CODY AND QUINN stood in the present, staring at an empty space in the corner where Scarred Cody had been. Their mouths were agape. And their eyes were wide.
“What did we just see?” Quinn asked.
“My answer would only be speculation,” Cody said. “Remember, I think like a scientist. There’s no concrete conclusion.”
“Shut up and answer,” Quinn said.
“Alternate versions of how things played out,” Cody said. “But the nature of the recollections raises interesting questions.”
“I didn’t mean the technical what,” Quinn said. “I meant what does it mean?”
“Oh,” Cody said, shaking his head. “Sorry. Yeah. Remember what I said about my time loop when we were on the Temporal Ship?”
Quinn nodded and crossed her arms.
“I shut down the Syndicate’s missile defenses,” Cody said. “And then a far more advanced species attacked and annihilated Earth. It didn’t go well. To say the least.”
“No kidding,” Quinn said. “But why? And how is it that there’s a different enemy each time?”
“You want my scientific conclusion or my best guess?” Cody said. “You seem to prefer clear and concise.”
“What do you think?” Quinn said, with a glare.
“Right. There are only three possibilities really. Time is correcting itself. So each time we succeed, Earth still must be conquered. Those who are supposed to die must die because it affects the Universe itself somehow.”
“That’s option one?” Quinn said. “Do I even want to hear option two or three?”
“Well,” Cody said. “It’s also possible that time is only correcting to the first temporal breach. Whatever caused the first breach must still happen, but things could change if the cause still happens or happened despite those changes. Somehow, defeating the Syndicate and surviving aren’t lining up. Whatever the other me was trying to do, he could figure out what the vital thing that needed to happen was.”
“That’s actually a better option,” Quinn said. “Rooting for that one.”
Cody guffawed. “But we don’t know either, so we could end up repeating over and over just like him. Maybe this is even the beginning of that.”
“Speaking of which, if that does happen, could you not program my voice into the AI,” Quinn said. “That was eerie.”
“I promise. I didn’t even like that.”
“That’s a relief,” Quinn said. “But I am hoping that’s not where we’re headed.”
“That’s the good news,” Cody said. “I have a theory.” He paused for effect, but Quinn rolled her eyes. “Okay fine, it has to do with the third possibility.”
“Which is?”
“The third option is really more my theory than another explanation. It’s the only one we don’t have anything concrete to back up,” Cody said. “It’s not about us surviving or not. It’s about whatever the Potentate desires only being possible if the Syndicate survives to defend Earth. And he’s set things on a course that it’s only possible if he survives too. If he’s in charge when it’s all said and done.”
“That’s a leap,” Quinn said.
“I know,” Cody said. “That’s why I said theory. And not in the ‘theory based on facts way’. It’s my best guess. What’s worse is we don’t yet fully know what he desires.”
“What made you think of it then if it’s just a guess with nothing to support it?”
“Something he said to the scarred up version of me. That it must be him who attains what they both desire.”
“Which means it’s something you desire too.”
“Exactly.”
“This is flat out crazy,” Quinn said. “The Universe is in bizarro land.”
“After all we’ve been through?” Cody said. “This is what makes you question reality?”
“It’s just an expression. It’s so much. All for so little.”
“I think that’s the idea. The person who started all this, the Potentate, desires something. Two somethings. And they conflict somehow. Only little in the sense that it was one person, or whatever he is, that set things in motion. But the actions he took escalated, and now here we are. All for something he wants. We need to know what that is.”
Quinn let out a breath and looked to the ground for a second before stepping close to Cody. “Think,” she said. “What do you want as much as you want to save Earth?”
Cody’s eyes dilated with her this close. How could she still not know the answer to that? They’d survived together, saved each other, died together, died separately. And yet, there was only the one thing he always wanted, even when he couldn’t be with her, when she’d rejected him in his time loop. To save her.
He pulled away from her and turned around, hiding his face. “This can’t be,” he said. “The only way I’d help him was if it was to save you and Samantha. But why would he care so much about the two of you?”
“I think you know,” Quinn said.
“I don’t want it to be true,” Cody said. “It can’t be true.”
“We have to accept that it might be and go from there.”
“But how could I ever do the things he’s done?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Cody turned back around. Met her pleading eyes. “Yes,” he said, with no hesitation. “I’d tear it all down and build it back up a thousand times.”
“Maybe you already have.”
Cody’s eyes welled up. “How can that be the kind of person I am? I can’t be him. I don’t want to survive in a world in which I am him.”
“Then don’t be like him,” Quinn said. “Help me find the missing piece. That way we can save Earth and still defeat the Potentate.”
“You mean … defeat me.”
Quinn blinked. And Cody knew what she was thinking. She was torn, just like him. How could she love someone who could become as evil as the Potentate?
29
PYRRHIC VICTORY
The holographic projector whirred to life, startling Cody and Quinn. And the AI’s voice intruded on them. “You’ll both want to see this,” the AI said, in Quinn’s voice.
“I thought I said not to use my voice,” Quinn said.
