More blood began oozing through Cassius’ teeth. “Fate plays such cruel games,” he said. He thrust his head forward and growled, causing Belloth to reel away nervously before the other soldiers ripped Cassius back down. Cassius snickered, noticing the fear in the Hand’s eyes. “I had hoped Benjar would come himself, but I suppose Nora will have to do.”
“I knew you were scum. Betray the Tribune after all it has done for you!” Belloth wound her arm back for another punch.
“Stand down, Belloth!” an authoritative and matronly voice ordered, arresting Belloth’s blow just before it made contact. “I will deal with him myself.”
Tribune Nora Gressler stood in the doorway, an elegant, form-fitting, turquoise dress blooming around her feet. Her hair was pulled up into a rigid bun. Strong lines of golden makeup swept out from the corners of her eyes, but no amount of cosmetics could mask the creases striating her face.
Two rows of her own personal honor-guard entered on either side of her, dressed in white and emerald armor with the emblem of the Tribune printed on their chests and a green cape draped over their left arms.
“Nora Gressler!” Cassius exclaimed. “The lovely Hand chosen to fill my shoes on the council. What a pleasure. I was just telling your own Hand here how much I had been hoping Benjar would come himself rather than send out his newest pet.” Those words earned a glower from her which made her look even less appealing.
“Save your insults, Cassius. Do not try and deflect your lack of significance onto me!” Nora snapped before she and her host of honor-guards arrayed themselves in front of him. The ordinary soldiers receded to the back of the room without having to be asked.
“My lack of significance?” Cassius sneered. “Don’t be naïve. Those old bastards would do anything for another pawn. Time has lessened your beauty, however. How long before they banish you to some forsaken colony like they did me?”
“Forsaken? Edeoria was the jewel of this Cell before we gave you control over it! The underground farms fail! Your people are displaced and dying!” She wagged her long, slender finger in his direction. “No, Cassius, it is you who has forsaken this place! And for what?”
“Jewel,” Cassius laughed. “They really did well in choosing you after my exile.”
“A self-imposed exile!” she retorted. “After all that happened they gave you a colony to live out the rest of your pitiful life. It was you who chose never to return.”
Cassius shook his head and sighed. “There is no reason to argue with you. You occupy my colony. You storm my home. What is it that you accuse me of doing?”
Nora mustered her most regal stride and came face to face with him. She looked him over angrily before pulling a com-link out of his ear and handing it to Belloth. “Next time take that off first,” she instructed in a threatening manner. “I won’t have him calling for help.”
“Forgive me, Your Eminence.” Belloth fell to one knee and bowed her head subserviently as she ran her fingers along the floor. She then placed the com-link in the same pouch where she’d already put Cassius’ HOLO-Recorder.
“You know what you’ve done,” she stated indubitably, her back turned to him.
“Well of course I know everything I have done!” Cassius jested, his response causing her to clench her hands into two quaking fists. “I hope you don’t think I’ve simply lost my mind. I’m merely wondering what it is that Benjar has come up with to get you here so swiftly.”
She wheeled around with ice in her glare. “Besides neglecting your own people to the point of near genocide you mean? He has reason to believe you were behind the attacks on our freighters and that you have fashioned some sort of twisted android capable of unearthly deeds, such as the cold-blooded murder of an Executor!”
He could tell he was getting to her. Her cheeks grew red even through the layer of makeup covering them, and her nose was creased with very visible lines of frustration. “All of it then,” he said. “And what hard proof do you have of any of this to take up arms against me without questioning the order first?”
“Besides that the abomination emerged from your ship’s position? The arm, Cassius!” she screamed, stamping forward with such force that her bun grew disheveled. “We witnessed the last moment of that Executor’s life as your creation sent him adrift into space. It was forged of the same technology which constructed the arm on the other Executor you are now holding captive in this compound. I’ll admit I, like Joran, was dubious of Benjar’s accusations, but that was before Sage arrived here. Or did you forget that we’d see and hear everything you said to her before you took her underground and cut us out.”
“No, I counted on it. In fact I wish you could have seen as I set her free. She is quite alive if you must know. As for ADIM, well I won’t deny my most treasured work. Unfortunately you will not have the chance to meet him. He is far away from here.”
“You gave that creature a name?” She turned her appalled expression toward Belloth. “Hand Belloth, have him show you to where he is holding Executor Sage Volus. Then he will be taken to my ship and detained on Enceladus until we can decide what to do with him.”
“Yes, Your Eminence.” Belloth nodded and made a signal with her hand. Seven of the regular soldiers formed around him. One grabbed Cassius by his bindings and began shoving him along. He didn’t fight it. The barrels of two rifles were pressed tightly against his back as he was forced to lead them.
“Don’t let your guard down, Belloth. His legend precedes him.” Nora glowered at Cassius. He shot a smug grin back in her direction.
Belloth nodded again before Cassius led them out of the room. “You heard her. Guns on him,” she ordered as they moved down the hall of holographic busts.
“It’s not far up this way,” Cassius said loudly as he turned right at the first junction.
Belloth pushed him. “Just shut your mouth and lead!” she snapped. “You’re a disgrace to anyone who’s ever wanted to be an Executor.”
