Project Starfighter (45 page)

Ursula looked at Chris and Sid, the
two men standing back. Each nodded in confirmation.

“Sorry,” Ursula said, releasing
her grip on Athena. “It’s just that ... you’re not real.”

“She’s an avatar, from a WEAPCO
Firefly,” Sid said.

“
Was
WEAPCO,” Athena
added, hastily, tending to her wrist. “I’m my own person now. I’m
independent. Free.”

“How did you do that?” Chris
asked Ursula, motioning between the woman and Athena.

“She’s a machine,” Ursula
said. “It’s easy.”

“Phoebe can’t do that,” Sid
said.

“Actually, it’s not because I
can’t,” Phoebe said, “it’s more that I haven’t tried hard
enough. I probably could if I wanted to. But I won’t,” she added
to Athena, with a shake of her head.

“I guess you two were never
formally introduced,” Chris said, to Ursula and Athena, remembering
the pandemonium that had followed Athena’s inventive rescue effort.
Ursula had passed out immediately, and had not been aware of anything
that had followed. Perhaps a good thing she hadn’t witnessed Chris’
confrontation with Athena.

“Ursula Lexx, this is Athena.
Athena, this is Ursula Lexx,” Chris introduced them. Athena held
out her hand again, Ursula shaking it. There was some reluctance and
hesitation there, Chris noted. He was sure that that would pass in
due course.

“So, you’re not a real person?”
Ursula asked Athena. “You’re not one of the Upper Circle or one
of the Higher Class?”

A bemused expression came over
Athena’s face. “No,” she said. “I’m ... just me.”

“Athena is a sentient machine,”
Chris supplied. “Um, no offence or anything,” he added to her.
Athena waved it away, but smiled to him all the same. There was
something in it just for him, he noted. Perhaps because he had
finally acknowledged that she was alive.

“What did you mean when you said
my head was ‘fuzzy’?” Ursula asked Athena.

“I was created to serve as a
human-AI interface,” Athena explained. “I can hear the thoughts
of people and communicate with them that way. Usually, that is
restricted to those wearing a specially crafted helmet in the
fighter, in the hold. But in some cases, I can communicate with
people without it.” She motioned to Phoebe. To Ursula, she said,
“Your thoughts are fuzzy. Not that you’re blocking them, but
because something seems to be interfering.”

“That will be the drug they gave
me,” Ursula said. “I managed to escape once before when someone
came to see me. It might have been Kethlan, but I can’t remember
now.”

“You said it was Kethlan,
earlier,” Phoebe confirmed for her.

Ursula continued, “After that, I
was fed a drug that suppressed my ability to manipulate the machines
and the simulated environments they placed me into. I think that it
might have been done on the order of Lance Skillman, the so-called
CEO. He took particular pleasure in me not being able to defend
myself in his playrooms.”

She added no more, only falling
silent. Not that she needed to, Chris thought. It was clear what she
was implying. Phoebe came over to her sister’s side and put an arm
around her shoulders. She did not appear as shocked as the others,
and Chris thought it likely Ursula had told Phoebe already.

“I will deal with him later,”
Ursula said.

At that point, Chris decided to
change the subject, and press on with what their next steps were. He
brought Phoebe and Ursula up to speed on the situation, elaborating
as necessary for Ursula’s benefit, remembering then that she would
be in need of a starfighter of her own. A second Valkyrie was decided
upon.

“You don’t need to go after
Mal,” Ursula interrupted Chris as he started on about how they
could track down the man, get near enough to assassinate him, and
throw his followers into disarray.

“Why not?” Chris asked.

“Because you have Overlook.”

Chris looked at Sid, Athena, and
Phoebe, to see if he had missed something. Apparently, he hadn’t.

“Sorry,” Ursula said. “I
thought I had told you this already. It’s the drug and the
dizziness. No, you don’t need Mal, for the simple reason that
Overlook
is
Mal.”

The silence that initially met
Ursula’s statement was almost as loud as the shouting that
followed. “What do you mean, Ursula?” Chris asked, after calling
for calm. “They’re the same person?”

“Exactly the same,” Ursula said.

“How?” Sid asked.

“It’s probably best that you get
it from the horse’s mouth,” Ursula said.

