Bender of Worlds

by Isaac Hooke

“Ah, that’s just as well,” G’allanthamas said. “Because I haven’t slept a wink. Why are you here, then?”

  Jed beckoned to Tane.

  All eyes turned toward him. Even Sinive. She couldn’t hold his gaze for long, however, and quickly looked away. Her features seemed guilty.

  As well they should be.

  “A thousand years ago those in power tried to control Tiberius, too,” Tane said. “But he developed a defense against it. An Essencework that could destroy a control chip not only in himself, but others. If you can get me a starship, I can get access to this work and use it to remove the control chips in myself, Sinive, and eventually Lyra and Nebb.”

  Jed pursed his lips in thought. “I assume this particular Essencework is more powerful than Deactivate? Because remember, there are only two people I know of who could use Deactivate to destroy your chip, both of them acting members of the Talendir High Council.”

  “It’s definitely more powerful,” Tane said. “In fact, it’s specifically designed to destroy control chips like the one in my head. It’s not something general-purpose like Deactivate.”

  “I’m guessing it requires a high Siphoning level to create?” Jed said. “Which rules out your using it in the short term. Unless it’s something you can teach me.”

  “That’s the thing,” Tane said. “A high Siphoning level is not needed for this particular work. It’s a mix of Dark and White. You wouldn’t know this, but mixing Dark and White provides for some powerful effects. The work in question is available at level one.”

  “Level one?” Jed said, sounding incredulous.

  “Yes,” Tane said.

  “You have a level one Mixed work that essentially achieves the same effect as the level six Deactivate?” Jed pressed.

  “I do,” Tane said. “It helps of course that Tiberius designed the Dark and White work specifically to remove a control chip. It’s called Repel Nanotech. I’m sharing the information with you now. I assume G’allanthamas has this already.”

  “No...” the dweller said. “Tiberius rarely shared information about Dark and White works he developed. Not even with me.”

  “Well I’m tweaking that policy…” Tane pulled up the information on his HUD and shared it with his companions.

  Dark and White Mixing, Level 1.

  Imprint Location: Kharikhan V, Abakan System. Universal Polar Coordinates: -109.67251482, -3.72439967.

  Repel Nanotech. While active, prevents nanotech from attaching to your cerebral cortex and motor control centers, so that if an enemy such as a dweller or human injects controlling nanotech, a control chip will never form. At level one, this “repel” effect remains active a full minute after creation. The work will also remove any existing control chips formed by nanotech that have been previously injected. The removal is selective, leaving other helpful chips in place. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: two minutes. Note: this work can also be used on another subject, however physical contact is required between the Essenceworker and the recipient.

  He was careful to blank out the Imprint Location section before hitting the send button.

  His companions were quiet for a moment as they digested the information.

  “What if it doesn’t work against modern nanotech?” Jed asked.

  “It will work,” Tane insisted, perhaps with a little more certainty than he was sure of.

  “You don’t have that particular work imprinted yet…” Jed said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have asked for a starship.”

  “That’s right,” Tane said.

  “Where is it located, then?” Sinive asked casually.

  He met her eye, and she returned his gaze with an oddly defiant look. “A planet in the Umbra.”

  “You just left the Umbra, and now you want to go back again?” Sinive asked.

  Tane nodded. He glanced at Jed. “Will your friend object to taking us to the Umbra?”

  “This changes things,” Jed said. “She’ll probably still do it, but I doubt she’ll give me the friends’ discount. In fact, she’ll most likely charge more than she usually does.”

  “I notice that you didn’t share the location...” G’allanthamas said.

  “I’m sending it to you and Jed alone,” Tane said. He glanced at Sinive. “I’m sure you understand why.”

  “Yeah,” Sinive said. “I’ve got a control chip in my head. You can’t trust me. I get it.”

  Tane frowned. Why did it seem like she was mad at him?

  I’m the one who should be mad at her!

  “The location?” Jed pressed.

  Tane sent it to the Volur and the dweller.

