Previously:
New Byzantium, Milky Way Galaxy, January 2119
Kemal sighed as he walked down the hallway and approached the female attendant who had been assigned to Mary.
"Let Lady Mary rest for a while longer before you return the room to its normal state," he instructed. "I'm going to change and meet her back in the lobby."
"Yes, Minister," the attendant bowed. "That seemed to be a brief visit."
"It was," he admitted tightly. "Lady Mary's mind is far more difficult to penetrate than I expected, and I won't risk playing with a Captain who is not entirely controllable. I'll just have to hope we make a favourable impression upon her so that she won't condemn us in her report. Carry on. Oh, and have my usual suite prepared in an hour. Bring a friend if you like."
"Yes, Minister," the attendant bowed.
He stomped off down the hallway towards the change room.
Chapter 4:
New Byzantium, Milky Way Galaxy, January 2119
"I had William run full diagnostics on the sensor array last night and into this morning," Anna advised, following Mary into the shuttle and taking her usual seat in the first row next to the Captain. "Nothing seems amiss."
"I'm sure it was just a glitch," Mary shrugged.
"A glitch?" Anna repeated in disbelief. "We had you pinpointed at the restaurant all evening when you were at a completely different location. That's not a glitch."
"Perhaps there was interference from all the broadcasts and signals in the entertainment district. I don't know," Mary waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. I had a lovely time in the baths and returned to the ship safe and sound. It isn't normal procedure for us to track the entire crew whenever they disembark, so losing my signal was hardly cause for concern. Everyone has their assigned duties, including you, and monitoring me is not anyone's responsibility."
"Even still, there's a difference between not knowing where you are and having the scanners detect you in another location," Anna pointed out. "I'm having William take the entire array offline and go over it piece-by-piece before we leave tomorrow."
"I don't envy him," Mary shook her head. "But if you feel it would help, so be it."
"I do," Anna nodded. "As for last night, Mr Pamuk seems to have been good company."
Mary smiled. "He was very good company, yes, for a politician. I believe he genuinely thinks he is balancing the interests of the general citizens and the immigrants. I can't find fault with his approach, truly. The government could certainly be doing more for the immigrants, but it isn't as if they're neglecting them either. Anyway, let's get through the day and be gone. I want to send my report to Papa and head for Praxis. Did you manage to plot a route?"
"It will take us a week to get there with the new engine settings," Anna answered. "I also might have found a location for the supposed 'healing water' that is rumoured to be there."
"Good," Mary stated. "One last visit to the districts and I should have enough data to complete my findings."
"And will you be meeting with the Minister once again?" Anna asked.
Mary gave her a knowing frown. "He's not coming along with us this morning. We'll see him before we return to the ship. It's not as if he's entitled to see my report before it's submitted so we'll say a polite goodbye and be gone."
"I'm sure that he'll be disappointed that you're leaving so soon," Anna replied. "He seemed quite taken with you yesterday."
"He has a vested interest in impressing me and making a good impression, that's all," Mary countered. "Besides, I'm spoken for."
"Not publically, you're not," Anna remarked.
"It's enough that I know where my heart lies," Mary scoffed. "Mr Lewis, are we ready?"
Alex looked up from his tablet and nodded. "Drones are loaded and online, Captain. We can leave on your order."
"Go on, then," Mary nodded.
Alex activated the automated pilot. The shuttle doors closed and the engines came to life. The small craft flew out of the hangar and left the Andromeda, rising quickly to cruising height. Leaving the docks, the shuttle followed the pre-set route, bound across the bustling city for the immigrant districts.
"Work with me here, darling," Sybil mumbled, her fingers flying over the computer. "Help me figure out how to help you."
Several scans of Matthew were displayed on her screen, allowing her to see what was going on in his body – his organs, the cells circulating through his veins, his bones, even his brain activity while in stasis. Since applying the methods she learned from her reconnaissance of New Byzantium, she managed to isolate the venom inside of him and contain it to several large pockets of malignant cells gathered in his legs. So far, she was able to keep the poison away from his major organs, but she was no closer to figuring out how to remove it from his system entirely.
"All right, come on, think," she chastised herself. "Dead cells are normally processed through the liver and leave the body over time. If I allow the infected cells to enter his bloodstream, it will overwhelm the ability of his body to dispose of them. I can't remove the cells through surgery or radiation because the masses are too interconnected with actual good cell matter that his body needs. How do I disconnect the masses first, then remove them?"
She flicked her fingers across the screen and zoomed in on one particular mass. The poisoned cells were dark and menacing, pulsing with what could only be described as an evil energy, even though her medical training told her such a characterization was overly dramatic. Cells simply reacted to the environment around them and behaved as they were programmed to do.
Each affected cell contained poison. If the cell membrane broke, the poison could be released into Matthew's blood. From there it could travel to his heart and through the rest of his body, wrecking untold damage that would eventually kill him. The venom was like a time bomb, designed to fill its host with cells that would attach themselves throughout the body and eventually explode. When he was first infected, Mary placed him in stasis to stop the poisoned cells from reaching their intended targets, and Sybil monitored him constantly to make sure his condition did not deteriorate. Now she had a way to manipulate the poisoned cells directly and steer them where she wanted, but she didn't know what to do with them once she had them corralled.
"If I could separate the poisoned cells from the matter around it, I could then attack the venom without affecting the rest of his body," she theorized. "If any venom was released, I would have to be quick enough to get that, too. So, how do I make sure I get all of it?"
Frowning at the display, she took a deep breath. Her eyes wandered to Matthew's face, resting in stasis, not even breathing perceptibly.
"All right, darling. You always did tell me to be brave and go after what I want," she shook her head.
Rising from her chair, she pressed a button on her screen and made her way out of her office.
"Prepare the surgical suite for Captain Crawley," she commanded. The computer chirped in confirmation.
Mary looked out the window of the government vehicle as it wound its way through the immigrant district. From a distance, nothing would seem markedly different about this area compared to the gleaming towers of the city centre. It wasn't as modern or opulent, but it still appeared to be a livable space. The apartment buildings soared into the sky and there were fields where children played, strip malls of shops and restaurants, and community amenities throughout.
