by Paul Barrett
As Moran plugged in, the world he stepped into was bright and pulsed with millions of electrons flowing in infinite directions. It was the ultimate in beauty as the oscillating beams of energy scintillated in a seemingly random but ultimately purposeful pattern. He saw all the functions of Ship spiraling outward, the pathways to her operation laid before him like a roadmap to Nirvana. Lines of electrical force stretched further than he could see, and vibrating patterns danced on the horizon. As in true space, there was no “up,” but he felt no sense of vertigo. As he watched the spheres of light dancing across the rim of cyberspace, he was overwhelmed by the multitude of choices in front of him.
It is confusing at first, Sara said, her image floating beside him. He saw his own body projected from his mind. His body was a restrictive thing compared to the freedom here. A light green nimbus surrounded him. As he moved a hand, the nimbus moved with him, its surface rippling like disturbed water.
Follow me, and I will show you the way to move without getting lost. She held out her hand; he took it.
They moved along, neither saying anything. Moran took in what he could, watching in awe as the spectacle of this electronic world played out before him. Those with netjacks thought they knew the world they explored. Moran saw now that they were as ignorant of their surroundings as the first men in space who had groped through the darkness.
This was just the world within Ship’s reach. Connected to the universal Net, he would be free to travel and rule all he saw fit to take. He almost wept at the beauty that was his to conquer.
Do you like it? Sara asked.
Yes, it’s as beautiful as you said.
There is much more than this. More than you can imagine. She told him.
I know. There is so much to conquer, and together we can rule it all.
Yes, we will save the universe and make it in our image.
Our image? Moran asked. We will make it in my image. You will be at my side as my Queen.
I wish to rule as your equal.
That is not possible. There can be only one God. Will you not take your place at my side as my bride?
She seemed to consider it for a moment. I don’t think so. You have seen the beauty and joy that this life has to offer. Can you face what you must pass through to reach here?
He noticed she no longer stood beside him. Turning, he saw no discernible path. No direction existed, only the purposely random crossings of electric impulses. He had no way to get back to where he had come in.
You must be strong enough to make the journey, her disembodied voice told him. We are not meant to exist in the aether. Souls don’t belong in that demonic space. I survived it because I needed to to be with Hawk. To do what I must as Ship, I have learned how to keep the madness at bay. I keep myself sane within the insanity that is ripspace. I have protected you so far; now we shall see if you are strong enough to reach through on your own.
The green nimbus around Moran disappeared. The bright electronic colors faded to a dull gray of infinite nothingness. Demons floated through the void, flapping ponderous wings and flashing glittering razor teeth. As the creatures flowed through him, the most intense feelings of pain and agony Moran had ever known inundated him. The humiliation of the past five years seemed as insignificant as a speck of dust. He screamed madly as wave upon wave of anguish rushed upon him, carried by beasts of nightmare that threatened to drown him in a sea of misery.
Despite the overwhelming rush, distinct images popped up with fantastic clarity, carried on the wings of fiends. The Maratais rose before him, and he felt every cut and torture his men inflicted upon them. The experiments on Meta-Brévé surrounded him, every probe and shock embedding itself in his soul. Any man or woman Moran had ever hurt surrounded him, ready to destroy him with glittering teeth and sharp claws.
Moran managed to scream through the whirling madness. MAKE IT STOP!
I cannot. You must make it stop yourself or be devoured by it.
He continued to scream, watching as the demons circled him. They showed him an entire race of people disappearing as their planet exploded. TELL ME HOW. HOW DID YOU SURVIVE? He asked her. He knew she would not answer. She didn’t want him to survive.
I survived because I had already experienced greater pain than this when I came here.
IMPOSSIBLE, he screamed emphatically. This pain was more than anyone could bear. How could there be greater?
This pain is nothing compared to the pain of being ripped from the grasp of God.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND.
