Finally, a young woman emerged from a doorway and strode toward him, her sharp high heels clicking against the granite floor. She carried a datapad tucked neatly under her arm. She smiled at the Professor as she approached. “Thadius Green?” she asked.
The Professor stood up excitedly. “That’s me!” he said.
“I am Hylda Wahller,” the woman said, extending her hand. “Mr. Virtuoso’s personal assistant.”
“A pleasure to meet you, my dear!” said Green, giving her hand a vigorous shake.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long,” she said apologetically. “It’s been a bit of a mad house around here. The Royal Core of Paragon Engineers requested help in manifesting the Earth Memorial for tomorrow, so loaning out our own Paragons has somewhat disrupted everything today. Mr. Virtuoso has had to oversee a number of different projects himself just to keep them all on track.”
“I completely understand,” said Green with a smile. “I’ve waited years to gain access to your research on the Great Seals. A few more hours is no bother at all!”
“Thank you so much for understanding,” Wahller said. “Mr. Virtuoso is ready to meet with you now. Please follow me.”
Ms. Wahller led the Professor through the security checkpoint and down a hallway to a restricted elevator. She slid an ID keycard across a panel and the elevator opened, taking them far, far down to one of the sub-levels.
“I say,” mused Green as he looked at the floors being counted down. “Do you not have teleporters that lead to where we’re going?”
“I’m afraid secure elevators are the only way we can access the sub-levels. That’s where we develop most of our new technologies, and Mr. Virtuoso prefers the added security the elevators afford,” Wahller informed him. “The offices in the upper levels of the tower can be accessed by teleporter, however. Mr. Virtuoso keeps an office on each floor so that he is never confined to any one part of the building. Today, he’s on sub-level 3, which is where we do most of our weapons research.”
“Weapons research?” said Green. “Oh, my. Does this mean I’ll get to see some things blow up?”
Wahller laughed. “It’s certainly possible,” she replied. “There’s never a dull moment down in the sub-levels.”
When they arrived at sub-level three, they stepped out of the elevator into a bright, sterile hallway. As he followed Ms. Wahller, Green glanced at the various doors they passed, all of them labeled in some type of code with which he was unfamiliar. He could only assume there were lots of secret projects going on behind them.
Finally, Wahller stopped at a door and slid her keycard through the receiver near it. The door opened to a small control room, filled with computer panels and monitors. A window overlooked a large open room below containing a scorched backdrop and various machines. Three technicians sat at the main control console by the window and Armonto Virtuoso himself stood behind them, silently observing the data on the screens. Green caught a glimpse of a man in an orange jumpsuit being carted off on a gurney by two medical androids in the room below.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Wahller whispered.
“Oh,” whispered Green in reply, “you’re leaving?”
“Duty calls,” she said. “Just wait until he acknowledges your presence. Otherwise, try not to disturb him.”
Green nodded as Wahller left the room. “Bring in the next prisoner,” Armonto said.
The technician hit a button and a door in the room below opened. A large alien was marched out, flanked by two security-bots. The alien’s skin was rock-like, his eyes beady, his body bulky beneath an orange jumpsuit. He was shackled by heavy metal electro-restraints covering his hands and locking fully about his wrists. He glanced around the room nervously as the androids led him to an area with a large “X” on the ground.
Once the alien was situated, Armonto nodded to the technician, who pressed a few more keys on his console. A hatch in the ceiling of the room opened and a robotic arm emerged, holding what looked to be a pistol of some kind. It appeared to be a rather compact weapon with a clear muzzle that had some type of purple energy roiling about within it. The prisoner immediately looked alarmed as the robotic arm aimed the weapon right at him. “What is this???” growled the prisoner.
Armonto pressed down the intercom button on the technician’s console. “Hold still, please,” he said.
The alien prisoner looked up at the observation window indignantly. “Hey! Nobody said anything about—”
Armonto nodded to one of the technicians at the control table, who hit the activation button. The weapon the robot arm was holding fired, tendrils of purple light shooting from it, hitting the prisoner. The alien jerked and spasmed until the weapon stopped firing, at which point he promptly collapsed to the ground.
