“Yes. Who are you?”
“We’re Aquinas Patrol, Boat Seven, of the Guardian Fleet. You’re in the outer boundary of the Jovian Sphere. We request an inspection, which means we’re going to board you. Will you comply, Nadia?”
Nadia’s eyes grew wide. Someone was coming aboard her pod. Why had that made the klaxon wail and the pod’s precious hydrogen-particle engine to fire?
She glanced around at her vessel. Several squeezed tubes of concentrates floated in the air.
“If you refuse—” the woman began to say.
“No,” Nadia said, terrified that the patrol boat would leave, leaving her all alone again. She was actually talking with someone. It was such a glorious feeling. “I want you to inspect me. I want to go with you.”
“Are you well?” the woman asked.
“No,” Nadia said. “I think there’s something wrong with my thinking. Please—” the tears were streaming down her cheeks. “Please, take me with you.”
“Do you have a vacc-suit?”
“I… I don’t know. It’s hard to think. I’ve been alone in space for a long time.”
“I understand.” There was compassion in the woman’s voice. “We’ll send a rescue team immediately. Patrol Boat—”
“Please,” Nadia whispered, “keep talking to me until the others come. I… I haven’t had anyone to talk to for a long time.”
“Someone will be there soon, Nadia. Tell me about Mercury.”
With the back of her hand, Nadia Pravda wiped tears from her cheeks. She had completed the journey. She had made it to the Jupiter System. Finally, everything was going to be all right. As the woman in the patrol boat listened, Nadia began to tell her about the Sun-Works Factory and her harrowing escape from it.
-4-
As Nadia boarded Boat Seven of the Aquinas Patrol over thirty million kilometers from Jupiter, Marten eased into a module in the
An hour had passed, meaning that the Zeno drone was thirty minutes behind them.
Marten switched on his vidscreen. Through the ship’s sensors, he watched the Zeno.
“Force-Leader,” Rhea said.
Yakov minutely turned his head.
“The Chief Controller wishes to speak with you.”
Yakov pursed his lips. “Put her on the main screen.”
The image of the Zeno faded away as Chief Controller Su-Shan appeared. There was faint color in her cheeks that hadn’t been there earlier, and the serenity that had been in her eyes before had changed. She still wore the sheer robe. Because of the large main screen, Marten noticed her delicate frame and the buds on her breasts. He’d never pictured philosophers looking like this. She appeared to be in a large room. There was a statue to her left of a satyr blowing a reed flute. Occasionally, behind her, an officer in a white robe strode past.
“Force-Leader Yakov, you have made an unwarranted leap in status.” Su-Shan hardly moved her lips as she spoke, which highlighted her elfin features.
“Force-Leader,” Rhea said. “The drone accelerates.”
“Give me a split-screen,” Yakov said.
On the main screen was a shot of the drone, its exhaust seemingly doubling the Zeno’s length. Beside it was the video image of the Chief Controller.
“Your altered cyborg file shows your duplicity,” Su-Shan was saying. “Surely, you did not believe that would fool us.”
“We are presently under attack,” Yakov said. “So if you could make your point, it would be greatly appreciated.”
“I grow weary of your falsified proceedings,” she said.
“Send her the sensor readings,” Yakov told Rhea.
“Is that wise?” Marten asked.
“Who speaks with such a strange accent aboard a Jovian warship?” Su-Shan asked. “Show him to me.”
“I’m in the middle of a battle and must disconnect,” Yakov told her.
“Do that and I shall order an immediate bombardment of the Galileo Regio,” Su-Shan said.
Marten had glanced at a map of Ganymede earlier. The Chief Controller referred to a dark plain that contained a series of concentric grooves or furrows. It was one of Ganymede’s most significant geologic features. Yakov had informed him that it was also critical to the Secessionists, stockpiled with weaponry and with secret planetary defenses soon to go online.
Yakov raised an eyebrow. “You accord my decision far too much weight, Chief Controller.”
“Again you prattle falsities.”
“Would you clarify your statement?”
“Force-Leader,” Rhea said. “The drone continues to accelerate.”
“Do not look away from me,” Su-Shan said as she accepted a missive from a hand appearing onscreen. She glanced at the message before continuing. “We have discovered your importance in the terrorist plot. As amazing at it sounds, you are either the heart or the intellect of the so-called Secessionist Rebellion. Therefore, you will dialogue with me or the Galileo Regio shall receive several precision bombardments.”
“Force-Leader,” Rhea said, “you must—”
“Begin the Code Six Defense,” Yakov told Rhea.
On the main screen, Su-Shan’s eyes hardened. She turned her head and seemed to be in the process of giving an order, possibly a most terrible order.
“I am Marten Kluge of the Highborn Shock Troopers,” Marten said, who’d been following the conversation closely.
On screen, Su-Shan turned back. It caused her robe to shift, to highlight her smooth skin underneath.
Marten hurried before the main screen. “I’ve come from Mars,” he said. He dug out his credentials. “I am a fully accredited representative of the Mars Planetary Union.”
“You expect me to believe such nonsense?” Su-Shan asked. “Firstly, your words are unreasonable, considering your original statement that you are a shock trooper. We have heard about them: Earth troops trained in advanced Highborn space-combat techniques. Secondly, the Martians would have informed us concerning an accredited representative in our system.”
“I was a shock trooper who escaped the Highborn. The Martians hired me during their recent struggle and afterward granted me accreditation. They learned that I journeyed to Jupiter and wished to open secret negotiations with you. Unfortunately, they feared Highborn and Social Unity communications-cracking. My proof is this,” Marten said, holding up the booklet’s cover and then paging through the contents, hoping their video could record it.
As Marten did this, the
On the split-screen, Su-Shan glanced at something out of sight. “Your credentials appear to be genuine. You should have headed directly to Callisto.”
“As a representative of the Mars Planetary Union,” Marten said, “I can assure you that cyborgs boarded my ship.”
Su-Shan stared at him. “We are aware of the Zeno, Representative. It would have been better for you if you’d headed directly to Callisto. Now your doom is imminent. I suggest you return to your module and trust to Yakov’s