The aether is both heaven and hell. As demons circle, so does divine love. They are intertwined, and the purity of our souls separates them. I was dead and in the presence of God and the angels when I was suddenly rived from their grasp and put here. I was meant for heaven but was torn away before I reached it. So now I live in the midst of hell. Knowing I am not meant to be here makes it bearable. What you see is not those who are in hell. It is the suffering that got them to heaven. Those condemned to hell must exist with the knowledge of the pain they caused. I am among it, but I did not create it. Because of that, I can survive it. How will you survive it?
A whirlpool formed below Moran; a maelstrom of misery that sucked him in. He had no way to stop it. WHY DID YOU SHOW ME THIS?
This is what it is to be what I am.
HELP ME! He pleaded as he fell further into the cyclone.
I cannot.
HAWK CAUSED ALL YOUR PAIN. WHY DO YOU NOT HATE HIM?
Because he did what he did to me out of love. He sacrificed all he was to bring me back. He knows nothing of my pain and he never will.
The whirlpool had almost wholly engulfed Moran. YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. WHY DID YOU DO IT?
Her voice sounded genuinely sad. It’s what you deserve. I grieve for the man you once were. You will now rot in the hell you made for the monster you’ve become.
Moran continued screaming as the whirlpool of despair consumed him.
32
Justice Delivered
The crew glided up, the military vehicle they had acquired from the Council Marines coming to a quick stop outside of Ship. Ashron was the first off, gun held ready. Laura, Wolf, and Tasha followed him in rapid order, alert and prepared for a fight. Gerard and Hawk followed at a leisurely pace, seeming completely unconcerned, although Hawk winced at the pain in his chest from the laser strike.
“Ship?” Hawk said.
“It’s all over, Captain,” she said sadly.
The others stared at him, perplexed. “What’s all over?” Ashron asked.
“Come on,” Hawk said, walking toward Ship’s lowering lift. Puzzled, the rest followed. Laura fell into step beside Hawk.
They stepped onto the bridge to a bizarre sight. Moran sat in the Captain’s chair; a thin cable plugged from his arm into Ship’s central console. He was slumped backward, his good eye wide and unseeing. His cybernetic eye lay outside the socket, held only by its tiny connecting wires. Thin foam dribbled from the side of his mouth and runnels of blood trailed from each ear.
Hawk and Laura were the first ones in, so they were the only ones to see the pale cybernetic form of Sara as she stared at Moran with a mixture of contempt and regret.
“Sara?” Hawk asked, unable, almost unwilling, to believe what he saw. A knot rolled in his stomach.
Her head turned to him. His heart froze as the full force of her beauty slammed into him. Despite his best efforts, the memory of her had faded. Even pictures didn’t capture the power of her presence. Seeing her now, even in such a form, brought it all back to him. Memories of time with her rolled through in an overwhelming wave. The smells of food shared. The images of sights seen together. The tenderness of loving caresses. They all boiled through in a scalding rush that made the years of separation disappear.
“It’s me,” she said. Hawk’s knees threatened to give out on him as tears formed. It was the voice of Ship; no, it was the voice of Sara. He walked toward her, hesitant. She didn’t move, only
waited as he approached.
“How did you…” he faltered.
“Shh..” she said and held a finger close to his lips. “His power is fading, and I have to leave. Know that I’m always here for you and I will always love you.”
He moved forward. For the briefest moment, he felt a physical presence. The soft skin of her finger pressed against his lips like a whisper of wind. Then it was gone. As he watched, she faded away. Just before she disappeared completely, she smiled sadly and winked.
The emotions threatened to shut him down, too many to handle at one time. He smiled as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Laura had watched the whole thing. Hearing Hawk talk about Sara had done little to show the depths of their love. Seeing the pain in both their eyes at this too-brief reunion told her everything she needed to know. She came up behind him and gave him a tight hug. “I am so, sorry.”
He didn’t move, and the tension slowly began to ebb from his body.
