Episode Nine

[Velociryx]

::wicked smile:: Slipping, eh? ;-)

Episode IX
A new beginning.....

He looked over his men. A sturdy group, numbering forty in all. Good officers. His men.

That seemed strange still.

“I never knew Constable McDonnaugh.” He told them. “But I have heard that he was a fine man, and a good leader....I do not know how to fill his shoes, or even if I can, but I can tell you that I will try my best to do a good job for you and the Colony.” He got a far off look in his eye for a moment, and then smiled. “And, since I’ve not had much practice at making speeches, I’m going to shut up now....we’ll leave everyone’s schedule as it is until there’s a problem and just....make the rest up as we go.”

And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving his officers standing in puzzled silence.
***

Three officers stood talking together out by the side of the Constable’s Office. The others, except for the duty crew, had dispersed, carrying their thoughts of their new leader with them.

“That guys a nutball.....dangerous man” Sergent Detrick whispered. “I don’t know why our Lady picked him.”

“Yeah well, don’t let him hear you say that....fry your brains up quick.” The portly Sergent Kennerly shot back, tapping his temple for emphasis.

“Awwww, I think that’s a load of Worm Crap! Probably just some propaganda made up by the Interior Ministry to keep the Drones scared.”

“No....my sister was there when he brought down the gunman....she saw what happened to the people around him when he Psi’d up.” Lieutenant Wilkes told them.

“And what did she see?”

“People bled....eyes....ears....nose....” Wilkes shut his eyes. “He should not be our leader, and he should not have access to the only shredder pistol in the city....”

“Hey, I agree with you Wilkesey, I already said he’s dangerous....freakin’ menace if you ask me, but why are you worried about him having a gun....if he can fry your brains out, why would he need it?”

“I’m not worried about HIM having it....I’d just like to have it to balance against him....insurance policy.”

They all looked at each other in silence for a long moment, and unspoken plan passing between them. They sealed it by placing their hands together, one atop the other.

“Agreed?” Wilkes whispered the question.

Detrick and Kennerly nodded their assent.

“Okay then....we’ll try for it, and if not....we’ll smuggle one in.”

Detrick smiled. “Buddy of mine pulled Former duty near the Spartan Sector....he might be useful.”

The conspiracy had begun.
***

In the Apartment of the Lady Deidre Skye

“Are you settling in?” She asked him as they sat across from each other on the divans.

“Yes....it felt strange, but, I think I can do it.”

She smiled at him. “I know you can....but there are things you will need to know.”

“Well m’Lady, I am a quick study. Tell me.”

“No....you need more than just the knowledge. We have no need of a Field General, because we have no army, and it will fall to you to join me when we meet with leaders of other factions. Your officers are the closest thing we have to a military presence.”

He nodded. This was unexpected, but he was warming to the job. Not unwelcome at all. “So what are you proposing?”

“The leaders of the various factions on Planet are powerful, charismatic men and women. They are intelligent, cunning, and sublte. You will need more than just raw information about them to hold your own....so I propose that I share my impressions with you. My experiences and knowledge will become yours.”

He studied her for a long moment as the full implication of what she was offering him began sinking in. Could she do that? Would she? It seemed such an intimate, personal thing. He was flattered....honored....almost beyond words. “How? I mean....you would do that?”

That smile again. “You are my Constable. My sturdy knight....if I cannot trust you, then I can trust no one at all.” She stood and came over beside him. Sat down. “If this works, you will have the sum of all my knowledge and experience added to your own.”

“If it works?”

“I do not know if you remember it, but I tried to open a communal channel with you once before.”

“Yes...” He whispered. “At the Research Center.....I....I felt you.”

“But your Cybernetic-self blocked me....it may do so again.”

He shook his head. “I think I can control it.”

“I am counting on it.” She touched his arm. “Are you ready, my Sturdy Knight?”

“Now?...I mean...”

She nodded. “Right now.”

He said yes with his eyes, and she brought the tips of her long, delicate fingers up to his temples and began to concentrate.
***

Lights....motion....a multitude of sounds....all blurring and tangling together. He felt himself spinning, twisting past it all at dizzying speeds, like a helpless passenger on some demented roller-coaster. So fast that even his implanted processor had difficulty keeping pace with it all.

The Lady Deidre Skye’s life’s experiences flashed before him, and he felt his own experiences being leeched out of his head, pouring into her. They were melding together....becoming as one mind. It filled him with a strange kind of peace and certainty. Made him stronger. And it was the most beautiful thing he had ever experienced.

