"There's a facility practically next door," Elgars said. "That door that didn't appear on the map you downloaded? It's the way into the facility."
"Well, then we're fucked," Wendy cursed. "We can't open it."
"Let's go back," Elgars said. "Maybe I can come up with something."
"What?" Wendy asked.
"I don't know," the captain said. "I'll say 'open sesame' or something."
"Fine, you go get the kids," Wendy said. "I'll start dragging her."
"Great," Elgars said. "Send me after the kids."
"They'd argue with me," Wendy pointed out heaving Shari up into a fireman's carry. "Oof. You'll be there before me, I think."
* * *
Elgars placed her palm on the doorpad as Wendy carried Shari through the door to the tank room. As soon as she placed her hand on the pad, the door opened.
"What did you do?" Wendy asked. She was sweating and panting already carrying the older woman; it had been a long day.
"I just put my palm on the pad," Elgars said with a shrug. "I'm military; maybe it was designed to open for any military personnel."
The far room had lockers against both walls and the far door appeared to be an airlock.
"You did ask for a medical facility, right?" Wendy asked, shifting the body on her shoulders. She looked around, but it looked more like the entry to a computer chip clean room.
"Yes," Elgars said leading the line of children to the far door. It, too, opened at a touch. "It's supposed to be this way. The map showed a winding path; we'll have to see what that means."
The group crowded into the airlock and Elgars keyed the next door, which opened into violet darkness.
The light from the airlock illuminated the far wall and Elgars felt an almost unholy dread shiver down her spine. The wall was clearly a made thing, but it looked organic and the tunnel drifted off to the right in a fashion that made her think, uncomfortably, of the inside of an intestine.
A purple intestine at that; the light that seemed to emanate from the walls was a deep violet. In the distance was a gurgling sound, not quite like a brook or a fountain, but more like an upset stomach and closer to hand there were high, shrill whistles. The smell was odd and alien, and acrid sweetness that told hindbrain that it was no longer in a human environment.
"Well, this is odd," Wendy said.
* * *
Elgars hefted her rifle and looked around the violet tunnel. "I don't like this. I don't like it at all." She was panting quietly.
Wendy shifted the inert lump of Shari on her shoulder and shrugged as well as she could. "I don't care if you like it or not; there's supposed to be a trauma facility in here and we're going to find it."
"Where's an info terminal?" Elgars asked rhetorically.
"Do you need information, Captain Elgars?" a mellifluous voice asked out of the walls.
Elgars pried one of the children's hands off of her uniform and looked around. "Who asked?"
"This is the facility AID, Captain," the voice answered. "Do you require assistance?"
"We have a patient," Wendy answered. "We need a medical facility."
There was no answer.
Elgars looked at Wendy and shrugged. "We have a patient, we need a medical facility," she repeated.
"Follow the sprite," the AID answered. One of the blue glowing micrites appeared and bounced in the air. "It will lead you to the facility."
The group followed the sprite as it went through a series of turns. The shrill piping and gurgling in the distance never seemed to go away or even change and, but the light would brighten in the areas through which they walked, getting dimmer as they passed.
There were occasional low, mostly empty rooms to either side of the passageway. In a few there were low stools or cushions that looked amazingly like toadstools and one had a low bench and table set that could have been for children. There were many puckered spots that could have been openings to additional chambers or simply odd architecture.
Finally they came to a room that was somewhat higher than most. In the center was a small dais with what looked like a glass-covered altar on it.
"Please place the patient in the chamber," the AID chimed in as the sprite flickered out and flew away. The top to the chamber seemed to disappear rather than receding or even folding away as memory plastic would have.
"What is this going to do to her?" Wendy asked.
"AID, could you answer that question, please?" Elgars said impatiently. "And future questions from that person that are permitted."
"The nanochamber will repair the subject," the AID answered. "The choices are repair, repair and rejuv or full upgrade."
Wendy slowly lowered Shari onto the altar and shivered uncomfortably. "Computer, what is the nature of 'full upgrade'?" she asked.
"The patient will be given nano-enhanced musculature, fast-heal and bone-structure," the AID answered emotionlessly. "Along with implanted combat skills."
"Oh, shit," Elgars said. "Computer, what is the nature of my access to this facility? Is it because I'm a military officer?"
"No, Captain," the AID answered. "You are an ongoing patient."
"Oh, Jesus Christ," Wendy said bitterly. "How long does repair take, computer?"
"Repair will take approximately ten minutes for the damage that is detected. Full upgrade will take approximately fifteen."
"Son-of-a-bitch, son-of-a-bitch, son-of-a-bitch," Wendy muttered. "SON OF A BITCH!"
"It's been here the whole time," Elgars said bitterly.
"They could have repaired David any time they wanted to."
"Or rejuved any of the old people."
" 'It would take months in the regen tanks to fix,' " Wendy quoted bitterly. "The question is whether Shari wants somebody else's memories."
"Improvements have been emplaced in the system since the experiments on Captain Elgars," the computer burbled happily. "Secondary memory and personality effects have been severely decreased. In addition, it was necessary to implant a full personality core in Captain Elgars due to complete loss of original function."
"Say that again in English," Elgars snapped.
"Anne Elgars no longer existed; she was dead," the computer said. "Due to extensive brain damage it was necessary to dump all but hindbrain functions and reload a complete personality core. This patient has not suffered significant neurological damage."
"Oh, shit," Elgars said quietly, sitting down on the floor. "Who was it?"
"That information is not available to this facility," the computer answered. "Some personality cores were brought to Earth by !Tchpth!, others were collected on Earth."
"Computer," Wendy said. "Full upgrade."
"That command needs to come from Captain Elgars," the computer said.
"Concur," Elgars whispered. "Do it." At her words the top closed and went opaque, obscuring the view of the badly damaged woman.
"Annie," Wendy said, sitting down and putting her arm around her. "Don't take it so hard. They saved you. That's all that matters."
"Whoever 'me' is," Elgars said. "The fuckers. They wouldn't even tell my doctors. No wonder they thought I was nuts; I am."
"Of course they didn't explain it to your doctors," Wendy said archly. "They would have had to explain this facility. And you're not nuts, we've all got multiple 'people' running around inside of us. We just show different ones at different times."
"Sure, but that's just a way of saying it," Elgars said. "I'm really multiple people. Like . . . Frankenstein, but in the head. A patchwork girl."