Forbidden System: A Benevolency Universe Novel (Fall of the Benevolence Book 1)

by David Alastair Hayden

  He nodded.

  “Then the Shadraa, the Ones from the Dark, they truly have not returned yet. The demon I speak of is an entity, not a projected ghost as you and I are now, but a true entity that can infest a machine or an artificial mind, and sometimes even a living being.”

  A being that could inhabit a machine? A knot of frustration formed within his gut. There was so much he wanted to ask her and everything she told him only raised more questions.

  “So long as the demon lives, all the ship’s systems are compromised, at least those that weren’t damaged in battle before we jumped into hyperspace. The demon is trapped here, just as I am. It cannot destroy me as it wishes, but in turn it prevents me from returning to real space. So that is why I need your help. I need you to defeat this demon.”

  For a while, he had become convinced this experience was real after all. He so desperately wanted to actually be talking to an Ancient. But defeating demons possessing the minds of machines? He was starting to think this was all a product of his imagination. His eyes focused on the pleading look of the alluring Ancient priestess. His imagination had never been so creative, so vivid before. Dream or not, he would go along with it, because he didn’t want this experience to end, not ever.

  “To defeat the demon, you must interface with the ship using the sentinel station, the chair in the outpost. I summoned your consciousness here through the chair. But I cannot link you to the ship telepathically. That is something you must do yourself…if you can.”

  He nodded his understanding, limited as it was.

  “The chair you are using in the outpost is intended only for sentinels. They are…were…guardians of the priesthood who gave up their identities.”

  He nearly jerked away in response.

  She shook her head. “No, I am not asking you to give up your identity. That is not how it works, not exactly. Each time you use the chair, it will take something away from you. A memory, an experience, a skill, something you value above all other things. That is the price you must pay. And yes, it is a terrible price. We ask that it be paid because the responsibility of the stations within the outposts is so great. The things that can be done there are not trivial.”

  That he understood. The weapon. He held his hands out, miming the size and shape of it. Then he put his fists together and pulled them out rapidly to show something exploding.

  “You know about the weapon?”

  He shook a hand back and forth, trying to show he understood only a little about it.

  She released a deep breath. “If the weapon remains, clearly the enemy did not make it as far as we expected. And that is a good thing, a very good thing, because there will come a time when your people will need as many of those weapons as possible.”

  Her voiced deepened as she spoke slowly. “Recalling the ship will cost something very dear to you. Are you still willing to help me?”

  He nodded his agreement, and why not? The reward—assuming all of this was true—was the return of a living breathing Ancient! He would give anything for that.

  “Thank you. Now, you must initiate the connection sequence, pay the cost, and interface with the ship’s mind. Then eliminate the demon however you can. The chair will assist you.”

  Her fingers tightened against his forehead, her breathing deepened, and her eyes flared a brighter, more intense blue as she focused.

  “I am projecting into your mind the sequence you will need to activate the chair’s interface system, and the sequences you will need to reboot the ship’s mind or to activate the automated return systems.”

  Gav felt a jolt in his brain, like a mild shock, and a fuzziness to his thoughts, as if a dream had just escaped him. Her fingers relaxed, and her eyes returned to normal.

  “Do not try to think upon what I just gave you. It is in my language and will not make sense to you. Recall it only when you need it. To do so sooner may cause you to lose the information.”

  He nodded, then tapped his chest and gestured over his shoulder.

  “Yes, I am afraid it is time for you to return. I know you have many questions still. But you do not have the time and I do not have the strength right now. For that, and for the price you must pay to help me, I am deeply sorry. Again, you do not have to take such a risk to save me. I would understand.”

  Paying an unknown price to stop a “demon” infecting the perhaps sentient mind of an alien ship trapped in hyperspace sounded like just the sort of ridiculous risk he was always far too willing to take in exchange for even the smallest scrap of knowledge about the Ancients. He would risk pretty much everything for this, the grandest of prizes.

  She placed her left hand tenderly on his cheek and smiled warmly. “I hope to meet you again soon in real space, Gav Gendin. We share a bond now, the two of us. Once I am in real space, I will call to you. So long as you wear the amulet of a guardian, you will hear me, no matter which outpost the ship ends up taking me to. And if all else fails, I have placed the locations of them in your mind so that you can search them all out for me.”

  He smiled. “Lyoolee Syryss.”

  And then, as suddenly as he had arrived on the deck of the Ancient ship, he found himself back in the chair within the outpost. But unlike before, there were no swirling lights or ghostly images. His hyperphasic sickness was gone entirely, as if his meeting with the priestess had cured him.

  “Sir, are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m doing—”

  “Sir, what’s wrong with you? You’re speaking gibberish.”

  He had replied, but the language wasn’t Terran. It was Lyoolee’s musical language. So it had been real. There was indeed an actual, living Ancient, trapped in a stasis pod in a damaged ship. And she really did need him to exorcise the demon, or whatever it was, possessing her ship so that it could exit hyperspace.

