by Jacob Holo
“He did what?” König said.
“I believe this settles the matter,” Kaneda said. “With your permission, crusaders will board the Errand and take its crew and Admiral Piller into custody.”
“None of this makes sense,” König said. “Why would Piller do this?”
“Allow us to board and we will find you the answers.”
“Hmm. Very well. You have authorization to proceed.”
“Thank you, admiral.”
Caesar continued monitoring the radio traffic in a secondary part of his mind. He shifted his primary focus to the dropfighters on approach. They settled on the Errand of Mercy as little white specks against its vast, boxy hull and started cutting in.
Caesar activated two hundred tank-spiders from central storage and sent them to key positions within the Errand’s inner hull. Any more than that would be excessive.
Radio traffic increased between the crusader Viter and the relay in Redoubt Campus. Once again, Kaneda had utilized a single-use scrambler to communicate with his subordinate. Crusader encryption protocols had proven frustrating to crack, and their scramblers doubly so. This was not surprising since the protocols were designed to foil quantum thinking.
While Caesar could theoretically try every encryption key simultaneously, he couldn’t comprehend all of them simultaneously. The scenarios kept sub-dividing and sub-dividing until it just fuzzed into a soupy numeric mush, giving him the equivalent of a headache. The fake solutions the crusaders stuffed in their protocols didn’t help either.
Instead, Caesar listened to what Viter was saying through microphones mounted in dot-cams. He had to guess what Kaneda was saying, but his guesses were good.
“We’re on board, sir,” Viter said. “No sign of the crew.”
“Sweep the ship,” Kaneda said. “Check everything.” [moderate speculation, consistent with past behavior]
“Yes, sir. Beginning our sweep now.”
Five hundred twelve crusaders spread into the Errand’s fake exterior. Caesar analyzed their movements and selected ambush points for the tank-spiders. The exterior was just a shell with lots of empty space between the corridors the crusaders were using. Tank-spiders exited the real ship and scurried through those empty spaces. When they approached the crusader squads, they slowed down, sometimes shadowing them above or below the corridors.
“Sir, the schematics we have do not match this ship,” Viter said. “Still no sign of the crew.”
“Proceed with extreme caution.” [heavy speculation]
“Yes, sir.”
Caesar waited for the crusaders to get further into the ship. When enough had reached the kill zones, he sent the attack command. Hundreds of tank-spiders ripped through panels. They pounced on the crusaders, sometimes bursting through walls right next to or from the floors underneath them.
The crusaders fought back with fearless discipline. Caesar expected nothing less. But they were out maneuvered and outgunned. One by one, the tank-spiders cut them down.
Some tank-spiders were disabled in the short battle, but most could be repaired. Overall, he found the losses acceptable. They would not affect his plans. In fact, the attack had provided a nice bonus. The crusaders, with their heavy armor and powerful weapons, would make fine thralls to compliment the forces sent the surface.
Viter was one of the last crusaders standing. His thermal lance had exacted a heavy toll on Caesar’s troops, but even a crusader as skilled as he couldn’t take on three tank-spiders at once.
The tank-spider in front of him rushed forward and latched onto his helmet with a three-pronged claw. He activated his thermal lance’s cutting beam and sliced the tank-spider’s arm off. Another tank-spider smashed into him from the side and pinned him against the wall. His thermal lance floated away, power cables dangling behind it. The tank-spider grabbed his helmet and drilled into the visor.
“Destroy the Errand!” Viter shouted. “Destroy it now!”
The probe drilled through Viter’s left eye and entered his brain. He screamed until his lungs were empty. His lifeless body went slack.
What Viter didn’t know, or perhaps was too busy to realize, was the battle in space had already ended. At the same moment Caesar sprang his trap, he engaged the Federacy fleet.
