Sidespace (26 page)

C
AVARE

Richard studied the device in his palm curiously. Made of a smooth obsidian and oblong in shape, it reminded him of old-style sci-fi depictions of a phaser gun. It even glowed an icy green at the transmitting end. The near end displayed a narrow band of controls; the options were limited and essentially consisted of ‘lock on target,’ ‘transmit’ and ‘end transmit.’ Definitely still a prototype. But it had been preloaded with the code to manifest the VISH, and it contained the ware necessary to hack into the targeted eVi.

Due to its extensive integration with the human nervous system, an eVi had always been believed to be secure—unhackable and incorruptible absent direct interaction via the two tiny ports at the base of the neck.

He didn’t know the details of how the device worked, but it appeared the belief had now become a false one, even if no one knew it yet. The Reverb and its development were beyond classified, and rightfully so, for it was dangerous technology: small, undetectable and easy to operate.

He sat at a table inside
Fuori Point Grille
, in the most shadowy corner available offering line of sight to the bar running the length of the left wall. A mug of beer and a bowl of chips sat in front of him to complete the charade. He brought the mug to his lips and mimicked a sip, nudging the device a couple of centimeters out from behind the bowl as Will sidled up beside Toscano, nodded a greeting at the man and ordered a drink.

He centered the device on Toscano’s skull and activated the ‘transmit’ command.

The light emanating from the front of the device shone too brightly for comfort in the dim environment, but covering it would break the signal. Due to the delivery of the complex VISH, it was going to take 4.3 minutes to complete, longer than normal. The seconds began to tick by.

Toscano had turned to half-face Will. The microphone dot behind Will’s ear was active, and Richard listened in.

“You should try one of their custom brews. They’re not bad for the price.”

Will gestured a thanks, waved the bartender over and changed his order, then also shifted his posture subtly toward Toscano. “Thanks for the recommendation. It’s my first time here—I just moved to Cavare from Elathan.” He chuckled under his breath. “Truth be told, I’m flailing a little. I don’t suppose you can also recommend a place that serves a decent steak?”

Toscano seemed to consider the question a moment—and possibly whether to respond or brush Will off. The man glanced around the room, his gaze passing over Richard without incident, before returning his attention to Will. “Not here. There’s a respectable red meat rotisserie two blocks in from the promenade. It’s pricey, though.”

The beer arrived, and Will took a long sip then indicated approval. “This
is
good. Pricey’s not a problem—I don’t really have anything else to spend my money on. Might as well spend it on a few visceral pleasures.”

“I hear that.” Toscano’s bearing relaxed and he faced Will more fully. “Cavare has a lot of those for sale, if you’re looking.”

The tiny display blinked green.

Transmission complete

Richard casually pressed the ‘end transmit’ control and slid the Reverb closer, into his lap and finally into his pocket.

Will now had Toscano deeply engaged in conversation. He truly did have a way with people. Richard sent him a pulse giving the all-clear and nibbled on a chip.

It took Will another three minutes to extricate himself smoothly from the encounter. Richard watched in his peripheral vision as Will exited the bar, waited another twenty seconds, then stood and did the same.

Graham was back at Division, ensconced with Hennessey to monitor the performance of the VISH. Richard met Will the next street down, and together they went to join Graham and find out if these new weapons lived up to their promise.

21

EARTH

EASC
H
EADQUARTERS (
L
ODGING)

M
IA PERCHED ON THE EDGE
of the chair and took a deep breath. Willed herself calm. Even if she screwed this up in the most epic manner possible, nothing bad was going to happen to her. Despite the heady sensations the activity induced, it was safe.

Though they wouldn’t allow her to leave the EASC campus yet, yesterday they’d finally allowed her to move to a suite at the lodging quarters. It was as coldly impersonal as the hospital room had been, but it did provide more space and comfort, plus the illusion of privacy. She was almost certain the suite, along with every room at the lodging, was bugged. This was a military base after all.

But she wasn’t doing anything suspicious. She was merely sitting here quietly, wasn’t she?

Thinking ‘return’ will always bring me back here, right, Meno?

Yes. And should you lose your way, I will be able to bring you back here as well—‘here’ being wherever your body and the remainder of your consciousness resides.

Really?

Remember, I am more integrated with your mind now.

I know. I guess I’m still discovering the extent of what that means.

Thanks to the Noesis, she and Meno had access to everything Annie did—a fact they’d never fully divulged to Admiral Solovy or Dr. Canivon. She’d spent the night before studying up on not only the OTS terrorists, but the political situation in the Alliance in general and on Earth in particular. Cross-referencing the information with the details of the attack on Devon and Annie had led to some interesting, albeit troubling, possibilities.

Now Abigail had been kidnapped by the Zelones cartel. It felt as if they were under attack from all sides, and she did not intend to passively sit and wait for whoever or whatever was planning to strike at Noetica next.

I’m ready.

In her mind she focused on the desired location:
Earth, London, Earth Alliance Assembly, Office of Military Oversight Committee Chairman Pamela Winslow.

As before, her stomach lurched as the scene shifted. The edges of her vision became gauzy and indistinct, but a woman with coiffed chestnut hair and matching hazel eyes sitting behind a natural wood desk crystallized into clarity.

“—couldn’t eliminate the young man then and there. The Committee’s authority is broad, but it does not extend to kidnapping or execution.”

The woman tilted her head in nominal acceptance of the assertion. “Nevertheless, he remains an unacceptable risk. The state secrets he was privy to while hooked up to that machine cannot be allowed to become public. And what if someone were to study the ware in his head?”

