Onekka - The Tragedy of Jaqui Fennet Read online

  Suddenly, she was remembering her dream from the previous night. There were no specifics, but a deep air of secrecy and threat. She caught the Armcorp CEO looking her way, apparently having given up on her boss, and she acted before sense gave her the chance to back out.

  "In Armcorp's case," she stated, "I feel we can come to a new arrangement."

  In the corner of her vision, she saw Garret's eyes widen as he turned toward her in outrage, but she refused to look. Her gaze locked with that of the deep-voiced man across the table.

  "Perhaps," he said, "if we could be privy to some information regarding this special research, and Armcorp's expected dividend based on that portion of our investment, we could be more confident in the arrangement."

  "Yes!" said Garret, standing noisily and extending a hand. "Absolutely, something to look into. Let me spend some time detailing a new proposal, and we can reconvene when I have it ready. In the meantime, please enjoy the hotel and entertainment we have arranged for you. Helen will see you out."

  Caught off guard, Jaq rose to her feet and bade farewells as Garret's PA Helen ushered the Armcorp delegation out the door. It had barely clicked shut when Garret turned to her, his face as flushed as she'd ever seen it.

  "What was that about?" he threw his arms in the air.

  You choked, that's what. "You seemed troubled, Dane. I thought I'd better jump in before the tension racked up any higher."

  "You gave them a whiff of an inroad. Now they won't stop sniffing till they've uncovered everything!"

  Jaq shrugged. "The companies funding us have a right to know what it is they're paying for. I don't see what's so bad. What are we talking about here?"

  "It's bloody sect- Never mind. You can't be in on any more discussions with Armcorp, Fennet. We just can't risk it. If they... Ah shit! You've done it, this time. You've really fucked the bunny!"

  Chapter 2

  "I don't get it!" said Jaq, slurping her JD from its rocks and swaying gently in the alcoholic breeze. The Engine Room was the bar where all the mechanics hung out. Jaq suspected nobody in a suit had ever even glanced at the place, which was exactly why she chose it. She needed some roughage, and as little chance of bumping into work colleagues as possible.

  "What's so damned wrong with saying there might be hope of a renegotiation?" She teetered on her stool, holding her precious booze away from her body with a drunk's sense of priority. Deciding not to risk losing it, she downed her whiskey in one. "And what's your name again? In my head you're just 'Wallet'."

  The guy chuckled. "That's Wally. So how about it, honey? You want to come back to mine and open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black?"

  She groped his groin on the second attempt, staggering off her bar stool. "Can I drink it from a straw?"

  "Honey, as long as I get to watch, you can drink it any way you like it."

  *

  An hour later, Jaq stared at a spinning white ceiling and pretended it was alcohol that fuelled the hot tears sliding into her ears and hair. Wally's weight sprawled half across her and he was snoring noisily into her armpit. He'd tell his mates it'd been a night of hot passion. She remembered it as five minutes of sweaty wrestling and five seconds of grunts.

  'You're nothing,' roared her Father's voice, over and over. Being dead did nothing to diminish his tone. 'Who could love a half-breed like you?'

  "Wally loves me," she mouthed, a sob shuddering through her frame. "And Derek, and Bill, and Sharmac, oh god!" Her teeth clutched at her lower lip.

  She looked at the porthole and it pulsed in her vision. It looked like escape, freedom, a way out. Just take me, nothingness. Steal my air and turn me inside out. Take me from this trivial, deceitful existence of lies and false promises. I wish I was dead, dear Onekka. I wish I was fucking dead!

  *

  The chamber felt different this time - more appropriate, as though she somehow belonged. The three shapes were not visible, but they were there. She could feel their presences in the atmosphere like the ghosts of memories not quite caught. She tried to speak and a cough choked out - far more than she'd managed last time.

  "The link is improving," said a voice on the air, though she sensed it was not addressing her.

  "Distance is a factor," said another.

  "Who is divining right now?"

  "Thirty Seven. Thirty Seven is the strongest."

  Jaq coughed again, this time managing a, "Wha-?"

  "Ssssss!"

  "She is here! Thirty Seven, what are you doing?"

  "Be calm, sisters. All is well. Jaqui? Welcome."

  She felt herself flood with a sense of calm. Somewhere in her mind, anything so well-spoken could not be all bad. Without change, there was change, and she found herself before a single, indefinite shape. Its outline shifted, and this time she could see it was not just a pilot's chair, but also something sitting in it.

  "Where am I?" Her voice was clear in her head, if quiet, but she was not aware of any sound. It felt like her senses were flooded with treacle.

  "You are safe. We are here to help you." Thirty Seven - such an intriguing name! - had a voice like chocolate sauce on Christmas morning. If forced to guess, she would label her female, but there was no way to be certain.

  "Help me how?" she asked.

  "You think you seek death, but in reality you seek purpose. We can aid you in this quest."

  "How..."

