General Collins was dead, Gabriel Meunez was over two weeks away by high compression wormhole, and most of the old Vindyne Supervisory Board had been killed or imprisoned months before. Lister Hampon had seated her at his side, and as strange as it was, she felt needed, preferred.
Through the observation screen Eve could see that the scientists, some of whom had been working on the framework project for years, were sealing the stasis chamber. Another placed a box beside it and unlocked it.
They departed the room quickly and closed the door behind. The locked space had no windows, something that seemed even more apparent as the lights dimmed. “Begin,” Eve said aloud. It was an announcement, not a command. She had reached out with her mind and activated the framework resting in the bottom of the stasis chamber. There would be no errors, no additional variables, Eve was in complete control.
The framework bones went to work immediately, generating flesh, connecting with each other starting with the spinal column, then skull, hips, and so on until the muscle and raw elements of a man stood upright in the capsule. The system was doing what it was supposed to do, using the substances inside the stasis tube to speed up the generation of tissue, and in a quarter of the normal time the nude form of Patrick stood before them, very much alive, slowly breathing the stasis fluid.
“Second stage,” Eve announced quietly.
Two medics entered the room swiftly, one held an extraction tool for removing fluid from Patrick’s lungs, the other moved to the opposite side of the stasis tube and activated the release switch. The vessel opened at the bottom and stasis fluid surged forth, carrying Patrick with it to the floor.
With an easy efficiency one medic rolled Patrick onto his side while the other held the extraction pump up to his mouth. Stasis fluid spewed out of the pump as the subject gagged unconsciously. It was over in seconds, and the medics left as swiftly as they had entered, taking the coffin like box the framework had come in with them.
The young man laid there for long moments, rousing from the sleep induced by the stasis fluid. Eve watched hopefully, glancing at the video of Jacob Valance projected against the wall beside her. In the surveillance video Jacob was already on his feet, sorting through the things Alice Valent had left for him. The uncertain, hurt expression on his face was something she hadn’t noticed before. With a thought she deactivated the projection and hoped that she’d gotten the modified memories she’d implanted in Patrick just right.
Through the observation screen she saw him standing, looking around. To her surprise he didn’t question his situation aloud, didn’t try to open the door upon noticing it, and didn’t cry for help. Instead he went to the box.
He carefully opened it and recovered the shirt the original Patrick had left as an offering on the planet below. Next he inspected the book, at which he smiled, and finally the ring, which he put on.
He held the long, simple shirt in front of him for a moment before using it to wipe most of the stasis fluid off. He pulled it on and returned his attention to the book for a moment before looking up at the room around him.
“Phase three, clear the adjacent rooms, observation only please.” Eve turned and strode around the corner. She had never been so excited in her life, all of Patrick’s behaviours felt similar, only this time there was something new, exactly what she was hoping for.
She took a folded West Keeper uniform from an assistant and entered Patrick’s room. He whirled on his heel and gave her an appreciative, appraising look. She had forgotten that she was wearing one of the long velvet dresses Hampon had given to her. When she put it on that morning she’d decided that it accentuated her feminine features aggressively, while leaving enough to the imagination to satisfy modesty.
“I’m sorry we had to put you in stasis after we saved you from Pandem. It’s taken weeks for you to recover. How are you feeling, Baudric?”
“That’s my name. Baudric Farley. Thank God, I couldn’t remember for a minute there.” He paused a moment, looking at the uniform stacked in Eve’s hands, then back up to her. His thumb passed over the corner of the book absent mindedly, repeatedly. “Feeling pretty good, actually. Having trouble remembering things though.”
“We thought that would be a problem, that’s why we included the ring your father gave you when you arrived on Pandem, and the book you were reading. That’s all we were able to recover after the attack.”
“You’re forgetting the belt. Would be useful, except there are no pants in here,” Baudric said with a wry grin as he picked up the thick fabric belt from the box.
“This should help, here,” Eve said as she crossed the distance between them and gave him the uniform. “I’m West Watcher Nora, you can simply call me Nora.”
He took the uniform and unfurled it. It was all one piece, only it was made to look like it was divided in the middle. It was dark blue and green set in a camouflage pattern with pockets on the chest, thighs and a built in thick belt. The slit down the front made it easy to put on. “What happened? The last thing I remember I was on the beach, then there was an explosion.”
“It was a fringe strike force. They caught our forces by surprise when they broke the outer perimeter. You were resting with your father after a day’s work,” to Eve’s satisfaction she could see the memory she created of him spending time with his father on the beach. It was the same experience he’d had earlier that day, only with the addition of his father. She had carefully woven him into the memories she developed using what she observed from his perspective earlier. Through the connection she shared with him as he stood before her she could feel that he was completely convinced, and relished the time he had spent with his father. The blanks, details of the man’s personality, were filled in by Baudric’s imagination. He was completely unaware of the lie in the memory. “You killed several soldiers yourself after taking a fallen guard’s weapon. There were too many of them, however, and you were overwhelmed. We got to you just in time and brought you aboard to recover. Thankfully, the invasion was stopped, and the assault was more isolated than we originally thought. You’re a hero, Baudric.”
