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Chapter 28
By AC
Paula groaned. Although her protective suit was sufficient enough to protect against bullets, one thing it lacked was padding. But then, she never expected that she'd be thrown bodily across an alley.
The woman called Cisia floated in front of her and Byrce, who had rolled off of Paula and was now staring at the uneartly sight. The segment of Paula's mind that was the scientist was forming a hundred questions about the phenomenon she was witnessing.
The segment of her mind that was more "earthbound" was screaming one message to her: /GET OUT!/
Cisia held both hands in front of her. Paula rolled to one side just as a very visible bolt of energy seared the ground she was on just milliseconds before. /A discharge powerful enough to ignite atmospheric oxygen,/ the scientist-part commented. /Incredible.../
Paula looked and saw Byrce scramble to cover -- as if a trash-can can provide protection against that kind of firepower. "Cisia!" he yelled. "We're not going to hurt you!"
"LIAR!"
The mystery woman was less than a metre from Cisia, syringe at the ready. She reached forward...
And Cisia spun around, pinning the woman with her stare. "NO!"
A second display of her power, and the woman was flung three metres away, landing with a thud on the ground. The syringe she was holding went flying into a pile of refuse. The woman swore loudly, whether at losing the syringe or being flattened Paula was uncertain.
Paula reached for her stunner, hoping that it would be enough against this terror...
"We need a doctor, now!" Talehn stood before the desk at Central Hospital. They'd been here for several minutes, waiting. Behind him, Kuri cradled a now-unconscious Mikan in his arms.
A man in a white coat with a red and green band on his left arm walked to him. "What is it? You must not shout here."
Kuri looked up at the doctor, tears welling in his eyes. "My sister..."
The doctor knelt by Mikan, and felt for a pulse. His lips moved soundlessly as he counted beats.
"How much?" Talehn demanded, pulling a wad of cash out of the briefcase.
"Not now", said the doctor, cursing as he stood up. "Money can come later. This girl's pulse is almost gone." Shouting: "I need a gurney here stat! Which OR's are free?"
A nurse checked a display at the desk. "Room Seven."
A gurney arrived, and Talehn and the doctor set Mikan on it, gently. For the first time, the doctor studied Talehn's face. "You're the fugitive from the Ministry," he said.
Talehn turned cold inside. "I can't explain right now. Just help her... please."
The doctor looked at him, then at Kuri. "Our Ether tech was called away; I could use your help with the equipment," he told Talehn, "/Then/ you can explain why you betrayed the Ministry." The doctor nodded toward a corridor. "This way."
The stunner was cracked -- a result of Paula's unexpected experiment in ballistic flight -- but still serviceable, she hoped.
Meanwhile, Cisia had let loose another blast of energy, tearing through the trash can Byrce had used for cover. Byrce rolled from behind it, bringing up his gun and firing once.
He missed, but it kept Cisia's attention on him long enough for Paula to aim the stunner and thumb the trigger.
The shot caught her in the spine, and she crumpled to the ground. For a moment, the red glow faded and Paula saw Cisia for what she was, a frightened girl. The mystery woman had got up and was preparing another syringe when the glow returned.
Paula tried to get off another shot, but the stunner sparked angrily when she touched the trigger. She dropped it with a yell, and watched as it broke on impact.
"You," Cisia said, her eyes locked on Paula like a predator, her voice sounding... inhuman. "I thought that boy was a threat to me but I see that you are an equal threat. You and the vessel from beyond the sky..."
With a start, Paula realized that Cisia -- if it was Cisia -- was referring to the "Izumi". /But how could she know...?/
Cisia raised both hands, and Paula braced for the blast... And then the woman jammmed the syringe in Cisia's back.
"No! Not again!..." The glow faded, and Cisia collapsed. Before losing consciousness, she said. "Help me..."
Paula stood, shaking. Not for the first time, she was wishing she'd stayed aboard the "Izumi".
The woman looked at her, and at Byrce, who had pocketed his gun and joined them. "Thanks," he said.
"You're welcome," said the woman. "Now I recognize you as a patrolman..." she turned to Paula. "...But you I don't recognize."
P-Paula ter Maardan, biologist. And I'm not really certain about anything right now. Could someone explain just what happened here?"
"Sure," said the woman, smiling. "That is, if I'm not under arrest."
"Uh no," Byrce said. "I guess you could say I'm off-duty."
"Fine. First, let's get Cisia to a safe place, and I hope the J-10 lasts longer this time, 'cause I don't have another syringe if it wears off. And my name's Anika Jansen."
Half an hour later, the four were huddled in a back alley within spitting distance of the Core. While waiting for the others, Anika, Paula, and Byrce had exchanged stories on how they had come together in this strange night. About Dalasius, the Ministry, and Darian, about the Compact and Paula's now fragile relationship to it, and about several other things.
Cisia was resting beside them, wrapped in blankets that Anika had "procured" from a nearby apartment. Paula eyed the blankets and asked Anika, "Did you really need to tie her up?"
"I don't have a choice. If Dalasius gains control of her again, I won't be able to drive him out. At least this time he'll be contained... for a moment or two."
"I'm not too sure about that," Byrce said, rubbing his shoulder.
Paula thought for a moment, then opened her backpack and pulled out an oblong device. "I almost forgot I had this," she said. Laying it on Cisia's still form, she said, "Activate first aid unit."