  Maybe he had lost his ability to speak his own language. Right now, he didn’t care. Maybe his Terran would come back after he used the information she’d stored in his brain. But maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, the only thing to do was press forward. He had an Ancient to save!

  He made a hand signal for okay where Silky could see it clearly.

  “I understand, sir, but I’m not buying it. I’m going to start an intense medical scan.”

  Gav held his forearms against one another in a giant X to signal no. He didn’t want to risk the scan interfering with any part of this process.

  “Sir, I think—”

  He banged his forearms together emphatically, then gave the okay signal again.

  “If you insist, sir. But I will monitor you closely and begin an intense scan if I sense anything wrong. And you can’t stop me from doing so.”

  Gav took a few deep breaths, in and out, and shifted around until he felt comfortable. Then he opened his mind to the first sequence Lyoolee Syryss had implanted within him. He spoke a Numenaian phrase then his fingers, unbidden, rapidly tapped a succession of glowing buttons that had popped up on the arms of the chair. He spoke a second phrase, and then a voice entered his mind, a cold voice with little inflection.

  “Welcome back, Sentinel. As before, you must pay a price to use any of the outpost’s functions. Do you understand?”

  “So I have paid that price before?”

  “Ten minutes ago I presented you with three memories you valued greatly. You chose one, and I erased it from you mind.”

  “What memory?”

  “I could not tell you even if I knew.”

  “I don’t even remember making this choice!”

  “I told you that would happen.”

  “So that is the price the princess said that I had paid in order to speak with her?”

  “Indeed, it was. Her telepathic calls drew you to the chair, and I promised you could meet and speak with her on the deck of her ship. Willingly, you paid the price.”

  What was done was done, and what was lost to him was lost. There was no point worrying about it now.

  “I need to interface with the sh
ip, to rescue her.”

  “Interfacing with the ship will require a far more precious memory than the one you gave up before.”

  “I understand.”

  “And as before, you will not remember giving it up. You will not even remember having spoken to me.”

  “I understand. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gav Gendin

  Fifteen years ago…

  As he efficiently deactivated the silent alarm hardwired onto the glass display case, Gav realized he could have been an outstanding thief, given the right inclination and upbringing. Apparently, there was significant overlap with the sort of rogue archaeology he practiced. And he was cool under pressure. He had to be. Otherwise the hazardous environments, pirates, thieves, and alien species he encountered in the Outer Reaches would have seen an end to him already. Admittedly, he had stolen a few prize artifacts away from treasure hunters. That took guts and planning.

  Still, he had never done anything quite like this before. With only minimal planning and basic equipment he had broken into the Ekaran Museum of Antiquities, deftly deactivating the many security measures: video, audio, and heat map scans; hovering spy-drones and security cogs on patrol; locked doors and laser grids.

  He opened the glass case carefully and reached in for the object he had come for: the Vrazel Mask, a ceramic fragment reputed to be half of an Ancient burial mask that had been found at a prominent dig site two decades ago. It was one of the most complete Ancient artifacts in existence. Mostly, archaeologists studying the Ancients were left working with tiny engraved stone or rusted metal fragments that could easily fit into one’s palm and the remnants of large stone structures.

  Yet no one was allowed to study the mask.

  One small room housed this artifact in its protective case. The room wasn’t open to researchers or the public, and it only held the one display case. No one was ever allowed inside, save for the museum director.

  Every three months, from the time he had begun his doctoral thesis, until now, six years after he had become a research professor, Gav had requested access to the item. Every time, access had been denied him. As it was to all other researchers since Professor Capra, a top researcher in the field, had verified its authenticity after its discovery. Appeals to the highest powers had only served to annoy those highest powers. Gav’s personal plea on the doorstep of the museum director had nearly gotten him arrested.

  And so, with the desire to know burning hotter within him day after day, he had finally decided to take matters into his own hands. He had to examine the mask closely, to take detailed composition and dating scans and extreme resolution photos. The few pictures available were only in high resolution, without a single 3D scan for holographic viewing, and Professor Capra had never released all of his scan data, claiming it was essential to his upcoming book on the item, a book now decades in the making with no set release date.

  In a system near where the mask was found, Gav had uncovered tiny pieces similar to the mask with remarkable chemical signatures. He desperately needed to compare them to the mask. His research had hit a wall lately, and he was struggling to get funding for new expeditions to the sparsely populated, Outer Reaches where it was easiest to find Ancient remains. If he didn’t come up with something impressive soon, his career path would end in the classroom. And he couldn’t bear the thought of semester after semester lecturing young college students. He preferred to remain a researcher and guest lecturer.

  “Chor, what’s our status?” Gav asked his 5G chippy.

  “Everything is clear, sir. No alarms sounding. No security cogs or people nearby. You are safe.”

  Gav lifted the mask in one hand and shined a flashlight onto it, examining it casually first.

  A broad, ironic smile lit his face, and he began to laugh.

  “Freeze! Don’t move an inch!”

  Startled, Gav nearly dropped the mask.

  “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

  The woman’s voice should have been calm and soothing, and maybe at another time, in another situation, it would have been. But right now there was depth and a commanding edge to it that made him do exactly as she said, for fear that she would shoot him.

