“I just wish we had better news for them,” he replied quietly.
The twins slowed, seeing the serious expressions on their parents’ faces.
Michael guessed that they’d aged over two years by this point in the program. “It’s good to see your faces.”
“What’s wrong?” Alexis asked.
Bethany Anne gestured to the grassy area she’d had Tabitha put in for them. “Sit down. We need to talk.”
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked once they were seated in a loose circle. “You look like someone died or something.”
Bethany Anne gathered their hands in hers, her own wound still fresh and raw. “Someone did die. That’s why we’re here. It was your Aunt Addix.”
Michael explained the events on Qu’Baka in an even tone, painting Addix as true to fact as he could. “She acted unselfishly,” he finished.
Alexis frowned as she pulled her hand back. “No, she can’t die! She’s enhanced!”
Bethany Anne didn’t know what to say. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as the answer came to her. “I can’t tell you how to feel. But try to remember her with happiness, even if it hurts.”
Michael added his own comforting words. “Addix never agreed to full enhancement. She lived her life for the protection of others, knowing every day could be her last. It was her choice to give her life to save Mahi’, and all we can do is thank her for that sacrifice.”
Gabriel’s lips drew back as a sob tore free. “How does that make up for the fact that we’ll never see her again? What was she thinking?”
Alexis moved over to tuck herself under Bethany Anne’s arm. “Trey gets to see his mom again. That’s what she was thinking.”
Bethany Anne held Alexis tightly. “We’re holding a funeral for Addix in two days real-world time. I’ve had Eve adjust the program so the four of you can attend in person.”
Michael smiled. “If you want to.”
Alexis and Gabriel exchanged glances.
“We’ll be there,” Gabriel promised.
Alexis nodded resolutely. “We want to honor Aunt Addix’s memory.”
Bethany Anne and Michael exited the Vid-docs an hour of real-time later, having spent the rest of the day with the twins. “They took it better than I thought they would.”
Michael gave Bethany Anne a skeptical look. “Wait until the funeral. They haven’t experienced true death before, except the time Addix killed those kidnappers.”
“I can’t imagine they even remember that,” Bethany Anne countered. “They were too young to understand what was happening. Do you remember how they thought it was a game?”
“Not this time,” Michael predicted with a heavy heart. “They’re going to have a long time to think about her passing and what that means for them.”
Devon, The Hexagon, Penthouse Apartment (two days later)
There were more people on the rooftop terrace than Bethany Anne had expected would show for the friend she’d always thought was reclusive.
Most she recognized, but others were strangers. All species, all ages. No apparent connection at all for a few shady-looking characters, although Michael had allowed them entry, so their intentions were good—for the moment.
The one thing they all had in common was their love for Addix.
Bethany Anne stood by the shining casket she’d had made in place of the ashes they’d been unable to bring home with them, listening to each mourner’s tale of the ways Addix had touched their lives.
She found the thought of Addix being borne endlessly on the solar winds somewhat comforting. Nevertheless, there was something vital to the process of going through these motions, of observing the ritual. Something healing in gathering up the sum of a life’s defining moments and dusting them off to be aired.
Alexis and Gabriel listened at Bethany Anne’s shoulder, both dressed from head to toe in white, as Ixtali culture dictated.
The current Ixtali legate approached the casket and touched her hands and head to it briefly before turning to address Bethany Anne. “Your Highness. I bring the condolences of all Ixtal. Addix’s passing is a loss to us all.”
Bethany Anne inclined her head. “Thank you for being here.”
The legate nodded and moved along, replaced by the next mourner.
The time passed in a blur for Bethany Anne. She spoke to people whose names left her as soon as the next face appeared. Alexis and Gabriel remained at her sides, two shadows insisting they were there to support her, not the other way around.
When had her babies become adults?
Overnight, apparently.
Michael tapped the microphone on the lectern behind her, signaling that it was time for the service to begin.
