Endless Advance: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Uprise Saga Book 2)

by Amy DuBoff

  Aleya indicated the first room. “Comm system is all set up for you. Sister said you’d know her direct line.”

  “Thank you.” Luke inclined his head and went into the room.

  The space was only two meters square, but it was equipped with a holoscreen and two padded seats.

  He sat down and entered in Karen’s contact information for Alucia.

  She answered after twenty seconds. “Luke, thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”

  “I was on an op. What’s so urgent?”

  “You on an op?”

  “Yeah, it’s a long story.” Luke shook his head, not wanting to explain what was going on with Ava, if he even could. “So, why’d you call?’

  “I wanted to follow up regarding a message President Connors has sent Colonel Kurtz.”

  Luke crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

  “No, but you’re close to Ava, and Ava is in Kurtz’s chain of command, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s not like she can just ask about his private conversations with the president,” Luke pointed out. Not to mention the suspicions that Kurtz isn’t himself. Yet another thing he didn’t want to explain to Karen.

  “Well, we relayed a rather important piece of information, and it’s being dismissed—even to President Connors’ face.”

  Luke’s breath caught. “And this only went to Colonel Kurtz?”

  “Yes.”

  Shit. Luke leaned back in the chair and sighed. “If Kurtz didn’t act on the information, then he had a reason.” And the information didn’t match with the goals of whatever influence he’s under.

  His sister eyed him. “Luke, do you know something?”

  “What is this information, anyway?” Luke hedged.

  She swallowed. “Is this communication encrypted?”

  Luke checked the details of the comm link. It would route through FDG headquarters, which meant there’d be a record someone of Kurtz’s rank could access. “Not well enough,” he told her. “But the fact that we’ve already had this much of the conversation won’t make a difference.”

  Karen nodded. “What we told Kurtz is that the Nezaran Chancellor might be under some kind of influence.”

  That explains what she was doing on Coraxa today. Well, part of it. Luke groaned. “There are people I can trust. I’ll pass on the message.”

  * * *

  Ava couldn’t take being strapped down any longer. It had been two days since a workout and she was losing her mind.

  Getting agitated will only make it more likely I transform. I need to work off this energy more productively. She took a calming breath and pressed the call button they’d placed near her right hand.

  “Doctor Dwyer, may we have a word?”

  “I’ll be right there, Ava,” the doctor acknowledged.

  He entered through the tunnel three minutes later. “Is everything all right?”

  “No,” Ava admitted. “I don’t think being strapped down here is the answer. I thought I might keep transforming randomly, but there hasn’t been so much as an eye glow since that last incident.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “Let me use one of the sparring rooms. Put four Were guards at the door. If I transform and lose control, they can subdue me with a sonic blast.”

  The doctor considered the request. “I don’t have any medical grounds to hold you in quarantine. Those safety measures seem appropriate for the circumstances.”

  Ava perked up. “I can go?”

  “I know Colonel Kurtz would approve, so I don’t see why not.”

  She looked into the doctor’s eyes and asked telepathically, “Why did you tell me Kurtz isn’t who he seems?”

  Doctor Dwyer hesitated. “We shouldn’t talk about it.”

  “This telepathic link is the most secure communication there is. Tell me. Pretend like you’re giving me an exam.”

  He took an unsteady breath and began going over Ava to check her restraints, making eye contact on occasion to maintain the telepathic link. “He thinks I don’t remember, but I do.”

  “Remember what?”

  “Right before you came for your medical check-up, after getting home from Coraxa, Kurtz came to see me,” the doctor explained. “He told me to delete the test results showing your new nanocytes and to forget I saw anything—or that I’d talked to him. And I did, until I saw you transform. The memories slowly came back until I realized what the colonel had done.”

  Ava’s heart skipped a beat as she thought through the implications of the revelation. “Have you been able to test him?”

  “No. I didn’t want to give any indication that I suspected something was amiss,” the doctor replied. “We shouldn’t be talking telepathically now.”

  “We have to go to someone about this,” Ava urged. “Major Widmore. I trust him with my life, especially with my current state.”

  “Whatever happened to the colonel, it must be recent. He’s always been a reliable member of the Force.”

  “I’ve never doubted him, either, but something has been off since this last op…”

  “The ability to exert telepathic orders—especially to alter memory—isn’t something he should be able to do,” the doctor added.

  “What could enable that kind of skill?”

  “I can’t think of a single thing that we have access to within the FDG.”

  “So that leaves…?” Ava prompted.

  “Alien,” the doctor asserted. “Though I can’t explain who or what it might be.”

  “Well, shit.” She sighed inwardly. “I’ll meet with Major Widmore as soon as I can. We’ll figure out what’s going on with Kurtz.”

  Doctor Dwyer nodded and broke the telepathic connection. “No further symptoms, Ava. I think that workout you requested is just what you need.”

  “Thank, you, Doctor.”

  “I’ll arrange an escort for you to the training room.” The doctor departed.