“A disgrace enough, I hope, to dissuade them from that horrid path.” Cassius stretched out his neck so that the ugly scar cutting up the back of it was impossible to miss.
Belloth apparently ignored what she saw. “Is this it?” she questioned as Cassius stopped in front of a blank metal door.
“Yes.”
“How does it open?”
“I need my hands.”
“Are you sure?” Belloth came around in front of Cassius and gave him a stern glare. Cassius nodded and with a sigh Belloth signaled to one of the soldiers to unfasten the cuffs for a moment. She then lifted her pistol and pressed it against Cassius’ forehead. “Try anything and I’ll blow open your skull.”
“Charming.” Cassius flashed her a weak smile and he stretched out his sore wrists. Then he powered on the HOLO-Screen on his bracer on and keyed the commands to make the retinal scanner flip out from the wall next to the door. “See? Easy.” Without resisting, he placed his arms behind his back to be re-cuffed.
“Open it,” Belloth growled and lowered her gun.
Cassius leaned over and placed his eye against the scanner, causing the door to rise up. “There you go.” He took a step back so that the soldiers could pass him onto the lift.
“Oh no.” Belloth shoved him on the elevator. “You’re coming with us.”
All of them squeezed shoulder to shoulder into the dim space. It was a tight fit. Cassius could still feel guns against his back. Before long the lift began to descend and when it came to a gradual halt he felt the barrels pressing even harder.
“Move,” Belloth demanded.
Cassius stepped into the dark laboratory. The only illumination was provided by three red lights on the other end of the space giving off a menacing glow.
“What kind of hell is this place?” Belloth mouthed as she followed.
There were rows of consoles and strange machinery arranged on either side of them in no real order. Once they were close enough Cassius was able to see the surgical table placed carefully in the cen
ter of it all. Even though it was dark he could make out the lithe curves of Sage’s body as she laid unconscious on it. Closer still and he knew the others would notice the bloody bandage wound around her head, with stings of her auburn hair sticking out from the top.
“There she is!” Belloth motioned two of her men to go and check on the girl while she remained by Cassius’ side with her gun drawn. “What the fuck did you do to her?”
“Set her free,” Cassius stated.
“She’s got a pulse!” one of the soldiers shouted back.
“Can she be moved?” Belloth asked sharply.
“Not by any of you,” Cassius said. Just as the words slipped through his lips, eight succinct shots greeted his waiting ears. They were soft and silenced, no louder than a sudden gust of wind. The seven soldiers around the room keeled over with precise bullet-holes in the center of the foreheads. Hand Belloth herself had been hit in the throat and lay on her back in a state of shock, blood bubbling over the wound as she struggled to speak. Her arm grasped desperately to turn on her com-link but Cassius placed his boot over it.
“You should have stayed far away from here,” he whispered callously as he watched the color flee the Hand’s face. He waited there, holding Belloth down with his foot until the twitching stopped and her eyes glazed over. Then the ominous red lights began to close in around him, until three human-like profiles became visible as the sources.
“Is the Creator’s will fulfilled?” they asked in unison, with emotionless voices almost precisely like ADIM’s. They moved closer until their dark-metal frames were visible, with rifts of smoldering red showing through their chest plates from their cores. Their faces were blank, only with red eyes that were surrounded by rings of smaller lights.
“Yes.” Cassius spun around to admire their work. Then, without having to ask, one of the androids came behind him and cut the cuffs off of him with a thin laser beam.
Rubbing his bruised wrists, Cassius knelt down and unfastened his belt from around Belloth’s corpse. “A shame.” He shook his head as he pulled it around his waist and made sure that the HOLO-Sphere was safe within the small satchel attached to it. Next he reclaimed his weapon, ADIM’s com-link. When all his possessions were securely back on his person he walked over to an array of HOLO-Screens and began quickly shifting through commands.
Cassius glanced over his shoulder when he heard the three androids coming up behind him. ADIM will understand, he assured himself before addressing them solemnly: “Are the other three in position?”
“Yes,” they responded simultaneously. “Awaiting the Creator’s command,”
When he looked back the main screen was prompting him to enter a password. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The lab had to be terminated. He had spent more years then he cared to remember working in its depths. He had constructed ADIM there, the entire room serving as the android’s metal womb. However, risking all of his work was no longer an option.
It took all of his resolve but one by one he entered the code until it was all there: 2AL3B82LE. Once it was done the screen was replaced with the image of a red blip approaching what appeared to be a projection of Titan and the Conduit Station above it. A series of numbers shuffled over the screen until they locked at eleven minutes and seven seconds, and began to count down.
“Come, my creations.” Cassius whirled around and made his way toward the lift. “There isn’t much time.”
Despite his words he didn’t hurry across the lab, instead taking his time to reminiscence at every piece of machinery inside. They were bathed in shadow, but he saw the table where ADIM once lay before he brought him to life. There were three more on either side of it now; one for each of the six androids he had finally powered on before Nora and her fleet arrived.
