Chapter 9

Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 24, 2031

As they climbed the cobblestone streets inside Rio Station, Nariko stayed close enough to Archangel to remain under the canopy of the Qiin's wings and mostly out of the misting rain that had followed them from the shuttle port. Archangel's body radiated heat like Nariko's mother had when she'd run a fever and Nariko had curled up against her back on the thin tatami mat, beneath an even thinner blanket. It had been a snowy December night two days before her little sister Aiko had been born. Mother had never had an easy pregnancy.

Later, Nariko would learn that this part of the station had been a mission and still looked like one, complete with whitewashed stucco buildings, red clay roofs, and cobblestone streets, slick with rain. Today, she had no words for any of that. The buildings looked like nothing she'd seen before and were as alien as the Qiin she walked next to.

Archangel indicated the front door of a plain, whitewashed building, "This is one of the trainee barracks," she said. "You'll be living here for a while. You're probably one of the first ones to arrive, so you'll have your pick of rooms."

Nariko stared at the building for a moment. It made sense that people lived inside them, but the idea that she would be one of them was new, "Will you live here, too?"

Archangel shook her head, "No. I don't live in Brazil. I travel with the oihn. I'm his adjutant. This was a special mission for me."

"Oh," Nariko didn't know why she was crestfallen. Archangel was strange and terrifying. Still, she was the first person in what felt like a very long time who had shown her even a modicum of human kindness.

"We can meet for dinner in the mess tonight if you like," Archangel reached out and stroked her hair. Nariko flinched in surprise, then apologized. She thanked Archangel for the invitation and promised to be there.

Then, she was alone in front of the building. The streets were mostly empty and had been since they'd passed into the perimeter of the Qiin station. As she understood it, the whole place would be swarming with people soon.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, "Hello?"

The room she'd stepped into didn't look like Nariko would expect a barracks to. The floor was dark, polished wood. The western style furniture showed signs of wear, but seemed unbelievably lush. Chairs and couches were set in semicircles around a large flat screen monitor on one side of the room and some sort of electronic device on the other. There was a huge fish tank in the center of the space with dozens of bright, exotic fish inside. Three blonde girls sat as far from Nariko as they could be, talking animatedly. One glanced her way when she called out, but immediately looked away and continued her conversation.

Nariko stepped carefully inside and looked around. Lined up along one wall were more books than she had seen in her life. Her relationship with books was still new and tenuous, but she appreciated them enough to feel the luxury of having hundreds in one place.

"Hello." A young man stepped out of one of the two dozen doors lining the walls. Nariko gave a little shriek of surprise and whirled to face him. The books had made her forget that she'd just called out. The man, obviously not Japanese, was dressed in a crisp, new Qiin uniform, gray and black. He got a concerned look when she shrieked. Nariko blushed and lowered her head. For a convicted murderer, she'd sounded an awful lot like a little schoolgirl when startled.

The young man continued speaking. Whatever he said made no sense to Nariko. She looked up. Whatever he was saying, he was smiling and relaxed. Nariko tried a smile of her own. He beamed and continued speaking gobbledygook.

Nariko took in her surroundings more carefully. The young man's words took on a querying tone. She looked back at him. Finally, he sounded out the word, "Japanese?"

Nariko nodded, "Yes."

"Ah." The young man looked over at the computer apparatus on the far side of the room, said something else unintelligible, held up one finger to her, and walked over to the machinery. As Nariko watched, he sat in one of the chairs and placed a black helmet over his head. Nariko waited to see what he would do next, but he sat motionless, leaning back in the seat. After a minute, Nariko shrugged and looked around again. Archangel had said something about choosing a room for herself. She went to the door the man had come out of. On the other side was a room with two beds and a long desk. A black duffel bag sat on one of the beds.

"You are Nariko Morioka?" The voice came out of the air. Nariko jumped again, but kept silent. She looked around the room.

There was no one there. The voice came, asking again. Nariko assumed it was a ghost. When someone spoke and you couldn't see them, they were probably a ghost. It was good to be polite to ghosts. You didn't want to make them angry, "I am."

"Do you wish to claim a bunk in this room?"

"What?" Nariko frowned. The ghost repeated its question. Nariko looked around the room. It was bigger than the apartment she'd shared with her parents and her two little sisters. She turned in a full circle. She knew she should be scared to be in a room with a ghost, but the voice was soothing and calm. At the thought of having a bed, Nariko had to stifle a yawn.

When the ghost asked a third time if she would like to sleep here, Nariko said, "Yes. Thank you."

"Suah Nariko Morioka, you are assigned bunk 23-B," said the ghost. The light in the room flickered, "Your uniforms will be delivered shortly. Dinner is in the mess hall at nineteen hundred hours local time. You have the liberty of the base until then."

Nariko didn't understand much of what the ghost said, but the bed was very inviting—too soft with a ridiculous number of pillows, but inviting nonetheless.

When Nariko woke, there was a uniformed young woman hanging clothes in the closet. When she saw Nariko was awake, she gave a little bow, "Suah Morioka, I've brought your uniforms. Suihn-qiin Archangel said you didn't have any luggage and requested you be provided with toiletries and other essentials. If you need anything else, just ask the barracks and I'll take care of it. I'm Qiar Alexandra Costas, attached to Barracks Betta."

Nariko blinked sleep out of her eyes, "Ask the barracks?" Alexandra Costas didn't look Japanese to Nariko, although she spoke grammatical Japanese. She looked like Nariko thought a robot would, smooth-skinned and too symmetrical.

The qiar tilted her head, "Barracks?"

"Yes, Qiar Costas?"

Nariko perked up, "Ask the ghost?"

The qiar grinned, "It's not a ghost. It's a computer that will respond to voice input. You'll understand better once you've been through orientation, sir." She spoke deferentially and her grin faded.

Nariko didn't know what to make of that. The only person who had ever been deferential to her was her friend Yoshi, who'd done so only until she'd had sex with him. Her eyes narrowed. She wondered if Qiar Costas wanted to have sex with her. Was everybody in the Qiin military a lesbian?

"Thank you," Nariko said, sitting up. She looked around for the sneakers the prison had given her. She'd slipped out of them to sleep. They were nowhere in sight.

Qiar Costas seemed to sense her need. She extracted a pair of slippers from the closet, "Would you like these?" When Nariko nodded and thanked her, Qiar Costas added, "If you'd like to change out of that jumpsuit and into one of your uniforms, I'd be happy to dispose of it for you."

Nariko looked down at her prison uniform. She certainly wasn't happy to be wearing it, but clothing was hard to come by. The idea of throwing away something that could still be worn rankled. She hesitated.

"It's just that, at least among the enlisted, there's a social stigma attached to having come out of the prison system," said Qiar Costas. She frowned, "As if being too stupid to pass the exclusion test were a badge of honor. If no one sees you in that..."