by Amy DuBoff
“Trisha, you have a serious issue with government stability right now. I can’t fix this alone.”
As Karen had dug into the present state of affairs, she’d made an alarming discovery. While a number of the government officials were still physically present, many had never been in full control of their actions for the duration of their tenure. Far more people than she’d been led to believe. When Luke had asked her to look into the testing, she never dreamed that almost everyone would be flagged as a potential risk.
Aside from that concern, there was the political component. When she volunteered for the assignment, her understanding was that there were frontrunner candidates already lined up to take over as chancellor. Now she wasn’t sure anyone wanted the job.
They want me to make recommendations for new leaders, but how many of these people truly know how to do their jobs—or even want this as a career? She wasn’t sure how to proceed.
“We didn’t mean to mislead you,” Trisha continued. “If there are people you can trust, bring them in.”
“You’re missing my point. I shouldn’t be the person leading this effort in the first place. And how can you possibly trust me when I’ve switched allegiance?”
“Because you changed your views in the interest of bringing our people together.” Trisha looked her in the eyes. “That’s the mindset we need right now.”
“But still.” Karen massaged the bridge of her nose. “All right, look, we need to gather a better baseline for what people remember while Reya was in control.”
Trisha’s eyebrows drew together. “Reya?”
“That was the name of the presence controlling Chancellor Heizberg,” Karen explained.
The other woman’s face drained. “I didn’t know it had a name.”
“That’s how it identified itself, anyway. We’ve only encountered one other being like it. That one could only control one person at a time, except for short bursts in which it could influence others to perform a specific task.”
“But Reya was…?”
“That’s what we need to find out,” Karen continued. “We know it was using Heizberg as a hub, but what was the nature of the control over the others? I have a list of three dozen people here who held the most senior positions in Nezaran government, and all admitted to having at least one memory gap that suggests they were subverted by Reya. Did they ever actually do their jobs, and do them well? Or did their political prowess come from Reya’s influence? I can’t begin to make recommendations about anyone’s fitness to lead until I know more about what was done to them.”
“So what do you need? How can I help?” Trisha’s eager tone had a hint of desperation that concerned Karen, but she’d take that enthusiasm over indifference.
“I guess we need to have interviews with some people and see what insights they can share,” Karen responded. And, hopefully, someone will express interest in their job.
“Do you have anyone in mind, or should I make some selections?”
Karen looked over the personnel list again. “Bring in Garett Steckler and Fiona Wyles, then select three others at random.”
Trisha nodded. “One at a time or in a group?”
“Individually,” Karen instructed. “I’ll wait here.”
“I’ll send Fiona in first,” Trisha acknowledged and departed to summon the requested people.
Karen rose from the table and turned around to gaze out the window at the city below. People were still going about their lives like nothing had changed. Would they be so calm if they realized no one was really running this world right now?
She knew she’d be freaking out. If she weren’t in the inner circle regarding the matter, she’d consider cutting her losses and moving somewhere with less drama, where she could live out a peaceful life. But, people were counting on her. Not to mention she was beginning to suspect she was addicted to the drama.
Five minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. A petite woman with dark complexion entered.
Karen recognized her from the photo in her personnel file. “Hi, Fiona, my name is Karen Carter. I’ve come from Alucia to offer my support while you rebuild the Nezaran government.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about you,” Fiona replied. She closed the door behind her.
“Word travels quickly,” Karen said with a smile.
“There’s been a lot to talk about.” Fiona slowly walked to the table and placed her hands on the back of a chair. “What’s the particular matter you wanted to discuss with me?”
Karen mirrored Fiona’s stance on the opposite side of the table. “I wanted to learn more about your past work experience, and your aspirations going forward.”
Fiona raised an eyebrow. “To see if I’m qualified to do my job?”
“I’m not here to pass judgment on qualifications. But I do want to make sure people land where they want to be.”
“That’s an interesting distinction,” Fiona said, tracing the seam in the fabric along the top of the chair with her index finger. “I always considered qualifications to be the most important factor when selecting someone for a job.”
“Skills and experience don’t carry the same weight when the person isn’t committed to their position.”
“I’ll give you that.” Fiona evaluated her. “Let’s cut to the chase. You want to know if I’m interested in the chancellor’s position?”
She’s certainly sharp, but I’m not getting the warm fuzzies from her. This might not be the kind of person we need right now.
Karen flashed a curt smile. “That isn’t the reason for this meeting. I only wanted to discuss your time working with the chancellor.”
“Ah.” Understanding passed across Fiona’s face. “Was I myself, or was I subverted?”
“That’s the heart of it, yes.” Karen gestured to the chairs for them to sit.
Fiona pulled back the chair she had been standing behind and lowered herself with the grace of a dancer—or, at least of someone who knew how to put on a good show. “Self-report doesn’t make for an ideal evaluation tool.”
“It doesn’t,” Karen agreed, “but that’s all we have. I hope that people are willing to be honest, for the sake of creating a good future on Nezar.”
