Chapter Thirty Two
In orbit, Lisbet and Tiffania floated like debris. From the windows of their pod, they could see everything: Mars imploding, the topography changing forever, the other pods of the people in Carlos’ pleasure palaces, the discarded tech that floated in orbit, and the ships that had been torn apart on the occasion of Lisbet’s arrival on the red planet.
“What’s that?” Tiffania asked, pointing at something through a window over Lisbet’s shoulder.
Lisbet craned her head. It was familiar. It was the ship that had come to pick up Invocation when they had been in the Buckshot. Looking at it from a different angle gave Lisbet a different perspective on the ship. It was used for transporting large numbers of helocarriers. It even had a company logo on it, Excalibur Helocarriers.
The ship lingered over them. It had dozens of cargo holds so that it could deliver helocarriers without disturbing the airlock within. One of the bays opened and magnets caught their pod. Soon it was lifted into the ship and the doors shut against it.
Once the air pressure in the cargo bay had stabilized, Lisbet unbuckled her harness and leaped out of the pod. In the next minute, she was in a hallway aboard the ship. She saw a man heading toward the flight deck.
“Invocation!” she called.
He didn’t turn at first, but she called his name again.
That time he turned around to see Lisbet chasing toward him. “Invocation,” she panted when she caught up to him. “Where’s Beck?”
“Slow down,” he said to her calmly. “For starters, I’m not Invocation.”
She scanned her mind. “Are you Invocation’s brother? Are you Theology?”
He looked at her funny. “Why does everyone from here to halfway to Hades know that name? I haven’t gone by that name in forty years. I go by Gage now.”
“Lovely! Thank you for picking us up! Do you know where Beckett Beltrose is?” she demanded.
A pink-haired woman joined them. “We’re here to help you. You’re going to need to calm down. I’ve never heard that name before, have you?”
“He must work with Invocation?” Gage questioned sensibly.
“He works for Vantz,” she said, still breathless.
“We all work for Vantz,” Gage said with a smile. “Come with me. I’m just heading to the flight deck. Mars is still exploding under us if you want to see. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“But Beck…” she sputtered.
“I’m Iona and you’re Lisbet,” the pink-haired woman said gently, as she guided Lisbet toward the flight deck.
“How do you know me?”
“Everyone knows you. You were on every media outlet for months. You’re the Beauty of Ares.”
“That’s what they call me?” Lisbet said in a daze.
Iona nodded. “That’s what they call you.”
On the flight deck, Lisbet was still dizzy from everything that happened. She located a convenient trash compactor, lifted the lid, and threw up into it.
While she wiped her mouth, Gage pressed buttons and got Vantz up on the screen.
Lisbet stared at it. The interface was the same. It was the same deer head, the same gentleman’s coat and gloves. Everything was the same about the image, but Vantz was not smoking.
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“Any idea where a guy named Beckett Beltrose is?” Gage asked pleasantly with his face that looked so exactly like Invocation’s that it was truly spooky. Even his voice sounded the same.
“Beckett Beltrose is unaccounted for,” the tinny British accent explained.
“I have your wife here,” Gage continued.
“Excellent,” Vantz said automatically.
Did people really believe that rendering was a real person? Lisbet had never seen it operated by the AI before. He was wooden, like a puppet, like a doll, like the AI construct everyone thought he was. No wonder he needed a real person to represent him in a place like The Boiler Room.
“Please give her priority, have Iona give her a quarter physical, and get her into cryostasis as soon as possible,” Vantz instructed.
“No!” Lisbet shouted. “I need to find Beck.”
Gage gave her a funny look. “Is he your brother?”
Lisbet hesitated. “No… he’s…” She struggled with what to say, how to explain the situation, without giving too much away. “He’s my handler.”
“We have to get everyone into cryostasis,” Iona explained, handing Lisbet a cloth to wipe her mouth after she threw up. “We don’t have the supplies to keep even a single person awake.”
“I don’t want Lisbet to be placed with the general population,” Vantz interrupted. “I want her in one of the pilot’s chambers in the hull of the ship. I don’t want her getting mixed up with the other evacuees. You’ll be paid triple for her timely return, Gage.”
All that made him seem more human, but not as human as he would have sounded if he had been Beck.
Gage swiveled in his chair. “You heard him. Ready to go?”
“What about my sister? She was on the pod with me,” Lisbet stalled.
“We’ll take care of her and everyone else we pick up,” Iona said soothingly as she led Lisbet toward the door.
“Can I at least say goodbye to my sister before I go into cryostasis?” she asked Iona as the doors to the flight deck closed behind them.
“Of course.”
They made their way back to the pods and Lisbet helped Tiffania unbuckle her harness. She’d been stuck in the pod because she couldn’t get it undone. She was quite upset when they finally made it back to her. She was blubbering and crying.
Lisbet was distraught herself and not great at comforting Tiffania.
Iona stepped in, undid the straps, and told her that everything would be fine. They were going to give her a physical and a snack. Then she would take her to a chamber provided by Sleeping Beauty Inc. and she would be put to sleep. Tiffania would be woken up when Mars’ atmosphere was complete, in a few months. They needed to spend some time tweaking it, but when they were finished, they would wake her up and she would be free. Antar would not own her anymore. Iona was as soothing as a nurse in any army hospital, capable and reassuring.
Tiffania started crying afresh.
Lisbet was not in better shape than her sister, but she did not have tears streaming down her face, so Iona took it for granted that Lisbet was in better shape.
“Help me with her. We need to get her to the medical suite,” Iona instructed.
Lisbet helped and cared for her sister, even going so far as selecting the story that was read over the speaker to Tiffania. She chose the story of The Princess and Pea because it had nothing to do with their last misadventure. No Beauty and the Beast for her.
When they were all finished and Tiffania was safely in cryostasis, Iona took Lisbet back to the medical suite.
“We’ve got to get a move on. More slaves are starting to come in and I have to treat them individually.”
“Would you rather I didn’t go to sleep and instead stayed up to help you with the physicals?” Lisbet offered.
Iona chuckled. “I’d love to do that, but Gage and then Invocation would both have my head. You’re not certified and Vantz has asked for you to be put into cryostasis immediately. I took care of Tiffania first because you asked to have her done first. I hoped that would put your mind at rest. Are you feeling better having seen her safely gathered in?”
“I suppose,” Lisbet said, thinking of Beck.
Iona was quick as a cat, meaning that the physical she gave Lisbet was much quicker than the one Invocation had given her aboard the Buckshot. She sped the quarter physical along and then hurried Lisbet to the pilot’s wing of the ship.
“This is my cryochamber,” Iona said, showing her a double-wide cryochamber.
“You share it with Gage?”
Iona nodded. “Vantz requested that we give you one of the chambers reserved for our family. We don’t have any children yet, so they’re empty. Get in. You’ll be safe.” Iona was done reassuring her and held the lid open with an air of kindness that had been missing when Lisbet had been put to sleep by Sleeping Beauty Inc.
Lisbet did as she was told and Iona stood like a guardian angel for a moment before she said, “Would you like to hear a fairy tale?”
“Gah. No,” Lisbet fairly growled. “I’ve had enough fairy tales. I’m ready for my happily-ever-after.”
“Aren’t we all?” Iona said with a pleasant smile before she closed the lid on Lisbet and flooded the chamber with gas.