Lucius Wheeler didn't know how many times the door chimed before he opened his eyes. It was late. He had been accessing General Collins' memories and tricked his body into falling asleep so they could play back at an accelerated speed, so he could experience them just like a dream.
He groggily made his way to the door and answered it. As the featureless door slid into the wall he couldn't help wondering if he was experiencing the same thing Gabriel did when he first made his connection to a large network. Lucius had caught himself forgetting all about eating, hygiene and closing himself off from everyone else. The temptation to just close his eyes and experience another piece of General Collins' life was so intense that he had done it a few times while he was intimate with his old first officer, Gloria. If that's how things were for him after assuming the digital record of one man's experiences, he couldn't imagine what it was like for Gabriel, who had access to entire historical databases, tactical information, intelligence gathering systems and everything else that you'd find in two massive military vessels.
It was Gabriel, who grinned at him with the familiarity of an old friend as the door opened. He looked pristine. His hair had been cut short, his dark blue vacsuit and flight jacket were clean and the glow of good health was returning to the man who just days before looked so spent and scrawny that one wondered how long he could stay on his feet. “Good morning Lucius.”
“You interrupted a flashback. I was dreaming I was having thirty five year old scotch with the High Chancellor of Evora. She was just telling me about her third son.”
“No, you were dreaming you were Collins and you were with Evora. There's quite a difference. Besides, you can always continue where you left off.”
Lucius stepped out of the doorway and the pair walked to the circular seating in the middle of the main room. “It takes some getting used to. Looks like the work they did on you is turning out well though.”
“Oh, you think? A program takes care of all my physical needs for me using a dozen or so different implanted systems. It's like I've taken a whole new step in evolution. I'm never hungry, dirty and soon I'll be perfectly fit. Are you sure you don't want to sign up for it? They just implant a few grams of nanobots and they construct the implants overnight, very simple.”
“That's all right, I'll let you be the great pioneer. Besides, there's something to be said for taking care of your own biological functions.”
“So I've heard. You've been having a few late night visits from Gloria, I couldn't help but notice.” Gabriel said with a crooked grin.
“Still keeping your eye on me?”
It took a moment for him to reply, his gaze becoming unfocused as a result of him looking inward at something in the digital world. “Oh, security earmarked the visual logs. They do that whenever the status of a crew member changes, social or otherwise.”
“Ah.”
Again the man sitting just a meter distant on the opposite seat was mentally drawn much further away by something in the digital realm and Lucius was led to wonder what being connected to the massive ships would be like. The thought faded as Gabriel's attention turned back to him. “That's what makes what I've come to ask you harder than expected. We tried fabricating a bare framework using a high resolution materializer and failed. We were hoping to duplicate a blank template that was equal to you or Gloria so I could avoid this whole messy business.”
Lucius leaned back in his seat. “I saw this coming after taking on Collins' memories.”
“So you know that Jacob Valance's last task was to play physical host to Eve.”
“Yes, and you'd have to disable him, carve open his skull and replace his brain with hers. His body would rebuild itself based on her mental self image.”
“So you know Gloria would be killed in the process.”
“Yeah, so why wake her up at all? I mean you could have left her in the pod until it was time. She'd be none the wiser.”
“If you spent more time accessing the parts of Collins' experiences that mattered, you'd know the answer to that question.” Gabriel's eyes rolled back in his head as he accessed a large chunk of data. After two seconds he looked back at the other man, his features in deep shadow in the dim light. “I'll answer it for you regardless. I didn't know which of you would be more valuable to us. A framework built over a living human template or a less experienced template or someone who had time to age actively, unaware of what and who you were.”
Lucius nodded and let Gabriel continue.
“Of the two you are the more interesting, you are more well textured. That came as a surprise, considering how, I hope you'll pardon me for saying, empty you were at the beginning. Besides, I knew you'd have less difficulty interfacing with Collins' experiences since your personal experience has been unquestionably male so far.”
“I get it, and no, you won't have any trouble from me if you want to use her. I remember just enough about the old Gloria to know that it's just a matter of time before the new and improved model becomes more trouble than she's worth. The last thing you need is another Jonas Valent on your hands. I'll still want something in trade though.”
“Oh?”
“Give me the Saviour and access to the Vindyne development archives. Oh, and when I say I want the Saviour I mean I want full ownership. Control codes, the override hardware, full command of the crew and accounts with at least two years worth of pay for them that I can transfer out of whatever Regent Galactic bank you drop them into.”
