Trapped: Chaos Core Book 1 (7 page)

“Keep eating,”
Tinick said before replying. “There are a number of them, all small
operations though, so they use fast ships much like the Fleet
Feather, only not quite as pretty.”

Aspen carefully started
on the pre-cut grape fruit. “Is there any trade with people on the
planet?”

“Oh, no. This world
is in recovery. It was one of the first places that the UCA carpet
bombed, mostly with EMP’s, when they started their campaign. The
Countess moved in here shortly after her recovery, it didn’t take
much work to restore, and the shield blocks out everything she
doesn’t want to see. The Fleet Feather is our ferry. It’s used so
much that it’s almost never locked when it touches down because
there’s always a pilot inside, I suppose. Every time I’ve been on
it there’s someone going here or there, mostly to the carrier
hovering over the Countess’s hemisphere.” Tinick pointed out the
window very specifically. “As soon as you leave the shield you can
see it, a beautiful ship despite its purpose.”

“What does it do up
there?”

“It keeps everyone
outside the shield surrounding the estate in line, of course.”

“Of course.”

“All right, let’s
get a few strawberries in you then get this dress on.” She waited
until Aspen ate the five strawberries on the plate, had a chance to
wash her hands, then the long dark purple gown was pulled down onto
her. There was some firm pulling and twisting involved in getting it
to fit, but both of them were pleased with the results once the
silky, long dress was fitted, though Aspen appreciated it
begrudgingly. She could barely breathe, she had to take much shorter
steps, and there was no doubt that she would be singled out once she
attended whatever event was waiting for her that day. “What is this
for?” she asked.

“Court is being held
all day today. The Countess is making an announcement this morning,
there is a luncheon this afternoon, then she is holding a celebration
for the return of her Consort. He’s conquered some new territory on
a moon a few systems over, I couldn’t be bothered to listen to the
details, to be honest.”

A knock on the door
made Tinick jump a little. With a few long strides, she crossed the
room, opened it and nearly growled; “A few minutes, please. She’ll
be out when she’s ready.”

The designer closed the
door firmly and returned her attention to Aspen, straightening the
neckline and pulling on the dress on her hips. “If I were to size
this for you without the compression girdle, you’d look much
better, but we all have our orders. This is for you,” she said as
she handed Aspen a small matching clutch. “The control for the
girdle is inside.”

Aspen was alarmed as a
rectangular square with the word; INITIALIZING blinked along her
outer forearm and Tinick didn’t miss a beat as she wrapped one hand
around the display, and held Aspen’s hand with her other larger
digits in a sweet gesture. “Do take care of yourself, I’ll make
sure there are a variety of properly fitted garments waiting for you
when you come back. Oh, and take care with how you walk in this
dress. The slits up the shins can rip all the way to the waist if you
trip. The stitching is pretty, but not very strong.”

Aspen smiled at Tinick,
mentally ordering her computer to deactivate. “I’ll be careful,
thank you so much.”

“Time to go,” the
woman said, gently guiding her to the door. “Remember, no rushing
until you have to.”

“I will,” Aspen
said, wondering what was able to reactivate her personal computer. It
had to be something in the clutch, it only happened when Tinick put
it in her hand, and the designer reacted to the screen on her skin
activating so fast that she had to ask if she knew what was about to
happen.

The computer and
display were off by the time Tinick left her in the hallway, handing
her off to Larken, who smiled warmly at her. “You look fantastic.”

“Thank you. I can’t
breathe,” Aspen said.

“Oh, the dress? I was
talking about this,” he said, caressing her cheek. “I didn’t
even notice the dress.”

For a moment she forgot
that there were four guards in platinum and gold armour behind them,
that she was trying to plan an escape, and kissed him briefly.

“On we go, love
birds,” one of the guards said behind them. His voice was muffled
by a round golden faceplate with platinum leaf embellishments. He
looked ridiculous.

They were led to the
main hall. It was empty this time except for a garish ornament in the
centre with green and silver vines climbing a latticework that
reached all the way to the ceiling. There was a place for two people
to stand at the bottom, and the guards led them to it. “Do you have
any idea why we’re the centre piece this morning?” Aspen asked as
courtiers trickled in.

“I don’t know
anything about this,” Larken said as he took her hand. Her computer
sent a passive notification that it just downloaded everything he had
in his personal data storage the moment their hands touched. It was
running exactly as she was accustomed. Most of the crewmembers of the
Cool Angel had a program installed on their computers that could
passively download the contents of systems it came into contact with.
Aspen’s could send simple notifications through her nervous system
so she could see what it was doing, even when it was technically off.
The display, sound and active systems were off, making it seem like
there was no activity.

“I’m sorry about
what happened last night,” Larken whispered to her.

“That wasn’t your
fault,” she replied.

“I could have taken a
second to warn you instead of asking you questions and trying to
explain myself.”

“I mostly remember
how good it felt to be with you,” Aspen said, as much to reassure
him as to make sure he knew she enjoyed their short private time
together.

“Did you sleep?”

“I had to use the
Dreamwave,” Aspen replied. “I got some.”

The Countess entered
through the main doors then. Her dress was a loud affair with
shifting rose, green and blue tints. The sleeves and the bottom were
designed to look like outrageously large rose blooms that were only
outdone by the one at the neckline that provided great panels behind
her long neck and head. Aspen couldn’t help but notice how frail
she looked with her elongated arms, legs, neck and torso.

Courtiers applauded,
some of whom were still coming in through doors hidden in the alcoves
along the sides of the massive hall. It took at least half an hour
for the hall to fill with murmuring, expectant courtiers, and when it
did the sound of the main doors shutting echoed throughout the space.

