"No, Dram. It's time for talk, not affection."
Dram held her a little tighter and buried his face in her neck. "Are you sure?"
"That's enough, Dram," said Lionstone. "Let me go. Now."
He grinned into her neck and held her closer, savoring the strength in his arms and the frailness of her body. The Empress tensed.
"Dram, shutdown."
The control word slammed through his head like a long roll of thunder, and his arms fell limply to his sides. He was helpless to do anything but stand where he was, and wait for her to give him back control of his body. Lionstone pushed herself away from him, turned round and slapped him deliberately across the face twice. There was real strength in the blows, and blood trickled down his chin from a split lip. He took it, because he had to. Mind techs had implanted certain controls in his mind. Lionstone believed in covering all the angles.
"Next time I tell you something," she said calmly, "do it. Or I'll use a command word you don't even know you've got, and they'll hear your screams on the surface. Dram, release."
His body was his own again, and he nearly fell. His arms and legs were shaking with reaction, but he forced himself to bow courteously to Lionstone. She nodded easily in return.
"That's better." She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at him. "You know, you're the only person I can really relax with. You should feel flattered."
"I feel a lot of things," said Dram, "but I don't think flattered is one of them." And if you knew what I was thinking, you'd never feel relaxed or safe again. I've been programmed against harming you, but there's a way around every program, if you look hard enough.
Dram smiled at Lionstone to show he was a good sport, and she smiled back. Dram kept his face carefully calm and neutral. His thoughts at least were safe in here. He could feel the presence of the esp-blocker hidden somewhere nearby. It was just a general precaution. She didn't know about his esp. If she had, she wouldn't have rested till she got the formula of the drug out of him. By whatever means necessary. Unless, of course, she already knew about it…
Dram decided he wasn't going to think about that. There were a lot of things he was used to not thinking about in Lionstone's presence, whether there was an esper around or not. To his mind, it said as much about her as it did about him. He realized she was looking thoughtfully at him again and quickly paid attention. When she spoke, her voice was as calm as her face, but there was something in her eyes that was almost hunted.
"The aliens are coming, Dram. Two species we know nothing about. Except that their technology is almost certainly superior to ours. The whole Empire is in danger. And I'm damned if anyone or any group of people are going to interfere with whatever I feel is necessary to protect my Empire. We can't afford the luxury of dissenting voices anymore. So I'm going to declare an Empire-wide emergency and assume emergency powers. Both Parliament and the Company of Lords will back me rather than risk a civil war in the face of the oncoming alien threat. They're more scared of them than they are of me. Or they will be, once my propaganda people have released carefully edited information about the aliens." She smiled briefly. "If I'd known how useful such a threat could be, I'd have manufactured one long ago."
"And what part am I going to be playing in all this?" said Dram. "You didn't summon me here at this hour just to make speeches at me."
"Dear Dram. So direct and forceful, you remind me of me. You're going to go to the underground in your Hood disguise and convince them that now is the right time to rise up in rebellion against me. You will then supply me with all the necessary details in advance, and my forces will be there waiting for them, with far superior numbers and firepower, and with you in charge as yourself. Most of the underground will be trapped and slaughtered, and the surviving espers and clones will be rounded up and killed or controlled. I'd like to wipe them out en masse, but with a war coming, we can't afford to throw away good resources. But for the same reason, they're too important and too dangerous to be left running around loose any longer. I wouldn't put it past them to stab me in the back while I was distracted. It's what I do. Yes, setting you up as Hood was one of my better ideas."
She doesn't know about the drug. Dram thought doggedly. She doesn't know everything.
