Stolen Flyght – Chapter 15

“Captain, we have now gained access to the map and directory inside the classified section.” This time, Ai is in my ear. Skylar must be busy with something else. “So, if you need to know where to go, just ask. You are currently heading to the greenhouses and botany labs?”

“Yes, we are,” I say under my breath.

Jinzo lengthens his stride, and I stick by his side. If we don’t find what we’re looking for in the greenhouses and botany labs, then we’ll have to move on. What are we looking for? I’m hoping to find evidence that they’ve made more headway with the Rio plants than I ever did. Athens Industries and Renata Dellis are looking to compete with whatever the military is gathering the plants for, too. I hope to have some news to bring back to Renata — good or bad.

They harvested plants from Rio while I was on Laguna, and then they took what I had. What can I expect? Maybe a few labs going with experiments? Maybe I can speak to a few people about what they hope to gain from their work? I’m not sure how much I want to put myself out there.

We round the corner, and strong full-spectrum light hits me like a meteor. We have come to the right place.

But… oh, man. This is not what I was expecting.

It’s… a lot.

My stomach drops to my toes when I see the vast array of plants they’re growing inside. The room stretches on for a hundred meters at least, filled with growing trays and harvesting bots. Green plants spill over the sides of their containers, and crates overflow with harvested clippings. This is a major operation, all underground on one of the most desolate planets in the Brazilianos System.

“Shit,” Jinzo whispers, glancing over his shoulder at the android escort. She doesn’t even blink.

This is a hundred times the setup I had on the Amagi. It could rival some of the enormous greenhouses I’ve seen on Palo Alto where they mass produce vegetables year-round. Wow. The military even brought in large soil repositories from off-planet since there’s nothing like this here on Neve. Banks of bushes rise from a bed of soil along the far wall, and root vegetable plants mature in another bed perpendicular to it.

The people inside are all wearing personal protective equipment, known as PPE — hair nets, safety glasses, face masks, lab coats, and gloves. They’re keeping the room clean, cleaner than I do for growing produce.

Nodding my head to the right, I urge Jinzo to the nearest door. Inside, we don the same PPE as everyone else, and I’m grateful for the secrecy this equipment gives me. With so many people already in the lab, we’ll blend in. Our escort watches us put everything on, but she doesn’t touch any of the equipment herself. I suppose androids don’t need this kind of protective gear.

“What are we going to do inside?” Jinzo asks, holding the door open for me.

“We’re going to look around and observe. Just like we were asked to do.”

Inside the door, our android escort steps off to the side with all the other androids. They’ve all formed a line with their backs to the wall, shoulder to shoulder. This door must be the only way in or out.

Without talking to anyone else, Jinzo and I walk through the rows of plants. I don’t have a datapad on me, so I borrow Jinzo’s, and I make notes on everything I see. They labeled every plant with a classification I’m not familiar with… Wait. Wait. This is a classic taxonomic rank like the flora and fauna brought from Earth. Except there’s a new super-kingdom above the domain — Rio.

Yep. It’s everything they stole from me and took from Rio on their own, too.

And it’s so many plants. More than I could ever grow on the Amagi.

I always knew that if the military secured and developed the Rio plants, they could put an exponential amount of research into it. And get the labs up and running fast by the looks of it. There are several other smaller laboratories along the outskirts of the giant grow room with scientists slicing, dicing, and examining plants they’ve grown. Whatever they’re doing, they’re trying to do it quickly. This is a lot of staff working on one project.

Jinzo pulls on my arm and motions to the right. Down the next aisle, a group crowds around a sizable plant. I swallow hard as I watch the bush sway and caress an older man while others take notes. They’re already figuring out that the plants are more compatible with some people than others.

“Excuse me.”

Jinzo and I jump at the voice behind us.

“Sorry!” A young woman says, bringing her hands together. The broad smile on her face, hidden by the mask, reaches her eyes, crinkling them at the corners. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s okay.” I calm my heaving breaths. I was way too focused on the experiments to realize what was going on around me. “It’s a little noisy in here, and I didn’t hear you approach.”

“Sorry,” she says again. “Are you Terri Parsons? I saw you check in about five minutes ago, and I got sooooooo excited. I’m Lucy. Lucy Lin.”

She jumps up and down, and my stomach jumps with her. “I am. Hi, Lucy. What’s so exciting about me?”

Her eyes widen, and Jinzo looks over at me, his stare filled with skepticism. I don’t blame him. I’m freaking out right about now. We were supposed to be invisible here.

“I’m the botany labs’ welcome committee.” She bows and laughs giddily. “It’s my job to make sure everyone assigned to this section is welcomed and taken care of.”

