The Lowest Depths of Shame

An Aneka Jansen Novel

By Niall Teasdale

Copyright 2014 Niall Teasdale

Amazon Kindle Edition

Contents

Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils

Part Two: The Sound of Trumpets

Part Three: The Army of Sheep

Part Four: Contraband

Part Five: Collateral Damage

Part Six: The End of War

Part Seven: Sacrifice

Epilogue

Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils

Gwy, 16.4.530 FSC.

Diagnostic messages scrolled past the inside of Aneka’s eyelids as her consciousness reasserted itself. As was the norm, everything was ‘optimal.’ Her body was a machine, and a very well run one. Where a normal robot might need maintenance periodically, she had billions of tiny mechanics working tirelessly on her constantly. It was still a comfort in the mornings to know that all was well and they were still doing their job.

She opened her eyes and found herself looking at red hair. Ella was there in bed with her and that was more comforting than any diagnostic readout. Over two months ago they had invaded a secret Herosian base together, implanted a computer virus designed to disable the Herosian communication networks, destroyed a powerful AI, and escaped with their lives. Going in, Aneka had been all confidence because Ella needed it. Going home, she could allow herself to admit that there had been every chance of it being a one-way trip.

‘Al,’ Aneka said in the silence of her mind, ‘flight data, please.’

‘Of course, Aneka,’ Al, her embedded AI, replied and virtual panels appeared in-vision telling her the current status of the ship. Everything was working fine, of course. Gwy was not just a ship, Gwy was also an AI and she knew what she was doing. The ship’s routine operations were not something Aneka had to worry over. The data she was looking for was the navigation screen.

‘Two hours, seventeen minutes to warp exit,’ she noted. ‘We’re almost home. Sort of.’

Home was New Earth in the Joval system and that was over two hundred parsecs from their destination. Even her old home on Old Earth was fifty parsecs away. Gwy was headed for G268, now referred to as Shadataga by its residents. And given that Aneka and her cohorts had snuck away from New Earth in something of a hurry, Shadataga might be what they had to call home at the moment.

Pushing herself up onto one elbow, Aneka leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Ella’s shoulder. There was no immediate response, so she applied another, and another, working toward her partner’s neck. She had to pull aside long strands of deep red hair as she moved up; Ella had had her hair cut for an operation and had been growing it back, and it was now about the length she wanted, straighter than it had been, but with rather pleasing, feathered bangs that came down to the upper slopes of her breasts.

Aneka reached Ella’s neck and was still getting no reaction, which she considered suspicious. She lifted her head away, leaning back, and got her suspicion confirmed.

‘Don’t stop,’ Ella said, her voice still sleepy.

Grinning, Aneka rolled Ella onto her back, getting a pouty face to look at for her trouble. Leaning forward, she kissed Ella’s lips, tongue flicking in to abuse the pout. Still half-asleep, Ella groaned and squirmed as her body got well ahead of her brain.

‘Just over two hours until we drop out of warp,’ Aneka whispered after breaking the kiss.

‘So soon?’

‘Ella, it’s been seventy-two days since we left Herosia.’

‘I guess, but it’s been like a holiday, and now we have to go back to work.’

‘We still have a couple of hours,’ Aneka replied, leaning forward to start the kissing again. This time her hand drifted down to find a nipple and stroke it into life, and the groaning got louder and turned into moaning.

Shadataga.

Control directed them straight to the planet’s surface and the hangars at the rear of the operations building. Primarily designed to handle surface craft and shuttles, there was still plenty of room to put the nimble little starship down through the roof access doors and into a space which almost seemed to have been built for her.

As Aneka emerged from the virtual flight environment, the obsidian image of Gwy’s AI was left standing in the featureless cockpit in front of the chair. She smiled brightly, but there was a hint of sadness in her pearlescent eyes.

‘Ella is waiting for you before going out,’ Gwy announced. ‘I hope that I will have the pleasure of flying with you again soon.’

‘I dare say you will,’ Aneka replied, ‘but you’re not stuck here. Aggy projects herself for us outside the ship. There’s no reason you can’t visit.’

The smile brightened. ‘Thank you, Aneka. That is most generous.’

Aneka slid out of her seat. ‘Gwy, we’ve just been through battle together. You’ve watched me having sex. I think you qualify as a friend and I like to see my friends.’

‘Thank you, Aneka,’ Gwy replied softly. ‘I… That means more to me than you might realise.’

Aneka grinned at her and started across to the gravity lift. ‘Maybe. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand AIs.’

‘If it’s any consolation,’ Al put in, ‘whenever I feel I’ve figured out organics you seem to throw something new at me.’

‘I’m not an organic.’

‘Your mind is more organic than not. Cassandra is waiting outside. Get a move on.’

‘I am.’ Reaching the upper deck, she turned for the main airlock where Ella was waiting impatiently. ‘If you know she’s there then you’re already talking.’

‘Yes, but she wants to see you and Ella.’

‘She’s your girlfriend.’

‘She has explained that she believes our combined, four-way relationship has become more complex than that. We have discussed it extensively and I can find no flaw in her reasoning.’

‘Her reasoning? Seriously?’

‘Her… sentiment then. Though her analysis of the situation is thorough and presents an entirely valid argument for why the results were a forgone conclusion had we thought about it beforehand. She has had a considerable amount of time to perform her analysis while waiting for our return.’

‘Like I said, I am never going to understand AIs.’

There were four people waiting at the bottom of the stairs as Aneka and Ella walked out. Only one of them was truly organic. Gillian Gilroy was beaming at them, almost bouncing on the spot as she waited. Winter was there in her Number Seven body, tall and blonde, and Speaker in his white suit was beside her. Both waited patiently though Winter’s artificially created organic eyes were bright.

It was Cassandra who made the first move, however. The leggy blonde android marched forward as soon as the two had touched the Plascrete, wrapped her arms around them both, and pulled them into a hug. She said nothing, and did not need to. Ella, who had not heard about Cassandra’s revelation, still seemed to consider this an absolutely natural reaction to their return, but then she had had a better handle on the whole situation than Aneka for ages.

When Cassandra let them go, Gillian took her place. And then, rather awkwardly, Winter gave them both hugs.

Speaker was looking amused. ‘I shall refrain from this charming custom,’ he said, ‘but there are others waiting to repeat it.’

‘Everyone else is in the bar,’ Gillian said. ‘We didn’t want to crowd you. If you’re tired…’

‘We’ve been more or less alone for months!’ Ella interrupted. ‘I could use some additional company, and we need to catch up on events.’

‘Oh yes,’ Gillian said emphatically. ‘You do indeed. There have been one or two changes around here, aside from things in the Federation.’ Turning, she lifted up the back of her ringletted hair to show them the back of her neck where a small, plastic insert could be seen just beneath her hairline.

‘You’ve had an implant done!’ Ella squeaked. ‘Fridgy!’

‘Yes, and I’m not the only one.’

~~~

‘Delta and me are the only holdouts,’ Monkey said as they gathered around several tables in the comfortable lounge bar of the residential building. ‘And she’s only holding back because I haven’t done it yet.’

Aneka looked across at Shannon. ‘I thought you said you wouldn’t?’

The pilot grinned at her. ‘Well, circumstances changed.’

‘Or are changing,’ Drake added. ‘We’ll get to that along with all the other stuff.’

‘Okay, so we know we planted the virus and it seemed to be working…’

‘It functioned exactly as predicted,’ Winter said. ‘The Herosian interstellar communications network is offline. They have no way of coordinating their forces and the war had, essentially, ended. A force was sent out from New Earth a little over a month ago to retake Lonar and then move on to Beryum.’

‘We sent ships out with the New Earth ones,’ Abby, Old Earth’s Ambassador, put in. ‘Ours took less damage in the battle.’

‘Ape is out there in the Banfry,’ Gillian added. ‘They came through okay.’

Right now Aneka did not want to go down that road, and she could tell Ella was the same. She decided to indicate as much. ‘So, basically, we won?’

‘Bar the shouting,’ Bashford replied. ‘There’s going to be a lot of shouting.’

‘I just can’t believe you all got implants,’ Ella said. ‘I mean, war and stuff, but… implants!’

‘You can blame our esteemed Ambassador,’ Drake stated.

‘I didn’t do anything!’ Abby squeaked.

‘You demonstrated that they were useful,’ Gillian replied.

‘And that you don’t turn into a psychotic monster from having them,’ Shannon added.

‘We did explain,’ Speaker intoned, ‘that we would obviously refrain from turning on the mind control circuits until we had converted all fleshy meatbags, but they could not be dissuaded.’

‘It was the delivery,’ Bashford told him. ‘Too deadpan. I will admit you had me nervous for a second, but it was just too much like a set-up line.’

‘Unless that’s what he wanted you to think,’ Aneka said. ‘He is a communications specialist, psychologist, etc. He could be carefully manipulating you into a false sense of security and then…’

‘Zap! And you’re all mindless slaves to the new Xinti Empire!’ Ella finished.

‘I don’t think so,’ the statuesque figure of War said from her place near Aneka. ‘We wouldn’t do that. It would be unethical for one thing. And, of course, we would have to pick a different name.’

‘The Shadataga Collective,’ Winter suggested.

‘That has a nice ring to it,’ Evolution agreed.

‘I’ll make a note to discuss it at the next conspiracy meeting.’ Winter paused for a fraction of a second and then added, ‘Did I say that aloud?’

~~~

‘Um…’ Ella said, standing in the doorway of the apartment she shared with Aneka, ‘I could go spend the night in one of the other rooms…’

Cassandra, who had accompanied them when the party had broken up, looked back at her. ‘Why?’

‘Well… I’ve had Aneka to myself for months and you haven’t been with Al in all that time, and…’

‘Don’t be foolish, Ella,’ the blonde responded, continuing into the room and pulling her short dress off over her head as she walked, a feat of coordination in itself. ‘I missed all three of you. I want all three of you.’ She turned around in the middle of the soft, luxurious carpet shifting one leg forward and pushing her substantial chest out, posing for them. ‘If you don’t get your clothes off soon I’ll begin to wonder whether you’ve missed me at all.’

‘Oh,’ Ella said, stepping through the door to let it close and reaching for the hem of her cropped top. ‘Well, we can’t have that.’

17.4.530 FSC.

They had managed to put off the inevitable until morning, but they had to know what the situation was and it was War and Winter who told them about it in the large operations room with its holographic display able to render all the information in far too much detail. Gillian was there too, but she stood silently at the back watching the presentation.

‘The initial phases of the battle were… mishandled,’ War stated as the Battle of New Earth was played out by coloured dots in front of them. ‘Admiral Farmer’s initial strategy was an attack. Having little idea of the opposing force’s nature, a defensive posture would have been more prudent. Losses were high and the Herosians were able to get their gunships into range for surface bombardment. At that point, the Herosians fell to the disadvantage of not knowing their enemy since command moved to the Old Earth ship, the Argus.’

‘Elaine tells me that Pierce was hoping he would gain control,’ Winter put in.

Jason Pierce, an ex-military man who could bridge the gap between intelligence service and Navy, had been made head of the Federal Security Agency. It had seemed a prudent decision at the time.

‘Old Admiral hoping for glory?’ Aneka suggested.

Winter nodded. ‘That’s what she thinks. Justine agrees, though she has some worries he’s more ambitious.’

Aneka gave a nod and returned her attention to the display where the dots were performing an audacious bait-and-switch operation.

‘Guardian Norden, the Old Earth strategist, was more capable,’ War went on. ‘His plan was risky, but it worked and the Herosian fleet was almost entirely wiped out. There were significant losses on the Jenlay side, and extensive damage on the surface, however.’

Ella looked at Gillian. ‘You said Ape was out securing Lonar, so the Banfry got through it okay.’ Gillian just nodded in reply.

‘The Delta Brigantia,’ Winter said. ‘They took out the last gunship attacking the planet, but… No one survived. I’m sorry. Norden put through a recommendation for posthumous awards for them. Abby has suggested that Old Earth send something as well.’

‘Oh,’ Ella said, staring fixedly at the display.

Aneka closed her eyes for a second, did not like the images she saw there, and said, ‘What about the surface?’

‘The spaceport was reduced to a smoking pit,’ Winter replied. ‘It was, thankfully, the primary target and they used kinetic impactors rather than nukes.’

‘The university was flattened,’ Gillian said flatly. ‘Which is why… Well, we’ll get to that.’

‘One of my avatars kept your mother safe, Ella. Sharissa and Elaine were in a mobile command centre I arranged years ago, so they are fine. All of them are staying at Gillian’s house, which escaped the collateral damage. Katelyn and Dillon came off the worst.’ Ella gasped, staring wide-eyed at the blonde synthetic. ‘They’re alive and also at Gillian’s house. Dillon suffered a broken back. His spine was severed. The Old Earth medical teams got to him and replaced his spine with a cybernetic one. He’s still recovering, but he will be fully mobile and probably capable of lifting heavier weights.’

‘Cyborgs are becoming the new black,’ Aneka commented.

‘Indeed. More than a few Jenlay have had to choose between functionality and prejudice. A lot of the taller buildings in Mid-town are still being checked for structural stability. The Islands are more or less a wasteland. The other city zones escaped relatively intact.’

‘Elroy?’ Aneka asked.

‘Was with Elaine and Sharissa. He’s a very busy man at the moment so he’s basically living in his office. His house is a ruin, so that’s likely a good thing.’

‘What’s this thing with the university?’ Ella asked, focussing on Gillian.

‘Well, it’s gone,’ the archaeologist replied, ‘and we’ve been offered new positions, but we’ve been waiting on you before accepting them.’

‘Me?’

‘Both of you, but especially you, Ella.’

‘Uh…’

‘New positions here,’ Aneka said, catching on.

Gillian nodded. ‘The AIs want me to be the Dean. I said it should be one of them, but they seem to still have this “natural minds are more suited” thing going on…’

‘It is not quite as hidebound as you would believe,’ War cut in. ‘We have exceptional organisational skills, and our ability to research and implement plans for discovery is good. We are less adept at teaching and we are, frankly, not designed for a leadership role.’

‘Speaker will work alongside Gillian,’ Winter continued, ‘so we get all the talents of a Higher AI, but without the tendency to indecision since Gillian will be there to figurehead things. There is one other obvious reason for doing it this way…’

‘It’ll go down better with the people coming to learn,’ Ella finished for her. ‘It makes perfect sense to me.’ She gave her boss a small grin. ‘You’re just worried you’ll never get to do field work again.’

‘Yes,’ Gillian said, ‘but watch yourself. If you accept, you’ll be heading up archaeology, social sciences, psychology, and psionics. Speaker will be helping you too…’

‘I don’t know the last thing about psionics!’ Ella broke in.

‘Neither do the AIs. The Xinti never developed the talent and then they went electronic.’

‘We’re creating our first new Higher AI in centuries to head the sub-department,’ War said. ‘We haven’t selected a name for it yet, it’s barely conscious, but your telepathic pilot, Shannon, has taken to calling it Psyche.’

‘Abraham will be heading up the physical sciences with Reality,’ Gillian went on. ‘Cassandra is going to split her time between his department and yours. Machine psychology fits into both, to some extent, and she is quite knowledgeable about physics.’

‘Bash…?’ Aneka began.

‘Is heading up “vocational studies” with Drake, which means you will still be our lead Facilitator. Again, this assumes you’re both happy with the jobs.’

Ella was frowning uncertainly. ‘I guess… Do you really think I’m up to it?’

‘Before you met Aneka I’d have had to say no, but the last couple of years have changed you. For the better, I might add.’

‘You’re up to it, love,’ Aneka stated, ‘and there doesn’t seem to be much change for me. We’re keeping the Hyde?’

‘In a manner of speaking,’ Gillian replied, ‘but Drake and Aggy wanted to tell you about that. I’m sworn to secrecy.’

‘What’ve they been up to?’ Aneka asked, narrowing her eyes.

~~~

‘The Amethyst Hyde,’ Drake said as they looked out through one of the observation windows at the huge bulk of starship sitting in one of the hangar bays of the orbital starport. ‘Three thousand tonnes of state-of-the-art science vessel. She’s ten times the size of the Garnet Hyde, but she’ll do twice the speed in warp and she’s got one of their high-end reactionless drives in her so she’ll turn on a pinhead and pull a hundred Gs.’

She was an attractive vessel, all gleaming white metal. The hull was smoothly curved and more or less elliptical with the front slightly raised toward the nose and more pointed, and the rear a blunter shape housing that powerful reactionless drive.

‘The sensor systems and lab are incredible,’ Gillian said. ‘The lab space is not quite up to what we have at the university, but it makes what we had on the old ship seem like heaven. And the drones…!’

‘There are two hangar bays,’ Drake said. ‘One’s big enough to house Gwy, and the other is fitted out for launching ten-tonne drone ships. We can carry ten, and they come in defensive, survey, or transport models. We can pick and mix according to the expected needs of any operation. The ship has no weapons, but between the drones, the exotic matter stealth hull, the force screen and the cloaking system, we figure we’re covered for all eventualities. And there’s one other gadget we won’t be able to test for a while, but Abraham is very excited about it.’

‘Oh?’ Aneka asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘Can you tell me, or are you sworn to secrecy?’

‘Wormhole transition shielding system.’

‘They’re building another wormhole system? I thought it took a collapsed star to power those?’

‘According to Abraham and Reality,’ Gillian said, ‘they’ve got a lot better at it. It’s still going to take some engineering, however. They’re building another star tap in one of the nearby systems.’

‘They expect it to be up and running early next year,’ Drake told them. ‘And then we’ll be able to hop from here to New Earth in a day. Most of that will be getting to the tap system.’

‘Well that settles my last worry,’ Ella put in. ‘I thought I’d hardly ever see my mother.’

‘And Aggy?’ Aneka asked.

‘They finished installing her into the new computer system last week. Abraham and Cassandra have been helping her adjust. She seems quite happy, but she did want to see you.’

~~~

‘Aggy?’ There had been no sign of the golden-skinned avatar Aggy generally used to make appearances, but Drake had directed them to one of the cabins in the forward section where he said she would be waiting. So far, however, there was no sign of her.

The ship was definitely a step up from the Garnet Hyde. There were ten cabins as well as a complement of twenty stasis pods. However, these cabins came with facilities to generate as much resource as was required to keep the crew going indefinitely so the pods were there for extra staff or to stave off boredom on exceptionally long trips. And the habitation area had a couple of lounges and a kitchen in which food could be prepared. No one was slumming it on this ship.

The cabin they had been directed to was like all the others: a large bed, two desks, en-suite bathroom with a shower large enough for three people, and a couple of built-in wardrobes. The walls were video-capable, but currently dark.

At least they were dark until a section of wall lit up as though a door had opened in it, and there was Aggy, smiling at them from the surface of the wall.

‘Good morning, Aneka,’ Aggy said. ‘Welcome to the Amethyst Hyde. What do you think of my new home?’

‘We’ve hardly seen any of it,’ Aneka replied, smiling back, ‘but…’

‘It’s amazing,’ Ella finished for her.

‘It really is,’ Aggy said, and then she walked out of the wall and into the room, giggling at their reaction. ‘More or less everywhere is covered by holographic emitters. I can project myself wherever I’m needed without all that business with connecting through to your visual electronics. Plus, you get full tri-D projected entertainment if you want it and I can provide very realistic training simulations.’

‘You know,’ Ella commented, ‘that’s supposed to be impossible. I know they do it with the display tables, but…’

‘This is a rather more extensive use of the technology,’ Aggy acknowledged. ‘The AIs thought it would be useful. The light from the projectors interacts with a low-powered force field. That provides the necessary projection surface.’

‘So they could make you solid?’ Aneka asked.

‘Technically, but a drone body would be more practical. This has the advantage that I can be in several places at once without worrying over motor function and getting there.’

‘Huh. You know you do kind of look… sharper. More detailed. It’s kind of… like you’re more there.’

‘My processor systems are significantly more powerful, and the technology I have available to provide this avatar is, ahem, rather more advanced than my old equipment. Would you like the tour?’

‘Sure, why not?’

Aggy beamed. She was clearly rather happy to show off her ‘new equipment.’ It was cute in what had to be an extremely intelligent AI now that her processors had been bumped up several technology levels.

‘This is your cabin when you’re aboard. I’ve pre-set to your preferences, both modes, sex and sleeping.’

‘Thanks, Aggy, it’s nice to know you thought of us.’

‘You and I have been together for over a thousand years, Aneka,’ Aggy replied, ‘even if a lot of that time neither of us were active. It would not be the same without you.’ Her projected image set off across the carpet and Aneka could swear she saw the soft fibres deform as her feet touched them.

She gave short shrift to the control room embedded deep within the core of the forward section: it was essentially the same sort of featureless, VR-based system as Gwy, but with two flight chairs, and both Aneka and Ella were familiar with the design.

The mid-section was more interesting. Here was the secondary habitation block and the lab. Ella cooed over the latter which was ten times the size of the one on the Garnet Hyde and equipped with state-of-the-art instruments. There was also, however, a nanofabrication system, two offices, a full-sized gym, a five-bed sickbay, a mess hall, space for five tonnes of cargo, and a classroom!

‘It’s perfect,’ Aggy said as they stood in the last of those. ‘I can be involved in discovery and education. It’s like… Well, I don’t dream, but it’s as if I did and one came true.’ She developed a look on her face which, in a Jenlay, would have looked a lot like lust. ‘Oh… and wait until you see my engines.’

Drake and Abraham Wallace were in the engine room when they got there, the latter examining a display on one of two workstation units. This room was twice the size of the cubbyhole on the old Hyde, stretching from the bulkhead door forward of the engineering section through to a gantry overlooking the spherical reactionless drive at the rear. All around them were the vast coils of the warp engine, though that seemed to be in two distinct sections.

‘The forward part is the wormhole shielding,’ Aggy explained as they looked upward. ‘Now that is exciting. Gwy is fifty-point-oh-nine per cent faster than I am in warp, though I can match her in normal space, but I should be able to traverse wormholes while she cannot.’

‘But she can sit in your hangar when you do,’ Aneka said, grinning at the apparent competitiveness.

‘She can. She’s a sweet child and we should make an effective team. I believe she has put through a request to have her sensors upgraded to allow more detailed scientific analysis.’

‘It was suggested while we were in Herosia,’ Ella explained. ‘She wants to feel useful beyond combat situations.’

‘Commendable,’ Abraham commented. ‘I’m happy with the diagnostics, Aggy. We’re ready for the shakedown flights.’

‘Oh… excellent,’ the golden woman said, trying very hard not to look like a kid who had just been handed the keys to the sweet shop.

Amethyst Hyde.

Everyone wanted to be aboard when Aggy first put out of dock. Even the AIs had developed an interest. Aneka could see why Reality was aboard; he was down in the engineering room with Abraham, monitoring the drives and making sure nothing was wrong. But Winter, Evolution, Speaker, and War had all decided that they might be needed for some reason or another and were in the lab with their more organic colleagues as the sleek vessel pulled out of the hangar.

Outside the station, Gwy was waiting rather enthusiastically. She was in constant communication with both Aneka and Aggy, chattering about thrust vectors and clearances.

‘She’s clear and free,’ Gwy informed Aneka. ‘I can’t wait to see what she can do. She’s so beautiful.’

Aneka giggled, which got her a couple of perplexed looks, but she was not going to explain that her ship was infatuated with her sister vessel. ‘We’re clear,’ she said aloud.

‘All hands,’ Drake’s voice said from the speakers, ‘we’re going to push her out at ten Gs to start with. Are we ready?’

‘We are ready,’ Reality announced.

‘Sensors are fully active,’ Gillian confirmed, ‘and we’re getting feeds from Gwy. Go when you’re ready.’

There was no sensation of movement, but the displays of the outside world on the lab walls began to shift with increasing pace. Gillian and Ella were watching the monitors. Not that they were physicists, but Cassandra was there and doing the same. All of them had watched engine function data before.

‘Are you seeing that, Abraham?’ Cassandra asked after a minute.

‘Slight phase variance?’ Abraham’s voice replied. ‘We’re adjusting the force generators now.’

It was the form of address which Aneka noticed. Cassandra usually called her boss ‘Doctor.’

‘He told her not to just after the battle at New Earth,’ Al supplied. ‘He says he isn’t one unless the title is bestowed here, and he’s of the opinion that they should revise the practice.’

‘Okay.’ The term was applied to someone with tenure in some form of learned institution, and Abraham was right in thinking that the institution which had given him the title was gone. ‘I always thought of him as a professor anyway. He looks like a professor.’

‘That looks like you’ve got it,’ Gillian said, breaking Aneka’s chain of thought.

‘Indeed,’ Abraham replied. ‘Captain, would you take her up to fifty gravities? Be ready to cut the drive if we notice instability.’

‘Did you go through this?’ Aneka asked Gwy as the star field began to shift even faster.

‘Yes, though it was rather more clinical. I am seeing no unusual effects or distortions in Aggy’s drive field. She is holding course, straight and true, as I knew she would.’

‘She was nervous?’

‘She was concerned that her first outing might be fraught with minor issues and so disappoint everyone. Especially when everyone decided to attend.’

‘A ship with stage fright, that’s cute.’

‘Let’s go to full power,’ Abraham’s voice said.

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Shannon responded, and this time they could feel the acceleration. Half of one-G was nothing to worry about, but it left some of those standing grabbing at furniture to avoid stumbling as it came on in a sudden burst.

There was a sound which could almost have been a giggle in Aneka’s head as Gwy gave chase. ‘Wonderful,’ the sleek, black ship following them said. ‘She’s performing beautifully.’

‘Are you sure you’re just not watching her arse?’ Aneka asked, grinning.

‘What?! No! I… It is a very shapely rear hull.’

Aneka wondered whether Gwy’s bows were reddening. ‘You’ve got a very shapely rear hull too, Gwy.’

‘Thank you, Aneka. I’m no judge of Jenlay aesthetics, but I believe you do too.’

‘Why are you grinning like an idiot?’ Ella asked as she spotted Aneka’s expression.

‘I’m having the most surreal conversation I think I’ve ever had.’

‘She’s right though,’ Aggy’s voice said over the speakers, ‘you do.’

Ella looked distinctly confused.

Shadataga, 24.4.530 FSC.

Shadataga was a warm planet, but it was phase-locked in orbit thanks to its rather close moon. The days were almost a standard month in length: fourteen and a half days of light were followed by the same length of darkness. It varied a little over time, but with the long ‘dawn’ and ‘dusk’ periods you could hardly tell.

Whatever, it was best to make use of the sunshine while there was some. It had been the tail end of dawn when Gwy had put down on the planet’s surface, and the sun would be dipping slowly below the horizon again in about five days, so Aneka was lying beside one of the pools in the accommodation area enjoying the warmth on her synthetically manufactured but essentially organic skin.

‘Aneka?’ Winter’s voice sounded a little hesitant and Aneka opened her eyes to look up at the ex-spy mistress. ‘Could I interrupt?’

‘Sure. I’m not even reading. I think Al’s chatting to Cassandra. Just enjoying the… well, the nothing. Not much we can do, so I’m enjoying being helpless.’

‘Quite. The lull in our activity gives me the opportunity to bring up… something I’ve been working on for you. An option you may wish to take up.’

‘Uh… okay, what?’

‘It’s best if you come and see. Is Ella available?’

‘She was in the university building discussing curricula with Gillian.’

‘I’ll request she join us. It’s in the basement of that building.’

Frowning, Aneka slipped off her lounger and followed Winter across the patio. What was the woman up to?

‘We shall have to wait and see,’ Al informed her, pragmatic as only an AI could be.

~~~

The underground section of the university building held, among other things, a hospital for over a hundred people and, right at the bottom, the primary computing core for the AIs, but it also had a nanofabrication facility of formidable capacity. That was quiet now since the needs of the few residents could easily be met by the far smaller units in the accommodation block. In one corner of it, however, was something which looked a bit like a stasis tank and in it was…

‘She looks like Aneka,’ Ella breathed.

‘Well,’ Winter explained, ‘I wasn’t going to alter the original design.’

‘The hair’s a little different,’ Aneka commented. ‘It’s more… natural.’

‘Well, except for that,’ Winter conceded.

‘What is this, Winter?’

‘You, if you want it to be.’

‘I… don’t get it.’

Winter walked over to the tank, looking up at the figure inside with its mop of silver-white hair. The face was partially obscured by a heavy face mask with tubes running up from it to the ceiling of the tube, but it was clearly Aneka, down to the tough, muscular body and the over-sized breasts.

‘When we designed you, Aneka, uh, that is, the body you now have, we were limited by the technology available and the need to ensure you remained undetected. We improved a few things with Yrimtan, but neither of you was designed for today’s environment. When I sent you off to Herosia I decided that I should do something about that. So I built this.’

She turned, her face still serious. ‘The basic structure is the same, but I’ve dispensed with the organic components. I very much doubt that you’ll be able to tell the difference, but the skin is a synthetic polymer. It’s an ablative armour, meant to soak surprise damage. The primary defence is an integral force screen with cloaking configuration. There are now two pulse weapons, mounted in the arms so they can be a little larger. Power comes from a total conversion cell which will last, essentially, until the stars burn out and since we don’t have the organics, there is no real need to eat, drink, or breathe.’

‘If it doesn’t need oxygen, why the mask?’ Aneka asked.

‘It’s being maintained on external power through that. The mask looks better than having cables down its throat. We’ll bring the cell online if you decide to use it. All the computers have been updated to the latest specs. Al will be more responsive. Your own brain has sufficiently increased capacity that the background tasks can be done in real time. You won’t need to sleep. However, I included a sleeping mode if you need it. You can actually sleep through long ship journeys if you wish.’

‘Oh yeah, now,’ Aneka replied, ‘when we’re going to be hopping across the galaxy in a day.’

Winter’s expression shifted into a smile. She had been worried Aneka would be displeased, but jokes seemed like a good sign.

‘What would you need to do to get me in there?’ Aneka asked.

‘This model has a data port in the back of the neck as well as the wireless facilities, so that’s covered. Your current body is another matter. We will need to get you onto a surgery table and access the port in your skull, under the skin. Then we take you offline, transfer everything across, and activate the new body.’

‘Are there risks?’ Ella asked.

‘I won’t lie and say there are none,’ Winter replied, ‘but they are minimal. The process is akin to that used when I create a new avatar, or the one the Xinti employed when occupying a body. It will take several hours and there will be a period of adjustment. For the first few days it will be possible to go back without loss of information. After that, the translation to the old hardware would undoubtedly result in some memory loss. Very occasionally a transfer to one of my avatars fails in some way. The Xinti had the same problem. Generally we can spot problems fairly quickly and the worst that happens is that we have to wake up your current body and tell you it didn’t work.’

‘I’d like to have a think about it,’ Aneka said.

‘Don’t wait too long. The fleet will reach Lonar on the fifth and we might need to do something after that.’

‘Tomorrow. I’ll tell you tomorrow.’

~~~

‘What do you think?’ Aneka asked. She was not alone with Ella since she wanted several opinions on the matter, so she had Cassandra and Gillian in the apartment to consult.

‘I’d have thought this was a matter for you and Ella to decide,’ Gillian replied, frowning. ‘I can sort of understand Cassandra being here since she’s attached to Al, but me?’

‘You’re intelligent, and more or less impartial,’ Aneka replied.

‘All right, as an impartial advisor… Why would you not? It’s not like you’re giving up your original body. The Xinti gave you no choice in that matter. This is effectively no different than… Ella upgrading her eyes. It’s obviously a bit more radical, but it’s not like you can’t revert if there’s a problem.’

‘I concur with my colleague,’ Cassandra said. ‘And now I’m going to switch off my impartial advisor mode and say, “Nothing can go wrong, can it?!”’

Aneka giggled. ‘Thanks, I needed that. Technically, no. I’ll need you on hand to help make sure the transfers have worked properly. You’ll do an analysis on Al to be sure he’s okay, and you’ll assist the AIs making sure I haven’t gone psychotic, or forgotten who Ella is.’

‘I think we’d notice that fairly quickly,’ Ella pointed out.

Cassandra nodded. ‘Ella knows you best. It would be advisable if she is a primary in your analysis.’

It was Ella’s turn to giggle. ‘Winter went over the design specs with me. I’ll be analysing a lot. You’ll want to analyse too. She’s going to be more flexible than before. Winter said it was payback for the boob job all those years ago. Aneka’s always complaining about air ducts.’

‘Oh, I’ll be better, stronger, and faster,’ Aneka said. ‘I’d be the bionic woman if I wasn’t already a robot. I just… It’s kind of weird to think of swapping one body for another. Just like that. Upgrade time. Like a new dress.’

‘Generally,’ Gillian said, smiling, ‘you don’t need surgery for a new dress.’

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Ella watched as Aneka climbed into a shiny metal cradle where padded clamps secured her arms, legs, and waist, and then two more pads moved in to fix her head in place. The redhead looked worried.

‘Hey, cheer up,’ Aneka said. ‘I don’t want to go under looking at you frowning.’

‘I’ll be sure to smile before they shut you down,’ Ella replied.

‘Which will be very shortly,’ Winter said. She was supervising the transfer personally, Evolution at her side, both in the sense that their real minds, off in the core processors below them, were doing the work, and that they had avatars present to carry out the physical tasks.

‘You know,’ Aneka said, ‘I’d have thought this would be making you smile, Ella. I’m naked and in bondage, and you could do all sorts of things to me while I’m out and I’d never know.’

Ella cracked, giggling, and her face broke into a smile. Aneka grinned back and gave Winter a nod. And then her eyes went blank.

~~~

‘You’ll wear a hole in the tiles,’ Gillian said.

Ella did not stop her pacing across the floor of the observation room. Beyond the Polyglass, Aneka’s body was now in a horizontal position, face down, and there was a fairly thick cable fixed to her skeleton through an incision in her neck. She had been like that for over an hour, and she would be there for several more as data from her brain and Al’s storage transferred to the body in the basement.

‘I’m nervous,’ Ella stated.

‘Really? I thought you simply needed the exercise.’

The redhead frowned at her in passing. ‘Well… there’s nothing else to do.’

‘Then find something else to do, dear. You’re making me jittery just looking at you. Maybe you should make her a new dress. New body, new outfit.’

The pacing stopped. Result!

‘I could do that,’ Ella said. ‘By the time she comes out I’ll have redesigned her entire wardrobe.’ Turning on her heel, she marched off toward the door.

Gillian watched her go and then looked back through the glass. ‘Sorry, dear, but at least she’s distracted for a while.’

~~~

Ella settled herself against Cassandra’s back and wrapped an arm around her waist. ‘Thank you for doing this,’ the redhead said. ‘I haven’t been alone in bed for ages.’

‘We both have reasons to be nervous tonight, Ella,’ Cassandra replied. ‘You realise that I don’t actually sleep, however?’

‘I don’t really think I’m going to be getting a lot of sleep tonight either.’

‘It’s silly, really. We’re both worried about extremely remote possibilities. I mean, the worst that could happen is that we have to turn the old body back on and explain that the operation failed. I have even less to worry about with Al. He’s basically just software, much as I am…’

‘That’s not the worst that could happen,’ Ella replied. ‘The worst that could happen is that they come out different. Besides, I don’t believe you’re just software. You’re an emergent. That has to be something to do with your hardware as well as your software. I’m willing to bet they couldn’t do this to you without replicating your computers.’

‘Perhaps, though I think my “mind” is now independent of the system it runs on. An interesting experiment to conduct at some point.’

‘Well, we’re sort of doing it now. Aneka’s getting put onto new hardware. Is she still going to be the same woman?’

‘A case can be made for me, but Aneka is different. The Xinti built those brain systems specifically to execute the mind emulations they created. They themselves transferred their minds between bodies and the only times there was a problem was when there was a fault in the hardware. You have nothing to worry about. Al will be different.’

‘Oh?’

‘His mind is limited by the hardware he currently executes on. He is moving to more powerful computers and will become… more intelligent, for want of a better term. He will think faster and be more capable. He may be smarter than me. He could decide I’m beneath him…’ She trailed off, sounding uncertain.

‘Cassandra, now you are being silly. You’re as smart as I am, so if Al gets up to our IQ it just means he’ll be better placed to have conversations with you. He’s not going to turn into a super-genius. Winter wouldn’t do that because he’d be next to useless for Aneka. Talking is what started your relationship. If he’s better at doing it, then you’ll have a better relationship.’

‘You think so?’

‘I think so, yes.’

The android giggled. ‘I’m supposed to be comforting you.’

‘You have. You’ve taken my mind off my worries. You’re right, it’s stupid. There’s nothing to worry about.’

‘No, but I haven’t taken your mind off it entirely.’

‘How can you tell? I know I’m pretty transparent, but you’re not even looking at me.’

‘You have not attempted to initiate sex.’

‘Oh… Are you offering?’

Cassandra shifted away, rolled over, and then came back, crawling over Ella like a prowling tiger. ‘It will take my mind off my worries, and when I’ve finished with you, you’ll sleep like a baby.’

‘Oh thank Vashma,’ Ella whispered.

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‘How’s it going?’ Ella asked, trying to keep any hint of nervousness out of her voice.

Activity had moved down to the basement now. Winter, in both her Four and Seven bodies, was busy going over several diagnostic displays, though Ella was not sure why given that all the data had to be available to her core mind. It was the brunette Number Four who responded.

‘The transfer completed forty-nine minutes ago. Checksums indicate that the copy is complete. Number Two is upstairs putting the old body into nanostasis. I’m now going through the preliminary integration checks before initiating the support systems and activating the power cell.’

‘Al will be coming online?’ Cassandra asked.

‘Not yet. These is the very low-level support systems, very basic operating systems. Al is actually a pretty high-level component.’

‘Power cell coming up,’ Number Seven stated. ‘Output is stable… Switching over to internal power.’

There was a soft hiss from within the pod and then the mask popped away from the body’s face and was lifted up toward the ceiling. Behind it was a face which looked exactly like the one Ella was used to seeing, though she still could not see its eyes. She was rather glad of that since she did not want to see them blank and staring.

‘Telemetry is all positive,’ Number Four said. ‘Let’s run through the primary and secondary test sequences…’ She looked around at Ella and Cassandra. ‘This is going to take an hour or so.’

‘We will let you work in peace,’ Cassandra said.

‘Yeah, okay,’ Ella agreed. ‘I’ll go and… design her a swimsuit.’

‘Since when does she need one of those?’ Number Seven asked.

‘I’ve done everything else,’ Ella replied sullenly.

~~~

Cassandra looked up from the console she was reading and smiled. ‘Al’s awake,’ she said, ‘and they let him connect through.’

‘Aneka?’ Ella asked. She was at another console trying to work out what she could shave out of the fabric of a one-piece without destroying its structural integrity.

‘They’re keeping her offline while they go through her systems with Al’s help. He sounds… like Al, but faster.’

‘Told you.’

‘Yes… Oh!’

‘What?!’

‘He just told me what he wants to do when we’ve got Aneka’s body up to full function. Thankfully, I don’t blush.’

‘He’s glad to be alive. It’s natural.’

‘Yes, it’s just a shock to hear him say things like that. They’ll be bringing Aneka online in the next thirty minutes. We should go over there.’

Swimsuit forgotten, Ella was on her feet and running for the door before Cassandra could stand.

~~~

The front of the pod swung out and up, but the figure within remained still and Ella’s heart began to beat a little faster as she waited. Then Aneka’s eyes snapped open and she looked out at the people waiting for her to emerge, and grinned.

Stepping clear she said, ‘You know, there should really be clouds of steam for me to step out of.’

Ella grinned; that sounded like Aneka.

‘If you’d like to get back in,’ Number Seven suggested, ‘I can arrange for some dry ice…’

‘No thanks, this’ll do.’ Aneka took a few more steps, looking a little hesitant. ‘Balance seems okay. I feel… like I did before.’ Another two steps brought her within reach of Ella. She reached out, placed her hands on Ella’s hips, and lifted. ‘Have you lost weight?’ she asked.

‘I haven’t eaten much while you were under, but I doubt it,’ Ella replied, wrapping her own arms around Aneka’s neck.

‘I must be stronger then.’

‘You are,’ Winter stated. ‘Your baseline physical strength is about twenty-five per cent higher, and you now have a very significant emergency boost. War wants to talk to you about your personal weapons, by the way. Given your increase in power, she has designed some… interesting alternatives for you.’

‘After you’ve made sure I’m me,’ Aneka replied. ‘Do I get clothes? Or are you planning to have me walk around naked for days?’

‘Nice thought,’ Ella said, ‘but if you put me down I’ll get your new outfit.’

‘New outfit?’

‘Gillian suggested I keep myself occupied. I redesigned your entire wardrobe.’

There was the now almost obligatory Ultraskin leotard. This time it was sleeveless, high-hipped, high-collared, and with a slightly matte quality which Aneka found appealing. A bolero jacket, also with a high collar and padded shoulders, made sure her breasts were on full display, and there were fingerless gloves in a dark red which matched the front panel of the jacket. There were also, however, heavy boots and real, opaque, hip-hugging trousers.

‘How long was I out?’ Aneka asked as she pulled the two-tone red-and-black jeans up her legs.

‘Twenty-six hours, seventeen minutes,’ Winter replied. ‘Why?’

‘These clothes are almost decent. I figured I’d need to have been unconscious for years before Ella put me in real clothes.’

‘Your boobs are still there for me to admire,’ Ella replied. ‘I’m happy. So, aside from “the same,” how do you feel?’

‘Well… It’s a little weird, actually. I can tell there are differences. My diagnostics were cleaner. Sharper, you know? It’s like I got a new graphics card. My in-vision displays are all… well, they’re kind of… new. It’s all a bit different, and I’ll have to get used to everything again, but I feel just like I did. Except maybe a bit more nimble. Cassandra’s quiet.’

‘She is communicating with me,’ Al replied to the implied question.

‘Ah, she’s talking to Al. He sounds clearer too. Did you boost the bandwidth between our computers, Winter?’

‘Actually, yes, and his processors are significantly more powerful.’

‘Speaking of that,’ Cassandra said, looking up, ‘do you think it’s time to show them the other thing?’

‘When Aneka and Al have acclimatised to their new environment,’ Winter replied.

‘What “other thing?”’ Aneka and Ella chorused.

‘When Aneka and Al have acclimatised to their new environment,’ Winter repeated. Her grin was just a little mischievous when she said it, however.

~~~

War’s ideas for new weapons were a little surprising, but they were proving effective. The barrels were ten millimetres across, allowing the two machine pistols, which were lighter and a little more compact than Bridget and Clara, to fire specialist ammunition, but Aneka was getting the feel for them with the standard three-millimetre needles. Given that the barrel was just a force-focussing mechanism, the size of the round was immaterial so long as it could fit the bore.

And then there was the new targeting software. The recreation block had a firing range and Aneka was sweeping through it, locking targets and taking them down as they popped up. She had always had the option of sighting through the cameras mounted on her guns, but now it seemed as though there was a new trick in her arsenal. She had not quite figured out how she was managing to concentrate so well on three things at once, but she was tracking future victims with her eyes and current ones with her guns, and it all seemed absolutely seamless.

‘We’re running new combat software,’ Aneka said silently as she danced through the simulated landscape cutting down yet another pair of targets almost before they had locked in place.

‘Target tracking has been augmented,’ Al informed her. ‘I am now better able to assist in friend-or-foe identification. You’ll notice that your combat information display is more detailed, but your perception rate is sufficiently high that you should have no trouble taking in what you need.’

A target indicator went red, indicating a friendly, and she skipped it, shifting her aim to the next one without a pause. A turn flicked her vision past where the observation room was located. War was there watching her handiwork in use, with Ella, Cassandra, and Winter watching Aneka. The two pistols spoke again as more targets appeared, and Aneka’s head turned after them to locate new aim points. Ammo was getting low; they would end the scenario soon.

Three targets popped up almost simultaneously, the middle one showing a red circle. Aneka fired off two quick bursts which shredded the outside targets and then unloaded the last few rounds from both weapons into the friendly. Flashing indicators in her combat displays told her the magazines were empty. Nodding, she turned and walked toward the exit.

‘You shot a friendly,’ Ella said, frowning at her as she walked into the observation room.

‘A lot,’ Aneka agreed.

‘But…’

‘But… This is going to sound like I don’t trust Winter, but it almost didn’t feel like it was me pulling the triggers out there. I was moving, acquiring targets, and firing like I was a combat robot. Like the software was doing the thinking for me. I wanted to know I could fuck up.’

‘So you did it on purpose?’

‘Oh yes. Now I know I can I don’t need to worry about being in control.’

‘And a worrying turn of events becomes a positive indication of Aneka’s continued normality,’ Cassandra said.

Ella smiled. ‘Uh-huh. Tomorrow we’ll start the full cognitive analysis and all that stuff, but I think the transfer worked perfectly.’

Aneka put her new pistols down on one of the consoles and nodded. ‘Yeah, but you won’t be laughing when I murder all you meatbags in your sleep tonight.’

Ella gave her her harshest frown, which was not all that harsh, and poked her in the arm with a finger. ‘Don’t even joke about that.’

‘Hey, you’re the one threatening me with “cognitive analysis tests.” I hate exams.’

~~~

Cassandra paused in the doorway of the apartment as Aneka and Ella walked in. Her brow wrinkled, and then she said, ‘I should leave you now. You’ll want this evening to…’

‘Nuh-huh,’ Ella stated, turning to direct a firm shake of the head at the android. ‘You’re staying for several, very good reasons.’

‘But…’

‘You wanted me here when Al got back,’ Ella went on, ‘and I’m not going to kick you out now. That would be mean, and I am not mean.’

‘No, you’re…’

‘We both want to find out what Aneka’s new body can do, outside of a firing range, and the two of us will be better able to test its limits.’

‘I suppose…’

Aneka had already sat down on one of the couches to pull off her boots. ‘And I want the both of you watching me as much as possible. I don’t need to sleep now, and neither do you. After Ella flakes out you’ll be watching to make sure I don’t do anything odd. And besides, it’d be nice to have someone to talk to. I mean, Al will be there, but the three of us will be more fun, especially on my first night.’

Cassandra nodded and stepped through the door, letting it close behind her. ‘You both make compelling arguments, and I don’t actually want to leave.’

‘Good,’ Aneka said. ‘Now get your dress off before I start to think you didn’t miss me.’

Cassandra stepped forward, reaching for the hem of her short dress. ‘I am getting what I believe you refer to as a feeling of déjà vu.’

‘Strange that,’ Ella replied, smiling.

~~~

Aneka lay on her side, propped up on an elbow, watching as Cassandra employed her tongue on Ella. It was, essentially, a short, prehensile limb which she was very skilled in the use of, and Ella was squirming on the end of it, back arched, face contorted in pleasure.

‘Now, that would have been a neat feature for Winter to add,’ Aneka commented silently.

‘She did enhance the musculature around your vaginal analogue,’ Al replied. ‘You’re a match for the Jenlay women now. Drake may be in for a surprise next time.’

‘Yeah, but that doesn’t help with Ella.’

‘She does not seem displeased with your new flexibility and, forgive the psychoanalysis, I think that she would see that as a step too far. She knows what you are, but your form is essentially that of a normal being of her species. If your tongue was a tentacle she might find it disquieting.’

‘She seems fine with Cassandra.’

‘Cassandra is not Human. This is a given going in. It is normal for her to have the… features she has. Humans, and Jenlay, do not have prehensile tongues.’

‘Huh. You might have a point. So, how was it for you? Did the extra bandwidth help?’

‘I believe,’ Al said, sounding rather satisfied, ‘that I detected nuances in the sensory feeds which I have never noticed before. Right up until the point where it just became a wash of bright colours. I got the impression that your new body passed this test with flying colours?’

‘Our new body,’ Aneka replied, ‘is just as responsive as the old one, maybe more so. Also, I never used to be able to put my ankles behind my neck.’

‘I am still not sure why you would want to.’

‘Honestly, neither am I, but it’s supposed to be a good thing.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever understand organics,’ Al replied with a digital sigh.

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The sun had dipped below the horizon and the long dusk had begun by the time Aneka emerged from the university building on the second day of her psychological evaluation. Not that the light seemed dim to her, her eyes were quite capable of operating very well in total darkness, but it did mean that further sunbathing was out for about fifteen days.

The final phase of testing had been a thorough scan of her memory which had taken a couple of hours. Ella, Cassandra, Winter, and Speaker had all pronounced her fit before that, but checking there were no issues with recall had been an important additional test.

‘Oh well,’ Ella said, looking up at the sky, ‘there’s still the solarium.’ Her eyes were not as efficient in the dark as Aneka’s, but they worked better in low light than normal ones.

‘True,’ Aneka replied. ‘People are going to take some time to get used to a day–night pattern like this, even with the artificial lights maintaining a standard day.’

‘Shadataga isn’t the only world with weird day lengths. Some people might find this sequence a bit short. I didn’t see natural daylight until I moved to New Earth. But, yes, most will see it as weird. So, what do we do now?’

‘We wait. In six or so days the fleet will reach Lonar.’

‘Oh,’ Ella replied.

‘Actually,’ Cassandra said from behind them, ‘now that Aneka’s situation is settled, there’s something else we can see about activating.’

Both Cassandra and Winter were standing behind them, just outside the main doors. And both of them were now wearing suspiciously mischievous grins.

