The Deftly Paradox

by Matthew D. White

  “That doesn’t matter right now. We’re here to get you out.”

  Her wide eyes remained transfixed at the figure above. “Can you take me to New Loeria?” Leo asked without a flutter to her request.

  The figure on his knees paused and cocked his head, concealed behind the visor as if perplexed. “Why?”

  Their prisoner and fleet officer, currently lying in the dust of a prison cell and backed into a corner balanced her fear with a steadfast determination. “Because the OSIRIS has sent a fleet to destroy it.”

  Looking back over his shoulder, the figure glanced between his companions. “See, I told you we came to the right place.”

  Bewildered, Leo glanced between the soldiers, attempting to catch a bodily movement to suggest their intentions. Whatever danger they had faced in the station had evidently been neutralized, and they were now apparently giving her the majority of their attention. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  The leading soldier turned back, offered her a hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Soon enough, Captain. Come on, it’s time we get out of here.” Together they passed back out of the dim cell and into the dingy stone corridor outside.

  Smoke now hung low in the air, clawing at her lungs and stinging her eyes. Leo could see the fallen guards in the dirt, perhaps proficient in their own rights but unqualified to face off against a determined and organized force like the one which had just arrived. Bits of rock had been taken from the walls by focused weapon fire, as well as by the explosions which had ripped through the enclosed space.

  The group of combatants that had freed Leo evidently thought very little about the action; they marched out in relative silence, stepping over the ill-fated defenders and the pools of congealing blood without a thought of consideration. They had done such work before. Leo tried to avoid the faces of the fallen, but even in the dimmest light, they found her eyes, baking their tortured, twisted visages deep within her mind.

  In the hangar where she had first arrived, Leo saw no sign of the vessel she had been apprehended from what felt like ages ago; it was hyperbole, as she could count the number of hours which had passed on one hand. In its place and filling half the otherwise empty bay rested a massive, well-apportioned Fleet cruiser. It resembled an elongated flying wing with a single ramp extending from the fuselage to the dented, metallic landing platform below. Identifying it as from the official inventory was difficult at best and a guess at worse; every surface was painted dull black, obscuring whatever insignia might have once graced its skin.

  “Get in. There’s no time to waste,” the soldier told her, still guiding her way to the ramp. The cargo hold, the first area they passed once inside, was as ready for combat as the occupants. Dozens of loaded equipment pallets were strapped down to each side and ran the length of the room. While several looked as old as the ship, many more looked freshly packed, and Leo silently wondered how many they had apprehended along with her. Again, her mind drifted to the men being pirates or some other force of ill repute.

  They flowed from there into a staging area where the soldier doffed his helmet, rifle, and upper layer of armor. For the first time, Leo caught a glimpse of his face. Short, dark hair was matted to his scalp and his face hid the early signs of aging well, although lines of stress showed evidence of being indelibly burned into his skin. He sensed her staring and glanced back. “Are you all right?” he asked again.

  “I… I guess so,” she said as she scanned their surroundings. “What is all this?”

  “We can talk about that, but right now we’ll get on our way to New Loeria, if that’s still where you need to go.”

  Leo nodded. “Yes, we have to be fast. I have to beat the fleet there.”

  “That we can do, Cap’n,” the soldier said with a quick smile. “Those bastards can barely get out of their own way, and we’ve got all we need plus more to spare.” He retrieved the rifle and slung it across his back, now covered by only a form-fitting long-sleeve suit. “We’re set down here; come on up to the cabin.”

  The pair ascended a set of built-in stairs up to another deck, this one apportioned with rows of passenger seats and several longer benches along the walls. Gone were the plush surroundings of the Council shuttle; the current ship paid no heed to creature comforts and had been designed around the operational requirements of an entirely different class of passenger. Years of dents, stains, and scratches covered the metal floor along with the rough upholstered seats.

