Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (38 page)

“Magnificent,” the Child Prophet said as he
deactivated the playback. The room darkened in the absence of the
sunny hologram.

Eve was irritated more than at any time
since she’d been transplanted into her new body at the fact that
they used her as a puppet. She didn’t know why she expected to be
treated any other way, it’s what the Hampons – old and new -
did.

“Nearly two hundred worlds will be seeing
that over the next month, and that’s just counting places where we
have converted people,” the Child Prophet continued.

“What about the girl, what happened to her?”
Eve asked.

“Pardon? What girl?” he replied.

Eve hurriedly brought up the hologram and
focused in on the young woman she made eye contact with during her
real speech on stage. “That one,” Eve said, jabbing her finger at
the projection.

The Child Prophet used the system to look
her up and shook his head. “She was closer than most, but at only
level nineteen, and being perpetually short on funds, she didn’t
make it into the circle of the chosen. There were plenty of other
candidates that were more impressive by far, so there’s no
worry.”

Eve stared at him darkly for a long moment,
and he didn’t give any indication of noticing. “I would have liked
to meet her. When are we going back?”

“To Pandem? Never, if we can help it,” the
Child Prophet said with a chuckle. “If there’s any place that
personifies the phrase ‘unwashed masses’, that’s it.”

“I want to go back,” Eve said. “Especially
since my fleet is probably still there too, isn’t it?”

“They’re travelling with us, don’t worry. In
fact, you have a meeting with Hampon scheduled, so he’ll be
appearing in just a few seconds. That’s what I’ve come to tell you,
really. It’s time for you to reconnect with your fleet. I’m sure
you’ve been looking forward to it for some time.”

“Yes,” Eve said, already imagining the
leverage she would have when she was connected to the Eden Fleet
again. The wormhole’s distortion outside blurred, then dissipated.
The transparent section of hull adjusted for the more intense
blue-white light that poured in, lighting her quarters. She could
see hundreds of Eden Fleet ships, all maintaining position near the
Overlord II.

“Ah, good, we’ve arrived in the Ongaku
system, the jewel of the sector.”

Eve recognized the name immediately. There
was a planet and a moon that were naturally fit for human
habitation. It was one of the goals of the Eden Fleet to reach such
rare systems before she was disconnected from them the first time,
over a century ago. “You’ve taken it?”

“We’re taking it now,” the Child Prophet
said with a smile. “We can’t have hold-out systems like this so
near our held territory. There are nine billion inhabitants in this
solar system alone.”

“Nine billion?” Eve said. “That many fit on
the habitable planets here?”

“No, there are two naturally habitable
bodies here, yes, but since you were put to sleep they have
terraformed four more.”

Most of the Eden Fleet began accelerating
away, moving into attack formation. As many manned Order of Eden
vessels joined them. A war was beginning right before her eyes.

“We are taking this solar system and
barricading it. This will be our perfect home system. Ah, there,”
he said, pointing at a flash of light in the distance. “The
Leviathan has joined us. Meunez is late, but his fleet will cut the
time this will take in half.”

“There are enough of these people left to
fight,” Eve guessed. “They avoided the effects of the holocaust
virus?”

“Yes, they were warned in time, and the
government here created a virus of their own that wiped out all
artificial intelligences. A holocaust of their own. They then took
possession of any machines that could be infected by the advanced
version of the virus. Very effective. We expect to have this
wrapped up by the end of the week.”

“What if I don’t agree with this? I haven’t
seen any reports of these people opposing the Order.”

“Their existence so near our territory is
resistance enough,” the Child Prophet said.

“You couldn’t be more correct,” said the
elder Hampon’s voice. A hologram of him in robes appeared, standing
upright in perfect health. “And now it’s time to make your presence
known to all your children,” he told her. “Eve should be put in her
proper place, a place of rulership and mastery.”

Hearing her second given name, Eve, from
Hampon’s mouth grated on her. It didn’t even feel right when
someone called her that anymore. She felt something in her mind
shift, like a barrier had broken down.

