“Get me some juicy intel. And, one more thing. This is just a loaner, got it? I’ll pick you up a Terran stealth suit when I can.”
“Oh, of course. Of course, just a loaner. Thanks.”
Chapter 7
Telisa called a team meeting the next morning. Jason headed out for it early, eager to see what call to action their leader had in mind. Everyone had spent the day before absorbing everything they could find about Earth and what had happened while they were gone.
Jason had learned that Earth had been receiving a surge of supplies from Shiny, almost all the stifling laws of the previous regime had been lifted, and the populace of Earth was busy playing in cyberspace and incarnate. All VR time limits had been lifted, even for the Space Force personnel, who still ‘voluntarily’ kept their leisure VR time to a minimum. The Vovokan dictatorship also appeared to preserve personal rights and property.
Jason had found some dissent. It looked like sour grapes from those who had been in power under the Trilisks. It had not taken off like it might have since the very top of the food chain had been Trilisks anyway. The rich and powerful who had been imprisoned to allow the Trilisks to rule were apparently just happy to be released. They had not yet started to foment rebellion to put themselves in real power. He figured it was only a matter of time.
Jason arrived at the meeting in their mess. He took a seat in the corner and waited. The team trickled in: Imanol, Caden and Siobhan, then Jason and Cilreth. Imanol led off with a negative vibe. The others joined him: they complained about everything they had heard from Earth and Shiny to missing the huge size of the Clacker.
Telisa arrived. She looked everyone over.
“Everyone take off for now,” she said. “Go wherever you want in the system. Your mission is to find out how Shiny got so popular. What’s he really up to? Is there underground resistance to his regime?”
“I found some complaining, but it took me a while. Some of the people who were imprisoned on Skyhold expected to get their power back once released. Instead, they found themselves more or less like every other citizen: rich and free,” Cilreth said.
“It worked out well for Shiny,” Siobhan said. “The Trilisks at the very top are gone. The Skyholders missed their chance to whip up everyone against Shiny right away. Now every regular citizen is happy. The non-Trilisk leaders don’t have any leverage.”
“I’m thinking the Space Force isn’t completely happy,” Caden said. “Shiny took the system from them. That has to chafe.”
“I agree, Caden,” Telisa said. “I’d like to know what they’re planning. They have a big fleet, though it’s no match for the Vovokan ships. What do they want? The Space Force people have to be wondering what’s going to happen? So far, they’re hanging together, staying mostly out of the VR worlds the regular folks seem to love so much.”
Several PIT members nodded.
What do I have left here? Jason asked himself.
“I’ll stop by the PIT headquarters,” Jason said. “Should we keep up that front? I mean, why pretend anymore? I think Core World Security, the Space Force, and Shiny all know about us now.”
Telisa nodded. “Spin it off. Let someone else pay us for that business. They need to change its name, though. To me, we’ll always be PIT.”
Jason nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Expect a visit from Core World Security. Maybe they’re resisting Shiny. I doubt they would talk to you about it, though, because of your status as a team member.”
Jason nodded. He looked at the others. Siobhan decided to go next.
“I think Caden and I are going to see his parents,” Siobhan said.
“What?” Caden blurted. “No, we aren’t.”
“We are. Trust me,” Siobhan said. Caden did not respond.
“Mend your relationship with them if you can, Caden, while you can,” Telisa advised. “See what they know. Did they go from hating Shiny to liking him? Why?”
Caden nodded, though he looked unhappy. Telisa turned toward Cilreth. She took the cue.
“I’m thinking about taking on an apprentice of sorts. Caden and Siobhan have these Celarans’ tech under control—” Caden snorted and Siobhan shook her head, “—but I’m going to find a computer expert who I can teach Vovokan software secrets, someone young and smart enough to jump on the next alien cybernetics challenge we find. There’s only enough room in this old head for two races’ computer systems.”
“Find someone who can run and shoot, too,” Siobhan said in an aside to the team.
Cilreth looked at Telisa. “I’m conflicted about that,” Telisa said. “On one hand, PIT isn’t large. On the other, do we have a place for a specialist to stay on the ship and back us up who’s spectacular with the computers and little else?”
“There’s a knee in the curve,” Imanol said. “Find someone at least who is physically capable and we can train them up to at least mediocre. But for sure, the priority is strong software and the flexibility to learn something alien from scratch.”
Telisa nodded. “I trust your judgement, Cilreth. Imanol?” asked Telisa.
“I went to an island last time I was here,” Imanol started. His face pinched and then took on a forced smile. “I swore I would never go back to that hell hole. But now I have some perspective and I need to know, did Shiny find another AI there? If he did, it could be related to all this.”
Telisa nodded.
“Good luck everyone.”
“What about you?” Caden dared to ask.
“I have business with Shiny,” Telisa said. “If I don’t get what I want, then I’ll join the rest of you on an intelligence gathering mission. I might visit some of my father’s old Space Force friends, or... maybe even Admiral Sager. If he’s still alive.”
Admiral Sager of the Bismarck? We heard at one point it was destroyed. But things were crazy then, and lies were flying around.
