Revengers

by Alex Kings

  “Yeah, we had a front row seat for that one,” said Eloise.

  Rurthk sat back and sighed. “Trying to get them sounds like trying to pin down smoke.”

  “But you know all about them,” said Laodicean. “Why don't you do anything?”

  “I've been trying,” said Yilva. She turned to Rurthk, “I got you inside their northern base, for whatever good that did. But I'm too well known. I have to keep a low profile, otherwise …” She paused and looked out the window. Her tail was limp. “ … well, if they see I'm in their way, they won't hesitate to remove me.”

  Everyone fell silent.

  “Um,” said Olivia. She looked around, saw everyone was looking at her, and fiddled nervously with the piece of candied fruit she was holding. “Vihan Yvredi are desperate to stay secret, right? They like to stay in the shadows. Why don't we shine some light on them?”

  “What're you thinking?” said Rurthk.

  “Same thing we did with Sukone: Get some record of their activities. What they're doing in the GEA, or their role behind the Blank attack. Then we share it with everyone.”

  Rurthk turned to Yilva. “Could that work?”

  She thought for some time. “Perhaps,” she said. “A lot of Vihan Yvredi's work in the field is done through cells. They don't know much, and if you compromise them it won't do much damage. But the leaders know more. And they do share information … they like to keep an eye on each other.”

  “And who are the leaders?” said Rurthk.

  “They go by codenames, even with each other. You may have seen some hint of them. Mr. Eye, Mr. Soul …”

  “Mr. Hand,” said Rurthk.

  The name seemed to catch Yilva off-guard. She gave Rurthk an odd look. “Yes,” she said.

  “Then we need to find them.”

  “It won't be enough to just find one of the leaders,” said Yilva. “They won't say anything, and they're the sort who can be tortured to death before revealing anything they know. And before that they could give you enough half-truths to keep you chasing your tails for a year without getting anywhere.”

  “So why don't you tell us what we do have to do?” said Eloise.

  “You need the Midnight Class records. They contain the only information that can truly damage Vihan Yvredi,” said Yilva. “They aren't easy to get into. Believe me, I designed the security protocols. All the Midnight Class records are encrypted. First, they are stored only on certain computer crystals, which are regularly moved to different terminals. Second, when any of the leaders access the Midnight Class records, all the others are informed automatically. Any large download will be noticed immediately. Third, even if you get inside, all the records are given named with obscure references to Petaur culture that only a few would recognise.”

  “I'm sure Mero could help us with that,” said Eloise. “He caught the meaning of Vihan Yvredi right away.”

  Mero growled and, not entirely seriously, threw a piece of candied fruit at her.

  She caught it. “Thank you.”

  “Finally,” said Yilva, “the access codes are very hard to get hold of. You can't just take a DNA sample or steal a keycard. I invented a new system that's impossible to read. Actually …” Somewhat creakily, she got to her feet again, walked over to a shelf, and retrieved a device that looked like an extended tablet. It was a smooth black rectangle with a small lever at one end. “I can show you how it works. This is one of the prototype input devices.”

  She laid the object on the table and put her outstretched hand against its surface. A couple of seconds passed. Then the object chimed, the lever flipped open.

  “Anyone thing you could get in?” said Yilva, somewhat proudly. She closed the lever and put her hand against it again. Rurthk noticed her fingers twitching slightly. The lever opened again.

  “It doesn't read your DNA?” said Mero.

  “No,” said Yilva. She sat back. “There are about sixty muscles in the Petaur hand. With some training, you can learn to activate each of them independently. And then you can assemble them into a sequence. About twenty activations in a second and a half. That gives you about 365 decillion possible sequences. This machine reads electrical impulses from muscle and neurons.”

  “And so your access code is a sequence of muscle activations,” said Olivia. “And ever if someone saw you do it, they couldn't figure out what the sequence was.”