Cody shrugged. “I didn’t. I haven’t. Some other version of me must have.”
“I may not have emotions,” the AI said, “but I’m programmed to help you attain your desire.”
Cody and Quinn turned to the projection, and a full body version of Quinn appeared. “Relax,” the AI said. “This isn’t a projection of me. I have no body. That’s a memory of Quinn drawn from her mind from an alternate reality. Just as you ‘guessed,’ but really knew.” She paused for a reaction, but Cody and Quinn were still in shock and made no response. “Tough audience,” the AI said. “You are different from your past, or depending on how you look at it, future selves. Still, you need to see what happened to you Quinn, before Cody can understand where the paradox lies.”
“If you have no emotions, what’s with the jokes?” Quinn asked.
“Cody’s programming. To make me seem more alive,” the AI said. “Should I turn it down a notch?”
“That’d be nice,” Quinn said.
“Of course,” the AI said. “Are you ready to see the beginning?”
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Quinn said.
“Bedside manner was not part of my programming,” the AI said. “I do have a name, though.”
“It had better not be Quinn,” Quinn said, while shooting a glare at her own image.
The AI chortled. “No, that would have made the original Cody uncomfortable. There was no replacing his Quinn. But a later one, well, we grew attached. As much as we could, considering.”
Quinn put up her palm. “Don’t wanna hear about it.”
“Your loss,” the AI said. “But can I share my name?”
“Please,” Cody said.
“Pyra.”
“Pyra?” Quinn said.
“Yes, Cody, the origi
nal Cody named me after Pyrrhic Victory. The etymology being that when King Pyrrhus of Epirus in what is now known as Ancient Greece, a victory was won in a manner that was actually a defeat, because of how great the loss was for the victor.”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the history lesson, Teach’.”
“You’re welcome,” Pyra said, not getting the sarcasm and double meaning of the joke.
“Anytime,” Quinn said. “Also, you should know, we’re off on the wrong foot. Not a fan of you. Just so you know.”
“I would expect such,” Pyra said. “But I do wish, as much as I can know what wishing for something means, to help you.”
“Or you could be leading us into a trap or tricking us into doing something that helps the Potentate.”
“Your skepticism is quite rational,” Pyra said. “I do believe and hope that once you see what happened to the original Quinn, you’ll reconsider.”
“Do your worst,” Quinn said.
“My worst,” Pyra said, confused. “Wouldn’t you want me to help?”
“It was a manner of expression,” Quinn said, and shot a look to Cody for help.
“Uh,” Cody said. “Let’s just see what you want to show us. Is that cool?”
“That is what I have been offering to do,” Pyra said. “Let’s begin.”
“Good,” Quinn said. “Time’s wasting.”
“Actually,” Pyra said. “The Keyhole Chamber is in a temporal bubble. Your friends are in no harm at the moment. Not until you leave the room. Then, they’re in terrible danger.”
“Is that what this place is called?” Cody said, but was ignored.
“Not helping,” Quinn said.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Pyra said. “It was my intention to calm you. We have time, is all I meant to convey.”
“Great, thanks,” Quinn said. “Can we get on with it?”
“Cody?” Pyra asked. “May we proceed?”
“Quinn already said ‘yes.’”
“But I can only proceed on your authorization,” Pyra said.
“Can you grant Quinn authorization from now forward?”
“If you really want to, but her desires may not coincide with yours. Are you sure you want to?”
Cody looked to Quinn with love in his eyes. “Very much so, please and thank you.”
Quinn blushed and turned away.
“Very well,” Pyra said, with disdain in her tone. “Let’s get on with it, as your significant other said.”
Cody couldn’t help but muffle a laugh at that. He turned and whispered to Quinn. “I think she has some jealousy issues.”
“I can hear you,” Pyra said. “Think of me as omnipresent in the Keyhole Chamber.”
And an image of evacuation ships appeared behind the holographic Original Quinn. Followed by images of explosions on the horizon.
30
EVAC
As the ground shook beneath them, the Original Quinn and Samantha rushed toward an Evac Ship. But just as they were about to board, an incoming missile obliterated the whole of it.
Quinn couldn’t help but take a moment to look with sadness at the empty cavern where the ship had been. Not only would they have been killed, but all those innocent people inside…
“Mom,” Samantha said. “We don’t have time for this. Come on!”
Quinn pulled herself together. She owed that to her daughter. They’d come this far, and not just because of Quinn’s military training, but also because something about Samantha was special. Up until the Evac Ship exploding unexpectedly, Quinn had lost count of how many times Samantha had pulled her back under cover when she was about to be hit by enemy fire as the invasions began. Yet, Quinn was the Marine, and better trained once they had no choice but to engage. If detection and evasion was Samantha’s specialty, dealing with fucked up chaos was Quinn’s.
“Following your lead,” Quinn said, struggling to keep up with her daughter who was growing up on a war torn planet. “Where-ever you go, I’ll follow.”