“Sid, bring him up,” Chris
instructed, rising from his seat.

Sid did so, tapping away at one of
the bridge’s consoles, until Overlook’s avatar sprang up in the
middle of the room. The man at first appeared confused, looking all
about himself, as if he did not know what had just happened or where
he was. His eyes then settled on Chris.

“You again,” he tutted. “Where
am I now?”

“You’re on board the
Artful
Dodger
, a freighter,” Chris said, folding his arms. “I have
some questions for you.”

Overlook did not respond, but
instead focused on the other occupants of the bridge. He did a
double-take as he saw Ursula, squinting at her briefly. “I see you
rescued the other one, then?” he said.

“Yes,” Chris replied. “Your
fleet commander put up quite a fight to stop us from getting away,
but even his best efforts weren’t enough.”

“This is a Wade-Ellen vessel,”
Overlook said, turning about himself. “You really are asking for
trouble, Mr Bainfield. Not only have you taken me prisoner, but you
think that you can casually help yourself to any of the Corporation’s
assets. You’re making a very big mistake.”

“I know precisely what I’m
doing, Mr Overlook,” Chris said.

“Ha! You’re a chancer. Don’t
fool yourself into thinking that you’re the first to have ever
attempted to stand up to the Corporation. We are dealing with threats
daily. Your spirit is admirable, but you will only get so far. I
suggest you let me go, pack your bags, and run off home.”

“Okay, seriously, are you going to
shut up and start paying attention to me, or do I have to have Athena
work you over some more?” Chris asked. “Better yet, I could let
Ursula have a go. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to give you a
taste of whatever you lot put her through.”

Overlook looked between the three
women on the bridge. “Fine. What do you want to know?” he asked.

The tone suggested to Chris that
Overlook still wasn’t taking him seriously. He would change that
right now. “How long have you been masquerading as the cultist
Mal?”

Overlook started. “What?”

“You heard.”

More hesitation, before composure
returned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You have a very bad poker face,”
Chris said. “Ursula here says she knows all about your moonlighting
operation. What I want to know is why you’re doing it?”

“How did you find out?” Overlook
demanded of Ursula.

“I could feel it in your thoughts,
whenever you were close by,” Ursula said. “They were always
there, right on the surface of your mind. They weren’t strong, and
I wasn’t able to discover all the details, but you still projected
them.”

Chris glanced to Athena, the avatar
nodding. She had said the very same to him, not wanting to, but
unable to help from feeling his thoughts, his concerns, his desires.

“There were also occasions when
you would enter my simulations and ... change,” Ursula said.

Overlook scowled a little, but also
appeared intrigued. “What do you mean?”

“Your face would change into
someone else’s. It was always hard to see, as it would be hidden
within a hood or a cowl or something; I could never see it if I tried
to look directly at it. The other man was younger, and he was
sometimes holding stone tablets.”

Overlook swore.

Chris smiled. “Got you.”

Overlook glared, reached inside his
jacket for something that wasn’t there, patted his pockets some
more. “My kingdom for a cigarette,” he growled.

“Okay, let’s not beat about the
bush any longer,” Chris said to Overlook. “It’s very clear that
you’re Mal. He used to be a mercenary. Did you murder him and take
his place?”

“No,” Overlook said. “I was
charged with taking down his original mercenary group – I forget
the name – and chased them to the opposite end of the known galaxy
when he went in search of some alleged precursor technology nonsense.
I need not have sent all the ships that I did, as the fool ended up
getting himself and all those with him killed, when they got trapped
on an uncharted ice planet. I planned to declare his death to my
superiors, but instead decided to take his identity for myself,
coming up with the story of the tablets and the path to Heaven, thus
creating the Immortal League.”

“But why are you doing this?”
Chris asked. “What do you stand to gain? Is this a way of
attempting to eliminate the threat of the mercenaries from within? A
backup plan, should Mission 34-whatever- fail? Or are you up to
something else?”

Overlook was quiet for a time. “Some
of us within the Corporation are expressing concern as to the
effectiveness of Lance Skillman’s leadership.”

“Why do I get the feeling that
‘some of us’ actually just means you?” Chris asked.