From her closer vantage point here on the streets, however, she easily saw the flaws in the shiny façade. The balconies of the apartments were full of junk. The fields were overgrown with weeds and grass that wasn't properly maintained. The strip malls were half empty, the stores mainly pawn shops, cheap consigned clothing boutiques and fast food counters. She had toured some of the buildings and found the hallways dingy and musty, the apartments crammed with far too many people and the facilities in need of repair.
It was hardly a place where young ones could thrive and hard-working providers could prosper.
"It isn't squalor, but it isn't clean either," Mary shook her head.
"It's a housing project, Captain," Alex remarked. "I grew up in a neighbourhood similar to this one."
Mary blinked in surprise and looked over at the Lieutenant Commander. "You did?"
Alex smiled and nodded. "When my parents moved to the city, they didn't have much money and we ended up in a place similar to this one. They worked four jobs between the two of them and saved every dollar to get us out of there. There were police officers who were assigned to my school and walked the hallways every day. I wasn't allowed outside after sunset."
"I didn't know that," Mary frowned.
"It wasn't entirely rundown or unsafe," he continued. "It just wasn't as nice as the richer neighbourhoods. I went to the Academy to get away from there and my parents were able to move to a better area eventually. People find a way to rise up. The difference is that in a place like this, not as many people make it out. Most are just trying to survive."
Mary looked back out the window. Growing up at Downton Abbey, she and her sisters had enjoyed a privileged upbringing. She lacked for nothing and moreover had the best of everything. She went to the most prestigious schools, dined at the finest restaurants and was invited to the most exclusive parties in London. Every season, she wore the latest fashions and even worked for charity in her spare time since she didn't need to earn a living. She went to the Academy to continue a family tradition, not because it was her only hope of improving her lot in life.
"Do you think that the government should do more to help the immigrants?" Mary asked quietly.
"Mum went to soup kitchens every month to feed us because we couldn't make the money last to the final week," Anna said plainly. "It was just something we did. She didn't have a lot of education and so she worked for low pay and when Dad left, she just tried to hold it together as best she could. I wouldn't say that the government had anything to do with what happened to us, and we were in the lowest tax bracket already. If it's true that most people come here with not enough money to afford a comfortable living, then this is what happens. It's a starting point on their way to something better. Everyone needs to begin somewhere. It's not the government's job to put them in the richest neighbourhood just because it's a nice thing to do."
"But if not very many ever achieve something better, what does that say about the system here?" Mary asked.
"That it's not for everyone," Anna shrugged.
"As harsh as it may sound, I think that what government should do is have programs to help people get on their feet in the beginning and try not to get in their way with oppressive taxes and what not. What one chooses to do after that is more up to them," Alex added.
Mary nodded and kept looking out the window. Alex and Anna were driven people who didn't let their circumstances during their youth stop them from reaching their goals. During the meetings with the interest groups yesterday, neither one of them seemed particularly fazed by the complaints they heard nor the conditions that they encountered on their tour. They didn't think that living in the districts was a condemnation, but rather just another challenge to be overcome.
Alex looked over at his wife and shared a smile. They both came from working-class backgrounds and that connection was part of why they hit it off from the beginning. When he met her at the Academy he was, of course, attracted to her beauty, but it was her work ethic, constantly coming across her in the library and in the training simulator that impressed him most.
"You don't find this area too rough?" Anna asked him.
He shook his head and glanced out his window. "Some of the apartments that we saw yesterday were twice the size of the one I grew up in."
"And you had to walk for miles uphill in both directions through the snow to get to school each day, didn't you?" Anna smirked.
"It was good exercise," he nodded.
"No wonder you're so shit with women," Anna teased. "I imagine bringing a girl back to your flat was never an option."
"On the contrary," he smiled knowingly. "In my experience women like a man who's a bit rough around the edges. It makes them think they're behaving badly by being with someone who isn't rich and cultured."
Anna glared at him, though a smile curled her lips.
"If the two of you wanted to use the private area in the back, just be quick about it," Mary interjected. "And for God's sake, try and be a bit quieter than you usually are."
Anna blushed fiercely and looked down at her lap. "Apologies, Captain."
"It's entirely my fault," Alex spoke up.
"I imagine most things are, Lieutenant Commander," Mary smirked. "You've thoroughly corrupted my second-in-command and best friend, just as I predicted at your wedding."
The three of them laughed. Alex threw his hands up in defeat.
"I can't say anything to that," he chuckled. "You've always been spot on when it comes to…"
He couldn't get another word out as an explosion shook the vehicle.
"Down!" Alex shouted, grabbing Anna and covering her with his body.
The vehicle jostled under another tremor, and another after that, until all they heard or felt was the boom of rolling thunder. Mary flattened herself against the floor, the buzzing of the security drones coming to life outside giving her small comfort. She heard the whirr of engines outside, yelling and curses, the whinge of artillery fire coming in, and then nothing as the ringing in her ears grew too loud to hear anything.
Alex had pulled his gun from the armoury locker in the front and was fumbling with the display on the wall before them. He attempted to switch to manual control so he could drive the vehicle himself but the engines were offline. He brought up the camera shots from all around them. There was smoke and fire everywhere. The escort vehicle at the front of their convoy had been blown to smithereens. They could see fallen drones scattered across the street and craters in the pavement from the weapons fired against them.
"Down! Down!" Alex waved his hand desperately and even though Mary could barely hear him, she understood.
Alex pointed to the rear of the vehicle and Anna nodded to him before she crawled along the aisle, her gun poised in one hand. When she reached the back, she glanced about and waved for them to follow.
Alex urged Mary to move and she pulled herself along on her elbows and forearms, keeping as low as possible and hidden from view. When she reached Anna, she peered past her to the emergency hatch. All she saw was cracked pavement beneath the vehicle, but they would be shielded at least. She didn't know how many people in the rest of the convoy where still alive, or how many of their vehicles were still functioning, but remaining here was not an option.
She reached for the control panel to open the hatch but never got there.
Anna tumbled away from her and Mary looked up in confusion before she was thrown herself, falling forwards and hitting the rear wall. She cringed and groaned, rubbing the back of her head before looking up to get her bearings. Anna was scrambling to a crouch and grabbing for her.
"Are you all right?"
Mary could read her lips and she nodded dazedly, her ears still ringing and her head now throbbing.
