"You're a duck!" While this statement might have seemed a waste of time to adults, to the duck this was opportunity. He quacked enthusiastically, seeing in her an interest in exploring the odd and out of place.
"Why are you pulling a coffee table around? Is that harness too tight? Where did you come from? I've never seen an animal in the puterverse before, and I've been accessing by myself since I was six and I'm nine now, going on ten. Daddy says I should learn as much as I can 'bout the puterverse, 'cause it OH!"
The girl rose from her knees and went to the coffee table, where a glowing jewel had appeared. She picked it up, then set it back down quickly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't touch things that aren't mine." The duck slipped out of his harness and jumped up on the table, quacking all the while and fluffing his wings.
"I said I'm sorry! It's just that it was so pretty, and ..." she frowned as the duck continued his noise making and feather ruffling. A slow smile spread across her face as she understood. "You're ... you're giving this to me, aren't you?"
For as much as a duck could quack yes, the duck quacked yes. The girl began smiling even more.
"Oh! Thank you! Just wait until I show Mommy and Daddy!" She frowned again. "But how do I get it out of the puterverse?" The duck waited quietly while the girl tried to solve her dilemma, thoughtfully pulling at her lip. They made for quite the spectacle, a duck and little girl at a coffee table in the middle of a busy marketplace. But almost no one paid attention. They were too busy trying to keep normalcy in their lives to deal with the messiness of the unusual.
Finally, the girl smiled. "I know! I'll keep it in a special hiding place in the puterverse, then carry it with me when I'm here. Thank you, Mr. Duck! Thank you very much!" She picked up the jewel and stood. She bowed in thanks once more to the duck, then began skipping away.
She'd gone no more than a dozen meters when suddenly there was a flash, and her aura began to brighten. She stumbled, then caught herself. She stood still, enthralled by the light pouring from her body, then ran back to the duck. Her face was a mixture of excitement and fear.
Just as she reached the duck, he took flight. She jumped up to catch him, just missing him. He flew up high, keeping an eye on the brightly glowing girl who looked up, watching him. He swooped down and flew over her head, again, just beyond her reach. He continued to make low flybys, apparently to torment the girl, who was near tears. Finally, out of anger because the duck was now quacking at her when he flew by, she jumped very high, giving no thought to landing. Immediately, she became airborne, and took after the duck.
It was only a few seconds before she realized what she was doing, but she had already traveled several hundred meters and she squealed with fright. Her squeals very quickly became shouts of joy as she learned to use this exciting new ability. The duck flew up to a high construct, the girl giving chase, laughing all the time. They landed together on a ledge. Far below them they could see the tiny dots and blurs of thousands of people.
"Wow! This is so rammin'! I was about to cry when the jewel broke. And then I was mad when you teased me. But now I'm not sad or mad at all! You gave me the jewel so I could fly! I can't believe I'm really flying! And I know where I am, too!" She started pointing out various landmarks, her heels kicking playfully against the construct. "There's my school's access point, and Daddy's work is over there, and Millie's point is there, and my home's way over there, and the Quantum is that way, and ... and ... this is so 'nary! Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you!"
She reached down and hugged the duck, who struggled and flapped in her enthusiastic grip. She released him and slid off the ledge, plummeting a hundred meters before pulling out of her dive and racing off to explore a suddenly new and fantastic world. The duck was able to follow her bright pinpoint of light for several kilometers before it dashed behind a tall spire, circled once, then continued on toward her home's access point.
It was ten minutes before the duck finally returned and harnessed himself up, and another half-hour before someone decided to investigate him. This time it was a group of ten children, on a field day with a gifted teacher who still saw the wonder in everything around her, who still appreciated the odd and out of place. She laughed and clapped her hands when she saw the duck, seeming to understand the joke.
"Here, children, look at this! It's a duck! In the puterverse! Why don't we find out what he's doing, and why he's pulling a coffee table. Gather close ..."
Interlogue Two
"In the name of our God, to whom all hearts are open and from whom no secrets are hidden, Amen." The pastor's voice was warm, soft, and comforting, in perfect harmony with the ancient desert chapel. Before me was an elegantly simple altar, and above it, an elegantly simple cross.
