The Ascension Myth Box Set

by Ell Leigh Clark

  Lance chewed on his cigar, then got right down to business. “I reviewed your report, Sean.”

  Sean stood at ease in the conference room. Lance looked down the camera lens at him, conveying that he was taking the new intel seriously. “And you see how this might be a security issue?”

  “Yes, and no,” Lance admitted. “I see it could be a potential edge the team can use against a potential enemy, especially given what’s brewing down there in Sark.”

  Sean nodded. He’d been read in on some of Carol Bates’s findings during his debrief. “But she could also be convincing people against their will, here in the team. Or you even. The repercussions would be huge. Everything we’ve ever known comes under threat. Our way of life. Our assumptions. This is the biggest security threat we’ve ever encountered. And I’m not just being dramatic, sir.”

  “Yes, yes, ADAM and I have discussed it at length. Tell me,” he said, his tone more curious than exacting, “does she know she’s doing it?”

  Sean pursed his lips before responding. “I think so. I’ve brought it up to her.”

  Lance took a deep breath and leaned back. “Well then, if we rely on her loyalty, we’ve nothing to worry about. If she can knowingly control it—”

  “Well, that’s debatable,” Sean interrupted. “When I say she knows about it, she knows it’s happened a few times. Whether she fully accepts that is dubious. And then on top of that, it’s too soon to tell if she can actually control it.”

  Lance was quiet for a moment. Then he sat up. “Well then, we’ll make sure that Arlene is working on it with her. I’d like you to make sure you tell Arlene everything you know. And then trust her decision.”

  “But, sir,” Sean protested. “What if she disagrees with your orders?”

  Lance bobbed his head, flicking through his holo report. “From what I can see, it’s a local effect only. When you were out of the room, you returned to your senses, and were aware of your change in attitude.”

  “Yes, sir, but—”

  “Well, then. It doesn’t seem like she’ll be able to affect those of us who aren’t physically near her. Don’t worry. She’s going to be so busy for the foreseeable future, I don’t envisage her coming up here for any jollies.”

  Sean tried to maintain an air of calm over his frustration. “And what about video calls?”

  “I doubt it’ll be an issue. From what you’ve described, ADAM suggests it’s a very local effect. But as I say, we’ll be in touch with Arlene just to be sure. And then take it from there.”

  “But, sir,” Sean protested yet again.

  “Anything else, Mr. Royale?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, then, I’ll let you get back to your honeymoon. Congratulations once again.”

  Sean took a breath. “Thank you, sir.”

  The holoscreen closed off and flickered its illusion back into the projector at the center of the table. Sean stood for a moment, thinking. He was going to need a way to keep tabs on the situation so that he would always know if his will was being pushed.

  That meant talking with Oz and potentially having Brock build a device. Immediately, he felt dirty, contemplating going behind Molly’s back. Especially after everything she had done. However, the fate of the Federation rested on this. And they needed to find out how far her influence could reach.

  Sooner, rather than later.

  He scratched the side of his face, feeling the day-old stubble growth. Okay, he thought to himself. First, I’ll exercise. Shave. And then decide exactly what I’m going to do.

  Chapter 17

  Molly’s conference room, Safehouse, Gaitune-67

  “Well done, both of you,” Molly said, sitting back in her chair after several hours of debriefing. “This is great work.”

  Paige looked dismayed. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to solve these things before you got back. It’s just a little too much for us to have figured out.”

  Molly shook her head. “Hey, no. You’ve done a great job. You’ve made a start… and the rest of it, we’ll figure out together.” She pulled her lips to one side, thinking. “So, where are we with the university issue? As of this morning?”

  Paige flicked to her holo notes. “Well, we’ve managed to call in some favors and get ahold of the criteria for their investigation, and the faculty have started implementing anything that they might fail us on. I need to set up a progress meeting before I can assess how soon we can have everything done by.”

  Molly flicked back through her own notes. “And we have a date for when the investigation will start?”