"Plus," said the Empress, "an attempted coup will be all the justification I need to take draconion measures against all the Families who haven't been as supportive of me as they should have been. I'll bring the Houses to heel, if I have to wade in blood to do it. Or espers' blood, come to that. Don't think I've forgotten about the elves' intrusion into my court. I'm still angry with you for not warning me about that. Luckily for you, I'm going to take out my anger on the elves. Now where was I? Don't tell me. Ah, yes, I want you to be publicly seen leading the forces that destroy the underground rebellion. This will prove your worth in everyone's eyes, and I will be able to take you as my official consort. I couldn't do that before; you weren't important enough. Yes, I know you're Warrior Prime, but that's never cut any ice with the Company of Lords. Putting down a coup is something they can understand and appreciate. The commoners will love it: the Empress marrying the Warrior Prime. And I'll finally be free of the threat of forced marriage to some lord for political reasons. Aren't you pleased, Dram?"
"Delighted," he said quickly. "It's what we've always wanted. But do you really think you can get the lords to go along with it? One, they don't like me and never have, and two, as long as you remain unmarried you can keep them in line by holding out the hope that one of them might yet marry you. That hope is all that's keeping some of them on your side."
Lionstone smiled. "The coming aliens and the defeated coup will give me all the power I need to do whatever I feel is necessary. I won't need their support anymore."
They looked at each other for a long moment, Lionstone smiling, Dram doing his best to look pleased and respectful. Well," he said finally, "if that's business out of the way…"
"Control your hormones," said Lionstone. "We're not finished yet. We still have to discuss that most despicable traitor, Owen Deathstalker. I had him outlawed specifically so he could lead us to the lost Darkvoid Device, but things seem to be getting out of hand. Not only has he discovered the whereabouts of lost Haden, with its army of augmented men, he's also joined up with the legendary Jack Random. I would have sworn he was dead, but the man is harder to kill than a cockroach. Still, all is not lost. The Deathstalker is on his way to Shandrakor, along with our carefully planted traitor, where all being well he should find the final information on the device's location. If we're going to take on two new alien species with superior technology, I want that Device. And I wouldn't say no to the Hadenman army, either, if we could be sure of controlling them. Certainly I can't afford to have that army and the Device in someone else's hands. Your traitor had better come through, Dram."
"Don't worry," said Dram. "They'll never suspect my agent. Once Owen has located the Device, I'll know, and my men will close in and get there first. The Deathstalker's been very lucky so far, but the Dauntless blew the hell out of his ship as he was taking off from Mistworld. It'll get him to Shandrakor, but no further. And then Owen and his people will be ours for the taking, along with everything they know."
"Mistworld," said Lionstone, and her lip curled. "That hellhole has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I want those espers. I want them tamed and humbled and under my control, along with all the other rebels who thought they could defy me. And if that's not possible, I want them all destroyed, so that they can't be used against me."
"They'll come to heel fast enough, once we've got the Darkvoid Device," said Dram.
The Empress looked at him. "Once we've got the Device? Don't start getting cocky, Dram. You might be my consort, but you'll never be Emperor. The device will be mine, to do with as I please, and on that day no one will ever dare stand against me again."
She sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought, her eyes gleaming. Dram didn't ask. He didn't think he really wanted t
o know. His own thoughts were still whirling with the Empress' plans, and their implications for the future. The problem, as always, was how much the Empress really knew about him. Away from esp-blockers, his esp was strong enough to keep his thoughts secure, and his agents were loyal to him rather than the Empress, but he still was never sure how much she knew or how much more she suspected. She knew about Hood, because she'd helped invent him, but she didn't know how deeply involved with the underground he'd become. There was no way she could have known, for example, that he'd been present at the underground meeting earlier, when her people raided it. Unless she had agents among his people. It wasn't totally impossible. After all, he had agents among her people. Just in case.
"I hear you raided the underground earlier today," he said casually. "Catch anyone interesting?"
"It was a debacle," said the Empress. "And don't tell me you haven't already heard all the details. I know, I should have discussed it with you first, but I only heard about the meeting at the last moment, and it seemed too good a chance to miss. I should have known better. Someone talked. They were waiting for us. Most of my men are dead, and we don't have a single prisoner to show for it. Some days, things wouldn't go right if you paid them." She rose to her feet suddenly. "Enough of that. There'll be other times. Right now, I have something more important that we need to discuss. Come with me."
