“As an amazing coincidence,” I said, “old Armel is kind of similar to a dead rat.”
Neither of the women even glanced at me, much less smiled at my joke. They were ready to throw-down right now.
“I’ll be back,” Galina said, and she spun around to march out.
I followed along after her, and when we got to the elevator, I asked an obvious question. “Hey, we don’t need to step on any toes, here. We can go upstairs to some Blue Deck and buy a cheap revive on the legion budget if we have to.”
“You don’t understand. I’m not just trying to get a revival. These people have… techniques. They can get information from a man that no one else on this planet can.”
I frowned. That sounded kind of… evil.
At that moment I remembered what I’d told old Armel before I’d tossed him off a cliff back at Rigel. I’d pretty much promised him I’d help him not get tortured—or whatever foul fate was on Galina’s mind.
“Uh… Tribune? I’ve got an idea.”
She looked at me. “So do I, but I doubt our two thoughts are compatible.”
“Huh? Well, maybe not. But the way I see it, is the trick will be to avoid government stooges like that group that just cock-blocked us. They’re going to get in the way, and they will take the credit if Armel does talk.”
She eyed me thoughtfully. “Go on. How do we do fix these problems?”
“Let’s get Armel a revive off the grid. Down at that place around the back of Central—you know, where they charge a million credits to revive anyone.”
Her eyes were narrowing as I spoke. “How do you know—ah, right. You found out about them when you killed Floramel.”
“I surely didn’t!”
She threw up her hands. “Whatever. I don’t care who you kill. But how would reviving Armel there help us?”
“Well sir, if no one knows he’s on Earth… if no one knows we’ve got him… well, we can do whatever we want. No evidence. No regulations—nothing.”
She thought that over carefully. “Hmm… You’ve got a point. After all, if Armel won’t cooperate, we can always put him down and then bring him back here for a second round. If your idea works, on the other hand, we’ll be able to take full credit. Yes… I like this idea of yours.”
Thoughtfully, she fired up the elevator again, and we began sailing back up to the lobby area. The revival chambers I’d taken Floramel too had been on the ground floor, so that made perfect sense.
She worked her tapper like a pro while we sailed past levels. “Of course,” she said while looking at her forearm and moving her fingers like greased-lightning, “you realize that you’ll have to do all the dirty work, right?”
“Oh… huh?”
She lowered her arm and stared at me. “The torture, McGill. Get your head past breakfast, will you do it?”
“Uh… I get it. Sure.”
I was concerned, but I kept quiet while Galina contacted shady people and made arrangements. She seemed to have an endless supply of cash for events like this. A million credits didn’t seem to mean squat to her. It was kind of odd. Was she getting the cash from legion funds, or… where?
I had the good sense not to ask, and by the time we got to the backdoor region of Central, a pair of bio people were waiting for us.
The leader, a skinny woman in blue coveralls, smiled when she saw Galina. But then, her eye caught sight of me, and her expression changed dramatically.
I knew what the trouble was right off. Several years back, I’d been revived by this woman and her beefy orderly. They’d argued about the matter and decided to grind me up. Naturally, I’d taken offense at this, and I’d seen to it that the orderly fellow died instead.
“I see you remember McGill,” Turov said. “Today, he’s not going to kill anyone—unless I’m highly dissatisfied.”
Catching onto the nature of my role immediately, I gave them a relaxed death-stare. The pair both shifted uncomfortably, as if their coveralls had suddenly become itchy.
“What can we do for you, Tribune?” asked the bio girl in a kiss-ass voice. “We’re awfully busy, but we always like to do our best for Earth’s security.”
“That’s sweet. James, give them the body-scan and engrams.”
I did as she asked, and we looked around the office. It was kind of low-rent.
“Where do we wait?” Galina asked.
The bio indicated a shitty, sagging couch with a flick of her finger.
Once seated, I decided to ask for a bottle of pop—but they were already gone. They’d slammed the portal to their revival chamber and sealed it from the inside.
“You think they’re going to contact security?” I asked.
Galina laughed. “They’re probably contacting their stock brokers. Those two have cleaned me out of a lot of cash over the years.”
I nodded, believing her.
Awhile later, I found myself nodding off. My head was resting against the wall and my heels were making a scuff on the floor as my butt almost slid off the couch.
Galina slapped my thigh, and I snorted awake. “Stop snoring. Go in there and see what the hold-up is.”
“Hold-up?”
Getting to my feet, I looked at my tapper. It had been thirty-five minutes… no, almost forty. That didn’t sound like a priority revive to me.
I got up and walked to the door. Galina was behind me, complaining and yapping about a deduction to their usual fee. I didn’t listen. Instead, I drew my pistol and peered into the triangular porthole in the door.
I spotted the revival machine. It was yawning open. The lower jaw dripped goop slowly—but there
