Rina hurriedly gathered her long hair into a bun on top of her head, pinning it in place and wrapping a long ribbon around it. It was a well-known and accepted fact of Rina Krace's life than most events that should have been private celebrations always turned into gala events, where her father invited more guests then she did and party always turned into a political gathering. Rina Krace understood this and accepted it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
She paused once more in front of the mirror to check her appearance. Her hair looked fine despite the haste in its preparation, her makeup wasn't smudged, and the new dress looked great. Rina smiled at the mirror, pleased that she was finally beginning to have a feminine shape, something she'd never expected to live long enough to see. Then she took off at a run down the stairs, the folds of the knee-length dress whipping around her legs. She pulled herself to a halt just at the top of the last flight of stairs, composed herself, and walked down the last steps at a sedate pace. There was polite applause as she was announced - this was, after all, nominally her sixteenth birthday party. Rina smiled into the lights of the ever-present cameras, then took her father's arm and gently kissed him on the cheek. A half-dozen flashbulbs went off, and Rina whispered, "I know it's selfish of me, but I can't wait until this is all over and we can have a real celebration."
"My thoughts exactly," her father said, and she pulled away, walking to the nearest knot of children. Some of them she'd even invited for herself, as her friends. If she had to be surrounded by children for the rest of the evening, they might as well be people she liked. One of those present was Julia Surd, the daughter of the Representative who had been assassinated almost six years ago. Julia was now eighteen, and moving towards the position her father had occupied. She had the same views as him, too, a fact that worried Rina, since it might make her the target of more Alliance assassins.
She passed away the first several hours in small talk, then started making the rounds with her father, allowing him to introduce her to all of the important guests. Rina smiled at all of them, even the Alliance officers who came, never revealing that, as the Phoenix, she would gladly order their deaths for the suffering they'd caused. Now she was just an innocent girl helping her father do 'important work.'
As they passed by a young officer, just freshly promoted, Rina noticed a slight bulge under the back of his dress uniform, and a chill ran down her spine. After she returned, she'd told the others about her close call, and Arthur and Heero decided to go back out there, to see if they could get the doctor out of his prison. It wasn't just that it was dangerous to have him in the Alliance's hands now that he knew who she was; he was a good man who didn't deserve to be locked up by himself like that. He could do a lot of good in Refuge, and he'd definitely be happier there. Rina swallowed as the truth occurred to her. Rina's hands trembled as she thought about what they had probably done to him, but she pushed the thoughts aside. She was in grave danger of having the same thing happen to her.
She drifted through the crowd to stand next to Patricia. "There's going to be trouble. They know who I am."
Patricia paled, although her expression didn't change. "Then you have to get out of here!"
"I can't - I'm too noticeable, and besides, they've got to have all of the exits covered. Pat, I need you to do me a favor. I want you to go upstairs to my room, my other room, and make sure there's nothing there for them to find if they do search this house. I don't think I've left anything, but I want you to make sure - open up the computer and smash the insides, if you have to. Then I want you to spread the word to the others - if something happens, don't stay and try to protect me, I want you to run. If they catch me they'll keep me alive for a while, but they'll kill you to set an example. Get word to the others about what happened."
"Mistress..."
"I'll be fine. I have a few tricks they don't know about." That was a lie. In order to protect her father, Rina had done nothing to the house that might leave evidence of what she did. So while her father was completely clean, there was nothing in the house that could help her - she probably couldn't even get to her gun. she thought slowly, that horrible calmness coming over her. There wasn't time to call for help - she could reach the base in under an hour, but for anyone else it would take longer, and only then if they ran straight there, and anyone she sent was sure to be followed. The lines of communication she'd set up took a long time to get there, too.
The fact that she was going to get captured was a given, now what could she do to minimize damage? Sending the rest of the household away was a good start. She could kill herself. Intellectually, Rina knew that this was probably the wisest course, to silence herself before they could try to force information out of her, but since she so recently escaped death, she couldn't bring herself to do it. I didn't get my life back only to have the Alliance immediately take it away. She decided to save that option for a last resort. They couldn't take her father - there was no evidence at all to arrest him, and Heero and the others would protect him from assassins.
Out of the corner of her eye Rina watched Patricia climbing the stairs to her room. Rina then looked across the room, at her father. What should she tell him? Rina, still stuck in that emotionless condition, decided to wait. Her father was a horrible actor, and if she told him he would immediately give it away in his face. She would wait until after Patricia's errand was complete, then she'd explain what she had to do.
-----------
One hour passed, and then another, while Rina fought to maintain a calm exterior. This was like slow torture, being able to see what was coming and not being able to prevent it. Patricia finished her errand, and then told the rest of the household. Rina managed to pull her father into a quiet corner and explain to him what was going to happen, and what he had to do in order to remain free. As she had expected, he protested and was ready to do something foolish that would get him killed, but she stopped him and managed to convince him that there was no other way, that many more people were going to die if he didn't help save himself. Then the waiting started again, as Rina struggled to control the terror that threatened to overwhelm her.
Finally she couldn't wait for the party to end - she had to go see if there was any way for her to get out. She walked upstairs and peered out the bedroom window, and saw, in the distance, the end of a blaster shining in the moonlight. A sense of hopelessness settled over her, and as she closed the curtain she wondered again if she should kill herself. I should, but I just can't, not after all I've been through. It's my major weakness, my love of life, and it's going to be my destruction, and that of the others, too. Before she went back downstairs, Rina retrieved her blaster, strapped it to her thigh, under the dress, and burned the mask and jumpsuit in the self-contained fireplace. Now the only thing left that could tie her to the Rebels was on her person. She walked back down to the party. It would be over soon, the cameramen were packing up. Once they were gone, they Alliance would strike.
Rina gently crossed her arms and leaned against a column, where she could see the entire room through half-closed eyes. She noticed sudden movement among the elite agents, and a slight frown passed across her face. They couldn't be moving now, not while all of the people and cameras were still around... They didn't want this on the news, did they? Rina couldn't believe they would be that stupid, but just in case, she let her hand drift down near her thigh, where she could grab the gun in less than a second if she needed to.
"Rina, are you all right?" Julia asked, making Rina jump. She and several other kids had walked over while Rina was watching the agents.
"Yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" Rina murmured, trying to keep her eyes on everyone in the room at once.
"Well, for one thing, you look as if you're here for a funeral instead of a party. Try smiling a little, this is your day!"
Right on cue, fifteen agents and five officers pulled guns out of hidden holsters and pointed them at her. "Freeze!" several of them shouted. Julia and the others screamed and ducked their heads, leaving only Rina in range. "You are under arrest for high treason against the Alliance!"
Julia was the first to raise her head, and she immediately climbed to her feet, placing herself in front of Rina. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "Don't you know who she is?"
"Get out of the line of fire!" shouted the agent she'd confronted, and he shoved her to the floor. That was the opening Rina was looking for. As Julia fell to the ground, out of Rina's line of fire, Rina drew her gun and shot the man who had shoved Julia in his throat, where his armor didn't protect him. She killed two more agents before they realized what she was doing. By then Rina had jumped over the nearest table, overturning it for the meager protection it provided, while the guests screamed and stumbled to get out of the way. Several holes emerged from the table beside her, and one hit her upper right arm, tearing a hole through the muscle but missing the bone. Rina bit back a scream as the pain hit her. She was lucky that they only hit her arm.
Then she heard a step behind her, turned and killed the agent who had snuck up behind her. She stood up behind the table and killed another agent as he tried to move around her to get beyond the barrier the table provided. The agents still weren't trying to take cover, so she shot four more as they tried to regroup. By then several agents were moving to flanking positions, and Rina's options were running short. She looked around, shot two more, then jumped straight up to the second floor, grabbing onto the banister and trying to pull herself over. She'd almost made it when another bullet hit her right leg. All the muscles went limp for a moment, then the pain hit her a second before her leg gave out from under her, pitching her back to the ground floor. Rina tried to grab the banister, but her injured arm wasn't up to it and she hit the ground hard, the impact momentarily stunning her.
By the time she got back to her feet, putting all of her weight on her uninjured leg, they had her surrounded, and she'd dropped her gun when she fell. she thought as they slowly advanced.
They didn't bother ordering her to freeze again; this time four agents tackled her while the remaining five watched her with their guns held ready. She'd been lucky to get as many of them as she had, considering the circumstances. Rina managed to hold back another scream when one of the agents landed heavily on her leg, but couldn't hold back the cry when they twisted her arms behind her back to cuff them, ignoring the wound in her arm. They quickly tied her legs together with some sort of plastic wires, then pulled her off the ground, supporting her by her arms so that she couldn't gain any leverage.
"My God," one of the survivors muttered. "They're all dead. What kind of monster is she?"
Aware that there were TV cameras rolling, Rina muttered, just loud enough for them to hear her, "I'm exactly what the Alliance made me."
"Shut up!" one of them snarled, and punched her in the stomach, inciting angry murmurs from the crowd and pleased smiles from the camera crews.