  The soldier chose one with a stainless-steel table top between them and dropped down with a sigh of relief as Leo did the same. He stared at her for several seconds before making an effort to speak.

  “Well, ma’am, I suppose I should introduce myself. Sean Mercer, former Lieutenant and commanding officer of the twelfth Special Operations Flight, Fifth Fleet.”

  Leo shook his hand. “Captain Kathrine Conner, Council Liaison. I go by Leo.”

  “Nice to meet you, Leo,” Mercer said. “What brings you so far out in the woods by yourself?”

  She sighed, staring through her rescuer. “The OSIRIS operators came to the council with an order to destroy New Loeria, down to every last soul. I couldn’t let that happen, so I’m on my way to warn them and stop the fleet.”

  “You from there?”

  Leo’s eyes trailed to the floor as she nodded. “I know it’s foolish, but there’s no way I can just let it happen, not when I might be able to help them.”

  “Well, given what I’ve seen over the last year, I don’t doubt a word of that.” Mercer leaned back in his seat. “As far as I can tell, the OSIRIS is losing its damned mind.”

  The captain didn’t make a move nor add to the conversation.

  He continued, “Up until last year, our flights were kept on staff for little more than police actions. We’d go out and round up smugglers, separatists, all sorts of dangerous characters who’d lived out on the fringe of the galaxy. People live that far out for too long and they lose sight of its bright and shiny center. Maybe they were right in their own way; I certainly don’t claim to know the content of their hearts, but through undeniable force we kept the Dominion secure. It was an admirable life.”

  Mercer sighed. “That changed this year, as we started getting orders to attack Dominion bases.”

  Leo straightened up. “What sort of bases?”

  “They were small, not much bigger than the ship here, but very isolated and out of the way. We spent a ton of time just jetting around. Most of the sites had bunkers that we buried with explosives. I know of seven sister flights which had similar commands given. Every time we got back to station, we barely had time to rearm before more orders were dropping to go out and do it all over again.”

  “I assume it was with the efficiency that you brought here?” Leo asked coldly.

  The comment bit at Mercer’s conscience. “You could say that; we’re professionals. They were Dominion sites and lawful targets, so it wasn’t much worse than our normal duties, nothing personal. All in the name of keeping order in the galaxy, right?” He shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me half as much as this being done by nothing more than the will of the OSIRIS.”

  “That’s what frightens me about this. How far will the Fleet go to do the OSIRIS’s will?” Leo asked. “Is it worth New Loeria?”

  “To the people on those ships, absolutely.” Mercer nodded and leaned forward, letting his voice become hushed. “They will go the final measure to see it done, I promise you. I’ve served beside them my entire career.”

  Leo felt the affirmation dig at her heart, as if hearing the dim prognosis of a reputable physician. It was still only half the equation. “So how did you come to be here now?”

  “Now that is a shit story which is far more interesting,” Mercer said, relaxing. “So I told you how we were running nonstop, clearing out our own damn bases, right? Why? Who the hell knows anymore, but anyways, we dust off from the last planet and get clipped by a stray fighter out on patrol.

  “We lose an eng
ine and plunge right back to the planet. There’s no reason it shouldn’t have killed us, but my pilot is a magician and we didn’t get hit that hard, so he keeps us from going all two-dimensional and shit.”

  Mercer became more animated, waving his hands as if to demonstrate their final descent into the planet. “Even while we’re dropping, our relay still works and we get a capture of his order completion script as it mirrored back to us. Turns out, the OSIRIS had given them the command to take us out right after our mission, even when we still had more hits lined up.”

  “Really?” Leo flinched as she walked through their experience.

  “Yes, really. Really, really. All sorts of effing really,” Mercer said. “After being effectively killed in action, my surviving team agreed that we shouldn’t owe the OSIRIS any more love. It got its pound of flesh from our asses and now it can suck it.” He paused. “We salvaged what we could from the downed transport, and with some luck we came across this one. I won’t go into details. I did find out afterwards that similar fortunes befell upon our sister flights as well.” Mercer stopped and sighed. “At least five were completely eliminated.”

