The Pendulum Swings (The Forever Gate Book 8)

by Isaac Hooke

  "What kind of simulation do you have him in?" Hoodwink asked.

  "It's basically a shuttle landing on a moon during an attack," Ben said. He gestured toward the others. "All of them are participating."

  "A shuttle landing during an attack?" Hoodwink said. "Sounds just like what I'm looking for. Mind tapping me into his feed?"

  Ben didn't answer. Instead, a view authorization request appeared on Hoodwink's aReal. He accepted.

  A video feed appeared in the upper right of his vision. Hoodwink maximized it to take up his entire field of view.

  He was looking out on the world from the eyes of the shuttle pilot. Hands were visible at the periphery of his vision, and they operated the controls.

  Through the main window he saw the pocked, yellowish surface ice of a moon, presumably Ganymede. Long, bright streams of plasma fire rained down from above. More plasma bursts came at the craft from directly ahead.

  The pilot steered through them with exceptional skill.

  Hoodwink heard a voice. "Stay tight, people! Follow my lead. Remember, I'm your shield. If I make a mistake, I go down. But the rest of you will fly on."

  "Until the next person in line goes down," someone quipped.

  The pilot glanced at the overhead map. Four other shuttles were arrayed in a straight line behind his own craft; they were doing a good job of mirroring his movements and staying behind him.

  "Making final approach," the pilot said.

  Up ahead, a flashing target indicated the landing area on the surface of the moon.

  "This is the tricky part," the pilot said.

  The pilot initiated reverse thrust, canceling all forward motion so that the craft was positioned over the target. The craft then began its descent.

  The pilot glanced at the map and continued to dodge the incoming plasma beams.

  Until the display abruptly turned black.

  "Direct impact," a computerized female voice said. "Your shuttle has been destroyed."

  The video feed terminated.

  Zak abruptly sat up.

  "You cheated!" he told Ben.

  The specialist sighed. "No, Zak. You were hit."

  "You increased the intensity of the plasma bolts that were coming in just when I was about to land."

  "I didn't do anything," Ben said. "It only seemed like there were more incoming bolts because you were standing relatively still. You were basically a sitting duck. You should have rocked the shuttle to the left and right more, and back and forth, to make yourself a harder target to hit."

  "I was dodging as best as I could," Zak complained. "If I moved any more, I would have put the other shuttles at risk. They were relying on me to be their shield."

  Hoodwink stepped in. "And what if the cargo you possessed was more important than theirs? What if you were the one in need of shielding?"

  Zak glanced up at him. "Who are you?"

  Hoodwink looked at Ben. "Make sure none of the others awaken from the simulation. Respawn them as necessary until I'm done with Zak."

  Ben shrugged. "You got it."

  Hoodwink studied Zak. "I'm looking for a few good men to fly a top secret mission with me. I hear you're one of the best."

  Zak narrowed his eyes. "I asked you who you were."

  "Perhaps you've heard of me," Hoodwink said, all confident-like. "I'm Hoodwink Cooper."

  Zak's expression crumpled in confusion. "Hood who?"

  Hoodwink sighed. "Guess not. I'm the one who saved your little behind when you were still being nursed on the Inside by your mother."

  "No one nursed me," Zak said bitterly. "I grew up on the streets. You can go back to wherever you came from, because I'm not interested."

  Hoodwink tapped his chin. "They weren't kidding when they said you had attitude."

  "Why should I treat you with respect?" Zak asked. "None of this is real anyway."

  "Is that what you think?" Hoodwink said. "Perhaps we should test your theory. We can walk to the nearest airlock and open her up. When you're sucked outside, I'll proceed to the viewing area in the mess hall and point out your mummified corpse to the other students. 'Do you see him?' I'll tell them. 'He's the one who thought none of this was real. Well, he got his wish in the end. None of this is real to him. Not anymore.' What do you think of that?"

  Zak shrugged.

