Veiled Designs: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Uprise Saga Book 3)

by Amy DuBoff

  “No. We’re stronger.”

  She redoubled her efforts, fighting deeper into his mind as the programming tried to slip the memory thread from her grasp. But Ava refused to let go. She forced back the mental blocks, skirting around them and pressing inward until the edges cracked.

  As she got deeper, the sense of being trapped swelled within her.

  They won’t control me, and I won’t let them have this man any longer.

  With a final surge, Ava broke through the barriers guarding Edgar’s hidden thoughts.

  The desired memory hit her in a wave, threatening to overwhelm her in a torrent of negative thoughts.

  “Stay with me, Edgar!” she shouted in the mind of the tortured man. Experiencing the storm that had been raging inside him, she was astonished he had been responsive at all.

  Edgar cried out, piercing the silence in the small room.

  Ava stayed focused on his mind as she sorted through the flood of memories. Somewhere, there was a clear path to show her what she needed to know.

  At last, a series of images came to the surface. She recognized an exterior security door similar to the facility entrance she’d encountered on the Gidyon planet, and then a control room like the one she’d seen—but this time, the doorway to the underground was already open.

  A half-lit hallway stretched before her as she relived Edgar’s memory. She walked in his footsteps, down the path, to a stairwell carved directly into the stone, as though the very rock had reformed in the desired shape.

  The staircase descended on a wide spiral around a central column. There were no landings, so there was no sense of how deep it went, only that it was far.

  After what seemed like an eternity in Edgar’s mind, the end came into sight. An open door up ahead led to a hallway hewn of the same stone as the stairwell. A persistent hum filled the air, making Edgar feel on edge, but he pressed forward.

  Through the doorway was a lobby with four corridors leading in different directions.

  A middle-aged man with dark features stood in the middle of the lobby, sporting a pleased smirk. “This is a very important assignment,” he said.

  Ava watched through Edgar’s eyes as he nodded. “I’m here to serve. What will I be doing, exactly?”

  “Come with me.” The other man led Edgar through a labyrinth of hallways.

  Ava tracked the movements at first, but after seven turns, she found herself second-guessing her memory of the opening moves.

  “Take notes,” she said aloud to her team.

  In Edgar’s mind, she rewound the memory and began replaying it from the moment they left the lobby. “Second corridor from the left, third right…” She continued relaying the instructions until her host halted.

  Ava held up her hand to indicate a pause to her team. Telepathically, she prodded Edgar to proceed.

  Tears formed in his eyes. “They want to hurt you,” he told her.

  “I won’t let them.”

  “You aren’t prepared for what’s coming.”

  The memory advanced, but there were no more twisting hallways. Ahead, the path led to a cavern eerily similar to the one Ava had been to on Gidyon. At the center of a chamber, a black pit plummeted toward the core of the planet.

  “This is it!” Ava told her team. “The pit is seven meters straight ahead of the doorway.”

  “Got it,” Samantha acknowledged.

  Ava was about to disengage from the memory, having retrieved the information they needed, but whispers rose from the darkness. They beckoned to Edgar, and he cast his gaze around the room as he approached.

  Once at the edge, Edgar looked downward to find the source of the whispers, but he couldn’t see anything more than half a dozen meters into the hole.

  “What is this?” he asked his guide.

  “This is their home. We offer them an escape.”

  The whispers intensified. Fear welled inside Edgar, but he was frozen in place. Within the pit, jewels of light illuminated along the walls in strange patterns that he had never seen.

  But Ava had. It was the same form as she’d seen replicated on Gidyon.

  She wanted a better look, but Edgar tore his gaze from it, trying to back away from the pit. Something was holding him in place, and his limbs went rigid. Ava’s own breath was forced from her chest as she relived the memory with him.

  As the voices continued to swirl in her mind, one rose above the rest.

  This one wasn’t a memory.

  “Ava, you’ve come back.”