  “Not good,” G’allanthamas said. “I know about this particular dark artifact. I was there when Tiberius created it.”

  “But you didn’t know what he placed on it?” Tane asked.

  “No,” the dweller replied.

  “Why did you say ‘not good’ when I sent the location?” Tane said.

  “It’s located in the middle of a dweller city,” G’allanthamas said. “In full view of the residents. This is a Cre’ite colony.”

  “Whoa, what?” Sinive said. “A dweller city? Crete or whatever? How the hell are we even going to get close?”

  “It will be difficult,” G’allanthamas said. “But not impossible. There should be a dweller shuttle stowed on the planet, from the last time I visited with Tiberius.”

  “Another shuttle?” Sinive said. “It seems awfully convenient that you seem to have so many shuttles scattered throughout the galaxy. First Rusty, and now a dweller shuttle.”

  “I have only a few shuttles, actually,” G’allanthamas said. “It is mostly luck that the Doomwielder has been choosing the right planets to visit.”

  “Oh, and of course the shuttle will still work after all this time,” Sinive said sarcastically. “Without maintenance of any kind.”

  “Why wouldn’t it?” G’allanthamas said. “The power supply is rated to last for two millennia. When you’re as long lived as we are, you build things to last. Unlike you humans and your flimsy ships. Did I tell you how many times I had to replace Rusty’s power core?”

  “How are we even going to reach orbit?” Sinive said. “Seeing as we’ll be entering the system in a human ship? This is a dweller colony, remember…”

  “There will be minimal defenses,” G’allanthamas said. “Since the destruction of our homeworld, the Cre’ite and other dwellers have been keeping a low profile for fear of the probes of the Hated Enemy ferreting them out. None of us wants a repeat of what happened to our homeworld. This is a minor colony, so there will only be two or three scout ships watching in secret from different parts of the system, but otherwise it will appear uninhabited.”

  “Can’t you just say TSN instead of Hated Enemy?” Sinive said. “It gets confusing.”

  “I will make a note in my translation program,” G’allanthamas said.

  “And how will having only three alien ships in the system really help us?” Sinive said. “Seeing as we still have to sneak past them. If we had a vessel like the Red Grizzly, which could change its heat profile in realtime via illegal heat emitters, then it might be possible.” She glanced at Jed. “Does your friend happen to be a smuggler by any chance?”

  “No,” Jed admitted. “But I have some ideas. My friend’s starship—assuming she helps us—won’t have heat emitters, but that’s not to say we can’t use 3D printers to make some. I can work with our dweller friend and print something to mimic one of the smaller alien ships. We’d have to do it before we launch of course.”

  “How long would that take?” Tane said.

  “Probably about six hours,” Jed said. “I’d have to pay the shipyard for access to their industrial printers, though, to speed things up.”

  “Won’t that cost a lot of credits?” Tane said, wondering if it would cut into the skill upgrades Jed had promised him.

  Jed shrugged. “Around ten thousand. With another two grand to get bumped to the front of the queue.
A small price to pay to get this done in six hours.”

  “Yes, good, good,” G’allanthamas said. “Once we’re there, I’ll communicate with the dwellers in my native language and get clearance so as not to raise any alarms. We’ll come in from the far side of the planet to avoid any identification on the visual band from land-based telescopes they might have deployed near the city.”

  “You’re trying to tell me they won’t have any sensors or other forms of observation on the opposite hemisphere?” Jed said. “No orbital satellites?”

  “As I told you, they don’t want to attract the attention of the Hated... er, TSN,” G’allanthamas said. “There will be sensors and other forms of observation on the opposite hemisphere, but no telescopes. My spies should be able to give me a list of all sky observation centers, so I can plan a route to the shuttle I have stowed on the surface.”

  “Spies... you’re more well connected than I thought,” Jed said.

