“You were a captain?” Talon asked.
“For twenty years, until my baby, Verdana, was shot down by Tribunal security over Ganymede. I survived somehow, but the gravity generator went off and did this to me. I had the privilege of being sent to the Amerigo instead of rotting in a cell.”
Talon exhaled. “I’m sorry that we have so much in common.”
“Don’t be,” Tarsis replied. “She had a damn good run.”
Before Talon could inquire any further, they reached the command deck. In it, two seats faced a bulbous viewport. The dated consoles wrapping around them gave off a green glow, though there were a few modern HOLO-Screens on the ends. Other than that there was room for little more than a handful of people to stand. Ceresian ships were similar. The Tribune liked overstated command decks, with unnecessarily large translucencies and plenty of empty floor space. As if they were meeting halls.
Captain Larana took one of the seats at the controls. Kitt squeezed past Talon and Tarsis, not even brushing against them, and took the seat beside her.
“Receivin’ their transmission,” Kitt said as he typed away on one of the old-fashioned console units.
“Go,” Larana replied.
There was no image provided like on most ships, but the voice of a Tribunal soldier was broadcast throughout the room.
“This is the Tribunal Frigate, Lazarus,” the soldier announced. “We are picking up a distress beacon near your location. Do you require assistance?”
“You get a readin’ on them?” Larana turned to Kitt and whispered softly. Kitt shook his head before keying the command console to activate their end of communications.
“This is Capt’n Larana of the Monarch,” she stated into the coms. “We’re just a tradin’ vessel out of Triton. Just testin’ some new equipment. Sometimes systems on this bag of bolts act screwy. You must be pickin’ us up by accident.”
“According to our manifests, the Monarch has already docked and exchanged goods on Titan. You are lingering in the dominion of the New Earth Tribune. State your purpose here,” the soldier ordered sternly. Any shred of decency found in his earlier tone had vanished.
“We saw an attack on the Conduit and Solar-Ark after leavin’. Searchin’ for any survivors now.”
“You will cease your search efforts immediately and remain where you are.”
“For?”
“You will allow us to launch a routine examination of your ship. If everything checks out it will be returned to you accordingly. Then you will set a course for Triton and inform your people that Titan is no longer accepting external trade for the time being.”
“On whose authority?”
“In the name of his Eminence, Tribune Benjar Vakari. We have missiles locking on to your position as we speak and will have no choice but to fire if you don’t comply. You have five minutes.”
Larana slumped back in her seat and sighed. She ran her hand through her scraggly hair as if she would discover an answer there.
Talon’s gaze gravitated to the pulse-rifle leaning against Kitt’s chair. It was the only weapon in the room, and if he could get his hands on it there was a chance he could take the ship and try to escape. He wasn’t about to let a group of Vergents hand him right back to the Tribune. He’d plot a course for Ceres and never look back. The only person who was in a position to stop him was Tarsis. He may have helped him get as far as they were, but Talon couldn’t decide who the exo-suited man would back in a fight.
As Talon plotted his next move, Kitt suddenly reached over the captain and switched off the transmission.
“We got enough Synthrol left to be locked in a Tribunal prison until the long sleep,” he said nervously.
“Not to mention the two lone survivors of the first stolen Solar-Ark in history,” Tarsis added, peering over at Talon out of the corner of his eye as if he could sense what he was thinking. “And an escape pod which you just lied about.”
Larana took a deep breath. “Long sprint back to Triton,” she considered. “We can hide the Synthrol again. Hope that they miss it, distracted by the escape pod. Claim I was lyin’ about it ’cause we don’t know who took the Ark.”
Kitt glanced over Larana’s shoulder at the two Keepers before he said, “Won’t be like no port inspection. They real soldiers, and we have guests. Somethin’ tells me the Insider don’t have too good a history with Tribunals.”
Larana glared back at Talon and then swallowed. “Who does?” she conceded. “We run home then, and hope this old girl is fast as she was.”
