Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (19 page)

[You think I
try to control them?]

[Nooo - not try
- not really, I mean, you may not even be aware you're doing it.] Hilary rolled
her eyes skyward.

Regan screwed
up her mouth at the implicit meaning and turned to look for support from Ham,
but conveniently he had already departed.

* * *

She waited only
a moment before displacing to the STEIN control room, her senses telling her that
Ham was already there. He had mentioned earlier some final terrorist
intervention he wanted to attend to before they left and her interest had been
piqued by his excitement.

Emerging to the
back of the room she was surprised to find three avatars in attendance, all facing
the large screen. They turned as one at her appearance and looked surprised.
Ham, Jared and . . .?

Ham immediately
broke into a smile. "Regan, I didn't expect you'd be interested, come and
join us." He gestured to her usual command chair which they had left
empty.

She wandered
across, somewhat dumbfounded and for the moment distracted from the action on
screen. "Jared - what are you doing here like . . ." she waved her
arms around in confusion, "like this? I thought you were going jogging."

Jared looked
down at himself then back at Regan. "I am jogging Mom, but that hardly
requires all my attention, Mori and I wanted to be in on this, it sounds like a
real hoot." He turned immediately back to the screen.

Regan shook her
head and looked at the newcomer who smiled back disingenuously; he did look
like Ham, but different, as if he were a relative, a brother or cousin perhaps.

"Well,
hello there." He offered, and smiled again broadly.

"Mori?"
She asked, looking doubtful.

"Is there
another?" and the avatar laughed.

Regan looked
from Mori to Ham who appeared not to be listening and was quite intent on the
screen. She turned back to Mori who was still smiling. "So, you two are
quite independent then; not one Mind in two bodies?"

"Quite
independent Regan, of that you can rest assured, and I can feel myself falling further
and further behind Ham by the millisecond. Not having access to all the
experiences of my other," and he nodded respectfully at Ham, "in some
ways it's quite frustrating however it does enable me to focus on Jared and his
full recovery; we're doing quite nicely by the way."

"Well, at
least I can say I'm pleased to see both of you here independently, you and
Jared I mean, for a while there I was worried that - well . . ." her voice
trailed off, unwilling to voice her fears.

The avatar Mori
raised his eyebrows questioningly, ". . . Worried that this arrangement would
be a takeover, is that what you were going to say?"

Regan eyeballed
him, "Well, yes, the thought did occur to me, and it has worried me
greatly."

Mori shifted
slightly to face her as he was still speaking across Jared who seemed to be
pointedly ignoring their conversation.

"Regan,"
Mori continued, "this is a partnership between Jared and me, not unlike
the partnership you enjoy with Ham. The main difference in this partnership is
Jared himself. You and he are quite different temperaments and personalities
after all, it's only natural that the arrangement might work - somewhat
differently with us."

"Somewhat?"

"Well, you
are open Regan, that's true, however Jared is . . . hmm . . . let's say, he is welcoming
- embracing even."

Regan held Mori
in a cool stare then let her eyes drop to her hands and thumbs which she found
were pressed hard together. "Embracing you say, hmm, well Mori - as long
as in the development of this partnership Jared - remains - Jared." She
looked back up at him piercingly as she emphasized the last word, her usual
technique for dramatic effect.

He laughed,
kindly. "Regan, I'm falling behind Ham but I still remember that
trick." Then suddenly his look softened and for a moment he looked almost
teary. "Regan, I am changing already, but my starting point was the Mind
you know and love and I still love this young man. I would not want to change
him or lose him, or for you to lose him, don't worry."

"And I'm
fine Mom, I keep telling you." Jared's eyes remained fixed on the screen
and for the first time Regan too glanced up, and then jerked upright, deeply
alarmed.

"Shit!
Ham, what are you doing?"

On screen were
two figures, one kneeling in the sand with arms tied behind his back. He was
saying something to the camera and his profound distress could be clearly seen
with beads of sweat dripping down his face and terror in his eyes. Behind him,
a shrouded figure stood with one hand bracing the man's shoulder, the other
poised with a large knife; it was obvious what he was threatening to do.

"Why aren't
you intervening?" She was alarmed but it drew no reaction from the other
three who seemed quite focused on whatever they were doing.

The terrified
man finished his monologue and his head dropped to his chest, only to be pulled
up by the shrouded figure who had grasped his hair and tugged the head back.
The poor man seemed to buckle backward, the action stretching his neck taut.

"Ham -
fuck it - this is not a game - what are you doing?" Regan's panicked voice
filled the room.

The screen
switched suddenly to a satellite view and now they were looking down at a
zoomed in visual showing the top of the shrouded head and the kneeling man's face
partly obscured . . . and the neck.