Alex was moving towards them when they were all yanked once again, as though invisible marionette strings were pitching them to and fro. Mary and Anna went flying towards the front of the vehicle. Alex caught Anna in his arms and tried to dive to the floor, except they ended up on the ceiling before rolling to the window.
Mary grabbed hold of a chair and pulled herself across it just as the vehicle lurched downwards. She turned her head and the scenery outside was spinning. The street and the sky seemed to have switched places, then doubled back again. She closed her eyes and cursed as it became too much, a pounding behind her temples blocking out everything else. She felt a strong grip on her arm and she opened her eyes halfway to see Alex steadying her and helping her into the seat. She gulped in air, trying to calm herself enough to think coherently. Anna and Alex scrambled into the chairs across the aisle from her with great difficulty. The cabin seemed to be shaking and Mary curled up, holding her head in a futile effort to stop the pain behind her eyes. Anna reached out to squeeze her hand. The ringing abated a tiny bit and Mary focused on Anna's touch, the warmth of her skin giving her an anchor in the blazing storm that was assaulting the rest of her senses.
"We're being abducted," Anna said slowly and Mary's eyes widened in comprehension.
Sybil frowned in concentration, breathing slowly through her nose. She could hear Mama's voice in her mind, admonishing her for not practising her needlepoint enough as a child.
'Sybil! Keep your hoop taut! You're going to ruin it! Steady your hand. Smooth motions. Quit shaking.'
She grunted as she reached forward with her hand and pulled at a dark string from the quivering mass before her. Keeping a firm grip on it, she steadily drew it back until it broke free. Setting it on the pile next to her, she brought the antibiotic gun up and carefully blasted into the open area, the numbers scrolling to her right indicating that Matthew's vitals remained steady and there did not appear to be any release of toxins in the area she was working on.
The virtual reality surgical suite allowed for any number of positions to allow the doctor to be as comfortable as possible. Sybil hated sitting as she did that far too much during the day. Still, standing wasn't much better as a long procedure would lead to fatigue. So, she preferred being raised above the floor in the harness, taking the weight and strain off her legs. It almost felt like floating, and also allowed her to move around and examine what she was working on from different angles.
The dark mass before her was a projection of the poisoned cells in Matthew's body. Her arms were linked to the tiny robots injected into his leg. It was as if she herself was inside of him, facing down the venom that infected his body and removing it with her own hands. Centuries ago, surgeons would use blades to cut open their patients and forceps to remove whatever lay beneath the skin. Such methods weren't precise enough to work at the level she needed now. She shook her head in wonder at how arcane such practices were. It was like trying to plant flowers with a bulldozer.
Classical music played softly in the background. She normally listened to something livelier when she was operating, but this particular procedure called for calm and focus. She expected that he wouldn't appreciate her bobbing her head and dancing to the rhythm.
The robotic arms around her reached down and wiped her brow and offered her a sip of water from the tube near her mouth. She glanced at the display again. In the past hour, she had separated almost a third of the poisoned cells from the surrounding healthy tissue. She had to cut into some of his muscles and shave off traces of his ligaments and tendons, but so far, so good.
"This will make a great story when we're done, won't it, darling?" she muttered tightly, focusing on finding the next loose thread. "I should engrave my name in here before I finish up. You'd love that, wouldn't you?"
She took another deep breath before reaching for her target.
They were being carried.
The vehicle was suspended above the ground, probably tethered to some ship. Not high enough to be easily found by scanners but not low enough for them to escape even if they could. Sensors, engines, communications – they were all disabled. The explosions they heard, in the beginning, could have taken out all of their computers and electronics, or the attackers might have used a pulse weapon to fry everything. None of them recognized their surroundings. They were outside of the districts now, and the terrain was rocky and harsh. They were trapped like goods in a storage container being transported to some unknown destination.
At some point, they landed, but only long enough to be placed on a train or truck of some sort. When they got going again, they soon descended underground, surrounded by nothing but darkness in a tunnel of some kind.
"How are you feeling?" Anna asked, examining Mary's head.
"Better," Mary mumbled. "I've still got a headache but I can at least hear reasonably well now. How are we for weapons?"
"Not great," Alex replied. "The vehicle isn't equipped with anything. There is a gun and three clips for each of us from the locker. Whoever is out there won't take us without a fight, but judging by how they took down the convoy, we'll be outmatched."
"Let's be careful. We have to assume that whoever our abductors are will have strength in numbers. No need to engage in a shootout we can't win," Mary muttered.
"Assuming they were targeting us specifically, they'll likely want to keep us as hostages, either to bargain with the government or as a show of superiority," Anna pondered. "Let's try and get them talking and see what they're about."
Alex nodded slowly. "That's all based on the hope that they want us alive."
"If they wanted a show of force, they could have destroyed the convoy, including us," Mary replied. "To go to the trouble of abducting us suggests some other purpose. What weapons can we hide if they take our guns?"
Alex frowned. "Blades, basically. The ones in the locker are still fully charged."
Mary nodded. "Right, then. Let's get suited up as best we can. This could be a long journey."
"Come on, you fucking piece of shit," Sybil grunted, tugging on the cell and delicately removing it from a strand of tissue. Now that she had cleared most of the masses, she found the remaining poison to be more intricately attached to Matthew's cells and far more difficult to remove. It was as though she was peeling one of Tom's horrid football posters off of the wall of their study. Pull too strongly and the paint underneath would tear and break, leaving an ugly hole behind.
While she worked, the computer was running simulations as to what to do with the detached infected cells. The venom wasn't responding to radiation, intense heat and different chemical treatments. If she couldn't find a way to get the poison out of Matthew's body, she would be right back where she started, with all these infected cells floating through his system.
Though all of her concentration was on the task at hand, she still blinked and turned her head when she heard the doors open to the Infirmary. An observation window separated the surgical suite from the rest of the clinic. She had sealed the doors so she wouldn't be interrupted and Matthew's capsule was still in his hidden chamber.
"Hey," Tom called, looking down on her from outside the suite.
"Tom, I'm really busy right now," she began.
"We've gone to alert level four," he interrupted her.
She turned and looked up at him in shock. "What? Why?"
His face was a mask of worry. "Mary's missing."
