Project Starfighter

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Project Starfighter Page 13

by Stephen J Sweeney


  POSSIBLE CULTIST INVOLVEMENT CITED

  The massive WEAPCO tower that presided over the landscape of Tira was smoking, thick plumes drifting up from various points along its length, from root to tip. A fiery explosion then came, followed swiftly by another. A third erupted from one of the sides, jettisoning out all manner of materials before the tower began to fall, the lights in the windows and the lasers shining out from the top cutting out as it collapsed, a huge wall of dust rising up where it struck the ground.

  The camera feed zoomed in on a pair of craft that could be seen flying nearby. Chris spotted the wolf’s head emblem on the side of one of them. The TV caption updated immediately:

  MERCENARY GROUP ‘THE WOLF PACK’ CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

  WADE-ELLEN TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY TO COUNTER TERROR THREAT

  Sid swore softly. “I think we might have left it a little late to leave,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Chris said. “I think so, too.”

  Chapter 9

  Kline Kethlan stood before Ursula Lexx’s hibernation chamber, taking a few moments to observe the woman before waking her. She was a rather diminutive woman, with long blonde hair, and ivory-white skin. A symbol of some sort was tattooed on her stomach around her naval, which was pierced.

  Lexx floated in the liquid-filled tube in nothing but two pieces of underwear. Why her modesty needed to be preserved, Kethlan couldn’t imagine; aside from today there was never anyone here to see her, save for the drones and bots that ran and monitored the Zetaman Facility. He and Lexx were the only two human beings in the entire place.

  A mask covered Lexx’s nose and mouth, a long tube snaking from it out of the chamber to a machine that was supplying her with oxygen. Other wires and feeds were attached to her head and various other parts of her body. She had suffered some muscle wastage since being brought in here, her legs and arms a good deal thinner than they once had been. Only sugars, vitamins, and minerals were supplied to her, to keep her alive.

  The young woman had been hooked into this system for several months now, having been turned in by a group of bounty hunters after the Corporation had discovered that she was an identical twin. Her sister, Phoebe, had eluded them, however. The bounty hunters had also discovered the little secret about the two women, and had used the information to make threats against Wade-Ellen. A stupid mistake. Kethlan had eliminated them the moment they had departed the WEAPCO starship to which they had brought Lexx.

  How well did Ursula Lexx actually get on with her sister? the commander wondered. Just how similar were they really? Had they had so much trouble finding Phoebe Lexx because Ursula was attempting to protect her, or was it because she actually disliked her twin and wanted nothing to do with her, blocking her out entirely? Kethlan was curious. He often wondered what the relationships of others were like.

  “Drain Lexx’s tube and release her,” he ordered the drone that was monitoring the woman’s condition.

  “I will require authorisation from the CEO for that action,” the drone began.

  “When was the last time she was given a sedative?”

  “Around three hours ago,” the drone responded.

  “Good, she should still be under.” He repeated the order to drain the tube.

  “I will require authorisation from—” the drone once again started to inform him.

  “Override. Authentication name, Kline Kethlan; authentication password India Alfa Mike Hotel Uniform Mike Alfa November.”

  The drone moved over to him, lights on its front flashing. A beam passed over Kethlan’s body. “Granted,” the drone answered, moving back to Lexx’s liquid chamber. “Please be advised that the subject may suffer significant disorientation once the drain is complete. She may not be able to walk or talk properly for an hour, and may vomit or even pass out.”

  Kethlan nodded. “Once you have completed the drain and Lexx is released, you are to wait outside, and not return until I summon you. Understand?”

  “Sorry, Commander, but as part of my—”

  Kethlan once again issued the override command.

  “Yes, Commander,” the drone answered, and commenced the draining procedure. The feeds and cables that had been attached to Lexx’s head and various parts of her body were released, retracting into the top of the container. The fluid itself slowly began to drain from the tube, emptying away out of the bottom, Lexx starting to sink down within it as her liquid support went away. Finally, the mask attached to her mouth and nose withdrew and the woman began coughing.

