Mobius (8 page)

A woman in a white business suit stepped boldly in front of Allienora. “The public has questions, Mr. Mobius.”

I noticed the small media orb floating just above her shoulder.

Great
, I thought.
Here comes the accusations.

The media just wanted scandal and reaction shots. If they couldn’t find real scandal they did their best to create it. I hated these media skaggs. I wished I could shoot her out an open hatch into space. That’s where they all belonged.

“I’m here to answer all your questions, Ms.…” I looked to her I.D. badge. “Ms. Pendike.”

“As you know, Mr. Mobius, your biography was just released in the
Neofrontier Chronicle
.”

“Actually…” I interrupted, knowing it would piss her off. “I didn’t know. I’ll be sure to upload a copy.”

“Anyway,” she continued. “Your relationship with Atticus Roth is detailed greatly. He rescued you from the streets, mentored you both morally and academically, and eventually became your colleague in your pursuit to build this dimensional gateway.”

“This is true. He has made me the man I am. I trust him implicitly. He’s a friend and a father. He’s the biggest influence in my life.”

“What isn’t documented in your biography…” She took a deep breath to accentuate that something important was about to spill from her over-plumped, genetically engineered lips. “Is that Atticus Roth manipulated and deceived you.”

Chatter filled the control room.

Allienora stepped forward and held up her hand in a call for silence. “What are you talking about, Ms. Pendike?”

“Sixty years ago, Atticus Roth stole a prototype neural accelerator chip from the Tetrion Corporation. This is months before Theron received his first neural interface—when they were just hitting the market at the turn of the millennium. I believe Atticus secretly integrated this stolen tech into Theron’s implant. I believe Atticus made Theron the man he is, so he could reach the fame and fortune he has now attained. Theron’s breakthroughs in dimensional physics were only achieved after he was implanted with the hyper accelerated neural interface.”

Holy shit
, I thought.
How did she find out?

She was pretty close to the truth. She got two things wrong. I was willingly implanted with the device and I even helped Atticus steal it. It wasn’t about the money, though. It was about so much more.

Allienora moved closer to Ms. Pendike, who took an uneasy step backwards. It was exhilarating to witness the power Allienora held over people that stood in her presence. I found myself even more attracted to her.

“You still haven’t provided us proof, Ms. Pendike.”

Ms. Pendike held up a data node. “Here’s my proof.”

Allienora took it from her. Before she could uplink with it, her personal guard stopped her.

“Prime Minister. That is an untested data node. There could be malicious coding on it.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, touching the node to the back of her neck to trigger the uplink. Her eyes fluttered as her neural implant took in the data and transferred it to her conscious mind. “This is hardly proof that Atticus was involved. All you have here are leaked documents from the Tetrion Corporation, confirming the theft of the prototype neural accelerator chip and its schematics. Nothing in them implicates Atticus.”

I felt relieved until Ms. Pendike revealed a neural analyzer.

A smug look distorted her over-altered features. “Then Theron won’t mind if I test his neural implant.”

Allienora grabbed it from her hands. “I’ll test Theron.”

What do I do?
My heart raced.
This could ruin everything.

Allienora separated the two halves of the analyzer. She placed one on the back of her neck and one on the back of mine. I didn’t resist. I just tried to play it cool. Though, I probably should’ve said something.

Allienora activated the analyzer and her eyes again fluttered as she took in the data. It was the longest ten seconds of my life. Her eyes finally stopped fluttering and she looked at me intensely. She must have seen the data imprint from the chip.

What is she going to do?

She smiled ever so slightly. “There’s nothing there. No trace of the neural accelerator chip.”

“Impossible!” shouted Ms. Pendike. “Let me look!”

“I’m the Prime Minister of Earth, Ms. Pendike. Are you questioning my ability to use a simple neural analyzer? There’s nothing there.” Allienora signaled her personal guard. “Get her off the station.”

What just happened? How did she not see it?

“The theatrics are over,” announced Allienora. “Theron, please continue.”