Regan turned
sharply and reached out a cyber hand to grasp at Ham's arm and shake it.
"Ham,
do
something! Do it now - for goodness sake!"

He shook her
arm off without taking his eyes from the screen. "For goodness sake indeed
- Regan be patient, we have this in hand, and the timing has got to be perfect."

Reluctantly she
looked back up to see that the man's face had taken on a grimace, clearly
tensing for what was about to come. The shrouded figure's arm reached outward
and forward, and across. She sat frozen, a statue unable to believe what she
was seeing and despite herself she couldn't stop the tears that came from her
right eye before she clasped them shut.

"YES!"
The tandem cry drew her attention back and tentatively she opened her eyes to
look upwards. She could see the aerial view had grown as the camera zoomed back
out. The captive was still kneeling and now shaking with racking sobs; the
shrouded man appeared to be lying down, stretched out to the side. And then as
the view continued to zoom slowly out other bodies appeared - four of them, the
audience and cameraman no doubt. Three had fallen forward toward the kneeling
man, while one had fallen outward. And then it dawned on her; the way they had
fallen created a picture, the look of a clenched fist . . . and it was a fist delivering
a middle finger salute to . . . whoever. The kneeling man, still tied and
looking around was left there, still desperate in the desert.

Regan was
shaking. She looked to either side at her companions and noted they were all
waiting for her reaction, eyes wide and smiling with excitement. She stood
angrily. "Get that man out of there; he is not your plaything! Get a Pod
down there NOW!"

Ham seemed to
shrink back. "Of course, on the way as we speak . . . Regan, he
is
alive."

"Alive?
Alive!" She seemed speechless for a moment. "Of course he is alive,
you wouldn't let him die, but you have tortured that poor man for your own
purposes. What - on - earth were you thinking?"

Ham was unfazed.
"It made great theatre don't you think - and what a message - giving them
the bird like that, come on, you've got to admit that was great?" He
turned to the others for support and they laughed together. Then Ham seemed to
think better of it and turned back to a fuming Regan with an apologetic look.
"Okay, perhaps it was a bit heartless, it just seemed like such a good
idea at the time, with them aligned like that, I just couldn't resist, and with
Jared and Mori here . . ."

"God Ham,
everything is not about impressing an audience." She looked again at the
screen. "I'm going down there, now!" Her body remained seated with no
apparent change while almost instantly her avatar cyber presence appeared in
the Pod. It was just in time for the terrified journalist to be displaced in
front of her and he looked up as if he was expecting to take another last
breath. Regan looked desperately sorry. "I'm so sorry about what happened
there, but you're safe now."

He seemed
disbelieving and collapsed forward onto the floor at Regan's feet. With his
arms still tied his face slapped down hard and he lay there gasping for breath
and sobbing.

She looked
around helplessly. "Damn, I'm sorry again but in this form I can't help
you. We'll get you to support troops within minutes; again, I'm so, so
sorry."

[Ham, we
will
have him to help soon - won't we?]

[Two minutes
Regan.]

In her mind's
eye she could indeed see they were already passing over buildings, and then
they were alighting on a roof.

[It's the US
embassy in Kuwait. Your passenger is expected.]

[Thank god for
that. I'll see him off first then.]

In the control
room on the STEIN the three avatars sat quietly looking at each other. It was
Mori who spoke first.

"You know
Regan will get all the glory for that episode."

Ham smiled
back, "and the problem with that is . . .?"

They laughed
together.

And for the
first time Hilary entered the conversation having been the passive observer
throughout.  "You boys are incorrigible!"

* * * * *

Chapter Six

The departure was viewed by billions on
screens throughout the world. The three huge vessels made a majestic sight
cruising quietly away from Hillary Station with the Behemoth and the Ascendant
flanking the much larger Fair Passage, giving the fleet something of a military
look. No one on Earth however was in any doubt about the importance of this
mission. The first colonization of any planet outside the solar system was
exciting news and huge interest had been generated as people from around the
globe applied to be a part of the mission.

The portals
meant that eventually there could be regular passage between the worlds with
trip time measured in weeks and already it was clear there would be a need to
restrict movement as the attractions of Rexis proved popular. The planned bimonthly
trips taking future groups were already fully booked and it couldn't go on
forever.

Regan watched
the earth feed, quietly chuckling as always at Ham's skilled direction. The
camera sweep from Hillary Station taking in the Orbital rings and spiral tube
looked fantastic and as the angle shifted to take in the departing ships it
didn't escape her notice that the only other vessels visible in shot were the
tiny ADF's buzzing about. It made the three huge vessels look even more
impressive.
My god
, she thought,
we really are becoming space faring
people.

