The Rise of Io (37 page)

“Damn it. India's a tough nut to crack, but we'll go through diplomatic channels and make it happen somehow.” Roen glanced her way. “Who's the girl?”

Cameron smiled. “This is Ella Patel. She's the one who made everything possible. She took care of my people and helped us nail Surrett. She also saved my life a few times.”

Roen shook her hand. “You have my thanks. Welcome to the family.”

“She's Io's new host,” Cameron added.

Roen paused, the meaning of that sinking in. “I see. I'm sorry about Emily.”

The two continued chatting. Their back-and-forth felt good-natured, and she could hear the love and concern in their voices and words, even as they poked fun at each other.

It gnawed at Ella a little. This sort of bond was something she had never had, and she found herself yearning for something, anything, remotely like it. She thought about all the people she had left behind, the few that cared about her. “Io, what will happen to my friends, Coach Manish and Aarav, Wiry Madras, and the Fabs?”

Manish is an ex-agent. He and Aarav will be all right. They will likely just go dormant until called back to duty. The Prophus will send someone to check up on Madras. She still has Dubs. The Prophus do not leave their own. As for the Fabs, they tried to sell the Prophus out. They are on their own.

Ella decided to leave the father and son alone and made her way to the back of the plane, where makeshift triage had been set up. Just about everyone else was back here, injured in one form or another.

She found Nabin propped up on a cot. He patted the adjacent cot next to him. “Have a seat.”

She lay down and looked out the window. “I've never been on a plane before. Well, I have, but I was like five and so scared I slept right through it.”

“Stick with me, kid,” he said. “We'll introduce you to a bigger world with all sorts of new people who will want to kill you.”

She laughed, which was a mistake. She clutched her ribs and took several deep breaths. “Stop trying to be funny. It hurts.” She became more somber. “So what happens to me now?”

“Cameron says he wants to send you to the training center in Sydney or the one in the States. Are you all right with that?”

“Train me to become an agent like you guys? I don't know how I feel about that.”

“Well,” Nabin said. “It's up to you. You may have a Quasing in you, but you still get to decide what you want to do with your life. The Prophus will work with you one way or another. Being an agent has its perks.”

“Io says training takes years and I have to have a roommate and I won't be able to leave whenever I want. Is that all true?”

“Pretty much.”

“Then I don't know if it's worth it. I'm my own boss.”

“Well, Australia is our team's home base of operations. If you enroll, you'll get the training you need to fight the Genjix, to avenge your amma and your dog. You get to help a lot of people and protect the world from some bad aliens.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” she said.

“You'll also get to hang out with me more, I'll come visit every chance I get.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Really? Promise?”

He grinned and held out his hand. “Maybe.”

Ella laid her hand over his. “OK, fine. Now, let's talk about my stipend. The Prophus were paying me…”

T
he plane was halfway
across the Indian Ocean before Tao opened Cameron's eyes. After nearly three decades of wear and tear, thousands of hours of combat, and dozens of injuries, the guy needed beauty rest.

The two of them had been in bad positions before, and this ranked up there with the worst of them. Stranded in enemy territory with the ocean to their back and a blockade in front. Cut off from the Prophus and facing not only the local military but heavy Genjix presence. Toss in another Adonis vessel – Alexandra Mengsk, of all people – and this was as dicey a situation as he could remember Cameron being in.

Tao looked over at the sleeping Roen slumped next to his son, and realized that Cameron was reaching the age that Roen had been when Tao first joined with him. Roen was probably pissed as hell, but oh well. Some things had to be done, and killing Surrett and discovering this strange Bio Comm Array facility were two of them. Something about the shape of the main building, the dome top and the curvature of the supporting threads nagged his memory. It was from something in the distant past, not a moment from his time on Earth.

In any case, Cameron had made it out in one piece; that was what was important. Jax and Ella nailing Surrett meant a lot to Cameron personally, but uncovering this Bio Comm Array facility was the real score. Surrett's death delaying India from joining the Genjix alliance was an added bonus.

There was just one more thing that had to be cleared up. Tao glanced over at Ella, or at her Quasing, specifically. Their paths had only recently crossed when she had joined with Emily. That wasn't unusual though. The world was a big place, and the Quasing were scattered. Io's situation was unique in that she had arrived to the game late, having not occupied her first human until the eleventh century. By that time, Tao had already occupied hundreds of humans.

A thousand years wasn't a lot of time for a Quasing to become adept at working with a human. They were complex creatures. Guiding them to achieve greatness required skill, guile and intelligence. And patience. Lots of patience. With every successful host, a Quasing likely had experienced hundreds of failures.

Some, like Io, were still waiting for their first taste. Tao had spent some time looking through Io's record before they had come to India. She was one of the few Quasing who had somehow blundered her way through history without ever leaving a mark, and still survived. She had always been a peripheral player in the Prophus's war with the Genjix. Until now. It was time for answers.

“Io.”

Ella's eyes fluttered open. She sat up. “Tao.”

“Come with me.” Tao got up and moved to the front of the plane. He looked back to check if Io was following, and whether she was armed. She was, incidentally. The girl was never far from her knife. That was one of the things he liked about Ella.

They entered the arms locker in the middle of the plane. Tao closed the heavy gate behind him. He faced Io and folded his arms. “I know you are the leak. You are trying to defect to the Genjix.”

“How can you say such a thing?” Io said. “I have lost as much as anyone. I have been with the Prophus for over a thousand years, and with Emily and her father for over a quarter of a century.”

“Much to their misfortune.”

Io contorted Ella's face. “Not all of us can be the great Tao with his bloody footprint burned across history like Sherman across the South. How much good has your mark done for this planet? I wager my ineffectiveness has done less damage than all your empire-building and razing. Or do you consider creating mystical slow-motion fighting a benefit to humanity?”

