Shedding the Demon

by Bill Denise

  “I really don’t want any trouble, I just want to ask you a few questions. Scan my implants and enhancements; I think you’ll see that no one here can stop me.”

  Ken’s eyes took on an unfocused look as he reviewed his HUD, and Damon watched as they slowly widened in surprise.

  “Wow,” Ken said, “you’re not kidding.” He addressed the targets surrounding Damon, “Guys, he’s right, now we have to hope he’s friendly.”

  After some hesitation, all of the targets moved back, but Damon kept tabs on them anyway. “Is it all right if I sit with you for a moment?”

  “Sure, come on over,” Ken gestured to the seat across the table.

  “Thank you,” Damon approached slowly, still wary himself, and reached for the chair opposite Ken. He sat down and the chair creaked menacingly under his weight.

  Immediately, Damon’s HUD went crazy with various warnings, alerts, and threat assessments. He’d never seen anything like it, and he hesitated for a few seconds, trying to decipher what was happening. Apparently, every one of his systems was under direct electronic warfare attack. He found that it was difficult to move since his control system was barely responsive. He noted that there were now twenty incoming targets, but he couldn’t deploy any weaponry. He tried to stand, but his legs were unresponsive. Luckily, his armor was ‘going turtle’ as a fail-safe, so he was very well protected. Confident that the approaching targets did not offer any serious threat, he concentrated on the various warning icons. One at a time, he cleared them, directing the control system to handle each threat in turn. In a matter of thirty seconds, he had complete control restored. He charged up the Trip-PC and pointed it at Ken’s head.

  The Trip-PC was Damon’s favorite weapon because of its pure firepower, but it also had a stunning visual impact. When deployed, Damon’s hand bent downward at the wrist and a 40mm barrel emerged from the top of his forearm. Obviously nasty and all business, the weapon glowed green and made a distinctive hum when charged. In the low light of the bar it was an intimidating sight. Pointed at a person’s face from two feet away was something Damon wouldn’t want to experience.

  “You probably know what this is,” he waited and Ken nodded, “and I’m going to guess your shielding is useless against it.” Another pause and slowly Ken nodded again, never taking his eyes from the muzzle protruding from Damon’s wrist.

  “Now,” Damon continued, “can we talk in a civilized manner?”

  “I don’t seem to have a choice anyway,” Ken’s voice cracked, “Now would you please put that thing away?” Damon retracted and discharged the Trip-PC. His wrists were back to normal and there was little sign of the menace lurking beneath the surface of his skin.

  Ken visibly relaxed, saying, “Who in Kyndra’s Kingdom are you?”

  Damon smiled when he replied “I’m not from her kingdom, I’m from her nightmares.”

  “No one has ever withstood my full EM attack. I can’t remember the last time I was this vulnerable,” Ken said.

  “Lucky for you, then, that I’m here as a customer, right?”

  “Apparently, although I could have some more tricks up my sleeve.”

  Damon laughed. “Feel free to try. When you’re done, I’ll still be sitting here waiting to talk.”

  Ken nodded. “Well then, might as well skip that part. One very interesting thing I noticed about you was your skin. May I?” he reached out to touch Damon’s arm, hovering and waiting for permission.

  “Go ahead,” Damon said shrugging.

  “It feels like skin, but not really, and--OH!” Ken jerked his hand back when Damon turned the armor solid under his fingers.

  Ken moved closer and examined the armor with a range of sensors that Damon did not try to block.

  “Kyndra’s tears! It’s a diamond-crystal steel alloy! How . . . but . . . that’s,” Ken continued to sputter incoherently while Damon laughed.

  “I don’t know what you call it, but it’s my armor; it’s D-SAP”

  “That’s what I said, but you . . . your whole body is covered with it?”

  “Every square inch”

  “But, how can you move?”

  Damon laughed again, “I have no idea, but I know some people who could explain it.”

