Syndicate Wars: Empire Rising (Seppukarian Book 5)

by George S. Mahaffey Jr.

  He’d passed through this door before. And now that he knew who the Potentate was, there was no doubt that he’d programmed safe passage for Quinn as well. There was no way was he going to allow what he saw as his own salvation die at his own hands.

  “You sure you wanna do this?” Quinn asked. “We can try another way.”

  “There isn’t one,” Cody said. “All that we’ve done has led to this. We didn’t start out knowing it. And neither did the Potentate. He’s been searching for at least decades to find a way to create the world and outcome he desires. But we’re here. And we owe it to all our past selves and maybe even our future selves, if we fail, to risk everything.”

  “Okay,” Quinn said. “Didn’t need a sales pitch. Just wanted to know if you want to go through with it or not.”

  Cody chuckled. “Sorry. Was overthinking it. Hell yeah! Let’s see if we’re gonna die in an instant or save the world.”

  Quinn smiled, but her eyes betrayed that she was nervous. Not afraid, but anxious. It wasn’t that she could die. It was that they could fail. And her Sam wouldn’t have peace or be safe. Cody could tell what she was feeling, but knew better than to mention it.

  “Who goes first?” Quinn asked.

  “We could flip for it,” Cody offered.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Hayden said. “Get on with it. It might work. It might not. But thinking about it won’t make a difference.”

  “We’re talking about the possible end,” Cody said. “Can’t we at least get a minute, just in case?”

  “No,” Hayden said. “We don’t have one. They know we’re here, and if you don’t get in there fast, we die out here too. Don’t make me push you through.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Cody said.

  Hayden’s raised eyebrows told Cody that he would indeed do so if that meant accomplishing the mission. The only thing not frightening about that was that Cody knew Hayden wished it were him instead who could take the risk. He would never ask anyone to do a thing he wouldn’t. A good man and a good Marine. And Cody felt compelled to express that thought.

  “Listen,” Cody said, to Hayden. “I just want you to know how much we appreciate everything you’ve done. And—”

  But Hayden cut him off and grabbed his shoulders. “I meant it,” Hayden said. “I will throw you through that shield if you don’t make up your mind and take action.”

  “Just wanted to say goodbye,” Cody said. “Sorry.”

  He turned to Milo. Without a word, they hugged.

  Milo sauntered over to Quinn. She hugged him. “See you soon,” she said.

  “I know you will,” Milo said. “Good luck.”

  Quinn looked back to Cody. “Come on. It won’t make a difference whether we know the outcome or not. We just need to do it.”

  Cody nodded and took her left hand. “Here goes nothing.” And they leapt through the shield into the unknown.

  THE OTHER SIDE was not what Quinn had expected. In her mind’s eye, there would be control panels, incredibly advanced tech on every inch of the walls, and a full outfit guarding the most important hub in the Syndicate.

  Instead, they’d found themselves smack dab in the middle of a simulation room. Not a simulation room for entertainment or combat training. But for viewing something. What exactly, they didn’t know yet.

  “Is this a joke?” Quinn said. “Shouldn’t there be some kind of a fully operational team inside here, handling what’s supposed to be the most vital node the Syndicate has?”

  “No,” Cody said, with his mouth gaping. “This is familiar to me.”

  “You sure?” Quinn said. “What if it’s a trick?”

  “It’s not. We need to find out what this room shows before we’ll be able to figure out how to use it.”

  “Time’s wasting,” Quinn said, and marched toward the walls. She began running her hands along them. Trying to find some kind of device, handle, or button that turned the thing on. But all she felt was a smooth pearl-like surface, accompanied by a burning smell. “You smell that too, right?”

  “Yeah,” Cody said.

  “And you’re not alarmed?”

  “Like I said. This is familiar. Even the smell.” He began pacing around the room but not touching anything.

  “Maybe it’s voice activated,” Quinn said.

  “I don’t think so,” Cody replied. “We’ve been talking.”