British Royal Navy officers. We have your vehicle surrounded. Exit the vehicle unarmed. Now."
"I didn't know anyone said 'come out with your hands up' anymore," Alex muttered, looking out the window at the soldiers gathered around with their rifles pointed at them.
"Why do you suppose they're asking us to come out rather than coming in to get us?" Anna asked.
"They have the numbers. Why risk going into an environment they don't know when they can compel us to go out there?" Mary reasoned.
"Why would we go out there? Who's to say they won't kill us the moment we open the door?" Alex asked.
"The vehicle is hardly well-armoured. They could easily blow us up in here without another word," Anna replied.
"Let's go. Stay alert. We need to try and figure out where we are and how to get our location back to the Andromeda," Mary ordered.
Alex nodded and stepped towards the door on the side of the vehicle. He turned to Anna before he opened it.
"Kiss for luck," he smiled.
She rolled her eyes but kissed him anyway. "If we survive this, when we get back to the ship, you're getting a lot more than a kiss."
He grinned, though his smile didn't reach his eyes, which remained serious. "I'm counting on it."
He opened the door and they stepped out, hands raised, guns visible in their holsters.
The soldiers pointed their rifles at them while two more stepped forward to take their guns and pat them down. They were all dressed in military clothing but with no visible markings. Once the trio's weapons were taken away, the soldiers ushered them down a long hallway, no one saying a word. They didn't tie their hands together or make them walk in line. Surrounded on all sides, Alex, Anna and Mary followed along.
Eventually, they reached a large hangar that stretched out in all directions. Sleek vehicles were parked all around, including some rather menacing looking fighter craft. The soldiers thinned out. There were snipers patrolling long catwalks above them and wide open spaces everywhere. Trying to run was clearly not an option.
"Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander," a voice called.
A tall woman with dark skin and short black hair approached them flanked by four soldiers. She was dressed similarly to everyone else, and yet she seemed to hold some authority as their escort backed away once she arrived, giving her space to face Mary and her crew.
"Who are you and what is the meaning of abducting us?" Mary demanded.
"I am Commander Jeda. I apologize for the rough ride, but we needed to bring you here to show you what is really going on with the immigrants," Jeda replied.
Mary frowned. "You could have requested a meeting for that. We've already met with several interest groups."
Jeda laughed drily. "The interest groups are ultimately all in bed with the government. They put on a show for you, that's all. We couldn't meet with you there."
"You can understand that I won't be overly receptive to your message given how you chose to bring us here," Mary stated.
"I don't care. We didn't bring you here to convince you of anything. We brought you here to give you information. Once you have it, if you choose to ignore it you're just as guilty as the government," Jeda answered.
"Guilty of what?" Anna asked.
Jeda glanced at her before looking back at Mary. "Slavery."
"Release the squadrons to the location of the attack and send them out in search parties," Edith ordered. "What's going on with the video footage?"
"We see a craft of some kind lifting the vehicle off the ground. The feed cuts out shortly after that. We think whatever they used to disable the convoy also knocked out surveillance in the area."
"Have the government send us whatever satellite imagery they have. Are our scanners back online yet?" Edith demanded.
"Yes, Lady Edith."
"Start from the attack site and fan out. They've got a huge lead on us so we have to expand our search range quite far. Find that vehicle," Edith ordered.
The crew turned to their tasks and Edith rose from Mary's seat and headed into the private room that her sister used for an office.
"Sybil," Edith called, bringing her sister up on the display.
"What happened?" Sybil asked gravely.
"Mary's convoy was attacked. The government thinks it's a militant group, but can't be sure yet. The vehicles were all disabled, the security drones destroyed and Mary, Anna and Alex were taken prisoner. We know that a ship of some kind lifted the vehicle they were in off the ground and flew them away, but that's all we know," Edith explained.
"Fuck," Sybil mumbled, covering her eyes.
"I'm having Tom strap in with Falcon squadron as part of the search effort. How are you doing down there?" Edith enquired.
"I'm about half-done," Sybil answered. "I can't close him up now."
"No, you shouldn't. Get on with it. I'll keep you updated the moment we learn anything," Edith stated.
Sybil nodded and ended the call.
Edith sighed and looked around the office before going back out to the command bridge.
"Lady Edith, we may have recovered footage from the security drones," William informed her when she emerged. "All we have is the Captain's vehicle being carried off, but we can extrapolate a trajectory from the flight path of the ship."
"Send the information to the search parties and see if we can get satellite images from the government along that path," Edith responded.
"Yes, Lady Edith," William nodded before returning to his station.
Edith went over to Mary's chair and sat down wearily.
"Hang on, Mary. We're coming," she muttered.
"The districts are a distraction, a false front," Jeda explained as she walked with Mary towards a makeshift meeting table. "The immigrants who live there are real, and their plight is real, but they are but a small percentage of the people who come to New Byzantium every year looking for a better life."
"Where is everyone else, then?" Mary asked.
Jeda sat down at the head of the table and motioned for Mary, Alex and Anna to sit down as well.
"No one is allowed to come to New Byzantium without applying for status first – be it as a visitor or an immigrant," Jeda explained. "What the government does is they investigate all applicants in advance and divide them based on economic status, whether they have any relatives already living here, whether they have a job already lined up, that sort of thing."
"Not uncommon," Alex commented.
Jeda looked at him coldly. "No, not at all. It's what they do with that information that is interesting."
She pressed a pad on the table and the table lit up with images.
"Anyone who arrives alone with no attachments, no job and no money is funnelled to the government's Executive Order 13769 program. They're not placed in the districts or in the city. They're sent to camps," Jeda informed them.
They watched the video of scores of people being transported to underground bunkers and given bland uniforms to wear before being placed in small cells.
"This looks like a prison," Alex said.
"Not exactly. Prisoners get three meals a day," Jeda replied.
Mary frowned as she watched the immigrants being ferried to what looked like mines and quarries, all under the supervision of government soldiers.
"New Byzantium is a huge city. Huge cities need power and resources to sustain themselves. On this planet, that means coal and other minerals from below ground. The immigrants that don't qualify for the districts are sent there," Jeda said.
"Why use immigrant labour? Robots can do that far more efficiently," Anna noted.