I knelt at the communion rail beside the pastor and held my folded hands tight to my chest. Bowing my head, I began.
"Have pity on me, O God, in keeping with your mercy. In keeping with your unlimited compassion, wipe out my rebellious acts. Wash me thoroughly from my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. I admit that I am rebellious. My sin is always in front of me. I have sinned against you, especially you. I have done what you consider evil. So you hand down justice when you speak, and you are blameless when you judge.
"Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy."
"The Lord will have mercy," the pastor assured me. "As a Christian brother, I will hear your private confession, sister."
When I finished my confession of the past seven centuries, the pastor stood up slowly, perhaps because of his age, perhaps because the magnitude and uniqueness of my confession weighed heavy on him I would be the first Shard who remembered and repented the sins of her =false personas. False personas, but real sins. Miss DeChant and Princess had called me the soulner, the one who owns the soul. It was way past time I took care of it properly. He place a hand on my shoulder.
"Jesus tells us, his followers, 'Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven.' Our Lord has authority over death, sin, and the devil, and has paid for your sins and the sins of the world by his death on the cross. Do you believe this?"
"I believe. I believe in God, the Father Almighty. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. I believe in the Holy Spirit."
His moved his hands and placed them on my head.
"Because of the promise, and by the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I forgive you all your sins. You are God's dear child, and will receive the crown of eternal life."
I felt a burden lifted from my back, and my heart was filled with comfort and joy.
"Now, Lord, you are allowing your servant to leave in peace as you promised. My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people to see. He is a light that will reveal salvation to the nations and bring glory to your people Israel."
"Go in peace. The Lord will be with you."
Chapter Six
Saturday, December 27, 2679
"Access, Abigail Wyeth, level sixty-four." I requested clearly, and immediately the phase hov was filled with water. The water splashed to the sides and disappeared, leaving the puterverse in its wake. It looked much as I'd left it, though somewhat dimmer and less exciting since I was limiting myself. I knew Chris could access higher than sixty-four, but it suited me to come here. I wanted to make a point.
I had a definite purpose here, so I waved off the duck - not before I noticed he was still dragging the coffee table, though - and bounced off my toes and into the air. I hung in the air a moment, debating which wings to use, then decided on my softer ones. They came out of my back and attached to my arms. As I gained altitude, I left a twinkling energy trail behind me, marking my progress as I swooped and glided toward the Quantum.
As I soared over the landscape, a black wall would occasionally spot me and try to prevent access. The walls at this level were very few and very powerful. I could have activated my UTC key and gone undetected, but chose not to. Not that it mattered. The three walls that did intercept me
just melted away at my approach, turning into a liquid that poured down their obsidian sides, evaporating before the ionic fluid even hit the surface. The effect would be carried all the way down to the lowest access level, and anyone who entered the puterverse in the next few hours before Chris repaired the damage would be in for a rare treat indeed.
I reached the Quantum in less than ten minutes and set down close to the near bank. I looked around, more out of habit than caution. I was alone.
"Time marker, please."
"Sergeant Moss reports units one through four and seven are in transit and will arrive at alpha target in twenty four minutes," a pleasant male voice informed me. "Lieutenant Eyer reports units five, six, and eight are at standby, with departure for beta target in eleven minutes." That last bit I knew, since I was with Jody.
I bounced up lightly again and took flight. This time, however, I chose not to use wings and instead remained vertical as I crossed the Quantum at a fairly quick clip. I'd been foolish to try sneaking over the last time. I'd seen the partial bridge, discovered the hidden access port, and heard all the stories of the agonizing death that struck anyone who so much as touched the awesome data river, and had assumed I couldn't cross. Ah well, live and learn.