  “Maybe we’re not saying the right thing. Turn on,” she said to the ceiling. But nothing happened. “Could be a password. Quinn. Samantha.” Still nothing. “Come on. We can’t just stand around. I mean we didn’t die jumping through the shield. So we’re supposed to be here. Something’s gotta give.”

  Cody got a look of knowing in his eyes. “What did you just say?”

  “We can’t just stand around,” Quinn said. “We didn’t die, right?”

  “No, after that.”

  “Something’s gotta give.”

  “Yeah,” Cody said. “Exactly.”

  Quinn tilted her head and shot Cody a questioning glance like he might have been losing it. What if his biometrics allowed him in so his body could be trapped, and the Potentate could take over and transfer his mind?

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Quinn said.

  “I would hope not,” Cody said. “But we’re right where we’re supposed to be, and something’s gotta give.”

  “I don’t mean to be the one to criticize at a moment like this, but you mentioned that already. And it didn’t make any more sense the first time around. We’re stuck in here now, and we have no idea what we’re supposed to do.”

  “Not in here,” Cody said. “Something’s gotta give in this war. In this time loop. We forced this moment. We made it so the Potentate couldn’t go back anymore. This is it. No more chances. But it’s not what happens in here that matters. It’s what’s going on all around us. Everything’s different from before. Something has given. And we need to know what that is.”

  “No kidding,” Quinn said. “But your scientist side is coming on a little too strong right now. We need more immediate solutions, if you catch my drift.”

  “We’re not drifting anymore. We’ve been attacking this war with a linear mindset. While the Potentate thinks in circles, backwards and forwards, and over and over again. He’s been destroying himself and his own world to save, like a snake devouring its own body, looping back on itself. He’s an ouroboros.”

  “Still need to know what to—”

  But an image formed in the middle of the circular shaped room. The image of the ouroboros. Only it was three dimensional and looked alive. It hissed at them, yet, kept gnawing at its own tail. Too busy with its current tasks to address them just now.

  STILL, Quinn backed up and raised her rifle. “I think you should move away from it, Cody.”

  Instead, Cody slid up next to the snake. He reached his hand out to within an inch. Hesitated. Then touched it. The snake was real, but also flickered, which betrayed that it was a holographic image.

  “I think I get it now,” Cody said. “It’s real. What we see in here is real. Or was, or will be. We’re not seeing a simulation. This isn’t a simulation room. It’s a keyhole into the outside world, the past, and the future. We’re on the other side of a keyhole. And we can see from here.”

  “That’s really cool,” Quinn said. “But how does that help us take control of the Syndicate without destroying it?”

  “Not sure yet,” Cody said. “But at least we’ll know more if I give this thing a whirl.”

  “Worth a shot,” Quinn said. “But keep in mind that we don’t have time to get lost meandering in here, no matter how interesting or cool it is to your oversized brain. We need to find what we need to find and get moving.”

  “Agreed,” Cody said. “Now let’s figure out how to make this new toy work. Maybe we can even see how the rest of our lives play out. Could be interesting to see ourselves.”

  With that comment, the holographic projector whirred
to life again, and a human shape began to form in front of them.

  28

  A GLIMPSE

  “Motherfucker, it worked!” Cody said. “All we have to do is express what we want to see.”

  “Maybe,” Quinn said. “Or maybe it’s feeding us what the Potentate wants us to see.”

  The second image that Cody and Quinn saw startled Cody. It was him, but with scarring on his face and a missing left hand. His eyes looked angry and vengeful. It didn’t really feel like him at all. But he knew it was real. Likely an alternate reality, or if time travel didn’t create offshoot and parallel universes, maybe a version of himself that no longer existed at all. Yet, he could feel that it was real. And the motions his other self was going through felt almost like a memory.

  “Either way,” Cody said. “It’s better than finding out nothing. Right?”

  “Unless we’re manipulated into something we don’t want to do,” Quinn said, pleading.

