“An outbreak would be the most effective.”
“All you’d need to do is hand out a few evacuation plans and they’d follow along until they herded themselves together. Then, offer them the antidote.”
“They’d line up for the inoculation, willingly.”
“That’s what Yakberry must have meant earlier when he told Kristov that he needed to install a delayed activation sequence and make it mobile and less invasive. It would have to appear like a simple injection to the civilians, but not start its mutation process until everyone was injected. Damned smart.”
“I’m not sure Cyrus had the means to control an outbreak, not without losing containment.”
“I don’t think he had to, not if he used Baaku shaper technology. He could’ve created an alternate reality and then tricked them into thinking there was an outbreak. Would’ve been a snap for Flexus to do—I’ve seen it first hand; she’s a master.”
“But that would mean that the Baaku were working with Cyrus and we know that wasn’t true.”
“No, you’re right. The sea of headless bodies were a dead giveaway.”
“You’re close, but there’s still a piece missing.”
“Not that it matters at this point. Cyrus is toast.”
“Don’t forget Freakshow and Yakberry. They weren’t at my cabin.”
“Then Cyrus’ plan could still be implemented,” Lucas said, closing his eyes for a long minute. “I can’t believe this is it.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out,” Kleezebee said.
“After all we’ve been through, this is how we’re going out? Shrink-wrapped like a sausage?”
“It’s not. Time will find a way. Trust me.”
“I’d like to, Professor, but it’s not like Fuji and Rico are going to magically show up and rescue us. We’re totally fucked.”
“You must have faith.”
“You know I don’t believe in that shit.”
“Maybe now’s a good time to start?”
Before Lucas could respond, a vision of his brother’s face appeared in the wall beyond the professor. He stared at the image, not wanting to take his eyes off it. If he were going to die today, he wanted to remember Drew’s face for as long as he could.
“What?” Kleezebee asked. “What are you looking at?”
Lucas didn’t respond. He kept his eyes focused on the vision.
Kleezebee turned his head toward the wall next to him. “Drew?”
Lucas snapped out of his daydream. “You can see him?”
“Yes!”
“So, I’m not hallucinating again?”
“You’ve seen this before?”
“Yes, dozens of times. In just about every reflective surface.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought I was losing my mind. I didn’t want you to stop sending me across to search for him.”
“You should have told me, regardless. Full disclosure is critical to any cooperative effort.”
“Yes, it is. But, it’s not like you tell me everything.”
“That much is true. But you need to trust me. I hold things back when it’s in your best interest.”
“I get that. But your whole need-to-know philosophy gets really old after a while. Sometimes I feel like I live in a vacuum.”
Kleezebee didn’t say anything.
Lucas realized he was wasting his breath. Kleezebee was a brilliant man, but a flawed communicator. He was too old and too set in his ways to ever change. “Since we can both see Drew, does that mean he’s here, on the ship?”
“Given who and what the Baaku are, I think it’s more likely that he’s in the ship—part of their neural network.”
“How?”
“Probably the same way they tried to collect you.”
Concern took control of Lucas’ thoughts. “If a copy of Drew’s mind is coursing through the ship’s systems, then where’s his body? Where’s the real Drew?”
“I don’t know. Something seems off to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe this Drew is not a copy.”
Lucas shook his head, as pain stabbed his heart. “I just can’t think about this right now.”
“Look, reality is what it is and we have to deal with it one way or the other. So, I need you to stay focused. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Professor. I’ll manage.”
“No matter how we choose to look at the situation, it’s clear that your brother is fighting back, copy or not. If anyone could figure out a way to escape their Neural Nexus, it would be Drew.”
“And he’d cause a hell of a lot of damage, that’s for sure.”
“Whether or not this is the only copy of his consciousness remaining, it’s still your brother and we have to help him escape.”
“You’re right. But promise me that if we survive this, we will keep looking for Drew’s body. I have to know what happened to him.”
“That’s a deal. In return, I need you to promise me something.”
“Sure, name it.”
“No matter what happens from here on out, I need you to follow through to the end.”
“Okay, but I’m not sure I understand.”
“When the time comes, Fuji will explain. Promise me you’ll do as he asks.”
“Sure, Professor. I’m a team player,” Lucas answered, wondering if his mentor was terminally ill and trying to prepare him for the end. He wanted more info, but he knew that pressing the issue was going to be fruitless. He let it go.
“Is there anything else you forgot to tell me?” the professor asked.
“Well, there is one other thing,” Lucas said, deciding how best to spin the information. “For a while, I was hearing things, too.”
“When was this?”
“Right after my trip to the alternate Earth that had the super-charged atmosphere. There was this voice, speaking to me in riddles.”
“What did it say?”
“Nothing, really. It was all random gibberish.”
“Noises or words?”
“Full sentences, but the words were all mixed up. They didn’t make any sense.”
“Give me an example.”
Lucas thought about for a bit. He could only remember one. “My favorite was, Cognitive memory is your own naive accomplishment to easily garnish random, heaping ectoplasm.”
