At some point, Tarris would have to face Corman, but with events happening so fast, the time and place wouldn't be of her choosing. She hoped she and Rya were up to the fight.

"It seems the bitch here was nothing more than a fake," Corman announced to the troopers in the room, his cold eyes gleaming in the bright light. "And now," he continued as he stepped toward the chair holding Tarris, "she'll finally get what's coming to her."

Tarris was propped up in a chair, her body suit removed and her arms tied securely to the armrests. She looked defiantly at her approaching adversary. "And who's going to stop me? You?" She laughed out loud. "You're nothing but a little pissant wannabe, Corman." It was probably foolish to taunt the beast, but Tarris wanted to vent her anger at the arrogant son of a bitch.

"You're not so special anymore, Waite. You're just like the rest of us now." Corman started to move around Tarris, and his cohorts followed, circling her like a pack of wolves preparing to take down a buck. "Those little experiments back at The Battery were about making us like you."

"You were never like me, Corman." Whatever Corman thought went on at The Battery was not what the Prime had told her. For now she let Corman think he was right.

"And who would want to be, woman? But you no longer scare us." He stopped in front of her and lifted his fist. He let fly with a punch to her mouth.

Tarris's head snapped back with the force, and she felt warmth on her chin. She laughed again. "So, little man, you can only attack me when I'm tied up?" Tarris stared him in the eye and saw his moment of indecision as he looked from one trooper to another. "Losing your grip, Corman?"

"Losing your life, Waite?" He nodded at the troopers surrounding her. "Get her." His two closest associates moved forward, but the rest of the unit hesitated. "She no longer has any power. Now, get her!" he yelled.

"And this is what it's come to, huh? They have you turning on your own kind." She looked each member of the unit in the eye in turn to make sure that they stared long and hard into her pale, pale eyes. All this time she had denied her heritage, but now it was necessary to use it to make them see reason.

She was on her own, and her survival depended on turning one or more of the unit against Corman. Rya couldn't help her with this one; not that she regretted for one minute asking Rya to protect Asher.

The young one called Shark backed away to the wall.

"Get back here, Trooper!" Corman bellowed. "It is your duty to eliminate this enemy of the State."

"An enemy of the State?" Tarris said. "I've never done any disservice to the State."

"You did by walking away, woman."

"I have a name, Corman."

"Oh, no you don't, woman." Then he laughed. "If you could be called that."

Tarris refused to ask the question, even though she desperately wanted to know the answer, but she knew Corman would tell her anyway. He was in the mood to gloat. "You don't know shit, Corman."

"You're nothing more than a scientific experiment, Waite," Corman said. Tarris glared at him. "You're not surprised? I'm impressed." He waited for some sort of response from Tarris but got none. "Everything in your life has been to my"-he stopped and corrected himself-"our benefit." Still Tarris remained silent. "You're better than I gave you credit for. If it were me, I'd be ranting and raving by now."

"Well, that's the difference between you and me, Corman. I have a thing called a brain." Corman's fist was lightning quick as he hit her again. "And self-control," she added, earning her another hit, this time in the stomach.

"Everything in your life, woman, was planned. In fact, you had no life, which I think is kind of funny." He illustrated his point with a large belly laugh. He sobered.

Tarris grew tired of his jibes. "All right, Corman, let's cut to the chase. What's the bottom line?"

"What? I thought you were enjoying this little story."

"Not as much as you, little man." Tarris wanted it to be all over. Her life had been crap, and now Corman would reveal to her fellow troopers in detail what that crap was.

"You were being watched every minute of every day, Waite. I even know about that little mole at the base of your butt. But the funniest thing was you trying to have sex with that mediprac slut." He grinned. "Floundering around like a fish out of water. Pathetic."

Tarris could feel her anger rise, and her head pounded.

"I have to admit I found the tape of you falling down the stairs quite amusing."

That was it. Tarris had reached that point where stepping over it would see her lose control. She had approached that point a few times, but she had never stepped over it. Corman had finally signed his death warrant.

"So the bottom line, Waite, is that you were made to study, to dissect, and to extract. Your blood was meant for me."

Shark made a move toward the door. "Stand your post, Trooper!" Corman yelled.

"Who put you in charge?" one of the older troopers asked.

"Me," Corman growled as he stared down his opponent. "And the Prime."

Tarris barely acknowledged Corman's words. Her mind had found that place where her rage lived, and it was growing. She had never had such a reaction before.

Tarris looked at Shark and stared deep into his eyes. Shark said nervously, "I'm getting out of here." All but Corman's two lieutenants hurried from the building, which left Tarris to face three.

"You're losing control, Corman. He's just the-" A heavy metal baton smacked Tarris across her back and knocked the wind out of her. She winced as the pain lanced through her body, but she refused to allow a sound to pass her lips. A second baton pounded her legs, and she saw stars. There was a copper taste in her mouth, and she knew her teeth were now tinged red with blood. She had bitten her tongue when the bar connected with her newly awakened nerves, and she added this injury as kindling to the fire.

"You better not make me mad, Corman." Tarris narrowed her eyes at her opponent so he could see the venom there.

"Or you'll do what? Bite me?" He seemed to be taking immense enjoyment out of her predicament.

The door slid open, and a man filled the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Corman said.

"Prime tried to call you, but you ignored it. He's not happy. Hello, Tarris."

"Why am I not surprised?" she muttered. "Everyone has come to see me suffer. Hello, Maken."

"And you came all the way over to tell me this?" Corman said crankily.