  “In all likelihood, that is happening. And it may be a good thing. What if this all started for a good reason? But it got out of hand.” Cody moved closer to the image of the different version of himself. “And now we can put it back on course.”

  He needed Quinn to believe in him. He’d been here before. Seen the devastation and complete annihilation of humanity. They had to take a chance that there was a way to save Earth from the larger threat outside their solar system and yet take control of the Syndicate. They needed to believe, because anything was better than losing everyone. Especially, in his eyes, Quinn and Samantha. Once he admitted that to himself, though, he began to realize how he could have gotten to the point the Potentate had. He had become willing to go to any lengths to save the ones he loved. And if his suspicions were correct, the Potentate had too.

  “What did I do?” Cody said.

  The holographic projector seemed to respond to his question and began playing out Scarred Cody’s actions from an alternate reality. Scarred Cody swiped at control panels, which turned from blue to red and began flashing.

  Syndicate Soldiers stormed into the control room and leveled their weapons at him. He only laughed. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said.

  The Soldiers began to cast glances at each other. They were hesitating.

  “The Potentate gave me too much control,” Scarred Cody said. “He thought I was like him. That I’d want the same outcome. But I don’t. I’m willing to die to stop this.”

  The Potentate entered the room, and the Soldiers bowed their heads in deference. He slid up to within an inch of Scarred Cody’s face and leaned down. “What have you done?”

  Cody smiled. But it was a dark smile. “Changed the security programming on all Syndicate weapons. I used the self-destruct mechanism that you had me develop while you were busy killing humans, and I reconfigured it to activate when firing at humans.”

  “I’ll fix it,” the Potentate said, in his raspy sandpaper voice. “You know that I can.”

  “Not in time,” Scarred Cody said. “I alerted the Resistance and the escaped Marines. They’re already onboard and fighting their way through Syndicate Soldiers who can’t even fire back or they die themselves.”

  “You have no idea how idiotic you are,” the Potentate said. “You’ve killed us.”

  “I’m fine with that,” Scarred Cody said. “Completely fine with that.”

  “I mean all of humanity,” the Potentate said. “Our enemies are coming. They’re always different. Whichever one sees us open to attack first will come this time. They always come. They always win. They always destroy everyone.”

  “You’re anything but human,” Scarred Cody said.

  “You’re mistaken,” the Potentate said, and began pulling his mask off, but the Syndicate Space Station rocked from an explosion. “It’s too late. They’re here.”

  SCARRED CODY SMIRKED. “I said that already. The Resistance is winning.”

  The Potentate left the control room with no further words and headed in the direction of the Temporal Ship. The Syndicate Soldiers wishing to live followed the Potentate. Leaving Cody alone in the control room.

  After a moment of confusion and staring at the empty space where the Potentate had been, Cody fired up the holographic projector. “Show me what’s happening outside.”

  The Artificial Intelligence inside the holographic projector carried the sound of a woman. Quinn. Scarred Cody acted as if he was used to it. “It’s a more primitive invader than the Syndicate,” the AI said. “They’re firing non-ballistic, floating missiles at the Station and the Syndicate Ships.”

  “Then why are they making it through our missile defense?” Scarred Cody screamed.

  “Because of how primitive they are,” she said. “With our advanced defenses and technology, the Potentate didn’t account for being attacked by a lesser invader.”

  “Can’t we just launch a barrage at the missiles? Knock them out before they hit?”

  “Attempting now,” she said.

  “Wait,” Scarred Cody said, but it was too late. The barrage had been unleashed.

  He waited with bated breath. “What’s happening?”

  “I’m afraid the barrage is disarming itself.”

  Scarred Cody stumbled backward. Insane vertigo. “How is that possible?”

  “The invader is humanoid,” the AI said. “Different from humans, but humanoid. Your worm virus prevents our weapons from attacking them. And—”

  Scarred Cody hung his head as he interrupted her. “And my worm initiated our self destruct sequence.”

