by Jacob Holo
Ryu peeled off the traffic lane and slowed down for the approach. He passed Watanabe Pharmaceuticals, a straight-edged black-glass tower with no architectural imagination. The five-level parking deck bisecting the tower was packed with row after row of gunships.
“Damn. Did Matriarch start this as soon as we left?” Ryu thought on this for a moment. “No, of course not. She started this years ago.”
Ryu set his Saito down on the landing outside his apartment and locked the controls. Pochi barked from inside. He climbed out of the vehicle and palmed the apartment lock open. His gray-and-white sheltie sat at attention in front of the door, tongue lolling in his mouth.
“Hi!” Pochi said. “Hi!”
Ryu knelt down. “Hey, Pochi! How are you doing?” Pochi rushed forward and put his paws on Ryu’s thigh.
“Guest! Guest!” Pochi said.
“Oh? Who is it?” Ryu asked.
Pochi looked at the balcony and growled. Cigarette smoke rose from the recliner.
“Ah, of course,” Ryu said. “Hi, Naomi!”
Naomi raised a sake bottle over her head and waved.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Ryu said. He gently turned Pochi’s head around and scratched him behind the ears. “Buddy, I’m sorry but I have some bad news.”
“What?” Pochi asked, flattening his ears.
“You’re going to be living in Heart for a little while.”
“But why?”
“Because some mean people are coming and I want you to be safe.”
“Okay ...” Pochi said, looking down at the floor.
“There’s a good boy,” Ryu said, petting Pochi’s head.
The dog licked his fingers.
Ryu laughed. “All right. That’s enough. Off with you.”
Pochi bounded away.
Ryu stood up and walked out onto the balcony.
“Hey, Ryu,” Naomi said. She took a drag on her cigarette. The end glowed.
Ryu sat next to her on the edge of the recliner. He slipped his arm around her waist.
“I thought you’d still be at the Farm,” he said.
Naomi puffed a smoke ring into the air. “I finished early.”
“Did the doctors see you?”
“They did. They took me seriously this time.”
“Good,” Ryu said. “I’m glad they listened.”
Naomi flicked her cigarette over the side. A littering fine appeared in Ryu’s overlay, charged to his address. He sighed.
“So how did it go?” Ryu asked. “Do you have to go back tomorrow?”
“Nope,” Naomi said.
“They switched your implants off already?”
“Nope.”
“Okay ... I think I’m missing something here,” Ryu said.
“I decided to keep them.”
“Really?”
“Yep.” Naomi took a swig of sake.
“This is unexpected,” Ryu said. “Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“But what about all those problems? The migraines? The shakes? The disturbing flashbacks?”
“I can handle them,” Naomi said.
“Are you sure?”
Naomi set the bottle down. She sat up and put her arms around Ryu.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” she said.
“But I thought—”
Naomi put a finger to his lips. “Those things were never the real problem.”
“So the problem was me?”
Naomi shook her head. “Not exactly. I thought I didn’t have anything to fight for.”
“But you do.”
Naomi nodded. “You aren’t going to suggest I sit this one out?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Because of what happened on Apocalypse.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Ryu said.
“Good. Because I’d kick your ass if you tried.”
Naomi leaned forward and kissed him.
“It’s good to have you back,” Ryu said.
“It’s good to be back.”
Chapter 12
... accessing SolarNet message archive ...
... opening folder [Inbox] ...
... 25 new messages found ...
... 3402 old messages found ...
... retrieving first new message ...
source: Ryu Kusanagi
destination: Kaneda Kusanagi
message delay: 82 seconds
title: Caesar is ALIVE!
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but here goes. Kaneda, I know we agree on almost nothing, but for once in your life please listen to what I have to say.
Caesar is alive.
We didn’t kill that monster at Bunker Zero. He escaped and has been playing puppet master for the last ten years. The robots on Apocalypse? Those were his. They were sent to kill us. They’re not Matriarch’s no matter what evidence you’ve seen. I had to cut off my friend’s arm just to prevent microdestroyers from killing him. One of those things almost crushed my head. We were fighting for our lives.
I know you’ll find it easy to dismiss anything I say, but please listen. You are being manipulated, we are all being manipulated, and the one pulling the strings is Caesar. This is exactly what Caesar wants. Now that someone knows he’s still alive, he needs to eliminate the most dangerous threats. That’s your crusaders and Matriarch.
Kaneda, I was fooled. You were fooled. We were all fooled. We thought Caesar was dead and the worst was behind us. But it’s not. I’ve seen the evidence. This is for real.
... responding ...
source: Kaneda Kusanagi
destination: Ryu Kusanagi
message delay: 79 seconds
title: RE>Caesar is ALIVE!
Ryu,
It is too late for these sorts of games. You will not trick us into stopping. This bizarre propaganda will do you no good. You and your master crossed a line that cannot be crossed. This can only end with either that thing’s destruction or our own, and I plan to make it the former.
Kaneda
... sending message ...
Kaneda deleted Ryu’s original message. He shut off his data pad and let it slip out of his hand. It spun lazily in the air until it made contact with the friction wall and stuck next to his personal effects. He didn’t have many. There wasn’t room.
