Broken Glass (Glass Complex Book 1) (37 page)

Steg heaved a mental sigh of relief as they settled safely into the small suite of rooms provided by the Alutan University. Their briefing on Telrin V had been thorough. They had been warned to assume at all times Alutan security forces were monitoring their activities and conversations. Ever cautious, Steg and Millie took painstaking care to remain in character even when they were alone and resting in the apparent privacy of their rooms.

They spent their first full day on Aluta, acting as typical tourists. They exclaimed in Telrin terms, gasped phrases of wonder at the tourist attractions, and carefully ignored the crushing gray sameness of the spiritless faces and the hurrying silent masses. In the evening they retired early, fatigued tourists in a foreign world.

Steg locked the door to their small suite and relaxed. The casual or even interested observer would think he was resting after a tiring day. Millie composed herself for sleep while all the time prepared to defend herself and Steg against any intruder. Steg reached out, seeking the computers that lay at the heart of House of Aluta.

He found and studied the impressive, almost majestic Alutan system. He spent hours sifting through data, examining processes, evaluating programs, until at last he had evolved his course of action. He wove a cohesive chain of intrusive instructions through the very core of the system, subtle and gossamer soft, undetectable. He initiated the trigger and withdrew from the system. It continued to function. Nothing had been visibly altered, no obvious change affected the rhythm of processes, no ripple disturbed the even surface of its operations. Steg knew otherwise and wondered for a timeless moment why its operators didn’t detect the commencement of an irreversible data erosion that would gnaw at the foundations of House of Aluta.

On Homeworld, a separate and otherwise isolated sector of the Glass Complex switched into life. Acolytes followed their instructions and ignored the apparent strange behavior as the Complex prepared to receive an inflow of invaluable data. On Aluta, security was overridden, controls were ignored, and a stream of data gained full flowing momentum. Millions and millions of files were swept up in the flood as data flows increased.

The process would continue until the last item of information was stored safely in the Glass Complex. When the transfers were finished, without triggering alarms and without declaration of emergency, the structure of the Alutan system would slowly alter and change, and memory banks, now empty, would collapse into their vacuum-state, their contents forever lost. The system would suffer an induced attack of permanent amnesia, and the brain-damaged system would never again provide its supporting structure for the fabric of House of Aluta. Exhausted, Steg finally slept.

The conference was aimless and Steg was inattentive. He forced himself to maintain a semblance of interest, aware that his failure to do so could attract the attention of Alutan security. He was distracted by a background hum of concern as House of Aluta operators detected multitudes of errors, identified missing data stores and corrupted programs, and took ineffective remedial actions. Already banking difficulties were impacting traders and customers, and major corporate operations were grinding to an unexpected halt. He persevered through the day, distancing himself from the background degradation of corporate operations.

In the evening they sought distraction and played at their tourist roles, exploring brightly lit regions near the university, ignoring and avoiding contact with the strangely attired shapes inhabiting the night.

They were being followed. Steg caught a glimpse of a furtive movement as a shadow figure moved away, out of his line of vision. He watched for a repeat and was oddly pleased when it happened again; at least his imagination was not playing tricks. They walked on, now seeking darker streets, while Steg maintained a cautious watch for their elusive shadow. He quietly warned Millie and they varied their pace, now moving quickly, now pausing, now moving slowly, always with caution as they progressed through the nighttime throngs.

Steg tried to repress his growing concerns and started to head towards the access point for their path to the Alutan portal, deep below the city. He wished he had Ebony. Without the sword, without any weapon, he felt more exposed.

“He certainly is persistent,” Steg muttered.

Millie whispered her concern, her voice hoarse with indignation. “Why is someone following? We have done nothing to alert security.”

They moved further away from the crowds and bright lights, along streets leading deeper into the darkness. Bursts of white steam leaked from underneath the roadway and occasionally strange and distant rumbles vibrated beneath their feet. A vehicle cruised slowly past, its occupants unseen. Its lights pinned their two shadows to the rough wall of an abandoned building and then twisted them into grotesque enlargements as it approached and then shrunk them abruptly to almost nothing as it continued down the street. Steg ignored its passing as he sought a sign, a sound, something which would pinpoint their shadower.

He pulled Millie into a narrow alley and whispered a soft instruction as he pushed her into a dark doorway. He returned to the corner of the alley and waited, hidden in shadows. Then as the false sounds produced by his imagination faded into a sympathetic rhythm with his pulse, he heard a cautious shuffle. He sprang and their pursuer became real as Steg encountered solid flesh. They scuffled. Millie disregarded Steg’s instruction and ran to his aid. A sharp curse was followed by the metallic tinkle of a blade falling to the ground. Millie stepped forward and claimed the knife while Steg brought their pursuer to his knees with a sharp blow to his chin. Steg pulled back the stranger’s hood to reveal a familiar face.

“Taul!” exclaimed Millie. She hefted the knife and before Steg could move, buried the blade deep into her tormentor’s body. Taul fell to the pavement.

He groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked and struggled to focus as pain struck. He tried to raise himself up from the pavement.

“You accursed Fain,” he gasped as a trace of blood flecked his lips. “I was brought back in disgrace because of you. I lost everything—” He groaned again and his face twisted with agony and evil intent. Steg moved Millie away. Taul caught the movement and addressed Steg.

“And you too—I will not die without taking you—” He struggled against a spasm of coughing and reached under his cloak. As he withdrew his hand Steg realized Taul had another weapon, a blaster. The man fired as Steg jumped to disarm him. Taul collapsed.

A muted cry came from Millie and Steg spun back to her side as she too, slowly sagged to the pavement. Steg checked, frantic with worry. Taul’s final shot had found its target. Under the pale light in the alley, Millie at last had found peace. Steg bowed his head.

