Shards [Book Three]

by Peter W Prellwitz

  I looked at her silently for a moment. She was way over her depth in this. That a TAU agent wouldn't have a plan of action would be like a dog stepping into a free-for-all with an empty slug gun. Yet Jody honestly believed him. I glanced over at Ressler.

  Oh, he knew I wasn't falling for it! He had Jody bamboozled, but not me. How I hated this! I was more than half tempted to blurt out something to tip his hand, whatever it was. I would have paid real money to see the look on his face when I casually leaned over to Jody and said, “You understand you're being played the sucker here, right? That Ressler only wants to use you as either a diversion from himself or to deflect the blow when he tells Posen to his face that the 179th is the proof that NATech is using the Resistance to perpetuate this endless war. So, would you like to borrow my knife?” And for the briefest moment, I did see the look on his face. He saw my eyes and knew for certain he'd overestimated me. He was certain the immaturity and curiosity in me would overpower the full-grown soldier in me and I'd wreck his precious TAU plans. And I came this close to doing it.

  But I didn't. Ressler had won my conditional trust and despite my friendship to Jody, I would follow the rules and keep my trap shut. Maybe it was because of my friendship with Jody. She'd had enough tossing around with this intrigue and hidden agenda and dirty spy fighting. Jody was a fist and blaster type of dog, and would much rather approach things straight on. Why ruin her trust in TAU? Why tell her that the war she was fighting was to the benefit of NATech? It would gain nothing, and ruin her trust in the Resistance. I decided I'd corner Ressler later and get the gory details.

  “Well, you and doc have my whole support, Jody.” I got up and stretched, unable to stifle the yawn that came. “Of course, right now my whole support is committed to keeping me standing, and failing quickly. I have got to get some sleep."

  Ressler came to his feet quickly, partly out of concern for me, his patient, and partly out of relief that I'd held my tongue. His small smile was just what I needed to make me feel a little relief myself.

  “I'm very sorry, Abigail. Of course, you should turn in. You too, Jody. We're all pretty worn out. There's not a whole lot we can do tonight anyway. Why don't you stop by tomorrow before your shift and I'll give you a once over.” Which meant I'd find out what I needed tomorrow.

  We all said our goodnights. Jody and I walked down the dark corridor to the barracks.

  “What do you think of him?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “Good question. Part of me is glad he's TAU. Another part just wishes he was just a doctor. My life is complicated enough without getting involved in these kind of shenanigans."

  She chuckled softly. “Shenanigans? I've never heard that word before. What does it mean?"

  “Skullduggery. Tom foolery. Messing around."

  “You mean like bugging? Or Adospinning?” I saw the gleam of her smile.

  “Goodnight, Jody."

  She laughed. “Goodnight, Abigail. By the way, I'm glad Doctor Ressler is here, this stuff is way out of my league. I'm even gladder you're here. You seem between the two of us, and I think I'll be able to cope a little more now.” She gave me a quick hug then walked off to her quarters, leaving me in front of the barracks.

  * * * *

  Now, lying in my bed, feeling sleep finally creeping over me, I gave a small thought to Jody's question. What did I think of Doctor Ressler?

  When I'd said I had mixed emotions, I wasn't kidding. His being who he is was going to help out a lot. With all puterverse access denied to me, he was my only link to Mike and Kiki. Without access, it was impossible to move forward with my plan. But having that access meant sacrificing some of my freedom. I'd known TAU had been keeping track of my work from the beginning. They'd planned to use my rescue as a propaganda coup against NATech. After all, I had been one of their first senior officers and also their first guinea pig in riping. Never mind that the Resistance also managed to change my dance card; it was still propaganda fodder and a terrific moral victory for the dogs who fought to rescue us.

  Those plans changed abruptly when it became apparent that I had real use in this century. My skills with the puterverse were strong to begin with, but after my first sharding episode, they increased to a fantastic height, and my value to the Resistance with them. I knew, had been told, that the Resistance had never planned on winning this war outright. They knew they couldn't. But they could win it by not losing, and that had been their goal from the outset—to wear NATech Supreme down to the point that they would lose their grip on our planet and normal relationships between business and government could return.