~~~

There was another pod, but this one contained a man. He was tall, with firm muscle definition, hair on his chest as well as a smoothly combed-back head of thick, black hair. His eyes were closed, so their colour was undetermined, but he had strong features, a high bridge to the nose giving it a Roman look, and a firm, cleft chin. His skin was tanned and smooth, and he was naked just as Aneka had been.

‘What do you think?’ Cassandra asked, beaming at the figure behind the glass.

‘He’s… handsome,’ Aneka said. ‘Got a bit of a “Latin lover” look to him.’

‘He’s big!’ Ella commented, her eyes on his crotch.

‘He’s me,’ Al said inside Aneka’s mind. He sounded surprised.

‘You what?’ Aneka asked.

‘It was a game we played once. What would I look like if I had a body? This is what we came up with. Well, it was mostly Cassandra who came up with it, but… That is pretty much what we decided I would look like.’

‘You built a body for Al?’ Aneka asked aloud.

‘It’s a drone,’ Winter explained. ‘It is, essentially, the same as one of the avatars the other AIs use, customised to Cassandra’s specification. With the additional bandwidth and processing power Al has, he should have no difficulty in operating that body from where he is. Obviously, it needs to be within range of you, or connected through the campus network.’

‘Okay,’ Ella said. She had her professional face on; she was being the dispassionate psychologist. ‘So Al gets a body to walk around in, which is kind of neat, but I’m not sure what Cassandra gets out of this. I mean, look at him. He’s gorgeous and, well, really well hung, but you don’t experience sex the way we do, Cassandra. You said so yourself.’

‘I… decided that I should,’ Cassandra replied. ‘I’ve been working with the AIs to alter my sensory inputs and re-channel certain elements of my behavioural subroutines. I think it’s worked. You know that I don’t react to physical sex the way a Jenlay would, so you don’t stimulate me that way, but you can’t stop yourself from some intimate behaviour. When you have it has been… pleasant.’

‘We used nanobots to reconstruct her skin,’ Winter said. ‘It’s similar to Aneka’s now.’

‘I thought it felt… more real,’ Ella put in.

‘Then we had to adjust a lot of internal wiring to channel that new data into her brain, add some software patches to respond to it, and then it was a process of acclimatisation which is still ongoing. She’ll need to, um, practise. We loaded the same sensory processor software into Al’s package when we transferred him over.’

Aneka could just tell that Winter was trying hard not to laugh. She looked at the drone in the pod, her eyes drifting down its form to its hips. Then she shook her head. ‘If you break my support AI, I’m going to make you buy me a new one,’ she said.

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‘They’ve been in there for two days,’ Ella said.

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka replied. She was mostly concentrating on the data they had collected from spy drones in the Lonar system, and Ella’s ‘concerns’ were more of an amusing distraction than anything else.

‘Two days, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of them.’

‘Uh-huh.’ It looked a lot like the Herosian forces were in disarray. If the Jenlay forces were lucky they could walk in and take the system back with barely any effort.

‘They’ll wear bits out, that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Abrasion is certainly a concern,’ Aneka agreed. ‘Cassandra has internal lubricant reserves though.’

Ella blinked. ‘Oh. What kind?’

‘Water-based, or so I’m told. One of her few reasons for drinking fluids.’

‘I did not know that. But… Two days!’

‘You’re just jealous.’

‘Fucking right I am!’

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‘You’re looking happy,’ Aneka said as she let Cassandra and Al past her and into the apartment. ‘We were beginning to wonder whether you’d ever emerge.’ The robot couple were dressed in robes which suggested they had just come from the apartment they had been sharing for the last three days.

‘Eventually our batteries would have run out,’ Cassandra replied. ‘Al isn’t cosmically powered like you, and I’m still on the same power system as ever.’

‘Personally I thought you’d both need repair work,’ Ella commented from the sofa. ‘Abrasion damage.’

‘We have not,’ Al stated, ‘spent the entire time in acts of a carnal nature. We have watched three videos together and engaged in analogue communication for extended periods. Both were novel experiences, though I, like Aneka, cannot quite understand the appeal of these comedies you like, Ella.’

‘There was,’ Cassandra admitted, ‘quite a lot of sex, but we both needed to teach the new software what it was supposed to be doing.’

‘Sex for science,’ Aneka said as she sat down beside Ella. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time. You think you’re there?’

‘We spent some time comparing our responses with the data I’ve collected from you,’ Al said. ‘Three of the cybernetics AIs Cassandra worked with assisted in the analysis…’

‘You’re comparing your reactions to mine?’ Aneka asked, frowning.

‘Winter supplied additional comparison data,’ Cassandra said. ‘However, her avatars utilise organic processors which operate differently. You have an entirely electronic brain, even if it is a rather different one to ours. It was the best we could come up with to train our systems against and, uh, it seems to have worked.’

‘However,’ Al went on, ‘we wish to conduct an additional test. I’d like to borrow Ella.’

Aneka burst into a fit of laughter. ‘I can’t see her complaining,’ she said when the giggles had subsided. ‘Not for three days though. You will wear bits of her out. Love?’

Ella looked at Cassandra. ‘Sure? He is yours.’

‘And you are Aneka’s, but that has never stopped us,’ Cassandra replied, smiling. ‘Just don’t get too attached.’ Her eyes widened a little. ‘And use lubricant. I hadn’t realised I designed him quite so…’

‘Huge?’ Ella suggested as she got to her feet.

‘Use the bedroom,’ Aneka said. ‘It’s Al’s first time with a Jenlay and we don’t want performance anxiety.’ There was another reason which she was not going to mention, but Al was looking a little nervous. It was really quite amazing how the drone body reacted to the remote mind controlling it. Actually, it was hard not to think that Al had actually moved over even though he had made himself known several times over the last few days. Aneka had not mentioned this to Ella; having Ella think the two had been banging away the whole time had been amusing.

Ella gave her a grin and then took Al’s hand to lead him up the stairs to the small balcony the bedroom was accessed from. ‘Come on, hunk,’ she said. ‘I promise I’ll be gentle.’

Aneka got up and moved across to sit beside Cassandra. ‘Have you got audio protection?’ she asked. ‘I’m built to cut out loud noises, like gunshots and Ella screaming.’

‘I believe I’ll be sufficiently protected by the bedroom door,’ Cassandra replied. ‘Though… that body of Al’s does have some features Ella may find particularly stimulating.’

Aneka chuckled. Then she reached out and pulled Cassandra into her lap with no apparent effort.

‘What are you up to?’ Cassandra asked, managing a tone which said she knew.

‘Al’s getting his test…’ Aneka pulled the belt of Cassandra’s robe free and reached under the silky fabric to run her fingers over silky skin. A shudder ran through the android’s body. There would have been a similar reaction before, and to a Jenlay it would have seemed natural, but Aneka’s accelerated perceptions had always seen the millisecond delay which indicated that it was a conscious imitation of a reaction to a stimulus. That delay was gone.

There was a loud groan from above them, slightly muffled by the door, followed by, ‘Fuck! You are big. Don’t stop!’

Both Aneka and Cassandra giggled, and Aneka’s hand slid over her partner’s breast, squeezing gently at a nipple, and Cassandra’s giggling turned into a gasp.

‘I can’t tell you’re mimicking,’ Aneka said, her voice soft. ‘I could always tell before and now the reaction’s immediate.’ She squeezed harder.

‘The… ah… involuntary interruption… of air intake… for speech is a little… disconcerting.’

‘You didn’t talk to Al while he was doing things like this?’ Aneka shifted her hand down, sliding it over the android’s stomach. Cassandra’s thighs parted in anticipation.

‘Yes, but we talked mind-to-mind. It was more…’ She stopped suddenly as Aneka found her clitoris. Her body had been designed, when all was said and done, as a sex toy. Aside from the exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics which were there to please the eyes on first sight, the designers had engineered additional features meant to increase her attractiveness on a more subliminal level. Her pupils, for example, dilated more than normal when she was in her ‘aroused’ mode. It was largely subconscious, but Humans were conditioned to see that as a sign of attraction. And to make her partner feel even more like ‘The Man,’ her labia flushed more than usual, and her clitoris was designed to expand more than average.

Part of Aneka’s mind took that discovery, which had not previously impinged upon her consciousness, and decided that there were twisted bastards among the Jenlay, just as there always had been among Humans. Even as a component of a dumb sexbot, that was a distinctly dubious design feature. Clever, certainly, but you had to have a slightly odd mind to think of it.

Another part was busy thinking that this was a very useful feature for driving Cassandra insane, and she was just about to employ her new, enhanced dexterity to do just that when they heard the sound from above.

There was a delighted shriek and then, ‘Vashma’s tits! It vibrates? Oh fuck!’

And then they had to stop what they were doing for a minute or two while they giggled.

~~~

Once again wrapped in his robe, Al slumped onto the sofa beside Cassandra and gave both her and Aneka a smile. Aneka could hear the upstairs shower running; Ella was cleaning up before she came down.

‘Well,’ Aneka said, ‘she seemed to enjoy that. How was it for you?’

‘Both a physically pleasing activity,’ Al replied, ‘and a successful experiment. I utilised the same basic methodologies on Ella as I have been using on Cassandra. I got equally pleasing results. I have, of course, been observing you for a few years though not with the idea that I would need to actually do anything with the knowledge.’

Aneka gave him a grin. ‘You never know when you’ll need some little bit of information. This is why we have such a good memory. But you enjoyed it?’

‘Yes,’ Al said, almost sounding surprised. ‘Obviously I have never had the same… emotional attachment to Ella as you. She is your partner, and I have Cassandra. However, it is a delight to be able to indulge her physically. She’s so… enthusiastic. She insisted on trying to pleasure me orally.’

‘Her jaw cramped?’

‘Yes, it did, so she switched to between her breasts. She was determined to try everything she could.’

‘Bet she didn’t suggest anal.’

‘Ah… no. That would have needed a lake of lubricant. From the dishevelled look of my paramour, it would seem you have ensured she was entertained?’

‘Aneka’s analysis of my responses was most informative,’ Cassandra said. ‘Also I “came like a train.” That’s the right phrase?’

Aneka laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s it. I’m glad you’re both happy. I figure me and Al have had to wait a thousand years and go through several battles to get to this point. We deserve all the good stuff we can get now. I’ve got Ella, Al has you, it’s all good.’ She looked up at the sound of the bedroom door sliding open and grinned.

Ella was walking a little funny. She was naked aside from the towel wrapped around her head, and she was grinning like a madwoman. Halfway down the spiral staircase she said, ‘You have absolutely got to try him, Aneka. He’s like… I mean… That is some good design work, Cassandra.’ She got to the bottom and added, ‘Seriously, take him round the block a couple of times.’

Aneka and Al looked at each other, which was an odd sort of sensation in and of itself.

‘No,’ Aneka said slowly.

‘No,’ Al agreed.

‘It would be… weird.’

‘Weird. Yes.’

‘He’s like… He’s part of me.’

Ella’s eyebrows lifted; moving the one had never been a trick she could manage. ‘So is your hand,’ she said.

‘Yes… but… no,’ Aneka replied.

‘It would be weird,’ Al repeated.

‘I mean… I would,’ Aneka said, ‘but… Maybe in a while, once we’re used to being… Well, he’s still in here,’ and she tapped her chest, ‘but he’s also out there and maybe when I’m used to that we could…’

‘Just to see how it feels,’ Al suggested.

‘An experiment? Sure… yeah.’

Ella grinned, looking at Cassandra. ‘Kind of cute, isn’t it?’

‘Very. You work on her. I’ll work on him. I’m not giving up our foursomes just because Al can join in properly.’

‘Too right.’

The subjects of their plotting tried hard to sink into their respective sofas.

3.5.530 FSC.

‘It’s basically irrational, of course,’ Aneka said as she walked across the courtyard to the operations centre.

‘Clearly,’ Al replied. ‘We are separate entities and always have been.’

‘Your mind isn’t mine, even if you can hear me thinking. There’s no reason to think of it as odd…’

‘Unfortunately, irrational concerns are more difficult to dismiss than erroneous, rational ones.’

‘Yeah…’

There was silence for quite a long time, though ‘quite a long time’ was relative within the confines of their shared thought-space. Aneka had actually taken two steps before she said, ‘They’re going to keep trying to persuade us to do it until we do.’

‘Ella in particular. Cassandra has my drone to distract her. The novelty is still there. Ella has the novelty to come.’

‘Ah, but she knows if she nags too much I’ll dig my heels in. She’ll be subtle.’

‘Subtle for Ella.’

‘Yeah, that,’ Aneka replied, grimacing.

Winter and War were in the ops room, their eyes on a display of the Lonar system. The three were meeting because they were going to go over the sensor data and transmit recommendations through to the drones. When the fleet arrived, those would be transmitted to the Argus along with the latest information on the Herosian deployment. Even with the communications system the AIs had, there was a sixteen-hour transmission lag from Shadataga to Lonar, so they needed to get their message through soon.

‘The Herosians had four of the Gathor-class frigates in-system,’ War was saying as Aneka entered. ‘As surmised, they have been unable to repair them.’

‘Gathor?’ Aneka asked.

‘That was what the Herosians were calling those cloaked frigates,’ Winter supplied. ‘They were the best bits of equipment they managed to build, and the only ones they knew enough about that they might have got them functional again. We didn’t think they would, but it was possible.’

‘And the rest of their forces? I read the reports. Comms are still down and they’ve had about twenty-five per cent of their fleet make a run for it.’

War nodded. ‘They are now at a significant disadvantage, but they hold surface facilities which could be difficult to recapture.’

‘Show me,’ Aneka said.

Lonar was a nice enough world, it seemed. Or it had been until the Herosians had blown several holes in the surface. There were three main settlements, but the primary one, the one the Herosians were most heavily occupying, was based around the starport, which was fairly heavily fortified. Bombardment would not only leave the world without a functional means of landing ships, but would likely result in heavy civilian casualties.

‘It’s risky,’ Aneka said, ‘but if the Guardians are willing to try it… Send in troops to isolate the starport and set up wide-area jamming to block the sensor systems. Then they use drop pods to land a contingent of Guardians inside the port. The armour they have can stand up to more punishment and those force rifles are nasty. Believe me on this, I know. They should be able to take out the defences enough to let the Jenlay Marines in. Especially if we can figure out precise landing positions and they can hit them.’

‘That would require considerable precision,’ War said, her tone thoughtful.

‘Yeah, but these are Yrimtan’s crack troops we’re talking about here.’

Marker lights appeared on four locations on the schematic of the city, all within the central, walled off spaceport.

‘These four positions are close enough to the main gateways to be accessible,’ War said, ‘but far enough away that the goal will not be immediately obvious. I suggest we run simulations to refine them, but they appear to be the best points of ingress.’

‘Then I suggest we get on with it,’ Winter said. ‘I want this dispatched within the next eight hours.’

LV-101 Argus, 5.5.530 FSC.

Notification of their exit from warp came through as a minor footnote in the data feeds Philip Norden was processing as they approached Lonar. It did result, approximately three seconds later, in additional data feeds streaming in from an external source. These were added seamlessly to the collection of sensor readings they had been collecting for the past thirty minutes; it would not do to have the Jenlay, or most of the Jenlay, know where that additional, highly detailed, information was coming from. They believed the Argus was some sort of wonder ship, so selling them on the idea that everything was coming from the logistics and command vessel was a trivial matter of not saying anything.

There was an additional note attached to the communications which Norden flipped open with a thought and scanned. It was a suggested attack plan based on data collected a couple of days earlier, but given that the source was Aneka Jansen and Shadataga’s chief weapons expert, he decided to give it considerable attention. As far as he could tell, the up-to-date sensor data from the probes and the Argus’ sensors was indicating no major change in deployment of the Herosian troops. Subject to their reaction to the incursion, the plan appeared to be a good one. And there was the fact that the Jenlay would likely approve given that it was Guardians who would be putting themselves at the most risk.

‘Rear Admiral Thackett,’ Norden said aloud a fraction of a second after his implant had opened the communications link to other man’s ship, ‘I have identified a plan of attack which should minimise civilian casualties.’

Thackett’s face appeared, projected into Norden’s visual field. He was typical of upper-level Federation Navy officers having allowed himself to age a little while maintaining his looks. His hair had a hint of grey in it, which he felt gave him an air of authority, experience. Norden was well aware that he lacked the latter and was unsure of the former.

‘And that is?’

‘We need to eliminate the ships in orbit first. That should be relatively easy given our superiority in firepower.’

Thackett nodded. ‘Forward frigates are already engaging,’ he said.

This was impetuous and foolish without suitable backup, but nothing Norden had not expected, or noticed. He had already indicated that the Hand of God should move in to provide support.

‘With their air support gone, the Herosians will fortify the spaceport further and dig in. I will dispatch Guardian teams with broadband jamming equipment to back up your troops on the ground. Your men’s job will be to ensure the spaceport is contained and under pressure.’

‘That leaves the Herosians in charge of the starport…’

‘Until we drop Guardian assault teams in at locations I will have confirmed by then. They will open the main gates and your Marines will be able to walk straight in. My analysis of the Herosian mindset suggests capitulation if they no longer have a strong position and no way out.’

Thackett barked out a laugh. ‘That sounds like the Herosians. All right, it sounds like a plan. Let’s do it.’

Shadataga.

‘Shouldn’t we… go over to Ops or something?’ Ella suggested. She was fidgeting in her seat, nervous.

‘We won’t get telemetry through from Lonar until sixteen hours after the battle starts,’ Aneka replied calmly. ‘If they’re on schedule, that’ll be fifteen to seventeen hours from now.’

‘But…’

‘Read a book, decide you really would like to have sex, or I could take you to the gym and we can practise your judo, but there is nothing we can do before we get news through tomorrow.’

‘But…’ Ella stopped as Aneka glowered at her. ‘Okay,’ she said sullenly. ‘Let’s go to the gym. You can spot me some weights and then beat me up, and then maybe the endorphins will make me feel like some wrestling. I’ve got to do something to keep my mind off it.’

Lonar.

Watkis Mallroy was not having his best day. The combat suit the Navy had insisted he and his cameraman wore was heavy, and the helmet obscured his face too much. Worse, the Battle of Lonar was turning into a damp squib. There had been one frigate damaged taking down the orbital defences and the Herosians had retreated into the starport with its high, thick walls as soon as the troop transports had landed. Which was all good for the Jenlay forces, but it made it hard to paint this as a valiant, difficult fight to liberate the captured world.

Front Line News had landed a great exclusive when he had persuaded the Navy to let him ride along with the troops retaking the captured worlds. None of the other networks were there. Front Line would be the first with the reports and the syndication rights were going to make them all rich… Assuming, of course, that anything happened.

He pointed toward a small group of figures in armour which was not the standard combat gear the Navy used. The darker blue, tightly fitted bodysuits belonged to the Old Earth forces, the ‘Guardians.’ Mallroy had hoped he would get to film on one of their ships, but had been politely but very firmly declined. There was nothing to stop him filming them in the field, however.

Not that they seemed to be up to much. There were three of them assembling some sort of apparatus they had brought in in three parts. What it was and what it did remained a mystery, even when everything had been connected together and they stepped back, apparently satisfied with their work.

‘Gopi,’ Mallroy muttered. ‘This is going to make damn boring television.’

BC-101 Hand of God.

‘Ground teams report all jammers in place.’ The report passed through Charlene Tasker’s mind amid a dozen other indications of ship status and current deployment positions, but she latched onto it and sent out instructions to the technicians in charge of remote operating devices.

The initial activation sequence would randomly interfere with the frequencies the Herosians were using for communications. After a few minutes they would get intermittent blocking of radar. At that point the drop pods would be launched. Full jamming would kick in as the pods hit the upper atmosphere. If Norden was right, the Herosians would be panicking by then.

‘Drop pods, status?’ she asked, another thought cast into the ship’s network.

‘All pods report ready,’ came the reply.

‘Launch in two minutes, forty-six seconds.’

‘Aye, Captain.’

Tasker paused for a second and then added, ‘You people come back from this in the same number of pieces that you go down. That’s an order, but I’ll personally thank each and every one of you if you do.’

This time the ‘Aye, Captain’ was a chorus from the entire assault team.

Lonar.

‘What was that? Tell me you got that? Are they bombing the port?’

‘I got it,’ the cameraman said. ‘No explosions. Probably drop pods.’

Mallroy glared at the wall of the starport. They were dropping pods behind those walls. There was going to be fighting behind those walls. And he was on the wrong gaisu side!

~~~

Jared Warren landed smoothly on bent knees, rolled off to his right, came up to one knee already aware of the three potential targets in the open area his pod had landed in and which of those his squad mates had already tagged, and opened fire on the last of them. A Herosian in body armour was slammed backward into the wall he was standing beside as the force pulse hit him and, from the way he fell afterward, he was not getting up.

‘Clear,’ he thought.

‘All clear,’ his sergeant’s voice replied. ‘Reporting down and clear. All right, vector sixty-seven degrees, ninety-seven metres to objective. Move.’

Jared was on his feet and moving almost before the thought had processed. His in-vision displays identified an unfriendly and he shifted aim and fired on the run. Like all his teammates, he was on neural accelerators for the assault; the drugs increased the flow of data between implants and brain, heightened perceptions, and generally made you a faster, more efficient soldier. But Jared had been off the cyber drugs his fellows used for the past couple of months due to a glitch in his chip port. That had been fixed weeks ago, but the break had made him realise that he was spending half his life as a zombie. Somehow it made the effect of the accelerators seem more… well, more. He felt like he could take on the world, but most importantly he felt sharp. Really sharp.

And there was the other thing, the reason he wanted to be all he could be on this mission. The Captain had said she would thank them all personally when they got back. Ever since coming off the cyber drugs, Jared Warren had noticed a few things which he had not noticed before. There were sounds in the ship at night which had gone unnoticed, scents in the purified air which had seemed inconsequential. He had found the sensation of taking a shower, the feeling of warm rain falling on his skin, to be quite an amazing thing. And he had noticed that Captain Charley Tasker was one hell of a woman.

Of course, he conceded, as he punched a guard through a window with a force pulse, she might not have meant what he had been imagining she meant by the statement. She was, after all, their Captain and she had to maintain a degree of separation from her people. It was only sensible since she might have to send them out on missions like this one. But he could still fantasise about it, couldn’t he? Nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy. Especially when it was having no effect on his ability to hit every target he aimed at.

LV-101 Argus.

There was a squadron of fighters moving east from one of the other cities. Norden noted it and identified them as targets for the Jenlay air-superiority units to deal with. They should not present a problem.

Reports from the ground indicated that the port’s gates would be breached in five minutes, thirty-two seconds with a fifteen-second variance. The Herosians were actually putting up less of a fight than expected. He packaged this observation and dropped it into the folder of reports which would be sent back to Shadataga when this was done with. If things continued to go well, he would add a personal note congratulating Miss Jansen on her plan. The element of surprise it presented had been the key, he decided: the Herosians would not have considered doing anything like this, and he did not think the Jenlay would either. That was why it was working so well.

He had met her once, Aneka Jansen, the woman who had freed them from the yoke of Manu Dei. It had been brief, but she had seemed far different from the tyrant she had removed, despite looking very like her. She had complimented him on his ability to think on a strategic level, claiming her own talents were tactical. He would really have to point out that her capabilities were clearly broader than she thought they were.

FNb Admiral Banfry.

‘All aircraft downed, Captain,’ Judy Leeforth announced.

‘Like shooting fish in a barrel,’ Ape Gibbons replied a little sourly. ‘Any sign of anything else in the region?’

‘Sensors are clean. Then again, we didn’t see them until they got airborne. There might be something else hiding.’

‘Begin running a high-resolution tactical scan. Might as well do something useful. If nothing else it’ll catalogue the surface damage the Herosians did.’

Leeforth’s fingers flicked across a keyboard, relaying instructions to the sensor operators. ‘After New Earth, I’d have thought you’d be happy this one was easy,’ she said.

‘When it’s done I’ll be happy. Easy makes me nervous. I keep wondering when the other shoe will drop.’

‘Not today, sir,’ Leeforth replied. She sounded very confident about it. ‘Your cabin tonight?’ she added, apparently as an afterthought.

‘Assuming you’re right,’ Ape said, ‘my cabin tonight.’

Lonar.

The gates were open and the Jenlay troops were marching in as though they had saved the day. Jared watched them file past, riding armoured transports and waving their laser rifles triumphantly. It was, he thought, a little pathetic.

He turned and spotted the reporter they had been told about talking to camera with the troops as a backdrop. Whatever the man was saying was inaudible, but Jared was conscious enough of Jenlay media to suspect that he was playing up the effort the Marines had made.

Continuing his sweep, he spotted a door opening in one of the nearby buildings. A woman with two children clutching at her skirt appeared, smiling as the troops filed past. That, Jared thought, should be what the idiot with the camera should be filming. These were the people they were here to liberate. They deserved to have their story told.

Still, the position was not secure, even if the Jenlay thought it was. Jared started across the road toward the open door intent on getting them back inside, and that was when the alert flicked through his implant from one of his teammates. He could not see the gunman on the wall, but he knew exactly where he was and where he was aiming. Jared bolted for the door, the woman’s smile turning toward surprise as the dark figure with the rifle bore down on her. She let out a yelp as he pushed her back, and then he grabbed the doorframe, bracing himself a fraction of a second before the grenade smashed into his back, bounced back, and exploded.

6.5.530 FSC.

Ella’s eyes flicked open at the touch of Aneka’s fingers. For an instant she had no idea where she was as the nightmare she had been lost in dragged at her mind. Then reality reasserted itself: she was on Shadataga, not Eshebbon, and there were no monsters at the door.

‘You okay?’ Aneka asked, concern in her voice.

‘Just a nightmare.’

Aneka nodded. ‘Well… we’ve had reports coming in from the drones for the last couple of hours.’

‘Why didn’t you wake me?!’ Ella squeaked, sitting up.

‘There wasn’t much point until we knew what was happening. It was pretty much a walk-in. Very few casualties on either side. What there were were almost entirely Herosian.’

‘Almost?’

‘People get hurt in battles, Ella.’

‘Yes… I know. Well, this is good, right? We got Lonar back without too much damage.’

‘Yes, this one was easy, and War and Winter say that Marchant has been just about deserted by the Herosians, so that one should be even easier, but Beryum… It was disputed, right? Whoever is holding it seems to have decided to keep holding it.’

‘Oh. How long before the fleet gets there?’

‘It’s a thirty-nine-day flight.’

‘More waiting?’

Aneka sighed. ‘I’m afraid so.’

BC-101 Hand of God.

The last of the Guardian team responsible for the drop into Lonar Starport came into Tasker’s office in a wheelchair. He was a fairly handsome young man, though his looks were marred by the heavy bruising around the left side of his face.

‘I wasn’t sure you’d include me in this, Captain,’ Jared said as his chair wheeled him toward her desk.

‘Oh? And why is that?’

‘Well, you said to come back in one piece and I’m a bit broken.’

Jared’s medical records passed across Tasker’s vision. Three broken ribs, compound fracture of the left femur, radial fracture of the right humerus… ‘How long before you’re up and about?’

‘Techs are saying five days in this chair and another five to ten on a support exoskeleton, but I’ll be fully functional before we get to Beryum.’

‘Well,’ Tasker said, placing a small, red cylinder on the desk in front of her, ‘I think you can be forgiven for getting yourself smashed up, seeing as you did save three civilian lives at the risk of your own. That should help with the pain. Class three, difficult to get, but well worth it…’ He was looking embarrassed and she stopped, frowning. ‘Problem?’

‘I, uh, I don’t use them, Captain. There was a problem with my port and I couldn’t, and I started noticing the world was actually better without, and…’

Tasker picked up the cyber-drug slug and dropped it into her desk drawer. Then she leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers and narrowing her eyes at him.

‘You present me with a problem, Mister Warren,’ she said.

‘Sorry, Captain.’

‘At least it’s a pleasant problem and not the usual kind. All the reports from the mission indicated you performed well. Actually, above average for your squad. You saved three people’s lives. But the reward I had planned is not a reward. We’re recommending you for a medal, but that seems distinctly impersonal. Ten to fifteen days…’

‘Sorry?’

‘When you’re cleared for active duty, I want you to report to my quarters and we’ll see whether I can’t reward you some other way.’ She knew she had hit the nail on the head when his cheeks flushed. It was only fair: to the victor go the spoils, and he had been quite the victor down on Lonar. ‘Get lots of rest,’ she advised him. ‘You’ll need it.’

Lonar, 21.5.530 FSC.

Midshipman Barnes Dolan was of the opinion that the victors of the Second Battle of Lonar should not be tasked with clerical work, especially when it was making sure the bodies of the Herosians on ice in Lonar City’s hospital morgue were catalogued. It was something to do with the Federation Articles of War, and even if the Federation no longer really existed, his superiors had decided that the rules had to be followed. So here he was taking scans of Herosians, though they all looked the same as far as he was concerned, and checking for identification or, failing that, identifying marks.

Dolan was not sure how you could tell, but he had been assured he could put down ‘gender: male’ for all of them. Herosian women did not fight, and they were highly unlikely to have moved out to a contested world this soon after its capture. If they had they would have been shipped back home again when their technology started breaking. So, Dolan put down ‘male’ in the gender box for his current subject.

Actually, this one probably was. He was a beefy specimen, for a Herosian anyway, with a lot of heavy muscle in the upper body. Dolan wondered if that meant he got females, though from the little he knew of Herosian society, the fact that this one was here suggested not. He did have some neat jewellery: golden bands of metal were stretched around his biceps.

Dolan looked at them. Gold. It might not have helped this guy get the girls, but it might help Dolan to and it was certainly not helping anyone now…

The Midshipman shrugged and began easing one of the bands down the corpse’s arm. To the victors go the spoils, right?

Part Two: The Sound of Trumpets

Shadataga, 9.7.530 FSC.

‘There’s no way around it, they’re dug in like ticks.’ Aneka squeezed the bridge of her nose and then wondered why, given that her body did not ever suffer from fatigue. ‘The only way this is going to happen is hand-to-hand fighting through the mines.’

‘A narcotic gas pumped through the ventilation system…’ War began.

‘Would be an excellent solution,’ Winter interrupted, ‘if they had one. And they would need a lot of it, and even then there would be a need to go in to visually confirm that the Herosians were down.’ She sighed. ‘Aneka is right. There is no clever strategy which can solve this problem, and no technological solution we can bring to bear in time.’

‘Why has this place held out?’ Aneka asked. ‘Lonar was easy, Marchant was almost deserted. How come Beryum is being held onto?’

‘The clan which took it, the T’Shanthis, have gone through a bad patch in both politics and commerce. They were lucky to get the chance to take Beryum, and they have no intention of letting it slip from them. Of course, they don’t realise that more or less every clan out there is having a “bad hair day” at the moment.’

Aneka raised an eyebrow. ‘Bad hair day?’

‘I always felt it was a very descriptive phrase. You know it looks wrong, strands keep falling in your eyes and annoying you…’

‘My sister spent a lot of time studying Earth culture,’ War said. ‘Perhaps a little too much, but it was her purpose.’

‘I don’t hear you quoting…’ Aneka said.

‘Actually,’ War went on, ‘I was always rather fond of your Albert Einstein. “I know not what weapons the next war will be fought with, but the one after will be fought with sticks and stones.” Wrong, as it turned out, but only by degree.’

Aneka gave a cough. ‘So I guess we just get the probes to update the Argus on the latest Herosian deployment and hope for the best?’

‘Unfortunately, yes. At this distance it’ll take over a day for the message to get there. I’ll send the orders now.’

‘There is another matter I wanted your opinion on,’ Winter said, her brow furrowed. ‘Have you been reading the reports coming in from my New Earth avatars?’

‘Not all of them. You’ve got a super-computer to run on, I have to make do with less expansive equipment.’

‘I understood we made your breasts larger,’ War said, confused, and then added, ‘Sorry, I was distracted for a second,’ when she realised what they were talking about.

Aneka bit her lips.

Winter shook her head and went on. ‘There is a discrepancy in the media reports of both Lonar and Marchant compared to the data we have collected ourselves. Norden indicated approximately eleven hundred Herosian prisoners taken on Lonar. The number being reported from New Earth is closer to six hundred. There were no reporters with the fleet on Marchant, but the official news reports indicate that a battleship and three cruisers were destroyed retaking the planet.’

‘There were two frigates and a cargo ship!’

‘It seems someone is overplaying the resistance the Herosians are presenting. There was a disabled Gathor frigate at Marchant as well. That was taken aboard a transport vessel the Dokar forces brought along and has now left the system.’

‘Someone wants the tech. I guess they would… Do we know who “they” are?’

‘Currently, no. Someone in the Jenlay infrastructure. The Navy seems most likely.’

‘Huh. Well, if they’re trying to play up the Herosians as a current threat rather than a past one, Beryum is going to be a help.’

‘Unfortunately, it will.’

LV-101 Argus, 11.7.530 FSC.

‘Any clever plans for this one?’ Thackett had obviously seen enough of the data coming in through the Argus to know it was not going to be as easy as Beryum had been.

‘No, Rear Admiral,’ Norden replied. ‘Not unless an unforeseen opening presents itself. Their orbital forces are not especially strong, but they are well fortified in underground positions. Heavy bombardment will result in excessive civilian casualties. We need to secure orbital and air superiority, and then it’s a matter for the ground troops.’

‘Old fashioned war then. Let’s get on with it.’

Norden watched as ship deployment orders came through from the Admiral Goroy, the battleship Thackett was using as his command post. The attack pattern was conservative, but acceptable. Two squadrons were dispatched on a flanking posture, and the remainder would go in direct. Norden might have employed more aggressive tactics under the circumstances, but he could not especially fault the Rear Admiral; every commander had his preferred methodologies. Though…

The strategist shook his head and focussed on the task at hand. Thackett had lost a frigate going in early against a weaker force at Lonar. Perhaps he was simply learning from his mistakes.

Beryum.

Mizzy lay huddled in her blanket trying to warm herself up after washing with water that was barely above freezing. At least they had been given beds. They were metal-framed and the mattresses were thin, but they kept them off the ground. Deena had said it was probably to stop so many of them getting sick and there had been fewer people having to be taken out to the hospital in the last couple of weeks.

Deena had had a cough for the last month, and Mizzy had caught it a week later. Neither had said anything to the guards because sometimes the people who left the cave did not come back. Mizzy’s cough was not getting better, and she knew Deena was worried about it, so she tried very hard not to cough, but it was difficult when she was cold.

The bed moved. ‘Something’s happening,’ Deena whispered from outside the blankets. ‘The guards are running about.’

Mizzy pulled the blankets back and looked up at the older girl. ‘Is someone coming?’

Deena reached out a hand and stroked the little blonde’s hair. ‘I don’t know, hun. Just be ready.’

‘What for?’

‘Anything.’

BC-101 Hand of God.

The primary beam, a one-hundred-gigajoule gamma-ray laser, sliced through the hull of its target. Fuel tanks exploded and the ruined frigate began a lazy tumble. The Hand’s computers projected a deorbit over the southern pole in six hours. Tasker made a note to send a shuttle out to check for survivors.

‘Hand of God reporting last Herosian vessel down,’ she said aloud for the benefit of the Jenlay contingent.

‘Prepare for ground invasion,’ Thackett’s voice said. ‘Anti-aircraft fire to begin on my mark.’

‘We’re getting radio transmissions from the surface.’ Tasker did not recognise the voice, but it came from one of the Jenlay ships. ‘Repeated statement that they will take extreme measures if we don’t withdraw.’

A flurry of thoughts passed across the Hand’s internal network. Ground batteries below were opening fire. There were three squadrons of fighters in the air, more preparing for launch. Point defence fire was being initiated from all Old Earth vessels. No one could detect the transmissions the Jenlay ship was reporting.

‘Open fire,’ Thackett ordered.

Tasker’s visuals showed missile tracks heading for the airborne craft below. Seventeen seconds to interception. Point defence had taken out the ones coming up…

‘Continued radio traffic,’ the same voice reported. ‘They demand we back off.’

‘Or what?’ Thackett growled. ‘They’re going to shout at us harder?’

Missile detonations. Sixty-one per cent estimated kill rate. Tasker dispatched an order to her ground force leaders indicating they should prepare for launch. And then chaos consumed the fleet’s communications.

‘Detonations,’ someone reported.

‘Two detonations. Nuclear!’

Figures flashed across Tasker’s field of vision. Two nuclear detonations a couple of kilometres outside the city. Estimated yield twenty-five kilotonnes. More precise locations appeared. The mines…

Beryum.

When the cavern began to shake, Deena grabbed Mizzy from the bed and pushed her under the frame.

‘Stay there,’ the lanky girl said.

‘What about you?’ Mizzy called back as Deena turned away.

‘Have to get the others under cover.’

Mizzy curled into a tight ball as she heard small rocks hitting the floor of the cavern. She was not sure exactly what was going on, but she was sure it was not good and that she wanted Deena in with her, under cover, and away from the falling ceiling.

There was another sound, deeper and more resonant, from somewhere above them. It sounded a bit like the explosions Mizzy had heard when the Herosians had first come, but it went on for longer and it had to be louder because of all the rock above their heads.

Screaming started as something big hit the floor of the cavern. One of the voices sounded like Deena.

Mizzy’s screams joined the others as something heavy slammed into her bed, buckling the frame.

LV-101 Argus.

Norden was momentarily stunned. None of his simulations, none of his research, had indicated that the Herosians would commit suicide rather than allow the planet to fall into Jenlay hands. But there it was. Two warheads had been detonated near the mining facilities.

The data was indicating surface blasts. Nuclear mines or standalone devices. Had one of the anti-aircraft missiles triggered them? But, no, the delay was too significant. It seemed that they had been a response to the continued attack. There had been the reports of radio broadcasts…

Analysis would have to wait. The surface damage was significant and there would be extensive disruption of the mine tunnels. It was known that civilians were working in the mines and hostages were being held down there. Radioactive fallout was already dispersing across a wide area. The city was likely safe; it was domed due to the cold, thinly oxygenated atmosphere. Data was still lacking detail after the explosions, but the dome seemed intact.

‘All teams switch to hazard suits,’ Thackett was ordering. ‘I want men on the ground in less than thirty minutes! Vashma damn them! What were they thinking?’

Norden said nothing in reply. He was busy coordinating the launch of drop ships to the planet’s surface. There were still going to be Herosians down there, and it seemed they were far more desperate than had been estimated. The fight was far from over, and it was going to be hard.

Shadataga, 12.7.530 FSC.

‘I’m… not sure I believe what I’m seeing,’ Gillian stated.

Ella was just staring, wide-eyed, at the operations room display. Most of the others were watching in silence. Aneka had closed her eyes, but she was still getting raw data displayed behind her eyelids, which seemed to soften the impact a little, but still managed to get across the probable level of destruction.

‘This is not a normal reaction for Herosians,’ Evolution stated. ‘Summer was the real expert on their behaviour, and I’m not sure all his reports can be classed as impartial, but no reading of their mindset I have suggests this kind of action under these circumstances.’

Winter was nodding. ‘I think we need to go over the sensor records for the period before the detonations.’

‘All those people…’ Ella whispered.

Aneka opened her eyes and wrapped an arm around Ella’s shoulders. ‘There’s nothing we can do for them, love,’ she said. ‘It’s up to the people out there.’

‘I know,’ Ella replied. ‘It’s just… I can’t watch this. Not when I can’t do anything.’

Nodding, Aneka steered her out toward the door. The data feeds continued in her mind, detailing the devastation on Beryum. There was nothing she could do either, but she felt she had to watch. Something about all of it felt wrong and she wanted to know what.

Beryum.

Jared edged through the wreckage-strewn interior of the building on alert. His suit’s sensors were watching for the data transmitters the Jenlay had embedded in them, but he was not getting much luck with that. The Herosians had, of course, had theirs deactivated, otherwise spotting the remaining aliens would have been a lot easier and Jared would not have been on such high alert.

Except it felt like a waste of effort. The Jenlay commanders were insisting that there were still Herosians hiding out in the buildings, but none of the Guardian squads had encountered them. There were bodies, plenty of those, but nothing on its feet.

It was better than being on the mine clearance operation, however, so he was not exactly unhappy about being dispatched to the city. The Argus’ factory facilities had been used to build equipment to clear fallen rock. Largely that had come down to microbots built for digging. The tiny robots could shift tonnes of dirt, shoring up as they went, far more safely than traditional tunnelling mechanisms, but it still took time. Since it was going to be hours before they could move into the mines, spare troops had been moved up to the city.

Not that they had seemed welcome. The Jenlay had appeared reluctant to let them in, and they had been assigned to clearing habitation blocks which, as best as Jared could tell anyway, had already been cleared.

A flash from his HUD caught his attention and he turned into an apartment on his right. His suit had picked up an identity transponder and was decrypting the bio-monitor readouts as he narrowed in on it. Low blood pressure, thready, weak pulse, but whoever it was they were alive. He found her as a name flashed past: Tuft, Donna. She was lying in a pool of blood, but not all of it was hers. Beside her lay a dead Herosian in combat gear, killed by a laser hit to the side of the head. Someone had killed the Herosian and not noticed the woman?

Jared sent out a request for immediate medical assistance to his location and a notification to the rest of his squad that he had a survivor he was securing. Then he checked the rest of the apartment, but there were no more aliens, and no sign of any real conflict aside from the two casualties.

It was as the medics were arriving that Jared realised that there was also nothing in the way of weapons in the room.

13.7.530 FSC.

Ape Gibbons watched as bodies were carried out of the mine. He had insisted on coming down to the planet, despite the protestations of his XO and Thackett who seemed to think that surface activities were none of his concern. So he was down on the planet and regretting every moment of it.

It was also why Leeforth was standing nearby in full Marine armour and carrying a rifle which looked large against her slim frame. She handled it like a pro, however. She was an ex-Marine, so she was a pro, but her talents were not really needed.

‘You sure you need to see this?’ Leeforth asked over the direct radio connection they had set up.

‘Yes,’ Ape replied. ‘I need to see this.’

‘It’s not like this is our fault, and the Guardians have this covered.’

There was silence for a second as a stretcher with a rather small body on it was carried out.

‘Something doesn’t feel right about the way this happened,’ Ape said, and then moved toward a figure walking out of the tunnel the microbots had carved. He switched his suit to external speaker. ‘Captain Tasker, you’re finding hostages?’

‘We’re finding bodies,’ Tasker replied sourly. ‘The explosions brought the roof down across half the mine. We’re hoping to find some people alive deeper in the tunnels, but… Kids, Ape… They were children.’

‘Yes… we need to talk, somewhere private.’

‘The Hand? Meet me up there.’

Ape nodded, turning on his heel. ‘Judy, let’s go. We’ve a meeting to attend.’

Shadataga.

‘We’ve been through every scrap of sensor data we have, several times,’ Winter said. ‘None of our systems picked up any radio traffic of the kind reported by this frigate.’

‘That… seems odd,’ Aneka said.

‘But inconclusive. The frigate was in a low orbit. It could have picked something up we could not.’

‘Your message suggested that your findings were more… more of an issue than that.’

‘Yes… You read the end of mystery novels first, don’t you?’

‘No! I just… like getting to the point.’

Winter’s lips twitched. ‘The nuclear detonations happened more or less immediately after the interception of ground battery fire and the elimination of a large number of fighters. None of the Navy’s missiles appeared to be in the area of the detonations. It would appear that the Herosians did, indeed, set off nuclear charges themselves.’

‘Except,’ War put in, ‘that the explosions were low-altitude air bursts. One at about seventy-five metres, the other at fifty. Not high, but higher than any of the buildings in the area.’

‘But none of the missiles got that low,’ Aneka said, her eyes on the tracks of every weapon that had dropped down from the ships in orbit.

‘That ignores this anomaly.’ The display retraced its steps to before the missile were launched and rotated, swinging around to show them the far side of the planet where a lone frigate was low in the atmosphere. There were heat markers showing on its forward hull. ‘We detected this ship launching missiles forty-seven seconds before the barrage begins. There are no tracks after five seconds, indicating that the weapons launched dropped into a terrain-following mode. Given probable velocity and compensating for terrain…’

‘That thing launched the nukes,’ Aneka finished. ‘Why?’

‘That,’ Winter said, ‘is a very good question.’

BC-101 Hand of God.

‘We detected nothing from any surface radio station,’ Tasker stated, ‘but the frigate doing the reporting was in a low orbit and radio is…’

‘Unreliable when there are missiles flying about?’ Leeforth suggested.

‘Among other things. There was a fair level of jamming going on.’

‘If I were being suspicious,’ Ape said, ‘jamming like that would make it uncertain whether such a transmission had been made.’

‘That possibility has not gone unnoticed,’ Tasker said slowly. ‘Norden has been running a number of lines of analysis to determine exactly what happened during the battle.’

‘You know…’ Leeforth said. ‘We are spinning some sort of conspiracy theory here.’

‘Yes,’ Ape replied. ‘Which is pretty crazy really…’

Shadataga.

‘The news networks all across the Federation are buzzing with anti-Herosian sentiment,’ Winter said. ‘There’s some hints of resentment for the Torem attitude to the war, but it’s subtle at the moment. The main push is anger toward the Herosians.’

‘Have the reports from Beryum reached New Earth yet?’ Aneka asked.

‘No, but they have reached Dokar. The reaction has been inflammatory, spurred on by some spin from this Front Line News network.’

‘I met their lead reporter. He’s an arsehole.’

‘He seems to have an eye for finding the right line to take to maximise his audience. There is no evidence that he’s working for anyone official, but his position within the fleet allows him to get footage others would not, and this clearly rides on portraying the Navy in the best light. And there is the matter of the video from Marchant…’

‘Where there was apparently a lot of fighting, despite there being no one to fight.’

‘Analysis of the footage was made difficult by the apparent source,’ War said. ‘Most of the video comes from suit camera feeds. The resolution was low and there are a lot of digitisation artefacts. However, we managed to find certain faults in some of the stills which indicate that at least some of the material was manufactured.’

Aneka looked between the two AIs. ‘You, uh, realise we’re talking about some sort of conspiracy to keep the war going?’

‘Yes,’ Winter replied. ‘Why is that difficult to accept?’

BC-101 Hand of God.

‘Is it that crazy?’ Tasker said. ‘How much business is there in war?’

‘You think someone would try to keep the war running for the money?’ Leeforth asked.

‘Money has always been a rather strong motivator for action,’ Ape replied. ‘The Herosians have always believed in it. And with the Herosians in utter disarray, the Navy can walk in and take over without trouble.’

‘Especially with our forces backing it,’ Tasker added.

‘But it’s circumstantial,’ Ape went on. ‘There’s nothing here we can prove a conspiracy with.’

‘True. And we’re basically military.’ Tasker sighed. ‘This is something for the politicians to deal with.’

Shadataga.

‘We need more information. It’s too circumstantial.’ Aneka’s eyes moved back to the displays. ‘Even that missile launch doesn’t actually prove the nukes came from a Jenlay ship.’

‘I agree,’ Winter replied, nodding. ‘I’m convinced there’s something wrong, but we’re going to need more. And we need to know who is behind this. With the Herosians we were fairly sure it was a few clans, possibly only a military element. Here…’

‘The planning for this will have begun recently,’ War said. ‘Someone is grasping an opportunity. We need to get Speaker involved more closely. Begin running projections of likely candidates. We will need more information.’