  Ken asked many more questions, and Damon answered everything he could. He knew it was risky, but he decided that complete honesty was the best way to gain the man’s trust. Without his trust, Damon would never get his help.

  After a few minutes, when Ken started digging deeper into the technical aspects of the enhancements, Damon stopped him. “Please, not here and now. I need someone with your skills, but you’ll have to come back to my ship. Will you?”

  “What choice do I have?” Ken leaned back and crossed his arms, “You could force me and I obviously can’t stop you.”

  “I need your willing help. I can’t force you to help me willingly.”

  “Good point,” Ken smiled and stood up. “I’m all yours, when do we leave?”

  Chapter Eight

  Alexander Pryke surveyed the room. Of all his people, this small group was by far his favorite. This was his intelligence group. He always thought they could improve, of course, but at least he felt they were better than anything the other dynasties possessed.

  “I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about the Demon program,” he said without preamble. “The Demon is the greatest singular weapon the Consensus has ever seen. It’s a true game-changer. However, it’s wasted in the hands of the Council, and I don’t think I’ll be convincing Renard to give it to us anytime soon.” The group laughed politely.

  “I’ve asked Research,” his voice dripped sarcasm, “to imitate the Demon, but as you can guess that will never happen.” Again the group made appropriate sounds of agreement.

  “Therefore, as usual, it comes down to us in this room to take care of business. If we can’t have our own Demon, then I intend to act through this one.

  “I want you to take our target list and create a plausible case for the Council to destroy each and every one. We need to make them want to attack our targets, and never know that we planted the seed. The evidence needs to compel the Council to act, so it needs to be urgent. I want our choices at the top of the Demon’s mission list. Any questions?”

  No one spoke, so Alexander dismissed them with a wave. “What did my father always say?”

  They recited, “Subterfuge and misdirection: the Pryke Family Jewels!” and filed out the door.

  **** ****

  When they arrived on The Abyss, Ken spent at least thirty minutes wandering around gaping at the grandeur. Damon smiled throughout and politely deflected Ken’s questions about where it came from and how he acquired it.

  Finally, in a room that Damon thought was a small guest room, Ken opened panels that revealed screens, keyboards, monitors, and other devices that Damon didn’t recognize. In a matter of minutes, he had converted a plain, empty room into a flashing, beeping, glowing control room.

  “Will you look at this!” Ken exclaimed, acting like an excited child, “We can do everything from right here!”

  “Great,” Damon replied, “what is everything?”

  “Everything! Whatever you normally ask the AI to do for you, we can run manually from right here. More than that, we can really dig into the raw data from the scanners and sensors; even the WERA! Oooo, and it’s a powerful WERA, too. This stuff is high-end military grade! Where did you say you got this ship?”

  “I didn’t say. But I will tell you that I took it from my first target.” Damon shrugged, “He liked to keep secrets.”

  Ken wasn’t really listening; he was studying the various screens, occasionally nodding and mumbling to himself.

  A few hours later, Damon was lounging in the common room when Ken walked in looking rather distracted. He seemed surprised to see Damon, but immediately started talking. He tried to explain the various systems and capabilities, but Damon didn’t understand any of the terminology or jargon and
was hopelessly lost.

  “Stop! Ken, I don’t understand any of this.” He held his hands up in a pleading motion.

  “Oh, um, sorry. I guess I can get a little carried away sometimes,” Ken said a little sheepishly. He continued on with barely a pause, “You said that you needed my help, but what for? You’ve got the armor, the weapons, the systems, and all of these resources at your disposal, what could you possibly need?”

  Damon thought for a moment, “Is this ship secure? Can you tell if we are being monitored here?”

  Ken looked quizzical, “Well, the AI is always listening, of course, and I suppose someone could tap into that. Otherwise, it’s safe.”

  “Can you do something about the AI? Either shut it down or prevent it from being used against us? After all, the program came from them.”

  “Who is ‘them?’ This is the part I don’t understand. What could you possibly be afraid of?”