"Robots cost money – purchasing, programming, maintenance, upgrades – it gets expensive, particularly in a harsh environment like here where they don't last as long. Immigrants are cheap and entirely replaceable. Thousands of them arrive each month," Jeda answered.
"So what is it you and your…group…do? I doubt you need all these weapons and ships to hold meetings," Mary asked.
Jeda nodded. "We're looking to overthrow the government. The immigration problem is just one of our issues with them. We're outgunned and they make sure that we have no voice. The media calls us radicals espousing conspiracy theories. All of our efforts to draw attention to the problems here are seen as whinging and complaining. We can't change anything because the system is designed to stifle us. They don't even let us vote because we all have criminal records for protesting in the past."
"I don't know if abducting us will help your image," Mary frowned.
"We're long past the point of diplomacy or politeness," Jeda responded. "We could all be dead within weeks. The government goes to great lengths to keep any visiting dignitaries protected so we can't get to them. You're the first in years to actually visit the districts. That's why they arranged all those meetings for you, to make it seem as if you were seeing all sides."
"But they didn't invite you to the table," Mary said.
Jeda shook her head. "No. That's why we brought you to ours."
"What do you want from us now?" Alex asked. "We can bring whatever information you have back to our government, but New Byzantium is an autonomous colony. The British have no ruling authority over them."
Jeda nodded. "Maybe not. But I'm willing to bet that everyone will listen to what we have to say if three high-ranking British officers are at risk."
Anna frowned.
"So we're hostages, is what you're saying," Mary accused.
"I can't allow you to leave without getting real concessions from the government that are backed and supported by the British," Jeda advised. "As I said, we could all be dead within weeks. The government has devoted entire legions of the Army to finding us. We have to try everything we can while we can. Sending you back for the assurance of negotiations in the future gets us nothing. We need real change now."
"Allow me to contact my ship and I promise you that we'll transmit your evidence to Earth immediately," Mary stated. "I can't speak for the New Byzantium government, but certainly our officials will put pressure on them once they hear what you have to say."
"We'll do better than that. We're going to broadcast to Earth using the government network. We'll show our evidence then, together with the three of you. I expect progress to be quite rapid," Jeda declared.
The soldiers standing nearby stepped forward.
"Go and rest," Jeda told them. "The show will begin in several hours once we complete our hack of the government satellites."
Sybil stepped out of the harness and groaned as she rubbed her aching neck. She wandered over to the console and called the command bridge.
"Anything?" she asked when Edith's face appeared.
"We've searched for miles and still nothing. The government believes that the militants operate out of a network of underground bunkers. Our scanners can't penetrate that far down and there's no sign of the vehicle. I still have the squadrons out for now. There's bound to be communication at some point," Edith said.
Sybil nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"How did it go?" Edith asked.
"I've separated out all of it," Sybil answered. "I just don't know how to get it out of him now without killing him. I'm exhausted. I can't even see straight."
"Get some rest. Tom's shift will be over soon," Edith advised.
"No, I can't stop. I have to figure this out," Sybil mumbled.
"Sybil, go to bed or I'll have you confined to quarters," Edith commanded.
Sybil smiled sadly. "Yes, my Lady."
She switched off the display and turned back to the scans of Matthew. The black clouds of infected cells lingered, taunting her.
"I'll be right back, darling. We're going to beat this, I promise," she whispered before turning around and dragging herself away.
"Edith would have deployed the squadrons by now," Alex said. "If we're deep underground, we may be out of scanning range, but there has to be something detectable in the immediate area – heat signatures, energy readings, even traces of the hangar doors for when they come and go. It's just a matter of time before we're found."
"Commander Jeda seems reasonable. She's using us to get attention, but she appears to understand the predicament she's in. If anything happens to us, the fleet will respond," Anna added.
"That's the problem," Mary sighed. "She wants the fleet to come. The more eyes on New Byzantium, the better, as far as she is concerned. You heard her. She's committed to dying for what she believes in."
"So you think she'll kill us?" Alex asked.
"I don't know," Mary shook her head. "She appears quite calm now, but that's because we're on her ground and under her direction. Once this broadcast takes place, whatever the response is from the government is beyond her control. We'll see who she really is then."
"Do you believe her?" Anna questioned. "About the slave camps?"
Mary frowned. "I'm not surprised that the government is trying to hide any ugliness from us. Having a secret policy of slave labour is something else altogether. She mentioned that they want to overthrow the government. That's a rather lofty goal that goes far beyond immigration reform. It makes me wonder if she's not using that as a touchstone issue to garner support, when her true motivation may be far more sinister."
"Like a coup," Alex suggested.
"She said that they're outgunned, so perhaps swaying people to their side is part of their strategy. I just get the sense that even if the government agreed to her demands, she has something else up her sleeve," Mary shook her head. "It seems strange that no one's ever heard of these camps."
"What do we do?" Anna questioned.
"For now, nothing. Hope that Edith and the others find us," Mary replied. "Jeda needs us for the broadcast, but I don't know what she intends for us once we go live. We'll need to be vigilant."
Tom shuffled into the bedroom and sat down, or more accurately collapsed. Even though he wasn't physically flying his fighter, search missions were always mentally draining. The sensors were finely tuned, but he trusted his eyes above all, and keeping them peeled to look for something amiss amongst the vast rocky terrain outside New Byzantium was a tall ask.
"Mmm, I missed you," he mumbled, sliding into bed and curling behind Sybil. His hand moved over her stomach.
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
"Not yet," he mumbled. "The terrain is nothing but rocks and plains. There are no tracks, no debris from the vehicle, no nothing."
"They just disappeared?" she whispered worriedly.
"Alex will get a signal to us somehow," he assured her. "He's the most determined man I know, besides Matthew."
Sybil took a deep breath and brought Tom's hand to her lips to kiss his fingers.
"Edith said the militants use underground bunkers," she recalled.
"Yeah. Makes it difficult to detect them. Unless you happen to be right on top of them, everything seems like just another pile of rocks out there, no different from the next," he grunted.
"There's no way to draw them out?" she asked.
"Doubt it," he replied. "If Alex could blow something up down there, the explosion may register on scanners and lead us right to him. If they're in the clutches of militants, though, that would be suicide."
She sighed and shook her head, snuggling back against her husband. "We have to find them."
