Covers
Janet sat in the small eating place and listened while she ate. She was good at that. Much of what her work was -had been-, was gathering information. That was what spies did. Only in fiction did spies lead glamorous lives filled with excitement and adventure. Danger? Oh yes, that was present, but not glamour. The whole point was not to be noticeable. To blend in.
Her clothes fit the place she was sitting in perfectly. The small eating establishment was not needed, not really. Even the lowest of incomes in the mining colony could afford to have a food preparation unit. But humans had not changed much since the first primitive proto-humans had come down from the trees so long ago. They were still herd animals. Social animals. They preferred to be in groups. Even if they did not like the group they were in, many humans would remain in the group, simply because it was there. Odd, but totally human. No one paid her a second glance, and she was glad.
She wasn't totally pleased with the cover identity that the others had set up for her. She had set up a couple of others just to have them. It rarely was a bad thing to have options. She wasn't sure about this mission however. Something about it was...off.
The few times she had dealt with the Lotus, the Lotus had sounded... subtly wrong. She wasn't sure, but she thought that she wasn't the only one who heard the undercurrents of anger in the AI's voice. No, call it what it was. It was hate. The Lotus hated the Elena Greensky. From what little Janet had heard about the traitor's crimes, she understood. Oh boy, did she. She had hunted a few traitors to the Corpus in her time, probably why she had been selected for this mission.
She had checked the power accumulator station, but it was mostly automated. There were parts that she couldn't access due to vacuum or radiation. But her basic checks had shown no tampering. So, she had started nosing about. There were things here that had twinged her instincts.
First, Mercury was still the closest planet to the star called Sol. Solar accumulators here provided power to much of the rest of the Solar system through dedicated power relays that had survived with little degradation through the millennia since the Collapse of Orokin. If the Elena Greensky did need a humongous source of power, this was a prime place to get a start on it. Maybe too blatant? Janet wasn't sure and she wanted to be sure. So she kept her nose down and did her job. Listened and watched.
Second, there was a subtle...wrongness here. Janet couldn't identify it. She didn't have the same level of power and control that the Reverend Mother possessed but she did have a certain level of power and she had been learning how to hone what before had been 'gut instincts' and had apparently been innate abilities trying to make themselves known to her. Another reason the Reverend Mother had recruited her? Maybe. Right now, that wasn't important. She had a mission, so she listened and watched with more than just her physical eyes and ears. They were not perfect. Far from it. Even the Reverend Mother's abilities were not perfect, but they were a set of powerful tools for a spy.
Third, there was an... odd group of people on the colony now. People who seemed to have come together for no reason that anyone could determine. They didn't shirk their responsibilities. Indeed, they worked hard and did more than their share. Good workers, good people from all accounts. But... Something about the group bothered her. She wasn't sure what. Their symbol was a Möbius band. A surface with only one side. A symbol of infinity. They were a new element, and their appearance coincided with the Elena Greenky's release from imprisonment. Maybe coincidence. Maybe not.
Janet sighed as she ate. She had far too many questions and no answers. She did not react as a plate was set n the table beside her and a man sat down there. She was sued to tight quarters. But when he leaned a little too close, she spoke quietly.
"I am not your type." She said in a soft, but firm voice. "If you touch me, I will hurt you."
"Tough girl..." The man smelled of cheap beer. What was it with humans and alcohol? Janet had never seen the appeal of poisoning herself. "I like tough girls."
He leered at her with a smile that was missing several teeth. Odd that. Most colonists would have been able to get medical care. Janet looked at him. Was that a wink? It was! But... not suggestive! She paused and kicked herself mentally. She had missed her last check in. She needed the palliative. Soon. Indeed, the Lotus sounded in her head.
You are busy, Janet. The voice of her guide was still that odd shade of angry, but not. He has your dose and can give it to you. He was in the area.
Thanks. I may have a lead. Maybe. I think I know of a contact with an odd group here. Janet said slowly. The only contact point she had heard of was in the Medical Center. There is nothing overtly wrong about them, but they... Something is off. I need to get to Medical and have no reason. The man's hand came down and Janet shrugged it away, palming the tiny hypo that he had slipped to her. A quick flip and it injected her. Then it dissolved. So...? A bar fight? That... might work. She wasn't sure about this.
You are going to lose. The Lotus said quietly. Start the fight and hit him as hard as you can. Then it is going to hurt.
Right. Janet had done some off the wall things, but this... Anything for the mission. "Take you hand off me, you lousy clone brain!" She said with a snarl. "I said I am not your type!" Several people went still at her cold, dangerous tone.
"All right..." The not-really-a-miner said with sigh. "Don't get hot, babe..." Then he was propelled away from her as her foot came up in a precise strike for the spot between his legs. He squealed and went down clutching his family jewels.