Gabriel's eyes went wide and his expression froze in one of surprise. For a moment Lucius wondered if the man was honestly that taken aback, but realized after a few seconds that he was just accessing more data, performing some kind of search. After a moment his eyes focused on Lucius again and the expression changed to a more pleased, admiring one. “How did you know? Did Collins' find out somehow?”
Lucius had no idea what the other man was talking about but just held the exact same expression on his face, relaxed and replied calmly. “Doesn't much matter now, does it?”
“You're right, it doesn't. I can give you command of the Saviour. It's actually joined up with us already as you've probably seen out your view port. She'll have a trained Regent Galactic crew like all the ships they've provided. I'm just surprised that you've discovered where her true value lies already. I won't be able to let you keep what's in her vault.”
“I had guessed that. I wouldn't want what's inside anyhow.”
“And what of the new marines aboard? I suppose you'd like to keep them.”
Wheeler hurriedly tried to search Collins' memories for anything referring to the marines and before long he had it. They were one of the final goals for the framework project; to have the ability to store bare, unused framework skeletons in bulk aboard a ship that could be turned on a few at a time or all at once, imprinted with a basic personality, skills and directives then sent out into the field. The difficulties that Vindyne faced after they had captured the technology from the original Wheeler and started work with Yorgen Stills involved reducing a marine unit back into a framework skeleton for long term storage and the memory imprints. Collins had no memory of them correcting that problem. When Lucius Wheeler looked back at Gabriel, not aware until then that he had looked away, it was to see the other man laughing and clapping his hands together.
“You are full of surprises Lucius! I am going to miss you! You had no idea we were ready to deploy the framework marines, did you?”
Wheeler could only smile and shake his head. “No idea.”
“I could learn so much about the benefits of staying human from you. If anything you're proof that there is still a point to flesh and blood. Well, since you've gotten enough out of me to be dangerous, I'll tell you the rest. We have twenty eight tested memory imprints that work ninety seven percent of the time and the Saviour is made to accommodate framework marines, pilots, gunners, mechanics and the other template types. We've also included small manufacturing facilities so you can build more if you happen to start running low. The Saviour carries fifteen thousand frameworks in storage and can support up to two thousand in close quarters for up to three months. The frameworks we can generate with our current manufacturing technology aren't the same quality as you, but they more than serve their purpose. My God, it's laborious telling you this verbally.” Gabriel sighed before continuing. “The ship can create starfighters, dropships and is quite a fighting machine itself. The Saviour is made to mount surprise attacks against outposts and colonies. I'd expect a man like you could quickly achieve the assignment we have for you and move on to become a rich man before long. I'll trade her to you for your full cooperation and Gloria.”
“As long as she's my ship, and the crew knows they're being sold. I don't want to face some kind of zealot mutiny as soon as I'm finished hound dogging Jake.”
“So you have been paying attention to some of Collins' more important memories.”
“Oh yeah, Vindyne's habit of taking control of any ship they manufactured at a moment's notice using the manufacturer's command code. It wasn't even legal in most systems.”
“But we rarely did such a thing inside a solar system, so we never really broke those laws.”
“Loopholes, every successful member of that company thought in loopholes, especially Collins. I won't get caught in one.”
“Then you won't be. We'll give you access to the manufacturer level codes and all you'll have to do is shut down the engines so you can enter new ones. Hampon won't be pleased, but he has his army of dull minded zealots, so he'll forget before long.”
“I'll have to find out more about this cult he has going, Collins didn't exactly stay up to speed on it.”
“He thought subjugation through religion was a mistake,” Gabriel said absently as he considered some other data passing through his mind. “We'll see.”
“So when are you going to take Gloria down to the chamber?”
“She's already being prepared on the Saviour. You will have to go ahead of me and open the vault. It will not open if I'm aboard that ship. I trust you have no significant objections?”
“To opening the vault for you? No. I know that's the real price on my freedom. Good of you to let me realize it for myself.”
“Collins was paranoid where Eve was concerned. Didn't let anyone in, wouldn't let me near her.”
“Paranoid is an understatement. The thought of you getting access to the Eve brain crossed his mind every hour after he took possession. He never figured out what you'd do if you got to get close.”
“What do you think?”
“I think I should do whatever I need to to get clear of the mess you and Hampon are making and mind mind my own business as much as I can while I try to force Valent and the Triton out of hiding. How do you know they'll disappear anyway?”
Gabriel grinned broadly, the expression looked out of place somehow, his eyebrows were drawn tightly into a malicious counter-expression. “You would never leave this room if I were to tell you.”
Lucius just stared at the man for a moment before nodding and standing up. “I'll get dressed and shuttle over to the Saviour.”
