Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11

by Randolph Lalonde

“Great security, guys!” Alice shouted over her shoulder with a chuckle.

  Quan was hiding in a doorway, and she stopped. “I didn’t realize they were duping you too,” she said. “Or that I could do whatever I did to you.”

  “Can we talk? I might have some insights that could help. It can’t totally make up for what I did, but…”

  “Ship’s this way,” Alice said.

  Fifty-Two

  Shake Up

  * * *

  “I’m sorry to drag you all the way out here,” Alice said to Quan as she slipped out of the pilot’s seat. “I don’t know how the mess I made is going to play out yet, so we’re just outside the solar system in stealth mode.”

  “That’s all right,” Quan said, holding a cold pack to his cheek. “I’m an Eleventh Tier, they let me do what I like.”

  “This stealth configuration may not be as effective as we would like. The sensor network has been upgraded in thousands of places,” Lewis said. “They will be able to pick up our passive trackers if they scan in our direction.”

  “Find a rock and get behind it?” Alice asked.

  “Right, looking for a rock with heavy metals,” Lewis said.

  Alice led Quan to the common area and offered him a seat. “This ship turned out very well,” Quan said. “Can I get something mild and warm to drink, please?”

  Alice stopped at the dispenser, a slot in the wall with cupboards above and below and touched where she thought the panel ought to be. It lit up and started scrolling through drinks.

  “Here you are,” Theodore said, coming into the room with a white cloth in his hand. “It’ll accelerate healing without being invasive.”

  “Thank you,” Quan said, offering his cheek.

  Theodore put it over the angry red outline of Alice’s hand. “This is an incredibly clear pattern.”

  “I deserved it,” Quan said. “Though I’ll never prefer violence, she was only defending herself.”

  “Oh,” Theodore said. “The meeting was eventful.”

  “You could say that,” Alice said, putting a mug of hot chocolate in front of Quan and holding an ice cold, tall cup of Raspberry Blaster in her sore hand. She wouldn’t admit that the skin on her palm and fingers were throbbing, she’d never slapped anyone before, at least not without a glove on. “So, you had something to tell me?”

  Quan smiled a little. “First, something about Lorander telepaths. No matter what they tell you, they do have the ability to stay out of your head. Telepathy requires exertion. It’s part listening, and a little influence. Don’t let any of my people tell you that they slipped and overheard your thoughts. That is impossible to do without intent.”

  “That’s good to know,” Alice said.

  “That is not in the Lorander database I have,” Theodore said.

  “It won’t be, we don’t share much about telepathy, only one in about half a million are true telepaths.”

  “Am I one?” Alice asked. She took a sip and found the drink was sharp and sugary; too strong.

  “No, but you have an impressive amount of control over your own mental domain. The harm you inflicted on me was done when you held my focus in your mind, like refusing to let go of someone’s hand, then recalled memories that most normal minds can’t hold vividly or at all. I believe that most of your memories from your digital life will change over time, conforming to how your mind prefers to work.”

  “So, I won’t really remember artificial intelligence emotions,” Alice said. “They’ll feel human after a while?”

  Quan nodded. “A translation process was started by the Geist, and your mind is continuing it now. Some of the sharper feelings of grief and regret will fade as well, I couldn’t help but see a little of what your last night was like. Again, I apologize.”

  “All that in less than a minute,” Alice said.

  “I’m Tier Eleven,” Quan said with a shrug.

  “Okay, what does that mean?” Alice asked, leaning forward.

  “It’s like one of your Majors, a little higher,” he said. “But with a lot less responsibility. I’m classified as more of an explorer.”

  “All right, so you were left here to advise and consult?”

  “At first, yes, but your people are learning how to use the Forges quickly. You won’t need us before long. My duty is mostly finished here, so my mandate is leaning further and further towards exploration. What I saw in your mind will start a whole new debate over the languages of memory, and what’s possible. That is, if you give me permission to disclose it to other telepaths.”

