by Sara Creasy
Thin filaments crept up the vines, their sensitive tips searching for a hold. They swarmed around Finn’s head and encased it. His body convulsed once, and he was still.
Edie crawled back to the BRAT over uneven, shifting ground, and pressed her fingers to the access port.
“Haller, don’t hurt him.” Hot tears burned her eyes.
—I remember your wasted feelings for this man. After you merge, you’ll realize that individuals are irrelevant.
Finn was now completely cocooned. The vines writhed around him, grotesque fingers prodding and manipulating while the fine tendrils invaded his body to latch onto the biocyph.
Edie sank to the spongy ground outside Finn’s chamber and waited.
CHAPTER 31
It seemed like hours later that she was distracted by sounds in the distance—laughter and shouting drawing nearer. It couldn’t be…
Through the strands of dried sap, Edie saw Galeon rush into the cavern. The other children followed, eyes wide with joyous wonder. They still wore their PJs along with an assortment of adult-sized clothes from the meager lifepod supplies.
“Macky!” Galeon headed straight for the BRAT, almost tripping over himself on the soft uneven ground.
Edie could do little more than scramble to her feet and watch the children in horror. Why were they here? The slaters could have attacked them. Then she saw they wore no e-shields.
Edie grabbed Galeon, and he winced as she dug her fingers into his wrist harder than she’d intended. “What are you doing here? Where’s your e-shield?”
“Macky asked us to come. He said it was safe.”
“Asked you? How?”
“We’ve been talking to him.”
Galeon pointed to Pris, who was running her hands over the velvety surface of a phosphorescent cell suspended in a resin stalactite. Strapped to her arm was the biocyph commlink.
Edie should have predicted this—the children’s curiosity for Macky was insatiable. “You weren’t supposed to use that,” she said.
“Well, we did. Then Cat and Corinth fell asleep and we snuck out.” Sneaking out was, of course, Galeon’s forte.
“Macky needs our help,” Pris said.
“Give me the commlink.”
Pris unstrapped the device and handed it to Edie without objecting. She gave Edie a beatific smile and went on to explore the next chamber. The other two girls were out of sight, although she could hear them.
Edie hit Cat’s callsign on her regular commlink. Oddly, she got no response, as if the link could not connect. That had to be bad news. As she walked through the chambers, trying to keep track of the excited children, she pressed her fingers to the port on the biocyph wafer attached to the commlink, to gain a remote connection to the BRAT.
“Haller, what did you tell the children?”
His reply came through the datastream.
—Ah, the children. They contacted me several hours ago. At first I thought it was a trick, but they are so guileless.
Edie was filled with fear for them. And for Finn, who was now a helpless hostage.
“What did you tell them? If you’ve made any kind of deal—”
—They wanted to meet me.
“In the middle of the night?”
—Dawn is breaking. Don’t worry. I ensured their safety from the retroviruses and slaters. They told me who they are. Talasi cyphertecks, like you. They even showed me what they can do, as far as the link would allow. I realized I need their help with this procedure. I would like them to jack in.
“No. Never.”
—This surgery is trickier than I had anticipated.
Was he about to blackmail her? His transformation to planethood did not seem to have changed his personality much. What if he liked what he saw when the children jacked in, and wanted them to merge with him? She doubted it would take much to persuade them to go “willingly.”
“Don’t touch them, Haller. They’re innocent pawns of the Crib.”
—I have already touched them, and I think you’ll be pleased.
“What do you mean?”
—They had the same defect as you. A design flaw. I corrected it.
“You cured their neuroxin dependence?”
—Yes. I have released retroviruses to repair the biocyph in their cells and destroy the remaining neuroxin in their implants.
“Then they’re free…” Edie murmured.
And so was she. She looked down at her hand, the one that had grabbed Galeon, her touch a vector of transmission. The retroviruses would work on her the same way. They were free from their homeworld. No longer reliant on the Crib to provide them with neuroxin. Their future was theirs to make…if she could keep the past, in the form of Natesa, from catching up with them.