  “Open the container and leave,” Kethlan told the drone.

  Alone, Kethlan moved to the woman’s side and covered her with the towel he had brought with him. It was a while before Lexx was able to sit up straight, twice vomiting. He sat her down on the floor, crouched in front of her, and used the towel to wipe much of the goop off her before finally wrapping her in a towelling robe to keep her warm. He was patient, waiting for the coughing to stop, and for her to become more aware of her surroundings. Eventually, she raised her eyes to him. They flashed the instant she took him in.

  “You!” Lexx said, baring her teeth. “Kline Kethlan. You bastard!” She made to lash out, but only tipped over. Kethlan caught her as she did so, to prevent her from striking her head on the floor.

  “Easy, Ms Lexx,” he said, “you will still be nauseous and have trouble focusing for the next hour or so. Which is good for me,” he added, with a smirk.

  “What have you got planned for me this time?” Lexx said, breathing hard and still coughing, though with defiance in her voice. “Am I going to be taking part in some intra-system space race? Maybe go off exploring some uncharted world to find a bunch of mystical stone tablets? Or am I being sold as a sex slave to an old man, all for the sake of finding out where my sister is? Come on, let’s have it, let’s get it over with, so I can get a gun or whatever and put myself out of this misery.”

  “You might not want to do that here,” Kethlan said. “This isn’t a simulation; this is the real world.”

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  “Want me to prove it to you? Look behind yourself. That is the chamber we have been keeping you in since you got here. You were suspended in liquid, a breathing mask over your face, nutrients feeding into your body, information being fed into your mind. That is why your body has shrunk – you have suffered muscle wastage since being here. The state of your legs and arms will be the most noticeable to you.”

  Lexx looked at her body, seeing it just as Kethlan had described. She didn’t appear all that convinced, however. “And how do I know that this isn’t also a simulation?” she asked. “A simulation within a simulation. How deep does the rabbit hole go?”

  “You may have been aware of another presence in your mind while you were under,” Kethlan said. “Someone always there next to you, listening to your thoughts. The feeling that you were never quite alone, that feeling of closeness. Is that gone, now?”

  “Yes,” Lexx said, after a time. “Yes, it has.” She reached out and touched him, running her hands over the skin on his hands and then the fabric of his uniform. Kethlan allowed her to do so, sensing that she was wanting to test this reality for herself. He could wait. Not for much longer, though.

  “Where are the other two?” Lexx asked. “Lance Skillman and Erik Overlook? I want to see them.”

  “You can’t,” Kethlan said.

  “Because?”

  “Because they’re not here right now. And nor will they ever be.”

  Lexx nodded, looking about herself for a time, to the room and all the equipment within. “So, what is this all about?” she said. “Why did you kidnap me? What’s with the desire to get hold of my sister? What do you want from me? I’m nothing but a xenobiologist.” She then paused, as if the penny had suddenly dropped. “Have you established first contact? Are you training me for a mission?”

  Kethlan found himself laughing at the absurdity of the suggestion. “No, nothing like that. You’re special, Lexx. You poss
ess a quality that makes you unique, and it’s something that the Corporation is very interested in.”

  “And that gives you the right to kidnap me? To send bounty hunters out to pull me away from my research, kill my co-workers, blindfold me, and threaten me with rape and torture if I don’t comply?”

  “They killed your co-workers?” Kethlan asked.

  “Yes.”

  “A little extreme.”

  “And you’re not even sorry,” Lexx said, scowling at him.

  No, he wasn’t. He didn’t actually care. At a point in the past, when he had been weaker, he might have been. Not now.

  “Tell me about yourself,” Kethlan said.

  “Ha, no,” Lexx said. She was still shivering a little.

  “I only want to know a few things.”

  “Why don’t you go first, since you’re so keen on sharing.”