  Ava’s blood ran icy through her veins. She’d know that presence anywhere.

  “Reya.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Ava composed herself. She couldn’t allow Reya to sense any fear or doubt. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

  “Your weak mortal bodies can’t contain us. Heizberg’s death was a setback, not an end.”

  Ava had already figured as much, given what they’d discovered over the last several days, but that was the confirmation she’d been looking for. “Where are you hiding?” she asked.

  “Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work,” the alien replied.

  “That wasn’t an answer.”

  “You already know where I am. We know you’re coming.”

  Ava was careful to guard her thoughts. She wasn’t sure how she was communicating with the being, exactly, but she couldn’t risk playing into the alien’s metaphorical hands. The likely explanation was that Edgar was functioning as some sort of conduit.

  “You should know by now that we won’t stop until you’re no longer a threat. Submit, and you don’t have to die,” Ava continued.

  “We will never submit to beings lesser than ourselves.”

  At least Ava could say she tried. Killing was never her first choice of action, but when an enemy wouldn’t hear reason, it was the only path to take. Reya’s stance made the decision to use deadly force a little easier.

  “In that case,” Ava continued, “we have nothing more to discuss.”

  “We haven’t given up on you, Ava. You can be so much more with us,” Reya beckoned her with a musical lilt to her tone.

  Ava mentally scoffed at the alien. “You’re still using that same line? I’m doing just fine on my own, thanks.” She tried to sever the connection, but something was stopping her.

  “It wasn’t a request,” Reya bellowed, swelling in her mind. “You will join us and fulfill your purpose.”

  “No!” Ava struggled against the mental vice closing in around her.

  “Obey! Kill your friends and come to us. You will become what you were meant to be.”

  Against her will, Ava’s hand twitched toward her handgun, her gaze shifting to her team.

  “Yes, it will be so easy,” Reya prodded. “Slaughter them and relish their deaths.”

  “Never!” Ava struggled against her, forced inward by the being’s immense power.

  >>Ava, where are you?<< a voice called out to her through the darkness.

  Ruby! Ava shouted back. Shift! We have to shift now.

  >>You’ve always initiated it, not me.<<

  You know what state I was in the last time it almost happened. Do that. Hurry! Ava pleaded as her strength faded. A moment later, she couldn’t sense the AI.

  She was alone in the darkness.

  A burst of energy surged through her. She shredded the mental bonds that had shackled her and lashed out against Reya.

  “You will not control me!” she snarled in her mind.

  Reya recoiled from the sudden outburst, then gathered herself for another assault. “Obey!”

  “It’s too late, Reya. You’ve lost.” Ava sent a telepathic spire toward her would-be captor, and Reya screamed in Ava’s mind as the attack found its mark. “We’re coming for you, and you can’t stop us.”

  Before the alien could react, Ava sealed off the connection inside Edgar’s mind. The aliens wouldn’t be able to get to him again.

  In front of her, Edgar was staring at
Ava with a mixture of shock, confusion, and awe. His full attention was on her, but he looked like he wanted to get as far away as possible.

  Ava looked down at her hand and noticed the claws poking through her gloves.

  Oh, right, that, she said to Ruby.

  Then the pain hit.

  “Argh!” Ava dropped halfway to the floor before she caught herself with her hands.

  A little help? she asked the AI.

  >>I’m trying,<< Ruby assured her.

  Edwin was at Ava’s side before the AI could say anything more. “Are you okay, Ava? Aside from the Hochste thing, that is.”

  “Yeah,” she told him, careful to avoid slicing him as he helped her to her feet. “Minus the part about all of my nerves feeling like they’re on fire.”

  >>Almost got it,<< Ruby stated. >>Ah! You should—<<

  The claws receded, and Ava felt her jaw return to normal.

  “Well, that was unpleasant.”

