by Rexx Deane
‘Let me guess. The ITF?’
Gladrin nodded rapidly and resumed walking. ‘I obviously wasn’t good enough at covering my tracks. Either that, or it was a trap in the first place. Before I was able to report to SpecOps on the project, the ITF tracked down my family and gave me a ransom demand.’
‘What did they want? Money? Weapons?’
‘Me. They wanted me to work for them. They had my family. I had no choice.’ A tear ran down Gladrin’s cheek.
Sebastian put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘They must have been watching me for some time before they contacted me. They could see I’d made more progress using the partially completed SI than they had, but the one I gave you was in a sleep state and resisted all attempts at activation. They wanted me to find a way to weaponise them. To find a way to clone the brainwave patterns of their members and plant the SIs as technological sleeper agents, or some such perversion. I was to instruct Kerl to find anything he could that might help the ITF, but it was only after he’d detected strange brainwave activity in Alvarez that he mentioned the whole carbyne thing to me. I have a feeling that it was his superstitious mumbo-jumbo that put Kerl on to it in the first place.’ Gladrin paused to shift his weight. ‘I had no idea what Kerl’s new experiments involved and, to be honest, I really didn’t want to know. He seemed too keen to do the kind of research I thought of as unsavoury, but as long as he kept providing results on the brainwave research – and kept my family alive – I wasn’t in the mind to question it. I stopped hearing from the ITF in relation to his research a few days before the explosion.’
‘I assume they are the reason why you planted the virus on the station that allowed the signal into my quarters?’
Gladrin raised his eyebrows.
Sebastian bent down to check the bandage on his leg. ‘Yes, I’ve done a bit of digging. We found that you received large payments from Earth, from accounts associated with terrorist activity. I also found that the signals being sent to my quarters started around the time you mentioned me in your journals.’
‘Yes.’ Gladrin stared at the floor. ‘They never told me their purpose.’
Sebastian finished tightening the bandage and straightened. ‘That should be better for a while … The signal causes nightmares. Aryx and Karan were having them around the same time, but I don’t understand why we never saw the messages on the terminals sooner.’
‘I deleted them, and it wasn’t until you started waking up in the night that you ever spotted them. The ITF asked me for a list of those closest to you on the station. Obviously once you’d chosen Aryx as your partner, they stopped sending the signal to the others.’
‘I think they used it to test us.’
‘To what end? I fail to see how the signal could cause nightmares, let alone how it could be used to test you.’
How in Hel’s name was he going to explain about the entities and their association with magic? ‘I know you won’t believe me, but the people with “starry eyes”, as Erik put it, are actually possessed by extra-spatial entities. We’ve been calling them “demons” because of how they appear in our dreams, but I don’t really know what they are. I think by allowing Kerl to continue you’ve accidentally been working against their intent.’
‘What do you mean? Was that why the lab was blown up?’
‘I believe Kerl was using carbyne to research thaumaturgy, magic, and integrating that with the SI.’
‘I knew it was something strange, given the odd results, but I thought the ITF would jump at the chance of getting their hands on any technology that would help them, no matter how unconventional, so I left him to it.’
‘Ordinarily, they probably would. In this case, thaumaturgy is a double-edged sword. It could provide the ITF with a means for mass destruction with no traceable cause, and a vector for the entities behind the ITF to possess people. The downside is that it affects their ability to keep hold of a person. Since there are possessed people in the ITF, the SI units could be used as a weapon against them. They couldn’t risk that, so they blew up the lab using an innocent third party.’
Gladrin shook his head. ‘And how do people get possessed?’
‘Did you ever read about ancient witch trials in history class? Those who use thaumaturgy are vulnerable to possession by the entities. Somehow it attracts them to the user and allows them to enter the body. I’m guessing that since the SI isn’t organic, it can’t be possessed or controlled by them.’
‘So, who blew up the lab? I didn’t watch the processed video – I’d begun to panic by then.’
‘A man by the name of Duggan Simmons. I tracked him down to a comet in Yazor. He’d made himself invisible.’
