He turned to look at her. “That is, until I was sitting here and I realized I could perceive your thoughts.” He gazed at her for a moment. “You also possess this ability. That’s partly why they fear you.”
Luca’s mind was now a scramble of emotions, few of which were clearly defined, and telepathy was too momentous a concept for her sleep-addled brain to deal with right now. Yet she did get the feeling that when Xenon said, “That’s partly why they fear you,” he wasn’t talking about the VanHeilding family.
“Who’s they?” she asked.
“The quantum intelligence hive mind. Who else?” He seemed to infer that this should be obvious to Luca.
“The QIs? But…”
He took a step closer to her. “Surely you must realize the threat you pose to them?”
Luca didn’t answer. Athena had always been very protective of her. And Aria had been the one that got them out of New World One and brought them here. What was Xenon talking about? Maybe this was just his famed eccentricity at work.
He stepped back and gazed out through the doors again, his craggy face illuminated in the reflected light from the pool. “The bio-tech that has brought us to this point in humanity’s journey was developed long ago on this very planet. But it was deemed so dangerous that it was destroyed. Yet some remnants remained, and those were acquired by the VanHeilding Corporation.” He glanced over at her. “But I imagine this much you know.”
“Yes, I’ve heard the stories.”
“What is not widely known, and what I suspect the QIs have uncovered, is that VanHeilding possesses much more of this ancient bio-tech than was previously thought. Specifically human cloning, and I don’t mean at the inception level. I mean the ability to rapidly grow a genetically modified human to maturity.” He glanced back over at Luca, studying her face to see if she was taking all this in. “I myself am a product of this Frankenstein bio-tech.”
“I heard that story, too. But I get the impression most people don’t believe it.”
“Whether they believe it or not is not the issue. The real issue is that the VanHeilding Corporation may have mastered this technology. If so, then that gives them the ability to create an army of node-runners of immense power. All they need is your unique biology. With that, they can decimate the hegemony of the quantum intelligence hive mind, and humanity will descend into a millennium of chaos.” He paused for a beat, as if the thought of this was just too much to bear.
“So you see,” he continued, “why they would prefer that all trace of your physical existence should be destroyed, rather than be allowed to fall into the hands of the VanHeilding bio-labs.”
Luca responded with a sharp intake of breath, such was her shock at this revelation. She didn’t want to believe it, but deep down she knew it made sense. Maybe she had suspected something like this all along, but had refused to allow her mind to make it concrete. “I can’t believe Athena would do that.” she said, without much conviction. “I mean, it even gave me this neural lace and a drone, Fly.”
Xenon jerked his head around and gave her yet another long, considered look. His strange eyes seemed to penetrate her very soul. “Show it to me.” His voice was urgent and commanding.
Luca reached up and felt the base of her skull. “Eh…it’s stuck on my head. I can’t take it off any more.”
Xenon screw up his mouth. “Hmmm…this is more serious than I had first thought. We must go, now! We need to get you somewhere away from their prying eyes.”
“What? No, I’ve only just got here.”
Xenon paused for a moment, and his face became earnest. “They already know I’m here with you. However, the nature of our conversation has been hidden from them.” He reached into a fold on his robe and pulled out a small, special object that glowed slightly in the pale light. “This is a shielding device of my own design. It masks my activities and those of my associates from most QI surveillance. Nevertheless, they will soon put two and two together. If you want me to help you find your own path in this world, then we need to go now.”
Luca considered that taking off with what was essentially a complete stranger was probably not the most sensible thing to do. It might all be just an elaborate trick. This ancient creature could be a VanHeilding agent simply performing a well-practiced deceit. How was she to know?
“I am not a VanHeilding agent,” said a voice in her head. “All I can do is ask you to trust me. I am your friend. We share the same DNA, the same blood runs in both our veins. I have been where you are now. Don’t make the mistake that I did.” He stepped out into the courtyard.
Luca hesitated for a moment. Then got up, got dressed, and followed him out.
13
A Matter of Antimatter
Four figures emerged from the shadows of the villa complex and gathered around Xenon. They waited briefly for Luca to catch up with them, then they all moved off in unison out of the complex and into a wide public thoroughfare.
It was dimly lit and deserted at this time of night. They paused for a moment along the side of the walkway and stood waiting. For what, Luca wasn’t quite sure, until she heard a low hum emanating from farther along the walkway. It grew in intensity until a sleek bullet-shaped transport pod emerged from the darkness and glided to a halt in front of them. The side door swung up and they got in.
Its interior was clean and spartan, and almost organic in design. Luca had never seen anything like it before. Sure, there were ground cars and transport pods on Earth, but none to match the sheer elegance of this. Luca took a seat, which reformed as she sat down, molding itself into her body shape. A safety harness automatically held her secure.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Back to my science institute. It won’t take long,” said Xenon.
