Broken Glass (Glass Complex Book 1) (17 page)

“Please keep me fully informed. Do you have thoughts on de Coeur’s likely development?”

“We cannot—I ‘m unable to make a prediction. I can’t even guess. We should continue to monitor him, and we’ll provide guidance and assistance as and when possible. We are just trying to keep up, without any idea of how he’ll develop.”

“I agree, monitor and guide. Ensure Complex provides maximum assistance. What about the other subjects of this viral infection?”

“Rakyd de Coeur was infected. However, he’s shown no major or unexpected developments. Unfortunately the other subject was one of those family members executed by the Imperials.”

“Wasn’t an Acolyte similarly treated?”

“Yes, Second. The Imperial soldiers killed him—he volunteered to deliver instructions and papers to Steg de Coeur when Complex determined he should go offworld.”

“Of course, I remember. Very well, continue your project. Report immediately to me when you have updates, including changes in the status of de Coeur.”

The interview concluded. Now they could mourn the death of their friend and mentor.

******

Chapter 14

Steg could see pinpoint light sources embedded
in the darkness that enveloped him. Some were close by and some were distant, others he could not assess. Some flickered, some glowed softly, and others glared and shone with hurtful intensity. He shut them off, shielding himself from possible pain. He focused on the largest, closest light. He studied it for a short while, seconds or days, he was unsure.

It spun and gradually resolved into a multi-dimensional array of symbolism that was both live and not live. The light broke into smaller lights and flows of light, waves and streams, each flickering and flowing in an unknown, yet apparently pre-determined manner. The flows attracted him, drawing him closer and closer until he was immersed, moving inside the main currents. He was overviewing and participating in the multitude of flows, merging now with the pulsing network of high speed photon tubing, flowing timelessly here, and slowing there, sometimes in rapid bursts, sometimes stationary.

Awareness slowly grew; he realized he was experiencing data flows of the
Ziangka
’
s system, that he was viewing the vast command structure, participating in the activities of the system and watching the pulses of data across the network of processors and storage points. He halted his apparent movement and selected at random a cell, accidentally triggering a process that immersed him in a flood of green light that was packed with data in orderly row after row, hundred, thousands, countless rows that reached out and beyond the horizon. He was exploring a data cell, a glass storage device. He wandered around its interior, sampling and testing, accepting and rejecting, reviewing row after row of data. He was surprised and alarmed, He was enjoying his unrestrained freedom and effortless movement, afraid that something would stop his progress, inhibit his activities. At last he was satisfied and he withdrew from the cell, from the device, from the tunnels of light, from the network.

He opened his eyes, startled to see Denke and a medic standing over him, both with worried expressions. The major spoke.

“Does that happen to you very often?”

“What do you mean?” queried Steg as shafts of pain replaced the blackness.

“You collapsed, just like that. Wham. I thought you’d been pole-axed.”

“Perhaps I had,” murmured Steg. He raised himself groggily and the medic helped him stand. “Thanks. I think I’m OK, now.”

The medic departed and Steg turned to Denke.

“Do you have that Xesset page?”

Denke handed it over without comment. He watched with interest, aware something had almost overwhelmed the young de Coeur.

Steg straightened out the crumpled page. He studied the text intently for a short moment. He then proceeded to read aloud the entire document; the first time in Xesset and the second time was a careful translation, spoken without hesitation. He handed the page back.

“You can do it,” exulted the Major. “This means we have a chance to carry out my plan.” Steg attempted to back away, as though distancing himself from the Major’s enthusiasm. “No, you’re not leaving. You’re not going anywhere without me. We’ll be inseparable until this adventure is concluded.”

Steg didn’t argue. He was exhausted. He felt as though a speeding tractor unit had hit him at full speed; he could feel bruises all over his body and his head ached. He checked the simulation details. The star ship still had no reliable identification of the pirate ships. He realized with a start of surprise that he had not used the workstation or viewed a physical display. He was in direct contact with the
Ziangka
’s
system. So not only was he able to access the Xesset language archive, he was also able to access functions across the entire star ship’s system.

The major was watching him with familiar alertness. “I’ve been trying to get your attention. Do you think you can do it?”

“Your idea may be workable. I’ll assist you to the best of my ability. In exchange, of course.”

“Of course. We have an agreement.”

“Are we staying here for the duration? I’m feeling cramped.”

“We are still hours away, so yes, let’s go find Cat and the Greens, and work out some tactics. Fortunately they’ve worked with me before. Come on.”

Steg was not surprised to note the major kept very close to him as they made their way back to the briefing room.

The first wave of cutters was launched under full cloaking; the pirates, now confirmed as Xesset, would not detect either ss
Ziangka
or its fleet of attacking cutters until the first missiles were fired. Tasks of the attacking force were to minimize damage to the freighter, ensuring no loss of life among the crew and any passengers on board, and at the same time, to capture Xesset craft, if possible. A simple challenge, thought Steg. And all before lunch.

He clutched at his flight seat as the maneuvers of the cutter at speed gave him the impression he was being thrown around the cockpit. The gravitational pull was apparent, not real, and he grimaced as the viewscreen displayed a rapidly shifting scene of stars and star ships. Denke turned to check on him. He was, thought Steg, making far too much of his stated intention to keep close. He attempted to relax as the cutter rushed onward, as though drawn inexorably towards the forthcoming battle.