“I don’t remember much of the fight. I know it happened, it feels like I’ve been through something, but I just can’t remember.”
“That’s perfectly normal. Your mind may be suppressing it, and you were badly injured, so some memory loss is to be expected.”
“What happened to my father?” He asked. The gravity of his concern was plain in the serious gaze he fixed on Eve; she didn’t need her link to him to know that his worry was genuine.
This was the moment when she’d know if all the time and effort she’d spent would be worthwhile. With a sorrowful expression she said; “He was killed when one of the invasion pods struck. There was nothing to recover.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. “I knew, I already knew,” he muttered to himself.
It was all Eve could do not to show how overwhelmed her senses were. She could feel that he was recalling the vague memory of the explosive impact that killed his father. Several implanted memories followed; chaotic recollections of the fight after the bombardment, and of taking the book he held in his hand from the pilot of the invasion pod. It was the Silkstream IV that he saw, that was what the invasion pod looked like, and the pilot was faceless, sealed in a Freeground vacsuit. All of that, mixed with his soul crushing grief, was enough for her to almost forget where she was. She shut down the direct connection with him and wiped tears from her eyes. It amazed her that the pieced together memories, none of which were actually his, could be so quickly imbued with his emotions.
Baudric noticed her distress and placed a caring hand on her shoulder. “Hey, we’ve all gotta go sometime. At least it was quick.”
She could do nothing but nod. His strength under such emotional strain was incredible, and it gave her pause. There was one more component to put in place, however, and she couldn’t delay. “I’m sorry. So many lost so much in the attack, even though it affected a small area.
The reason why I’m attending to you personally is because I’d like to offer you a place in our special forces. After the skill you displayed I was hoping you’d enter into the service of the West Keeper Special Forces. With the galaxy turning on us after our enemies have alleged that we have something to do with the Holocaust Virus, well, we have no choice but to go on the offensive.”
“A chance to strike back at the people responsible for this? Sign me up.”
“Thank you Baudric. I have to attend to other things, but someone will come along shortly to show you to your quarters and other amenities.”
“Thank you, Nora.”
Eve turned to the door and was half way through it when Baudric asked; “Was Freeground responsible for the attack?”
She looked over her shoulder and saw that he was reading the recycling request on the front of the book. “Partially. One of their people developed the Holocaust Virus. We believe they’re the source of much of the hatred towards the Order.”
“Do me a favour; next time we get a shot at them, make sure I’m in on the action.”
“You’ll get your chance, Baudric. First, you’ll have to go through some training. We need to know what you’re really capable of so we don’t put you in unnecessary risk.”
Eve was relieved when she was in the hall and the door slid closed behind her. A few strides took her back around the corner where Lister Hampon was watching holographic displays all around him as they scrolled through the active analysis of Baudric’s thought and memory patterns.
“I can’t believe it!” he said excitedly. “Somewhere in that process was the key to grafting an entire, functioning, improvising, creative personality with a framework body! You did it! You cracked what we’ve been chasing for years! He’ll think, intuit, and adapt like any soldier while maintaining perfect loyalty and all the controls built into the new framework structures are still in perfect operation.”
“It was simple. I only had to give his emotions focus. Use something from his past that I could attach to real objects. In this case, I used his father and the ring he inherited. It’ll be easier with others. Baudric’s imagination had to build a lot of bridges on its own.. If we could create some sort of crisis where people lose loved ones it’ll work even better.” As soon as she said it aloud Eve regretted it. The emotions she experienced while she was linked with Baudric when she told him his father had been killed were still fresh, and the thought of causing that kind of pain in others almost made her feel physically ill.
“You mean a real crisis?” Hampon asked enthusiastically. “We could orchestrate something tonight.”
“It may not be necessary, we’ll know after a few more subjects. No need to disrupt our stock.”
“You’re right, no need to diminish our flock. Is there any chance you can write a program that will create memories like you did? By observing, recording and editing?”
“I’ll have one for you by tomorrow.” Eve said as she watched a Junior Crewman lead Baudric from the chamber. He would be shown the best treatment, receive private quarters befitting a Major.
“So the theatrics with the stasis tube, is that necessary for all the future frameworks?”
“No. As it turns out, Jacob Valance became emotionally whole because of his memories, even though they were unconscious in his case. He wanted to believe he had a past and the evidence of it helped him find an emotional foundation.”
“Do you think you could make the leap with others? Implanting unconscious memories instead of taking a risk with a fabrication?”