The rows of chairs put out for the service filled quickly.
Michael waited for the stragglers to catch up before speaking. “My wife reminded me of an appropriate saying from our home planet recently. ‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the vein.’ Addix was more than a friend to me. She was our family, and she leaves a hole behind that no one else can fill.”
Bethany Anne should have been alert to the thoughts of the people around her. However, her mind was on Addix and the reason they were having a funeral for her as the eulogies continued.
Her turn to speak came. Although she’d heard every word of her children’s reminiscences, she couldn’t recall what she’d planned to say.
Michael nudged Bethany Anne gently. “You don’t have to do this.”
Bethany Anne drew herself up in her seat. “No, you’re wrong. I do have to do this. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t speak for her?”
She got to her feet, the autopilot she’d been on since getting back to Devon disappearing as she mounted the three stairs to the lectern.
The mourners’ respectful silence stretched out while they waited for her to speak.
Bethany Anne looked out from eyes as black as her hair, eyes that lacked the luster of her suit. “I have been here too many times before. Too many times, my loved ones have been taken from me. Each time, my appetite for vengeance refuses to be sated until I get Justice for what was stolen.”
She rested her hands on the cool, smooth grain of the lectern. “Not this time. This time I am here simply to honor someone I was proud to call my friend. Addix was all about sacrifice. When we first met, she came to me knowing her people had sent her to her death. I spared her because I saw the good in her heart. I trusted her with my children, knowing she would die before she allowed anything to happen to them. How many of you are here today because Addix was there for you?”
Bethany Anne blinked to clear her vision as the murmurs rose. She saw Trey bury his head in his mother’s neck. She pressed the button on the side of the lectern, and the casket lifted off from its plinth and angled toward the sky. “That was Addix. Always putting others first, and she was true to herself until the moment she died. She was faced with a choice to save her own life or ensure a mother was returned to her son, a queen to her people. Addix chose unselfishly. There is no vengeance to be had here, just a lesson in true loyalty.”
The mourners said their final goodbyes as the casket rose, slowly at first, before gaining enough speed to break the atmosphere.
Bethany Anne let the tears flow as the empty casket was propelled out of the atmosphere, past the BYPS, and straight for Devon’s star. “Farewell, my friend. May your journey continue, if only in our hearts.”
Secret Location
Gödel sat alone, deep in meditation.
To say she was angry would infer emotion, and Gödel was far from suffering that affliction. Unlike that filthy abomination Death harbored, she had control of her reactions.
Her withdrawal was tactical. Clinical, even. She was here to contemplate the causes of her failure. She was no closer to understanding humans. Her attempt to trap Death had failed, despite her certainty that playing on human emotions would work.
Gödel’s assessing mind turned
to the rift trap.
The premise of capturing Death in an emotional feedback loop was sound. Her knowledge of human over-attachment to minions had been the perfect starting point to creating a mental prison that should have held her primitive human mind captive in perpetuity.
It had been a costly experiment, but there had been no reason to believe that it would be anything less than successful. Gödel had no way of predicting that contrary to her research, Death would be freed from the loop by her attachment to the living.
The rift had cost the lives of six adepts to create, and Death had once again turned the weapons used against her to snatch back victory from the jaws of defeat.
Was there no limit to the obstacles she faced in her quest to bring the glory of Ascension to all?
Still, not all was lost.
Gödel knew there was more than one way to skin an alict. Soldiers could be replaced, as could the ships to carry them.
Plans could be remade.
25
Devon, The Interdiction, QSD Baba Yaga Vault
Bethany Anne placed the tray with two Cokes and a plate of triple choc-chunk brownies on the table and took a seat next to Michael. “I don’t really feel much like eating. I hope this works.”
Michael smiled gently and squeezed Bethany Anne’s hand. “It will. How long will ADAM be?”
Bethany Anne sent a nudge to hurry him up. “Any second now.”
