by Saxon Andrew
The man’s face flashed into her mind and the Officer saw it. He was able to see surface thoughts of anyone who was not a High Genetic. “Do you know where he went?”
The Officer saw the transhauler in her mind and said, “He’s here on the planet.”
Natalie said, “Have I done something wrong?”
The Officer smiled and said, “I’m afraid you aided an enemy of ours.” He turned to leave and the agent saw him nod. The agent turned and fired his blaster into the pretty woman’s face, burning it off her shoulders. The beam set fire to the furniture beyond the dead woman. The four walked out and boarded their carrier. The officer never looked back at the building that was going up in flames as residents were forced to jump out of windows to save themselves.
The Officer pressed the gold circle on his collar and said, “Bring a scanship now.”
• • •
The transhauler finally moved over the horizon from the city, turned off the freeway, and moved up a road into a field. It began changing shape and morphed into a small ship. It rose quickly just above the field, took a steep angle away from the distant city, and exited the atmosphere with the planet between it and the ships in orbit over the large city. A blue field appeared around the ship and it instantly disappeared. The scanships arrived a moment later and scanned the planet.
The Officer sat in the restaurant still feeling the residue, waiting for word from the scanships. He heard from the gold circle, “He is no longer on this planet.”
For the first time since arriving, the Officer’s expression turned angry and he slammed his arm into the table, shattering the hard top. He collected himself and called for the two agents that had scanned the restaurant. They rushed in and went to attention. He looked at them and removed their minds. The agent’s bodies collapsed to the floor and he said in a flat voice, “Don’t make this mistake again.”
The agent’s commanding officer remained at attention standing behind the Officer and said, “We won’t, Sir.”
The Officer stood, stepped over the dead agents, and walked over to the counter. He ordered a drink from the bar, paid for it, and walked slowly out the door. The Commander released a breath. Euclid was not the only planet with genetically improved leaders. The ones created by the Nebula were deadly. This one was the deadliest of all.
Chapter Two
“Ian, I told you it was stupid to stop at that planet.”
“E, we had to gather stores and any planet would have been a risk. At least I was able to acquire what we need.”
“That’s when we should have left. That woman wouldn’t have had to die if you had listened.”
“WHAT!”
“I intercepted a transmission. One of their genetic leaders tracked her down and killed her for assisting you.”
Ian sat in his chair and felt shock, “How did he find her?”
“One of the ones sending the communication said he tracked the residue of your mind to a restaurant. Evidently they are further along than we thought.”
Ian slowly shook his head. After an hour he said, “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“That’s just it; you must not be found and more are going to die if you manage to survive. Her life was worthless if you didn’t escape. If they discovered you were on the planet, they would have bombed it into radioactive rubble. She would be dead along with everyone else.”
“She didn’t deserve it, E.”
“No one does.”
Ian leaned back in the chair, “I guess I was wrong to leave Euclid.”
“That’s hindsight. No one knew how long the Obelisk was going to be down. We also didn’t know they were sending a war fleet. You made the best decision possible with the information available.”
“If I had stayed, this would be over.”
“If a frog had pockets he could carry a blaster and not be afraid of snakes.” There was a moment of silence and the ship said, “I’m sorry about Ariene.”
Ian sighed, “We weren’t close. She was the one chosen to be my mate. I really didn’t get an opportunity to know her.”
“The scientists said your children would have been a giant leap forward.”
“Marrying her was my duty. Her defense of my parents told me more about her than anything I’ve seen so far. Her bravery was more than I thought she was capable of. I believe I would have eventually found happiness with her.” Ian paused, “How did they find us?”
“I’ve not gone to full speed and I see what caused it.”
Ian sat up, “What do you see?”
“The Nebula has spread out their ships and is sending a pattern through the dark matter in the galaxy. If I go to high speed, I can’t see it. At this speed I can see how they’ve covered the major pathways between the worlds of the union. I think I flew through one of the patterns and they got a line on the direction we were moving. The planets on that line included the planet we landed on.”
“So they really didn’t know if we were there?”
“It was the optimum choice of the fifty on that line. I believe that’s why that Genetic Officer went there first. There are more patterns appearing at this moment.”
“Do you think they’ll be able to cover them all?”
“They don’t have enough ships to do that. I see that most of the patterns are forming around the main allies of the Union. I expect they think you’ll go to them to start a counter to their rebellion.”
“I was considering doing just that.”
“They won’t hesitate to nuke any planet they know you’re on. The Union hasn’t built warships in centuries and the Nebula has the upper hand at this moment. They’ll exploit that strength and attack any planet that represents a danger.”
“I guess I was lucky to have escaped.”
“The Lead Scientists needed a member of the Royal Family to link with my systems to make sure they operated properly. You were the obvious choice. You were fortunate to be at the lab and not at the Royal Quarters.”
