“Give me a moment to link myself to Chugger’s system. Done,” she said. She would be able to walk with him, now.
He felt her reach for his hand as they started out together. He let her take it, curling his fingers gently around her own, and held her hand as they made their way up to the bridge.
~
“How soon until we arrive at Eyananth?” Chris asked Sid, as he arrived on the bridge, Athena releasing his hand just before they entered.
“Not long now,” Sid said from the captain’s chair. “Less than thirty minutes, at the current speed.”
“Have you heard any more from Phoebe or Ursula? Is Ursula okay?”
“They’re both in the rec room, getting some food. I thought I would give them a bit of space for now. The AI took a look at Ursula, and has treated her for the exposure. Mostly, she only needed pain killers and some time to recover. I’m not sure what she was given for the drugging she received in the tube, but she’s a lot more conscious than before. It might have simply been some sort of sedative. Everything else will have to fix itself naturally.”
“Sounds serious,” Athena said.
“She’s a little malnourished, and that’s not something that’s going to go away overnight. Give her a few weeks, and she’ll be back to a normal state of health again.” He said it almost apologetically, though it was neither his fault nor something he had any control over.
“That’s not time we can spare,” Chris said, largely to himself. “We’ve started something here and we should expect WEAPCO to start sending everything they have after us.”
Sid nodded in agreement. “Ideally, we should be making a move against them now.”
“Ideally. It’s not that straightforward, though. We’re now essentially one quarter of a galaxy-wide conflict. Another is WEAPCO, the third is Tyler, and the last one is Mal and his damn cult.”
“You think Mal is still alive?” Sid asked.
“If both Tyler and Overlook are to be believed, the guy’s going to pop up again at some point in the future, and I can’t help feeling it’ll happen a lot sooner than in the past. The encounter at the shipyard was the start of the long-promised pilgrimage, or whatever it is Mal’s supposed to be leading them on. The guy’s not going to stay out of the picture for long.”
Chris walked over to a seat and slumped into it, falling silent as he tried to think. Four sides. Three of them sought the elimination of WEAPCO, while WEAPCO would be defending its corner all by itself. Not that, in all honesty, WEAPCO needed any help.
“We could just disappear for a while, and let them fight it out between themselves?” Sid suggested.
“And hope that WEAPCO emerges the victor so that we could take them down by use of psionics? Too risky. What if Mal wins?”
“You think that the Immortal League has a chance?” Athena asked.
“I don’t think that we should assume that they will lose by default, just because they’re some weird freaky cult. We can’t assume that Mal doesn’t also have trained psionics available to him. And now that we know that WEAPCO is essentially twelve gods, ruling over the galaxy alongside thirty or so demigods, and several thousand underlings, we have to consider the possibility of infiltrators. It all gets very complicated, I know. Ideally, I would like to find a way to take both of them down at once, or WEAPCO soon after Mal.”
“A pity we lost Overlook,” Sid said. “He might have known something that could help us to dissolve the cult.”
“Actually, we didn’t,” Chris said, motioning to Athena. “He’s currently a prisoner here. He’s confined to a digital prison or something?”
“I’ve separated his consciousness into a sandbox with absolutely no resource access,” Athena explained to Sid. “The address space is linked to persistent storage, so we don’t have to worry about losing him if power goes down.”
“Clever,” Sid said.
Chris’ attention shifted to the bridge entrance as he saw movement there. Phoebe and Ursula walked side by side, dressed similarly to one another. Phoebe was smiling happily, Ursula not quite as upbeat. Perhaps she was just tired, or perhaps her mood was the result of being a guest at WEAPCO’s facility for so long. What they might have done to that girl, Chris did not want to think. Phoebe indicated a seat for her sister to take.
“How are you feeling, Ursula?” Chris asked.
“Okay,” Ursula said, though she didn’t sound all that sure. “Actually, more like I’m recovering from the flu. Right now, I’m just trying to keep some food down.”