Talon knew their chances were miniscule. After what had apparently happened on Titan, there would be a ton of Tribunal ships between them and Neptune. Even if they escaped the first wave, fleeing the scene of the devastation would have the Monarch hunted all throughout the Circuit. They could probably make it to Uranus, yet even though the planet was technically part of the Vergent Cell, Tribunal influence was spreading there. He wasn’t exactly sure where they were in space at the moment, somewhere in the vicinity of Saturn, but both of those Vergent-run planets were a hell of a lot further away from Titan than the asteroid belt.
“We’ll never make it to Triton,” Talon surprised everyone by speaking up. Tarsis nudged him to stay out of it. “The Monarch may be able to outrun a frigate, but not a swarm of fighters for that long through open space. I doubt there are many ships that can. I may be wearing the suit of a Keeper, but I’m a Ceresian. Take me to Ceres Prime, and I’ll help you trade away all the Synthrol you want at a price you won’t ever get anywhere else.”
Larana eyed Talon skeptically. “Why should I trust you? A Keeper has no influence outside an Ark. ‘Live on the Ark, die on the Ark.’ All except you.”
Talon realized he may have unintentionally insulted the Keepers she and her crew revered. “I was only recently accepted onto the Amerigo.” He tried to feign a sense of honor over that fact. “I still have connections—friends from my days working for the Morastus Clan.”
“Morastus! Didn’t realize we were takin’ on royalty,” Larana responded sarcastically.
“Two minutes, Cap,” Kitt warned.
Talon didn’t want to beg, but he was verging on it. Ceres was so close that he could smell it—that moldy aroma that always seemed to emanate from the dated ventilation systems. The stench of sweat and sex in the dome. Vera glistening as she danced up high for all to see, with Julius struggling not to stare at her. He missed all of it more than he ever thought he could, and Elisha most of all.
“Even if I’m lying, my people won’t shove you in a cell for no good reason,” Talon said. “You can find a place to settle in, alter the Monarch’s clearance codes, and then go home safely.”
Larana sent a side-long glare in Kitt’s direction.
“Definitely closer,” Kitt said, shrugging.
Larana sighed. “Fine. Seems we have no choice. No way we wastin’ fuel goin’ all the way to Ceres Prime though. Not until you help us make a profit. Kitt, check the drift charts. Find the nearest Ceresian settlement for Mr. Morastus.”
Talon frowned, though he knew it was the best he’d get. “Deal,” he said.
Kitt whipped around. His youthful fingers expertly fluttered over the command console and he brought up a map of the Circuit. Soon after that, he had two settlements pinpointed on the small two-dimensional screen. “Pretty much equal to Thalia or Kalliope.”
“Kalliope!” Talon nearly shouted. “That’s perfect. Take us there.”
“Works for me,” Captain Larana said. “You two should hold on.” She reached up and flipped a switch to activate the ship-wide com-system button before continuing. “Cedric, loose fastenin’s on the pod and secure everythin’ in the hold. Kitt, power engines for max burn. When I say open the cargo hangar, do it. We’ll give them what they’re lookin’ for.”
“Hopin’ they locked onto the distress beacon, not us?” Kitt said.
“Let’s hope.” Larana looked back over her shoulder and flashed a grin. “In case you don�
�t realize, Talon of Ceres, this piece o’ junk was built for escapin’ Tribunal fighters.”
Tarsis grabbed Talon and pulled him over to the side of the command deck. There were emergency seats folded into the wall that he yanked down. They hastily strapped into them, and once they were secure Larana reactivated the transmission with the Tribunal Frigate.
“This is the Monarch,” she said. “Seems I’m goin’ to have to deny you. Thanks for the offer though.”
Only a few seconds passed before the soldier replied, “May the Spirit of the Earth be with you.” The transmission cut out.
“Missiles fired,” Kitt said, his eyes poring over the information on the command console’s screen.
“Do it!” Larana barked.