  “Exactly,” said Yilva. “And even if you did find the sequence, only a Petaur has the right anatomy to use it. They'd need be trained in how to use the system. And even then they'd need to practice the sequence for weeks to get it right.”

  “Wonderful,” said Rurthk.

  “I just want to emphasise how difficult it will be to get into their systems,” said Yilva.

  “And what technology do you have to break this security system?” said Laodicean.

  Yilva looked at him and tilted her head. “Why do you think I have anything like that?”

  “One, you helped invent the system and you understand how it works,” said Laodicean. “Two, you are opposed to Vihan Yvredi. Three, you have clearly not stopped working with technology since your retirement. It would be very strange if you hadn't tried to invent a means of breaking it.”

  Yilva looked at him, then laughed. “You're right,” she said. “Of course, if I had a good solution, we wouldn't be in this situation.” She took out a tiny box from inside her gown and opened it to reveal an even tinier bit of tech.

  It was a tiny drop of white against the black interior of the box, about the size of a grain of sand.

  “It's smart matter,” she said. “It you put it on the reader, it will spread out to cover the surface in an extremely thin film. If someone uses the reader, this will also read the sequence. And then, it can generate a pattern of electrical activity to imitate that sequence.”

  “So it skims the code,” Olivia said.

  “But you have to get one of the leaders to put their code in first,” said Rurthk.

  Yilva nodded. “And you have to get it onto the right terminal in the first place.” She closed the box and put it on the table beside the reader. “There's one more thing …” She paused and ran her tail through her hands, as if she was struggling to finish. “You mentioned Mr. Hand.”

  “Yes. He's the only one we've had any real contact with.”

  “Yes, he likes to do things himself,” said Yilva. “He also has a sentimental streak.”

  Rurthk stared at her. “What?” he said.

  “He has a computer terminal he likes. He always uses it, even though he's supposed to change. If he's going to access the Midnight Class records, he'll probably use that.” She paused and thought. “But otherwise he's very cautious. When he was younger, during an operation on Laikon, he got tricked by the Albascene Intelligence Agency. He got cocky, thought he couldn't be touched. So in the end a couple of their informants got killed, and Vihan Yvredi had to abandon the operation. They called it the Laikon Incident.” She smiled to herself. “He's pretty sensitive about the name. He's very cautious, like I said, but I think now he's getting cocky again.”

  “And how do you know all that?” said Rurthk.

  “It doesn't matter,” said Yilva. “Anyway, it's not enough. My resources here are limited.”

  “But now you've got us,” said Rurthk. He growled. “We're ending up as everyone's pawns, again.”

  “I consider you more of a high risk nuisance,” said Yilva. She smiled faintly. “You're the ones who sought me out. I'm not sending you anywhere.” She turned to face them. “Have you got a plan? Any plan at all?”

  There was a pause.

  Dr Wolff sat forward. “I believe we may have a route forward,” he said. “My missive from Singer said he was working on a way to track Mr. Soul. As a good first step, I think we should try and contact my old colleagues. Perhaps that might be possible with your help, Ms. Avanni.”

  Chapter 30: Plans

  “Let's see what you've got, then,” Yilva said.r />
  Wolff handed her his tablet.

  “I have my previous attempts stored,” said Laodicean. “If you have somewhere I can connect my neural link, I could share it.”

  “This way,” Yilva said, getting up. She led Laodicean back into the workshop area.

  Rurthk watched them. He turned to Eloise. “What do you think?”

  “We have the Petaur hero of the War of the Ancients on our side,” she said. “We might actually have a small chance of winning.”

  Rurthk sat back and allowed himself a rare moment of fantasy: He pictured catching Mr. Hand alone, without all his defences gone, and making sure he knew he was defeated. Then Rurthk would lift his gun, say something cutting – like “This is for Kaivon.”, or “Here's your final payment.” – and shoot him.