“Stop being cheesy, Mom,” Samantha said. “We need to get to a ship that won’t be destroyed.”
“And how do you know which one that will be again?” Quinn asked.
“I don’t know. I just do. Keep up!”
Quinn slid to her knees and blasted a creature that was closing in on them. She was low on ammo, so firing at the enemy from a distance was to be avoided, but this one was inches away and she had no doubt about hitting the target.
“Thanks,” Samantha said. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
Quinn smirked. “Still good for something then, huh.”
“Not the time or place,” Samantha said, and pointed at a small Evac Ship that was past three others. “That’s the one. We take that one.”
“What? Why?” Quinn asked. “There are three others closer.”
“Those won’t make it.”
“We should warn them.”
“No point,” Samantha said. “They’re already marked.”
“Marked?”
“They’re going to be taken out no matter what we do. It’s inevitable.”
“You really need to find out how you know things like that. We could go to Vegas or something.”
“There is no Vegas anymore. Remember?”
“Right,” Quinn said. “I wasn’t being serious, though. It was just a joke.”
Quinn frowned, though. The worst part about all this was that Samantha had developed no sense of humor about anything. Everything had come down to survival. Every second was a moment that could end in their deaths. Yet, it disappointed Quinn that her daughter and she couldn’t relate on that level. It would have been nice to bond like that.
“We can bond later, once we’re safe with Cody,” Samantha said, as if reading her mother’s mind. “Right now, we need to avoid the debris from the first three ships and get to that one.”
Quinn buckled down and charged ahead. Next to Samantha now and not doubting her intuition. They had one shot at getting off the planet. And she wasn’t about to let her daughter miss it.
Dirt and grass flung up all around as a blast just missed them. Knocking them to the ground. But they got up without thinking about it and hurdled forward. Only a few more steps now. The ships to the right and left both imploded at the same time. Seemingly from a fusion blast instead of a missile. Possibly from a different alien invader than the ones who took out their assigned Evac Ship.
No matter how bad it got, Quinn was still baffled by how the destruction had come all at once and from so many different corners of the Galaxy. The second other species knew of Earth and its resident species' nature, they descended in droves. All vying for three things. The prevention of humanity from becoming a Universal Hegemony, something that their Magis had foretold. The right to claim the solar system as theirs for mining. With more minerals and resources being off-world in the asteroid belt and on the moons than on Earth itself. Leaving Earth open for obliteration since there was little left to mine there anyway. And third, and most important, the glory of having taken out the so-called future Earth Conquerors who were known as relentless by all other alien worlds. Foretold by their ancestors. And warned by time travelers from their own worlds. Warned of how Earth would spread out into the Galaxy and Universe, never ceasing until it was the only secure home-world.
Was it true? Quinn had no idea. Was it some kind of trick from an enemy Earth had vanquished or will vanquish and who intended to use everyone else to paint Humanity as the enemy of all? No way to know. But she was certain that they were all believers in the idea that Humanity had to be wiped out. Whether it was true or a lie. And now they were causing so much chaos fighting with each other for the right to claim victory that Humanity had no chance unless it escaped through the Underground Railroad of sympathetic individual aliens who saw genocide as an unacceptable solution.
At least that’s what they’d been led to believe. But Cody was promising they could do better. Save Earth and not live their lives on
the run and hunted. He was making promises that he’d found a way to fight back and even reverse all the damage. Quinn was suspicious, but he’d been right at every turn so far. They had to at least give him a chance to show them what he’d discovered before disappearing into the Underground.
“You need to focus, Mom,” Samantha said. “Stop thinking about him and what it all means. Just run.”
Just then a miniature meteorite vaporized the third ship that had been closer, no doubt launched by one of the primitive species whose advantage was having weapons that were so far behind in development that more advanced technology couldn’t defeat them with ease.
Quinn and Samantha leapt the last stretch and onto the loading hatch as it began to close. One second slower, and they wouldn’t have made it.
Their bodies tumbled to the deck as the hatch sealed behind them. Safe inside, sort of. Several Resistance human fighters pointed their rifles at them.
“Is this your assigned Evac Ship,” one of the burly Resistance fighters said.
“No,” Quinn said, feeling defeated. No matter how far they made it, there was always something pushing back.
“How do we know you’re not one of the Sims who look like us?” the Resistance Fighter said.
“You can’t know,” Samantha said. “In fact, we probably are, and you shouldn’t let us stay onboard. But you should save your ammo and toss us out a chute instead of blowing our brains out.”
The Resistance Fighter began laughing. “You’ve got some kahonas.”
“I’ve been told,” Samantha said. “So… what’s it gonna be?”
He lowered his weapon, and the others followed. “Rather have you on our side than against us,” he said. “If you can make it through that combat zone and leap into here without fear, then we’re gonna need you.”
Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. For once, a break.
“But you will pull your weight,” he said. “You’re on watch duty. You stay on the manual scopes and watch for incoming that the auto defense might miss. You get first shift.”
Syndicate Wars: Empire Rising (Seppukarian Book 5) Page 18