Kleezebee hesitated for a few seconds. “I don’t think it’s random gibberish. The words are too specific. It may be a code. The question is, what kind?”
“Too bad Drew isn’t here. He’s a master at codes. Dad used to bring home piles of puzzle books from the store every week. Shit, Drew would crank through them in a matter of hours—even the advanced cryptograms. I preferred the word and logic puzzles. More my style.”
“The simplest code is a word scramble. We should start with that.”
Lucas took a minute to rearrange the words into various orders, trying multiple combinations. Nothing came together. “I’ve got nothing, Professor.”
“Me, either.”
“Maybe it’s a transposition cipher.”
“Could be. If we take the first letter in each word and rearrange them like an anagram—”
The letters lined up in Lucas’ head. “It says, THEY ARE COMING. Damn it, how did I miss that?”
“It would be easy to overlook. I’m sure with all that’s happened, your mind wasn’t exactly focused at the time.”
“Plus I thought I was nuts.”
“Do you recall any of the other phrases?”
“No, sorry. Every time I heard one, it was followed by a wicked headache. The last thing I wanted to do was memorize them,” Lucas said, watching Drew’s reflection in the wall. His lips were moving in slow motion. “Do you think Drew has been trying to use the voice in my head to communicate with me?”
“That’s what I would do. Figure out a way to reach out to someone I trusted. When did the voice stop?”
“Right a
fter the Baaku tried to brain fuck me.”
“Drew’s consciousness might have been with you the whole time, then got transferred into the Nexus when they tried to upload you,” Kleezebee said with an educator’s tone. “Or, the failed upload broke your link with him, assuming he was already in the ship’s systems.”
“I’ll bet these sexless bitches don’t know he’s running around inside their systems,” Lucas said, snickering.
“Probably not. That would explain why he decided to use a code to communicate with you. He didn’t want them to detect his presence, so he chose something only you would understand.”
“Yeah, assuming I was paying attention.”
“If we’re right, the Baaku have no idea what level of intellect they’re up against.”
“You can say that again. My money’s on Drew.”
“We don’t want to compromise his situation, so we need to play along until we can figure out a plan.”
“If I know my brother, he already has that covered,” Lucas answered, as the healing gel dissolved from his body. He jumped off the table and ran to his brother’s image. Seconds later, Kleezebee was free as well and joined him.
THIRTY-NINE
“When will these aliens learn? Never fuck with a Ramsay,” Lucas said, standing only inches from Drew’s partially faded image on the wall of the Baaku ship. He waited, hoping he would hear his brother’s voice. He didn’t.
Kleezebee put his hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Now we just need to figure out a way to make contact.” He put his hand on the wall, palm out, about a foot away from Drew’s face. “Colder than I expected.”
The wall’s swirling fractal patterns increased their speed, hovering around the outline of Kleezebee’s hand.
“It knows you’re there,” Lucas said. “Try putting your hand directly over top of Drew’s face.”
Kleezebee moved his hand, covering up his son’s image—only Drew’s ears were visible.
“Anything?” Lucas asked.
“No. Feels the same. Cold and damp. Nothing seems to be happening.”
“Let me try. After all, I’m the one Drew’s been trying to contact.”
Kleezebee stepped back, pulling his hand away from the Drew’s face. “It’s all yours.”
“Is it my imagination, or is Drew’s image bigger and more clear?”
“It’s not your imagination. He must know we’re trying to communicate.”
Lucas put his hand on Drew’s face. “Come on, little brother, talk to me. I know you’re there.” He waited ten seconds—nothing. “Drew? It’s me, Lucas. Can you hear me?” He waited a bit longer this time. Again, just silence.
“We’ll have to find another way,” the professor said, disappointed.
“Earlier, when I was on this ship, the walls weren’t solid. Now they are,” Lucas said, remembering his time in the makeshift Baaku restroom.
“The ship must sense your intent, and then it adjusts the wall’s consistency accordingly. It’s quite possible their entire ship is bio-reactive. It would be a very efficient fast-acting computer system with sub-nanosecond response times. Especially if it’s tied into the Baaku’s collective intelligence. Impressive.”
“Let me try something,” Lucas said, angling his fingers forward, aiming them at Drew’s forehead. He stuck the tips of his fingers into the image about three inches, stopping just before his thumb touched the wall.
Two heartbeats later, he was standing in a dark space. He didn’t know where he was. An overhead spotlight appeared moments later, highlighting the center of the area like a police interrogation chamber. He heard footsteps in front of him—they were getting louder with each passing second. Then an arm and a leg broke through the darkness and moved into the light. One heartbeat later, the rest of the visitor’s body came into view.
“Drew!” Lucas screamed, running to him. He wanted to give his brother a hug, but just before contact, Drew’s body faded and disappeared.
“Physical contact is not possible. We’re not really here,” Drew said. His voice was coming from behind Lucas.
Lucas turned. “Where’s here?”
“You’re inside a digital representation of all that I am. When you penetrated the wall, I opened a secure port to this data instance and then connected it to your mind.”
“Are we in the Neural Nexus?”