How long it went on, he could not say. He woke up hours later in his own apartment, the early morning suns of Chiron peeking through his bedroom window. No memory of how he might have gotten home. No, that wasn’t quite right though. The memory was there it was just....dancing in front of him.....tantalizingly close, but just out of reach.

He smiled and rolled up out of bed, feeling relaxed and refreshed. Well rested.

But Deidre was right, he realized, as some of his new impressions floated up to the surface of his mind. The factional leaders were a strange bunch indeed. Very focused, very driven. Powerful, forceful personalities and keen minds. He saw the wisdom in what she had done for him, and was grateful for it.

He padded out to the kitchen and opened the refridgeration unit, intending to see what he could scrounge up for breakfast.

The moment he opened the door, the swirling colors, lights, and sounds swept him up again and carried him away.

It took his breath away.

And if he was still seeing the lights and colors, then that must mean....

His mind grappled with what was happening to him, as the realization sank home that he was still in Deidre’s apartment. Still melding with her.

More of her life’s experiences were absorbed into his mind.

Suddenly there was a screeching noise and he felt the pressure of impact.

His chest constricted horribly and began to ache and throb.

Heart attack?

The thought came to him calmly enough and he assigned a portion of his cybernetic awareness to do a full systems check. All normal. Then what?

He saw a darkened lab, and the name of the place floated up to the forefront of his awareness.

The Psi-College.

Somehow, Deidre had bypassed the mental blocks placed by his handlers from before, and he found himself able to access the memories of what had come before.

A cold finger of fear began worming its way through him, and the sensation was shocking. He had never felt anything quite like it.

Shivering, he waited as the scene unfolded before him.

The lab. Banks of blinking lights and whirring computers.

The Psi Master. Bald. Emaciated. Leering at him.

The test subjects. Eight of them. And he was the last.

Yes. All dead, he realized.

The mindworms. Their genetic material analyzed and his modified to more closely match theirs.

The growth room, where their experimental organs had been grown and harvested. Organs which allowed for more efficient ingestion of Fungus, enabled them to access the Planetary Neural Net (even if fleetingly and peripherally), and sensory organs to detect Psi Energy in others.

The surgeries.

Pain.

Torture.

The electro-bath. Oh yes, he remembered that. And the incision they made across the center of the Hippocampus of his brain. Without anesthesia. The saw, spinning toward his head. Glistening in the too-bright lights and grinning like a many-toothed demon, intent on.....

The screaming from the other beds.

The memories pounded him. Assaulting him relentlessly. Forcing him to remember. He tried to scream, but was not sure if any sound issued from his tortured throat and constricted lungs.

The images continued.

The self-awareness suppression courses.

Isolation chambers and sensory deprivation tanks.

Image reinforcement therapy to numb his mind. Teach him to kill and enjoy it. And then the live test runs.

He and the others, like cobras pent up in a cage. And followers of Sister Miriam, captured by Santiago’s forces....turned loose in a warehouse. Trying to hide.

But they could not hide from the Psi-Corps.

One by one they were rooted out.

They begged and wept and pleaded, but he and the others were machines. Remorseless. Relentless.

The man he was assigned to even wet himself in sheer terror. Mentioned his wife and two children in an attempt to stave off the inevitable.

And now that Deidre had broken down the barriers to his memory, he remembered smiling as he blasted the man with enough Psi-Force to knock him back more than five feet. Intentionally undirected, so that it did not kill him instantly. The Psi Master enjoyed sensing their terror and suffering.

He wept then.

For all the deaths he and the others had caused. For all the terror. For this, he did not even deserve to live.

***No Child*** A soothing voice reached out to him. ***You were their creature then***

***Who....who are you?*** He heard himself asking.

***I am that which surrounds you....the air of the sky, the root of the tree, the spore of the fungus....***

***Are you the Voice of Planet?***

***Some call me thusly***

***Please make it stop*** He begged.

***But you must see....this woman, EarthDeidre, will help you....you must understand who you are and from whence you came before you achieve your fullest and truest potential, and I have need of you***

***But I am just....***

***You are many things, my Child....son of Chiron....I am sorry these visions pain you, but you must watch and learn***

The voice faded in his head abruptly, and in that moment, he felt more alone and more empty than he ever remembered feeling before.

And the visions continued to pound their way into his head. Each more terrifying than the last.....