Memetic Drift - J.N. Chaney Page 0,54

not safe, Yulia.” Dr. Markov sounded agitated, though it was clear she was still doing her best to project the calm bedside manner that had made such an impression on me.

Andrea’s voice had a venom I’d never heard before. “That is not my name, Samara.”

Dr. Markov tried to placate her. “I’m sorry, Andrea. I’m just trying to tell you that it isn’t safe. If you apply too much pressure before the nanites can fuse the bone, the pinning could unseat and your arm—”

“It’s my body. What’s left of it, anyway.” Andrea was unstrapping herself from the operating table as she argued. Her new left arm was all exposed graphene and metal composites, with no pleximesh skin fitted over it yet. Its shiny black surface stood in sharp relief against her pale skin as she pulled at the straps.

“Of course, I wasn’t implying otherwise. Here, if you’re going to do that, let me help. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I don’t need—never mind. Just unstrap me.”

Andrea looked away while she waited for her to unclasp the restraints. “I’m not telling you what to do,” Samara said. “As your doctor—”

“You’re not my doctor. You’re an expert prosthetic surgeon. Stick to that.”

“Andrea, you could damage the prosthetic interface if you don’t allow yourself to heal. Do you understand what I’m saying? That means heavy metals and neurorelay entering your bloodstream. You could die.”

“I died a long time ago.”

Dr. Markov seemed to shrink, like all the energy had been sucked right out of her. She didn’t say anything else, she just stood, grabbed a pill bottle, and handed it over to Andrea without a word.

Andrea took it from her in equal silence, then swung her feet around to the floor. When she saw Raven and I through the glass she just glared. Raven gave her a sympathetic look, which if anything caused her scowl to deepen.

I don’t know what I looked like, but I was doing everything I could to seem as impersonal as possible. Andrea came out the room, pouring out a small amount of red pills into her palm. She brought her hand to mouth and swallowed the medicine with a tilt of her chin. She spoke to us as she passed.

“I thought I told you to meet at holding.”

She continued without breaking stride. As we followed her toward the door, I glanced back. Samara Markov watched her daughter walk away, and the look on her face was pure heartbreak.

16

Veraldi and Jones were waiting at the door to holding. Jones had his hands in his pockets and a melancholy expression on his face. He shook his head as I approached.

“I want to be clear before we go in,” Andrea began. “This is an unprecedented situation. No section of Sol Federation Intelligence has ever conducted an interrogation of such a high-ranking officer before today.”

“Wouldn’t she be a former officer?” asked Andrew Jones.

Veraldi shook his head. “She was never discharged from service, only missing. She’s still OF-6.”

“I’m sure she won’t be for long,” continued Andrea. “It’s important for us to make sure that there are no questions later about what happened in this interview. We’ll be recording the whole thing, but I also want eyewitness accounts for prosecution. That’s why you’re all going to be observing the interrogation in one capacity or another. That doesn’t mean you’ll all be visible to Katerina, though.” She turned to Vincenzo Veraldi. “You’ll come in with me, but I’ll be asking all the questions. Understood?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

She looked to Jones. “Andrew, you’re strictly an observer for this one. You’ll be with Thomas Young in the observation post. You can help him run the recording equipment.”

Andrew chuckled. “I’ll sit and watch him do it.”

She ignored his comment and turned to me. “Tycho, you and Raven will be on overwatch. Do you have your sidearms?”

I nodded and drew my handgun.

“Up in the loft?” asked Raven as she did the same.

“Yes,” Andrea said. “I know we have her, but don’t forget who we’re dealing with here. If she sees the slightest hint of an opportunity, she will use it. That’s why I’m going in there unarmed—same with you, Veraldi. We don’t want to give her anything she can use. If you have to fire, prioritize shooting to maim. We need her alive if possible.”

You would never have guessed that she was talking about her mother.

“You got it, chief,” said Raven.

I didn’t know why Andrea was even attempting to do this herself, but it didn’t seem like a good idea