Target: Earth (Extinction Wars Book 5)

by Vaughn Heppner

  After that, I don’t know what happened.

  ***

  N7 shook me awake to a pounding headache,

  The AI had hit all of us with a sonic blast at my order. ‘Jericho’ had been the code word. In that area, at least, the AI had functioned one hundred percent.

  N7 had worked fast while we’d all been unconscious. He’d put Saul in the stasis tube. As long as the Abaddon clone was asleep, he couldn’t teleport anywhere.

  Ifness wore a special container suit. He wasn’t in stasis, but he would sleep for a while.

  N7 had divested them of their phase suits and other paraphernalia. These, he had stashed in a special vault.

  I woke up Ella and Rollo. They were in a worse state than I’d been.

  “What happened, Creed?” Ella whispered from on the deck.

  “Come on,” I said. “I have something for that.”

  N7 and I helped Ella and Rollo to the galley, where I served sandwiches and beers, and gave each of them a pill to take away the ache in their heads.

  As we ate, I told them all of what Ifness had told me. The three listened raptly.

  “Do you believe him?” Ella asked.

  “Maybe about three quarters of what he said is true,” I answered.

  “Is that enough for us to trust him?” Ella asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Kill ‘em both,” Rollo said. “Those two are dangerous. At this point, we can’t afford to take any chances.”

  “You have a strong argument,” I said. “I’m tempted. But I could be wrong about them.”

  “Better safe than sorry,” Rollo said, with murder in his eyes.

  “True,” I said. “But we may need them in order to gain the ability to make a dimensional portal.”

  “Clearly, that is our first priority,” Ella said. “Let us see what we can do on our own. They’re our last resort.”

  -64-

  The days passed in a blur.

  The scientists worked on the formulas I’d gleaned from the Plutonian machine with the universal chip. Others tested the pieces of hull armor. Neither gave us any answers.

  I went back to my AI. While it had successfully implemented Jericho, it still couldn’t give me a summary on the Plutonian data. Whatever Ifness had done to the AI, I couldn’t find or fix it.

  I even went in it with my phase suit, but that didn’t help.

  The scientists went into overdrive, having a worldwide, computer-linked symposium concerning the Plutonian formulas.

  According to what I’ve read, once you knew something was possible it was supposed to be easier to figure out how to do it. We had the formulas. We had the best scientists on Earth. What was wrong?

  The scientists had also failed to unlock the secret of the exotic hull armor. They called it adamant armor, but none of them had a clue as to how to manufacture some of our own.

  While all this was taking place, missile factories pumped out PDD missiles. If we faced Plutonian ships again, we’d have a ton of them. The PDD missiles had proven their worth during the Second Battle of Earth. If there was going to be a third battle, we’d kick serious butt.

  I told Diana about Ifness. She automatically distrusted him. Spencer listened but kept his opinion to himself.

  “Could you break him?” I asked the Police Proconsul.

  “Given enough time,” Spencer said, “and if he didn’t commit suicide first.”

  “You think Ifness would kill himself? He doesn’t seem like the type.”

  “I try to cover all possible options,” Spencer said dryly.

  My estimation of the Police Proconsul went up. I also distrusted him more. He could keep his own counsel and he tried to anticipate every angle. I kept hearing trickles of information about the police stranglehold on Earth and Confederation politics. Did that mean Spencer had ulterior motives? There was a rumor he’d tried to install political commissars in the military. If that was true, it showed vaulting ambition on his part.

  I wanted to investigate the rumor, but I simply didn’t have the time.

  Rollo trained more former assault troopers, using the Lucky Thirteen as platoon leaders, increasing our numbers of bio-suited soldiers until we had around two hundred and fifty combatants ready for action.

  Later, I had Rollo come upstairs to the GEV and trained him to use a phase suit. N7 had used mine before; he was the obvious second choice.