Above a monitor displaying the prisoner’s vital signs, Armonto eyed a digital clock readout. After a while, the alien started to move and groan, at which point the clock stopped. “Hmmmm,” Armonto said. “We shall need to adjust the settings for Recklec physiology. The incapacitation period is too short. Let’s see if we can get it up to a full two minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the technician, furiously typing notes at his console.
“I say,” muttered Green. “That looked rather painful.”
“It’s extremely painful,” said Armonto flatly, not bothering to glance back to see who’d spoken. “But it’s not deadly. With all the uprisings in Imperial space there’s a greater demand for non-lethal weaponry. The Legacies want something that can incapacitate while still letting those hit know who’s in charge. We’re testing it on various different species so we can properly calibrate the frequency to give a standard incapacitation time across the board.”
“You use prisoners as tests subjects?” asked Green.
“Better than using law-abiding citizens, is it not?” replied Armonto as he quickly reviewed the test data over the shoulder of one of the technicians at the control table. “They agree to be guinea pigs in exchange for more perks as they serve out their sentences. Everybody wins.” Armonto finally turned and eyed Green, looking at him without even the slightest hint of curiosity. “So,” he said, “you’re Thadius Green.”
“I am!” said Green excitedly, stepping forward and extending his hand. “I’m quite excited to meet you, Mr. Virtuoso! I’ve always been quite a fan!”
Virtuoso glanced at Green’s hand and turned away, ignoring the gesture. “Follow,” he said, sounding bored. Armonto began to leave the room without even a second glance behind him. Green hesitated a moment before rushing after the man, who marched down the hallway with his hands clasped behind his back. “I understand I am to give you access to the Maguffyn Corporation’s databases on Ancient technology,” Armonto said as Green struggled to keep up with the man’s powerwalking.
“Oh! Yes!” said Green. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally get access to the work you have done regarding the Great Seals! To be honest, this is all like a dream come true for me!”
“Yes, I’m aware,” said Armonto as he turned a corner. Out of nowhere an employee rushed up and handed Armonto a datapad, on which he quickly typed a few things and handed it back without ever breaking stride. “We have records of numerous requests from you over the years seeking access. All of them denied.”
“Sorry about that,” replied Green. “Your company is the only entity with unrestricted access to one of the only known Great Seals. I had hoped my position with the Central Galactic University would have warranted some measure of consideration, especially before I started my travels in search of new Great Seals. But it seems one must be a Maguffyn employee to have any hope of being able to see your company’s research.”
“That is correct. We have a strict policy on keeping all matters regarding Ancient technology, particularly when it comes to Great Seals, in-house,” said Armonto as he stopped at a door. An access panel opened upon which he laid his hand. The panel scanned his palm, his eyes, and then presented a ke
ypad onto which Armonto typed an extremely long code before the door opened. “Enter,” Armonto said as he walked in.
Green followed him and looked around the room. It was a beautifully furnished office, filled with high-tech minimalist furniture. Massive holomonitors lined the upper walls, displaying multitudes of data. The walls were a bright, sterile white, and the floor was a solid, glassy black. Some audio system was playing the sound of an ocean. Armonto made his way to the desk in the middle of the room and sat down behind it, crossing his legs casually.
“I just finished reading all your articles regarding the Deathlords and the Ghost Planet,” Armonto said.
“Really?” asked Green. “When?”
“Just now, as we were walking,” replied Armonto, pointing at his yellow glasses. “Infoglasses. They’re networked directly to the Maguffyn mainframe.”
“Oh! How fantastic!” exclaimed Green. “I was told my reports wouldn’t be published because of their use of information which is now considered matters of Imperial Security.”
“Yes, my clearance gives me access to all manner of state secrets. I was quite fascinated by your writings.”
“You were?” asked Green, ecstatic that a man with Armonto Virtuoso’s reputation would be giving him such a compliment.
