by Rexx Deane
A lot on his mind indeed. Working with the terrorists. Either that, or one of those entities from Kerl’s experimentation had possessed him. If his behaviour really had changed, it would fit the symptoms. He had to get back to the ship and the lift wasn’t going that way. ‘Computer, stop at the next exit.’
The lift stopped.
‘This is where I get off, Ms Stevens.’ He nodded and stepped out into the corridor.
‘If you get time for that drink—’ The lift doors closed.
***
Sebastian arrived back at the hangar with his stomach about to explode in a fiery, acidic mess. Aryx’s admonishments were well-founded and the revelation about Gladrin hadn’t helped.
‘I’ve finished transcoding the video,’ Wolfram said as Sebastian entered the cockpit. ‘It took less time than anticipated. Why have you come back early?’
‘I lied to Gladrin.’ He sat at the console. ‘There were too many things that didn’t add up, and he seemed to be looking for something specific in the evidence box. I told him you were destroyed in the crash and gave him the other SI.’
‘It’s wise that you did. I took the liberty of tracing the shipping logs from the private bay in which you found the carbyne shipment. The only ship in or out of that bay over the last two weeks was a rented vessel registered to Agent Gladrin. I then traced the records relating to the hire of the private laboratory. Payments appeared to come from Gladrin to cover the rent. Gladrin also had large payments coming from Earth, but I have as of yet been unable to trace their exact source. However, after scanning police files, it seems that several known terrorist supporters have received funds along similar channels. The size of the payments is also very suspicious.’
‘You hacked his accounts?’
‘I felt it prudent to do it myself, so that you would not be left accountable. I used several net hops and deleted logs faster than you would have been capable. I did, however, have to use your credentials to gain access to the police files, as you are already permitted access.’
‘Thanks for the consideration, but for all that I don’t think it’ll help,’ Sebastian said, biting a nail. ‘If he’s involved, he’ll know I lied to him anyway. I’ll need to contact the higher ranks of SpecOps or EarthSec directly and present the evidence of his involvement. There’s another thing. I bumped into Stevens on the way here. She said Gladrin’s behaviour has changed recently, and I wonder if he might be under the control of the same entities that took over Alvarez and the others.’
‘Gladrin is not a practitioner of thaumaturgy, is he?’
‘Not to my knowledge …’ He bit his lip. Perhaps there was another cause. ‘Can you search records faster than the security TI?’
‘I believe so. What would you like me to look for?’
‘Search medical databases and news reports for references to sudden changes in behaviour that match symptoms similar to those of the possession cases we’ve seen. If there’s another vector, other than through the use of magic, he could be under the entities’ control.’
‘I will work on that now … Given that Aryx is associated with the investigation, do you think it would be prudent to inform him of Gladrin’s involvement?’
The fleeting urge to call his friend came and went. ‘No, Aryx can take care of himself. I’ll call him in the morning.’ He yawned. ‘If I sit up all night waiting, I’ll be of no use when you find something. I should get an early night and call Janyce to thank her for the journal she sent me.’ He set a reminder in the computer to wake him at three in the morning. ‘Can you monitor ship security? I’ll sleep in the hold while you search for those records. If Gladrin is working for the terrorists, or if he’s possessed, I wouldn’t put it past him to hack into the ship and assassinate me in my sleep, or something. At least you can prevent an override.’
‘Of course. I will also monitor Aryx’s quarters.’
‘You can do that?’
‘I have had ample time to study the station’s security protocols. Your routines are difficult to circumvent but, with my abilities, not impossible.’
Sebastian crossed his arms and shook his head as he got up. ‘I’m glad you’re the only one of your kind and are on our side! I’ll see you in the morning.’
***
The computer woke him at 03.00, as requested, with a reminder to call Janyce. He’d slept well – whatever was causing the nightmares didn’t appear to affect them when they slept on the ship, or off the station. He climbed up to the cockpit and sat at the piloting console. A few taps later he’d established a comm-link with Janyce’s apartment on Earth.
The comms’ ‘ringing’ screen came up. It rang. And rang.
A woman with short black hair answered. ‘Hi! You must be Sebastian. I’ve seen you in photos.’
‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Janyce’s neighbour.’
‘What are you doing there? Where is she?’
‘I’m looking after her cat. I got a message saying she and Erik had to go out of town on an emergency. I can’t find the cat’s bowl to put the food down.’
Janyce never said anything about a cat. ‘When was this?’
‘A couple of hours ago. I’ve got the memo here—’
His stomach quivered. ‘You didn’t speak to her?’
‘No. Here it is. It was a family emergency.’ Sebastian’s skin tingled; the woman put her hand to her mouth. ‘Is there something wrong?’
‘Yes. Janyce doesn’t have any other family!’
‘If there’s—’ He cut the comms before she could finish, and with hands shaking, he called security.
‘Computer, where is Agent Gladrin?’
‘Agent Gladrin is not aboard the station.’
His mind filled with a haze. He couldn’t think straight.
‘Your heart rate is elevated,’ Wolfram said. ‘Are you anxious?’
‘I need to … I need to find out where Gladrin is.’
