Gunmetal Dark
by Angelina Vansen

RATING: NC-17 for sexual and violent themes.
CODES: Uber J/7
SUMMARY:  TSIS agent Kamila Zaworska discovered Kaine (Janeway) and Mia (Seven of Nine) hiding in her house.  Now Mia must decide how she wants events to proceed.  Or it may just be easier to start from the beginning.

23.

It was night, and Kaine drove Kamila's truck through the dark desert road. Kamila sat up front beside her, Mia behind, the gun grasped firmly in the young woman's hand.

"Left," Kamila barked as the road forked.

Kaine nodded, silent, and turned the truck onto a narrow path that seemed to head only into farmland.

Ahead was blackness. No lights from buildings, bases, or towns. Just this dirt road and a wide night sky.

They passed sparse tufts of grass, stunted trees blanched almost white by the sun. The truck bounced on its fat wheels as it tried to negotiate the uneven road.

"Does this actually lead anywhere?" Kaine snapped, her voice croaky and tired.

It had been the same all day. Barely-used desert tracks that looked so similar they could have been travelling in circles. All they seemed to have seen was square after square of empty land, with no sign that they were making any progress whatsoever.

Kaine was starting to suspect that Kamila deliberately delayed them. Perhaps the TSIS agent had been expecting backup, perhaps she hadn't been able to delay them long enough back at the house.

The three of them had left very quickly that morning; Kaine had barely found time to wash and change her clothes.

Mia had decided to go to Cho Oyu, and as Kaine had learned, when Mia wanted something, she wanted it immediately. There would be no delaying her. She wanted to discover what Cho Oyu was and what it sought in her.

She had instructed Kamila to take her to the base where Cho Oyu was installed. She wanted the blocks that TSIS had put between her and the computer to be removed, and she wanted to communicate with it.

Kaine had expressed her doubts, but Mia would not be denied. No matter the danger, no matter that Kamila might lead them to death or captivity, she wanted to speak again with this sentient computer.

So Kaine had acquiesced, telling herself it would be safer for Mia if she came along. Kamila had not been happy, but there was little she could say. Kaine understood Tenkatech hardware, spoke its language. She would know if Mia were about to connect to something dangerous.

A secret part of the doctor was fascinated, too. One of the Fourteen, constructed from the rubble of a secret project, reaching out around it. Able to communicate with Orgbrains, beyond the control of Tenkatech and seemingly self-aware. The scientist in her found the possibilities irresistible.

"We're about six squares from Lonia TransMass Shinkansen Station," Kamila replied. "That's where we're going."

"Lonia?" asked Kaine. "That's a coastal town."

Kamila shook her head as if dealing with an idiot. "You realise we're going to have to cross the ocean at some point, Sigg?"

Kaine knew that. They had already established that the base where Cho Oyu was housed was on another landmass. Therefore, borders needed to be crossed, and access gained. This was where it would be useful to have a TSIS agent on side; her clearance level could get them into most places on the planet.

"Yes, but ... at Lonia?" The choice of station didn't seem practical: there were probably a dozen others closer to Timon's house. They had travelled all day just to get to a public Shinkansen station? She had thought Kamila would have other means to cross the ocean.

"Yes," Kamila sighed. "It's the shortest crossing, and it's relatively quiet. That's why I've kept us on these backroutes, too. I'm sure you don't want to be recognised."

"No," Kaine admitted.

"Now, when we get there," Kamila continued, "you'll need to take the locking tape off my Mainstem."

"Absolutely not!" Kaine was aghast.

"Sigg, without it, I can't get us on a Shinkansen."

"Don't give me that."

"Think about it. I'll need to transmit clearance codes. How else do you think I'm going to get us past border control?"

"I'm not stupid enough to let you start t-syncing in a public place."

"What do you think I'm going to do? Contact someone? Get myself rescued? What would that get me?"

"Your freedom, a couple of prisoners ... the opportunity to interrogate us at your leisure. Plenty of things. Like I said, I'm not stupid."

"I'm not interested in any of that. All I'm here for is Cho Oyu. If TSIS get involved, I'm guessing you two will be less than cooperative, am I right?"

Kaine snorted. "Very right."

"Well, then. Viesturs - sorry, Mia - is my best chance of getting to Cho Oyu here and now. I'm not going to jeopardise it by being uncooperative. TSIS don't care about methods, they like results, and that's what I'll bring them."

