The Caverns of Mare Cetus (40 page)

   Arielle lowered the electra as Trent appeared to be readying himself to rush forward.

   "Two…"

   "Richelle, put the gun down!" said Trent, his voice growing louder as he inched his way forward.

   Arielle dropped the electra to the ground.

   "Three…"

   "Let her go," said Trent.

   Richelle whispered to Renata. "I never planned on killing you anyway. I need you alive." Her voice rose. "But I don't need her…" She wheeled the gun toward Arielle, and as she pulled on the trigger, Arielle gasped and grabbed her chest in horror. Richelle's eyes opened in astonishment. The trigger hadn't budged. She pulled on it again.

   Renata looked up.

   Richelle looked at the side of the gun, seeing the safety lock was engaged. "Shit!" She put her finger on the button to turn the safety off, but Renata was already coming.

   She drove into Richelle's chest with her head, bowling her over, the gun flying out of Richelle's hand. Arielle went for the gun as Trent pounced on Richelle, grabbing her arms and pinning them to the ground. After a moment, Renata was sitting on Richelle's outstretched legs, holding them down as Trent rested his weight on Richelle's arms, which were now held high above her head.

   "You're about one step from eternity," said Arielle as she stood over Richelle and aimed the Iravano at her head, turning the safety off with her finger.

   "Look what she did to me!" exclaimed Richelle. "She broke my nose."

   "I'm so glad I did it too," whispered Renata, holding a hand on her ribs as she straddled Richelle's legs.

   Arielle held the gun on Richelle as she helped Renata scoot off Richelle's legs. Trent then picked Richelle up by the arms and sat her up. He knelt in front of her and looked at her nose. "Oh, yeah, it's broken all right," he said. "With all this bleeding, I need to make sure she doesn't have a nasal septum hematoma."

   "I hope she dies from it," said Arielle. She sat down beside Renata while still holding the gun on Richelle.

   "What took you so long?" Renata reached out and picked up Arielle's electra, gave it to Arielle, then returned to her hunched over position.

   "We heard the screams and the shot and came running," said Arielle. "We found Edison stumbling out of a side passage and thought he'd been shot. He told us what happened, and we followed your cries. It's not easy finding someone down here with all the echoes." She gave Renata a hug. "I am so glad you're okay, and I am so sorry we didn't get here earlier."

   Trent picked up Renata's Vimap and began scanning Richelle's face.

   "Let her fucking bleed to death," said Arielle. "It's okay with me."

   Trent glared at her, then continued working.

   Arielle noticed Renata's cheek, seeing the blood and painfullooking welt. She touched it gently, and Renata flinched and cried out softly. "God, she's hurt you." She looked at Trent. "Will you check Rene out already? I think there's something broken in her face."

   "I will, I will," said Trent, continuing to keep his attention on Richelle's nose. "I know you think I'm ignoring Rene, but a hematoma could be life-threatening."

   "How do you know Rene's injuries aren't life threatening?" goaded Arielle. She put an arm around Renata's shoulders. "What happened?"

   Renata briefly told her what had happened. By the time she had finished, Trent had Richelle's bleeding under control and had verified she didn't have a hematoma. He came over, hugged Renata, apologized to her, then began checking her out with the Vimap. After a moment, he told her she did have a fracture in her cheekbone and two of her injured ribs had sustained additional damage as well.

   Renata put her hands on Trent's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "I was certain she was going to kill me."

   Trent began talking softly to her, trying to console her.

   Arielle got up and stood over Richelle. "Richelle. You're a witch. What you did to Isis—it's an abomination."

   "What are you talking about?" asked Richelle, her hands held over her nose. "I didn't do anything to Isis. What happened to Isis?"

   "You are one deranged lady, that's all I can say." Arielle took Renata's hand and helped her up, then told Richelle to get up or she'd shoot her.

   Trent grimaced at Arielle, then helped Richelle up, and the four made their way back to Edison who was leaning on a wall in the main corridor, just outside of the passage, still appearing groggy. As Trent briefed him on what had happened, Edison looked at Richelle's and Renata's faces and all the blood that covered them, and he just shook his head, saying nothing. The five then began walking back toward Isis' body.