‘That is already in progress. My avatars on New Earth are prioritising collection of data on this subject.’

Aneka got to her feet and started for the door. ‘The bit I always hated about wars is the waiting. Then again, I’m not especially fond of the flying lead either, but at least then something’s happening.’

~~~

Of the Jenlay on Shadataga only Drake seemed to take the news that the Navy might have been responsible for the nukes on Beryum calmly. Even Bashford, who was not the least cynical of men, and Gillian, who seemed well aware that people could be back-stabbing bastards, seemed like they would take some convincing. Drake, however, nodded after Aneka had told them what the AIs had found.

‘I wouldn’t put it past them,’ he stated flatly.

‘Nuking our own people?’ Monkey said. ‘Dad may be many things, but…’

‘Not everyone in the Navy is like your father. Ape and I may not see eye-to-eye on everything all the time, but he came up through the ranks, worked to get where he is. The same cannot be said for a lot of those who outrank him.’

‘But…’

‘David,’ Aneka said, ‘if that frigate did launch those missiles, someone made sure that it would be out on the other side of the planet where they thought no one would see it. If the footage from Marchant was faked, we can assume they could edit the records to remove the launches if they wanted, so they did not want anyone knowing what happened. That implies that most of the forces at Beryum didn’t know about this plan, and they probably still don’t. Damn it, your father arrested me when I first arrived and even I don’t think he’d agree to something like this!’

‘So we’re talking about a rogue element in the Navy?’ Ella suggested. ‘Just as the Herosians suggested before war broke out.’

‘Exactly like,’ Gillian replied. ‘Because there had to be political backing for their activities, and that goes double for this. I just hope Senator Elroy isn’t at the top of the tree.’

High Yorkbridge, New Earth, 14.7.530 FSC.

‘Most of the fleet is shipping out today,’ Truelove said. ‘The hospital facilities on Beryum were badly damaged. The only hope some of the injured have is Dokar. From the reports I’ve been seeing, some of them will need to be put into cold sleep and brought back here.’

Jackson Elroy rubbed at the bridge of his nose and nodded. He looked, Truelove thought, older than he had before all this had started. He had lost friends, some of them very close friends, and there had been nothing he could really do to stop that from happening. His home city had been damaged when the Herosians attacked. His home was a parking lot. It had taken its toll.

‘I am still,’ he said, his voice soft, ‘having some difficulty in believing that the Herosians detonated nuclear weapons in some sort of… vengeance strike.’

‘It is difficult to believe, sir.’

‘Has the Agency come to any conclusions?’

Truelove considered her answer for a second. It was long enough for Elroy to look up at her. ‘The Agency has concluded that everything happened the way Rear Admiral Thackett’s report indicates it did, sir,’ she said carefully.

‘I see.’ He lowered his eyes. ‘I’m concerned about the media spin at the moment. There seems to be some effort to demonise the Herosians. I admit to some animosity toward them myself, but this seems like… rabble-rousing.’

‘Yes, sir. Unfortunately, were you to direct your efforts toward negating that currently, the results would be unsure and may well result in a drop in your popularity.’

‘Huh. There are elections at the end of this month…’

Truelove nodded. ‘Your best course of action would be visible support for less militant candidates. They are more likely to have viable policies so it will appear that you are simply supporting them on that basis.’

Elroy managed a slight smile. ‘You have an astute eye for politics, Agent Truelove.’

‘I get very good advice, sir,’ Truelove replied.

Tristar Township.

‘What is your assessment of our bereaved Senator?’ The person doing the questioning did not look like she should be phrasing it the way she was. She looked to be in her teens, and was dressed in a pair of indecently tiny shorts and a cropped top made of fishnet. Truelove always had a little trouble dealing with Winter’s Number Nine avatar, but she struggled on.

‘I think he’s genuine. I don’t think he knows anything about this plot, if it exists.’

‘Something is… rotten in the State of Denmark,’ Winter replied.

‘Sorry?’

The teenager smiled. ‘An old, old quote, from a playwright named Shakespeare. There is something going on, something unsettling. If Elroy is not involved, and the man I knew would not be, then someone else is. My disquiet comes from the stress he’s been under. What has happened to him recently might have changed him.’

‘Not like that.’ Truelove looked around at her bodyguard and lover. ‘Justine? You’ve got Winter’s brain and you’ve been with me when I’ve talked to him…’

‘I think he wants this over with,’ Justine replied. ‘He wants things back to some form of normalcy, the sooner the better. And I think he’s worried it’s not going to happen fast enough for him.’

Winter glowered at the floor. ‘I think he’s right.’

Shadataga, 1.8.530 FSC.

‘I’m getting upgraded too,’ Ella said, bouncing into the apartment.

Aneka peered at her. ‘I like your body organic. Mostly organic anyway.’

Ella grinned. ‘You say the sweetest things. It’s the inorganic bits I’m having upgraded. I spoke to some of the technical AIs and Winter, and they can swap my computer implant out for the shiny new ones everyone else has, and my eyes… Oh you should see the specs on the eyes!’

Aneka grinned at her. ‘Good as mine?’

‘Except I decided to keep the magnification rather than going for telescopic. I’ll be able to see all the pretty colours you can.’

‘Be careful of that. Make sure the computer can do an overlay for the wide-spectrum stuff, because if you just see everything it’ll give you a migraine. How long will you be out of action?’

‘A few hours. It’s all nanotech morphy stuff. We’re doing it tomorrow.’

‘That quick? Have to love the future. And I’m sure I can think of something to occupy myself for a few hours.’

2.8.530 FSC.

Gillian was sitting in the darkness on one of the chairs beside the pool outside her apartment, staring into space. In reality she was examining the results from the Representative appointments which had happened on New Earth the day before. She was not happy.

‘You’ve seen the election results then?’ Aneka asked as she walked up to sit down beside the archaeologist. Ella was in not-really-surgery and, actually, she had nothing much to do.

‘I’m seeing them. Twenty open positions, eighteen filled by candidates who were in the Navy. Sixteen of those have… Let’s just say they aren’t pro-Herosian.’

‘Speaker says it’s a significant shift in the balance of the government.’

‘It is. Worse, it indicates that the media campaign pushing for further action against the Herosians is working.’

‘I didn’t doubt it would. The results from some of the other worlds aren’t much better.’

‘Several lost Senators when Obati was destroyed. Even though the war affected them little, they feel like it did. This will make it very hard for Elroy to keep a lid on things. There will be pressure to attack the Herosians while we have the Old Earth forces available and the Herosian communications network is down.’

‘Well, Abby won’t stand for their ships being used in any form of retributive attack.’

Gillian nodded. ‘That may slow them down, but I think that it won’t stop them.’

‘No,’ Aneka agreed. ‘They’ve heard the sound of trumpets and they like it.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘It’s a quotation, sort of. Voltaire. “It is forbidden to kill. Therefore murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”’

‘Oh. Voltaire didn’t like war much then?’

‘Don’t know. Sounds like it. But there’s another one. Hemmingway.’ Aneka got up and turned toward the buildings. ‘It goes, “There is no hunting like the hunting of men, and those who have hunted armed men long enough, and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.” That’s the one I have to worry about.’ And with that, she walked away.

Tristar Township, New Earth.

‘This is bad, isn’t it?’ Janna said, her eyes on the wall screen. ‘I mean… People are really fired up about hitting back at the Herosians.’

Sharissa wrapped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Yes, they are, but rattling sabres don’t have to end up with clashing ones.’

‘It isn’t sabres I’m worried about. It’s nuclear missiles.’

‘I don’t think you need worry about those too much,’ Winter said as she walked in, or her Number Eight body walked in. Janna liked that one, especially the large breasts and long, scarlet hair, so the effect was immediately calming. ‘I have found an interesting fact, however.’

Truelove, who had been sitting watching the news with a slightly more resigned expression on her face, looked up. ‘Oh?’

‘Our recent appointees to the Representatives’ Council all belong to the same club.’

‘A… club?’

‘The Gobari Club. It has a lot of ex-Navy people in it. They have a couple of huge holographic tanks and they like to replay old battles, and some made up ones, to see if they could do better.’

‘A war-gaming club,’ Sharissa put in.

Winter walked over to the sofas and settled herself down beside Janna, flashing Sharissa a quick grin as the elder Narrows seemed to relax even more; you could always count on Janna’s libido to reduce her anxiety.

‘Basically,’ Winter went on, ‘that seems to be accurate. Jason Pierce is a member.’

‘He’s mentioned “The Club” several times,’ Truelove said. ‘Never the name. It’s named for the military strategist?’

‘Yes. Rather a serious man, very little sense of humour, but he did adapt Sun Tzu well for space conflict. Not that he credited the original author. The members of the club have, of course, “improved” upon his work over time…’

‘Which is why it took an Old Earth tactician to win the battle here for us?’ Sharissa asked.

‘Admiral Farmer was also a member,’ Winter replied. ‘I have no way of knowing where his tactics came from. My analysis suggests that he paid little attention to his strategy courses at all. Thackett, the man in charge of the recapture operations, has a better grasp of the techniques. A slightly better grasp.’

‘He has the “all war is deception” part down if what you’re suggesting is correct.’

‘And it appears,’ Winter said sourly, ‘that he is not the only one.’

Shadataga, 7.8.530 FSC.

‘The fleet arrived at Dokar yesterday,’ War stated, waving a hand at the display table that was showing a huge number of dots floating around a planet which seemed to have a lot of orbital stations around it anyway. ‘The Hand of God dropped off a few patients for the local medical facilities, and then left for New Earth. They have the most seriously injured people aboard and are taking them for treatment there.’

‘We received a message from Captain Tasker,’ Winter went on. ‘She indicates that they believe the nuclear explosions on Beryum were not the result of Herosian action. She further stated that Captain Gibbons is worried about the same thing.’

‘I knew he wouldn’t be in on this,’ Monkey muttered.

‘They have been triaging patients,’ War went on. ‘The plan is to continue to New Earth with those who need more extensive treatment than Dokar can provide. By our estimate, the Hand will reach New Earth in twenty-four days. The rest of the fleet is likely to leave tomorrow, arriving on the twenty-sixth of next month.’

‘I need to be there,’ Abby said, sounding resigned. ‘This is going to blow up and I need to be there.’

‘If we leave tomorrow,’ Drake said, ‘it’ll be… the thirteenth of the ninth. The Hand will have arrived, but we’ll be there before the rest of them.’

‘We need to go back anyway,’ Gillian said. ‘I’m sure we all have things we would like to bring back here. I should do something about my house. We should officially resign from the university, if there’s an administrative body left to give our resignations to.’

‘We’ll start prepping the Hyde,’ Drake said.

‘Aneka,’ War said, as everyone started to leave, ‘if you’re leaving, I think there are some things you should be acquainted with.’

Aneka looked at the Amazon-like figure, her brow furrowing. If War wanted to show her something, it was likely to be explosive.

~~~

War placed a heavy, metal case on the table and pointed to it. ‘It’s keyed to you,’ she said.

Inside was a lot of foamed padding with what looked a lot like magazines for her new pistols in it, but the rounds were a lot larger than the needles it usually fired. Aneka pulled one out and examined it. Stencilled onto the case was the word ‘Plasma.’

‘A plasma warhead?’ Aneka asked. ‘From a pistol? From one of my pistols?’

‘Your weapons can fire these, yes. You get five rounds per magazine instead of five hundred, but they have utility under specific circumstances. There are short-range radio jamming rounds, more use for distraction than anything else. High-explosive, smart-forged warheads for anti-armour work. And there is this.’ She pulled one of the magazines out. The underside of it was painted red, which seemed like a bad sign, and the bullets themselves looked a little different. ‘These have a range of five thousand metres, multi-spectral passive homing, and a small reactionless pulse drive powers them after launch.’

‘The normal rounds cap out about fifteen hundred,’ Aneka commented.

‘These need the extra range. The warhead is one hundred nanograms of antimatter.’

Aneka blinked. ‘What the fuck am I going to need that for?’

‘I don’t know,’ War replied. ‘I built them for the situation I can’t think of where you would.’

~~~

‘What’s the loadout?’ Aneka asked as she fell into step beside Drake.

‘Five defence drones, five transport,’ the Captain replied. ‘We’re not there for science, but I… don’t want to take that ship to New Earth without some weaponry on board. We’re taking Gwy too.’

‘I heard. She made a point of messaging me to indicate that she was glad you had said she was to be aboard since she felt arguing about it would have made her seem… presumptuous.’

Drake chuckled. ‘She can carry cargo up to the Hyde if nothing else. Personally, I don’t want to think we’ll need any of the weaponry we’re taking along, but…’

‘Yeah,’ Aneka said, ‘I can hear the trumpets too.’

Part Three: The Army of Sheep

Amethyst Hyde, 30.8.530 FSC.

Aneka had one of her pistols in pieces on the table in their cabin. Ella watched her examining each component before carefully placing it with the others. She had been doing it for thirty minutes.

‘In case you’re wondering,’ Aneka said just as Ella opened her mouth, ‘I wanted to know what the insides look like in a nice, calm environment, in case I have to strip it down in a less calm one.’

‘Oh… That makes sense, I suppose.’

‘Also, it occupies my mind quite thoroughly and stops me thinking about what’s going to happen when we get to New Earth. Occupying my mind is getting harder than it used to and this is very detailed work.’

‘I know the feeling, and I didn’t get my whole mind upgraded. Do you think it’ll be bad?’

Aneka sighed and began to reassemble her pistol. ‘The Xinti military, the Warrior caste, was sidelined for centuries because there was no one to fight. When they finally got to see battle again, they liked it so much they started a war which ended up destroying them. Japan before the war… It’s not quite the same, but they had a concept of militarising the whole of society. Once they had what they saw as an effective army, they had to go do something with it. I think the same sort of thing is happening with the Jenlay. The military is feeling its oats, people can see profit, and they think they have the upper hand when it comes to the Herosians.’

‘So… bad.’

‘Probably. Let me get this finished and I’ll take your mind off it. In the meantime, just remember that Dillon has a new back and he’s bound to want to try it out.’

Ella smiled. ‘Oh, yeah… That’s something to look forward to.’

Aneka smiled back. But she could tell Ella was forcing it.

BC-101 Hand of God.

‘BC One-zero-one Hand of God to New Earth Control.’ Tasker listened to the communications officer attempting to contact flight control. He had tried twice and got no immediate response. That was a little odd.

‘Hand of God, this is New Earth Control. We’ve been expecting you. Please proceed to Corax orbit.’

Tasker flashed her orders to her subordinate as a text message and he responded. ‘New Earth Control, we have seriously injured civilians aboard, they need…’

‘An orbital reception and treatment facility has been constructed for your arrival, Hand of God. Please proceed to Corax orbit for docking and patient transfer.’

The ship’s course adjusted smoothly to the new heading as the comms officer replied, ‘New Earth Control, acknowledged. Hand of God out.’

Tasker sat back in her chair and frowned. It made enough sense that she was not going to argue it. Orbital transfer to a custom facility would be faster and safer. It just felt wrong. She rechecked the message they had received immediately after warp exit: Abigail, their Ambassador, was returning aboard a new ship. She would be arriving in fourteen days.

‘It’s going to be a long fourteen days,’ Tasker muttered.

New Earth, 1.9.530 FSC.

‘What exactly is the delay, Pierce?’ Jackson Elroy asked the screen in front of him. ‘I wish to visit the refugees from Beryum. They have arrived and been placed in this hospital facility you insisted was necessary. Why am I being told that I cannot now go there for “security reasons?”’

‘We need to vet them,’ Pierce replied. ‘Any of them could be working for the Herosians and until we’re sure they aren’t I can’t, in all conscience, allow you up there.’

‘The severely wounded people who have been on a secure, Old Earth ship for several weeks, may be Herosian agents?’

‘It cannot be ruled out. This Captain Tasker is being difficult as well. We want to go aboard to ensure that their ship hasn’t been sabotaged…’

‘Please don’t take me for a fool, Pierce,’ Elroy snapped.

Pierce coughed and then rallied. ‘Until everyone brought in on the Hand has been checked, we are not allowing any non-military people up there, especially not high-ranking ones.’

‘Do your vetting quickly, please,’ Elroy replied and then cut off the connection. He looked across his desk. ‘Have you spoken to Captain Tasker?’

‘Not personally,’ Truelove replied. ‘She has been spoken to. She is a little concerned over the situation. There are a greater number of naval vessels in position around the Hand than she would like. The Navy says that it’s simply part of the martialling for the war effort and, unfortunately, Corax is a primary military facility…’

‘So it works as a cover.’ Elroy looked disgusted. ‘Do they want us at war with Old Earth too?’

‘No, I think they’re just ensuring that no one from Beryum who might have a different view of things gets to talk to anyone. I think that’s the reason for the station at Corax.’

‘I’d reached that conclusion myself, especially given that they won’t let anyone else go up there.’

Truelove nodded. ‘They’ve quietly moved all “non-essential” staff off the moon. That means only military personnel and the people from a number of munitions contractors and suppliers who have offices there are left.’

‘You’re looking into those companies.’

Truelove smiled. ‘I’m not. I’m a member of the FSA reporting to Admiral Pierce. They are being looked into, however.’

Elroy’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Good. I wonder if Pierce can come up with a security reason for me to avoid the Hand of God.’

‘I’m sure he can try, sir,’ Truelove replied.

BC-101 Hand of God.

‘Security situation?’ Tasker asked.

Technically her XO, a man named Lionel Morrison who she thought was a little too serious but a very good officer, did not need to give a report. He could have sent it via the ship’s internal networks and Tasker could have read it via her implant. Even Yrimtan had viewed that level of disconnection a bad thing. Personal contact cemented relationships, and relationships built the foundations of a working organisation. So Morrison gave her his report, even if she could read the details later.

‘The ship is secure,’ he said. ‘We’re picking up what I’d consider an abnormally high level of active sensor activity, but the hull and our ECM systems are blocking it. Passives are unlikely to get anything.’

Tasker nodded. ‘It’s irritating, but it’s not unexpected. We have better ships, and they want to know what we’ve got.’

Morrison returned the nod. ‘Flight crew have had to warn two Jenlay vessels that their flight paths were too close to our hull. Both corrected course immediately, but I don’t believe their pilots are that bad.’

‘That’s actually not a bet I’d be willing to back you up on. Some of their pilots are damn good, but I think most of those are currently somewhere between here and Dokar. Still, twice is coincidence. If we get a third instance, I’ll put a complaint through to their command. Safety notice.’

The executive officer actually let a slight grin form. ‘That’s an elegant solution, Captain. Was there anything else?’

A message flicked up in Tasker’s vision field and she scanned it. ‘Seems that Senator Elroy would like to pay us a visit. I trust him, but make sure the internal security grid is fully operational.’

‘Of course, Captain. Honour guard?’

‘Just for the welcome, but make sure the ECM suite is active when he’s aboard. Fully active.’

Gwy, 2.9.530 FSC.

Aneka sat in Gwy’s flight chair surrounded by the hangar bay of the Amethyst Hyde. Of course, technically, she was surrounded by an image of the hangar bay, but the feed, direct into her internal network via fibre-optic cable, was sufficiently real that she found herself stopping her simulated breathing.

‘The transition is a lot faster, and smoother,’ she said. ‘The extra bandwidth really makes a difference.’

Gwy’s obsidian avatar appeared beside her. ‘Thank you, Aneka. I have been practising a little to improve performance, but the additional speed does help a lot.’

Aneka looked around at the room, or the only feature of the room still visible, which was the chair she was sitting in with its twin control sticks mounted on the arms. She had learned to fly using this kind of multi-function directional control system so that was how Gwy emulated the flight controls for her. Shannon and Drake used different systems to fly the old Hyde, less intuitive, more reliant on the computers to perform the precise power and direction controls that were needed. She assumed they used an emulation of the same to fly the new Hyde, but…

‘Why do I actually need this chair?’ she asked, almost to herself.

‘To sit in?’ Gwy suggested.

‘Ha ha. No, I mean, I fly you like I’d fly the Delta…’ There was a stab of pain somewhere at the thought of the Delta Brigantia and its crew, now dead. ‘Like I’d have flown a conventional ship. You’re wired into my electronic nervous system. I think it, you do it. So why do I need the chair?’

Gwy beamed, clapping her hands like a giddy schoolgirl. ‘Oh wonderful! You’ll need a software patch, but I’ve got it in my systems. I’m negotiating with Al to load it now. You don’t need the chair, but Speaker and War thought you should work that out for yourself. Aggy says that it was the first thing Shannon asked. Captain Drake appears to prefer the old system. He tried doing it without, but he says he’s uncomfortable with it.’

‘I’m not sure how I’ll like it, but let’s see.’

‘Patch installed,’ Al said. ‘I suggest you stand up. There will be a slight disruption in the display while the switchover happens.’

Aneka got to her feet and there was a momentary feeling of disconnection. The display around her shuddered a little, like a film catching in the projector, and then everything was back to normal, except for one thing.

‘The chair’s gone,’ Aneka noted.

‘It’s not gone, exactly,’ Gwy replied. ‘Your real body is still sitting in it. It’s not needed with this mode of operation, so I removed it. This gives you full rein to walk around, look anywhere you want easily.’

‘Huh. Can you put a chair in if you want? Even virtually I can’t see me wanting to stand the whole time if I’m in here for long periods.’

‘I can, theoretically, put in anything you wish. The display is… just a display. A virtual environment. I can simulate anything required within my, or your, capacity to describe it. The minimal acceleration you feel at full thrust is suppressed in this mode. I could simulate zero gravity.’

‘Don’t think we’ll need that.’ Aneka grinned. ‘Ella is so going to want to see this. I think she’d get the hang of it pretty quickly, don’t you?’

Gwy gave a giggle. ‘Aggy and I both think Ella will see great potential in this operating mode. There is a secondary fibre channel in the cabin and I can handle the load of both of you in the same environment. You can show her around.’

‘All right. We’ll do that later. It’ll take her mind off New Earth.’

‘I’m sure it will,’ Gwy replied.

BC-101 Hand of God.

Ten Guardians shifted instantly to attention with shouldered arms as Elroy walked off the shuttle. He paused, looking down the two lines of men and women in dark blue, and then at their Captain standing at the end, then he continued on between the ranks. Behind him, Truelove and Sharissa followed, though they appeared less bemused.

‘Honour guard,’ Tasker explained. ‘And… If you had Navy people with you, they’d have been asked to stay on the shuttle.’ She looked past him at the two women. ‘Those two I don’t have to worry about.’

‘The Navy is being troublesome?’ Elroy asked.

‘They are paying more attention to us than I’d like, but the countermeasures are working. We’re quite secure here. You can say whatever you like and it’s not getting to ears you don’t want it to.’ She turned and started down the hallway. ‘Come on, I’ve got refreshments and comfortable chairs waiting.’

The Captain’s cabin was a small suite with a more private bedroom, a large shower room, and a comfortable lounge with plenty of seating for the four of them. With a cup of coffee in his hand, Elroy seemed to relax more there than Truelove had seen him do in a long time.

‘The FSA appears to be convinced that one or more of your refugees has been compromised by the Herosians,’ Elroy said. ‘They won’t let me see any of them, and they’re convinced they sabotaged the Hand. They were fairly negative about me coming here.’

‘We had fifty people in the sickbay,’ Tasker replied. ‘Thirty-two of those were unconscious the entire time, half of those in medical comas. We almost lost two of them. There were only three who could move about unaided, and none of them ever left the hospital block. And they all came aboard with the clothes they were wearing. Medical scans would have detected implants… Do you mean the FSA or this Pierce person who’s been nagging me to allow a technical team aboard?’

‘For practical purposes it’s the same thing,’ Truelove replied. ‘Analysts suggesting other things are being quietly ignored. There are plenty of trustworthy people in the Agency, but Pierce is doing a rather effective information management job.’

‘Perhaps my choice of Head was not as well informed as I thought,’ Elroy sighed. ‘He seemed like a good idea at the time.’

‘He was,’ Truelove countered. ‘It just… hasn’t worked out as well as it could have. I don’t think this plot was in place when he was installed. Something happened. Someone had an idea and Pierce is in a position to influence things the way they want.’

‘It had to start when Lonar fell so easily,’ Tasker stated. ‘It would take time to work out a plan for Beryum and I don’t think Thackett was working off his own bat.’

‘And someone faked the footage from Marchant,’ Sharissa said, nodding. ‘Around the sixth or seventh of the fifth. It started then, even if they just told Thackett to be ready for new orders when he arrived at Beryum.’

‘We attacked fairly quickly after arriving at Beryum,’ Tasker said. ‘They couldn’t have got new orders to him unless…’

‘Unless a ship took them there before you arrived and transmitted them when you arrived,’ Truelove said. ‘It’s thirteen days from Dokar to Beryum in a courier-type ship or a frigate. They could have spent ages planning and dispatched a ship long before you arrived.’

‘Great, so we know how they did it. What do we do about it?’

‘Wait,’ Elroy said. ‘So far there have been a few rumblings about continuing the offensive, but nothing overt. If they try to push for further attacks I can rally support for stepping the Navy down. Until then I’m fighting smoke.’

‘Well, Ambassador Linden will be back in about eleven days,’ Tasker said. ‘Then it’s her problem.’

Elroy looked at her. ‘They’re coming back? All of them, or just Abigail?’

‘Everyone,’ Truelove said, ‘plus another “ambassador” of sorts. They’ll want to talk to you.’

‘Oh, I’ll want to talk to them.’

Gwy.

‘Oh…’ Ella said as she stood in the empty room filled with stars. Gwy was projecting the sensor feed from the Hyde, via Aggy, rather than her own external view; it seemed as though they were hanging in empty space, flying among the suns of other worlds.

‘You get how it works?’ Aneka asked. ‘Rather than using virtual versions of physical controls, you just want the ship to move and Gwy does what you wish with the engines.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella replied. Physically she was lying on the bed in Gwy’s cabin. Mentally she was standing beside Aneka as they walked through space. ‘It might take a little practice, but I get it. I wonder why we didn’t think of it before.’

Aneka shrugged. ‘Apparently it was the first thing Shannon thought of.’

Ella giggled and then turned around, hooked her arms around Aneka’s neck, and kissed her. It was not a quick kiss: she let it linger, her tongue playing over Aneka’s as if tasting her. Then she broke the kiss and stepped back, grinning.

‘What was that for?’ Aneka asked.

‘I wanted to know if it felt the same.’

‘And?’

‘I… I don’t think I can tell the difference if there is one.’

Aneka smirked at her lover. Ella’s real body was dressed in a rather brief, white pantsuit. The top crossed over her breasts and had a halter, the pants graded to translucent as they went down her legs, and there were slits running up the front of each leg to just below her hip. Clothes on the Amethyst Hyde were a useful place to clip your ‘puff,’ as Monkey called it. The Personal Force Field devices were basically emergency spacesuits which could be activated manually, or by Aggy. The virtual version of Ella’s outfit left just as little to the imagination.

Stepping forward, Aneka slid a hand under the right cup of Ella’s top and found the nipple hidden there. Ella gasped and Aneka stroked her thumb until the flesh beneath it stiffened.

‘How does that feel?’ Aneka asked softly.

‘F-feels the same.’ Pushing the virtual cloth aside, Aneka bent and flicked her tongue across the tip of Ella’s nipple. ‘And that does…’ Sucking produced, ‘Oh Vashma! That does too!’

Aneka grinned up at the redhead, who was looking eager. ‘I think, purely for scientific enquiry, we should find out what else does.’

‘Oh yes,’ Ella breathed. ‘Just for science.’

Amethyst Hyde, 13.9.530 FSC.

‘New Earth Control,’ Drake said into the virtual environment of the Hyde’s bridge, ‘this is the Amethyst Hyde. Captain Mallory Drake in command. Please acknowledge.’

Aneka stood at the back of the ‘room,’ her presence projected there through the ship’s network from her cabin. She had wanted to be there when they dropped out of warp and neither Drake nor Shannon had objected. She grinned: using his full name must have cost the Captain as he hated being called Mallory. She could see why, but it was not the worst name ever.

‘We’re getting transmissions through from one of the probes,’ Shannon said. She was also on her feet, even though her Captain was seated with an array of virtual displays in front of him. The blonde pilot waved a hand off to one side and several screens appeared displaying various data feeds streaming in from the Shadataga probes. ‘Looks like the Hand is orbiting Corax. Lot of Navy ships out there too.’

‘Aneka,’ Drake said, ‘see if you can get through to Charley Tasker.’

Aneka reached out to the comms system, but what she said was, ‘They’re taking their time answering.’

‘Yes, they are. This is the science vessel Amethyst Hyde to New Earth Control. Please respond. Over.’

‘Aneka?’ Tasker’s voice sounded in Aneka’s ears, sort of. ‘You’re here? Great. You’ve got Abby with you?’

‘We’re here,’ Aneka replied, ‘and Abby’s aboard. Currently we’re having trouble getting through to Control.’

‘They’re being arseholes. They say it’s because of the war, but I think just about everything is going through Naval Flight Control. I’m glad you’re here, we all are.’

‘Okay, save the complicated stuff for face-to-face. We’ll sort that out as soon as we get something from…’

‘Amethyst Hyde, this is New Earth Control. We show you as an unregistered vessel. Please hold position until you can be escorted to Corax.’

‘We are on a diplomatic mission,’ Drake stated calmly. ‘We have the Old Earth Ambassador aboard. Transmitting diplomatic verification codes now. Ambassador Linden requests immediate clearance to meet with the Hand of God. Our intention is to proceed to Joval Six for rendezvous with the Hand.’

There was silence from the other end.

‘They aren’t happy with us having diplomatic privileges,’ Aneka said to Tasker. ‘They’ll be less happy when they figure out what we are and get told they can’t look.’

‘Huh,’ Tasker grunted. ‘I’ve got a request through for clearance to leave Corax. They’re being slow to respond.’

‘Amethyst Hyde, this is New Earth Control.’

‘Finally,’ Aneka growled.

‘You are cleared for transit to Joval Six. Please be advised that deviation from your course would be considered threatening, and–’

‘Understood, New Earth,’ Drake broke in. ‘Please be advised that any active scanning of this vessel will be viewed as a breach of diplomatic protocols. Any such attempts will be actively countered. Amethyst Hyde out.’ Drake stabbed at a virtual button and then added, ‘Fucking shazi. Get us under way, Shannon.’

Around them the stars began to move at an ever-increasing pace as Shannon directed the engines to full power.

‘We’re on our way,’ Aneka said.

‘We just got clearance,’ Tasker responded. ‘See you there.’

~~~

It was easier for Tasker to take a shuttle over to the Hyde than to transport those who needed to see her in the other direction, plus she really wanted to see the inside of the sleek, new ship. They gathered in the mess hall, which was comfortable and could do just as good a job of displaying any data they needed. But the first step was to stop the Hand’s Captain looking around at the smooth, off-white walls.

‘This ship is gorgeous,’ Tasker said. ‘I mean… this was designed to look good.’

‘Thank you, Captain Tasker,’ Aggy said, materialising beside their table. ‘I had a hand in the design myself, primarily in the ergonomics, but the higher AIs allowed me final say on the aesthetics as well. They felt I should feel good about my new accommodation.’

‘I’m used to you projecting yourself on walls, Aggy,’ Tasker commented.

‘Girls and their toys, Captain.’

‘All right, Charley,’ Abby said, settling back in her seat and crossing her arms. ‘I’ve skimmed the data Shadataga relayed over, so we know more or less what’s going on. Personal notes?’

‘The Jenlay are being pushier about trying to work out how the Hand is built. I don’t see that as a good sign. I think they know we’ll pull out if they go after the Herosians and they want the tech.’

Drake nodded. ‘A fair assessment. The Hand is a generation or so in advance of anything they have. The Hyde is… You wouldn’t believe how much re-familiarisation we had to go through. We’ve got the ECM suite tuned to make it hard for them, and we’ve got the cloak if they get too persistent.’

‘This thing can cloak?!’ Tasker asked, eyes widening.

‘I was designed for study of any civilisation we might encounter,’ Aggy replied. ‘The need for concealment might apply, as it did for my original ship, the Agroa Gar.’

‘Huh… wow. Um, the hospital station they’ve got around Corax is basically a prison. They don’t want anyone talking about Beryum they don’t have control over. The people we brought over wouldn’t be going anywhere anyway, but the next lot… Some of them could be out in a few days if the treatment is good enough. I suspect they’ll be kept on the station unless they’ve got stories to tell which will back up the latest line.’

‘And that is?’ Aneka asked.

‘From what I can tell, “The Herosians are still a threat. There could be agents anywhere you look. Anyone who seems sympathetic to the Herosians probably is one.” I mean, it’s pretty simple psychology. I’m surprised it’s working.’

‘The Jenlay haven’t had a real threat to their existence since the Federation started,’ Ella replied. ‘They got used to scoffing at the Herosians always harping on about the Xinti being out there, but it was a constant threat in the background that the Big Bad Xinti might come out of the darkness. Now they have a city with holes in it, three planets invaded, and they can’t see the Herosians running around like headless cockroaches.’

‘Chickens,’ Tasker corrected absently.

‘It’s cockroaches with us. We don’t have chickens, but roaches get everywhere.’

‘Right… So it seems to be working. Elroy and Truelove look worried whenever I talk to them.’

‘Well, we’ll see how he looks when I talk to him,’ Abby said. ‘I should come back to the Hand with you when this is done and request his presence. I think if they’re all paranoid about Herosian agents, me being paranoid about security should cover it. We’ll tell him he’s meeting me, but Aneka will be over from the Hyde. She’s guarding our other Ambassador.’

‘Yeah, what other ambassador?’

‘The one from Shadataga.’

‘That,’ said a voice from behind Tasker, ‘would be me.’

The Captain turned in her seat to see a short, slim woman with tanned skin, brown eyes, full lips set between hollowed cheeks, and a cap of short, white hair.

‘Do I know you?’ Tasker asked.

‘Not,’ the woman replied, ‘exactly.’

BC-101 Hand of God, 14.9.530 FSC.

The pleasantries had been handled with a lot of ‘how are you’ and ‘as well as can be expected’ kind of statements. Abby was actually starting to feel stressed after feeling pretty good until she arrived and got to read the reports Tasker had compiled fully. She was now looking only slightly less weary than Elroy. She had, however, not wanted to start until Aneka and her charge arrived.

As the two women walked into the room, Elroy got to his feet and smiled at Aneka. ‘Proper protocol aside,’ he said, ‘you’ll forgive me for thanking Aneka for her recent work with the Herosians, I hope?’ He held out a hand and Aneka took it after the usual protocol.

‘You need to thank Ella and my ship’s AI too if you’re thanking me. It was Ella who did the work while I ran the distraction.’

‘Your Ella? Ella Narrows? The rather nice young woman who studies palaeoanthropology?’

‘Uh-huh. She’s pretty good at kicking butt now too.’

Elroy smiled, and looked better for it. ‘And this is…?’ He turned to the woman beside Aneka, waiting patiently.

She was wearing a short, black dress, belted, and a bolero jacket. Her heels were high enough to bring her up to Aneka’s cheek. Aneka had, on first meeting her, commented on the hair and she had said, ‘I wanted something of me in you.’

‘This,’ Aneka said, ‘is Xenia Winter, founder of the FSA, now Ambassador for Shadataga.’

Three Jenlay stared at the woman. Truelove and Sharissa looked as though they were seeing a ghost, which was not too far from the truth. Elroy swallowed hard and rallied himself.

‘Ambassador,’ he said, holding out a hand, ‘it’s a pleasure to… Your statue doesn’t really do you justice.’

Winter laughed. ‘I made sure it didn’t. I used this avatar for a very long time. I was using it when Aneka’s original body was made and I felt it appropriate that I bring it back for this job.’

‘Original? The hair. The hair is different…’

‘I got upgraded,’ Aneka said. ‘There’s a lot of it going around.’

‘I see…’ He returned his gaze to Winter. ‘This is going to cause some… issues.’

‘What I’m here for will,’ Winter said, waving him to his seat. When they were all sitting she went on. ‘The AIs from Negral, of which I was originally one, have set up shop in a new location, Shadataga. We have a custom-built education facility there. We plan to open it to anyone willing to learn, but there will, obviously, be some… stipulations. Given that I’m going to be throwing my weight around, I think it’s time the Jenlay learned who Winter really is, rather than the stories manufactured about me. Frankly, it can’t get much worse than Herosian spy or Xinti agent.’

Elroy nodded, conceding the point. ‘Stipulations?’

‘This is dangerous stuff we’re talking about and we need to be sure that the people learning about it aren’t going to use it to murder their neighbours. We will restrict types of study. We will teach anyone prepared to meet our requirements who can pass the entrance assessment. That means both branches of Humanity, and the Torem and Herosians.’

Elroy took in a long breath. ‘The current climate is not one to suggest teaching higher technology to either the Herosians or the Torem. The latter are in our bad books for running off and hiding when the war started.’

‘I know,’ Winter replied, ‘but if the Jenlay can’t accept it, they will be excluded. To be honest, there are very few Herosians who will manage to get in. But we won’t close the door to them. Abraham Wallace is very keen to get at least one Torem in.’

‘Tosimna,’ Aneka said. ‘She worked with us on the Agroa Gar analysis. She’s a genius at warp engine theory.’

‘I understand,’ Elroy said, ‘but politically this is difficult. Someone is going to portray this as technological blackmail.’

‘I wouldn’t disagree,’ Winter replied, ‘but we have technology here which can make a star explode. We cannot allow that to get into the hands of someone who would actually use it.’

Elroy sank back on his seat and looked up at the ceiling. Then, from nowhere, he burst into laughter. ‘It’s just like old times,’ he said. ‘The crew of the Garnet Hyde go off on some new adventure and bring me back a political problem of grand proportions.’

‘We do our best,’ Aneka said, smiling sweetly.

Tristar Township, 16.9.530 FSC.

It had taken Elroy a couple of days to ride over FSA and Navy objections to the Hyde’s crew returning to New Earth, but he had done it. The transport drones could handle six people or three tonnes of cargo, or a combination of those, so two of them landed just outside Tristar Township and then Aneka and Delta lugged the large tent they were going to set up in Gillian’s backyard over to the house.

By the time they got there, Janna had finished virtually crushing her daughter to death and was free to start on Aneka.

‘You’ve changed your hair,’ the dancer said, her voice soft and emotional.

‘I’ve changed my whole body,’ Aneka replied. ‘New and improved Aneka.’

‘You can’t improve on perfection, dear. Though I do like the hair.’

Janna let go and backed off, and Aneka was immediately grabbed around the waist and lifted off her feet by Dillon. The big man was putting in a valiant effort, he still had Ella in the other arm, but Aneka’s ninety kilos was a little bit too much of an addition and he lowered her back down with a grin.

‘You’re a bit lighter than you were, but you still weigh more than you look like you should,’ he said.

‘Well, you got a new back, I got a new body. It’s lighter than the old one, but it’s still got a metal skeleton. How are you doing?’

‘Good. Still doing some exercises the doctors gave me, but I can lift my weights as well as I ever could. They say I might even get better.’

Katelyn, standing nearby until her partner had finished demonstrating his prowess, walked over and gave Aneka a hug. ‘Thanks,’ she said.

‘What for?’

‘Knowing you, being on the Hand of God for your “Christmas” party… I don’t think they would have done any different for anyone else, but they recognised us and it got us helped faster.’

‘It helped,’ Dillon agreed, ‘but the Old Earth people spent a lot of time and effort getting injured people back on their feet.’ He looked meaningfully at Aneka and then Ella. ‘There are a lot more cyborgs around than there were. Funny how people will have a few bits of metal put in when the alternative is never walking again.’

Katelyn nodded. ‘It’s becoming rather… impolite to express anti-cybernetic opinions around Yorkbridge. The Herosians have replaced robots and cyborgs as the big fear factor.’

‘What are your plans?’ Janna asked before things could get too serious.

‘Shannon and I are heading over to our place,’ Drake said. ‘We’ll get together whatever we need to take away, and then we’ll be heading back to the Hyde.’

‘Cassandra and I have our own places to visit and loot,’ Abraham stated.

‘Delta and me are going to help them,’ Monkey said, ‘and then we’ll come back here.’

‘We have this tent to set up,’ Gillian said. ‘The rest of us will be staying here, and don’t suggest you people moving into the tent. One of the reasons I’m here is to sign over the house to Janna and Sharissa. You’re all settled so you’ll stay put and we’ll bunk in the yard.’

‘At some point,’ Aneka said, ‘we’ll go see what’s left of our apartment. Maybe we can salvage something.’

‘The building’s unsafe,’ Dillon said. ‘They’ll let you in for brief periods, but the last I heard it’s going to have to be demolished and rebuilt.’

‘Quite a few buildings in Mid-town are the same,’ Katelyn added unhappily.

Ella gave a sigh. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure there’s that much there that I want. It’s just that it was my home and I’d like to see it again before I move out for good.’

‘You’re moving to this Shadataga permanently then?’ Janna asked. Her tone was a little melancholy.

‘Yes, but if things go according to plan, that won’t be as much of a problem as you’d think. Come on, let’s get the tent up and then we can sit down and get caught up on everything.’

Yorkbridge Mid-town, 17.9.530 FSC.

There was a big crack in one of the wall screens in the lounge and it was dark, but now that Ella had the same sort of multi-spectral vision that Aneka had, neither of them were having much of a problem negotiating the room.

‘The kitchen’s a mess,’ Ella commented. It sounded a lot like it was something to say.

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka responded. From a small cabinet against one wall, she picked up a crystal figure, blowing the dust off it. ‘This made it,’ she said. ‘I’m glad about that.’

Ella headed for the bedroom and Aneka followed. There was no real damage. A chair was overturned and there was no power. Everything was covered in dust. Going to the wardrobe, Ella pulled it open and looked inside. Then she picked up a jewellery box from the floor and put it into the bag she was carrying. A dress was added, and then she turned and looked around the room.

‘It’s not much for the years I’ve lived here,’ the redhead said. ‘I’m taking these because they were presents. I hardly ever wear jewellery, aside from the ring you gave me. I can have anything else I need made on Shadataga… And Aggy’s collecting the data from the servers. A lot of my life is digital…’

Aneka nodded. ‘I think the only other thing I want isn’t here. I hope it survived.’

‘What?’

‘We need to go out to the university,’ Aneka replied. ‘What’s left of it anyway.’

The Islands.

Large sections of the university were rubble. The quad where Aneka had bought coffee so often was half-filled with the remains of the taller structures that had surrounded it. The Administration building was significantly shorter than it had been, but there was a ground-level entrance that was fairly open, given that the doors had been blown off their hinges.

They had had to take a transport out to the site. The monorail was a wreck, cutting off the islands off the coast from the mainland. As far as they knew, no one was living out in the rich homes that had dotted the little archipelago anyway, so there was no one to be inconvenienced by that. From the transport, the view of the crater where the starport had been told more about the Battle of New Earth than any report.

‘The vaults are underground,’ Aneka said as the couple made their way in, ‘so I’m hoping they’ve survived fairly intact.’

‘If we can get down there,’ Ella replied. ‘There’s an emergency stairwell. Uh… this is hard to figure out with no light and all the fallen masonry. There, in the corner.’

The door was jammed, but it gave as ninety kilos of robot body slammed into it, opening onto a Plascrete stairwell. Up was more or less destroyed, and that had fallen into the down end of it leaving chunks of broken aggregate on the stairs.

‘Maybe I should go down alone,’ Aneka suggested.

‘And leave me in the creepy, dark corridors on my own? Nuh-huh. I’ve climbed worse, and it’s not like I’m in heels.’ Which was true: even Ella had decided that work boots were more appropriate for walking around unstable buildings. ‘Do we know where we’re going?’

‘Basement B, section twenty-seven.’

‘Hopefully it’ll be easier on the second set of stairs then.’

Clambering over Plascrete chunks as much as walking down the stairs, they made their way to the second landing. There was less rubble there, mostly because the larger stuff had got wedged higher up, but the door was, once again, jammed and Aneka had to slam it open.

‘That’s a fire hazard, you know?’ Aneka commented as she pushed the door wider and stepped through into the corridor beyond.

‘I don’t think the building codes are designed to keep you safe in case of massive bombardment from space,’ Ella replied.

‘Just saying.’

The walls here had been painted, but they lacked the gloss of the finish on the upper levels. Aneka had always thought the university looked like something out of Star Trek, all white and shiny with smooth curves. Now it looked like a white, shiny disaster movie. In Star Trek, even the crawlspaces looked like they were polished every other day, but in the real world someone had decided that slapping some paint on the walls would do for somewhere people visited only to store things.

‘Section twenty-six,’ Aneka said, stopping beside a door. ‘I don’t suppose you know the code?’

‘I don’t think there’s any power anyway. They’re maglocks, so if you can get the leverage you should be able to just slide it open.’

There were no handles, and the metal door was smooth, but applying force to it and then pushing got enough of a crack for Aneka to get her fingers in. Then it was easy.

Ella peered at the edge of the door. ‘Two centimetres of steel and you just… pushed,’ she commented.

‘Winter really pushed up the power on this body. I had to cut in some extra oomph for the first bit…’

‘I sort of noticed. You should have seen the way your muscles bulged. Monkey would have been standing there with his tongue hanging out.’

Aneka gave her a grin. ‘What about you?’

‘I’ll save my tongue for later. Come on, I want to get out of this tomb.’

‘Not a tomb, you’re not in shorts.’ Aneka started hunting through the racks which were set in rows down the room.

‘Because the last time I wore shorts on a dig it worked out so well.’

‘What? A little poisoning’s going to put you off?’

‘Depends on the circumstances,’ Ella replied, which meant it had not put her off, not really.

‘Here,’ Aneka said, and she lifted something from a shelf. ‘It doesn’t look damaged.’

‘Good. Let’s get it upstairs where we can see it properly.’

They emerged into the bright sunlight and Aneka lifted the plastic tube on its black base. As the light shone on it, two figures appeared within: alien, and yet somehow just like you might see in any posed family picture.

‘There was no way I was letting this rot down there,’ Aneka said. ‘It spent enough time on a dead ship. I kind of know how that feels.’

‘Yes,’ Ella agreed. ‘That was worth coming here for, but I want to leave. Even in the sunlight, this place feels like it has ghosts.’

Aneka looked around at the ruined buildings and nodded. She had spent many hours in this place. It had been where she had come so that she could be declared safe to be on the streets, it had given her a job, and she had danced in stupid high-heels in the hall. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I know what you mean.’

High Yorkbridge, 19.9.530 FSC.

Winter stood at the podium in the large room which housed the Representatives’ Council, flanked on her left by Aneka. The fact that the latter was armed with a pair of machine pistols had not gone down too well with the security people, but since they seemed convinced that there was a threat of Herosian assassins, they had been hard-pressed to come up with a reason to deny the Shadataga Ambassador her bodyguard.

The Representatives did not seem especially happy, for the most part, either. A few were sitting back in their seats, looking relaxed about what was happening, but most were whispering to their neighbours and looking annoyed. It was not exactly a great sign.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Winter said into the microphone in front of her. ‘Representatives of the Jenlay…’ The noise subsided to a murmur and she continued. ‘My name is Sleep Brings Renewal to All Things, but you know me better as Winter. I was the artificial intelligence the Xinti created to lead Humanity to the stars. In this form, that of Xenia Winter, I was one of the co-founders of the Federation. I have worked tirelessly for over a thousand years to advance Jenlay civilisation, and now I am here to offer you knowledge even the Xinti did not possess.’

The noise level went up again and she waited for it to subside before continuing. Aneka decided that she would have waited about half as long before getting annoyed; Winter was, as ever, a patient woman.

‘The AIs from Negral escaped to found a new university on a world we’re calling Shadataga. It’s the Xinti word for education. There, people will be able to learn science as yet unheard of here. Anyone willing to meet our requirements will be free to learn there. The Humans of Old Earth are already considering who to send. We will be contacting the Torem in due course, and considering how best to approach the Herosians…’

The room exploded into uproar. Winter took a step back and waited; she had been expecting this, of course.