Steg stood for a long moment, considering. Only one thing was left for him to do, now. He knelt and carefully wrapped the fallen Fain in her cloak. He stood, lifting her in his arms. He could not leave her to an unknown wasteland burial on Aluta. Access to the portal was not distant, according to his mental map of its location. In the dark, unseen hands snatched at him from the alley shadows. He pushed his assailants away and kicked brutally when one became too insistent. At the end of the alley he turned and looked back. Taul’s body had already disappeared.

He walked on, seeking access to the lower levels of the city. He moved quickly as a small group of city underdwellers approached and he flowed with them as they moved off the street towards the underway system. The stairs went down and he followed, down and down. He ignored the occasional curious glance from a grey face, trusting the conditioned introspection of the underdwellers would dampen any tremor of alarm. As he reached each lower level, the lighting grew dimmer, until eventually he was fumbling in half darkness, stumbling occasionally when he encountered an unseen broken step or other rubble.

His burden grew heavier. He stopped his mad downward rush and paused to check his location. He had left the last of the underdwellers many levels above and no one now was near to watch his almost furtive actions. He moved off the stairwell and sought the mapped corridor location. He almost tore the skin on his hands as he impatiently struggled to lift the trapdoor without setting down his burden. He climbed down the short vertical ladder and slotted the trapdoor back into its recess. He then bolted it to inhibit the curiosity of any casual passerby. Now he was forced to move more slowly as the low roof of the service tunnel restricted his progress. He followed the winding passageway for more than a kay, struggling to move quickly in the dark, around damp piping and heavy conduit channels, across foul waterways, and under heavy beams, until he arrived at another vertical ladder, descending further into impossibly black depths. Down he climbed, deeper and deeper into the ancient levels of the city, levels long forgotten and neglected. He paused occasionally to listen for sounds of pursuit. He heard only the harshness of his breathing and the sounds of falling water. At last he stepped off the ladder and made his way cautiously; only a few orange service lights lit his path. He checked his location and felt along the wall for the door. After a short struggle it slowly opened, almost reluctantly. He stepped into the portal room, locking the door behind him. The portal glowed in the opposite wall of the small room. He stepped up to the pad and mentally keyed his destination, and stepped through.

Steg staggered and almost collapsed. He was exhausted. The startled technician caught his arm and steadied him as he stepped away from the portal. Steg brushed past him, and left the room, not bothering to heed his worried question. Denke caught up with him before he reached the surface.

“What happened?”

“She is dead. I did not think she would be in danger, but Taul found us, somehow.”

“Let me help you,” offered Denke, his voice soft with sympathy.

“No,” Steg was adamant. “I will take her to the surface where she can see the sky. She would want that, after Shantytown.”

He continued on his way.

******

Chapter 31

Steg lost himself in intense preparations for the
attack on House of Aluta forces still holding Homeworld. Whenever he relaxed, whenever he tried to sleep, he saw before him the elfin eyes of his Fain companion. Always they were filled with concern, concern for him, concern which he felt he did not deserve. Mental pain accompanied him everywhere he went. At last the pain eased when he realized she would not forgive him if he remained in self-pitying mourning. He shook his head. He would remember her, Milnaret of Fain.

He called Denke. “Briefing in thirty minutes. This will trigger the next phase. Be there.” He did not wait for a response.

*Steg de Coeur to Module Jochum II.*

*Module Jochum II.*

*Prepare full link with Glass Complex, First Acolyte. Priority one. Implement.*

*Running.*

The full weight of Jochum II resources drove the communication process. The link was established before he could begin another task.

*Glass Complex is in link.*

*Go to full holo.*

He waited as the hologram slowly formed above the display panel. He knew a similar representation was also appearing for the Castlehome audience.

*First Acolyte.*

*Aah, young prince. What news do you have for Castlehome?*

*Tziksis is due here tomorrow and will report on his campaign. Final briefing will follow, and the Specials will launch their attack immediately after that. What is the Homeworld situation?*

*Our farming machinery arrived safely and is being distributed to the Guards and Militia. The task will be completed within the day. Everyone is briefed. We are waiting for your signal.*

Steg and the First signed off and the almost solid image blanked as the connection was terminated by the Jochum II module. Time now was running against the Homeworld invaders.

“General Boston, Major Denke, gentlemen,” Steg acknowledged the presence of the senior and operational officers gathered in the briefing room. Additional Special Forces officers were in attendance; this was more than a portal briefing. “Some of what I will say is already familiar to you, some is not. House of Aluta over the past four decades has pursued a most vigorous and aggressive program of corporate expansion. Their methods have been devious, disruptive, fraudulent and even treasonous for the Empire. Examples and evidence in support are enclosed in the briefing file that I distributed earlier, refer attachments five and six. We ran some prognosis programs earlier, and within another five to eight years, House of Aluta would be able to challenge the Empire with impunity.”

Major Denke supported Steg. “The extent of their infiltration into the Fleet has been confirmed. We have detected similar patterns across other Imperial forces.”

“We have implemented counter measures,” continued Steg. “At last report over three hundred and fifty serious criminal actions have been initiated against Fleet officers. At least five hundred Fleet officers and crew are now under arrest and the final number is expected to be closer to two thousand before this is concluded. Additionally, authorities—trusted authorities—in all Imperial military branches now have received evidence of House of Aluta criminal activities affecting those branches and we expect numerous arrests and courts-martial to follow. Special Forces also have been penetrated by House of Aluta corruption, and these traitors are now being arrested.” His statement caused a sudden move from one of the meeting attendees.