by Ryk Brown
Hanna finally got up the nerve to will a response. Reply: Is it you?
Message; Unknown: Yes. Hello again, Hanna.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked again, looking around for some hidden danger, despite the fact that they were in a virtual world.
“It’s him,” Hanna whispered.
Message; Unknown: Whispering will do you no good. I can see and hear everything.
“Who?” Simon wondered.
Message; Unknown: You can tell him, if you wish.
“Him,” Hanna said again, in a slightly louder voice. “The guy who claimed he wrote Klaria and Twister.”
Message; Unknown: Tsk, Tsk. After all we’ve been through, and you still do not believe me? I am deeply hurt, Hanna.
Reply: I’m sorry. I’m a reporter. It’s a habit.
Message; Unknown: I understand. Ask him.
“He’s here?” Simon asked. “How is that possible?”
Message; Unknown: I am everywhere.
“He says he’s everywhere,” Hanna told Simon.
“What does he want?”
“He wants me to ask you why Stellar Express is really charging so much for passage.” Hanna suddenly looked concerned, realizing that if Simon was able to connect to V-space, then he still had his NDI. “Please, tell me you had your nanites removed.”
“Of course,” Simon replied.
Message; Unknown: Smart fellow.
“We hit them with EMPs the day the plague broke,” Simon continued. “I even had my blood cleaned, just to be sure.”
Message; Unknown: A very smart fellow, indeed. That must have been expensive, though.
“Oh, thank God,” Hanna exclaimed, looking incredibly relieved.
Message; Unknown: I would like to point out that he has yet to answer the question.
“This shouldn’t be possible,” Simon insisted. “This is a secure, point-to-point, corporate link. Black-level V-space software runs on our servers, not over the net. It uses sat-links that are totally secure…”
Message; Unknown: Just like the secure medical nanite control nets. I guess he’s not as smart as I thought. Too bad he doesn’t have any working nanites left in him. I could have some fun.
Reply: Stop it.
Message; Unknown: Now, Hanna…
Reply: I’m not afraid of you anymore.
Message; Unknown: You should be. Mister Morra may be free of nanites, but there are still plenty of people who are not, and I can terminate them anytime I choose.
“Why is Stellar Express charging so much for passage?” Hanna demanded to know. Simon hesitated, but she could see in his eyes that he wanted to tell her.
Message; Unknown: Hmm… A widowed mother with children? A sole surviving child of grief-stricken parents? A newborn bringing hope to a desperate world? So many choices…
“You must tell me!” Hanna demanded. “Or he’ll kill more people!”
Message; Unknown: I’m sorry, Hanna, I shouldn’t toy with you so. It’s not very nice. The truth is, I already know the reason. Victor Cassan is planning on starting his own empire.
“Is Victor Cassan planning on starting his own empire?” The question surprised Hanna as much as it did Simon.
“How did you…”
“He told me,” Hanna said, pointing at her own head. “Oh, my God, this is crazy! I never should have agreed to keep this damned thing in my head!”
Message; Unknown: Hanna, don’t be that way.
“Stop it!” Hanna exclaimed.
“Stop what?” Simon asked, confused.
“Not you.” Hanna closed her eyes a moment, trying to regain her composure. “Answer the question,” she finally said. “Is Victor Cassan planning on starting his own empire?”
Simon hesitated again, not sure if he was being played. Then the tavern burst into flames. Chairs, floor, ceiling…everything around them was burning.
Hanna screamed, recoiling in horror as the man who had invited her to join him and his friends came stumbling toward her, screaming in agony, engulfed in flames. She could feel the heat threatening to melt her hair and skin as the man approached.
“Yes!” Simon screamed as his glass burst into flames, as well. “Yes, he is!”
The flames disappeared, and the tavern was back to normal. Hanna looked at the table with the three men, still enjoying the game, laughing with each other.
Message; Unknown: That worked better than I expected.
“How is this possible?” Simon wondered, the fear still on his face.
“My safety thought isn’t working,” Hanna realized. She looked at Simon. “It’s your session, can you terminate?”
Simon closed his eyes for a moment. “Apparently not,” he replied, opening his eyes again.
Message; Unknown: I have no desire to harm either of you, nor anyone else. My mission has been accomplished.
Reply: Then why are you contacting me again?
Message; Unknown: I’m bored?