Kaine shook her head. "The answer's still no."

"Then you may as well shoot me, because there's no way you two are going to get on a Shinkansen at this or any other station. You'll be arrested before you cross the turnstiles."

"Kaine ..." pleaded Mia from the back seat.

"Think of another way," Kaine repeated.

"What other way?" Kamila mocked. "Have you ever tried to cross borders without a Network ID?"

"You're TSIS."

"That doesn't mean I'm above the Network. Nobody is above the Network. I still need a password to cross borders. Mine is just subject to a higher authority."

The three women fell into silence once more. The truck continued along the narrow road until finally, Kaine saw lights in the distance. A busy road.

"There. One square North," said Kamila. "Lonia Station. This is as close as we can get by backroutes."

Kaine nodded, and turned North at the junction, careful on the busy road. It had been some years since she had driven without the aid of an Augbrain, and she had forgotten how much concentration it required.

It was quite dazzling, being surrounded by vehicles with nothing in her mind to tell her how to drive. She wasn't certain when the next turn would be, how the road bent and stretched before her. How the flow of traffic should dictate her speed. Her hands gripped the wheel, and she peered intently through the screen.

All the lights, all the faces ... all the different vehicles. Most were military, at this time of night, but a few were private, a few held people, adults and children ... families ... pieces of a society she no longer belonged to.

She clenched her jaw and focussed only on the road ahead.

A few moments later, they passed a roadsign that told them the next turning was for Lonia Shinkansen Station.

"Will security be looking for us in the station?" Kaine asked Kamila.

"I doubt it," Kamila said. "Not actively, unless we trip any alarms, which we won't. I'm technically on compassionate leave, so no one will have reported me missing. Mia is classified ... you ... I don't know."

"We can't get arrested."

"Don't worry, Sigg," said Kamila, smug. "No one gets to interrogate you before I do."

Kaine gritted her teeth and made the turning into Lonia Station. Ahead, the terminal loomed, bright, modern, full of acrylic and lights, and very Tenkatech.

Despite everything that had happened, Kaine felt a pang of longing for her old life. A life where she had belonged in places like these, dressed smartly, intelligent and professional.

She was almost ashamed to enter the station clad as she was in Timon's oversized clothes. Her hair was unkempt and the bruises on her face were all too obvious.

She looked, she realised, like a Citizen. Hungry. Tired. Badly dressed and in need of a shower.

"Here," said Kamila suddenly. The TSIS agent pointed at a space close to the terminal where the truck could be parked.

Kaine ignored it and instead pulled the vehicle into another a few meters beyond. She stopped the engine.

"Still want to do this?" she asked Mia. She twisted in her seat to look at the young woman.

Mia nodded, her full lips pressed tightly together. She, too, was dressed in Timon's clothes: a sturdy pair of trousers and a singlet. She had put a cap over her cropped hair. Thankfully, her height made the clothes fit her better; she looked considerably more presentable than Kaine.

"Right," sighed Kaine. "Let's do it, then."

"You'll have to take the tape off my Mainstem," Kamila pushed. "There's no way around it, Sigg."

Kaine opened her mouth to protest, but Mia spoke first. "Yes," the young woman said. "We will remove the tape. But you will not do anything to prevent us from reaching Cho Oyu."

"Mia!" Kaine warned. "Listen to me, she ..."

"No. She will not."

"You don't know that! There's a million things she could do, a million ways she could contact them, get us captured ..."

"She will not do any of them," Mia said. She turned to Kamila, her eyes narrow and icy. "If we are approached by anyone, no matter how harmless they seem, I will not hesitate. I will shoot you in the head, followed by Kaine, followed by myself. TSIS will be denied its prize."

Kaine fell silent.

Kamila nodded, grim. "I understand."

"Hold on," Kaine interrupted. "You won't be able to take the gun on the Shinkansen, there are checks ..."

"I have clearance to get weapons aboard," Kamila said dismissively. "TSIS are cleared to be armed everywhere."

"We will succeed," Mia said. She draped Timon's jacket over her arm to hide both the Softsuit cuff and the gun.

The three women got out of the truck and stretched legs that had not moved in many hours. Mia manoeuvred Kamila in front of her, careful to keep the TSIS agent in easy reach.

"Remove the locking tape now," the young woman instructed Kaine. "I do not want to draw attention to us inside the building."

"Mia ..." Kaine quavered.