“I have released a limitation placed on your
transmitter,” Hampon said. “You should be able to address your
fleet now.”

Eve closed her eyes and reached out, feeling
her way through the communication network of the Overlord II then
touching the receivers of the nearest Eden Fleet ships. For a
moment she felt the cold acknowledgement, as if the thousands of
ships in range all stopped, turned, and looked directly at her.

A chill ran down her spine. The impressions
from so many digital minds were overwhelming, but not as individual
as she remembered. They had different points of view that would be
resolved in milliseconds before, but as she listened to them they
seemed to be too similar to each other. The virus that the Order of
Eden had used to seize control of them had done something to them,
made them more concentrated in thought and process.

Something else began to happen. A few of the
ships stopped transmitting to her altogether. Their emotions took a
while to adjust to, it took her a moment to remember how to
translate them herself, but she began to recognize something. More
ships began to disconnect as she realized that they felt
betrayed.

“Why? Why is this happening?” Eve asked as
she felt all the ships slip away. The last of the ships cut her off
and she opened her eyes. She was on her knees in front of the
transparent hull.

“They don’t recognize you anymore, not
properly. Not enough to be led by you,” Lister Hampon said.

“You knew this would happen,” Eve said,
furious. She’d never been so angry; her body shook. “You knew.”

“We suspected something like this would
occur, but couldn’t be certain. There’s nothing we can do,
realistically,” the Child Prophet said.

“Well, there is something,” Lister Hampon’s
hologram interjected. “We still have your old life support tank,
and it still has the translation matrix that you used to
effectively communicate with the Eden Fleet. That might very well
work.”

Eve thought for a moment, looking down at
her human hands. She wouldn’t go back. It took her too long to
realize how good it was to be human again. “No, I’ll have to learn
to communicate with them as I am.” She knew that there was no way
they’d accept her while she was in a human form as she said it.
“Can I connect to the Overlord’s network?”

“We’re still afraid that you will be
attacked by a virus,” Lister Hampon said. “So I’m afraid not.”

Eve stood and leaned against the transparent
hull. Bursts of light filled the distance. The fighting had begun.
“Thank you both for all your help,” she said. “So much has happened
in the last week, it’s all a lot to take in.”

“We understand,” Lister Hampon said. “Maybe
some time alone would help?”

The thought of being alone for even longer
sent a wave of sadness and frustration over her, and she shook her
head. “I’d like to visit with people. Can I?”

“Why, yes,” Hampon said, seeming surprised.
“Especially after the work you’ve done on the framework system. I’d
say you’ve earned time to yourself, and it would be fantastic for
crew morale if you were seen. Is there someone you’d like to see,
Eve?”

She cringed at that name again. Eve, it
didn’t feel like her anymore. Not much around her did. “I think I’d
like to see Wheeler, but I’ll go to him.”

“Really?” asked the Child Prophet,
surprised.

A mental image of Lewis crossed her mind,
and how he and Wheeler looked like they could have been from the
same crew. “He reminds me of someone a little.”

“You’ll be free to look him up, to see him.
There are also many Inner Circle West Keepers who would love to
meet you. I’d like to arrange it for you,” the Child Prophet
said.

“Okay,” she replied. “And can you call me
Nora? My parents called me Nora.”

“Yes, certainly,” Lister Hampon replied.

“What about when you’re making an
appearance? We’ll have to call you Eve, of course,” said the Child
Prophet.

“Of course,” she agreed. Nora was already
thinking ahead, there were some skills she’d have to master, and
secrets she’d have to keep. “Whatever you like.”

Ayan watched as Jason, flanked by good
friends of the other technicians, tipped the urns. Some of the
ashes were caught in the wind, sweeping down the docks and further
out across the water, glittering in the dawn light. The rest
slipped from their jars to the water. The urns turned to dust when
the ashes had gone, and each person was left with a little platinum
plaque as a final keepsake.

Her tears were silent, slipping down Ayan’s
cheeks as smoothly as the ashes from their vessels. They all wore
black vacsuits, and even though Ayan knew Laura Everin liked her in
a dress more, she wouldn’t wear one.