“Indeed,” Armonto said. “It fascinated me how you were able to make such revolutionary discoveries so utterly boring to read about.”
“Oh,” replied Green sadly. “My apologies. I suppose my talents do not really lie in writing.”
“Yes, it got me curious as to where your talents do indeed lie,” said Armonto as he waved his hand, calling up a holographic display over his desk that featured a portfolio on the Professor. “Professor Thadius Rebbibald Green. Graduate, Trundel Planetary Academy. Degrees in advanced mathematics, engineering, and quantum mechanics. Doctorate at Central Galactic University, specializing in Ancient studies. Wrote your thesis on the Great Seals. Engaged in postdoctoral research at the Conclave. Joined the Imperial Exploratory Service, presumably to search for more Great Seals. Lo-and-behold, you seemed to have found one, before promptly blowing it up.” Armonto sighed. “Who knows what we could have learned from such a discovery.”
“Well, at the time it was really the only option available to us,” said Green meekly. “Besides, now that the knowledge that was sealed behind it has been freed—”
“Yes, that tired old theory,” muttered Armonto. “I gathered from reading your thesis, which was even duller than your reports about the Deathlords, by the way, that you subscribe to Paragon Hammil’s theory about the function of the seals and the paracorporeal manifestation of knowledge.”
“Well, of course,” replied Green. “Paragon Hammil was the leading thinker in regards to Ancient technology…”
“Paragon Hammil was a moron,” said Armonto simply. “A bloated philosopher with hardly any sense of hard science. His musings were little more than the daydreams children partake in, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an even bigger moron than he was.”
Green blinked at Armonto, the man’s words cutting through him like a knife. He’d always thought Paragon Hammil’s theories were quite brilliant. “Oh,” was all he could manage to reply.
“Destroying that seal most likely eradicated any hope we had of understanding what the Ancients were able to accomplish with this so-called Ghost Planet,” Armonto continued. “I’ll be assembling a team of Paragon researchers to try to figure it out based on your reports, but without direct access to the seal itself, the discovery process will most likely be so long as to be worthless, at least in our lifetime.”
“Well, on the bright side, we did end up saving the universe,” said Green. “So at least the seal was destroyed for a good cause!” Green laughed meekly and rubbed his hands, as though hoping that excuse was satisfactory enough. Armonto regarded the Professor for a moment, his eyes seeming to look through the Trundel.
“I’m sure had more capable people been involved in this ordeal you participated in, an alternate solution could have been formulated that might have preserved such a discovery, but alas… it is what it is. The Maguffyn Corporation is in the business of creation, Professor. Not destruction. That is something I expect you to keep in mind while you are employed by us.”
Green blinked. “Um… employed?”
“You said it yourself, only Maguffyn employees are permitted access to the databases you want to see,” Armonto replied. “Frankly, you’re rather pedestrian compared to our usual hires. A middle-of-the-road academic who knows enough not to be useless but not enough to be particularly valuable. Despite others considering you as an ‘expert’ on Ancient technology, around here, you’re at the bottom of the barrel. If I were not under direct orders from Princess Glorianna herself in regards to this deal you struck as a reward for helping to save her life, I’d prefer not to have to deal with you at all. And yet, I must. However, company policy is in accordance with Imperial law regarding the sensitive nature of our research, so I cannot in good conscience allow anyone not under our employ access to it. Therefore, the condition of your access is that you accept my offer to be a part of our Ancient Sciences Division. Barring your acceptance of that… I’m afraid it will never happen.”
Green twiddled his fingers nervously. “Oh dear,” he muttered. “I’m not sure… this is all rather sudden. I wasn’t told there would be any conditions attached to my access of your research.”
“You’re being told now,” Armonto replied. “I can understand your hesitation. However, the job comes with many perks. You’ll receive a high enough security clearance to access research you’ve never before dreamed about. You’ll be working alongside the brightest minds and most talented Paragons in the Empire. You’ll be on the front-line of the most advanced scientific discovery to ever be pioneered. Oh, and this will be your starting salary…”
Armonto called up a number on the holographic display that made Green’s eyes bulge. “Um… that all sounds quite amazing,” the Professor said. “I just have one question…”
“Yes?” asked Armonto.
