She watched as its front legs scrabbled to get a grip on the slick stone. It failed and fell, landing with an audible “tock.” The nameless man spun in his chair, then was up and stamping the scorpion over and over. It wasn’t even that big, Ash thought. No more than twenty centimeters.
The man remained bent over for several moments. “Oh God, I hate them.”
“They are carrion eaters,” Arkady said. “Living off the debris of pterosaur colonies that nest on cliffs and in shallow caves. Their bite does little harm to humans.”
“I hate them,” the man repeated.
“He has a phobia,” Mike said. “Cave scorpions don’t bother me.”
The nameless agent straightened up. “The tunnels connect with caves. The damn things have discovered they can live off us. They’re all over.”
“But hardly a serious problem,” Arkady said.
“We also have fire scorpions,” Mike put in.
The nameless agent twitched at the name. Mike smiled slightly. Ash had the impression he enjoyed his colleague’s fear.
“That is a problem,” Boris said. “But you shouldn’t have them. They live in the forest, not in caves.”
“They’ve bred with the cave scorpions,” the nameless man said. His voice sounded constricted, as if fear had robbed him of breath.
“They can’t have,” Arkady said. “They are different species, living in different environments.”
The two men exchanged glances and were silent.
After a moment, Boris said harshly, “You were not satisfied with robot scorpions. You have played with DNA and created a new species in violation of numerous laws.”
“Not the laws on Earth,” Mike said.
“You are on Venus,” Boris pointed out. “And in Petrograd.”
“I don’t think we need to talk about this.”
“Yes, we do,” Arkady replied. “And not just here. You are in very serious violation of several treaties. Venus and Earth need to know about this.”
The nameless agent pulled out a handgun, aiming it at Arkady. The gun was shaking. Ash could see that clearly. The gun, the shaking hand, the room, the other people were all unnaturally sharp and clear.
“Go,” she said to Baby. The pterosaur was out in a moment, flapping onto the agent’s head and clawing. The gun went off with a loud—very loud—sound. Arkady dove at the man, taking him down. The gun spun across the floor, away from Arkady and the nameless agent.
“Stop that,” Mike said.
Ash looked toward him. His coffee cup lay on the yellow floor, in the middle of a brown pool of coffee, and he had a gun out, pointing it at Arkady.
Never mix with the CIA. But it was too late for that warning.
“No,” said Alexandra. Ash was trying not to move, but she could see the ex-cop from the corner of her eye. The woman had a gun, held steadily and pointed at Mike. This was ridiculous.
“Get the damn animal off Brian,” Mike said.
The nameless agent was on the floor, Arkady lying across him, and Baby still on his head, biting and clawing.
“Stop,” Ash called. “You can stop now, Baby.”
The pterosaur flapped back to his cage, settling on top and folding his downy wings.
“This is stupid,” Mike said. “I’m not going to shoot anyone in here, and I hope to God this lovely lady is not going to shoot me. You guys look like idiots on the floor. Get up.”
The two men did. Arkady looked rumpled, which was his usual condition. Blood ran down the face of the nameless agent. He wiped it with one hand, making a smear.
“We’re pulling out,” Mike added. “Petrograd knows this.”
“Why?” asked Boris.
“Why do they know? We told them.”
“Why are you pulling out?”
“The scorpions. The things are deadly, and Brian’s right. They’re all over.”
“Am I right?” Boris said. “Did you create them?”
Mike was silent.
“They must have wanted something that could live in sewers and the crawl spaces of buildings,” Arkady put in. “And that was toxic. It sounds like a weapon that could be used against Petrograd.”
“They are telling us too much,” Boris said. “They must be planning to kill us.”
“Not while I hold this gun,” Alexandra said.
“We’re pulling out, as I told you,” Mike said. “And there is no proof that we made the scorpions or intended to use them for anything. You Soviets are way too paranoid.”
“How many people are left here?” Arkady asked.
“Dozens,” said the agent named Brian.
“Don’t be a fool. We saw no one coming in, and no one has responded to the sound of gunfire. Either you are alone, or your colleagues are not close.”
“Three,” Mike answered. “They’re in the back rooms, destroying the equipment. When they’re done, we’ll take the last VTL.”
Boris pulled a roll of duct tape from his vest. He tossed it to Arkady. “Tape them up.”
“No,” said Brian. “What if more scorpions come?”
“Too bad,” Boris said.
The man bolted for the room’s doorway. Baby flapped onto him, clawing and shrieking, “Bad! Bad!”
Brian stumbled. Boxlike Irina grabbed his arm and pulled him around, then drove a fist into the man’s midsection. He bent over, coughing, and collapsed onto his knees. Fortunately, because Ash hated vomit, he did not throw up.
“That’s some punch,” Mike said in his or her pleasant voice.
“She used to be a stevedore,” Arkady said. “Now I will tape you up, and you will hope that none of your new, mutant scorpions arrive.”
“I’m not phobic,” Mike replied. “And I’m not going to shoot it out with you. We don’t know what these walls are made of, but you can’t scratch them. Anything that hits them is going to bounce off.” He put his gun on the table. “We’ve been lucky so far. The last ricochet didn’t hit anyone. I think the bullet went out the door. There’s no reason to think we’ll be lucky a second time.”
Arkady and Irina taped the two men while Alexandra kept her gun leveled.
“Are you recording?” Arkady asked after they were done.
“Yes,” Maggie said. “But I’m having trouble with my radio signal here. As soon as we are outside, I will send the photos to Venusport.”
Arkady set a knife on the table next to Mike’s gun. “It will cut the tape,” he said to Mike. “Even if your comrades don’t come looking for you, you’ll be able to get free.”
“That may be a mistake,” Boris said.
Arkady nodded. “We all make them. Let’s get out of here.”
They left the room and retraced their way through the mazelike stone corridors. No one appeared though they did encounter a scorpion, crawling over the floor. It was dirty pink with tiny eyes, thirty centimeters long and the ugliest land scorpion Ash had ever seen. Boris stepped on it hard, crushing its exoskeleton. The many legs kept scrabbling, and the mandibles twitched back and forth, but the animal’s body could not move. It was broken. “This is why we wear tall boots,” he said.
They found the trucks where they had left them. Rain still fell heavily.
“I can send the recordings now,” Maggie said.
“Do it,” Jason said. “I am going to write an exposé that will rip those guys apart. They were ready to kill us.”
They ran for the trucks, climbed in, and pulled out, going along the track away from the ruins.
Ash could feel her heart beating rapidly. Her mouth was dry, and she was shaking. Fear fighting with amazement. She had been inside ruins built by aliens, and she had escaped from the CIA. What a day!
Baby was in his cage, shivering and repeating “bad, bad” over and over in a quiet voice.
“Okay,” Ash said after her heart slowed down. “What was that about?”
Arkady leaned forward and checked the truck radio, which was off. “We knew the CIA was here and that they had some kind of agreement with the Petrograd executive committee. We knew about the circles. And we had this.” He handed her a tablet. On the screen was a piece of sculpture, deeply worn and barely recognizable as a person. It had two arms and two legs, all long and thin, the legs together and the arms folded across the chest. The person’s torso was short and wide, its neck long and narrow, its head wedge-shaped.