“No,” Barnabas assured her. “This footage is several months old. The LaPlace visit infrequently, only to take account or collect specific items. Personal visits by the Geburah are even less frequent, apparently for the sole purpose of backing up the sensitive information that is otherwise untraceably purged. Only Amroth appears to have this authority.”
“This entire set up is an expensive LaPlacian Black Ops project,” Loco said contemptuously. “I’d have said this is low even for Cardboard, except we already know it fucking isn’t.”
“How the hell do you guys have so much inside footage of this place?” Bentley asked, realizing that this wouldn’t be easy to come by. She recalled the extent of security and signal interference even the regular casino floors had. Planting a camera directly in these restricted areas seemed impossible.
Blackfriar’s face held a deep, yet somehow respectful, sadness at the question, and for the first time his composure seemed truly broken. Bentley looked to Barnabas and Svend to find similarly pained expressions. “Through great sacrifice,” he said. “One that even I am unsure I would be willing to submit to.”
“Our comrades are on board,” Svend told her. “Dozens of them. They submitted willingly to enslavement so that they could be our eyes and ears on the station.”
Bentley felt a sense of dread even imagining it. “Your own crew? Why would anyone do that to themselves? That’s just… That’s too awful.”
“It is because such a state is unthinkable that they volunteered,” Blackfriar said, heavy-hearted. “They submitted to slavery with faith that they would be freed. But only on the day that all of them are freed.”
Bentley finally understood the weight that the crew of the Odysseus carried with them. It even made her own situation seem light by comparison. “That’s the mission, then,” she concluded. “You need our help to free all the androids from this place.”
Blackfriar forced a smile as he nodded his affirmation. “Their technology in android control goes beyond the chips they place in employees. We have been setting the stage for this liberation for a long time, but we couldn’t put it into play alone. We needed the help of capable warriors, and it needed to be ones who were sympathetic to our cause… Or at least were guaranteed not to be loyal to the Federation.”
Bentley understood this all too well from her own constant flight from their agents. “The rebels, then?” she asked. “They’re in on this, too?”
“In a different, but altogether vital capacity,” Blackfriar answered. He drew her attention back to the screen while the footage returned to Thralldom’s casino floors. “Observe.”
+++
The main gates of Thralldom’s port had almost completed their repairs, in spite of having been blasted apart by the Odysseus not even a day prior. The glistening golden exterior had to give way to its mechanical internal structure as it was completed, but that was only a single setback in the casino’s majesty. Customers still arrived, and business had to continue.
This time, though, there were dozens of customers with specific intent.
Disguised amongst the repair teams, indistinguishable from those enslaved, were freed androids. They dared not venture further than this into Thralldom, but that wasn’t what they needed. Instead, as they got to work restoring the gates and security systems, they watched and waited for the right clients to pass.
They came staggered, but constant. One out of every thirty or so visitors to the casino’s bottom floor was recognizable as a rebel crew member aboard the Zion. The androids would descend to gather more materials, alongside an enslaved one, and as they passed ones who had just passed the security check, they would hand the marked rebel an item that related to their assigned task. Stun weapons. Virus chips and hacking devices. Electromagnetic interference charges. Each patron received only one specific object, and went on their way to gamble, drink, and socialize.
On Thralldom’s second floor, very few rebels had made it that far, but it didn’t need to be many. Three, exactly, had made their way this far now, and two of them remained on the dance floor trying to blend in. Only one moved with purpose, but not so much as to arouse suspicion from the bouncers. He made his way towards a far wall to where the service tunnels lay, and adhered an override disc to it. The door slid open to reveal the service tunnel within, and the rebel soldier pounced on the security officer who guarded its immediate interior. As he choked the man unconscious and seized his weapon, the tunnel slid shut before it could draw the eye of a single employee or reveler.
On the fourth floor, a masked bouncer patrolled the edge of the water, dutifully watching for anything out of place. As he turned around to continue his perimeter, a figure leapt out from beneath the water, clutching an aquabreather between his teeth. He looped a wire garrote around the bouncer and yanked him back, dragging the guard into the undertow. Minutes later, the bouncer emerged from the water once more, adjusting the oddly fitting mask.
+++
“They’re already in the casino? That many of them?” Bentley was surprised, considering that their single envoy in Ivor had done such a terrible job.
“Zion’s rebels are extremely capable in operations of this kind,” Blackfriar said. “They became especially motivated when I explained to Captain Nikola the common enemy we struggle against. While I continue not to share the extremes of their ideologies, they understand the threat faced by the Federation possessing this kind of technology.”
“But you just blasted that place open, and now you’re loading it with operatives?” Bentley wasn’t sure whether she was concerned or impressed. “Is that really safe?”
“Of course it’s not fucking safe,” Loco ridiculed. He remained enthusiastic in the same unsettling way he seemed to become when situations became truly dangerous. “This whole mission is damn suicidal, even if everything goes off without a hitch.”
