Free Kaleidocide by Dave Swavely

the shape of a cross, about three inches in diameter, after being fired. They often left marks in the shape of an X on the body of the person who was immobilized by them.
    The last merc tried to make a stand in another small tunnel, where he stopped after a curve and fired his handgun at the falcon when it came around the corner. But he missed, so the falcon merely backed up out of view, fired a gas pellet at the wall near the man, and waited until he collapsed to use the RATS and haul him to the surface. By that time one of the triplets had already landed her Firehawk and was skipping from prisoner to prisoner, checking if they had any cyberware she could hack, and also threatening the conscious ones with torture if they didn’t talk. On the audio feed of a falcon hovering near one of the mercs, I overheard her say something about cutting off parts of his face and neck to match her “decorations.” I imagined that an exotic cyborg brandishing a knife about a foot from your face was rather intimidating. But the man didn’t talk, because he didn’t know anything. None of them did.
    â€œIt’s like I told you,” Terrey said, summarizing the findings of his team. “The kind of people who organized this wouldn’t take the chance of giving these people anything we could use.” He turned off the displays and took the mouse sheath off his finger.
    â€œMin, send a squad of peacers to pick up the survivors,” I said. “Lock ’em in the cathedral and interrogate them, just in case they know something.”
    â€œCan my team join us here?” Terrey asked, to Lynn as much as to me. He obviously recognized her level of influence in our relationship. “We need to get started right now, if we’re going to save your life. The other parts of the kaleidocide won’t be this easy to stop.”
    I thought for a moment, then said, “Terrey, will you excuse us for a few minutes? Min, you can stay, but tell the other agents to hang with Terrey outside until we call.”
    â€œFine,” Terrey said. “But I suggest you don’t take too long, and in the meantime don’t go near the window, don’t eat or drink anything, and don’t even wash yourself with any water, until we can get the safety measures in place.”
    He headed toward the door, and as he did I addressed him again.
    â€œI will consider it bad faith if you planted any listening devices in this room—without telling us right now, that is.”
    He kept walking out, but glanced back with a mild smile, sideways nod, and a little wave of his hand that told me not to worry about it. Then he was gone.

 
    9
    ENIGMA
    â€œAre there any bugs in here?” I asked Min, who turned his head and body slowly, scanning the entire room, and then answered no.
    â€œSo what do you think, Lynn?” I asked, and when she didn’t answer right away, I said, “Keep in mind what we just saw, that Terrey was able to head off part of the danger already. He obviously knows what he’s doing. And his team certainly is impressive, wouldn’t you say?”
    â€œDo you want me to say something?” she asked, bristling a bit. “Or do you just want to tell me what you think?”
    â€œNo. Go for it.”
    â€œI’m sure he’s good, that seems obvious. But I would say the more important question is, can you trust him?”
    â€œOf course. Farther than I can throw him, anyway. He’s—”
    â€œYou’re answering too quickly. Stop and think about it more. What’s he really like?”
    â€œDo you have some reason to distrust him?” I asked. “Some, uh, intuition?” I had learned to take seriously her intuitions, or instincts, or whatever they were.
    She thought for a moment, then said, “No. But I don’t know him. I want you to think more about it, and maybe do your thing, check on him or whatever you do.”
    â€œOkay,”