Metal Boxes - At the Edge Page 21

  Stone said, “Love and lust? Then why are you stimulating greed and envy on this world?”

  Emmons poked Stone in the side with a sharp finger. “Spoken like a boy in love. As a behaviorist, I can tell you that those common emotions running on high in humans keeps us from being productive. I’ve seen your mind wander when your fiancée is in the room. You lose focus. Don’t deny it. It’s okay. It’s what keeps the human race from going extinct.”

  The Prophet said, “Exactly. We lost ground in our plan using love and lust, so we switched to the much more efficient, greed and envy. May we ask how you spotted it?”

  Stone shrugged, deciding not to tell everything he knew. “My drascos can smell the virion infestation in a human. That’s why we have Gonzo caged next to you. He is infected, but I am more worried about your virion clusters getting loose on the ship than his screwed up emotions.”

  Gonzo shouted and pounded on his cage, but its noise dampening properties muted his actions.

  Stone looked at Numos, “He can listen, but I have his outbound sound shut off. I got tired of listening to his complaints.”

  Emmons said, “You’re sure he’s infected?”

  Stone nodded, “Yes, Kat. I could smell…” He glanced at the Prophet. “I mean, Jay and Peebee could smell it when I threw him in there.”

  The Prophet sat back in the corner. “You need not hide the truth from us, Trey. We know that you are not human like these others, neither are your drascos. What manner of species are you?”

  Before Stone could respond, Allie turned to the med tech. “What have you got?”

  The med tech said, “It’s a complicated virus, Captain Vedrian, but the virions are not beyond our standard broad range of antibiotics. I’ve already flushed a few virus strains from some of our people who went planet side. I have them in quarantine just in case, but they are cured.”

  The Prophet shot to his feet and pounded on the clear plasticrete. “You are messing with forces you don’t know anything about.”

  Stone saw a stream of virions spout from the man’s mouth, slam into the transparent wall, backup and slam into it again, then retreat back into the man. The cage held.

  Numos said, “I thought it didn’t matter if you survived or not?”

  “We do not care about this cluster in the long run, but you kill innocent pieces of us, simple pieces that only do as they are designed to do without malice or evil intent. Your first thought is to destroy what you do not understand. The indiscriminate slaughter of living creatures is why you cannot be allowed to run free in this galaxy without our control.”

  Numos said to the med tech, “Cure Gonzo.”

  The med tech nodded, “Yes, sir.” She pulled a spray bottle from her kit. Walking to the back of the cage, she inserted the nozzle into a port and flipped a switch. Calling up a display on her dataport, she tapped a countdown open and tagged the display to the side of the cage. “All clear for now, but I want him contained until we can do a more complete scan.

  The Prophet leaned his forehead against the side of the cage and placed a flat hand against the wall nearest Gonzo’s cage as if reaching for the virus that infected the cameraman. “A part of us has died. That is sad but necessary in the long run. Let us out of this cage and we will give you our promise that we will not infect anyone on this ship. We have been open and honest, have we not?”

  The med tech said, “If the new infection spreads, our sensors will pick it up before anyone can become seriously overcome. We have these hypo-sprays of antibiotics stashed all over the ship, just in case.”

  The Prophet pointed at Stone, “He and his drascos will know first if we try to break our promise. We will not. We do not need to. We just prefer not to spend our last few hours alive stuck in a small cage.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Numos asked, “What do you mean “our last few hours”?”

  The Prophet smiled, “Another of our subjects is on their way. They will end your interference and bring more of us to continue our plan to halt your spread in this galaxy. You see us as a threat, but it is you who threaten the peace, and we have determined you must be subjugated for the good of all.”

  Stone asked, “Who are these other subjects?”

  The Prophet shrugged. “They are species B13A. Simple creatures you call Hyrocanians.”

  Stone said, “You control them? You started this war?”

  “My, my, my, of course not, Trey. We simply found an intelligent species and boosted their hunger and breeding drives. We did have species B2CN give them the initial technology to get off their planet, but we judged them to be the best species for the job of halting your species growth until we could infiltrate far enough to stop your species spread. We pointed them in your direction and true to your nature, you fought them.”