Io was baiting him. “Hamilton told me how Ella was uncooperative in regards to your surveillance efforts. He went out and recorded his own footage. I compared it to the reports you uploaded to Command. The discrepancy and intent between them is obvious. You tried to wash the data. If there was an available team in the region, they would have swept you out weeks ago. However, I believe you are acting alone. The girl is innocent.”

“Did Hamilton also tell you how he stood there and did nothing while Emily was killed by a squad of Genjix?”

Tao nodded. “He admitted that too. Once this mission is over, I will have him transferred out of the auxiliary corps and moved to an administrative position.”

“That's it? He lets Cameron's best friend die and gets moved to a desk job, yet I am accused of treason when my host is killed on a mission? I, who have done everything in my power to try to take us home?”

“Do not play stupid,” Tao replied. “Nobody faults a Quasing for their host's death unless it is intentional. You know, once I return to Command, I will get to the bottom of this. It will not be difficult for me to request a full audit of your movements and communications. The truth will come out.”

Io remained silent and looked away. That was all the answer Tao needed. The guilt was palpable, but there was something else. Something redeemable, possibly. It was an opening at least.

“Io, when the Quasing split into two factions during the Spanish Inquisition, why did you join the Prophus? We were the smaller, weaker, marginalized faction. We all knew what we were signing up for when we turned our backs on our people. Our side was terrorized and imprisoned for hundreds of years before we were able to recover and coordinate. Why did you join us?”

Io shrugged. “I believed in the cause. I have been around as much as any Quasing. I have seen the destruction the Conflict Doctrine had done to humanity. I too have lost those I cherish as our species pushed humans into constant war in the name of innovation and evolution. It was the right thing to do at the time.”

“Is it the right thing now?”

Io nodded.

“Do you really want to join the Genjix, Io?”

There was a long pause. “No. I am unsure.”

“Then why would you betray us? I know you care little for wealth or power. You suffered alongside the rest of the Prophus in our darkest times. You fought alongside us when we were constantly on the cusp of total collapse. Now, for the first time in over five hundred years, we are nearly equal in strength with the Genjix. Of all those times, why do you desire to switch sides now?”

Io froze. She stayed in place for so long that Tao thought Io might have retreated deeper into the body. He waited patiently, keeping an eye on the girl's hands. It did not reach for a blade. That would be a terrible mistake on Io's part.

Finally, Io looked him in the eye. “Did you know that back on Quasar, I was a Receiver?”

Tao was so stunned by this revelation that he nearly lost control of Cameron. The body tipped to the side and would have fallen over if it weren't for the armory's mesh wall. A titled Quasing meant Io was formerly one with extraordinarily high standing.

Tao had never paid much attention to the time before, and most Quasing records did not survive the crash. Back on the home world, Tao was an insignificant drop, one of the trillions of Quasing who lived in the Eternal Sea, with little purpose except to serve as a conduit and move with the masses when the collective will required something from them.

“You were one of the voices in the black?” he asked.

“The strands that bind all empire.” There was a great deal of pride in Io's voice. “We were the part of the collective that formed and administered the communication arrays between all our planets. My counterparts and I kept the Quasing as one. I was the Receiver assigned to our Carryall.”

It all became clear. Titles were not easily achieved among their kind. Io must have worked hard to become a Receiver. She was formerly high in standing, a leader among the millions of their kind on that ill-fated ship, and it must have been difficult to have it all swept away. Now, cut off from the collective, the Quasing trapped here were forced to build a new hierarchy and find their own voice. Some, like Tao, had blossomed, while others, like Io, had struggled.

“On Earth,” Io continued, “I struggle to make any mark. The hosts I inhabit have always been forgotten. They are only remembered through me. The few remembered are ridiculed. I'm tired of failure, Tao. I'm tired of being nothing.”

The failure must be a bitter pill. Pride and ambition were uncommon traits among Quasing, but it was not unheard of. That may be because Tao himself, back on the home world, had nothing to be prideful about. He had never even thought to attempt to become something more. One needed pride and ambition to achieve standing and title. He was content to be one among the trillions and bask within the Eternal Sea. He just happened to be the portion of the Eternal Sea willed on board the Carryall, one of the millions of filler, conduits, and building block used to adapt and suit the needs of the collective.

However, Tao did strive for more once he came to this planet. Maybe he had found pride and ambition in humanity, and they bled those traits into him, but he did become something greater and found his own voice once he was here on Earth. Tao imagined how he would feel if he returned to the Eternal Sea again and lost everything he had found on this planet: his individualism, the knowledge he had obtained, the memories and achievements, his friendships. He thought about Cameron and his father, Roen, and then back to the thousands of his hosts he had shared a connection with before. To lose all of them would be equally shattering to him as it was Io. Interesting how the tables had turned.

The two of them fought for opposite things but for the same reasons, and, because of that, Tao understood Io, and felt compassion for her. However, it still did not make her actions forgivable. He shook his head. “And you think joining the Genjix gives you an opportunity to finally make a mark?”

Io laughed. Coming from a Quasing with poor control over her host, it came out clumsy and wooden, forced. “No, Tao, I am not like you. I know where my skills lay and where they do not. I wanted to defect to help develop the Bio Comm Array. That would be my mark.”

“What exactly is this thing?” Tao asked. “How will you make your mark with it?”

Io looked Tao in the eyes, and for the first time, Tao saw a sign of life, focus, intent. “The Bio Comm Array is a communication device. Once completed, we will be able to contact our people. I will finally serve my intended purpose to the collective. I will save the Quasing here on Earth.”

The words Tao was prepared to say next stumbled on Cameron's tongue. He was stunned by the significance and ramifications of what it meant if the Genjix were able to establish communication with Quasar.