“You won’t find any opposition from me. To that end, I’ll tell you that I shouldn’t be chancellor.”
Didn’t see that coming. Given the woman’s previous statements, Karen had been certain Fiona was interested. “Why not?” Karen asked.
“For the very reason you’re using nonverbal tactics to equalize the power balance between us, consciously or not. I have enough self-awareness to recognize that I’m not the kind of person who sets others at ease. You’re on the defensive. I’m an acquired taste, and that’s not the right person to have as the face of a planet.”
Karen chuckled. “I’d argue that level of understanding is precisely what would make you a good leader.”
Fiona shrugged. “Perhaps. But to your point earlier, I don’t want the job.” She smiled. “Besides, you said that’s not why we’re meeting.”
“Right.” Karen refocused on the task at hand. “Your time with Chancellor Heizberg.”
“I was something like an enforcer for her,” Fiona continued. “She liked my brand of bite. Now, to answer the question you keep talking around, I was me, to the best of my recollection. I’m certain she influenced me now and then, but I can trace the logic of my actions back to my own thoughts and feelings. I was convinced I was doing good work.”
“And what was the work you did as an enforcer?” Karen prompted.
“When others needed help with being convinced of their own tasks, I would pay them a visit. I think Heizberg liked to send me because I don’t look intimidating, and I could catch people off-guard when I went to put them in their place.”
“Is there any particular matter where people needed extra convincing?”
Fiona’s show of composed strength cracked the slightest measure. “Yes, there was something. A facility th
at we weren’t supposed to talk about.”
Karen perked up. “What was it?”
“I don’t know what they did in there, but it was more common than not for people to spend one day there and not want to go back. I’d need to convince them that it would be a mistake to abandon their post.”
“Did anyone ever say why they didn’t want to go back?”
Fiona shook her head. “I never went there myself—Heizberg made sure I didn’t. But the workers would talk about the pit and how they didn’t like how it got inside their heads. I thought they were crazy at the time.”
A chill washed over Karen. “Where is this facility located?”
“Outside of town, midway between the capitol building and the city. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but I hear there’s a superstructure underground.”
“How did you convince people to work there?” Karen asked tentatively.
Fiona crossed her arms. “I used Heizberg’s words, not mine. The meaning is pretty different, now that I know what was really going on. I was told to tell them that if they didn’t go of their own accord, they would be compelled to comply.”
“And they listened to that?”
The other woman shook her head slowly. “Not always. I mean, I was good at my job, and it’s a small enough place that people typically needed to follow the work. But when they didn’t listen… When I saw them again, they were different. That was what true subversion looks like.”
“Has anyone been to that facility since Heizberg’s death?”
“No.”
Karen fixed Fiona in a level gaze. “I know I don’t need to spell out the ‘why’ for you. Will you go there with me?”
Fiona nodded. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.”
Karen activated the comm controls via the tabletop. “Trisha, cancel those other meetings. We’re going to take a field trip.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was the times when travel took Ava to places away from Annex Gates when she was reminded that space was really big. And empty.
Ava paced in front of the kitchen window while she waited to catch their first view of what had appeared to be a dark spot on the system scans. She was one hundred percent certain they’d find something there, but it was anyone’s guess what it might be.
>>It’ll be that world you saw in your vision,<< Ruby supplied.
You sound awfully sure about that.
>>That’s where the logic takes me.<<
It’s illogical that nanoscopic aliens that band together as interstellar telepathic entities would live on a planet resembling a pastoral painting.
>>Why?<< Ruby asked in a matter-of-fact mental tone.
Because it is? Ava replied, not sure how to assign logic to that instinct.
>>We know these beings spent time on Coraxa,<< Ruby continued, >>and that’s a quintessential landscape, as you’d describe it. Perhaps there is something in these beings’ history that draws them to such locations. Or, it may be grounded in the science underlying those places, such as the oxygen and carbon ratios, or a similar factor. Either way, you glimpsed something that had some significance to Reya. I wouldn’t dismiss it.<<
Ava sighed. Okay, fine, so pastoral planet it is. How do we go about exploring a place like that?
>>That’s your expertise, not mine. I’m just here to keep you from going all Hochste-y on your team.<<
Really, Ruby, that’s how you’re going to play this?
The AI laughed. >>Ava, I’m here whenever you need me. But you’ve seen inside the minds of these beings, I haven’t. Trust your instincts.<<
“Am I interrupting?” a familiar voice said from the kitchen entrance.
Ava turned to see Nick entering. “No, just chatting with Ruby,” she replied. “We’re anxious to see what we’re facing.”
“Sam and Edwin are taking bets. My money is on a space station.”
“Ruby thinks it’ll be the planet I saw,” Ava told him.
“That’s what Sam thought, too. We’re coming up on the twelve-hour mark, right? Should know any minute.”
Ava looked back out the window. “I’m already trying to plan out how we can possibly investigate something that large.”