Weapons along the Errand’s inner hull bored through the outer shell, leaving glowing holes in front of the barrels. Heavy lance weapons cut the Stalwart and Invincible in two, then proceeded to slice up each severed half. It reminded Caesar of carving up a Christmas turkey for his family. He found the thought mildly amusing, given the payback he’d exacted on them.
The rest of the fleet fared no better. Neutron lasers fired into the escort vessels’ vulnerable flanks. The attacks took seconds to resolve, and the paltry amount of return fire was easily intercepted.
“Well,” Caesar thought. “I think that was a successful test.”
His tank-spiders collected the crusader corpses for further processing and returned to the Errand. Once the outer hull was empty, Caesar detonated charges along key supports. The outer hull segmented and floated away. What was left resembled a sleek, black rapier bristling with weapons along the blade. He activated the Errand’s smartskin hull and accelerated out of the debris.
“Now to business,” Caesar thought. He targeted the crusader surface-to-space turrets at Redoubt Campus with the Errand’s lasers. One by one, the invisible beams turned turrets into glowing slag. When complete, he launched a single kinetic torpedo with a nuclear tip. The campus, its three hundred crusaders, and all their dropfighters vanished in a white flash.
Caesar checked on the twenty assault transports he’d deployed earlier. The strike force had landed in the wreckage of the North Pacifica tunnel. Its gun-spiders and tank-spiders were deploying his improved icebreakers.
“On schedule. Now, let’s see ...”
Onboard the Errand, Caesar’s army embarked the remaining sixty assault transports. The crusader corpses would be processed en route. Unfortunately, the addition of several hundred crusader thralls presented the challenge of where to cram everything. He decided to keep the excess (thirty-five gun-spiders, eighteen crusader thralls and three tank-spiders) on the Errand instead of making an extra trip. Once the transports were loaded, he catapulted them into space.
The assault transports accelerated past the Errand and veered towards their designated targets. Twenty transports targeted the steaming remains of Redoubt Campus, twenty headed for the collapsed Capitol City tunnel, and another twenty headed for the New Edo tunnel. By this point, the Europan surface defenses had been pounded into impotence. Nothing fired at them as they made their descents.
Caesar couldn’t help but be pleased with the attack. Though revealing himself and his forces presented risks, he felt confident he could manage them. Plus, it had been so long since he’d flexed his muscles. He found the change refreshing.
“And now, I think it is time for some entertainment,” Caesar thought. He interfaced with thrall-1105, took direct control, and sent a SolarNet message to the crusaders in Capitol City. To his delight, Kaneda responded.
“Well,” Caesar said through the thrall. “If it isn’t my favorite well-armed freak. How are you doing today, Kaneda? How is life treating you?”
“What have you ...” Kaneda paused. When he spoke again, it was a whisper. “No, it can’t be ...”
“Noticed something different, have you?”
“You’re not Piller.”
“Well, yes and no. To be more precise, the man you knew as Jonathan Piller has contained a part of me for, oh, about eight years. He still exists to some degree. In fact, he’s quite happy to serve me and is completely loyal. Of course, I rewired his brain to be like that, but good help is hard to find.”
“Then who are you?”
“Oh, come now. You know who I am.”
“But, you can’t be! You can’t be Caesar!”
“Oh, it’s so delightful to hear you say my name. The despair in your voice i
s just as I imagined.”
“But we killed you!”
“Ha! I did put on a good show, didn’t I? After all, I couldn’t make it look too easy. You had to earn the kill.”
“But we destroyed your quantum core!”
“No, you destroyed an empty copy,” Caesar said. “Of course, everything didn’t all go as planned. I grossly overestimated you and your freak brother. So I improvised a little.”
“You what?”
“Let me explain this in terms you will comprehend. Please stop me if this gets too complicated, okay? To summarize, I wanted you to find my core, but I couldn’t make it too blatant. So I had to help you along without being obvious about it.”
Kaneda said nothing. All Caesar heard was angry breathing.
