User Guide

A NEW SUN
APPENDIX 5
233
v v v
The lid to his cryocell hissed open, and Sheng-ji Yang emerged into darkness
and immediate danger. From the shadows surrounding his cell peered the nar-
row deadly eyes of shredder pistols, their barrels leveled directly at him.
Sheng-ji stood calmly, using his hand against the cryocell to steady himself as
waves of post-sleep nausea washed over him. No weakness … his eyes flick-
ered in the darkness, marking the position of every enemy. He could not see
their faces … the main lights in this bay appeared to be malfunctioning, or
shut down, and he could see only the other cryocells with their soft blue glow,
like phosphorescent flowers in a field of darkness.
He willed his muscles to relax with exquisite control. His eyes flickered, just
once, across the black metal lockbox on the shelf at the foot of his cryocell.
He wouldn’t betray his intentions by looking at the box again, but in his mind
he carefully reconstructed the exact positioning of the box on the shelf, its
exact height from the floor and the position of the softly glowing shape of the
digital print lock. The lockbox carried his personal arsenal: his shredder pistol,
a submission rod and several sets of organic restraints.
“Move away from the cell. Follow the exact path we have laid for you.” came a
harsh, gravelly voice from a knot of shadows only two cells away. He looked down
to see small glowing blue dots on the floor leading away from his cryocell. Why?
“On whose orders?” he asked, his throat husky from disuse … let the games begin.
“Do not answer him,” came a soft, steely voice from a position, amazingly,
even closer than the other, a peculiar dark knot of shadows barely an arm’s
length away. A chill crossed him, briefly … that this person dared to crouch so
close to him. He read the shadows quickly, making out a silhouette. The shad-
ow … this person … waited with catlike alertness, spine taut as a wire. Who?
“Do not answer this man,” the voice continued. “You are forbidden to speak
to him. And, Doctor Yang, do not speak to them. Simply follow the path we
have laid out for you.”
“Am I to …”