“Your head is fuzzy,” Athena said to Ursula, wandering over to her. “I can feel your sister’s thoughts, but yours are hazy and difficult to understand.”
Ursula snatched at the hand that Athena extended out to her head, gripping the avatar’s wrist tightly. Athena cried out, sinking to her knees.
“Hey! Don’t touch me!” Ursula snapped. She gave Athena’s wrist a small twist when Athena said nothing, causing the avatar to cry out again.
“You’re hurting me,” Athena protested.
“Who are you?” Ursula growled.
“Woah, Ursula, calm down,” Phoebe said, moving quickly to her sister’s side. “That’s Athena, remember? She’s one of us.”
“Feels more like a WEAPCO employee to me,” Ursula said, continuing to glare at Athena.
“Ursula, really,” Phoebe begged, “she’s working with us. She just saved our lives. We wouldn’t have gotten out of that facility without her.”
Ursula looked at Chris and Sid, the two men standing back. Each nodded in confirmation.
“Sorry,” Ursula said, releasing her grip on Athena. “It’s just that ... you’re not real.”
“She’s an avatar, from a WEAPCO Firefly,” Sid said.
“Was WEAPCO,” Athena added, hastily, tending to her wrist. “I’m my own person now. I’m independent. Free.”
“How did you do that?” Chris asked Ursula, motioning between the woman and Athena.
“She’s a machine,” Ursula said. “It’s easy.”
“Phoebe can’t do that,” Sid said.
“Actually, it’s not because I can’t,” Phoebe said, “it’s more that I haven’t tried hard enough. I probably could if I wanted to. But I won’t,” she added to Athena, with a shake of her head.
“I guess you two were never formally introduced,” Chris said, to Ursula and Athena, remembering the pandemonium that had followed Athena’s inventive rescue effort. Ursula had passed out immediately, and had not been aware of anything that had followed. Perhaps a good thing she hadn’t witnessed Chris’ confrontation with Athena.
“Ursula Lexx, this is Athena. Athena, this is Ursula Lexx,” Chris introduced them. Athena held out her hand again, Ursula shaking it. There was some reluctance and hesitation there, Chris noted. He was sure that that would pass in due course.
“So, you’re not a real person?” Ursula asked Athena. “You’re not one of the Upper Circle or one of the Higher Class?”
A bemused expression came over Athena’s face. “No,” she said. “I’m ... just me.”
“Athena is a sentient machine,” Chris supplied. “Um, no offence or anything,” he added to her. Athena waved it away, but smiled to him all the same. There was something in it just for him, he noted. Perhaps because he had finally acknowledged that she was alive.
“What did you mean when you said my head was ‘fuzzy’?” Ursula asked Athena.
“I was created to serve as a human-AI interface,” Athena explained. “I can hear the thoughts of people and communicate with them that way. Usually, that is restricted to those wearing a specially crafted helmet in the fighter, in the hold. But in some cases, I can communicate with people without it.” She motioned to Phoebe. To Ursula, she said, “Your thoughts are fuzzy. Not that you’re blocking them, but because something seems to be interfering.”
“That will be the drug they gave me,” Ursula said. “I managed to escape once before when someone came to see me. It might have been Kethlan,
but I can’t remember now.”
“You said it was Kethlan, earlier,” Phoebe confirmed for her.
Ursula continued, “After that, I was fed a drug that suppressed my ability to manipulate the machines and the simulated environments they placed me into. I think that it might have been done on the order of Lance Skillman, the so-called CEO. He took particular pleasure in me not being able to defend myself in his playrooms.”
She added no more, only falling silent. Not that she needed to, Chris thought. It was clear what she was implying. Phoebe came over to her sister’s side and put an arm around her shoulders. She did not appear as shocked as the others, and Chris thought it likely Ursula had told Phoebe already.
“I will deal with him later,” Ursula said.