"We will," he told her determinedly, kissing the top of her head. "How did it all go with Matthew?"
"As well as can be expected. I just don't know how to get the poison out of his body," she muttered.
"You can't just suck it out?" he asked.
She frowned and looked back at him. "What?"
"It's a poison right? Can't you just suck it out with a tube or something?" he repeated.
"That's an ancient myth," she rolled her eyes. "Sucking poison from a wound was never an effective treatment. Ideally, we would have an antivenom that would neutralize the infected cells and allow his body to dispose of them normally. But we have no idea how the poison was created or where it came from, so making an antivenom is near on impossible."
"I thought you said that you isolated the poison, though," he frowned, his eyes closed as he held her tight.
"I did. I spent all day today removing it from his tissue and setting it aside," she replied.
"Yeah, so isn't the reason that sucking the venom out doesn't work that it usually spreads too fast and would be impossible to catch it all?" he questioned.
She frowned and looked at his placid face. "Yes, that's right."
"But you've isolated the cells already, so you don't need to worry about that. You know where the poison is. You just need to suck it out now," he noted.
"Don't say that," she grumbled, elbowing him lightly. "We don't suck anything out in medicine."
"Okay, okay, I just thought you'd have some fancy device that could pull the venom out of him now. What do you usually use to draw cells out from the body?" he muttered, his voice sounding thick and tired.
"You can use any number of methods. Any kind of reciprocating pump would work," she answered.
"Okay, so use one of those," he stated.
She huffed and settled against him. "It's not that easy."
"Mmm, okay," he said, drifting off to sleep.
She closed her eyes but her brow was still furrowed, their conversation echoing in her head.
"You want to do what?" Jeda asked, frowning at Mary.
"I want to see the camps," Mary nodded. "I want to see where the immigrants are being taken and put to work."
"These are secret installations that are heavily guarded and invisible from both scanners and air patrols. You can't just go and see them," Jeda snapped. "It was hard enough getting the surveillance footage we already have."
"It's far more effective for your cause if you have us corroborating what you say, rather than just showing us as hostages," Mary explained. "Video can be manipulated. Photographs can be altered. If the three of us confirm that these camps exist with our own eyes, our government will heed what we say far more than anything you provide."
Jeda considered her statement for a moment and watched her closely. Finally, she shook her head.
"It's a clever idea, Lady Mary, but I can't take that risk. If I bring you to a camp and we're detected, or worse yet, you alert the guards to your presence, it would jeopardize our entire operation," Jeda sneered. "The moment we begin broadcasting, the government and your ship will be trying to find us. Even if I gave you the coordinates to the camps, I can't allow you to transmit them before we send out our message."
"Without our cooperation, you come across as nothing but a band of terrorists spewing propaganda," Alex commented. "If we tell our government that you refused to take us to these camps that you say exist, they'll be skeptical of everything you say and show them."
"But at least our broadcast will go out, instead of it being stopped before it even begins," Jeda retorted. "We expect to have control of the satellites in six hours. Make sure you're presentable."
She stalked out of their room, the guards outside checking on them before closing the doors behind her.
"It's almost as if she doesn't even care if we believe her or not," Anna noted.
"She raised a valid concern," Alex said. "There's no way I wouldn't try to get a signal to the Andromeda if we got out of here."
"Anna's right. It's sounding more and more like she doesn't actually care about the plight of these immigrant workers. She's after the shock value of using us as hostages, hoping that the message will bring the fleet here and put pressure on the government," Mary shook her head.
Alex ran his hand through his hair. "This would be about the thousandth time I wished Matthew was around. He would know what to do."
"What do you mean?" Mary frowned.
"I can't explain it but he just has a knack for situations like this – high-pressure, high-leverage scenarios. If he was in the search party, he would have found us by now. I don't know how and can't even tell you what he would do, but I've seen it too many times already. He just has an instinct for it," Alex shrugged.
"Well, he isn't here," Mary declared. "Let's try and focus on a way to save ourselves."
Sybil stared at the projection of poisoned cells towering over her. There was a loose organization to it. When she was previously in the surgical suite, she tried to stack the cells on top of each other in a pile as she removed them. It was easier to keep them intact that way and hopefully, prevent the venom inside from being released. Now, as she looked through the eyes of the robots inside Matthew's body, she wondered again what she was going to do with it all.
"Suck it out of him," she muttered, frowning and shaking her head as she recalled Tom's ignorant words. "For fuck's sake."
She reached out her hand and the robotic arm linked to her through the surgical suite moved inside Matthew's leg. Gently pulling at the first cell she could see, she carried it away from the pile and held it carefully suspended.
"Inject reciprocal pump," she called.
The computer beeped and a long tube pierced Matthew's skin. In her virtual reality world, she saw it as a drill almost, slowly approaching her position. Moving her hand, she fed the cell into the tube slowly, careful not to break it.
"Retract cell matter," she ordered.
The pump silently engaged and the cell travelled along the tube, moving slowly towards the inner wall of Matthew's leg. She held her breath, even though she was in another room altogether. When the black cell disappeared, she exhaled.
"Pause interface," she said, and the virtual reality headband lifted from her eyes.
She glanced over to one of the side displays. There, magnified a thousand times, was a quivering black cell resting in the container of the reciprocal pump.
"Membrane integrity?" she asked.
"Intact and holding," the computer replied.
She blinked. It was one cell out of millions, but it was outside of Matthew's body.
"Prepare to inject additional surgical robots and bring reciprocal pumps to poisoned cell locations," she said, her excitement making her voice shake. "Resume interface."
The virtual reality environment fell back over her eyes and she was once again looking inside Matthew's leg.
"Here we go," she whispered.
"Tom, we're getting ready for the next wave. Are you up for it?" Edith asked.
"Yeah, for sure," Tom nodded at her image on the display. "What's going on?"
"The militants have warned that a live broadcast will be made in three hours," she advised. "They say that Mary, Anna and Alex are all alive and well and that they want their message to go to Earth."
"Were you able to trace the source?" Tom asked.
"Unfortunately, no," Edith shook her head. "It was delivered anonymously from within the city itself."
"What does the New Byzantium government say about that?" he asked.