The device hummed softly. "Diagnosis of patient: unconsciousness induced by unknown substance in bloodstream. Secondary damage caused by network of implants throughout the body. Recommended course of action: cleansing of bloodstream of foreign substance and removal of implants and repair of surrounding tissue by medical nanites. Do you wish me to proceed?"
"No, not yet," Paula said. "That drug you used," she asked Anika, "what did you call it?"
"J-10", said Anika, confused, but starting to understand.
Paula turned to the first aid unit. "Label the unknown substance as J-10 and analyse it. Can you reproduce this chemical?"
"I can, however, it will deplete my chemical reserves. In addition, J-10 may have dangerous side-effects on a human subject."
Paula frowned. "Okay. Produce just enough J-10 based on the patient's body weight to keep at least some of it in her blood. But be prepared to use a larger dose if ordered. Umm... leave the implants alone for now."
"Acknowledged, but for the record this action is potential hazardous to the patient." Small tubes extended from the first aid unit and embedded themselves in Cisia's skin.
"There," Paula said. "That should buy us a little time."
"Thanks," Anika said. "Nifty device."
As Paula opened her mouth to reply, a sound caused Anika to turn, gun raised. Byrce stood and flattened against the wall, his gun at the ready.
Talehn, clutching Anika's briefcase, walked into view. Anika sigheg in relief and put down her gun, motioning for Byrce to do the same.
Talehn saw Cisia, and went to her. "Thank heavens she's safe."
"Where's Kuri and Mikan?"
"Still at the hospital. Kuri wouldn't leave her." Talehn turned and looked at them. "Mikan's condition is stable, but that won't last. Anika... the Interface is dead."
"What?"
"There was a power outage at the hospital before we arrived, then the Ministry recalled their Ether technicians. I should have expected it; the Interface was taxed to the limit, poor man."
Byrce sat down with a thump. "Then we don't have much time. I don't want to turn Cisia back over to them, especially after what I've seen, which means..." He looked at Paula.
Seeing Talehn's confused expression, Anika said, "Paula here is not from this world. She's a biologist, with a... tempting offer." As succinctly as she could, she brought Talehn up to speed on what has been happening.
Paula, meanwhile, was checking something on the first-aid unit. When Anika had finished, she looked at Talehn. "You're an Ether Technician?"
"I was, until I helped Cisia escape."
"Something about what Anika said has been bugging me, and it seems to fit with things I found out while I was performing my early surveys. You probably know more about Ether than any of us, so perhaps you can check me on this.
"One thing I've noticed about the patterns of 'natural' Ether is that they are highly complex. Networks of Ether intertwined like jumbled wiring."
"Yes, when we first started to harvest Ether we noticed that. Every plant and animal seems to be connected."
"Could information be transmitted along these networks?" asked Paula.
Talehn shrugged. "Maybe. There have been reports of Interfaces in other districts somehow knowing about things happening elsewhere -- when they had no ordinary way of knowing."
"What are you getting at?" Anika said.
Paula looked up at the sky, now starting to lighten with the first rays of dawn. "Those networks I told you about; there's only one other phenomenon in nature that is as complex. The neural networks that are within a human brain.
"I witnessed an animal surveying this District when I arrived; there was an intelligence and purpose behind it that was more than simple animal curiosity."
"I don't see..."
"Now take this Dalasius creep, the one who possessed Cisia. Dalasius appeared to have a natural ability to tap Ether."
"Yeah," said Anika. "A lot of the ancient mages did."
"Well, near as I can figure, humans have been on this planet for close to fifteen centuries; that's long enough for some form of adaptation to occur. A wild talent, some people whose nervous systems have become attuned to the Ether networks; to the point of being able to recieve information and transmit commands. Maybe that's how they were able to use their 'spells' but that's neither here nor there.
"When Dalasius died, he was tied into a Ether reactor, right? In fact, he committed suicide, from what you told me. I think he knew how complex the natural Ether networks were, and somehow... copied himself into those networks at the same time he blew the reactor. That explains how he's able to control Cisia; since she's another Interface, and a near-clone of Dalasius, so she possesses some of his talents."
Talehn was nodding, but Anika shook her head. "Okay, but what does that have to do with us?"
"Three things. First, since Dalasius can use Cisia because she's an interface, than maybe we can reduce his chances of possessing her by removing the implants. The first-aid unit could do that, but it will take a lot of time."
"Time which we don't have," Byrce muttered, looking about.
"Second, if Dalasius can have near-total control over Cisia, what control does he have over the other Interfaces?"
"The last Interface," Talehn said suddenly. "Ven did tell me once that he was wasting away faster than we thought possible. Maybe Dalasius had something to do with that."
Anika nodded. "So that when he died, the Ministry would plug Cisia into the reactor... right where Dalasius could have total control over her. Who knows what kind of trouble he could cause once there?" One thing though, she thought. She and Darian couldn't stop Dalasius, only push him out of the victims he tried to inhabit. How do you kill something that doesn't have a body.
"What's the third thing?" asked Byrce.
"The thing that has me worried the most," said Paula. "Dalasius may be using the Ether networks to keep himself alive, but what was there before he showed up? These networks have been around for millions of years, I would guess. I suspect that these networks are not just as complex as a brain, I think they ARE a brain. An intelligence and consciousness far older than humanity."
"One that we've been cutting into with our Districts," said Talehn, a look of understanding and horror creeping into his features. "Like a virus or a parasite."
Paula nodded. "And who knows /what/ It may be planning for us."
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