  “I… I’m sorry to hear that,” Leo offered.

  He shrugged again. “It’s all right. We all know the risks when we sign up; it’s part of the job, but I wish didn’t have to worry about getting shot in the back while I’m on my way home... Okay not really home, but you know what I mean.”

  “Where were you supposed to go next?”

  “To get you, of course.” Mercer nodded at the captain. “We were given an eight-week mission hold and then were to come here and take out every guard and prisoner in the station. If you’re tracking, that’d have been you. I decided we had experienced enough of the OSIRIS’s tinkering, so instead of killing you off, I figured we’d throw a wrench in its calculus and help you on whatever you had planned.”

  “I don’t know what to say… Thank you,” Leo stammered. “You didn’t need to do any of this.”

  “Like I said, I think we’re beyond the OSIRIS’s sight, so anything we can do to hit back at it is a win for me.”

  “You’re right. Something in it isn’t well. The whole staff is trying to sort through this order right now; who knows if they’ve gotten anywhere yet.” She stopped again. “I’ve only been here for a day. How the hell did the OSIRIS know to tell you to find me weeks ago?”

  “I don’t know why you’d ask me.” Mercer brushed the question aside with a shrug. “I’m not a scientist.”

  ***

  “We’re on!” Erikson shouted up the cavern to the control room above. “Battery is at three percent. Don’t eff this up!”

  He had spent an hour snaking cables from the floor under the server farm back to an isolated antechamber where an equally impressive array of emergency fuel cells was installed. Luckily, they had been hidden well enough to escape an explosive charge of their own, but unfortunately enough time had passed since the base’s destruction that they had been nearly drained. Erikson estimated they might have time to perform one power cycle before the entire array would be down permanently.

  Above, Shafer and Maddie worked at tandem terminals by the window. While the written materials were mostly lacking in detail on the functions of the station, they did provide an authoritative set of procedures to perform a full system shutdown and recalibration; Maddie figured it was the closest thing to what they were trying to accomplish at the present.

  She took a deep breath and ran down the checklist, punching keys on the array of panels, power routing systems and feedback nodes until the displays illuminated before them. Shafer stared down at it, unable to move. “What is it?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

  Shafer pointed down at the console. “Look, it’s OSIRIS.”

  Maddie turned and saw for herself. The control panel was a perfect copy of the system used back at the MOC. The only difference was in the label at the center which stated, MOC: Instance 23. “Instance twenty-three? What the hell is that?” she muttered.

  “I think it’s a copy of OSIRIS,” Shafer said. “It’s a backup, so that if the original becomes disabled, we can recover.”

  “Are you saying they have these by the dozen?”

  “Wouldn’t doubt it,” Shafer said as he ran through the familiar menus, searching to find any vital data which would prove his point or support their mission. “And if no one knows the whole network, not even us, then no one is capable of taking out OSIRIS for good. Think, what else can we use in here before it shuts down?”

  Maddie pulled herself away and scanned the room, letting her eyes drift down through the window to the floor below at the exact moment one of the explosive charges reacted to the onset of heat, vibration, and electrical radiation and detonated in a blinding flash.

  16

  The concussive blast ripped through the cavern and washed across the control room. The glass window shattered instantly, throwing the wall of crystalline bits into the room beyond and taking Maddie and Shafer with it. They tumbled to the floor, the blistered sheet of reinforced glass landing on top of them as the roar of the explosion expanded outward.

  Shafer’s head spun, his ears bled, and he blinked through the onset of thick dust, unable to process the sensory overload and unable to hear past the screeching cacophony within his own head. He pawed about, forcing his arms to work and to lift the crushing weight of the glass panel from his back. Using the last of the energy encapsulated within his failing body, he slid it over and out of the way, letting it tumble off the far side of the splintered desk beside him.