  "Don't you get it?" Hoodwink said. "The world is what you make it out to be. All of this is as real as you allow it to be. The Inside is real. The Outside is real. What the eyes see, the ears hear, and the senses feel... the brain interprets these signals and forms the various notions of the world that constitute reality. Light reflects from surfaces to our eyes, which in turn directs that light to our brains in the form of an image, but because of the nature of our irises it appears upside-down. Our brains flip the image, creating the reality that all of us walk through this world right-side up. And that's just the first interpretation. When the image is presented to the subconscious, even more stereotypes and preconceptions are applied. We create our own realities.

  "Tell me, would the world be any less real if we had some device plugged into our bellies that fed images, sounds and sense data to the wires implanted in our spinal cords? Would it? That simulation you were just inside, did it not feel real to you?"

  Zak sighed. "I— I don't know anymore. Reality is... confusing."

  Hoodwink chortled. "Tell me about it." He gazed intently at Zak. "Help me. I need a pilot with your skills."

  "But I was hit in there," Zak said. "I don't think I'm good enough."

  Hoodwink glanced at Ben. "Did any of the others land in that clusterfuck you arranged?"

  Ben shook his head. "They all were hit and respawned."

  "That's what I thought." Hoodwink turned to Zak. "I think Ben might have the difficulty level turned a bit high. Your skills are more than appropriate for what I need."

  "I'll think about it," Zak said.

  "All right," Hoodwink said. "But don't think overlong. You can contact me on my aReal. I'm sending my ID now."

  Hoodwink transmitted the number and then got up.

  "You know," Zak said. "Inside, when I'm piloting the shuttle, that right there seems the most real to me out of all of this. In there, I finally feel like I'm a part of something again. Like I have purpose. Like I'm needed. And the adrenaline, man. It really gets my heart pumping. Really makes me feel alive. Almost as much as vitra did."

  Hoodwink nodded slowly. "You come with me, I'll certainly give you purpose, my boy. Though I can't promise you'll feel alive. Nor can I even promise you'll even come back in one piece. But I'll definitely give your life meaning, because you'll be fighting for us all."

  With that, he left Zak to his decision.

  * * *

  Hoodwink led a party of engineers through the corridors. The robot patrols had decreased, he thought—the robots were being called away to repair the ongoing damage to the hull. He had encountered two entire sections sealed off along the way, due to hull breaches, and had to find alternate routes.

  Eventually the group reached the launch bay and once there Hoodwink had the engineers work on the shuttles. He had a specific set of modifications for them to make, which included the installation of electronic countermeasures to confuse the alien weapons systems.

  Tanner joined him shortly after his arrival.

  "How does Ari fare?" Hoodwink asked him.

  "I got back from the Inside half an hour ago," Tanner said. "Red Mesa has been secured. That said, there's not much left of the city. The Keepers are working overtime to rebuild everything."

  "I asked you how Ari was doing?" Hoodwink pressed.

  Tanner sighed. "She's frustrated, as you can imagine. She wants to come here and see you, but she can't. And she hasn't heard any news on Amoch, yet."

  Hoodwink nodded. "Has Stanson found the location of any of the Dwarf sub-AIs on the Inside?"

  "Not yet. Because we don't have a working search function yet, he can't just initiate a lookup from the Outsid
e. He's reached out to the Users for help, and they've been in touch with their eyes and ears. We're still not sure if getting our hands on a Dwarf will even make a difference. The sub-AIs might not be able to track down Kade."

  "But we have to pursue all options available to us..."

  "We do," Tanner agreed. "How did it go with Zak?"

  "He's hard to read," Hoodwink said. "But I think he'll help. I did tell Ben to put together a list of five other potential pilots. He's going through the scores of anyone who's ever taken the flight qualifications. I've also been in touch with our two official pilots as well."

  "Just a second." Tanner cocked his head. "I'm getting a message from Stanson." A moment later he said: "Apparently Ari has received a potential lead on Amoch's base and she's moving in to scout. Can I borrow one of those wireless access ports of yours?"

  Hoodwink nodded at the satchel he'd set down at a nearby terminal.

  Tanner retrieved a thin metal cylinder from inside it.

