Ann
As they waited for Charalee and Nolan to arrive at the lab, Senton worked himself into a fine state. He paced constantly, shooting nervous looks between the still-cooling corpse, Korryn, and Ann. For her part, Korryn stood in one corner, absorbed in her own thoughts. To Ann's mind, she seemed too distant, too calm. Ann wished she knew what either was thinking, but that, of course, was impossible. The communication she'd received earlier in the day floated up from the recesses of her mind. Lyle's so-called "Janus Protocol" would allow for the Office of Security to listen in on people's aedee communications. The whole thing was for safety's sake, Lyle had assured her, but Ann had always dismissed it. The fact that he had a prototype already prepared made her nervous, but at this particular moment--standing about the soiled lab, waiting for her sister, a potential killer on the loose, and the stress of knowing that she had deeply pissed off her boss--having some amount of control would be nice. She passed on the thought. Janus was a bad idea. She'd have to figure out what was going on the old-fashioned way. The door dilated and a very nervous Nolan led the way. Charalee came in--not as her normal, grandiose entrance was wont, but instead sweating and hair in disarray, trying to keep the creature--Senton's precious "lura"--under control in her helmet. Ann had to (begrudgingly) give her sister credit: She'd been clever with what was available to her. It was the work of the moment to get the lura back into its containment unit. The creature was obviously agitated, its gurgling squeaks quickly fading as the lid was closed. It ran against the sides of the container, slamming into it and dropping to the ground, only to stand and try again. "Doctor, I don't remember it behaving like that before," said Ann, who had watched the entire off-loading process without so much as a hello to her sister or Nolan. "It's agitated. Before, it was still sedate." "You sedated it?" "Not really. But it was scared, so it wasn't acting out." He hesitated, which let Ann know that he was likely making it all up as he went along. "That's my guess, anyway." "Yeah. "So, what do I get?" asked Charalee, wiping a hand against her brow. She still wore the skin-sheath that individual shuttles required for atmo-breaking. Ann caught Senton appreciating the way the skin-sheath hugged her sister's curvaceous body and rolled her eyes. "Is there some reward for finding this thing?" "No," said Ann. "But I'll thank you anyway." "What happened here?" asked Nolan, looking at the ground as if he hadn't noticed the gore when he came in. His already pale face lost another shade and Ann worried the man might pass out. "We aren't sure. We're trying to find out." "Shouldn't we get the security here?" asked Charalee, also looking at the mess, though more with disdain than revulsion. "I am security," said Ann. "And we'll have a crew here as soon as we can get this thing--" and she pointed at the creature "--out of here." "What?" said Senton, an exclamation that was echoed by Korryn in the corner. "You can't just take him!" "It's an escaped prisoner. We're lucky to have him back." "You're welcome," said Charalee in the tone of smug satisfaction and sarcasm that Ann remembered (and loathed) from years living together. "But I haven't had a chance to study him at all!" He waved his hands at the creature. "There's a lot more going on here than a lura, Senton," said Ann with more heat than she meant. The headache hadn't really improved, despite her aedee trying to put some restraints on it. "There's potentially a murderer on the Compound." Nolan held up a hand, confusion clear on his face. "Wait, what? A murderer?" Ann pointed at the ruins of Theodore. Nolan followed her finger, then recoiled, looking away. "Right. Ugh." "Look, we don't know who did this crime," said Senton, his eyes wide with eagerness and worry. "And I'm not saying we shouldn't look. But I don't think that means we should give up the lura. I mean…" He raised his hands, then dropped them in a movement of patent frustration. "I'm sorry this guy's dead, but I don't think that has anything to do with the specimen." Ann shot a glance at the lura, which was now too tired to do much beyond sit and tremble. The small "mouths" on its body opened and closed. The room stank of blood and sewage. Her head pounded. "Senton," she said, wiping a hand across her face, "you are wasting my time. My job is to find whoever took Theodore's handheld and figure out what really happened here. I've had my crew on the lookout for the last hour, but so far, there's no luck. We need to get this cleaned up as quickly and quietly as possible. That's my priority. Now that it's back--" another gesture at the lura "--you can dispose of it and I can go help them." "But you said--" "That was before," snapped Ann. "This is now. The terms have changed. We need to figure out too many things for me to worry about this creature." Senton, obviously panicking, looked at the other Timpson for help. "Where did you find it?" "Find it?" asked Charalee, glancing about in surprise. "In the tunnel." "What part? Was it the primary entrance tunnel, the side tunnels, Challenger's Pass?" Charalee gave him a blank look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. It was a tunnel. Glass on the sides, cement on the floor. Why does it matter?" "It was the side access to the Hangar entrance," said Nolan, one hand resting on his chin. It was clear to Ann that he was still trying hard not to look at the body but could hardly keep himself from doing so. Rolling her eyes, she waved everyone out and into the