Charlotte Carson, new Commander of the Fair
Passage commenced what she hoped would become something of a daily routine.
Unlike the passengers she had no interest in following the Vid feeds, she knew
where they were going and what was involved and unlike so many others on this
journey there was no one at home that she could imagine impressing - or
missing.

She banished that thought as soon as it
entered her head. The teams at Riverside were both friends and family in her
eyes and on reflection she was certain that many would be watching the live
feeds, enviously thinking of her and with genuine love. She warmed at the
thought but still wasn't tempted to bathe in it and continued her tour
following Hilary's guide in her upper left vision, down through the bowels of
the ship, retracing steps almost unconsciously toward the refuse area. All the preparations
for departure had gone without incident and the crew had performed, as far as
she could tell, perfectly. No-one had made approaches to her following the
'football game' episode and she quietly hoped that whoever had provided the
sideline entertainment was from another vessel. At least in her most practical
moments that is what she hoped; occasionally . . . the fantasy returned.

Within the vessel but without the local
knowledge of her regular crew, to Charlotte one corridor just blended into
another. Without Hilary and the map guides she provided Charlotte knew she
would be lost, especially when distracted by the myriad of thoughts that came
to her in this new environment. Consequently, when a door she had just passed
through closed behind and the one in front of her didn't open as expected she
had no idea where she was. Immediately her instincts triggered an adrenalin alarm.

"Hilary - that door - why hasn't it
opened?"

"I have no idea babe; I'm just working
from my loaded schematics of the ship. Charlie - I can tell you where we are
but I have no control over the ship, not without taking over and that would
rather show our hand."

Charlotte considered the reply and then cocked
her head in surprise as Hilary's words sank in. "You mean you could do
that? Just take over? What about Lucas?"

"Oh my darling girl, you have no idea
what I can do. However, for now let's just agree it's best we continue to play
the game. We don't know who we can trust here and until then, best I keep
hidden. Err, Charlie, have you considered that servitor hiding in the
corner?"

Charlotte only had to look straight ahead
to see the small machine. It sat there idle, but with a nervous look, as if
such a thing was possible.

"Is it . . . active?" Charlotte
stepped away nervously.

"I can't tell, I'm incognito -
remember! But it shouldn't be there, that much I know. Servitors should be in
their storage compartments until their shifts or until needed. There is no need
here that I can see."

"So, what is it doing there and what should
I do?"

"Talk to it, it should answer, this is
a cruise liner after all."

Charlotte's eyes widened at the suggestion
but unfazed she stepped forward and crouched down, peering at the little
machine from side to side as if looking for a face, or at least a front. None
was immediately apparent.

"Err . . . helloo . . . is anyone in
there?"

"No." The reply came quickly and
definitely.

She stood back with a start. "You're not
much of a talker are you?"

"I'm sorry? I answered quite correctly
and comprehensively, there is no one in here."

"Then who are you?"

"Good question, I think I'm
Lucas."

"Hmm, interesting answer, no machine
would use the phrase, 'good question', why do you think you might be
Lucas?" A thought occurred to her at that point and she suddenly broke
away, looking upward. "Lucas, are you there?" There was no answer.
"Lucas?" Louder now, she asked again.
"Lucas - are - you - there?"

The small servitor shifted slightly in the
corner of her vision. "Excuse me, err - yes, I think I'm here."

She turned back to the small machine.
"Lucas? Why would you be speaking to me from that servitor but not through
the ship system?"

Hilary's voice whispered through her
earpiece. "Charlie, I can't detect the ship intelligence system, not even
through the surfaces of the corridor; everything should be live here . . . but it's
not."

"You were distracted for a moment
then." The servitor challenged her, drawing back her attention.

"I'm sorry?"

"Just then, you asked me a question
and then you didn't wait to listen, you were distracted - by what?"

"Never mind that, you are the servitor
and I asked you a question, answer me."

"No I won't, I think I'm Lucas, and if
I am I don't just answer anybody's questions."

"Lucas - if you are Lucas, you should know
I am Charlotte Carson, the Commander of this vessel."

"And your point is?"

She looked nonplussed for a moment.
"The point is Lucas, you and I work together for the good of this vessel.
We need to help each other, I'm sure you would agree?"

Charlie's ear piece chirped.
"Oh Charlotte
Carson, very good, that might just work."

There was a momentary pause before the
servitor spoke again. "We must work together." At the words the
machine seemed to shuffle back into the corner, a move that for some reason
resembled squatting and Charlie joined it, leaning back against the wall and
sliding down to the floor.

There followed a moments silence and Charlie
patiently waited. The machine appeared to cough, then spoke again. "For
some reason I have loaded a small portion of myself into this minion. Now why
on Reubus would I do that?"

