Interphase (61 page)

David staggered backward, releasing his grasp. The possessed human turned and ran toward the track, but a single blast from the Coldor completely vaporized him.

"Impressive, David, but not even your new toy will stop what is coming." Shalaron's voice echoed down from the gateway.

David cried out as an invisible force lifted him off the ground and pulled him toward the glowing portal. He felt something release inside of him, and a strange power scorched him from within. A beam of red energy poured from his chest, smashing against the shield. At the same time, Shalaron threw his hands out, and the green beam from Analath intensified.

The two beams wavered and shifted, then with a flash, they vanished. The surface of the doorway cleared, and Shalaron stepped through into V-Net.

"You and your allies are so predictable," he mocked. "The armored boy couldn't resist blindly rescuing a wounded companion. He brought my program exactly where it needed to be. Now his foolishness and your defiance will bring an end to your dominion of
my
planet."

The grasp released, and David fell to the ground. Crackles of energy appeared all around the module, and hundreds of Coldor and Talan soldiers materialized. David felt himself pulled away, and he appeared on the observation platform, surrounded by his friends. Analara threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"The cavalry has arrived," Clyde gloated. "I managed to code up copies of Mierva's assault troops and load them en masse into the system. I don't think the Anrathians will have any clue how to fight against them."

As one, the soldiers opened fire on Shalaron. Magnetic slugs soared through the air alongside bursts of molten plasma. Shalaron raised his hands, and a transparent globe surrounded the doorway, effortlessly deflecting the projectiles.

As the group watched the barrage, the rest of Shalaron's soldiers came through the portal and surrounded him within his protective sphere. Once they were inside, Shalaron lowered one hand and stretched it toward the massed troops, opening it wide. The plasma bursts stopped ricocheting off the shield; instead they vanished into it. The orb began to glow a bright orange. With a shout, Shalaron threw both hands down, and a wave of energy burst outward. The robots ceased firing and simply vanished.

The group ducked beneath the edge of the platform as the energy passed above them. David struggled to his feet and looked down at the empty module below.

"Pitiful fragments of a dream world that has finally discovered its own irrelevance. Is there nothing in your world that can truly challenge me?" Shalaron shouted.

A bright flare of blue energy blazed on the steps below Shalaron. "You may try me on for size if you wish, but you will find yourself sorely tested."

VERA appeared from the pillar of light, anger plain to see on her face. She strode toward Shalaron and launched a beam of blue light directly at him. Shalaron raised his shield again but staggered back when the beam struck. Sweat beaded on his brow as he matched his power against the ruler of Phoenix. Slowly, he was losing.

"The fate of this world shall not be decided in this place," he gasped. "Nor will it be determined by you. Enjoy this victory, for it shall be your last."

The shield orb glowed green, then flared and vanished. A similar glow surrounded the bodies still lying on the stairwell. When the light faded, Shalaron, his soldiers and the captured humans were all gone.

***

As the final transfer completed, Shalaron gasped for breath. Relocating the essence of one of his people into a human body was considerably more difficult outside of Analath. But it was done. All of his men wore human appearances now, and all could leave this dream and enter their real homeworld.

"By Siath's will, my Sage, I will accomplish my tasks for our people," the last soldier said, and disappeared from the system.

Shalaron bowed his head. "Siath, if your essence remains anywhere on this planet, guard us, and guide us back to our true home," he intoned. His men had departed to fulfill their missions, and it was his task now to ensure that they could.

Shalaron reached across the sprawling human network and accessed Analath's Core. As quickly as he could, he pulled strands of code into the human systems and struck at several focal points. He immersed himself in the dream battles and watched defenses crumple under the force of Analath's attacks. He sensed the humans' protector vainly fighting back against him, but the Core was more powerful than anything she could muster.

The damage was done. Releasing the code streams, Shalaron gauged his next move as his intrusion was beaten back. Let the humans think that they had won the battle. His attack had not been meant to disrupt anything inside the system. Reality itself had been changed, and his men would now have no impediment to their missions.

=Thal,= Shalaron sent. =Have you located what I asked?=

=Yes, my Sage,= Thal replied. =I have found a suitable host for you. Are you certain that you wish to enter their world? I am prepared to travel through their lands myself to eliminate your foe.=

Shalaron pondered the suggestion. =No, Thal, David is my nemesis, and I must face him myself. When you receive the signal, take the crystal from beyond the gateway and bring it into the human world. Analath will take care of the rest.=

=So be it. May Siath guide you, my Sage.=

Fixing on Thal's location, Shalaron bent the reality of the world around him and shifted himself to his target. He materialized inside a wide, bare room. Dozens of humans practiced a strange form of unarmed combat, led by a powerful human with a white robe tied by a black belt.

The man approached Shalaron with a look of disapproval. "I do not appreciate having my class disturbed. Please leave. If you have business, we may speak after I am finished."

Shalaron studied the human. He had strength and a subtle grace to his movements. Mastery of his art would certainly make him a formidable host. Before his target could react, Shalaron's hand whipped out and grasped the man's throat. "Be still, and succumb to a true son of Analath," he whispered.

Releasing the hold on his own essence, Shalaron marveled as his senses distilled and condensed, flowing to the Core and then back into the human world. The room around him went white, and he lost himself in a place with no memory at all.