‘I think they’re actually taking it better than I thought they would,’ she said to Aneka.

‘Well, no one’s tried to shoot you.’

‘Exactly.’ She stepped forward. ‘Representative Usher?’

The woman looked a little surprised that Winter knew her name. ‘We are at war with the Herosians. You can’t expect us to calmly accept that they’re going to learn stratospherically high technology from you which they can use on us?’

‘All students and their respective governments will be required to sign an agreement. Knowledge of some technologies will be off limits. Use of high-technology weaponry will be strictly prohibited. Anyone breaking their agreement will be subject to sanctions…’

‘What? You’ll kick their students out? It’ll be too–’

‘No, we’ll destroy ten per cent of their star systems,’ Winter stated flatly. ‘Not the worlds, the entire systems. There will be nothing left but a stellar remnant. Do you consider that a sufficient sanction, Representative?’

Usher sat down as silence fell over the room. Winter looked around the chamber once before continuing, and very few of the people there met her eyes.

‘Make no mistake, we are not taking this lightly. We will have peace if we are going to allow you access to our facilities. We were responsible for the disabling of the Herosian communications system and the destruction of their Xinti-derived technology. The woman standing behind me delivered the virus we used to do it. If you wish to fight the Herosians, who are currently at a severe disadvantage, we will shut down that virus and re-enable their tachyon network. And then we will step back and watch you destroy each other. I built the Jenlay up to be the best Humanity could be. Please, don’t make me think I should have let you die in the dark.’

She turned quickly and started down the steps toward one of the exits. Aneka followed, unsure whether she had seen on the synthetic woman’s face the look of anguish she thought she had seen before Winter had managed to control herself. Her sibling, Summer, had been driven to insanity by the behaviour of the Herosians, whom he had been built to uplift. Was Winter worrying that the Jenlay might deliver her the same fate?

‘There’s still Old Earth if this lot decide to be idiots,’ Aneka said when they were out of the room.

‘Yes,’ Winter said softly. ‘The ones I neglected seem to have turned out better than the ones I nurtured.’

‘I don’t believe that. They can be turned around. We just need to find out who’s pushing their buttons.’

Winter nodded. ‘When they reject our offer, and they will initially, I’d like you to stay here with Gwy to assist Elaine.’

‘Ella is going to want to stay too.’

‘She’s proven more than capable. I suspect that Cassandra will ask to remain with you. I suggest you agree. She has capabilities regarding computer systems which are easily a match for Al’s.’

‘She does,’ Al commented, sounding quite proud.

‘It’s not like she uses up resources. Neither do I for that matter. All right. When do you think they’ll say something?’

‘They’ll wait for the rest of the fleet to return. They’ll want news of all the badly wounded refugees to reach the public before they make their plans known.’

‘Plans?’

‘Yes. I don’t know what they are, though I could guess. I’m just absolutely sure that they already have them.’

Tristar Township, 26.9.530 FSC.

‘Aggy, what do we have?’ Aneka asked as the golden-skinned avatar appeared on the wall screen.

‘My sensors have detected a number of ships exiting warp over the last few hours,’ Aggy replied. ‘All have been directed by New Earth Control to Corax. The Old Earth ships have been delivering their patients to the orbital hospital and then moving here, though Control has seemed reluctant to give them clearance. There is large-scale use of radio jamming around Corax which is making detection difficult. Communication is impossible currently.’

‘The Navy issued a statement saying the incoming ships were to be isolated for security reasons.’

‘I find that… unlikely,’ Aggy replied.

‘Have you seen the Admiral Banfry?’ Gillian asked.

‘The Banfry arrived forty-nine minutes ago. It is now in orbit over Corax.’

‘I’d really like to know that Dad’s okay,’ Monkey said. He sounded worried.

‘We could do with hearing what he has to say,’ Aneka agreed. ‘Aggy, I’m coming up. Tell Gwy to get ready for a short trip. Make sure her cloaking system is operational. Ella, I could use your help.’

Ella got to her feet without comment.

‘A cloak takes care of your ship,’ Sharissa said, ‘but you’ll be seen going aboard…’

‘Oh no,’ Aneka replied, grinning. ‘No one’s going to see me until I want them to.’

FNb Admiral Banfry.

The urgent alarm tone from Ape’s console made him turn quickly from the book he was reading to find out what was going on. He stabbed at the comms button and there was an almost immediate response from the bridge officer.

‘Captain, we’ve got a breach. Airlock six just opened and closed for no reason. It’s re-pressurising.’

‘Get Leeforth and four Marines down there. I’m on my way.’

‘Marines are en route, Captain.’

‘Right. Tell them to hold position until I get there.’ He cut the connection and stood up, taking two paces toward the door before turning back and grabbing his pistol from the drawer in his desk.

It was not a long walk. Airlock six was one of two secondary hatches on either side of the hull, beneath the main habitation area, on either side of the cargo bay. Certainly it made a suitable place to sneak in; the cargo bay was basically there for weapons stowage and was little used outside of active operations. But anyone trying had to know the attempt would be noticed, right?

Four Marines in hastily donned armour were positioning themselves in front of the inner hatch when Ape marched up. Leeforth was standing nearby with a carbine settled into her shoulder, but pointed down. The door was still closed, which was odd given that the airlock did not need that long to gain one atmosphere.

‘What do we have?’ Ape asked.

Leeforth handed him a tablet. ‘Probably a malfunction. Sensors are showing nothing in there. Cameras aren’t seeing anything.’

Ape looked at the tablet and the interior camera view it was displaying. The airlock did, indeed, appear to be empty. Frowning, he flicked through the display to the remote access system. ‘I’m going to open the door. Stand ready.’ He flicked through the override codes, ignoring the fact that Leeforth was moving between him and the airlock. The door slid sideways and…

‘It’s empty, sir,’ one of the Marines stated.

Ape moved up to stand beside Leeforth, peering in at the bare metal of the small room. There was nothing to be seen aside from a couple of control panels.

‘All right,’ Ape said, ‘stand down. Go back to your Fives, or whatever it was you were doing.’

The Marines looked a bit like they were disappointed, but they trooped back toward the ladders to the upper level.

‘Malfunction?’ Leeforth asked.

‘Looks like it,’ Ape replied. ‘You’d better get a team down here to check it over. I don’t know, we go to war, come home, and then things start going wrong.’

Leeforth’s eyes widened. ‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘Something just grabbed my gun.’

Ape was reaching for his own weapon when Aneka materialised beside him and whispered, ‘I really didn’t want to get shot appearing out of nowhere, and I didn’t know how much you trust your crew.’

Leeforth grinned at her. ‘You been learning new tricks?’

‘Oh, I’m full of surprises me.’

‘Something of an understatement,’ Ape replied. He seemed to consider for a moment and then added, ‘I trust my crew, but there’s no point in them knowing things they don’t need to. Vanish again, and we’ll talk in my cabin.’

~~~

Aneka looked around the single, if larger than average, room which was the Captain’s cabin and immediately said, ‘You two have finally decided to be less formal then?’

Ape raised an eyebrow. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well… Judy’s blushing and…’ She bent down and pulled a small thong from under a corner of the bed. ‘I don’t see you in these, Ape.’

The big man shrugged slightly. ‘The battle here changed my view of a few things. I chased off the mother of my son, and she’s happy with someone else now. And Judy… I wasn’t appreciating her in some respects.’

Aneka smiled and nodded, and then sat on a corner of the bed. ‘So… how’re things on the Admiral Banfry? Your son wanted to know you were okay. At least I can give him some good news.’

‘Good is relative. We’ve been ordered to stand ready for departure. Destination to be identified twelve hours before warp. No shore leave and they’ve been bringing up supplies for heavy bombardment and ground fighting.’

‘We’ve been told to check all the sleep pods,’ Leeforth added. ‘They’re planning to put a full contingent of two hundred Marines aboard before we go. We’re getting no broadcasts from New Earth either, so we don’t have much information on what’s happening.’

‘There’s been a lot of media coverage around the Herosians still being a threat,’ Aneka told them. ‘CFM has been a little more balanced than some of the other channels, but people are pretty worked up. Several ex-Navy types who went into politics were elected to the Representatives and there seems to be a move to continue the fighting.’ Neither of the two officers seemed shocked. ‘Nearly half the prisoners taken on Lonar seem to have vanished. No one who has come back has been allowed to talk to the press, and the Navy isn’t allowing anyone, even Elroy, to visit them.’

‘So far I’m not too surprised,’ Ape commented.

Aneka shrugged. ‘Winter came back from Shadataga with us to give the Jenlay the rules for becoming students there. You can learn science you haven’t dreamed of before, but only if you put down your guns. Or that’s the basics.’

‘And I’m sure that’s gone down well.’

‘We haven’t had an answer yet, but now you’re back we expect things to heat up. We know someone’s manipulating the media, and we’re pretty sure a Jenlay frigate fired off those nukes at Beryum. Someone wants this war to continue so they can grab Herosian worlds.’

‘But, in the state they’re in, the Herosians are no threat,’ Leeforth said.

‘That’s why they want to attack now,’ Ape replied. ‘It makes too much sense. Damn.’

‘I didn’t join the Navy to go beat up defenceless aliens,’ Leeforth said, frowning. ‘What do we do?’

‘Hopefully,’ Aneka replied, ‘you won’t need to do anything. If they do decide to push for continued hostilities, Abby will pull the Old Earth ships out and the AIs will restart the Herosian network. We think that’ll stall them.’

‘Maybe,’ Ape said. He did not sound as though he was too convinced.

High Yorkbridge, 28.9.530 FSC.

Vice Admiral Part, an older officer whom Aneka had something of a dislike for, had been promoted to full Admiral as a result of the demise of Admiral Farmer in the Battle of New Earth. As Core Fleet’s leader, it was given to him to present the Navy’s plans, so it was he who stood in front of various assembled dignitaries in a conference room in the Administration building.

There were about twenty Representatives in the audience, as well as all the available Vice Admirals, Senator Elroy, Pierce, and Truelove, but the primary reason for the presentation was the non-Jenlay. Abby and Norden were in the room to hear what he had to say. The presence of Winter and Aneka had produced several objections which both Elroy and Abby had denied. Technically, Winter was there in an advisory capacity, and Aneka was there as her bodyguard carrying as much firepower as the Marines stationed around the room.

Part cleared his throat and a number of graphics appeared on the wall behind him. Aneka scanned over them, determining that they said nothing useful aside from identifying six systems in the border space between the Jenlay and Herosians.

‘Al, what do we have on those?’ she asked, just as Part began to speak.

‘As we all know, the Herosians initiated a conflict with us which is currently in a holding position. We have secured the worlds they captured with some difficulty. Our intelligence gathering continues, but interrogation of prisoners taken on Lonar has determined that there are six key systems which are acting as the primary rallying points for a Herosian counterattack.’

‘One of them,’ Al said, ‘has a Herosian Navy base in it, but it is primarily a Helium-three mining facility. Four are mining colonies. Heavy metals, iron, aluminium. One provides most of the food for the Herosians in the region.’

‘Right…’

‘In order to secure our position,’ Part went on, ‘and ensure that the Herosian threat is effectively eliminated, we plan to take these worlds placing a barrier between Herosian space and ours which will–’

‘This intelligence,’ Winter said, interrupting him, which appeared to annoy him as much as Aneka expected it would. ‘You say that you got it from the prisoners on Lonar?’

‘That is correct,’ Part replied.

‘And these are the staging sites for a counterattack, implying that forces have been moving there since the loss of the Herosian network…’

‘They received word via a courier vessel prior to the arrival of the liberating force,’ Part stated, smiling. They had thought of that one.

‘I see. Unlikely, but let’s move on. You want to attack… Well, we have Gothriam, population one hundred and ten thousand Herosians and a few million sheentoe. No significant military presence, but it does supply meat to most of the region. Four planets with high reserves of minerals and facilities for processing them into metals useful in the construction of starship hulls. Again, no military presence. And then there is Tandu, which does have a Navy facility there, primarily a fuel production and maintenance station.’

‘Your information is out of date,’ Part replied, ‘we have–’

‘My information is two days old, Admiral,’ Winter replied. ‘There have been no significant Herosian military movements in several weeks. They are sticking to their own worlds, unsure of the situation beyond the systems they are in. They are entirely on the defensive. Let me make this clear, there is no Herosian threat.’

‘Norden?’ Abby said, looking at her military advisor.

‘The most likely source of any Herosian counterattack would be Hadyad,’ Norden replied, his voice calm. ‘It is thirty-four parsecs closer to Jenlay space than the nearest of Admiral Part’s targets and is the Herosian equivalent of Dokar. Heavily fortified, a large military presence. Removing its main food supply and eliminating major reserves of materials and fuel would obviously weaken it, perhaps to the point where it can be taken, but at considerable loss. It still remains the most apparent target if the aim is to eliminate the potential for further aggression.’

‘It seems,’ Elroy said, ‘that we are talking about economic warfare at best, Admiral.’

‘These systems are being fortified,’ Pierce stated. ‘Hadyad needs them to move forward and taking them is the first step in stopping a war which–’

‘Is over,’ Abby said, her tone flat. ‘As far as we are concerned, further aggression against the Herosians is unnecessary and, frankly, appears more like a land grab. We will take no part in it. Our ships will be returning to Earth as soon as possible.’

‘And I will be returning to Shadataga,’ Winter said. ‘Disappointed as I am, I’m forced to admit that the Jenlay are not ready for what we want to teach. The Herosian communications network will be reinitialised starting tomorrow.’ She got to her feet, Aneka, Abby, and Norden following suit.

‘Senator?’ Pierce said.

‘What?’ Elroy replied. ‘I agree with them. You kept me entirely in the dark about all of this. You present me with unsubstantiated “intelligence” as justification for assaulting some weak targets and expect me to defend our position to people with their own sources of information more up to date than yours. I am possibly more disappointed than Winter is. If you can substantiate a real threat before they leave, I’ll try to talk them into staying.’

He got to his feet and followed the others from the room. Aneka thought he looked weary. She knew how he felt.

~~~

The Gobari Club was a modern building trying to look like something much older and grander. Most of the rooms, especially the gaming rooms, were large and featured thick, mock-marble columns. It had two drawing rooms with big, comfortable chairs where its patrons could gather to discuss their latest gambit for winning such-and-such an ancient battle. On the upper floors were smaller rooms and many of these were now occupied by members needing a place to live given that their homes in the Islands had been demolished.

Some of the rooms were, however, simply smaller drawing rooms, reserved for private discussion, and Jason Pierce sat in one of these, his eyes on a large graphic on the wall which was of Admiral Gobari, whose name graced the club. The picture had been taken and then manipulated to make him look more regal, but he still had a vaguely disapproving expression on his face.

‘If we can’t provide Elroy with enough evidence to keep the Old Earth ships here, our position will be severely weakened,’ Admiral Part stated from another chair. He sounded irritated, annoyed. He was a passionate man and, in Pierce’s opinion, ill-suited to the role the Committee had given him. ‘Can we manufacture something fast enough?’ Part added.

‘Which will fool Winter?’ Pierce replied. ‘I doubt we could do that with several months to prepare. She clearly has access to some form of intelligence network we know nothing about. No, we need to isolate her, and Elroy. Ensure that their information remains out of the public domain. That is already underway. Then we can push forward without the Old Earth fleet.’

‘With the Herosian communications network up, Hadyad will counter anything we attempt to do in any of our target systems. So far we have had few losses. If the public starts seeing bodies returning, their zeal for revenge will be difficult to maintain.’

‘We can’t support excessive expenditure on this operation.’ The speaker was Dreyman, the CEO of a company which produced materials for high-tech equipment. ‘We have considerable investment waiting to roll out here, but if we have to hire mercenaries to defend the systems…’

‘We need to determine that these AIs have made good on their threat,’ Pierce said, ‘but I agree that our plans will be made significantly more difficult if the Herosians are aware of the situation. However, I do have a backup plan. It will require additional expenditure, but the results will be far greater than anything we have previously imagined.’

‘What additional expenditure?’ Dreyman asked.

‘What plan?’ Part demanded.

‘Admiral, did you see any reports on an incident Jansen and Narrows were involved in following the return of the Delta Brigantia from Negral? It concerned a world named Eshebbon…’

BC-101 Hand of God, 30.9.530 FSC.

‘I’m sorry you have to be leaving under these circumstances,’ Elroy said, his hand clasping Abby’s almost as though he did not want to let go.

‘Diplomatic channels will remain open,’ Abby replied, smiling at him. ‘We expect to hear from you soon. If things change we want to know about it so we can get things back on track.’

‘Of course.’

‘From you, mind, Jackson,’ Abby stated firmly, even if her tone was soft and she was still smiling. ‘You be careful.’ Her smile shifted to a grin. ‘And I’d like my hand back.’

Returning her grin, Elroy released her hand and turned to Winter. ‘You’re leaving too. I’m glad you’re back with us, but you’ve left me with more problems than solutions.’

‘I’m still with you,’ Winter replied, ‘even when I’m not, and we’ll get to the solutions eventually.’

‘The media has been pushing for a “Safe Border” policy for the last day and things are simply getting more militant. Polls in the Navy suggest that there is a strong desire to go out and press our advantage. Things are not looking good.’

‘Someone is directing this, a group, probably, but a small one with good information management skills and a strong desire to see the war continue. If we can eliminate that group, or discredit them, we can turn this around.’

‘We’ve got a Navy full of people fired up with righteous indignation and a sense of power.’

‘No,’ Aneka said, breaking in from where she was leaning against a wall waiting for the goodbyes to end. ‘No, I think you’re wrong. That would be good. “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep, I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion,” Alexander the Great, quite a general so if that scared him you should take note. I think the Navy is full of sheep. Maybe sheep who just beat a wolf and think they can do anything, but sheep. Sheentoe, yes? We need to find that lion, or we need to be very afraid of the army of sheentoe, because there’s no telling what they’ll be willing to do as long as someone gives them orders.’

Part Four: Contraband

Odanari, 20.10.530 FSC.

Daniella Bishop could not sleep. It was not an unusual occurrence and she was employing her normal remedy for it. The sun had been up for just over an hour and she was walking out to the lagoon with the heat making her skin feel wonderful. A swim would either wake her up, and then maybe she could nap in the afternoon, or exhaust her enough to let her sleep in.

There was no one on the island she needed to wear clothes for, so she was not wearing clothes. Butler and the Ross sisters were used to her behaviour and ignored it. It was likely that Olivia or Melissa was up by now; generally one of them would get up at dawn even if Steven was not on the island. They would be in the house, however, and she would walk around the outside to get to the small bit of ocean she was about to swim in.

And Steven had been called to New Earth on business. He had said something about the Admiralty wanting new ships, but Daniella had not been especially interested and had not paid attention. She had wanted something else, and he had been too much in a rush to give her what she wanted. At least he had seemed annoyed, though she was not sure whether it was about her or the stupid Navy.

With a sigh, Daniella slipped into the water and began a rapid crawl into deep water. Thirty metres out, she lifted her head, pulled in a long breath of air, and dived. Sunlight sparkled around her for the first couple of metres, but she kept on going, swimming down into the blue water until it turned almost black and she was surrounded by darkness, and she was still not at the bottom.

And there she hung, moving her arms slowly to keep herself there in the cool, dark water. It was peaceful here and she loved it. Her mind was still. The cool water always seemed to take away the heat she felt within her on the surface. She could forget who she was, and where she had come from, and everything that had happened to her. She could become… nothing, and there was always the urge to stay there, to let the caldera claim her and never go back to the things she did above.

But when her lungs started to ache she always gave in and started back into the light. By the time she reached the surface, she was starting to hurt and she could feel the heavy weariness in her limbs that meant she had stayed down almost too long. She began a far slower crawl toward the beach. She would go to the back and lie beside the pool in the sun until her body recovered from the dive. If it was Melissa’s turn to be up, maybe she could be persuaded to…

A glance at the beach to check the distance showed that the brunette was, indeed, awake, but there was something odd going on. The girl was running out of the house, but she got no more than a few metres before tripping and collapsing onto the sand. She remained there, not moving, and Daniella quickened her stroke a little. Why was Melissa just lying there?

The reason appeared in the doorway just as Daniella got to the beach. It was a man, dressed in black combat armour, the visor of his helmet tinted black against the sunlight. He looked almost like a robot and he behaved with as much dispassion as one. He saw the wet, naked, lithe young girl coming out of the water, raised his rifle, and fired.

Tristar Township, New Earth.

Video calls were getting far more solid since Aneka had her upgrade. A full-sized image of Winter’s Number Six avatar was standing in front of Aneka, though only she could see it, or hear the audio.

‘We’ve noticed some odd traffic on the networks coming out of Odanari,’ the projection said.

‘Odd is one of those relative terms?’ Aneka replied, twisting the statement into a question.

‘Communication failures with several islands and one of the larger hotel complexes which happens to be remote from the others. A few people saying that they’ve spotted trails from ships in the upper atmosphere, but nothing should be flying. There are rumours flying about that the Herosians have come back.’

‘Okay, a little odd. I don’t suppose you have a probe over there?’

‘We did not think it necessary.’

‘Huh. You want us to go over there? It’d be… half a day in Gwy.’

‘Not yet. We’ll see whether there’s further noise. Teldarian, by the way, is on New Earth. His yacht arrived yesterday.’

‘Good for him. Technically I’m not on New Earth, so I don’t think he’ll be dropping by.’

The image nodded and said, ‘I’ll let you know of developments,’ before vanishing.

‘Let Cassandra know about Odanari,’ Aneka said to Al. ‘She can keep an eye on the media traffic.’

‘Are you going to mention it to Ella?’

Aneka looked across at the pool where her red-haired lover was doing laps. ‘When there’s more to go on. Currently it’s just some random events and a lot of paranoia.’

‘A valid point.’

Ella chose that moment to haul herself out of the water and walk over to where Aneka was sitting. Without preamble, she sat down in Aneka’s lap and settled against her.

‘You’re wet,’ Aneka pointed out.

‘You’re in a bikini.’

‘Which you engineered to turn transparent when wet.’

The redhead giggled. ‘I did, didn’t I? It’s not like the people here haven’t seen you in less.’ Which was also a valid point, and Ella was topless. ‘Anything interesting happening?’

‘Nothing of note. Apparently Teldarian is in the system, but he doesn’t know we’re here so I don’t think he’ll be visiting.’

‘Hey, now that we have the Amethyst Hyde, does that mean they won’t be giving us coffee?’

‘Probably. Luckily the fabricators on the new Hyde make drinkable coffee. I may miss that though.’

‘There had to be some sort of downside to all the new shiny. You know, we’ve been here for a couple of weeks and we’re doing nothing.’

‘I know, love. And then we’ll be running around as though our knickers were on fire with no warning. That’s what happens in situations like this.’

‘I don’t know how you stand it.’

‘Well, I have a nice view to keep me occupied, that always helps.’

Ella lifted her head and looked at the grassland outside the wall, and the buildings beside theirs. ‘It’s not that great a view.’

‘I was referring to the topless redhead in my lap. Wow, you really walked into that one.’

21.10.530 FSC.

‘There are stronger rumours of a Herosian attack on Odanari,’ Cassandra said as the organic members of the somewhat unusual household ate breakfast, and Aneka drank coffee largely out of habit. ‘Neither the Administration nor the Navy are willing to comment.’

‘What kind of rumours?’ Truelove asked. She was getting used to having some form of twenty-hour-a-day coverage of the media with a summary at breakfast and had to admit it would be difficult going back to having to do all this herself.

‘One report states that none of the islands which went dark have come back up. There is a less substantiated one indicating that smoke was seen rising from the hotel complex. There are also a couple of very vague reports saying that Herosian gunships were seen. Generally those are second- or third-hand reports, likely entirely fabricated.’

‘But it’s spreading rapidly through the private server networks,’ Aneka said.

‘Interestingly,’ Cassandra went on, ‘several sites which would normally debunk this kind of rumour have vanished from the net in the last couple of days.’

‘Winter noticed that,’ Justine said. ‘She’s been trying to find out what happened, but so far the data is inconclusive.’

‘It still sounds like someone is paving the way for some large-scale paranoia,’ Aneka said, frowning. ‘Remove potential sources of alternate views and then bring in the shock story.’

‘You know,’ Janna said, musing over her toast, ‘if these people are giving Winter the run-around, they have to be very good.’

‘They are,’ Justine supplied, ‘but they’re going to slip up sooner or later.’

‘And then we’ll send Aneka to kick their butts,’ Sharissa said, grinning.

‘Thanks,’ Aneka replied. ‘I’ll go clean my guns.’

High Yorkbridge, 22.10.530 FSC.

Stephen Teldarian felt out of place in the gleaming mock-stone environment of the Gobari Club. He had been there before, invited by some Admiralty type who was a member, but he felt as though he was standing in something which should have died a thousand years ago.

There were no female members. There was no rule prohibiting them, which would have been both illegal and have resulted in social censure for the members, but no woman had ever joined successfully, and no one questioned that. The staff in the gaming rooms were all male as well, and they dressed in smart shirts and slacks. Female staff attended the drawing rooms, dressed in short skirts and low-cut tops. There was a distinct air of misogyny about the Gobari Club, and, despite Teldarian’s behaviour around beautiful women, he did not consider himself to be a misogynist.

It was a man who led him up to one of the meeting lounges on the second floor, stepping aside to allow him in and closing up behind him. Teldarian did not hear a lock engage, but it felt like he was being sealed in.

‘Stephen, glad you could make it. Have a seat.’ The speaker was Jonus Quaid, a Rear Admiral Teldarian had done a fair amount of work for. He headed up the research and development section in the Navy and had little in the way of qualifications to do so aside from passing basic mathematics.

‘I wasn’t given a lot of choice,’ Teldarian replied. ‘The message said urgent and it came with two Marines as escort.’

‘It is urgent,’ Quaid replied. ‘Have a seat. Drink?’

Teldarian sat down, noting the other man in the room: Anderson Dreyman. ‘No, thank you. What was it you wanted? Some sort of metallurgical problem?’

‘Hmm?’ Quaid glanced at Dreyman. ‘Oh! No, Mister Dreyman is here as an interested party, that’s all. We have managed to obtain one of the frigates the Herosians built from Xinti technology. We need you to go to Corax and consult on the research project.’

Teldarian frowned. ‘I thought I made myself clear during our previous discussions, Rear Admiral. My company builds ships for the Navy, yes. I design many of them, yes. I do not have to like wars of revenge because of that and I won’t be a part of this.’

Quaid nodded, picking up a tablet from the table beside his chair. ‘Yes, you were quite vocal on that subject. Very polite, but quite firm. We believe, however, that you will change your position.’ He handed Teldarian the tablet.

There was a picture being displayed. It was a rather lopsided photograph taken in what looked like a starship, of a sleep pod. Inside the pod, naked and clearly asleep, was his sister.

‘What…?’ Teldarian began.

‘She’s quite safe,’ Quaid interrupted. ‘And she will stay that way so long as you do as we ask. We need their cloaking technology and any other Xinti-derived tech you can uncover. We need a functional and useful second-generation warp drive. Provide us with this in a ship we can use against the Herosians, and your sister will be returned to you in full health. She went through so much when she was younger. It would be such a shame if she had to go through anything like that again.’

Teldarian’s eyes flicked to Dreyman; he was looking uncomfortable, which meant he was not entirely without morals. The idea of smashing the tablet into Quaid’s face and then beating him to death with it flared through the engineer’s mind, and died at the sight of the photograph on the screen.

‘When do I start?’ Teldarian growled.

Tristar Township, 24.10.530 FSC.

News was breaking on the main channels now. The story was that a Herosian sneak attack had resulted in several fatalities on the resort world of Odanari. There was film of burning buildings in some sort of high-end hotel, but the reports indicated that a number of people had been killed on some of the private islands in the region.

Ella watched with a deep frown on her face. ‘The region they’re talking about is away from Teldarian’s island,’ she said during a break in the reporting.

‘The other side of the planet,’ Aneka replied. ‘I looked too.’

‘Strangely, however,’ Winter commented as she entered the room, ‘Stephen Teldarian was taken to Corax two days ago and has not returned. He has been somewhat vocal in a few meetings about the war, suggesting that it should be brought to a conclusion.’

‘Funny, you’d think he’d want the Navy demanding more ships.’

‘More of his income derives from commercial shipping than naval contracts. Businesses rarely thrive in a war environment, especially an uncertain one like this. However, I believe he genuinely doesn’t see a need for further conflict.’

‘So what’s he doing on Corax?’ Ella asked.

‘The Navy moved their captured Gathor-class there after the Old Earth fleet left.’

‘Okay, but if he didn’t want to be involved, what changed?’

Winter gave them a rather unhappy smile. ‘That is a good question. Why don’t we get Aneka to ask him?’

‘You want me to sneak into the primary military facility in the Joval system,’ Aneka said, ‘and talk to a man who is likely under heavy guard?’

‘That… about covers it.’

‘Right…’ Aneka gave a sigh. ‘This is going to need a bit of planning.’

Gwy, 26.10.530 FSC.

‘You’re sure about this?’ Ella asked, again.

Aneka stood at the airlock door, checking one of her pistols. ‘The plan’s sound,’ she said. ‘We’ve identified a weak spot in their security and Winter has obtained all the access codes. My transponder will identify me as a Navy lieutenant who fits my description and has sky-high security clearance. I can’t use the stealth shielding all the time because it uses too much power. Gwy will be monitoring communications. If I need to bug out in a hurry, you can be there faster than I’ll be able to make it to the surface. Yes, I’m sure.’

‘It’s a hundred and fifty below out there.’

‘And I’m now basically immune to the cold. I need to do this, you know I can, quit worrying.’ Aneka slipped her gun into a backpack, sealed it shut, and slung it onto her back. ‘Gwy, open the airlock.’ She leaned over and kissed Ella, letting it linger for a little longer than was necessary, and then turned to leave.

Corax was a moon, but it was large enough that it actually had an atmosphere, if a thin one. That was basically nitrogen and carbon dioxide, except that the air temperature was well below the point where the latter component turned solid and the result was rather pretty. What little light there was refracted off the crystals of dry ice which covered every rock making colourful, really quite beautiful, patterns in Aneka’s multi-spectral vision.

‘Nine hundred metres to the surface hatch,’ Al commented. ‘Perhaps we could look at the sights later?’

‘Nothing much else to do while we walk,’ Aneka replied and set off across the rocky surface.

Corax.

The weak point in the security at Corax was the civilian section. The moon hosted various commercial and research facilities, though many of them had been denuded of personnel by the Navy for ‘security’ reasons. That actually just made things easier since there were fewer people to see her emerge from a corridor which led out to a minor surface exit used for maintenance of the surface sensor arrays.

‘I have connected to the local network,’ Al said as soon as they were inside the maze-like Commercial Station. ‘Winter’s access codes appear to be working perfectly.’

A map appeared in-vision showing the entire surface, or subsurface, structure. They had entered one of the domed areas and Aneka recognised it more or less immediately, just before she rounded a corner to see Feathers across the plaza. It was open and looked busy; at least some of the Navy’s people were getting shore leave, and it seemed that the Navy viewed keeping their troops happy as something they could tolerate under the new security regime.

‘The Gathor seems to be situated here,’ Al said, highlighting an area on the far side of the spaceport on the map. ‘I suggest that might be a good place to look for Teldarian.’

‘I think that’s a good idea,’ Aneka replied, shifting her trajectory a little, but keeping up the same, confident stride. Half of the deception required for infiltration like this was looking like you belonged there.

There were definitely fewer people about, and far more of them were in the same blue shipsuits as Aneka. She moved smoothly through the foot traffic, guided by her map, and no one questioned her because she clearly knew where she was going and she was in a hurry to get there. The black wig she was wearing likely avoided any problems she might have had with recognition. Everyone knew that Aneka Jansen had white hair, and the bangs around her cheeks changed the shape of her face enough to add to the effect.

The first problem came when she was through the main station and trying to get across to the other side of the spaceport. There were guards on the exit and one of them was looking at her more closely than she would have liked as her ident came up on their display screen.

‘Do I know you?’ the man asked, frowning. The frown came with a slightly lopsided half-grin, however. Aneka went for that.

‘I don’t think… No, wait… Feathers, last year. You were a bit drunk and making passes at one of the dancers. Didn’t think you’d noticed me.’

‘Huh, yeah… Well, I’ve got a good memory for… faces.’ He was looking at her breasts when he said it.

‘We just received his personal ident code,’ Al said, sounding amused.

‘Give him the fake one back,’ Aneka replied, and ran her tongue over her lips.

‘Maybe see you in there again,’ the Marine said, his grin turning into a smile.

‘Maybe.’ She walked past him and his fellow guard and slipped into the spaceport beyond. ‘Jenlay can always be counted on to think with their genitals,’ she commented silently.

‘A happy trait under the circumstances,’ Al replied.

The spaceport on Corax was not large and was not designed for ships the size of the frigate. Whatever facility they were using had to have been constructed specifically for the job, and probably in something of a hurry, and access to it seemed to be limited, largely because there was only a single tunnel in and out. It, too, was guarded, but the man and woman standing there appeared to be mainly in position to deflect lost spacers.

‘Lieutenant… Church,’ the woman said. ‘This area’s restricted…’

Aneka patted her bag. ‘Secure courier. I don’t think they’re secret, but some engineering guy has to have them yesterday.’

‘Right, that’s engineers for you. This lot are worse than most.’ She stepped aside, apparently happy with the excuse and Aneka’s fake credentials.

‘Is this too easy?’ Aneka asked as she started down the hundred metres of corridor to the hangar bay at the end.

‘Yes, but that is primarily because the people here do not believe anyone could have infiltrated their base. If you are inside it, you must be supposed to be inside it.’

‘Huh. Sometimes I despair. Any luck in finding Stephen?’

‘I am working through the internal security feeds now… Yes, location marked.’ A window opened in Aneka’s vision field showing the view from a security camera. Teldarian was there, sitting at a desk in what looked like an office. He appeared to be alone. ‘I’m recording a loop now,’ Al added.

Aneka nodded absently, but there was no one around to see it, thankfully. Another few seconds and she was stepping through a set of doors into an airlock which did not need to cycle air before opening onto a huge room which had been cut into the rock. The rough edges suggested it had mostly been blasted out and then they had placed a dome over the top. The centre of it was occupied by the partially disembowelled, rather ugly form of a Gathor-class frigate. Large sections of the forward hull had been dismantled to give access to the gamma-ray focussing apparatus. The lower mid-section had been cut open, probably to reveal the cloaking system. Off to one side, hull sections were being examined by a team of men in white shipsuits.

Walking around to the left, Aneka found a doorway at the back of the cavern, cut into the rock. That led to a stairwell which let her go up a floor and onto a somewhat better-appointed corridor. It looked like someone had made a bit of an effort here, lining the walls with sheet metal. That said, the heavy trunking running along the ceiling was open in several places, and the metal had paint on it which suggested recycling.

She found the office Teldarian was apparently in after a few seconds and pushed at the handle. Manual sliding doors, they really had been in a hurry.

‘Locked,’ she commented.

‘Now it’s not, and I’m looping the camera.’

Aneka slid open the door, stepped through, and pushed it closed behind her. ‘It occurs that a man under constant watch may not be here entirely of his own volition.’

‘Agreed,’ Al replied, ‘but now you can ask him.’

When she turned around Teldarian was looking at her with an irritated expression on his face. ‘Yes?’ he asked. ‘What do you want?’

Aneka lifted an eyebrow. ‘Stephen, we’ve fucked. And I thought I was more memorable than that.’

Annoyance turned into a confused frown, and then his eyes widened. ‘What are you…?’

‘I’m here,’ she said, ‘to ask you what you’re doing here. Our intel says you’re against this and here you are helping these idiots.’ His eyes flicked to the camera in the corner of the room. ‘It’s looped,’ she told him. ‘We’re safe for fifteen minutes or so. After that they might notice.’

‘They have Daniella,’ he said flatly.

‘Oh.’

‘I’d ask… I’d beg you to find her, but I’ve no idea where they’ve taken her. They showed me a picture of her in cold sleep. They could have been taking her anywhere.’

‘So you’re here because they threatened her… Great.’ She sighed. ‘“Morality is contraband in war.”’

‘Sorry?’

‘Mahatma Gandhi. Old Earth politician, you wouldn’t know him. War quotes seem to be de rigueur at the moment. Anyway, people’s morals can get a bit skewed when they’re at war.’

‘Or when there’s a profit in it. Daniella isn’t the only thing going on here. A lot of the Torem in the enclave here left before things got too bad, but now they’re all gone. One day the place was emptied out and I don’t get the feeling they were being repatriated.’

Aneka bit at her lip. There had been a number of reports through in the last week of Herosians still on New Earth going missing. Winter had put it down to zealous FSA agents or citizens with a desire to ‘assist’ in the war effort, but maybe…

‘I’ll have it looked into,’ she said. ‘And we’ll start looking for Daniella. Give me a rundown on what they’ve got you working on and then I’ll go see if I can’t find your sister.’

Gwy.

‘I’ll begin looking into the Torem situation,’ Winter said over the comms system, ‘and I’ll look more closely at the Herosian disappearances.’

‘And Daniella Bishop?’ Aneka asked.

‘I do not believe that she has been brought to New Earth, or Corax. We need more information, and I think a closer look at Odanari is now warranted.’

‘Let Cassandra know we’ll be back tomorrow,’ Ella said. ‘Shouldn’t take too long with Gwy’s new sensors.’

‘Be careful,’ Winter told them. ‘There is likely to be at least some military presence in the system.’

‘I think we’ve got it,’ Aneka replied. ‘Don’t we Gwy?’

‘I was built for just this kind of operation,’ Gwy said from the speakers. ‘I believe we can handle this with the minimum of fuss.’

‘Famous last words,’ Aneka commented. ‘Let’s get going.’

New Earth.

Janna walked out onto the patio looking rather more hesitant than she normally did. Cassandra picked up on it almost immediately, but said nothing, waiting for the Jenlay to make up her mind about what she was going to do.

Apparently doing so, Janna straightened her back and walked over. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’ she asked.

‘Nothing which cannot run in the background,’ Cassandra replied, smiling.

‘Right…’

‘Why don’t you sit down?’

‘Yes… good idea.’ Janna settled onto a chair, sitting far too upright for normal.

‘What’s on your mind, Janna?’ Cassandra asked.

‘I… need some advice and, maybe, a favour.’

‘Advice?’

‘Yes…’ The ex-stripper took a deep breath, which made her large, barely covered breasts shift almost alarmingly under her halter top. ‘You know I prefer sex with women? In fact, I’m exclusive.’

‘I’m aware of that, yes.’

‘Well, it’s not entirely from inclination. I mean, I’m not exactly a lesbian, I just find sex with men… uncomfortable. I needed money, you see? To bring Ella here and get her eyes and face fixed. I did… I met some men who…’

‘I understand,’ Cassandra said. ‘The man who created me chose to educate me in what he wanted from me by streaming days’ worth of sex-related media into my system. I have seen things done to and by women which… Aneka wondered once why I was sane.’

‘Well, it put me off men for almost seventy years, but it’s not the same now that I have Sharissa.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Well, she still likes men, but she’s avoiding them because we like to share and with a man we couldn’t. And I do have some good memories of that aspect of my sex life. I feel like I’m…’ She paused, casting around for the right words. ‘I feel like I’m stopping the woman I love from doing something she enjoys, and that simply won’t do if I can do something about it. Seventy years. I think I should be able to overcome it after that long. You’re a psychologist. I was wondering…’

‘You know I specialise in machine psychology?’

Janna managed a smile. ‘Yes, but I also know you like observing us strange organics.’

‘Very well. I think if you want to overcome this, then that is a first step. A good one. However, it won’t be easy. You’ll need an understanding male partner and I think I see where this is going.’

‘Your Al,’ Janna said, nodding. ‘He’s a psychologist, sort of, and he can talk to you electronically, as I understand it. So the two of you should be able to tell if I’m in distress. And he’s not, exactly, a man… If you see what I mean.’

‘He is an AI. His body is cybernetic. You would not be having sex with a man for your first time in a long time, but with… an extremely realistic sex toy.’

‘Oh I’d never call him that!’

‘Why not? That’s what we call each other. I am, at the base, a robot sex doll, and he has certain features which are really there only for that purpose. Obviously giving him a little autonomy from Aneka has improved our relationship on far more levels than the merely physical. But even there… He can pick me up and carry me. Have you any idea what that feels like when your initial relationship with someone assumed that we would never physically meet?’

Janna nodded. ‘Simple things you thought you’d never do, and suddenly they become possible. I can grasp the concept. What do you think?’

‘I think that, in theory, it is a workable plan. I think that you should discuss it with Sharissa. Aneka and Ella are away, they went to Odanari after seeing Stephen Teldarian. We can’t proceed until they return, so talk it over with your partner. Feel free to invite me to join the conversation. We should, obviously, discuss it with Al and Aneka. They have some reservations about certain aspects of this body thing which I find amusing. Given that Al is in Aneka and Aneka won’t sleep with you, they might have an objection, though I doubt it.’

‘I’ll talk to Sharissa tonight,’ Janna said. ‘Do you think we should do the first session as a foursome?’

Cassandra laughed her throaty laugh. ‘Give me a few hours and I’ll have everything planned with a coloured flowchart.’

Odanari.

Gwy’s sensors had been unable to detect any sign of life on the island where Steven Teldarian made his home, but Ella was still armed with a laser pistol when she walked down from the landing pad with Aneka.

‘It’s beautiful here,’ Ella commented as they rounded the corner to see the low, white house and the blue lagoon stretching out in front of it.

‘Uh-huh. I think, if I’m honest, I knew I was going to end up in bed with Stephen when I saw the view the first morning. But I’d have put up more of a fight if he’d actually tried to seduce me.’

‘Yeah… I can see your point. I still can’t see any heat signatures. You said he had two maids and a butler?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘I’ve negotiated the public network,’ Al informed them. ‘I think this is one time where Mister Teldarian would not mind me hacking the other ones. That is under way. The public network is signalling that external communications are offline, however.’

‘That’s not a great sign,’ Aneka replied. ‘The fact that the front door is open is probably a worse one.’ She pulled one of her pistols from its holster on her right thigh and moved forward, sweeping the room as she entered. The hallway looked as it had when she had last been there with its not-carp in the ponds lined with not-ferns. Sand had blown in through the open door and never cleaned up. It was otherwise empty.

‘Aneka,’ Ella said, drawing her attention to the wall beside the door. There was a blackened mark at about chest height. Not really a burn, more like someone had rubbed graphite over it. ‘Blaster,’ Ella said, ‘set on stun. Someone was trying to take prisoners.’

‘It fits Stephen’s story.’

They checked the guest rooms at the front of the house, finding nothing of interest, and then moved back down the central corridor. The office door was locked, but by then Al had cracked the service network and opening it was just a matter of telling the door to open. The room was as Aneka had last seen it, except that all the screens were dark. It seemed dead, too quiet, just as the rest of the house seemed far too silent for them to find anything good there.

It was not until they got to the pool area with its bridge that they discovered their first sign of life or, more particularly, of death. Butler, Teldarian’s man-servant, was lying on the bridge where he had fallen. The air conditioning had kept the decomposition to a minimum, but Ella’s nose still wrinkled. Aneka thought it was a sign of what she had been through the past couple of years that that was her only reaction to finding a dead body.

‘Blaster wound to the chest,’ Ella said, her voice hushed. ‘They wanted prisoners, but they weren’t unwilling to kill.’

Aneka nodded, pointing at the pool below where a dark shadow could be seen at the bottom. ‘He armed himself and tried to defend the place.’

‘I think,’ Ella said, looking down the bridge toward the lounge and dining area, ‘that he did a little better than try.’

There was a dark stain on the Plascrete and another on the railing which looked like a badly smudged handprint. Producing a device from her belt, Ella pointed it at the mark on the floor and pressed a button on the top.

‘You remember Abraham saying his super-amazing scanner, the one the size of a room, would be a while before it could be handheld?’ Ella asked.

‘I recall, yes.’

‘This is the handheld version. He was surprisingly sanguine about it, considering one of his best pieces of engineering was trivial to the AIs.’

‘I think getting to study wormholes from the inside has him happy enough not to worry.’

‘True. It is blood, and it’s Jenlay.’

‘Anything else? There were other people here besides Butler.’

‘Male…’

‘And they would all have been female. Butler hit one.’

‘So it wasn’t the Herosians. Big surprise, but who was it?’

‘Al,’ Aneka asked, ‘anything on the internal video?’

‘No,’ the AI replied. ‘Someone introduced a virus into the system and it has done a very precise job of erasing any records from the last week or two.’

‘Huh. We’d better check the rest of the place, and Daniella’s house, but I’m not hopeful. You don’t leave bodies lying around if you’re staying with them.’

‘Do you think we should bury him?’ Ella asked.

Aneka looked down at the body of a man she barely knew. He had been nice enough, and obviously very loyal. ‘We’ll bury him. There should be something in Gwy we can use. We’ll check the back rooms first.’

The servants’ quarters were almost as sumptuous as the guest rooms. Two of the beds showed signs of having been vacated in a hurry. One of those, belonging to one of the maids judging from the contents, had a burn mark in the wall over the headboard. The third room was neat and tidy. The owner had obviously been up and about when their visitors had arrived.

They got to the large bedroom which, presumably anyway, belonged to Teldarian himself without finding any more bodies. The room was painted a deep red, and in the centre of it was a huge, round bed.

‘He liked to have plenty of room,’ Ella commented.

‘Apparently. I was never in here. It does come across as very…’

‘High-end brothel?’ Ella suggested.

‘Well… yeah. I don’t think I’d want to sleep in it.’

‘You did fine in that room on the Serai. That was a bit like this.’

‘This is more bachelor brothel. That one was kind of comfortable in a deviant sort of way.’ Aneka walked over to a small door which was discreetly situated at the back of the room and pushed through. ‘Uh-huh… He doesn’t like sleeping in there alone.’

Ella peered over her shoulder and found herself looking at a far smaller room with off-white walls. There was a single bed in it. It was a large single bed, but it was clearly meant for one person. There was a little cabinet near the head of it upon which was resting a tablet computer and a half-empty glass of water.

‘Almost makes me feel sorry for him,’ Ella said, frowning.

‘He’s had his butler murdered, and his sister and two maids kidnapped. You’re allowed to feel sorry for him.’

Tristar Township, New Earth, 28.10.530 FSC.

‘We couldn’t find any real evidence of the attackers,’ Ella said as they sat in the lounge for debriefing. ‘Not at Teldarian’s place and not at the hotel complex. The DNA from the blood is the best chance we have.’

‘I’m running it through records now,’ Winter replied. She was a teenager again, a serious look on her face. ‘While you were away the news channels have been burning with this. They’re painting it as a Herosian attack. Everyone at the hotel killed.’

‘Well that doesn’t tally,’ Aneka said. ‘We got records from the hotel systems indicating thirty-eight staff on duty and sixty-nine guests. Gwy pulled the Peacekeeper reports. They found nineteen bodies. There was a lot of damage to the building structures, but not enough to bury or destroy eighty-eight people.’

‘They took more than just Teldarian’s sister.’ Winter nodded thoughtfully and then straightened. ‘The DNA matches a Special Operations Marine, Nathan Tulvy. According to his service records, he is currently stationed at Dokar.’

‘Well, that makes sense as far as it goes. The Navy wants Teldarian working on the Gathor, so they coerce him by grabbing Daniella, but they could have done that without all this fuss.’

‘And if they wanted to keep the tension up,’ Ella added, ‘why not just kill a lot of people? Why the abductions?’

‘Agreed,’ Gillian put in. ‘If they were saying that people were taken then I could understand it, but they are hiding the kidnappings.’

‘A mystery which will have to wait,’ Winter stated flatly. ‘We cannot find Teldarian’s sister, so he will be unwilling to be extracted, and they have other people working on the Gathor anyway. We can’t have them building working technology from it. Aneka, I need you to go back in there.’

Aneka gave a shrug. ‘Well, it keeps me from getting bored.’

Corax, 1.11.530 FSC.

There were fewer people around the frigate when Aneka entered the bay for the second time. There had been more around Feathers and a few of the other public areas, so someone believed in rest days. They still had people working on the ship, however, which was going to make what she had to do more difficult.