  “They built me. They gave me the choice between volunteering or spending my life in jail. They trained me and told me where to go and who to kill. I’ve done a dozen missions for them and I don’t even know who they are.”

  He paused and took a few breaths before continuing, still not sure how much to say. “My biggest fear is that they control me. Of course they do in the sense that I follow their orders, but does it run deeper than that? What if I refuse? Do they install an AI in my system and run me with that? Am I still me?”

  Damon stopped, and then realized he still didn’t know if the AI was secure. “Um, you probably should have answered me about the AI before I spouted off.”

  Ken laughed, “I can take care of the AI. I have blocked all communications to and from the ship. Oh, speaking of which, your friend is trying to reach you now as we speak.”

  “My friend?” Damon hoped it was Joann.

  “Whoever it is that you work for, they apparently have another mission ready.”

  “Oh,” he felt somewhat disappointed. “Let him through, as long as he can’t see you or access the AI.”

  Ken tapped out some intricate patterns on his screen and said, “Done. You’re safe. I’ll be monitoring the communication to see what I can find out.”

  Damon reviewed the mission briefing with Gregor, aware that Ken was listening. Finally, the Council was trusting him with another big assignment, much like his very first mission. Thinking about that first mission still made his stomach flutter, even though he was much more comfortable with his abilities as the Demon. The target was well defended, and his followers were militant, but not to the extent of the first mission.

  Damon came away from the meeting excited but nervous. He was ready to get back into some real fighting, despite a few nagging doubts.

  After the transmission ended, Ken tapped away at his screen for a few minutes. Finally, he looked up and said, “Well, it’s heavily encrypted, of course, but since I have access to both ends of the conversation, I think I can break it. While you’re out on the mission, I’ll go collecting supplies.”

  Sudden fear stabbed into Damon’s chest as he realized the position he put himself in. He had to trust Ken, who he didn’t know at all, with all of his secrets.

  “I don’t think so,” Damon said severely. “I can’t let you leave now that you’ve seen so much. You’re too dangerous.” Should I lock him up? Tie him up? Damon’s mind raced through a series of unlikely scenarios.

  Ken laughed, but quickly sobered when he saw the look on Damon’s face. “You’re serious?” He asked.

  “Deadly serious.”

  Ken frowned and folded his arms. “Look, you knew there was risk in bringing me on board. You must have realized what would happen the minute you brought me here. If I’m going to help you, I need to pick up supplies. Nice as this ship is,” he gathered his surroundings in a broad gesture, “it does not have everything I need to get to answers you want.”

  “Order it through the AI, have a shuttle pick it up.”

  Ken sighed, and spoke levelly. “The equipment I need can’t be ordered from a store. I need to find friends and have some of it assembled. I have to get some of the components myself and some of it only I can assemble.”

  He looked directly into Damon’s eyes and continued, “What are you afraid of?”

  Trust. I’ve been betrayed by trust before, Damon thought. He didn’t let himself think about the trust he placed in that SecForce captain to keep the Family safe. Things were too dangerous down that road.

  Damon didn’t answer for a long time but the fear slowly released its grip on his heart. When he did answer, his voice was low and menacing, “If you run, I’ll find you. Understand?”

  Ken kept his gaze steady, “I would expect no less from you.”

  **** ****

  Renard Trueblood did not like where this meeting was going. I wish I could call a break and consult with Jeffrey directly, he thought as he tried to communicate non-verbally with his friend and aide sitting across the room.

  The Council was discussing the upcoming targets for the Demon, and much to Renard’s surprise, he found one of his secret allies at the top of the list. It was a new item on the list, and he couldn’t figure out how it had suddenly showed up.

  Pryke! It has to be. Renard seethed internally, trying to keep his face impassive. He felt the blood pounding through the veins in his forehead and hoped it didn’t show. How did he find the Kline drives we were building, and how did he get our agent on the list without us knowing?

