Starbearer

by Rock Forsberg

  Mouth agape, Sofia asked, ‘How do you know this stuff?’

  ‘Been playing games too much.’

  She pushed the door and they went in. Before them was a vast and empty room, with carpeted floor and structural pillars the only thing between them and the big windows on the other end. It seemed as if it was a vacant office space they had entered via the back door. Evie closed the door behind them, and walked through it, hoping they would be able to leave via the main entrance.

  ‘I have to let him know what’s happening,’ Sofia said and pulled up her terminal. She swiped across a number of screens and waited.

  Henning’s face appeared on the screen. ‘What’s going on? Oh, Evie, is that you?’

  ‘No time to explain,’ Sofia said. ‘There are big ones here.’

  ‘Are you safe?’

  ‘For now, we are.’

  ‘Whatever you do, don’t fire at them with conventional plasma weapons—it’ll just make them stronger.’

  ‘Noticed that,’ Evie said.

  ‘Get into hiding. ‘I will come over.’

  ‘You don’t have to.’

  ‘I know a thing or two about the Ver,’ he said, ‘and I can work the system here. Meanwhile, find shelter.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Sofia said.

  ‘Stay safe.’

  Sofia smiled, and closed the connection.

  Evie looked back. The door through which they had entered was still closed. Perhaps the grenade had made such a mess of the stairwell that the monsters had lost them. But they couldn’t hide there forever. Not far from where they stood was an area that could have been a reception. ‘I’m guessing that’s the way out. Let’s go.’

  She was right. Behind the corner were big double doors. Evie was perhaps five metres from the doors, when one of them jerked open. Sofia gasped.

  A tall figure stepped in, wearing a cape, with a black scarf over his face.

  Evie took a step back.

  The figure lifted the cape and loosened the scarf. Evie let out a sigh of relief at seeing Reina Wolfe.

  ‘You called,’ she said. ‘Who’s she?’

  ‘Sofia,’ Evie said. ‘She’s a friend. How’d you find us?’

  ‘I’m tracking the Starbearer.’

  ‘Thank god. There were so many Ver after us.’

  ‘They’re tracking it, too,’ Reina said, and glanced back over her shoulder. ‘The city is teeming with them; and they’re all after the Starbearer. They’re all after you.’

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Henning had come to a decision. He was going to let Belinda Killock have his brain dump. If that was what it would take, he was going to do it. Avalon was just too important.

  Taking the main walkway that spiralled through the Spire in Dawn Central he went through the points in his mind. While Aino liked it in the Central, Avalon was a better place to grow up. The remaining folks would be the core, and more would join. Rebuilding would take some time. Like all endeavours, reclaiming Avalon had its risks and uncertainties, but who would he be if he didn’t do it? Getting Avalon back was the sole reason for him to join the navy. Now was his chance.

  But he couldn’t just give everything away to the navy either. There were things his father had taught him, things about Avalon, and things about FIST he couldn’t let into Belinda Killock’s screens.

  He had to resort to drastic measures. In the past few days, he had been transcribing his secrets on a paper notebook; a trade-off between security and accessibility. That was the first step.

  Now he was entering the lab where he would take the second step: deleting the secrets from his memory.

  It was a quiet time. There was nobody else in the lab. He had preconfigured the machine to target the specific memories and wipe them without a trace. Because of the fuzzy way brains worked, the process was far from perfect, and his biggest worry was erasing something important, something he hadn’t recorded.

  He tapped open the program on the terminal screen beside Neuro-Precision, the tool that could operate the mind without touch, and uploaded his script.

  The notebook in his hands, he browsed the pages. His deepest secrets, out where they could disappear, or where someone could access them, just by reading a few pieces of paper. It was a risk he had to take. He doubted that if the navy had everything, they’d give him Avalon. They’d dismiss him or imprison him, and that wouldn’t help him or the people he loved. This was the only way.