The stars through the viewport started to race by slightly faster. The walls and ceiling started to rattle, pipes and conduits clanking against each other. Even with the ship’s gravity generator working at full power to counteract the effects, Talon could feel the pressure of full acceleration. It felt like there was a half-ton man sitting down on top of his chest and his head was being crushed in a vice. He squeezed on the edges of his seat, praying that the burn wouldn’t last long.
“The pod is hit,” Kitt grated. “Wiped clean off the Circuit.”
Talon noticed a blinking, red blip on the command console’s screen suddenly disappear. Larana’s gamble had paid off, it seemed, but they weren’t clear yet.
CHAPTER EIGHT—ADIM
They Look Like This Unit
ADIM and Cassius watched as the inner hangar of Ennomos closed and Sage’s freighter disappeared into the blackness of space. Then ADIM turned to observe his Creator. He was wearing an expression similar to the one he would wear when he watched his HOLO-Recorder play the last message from Caleb Vale. Another human wouldn’t notice the pangs of guilt tugging at his face, but Cassius couldn’t hide his true feelings from ADIM.
“She was supposed to stay?” ADIM asked. He contemplated reaching out and touching his Creator’s hand as humans in distress tended to do. He didn’t.
“I had hoped, but she’s as stubborn as I was,” Cassius responded. “Now that they aren’t crawling around inside of her head she’ll have to find her own way. I’ve done all I can.” He sighed. “It’s no matter to us now. You have something to show me? Tell me it’s footage of the bomb’s effect.”
The tiny red lights rotating around ADIM’s eyes picked up their pace. “It is not, but this unit does have recordings and output scans of the detonation if you would like to view those first, Creator?”
“It can wait.” Cassius smiled. He turned ADIM in the direction of the Shadow Chariot.
ADIM had closed Elisha inside for her safety after Sage attacked Cassius, leaving it in a low-power state to make sure she received oxygen. Something was off, however. The ship’s fusion core had made it impossible to tell earlier, but as they got closer he realized that the heat signature it emitted was slightly different than it had been.
He jumped up onto the wing and discovered that not only was the ship was unlocked, but the cockpit was ajar. He whipped the transparent lid open all the way and stuck his head in, but there was little space for anything else inside but a body with all the circuitry present. She was gone.
“ADIM, what is it?”
“She’s gone,” he responded. His voice was as even as it always was, but his eyes began to spin wildly. He hopped down from Shadow Chariot and looked underneath it. Nothing. He hurried out into the center of the hangar and set his systems to do a wide scan. There were heat signatures in the labs below, but they were from the Tribunal prisoners. There was no way she could’ve accessed the lift to join him without owning a pair of Cassius’s retinas. Then he picked up another signature grouping coming from inside of the Solar-Ark. It was an unusual one.
Cassius grabbed ADIM by the shoulder. “Who are you talking about?” He was winded from trying to keep up with the android.
“A human child named Elisha. This Unit found her unconscious on Kalliope and transported her here for you.”
A flash of anger tightened Cassius features. “You brought someone here?” he questioned.
“As did the Creator,” ADIM responded. “Do not worry. She does not know the location or designation of this hangar. She believes the Tribune destroyed Kalliope, as this unit was instructed to inform all inhabitants of the Circuit.”
Cassius stammered, tongue-tied, as ADIM got a better impression of what was inside the Amerigo. It was impossible to tell exactly through the dense plating—plus the ship’s archaic construction made everything about it read strange through his sensors—but whatever it was there was movement.
“Are there survivors on board the Solar-Ark?” ADIM asked.
“What?” Cassius said, surprised by the question. “No. Every Keeper that served aboard the Amerigo is now drifting through space. I offered them the chance for survival, but they all refused.”
“This unit is picking up a life form aboard.”
A look of concern took hold of Cassius’s face just before ADIM turned and sprinted toward the Solar-Ark. “ADIM, we’re not done discussing this!” he shouted and hurried in pursuit.
ADIM didn’t listen. He had to find the girl so that she could be presented to his Creator, and if it wasn’t her on the Ark then whatever it was could’ve been a threat. In that case he had to protect Cassius and his will. Ennomos’s location had to remain a secret. He couldn’t risk hesitating.
