"You can't keep me out of this fight,” said Manuel. “If the Sanson's going back, then so am I."
Fire nodded and brushed a strand of her long salt-and-pepper hair over her shoulder. “I'm with Manuel,” she said. “After all, my son's there. If I can help, I will."
The Senator smiled. “There're a few hours before the ships will be ready. Let's get out of here and find some dinner.” He looked into Fire's eyes. “I'd like some time to get to know my niece better before she gets herself shot at or thrown in jail again."
* * * *
When the privateer Legacy came out of jump, Ellison Firebrandt fell to his knees and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He held up his hand when he saw Roberts’ look of concern. The captain looked back at Mary Seaton. “Get me a vessel status. Are we still in one piece?"
Mary, though she looked as though she was trying to keep her breakfast down, nodded and turned toward her station and started bringing up displays and making calls on the intercom.
Firebrandt pulled himself to his feet and looked over at Juan Raton, sitting at the gunner's station. He'd let go of his arm and blood was seeping through his shirt. “Juan, get down to the medic and get your arm tended to. We're going to need you ready to work in short order, I think."
"Yes, sir,” breathed Juan through clenched teeth. His eyes looked forward, a bit unfocused from the pain. He struggled to his feet and left to see the medic.
"Captain,” called Roberts. “We're right on target, near Earth orbit.” The first officer activated the holo tank and the blue-green globe of Earth materialized. Behind and below the planet was the bright gray form of the Moon. Though a number of human colonies were on planets that outwardly looked like Earth, the combination of Earth and Moon was unmistakable.
Firebrandt's breath caught and he stepped forward, toward the image. He put his hand on Roberts’ shoulder and squeezed. “I never thought to see Earth again.” He looked down at the deck grating below his feet and the walls on either side. “I certainly never thought to see Earth from this ship again.” He stepped closer to the display and peered at it closely. “Can you show me the position of the Clusters?"
"I'm only showing one Cluster currently in orbit around the Earth,” said Anne. She typed a command into the computer console and a red orb appeared over Australia. “The other three must be at the center of the galaxy."
"Does that help or hinder us?” asked Roberts as he unclamped the hover chair from the deck and drifted next to Firebrandt, raising himself to the captain's eye-level.
"Captain,” called Mary Seaton from the battle deck's stern. “I've just received reports from all crew chiefs. We suffered a minor hull breach amidships on deck three. The section is sealed off. Junior doesn't think we should attempt another jump until it's repaired. He also doesn't think we can repair the damage ourselves. We'll need time at a dock facility."
"But, it can be repaired,” reflected Firebrandt. “That's good. How about injuries?"
"Juan Raton and two others suffered minor injuries. Doc Krishnamurty says she'll have them patched up in no time."
"How are we for combat readiness?"
Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “As good as we were when we left Sufiro. We have weapons that'll fire and once Juan is back at his station, people that can fire them. The engine crew is ready to go.” She pursed her lips as though wanting to say more, but the captain interrupted.
"That's about as good as can be expected,” said the captain, knowing that she was worried about the small crew. Though he was also worried, he retrieved the pipe from his pocket and lit it, projecting an outward sense of calm. After staring at the image of Earth for a few moments, a self-satisfied grin appeared and he looked at Roberts drifting next to him. “I think it's time to contact Edmund Swan and see if we can form a strategy."
Roberts nodded and pressed several buttons on the hover chair; he had slaved certain ship functions, including communications to one of the control panels on the chair. A moment later, the hologram of Earth was replaced by an image of Edmund Swan standing in a dimly lit room. Four people were grouped behind him.
"You're here? At Earth?” asked Swan, staring wide-eyed at the battle deck of the Legacy. “When I sent the message with the Sanson I expected you to get Arepno or someone to come and help us out."
"You said it yourself, the Cluster is endangering all human life in the galaxy—that means Sufiro,” said the captain around the pipe stem. “I've never run from a fight,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
"No, you haven't,” said Swan with a genuine smile. “Especially one where the safety of your people is concerned.” The deputy sheriff turned and spoke to one of the women behind him, then turned back. “Can you meet us at the Southern Arizona space port? We have a plan of action, but I'd rather not discuss it over the link."