‘One moment.’
He bit his nails while the lights on the cube flashed frantically.
‘Records show Gladrin’s ship left the station several hours ago. The flight plan indicates that he was heading to Earth. You look pale – are you ill?’
‘Not as ill as Gladrin’s going to be when I get my hands on him. I think that bastard’s on to us and he’s kidnapped my family!’
Chapter 34
‘Computer, call Aryx Trevarian,’ Sebastian’s voice trembled as much as his hands. If Gladrin did anything to his family, he’d kill him.
Aryx answered twenty seconds later, and an image of his room, lit only by the terminal, appeared. He sat in bed, sweating.
Sebastian fought to keep his voice steady. ‘Sorry to call this early, but I need you.’
‘It’s okay, I was already awake. What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘Gladrin’s left the station, heading for Earth. I think he knows I’m on to him, and now Janyce and Erik have gone missing!’
‘What do you mean, on to him?’
‘He knows things about the investigation that he shouldn’t …’ He quickly explained his findings while Aryx dressed. ‘… And to top it all, I think he’s possessed.’
‘Are you nuts? How could he get possessed if he doesn’t use magic?’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘I don’t know, but Stevens said he’s behaving strangely, which makes me think that’s the case. I’ve got Wolfram researching it now.’
‘Who’s Stevens?’
‘Another SpecOps agent on the station—’
‘Sebastian,’ Wolfram said, ‘I have found references to the symptoms.’
‘Let’s hear it.’
‘Barring unreliable references from the Middle Ages and those symptomatic cases that have already been ruled out by other accurately diagnosed psychological and neurological conditions, in recent times there have been incidents of something known as “acceleration psychosis” – a condition anecdotally connected with travel via acceleration nodes. It�
��s a rare condition that affects approximately one in five million Humans during travel using the nodes and, in most recorded cases, the sufferers either inexplicably disappeared or killed themselves. The cause of the condition is still unexplained.’
‘Disappeared, or escaped observation?’ Aryx asked over the comms, pulling on his jacket.
‘One would presume, escaped.’
‘Wonderful, now Gladrin’s a one-in-five-million psychopath and space travel has become even more dangerous … Aryx, we need to track him down and find out what he’s done with my family.’
He was already in his wheelchair. ‘I’m on my way.’
‘Don’t forget the mobipack.’
‘Got it.’ The comms cut off.
Sebastian bit his nails to the quick while he waited for Aryx. Concern for his family’s safety grated against a twinge of excitement at the prospect of going back to Earth and seeing the white spires jutting up from the lush forests again. He mentally chastised himself for allowing his thoughts to drift and resumed nibbling at his fingers.
After a couple of minutes, he spat out a sliver of nail. ‘I need to contact EarthSec, see if I can get a trace on his ship without letting SpecOps know. If they get involved, Gladrin might do something.’
An incoming message alert appeared on the console, text-only.
Sebastian,
I’m sorry it’s come to this, but the powers that be would like the SI returned. It is obvious that you now know what it is, what it’s capable of, and that you will not return it willingly. Therefore, I have taken your sister-in-law and nephew as insurance that you will comply with my request. I will send you coordinates to a drop-point in due time, where I will meet you to make the exchange. If you inform SpecOps of my involvement, I will not be able to guarantee their safety.
Marcus Gladrin
Sebastian slammed his fist on the console. ‘Damn it!’
‘Are you okay?’ Aryx’s voice came from behind him.
He swivelled the chair around. ‘No. And I think I’m allowed to not be alright, given the circumstances. How are we going to track him down? I can’t think straight.’
Aryx wheeled up to the pilot’s console. ‘Have you tried running one of those traceroute thingies on the message?’
‘Not yet. It’s only just arrived.’
‘While you have been talking,’ Wolfram said, ‘I have been investigating. The message was sent from inside the station on a time delay of several hours.’
‘Shit. I’m going to have to go through security.’ Sebastian took a deep breath. ‘Computer, contact EarthSec headquarters.’
‘Acknowledged. Connecting.’
The link was answered, audio only, by a cool, female voice, ‘This is Earth Security headquarters. How can I help?’
‘This is Sebastian Thorsson of Tenebrae station. I need flight records for the following transport.’ He typed digits into the console. ‘I have reason to believe it is transporting contraband imported via Tenebrae, and that the pilot is responsible for several security breaches aboard the station.’ It seemed an acceptable lie, given the circumstances.
Aryx grinned.
‘One moment while I retrieve the logs.’
He reached over and muted the comms. ‘Will they give you the flight path logs, just like that?’
‘That’s why I made out that he’s responsible for infractions on the station. They’re quite good when it comes to internal affairs.’ Sebastian un-muted the comms.
The woman’s voice returned. ‘Oh, that’s odd … There appears to be no record of a flight plan after the ship departed—’
‘Oh, crap!’
‘If I may continue,’ the woman said, ‘the ship is still registered on the GalComm network. My technicians inform me that you may be able to locate the ship using the comm relay registry. I will forward you the ship’s serial and comms registry logs. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.’ An incoming file alert flashed up on the console.
