Episode 110. Part 4
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We get off the mag-lev near our hotel and as we walk back, Mike falls into step beside us. Apparently he’d taken the next mag-lev back. No muss, no fuss.
Mike: (quietly) Well. That went pretty smoothly.
Nika: Yeah, it was almost fun.
We get to our room and take stock. We’ve got the Chempliance, and we’re hoping it’s close enough to what Mike had been drugged with so we can effect a cure. Valerie will need a sample of it and knowing we can’t simply drop munitions into her mailbox, we decide to extract the chemical from a round instead and send it to her in a test tube. A large syringe from Arden’s bag and a steady hand does the trick, and Rina drains a Chempliant round dry without a hitch. The syringe is emptied into the test tube, sealed, and couriered off to Valerie to arrive first thing in the morning, with a message saying the vial in the package is as close to a sample of the actual drug used on Carter as we can acquire. We sign off the package as being from “MC” and pay the courier.
The vial leaves our hands. The die is cast. It’s up to Valerie, now.
We decide the safest place to stash the remaining nine vials would be somewhere on the ship and before we leave the cover of our hotel room, we turn on the news feeds to see what’s happened at the Blue Sun Headquarters.
We piece the important points together: Two security guards injured—one seriously wounded on the roof and one shot in the leg—and one guard dead from a head wound. The police have no suspects so far in the injuries or deaths.
Nika: I’m going back to Christian’s, then, to check on what’s going on there.
Arden: If they need a room by themselves, I’m going back to Christian’s with you.
“They” meaning Rina and Mike.
Nika: (holding up a hand) I’m leaving that one alone.
Rina: (to Mike) Wherever you want to be, I’ll stay with.
Mike: I’ll stay in town, I guess.
Nika leaves and Arden goes with her. The door closes and Rina looks at Mike.
Rina: So…you wanna order a pizza?
Mike: Sure.
Rina: What do you want on it?
Mike: (shrugs) Whatever you want is great.
Rina: Half pepperoni, half mushroom?
Mike: Sure.
Apparently Mike doesn’t really care what comes on that pizza, or even that there’s going to be pizza. He’s got other things on his mind, and by the time the pizza arrives, Rina’s not much interested it, either, and it’s stone cold when they finally get around to eating it.
Thursday, 03 Nov 2518
The Edge Residence
Memphis, Osiris
White Sun (Bai Hu) System
09:30 hrs, local time
News about the riot at Blue Sun Headquarters gets top billing in the morning news shows. The guards managed to quell the riot. People have been sent home or taken to the hospital. Others have been taken into custody. No videos of us have been aired and so far, it seems we’ve dodged the long arm of the law.
Arden gets on the phone to Valerie, fifteen minutes before our scheduled appointment, to tell her we aren’t coming.
Valerie: I got your package.
Her inflection prompts Arden to explain himself. Arden tells her that Dr. Roger Duncan has really freaked out Carter, to the point that he refuses to go to the hospital for treatment.
Arden: I know it’s not as good as having him there with you, but you have the sample to work from. If your curiosity is up for it, we’d really appreciate it. But we don’t really expect anything from you. Our thoughts are it’s probably beyond your purview at this point.
If Valerie is insulted by Arden’s challenge, she doesn’t let it show. In fact, her voice comes back a little hushed.
Valerie: The situation here’s a little bit different. There are some people here. I’m not sure what they’re about, but they seem used to having a lot of authority. They flashed a couple of badges. They haven’t come to me yet, but they’ve talked to Duncan, so…. (exhales a big breath)…
Arden: Lay low and tell them the truth when they ask.
Valerie: I’ve actually sent your sample with another load for another patient I have. I’m hoping it will get run kind of under the radar. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get anything back to you anytime soon.
Arden: We appreciate it.
Valerie: There better be something good in here. Because this is not going to go smooth.
Valerie hangs up and the call ends. Arden fills Nika in on what is happening at the OCURC and Nika immediately grills Arden on what names we gave Valerie and Duncan during yesterday’s visit. Just Mike’s, though Valerie might have mentioned Arden in passing, given his past association with her. It’s enough to sit badly with Nika.
Nika: Get on the phone. Call Rina. Tell them to get to the ship. Tell them don’t make a big deal of it, but as long as nobody at the hospital has your names, if they’re on the ship, worst case: they can lift off. We can meet them somewhere else.
Arden does as ordered, adding to Rina if she doesn’t hear from the others by noon, she’s to take off with the ship. Rina and Mike pack up and leave the hotel. They encounter no problems on the way or while boarding the Gift. They just waltz right on aboard.
Meanwhile, Nika and Arden check on Christian’s whereabouts with his parents. They say he’s gone to the Temple. Christian won’t be easily accessible while he’s there, though we can leave a message for him. We leave one, telling him to call us soonest. As for why he’s gone, his parents tell us it was to seek a redress of the wrongs dealt us by the Camdens. More than that, the Edges cannot say.