He entered the cargo bay of the Solar-Ark, where he was greeted by row after row of stacked storage containers. Many of them had blue light shining through their ventilation shafts, and ADIM didn’t need to stop to analyze what they held. After constructing the Gravitum Bomb that split open Kalliope, he knew those readings well.
He sprinted to the lift. The source of the unusual readings was coming from the space through the top of it. After calculating how long it would take to reach them, he decided to climb rather than wait for it. He hopped with ease between containers and massive, unmoving mechanical arms, up nearly one hundred feet until he was able to grab onto the lip of the floor above.
He lifted his body and peaked into the room. Row after row of vacant cryo-chambers lined the worn, metal walls. But that wasn’t what caught his glare. As soon as his head showed, six pairs of glowing red eyes turned to face him. He quickly fell back into cover, but when no shots were fired he pulled himself back up. The unidentified beings stared a short while longer and then they all returned to whatever it was they’d been doing.
ADIM propelled himself through the opening and took cover behind the open lid of a cryo-chamber. He aimed the gun built into his arm around the corner and cautiously approached the nearest red-eyed presence.
It was an android with a dark metal chassis, smoldering reddish eye-lenses, blank plate where its mouth should be—just like him. It tirelessly scrubbed a splotch of blood staining the floor.
ADIM grasped the android by the neck and flung it. It skidded to a stop against the opposite wall, but it didn’t do anything to defend itself. All it did was pop back up to its feet and attempt to return to cleaning the stain. The other five androids around the room continued their work as well, ignoring the interruption.
“What are you?” ADIM questioned.
He lunged forward, grabbed the android by the head, and looked at its eyes. The tiny red lights surrounding them were completely still, unlike ADIM’s, which had never whirled faster. ADIM ripped the android’s plated face off, revealing all the machinery churning around its memory core. Piece by piece he peeled through it. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, but he felt like two of his own wires had splayed and were being rubbed together to produce a spark.
“ADIM!” The familiar voice of Cassius shouted from near the lift.
ADIM paused, a severed conduit leaking some form of ruddy goo in his hand. He glanced down. The eye components of the android were popped out, one still glowing brightly and the other flickering.
&nb
sp; “I didn’t want you to find out like this.” Cassius’s hand fell upon ADIM’s shoulder.
ADIM looked up at him. Five androids were gathered behind him, standing perfectly upright and with all of their sights fixed on ADIM. He scanned them one at a time, from one pair of red eyes to the next. It was like looking into an array of mirrors.
“They look like this unit,” ADIM said.
“And that is where the similarities end,” he responded firmly. “I constructed them while you made progress stealing the Tribunal freighters.”
“To replace this unit?”
“Never!” Cassius replied. “To bolster our strength. We needed help with what was coming next, but they are nothing compared to you.”
ADIM pulled on the eye of the android near his lap and stretched the wire connected to it as far as it would go. “Then why do they look like this unit?”
Cassius took a deep breath before answering. “It is an efficient model. I needed them to share your mobility and sturdiness, but that is all. What makes you truly exceptional is in here.” Cassius tapped ADIM on the top of his head. “I would never try to replicate that. It took all the wealth I had left on Titan just to make those poor, mindless imitations of you.”
“Imitation,” ADIM said. He looked down at his arm, where he made the tiny holographic lenses along the limb project the image of human flesh. “‘Cheap imitation of human life,’” he repeated in the exact voice of Sage Volus.
“Pay no attention to her. Her mind has been polluted by the lies of the Tribune beyond what I could fix. What you are is completely unique.” He went quiet for a few seconds, then his features displayed traces of excitement. “ADIM, raise your arms,” he demanded.
ADIM released the other android’s eye and then froze. “I do not understand.”
Cassius wheeled around and faced the other five operational androids. “Androids, raise your arms.”
Without hesitation they all echoed, “Yes, Creator,” and raised their arms straight up.
Progeny of Vale Page 6