Spires of Infinity (44 page)

“Get out of my head!”

You belonged to me before you were born, and you will be mine until the day that
you die. You exist because I created you.

“Then I will kill myself and be free of you.”

Will you? How will you avenge those that died to make you my Apostle if you are
dead?

Growling, the Apostle ground her teeth. She knew that she could break Cain’s

control over her. She was the strongest Subject. Her mind and body would be her own once more, and Cain would pay for the invasion, for raping her mind.

Grappling inside of her own skull, the Apostle fought for control of her own body, and began to remember times when Cain had taken control without her realizing it, but there was a strange cast to the memories. Seeming normal on the surface, on closer examination they were foggy and brittle, a thin veneer atop the real memories of Cain’s manipulations. A flood of horrible things rushed through the holes in the film of falsity that Cain had used to cover himself.

She was so confused. What was she even doing here? She knew that Cain had

arranged for the doorway of lighting that brought her here, but she could not think of why. Something strange was happening. Why had Cain bothered to give her exactly what she wanted? He was the kind of master that never gave scraps to a servant without an ulterior motive.

Gasping, the Apostle made the most horrifying realization of all. It had never been her idea to seek out time travel. That came straight from Cain. He’d been manipulating her from the very beginning, so subtly that she’d never even noticed. She began to question everything she’d ever done in her entire life, before and after leaving her home world. Had her mind ever belonged to her? Did that mean the blood of the other Subjects was on
his
hands rather than hers?

“You want to be here so badly,” the Apostle gasped, exerting all of her will

against Cain’s pressure on her mind. “I’ll leave, and by the rules of this crystal, I’ll never be able to come back!”

Reaching for the crystal around her neck, the Apostle’s hand stopped short.

Straining with all of her might, she fought to reach it until her vision turned red, her muscles shook, and she felt lightheaded. Her hand would not move a single hair closer.

You will do as you are told, little wolf. That is why you killed all of your brothers
and sisters, is it not? To become my Apostle? To do my bidding? You gave yourself to
me willingly. You will never be free.

Overwhelming her, the pressure in her mind increased, crushing every thought

and desire into dust. Then it grew stronger still, pressing down until she thought she might pop. Still, it increased, obliterating all conscious thought, leaving room only for Cain’s mad laughter. Some small part of her managed to hold on, clinging to sanity by a fingernail.

Appearing before her eyes, she saw Cain. Long, blonde hair framed a face that was blacker than night. The blackness seemed to ooze and seethe like a living entity clinging to his flesh like tar. It was far darker than any natural skin coloring she had ever seen before. As his eyes bored into her soul, she wanted to scream.

You will do my bidding, and you will be rewarded for it. I made that deal with
you long ago, my little wolf. We are so close. We’ve come so far. This is the end of the
road. Do this one thing more, and you will have your reward.

“What do you wish of me,” the Apostle managed.

Destroy the central tower and erase all data in the computers.

“I don’t trust you,” the Apostle screamed.

You have no choice. You will do it, or I will take your body, ripping your mind
and consciousness right out of it and tossing them into the void. You will become nothing
more than an extension of me.

Desperation gave her the strength to speak, and to think. There was nothing she could do. Trapped, she had but one choice. Obey. She had no doubt that he could deliver her to oblivion as promised, and she would avenge no one dead. She was completely trapped.

“Very well,” the Apostle gasped. “Release me.
Release me
!”

The pressure eased off of her and that horrible dark visage vanished from her

sight. She was once again in control of her own body, and able to think freely once more.

It was like being able to breathe again after so long without air.

Oh yes, and I want you to kill the man that shot you. He will try to interfere.

Snarling, the Apostle bared her fangs. Cain would die a very slow and painful death for this.

You’re welcome to try
.
I would welcome death, but you do not have the power to
end my life.

The words startled her. For the first time she truly understood how deeply she was snared. He could hear her thoughts. He knew every single thing that went on inside of her head. How was she supposed to fight an enemy that could see her every thought and action before she even realized what she was thinking or doing? How was she supposed to fight against him when he could make her do anything he wished? No wonder he was amused whenever she thought of killing him. It had to be like watching a little puppy that thought herself terribly fierce.

Frantically, the Apostle tried to think of a way to shield her thoughts. There had to be some way that she could plot against him without his knowledge. She would be his slave no longer, and he would pay for violating her with his life.

Cackling madly, Cain made no response.

“Destroy the tower,” the Apostle repeated her orders, “erase the computers. Kill the man that shot me.”

First you must lock the security systems. The Goddess that rules this world will
stop you if you don’t block her attempts first.

Shuddering, the Apostle realized what she would have to do in order to complete Cain’s commands. She would have to bend the minds of others to her will, the same as he was doing to her. She could not believe that she’d allowed that
thing
to take complete control over other people, spreading his influence like a plague. Did they feel what she felt when Cain pressed down on her? Was that what she’d been doing to people all this time? Passing her curse on to countless others like a plague? Was Cain lurking in the back of every mind she’d touched and manipulated? The implications were horrifying.

“What have I done,” she gasped.

What if every person she’d touched with her power was now an Apostle of Cain?

What if Cain could control every one of them as he could her? There were entire worlds full of billions of people converted to Cain’s gospel through her powers. Did all of
them
have the power to pass it on to others? That explained the rapidity with which it spread through every world she’d preached on.

She had a sudden vision of darkness sweeping across the whole of creation,

destroying everything in its path with her at its head, directing the flow. Stars went out of the sky, one by one, as the plague descended upon them, and it was all her fault. Her foolish pride in the title that she despised was spreading ruin, chaos and darkness throughout the universe.