Galeon tugged at her sleeve. “Is Finn in there?” He pointed to the column of vines in the nearby chamber.
“Yes. Macky’s helping him.”
“Macky wants us all to help,” Pris called. She was at the BRAT, already jacked in. Beside her sat Hanna and Raena, jacked in as well.
Before Edie could stop him, Galeon hurried over to join them. Frozen by indecision, Edie stayed where she was. Did she have a right to stop them? She’d taken it upon herself to plan their future, destroy their past—hoping, at least, to remove them from the Crib and this life of endless datastreams. Yet they loved it. They’d anticipated meeting Macky for days.
And Haller had cured them. Why would he bother doing that if he intended to merge with them? Perhaps it was safe enough. Edie spoke to Haller again using the remote link.
“Please don’t harm them.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
—I will not harm them. Ahh…they are indeed unique.
She didn’t trust him. At the very least, she had to supervise the connection. She found space next to the children, who were crowded around the multi-access port, and reached over to jack in with them. As the datastream rushed into her splinter, she blocked it immediately. She didn’t want to be distracted, didn’t want to be tempted. She would simply observe, not interact, and make sure Haller didn’t make a move to merge with the children.
The children sat quietly, eyes glazed over in concentration. Edie watched their glyphs tumble into diamond formation around the datastream. Haller directed them to the complex tiers he’d set up to monitor Scarabaeus’s infiltration of Finn’s brain. Haller had given the instructions, but it was the autonomous biocyph doing the work. Edie had programmed it not to harm Finn, and it recognized the bomb in his head as harmful. Prehensile tendrils had drilled into his skull, each one branching a hundred times into microscopic filaments that could be perfectly controlled to physically maneuver the bomb and disassemble his splinter’s biocyph strand.
Whether or not the children’s help was really required, Edie could see that they enabled the surgery to proceed faster. They were trained to iron out blips in the datastream. Now, as feedback from Finn’s splinter flowed through the tiers, they kept it note-perfect with their usual efficiency, helping to extract the splinter without damaging the neural pathways of his brain.
At the same time, their glyphs were drawn to the tangles of code they’d named Macky in the sim, which Edie now knew represented the intelligence and personality of Haller. This was what was missing from Prisca, the reason Scarabaeus thrived while it died. The tendrils that delved deep into the datastream, fully integrated, were his intelligence. The remaining parts, the knots, were his personality—his human drives and desires that were largely incompatible with the biocyph, but nevertheless affected its evolution indirectly. Haller wanted her to help integrate that part of himself, so he could fully control the planet.
—What’s this?
Edie was drawn back to Haller. He was probing something in Finn’s splinter.
—This belongs to me. It belongs to Scarabaeus.
The cryptoglyph.
“Yes. I found it last time I was here.”
—Why?
“I realized I co
uld use it to unlock the Fringe-world BRATs.” Haller should understand that. As a rover, he’d helped the Fringe worlds in the same way, although his fixes had been temporary.
—Did you succeed?
“Yes. The Fringe is free.”
—Then I will take it back.
He extracted it in an instant. Edie was suddenly uneasy at the thought of Haller having access to a powerful BRAT master key.
“What are you going to do with it?”
—Watch.
While the children finished filtering the datastream that was operating on Finn, Haller directed Edie elsewhere. He had begun to assemble the knots of code, tagging them with a delivery vector. That could only mean he intended to send the data somewhere. The code was already present in every BRAT across the planet. Where else could he send it?
—This is what I truly want, he said. To replicate myself across the Reach. Every terraformed world will become sentient like Scarabaeus. I’ll finally have someone to talk to.
Blasting the Reach with code that could affect BRATs was no easy task. The BRATs were usually shut off from outside data, keeping themselves isolated to a single planet. But Haller had the cryptoglyph now. He could bypass that security and turn any world into an intelligent entity.