“Thank you, I'll eagerly await the message that the vault is open,” Gabriel said as he left the room.
Lucius Wheeler had heard of shuttles moving between large ships during wormhole travel but had never done it. The large pair of warships shared one massive wormhole with the Malice in the lead and the Saviour beside and behind. As the lensed, stretched view of the stars came into sight he couldn't help but feel absolutely infinitesimal.
The chances of the pilot making a mistake in the hundred twelve meter journey between the vessels were slim, but the shuttle he'd gotten into was little more than a squarish service pod with eight seats and a small cockpit. The carpeting, faux leather seats, dim lighting and synthesized wood panelled walls made the thing look expensive and even a little more sturdy on the inside but he knew that if this pilot went off course even a little or twitched the controls so they came near the edge of the wormhole they'd be tossed out into open space at over half the speed of light.
If they survived the passage over the edge they would be travelling much faster in space and time than any rescue ship would bother matching. If their luck was good they wouldn't collide with anything solid or harsh enough to lethally irradiate them through the hull and they could begin decelerating. Judging from the size of the small engines on the craft decelerating to a normal speed could take weeks and he doubted that they had enough provisions for that length of time.
Even though Collins had gone through ship to ship travel inside a wormhole, that experience was like watching a holomovie in his head, worthless to Lucius for reassurance. Wheeler tried not to show it, but as the Saviour drew nearer he was nearly overcome with relief.
The sooner he could get out of the shuttle the better. The only people aboard were the pilot, her copilot, a coffin like stasis tube on a gurney and himself. He made the mistake of looking through the transparent lid of the stasis vessel and upon seeing the soundly sleeping face of Gloria he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
She was an abrasive woman, not one he had ever truly called a friend, but for years she had been dependable. The fact that Gabriel had given him a choice, even if only as a gesture, to save her from being used as nothing more than a body for another mind to inhabit was sheer emotional manipulation. Guilt was just another distraction and Gabriel only gave him a choice so he could somehow displace the blame for what was about to happen to Gloria. Gabriel gave me the opportunity to say I would trade her to the company and I fell for it. I could have just said something neutral and left it all up to him, but no. I had to sell her for top dollar after they officially made her the first person in my chain of command. They made me responsible for her and now if they ever wanted to persecute me for anything they could come after me for murder. I have to take a lesson from Collins. He thought he was the king of the sector and before he knew it Gabriel was on top of him bashing his head in. I have to keep a back door open whenever I'm dealing with these people, especially Gabriel. He's a freak, but he's got a wicked intelligence. God, how the hell did Collins let the freaks take over? There's Gabriel, the new and improved Hampon, a pre-adolescent body with Hampon's twisted mind imprinted, like that's not creepy. To think he almost took my framework body for his own, if I could meet Collins I'd buy him a drink for stopping that.
His thoughts were interrupted as the shuttle docked with the mooring point on the Saviour's hull and the cabin pressure equalized with that of the massive vessel. A moment later the hatch gracefully slid open, revealing one of the main hallways.
As Lucius stepped outside and recognized two of the fully uniformed bridge officers who had been sent to meet him he nervously ran his hand over his stubble ridden head. He recognized them instantly from replays of Collins' memories. They were good, well trained officers who had served him faithfully for the entire time he was in command of the Saviour.
The sensation of instant recognition was so strange. Lucius found himself disliking the way Collins used to regard them. The older commander kept his people in the peripheral, not rewarding good work and using his immediate underlings as the long stick with which to punish performance shortfalls. Collins had as little contact with his crew as possible and made sure his quarters were near the bridge so he could be completely separate from them while being close enough to attend to an emergency at a moment's notice.
Lucius Wheeler was the opposite. For the time he was on the Triton he kept everyone close. Even people he didn't particularly like got to see him personally at least once a week, at least for a moment in the hall or in the lower observation deck near the hangars. He knew everyone's name, something of their history and how they were socially tied with other people on the ship. Gloria was a huge help with that, and even though his memories of the years he spent on that ship weren't very clear, he still had memories of her. She was always trading information on the crew with him, together they were social animals who trusted each other as much as you could trust anyone on a scrappy, under used mercenary ship and until he had awoken in his new body she was more like a comrade and friend than anything else.
Everything was different, shallow until he took on Collins' memories and after that his perception changed once again. He had full access to the memories of a great, intelligent, military and corporate man who didn't see his end coming. It wasn't the first time he had a live lesson on enjoying every moment in life because it could come to a sudden, abrupt end in the very next and as a result he and Gloria crossed the barrier that lay between friends and lovers. She was different too. It was as though being in the belly of the beast, Regent Galactic, relieved her of some kind of pressure or heavy load and she was more light hearted than he had ever seen her.