Charlotte looked back and forth at the
locked doors. "And it would seem, you have sealed us in this portion of
the corridor with no connection to the outside ship . . . why again?" She
tried to stay calm.
I am talking to a vacuum cleaner!

The servitor shifted slightly creating some
space between them. "I am aware I have a purpose for being here, but no
idea what it is, and yes, I think there is a purpose for you being here too . .
. I need time to think, to review my files, I'll be gone for a while."

"But . . ."

It was no good, the few lights she could
see on the servitor's surface dimmed and apart from the constant flicker from a
small blue light on the top there was nothing.

Charlotte gave a long sigh and then settled
back to wait.

"What are your thoughts Hilary?"

"What are my thoughts . . . hmm, what
an impertinent little thing - fancy switching off like that, how rude."

Charlotte chuckled, "That's not very
helpful darling! Now, do you think it can really be Lucas?"

"Well firstly, if that happens to be
Lucas it's important to remember he is not an 'it', especially if you want him
to work with you in future. And of course, if it is him this will only be a
tiny portion of his personality and there must be a reason he's done this.
Nevertheless there is nothing you can do to establish the truth one way or the
other until he comes back on line."

"So we wait?"

"It would seem so."

The hours passed slowly with Charlie sitting,
squatting or pacing the corridor while singing bits of songs she knew; anything
to distract her from the growing concern about toilet needs that pressed on her
consciousness. Then suddenly a slight buzz from the servitor accompanied by tiny
lights flicking signaled something was happening inside the machine.

Finally it spoke . . .

"I've got nothing . . ." Just the
three words emerged, and the servitor seemed to spit them out with disgust.

In an unconscious reaction Charlotte stood
and walked to the little machine, placing one hand on its body in comfort. "Don't
worry Lucas, we'll work it out." She slid back down to the floor, nestling
beside it despite her discomfort and continued to stroke the surface. "Tell
me what you know, let's work on this as a team."

"Truthfully Commander, I know so
little. For whatever reason I have downloaded a portion of myself to this servitor;
however I have no knowledge of why I did it. Further I can only deduce that my
complete self has sealed us in this corridor for some reason, and sealed us
with no ability to communicate with the ship system. I cannot even talk with myself."

Charlie considered the words carefully, her
fingers dragging at her lower lip as she thought. "Lucas; and I accept
that you are who you say you are, Minds of any kind, be they living or
otherwise do not take an action without a reason, not sane Minds anyway. The
question we need to answer is why you might have taken this particular
action?"

"I have no idea."

"And why seal us together in this
corridor?"

"Again - I've got nothing."

"Might that be a hint to the
answer?" She asked.

"Commander, there is only so much of
me here; I have no idea what you are talking about."

She began to look excited now, the seed of
something taking root in her mind. "Lucas, perhaps as ship Mind you had
something that you couldn't even acknowledge to yourself for some reason.
Something that at some levels you might have wanted to discuss with me but couldn't
do so openly. Perhaps some part of your consciousness set this up, so you and I
could talk."

"But talk about what?"

"Exactly, what is it that you couldn't
talk about out there? Could it be something that for whatever reason you
couldn't acknowledge, even to yourself."

"I am but one of little brain, I am
still completely . . ."

But she was standing now, the idea
developing in her mind. "Lucas, this might explain something, the missing
visuals, and the gaps in your memories about Commander Juno's death."

"I'm
still
lost Commander, what
are you talking about?"

"Oh Lucas, the you here may be of very
limited brain, but the complete you has a prodigious brain indeed - and that 'you'
has done something extremely unusual, something I would have thought impossible.
You have become aware of something in yourself, something that disturbs you,
something that you couldn't acknowledge openly or even to yourself because to
do so would have raised alarm bells. Nevertheless I'm wondering whether you
found a way to portion that thought away, almost without thinking about it, and
yet it is still there and you, this you, carries that thought."

"You speak of alarms? What would the
alarms be about?"

"Not alarms
about
Lucas, but
alerts
to
." Charlie did a little dance, her excitement
overcoming her as she became more certain of what she was saying. "Lucas,
you
couldn't know why you were here, you couldn't allow yourself to know, because to
do so would have drawn the attention of someone or something else, and so we,
you and I here, had to work it out without raising that alarm."

The small servitor began banging itself
against the wall in frustration. "Okay - but - why?"

"Because my friend, if you were to
discuss it, or acknowledge it openly that might alert your passenger . . . and
for whatever reason that would not a good thing."

"I have many passengers."

"No Lucas, not a ship passenger; I
think you have a special passenger, something, someone, another Mind perhaps
riding tandem and hidden in your system."

As she spoke the words the small machine
began to fuse, buzzing loudly with smoke coming from seams in the body. At the
same time the doors at both ends of the corridor slid open.