Chapter 23

Helen parked on the grass verge adjacent to the path that led to the malfunctioning communication relay. For the past few days, she and Vanessa had travelled alone without HK escort, enjoying all the freedom that accompanied it. They performed their assignments perfunctorily, always leaving time at the end of the day for some unscheduled stop to enjoy a tender moment together. Elisabeth always seemed to cast them a disapproving glare whenever they were together in the Facility but had thankfully neglected to report their behaviour.

She extracted the heavy tool case from the rear of the vehicle and staggered up the rough track to where the metal cabinet was located. The door hung off its hinges with circuit boards scattered throughout the nearby undergrowth.

"Fucking vandals," Helen moaned. "Do they have nothing more constructive to do with their lives?"

Vanessa strolled behind her, enjoying the scenery and relieved to be finally free from the close confinement of the four wheel drive. As Helen started the repairs, she sat down on a truncated tree stump and stared off into the distance.

"You could fetch some spares from the truck if you've got nothing better to do with yourself," Helen suggested irritably.

The bored Hybrid kicked a rock in disdain before returning to the vehicle to collect an assortment of replacement modules and then stack them on the ground beside Helen, ready for installation. As her partner worked tirelessly at her task, her thoughts became more explicit. She strolled coquettishly up behind her companion, wrapping her arms around her waist and distracting her from her duties. Feeling decidedly aroused, Vanessa trailed her tongue along the nape of Helen's neck whilst her hands crawled inexorably upwards until they cupped her breasts through the heavy material of her coveralls.

"Stop it," Helen moaned. "I can't concentrate when you're doing that."

Vanessa pouted and returned to the stump. Her head canted to the side as she accessed the topological maps for the area. Grinning to herself, she speedily set off up the trail away from the car.

"Where are you going now?" Helen shouted after her. "Vanessa! Vanessa? Shit!"

On a distant ridge, overlooking the pair, Sleeper and Bartlett viewed them through the telescopic sight of high velocity rifles. Their fingers hovered over the trigger but the lack of Hunter Killer support and the anomalous behaviour of one of Infiltrators held them back.

Bartlett cursed as one of the targets disappeared at a run, heading towards some undetermined destination. "She's figured something's up. Everybody keep out of sight in case she tries to double back and flank us," he voiced over the comm.

"Something is very wrong here," Sleeper commented. "Where are the fucking HKs?"

"We should have taken them out when we had the chance," Bartlett snapped back.

"They still have to come back to their vehicle. We can ambush them then."

With the repairs almost complete, Helen was curious as to where her partner had disappeared and set off in search. A shrill scream from ahead sent her into near panic and she rushed along the track to investigate. The path opened up into a wide grassy clearing adjacent to a vast expanse of water. The reservoir provided much of the drinking water to New Arizona and the neighbouring regions.

Vanessa's clothes were scattered across the ground and more screams came from a point thirty metres from shore.

"It's so fucking cold," Vanessa shrilled.

Relieved, Helen watched as the Hybrid swam further out into the lake and dived beneath the surface. Unbuttoning her jacket, she added her own clothes to the pile and then raced naked into the water.

Sleeper and Bartlett crept along the ridge, anxious to discover what had drawn the attention of the Infiltrators. The remainder of the team remained hidden in dense undergrowth to limit risk of exposure. As the reservoir came into sight, nothing could be seen until two heads broke the surface. The two men watched as the women swam around in circles and cavorted in the water without a care in the world. A nearby sign prominently forbade swimming but the couple clearly believed the restriction didn't apply to them.

The sniper scopes revealed that both women swam nude and the water was clear enough to make out some detail. "Not bad looking for machines," Sleeper mused.

Bartlett glowered at his subordinate and continued to monitor the swimmers, waiting for an appropriate moment to terminate their existence.

"Assuming that they are machines," Sleeper added.

"What else could they be?"

"People?"

"Emily implied they'd only use machines so as to avoid human casualties."

"Maybe they're running out of the dumb bastards and didn't have a choice."

The two women chose that moment to emerge from the lake, water cascading from their naked bodies. They shook their heads vigorously to expel the excess water from their hair.

"Oh Mother," Sleeper groaned as he admired the view. "Just look at that."

"Don't get carried away," Bartlett scolded but could not resist becoming slightly aroused himself as the two beauties lay on the ground to dry. When one of the girls began to run her hand over the other's body, his interest escalated even further.

"No fucking way," he whispered in disbelief.

Helen lay on her back as Vanessa fondled her breast then moved to take a nipple between her lips. She gasped and spread her legs, allowing her partner to lovingly explore her sex and tease the small nub of engorged flesh. The temptation to consummate was too great to resist and within minutes their bodies were entwined as they made love under the blistering sun. Vanessa lapped between Helen's legs with gusto and positioned herself to receive her own satisfaction.