"Don't call me 'Babe'!" Janet snapped as she rose. Several of the other miners had risen. They stood together. "One of you or all of you! I will kill anyone who tries to take me that way!"
"Everybody calm down." The soft voice was hypnotic and despite everything, Janet found herself relaxing as a robed form stepped out of the crowd to scrutinize her. "You are very angry."
"Yes." Janet hadn't intended to respond. Had she? What was? She screamed as white hot pain erupted in her back. She fell, aware of the miner she had kicked rising to his feet, a bloody knife in hand.
"What? No!" The robed woman cried. "No!" She knelt beside Janet as a commotion erupted behind her. "Ma'am? Stay with me!" She held Janet carefully. "We need a medic here!" She called.
Janet saw the one who had stabbed her run from the eatery, a group of other miners in hot pursuit. They wouldn't catch him, she knew. She hoped he hadn't blown his cover completely, but then pain eclipsed everything. The hands that held her were firm, but gentle.
"I..." Janet tried to bat the woman's hands away, but she couldn't move. Everything was soft, calm and soft. She knew the feeling! She was being controlled, sedated! By the woman in the robes? She closed her mind up tight.
"Easy." The woman said quietly as a pair of white garbed formed came running in. "I know you don't trust, but I think the blade hit your kidney." She nodded to the medics. "Puncture wound, lower back, left side. Deep."
"We got it, Shepherd." One of the medics said calmly as he knelt beside Janet. "Ma'am? Can you hear me?" The other started pulling gear from her pack.
"'Shepherd'?" Janet asked, confused. "I..."
The robed woman released her and Janet felt faint. Dizzy. That was not good. She heard the medic who had spoken curse and then she was falling. But...not into darkness. Something warm and light held her as she fell. It... comforted her.
Janet woke up suddenly and completely. She was lying on a cot in a small room. It... wasn't an ICU. It wasn't a hospital room at all. The colony had a top notch medical facility. The miners needed it fairly frequently. This... wasn't the medical facility. She glanced around through slitted eyes. The room was small, but comfortable. The only furniture was the cot she was lying on, but wall hangings and a woven rug were visible. The only door she could see had red on the access panels. Locked. She eased a hand underneath herself and felt bandages on her back. Actual cloth bandages. Not bioplastic or anything else high tech. What the hell? The medics here were better than that. Far better. Nothing hurt, but she felt very strange. Was she drugged?
"Good morning." The voice of the woman who had been called Shepherd came from somewhere and Janet turned her head, seeking the speaker. She couldn't see it. "You are in no danger, Ma'am."
"Have to get to work..." Janet said softly. "Where am I?"
"What work?" The other asked calmly. "You were kicked off your crew for fighting." Janet went still. Of course they had done a background check. Hopefully only a cursory one. If they dug too deep... "No one will have you now. Not after three times being kicked."
"I'll find work. Somehow. Doing...something... " Janet said sharply. She sat up and regretted it as her head swam. "What the hell?" She demanded. "What have you done to me?"
"The blade hit your kidney." The woman said quietly. "You are going to be shaky for a bit. But... I convinced the Peacekeepers not to press charges."
"He touched me! Stabbed me!" Janet put just the right mix of harsh and defensive in her voice. "I was to be locked up for that?"
"No, you hit him first. He was retreating." Shepherd said, still with that maddening calm. "He knew better. The Peacekeepers here take a very dim view to people who cannot comprehend the word 'No'. Lynchings are bad for morale, which is pitiful enough as it is. You messed up. There was no need to escalate the situation."
"I don't let people touch me." Janet snapped, sitting up despite her whirling head. "Where am I? This isn't the medical center!"
"The med center has to file reports. Reports that regularly draw peacekeeper scrutiny. You were obviously trying to avoid their scrutiny, so I helped. Just a little." The other replied. "What is it you seek?"
"I don't understand." Janet did not have to feign anger now. "What do you want from me?"
"I want to help you." The one called Shepherd said calmly. "You need help. You feel... wrong." Janet stilled and the other continued. "I can feel your pain. Your fear. Your anger."
"This is ridiculous!" Janet was on her feet now, pacing. "Let me out of here!"
"I can't while you are in that state of mind." The other replied. "You will hurt yourself or others. Be calm. I can help you, if you let me."
"Calm?" Janet snapped. "How the hell can I be calm locked up like an animal?"
"Humans are animals, Ma'am." The other replied. "And right now, you are hurt and scared. There is no need, Jane."