"Get back!" another shouted, raising his gun to point it at the crowd. With her face hidden by the hair that had fallen out of her bun, Rina smiled grimly. The Alliance needed to work on training it's people for public relations - threatening a large group of very important and/or wealthy colonists was not the way to earn the trust of the populace.
"Rina!"
Rina managed not to wince at the pain in her father's voice. He had to play his part here to remain safe. She forced herself not to look at his eyes.
"Rina! What are you doing? What have you done?" he asked, his voice pleading.
"I'm sorry, Father," Rina said in a sulky voice. "I should have told you."
"Rina, what have you done?" he repeated, weariness and fear working their way into his voice.
"I joined the Rebels, Father, last year. I never meant to cause you any grief, but the Alliance has to be stopped!" she said, her voice rising with every word. She sounded just like a desperate, frightened, dedicated teenage freedom fighter who was in way over her head. And the cameras were recording every word she said. "They're destroying the colonies, they're killing innocent civilians, they're..." Rina allowed her voice to be cut off as they punched her in the stomach again.
"Silence," the man ordered. He looked around at the guests, as if only now realizing the scene they were making. "Get her out of here," he directed, and they carried her out of the house and into a waiting shuttle, where she was strapped to a bed with heavy cords that even she couldn't break. As one of the men prepared a hypospray to inject her with something, Rina fought to control her face, to control herself. She couldn't lose control now - she had to figure out what she was going to do next. The alternative she had shied away from just hours before suddenly didn't seem so drastic.
As the drugs started to take effect, Rina repeated to herself, over and over, that no matter what, she couldn't let them get at the information stored in her brain. But at the last moment before she lost consciousness, the emotions and feelings she had been pushing aside came back, and she silently cried out in fear and pain.
-------------
Arthur was reviewing the circuits that were used in the bracelets that convicted criminals wore. He'd never had reason to study them before, but now that he did, he found that it would be possible to disarm the device and free Dr. Ethen. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be possible, with the right tools. They could do it in a few weeks. Maybe Rina would want to come, after she got back from her birthday party. Actually, it was all of their birthdays. Rina had mentioned something about a birthday party when she got to base. That was a strange thought - they'd never celebrated anything when they were with the Alliance, much less their birthdays. Only humans did things like that. They'd been with Rina for their fifteenth birthday, but that was right after Herc and Kan came over. Back then few of the Rebels trusted them, and Kan was still treating Rina like some sort of royalty... and, of course, then Rina had been dying. They hadn't known it, but she had, so it was logical that she didn't feel like celebrating, and they never noticed the lack.
This year it was different. Now they had a reason to celebrate, and the other Rebels knew them well enough that they wouldn't begrudge them a few hours, if Heero would actually take that long. Arthur rather suspected he would. He'd mellowed even further after Rina's recovery, although it was still hard to tell. Arthur couldn't wait for the party at Rina's house to finish. After everyone was gone they were going over there with Mike for a private celebration.
He'd almost finished when a chill ran down his spine. Without knowing why, he stood up and walked to the door of the room he and the other four shared. They'd discovered that they were still more comfortable living together, after all the years they'd spent together with the Alliance.
As the door opened, he heard some commotion in the hall, and his pulse quickened. His hand automatically went to his gun, currently strapped to his thigh, but somehow he knew that the danger wasn't here. The base wasn't under attack, so what was the problem? Triss came running down the hall, tears in her eyes. "Arthur!" she shouted when she saw him. "Oh God..."
"What's happened?" he demanded, feeling an icy chill in his stomach. "What's going on?"
"Go and see the news broadcast," she told him, shaking her head.
Arthur cast a frightened look at her, then took off to the communications room as fast as he could. He saw startled looks on the faces of some of the people he passed, but ignored them. Just outside the communications room was a small crowd of people, all grim-faced. They parted to let him pass, and he stepped into the room. The attention of everyone there was focused on the main holographic projector, which was displaying an image of... Rina.
Rina, slumped in the hands of Alliance soldiers.
For a moment time seemed to stop entirely. Then Arthur got control of himself. He was the first of the five to arrive. "What happened?" he asked coldly. Tears formed in his eyes but he wiped them away and asked again. "Someone tell me what happened."
Brandon got his voice back first. "They caught her. While she was at her birthday party. She's being charged with treason, and has already been taken to their main base. We're trying to find out more, but information is sketchy at best."
Arthur nodded to let them know that he'd heard, then had to turn his head away as he thought the pain would overwhelm him. It might as well be Earth, it would be easier to get her back from there. There would be no rescue attempt, because no one knew where she was. She was as good as dead.
he told himself, struggling to bring his emotions under control as Michael arrived. "Where did we get this image from?" he demanded, pointing at the hologram. He heard Michael gasp when he saw the image. Arthur glanced at him. Except for a slightly opened mouth, there was no indication on his face that anything was out of order, but even that little change told him a lot.
"It's being broadcast on all of the major channels," someone told him, and replayed the short scene where Rina managed to get out a propaganda message even as she was taken away. It was skillfully done, and the logical part of his mind admired what she'd been able to come up with on such short notice. The emotional part was still screaming in anguish.
"All right. We need to get some people in the stations. If they're broadcasting this, we need to know what they kept back from the population. His eyes fixed on Gene, one of Rina's top aides. "Do it. And clear this room of everyone except for security and the Circle," he instructed.
Gene nodded and disappeared as Brandon started ushering people out. Arthur stared at the image again, horrified with himself that he would be able to continue thinking of such logical things when Rina had been captured, but it was unavoidable. The other three were all out in the colony, taking care of various business, and now Rina wouldn't be here to give orders. Things had to be done. "Brandon, you're going to need to change all of the passwords. On everything. Immediately."
Brandon nodded, but one of *his* assistants asked, "Why?"
Arthur glanced around, but saw that the room had been cleared of everyone except himself, Michael, the inner circle, and Brandon's people. "Because she is the Phoenix," he told the young man, whose jaw dropped open. "Brandon will tell you everything you need to know, but now the Alliance has the Phoenix. They're going to try to break her, and she knows all of our access codes, the location of all of our weapons... everything. We've got to move before they can break her. Do you understand?"
The man nodded, looking terrified, not that Arthur blamed him. What had just happened could easily mean the end of the Rebels, and Refuge too. What in the universe could they do to hide Refuge? Nothing, and he knew it. They could change the access codes, but that was about it. There was no way they could defend Refuge against a concentrated attack. As soon as Rina broke, Refuge was doomed, unless they could figure out something else.
Michael glanced at him, and Arthur knew that he was thinking the exact same thing. But thoughts like that could wait, at least for now. "We've got to start moving," he said to the assembled. "Every base we have has got to be moved, and we've got to destroy what's left. We should have some time - Rina will resist, but we've got to move *now*." He looked around the circle of people, seeing pain and loss on most faces, but also grim determination. Rina would resist, they all knew that. She'd be suffering longer in order to buy them some time, it was up to them to make sure they used that time well.
Arthur glanced at Michael to see if there was anything he'd forgotten. Because he'd been the first on the scene, he was temporarily in command, at least until Heero could be recalled. That reminded him. "Send out a bulletin to all our people in the field, as many as we can safely reach. We'll need every available person to help. And we need Heero back."
As he said the words, it finally hit him that they probably wouldn't get Rina back. The advisors started moving out of the room to perform their tasks. Someone had to coordinate them, but it was then that Arthur finally lost control. He started sobbing, but luckily it wasn't recognizable as such to the advisors as they moved out of the room. To them it looked like some sort of coughing fit, but Michael knew what it was. He paused as he also headed out and touched Arthur's shoulder. "We'll talk later, and I can get you a few minutes now, but we need you."
Arthur nodded gratefully, then sat in the silent room for a full minute, crying. Then he got control. He shut off the holographic imager so he wouldn't have to look at Rina's face anymore, and went back outside. Almost immediately people were approaching him with issues that had to be dealt with. He did the best he could, knowing it wasn't working as smoothly as it could, because he wasn't Rina or Heero, the two people who'd been in command for the past four years. He awaited Heero's return with an ache in his heart. They needed Hiro back, because they had to replace the Phoenix.
--------------
Chancellor Cambel was in a foul mood when he called Director Yirtz to his office. What could the man have been thinking, ordering a strike of that magnitude without proper authorization? Besides that, he'd bungled the job. There were pictures on every station of that damned girl crying out her pitiful message as the Alliance soldiers brutalized her. No Rebel, no matter how prominent in society, was worth that kind of exposure. In one night they'd done more damage to the Alliance's image than over fifty years of occupation! There was more support for the Rebels than ever before, thanks to this mess. The man was just becoming too costly to keep around, first losing his project, and now this!
Director Yirtz was waiting in his office when Cambel arrived. "Director Yirtz," Cambel said slowly, determined not to start screaming. "How do you explain this?" he asked, turning on the television in his office. Of course, there was a picture of the girl on the screen. "You've set the Alliance's propaganda movement back years, thanks to your reckless action. And for what? One little girl? In all likelihood, her only value to the Rebels was as a celebrity figure who supported them, and a weak one at that! You're martyring her, and it makes her even more valuable to the Rebels, and does nothing for us!"