"They want to shut them down, obviously. I don't really care what they have to say. I just want proof that our people are still alive. We'll beam the signal back to Earth for them if we have to. The longer we can keep them talking, the better," she stated. "We're getting down to it now, Tom. We have to find them before that broadcast goes offline."
"On my way to Fighter Control," he nodded.
Sybil swallowed, her hands fidgeting in front of her as she looked down at Matthew's closed eyes. Her entire body ached from being in surgery for the better part of the last 24 hours. She had checked and re-checked his vitals and had him scanned dozens of times to be sure. The same results came back – the venom had been removed to the point that only minute traces were left in his system.
Even if he was free of the poison, she couldn't be sure what condition he was in now. Stasis was relatively reliable, but keeping a person frozen for so many months was bound to have side effects, and every individual was different.
"Bring him out of stasis," she said, her voice catching as the computer complied with her order.
The chemicals used to freeze his body were vented out of the capsule. Intravenous fluids were injected into his body to rehydrate him and electric currents were fired into his muscles that had lain dormant for months.
She watched anxiously as his pulse sped up from the slow crawl she had been used to for so long. His breathing rose, the levels and readouts on the display all remaining within acceptable ranges.
It was merely seconds but it felt like so much longer before the capsule retracted down to Matthew's waist. Stepping forward, she felt tears gather in her eyes as she looked at him face-to-face without any barriers between them for the first time in forever.
"Matthew," she called, her voice hoarse. "Matthew, darling, wake up. Wake up, please."
She didn't know if she imagined him turning his head slightly towards her at the sound of her plea or not. When she saw his blue eyes appear from beneath his lids, though, she didn't care if she was delirious.
"Sybil," Matthew murmured, smiling weakly. "Hi."
"Matthew!" she sobbed, tears pouring forward as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. "You're alive! God, you're alive!"
He chuckled, which quickly turned into a cough. "I may not be for much longer if Tom catches us kissing."
"Oh, shut your face," she sniffled, shaking as she kissed him again. "How do you feel?"
"Groggy," he replied, blinking several times to focus his vision on her smiling face. "There. That's better."
She nodded. "You should feel more normal soon enough. Your vitals are all strong."
"Thank you, Dr Crawley," he smiled. "I hope I wasn't too difficult a patient."
"No, not at all, Captain," she laughed. "You've only kept me awake at night for the past eight months or so."
His eyes widened. "Eight months? Is that how long it's been?"
She nodded solemnly and brushed his hair back from his forehead. "Mary had you put in stasis when the venom hit. Do you remember?"
He nodded. "I remember being rushed in here and both of you telling me a million things at once. My legs were burning as if I was being eaten alive and after that everything just stopped. What happened?"
"You were infected. We haven't been able to figure out the composition of the venom or where it comes from," she told him. "We had no antidote, no idea how to treat you. Finally, we learned of a method to isolate the carrier cells and from there I managed to get them out of your system."
"And it only took you eight months. Not bad," he smirked.
"Not a moment too soon," she shook her head and kissed him again.
"If this is a VR simulation, don't tell me. I don't want to come out of it just yet," Edith called, coming into the room and grinning at Matthew.
"Hello, Edith," he smiled. "You're looking well."
"You look fantastic," Edith laughed, leaning down and kissing him. "How are your extremities?"
"Everything seems to be working," he noted, raising his hands up and wiggling his toes. "So, what's happened in eight months? Are you still the Chief Engineer or have you been promoted since then?"
Edith looked at Sybil in concern.
"What is it?" he frowned, looking from Edith to Sybil and back again.
"I'm acting Captain at the moment, Matthew," Edith advised. "I was the senior officer onboard, until you just woke up."
"Where are Mary and Anna?" he asked slowly.
Edith frowned.
"They've been abducted by militants, Matthew, along with Alex," Sybil answered.
"All right, let's head over to quadrant five," Tom said. "Extend scanning range and we'll lower altitude another 1,000 feet and see if that gets us anything. Mind those hills."
"Acknowledged, Falcon-2."
"Acknowledged, Falcon-2."
"Acknowledged, Falcon-2."
The fighters banked left and swept down over the terrain. Despite the lower altitude, Tom still couldn't see anything under the hard ground.
"Come on, Alex, where are you?" Tom muttered.
"Falcon Squadron, this is Dragon-1. Reform on me."
Tom blinked. "Dragon-1? Matthew?"
"All right, there, Tom?" Matthew asked, his smile evident in his voice.
"What the hell?" Tom blurted out. "Wh…where are you?"
"Still in the Infirmary, using a modified interface. It's not as precise as the one I'm used to, but it will do," Matthew replied.
"I can't wait to hear this story, mate," Tom laughed. "Reforming on you, Captain."
The other pilots acknowledged Matthew's command and turned back to meet up with his fighter.
"Scanners can't get through this rock?" Matthew checked.
"No, we're blind," Tom confirmed. "I even extended the range and we're not getting any depth."
"Maybe that's because someone doesn't want you to see anything," Matthew noted. "We should be able to get readings of some kind. The fact that we're not suggests a masking agent, rather than just stubborn geology."
"You think the militants are running interference on our scanners?" Tom questioned.
"It's what I would do if I wanted to hide an underground base from prying eyes," Matthew answered. "Mr Mason, scan from the attack site along the trajectory that the convoy vehicle was being carried and look for broadcast emissions, rather than trying to penetrate the rock. If there's a stealth device of some kind, tracing the signal should lead us right to them."
"Scanning, Captain," William replied. "We're detecting some faint signal waves but can't confirm if it's a stealth device. Sending you the origin coordinates now."
"That seems too weak to be a stealth device," Tom noted.
"Unless the stealth device is being masked by another stealth device," Matthew retorted.
"Crikey," Tom muttered.
"Let's go," Matthew ordered. "We haven't much time."
The soldiers showed Mary, Anna and Alex basic courtesy when they collected them, not bothering to point their rifles at them before escorting them out of the room and down the hallway. The broadcast was going to be filmed from a part of the hangar, apparently, as they were brought to an area with camera drones, spotlights, and a nondescript background.
Their questions as to Jeda and the militants' intentions were partially answered when their hands were cuffed behind their backs and they were forced to their knees.
