Nat sat in the back of the ground car as Senator Fontley drove, with Sam directing him. Her thumb throbbed and her thoughts seemed to pulse in time with the pain. She couldn’t focus on what to do next, she could only think of Akemi, cut off and trapped in that box.

For a moment, when she’d fought the Rik, Nat had felt clear-headed and alert in a way that she hadn’t for a long time. But now she was back beneath the waves, that one brief breath of clarity and fresh air slowly seeping away.

On the edges of her abstraction, Nat was dimly aware that Fontley was still talking about the negotiation that had just ended, but she didn’t care what he had to say. All that mattered was Akemi. A small part of her mind whispered that Claire mattered too, that she also might be someone’s sister, someone’s friend, but Nat pushed that thought away. She would just find a way to save them both.

Nat was startled when Sam reached back and rubbed her knee. “It’ll be alright.” he said, squeezing her knee until she made eye contact with him. “It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

Nat stared at him. The words were an inside joke they’d shared with the other cadets during training. ‘It’s going to be a beautiful day,’ meant the weather was right for training outdoors, which usually made for the most grueling and unpleasant days of all.

Why would Sam bring that up now? She already knew it was a bad day. Sam held her gaze for a moment and then flicked his eyes once toward Fontley.

Sam turned back around in his seat.                                                                      

What was that about? she wondered.

Senator Fontley directed a suspicious glance at her, but so quickly that she almost doubted she’d seen it. He urged the car to a slightly faster speed. “It’s a pity you weren’t at the negotiation,” he told her. “You would have been as astounded at the Director’s wild accusations as I was myself. I, a Rik? It was insane.”

“It was.” Sam edged sideways in his seat, turning to face the Senator as much as possible.

“But then... we can’t allow those kinds of ridiculous claims to get back to Earth. They would make the people very uncomfortable.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” Sam gave him a reassuring, phony smile.

“That is more true than you know, young man. In fact, I have rarely felt more in sympathy with you than I do at this moment, which is odd. Or perhaps ironic.” He took the car even faster, and Nat saw his fingers jiggling manically as he turned on the autopilot. “I have nothing more to worry about. The computer is gone, the Rik treaty dissolved, and you are nearly out of my way. The Director was always a fool, even when I knew her, but she should have known that revealing me was useless. Did she think I’d survived for so many years on your paranoid planet without learning how to take care of myself? Foolish beyond permission.”

Nat was fully aware now. Her skin tightened with the probability of violence. “What are you saying? That you’re a Rik imposter?” She forced a laugh. “No one would believe that.” She grasped the safety handholds above her, rather like gymnastic rings, and tensed back against the seat.

“No one would believe I was Rik, would they?” he said with great affability. “I am truly a human now. I even have intuition.”

 “The intuition of what?” Sam still smiled slightly, as one might at a demented and confused man with a weapon.

“The timing! It’s perfect.” As Fontley reached in his jacket, Nat’s thoughts finally broke lose.

Her feet slammed into the back of the seat by Fontley’s head, but he still managed to get a gun out of his jacket.  Nat found herself contemplating the gun (a Glock, he must have brought it from Earth) as she hit the seat again.

The over-strained headrest popped loose; the gun went off with a deafening bark.

Thankfully Sam had flattened himself against his seat, and the bullet struck the dense, plastic window. The slug stuck fast in the plastic, probably a .45.

Nat lunged forward and grabbed the Senator’s hair. She wrenched it hard in a twisting motion that the Spo had taught them.

Fontley gave an unpleasant squeal. He pointed the gun into the backseat and fired wildly.

As Nat jerked away from the pistol explosion by her ear, Fontley kicked the car yoke with his feet, bumping the car into the wall of the tunnel. He let go of the pistol, trying to get the car under control, but it went into a full spin.

Nat let go of Fontley as the car spun. She barely managed to grab the handholds before the car ricocheted off the center median of the road.  As they bounced, everything seemed to shatter for a moment, but she saw the dropped pistol in front of her.  Picking it up, she braced her feet against his seat and aimed for the back of Fontley’s head.

Another sharp report. Blood spattered Nat and her upraised arms. Part of the Senator’s head was gone; the window opaque with his blood.

Nat had no time to process the iron taste in her mouth before the car slammed into the wall.

***

Akemi waited tensely while the glasses were retrieved from the floor. She tried to think of what she could say to Faal to make him change his mind, but no matter how good she was, he might still leave with Claire.

The glasses wobbled, passed from hand to hand, and then Faal was holding them before his face again.

Faal of Merith II, I would like to undertake a trade on my own behalf, as a sentient being and sovereign individual. I would…

 She lost concentration when Claire spoke up in a loud voice. “Akemi, stop it right now. I know what you’re trying to do for me, and you can’t. I appreciate it, but you can’t give up your whole life for this. What about your sister?”

Claire kept talking, but Akemi had to ignore her.

Faal, you might have gotten very little from me before, but if I go with you cooperatively, how much more valuable will I be? Do you need a sentient security system? An electronic spy? An undetectable investigator? Take me instead of her.

Faal glanced at Claire while he pondered her offer.