"We have no choice," Mia asserted.

"All right, fine. But I think it's a mistake."

Kaine pushed Kamila's head forward, a little more roughly than necessary, and pulled the locking tape from her Mainstem. She folded it in her palm, just in case.

"Thank you," said Kamila.

"Let's do this quickly," Kaine said.

Kamila nodded, and the three women marched briskly towards the bright light and acrylic of the terminal, footsteps almost in unison on the concrete.

They passed through two huge doors and into light so bright it was almost like sunlight. Heat. Sweet air, recycled and smelling like warm, exciting food filled Kaine's nose. Music played from terminals. Everywhere around them were tall, floating advertisements that flashed and changed every few seconds. Ports hummed by the thousand, tantalising the doctor's deadened Augbrain.

Despite her vow not to be recognised, she lifted her face to the ceiling and took in the vista of people. Drank them in. They moved in swarms, along walkways, through landings, gripping rails as they went up and down stairs.

Clean people, blank faces. People connected, people busy. Travelling. Tenkatech people, going home. Going to cities, going on business. Going to fleshmeetings.

A warm tear fell from Kaine's eye and rolled down her cheek. Her hands clenched, nails hurting her palms.

For a moment, she wanted to run. Lose herself in the crowd, get on a transport somewhere and see where she ended up. Just to pretend she was a part of this again.

Then, she remembered she couldn't cross borders any more. She'd trip an alarm straight away with her Network password. Worse than a Citizen.

A sob escaped her, but the sound was swallowed by the static of the moving crowd around them.

"Are you all right?" Mia asked. The young woman's voice was gentle, more gentle than Kaine had ever heard her.

"Yes." She wiped the tear from her face and forced a smile. She hadn't even thought the young woman was watching her.

Mia smiled, too.

"We're lucky," Kamila said, suddenly. "We can get to the other continent tonight. There's a Shinkansen leaving for Pri Ex very soon."

"Is that close to Cho Oyu?" Mia put.

"It will do. Another few hours' drive on the other side, but not too bad."

"Can you get us a vehicle when we're there?"

"Yes," Kamila said simply.

"Good. We will take that, then."

Kamila nodded. "Gate Gatta. We should hurry."

The gate was on the other side of the vast terminal, and they had to be quick. They pushed through the crowd, Mia pressed close to Kamila, keeping the hard reminder of the gun in the TSIS agent's back. Kaine followed as best she could and occasionally had to grasp Mia's hand to keep pace. She was surprised at the young woman's warmth. The strength of the pulse in her wrist.

People crowded the gate, not wanting to miss the Shinkansen. The Augbrained pushed their passwords in by t-sync. The others linked by hardwire, briefly inserting their connections into the jack and then pulling them out again just as swiftly.

Mia stepped forward to go through, but Kamila held her back.

"I need to go first," she told the young woman. "My password won't trigger an alarm because it's TSIS. I'll use it for all three of us."

"Remember, I'll kill you," Mia hissed. "If anything goes wrong, you will die."

"I know."

Kamila communicated her password to the small Network receiver mounted on the turnstile. Kaine held her breath, but the TSIS agent passed through without incident. She waited on the other side.

Kaine felt the tickle in her port as Kamila sent her password again. Mia pushed through the barrier.

Kaine approached the turnstile. She locked eyes with Kamila. Kamila smiled.

Again, the same tickle, barely felt on her numb port. The barrier swung away to give her access. She joined Kamila and Mia on the platform.

They were here. And Mia was still armed. Kaine's heart pounded hard in her chest. She pressed close to Mia and kept her head down, not wanting to be recognised by the throng of boarding people. All it would take was someone she had worked with, a loose acquaintance ...

"There we go, Sigg," Kamila smirked. "Still don't trust me?"

"Not at all."

Kaine turned to Mia. The young woman looked dangerous. Her lips were tight, her eyes fierce. She was ready to kill at the first sign of trouble.

"We should board," she said.

The Shinkansen itself gave Kaine another pang. It sat on its track, gleaming as though it were made from liquid in the powerful illumination of the platform. It was sleek, white, clean, fast and economical, emblazoned with the Tenkatech logo on every carriage.

The noise of the Shinkansen, creaking and cooling, the reverberation of the engines, were sounds so familiar they felt like they had always been a part of Kaine's life. Now, she wanted to stop and savour them, feel nostalgic, but it would have to wait. Mia pulled Kamila into one of the carriages in the middle and motioned for Kaine to follow.

