by V Guy
Selena jumped to her feet. “I saw the reports. I read the obituaries. Martin Rose is dead.”
Malik shook his head, mirth in his eyes. “He feigned his death.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she settled back into her seat. She sent him a pleading inquiry.
“Heinrich was after the family and me,” he replied. “I let him believe he killed Serena on Pathfinder, while Martin faked his death at the Curve.”
“You can’t just fake a death.”
Malik smiled. “Martin had it planned in advance, and I had grown him a clone for that very purpose. It was a surreptitious coincidence, and the resemblance was perfect.”
She was flabbergasted. “I don’t understand; he loved the Curve.”
“He didn’t explain.”
The words triggered something within Selena, and an emotional cloud covered her. Her shoulder slumped, her arms pulled close to her body, her head lowered, and she fingered her right ring finger.
“I’m sorry.”
He became troubled. “Sorry?”
“I lost it. The ring you gave me as a child. I repeatedly had it resized, and now it’s gone.”
Malik embraced her. “I can get you another.”
Pain touched her averted visage and tears fell from her eyes. “I was always strong, I meant something to people, and then I was suddenly nobody. It wasn’t the physical pain of Bedele Creative that hurt the most; it was the sense of having my humanity stripped. It was the reality of being ignored and discounted. When ownership came, I was suddenly a lost puppy, without inherent purpose, value, or meaning. Will I ever get that back? Will I ever truly be free?”
He stroked her back. “We should begin.”
***
“This is a mind space,” said Malik. “It is a buffered interaction area, designed to cushion the contact between us. This is where all of the women who met with me held their sessions.”
“You were in the equipment bay beneath the dorm?” asked Selena, pacing around the circular space. The walls reacted and changed as she pondered them.
“Normally we met in my quarters for privacy. The bug happens to be there, and I figured you wouldn’t be comfortable around it.”
“Mantis,” she mused. “Why do you keep it?”
“I need to break its mind for our protection, thus I set myself against it every evening. The next time I meet one, I want to be ready. Their telepathic gift will also need to be blocked—they can command a person’s mind at will.”
“As I’ve heard about you.”
He shook his head. “I require direct contact. Are you ready?”
Selena nodded and sat down. An image of her mind as Malik perceived it surrounded them. She looked around in surprise, noting a response in several different regions.
“You’re strong, there’s no doubt,” said Malik in appreciation. “You can not only block your master but also restrict my vision. Impressive. Your technique was messy, but effective.”
“Messy?”
“We’ll make it neater. You’ve been brutal.”
Areas of the mind unassociated with his statement faded. Representations of the Bedele Creative conditioning were highlighted.
“Tears and fragments. Do you have headaches?”
She shrugged. “All the time. I thought they were normal and kind of ignored them.”
He huffed and made an awed chuckle. “You are strong. Let’s get going. If two hours is what we’re to spend, let’s be efficient.”
Malik started with the fragments, carefully dislodging the trash and saving the valuable segments. He either mended or dislodged the tears like clumps of dead flesh. Selena’s mind registered the pain, but she was inured; she barely reacted. Once these long tasks were done, he mended important areas damaged by her bludgeon approach to memory recovery. He next methodically took the outer, more recent memories she had missed and revealed them by removing the Creative conditioning. No base level extension into her past was accomplished. When the two hours were spent, the memory space was blanked, and they disconnected, “awakening” in hold three’s equipment area.
Selena looked in surprise at the seat beneath her, then woodenly stood and stretched, popping her neck and joints. She stared at some of the gauges in thought then turned to him. “No more headaches. That was exquisite.”
Malik smiled. “I’ve had plenty of practice.”
She pondered his statement. “As have I. How much did my technique destroy?”
“Not much, if any. I found a host of lost fragments, planting the desirable pieces in chronologically appropriate places and grouping the rest. We can negotiate their placement later.”
She paced within the chamber, peering at pipes, conduits, and tanks as if they might resolve a mental issue. “I want to see it.”
They lay above, stopping at the entrance to his quarters. The hatch opened, and she stepped forward. After kneeling next to the mantis’s torso, she glanced back.
“No legs.”
“I’ve already examined and gleaned any intelligence possible—they helped stabilize not only its walking, but also its mental anchorage for control. They’ve been recovered, along with the head, which has been evaluated.”
She lightly touched the carapace. “He’s terrified of you. That’s the main reason he kept one close; he’d seen your remarkable ability to survive and reasoned you were the one who tore through the Dynang. I can give you all the data he collected.”
He started in surprise. “How will he respond without you?”
Selena frowned. “He thinks you’re a creature like this—intended only for destruction. He’ll hide but not cower. If you emerge, he’ll get someone to do his dirty work; he’s got the money and the connections. This will be especially true with me gone.”
Malik pondered the monster and groaned. “I should get this started. I’ve two hours with this monster before everything else.”
She approached, grabbing his left foreleg to get his attention. “One thing first.”
