Shadow Agents

by David Alastair Hayden

  Although, if they found Oona's dad, they might not have to keep running, and then… Karson shook his head. No, that didn't feel right. He felt confident they'd be running for a long time, with or without Ambassador Vim.

  Karson removed a small crate from a shelf. It was locked, but Silky had given him an override code for all the sealed containers. The lock clicked, and he pulled the lid back.

  He sat down on the floor. “Oh, sweet!”

  The box contained two chippy units. He frowned. No, that wasn't correct. It held one chippy unit and another device that looked a lot like a chippy, except that there were apparent differences in the outer design, suggesting it was something altogether different.

  For one thing, the unknown device was ever so slightly larger and would probably stick several millimeters out from a socket. That suggested a prototype device not yet ready for mass production.

  He picked up the not-chippy unit. “Barty, do you have any idea what this is?”

  “It does not match anything on record, sir. Would you like for me to perform a deep search to see if I can find a match?”

  Even a chippy with its quantum computing capabilities could not complete an exhaustive search of the galactic net immediately, especially not when trying to match up an unknown object to perhaps a single record or photo. It could take hours to adequately comb through the knowledge stored on the net, compiled from trillions upon trillions of sources over the course of more than three millennia.

  “Please!”

  "I'm sure Silky knows what it is if you'd like to wait, sir."

  “I’m sure he does. And I’m also sure I want to know right away.”

  “I’ll pause my updating, sir, and perform an extensive search right away.”

  “Wait!”

  Karson picked up the chippy unit and rolled it around in his hands. An impact had damaged it. And if it was in a box, he guessed it was inoperative. He found the serial markings. It was a 6G unit, the same as Barty.

  “Is there any power left in this unit?”

  “Not that I can tell, sir.”

  “Do you think it could hold a charge?”

  “I cannot say for certain based on my scans, sir. It is badly damaged. I recommend scrapping or recycling it. You do not have the parts to repair a chippy.”

  “Oh, Barty. It’s always the same with you, isn’t it? No imagination.”

  “I am not Silky, sir. I have limitations. What are you planning to do with it?”

  “I’m thinking it would make a great upgrade to the core system in the Tezzin, giving it an AI control unit. If it’s functional, and if I can hardwire it in.”

  “That sounds practically barbarous to me, sir. Speaking of AI’s, you could ask the ship and Octavian about the unknown device. They might know what it is. I will begin my deep scan of the net now.”

  Karson mentally slapped himself. Here he was trying to install an AI unit in the Tezzin, yet he once again forgot to ask the Outworld Ranger’s advanced AI for help.

  He accessed the ship through his HUD and visually marked the not-chippy in his hand. “Ship, do you have any information about this device?”

  “That, Mr. Bishop, is a device that Gav Gendin brought back with him after visiting a Krixis world where he scouted an Ancient outpost.”

  “Any idea what it does?”

  “I am afraid I do not know, Mr. Bishop.”

  Karson marked the chippy unit. “And this one?”

  “That was Gav Gendin’s chippy before he found Silky. It is a 6G named Torus.”

  Karson held the not-chippy up close to his face, studying its every facet in detail. Two things became immediately apparent. First, there was no sign of actual damage on this device. Unless something was broken inside it, the unit was still functional. Second, the polarity of the connection appeared to be reversed, and the eject switch was in the wrong place. Unless it plugged into a socket place in someone's right temple.

  Only that made no sense. Chippies worked with the structure of the more analytical left brain. Trying to use one with the right brain would end you up somewhere between pointlessness and madness.

  Although, maybe there was a human genetic variant with the brain regions reversed. Or perhaps it had been constructed for someone with a genetic defect. But that wouldn’t explain why the physical build didn’t match the design specs of a chippy.

  He desperately wanted to crack it open but knew he should first wait for Silky to return. He placed it in his pocket and took the 6G to the makeshift workbench he'd created using the hard plastic bed liner from the car's trunk fixed across two crates.

  He activated the magnification in the smart lenses he wore then took out his fine detail tools and went to work on the device. Removing the outer plating, he carefully cracked open the chippy’s shell, so as not to damage the delicate parts inside. Upon immediate inspection, with the magnification turned up by a factor of four, the power relay was busted, two wires were torn, and the brain-interface to CPU connector was dislodged from its socket. If that was all the damage, then he might be able to restore it. Not as a chippy, of course. It could never serve that purpose again. But as an AI unit for the Tezzin.

  “Sir, I finished a preliminary search and found nothing. I can begin the deep scan, but it is hard to search when you do not know what you are looking for and cannot find matching images anywhere on the net.”

  Karson sighed. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll just wait for—”

  The ship popped up an alert symbol in his HUD, then spoke. “Mr. Bishop, we have an incoming signal, priority channel.”

  “Patch it through,” Karson said with worried anticipation.

  “Thread-man to the Far-Planet Searcher. Do you copy?”

  “Silky?” Karson asked.

  “Thread-man! My name’s Thread-Man!”

  “Do we need code names?”