  Paige shook her head, and stray strands from her ponytail got in her face. She swiped them out of the way. “Not yet. Still waiting to hear. But as soon as we do, I’ll publish it.”

  Molly nodded. “To the core team first. No sense putting extra pressure on the faculty until we have a way of navigating the terrain we find ourselves in.”

  Paige made a note.

  “And what about the sale of your company?” Molly asked.

  Paige paused. Then closed her holo. She took a deep breath. “I’ve not responded. But I’ve decided I don’t want to sell.”

  Molly bobbed her head. “I think that’s wise. Especially knowing what we know now. It could end up being an asset that we can use to fight back against this threat.”

  Paige nodded, her gaze hitting the table. She looked drained.

  Molly continued. “So, our next move will be to find out anything we can about this Northern clan.”

  Paige quickly flicked to another set of notes. “We did what we could, but it turned out that we need Oz.”

  Oz’s voice chirped up over the intercom. “Nice to be needed!”

  The women laughed. “We always need you, Oz!” Maya responded enthusiastically.

  “Yeah,” Paige admitted. “We thought about asking Bourne but then decided against it.”

  Molly sighed, adding another item to her notes. “Yeah, that’s another thing we’re going to need to handle at some point. Folks, if we have any ideas, let’s tackle that in a separate meeting. In the meantime, Oz, can you make sure he has limited access to the base, our conversations, and anything classification four and above?”

  Paige looked knowingly at Molly. She had already filled her in, offline in their private quarters, about their interaction with Bourne while the rest of the team was gone.

  “Yes,” Oz confirmed. “It will take me a day or so to implement that. Seems he’s been poking around while we were away.”

  Maya giggled. “I guess he just needs a playpen built!”

  Molly smiled. “Sounds like. Oz, let us know when it’s done so we can work more freely?”

  “Of course,” he responded.

  Maya leaned forward, putting her notes aside. “You know, I’ve just had an idea,” she said, looking to Molly for permission to continue.

  Molly nodded at her with her eyebrows. Maya continued. “What about using Paige’s media capabilities to shine light on the investigation? Like an editorial piece. We can brand it up so it’s not a cosmetic sale but rather an interest brand. Maybe get them to back off because of the attention? And simultaneously call awareness to what’s happening.”

  Molly was silent for a few moments.

  Paige’s eyes lit up. “You know, I think that’s kind of brilliant.” She hesitated, looking to Molly. “What does Oz think about the possibilities of it working?”

  “Says he’ll need to run some scenarios, but it’s certainly worth exploring. Okay, Maya.” She turned to the ex-journalist. “How do you feel about heading up that piece of the operation?”

  Maya grinned. “I’d be delighted to!”

  “Good.” Molly smiled. “Okay. Run it past Gareth. See if there’s anything else we need to be aware of going down that route.” She paused. “I think we’ve covered everything we can for now. Paige, I’ll wait to hear from you when you manage to lock those parameters down
on the university investigation. Maya, feel free to shoot me your plan when you’ve had a chance to think about it. I’m needed downstairs in a few. Any other questions?” She looked at them both as she folded away her notes.

  The two girls shook their heads, almost smiling. Molly noticed they both looked like a six-ton weight had been lifted from their shoulders. She smiled at them.

  “All right then. Catch you later.” She got up and headed out of the door.

  Base conference room, Gaitune-67

  Molly sat with her head in her hands. She’d been back on Gaitune for eighteen hours and had spent the last twelve in debriefings.

  And now, she had her mother, larger than life-size, on the conference room screen as the head of Clandestine Services. Carol Bates was at least an hour into telling Molly and her team leaders about her findings regarding the threats they were going to face.

  Carol stopped talking, causing Molly to look up.

  “Am I boring you, Molly?” she asked in her usual scolding tone.

  Molly shook her head and sat up. “Long day, Mom,” she replied without an apology.

  She shuffled through her notes. “Okay,” she continued, glad of the opportunity to redirect their attention and end the monotonous repetition of the summary that Oz had already given her. “The way I see it is that we’ve got this movement happening, and we have specific threats appearing on the surface.”