  “Maybe don’t mention anything about last night?” Alice asked.

  “I’ll keep that out of my report, as you would say. Is it all right if I comment on the moment I saw in front of your mechanical friend?” he asked, glancing at Theodore. “You’re quite impressive, by the way.”

  “Thank you,” Theodore said. “I could leave if you need privacy.”

  “No, Theodore can hear everything. It’s a small ship, we’ll get to know everything about each other anyway,” Alice said.

  “Your grief, your pain was very deep, beautiful in its own way. It is said that the most beautiful emotional experiences, the most important ones, can also become destructive. To experience feelings on the level you do is a gift, but without discipline, or some kind of real understanding, coping methods, you could hurt yourself. Like the gymnast who has the skill to attempt a feat a novice couldn’t dream of, they can injure themselves worse because the feat is so advanced, so risky. Your control today tells me that your mind is keen enough to learn how to cope with your emotions,” Quan said. “It’s one of the reasons why your defences are so powerful, you have a great capacity for mental control and exertion. You’ll never be a telepath, but none will be able to read you without you knowing ever again.”

  “How was I able to see the girl in the wall? That couldn’t have been from you, it was Anderson’s secret.”

  “He was holding that secret near his current surface thoughts, possibly because he knew there was a Tier Eleven Telepath in the room. Paranoia creates broad gaps in the defence of any mind, it brings our deepest secrets to the surface because we can’t stop thinking about them. When you wouldn’t let me let go of you, my awareness flailed out, like a drowning person who was looking for anything to grapple to, and I found the Defence Minister’s mind, as well as the Councillor’s. Hers was an aid to me; she was afraid, but still rational, trying to think of a way to calm you down. Carl Anderson’s was focused inward, worried about the secrets I’d unearth if I decided to read him for a moment. He’s also working on a localized suppressor with a small team to include in armour, so Haven Fleet personnel are unreadable, immune to telepathic influence. Did you see any of that?”

  “I don’t think…” Alice started to answer, then she saw a schematic, a laboratory, and the girl in the wall with legs, her expression twisted with effort. “I caught a glimpse. Is she helping him test it? Why is he so afraid you’ll find out about it?”

  “I’m not sure. Lorander doesn’t believe in intruding on minds unless it’s to assist with debilitating trauma, or counter imminent danger. The Defence Minister convinced me that his granddaughter’s mind was damaged, that your personality had been altered by the Geist. What I found was that, yes, technically the Geist initiated a change, but it didn’t control it. He was trying to read you like a document, something that changed little, and in the end, he translated the digital information in your mind so it would flood your consciousness. That didn’t work for long, your mind is already adjusting and you’re healing.”

  “Not as fast as I’d like. I feel everything like it’s turned up to two hundred percent,” Alice said. “I’ve even felt physical reactions to emotions, that’s never happened before.”

  “It’s normal. The fact that you’ve never had those sensations is actually abnormal for a human, though most don’t feel them as keenly as you probably do. As for how deeply you suffered last night, I’m afraid that was somet
hing you had to feel. I hope knowing that you can feel joy and love just as powerfully is a comfort to you. You’ll never lack for depth of feeling, so I advise you to seek balance.”

  “Thanks, I think. How do I find balance?”

  “I can help,” Quan said. “Perhaps you could use a Lorander Tier Eleven on your crew? I don’t want to participate in any violent acts, I’m not well practiced with firearms anyway, but I can help you debug your ship, teach you how to work through your grief and regret more gently. Balance will take longer, but I’m willing to make it part of my atonement.”

  “How can I trust you?” Alice asked. “I won’t let you into my head, that ride’s closed.”

  “You will always know if someone is trying to read you,” Quan said. “Do you mind if I demonstrate? You’ll see exactly what I mean.”

  Alice considered it for a moment, took another sip of her slush drink. It was too cold, too sweet, but it felt nice on her hand. “Okay.”