It wasn't a lover he'd miss, however. It was the trustworthy friend he had found in Gloria after being with her for years. Before stepping out into the hall he couldn't help but look over his shoulder and lay a hand on the polished stasis tube. “Goodbye baby, I know you'd do the same to me if they gave you the chance,” he whispered, his gaze lingering on her peaceful face.
As soon as he was out of the shuttle four medical technicians in their loose fitting self sterilizing smocks, gloves and hoods moved in to claim his sleeping gift of flesh. Lucius didn't look back but walked between his first officer and operations officer with a passive expression on his face. I'll keep things cool and formal until I know the lay of the land. I haven't been in command of a ship with a full crew in ages, not since I was working for Freeground Intelligence. No matter what I can learn from Collins, if I want to do this my way, to do this right, I'll have to take it one step at a time.
“It's a pleasure to have you with us, Captain Wheeler,” burst the young, blond haired first officer. “I'm Major Tammerlan, your First Officer here and this is Senior Lieutenant Immain.”
Wheeler shook the young man's hand and looked him in the eye. “Thank you, I'm glad to be here.” He then turned to the young operations officer who was looking at a holographic status display coming from her left palm. Her brown hair was bound up in a bun just under the rear of her grey cap which made her look a little more serious when she wasn't smiling but when she flashed her grin he couldn't help but smile back a little in return as her soft hand shook his.
“We're glad to have you sir. Everyone's heard about how you apprehended and captured Jacob Valance before and we're anxious to see how you're going to flush him out this time.”
“Are you a bit of a hunter yourself?” Wheeler asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Don't let her post fool you,” Tammerlan started with a smile. “Off duty she's a bit of a bounty hunter groupie, sir.”
“I prefer enthusiast, Major.”
It was difficult not to get pulled into pleasantries with the pair, who had the ease of two people who had been working together for quite a while. Lucius smiled and nodded as he led the way towards the secure section of the ship, the forward hold where he'd find the main vault. “I've been out of the action for a while, so you'll have to bring me up to speed. How long has Jacob been in hiding for?”
“Well, he hasn't. The last time he came up on a report he was on Pandem and considering the situation there it's doubtful that he's gone anywhere. Our intelligence tells us conclusively that he and his crew will be going into hiding soon and there's little we can do to stop it.”
Wheeler looked at the Major for a moment, trying to read any uncertainty in his expression. “So you're telling me you know he's on Pandem and he's going into hiding no matter what. Is anyone tasked with tracking him right now?”
“Regent Galactic just handed that ball off to the West Watchers and they're giving it to you, sir.”
“We won't be there for some time.”
“Their not concerned.”
“It doesn't sound like we're getting much help on this.”
“With the crew we have aboard you won't need it, sir,” interjected the operations officer, who was closing a holographic report on quarter assignments.
“I hope that's true. I'm wondering, some of your intelligence seems to make assumptions on things that haven't happened yet. Do you have some kind of predictive system aboard?”
“Not at all, Captain Wheeler,” said the holographic image of a young, sandy haired boy in robes as he appeared just in front of them, walking backwards. The image looked to the officers at Wheeler's sides with a nod at each; “Senior Lieutenant, Major. Please leave us so we can speak privately.”
“Yes your Grace,” they said in near unison as they quietly turned and walked off down another broad, silver and grey corridor.
The boy's image, looking as though the pre-adolescent child were really there, fell in step beside Lucius. “I owe you an apology for my actions while I was with Vindyne. It wasn't my decision to betray you, but the powers that were thought that as long as you were free to return to Freeground you presented a significant risk.”
Collins knew that Hampon had been reborn in the shape of a much younger clone body, but it was still strange seeing the long nosed child speak with the bearing and very intentional diction of a stuffy, self important adult. “That's why I had you give me the master command codes to this ship. Next time you see her she won't even have the same transponder system or comm keys.”
The child's laughter bubbled out of the small smiling face at his side. “Oh, I understand, trust me, I understand. You, like many long time survivors in this galactic arena have learned to be cautious from being bitten. Speaking of learning experiences, how have Collins' memories been serving you lately?”
“Good, he was a great man. I'm learning a lot from him.”
“You're not suffering any memory intrusions?”
“Nope, it's like watching a movie.”
“Isn't it simply fantastic? I enjoy reliving experiences from all the imprints I've managed to collect.”
Wheeler looked down at the robed figure; “You have more than one?”