The target for cutter Delta Three was one of the smaller Xesset craft that had been confirmed as a category thirty-five; a relatively small warship, modest although not harmless by any means. A complete wing of four cutters was heading towards the unsuspecting alien craft; Delta Three was to penetrate the Xesset ship while the other cutters were to engage its defenses. Steg was partially relieved they had not been allocated to the largest of the three ships; it had been assessed as a category thirty and two wings were diving towards it. On the same scale of measurement, the
Ziangka
was a category ten and an Imperial dreadnought weighed in as a category five. Steg had never heard of a category one and doubted it had ever been possible to build a star ship of such dimensions.

Ziangka
was following closely behind the cutters and was prepared to attack with all the force available to it. Their primary objective was capture of at least one enemy craft and while the star ship had weapons enough to destroy the Xesset pirates, such a victory would defeat the Imperial objective.

As the cutter moved closer, Steg attempted to reach out, to make contact with the alien systems. He detected no response and concluded they were still too distant. He sat back, relaxed, and watched the viewscreen, studying the small group of ships as they came closer and closer.

“Control to all cutters. Xesset are disengaging. The freighter has reported their attack has broken off.”

Apparently the Xesset at last had detected the advance wave of missiles launched earlier by
Ziangka
. The anti-missile weapons would absorb initial missile responses from the pirates, protecting the cutters and the larger warship. When these conflicting waves of missiles engaged, the cutters would be close enough to attack.

Steg suddenly realized he had made contact with the larger Xesset ship; the contact was very faint, an initial flicker of awareness. He was intrigued and pushed out, strengthening his probe. A sense of evil persisted and even grew. He ignored it and increased his efforts. He isolated the Xesset ships in his awareness and they separated and became more distinct. He concentrated on forming a stronger contact. The small Xesset fleet formed a recognizable group, separate from the total medley of ships, cutters and missiles, all now impinging on his awareness. At last he was able to penetrate the alien systems and explore their structures.

Steg felt as though he had stepped across space and merged with all the Xesset star ship systems. Pulsing Xesset weapons computers caught his attention and he set up a program bias to alter their targeting routines; ensuring none of the missiles launched by the alien ships would hit the approaching Imperial vessels. He also altered the proximity fuse settings; now missile warheads would explode harmlessly, well before they were in reach of their targets. He hoped Xesset crews would not realize their missile and weapons systems had been compromised. All the time he was aware of that evil atmosphere within the alien systems, and Steg had to push it aside as he sought the smaller star ship system that was the target for cutter Delta Three. He focused and reached out for the Xesset ship’s control system. In moments he had inserted an impromptu program patch. Now commands to the ship to navigate from its current position would create symptoms of drive failure, holding the ship immobile. Next he sought the control functions of the ship’s self-destruct mechanism. This program was far more complex than he had expected, demanding his complete attention. He fought grimly with traps and security devices embedded in the system until he was satisfied it would be impossible for Xesset officers or crew to program a scuttling explosion. They could still scuttle their ship although the explosive device would need to be manually triggered. In all this time he was unaware of the maneuvers of the small cutter as it avoided the flood of Xesset missile fire.

His ambitions growing, Steg reached out for the large Xesset star ship, which was raining a firestorm of missiles into the approaching cutters. While he had altered the firing programs that triggered the missiles, they would continue to be a real danger to Imperial forces until the Xesset firestorm abated. Steg could sense the smaller, tiny systems controlling the missiles as they came into life and streaked across space, culminating in yellow sprays of exploding, positron-driven antimatter lances. He merged into the larger ship’s systems and realized with dismay that was almost alive with an evil pulsating force, an integral component of Xesset system structures which was indicative perhaps of Xesset’s complete incompatibility with mankind and its allies. He hurriedly patched a logic trap into the ship’s command structure, locking the ship permanently in local space, freezing its ability to penetrate space-time.

Now Steg was able to discern the entire fabric of the ongoing space battle. As he watched, his sense of signals and data flows from Imperial systems was deepened and strengthened by his capture of data flows from Xesset systems. He could taste the cold of space and feel the streaks of sharp bitterness generated by speeding and exploding missiles. He sought out cutter Delta Three and watched its slow progress across the black canvas of space. He saw it move closer and closer to its Xesset objective, saw it lock onto the hull of the Xesset ship, saw the painstakingly slow rush of the marines as they penetrated the Xesset hull and knew with certainty they would penetrate the targeted cargo lock and gain access for the small Imperial craft. Soon Cat would maneuver the cutter inside the dark confines of the Xesset cargo hold. Then Steg became involved in the wider ambit of the battle, moving missiles aside, protecting Imperial small craft, monitoring reactions, enhancing data flows to the star ship’s systems and blanketing sensors of Xesset systems. He saw
Ziangka
move closer and closer to the larger Xesset vessel as the Imperial battle control officer recognized his opportunity to overwhelm the enemy.

Suddenly huge sheets of fire seared across the fabric in which he had immersed himself, and gamma ray streaks in vivid purples and yellows flashed in a continuous stream of penetrating light and deafening sound. Then came blackness, silent and complete.

“Wake up, de Coeur. This is starting to be a habit.”

Steg opened his eyes. The major was standing over him, shaking his shoulder.

“Come on, you’re supposed to be the focal point of this exercise and all you do is sleep.”

“Easy on the shaking Denke,” Steg protested as he pushed the major’s hand away. “My skull feels as though it has been carefully thumped from every direction possible by a very large sledgehammer. What did Cat do, crash?”

“No, he made a perfect entry, even without your assistance,” Denke was restrainedly critical. While he was confident that the cutter’s successful penetration of the Xesset defense system was attributable somehow to Steg, he could not determine the reason for Steg’s collapse.

“What’s happening now?”