Deathwatch (The Faded Earth Book 1)(67)
Standing, she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself. So far everything she had done was passive, but to go further she would have to take increasingly larger risks. Gritting her teeth, Beck inserted the hard line connector into the maintenance port on the door’s keypad. Breaking the security on it would have been beyond her only weeks before, but top-level access to every schematic available to the Deathwatch, and thus to most of the Protectorate, allowed her to build a database of potential security systems she might run in to. She had been afraid this building would be overprotected by their opposition, every keypad and lock custom made.
But no. That might have drawn too much attention. This was a standard model with default firmware. Smiling behind her helmet, Beck initiated a program to open it and delete that action from its log.
Heart hammering, she moved toward her goal.
*
The door opened on a lone woman hunched over a tablet. She looked up as Beck entered the room, surprise etched on her face. “Who the fuck are—”
Her words cut off abruptly as the small projectile launched from Beck’s wrist and sank into her skin, delivering a shock and a paralytic simultaneously. Because she wasn’t a complete monster, Beck caught the suddenly convulsing woman before she could fall and injure herself.
In a voice made harsh and mechanical by a voice filter, but in hushed tones, Beck asked the question she had drilled into herself through countless repetition.
“Do you know what is made in this place? Blink twice for yes, once for no.”
It didn’t matter what the answer was, but how she responded. The scientist had no instinctively fearful reaction, no widening of the eyes or sudden spike in telltale vital signs. What limited control she had over her expression was spent on confusion and a slow double blink.
Beck had a suspicion. “Let me guess: you think you’re working on a cure.”
Another pair of blinks.
Beck shook her head. “I’m sorry, but you’re being lied to. Your work is a cover. This lab produces Fade B and distributes it to the population. I’m here to gather proof.”
Confusion morphed into horror, too abrupt and natural to be anything but real. Tears formed at the corners of the scientist’s eyes, and Beck marveled at the instantaneous acceptance. It took a few moments to realize that the ingrained habit of trusting in the Deathwatch was now a benefit conferred upon her.
Because why would a member of the Watch appear in this place in the middle of the night if this were not the case? Beck was now on the other side of the mystique, able to more clearly see the human beings composing the Watch. Somewhere along the way her perspective shifted, but seventeen years of living with the faceless guardians as an absolute, an implacable force with a singular mission to protect, left a deep and lasting impression.
This woman was at least a decade Beck’s senior but lacked that perspective.
Beck looked at the badge dangling from the paralyzed woman’s belt. “Remy Khan,” she read. “Well, Remy, the way I see it there are two options in front of you. I can leave you as you are and take my chances accessing this lab’s secure network. The paralytic will wear off in an hour or two. By then it won’t matter who you tell or what you tell them.”
Remy blinked once, slowly and with great care.
“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” Beck warned. “That option means even if you’re lying and you’re complicit in killing entire populations of people, you get to at least live through my visit. I don’t know what your superiors will do to you after tonight, but I won’t kill you.”
Fear crept into Remy’s face. Beck ignored it.
“The other choice is this,” Beck said, producing a small auto-syringe from another compartment. “It will counteract the stuff in your system. If you’re telling the truth and you’re willing to help me, the effect will be almost immediate. I have to warn you that if you try any voice commands to lock me out of the network, or call for help, or in any other way try to impede me, I’ll be forced to kill you. Because with this in your bloodstream, another dose of paralytic won’t work.”
She let her voice grow even more flat. “More, you’ll have proved you’re knowingly working for monsters. I’m not willing to murder someone on the possibility of guilt, but as far as I’m concerned, working against me would be an admission. So. Blink twice for this choice, once for staying as you are.”
Remy opened her eyes wide enough for Beck to see her armored face reflected in them, and blinked twice.
A minute later, Remy started to regain control of her body. She gingerly plucked the dart from her upper chest and put pressure on the small wound with her index finger. Her breathing was slow and controlled but ragged. Having spent a great many hours fighting back from the edge of uncontrolled wailing, the symptoms were instantly recognizable to Beck.
“I’m just a tech,” Remy said without looking up. “I do grunt work analyzing samples. I’m not a geneticist or anything. Just a lab tech.”
Slowly raising her head, she wiped away tears. “I didn’t know. I swear. I just run the tests and file the results for the morning crew.”
“But you have access to the network in this room, right?” Beck asked.
Remy nodded. “Yeah, but it’s basic. I can’t get into anything sensitive.”
Though the other woman couldn’t see it, Beck grinned. “That will do just fine. All I need is a foot in the door. With that I can handle the rest.”