“I hope we’re not going to leave ol’ Vandal on the ship by himself,” Imanol said. Jason knew Imanol referred to Vincent. The name fit.
“I’ll take him with me,” Telisa said. Jason could hear the annoyance in her voice and he understood. They had all been so curious about the alien... until it turned out to be the biggest annoyance imaginable. The fact that it looked like a plant did not help garner any compassion, either.
The meeting broke up and everyone went to prepare for their trips to Earth. As Jason walked away with them, he already had another objective in mind.
I want to find the woman I met at Stark’s. But what would I say to her? It’s dumb to even think about it.
Chapter 8
Voss Marcant sat forward in a custom saddle as if lying atop a modern racebike. His pale skin clashed with the dull black of his clothes and the glossy black of the saddle. His pulse pounded in his palms where they rested on soft handles. His eyes were closed as his mind operated off-retina through virtual workspaces.
Marcant did not work alone. Integrated into his virtual environment, two other entities watched, ready to offer assistance.
“I think we’re ready,” Marcant said.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Adair said in Marcant’s mind. “Let the Space Force attempt it. No doubt they’ve tried, but we could send them anonymous help.”
“The Space Force? They have some good AIs, but their mindset will conclude that conducting a cyber attack on Shiny risks a continuation of the war. Remember, they’re the ones that lost control when Shiny took over,” Achaius said.
It was an exchange Marcant had heard a thousand times. Adair, ever vigilant, ever cautious, had been created for defense. Achaius was its mirror, focused on aggression.
“The decision has been made. This should allow us to get a snapshot of the entire cell,” Marcant said.
“Some random cell, one of billions,” Achaius said.
“Proof of concept,” Marcant said.
“It might work. But if it’s detected, your proof of concept will also be the last time it works,”
Adair said.
“You’re worried about that?”
“No, I’m worried about what happens when Ambassador Shiny comes for us,” Adair said.
Marcant sighed. Without a snapshot of a cell, he would be unable to learn anything more about Vovokan software. He had analyzed hundreds of thousands of intercepted transmissions just to get to this point. He had lined up dozens of variables in time and space to created a theoretical window in which he could conduct the copy.
“Achaius. Run it.”
The technology of Ambassador Shiny was amazingly elegant and powerful. There were no handshakes, no separate authorizations, opening and closing of streams, or other complicated and inefficient wastes of time. In fact, it seemed so impossibly clean that Marcant thought he must be missing a lot of what went on. Nevertheless, he had a theory, and it had to be tested.
He glanced over at the captive attendant sphere that had provided him with about half of what he had learned so far. Its casing had been fused to the end of a heavy metal rod to keep it immobilized. One of his hacker worshippers had brought it to him; somehow damaged, the sphere could no longer contact anything at long distance. It remained chatty to its captors, allowing him to test many things without Shiny learning about it.
Achaius controlled the exchange. This time, they were not talking to an isolated attendant sphere, they were attempting to read data from a Vovokan shuttle controller. The shuttle was nowhere nearby; the test was being conducted from across the Earth. Despite the great distances and the many precautions involved, neither Marcant nor Adair dared to underestimate such an advanced enemy.
The request did not produce the desired result. Instead of a copy of a Vovokan data cell, they received an unknown reply. Achaius immediately halted the exchange and retreated.
“Passive monitoring indicates the last remote host in the attack chain has been compromised.”
“He’s after us.”
“Probably not even him,” Marcant said sourly. “It’s simply an automated error follow up mechanism or security routine. We’re outmatched.”
“It won’t find you,” Adair vowed.
“Thank you, Adair,” Marcant said, though his voice was sullen.
“What now?” asked Achaius. “Should we move on to the next theoretical model and devise an attack to exploit it?”
“First, let’s examine the repercussions of what we’ve done,” Marcant said.
“Hey jelly-brain, you’re supposed to do that before you take an action,” Adair said.
“Well I had mapped out what would happen if I succeed, which I’m accustomed to doing.”
“You shot for the stars on this one,” Adair said. “I’m seeing anomalies in many of our remote systems that should have been undiscoverable. Remember when I said it won’t find you?”
“You mean ten seconds ago?” Marcant asked.
“Yes, that time. I may have been wrong about that.”
“We may have lost over there, but if they come for you here, we have the upper hand,” Achaius said.
“We need to take our obfuscation methods to the next level,” Adair said. “Somehow the Vovokan tracking setup has made its way through all three peripheries and ignored all the fake trails. I don’t know how that’s even possible.”
“So, he’s coming for us now?” Marcant asked.
“That is a definite possibility,” Adair said.
Chapter 9
“Okay, so, we’re almost home. What’s the plan? Just introduce you, then grill them about Shiny?” Caden said.
“I can’t just walk in there. I’m wanted by some powerful people,” Siobhan said.
Siobhan faced Caden on the sunny balcony of their public skybus. A low power gravity spinner below decks turned the fat transport into a weightless island in the sky. They had chosen a relatively isolated balcony to enjoy the weather and the view without being noticed.
