Scene 30

Back in the Phobos lounge, Kilgard stood surrounded by his enemies, the ¨drugged¨ Dark Phalanx who were now apparently wide awake, his test subject Malcom, his former minions the Corrupt, and his longtime enemy Hunter. There were eight of them, and they were all pointing guns at his head. He still refused to believe this was happening. ¨It's impossible! ¨he spluttered.

¨May I?¨ Anna asked, looking around at the other seven people present. They nodded their assent, and she turned back to Kilgard, smiling with mischievous pleasure. ¨Come on, Doctor, it wasn't even that hard.¨ He opened his mouth to offer more impotent denial, but closed it again when he realized he had nothing to say. Anna held up her comm device in front of his face.

¨Know what this is?¨

¨It appears,¨ he said sulkily, ¨to be a wrist-attaching Tournament communications device.¨

¨Hey, very good doc. See, you're not as dumb as I thought you were.¨ There was a chorus of laughter as Kilgard's face reddened, and then she continued. ¨These things have several functions. One of those, as you probably already knew, is to send signals to other comm devices. They're pretty versatile little toys, being derived from military hardware and all. And of course, I like to add some modifications to mine. If you know what you're doing, you can send a message to any device that receives radio waves. Anything. Like, for example, those nanomachines you're so obsessed with.¨

¨You used it too send noise to Malcom's nanomachines in the match,¨ Kilgard said, shrugging. ¨But you can stop acting so smug, since I know you didn't deactivate them. Someone must have betrayed me. You would have had to possess the nanomachines' self-destruct phrase, which is impossible.¨

¨Oh, but I did have that phrase,¨ she said, eyes twinkling. ¨I figured you would have to turn off those nanomachines somehow once I got my message into Malcom's head…¨

¨Hey!¨

¨Sorry about that, Malcom. It was for your own good. Anyways Kilgard, once I had a lock on that signal you were sending from the Tempest lounge and the decryption code for it, it was a pretty simple task to pick up anything that was being sent from there.¨

¨I knew that, too,¨ Kilgard said sullenly. ¨But there was so much noise coming in over that line, there's no way you could have picked out my message. The nanites would receive the words, but no human ear could pick it out.¨

Anna laughed out loud, this time. ¨Come on, doctor, you didn't think I'd spend those three or four hours sitting around on my ass in the Tempest lounge doing nothing at all, did you? There's this other extra feature my comm device has that I didn't tell you about yet. It records stuff, like, all the audio from our Tournament match. All I had to friggin' do was run through the different tracks on that recording afterward and separate them by sender. Right before the time point in which the nanomachines stopped receiving, there's your voice coming in across that line from the lounge, clear as a bell: 'Athena beta 3.'¨ She spoke with a perfect imitation of his drily arrogant scientific tone. Hunter snickered. Anna winked at him, then continued. ¨The other Corrupt were hardly more difficult… it was a facile assumption that if Malcom's phrase didn't work on them, all I would have to do would be to play with the 'beta' numbers in it. Beta 2 did the trick, as it turned out.¨

Kilgard just stared at her, jaw agape. ¨I… you….my research! You can't do this? What have you done with Xan?¨

Anna shrugged. ¨I gotta give you some credit, it was a good idea having a flunky around who wasn't controlled by the nanomachines just in case something went wrong with them. Guess you should've picked someone dumber than Xan. Once he saw it was seven versus one and he'd be ruined if he got caught up in this, he hightailed it… translocated right out of the arena. Leaving you to fall into our hands.¨ She leaned over to him and smiled. ¨Now what should we do with you? Maybe I should ask these poor men who served against their will as your minions for these years.¨

Kilgard shrank back as the three fully-armored Corrupt strode up and loomed over him, somehow managing to look angry despite their lack of facial expressions. The considered him for a few moments until one finally spoke. ¨I lost my life because of you,¨ he said. ¨I lost my job. I lost my friends. I lost my family.¨ He grabbed Kilgard's shirt and pulled the doctor's terrified face right up to his metal mask. ¨I LOST MY FACE!¨ he roared.

Kilgard somehow managed to compose himself enough to point a shaking finger at the ceiling of the lounge. ¨Gentleman, might I remind you that your actions are being videotaped?¨

Anna snorted. ¨Little fucker's got a point. Keep in mind, guys… I understand how you feel, for sure, but if you wipe up that little grease stain here someone will probably see our faces and we'll end up as accessories to kidnapping or murder.¨

The Corrupt holding Kilgard sighed and released him. ¨Does that mean we have to let the bastard go, then?¨

One of his companions answered, speaking slowly in a country drawl that seemed totally unsuited to its owner. ¨Well, you know, I been thinkin' about this. I ain't got much to look forward to anymore besides killin' him.¨ He indicated Kilgard. ¨Once he's dead, I reckon I'll just have to go jump off a bridge or somethin'.¨

Hunter stepped forward and put his arm on the speaker's shoulder. ¨You may change your mind about that. I did. Maybe you three would like to come back to my place, see if you take to gardening. Then if we get bored we can go out and destroy some FenTech company property.¨

They looked at Hunter, considering his proposal. ¨You know,¨ drawled the one, ¨that don't sound too bad.¨

¨Actually, no,¨ agreed another.