  She glanced across the table at Sean, Jack, and Joel, who had been silent the entire time. Molly would normally expect their interaction, but for some reason, they each remained stoic. She couldn’t quite read their expressions, either.

  “We’ve already got Oz working on the source of the threats,” Molly shared. “We should know more in a few days. But as for the specific threats, I think the most dangerous one is the twelve appointments.” She paused and looked up at the screen. “Do we have any way to remove them? Or reverse them?”

  Carol pursed her lips. “Not legally.”

  Joel noticed Molly contemplating the illegal options. He readied himself to jump in.

  “No,” Molly said suddenly. “If we go down that route, we undermine the very thing we’re trying to reestablish. A system of legality and morality. It would just end up giving them more propaganda ammunition to use against anyone who tries to stop them.”

  She looked across at Joel, who visibly relaxed.

  “Mom, can you look into how these appointments are happening? Who is being greased? And what can we use to put a stop to it?”

  “Yes, sure,” Carol agreed, making a note.

  “Joel, Sean,” Molly continued, “can you do a threat assessment on the Estarian military? We need to know where they are vulnerable to these kinds of placements. Where are they particularly racist? Nationalistic? Where has this Northern Clan already got power? I don’t believe that it’s just these high-level placements. We need to know what we’re up against. The last thing we want is martial law being declared. That would be a surefire way for this minority to seize power.”

  She paused, thinking. “Okay, so Paige and Maya are working on things for the university attack. Our tech team is dealing with a search for whomever it was who’s been probing us.”

  Carol raised her hand. Molly nodded to her to interject. “I’m sorry, what was that about someone probing you?”

  Sean smirked. Molly noticed but ignored it.

  Good to know some things don’t change.

  Molly remained on point and answered Carol’s question. “It’s been going on for a while now. It’s obvious that they know something about us, what with the company offer and the university move. We also think they’ve been trying to hack us.”

  Carol shifted awkwardly. “Well, erm, I need to tell you something.”

  Molly eyed her suspiciously. “Why? What is it, Mom?”

  “Well, erm, I did have a team probing what I think were some of your access channels and hubs.”

  Molly started to react. She opened her mouth, fury welling and about to pour out. And suddenly, she just paused as if she were a character in a video game.

  Joel, Sean, and Jack watched, holding their breath.

  And then Molly closed her mouth, regained her composure, and then continued the conversation surprisingly quietly. “Thank you for sharing that, Mom. It’s very helpful. It’s going to save us hundreds of man hours trying to find and eliminate the threat.”

  Carol lowered her eyes sheepishly. “I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  Molly held her hand up, knowing that her mother wasn’t going to give her any apology worth having and that by the time she finished talking, she would have turned it all around on Molly and made it her fault in the first place.

  Molly wrapped up the meeting as swiftly as she could and then made a beeline for the door.

  The holo connection closed off, and the three warriors remained in the conference room, stunned.

  “So…” Sean grunted. “Molly’s mom is a bitch.”

  Joel frowned at him. “I thought you guys already knew each other? Because of Karina?”

  Sean shook his head. “No, the Federation handled her placement. I mean, I knew of her, from Sarkian briefings we’ve been fed. And of course, when we met her at the apartment.”

  “Did you know who she was then?” Joel asked.

  “Yeah. Course.”

  “And you didn’t think to mention it?”

  “Well, duh. Classified.”

  Joel put his head in one hand. Then he looked up and cocked his head. “You get briefings about the Sark goings on? From the Federation?”

  “Yeah, don’t you?” Sean smirked.

  Jack pushed her chair back and got up. “Come on, boys. Don’t start.”

  Sean changed the subject. “Anyway, did you see the way Molly was about to let rip? I thought for sure that was the end of our unholy alliance with that witch.”

  “So, you don’t like her much?” Jack interjected teasingly.

  “After what she did to Karina?”

  Joel raised his chin. “Ahh, right.”