“Big things always have smaller parts that are decidedly more interesting. We go after those.”
“I’m used to opponents that operate like us,” Ava mused. “Individuals, society, computer networks, transportation systems. These Dyons defy all that.”
“But you can interface with them.” Nick came to stand next to her. “We have every confidence in you, Ava.”
>>As do I,<< Ruby interjected in Ava’s mind.
I guess I’d better deliver—
Ava’s private thoughts were interrupted by a glimpse of a new point of light in the starscape out the window. She magnified it using the holographic overlay on the window.
“That’s a planet!” she exclaimed.
Nick peered into the darkness. “Fuck, it is.” He groaned. “Now I’ll have to pay up to Sam.”
“What did you wager this time?”
“Just his dignity,” Samantha said from the kitchen entry.
Ava and Nick turned around.
Samantha held out her arm, palm upturned, and curled her fingers in a beckoning fashion. “Come on, pay up.”
Nick sighed and dropped to his knees. He gazed up at Samantha as she leered over him. Nick cleared his throat.
“Samantha is the wisest guesser there ever was, and her name shall echo throughout history as the greatest predictor ever known.”
She looked at him expectantly.
“And she was right about this,” Nick added in a decidedly quieter and less enthused tone. He rolled his eyes.
Ava watched the exchange with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. “Really, guys?”
“Well, money is irrelevant, and I don’t need a genuine favor at the moment,” Samantha explained. “But, I mean, come on—I’ll be able to lord this over him for weeks.”
“I have no doubt we’ll be hearing about it for some time.” Ava shook her head. “If you’re finished with the theatrics, I need to talk with the captain about this new planet.”
She left Samantha smirking at Nick as he tried to explain the rationale behind his original prediction.
>>Is that what passes for entertainment on your team?<< Ruby asked while Ava scaled the ladder.
To Samantha, yes. Edwin prefers his blackmail videos. Pretty sure Nick gets his kicks from psychoanalyzing people’s computer password choices.
Ruby took a moment to respond. >>I was ready to call Nick the weird one, but now I think he may be the most normal of all of you.<<
You would think that.
At the top of the access shaft, Ava headed toward the bridge’s door. It was cracked open, and she entered.
Widmore was examining the holopanel at the center of the room with Rod while Aleya piloted the craft.
“It’s a planet,” the major announced.
“So we’ve seen,” Ava replied, stepping forward to stand across the holopanel from him.
“But it’s not really a planet,” Rod clarified.
Ava’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Rod continued, “first of all, it would be a dwarf planet. But really, these scans are all wrong for a natural object. It’s not nearly dense enough, and the materials are… strange.”
“Can you quantify that?” Ava asked.
“Uh, lots of weird?” he said.
“That would have to be ‘Weird Factor 7’ to be properly quantified,” Aleya chimed in from the controls.
“Right, that.” Rod frowned at the holopanel. “Basically, we’ve never seen anything like this, and the databanks aren’t helpful.”
Ava took a slow breath. “Okay, so we’re dealing with a non-natural object the size of a dwarf planet. What about its other properties?”
“Well, it looks like a normal planet,” Widmore replied. “Forests, mountains,
oceans. However, it’s lacking the usual markers for organic compounds.”
“Not all life is carbon-based,” Ava pointed out.
“Very true, but the arrangement of the structures on this planet is… designed.” Rod zoomed in on a section of the world using the panel. “Like here, it’s all perfectly mapped out. This isn’t something that nature did on its own.”
Ava had to admit there was something unnerving about the perfectly straight lines and divisions between different geographic elements. “Okay, so there’s an artificial dwarf planet with manufactured environmental features. What else?”
“It’s emitting a frequency we can’t explain,” Widmore stated.
“Let me guess: the same frequency we observed while tracing the signal from Jared back at headquarters?” Ava asked.
“The very one,” he confirmed. “Strong pulses with an underlying constant background hum.”
“I guess we found the transmitter.” She looked over the map. “Where’s the origin point?”
“It seems to be everywhere,” Rod told her. “We’re still trying to sort through the data to get a more accurate reading. It has to be coming from somewhere, even if that’s just the power source feeding into bio-speakers around the whole planet.”
Ava nodded. “If you can identify the location, then that’s where we need to go.”
“This is a recon mission,” Widmore countered.
“And the data we’re gathering up here is being classified as ‘weird’ and ‘strange’, sir. If we’re going to learn what’s really going on with this structure, we need to get down there and gather samples, or try to interface with it—something.” Ava looked down. “And yes, I know it’s entirely possible that this is a trap. I know they want me. But right now, finding out everything we can is what’s most important. The FDG and the safety of Federation citizens come first.”
Widmore inclined his head. “If the environmental conditions are reasonable, you’re right. We do need some boots on the ground.”
“Conditions are conducive to supporting human life,” Aleya confirmed. “Gravity is a little light, but way more than it should be, given the mass of this thing. There must be some sort of active artificial gravity.”