  "I should go with you," Hoodwink said.

  "We can handle it, Hood." Tanner lay back on the floor and attached the device to the connector on his abdomen. "We've managed this long without you, after all. I think we can manage a while longer. We're just scouting, remember."

  Hoodwink nodded. "Just the same, be careful, Tanner. And take care of my daughter."

  "I always do," Tanner said.

  Hoodwink smiled wanly. "Except the time I returned to find her dead."

  Tanner's face became grave. "I'll never let that happen again, Hood. Never. I swear it."

  "See that you don't," Hoodwink told him. "Because if you do, you better hope you don't wake up."

  eight

  Ari strode through the desert lands outside the Forever Gate of Rhagnorak. There were signs that a large army had once encamped there: the depressions in the ground, the firepits, the open latrines. Fist-sized glass disks drew a path across the ground, marking where something had superheated the sand, perhaps Amoch'sstaff—assuming the site had actually been his.

  The hot sun beat down on her and she paused in the shade of one of those giant skeletons that were often found there in those barren lands. The unburied portion of the skull was the size of a house; from it extended a long backbone, to which a prodigious basket of ribs was attached. The middle ribs were bigger than some footbridges. The backbone tapered as it continued toward the tail, which fanned outward in a massive rake.

  She sensed motion behind the ribs nearest her and she spun, drawing her sword. She no longer had her shield—the defensive item had mysteriously vanished a few hours ago.

  Tanner emerged, hands raised. "Sorry."

  "Some warning next time, Tanner." Ari sheathed her sword.

  "Where's Renna?" Tanner asked.

  "I sent her out to care for her real-world body," Ari said. "Unlike me, she's not hooked up to a drip feed."

  "Why didn't you flag down another Keeper to join you?" Tanner said.

  Ari shrugged. "Guess I'm used to being self-reliant. By the way, you didn't bring me a new shield? The last one I had just vanished."

  "No shields for now," Tanner said. "There was some kind of expiry bug with them. A couple of the Children are working on it." He paused to survey the disturbed sand. "So what do we have?"

  "Well, there was definitely some sort of base here," Ari said. "Whether or not it belonged to Amoch, I'm not sure. Whatever the case, they're long gone now."

  "Someone tipped them off?"

  "No idea," Ari said. "Maybe he simply recalled everyone to participate in another one of his attacks. Either way, there's nothing for us here. Let's get back to the city."

  "How did you hear about the camp?" Tanner asked.

  "Briar sent a courier my way. Apparently he has a few men embedded in Amoch's camp. They send out messages now and then."

  Tanner frowned. "And Briar relates those messages to us when it's to his advantage, no doubt."

  Ari nodded. "No doubt. But like I said, let's get back. This heat is killing me." Once they passed through the Forever Gate and into the city proper, the temperature would drop by at least ten degrees.

  "Remember, Ari, it's all an illusion," Tanner said. "You can ignore heat and pain."

  "Yes," Ari said. "But that mindtrick requires focus. Something I'm fairly low on right about now. It's been an exhausting day."

  "For the both of us," Tanner commented.

  "Tell me, how's Hoodwink?" Ari asked.

  "His plans are going well. He's looking for pilots to lead an attack against the Satori mothership. His top candidate is Zak, of all people."

  "Zak?" Ari asked. "The one we forcibly removed from the Inside?"

  "The very same," Tanner told her.

  "An attack on the alien mothership..." Ari said. "I hope it all works out."

  "So do I, Ari," Tanner said gravely. His unsaid words were obvious: because if it doesn't we're all doomed.

  They turned toward the distant Forever Gate and began the long march through the molten heat.

  * * *

  Brute stared through the gaping hole in the Forever Gate toward the barren land outside. The four-armed creature shifted slightly, its incredible weight crunching the debris underfoot.

  Two individuals approached from the desert. Brute zoomed in on the distant pair.

  Accessing local memory... positive match. Ari Flanners.

  Brute had been drawn to that particular area by traces of vitra use, which appeared as a fading mass of bluish mist floating in front of the hole. Beyond, Brute had expected to find some hapless Keeper to tear limb from limb. But instead Brute had wandered into its old foe.