"Do any of the newscasts mention that she killed eleven of our men before they captured her?" Yirtz asked, tilting his head to look at the screen.
"She what?" Cambel asked, muting the image.
"Oh, good. We worked very hard to cover that up, to make sure that didn't make it into the news. Yes, Chancellor. That little girl, as you called her, killed eleven highly skilled agents and almost escaped, despite the fact that they were wearing armor and she was caught off-guard during her sixteenth birthday party."
Cambel sat at his desk. Yirtz was a slimy back-stabbing weasel, but he wasn't stupid, and he was obviously going somewhere with this. "How? Who is she?"
"She is the Phoenix."
"What?! Have you lost your mind?!" he exclaimed, quickly reversing his previous opinion that Yirtz wasn't stupid.
"I have not," Yirtz said smugly. "Watch. This is the whole unedited footage from her capture - the parts that we managed to keep out of the public's eye." He pushed a button on the remote, and a darker image appeared. "They had begun to put away their things, including the lighting," Yirtz explained. "It gets better in a moment."
Cambel waved a hand for silence as the image played out. Over a dozen men pulled guns on the girl, then another girl stepped in front of her for a moment. An agent pushed her out of the way - and was almost immediately shot in the throat. Cambel stopped the image and rewound it, going back over it again in slow motion. Even so he could barely catch the lightening-fast movement as she raised the gun from behind her leg and fired. The tape resumed normal speed, and he watched, hardly daring to blink, as she shot two more agents, then dove over a table and upended it, giving herself some protection as the agents opened fire.
At one point Yirtz stopped the tape, pointing to the table. "We've ascertained that this shot penetrated the table and passed through her right arm. As you can see," he said, restarting the tape just in time for her to shoot another agent who'd made it to the table. "It didn't affect her efficiency." Then she stood partway up, still using the table for cover, and shot four more agents, this time with her left arm. Then... Cambel blinked... she jumped straight up to the second floor and started climbing over the banister. There were more shots fired, and one of them hit her in the leg, causing her to fall back to the first floor. Even then she managed to stand up, until four agents tackled her and tied her up.
Then came the words that Cambel had been hearing over and over and over again. "I am what the Alliance made me... I'm sorry, Father, I joined the Rebels..." He turned off the picture.
"How is this possible?"
"There was a double-meaning behind her words," Yirtz said, smiling. "Most people take her first statement to mean that the Alliance created her through their cruelty, made it necessary for the Rebels to exist. What she actually meant was quite literal."
Cambel was missing something. "Where have you put her?"
"I put her back in wing 56, room 4. It's in the area we originally intended for Project Titan, before we moved it off-base. Quite fitting, actually."
"Why?"
"I told you, she was being literal when she said that the Alliance created her. We did - she is also one of the creations from Project Titan."
"You told me that there were only five subjects, all male."
"I was mistaken. There were actually ten subjects, five male, five female. You will remember that one of my colleagues who worked on the project was executed?"
"Yes." It had been before Cambel's time as Chancellor, but he'd read a file on it.
"The matter was covered up, but she was executed because she changed five of the fetuses from male to female. Your predecessor only wanted males, so the females were ordered disposed of. Someone uninvolved with the project who knew nothing of their capabilities injected the five females with a virus that would kill them when they reached puberty, and gave them to an orphanage, not realizing how dangerous they'd be from day one. Our people soon noticed the mistake, but not until after one of the babies was adopted, by Ambassador Jules Krace. The other four were eliminated, but the failure to eliminate the fifth was also covered up, so that we did not realize that one had escaped."
Cambel sat back, astonished by the implications of what he was being told. "And she..."
"Even raised as a human, there were differences that would make it impossible for her to fit in as a real human. Her mind was already fully developed by the time she was born, and by the time she was five her physical strength surpassed any human's, just like in our five. We're not sure exactly when or how it happened, but she got involved with the Rebels, and in a few years, rose to a leadership position, calling herself the Phoenix."
"The Phoenix has already been around for four years. You're telling me that she's been the leader of the Rebels since she was twelve?"
Yirtz nodded excitedly. "And she worked with them for years before that, feeding them information she got from our own computer system. She is the one who captured and then twisted the minds of our creations, turning them against us. We even know why - the virus."
"The virus?" Cambel repeated, then remembered Yirtz's earlier comment. "I remember. Continue."
"She apparently discovered the virus when she was eight, and knew that she would die. She captured our five because she didn't want the Rebels to falter after she died. She has been taking hormonal suppressants for years to extend her life, but several months ago it finally caught up with her. It should have killed her, but for one person - Richard Ethens."
Cambel frowned, trying to recall where he'd seen that name. "He was...?"
"An unwilling participant in Project Titan, who, incidentally, designed the virus that was killing her. Two of our creations went to him for help, and he managed to create an antidote to the virus, saving her life."
"How did you find all of this out?" Cambel asked suspiciously. Yirtz was enjoying himself far too much here - the man truly was disturbed, but still useful, as he was proving today.
"That's the beautiful part. After regaining health, the Phoenix - Rina Krace - visited Richard to thank him. The visit happened to be on the day I visited Richard. I noticed some oddities in his behavior, and when I suggested that I bring him here for questioning, he attempted to kill himself. I brought him back here, and I got the entire story out of him."
"Well done," Cambel said, standing up. "And now we hold the Phoenix. Show me where you're holding her."
"I have a video link set up." Yirtz turned it on. Cambel saw the girl... the Phoenix, sitting against the wall in a featureless all-white room with bright lights shining down on her. She was dressed in a white jumpsuit with no sleeves and short legs. Her arms were sheathed from her wrists to an inch or two below her elbows in smooth metal cuffs. Cambel recognized the design - they were held together magnetically, forcing her to keep her elbows close together in front of her. If she was very strong she might be able to twist them sideways a little, but she'd never be able to separate them. At least that's what he thought - she was a product of Project Titan. "The cuffs will hold her," Yirtz said, anticipating the question. "I've made sure of it." There were manacles locked around her ankles that attached to the wall, and Cambel saw a bandage wrapped around her right arm, above the elbow. She sat with her head down so that her face was hidden from the camera, not moving, hardly breathing. She didn't look like the person who had orchestrated so many successful and ruthless attacks against the Alliance - she looked like a weary prisoner, and a child at that.
"You're sure that she's from Project Titan?"
"Positive," Yirtz told him. "We took a blood sample and did an analysis. There's no doubt - she's our creation."
"Bring her to me," Cambel ordered. "I want to meet the Phoenix for myself before we break her."
-------------
Rina sat with her back against the wall. She'd positioned herself so that the camera couldn't see her face, but it seemed a minor victory at best. They'd taken the bullet out of her leg and wrapped both wounds in bandages, but done nothing else. Not that she was going to get sick, but the fact that they knew that meant that they knew a lot about her, and that was troubling. Her arm hurt, her leg hurt, most of her body hurt from the pummeling they'd given her, and that was the least of her worries. They were going to try to break her, to force her to give them information. She knew enough about the Rebels to break the entire organization, and worse than that, she knew about Refuge. If they found out about the place they'd sterilize it.
She knew that, even as she sat here, the others were probably moving the Rebels' bases, so that, if she did break, their losses wouldn't be as great. But there was nothing they could do about Refuge.
Arthur had described Alliance interrogation techniques to her. In a short, flat voice he'd described what he used to do to prisoners to make them break. Many of the techniques she'd read about or used, but there were many more that the Alliance had dreamed up on it's own. This featureless room with bright lights that dazzled the eyes even when they were closed was just the beginning. It was going to get worse from here.
Rina thought that she could resist their techniques, at least for a while. But any mind, given enough time, can be defeated. Rina knew her time would be longer than most, but sooner or later she was going to break, and then it would be all over. I should have killed myself when I had the chance. She had known at the time that it was the best decision - why hadn't she done it? You'd think after waiting to die for eight years she would have gotten over her fear of death. But in a way, that was the problem. She hadn't died, she'd been given a second chance, and now her life was more precious to her than ever. It was her weakness, and she hadn't been able to kill herself because of it. she thought, ignoring the way her body rebelled at the idea.
The door to her left opened, and Rina forced herself not to turn her head. Instead, she kept her eyes pointing straight forward and watched them enter without moving her pupils. There were five of them, four guards and Yirtz. He was older than in the pictures she'd seen of him, but he was recognizable, and Rina felt a surge of anger and hate inside her breast. This was the man who had done all those terrible things to the boys. If she hadn't known that any attempt would fail, she would have tried to kill him. Then she realized that he was about to do those same terrible things to her, and hid her terror as moments before she'd hidden her anger.
"Look at me, Eight," he said.
Rina continued to stare directly in front of her. Even when Yirtz walked right in front of her, she didn't let her eyes focus on him - she stared right through him.
