Chapter Fourteen: Deadly Blackmail
November 10, 2552 1128 hours
Morisson Residence
North America
Angela Morisson was worried about her husband, Matthew. A lieutenant in the UNSC Navy, Matt was sharp when it came to formulating combat strategies, whether in the air or on the ground. He'd been gone for over a year without her even receiving a letter. She had a lot on her mind, between taking care of their twins and minding the house, and worrying about her husband and her sister-in-law. Just as she thought of Laura, the doorbell rang.
"Laura! I was just thinking about you. How have you been?"
"Hi, Angela. I've got a bit of a surprise for you and the Terrible Tickling Twins. Where are they at?"
"In the backyard, making a mess. I doubt I'll ever understand how four-year-olds can enjoy messy things."
"Well, we'd better get them cleaned up. They'll want to look nice today."
Half an hour later, Laura, Angela, and the twins Alex and Katrina were in a civilian car heading toward the hospital on base. Angela looked at her sharply but didn't say anything; she was afraid of what might happen, but a faint stirring of hope rose in her heart. When Laura pulled into the lot, she looked at the twins.
"I have a surprise for you two, but you'll have to behave yourselves, okay?"
When they nodded, Laura let them out of the car. As they entered the hospital, a plainly dressed man spoke into a hidden mike.
"Blade's here, with the family."
Adams Medical Facility, Fourth Floor
UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes
North America
The fourth floor of the military hospital was strictly off-limits to civilians, but Laura ignored the regulations that day. Leading Angela and her children to a closed door, she knocked four times before opening the door. Angela almost fainted at the sight while the twins rushed forward.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Matt Morisson lay wounded in a hospital bed, IV tubes snaking throughout his body, one arm in a cast, looking extremely tired, but he was alive. While he was awkwardly hugging his two children, Laura filled her sister-in-law in on the details.
"He was found in an escape craft, along with several other crew members. They were just brought in a few days ago. Matt has the worst injuries, but so far his prognosis is looking good. I thought it would be a good idea for you to see each other; it may help his recovery."
"It's not allowed, is it, our being here?"
"No, but right now I don't give a damn. He needs his family now, as much as you need him. I'll take care of everything. Now go in there and give your husband a warm welcome home!" She pushed Angela through the doorway and watched the enthusiastic homecoming, not caring what would happen later. She knew she was breaking several regulations, but also that she was doing the right thing. A slight noise behind her made her turn and glare at the men in ONI uniform who had arrived.
"Blade, you realize that you have committed a court-marshal offense by bringing civilians to this level."
"So what? I know I've done the right thing in reuniting my brother with his family. I also know that you can't court-marshal someone who doesn't exist, and therefore are helpless. Besides, this will help speed his recovery so he can get back to a normal life."
"You're right, Blade. We can't court-marshal you, but that doesn't mean we don't have leverage. Tell me, how much do those civilians mean to you?" The implication in his words hit home. They saw her visibly pale, the spark in her eyes beginning to die.
"You sadistic bastards!" she hissed angrily through clenched teeth. "How dare you involve them like this! They have nothing to do with your shadow business. Leave them be!"
"As long as you cooperate, they won't be hurt. But one false move on your part--" He didn't need to finish.
Matt had been watching the exchange from his bed. What the hell is going on? True, Laura had broken every rule in the book, but ONI had never done anything like this before. Even though he couldn't hear the exchange, he could tell something was wrong. Watching Laura's proud figure wilting in defeat seemed to confirm his worst fears: ONI finally had a hold over his sister, one that had the potential to destroy her completely.
When his sister walked back into the room, Alex and Katrina wrapped themselves around her legs. Gently disentangling them, she handed them back to their parents.
"Laura, what's going on?"
"Heal quickly, Lieutenant. We still have a war to win."
"Laura, what are you saying? Dammit, I want an answer!" Dark eyes stared back at him; Matt had never seen them look so empty and bleak.
"Laura Morisson is dead, Lieutenant. My name is Blade."
As she walked out the door, her right hand moved behind her back, making subtle gestures—hand signals she'd learned and taught to her family, since ONI tried to keep her under constant surveillance. When Matt finally interpreted them, he understood: Danger. ONI. Warn family. He was disgusted at the cruelty of it all. They've found leverage alright, he thought grimly. They're using us as blackmail!
November 14, 2552 1200 hours
Morisson Residence
North America
A few days later, Nicole Mitchell met with the Morisson family, and filled them in on the details. She had in her possession a file Lorienna had stolen from ONI's database, and displayed its contents. Not only did Ackerson plan to use the Morisson family as blackmail, knowing full well that Laura would do anything to protect them, but he also noted that the stress of following his orders while trying to protect her family would eventually kill her. He pleasantly noted that Laura was already showing signs of breakdown.
"This is despicable, even for ONI!" Matt raged, "We've got to do something!"
Nicole, however upset she might be, still kept her head. "We can't do anything, not with a stolen file. They'd only charge us with treason. Still, there's got to be something we can do."
"What about General West?" Dr. Gedeon pointed out. While she could see ONI wanting to erase Laura's existence, part of her still refused to believe Ackerson was behind it; it was easier to believe someone in ONI wanted to frame the officer than admit an officer might be behind this. "He has a lot of contacts in the right places, and he's always had a lot of respect for Laura. He might know what to do."
"Been there already. He's looking into it as we speak, but there's no guarantee he'll find anything. ONI has developed a tendency lately to over-encrypt their important files. The only reason I have this is because we knew what to look for—a gaping hole in their encryptions where multiple codes cancel each other out. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do at this point but wait."