Gladrin’s jaw dropped.
‘Don’t ask. When we discovered evidence of his possession in the damaged cube’s memory, he attempted to undo the invisibility in our presence. That was how we found out about the entities – he was immediately possessed and attacked me.’
Gladrin gestured to the cube attached to the pistol. ‘And I assume this cube can actually use magic, given the way you caught up with me and attempted to “purge” me? How were you even able to activate it?’
‘He trusts me.’
‘He?’
‘I could be female if you want,’ came Wolfram’s voice in silky, seductive tones.
Sebastian hefted the heavy gun-cube assembly. ‘Gladrin, I’d like you to meet Wolfram, the SI.’
‘I cannot say I am pleased to meet you, Agent Gladrin,’ Wolfram’s voice resumed its masculinity, ‘as I do not believe I experience pleasure.’
Gladrin laughed weakly. ‘Well, I’m certainly pleased to meet you, even if you are a little sarcastic.’
‘You’ll have to ignore that. Sometimes he seems to be a few dots short of a file extension.’
The agent gave Sebastian a flat stare.
‘Programmer joke.’
‘Absolutely fascinating … The cube, not the awful joke … I don’t think the other one functioned correctly, as it never spoke to anyone.’
They came to the door of the maintenance room and Sebastian stopped, propped Gladrin against the wall, and retrieved the pressure suit. He slung it over his shoulder and looped his arm through the helmet. It was too valuable to leave behind, given the ship was already down by one suit and the escape pod was missing.
Gladrin gave him a puzzled look. ‘This “acceleration psychosis” you mentioned earlier, I assume you diagnosed me as a sufferer because I don’t practise magic.’
‘It seemed the only logical conclusion at the time. You were acting weird. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight and hadn’t thought of the other possibilities, such as you being under duress.’ While they walked, Sebastian couldn’t help but repeatedly glance down at the bloody bandage around Gladrin’s leg.
‘I don’t blame you for shooting me, you know. I did push you into it, after all, I just don’t know what to do now … My family will be in danger if they find out the cube’s still in your possession.’
Sebastian scratched his head. ‘We’ll find a way of getting them back, but I think for the moment the best thing you can do is play along. Tell them it was destroyed. Give them the melted one as proof. Only Wolfram was capable of interpreting the data on it, so the information is safe. Tell them this one was captured by the ship you sent after us, but that it was lost in a node mis-jump. It’ll be years by the time any communication comes back from them.’
Gladrin stopped and leaned against the wall again. ‘How did they track you down to Yazor?’
‘You didn’t send them?’
‘No. The tracker lost your position when you left the comms relay network.’
‘Hmm. I was thinking about it earlier. The entities must know Duggan’s location because the one that possessed him piloted his ship. Perhaps they already had a ship in the system, just in case someone went to investigate. Oh damn – if they want to hide any evidence, they might go after him using the terrorists as a
cover!’
‘If what you say is true, is there a risk of him being possessed again if he keeps using magic?’
‘He’s not going to until we find a way of preventing it. Either way, he can’t stay in Yazor.’
Gladrin grimaced. ‘I’m afraid the ITF know of your sister-in-law and nephew now, so you’ll have to hide them somehow, too.’
Sebastian’s thoughts went to Achene and Chopwood. The distance from comms relays was ideal. ‘I think we can hide them on a planet that isn’t in the registry. I have friends there that can protect them, but I’ll have to ask you to delete any records you have of the Ultima’s flight paths for their protection. You can tell the ITF you still have them in custody, or that you’ve convinced me to help, and Aryx and I will go along with it.’
Gladrin coughed. ‘I don’t tell the ITF everything I do, so I can manage that at least.’ He pressed his fingers and thumb to his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘They’ve had my wife and daughter for almost three years now, so anything I can do from the inside to help, I will.’
Sebastian smiled and squeezed his shoulder. The man looked frail and fragile now that the truth was laid bare.