ADAM arrived in the mindspace and found it empty apart from Bethany Anne and Michael >>This feels ominous. What’s so urgent?<<
Bethany Anne sent him everything from the Qu’Baka mission. This.
Michael pointed at the chest holding the Kurtherian crystals, knowing ADAM saw the gesture through Bethany Anne’s eyes. And that.
ADAM skimmed the reports and the enormous video file that accompanied them. >>The Bakas are staying with us? Where are you going to house over half a million people?<<
Bethany Anne waved his concerns away. That’s a logistics problem. The reason I pulled you away from the Collective project is that TOM hasn’t spoken to anyone since Qu’Baka.
>>TOM is refusing to speak?<< ADAM abandoned the video and searched for TOM. Then he found the gaps in the data from Bethany Anne’s internal sensor suite. >>What the hell have I missed?<<
Plenty, Bethany Anne answered. The rift was a trap, and TOM is blaming himself for us getting caught in it. He’s cut himself off from me. I’m hoping you can convince him to come out of his hiding place.
ADAM withdrew to the private space he shared with TOM. >>Hey. You here?<<
Yes. TOM’s curt reply was hesitant when it came. I shouldn’t be talking to you either. There’s something wrong with me.
>>Do you know how much BA is freaking out?<< ADAM was kind of freaking out himself. This wasn’t like TOM. In all the time they’d known each other, he had never known his friend to withdraw from a challenge. >>Tell me what’s going on with you.<<
There was a long moment before TOM replied. You saw the video, right? You didn’t see what we saw inside the rift. You didn’t live through Bethany Anne experiencing the deaths of every being she considers hers. I should have gotten us out of there. I failed her.
ADAM heard the hurt behind TOM's recrimination. >>Which makes it my fault as much as yours. How did you miss the mind trap? The video showed it from the outside, but Bethany Anne’s senses cut out the second she stepped in.<<
TOM sighed. That was me, in defense. My mistake. It triggered a reaction in the rift energy, heightened by Bethany Anne’s emotional response to the change. She was not prepared for visions; neither of us was. I can see the moment the trap sprung—now.
ADAM seized the opportunity. >>We need that hindsight. What’s done is done, and Bethany Anne needs all of us working together to figure it out so it doesn’t happen again. We can’t do it without you.<<
I can’t risk anyone getting to Bethany Anne through me, TOM countered.
ADAM relayed the conversation to Bethany Anne and Michael.
>>I have an idea.<< ADAM blocked TOM’s neural signal off before the point it interacted with the chip at the base of Bethany Anne’s skull and searched for a place to send it. >>I need a holo, any kind will do.<<
Michael went over to rummage in a drawer, then placed the wrist-holo he found on the table. “This should do.”
TOM's fretful voice came from the wrist-holo a moment later. “I don’t know how I didn’t see the trap. I failed.”
“I didn’t see it either,” Bethany Anne reminded him. “It’s what we do to act on it that counts.”
“Our enemies are counting on us to fall apart,” Michael stated firmly. “You cannot blame yourself for being taken in by their wiles.”
Bethany Anne folded her arms. “Yeah, wiles is about right. We were bound to come across a Kurtherian smart enough to pull a stunt like this eventually.”
ADAM snickered. >>You probably killed off all the stupid ones already. All in all, they should be grateful to you for removing the detritus from their gene pool.<<
Bethany Anne’s focus was on TOM’s initial concern of being used. “Who isn’t the concern? They’ll show themselves soon enough. We need to figure out what they did, and if they left anything behind when we escaped.”
Michael rested his chin on steepled hands. “We can start by examining the visions you had while you were inside the rift. What do you both remember leading up to the first one?”
Bethany Anne closed her eyes and called up the memory of the rift rushing to run through her. “The mists were…distressed is the only way I can describe it. My hearing went within seconds. The energy hit me from all directions.”
“Your physical body reacted,” Michael cut in.
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? I’d better not see video of me doing the salmon dance doing the rounds.”
