Jessica woke suddenly with a startled intake of breath. She blinked. Her face bore a look of confusion, as if she had been roused from reality into a dream. The medical station’s white walls surrounded her. The instrument tray was on its side. The bed sheets in shambles. Signs of a struggle. And then…the medic’s lifeless body. Realization hit. Her hand darted to her throat. She scrambled to her feet. A wave of dizziness overtook her, and she stumbled toward the wall.
“Alexandra!” she gasped.
As soon as the name left her lips the medical station’s door slid open to reveal the bounty hunter. She leveled her pistol at Jessica.
“Come with me,” she ordered. When Jessica bristled, Alexandra turned her other hand over to reveal a silver, baseball-sized sphere. A spider nuke. “Do what I say or you’re all dead.”
Alexandra tucked the nuke into her backpack, grabbed Jessica by the shoulder, and then pushed her out into the corridor. She stepped behind her and held the pistol to the timeslinger’s head. With her other hand, she gave Jessica’s datapad back to her.
“Enter the access code,” Alexandra instructed.
Jessica glanced at the DNA match report still on the front screen. “Did you-”
“Enter the access code!”
Jessica hesitated. Giving Alexandra access to her datapad could be disastrous. Noting Jessica’s reluctance, Alexandra whipped the spider nuke back out of the backpack. Jessica clenched her teeth, but relented. She entered the code, closed her eyes in a silent prayer, and handed the datapad back to Alexandra.
“Take me to the transfer room.”
Alexandra shoved Jessica forward and engaged the datapad’s communicator. Someone on the other line answered. Alexandra spoke in quick, machinegun-fire like bursts. “I need to analyze a data map. Two DNA samples. Yes. Test their relationship.” A brief pause. “Yes. Call me back as soon as you have it.”
Jessica led them down the corridor toward the transfer room. “I ran those myself. They’re accurate-”
“Shut up!”
They reached the door to the transfer room. Jessica took a deep breath. The fate of the Subdivision hung in the balance. If she gave Alexandra admittance into the transfer chamber, they could all die. The datapad chirped. Alexandra answered. As she listened to the caller her features grew hard and dark. Some inner fury threatened to explode. She turned to Jessica, “Open the door.”