“Maybe if you have a few years to develop the technique, but the key is that they have to have a reason to be loyal that extends deeply into their emotional core. This new process leaves the frameworks with their memories intact with the exception of the ones we need to replace in order to implant an emotional contract. In the case of Baudric, the contract is simple; our enemies killed his father, now he’s dedicated to our cause until we have no further use for him. The accident you made with Jacob Valance was leaving him with a memory leak that influenced his subconscious.”
“There was no way we could have known Doctor Marcelles built a hidden backup into that framework. Now that we’ve finally gotten this far, we don’t need Marcelles, and we don’t need to retrieve Jacob Valance. I can’t thank you enough, Nora.”
Eve regarded Lister Hampon with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll find a way for you to thank me eventually.”
Chapter 10
The Escape
The blurry privacy barrier surrounded Oz, Jason and Agameg as they sat in the command seating and viewed a tactical hologram of Hood's scans. "I haven't seen a carrier group like that since I was back on Freeground. They have nine of those hardened battlecruisers," Jason observed. “Looks like you were right. There’s no way we’re not in for a losing fire fight if we manage to get out of this nebula.”
"Do you think Frost's last volley at the battlecruisers we've already come against hit, Agameg?" Oz asked.
"It's quite likely. His people were right on target for the most part and there's little chance that the lead cruiser could manoeuvre in time," Agameg replied, his big, singular coloured green eyes were in a half squint as he examined the tactical hologram closely. "The only weakness I see in this carrier group's formation is their proximity to each other. Considering the speed the ships we've already encountered have exhibited, it's something they could solve at a moment's notice."
"That's why I'm thinking we try to go in the opposite direction. I'd rather come up against the three battlecruisers we've already bruised and get by them instead of running into that carrier group. Even if that carrier was alone she'd have us if she could keep up," Oz pointed at the five kilometre long, four kilometre wide carrier. It was a rectangle with concave sides, evidence of hangars and launch ports dotted the top and bottom while the sides were reserved primarily for heavy long range weaponry. "Just this beam emitter on the port side was enough to wreck a Uriel with full shielding in a tenth of a second burst."
"Not to mention it struck Buster's fighter at a range of tens of thousands of kilometres. That indicates a high ratio of particles to energy, something that would tax our shields heavily."
"How long would we last under the pressure of a focused beam?"
"No more than a minute."
"Not enough time if they have half our thrust." Oz thought for a moment, looking at the tactical diagram. "It's been four hours. Chief Grady had better have those thrusters installed." He looked to his personal command and control unit and scowled. "Pending." A channel opened between him and the Chief. "Times up. We have to make a run for it before we have a nebula full of ships scanning for us."
"We're still decontaminating. I don't want to run these pods while there's a risk of burning through the main transfer conduits."
"Can you speed it up by flushing them somehow?"
"I can try, but the abrasion damage to the interior of the conduits will make them more delicate and there could be clogs or worse."
"You have thirty minutes. Then we're making a run for it."
"Yes sir."
"You're thinking what I'm thinking," Jason said quietly.
"If you mean I'm guessing that's not the only carrier group in the area, you're right," Oz said quietly.
"I'm sorry sirs, but I have to ask; why would they dedicate so many resources to finding us? I’m aware that this is a wanted ship, but the pursuit will eventually cost more than the reward," Agameg asked, his green oval eyes widening.
"I'm not sure. If I were in the command seat on the other side I'd say the motivation has to be political."
"That's the only reason I can see," Jason agreed. "Jake’s being accused of killing billions of people, who knows how many governments want to get their hands on him. He’d be a powerful token in interplanetary negotiations."
"It's a good thing Edward and Leland failed to recruit enough people to man a ship. They may have given away our position," Agameg smiled. His soft, thick
lipped mouth stretched in a wide smile that seemed exaggerated in comparison to a human’s.
"Hope they're enjoying their stay in the hold of that ship. The pilot we put in charge forced them back there when evacuees started boarding. "
"Sensors just detected a battlecruiser just outside the asteroid cluster," Agameg announced, bringing up a hologram of the grouping of moving asteroids and planetoids the Triton had taken shelter in. There was a ghostly outline of a battlecruiser following just outside.
"Chief Grady,"
"Yes Commander."
"You're out of time. Get everyone to damage control stations immediately."
"Yes sir. It'll take a minute to finish getting my people out of the thruster pods."
"Will the pods be useful?"
"Start slow, I'll try to keep them together down here but if we have a blow through you could lose an entire main thruster."
"Noted, send your recommendations to the helm," Oz closed the channel.
"Frost reports his people have a clear firing solution on the battlecruiser," Agameg announced, monitoring his department from his command and control unit.
"Tell him to keep his systems powered down but to load with the heaviest non-nuclear munitions he's got. He'll be firing at their engines."
"I'm going to patch Minuteman into our helm. It should help them calculate a faster than light course when the time comes," Jason informed him.
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