  “When you get to be as old as I am, with your grandkids and their grandkids distributed throughout the galaxy, your spy network comes easily,” G’allanthamas said. “In any case, thanks to my spies, I should be able to determine the blind spots in their observation network. Usually the north and south poles don’t have any, so I would suggest approaching the planet from the south pole. We’ll arrive when that particular hemisphere is under the cover of darkness, and bring our ship as close to the surface as possible. Once we reach my shuttle, we’ll transfer to it and proceed to the city on a more direct route, following the night, timing our arrival so that the city remains in darkness. All the better to work my blurring works. ”

  “That sounds like a somewhat reasonable plan,” Tane said. “Assuming there aren’t actually any telescopes on the south pole.”

  “If there are, and they ID our human ship, I’ll just say I’ve stolen it from the Hated... TSN, and that I intend to sell it to the highest bidder,” G’allanthamas said. “Trust me, I can talk us out of anything.”

  “I applaud your confidence,” Jed said. “But I’m not sure that will cut it, not this time.”

  “I will confirm everything with my spies beforehand, of course,” G’allanthamas said.

  “What about the ships hiding in the system itself?” Tane said. “Won’t they ID us on the visual band before we even reach the planet?”

  “No,” G’allanthamas replied. “The resolution of their ship-side telescopes is relatively poor. If we stay over thirty million kilometers from them at all times, they’ll have to rely on the thermal profile, and we’re essentially guaranteed they won’t ID us. Maintaining such a distance should be easy, given that they’ll be on the outskirts of the system near the Oort cloud to avoid detection.”

  “So, here’s something else to consider,” Sinive said. “When the Red Grizzly first entered the Umbra to pick you up, we encountered a TSN scout ship watching the rift. Lyra speculated that the TSN was probably guarding all entrances to the Umbra, not just that one. They’ve certainly got the ships for it.”

  “I might have a way to handle that,” Jed said. “It’s to our advantage that most rifts are extremely broad. We’re talking millions of kilometers in width, and several hundred in height.” He detailed a potential plan.

  “It might work,” Tane said. “But remember, dwellers will be waiting on the other side, too. Like the TSN, they know those rifts are the only way for me to travel into their realm. At least until I can unlock certain higher level Dark Essenceworks. Until then, the rifts are my chokepoints. If they have the ships, they’ll deploy them. And they’ll probably be within thirty million kilometers when we pass through, so definitely within visual ID range.”

  “Not necessarily,” Jed said. “As I told you, rifts are broad. If we’re lucky, we’ll emerge beyond their visual ID range, and the emitters will be enough to convince them to leave us alone while we make our way to a gravity well and jump to the target system.”

  “Luck,” Tane said. “I’m not sure how much longer we should continue to rely upon it. Did you review the Red Grizzly’s logs at all, after Nebb retrieved us? He wasn’t so lucky when he entered the Umbra to get us. Dwellers attacked.”

  “If luck doesn’t go our way, then we’ll just have to run,” Jed said.

  “All right,” Tane said. “Well, it’s the beginnings of a plan anyway.”

  Jed studied Tane a moment. “You’re biggest worry seems to be about entering the rift. Mine is what happens when you actually reach the planet. Remember what transpired the last time we went to an artifact the dwellers knew about?”

  Tane nodded. “The Amaranth ambush on Remus.” He sighed. “We’ll have to risk it, because we have no choice, really. If we want to rescue Nebb and Lyra, this is the only way. That Essencework will destroy the control chips, and prevent any of us from ever getting chipped against our wills again.”

  “As long as we hang around you, you mean,” Sinive said.

  “Unless you know how to Siphon both the Dark and the White, then yeah,” Tane said.

  She glared at him slightly before looking away.

  “So I was originally worried you’d want to board a TSN starship,” Jed said. “But sneaking into a dweller city? That’s probably just as bad. If not more so.”

  “The TSN has a control chip inside me,” Tane said. “While the dwellers don’t.”

  “Not yet…” Jed said.

  “The Volur is right, it will be difficult,” G’allanthamas said. “The artifact will be watched. Even if we are blurred, and traveling at night, there is no guarantee of success.”