  More waves of wellbeing flooded her consciousness. "Do not concern yourself with the how. Only know that we are here for you." There was a brief period of quiet and Jaq found herself sitting cross-legged on a cushion of air. "There is a man, a man named Garret, in your path. He keeps things from you, Jaqui. He hides the truth, and it is this deception which frustrates your ambitions. He wishes you ill, Jaqui. Never forget that. Sleep now. We will speak again soon."

  "But?"

  "Three will watch."

  *

  It was two days later before Jaq was reminded of the dream. Days, of course, were a relative concept, controlled not by nature but by ai-driven light phases. There had been some attempt by the administration to call them 'cycles', but the human psyche is not so easily swayed. When it's light, it's day, and night is dark.

  She was on her refs break in Dining Hall 2, munching rehydrated meat substitute and puffing on her illusory cigarette. Dane Garret's PA was walking past with her food and Jaq invited her to sit with her.

  "Sure," said Helen, "it'll make a change from eating with the Encoding Pool - all they do is gossip about what the managers let slip between calls. Can you put out the ciggy, though? I read you can get passive pheromones."

  Jaq chuckled as Helen took a seat opposite. "Seriously? People are complaining about leeching happy-vibes off others?"

  "It's a question of will. Sometimes we don't want to be happy or calm. If your second-hand pheromones change my state of mind, who made that decision? If anyone's going to control my thoughts, it ought to be me."

  "No problem," said Jaq, flicking the off switch and dropping the cigarette into her purse. "Really though," she swept her arm around the canteen, "have you seen all the adverts and propaganda we live amongst? It's not like we can hide from it, even in our bunks. Everything is badged, and everything defined. If you wanted to avoid thought influences, you came to work in the wrong place."

  On cue, a voice filled the canteen area, extolling the virtues of eating 5 Chango Chikkysticks per day and claiming no other sustenance was necessary.

  Jaq smirked. "Let me guess; they just got a bulk shipment of cheap Chikkysticks."

  "I think you're right," laughed Helen, "but I appreciate you putting the ciggy away." She took a mouthful of food and chewed unenthusiastically. "So, what made you call me over?"

  "It's Dane, Helen. I'm not sure what to make of him at the moment." The bustle of voices surrounding them suddenly seemed intrusive, giving her the irrational impression that somebody might be eavesdropping. Helen didn't respond, perhaps sensing that Jaq hadn't formulated her thoughts
yet. "He seems more... distant."

  Helen sighed. "I shouldn't tell you this, but it's not like he can hide it for long." Her shoulders slumped. "He's got someone else working on the Armcorp delegation with him - a contractor. That's why he's landed you with a mechanics audit, even though it's not due for months. He wants you distracted, so you don't take any further part in it."

  "What?"

  "You really pissed him off, Jaq. I don't know what you said in that board room, or how you said it, but he's desperate to keep you and Armcorp separate from now on."

  "That cheeky wanker! As Admin Overseer, I have to be at those meetings. He can't exclude me just because he choked and I tried to fix things!" She braced her hands on the table and stood angrily.

  "Whoa!" said Helen. "Take five before you go storming up there. Remember the job. If you lose your work up here between worker's rota shuttles, you're screwed."

  Jaq stormed away from the table. He keeps things from you, Jaqui. He hides the truth. No shit!

  Behind her, Helen's plaintive voice drifted to her ears. "Remember, you didn't hear it from me!"

  *

  "We just didn't need you on this one, Fennet. Don't take it to heart." Garret sat behind his desk, a supercilious smile on his face, but that tick was giving him away.

  Jaq paced in his office, one hand pushed through the hair atop her head.

  "Who did you have working with you on this? Who took my place - some contractor? They can't know the station like I do, Dane. Onekka is my baby. I know all her little foibles."

  Garret snorted at her last comment, but quickly covered it. "I was under orders, Fennet. I'm hardly the top of the food chain, here. Word came down; use the outsider, stonewall the Admin Overseer. It's just how it had to be."

  She actually growled in frustration, vibrations hurting her throat on the way through. "So where are the Armcorp guys now? Didn't they question my sudden disappearance from dealings with them?"

  "They've gone," he said, lacing his fingers. "We concluded our business. I took care of them, Fennet. You don't need to worry about it."

  She left his office without further comment, knowing she couldn't risk additional confrontation, but suspicion gnawed at her for the rest of the day. She worked on autopilot for several hours, avoided speaking to anybody, and headed straight to her bunk. For once, the cocktail bars were not calling to her.

  One train of thought sustained her throughout the day; this situation did not make sense. Delegations always stayed on station for at least a week, because that was the shuttle frequency. Onekka was a decent place to stay for anyone with money to invest, so comfort would not be an issue. Casinos, entertainment, luxury dining - all was included in their stay. If the Armcorp delegation really had left, that meant chartering a private craft and foregoing all the free trimmings. That was serious money, and one almighty disagreement.