"You don't speak unless you're spoken to, got it?" Jeda snapped. "We're working with a delay, so you try and send a message to your ship and we'll just pause the broadcast long enough to shut you up."
In a way, it was a relief for Mary that she at least knew where she stood with this woman now. During their confinement, she, Anna and Alex had hashed out numerous strategies, knowing they would not be allowed to speak amongst themselves once they were brought out here. They still didn't have an escape plan, but all that mattered now was trying to stay alive.
The minutes leading up to the broadcast seemed to crawl by. Soldiers and staff scurried about as Jeda barked orders and technicians manned the equipment. This didn't seem to be a well-drilled and organized lot. The air was singed with tension as if even they didn't know how this would play out.
"This is Commander Jeda of the True Ottoman Empire," Jeda spoke clearly when the broadcast began. "We are here to bring light to the atrocities being committed on New Byzantium and to demand that the governments of Earth move immediately to disband the current Parliament. If our terms are not met, we will begin slaughtering those unworthy to be part of the next regime, including politicians, officials, law enforcement who have allowed filthy infidels to rule over our chosen land."
A camera drone stared unblinkingly at Mary, Anna and Alex.
"These British officers have not done enough to rid New Byzantium of a corrupt and heathen ruling class," Jeda continued. "The British government will confirm within 30 minutes that they will agree to our demands and assist us in our efforts, or Lieutenant Commander Lewis will be executed."
A soldier came up behind Alex and pointed his rifle at his skull.
Despite her training to ensure that they showed no reaction in crisis situations, Anna still couldn't stop herself from gasping audibly.
"You have 29 minutes," Jeda declared and the broadcast was over.
"What are you doing?" Mary demanded, glaring at the woman looming before them. "You said that this was about slavery and exploited immigrant labour!"
Jeda nodded. "Once we take power, we will correct the immigration problem. The evidence you saw earlier was part of the broadcast, just as our list of demands was displayed."
"There are no camps, are there?" Alex challenged her.
Jeda smiled. "As far as your government knows, there are. Pulling on heartstrings only gets us so far. It kept you docile enough to not give us any trouble while we worked on getting the broadcast up. But when dealing with governments, sympathy leads to promises of negotiations and small concessions to try and appease the unruly. To usher in our new era, we need more decisive action."
"Our government doesn't negotiate with terrorists," Mary growled.
"That would be a pity for the Lieutenant Commander, then," Jeda replied, nodding towards Alex. "The news of our rise is spreading across the galaxy as we speak. If the British or any other Earth government do not give us what we want, there will be plenty of others who will once they see what we are capable of."
"It was all a ruse," Mary shook her head. "You need us to further your agenda. Helping others was never your motivation."
"The people are better off with us in power. We are the only ones truly worthy to rule – our blood makes it so, the blood of our ancestors who once dominated both Europe and Asia on Earth," Jeda answered. "If your government sees that, so much the better. If they don't, we will still benefit in the end.
Anna glanced at the clock on the display before them. 21 minutes.
"You do realize that the Ottoman Empire was defeated and dissolved in the end," Mary stated.
Jeda smiled wickedly. "I'm perfectly willing to accept being in power for only six centuries."
Her sneer was the last thing that Mary saw of her.
At the sound of explosions, Mary, Anna and Alex all pitched forward to the floor and rolled towards the wall, their bound hands making movement cumbersome. Once they reached shelter, they looked out and saw the far end of the hangar engulfed in flames.
"Falcon-2, Falcon-3, with me. The rest of you disable those fighters and neutralize the snipers. We'll get our people out," Matthew ordered. He frowned and grunted, his fingers shaking a bit as he piloted his drone towards the hostages. The hangar had sufficient clearance for the drones to fit, thankfully, and with the element of surprise, it was easy enough to pick off the militants as they went.
The catwalks that lined the ceiling creaked and fell as the rest of Falcon Squadron took them down with precise hits. In close quarters, missiles were too dangerous, but the guns onboard each fighter drone were sufficient to send the soldiers below diving for cover.
Lying on his back in the Infirmary, Matthew's pulse was beating wildly, the months in stasis taking finite layers off his usual edge when he was in combat. Even though he was Captain of the Andromeda, he kept up his VR training and flight skills, both because he loved to fly and because he couldn't let Alex supplant him too easily.
His breath caught as he reached the back of the hangar. Soldiers were firing uselessly up at his fighter drone, but his eyes were on the three figures curled against the wall, using a cabinet as cover.
"This is Captain Matthew Crawley of Her Majesty's Ship Andromeda," his voice boomed from the loudspeakers on the drone. "You are all charged with terrorism, abduction of a British officer, making threats and assault. Put down your weapons, lie down and place your hands on your heads. This is your only warning before we use necessary force."
The one who called herself Commander Jeda waved her fist up at his drone.
"You will not stop the rise of the True Ottoman Empire! Your ship is full of unworthy infidels and mixed-breed animals who are not fit to be in the presence of…"
The electric pulse hit her square in her chest, freezing her face mid-sentence before she toppled to the ground. The soldiers behind her were dealt with similarly until all resistance was quashed.
Mary's heartbeat seemed to have stopped. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think and couldn't move. Her mind was reeling, the only coherent thought the memory of that voice – his voice – echoing through the hangar.
'This is Captain Matthew Crawley'
The New Byzantium soldiers swarmed their position under the watchful eye of the fighter drones. She was helped to her feet and her bonds were easily cut open. Her immediate concern was for Anna and Alex, and she smiled in relief when she saw they were on their feet and all right. The three of them were ushered towards a waiting vehicle and driven quickly from the hangar. She knew from her study of policies and procedures in these situations that they would be taken back to the city first. Hopefully, Edith would arrange for their debriefing and medical examinations to take place on the ship. If not, Mary would insist upon it, but that seemed a ways away. She looked up and noticed that the fighter drones were escorting the vehicle from above. A careful smile crossed her lips. She had no idea how it was possible, but he was up there, alive. He had come for her.
"Are you all right?" Anna asked, looking over at her anxiously.
Mary turned her head and nodded towards her best friend. "I will be. You?"
"A few scrapes, nothing significant," Anna answered. "I heard correctly, right? That was Matthew who found us?"
Mary took a deep breath, her smile widening a little. "It seems that it was."