Manuel: Our …confidentiality is one of the center pillars of the Companions Guild. As a result, it is considered inappropriate to pass on information about the proclivities of any of our clients for political gain. However, when a client or a family of a client chooses to treat a Companion in such a way that we suffer, sometimes these rules may be bent. So I believe what Christian may be doing is seeing whether or not if it would be appropriate to use some of the Guild’s influence to stop the Camdens from using the influence they’ve been using.
Arden: Basically, slap them on the wrist and tell them to stop that?
Manuel: (sighs) Ah…sort of saying, ‘do they really want to be airing their dirty laundry’?
Nika: So they’ll be suing for damages, though.
Manuel: It wouldn’t be a legal thing at all. It would all be about reputation.
Nika and Arden remark it would be a perfect case for blacklisting the Camdens as clients.
Manuel: Our son is no longer with the Guild, so he is under no Guild obligation to remain confidential. However—
Arden: I thought he was on a leave of absence?
Manuel: You’ll have to discuss that with him. The Code of the Companions is ingrained very deeply in us, and he respects the confidentiality despite the harm that’s been done. He’s seeking counsel in this regard.
A pause. Then:
Manuel: If you need to leave, we can protect him here. If something were to happen.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that. With Christian thus occupied, Nika gets on the Cortex to arrange for cargo to pay for our departure. Even though we’ve got the girls’ jewelry, a little cash left in our accounts and can get to another point in the White Sun system before refueling, we’re not so rich we can afford to fly around empty. Arden starts organizing our personal effects and our passengers for take off. Sean Donovan has already left the Edges for greener pastures, without so much as a farewell or thank you. Manuel tells us Donovan’s found other employ. As rude as his disappearance is, it’s a relief to know he’s not coming with us.
As for the girls, Misses Manning and Bannon, they will be shipping out with us for the Rim, to stay on Angel with Summer Fairweather or on Boros with Nika’s sister. When the girls cannot hear him speculate, Arden wonders aloud if there is a camera mounted in their quarters. Nika looks askance at his off-color remark.
Nika: Look, if you are really that desperate to get laid, we’ll talk another time.
Arden: (brightens) Really?
Nika: In the meantime—let’s arrange for cargo. Honestly, I can’t decide if you’re flirting just to flirt or if you really are serious about this.
Arden: About what?
Nika: This whole…horny doctor thing you have going on.
Arden: I don’t know. (grinning lasciviously) Come to me in a teddy and we’ll talk….we can play doctor.
Nika cracks up laughing and Arden joins in, but that question never really gets answered. It’s nearing noon and Nika gets on the horn to Rina and Mike on the ship, telling them that the coast is clear. Or at least, clear enough that they can join the others at the Edges house if they wished. Just keep an eye out on the way over, as always. Dinner and a place to stay is waiting for them. Rina and Mike, no dummies they, lock everything up and head over to the Edges.
Soon after they arrive, Valerie waves Arden. When the picture resolves on the screen, it becomes obvious she’s in some kind of closet and taking a real-time vid of herself using her camera-phone. What the hell?
Arden: I did not expect to hear from you.
Valerie: I got your sample and processed it and…I was only able to do one quick test on some culture, but it appears to undo the effects. Under normal circumstances, I’d say we should go through a long treatment period where we introduce small amounts over the course of months, but… I guess that’s not going to be possible. If you can come in, I can give you the cure.
Arden: Suits me.
Valerie: Well, there are these guys here, who are … the facility is, how shall I say it, on lockdown almost. Your Mister Carter has apparently proved a good deal of interest. I’m not sure if they’re going to let anyone up here. I’ve been able to say I still have work to do here, otherwise I’m going to be escorted back to my apartment.
We come up with suggestions on how to get our hands on that cure. Have Valerie order take-out to her office, have one of us play delivery-boy to bring the food to her and make the swap then? She might could arrange that, but the agents would expect to eat in the cafeteria instead. Could we pick up the cure at her home? No. Her husband might be there. Arden pulls Nika over so the comm can send real-time vid of her, Nika leans toward the mike and lay out her plan. Go to a restaurant, she says. I’ll meet you there, you and your husband pick a table and enjoy a dinner out.
Valerie: I don’t like this cloak and dagger stuff.
Nika: It’s very simple. I’ll sit next to you. You order dinner and you can pass me whatever you need to pass me.
Valerie: They’re not going to let me go out to dinner. That’s not what’s happening.
Nika: What exactly are you talking in terms of lockdown? Are they going to be following you? Or are they going to just send you out of your office and send you home?
Valerie: I don’t know. I don’t know. (She holds up a vial of green fluid to her phone’s camera) I’m going to put this in the meds for Tyler, a patient named Brian Tyler on this floor. I’m done.
The call ends.
Now how are we going to pick up meds for a patient we don’t know? Rina’s wondering why Valerie’s not couriering out the sample the same way it came in. And then there’s the whole matter of who goes to the hospital to pick it up? Arden and Rina and Mike have been seen at the hospital, but Nika and Christian haven’t. Should we send them? How will we get access to Valerie’s floor if the place is in lockdown? There are far too many variables to just take off and grab the cure. We resign ourselves to further delay and start planning how to get our hands on that medicine.
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