“What have I done,” the Apostle slammed her fist into the wall. “What have I

done
!”

There was only one thing she could do now, follow Cain’s orders lest she be

destroyed for standing against him. She had to spread Cain’s plague of darkness into the minds of others in order to accomplish his goals, whatever they might be. There had to be some way that she could break free, some way to
defy
him. How could she stop the tide of darkness that he’d sent rolling over all creation by using her as his puppet?

Cain was so very eager. She could feel it rushing through her like wildfire.

Whatever he wanted this badly, she couldn’t allow him to have, but there was nothing she could do to fight against him. She had to obey.

*****

Appearing beside Gabriel, a hologram of Allie grinned widely.

“Just like coming home. I copied myself to the mainframe and have at least

partial control over the facility. Over the next six hundred years I did a lot of tweaking and automating to give myself more freedom, but none of that has happened yet. I have very minimal control over most systems. Damn it. It is like having my hands tied behind my back!”

Looking at her, Gabriel sighed, letting his eyes drop back to his lap. Unable to get the image of the poor little girl he’d murdered out of his head, he saw her everywhere he looked. He heard her horribly rasping voice, begging to die.

A tear ran down his face, and he didn’t bother to wipe it away. He’d been no

saint in his life, but the thought of taking a child and doing what they’d done to her turned his stomach.

“You can take your Sa’Dhi back now,” Allie gestured to the console that, in six hundred years, she would use to copy herself
to
his Sa’Dhi.

Sighing, Gabriel stood. Even that much seemed an effort. Depression weighed

heavily on him, making him want to curl into a little ball and forget about the world while he cried. He thought that he’d completely walled off his emotions forever to protect himself from abuse by his father and the bullies throughout his formative years. He didn’t know how to deal with them. Sam had opened the floodgate within him, and now he couldn’t close it, or even slow the flow.

Careful not to look through the window down into the pit where Allison’s

mutilated body rested, still strapped to the torture rack, Gabriel walked to the console and removed his Sa’Dhi.

When he plugged it back into his hand, a second, much more lifelike image of

Allie appeared, standing next to the hologram. The two of them looked at each other, winked, and smiled.

“Please Gabriel. Stop moping. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m going to have nightmares about that until the day I die,” Gabriel sighed, allowing himself to glance at what he’d done to the little girl below. Her head from the jaw up was gone. Blood, brains, and bone were splattered everywhere.

“Imagine how it is for me,” Allie pointed to the dead little girl. “I was the one that had to live through it. I used to believe in god when I was a kid. I prayed to him every night, then
that
happened to me. Now, I am the closest thing to a god this world has ever seen. So you listen to me. I wanted this. I
needed
this. Stop blaming yourself for it. You did not kill me, the scientists that ripped my mind from my body did. Get over yourself, Gabriel. I need you. There is still work left to do, and I cannot do it myself!”

Gabriel wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that he was not at fault for Allison’s fate, but he was the one that had put a gun to her head and blown it clean off.

Her blood was still on his face and coat. How could he go on like nothing had happened?

“Oh damn,” the hologram said, waving a hand at the huge monitor above the

console. “I found the Apostle.”

Looking to the monitor, Gabriel saw a dark figure striding purposefully down a hallway, her cloak flaring behind her with the hood pulled back up to cover her head.

She held her black-bladed sword in one hand and was surrounded by about twenty black-uniformed men carrying rifles. She was
not
a prisoner.

“What the hell,” Gabriel said. “Are they working for her?”

“They have turned off their communicators and tracking beacons,” Allie said.

“I think it is safe to say that they serve the Apostle now,” the hologram added.

“Where are they headed,” Gabriel asked. “What are they doing?”

“I have another squad with beacons and communicators turned off,” the hologram said. The image split, showing another group running through a hallway. “They are headed in this direction.”

“The Apostle knows where we are? But how?”

“More likely, they are coming for the mainframe. The other group appears to be headed for the accessway that leads to the containment area.”

“She’s taking control of the facility,” Gabriel said.

“Oh, that is
really
not good,” the hologram cried

“What is it?”

“I have been locked out of most systems. I am unable to activate the security systems or sound an intruder alarm. I have never seen an encryption this complicated before!”

“Well that’s just great,” Gabriel muttered.

“I suggest that you get moving immediately,” Allie nodded to the door. “We do not want to be here when they arrive. You need to hurry to the containment area before the Apostle can do anything to hinder our plans.”

Nodding, Gabriel looked to the hologram. “Do whatever you can to slow them

down and break through that encryption.”

The hologram winked at him. “Way ahead of you. Go. Hurry. You may not

have much time to spare.”

Chapter 39: Firefight

Running in a mad dash, Gabriel flew through hallways after Allie, who always

kept ahead of him no matter how fast he ran. He’d been doing an awful lot of running lately, and he was grateful for the vanity that had led to his morning jogging.

A lawyer’s appearance was one of his greatest weapons. The clean, fit, well-

groomed lawyer, who appears confidant, will always sway a jury more than one who is disheveled, obese, and nervous. Court cases were like duels where, rather than using swords, knives or guns, the weapons were self-image, sharp wit, and a silver tongue.

Sometimes it could get as exciting and fierce as a real duel with actual weapons.

As he ran at top speed, Gabriel wished he could go back to the duels that he knew.

There was no one better than he when it came to questioning witnesses and convincing juries. He had never lost a duel in his life. There was a sense of strategy, and grappling with your opponent in subtle, unseen ways, much like a good game of chess. And most importantly, no one died. His life was never in danger when he dueled with another lawyer.