"Understood,” said Firebrandt. “We'll see you shortly.” Roberts shut off the com channel. Together, they left the battle deck and made their way to the launch bay. Firebrandt disconnected the safety and fuel lines while Roberts drifted into the launch and prepared it for the excursion to the surface. After a moment, Firebrandt stepped into the launch, closing the door behind him. Once the captain was strapped in, Roberts opened the bay door. Firebrandt took the controls and eased the launch forward, out of the bay.
If anything, Ellison Firebrandt was more affected by the sight of Earth through the launch's windows. Fifty years before, he had told Roberts and Suki that the last thing he wanted to do was face the humiliation of returning to Earth defeated and in a broken-down star cruiser. He turned the launch slightly and looked back at the Legacy, once again in space and he felt a lump in his throat. He had not realized before how much it was that he actually wanted to return to Earth. Acutely aware that he and his ship might be the only thing that stood a chance of saving the planet, Ellison Firebrandt felt a certain triumph in the return—at long last he had defeated the plans of his mother, who had planned to strand him on Sufiro for life. As the launch descended through the atmosphere, the captain realized that his mother still had achieved her own victory. He had not returned to Earth as a pirate, but on a mission to save all of Earth's colonies—including his mother's world of Alpha Coma. He laughed lightly as he homed in on the Southern Arizona spaceport.
"Are you feeling okay, sir,” asked Roberts, looking at the captain in concern.
"Never felt better,” said Firebrandt as he activated the thrusters and settled the launch into a docking bay.
Firebrandt unstrapped from the seat and opened the door. As he stepped down the ramp, Edmund Swan and two other people stepped through an archway that led into the bay. “Tell us about your plan,” said Firebrandt as he shook the deputy sheriff's hand.
Swan gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. After he moment, he opened them and looked at the captain. “I really wish I was asking this of someone else,” he said. “There's no way to predict how the Cluster is going to respond. The Legacy may well be destroyed."
"If the Legacy was sitting on Sufiro, and the Cluster succeeded, she would be destroyed just the same. What do we need to do?"
Swan began pacing back and forth as he outlined the plan he and the resistance had formed.
* * * *
On the way back to Nantucket, G'Liat resumed his place in the bow of the boat while Ellis steered. Above them, dark clouds began to form and the water began to churn. Mark applied a little more throttle hoping to get back to port before the storm broke out in force. His own mind felt like the brewing storm. He was distressed, though perhaps not surprised, to hear Richard's statement that he was dying. Mark wasn't sure he knew how long sperm whales usually lived, but based on what his father and Coffin had told him, he knew Richard was well over seventy years old.
He looked up at the Rd'dyggian warrior in the bow and frowned. On one hand, he couldn't help but be grateful that he had given the whale a reason to hold onto life a little longer. On the other hand, G'Liat suggested that wha
les should willingly subjugate themselves to the Cluster. Ellis tried to argue the point to Richard—tried to suggest that the whale not be so willing to give up the freedom of the oceans. However, he was rebuffed when the whale said, “How dare you speak of the freedom of the oceans—you who have the ability to travel to other worlds and the stars beyond."
Mark didn't know how to answer the whale. The only option he had left was to find an alternative way to stop the Cluster, before G'Liat found a way to present his proposal that the Cluster take whales in place of humans. Of course, thought Mark consolingly, it's possible that G'Liat could present his proposal to the Cluster and they would reject it as unfeasible. After all, they didn't really know enough about the Cluster to know for certain that the whales offered enough to attract the Cluster. After all, why did the Cluster choose humans over say, the Rd'dyggians, the Alpha Centaurans, or the Zahari?