  Edgar blinked slowly as he took her in, now appearing more fascinated than concerned that she’d just transformed into a beast before his eyes. Whatever meds they had him on must be good.

  “What are you?” he finally asked.

  “That’s a long story.” Ava crouched down to look into his eyes again. There was still fear in his gaze—not of her, but of the Dyons’ returning.

  Ava inclined her head to Edwin to let him know she was okay, and he returned to the hall. She brought her attention back to Edgar.

  “They’ll never leave me alone,” Edgar told her through their telepathic link. “They’ll be back.”

  “Not if we don’t let them in,” she replied in his mind.

  She began weaving a permanent shield around his mind—so tight a mesh that the Dyons would never be able to break through. As powerful as they thought they were, they didn’t understand the human mind in all its complexities. She did, and with her knowledge, she would beat them.

  But first, she could change the life of this one person who’d been robbed of his autonomy. They’d cast him aside when he was no longer needed as a temporary host, and it had left him a shell of his former self. But Ava could fix him—she could do what she’d wanted to do for Cynthia Heizberg, but had been too late to accomplish. She could give him a second chance at life.

  She finished weaving the mental shield and then carefully withdrew from Edgar’s mind.

  “They won’t be able to hurt you now,” she said as her telepathic parting words. Then aloud, “How do you feel?”

  Edgar’s eyes lit up. “They’re gone! I can’t hear them anymore!” he exclaimed.

  “And you don’t have to worry about them coming back,” Ava promised with a smile. She stood up. “No more nightmares, Edgar.”

  He beamed at her. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “None is needed. I’m just happy you can return to your life.” She looked around the room. “I know this place isn’t ideal, but I suggest you hang out here until the threat has passed.”

  “You mean the threat from… them?” he asked.

  Ava nodded. “We’ll take care of them for good, though, don’t worry.” She turned to leave the room.

  >>I was correct about a shift breaking the Dyons’ hold on you,<< Ruby commented.

  Good thing, too, or we would have been toast.

  Ava’s team was waiting in the hallway.

  “The directions. We need to compare them to the facility map,” she instructed them.

  “Already on it,” Nick confirmed. He activated a holographic projection from his wrist, which depicted a three-dimensional model of the underground facility. “Based on your description, I believe it’s here.” He pointed to an out-of-the-way branch of the labyrinth with his free hand.

  “That sounds right,” Samantha assessed. “The one on Gidyon was in a similar position relative to the access point we exited from.”

  “It’s the best guess and the only information we have without going inside,” Ava said. “Send the information to Widmore so he can coordinate with the drilling team.”

  “Aye.” Nick made entries on his wrist device. “Done.”

  Ava nodded. “Thanks. We should get out of here, I have other information I need to share.”

  Samantha gave her a quizzical look. “That you learned from Edgar?”

  Ava nodded. “I know what they do.”

  “Like, all their secrets?” Nick asked.

  “No. How they operate. How they were able to make that planet,” Ava clarified. “At least, I think I do.”

  “Care to enlighten us?” Samantha prompted.

  She shook her head. “Not here. We need to get back to the Raven.”

  “Who are you and what are you doing here?” a man said from down the hallway.

  Ava spun around. She immediately recognized the middle-aged man with dark features as the guide from Edgar’s memory. She drew her multi-handgun on the stun setting.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  The man raised his hands. “Garett Steckler. I work for the Nezaran government.”

  Edwin pivoted to have his back to the man. “Is the gun really necessary?” he whispered in Ava’s ear.

  Ava looked the warrior in his eyes. “I saw him in Edgar’s memories. He was working with the Dyons.”

  Understanding passed across Edwin’s face, and he pivoted back to face Garett while drawing his sidearm.

  “What are you doing here, Garett?” Ava asked.

  “Just checking in on a friend,” he replied.

  >>Or he learned that we were coming here and was trying to cover up information before we arrived,<< Ruby said privately to Ava.

  If he’s working with Karen, he was cleared.