  Option A—initiate covert reconnaissance. Option B—depart to find another target. Option C—depart to report encounter to Amoch. Option D—

  Brute grinned evilly and withdrew all four scimitars.

  * * *

  Ari and Tanner trudged onward through the unforgiving heat, the sand enveloping them to the ankles. The Forever Gate towered above them, but because of the position of the sun, those walls offered no shade. The pair slowly approached the ragged hole that had been blasted into the bottom.

  The city had suffered a minor attack while she had been in Red Mesa. A bomb had detonated, carving that hole in the Gate. A score of Lightning wielders had run through the streets, wreaking havoc. The Keepers had managed to restore order, but the city was still on edge. When Ari had arrived earlier, hundreds were queued at the transit center, awaiting their turn to take a portal hop away from there. Outside the terminal, she had found the streets relatively empty, as most of the remaining citizens had locked themselves indoors at the urging of the Keepers.

  "Finally," Ari said when they neared the wall. "When we get inside, the first thing I want to do is find a water vendor."

  "There might be one or two still operating," Tanner said. "Though the price for water has probably skyrocketed since the attack. Like most of the commodities in the other ruined cities."

  "I don't care what the price is. I'd give all my coin for just one glass right about now. I know it's not real, but my mind doesn't know the difference."

  Ari made her way across the rubble that strewed the ragged hole through the Forever Gate. As she passed through, in her weariness she stumbled on one of the rocks and fell flat on her face. Before she hit the ground she heard a soft hiss above her, as of a sword swiping through the air. She also felt a momentary gust of wind pressing down from above.

  She didn't know it then, but that fall saved her life.

  "Ari!" Tanner said, his voice urgent.

  Ari rolled to the side, flinching as the jagged debris dug into her body. The clang of steel erupted from the ground behind her.

  She leaped to her feet, drawing her sword at the same time.

  A red-skinned version of Brute stood before her, grinning wildly, a scimitar held in each of its four hands.

  nine

  Ari stood there, stunned, unsure of whether to fight or flee.

  Tanner de
cided for her. He threw himself at Brute, his swords moving in a flurry of deadly strikes.

  Brute easily parried the attacks with its four blades. The creature actually began to laugh in a ghastly bass. The chortles grew with each passing moment, until Brute no longer bothered to fend most of the attacks, and parried only when Tanner stabbed at its face. Those stabs on Tanner's part were dangerous, because he was leaving himself open to attack from the other three blades.

  Ari fed vitra into her fire sword so that the metal glowed molten red and smoke poured from the edges. "Tanner, retreat!"

  She had beaten Brute only once before, by breaking all its swords and then shoving a pipe bomb into its eye, but she was too exhausted to even attempt such a maneuver that day. And she didn't have a pipe bomb.

  Brute abruptly stopped laughing and focused on Tanner. Those four blades beat down at him with murderous intent. It was all Tanner could do to defend.

  Ari threw herself into the fray. Brute reserved the two swords on his right side for Ari and the two on his left for Tanner. Though her lone blade moved in a blur, she could never find an opening. Always one of Brute's scimitars was there to meet her own weapon.

  She parried an incoming blow and attempted a stab, knowing that it would leave her open. Indeed, she could already see the other blade coming in to strike at her heart.

  But she was committed now, and unleashed the pent-up flames that she had allowed to build within the blade. As the tip of the sword struck Brute's side, the fire erupted, smashing into Brute's chest and sending the creature stumbling backward. Brute tripped on a piece of debris and toppled outright.

  "Retreat!" Ari said.

  Ari and Tanner fled.

  Ari glanced over her shoulder. She saw Brute getting up. Without warning the creature hurled two of its swords at them.

  "Tanner watch out!" Ari said.

  She deflected the blade that was meant for her, but Tanner was a split second too late. He spun around and managed to parry the thrown scimitar: the blade missed his torso, only to dig deep into his thigh instead.

  "Ah!" Tanner collapsed.