  Stone said, “They ate colonists. How could you expect us not to fight back? What other choice did we have?”

  The Prophet smiled, “You prove our point, my son. You did have the option to stop colonizing every planet you find and quit stripping all of the resources from those planets not fit to colonize. You spread indiscriminately and consume far beyond your needs. Nevertheless, we have stopped you now. Our plan is too far along for you to stop us no matter what you do.”

  Emmons shrugged. “This hypospray is just an aerosol curative. It wouldn’t take a laboratory tech but a minute to convert it to an inoculation against the spread of this virus.”

  The Prophet frowned. “You would kill any of our kind whether we do anything to you or not?”

  Emmons said, “Humans have been at war with viruses longer than we’ve been in space. We can learn to co-exist or we can rid the galaxy of your interference.”

  The Prophet slammed a fist against the plasticrete cage. “You can kill us, but you can’t stop us all. Your species is too inferior to triumph over us.”

  Emmons said, “This is not my call, people. Captain Vedrian is in command of the military component of our operation—yes, I’m not stupid, folks. I figured out what was going on long before I ever set foot on this floating party barge—I assume the med tech will abide by her command, as she is part of Allie’s cadre. Trey is the titular head of the civilian side, I am not sure whether he would heed my advice or that of Captain Numos. I want to keep this virion cluster caged and sent back to the Emperor’s College for study and interrogation.”

  “My, my, my, of course, we will submit to any questioning by your people. Have we not been open and honest so far? We will admit that it is difficult to—how shall we say this—dumb down our vocabulary to communicate with your simple minds. Fortunately, we have had more than a few years practice interconnecting with the simple human minds on Holliman’s Rift.”

  Emmons said, “My colleagues at the Emperor’s College will try to be—”

  Numos’s dataport interrupted her, “Captain? Ryte here. We have a fix on the target area.”

  Numos waved down any further discussion. “Vedrian, get this thing stored away somewhere. Set sniffers on high, post armed guards—armed with hyposprays—around the clock. Then, I want you and Hammer on the bridge.” He pointed at the med tech. “Get Gonzo in medical containment until you’re sure you can turn him loose. Signore Stone, you need to come with me to the bridge, sir.”

  Emmons said, “What about me, Dash?”

  Numos turned to stride down the shuttle ramp, shouting over his shoulder “Damn if I care, Kat. You’re on your own. Talk to the virion nest or come to the bridge. You figured out what’s going on, so who am I to say where you should go.”

  Doctor Emmons’s advice had proven invaluable many times in the past. If trouble was brewing on the bridge, that was where Stone wanted her to be.

  Emmons laughed and raced after them, “Well, if Hammer is going to the bridge that’s where I want to be. I like to watch that man work.”

  They piled into Numos’s cart. Numos drove the vehicle at top speed through the corridors. Piglets and crew casually jumped out of the way a
s if dodging the captain was an everyday occurrence.

  Stone tapped his P.A opening comms. “Allie, those cages were originally used to haul Jay and Peebee away when I was arrested. You might want to get a couple of piglet engineers to check them out and make sure there isn’t any way the virions can escape from them.”

  Emmons said, “They held drascos, Trey. Surely they’ll hold a few virions.”

  Stone said, “Jay and Peebee only stayed in those cages because they agreed to. If they wanted out, they would have gotten out. I want to be sure those virions don’t find some small hole to creep out.”

  Emmons nodded, “Doesn’t hurt to check. That virion nest is a bit on the confident side.”

  Stone agreed, “That’s what makes me nervous.”

  Numos slammed to a stop at the open door to the bridge. Once all three were on the bridge, he slapped the bulkhead next to the opening and the liquid metal reformed into a wall. Speaking into the open air and pressing hard against the wall, he said, “Captain’s authority. Bridge is sealed to all but originally specified command staff.”