  “If we want to have fun we do, Skimmer-Child Clergyman.”

  Karson shook his head.

  Kyralla’s voice came through the channel along with a yawn. “Since you’re acting like a ridiculous buffoon, I take it that everyone is safe?”

  “I don’t know that we’re safe. But we’re alive on Zayer Prime, and no one’s trying to kill us at the moment.”

  “That’s great news!” Oona said, joining the conversation. “Send everyone our love.”

  “Eew, gross,” Silky replied. “Siv and Mitsuki send their regards and apologize for leaving this up to me. They’re getting some sleep. Now, we shouldn’t talk too long. Over and—”

  “Wait,” Karson said. "Silky, I found what appears to be a chippy device in one of the locked containers, only it's not exactly a chippy, and I don't—"

  “Do not touch that. It’s mine, and it is very precious to me.”

  “Okay, I won’t mess with it,” Karson replied. “Could you tell me what it is?”

  “It’s called an emppy, and it’s top secret. Or it used to be anyway. I’ll explain when we get back.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t touch it!”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t tinker with it!”

  “I won’t.”

  “Put it back now!”

  “I will lock it away ASAP.”

  “Is the device dangerous?” Kyralla asked.

  “Perfectly safe,” Silky replied. “We’ll talk again soon.”

  Karson took the device out of his pocket. “An emppy?”

  “Sir, I didn’t see anything about an emppy on my preliminary search.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to if it was top secret. Don’t bother scanning further. I doubt you’ll find anything.”

  As Karson was about to put the device back into the box, Oona and Kyralla showed up, looking groggy but well. He showed it to them.

  Oona shrugged. “I wouldn’t have known it was any different.”

  “Silky was awful touchy about it,” Kyralla said. “In fact, he seemed angrily sentimental.”

  “He did, didn’
t he?” Karson’s eyes flared. “Didn’t Silky say he served for years with an Empathic Services agent?”

  “Yeah, I think he did,” Kyralla replied.

  “An empath…a device called an emppy…”

  “Seems a bit of a stretch.”

  Karson smiled and tapped his right temple. “It connects to the more creative right brain, which is where empaths have more neural networks.”

  He reverently returned it to the box and locked it away. "I think maybe it was built for enhancing an empath's capabilities." He looked pointedly at Oona. "If we could repair this device, assuming it's broken, then—"

  “It could enhance my abilities and make speaking with the priestess a lot easier,” she replied, her eyes bright with excitement.

  “You would first need surgery to get a socket on your right temple,” Kyralla said. “And you’re not just an empath. It might interfere with your abilities instead.”

  “Joy-kill,” Oona said, stalking off. “I’m going to go meditate on how my sister’s a pain in the butt sometimes.”

  Karson stared around embarrassed. He wasn’t used to confrontations like that. He avoided personal confrontations by…by being alone…by not having any friends or ever talking to his family.

  “Do you have any siblings?” Kyralla asked.

  “I am an only child.”

  “Then you’re lucky.” Kyralla glanced back in the direction her sister had gone and sighed. “And also, unlucky.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Anything I can help you with?” she asked. “I’m getting bored. I don’t have a simulator for training, and I can only do so many pushups and squats to stay in shape.”

  “I supposed I could use a hand with the car, but unless you have any technical skill, I’ll run out of stuff for you to do in about an hour.”

  “Octavian would probably be a better helper anyway.”

  She wasn’t wrong. So he nodded as politely as he could.

  “I guess I’ll read and watch some movies.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” he told her. “Get some rest and relax while you can.”

  “It’s just that I feel like I should be doing something.”

  Karson scratched his chin, considering the options. “Have you mastered the flight controls?”

  “I don’t know if mastered is the right word, but I have learned all that I can about them.”

  “That seems like a lot of studying.”

  “It didn’t take me long. I’ve discovered I have a love for piloting.”

  “Ah, well there you go. To be a great pilot, you must become one with the ship. I’d think that would mean more than just knowing the automatic and backup control systems and how to work with the ship’s AI. I would think that a great pilot would know every operating system on the ship, and how every part of it functions.”

  Kyralla chewed her lip. “So I should learn each crew station…”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to understand what the others are doing, to learn about the engines, the stardrive, and every device and control system onboard. You never know what might suddenly be important.”

  “I guess so…”

  He pointed at the partially disassembled 6G chippy on the bench. “I know every part in there. I know the tensile strength of the wires. I know how all the metals and wires are made. I know everything you can know about that device, save the unknowable. And I know every detail about the tools I’m using to work on it, from the materials in them to their manufacturers. Most of that information is unnecessary, much of it I have never needed. But anything could be important to the right project.”

  Kyralla patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. And if nothing else, it gives me something to do.” Frowning, she looked around. “Any idea where I should start?”

  “I’m sure Octavian would love to give you a guided tour of the ship. He buzzed my ear off when I asked him to show me around.”

  “They’ll be okay, won’t they?” she asked suddenly.