‘We’ll get your family back. I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s important that you carry on as usual. Aryx and I will hide my family and then return to the station to keep up pretences. The most important thing to do now is protect anyone who can be hurt by the situation as it is, and make sure the SI is out of the terrorists’ sights.’
The pair turned the final bend in the corridor and exited into the docking area. Aryx and Deruno were waiting on the walkway. The Bronadi raised his rifle at their approach.
‘You don’t need that,’ Sebastian said. ‘He’s not the bad guy anymore. I do need a favour, though.’
‘What can Officer Deruno do for Agent Thorsson?’
‘I need you to delete any evidence of our presence here.’
Deruno’s ears flattened back against his head as though he was about to bark.
Aryx’s eyes widened and he grabbed Sebastian’s wrist. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’ll fill you in later. I need you to trust me. Gladrin has been coerced. I just need the logs deleted.’
‘I cannot do that. I would be dishonoured by the Bronala.’
Gladrin looked at Sebastian with pleading eyes.
‘I have an idea.’ Sebastian winked at Aryx. ‘Deruno, would it take a special dispensation from your ambassador to prevent dishonour?’
The canine head nodded slowly. ‘It would, and possibly a transfer away from this glorified fuel station … before I remember to record the incident.’
Aryx shook his head in disbelief as he activated his wristcom. ‘Computer, contact the Bronadi ambassador on Tenebrae station,’ he said. ‘Tell him I’ll be calling in that favour.’
***
Aryx completed the pre-flight checks while Sebastian secured his family in the seating at the rear of the upper deck. Everything looked good to go. ‘Where to now, boss?’
‘We can’t go back to Tenebrae. Not yet, anyway. Duggan will be in danger now.’
‘Do you want to pick him up?’
‘Yes, and I was thinking we should take Janyce and Erik to Achene or Chopwood, somewhere off the grid. Gladrin said he’ll delete logs of where we’ve been.’
‘What about those bloody Tradescantia bugs?’
‘If we get Duggan, I’m sure he’ll be able to rig up some ultrasonics like he did for the colonists originally.’
Aryx folded his arms. ‘You always have an answer for everything, don’t you?’
Janyce shook her head. ‘No, he doesn’t. It only seems like he does.’
‘I, on the other hand,’ Wolfram said, still attached to the gun on the console, ‘have access to almost all of Humanity’s information.’
‘Cool!’ Erik said. ‘You know any games?’
‘Marvellous, the font of all knowledge reduced to a gaming machine. Yes. I know many— Sebastian, would you be so kind as to remove this encumbrance?’
Sebastian picked up the gun and Wolfram unlatched the connector plate and dropped into his hand. He gave Erik the cube and sat down.
‘Thank you, Sebastian. Erik, do you know “stop the light”?’
Aryx turned his attention to the launch sequence. The docking clamps released and the ship drifted out of the bay, shedding the shroud of mist that had briefly cloaked it. The golden globe of Kimberley depot fell behind, dwindling to a tiny yellow speck as they approached the steely-blue scaffold of the acceleration node.
His thoughts drifted back to the strange space dust he’d seen on the Fluorescent Lightingale. If superphase travel sometimes caused acceleration psychosis and carbyne affected the demons in their realm, perhaps they existed in superphase, or somewhere that touched it. Maybe the powder went there, and when ships traversed the space, they attracted it. Now probably wasn’t the best time to raise his suspicions with Sebastian.
He looked back at the three sitting on the seats. How could he have gone so long without realising he’d felt so alone? Even though he’d not been there for the final showdown with Gladrin, he now felt responsible for Sebastian’s family as though they were his own. He imagined teaching Erik about old farm machinery and mechanics like his father had for him and his eyes began to prickle as an ache rose from deep within his chest. If only he could pass his legacy on to someone else, to leave something behind for others. Maybe if he got the patent for the mobipack and started manufacturing them, that might fill the void.
The ship continued jumping in and out of superphase on its journey to Yazor, but Aryx had lost all interest in monitoring it.
Sebastian came over and sat next to him. ‘How are things going?’
‘Not bad. Are they okay back there?’