"You do not know me!" Janet nearly screamed. It was hard to stay in character. Everything felt... off. This... She stilled. This wasn't real! This was... "Let me out of here!" She screamed louder, running towards the door and pounding on it. "Let! Me..." As she pounded, she saw bits of code fraying around her hands. A virtual world!
Damn... The voice was the Shepherd. Ah, Jane... I want to help...
"Let me out!" Janet screamed. "Let me out!"
You need help. Bad. She can help you as she helped me. I hope so anyway.
Without sense of transition, Janet was lying on the floor of the eatery. No time seemed to have passed. The medics were still working. The robed woman was slumped nearby, watching Janet carefully.
"Who are you?" Janet asked the robed woman, keeping her voice carefully neutral.
"Don't move, Ma'am." The head medic commanded. "What is your name?"
"Jane." Janet lied, careful to keep her mind closed. "Didn't mean to hit that guy... Don't like being touched... Too... Too many memories..." That wasn't a lie. Some of her missions had required her to do things that soured her mind to this day.
"Well, we have regenned the damage." The medic said with a nod. "But you started a fight." Janet tensed. If the peacekeepers locked her up, started looking at her cover identity closer...
"I.." Janet clamped her mouth shut, aware that everything she said was likely being recorded.
"Locking her up won't help." The woman called 'Shepherd' said softly but clearly. "If she tenses any further, she will break if she touches something." The medics looked at her and the woman sighed. "I will take responsibility."
"Ma'am..." The head medic sounded worried.
"She needs some down time, Medic Jerry." Shepherd said with a sigh. "I will take care of her. It is what I do."
"And if she hurts you, or worse?" The other medic spoke for the first time. His voice was deep, far deeper than Janet had expected.
"She won't." Shepherd said calmly. "Will you, Jane?" Janet looked at her and shook her head. "I won't touch you. Can you stand?" Both medics started putting their gear away. Janet sat up and rose slowly. She was dizzy, but it faded. "Will you follow?" There was something... odd on those words. Not a compulsion. Janet knew that feeling. No, this was... different. More a deep, heartfelt request.
"Nowhere else to go." Janet said weakly. The robed woman rose and started off, Janet following. To her amazement, Shepherd led her towards the Medical Center. "Wha...?" Janet asked, then clicked her mouth shut.
"I live here." Shepherd said quietly. "I am the chaplain."
Janet nodded slowly. Most human settlements had a spiritual guide of some kind. Religions had for the most part fallen away in the darkness that had enshrouded the Solar System. Well, except for cults, such as the Corpus. Other small groups had appeared, flourished for a time and vanished. Some had been good, some very bad. But there were very few large scale religions. The Corpus dominated because of what they were and how they operated.
Shepherd led the way to a small door set on the side of the building. It opened at her touch. The room within was...comfortable. A couch, a pair of chairs. A small table in the middle of those. A small food preparation area. Two doors led away.
"Lavatory is through there." Shepherd waved to one of the doors. "If you need it." Janet shook her head, bemused. " I will make us some tea. You drink tea?"
"What is tea?" Janet asked carefully. She knew what it was of course, but she had to stay in character. Jane wouldn't have ever had it. Jane would be very nervous in here. So Janet forced herself to shiver a bit.
"Tea is an infusion of herbs in hot water." Shepherd said with a nod. "Go on. Sit. Nothing is going to eat you in here, Jane." She chided gently as she started working the food making apparatus.
"I don't know you." Janet said slowly. "This is all... odd."
"Yes, it is." Shepherd replied easily. She brought two steaming cups and set them on the low table in front of the couch. Then she sat in one of the chairs, making sure one cup was within reach. "Come on, girl. Sit. It's okay. No one will hurt you here."
Janet thought about things for a moment and then slowly sat in the other chair. Nothing happened and she relaxed a little. Just a little.
"Your tea will get cold." Shepherd said calmly. "It is much better hot." Janet looked at the other and then, with a deep sigh, took careful hold of the cup and lifted it to her lips. The tea was bitter, but it tasted good. The warmth in it was soothing and calming. Janet was ready for drugs or poisons, but nothing happened. "You need the calm. Your mind is a riot of fear and anger."
"Have cause." Janet said as she sipped cautiously.
"Of course you do." Shepherd retorted evenly. In any other tone of voice, it might have been antagonistic. This was simple statement of fact. "You have no reason to trust me. Just as I have no reason to trust you. I was trying to help. I thought you were a miner with a lost temper. I was wrong." Janet froze.
"What do you mean?" Janet asked, slowly lowering her cup and placing it back on the table.
"I am a guide for these people, Jane." Shepherd said calmly. "That means I see all kinds. Angry, sad, happy... You name it, I have seen it." Her next words chilled Janet to the bone.
"You think you are the first spy who has come through here?"