EVE®: Templar One (58 page)

“I leave it to you to replace him,” she said.
“But choose wisely: These forces are indescribably sinister.
I shall rely on you, Victor, and you, Kezti, to be my closest guides as I fight this battle.
Set your differences aside; Amarr needs both of you to be strong.”

“I hold no grudge against the Grand Admiral,” Victor said.
“It is an honor to serve beside him.”

“Good,” she said.
“We will persevere, my captains.
And I know in my heart that our Templars will lead the way.”

GEMINATE REGION—F-ZNNG CONSTELLATION

SYSTEM UBX-CC—THE MJOLNIR NEBULA

INSORUM PRODUCTION FACTORY

“Mom’s gone, isn’t she?”
Amile asked.

“Yes,” Mens said, holding his daughter’s hand.

“I remember boarding a gunship … we were supposed to go to … Myoklar?”

Mens nodded slowly.

“It was attacked during the approach.”

“By who?”

“Heth.”

“I wish I could remember what we talked about,” she said.

“She loved you very much,” Mens said.

“It was a bad idea,” she said, frowning.
“I knew it then.”

“No, no … Amile … if anyone’s to blame, it’s me.
Please.
Not you.”

“The last memory I’ll ever have of Mom is that I didn’t stand up to her.
If I had, she might still be alive.”

Mens took a deep breath.

“Amile,” he said, “remember when you told me you wanted a more active role in protecting yourself?”

“Yeah?”
Amile said.

“You have it now,” Mens said.
“We’re far, far away from Ishukone, someplace where Heth and the Broker can’t find us.
This is where we’re going to make our stand.”

“By hiding from them?”

“By figuring out how to beat them,” Mens said.
“Let me show you something.”

A tiny drone, no larger than a datapad, scurried up the side of Amile’s bed and sat on her lap, startling her.

“It’s okay,” Mens said, as it playfully flipped onto its back, then righted itself and performed a salute with one of its appendages.

“See?
Put your hand out.”

She did so, and the creature reached out with one of its legs and touched her hand then pulled it away.
It repeated the act again, as if judging whether it was safe, and then jumped into her palm, spreading out as though lounging on a couch.

“This is VILAMO,” Mens said.
“Rali built him.
Don’t let his size fool you.
He’s quite capable, as you’ll soon find out.”

“Capable of what?”
Amile asked.

“Of teaching you how to protect yourself,” Mens said.
“When you’re feeling better, there’s someone else I’m going to introduce you to.
But for now—”

“Are you going to be here?”
she asked.

Mens took a big swallow.

“Rali will be here a few days a week to continue your education—”

“Dad,” Amile said.
“Are you going to stay here with me?”

“As much as I can,” Mens said.

*   *   *

“DOCTOR DIETRICH,” MENS ASKED,
“how is our patient doing?”

“Stabilized, for now,” Gable said.
“Though I don’t know how much I had to do with that.
His anatomy is incredibly resilient.”

“Is he cooperating?”

“He trusts me,” Gable said.
“He fully understands that we can’t help him until we learn more about him.
But there is one concern I have.”

“What’s that?”

“His entire hippocampus and thalamus have been replaced with a cybernetic implant I’ve never seen before,” she said.
“And there’s more technology I’m unfamiliar with.
For example, I think his entire spinal cord is a transmitter of some kind.”

“It probably is,” Mens said.
“He’s a prototype.
The technical specifications for his clone type will be here shortly.”

“His normal body temperature is elevated already, and his back is almost hot to the touch,” she said.
“I’m guessing it’s still broadcasting.”

“We’ll look into it,” Mens said.
“Do you have everything else you need?”

“Yes; the facility is state of the art,” she said.
“But the drones are very intimidating.”

“They’re for your protection,” Mens explained.
“You know there are risks.”

“I understand, and I appreciate it,” she said.

“My colleague Rali is very impressed with your background,” Mens commended.
“You two are going to be working closely together.”

“Oh?
What’s his background?”

“His contributions to Ishukone are too numerous to count, but first and foremost, he’s an engineer,” Mens said.
“The best there is.
He can build anything, including the cybernetic technology you might need to save Vince’s life.”

“That will come in handy,” Gable said, folding her arms.
“Reverse-engineering him sounds like quite the business opportunity.”

“You’re welcome to express your opinions, Doctor,” Mens said.
“But this work is important.
Vince isn’t the only one here whose life is in danger.”

*   *   *

“WHEN CAN I MEET HER?”
Mila asked.

“Soon,” Mens said, staring into the room where Amile was sleeping.
“She needs some time.”

“VILAMO has taken a liking to her,” Mila said, noting the drone sprawled out at the foot of her bed.

“That shouldn’t be possible,” Mens said.

“I always thought he was built that way,” Mila said.

“VILAMO was built to learn and to hunt,” Mens said.
“The nurturing behavior is new.
I’ll have Rali look into it.”

“You’re asking a lot of him,” she said.

“I ask a lot of everyone in my life.”

Taking one last look at his daughter, he turned and walked straight past Mila.