With that, the pod gracefully moved forward, quickly picking up speed, veering off into a tight, narrow tunnel, then dropping down into the bowels of the city as it went. Then, after a few seconds, it started to accelerate rapidly. Luca could feel herself being pushed back into her seat and taking quite a few gees—enough, she reasoned, to be hitting Mach one. This continued for around ten minutes before the pod started to slow down again. We must be far out from Jezero City by now, she thought.
“The institute is around two hundred kilometers north of Jezero,” said Xenon, vaguely pointing ahead. It was then that Luca realized he was wearing an exoskeleton. Around his hand and wrist, she could see a finely sculpted metallic filigree. His great age was finally catching up with him. He needed powered assistance to move around, and it explained his efficient, fluid movements.
The pod glided to a gentle stop, and the side door opened into what Luca sensed was a wide, open concourse. It was difficult to gauge the boundaries of the space in the dull, muted light, but it must be cavernous since their footsteps echoed as they walked.
After some time and much weaving their way through a labyrinth of corridors and walkways, they arrived at what Luca guessed were Xenon’s private quarters, judging by the clutter—everywhere else she had passed on the way was clinically utilitarian by comparison.
She sat down on a long sofa that faced a wide, tall window with a view over the Martian landscape. Not that there was much to see, but she could make out a scattering of navigation lights on isolated buildings and towers. Every now and then a ship would pass, far out across the basin, presumably arriving or departing the city.
Xenon sat opposite her, while one of his associates, an elegant woman of indeterminate age, stood close by. “May I see the drone that Athena built for you?” he said, getting down to business.
“Sure.” Luca extracted it from her rucksack and handed it to him.
He examined it, turning it over delicately in his hands. He passed it to his associate, who brought it over to one of the many benches that occupied the vast room and placed it under a camera system. A magnified image appeared on a monitor beside her.
“It got damaged during the attack on the Perception,” said Luc
a, looking over at the bench.
“Please excuse our excitement at being allowed to examine this drone,” Xenon’s associate said as she turned it this way and that under the camera. “An object crafted by a quantum intelligence is a very rare thing.”
Xenon leaned forward, giving Luca a curious look. “You say the neural lace has somehow…fused with your scalp?”
She reached up instinctively to the back of her skull. “Yes, weird. I was able to take if off at the start, but now something seems to have malfunctioned.”
The associate at the bench looked over, and both she and Xenon exchanged a glance.
“I see,” Xenon mused. “This is very interesting. Would you mind if my colleague takes a look at it?”
“Sure.” Luca shrugged.
“This is Dr. Yastika Parween, by the way.” He gestured at the associate. “One of our chief scientists here at the institute, and a longtime friend.”
Yastika approached Luca with the practiced skill of a medical clinician and examined Luca’s skull, her fingertips gently pushing aside her hair like a chimp grooming a family member. She stood back when finished and simply nodded at Xenon.
“Well?” said Luca, giving her hair a shake to settle it back. “Can you get it off?”
“We would need to have a much closer look, do some scans before we could establish if, and how, it could be removed,” said Yastika.
Luca sighed. “I don’t know what’s gone wrong with it, but it’s very irritating.”
Xenon again gave her a curious look. “It’s highly unlikely that there’s anything wrong with it, Luca. A quantum intelligence does not make design errors. Of the few objects we’ve had the good fortune to examine over the years, all were crafted to perfection. If the lace has fused to your scalp, it is because it was designed that way. You were not meant to remove it.”
“What? But…” Luca ran her hand over the base of her skull again. “Why would Athena do that?”
“It must have its reasons,” said Xenon.
“We can get a better look at it over here.” Yastika migrated over to a low bench, around which was arranged an impressive array of elegant robotic appendages. Luca guessed this was possibly used to keep Xenon’s exoskeleton maintained, and it did not look very inviting. But she had come this far, and the neural lace irritated her so much that she was willing to at least let them examine it.
She rose from the sofa and cautiously moved over to the bench. Under the guiding hand of Yastika, she was invited to lie face down. Tiny servos began to whirr, and Luca could sense both Yastika and Xenon studying readouts on a series of holo-screens.
“Holy crap.” Yastika took a few steps back from the screens.
Luca shifted her head to look around and find out what had startled her—this didn’t sound good. Yastika was staring back at Luca with a distinct look of fear on her face. She moved back a few more steps. Xenon too seemed uncharacteristically perturbed, although less so than his associate.
“What… What’s wrong?” Luca was getting a little anxious.
Xenon came toward the bench again, all the time looking at the holo-screen. “Extraordinary.” He rubbed his chin as he spoke.
Yastika, emboldened by Xenon’s seeming lack of fear, also came in closer.
“Is someone going to tell me what the big deal is?” Luca was becoming exasperated by this lack of communication.
Xenon looked down at her almost as an afterthought, as if she were merely a bystander in the drama that was playing out on the screen. “Come. Have a look,” he eventually said.
Luca rolled off the bench, stood up, and looked at the scan of her neural lace. The image was rendered in lurid greens with the innards of the device a filigree of black and gray. That was all, except for one tiny, bright-red spot.
“You see that?” Xenon pointed at the spot. “That…is antimatter.”