  Clearly, I did not intend to give the suits back to Ifness. I viewed them as priceless gifts for our side.

  Finally, though, I realized I needed to wake Ifness. We had PDD missiles. We had ready battlejumpers. We did not have the new adamant hull armor, but the scientists discovered that graviton beams set at a lower frequency than usual would have greater penetrating power. There wasn’t anything we could do yet about the special inhibiter field except pound Plutonian ships relentlessly and hit them with PDD missiles.

  I brought sleeping beauty to Thistle Down as a precaution and had Ella pilot the light cruiser into Luna orbit. The GEV remained in Earth orbit.

  I wheeled the special tube into a large cargo bay. I didn’t want Ifness to feel as if I’d trapped him in a prison cell. I had a band of troopers working on assault boats in the background to give the place a homey feel.

  Then, I revived Ifness while I sat at a table, studying stellar charts and cracking sunflower seeds, spitting the shells into a cup.

  I heard Ifness stir but left him alone. Soon enough, he grunted and levered himself out of the tube.

  “Hungry?” I asked.

  The hitman rubbed his face. He had white stubble, making him seem even older than before. He wore a metallic garment but was barefoot.

  “I’d like to shower and shave,” Ifness said in a rough voice.

  I pointed to a nearby “stall” specially set up for him.

  He gave me a steady look before shuffling to the stall. Two assault troopers quietly took up station there.

  When a clean-shaven Ifness came out, the troopers politely insisted on frisking him. It didn’t seem possible he had anything on his person, but they found razor slivers and a small broken handle with a jagged end that he could have used as a makeshift shiv.

  Ifness returned to the table afterward, sliding his chair as far from me as he could. He hunched over the plate I’d ordered him, gobbling the omelet like a wolf, demanding more when finished.

  I had a trooper bring him more.

  Ifness wolfed that down as well, drank several cups of black coffee and ate twelve slices of buttered toast.

  “How do you keep so slender?” I asked.

  “My hunger has nothing to do with that,” he complained. “I’ve been in stasis—”

  “Not exactly true,” I said, interrupting. “It was enforced sleep.”

  “That only makes it worse,” he said. “I’ve obviously been out for days. I’m ravenous, is all, and thirsty.”

  “Do you want some water?”

  He nodded.

  A trooper brought a jug and a cup. Ifness picked up the jug and began to chug until all the water was gone.

  “More?” I asked.

  He shook his head as he wiped his mouth.

  “Feeling better?” I asked.

  “Feeling double-crossed,” he said. “Where’s Saul?”

  “He’s fine.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  I spit out the rest of the seeds in my mouth. Sipped from a glass of orange juice and regarded him.

  “We need to come to an understanding,” I said. “You wanted sanctuary. You have it. Now, we want a few things in return.”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  I smiled indulgently. “First, you have to convince me you really want to help us. If you can’t, you’re going back to sleep.”

  “No. That’s a bad tactic. You’re not giving me any choices. If you force me to help you, how can you trust what I say?”

  “I don’t trust you, and I doubt there’s anything you can do to make me trust
you.”

  “Then we’re at an impasse.”

  “Not necessarily,” I said. “You can help us, and I’ll pay you for it, but I’m not going to do anything with or for you that demands I trust you in any way.”

  “What will you pay me for helping you?”

  “What’s your price?” I countered.

  “To begin with, I want my phase suits back.”

  “Nope,” I said. “I’m keeping the suits. They’re the Curator’s property after all, and I’m still his agent.”

  Ifness’s filmy green eyes burned for just a moment. “You’re using the honesty tactic,” he said, while hooding his rage. “But that’s all it is, a tactic. You plan to kill me after I’m no longer of use to you.”

  “Why should I do that?”

  “Because I’m more dangerous than you are,” he said.

  I raised a sardonic eyebrow. He was my prisoner. I wasn’t his.

  “You got the drop on me,” he said. “That proves nothing.”