  Quan stood and sat beside her. “Look into my eyes,” he said. “Now, I can feel your primary emotional state. It’s like a haze that follows you and surrounds you. That’s the talent of an empath, the first thing Telepaths like me learn. It doesn’t require intrusion.”

  “How do I trick an empath?”

  “For you, it’s simple. Draw on a memory or familiar feeling and focus on it. That will change your primary sense of being, the emotion ruling you at the moment, so if you want to seem angry to an empath…”

  “Concentrate on a memory that makes me angry,” Alice said.

  “Or force yourself to feel that emotion. Anger isn’t a healthy state to live in, but it will make many empaths uneasy, even angry themselves. Love is also a good shield, but harder to hold on to for most people.”

  “So, you can’t block an empath, you can only trick them,” Alice said.

  “That’s right. Distance is the only sure way to shield yourself. Now, I’m going to try to use my skills to read you as a telepath. I’m trying to sneak into your mind without you noticing. Most people never know when they’re being read like this, especially if they become distracted. Focus on my eyes. Relax, nothing can harm you here.”

  He was nose to nose with her, within a centimetre. She looked into his light violet eyes. He was so calm, at peace with himself. A little smile played on his lips. For a man he was pretty, obviously well kept. Alice noticed that she was matching his slow breaths and let herself begin to relax. His fingers gently touched her knee. “You are doing everything you can to distract me,” she said, amused. Then she felt something, as though someone just entered the room.

  “There,” he said. “That was me, I was only listening for your reaction to my distraction. You thought I was amusing, then everything was blocked, as though you surrounded my consciousness with a black wall then dropped me through the floor. If I wasn’t expecting it, I would have fallen right out of my seat.” He moved to sit across from her.

  “I felt it, but there was nothing subtle. I was alarmed right away,” Alice said. “So that’s my natural response?”

  “It was. If I pushed harder, you would start pulling traumatic memories and other tools from your mind to throw them in my path. This is a result of your trauma with the Geist. A part of your mind will always be on alert. You may never be able to let a telepath in again.”

  “Good,” Alice said. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” Quan said. “So, do you believe me?”

  Alice looked at Quan and pictured him dancing in the hall without a stitch of clothing on. He didn’t react. A mental image of her dunking a tiny version of him into her cold drink, then eating him like a two-bite confection didn’t provoke anything either, even though she made sure it was gory mental image. She thought of Zarrix, remembered how frightened she was and still; nothing. “I do, but let’s visit instead,” she said, unable to bring herself to trust him.

  “I’ll make sure you have my ident so you can contact me.”

  “Thank you,” Alice said. “You understand, though. I don’t know if I’ll ever trust a telepath.”

  “I do. I suspect you never will. Would you mind flying me to the Solar Forge? That’s unless you’d like a session with me now.”

  “My brain’s been through enough for one day,” Alice said. “Lewis?”

  “Course already plotted, coming out of stealth and clearing it with Haven Navnet now.”

  “Thank you,” Alice said. “Sometimes I wonder why we bother having a pilot aboard.”

  “For panache,” Lewis replied. “I assume.”

  Alice checked her comm unit and was relieved to see that she was still a Captain in Haven Fleet. She checked on Defense Minister Anderson and found that his location and status were blocked out. Intelligence were keeping those details a secret from all clearance levels.

  “I’m wondering,” Quan said as Theodore gently removed the white patch from his cheek. “Did you know you were counter-reading the Geist?”

  “No,” Alice said. “Why?”

  “Geists have a different type of telepathy. It’s powerful, and when it’s not trying to exert its will on someone, they can read several people at once. I suspect that you saw something it was very concerned about.”

  “Do you know if it’s still alive?” Alice asked.

  “Yes, definitely still alive. Everyone at my ability level can feel it in the system, even when its sleeping.”

  “What would you do with it?” Alice said.

  “It’s a synthetic construct made to orchestrate humans so they are more efficient soldiers or workers. That’s one step from slavery. It’s an abomination. We would kill it in a way that would not cause pain.”