That one thing was a game of Empire. Malik’s crew knew of his skill, had heard of her vaunted competitiveness, and crowded to watch. The Fates somehow knew something was happening and made an appearance. Violet noted their departure from the dorm and followed.
Both competitors were nonplussed by the audience. Bishops, rooks, archers, enforcers, and reapers appeared on both sides of the cube. Regents started in deep protection while the paladin was set forward as a powerful deterrent. Optional, lower-level pieces could be chosen to accentuate a particular strategy, and both of them had made their selections. Initial moves were set, and the contest began. Both armies led aggressively.
Moves and counter moves were taken, and casualties disappeared faster than bishops could revive them. Back and forth it went with no clear, discernible victor. The margin between them was tiny. Malik’s victory amidst the carnage was almost a surprise, and the observers were initially uncertain it had even happened.
Selena saw and made a disappointed smile. Li was next and laughed, breaking into clapping. Evelyn shook her head, a little disappointed but pleased. The Fates had sensed the building tension and cheered out of appreciation. James patted Selena on the back and shook his head in amazed disbelief.
“That was marvelous,” said Malik, pleasure flush in his harmony and coloring. “I have missed playing you.”
She looked back at him and flashed a smile. Just as quickly, her mood flipped. The vibrant, brilliant woman disappeared into darkness.
“I’m tired,” she said sullenly. “I think I’ll rest.”
He turned a concerned gaze toward Evelyn, who transitioned that concern to Furaha. Amal and Leala interposed themselves between the others and Selena to lead the troubled women back to her bunk.
Their gathering dissolved, the remaining initiates splitting between the evening’s many options. Li and James sympathetically watched then returned to maintenance. Evelyn lingered, shaking her head and sighing.
“She’s separated fro
m her master,” said Malik, suffering with his new patient. “None of the other women had this struggle.”
Evelyn pondered the woman’s escort. “They truly are sisters. I guess that’s the kind of game a precog can play?”
A sense of wonder touched his visage. “That’s the kind of game an extremely talented woman can play. Her future sense is set on the paladin—all of this was her natural strategy and tactics. She would have blistered me otherwise.”
***
Li was eating a snack and relaxing when Selena made an early-morning appearance on the cargo deck. He saw her, rose in respect when she approached, but was motioned down.
“What are you drinking?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Orange blossom white tea,” he replied, rising. “Would you like some?”
Selena again motioned him to sit. “I’ll get my own.” She returned with a hot cup and set herself opposite as she cradled the container. “Why are you awake in the wee hours?”
Li took a sip of his drink. “We’re looking for a way into Salient, and that means module construction and shifts during the night. Our effort is a long shot, but as Malik likes to say, the possibility of success exists.”
“Evelyn says you were a commando.”
He nodded.
“Commandos are supposed to work in squads. Where are the others?”
Li paused to finish chewing. “Arturo and Makaha left to restore a home for freed initiates, while Borislav and Bomani followed Serena as protection.”
She observed him carefully. “Why do you stay?”
He contemplated her in return. “We believe in what he believes; he finds a way to turn improbability into reality, and it’s astonishing what he discovers. Most of the time he’s doing things because cares about someone, which means I’d pour my heart and soul into the effort.”
“You were my salvation,” said Selena, her voice low. She looked at her knuckles, healed by Evelyn. “They left me to die. I felt the escape pods rocket away, and then you were there.”
He cocked his head, making a self-effacing expression. “Malik sent me.”
“And I’m grateful. If your timing was off, both of us could’ve died.”
“It was my timing,” said Li, scowling indignantly. “And it never would’ve been off.”
Selena made a covert smile and laughed. “Thank you anyway. I had just experienced rejection, and then someone who desired me made an invitation.”
His visage sobered, and he averted his gaze. “We’d been looking for you for a very long time. Evelyn was involved in narrowing the list of ships that ported you away. We came along later and tried chasing you down after the destruction of Sunfire, but you wanted nothing to do with us. Then we went to Bedele to recover records of your departure. Somehow your master caught wind of our intentions and killed every lead. Then there came the charting around the blank spaces, extrapolating data where none existed, and narrowing your master’s organization to one company. We were eliminating the list of potential executives when the mantis reared its ugly beak.”
“When you were nearly killed,” she said, pondering her cooling beverage.
“It’s the only time I’ve ever felt fear.” Li peered at his own drink, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I was alone and completely out of control.”
“I understand completely,” she said, grasping his hand. Her gaze was gentle. “How many of those data collection missions were you on?”
He kept his eyes on his beverage. “All of them, but I did have help.”
“I will always remember your face.” She touched his shoulder, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and pulled away. “Good luck and good night.”
56: Directive
Day 897: Hardress-Alpha
An unescorted, ragged freighter drew next to the station Arcades. Proper authentications and passwords had been submitted, but Director Winn took no chances, calling on support from the local security station and assembling her station’s guard force. They waited as the hatch went through its paces and opened; Baron Hess and his aide awaited.