Checking that no one was actually watching her, she walked behind a pile of storage crates and activated her shield. A counter appeared in-vision with an estimate of the time she had available, given the current drain on her reserves. She had had to use the cloaking system for the last hundred metres to the entrance, but the power from that had been recovered already. She had fifty minutes to do what she had to.

Slipping out of cover, she headed for the ship. She still had to be careful of noise, and if anyone bumped into her she was in trouble, but she was pretty sure no one was going to see her. Even lidar and radar, if there had been any operating in the bay, were not going to see anything.

The dangerous part was going to be planting the devices Winter had given her. Five canisters, not large, but they would be visible as soon as they left her hand. She needed them all in place, and out of sight, before she triggered them and got out. And the first was going to be the most difficult. It was to go in the lower warp drive coil, which was opened up and sitting there near the ground. If someone saw that one, the alarm might be raised.

There was a technician working three metres from the lowest run of the coil. She looked bored. Figuring all information was useful, Aneka looked over her shoulder at the tablet she was using and saw what appeared to be conductivity readings occupying the top of the screen, while the bottom showed a crossword.

‘Quantum,’ Al said.

‘Huh?’

‘She’s puzzling over eleven across. The answer is “quantum.”’

‘Do you want to tell her?’

‘I think that might arouse suspicion.’

Moving around to the other side of the drive coil, Aneka found a spot between some cables where she could wedge the canister and pushed it in. It was mostly hidden and the small, flashing light on one edge was hidden. Satisfied, she climbed up the metal framework above and into the belly of the ship.

You could tell that the thing had been cobbled together from technology only half-understood by the designers. The estimates Aneka had seen suggested a mass of around a thousand tonnes, and there should have been plenty of space, but the interior was bunged up with bulky, even over-sized equipment, and the destruction caused in studying the vessel had left even less space to work in.

The cloaking system was not too bad. Hung, as it was, under the central hull, Aneka could crawl across the top, obscured from above and below. She placed two of the canisters amid the vaguely cylindrical machinery and then climbed up into the rear of the hull.

Here she had to wait to allow people to walk past her, watch for projections as she slipped down the corridors, and generally spend more time than was necessary getting into the rear housing of the big gamma-ray laser which ran the length of the ship. One canister went at the front of the generator easily enough, but the second needed to go at the far end, and there was someone working on the control panel there.

Picking up a loose bolt from the floor, she walked closer, taking it slowly to avoid making any sound. When she was right beside him, she got the canister ready, moved her other arm out until it was beyond his peripheral vision, and tossed the bolt into a corner. The man turned away from her to look, and she pushed the canister in behind the panel.

‘Nicely done,’ Al said as they started back the way they had come.

‘It’s not perfect. The light was showing against some of the metalwork. He might see it.’

‘Organics engaged in careful study are rarely so observant.’

‘Yeah, well… I hope we haven’t got one that is.’

She waited until she was walking toward the door to the access tunnel, quite visibly, before she told Al to activate the devices. There were a number of possible reactions to what was about to happen. She was hoping for panic.

~~~

In the gamma-ray generation bay of the Gathor, Donald Mirian had just decided that something was not quite right. There had been a clattering noise, which was odd, but not entirely unheard of in the partially dismantled ship. When he had turned back from investigating that, something had changed. He was not sure what the something was, and he had been standing there, frowning at the console he had been examining, for five minutes, and it was not coming to him.

Something seemed to move in the corner of his eye and he looked that way. There was nothing… And then he saw it, a faint, red glow reflecting off metal. Something in the dead ship was alive! The entire ship was basically scrap, as far as they could tell, but he had found something which seemed to be working.

He turned to get a penlight from the bench set up behind him to hold his equipment. That would let him look into the dark space behind the console where the light had to be coming from.

When he turned back, the control panel was dissolving in front of his eyes.

High Yorkbridge, New Earth, 2.11.530 FSC.

‘It’s a total loss?’ Pierce asked. He was turning a tumbler of the best whiskey the Federation had to offer in his hand and did not seem especially annoyed.

Part nodded. ‘Nanotechnology of some sort. Fairly basic I’m told, but very effective. It ate its way through pretty much everything aside from the hull plates. We’re currently unsure whether it was sabotage or someone triggered some sort of self-destruct mechanism.’

‘It was sabotage. There is someone with access to very efficient technology who does not want us to gain from our victories. I can guess who.’

‘Winter.’ Part spat the name out and then sank the contents of his own glass in one go.

‘Indeed. This needs to be countered. We need her fighting fires rather than looking carefully at our plans. We need… We need civilian casualties. I think that the Herosians will have to kill a few people on New Earth.’

‘What about your watcher? Truelove?’

‘Oh, I’ll put her in charge of hunting for the terrorists. Just make sure your people leave the right kind of evidence. Odanari, but better. Dear Elaine will be so busy trying to track them down that she won’t be in a position to snoop on me.’

Part gave a grunt, and whether that was in agreement or not was open for debate. ‘Just so you know, I’m asking this to hear the answer, not because I’m having second thoughts… Do we really want to kill Jenlay civilians to keep this lie going?’

‘War is a truth surrounded on all sides by fully armed squads of lies and half-truths, Admiral,’ Pierce replied. ‘What we’re doing on Eshebbon will see to it that the Jenlay come out as the soul inheritors of the Federation, and see to it that those who created that future become very, very rich. The Jenlay will look upon us as saviours by the end of it. History will see us as the men who brought the children of Old Earth to their true position in the galaxy. We will be remembered as veritable gods!’

Gareth Part was an arrogant, over-confident, highly self-opinionated man, but even he was starting to wonder whether Pierce was just a little insane.

Tristar Township, 8.11.530 FSC.

It began with something relatively small. Truelove, Janine, and Sharissa came back to the house looking distinctly unhappy, but by then they just needed to supply the details.

‘Someone set off a small bomb in Shin You,’ Truelove told them. ‘I’m sure that’s been all over the news.’

‘Yes,’ Katelyn said, her tone distinctly sour, ‘though there was no one there. There were rumours about the Herosians using biological weapons and it was shut down as a health risk a couple of weeks ago.’

‘Who started the rumour?’ Aneka asked.

‘There was an editorial piece on Front Line News,’ Truelove said. ‘It didn’t actually say “the Herosians have created a virulent, sexually transmitted disease,” but that was one of the speculations made on what might happen. So, as you say, no one was hurt.’

‘But now Front Line are portraying this as an attack on the Jenlay lifestyle,’ Ella said.

‘No one ever said that news channels had to be consistent,’ Aneka told her. ‘I get the feeling there’s more to this than the media has got a hold of yet.’

‘Yes,’ Truelove said. ‘It’s being kept quiet “to avoid panic,” but there were various slogans sprayed on the walls. In Herica characters.’

‘Slogans?’ Ella asked.

‘The usual. “Victory for the Herosians.” “All Jenlay will die.” “Death to the oppressors.” Good, solid, terrorist stuff.’

Aneka gave a resigned sigh. ‘How long before it leaks?’

‘I give it another hour. Two tops.’

9.11.530 FSC.

CFN was largely covering the crowd of currently unemployed Jenlay gathering outside the Herosian embassy which still housed the Ambassador and those Herosians who had not managed to leave the planet.

The crowd had begun gathering about an hour after the leak, which had been sixty-eight minutes after Truelove made her prediction, and their demands were simple. A plea for calm and for the crowd to disperse from Elroy had had no effect. The people were speaking, and they would not be denied.

One of the throng had managed to get himself elected spokesman, either by not stepping back fast enough or because he was the kind of loudmouth who had been waiting all his life to be put on camera.

‘The terrorists have to be in there,’ he had said. ‘We want them sent out. Adjaxis must know who they are. We want them sent out so that they can be dealt with. All fair and legal.’

‘Adjaxis will be panicking,’ Aneka said as the reports played out in the background. ‘He seems like the type.’

‘He has a right,’ Ella replied. ‘Communications with Herosian space are cut off. Even if their network is up and running again, I doubt he knows that, and we know the Navy has disabled the diplomatic and civil channels. He’s isolated, locked inside his embassy, and there’s a crowd of angry Jenlay massing outside. I’d panic.’

‘No, you wouldn’t. You didn’t.’

Ella looked at her, and then remembered Eshebbon. ‘Oh, I suppose I didn’t.’

Eshebbon.

Daniella Bishop opened her eyes and, for a second, could not work out why she was not looking at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her room was all warm reds, sensual colours. This was white, very white. Antiseptic.

She remembered the man on the beach. He had shot her with an energy weapon. She remembered pain and then nothing. The man had shot Melissa with the same weapon. A blaster, she decided, set to incapacitate.

The question then became one of where she had been taken after blacking out and the only way she was going to find out more was to look at something other than the ceiling. She turned, swinging long legs off the edge of the narrow bed.

The remainder of the room was just as white as the ceiling, except for one wall. The clinical, almost scientific appearance was continued by the use of white Adanymax panels in the walls and the stainless steel of the toilet and sink which were in there with her. It reminded her of a cell. She was in a cell, and it had one transparent wall. She checked herself to be sure and found that she was still naked. Whoever had put her there had no desire to preserve her dignity, but then Daniella had no dignity to speak of. She got to her feet and moved closer to the clear wall.

The cell was one of many. She could see one opposite, and more stretching out on either side. But in the opposite cell was a man, a Jenlay she did not recognise. She would know him if she saw him again, that was a certainty. He looked… like a dead man who could not cope with that as a concept and so was sitting in the middle of the floor, rocking slowly. His skin had a grey quality, his eyes were yellow, and his thin lips were shrinking back to show dull-coloured teeth.

As she approached the window, he seemed to notice the movement. His head lifted, he saw her standing there, and he was all action. He rushed toward her, slamming into the Polyglass as though he simply did not realise it was there. He let out a howl and slammed his fists against the barrier, trying desperately to get to her. Daniella decided that she would prefer it if he failed in his endeavour.

‘You’re safe,’ a voice said, coming to her over speakers in the room. The man who had spoken was in the corridor outside her cell, dressed in a white coat over an Ultraskin bodysuit. He looked like a doctor. ‘He can’t get out.’

‘I know.’ Reaching out, Daniella tapped the wall in front of her. ‘Armoured Polyglass. My brother builds starships. What’s wrong with that man?’

‘We used him in an experiment. We need test subjects. We are re-engineering a complex viral agent and we need to be sure it doesn’t affect Jenlay.’

‘You haven’t got it right then.’

‘No, not yet. We’ll keep trying. We have plenty more people to test it on.’

Daniella nodded, unconcerned. ‘I’m going to end up like that.’

‘If your brother does as he’s told, no. If not, you get the next dose.’

She gave another nod and turned away from the window.

‘You don’t appear concerned about your fate,’ the man said, his brow wrinkling a little.

Daniella curled up on the bed, facing the wall. ‘I’ve had worse things done to me,’ she said before closing her eyes.

Tristar Township, New Earth, 11.11.530 FSC.

The next bomb detonated outside the museum in High Yorkbridge. It was early and there were few people about, and the device was designed to injure rather than kill, but the news was full of it.

Aneka watched the videos, knowing the likely result, and she was not disappointed. By midday the crowd outside the Herosian embassy had doubled in size and was a lot louder about its demands for the terrorists to be brought out for ‘justice’ to be served.

Adjaxis went so far as to issue a statement that he knew nothing of any Herosian insurgents who might be operating on New Earth, but that had been reported only on CFM, once. No one wanted to hear the truth, and Aneka doubted the Herosian would know what the truth was if it bit him anyway.

‘Technically,’ she commented after another citizen had demanded the same thing on screen as all the others had, ‘they aren’t terrorists. The Jenlay and the Herosians are at war, so they’d be classified as spies. Not that a Herosian spy could move around the city unnoticed anyway.’

‘According to Front Line,’ Dillon said, his tone sullen, ‘the Herosians have developed a sophisticated holographic technology from recovered Xinti tech. That’s how they’re disguising themselves.’

‘What utter gopi,’ Justine replied. ‘You can’t disguise someone like that.’

The big man shrugged. ‘I didn’t say it sounded right, I just said that was the current idea.’

‘Sorry. This whole business is getting on my nerves. Maybe I spent too long alone on Odanari, but I never thought the Jenlay were this stupid.’

‘We’ve spent five centuries scared of robots,’ Katelyn replied. ‘We really are that stupid.’

‘Everyone is when they’re scared of… well, dying,’ Aneka said. ‘No one knows where these spies are, so they’re making up stories to explain how this could possibly be happening.’

‘And right now,’ Ella put in, ‘they’d rather believe anything than that Jenlay are setting the bombs. If Jenlay are doing it, then anyone could be an agent.’

13.11.530 FSC.

Four Peacekeepers with carbines led by an FSA agent in a black suit stood on the doorstep looking slightly uncomfortable about being there. Janna opened the door, smiled at them, and said, ‘Good morning. What can I do for the Peacekeepers?’ She was wearing her smallest bikini and that resulted in the five men looking even more uncomfortable.

‘Agent Winnell, FSA,’ the man in the suit said, his implant transmitting his identity as he said it. ‘We’ve had a report of unusual activity here and we’re required to check the premises…’

Janna’s eyes shifted to the surrounding houses. A curtain moved, dropping back to hide whoever had been watching. ‘I’ll be sure to thank our neighbours for their concern. You’d better come in. We’ve nothing to hide, but things are a little disorganised. Most of us had to move out of Mid-town. The previous owner, Doctor Gilroy, has moved to another planet.’

The men trooped in, the Peacekeepers fanning out to check the bedrooms as Winnell followed Janna into the lounge where Katelyn and Dillon were watching the news flanked by Cassandra and Al’s drone. The latter pair did not move as the newcomer walked in, continuing to stare, glassy-eyed, at the wall screen. Neither of them was wearing clothes.

‘This is Katelyn and Dillon,’ Janna said, ‘two more refugees. Actually, I’m a little surprised to see you here given that our other three residents are FSA agents.’

Winnell sighed, though it sounded a little exaggerated. ‘Agent Truelove is in charge of hunting down these insurgents. When the tip came through she couldn’t be partial about it so we got sent down to deal with it immediately. Who are the other two?’

‘You mean “what,”’ Dillon responded. ‘I’m surprised. He’s a custom build we had made for Kat, but she’s a good old Eroticon series. Most people recognise them.’

‘They’re… sexbots?’

‘Dillon grew up on the Rim,’ Katelyn said. ‘They’re a lot more common out there. I was a bit dubious, but… Oh, the things she can do with her tongue…’

Dillon tapped Cassandra on the shoulder. ‘Go say hello to the nice man, Sandra.’

Cassandra went from immobile, inactive body to supple seductress in an instant. She rose from the couch as though on strings and began prowling toward the agent. Her eyes, however, remained slightly dead. There was a little light in them, but not quite the right sort for a Jenlay.

‘Uh… no,’ Winnell said, holding up his hands. ‘That’s fine. Now you mention it, I do recognise the model. She can stay right where she is.’ And Cassandra stopped in mid-stride, her face shifting to a blank expression in an instant.

‘Don’t know what you’re missing,’ Dillon told him, but the agent was saved from having to reply by one of the Peacekeepers.

‘There’s nothing here, sir,’ the armoured figure said as he walked into the lounge. He paused, taking in the scene, and then added, ‘We’ll wait outside.’

‘Right,’ Winnell said and then turned back to Janna. ‘You don’t know where your daughter is, do you, Miss Narrows?’

‘By now? She’ll be on Shadataga with Gillian and Aneka. I’m hoping we’ll be able to talk soon, but with relations the way they are…’

‘Yeah. Sorry to have bothered you.’

Aneka and Ella reappeared from over the back wall a few minutes later as Cassandra and Al were dressing. Janna smiled at them. ‘The house across the circle outside, to the left,’ she said. ‘Don’t you think Cassandra and Al did an amazing job there?’

‘I figured it was that house,’ Aneka replied, ‘and yes, they did. And having two live feeds of what was happening in case we had to intervene was very useful.’

‘I must admit,’ Cassandra said, shimmying a tube dress into place around her hips, ‘that having the body of a well-known sexbot has never seemed quite so fortunate.’

‘I don’t get how you can just go blank like that,’ Katelyn said. ‘I mean, it was like there was nothing in there but a dumb computer.’

‘I’m not a fabulous actress, but I have more control over my expressions and movement than a Jenlay. Much of my appearance of intelligence is the result of the designer’s attempts to make me look like the perfect partner. Switching a couple of those off gives a pleasing result.’ Happy with her dress, she assumed a thoughtful expression and added, ‘And I was a dumb sexbot before I woke up.’

‘I find that very difficult to believe,’ Al said in his smooth, darkly tinted voice.

Cassandra smiled across at him. ‘You say the sweetest things.’

High Yorkbridge, 15.11.530 FSC.

It had been quiet for a day or two, which had resulted in some of the people massing outside the embassy getting bored and leaving. No one seemed to be especially displeased about that, but it did mean that the ones remaining were the loudest and most belligerent.

There were Peacekeepers there too. None of them exactly looked pleased to be guarding an embassy some of them would probably have liked to see rased to the ground, but it was their jobs. Each of them had taken an oath to uphold the laws of the Federation, and even if the Federation no longer really existed, the laws did. So there they were, armed with blaster carbines set on stun and thankful that their combat suits kept them comfortable in the warm sun. New Earth had little in the way of seasons, and it was warm pretty much all the time. Not great for those doing guard duty.

Philip Trent was, thankfully, almost at the end of his shift. Soon he would be able to go back to his station house, take off the stupid uniform, get into some comfortable clothes, and go out for the evening with his girlfriend. He had met her maybe two weeks earlier and she had made him go on three dates before going back to his place for the night. They were still at the stage where the novelty of a new body to play with was enough that they did not need to get inventive. When they did he was probably going to get dumped, because he was not an inventive man, but for now things were just perfect.

Trent was contemplating exactly how they would go about banging each other into a stupor tonight when he saw the woman walking out of the crowd in front of him. Something about her seemed odd and he raised his carbine a little, but he could not quite make out what was wrong…

She was dressed in a heavy, faux-leather jacket, which did not fit with the weather. Her face was pretty, but that could have described most of the population. Except for her eyes. He saw her eyes and knew that he had figured out what it was that was so strange. Her eyes were blank, dead, almost as if they belonged to a robot.

The woman turned and raised her head. ‘Death to the Jenlay!’ she screamed at the top of her lungs, and then the world seemed to explode into bright light.

Tristar Township.

‘There were three more of them,’ Truelove said. ‘Same MO, all in public places. Lone person walks into the area, yells an anti-Jenlay slogan, and explodes. High-energy explosive with a signature which suggests a Herosian military source was used, with five-millimetre metal balls embedded in it.’

‘Suicide bomber standard equipment,’ Aneka commented.

‘Why?’ Ella asked. ‘I mean, why would someone do something like that?’

‘Suicide bombing is a terror weapon, but it’s also the kind of thing you use when you don’t have anywhere else to go. You need people so dedicated to the cause that they’re willing to die for it, and there are very few ways to stop someone who’s that determined to kill people. How many casualties?’

‘Fifteen dead at the embassy,’ Truelove replied, ‘three of them Peacekeepers. Another twenty-three injured. Ten dead and fifty-one injured at the other sites. That’s excluding the bombers. We found one ID implant in good enough condition to extract the data from it. Bettina Milby, mother of two. Went missing three days ago, but the Peacekeepers are so overworked at the moment that they hadn’t got round to trying to find her. We also found one witness who saw her before she blew herself up. He said she looked weird, like she was a robot or something.’

‘Quint,’ Aneka said, spitting the word out.

‘He’s dead,’ Ella replied, frowning.

‘Yes, but he couldn’t be the only psychic who can reprogram people.’

‘No,’ Truelove agreed, ‘he isn’t. It’s illegal, immoral, and repugnant, but far from impossible.’

Ella swallowed. ‘So they get kidnapped and programmed to blow themselves up in populated areas. That’s… Why am I even surprised by this kind of thing anymore?’

‘It’s good that you are, love,’ Aneka told her. ‘When you get to be as cynical as I am, I’ll be worried.’

‘Well,’ Truelove said, ‘this has had one slightly positive effect. Elroy has declared a state of emergency. There’s a night-time curfew in effect, people are to move about only when necessary, and there are to be no gatherings of more than three people. It means the siege of the embassy is over.’

‘When that is a positive thing,’ Janna commented from her place nearby, ‘I know we’re in trouble.’

18.11.530 FSC.

There had been five more bombs and six more suicide bombs in three days. Casualties had been kept to a minimum by the curfew and other emergency measures, but a couple of the underground lines through the city were now unusable and people were starting to hole up in their homes. Panic was starting to set in. That was when Cassandra made her breakthrough.

‘Working with the security camera feeds Winter supplied,’ the android explained, ‘Al and I have identified five people who may well be involved in the suicide bombings.’

She turned her head to look at the wall screen and five images clipped from video frames appeared. ‘The one at the bottom was present at all the explosions. I believe that this is the psychic. He needs to be present to maintain control of his victims. Some combination of two of the other four are always present with him, presumably acting as bodyguards and lookouts.’

Truelove’s eyes had gone unfocussed as soon as the images had appeared. She frowned. ‘None of them are in any of our databases. None of our databases.’

‘That shouldn’t be possible,’ Sharissa supplied. ‘Well… If they were from outside the Federation, maybe.’

‘They should still have been identified when they reached their first Federation planet. I think they’ve been erased. Very few people could arrange that.’

‘Like the head of the Federal Security Agency?’ Aneka suggested.

‘Like him, yes.’

High Yorkbridge.

‘Truelove has identified your psychic and four of your operatives,’ Pierce said. He was smiling as though it did not matter, but Part frowned.

‘How?’

‘They were sloppy. They appeared at the suicide bombings. Facial recognition tagged them.’ Pierce’s eyes narrowed. ‘I was unaware that she was using such a broad field of information and it’s surprising that she was able to find them so quickly, but she has watch notices out for them.’

‘You didn’t stop her?’

‘This campaign has been a suitable distraction and has had the side effects I was hoping for. The population are panicking. They are scared to leave their homes. When Elroy demonstrates his weakness, they will turn to those willing to show strength. Let Truelove find your men. They have that contingency covered, don’t they?’

Part gave a slow nod, unwilling to speak and betray his feelings on the matter.

‘Then everything is going according to plan. We’ll need something to keep Winter’s people occupied when we’re ready to deploy Aqua Regia. I have that covered. Now we just need to wait.’

Yorkbridge Mid-town, 20.11.530 FSC.

The tower block had taken severe damage from one of the impacts that had all but destroyed the islands. It was on the edge of the city, near the beach Aneka, Ella, Dillon, and Katelyn would go to on weekends, which had been a bad place to be when the Herosians had come. Now it was three solid storeys and two more which were little more than walls held together with faith.

Truelove watched it through a set of binoculars, seeing no sign of life. ‘We’re sure this is the place?’

‘We tracked one of them here after the last bomb went off,’ Sharissa replied, strapping on her last piece of ablative, laser-resistant armour. ‘Our eyes in the sky say there are seven Jenlay in there. Third floor, north side.’

‘I’d prefer to go in with you.’

‘You’re staying here with Janine,’ Sharissa told her. She picked up a laser carbine and added, ‘You’re coordinating our attack. That’s what prospective heads of the FSA do.’

‘Sit around and send other people into danger?’

‘Yes. Just ask Aneka.’

‘Do I have to like it?’

‘No, you just have to do it. Give the word.’

Truelove’s fingers tightened around her binoculars. Her implant activated her microphone. ‘This is Agent Truelove. All teams prepare to breach.’ Then she cut off the radio and added, ‘Be careful. Janna will never forgive me if you’re so much as bruised.’

~~~

‘This is Agent Truelove. All teams prepare to breach.’

Above the ruined skyscraper, invisible behind Gwy’s cloak, Aneka heard the transmission and dropped out of the airlock, falling fifty metres before she slowed her decent with the gravity harness she was wearing and floated the last ten metres to a stable area of floor.

In the corner was a stairwell, clogged with fallen masonry. There was space to get through, just.

‘This may take a few minutes,’ she said silently.

‘You can get in?’ Ella replied from Gwy’s cockpit.

‘Yeah, but it’s not going to be easy. They may have started before I can join in.’

‘You’re only there in case things get ugly. The assault teams don’t know about you.’

‘Yeah,’ Aneka replied as she began easing her way through the rubble, ‘but we both know it is going to get ugly.’

~~~

‘Grenade!’ The word was followed by a dull thud and a flash of brilliant light as the stun grenade went off. Sharissa ignored it, counting on the flare protection in her visor, and moved forward, carbine at her shoulder and ready to fire.

A figure appeared in front of her, dressed in civilian clothes, but raising a carbine-sized weapon of his own. Her gun spoke, a beam of white light flaring out and leaving a trail of ionised air in its wake. The man fell and she moved on without a second thought.

The ‘terrorists’ were well-armed and trained. They knew what they were doing and they seemed determined to be taken dead. Three of the assault team were down already, but Sharissa had just evened the score. The terrain was not helping things. Their opponents knew the layout better. But it was just a matter of time…

She kicked open a door and whipped her sights around the room and… There was a man standing there, unarmed and alone. He was smiling. She could not work out what he had to smile about until she saw his eyes and realised that she could not move.

‘That’s right,’ he said, his lips not moving. ‘That’s a good little soldier. On your knees.’

She fell to her knees before her mind could decide not to. Her gun dropped limply away from her body and she could not raise it. A dull, throbbing pain began to develop in her forehead.

‘If you fight it, it will hurt. Don’t fight it.’

She realised her arms were moving, lifting her carbine up until the barrel was sitting right under her chin. She focussed every bit of effort she had to stop her finger moving to the trigger. The pain was getting intense, excruciating, and her finger was still edging toward the trigger. The armour there, at her throat, was not as good at stopping a beam. If she fired it would probably penetrate. She wondered whether it would hurt more or less than her head was hurting now.

‘That’s right… just a little squeeze…’

And then Sharissa found herself sprawling on the floor as something slammed into her, knocking her sideways. Aneka materialised, raising one of her pistols to point at the psychic.

‘Care to try that on me?’ Aneka asked. His eyes widened and she grinned. ‘Yeah… Sucks to be you, doesn’t it?’ Then she fired.

Three hyperdense darts lanced through his left eye, flashing into plasma as they hit the back of the socket. His skull exploded, blasting blood, brains, and bone fragments across the wall behind him. And then he slumped to the ground.

Aneka turned, offering a hand to Sharissa. ‘You okay?’

‘Aside from a headache the size of the planet?’

‘Aside from that?’

‘Yeah. I’m okay.’

Aneka nodded and hauled the blonde to her feet. ‘Good, because your team has finished in here and I need to be elsewhere.’ Letting go of Sharissa’s hand, she seemed to evaporate into thin air.

‘Thanks,’ Sharissa said to the empty room, and then activated her radio. ‘Torrence to all team members. Sitrep, now.’

Tristar Township, 21.11.530 FSC.

‘No evidence at all that it wasn’t Herosian in origin?’ Ella asked.

Truelove gave a shrug. ‘It was an excellent information management job. I’m starting to wonder if the Herosians aren’t behind this. The weapons were Herosian manufacture. So were the explosives. The people are not in any of our databases which would tend to suggest they were smuggled in…’

‘But it’s all wrong,’ Aneka said.

‘Agreed,’ Sharissa said, nodding. ‘You want to smuggle Jenlay onto a Jenlay planet, you don’t sneak them in. You walk them in, one at a time over a few weeks. No one would notice. They could have come back with the refugees from Beryum. And you don’t bring in weapons. It’s way easier to source them locally and it doesn’t point straight at you when they get caught.’

‘Well,’ Truelove conceded, ‘there’s that evidence. The lack of evidence is evidence, but it’s not something I can take in front of anyone who matters.’

‘At least we shut them down,’ Ella said, brightening a little.

‘Yes, but the emergency orders are staying in place. We shut down one cell. We believe it was the only one, but the official line is that there may well be more, and Elroy would prefer it if everyone stayed off the streets anyway.’

‘So… we gained nothing out of all this?’

‘We gained people not being so keen to walk around where they can become collateral damage,’ Aneka said. ‘A scared populace isn’t great, but they’ll be worse if they start getting killed in more “terrorist” incidents. We just have to hope we can figure out what Pierce and his people are up to before they need to do anything else to keep us occupied.’

Part Five: Collateral Damage

Tristar Township, 1.1.531 FSC.

Aneka had said the Renewal. Everyone had said they wanted to hear it, so she had said the words with Ella holding her hand and saying them along with her. After the first line, everyone had joined in. Truelove had said that she wanted to hear it because it reminded her that there was something they were fighting for. It was getting hard to remember what that was.

There had been no new incidents on New Earth through the last month, but there had been a few bombs on worlds throughout Jenlay space. There had also been a lot of rumours about Herosian attacks on colonies, but no one had managed to substantiate any of them, and a probe sent to one world had found nothing wrong. Front Line continued to publicise every single rumour as though it was fact.

Janna was already half-cut by the time it got to midnight. She had decided that the start of a new year, no matter the circumstances, was a good time to start new habits, to turn over leaves, to… They had stopped her expounding more resolutions after a while, but the upshot was that she wanted to be fairly well inebriated so that when she went to bed, she would do so with Sharissa, Cassandra, and Al.

Ella was worried about this plan and trying hard not to show that she was. Given that it was Ella, that was not working as well as might be expected, but she had learned to be much better at hiding her feelings than she once was. Intellectually she knew that Al would treat Janna better than any other male she knew, but there was still that hint of worry. Ella had been through a phase of being unwilling to go with a man and knew something of what her mother felt on the subject. It had taken her longer to overcome her fear than she had expected.

‘Do you think she’ll be okay?’ Ella asked once she was alone in the lounge with Aneka.

‘Sharissa and Cassandra are there to keep an eye on things. Al will take it easy, at least to begin with. They want this to be a good experience, but if she’s showing signs of distress they’ll back off. And you know that, love. Don’t worry.’

‘But can’t you… keep an eye on things? You could…’

‘No.’

‘But…’

‘Do you want to watch your mother having sex?’

‘No!’

‘Well, I don’t want to watch through Al’s eyes while he’s having sex with your mother. It’ll be fine.’

Ella fell silent, leaning against Aneka, unwilling to go to sleep just yet in case she was needed, even if the alcohol was getting to her and she felt like nodding off sitting up on the sofa.

Ten minutes later they heard, ‘Oh Vashma! It vibrates!’ from the direction of the bedrooms and Ella burst into hysterical giggles.

~~~

‘You’ve never done it?’ Janna asked, incredulous.

‘Not with Al, no,’ Aneka replied. ‘And is this really a good conversation to have over breakfast?’

‘We’re Jenlay, dear,’ Janna reminded her. ‘Why? I mean, why haven’t you taken him for a spin? He’s gorgeous, skilled, hunky… and very filling.’

‘And he vibrates,’ Aneka said, smirking.

‘Uh, yes. That came as something of a surprise, but it just makes my point.’

‘Janna, you’re gorgeous, skilled, and extremely flexible, but I won’t sleep with you. It makes me uncomfortable because you’re Ella’s mother. Al… is part of me. Neither of us is very keen on trying that option out. Sooner or later we’ll probably do it for the same reason you’re learning to put up with men. You don’t want to stop Sharissa doing something she likes, and we don’t want to stop our partners from doing something they want. But for now, things are fine how they are.’

The elder Narrows nodded and sipped her coffee looking thoughtful. Aneka did not like that look.

‘So,’ Janna said, ‘if I could get Sharissa and Ella interested in…’

‘No, Janna.’

Janna gave her a grin. ‘Just checking.’

High Yorkbridge, 20.1.531 FSC.

‘The main faults have been found and they think the next prototype will be fully functional.’ The report was being given by a thin man who looked as though he had seen things recently which he would rather not have seen. Pierce did not know his name, and did not want to, but the news was encouraging.

‘It’s ready then?’ Pierce asked.

‘They want to run one more series. We’re expecting results no later than the tenth.’

Pierce nodded and turned to Part. ‘We need to initiate the second distraction plan. We’ll need to gather the whole Committee to proceed and I want Winter and her cronies looking elsewhere.’

‘It’s going to kill a lot of people,’ Part said. ‘Civilians.’

Pierce waved the comment away. ‘Collateral damage. They die for the greater good. Send the data stream tomorrow, and get that fool at Front Line working on the necessary media output. We want this to cause mass panic.’

‘Which will likely kill more. Yes, I know. It’s war and it can’t be helped.’

‘Precisely,’ Pierce replied, smiling.

Sapphira, 27.1.531 FSC.

‘What’s this?’ Goddard asked, peering at his desk monitor.

His assistant checked the screen and said, ‘Some new inoculation the Admiralty is sending out to all military bases. Apparently the Herosians have some engineered viruses and this is supposed to stop us getting them. It’s pretty advanced stuff from what I’ve been told. Nanotech stuff.’

‘And the Herosians are going to drop plague bombs on Sapphira?’

That got a shrug. ‘It’s orders. Everyone’s to get a shot, starting with the base personnel.’

Goddard sighed. ‘Better send this to Hayward’s labs. I doubt we can manufacture this ourselves.’

‘Just need you to authorise it, sir.’

‘Right. Tell them to put a rush on it. Sooner it’s done, the sooner we can get on with being ignored.’

Tristar Township, 6.2.531 FSC.

There had been rumours floating around, based on Front Line reporting, that the Herosians were planning viral attacks. New Earth had started getting back to normal: the night-time curfew had been lifted and, while the rules against large gatherings were still in effect, people were moving about more. Now there had been an abrupt about-face, but it was down to choice rather than law.

And then the news from Sapphira had appeared. Front Line had, somehow, got their hands on the video clip from a message which had been sent out from the distant planet. They were playing it with increasingly alarming editorial comment almost constantly.

The image showed an indistinct, cocoon-like shape sitting on the floor in a hospital room. Ella had looked at it and let out a gasp, but when the picture changed and showed a view from a window of a street below she had started trembling. There were people in the street, but they were not acting like normal people and they looked strange. Gaunt, sickly, almost dead, they shambled along until they spotted something moving and ran after it like a pack of hungry predators.

‘Chucks,’ Ella had said when she could speak again. ‘Those are chucks.’

~~~

‘All communication with Sapphira is down,’ Truelove said. ‘That message, asking for help, was the last thing out before the relays went dark.’

‘The chucks wouldn’t have caused that,’ Ella said. ‘They’re barely able to think, never mind decide they need to sabotage equipment. I watched one with a slung rifle beat another one to death with a rock. I doubt they even qualify as sentient.’

‘So we probably have some living people sabotaging things. Or there’s no one left to send messages.’

‘It spreads rapidly, but it’s not that good. There are thirteen million people on that planet, and they mostly live in fairly dispersed communities.’

‘So there are probably survivors,’ Winter’s Number Seven avatar said. ‘And the only hope they have is the kind of nanotechnology used on you when you went to Negral. You and Aneka are immune, and you have the fastest ship in Federation space…’

Ella closed her eyes. ‘All right. When can we leave?’

‘It’ll take me a little time to get the necessary equipment together. The day after tomorrow.’

Ella nodded and opened her eyes to look at Aneka. ‘We’re going to need guns,’ she said. ‘Big guns.’

‘Way ahead of you, love,’ Aneka replied.

Gwy, 8.2.531 FSC.

The compact ship seemed a little crowded with four people on it, even if only one of them breathed and needed food. Cassandra had more or less insisted on coming: she was immune to any organic virus, just as Aneka and Ella were, and she was not letting them go off on some sort of dangerous mission without her. And that meant that they had figured that taking Al’s drone body might be a good idea. Left back on New Earth it was going to be an ornament anyway.

Aneka sat in the virtual flight chair for the trip out to a safe warp distance, initiated the drive start-up, and then sat watching the stars flying by for a while. They were travelling as fast as Gwy could go and it was an impressive sight.

She was also avoiding going up to face the obvious issue of sleeping arrangements. Technically there was no issue. Ella was the only one who actually needed sleep. The second cabin space was currently an office so that the others could occupy themselves while the lone organic was unconscious. No problem.

Except that the four of them were going to be in a confined space for a little more than twelve days. Sex was going to happen and there was one bed.

‘We don’t have to do anything,’ Al said. Of course he knew what her thoughts were dwelling on.

‘No, but it would just about mean scheduling time in the bedroom. Would it really be that bad? I mean… Um…’

‘It will almost certainly be extremely good,’ Al countered. ‘I cannot speak for how we will react in the aftermath.’

‘Well, yes, but… You’ve been there for pretty much every intimate part of my life. I know you absent yourself for some of it, but you said you’d learned from watching me with others. And I’ve been your surrogate with Cassandra before you got that drone. And it’d be the four of us… playing.’

‘I could… avoid overtly monitoring your autonomic systems so it would be just like sex with anyone else. No need to make it perfect, just… good.’

‘Yeah. Four friends engaging in some… uh… Some rather intimate party games. To pass the time.’

‘Four Jenlay on a cruise like this would have absolutely no qualms about it.’

‘Exactly,’ Aneka agreed. Then she continued staring out at the stars.

Eshebbon, 9.2.531 FSC.

The new room Daniella was taken to was larger than her cell, but otherwise rather similar. Three walls, the ceiling, and the floor were white tile. The last wall was armoured Polyglass, but behind it were various instrument panels and chairs from which the people inside could be observed. And there were people, and one of them was Melissa.

The normally sexy brunette looked like a whipped dog. Her face and body were bruised. Her hair was a tangled mess. She was there, however, and Daniella rushed over to her, getting a wince in response to her hug.

‘What did they do to you?’ Daniella asked. ‘Aside from trying to scare me, they’ve left me alone.’

‘Some of the guards got bored,’ Melissa whispered. ‘I think they’re Navy, but they’re acting like mercenaries. Or criminals. To be honest, I feel sorrier for the guy who was in the next cell. They took him at the same time…’ She grimaced. ‘He had to be carried back.’

‘Have you any idea why we’re here? Where’s Olivia?’

‘I haven’t seen her. I don’t even know if she was captured. One of the doctors said it was time for the final trial, whatever that means.’

Daniella thought she knew what it meant. She turned to see men and women filing into the observation room. One of them walked over to a panel and began operating it. Vents opened in the ceiling above the prisoners.

‘Are they going to gas us?!’ someone asked.

‘No,’ Daniella said, ‘it’s worse than that.’

10.2.531 FSC.

‘Twenty-four hours and no sign of the virus affecting them.’

Andrew Kerrigan looked through the window at the people wandering around the exposure room and nodded. He had been tasked with something that most would find almost impossible, refactoring a nanovirus far in advance of anything seen before. The fact that he had done it was extremely satisfying, even if no one could ever know he had. And now that he had succeeded once…

‘When are we expecting the Torem subjects?’ he asked the man who had spoken.

‘The Committee is holding off acquiring them until we confirm the results of this test.’

‘Tell them it’s positive. Check that they want to proceed with phase two. I don’t want to waste time on it if they don’t wish to go ahead.’

‘Of course, sir.’

‘And get this lot processed through a full spectrum of tests. Blood work, microscans, everything. We might as well be absolutely sure and we need to know it dies off in a Jenlay host. Can’t have accidents, can we?’

No, if they were going to kill millions of people, it should be on purpose.

High Yorkbridge, 16.2.531 FSC.

Pierce looked out at the assembled Committee: the Admiralty, several lower-ranking officers, Representatives, and businessmen. These were the men who would bring about the future of the Jenlay people. Good, solid men, willing to do what was necessary to ensure that the ideals of the Federation were upheld. The Federation had been founded to ensure that war never engulfed the galaxy again. It had failed, but Pierce had the solution.

‘Aqua Regia is that solution,’ Pierce said.

Many of them knew about the project already. Several had provided funding, and others had acquired the test subjects needed. There were a few who, for security reasons, had been told only the bare minimum, and they gave Pierce the opportunity to expound his master plan. Again. Part had heard this enough times that he was sick of it. Actually, Part had heard Pierce giving the same speech enough times that he had detected the increasingly insane edge the ex-Admiral was displaying every time he told someone else what they were doing.

‘In ancient times,’ Pierce said, ‘there were people known as “alchemists,” the forerunners of modern chemists. They sought perfection. They sought a means of transforming base metals into gold. They sought to purify the universe, to create better people. And one of their tools was Aqua Regia, “Royal Water,” the solvent which could dissolve gold. It was the ultimate in solvents to create the ultimate solution, and our Aqua Regia is the ultimate solution to the Herosian Problem.’

He paused, sipping from his drink, but it was mostly for effect. ‘Some time ago, Hayward Pharmaceuticals discovered a previously unknown strain of virus on an old research station outside Federation space. They tested it, but they got sloppy. That virus wiped out the entire research group working on it in a matter of days. It is a nanovirus, very advanced, capable of turning its victims into virtual automatons. Barely conscious, cannibalistic, walking disease vectors. The terror factor of this disease is unimaginable. But it worked on Jenlay and was useless to us. Gentlemen, we now have a working strain which converts Herosians instead.’

There was rumbling around the room. Everyone had known that they were working on something which would eliminate any threat the Herosians presented. What Pierce was talking about was effectively genocide, and they knew it.

Part watched the room. Pierce was quite convinced of his plan and thought everyone there would agree. Part was almost hoping that someone would put their hand up and object. Just one. Just to prove they were all not so far gone that this all seemed reasonable.

‘This meeting,’ Pierce went on, ‘is to brief you on the project and confirm our agreement to go ahead with production. If we all agree to this, we can begin deployment of the virus to selected target worlds by the end of next month. Does anyone wish to step back? Does anyone want to hold the Jenlay back from their Destiny?’

There was silence. Of course there was silence: Pierce knew what he was doing. If he had asked for complete agreement then people could have held back. He was asking for one person to put his hand up and say this was a bad idea. Not even Part could bring himself to do that.

‘Are there any questions?’ Pierce asked, his tone triumphant.

One hand went up. ‘What about the Torem?’

‘What about the Torem indeed,’ Pierce said, his eyes bright.

Tristar Township.

Truelove was looking frustrated. Janna watched her pacing across the patio for several minutes before moving out to one of the tables with two glasses of lemonade and sitting down. She waited another minute before she spoke.

‘You know, Elaine, now that this is my house, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t wear a groove in my beautiful patio tiles.’

Frowning, Truelove marched over and fell into another of the chairs. ‘Sorry. I’m…’

‘Frustrated?’

‘Yes.’

‘Perhaps we could get Dillon to…’

‘Not that kind of frustrated, Janna.’ She looked at the older woman and found herself grinning. ‘Do you find people constantly underestimate your intelligence? Because I suspect you’re really bright and the slightly stupid, ex-stripper routine is more of an act.’

‘People are always easier to manipulate when they think they are more intelligent than you are,’ Janna replied, smiling. ‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on truly intelligent people.’

‘Well, at least I’m not pacing. It’s Pierce. He had some meeting in the Gobari Club today with a lot of guests. We’ve been spectacularly unable to bug the place. If I could use the resources of the Agency… But that would come to Pierce’s attention. I’m sure they were working on this big plan of theirs. I mean, this is the first time we’ve identified so many of them, but we don’t know what they were actually discussing. Without the details…’

Janna frowned. ‘You have pictures of these men leaving the building?’

‘Lots.’

‘Show me.’

~~~

‘What are you looking for, Janna?’ Truelove asked, frowning as her friend flicked between pictures of the various delegates to Pierce’s little conference on the wall screen.

‘Well, when I was dancing… table dancing that is, for a group rather than a single person, I would watch out for one of them I wanted to single out. He was the one who really wasn’t sure he wanted to be there. The slightly shy one. Then I’d really work on him. He would be embarrassed about it, and his friends would love that, but I’m very good and I made sure he came away feeling like he was king of the pile. He would give a big tip because he felt good, and his friends would give bigger tips because they enjoyed his embarrassment.’

‘Uh… okay, but I don’t think you’re aiming to table dance for these guys.’

‘Actually…’ She pointed at one of images. ‘I have danced for him. George Dalton. He used to be a salesman for Mason Robotics and he came to the club I worked at on a business trip. I think he’s on the board now. I wonder if he tips better.’

‘Still…’

Janna smiled. ‘No, I’m not planning on starting stripping again, but the same basic principle applies. You need the one who doesn’t fit in with the others. You need… him.’

‘Admiral Part?’ Truelove looked up at the enlarged image of the gruff, annoying man and… And maybe she was starting to see what Janna meant.

‘That is a man with worries,’ Janna said. ‘That is a man who is not quite as keen as the others we’ve seen. Your Admiral Part is a weak link in Pierce’s chain. I’d be stuffing my tits right in his face and getting a huge tip.’

Truelove beamed. ‘Janna, I could kiss you.’

‘Well keep that thought in mind for later, and don’t forget to invite Janine and Sharissa.’

High Yorkbridge, 17.2.531 FSC.

‘Admiral Part, I didn’t know you lived around here.’

Part lifted his head and found himself looking at a woman he recognised, but did not really know. Slim and attractive, which was a given, she had a pleasingly angular face with a straight, slightly long nose, all capped off with swept-back blonde hair. Her skin was tanned and there was a lot of it on show thanks to the cropped shirt and jogging shorts she was wearing. She had come to a stop, spreading her legs and bending at the hips to touch her toes, stretching…

‘Agent Truelove, isn’t it?’ Part shook himself. It had been a while. ‘What brings you up here? I think Pierce mentioned you lived in one of the outlying townships.’

‘Uh-huh, but I like a change of scenery once in a while and there are some nice parks up here.’

‘Running… yes. Aren’t you worried about the Herosians and their plague?’

‘Not really.’ She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice conspiratorially. ‘To be honest, I have my doubts about that whole bio-warfare thing. I mean, we get all these rumours about the Herosians being up to something, and then a message comes out of nowhere about a plague on Sapphira. I think it’s propaganda. I think someone’s trying to make us paranoid.’

Part frowned. ‘You were the one who located the terrorist cell, weren’t you? I understood there was plenty of evidence that they were Herosian agents.’

‘Too much. It all seems just a bit… neat. Want my opinion? And this is just between us, right?’ She smiled at him. Field work was not her speciality, but she had fooled enough men into thinking she liked them before that she could manage this much subterfuge.

‘Of course.’

‘I think some of the big corporations are pushing buttons to keep up the war effort. The budget is really big on this and they all want their cut. Pierce is fixated on the Herosians though. I honestly think he’d like to wipe them all out or something. Crazy, huh?’

‘Crazy,’ Part said. ‘I’m sure he’s just… doing his job. And I… need to be getting to mine. War to run and all that.’

‘Oh, sure.’ She started bouncing on the spot, warming the muscles in her calves. Part’s eyes were not on her calves. ‘I’ll see you around, Admiral. Maybe in a meeting or something.’ And she set off at a rapid pace toward one of the nearby parks.

Part watched her retreating behind in the high-cut shorts, but his mind was having trouble focussing where his libido wanted it to go. Truelove still had her doubts while Pierce was sure he had her fooled. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way out of Pierce’s madness.

Gwy.

Aneka and Cassandra were seeing who could bend their bodies into the most outlandish positions. Cassandra had been built as a sex robot so her joints had been toughened and made more flexible so that she could assume whatever position her owner required of her. Aneka had been reconstructed with greater flexibility theoretically to make it easier to fit herself through tight gaps and wriggle through air vents, a task which the enlargement of her breasts had made unnecessarily difficult. But it did mean she could more or less match whatever Cassandra could do.

Having started the absurdity by demonstrating her ability to do box splits, Ella was now sitting back and watching with rapt fascination and a bemused grin. She had given up trying to copy anything the two robotic women were trying after the third weird contortion.

So far Aneka was winning, but mostly because she had better balance. She could hold some positions which made Cassandra topple over, and Al seemed to be aware of the issue since he was always there to catch her when she went past her tipping point. Ella thought that was adorable.

‘Okay,’ Aneka said, lying back on the bed. Lifting her legs, she grasped her ankles and pushed back, put the soles of her feet together, and then rested her head on them.

Ella giggled. ‘Well I can almost do that one. It’s a terribly vulnerable position to be in.’

Aneka grinned. ‘Feels vulnerable, and I’m pretty sure it’d be uncomfortable if I wasn’t synthetic.’ She looked over at Al. ‘Come on, big boy, show me what ya got.’

