Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (14 page)

* * *

The STEIN Traveler, Hillary Station

They gathered around the gurney; Leah,
Marin, Regan, Ham and Hilary. No one spoke or subbed for a long time, all being
lost in their thoughts. Regan's eyes panned across the group wondering if their
thoughts matched her own? Her eyes drifted back to Jared, lying comfortably
there and with a face like an angel. Apart from the one earlier sub, there had
been nothing from him, not a flicker in three days, and even while he was being
stretched and massaged there had been no signs of conscious life.

"What are your thoughts Ham?" She
finally asked, and all eyes turned to the beautiful man.

"Well, he is out of the coma; I would
have expected him to be speaking by now." And he gulped. "I can only
think he is otherwise occupied."

"How can that be possible Ham?" Leah
asked. "He's never experienced anything like this before."

Ham looked typically uncomfortable. It was
a look they were all well familiar with, the look of a schemer exposed; the
look of someone whose prior planning had worked out just as he had intended,
but the plans were secret to himself. They had seen it before, that moment when
Ham knew he would need to come clean. Both Regan and Leah suspected his
discomfort at such times stemmed partly from being exposed as the schemer but
also uncertainty over exactly how much he would need to admit. The two women
exchanged looks with Marin.
Stay silent, Ham will spill!

The beautiful man hesitated, summing up the
situation, and then decided on an unexpected strategy; blame shifting.

"Well," he paused, affecting
serious thought, "there is strong brain activity; so we can be assured the
boy is not brain dead, he's probably choosing not to come out, teenagers!"

Regan crossed her arms and glared at him.

He caved. "Regan, you must remember I've
had a decade of doing this with you, merging with your mind. What's happening
in there probably isn't so much Jared's ability to transfer across to the
digital, it's my ability to do the same in reverse, from processor to brain;
well, not mine of course, it's Mori,
he'll
be the one doing it." He
shrugged resignedly and spoke as if the explanation that Mori was active
explained everything.

Marin stepped up with a look that said he
wanted to punch Ham's avatar. "Ham - you are Mori! What are you doing in
there?"

Ham took on his 'be reasonable look'. "Strictly
speaking Marin, Mori's quite separate from me now, who knows what he may be up
to?"

"Oh puh - lease! It's only been three
days." And Regan did punch him now, a cyber shove that caused him to rub
his arm. "I cannot believe that whatever Mori is up to in there is in any
way different from whatever you planned originally."

Ham nodded. "Well, quite possibly that
is true, but to be fair we cannot be sure."

Regan clenched her hands into fists, then thought
better of it and controlled herself. She stepped back to lean against the
gurney and took on a disturbingly calm look. "Ham dear, let's recap shall
we? You said it's not so much Jared's ability to transfer across, but your
ability to transfer to the brain, am I hearing that right?"

"That's it exactly," Ham looked
relieved. "I'm so glad you understand."

"Understand . . . understand!"
Regan's eyes rolled. "Ham, what are you doing in there?"

"Regan, it's not me anymore, it's
Mori. You must adjust to that."

Leah, always the voice of calm reason
placed her hand on Regan's arm and sidled toward the beautiful man. He stepped
away suspiciously.

"Ham, I can see that Regan just wants
to clarify what might be happening in there, in Jared's brain, you can
understand that. Is he likely to be okay? What is it that Mori is most likely
doing?"

Ham glanced across at Hilary who had
remained strangely silent. It was only a flick of the eyes but enough for all
three air breathers to pick up on it. Regan turned slowly to Hilary.

"What do you know about this
Hilary?"

"Nothing . . ." The gracious lady
looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Hilary, you are not a good . .
." Regan hesitated to say the word.

"Fibber," Leah threw in
helpfully.

She surrendered, "Regan, I really
don't know anything for sure. But I do know . . ."

"Hilary!" Ham barked.

"Well
you
tell them then . . .
Ham it's not right, you know what's probably going on; tell them or I
will."

Ham glared at the gracious Hilary, and then
turned slowly back to Regan, hesitating a moment longer before beginning to
speak. "I think . . . he may be merging."

"Merging? You mean - merging as in
when you merge with yourself after a split?" Regan was standing tall now,
her fists clenched in anger.

"Not exactly, of course there is only
one me inside there, and that's Mori now. I'm guessing Jared has opened up to
Mori and welcomed the merge."

"How is that possible for goodness
sake," Regan asked, "you and I have never merged?"

"No of course not, of course we
haven't merged completely, that's nothing like what we're talking about
here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa . . . are you saying
we
have
merged?"