“Very well,” I said, breathing easier. I looked through the faces. “Before I take you down for a closer look at the dimensional gateway, I must know who among you would like the privilege to be aboard the rendezvous ship, which will be present at the pod-ship’s emergence point? You must decide now, since it’ll take the rendezvous ship an hour to get there at light-speed. Otherwise, you may remain here to see my departure with the rest of the guests.”

“Definitely I,” said Morion Morpheme, with an oddly impatient enthusiasm.

Allienora stepped forward. “If only a limited few will be present at the emergence point, then I too would like to be on hand to witness the spectacle.” She turned to Orsteen Hunn of the Mercury Miners. “Will you accompany me, Orsteen?”

“It would be my honor.”

“Very well,” I said. “Once your tour’s completed, you’ll be taken to the rendezvous ship.”

I finished with the leaders of the three solar nations and saw to their departure aboard the rendezvous ship.

Allienora was last to board.

She signaled her personal guard to board ahead of her. “I want a private moment with Mr. Mobius.”

I grew nervous as we stood there alone at the docking gate. Her large blue eyes examined me—as if she were measuring the depths of my being. It became clear what she was thinking.

She knows.

My head sagged in guilt. “Why didn’t you tell them?”

“Because it doesn’t matter. I don’t care how you did it, Theron. You’re about to change everything. Humankind will never be the same. This is the beginning of something great, and we have you to thank for it.”

“What about Ms. Pendike? She won’t give up.”

“I’ll take care of her. I’ll make her understand. I have ways of dealing with her kind.”

“I’m sorry, Allienora. I hope I didn’t disappoint you.”

“People have done worse things to achieve their goals. You didn’t hurt anyone, Theron.”

“I hope I’ll see you after the maiden voyage.”

“You can count on it.”

She gave me an unexpected kiss on the cheek.

I smiled. “Safe travels.”

“You too. Good luck.”

I returned to my apartment, where Sensimion was setting up various monitoring equipment for his lookout during the maiden voyage.

I went to a console. “These are the access codes to the entire station. You may upload them to your neural implant.”

While Sensimion interlinked with the console, I administered a drop of amber narcotic into my eye. It was early for another dose, but I had to make sure the memories wouldn’t return during the maiden voyage.

“What’s that, Theron?” asked Sensimion.

I relaxed as the liquid permeated the membrane of my eye. I then tucked the vial back into my pocket. “With this drug, I’ve found relief from those haunting memories, which were an unbearable undertow of pain.”

“Astonishing,” said Sensimion. “I hope when your maiden voyage is complete, you’ll consider cleansing yourself of this drug, so we can analyze the full scope of these memories. They could be our best means to discovering the motives of the Fume’s manifestations.”

“I suppose, if it would help. But it would have to be for a short period, since I’d begin to lose the clarity of my own true memories, which define me.”

“I understand,” said Sensimion. “Now, if you don’t mind, I must begin my surveillance of the station.”

“As you wish. I must see to a few things before I journey through the gateway.”

In truth, I had very little to do. My only obligation was in two hours’ time, when I’d sit in the small pod-ship, direct its nose toward the dimensional gateway, and plunge. In the meantime, I set out to find Atticus, who I hadn’t seen all morning.

Strangely, I couldn’t find him.

I ate a light lunch in the dining hall and then dressed myself in a flight suit. Just as I was about to make my way to the pod-ship, I paused. “What the fuck are you thinking, you fool?”

I quickly returned to my apartment.

“What’s the matter?” asked Sensimion.

“Nothing,” I replied, moving straight to the dining table.

I retrieved the picture of my dead wife and took it into the bathroom, away from Sensimion. I breathed a sigh of relief as I relished her image.

“I almost forgot, my dear Cassandra.”

I removed the back of the picture frame and retrieved the thin silver necklace hidden within. I held it up and admired its delicate pendant—a fine, filigreed, cobalt-blue metal in the shape of an infinity spiral. I had given it to her instead of an engagement ring. After accepting my marriage proposal, she wore the infinity spiral over her heart, never removing it—until death.

“If anything happens...” I placed the necklace around my neck. “...we’ll be together soon.”

I tucked the pendant under my flight suit and left my apartment.