As the others entered the bridge, a shout of fear drew Laura’s attention. Trey, curled in a corner, was pulling himself into a sitting position.
“Trey!”
He jumped in fright as she ran over to him and knelt to help him sit up. “Are you okay? Why is your skin so red?”
“It is?” he asked, a tremor in his voice. He regarded his hand, and then rubbed at his head. He seemed to be in a daze. “I’m…I…I saw heaven. My parents were there, and they talked to me. They said I did the right thing, and they weren’t mad at me. And I saw…I saw…”
He stopped. His face grew dark. “I did some bad things too, things I have to tell you about sometime soon. I saw Sara. She was beautiful.” He looked at Laura, and his serious face lightened. “But not as beautiful as you.” He hugged her tightly, and she hugged him back, a tear running down her cheek.
After a moment, he pulled back. His thin eyebrows bunched in concern. “Ship, how come you stopped talking? I was scared.”
“I know, and I’m sorry it happened. I don’t know if I can explain it. I can process billions of pieces of information, and I’m faster than just about any computer I’ve come across, but I still use logic processes to function. However, I also have emotions. Emotion and logic run counter to each other. When I saw Moran again, so many emotions came up that it interfered with my processing. It shut me down. Does that make sense?”
“I think so,” Trey told her. “You were overwhelmed by your feelings. I can relate to that.” His face flushed even redder as he noticed the darkness on his pants. “I need to go change.” He stood, wobbling slightly, and leaned against a bulkhead. Laura was immediately up and beside him.
“I’m okay,” he assured her. “Just a little dizzy.” Gathering himself, he left the bridge.
The others had congregated around Moran, who twitched and mumbled incoherently.
“All right,” Laura said. “What happened?”
“Moran and Sara talked and I don’t think Moran liked what he heard,” Hawk told her.
“Why was Trey still on Ship?”
“He shouldn’t have been awake,” Gerard said. “I miscalculated the tranquilizer dosage.”
Laura gave him a hard glare.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m not a doctor.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” she said. With an accusing glare at Hawk, she said, “You knew Moran was going to get on board, didn’t you?”
“I had hoped it wouldn’t get this far, even though I figured he would have a way if he managed to escape.”
“Then why would you deliberately leave Trey where he was in danger?” She was almost yelling.
Ship suddenly spoke up. “He was never in any danger, and I needed him here.”
“You needed him? Why?”
“To get the revenge on Moran that I wanted,” she told them. “I needed a conduit to pull myself into the physical world and appear to Moran. Trey was the best candidate. I wanted Moran to see what he had made me and to feel what he had done to me.”
“What did you do to him?” Tasha asked, looking at Moran’s mindless body.
“What he deserved.”
“I’m a little fuzzy here,” Ashron said. He pointed to Tasha. “Actually, she’s a little fuzzy. Anyway, I’m not sure I understand. You expected this to happen.”
“Not only did I expect it. I planned it,” Hawk told them. “I was tired of being on the receiving end of the trap, so I turned it around. It was a given Moran would try to escape, since anything else wouldn’t be in his nature. If we had captured him in the boardroom, he would have been tried like the others. I wanted a backup plan. Didn’t you wonder why I parked Ship so close to his?”
“It had crossed my mind, but I figured you were the Captain and theoretically, knew what was best.”
“Well, you were right. Ship was bait.”
“And Moran swallowed it,” Tasha said.
“That he did,” Hawk agreed. “Ship did the rest.”
“With Trey’s help,” Ship added.
Tasha’s whiskers curled down as she frowned. “That’s the part I don’t understand. How could Trey help if he was unconscious?”
“Trey went unconscious when I sent my essence through him to manifest a physical form,” Ship said. “Gerard can probably explain it better.”
Tasha looked at Gerard, who said. “Ship and I figured the best way to trap Moran was to use his desire for immortality against him. Ship knew he would be easily persuaded if she could produce an image of Sara as a true cyborg. In order to do that she would need a gateway from the aetheric realm she inhabits into the physical world, and Trey was the obvious choice.”