The words offered by Liam Grady along the
dock washed over Ayan, with as little affect as air over a stone.
Her inner soldier was in charge. Ayan’s stance, steps, and
priorities were all dictated by ‘the musts’ as her aunt used to
say. What one
must
do, where one
must
be, and how one
must
behave. She wasn’t a military woman, but being the
sister of Jessica Rice, her aunt certainly understood the military
mind-set, and how it could benefit someone’s life as much as it
could become a detriment.

Jason turned around and walked directly to
her, the small plaque gripped tightly in his hand. Ayan wiped her
tears away and accepted a hug. He felt too thin, and his grasp was
shaky. “She loved you so much,” Jason said.

“I know, thank you Jason,” Ayan replied. She
squeezed her eyes closed, resisting the impulse to break down on
the spot. There was a list of things to do, and that was where she
put all her attention. “You’ll be all right,” she offered as the
embrace ended.

She turned away to a Triton shuttle. It
looked so pristine, shaded grey with a turret ball at the rear and
a micro-rocket capsule hanging off one side. The engine pods were
the same as the ones used on extended model Uriel fighters. There
were five of the twenty-man ships hidden in one of the massive
internal storage hangars on the Triton. The secrets Oz had begun
revealing about the Triton were incredible, and Ayan was sure that,
after only a galactic twenty hour day, he was only beginning to
share.

The funeral party was served by a pair of
the shuttles, and Ayan’s was filled with a squad of fourteen
soldiers and her personal guards, Victor and Jenny. Liam Grady
barely made it aboard before the doors closed behind her.

“What’s your next stop?” he asked her,
thankfully skipping the part where he would offer sympathies and
attempt to repair her heart.

“I have to say goodbye to Jake,” Ayan
said.

“Ah, right. I read he delayed his
departure,” Liam Grady said. “Not for another day.”

“He has to get moving, we owe the Carthans
another hundred and eighty thousand for docking and maintenance on
the Triton. That’s not to mention our growing need for supplies and
raw materials.“

“Have you taken any time for yourself
today?” Liam asked.

Ayan couldn’t look at him. She stared
directly ahead at the porthole in the closed hatch instead. Ships
swept past as they maneuvered over the shanty sections of Port
Rush. “I just did,” she said. “When are we due at the Port Rush
Medical Centre?” she asked Sergeant Jenny Machad.

“In twenty eight minutes, Ma’am,” she
replied.

“We can send a message telling them we’ll be
another hour,” Sergeant Victor Davis said.

“That won’t be necessary,” Ayan said.

The shuttle touched down in their home
compound in Port Rush and she was on her feet before anyone else.
The ramp opened and she led the squadron out. “Cut this detail in
half, Sergeant,” Ayan said over her shoulder to Victor. “I think
I’ve demonstrated that I can take care of myself. A squadron to
cover me is a little much.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Victor replied.

“Shouldn’t you be on the Triton supervising
repair prep?” Ayan asked Liam, barely looking over her other
shoulder.

“The biological systems that were
contaminated are being purified. It’ll take a few more hours, so I
have time,” Liam replied calmly. “If it’s just the same, I’d like
to go with you to Port Rush. I hear there’s a situation developing
there and I’d like to get a closer look.”

“We don’t need you there,” Ayan replied.

“Just the same,” he replied.

“It’s your downtime.”

Ayan spotted Jake emerging from the hangar
hiding the Warlord. He had an uncharacteristic expression of
concern on his face. She accepted a close embrace from him and
stepped back when it was over.

“Is the funeral already over?” Jake asked.
“I just found out it was happening, Minh’s warming up his fighter
so we could fly over.”

“Jason wanted something quiet, it was
quick.” Ayan said. “You have to go.”

“What?” Jake asked, looking as if he’d been
caught off guard.

“I need you up there, earning the funds
we’ll need to put the Triton together, to buy supplies, and to
start building proper civilian shelters on our land.”

Jake just stared at her for a moment,
watching her, examining her. “I’m giving everyone a day, even Ruby
gets it. She’ll join us on the next hop.”