  That changed with me. They now thought it might be possible for me to actually eliminate NATech. And they were right, that was my goal. Of course, if TAU knew what I knew about NATech Supreme, they'd probably do everything they could to stop me.

  I had researched the problem thoroughly, with Mike doing millions of scenarios and billions of simulations. There was only one solution. It would destroy NATech, but the price would be high. Very high.

  How had I my thinking arrived here? Oh yeah. Jody had asked me what I thought of Ressler being a TAU agent. Boy, talk about drifting tangents. My thoughts had reached this point when sleep caught up to me. I stretched once, then curled around my pillow. I'd think about Ressler tomorrow.

  * * * *

  Doctor Scott Ressler was having no difficulty keeping his thoughts focused. And just as Abigail had been thinking about him, so he was putting his thoughts toward her. The similarity went further. He didn't know exactly what to think of this youth with the killer instinct, quick mind and most disturbing self-confidence. She seemed so much the chaotic, innocent young child-woman one moment, so much the cool, decisive and ruthless grown woman the next.

  The ordeal in the puterverse had ravaged his insides—he was certain there had been some minor internal bleeding. But while it tired him physically it had charged him mentally. He'd known of Abigail for some time, though just through cursory references during strategic meetings at TAU. She was so very different from what he'd pictured. And her abilities in the puterverse went far beyond anything he'd prepared for. When he'd first been instructed by TAU three days previously to make contact with her, they had provided what information about her they felt he needed. As always, it was adequate, but he'd wished he'd gotten more. Now he knew more than TAU did.

  Unlimited level! There had been excitement and hope when constant analysis of Abigail's movements in the puterverse had indicated she'd broken level thirty-five. No one on the planet was known to have ever accessed that level. No one was known to have the stamina to survive at level thirty-five, let alone function in it. And now, just hours before, this slip of a girl had casually mentioned that she'd disposed of any restricted access as too confining. With the same breath, she'd destroyed the known fact that level sixty-four was the highest theoretical access; access, it seemed, was based on prime numbers and there were three additional levels above sixty-four And finally, with a certainty that only a teenager could have, she made it sound so obvious that was the real structure of puterverse coding, and that even level sixty-seven was behind her, because she had unlocked the secret of unbound trinary code.

  His thoughts still racing, he looked down at his hands. They were trembling. They hadn't trembled like this since the night Diane was ... He took a deep, controlled breath to calm himself, then felt a lance in his lower ribs. He must have pulled a muscle. He massaged the area, but when he couldn't rub the pain away, he determined there must still be a little internal bleeding. He rose and prepared another dose of pink hemolixer and charged the closure sounder. He needed to make his report very soon, and hoped his strength held out. He would forgo his normal level and access at a much lower 11, which was the minimum level that would reach TAU Intelligence.

  * * * *

  “Thank you for your report, Major. We will begin analyzing it immediately.” The middle of the three figures spoke with a fatherly tone, concerned as much for Ressle
r as for the incredible data and information he had provided.

  “I have a couple of things I'd like to end my report with, if you don't mind, sir.” To keep the regimental security snoopers from spotting Ressler's unauthorized transmission, it was beamed on an extremely low power carrier. Consequently, the image of Ressler was blurry and sparked occasionally from interference.

  “By all means. You know we very much respect your observations, Scott."

  “Thank you.” The faded image looked down for a moment, as if still forming the best way to begin. Apparently finding it, he lifted his eyes boldly to the three cloaked and hooded figures.

  “What Sergeant Eyer and I saw tonight was unbelievable. The vast openness and beauty of the puterverse can't even be imagined! I'll wager a credit or two it probably can't even be recorded. Private Wyeth has accomplished something that until tonight was supposed to be impossible. It's clear that she's only been showing us what she wants us to see. While I would normally be extremely suspicious of being so easily manipulated, I have to admit to a certain confidence I have in her abilities and motives."