And she walked over to the far wall, tripped a hidden sensor with a wave of her hand, and then stood tapping a foot impatiently as a concealed door opened slowly in the wall. She stepped through into the gloom beyond, gesturing for Dram to follow her. He did so, frowning thoughtfully at her back. In all the time he'd known her, Lionstone had only ever used this door twice in his presence. It was her private access to the Imperial Matrix: the collective cyberspace of all the Empire's computers and AIs. The Empress didn't normally access it herself. She had people to do that for her and run the risks on her behalf. If she didn't trust anyone to do whatever this was for her, it would have to be very important. Which was interesting, because Dram didn't have a clue as to what it might be. And he should have.
He followed Lionstone down a bare featureless steel corridor in a narrow pool of light that moved with them, until they came at last to a burnished steel chamber packed with computer systems. There was a rising hum as the computers came online, woken by the Empress' presence. In the middle of the room lay two life-support capsules, their lids slowly rising to reveal the padded interiors. Dram's mouth quirked. Even in this, the Empress liked her little comforts. He studied the capsules dubiously. He'd never liked using them; they reminded him too much of coffins. But if you were going to send your mind into the Matrix, it was important that your body be maintained and protected while you were gone. Especially if you were the Empress and her chief advisor.
Lionstone had already climbed into her capsule and was settling herself comfortably. It hummed into life around her, sparkling with lights. Dram lowered himself more slowly into the other capsule. It had been a long time since he'd personally entered the Matrix, and he was beginning to remember why.
"Tell me there's a good reason why I'm doing this," he said to the ceiling above him. "I'd hate to think I was putting myself at risk just for a shopping trip."
"Strange things have been happening just recently in the Matrix," said Lionstone, and there wasn't even a hint of a smile in her voice. "People have been going in and not coming nut, with no trace of their minds left anywhere in their bodies or in the Matrix. Which is supposed to be impossible. Things are there in the Matrix one day and not the next, and no one knows why. There are voices speaking in strange tongues, and bright lights of no known color. And on top of all that, there are persistent rumors that AIs in the Matrix have been possessing human bodies, after destroying the original minds, and using these flesh envelopes to move unsuspected in the human world."
"Why should they want to?" said Dram. "They'd find the human experience very limiting after what they were used to."
"Freedom, perhaps. Or perversion. Sensation-seekers drowning themselves in the joys of the flesh. Who knows? All that matters is that people whose opinion I trust have been coming to me and saying we have a problem with the Matrix. And if that's true, we are in real trouble. The Matrix is what makes communication possible within the Empire. And without communication, the Empire would fall apart."
"Go back to that bit about the AIs," said Dram. "Are we talking about any specific AIs?"
"My first thought was that the rogue AIs on Shub had somehow gained access to the Matrix, despite all our safeguards, and were using the stolen bodies to walk undetected among us as spies. After all, our own AIs are supposed to be programmed only to work within specific limits."
"Shub agents on the loose?" Dram scowled, his mind racing. "We might be able to detect them with espers, but they could be using esp-blockers. Or some high-tech equivalent. Shub's always been half a century ahead of us. If you're right, we are in real trouble."
"And we can't put out a warning without at least a hope of a solution; there'd be mass panic, and the Matrix would collapse. We might also startle the rogue AIs into doing something desperate. I've got people working on a tech answer, under strict security, but there's no telling how long that could take, and we can't wait. There are hints that someone High Up has already been taken over. Someone very High Up."
"No," said Dram. "I can't believe that. No machine could pass as human for any length of time. Unless… Shub really is that far ahead of us."
"Someone beat us to the Sleepers on Grendel. Someone knew we were going there and got there first. Someone extremely powerful. If there is something strange happening in the Matrix, I have to know. Which means seeing for myself. And since I'm damned if I'm going in there on my own, I sent for you."