Caden saw Siobhan in his link as an artificial human, an android shell meant to be controlled by a human from far away. According to the ID, it was currently occupied by a man from the frontier called Carlan Jentaus. They had disguised her link to make it safer for her to come to Earth. The deception came with some small dangers. A lot of automatic safety features would not activate for a simulacrum. For instance, if Siobhan took a dive off the sky bus right now, it might not deploy a net to save her, since it thought she was nothing but a fake body for some paranoid sightseer.
“Shiny’s in charge now,” Caden said.
“The corporations are always out for themselves. I doubt they forgot much.”
“I doubt they care that much here. Weren’t most of your... misadventures...”
“Call them mild transgressions,” she said.
“Didn’t that happen on the frontier?” he said.
“Yes, but we’re famous now. In a bad way. I saw many people asking about the entire PIT team.”
Caden had also seen that he still had some Blood Glades fans searching his whereabouts. He had not dared to respond to any of them. That part of his life seemed meaningless now that he had been in action with the PIT team.
“I don’t even want to talk to my parents. We’re just going because you said you wanted to meet them,” he said.
“Don’t be an idiot. I’m just getting you back together with your family.”
Caden sighed. “Well, you can join us later after I’ve felt it out.”
“No. You show up with another girl.”
“What?”
“Then I show up after we see what happens.”
“Oh I see. Well, why just one? We’ll hire several. You’ll be one in the crowd.” Caden smiled.
“Fine. You don’t have to enjoy it that much, though.”
***
Caden got on a transport disk once the skybus reached its closest point to his home on its course. He had been kind enough to warn of his visit, so his parents were waiting for him outside. His mother teared up upon seeing him descending on the disk. Caden saw many people in the long, sweeping house through several broad windows.
I guess they invited some friends and family to see me incarnate. How awkward.
He stepped off the disk and hugged his parents in front of the multilayered house. It felt weird, like he had re-entered a virtual reality that he had not run in several years.
“I was sure you would die,” his mother said. “I’m so happy to see you again.”
“Thanks for coming back,” his father said. “I’m sorry the way we left things.”
“So many people,” Caden said. His parents did not say anything.
Are they hiding something? Maybe there are CWS operatives in there to get Siobhan? Or would Shiny let the Space Force pick me up?
“This must be Siobhan!” his mother said, looking over his shoulder. Caden turned and saw a tall blonde in a bright red and black jumpsuit stepping off another transport disk. He took a look around to see if anyone else moved toward them. Everything seemed calm.
“There will be women coming and going during my visit. Siobhan will be one of them,” Caden transmitted to his parents on a private channel.
“Why?” asked his mom.
“There are people who don’t like her. And me,” Caden said.
“Don’t like you? You’re famous!” his father said out loud.
“Infamous, you mean,” Caden answered, letting the conversation come back out to spoken words again. “I want you two to know, I was trying to do what was right when I went in and attacked those Trilisk admirals.”
“You have it all wrong! The Space Force knows why you were there, Caden. All of Earth knows now. You’re a hero again, just like after Blood Glades, only bigger this time. This time, for real.”
What? Are my parents in a bubble? Or are they just trying to be positive for my benefit?
Caden glanced back toward the house and spotted four girls fighting to wave at him through a window. The word spread behind them. More people, mostly girls, started to move within the house, trying
to catch a glimpse of him. He recognized most of the faces.
He followed his parents inside and was immediately met by four women. One of them, Julee, actually elbowed her best friend and stepped forward first.
“So glad you made it back—”
“Caden! Remember me?”
“Welcome back hero!”
“Caden.” It was Cassie, Caden’s old girlfriend from school.
“Nice to see you all again,” Caden said loudly. “Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of time for everyone to catch up,” he lied. Right now, he just wanted to bug out and get away.
This is crazy. I just want Siobhan here. Then maybe these girls would all keep their distance.
He watched the girls nearby pushing each other aside to get closer.
Then again, maybe it wouldn’t help at all.
Caden caught sight of a high ranking officer in a Space Force uniform. The officer was tall and fit. He had more hair than Caden had seen on a Space Force man in a long time, and a beard to go with it. He felt a jolt of shock.
He’s here for Siobhan or me? No, surely it would be a corporate force sent to capture her.
The admiral walked over to Caden and his parents. The girls made some space for him, even though it caused them to push each other about more fiercely.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Lonrack. I’m Admiral Sager.”
Caden recoiled. “Sager of the Bismarck? That battleship was destroyed by Shiny.”
“It was disabled. But Ambassador Shiny spared me and my crew.” He paused. “The Space Force has never expected officers to go down with their ships.”
“Telisa is looking for you,” Caden blurted. Sager’s face blipped. Caden could not tell if it was irritation or real interest.
“Really? I’ll keep a watch for any queries from her.”
“These must be your parents,” Sager said.
“I’m Patrick. This is my wife Rose,” his father said. Sager nodded to them. In the manner of many Core Worlders, no one shook hands. Even though no pathogen had decimated any large population for decades now, no one saw any reason to start up old traditions again.
The Celaran Probe (Parker Interstellar Travels Book 7) Page 5