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Chapter 71
By AC
Raoul was as surprised as Ven had been -- he had hoped to get back in touch with Paula, but this wasn't what he had in mind. But, when life hands you a lemon...
"How did you--" Ven pointed toward Raoul. "You're like a ghost."
"Holographic projection," Raoul explained. "You don't have holograms?"
"We do -- but nothing at all like this." Ven glanced at Paula, who was in the quancomp's field of view. "All right. You said you had proof. Let's see it."
Raoul started to explain, with Izumi providing some visual aids; global maps of the Ether networks, Paula's previous testimony to the crew, and other bits of information. As Izumi provided these bits of evidence, Raoul couldn't help but notice her response time was a little off -- as if something else was occupying her computing resources.
But it worked. When they finished, Ven was sitting in his chair, looking as if he had fallen from a great height and lived.
"All right," he said. "I believe you." He cursed. "Our last interface died from massive cell damage. We had no explanation for it, but based on what you told me, it could only be Dalasius. He killed him, just to get Cisia --" Ven sat bolt upright. "Cisia."
Raoul leaned forward. "What about her?"
"She's being prepped to go into the Reactor this minute." Ven's expression was one of a man being torn from the inside.
"Well, get her out of there."
"I can't" Even through the projection, Raoul could see the pain in his eyes. "We're almost out of power here. If Cisia /doesn't/ go in there..."
Paula stepped into the centre of the image. "Raoul, can't we help them?"
"We can't do much. We don't have any generators that can power a city aboard. But a Gaurdian Ship is on the way. When it gets here it can provide some help." He hoped. The artificial intelligence aboard a Gaurdian can be a little single-minded. And if it was coming to arrest them...
In the background of the image, the lights dimmed again, then brightened. Ven looked up, then back at Raoul. "Well it's moot now. She's inside the Reactor."
Cisia awoke with a scream. The pain -- one she hoped she would never feel again -- was back, searing every nerve in her body. Around her was the curving chamber of the Reactor, wires leading to the many plugs in her arms.
It was useless to shout. The walls were soundproofed, to keep the screams of the Interfaces from disturbing the technicians.
/You see?/ A voice whispered in her mind. /Now you need me if you ever want to get out of here./
Dalasius. Cisia felt a tear run down her cheek.
/What do you want?/
/Revenge. Power. What any of us wants./
/But I don't want those things!/ her mind screamed back at him. /I just wanted to be normal.../
/Why? You were grown from my cells, you have my talents. Tapped into the Ether, we can do so much. We can rule everything on this world./
Cisia squeezed her eyes shut, teeth gritted against the pain of the Ether process.
/But before I can rule,/ the voice continued, /there's a few troublemakers I have to get rid of first. And you will help me./
Without warning, Cisia found herself surrounded by stars. One such star was moving. She knew without asking that it was the alien ship, the one Paula came from.
She also knew what Dalasius was planning for it. /No!/
Dalasius did not reply. But she felt him, reaching out into the computers and relays surrounding the Reactor, issuing commands. Massive circuit breakers tripped, plunging the District into darkness. Other commands shunted power to the ring of magnets that surrounded the Reactor chambers.
It was useless to shout -- but it was her last weapon. "HELP!" she yelled, both at the top of her lungs and the top of her mind.
And, as if she had been heard, the Reactor walls faded away, and Cisia knew her mind was elsewhere...
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