  Maddie was in no better shape, tossed upon the floor in much the same manner. He could see movement along her chest which he took as breathing. He grabbed for her hand, shouting her name without hearing his voice. Her fingers slowly flexed against the stimulus and released, convincing him she wasn’t yet late for the world. Half his mind was on the rest of the team as he remembered Erikson was far closer and more exposed to the blast than the pair of them had been.

  Unable to stand, Shafer crawled hand-over-hand to the doorway, from which a steady stream of smoke emanated and stung at his chest, hoping for a sign from their missing operator. He reached the end of the room, wrapped his fingers around the frame of the hatch, and heaved himself over the threshold. He landed face-first on the metal landing and turned to catch a glimpse of the ground below.

  The missing operator’s outline was against the wall beneath, having been tossed away from the blast like little more than another bit of debris. One injury in Maddie was bad enough, Shafer thought to himself, but the prospect of having to carry the pair of them back was more than he would likely be able to endure.

  “Hey!” he shouted down through the perforated scaffold, trying to stir his companion back to life. “Come on! I’m not dragging your ass back out of here!” Shafer pulled himself to his feet and stumbled down the steps, holding most of his weight upon the railings.

  Looking out over the cavern, he could see at least one more charge had gone off and had flattened most of the processing towers, taking with them the secrets of the facility onward into oblivion. The hypothesis began to make more sense within his mind. The maintainers of OSIRIS, whether in whole or via a subset, were planning for its eventual destruction and no doubt had their eyes aimed on nothing less than becoming the next rulers of the galaxy.

  If not through their misdeeds, then OSIRIS was failing on its own. In either situation, it was quickly becoming a council issue and they would need to provide leadership for the first time in their lives. The thought of causing such a shift was monumental at the least, so Shafer put it aside, attempting instead to coax Erikson back from the dead. The operator stirred as he approached, tripping over his shaking feet, the first signal of life and all that Shafer could hope for.

  Erikson’s suit was scorched and his face was blistered from the wave of heat produced by the blast. After a moment to shake away the onset of shock and with a moderate struggle, he slid to his knees. “The he
ll was that?” he mumbled to Shafer, barely above a whisper.

  Shafer only heard half the words above the ringing in his head, but he guessed at the question’s contents. “One of the damned bombs went off! Come on, it’s time we get out of here before the rest catch up!”

  Likewise, Erikson was unable to make out Shafer’s statement but the grim, concerned look on his face told him all he needed to hear. He was pulled to his feet by his companion’s outstretched hand and together they limped their way toward the stairs.

  As they rounded the second corner, Shafer felt his balance give way as he hit a slick patch of dust on the landing. His leg went out and he fell forward, nearly dragging Erikson down along with him. Erikson stopped and pulled him back up then they continued as fast as they could manage to the control room. Inside, Maddie had wedged herself against the console and had her head up, preparing for the inevitable strain of getting back to her feet.

  She was relieved to have been wearing the environmental suit; evidently the blast had carried with it something heavy enough to knock her head about and break the skin on her forehead. Half of the discomfort she felt was now coming from the trickle of blood streaming down her face. The other operators pulled her the rest of the way up and as a coordinated group made their way back out of the bunker deep below the planet’s shifting landscape.

  Every step on the long march back to the surface stung with the combined agony of every movement taken before it. By the time they made it back to the upper level, still pierced by the damaged cargo doors, the sunlight had grown dim. With only the fleeting glow of starlight, the room was left in deeper shadow than when they had left. The room was now a familiar and welcome sight after spending between hours and an eternity in the depths of the station.

  Their final test of strength was the extraction via braided tow cable. Using the last of their energy, Shafer and Erikson heaved Maddie high enough for her to reach the threshold of the service hatch. She fumbled at the lip, caught herself, and managed to get a leg over the edge. Once secure, she in turn pulled the others free, with Shafer coming up last, the only one among them with enough strength remaining to scale the cable unaided.