“How’s the food in the cafeteria?”
Armonto gazed at Green for a long moment, his face expressionless. “Exquisite,” he replied flatly.
“Where do I sign?” Green asked excitedly.
Chapter 13
It was a perfect day for the memorial ceremony. The sun was shining, the weather was cool, and the garden square of stratum 200 was vibrant, filled with blossoming Cherrydrop trees and majestic Elderwoods. The square was located not far from the Capitol Tower, which rose over it monolithically, its rounded-tier architecture making it unique amongst the other supertowers.
The memorial itself was quite stunning, and Anna thought the Paragon Engineers had done a great job manifesting it in such a short period of time. It was a tall block of silver marble veined with blue and grey, stretching out thirty feet at its base. Though it was shaped as a cube, each side had a circular hole leading to the block’s center, which held a golden animetal representation of the planet Earth slowly rotating around. The names of the crews of the lost Regal ships were all etched into the base of the stone, with Shepherd’s name and likeness at the center.
A crowd of thousands had turned out for the ceremony. Friends and family members of those who had lost their lives were given priority seating at the front, and Anna made it a point to greet them all and offer her condolences personally, particularly to the wives of Captain Rylack and Major Ganix.
When Anna had finally made her way to the stage, which had been set up before the memorial, she looked out over those in attendance and saw nothing but a seemingly endless sea of people before her. All five members of the Directory were in attendance, along with the majority of the Council of Juniors and the Council of Elders. Every Legacy had portgated in and was in attendance, as well.
And then, of course, there was Jack. He seemed incredibly uncomfortable in front of so many people. Looking handsome, though a bit stiff, in his cust
om designed uniform, he stood up by the podium alongside Starkeeper Cohaagen.
In short order, the ceremony began. Each member of the Directory gave a speech, four paying respect to one of the Regal warships that had been destroyed, and the fifth, Director Casgor, paying respect to the people of Earth. When it was Anna’s turn to speak, she was prepared. She’d practiced extensively the speech that had been written for her, so she would not break down as she had at the State Dinner. She spoke of the bravery of the soldiers who had accompanied her on her expedition and the valor of the people of Earth. Finally, she spoke about Jack, and why he deserved the thanks of a grateful Empire.
Jack stepped forward and Anna placed the Medal of Heroes around his neck. The medallion had been crafted from rare Moonfyre, which glowed a gentle blue, and had been forged to look like an All-Seeing Eye. When Anna turned to the crowd and presented the newest Hero of the Empire, a cheer could be heard far and wide as those in attendance stood and applauded.
As was the custom for such events, Anna led a procession from the memorial to the Capitol Tower, where various receptions and parties were held to celebrate the occasion. She sat upon a chair to receive the various guests who wished to pay their respects to their Princess. It was a repetitive, tedious endeavor. Poor Jack was seated at the opposite end of the room, having to do the exact same thing as Anna while everyone else got to eat, drink, and socialize.
By the time the festivities had run their course, the sun was setting. The Royal Vanguard escorted Anna back to the Royal Tower where she couldn’t wait to strip out of her formalwear and just relax. Despite keeping up appearances, the day had been an emotional one for her. Seeing the families of the men who’d died for her had taken its toll, as had recounting Shepherd’s sacrifice on her behalf in her speech.
When she arrived at the Palace floor, she wasted no time making her way to her quarters, leaving her bodyguards in the Royal Lounge, right outside. Anna sat down on her bed and sighed. It had been hard seeing Jack again. She’d done her best not to have too much contact with him since she’d gotten back. She still felt guilty for breaking his heart. She knew he deserved better than that. But more so, she couldn’t help but feel the same as Jack, and when she was in his presence, it was hard to ignore those feelings.
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 16