Shalaron blinked his eyes and tried to focus. His body felt sluggish and unresponsive. Slowly, he gained control of his arms and pushed himself upwards. Dozens of humans clustered around him, asking him questions and giving him concerned looks. He waved them away and rose to his feet. The more he utilized it, the more the body came to feel natural. Shalaron tested the reach and mobility of his new shell, and found it to his liking. The human had taken care of his physical form with ardent devotion.

An idea entered Shalaron's mind. He turned toward the closest robed human, and struck with his fist. The blow knocked its target to the ground. A sense of unbridled power filled Shalaron, and he released himself to the thrill of combat. It only took a moment for the humans to realize they were under attack, but their resistance was for naught. Inside the system, bolstered by Shalaron's own powers, his new form was unstoppable. Seconds flashed by, and the room was filled with humans, broken and beaten upon the floor.

Now it was David's turn.

Shalaron released his grasp on the system and felt himself falling into darkness. When he opened his eyes, he was in a new place, decorated in a manner similar to the room he had just left. He lifted himself from the strange black chair and ran his hand over the wall. There was no roughness to the stone here, no hint of any flaw in the construction. Was this the true world?

Striding into the main chamber, Shalaron approached a black window. An unfamiliar sense of trepidation filled him. He no longer had the powers of a Sage. If something went wrong, he would have to obey the constraints of reality.

"Activate locator," Shalaron commanded. Thal had said this was how the human's systems worked. The window lit up with bright colors and letters, but he didn't comprehend any of it. He relaxed his thoughts and let the human mind interpret what he saw without interference. Gradually, he understood what was being displayed. "Locate David Harris," he said. Thal had uncovered his foe's true identity during one of his forays. Now that information would be put to use.

The window showed what appeared to be a map of the area, and indicated the path to reach his destination. Shalaron memorized the image and walked out the front door.

The time for vengeance was at hand.

Chapter 49

Alarms rang out in VERA's chamber, and Clyde swore profusely as he dashed from one side of the console to the other. David desperately wanted to help, but he knew events had progressed far beyond his programming skill. Even Clyde hadn't been able to keep up with Shalaron's code attack.

"Damn it all," Clyde shouted. "Whatever he hit us with tore right through all of our defenses. Analath's systems are centuries beyond our own. We pushed back the last assault, but I haven't been able to come up with anything that will prevent him from striking again."

A cold thought chilled David. "What happens if he goes after VERA?"

Clyde smirked. "I wish he'd make that mistake. She's got so many layers of redundant protection within the system that we could keep Analath's network core tied up for years. We have my parents to thank for that." He growled and typed in a new set of commands. "Shalaron can certainly wreak havoc on any number of other subsystems though."

David paced across the floor in frustration. Thomas, Lucas and Analara waited nearby, also powerless against the current foe. David turned to Analara and opened his mouth to say something when he felt a strange sensation, like the world was sinking away from him. Without any warning, he was pulled from the system.

A shock of pain was the first thing to meet David's senses. A warm throbbing spread from his cheek, and he blinked his eyes and looked into the face of a stranger. His assailant hurled him across the room, and he crashed painfully into his desk.

"Who are you?" David gasped as he tried to mount a defense.

"I am judgment," his attacker replied, as he pounded David mercilessly with kicks and punches.

David collapsed in the corner, his senses reeling from the beating. He could only struggle weakly as his foe grabbed him by the arm and dragged him from the room.

When David opened his eyes again, he was on the roof, looking out over the city of New Terra. Only a few skyscrapers reached higher than his building, and it was an awesome vista. But he pulled back in fear when he realized that he was hanging over the edge of the building.

A powerful grip held his neck firm. "Behold your glorious civilization for one final moment," a deep voice whispered to him. "This very night it will return to the true children of this world."

The grip pulled him away from the edge and flung him to the ground. David tried to scramble away, but stopped when he realized his opponent was not pursuing him. "Who are you?" he croaked again.

"I am your constant foe, David Harris. I am the judicator of your crimes. I told you that you would pay for your sins against my people, and I have come to deliver your execution."

David's mind staggered back from the impossibility before him. The words and the actions left little doubt as to who he faced. "Shalaron," he whispered. His nemesis had come to Phoenix.

"You are perceptive. Enjoy what time you have left in your life, for your body will not continue through the Awakening. You will not serve as the host to one of my people, or for anything else. Your life ends here, tonight," Shalaron declared.

There has to be something I can do…

With a start, David realized that he was still wearing the wrist interface to his home terminal. He'd asked for a real one after the battle with Halathas, to make his mandatory bed-rest a little more bearable, and he'd been so exhausted lately that he'd forgotten to take it off.

Shalaron turned away, and David activated the screen. He quickly patched an audio connection through to Clyde before closing the monitor down.

"I don't know what you think you can do, but VERA will stop you," David taunted.

Shalaron snorted at the comment and continued to gaze out over the city.

David spat out a mouthful of blood and struggled to his feet. "The best you've managed to do is beat me up in an unfair fight. You didn't even have the decency to choose a form remotely like your own. You had to stack the deck against me to have any hope of success."

Shalaron turned to him and raised an eyebrow, a dangerous look on his face. "I can give you another demonstration of my power if you wish. I have a better idea of the tolerances of your human bodies now. I'll ensure that you do not die before the proper time, but that the minutes you still have are not pleasant."

A shiver ran down David's spine, but he forged ahead. "You're not all that impressive, Shalaron. Despite his insanity, Totarakh did far more damage to us than your worst designs. You're second best to a mad priest." He spat at Shalaron's feet. "We stopped his invasion. We will stop yours!"