Al raised an eyebrow, but he stalked across to stand beside the bed. Then he leaned forward, wrapped his own hands around Aneka’s ankles, and lifted, changing her angle.

‘He’ll go really deep like that,’ Ella warned, still giggling.

Aneka felt him against her, slight pressure parting her labia and starting to slide in.

Then she heard, ‘Are you sure?’ inside her mind.

‘Yes, do it. While it’s still a silly joke.’

He pushed in.

‘Oh… Jesus Christ!’ Aneka gasped. ‘That’s why this is supposed to be good.’

‘Told you so,’ Ella sing-songed.

Tristar Township.

It was dark when an alert flashed up on the wall screen over the top of a couple whose comedy misadventures had kept the household entertained for the last hour and ten minutes, and were inevitably ending in a twenty-minute display of athletic sex. The alert took priority.

Truelove accessed her implant, actioning discovery of the identity of the person who had just used administrative authority to get past the gate guard. When the ID came up in-vision, she flicked the screen over to show the view of the gate cameras, which produced a groan from Dillon.

‘It’s just getting to the best bit!’ he whined.

‘That tone of voice should not come out of a man your size, Dillon,’ Janna told him.

‘Sorry,’ Truelove said, ‘but it’s Admiral Part. I needed to check he hadn’t brought a contingent of Marines with him.’ Flicking the screen back to the movie, she got up and headed for the door.

Part was dressed in civilian clothes, with a large, black coat over whatever else he was wearing, the collar pulled up like some kind of bad spy movie extra. He looked worried, more or less like he had in the picture Janna had found.

‘Admiral Part,’ Truelove said, smiling at him. ‘What brings you out to Tristar? Not running, I think.’

He pulled his hands from his pockets and reached out, taking Truelove’s hand and pressing something into it. ‘This is everything,’ he said in a hushed voice. ‘The plan to nuke Beryum, the terror campaign, the people involved… Aqua Regia.’

‘Admiral…’

‘He’s gone too far.’ It was almost like the Admiral was not listening. ‘He’s… It was supposed to be simple. Take a few worlds, secure the border, make some money. But the Old Earth people pulled out and… He’s gone mad. He’s going to kill them all. He’s talking about genocide. He’s…’

‘We’ve got trouble,’ Sharissa said, appearing at Truelove’s side with a carbine in her hand. ‘Marines coming in the gate and the perimeter sensors have tripped.’

‘Pierce!’ Part exclaimed. ‘He knows. He’s tracked me…’ He pulled himself up straight suddenly and his voice went calm. ‘Get that out of here. Get it to whoever needs to know. I’ll delay them here as long as I can. I assume you have escape plans?’

‘We do,’ Sharissa said.

‘Use them.’ He turned and walked down the short path to stand and wait for the troops.

‘We already are.’ Sharissa grabbed Truelove’s arm and pulled her toward the lounge where Janna was waiting with two visors similar to one she was already wearing. They put them on.

‘Minefield is up,’ Janine stated, her words punctuated by a distant explosion. ‘And apparently functional.’

Sharissa gave a nod. ‘All right, everyone knows the idea. The mines won’t detonate if we’re near them. When the smoke goes up we’ll have about five minutes to clear the area.’

‘Is smoke enough?’ Katelyn asked.

‘This is some high-tech brand the Shadataga people cooked up. It’ll block sight, infra-red, low-ultraviolet, even lidar, but those visors should let you see, even if it looks a bit odd. Stay low, keep moving, and stick with your partner. Dillon? You’re sure you’re okay with that pistol?’

‘As long as I don’t have to use it I should be fine,’ the big man said. ‘I might throw up a bit if I do.’

‘Preferably, don’t. Either of those things. But just in case…’

He nodded a reply and took Katelyn’s hand.

‘Popping smoke,’ Truelove said.

Outside the house, the yard and several hundred metres of the land beyond the wall began to fill with dense, white smoke which seemed to sparkle in the lights from the buildings.

~~~

Gareth Part stood and watched as three armoured troop carriers pulled into a defensive formation in front of the house. His back was straight and he was putting all the years he had of growling orders at subordinates into looking like the authority figure he was supposed to be.

Thirteen men disembarked from the carriers, one of them wearing lieutenant’s insignia moving forward a little faster than the others with a blaster in his hand.

‘Gentlemen,’ Part said. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Admiral Part,’ the lieutenant said. ‘We need you to stand aside, sir. We have orders from…’

‘I’m Core Fleet Admiral, son,’ Part stated. ‘Your orders…’

The lieutenant raised his gun and fired. It was set to stun and Part collapsed as his nerves were set on fire by high-voltage electricity.

‘Not anymore,’ the lieutenant said. ‘Move in by squads. We want the FSA people alive if possible, but the others are expendable. Under no circumstances is Agent Truelove to be killed.’

~~~

Dillon crept through the smoke as fast as he could while making sure Katelyn was still with him. According to the navigation display on his visor, they were likely to hit the edge in another fifty metres and, so far, they had encountered no blinded soldiers. That was perfect as far as he was concerned.

Off to their left, maybe a hundred metres away, there was a loud detonation. Someone had got too close to a mine. Aneka had told them about the things when she had been laying them. There were not huge numbers of them out there, just enough to make it hard to get near the house. They were similar in design, she had said, to ones used since her time. Back then they had been set off by pressure or a trip wire, but the new ones had multi-spectral sensors, were semi-intelligent, and just about undetectable. When triggered they tossed a cloud of bomblets into the air, effectively widening the area of effect by a factor of ten and making the primary plane of detonation happen at about head height.

A tug on his arm brought Dillon’s attention back to the present. Katelyn was indicating a figure standing ahead of them, just outside the smoke. Frustrated by the mines and the obscuration, the Marines had set out to encircle the area. It left them thin on the ground, but he could see others, dimly, close enough that they were going to have to go through one or risk two spotting them when they broke cover.

He looked at his partner and then at the pistol in his hand. She squeezed his fingers and nodded, and Dillon raised the pistol. As his finger closed on the trigger a display activated in his visor showing the targeting point. He squeezed the trigger, just as Aneka and Sharissa had shown him, except that that had been a simulation and this was a real person. There was a crack and a pulse of white light burst from the muzzle. Brilliant white light exploded where it hit the man’s back. It seemed incredibly loud, but the other two men guarding the perimeter seemed to be used to explosions going off periodically and stayed put.

Dillon gave a tug on Katelyn’s arm and they started moving, almost running, for the gap in the cordon.

The weird thing was, as they passed the fallen soldier lying face down with a gaping hole where his back had been, that Dillon realised he was not going to have to worry about throwing up. Would the guy in the armour have cared if it was him running past their bodies? No. So why should Dillon care about him? Sometimes you had to do bad things for the right reason. He thought he had heard Winter say it at some point, and she was right.

~~~

Lieutenant Howard watched his tech working on the house’s computer with growing frustration. The place had been empty and dark by the time they had swarmed in, guns at the ready. Outside was just thick smoke which their supposedly state-of-the-art optics could not penetrate. There were at least eight men down back there, taken down by mines which had been placed in the area. And to top it off…

‘It’s useless, sir,’ the tech said. ‘The entire thing’s been wiped. Some sort of virus. Maybe they can extract data back at base, but I’m guessing it’ll take a lot of work and get fragments. It hasn’t just been deleted. They used some sort of encryption and overwrite system. I’ve never seen anything this sophisticated.’

Howard gave a grunt and walked outside, tapping a panel on his sleeve to initiate a call. ‘Howard. They got away. It was well planned and they’ve wiped any evidence they had here. We got Part.’

Pierce’s voice replied, sounding as though he was restraining anger. ‘Thank you, Lieutenant. Return to base. Some agents will retrieve the Admiral from you on arrival.’

In High Yorkbridge, Jason Pierce disconnected the channel and allowed himself a moment to reflect on what he might do to the lieutenant who had failed him. Something subtle, obviously, but crippling to his career.

Then he tapped in the last of three codes which got him past the security system of the planet’s communications network. He could not allow Truelove to use anything Part had given her. She needed to be isolated. He tapped a button on the screen and a message popped up.

Confirm shutdown of New Earth Wide-Area Wireless Network?

‘Of course I want to do it,’ Pierce snapped. ‘Would I have gone through all that if I didn’t want to do it?’ He stabbed the confirmation button.

Norden Forest, 18.2.531 FSC.

They had food and water. There was a nanofabricator with a supply of suitable materials to manufacture the former, and a vapour collector which could provide plenty of the latter. They had a tent with a camouflage coating which made it effectively invisible to pretty much every form of sensor the Navy had. They had weapons, sentry systems designed to warn them of anyone searching for them, and even a few changes of clothes.

What they lacked was communications.

‘The entire network seems to be down,’ Janine said after trying, again, to get any form of link to Winter up. ‘I don’t know about hard lines in the city, but outside it everyone uses wireless and it’s out.’

‘Pierce,’ Truelove grumbled. ‘And I bet he’s putting it down to Herosian sabotage.’

‘Before we get too wound up about this,’ Janna said, her tone calm, ‘perhaps we should find out what Part actually gave you.’

Sharissa cracked a grin. ‘Believe it or not, I’m the level-headed one in our relationship.’

‘You’ve never had a daughter to raise, love,’ Janna replied. ‘Once Ella was her own woman, I got to let go of all that responsibility. It doesn’t mean I can’t be pragmatic when it’s needed.’

‘Touché.’

Grinning, Truelove dug the data slug Part had given her from her pocket and lifted it to one of the ports on the back of her neck. ‘Well, let’s see what we have,’ she said, and plugged it in. ‘Okay, running virus and Trojan checks. All seems okay… We’ve got… files. Audio transcripts of meetings. Project planning files for… Beryum, the terrorist unit, and something called Aqua Regia. Part said something about that before he started with the hyperbole. Hang on…’ Then she went very silent, her eyes slowly widening.

‘You okay, Elaine?’ Janine asked. There was no reply and she reached for the data plug.

‘It’s okay,’ Truelove said quickly. ‘It’s just… You know about the virus they were experimenting with on Eshebbon? The one Ella was involved in?’

‘I’m too well aware of that incident,’ Janna commented.

‘Well, Pierce found the data on it in the FSA databases. He’s had a team working on modifying it for months. They’ve got a working variant that doesn’t affect Jenlay, but it does work on Herosians.’

‘That confirms who let the original strain loose on Sapphira,’ Janine commented.

‘It’ll kill… thousands,’ Sharissa said.

‘That would be an extremely conservative estimate,’ Truelove countered. ‘The original disease was engineered as a self-replicating, self-spreading bio-warfare agent. Drop it in enemy territory and they start feeding on each other. The only reason it never got used is that it’s too good. It killed the research team that made it, and then the team who found it. You saw what it was doing on Sapphira. Part wasn’t exaggerating, this could wipe the Herosians off every world they’re on. Oh gopi!’

Everyone looked at her. No one asked, but everyone was asking the question.

‘Well… the good news is that we’ve got time. They’re building a production facility. It won’t be operational before the seventh.’

‘And the bad news?’ Sharissa asked.

‘They’re working on engineering a Torem strain. If we don’t stop them, the Jenlay will be all that’s left.’

High Yorkbridge, 19.2.531 FSC.

Gareth Part opened his eyes slowly, trying to work out what had happened and where he was through a miasma that could only be drug-induced. He had been hit with a stun shot from a blaster. He vaguely remembered that. Someone had, apparently, sedated him after that and now…

The room was blank, uniformly grey in colour, and it had one piece of furniture: a metal chair to which the Admiral had been very securely fastened. He pulled at the restraints a couple of times, more out of hope than any belief that he might free himself. Where was he going to go if he got free? There did not even appear to be a door…

There was the sound of a door opening behind him. Footsteps. Two sets, one heavier than the other and those ones continued longer. The person making them walked into sight. He was dressed in the uniform of a Marine and looked as though he could bench-press a car.

‘There’s no point in trying to get free.’ The voice came from behind him. Part recognised it.

‘Pierce? What in Vashma’s name are you doing?’

‘I’m actually here to ask you the same question. You gave information to Agent Truelove. I want to know what information you gave her. This, very large, Ensign is going to hit you until you have told me everything you know. Some people would use drugs, machines, all sorts of clever electronic devices, but I believe in the tried and true methods. So, violence it is.’

The Ensign flexed his hands, drew back a fist, and swung. It felt a lot like being hit in the jaw with a sledgehammer.

Gwy, 20.2.531 FSC.

‘This is Gwy to Sapphira Control, come in please.’ Aneka had tried a couple of times to get a response, but there was no point in giving up until Ella was finished using Gwy’s sensors to scan the surface.

‘Sapphira Control, we are responding to the medical emergency you reported. We have vaccines aboard to assist you. Please respond.’

‘This is bad,’ Ella said. Technically, Ella’s projection into the flight deck environment said it; Ella was upstairs in the cabin with a cable plugged into her neck. ‘I’m getting almost nothing in the way of life signs from the surface. The orbital facilities are running on minimal power for some reason.’

Aneka looked out at the planet they were speeding toward. ‘That’s Sapphira Vista, right?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘We’ll swing around and do a sweep over Arbonatura. Larger population, quite spread out. We may have more luck there. Gwy, give me a low-orbit insertion path, please.’ Ahead of her, a series of rectangles appeared, projected into space for her to follow into orbit. Their course adjusted immediately to thread through the first of them.

‘You know,’ Ella said, ‘she could just do that for you.’

The obsidian avatar appeared between them, smiling brightly. ‘But I like being directed by Aneka. Or you, Ella. Something about being at the command of another… It makes me feel… tingly.’

‘We’ve got a submissive warship,’ Ella said, grinning.

‘You know, that would worry me under pretty much every other circumstance I can think of,’ Aneka replied. ‘Orbital insertion… now. We should be coming up on Arbonatura in… thirty-eight seconds.’

Ella turned back to the screens she had arranged in front of her to handle the sensor readouts, her thoughts translating into changes in the scanning parameters.

‘This is Gwy…’ Aneka began, and then changed tack. ‘This is Aneka Jansen to anyone on Sapphira. We are responding to your medical emergency. We have vaccines against the disease. Please respond.’

Static. Or…

‘I am detecting a radio transmission,’ Gwy announced. ‘It is weak and operating in a very high-frequency band which would require line of sight. Yes, it is in a three-millimetre wavelength range which would also suffer from atmospheric absorption. Turn left three degrees, Aneka.’

‘I’m getting more heat sources below us,’ Ella said. ‘There are some living people down there. It looks like the more spread out population did help.’

‘I have managed to get a better lock on the signal,’ Gwy said.

‘Represent… survivors in secure… university. Please… Shaw we have… secure location… help.’

‘Anthony Shaw?’ Ella asked as fragments of message repeated.

‘Sounds like it, and we’re headed for Chance, but that’s a repeating loop, not a live broadcast. They could be…’

‘Don’t say it. If it turns out they are then we’ll find someone else, but until we do there are survivors there and we need to go help them.’

‘A positive outlook, Ella,’ Gwy commented. ‘It is important in a situation like this. I will activate the shields and turret guns.’

~~~

Chance was one of the oldest developments on Sapphira and it had always looked to Aneka like something out of one of those movies set in Everytown America. The buildings were Plascrete, not wood or brick, but it had that Middle America feel to it. She had liked the place. It felt like home.

Now it looked like someone had recast it in a horror movie. The streets were largely deserted, aside from a few people who shambled rather than moving with a purpose. The chucks, though now Aneka definitely thought they should be called zombies, had taken up residence. How anyone had survived in the town was a miracle. Assuming, of course, that anyone had survived in the town.

She swung Gwy in over the university campus, hovering over the grassy area in front of the main building, half her mind on the view through the turret cameras. So far it was fairly quiet; the chucks, it seemed, did not associate a spaceship with food.

‘I’m reading… somewhere around thirty heat signatures inside the building,’ Ella said. ‘Too warm to be chucks.’

‘That’s a good sign.’ A thought opened a channel to the speakers in the cabin. ‘Cassandra, you’re on medical case duty. We’re going down.’ She did not, of course, need to tell Al what his drone would be doing.

They went out from the airlock with Aneka in the lead, both hands holding pistols which she swept out in search of targets as soon as she was on the ground. She had her sniper rifle slung across her back, but it was not needed at the moment. Al followed her with a huge rifle. He was not exactly skilled in using it, but his frame could handle the weight and the thing spewed out a hundred rounds of hyperdense darts a second: there was no need to be accurate when you were firing that much ammunition. Cassandra came next with a pack on her back containing medical supplies, and Ella brought up the rear with a smaller rifle, one of the antimatter blaster designs the Xinti had favoured for open warfare.

‘On the right,’ Aneka said.

Al was already turning. His rifle began to shred the group of chucks coming their way before they were within a hundred metres, and then Ella let off a shot from her gun which blew one chuck apart and used his remains to lacerate three more. Aneka fired off a burst from her right-hand pistol without even looking around and the only chuck still standing lost his head.

The door of the picturesque building they had landed beside opened and Anthony Shaw was standing there waving them inside. He looked much the same as he had the last time Aneka had seen him. He was a little slimmer and he was looking tired. The bright, blue eyes which had been there were looking duller, like they had seen things he would rather forget, and there were worry lines showing across his brow.

‘Miss Jansen, Miss Narrows,’ he said as soon as they were inside and the door had been re-barred, ‘I really didn’t expect to see you here.’

‘That’s the fastest ship in the Federation,’ Aneka said, ‘and your communications are down.’

‘Yes, but…’

‘It’s a long, long story and we’re here to help. This is Cassandra, that’s Al, and Cassandra has a backpack full of medical supplies and enough inoculations to keep you safe from this disease.’

‘Will it keep us safe from the… things?’

‘Chucks,’ Ella supplied. ‘I named them chucks, because you can’t be scared of something called chuck.’

‘You’ve encountered this before then?’

‘Oh yes. I spent a few weeks holed up like you are. Except I was alone until Aneka came to rescue me. This is caused by an engineered nanovirus. Someone did this to you, Representative, and it wasn’t the Herosians.’

‘Yes,’ Shaw said, ‘well, we’d figured that out for ourselves.’

Sapphira.

David Reman was a gangly sort of figure. Tall and thin, a bit shy around attractive women, and all brain. He was the pride and joy of the Sapphira academic community, considered one of the best minds on astrophysics in the Federation. Aneka knew that Abraham Wallace wanted him on Shadataga, but she thought it was likely to be a tough sell: Reman seemed like the kind of man who preferred a comfortable, quiet life at home.

Unfortunately for him, he was having to deal with being the best mind they had available among the surviving people of Chance.

‘It seemed a bit odd to me,’ he was explaining, ‘that this plague kicked off not long after a new vaccine gets sent to us from New Earth. I’m not saying I don’t trust people from the core worlds, but the coincidence seemed a bit strong.’

‘A directive went around that we should have everyone inoculated,’ Shaw added. ‘It was just a precaution, they said. Sapphira was probably not of interest to the Herosians. But they were producing enough for everyone, just in case. “High value assets” would be protected first. It actually said that. So we’re pretty sure they’d done most of Sapphira Vista and the orbital stations before the symptoms started showing. Of course, we stopped any injections as soon as we realised there might be a connection, and not many got done because the supply was short, but…’

‘I managed to get my hands on one dose,’ Reman went on. ‘Swarming with these little organic nanomachines. We don’t have that kind of technology. And we found the same thing in samples taken from some of these… chucks was it?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella replied. She seemed determined that the name should stick.

Reman grinned a little. ‘It does make them seem a little less threatening. Anyway, the stuff in the “vaccine” is also in the chucks, but far more active. Unfortunately, this kind of science is a little out of my field. I wouldn’t know where to start manufacturing a cure…’

‘There’s no cure,’ Aneka said flatly. ‘They’re dead. They die and then they get… reanimated as those things. Walking, groaning, disease vectors. They even clean up their own mess. They’ll cannibalise their own kind if they can’t get fresh meat.’

‘We do have inoculations against it,’ Ella said, ‘but… I’m sorry, there’s nothing you can do for these people. I did see evidence of survivors outside the town…’

‘So…’ Shaw began. ‘We need to kill them. All of them.’

Aneka nodded, putting a hand on the big man’s shoulder. ‘Al and I will go out in the morning and clean up the town as best we can. We’ll go out after that and take vaccines out to the nearby settlements. We can’t stay forever, but we can help as best we can…’

‘With the town clear, we can handle the vaccinations,’ Shaw said. ‘I think, if you’re willing, we could use someone taking a look at Sapphira Vista and seeing what state the orbital stations are in.’

‘Okay. Sounds like a plan. For now, we need to give everyone their shots and then get through the night.’

‘Oh,’ Reman said, ‘we’ve got very good at getting through the night.’

~~~

‘How did you survive?’ Ella asked.

They were sitting in one of the lecture theatres around heaters which apparently ran off some form of stabilised hydrogen. It was sufficiently far into the building that it isolated them from the chucks outside and it was sealed via the addition of some heavy furniture which they had dragged in to block the doors.

‘A lot of it is thanks to David and a few of the students,’ Shaw said. ‘He set up alarms around the building so that if something did get in we were ready. And he isolated the virus, of course, which helped us avoid catching it. We’re not big on food fabrication here, as you can imagine, but there were a couple of units around so that students knew how they worked and David managed to persuade one of these heaters to supply power.’

‘It’s a basic hydrogen fuel cell,’ Reman said, dismissing the matter.

Shaw smiled. ‘We have some guns, though we’re getting low on ammunition…’

‘We can help there,’ Aneka said. ‘I’ve got a few things you can use. Energy weapons. As long as you can charge the cells, they’ll run as long as you need them. I’ll train some of your people up on them before we go. They’re… special.’

Ella patted her rifle, sitting beside her on the floor. ‘Antimatter pulse rifle, for when you absolutely have to be sure it’s dead. And usually in pieces. Don’t be near what it hits.’

‘Isn’t that Xinti technology?’ Reman asked.

‘The Xinti used them,’ Aneka said, ‘but these are from a slightly different source. There’s a group of AIs who have created a university on a world called Shadataga. They were Xinti, sort of, but they’ve been alone for a long time and they want to teach what they know. Abraham Wallace is with them now.’ She looked at Reman. ‘I know he’d like to see you there. They were the ones who created that collapsed star he told you about when he was here.’

The scientist’s eyes lit up and then he looked down, frowning. ‘I don’t know… I’ve never been off Sapphira. I like it here…’

‘And maybe it’s time you broadened your horizons,’ Shaw said. ‘It would be prestigious for us to have someone attend something like that and you could learn so much.’

‘I hate long trips.’

‘Oh,’ Ella said, grinning, ‘by the time we’re ready to take on students they’ll have the wormhole system up and running. We can come pick you up in the Hyde. It’ll take us a day to get back.’

Reman blinked. ‘Wormhole… Where is this planet?’

‘It’s not far from Old Earth, actually. I mean, relatively not far.’

‘And it’ll take a day. By wormhole.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘I think,’ Shaw said, ‘that if we get through this, he’s sold.’

21.2.531 FSC.

‘There are sixteen chucks gathered in front of the building,’ Gwy told Aneka. ‘They appear to be ignoring me. I assume this is because I am inedible.’

‘That’s probably the reason, yes.’ Aneka grinned and Shaw gave her a funny look.

‘I could use my turret on them, but there is danger of damage to the building,’ Gwy added.

‘Yeah. We’ll handle it.’ Aloud she said, ‘Can we get up on the roof?’

‘Yes,’ Shaw told her. ‘There are some of them outside?’

‘Not for long. Al, get ready here. When I’ve cleared the door, go out and take out anything still in the area and hold until I come down.’

Al executed a smart salute. ‘By your command,’ he said.

‘And stop doing Cylon impressions.’

‘I lack the flashing red eye slot,’ he replied as she followed Shaw out of the foyer.

‘Smart arse. Ella, come with us. You’ll post up top and take out anything that comes near while we’re out.’

Ella grabbed her rifle and ran after them. ‘I kind of hope they do. I don’t think I got enough payback last time.’

‘Ella, you used to be such a sweet girl…’

~~~

It took Aneka a couple of minutes to pick off the chucks closest to the door with her rifle. The angle was difficult and getting a good line of sight took time. That meant that Shaw was back down in the foyer to help Cassandra open the door by the time Aneka signalled that it was clear.

The door opened and Al marched out onto the steps. There were still four or five of the creatures hiding under Gwy having run off as their fellows had fallen. Al waited among the bodies of their brethren until they charged forward, and then mowed them down with his rifle.

‘Vashma,’ Shaw muttered as Al stepped forward a few more paces and stood there like a statue, ‘he’s… brutally efficient. Is he a soldier or something?’

Cassandra smiled. ‘Oh no. He’s my sex toy,’ she said.

~~~

The sex toy was also a very respectable weapons platform. He ran backup as Aneka went building to building through the town cutting down chucks as she went.

Shaw suspected that there might be other people hidden in some of the buildings, so they went about the culling process slowly and methodically. Each building was checked for any sign of survivors. They were not having a lot of luck.

Al hosed down a doorway from which there seemed to be a near-endless supply of chucks. ‘Do you think anyone else is actually alive?’ he asked, speaking inside Aneka’s head.

‘Honestly? If there was someone I’d have thought they’d have tried for the university.’

‘Perhaps they did not realise there was anyone there. We would have been hard-pressed to find them if Mister Reman had not jury-rigged that transmitter.’

‘True, but… I’m trying not to be optimistic. If the entire town has been reduced to thirty people…’

‘Even I find it hard to believe we will find many more.’ The stream of chucks abated and Al shut off his rifle. ‘I need to change the magazine.’

‘Those things hold four thousand rounds!’ She fished another of the big, box mags from his backpack anyway.

‘And this weapon delivers them at a very high rate. You have had to change both magazines twice and you waste fewer rounds on hitting air. We are doing a lot of killing.’

‘Not killing,’ Aneka said. ‘They’re already dead.’

‘They seem to need reminding.’

‘Yeah…’

‘Hey!’ The voice came from above them and somewhere to their left and Aneka turned, looking in that direction. ‘Hey, we’re up here!’

A woman was half hanging out of a window on an upper floor of the next block. She looked somewhere on the young side of middle age, except that for a Jenlay that could have been anything from fifty to a hundred and fifty.

‘I see you,’ Aneka called back. ‘Wait there, we’ll come up.’ She glanced at Al. ‘We’re going that way,’ she said, grinning.

~~~

In all they found another fifteen people hiding out in sealed-off bunkers around the northern side of Chance. Many were looking malnourished, but they were alive and Gwy had supplies of food packs and rehydration salts aboard to help keep everyone fed.

Each time they found a few people, they had to escort them back to the university, which slowed down the process of clearance. By dusk they were fairly sure they had killed everything that was already dead in the northern part of the town.

‘We’ll need to go out again tomorrow,’ Aneka said as they gathered for the evening.

‘How many…?’ Shaw began.

‘I’m really trying not to keep count. Al could tell me, I’ve no doubt.’

‘Al is rather keen not to innumerate the toll either,’ Al replied. ‘I do have records of all the still functional identity transponders we’ve encountered. I can supply that list to you when this is done, Representative.’

‘That would be… helpful, thank you. I didn’t realise that you were a robot, Mister…’

‘It’s just Al. We assumed that the news regarding Aneka’s nature had reached this far.’

‘Oh… uh, yes. We saw the reports, of course. I think there were a few signatures from Sapphira on that petition that was raised. Well… I know there were, but… Wait, wasn’t the AI in that interview they aired called Al?’

‘One and the same,’ Al replied, smiling. ‘This drone body was constructed for me on Shadataga. My actual “mind,” if you wish, still resides within Aneka, but I can operate this body remotely, within range, which can be useful.’

‘Cassandra said you were her… um…’

‘Sex toy,’ Cassandra supplied.

Aneka and Ella burst into a fit of giggles.

‘One of the reasons for the construction was to allow me to have a more physical relationship with Cassandra, yes. We are both AIs. She is emergent, I was designed, but we are both capable of experiencing… emotions. It was rather complicated before I got this. Now we can actually behave like two Jenlay in love.’

‘If love is precisely the word for it,’ Cassandra said. ‘I wouldn’t even like to say that Al experiences the same reaction to me as I do to him. However, “love” is definitely the Jenlay equivalent of what we have for each other and I was very pleased when the Shadataga AIs agreed to supply Al with a body so that we could have a more direct relationship.’

Reman, looking a little pink around the cheeks, looked at Aneka. ‘And this relationship was ongoing while he was just an AI in your head?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka said, grinning. To be honest she was glad the subject had moved off dead chucks. ‘Like Al said, it was complicated. Mostly they just liked to talk. My sex life was a constant source of amusement to them.’

‘Not constant,’ Cassandra said. ‘I mean, you were off-world some of the time.’

~~~

Aneka had posted herself up on the southern side of the roof with her rifle. Occasionally she would lift it, sight carefully, and fire. The periodic loud cracks were stopping Ella from nodding off, mostly.

‘Five hundred and eighty-two metres,’ Aneka said after one shot.

‘You hit it?’

‘Watched its head explode. It’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but I expect they’ll give up soon. They don’t sleep, if I remember right, but they aren’t much use in the dark and all the street lights are out.’

‘Of course you remember it right.’

‘Turn of phrase. You’re right. I should stop using it.’

‘You’re very good with that thing though.’

‘I’m very good with a lot of weapons. I was before the Xinti got me. One of my instructors got pissed off at me for being the best marksman in the class he taught.’

‘He got annoyed at you? Why not the others?’

‘I did mention I left the Army partially because they were a bunch of pricks, right?’

‘I guess. I’m just not used to that kind of thing. I mean, people can still be sexist, but if you’re good at something you generally don’t get called out on it.’

Aneka raised her rifle and fired again. ‘Yeah, well… anyway, with this thing I could probably hit a gnat’s genitals on the horizon. It’s not exactly what I’d describe as a skilled job.’

‘Aneka,’ Gwy said into both their heads, ‘I am detecting rapid movement seven hundred metres south of you. Bearing one-nine-four.’

Lifting the rifle again, Aneka aimed it in the direction Gwy indicated, the scope zooming in on a group of figures running north. She lost them behind a building and then caught sight of them again as they appeared at a junction.

‘Shit! One of those is alive.’ She put her rifle on the ground and started for the edge of the roof. ‘Get downstairs and tell them we have an incoming guest.’ Then she dropped off the side of the building.

The fall might have been an issue for a normal person, but Aneka had the whole metal skeleton thing going for her. She landed, rolled, and was upright and running before Ella managed to get to her feet.

‘Wow…’ Ella said, watching her run off into the darkness. ‘Winter really did boost her running speed.’

It took Aneka a little over twenty-six seconds to locate the woman running at full sprint in the general direction of the university, guided by Gwy’s sensors. She looked like she was going to drop when Aneka arrived, and there were maybe ten chucks on her tail.

‘Lady, are you crazy?’ Aneka asked as she pulled her pistols, firing in the same motion.

‘Thought… they’d be… asleep,’ the woman gasped.

‘They don’t sleep. They don’t move much at night because they can’t see.’ The woman looked at her torch. ‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka said. ‘Toss it. I can get you to the university without light.’

To her credit, the woman turned and threw the heavy flashlight straight at the head of a chuck. It reared back, and then Aneka shot it in the face. As the street plunged into deeper darkness, Aneka holstered her pistols, grabbed the woman, slung her over her shoulder, and started back toward the university at a somewhat slower pace than she had come from it. Just not much slower.

~~~

‘Cam?’ Shaw asked as Aneka hustled the woman in through the doors. ‘Cam Forrester?’

‘Representative Shaw!’ Her exclamation was punctuated by a burst of fire from one of Aneka’s pistols and then the slamming of the door.

‘I’m glad to see you’re safe, but what possessed you to come running out here at night?’

‘I’d like to know that too,’ Aneka said, frowning in a distinctly disapproving way.

‘We heard the gunfire north of us all day,’ Forrester said, still having a little trouble with her breathing. She looked fit enough, and she was sort of dressed for running. The locals generally wore more conservative clothes than Aneka saw in the core, but Forrester was in a cropped T-shirt and running shorts. ‘We were hoping it would come south, but…’

‘We?’ Shaw asked.

‘Uh… there are about thirty of us. Down at the school. I was teaching netball there, like I usually do, when this big crowd of those things just… came out of nowhere. We’ve got twenty-two kids, a few teachers, one or two others who’ve found their way there. We had food, but it’s getting really low, and we had one rifle, but that’s out…’

‘Gwy, plot me a route to this school,’ Aneka said silently. ‘Al…’

‘I am prepping the rifle now,’ Al responded.

‘We’ll go out and get them,’ Aneka said aloud.

‘I’ll get my rifle,’ Ella said quickly, turning toward the inner door.

‘Ella…’

‘Thirty people. You’ll need all the firepower you can get and my eyes work just as well in the dark as yours.’

‘Damn… I can’t think of a reason why that’s wrong. Hurry. Tell Cassandra to get Miss Forrester vaccinated and prep a load more doses.’

‘On it.’

~~~

A few chucks had followed Forrester to the university, but they were dispatched within seconds and after that it was easy. They moved silently, communicating by radio if they had to, and at a fast walking pace. No running. Aneka had been very clear on that.

The school was a low building, constructed of Plascrete, with little in the way of decorative features. The windows seemed small to Aneka, and fairly high up. They had to give poor light inside, but they had probably helped keep the occupants safe. At least until now.

A gang of chucks were trying their best to get past barricades which had been put up at the back of the main entrance. Forrester’s exit had been noticed and some of the creatures had decided that there might be food which was not running like mad away from them.

‘You two watch for more coming,’ Aneka said. ‘Those weapons are likely to do as much collateral damage as intended.’

‘It’s a good point,’ Ella replied, a little sourly.

‘I’m sure you’ll get to blow up a few on the way back.’ Aneka stepped into the foyer and began firing. There was the ripping sound of her weapons spraying needles into bodies for a couple of seconds, and then silence.

And then part of the barricade was pulled back and a face appeared. A man, young, but not a teenager. He looked scared and relieved at the same time.

‘You… you’ve come to get us out? Cam made it?’

‘Cam barely made it,’ Aneka said, ‘but yes, we need to get you all to the university. Now. There’ll be more of them in the morning. They know you’re here and they’re tenacious bastards.’

‘We have children…’

‘I know. Ella, with me. We need to get this organised.’

Without any order, Al took up a position in the open front of the foyer, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He stood there, still as only a robot could manage. Aneka grinned, despite the situation.

‘I should have called you Arnie,’ she said, silently.

‘I’ll be here,’ Al replied, but he did not do a fake Austrian accent.

They had holed up in the gymnasium and, as Aneka had suspected, the high windows meant it was a dark room, but there was plenty of space for the kids, adults, and what supplies they had managed to collect. Aneka surveyed her charges: there were maybe sixteen in their teens, the rest younger, plus the teaching staff and a few strays.

‘All right… My name is Aneka, this is Ella, and we’ve come to get you out of here. We need to go now, so we’re all going for a walk. That is a walk. No one is to run, no matter what happens. We have another person outside who’s going to help us get through this. Nothing is going to happen so long as you all stay together. Does everyone understand?’

There were a lot of nods and mumbles in reply. One man actually spoke. ‘Those things… they’ll be waiting…’

‘And we’ve killed hundreds today. Do as we say and you’ll be quite safe.’ She looked around again. ‘Now, let’s get moving.’

Al and Ella took the lead, moving out from the foyer with their guns at the ready. They needed them quickly as chucks emerged from the nearby buildings, but the sudden dismantling of the creatures seemed to lend some courage, even to the man who had spoken up earlier.

Aneka brought up the rear where she could watch the sides of the procession and make sure there were no stragglers. Periodically she flicked one of her guns to the rear to check behind them, and that was how she spotted the trail of chucks they were developing. She turned, spraying needles toward them and half a dozen went down in the first volley. Most of the others stopped to make use of the more easily available food sources. Having stupid cannibals following you could be advantageous at times.

It took them ten minutes to walk the kilometre or so to the university, and they had lost no one by the time they were safely inside.

‘We’re going to need to get you people medals,’ Shaw said as Cassandra and Ella busied themselves vaccinating the newcomers. ‘Maybe a statue outside.’

‘I’ll settle for finding more people alive,’ Aneka replied.

‘I’d quite like a statue,’ Al said. ‘Something appropriately regal. Being largely a disembodied intelligence, it would be nice to have something solid to be remembered by.’

It was an odd thing to say, but somehow it rang true. ‘It wouldn’t capture your best feature,’ Aneka said, turning it into a joke. ‘Your enormous… intellect.’

‘I shall choose to ignore the obvious innuendo,’ Al replied haughtily, ‘and bask in my heroic status.’

Shadataga, 22.2.531 FSC.

Abraham Wallace stood beside the slim, artificial-looking form of Reality and, as far as Drake was concerned, there was not that much to tell between them. Wallace was a genius while the AI just simulated being one by having access to seemingly unending information on physics, but that amounted to the same thing and physically the two were a good match. Wallace had grown up in a low-gravity environment which had resulted in a very tall, lanky body which looked almost as unnatural to most Jenlay as Reality’s did. And the pair of them were absolutely fascinated by the physical sciences.

‘All the probe data is within parameters,’ Wallace said. ‘I can’t see any reason not to go ahead with a live trial.’

‘It would appear that all our calculations have proven correct,’ Reality agreed. ‘None of the data has been more than point one per cent at variance with predicted values.’

‘So we’re going ahead?’ Drake asked.

‘All my subordinates agree that this is the only logical next step and that the danger of failure is sufficiently slight that we can proceed safely.’

‘What my colleague means, Captain,’ Abraham stated, grinning, ‘is that the chances of us blowing up are extremely small.’

Drake’s eyes narrowed. ‘How small?’

‘Somewhat less than one in two hundred and fifty million,’ Reality supplied.

‘Somewhat less than? That doesn’t sound like you, Reality.’

‘I have been told that I should be less exact when dealing with non-scientists. I can innumerate the probability to seventeen significant figures if you prefer.’

‘Uh, no, that’s fine.’

The synthetic gave a nod. ‘We were less sure of success before the last probe run. In fact, some of my subordinates felt that it was unsafe at that probability level.’

‘What was it then?’

‘One in two hundred and forty million.’

Drake gave a snort of a laugh. ‘I’ll see to getting the Hyde ready. And we should probably talk about what us organics view as an acceptable risk factor sometime.’ He walked off leaving a slightly perplexed-looking drone behind him.

Norden Forest, New Earth.

‘We’re going to have to get into the city and get to a hardwired terminal,’ Truelove stated flatly. ‘We don’t know they’re working, but the wide-area network is not coming back up and we need to get this data to one of Winter’s avatars.’

‘You know they’ll come after us as soon as they figure out where we are?’ Sharissa said, but she was looking resigned.

‘I go in with Janine. You hold things here. Hopefully Winter can arrange to get us out of this mess as well, but if not… Well, it’ll just be us who get captured and by then the data should be somewhere useful.’

‘You’re not expecting us to like this idea, right?’ Dillon put in. ‘I may not be some trained spy… We aren’t trained in this kind of thing, but these guys made it personal.’ Beside him, Katelyn was nodding.

‘Two people have a better chance of moving around undetected,’ Janine said. ‘It’s not a matter of training, just logistics. Besides, if we fail you’re our failsafe.’

‘How are you even going to get there?’ Janna asked. ‘We dumped our transport on the way here.’

Janine gave a shrug. ‘We’ll hike out to one of the nearby villages and steal a car. It’s not like anyone’s going to be able to report it missing.’

Tanner Business District, Yorkbridge.

‘It’s kind of fitting,’ Truelove said as she plugged a tablet into one of the wall sockets in an office building.

‘Sorry?’ Janine asked. She was busy watching at a nearby window. The small industrial park they had decided was their best choice of target seemed to be more or less empty, but they might have been spotted by any one of fifty security cameras getting in.

‘This is the park where Charles Hunter had his New Earth base of operations. Aneka and Ella were taken to Odanari from here. It’s kind of fitting that this is where we ended up.’

‘I’m rather hoping that this isn’t where we “end up” and that we’ll be leaving without a firefight. Is the network functional?’

Truelove tapped over a couple of settings screens and then grinned. ‘Yes.’

‘All right. Burst transmission, like we planned. Get Winter’s attention and get her out here to meet us. We can transmit the files themselves if there’s trouble.’

Truelove nodded. ‘I know. Sending now.’ She tapped a few more controls, waited for a ‘burst sent’ message to be displayed, and then disconnected the cable. ‘Done.’

‘Great. Now we move.’

They had selected that building to send the help request from because its rear let out onto an unmonitored yard which gave them access to any of three other buildings in which they could hide. It was possible that, with the vast amount of data flowing around the city’s networks, no one had noticed the brief connection of Truelove’s tablet, but it was equally possible that someone had.

Finding a room on the top floor of one of their options, the one they had indicated they would be in in their message, the couple settled down to wait, taking turns to watch the roads below for any sign of anyone searching for them.

It was twenty minutes before Janine frowned and turned to look at Truelove. ‘Did you hear…?’

‘Vertol engines,’ Truelove replied, nodding. ‘They’re not exactly hiding their arrival. Do you think I should send the rest of the data?’

‘No. Wait until they’re checking this building.’

‘They may not… No, I suppose they will.’ She got the tablet ready, just in case.

‘Getting radio chatter,’ Janine said a few minutes later. ‘Encrypted and not strong yet, but they’re getting closer.’ She ducked away from the window. ‘They’re on the street.’

Truelove swallowed and then focussed on listening for the sound of anyone entering the building. She could hear the radio traffic as well now, but it seemed to pause, not getting stronger. They would be searching the building she had made the connection from. That would take several minutes. They had that long before she had to connect again, maybe longer if they tried a different building first. Once she plugged the tablet in again, however, it would be a matter of seconds before they were found.

‘Come on, Winter,’ Truelove muttered.

‘I got here as fast as I could,’ a voice replied and a figure in a jet-black, all-encompassing bodysuit materialised in the doorway. The mask shrank away as they turned to look revealing a pretty, dark-eyed face framed in short, mid-brown hair: Winter’s Number Three avatar, the combat model. The firmly muscled physique was pretty clear through the thin, nanofabric suit, and she was carrying a large bag with the same camouflage coating.

‘Am I glad to see you,’ Janine said, grinning.

‘Yes, well we’ve been rather worried too, but there’s time for that later.’ Winter dropped the bag onto the floor, squatting down beside it to open it. ‘Clothes and anything you need to take with us in here.’ She pulled out two wide, black belts. ‘Then you put these on and we leave. Hurry, they’ll be in here soon.’

The tablet and their weapons went into the bag, which already contained a large, efficient-looking rifle, and Winter went on as they began to strip. ‘Once the suits close, breathe through your noses. The suit will interface with your implants to allow you to see. They’re synchronised so that we can see each other, but no one else will be able to see us.’

‘What about communication?’ Truelove asked.

‘Once the suit closes, you don’t. Radio silence until we’re out and safe. It’s a little unsettling having these wrap around you. Just keep your mouth closed, breathe through your nose, and try not to panic.’

‘Easy for you to say.’ Truelove took one of the belts and snapped it around her waist. It activated immediately and she felt something like cold metal beginning to spread out over her skin. Her fists clenched.

‘Stay calm,’ Winter said, ‘and follow me when we go.’

Truelove gave a nod. The metal was sliding down her legs now having done a rather intimate job of sealing itself over her genitals, and it had reached her throat. She pressed her lips together just before it crawled over her mouth. There was a brief instant of panic as it covered her nostrils and she could not inhale, but then it settled and she could breathe again… And that was when it reached her eyes. Darkness enveloped her and she fought the urge to scream, and then she could see. Actually, she could see in every spectrum there was and the sudden burst of information was a little overwhelming.

She could see the bursts of radio transmissions coming from the soldiers outside. One or two seemed to be heading for the building. The reflections of those signals let her see echoes of the walls and building structures around her. Was this what Aneka saw all the time?

Winter’s mask closed over her head and she shifted from a solid, black figure into a flickering, ghostly one. Checking beside her she found that Janine had taken on the same shifting appearance. Her own arm seemed solid, but an indicator in her vision field stated that the camouflage system was operating and she had to take it on faith that it was.

Picking up the bag, Winter activated its camouflage system and started toward the door. It was time to leave.

Sapphira.

Aneka’s image materialised in the flight environment where Gwy and Ella were busy not flying. She had had to plug in in the cabin because Ella was in the flight chair and had been for a couple of hours.

‘Oh, hi,’ Ella said, smiling wearily. ‘I needed to keep busy so…’ She waved a hand at the multiple screens hanging in the air around her.

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka replied. ‘Flight plans?’

‘Yes. I figured the best thing for tomorrow would be a detailed scan of the planet. All the resolution Gwy can manage, which is very high I might add.’

‘Thank you, Ella,’ Gwy said proudly.

‘We should be able to get a pretty good idea of where the chucks are concentrated and which regions have remained relatively unaffected. Then they can prioritise the inoculations based on that map.’

‘Will a day be enough?’ Aneka asked, scanning the screens.

‘Did I say Gwy was amazing? I think I alluded to it anyway.’

‘Of course,’ Gwy put in, ‘Aggy’s sensors could do it faster, or to a higher resolution, but…’

‘But I think a one-centimetre resolution, multi-spectral map of the entire planet in a day is quite adequate for our needs,’ Ella stated.

‘Uh, yeah,’ Aneka said, raising an eyebrow. ‘We’ll be able to see the looks on their faces.’

‘More importantly, we should be able to identify living people and chucks. Then, I guess, we hit the stations the day after.’

‘We can plan that out while we’re in orbit.’

‘Yes. I was thinking… Those guns of ours might be a bit dangerous on a space station.’

Aneka nodded. ‘I’ve got alternatives for that. I must say, not being here for the clean-up is making me feel happier. Sort of.’

‘It was bad?’

‘We found another ten living on the outskirts of town. This place used to have about two thousand inhabitants and that’s been reduced to less than a hundred. That’s a lot of bodies that need to be incinerated.’

Ella frowned, biting her lip. ‘I want to find the person who did this and roast their balls over hot coals before I kill them.’

Aneka stepped forward, pulling Ella’s virtual body into a hug. The redhead’s head settled on her shoulder. ‘That’s not like you, love,’ Aneka said, her voice soft.

‘When they used this virus to do this, they made it kind of personal,’ Ella replied. ‘They’ve killed thousands of people, Aneka. Thousands! And it’s probably just to keep us occupied while they think up something worse.’

‘That thought had crossed my mind. I’m just not sure what they could do that’s worse than this.’

Yorkbridge Mid-town.

‘The man’s insane!’ Winter said.

Truelove was not sure she had ever seen a look of disbelief on any of the AI’s faces, but there it was. Then again, it had taken her several seconds to really believe that Pierce could actually go through with his plan, and she had spent more time with him.

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I think he probably is. Maybe not clinically, but he’s definitely gone past “the ends justify the means” so far he can’t see either.’

They were meeting in an abandoned tower block where Number Five, an oriental-looking woman, had set up a cluttered, but effective, hideout with access to communications and fitted out with several banks of computers which were monitoring network traffic. Three was still with them, sitting at a table checking her weapons while she waited for something else to do.

‘I’ll send the data to Shadataga,’ Five said. ‘I think this needs outside intervention. I’ll request that you and the others are evacuated. It’s not safe here and–’

‘We’re not going,’ Truelove said. ‘The others, yes, but Janine and I are staying. We’re needed here. When this blows up, and it will, in Pierce’s face, Elroy’s going to need someone who can sort out the security services.’

‘Don’t try to persuade her this is a bad idea,’ Janine said with a sigh. ‘I’ve had several hours to work on her and she’s not budging. She’s right anyway.’

Five nodded. ‘Yes… unfortunately she is. However, you’ll go out with Three when it gets dark. Sharissa and the others need to know what the plan is and you’ll be safer outside the city for now.’

Truelove nodded acceptance of the plan. ‘Admiral Part, do you know what happened to him?’

Five looked at one of the nearby screens and it switched to showing a news report dated the day before. The CFM reporter was putting on an unhappy expression, which was a bad sign.

‘Admiral Gareth Part was found dead in a park near his home this morning, apparently the victim of a mugging gone horribly wrong,’ the presenter announced. ‘His severely beaten body was found by an early morning jogger. Peacekeepers are currently investigating the possibility that this was an assassination of the man who recently took over as commander of the Core Fleet.’

The replay stopped and Five said, ‘I got my hands on the autopsy report. He was tortured. My analysis suggests that he was secured in a seated position while someone beat him until his body gave out. They could have saved him, but they let him bleed internally.’

Truelove gritted her teeth. ‘Can’t we just kill Pierce and have done with it?’

‘The thought had crossed my mind,’ Three said, ‘but the others want him alive so he can be tried, convicted, and executed for treason.’

‘Besides,’ Five went on, ‘we don’t know that killing Pierce would stop anything. We need to find out what’s happening on Eshebbon and end it before we eliminate ex-Admiral Pierce from the equation.’

Wormhole Junction, 23.2.531 FSC.

It was not exactly the official name of the system, but Shannon had started calling it ‘Wormhole Junction’ and no one had been able to come up with anything better. The AIs had said they could give it a Xinti name, but actually they rather liked Shannon’s choice. It was, Speaker had said, descriptive and amusing.

It was a binary star system. Two M-class stars orbiting at an average of just over a tenth of an AU, and there had been six gas giants and a couple of asteroid belts around them. Now, five AUs out, there was a single, huge, station.

There was a hangar bay for two hundred thousand tonnes of shipping, external bridge clamps for larger vessels, a factory system of enormous proportions, cargo space, room for over eight thousand guests in transit and facilities to entertain them, and a two-hundred-bed hospital, but the entire mid-section of the elongated, smoothly curved facility was taken up by the wormhole generators.

Power came from a total conversion reactor supplemented by a system which beamed power out of the centre of the solar system, deriving energy from the huge gravitational forces between the two stars and all the solar energy they could collect. Put together, the station could generate a bridge between two points in space which would allow all but the largest of starships to travel more or less instantly across vast distances.

‘Of course,’ Abraham Wallace said as they looked out upon the vast station, ‘there are some limitations. The greater the distance, the more inaccurate the exit point will be and the longer the subjective transit time.’

‘Subjective?’ Drake asked.

‘Yes. It takes no time to make the trip in this reality, but there is a delay between entry and exit for someone passing through the bridge. For the short trip we have planned you’ll barely notice it. It’ll be… ten seconds, give or take. The gravitational stresses inside the wormhole are also considerable. An unshielded vessel might survive a short hop. A force screen such as the one the Hyde has for protection will give some support, but we have the special shield to make sure we get through intact.’

‘All right… When do we go?’

‘The generator is charged, Captain,’ Reality’s voice said from the speakers of the flight deck. ‘We will initiate the wormhole when you are ready.’

‘Better get to your sensors then, Abraham,’ Drake said, settling into his chair and reaching for the optical cable to plug in.

Five minutes later everyone was ready. Drake sat in his virtual chair with Shannon standing nearby and Abraham watching an array of screens he had configured off to one side.

‘Initiating wormhole shielding,’ Drake said as he tapped buttons on the panel before him.

‘Shields up and stable,’ Aggy announced. ‘I must say, this is very exciting. My last trip through a wormhole was rather abrupt and I had no chance to examine it.’

‘Let’s hope this one goes more smoothly,’ Drake replied.

‘We have a stable screen,’ Abraham said. ‘Let’s fire up the generators, Reality.’

There was a pause and then space split open in front of them. It was a little like watching a flower open on a time-lapse film, if the flower was several hundred metres across and composed of multi-dimensional space invisible to the unaided eye. On the virtual displays ahead of them it was a multi-coloured blossom of twisting light.

‘Wormhole established and stable,’ Reality said. ‘We are receiving telemetry from the other side. The exit point is right on target. You will be arriving one AU retrograde of Shadataga.’

‘Instant comms across almost four parsecs,’ Shannon said. ‘That’s going to be useful.’

‘Yes,’ Drake said, ‘it will. All right, take us in, Shannon.’

‘Just push us into the event horizon,’ Abraham said. ‘Once we go past that the wormhole will do the rest.’

‘Okay,’ the blonde pilot said, taking a deep breath, ‘here we go…’

There was a moment when the hyper-spectral blossom of the bridge’s event horizon filled their view, and then the world vanished, replaced by a rushing torrent, a kaleidoscope of colour as random fluctuations in the quantum field around them produced multiple wavelengths of light. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over and they could see the planet they had left the day before ahead of them.

‘A day to get out there, ten seconds back,’ Shannon said. ‘That is what I call progress.’

Abraham was grinning like a maniac. ‘Indeed. Let’s get back to the university. I have a lot of data to analyse. This is going to be fascinating.’

It was when they were dropping in toward the station that Winter changed their plans for them.

‘Don’t get comfortable. We got a message through from New Earth while you were going out. We need to get there as soon as possible, so I’m glad that thing worked. It’s a little earlier than we would have liked for long-distance trials, but we have to go back to New Earth.’

Gwy, 24.2.531 FSC.

The scans of the planet had proven both encouraging and depressing. There were relatively few badly infected areas of Arbonatura. It seemed as though only the larger towns had suffered any major harm. The people on Sapphira Vista, mostly out of the core or nearby Rim worlds, had always been a bit superior and they had left supplying the natives until last, as was often the case. This time it had most definitely worked for the indigenous population.

On the other hand, it looked like Sapphira Vista was a total write-off. The scans had shown no evidence of any survivors. Of the people she had met there, Aneka could not think of many she would worry excessively over losing, but there had been the Scouts, and Peters the FSA agent. She wondered whether they had, by some chance, been off-world when the plague had hit. Maybe they had survived somehow. It just seemed unlikely.

The orbital station did not seem like much of a hope either. It hung in space, barely registering any power output and dead to hails on the radio. The chances that anyone was alive inside seemed slim, but they had to check.

‘There’s an airlock on the upper deck which we should be able to manually operate,’ Ella said, going over schematics of the class. ‘Between you and Al it shouldn’t be too much effort, but it’ll mean going over in suits.’

‘Atmosphere?’ Aneka asked, looking out at the dark station.

‘Sensors say it’s still got one. Breathable. There could be trace toxins we can’t pick up, but nothing deadly.’

‘I can’t persuade you to stay here, I assume?’

‘Not unless you want to tie me to the flight chair.’

Aneka managed a grin. ‘You stay in breather gear the whole time.’

‘Of course. There is some evidence of movement in there. Not rapid, but some. Could be survivors or chucks. I think our best bet is engineering. We can check for areas of heavier power drain or resource utilisation which may indicate living people. And if there’s none of that… we can probably force a decompression of the whole station.’

‘Well it worked for Ripley,’ Aneka said. ‘Let’s do this.’