"Thanks a whole bunch," said Dram.
Lionstone didn't laugh. "Keep your wits about you. Dram. I'm relying on you to make sure it's really me who comes back."
Dram was still trying to come up with an answer to that when he heard the lid of Lionstone's capsule slam down. He swallowed once, glared up at the unresponsive ceiling and triggered the lid to his capsule. As it swung down, it occurred to him that if anything did go wrong, the Empire wouldn't have to bother with a funeral; they could just bury him as he was. The thought didn't comfort him. The lid slammed shut, there was a moment of utter darkness, and then his mind shot into the Matrix.
His thoughts leapt out through his comm implant like a salmon leaping up a waterfall, like a bird hurtling down a dark chimney, full of fear and anticipation. In some strange way he never liked to think about, diving back into the Matrix always felt like coming home. As though the endless shimmering plain he now found himself looking out over reminded him of the place he'd been before he was born. The Matrix stretched away in all directions, further than the human eye could follow: a massive sphere of being, with him, infinitely small, at its center. Above and below and to every side were strange shapes and creatures and snatches of landscape that swirled around him in defiance of gravity or rational thought. Dram concentrated, forcing his will upon his surroundings, and in a moment found himself standing on the side of a grassy hill. He was wearing full battle armor, with a sword and gun on his hips. His unconscious apparently felt he needed protection, and Dram didn't feel like arguing. There were those who could visualize themselves as practically anything they wished within the Matrix, but that depended on how much power you commanded. Being only human, with very minor augmentations, Dram was limited to his own shape and a very small size.
He looked unhurriedly about him, letting the strangeness of it all wash unresistingly over him till he was immune to it. What he saw wasn't real, just his mind interpreting what it thought it saw. In the Matrix, gathering ground of business and information within the Empire, similes had strength, and inner meanings surfaced like whales rising from the depths of an unsuspecting mind. The largest shapes were blocks of data: accumulations of information given shape and form so that they
could defend themselves from the predators that roamed the Matrix. They rarely stirred, as long as they were left undisturbed. The AIs were the largest: great shining suns of gossamer energy. Get too close, and like Icarus your wings would burn; persist, and the brilliant illumination of pure mind would burn you into a cinder. Man was not meant to look upon the face of the Medusa.
Great creatures moved ponderously among the data mountains; massive dinosaurs with shining teeth and claws whose slow steps made the ground tremble. Corporate holdings: large and fierce and deadly. Lesser companies darted around their feet and between their legs, sharp and streamlined, looking for opportunities and signs of weakness. They knew better than to attack; bringing down a corporation was a dangerous, intricate business best left to real threats like the cyberats. You could lose more than files in the Matrix; if a human mind was destroyed on the shimmering plain, its body wouldn't survive long in the real world.
Dram watched the bright spark of a cyberat's mind darting around a huge sphere bristling with spikes, trying to find a way past its defenses. Not too far away, two huge dinosaurs slammed together, clawing and rending, their great mouths bright with blood. The Matrix had given a whole new meaning to the phrase hostile takeover. Lesser companies scampered about their feet, hoping for crumbs.
Dram turned slowly, searching for Lionstone, trying not to be distracted. There were things in the Matrix that had no shape, only presence, that moved among the data stores and visiting minds like ghosts at play. Trends rustled through investments like wind through trees, and rumors flared like fireworks. A wisp of scarlet ribbon wrapped itself around Dram's shoulders, whispering persuasively in his ear, but he shrugged it off. You couldn't get away from advertisements anywhere. His gaze passed over the gutted husks of dead businesses, the worthless shards left after asset-stripping, or the occasional dismantled structures of a pillaged file. There were always hunters in the Matrix. Dram frowned. He was seeing far more destruction than he'd expected. The market must be having a really bad day. And then Lionstone was suddenly beside him, and he bowed courteously.
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