  Renard and Jeffrey had labored over many years to establish plants to build Kline drives in secret, taking extraordinary precautions since Jonathan Kline was a friend. However, Renard coveted the Kline drive technology more than Jonathan’s friendship and decided to take the risk.

  Now he was faced with the prospect of approving the destruction of the factories and his own ally, whom he had so carefully cultivated. Pryke’s put me in a corner with this one. I can’t oppose the target or my involvement might come to light, which would alienate the entire Council and probably serve me a death sentence.

  Unknown to the general populace, the Council’s main reason for existence was not governance of the Consensus; that was merely a by-product and a cover story. Their greatest concern, though unspoken, was the preservation of the power, influence, and wealth of the Big-Five dynasties. They kept all research under their control so that no new technology would endanger their income, and they ruthlessly protected the monopolies or near-monopolies of the most important products.

  Renard knew that if any one of the other Council members found out that he was undermining the Kline drive monopoly, their retaliation would be swift and decisive. He couldn’t find a way out of this trap without sacrificing himself.

  Renard looked at Jeffrey again, but his tight-lipped scowl offered no solution. Renard wanted to curse, scream, slam his fists into the table, but instead held himself rigid, his face forcibly neutral.

  “I agree,” he said as naturally as possible, “these factories should go next.” The words tasted like bile in his mouth.

  We’d better send warning, he thought, perhaps we can get some heavy weapons on site in time.

  **** ****

  “Demon, we might have a problem.” Gregor sounded more serious than usual.

  “What problem?” Damon asked as he stopped his approach to the target and sat down on the rooftop with his back to the parapet. He knew what was coming; Ken had prepared him.

  “Your control system appears to be under attack.” Gregor’s voice sounded more surprised than worried, and Damon wondered if Ken was as good as he thought.

  “Attack?” Damon tried to sound concerned, and began running diagnostics as Ken had instructed him. “I’m not picking up anything on this end. I . . . I don’t understand. Are you sure? What are you seeing?” The last question was the most important, yet Damon tried to deliver it with no particular emphasis.

  Gregor didn’t answer right away, and Damon considered pushing a little harder. When he was about to speak, Gregor
finally replied, “There’s a tracker on our comm link carrier.” He paused for another long moment, but Damon remained quiet. “I can’t tell how much it can see; we should be secure, but I can’t be sure.”

  This was not the response Damon and Ken wanted, so he added some persuasion. “I’m not aborting this mission. I’m almost in place, my batteries are charged, and my weapons are hot. If there’s anything you can do to shut this down and let me finish, then do it.”

  “That’s not the best course of action, Demon, we can’t take that kind of risk.”

  Damon decided blunt would be best. “I’m going in. I’m finishing this mission here and now. Are you with me? Then fix it now, on the fly.”

  “Don’t be stupid . . .”

  “Ha! That’s what I’m best at!” Damon interrupted. “Goin’ in in ten seconds - you got something you want to do?”

  “Kyndra’s tears, you’re stubborn. You’re going to get yourself mothballed, and me relieved of duty.” Damon could feel the conflict in Gregor. He almost felt guilty for manipulating him.

  “Five seconds!”

  “Fine - belay that! I need thirty.”

  Damon smiled and relaxed. He was getting what he—well, Ken actually—wanted. “Now that’s my favorite handler! What are you going to do?”

  Gregor grunted and replied, “First, I’m going to cut our link and you’ll have silence for about ten seconds while I re-encrypt the connection. After that, it will take another fifteen to twenty seconds to completely re-establish our link.”

  “Whatever you say, sorry I asked.” The connection dropped out and Damon’s HUD informed him that he had lost all radio contact. Damon wondered if Ken’s plan would work. He said he could work through the disconnect, and use the re-encryption process to gain the command and control codes needed to get into Damon’s control system. It was easy to believe when they discussed it on The Abyss, but now in actual practice, Damon had doubts. Sitting there on the roof in silence, the wait seemed much longer than the estimate. Finally, the HUD signaled a new connection and Gregor’s voice returned.