  Jaq reclined on her bed and read the writing on the blank ceiling. Something was going on, and the obscure dreams she'd been having recently drove her to suspicion. She wondered if there'd been other signs, previous dealings that didn't seem right. Perhaps the dreams were her unconscious mind, alerting her to all the things she'd seen without noticing.

  Only one thing was going to sate the thoughts that rifled through her memories in search of clues. She needed to investigate. A sigh shuddered through her body as she realised who she needed to talk to.

  Out came her comms pad, and she commenced typing a message. How to play this? It was going to need some wiles.

  WE NEED TO TALK. MEET ME FOR DRINKS TOMORROW?

  She typed the recipient; Derek Bant, and pressed 'Send'.

  *

  She watched him approach through the bustling bar room, a slight swagger to his gait that set the bile rising in her throat. He thought he was in luck, that she would apologise for being a mad woman and invite him to her bunk this evening. In reality, his only distinction was working in the shuttle bay. A small part of Jaq's mind shrank from what she was contemplating, but it was driven over by her determination to solve the mystery at hand. The Armcorp delegation had provided her a focus unlike anything she'd felt in months. This was something truly worth looking into.

  "Hey, Babes." He perched opposite, a confident leer on his face. "I been missing those lips these last few nights."

  She forced a smile around a mouthful of amber liquid. "I was a bit short with you the other morning."

  "It ain't no thing, girl. I forgive you."

  She almost choked, but swallowed the revulsion before it showed. She needed this - there was no other way to check things out without huge risk. He bought two more drinks and they sat for a while, matching stares, getting one another's measure.

  "Let me make it up to you?" she breathed.

  He clinked his glass against hers. "Amen to that, sweetheart."

  *

  It took three nights before she got the message she'd been waiting for. He hadn't been eager to help, and constantly asked questions she wasn't going to answer, but Jaq knew her assets. All it took was enough dissociation to properly use them. Eventually, he simply didn't care why she wanted to know things, only that she'd promise the reward he wanted.

  She was checking schematics of airlock hydraulics against the most recent survey data when her comm pad beeped.

  The information she'd asked for scrolled across her screen; no shuttles had docked or disembarked between the weekly service Armcorp arrived on, and the standard service a week later. Not one passenger on the second shuttle was from Armcorp.

  Jaq dropped her comm pad and sat back in her work chair, gazing without seeing at the drawing on screen before her. What in sod's name had happened to the delegation? Garret had let slip his anger was related to the Sector 5 door, but nobody ever got through there, and what could be so secret as to cause such a reaction?

  She placed a comm to Onekka's central hospitality hotel, and was told that Armtech had checked out after only one night. That got her thoughts buzzing. Had they been 'disappeared'? If so, by whom, and where to go for help?

  Onekka had a security force run by a contractor, but they only dealt with bar brawls and occasional theft. No, the only person who was going to investigate this was Jaqui Fennet; a thought she found both exhilarating and deeply frightening.

  She paused for a moment, dug out her 'cigarette', and forced herself to think. Was she being nuts, here? Corporate conspiracy and disappearing delegations who'd made the mistake of asking the wrong question. It all seemed like a bad film plot. The data on her screen caught her eye again, made her think. Up here, everything one saw was an invention. People trusted their eyes because there was no other sane choice, but everything their eyes saw was just visual information. On Onekka, reality was exactly what the ai routines and vid screens said it was. But who controls the ai?

  "Sod this for a game of soldiers," she muttered to herself. She needed to know what happened to that delegation. The last place she knew they'd been was the boardroom. Time to check there!

  She hadn't got five paces from her office before Garret called her name.

  "Fennet! Come here, we need to talk." She hid her frustration and strode over.

  "I'm a bit busy with this audit, Dane. Can it wait?"

  "I'm afraid not." He looked genuinely worried, and a bole of fear burgeoned in her stomach at his expression. "There's someone here who wants to talk with you. He's from upstairs. Jaqui, what the hell have you been up to?"

  Chapter 3

  Mr DePennier looked like a typical movie bad guy, right down to the tinted glasses and perfectly tailored black suit. He sat behind Garret's desk, apparently fully at ease, and endured Jaq's pointed inspection without stirring.

  She'd been about to comment on the questionable necessity of shades in an environment where light levels were disparately controlled according to people's individual eyesight and direction of gaze, but then she noticed something. The glasses were not apparel - the arms, rather than sweeping back to his ears, fused into the f
lesh of his temples. This guy was augmented. That was rare whatever way you looked at it, and extremely expensive. He'd either been blind and the glasses were prosthetic eyes, or they acted like a Heads-Up Display for the world, providing him additional details about things he looked at. The dark skin across his bald pate shone but didn't glisten, and he kept his trim body so still it was hard to know if he was even breathing.

  "They let me track mood and response," he said in a thick French accent, "since you were wondering." He leaned forward and clenched his gloved hands together on the desk, never breaking his gaze from Jaq's. "They also let me know what direction somebody is looking in. You, Ms Fennet, have a very direct stare, but you are also calm."