Free Dangerous Evolution by Gregg Vann

send the transmission, “Immediately, sir.”
    Real progress at last. If this worked, we’d at least be able to answer
the most important question of all.
    Where was Val Evans?

Chapter
Four
     
    Stinson obtained the information from his daughter and I promptly forwarded
it to Sector Security. While the Babylon headed further out of the system,
away from Harrakan Station and any possible complications from our recent visit,
Cipher Division was running a plethora of decryption algorithms—attempting to
track down the code to reactivate the tracking device. As we waited for those
results, I went to visit our prisoner, seeking some answers of my own.
    Del woke up angry, at least it looked angry to me; the restraints
did nothing to help its mood I’m sure, but after the events of the past twenty
four hours, I wasn’t inclined to take any chances.
    Two guards were stationed outside the infirmary, and I instructed
Mendoza and the ship’s physician to leave the room and join them. The pair had
been running scans on Del, trying to learn everything they could about Sentient
physiology while they had the chance.
    I pulled up a chair and sat down next to the floatpad, its
oversized frame stuck out of the slip and into the room.
    “Tell me everything, Del.” I said sternly. “Why did you need Val
Evans?”
    “Release me!” it barked, struggling against the restraints; I
could see the wire digging into its flesh. The rubber coating had already
frayed off, exposing the bare metal underneath.
    “Release me now,” it repeated.
    “Not likely,” I said.
    Del breathed in deeply calming itself, then stopped straining
against the wire. Leveling an intense gaze at me, it said, “I will cooperate if
you release me.”
    “You will cooperate….period,” I clarified, returning the stare.
    Del looked at me hard, as if trying to decide whether slicing off its
own hands might be a decent tradeoff—if it could beat me to death with the
bloody wrists. “What do you want to know?” it said.
    “Why Val Evans?” I repeated.
    It remained quiet and motionless for a few moments, considering
just how much information to reveal I suspected. “We needed her help with a
medical condition afflicting our people.”
    It stopped speaking, as if that were enough information to placate
me.
    “What condition?” I prompted.
    “A virus disrupting the inter-functionality between our organic
and inorganic systems; the fatality rate is one hundred percent.”
    “I can see where that might be a problem,” I agreed. “Was she
successful?”
    “After six months of research and experimentation, she was close
to discovering a cure.” It stared off into the distance, forcing itself to say
the next words. “Val Evans was returning to the dome with a final biological
test sample—the one that held the key she said—when she was taken.”
    “Taken by whom?” I asked. Now we were getting somewhere.
    “I don’t know,” it said. “If I did, I would be on my way to
retrieve her now instead of strapped to this pallet.”
    “Woz was obviously involved,” I said, lacing my voice with as much
insinuation and accusation as I could manage. 
    “There is no doubt that Woz facilitated her capture,” Del
acknowledged. “I recognized its energy signal on the blackout module, just as I
detected Harrakan Station’s.”
    “Back on Evan’s Moon!” I shouted. The guards leaned in through the
door to investigate the outburst and I waved them back to their stations.
    Jumping up from the chair, I leaned over the floatpad—face to face
with Del. “You didn’t think that was important enough to mention? We could have
nailed Woz then and there.”
    I leaned back and slapped both hands against the floatpad. “You
were protecting Woz.”
    “No!” it said forcefully. “I needed to know why it was involved—discover
who it was working with—I thought the trip with your group might draw it out
and reveal its plan. Without my presence to restrain it, I