“We won't be there for some time.”
“Their not concerned.”
“It doesn't sound like we're getting much help on this.”
“With the crew we have aboard you won't need it, sir,” interjected the operations officer, who was closing a holographic report on quarter assignments.
“I hope that's true. I'm wondering, some of your intelligence seems to make assumptions on things that haven't happened yet. Do you have some kind of predictive system aboard?”
“Not at all, Captain Wheeler,” said the holographic image of a young, sandy haired boy in robes as he appeared just in front of them, walking backwards. The image looked to the officers at Wheeler's sides with a nod at each; “Senior Lieutenant, Major. Please leave us so we can speak privately.”
“Yes your Grace,” they said in near unison as they quietly turned and walked off down another broad, silver and grey corridor.
The boy's image, looking as though the pre-adolescent child were really there, fell in step beside Lucius. “I owe you an apology for my actions while I was with Vindyne. It wasn't my decision to betray you, but the powers that were thought that as long as you were free to return to Freeground you presented a significant risk.”
Collins knew that Hampon had been reborn in the shape of a much younger clone body, but it was still strange seeing the long nosed child speak with the bearing and very intentional diction of a stuffy, self important adult. “That's why I had you give me the master command codes to this ship. Next time you see her she won't even have the same transponder system or comm keys.”
The child's laughter bubbled out of the small smiling face at his side. “Oh, I understand, trust me, I understand. You, like many long time survivors in this galactic arena have learned to be cautious from being bitten. Speaking of learning experiences, how have Collins' memories been serving you lately?”
“Good, he was a great man. I'm learning a lot from him.”
“You're not suffering any memory intrusions?”
“Nope, it's like watching a movie.”
“Isn't it simply fantastic? I enjoy reliving experiences from all the imprints I've managed to collect.”
Wheeler looked down at the robed figure; “You have more than one?”
“One from each corner of the known Galaxy. I believe that there will come a day where memory imprints become a truly precious and widespread commodity. I plan to open the market with scans of tens of thousands of individuals. The Order Of Eden demands that every Saved, West Keeper and West Watcher is scanned as part of the initial testing.”
“So that's the back end of the scam you have going, thinking pretty big.”
“Scam? As long as I'm offering some kind of valuable commodity, such as their safety, there's no scam here. We are an organization preoccupied with momentum, with progress. The Order of Eden is purest at the top and hardest working at the bottom.”
Lucius shook his head, smiling at the sound of the child's preaching. “How many people have gotten wrapped up in this? I mean, I heard about it a year ago on the mining colony and if I can hear about this religion there, I'm sure word's pretty much everywhere.”
“Oh, we have a few thousand Grading Stations, mostly on Regent Galactic and Core Worlds. Regent Galactic gave us broad licence to set up shop in all their Spacerwares stores. Fringe territories are just discovering us now. You should get graded some time, I'll waive the fee if you like.”
“No thanks, I'm more interested in making a paradise in this life than working for one that probably won't be there at the end of the road. Besides, thanks to Collins I know exactly where the Eden system is and how to bypass the security measures.” The audacity of the religion that Hampon had created around the terror the Eden Fleet and Holocaust Virus was incredible. Collins had been a secondary architect, designing the militarized portion of the ruse. One would pay a hundred thousand Core World Credits in order to rank as Saved and become recognized as an ally by all infected machines. It took up to three days for your name to make it to the Order Of Eden Temple, and during those days you would be Graded through a number of tests.
Depending on how high you score on a scale that was kept away from all but the highest ranking West Watchers they determined how close you were to Eden. You could also make extra donations to buy your way deeper into the organization. Through the Grading and donations you'd be given a position amongst the Saved, who were civilian servants, or the West Keepers who were either military or higher ranking civilian servants or the West Watchers who were the leaders, spies or other high rankers in the organization. Members advanced by doing their jobs well, committing good deeds and helping others with their accomplishments. Followers could also increase their chances of advancement by buying training and it was all measured weekly as progression or regression by a Progress Monitor who invariably accepted donations to offset any regression or transgression.
If you had enough money you could get away with murder. How many points you had on the Progress side of your personal chart was not to be discussed with anyone but a Progress Monitor or a West Watcher and the amount recorded there helped the organization's leaders determine how close you were to Eden in your lifetime. The ultimate accomplishment in the faith is to gather so many points that you could retire on the Eden II world itself under the protection of the Eden Fleet and in the natural paradise most people would never see in their lifetimes. The fastest way to Eden, however, was to sacrifice your life in the service of the Order. If your Progress was high enough your soul would make its way to Eden on its own.
Lucius saw it as a near perfect scam, providing the Order of Eden with a vast military, large body of civilian workers and thanks to the Holocaust Virus and Eden Fleet everyone knew that the threat of destruction if you weren't a member was very real. Collins was of the same opinion but he didn't allow a Progress Monitor on his ship until just before the scan. He didn't believe that his own people had to subscribe to the dreamt up religion of the half mad Hampon.
“You misunderstand me Lucius,” Hampon's boy grin smiled up at him. “I'm opening the doors for you, giving you the opportunity to be a West Watcher, among our elite. I know you disabled our mechanism of control on your body and I understand. Your mistrust doesn't give me pause. I'm willing to take you in, invite you into the inner circle.”
“Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy enough just catching Jake for you and moving on. You probably won't see me after I'm done,” Lucius said as he stepped through two meter thick security doors. They closed behind him with an ominous sound.
The holographic image of Hampon flickered for a moment as the projectors built invisibly into the ceiling picked up the transmission and carried it forward. “There will be benefits when the great battle comes. Trust me.”
“Great battle? That's a new one. The fear of getting torn apart by some random infected bot isn't enough to scare people into the recruitment centers?”
“They're Grading Stations. It's no fear tactic Lucius. The West Watchers are preparing for a war that cannot be won without a force united in the most strict sense. When the line is drawn against our great enemy only the united will have a chance and not a sure one at that.”
“Where the hell do you get this stuff? Is there some magic ball you're shaking in the back room that just randomly spits out vague warnings?”
“Like I said, we have a prescience most people could not comprehend. Pandem will be one of many supply posts for the upcoming war, of that we are absolutely certain.”
“Okay pint sized prophet, why is it so important that you wake me up and give me a ship worth trillions of credits along with a trained crew just to go mess with Valance and my old ship? Why the hell is he so important?”
“Because if he isn't distracted he will damage what we're building in such a critical way that we won't recover in time to prevent the coming annihilation. If you think unleashing a virus on a few fringe systems and killing a few million people is something, imagine an evil force that tears into the heart of our civilization and destroys it utterly. If we don't form a real military that spans entire sectors soon we'll be back to using bows and arrows within three years. If you want to see the truth behind all of this all you have to do is say the word and you'll be one of us.”
Lucius thought for a moment. Collins knew enough to go along with and even aid the formation of the Order of Eden but he hadn't had a chance to relive those experiences for himself. He touched on dozens of moments, concentrated on the knowledge locked in Collins' linear memories as they walked through the quiet secure hall that