"I know you're listening to me," he said, stopping just outside the range of the chains that held her to the wall. "I taught the others that behavior, you can't fool me with that. Eight, look at me!" he said more sharply. He took several seconds to visibly get control of himself, then continued in that sugar-sweet voice.
Heero's voice came back to her, "Mem has a cruel streak in him..."
Then Arthur, "He was always at his worst when he sounded nice, that's how I knew when I was about to be punished." Rina hid a shiver.
"I know you're wondering what I'm talking about. We did some research, and found out that you were originally designated Eight, before Command ordered your execution. I bet it gives you a sense of belonging and self to know that."
Rina focused on his face for a second.
"Look at me!" he said again, stomping his foot like a child. "The Chancellor wants to meet with you. Get up." When she didn't move, he said to the guards, "Pick it up and bring it with us."
It took Rina a second to realize that he was talking about her, and even that realization didn't come until the guards started to move closer to her. she thought, furious. As soon as one of the guards moved within her range, Rina stood up and slammed her metal-wrapped arms into his chest as hard as she could. She heard ribs crack as he stumbled backwards, and tried to turn around in time to get the other one closest to her, but the chains around her legs fouled her up and she sat down heavily.
In the next second the butt of a gun slammed into her jaw, lifting her up and throwing her several feet away, until the length of the chain brought her to a sudden halt. If she'd been human, the impact would have shattered her jaw. As it was, it stunned her for a second, then a dart landed in the floor right in front of her. "Don't move," Yirtz instructed. "You're going, one way or another. If you have to be drugged, so be it, but the Chancellor is very much interested in meeting you with your mind intact, before we break it. It's your choice. If you choose to be drugged, then by all means stand up again." Rina didn't move. She was interested in meeting a man who could order the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.
Her legs were chained together with less than a foot of chain between the manacles so that she could stand up and not much else. Then Rina let herself go completely limp as they tried to pick her up. They finally stuck their arms under her shoulders and started dragging her through the halls. Rina quietly memorized the path. When they finally got to their destination, the guards threw her to the floor, and a good number of them surrounded her and placed themselves between the man standing behind the desk and her. Rina got a surprise - this was not the man who made the propaganda announcements! Then she could have kicked herself - of course he'd use a stand-in! He was a hated military figure on an occupied world, of course he didn't want people to know what he looked like. Well, now she knew. Of course, that was assuming that this really was the Chancellor and not another stand-in.
"Not much to look at, is she?" he said, walking over.
"It was designed the same as the others," Yirtz, standing over her. "You'll notice that even after the beating it received, there isn't a mark on it except for the bullet wounds."
"It?"
"Well, it certainly isn't human," Yirtz said, while Rina burned with fury. "We designed it, the same as you'd design a gun or any other weapon. That's all it is really, a weapon. A superbly designed and very dangerous weapon, but still, just a weapon. It kills whatever target you point it at."
"And if it starts picking it's own targets?" the Chancellor asked with a slight edge in his voice. Rina noted that edge.
Yirtz didn't respond. He nudged Rina with his foot. "Eight, get up." She didn't move - she wasn't about to cooperate any more than she had to. "I said get up!" He kicked her in the stomach, hard. It took a signal act of will for her not to react to that.
"Is she unconscious?"
"No, it's trying to ignore us. I'll fix the problem, give me that."
Suddenly pain exploded across her back. Even as Rina screamed, her mind turned away from the pain, analyzing what was happening to her. Her body had stiffened when the pain hit her, and it went completely limp when the pain receded. Still she didn't move. The pain hit her again, and then again. Each time she screamed, but by the third time she was mostly faking it, having figured out how to completely shut it off in her brain. As the pain receded for the third time, she started sobbing. "No, please, no more," she gasped between her sobs, tears running down her face. "I'm up."
"See? What did I tell you? Away from our training, it grew weak. None of ours would give in so quickly. On your knees, Eight," Yirtz ordered at the end of his statement. It was difficult with the bands on her arms and the chains on her ankles, but Rina managed to get into a kneeling position, her elbows nearly touching in front of her, her arms resting in her lap, sitting on her heals with the chains digging into her butt. She kept her chin down on her chest and sniffled every now and then for their benefit. Two of the guards moved up behind her and rested their guns on her shoulders, keeping her from rising. Only then did the Chancellor (if that's really who he was) move closer.
"It's hard to believe that this is the Phoenix we've been fighting all these years," he remarked disparagingly. "Let me see your eyes, girl." Rina obediently raised her eyes to look at him. He was a handsome man, and younger than the person who did the propaganda announcements. He was obviously an Earthling, as were most of the members of the Alliance, with dark red-brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. He stared at her for a second, then said, "I see nothing there but a frightened child. Either you are gravely mistaken, Yirtz, and she is not who she says she is, or you are gravely mistaken, and she is much more of a fighter than you say she is. Either way, I don't think you really are prepared to handle this." There was definite threat in his voice.
Yirtz apparently heard the threat and winced, but he still said, "Sir, you don't have anyone more qualified than me to handle this. I know more about it than anyone else alive..."
"Except the doctor who cured her," the Chancellor interrupted to point out.
"But he will not do what is necessary to get the information we desire, and I will."
"If she is the Phoenix."
"Oh, she is." Still smiling, Yirtz looked down at her. "Tell him, Eight."
She stared at him with wide, scared eyes. He raised a short metal rod and touched her shoulder. Pain exploded from her shoulder, spreading throughout her body, and the convulsing of her muscles sent her back to the floor. The rod hovered inches from her face as the echoes of her scream died down. "Get on your knees, and tell him what he wants to know."
Rina got back up on the backs of her heels and stared at the ground. "I'm the Phoenix," she said in a voice carefully calculated to sound like a sulky child.
The Chancellor stared at her, then said, "I don't think I believe her. Using methods like that, I believe that she would confess whether it was the truth or not. Do we still have those Rebels we captured a few weeks ago?"
"Yes sir," said one of the guards.
"Bring them here. I want to shoot them."
Rina's head snapped up and for a second she looked the Chancellor right in the eye. Then she realized that it had been a bluff, or at least a trick just to get her attention, and that she'd fallen for it. She immediately shifted tactics, abandoning the pretense that she was a scared little girl. She continued to stare calmly into his eyes until he looked away. "Now that is the Phoenix," he said in a satisfied tone. "Tell me, Phoenix, are you afraid to die?"
"No."
"No?" he seemed surprised by her comment. "Why not?"
"I've been waiting to die for eight years. I've prepared myself. Just because there was a few months delay, do you think my feelings have changed?" she asked evenly, hoping he didn't see through the lie. Ignoring the guns resting on her shoulder, she smoothly rose to her feet.
"On your knees!" Yirtz commanded, and swung the rod at her again.
Rina thought, and ducked to avoid being touched, then she swung her arms at the rod and hit it with the metal cuffs, causing it to fly out of Yirtz's hand and smash into a wall without ever touching her skin. "Don't touch me," she ordered in a low, cold voice to Yirtz, who was staring at her with an expression of astonishment.
The Chancellor started laughing, and Rina stopped herself from shivering again. This man was as bad as Yirtz or worse, because he wasn't openly insane the way Yirtz was, and yet he probably would have ordered the Rebels killed if she hadn't reacted to his words. A casual killer, that's what he was. "Oh, I am so glad I took the time to see you before we break you," he said, still chuckling. "And I am going to enjoy watching it - I wonder if Yirtz can actually do it!"
"Sir!" Yirtz protested angrily, but a raised hand from the Chancellor silenced him.
"Hold her," he said, and the two guards closest to her moved up and grabbed the tops of her arms. Rina winced as one of them grasped her arm where the bandage marked her wound - they had to think she could be affected by pain. He took a few steps closer to her, examining her face. "Tell me," he said to her. "How do you think of yourself? Are you Rina Krace, or are you the Phoenix?"
"I am the Phoenix," Rina lied.
"Interesting. Tell me this, what it was like, growing up isolated from everyone around you? How did it feel when you realized that you weren't human, could never be human?"
Rina forced herself to smile despite the pain, despite the anger she felt. "You're missing the point entirely. Because of how I was designed, I always knew I was different. Before I was four I took steps to investigate my humanity. I was isolated, yes, but I also discovered that I am human. More human, in fact, than either of you." She fell silent, hoping she hadn't told them too much, but she got a great deal of satisfaction over the shocked expression on his face.
It took him several seconds to compose himself. "See that, Yirtz? Look at her. Here is a truly dangerous creature, much more dangerous than anything you created." The look on Yirtz's face showed that he disagreed with that notion. "She has incorporated knowledge of what it means to be human into her other functions. She understands humans, and can manipulate them, even if she still isn't one of them." Rina hid her anger at the comment that she knew had to be directed at her, although there was nothing in his manner to suggest that. "That's something even you were unable to teach the others. She is a more complete weapon then they were. Get her away from me now. I never want to see her again, and I most certainly never want to speak to her again, is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Yirtz murmured, sounding subdued.