I was about halfway when Chris tried to stop me. Sheets of energy, the thickness of a two-dimensional line and moving at light speed, rocketed up from the river, with the purpose of slicing me to ribbons. I had already raised my defenses, and they shattered and scattered as low energy red, blue and purple laser light when they hit my feet. A huge wall of data, racing at me from upstream and twenty meters high, engulfed me from my right side. I continued through, unaffected save for a blurred vision as it cascaded off me. A second, and then third data wave smashed into me, having the same effect, which was none. I suppose I could have just ascended to a couple hundred meters and avoided the whole thing, but like the obsidian barriers on the shore, I chose not to. I wanted to send Chris a message.
He apparently got the message, because he was waiting for me when I reached the far bank a few minutes later. He hadn't changed, and even had his smile firmly planted. Planted firmly and held in place with great difficulty. Even in the puterverse, even with non-organic lifeforms, the eyes remained the windows to the soul. And these windows showed an evil creature that hated me more with each passing moment. .
"I didn't expect to see you again, John," he said just as I landed a few meters from him on the flat black ground. "You left your friends at home this time? Are they dead, or don't you need them anymore?"
"Wrong on three counts. My name's not John. It's Abigail. And Alan and Mike are fine and I do need them. They're my friends, and a girl needs her friends." I paused, wanting to time this out carefully. "I am going to destroy you, Chris."
"You mean like the last time?" He laughed. "Well, let's get started." He raised his arms and his hands began to shimmer as the energy gathered.
"No. Not yet." I killed the energy build up in his hands, then reversed polarity feed in the rest of his body. He flashed from black to bright yellow and was thrown back. He landed hard with a grunt, then scrambled to his feet. I saw the fear in his eyes, and felt my beast coming awake. I could have easily surrendered to it and destroyed him then, but held back. As I'd told him, it wasn't time.
"You bastard! What did you do?"
"Better work on your cussing, Chris. You're using the wrong sexual vulgarities. All I did was channel a packet of UTC into your hands, then flash arced it to the power coupling between you and the ground, using your body as a conduit. It's easy. See?" I sent another packet and he flashed bright yellow again and screamed.
"Did you hear me, Chris? I said UTC. All this time, that teeny gob of binary code you call a brain was been thinking how wonderful it would be to get the secret of stable, bound trinary code from me. Stable BTC? Sorry, that's an oxymoron. But unbound trinary code? Stable as can be. And you're the one who gave it to me, you and LeClaire. He suckered you into waiting for a mock KME to mature. And all the while, the real one, planted outside Miss DeChant's mind, kept developing UTC. Not to give to me, but to not give to you. Understand, Chris? LeClaire had you figured out ever since the day you stole the Class of 51's research. You've been playing the fool for over four centuries." I laughed at him. "Looks like we finally found something you're good at!"
Oh, I had him ticked off! I was using my obnoxious, jarring teen voice tuned perfectly, thanks mainly to my memories and skills as Princess. And, again thanks to her, I knew exactly how to stand and move and inflect my tone to further infuriate him.
He swore at me again, explicitly, vilely. And with that expletive, we both knew I had won, for he had been anatomically correct.
"Hurts, doesn't it, Chris? But don't worry. You've got some time still. If I destroy you now, then millions will suffer from the sudden loss of dependency on you. So I'm going to keep you alive a little longer."
"You have no control over me!" Black tendrils sprouted from the ground to embed themselves into me, but withered and died as they touched me.
"No? Fine. Think that if it makes you feel better. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to use you just like you used me. First, though, I'll need to tell you what I'm going to do, so you take the appropriate actions." He waited silently, hating me but still hoping I would make a mistake.
"I've still got some preliminary things to do, Chris," I continued. "I'm going to take back my friends at the concentration camp. We'll be starting that operation in less than half an hour. While they're recovering, our unit will coordinate the attacks that will begin dismantling NATech Supreme, your little real-world puppet. We don't need to destroy NATech. Just wound it in the right places. Finally, I'll be coming back here to put you out of our misery. So, did you get all that, Chris? Or do I need to use smaller words?"
I'd repeat what he told me, but I'm a lady. Suffice to say his response had very little value as far as content. For setting the mood, however, it was perfect. I'd really rattled his cage. I had hoped there was enough of the real Chris left that he'd act on emotion. He'd obviously done wonders with his application of pseudo trinary code into a living soul, because he still had plenty of emotion. He'd do anything to stop me, which was what I wanted.