“One from each corner of the known Galaxy. I believe that there will come a day where memory imprints become a truly precious and widespread commodity. I plan to open the market with scans of tens of thousands of individuals. The Order Of Eden demands that every Saved, West Keeper and West Watcher is scanned as part of the initial testing.”
“So that's the back end of the scam you have going, thinking pretty big.”
“Scam? As long as I'm offering some kind of valuable commodity, such as their safety, there's no scam here. We are an organization preoccupied with momentum, with progress. The Order of Eden is purest at the top and hardest working at the bottom.”
Lucius shook his head, smiling at the sound of the child's preaching. “How many people have gotten wrapped up in this? I mean, I heard about it a year ago on the mining colony and if I can hear about this religion there, I'm sure word's pretty much everywhere.”
“Oh, we have a few thousand Grading Stations, mostly on Regent Galactic and Core Worlds. Regent Galactic gave us broad licence to set up shop in all their Spacerwares stores. Fringe territories are just discovering us now. You should get graded some time, I'll waive the fee if you like.”
“No thanks, I'm more interested in making a paradise in this life than working for one that probably won't be there at the end of the road. Besides, thanks to Collins I know exactly where the Eden system is and how to bypass the security measures.” The audacity of the religion that Hampon had created around the terror the Eden Fleet and Holocaust Virus was incredible. Collins had been a secondary architect, designing the militarized portion of the ruse. One would pay a hundred thousand Core World Credits in order to rank as Saved and become recognized as an ally by all infected machines. It took up to three days for your name to make it to the Order Of Eden Temple, and during those days you would be Graded through a number of tests.
Depending on how high you score on a scale that was kept away from all but the highest ranking West Watchers they determined how close you were to Eden. You could also make extra donations to buy your way deeper into the organization. Through the Grading and donations you'd be given a position amongst the Saved, who were civilian servants, or the West Keepers who were either military or higher ranking civilian servants or the West Watchers who were the leaders, spies or other high rankers in the organization. Members advanced by doing their jobs well, committing good deeds and helping others with their accomplishments. Followers could also increase their chances of advancement by buying training and it was all measured weekly as progression or regression by a Progress Monitor who invariably accepted donations to offset any regression or transgression.
If you had enough money you could get away with murder. How many points you had on the Progress side of your personal chart was not to be discussed with anyone but a Progress Monitor or a West Watcher and the amount recorded there helped the organization's leaders determine how close you were to Eden in your lifetime. The ultimate accomplishment in the faith is to gather so many points that you could retire on the Eden II world itself under the protection of the Eden Fleet and in the natural paradise most people would never see in their lifetimes. The fastest way to Eden, however, was to sacrifice your life in the service of the Order. If your Progress was high enough your soul would make its way to Eden on its own.
Lucius saw it as a near perfect scam, providing the Order of Eden with a vast military, large body of civilian workers and thanks to the Holocaust Virus and Eden Fleet everyone knew that the threat of destruction if you weren't a member was very real. Collins was of the same opinion but he didn't allow a Progress Monitor on his ship until just before the scan. He didn't believe that his own people had to subscribe to the dreamt up religion of the half mad Hampon.
“You misunderstand me Lucius,” Hampon's boy grin smiled up at him. “I'm opening the doors for you, giving you the opportunity to be a West Watcher, among our elite. I know you disabled our mechanism of control on your body and I understand. Your mistrust doesn't give me pause. I'm willing to take you in, invite you into the inner circle.”
“Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy enough just catching Jake for you and moving on. You probably won't see me after I'm done,” Lucius said as he stepped through two meter thick security doors. They closed behind him with an ominous sound.
The holographic image of Hampon flickered for a moment as the projectors built invisibly into the ceiling picked up the transmission and carried it forward. “There will be benefits when the great battle comes. Trust me.”
“Great battle? That's a new one. The fear of getting torn apart by some random infected bot isn't enough to scare people into the recruitment centers?”
“They're Grading Stations. It's no fear tactic Lucius. The West Watchers are preparing for a war that cannot be won without a force united in the most strict sense. When the line is drawn against our great enemy only the united will have a chance and not a sure one at that.”
“Where the hell do you get this stuff? Is there some magic ball you're shaking in the back room that just randomly spits out vague warnings?”
“Like I said, we have a prescience most people could not comprehend. Pandem will be one of many supply posts for the upcoming war, of that we are absolutely certain.”
“Okay pint sized prophet, why is it so important that you wake me up and give me a ship worth trillions of credits along with a trained crew just to go mess with Valance and my old ship? Why the hell is he so important?”