“And yet it is absolutely imperative that it succeeds,” Jelly Bean added in a manner more resolute than Bentley had ever heard from her.
“Jelly?” Bentley looked at her friend with morbid curiosity. “I thought you didn’t feel like you were the same as… You know…” She nervously looked around, not wanting to directly address the uncharitable comparison Jelly Bean had made to other androids before. If any of them had taken offense they had either shown the considerable tact required in hiding it, or were simply too overwhelmed with the gravity of their mission.
“This technology they are workshopping here has more sinister implications than you might realize,” Jelly Bean answered. “And I am certain that is its purpose. Workshopping it, that is. Especially with LaPlace’s involvement. They intend to mass-produce this technology or otherwise extend it to all artificial life. I would be a victim of this enslavement, too.”
Shango drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Bean is correct. The LaPlace desire nothing less than total subjugation of all sentient wills. This site is a mere testing ground for their grand galactic vision. It must be stopped here, lest this toxic seed bear deadly fruit.”
Bentley had heard Shango use a similar metaphor before only once, and it was when he’d told her his unbelievable story of their exile from the unseen world. Of his crime of granting sentience to artificial life, and the dire consequences thereof, he spoke of a poisonous sapling. And from those words alone, Bentley knew that Shango and the others felt personally responsible for the plight of these androids, and obliged to fight against the evil that could spread from Thralldom. Bentley didn’t feel a similar obligation, only the deep drive to right an obvious wrong the more she saw the way it affected everybody around her.
“So the rebels are getting ready… But for what?” she asked them. “What happens next? What’s our role to play?”
“The Chesed is tasked with the duty of ultimately taking our freed android brethren to safety once we have liberated them from the casino,” Barnabas answered. “Beyond that, everyone with combat skills will need to be put to task. We intend to seize the entire casino. If we
cannot do this, then we can’t possibly hope to get every android out to safety while also ensuring that the technology housed here is eliminated without hope of replication.”
“I guess it couldn’t be the Odysseus coming anywhere near the station for pickup,” Bentley noted. “Not after the stunt you pulled with it before. They’ll be looking for it from parsecs away with every gun on a hair trigger.”
“Indeed,” Blackfriar agreed. “Beyond our varied skill sets, it was necessary to have multiple capable ships of highly differing design and origin.”
“So the Chesed’s going to be approaching, then. I guess we know your role in this at least,” Bentley said, looking at Jelly Bean.
“Actually,” Jelly Bean answered, the virtual expression on her face seeming to emote mischief. “Mine’s already begun.”
+++
On Thralldom’s third floor, there was a single rebel plant who had made it. He seemed determined to stay put, nursing a tall glass of whiskey while fiddling with a compact gaming console. In a place of such varied entertainment as this casino, that might have struck someone as odd, but the third floor was one that indulged the eccentric and the introverted. He wasn’t the only one who seemed content to enjoy some liquor and self-started entertainment in the midst of the music.
Unbeknownst to any onlookers, the game he was playing was an encoded hacking apparatus. Each time he swiped at the holographic screen with his finger to deflect oncoming ninja projectiles, he was actually operating a sophisticated, pre-coached algorithm while he searched out a signal. Federation spies were everywhere, and the rebels were as used to operating covertly as they were to breathing.
Once he’d reached level six of his game, he purposely died and feigned a curse at his bad luck. “Fuck…” he grumbled as he drunkenly stood up and stumbled towards the stage. He headed to the side towards the all-important passage that led to the fourth level. Once he’d entered, he leaned against the shimmering wall of nanomachines, retching as though ready to puke.
“Sir,” Mordecai called down the hallway. “This area is restricted to employees only.”
“Sorry, ah, my mistake,” the rebel said before rudely belching. “Back to the bar, then…”
As he wandered away, he pressed the button on his inactive gaming console, but it didn’t activate.
For a fraction of a second, the shimmering walls of the scanner coalesced into the outline of a single, coherent image.
It was Jelly Bean’s face, smiling in triumph. Mordecai didn’t seem to notice as he continued his guarding of the hall.
+++
Bentley looked at her crewmates with some measure of suspicion. “You guys don’t seem really surprised by any of this,” she said. “Were you holding out on me this whole time?”
Jade shot her another icy look. “What, do you feel betrayed now? Oh, that must suck for you.”
Shango glanced a Jade, his expression unreadable. “We were not aware of the importance of our mission until earlier, at a time when you were preoccupied with your immediate operation,” he explained to Bentley.
“I wasn’t even fully aware until shortly before this briefing,” Jelly Bean said. “There was a meeting aboard the Chesed I was not privy to.” She didn’t sound like she resented it, but Bentley still suspected she might.
“I only briefed them once I was certain everyone could be trusted.” Blackfriar explained. “Under ordinary circumstances I may have opted to be forthcoming based on motivation and reputation alone, but I hope you understand that with how much is at stake, we could not afford to take any risks of even the smallest pieces of information falling into the wrong hands. Everything needed to be on a strict need-to-know basis.”