And with that, Rina was partially dragged, partially carried back to the cell where they kept her before.
She paused once more in front of the mirror to check her appearance. Her hair looked fine despite the haste in its preparation, her makeup wasn't smudged, and the new dress looked great. Rina smiled at the mirror, pleased that she was finally beginning to have a feminine shape, something she'd never expected to live long enough to see. Then she took off at a run down the stairs, the folds of the knee-length dress whipping around her legs. She pulled herself to a halt just at the top of the last flight of stairs, composed herself, and walked down the last steps at a sedate pace. There was polite applause as she was announced - this was, after all, nominally her sixteenth birthday party. Rina smiled into the lights of the ever-present cameras, then took her father's arm and gently kissed him on the cheek. A half-dozen flashbulbs went off, and Rina whispered, "I know it's selfish of me, but I can't wait until this is all over and we can have a real celebration."
"My thoughts exactly," her father said, and she pulled away, walking to the nearest knot of children. Some of them she'd even invited for herself, as her friends. If she had to be surrounded by children for the rest of the evening, they might as well be people she liked. One of those present was Julia Surd, the daughter of the Representative who had been assassinated almost six years ago. Julia was now eighteen, and moving towards the position her father had occupied. She had the same views as him, too, a fact that worried Rina, since it might make her the target of more Alliance assassins.
She passed away the first several hours in small talk, then started making the rounds with her father, allowing him to introduce her to all of the important guests. Rina smiled at all of them, even the Alliance officers who came, never revealing that, as the Phoenix, she would gladly order their deaths for the suffering they'd caused. Now she was just an innocent girl helping her father do 'important work.'
As they passed by a young officer, just freshly promoted, Rina noticed a slight bulge under the back of his dress uniform, and a chill ran down her spine. After she returned, she'd told the others about her close call, and Arthur and Heero decided to go back out there, to see if they could get the doctor out of his prison. It wasn't just that it was dangerous to have him in the Alliance's hands now that he knew who she was; he was a good man who didn't deserve to be locked up by himself like that. He could do a lot of good in Refuge, and he'd definitely be happier there. Rina swallowed as the truth occurred to her. Rina's hands trembled as she thought about what they had probably done to him, but she pushed the thoughts aside. She was in grave danger of having the same thing happen to her.
She drifted through the crowd to stand next to Patricia. "There's going to be trouble. They know who I am."
Patricia paled, although her expression didn't change. "Then you have to get out of here!"
"I can't - I'm too noticeable, and besides, they've got to have all of the exits covered. Pat, I need you to do me a favor. I want you to go upstairs to my room, my other room, and make sure there's nothing there for them to find if they do search this house. I don't think I've left anything, but I want you to make sure - open up the computer and smash the insides, if you have to. Then I want you to spread the word to the others - if something happens, don't stay and try to protect me, I want you to run. If they catch me they'll keep me alive for a while, but they'll kill you to set an example. Get word to the others about what happened."
"Mistress..."
"I'll be fine. I have a few tricks they don't know about." That was a lie. In order to protect her father, Rina had done nothing to the house that might leave evidence of what she did. So while her father was completely clean, there was nothing in the house that could help her - she probably couldn't even get to her gun. she thought slowly, that horrible calmness coming over her. There wasn't time to call for help - she could reach the base in under an hour, but for anyone else it would take longer, and only then if they ran straight there, and anyone she sent was sure to be followed. The lines of communication she'd set up took a long time to get there, too.
The fact that she was going to get captured was a given, now what could she do to minimize damage? Sending the rest of the household away was a good start. She could kill herself. Intellectually, Rina knew that this was probably the wisest course, to silence herself before they could try to force information out of her, but since she so recently escaped death, she couldn't bring herself to do it. I didn't get my life back only to have the Alliance immediately take it away. She decided to save that option for a last resort. They couldn't take her father - there was no evidence at all to arrest him, and Heero and the others would protect him from assassins.
Out of the corner of her eye Rina watched Patricia climbing the stairs to her room. Rina then looked across the room, at her father. What should she tell him? Rina, still stuck in that emotionless condition, decided to wait. Her father was a horrible actor, and if she told him he would immediately give it away in his face. She would wait until after Patricia's errand was complete, then she'd explain what she had to do.
-----------
One hour passed, and then another, while Rina fought to maintain a calm exterior. This was like slow torture, being able to see what was coming and not being able to prevent it. Patricia finished her errand, and then told the rest of the household. Rina managed to pull her father into a quiet corner and explain to him what was going to happen, and what he had to do in order to remain free. As she had expected, he protested and was ready to do something foolish that would get him killed, but she stopped him and managed to convince him that there was no other way, that many more people were going to die if he didn't help save himself. Then the waiting started again, as Rina struggled to control the terror that threatened to overwhelm her.
Finally she couldn't wait for the party to end - she had to go see if there was any way for her to get out. She walked upstairs and peered out the bedroom window, and saw, in the distance, the end of a blaster shining in the moonlight. A sense of hopelessness settled over her, and as she closed the curtain she wondered again if she should kill herself. I should, but I just can't, not after all I've been through. It's my major weakness, my love of life, and it's going to be my destruction, and that of the others, too. Before she went back downstairs, Rina retrieved her blaster, strapped it to her thigh, under the dress, and burned the mask and jumpsuit in the self-contained fireplace. Now the only thing left that could tie her to the Rebels was on her person. She walked back down to the party. It would be over soon, the cameramen were packing up. Once they were gone, they Alliance would strike.
Rina gently crossed her arms and leaned against a column, where she could see the entire room through half-closed eyes. She noticed sudden movement among the elite agents, and a slight frown passed across her face. They couldn't be moving now, not while all of the people and cameras were still around... They didn't want this on the news, did they? Rina couldn't believe they would be that stupid, but just in case, she let her hand drift down near her thigh, where she could grab the gun in less than a second if she needed to.
"Rina, are you all right?" Julia asked, making Rina jump. She and several other kids had walked over while Rina was watching the agents.
"Yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" Rina murmured, trying to keep her eyes on everyone in the room at once.
"Well, for one thing, you look as if you're here for a funeral instead of a party. Try smiling a little, this is your day!"
Right on cue, fifteen agents and five officers pulled guns out of hidden holsters and pointed them at her. "Freeze!" several of them shouted. Julia and the others screamed and ducked their heads, leaving only Rina in range. "You are under arrest for high treason against the Alliance!"
Julia was the first to raise her head, and she immediately climbed to her feet, placing herself in front of Rina. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "Don't you know who she is?"
"Get out of the line of fire!" shouted the agent she'd confronted, and he shoved her to the floor. That was the opening Rina was looking for. As Julia fell to the ground, out of Rina's line of fire, Rina drew her gun and shot the man who had shoved Julia in his throat, where his armor didn't protect him. She killed two more agents before they realized what she was doing. By then Rina had jumped over the nearest table, overturning it for the meager protection it provided, while the guests screamed and stumbled to get out of the way. Several holes emerged from the table beside her, and one hit her upper right arm, tearing a hole through the muscle but missing the bone. Rina bit back a scream as the pain hit her. She was lucky that they only hit her arm.
Then she heard a step behind her, turned and killed the agent who had snuck up behind her. She stood up behind the table and killed another agent as he tried to move around her to get beyond the barrier the table provided. The agents still weren't trying to take cover, so she shot four more as they tried to regroup. By then several agents were moving to flanking positions, and Rina's options were running short. She looked around, shot two more, then jumped straight up to the second floor, grabbing onto the banister and trying to pull herself over. She'd almost made it when another bullet hit her right leg. All the muscles went limp for a moment, then the pain hit her a second before her leg gave out from under her, pitching her back to the ground floor. Rina tried to grab the banister, but her injured arm wasn't up to it and she hit the ground hard, the impact momentarily stunning her.
By the time she got back to her feet, putting all of her weight on her uninjured leg, they had her surrounded, and she'd dropped her gun when she fell. she thought as they slowly advanced.
They didn't bother ordering her to freeze again; this time four agents tackled her while the remaining five watched her with their guns held ready. She'd been lucky to get as many of them as she had, considering the circumstances. Rina managed to hold back another scream when one of the agents landed heavily on her leg, but couldn't hold back the cry when they twisted her arms behind her back to cuff them, ignoring the wound in her arm. They quickly tied her legs together with some sort of plastic wires, then pulled her off the ground, supporting her by her arms so that she couldn't gain any leverage.
"My God," one of the survivors muttered. "They're all dead. What kind of monster is she?"
Aware that there were TV cameras rolling, Rina muttered, just loud enough for them to hear her, "I'm exactly what the Alliance made me."
"Shut up!" one of them snarled, and punched her in the stomach, inciting angry murmurs from the crowd and pleased smiles from the camera crews.