At that point, Chris decided to change the subject, and press on with what their next steps were. He brought Phoebe and Ursula up to speed on the situation, elaborating as necessary for Ursula’s benefit, remembering then that she would be in need of a starfighter of her own. A second Valkyrie was decided upon.
“You don’t need to go after Mal,” Ursula interrupted Chris as he started on about how they could track down the man, get near enough to assassinate him, and throw his followers into disarray.
“Why not?” Chris asked.
“Because you have Overlook.”
Chris looked at Sid, Athena, and Phoebe, to see if he had missed something. Apparently, he hadn’t.
“Sorry,” Ursula said. “I thought I had told you this already. It’s the drug and the dizziness. No, you don’t need Mal, for the simple reason that Overlook is Mal.”
The silence that initially met Ursula’s statement was almost as loud as the shouting that followed. “What do you mean, Ursula?” Chris asked, after calling for calm. “They’re the same person?”
“Exactly the same,” Ursula said.
“How?” Sid asked.
“It’s probably best that you get it from the horse’s mouth,” Ursula said.
“Sid, bring him up,” Chris instructed, rising from his seat.
Sid did so, tapping away at one of the bridge’s consoles, until Overlook’s avatar sprang up in the middle of the room. The man at first appeared confused, looking all about himself, as if he did not know what had just happened or where he was. His eyes then settled on Chris.
“You again,” he tutted. “Where am I now?”
“You’re on board the Artful Dodger, a freighter,” Chris said, folding his arms. “I have some questions for you.”
Overlook did not respond, but instead focused on the other occupants of the bridge. He did a double-take as he saw Ursula, squinting at her briefly. “I see you rescued the other one, then?” he said.
“Yes,” Chris replied. “Your fleet commander put up quite a fight to stop us from getting away, but even his best efforts weren’t enough.”
“This is a Wade-Ellen vessel,” Overlook said, turning about himself. “You really are asking for trouble, Mr Bainfield. Not only have you taken me prisoner, but you think that you can casually help yourself to any of the Corporation’s assets. You’re making a very big mistake.”
“I know precisely what I’m doing, Mr Overlook,” Chris said.
“Ha! You’re a chancer. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re the first to have ever attempted to stand up to the Corporation. We are dealing with threats daily. Your spirit is admirable, but you will only get so far. I suggest you let me go, pack your bags, and run off home.”
“Okay, seriously, are you going to shut up and start paying attention to me, or do I have to have Athena work you over some more?” Chris asked. “Better yet, I could let Ursula have a go. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to give you a taste of whatever you lot put her through.”
Overlook looked between the three women on the bridge. “Fine. What do you want to know?” he asked.
The tone suggested to Chris that Overlook still wasn’t taking him seriously. He would change that right now. “How long have you been masquerading as the cultist Mal?”
Overlook started. “What?”
“You heard.”
More hesitation, before composure returned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You have a very bad poker face,” Chris said. “Ursula here says she knows all about your moonlighting operation. What I want to know is why you’re doing it?”
“How did you find out?” Overlook demanded of Ursula.
“I could feel it in your thoughts, whenever you were close by,” Ursula said. “They were always there, right on the surface of your mind. They weren’t strong, and I wasn’t able to discover all the details, but you still projected them.”
Chris glanced to Athena, the avatar nodding. She had said the very same to him, not wanting to, but unable to help from feeling his thoughts, his concerns, his desires.
“There were also occasions when you would enter my simulations and ... change,” Ursula said.
Overlook scowled a little, but also appeared intrigued. “What do you mean?”
“Your face would change into someone else’s. It was always hard to see, as it would be hidden within a hood or a cowl or something; I could never see it if I tried to look directly at it. The other man was younger, and he was sometimes holding stone tablets.”
Overlook swore.
Chris smiled. “Got you.”
Overlook glared, reached inside his jacket for something that wasn’t there, patted his pockets some more. “My kingdom for a cigarette,” he growled.