  He looked down again, then continued. “This goes against all training and past experience, sir, but ... well ... I have faith in her. Maybe it's because of her raw power in the puterverse. Maybe it's the sheer span of her life, the fact that she's been involved from the very beginning. Maybe it's her own self-confidence and ability inside and outside the puterverse. Maybe it's a combination of these things.

  “But I don't think it is. I think it was the look on her face when we were in the puterverse, in ‘her world', as she called it. It was a look of constant joy. Even when our conversation took darker turns, I could still see that joy in her eyes. Sergeant Eyer saw it, too. Abigail Wyeth has a shimmer of hope and resolution in her that turns into happiness when it comes out. I'm sorry to be so maudlin, sir, and I know this is completely unprovable and borders on naive. But I do have faith in her. It would be my counsel to continue monitoring her as closely as we can, and stand by to assist at a moment's notice. That is my report. Goodnight.” His image sparked and flickered and faded.

  The three figures were silent, each staring into the space where Ressler's image had been. A fourth figure passed through a ghost wall and entered the room. Walking to the nearest person, she handed over a tabinal and quietly exited. After a moment, the middle figure stirred.

  “So, Melissa. What is the accuracy of Scott's report?"

  Melissa pulled back the hood that covered her face from agents. All three wore identical clothing during reporting sessions to completely disguise their identity from visual recordings and analysis, just as voice replics disguised the audio portion of the transmissions.

  “He was absolutely right in at least one way, Kurt.” She tapped the screen of the tabinal. “Almost nothing was imaged. There are exactly five recordable seconds of this evening's trip. From the moment they first accessed until the shielding clamped around them. After that, nothing."

  “And for those five seconds?"

  She shook her head slightly. “Almost nothing. A brightness that reaches ninety-nine percent screen output, a vague image of Ressler's arms and hands as he falls to the ground, and several steady spates of blood."

  “Audio?"

  In answer, Melissa lifted up the tabinal and tapped it. A harsh crackling came from it, with partially broken words.

  “Mi..! . ne.. a co.... o ... xes ... my .ues.... ry!” Another moment of hissing and spitting, and the tabinal became silent.

  “Wait.” The third person raised a hand. “Again, please. From the beginning. What was that sound just before the words?"

  Melissa tapped the unit again and adjusted the controls. All sound except interference was lost, so she reset the tabinal and tried again. This time, the interference was greatly reduced, and although the words were still garbled, they distinctly heard the first sound.

  It was the boundless, joyful laugh of a young woman.

  The third person nodded. “Yes, I understand what Scott meant.” He paused, then came to a decision. “I say we accept Major Ressler's counsel and continue our present course of polite monitoring."

  “But Thomas, do you think that's wise?” Melissa objected mildly. “We've only now found out that our monitoring is easily restricted by Private Wyeth. Indeed, for all we know, she may be fabricating most of our transmissions, letting us see only what she wants us to see."

  “You could very well be right, Melissa. In fact, let's assume that for the moment. In that case, she's allowing us to receive this report from Major Ressler, she allowing us to see much of the make-up of the puterverse from an unbound trinary perspective, she's allowing us—"

  “But even these things can be fabricated, Thomas,” Kurt countered.

  Thomas sighed. “Fine. Let's say they are manipulated. For what gain? If she has that much ability, that much control, I should think Abigail could keep us from ever finding out about Mike and unlimited access and a deep-seated grudge against NATech.

  “I don't think that's so. Rachel and I had her at our home only a month ago, and I was able to see her in the flesh, to hear her opinions, to listen to her enthusiasm. Most of all, I heard her longing to make things right.” He paused. “I believe that she holds herself partially responsible for NATech's actions."

  “What?” Kurt was bemused. “Thomas, you've never told us this. Why not?"

  “Because I could never be sure, Kurt. Not until tonight, when I heard Scott's report. Susan Lendler, you will remember, was a corporal in the Third and Abigail's best friend. They had just arrived that evening, and Abigail was already in bed. Rachel, Susan and I were talking when Susan made an odd comment. We were marveling over Abigail's past when talk drifted to the Pisces Project. We had already determined that Abigail, as John Wyeth, had created a viable way of adapting the human respiratory system to be amphibious. With this new ability, mankind could begin establishing an underwater society Since Susan was unaware of the level of our involvement, I feigned surprise. But I was very much surprised when we spoke about Pisces’ destruction and Susan said, ‘Abigail was devastated when she found out. I have an idea that's one of the things she holds NATech accountable for.’”