“Oh, I definitely understand,” Bentley said. “I’m in. All the way.”
“Very good,” Blackfriar responded. “If you will, we would like to have you operate alongside Svend again. During my observation, I found the teamwork between the two of you more impressive than I’d anticipated. Such a thing shouldn’t be wasted.”
“I have no objections,” Shango said.
Olofi looked like he was about to voice a concern about this, but then thought better of it.
Svend looked at her standing beside him. “I’m glad to hear it. I think we work well together.”
Bentley smiled back. Jade sighed, frustrated, seeing the moment they were sharing.
Loco clapped his hands together, breaking their moment. “Well! Unless anyone’s got questions, I’d just as soon get to the part where we start blowing shit up. Actually, question: When’s that part start?”
Barnabas answered this time. “We will be sending the signal for your approach. Before that, it’s probably better for the Chesed to hang back.”
“Much obliged, Barnacles,” Loco answered with a wink. Barnabas seemed to like Loco’s nickname for him even less than Bentley’s.
“Before that,” Blackfriar added. “We do need to meet with Captain Nikola aboard his ship. The Zion will be serving an imperative function going forward.”
Bentley shook her head lightly. “I’m surprised he’s not having a fucking conniption over what happened to his kid,” she mused. “Is that smoothed out already?”
Barnabas responded. “To my understanding, Ivor was collected by a group of rebels some time ago. I’m told it was a good opportunity for them to identify points of entry. However, we’ve received no communication from Nikola regarding the incident.”
“So he still might be pissed off, then?” Bentley asked. “Kind of a risk, don’t you think?”
Svend replied with total confidence. “I wouldn’t worry about that. The captain’s nothing if not a highly effective diplomat.” He looked over at Blackfriar with abounding respect.
Blackfriar sipped his water again, taking the praise gracefully. “Diplomacy, in this case, is irrelevant. We’ve all already agreed, there is far too much at stake.”
The group sat in silent agreement with this sentiment before the meeting finally adjourned.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mess Hall, Aboard the Chesed, Edge of Klaunox-Orion Sector
Jade sat in the mess hall while the three men ate a pre-war meal of an imitation beef roast that had been covered in a demi-glace Olofi had pressured the other two into accepting on their own cuts. She wasn’t hungry, though, and instead had a full bottle of tequila that she occasionally took a swig from while she fumed over their last meeting.
When she’d had enough to drink, she placed the stopper into the bottle and pushed it away from her. “So that’s it? That’s the fucking revolution we have to be a part of? I don’t buy it.”
Loco almost choked on his fork when he reacted, forcefully swallowing his bite of meat. “Who the fuck’s selling, girl? A job’s a job.”
Jade glared at him in defiance. “It was a job,” she said. “Now it’s a revolution, apparently. We’re on a liberation crusade to free the androids? From LaPlace, too? I thought the whole point of this job was to get enough money that we could get away from the Federation’s goons in the first place! And now we’re running right up to the hornet’s nest and smacking it around?”
Loco laughed until he started coughing, apparently having a bit of the food still caught in his throat.
Olofi interjected. “Sometimes you see something you just can’t walk away from. Something like this—”
“Something like this isn’t our problem!” Jade cut in. “Is it bad? Sure. But they’ve got an entire ship full of androids and another one full of crazy rebels hellbent on fighting the good fight. We’re just one ship with less than a dozen people on it. Why do we have to risk our necks over this when we’ve already decided this whole sector’s too hot for us?”
Loco beat on his chest to settle himself, then took a swig from his mug of beer. “Seriously, Princess. What’s crawled up your ass lately? I’ve seen more bite out of you in the last twelve hours than I have the whole rest of the time you’ve been here. And that includes the time I yanked you off a
space station to hold you for fuckin’ ransom. Where was all this fight then?”
Jade narrowed her eyes at him, took another drink. “Fuck you, Loco.”
Loco smiled back at her like she’d just said the nicest possible thing to him. “Hey, not saying I don’t like the change of tune,” he said. “But I’ve been around the block enough times to know you didn’t just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Seriously, what gives? Did the kid really get under your skin that much? That shit’s ancient history now.”
Jade crossed her arms and looked at the table. “Nothing gives,” she said. “I just feel like I’m the only one on this ship who gives a damn about what’s in our best interest. Dicking around when we should be halfway to the Orion sector by now.”
“Hah!” Loco shook his head while sawing off another forkful of meat. “I’ve been barking up that tree for years and no dice. Believe me, those two have a twenty-four hour martyr complex, so you’re gonna have to get used to that.” He held up his new bite of beef and stared at it for a few moments, then sighed, the cocky look fading off him as quickly as the sauce dripped off his fork. “But for real, they’re not wrong this time. We gotta face this head on.”
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