“Okay, let’s not beat about the bush any longer,” Chris said to Overlook. “It’s very clear that you’re Mal. He used to be a mercenary. Did you murder him and take his place?”
“No,” Overlook said. “I was charged with taking down his original mercenary group – I forget the name – and chased them to the opposite end of the known galaxy when he went in search of some alleged precursor technology nonsense. I need not have sent all the ships that I did, as the fool ended up getting himself and all those with him killed, when they got trapped on an uncharted ice planet. I planned to declare his death to my superiors, but instead decided to take his identity for myself, coming up with the story of the tablets and the path to Heaven, thus creating the Immortal League.”
“But why are you doing this?” Chris asked. “What do you stand to gain? Is this a way of attempting to eliminate the threat of the mercenaries from within? A backup plan, should Mission 34-whatever- fail? Or are you up to something else?”
Overlook was quiet for a time. “Some of us within the Corporation are expressing concern as to the effectiveness of Lance Skillman’s leadership.”
“Why do I get the feeling that ‘some of us’ actually just means you?” Chris asked.
“Not just me, no.”
Phoebe said, “So, a load of you are planning to overthrow your own CEO?”
Overlook nodded.
“Why?” Chris asked.
“It’s simple – we feel Skillman’s been in charge for long enough, and it’s time for him to go. We might be immortal, but that doesn’t mean we wish him to rule us for all eternity. People grow weary after a few years.”
“You mean it’s not all rosy down there?” Chris asked.
“Of course not,” Overlook said, irritably.
“A war in heaven,” Phoebe said. “Who would have thought?”
“Okay,” Chris said, “exactly what was the idea? You were going to start a cult that Skillman would struggle to contain, declare him as being unfit to lead, and then take control?”
“In a nutshell,” Overlook said. “The idea was not to simply build an army to attack the Corporation with – that would be like starting a fire in your own home just so that you could have the master bedroom. No, the idea was to instil a lack of confidence in Skillman’s leadership and direction. Once the Immortal League became both sizeable and threatening enough to be taken seriously, and be a cause for concern, people would begin to question Skillman’s leader
ship. At that point, I would deal with the issue myself, take down Mal and defeat the cult. Okay sure, it would mean sacrificing a few assets along the way, people, planets, maybe a whole system, to make things seem a little more authentic, but that would all be collateral damage.
“The beauty behind assuming Mal’s identity was that he could be killed repeatedly and never die, thus giving weight to his self-proclaimed immortality. I could project Mal almost anywhere I wanted, in any form I wished. He was a prophet to some, one that made promises of the true path to Heaven, something that would appeal to just about anybody. Many have difficulty coming to terms with their own mortality.”
Chris snorted. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Overlook smirked his response.
“And no one in the cult saw through the deception, or sought to question it?” Chris asked.
“No.” Overlook chuckled humourlessly. “They’re all too damn thick. Think about it – they’re mercenaries, scum, lowlifes, people who are never paid or qualified to think for themselves. They’re far too dumb and afraid to question the truth behind such a thing. Why do you think kings and rulers invented God? To control the masses with promises of great things to come.”
Chris shook his head in disbelief. It was true, though. Cults frequently preyed on those who were easily led, exploiting and controlling them. Mercenaries were driven by reward, usually money. In this case, the reward was the chance to live forever.
“You know,” Sid said, “Greek mythology is replete with examples of when the gods attempted to overthrow one another and take Olympus for themselves, using various forms of deceit.”
“At least we know what’s going on and that we can stop it,” Chris said. “We only need to find a way to dissolve the cult and that ends that little problem.”
“As easy as that, eh?” Overlook sneered. “And how exactly will you do that? Didn’t you listen to a thing I just said? Those people are animals.”
“Leave that to me,” Chris said. “Right, second question: what can you tell me about Kethlan? I need you to confirm whether or not he is an identical twin.”
Project Starfighter Page 34
