MMA fighters held a lot of grudges, but that kind of attitude didn’t fit her current job.
Sallie now untied, the women sat out on Katrina’s veranda, watching the last of the sun sink below the sea. Sallie swallowed a sip of tequila with appreciation. “I just mean that assassinations like you perform are wastes of time and money. What does it accomplish? It’s like we’re all in grade school again, pulling each other’s dresses up to show our panties. We’re adults. Let’s move beyond humiliation.”
“Humiliation is all we have,” Katrina said thoughtfully. “Most people surround themselves with clones, especially after a lifetime or two, so you can’t threaten their loved ones. Money is far too untraceable: Ruin one venture and find your rival has several more going. Political or sexual scandal doesn’t even last more than a few decades.”
“For something to pass, all we have to do is wait,” Sallie agreed, nodding. “But I need to figure out how to hurt people who cross me. Really hurt them.”
“Kidnapping comes to mind,” Katrina said. “Hide them away and kill them, and the bays will never wake up a new clone.”
Sallie looked at her with pity. “Katrina, do you mean to tell me you haven’t put your own cloning lab in this mansion? All of my targets have as many sequestered backups as they do bank accounts.”
“There’s torture,” Katrina said. “Personally I still hate pain.”
“Distasteful,” Sallie said, taking a sip as if to wash away the thought.
“All of your pain is either heartbreak or emotional,” Rebeca suggested, pouring more tequila for them both. “Nothing else matters to you.”
“Making your rival fall in love with someone and then getting their heart broken takes far too much work,” Katrina said.
Sallie focused on the sea as the sun finally slipped fully away. “No, but think bigger. The worst pain these days is disappointment. Brought about by hope.”
Katrina let Sallie chew on that for a moment as she finished her drink. Rebeca gave her another shot.
“You haven’t asked why I need such a revenge tactic,” Sallie said.
Katrina held her hand up to stop Rebeca from pouring another shot. “It’s not my place. I don’t question a client.”
“That’s what makes you so good.”
“Actually I do have one question. You said my employment with you would start with consulting. Where do you see it ending?”
Sallie snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Katrina. “We’re two intelligent people. I’m sure we can think of something.”
Katrina had heard of the generational ship being built at the moon ship base. She knew thousands of humans were going to go into cryo to wake up on a new planet. It sounded horrible to her. She didn’t want to be in space for lifetimes, then settle on a virgin planet on the other side. She didn’t want to be the one building new cities; she wanted to be the one enjoying well-established cities without worrying about where the sewers would go. After deciding she didn’t want to be stored in the ship’s database alongside other traveling clones, she hadn’t paid much more attention to it.
And now Sallie was asking her to be awake for the whole trip.
“The goal for the new world is for clones and humans to have peace if we land and colonize together.”
“I guess no one has read any history books recently?” Katrina said bitterly.
Sallie grinned and shrugged. “We have to work toward something, or else what is there to hope for?”
“So why me?” Katrina asked.
“The captain needs to be someone strong. I want you, I want a decorated war hero and assassin. The crew are all clones, criminals. If someone acts out, you can take care of things, wake up a new clone, and keep flying.”
“That sounds positively brutal.”
“Sometimes the best ways of the future involve incorporating the ways of the past,” Sallie said seriously. “And the best part? Your record is wiped clean when you get to the new planet. There will be no record of your life as an assassin or as a war criminal.”
Katrina narrowed her eyes. “My war record was supposed to already be clean.”
“Best hackers in the world, remember? Your record is still out there if one looks hard enough.”
“I can’t tell if this is an opportunity or blackmail,” Katrina said.
“To be honest I’m not sure myself anymore,” Sallie said. “Is it interesting to you or not? That’s the real question. Then we can discuss whether I have to force you into it or not.”
If her record came out, or she was arrested, she’d spend time in jail. That would be unpleasant, but she could still be cloned at the end of her life. She had time.
And this was starting to sound interesting, Katrina had to admit. She knew she wouldn’t be happy killing corporate fatcats forever. She nodded slowly. “I will consider this. But I have to have a few things up front. I have to kill you tonight, still. If I leave you alive and I don’t take your offer, I’ll never work again.”
“I understand,” Sallie said with a smile. “What else?”
“Rebeca goes with me, in cryo.”
Sallie looked up at the maid, who stood silently by the door. “Are you going to discuss this with her?”
“Rebeca. Will you come with me to colonize a new planet, after a lengthy nap in cryo?”
“I’m offended you have to ask, ma’am,” Rebeca said, slightly nasal through her cotton swabs.
“There you have it. Third, I want veto power over the crew choices.”
“Impossible,” Sallie said immediately. “I’ve pulled all the strings I have to just get you approved as captain. I can’t get anything else out of the financiers.”
“Then I want all of their histories.”
Sallie shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, General, but I can’t give you that either. One thing we are offering these clones is a clean slate. If they arrive on the planet with others knowing their criminal pasts, then the rest of the crew will have something on them, and they will be pariahs. It’s easy to wait out humiliation when there are billions of people around you. Harder when there are only thousands on the whole planet.”
“How will I control the crew when I don’t know what I’m dealing with?” she asked.
“That is what the AI is for. He will handle everything that you don’t have access to.”
“Thousands of lives and the operation of a spaceship? That’s a lot to trust to an artificial intelligence.”
“This one is the best in the world,” Sallie said.
“In the known world you mean. I know some underground hackers are also working on AI.”
“No. It’s the best in the world,” Sallie repeated, holding Katrina’s gaze.
The woman was connected. Even more than Katrina had thought.
“When do you need my answer?”
“Three days,” Sallie said, getting up and smoothing her suit. She frowned and brushed at the blood spots on the gray silk.
“If you leave that with me, I can remove those stains,” Rebeca said.
Sallie removed the jacket and smiled at Rebeca. “Thank you.”
Rebeca glanced at Katrina. “I’ll just get this in cold water. We will need to loan her something to wear to the party if you still plan on the assassination, ma’am.”