Akemi noticed for the first time that Claire held her arm at an awkward angle. Had it been broken? “What will I tell your sister?” Claire was saying. “Please don’t put me in this position. I can’t bear it to happen again.”

Look at her. She’s nearly delirious right now. You’ll have to spend months letting her recuperate before she’ll be good for any kind of revenge. Take me instead.

Faal nudged Claire with his foot and her words collapsed into a gasp. “You do have a point,” he said.

Of course I do. I’m brilliant, if I do say so myself. Though I’m sure you’ll wish to make your own judgment about that.

The elevator opened at the ship level and Akemi got a brief glimpse of a narrow airtight tunnel and the underbelly of a shiny Merith yacht.

Faal nodded. “You may make this offer for yourself, but will Basher and the other follow through? They are the ones who must hand over the computer.”

Go back down and let me speak to Basher. If he hasn’t agreed in five minutes, you can consider our deal voided.

 “I agree,” Faal said eventually. “We shall go back down. Five minutes.”

“No!” Claire said, tears in her eyes. The guards had set her down, and she slumped against the back corner of the elevator. “Give me the glasses, let me talk to her.”

Faal tilted his head back and forth equivocally. No doubt he was trying to decide whether it would hurt Claire more to be denied the conversation or to have it. Apparently he decided on the latter, because the glasses were passed to Claire. He must be very sure of Akemi’s intentions.

Claire, read quick, we only have a few seconds. This isn’t like you and Jenelle. I want to spare you this future, and I have the ability to do it. Let me. If you are taken now, I will be the one who regrets this for years to come.

“But… but I promised myself that I wouldn’t let anyone else suffer when I could stop it. The Rik already took your life, and Faal will take what’s left of it...”

You’re right, the Rik did take my life. I’m essentially dead, Claire. How long can my brain last in that box? Holding onto my life hasn’t made me free, but maybe giving it away will.

“Giving up your life won’t make me free either,” Claire said, crying in earnest now. “I already know how that works, I’ll carry you forever.”

Well, I don’t weigh much. :-)

Claire hiccupped.

I love you Claire. Like my sister. Let me do this for you.

“How can you do it?” she whispered.

But Akemi was done with her soul searching, having found the answer she needed, so she answered with her customary light-heartedness. I’m being noble. Really freaking heroic, actually. :-) Faal is fascinated by this technology, and he’s willing to let you go if he can get it on his terms. It’s simple.

“No, no. What about your sister? She’ll be devastated.”

Well, yes, she will. Obviously you guys have to come rescue me. I’m being heroic on a purely temporary basis.

“Faal will hurt you.”

“I’m a computer – how bad can he hurt me? And he doesn’t want me dead, he’s too interested. Just, you know, don’t take your time about rescuing me, okay? :-)

***

When the doors of the elevator closed, just after he tossed the glasses inside, Basher had the overwhelming impulse to pound Sage into the ground. He hadn’t gotten the nickname ‘Basher’ as a child for nothing.

He turned slowly around. If Sage hadn’t stolen Akemi in the first place, but had told someone what happened to Claire…

Apparently Sage had realized Basher might feel this way. He’d already retreated to the ground-car. He pulled out a bulky bag and held it between them like a shield.

“The computer is in here,” he said.

Basher glared at him.

“I know, but what other choice is there? I want Claire to be safe as much as you do.”

“Yes, she’s remarkably safe right now, isn’t she? She only has a bullet hole in her leg and who knows what else.”

“I didn’t expect him to do that. He promised that she wouldn’t be hurt.”

Hot words rose to Basher’s mouth, but he choked them back. There was no point in arguing with the Rik. “Put Akemi down,” Basher said through clenched teeth. “Now.”

He wasn’t sure if Sage would have obeyed, because a fifth ground-car suddenly pulled into the cavern. Nat was behind the wheel, which was odd, Basher thought, but not as odd as the fact that her face and hands were spattered with blood.

Her eyes were huge and she seemed to be shivering, but she still got out of the car with speed and precision. She took in the relatively empty chamber, Basher with his gun drawn (currently pointed at the floor), and Sage with Akemi’s computer.

“You did it,” she said to Basher. “You stopped him. But Claire?”

He shook his head. “Shot, and taken with Faal.”

Nat closed her eyes.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Basher asked. “Where are Sam and Fontley?”

Nat shivered more violently still, and then sternly calmed herself. “Fontley tried to kill us. He’s a Rik. A… a sleeper agent, you might say.”

Basher gaped at her. “Senator Fontley? But he hates the Rik. He’s scared of aliens, even of Akemi…” Though, of course, that might make sense.

He feared Akemi, who could gain access to records that would reveal him. He feared other Rik, who might expose him. In fact… Basher slapped his forehead. “The Rik director told us he was a Rik. But I thought she was just trying to discredit him…”

“So did we. But apparently her accusation made him nervous enough to act – to kill anyone who heard it. You would have been next on his list, I suppose.”

“But where is he? Did Sam overpower him?”

“He’s dead,” Nat said flatly. “Sam stayed to… supervise clean up.” She was looking around again, as if something was missing that she expected to see. “Where are the glasses? Does Claire have them?”