“Because if he isn't distracted he will damage what we're building in such a critical way that we won't recover in time to prevent the coming annihilation. If you think unleashing a virus on a few fringe systems and killing a few million people is something, imagine an evil force that tears into the heart of our civilization and destroys it utterly. If we don't form a real military that spans entire sectors soon we'll be back to using bows and arrows within three years. If you want to see the truth behind all of this all you have to do is say the word and you'll be one of us.”
Lucius thought for a moment. Collins knew enough to go along with and even aid the formation of the Order of Eden but he hadn't had a chance to relive those experiences for himself. He touched on dozens of moments, concentrated on the knowledge locked in Collins' linear memories as they walked through the quiet secure hall that led directly to the heart of the massive vault built in the center of the ship. When he found the right memory the realization struck him like a wave.
Deeply buried in the memory of Collins was a time when Hampon, Meunez and himself were on the Overlord II several months after the capture of Jonas, himself and several others. The board room was darkened, the windows completely opaque and the long rosewood table in the center was between Hampon and Meunez. Collins stood in the center. “Regent Galactic is orchestrating a buyout of key Vindyne assets, I think we should start looking at changing sides.”
“I agree. With the loss of Doctor Stills we're losing Head Office's trust. I've already started to see researchers transferred out of my division,” the adult version of Lister Hampon said. He was already losing his hair thanks to his near fatal first bout with Omagen disease.
“I've advanced as far as I'd like along this track, I agree. Regent Galactic is an expanding power, Vindyne is collapsing. I can't help wondering what's brought this on, General? As I understand it you're back in Home Office's good graces.”
“Since I took a trip to Gavin's Moon they've been less than pleased.” Collins said moodily as he looked through a small file menu on the tabletop. The blue and green light shed by the file names trickled up the front of his uniform and was caught in his grey beard.
“I thought you were taking an intelligence unit on a search for Yorgen Stills.”
“That was the official story, but I was meeting with a deep cover contact I have in the Carthan government.”
“What? Stills is essential to further development on the framework technology. We need to know more about his final prototype and how it was programmed or-”
“Doctor Stills is long gone. There are people who have no other business but to keep him hidden and they're good at their job. Besides, we have what we need to mass produce a less expensive but stable framework unit and his lab is still here. Our attention is best spent elsewhere.” Collins' eyes met Gabriel's and he just stared at him for a moment as the other man thought better of pursuing the matter. He sighed then continued, looking back to the file list on the table. “Something's happened on Pandem that could change everything. When I wasn't willing to pass this new intelligence up the chain to Head Office they weren't too pleased. They were aware that I was chasing down an important lead on something, just not what it was. When they found my contact dead after the meeting they started asking questions.”
“What's so important that you won't use it to advance your career? You've never been squeamish about that sort of thing before,” Hampon said with a crooked grin that didn't suit his thin face or beak like nose. “If it's that important I'm sure they'll at least pad your bonus for it.”
“This is too important to trust Head Office with, this is a calling worth losing the Overlord for. It's big enough to get us on track to being in command of several solar systems with Regent Galactic, maybe even get us a seat on the board eventually.”
“Are you going to let us in or will I have to hack in and find it for myself?” Meunez asked peevishly.
“You'd never find it. This message comes word of mouth only,” he said with a wry grin as he brought up an image of a small, ancient wormhole generator no more than nine centimetres wide.
“Is that a real image of the Victory Machine?” asked Hampon in hushed awe.
“No, it's a close approximation based on what my contact told me before I had to kill him. I've checked everything we know about the Victory Machine against his description and even temporal mechanics back up the shape and form you're seeing here. It's close enough to prove to as near a certainty as I need that the device actually exists and that's what makes the news I've received important. The Carthans have had the Victory Machine in a repository on Pandem for over a century. In all that time it's been running but nothing has come through, that is until now.”
“Confirmed? This is news from the future you're talking about here, most people don't believe the Victory Machine even exists let alone that it's been running for over a century,” Meunez said.
“The message was only one thousand and twenty four characters long but it had the date that Alice was born, the date that Hampon the Prophet gains access to the Victory Machine and one more date with the description; the last day of the United Core World Calendar. There are also ghost images coming through, of other possible deactivations, parts of messages, and other activity that's too unclear to interpret. The message was addressed to you, Lister.”
“Just the fact that the Victory Machine is receiving data again means something. The fact that it's addressed to me? I do not believe in its existence. No one has been able to create a wormhole that can receive messages from the future for more than a few seconds because such a wormhole cannot remain stable. There is too much to consider, it requires too much fine tuning and power. What's worse is that destabilization of a device like the Victory Machine would cause an implosion so immense that it would either cause a black hole or gather enough matter to give birth to a new sun, destroying everything within a light year and causing a shift in gravity that could shift orbits in nearby solar systems. Just the radiation-” he stopped, his eyes going wide.