~~~

The only person who needed air was Ella. Cassandra and Al needed pressure suits: neither of their bodies had been designed to handle vacuum, but they did not breathe. Aneka was not having anyone going into the station without body armour anyway, so the lack of an atmosphere until they penetrated the airlock was not an issue. And no one was going in unarmed either: even Cassandra, who was on pack duty again, had a heavy pistol in her hands when the inner airlock door opened.

The station was silent and cold. The only light came from dim emergency panels mounted on the ceiling. The air temperature, according to Aneka’s skin sensors, was just above freezing. Not that that was going to bother the chucks who had wandered around the frozen surface of Eshebbon with impunity.

‘Okay,’ Ella said, ‘we want the lower section, of course. I doubt the lifts are working, but the shaft is about twenty metres over to the right. We should be able to use that to bypass most of the station itself.’

‘That sounds like a remarkably good idea,’ Aneka replied, starting out in the direction her own schematic map indicated.

They rounded a corner and found the first body. It was little more than a skeleton, stripped down to bones with a few scraps of flesh still attached.

‘Oh… gopi,’ Ella said, grimacing behind her faceplate.

‘Be thankful you can’t smell it,’ Aneka told her. ‘It has to be a couple of days old at least.’

‘And I think it was dead before that,’ Cassandra said, looking at a handheld scanner. ‘There’s evidence of the virus in the remaining tissue.’

‘So they’ve started eating each other. Well, it’ll cut the numbers.’

‘But it’s not a good sign for surviving Jenlay,’ Ella said. She raised her rifle as something caught her attention, a movement at the end of the corridor. She was just wondering whether she had spoken too soon when the shape bolted forward, grey skin becoming evident as it passed under a light. She squeezed the trigger and the creature was smashed into the nearby wall by a force pulse. It bounced, rag-dolled onto the deck, and then tried to crawl on shattered bones toward them. Ella fired again and this time its skull was pulverised.

‘You got hit by one of these things?’ Ella asked, looking at her rifle.

‘A couple of times. That was in the old body.’

‘An experience I would rather not repeat,’ Al commented.

‘Let’s get to the lifts,’ Aneka suggested. ‘I don’t know about you lot, but I want out of this mausoleum.’

The lift shaft had had three cars in it, but all of them had apparently fallen to the bottom when the power failed. That seemed odd.

‘Surely there would be safety systems?’ Aneka asked, frowning at the twisted metal boxes a hundred metres below them.

‘There should have been,’ Ella agreed.

‘So we’re talking about sabotage on top of the virus.’

‘The total loss of communications suggested that,’ Al pointed out. ‘Automated responses should have functioned even if there was no one here to make a proper reply.’

There was a ladder slung between the tracks the cars were meant to travel down. Getting to it was not a particularly easy trick given that the car was at the bottom, and Aneka suspected you were supposed to access the ladder via the roof of the lift, but they managed it. All of them were exceptionally nimble, even when they weighed twice what a Jenlay normally did. After that it was just a matter of climbing down, but Aneka paused halfway.

‘Do you hear that?’ she asked.

‘This helmet isn’t exactly great for hearing…’ Ella began and then stopped. ‘I hear… wailing.’

The sound was mournful, a long, high-pitched keening which you had trouble not hearing once you had noticed it. It was not something in pain, more like something desperately longing for something lost. There was no way it was made by anything living.

‘Keep going,’ Ella said. ‘Maybe we won’t be able to hear it at the bottom.’

The cars were crumpled by their sudden stops, but intact enough so that one of them could serve as an entrance to the floor once Aneka had ripped the hatch off the top.

‘I’ll pry the doors open,’ she said. ‘Keep your eyes open for anything moving on the other side. And if it moves and looks dead, shoot it.’

‘I’d got that part,’ Ella said, managing a grin.

‘I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page.’ Aneka jammed her fingers between the doors and pulled. Her muscles rippled and there was the sound of grinding metal, and then they were looking out onto the engineering deck.

‘It looks like a tornado went through here,’ Ella said.

There were wrecked consoles and racks of equipment which had been smashed in all over the room. Little of the apparatus looked like it was functional. Someone had systematically destroyed the equipment and chucks were not systematic creatures.

‘Do you think we can get into the computers?’ Aneka asked.

‘I’ll try,’ Cassandra said, taking her pack from her back. ‘We need to find a data port which appears undamaged and hope.’

They fanned out into the room, Cassandra sticking with Al, checking every corner for anything which might have been mobile, alive or not. Beyond the immediate area of the lifts, the equipment had not fared much better, and Aneka was beginning to give up hope when she discovered the primary computer core, and the three bodies lying beside it.

‘Asphyxia,’ Cassandra said after running a scanner over them.

‘They’re in vacuum suits,’ Ella pointed out, frowning.

‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka said. ‘They were worried about the pathogen being airborne, so they stayed in the suits until their oxygen ran out.’ She indicated an open panel nearby. ‘I think they were trying to get the station’s comms running.’

Cassandra pulled a tablet from her pack and plugged it into one of the ports on the rack. After a second or two she said, ‘They failed. The equipment is too badly damaged, but they got enough of the computer powered that I can determine the state of the station. The reactor went into emergency shutdown when the control systems were damaged. The auxiliary solar systems are keeping things ticking over… I’m running a check of the environmental systems…’

They waited. Even Ella seemed to be holding her breath as the computer checked through the various processors handling air and water on the station. If anywhere was processing carbon dioxide to any degree, it might indicate survivors…

‘Nothing,’ Cassandra said, her voice soft, almost a whisper. ‘The atmospheric processors have seen no rise in carbon dioxide anywhere on the station in the last ten days. No water has been requested anywhere in the same time frame. They’re all dead.’

There was a thud from somewhere back in the area of the lift shaft and Gwy’s voice sounded over the communicators at the same time. ‘I am detecting increased movement in the station’s core. Doppler shifts indicate several humanoid masses moving at walking pace. Some are accelerating downward under normal gravitational acceleration.’

‘Damn things are jumping down the lift shaft,’ Aneka said. She started back through the racks. ‘Cassandra, find a way to blow the airlocks. Ella, Al, blow away anything that comes past me.’

Two of the creatures, legs shattered by the fall, were crawling out of the lift as Aneka approached. She fired, spraying their brains across the floor, but there were guttural sounds coming from the shaft above.

Another one dropped through the open hatch. Either it had dropped from a lower floor or it had climbed because it was still walking until Aneka shot it. So long as they kept coming through in small numbers, they were not going to be a problem. She could shoot them as they dropped down and there would never be large numbers trying to get past her.

Then the doors on the lift to her right made a horrible grinding sound and began to separate. She fired, peppering the thin metal and the scraping stopped only to be replaced by more noise on her left and another chuck dropping through the hatch into the middle car.

‘Cassandra,’ Aneka called out. ‘Any time now would be good.’

‘Working on it.’

The middle chuck fell and Aneka peppered the left side door, but more of them were pulling on the right ones now. Aneka backed toward the gap in the racks as the right doors jerked open and four of the creatures fell out, almost getting trampled by the ones behind as they moved forward. Aneka switched to suppression fire, bursting rounds across the doors and spreading her fire out to discourage and disable. The latter worked, but the zombies were not very easy to discourage. Even with their legs cut out from under them they kept moving.

‘Almost there,’ Cassandra said.

Aneka was watching the ammo counters on her guns ticking down. She had, maybe, two more seconds before she had to reload. She fired a wide volley of needles into the swarm coming out of the left-hand lift and the counter read zero. She stepped back, holstering the pistol and shifting to precision fire with the other one.

‘Hold onto something!’ Cassandra yelled.

Grabbing the rack beside her, Aneka fired three or four more rounds and then the room became a maelstrom. Something smacked into the back of Aneka’s head and then skittered off toward the lift shafts. The chucks flailed at the empty air for a second, and then they were being sucked backward. Fairly soon they were clogging the hatches as the pressure tried to pull them through and failed.

Aneka wedged herself into the racks, bracing a shoulder and a foot to keep herself stable, and switched out the magazines in her pistols. The things were not going to survive forever in a vacuum, but they did not breathe and they were annoyingly hard to put down. As the rush of air subsided, half a dozen bodies fell to the floor of the lifts and Aneka went to work.

Norden Forest, New Earth.

A pinging noise sounded in the quiet of the tent and quiet turned to silence. The perimeter sensors had detected movement somewhere in the area. Winter and Sharissa picked up carbines and checked that the safeties were off. Janine slid her pistol from its holster. And then they waited.

Three minutes later something fell into the side of the tent and there was a muffled curse. ‘Gopi! Fucking camouflaged tents. Can’t see them until you fall on them…’

‘That,’ Janna said, ‘sounded very much like David Gilroy.’

‘Rescue party, reporting as requested,’ said a second voice.

‘And that was Bash,’ Sharissa supplied.

Winter was already unsealing the tent, but she went out with her carbine in the lead and only seemed to relax when she turned to see the two men standing beside the tent, which was more or less invisible even up close.

‘You weren’t detected coming down?’ Winter asked them.

‘We brought one of the transport drones,’ Bash replied. ‘If they can detect us through the cloaking shield on those things…’

‘No,’ Winter said. ‘They haven’t a hope. I still suggest you depart as quickly as possible.’

Bash nodded agreement. ‘We were told four passengers…’

‘I’m staying,’ Truelove said as she emerged from the tent. ‘So is Janine. Everyone else goes with you. You brought the extra equipment?’

‘Back at the pod. It’s about fifty metres north of here. Two lightweight grav cycles, neutrino beam comms unit, several rifles, explosives, combat armour… You going to war?’

‘Not exactly,’ Truelove replied, ‘but a girl likes to be prepared.’

Sapphira.

‘No survivors?’ Shaw asked. ‘None at all?’ They were sitting around one of the heaters again, but the general feeling of tension around the room was gone, except in that one small area.

‘We can’t be absolutely sure about Sapphira Vista,’ Ella said. ‘There could be a few, but it’s going to need a thorough ground search to find them, and you’d be going up against… well, a lot of chucks.’

‘You’d be better off making sure this continent is secure before you try going over there,’ Aneka said. ‘When we get back we’ll see if we can get some assistance for you. New Earth may not be much help, but Shadataga may be able to send some robots out. They can get your FTL connection back up and maybe set about clearing out Sapphira Vista.’

‘They’d do that?’ Shaw sounded a little surprised.

‘We won’t know until we ask, but I think they will. They’re… helpful, and good publicity is never a bad thing.’

The Representative nodded. ‘I still don’t understand how this has happened. I mean, I know what happened, I just can’t come to grips with why someone would do it. How could someone choose to destroy a planet’s population for… for profit?’

Aneka sighed. ‘It’s a distraction. I’m afraid you are all collateral damage designed to keep people… us from noticing something else they’re up to. What worries me more is that whatever that is, it’s probably worse.’

Part Six: The End of War

Shadataga, 1.3.531 FSC.

War and Winter stood before the display table in the operations room watching information streaming in from the probes in the Joval and Eshebbon systems. It was not entirely new data, due to the FTL lag, but it was as up to date as they were likely to get, and it was being displayed there mostly for the benefit of the others in the room who were not getting the same data streaming directly into their minds.

‘They’ve fortified the system,’ Drake said, his eyes on a tactical map of Eshebbon. ‘What’s that? A couple of cruisers, a dozen frigates?’

‘A battalion of troops on the surface,’ War supplied with a nod. ‘They know that we know, or suspect that we will find out, and they want to make it difficult for us to do anything about it.’

‘I don’t want to sound heartless,’ Bashford said, frowning at the displays, ‘but couldn’t you just… blow the whole thing up?’

‘That is an option,’ the AI replied, ‘but there is a complication. The military personnel are one thing, but they have prisoners on the surface. While the need to eliminate this virus is great, we should exhaust other options before we resort to extreme measures.’

‘What other options? We don’t have an army to send in there and if we did it would likely result in those prisoners being killed.’

Winter nodded slowly. ‘Yes. We’re down to one viable option which does not involve the mass slaughter of innocents. We have several days before they can begin manufacturing the virus in bulk. And another few days before they will be ready to ship it out. Hopefully Aneka will be back by then.’

‘You’re going to send Aneka in?’ Janna asked. ‘On her own against an entire naval fleet?!’

‘Gwy can slip in undetected,’ Winter replied.

‘But…’

‘And Aneka’s new body is equipped to handle considerably more stress than the old one. Yes, I’m going to ask her to go in, face off against a battalion of Marines, rescue the hostages, and destroy the production facility. Because she can do it.’

‘If they get back in time?’ Gillian said.

‘If they get back in time,’ Winter agreed.

Gwy, 7.3.531 FSC.

Aneka checked the flight data hanging in the air around her and nodded. In a few minutes they would be dropping out of warp and into orbit around Joval IV, and they would be effectively back where they started aside from having a little more information about the ends the conspiracy would go to to keep their plans marching on.

‘Let’s get the cloak up, Gwy,’ she said, more to say something than for a need to give the command.

‘Cloak engaged, Aneka. I am detecting no major changes in deployment of ships within the system. Everything seems to be as we left it.’

‘So whatever they wanted to keep us away from, it’s not visible.’

‘Apparently that is the case… I have detected one of the Shadataga probes in orbit over our destination. It is pulsing an identification signal which seems to indicate that we are supposed to notice it is there.’

Aneka frowned. ‘Why don’t I like the sound of that?’

‘I would imagine your extensive experience indicates that such a circumstance indicates a problem,’ Gwy replied in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘Should I acknowledge it when we drop out of warp?’

‘Yes. If there’s something wrong we want to know about it sooner rather than later.’

A minute later the warp drives cut out and twenty seconds after that they were getting a data feed from the probe. Aneka watched the information flowing through for a few seconds. Her face hardened.

‘Echo this up to the cabin,’ she said. ‘As soon as we’ve got everything, send a message saying we’re on our way and then get us out of here and bound for Eshebbon.’

‘Warp in approximately sixty-eight seconds,’ Gwy acknowledged, and Aneka dropped out of the flight environment, switching over to the wireless connection as she unplugged from the chair.

Ella was watching the walls of the cabin where the data from Shadataga was playing out. ‘This,’ she said, ‘is bad.’

‘I know,’ Aneka replied. ‘We’ll be on our way in a few seconds.’

‘If this is correct they’ll be starting production sometime today, Aneka.’

‘And it’s six days to Eshebbon. That’s still six days to get there and dismantle their operation. It should be enough.’

‘It better be.’

‘I… can’t believe they would do this?’ Cassandra said. ‘Even after Sapphira, I can’t believe they would contemplate genocide.’

Aneka sighed. ‘During the second of the big wars on Old Earth, before my time, but not that long before, the Nazis decided that various groups of people were “undesirable.” They started by gathering them up and putting them into ghettos and camps. But keeping them alive was a lot of effort so they started executing them. They used bullets at first, but that was expensive and the soldiers didn’t much like executing women and children, and it was slow. So they industrialised it. Huge gas chambers were built, furnaces to dispose of the bodies. Millions died. A lot of people view it as being aimed specifically at one group, the Jews, but they killed huge numbers of various ethnic groups. Just about anyone no one was going to worry too much about really. Whether they would have stopped at that if they had won the war is an open question, but when you believe in some sort of superior race it starts getting hard to decide when to quit… And they weren’t even gaining anything out of it. It was just ideology. Pierce and his people are going to be able to just walk in and take over any planet they want after this.’

‘It’s inhuman!’ Cassandra said, eyes wide.

‘No, unfortunately it’s not. Killing things we don’t understand, or like, is very Human. I thought it was un-Jenlay, but apparently I’m wrong.’

High Yorkbridge, New Earth, 8.3.531 FSC.

Pierce sat behind his desk in the FSA building, examining the reports coming through from Eshebbon with a smile on his face.

Fortification of the facility was, he deemed, sufficient to withstand an assault from outside the system. He had no evidence that anyone knew of what was happening there, but he also knew that his underlings had failed to capture Truelove and her cohorts, and there had been enough time for the data Part had stolen to reach other ears.

Someone had suggested that the AIs on Shadataga might mount a massive assault, or destroy the entire system. Pierce was absolutely convinced that would not happen. There were ‘innocent’ people on Eshebbon. The peace-loving AIs with their lofty goals would not kill the hostages. He was convinced of that. He had the stomach, the wits, to understand that there had to be losses to secure victory, but no one who wanted peace the way the AIs did would have the balls to destroy a system, no matter what they said.

Production of the virus had begun now. There was nothing left to stop the Committee’s work. There would be peace in the galaxy. Once there were no aliens around to get in the way, there would be peace.

Gwy.

‘This isn’t a plan,’ Ella stated flatly. ‘This is some bits of a plan and the hope that you can improvise the missing parts when you get into a heavily fortified facility without being spotted on the way in and…’

‘That’s the best kind of plan,’ Aneka interrupted. ‘Plans with a lot of detail get people thinking they have it all worked out. Complacency is your worst enemy.’

‘I think guns are your worst enemy,’ Cassandra said. She was siding with Ella, largely because neither of them would be going in with Aneka, but also because she liked her plans a little more filled out. ‘Can’t you at least take Al’s drone with you? For fire support?’

‘I need Al concentrating on my support. If he’s splitting his attention between me and his drone he’ll be less efficient at both tasks. I go in alone. They won’t know I’m even there until I come out with the hostages.’

‘And then you’ll have a battalion of troops trying to kill you,’ Ella said.

‘Trying, yes.’

‘I read the specs on your new systems, you know. If they can concentrate enough fire they can penetrate that shield of yours. You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.’

Sighing, Aneka sat down on a chair facing the two women. Al’s drone was sitting quietly on the bed behind them, not getting involved beyond the odd statement of fact; he knew that it was Aneka’s job to do the persuading.

‘To be honest, I’m having a lot of trouble not seeing this as a brilliant opportunity to test my new body out under combat conditions. I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to be facing off against trained soldiers armed with state-of-the-art weaponry to rescue civilians caught up in this mess. It’s what I wanted to do before the Xinti took me. It’s what I trained to do. It’s what I’m good at.’ She lifted her head and looked at them, her gaze intent. ‘I’m really, really good at killing people to save other people. Let me do what I’m good at.’

‘You…’ Ella began, swallowed, and then went on, ‘you’re really good at some other things too.’

‘Eating you out does not count under the circumstances.’

Ella looked at Cassandra, who nodded.

‘We think it does,’ Ella told her.

Behind them, Al began to chuckle.

10.3.531 FSC.

Gwy looked at Aneka and Ella, a distinctly timid expression on her obsidian features. Her body had changed in the virtual environment of the flight deck. There were some elements of definition that had been added which she was not entirely comfortable with, but also very excited about.

Cassandra had decided, as they flew back from Sapphira, that the AI was part of their little family, but was missing out on an aspect of that relationship. So she had adapted the sensory modules the higher AIs had fitted her and Al with to Gwy’s systems, and worked with her to create a more… complete avatar, at least for private use.

Since they were only a couple of days from Eshebbon, and Ella was almost constantly demanding what she was worried would be the last sex she ever had with Aneka, it had been decided that it was high time to test Gwy’s new features.

‘I… I am unsure that this is a good idea,’ Gwy said. ‘What if I lose control of my engines? What if I forget…?’

‘Pretty much every system on this ship has a subsidiary control AI handling the details,’ Aneka said. ‘You know full well that your job is to supervise them all, not to keep control of everything.’

‘Y-yes, but…’

Ella stepped closer and reached out, tracing her fingers down Gwy’s right arm. The AI fell silent as the new sensations hit her mind.

‘If you’re really worried about this,’ Ella said softly, ‘we won’t do it. Now.’ The fingers traced back up over the smooth skin. ‘Later, when things have calmed down…’

Aneka moved around to stand behind the avatar and pushed her soft, pale-blue hair aside. Lips met neck. The skin was cool and very smooth. ‘If you want to stop, we can,’ Aneka said, planting another kiss.

‘M-maybe a little more?’ Gwy breathed, even though breath was something she definitely did not need.

Ella reached for the nearest nipple. They were sort of moulded. It had been decided to stick with the solid feeling of the normal avatar, but there was enough give in the virtual flesh that when Ella squeezed, the reaction was immediate.

‘Oh…’ Gwy moaned. ‘I… I think I see… why you like this.’

‘Oh Gwy,’ Aneka whispered as she pressed her body against Gwy’s back and reached down between her legs, ‘you don’t know the half of it.’

12.3.531 FSC.

‘The station will be in darkness in a little over one hour,’ Gwy said. ‘I am detecting a full range of sensor systems in operation. Active scanning is being used from the ships in orbit and the facility itself. The layout of the buildings is as indicated in the probe data we received.’

Aneka watched the wall screen for several seconds, noting the shifting positions of vessels. It looked like the Navy had made a fairly classic mistake.

‘We’ll go in over the northern pole,’ she said. ‘They’ve concentrated all their ships in equatorial orbits. The cloak should stop them seeing us anyway, but there’s no point in taking risks when they’ve given us such a huge opening.’

‘The mountain range a klick north of the facility would seem to offer the best cover for a landing,’ Al suggested.

Aneka nodded. ‘When I’m out, you give me twenty minutes and then you come out, low, and wait at the edge of the foothills.’ She glanced at Ella, who was trying her best to pay attention and ignore what was going to happen soon at the same time.

‘Twenty minutes?’

‘That’ll give me time to get in. I won’t need to contact you before then and there’s no point in being exposed, even with the cloak, longer than you need to be.’

‘Okay… If the data from the probes is right, the larger building is the research centre and the civilians are probably in there. The other one is the virus fabrication plant.’

‘And we have something special lined up for that, but we need these people out first. It’s going to need pretty amazing timing. You signal for the pickup and then you move. They’ll probably detect the transmission.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Ella replied. ‘We’ll be out of there the second we call in the cavalry.’

‘Good. Just don’t forget to pick me up, okay?’

‘Well, do we have time for one more shower before we go down?’

‘Not really, and we’ve all been banging each other senseless for the better part of three days.’

‘Well then… I’ll try to remember…’

Eshebbon.

The scope of Aneka’s rifle picked out cameras and active sensor arrays, and the blind spots which no one had bothered to fix because who was going to be able to get this close anyway?

‘Overconfidence,’ Aneka commented silently. ‘You know, if I ever turn evil I’m going to need someone to make sure I don’t do things like this.’

‘Should you decide that evil is a valid career choice, I will be available for ego-pricking,’ Al replied. ‘However, they may not be being quite so foolish. Does the ground about one hundred metres out look disturbed to you?’

Aneka looked, zooming in the scope as far as it would go. ‘You’re right. Mines.’ They were in a loose ring, not very evenly spaced, but close enough that it would be hard to get past them.

‘Standard Navy munitions have a computerised, radio-controlled safety system. I should be able to hack it if we get close enough to one of them. They may detect the intrusion, however.’

‘Chance we’ll have to take. We’re not getting past them any other way that doesn’t involve a lot of noise. After that… Perimeter guards, two pairs which is not enough. We can time our entry to avoid them. Go in cloaked to the building wall…’ She scanned over the low, Plascrete structure. ‘There’s roof access if we can… huh, there’s a ladder on the south side. Must be a fire escape. It’s nice to know they considered health and safety in their secret base of mass destruction.’

‘I admit,’ Al said as Aneka began to make her way forward, moving boulder to boulder as she closed on the minefield, ‘that I find this mode of operation rather more enjoyable than carrying a machine gun into battle.’

‘You were pretty good with that thing. I’m going to start teaching you to use weapons properly when we get this mess cleaned up.’

‘And I would appreciate that, but this is how I was designed to operate and I find it more pleasing than more direct action. Like this, I feel like part of a carefully tuned whole, rather than one component in a team.’

‘Huh.’ There was silence for a few seconds and then Aneka said, ‘It’s an interesting notion though. We could probably rope Ella in. If we all ran software to synchronise our efforts, the three of us could take on just about anything.’

‘You would put Ella in that position?’

‘Not if I could avoid it, but there have been times when avoidance isn’t possible. A good offence isn’t always the best defence, but when given no choice I’d rather we were the best offence ever.’ She paused, glancing out from behind the low rock she was hidden behind. ‘Are we close enough?’

‘I’ve already started hacking the nearest mine.’

A marker appeared in-vision showing the position of the bomb he was working on. Two guards in Marine armour were walking past. Aneka estimated two minutes until they were far enough away that they would not see her crossing. If she had to wait for five minutes, the next pair might see her…

‘Mine disarmed,’ Al stated, interrupting her train of thought. ‘They are standard anti-personnel weapons, visual and vibration sensors, with a range of thirty metres. Be careful of the one to the left.’ Another marker appeared, this one with a thirty-metre circle around it marked on the ground. Aneka checked where the guards were, cut in her shield and cloak, and started across the space to the building.

Here there was light, but the large spots which illuminated the building had been fitted to cover areas people were expected to be in and that left large areas in shadow or darkness. Still, Aneka took the ladder carefully, making sure that she made no sound as she climbed up to the roof and made her way to what did seem to be an emergency exit doorway set in the middle of the flat roof. Al had the locking mechanism hacked inside of a minute and they climbed down another ladder and into something like a vision of Hell.

The room was, roughly, square with a door taking up one corner to the north. There were various instrument panels and control displays on desks around the centre, but the outside walls were all taken up by cells containing what had once been Herosians.

Herosian chucks looked worse than Jenlay ones. The flesh was pulled back from their mouths revealing sharp, yellowed teeth, pointed and vicious. Their eyes were also yellowed, except for the bloodshot quality. Their claws looked longer and the loss of body mass gave them a horrifically skeletal quality. Herosians were carnivores: these things were cannibal carnivores, and they all looked hungry.

‘I’m glad they can’t see us,’ Al commented.

‘I suspect they’d make a lot of noise if they could.’ Aneka went to the door, hitting the open button and hoping that did not set the creatures off. They appeared to ignore it and there was no one in the corridor outside. ‘Left or right?’ Aneka mused.

‘The northern side of the structure had windows. I believe we want the southern end.’

‘Good point, but left or right?’

‘I doubt that matters.’

Aneka went left. The corridor turned left again and then went south through what looked like the main entrance hall and into a whitewashed area which looked like it might contain labs, and perhaps the holding cells for the prisoners. She had gone another ten metres before she found the unmarked door with the two guards on the opposite side of the wall. She could tell by the heat signatures that they were facing into whatever was on the other side, and you did not guard a door like that unless you were aiming to keep things inside the room.

Raising her arms, she lined her palms up with the heads of the men on the other side of the wall, determined range, set her force weapons, and released. The two guards fell to the floor as random fluctuations of gravity tore apart their brains from the inside. It was probably a fairly quick way to go and Aneka was not going to lose any sleep over it, especially after she saw what was on the other side of the door.

The white corridor was lined with cells. Many of them were empty, but blood on the floor of several suggested that they had once been occupied and the inhabitant had met with an untimely end. The inhabitants who were still there looked weary, thin, and some of them were bruised or cut. They sat or lay on their beds and did not move even when Aneka dropped her cloak as she walked past.

Until she reached one cell where the naked girl on the inside looked up and then darted forward, rushing to the transparent wall and banging on it. Aneka recognised Daniella immediately, though the girl was thinner than she had been and her skin was paler. Her fists hammering on the Polyglass produced barely any sound on the outside.

‘Al, can you open the cells?’

‘I have negotiated the control mechanism.’

‘Open this one.’

Daniella stepped back as the wall in front of her sank into the floor. ‘Stephen sent you to find me?’ Daniella asked almost immediately.

‘He wanted me to find you,’ Aneka replied, nodding. ‘It’s taken a while. Sorry.’

‘I don’t even know where I am.’

‘Eshebbon. I doubt you’ve heard of it. We need to get you out of here.’

‘Melissa’s here. We… Olivia wasn’t there when they did the last test on us.’

‘Right… Let’s see who else we have.’

There were eighteen survivors, five of them Torem who could barely stand without their exoskeletons. Aneka was not sure how many there had been to start with, but she guessed there were a lot more than thirteen Jenlay taken to experiment on. She looked around at the scared people, all of them hoping they were about to get out of this somehow, but wondering why a single woman was there to rescue them. Taking out her left hand pistol, she started swapping the magazine.

‘All right, we’re leaving, but it’s not going to be as easy as walking out the door. There are soldiers out there who will try to stop us. I’m going to take care of that. Your job is to get out through the main entrance and head away from the building. You will be met by some ships which will take you out of here. I need some of you Jenlay to help the Torem and anyone who can’t walk well. Stick together and you’ll get out of this alive.’

‘How are you going to stop all the guards?’ one of the men asked.

Aneka smiled. ‘Believe me, I’ll manage it for long enough that you can break out. You go out of here, turn right, and then straight up to the main entrance. It’s on your left. You give me two minutes to clear the way and then you come out. Don’t run, but move as fast as you safely can. If you leave anyone behind, anyone, I will shoot you myself. There will be some things coming down to cover you to the ships. They have guns, and they’re big and scary, but they’ll be shooting at people in uniforms. Don’t worry about them, just keep going. And, lastly, it’s below freezing outside and you’re all naked. Don’t dawdle when you get out the door.’

‘Who are you, lady?’ the man asked.

‘Don’t you recognise her?’ Daniella replied. ‘That’s Aneka Jansen.’

Aneka shrugged as she turned toward the door. ‘I changed my hair. Two minutes, then you follow.’ Silently she added, ‘Signal Gwy. Make sure you include the mines in the data.’

‘Done,’ Al replied. ‘Alarms are sounding in the northern part of the station. We can expect a warm welcome.’

‘I figured, put the shield up, no cloak.’ She stepped out into the corridor, saw two Marines running toward her, and cut across them with a stream of needles. Beyond, in the entrance and the corridor behind it, more men were running toward her. One stopped to drop to his knee and take aim. Aneka did not wait for him, raising her left hand pistol and firing it. One round, aimed at the floor in the middle of the entrance hall. Superheated, ionised gas blossomed out in an explosion of light and sound, and then cold air rushed in through the shattered doorway.

‘That is one way to open the door,’ Al commented. ‘I am detecting around thirty identity transponders in the corridor beyond.’

Aneka started forward, firing plasma rounds into the mass of men as she went. Laser beams lanced out at her, many of them missing, some splashing harmlessly against the force screen surrounding her. There were screams. Al patched through the radio chatter from the Marines, and Aneka heard orders being shouted as the AI decrypted the signals.

‘What’s she using?’

‘I don’t know but it’s lethal!’

‘It’s one woman, shoot her!’

‘The rifles are having no effect!’

‘Grenade!’

Aneka saw the weapon arcing toward her, raised her right hand pistol, and fired, shooting it out of the air.

‘Oh f–’ There was the roar of detonation and a backwash of heat as the grenade blasted through the troops.

Her left pistol dry, Aneka moved to one side of the hall using the lull the explosion had caused to switch out the magazine. ‘How are we doing?’ she asked.

‘The drones are approximately thirty seconds out. The prisoners should be leaving in about sixty seconds if they follow your instructions. There are troops coming this way from the factory, but our reinforcements should be able to handle those. We need to clear another fifty-two metres of corridor to be sure the prisoners are safe.’

‘I love having you on hand for this. Let’s get started.’

Stepping out of cover, Aneka began to advance. Her pistols fired as she identified targets through the smoke and men fell, chests ripped open by a hail of needles. Beams lanced out at her, hindered by the smoke, but still hitting more in the confined space and closer range.

‘Shielding at ninety per cent,’ Al announced after a couple of seconds.

‘Let me know when it gets to fifty.’

‘They will still be in little danger of penetrating at that point.’

Aneka fired, taking out a pair of men standing too close together. ‘Yeah, but fifty sounds like a nice number. How much further?’

‘Thirty-eight metres.’

‘Any heavy weapons?’

‘Not here. They are bringing something up from the factory.’

‘Let the drones handle that.’ She kept moving and firing. It was not exactly challenging work. Her pistols were more than a match for the armour the Marines were wearing and she never missed. They could fire all they liked, but all they did was cause pretty light shows on her force screen.

‘Retreat to position beta.’ The order came through the radio channel the Marines were using and the men ahead of her began an ordered, but rapid, retreat around the corner.

‘They will be waiting for us,’ Al said. ‘Concentrating their fire in the hope of breaking through.’

‘Would it work?’ Aneka asked, more from curiosity than any desire to find out. She was swapping magazines again.

‘That would depend upon how many rifles they can bring to bear.’

‘Yeah, well, not going to give them the chance.’ She put her hand and pistol around the corner, the camera under the barrel showing her the ranked troops waiting for her twenty metres down, near where she had come in. Five rounds fired down the corridor and she pulled back just before explosions shattered the silence and the wall of heat roared past her.

She paused, taking a few seconds to swap out the empty mag. ‘Any sign of life down there?’

‘I am detecting no transponders,’ Al stated.

‘Time to leave then.’ She turned and ran back down the corridor.

There were five transport pods on the ground inside the ring of mines. The ex-prisoners were struggling toward them as best they could over rough ground in the cold covered by five massive robots. Each was modelled after a Xinti war chassis, large, heavily built, very powerful, and armed with a scaled-up version of Ella’s antimatter rifle. They stood in a line between the pods and the troops trying to get up from the factory, throwing out blasts of anti-protons which exploded into annihilating energy on contact with men, machines, or the ground.

Aneka began helping the prisoners, carrying the weaker ones to the pods and pushing them inside as the others hurried as best they could. With the last of the people loaded onto one of the transports, Aneka turned, drawing her pistols again.

‘All right, clear out. Ella, pick up when you’re ready. Call in the strike.’

Gwy materialised out of thin air over their heads, turret guns opening up on the troops below as the robots retreated to a pod to leave.

‘I’ll call it in when you’re aboard,’ Ella’s voice replied, sounding tense.

‘Now, love. We’ll have plenty of time to get clear and I don’t want anyone escaping the system.’

‘Okay… prepare for a very hot extraction.’

~~~

‘The surface facility is under attack, sir,’ someone said and the Captain of one of the cruisers in orbit over Eshebbon turned, looking at the displays beside his command chair.

‘Let’s get ready to respond. Power to the main guns, and…’

A shudder ran through the ship as though something had grabbed it and pulled, jerking it out of its normal flight path.

‘What in Vashma’s name was that?’

‘We’re reading… unusual gravimetric distortions about two thousand metres off the port side… I’ve never seen… Gopi! Ships!’

Something very large, bristling with weapons, emerged from nowhere. One second there was nothing, and then there was a vessel, a warship, and it was not alone. Two more of the huge ships appeared even as swarms of far smaller vessels began to deploy from the first one.

‘Never mind the surface,’ the Captain yelled. ‘Get me firing solutions on those ships!’

‘Missiles launched!’

‘We’re having trouble getting weapons lock on anything. They’re jamming our active systems.’

‘They’re firing on us!’

And that was when one-hundred gigajoules of gamma radiation tore through the cruiser’s hull as if it were tissue paper.

~~~

Aneka stood on the virtual flight deck and watched as four ten-kilotonne, antimatter-catalysed fusion warheads impacted the facility she had just left. Glare filters cut in, reducing the light to something you could actually look at, but that just made the devastation more obvious. A huge ball of energy was expanding out from the impact points of the missiles, reducing everything in its path to vapour.

‘Good riddance to it,’ Ella said as Gwy climbed away from the explosion.

‘“I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,”’ Aneka said, her voice soft.

‘Sorry?’

‘It’s something the guy who set off the first nuclear bomb on Old Earth is supposed to have said. A quote from a religious text. I’ve never really seen a full-scale nuclear explosion before. It’s… kind of beautiful.’

‘If you don’t think about what it’s doing.’

Aneka turned and looked out into space. ‘Are we clear?’

‘The drone warships from Shadataga have eliminated the heavy warships in orbit,’ Gwy told them. ‘Several of the frigates have escaped. Apparently they realised their position was hopeless.’

‘Okay, well… Let’s rendezvous with the Hyde and get out of here. I kind of wish they had just blown up the system. I never want to see that planet again.’

‘Then can I have a hug?’ Ella asked. ‘A real one, with real bodies?’

Aneka gave a soft snort of a laugh. ‘Then you can have a hug. A real one, with real bodies, and kissing. There’s going to be kissing too.’

Shadataga, 14.3.531 FSC.

Aneka opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the apartment’s bedroom. After the events of the last few weeks, she had decided to run a sleep cycle beside Ella, in bed, in the quiet, ‘to let her systems have a chance to recuperate.’ Al had pointed out that it was unnecessary, but she had said it was and he had not argued further. There was one system she had which needed to rest now and then: sometimes what you really needed was just to turn everything off for a while, to not feel anything. This was one of those times.

The victims of Eshebbon’s second attempt to create the ultimate viral weapon were on the station at Wormhole Junction, in the hospital facility. None of them seemed to be suffering ill effects beyond slight malnutrition, dehydration, and sleep deprivation, but the AIs wanted to keep them under observation for a day or two while their bodies were repaired.

Aneka had walked through the sickbay area checking on them before flying back to Shadataga, and that had been when she had heard the little group of Torem talking. They watched her walking past and one said something with a tone which suggested awe. She knew no Torem, but aboard the station Al had access to the linguistic libraries the AIs had collected. It meant the translation came after she had walked past them and she had no desire to turn back.

‘Vashma sent an angel to liberate us,’ he had said. ‘An Angel of Death.’

It had echoed with the way she was feeling, and shutting down for eight hours had been her way of avoiding worrying over it. Now it came back and she closed her eyes again, her left fist tightening against her thigh…

‘Nnn…’ The groan from her right told her Ella was awake. ‘You up… no… good…’

Hands slid over Aneka’s skin, arms circled her waist, and a warm body slid up against her side. Lips touched her neck just under her ear.

‘I kind of miss having you sleep with me,’ Ella whispered. ‘It’s nice waking up next to you. Especially the waking up bit. I am going to make you moan like a whore at an orgy.’

Aneka giggled. Even when the world seemed dark, you could always count on Ella to brighten it up.

~~~

‘So what happens now?’ Aneka asked. ‘Pierce has lost his viral weapon, but he’s still got control of the Navy, the FSA, and most of New Earth, and the rest of the Jenlay worlds will follow their lead.’

‘An accurate assessment,’ Winter said, her eyes on the display table which had a schematic of the Joval system hovering over it. ‘Currently, he won’t know what happened on Eshebbon. We’re quite sure nothing got out from the FTL relay, so the first he’s going to know of what we did is when one of those frigates gets back to New Earth which will be… the twenty-second.’

‘So everything goes on as normal until then?’

‘Yes, though I’m preparing for when it does. He is likely to panic, or at least get very annoyed. I suspect he may decide to plant further evidence of Herosian attacks and move for a large-scale Navy deployment. I am busy arranging for strategic releases of information around that time which will discredit him. The last thing he needs right now is for people to start hearing the truth.’

‘Will that work?’ Sharissa asked. ‘He’s done a pretty thorough information management job so far.’

‘Oh, I’m going to make sure he can’t stop this going out. Everywhere is going to start getting this data. I already have probes transmitting it to media hub stations in the Rim. It will take days for that to filter through to the core worlds, but when it does he’ll be faced with a tidal wave of facts.’ The AI looked at Aneka. ‘I need you on New Earth. Elaine and Janine will need some backup when they arrest Pierce.’

Ella stepped closer to Aneka and took her arm. She had a fierce sort of ‘I will not be left behind’ look on her face. A little way off, Cassandra was looking the same.

‘All right,’ Aneka said. ‘I need to speak to War about an idea Al and I had. We’ve got a couple of days to see if it’ll work so we might as well give it a go.’

20.3.531 FSC.

Ella shifted the muzzle of her rifle and squeezed the trigger, and the last of the holographic enemies disintegrated in a flurry of pixels. And silence fell as the set dissolved around them.

‘It works,’ Ella said after a second. ‘I’m… uh… kind of shocked at how well it works.’

Aneka, Cassandra, and Ella had ended up back-to-back in the simulated courtyard at the centre of the room while squads of holographic soldiers charged in at them from four entry points. They had tried it with Al’s drone, but the numbers had been too much and coordinating their response had been too difficult. Up to a certain threat level four was good, but beyond that it worked best if Al handed out targets from his list of up to a hundred individual tracked threats, and the three women carried out his instructions. Aneka still had overall tactical command, but she left it to her AI to decide what needed taking out to get there and…

‘Yes,’ Aneka agreed, ‘it works. Cassandra? How are you feeling about this? It’s maybe less natural for you…’

‘I am feeling… rather elated,’ Casandra replied, looking more shocked than excited. ‘The new fire control software works very effectively. I just need to give it directions and make sure my body is pointing in the right direction. I… I suppose I should feel like I’ve handed over control of some of myself to Al, but I just feel like… like I can go into a situation where this is needed and feel less like a fifth wheel.’

‘You were never that,’ Al said into their heads. ‘I feel more comfortable having you in combat situations with us like this, so I am happy. Ella is about to collapse from adrenaline overdose, however. I suggest we break to let her come down before her head explodes.’

‘My head is not going to explode,’ Ella replied. ‘Even if I do feel so wired it’s untrue.’

Aneka gave her a grimace which was half-grin. ‘Better get your drone mobile, Al. When she gets like this there’s only one cure.’

Cassandra nodded as she started for the door of the firing range. ‘Perhaps we should see if Dillon is free. This looks like a double Ella-bang situation.’

‘Hey!’ Ella squeaked. ‘Well, maybe…’

~~~

‘With War’s help I have adjusted the fire control patterns slightly,’ Al said into the silence of Aneka’s mind. ‘Some of the load has been shifted to you. This will reduce the stress placed on Ella and reduce the impact on her heart. I was being flippant earlier, but she was reaching dangerous stress levels.’