   "I picked up your electra and the Vimap," said Edison. He handed them to Renata, then stumbled forward a few steps. "Wow. Whatever Richelle hit me with—it's still giving me one heck of a buzz."

   Renata put her electra and Vimap in her pocket, then grabbed him by the arm to steady him. "You know, you saved my life," she said.

   "What do you mean I saved your life? I was just going to apologize for not doing something to help you. I let you down. I'm really sorry."

   "The rope," she said. "You jerry-rigged the rope so I could escape."

   "I did?"

   "Yes. I was counting on that. The only reason I had any hope at all is because I knew you would do that for me."

   "I would have if I could have. You know I'd do anything for you, Renata. But I didn't have time. If you got the ropes free, you did it yourself. Of course, it probably wasn't a very good knot to begin with, but it was all you, honey. Not me."

   Renata shuddered. How did she ever escape then? She suddenly became quiet. As they hiked the rest of the way, the reality of just how close she had come to dying was finally sinking in.

   When the group reached Isis, Renata saw Trent had covered her body again with two gray blankets. The body of Danielle was now lying beside her, wrapped securely in a pale green tarp.

   "What you did to Isis was awful," said Arielle, stepping up to Richelle and giving her a shove on the back. "Absolutely horrible. I ought to blow your brains out right here."

   "And that would be murder," said Trent forcefully. "Calm down, Arielle."

   "I'm telling you, I didn't do anything to her," said Richelle. "I don't know what you're talking about."

   Arielle, in an expletive-filled tirade, hammered Richelle with how they found Isis' body when they had returned.

   By the time Arielle had finished, Richelle's cheeks were coated in tears. She went to Isis and timidly pulled back a blanket to look at her face. Immediately she began shaking. "Oh, my God!" she sobbed loudly, stumbling back from Isis. "Who did this to you?" She glanced at the others. "This is sick…" She continued backing away, nearly tripping as she did. She pointed at Isis. "You think I did that? You're crazy! I could never do that to her. What kind of sick monster did that to her? Oh, my God…"

   "I suppose you're also going to deny you hit Edison on the head and stabbed him in the leg, right?" asked Arielle.

   Trent put the blanket back over Isis' face.

   "No," sobbed Richelle, her entire body shaking. "Of course I did that. I used the Mediprog. It told me exactly where to stab him to miss his important blood vessels. I didn't want to kill him, but I didn't want him coming after me either." She looked at Arielle, her tears suddenly stopping. "I mean, isn't it obvious? How could he come after me with a knife in his leg?" She turned to Edison. "I'm so sorry I had to do that to you. I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I hurt you." She began sobbing again.

   There was skepticism in Arielle's eyes. "No more Mediprogs for her. Don't let her touch anything anymore." She pushed Richelle on the chest. "I have to know. Why did you try to kill Rene?"

   "I never intended to kill her," said Richelle, sniffling.

   Renata sighed loudly in disgust.

   "But I had to show her what happened to me. I had no choice but to take her by force. And she still doesn't believe me. Look at her." She pointed at Renata. "She's a stuck-up bitch. Can't you see that?"

   "All I know," said Arielle in dismay, "is you hacked Isis apart, then tried to kill Rene. Why? Why did you do it?"

   Richelle continued to vehemently deny she had ever touched Isis. "I didn't even look at her when I came back here. I was too busy with my plans for Rene. I loved Isis! I could never do that to her. I'm telling you, I didn't do that to her, and I never meant to hurt Rene!"

   Renata scoffed. "Would you quit calling me Rene, already."

   "If I did that horrible thing to Isis, then what did I do it with? Show me the weapon."

   "With the knife…" said Arielle. "Oh, yeah, that was in Edison." She seemed suddenly baffled.

   "Where's the other Iravano?" asked Renata.

   Richelle pointed at the Kalo. "In there. Compartment 6A."

   Renata walked over to the Kalo and tapped a concealed button low on its frame. A door slid open on its starboard side near the back of the unit, and a shallow tray emerged. In it was the Iravano. She picked it up. "Anything else we should know about?" She crouched beside the Kalo and began tapping other buttons on its frame, compartments opening up on both sides of it.