  He pushed the notebook into his jacket pocket and sat on the Neuro-Precision Chair. He picked up the headpiece, a smooth metallic cone with silicone padded insides, pushed his hair back and set the thing on his head. He adjusted the size from the back.

  His handheld terminal buzzed.

  It was probably some navy administrator. He would answer it later. Neuro-Precision was ready to run, and it would take just a few moments.

  This was it. In a few minutes, his memory would never be the same, and he could only open the notebook once Belinda had received her brain-dump.

  The terminal buzzed again.

  What if it was Aino?

  He eased the cone over his head and took it off. He stood up from the chair and grabbed his terminal.

  It was Sofia.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he said, then saw she had company. ‘Oh, Evie, is that you?’

  They had a short exchange, after which he leaned back on the chair. Sofia and Evie were in trouble, and it was because of the Ver. The creatures of the dark had begun pouring in through the portals. His father had taught him to use E against such creatures, like he had done in the hotel. He wanted to rush to help them, but even if he was able to get a ride to Spit City, it would take hours. But if the Ver were coming on stronger, and if what Evie said was true—

  In frustration, he hit the armrest, and the whole chair clanked.

  Remember Avalon. Avalon is the priority.

  He stood up and went to the desk by the wall, logging into the navy’s network. He opened the official documents database, and searched for any information pertaining to Avalon, and soon his screen started to fill with a list of documents.

  Most of them were old and pedestrian, documentation about Project Renascence, but when he sorted the relevant ones by date—latest first, the top one caught his eye. The document was named ‘Mission briefing: the purge of deep energy from Avalon,’ and it was dated roughly six months back.

  He tried to open the file, but his access was denied. He hit his fist on the table. Something fishy was going on—and the name of the document alone was enough to indicate what—but he needed the why and the who.

  Belinda would have access, but due to her probable involvement with Avalon, she’d be unlikely to let him access anything.

  His terminal buzzed. He thought it was Sofia again, but the screen said it was Jill. He thought of letting it ring, they’d meet soon anyway, but the fact that Jill had chosen to call him made him pick it up.

  She looked concerned. ‘Henning?’

  ‘Hi, Jill,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘It’s Belinda,’ she said in a low voice. ‘There’s something wrong.’

  Henning leaned forward. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I can’t talk now. Meet me in mid-second quadrant bottom Spire corridor at 14:00 hours.’

  ‘What—’

  She looked past the screen and cut the connection.

  It had seemed that Jill and Belinda got along fine, but now something was up. She had never acted like that with him before. He couldn’t go back to the procedure now, he’d have to try again later. Now he needed to talk with Jill. He stood up and started cleaning out all the settings.

  After a few hours, Henning entered the corridor that ran around the lowest level of the spire, just above the city. It didn’t lead anywhere in particular, so he seemed to be alone. The middle of the second quadrant was a noisy location with the air turbines just few metres away. A weird place to meet, unless you wanted to hide your voice from the stat
ion’s computers. He checked the time: it was already past 14:00 hours. He had expected Jill to be on time.

  She stepped out from behind one of the heavy beams holding the station together.

  ‘Jill,’ he said, approaching her. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m afraid. I suspect Nenetl—yes, Nenetl has a hold on her.’

  ‘Belinda?’

  She nodded. ‘Somehow it all makes sense. She’s helping the Shade and Remola and Ver and others to take over everything we have.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  Jill told him what they had been doing with Belinda’s Re-Stem unit, how it had been interrupted, and how she had overheard what was said. ‘My goddess, the Dawn is in our hands. We are ready for the next phase. No, no. I am sure she will understand.’

  Henning considered it. He recalled the time Belinda was the key player in pushing the Remola and Nenetl back. But it had seemed somehow too easy. Was it just a show for Nenetl to get what she wanted—and was Belinda already with her?

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.’

  ‘There was another accident down in Spit. I’m headed there.’