  Ava sat in quiet contemplation for the next twenty minutes, thinking about every alien species she’d encountered in mission notes over her decade-long career. Some Vampires had telepathic abilities, like Andrea, and there were a handful of others. But in each of those cases, it was either an innate skill or someone was transformed, like with nanocytes in the case of Vampires. For someone to appear to be themselves was a whole new situation. She couldn’t think of an explanation.

  A new alien foe. Well, that’s fantastic. She groaned. It was shaping up to be quite the week.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a complement of guards arriving outside the containment chamber.

  “Lieutenant Landyn,” the largest of the four Weres said, “we’ve been directed by Doctor Dwyer to take you to one of the sparring rooms for a workout.”

  “I’m thrilled to hear it, Private,” Ava replied. “Have you been apprised of my condition?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re prepared for any contingency.” He patted a sonic handgun on his hip.

  “All right. Now get me out of here!” Ava smiled and jangled her restraints.

  The four Were warriors entered. Two cautiously released her restraints while the other two stood by with their sonic pistols at the ready.

  Ava had to admit it was disconcerting being on the receiving end of a weapon. It wasn’t a comfortable change.

  When the final cuff was disconnected from the bed, the warriors directed Ava to her feet and placed new shackles on her for the walk down to the sparring room.

  “My friends are going to wonder what kind of crazy shenanigans I got into over the weekend to end up being escorted by you guys,” Ava jested as they bound her wrists behind her back with stasis cuffs.

  “I bet we could come up with an epic story if you’d like, ma’am,” the lead Were offered.

  She grinned. “Nothing yet. We should keep people guessing. Helps with my mystique.”

  They led her from the containment chamber and through the infirmary. Workout facilities were located
near the residential sections of headquarters but also in designated team training areas within the outer reaches of the facility. They headed to one of the lesser used areas to minimize the number of potentially prying eyes, not knowing if she might transform.

  As they worked their way through the facility, she found herself questioning whether or not she wanted to transform. As frightening a prospect as it was, she was curious about what she might be able to do. All the same, she recognized that Colonel Kurtz had wanted her to do just that, and following the advice of a potentially subverted individual under unknown alien control was a bad move.

  By the time they reached the entrance of the workout room, Ava had decided to fight the transformation to the best of her ability. If Kurtz wanted her to gain mastery, then the opposite course of action was what she needed to do.

  The guards ushered her inside the ten-by-ten meter sparring room, which had pads arranged on the floor in the center and various weapons and other training implements along the side walls, including racks of free-weights.

  “Give me forty-five minutes,” Ava told the guards.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The lead guard undid Ava’s stasis cuffs, and then went to wait in the hall with his colleagues.

  Ava grabbed some weights off the rack and began her usual rep routine. It felt great to get her blood moving after sitting nearly stationary for two days. She moved on to body weight exercises and combat forms.

  Twenty minutes into her exercise, Ava noticed something was off. The weights and movements that were historically her most challenging were coming to her easily.

  She looked in the mirror on the back wall of the room, but she appeared normal, no glowing eyes, even. Is this like the strength the Weres always seem to have?

  It was entirely possible she just had excess energy after doing nothing for days. She was about to continue the workout when one of the guards poked her head into the room.

  “Ma’am, we were just informed that Luke Carter is back with the Raven. He wants to see you.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Colonel Kurtz paced across his office against his conscious will. It was curious that the being controlling him, despite not having a body of its own, liked to pace as it thought.

  They’re on to us, Nox muttered in Kurtz’s mind.

  On to you, maybe, Kurtz clarified. You haven’t been doing a very good impersonation of me.

  All your official procedures… it’s wearisome.

  Kurtz made no indication, but Nox had inadvertently given him a gift. The alien had disclosed an annoyance, which presented a weakness for Kurtz to exploit. He just had to find the right opportunity to use the FDG’s regimented structure as a means to get him the help he needed. His unwanted tenant was about to get an eviction notice.

  Your interest in Ava will be your undoing, Kurtz said, hoping to provoke a reaction. He had found that when Nox was emotional, the alien’s grasp loosened.

  Indeed, Nox’s energy moved to the surface, giving Kurtz room to flex within the inner recesses of himself.

  I am in control, Nox insisted.

  The FDG will come for you. They’ll kill me rather than allow a subverted officer to live.

  Your people value individual lives too much to do that.

  Kurtz wasn’t positive what would happen to him when he was found out, but he would rather die than compromise the FDG’s security. He’d already caused enough inadvertent damage as it was. They will kill me, and you’ll die with me.

  This work is too important to abandon, Nox replied.

  You said Ava had to be delivered to your benefactors, though. How can you deliver her if you’ve been eliminated?

  Nox was silent for several seconds. She must embrace her abilities. Someone must be here to give her guidance.

  Your presence won’t make a difference either way. By remaining here, you’re only putting yourself at risk, Kurtz insisted. As soon as they discover you inside me—which won’t be long now since they already suspect—you’ll either be removed or we’ll both die. Neither option gets Ava wherever you want to take her.

  Then I will do a better job of blending in.

  The damage is already done. Kurtz raised as much of a mental presence as he could muster. If you want to succeed with this mission, then you have to run. Hide and wait for Ava to come into her own, then retrieve her.