Over the past few days, they had perfected the art of oral lovemaking and often fell asleep exhausted from the multitude of orgasms they'd bestowed upon one another. After the chill of the lake, sex seemed like the ideal way to warm themselves up. Their Sapphic union completely overwhelmed their senses, leaving them oblivious to their hidden observers and possible plight.

Sleeper set aside the rifle and picked up a pair of binoculars. He slid a memory chip into a slot in its side and started recording the scene for posterity.

"Maybe I'll post this up on the MetaNet when we get back," he mused. "It's so much better than all that staged crap you find."

"You'll do no such thing," Bartlett snapped. "And how would you know anyway?"

"It's what I've been told."

"Right," the man replied cynically.

Vanessa screamed as she climaxed, pressing her crotch forcefully against her partner's mouth. Helen was lost in paroxysms of lust as her own moment rapidly approached. Vanessa's juices flooded her mouth and she swallowed greedily, enjoying the succulent flavour. An agile tongue flicking over her sex sent her spiralling over the edge and she collapsed comatose as she wallowed in sheer sexual abandon.

It was some time before either could bring themselves to stir. They struggled to sit up then kissed passionately as they wordlessly expressed their feelings for each other.

"We should go," Helen sighed reluctantly, overriding her body's desire to spend longer in the idyllic setting and perhaps indulge further. She picked up her clothes and began to dress whilst admiring Vanessa's nakedness.

"Can we come back here?" Vanessa asked hopefully. "It's so peaceful and pretty."

"We'll see. Get dressed. I've still got to finish off the repairs."

Hand in hand, the pair strolled back to the relay unit and inspected the damage.

"It's going to take an hour to replace the hinges and make it secure," Helen estimated. Vanessa complained bitterly.

"Pass me that roll of insulation tape," Helen requested.

Vanessa held the door in position whilst Helen wrapped the tape around the cabinet several times.

"How long will it hold?" Vanessa giggled.

"A few days. Kids will probably vandalize it again before then," Helen speculated as the two hurriedly returned to the car and drove away.

Ten minutes later, Bartlett inspected the botched repair and then laughed. "Now I believe they weren't machines."

The country looked on in shock as the gun carriage transporting the President's body wound its way from Government House to the National Memorial Gardens where he'd be interred. The incoming President gave a moving eulogy in which he praised the man's achievements but made no mention of the shameful circumstances surrounding his death. The sombre tone paved the way for a quiet transfer of power and the ushering in of a dramatic change of policy for the regime.

Greg and Valerie viewed the police station's flag at half mast. Whilst he was no fan of Benjamin Payne, he felt a degree of sympathy for the man who had come to power through such tragic circumstances. This would be a pivotal moment in the country's history, he reckoned. Everyone would remember exactly where and what they were doing on the day the President was shot.

"Strike four", Emily shouted, high fiving Talbot as they strode triumphantly into the farmhouse.

Huxley grinned at the good news.

"Didn't even need to waste any ammo," she boasted. "Just flicked the remote activator that Sleeper wired and bingo, deep-fried Infiltrator."

"Then it worked?" he asked.

"Like a dream. That gizmo of Claire's is simply amazing. I think we nailed one of our old friends."

"Who?"

"Remember Beverly? She has, or rather I should say had, an entirely new body. I guess she's going to lose her no claims bonus again."

"You're enjoying this," Huxley opined.

"You bet I am."

"I'm sorry to spoil your fun but we're running short of food again."

"We only hijacked that supermarket truck last week."

"Well somebody's eating it all," the major replied. "If you can break off from your killing spree for a second, I'd be grateful if you could replenish our stores."

"Consider it done."

She strode into the lounge where Sleeper was bent over a hand-held viewer, staring avidly at its tiny screen.

"What are you watching?"

"Nothing," Sleeper defended, covering the screen with his hand.

"Show me."

"Like I said, it's nothing."

Emily snatched the device and gazed at the moving image on the screen. Her smile vanished instantly when she observed Helen and Vanessa in the throes of wild passion.

"Where the smoke did you get this?" she demanded angrily.

"The other day," he boasted. "These two chicks came out to repair some of our mischief. Bartlett nearly offed them until they went swimming nude in the reservoir and then started fooling around with one another."

Emily extracted the memory chip and stormed off. "Get your thrills some other way," she snapped as she disappeared out of the house and into one of the barns where she'd made makeshift accommodation.

Claire's daughter Hailey was sitting on the bed reading her poetry book. The girl had been following her around continuously for the past week, drawn to her deceptively youthful appearance and strength of character.

