“Congratulations!” shouted Lister Hampon from his child body. It was still surreal, no matter how many times Gabriel saw him in his new incarnation, listening to that boy voice spout the words of his old comrade. Lister Hampon rarely, if ever, had childish things to say, so no matter how elaborate the robes the man child donned or how adult the setting, it always seemed like the child was only channelling Hampon, as though the sharp nosed, angular faced man had possessed his own offspring.
“Thank you, the operation went better than expected and there was no brain damage.”
“I'm sure you're also happy to be rid of Gloria.”
Gabriel looked around the large dressing room. There were racks with robes of all shades of blue and green lining one wall, two tall privacy blinds, a long dressing room table in front of an equally long mirror surfaced wall and in the middle of it all was a seating area with a table laden with fresh fruit. He sat down uneasily, but not because of the surroundings. “As glad as you are. Wheeler went along with it easier than I expected.”
“Who would have guessed that she would have been one of the main factors in Wheeler colluding with Valance. What did you have to trade him, anyway?”
“I gave him the Saviour along with all her provisions and crew. He'll be a menace to Jake Valance if he can find him.”
“Well, it was a small price to pay comparatively.”
“So the Victory Machine is still spewing out status reports on the future?”
“No the location of the Victory Machine has changed so I expect we won't have any new information for at least a few days but the most recent reports had no mention of Wheeler and Valance working together.”
“Along with all traces of the alternate time line, yes?”
“There were a few deep cuts and sacrifices here and there, but yes; all traces of the alternate time line are gone except for one.”
“What's left?”
“Ayan, Oz, Jason, Laura and Minh-Chu.”
“The connection to Freeground? How can you just let that one tether hanging? How can the alternate time line be gone if two of the most critical factors to making a connection to Freeground be allowed to exist?”
Hampon's young face made a tense, frustrated expression. “I said there's no evidence of their future interference. Besides, we're so far past most of the events that concerned us that the potential for an unfortunate turn back into the original time line is nigh on impossible. The Holocaust Virus managed to divert Terry Ozark McPatrick and Jason Everin to Pandem, everyone followed and we even infected the Sunspire so she's single handedly threatening Freeground's hold on the Blue Belt. Freeground Intelligence already thinks Jason and his wife are responsible for the infection.”
“But as long as the Sunspire is still out there, a chance Captain McPatrick may get her back exists, even if it's unlikely!”
“All the messages about the Icarus Installation being destroyed have ceased, and the most recent charts mark it as being safe and sound.”
“The latest being only three weeks in the future.”
“Exactly. With Wheeler at the helm of a ship that is the Triton's equal and so much to distract him with Collins' memories we will not only be able to draw him closer to us but we'll keep him absolutely opposed to Captain Valance.”
“Has there been any sign of-” Gabriel was cut off as he cringed in pain, reaching down to grab his ankle.
“Are you all right?” Hampon asked, standing up and looking at the non-injury Gabriel cradled in his hands.
“Damn, ever since my implants regenerated Eve keeps trying to maintain a connection with me.”
“So she's been hearing everything we've been saying?”
“No, but when she sprained her ankle just now in physical therapy she managed to send the sensation to me.”
Hampon burst out laughing, a childish peal that filled the room and pierced Gabriel's ears. “Misery loves company my friend.”
Gabriel exhaled slowly, letting his foot down on the floor again. “She's sorry.”
“Oh, I'm sure, but that doesn't change the fact that you're getting exactly what you asked for. Someone you could share a unique connection with.”
As Gabriel closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment the lights flickered off and on, the false windows displaying a view of green, blue and brown Pandem outside the ship faded out and remained black. “There, the networking is disabled and electronic signals in this room are being scrambled. I don't have much time.”
Hampon's mirth drained away instantly. “What's going on?”
“She is seeing everything through me. I've never seen anyone or anything multi task like she does and all the processes take place in her own brain. I can only assume that even before she was integrated into the Eden Defence System she was a genius. She's also slowly breaking through the barriers built into Gloria's body, she's learning to communicate with any technology she comes into contact with. Soon her range will be beyond a meter and then it will extend for kilometres. Her connection with me is only through regular transmissions now, but when her range extends far enough she'll be able to do whatever she wants.”
“What about the physical rehabilitation? How can she be doing this when she's still mastering the ability to walk?”
“That's completely different. She spent more time connected to a vast network of machines than she did in her own body, so yes, there's going to be some difficulty with coordination for the next few days.”
“Days? She'll learn how to live in a new human host in a matter of days? It took me over a month!”
“Her therapist says she's making amazing progress, he's never worked with anyone in her situation before so he doesn't know if that's unusual but he credits her dedication. She wants to know everything about the Order of Eden, to take direct control of the Eden Fleet, and she already understands how the Holocaust Virus works and is writing her own version.”
“What? There's no trace of that sort of activity in our systems, alarms would go off and the data would be erased immediately.”
“She's doing it in my head, I can't stop her. I can feel at least two versions almost ready and for some reason I can't erase them. She plans on sending me somewhere to deploy them when they're finished.”
“We have to kill her!”
“You can't, I've already tried and it's too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“While she was sleeping I brought a Vesrex Thirteen injection into her room with me, it was in my pocket, out of sight but somehow she knew and locked the room down. Before I knew it her blankets encased her in an emergency vacuum bag and the atmosphere was draining out of the room! She scolded me like some childish playmate and forced me to apologize before she'd open the door!”
“What about your own vacsuit?”
“She was connected to it using my own cybernetic systems! It wouldn't seal.”
“So what are you telling me?”
“Use signal radius jamming, stop all wireless communications in the fleet; it's the only way to delay her until we finish what we have to do on Pandem. I'll do my best to hold her off in my head, but if I try to leave put me in stasis, deactivate my cranial systems.”
“I will, don't worry. What about long range communications?”
“I'll try to keep her contained, there are no guarantees. Right now she seems distracted with learning her way around her new body and my head, but I don't know how long that-” Gabriel was interrupted as the door opened and two rifle wielding guards rushed inside, the rest of their armoured squad was just outside in the hall.
“We received an alert from Command about this room sir, is everything all right?” the lead guard announced in a rush.
Gabriel knew Eve was watching, using the sensors on the soldier's armour and weaponry. “We're fine. His Grace wanted to temporarily cut the wireless signals off in this room so he could be sure we weren't recorded.”
“Who sounded the alert?” Hampon asked.
“It was automated, Your Grace.”
“Ah, all is well here, I'll reactivate the wireless systems in this room.”
“Should we have maintenance check for a glitch in the system?” Asked the soldier.
“No, I think I know what caused it, be on your way please.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I'm sorry for the disruption,” saluted the soldier respectfully before leaving and closing the door behind him.
The screen behind Hampon began to display the view of Pandem once more and the pair looked at each other for a moment before Gabriel cleared his throat. “So when would you like Wheeler off the leash to begin chasing Captain Valance and his crew?”
“The optimum time according to the Victory Machine is after the upcoming attack.”
“I'll make sure he knows to be ready. Does the Victory Machine have any advice on his orders?”
“Only that he should antagonize him as aggressively as possible. Lucius Wheeler and Jacob Valance cannot become allies.”