  Yilva examined the message and the data. “If he's close to doing what he claims he can do, this friend of yours will be very useful,” she told Dr. Wolff. She ambled off elsewhere in the house to get her own tablet and look through her own knowledge of Vihan Yvredi. “They're probably keeping them in the Glaber Territories,” she said. “There are lots of convenient hiding places that the war hasn't touched yet. But I imagine they also have a plan to get the scientists out at, uh, the drop of a hat.”

  It took some time. Yilva retreated to her green chair, gesturing at a tablet. She allowed Olivia to look over her shoulder while she worked. Mero busied himself with finishing the candied fruits, and then filling up the tray afresh.

  “I don't blame you,” Yilva told Laodicean. “This is very well hidden. I couldn't do it myself if I wasn't keeping track of Vihan Yvredi. She paused. “And I need to cross-reference that data with records of what's been going on in the Glaber territories.”

  She had to pause after half an hour to eat. And then, eventually, she held up the tablet. “I have the most probably location,” she said. “I guess … 90 to 95% chance this is where they're keeping the scientists. Do you know Bloodspray?”

  Rurthk gave the place's name in a long chain of Glaber snarling. The Isk translation seemed more convenient to say, he realised.

  “That's it,” said Yilva.

  “I've heard of it. Old mining colony, I think.”

  “I know of it too,” said Laodicean.

  Rurthk turned to him, eyebrows raised.

  “It is the centre of various criminal operations,” explained Laodicean.

  “So,” said Rurthk, turning back to Yilva, “do you know where on Bloodspray they're being held?”

  Yilva shrugged. “I can give you the transmission signatures they might be using. Otherwise, it's up to you.”

  “I think we can work with that,” Rurthk said.

  Yilva got up and gave him the muscle activation reader and the box with the skimmer. “In case you need them,” she said. She led them into the workshop, “Actually, I have a few more skimmers, and some other trinkets you might find useful. And then, you'd best be off to Bloodspray.”

  *

  As Albert Wells seat in his chair reading the organisation report he'd ordered, he felt ice creep through his veins.

  Knowing what Vihan Yvredi was like, he had to assume everyone in Sweetblade he couldn't absolutely trust was compromised. And who could he trust? Very few, judging by these numbers. Maybe a hundred or so. No more than that.

  At the same time he could see now how firmly Vihan Yvredi controlled him. If he stepped out of line, they could have him killed and replaced. There were several powerful assassins who'd had an uncomfortable amount of contact with either the Information Brokers, or some shadowy organisation he couldn't trace (which almost certainly meant Vihan Yvredi). Then there were other potential leaders who seemed very friendly with the Information Brokers too …

  He would be taken down by the same underhanded dealing that had got him into this position in the first place.

  “The price we pay for our hubris,” he murmured to himself. He closed the report and contracted the tablet. He stood up and took a deep breath.

  At least now he had his eyes open.

  There was only one thing for it. He had strike first. This slimy, underhanded gang of blackguards was a menace to everything civilised (and Wells counted Sweetblade as civilised).

  The more he thought about it, the more necessary it seemed. It was both a practical and moral duty: He had to destroy Vihan Yvredi.

  But how?

  Mr. Hand was extremely cautious, and had never been in the same room as him. There was no way Wells could order a hit on him. He didn't have enough people to search for them. And if Mr. Hand found out about his intentions, he could kill Wells with ease.

  After pacing back and forth for a few moments, he started making a plan. He had people who could spy on Vihan Yvredi. That was all he could do for the moment. He would give nothing away. He would watch and wait. And when a weakness became evident, he would examine it carefully, and then he would strike.

  Chapter 31: Bloodspray

  The Outsider jumped through space, carrying the Fire Strider and complement of three absurdly expensive shuttles behind it.

  In the Observation Lounge, the crew gathered a tablet which had been extended to cover the entire surface of the table. It displayed a three-dimensional map of the volume of space by the Glaber border.

  “The fighting is taking place in this region,” said Eloise, pointing to a region highlighted in red. “And here are the current projection for where it's likely to advance in the next few days. We'll have to keep deep in interstellar while heading through. And here is Bloodspray.” She rotated the map and zoomed in to give them a better view. The colony was tens of lightyears away from the furthest reaches of the projected fighting. “So long as we don't turn up in a warship, we shouldn't attract too much notice.”