"Get back!" another shouted, raising his gun to point it at the crowd. With her face hidden by the hair that had fallen out of her bun, Rina smiled grimly. The Alliance needed to work on training it's people for public relations - threatening a large group of very important and/or wealthy colonists was not the way to earn the trust of the populace.
"Rina!"
Rina managed not to wince at the pain in her father's voice. He had to play his part here to remain safe. She forced herself not to look at his eyes.
"Rina! What are you doing? What have you done?" he asked, his voice pleading.
"I'm sorry, Father," Rina said in a sulky voice. "I should have told you."
"Rina, what have you done?" he repeated, weariness and fear working their way into his voice.
"I joined the Rebels, Father, last year. I never meant to cause you any grief, but the Alliance has to be stopped!" she said, her voice rising with every word. She sounded just like a desperate, frightened, dedicated teenage freedom fighter who was in way over her head. And the cameras were recording every word she said. "They're destroying the colonies, they're killing innocent civilians, they're..." Rina allowed her voice to be cut off as they punched her in the stomach again.
"Silence," the man ordered. He looked around at the guests, as if only now realizing the scene they were making. "Get her out of here," he directed, and they carried her out of the house and into a waiting shuttle, where she was strapped to a bed with heavy cords that even she couldn't break. As one of the men prepared a hypospray to inject her with something, Rina fought to control her face, to control herself. She couldn't lose control now - she had to figure out what she was going to do next. The alternative she had shied away from just hours before suddenly didn't seem so drastic.
As the drugs started to take effect, Rina repeated to herself, over and over, that no matter what, she couldn't let them get at the information stored in her brain. But at the last moment before she lost consciousness, the emotions and feelings she had been pushing aside came back, and she silently cried out in fear and pain.
-------------
Arthur was reviewing the circuits that were used in the bracelets that convicted criminals wore. He'd never had reason to study them before, but now that he did, he found that it would be possible to disarm the device and free Dr. Ethen. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be possible, with the right tools. They could do it in a few weeks. Maybe Rina would want to come, after she got back from her birthday party. Actually, it was all of their birthdays. Rina had mentioned something about a birthday party when she got to base. That was a strange thought - they'd never celebrated anything when they were with the Alliance, much less their birthdays. Only humans did things like that. They'd been with Rina for their fifteenth birthday, but that was right after Herc and Kan came over. Back then few of the Rebels trusted them, and Kan was still treating Rina like some sort of royalty... and, of course, then Rina had been dying. They hadn't known it, but she had, so it was logical that she didn't feel like celebrating, and they never noticed the lack.
This year it was different. Now they had a reason to celebrate, and the other Rebels knew them well enough that they wouldn't begrudge them a few hours, if Heero would actually take that long. Arthur rather suspected he would. He'd mellowed even further after Rina's recovery, although it was still hard to tell. Arthur couldn't wait for the party at Rina's house to finish. After everyone was gone they were going over there with Mike for a private celebration.
He'd almost finished when a chill ran down his spine. Without knowing why, he stood up and walked to the door of the room he and the other four shared. They'd discovered that they were still more comfortable living together, after all the years they'd spent together with the Alliance.
As the door opened, he heard some commotion in the hall, and his pulse quickened. His hand automatically went to his gun, currently strapped to his thigh, but somehow he knew that the danger wasn't here. The base wasn't under attack, so what was the problem? Triss came running down the hall, tears in her eyes. "Arthur!" she shouted when she saw him. "Oh God..."
"What's happened?" he demanded, feeling an icy chill in his stomach. "What's going on?"
"Go and see the news broadcast," she told him, shaking her head.
Arthur cast a frightened look at her, then took off to the communications room as fast as he could. He saw startled looks on the faces of some of the people he passed, but ignored them. Just outside the communications room was a small crowd of people, all grim-faced. They parted to let him pass, and he stepped into the room. The attention of everyone there was focused on the main holographic projector, which was displaying an image of... Rina.
Rina, slumped in the hands of Alliance soldiers.
For a moment time seemed to stop entirely. Then Arthur got control of himself. He was the first of the five to arrive. "What happened?" he asked coldly. Tears formed in his eyes but he wiped them away and asked again. "Someone tell me what happened."
Brandon got his voice back first. "They caught her. While she was at her birthday party. She's being charged with treason, and has already been taken to their main base. We're trying to find out more, but information is sketchy at best."
Arthur nodded to let them know that he'd heard, then had to turn his head away as he thought the pain would overwhelm him. It might as well be Earth, it would be easier to get her back from there. There would be no rescue attempt, because no one knew where she was. She was as good as dead.
he told himself, struggling to bring his emotions under control as Michael arrived. "Where did we get this image from?" he demanded, pointing at the hologram. He heard Michael gasp when he saw the image. Arthur glanced at him. Except for a slightly opened mouth, there was no indication on his face that anything was out of order, but even that little change told him a lot.
"It's being broadcast on all of the major channels," someone told him, and replayed the short scene where Rina managed to get out a propaganda message even as she was taken away. It was skillfully done, and the logical part of his mind admired what she'd been able to come up with on such short notice. The emotional part was still screaming in anguish.
"All right. We need to get some people in the stations. If they're broadcasting this, we need to know what they kept back from the population. His eyes fixed on Gene, one of Rina's top aides. "Do it. And clear this room of everyone except for security and the Circle," he instructed.
Gene nodded and disappeared as Brandon started ushering people out. Arthur stared at the image again, horrified with himself that he would be able to continue thinking of such logical things when Rina had been captured, but it was unavoidable. The other three were all out in the colony, taking care of various business, and now Rina wouldn't be here to give orders. Things had to be done. "Brandon, you're going to need to change all of the passwords. On everything. Immediately."
Brandon nodded, but one of *his* assistants asked, "Why?"
Arthur glanced around, but saw that the room had been cleared of everyone except himself, Michael, the inner circle, and Brandon's people. "Because she is the Phoenix," he told the young man, whose jaw dropped open. "Brandon will tell you everything you need to know, but now the Alliance has the Phoenix. They're going to try to break her, and she knows all of our access codes, the location of all of our weapons... everything. We've got to move before they can break her. Do you understand?"
The man nodded, looking terrified, not that Arthur blamed him. What had just happened could easily mean the end of the Rebels, and Refuge too. What in the universe could they do to hide Refuge? Nothing, and he knew it. They could change the access codes, but that was about it. There was no way they could defend Refuge against a concentrated attack. As soon as Rina broke, Refuge was doomed, unless they could figure out something else.
Michael glanced at him, and Arthur knew that he was thinking the exact same thing. But thoughts like that could wait, at least for now. "We've got to start moving," he said to the assembled. "Every base we have has got to be moved, and we've got to destroy what's left. We should have some time - Rina will resist, but we've got to move *now*." He looked around the circle of people, seeing pain and loss on most faces, but also grim determination. Rina would resist, they all knew that. She'd be suffering longer in order to buy them some time, it was up to them to make sure they used that time well.
Arthur glanced at Michael to see if there was anything he'd forgotten. Because he'd been the first on the scene, he was temporarily in command, at least until Heero could be recalled. That reminded him. "Send out a bulletin to all our people in the field, as many as we can safely reach. We'll need every available person to help. And we need Heero back."
As he said the words, it finally hit him that they probably wouldn't get Rina back. The advisors started moving out of the room to perform their tasks. Someone had to coordinate them, but it was then that Arthur finally lost control. He started sobbing, but luckily it wasn't recognizable as such to the advisors as they moved out of the room. To them it looked like some sort of coughing fit, but Michael knew what it was. He paused as he also headed out and touched Arthur's shoulder. "We'll talk later, and I can get you a few minutes now, but we need you."
Arthur nodded gratefully, then sat in the silent room for a full minute, crying. Then he got control. He shut off the holographic imager so he wouldn't have to look at Rina's face anymore, and went back outside. Almost immediately people were approaching him with issues that had to be dealt with. He did the best he could, knowing it wasn't working as smoothly as it could, because he wasn't Rina or Heero, the two people who'd been in command for the past four years. He awaited Heero's return with an ache in his heart. They needed Hiro back, because they had to replace the Phoenix.
--------------
Chancellor Cambel was in a foul mood when he called Director Yirtz to his office. What could the man have been thinking, ordering a strike of that magnitude without proper authorization? Besides that, he'd bungled the job. There were pictures on every station of that damned girl crying out her pitiful message as the Alliance soldiers brutalized her. No Rebel, no matter how prominent in society, was worth that kind of exposure. In one night they'd done more damage to the Alliance's image than over fifty years of occupation! There was more support for the Rebels than ever before, thanks to this mess. The man was just becoming too costly to keep around, first losing his project, and now this!
Director Yirtz was waiting in his office when Cambel arrived. "Director Yirtz," Cambel said slowly, determined not to start screaming. "How do you explain this?" he asked, turning on the television in his office. Of course, there was a picture of the girl on the screen. "You've set the Alliance's propaganda movement back years, thanks to your reckless action. And for what? One little girl? In all likelihood, her only value to the Rebels was as a celebrity figure who supported them, and a weak one at that! You're martyring her, and it makes her even more valuable to the Rebels, and does nothing for us!"