Ah, shit. Didn’t expect this.

“So, naturally, when your assignment came in yesterday, I looked you up! You studied exo- and xeno-agriculture at Ossun Ag, right? Your military bio says you studied with Professor Howey for two years. I also studied with Professor Howey!”

She brings her hands to her chest.

“Wasn’t he the best? He had a ton of amazing things to say about Rio plants and bringing plants back to life from Earth. It’s the whole reason I ended up here.”

“Really? That’s great. I’m so glad you loved working with him.”

Oh, my God. Panic. Yes, I studied for two years with this professor, but it didn’t last long because my family told me to get back to work doing what I should be doing. What is she going to want to know from me?

I can tell from the way this young woman is gushing all over me that she wants to be my best friend forever and ever with a cherry on top.

“Hmmm, I wonder what else my military bio says.” I lean in and smile at her.

Hint, hint, Ai. What the fuck have I gotten myself into here?

“Message received, Captain,” Ai responds. “It looks like Yan took your regular bio and just amped it up a bit. He made you five years older, erased everything after university, and gave you a military contractor work history.”

How lovely. I should have read everything Yan gave me, but I was too worried about being frozen and shipped in a cryocontainer to critique his work.

“I think you’re the perfect person to come look at this plant we just received recently.” Lucy waves me forward and then wrinkles her brow when Jinzo comes too.

“Oh, sorry. This is my assistant, Jin. He’s tagging along and learning.”

When Lucy turns away, I wink at Jinzo. He pokes me in the ribs and leans close. “Don’t let your fame go to your head, Terri.”

I shrug as I follow along behind Lucy. Two rows over, she stops in front of a crop of ferns. I know these plants all too well.

“These just came into the lab a few days ago. They were already in a hydro-culture, so we transplanted them into our system.” She runs her gloved fingers over the tops of the fiddleheads as if she’s petting a cat. “The data brought in with the ferns seems to suggest that they make a person invisible when they’re digested.”

“Really?” No fucking way, Lucy! That’s shocking!

“Remember how Professor Howey kept on and on about how plants that grow in a different biome with unique protein structures may have almost unthinkable properties when combined with the human body?”

I nod along with her. I do remember him saying that.

“We are finally making headway on this.” Her voice is breathy, almost reverent.

“Has anyone tested them out?” I reach out to touch the ferns, but she gasps, pulling her hands to her chest again.

“No! No. They are being sliced, diced, frozen, and cooked so we can study their protein structures. Human testing? We are months away from that.”

My cheeks heat. Yeah, I probably should have spent more time testing before ingesting them myself.

“Want to come see what we’re doing in the lab?” She jerks her thumb at the side labs where people crowd around microscopes, mix plants with chemicals, and store samples in refrigerators.

“You know I’d love to. But I think I’ve only got another ten minutes here before I have to meet some colleagues for a meal.”

Yeah, we’re getting the heck out of here before she wants to have a sleepover and do facial masks together.

Her face melts into disappointment, so I rest my hand on her shoulder.

“I promise I’ll be back after. There’s obviously a lot to study here.”

“Okay.”

She seems mollified, her shoulders slumped and energy spent.

“You’re doing a brilliant job at being the welcoming committee,” I reassure her. This brings the smile back to her eyes. “Perhaps we could have dinner or something? Talk about Ossun Ag and go over some ideas?” I can’t believe I’m even saying this stuff. I won’t be here in two hours, much less for dinner.

But this perks her up.

“I would love that.” She sighs. “This is so great. I knew it the moment I read your bio that this was all going to work out. I don’t meet many people from home. And with women like that Kawabata heiress in the news every day, I keep getting barbs and comments about being a ‘gold-digging Ossunite.’ Ugh. I’m sick of it. I want to show them that Ossunites are ordinary, salt-of-the-earth types, you know?”

My entire body tenses with anger, and Jinzo’s hand tightens around my elbow. What the ever-loving fuck? I’m a gold-digger now?

“Yeah, I know,” I say between clenched teeth.

Lucy perks up. “Great! I can’t wait to be friends. Just ping me when you’re available, and I’ll rearrange my schedule for you.”

“Lucy,” someone calls from across the lab, saving my ass from dissolving into anger.

“Gotta go!” She waves, and I watch her leave, her steps light and carefree.

Once she’s gone, I turn to Jinzo and lower my voice. “I’m over this place already. Let’s do a small tour of a few rows and get the hell out of here.”

I’m trying to curb my annoyance with Lucy, when two rows over, I pass in front of a plant with deep red-purple leaves.

And they move towards me.

I gasp and back into Jinzo. “Did… Did you see that?”

I glance around. Are we being watched? Probably by cameras, yes, but not by anyone nearby.