"Regan, we were talking about Jared."
He moved on quickly. "The notion had occurred to me, that's all I can say,
that if your mind could move this way into the digital, then perhaps the
digital could move the other way just as easily. The brain is after all simply
a highly complex biological computer of sorts." He looked up at the
ceiling suspiciously, "Perhaps and it's only a guess, that's what is
happening here."

"Ham, have you found a way to a body
of your own, because if that's what this is about, so help me . . ."

"Noooo, I'm sure it won't be that,
Jared is eager to embrace all of me, that's all. My guess is he's simply opened
up to Mori and . . ." he paused with a look that suggested he realized he
was about to say too much.

"Yeeessss . . ." Leah prompted.

"Well, it could be that Mori is, shall
we say, facilitating and assisting that process."

"Stop saying Mori Ham. For the
purposes of this discussion Mori is you and will be for quite a while. There is
nothing that Mori would do right now that isn't part of your plans and we all
know it so let's drop the pretense. So, if this 'merge' succeeds, and it seems
we can't stop it, are you telling me that you and Jared will be 'one being'
after this . . ." Regan seemed to wobble with shock at just saying the
words and braced one hand on the gurney. "Shit, I need to sit down."
She leant on the bed before jumping up to sit there, then massaged her tense
scalp furiously; no one spoke.

"So . . . he'll be a Jori, or a Mored."
Leah asked, perhaps unhelpfully, her mouth a grimace as she said it.

"Regan," Ham ignored Leah's
comment. "
I
- that is, this me, won't be one with Jared as you put
it, and I won't be merging in that way with Mori again. We will exchange
information yes, updates of a kind, but the decision I made to split for Jared
was permanent. Mori is now a separate Mind."

"Well, that at least is a
relief." She glared at Ham. "Because there is no way my son is going
to be my lover!" Regan suddenly stilled, then looked up again at Ham
sadly.

"You couldn't just leave it could
you?"

"What?" Ham asked.

"An android body, it wasn't enough for
you?" Leah and Marin looked away, they could tell things were becoming acutely
uncomfortable, and very quickly.

"Regan," Ham implored, "you
know I only want what's best for you and that boy."

"Oh Ham," she shook her head
sadly, "sometimes you are so very human, I'm not sure any of us truly understands
our wants and motivations."

Her eyes drifted back to the prone form and
they lingered there worrying, and wondering.

There's no going back now.

Jared . . . Mori?

Jared . . . oh
god Jared, are you still there?

* * * * *

Chapter Four

The Styles’ family apartment on Hillary Station

Moriah curled her long naked frame around
Aaron and as always he responded immediately, groaning and hardening as she
stroked him with her free hand. "You have done so well Aaron; they are all
in awe of you, as am I."

He was a much shorter man but strong and
agile and with a flick he rolled her to her back while prying her legs apart, causing
her to squeal in delight; and then it was Aaron who gasped as she wrapped her
long legs around him. He loved this tall, gangly, lithe Coran; she excited and
inspired him, and she loved their son. Nevertheless, he could sense today's
passion had a purpose and as he pressed on to enter and thrust slowly, one part
of his mind waited, knowing some request or other was soon to come. It didn't
take long.   

"Aaron." She suddenly squeezed
him with her legs, a pincer action that hindered and quickly halted his
thrusts.

He hung there a moment, propped on his
elbows and then surrendered, lowering to embrace her. "Yes my dear?"
He smiled, and stroked her cheek, his face only centimeters from hers and was
quickly captivated by the large eyes twinkling at him in the light.

"I have been thinking . . . about you
and your work."

"Can it wait just a moment longer?"
He asked, trying another slow, smooth but unsuccessful thrust within her gentle
yet vice like grip.

She ignored the question, moving her hips
in a gentle enticement that both held and intoxicated him. "On this trip,
while you were on the other side of the portal, my cousin Leith visited, he's
Coran like me but based on Fifino Orbital now. He's a very successful
businessman."

"Uh-huh, what was he doing so far from
home?" Aaron tried to move again but she had him clamped firmly and while
he could have forced the situation he couldn't do it without hurting her. He
wisely chose to remain pleasantly trapped and she rewarded him with another
teasing writhe of her hips.

"Leith came out on the Fair Passage to
see Earth and to look at business opportunities. He was most impressed with your
work Aaron, he really made me think, and it was a very useful and unexpected
discussion." She waited.

"And what did it make you think about
my love?" He had given up now, the moment of passion past, but still he
couldn't move without pain and she continued to occasionally twitch or writhe,
holding and stimulating him as she talked.

"In his work he has seen so many
situations like your own Aaron, where a brilliant mind comes up with an idea
and others profit from it. He feels we should protect ourselves and I tend to
agree." She shifted again, tantalizingly.

