Cloak of Dragons

by Moeller, Jonathan

  “Neither have I,” said Riordan.

  “We don’t know much about Lord Malthraxivorn’s business, sir,” said Helen. “We mostly attended to Lady Delaxsicoria’s concerns. All we know about Lord Malthraxivorn’s business is what our lady mentioned to us in casual conversation, or what we happened to overhear them discussing.”

  “A man with a metal arm,” said Shawn, shaking his head. “Neither Lord Malthraxivorn nor Lady Delaxsicoria ever mentioned that.”

  “A metal arm,” murmured Riordan. “Where have I heard that before?”

  I blinked in surprise. “You’ve seen men with metal arms?”

  “No,” said Riordan. “But I’ve read about them. Where was it?”

  “Let’s find out,” I said. I walked to the dining room, retrieved my laptop, and synced it to the TV mounted on the wall. I sat down on the empty couch, opened a web browser, and for lack of anything better, I typed “man with metal arm” into the search engine. Text results and pictures came up, and one of the pictures caught my eye.

  “What the hell?” I said.

  The image showed a bald man with dark eyes wearing a black jumpsuit. Machine parts had been grafted onto the side of his face, including a red laser that pointed towards the camera. His right forearm had been replaced by some sort of cylindrical machine that looked like a combination of a manipulating claw and a multitool.

  “Is that guy real?” I said. “He sort of looks like a cruder version of Blaster Boy…no, wait.” I read the caption. The picture was of a British actor who had lived before the Conquest. According to the caption text, he had starred on a TV show about a spaceship, and in a few episodes, he had played something called a cyborg.

  “A…cyborg?” I said, trying to pronounce the word.

  “That’s where I heard it before,” said Riordan. “Some science fiction books. A cyborg.”

  “What the hell is a cyborg?” I said.

  “It’s a contraction of two terms. Cybernetic organism,” said Riordan. “The idea was that a living person would have some of his organs or limbs replaced with superior machine versions. I don’t think it happened in real life, but it turned up a lot in some pre-Conquest fiction.”

  I frowned. “But it’s not that big a deal. People replace body parts with machines all the times. James Marney has an artificial hip and an artificial knee. Half their neighbors have pacemakers.”

  “I’ve got a steel plate in my skull,” said Shawn. I gave him a startled look. “Orc clipped my head with an axe when I was still a man-at-arms.”

  “Real life gets exaggerated in movies,” said Riordan. “Fiction plays on people’s fears to create memorable villains. You’ve all seen movies. Every evil factory owner or Congressman somehow always turns out to be a Rebel saboteur who’s plotting a terrorist bombing.” Russell enjoyed thriller movies like that, so I had seen a lot of them. “In the last few decades before the Conquest, people were afraid of computers and technology, of how they would change society and the world. The fiction reflected that.”

  It did make sense. I didn’t pay much attention to popular culture in general, but I had picked up some by osmosis. Generally, the bad guys in contemporary movies and TV shows were Rebels, violent criminals, elfophobic discontents, or orcish mercenaries, things people feared in real life. If the people of the pre-Conquest world had been afraid of computers when computers were still new, it made sense they would make up these cyborg monsters.

  “Wait,” I said, reading more of the caption. “What the hell is science fiction?” I’d never heard the term before. “A soap opera about a bunch of scientists?”

  “Not quite,” said Riordan. “It’s an extinct genre of fiction that was popular in the last century before the Conquest. It was stories about the future, about how technology would change people’s lives. Stories about building a spaceship and flying it to Mars, that kind of thing.”

  I frowned. “Why the hell would you want to build a spaceship and fly it to Mars? If you go to the Shadowlands, you can walk to Mars in a couple of hours.” Which Riordan and I had done a few months ago. Though we had almost gotten killed and eaten several times during the process. And if you didn’t open a rift way in the proper place to access the subterranean azatothi ruins, you would appear on the Martian surface, where you would promptly asphyxiate from the lack of air.

  “Most people didn't know about the Shadowlands back then. About forty-five years before the Conquest, the US government built a spacecraft and landed several men on the moon,” said Riordan.