  “And I’m not sure I even want to go back to the Umbra...” Sinive said.

  “You’re welcome to stay,” Tane told her. “I’ll come back here when it’s done and use the work to kill your chip.”

  She lowered her eyes, shaking her head. “No. I didn’t mean… look, I’m all-in now. The TSN wants me almost as badly as they want you. I’ll go.”

  “And I certainly won’t leave your side,” Jed said.

  “I’ll do it, of course,” G’allanthamas said. “Where the Doomwielder goes, I follow.”

  “Okay, good,” Tane said. He glanced at Jed. “We’re still waiting on your friend?”

  “Yes,” Jed said. “In the meantime, I want to take you to the local Peddler of the Esoteric.”

  “I’ve never been one to refuse free skill updates,” Tane said. He turned toward the door. “The Peddler it is.”

  19

  Tane walked outside with Sinive and Jed, while G’allanthamas remained in the room. Sinive embedded a maintenance notice in the building’s database, so that if any renters arrived to claim the dweller’s suite, the guests would be immediately redirected to another available room. She only put in one such notice, because apparently any more might cause an alert to be sent to the building’s property management company. A single room down for one day wasn’t likely to raise any red flags.

  They’d changed their spoofed IDs again, just to be on the safe side, and chose names and classes that were more of a match to the local residents. Jed became John Roti, professional dancer. Tane was Jerry Maharashtra, augmented reality expert. Sinive, Mika Shawarma, sandwich specialist. When she had chosen that particular name and class, Tane and Jed had both looked at her and she shrugged.

  “Hey, what can I say, I really like shawarma,” Sinive had told them.

  All three were dressed in the saris that Jed had procured for them. Jed had shown them how to wrap the long cloths around their bodies. Tane and Sinive had folded part of the fabric over their heads as per the local fashion, which served the added purpose of hiding much of their caps from view. The wide brims at the fronts still protruded of course, but also shielded their eyes from the bright sun. Tane had wrapped the sari over the pouch at his belt, though he’d left a small section open so he could reach inside and retrieve the storage device if necessary.

  The saris of Tane and Jed were a dark red, while Sinive’s was multicolored like most of the women. It was a nic
e change from the usual shirt and pants.

  The TSN was out in full force that day, with robots patrolling the streets and military craft darting above the delivery drones overhead. Because of that, Tane and Sinive kept their gazes low. The passers-by meanwhile seemed oblivious to the extra TSN presence, and moved about as if they were in a hurry to get to their destination.

  Tane was steeped in sweat by the time they’d passed two avenues. It was damn hot out there, and he was regretting not taking off his existing clothes before wrapping the sari overtop. That cap only made the situation worse. He wanted more than anything to take it off, but he couldn’t, of course.

  “I wish you would have warned me how hot it was out here,” Tane told Jed. He had no way to tell how warm the moon was in the climate controlled environment of his spacesuit the night before. And the air-conditioned room had done nothing to acclimate him.

  “I guess I assumed you’d check the weather on your own,” Jed said. The man hadn’t broken a sweat. “Play with your sweat gland settings if you want.”

  “No thanks,” Tane said. His chip offered complete access to all the inner workings of his body, but in the past any manual adjustments he’d made hadn’t been all that successful. He’d almost knocked himself out in the middle of a firefight, for example. If he tweaked his sympathetic nervous system, responsible for regulating body temperature, he’d probably end up dehydrating himself or something.

  Different shops offered services at the bases of each silo. Some were makeshift stands set up on the sidewalk, offering foods such as kabobs and rice.

  “Anyone else hungry?” Tane asked.

  “Famished,” Sinive replied.

  Jed purchased a huge, flat disk of bread from a bakery that specialized in them. Jed broke it into three parts, giving one each to Tane and Sinive.

  “That’s not a piece of bread,” Sinive said. “That’s a tire.”

  “I’d like to see the vehicle that has tires like these,” Tane said.

  She glanced at him, scowling, before looking away.