  “Really?” Alice asked. “It’s still a living thing.”

  “That can cause too much harm, and it’s a synthetic being that violates rules of both biological and mechanical nature. We’ve dealt with Citadel before, and we have an expression; ‘all Geists turn.’” He took a breath and calmed down. “Even good natured Geists eventually become possessive of a commander and impatient with their crew. They start pushing them, intertwining their consciousness with them, and eventually they control them to different degrees, like a hive mother.”

  “This happens to all Geists?”

  “Yes, that’s why we’re helping Oz recover. He was attracted to the Exile Geist because his consciousness was so interwoven to the Triton Geist. Now he feels incomplete.”

  “We have a message from Iruuk. He’s at your house,” Lewis said.

  “It’s about time,” Alice said. She looked to Quan. “Thank your people for helping Oz for me. I hope you can put him together again.”

  “He would benefit from a visit,” he replied. “I know he regrets assaulting you, even though he wasn’t in control.”

  “The Exile Geist didn’t control humans well enough for him to be a real threat, but I’ll make sure I stop in.”

  “We’re coming up on the Solar Forge,” Lewis announced. “Docking in thirty seconds.”

  “I hope you eventually forgive me for my transgression,” Quan said. “I really want to try to make it right.”

  A series of flashing blue arrows ran up the hall and to the port side, Alice assumed they were directing them to the airlock. “I hope you can,” Alice said. “Thank you for coming here, for trying.” The faint click of the airlocks coming together was a relief to Alice. She didn’t realize how tense she was with Quan aboard. The doors opened, and she showed him through. When the heavy hatches closed behind him she sighed with relief.

  “He wasn’t as helpful as he thought he was, was he?” Theodore asked.

  “It was like having a poisonous snake in my vacsuit,” she replied. “I’m only realizing it now.”

  “Humans are complicated enough without telepathy.”

  “True,” Alice said. “Let’s go pick up Iruuk.”

  “Message from Special Operations,” Lewis said. “I’ll play it back while we’re enroute.”

  “Captain Valent,�
�� said the firm voice of a woman Alice didn’t recognize. “I’m Commodore Sawyer, you report to me now. I would rather introduce myself in person, but we’ve received a distress signal from Lieutenant Vernor…”

  Alice stopped the playback on her comm unit and looped herself into a live communication with her.

  “Commodore, nice to meet you,” Alice said. She slowed herself down, forced herself to take a moment to let her irritation subside. “What happened to Vernor and my people?”

  “His distress call only said the Order was ready for them, it was a trap. We need you and the Clever Dream.” Commodore Sawyer looked around forty and had stunning blue eyes. “I’m sorry to drop this on you now, I realize you’ve been through a lot.”

  “I have a crew of three, that’s including me,” Alice said. “The Clever Dream is still due for a shakedown cruise and a real world stealth test.”

  “I realize that,” Sawyer said. “What I’m wondering is if you’re ready for this, to be honest. If not, we can write the first iteration of the Special Operations Unit off as a failure.”

  “You have resources, you can send a ship after them, at least to scout things out,” she said.

  “The British won’t send their ships to that system, they’ve listed it as lost to the enemy. One moment, please,” Sawyer said.

  Alice made her way to the cockpit in a quick stride and dropped into the pilot’s seat. “Can’t I catch a bloody breath?” Alice asked no one in particular. They were entering Tamber’s atmosphere.

  “Sorry, this is a private conversation now, no one overhearing, and we’ve re-linked using independent encryption,” Sawyer said. “I’ve seen the security footage of your last discussion with Commander Terran, and I happen to agree whole heartedly. I’m not a paper soldier, I’m from Freeground Fleet. I’ve been put in place so fast that my head is still spinning, so we’re both probably on our last nerve and running on almost no sleep. There is a shakeup happening right now, whether you’re the cause or not, I can’t say, but more than a few people have seen your encounter with Terran.”