  >>Luke said that the Nezarans weren’t properly vetting the anomalous records because there were so many. He may still be subverted.<<

  If he was on Karen’s team, then he knows everything we have planned!

  Ava’s pulse spiked.

  “I’m gonna need more than that,” she said aloud to Garett.

  She caught Samantha’s gaze across the hallway, since she was standing closest to the man. “He may be subverted,” Ava relayed to her telepathically. “Subdue him.”

  Samantha spun around and had Garett in a tight hold with his hand pinned behind his back before he even knew what hit him. “Ava has some more questions for you,” the warrior said.

  Garett strained against her, but he was powerless in her grasp.

  “Whoever you think I am or whatever you think I’ve done—”

  “Save it,” Ava said, stepping toward him. “I have other ways of getting the information I need.”

  She stared into Garett’s eyes from an arm’s length away. “Tell me who you work for,” she demanded in his mind and aloud.

  He took a sharp breath and tried to turn his head away, but Samantha kept him looking straight ahead.

  “Tell me!” Ava shouted in his mind.

  He didn’t give in. Few could resist even her weakest commands, which meant he wasn’t alone in his mind.

  “Are you here, too, Reya?” Ava asked.

  “You think there are only two of us?” a new voice replied. “Oh, Ava, you have so much to learn.”

  “Yeah, nope,” Ava said aloud. “I don’t have time for this shit right now.” She ripped Garett from Samantha’s arms and shoved him down the hall. When she had a clean shot, she hit him with a sonic blast from her multi-handgun.

  “Well, that’s one way to take care of that,” Edwin said with a slight smile.

  “We’re on a tight timeline.” Ava poked her head back into Edgar’s room. “Change of plan, Edgar. We’ll have someone take you to the government building in Dome 1 where no one will bother you. Grab your things.”

  “I… don’t have anything,” he replied.

  “That makes it easy, then. Come on.” She motioned him into the hall.

  She nodded toward the unconscious man four meters away, and Edwin grabbed Garett by the arms and dragged h
im into Edgar’s room.

  “We’ll get the appropriate authorities to come retrieve him,” Ava said as she closed and locked the door. “I hope it’s not too late for him.”

  Samantha gave a grim nod. “I’ll be so happy when we don’t have to deal with these Dyons anymore.”

  “Wait a minute,” Nick said. “Wasn’t Garett working on the mining project with Karen?”

  Ava’s heart leaped. “Oh, shit, you’re right.” She thought back to her conversation with Reya. “They knew we were coming. Could he have sabotaged it in some way?”

  “We won’t be able to question him until he wakes up,” Samantha said.

  “Not necessarily.” Ava crouched over Garett and gently slapped his cheek. “Garett! What did you do?”

  He groaned and shifted on the ground. Ava forced one eye open with her thumb and index finger.

  “What did you do to the drill?” she repeated telepathically.

  A subconscious thought flitted by in his mind: The regulator. Don’t tell her about the regulator.

  Ava jumped to her feet. “Shit! How do we get in touch with Karen?”

  * * *

  “Okay, bring it in,” Karen instructed the team.

  A portion of open office space had been transformed into a control center with workstations and a complement of frenzied staff. They’d been working for the past seventeen hours straight, first to get the equipment to the site, and now to maneuver it into position.

  The final orders had just come through with the exact placement of the drilling location, which should land directly over the top of the underground cavern. Once the shaft was mined, they’d have an open pathway to pour down the chemical cocktail that should dissolve the mineral deposits hosting the alien beings.

  “Drill is almost in position,” Trisha reported. “Not that I know anything about drills. But that’s what they tell me!”

  “We’ve all been transformed into construction foremen today,” Karen replied with a slight smile.

  “And lab technicians!” Fiona chimed in.

  Karen chuckled. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

  “Speaking of which, where did Garett go?” Fiona questioned. “He was all about this laser earlier.”