“Haven't explained how you were exposed to enough radiation to result in Omagen disease yet, have you?” Gabriel Meunez commented with a crooked grin.
“You're right. Sometime in the future I must come in contact with the Victory Machine and since the radiation expands in all directions of time as well as space this could have been the result,” he concluded, looking at his spotty hands.
“Obviously you become involved in this somehow. The partial images and messages coming through the Victory Machine depict dark days for the most part. All indicators point towards things getting worse until somehow the Core Worlds Collapse so utterly that even their calendar is abolished by someone or something much more powerful than the human race.”
“The ultimate defeat of a culture, some would argue,” Hampon concluded, regaining some of his composure. “What do you propose we do?”
“Obviously whoever sent that message thinks you might have the answer, so what do you think we should do?” Gabriel Meunez asked. “What does your instinct and that great big intellect tell you?”
Collins looked at him with a raised eyebrow, prompting for a response in the gentlest way he knew how.
Lister Hampon thought for a moment before replying. “I say we do everything we can to ally ourselves with Regent Galactic and find a way to build on whatever power they give us. The Carthans won't do business with Vindyne, but perhaps we can help Regent Galactic acquire what we cannot afford ourselves, the things we need to continue the research we're pursuing and eventually interface with the Eden Fleet.”
“I agree, we'll have to put personal objectives aside for a while I'm afraid, but in the end we could be in a very high position,” Collins nodded before looking to Meunez. “You'll have to be reassigned so you can watch another end of the company.”
“I'm so close to understanding what was done here, how Alice managed to make the transfer from artificial life to human. That, if anything, could be key to understanding the Eden Fleet, maybe finding a new way of communicating with them, of relating to them.”
“We've already explored that avenue and every simulation and field test tells us it's a dead end. We need you to gather information and conduct affairs elsewhere, especially if I'm about to lose the Overlord. If you want to try and track Alice physically you can do it from wherever you end up, just make sure you don't jeopardize your position or I'll put you back in your place personally.”
“I'm telling you she's the key!” Meunez shot back. “Somehow she managed to break through the barrier that separates software from wetware and you're not going to find out how by digging around in Valent's brain, you'll see it for yourself if you track down-”
“Alice, we've heard it before!” Collins finished for him. “All we have of her is a record of data transfer and security footage of her flopping out of a tube in a new body then being carried away by two known criminals of low education! She's probably already been sold into slavery and used to death in some back room somewhere! You'll follow orders and help us broker the sale of any worthwhile Vindyne properties to Regent Galactic so we can ride the tide into their good graces and end up in a position to take advantage of the information we have!”
“And save the Galaxy? You're telling me my goals are unrealistic while you're trying to save all of humanity?”
“I don't know about you but I want to continue living a life of privilege and power and that can't happen if the galaxy deteriorates into such a state that humanity can't even collectively count the days!” Collins shot back, breaking into a rare rage.
“He's right Gabriel. Not only that, but imagine the power we'd have if we were to become known as the saviors of humanity. Anything we covet would be ours. You could search after your hybrid queen all you like, even create one of your own with the resources you'd have. Tell me you're with us.”
Gabriel Meunez sighed and turned towards the blacked out window. “Only if I am free once we have made it into Regent Galactic's good graces. I still believe she's the key to uniting the machine and man mind. I must at least find out what became of her.”
“Done.”
That's where the instant recall stopped, not because the rest was uninteresting, but because it was all Lucius Wheeler needed to know. The enlightenment showed in his expression as he looked down at the grinning blond boy beside him. They had stopped at the main security doors leading into the core vault of the Saviour. “You can receive messages from the future?”
“Yes, Lucius. Until just a short while ago we had access to the Victory Machine through a West Watcher operative but he broke off communication so we had to unleash the Holocaust Virus. Only by setting that chain of events in motion were we able to bring Jacob Valent's original crew together on one world and keep them away from their alternate destiny while we gained control of the Victory Machine for ourselves.”
“So you've never seen the machine for yourself? How did your last body get irradiated?”
“We tried to make our own Victory Machine and it didn't work. Fortune smiled on us, however. Instead of causing the wormhole to collapse, drawing enough matter and energy inside to create a black hole or a new star we managed to dissipate it. Unfortunately I didn't make it out and the temporal radiation affected my body for years in each direction. Very confusing even after you look at it in an educated manner.”