“Ah… as a matter of fact…”

The elevator door opened again and the guards parted to let Faal come out.

***

“The computer known as Akemi has offered me a new bargain,” Faal stated. “I will release Claire at this time and in return Akemi will voluntarily accompany me to my estate on Merith II.”

One of the guards half-dragged, half-supported a limping Claire out of the elevator. She was crying.

Basher approached warily, eyeing the soldiers carefully and taking in Claire’s horrified face and battered condition. When he was close enough, Claire handed him the glasses with a shaking hand.

“The agreement between Akemi and myself has a brief window of negotiation,” Faal explained. “If she cannot convince you to uphold her bargain in the next five minutes, I will leave with Claire as planned.”

Basher glanced at Claire as he put the glasses on, and she was staring at Nat.

***

Akemi kept it simple, glad that she had no facial expressions to give away her emotions to Basher.

Hey Basher. I convinced Faal to reconsider the trade. He’s willing.

“But – what about you?”

You better come rescue me. :-) At least, I told Claire that, but I know it might be impossible. The Merith extradition laws are complicated, and ‘unlawful prisoner’ might not apply to me as a non-corporeal human… Well. I know you’ll do your best. I just want you know that I won’t hold it against you if you can’t get me back.

Akemi felt his resistance. Besides Nat and Sam, Basher was one of the closest friends she had. And even though Basher was more important to her than she was to him, Akemi knew he would resist this idea.

Part of him resisted, anyway. The other part was determined to rescue Claire, and Akemi knew that part of him would win. She just had to help it.

Claire will still be in danger, even if she gets away today. Faal hasn’t forgiven her, he’s just made me a temporary priority. You have to protect her.

“Nat will never let you go,” Basher whispered.

She will. She did this for me once. Now it’s my turn. Pass me along to her and let me explain. This is my choice.

Akemi was really thankful that she was writing and not speaking these words. Otherwise Basher would hear the catch in her voice. This was the right decision, she felt that with a bedrock certainty, but it was still hard.

“You’re right,” Basher finally whispered. “I don’t know how else to save her.”

I know. That’s what I’ve been saying.

Goodbye, she said one more time.

Basher extended the glasses without a word and Nat took them.

Akemi knew this would be even harder. Why couldn’t people just let you sacrifice yourself and be done with it? They made you drag it out, convincing everyone and their dog that you wanted to do it.

Nat, it’s my turn, you know that. You’ve been protecting me forever. Let me help Claire.

“I’ve failed to protect you,” Nat said, “repeatedly. And I don’t want her to suffer either, but there must be another way…”

Probably, but not one that will stop Faal taking off with her right now. She’ll die with him Nat. At least he can’t hurt me.

That was what Akemi kept telling people, though she had her own fears on that score. Faal might very well resent her for this heavy-handed negotiation, although he had agreed to it… and, well, there were ways to make her suffer. Sensory deprivation was the first thing that sprang to mind, though Akemi was sure he was more creative than her.

Definitely this was not a thought to share with Nat.

“But… I know how badly you want out of this cage,” Nat said. “Is this your next attempt? I’ve seen your dreams you know. Is this another way to cut yourself into pieces and escape?”

Akemi paused. I don’t even remember that dream. Even if I did – not to be crass – but dreams don’t mean crap. You know that. I can’t live my life based on my dreams, and you certainly can’t live your life based on my dreams. You need to let me go.

Nat rubbed tears away from her eyes and drops of blood smeared on her cheek. “Now you’re just getting cliché,” she said.

There’s the big sister I know. :-) Now then, my five minutes are almost up. I’ll see you again, one way or another. Goodbye.

Nat whispered goodbye and gave Faal a brief, clear nod.

Things happened suddenly then.

One of the guards moved past Nat to pick up the computer, which now sat on the floor. Sage was gone, though Akemi didn’t remember hearing him leave.

The Merith gripped the handle of the spherical computer, and for a moment Akemi thought Nat and Basher wouldn't let him pass. They stood frozen. Then the guard jerked forward and Basher stepped aside.

The Merith shoved Claire towards Basher who managed to catch her before she hit the rocky floor.

Another guard took the glasses from Nat and wrapped them in a black, silk cloth. Akemi saw nothing more.

***

Basher caught Claire as one of Faal’s guards pushed her in his direction. Her bandage had slid upward, exposing her leg wound and letting it bleed freely. She collapsed on him and he lowered her carefully to the ground.

“It’s okay, hang on,” he said, trying to support her head.

They both watched as Faal and his soldiers disappeared. Faal carried the sphere himself.

When they were truly gone, Claire broke down weeping. Basher laid her gently on the stone floor, and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and he took his hand away.

“Akemi will be okay,” he said desperately, hoping it was true. “We’ll get her back, but first we need to take care of you.”

He looked back towards the tunnel behind them, where Sage had been, but the spot was empty. He'd disappeared while they spoke to Faal.

Basher was surprised when Nat took a deep breath, and then came to kneel next to Claire.

“Let’s loosen this and do it properly,” she said. Her eyes were bright and shiny, but she looked more awake than he’d ever seen her.