  I blinked. “Seriously? Why bother?”

  Riordan shrugged. “Why did the man climb the mountain? Because it was there. And the US government was in competition with the Soviets at the time.”

  I shook my head, and a sudden wave of affection went through me. “How do you know all this stuff?”

  “I had a lot of time to read when I was a man-at-arms and in the Wizard’s Legion,” said Riordan.

  “So did I when I was a soldier. But what does science fiction have to do with the man who killed Lord Malthraxivorn?” said Shawn. “You think this ‘Neil’ person is a cyborg?”

  “I do,” said Riordan.

  “But I thought cyborgs were fictional,” I said.

  Riordan nodded towards the image of the bald actor on the TV screen. “But science fiction inspired a lot of technological advancements in the last century before the Conquest. Touchscreen technology didn’t really come along until the final decade before the Conquest, but that TV show helped inspire some of the designers and scientists who worked on it.”

  “So you think Neil is a cyborg?” I said.

  “Or something like it,” said Riordan. “Based on what you said, his arm is likely a cybernetic prosthesis. That shield he can create isn’t magic, but some kind of magnetic forcefield. You, Mr. Brewer, emptied an entire clip into his back.”

  Shawn nodded. “I didn’t miss once. Put over a dozen shots into his back, and he ran off like it was nothing.”

  “I kicked him in the stomach, and it was like kicking a steel plate,” said Riordan. “I think he must have armor beneath his skin, or his bones have been hardened and strengthened somehow.”

  I grunted. “Then Lord Malthraxivorn…found this guy, turned him into a cyborg?”

  “No,” said Riordan. “I think Neil was already a cyborg when Malthraxivorn found him. You said that Catalyst Corporation was involved in medical technology?”

  “That’s right,” said Helen. “I looked it up for Lady Delaxsicoria. They were founded in Conquest Year 42 and disbanded by the High Queen’s direct order in 121 for crimes against humanity.”

  “Medical technology?” I said. “These Catalyst people turned Neil into a cyborg?”

  “That seems probable,” said Riordan. “I wonder if Catalyst Corporation went too far in their medical experiments and created cyborgs, and maybe those blaster weapons. That would have been too much for the High Queen, and she would have shut them down. Or maybe Catalyst was actively planning to overthrow the High Queen and the Elven nobles.”

  Helen frowned. “But Catalyst was shut down in Conquest Year 121. Even if Neil was turned into one of these cyborg things in that year, he would be at least two centuries old by now.”

  “True,” said Riordan. “But there are ways that magic can extend life, though they’re not at all pleasant.” I started to think of the Eternity Crucible and shoved that idea out of my head. “Technology can extend life, too – antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, transplants, all manner of techniques. Maybe Catalyst Corporation figured out a more advanced method.” He grimaced and looked at the image of the bald actor. “I wish there was a way to find out more about Catalyst Corporation, but if there’s not much about the company in the online encyclopedia, there won’t be much about it in many other publicly available records.”

  “I might have a way,” I said, my fingers closing around the authentication key in my pocket. “I’ve got access to UNICORN.”

  “Unicorn?” sai
d Helen. “Like, a horse thing with a horn?”

  “No,” said Riordan. “The Homeland Security database.” He looked at Shawn and Helen. “Best keep anything you learn here to yourself. Homeland Security isn’t fond of anyone outside their department having access to that database.”

  “We will not betray our lady’s secrets,” said Helen.

  “Smart,” I said. “Let’s see what Homeland Security can tell us about Catalyst.”

  I accessed the UNICORN web page and logged in using the credentials and the authentication token Exeter had given me. The page ground away for a moment, and then a stern warning appeared, admonishing that improper use of UNICORN information incurred severe criminal penalties. I dismissed the warning text box and spent a minute or two familiarizing myself with the interface. It was simple enough – for all that Homeland Security had spent on this thing, it had a standard database interface, one I had seen many times before.

  Then I entered a query for any and all information relating to Catalyst Corporation.