hall. As they left, she fingered a message to the janitorial staff that they would need to come clean the area once her forensic team had finished their job. The lack of hover-pods to this area had never seemed like such a major oversight before. Now, however, she could only grind her teeth in frustration that it took so long for anyone to arrive. "What was it doing before you captured it?" Senton was asking as Ann finished sending her comms. "Why does this matter, Senton?" asked Ann, losing patience faster than a PRISM engine pulling on a staranchor. The back of her mouth had a metallic taste, not unlike blood, but sourer and sharper. Her head throbbed. "Because," he said, "it does. Okay?" He turned his attention to Nolan and Charalee. "So? What did you see?" "It was scurrying around," said Charalee before Nolan could open his mouth. "It had popped out of one of the vents and was trying to get out into its natural habitat. It kept trying to scrape through the terraglass, from what I could tell." "It stunk," added Nolan. "It smelled really gross." "It stunk when we arrived in the lab," said Korryn softly. Senton frowned, but shook his head. "Well, we've been noticing that the Dentolura can communicate in a very primitive way. Nothing advanced, of course, but we've also seen some incredibly coordinated attacks on prey--stuff that couldn't work through vocalization." "What, they smell each other? Am I understanding you correctly?" asked Charalee. Ann heard the sharpness of irritation in her sister's voice, and for once she felt the same way as she. "I think they communicate through pheromones," said Senton, taking a deep breath. "How does that pertain to its behavior in the tunnel?" asked Ann. "Well," said Senton, holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers. It took him a moment to access what he wanted, but when he did, he gestured at everyone around him. Ann felt her palm cool--a query to allow a download. She gave a thumbs up and the hand returned to its normal temperature. She looked down at the flesh-display of her aedee--a soothing purple that stood out well against the brown of her skin--and saw that it was a diagram of the Compound. Specifically, Senton had sent them a map of the schematics of the primary access tunnel to the Hangar. "Do you see this?" he asked, enlarging his display. The connected aedees all did the same, though Charalee stared at Senton with a bored expression. She, apparently, hadn't been given access to the Compound's network yet. That was strange. "It's an external vent," said Korryn, her voice soft. It seemed like she didn't want to draw attention to herself, but she also didn't want to be left out of the conversation. Ann couldn't pretend to understand someone like that. "Exactly." Ann frowned, then thought harder on the implications. What was it that Senton had said? That the lura could send off pheromones? And it was standing next to a vent… Ann inhaled sharply. "Oh, no." "What?" said Charalee, shaking her head as if she'd tuned into the conversation only when she heard her sister gasp. "It called for help." Senton nodded his head and Ann felt her guts go watery. "That thing sent out a distress call through the ventilation system, didn't it?" "Possibly. That's what I'm worried about." "But so what?" asked Charalee. "There's a massive fence that's protecting the Compound. I saw it on my approach." "It got breached by the storm yesterday," said Ann. "Crews have been trying to repair it, but my last report shows that it's not finished." Nolan, who had been facing away from the group while they discussed the problem, turned back to them now. "You know what?" he asked, shifting on his pudgy feet. "What is it, Nolan?" asked Ann, pushing away her headache and her exhaustion. Taking the downer had affected her energy more than she cared to admit. She needed some Calm, but she also knew that now was not the time for it. She had to rely on her own strength to get her through this small crisis. "Did you know you can see that area of the perimeter fence from here?" "Yeah," said Senton. "It's on the schematic. Plus, you only have to look outside." Everyone stared at him. "What?" he asked, gesturing at the windows. "It's not a big deal. I know everyone talks about how the Compound is like a maze, but it's fine. Really. You can figure out where you are if you just--" "No, I should have said, 'You know how you can see the broken part of the fence from here?' And you were supposed to say, 'Yeah. Why?' And then I would say, 'It's bigger.' And then you'd all--" The group rushed past him, almost knocking him over in their haste. Even Charalee wanted to see what he saw. Ann recognized the problem immediately. In the bright lights that always kept the Compound illuminated, the hole in the fence gaped at them like a dark wound in a pale body. The tree that had toppled it had been removed, but only a thin membrane had been put up to dissuade the luras on the other side from coming to investigate the place. Ann's mouth went dry as she saw a large Dentolura--similar shape to the one inside their lab, except easily fifteen times larger, perhaps more--push against the membrane. Electricity--not much, enough to discourage the curious--crackled against the creature's body. At this distance, she couldn't see a lot of details, but it quickly became clear what was happening. The creatures were breaking into the Compound. |
What is this?This is a NaNoWriMo project that publishes, day by day, the chapters I'm writing for 2017. If you're confused, go to Chapter 1 Ann and start there. ArchivesCategories
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