The Farther Shore - Christie Golden [67]
[199] She closed her eyes. She didn’t want this to be happening, but Baines had warned them it might.
She looked over at Andropov, and as she met his eyes she realized that he had felt the signal the Doctor had given them as well.
“I had hoped we’d survive this,” he said softly.
“Me, too,” she said.
Her console lit up. “Seven of Nine and Icheb were forced to leave sickbay,” she said. “The Doctor made a suicide run. And they know that Kaz is gone.” Robinson looked over at him. “They’re calling for a complete lockdown and sweep.”
“We’ll be discovered, then,” Andropov said. “I wish ...”
“I know,” Robinson said softly. “I do, too. But maybe what we do here today will ensure that other holograms won’t have to be faced with our choices.”
“Do we have time to leave the messages?” Andropov asked.
Robinson glanced again at her console. “If we’re brief,” she said, and softly began to speak into a small padd. Andropov did the same.
Then, slowly, they got to their feet. They knew that every other hologram in the facility that had been placed there to assist Oliver Baines in his revolution was doing the same. They’d all gotten the signal from the Doctor, before he fled to his death.
Almost simultaneously, as if it had been choreographed, each hologram placed down its portable emitter. They looked just like simple briefcases, but were so much more.
[200] They drew their phasers and looked at each other one last time.
“It’s been good to know you, Vassily.”
“You, too, Barbara.”
They took aim at the portable emitters and fired.
Allyson couldn’t handle it anymore. Even though Andropov had done all he could to keep her in the shade, to see to it that she was properly hydrated, the workload and the heat were simply too much for the girl.
She was right beside him when she fell. He heard her cough, and when he turned to assist her he saw her eyes roll back into her skull. She went limp and he caught her. She weighed hardly anything and he was able to carry her away from the cluster of organic slaves. He feared she might be crushed beneath their feet.
“Come on, Allyson,” he said, gently slapping her cheeks. Despite the heat that rose in waves around them, that soaked their tunics, her skin was cold. She was still breathing, though.
A shadow fell over him and Andropov looked up to see a mounted hologram. The sun was so strong behind him that his face was in shadow, and Andropov couldn’t make out his expression.
“She is too weak for the work,” he explained. “She needs help.” When the rider made no offer of assistance, he tried again, more desperately. “I don’t know what kind of master plan Baines has, but if he lets this girl die it will only work against him and his cause. Your cause. Please, help her!”
The rider nodded. “You are right,” he said. “Blood must not be on our Lord Baines’s hands.”
[201] And before Andropov could even move, a spear materialized in the rider’s hands and he had driven its point deep into Allyson’s chest.
Blood welled up around the spear shaft and Allyson thrashed. Red fluid dripped from her mouth, bubbled from her nostrils. Her eyes were enormous and filled with incomprehension. Andropov screamed and frantically tried to pull the spear from her, as if that would help anything at all. She tried to cry out, but all that escaped her bloodied lips was a mewling noise.
It was hard for Andropov to see. Why couldn’t he see? In the back of his mind he realized he was crying, but all he cared about was Allyson, helping Allyson, oh God, she was dying, right here in front of him and—
Suddenly everything was dark and cool. The spear had vanished, but Allyson’s bloody body remained. There was no sun, no sand, only a cluster of people in a dark box with yellow stripes.
A door opened, and Oliver Baines strode in. “Our little adventure together is over,” he said. “The holograms I created to replace you are ... have been deactivated.” He cleared his throat, and continued. “You will be returned, after we have had a chance to