Mia concentrated on turning—carefully—toward the other speaker. A young man in a business suit sat in one of the chairs opposite the desk. She drifted around to the far side of the desk to be able to see his face. A comparison against the government personnel database identified him as Luis Akin, Chief Aide to Winslow.

“Our highest priority is securing the Artificials—all of them I think—but he needs to be brought under our control as well. I’ll try to manufacture a house arrest, but if the legal approach fails we may have to resort to more clandestine measures. Look into it.”

“Yes, Chairman. I’ll ensure you’re properly insulated from any actions which ultimately follow.”

“Thank you, Luis.” Winslow stood and moved toward the window, passing directly through Mia as she did.

Mia gasped and staggered in panic from the collision of atoms and energy that
wasn’t
, screaming
‘return’
in her mind.

Back in the room, she dropped her face into her hands and breathed through her nose until the waves of nausea passed. She was doing a lot of that lately.

Are you well, Mia? The unfamiliar sensory experiences of this space can be quite jarring.

No kidding. I’m better now, thank you.

Do you want to revisit the Chairman’s office?

She considered it…but she’d learned the most crucial information. They were coming for Devon. They were coming for them all.

EASC
H
EADQUARTERS (
M
EDICAL)

Mia noted the ironic reversal of fortune as she slipped into Devon’s hospital room. Here she was at Medical yet again, not as a patient but rather visiting one, albeit one easily as recalcitrant as she had been during her too-recent stay.

Devon eased off the bed as she entered. She put a finger to her lips and watched the door close, then drew near to him.

“Why the clandestine act? Are you not supposed to be here?”

“I don’t want to attract any attention. Are you feeling okay?” According to Meno he’d suffered a hairline fracture of his left ulna, a torn ligament in one of his hips and a variety of bruises, but was otherwise physically sound. Annie could no longer assess his true mental state. Mia had intended to see to it that his girlfriend was alerted and brought in, security protocols be damned, only to discover he no longer had a girlfriend. Emily had never returned to Seattle after the end of the war.

Without Annie in his head, he was now alone.

He ran a hand through messy hair. “I just feel…angry and impotent and helpless. And slow. Sluggish. I feel kind of dumb, which is something I’ve never been a day in my life. It’s very disturbing.”

“I’m sure. Have they told you who did this, and why?”

He nodded. “Admiral Solovy gave me the bare facts—about Abigail, too. But she’s trying to protect me from the worst of it, as if she can when it’s happening to me. I had Annie on comm for the last half hour filling me in on the details. It took forever on the stupid, archaic comm channel, though. We might as well have been talking through tin cans and a string….”

He blinked and recovered the train of thought. “But the upshot is, it sounds like the Military Oversight Committee is going to war with Admiral Solovy over Noetica. You’re lucky the Committee doesn’t know you’re awake yet, or they might have tried to disconnect you, too. I don’t think those goons would’ve even cared if doing so could kill you.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She glanced furtively over her shoulder at the semi-transparent window into the hallway, much as Noah had done several days earlier. “We’re not safe here any longer.”

“Clearly I wasn’t safe—they waltzed in like they owned the place and trashed my Prevo link with no one to stop them.”

“I don’t only mean our status as Prevos—I mean we’re not physically safe ourselves, and neither are the Artificials.”

He frowned. “They already disconnected me. I’m useless to them now.”

“No, you’re not. You know things—a hell of a lot of things. To someone who’s trying to shut down Noetica completely and restrict the Artificials—or worse, shut them down as well—you’re extremely dangerous. Every aspect of Noetica is dangerous.”

“Granted, but this is the Assembly we’re dealing with. What are they going to do? Call me to testify?”

She started to reach out to him in the Noesis, then remembered he was no longer able to access it. Here on a military base, standard comms might not be secure, either. She stepped closer to whisper in his ear. “I eavesdropped on the Committee Chairman—the one who ordered the attack on you—and her Chief Aide using that quantum space—”

“I call it SusyQ.”

“Um…why?”

“It stands for Supersymmetry Quantum Mechanics—the “M” is silent.”

She made a face. “That is an incredibly lame name, Devon. We’re calling it ‘Sidespace.’ ”

He gave her a weak shrug as his expression darkened to a pout. “I liked SusyQ but…I guess ‘Sidespace’ is fine, too.”

“Now about what I saw. They’re planning to do far worse than call you to testify.”
Meno, show Annie what we saw.

Devon grew quiet for several seconds, then abruptly his eyes widened and his Adam’s Apple bobbed. “Annie agrees. She says we should leave.”

“I think we should leave, too. All of us.”

He began pacing in circles around the small hospital room. “But Annie’s too big to move—damn bureaucrats and their inane, labyrinthine approval processes. She’s only received a few of the miniaturization upgrades and still takes up half a floor.”

“I know, and there’s nothing we can do about that right now. But if we get some help—people we can trust—we can get Meno and Vii out, and ourselves. If Abigail is somehow rescued, we’ll offer to send Vii back to her. But without Abigail here, Vii’s in danger, too…Devon, are you listening to me?”

“What? Sorry, Annie and I were talking. She thinks there may be a way to get her out, too…in a sense. It’s an insane, subversive,
magnificent
idea. But we’ll need Abigail to accomplish it.”

“Then let’s hope the military can get her off New Babel. But we need to make plans which don’t rely on that happening.”

He nodded, looking shockingly upbeat given his circumstances. “The good news is, I know exactly who to call in to help.”