"Do any of the newscasts mention that she killed eleven of our men before they captured her?" Yirtz asked, tilting his head to look at the screen.
"She what?" Cambel asked, muting the image.
"Oh, good. We worked very hard to cover that up, to make sure that didn't make it into the news. Yes, Chancellor. That little girl, as you called her, killed eleven highly skilled agents and almost escaped, despite the fact that they were wearing armor and she was caught off-guard during her sixteenth birthday party."
Cambel sat at his desk. Yirtz was a slimy back-stabbing weasel, but he wasn't stupid, and he was obviously going somewhere with this. "How? Who is she?"
"She is the Phoenix."
"What?! Have you lost your mind?!" he exclaimed, quickly reversing his previous opinion that Yirtz wasn't stupid.
"I have not," Yirtz said smugly. "Watch. This is the whole unedited footage from her capture - the parts that we managed to keep out of the public's eye." He pushed a button on the remote, and a darker image appeared. "They had begun to put away their things, including the lighting," Yirtz explained. "It gets better in a moment."
Cambel waved a hand for silence as the image played out. Over a dozen men pulled guns on the girl, then another girl stepped in front of her for a moment. An agent pushed her out of the way - and was almost immediately shot in the throat. Cambel stopped the image and rewound it, going back over it again in slow motion. Even so he could barely catch the lightening-fast movement as she raised the gun from behind her leg and fired. The tape resumed normal speed, and he watched, hardly daring to blink, as she shot two more agents, then dove over a table and upended it, giving herself some protection as the agents opened fire.
At one point Yirtz stopped the tape, pointing to the table. "We've ascertained that this shot penetrated the table and passed through her right arm. As you can see," he said, restarting the tape just in time for her to shoot another agent who'd made it to the table. "It didn't affect her efficiency." Then she stood partway up, still using the table for cover, and shot four more agents, this time with her left arm. Then... Cambel blinked... she jumped straight up to the second floor and started climbing over the banister. There were more shots fired, and one of them hit her in the leg, causing her to fall back to the first floor. Even then she managed to stand up, until four agents tackled her and tied her up.
Then came the words that Cambel had been hearing over and over and over again. "I am what the Alliance made me... I'm sorry, Father, I joined the Rebels..." He turned off the picture.
"How is this possible?"
"There was a double-meaning behind her words," Yirtz said, smiling. "Most people take her first statement to mean that the Alliance created her through their cruelty, made it necessary for the Rebels to exist. What she actually meant was quite literal."
Cambel was missing something. "Where have you put her?"
"I put her back in wing 56, room 4. It's in the area we originally intended for Project Titan, before we moved it off-base. Quite fitting, actually."
"Why?"
"I told you, she was being literal when she said that the Alliance created her. We did - she is also one of the creations from Project Titan."
"You told me that there were only five subjects, all male."
"I was mistaken. There were actually ten subjects, five male, five female. You will remember that one of my colleagues who worked on the project was executed?"
"Yes." It had been before Cambel's time as Chancellor, but he'd read a file on it.
"The matter was covered up, but she was executed because she changed five of the fetuses from male to female. Your predecessor only wanted males, so the females were ordered disposed of. Someone uninvolved with the project who knew nothing of their capabilities injected the five females with a virus that would kill them when they reached puberty, and gave them to an orphanage, not realizing how dangerous they'd be from day one. Our people soon noticed the mistake, but not until after one of the babies was adopted, by Ambassador Jules Krace. The other four were eliminated, but the failure to eliminate the fifth was also covered up, so that we did not realize that one had escaped."
Cambel sat back, astonished by the implications of what he was being told. "And she..."
"Even raised as a human, there were differences that would make it impossible for her to fit in as a real human. Her mind was already fully developed by the time she was born, and by the time she was five her physical strength surpassed any human's, just like in our five. We're not sure exactly when or how it happened, but she got involved with the Rebels, and in a few years, rose to a leadership position, calling herself the Phoenix."
"The Phoenix has already been around for four years. You're telling me that she's been the leader of the Rebels since she was twelve?"
Yirtz nodded excitedly. "And she worked with them for years before that, feeding them information she got from our own computer system. She is the one who captured and then twisted the minds of our creations, turning them against us. We even know why - the virus."
"The virus?" Cambel repeated, then remembered Yirtz's earlier comment. "I remember. Continue."
"She apparently discovered the virus when she was eight, and knew that she would die. She captured our five because she didn't want the Rebels to falter after she died. She has been taking hormonal suppressants for years to extend her life, but several months ago it finally caught up with her. It should have killed her, but for one person - Richard Ethens."
Cambel frowned, trying to recall where he'd seen that name. "He was...?"
"An unwilling participant in Project Titan, who, incidentally, designed the virus that was killing her. Two of our creations went to him for help, and he managed to create an antidote to the virus, saving her life."
"How did you find all of this out?" Cambel asked suspiciously. Yirtz was enjoying himself far too much here - the man truly was disturbed, but still useful, as he was proving today.
"That's the beautiful part. After regaining health, the Phoenix - Rina Krace - visited Richard to thank him. The visit happened to be on the day I visited Richard. I noticed some oddities in his behavior, and when I suggested that I bring him here for questioning, he attempted to kill himself. I brought him back here, and I got the entire story out of him."
"Well done," Cambel said, standing up. "And now we hold the Phoenix. Show me where you're holding her."
"I have a video link set up." Yirtz turned it on. Cambel saw the girl... the Phoenix, sitting against the wall in a featureless all-white room with bright lights shining down on her. She was dressed in a white jumpsuit with no sleeves and short legs. Her arms were sheathed from her wrists to an inch or two below her elbows in smooth metal cuffs. Cambel recognized the design - they were held together magnetically, forcing her to keep her elbows close together in front of her. If she was very strong she might be able to twist them sideways a little, but she'd never be able to separate them. At least that's what he thought - she was a product of Project Titan. "The cuffs will hold her," Yirtz said, anticipating the question. "I've made sure of it." There were manacles locked around her ankles that attached to the wall, and Cambel saw a bandage wrapped around her right arm, above the elbow. She sat with her head down so that her face was hidden from the camera, not moving, hardly breathing. She didn't look like the person who had orchestrated so many successful and ruthless attacks against the Alliance - she looked like a weary prisoner, and a child at that.
"You're sure that she's from Project Titan?"
"Positive," Yirtz told him. "We took a blood sample and did an analysis. There's no doubt - she's our creation."
"Bring her to me," Cambel ordered. "I want to meet the Phoenix for myself before we break her."
-------------
Rina sat with her back against the wall. She'd positioned herself so that the camera couldn't see her face, but it seemed a minor victory at best. They'd taken the bullet out of her leg and wrapped both wounds in bandages, but done nothing else. Not that she was going to get sick, but the fact that they knew that meant that they knew a lot about her, and that was troubling. Her arm hurt, her leg hurt, most of her body hurt from the pummeling they'd given her, and that was the least of her worries. They were going to try to break her, to force her to give them information. She knew enough about the Rebels to break the entire organization, and worse than that, she knew about Refuge. If they found out about the place they'd sterilize it.
She knew that, even as she sat here, the others were probably moving the Rebels' bases, so that, if she did break, their losses wouldn't be as great. But there was nothing they could do about Refuge.
Arthur had described Alliance interrogation techniques to her. In a short, flat voice he'd described what he used to do to prisoners to make them break. Many of the techniques she'd read about or used, but there were many more that the Alliance had dreamed up on it's own. This featureless room with bright lights that dazzled the eyes even when they were closed was just the beginning. It was going to get worse from here.
Rina thought that she could resist their techniques, at least for a while. But any mind, given enough time, can be defeated. Rina knew her time would be longer than most, but sooner or later she was going to break, and then it would be all over. I should have killed myself when I had the chance. She had known at the time that it was the best decision - why hadn't she done it? You'd think after waiting to die for eight years she would have gotten over her fear of death. But in a way, that was the problem. She hadn't died, she'd been given a second chance, and now her life was more precious to her than ever. It was her weakness, and she hadn't been able to kill herself because of it. she thought, ignoring the way her body rebelled at the idea.
The door to her left opened, and Rina forced herself not to turn her head. Instead, she kept her eyes pointing straight forward and watched them enter without moving her pupils. There were five of them, four guards and Yirtz. He was older than in the pictures she'd seen of him, but he was recognizable, and Rina felt a surge of anger and hate inside her breast. This was the man who had done all those terrible things to the boys. If she hadn't known that any attempt would fail, she would have tried to kill him. Then she realized that he was about to do those same terrible things to her, and hid her terror as moments before she'd hidden her anger.
"Look at me, Eight," he said.
Rina continued to stare directly in front of her. Even when Yirtz walked right in front of her, she didn't let her eyes focus on him - she stared right through him.
