“Wait a minute, why are you saying I did all this?”

“Because all the pertinent documents carry your security code.”

Graham was silent a moment. He was remembering something Lilith had said, before the tetras attacked him. You have been useful in the past. That was what she said.

“What’s this divers name?”

“Oh come on, like you don’t know.”

“Humor me.”

“Alright. Her name is Helix Martin.”

“She’s a sport, you said.”

“That’s right. Real obvious mutations too.”

“Four arms and big teeth, right?”

“I guess it’s coming back to you now. We know that much just from the initial application, but we don’t know any more because we can’t get hold of her lab test results. You saw to that.”

“What did she do that got her fired?”

“I don’t know what you think this innocent act is going to get you, Graham. I can tell you right now, I’m not buying it.”

“Just tell me what she did.”

“She deliberately took her suit off in the vats.”

“Alright, Brea. Obviously there’s been a mistake. If you get any more documents with my code on them, call me. You can use this number. In the meantime, I’ll cancel that countermand.”

“It’s too late. I didn’t catch it until after approval. We’ll have to start all over again with a new dismissal request. It’s going to take a few days.”

“Do it. I’ll be in touch.” Graham signed off and dialed another number — the personal access code of someone in Vattown, a vatdiver who’d been useful to him in the past. To his surprise, his call was answered right away. The holograph was blacked out, but he recognized the voice. “I’ve been wondering when you’d call. Get a load of this.” The transceiver was moved so that what had been a dull roar in the background became the sound of numerous voices shouting “Strike!”

over and over again. “That’s the sound of a strike about to happen, buddy.”

“Where are you?”

“Josa’s, and they’re standing on the tables down here. Where’ve you been, anyway?”

“I’m not in production anymore.”

“Lucky for you. This is just a social call, then?”

“No. I’m looking for someone. You’ve probably noticed her. She has four arms.”

“Helix?”

“Yeah, that’s her name. Helix Martin.”

The voice laughed, “Shit boyo, that’s what these good folk are all riled up about down here. She got hired in about a month and a half ago, under the new genetic stability guidelines. She’s nuts, she took her suit off in the vats. Me and a few of my pals had to haul her out of there naked. She struggled when we got her to the surface, but I really don’t think she wanted to hurt anybody, she just wanted... to stay in there, apparently.”

“Fascinating.”

“Yeah, well, if you say so. Everybody figured that with the soak she’d taken, she’d be dead in a few days, but no. I have it on good authority that she suffered a toxic reaction to the biocide that was used on her, but once she got it off, she was fine. Now to top it all off, she didn’t get fired. Personnel just notified her she could come back to work tomorrow.”

“And that’s why they’re striking.”

“Yep, basically.”

“Well, I’ll see to it that she’s fired, like she should have been in the first place. It’ll take a few days though. When are they planning to strike?”

“Probably tomorrow morning. People are still filtering in here from the late shift. But I don’t know if getting her fired is going to help, anymore. There’s people here who see this as a rallying point to get the movement rolling again.”

“Chichelski’s old crowd.”

“Exactly. I have a feeling that once they’re through, they’ll be asking for a lot more than one sport’s dismissal.”

Shit, shit, shit. If word of a strike reached Anna, or even Kent, with his name attached to the unorthodox hiring practices that instigated it, no amount of explanations or finger pointing would save his hide. “Oh well,” he said grimly, “Let’s see what can be done. Does she have a lot of friends?”

“Well, everybody knows who she is, now, but no, she doesn’t have a lot of friends. Just a few sports.”

“Where is she staying?”

“At the home of Hyperion Baker. She’s living with him and Chango Chichelski.”

“Chichelski?”

“Ada’s kid sister, a sport.”

“She work for the company?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Hmm. If she’s anything like her sister, she wouldn’t take this Helix’s disappearance quietly.”

“No. In fact she’s got her doubts about Ada’s accident, and voices them frequently.”

“Anybody listen?”

“Not really, it’s the same shit she’s been spouting for years, with no proof. Basically it just serves to alienate her from most people, especially vatdivers. Even her little sport friends don’t pay any attention any more.”

“Good, at least those bones are staying in the closet. Now, about this strike, any chance at all of stopping it?”

“A snowball’s in hell.”

“Okay, then we’ll have to use it. How much would it take to turn this strike into a riot?”

“Not much. If Helix shows up and tries to get through the line, it probably will be one.”

“Fine. How well do you know Helix?’

“Pretty well, actually.”

“Good, talk to her, let her know you’re on her side. Encourage her to go to the vat yard tomorrow and be as belligerent as possible to the strikers. And make sure they’re in an ugly mood and there’s plenty of weapons at hand. And if there’s anything left of her when they’re through, get rid of it.”

Chapter 15 — Riot!

“I really wish you’d reconsider this,” Chango said to Helix for the umpteenth time. It was morning, and they’d been up half the night before, arguing. Well, she’d done all the arguing, Helix just sat there and scratched herself, shaking her head.

Helix looked at her with tired eyes. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said, standing up. Chango followed her into the work room, where Hyper was running his robots through scales of isometric motion. Robo-mime’s head rotated back and forth, Close Enough for Jazz raised the sax to its carburetor lips again and again, the Augmented Hoomdorm flexed its legs and Attack of the Sneetches scattered across the worktable like a bunch of neon mice with perms. Hyper himself was bent over an array of radio controls. He’d removed himself from the debate around one in the morning, and had been out here ever since.

“Nothing I can say is going to influence you the least little bit, is it?” Chango said as Helix wove around the robots to the shower stall under the stairs. “It never has.”

Helix turned and looked at her. “That’s because I can’t let it. Believe me, if I were a human being, I’d follow your advice, but that’s not what’s going on here, and you should know that by now.”

“Why don’t you look at the data card? Maybe it can tell you something. Something about yourself that can help you now. Maybe there’s a better way than this. They won’t let you in there.”

“I know.” Helix nodded, her eyes staring blankly into the future. “But I have to fight them anyway.”

“Why? There are other vats.”

“Where? Where are there vats that are not vats for humans, whether they’re being used or not? Sooner or later, what’s going to happen today will happen. I’d just as soon do it now, before-”

“Before?”

Helix shook her head. “I don’t know, before I have time to get comfortable, or something.”

“Don’t you think your father could help you?”

She shook her head. “I think if he could, he would have.”

Chango bit her lip. “Helix he-He’s a scientist.”

Helix stared at her. “I know. And I know what you were about to say. That’s why I’m not reading the card. I can’t, not now. I can’t waste time on why I am what I am. I have to be it.” She turned and went into the shower. A moment later her clothes flew out through the curtained doorway. Chango leaned over the table where Hyper was working. “What are you doing?”