Kaneda floated in a cell the size of a coffin. It served as living quarters, office, toilet, shower, and bed while he was on board the lamprey bunker. His personal pad sat next to the modest cross he normally wore around his neck.
“Caesar lives ...” Kaneda breathed. “Impossible ...”
Despite his words, doubt gnawed at his mind. What if it was true? What if Caesar really was alive? What if they had been wrong all these years? He didn’t want to believe it, but did that mean he could dismiss it out of hand?
Perhaps this is Ryu’s goal. Is he trying to plant seeds of doubt in my mind? No, that’s not his style. He wouldn’t say these things if they weren’t true. Or maybe he just thinks they’re true. But what could make him believe Caesar is alive? Just who was in control of those spiders?
A sound echoed through the bunker like a great bell being tolled. A kinetic weapon had struck the battleship’s armor. The impact didn’t sound close, maybe half a kilometer from the bunker. The rich resonance indicated the kinetic force had been distributed for minimal damage.
“Here we go again,” Kaneda whispered.
An alarm sounded three long notes over the intercom. “All hands! Stand by for combat maneuvers! I repeat! Stand by for combat maneuvers!”
Kaneda received a secure SolarNet message.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Get up to the bridge,” Piller said. “König wants to talk.”
“On my way.”
Kaneda palmed the door open and slipped sideways into the dormitory’s aisle.
Tightly packed doors lined the walls. He drew in a breath of dry air. The deck hummed with the distant sounds of ventilation. A single light strip ran the entire length to a junction that branched in four directions around a ladder shaft. Kaneda headed for the shaft.
A crusader climbed down the ladder and hurried through the aisle towards him. She had a freckled face, short ginger hair, and the stocky look of someone compressed by Earth’s high gravity. Her checkered jumpsuit bore the nametag EVERETT.
Kaneda pressed up against the wall and let the young crusader past. Her chest brushed against his. After Everett squeezed by, she stopped.
“Uhh, sir?” she said, looking up at him. “Can I ask you a question?”
An alarm pinged three short notes. Kaneda grabbed a handrail that ran along the ceiling.
“Brace yourself,” Kaneda said.
“Oh, right. Yes, sir.” Everett grabbed the same rail.
The ship accelerated at three times Earth’s gravity. Kaneda locked his knees and waited for it to end. Skin sagged against his cheekbones. It felt like his face would peel off and his lungs would migrate to his stomach.
The engines cut back to one tenth gravity after a few harsh seconds.
“Go ahead, crusader,” Kaneda said. “What’s on your mind?”
“Sir, have you seen the latest Euro propaganda?” Everett asked.
“The one where they say Caesar is alive and that everything is his fault?”
“Yes, sir. That’s the one.”
“You’re having doubts?”
“Well ... I don’t know. The robots at Apocalypse were very similar to the ones Caesar used. It makes some sense. I mean, I don’t think it’s true, but ...”
“Did the quantum mind make the announcement?” Kaneda asked.
“Umm, no. It was some spokesperson.”
“Exactly,” Kaneda said. “Don’t you find that odd? The quantum mind has long claimed it can’t lie, and there is at least some truth to that claim. Yet for such a monumental announcement, it is silent. Interesting, don’t you think?”
Everett’s eyes widened. “Oh ... oh, I see!”
“Be deaf to their words,” Kaneda said. “They are the desperate cries of a cornered beast. Focus on the battle to come.”
“Yes, sir!” Everett said. “Thank you, sir!”
Everett stepped away and slipped into one of the rooms.
If only I could silence my own doubts so easily, Kaneda thought. He reached the ladder and started climbing to the ship coupling at the top of the bunker.
A trio of short notes played again. Kaneda wrapped his arms around a ladder rung. The ship accelerated hard for ten seconds then the engines cut back to half a gee. He climbed up six levels to the top of the bunker, stepped out of the shaft, and passed through a narrow corridor until it widened in front of the coupling hatch to the battleship Stalwart.
Kaneda was surprised to see the coupling hatch open with Alice, Three-Part, and Viter returning to the bunker.
“Oh, you’re here,” Three-Part said. “Well, that saves us the time of finding you.”
“Sir, we have a serious problem,” Viter said.
“I take it this isn’t why Piller called me,” Kaneda said.
“No, but it’s something you’ll want to pass to him,” Alice said.
A bell-like sound rang through the hull, deeper and longer than the impact strike. Kaneda felt the rumble in the pit of his stomach. The Stalwart’s main guns returned fire eight times.
“All right,” Kaneda said. “What’s the problem?”
“Sir,” Three Part said. “As you know, I’ve continued my investigation while we’ve been in transit. Alice and Viter have also lent their time and expertise over the past few weeks. I believe we have a breakthrough.”
“We just finished taking another look at the Stalwart’s records of the Apocalypse battle,” Alice said.
“I thought you concluded those records were doctored,” Kaneda said.
“Oh, they are,” Alice said. “Some of them, at least. But here’s the trick. We found a pattern in which records were modified.”