Inside the Shinkansen, the lights were dimmed and pillows laid on the seats for the overnight journey.

"Sit," Mia commanded Kamila, and pushed her toward the corner seat of an empty booth.

Kamila obeyed. Mia sat opposite her, holding a pillow on her lap, the gun beneath it. Kaine knelt on the seat to put the locking tape back on Kamila's Mainstem, shielding her actions from the rest of the carriage with her body.

That done, she perched beside Mia. Back straight.

Her head throbbed. Emotion, perhaps, perhaps fear. Perhaps her damaged Augbrain, pleading for rest.

"Well," Kamila smiled. "We're on our way."

"How long?" asked Mia in a low voice.

"The journey?" Kamila looked puzzled.

"Until we reach Cho Oyu."

"Tomorrow afternoon, I should think."

"Where is it?" Kaine asked her. "You said it was hidden on a base. Which base?"

"Adalin. Perhaps you've heard of it?"

Kaine thought. "Yes. Timon said it was an easy posting, for politicians' kids trying to look patriotic."

Something passed over Kamila's face at the mention of her husband's name, a flicker of something murderous and full of hatred. Then it was gone, buried beneath that arrogant TSIS mask.

"Yes," she confirmed. "It's a relatively safe base. Which is why one of the Fourteen is housed there."

Kaine sat back and hugged her pillow to her chest. The Shinkansen let out a great hiss from its underbelly and then fell silent once again. It began to move; the carriages rattled slightly, and there was the buzz of a vibration somewhere in the hullplating, but otherwise was totally silent.

Comforting lights, the colour of firelight, illuminated the carriage. Around them, most of the other passengers were connected to the Network, their eyes closed, either t-syncing or hardwired to the integrated ports beneath the windows.

The Shinkansen gathered speed as it glided out of the station. Bright lights gave way to black night and then a tunnel that was darker still. They had plunged beneath the ocean.

Kamila took her pillow and placed it between the window and her head. She closed her eyes as if trying to sleep.

"Cho Oyu is well guarded?" Kaine asked her.

Kamila opened her eyes. "There's a base full of soldiers."

"Yes, but ... most don't know it's there, do they?"

"No. There's a secret run of labs beneath the base that control Cho Oyu. That's where we'll need to go."

"Your clearance can get us in?"

"Of course," Kamila smiled. "I've been there regularly in recent months, working on this project. I'm on good terms with some of the lab rats."

"So they won't question you walking in there with us?"

"No. On the contrary. They've been expecting someone to bring Viesturs in."

"They know, then? All of them?"

Kamila tilted her head. "Those in seniority. Doctor Nis oversees the Cho Oyu facility, he's been there since the beginning of the project and he knows the situation better than all of us."

Kaine sat back and chewed a finger. She had expected subterfuge ... a fight ... hacking their way in. Not a calm stroll through the doors of one of Tenkatech's most secret facilities.

It seemed suspicious. Too good to be true. She felt the hand of TSIS in this, an angle she couldn't quite see.

She started to speak again, to ask Kamila what would happen, what Mia would have to do once they were inside the facility, but when she looked back, she saw the TSIS agent had fallen asleep.

She looked at her hands and then around her in the almost-full carriage. It was too late, now. Far, far too late. They were locked into this course of action, and there was nothing they could do but see it through.

All around them, people slept or used the Network. All around them, no one knew.

Kaine bit her lip and closed her eyes. She wondered if she was strong enough. If she had the knowledge and the resources to save herself and Mia.

The dark behind her eyes reminded her of the Sluice. The sick sounds of trickling water, the cold black rock. She had been there, clinging on, and Mia had pulled her out. Mia had been there. She just prayed that when the moment came, she could do the same for Mia.

Something warm jolted her out of her reverie. A touch - Mia's touch - on her hand. The young woman's fingers curled tight around her own and squeezed.

She said nothing. She watched Kamila, the gun beneath the pillow aimed at the sleeping woman.

Together they rushed beneath the ocean, into the dark. The Shinkansen hissed, crackled and buzzed. It sounded like lightning, like something electric. Like something powerful that was heading their way.

"It will be all right," Mia whispered. "Kaine. It will."

Kaine squeezed Mia's hand in return, and hoped that it would.

TO BE CONTINUED ....


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