Mark heard a building rumble and, at first, he thought it was thunder from the brewing storm. However, the more he listened, the more he realized it was not thunder, but some kind of craft approaching. Just then, a silver egg-shaped craft dropped through the low, dark clouds and descended toward the water. Mark pulled back on the throttle and turned, sending up a shower of spray to keep from running into it. He looked up into the boat's bow, certain he must have dumped G'Liat into the water. Instead the warrior had hooked his foot into the low railing that ran around the edge of the boat and followed the roll of the boat with the grace of a surfer riding a wave. When the boat finally stopped, Ellis looked over his shoulder. The egg-shaped craft settled with its bottom in the water; the narrow part of the egg pointed skyward.
Gracefully, in spite of the rolling waves and the slick deck, G'Liat made his way to the boat's stern. He looked briefly at Mark. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to Richard once again. After so much time among humans, it was truly refreshing."
"Where are you going?” asked Mark.
Without answering, G'Liat dove over the boat's rail into the churning waves. A light drizzle started coming down from the sky. Mark ran to the stern and looked. He saw G'Liat swimming for the egg-shaped craft. “Where are you going?” called Mark again, even though he knew it was in vain. A door appeared in the craft's side and another Rd'dyggian appeared—Rizonex. G'Liat reached the craft and Rizonex pulled him inside. The door closed and soon after, the ship lifted back into the sky with hardly a spray of water.
The rain was coming down harder. Though he was starting to get soaked through, Mark Ellis didn't bother to go inside to get rain gear. Instead, he returned to the wheel, set course for Nantucket and pushed the throttle to full.
* * * *
After meeting with Ellison Firebrandt, Edmund Swan returned to Tim Gibbs’ apartment. He stepped over to the armchair opposite Gibbs and sat down. His friend sat, still and unmoving. Swan found himself thinking back to high school and remembered Gibbs as he was then—not too different in the past than he was in the present. He remembered Gibbs tinkering with electronics and computer equipment and talking about his perfect computer that could only be built from a black hole. “Did you ever dream that such a device would mean the end of humanity?” he asked, even though he knew Gibbs couldn't hear him. “Oh, I know what you're thinking, some humans will go on, including you. But, will you have that fundamental spark that makes you human?"
Swan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he stood and looked in the refrigerator. After rummaging around for a few minutes and throwing out some cheese covered in green fuzz and an entire carton of something that almost made him throw up just by cracking the lid, he found a bottle of beer. The deputy sheriff pulled it out and examined it skeptically. After a moment, he unscrewed the top, took a swallow, and then made a face. He looked over at the limp form of Gibbs and held up the bottle as if asking for an explanation for the poor quality beer.
In spite of that, he took another swallow. Maria Gonzalez would be there soon. She was bringing a hypo-spray of Proxom. The resistance planned to inject Proxom into as many people as they could that were in the Cluster trance. At the same time, the Legacy would fire at the Cluster in orbit around the Earth, in an attempt to knock out the EQ signal that connected that Cluster to the ones at the center of the galaxy. Their hope was that it would throw the Clusters into confusion. By pulling as many of the human architects of the memory core away from the Cluster as possible, they hoped they might stop the Cluster. However, as Roberts and others pointed out, that seemed unlikely. It seemed that the Cluster probably would have all the information they needed stored and at best this action would momentarily confuse the Cluster. Still, as Jerry Lawrence pointed out, any time they bought was time for more help to arrive.
Swan took another swallow of beer and then prayed that more help was, indeed, on the way. His worst fear was that they pull Tim Gibbs away from the Cluster, the Legacy would fire and the Cluster would retaliate, killing Ellison Firebrandt and Carter Roberts.
The door chime sounded. Swan took another drink of beer, then set the bottle down on the counter. He opened the door for Maria Gonzalez, who wore a headset that put her in contact with other resistance leaders around the planet, and carried a hypospray of Proxom. She looked over at the counter. “Have you got another of those beers? I think I need it."
"I'll go look,” said Swan.
* * * *
When Mark Ellis finally arrived at his front door, he was soaked from the storm. Out of habit, he wiped his feet on the sopping wet mat in front of the door and stepped inside. Kirsten jumped up from the kitchen table, ran to him and threw her arms around him. She backed off a moment later when she felt how cold and wet he was. “You better get upstairs and change into something dry, before you catch your death of cold."
