Free The Deep Link (The Ascendancy Trilogy Book 1) by Veronica Sicoe Page B

decontamination is currently underway.
    The Transiter is parked on polyfoam-cushioned
buffers. An unsightly bundle of cable entrails hangs out of its cracked hull to
trail along the coolant-dampened floor toward the diagnostics terminal.
    We walk up to the hatch, and Jade takes a flexpad out of
his pocket and peels a corner open with his fingernail. He pulls out an optical
fiber relay, licks its needle-thin plug and inserts it into a tiny hole in the
left gasket of the hatch. The gasket is backlit by a blue light and the optical
fiber pulses with blue sparks, as the flexpad and the Transiter talk to
each other.
    "Learned this trick from Vik," Jade says.
"Pretty cool, eh?"
    The hatch hisses open and Jade hoists himself up on deck.
I follow, and notice the three chairs have been removed. I crouch next to a
jumble of cables springing from where the projector used to be, and watch Jade
connect to the main computer. Then he sits next to me.
    He pulls a small plastic casing out of his pocket. It
contains a sterilizer and a cell-spray, an injector with a tranquilizing
cocktail, and a set of medical instruments for implanting temporary tags. It's
the kind used for emergency synet replacements in case of EM-pulse attacks
during military deployments.
    He meets my gaze. "Still wanna do this?"
    "We got this far, right?" I take the injector
out of his hand. "We won't be needing this, though. Drugging me is not
gonna work."
    "Want me to cut your skull open raw?"
    "The MD pumped me full of these. They had no effect
on me other than pissing me off. You don't want me pissed off."
    He rolls his eyes and pulls the instruments out of their
rubber fixtures. I lay face-down on the floor, forehead resting on my forearms.
He takes a deep breath. I hear a short hiss, and feel the cool dampness of the
sterilizing spray on the back of my neck.
    Jade palpates my vertebrae with steady fingers, then
pricks my skin with the tripod that stabilizes a gamma drill. The rays coalesce
and cut into my skin, cauterizing their way straight into my spine. It hurts,
but not as bad as I expected.
    Jade breathes shallowly above me. "There, that's it.
I'm in."
    The back of my head starts to burn. Waves of heat run up
and down my back.
    Jade inserts the synet dispenser next, and a stabbing
flash of pain pierces my skull. I try to ignore it, focus elsewhere, think of
other things, distract myself. It doesn't work. The pain intensifies. I clench
my jaw.
    "Done," Jade says. "But don't move yet. The
slot's still in. I have to check if the synet unfolded correctly."
    My jaw hurts from the grinding pressure. I try to breathe
steadily, exhale the pain. It doesn't work.
    Jade takes out his flexpad, disinfects the plug he licked
earlier, and sticks it into the carbon nanotube slot sticking out the back of
my head.
    I cringe under a million burning stings.
    "Did it work?" I whisper, trying not to move my
head.
    "Give me a sec."
    Whatever happened, I'm prepared for it. I can take it.
Even if the new synet will report some neural damage, or an alien disease. I
can handle it. One way or another.
    "There's nothing," Jade mumbles.
    "What?"
    "I'm not getting any feedback from the synet at all.
My pad tells me it's right where it should be, but there's just nothing coming
from it."
    "Let me see." I push myself up and turn around.
    He protests, but I snatch the flexpad from his hand and
run a few checks myself. Blood rushes through me as my pulse accelerates,
making me queasy. I give him back the device. My vision narrows and spins. Cold
sweat runs down my skin, and I start to hyperventilate. All my senses howl in
an inarticulate mess.
    I fall backward on the deck and lose consciousness.
    When I come to, Jade is bent over me with a desperate look
on his face. His sits me up and hugs me.
    "What happened?" I ask, and free myself from his
hug. My head aches something fierce.
    "Not sure." He slides his hand through my sweaty
hair, touching the back of my neck. I push him away and shudder.
    He