  “On the contrary. That proves everything. Now, what’s your price?”

  “Saul’s release, as a start,” he said.

  “Out of the question,” I said. “I’ll never trust an Abaddon clone.”

  “Hmmm…” Ifness said, studying me. “You say that with barely concealed hatred. Your fight with Abaddon seared you.”

  “What Abaddon did to Jennifer seared me,” I said with genuine emotion.

  Ifness watched me closely, nodding shortly. “I see. I made a mistake. You don’t want to kill Jennifer.”

  “No.”

  “You want to save her somehow.”

  “Yes,” I said quietly.

  He snorted and shook his head. “I made a critical miscalculation. She hates you, Creed. I assumed that you must hate her just as much.”

  Ifness scrunched his brow, seeming to cudgel his mind for an answer.

  “I feel guilty for what happened to her,” I said.

  His head swayed back as if in shock. Could that be genuine surprise?

  “You love her,” he said. “That’s what this is all about.”

  I shrugged.

  He chuckled softly. “An effectuator in love,” he said. “Boy, in our line of work, that’s not an emotion you can afford.”

  “That’s not an emotion a person can afford to be without,” I countered.

  “Oh, boy,” he said. “You really don’t understand what you are. You think you’re better than me? No. You’re a disaster waiting to happen.”

  “What’s your price?” I asked, already tired of his psychoanalysis.

  He seemed to become all business. “After we defeat Jennifer and company, I want a Plutonian cruiser, a crew and permission to set any coordinates I want with a dimensional portal.”

  “Your price is reasonable,” I said. “But I have to capture Jennifer first, not just defeat her.”

  Ifness shook his head. “You might not capture her. She might slip away, or she might—she’s deadly, Creed. You really have no idea. Killing her is the smartest play for all of us. Trying to capture her while taking out the Plutonians—forget about it.”

  He had a point, and Ifness wasn’t responsible for my success. I was buying the opportunity from him.

  “Just for the record,” I said, “is Jennifer in the pocket universe?”

  “Last time I checked she was.”

  I nodded. “I accept your price. I’ll pay it.”

  “Great. Now, what do you want from me?”

  “Tell us how to make a dimensional portal and what to expect once we reach the pocket universe.”

  “I’m going to need a guarantee first.”

  “What guarantee can I possibly give that you’ll accept and I can grant?”

  He looked me over, rubbed his leathery chin and finally grinned. “Give me your solemn word.”

  I could hardly believe it. A liar would doubt another’s word, wouldn’t he? Had Ifness been telling the truth the whole time? Or was he even more cunning than I realized?

  If I were in his place, I’d play along until I got an opportunity to make a move for what I really wanted. He’d said before that he wanted to kill Jennifer.

  The truth was that I didn’t know what to believe.

  “You have my word,” I said, “provided you play straight with us the entire time.”

  He thought that over, finally nodding. “Done,” he said.

  “Let’s shake on it.”

  We both stood and shook hands. Ifness had a surprisingly powerful grip. I hadn’t expected that.

  “First things first,” I said, “the dimensional portal.”

  He sat down and gave me instructions on how to fix my AI. It sounded easy enough. How had he known to bollix the AI in the first place?

  “I’ll try that as soon as I’m done with you,” I said.

  “Sure.”

  “What are we going to find in the pocket universe?” I asked.

  “Well,” Ifness said, “you’re never going to believe me, but here goes…”

  -65-

  “Are you familiar with the concept of a pocket universe?” Ifness asked

  “A little,” I said.

  “More than a little,” Ifness chided. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Jennifer, remember? She told me about your expedition to the Karg space-time continuum.”

  “Then why ask me about the pocket universe?” I asked, exasperated. “Are you trying to test me?”

  “Why bother asking if you’re going to supply your own answer?” Ifness replied.

  I silently counted to three before saying, “It’s a pocket universe…”

  “A pocket universe is just like a different space-time continuum in this one particular,” Ifness said. “The properties of the other reality can and often are different from this one.”