"No wonder you can't get a date, Chris," I laughed, using that abrasive, teenager know-it-all laugh. He looked like he was going to explode with hate. If he had had veins, they'd be popping by the dozen. He was spewing out epitaphs, curses and pointless, crude insults. "Such language! And not very original, either. Well, time to go get my friends. Oh, before I go, let me give you something to keep you busy and out of trouble."
My steel wings shot out of my back with a sharp screech and I launched myself into the air. Blacks bolts pounded at me, but had no effect. Ignoring them, I started firing pulses of UTC-shielded plasma into the surrounding area, careful not to hit the Quantum. Everything my plasma stream hit erupted dozens of meters into the air, leaving behind huge chasms filled with molten energy that bubbled and dissolved the cohesiveness of Chris' black region. Satisfied that I'd started enough chaos, I swooped over him, smiling and waving.
"Catch ya' later, jerk! Don't forget to do what you're told!" I called out, and raced off across the Quantum, nimbly dodging his blasts, just to show him I could. When I last looked back, the area was brightly lit with red and brown, and the ion air was crackling with lighting. I hoped I hadn't done too much damage. I really did need Chris to help me if I was going to accomplish all I wanted. And it was a pretty large list.
At least I'd gotten the first item on the list straight. Chris was practically out of mind with fury and hatred for me. If I was lucky, I could count on him being just a little over enthusiastic with his attacks and reactions for the next few hours. If I was lucky.
I terminated access and got out of my seat. Everyone was wisely waiting outside the hov for me to finish. I opened up the rear loading bay and stepped out. Gary Parkins, the pilot, slipped by me to begin the prephase seque
nce. Jody and the others were idly busy, leaning against the other PDQs, checking their equipment, and swatting bugs. I flashed a smile and gave Jody a thumbs up.
"Mission accomplished, Ma'am!"
"Thank you, Sergeant Marks." She motioned an arm and everyone began embarking. "You think he'll be off balance for the duration of the mission?"
"Yeah, that's a pretty safe bet. Can you still see my ears? If they're not burned off, they should be beet red from his language. And in front of an impressionable kid, too!" I laughed - but a pleasant laugh this time.
"Lieutenant?" Parkins' voice called from the cockpit. "Ready in two minutes."
"Thanks, Gary. Suit up and buckle in, Abby. It's show me time!"
"Close," I laughed, following her into the hov and securing the hatch. Behind us, three PDQ attack hovs, identical to ours, were already floating quietly, waiting for us to lead. Beyond them were two empty troop transports. They would be leaving with us, but would travel slower, so as to arrive ten minutes after our initial assault.
I wriggled into my upper body armor and swung my gunbelt around my hips, buckling it securely. While the MacDonald phaser charged, I put on my headset, then took a seat at the terminal. Jody took the copilot's chair. I turned toward the rear to face my troops. With Sergeant Moss setting up the feint in Melbourne with Company B, and Jody coordinating the two forces, I had command of Company C platoons. Sergeant was my new rank, but the job was the same. I tapped the headset, signaling the other hovs to listen in.
"We're leaving in one minute. We do this by the numbers, and we'll be fine. Our primary target is the prisoner barracks. It'll be just after two in the morning, but the camp will be on full alert. Takari, you and Marcy will come in on the surface from the west to draw fire. Scott and I will pop up through the minefield four minutes later near the cutting mills, then swing around to flank Forncheth. Marcy, your people have the northwest and southwest towers. Takari, you've got the middle. Scott takes the other two towers, and we'll take out the center and commandant's quarters. Transports arrive six minutes after second wave. Our people will be heavily suppressed and lethargic. They'll be susceptible to commands, so use a firm voice to get them on board as fast as you can. We should be able to neutralize the camp, but backup from the Melbourne garrison will arrive about twenty minutes after initial engagement. That gives us only ten minutes to load the transports and get them clear."
Final Book Page 12