  ‘But didn’t she forbid you from—’

  ‘I’m not telling her. I have a ship ready to take me. I’ll be there before she even knows I’ve left.’ Henning said, and looked at the massive turbine before them.

  ‘I’ll join you. I don’t feel safe here anymore.’

  ‘You’re not in any immediate danger—or are you?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘Does she know you overheard her?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘That’s good. It might actually be better for you to be here,’ Henning said, lowering his voice. ‘Get close to her—’

  ‘She’s been acting quite friendly. I think she’s got a thing for me.’

  Henning smiled. ‘Use that to gain her trust.’

  Jill took a deep breath through her teeth. ‘I’m not so sure about that.’

  ‘That way, you’d get more information out of her, and could be in a position to stop her if need be.’

  ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I’m just not sure I can do it.’

  ‘Sure you can. You’re very charming, and from what I know of her, playing a coquette—at which I believe you’d be a natural—would get her to do anything for you.’

  ‘Coquette… hmm.’

  ‘That’s just an idea. You do what you think is best, but please stay close to her.’ He checked the time. ‘Keep me in the loop. If there’s anything, I mean anything, that could be relevant, let me know. We’re in this together.’

  She nodded, and they bumped fists.

  ‘One more thing,’ Henning said. ‘There’s data about Avalon in the document database I can’t access. You would have a higher clearance level, right? Could you perhaps grant me access to those docs?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Don’t tell Belinda, though.’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Thanks, and good luck.’

  ‘You too,’ she said, and turned to walk away.

  If Belinda Killock was indeed in bed with Nenetl, it made sense for her to purge Avalon and use it as a bargaining chip for Henning to reveal everything he knew. He wasn’t going to do it; he knew too much. Henning, Jill and the others who used E were a threat to Nenetl’s plans, and she knew it. The pieces were on the move, but many were still missing.

  Henning entered the ancillary dock and made his way to the list of departing ships. He found the ship, Kangaroo, a GR-3 Groupie transport, that would be heading off to Spit City soon. Beside the ship stood an officer, a bearded Andron man, peering into a terminal.

  Henning approached the man.

  ‘Perenne? I’m Henning Dal.’

  ‘No luggage?’

  ‘Just this.’ Henning showed the man the small black bag that hung on his shoulder.

  The officer showed Henning his terminal’s screen and lowered his voice. ‘Here’s what you owe me.’

  The screen showed five thousand teradollars, the kickback for the officer for arranging the transport on the sly. To leave no trace of the money, Henning gave the man a small gem. He read it with his terminal and said, ‘Thank you, sir. Welcome aboard.’

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Jill was painfully aware of the problem she had. Her rational mind told her to play Belinda and get her to reveal something crucial about Nenetl, but at the same time, she didn’t want to hurt her. Perhaps what she had heard had been in a dream, and meant nothing, but nevertheless, she found herself thinking about Belinda all the time. Somehow everything about her had become frustrating.

  Sitting by the side desk in the Command Centre of Dawn Central, she watched Belinda from a distance. She was speaking with Vice Admiral Jett, who had avoided the strike by cancelling his attendance at the last minute due to an unexpected family emergency, and was now in charge of reorganizing the leadership.

  Jill accessed the document database on the embedded terminal and looked up the data about Avalon. The new documents were all filed as highly classified, making it surprising Henning was even able to see the list. She glanced up: Belinda and Jett were still engaged in the conversation. She opened the latest document titled, ‘Mission briefing: the purge of deep energy from Avalon,’ and understood immediately why Henning wanted to access it. He needed to see it. She closed the document, selected everything new about Avalon, and added him as an authorised user.

  The discussion between Jett and Belinda was done, and Jett was walking over to Jill. ‘Commodore Faith—’

  Jill tapped the screen quickly to close the list of documents. Wondering if he’d seen what she had on the screen, she stood up and saluted.