  I nodded.

  “The Plutonians were originally from a different space-time continuum,” he continued. “I don’t know when or how they crossed over to ours. I’m sure they made the crossing long before Abaddon ever went to the Karg reality. Maybe the Plutonians’ coming goaded Abaddon to try a cross-continuum exploration. But like I just said, I don’t know and haven’t been able to find out.

  “It isn’t like I’ve been trying real hard, either,” Ifness said. “Jennifer doesn’t like much speculation on the subject and the Plutonians almost broke their conditioning when asked about it.”

  “Wait,” I said. “The Plutonians are conditioned?”

  Ifness eyed me.

  I closed my mouth. I’d given away some of my ignorance. That was a bad move. The less I said, the less Ifness could deduce what I knew and what I didn’t already know.

  “Yes,” Ifness said, in answer to the question. “I’ll give you a freebie to show you my honest intent. We found the dimensional-portal tech on Acheron. We found plenty of what we needed on that old world. If we hadn’t gone to Acheron first…”

  Ifness shook his head.

  He waited for me to comment on what he’d just said.

  “You can ask,” he finally said.

  “What, in particular, can I ask?”

  He sighed. “You keep thinking I’m stupid or not as bright as you. That’s a mistake, Creed. I’m five times smarter than you are. There’s only one way you outclass me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You have shifty animal cunning. Jennifer warned me about that, but I guess I thought my natural heightened intelligence would help me run circles around you. Granted, you’d never figure out how to form a dimensional portal without me, but your shifty animal cunning—”

  “Enough about that,” I said, interrupting.

  “It must be a lowbrow ability,” Ifness mused, “the reason I don’t have it.”

  I drummed my fingers on the table.

  Ifness chuckled. “You can’t take a joke, can you, Creed?”

  “Ha-ha,” I said, flatly.

  “All right already,” he said. “Here’s what you’re dying to know. How did we defeat the guardi
an machine in orbit around Acheron?”

  “Earl Parthian helped you.”

  “Hey,” Ifness said, jerking back. “You’re not going to make this bloody simple, are you?”

  “What are you babbling about now?”

  He smiled. I must have blushed, because he chuckled next.

  “You have the low animal cunning,” I said. “That was all smoke meant to set me up.”

  “Maybe you’re not quite as dumb as I thought,” he muttered.

  He’d wanted to know if I known about Purple Tamika. Well, now he knew. I did. I wished he would stop playing hitman games and just get on with it.

  “You went to Earl Parthian with Holgotha?” I asked, trying to get him back on track.

  “Indeed. The Forerunner artifact has been critical to all of this. The galaxy-ranging teleportation is a fantastic power. But you already know that, don’t you?”

  “I’ve worked with Holgotha before, yes.”

  “You’re a pip, Creed. Why you work for the Frist Guardian is beyond me. You should be Galaxy Emperor by now. Instead, you’re an errand boy.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “You’re so smart, and you’re the hitman for a madwoman.”

  “First things first,” Ifness said. “Remember, I’ve been stuck on the Fortress of Light for a long time. Been out of commission, you could say.”

  “You really expect me to believe that part of your story?”

  “You don’t?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

  I waited. I was tired of this cat and mouse game.

  Ifness shrugged. “We used Holgotha and overawed Earl Parthian. The artifact also helped defeat the Acheron machine and helped us locate the hidden caches on the ancient world. Soon thereafter, the new Emperor-to-be took his cut of the planetary treasure and we took ours.

  “Jennifer began the DNA stamping right away, using the accelerator to form adult First Ones. The Acheron implants seemed to hold, and she has the greatest soldiers in history.

  “How many adult clones are there?” I asked.

  Ifness shrugged. “I’d say an easy sixty.”

  I shuddered. “That’s madness. She’s created sixty Abaddon clones?”