“Mens,” she called out.
“I’m sorry about Lor—”

“
Don’t
you ever say her name to me again,” he growled.

PURE BLIND REGION—MDM8-J CONSTELLATION

SYSTEM 5ZXX-K—PLANET V, MOON 17

MORDU’S LEGION HQ STATION

Jonas looked up from his work as Miles and Blake appeared in the doorway.

“You wanted to see us, sir?”
Blake said.

“Yep, come on in,” Jonas said.

“How’re the new stilts doing?”
Miles asked.

Jonas lightly kicked one of his metal prostheses against the desk.

“They’ll do until my new legs are done growing,” he said.
“I’m not a cybernetic kind of guy.
Have a seat.”

As the two officers moved toward the chairs in front of his desk, Miles unleashed a low whistle.

“
Love
what you’ve done to the place!”
he sneered.
“Geez, you’d think a billionaire would spend a few creds on, like … a painting.
Or something.”

Blake just shook her head.

“I guess the walls in here are a little bare,” Jonas said.
“I admit when it comes to these things, I don’t have a clue.”

“You need a lady for those,” Blake said.
“Clues, that is.”

Jonas smiled.

“So I hear,” he said.
“Alright, let’s get down to business.
First, I’ve recommended both of you for the Legion Cross.
You not only displayed poise and leadership under fire, but your actions at Pike’s Landing saved the lives of thousands of crew.
I couldn’t be prouder of you, and it’s an honor to have you aboard the
Morse.
Thanks for bringing her back to me in one piece.”

The officers were beaming.

“Thank you, sir,” Blake said.

“Bam!”
Miles said.
“That’ll look sharp on my dress blues.”

“Next, regarding your compensation,” Jonas continued.
“Well, let’s just say it’s a lot of money.
It was wired into your accounts just before you arrived, so if you have your datapads with you, you’re welcome to check that figure now.”

Blake was trying to act composed, but Miles was on the verge of drooling as they dug into their pockets to retrieve the devices.

Then they turned pale.

“You both received the same amount,” Jonas said, rubbing his eyes.
“The Legion has some really good finance guys you should speak with.
There’s enough there for you to live
really
comfortably without working another day as long as you live, but only if you’re smart about where you invest it.
Which brings me to my next and final point—”

“Captain, I don’t have the words—” Blake said.

“Oh, I do!”
Miles said, slowly standing up.
“And those words are
fuck yeah!
Woo!”

While Miles danced like an idiot, Blake appeared concerned.

“Are you sure about this?”
she asked.

“Absolutely,” Jonas said.
“I restructured both your contracts.
You’re no longer bound to its terms, meaning you’re free to leave the
Morse.
”

Miles stopped dancing.

“Huh?”

“As mercenaries, you’re no longer obligated to be here,” Jonas said.
“You’re free to go right now, if you wish.
Start a new life.”

They tried to find some indication that he was kidding, but it just wasn’t there.

“Don’t get me wrong, the
Morse
wouldn’t be the same without you,” he said.
“But in this profession, you never do know how it’s going to turn out, so … I just want to make sure you both had a chance to walk away.”

Miles sat back down.

“Well, to be honest, sir,” he said, “that’s a real buzzkill.”

“You don’t have to give me an answer now,” Jonas said.
“In fact, I insist you both take some time off to think about it.
The
Morse
isn’t leaving port anytime soon.”

Blake rose from her seat.

“I’ll do as you asked, sir,” she said, gently placing her hand on Miles’s shoulder.

He looked up at her and then stood.

“Well, what are you going to do with your share?”
Miles asked.

Jonas forced a weary smile.

“I gave it away.”

Blake closed her eyes in disbelief, then took Miles’s hand and began leading him toward the door.

“
All
of it?”
Miles asked.

“Yes.”

“C’mon,” Blake said quietly.
“It’s time for us to go.”

As they walked out, Miles turned to ask one last question.

“Are you going to be alright, boss?”
he asked.

“I’m fine,” Jonas said.
“Thank you for asking.”

When the door closed, Jonas turned the terminal off.
Then he shut off all the lights except for one.

He stared at the new addition to his glass trophy case.
The toy soldier barely fit inside.

AFTERWORD

JUST OUTSIDE THE BORDERS
of Caldari space, hidden in the unremarkable asteroid belts of systems abandoned by prospectors long ago, lurked a series of outposts.
The inside of these hardened structures were crammed with highly advanced technical equipment, usually of the sort found in secure Empire stations.
Vast datacore centers linking to fluid routers, all still active, sat alongside cloning equipment, including CRUs with clones waiting inside.
Curiously, lockers filled with neatly arranged garments of all manner of styles were also present, despite the fact there was none of the more customary creature comforts associated with a common research center.

In each of these outposts, everything was covered in dust.

A sentient life-form chanced upon one during a belt-surveying mission and promptly informed its master.

Within hours, its smaller companions had broken inside, not realizing how lucky they were; a thermonuclear device powerful enough to atomize the asteroid upon which they stood had somehow failed to detonate following the unauthorized breach.
Whoever had rigged it had made a mistake.

It was one of many the Broker made toward the end of his physical lives.