by Terry Mixon
She certainly hoped that made a difference in how the locals treated them.
Once she’d finished moving the most seriously injured, she walked over to stand beside Jebediah as people that looked like healers had arrived to take his and his father’s places.
“There will be other injured,” she said. “You need to bring them here so that Doctor Stone can take care of the most seriously wounded. Or take her to where you’re working on them, probably.”
The large man considered her, his expression blank. “I don’t know that we can trust you. My father seems inclined to allow you an opportunity to earn that trust, but I find myself doubting your story.”
Before she could respond, Mordechai arrived and put his hand on Jebediah’s shoulder. “My son is my chief of security. It’s his job to be skeptical of everything that he sees or hears. I shall not gainsay him in this matter, but I will allow you to prove your willingness to help.
“We already have people scouring the city, looking for injured. It’s going to take quite some time to get everyone to a central, protected location, but it will be done. Meanwhile, I find myself with more questions. First, what is your name?”
Julia considered telling him the truth, that she was Kelsey Bandar, but decided that no matter how honest they were being, some things wouldn’t be believed. The fact that she was Kelsey’s duplicate from another universe was a little bit outside the scope of the story they were telling. It would be far better to stick with the story of being twins.
“I’m Julia Bandar. You’ve undoubtedly seen that my older sister and I are twins. She’s also the more experienced of the two of us.”
It was galling to have to admit that her doppelgänger was more experienced, but it was something that she couldn’t argue with. Kelsey had the air of someone who’d done far more than Julia had. Experience had left its mark on her.
The older man nodded. “Twins are not that unusual, but neither are they commonplace. You and your sister seem to have significantly more strength than I would have expected of someone of your… slight build. Explain that to me.”
Well, that was going to be a lengthy explanation and one that had the potential to see them all in very deep trouble. No matter what Julia said, she was going to have to be truthful yet circumspect.
“A few years ago, I was captured by forces under the control of the AIs. I had none of the implants that Admiral Mertz has spoken of before then. Also, everything that was done to me was done against my will and at extreme personal cost.”
The man’s eyes dwelt on hers for long seconds before he nodded. “I can see the shadows of the pain in your eyes. For the moment, let’s say that I believe everything that you’ve told me. How does that explain the great strength that you’ve shown today?
“I’ve just watched you pick up person after person, some of them weighing almost twice what you do. You showed no signs that this even inconvenienced you. How is that possible?”
Julia gestured toward her head. “All of us have computer enhancements inside our brains. They’ve been modified so that we cannot be taken over by the computers, but the hardware is similar.
“Without a frame of reference, it’s difficult to explain precisely what it does. Let’s just say that it allows us to process information significantly faster than we were able to do before and in much more comprehensive detail. It also allows us to interface with technology that was built by the Old Empire.
“Unlike most of us, because I was captured by the enemy and transformed, I have significantly greater physical augmentation than you would believe, I think. So do my sister and her husband. None of the rest has anything like this. It’s not common.
“One of the benefits of this change is that I have artificial muscles woven through my biological ones. They grant me significantly more strength than you’d believe possible.
“Picking up the injured and moving them is just one example. I can also run faster and jump higher than anyone you’ve ever seen. As difficult as it is to believe, the equipment inside my body was designed to turn someone into one of the premier warriors of the Old Empire.”
Mordechai pursed his lips. “We’ve heard tales of such. Fantastic warriors that had abilities far beyond those of us with normal bodies. Marine Raiders, they were called. Is this what you speak of?”
Julia nodded. “Yes. I never received any training to be anything like that, but that’s the kind of hardware that’s inside my body. It seems that when the AIs rebelled against the Empire, they took whatever civilians they could catch and forced them to become horrific fighting machines. They used the Marine Raider template to manage that.”
She thought about it for a moment and then asked a question of her own. “If you don’t mind my asking, what have you heard about the Marine Raiders? How is that possible when they all must’ve died out centuries ago?”
The man waved his hand dismissively. “That’s a long story. We’re going to have plenty of time to get to know one another, and I’ll share it with you at some point. I appreciate your candor, and in exchange, I will warn you not to attempt to escape.
“Do not mistake the goodwill you have earned for clemency. While I’m forming an opinion of you and your people, I’m not yet swayed. Take things slowly, because rushing might mean unfortunate things happening to you and your friends.”
That wasn’t the news that Julia had wanted to hear, but it beat being told they were being turned into slaves without a hearing. Even having told him her secret, that didn’t mean that he fully understood the scope of what a Marine Raider could do. That organization had been very secretive about its capabilities and methods.
“What happened to the horde city when we escaped?” she asked. “I seem to get the impression that there was a significant disruption of some kind. Those people killed hundreds of our comrades. I hope we caused them some pain in return.”
“You lost friends,” Jebediah said, his voice low. “I can hear your rage, though you try to hide it. Allow me to compliment you on the quality of your enemies. The horde is a blight upon the face of Terra. Come with me.”