  Jack chirped up. “So, we think that was Oz intervening?”

  Joel nodded. “Almost certainly.”

  Jack sniggered. “Wish I knew that trick. Might come in handy some time.”

  Sean got up and tucked his chair under the table again, ready to leave. “Creepy watching Carol, though,” he commented.

  “Yeah,” Joel agreed, still sitting, his eyes fixed absently on a point on the table. “It’s like there was our Molly and then an older, more severe Molly. Like what Molly might be like if she were bitter and twisted.”

  Jack snorted again. “You don’t like her much, either?”

  “After all that shit she’s pulled on Molly?” Joel exclaimed.

  Jack started walking out the door. “Fair point. Just an observation, though.”

  Sean started heading out, too. “Yeah. Makes you thankful, I guess. That we got our version of Molly, and not the crazy version.”

  Joel nodded. “This is also true,” he agreed. “Sparring in a half hour?”

  “Sure,” Sean agreed, checking his holo.

  “Jack?” Joel offered.

  She shook her head. “I’m going to go chill. I need some downtime.”

  Joel hauled himself up onto his feet to follow the others out. “Yeah, probably just as well,” he agreed. “Don’t think Sean would be able to take more than one ass-kicking.”

  “Ha ha, Joel-ina!” Sean scoffed sarcastically. “Ha ha!”

  Laughing, the team disappeared down the corridor and out to the hangar deck.

  Molly’s quarters, Safehouse, Gaitune-67

  There was a knock at Molly’s door.

  “Come in!” she called. Joel entered, carrying ice cream smoothies.

  Molly looked alarmed. “What is it?” she asked.

  “Nothing, everything’s fine,” he protested.

  She narrowed her e
yes, clambering off the bed to take one from him. “You never bring me sugar unless it’s bad news.”

  He chuckled and they both clambered onto the bed. Even Neechie appeared out of nowhere from the other side of the room and jumped up with them. Molly smiled, slurping on her liquefied diabetes. “Hey, Neech. How you doing?”

  “Meow,” he responded.

  “Ah, you’re missing Anne,” she interpreted for Joel’s benefit.

  Joel stopped slurping. “You’re kidding me? You understand him now?”

  Molly nodded, tipping her head from side to side. “Mostly. Sometimes he tries to tell me things I just don’t understand. Arlene reckons it’s because my brain isn’t wired the same way to be able to understand the world like he does. I think the dimensions thing is part of it.”

  Joel watched her quietly.

  “Arlene said I’d eventually pick it up… if I keep at it.”

  Joel bobbed his head. “Really?” he mused.

  “Yeah.” She stopped. “You think it’s all rubbish?”

  “No, no,” he protested. “I know when that creature is hungry. He makes it perfectly clear. The fact that he might be trying to communicate quantum loop gravity to you is just a small step on from there.”

  Molly sniggered. “Since when do you know about quantum loop gravity?”

  Joel grinned. “I saw a holoscreen you left out once. Read it while I ate breakfast. Hardly understood any of it, though.”

  Molly grinned and slurped again, one hand still on Neechie. “So seriously, what’s the occasion?”

  Joel shrugged and shifted his legs on the bed so he was more comfortable. “I just figured with your mom making an appearance in all areas of your life now, you might wanna talk about it.”

  Her gaze dropped down to her smoothie for several moments. “Yeah,” she said eventually. “You’re right. Along with the Sean thing, I just… I guess I feel like my world has been turned upside down.”

  Joel bobbed his head, listening.

  “It’s just a lot to process. I mean, all this time, I thought they were civilians. And now, I just can’t get my head around it. And the guilt.”

  “From them being kidnapped?”

  “Yeah,” she confirmed. “I mean, they’ve always said it wasn’t my fault, but I never felt that way. And now… Now, I’m seeing that it wasn’t really. I mean, not a hundred percent. I shouldn’t have been playing with that EI, but if they hadn’t had so many enemies and if I’d known why we had to keep it offline, none of that would have happened.”