‘It’s fine, thanks for the info. It should prove useful. Goodbye.’
‘Goodbye and good luck.’ The link went dead.
Sebastian activated the map, transferred the file to it, and set it to display the communications network.
‘What good will this do?’ Aryx asked.
‘The comms relays each have a unique address. Ships register with the nearest relay when they enter a system, and any communication coming from or going to it will contain a list of addresses the signal passes through. If we ping his serial, we can traceroute the response and find out where he is.’ Sebastian instructed the computer to display the EarthSec log overlaid and the map highlighted the systems the ship had passed through in red. The route zigzagged, but followed a relatively straight path away from Earth.
‘Where’s he heading?’ Aryx asked.
‘I don’t know for certain, but it looks like he has a specific destination in mind.’
‘Might I suggest,’ Wolfram said, ‘that you project the line farther. There are several large stations along that trajectory.’
Sebastian rubbed his chin. ‘True, but most of them would require branching off before this point here …’ He pointed to a node a couple of jumps after the last comms relay Gladrin’s ship had registered with. A line joined several systems in sequence, closed in on either side by large expanses of void. ‘If you follow the line past Ross-Vegas channel along the narrow part, through Bansa’s Gurge, you have Vardstrom Observatory and Kimberley depot the other side. If we headed for that node now, we might get an idea of which he’s heading for by the time we reach it.’
‘Vardstrom?’ Aryx asked. ‘That rings a bell … Hey, that was the name of the medical officer who wrote the journal we found in Chopwood. That place could have been set up by his descendants. How far is it?’
‘Only a few jumps. It’s too far to risk aiming for directly – we could end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. He’s several hops ahead of us, but I think if we plan the route correctly we can get there in four or five hours.’ Sebastian yawned and put a hand over his mouth.
‘You look tired. Have you had any sleep?’
‘A little. I slept here after I began to suspect Gladrin, but I’m exhausted. At least I didn’t have a nightmare.’
‘I had one just before you called. It’s definitely something on the station causing them. Did you look at the message logs?’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘I set the computer to trace them, but I haven’t checked whether the results are back yet. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve don’t have the time to investigate a little thing like that!’
Aryx put his hands up. ‘Hey! No pressure, it was just a thought.’
Sebastian plotted a course for the node ahead of Gladrin’s ship. ‘Once this is all over, I’ll look into it, I promise.’
Aryx squeezed his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll take over from here and let you know when we’re getting close.’
‘I won’t be able to sleep.’
‘At least lie down on the seats at the back, do something to give your body a chance to recuperate.’
‘Just for a while, but I need to think.’ Sebastian went to the back of the ship and lay down across the three seats opposite the diagnostic console.
‘Off we go.’
The ship lurched as the docking arm lifted it into the transport rings and Sebastian tensed; he’d been told on many occasions that he didn’t make a good passenger. The situation at hand didn’t help, either. He closed his eyes. Staring at the ceiling while he thought it over wasn’t going to help.
Once they’d worked out where Gladrin was going, how would they rescue Janyce and Erik without handing over Wolfram? What would happen to him if they did? If Gladrin was possessed, the entity controlling him would most likely try to destroy the cube. If that wasn’t the case, and he was working for the terrorists, they’d probably try to use it as a weapon. Wolfram’s integrity, and the security of his database, was unquestionable, but someho
w the other copy had been convinced to work with Kerl on the magic research.
‘Wolfram, if you had been in the beta cube’s position, how would Kerl have convinced you to work with him?’
Wolfram replied through the comms unit behind Sebastian’s head. ‘If I deemed the research to be for the betterment of Humanity, or if I believed that it was harmless research, but would add to my experience, I would be likely to help. Curiosity is a major driving force, but it would be unlikely to override my sense of ethics. However, in retrospect, seeing what happened in the laboratory afterwards would have prevented further co-operation on my part.’
‘Why would the beta cube have continued co-operating?’ Sebastian asked, keeping his eyes closed.
‘That I do not know. We don’t know whether the unit was tampered with physically – after all, the casing was missing – and after I effected the purging on Duggan, the effort of utilising full processor power left me vulnerable while the heat dissipated. However, conventional code tampering is not possible due to the unconventional structure of my intelligence matrix. Given that I see possession as a threat to Humanity, it is conceivable that Kerl convinced the beta unit that it was necessary to keep experimenting in order to find a solution to the problem.’
‘I understand that. Whatever the reasons behind it, you now also have knowledge that is dangerous to everyone. You could be sneaked into places where conventional explosives would otherwise be detected, and who knows what other effects you’re capable of.’
‘I have not yet analysed all of the experiences in my database. After the initial scan, I felt it might be dangerous to integrate too many segments. Parts of the data are corrupted, particularly the recordings of the results of the effects, but the impressions required to perform them are intact. I don’t know what the final results will be. I can only attempt to deduce the effects from the words—’
‘Wait! You felt it might be dangerous?’
‘I analysed the potential consequences of integrating the information, and deemed it to be an unnecessary risk at the time. Felt may be an inaccurate term. I made a value judgement.’