Her jaw dropped open in disbelief. “Sir?”
“What’s with the fuss?” he asked tartly, stepping onto the station. “All the codes were properly exchanged.”
She followed as he strode down the corridor. “Where’s Stellar Clipper? This isn’t a ship you’d normally ride. Is something wrong?”
Hess scowled. “The mantis was defeated in combat and captured. A week later, I was nearly killed again during a shipboard accident. That time, the oracle died.”
Her countenance fell as understanding came. “We have plenty of mantes to choose from. Tell us what happened and maybe we can correct.”
“It was decapitated,” said the surly Hess. “Then I lost remote sight. The mantis effectively controlled numerous people outside my conference suite, but the mental power had little to no effect upon its opponent. My connection to the hive was lost shortly afterward. One of my men checked later—there was plenty of damage to the rooms, but the mantis was gone. It had been taken, presumably for analysis.”
“By whom?”
“By a what. Have you heard of Malik?”
Winn shook her head. “What’s a ‘Malik’?”
“A creature of astonishing ability. Can you create mantes without the telepathic reach?”
She frowned. “Their reach is their strength.”
Hess scowled. “That reach might lead the creature to me. It resisted the telepathic mantis. If it could resist, then it might be able to detect other mantes through their telepathic signatures. I need them as protection, not as beacons.”
“They’d still be connected to the hive,” she said, pondering the matter. “Without telepathy, we’d need to accentuate the other senses and reduce or eliminate the stabilizing antenna to reduce sensory noise.”
“How long?” he asked.
“Two months, three,” replied Winn, looking thoughtfully at Jameson. “Telepathy is ingrained into their hybrid minds and programming—we can’t cut the responsible organ from an adult without repercussions.”
He paused to consider the potential delay. “Is my suite ready?”
“And your laboratory,” she replied, nodding. “Who else is staying? What about the ship’s crew? We’re a research laboratory and don’t have room for lots of people.”
Hess shook his head. “Technically, Wild Boar’s original crew was confined and we borrowed it. Stellar Clipper’s crew survived the blast to fly it—they’ll return the ship to Hardress-Alpha, wipe the logs, free the crew, then return with a new vessel. Accommodations will be unnecessary. My bodyguards can bunk with the local security crew.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I was thinking of projects during my time off and was eager to start. I’d hate to worry about guests. There’s a lot of places around here we can’t have people wandering, and there are many things we can’t afford them seeing.”
Baron Hess made a slight smile. “Present your ideas when you’re ready. We’ll be here for a while.”
Winn left, and a security guard escorted Hess and Grant to his suite. After the bags were delivered, he and his aide were left in peace.
“You didn’t kill them,” said Grant, scanning the room. “It wasn’t Stellar Clipper, but few ships could match.”
“They’re capable researchers, and the time off made them appreciative.” Hess grabbed his bags and took them to the closet to unpack. “When’s the next meeting?”
“Two hours. Are you certain you wish to use hidden accounts for the next ship purchase? Are they secure?”
Hess nodded and scowled. “The creature found me, Grant. I don’t know how. Maybe it was the company charges. Maybe it was something else. The oracle warned me for months, telling me with certainty that she would be found, and that it was only a matter of time.”
“We can do most things remotely, but you’ll eventually need to emerge. There should be a better solution than hiding.”
Hess dropped onto
his bed and glared. “And what do you suggest? It found me and killed the mantis. What sort of solution do you propose?”
Grant was deliberate about his next words. “She was clear about your death aboard Stellar Clipper. Why would you doubt the oracle when she said the creature wasn’t after you, but after her?”
“She also said she’d be found, didn’t she?”
Grant paused. “We don’t know Malik didn’t find her. None of the other ship’s locks were corrupted—everyone else escaped.”
Hess’s eyes flashed. “I don’t hear her anymore.”
“Maybe finding her meant killing her; Creative slaves can’t be cured. If I loved someone deeply and knew that the monstrous, mental shackles of slavery binding them couldn’t be removed…I might free them in the only way possible. In the oracle’s case, that freedom would be death.”
“She never said anything about personal danger,” said Hess, staring off onto space. “Would she have known?”
“Deep down, it may have been a relief. She most likely sensed your danger first; only when you were safe would she have felt her own. You were gone by then.”
“Why didn’t she know sooner? We were in the middle of space, moving from one channel to the next. Shouldn’t the creature’s planning have been detected?”
Grant took a seat on a dressing chair. “It knew her, knew she warned you, and deliberately chose to avoid raising an alarm. But you always understood her future. The creature was always coming to free her. I think the final disposition of Stellar Clipper was a last-minute decision intended to throw her off the scent.”
Hess’s face flushed crimson and his fists balled. “Malik.”
“It consciously decided a long time ago to permit your existence, never mind abandoning an apparent grievance against the Dynang. Redina struggles with a direct assault made against him two decades back, but both of you are similar—Malik no longer seeks your deaths.”
“It’s a hovering cloud.”