  A lot of results met my search, and I scrolled through them as Riordan, Shawn, and Helen watched. The initial results matched what I had learned already. Catalyst Corporation had been founded forty-one years after the Conquest and had been dissolved eighty years later. Their focus had been medical technology and research.

  Then the results got more interesting.

  Catalyst had been an international corporation. Generally, the High Queen and the Elven nobles did not allow too many international corporations to exist, since they could become too powerful and too influential to control. But Catalyst Corporation had conducted business in nearly every country on the planet. Their annual revenues had been enormous, especially in the last few decades before their dissolution, and the corporation had held a vast number of patents for medical devices.

  Then in Conquest Year 121, it had all fallen apart.

  Arrest warrants had been issued for the CEO, the board of directors, and most of the high-level managers. There was a long list of Catalyst facilities that had been seized, and any technology found there had been confiscated. Most of Catalyst’s upper management had been executed, though it seemed like some of them had disappeared. Maybe they had seen the writing on the wall and had fled, buying new identities elsewhere.

  “I’m not sure I’m reading this correctly,” said Helen, frowning at the TV, “but aren’t there a lot of sections missing?”

  “You’re not wrong,” I said. “Big parts of all the reports have been redacted. You’d need a higher level of access to see the redacted portions. It’s probably restricted to the Inquisition.”

  “Go back to that list of closed Catalyst facilities,” said Riordan. I complied, and he scanned the list. “Do you know what I’m not seeing?”

  I looked over the list. “No mention of a facility in Chelyabinsk Oblast?”

  “That’s right,” said Riordan. “We can hazard a theory. Catalyst Corporation was huge. Millions of employees worldwide and trillions of dollars in assets and technology. When the High Queen destroyed them, something might have fallen through the cracks. Maybe the Chelyabinsk facility was secret, or everyone who knew about it was killed during the crackdown.”

  “Aw, geez.” I rubbed my face. This sounded a lot like how the Sky Hammer nuclear weapon had been forgotten until Nicholas Connor had dug its location out of the dust of the past. “Any stuff in this facility was forgotten until Max Sarkany found it.”

  Shawn frowned. “You are saying that Lord Malthraxivorn was disloyal to the High Queen?”

  “It is within the realm of possibility,” said Riordan, “but I doubt it. Malthraxivorn appreciated Russian art, so I think he spent a lot of time searching the Russian Imperium for artwork and cultural relics. One of his treasure hunters must have found the Chelyabinsk base and sold its contents to him. I suspect that Malthraxivorn didn’t fully realize what he had found. He and Delaxsicoria came to Earth thirty or forty years after Catalyst Corporation was destroyed. Maybe he thought to sell the technology to the High Queen, or to give it to her in exchange for trade concessions or favors.”

  “Okay,” I said. “That makes sense. But Ricci and Watkins got their copies of the Summoning Codex from Dragon Imports. Why would a medical technology company have copies of the Summoning Codex sitting around their base?”

  Riordan shrugged. “I don’t know.” God, he really was tall, which was especially noticeable since I was sitting and he was standing. “But you remember those automated summoning circles we saw?”

  I shuddered. “Yeah.” In the Last Judge Mountain base, a black ops division of the US government had built automated summoning circles to pull creatures from the Shadowlands. The end result was that three hundred years after the Conquest, Last Judge had been crawling with anthrophages and wraithwolves and worse things.

  “Maybe that was why Catalyst Corporation was shut down,” said Riordan. “Maybe they were working on ways to combine their medical technology with Shadowlands creatures.”

  “Great,” I said. “That’s just what the world needs. More scientists doing dumbass things because it seems like a good idea.”

  “The High Queen must have agreed with you,” said Riordan, “which is why she shut down Catalyst Corporation.”

  “What do we do about it?” I said.

  “We find Neil and make him talk,” said Riordan.

  “Finding him shouldn’t be hard,” I said. “He was guarding Malthraxivorn’s warehouse. If we try to break in again, he’ll probably show up and start shooting.”

  “Mr. MacCormac took his blaster,” said Helen.

  “I bet he has more than one,” I said. “Probably a whole crate of the damn things.”