  You’re lying to me. You have your own intentions.

  Kurtz gave a mental shrug. That’s your call. I’m a prisoner in this body regardless.

  I suppose you would suggest the option that keeps you alive, Nox said.

  Of course. My own life is most important to me, Kurtz lied.

  Then perhaps a change of plan is needed.

  We’ll need a ship, Kurtz urged, shifting his language to promote a sense of team. Even faking it disgusted him, but he had no intention of letting the alien get its way. He’d play along just enough to get Nox in a vulnerable place.

  Will they let us go without a fight?

  If we’re quick, Kurtz replied. Do you know somewhere safe to go?

  Yes, there is a place, Nox acknowledged. If you can get us out of here, I will take care of the rest.

  Let me have control. I’ll get the ship.

  No! Nox swelled in his mind. Don’t mistake my acceptance of your warnings for trust. I merely agree that it’s not safe to remain here.

  Then I’ll tell you where to go, Kurtz responded in a calm mental tone.

  Kurtz relayed the directions to Nox—first a list of items he’d need, since Nox tended to forget that Kurtz required things like water, food, and clothing, and then directions for where to head with a travel bag. The plan wasn’t up to the standards Kurtz demanded of himself in the FDG, but he couldn’t think about it too much, lest Nox discover his intentions.

  The instructions entailed walking to one of the remote docking wings like he was on official business, and then commandeering one of the craft. It was unclear where Nox planned to go from there, exactly, but that didn’t matter to Kurtz. If he had his way, they’d never make it out of FDG headquarters.

  Nox allowed Kurtz to lead the way to the docking wing, though Kurtz could tell his movements were being regulated.

  He passed by several warriors in the halls, and they nodded to him with respect. Despite Nox’s annoyance, he returned their gesture with nods of acknowledgment. Nox would know that’s how he’d behave normally, and he needed to play the part.

  As Kurtz anticipated, the docking wing entrance was staffed by two guards at a reception desk.

  “Privates, I need a transport ship for immediate departure,” he ordered.

  “Sir, no request has been filed—” the first guard began.

  “I’m ordering you now,” Kurtz continued without missing a beat. “Direct me to a free vessel and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  The two guards looked at each other, but they weren’t in any position to question an order from a colonel, however irregular.

  “The Lisbeth II is available,” the second guard stated after consulting a monitor behind the desk. “Berth 23.”

  “Thank you.” Kurtz stepped through the doorway before the guards could ask for further clarification. His plan hinged on getting to the transport ship.

  Beyond the door, a corridor branched in either direction. Airlock doors along the outer door led to gangways, which extended to the docked ships. Control panels next to each doorway indicated the docked vessel. Kurtz continued to the left until he saw Berth 23 and double-checked that it held the Lisbeth II.

  Kurtz then used the control panel to enter dummy deployment orders. He added just enough detail to satisfy Nox’s watchful eye, but the alien was unfamiliar with specifics of FDG policy. The moment any authorized personnel reviewed the orders, they’d know something was amiss.

  Are you finished yet? Nox asked in an agitated tone within Kurtz’s mind.

  Do you want this done right or done fast? he replied.

  The alien backed down just the slight
est measure.

  Kurtz finished inputting the dummy orders, and then cycled the airlock.

  He stepped through, and the door sealed behind him. The ship was a straight shot down the gangway. Windows along the side walls afforded a view of the vessel. The Lisbeth II and its sister ship were small craft suitable for little more than system-hopping on a day trip. However, it would serve Kurtz’s need just fine as a single passenger—not that he had any intention to go far.

  You do know how to operate this craft? Nox asked.

  Of course. All officers receive basic flight training, but all these ships operate on autopilot, anyway.

  It was a true statement, so Nox would never detect the lie hidden within. Operating the craft out in the open black was straightforward, but the undocking procedure was layered with tedious process—the kind of activities Nox was eager to overlook.

  Once Kurtz was on board, all he’d have to do was intentionally mess up a few commands and they’d lock him down, and then they’d see the error-riddled orders. Nox could take over control and say whatever he wanted, but there’d be no way to get out of the situation without a thorough med eval. It was Kurtz’s best chance to be freed from the prison within himself.

  With the plan tucked safely in the recesses of his innermost mind, Kurtz stepped aboard the Lisbeth II. He passed through the ship’s airlock and cycled the inner door. He located the cockpit at the end of a short hallway to the left and took a seat in the command chair. He began powering up the craft.

  You’re keeping something from me. Nox’s words were accompanied with an icy vice around Kurtz’s mind.

  No, I’m—

  Kurtz didn’t have a chance to object. He was instantly immobilized within himself, just as he had been when Nox first asserted itself. But this wasn’t the time to admit defeat. Kurtz had to fight it. This might be his only chance to make it out alive.

  You’ll never win! he shouted in his mind and lashed out toward Nox.

  The alien was caught off-guard by the resistance as the two battled for control over Kurtz’s limbs. His right arm flailed in front of him, sweeping across the touchpanel for the ship’s controls.