Three-Part cleared his throat. “The earliest record that shows signs of manipulation occurred seven minutes before the robot transports rammed Apocalypse. We just finished trying to find an earlier record with manipulation tells, but turned up nothing.”
“And that means?” Kaneda asked.
“If we assume all earlier records are accurate,” Alice said. “Then those transports launched from a ship close to Apocalypse.”
“Ah, I see,” Kaneda said. “You’re using the timing of the doctored records to calculate a flight path.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Alice said.
“Do you know where the transports came from?” Kaneda asked.
“No, but we’ve narrowed it down,” Three-Part said.
“You’re not going to like this,” Alice said.
“At the time of the attack,” Three-Part said. “Very few ships were the right distance and vector from Apocalypse. We’ve narrowed the list to the three most likely ships. The Saint Avitus, the Reach of Compassion, and the Errand of Mercy.”
Kaneda grimaced. “Those names sound familiar.”
“That’s because they’re all transports in this fleet’s supply convoy,” Viter said.
“You’re right, Alice,” Kaneda said. “I don’t like this at all. You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t bet my life on it,” Three-Part said. “There are too many variables. Those ramming ships could have changed course. We could have missed an earlier modified record. Any number of things could be wrong with our data.”
“But still,” Kaneda said. “If you’re right ...”
“Then the source of those robots is in this fleet,” Three-Part said.
“I hope that’s not the case, but we need to make sure,” Kaneda said. “Excellent work. Thank you, all of you. I’ll bring this to Admiral Piller’s attention.”
“Sir,” Three-Part said.
Kaneda nodded to his subordinates and walked into the coupling airlock. On the Stalwart’s side, the outer armor layer was fifty meters thick. He passed through ten heavy security doors and a checkpoint manned by two suited regulars before reaching the battleship’s interior. One of the regulars escorted him to the bridge.
The battleship wasn’t that different from the bunker. The corridors were roomier and the air smelled like a mix of too many people, spilt coffee, machine oil, and pine-scented cleaners. Kaneda expected the characterful aroma onboard Federacy vessels. This one was over forty years old.
With the ship’s acceleration pulling them towards the engines, the Stalwart resembled a sword-shaped skytower flying through space with the really big guns firing out of the top floor. Kaneda followed his escort to the bridge near the center of the monstrous vessel.
The ship underwent powerful acceleration ten more times before he got there. The gel layer in his escort’s pressure suit helped cushion him, but he still slowed Kaneda down. He waited patiently for the unenhanced soldier to recover after each combat maneuver.
Eventually, Kaneda stepped into the bridge. Piller and a dozen bridge officers sat in acceleration chairs around a large holographic plot. Smaller plots surrounded the central one that showed a collection of green dots and icons. Flight paths and weapon arcs extruded from each ship’s icon. An oval area ahead of the fleet glowed red. Estimated Europan force strengths, trajectories, and formations scrolled underneath the red oval.
Kaneda walked over and sank into the chair next to Piller. The plot in front of him showed a hologram of König.
“I don’t want your excuses,” König said to another hologram. “Get those interceptors back into space.”
The image of a slender man with a buzz of white hair leaned forward in the next holographic plot. Kaneda’s cheats labeled him as CAPTAIN HOFFMAN - FNSC VICTORY.
“Sir,” Hoffman said. “With all due respect, I must protest these orders. Our squadrons are in no shape for ano
ther engagement. Most of them were lucky to make it back. Those anti-interceptor missiles in the last wave inflicted massive damage. You aren’t giving us time for even basic repairs.”
“I don’t care,” König said flatly. “Push them out if you have to, but get our interceptor cap back up before the next wave hits.”
“You are sending good men to their deaths,” Hoffman said.
“It’s either them or the fleet,” König said. “Do it or I will relieve you of your command.”
Hoffman exhaled through his nostrils. “Very well, sir.” He smacked an unseen control panel in front of him and vanished.
König turned to Piller. “Things are still crazy over here. I’ll be back in a few minutes. You.” König pointed at Kaneda. “Wait here.”
“Is the Invincible still burning?” Piller asked.
“Yes, but I think the fires are contained,” König said. “If we have to, we’ll vent those decks. It’ll take more than that to put us down.”
König vanished.
Kaneda leaned over. “Problems?”
“In war, always.” Piller said. “The last wave of cruise missiles hit us pretty hard. We lost a third of our interceptors in a matter of seconds. The Richter, one of our destroyers, was gutted by a direct hit. We’re shuttling survivors over to the Stalwart before we scuttle the ship.”
“What about the Invincible?” Kaneda asked.
“She took one on the nose,” Piller said. “The forward armor absorbed most of the shock, but some energy broke through. She suffered heavy damage throughout the ship’s bow.”
“What about us? I heard an impact earlier.”
“A minor kinetic strike,” Piller said. “The missile waves are coming with interceptor escorts. One of them took a potshot at us. The hit wrecked a defensive turret, nothing more. Their tiger sharks are ferocious little killers. They don’t have many, but their countermeasures and weaponry are impressive for their size. The Euros are probably launching them from a nearby carrier, but we don’t know where it is.”