“Are there any more ships like you?”
“No, I was the prototype. My processor is really nothing more than your intellect in mechanical form. That’s why you were needed to link.”
“I don’t think like you do, E.”
“You do, but just not as fast.”
“Were you armed?”
“I was, however, I need the release code to activate my weapons and I don’t know what it is.”
“Do you know anything about the code?”
“It’s one word spoken five times.”
“Well, work on it.”
“I can’t; that is a restriction my software can’t get around. I’m sure you’ll have to find it. I am not allowed to look.”
“Well, I have no idea on what it could possibly be.” Ian paused, “Do you have a suggestion on where to go next?”
“The Nebula’s rebellion is being slowed by the search for you. Now that they have confirmation that you are alive, they’ll direct all their efforts toward finding you. There’s good news and bad news associated with that.”
“Give me the bad news first.”
“The more ships they use to form a pattern in the Union, the better their chance of finding you.”
“What’s the good news?”
“The ships producing that pattern have to be in space to do it. The more ships they use, the less chance of them attacking large numbers of planets. They will also be forced to keep that fleet at Euclid to prevent your return.”
“Then in the interest of the Union, we need to stay hidden.” Ian thought a moment, “What did they mean by a residue?”
“Ian, your mind’s electrical activity is off the scale compared to most humans. That electrical activity excites the area around you. If you remain in one place very long, it can be detected.”
“So where do we go?”
“What do your senses tell you?”
“I thought you were faster than I am?”
“I am but I don’t have your mental abi
lity, only your intellect. The Royal Family’s ability to chart a path is unmatched. Tell me what you sense and I’ll analyze the possible consequences of it.”
Ian closed his eyes and let his mind go free. Millions of choices were made and discarded. After a minute he opened them and said, “It’s got to be a place outside the Union.”
“That can only mean we have to go to the Wilderness.”
“Without weapons, that can be dangerous.”
“You have your personal weapons. I’ll just have to make sure I’m not seen arriving.”
“I also saw one possibility that we might want to explore.”
“What is that?”
“E, there’s no way they can know you’re not armed. I suspect they’re concerned about the ship I’m in and we can use that.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Before we go to the Wilderness, fly a high speed line toward the Nebula’s governing planet and then turn away.”
The computer started laughing; “Now that is a great idea.”
Ian looked at the star that map appear on the computer display and saw the line to the Orion Nebula located at the edge of the Milky Way. The small ship oriented on the line and went to full speed, passing through fifty of the Nebula patterns. An alert went out and as the small ship turned from its path and slowed, E said, “Half of the patterns have been removed. It appears the ships making them have been recalled to their planets.”
“Now would be a good time to make a run to the Wilderness.”
“I’m ahead of you. We’re already headed that way.”
• • •
The Dictator stared at the Officer and was close to yelling. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was a respect for the Officer’s talents. The Officer looked at the display with a calm expression and said, “It is to be expected that the Prince would attack you after you killed his family.”
“Well, he didn’t appear here.”
“I suspect you had enough ships to arrive to persuade him to back off his plan.”
“I can’t defend all of my planets.”
“Then some might be destroyed if you don’t.”
The Dictator looked at the Officer and said, “What would you do?”
“You’ll have plenty of planets to rule once this little issue is resolved. I would just send ships to the five major worlds and increase the patterns around the others. If he attacks, he will probably destroy a planet or two, but we’ll have him trapped inside our patterns and he won’t escape. We’ll vector in ships from all over the galaxy on his course.”
“Some of the planets will scream at not being defended.”
“Then destroy one of two of them and the screaming will stop. You have total control; use it.”
The Dictator smiled and the display went dark. The Officer stared at the dark screen and knew that one day he was going to get close enough to the Dictator to remove his mind. Then the Nebula would be ruled the proper way. He just wasn’t hard enough to rule effectively.
“E, where are you headed?”
“I’m going to one of the newest colonized worlds. It’s at the outer edge of the Wilderness.”
“What’s it named?”
“Hellhole.”
Ian activated his computer and pulled up the planet. “That planet is pretty wide open and lawless.”
“Thus, the planet’s name; I’m hoping that if they aren’t able to find you and they start looking in the Wilderness, they’ll decide that you wouldn’t go there.”
“Is this a good idea?”
“We need to buy time. We’ll know if they start moving into the Wilderness and start scanning the planets there.”
“Is there any way for me to hide from their scanships?”
“Sensory deprivation is the only thing I’ve been able to come up with.”
“What is that?”
“You’ll have to close your eyes, turn off your hearing, sense of smell, and the nerves leading to your skin. Your mind is like a nova with the electrical activity it generates. Most of that activity is tied to your senses. If you shut down your senses and focus on a sine wave, you might escape a scan.”