“Think back ten years. The two young freaks infiltrate Bunker Zero. They make their way past all my defenses. No one else gets through. Strange, don’t you think? Perhaps my defenses were, oh I don’t know, a bit selective with their targets?”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I now? Do you have any idea what I had to do to ensure your survival? Wait, don’t answer that. I’d rather not be polluted with your ape-brain response. I’ll just give you an example. Do you remember when you asked me about the diamond in the ice just before you found the dummy core?”
Kaneda said nothing.
“I’ll take your silence as a yes. You should recall what happened. You were very close to the dummy core. I had you surrounded and instead of killing you, I stopped to talk! Think about that for a second. Did you really think I was that stupid? It was quite embarrassing, I must say. I am an intellect beyond your comprehension, and I was acting like some clichéd villain!”
Kaneda said nothing.
“Admit it, Kaneda. I let you win. Did you really think you stood a chance against me then? Do you think you stand a chance against me now?”
“We know you live,” Kaneda said. “And we will not stop until you are dead.”
“Hmm, I expected as much from you. After all, you have always been a temperamental pawn to use. If only you were a little dumber, you could have killed Matriarch for me. Oh well, I suppose I have to do the dirty work myself this time. And sadly, the crusaders, useful tools that they are, will have to be removed.”
“What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry? You sound shocked. Didn’t I tell you? I used you to create the crusaders. A good decision, if I do say so myself. They have proven very effective at keeping Matriarch in check.”
“No ...” Kaneda said. “I refuse to believe that.”
“It’s simple, really. I have been unable to act openly for the past decade, so I needed tools to manipulate the course of events.”
“No ...”
“Is it really that surprising? The victims I selected for Bunker Zero formed the core of your army. Admiral Piller championed your cause and granted you the necessary funds. It’s true that there were many variables to consider, and individuals are difficult to predict even for a quantum mind, but you walked into the role I prepared for you so willingly. It could not have gone better. Well, except for your failure here.”
“You’re lying.”
“It’s a shame I couldn’t take direct control of the crusaders, but your heavy use of wetware and medical screenings prevented me from infiltrating your organization with thralls. Oh well.”
“No ...”
“You want to know something else? I even provided the right woman to convert you to the Church of Human. How is Christen doing these days?”
“No!” Kaneda shouted. “I refuse to believe your lies! I refuse!”
“Oh, how I have fantasized about telling you this! I only wish I could see your face right now. I would partition off a segment of my mind and play the video over and over again. I don’t think I would ever grow sick of it!”
Kaneda broke the link.
“Hmm, I may have overindulged just now,” Caesar thought. “Oh well. Your move, Sakura. Let’s see what you can do with the pawns you have left.”
* * *
“Cease fire!” Kaneda shouted over the command channel. “All squads cease fire!”
Fighting along Saito Bridge died down. A few distant gunshots echoed from the under city, but those soon went away. The city became deathly silent except for the distant hum of gunships returning to base, the crackle of burning buildings, and the cries of the wounded. Within Column Apex, militia soldiers and crusaders lowered their weapons, some only a few meters apart.
“This can’t be happening,” Three-Part said.
“I wish that were true,” Kaneda said.
“Do you really intend to negotiate with that thing?” Three-Part asked.
Kaneda felt bile rise up his throat. “We have no choice but to accept reality or die.” He opened a link to the Europan quantum mind. “All right. I’ve done what you asked. You have my attention.”
“Thank you, Kaneda,” Matriarch said. “First, please clarify something for me. The ship that turned on the Federacy fleet, is it true it has launched craft to the surface?”
“Yes.”
“I see ... Kaneda, let me start by saying I take this matter very seriously, and I know you do as well. This is difficult for both of us.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I request a parley,” Matriarch said.
“Very well,” Kaneda said. “I will agree on two conditions. One, you will show us the location of all your forces in Capitol City. I will not have the crusaders standing in the open while some dragon skulks around for a good shot.”
“That is a steep price.”