Aneka nodded, her eyes on the redhead who was now lying flaked out on the bed. ‘Good. I’m happy she’s going to be more capable of defending herself in these fights we keep getting into, especially since it’s tough keeping her out of them, but I don’t want her killing herself doing it.’

‘Long term, War suggests some additional cybernetic work. Strengthening of the heart muscles, augmentation of oxygen intake through the lungs, re-engineering of the nerve pathways, some skeletal strengthening, toughening of the muscles and ligaments…’

‘That sounds like a lot of work.’

‘Nanotechnology can achieve it with no inconvenience. She would be fitter, stronger, and with a significantly increased life expectancy, even without the danger of firefights.’

‘You don’t want to lose her either,’ Aneka said after a second.

‘My drone can be replaced with little trouble. Cassandra or even you could take significant damage and be reconstructed. Ella is irreplaceable.’

‘Yes,’ Aneka agreed, ‘she certainly is.’

High Yorkbridge, 22.3.531 FSC.

The reports were incomplete. Pierce decided that he would see about punishing the crews of the frigates returning from Eshebbon when he had the chance. They had not stayed to confirm the destruction of the facility there leaving him with only the probability that the alien vessels had destroyed everything. That was worthy of some form of punishment. Possibly execution, if he could arrange it quietly.

The fact remained that it seemed as though Eshebbon was a complete loss, but it was a delay, nothing more. The plans for the nanovirus had been transmitted to New Earth prior to construction of the production facility. They were still secret and a new factory could be built. Somewhere Winter and her irritating colleagues would not find it. Somewhere closer to the targets, perhaps.

He got to his feet and started for the door of his office. There would be a need for more funds and that meant calling a meeting. He was quite sure no one would say no: the rewards for success would be far greater than the immediate losses. The new factory could be larger and take a little more time to construct. Yes, the revised plan would be better than the current one.

By the time he was walking out of his office, Pierce was smiling.

Norden Forest.

Truelove and Janine stepped into the main cross-corridor on Gwy with smiles on their faces. Even if they had to sleep on the floor, the ship had showers and different food.

‘Welcome aboard,’ Aneka said. ‘We’re a little crowded, but most of us don’t need to sleep so we should be good to wait for a day or so.’

‘That soon?’ Truelove asked.

‘We spotted a couple of the frigates from Eshebbon in the system. Pierce knows we trashed his base so we need to move quickly. Winter will be pushing the data Part gave you along with some even more inflammatory material overnight. By tomorrow, all Hell should be breaking loose.’

‘And then…’

‘And then,’ Ella said from the cabin doorway, ‘we go kick that prick’s front door in.’

High Yorkbridge, 23.3.531 FSC.

The trill of his phone woke Pierce early. It was still dark outside and he had had no more than four hours’ sleep, but the call had a demanding note to it somehow and he grabbed the device from his nightstand.

‘Pierce,’ he snapped.

‘Sir, we have… a problem.’ The voice belonged to Watts, his current assistant. The man was loyal, ex-Navy, fully with the programme, but not a little prone to panic.

‘What kind of problem, Watts?’

‘Someone’s posted data on a number of private servers. Beryum, the misinformation campaign, and a lot of information about Aqua Regia and the viral outbreak on Sapphira.’

‘Well… You know the procedure, Watts. Why are you bothering…?’

‘The normal methods aren’t working, sir. There are similar feeds coming in from out of system. It’s on just about every in-system feed there is. CFM will pick it up very soon…’

‘I want a press blackout in place in ten minutes. Tell them Herosian disinformation has found its way onto our network.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Watts said. He sounded hesitant. ‘Sir, I don’t think…’

‘Do it!’ Pierce screamed into the phone before flinging the offending instrument at a wall.

Gwy.

‘There are crowds on the streets,’ Winter’s voice said over the flight environment’s audio relays. ‘Peacekeepers are trying to keep order, but there are people throwing anything they can get their hands on at the FSA building and Naval HQ. I think we can safely say that the news has got out.’

‘Elroy?’ Aneka asked.

‘He’s convened a special meeting of the Representatives to discuss the matter. He seemed to think it would be short, and include the arrest of several of the attendees, if they turn up.’

‘Well, if they’ve heard what’s going on they won’t. I take it Pierce’s press block didn’t hold?’

‘I may have hand-delivered all of the data to CFM and pointed out that the man calling for a blackout was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jenlay…’

Aneka grinned. They were entering Yorkbridge’s airspace from the north, cloaked. There were vertol gunships in the air, but she could not tell their purpose. None seemed to be attacking anything, which seemed a good start.

‘Where’s Pierce now?’

‘He’s at the Gobari Club. Tracking indicates that he is on the second floor. There is sufficient space outside to land Gwy.’

‘You hear that, Elaine?’

‘I did,’ Truelove’s voice replied. ‘Would you please deliver us there so that we can arrest his sorry ass?’

A marker appeared ahead of them hanging over High Yorkbridge and Aneka shifted course toward it. She cut the external transmissions and spoke to Gwy.

‘All right, once we’re down we’ll all be going out. You keep your turrets at the ready. You have authorisation to fire, but only if fired upon.’

‘Yes, Aneka. My hull is quite resilient. The weaponry on the other aircraft in the area is insufficient to penetrate.’

‘Good, but if one of them fires on you, you blow it out of the sky and put your shields up. Understood?’

‘Understood.’

‘Right.’ Aneka cut the external feed back in. ‘Thirty seconds to landing. Everyone get ready.’

Then she cut the cloak as she dropped the ship down toward a plaza in front of the white edifice which was the Gobari Club. The landing struts had barely touched the Plascrete before she was unplugging and heading for the lift.

Aneka was first out of the airlock and down the steps, followed quickly by Ella and Cassandra who fanned out to flanking positions. Janine and Truelove followed and, when everyone was on the ground and the steps had retracted back into the hull, they moved forward.

‘There are two men with rifles at the building’s entrance,’ Gwy informed them. ‘I am also detecting two vertol craft vectoring this way.’

‘You’ve got your orders,’ Aneka replied. She had seen the guards. Facial recognition had already flagged them up as Marines, though they were dressed in civilian clothes. ‘Elaine, this is your show, we’re just the couriers.’

As they had planned, Truelove did not move from her place behind Aneka, but she raised her voice as they approached the doors. ‘I am Agent Truelove of the FSA. I am here to arrest Admiral Jason Pierce under Federal Statute one-zero-one-point-one. Step aside or be considered complicit in his crimes. Use of lethal force has been authorised in Admiral Pierce’s apprehension.’

The Marines glanced at each other and then their rifles began to rise. Al had already sent out targeting orders. Ella and Cassandra, carrying force rifles, barely moved before firing and the two men were smashed backward through the double doors they were guarding.

Un-holstering her pistols, Aneka marched forward, eyes flicking around the large atrium. Al highlighted targets as he identified weapons. Aim points were handed out to the software all three women were running.

‘This is an official FSA arrest,’ Truelove called out. ‘Put down your weapons and no one will be hurt. Resistance will be met with lethal force.’

‘And is also futile,’ Al commented. ‘Target four.’

Aneka’s right hand pistol swung up and fired. A laser beam lanced through the air, swinging high as the firer died pulling the trigger. Someone moved out of cover on the left with a sub-machine gun of some description and Ella blasted him across the room before he could fire.

Silence fell, and then there was the sound of a gun being dropped to the floor. It was followed by a dozen more clattering noises and the guards stepped out of wherever they had chosen to hide, hands raised.

‘Wise move,’ Aneka said.

‘Get out of here,’ Truelove told them. ‘All of you, leave while you still have legs to run on. I just want Pierce.’

~~~

There was the sound of gunfire outside the room. Pierce sat with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand and listened to it. It seemed far too brief and one-sided. Then there was silence. Silence aside from the chattering of ice cubes in Dreyman’s glass. The man’s hands were shaking. Pierce had known he would break before this was over.

Something hit the solid wooden doors, blasting one off its hinges to clatter to the floor two metres into the room. The other was left barely hanging on as Aneka, Ella, and Cassandra walked through, the latter pair flanking the door while Aneka moved in, her pistols lining up to cover the two bodyguards on either side of Dreyman’s wingback.

Then Truelove walked in with Janine at her side, the latter aiming a pistol at Pierce’s head. Truelove did not look happy or triumphant. She did not seem to be taking pleasure in her victory. Her apparent victory, Pierce corrected himself.

‘Admiral Jason Pierce,’ Truelove said, her tone solemn, ‘you are under arrest for crimes against the people of the Lorenti Federation. I can itemise those crimes if you wish. Please surrender yourself or we will detain you by force.’

‘Crimes?’ Pierce said. He smiled up at her and then got slowly to his feet. ‘I’ve committed no crimes. I have simply done what no one else would do. What no one else had the stomach for. I will bring an end to war.’

‘By killing thousands of Jenlay, in as horrible a way as I can imagine?’

‘By eliminating the aliens who threaten our peace. With them all gone…’ He stopped, turning his head.

Ella had moved up to Aneka’s side. Her rifle was raised to her shoulder and sighted on Pierce’s face. ‘Keep talking,’ she told him. ‘We’re supposed to bring you in alive, but I’m guessing you don’t want to go to trial and I’d love to paint the wall with your skull. So just keep talking…’

Aneka reached out a hand and pressed gently on the barrel of Ella’s gun with her own. ‘You don’t want to do that, love. You don’t want to kill him like that. Not like that.’

Ella let out a grunt of disgust and turned away.

‘No one said we had to bring him in conscious though,’ Aneka added, and then she hit Pierce in the face.

Part Seven: Sacrifice

High Yorkbridge, 25.3.531 FSC.

Elaine Truelove sat behind the big desk in the office of the head of the Federal Security Agency looking distinctly uncomfortable. She had chosen to wear a grey suit with a pencil skirt and a pale, sheer blouse, and that really did not suit her, but the real reason she was feeling as though she really should not have been sitting there was the audience.

Aneka leant against one wall, smirking. Beside her was Ella, smiling encouragement. Janine was there, sitting in a chair by the door and looking faintly amused. And then there was Winter, Xenia Winter, down from the Hyde to make sure Truelove was settling in. She was not.

‘But this is your desk,’ Truelove said. ‘It should be you sitting here. This has been your desk since you were you!’

‘Then get rid of the stupid desk and get your own one in,’ Winter replied. ‘Have the walls painted a different colour. That chair was never comfortable. Get a new one. I am not going to do this anymore. It’s your job now.’

‘I’m not really sure I want it.’

‘Elroy was very specific about it. He said he should have had the courage of his convictions and promoted you instead of appointing Pierce. He said he blamed himself for all that’s happened. So I told him off for half an hour.’ Ella stifled a giggle. ‘This is what you’ve trained for, Elaine.’

‘I’m not ready! I don’t know if I can handle the responsibility. I don’t know if I want the responsibility!’

‘Look at it this way,’ Aneka said. ‘Technically, the Jenlay and Herosians are still at war. In time of war, everyone has to make sacrifices. This is yours.’

Truelove sagged forward in her seat. ‘Somebody shoot me now.’

~~~

‘I’m not really looking forward to the trial,’ Elroy said. ‘It’s going to be messy and recriminatory. We’re already getting political backlash.’

‘I had noticed,’ Winter replied. ‘People are busy forgetting that they went along with everything out of fear and they have decided that the Representatives, the Navy, and the FSA are to blame.’

‘We’re going to need to hold elections for several positions anyway. I had around twenty Representatives arrested along with several FSA agents and the entire Admiralty. Part escaped that ignominy by being murdered, of course. I’m quietly pushing him as a whistle-blower. It makes it sound as though at least some of them were having second thoughts.’

‘Where is Pierce being held?’ Aneka asked. She was technically there as Winter’s bodyguard again, but they all knew it was more than that.

‘Peacekeeper headquarters. They have an ultra-secure containment annex in the basement.’

‘Windowless cell, deep underground? Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. You’re sure he’s secure?’

‘No. Elaine Truelove’s first job is to get her agency sorted out so that she can tell me whether he’s secure. However, there is another issue which I’m going to need help with. There is an isolationist movement developing among the Representatives, backed up by several opinion polls. Some of the more extreme of them want to cut off the Rim and consolidate a new Jenlay government out of the core worlds.’

‘I assume they don’t wish to work with us on Shadataga?’ Winter said.

‘They want to kick out all the Torem and Herosians! No, they don’t want anything to do with Shadataga. CFM are hosting a debate tomorrow night. Can I persuade you to be part of it?’

Winter gave a sigh. ‘It is my job,’ she said.

‘Sacrifices,’ Aneka said.

‘Indeed. I’ll need my bodyguard present.’

‘You may need a bodyguard to protect you from your bodyguard,’ Aneka growled.

26.3.531 FSC.

The cell was, indeed, windowless, and it was about fifty metres under the streets of Yorkbridge. Pierce sat on the metal-framed bed, his eyes closed as he waited.

It had been obvious that the situation he had found himself in was going to lead to this from the moment he had seen the mass of data in the network. Every plan they had hatched was there for everyone to read. No, he had known they would come for him and he made sure there was a show of resistance.

The girl, Narrows, had been right about one thing: Pierce did not want to stand trial. He had done nothing wrong. He had done what was best for the Jenlay, and he was going to do that again, just as soon as the new plan came into effect.

There was a click from the door and then the hum of the motors as it began to slide smoothly to the right. A man in a Peacekeeper uniform stepped through, spotted Pierce and said, ‘Ready to go, sir?’

‘I believe I am, Sergeant. How many men do we have?’

‘Fifty on New Earth. The force on Corax will begin taking control in…’ He checked his watch. ‘Just over an hour.’

‘Good. I want to have Elroy in custody by then.’ Pierce got to his feet. ‘We move,’ he said, a smile beginning.

~~~

For the first time in months, sleep had come relatively easily to Jackson Elroy. He was sleeping on the couch in his office, but that was surprisingly comfortable. Sooner rather than later he was going to have to see about finding a new home, but for now there was a pleasant feeling of security on the sofa.

The abrupt awakening was less welcome and, for several seconds as hands grabbed him and yanked him to his feet, he had no idea what was going on. Then his eyes managed to focus and he found himself looking at Pierce’s face. He was smiling and holding a pistol.

‘Pierce?’ Elroy managed, his brain still fogged with sleep.

‘This isn’t over until I say it is, Senator,’ Pierce said, spitting out the last word like an insult.

‘What in Vashma’s name do you expect to get out of this?! You’ll have the Navy and the FSA down on this place like a storm.’

‘The FSA is weak, the Navy will be mine as soon as my people on Corax have done their work. We’ll be joining them soon. And then I’m going to do what I set out to do, secure the position of the Jenlay as the dominant species in the galaxy.’

‘You’re mad.’

Pierce slammed his pistol into Elroy’s stomach. In truth, it did not hurt as much as the Senator would have expected, but he doubled over in pain anyway.

‘I am right!’ Pierce said. Somehow the low, firm tone of his voice made it sound worse.

FNb Admiral Banfry.

Ape Gibbons walked onto the bridge rubbing at his eyes. Judy Leeforth was already at her station looking bright and cheerful. He had taken her down for an evening at Feathers the night before. It was not really his kind of establishment, but the company had been good and Judy had enjoyed herself it seemed. She had certainly been quite enthusiastic to continue the erotic theme when they returned to the ship. They were both working on a slightly inadequate amount of sleep, so why was she all bright and glowing?

‘Maybe I’m getting old,’ Ape muttered as he climbed into his chair. Louder he added, ‘Anything worthy of note, XO?’

‘Not really, Captain,’ Leeforth responded. ‘There is a note of a pair of frigates requesting clearance for New Earth transit twenty minutes ago. They haven’t left yet. Control has been quiet. I think they were partying last night as well.’

There was a rumble of laughter around the flight deck. Ape decided not to say anything about the lapse in discipline; things were finally settling down and a little humour, even at his expense, was something he could accommodate. He pulled up the comms traffic reports for the last hour just to check.

‘Control just gave clearance for the frigates,’ the comms officer reported, ‘along with a light gunship.’

Frowning, Ape shifted his attention to another screen where the vectors of nearby ships were being plotted out in virtual 3D. He looked back at the comms reports, and then he pulled up a list of deployment orders which were Captain’s eyes only unless he deemed the rest of the crew needed access.

He got to his feet. ‘There’s something wrong,’ he said. ‘Comms, try to raise Control and ask what those frigates are up to. Commander Leeforth, I want the Marines we have aboard ready to go down to the surface in ten minutes, full tactical dress. You and I are going too. This may be nothing… I’ll be in my cabin. I need to call someone.’

Tristar Township.

Winter had quietly upgraded the house’s computers and installed new operating software when no one was looking. The AI was not an especially bright one, but when it said that there was an urgent call from Captain Tor Gibbons, it actually sounded like it was urgent.

Ape’s face appeared on the wall screen at a thought from Aneka. He looked a little tired, but more worried. ‘I didn’t wake you?’ he asked.

‘I don’t sleep,’ Aneka replied. ‘Mira said it was urgent.’

‘Mira?’

‘The house computer. Long story.’

‘We’re getting some ship movement up here which isn’t in the orders and I can’t see any reason for it. Two frigates escorting a gunship. Control went quiet for over forty minutes, but they’re back up now and their response for clarification on those movements is… not right.’

‘Al, get Winter into this conversation,’ Aneka said silently. Aloud she added, ‘That sounds… suspicious.’

‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that. I’m prepping the Marines to go down and check the base…’

‘Winter is on her way in here now,’ Al said just as the white-haired avatar appeared behind Aneka.

‘It would be wise, Captain,’ Winter broke in, ‘if you were to hold off for long enough to get backup. The Admiral Blanchard’s Captain is a good woman, she will assist.’

Ape did not look especially surprised to see Winter on his screen. ‘Katy Robart, I know her. I’ll get comms to the Blanchard as soon as we’re through. There’s more to this?’

‘I’m getting reports through of an armed group assaulting and taking control of the Administration building. Pierce is not in his cell. I think we have a coup attempt on our hands.’

‘Elroy’s in that building,’ Aneka said.

‘And the likely target. I suspect the gunship you mentioned, Captain, is to take Pierce off-world. If they are fortifying Corax, that seems to be their likely immediate destination.’

‘Using Elroy as a bargaining chip.’ Aneka frowned and got to her feet.

Winter gave a nod. ‘Captain, I’ll get you help as soon as I can, but you need to do as much as you can on Corax until it gets there. Aneka, we need Elroy back.’

‘Can I kill Pierce this time?’

‘It would be preferable to have him alive, but I am not going to hold you to that.’

‘Good,’ Aneka said, stalking off toward the bedrooms.

High Yorkbridge.

Gwy dropped them a couple of blocks from the Administration building, out of sight, and they jogged to the plaza in front of it. Al had his drone along because at this point they were unsure of what kind of resistance they were up against.

The Peacekeepers had erected a cordon and were cowering behind it. There were snipers in three upper-storey windows who were doing a good job of keeping everyone away from the entrance. There were already five bodies in the plaza.

‘I am detecting indications of approximately twenty individuals covering the primary entrance,’ Gwy reported as they moved into the cover of an armoured transport. ‘Estimate of total combatants is fifty, plus or minus five, but they are far more spread out. They have all the access points covered. There appear to be five men on the roof and ten on the top floor where Senator Elroy has his office.’

‘Twenty of them,’ Ella said. ‘I’m not a tactician, but that seems to stack the odds in their favour.’

‘It’s not good,’ Aneka agreed. ‘If I were them I’d have the other entrances trapped as well as guarded…’

‘I think,’ Al said, ‘that this is where I come in.’ He hefted his machine gun.

‘They’ll pulverise you!’ Ella squeaked. ‘You can’t stand up to that kind of fire, even in that armour.’

‘No, but I can make a very large dent in their numbers while they shoot at me. This body is just a drone. I am not even in it. It can stand significant punishment before failing, and when it does, I will still be here to guide you three. And the Hyde’s nanofabrication suite can have a replacement ready before we could get there to use it.’

‘He is right, Ella,’ Cassandra said. ‘Much as I do not wish to see that body broken and ruined, we can have an exact duplicate waiting to abuse as soon as we get this over with.’

‘I’ll take out the snipers,’ Aneka said, unslinging her rifle and wrapping herself in her cloak.

The first was easy. He was watching the street below through a visor which undoubtedly linked to his rifle. Aneka put a round through his right eye and watched his head explode, but when she turned for the next he had ducked out of sight. It was to be expected. The third had not moved far enough. She fired through the frame and watched the heat signature reel away from the window. It might not have been a lethal shot, but it would take him out of the picture.

‘Al, go. If the third one pokes his head out, I’ll take him.’

The drone settled his machine gun in position and marched out across the plaza, walking at a steady pace. Aneka estimated ten seconds until the sniper could no longer target him. Ten seconds for the sniper to decide to take the chance. He took it, swinging his rifle out of the window and bringing his head right into Aneka’s scope. She fired first.

‘You’re clear,’ Aneka said as she dropped her cloak.

‘I know,’ Al replied. A burst from the machine gun shredded the door and he kicked what remained aside before stepping into the lobby. It lit up with laser fire. The roar of the machine gun and the cracks of laser beams shattering the air was a cacophony of destruction. And then there was silence.

‘I am slightly surprised to report that I am still standing,’ Al’s voice said in their heads. ‘That said, I think it will be easier to recycle this frame and create a new one than to repair the mess. I will wait for you to get here and then shut this body down to concentrate on you.’

Aneka started forward and a Peacekeeper with Captain’s insignia rushed forward. ‘You can’t go in there! They have Senator Elroy…’

‘Our authority comes directly from the head of the FSA,’ Aneka told him, ‘and I didn’t see you trying to stop me before I shot the snipers. Now keep out of our way or I’ll assume you’re with the insurgents and shoot you where you stand.’

Her pistols were in her hands by now and he backed off, raising his hands placatingly. Aneka, Ella, and Cassandra marched across the plaza at a brisker pace than Al had done. It was time to get extremely violent.

~~~

‘Give this up now, Pierce,’ Elroy said. ‘I can hear the radio. You just lost everyone in the lobby. To a man.’

‘They have to fight their way up here,’ Pierce growled. ‘How long before the gunship gets here?’

‘Eight minutes, give or take,’ one of the other men replied.

‘They are out of time, Senator. The lifts are out and there are still thirty men between us and them. We’ll move out in six. By the time they get here, we’ll be on our way to Corax.’

~~~

‘You made a real mess of that drone,’ Cassandra commented as she fired on her next target in sequence. ‘Could you even see by the time you finished?’

‘No,’ Al admitted. ‘I just kept spraying the room until nothing fired back. Point of note, the visors seem to be the weakest points on your armour. Try not to get shot in the face.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Ella said.

‘Concentrate, ladies,’ Aneka reminded them. ‘This is a firefight, not a mother’s meeting. Distance to waypoint alpha?’

‘Twenty-three metres, bearing eight-four,’ Al responded, even though Aneka could see the location highlighted on the map in her vision field.

Aneka fired on a target to her left and moved forward, ignoring the laser burst against her chest and the light show it produced on her shield. The owner of the rifle fell half a second later and Aneka moved through a door onto a service corridor which was empty of soldiers. She waited, letting Ella and Cassandra take the lead as she provided cover to the rear, and they advanced to the stairwell at the corner of the building.

The concept of fire stairs in a building the height of the one they were in seemed ludicrous, but if the Twin Towers terrorist attack had proven one thing, it was that stairs were a good idea. Even if the architects who had designed this building had never heard of the World Trade Center, they had equipped it with two stairwells which ran unobstructed from top to bottom.

‘Okay,’ Aneka said, ‘Al has flight controls. Keep your eyes open for people above us. Just like we always do, but… airborne.’

‘Aneka,’ Gwy said into their heads, ‘I am detecting a gunship on course for this general area. There are two frigates in high orbit above us. What do you want me to do?’

‘Ignore the frigates. Get a firing solution on the gunship, but don’t fire unless I say.’

‘Acquiring target,’ Gwy responded.

‘Al, put some push behind it.’

The gravity harnesses bit under their chests as they were lifted at three gravities up the stairwell.

~~~

‘Gunship’s on approach,’ Pierce’s lieutenant stated.

‘We move now,’ Pierce replied. ‘On your feet, Senator. You are our ticket off this world without incident.’

Elroy looked as though he might resist, but then got to his feet. There was no point in getting killed now. He was fairly sure from the radio traffic that it was Aneka Jansen fighting her way up to him, along with two others he was not so sure of. Elroy did not know how the woman was going to stop Pierce, but he knew that she was going to stop him.

They started for the door and the room shuddered. It had not been a massive explosion, but it had been on the top floor.

‘What…?’ Pierce began.

‘They’re up here!’ his sidekick said.

‘How?! They can’t possibly have climbed the stairs this fast with men waiting for them.’

‘I don’t know, sir, but if we go out there I can’t guarantee we’ll get to the roof without being intercepted.’

Pierce turned, grabbing Elroy and backing him to the desk. ‘In that case, we wait.’

~~~

Ella was on rear guard duty, which was not the cakewalk it sounded like since people kept popping out of side corridors and doors and her rifle had a relatively low rate of fire. But whenever there were too many of them, Al signalled Aneka and she would swing around to provide support. Ella’s heart was beating faster than normal and there was a lot of adrenaline in her system, but she was nowhere near the stress levels she had been on the firing range.

‘Next door on the left,’ Al said.

‘Good,’ Aneka replied. ‘I’m actually getting low on ammo.’

Cassandra noted the large group rounding the corner ahead of them and began firing. Aneka raised her left hand pistol and launched two projectiles at the far wall. Plasma blossomed from the impact points enveloping the group of men.

‘You could have just said, I was wasting ammo,’ Cassandra commented.

‘You never waste ammo,’ Aneka replied as her boot slammed into the door beside them.

Elroy was standing in front of his desk, Pierce behind him holding a pistol to his captive’s temple. There was another man in the room with them, also armed with a pistol, but he did not move as Ella covered him. Cassandra ignored the tableau in the room, concentrating on the door.

‘There is a gunship on the roof,’ Pierce said before anyone else could speak. ‘You will step aside and allow us to go to it, or I will incinerate this piece of filth’s brain.’ Aneka lowered her pistol, holstering the left one and keeping the other at her side. ‘I thought so,’ Pierce said, smiling.

‘No,’ Aneka said. ‘You’re not leaving. You’re going to step away from the Senator and hand yourself over to the authorities, or I will kill you.’

‘You can’t win, robot,’ Pierce said. ‘I hold all the chips. I have a ship and Elroy. You have nothing…’

‘Sir, we can’t get everyone aboard the gunship,’ the lieutenant said, his voice tense.

‘In war, Lieutenant, there are sacrifices.’

‘Really?’ Ella asked, her eyes still on the, now worried, soldier. ‘What sacrifices have you made?’

‘I’ve sacrificed thousands of…’

‘No, not what you’ve had other people sacrifice for you. What have you, personally, sacrificed for this? Your humanity? I doubt you had much or you wouldn’t have done this. Your dignity, maybe?’

Pierce let out a growl. ‘None of you have the stomach for what needs to be done. Get out of my way, I have a ship waiting.’

‘Gwy,’ Aneka said aloud and in a sickly sweet voice, ‘would you please take out that gunship?’

Pierce’s eyes widened and the building shook as somewhere above them something exploded. Pierce staggered, his hand slipping and his pistol moving away from Elroy. Aneka moved, her own pistol pulling into her stomach as she stepped sideways and aimed through the gun’s camera. A single shot broke the air and Pierce’s skull opened up in a burst of blood and bone.

‘I have disabled the gunship, Aneka,’ Gwy said, her tone calm. ‘Its control room is destroyed. Do you wish me to finish it?’

‘No, that’ll be good enough.’ Aneka looked at the second man, who was now standing there with his hands up. ‘Get on the radio and tell your people to give up.’ She got a nod in reply.

‘So what now?’ Ella asked.

‘We get out of here as soon as possible and head for Corax. Ape’s going to need help.’

Corax.

The clamshell armour Ape had was a little tight and he was not used to it anyway. They had given him an enormous light support weapon to carry around and it certainly did what it was supposed to, but it was heavy and drew power from a pack on the back of the clamshell. He was uncomfortable and hot, and he felt very, very clumsy beside his lithe guardian, but they were winning!

They had dropped into the spaceport after the Banfry’s guns had opened a couple of the hangar doors in a manner which was going to require extensive repair. The suppression weapons on the drop ships had done a good job of holding down the men trying to defend the place and it had taken no more than half an hour to secure the port and ship more troops down from a couple of other ships that Robart and he thought they could trust. They got reports of some ships engaging others in orbit, but the rebel vessels were outnumbered and had fallen quickly.

Then they had marched out across the town and their opposition had run a paced retreat ahead of them, backing up toward the tunnel which led out to the military base two klicks to the west.

‘I don’t like this.’ The voice was that of John Brod, leader of the Marine contingent on the Banfry. He had been a little reluctant to let Ape come along, but his Captain had been adamant. ‘This is going too easy.’

‘That’ll change soon,’ Leeforth replied. ‘Through this pressure door and we hit the tunnel. It’s more or less two kilometres of dead straight, unobstructed kill zone and we have no idea what they’ve got at the far end.’

‘Right,’ Ape said. ‘Hold here. We need some intelligence before we proceed. That sounded like a Captain-like thing to say, right?’

‘Really strategic, Captain,’ Brod replied. ‘All units, hold position. Techs, we need that door unlocked, but do not open it.’

‘Gibbons to Admiral Banfry,’ Ape said, ignoring the comment.

The comms officer answered. ‘Captain. We’re secure up here. How are things down there?’

‘Secure, but we need information on the state of the base and the tunnel leading to it.’

‘The base appears to be entirely in rebel hands, sir. We don’t think they have prisoners. Everyone over there who isn’t one of them ran or was killed.’

‘Disposition?’

‘Hard to tell, too much rock. The tunnel is deeper than the base itself. We can’t give you anything about that.’

‘Thanks.’ Ape turned to Brod. ‘Strategic, but not very useful.’

‘I guess we do it the hard way,’ Brod replied. ‘I want cover in front of the door,’ he snapped out on broadcast. ‘Boxes, cases, anything that’ll stop casual laser fire.’

It took them ten minutes to assemble enough cover that the Marine was happy. There were metal cases at the front with plastic crates at the back. It seemed excessive to Ape, but he trusted his military officer. Brod had everyone take cover behind the crates and then gave the order to open the doors. Slabs of metal a metre thick slid away into the walls and Brod used the HUD camera on his rifle to look down the tunnel.

‘They’ve got the doors at that end open,’ he said. ‘They’ve set up portable blast shields, but… I’m not seeing any signs of anyone manning them. I don’t like this.’

‘You said that fifteen minutes ago,’ Ape pointed out. ‘We can sit here or we can go look.’

Brod nodded. ‘Fire teams one and two, flanking positions on the door. Three and four with me. The rest of you, hold position until I give the all clear.’

Men moved to the sides of the big pressure doors, and more men appeared beside Brod, Ape, and Leeforth. Standing, they moved out from behind their cover. Leeforth had her rifle trained down the tunnel as they moved and it was that which saved them.

‘Take cover!’ she yelled as she saw men appearing at the far end. Her right arm slammed out, catching Ape and pushing him sideways just as a beam of incandescent, white light blazed between them. Ape staggered out of the line of fire, his balance thrown out by the added mass around his upper body. He turned and…

Leeforth was lying on the ground, half hidden by a crate and about a metre away from where most of her arm was lying in the dust on the Plascrete floor. She was not moving. Ape let out a roar, stepped around the door, and pulled the trigger on his gun. The beam he fired was not quite as powerful as the one which had felled Leeforth, but it had to be doing some damage, right? He wanted to do damage. He wanted to kill and maim, and…

Something very strong grabbed the back of his clamshell and yanked him clear of the doorway. He struggled, but he was turned and slammed up against a wall, his rifle torn from his hands.

‘Are you trying to get yourself killed, Gibbons?’ Aneka shouted at him. ‘David would dismantle me if I let you die, arsehole. And when Judy wakes up she’d want you revived so she could kill you herself.’

‘She’s not dead?’

‘Why don’t you people ever use the stupid transponders you’re fitted with?’ Letting him go, Aneka turned.

Ella and Cassandra were crouched over Leeforth. Cassandra was spraying something gelatinous over the stump of Leeforth’s arm to seal it and Ella was injecting something into her.

‘She’s unconscious,’ Ella said, ‘and in shock, but she’ll live.’

‘You two get her back to Gwy,’ Aneka ordered. ‘Gwy, medical emergency. Prep the sickbay for a patient with massive limb trauma.’

‘Initiating sickbay protocols now, Aneka,’ the ship replied.

‘But…’ Ella began, looking at the tunnel, even if there were a number of rapidly disintegrating packing cases in the way.

‘I’m not going down there either, love. It’s a death trap.’ She looked at Ape. ‘Do they have hostages?’

‘As far as we know, everyone over there is dead or shooting at us.’ Ape’s face was grim through the faceplate of his helmet.

‘Right. Those are pressure doors, right? How fast do they shut?’

‘Emergency protocol is five seconds.’

‘Too slow.’ She holstered her left pistol and then unclipped the magazine from the right. ‘Tell them to close them.’

‘We can’t just leave them down there!’

‘No plans to.’ She snapped another magazine in place. ‘Close the doors.’

When the huge, metal doors were no more than a metre apart, Aneka fired three rounds through the gap and, a second later, there was a resounding clang as the doors shut. She turned, pulling the magazine out of her gun.

‘Three pistol rounds are not going to stop them from–’ Ape began.

‘Ape,’ Aneka said, ‘you’re going to need a new base.’

The ground shook and there was the sound of falling rock from beyond the pressure doors. And Aneka kept on walking.

Downtown Yorkbridge, 27.3.531 FSC.

Aneka sat in the studio in a chair beside Kevin Greenwald who had been persuaded to return to CFM for this one event which had been billed as The Great Debate and was turning out to be something else.

Greenwald had wanted Winter sitting beside him, but the set had been set up as a round table with Greenwald facing the audience and his ‘guests’ on either side, and his choice would have meant Aneka having her back to part of the audience. She had vetoed that on security grounds and then she had stared the big star down until he agreed. No one had yet made the connection that if ‘Xenia Winter’ was assassinated a new copy would appear the following day, identical down to the hair follicles.

Aneka had not said much. Winter was her usual, calm, smooth self, answering questions and making points where she could, but the cameras were largely fixed on the other two people at the table: Representatives Brittany Usher and Donald East. Usher was in the isolationist camp and very vocal about it. She was, Aneka had been informed, trying her best to move up the ranks and get Frederick Isherwood’s position at the top of the Yorkbridge pile. East was similarly low ranking, but he had a lot of business interests with high-tech companies and did not want to see the opportunities afforded by Shadataga falling by the wayside. That was not his angle, but it was his main motivation.

And the two of them had been yelling at each other for the better part of thirty minutes. Greenwald was dropping in the odd inflammatory comment and wearing a smile which indicated his ratings would be astronomical. Al had access to the channel subscription data: more or less the entire planet was watching these two bawl at each other.

Winter was annoyed. Aneka could tell, though she doubted anyone else would have noticed the tiny markers. Actually, Aneka thought that Winter was fuming, but just giving off enough annoyance that Aneka could see it. Well, if Winter was angry, Aneka was reaching boiling point.

‘If the war with the Herosians tells us nothing else,’ Usher shouted, ‘it tells us that the Jenlay have to look out for themselves. We can’t trust anyone else. The Torem ran and hid rather than meet their obligations…’

‘What it tells us,’ East responded, shouting louder, ‘is that we need to work harder to stand up for what the Federation was meant to represent. The ideals it was founded on. Harmony, trust, mutual…’

‘The Federation?! The Federation!’

Aneka’s fists clenched. Winter noted the motion and pushed her chair back from the table. Greenwald was too busy watching his guests fighting to notice so when Aneka stood, her chair clattering backward across the stage, he was a little surprised. Aneka’s fists slammed down on the table so hard one of the legs buckled.

‘Enough!’ she roared in a voice which had caused involuntary bowel movements in cadet soldiers. Silence fell for a split second as the entire room stared at her.

She snapped around, her finger in Greenwald’s face. ‘You take that shit-eating grin off your face now or I’ll ram your teeth so far down your throat you’ll be eating with your arse.’ She turned to Usher before Greenwald could respond. ‘And you. What the fuck are you on? You were a power-hungry moron when you got the job on the FSA Oversight Committee. You sat there and let yourself be flattered by a man who was working for the Herosians and you gave him anything he wanted because it felt like you had power. And now you’re jumping on this isolationist stupidity to get your boss’ job. Listen, if “aliens” hadn’t decided to help you idiots when the war started, you would be dead. The Guardians who came here from Old Earth, they aren’t Jenlay, but without them this city would be a parking lot. Without me and the AIs on Shadataga, the war would still be going on. Aliens won this for you and now you want to ignore that because you are fucking stupid. Understanding stops wars, Representative, and if you cut yourself off from everyone else, you’ll understand nothing.’

East was grinning, but that changed when Aneka turned her gaze on him. ‘You can stop thinking you’ve got my vote. I know damn well you’re only worried about losing out on the university. Where were your fucking ideals when you were voting for anything Pierce and his cronies wanted? Where were you when the travel controls on the Herosians and Torem were being voted in?’

Aneka turned, swinging an arm out toward the audience, and the people watching at home. ‘All of you. You all just sat there and did nothing. Oh, except for the ones who stood outside the Herosian embassy demanding the delivery of terrorists who didn’t exist. None of you even bothered to think about it. None of you questioned any of it. You were scared and you switched your brains off and went with the tide. The Herosian data network was offline. All of it. They hadn’t a clue what was going on on the next world and you believed they were running spies, and insurgents, and bio-weapons programmes across half the galaxy? You’re supposed to be more intelligent than that!’

She drew breath and Greenwald started to move. Winter fixed him with a glare which made him sit back in his chair.

‘So you’re all sitting at home,’ Aneka went on, ‘saying, “oh, she’s not talking about me because I didn’t believe it,” and if you’re not thinking that now, give it a month and you will be. You’re blaming the Administration, the FSA, the Navy, and those groups have been partially responsible. The people who were most responsible will be put on trial. But this is your fault. All of you. All it takes for evil to flourish is that good men stand by and do nothing, and you all stood by and did nothing while a few brave people who you’ve disowned, or are ready to, fought this and stopped genocide. Many of those people are in the FSA and the Navy. Senator Elroy has been trying to stop you all doing stupid things all this time and you’re ready to kick him out. Yes, I’ve seen the polls.’

She glowered at the nearest camera, the anger dissipating. ‘Fuck it. I don’t know why I’m bothering with you people. I’m going to find something useful to do, like washing my hair.’ Turning, she stormed off across the stage.

Winter rose serenely to her feet behind her. ‘I believe that concludes this interview,’ she said, and walked after Aneka.

‘Did I just fuck up?’ Aneka asked in a sour tone when Winter had caught up.

‘Of course not. You did exactly what I’d hoped you’d do. Quite eloquently, I thought.’

‘What you hoped…?’

‘We both know I don’t need a bodyguard, Aneka.’

‘So you wanted me there because they’d wind me up and I’d have a tirade at them.’

‘I’m supposed to be a diplomat. I can’t say things like that. Neither can Jackson. You, however, are just a civilian, and both an adopted Jenlay and an outsider.’

‘Think it worked?’

‘We shall have to see. The table buckling was a very nice attention grabber, so I think it might.’

‘Huh.’ There was a pause and then, ‘I am going to make hundreds of holographic clones of you on the firing range and use a machine gun on them.’

‘That seems fair,’ Winter allowed.

New Earth Orbital Transit Station Two, 1.4.531 FSC.

Aneka watched as Stephen Teldarian greeted his sister and Melissa. There was a lot of hugging and some of it seemed somehow wrong, inappropriate, but that was drowned out by the sadness. Melissa’s sister had been one of the victims of the experiments on Eshebbon. Their friend, as well as their servant, Butler, was dead. Their home would forever be the place which had been invaded by masked men with guns.

Teldarian had been found in a cell in the secret laboratory at the back of Corax’s port. Pierce had kept him there trying to replicate the Xinti hardware from what evidence they had managed to gather from the destroyed frigate.

Daniella and Melissa had just been brought back from Wormhole Junction. Now they would leave and try to regain some semblance of a life.

Aneka watched them, but she watched from a safe distance. Ella was off somewhere doing something administrative for her mother and Aneka had wanted to see the arrivals coming in through the wormhole and from Corax where the Beryum patients were finally being let out. The station was pretty busy, in fact, so when Aneka turned and saw the child standing near one of the walls looking around uncertainly, it was not entirely surprising.

The girl was blonde and thin, and small, maybe six or eight years old, and dressed in a short, white, rather utilitarian dress and sneakers. There was a doll hanging from her left hand, a weird looking thing somewhere between a bear and a unicorn, which Ella had said was from a popular children’s programme. Her left arm was in a metal brace, presumably recovering from a break.

Aneka walked over and crouched down beside the little girl. The girl looked back at her, not scared, or worried, just a little perplexed.

‘Hello, I’m Aneka,’ Aneka said.

‘Hello,’ the girl said, ‘I am Mizzy.’ She had a bit of an accent, and Aneka made a guess.

‘Are you lost?’ Aneka said in Rimmic.

‘No, but my Mom is,’ the girl replied. ‘She says I should speak Federal here.’

‘Well, this is easier and we won’t tell her. So, your mother’s lost?’

‘We came over from the big station, with Deena, and we were supposed to be going to New Earth, and I got separated, and she’s lost. So is Deena.’

‘Is Deena your sister?’

‘No. Deena was on Beryum and she helped me, and her mommy and daddy are gone, and Mom said that Deena should stay with us because she was like my sister now, and that’s okay because Deena got hurt when she helped me and she’s nice.’

‘I see. And what’s your Mom’s name?’

‘Donna. Donna Tuft. I’m Mizzy Tuft.’

‘Al…’ Aneka said silently.

‘I am requesting her location from the station systems now,’ Al replied.

‘Well, Mizzy Tuft, let’s go find your Mom, shall we?’ Lifting the girl up, Aneka placed her on her left shoulder and turned in the direction Al was indicating her mother could be found.

It had been an odd sort of day. It had started with Elroy declaring that civilian rule was fully re-established, and that he was promoting Captain Tor Gibbons to the rank of Admiral to head up the redevelopment of the Navy. Ape had been distinctly unhappy with the appointment, but Leeforth, resplendent with a new arm thanks to Gwy’s regeneration suite, had persuaded him that maybe it was time he settled down a bit. He had agreed, so long as she became his assistant and partner. The wedding was being planned for month seven.

Then there had been the return of the confined people to their loved ones, which was still ongoing and seemed to have resulted in Aneka carrying a child through the orbital in search of a probably distraught mother.

Donna Tuft was, indeed, distraught. She was a pleasant-looking woman, though she still showed signs of a long recovery from injury. And grief. The records Al dug up on the family indicated that Donna’s partner, Mizzy’s father, had died in the mines on Beryum. Whether that was before the bombs went off or after was unclear.

‘Mizzy!’ Donna shrieked, hurrying toward them as best she could through the moderately dense crowd of people. Aneka could tell she was stressed, if her face was not enough of an indication, because she proceeded to speak Rimmic. ‘I thought I’d lost you! Where did you go?’

‘I lost you, and Aneka found me, and she brought me back to you,’ Mizzy explained happily. She did not seem especially inclined to leave Aneka’s shoulder.

There was another girl, taller, older, with shoulder-length, black hair, standing beside Donna and looking almost more like the mother in the group. She had had to grow up very quickly recently. There was evidence of recently healed scar tissue around her face, and her right leg was in a brace like Mizzy’s arm.

‘Donna, I assume,’ Aneka said, ‘and this must be Deena.’

‘Donna Tuft, yes. Thank you for bringing her back. If I’d have lost her again…’

‘She said you were from Beryum.’

Donna nodded. ‘We’re not going back. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to manage, but I’ll find a way to stay here… or somewhere. Oh and now we’ve missed our shuttle down…’

‘Her bio-monitor is suggesting acute stress,’ Al said, though Aneka could tell that from the tears starting in the corners of the woman’s eyes.

‘Well, I’m on the way down and I have my own ship. I don’t mind taking a few passengers.’

‘Oh! Well. Uh, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble… I’m sorry, I know Mizzy said your name, but…’

‘It’s Aneka, Aneka Jansen.’

Deena got it first. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she realised who Mizzy was sitting on.

Then Donna blinked as her brain kicked out the association. ‘What? The Aneka Jansen.’

Aneka started down the corridor again, this time for the dock where Gwy was waiting. ‘Yeah, the woman from Old Earth and all that. Don’t worry about it. I’m just like everyone else, more or less.’

‘Oh wow…’ Mizzy said in a hushed voice. ‘I’m riding on a famous person.’

Aneka laughed. ‘Thank you, Mizzy. After the year I’ve had, I needed that.’

Epilogue

Shadataga, 1.1.532 FSC.

The University of Shadataga was full of people. Term did not officially start until the seventh, but students had been arriving for the last month, in steadily growing numbers, and given the kinds of people who got a place there, stopping them trying to learn was not easy.

The night before, everyone had gathered in the square. It was not actually night, in fact it was just about midday, but it had been official night and the start of a new year. By common consent, Aneka had led the Renewal, but it had been spoken by everyone there. There were Jenlay, Old Earth Humans, Torem, and a few Herosians. The latter were just a little nervous, but no one had shown them any animosity. They were there to learn and that was the important thing.

After a heavy night, the morning had been slow to start, but it had started, and students who had achieved doctorates in their own fields were pestering the AIs like over-enthusiastic undergrads for titbits of information and nuggets of knowledge.

Aneka was not. In fact, she was enjoying a week when she had nothing to organise and no one to pester her for anything. The sun was out and, later, she planned to lie beside the pool of the new apartment block the AIs had built for staff and enjoy the heat on her skin.

It had been nine months of constant activity to reach this point. There had been a lot of meetings across what seemed like half the galaxy. That had been made a lot easier by the wormhole generators at the Junction, but it still meant that she had had little time to herself. This week was hers, just as soon as she dragged Ella out of the operations building by her hair.

‘Someone said five minutes,’ Aneka said as she arrived at the table in the ops room.

Ella smiled at her. ‘And it’s been… oh… thirty.’

‘My apologies, Aneka,’ Speaker put in. ‘I just wanted to show Ella the final schedules…’

‘One week,’ Aneka said. ‘Not even a Federal week, an Old Earth week. Seven days. It’s all I ask. One week to ourselves.’

‘I’m ready,’ Ella replied. ‘Holiday starts now.’

They walked out into the sunlight and Ella gave a sigh, looking around at people sitting in the plaza, talking or just lazing, but mostly talking. Over at one side, a Herosian and Torem were talking to a woman whose implant identified as being from Old Earth.

‘It’s really going to work,’ Ella said.

‘Hmm?’

‘This, it’s going to work. People are going to come together here and realise that we’re all just… people. This might just be an end to war. Like you said, understanding.’

Aneka nodded. ‘It’s possible,’ she said, because right then and there it really did seem possible that everyone could live in harmony. But somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that there was always someone out there who did not understand. Somewhere, someone would be doing something which would threaten the peace.

But right now, right here, in the University of Shadataga, everything was just right.

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.

I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.

For More Information

The Thaumatology Blog: http://thaumatology.wordpress.com

The Steel Beneath the Skin Blog: http://steelbeneaththeskin.wordpress.com

Other Books by this Author

The Thaumatology Series

Thaumatology 101

Demon’s Moon

Legacy

Dragon’s Blood

Disturbia

Hammer of Witches

Eagle’s Shadow

Ancient

Dragonfall

The Other Side of Hell

For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll

Vengeance

Anthologies in the Thaumatology Universe

Tales from High Towers’ Study

Tales from the Dubh Linn

The Aneka Jansen Books

Steel Beneath The Skin

The Cold Steel Mind

Steel Heart

The Winter War

The Greatest Heights of Honour

The Ultrahuman Books

Ugly

Table of Contents

Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils

Part Two: The Sound of Trumpets

Part Three: The Army of Sheep

Part Four: Contraband

Part Five: Collateral Damage

Part Six: The End of War

Part Seven: Sacrifice

Epilogue