  Kethlan straightened, considered it for a time. “Very well,” he said. “My name, as you know, is Kline Kethlan. I am the commander of the Wade-Ellen Asset Protection Corporation, otherwise known as WEAPCO.”

  “How long have you been with the Corporation?” Lexx asked. She didn’t look directly at him as she spoke, her gaze lowered. Even so, her brow remained knitted.

  “Around nine years,” Kethlan said.

  “And you were born on Earth?”

  “No, I wasn’t actually born in Sol at all. I was born in Spirit.”

  That provoked a small reaction from Lexx, one of clear surprise. It receded quickly, and the woman remained silent, waiting for him to go on.

  “I joined the Corporation’s naval services, and worked as a subject in their AI training program.”

  “So they had you hooked up to one of these contraptions for a while then, eh?” Lexx asked.

  “For a short time, yes.”

  “Why? Why did you join?”

  “For my own reasons,” Kethlan said.

  “Any brothers or sisters? Any family at all? Mother, father, sons, daughters? Dog?”

  Kethlan almost smiled. “No. No family.”

  Lexx nodded, remained silent.

  “What is your relationship with your sister like?” Kethlan finally asked.

  “Why is it so important that you need to know?” Ursula snapped, looking up at him. Her eyes were as bright and fierce as ever, a deep scowl on her face. If looks could kill, this one certainly would have.

  “Do you get on with one another?”

  Lexx said nothing.

  “The bonds between siblings are usually a lot stronger between identical twins than they are with others, don’t you think? Something to do with them being the same age, perhaps? Or maybe it goes all the way back to the womb, when the original egg split and—”

  “Where is my sister?” Lexx interrupted. “What have you done with her? Are you going to stuff her into one of those tubes, too? Because if you touch one hair on her head, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

  “We haven’t done anything with her,” Kethlan said. “We’re currently looking for her. Once we find her, she will be brought here, and I will let you know everything.”

  Lexx stared hard at him for a time. Kethlan wondered what the woman was thinking. Had she figured it out? He doubted it. But then, she was clearly far more powerful than William Benedict had ever been. That was worrying. He would return her to the chamber shortly. Stun her, too, if need be.

  “And after that?” Lexx said, “After you have had your little talk with us, or we’ve helped you with your research or whatever it is, we can go? Because in all honesty, I can’t think what I have done to warrant your interest, other than my ability to fiddle a video game.”

  Kethlan made to answer but heard the door behind him slide open. The drone he had banished from the room was there. “I told you stay out!” he barked at the machine. “Leave, now! That’s an order!”

  “Commander, I have received an urgent communication from the CEO,” the drone said. “He wishes to inform you that the first phase of Mission 3412 is about to commence.”

  Kethlan swore. Already? That operation was not scheduled to take place for another few weeks. Why had it been brought forward? Had a security leak occurred, or had the mercenaries gotten wind of the operation?

  “You should also be made aware that the mercenary groups stationed in the Alpaca Group have attacked the Corporation’s base of operations on Ceradse, and have taken down the Spire in Tira. Erik Overlook is recommending that we immediately dispatch a Star Killer-class frigate to the Spirit system, to counter the mercenaries’ anticipated use of ...”

  Kethlan waited for the drone to complete its sentence, but it said no more. It was ... stuck. His heart leapt into his throat at that moment, and he turned back to Lexx. The woman’s face was a mixture of amusement and concentration.

  “Interesting,” she said.

  Realising that the sedative had worn off, Kethlan focused to break the link. Nothing happened, the barrier was far too powerful already. Hell! He made immediately to strike the woman.

  “Don’t. I will kill you.”

  It wasn’t Lexx that had spoken, but the drone, and Kethlan didn’t have to look around to know that the thing would have already deployed the minimal weaponry that it was equipped with, and was training it on him.

  The WEAPCO commander raised his hands slowly. “We don’t need to do this,” he said to Lexx. “I never meant you any harm. I wouldn’t have brought you clothes if I meant to hurt you.”