  Karson took a deep breath and considered the danger they were all in. “I believe in your sister. And I believe in all of us. I think fate has brought us all together for a divine purpose. So yes, I think everyone will be okay and that we will all make it through this.”

  Kyralla smiled, but it was almost sad. “Thanks, Bishop.”

  26

  Vega Kaleeb

  A vast industrial complex sprawled through a series of caverns cut below the surface of a remote world, far away from the prying eyes and scans of deep-space probes. In chamber after chamber, turbines whirred, conveyor belts hummed, welding sparks flared, hammers struck, and drills whined as a host of slavish cogs tirelessly assembled an army and the starship to carry them into battle.

  The army—a legion of orb-shaped sky-blades like Faisal—gathered before the boarding ramp of the battlecruiser. There the sky-blades waited until they arrived.

  From another dimension, a host of ghostly forms emerged, one for each sky-blade. The ghosts, one by one, touched the cogs and were absorbed by them, merging to give the robots life…purpose…meaning…a soul. And so the sky-blades became something more than mere machines while the ghosts became something more than spirits.

  A booming voice spoke to them, and it was his voice. “Today we will begin our holy crusade! Today we set off to—”

  A pinging sound rang out in the cockpit as the Spinner’s Blade pierced the edge of the Zayer system and slowed.

  Vega woke with a start, his breathing heavy, the clarity of the dream fading rapidly. Even as an android, he could not entirely hold onto a dream. Whether this distinctly human trait was an accident or designed by the Benevolence, no one knew. But Vega suspected it was intentional. Perhaps the Benevolence had thought dreams were part of what made one human. Perhaps it had longed itself to dream.

  A cog hovered in front of him, and Vega stared at his face reflected in its glossy black surface.

  “Yes, Faisal?”

  “Were you dreaming of them again, boss?”

  With a nod, Vega stood and stretched. “Analysis?”

  “My preliminary scans and my instincts tell me our marks are here, boss.”

  “Your evidence?”

  “For starters, we have ship wreckage in the outer reaches of the system. Based on telemetry from rather dumb science probes that had no clue how to interpret what they were observing, it seems as if a light cruiser and two starfighters were destroyed in a battle.”

  “The cruiser… Was it the Outworld Ranger?”

  "I don't believe so, boss. The data from the probes show a freighter and a second light cruiser were at the same location when the destruction occurred. The freighter continued to Zayer Prime, while the second light cruiser left the system."

  “So they might have come here and then left…”

  “Perhaps, boss. I’m still researching.”

  “The odds of it being entirely unrelated? A battle with pirates, maybe?”

  "The odds are incredibly low. Also, according to an intercept I got off a Star Cutter transmission, Zetta was here. Apparently, she was involved in an alliance with the Cutters. But she's gone now."

  “Left on the other light cruiser?”

  “Unknown, sir. There’s simply no sign of her.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t expect her to leave one. How did Zetta get here ahead of us?”

  “We were farther away when the call went out, sir. The slippery bitch simply had the good fortune of already being in the area.”

  “The second light freighter, you’re sure it left the system?”

  “The data shows it was heading toward the breakpoint, sir, but there are no readings of hyperspace energy to go on. This is due to the limitations of the probes. Feel free to double-check everything while I do further scans.”

  Vega’s processing capabilities were every bit as powerful as those of an 8G+ chippy. It was only his emotional and instinctive behavior matrices that kept his processor from doing
what a 9G chippy could. But he couldn’t come close to the abilities of Faisal’s 9G-x processor.

  Vega read over their long-range scans carefully and verified what Faisal had found. Usually, Vega worked on the easier problems while Faisal did what only he could do. Well, Faisal and Silky. But Vega had the good sense to never say that out loud, or to even think it too strongly.

  “Here’s something, boss. Not long after the freighter docked with a station orbiting Zayer Prime, a strange banking transaction took place. Using a software exploit, a small sum was moved from one account and into a new one at a different bank. That account was then emptied with all the money transferred into hard credits. Not even the bank’s network knew where the money came from or went, though it shut down the loophole immediately.”

  Vega considered the information. “Coincidental?”

  “Doubtful. A group of determined humans with the right advanced software could have done it, but I can’t imagine any group running a one-time scam for a sum this small and having it withdrawn out here. But Silky, he could have done it with relative ease. The transaction was practically untraceable. I only noticed because I’ve been scanning for banking oddities ever since we discovered he was involved.”

  “When the freighter docked, were there any extra crew members aboard?”

  “Not any registered by the authorities, boss. But that doesn’t mean anything really.”

  Vega noted a police record. “Get this. A few hours after that, there was an abnormal event at an opium den called Downtimes. A bouncer, a girl that worked there, and four men with connections to the Star Cutters were found unconscious in a room with no memory of how they’d gotten there.”

  “Boss, the report says they were dosed up on Calm and Aware and were found naked.”

  “Who takes doses of Calm during sex?”

  “My study of humans says it’s unlikely, boss. But I could be wrong… I’ve mostly studied how best to maim and kill them. I do so love severing critical tendons and arteries.”