  Numos tapped his dataport opening comms to the ship. “General Quarters.”

  Preacher Mary leaned back in her tactical command chair. Stretching to another console, she flipped a small lid and depressed a recessed button. A wailing GQ alarm warbled through the bridge, echoing back through open personal assistants and dataports as everyone throughout the ship heard the announcement. She grimly sat back upright, flipped a few switches, and flexed her trigger fingers.

  Stone slid into his seat at the conference table. The ship was Numos’s to command. Preacher Mary was at tactical, a scared civilian sat at the navigation station, and an angry looking Ryte sat at the communications monitors. With Numos in his command chair, there was nowhere else for Stone to be. His adrenaline surging, he wanted to race down to his quarters to don his combat armor, but he kept his seat. He knew this was where Numos wanted him to be, not responding to a GQ alarm like a UEN ensign.

  Preacher Mary said, “Civilian craft gathering off the port side, Captain. Shields on high, but in tight.”

  Numos said, “Expand the shields slowly. Push them back. No damage if we can avoid it.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  Stone activated a table monitor and watched the Platinum Pebble’s shield creep farther and farther away from the hull, pushing the civilian craft back like flotsam caught on an ocean wave.

  Preacher Mary said, “Comfortable zone achieved, Captain. We have clearance to maneuver at your command.”

  Allie and Hammer slipped through the liquid metal wall, closing the hatch behind them.

  Allie said, “Galactic Marshals deputies Captain Vedrian and Lieutenant Hammermill report to the bridge as ordered, Captain Numos.”

  The civilian navigator’s mouth gaped open at the statement. Before he could speak, Numos said, “I’ll explain later, Gordy.” He spun in his seat to face Ryte. “Well, EMIS Agent Ryte, let’s have your report.”

  Ryte looked at Allie, “I lost track of the two operatives you sent along as my escorts. The Prophet’s agents jumped us at a meeting with a possible informant. I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to them.”

  Stone interrupted, “The Prophet told me he captured and interrogated them. I don’t know how much he found out, but he has more than one way to extract information from humans.”

  Ryte frowned at the word “humans.”

  Numos said, “We’ll explain that part later. What did you find out?”

  Ryte spoke through clenched teeth. “It’s as I suspected. The Prophet is working with the Hyrocanians, giving them information, and using the population of Holliman’s Rift to build warships for them.”

  Numos asked, “And?”

  Ryte grinned coldly, “And I have the coordinates to where his spacedock is located. All we have to do is get the information to the UEN and they can shut him down.”

  Numos said, “I don’t think we have time for that. From the way the Prophet sounded, we don’t have much time. We may have to throw a kink into their works ourselves.”

  Ryte stabbed a finger at a blinking light on her communications monitor. “We have an incoming message from the civilian fleet gathering at the edge of our shields. It’s coming from a small intersystem freighter.”

  Numos said, “Put it on screen if you please.”

  Charles’s face popped up on a dozen screens around the bridge. His features were distorted. Mottled bruises and barely patched burns covered the left side of his face. Anger twisted the right side. Without preamble, he shouted, “You sons-a-bitches. I’ll tie the rope around your necks when you hang. All of you. Give me the Prophet or I’ll…”

  Numos waited while Charles tried to gain control of his thoughts. Finally, he said, “I believe that Signore Stone called you, Charles? Who are you to make demands?”

  “I’m Charles and I’ve been personally appointed as an assistant to the Prophet. His care is my only concern. Release him now or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what, Charles? You’ve already threatened to hang us.”

  “I’ll…I’ll…I’ll order you put through the testimonies, once for kidnapping the Prophet and once more for everyone hurt when your shuttle attacked us.”

  Numos smiled, “So much for the Prophet being your only concern. Well, people have been trying to kill me for years, so—”

  Ryte interrupted, “Captain Numos, let me handle this.” She snarled into the video pickup, “Shut your intake conduit before you say something that gets you hung.” Snapping a switch, she threw a picture montage on the monitor. “I’m Empire Military Investigative Service Agent Tammie Ryte. Those are my credentials and the writ of authorization from the emperor himself. This ship and all of its crew and passengers are an integral part of my investigation into criminal activity on Holliman’s Rift.”

