afflictions.

"But, unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The Lords
were getting rich with the cures and genetic treatments they were able to
market throughout the Asperian sphere, but that wasn't enough for them. They
started delving into other areas. Areas that most would consider unethical, or
even immoral.

"They tell us that's what the war was all about, and I
don't have any reason not to believe them. Our planet was already embargoed by
the time I was born; I grew up knowing that my people had created monstrosities
that were repugnant to the rest of civilization.

"Trinity is a two tiered planet, Ensign. There are the
Lords, and then everyone else; and anyone not of a Lordly class is fair game to
be experimented on."

"Um, it's Lieutenant."

"What?" she said breaking her reverie.

"My rank. I am Lieutenant José Stark. But please…
continue."

"Anyway, the Lords are not about to give up the
genetically modified civilization they've maneuvered themselves to the top of.
They’ve got it good here.

“But, on the other hand, with the embargo in place they have
no influence anywhere else…

"They are rich here on Trinity, but without access to
off world funds they'll never be able to influence or bribe their way out of
the embargo.

"That's where I suspect you come in, professor. They
lured you into coming here and I suspect they had you deposit a small ransom in
a secure off world account for the privilege. Am I right?"

This was apparently the first that it had really sunk in,
because all the blood started draining from the professor's face.

"And the Asperian military?" the lieutenant asked.

"Oh, they've been in on it for years; at least the
local commander has."

"But why would the military go along with that?"
the professor stuttered. You just said they don't have a lot of off world
funds…"

"They aren't bribing them with money," the
lieutenant interjected.

The doctor looked at him with a grudging respect.

"But, what then?"

"There are other ways to hold power over human beings
other than riches," the lieutenant continued. "Especially the kind of
power that calls to a man or woman's basest instincts."

From the expression on his face, the professor was still
struggling to keep up…

"Sexual slaves," the doctor explained. "But
not just slaves… We’re talking about human beings that have been altered in
unnatural physical ways and in inexcusable mentally ways. The surrogates have
been tailored for obedience and are just smart enough to perform their duties.

"And it's not just sexual modifications that our Lords
keep themselves busy with. Just about every profession or skill you can think
of has tailored beings to fill the niche. With the ultimate goal, of course,
always being to serve the Lord's pleasure."

No one said anything for a long moment.

"That can't possibly be your entire population, can
it?" the lieutenant asked. "I mean, you don't look…" he quickly
shut his mouth as he realized his mistake.

Looking him square in the eye, she said, "No, I don't
look like I've been modified… Many people on the lower levels of the cities
don't. But make no mistake; we are the rejects. Either the modifications didn't
take, or they were considered insufficiently beneficial. Some of these people…
Well, like I said, they depend upon the clinic to stay alive."

"My God," the professor said. "I had no idea
such evil existed…"

The doctor surprised everybody by giving a short laugh...

"Oh professor, you don't know the half of it. Why do
you think they're chasing after you now?

"They're looking for new gene stock."