“Vi…” Jinzo swallows my name. His eyes are wide behind his protective glasses. “I saw it.”

Reaching my fingers out, I hold my breath as I bring my hand closer to the plant. It looks like an ivy of some kind. The leaves are attached to a long vine that winds over everything in the vicinity. This time the vine reacts even quicker than before. They drive straight for my fingers, twisting through and around my hand and advancing up my arm.

Panic rushes through me for a second, not only because I’m being touched by an alien plant but because I don’t want anyone else to see it. I’m wearing gloves and a lab coat, so nothing is touching my skin, yet… Yet…

Hi, it says.

“Hi,” I whisper. My lungs reflexively inhale, and I close my eyes, but frustration creeps around my brain. I’m supposed to feel something.

“Hey,” Jinzo whispers, turning his body to block the view of people who have entered the next row over. He shakes my arm. “You’re too protected to experience anything with this plant.” He points to his face mask. “Take some.”

“No,” I gasp in horror. I have a surging need to protect the plant. Don’t let anything happen to it.

It’s mine!

My breathing speeds up, and I’m ready to fling myself at the plant to protect it at all costs when Jinzo steps in front of me.

“It’s intoxicating, isn’t it? Remember Darmit Hoggard? His plant possessed him. It called to him, telling him to come back.”

“Jin…” My eyes fill with tears. I’ve finally found my plant, and I have no idea what it does or where on Rio it came from, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Walk away.” Jinzo turns me around and points me at the door. “Go.”

I want to protest, but more people draw near. I turn my head to look at the plant again, but Jinzo jerks my arm.

“Don’t,” he hisses at me.

I raise my chin, put one foot in front of the other, and march out of the row past everything else I had come there to see.

The urge to return and be with the plant fades the more distance I put between us. I blow out a hefty breath, halting more tears and composing myself before I get to the exit.

The exit leads to a cleanroom where I’m blasted with air, UV light, and probably something else I shouldn’t think about.

“Viv, we’ve got an issue here,” Skylar says, coming back to my ear. I pause, taking off my gear. “There’s a team of soldiers incoming.”

“What?” I rocket straight upright, holding my gown in my hands. “Are you in trouble?”

“Uhhh, not yet?” Something metal-on-metal bangs in the background. “We’re going to head out the opposite way, so we’ll be quiet until we rendezvous with the ship. Yan and Simon are up in orbit. They’ll come down to get us.”

I send the PPE’s into their washing bins, trying to cover up my unease.

“This means you must be cautious for now. We’ve permanently disabled the cameras, and this data center may need to go too. Be careful. Skylar out.”

“Wait,” I plead. I whirl around to cover my mouth from the prying eyes of the android waiting in the hall. Shit.

What can I do? Nothing. We need to press on.

Despite my sinking stomach, I leave through another door that empties into the hallway, bumping straight into my android escort.

She raises her arm to stop me from going any farther.

“You will wait here for your companion. He’s coming through the cleanroom right now.”

The door opens, and Jinzo walks out, dusting off his hands.

He looks me in the eye, usually a sign he’s trying to tell me something without saying it out loud. “Hey, Terri. Grab my datapad out of my back pocket for me? My hands are wet.”

He turns to show me his backside, and I reach into one of his pockets.

My fingers brush against something waxy and alive. My heart leaps with joy, but I cover it up with a note of surprise instead. He clipped some of my plant for me!

“It’s not there. Did you leave it inside?”

“Oh, shit. Maybe?” He returns to the window on the exit door. “Yeah. It’s sitting on the bench inside.”

He taps on the window and motions to someone in the room, pointing at the datapad. The door opens, and Lucy Lin walks out with it in her hand.

“This yours?” she asks, handing it over.

I dip my head so she can’t examine my face. Now, without the mask on, I’m much more recognizable as that Gold-Digging Ossunite. Though with my short hair and dark, charcoaled eyes, maybe not as much.

“Yeah, thanks. Walked out without it.” He smiles and stuffs it in his back pocket.

“Happens all the time.” She returns the smile and shrugs before waving and walking off in the opposite direction.

I breathe a small sigh of relief as we walk away with the android, and Jinzo takes my hand and squeezes it.

“Thank you,” I mouth, and he tips his head. He looks at the last broadcast from Skylar on his datapad and frowns. I nod to him to let him know I’m aware of it. Yes, we’re on our own for a bit until Skylar gets back online.

It’s time to go meet up with Gloria and Lia to find out how they got along with their snooping.

At the corner, I turn around to check our rear and make eye contact with Lucy Lin briefly before we disappear. With her furrowed brow and frown, something tells me she’s having second thoughts about me.