"I know you're listening to me," he said, stopping just outside the range of the chains that held her to the wall. "I taught the others that behavior, you can't fool me with that. Eight, look at me!" he said more sharply. He took several seconds to visibly get control of himself, then continued in that sugar-sweet voice.
Heero's voice came back to her, "Mem has a cruel streak in him..."
Then Arthur, "He was always at his worst when he sounded nice, that's how I knew when I was about to be punished." Rina hid a shiver.
"I know you're wondering what I'm talking about. We did some research, and found out that you were originally designated Eight, before Command ordered your execution. I bet it gives you a sense of belonging and self to know that."
Rina focused on his face for a second.
"Look at me!" he said again, stomping his foot like a child. "The Chancellor wants to meet with you. Get up." When she didn't move, he said to the guards, "Pick it up and bring it with us."
It took Rina a second to realize that he was talking about her, and even that realization didn't come until the guards started to move closer to her. she thought, furious. As soon as one of the guards moved within her range, Rina stood up and slammed her metal-wrapped arms into his chest as hard as she could. She heard ribs crack as he stumbled backwards, and tried to turn around in time to get the other one closest to her, but the chains around her legs fouled her up and she sat down heavily.
In the next second the butt of a gun slammed into her jaw, lifting her up and throwing her several feet away, until the length of the chain brought her to a sudden halt. If she'd been human, the impact would have shattered her jaw. As it was, it stunned her for a second, then a dart landed in the floor right in front of her. "Don't move," Yirtz instructed. "You're going, one way or another. If you have to be drugged, so be it, but the Chancellor is very much interested in meeting you with your mind intact, before we break it. It's your choice. If you choose to be drugged, then by all means stand up again." Rina didn't move. She was interested in meeting a man who could order the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.
Her legs were chained together with less than a foot of chain between the manacles so that she could stand up and not much else. Then Rina let herself go completely limp as they tried to pick her up. They finally stuck their arms under her shoulders and started dragging her through the halls. Rina quietly memorized the path. When they finally got to their destination, the guards threw her to the floor, and a good number of them surrounded her and placed themselves between the man standing behind the desk and her. Rina got a surprise - this was not the man who made the propaganda announcements! Then she could have kicked herself - of course he'd use a stand-in! He was a hated military figure on an occupied world, of course he didn't want people to know what he looked like. Well, now she knew. Of course, that was assuming that this really was the Chancellor and not another stand-in.
"Not much to look at, is she?" he said, walking over.
"It was designed the same as the others," Yirtz, standing over her. "You'll notice that even after the beating it received, there isn't a mark on it except for the bullet wounds."
"It?"
"Well, it certainly isn't human," Yirtz said, while Rina burned with fury. "We designed it, the same as you'd design a gun or any other weapon. That's all it is really, a weapon. A superbly designed and very dangerous weapon, but still, just a weapon. It kills whatever target you point it at."
"And if it starts picking it's own targets?" the Chancellor asked with a slight edge in his voice. Rina noted that edge.
Yirtz didn't respond. He nudged Rina with his foot. "Eight, get up." She didn't move - she wasn't about to cooperate any more than she had to. "I said get up!" He kicked her in the stomach, hard. It took a signal act of will for her not to react to that.
"Is she unconscious?"
"No, it's trying to ignore us. I'll fix the problem, give me that."
Suddenly pain exploded across her back. Even as Rina screamed, her mind turned away from the pain, analyzing what was happening to her. Her body had stiffened when the pain hit her, and it went completely limp when the pain receded. Still she didn't move. The pain hit her again, and then again. Each time she screamed, but by the third time she was mostly faking it, having figured out how to completely shut it off in her brain. As the pain receded for the third time, she started sobbing. "No, please, no more," she gasped between her sobs, tears running down her face. "I'm up."
"See? What did I tell you? Away from our training, it grew weak. None of ours would give in so quickly. On your knees, Eight," Yirtz ordered at the end of his statement. It was difficult with the bands on her arms and the chains on her ankles, but Rina managed to get into a kneeling position, her elbows nearly touching in front of her, her arms resting in her lap, sitting on her heals with the chains digging into her butt. She kept her chin down on her chest and sniffled every now and then for their benefit. Two of the guards moved up behind her and rested their guns on her shoulders, keeping her from rising. Only then did the Chancellor (if that's really who he was) move closer.
"It's hard to believe that this is the Phoenix we've been fighting all these years," he remarked disparagingly. "Let me see your eyes, girl." Rina obediently raised her eyes to look at him. He was a handsome man, and younger than the person who did the propaganda announcements. He was obviously an Earthling, as were most of the members of the Alliance, with dark red-brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. He stared at her for a second, then said, "I see nothing there but a frightened child. Either you are gravely mistaken, Yirtz, and she is not who she says she is, or you are gravely mistaken, and she is much more of a fighter than you say she is. Either way, I don't think you really are prepared to handle this." There was definite threat in his voice.
Yirtz apparently heard the threat and winced, but he still said, "Sir, you don't have anyone more qualified than me to handle this. I know more about it than anyone else alive..."
"Except the doctor who cured her," the Chancellor interrupted to point out.
"But he will not do what is necessary to get the information we desire, and I will."
"If she is the Phoenix."
"Oh, she is." Still smiling, Yirtz looked down at her. "Tell him, Eight."
She stared at him with wide, scared eyes. He raised a short metal rod and touched her shoulder. Pain exploded from her shoulder, spreading throughout her body, and the convulsing of her muscles sent her back to the floor. The rod hovered inches from her face as the echoes of her scream died down. "Get on your knees, and tell him what he wants to know."
Rina got back up on the backs of her heels and stared at the ground. "I'm the Phoenix," she said in a voice carefully calculated to sound like a sulky child.
The Chancellor stared at her, then said, "I don't think I believe her. Using methods like that, I believe that she would confess whether it was the truth or not. Do we still have those Rebels we captured a few weeks ago?"
"Yes sir," said one of the guards.
"Bring them here. I want to shoot them."
Rina's head snapped up and for a second she looked the Chancellor right in the eye. Then she realized that it had been a bluff, or at least a trick just to get her attention, and that she'd fallen for it. She immediately shifted tactics, abandoning the pretense that she was a scared little girl. She continued to stare calmly into his eyes until he looked away. "Now that is the Phoenix," he said in a satisfied tone. "Tell me, Phoenix, are you afraid to die?"
"No."
"No?" he seemed surprised by her comment. "Why not?"
"I've been waiting to die for eight years. I've prepared myself. Just because there was a few months delay, do you think my feelings have changed?" she asked evenly, hoping he didn't see through the lie. Ignoring the guns resting on her shoulder, she smoothly rose to her feet.
"On your knees!" Yirtz commanded, and swung the rod at her again.
Rina thought, and ducked to avoid being touched, then she swung her arms at the rod and hit it with the metal cuffs, causing it to fly out of Yirtz's hand and smash into a wall without ever touching her skin. "Don't touch me," she ordered in a low, cold voice to Yirtz, who was staring at her with an expression of astonishment.
The Chancellor started laughing, and Rina stopped herself from shivering again. This man was as bad as Yirtz or worse, because he wasn't openly insane the way Yirtz was, and yet he probably would have ordered the Rebels killed if she hadn't reacted to his words. A casual killer, that's what he was. "Oh, I am so glad I took the time to see you before we break you," he said, still chuckling. "And I am going to enjoy watching it - I wonder if Yirtz can actually do it!"
"Sir!" Yirtz protested angrily, but a raised hand from the Chancellor silenced him.
"Hold her," he said, and the two guards closest to her moved up and grabbed the tops of her arms. Rina winced as one of them grasped her arm where the bandage marked her wound - they had to think she could be affected by pain. He took a few steps closer to her, examining her face. "Tell me," he said to her. "How do you think of yourself? Are you Rina Krace, or are you the Phoenix?"
"I am the Phoenix," Rina lied.
"Interesting. Tell me this, what it was like, growing up isolated from everyone around you? How did it feel when you realized that you weren't human, could never be human?"
Rina forced herself to smile despite the pain, despite the anger she felt. "You're missing the point entirely. Because of how I was designed, I always knew I was different. Before I was four I took steps to investigate my humanity. I was isolated, yes, but I also discovered that I am human. More human, in fact, than either of you." She fell silent, hoping she hadn't told them too much, but she got a great deal of satisfaction over the shocked expression on his face.
It took him several seconds to compose himself. "See that, Yirtz? Look at her. Here is a truly dangerous creature, much more dangerous than anything you created." The look on Yirtz's face showed that he disagreed with that notion. "She has incorporated knowledge of what it means to be human into her other functions. She understands humans, and can manipulate them, even if she still isn't one of them." Rina hid her anger at the comment that she knew had to be directed at her, although there was nothing in his manner to suggest that. "That's something even you were unable to teach the others. She is a more complete weapon then they were. Get her away from me now. I never want to see her again, and I most certainly never want to speak to her again, is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Yirtz murmured, sounding subdued.
And with that, Rina was partially dragged, partially carried back to the cell where they kept her before.