“You know I can see with my eyes closed.”
“I do, but you have to just not do it.”
“Can I allow my subconscious to track what’s happening around me?”
“I don’t know. See if you can enter the state and I’ll measure your electrical activity.”
Ian sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. In four minutes he heard, “You’re still slightly above normal but I don’t know if it will make them curious enough to take a look. I’ve measured thousands of normal humans with the same level.”
“Let’s hope I don’t have to do this.”
“You need to practice getting into that state quickly.”
Ian spent the rest of the run going in and out of the sensory deprived state. They arrived at the border of the Wilderness in an hour and E slowed down. “I want to take a look at the worlds in the wilderness as we pass.”
“How come?”
“We might have to go to another and it would be good to have an inventory to select from.”
“While you’re doing that, I’m going to start saying words to activate your weapons. Who set the code, E?”
“The Lead Scientist sets all codes.”
“Send me everything you have on him. I might find something that will work.”
“His file is on your display. I really hope you find it.”
“You’re worried.”
“This is a dangerous place.”
Ian looked up from the file, “Why have these planets not joined the Union?”
“Some of humanity just doesn’t function well within rules and structures. They just feel stifled by civilization. Those humans live in the Wilderness where anything and everything goes. You need to keep your eyes and senses wide open when we arrive. Without my weapons, you’ll have to defend yourself.”
Ian shrugged and went back to the file. He started with the Lead Scientist’s mother and repeated all of her names five times each with no result. Then he went to the father, two brothers, sister, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They arrived at Hellhole with E’s weapons still inactive. “I would have thought he would have used a family member’s name. That’s what I would have done.”
“I suspect the Lead Scientist is far too smart to fall into that trap.”
Ian shook his head and said, “You’re right. I really believe it’s a name, but it must be someone that would not be associated with him. I’ll keep trying after we land and settle in.”
The small ship arrived above Hellhole and started scanning the surface. “Ian, this might work out. A huge number of the locals live in a kind of mobile factory.”
“Say what?”
“This is a mining planet and they all live in vehicles that can dig samples and mine the upper layer of soil for valuable minerals. The vehicles are armed and move around the planet searching for rare metals.”
“No one farms? Where do they acquire their food?”
“Yes, there are armed communities that farm and live somewhat normally. They take their produce and goods to trade centers called outposts. These outposts have a no fire zone and personal weapons are forbidden. Anyone that attacks those going to trade with an outpost will be banned and killed if they attempt to enter. The miners go there to purchase their stores. It appears that no one is willing to violate the no fire zone. They would be restricted from any contact with all out posts if they used weapons in those zones.”
“So how do you want to handle this?”
“I’m going to morph into one of those vehicles and land in an area away from any other miners.”
“E, we don’t have that much in the way of stores.”
“I know. I’m able to scan the surface and we should be able to mine enough gold to purchase what we need. I see a rather large deposit out on the sand along with others that have not been mined.
”
“Do what you need to do. I’m going to keep looking for the activate code.”
The small ship spiraled in at high speed and landed on the vast plain on the northern continent. It morphed into a mining machine and started digging into the loose soil.
• • •
“Hey Jefie, did you see that?”
“What?”
“Something went down in the western plain.”
“You know your scanner is better than mine. Mine is only good enough to see ten yards in front of me.”
“Well, something spiraled in at a high rate of speed.”
“Did you detect an explosion?”
“No, it went down over the horizon and I wouldn’t have seen it.”
“Hmm…if it was a ship, there might be some advanced metals lying around.”
“It’s a hundred miles away. Do you think it’s worth the effort to investigate?”
Ribbons thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know. It wasn’t very big and if it crashed, there won’t be much to salvage.”
“There is a possibility it landed and was disabled.”
Ribbons thought about that possible bonanza. “If it was a ship, it might be armed.”
“There is that to consider. Have you found any minerals?”
“No, I’ve been striking out lately.”
“Then what have we got to lose? If the situation calls for running away, we’ll run.”
Ribbons thought about it. “Is your blaster still functional?”
“It’s the only thing on this bucket of bolts that works properly.”
“Call Porky and see if she’ll join us; I’d feel better if there were three of us.”
Ribbons waited and continued to run his blade through the soil, turning up nothing of value. “She said she’ll go with us.”
“How long will it take her to get here?”
“She’s twenty miles into the plain. She’ll meet us on the way in. Well lead the way, Ribbs. I hope you plotted the site.”
“I have it.” The two huge mining vehicles pulled up their blades and turned west.
• • •
“E, we have company moving our way.”
“What’s going on?”
“Three mining vehicles are meeting and moving toward our landing location. All three have heavy blasters mounted on them.”