  “Turn around slowly.”

  “And you are?”

  “Detective Shira, Bei City Police.”

  He turned around as requested. “I’m not armed. I…I…”

  He couldn’t finish his statement.

  Gav had never been speechless before. But now…now he had no words whatsoever. Before him stood a creature of such beauty he was mesmerized. There was something about her, something he found absolutely captivating. It wasn’t her pale, short-cropped hair, pouty lips, or deep, emerald eyes. It wasn’t the black police uniform that accented her broad hips and pert breasts. It wasn’t her commanding voice hinting at a currently absent warmth. Those things were no doubt part of the effect, but it was something more. It was as if he could hear beyond her words and see beyond her appearance to a soul of pure beauty. It was…it was the same feeling he got when studying the Ancients. It was pure… Well, it couldn’t be love, could it? He didn’t know this woman at all.

  She gestured with her neural disruptor. “Drop to your knees, set the object on the floor.”

  “I…I’m Gav. Gav Gendin.” He knelt on the floor and place the mask down in front of him. “And this…this isn’t what it seems.”

  He had intended to speak calmly, with an air of sophistication to impress her, maybe suavity if he could manage it. He had failed miserably.

  “It looks like a theft. And for that, you are under arrest. Please confirm when you have read your rights by signing the end of the document.”

  His legal rights scrolled through his HUD. It reached the end, and he applied his digital signature.

  “Thank you for acknowledging your rights.”

  “I was going to return it.”

  She grinned delightfully. “Un-huh. Heard that one before.”

  “Look, I’m a professor. Not a thief, not a treasure hunter. I just wanted to study the mask. That’s all.”

  Her grin expanded, its character switching from frivolity to pure mischief. “I’m well aware of who you are, Professor Gendin. Of your desire to study this object. And, notably, of your desperate need for funding.”

  Gav laughed nervously. “Well…you see…that…that’s all true.”

  “I know. I’m good at what I do.”

  “But I swear I was never going to sell this. This isn’t about money.”

  “It isn’t?”

  “Not directly.”

  She sighed as one might sigh at a naughty yet amusing child. “Get up and put the object back inside the display case, then turn around, hands behind your back.”

  He did as told. “I would never sell an Ancient artifact.”

  “I do believe that much,” Detective Shira replied.

  “I would have returned it, if I had taken it. But, in fact, I wasn’t going anywhere with it. Honestly, you just got here too soon.”

  “Obviously. And I’m sure everyone caught doing something wrong would share that stunning insight of yours.”

  “No, no, you don’t understand. I was only a few seconds away from putting the object back and running out of here as fast as possible.”

  She slapped a pair of cuffs over his wrists. “You barely held the object. That doesn’t seem like nearly enough time for your chippy to get even a basic scan.”

  “A scan wasn’t necessary.” He craned his head around to try to look her in the eyes. “It’s a fake.”

  “A fake?”

  “Not even close to being the real thing. I mean, the doctored images out there look good, but in person, especially looking at the underside… It’s a bad fake. It’s no wonder they never released detailed analyses, 3D scans, or extreme resolution photos.”

  She spun him around. “Forgery is a crime.”

  He chewed at his lip. “Which is weird, bec
ause I don’t think the museum profits from it. They don’t even let people in to see it.”

  Detective Shira laughed at him, but her look was full of pity. “They don’t let in professors who make chump change salaries. Bored socialites with more money than sense get to…” her words trailed off as her eyes met his “…get to…to see…” She shook her head head. “Sorry, I’m having trouble…speaking…all of a…”

  “I know the feeling. It hit me immediately.” He summoned his courage. “Would you like to have dinner with me, Detective Shira? Tomorrow night?”

  Stunned, she blinked rapidly a few times. “Tomorrow? You…you’ll still be in jail then.”

  “Oh.”

  “But I should think…” she seemed, suddenly, to gather her composure “…I should think even a halfway decent lawyer would have you out by Friday night, after a plea bargain in exchange for presenting evidence on the museum director and Professor Capra. You’ll have a black mark on your record, of course, but I doubt that will be a problem for you.”

  “Great. I’ll pick you up.”

  She patted him on the cheek. “I’ll pick you up. After all, I already know where you live.”

  He laughed as she grabbed him by the arm and led him along. He glanced around, suddenly realizing there were no police officers with her, not even a security cog or drone.

  “You came here by yourself?”

  “A few years ago I read one of your books…the one people without a doctorate in archaeology can understand. I thought it was fascinating. And when you got flagged for criminal mischief, I took it upon myself to bring you in. I kept my investigation as off the record as I could. I didn’t tell anyone what case I was working tonight and left my partner behind.”

  “So, if it’s off the record, you could let me go, right?”

  “I don’t work that way. You commit a crime, you’re going to have to pay. Don’t care who you are.”

  “Fair enough.” He frowned. “Wait, how did you know I was going to commit a crime?”

  “You got flagged days before this attempt. It was difficult to make sure I was the only one here to arrest you.”