  “Don’t talk,” Lexx said, drawing the tie of the towelling robe around her and standing. “I’m in control here. Now listen closely, as this is how things are going to work: you’re going to lead me out of here. You’re going to take me to a ship, and then I’m going to return to Eyananth and find my sister. You’re not going to come after me, and neither is anyone else from the Corporation. Am I making myself clear, Commander?”

  The young woman had certainly grown more assertive and sure of herself since she had been brought in. Kethlan recalled her being a great deal meeker than this. The months in the simulations, undergoing various scenarios as they tried to break those mental barriers that she had erected to safeguard her sister’s whereabouts had had the side effect of turning her into something of a warrior, it seemed.

  Kethlan became aware of the drone approaching his side, its electrocution stick deployed and sparking. It was quite prepared to use it, should the need arise. “Very well,” the commander said, standing. “But I hope you know that you won’t be getting out of here as easily as you think.”

  “Just walk,” Lexx said, gesturing to him. “Lower your hands and act normal. Otherwise, I’ll tell the drone to kill you.”

  Kethlan didn’t argue and headed for the door, opening it and starting down the length of corridor, the drone floating along behind him. He looked at a security camera as he approached, mouthing ‘help’ to it. That would trigger a silent alarm, alerting the bots and drones that worked the facility that an escape was in progress and that he was in danger. At the end of the stretch of corridor was a locked door. Lexx ordered Kethlan to open it.

  “I can’t,” he said. “This one can only be opened by an authorised facility worker.”

  “Fine,” Lexx said.

  The door slid open. Kethlan looked at the drone behind him, seeing the lights on the front winking briefly before shutting back off.

  “Impressive, Lexx,” he said.

  “Take me to a docking port. If you take me the wrong way, I’ll kill you. I mean it.”

  “How will you know?” Kethlan asked.

  “Woman’s intuition.”

  He stepped through the open doorway into a small control room of sorts, populated by three drones. He prepared to move, to get himself quickly out of the line of fire when the drones realised their companion was under the command of Lexx.

  They did nothing.

  “What are you standing there for?” Lexx asked Kethlan. “Keep going.”

  He hadn’t expected that. Lexx was in co
mmand of all three of the drones already. Had she seized control of them on entering the room, or had she done so beforehand? There were more checkpoints to pass through before they reached the starship docking bay, but it didn’t appear as though any of them were going to test the woman at all.

  “What will you do with me once you get to a ship?” Kethlan asked Lexx as the two continued walking.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” Lexx said. “Maybe I’ll have the drones put you in one of the tubes for a few years. Come,” she commanded the three drones that floated in the control room. She issued the order aloud, clearly for Kethlan’s benefit. There was no need for her to vocalise her commands to the drones.

  The group continued through the corridors, entering a lift and descending several levels. There were a few more checkpoints, but none of the drones they encountered reacted to Kethlan or the woman’s presence, all acting as though everything was normal. A few more drones were added to their party.

  Lexx suddenly stumbled. She stopped walking, swaying a little where she stood.

  Kethlan eyed the drones that came with them, though none reacted. They remained as obedient as ever.

  “Tired?” Kethlan asked.

  “I’ve warned you already,” Lexx snapped, putting a hand to her forehead and waiting for the feeling to pass. “Don’t talk, just keep walking. Are we nearly there?”

  “Yes,” Kethlan said.

  “Good,” she said, and pointed him onward.

  He complied, wondering whether Lexx’s light-headedness was a result of trying to control too many drones at once, or because of her recent exit from the hibernation chamber. Probably a combination of both. Another lift, and finally they were at the docking bay. Lexx gave a sigh of relief as she saw the vessels that were resting here.

  “Which is your ship?” she demanded to know. “I’m assuming that you don’t actually live or work here, and only come here when you need to.”

  Kethlan nodded. “That one,” he said, gesturing to the shuttle that had brought him to the Zetaman Facility.

 

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