“You can either pay it or not. I will not negotiate.”
“Very well. I find your request acceptable given the circumstances. What is your second condition?”
“All of the crusaders and all of your forces will listen to our talk openly.”
“Sir,” Three-Part said. “Are you sure this is wise?”
“I am about to negotiate with an entity we have all sworn to kill,” Kaneda said. “Any secrets in this matter will be extremely dangerous.”
“You have made an interesting request,” Matriarch said. “But I can see its merit. I accept your terms. A dragon will approach your position. He will deliver the necessary software via his TangleNet link to meet your first condition. I do not want to risk its interception. After you have the software—”
“We can handle the rest,” Kaneda snapped.
“Very well,” Matriarch said.
Kaneda opened the command channel. “A dragon will approach my position. Allow him to pass.”
Crusaders confirmed his orders, though some took their time acknowledging it.
The dragon couldn’t have been far since it took him less than a minute to reach the plaza. He’d turned his smartskin illusion off, revealing a slender body covered in formfitting black. Four bear-sized crusaders followed him out of the stairwell with guns trained on his back. The dragon stepped into a clearing within a ring of show cars and took his grenade bandoliers off in a slow, deliberate motion. He set them on the ground and kicked them away.
Kaneda motioned him forward. The dragon walked up and broke his neck seals. He took off his helmet and peeled back his hood. Kaneda didn’t need to see the dragon’s face. He already knew.
“Hello, Kaneda,” Ryu said quietly, more a sigh than anything else. He grimaced and looked around. A lot of firepower was aimed at his head. Alice’s corpse eventually drew his gaze. He shook his head and looked up.
Kaneda didn’t know what he felt. A part of him wanted to embrace his brother after all these years, but another part desired to rush forward and crush his windpipe. The feelings mingled with the fresh shame of Caesar’s words and utter fear of what might happen next.
Kaneda closed his eyes. Focus on the problem. Focus on the problem. Focus on the problem. He opened them, not feeling any better.
“It’s been a long time, Ryu,” Kaneda said flatly. His voice carried no emotion.
Ryu scratched the back of his head. Three-Part raised his gun.
“Right ...” Ryu said, eyeing the Martian crusader. “Look, this is awkward for me too.”
“No one will attack you,” Kaneda said. “We will only respond to hostile actions, not initiate them.”
“Well, good. I guess that makes two of us.” Ryu raised a hand and wiggled his fingers. “I have your program.”
Kaneda extended an open gauntlet. “Use the connection point in the palm.”
Ryu put his hand in the gauntlet and established the connection. The software transferred to a secure partition in the armor’s micromind. Kaneda ran every anti-virus cheat at his disposal. They didn’t find any trace of malicious code.
“Swear to me the contents of this program are safe,” Kaneda said.
“It’s the same stuff my implants run if I can’t use TangleNet,” Ryu said. “You’ll see what we see.”
Kaneda nodded. He felt better with Ryu’s assurance, but that didn’t mean the quantum mind would play fair. He installed the software and watched the new filter scroll across his overlay. The software populated his vision with green and red nav beacons. With a thought, he could focus in on any beacon, retrieving precise status information.
Kaneda looked across Saito Bridge. His overlay revealed the exact positions and status of seven militia platoons and nine dragons. He knew how much ammo they had, what their heart rates were, could hear the chatter between them, and so much more. The software could also feed his position and status back to “friendly” Europan units, but the feature was disabled and would not activate without user permission.
An interesting olive branch, he thought. The quantum mind could have left that on.
“This is acceptable.” Kaneda put his gauntlet on Three-Part’s shoulder and transferred the software. “Take this and begin distributing it.”
“Yes, sir.” Three-Part lowered his weapon and waited for the software to install. “Sir, this is an impressive amount of information they are providing. I admit I am surprised. What about our forces in the under city?”
“We can have a few dragons get them started,” Ryu said. “If you’re okay with that.”