He led her to the far side of the room and gestured for her to look out. They could only get so close because the wind raging outside the building was a real danger. A fall from this height would kill her just as surely as being at the site of the kinetic strike.
Below her, she could see other buildings that had suffered from the blast wave. Off to her right, she could see the wall of the horde city and its makeshift buildings. It seemed to have taken some damage from the kinetic strike as well, but the most noticeable difference was the large pit in the center of the city.
Where the palace had once stood, there was now devastation. It looked as if the cavern that Kelsey had collapsed had drawn it in. The death toll was probably hideous.
The thought made her smile coldly.
“It couldn’t have happened to nicer people,” she murmured. “You’re right about me hating them. They killed one of my closest friends. If I could slit all their throats, I’d do it. My sister wouldn’t understand, but I’m thirsty for their blood.”
Jebediah turned his head and examined her closely before nodding slowly. “That’s the first thing one of you has said that I don’t doubt at all. The horde is filled with those willing to torture and kill. The fact that they live so close to Frankfort sickens me. If we had the forces to do so, I would drive them from this place.”
He gestured with his chin for her to turn back. “It’s time for you to return to your fellows. We will take you to a place where you may rest and recover from your arduous fight. Your doctor will be returned to you unharmed as soon as she has finished her work. You have my word.”
Julia had to admit that she could use the rest. Without her augmentation, she was exhausted. Now with it activated, she was feeling refreshed but famished.
“I don’t suppose we could ask for some food. It galls me to say, but I eat like a horse, and I’m starving.”
The large man smiled slightly. “I will see that each of you is given as much to eat as you desire. The quality is perhaps not as fine as you’re used to, but I assure you it is filling and will sate your hunger.”
“That’s all a girl can ask for.”
While they hadn’t escaped the trouble all around them, she had to leave tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow. None of them had died, so this would have to be chalked up as a win. Once they’d had some sleep, perhaps they’d be able to talk their way into better accommodations or convince their captors that they might be able to work together to further their mutual ends.
She wouldn’t be doing the talking when it came to that, but she was confident that Mertz and Kelsey could sway the old man given enough time. He seemed relatively reasonable, all things considered.
It would have to do.
She joined the others and allowed the guards to lead her away.
7
Once the prisoners had been taken away, and the situation seemed to be in hand, Mordechai returned to his office under the city. As he walked, he considered his new prisoners and the events that had impacted his city today.
As spies went, these people were—at best—incompetent. Not only had they failed to sneak into the area they were supposed to observe, they’d gotten into several large-scale fights with the horde and been massacred.
Then, to escape the horde, they’d used Imperial weapons and destroyed the horde palace, along with the treasure vault underneath the city. He had no idea how many of the ruling class there had been killed, but the number must be significant.
The horde was still roiling and trying to establish new leadership. That seemed to be a bloody process. With any luck, the most powerful factions would be bled dry, and the horde would be crippled for decades to come.
While decisive, that blow apparently hadn’t been the goal of the group that he’d captured. All they’d been trying to do was recover some of their equipment and escape. So what did they do next? They’d walked right into his trap. Not only that, they’d also surrendered immediately.
They then proceeded to tell him all of their deepest secrets. The woman he’d spoken to had to have suspected that the type of implanted hardware she was speaking of was an automatic death sentence. Yet she made no effort to conceal… anything.
As crazy as it sounded, he believed them. He wasn’t certain what their real goals were, because they hadn’t been very specific, but even the destruction of their vessels by the AI lent credence to their words.
If the AI was trying to slip people into the local population, it could’ve come up with a far better plan than what he was seeing. No. Whoever they were, whatever they were hoping to accomplish, they didn’t work for the AI.
Minutes after he’d arrived in his spartan office, a knock brought him out of his reverie. Jebediah stepped through the door and took a seat without being asked. One of the prerogatives of being his son.
“I believe them,” Jebediah said without preamble.
Mordechai raised an eyebrow. It was his son’s job to be suspicious of everything. He was the one always spouting conspiracy theories and plots that had to be foiled. He saw shadows lurking just around every corner.
And, sometimes, they were even there.
Such a statement from a professional paranoiac was… notable.
He leaned forward and smiled slightly. “Did one of them perhaps slip you a drink spiked with some type of drug? Surely this cannot be my Jebediah, the man who trusts nothing and no one.”
His son’s face flushed red. “I understand that I’m not usually so gullible, but after having spoken with Julia, I don’t think that they mean us harm. As insane as their story sounds, I believe that it’s true. They’ve come to Terra on some type of mission to harm the computers.
“We’ll need to question them more deeply to find out for certain that they aren’t pulling the wool over our eyes, but at this point, I doubt that they’re working in the best interests of the machines.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Mordechai said. “This is not a group of warriors. Those most enhanced to do the fighting seem ill suited to do so.”
