Scene 18
The boat's electrified moorings seemed no small obstacle at first, but Anna knew a trick to short them out using the shock rifles, and after that the mini-cutters that Gorn still had in his pack along with their other gear did the trick.
They set sail at dawn. Gorn and Hunter, who both knew a thing or two about sailing, handled the technicalities with the women pitching in where they could. Soon they were on a steady course for Vancouver Island, Gorn estimating a five- or six-hour trip to Victoria.
Despite the throbbing pain in her leg, which Hunter had done an expert job of bandaging up, Ivana was in one of the best moods of her life. Perhaps it was just the idyllic setting, or the surrealness of everything, but she felt curiously elated; truly glad to be alive. Thinking about it for awhile, she decided that her desire for excitement and adventure, which had been her reason for entering the Tournament in the first place, had become so severely dulled and desensitized by facing repetitive, meaningless, non-permanent death that it had been a long time since anything had really thrilled her or captivated her imagination. Once you got good at the Tournament, it was all about winning, just like any other sport. This could be enjoyable in and of itself, but hadn't she always wanted more than just that?
After about an hour of silence in which the motley crew of The Script Kitty sat lost in their thoughts, Anna decided it was time to get some answers out of Hunter. She motioned for him to come down from his position on the bow, where he sat watching the waves, and talk to her. After a couple tries with increasingly animated gesticulations, he walked over and sat down amidships next to her.
¨Yes?¨
¨Tell me about the Corrupt.¨
He sighed. ¨To explain what I know about the Corrupt and their origins, I would end up recounting much of my own story as well. So I may as well tell it all to you.¨
¨Oooh, I like stories. Hang on; the others will want to hear this.¨
¨I'm listening,¨ said Ivana, who was sitting nearby with her legs dangling over the side of the boat.
¨Me too,¨ added Gorn. ¨I can easily cock an ear and keep this boat on course at the same time.¨
¨Well, then,¨ began Hunter, ¨My involvement with this mess which you all are also somehow involved in began during the Skaarj wars. However, the circumstances of my life which caused me to arrive at that point date back much further.
¨My family lived in Canada, near an oil-shale refinery, one of the most notoriously polluted in the world. I was born with extremely weak lungs, and only lived through infancy with the constant support of a breathing apparatus. I was unfit for real physical work even as an adult, so when the GDF was formed and began recruiting heavily at the beginning of the Skaarj Wars, I could not serve.
¨I really wanted to do something for my nation, though. You all remember what it was like in those days… everyone pulling together to fight the common enemy, everyone proud to be working towards a victory for the human race. I begged the recruiters to give me some job, any job in the GDF, and said that I would gladly work for them as an office monkey. Apparently my petitions reached other ears, because a couple months later I was offered to take part in an experimental new treatment for recuperation of damaged lungs… as a test subject, of course. What I didn't know when I signed the agreement was what the treatment actually entailed. But I soon found out.
¨The 'recuperation of damaged lungs' research was a front – it hid a much more extensive, secret, and totally unregulated program by the GDF to pursue methods of 'improving' humans so thatthey could survive without special gear on other planets we had colonized, other planets where we were at that time fighting the Skaarj. For most places, this meant at least some modification of the lungs, but it certainly didn't stop there. People had to be 'designed', which is to say bioengineered, to survive in a variety of different environmental conditions… places with very high- or low-pressure atmospheres, or very little water, or extreme heat or cold… you get the idea. It would have made living on other planets a lot cheaper, and given us a big advantage against the Skaarj. All the military had to do was find the most unethical and greedy bioengineering firm out there and contract them to do the research.
¨Almost all the experiments were failures….. horrendous failures. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that I have seen many a test subject pleading with the scientists to end his or her life. I quickly reached the conclusion that I would never be allowed to leave there alive after what I'd seen. I considered trying to escape, but the facility was tighter than a maximum-security prison.¨
¨Did they experiment on you?¨ Anna interjected to ask. ¨Is that what happened to your mouth?¨
Hunter looked at her curiously. ¨Not very tactful, are you? Well, it's okay… I said I'd tell you everything. I was one of the few successes in the entire program. Maybe because my lungs were weak to start with, they did not reject the treatment like the other subjects. Who knows? At any rate, I can survive in very argon-rich environments. Big deal!¨
¨How did you get out?¨ Ivana asked him.
¨Luck. The facility I was in was destroyed during the Siege, and almost everybody in it died. Somehow I was spared, and I staggered out of the wreckage and went into hiding. I knew that I would be accounted dead and could start my life over again. But from that moment on, I swore to myself that I would dedicate the rest of my life to fighting that bioengineering firm and the abominations that they, in their arrogance, have created, as well as anyone else who thinks they can 'improve' human beings without their consent. I started training and calling myself Hunter, and that has been my name ever since.¨
¨One thing I still don't understand,¨ said Anna, ¨is your weak lungs. Did they fix that too?¨
Hunter laughed bitterly. ¨The technology came out right after the Skaarj Wars. Lots of injured veterans were getting body parts modified by mechanical means. Like your friend, I am guessing? Anyhow, that's what this thing on my face is. There's a small pump that assists my breathing in the armor's chestplate, and I only take off this air filter to eat. It's pretty great, really. There's even a mechanism that ejects the apparatus from my face if it senses that I am going to throw up.¨
Anna looked impatient. ¨And the Corrupt? I'm assuming it doesn't need to be mentioned that this bioengineering company you swore to destroy is FenTech.¨
He nodded. ¨They have changed their name, but it is certainly still them, and they still have a lot of ties to the military. After the war, they were soon up to their old tricks again, this time collecting severely injured and disabled veterans, promising to return all their former abilities to them through mechanical enhancements. Ostensibly, this is true… but they do something else to these people. Not one of them resumes a civilizn life afterwards – they are all enlisted as secret operatives of some kind in the military, and many simply disappear… but I know they're not really gone. They work for someone, doing the dirtiest of the dirty work. You saw that thing in the woods. They're not human anymore. Their will has been corrupted somehow… they are slave warriors. I watch their movements and hunt them when I can, hoping to find a lead deeper into FenTech.¨ He turned to Anna. ¨I know who you are, Anna. You did a great thing, you know.¨
¨Yeah, right,¨ said Gorn disgustedly. ¨Every rogue that thinks they know better than their commander is a hero.¨ But for some reason, he no longer sounded so sure.
For the rest of the boat ride, Anna told Hunter the story of the involvement of the Dark Phalanx with the mystery of Malcom and his connection to FenTech. He listened intently, eyebrows darkening over his hard grey eyes as she progressed. ¨I'm beginning to suspect, after hearing your story, that this may all related to the same secret project – Project Metis, according to that memo we read,¨ Anna told him. ¨The fact that they seem to have called off the police and instead sent assassins after us clearly shows that they want no official or public knowledge of it, which has only made me all the more interested in finding out what the heck they're up to. Even if my teammates don't want to look any further – and I certainly wouldn't blame them – I myself am going to continue. You know, you and I could work together.¨
¨Anna, you realize you do have other obligations…¨ Ivana started to remind her.
¨Oh ferchrissakes, don't worry. I'll finish the season,¨ Anna promised irritably. ¨We'll get that precious trophy.¨ Ivana felt a little ashamed, so she didn't press the issue.