"Would you mind putting on some coffee, or tea?” asked Mark as he sloshed toward the stairs. “Anything hot would be good now."
Eva started a pot of coffee as Mark went upstairs. He returned a few minutes later, wearing dry clothes and he dropped onto the couch. Kirsten sat down next to him and pulled him close. “How did the conversation with Richard go?” she asked.
"Not well,” said Mark. He shook his head. “I feel like such a fool.” He stood up and began pacing. “G'Liat had his own agenda all along. I need to find a way back to the Cluster as soon as possible."
Kirsten stood and put her hand on Mark's arm. “Mark, Coffin's gone,” she reminded him. “You can't help him anymore."
"I know,” said Mark, quietly looking down at the floor. Eva stepped up and handed him a cup of coffee. He drank it down in two gulps and handed the cup back to Eva. “The problem is that G'Liat's convinced Richard that the best solution is for the whales to replace humans as symbionts for the Cluster."
Kirsten looked up at him wide-eyed. “Would the Cluster consider that?"
"What the devil would that mean?” asked Eva, stepping back to the coffee pot and refilling the cup.
"I don't know—to either of those questions,” said Mark. He stepped back to the couch and sat down. On the coffee table was a wooden box. He opened the box and retrieved a cigar from within. Biting off the end, he thrust the cigar in his mouth and lit it. “What I did figure out from talking to Richard is that the Cluster is just as afraid of death as we are. All of us agree that if we can't destroy the Cluster, what we have to do is convince it that it has a reason to go on living."
Eva sat down in the armchair next to the couch and set the coffee cup on the table in front of Mark. “Wouldn't it be better to destroy the Cluster?"
Mark nodded slowly. “I'm inclined to think that would be best.” He removed the cigar from his mouth and knocked some ash into an ashtray. “The problem is that we're not sure the Cluster can be destroyed. G'Liat thinks the answer is to find a new symbiont for the Cluster. I think the answer is to convince the Cluster that it can live without symbionts."
Kirsten sat down in a chair at the kitchen table, avoiding Mark's cigar smoke. “Where's G'Liat gone?"
<
br /> Mark shook his head. “His henchman—Rizonex—picked him up out at sea and took him somewhere. I think it's now a race. The question is, which of us will get to the Cluster first."
"Well, I think I might have something that will help,” said Eva leaning forward. “This afternoon, we took Samuel Coffin's body to the hospital morgue. On the way, I was thinking about the fact that emotions seem to attract to Cluster. Proxom suppresses emotions, so that would seem to be why people on Proxom are not susceptible to the Cluster. Thinking along those lines, I realized that if I could suppress the action of the amygdala in the brain, it would free up emotions.” She sat back and folded her arms.
"What's the amygdala?” asked Mark as he returned the cigar to his mouth.
"It's linked to the limbic system,” explained Eva. “It helps you push fear to the back of the mind, it helps you repress sexual desire at inappropriate times. Basically, it's the part of your brain that keeps your emotions in check—keeps them from overwhelming your day-to-day activities."
"Aren't there dangers to suppressing the amy ... the amig ... the part of the brain that suppresses emotion?” asked Kirsten, with a somewhat frustrated look.
Eva nodded slowly. “It's believed that a malfunctioning amygdala can lead to disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety or depression..."
"Disorders where people suffer from an overload of emotion,” said Mark around the cigar.
"Precisely,” said Eva, standing. “However, I can give you a controlled dosage of drugs that will suppress the amygdala without leading to those disorders.” She retrieved her medical bag and pulled out some small vials. “I was able to retrieve some while we were at the hospital today."
Mark laid the cigar butt in the ashtray to allow it to burn out. “I've got to see if I can get to the Cluster before G'Liat does. If you think this might work to get the Cluster's attention, I think we need to try."
Heirs of the New Earth Page 23