“Oh, obviously,” Ashron said sarcastically. He turned to Gerard. “Why obvious? I thought you were the all-powerful manipulator who could bend the cosmos to his will.”
“Trey goes way beyond me. Think of a cable about this size,” Gerard said, holding up his pinkie. “This is the constant connection every manipulator has to the aether. To fully use manipulation powers, we recite equations to make the breach bigger. At most, I can get a breach about the size of my head. Although he is only now beginning to sense it, Trey is one of those rare individuals who is a breach. Once he learns the mathematics, he’ll have access to things most manipulators only dream about. He has the potential to become a potent force.”
“I do?” Trey said from the doorway, showing the same impeccable sense of timing shared by the rest of the crew. He had changed clothes, and the dampness of his hair showed he had also managed a quick shower. He pointed his finger at Ashron. “Zap! Zap!”
Smiling, Gerard said, “Notice I said potential. There is a wide gap between potential and reality. You’ve got many long years ahead of you.”
“That’s okay. I’m ready.”
“Yes,” Gerard agreed. “I believe you are..”
Hours later, Ship orbited Kalatos Three. The far-flung offshoots of the UCT Fleet had been captured almost intact, since word of the primary host’s destruction had reached them and left them demoralized and eager to surrender. An interim Board of Trustees had been installed at Unicybertronic Technologies by the Planetary Council until things could be sorted out and the stockholders consulted about a new corporate structure. Salakon had been placed aboard Ship, confined to the guest cabin until they reached Red’s. As far as Hawk’s superiors knew, the old man had somehow managed to disappear in the confusion.
Hawk stared at a frowning Grendarin in the comm monitor. “Are you sure?” the Force 13 liaison asked, his orange lips pursed.
“Yes,” Hawk confirmed. “Take him to a maximum security mental hospital, put him in a padded room, and leave him there.”
A group of medics, at Hawk’s request, had come to Ship and removed Moran. The official diagnosis was complete catatonia; Hawk knew Moran’s mind was still active and in great pain.
“Okay,” Grendarin said. “It would be better for Moran if we just killed him.”
“I know,” Hawk said, “but a good friend request
ed he be kept alive for a while. Call it dispensing of justice.”
“Of course,” Grendarin said, his yellow teeth showing as he offered a rare smile. “I’ll be sure to note that in the log. Anything else?”
“I think that covers it,” Hawk said, stroking his mustache. “Anything for me?”
“Not right now. Things are kind of quiet.”
“Good. We could use the break. Hawk out.”
“Grendarin out.”
Switching off the monitor, Hawk walked into the wardroom where the crew, with the addition of Tasha, was gathered.
“Well, we saved the galaxy from the Savage Overlords,” Ashron said. “What’s our reward?”
“All of us get twenty thousand Standards, except for you. All you get is a case of mustard.”
Ashron looked thoughtful for a second. “Acceptable.”
“What now?” Trey asked. “Could we maybe get me a new arm? I’m tired of being left-handed.”
“After we finish at Red’s,” Gerard said, “I think we should go to Terrian and visit my Order,” Gerard said. “I’ve already spoken with Zehesel, and he’s very interested in meeting you, Trey.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Filamentous,” Trey said.
“Okay,” Hawk said. “Ship, set a course for Red’s and let’s get out of here.”
“Aye, Captain,” She told him. “Estimated time of arrival once we jump ripspace is…”
“Don’t bother,” Hawk said. “We’re in no hurry. Just let me know when we get there.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Ashron stood up. “I’m hungry. Anyone care for a mustard and pickle sandwich?”
THE END
Acknowledgments
Steve and Paul want to thank the people who read the various incarnations of the book as it went through its rewrites. Steve also sends love and such to his wife and two boys, who always put up with his nonsense. And Paul wants to thank Tony, for much the same reason.