The two of them discussed everything that they’d seen and heard. Mordechai focused on the story of Julia, the woman captured by merciless computers and forcibly implanted with their hardware.
It was an interesting tale. If only three of the people that they’d caught had full combat enhancements, the twins made no sense. If the intent was to fool someone into thinking that they were harmless, it made for poor policy to immediately reveal your capabilities at the first crisis, particularly when you weren’t actually attacking anyone.
He had mentioned the Marine Raiders to her, and she’d known what he was talking about. His information about them came down through stories. A group of Marine Raiders had once been stationed here in Frankfort. After the rebels struck the Empire down, the Raiders had acted as guerrilla warriors to cause harm to the invaders.
Sadly, they didn’t last for more than a few decades. One day, they went out on a mission and never returned. Undoubtedly, they’d been slain somewhere in a desperate fight.
His grandmother had told him many stories about those men. Some of the incredible feats they’d been capable of and some of the modifications that had been done to their bodies to make them the premier warriors of the Empire.
He could hardly envision a woman as small as Julia being capable of that type of mayhem. Or her sister, for that matter. Frankly, the one called Kelsey seemed to be the more forward of the two. If one of them had the enhancements of a Marine Raider, it would be Kelsey.
Julia made no sense. She asserted that she wasn’t a warrior, and Mordechai was more than comfortable in accepting that as truth.
“I want you to get to know these people better,” he told Jebediah. “I don’t know if I fully believe their story, but I’ve heard enough to allow them the opportunity to try and convince me further.”
He smiled a little shrewdly. “They seem to have a mixture of people. Their doctor obviously has true Imperial medical skills. Some of their people seem like they are technicians or mechanics of some kind. Show them some of the malfunctioning equipment and see if they can assist in restoring it. That way, we learn something about both them and the old technology.”
Jebediah nodded. “I’ll see to it. What of their leader?”
“Leave him to me. As one leader to another, we shall speak. You focus on the twins. If they’re deceiving us in any way, your suspicious nature will be our tripwire. While we may hope that they tell the truth, it’s wiser to plan for finding out that this is all some kind of trick.”
“If it’s a trick, they’re going to wish they’d never tried it,” Jebediah said grimly.
Kelsey slept fitfully and woke groggy. Now that her implants were reactivated, her need for sleep had been reduced, but her body was confused. She didn’t blame it. Her head felt like it was stuffed full of cobwebs.
The “cells” that they’d been placed in were of significantly better quality and spaciousness than she’d expected. Over the years, she’d been locked up in a wide variety of locales, and this one certainly didn’t rank near the bottom of that list.
That wasn’t to say that they were free to roam about. They weren’t. They’d been taken deep underground and placed in a series of rooms behind some substantial doors. She wasn’t sure what the original purpose of this area had been, but it was more than sufficient to keep them penned in.
She had no doubt that she could force one of the doors. But it was only the first of several. They’d hear her, and then she’d walk into a lot of trouble. Common sense told her that they were taking her capabilities seriously and that she just needed to wait.
At least the area had a bathing room with large containers of water and what looked like a gas heater with some kind of vent to take away the fumes. It had been a long time since she’d cleaned up, and she’d been too tired last night to take advantage of the situation.
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She considered waking Talbot up and having him join her, but that would probably lead to other things, and that wasn’t going to be happening in such a public location. The tub was in a small side room blocked off by a curtain made of some type of woven material. Everyone could hear what happened in there, and anyone could walk in at any time.
There was a second room further up in the suite where a primitive toilet was secreted behind a similar curtain. That kept the smell down to a manageable level, but she imagined it was going to have to be emptied regularly to keep the rooms from smelling like a pigsty.
When she had the tub full of hot water, she found what passed for soap and began stripping off her clothes. She’d gotten about halfway through that when the curtain slid aside, and Julia stepped into the room.
The other woman froze and then started to back out, but Kelsey gestured for her to come forward, not bothering to hide her body from the other woman. “I haven’t got anything that you haven’t quite literally seen many times before. The tub is big enough for both of us, so let’s not waste the water.”
The other woman stood there, her eyes wide, for a moment. “How can you be okay with getting naked in front of everybody?”
Kelsey chuckled. “When you have no choice but to armor up in front of marines, you pick up their habits. They don’t segregate by biology, so you lose your body modesty pretty fast. Once you get used to it, it’s not so bad. Nobody is staring at you. They’ve got their own things to be doing. And even if someone does take a peek, what harm is there?”
She finished stripping off her clothes and slid into the hot water. It felt wonderful.
While her doppelgänger continued to struggle with the idea of taking her clothes off in front of her, she started lathering up. Perhaps it would help the other woman if she couldn’t see anything.
Julia sighed, turned her back, and started stripping off her clothes. Even though the other woman had been through a full sequence of regeneration, Kelsey knew Julia had been chewed up pretty hard. There were no scars now, no real injuries, other than the artificial eye. Lily Stone knew her business.