  “Neil said he was acting under orders,” said Riordan. “I think someone realized what Malthraxivorn had found and took control of Neil. They sent him after both Malthraxivorn and Delaxsicoria, and if we can find that person, we’ll have found Malthraxivorn’s true killer.”

  “Okay,” I said, “but how the hell are we going to overpower Neil? I might’ve been able to take him in a one-on-one fight, but I could just as easily have lost. We…”

  With a gasp, Della sat up, her green eyes wide with surprise and confusion.

  ***

  Chapter 13: Hungers

  Riordan took a cautious step forward, watching the dragon sitting on his couch.

  Della’s human form was shockingly attractive. If Alex Matheson had been here, he would have tried to seduce her at once. She had bright green eyes, a lovely face, and a body that looked like it was the product of photo manipulation instead of something that actually existed. But Riordan knew that appearances were deceiving. Nadia could have Masked herself to look like anyone if she happened to feel like it.

  Della looked around, alarm in her eyes, and fire danced around her fingers as she started to cast a spell.

  “My lady!” Helen grabbed her arm. “My lady, you’re safe. You’re in no danger. You’re safe.”

  “I…” Della blinked. “Could you get me some water? My throat is dry as dust.”

  “Of course,” said Helen.

  “Kitchen’s over there,” said Riordan. “Glasses are in the cabinet above the sink.”

  Helen nodded and hurried away.

  Della’s eyes fixed on Riordan, and her nostrils flared. “You…I smell the Shadowmorph upon you. A Shadow Hunter?” Riordan nodded. “I didn’t know there were human Shadow Hunters. I thought humans would not survive the joining process with a Shadowmorph symbiont.”

  “It is difficult,” said Riordan, “but it is possible.”

  Nadia put a hand on his arm. “This is my husband, Riordan.”

  Della almost smiled, and Helen returned with two glasses filled with water. “A Shadow Hunter? Yes. Who else would be a suitable mate for the High Queen’s mad bad wizard girl other than a Shadow Hunter?” She took one of the glasses, drained it in two swallows, and then finished off the other. Helen retreated to get more water. Evidently, it took
a lot to quench the thirst of a dragon. “What happened? What is this place?”

  “This is my home,” said Nadia. “After Blaster Boy knocked you out, I fought him to a standstill. Shawn emptied a clip into his back, which didn’t hurt him all that much, and he decided to run for it rather than fight. We got the hell out of there. I’m pretty sure Blaster Boy was there to kill you, so we needed to get you to a safe place he wouldn’t know about. So, we came here.”

  Helen returned with two more glasses of water, and Della finished them both.

  Then she stood, wincing a little, and offered a deep bow in Nadia’s direction.

  Nadia blinked a few times. “Uh. What?”

  “Thank you for my life, Worldburner,” said Della. “The assassin would have taken me completely unawares if you had not been there.”

  Nadia shrugged. She was never comfortable with gratitude. “You were only there because I brought you there.”

  “Then the assassin would have struck in a treacherous attack of stealth, as he did with my uncle,” said Della. “I am grateful the High Queen sent you to discover the truth, for had she not, I would now be dead.” She smiled a little. “I see now why the High Queen recruited you. My uncle said the High Queen’s eye for talent was almost as keen as his eye for art.”

  “Shawn did shoot Blaster Boy a bunch of times,” said Nadia.

  “My loyal servants,” said Della, and she smiled at Helen and Shawn. “Thank you for standing with me. This has been a trying time, but your support has been a great help.”

  Both Helen and Shawn bowed to their mistress. They really did love her, Riordan saw, likely from a combination of Della’s own intense charisma and generosity. Some of the Elven nobles, the wiser ones, could exert a similar effect on their men-at-arms and employees.

  “We are honored to serve you, my lady,” said Helen.

  “What happened after I was knocked unconscious?” said Della.

  “Nothing you don’t already know,” said Nadia. “Blaster Boy and I fought for a little more, then he retreated after Shawn shot him. I don’t think it hurt him much, because Riordan fought him an hour or so later.”