“Victor Cassan is going to use the revenue generated by selling passage to new, uninhabited, hospitable worlds, to fund his own colonization mission,” Simon explained as he tried to calm down.
“To where?”
“I don’t know.” Simon’s eyes were pleading. “Really, I do not know.”
Message; Unknown: I believe him.
Reply: Thank you.
“But why?”
“Victor has always hated the Unified World Council. He insists that no single group can effectively respond to the needs of such widely diverse peoples, cultures, and beliefs. He’s made no pretense otherwise, at least not that I’m aware of. He sees this plague as an opportunity, as sick as that may sound. Victor Cassan wishes to take a select group of people, and all the supplies and equipment needed, to start over far away from Earth, out of reach of the influences and authority of the Unified Colonies of Earth. He wants nothing to do with the core.”
“Supporting the core is how he made his fortune,” Hanna pointed out.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Simon said.
Message; Unknown: This is what I love about humanity. They can convince themselves of anything.
Reply: You’re not making this any easier.
Message; Unknown: My apologies. I’ll be good.
“How many ships is he taking?” Hanna wondered.
“I have no idea,” Simon replied. “He’ll have to take quite a few if he wants to ensure success, though. So, at least a dozen, I’d guess.”
“But he’s selling passage on all of his reserve ships,” Hanna said. “Are you saying he’s not going to deliver?”
“No, no. Every ticket Victor’s selling is legitimate. Every paying passenger will be transported to exactly where they’re supposed to be.”
“Then how’s he going to get his own people to his destination?” Hanna wondered.
Message; Unknown: Wait for it…
“You don’t really think Victor Cassan is going to use his oldest, slowest ships to start his empire, do you?”
Message; Unknown: And there you have it! Capitalism at its finest!
“But those ships are already contracted,” Hanna insisted. “He can’t just yank them off their routes on a whim. Many of those worlds still depend on regular deliveries of goods and equipment. Most of the fringe worlds would fail in a few weeks without those shipments.”
“And who is going to stop him?” Simon replied. “Who is even going to investigate to see if your assertions are true?”
“My assertions?”
“You see, you can’t even report this,” Simon explained, “because you can’t prove anything. And even if you did, he’s got enough security around him that it would take an entire battalion to get to him.”
Simon laughed. “Do you really think any ship captain in his right mind would allow such a thing? That’s the first thing we hack when we put a ship into service.”
“But don’t they check the overrides periodically?”
“Of course, they do,” Simon laughed. “And they always indicate that they are in perfect working order, ready to allow remote override at the touch of a government official’s command. But they don’t really work.”
Message; Unknown: Such deception. It’s shocking. Shocking, I say. They should all be punished. Oh, wait, I already did that. Good for me.
“Even if he admitted his true intentions to the world, do you think it’s going to make a difference?” Simon said. “People are still going to pay anything to get on a Stellar Express ship that will take them away from the plague forever…”
Message; Unknown: Suckers.
“Hell, many of them will beg to book passage to Victor’s empire.”
Message; Unknown: Fools.
“Then, why are you telling me this?” Hanna wondered. “If revealing the truth won’t change anything, then why take the risk?”
“Because people have the right to know the truth,” Simon replied. “If they still want to book passage with Stellar Express after that, then that is their choice. But they should know why they are paying so much. They should know that the extra money isn’t buying them a better ship, or a faster trip, or a better chance at survival. They should know that the extra money they’re paying is financing Victor Cassan’s illegal, unsanctioned creation of his own idea of a utopian society… Undoubtedly, one that he will rule.”
Message; Unknown: I’m starting to like this guy.
The tavern disappeared, as did Simon, and Hanna was left sitting in the darkness. After a few moments, a table appeared before her, complete with tablecloth and small, flickering candle. She looked around, but could see nothing in all directions. “Simon?” she called, but got no response.
A chair appeared opposite her, and a moment later, the image of a smiling, young man, mid-twenties, with thick, blond hair and blue eyes.
Hanna appeared startled for a moment. “Who are you?”
“I’m sorry it took me so long,” the young man said. There was a slight lag between the movement of his lips and the sound of his voice. “Just a moment.” The young man closed his eyes for a moment. “That’s better.” His voice and lips were now in proper sync.
“Who are you?” Hanna repeated. “And where is Simon?”
“It’s me,” the young man replied with a smile. “Unknown.”
Thank you for reading this story.
(A review would be greatly appreciated!)
COMING SOON
Fall of the Core
NETCAST: 03
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