Nothing you can do, Miss Mitchell, but I can do something, Lorienna thought as she listened in on the worried conversations—when Laura had built her, she'd given Lorienna special 'access nodes' in her family's homes and her friend's home, in case Lorienna ever needed to pass her an important file or message quickly. And I will do everything I can to save Laura and her family. She broadcast a coded signal, hoping the recipient would hurry to respond: Lorienna feared that there wasn't much time left before the end came, whatever it may be. The signal pinged, and Lorienna opened a secure link with the AI Cortana. In a sense, a secure link between two AI's was like having them both standing in a digital 'room': they could see each other's appearances and converse eye-to-eye. Lorienna spoke first, her voice laced with hesitation and concern.
"There's a problem that I need your assistance on, with regards to my creator."
"You mean Blade?" Cortana sounded amused. "I thought she needed no help, and neither did you."
Lorienna winced visibly, knowing exactly how that kind of impression must have been formed. Laura was immensely proud, and too stubborn to ask for help; Lorienna herself had the same mindset. She must have seen that last incident with the Helljumpers during her workout. "Normally we don't, but this time we have a shared problem: a mutual enemy, one who has a hold over my creator that could end in her deletion. I cannot assist her alone, any more than her family can. You, and possibly the Spartans, are the only ones who can help us now." Lorienna briefly filled Cortana in on the details of Ackerson's scheme. Actually, she was able to tell Cortana everything, but it only took a fraction of the time it would take if they had been two humans conversing.
"How does he really expect this to work? Spartans don't give in to despair."
"Cortana, you don't know Laura as I do. She and I are of like minds--she used her own personality to create me, so I know her mind better than she does herself. What would kill her wouldn't be despair, but desperation."
"What do you mean?" Curiosity edged into Cortana's voice.
"Laura draws her strength not from a desire to succeed, not from ambition, nor entirely from her training: she draws it from compassion. She cares deeply about the people she trusts and loves them wholeheartedly. Put them in any danger and she will do anything to protect them. By threatening to hurt her family unless she obeys him, Ackerson has finally established a hold over her, and Laura will be so afraid of making a mistake that she may try to preventherself from making any mistakes, in the only way she sees as possible. She will kill herself if she believes it will save her family and friends. If you were in her position, what would you do?"
Cortana couldn't answer; she partly understood now why Laura hated Ackerson so much. In Laura's files, which Lorienna had so graciously provided for her to view, she had noted an exceeding lack of respect whenever ONI tried to control her or give her an assignment. Ackerson's private logs reflected the mutual lack of respect, but Cortana never thought he'd try to drive someone into self-destruction: it simply wasn't his style.
Lorienna understood what her counterpart was thinking by the look on her 'face' and nodded. "He's tried to use more conventional means, but Laura keeps one step ahead of him, and that annoys him wholeheartedly." Her own face became troubled. "There's something else, though, an anomaly that I have yet to explain logically. Lately Laura's been retrieving data on the Spartans, as much as she can find: specifically, on SPARTAN-117 in particular. Maybe she's just trying to pull information for the mission she's planning, but I doubt it. If I didn't know better, I'd say she'd developed an interest in him, and possibly an affection for him."
"Really? That is unusual. But what do you want me to do?"
"You know better than I do about methods of dealing with ONI, as well as the regular brass. As far as Laura and SPARTAN-117, just keep your ears open. If ONI ever finds out or suspects Laura loves or cares about someone dearly, they will not hesitate to use that someone as leverage, whether their suspicions are confirmed or not--look what they've done here. Her family has been threatened, but they're aware of it—Nicole Mitchell had me pull the file and showed it to them. But there's nothing they can do, and I can't do much more than wreak havoc in their database, which would only make them angry and possibly attack the family, and kill my creator in the process."
"Don't worry about a thing, Lorienna. I'll think of something." Cortana paused and looked hard at the other AI. "Tell me one thing: how did she know we'd arrived on Earth?"
"We hacked into the database and found out you were inbound. Laura noticed Ackerson would be there and decided to keep an eye on him, plus she needed to see for herself how he'd treat them. She was most upset when they received a heroes' welcome while she was unacknowledged by humanity. As far as the world is concerned, Laura Elizabeth Morisson never existed, even though she's done her duty and more in the efforts to save humanity. Although, I must admit she found a unique way to get her point across." A brief smile touched her face, but faded as Lorienna shook her dark 'hair' out of her face. "Poor child. She's alone, and she always will be."
Not if I can to anything to stop it, Cortana thought. Relaying this conversation to General West, she made plans to inform one of the Spartans of the new problem, in hopes of establishing a sort of trust between Laura and the others. Linda would probably be best, since both are women, and both strong alone. Perhaps she can bring Laura to the group. No Spartan should be forced to stand alone.
November 15, 2552 0830 hours
Camp Hayes
Linda woke up the next morning to find a transmission from Cortana. It was unusual enough for her to receive it, but the wording puzzled her even more: Ask Nicole Mitchell about Blade. Deciding not to inform the others just yet, she went directly to Miss Mitchell as soon as she could.
"What's going on?" she asked, explaining the message. When she was done, Nicole paled.
"I don't know how Cortana found out, or what she's up to, but she was right. Laura's in trouble, and we can't help her." Pausing for a moment, she looked at the Spartan in front of her.
"You'd better get your friends. I think you all need to know what's going on."