  ‘At ease,’ he said. ‘I appreciate your efforts in helping Doctor Killock to re-establish order on Dawn Central and bringing our organisation back to full strength.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  Jett was a square-jawed military man, but Jill was taller than him. He looked up at her. ‘I’m meeting with the new chief of military, Mrs Mason, today, to agree on rebuilding the command structure. In the meantime, I expect your full focus maintaining order.’

  ‘Sir.’ Jill nodded.

  ‘Work with Killock. You two could be powerful together and could achieve great things.’

  ‘Thank you, sir. We will do our best.’

  Jett nodded, and without saying a word, marched out of the command bridge.

  With Admiral Jett gone, Jill walked over to Belinda, who sat in the middle of the room at the position of command. She was a glorious sight with an upright posture, and golden locks down to her shoulders. She was one of the most powerful women in the universe.

  Jill approached her from behind. She moved Belinda’s hair aside, put her hands on her shoulders, and massaged them gently.

  Belinda glanced back, and said, ‘Oh, that feels good.’

  ‘Do you ever get any time off?’ Jill asked, and continued massaging her shoulders, which felt muscular and relaxed under her fingers.

  ‘Not really, it’s a full-time job,’ she said with a sigh, then turned around to look at her. ‘But perhaps we could arrange something. Did you have something in mind?’

  ’What? I was just wondering, as your shoulders seemed tense.’

  ‘Oh,’ Belinda said, and let her shoulders fall.

  Jill was happy with her coquetry, but this was just the start. She continued massaging down Belinda’s back.

  ‘Ohh … yes,’ Belinda said.

  Jill continued for a few minutes more, when Belinda suddenly tensed and turned. She looked at Jill with an intense gaze. ‘There’s something I want to show you. Come with me.’

  Jill shrugged and followed Belinda out of the command bridge.

  As they walked along the corridor, Jill said, ‘You know, I’m glad I could re-join the navy, and work with you.’

  Belinda smiled a reply.

&nb
sp; Jill smiled, too. Belinda was clearly warming up to her.

  Belinda stopped at a door, which Jill remembered from the first day at the Central. ‘The quiet room.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Belinda said, and they stepped in.

  The doorway to the empty room was thicker than most rooms on the station, and the floor was made of some unusual soft material. When the door closed and they both stood still, the lack of sound created an eerie ambiance. She could hear her heartbeat. And as Belinda stepped closer, she thought she heard her heartbeat, too.

  ‘There’s something I haven’t told you,’ Belinda said in a low voice. ‘But now I feel we shouldn’t have any secrets.’

  ‘What is it?’ Jill said, trying to look surprised.

  Belinda took a deep breath. ‘I just want you to understand that what I’m about to tell you doesn’t change anything between us.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘First you must promise not to freak out. It all makes sense.’

  ‘OK,’ Jill said, expecting Belinda to open up about Nenetl. ‘You are starting to freak me out now.’

  Belinda reached out to touch her, but she withdrew. ‘I’ve been lonely. You know, this is not easy. Last time didn’t end well.’

  She meant the time she had Jill in the cell, the first time she’d voiced her interest in her. After Jill’s rejection, Belinda had ended up hitting her. ‘Unless you smack my face, I’m not going to freak out. I promise.’

  ‘One more thing,’ Belinda said. ‘Hear me out. It might be better than you think—there just might be a way out.’

  Jill nodded. ‘Go on.’

  ‘I have an idea about how to defeat Nenetl. But before we can go into details, I must confess something: I was with her.’

  Jill swallowed.

  ‘She mesmerised me and promised me the world. Literally. I was her vehicle for acquiring Grangar; no, I wasn’t the hero to banish the Remola. Nenetl was playing a longer game and came to our universe with the Remola just to test out their capability to do so, and acquire more power through Grangar.

  ‘Since then she’s been annexing more forces to join her in her quest to reset the universe, and now has at least the Remola, the Ver, and Grangar—they’re all under her charm. Who knows what else …? She promised me immortality in the new world, the world that would replace ours and which she would run.’