This is a fan translation of Line of Dreams (Линия грёз) by the Russian science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko. The novel can be considered a fan fiction of the original Master of Orion game.
Chapter 9
Kal stretched lazily, covering herself with a sheet. She looked at Nomachi mockingly.
"You've gone insane," he said.
"Tut-tut-tut." Isabella smacked her lips. "Such emotions, my restrained friend…"
"Kal, the military's going to eat us alive. If you've decided to kill off all the marines… my God, they've all got aTan… then why do we need to walk into Lemak's maw?"
"He's going to take us seriously now. I've spoken with him, and Lemak has agreed to wait for my explanation?"
"What explanation? Why? We have Curtis's son! Let's set course for Terra, to Endoria, to any large center…" Louis rose from the bed and started pacing through the cabin. Kal grimaced, but he didn't notice her reaction to his nakedness. "We'll tell them everything, give them the kid, and they'll get us out of any trouble. Kal, you have a right to report directly to the Emperor! That's even better! We'll get medals."
"You can stick your medal right up your fat ass," Kal said. "Or get dressed. Is the position of a deputy on a backwater planet all you can dream of?"
"For now, yes! Later, we'll see!" Louis reached for his clothing, raising his chin proudly.
"No, you idiot." Kal sat up. "The Emperor is on good terms with Curtis, even if he doesn't have much of a choice. He's not going to risk everything. But if we work the kid ourselves, if aTan becomes a state monopoly, then what'll be left of Curtis Sr? Nothing."
"Then why do we need Lemak?" Nomachi screamed hysterically.
"The boy endured a 3A-level interrogation without a single peep. The truth serum broke down in his blood in four seconds, and the neural suppression has resulted in a deep and healthy sleep. We can kill him, but that's all."
"What about Lemak?"
"Imperial Forces have their own labs, their own counterintelligence, and their own interrogation techniques. United, we can crush the boy. A reward split three ways is better than the two of us ending up in a penal colony."
Nomachi sniffled, making him look like a fat and disgusting child. Then he inquired, "Why three ways? Marjan, T/san—"
"They're just pawns. All they can expect is a promotion or a rebuke. We're the ones taking all the risk, Louis, we are! But we'll also be the ones to reap the first reward."
Nomachi nodded dubiously, "All right… we'll take the risk. Since we've started."
Kal barely managed to suppress an urge to snap her lover's neck.
Arthur woke up when Kal entered the cell.
"Hey," the woman said. "You don't look too bad."
Curtis Jr. didn't dignify her with a response.
"You're well-prepared," Kal went on. "You don't care about pain, right? Your blood does something strange to the drugs. An immunity given to you before aTan?"
Arthur was still silent. Drug protectors weren't given to children, since they could prevent tissue growth. His blood was full of symbiotic bacteria, which ravenously ate any foreign chemical, even the bio-terminator toxin. But Arthur had no intention of sharing even that secret of the aTan Empire.
"So what are we going to do, huh?" Kal lowered the toilet seat and took a seat. "Any advice?"
Curtis Jr. closed his eyes.
"If you want, I can allow you to take a shower. You can wash off the blood and relax."
"Are there video sensors in the shower?" Arthur answered with a question. "That amused me back on Incedios."
Kal felt as if he'd just spat on her. Worse than that, she had lost her balance. It took her several seconds to relax her throat muscles and answer with the same tone, "Of course there are."
"I'll think about it, thanks. You can watch the old recordings for now."
Kal rose. She wanted to hit the kid, but it would be ridiculous after what Marjan had done to him.
"You'll regret that," she whispered. "We'll squeeze everything out of you… everything…"
"You're an old and sick psycho," Arthur said. "Even the mechanist is more human than you."
When Mohammadi saw Kal, she didn't need her enhanced sensors to understand how enraged she was.
"Go to the little bastard," Isabella ordered. "3B."
"It won't have an effect," Marjan spoke, rising from the floor. She had been speaking with the Meklar, who was lying in the hallway by the interrogation room like an ugly Cerberus. "Requesting permission to employ 3C or switch to mutilation."
"I'm making the decisions here!" Kal screamed. "We still have three days to Layon, and the intensity needs to be raised continuously!"
She didn't even realize that she was explaining herself to the mechanist. Marjan bowed her head, "3B, Deputy Commander."
When the women went their separate ways: Marjan to Arthur's cell and Kal to Louis in her cabin, the Meklar said aloud, "Why not just kill him? Same result."
He burst into a wheezing, barking laugh. T/san was proud of the fact that he had developed a genuinely human sense of humor.