‘Yes. Janyce doesn’t like the bumps – I thought she was going to throw up just now. She’s worried about what’s going to happen to her cat. I told her the neighbour is going to have to hang on to it for a bit.’
‘She’ll get over it.’ Aryx smiled. ‘The space-sickness, I mean. Didn’t take you long, after all.’
‘You said she did not own a cat,’ Wolfram said over the intercom, while simultaneously playing with Erik.
Sebastian’s face flushed. ‘Yes, well, obviously she hadn’t told me that she’d bought one.’ He turned to Aryx. ‘Thanks for the help with the diplomatic situation back there, by the way.’
‘Isn’t it a good job I kept those vegetables after all?’ It wouldn’t do to rub it in too much, but Sebastian had to be put in his place occasionally.
‘I’ll grant you that one.’
Aryx nodded in Erik’s direction. ‘The kid’s enjoying the trip.’
‘Yes, and unlike you, he doesn’t keep asking if we’re there yet.’
He jabbed Sebastian in the ribs and they both laughed. ‘What exactly happened with Gladrin back there?’
They exchanged recollections of events on Kimberly; Sebastian was unsurprised at Aryx’s mention of the dust, but Aryx remained unconvinced that Gladrin could be trusted. For now, misleading the ITF seemed like a sound idea, and it would be nice to meet Duggan again. Maybe he could finally get a proper cup of coffee.
***
Five hours of flight later, the Ultima Thule dropped out of superphase in Yazor. Janyce had managed to keep down whatever stomach contents she had – much to Aryx’s relief – and Erik had remained blissfully amused for the entire trip, playing some obscure form of mental chess with Wolfram. Sebastian continued to pore over his grandfather’s diary, apparently unable to understand most of it, except for the few parts he’d read out that alluded to stories of the possessed.
‘So,’ Aryx said, ‘found any answers?’
Sebastian drew in a breath and let it out before speaking. ‘Not really. I’ve read out most of what I can understand so far. There’s a load of gibberish in here … Some bits look like Old Icelandic, and there are weird glyphs that I think might be runes, but
they’re all messed up. I can’t make out many of the diagrams either, and I can’t tell if the notes about possession refer to people my grandfather met, or legends he researched and paraphrased. It’s all too vague.’
‘Study it another day. You look shattered.’
He pulled his hands down his cheeks. ‘You’re right.’ He slammed the diary shut and put it in his bag. ‘I can’t focus on it until this whole situation is sorted out.’
Erik came over to the cockpit and stared out of the windows, wide-eyed. He put the cube down by Aryx and pointed. ‘What’s that?’
The white spray of Duggan’s home filled the view.
‘That’s where we’re going,’ Aryx said. ‘It’s a comet. There’s a man living in it and he used to be invisible.’
‘Wow!’
Sebastian activated the comms. ‘Duggan, are you there?’
The old man’s voice replied. ‘Ah, Sebastian, my friend, I hadn’t expected to hear from you again so soon. What can I do for you?’
‘We’d like to land, if possible. We think you’re in danger, and need to get you out of here. I’ll explain when we arrive.’
‘Sounds like time for emergency plan B, I suppose. I’ll let you in.’ The comms cut off.
‘Emergency plan B?’ Sebastian gave Aryx a What-the-hell? look.
Aryx shrugged and clapped his hands together. ‘Erik! How would you like to land the ship?’ The sequence was already programmed – all that remained was to press the initiate button.
The boy turned to look at his mother. ‘Can I?’ She nodded, and he bounced into the empty pilot’s seat next to Aryx, who pointed at the relevant control. He pressed the button with a gleeful flourish.
The Ultima’s manoeuvring thrusters fired and minutes later it landed on the pad in the cavernous interior of the comet’s entry bay.
‘How are we going to carry Wolfram around?’ Sebastian asked. ‘I don’t like you having to keep sticking him in your pocket.’
Aryx thought for a moment, and recalled the cube’s ability to interface with almost anything wirelessly. He retrieved the mobipack from the back of the ship. ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ he said, and popped the cube into the storage compartment.