  Charles sputtered, “Criminal? Well…yeah…we, um, the Prophet has been sent by God himself to guide us.” He seemed to be gathering his thoughts and finished with triumph, “We should follow God’s law, not the rule of men.”

  Ryte smiled coldly, “You will follow your false prophet onto the gallows for treason.”

  Charles shouted, “Treason? Nonsense! Never against God, nor the emperor. We only want peace and prosperity for all men. Captain Nelson, you have weapons, attack that ship.” He grabbed the grizzled old freighter captain by the shoulder and dragged him into the video pickup.

  Stone had never seen the man before, but he looked like any one of thousands of small independent freighter captains plying the gray lanes. He smiled at the double meaning of the phrase gray lanes. Not only were many of these tiny ships outfitted with jump engines to travel through the gray of hyperspace, but their general cargo was somewhere in that gray area between legal and no-so-legal. The man had vacuum scars across one side of his face as evidence of a spaceship breach somewhere in his past. While his eyes looked clear and sharp, they had the look of a man who wanted to be anywhere, but here.

  It was obvious that Nelson was not happy to be dragged into a face-to-face conversation with an empire investigator from any agency. He shook his head. “No, signore. We can’t even put a scratch on their shields with the popguns we have.”

  Charles bellowed, “Shoot them! The Prophet of the Eternal God is being held. We have to rescue him.”

  Stone moved quickly to stand behind Agent Ryte. “Charles, do you recognize me?”

  Charles frowned, but nodded. “You’re the bastard who kidnapped the Prophet and tried to kill his rescuers. You’re that playboy, Blackmon Stone, fiancée of that slut, Marybeth Butler Stone.”

  Stone heard Allie snort in the background, but he ignored her. “Charles, that’s close, but not the whole truth. First, you’d be dead if I tried to kill you with my shuttle.”

  “I would be dead if Captain Nelson hadn’t retrieved my lifeboat.”

  Stone continued as if Charles had not interrupted him. “Second, I cannot have kidnapped your prophet. K
idnapping is by definition the unlawful seizure of a person by force. I can’t be guilty of the abduction. Not just because I am operating under Agent Ryte’s lawful writ, but because your prophet is not a person. He is not human.”

  Charles stammered, “What? No…legalese bull…he’s not just our prophet, but yours…” His voice trailed away, unable to respond, his rote responses appearing to fail him. He continued to grasp Nelson by the shoulder, more to keep himself upright than to keep the old man close.

  Numos said, “Confusing, isn’t it?”

  Stone said, “Your prophet is a parasite who is inhabiting a human host.”

  Charles said, “He’s…he’s healed and…and shown us the way to heaven.”

  Ryte said, “He is using your people as slave labor to build spaceships for humanity’s enemies.”

  Charles shook his head. “No. Those people are criminals and those ships are used to spread his good news across all human space.”

  Nelson tried to pull away from Charles, but the man held him tightly. The freighter captain looked over his shoulder, but no one was coming to rescue him from the rescuer.

  Stone said, “Charles, those ships are being sold to the Hyrocanians, creatures who are at war with us, creatures who feast on humans.”

  Charles shook his head. “No. No. No. There are no Hyrocanians here.”

  Stone caught a furtive look cross Nelson’s face. “No? Let’s ask him. Captain Nelson, you’ve hauled goods and personnel to the Prophet’s spacedocks, correct?”

  Charles said, “Of course he has, he is a loyal—” He glanced at the man and clenched his teeth shut. “What have you done, Nelson?”

  Nelson shook his head, “I just did what I was asked. Them Hyrocanians never done nothing to me or mine.”

  Stone started to speak, but Ryte waved him quiet.

  Charles said, “You’ve seen Hyrocanians?”

  Nelson shrugged, “They’s always a few around. Mostly they only come by when there is a bunch of ships ready.”