¨I'm in,¨ said the third, ¨as long as you all keep in mind that I still intend to kill him someday.¨

¨Don't worry,¨ assured Hunter, ¨I'm sure we all do.¨ He looked over at Kilgard. ¨Don't get too comfortable, doctor.¨

Kilgard stared back at him, all the cool detachment of his poise gone, replaced by a bitter, petty hate. ¨You can't touch me! I'll find you. The authorities will track you down.¨

Hunter's eyes crinkled up in a smile. ¨Have you forgotten, Kilgard? Thanks to you, we don't exist.¨ He and the three Corrupt drew back into the shadows, fading away almost as though wiped from the scene by an artists' brush. Just before he was gone, Anna saw him wink at her and imagined she heard his whisper ¨Keep that couch warm….¨

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After he was sure the ex-Corrupt and Hunter were gone, Kilgard rose to go, but Malcom stopped him. ¨Oh no, doctor, you can sit here a little longer. A coward like you would most likely run to the authorities as quickly as possible, and they should have a little time to get clear. And I got one more question for you.¨

Kilgard sneered insolently. ¨Oh? And what's that?¨

¨Why didn't Shyleen tell me you came to our house? What did you do to her? Does she have these… these… machines in her too?¨

The doctor sniffed. ¨Isn't it obvious? Didn't you ever wonder how I was getting all those doses of nanomachines to you?¨

Malcom stopped, looking at the doctor in puzzlement. Suddenly, it was as if a curtain fell from his eyes and he could see a film being played of his life with Shyleen, featuring all those little moments that had niggled him and he didn't know why.

¨Aaaawwww, how'd you win?¨

¨First time for everything, right?¨

¨Well, there was that one other time, when Doctor….¨

¨Malcom and Nara, dinner!¨ Shyleen had called over the two-way comm. Who had turned on that two-way connection in Nara's room? Why'd Shyleen cut her off in the middle of that sentence?

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¨Why don't you take more meals at home instead of going out all the time?¨ Kilgard had asked. ¨Less temptation to party, more family time, and there's nothing like home cooking for nourishing the body… and mind.¨

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¨Here, just take this toothbrush and stick it in your mouth,¨ she had instructed. ¨Do it for me?¨ Why such insistence?

Malcom rose brusquely. ¨I gotta go.¨

Ivana saw the murderous glint in his eyes. ¨Malcom, wait! Think about your career! Don't do it.¨ He brushed past her without a word and ran smack into Gorn, who stood in his path with a hand held up. Malcom strode forward and tried to push him out of the way, managing to move Gorn about as much as if he'd been pushing against a solid meteorite wall.

¨Malcom,¨ Gorn said, holding his shoulders firmly, ¨Think about your daughter.¨

Malcom stopped. He moved to push Gorn again, but his head fell and all the strength was drained from him. ¨Damn you,¨ he said. ¨Damn you.¨ Gorn waited, impassive.

Finally, Malcom spun away and turned once more to Doctor Kilgard. He pointed a shaking finger at the doctor. ¨You may think you can hide behind your little bodyguards and mess with other peoples' lives, but I know what the game is now. Don't ever doubt me, Kilgard. I'm the best in the arena, and I'll take down ten of your tin soldiers if I have to, and I know exactly who to call for backup. If you or that… that bitch ever…. EVER come within five states of my daughter again and I find out, you will both be dead within twenty-four hours. Believe it.¨

He turned back towards the Dark Phalanx once more, his eyes burning with intensity. ¨I only got one more thing to say to you guys. Beat the Black Legion in the semifinals. If you make it to the CTF finals next month, you'll really get to see me play. I'm looking forward to it.¨ With those words Malcom was gone, Kilgard scuttling after him.

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The Dark Phalanx were left alone in the Phobos spectator lounge, standing silently, trying to digest the past week's events. It was impossible. After a few moments, Gorn sat down. ¨Hey Ivana,¨ he said, ¨I think these bars are all stocked. You wanna pour us a drink?¨

She snorted, sitting down next to him. ¨You seem to forget a little too often who the captain of this team is, Gorn.¨ Then she smiled, throwing an arm around his shoulder. ¨But I forgive you. Hey Anna, could you get us some drinks?¨

Anna laughed out loud. ¨I knew it. You two… I…. well, never mind. Sure, I'll get us some drinks. Be right back.¨

Outside the lounge, the unblinking stars wheeled slowly, the vast silence of space stretching over them like a measureless blanket.