  “She holds NATech accountable for Pisces’ destruction?” Melissa said with surprise. “Why? The Rock hit it in 2374, the second year of the first Terran/Martian conflict. NATech didn't rise to power until after the Wars."

  “Did it? That's what I had always thought, too. Abigail doesn't think so. You heard Scott's report. That thing on the other side of the Quantum has been influencing our society for at least three hundred years. And the Wars were three hundred years ago. Abigail thinks that NATech is in league with that force, may even be that force. She probably thinks that NATech has been manipulating us far longer than three centuries. If that's so, I agree with Scott; we must continue our hands-off approach."

  “I don't know what to think,” Kurt said frankly. “I'm sixty-one years old and have been on the Council now for twenty-seven years. I had always considered myself a competent servant of the Resistance, and a fairly intelligent person. But this is quickly getting beyond me. We've been privy to an unbelievable picture of the puterverse, and learned that most of what we thought we knew is only the top layer of something we're only beginning to comprehend. Yet this young girl bounces around without effort. She even has the energy to enjoy it!"

  “So you're saying...?” Melissa prompted.

  Kurt sighed heavily. “I'm saying that I agree with Thomas. We can't fool ourselves and think we can control her or the what she's fighting. We can't even be sure what we're seeing is real. How do you cope with that? Let's continue our surveillance. How about you, Melissa? What are your thoughts?"

  “My thoughts? They're just as jumbled as yours, Kurt. It's very difficult to accept that we're being led around by the very person we've been trying to lead. Just rewards, I suppose. On the one hand, she's a young girl, perhaps not completely in control of herself. On the
other hand, she's one of NATech's first and brightest, the person who created the Pisces people. If I had to decide on my thoughts, I couldn't.

  “My feelings, though, that's very different. I heard that laugh. It's been a long time since I've heard such unbounding joy. To be so young and confident again! Let's put faith in that confidence and joy. Abigail isn't telling us everything, but I think that single moment of happiness told me enough."

  * * * *

  Begin pseudo trinary code programming: Statement: John Wyeth is alive. Probability of statement accuracy is 1 occurrence per 56,812 scenarios. Statement: John Wyeth persona is a threat to This Unit. Probability of statement accuracy is estimated 1 occurrence per 35,000,000,000,000 scenarios. Reassessing probabilities.

  [Thread 1: Retrieving known information on John Wyeth persona. Retrieved. Previously recorded system personas of John Wyeth: initial system persona generated by Christopher Balen Young on May 14, 2026. Tangent 1

  [begin tangent: Initial system persona. Organic persona John Wyeth terminated as scheduled, March 26, 2026. Organic persona resided in NATech tertiary processing unit 17 Gamma for 523 hours. Transferred to secondary processing unit 8 Beta for programming and warehousing of existing data concerning Pisces project. Modified system persona transferred to NATech primary unit 6 Alpha 4,493 hours after initial download. Persona focused on Pisces project for duration of existence. Persona archived. Probability of survival: 1128 per 1139 scenarios. Probability of threat to This Unit: 0 occurrences per infinite scenarios. end tangent.]

  processed. Recorded as terminated and covertly archived February 3, 2045. System persona reprogrammed and merged covertly as primary net access alpha .311 on August 9, 2051. Tangent 2

  [begin tangent: System persona primary net access alpha .311. Archived system persona prepared and installed into global net. Persona active for 1,748,645 hours Persona processed 15,737,916,152 routines. Persona focused on compliance of requests of global population, non-security issues, and compliance of This Unit's requests, all issues. System persona closed and transferred. Probability of survival: 989 per 1015 scenarios. Probability of threat to This Unit: 1 occurrence per 6,694,000,000,000 scenarios. Conclusion: Risk acceptable. end tangent.]