Not just intelligent, but brimming with Haller’s charming personality. He’d killed people here. What might happen when his violent and unpredictable self controlled every inhabited planet in the Reach? Had she just saved the Fringe worlds from ecological disaster only to see them destroyed by Haller’s whimsical desires and ambition? How long could humans survive with Haller in charge?
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
—I wasn’t sure if you’d approve of my grand ambition. I’ve been working for months on a way to deliver the transmission but I lack the skills. I’d almost given up. Then you returned to Scarabaeus and I knew you could help me if you merged. But now I have this cryptoglyph…perhaps I don’t need you.
What did that mean for Finn?
“Maybe you do,” Edie said, thinking fast. “What you don’t know is that BRATs across the Reach are failing. The older Central worlds are rife with famine. The Fringe worlds will suffer the same fate eventually. If you take control of the BRATs, you may be able to prevent this disaster and save everyone.” That much was possibly true, and if it had been anyone else…But she didn’t trust Haller to be responsible with that colossal power. “We need to get this right, Haller. You will need my help.”
—Perhaps. I admit I was greatly anticipating merging with you.
She raced back along the datastream to check the progress with Finn. She was desperate to go into the adjacent chamber and physically look at him. Instead, all she had was the datastream that poured through the children’s diamond glyph formation, and it showed her that Scarabaeus was still teasing apart the delicate biocyph matrix and bomb from his cortex.
There was something she could do to stop Haller—deactivate the commsat. She jacked out and hit Cat’s callsign. This time, she got through. The planet didn’t have ears—she could talk to Cat without him hearing.
It was clear that her call woke Cat up. Before she could say anything, Cat started panicking. “Where are the kids? Shit…Where are they?”
“Relax, Cat. They’re with me and they’re safe. Listen, is the commsat active?” She waited while Cat checked.
“Not right now.”
“It has to be destroyed.”
“Uh…how? And why?”
“The intelligence controlling Scarabaeus is Haller.”
“John Haller? Our John Haller?”
“Yes. I’ll explain later. He plans to send out a blast of data that will integrate itself…himself…into every BRAT on the Fringe.”
“That can’t be good.”
“Right now he’s playing nice and removing the bomb from Finn’s head, so I’m not voicing my objections. Presumably at some point he’s going to activate the commsat. I’ll try and delay him sending the blast. But as soon as I give you the word that Finn is safe, and the commsat is up, you need to get the message out to the Crib or the Saeth, anyone with a cannon on their ship, to come and destroy that commsat.”
“Understood.”
“You are a crappy babysitter, by the way.”
“I know. I guess I’m not cut out for—”
Cat stopped suddenly. When she spoke again, all humor was gone from her voice.
“A sleek little ship just did a flyover. When I say little, I mean a fucking awesome Trailblazer class-A model about ten times the size of a skiff but just as maneuverable in atmo. Shit. That has to be Natesa. She must’ve homed in on the lifepods.”
Edie moved closer to the tunnel entrance, her heart racing. “Is she landing?”
“Yes. It’s coming around to land. Right next to the city. How come she didn’t check out this habitat first?”
“My guess is that whatever she did to Finn’s chip serves as a locator. She knows he’s in here. What I don’t understand is why hasn’t she already triggered the detonator?”
“Maybe she wants to be sure you’re watching. My scope’s showing three people entering the tunnel. She’s on her way in.”
“And I can’t stop her.”
“I don’t know if I can help, Edie.” Cat sounded desperate. She went through her options, muttering to herself. “If I go out there, I’ll be eaten alive. Even if I don’t…it’s a half-hour walk, maybe a ten-minute run. I can drive over, but it’ll take a while to prep the vehicle. Our one spur is empty and Corinth can’t even get up to piss. I’ve got nothing.”
“It’s okay. I’ll figure a way out. I just want to get Finn to safety.”