  “Yes, Cody. You should go.”

  Scarred Cody began to raise his forearm. “One more thing.”

  “Of course.”

  “If I hadn’t set our weapons to self destruct when attacking humans or humanoids, would we be able to fight back?”

  “With high probability, yes.”

  “Calculate the percentage difference in DNA from the invaders and anyone from Earth.”

  “Complete, Cody,” the AI said. “There is a point zero zero zero two percentage difference stemming from their natural habitat. They seemed to have crossbred with another type of mammal at some point.”

  “Is it enough of a difference to change the self-destruct mechanism. To prevent the Syndicate from attacking humans but still fight back against the invaders?”

  “One hundred percent certainty.”

  Scarred Cody let out a breath he’d been holding. “Download it into my wristband.”

  “Complete, Cody. What are you thinking?”

  “I’m going to try again.”

  With that, he swiped at the surface of his wristband, and his body swooped into a vortex. A long beat. After a few more seconds, he reappeared in almost the exact same situation. But this time, his face was more scarred than before. And the scars were more exact and less chaotic, as if they’d been a punishment.

  He quickly moved through the control room, all alone once more. Watching an image of the Potentate’s Temporal Ship escaping. “Show me the invaders.”

  An image of thousands of primitive looking ships that were highly stylized with hieroglyphic-like symbols appeared in the holographic projection. It was as if a culture that had developed a symbolic language like the ancient Egyptians, and ships made of material that could be easily destroyed by natural phenomena in space like the Vikings, had evolved and come to raid Earth.

  “Target the ships with precision,” Scarred Cody said. “No unnecessary use of weapons. There may be other invaders.”

  A single missile launched for each ship. No wasted ammunition. But the missiles missed in the openness of space.

  “What happened,” Scarred Cody demanded. “Why didn’t the precision guidance work?”

  “Impossible to lock on. They’re undetectable because they lack a propulsive signature,” the AI said.

  “Launch the barrage,” Scarred Cody ordered.

  Missiles filled the space between the Syndicate Ships and the primitive fleet. It looked like one
giant hammer heading straight for the enemy. Scarred Cody began to breathe with exhilaration. This was it. He’d finally done it.

  But then the unexpected happened. The missiles and nukes bounced right off the primitive ships as if they were nothing more than metal sticks being thrown.

  “I’m afraid the missiles did not arm, Cody,” the AI said, in Quinn’s voice. “The enemy ships registered as nothing more than floating debris.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “The ship materials failed to register as—”

  Scarred Cody cut her off. “Never mind. I just need to stop them.”

  “They’re attacking in full force now, without hesitation.”

  “Deploy the EMP!” Scarred Cody screamed.

  “I’m afraid that won’t work either,” the AI said. “It would be like trying to use an Electronic Magnetic Pulse to shut down arrows and spears.”

  “I failed again,” Scarred Cody said. “Maybe I’m not the one to stop this. Maybe I’ll never save them.”

  “You will, Cody,” the AI said, with her emotionless voice.

  “Please stop talking,” Scarred Cody said. “You sound nothing like her. You lack her soul.”

  “I do not have a soul,” the AI said. “I am programmed.”

  “I said to stop talking.”

  Silence filled the chamber. Scarred Cody paced back and forth as primitive missiles began rocking the Syndicate Space Station. A little damage at a time. This was going to be like being tied down and slowly beaten to death by a dull piece of wood. But it would succeed. And Earth would fall again.

  Scarred Cody slumped against the wall as the holographic projection dissipated. Head in his hands. “He was right,” Scarred Cody said. “I hate him, but he was right.”

  An incoming signal flashed through the holographic projection. It was the Potentate’s masked face. Decorative, yet menacing.

  “You still don’t understand,” the Potentate said. “I’ve been through all of this before. I’ve tried everything. Only I know the way. I was the first. So it must be me who attains what we desire. Not you.”

  Along with the projection and the Potentate’s masked face, Scarred Cody vanished from sight.