   Renata and Trent began systematically looking into each compartment, many of which were used for storage, but some were analytical compartments used for studying samples. When Renata got to a panel on the starboard side near the front of the unit, she peered into it closely, then abruptly stood up straight. "Trent. Look at this."

   Trent came up beside her and looked into the 2A analytical tray. There were several spectral scanning devices inside and a small cylindrical sample chamber that would usually hold a mineral or rock fragment. At the bottom of the sample chamber was a small amount of reddish liquid. Trent began scanning it with his Vimap.

   "Richelle!" exclaimed Renata. "Tell me how this got in here."

   "I don't know," said Richelle, stepping up to look into 2A. "I never opened up this one." She looked inside. "What's that? It looks like blood."

   "This has Isis' signature all over it," said Trent. "Blood and what else I don't even want to guess." He put his hand to his forehead.

   Richelle gasped and backed away from the Kalo, right into Edison's arms.

   "Nice act," said Arielle. "When are you going to give it up? Edison. Would you quit coddling her."

   Renata's legs suddenly feeling weak, she put both hands on the Kalo to steady herself. Her eyes became focused on the wall adjacent to the Kalo. It was dotted with a number of patchy crusts of the yellowish-white mineral, like those Richelle had taken her to in the passage. "Arielle, can you run another GEAN on this stuff?" She straightened up and pointed to the minerals on the wall. "Be as thorough as you can, please."

   Trent gave Arielle his Vimap, and she began running an analysis. Renata powered up the Kalo, and when it was up, she studied its operational logs. The unit hadn't been powered on since Arielle had it up. As Renata studied the robotic, she sensed something seemed different. She was certain it had been closer to the wall when they first encountered it.

   Renata glanced at Trent and Edison who were now packing up supplies. Edison was holding Richelle by her upper arm, dragging her with him as he moved between backpacks.

   "I can't find out anything about this stuff," said Arielle, showing the Vimap to Renata. The screen was completely black. "It's knocked it offline this time. There's something in that mineral. GEAN doesn't give me any results that make sense." She restarted the Vimap.

   "Trent," said Renata suddenly. "I believe Richelle."

   He stopped what he was doing and turned toward her. "What?"

   Arielle appeared astonished, as did Edison.

   "I believe her," she said. "You know how close she was to Isis. I don't think she would ever do that to her." She pointed at the Kalo. "That thing did it. I can feel it. It's moved from where we left it."

   "That's just crazy," said Trent, coming up to her. "Consider the state of mind Richelle is in." He began looking at the robotic.

   "How do you explain what we found inside of it then? Did Richelle really put some of Isis in slot 2A? Why? Come on—think about it."

   "Hey. She tried to blow out your brains," said Arielle. "She stabbed Edison and tried to kill me. She's capable of anything." She sneered at Richelle. "Aren't you, sister?"

   "I know what she did," said Renata, "but I don't think she did this too."

   "Wow," said Richelle. "Maybe you're not so stuck-up after all."

   "Shut up," said Arielle.

   "What if this stuff on the walls is doing something to us?" asked Renata as she looked at the minerals again. "What if it's affecting our minds and our equipment just like Richelle thinks?"

   "But how?" asked Trent. He broke a piece of one of the minerals off the wall and held it in his hand. "I don't feel anything. Nothing's happening to me. By the way, I've called in a robotic transport. There's one nearby. RT Three. I'm going to have it load the bodies of Isis and Danielle aboard as it just isn't going to be feasible to carry them ourselves."

   "Trent's right," said Arielle. "Sure it must have some unusual properties, but affecting our minds? There is no mineral anywhere on any planet that can affect your mind and robotics and lights…"

   "What about lithium?" asked Edison. "And arsenic and just about all the other nasties out there?"

   "Well, you're right about those things," said Arielle. "But you have to ingest them, somehow get them into your body. But they still don't drive Kalos nuts and affect how a flashlight works. Besides, I was scanning the air with GEAN on and off as part of my routines—when I had routines, that is. I didn't come up with any airborne minerals or contamination. There's nothing else in this air except air." She took a deep breath, then anxiously reached in her pocket and pulled out two OPP tablets and stuck them in her nose. "Damn. I forgot. My asthma. I can't risk having an attack again."

   "Speaking of medicines," said Trent. "You two really need to take something for your pain."