The Countess’ Consort
emerged from the passage behind her throne. His dark purple jacket
was adorned with silvered armour plates, and heavy tails along the
back and sides moved with his stride as they struck his gold
coloured, thick leggings.

His widened face
grinned at the hundreds of courtiers before he gently took his lady’s
hand and kissed the back. Aspen wondered if he’d had more
cybernetic and cosmetic work done in her absence. When she left he
already had a full exoskeleton frame installed along with a secondary
organ package that could take over if anything vital was destroyed.
As for cosmetics, she knew his chest was broadened, legs lengthened
and widened, and his face – a palette for only exaggerated
expressions – looked broader than any human’s should at the
cheekbones and forehead. The Countess and her consort reminded her of
creatures out of some fever induced nightmare where the laws of
proportion were discarded in favour of horrifically twisted
aesthetics that could only be distressing.

Kort stood beside the
throne, grinning like some Cheshire creature, the metal irises in his
eyes catching and reflecting light unnaturally. “Today my Countess
will announce the impending arrival of a modern miracle. I call your
attention to my radiant love, the one and only Countess of the Lucent
Sector.”

“Thank you,” the
Countess said. “My consort deserves a great deal of credit. He has
hunted in the most dangerous parts of our space for the clues that
will bring this idea to life. His dedication to this endeavour has
endeared him to me even more. Cast your eyes to the middle of the
room, you will see two beautiful creatures, my Larken and Aspen.”

Aspen hated being on
display for these people. They turned and practically leered at her.
If she weren’t so afraid of what the Countess was going to say
next, she’d have found a way to excuse herself the moment eyes were
back on the throne.

“They were made to
match each other like perfect lovers before they were conceived. An
amazing genesis centre in the Geist System fabricated a sperm and egg
for each from scratch, then they were combined, and some time later,
Aspen and Larken were born. Maturation and organic programming
technology grew them until they were old enough, and well trained
enough to be effective children to my court. This only took three
months, there is no better technology anywhere else for creating
perfect beings. Well, almost perfect. These enterprising scientists
and business people knew that if they made my adopted children
perfect, then I would have little reason to buy a new generation.
They built in a feature that will end their lives in two years, and
another that renders them unable to breed with each other or anyone
else. Oh, they can try, and I was assured that the experience for
them would be pleasurable, and that onlookers would be entertained,
but there would be no offspring. I was willing to trade these
limitations for the pair of angels you see before you now. Then
things changed. The facilities they used were overrun by artificial
intelligence controlled machines who slaughtered almost all of them.
No one can order a perfect pair like these or any other variation.
That is not where the story ends, however,” the Countess said,
gesturing to Kort.

He addressed the
audience proudly. “I hunted down eleven people from the same
facility that created these two. They managed to escape on their own,
and almost all of them fell into service with criminal organizations
or our competition. When they discovered that I was after them, their
patrons tried to hide them, one of them tried to run, but they
couldn’t get away from me. Now we employ more experts from that
facility than anyone. Only three of the skilled workers who know how
Larken and his mate were made are in the wild, and I can assure you
that they will be employed by us soon. The next step is to return to
the Geist system and take the facilities that make such wonderful
beings. We will go, and hold the site for as long as it takes. While
we begin more important work, I will volunteer my own material so
thousands of soldiers can be made to defend the planet. The first
batch will be a pre-trained army for defence, after that, we will be
able to sell you perfectly loyal, high-performing soldiers for your
own armies. We have discovered that an adult human can be grown and
programmed in these facilities in only seven months, not ten at a
time, not a hundred at a time or a thousand, but ten thousand at a
time.” There was a smattering of applause, mostly from the United
Core Authority officers, but from some household masters as well.

“Those are mere
tools, and while they are certainty useful, they are not as
impressive as our specimens here,” The Countess said, gesturing
towards Larken and Aspen. “When we arrive, Larken and Aspen will be
analysed and the genetic locks that kept us from correcting their
life expectancy limitations as well as their inability to breed will
be cured. I will keep the first children they produce for myself, and
they will be matured in the same facility that made the originals, so
I can enjoy them as older children and watch them become as
formidable as their parents.” There were gasps of wonder and
disbelief. Aspen felt a chill run down her spine as she realized that
most of the courtiers were excited about her children being slaves
the moment they were born. She always wanted to have a child, was
haunted by the fact that it was impossible, but the implications had
her head spinning. “The next generation, five babies seem to be
Aspen’s theoretical limit, will be perfect, natural children
produced by their beautiful parents, and they will be auctioned off
on their first birthday to you. You are all my very best friends, so
this treasured generation will only be available to you.” She was
grinning, practically beaming, and the court was applauding, cheering
so hard that it hurt her eardrums.

“It is every woman’s
dream to have children of their own, and I am looking forward to
seeing Aspen become a mother, and for you all to share in the joy. I
love her like my own though, so I will only allow her to have five
pregnancies, then she and Larken will retire as treasured members of
my court service. There is more, of course. My people will create new
generations of perfect servants for you, as beautiful and as tailor
made as my Larken and Aspen. For a fee you can even determine their
life expectancy, their intelligence level, base traits and whether or
not they can be bred together. I know that even though you will be
able to make generations of your own perfect little creatures, you’ll
return to the source for more, because I personally know the joy that
Larken and Aspen have brought me.”

Aspen could barely stop
herself from shaking as she forced a smile and bowed with Larken. He
was having difficulty containing himself as well, flushed red, and
she squeezed his hands when they came together. “We have to
celebrate this,” she told him through clamped teeth.

His smile looked more
like a grimace as he let his anger slip for a moment, but he nodded,
and over the next few minutes they regained enough of their composure
to stand together and smile at their Countess.