“Not just me, no.”

Phoebe said, “So, a load of you
are planning to overthrow your own CEO?”

Overlook nodded.

“Why?” Chris asked.

“It’s simple – we feel
Skillman’s been in charge for long enough, and it’s time for him
to go. We might be immortal, but that doesn’t mean we wish him to
rule us for all eternity. People grow weary after a few years.”

“You mean it’s not all rosy down
there?” Chris asked.

“Of course not,” Overlook said,
irritably.

“A war in heaven,” Phoebe said.
“Who would have thought?”

“Okay,” Chris said, “exactly
what was the idea? You were going to start a cult that Skillman would
struggle to contain, declare him as being unfit to lead, and then
take control?”

“In a nutshell,” Overlook said.
“The idea was not to simply build an army to attack the Corporation
with – that would be like starting a fire in your own home just so
that you could have the master bedroom. No, the idea was to instil a
lack of confidence in Skillman’s leadership and direction. Once the
Immortal League became both sizeable and threatening enough to be
taken seriously, and be a cause for concern, people would begin to
question Skillman’s leadership. At that point, I would deal with
the issue myself, take down Mal and defeat the cult. Okay sure, it
would mean sacrificing a few assets along the way, people, planets,
maybe a whole system, to make things seem a little more authentic,
but that would all be collateral damage.

“The beauty behind assuming Mal’s
identity was that he could be killed repeatedly and never die, thus
giving weight to his self-proclaimed immortality. I could project Mal
almost anywhere I wanted, in any form I wished. He was a prophet to
some, one that made promises of the true path to Heaven, something
that would appeal to just about anybody. Many have difficulty coming
to terms with their own mortality.”

Chris snorted. “That’s rich
coming from you.”

Overlook smirked his response.

“And no one in the cult saw
through the deception, or sought to question it?” Chris asked.

“No.” Overlook chuckled
humourlessly. “They’re all too damn thick. Think about it –
they’re mercenaries, scum, lowlifes, people who are never paid or
qualified to think for themselves. They’re far too dumb and afraid
to question the truth behind such a thing. Why do you think kings and
rulers invented God? To control the masses with promises of great
things to come.”

Chris shook his head in disbelief.
It was true, though. Cults frequently preyed on those who were easily
led, exploiting and controlling them. Mercenaries were driven by
reward, usually money. In this case, the reward was the chance to
live forever.

“You know,” Sid said, “Greek
mythology is replete with examples of when the gods attempted to
overthrow one another and take Olympus for themselves, using various
forms of deceit.”

“At least we know what’s going
on and that we can stop it,” Chris said. “We only need to find a
way to dissolve the cult and that ends that little problem.”

“As easy as that, eh?” Overlook
sneered. “And how exactly will you do that? Didn’t you listen to
a thing I just said? Those people are animals.”

“Leave that to me,” Chris said.
“Right, second question: what can you tell me about Kethlan? I need
you to confirm whether or not he is an identical twin.”

Overlook folded his arms but said
nothing.

“He seemed to demonstrate psionic
abilities,” Sid prompted, “not unlike those which Phoebe and
Ursula possess. He was able to wrestle control of a number of drones
and war bots from Phoebe’s control, and cause them to
self-destruct.”

“Why does it matter?” Overlook
asked.

“Because we need to know,” Chris
said. “We need to know who we’re dealing with. Stop trying to
defend the company. You’re never going back to it.”

“Okay, let’s just do this the
easy way,” Ursula said. Though nowhere near Overlook, she reached
out a hand and made a grabbing motion. Overlook cried out, both hands
flying to his groin.

“Didn’t know I could do that
from here, did you?” Ursula said. Overlook didn’t answer but only
cried out again as Ursula tightened her grip. “Seriously, I could
probably crush them,” the woman warned.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Overlook
said, his face beginning to turn a shade of purple.

Ursula didn’t let go immediately,
clearly relishing the man’s discomfort. When she did, Overlook sat
down on the floor, rubbing himself. Ursula really was quite different
from her sister, Chris thought. He wondered how alike they had been
before Ursula had been caught, tormented, subjected to endless mind
games, and tortured. Ursula indicated Chris should resume his
questioning.