He stopped when he reached Sage and unfastened her from the surgical table. The androids tried to help him but he shooed them away. He cradled her between both of his arms and lifted. Her artificial limb made her heavier than he had expected, but he carried her to the elevator where he joined the androids.
The door slowly shut behind them. He stared into the dark lab until it was completely sealed and the floor began to rise.
Finally…
CHAPTER FORTY—CASSIUS VALE
Flames Over Titan
The three androids in front of Cassius stormed forward as the lift’s door opened. There were panicked soldiers waiting outside, but they were instantly cut down by a clatter of bullets. Cassius carried Sage through the doors and stepped over a mound of bodies. Two of the androids sprinted ahead toward his personal quarters while the other went in the opposite direction toward the hangar. There were three more scattered throughout his compound, and he could tell by the echoing gunfire and screams that they’d already made contact, as expected.
With Sage in his arms he couldn’t move fast, but he didn’t have to. By the time he turned into the hall of holographic busts it was already lined with Tribunal soldiers killed at the hand of his androids. They were scattered like bloody rags across the floor and against the walls. Even the water troughs running down the edges of the hall were stained red.
Cassius looked down at Sage’s placid face to see her eyelids twitching. He knew from experience that the dreams and memories she’d experience directly after surgery would be exhausting.
“You’ll be safe here for now,” he whispered gently in her ear. He kissed her on the forehead and placed her down against the pedestal of his son’s holographic effigy. Then, after shooting one last ardent look into Caleb’s artificial eyes, he opened the door to his chambers.
Two of the androids were already waiting for him when he stepped in, the door slamming shut behind him. Tribune Nora Gressler was on her knees in front of them both. She shielded her face as the guns built into on their wrists were held rigidly before her head. More than a dozen bodies of her Tribunal Honor-guards littered the room. Not a single one of them was moving or even moaning in agony. They were some of the finest soldiers the Tribune had to offer and Cassius’ creations had mowed them down like children on ancient Earth zapping insects with magnifying glasses.
“What have you done?” the trembling Nora whimpered. Her face and dress were doused in her soldiers’ blood.
“Only what I must,” Cassius responded sternly. He stepped up in between the two androids holding the Tribune at gunpoint. “You should have brought Mechs of your own.” He patted the androids on their cold, metal backs.
“Even Benjar didn’t know what you truly are,” she said. She gazed up at him, her weathered face gripped by a look of absolute terror. “And what am I?” Cassius said calmly before grasping her by the jaw and hollering: “What am I!”
“A monster!” She squeezed the words out through her clenched mouth with disdain.
Cassius tossed her onto her stomach. “There are no monsters…only different perspectives.” He walked over to the entrance onto his terrace, which was sealed by an emergency panel in order to conserve breathable air.
She flipped her shaking body over to face him, but was immediately halted by the androids. “Do you really hate people so much that you would turn to these abominations?” she asked.
“I may not—” Cassius was caught off-guard by a sudden burst of distant shots echoing from somewhere else in the compound. They were succeeded by bloodcurdling screams. When it quieted again he continued: “I may not care for people, but I love humanity. I love what we stand for; what we’ve accomplished; our limitless potential to expand and invent. I will not sit idly by while the Tribune holds us back!”
He pressed an imbedded switch beside the sealed terrace and triggered a small section of the nearby wall to fold up. In it hung two sleek looking enviro-suits. The oblong respirator helmets hanging to the side had wide, transparent visors. They were completely black, with coated tubes extending from the back that connected to a filtration system and a personal oxygen store on the suits which would allow him to breathe safely outside for a short period.
“What…what are you doing?” Nora stuttered. She scrambled backwards, but the androids behind her repositioned themselves to make sure she had nowhere to go.
Cassius stepped into one of the suits and sealed it over his body. Then he pulled the helmet down over his face and latched it into the metal collar, which released a soft whistle as it formed a seal. When he was done he grabbed the other suit and approached Nora.
“You’re going to need this,” he said as he offered it to her, his voice muffled by the helmet. “I learned a few things while serving as a Tribune. Careful planning was one of them.”
Nora sneered at him, refusing to take the suit. Cassius shrugged before he activated the HOLO-Screen on his bracer and keyed in a few commands. Then he held on to the wall. When the sealed panel of the terrace began to open he watched with a smile as Nora frantically put on the suit. She barely finished before a gust of icy, Titan air rushed in. The androids grabbed onto her arms to keep her from moving and when the change in pressure was complete Cassius stormed forward and took hold of her from them. He dragged her squirming body out onto the terrace where they would be visible.
It was incredibly noisy, the winds of Titan whistling through the shattered glass and pelting Cassius’ visor with sand and dust. Once the panel was all the way up he saw a swarm of additional transports approaching. Beyond them the Calypso was turning to face his compound straight on, so that he could see down the long barrel of its tremendous railgun.
“Tell them to pull back,” Cassius demanded.
Nora shook her head defiantly, trying her best to ignore the lethal androids standing just behind her.
Cassius pulled out his pistol and held it against her helmet. “Tell them,” he snarled.
Reluctantly she reached up to her ear and held down the button on her com-link. “Don’t engage…I repeat, don’t engage!”
The Circuit, Book 1 Page 25