Luca’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Are you sure?” She leaned in a little more and studied the image.
“We’re absolutely sure,” said Yastika. “Antimatter is our primary research focus here at the institute.” She gestured at the image. “That’s a minuscule amount, but there is no mistaking the energy signature.”
“Is it what’s powering the device?” Luca ventured.
She was well aware of antimatter and its use as an energy source. When a standard particle came into contact with its equivalent antiparticle, it released an enormous amount of energy in what was referred to as an annihilation event. But even though humanity had known about this since the early twentieth century, it was still a very exotic technology, only just beginning to be utilized now that they’d figured a way to harvest antimatter from the Van Allen belt. Yet there was no way she knew of where it could be used to power a low-energy device such as her neural lace.
Yastika, feeling a little braver, moved in and interacted with the screen interface. The image zoomed in on a different area, rotating as it did. “That dark spot there is the power source, which looks to be an advanced difference generator with a capacitive storage unit—very impressive.” She zoomed out of the area and back to the red spot.
“That…” she said, pointing, “is something completely different. There is enough energy in that tiny amount to vaporize this entire wing of the science institute—and everything in it.”
“Oh my god.” Luca stepped back from the screen as her hand reflexively rose to touch the base of her skull. “It’s a bomb.”
14
Bald Reality
“Luca? Are you awake?” A vaguely familiar voice resonated deep within her subconscious, kicking her brain into gear. She slowly opened her eyes to dim, shifting shadows.
“She’s coming around.”
A blurry figure above her head came into view. “Luca? Can you hear me?”
The shadows gained clarity as Luca’s optic nerves adjusted to the light.
“Yes,” she croaked. Her mouth was bone-dry. She tried to swallow.
“Here.” Dr. Yastika Parween pressed a water bottle to her lips.
Luca took a sip. “Did it work?” she finally asked as her hand went instinctively to the base of her skull.
“Yes.” Yastika nodded a few times to emphasize the point. “Sorry about your hair.”
Luca was completely bald; they had shaved off all her hair before the operation to remove the neural lace. She rubbed a hand over her head and felt the smoothness of her scalp and the base of her skull where the lace had once embedded itself—now it was gone. Luca took her hand away and let her arm fall back on the bed. She gave a long, slow sigh.
“As predicted, it turned out to be a tricky operation, so it was best that you were put under for it.” Xenon hovered by her bed, looking satisfied with the proceedings. “And we’re all still here, so it didn’t detonate. We now have it stored somewhere safe.”
“Thank you,” said Luca, failing to resist the urge to rub a hand over her head again. “I just don’t understand why they would want to kill me. I’ve always trusted Athena. Why would they do this?”
“They don’t want to kill you, Luca. But in the logic of the quantum intelligence, if there’s an imminent possibility that your biology could be replicated, then they would see your demise being for the greater good.”
“The greater good, humph. Not very good for me.” Luca let her head fall back on the pillow for a moment, then looked over at Xenon. “So why are you helping me? Surely the QIs won’t be happy with you for doing this.”
His answer came as a voice in her head: “You and I are the same—we are family.”
Then he spoke out loud again. “I’ve had an uneasy relationship with the QIs for a very long time. On the one hand, I see their benefit to society as a whole. But on the other, are we not better to be masters of our own destiny—come what may?”
“Even if that means civilization being ruled by VanHeilding, Xiang Zu, and their ilk?” Luca challenged.
“We created a world where such powerful families can flourish, so in a se
nse we allowed them to exist. The QIs were a necessary counterbalance. But because we rely on them, we fail to challenge the real issue—the power of The Seven. We hide behind the QIs, hoping they will save us from ourselves. Is that any way for a so-called advanced civilization to exist?”
“So you think they’re ultimately failing us?” Luca sat up in the bed.
“One has already been destroyed on Ceres, several others attacked. Now VanHeilding and Xiang Zu ships head for New World One to take over. Once that happens, they will control the resources of the asteroid belt and will set about economically strangling Earth and Mars. And it is only by sheer luck that you have not yet fallen into their hands. If that should happen, then…” He didn't finish the sentence.
“Maybe Athena is right to destroy me.” Luca sighed. “Maybe it would be better for all if I were to vaporize myself now and be done with it. Because it will never end—they’ll just keep chasing me until I have nowhere else to run.”
“That would be one solution to your problems.”
“What? So you agree? You want me dead, too?”
“There is only one way to end it, as you put it, and that is either to remove yourself from the equation, or remove that which threatens you.”
Luca paused for a beat, then gave a laugh. “Ha…that’s insane. You seriously think someone like me could somehow wipe out the VanHeilding Corporation or take on the entire quantum intelligence hive mind? That’s ridiculous, Xenon. And I thought you were supposed to be some kind of super-smart human.”
Xenon glanced over at Yastika, giving her a conspiratorial look, then back at Luca. “But you’re the only one who can.”
Exodus: Sci-Fi Thriller (The Belt Book 5) Page 8