“You're telling me.” Lucius Wheeler looked at the large vault door in front of him. The keypad had never been used, the chamber hadn't been opened since Collins placed the Eve mind inside himself. He did everything from setting up the storage and stasis equipment to transporting the delicate, vulnerable cargo and installing it into the storage unit personally. “How does this fit into your plans? Collins was terrified of Meunez getting near this. He was afraid that he'd try and commune with it, find a host body and somehow free Eve.”
“That's exactly what we're doing. The end of our civilization is still coming and even though we have control of the Eden Fleet we will not be able to maintain that forever. Our hopes are that Gabriel will be able to befriend the Eve Mind, to reintroduce her to her creations and that when she realizes that the end of humanity as well as the destruction of her solar system is only a couple of years away at best that she should join with us. That is one of the reasons why the Order of Eden was created, to give us a way to demonstrate our dedication as a race to coming together and overcome dissent. Regent Galactic is on the verge of joining us, they just learned that we're on the verge of taking the Victory Machine for ourselves, the Carthans had it so well hidden that Regent Galactic never knew it was there. Millions of their citizens join the West Keeper organization every day now even though the Holocaust Virus is less effective than ever with the mass deletion of artificial intelligences across the Galaxy.”
“So you've actually managed to accomplish most of your goals,” Lucius muttered.
“Yes, but the most important one has not been met; the salvation of our civilization. For that we believe we need to turn to Eve. Her fleet is the most powerful united force in the known universe.” The blonde haired boy sighed slowly and folded his hands in the sleeves of his robes, a posture that didn't fit his apparent youth.
Wheeler knew the boy was studying him, watching him as he stood and stared at the keypad that was ready for the thirty two digit alphanumeric code that would break the seal on the vault. There was no data network attached to the security system, only a detection grid for screening out Gabriel Meunez, a tiny computer that would recognize the password and the mechanism that could open the door. “I'm starting to understand who Collins was and why he kept you and Gabriel around. You're both mad in your own way, but with that madness comes genius,” he let the idea of Gabriel Meunez communing with Eve in a way that no one else could sit in his mind for a moment. It was frightening, the story he was being told was spectacular, but he had seen the evidence.
Collins spent years tracking agents deeply embedded in the Carthan government, gathering power of his own, developing the virus that would make the Eden Fleet controllable and considering the problem of that virus failing one day. All the while he helped Lister Hampon develop his Cash Messiah Cult, as he called it before it was finally named the Order of Eden. It promised everyone a place in paradise if only they worked hard enough, were faithful enough and got humanity through the hard times.
All the evidence he needed was in mind, but how it could all go wrong was starting to come into sharp focus as well. The possibilities of what would happen if Gabriel came in contact with the Eve Mind were all described vaguely. He knew from succinctly worded reports from the future that from one instant to the next the outcome of such an event changed like a roulette wheel that would forever spin until someone interceded and stopped it. That's why Collins never destroyed the Eve mind. He could have at any time but for two reports that mentioned disaster there was always one that pointed to the Eve mind being a large part of the solution. But why didn't any of them say that Collins would be killed? I can't find any memory of his that contains him receiving a warning from the future about his own death. Then again, why would anyone send one back for him? It's not like he had any friends out here. Lucius mused. The notion of dying suddenly and having no one to mourn him sent a chill up his spine, but his attention was drawn back to that big, heavy door in front of him.
If Gabriel fails to commune with the Eve Mind then a great scientific wonder will go to waste and she'll have to be killed. If he succeeds there will always be the possibility that she will only trust him, that the Eden Fleet will fall under his control by proxy or that she'll earn their trust just long enough to come get in contact with her Fleet and turn on everyone.
Collins would have kept the vault shut, in fact he might have built another vault around this one and throw away the key if he had time, but I'm not Collins. He concluded with a smile. “Count me in, but even while I'm off hunting down and kill Jacob Valent I'm all the way in. You tell me everything, and I mean everything until I decide to get the hell out of the range of whatever this apocalypse is.”
“You are to flush out Jacob, get him out of hiding if we cannot catch him ourselves, not kill him. The messages concerning him and his people are still conflicting, uncertain. His interference may yet be required in the future and that won't be available if he's in hiding.”
“All right then, I'll scare him out of hiding, but you keep me up to date and in the loop or everything Collins knew gets cut off.”
“Agreed. I think you might be easier to work with, actually. Collins and I were often at odds.”
“I know,” Wheeler said as he stepped forward and punched in the password to open the vault. After a few seconds the door split down the middle and slowly began to part.
The hologram of young Lister Hampon, the High Seat of the Order of Eden began to fade as he smiled up at Lucius. “I'll see you when you emerge from the wormhole.”