  Rurthk looked around the observation lounge as if appraising it. “Not a warship. Check,” he said. He leant over the tablet and turned the map around. “Okay, now for when we arrive. Mero and Olivia, I want you to scan for the comms signatures Yilva gave us.”

  “Sure thing, cap,” said Mero, grinning.

  “Laodicean, see if you can use her decryption algorithms. If you get it, go through the systems comms traffic and look for anything that might give us any hints. Arrivals within the last month, someone ferrying about groups of humans, that sort of thing.”

  “Very well,” said Laodicean.

  “Doctor … have you received any messages from Singer or the others yet?”

  “I'm afraid not,” said Wolff.

  “Keep looking. Is there any way you can get a message to him without Vihan Yvredi noticing?”

  Wolff thought for a moment. “Perhaps,” he said. “If Singer has any access to the outside world we could share something publicly. There are a couple of in-jokes we used to share about RNA polymerase …”

  “Sounds truly hilarious,” said Rurthk. “It's worth a try. I'd rather give them some warning if possible. I don't want to screw things up by interrupting Singer when he's ten minutes away from finding a way to track Mr. Hand.”

  “I'll see what I can do,” said Wolff.

  “Good. Now, Mero, let's have a look at what those shuttles are capable of.”

  *

  At the heart of Bloodspray sat a red giant, an ancient, dying star, swollen to a hundred times the diameter of Earth's sun. It had absorbed its only planets shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. All that remained was a giant, frozen asteroid belt some ten AU away. The millions of icy grey asteroids were red in the star's light, and from the right angle looked a little like a spray a blood – an image which had clearly inspired the Glaber who had first arrived here.

  The asteroids had been mined out decades ago, stripped of every useful mineral. With nothing left of value, they had become cheap living space, and attracted people from all species who had nowhere else to go.

  Having left the Fire Strider in interstellar space, the Outsider jumped in at the edges of the system. It began a slow, unthreatening acceleration towards the a
steroid belt. And it used the time to listen. Highly-sensitive bulkwave receptors and EM antennas, courtesy of Yilva, sniffed through the comms traffic coming off the asteroid belt.

  Rurthk was with Eloise, looking through Mero's new shuttle, where it was clamped to the underside of the ship.

  “We'll set up watch for an hour when we find them,” he said. “To give the doctor's message a chance to respond and see what else is going on. Then we go in, quick as we can. I think we should be able to fit them all in here at a pinch.” He gestured at a console to activate it. “You have no idea how much comfortable I feel having weapons.” He looked up at Eloise. “Think there's any chance we might bag some of Vihan Yvredi's staff?”

  “Only if the opportunity presents itself,” said Eloise, picking up a heavy-duty plasma-cutter from the armoury at the rear of the cabin. It was a chunky black stick about a metre and a half long. She activated the blade, a needle of superheated iron vapour hemmed in with effector fields, to its full ninety-centimetre length. Easily enough to cut through most hulls. “Judging by what Yilva said, it's probably not worth the risk otherwise.”

  “Agreed,” said Rurthk.

  Eloise retracted the blade and turned the cutter off. “You know, this'll be our first big attack on Vihan Yvredi. Right now, I suspect they think we're insignificant. But after this, if we survive it, they'll be after our heads.”

  Rurthk nodded.

  “So we may as well make it count,” Eloise went on. “And blow the place to hell while we're there.”

  “Works for me,” said Rurthk. “I'm pretty sure we have some high-grade explosives in there.”

  “Mero will be pleased,” said Eloise. She looked up. “So what do you think, same old team? You, me, Mero and Olivia?”

  “I don't want to leave Laodicean alone in control of the ship,” said Rurthk. “If he does change his mind, the doctor isn't going to be able to do much to stop him.”