It wasn’t okay, not at all. Edie had no idea how to stop Natesa and her reinforcements from killing Finn and taking the children.
Opening the remote biocyph link, she spoke to Haller. “Natesa’s here. She could walk in at any moment.”
—Let her come. I can crush her easily.
“No. You have to be careful. No doubt she’ll have her finger on the detonator. If you want me to merge with you, keeping Finn alive is all that matters.”
—Then I hope she behaves herself.
Edie could do nothing but wait. It seemed like forever before she heard voices approaching down the tunnel. It had taken Natesa a long time to find her way in, or perhaps she was being a lot more cautious than Edie had been.
Edie moved back toward the children and braced herself to confront the woman who still controlled Finn’s life, even if Edie’s fate lay elsewhere.
CHAPTER 32
Natesa strode into the cavern, exuding confidence and purpose. She stopped just inside the chamber and her silhouette was framed by the arch of the tunnel as she stood there, hands on hips, looking like she’d just walked on stage and expected everyone to applaud. On her heels were two men armed with rifles and spurs. Not milits, but hired mercs. Proof that this trip wasn’t authorized by the Crib.
Natesa glared at Edie as she made her approach, but even she couldn’t help being distracted by the sights. She looked around quickly, in awe. Her mercs held back, ignoring the scenery. Their focus was on the woman who’d hired them to protect her.
Natesa noticed the children, partially hidden by the growths filling the cavern. She picked her way toward them, forcing Edie to back up farther, only to stop again when she saw what they were doing.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re communicating with the biocyph.” Edie’s gaze swept over Natesa’s tailored jacket and flight suit, searching for the detonator that would kill Finn. “Just as you taught them to do,” she added sarcastically.
The children remained in their huddled group. The girls’ attention was now on Natesa. Galeon moved away, gravitating toward Finn’s chamber. He sought to protect his friend.
Natesa followed him and peered up at the cocoon where Finn’s body was nestled a few meters off the ground. “So, there he is. Is he dead?”
Galeon b
ravely strode up to Natesa and stopped a few paces in front of her, hands on his hips. “He’s not dead. We helped him. You leave him alone!”
“Pris,” Natesa said, stepping back and raising her voice. “You’re coming with me. It’s time to go.”
Pris didn’t move. Galeon looked over his shoulder at her, then back to Natesa. “She doesn’t want to go with you.”
“She’s my daughter. She’s coming with me.’
“She told us you want to kill Finn, and he’s our friend.”
“Wretched child,” Natesa mumbled, and turned her glare on Edie, who had edged closer. Natesa held up one hand to reveal a small device in her palm. “He’s quite correct, however. This detonator is linked to the bomb in your lag’s head.”
“Don’t hurt him!” Galeon rushed Natesa, his arms outstretched. Edie lunged after him and grabbed him around the waist just before he reached her.
Natesa snatched back her hand, her eyes gleaming. “All I want is Pris. My men will enforce my wishes, but I’d rather things went smoothly.”
“What about the other children?” Edie said. “Who’s coming for them?”
“I understand there’s a fleet of Crib ships on the way. The children will be quite safe in that habitat outside until then. They will be taken back to work, and you will be arrested and shipped off to the nastiest prison camp I can find.”
While Natesa talked, Edie surreptitiously linked to the biocyph commlink on her belt and silently questioned Haller.
“How much longer do you need?”
—Almost done. The children’s work is complete. Is that Natesa?
With her e-shield on, Natesa was indistinguishable to Haller from any other human. And he had no ears to hear their conversation.
“Yes, and she has the detonator. Don’t do anything to alarm her.”
—Very well. But if anyone starts shooting in here, I have little control over the instinctive retaliation that will follow.
“Pris,” Natesa called sweetly. “Come, my darling. I’m here to take you home.”
Pris pushed herself to her feet, a little unsteadily. “Where? The Learo Dochais?”