“Partially. I managed to create a hidden subsystem within the Baaku’s network, then transferred a copy of myself into it. They don’t know this copy exists.”
“I knew it,” Lucas said, smiling. “You hacked their system. Like installing a root kit, with a virtual server running inside of it.”
“Not exactly, but close enough. My original self is still sitting in their neural inventory, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.”
“Are you okay?”
“I think so, but I can’t feel anything. It’s like I’m floating in space, with a trillion points of presence feeding me a constant river of data. It can be a little overwhelming at times. But I’m getting a handle on it. How long have I been gone?”
“Eighteen months. We’ve been looking for you ever since.”
“How’re mom and the rest of the team?”
“Bruno’s okay, but Mom died before we ever got to this colony. So did Trevor. I’m sorry, little buddy.”
“The Krellians?”
“Yes, there was nothing I could do.” He waited for Drew’s reaction, but it never came. “What happened after you and Abby stepped into the portal?”
“We ended up on some moon, but I don’t know where—the constellations were all foreign to me. There was a group of women waiting. I thought they were friendly and willing to help us.”
“The Baaku?”
Drew nodded. “Turns out, they’d intercepted the portal’s data stream and rerouted it to their location. They tricked me into getting scanned, then the Great Loti absorbed my consciousness. That’s when the Baaku learned about you and DLK. Until then, they were only interested in me. It sucks to be famous.”
“Okay, but how did they find us here, on this godforsaken rock?”
“They’ve amassed an extensive library of knowledge in their travels. It wasn’t difficult for them to trace the portal’s transmission to the hive ship, then follow its engine signature through space. Especially when you and the professor opened it a second time. Once I was part of their network, I began to learn and expand. Eventually, I found data transcripts in their system that told me what happened to Abby.”
“Is she in there with you?”
“Not anymore. She was absorbed initially but they sold her off right away. They don’t keep detailed transaction receipts in their data core to protect client confidentiality. She could be anywhere in the cosmos by now.”
“Where’s your body—your real self?”
“They terminated it. That’s what they do after absorbing someone.”
“I thought the donor survived?”
“That’s what they want you to believe. It’s all a lie. If they allowed you to live, then the digital copy they have wouldn’t be unique, which would make it much less valuable. They’re about maximizing profits. Everything they offer is guaranteed to be a one-of-a-kind intellect. I’m sorry about all this.”
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“In a way, it is. I let them scan me.”
“Hey, they tricked me, too. But my twisted, fucked-up brain was too much for them to handle.”
“That’s an understatement. Your failed upload sent shock waves through their system. That only happened once before in all their travels.”
“I’m not the only one?”
“No. Data records indicate that neural upload failed with Father Mulcahy as well.”
“Crazy Larry? The preacher in town?”
“Yes. His mind was incompatible, like yours.”
“Was he a crack baby, too?”
“No. More of a generic anomaly. His brain has an extra set of oddly configured lobes.
Some type of evolutionary misstep. The Great Loti was unable to establish a stable linkage.”
“So, the rumors are true. He really was abducted by aliens. That would explain what happened to him. Why didn’t they try again? Wasn’t that like ten years ago?”
“Yes, it was. But when the upload failed miserably, it caused partial brain damage, affecting his abstract thought patterns.”
“You can say that again. That dude is nuts.”
“His mind was no longer of value to their buyer.”
“That must be why they hooked me up to the medical scanner right away—to stop the same thing from happening.”
“Yes. They’ve had time to develop medical remedies for certain protocol failures.”
“But not a method to interface with brains wired like mine.”
“No.”
“How did you do it?”
“When the Baaku tried to upload you, I could feel your digital footprint coursing through me for a few seconds, so I took a snapshot and used it as a foundation for this link. I finally managed to get it working.”
“So, earlier, when I was on the ship, could I have stuck my hand in the wall and talked with you?”
“No. The link wasn’t operational yet. I was still decoding their algorithms and hadn’t completed the interface. But I have been trying to communicate with you in other ways.”
Lucas nodded. “Sorry about that. I thought I was hallucinating. Plus, I didn’t understand the words you were saying.”
“I couldn’t communicate directly. Otherwise, the Baaku would have known it was me and found this data instance hiding inside their systems. I thought you’d recognize the code and know it was me. Remember all the puzzle books Dad bought us?”
“Yes, I remember now. But at the time, I was reeling. My mind wasn’t focused. How’d you do it?”
“When the Baaku first arrived at this colony, I knew they were hunting for you. I could sense it. Once they had established a lock on your bio-signature, I piggy-backed a signal onto Loti’s systems, and used it to create a telepathic link to the coalescence that was inside your thoughts. The Baaku have been tracking you for some time. They’ve been studying and protecting you.”
“To keep their inventory safe,” Lucas said, as his mind flipped through the recent past, showing images of the old woman sitting next to him at the bakery counter with the broken cast, and then a vision of the shaper sister standing in front of the church right before they found Stump and the headless bodies inside the bakery.
Incursion (The Narrows of Time Series Book 2) Page 29