"You seem to forget who's in charge here, Trooper." Derille moved into the room and approached Corman. The air was still for a moment before all hell broke loose. Corman swung a baton against Derille's unprotected body, pounding him to the ground into semiconsciousness.

"Me, you moron!" Corman spat at the body. "It looks like the fun is about to begin." He moved smoothly toward the door, and his two buddies followed dutifully a step behind him. He called over his shoulder, "Oh, don't worry, woman, we'll get back to you soon. I've got some unfinished business to take care of with the Council first."

Tarris took a moment to calm down and take stock of her body. While the soreness remained, there didn't seem to be any lasting damage, and for her legs' sake she was grateful. But she had to get free and stop an out-of-control Corman. Suddenly, images of fleeting scenery played across her mind's eye. Rya was coming.

Chapter 14.

"Tarris." Her name came out of Derille's mouth more as a moan than a word.

"Are you the babysitter while Corman destroys everything?" Tarris said in an accusing tone.

"I..." Derille pulled himself slowly up until he was sitting on the floor. He reached for the back of his head and rubbed it. "I came here... to rescue you."

"Rescue me? Oh, please." Tarris didn't believe one word of it. "Isn't the Prime sick of playing games with me yet?"

"No... Prime. Darmen."

"Who?" Tarris hid her surprise.

Derille looked at her for a moment. "No... time for games." He struggled to stand, and a moan escaped his lips as he put weight on his legs. "That son of a bitch." He slowly moved to the side of Tarris's chair and undid the wrist braces that held her firmly in place.

Tarris looked warily sideways at Derille and waited for the betrayal. She sat there and watched him circle around her to finally stand in front of her. "You need to get going."

"And what? The troops are waiting outside to bring me down?" Tarris weighed her options. She was now free, but without her frame and without Rya, she was little more than an observer in any confrontation.

"Where's your walker?" Derille looked around the room.

"Outside somewhere," Tarris said. "Why bother?"

"Because you're our only hope to stop Corman," Derille said seriously. He disappeared for a few moments and returned with her suit. He knelt before her and started to fiddle with the straps. Tarris braced herself on the armrests and lifted herself up, standing unsteadily on her two feet. She nearly laughed out loud when she saw Derille's shocked expression.

"You better hurry up before I fall down." Tarris felt her strength rapidly wane. It had taken a lot to stand, and it wasn't going to last long. Derille quickly fitted the rest of the suit around her waist.

"Your legs... but... but... how?"

"The mediprac, Maken. You should have kept her away from me." Tarris touched the tab and stood, braced by the metal rods of the suit.

"I'm sorry about what has happened," he said.

"That's a little late, don't you think?" Tarris moved swiftly and grabbed Derille's lapels. She pulled him forward violently. "You should have left me tied up."

"I'm telling you-"

"And I'm telling you. I don't believe a word that comes out of your slimy mouth."

"But I let you go."

"Another one of your tricks, Maken." Tarris tightened her fist on his clothing, and the material creased across his throat and pressed into the flesh. "What is Prime up to?"

"He..." Maken gasped. "He's..." Tarris eased up on her hold, and Derille breathed a little easier. "He's about to eliminate all opposition on Council."

"And he's using Corman to do it." Tarris's statement was confirmed by a nod from Derille. "But Corman's got other ideas."

"You're the only one who can take him on."

"And why would I do that? All of you used me like some lab rat. I owe you nothing." She felt her anger rise again.

"But some of us are worth saving. What about the mediprac and the young boy? Don't they deserve a chance to live? If Corman succeeds, he's going to destroy us all."

"Now, there's the dilemma. Why did the Council use Corman when they knew how dangerous he is?"

"Prime felt he had things under control," Derille said.

"And he doesn't. So I'm supposed to clean up your mess."

"It's not my mess, Tarris." Derille lifted his hands and pulled Tarris's fist away from his coat. "I'm not with them."

"So you say."

"You don't believe me, I know that. I'm a spy for the resistance."

"And I'm really six foot two with four arms," Tarris said.

"Prime found out I had lied about my family." Derille sat down in the vacant chair and slid his fingers through his lush, slightly graying hair. "They died six months after you came to visit me. That was my punishment for lying to him."

Tarris stood there and took in his words. Was this another lie to add to the mountain of lies he had already told her? She saw a lone tear slide down his face and felt herself soften. Tarris allowed Derille to continue. She ignored his vulnerability as his hand rose to wipe away the moisture.

"Anyway, not long afterward, Darmen recruited me to be their spy inside Prime's empire. But the time has now come to reveal ourselves in order to stop him."

"And who is this Darmen," Tarris asked.

Derille looked up at her and a wry smile touched his lips. "You know him as Darmen, CEO of Computronics. What you may not know is his real name is Garven Sholter."

"Sholter?" Tarris knew that name, at least the surname.

"That's right. He's the brother of Roden Sholter, the Prime."

Suddenly the vague familiarity of Darmen came sharply into focus for Tarris. She hadn't been able to place his face before, but now she knew. There was a slight family resemblance between the two brothers, and while not striking, one could see that they were related.

Tarris felt a sharp jolt to her heart. She had really liked the old man and had considered him a friend. Immediately, her conscience berated her and reminded her of one of her cardinal rules. She had fallen into Darmen's trap, and now she was about to pay.

"So?"

"So... Garven is trying to stop his brother from destroying the metropolis."

"And why should I believe you?" Tarris didn't know whom to believe anymore. At least with Corman she knew where she stood.

"Because if you don't do something, you'll never be free to live the life you so desperately want."

"I can just walk away."

"You tried that before, and look where that's gotten you. Living in the sewer."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can use me as a hostage until we get outside, then you're on your own."