"You're back?" the girl announced happily.

"Yes."

"Did it all go well?"

"Piece of cake. We toasted them with your mum's gadget."

Hailey pondered Emily's enthusiasm. "Do you ever think twice about what you're doing? I mean, you're a machine, just like them."

"Shh," Emily whispered urgently. "I told you not to discuss this here. People might overhear."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Infiltrators are not like us. They just do what they're told, no matter who it hurts. By killing them, we're hitting back at the Corporation."

"But won't they keep on being replaced?"

"And we'll keep on destroying them."

Hailey looked at the data module that Emily was holding. "What's that?"

"Just a video of a couple of idiots I know," Emily replied sardonically, placing the chip on the bedside table and glancing at the book in Hailey's hand.

"Where are you up to?"

"My Secret Love."

"What do you think?"

"It's sad. Can we read it together?"

Emily sat beside the youngster and they began to explore the prose. Much later, the girl returned to the farmhouse. In her pocket sat the memory chip that she'd sneaked off the dresser without Emily noticing. Once in her bedroom, she slipped it into her personal media player and viewed the contents with surprise.

Simmonds was furious.

"He couldn't wait a fucking month, the impatient bastard," he blazed as he signed the order that would deliver Payne's replacement Companion. "All he cares about is a blonde with bigger breasts than the previous one."

Henderson and Hodges both nodded non-committally, having replayed the contents of Monica's Datacore and seen exactly how the assassination had unfolded.

"We're running her through the Facility now. She should be rebuilt by the end of the week," Henderson replied. "I'll not tell you how much we had to bribe the secret service detail to get hold of the Companion's body before some bright spark decided to perform an autopsy."

"Our agreement was this wasn't supposed to happen until after we had consolidated the security situation," Simmonds ranted. "The Grid has been back online for less than a week and we've still got those paramilitary bastards picking off our patrols with uncanny regularity."

His two directors looked at one another, attempting to decide which one of them would deliver the latest bombshell.

"The latest attack has brought up a disturbing development," Henderson said quietly.

"Surely not more bad news?"

"The last four Infiltrators were completely mind-wiped?"

"How?" Simmonds gasped.

"It bears the distinct signature of the EMP device that the rogue Hybrid used on Valerie and the others."

"You don't think... ?"

"We're of the firm opinion that Emily and Claire have somehow managed to join forces."

"This is a disaster. I was just about to sign the activation order on the new Hybrids. How can we ensure that they're not all going to rebel in the same way?"

"Perhaps we can devise some sort of loyalty test, something that will tax their obedience to the limit," Hodges suggested.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I've an idea that would kill two birds with one stone. Rid us of a loose end that we never properly tied up and restore our faith in the Hybrids once and for all."

"Do it. Do it at once," Simmonds snapped.

Valerie received her summons from Hodges with trepidation. Knowing the insurgent's raids were still continuing, she could only imagine the long term financial consequences. She sensed that the hierarchy was worried; the insurgents seemed to strike with impunity and inflict untold devastation. Thirty Infiltrators and twenty HKs had so far fallen victim to the terror campaign with no apparent loss of life to the perpetrators.

Hodges was in a sombre mood as he relayed the latest developments to her.

"The latest four Infiltrators were destroyed by a powerful electromagnetic pulse that destroyed every system including their Datacores. Fortunately, we have implemented a rotating backup scheme so we should only lose a few days worth of their experiences."

"What about the Hybrids?"

"There have been no attacks on Hybrid led patrols and we're working on the premise that Emily and Claire are avoiding direct confrontation with them."

"Emily and Claire."

"We know that Claire was in possession of an EMP generator. We even think we know where it originated from as the chief technician at one of the firing ranges went AWOL the moment we started asking questions.

"This is beyond our worst case scenario. The fact that two renegade Hybrids are colluding with the insurgency is simply untenable."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"We've already kitted up thirty more Hybrids and we're about to commission them shortly. The CEO is nervous and wants absolute proof that the remaining Hybrids are not compromised."

"What? How can you insinuate that we're disloyal? I've kept you informed of every step Greg has made in his investigations."

"Greg?"

"Lieutenant Bennett," Valerie corrected hastily.

"The detective may still connect the dots and link some of the early attacks back to us. It's still a worry that one day this will come back to haunt us."

"He knows nothing that he can use. The case is going nowhere and he'll be assigned to another case shortly. I'll be returning to the mayor's office."

"I still think that a little loyalty test wouldn't go amiss."

"What kind of test?"

"You're going to kill Bennett."

"What?" Valerie gasped. "Surely you're joking?"

"Are you questioning our authority?"