Michael smirked. “Never occurred to us. You were saying?”
“The energy,” Bethany Anne continued. “It felt like I was going to burst from the pressure. Or burn. I had no intention of using the energy I repaired. It just molded and remolded itself to give me windows onto different locations.”
>>I can pull stills from your memory,<< ADAM offered. >>All you need to do is focus on each image. Same for you, TOM. Just concentrate.<<
Bethany Anne nodded and thought back to what she’d seen. “I don’t think the first few places I saw were anything except the energy reading my homesickness.” She let the memory of Devon pass again. “There was one that made no sense whatsoever, then I saw the Ooken fleet coming up on the Leath.”
The wrist-holo flashed as TOM spoke up animatedly. “I didn’t see anything between Devon and the Interdiction.”
Michael lifted a finger. “So we have a discrepancy. Bethany Anne, can you describe what you saw?”
Bethany Anne worked to bring the contextless image she’d seen into mental focus. “There were eyes, red. Lots of pairs. It was dark. I heard TOM speak in my mind, and Michael. There was…snow? Maybe I’m getting them mixed up.”
>>I have the image.<< ADAM put the still up on the wallscreen. >>I guess we found out when they snared you both.<<
Michael examined the seven pairs of eyes on the screen. “Is it possible that these Kurtherians blocked you, TOM?”
“It’s possible,” TOM agreed. “But it would have taken preparation beforehand to pull off without me detecting them the moment they made a move. How did they know I was there?”
Bethany Anne’s gaze stopped on the chest. “I wonder.” Her nails began their tap-tap on the table while her mind turned the pieces over. The whole situation began to reek of manipulation when she looked at the puzzle from a different angle. “What if we’ve been going about this ass-backward? I want to know what’s on those crystals before anything else.”
“You are not the only one,” Michael agreed. “Do we have a way to read them?”
Bethany Anne shook her head as she got to her feet to open the cabinet. “That’s what we’re about to determin
e.” She eased one of the trays off its runners and brought it over to the table. “Because every instinct I have is telling me that the game has changed and we need to act accordingly.”
Michael considered Bethany Anne’s certainty while she carefully removed the glass lid off and placed it by the open tray. “In what way?”
Bethany Anne picked one of the crystals up and held it to the light. “This recent push by the Seven. We’ve been reacting to what we assumed was seven separate groups. What if they aren’t separate anymore?”
TOM spluttered from the holo. “You can’t seriously be suggesting the Seven have amalgamated!”
>>That’s pretty out there, BA,<< ADAM concurred. >>There’s nothing in the heuristics for any of the clans that supports willing cooperation with others.<<
Bethany Anne replaced the crystal with a smile. “I said nothing about them being willing.”
Michael looked up from the tray as Bethany Anne’s meaning struck home. “You believe there has been an ascendant.”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “I think there’s one bully bigger than the rest, yes. What was that name?”
Michael stared blankly at Bethany Anne. “Name?”
Bethany Anne frowned. “I can’t remember, some Earth name the Kurtherian on Qu’Baka mentioned.” She waved it off. “We can check the footage later. My point is that the evidence is pointing toward a shift in the power balance of the Seven.”
“That could explain why the sudden focus on the Interdiction,” TOM supplied. “The attacks are nothing but attempts to get through your defenses. We know they’re trying to step up the effort to conquer the Federation. We both saw that was the intention while we were in the rift.”
Bethany Anne kept a rein on her temper. “They can intend all the fuck they like. Just like I told that corpse-riding necro fucker on Qu’Baka, I’ll wipe every trace of them from this universe before they get one foot inside the Federation.”
Michael pondered Bethany Anne’s theory and found it held water. “You believe that the hijacker you saw is responsible for the shift?”
Bethany Anne nodded, recalling the body-snatcher’s emotionless scrutiny. “I’m almost certain. But it’s all speculation until we unlock the evidence in the crystals.”
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