"Protect ourselves in what way darling,
and from what?" His voice conveyed frustration but he needn't have
bothered, she wasn't listening.

"We need patent protection Aaron, protection
of your discoveries and your breakthroughs so that no one can steal them."

Aaron tried to roll to the side however
found himself pinned by the knees clamped either side of his hips and he
quickly gave up the gentle fight rather than alarm her. "Moriah, why would
we need patent protection? For one thing I am not working on my own; Kutch
works with me every day, and even our work is only possible with the research
and technology provided to us from Rexis. Who really owns this technology?
Regan will use it to help everyone."

"Of course people will benefit Aaron,
many will profit, including Regan, I am simply concerned that you get the
recognition and rewards you also deserve, perhaps even more than anyone else.
Anyway, you don't need to worry; I probably shouldn't have even bothered you
with the business details. Leith will look after all that and with the
authority I have given him he can act on our behalf, at least for the Gliese star
system."

At the words Aaron felt a cold chill pass
through him. Moriah felt the change also and stilled, waiting for his response.
This time Aaron braced one hand on her left knee and prised himself loose.
Reluctantly she surrendered him so that the two could roll to face each other.

"Moriah," he spoke quietly,
"what have you done?"

"Nothing Aaron, Leith explained it to
me, it is only a letter of intent and with it he will look into securing patent
protection for us in the Gliese system, nothing more than that."

"How could you write a letter of
intent, whatever that is, with regard to these things?"

"I did it on your behalf my love, with
the power of attorney you gave me."

"You have power of attorney for
me?" Aaron looked nonplussed.

"Of course, remember we discussed it
before you went through the portal that first time, you wanted to make sure
Ruben and I were protected. I have enduring power of attorney over your
affairs, and a good thing too as Leith had to leave quickly, there wasn't time
to wait."

He thought for a moment, his mind spinning.
"Would Hilary have a record of this agreement?"

"I don't think so dear, these business
dealings are done on hard copy, Leith explained everything, and that way we
have full protection. I have a copy here and he took the signed copy with him
for his legal representatives in Gliese."

He sat up, feeling desperate now but not
sure why. "But he has nothing to lodge with any patent application, no
technical data, and no research, nothing."

"Of course I explained that to him and
he advised me it would be no problem. The letter of intent simply records that
we will supply it on application and that we will work through him. He will do
the preliminary work and you will supply it in due course." Aaron seemed
to remain neutral which she took to indicate agreement and quickly became
excited. She clasped his hand and pulled it to her breast. "Aaron - we will
be rich! Can you imagine? We could be richer even than Regan, and it is all due
to your brilliance. I am the luckiest Coran in the Galaxy to have found
you."

He looked at her sadly. "Moriah, what
need have we of riches? We lack nothing, nothing at all, and you speak of having
more than Regan as if it's a competition. Regan wouldn't even be able to tell
you what she was worth. She too lacks for nothing and to her that is rich. She still
lives in a cabin on the STEIN Traveler, as she has from the beginning. If there
is food on the table, her friends at her side and work to be done she is
satisfied, as am I. For her this isn't about riches. Again, what need have we
of riches?"

Her look hardened. "This is why you
needed me to have power of attorney Aaron, to protect you from yourself. And we
must think about Ruben. Something could happen to you at any time, what about
our son's future?"

He looked desolate now. "If something
happened to me Regan would look after Ruben, and you."

"It is not her place, Aaron. Ruben is
our responsibility and we
will
do the right thing by him to protect his
future."

A wave of grief seemed to sweep over Aaron
as he registered the determined look on Moriah's face. "Moriah, my love - please
think about this. Is this about Ruben’s needs - or your own?"

She looked disappointed in him, and then
rolled away. "It is of no matter now, the decision is made. You will
supply the information, for Ruben and me. While you are away on this next
journey to Rexis, I will visit family at home with Ruben so that he can meet
them. Matters will be finalized then."

In her view the matter was closed and she
quickly rolled from the bed, gathering a sheet around her as she slinked from
the room. Aaron slumped back on to the bed thinking . . .

I need to talk to Regan.

* * *

Regan, the beautiful man and the
gracious lady walked hand in hand along the Blue Bay beach, an especially
beautiful cyber construction made for this occasion by Hilary, with the sun
shining bright and the sea the most gorgeous aqua blue. Still, it was
unsettling for Regan having spent so many years trapped in her own
reconstruction of the bay.

"I'm sorry." Regan apologized
as she kept walking but was clearly distressed, "I'm not ready to regain
this place; there are too many bad memories for me here now."

The gracious lady didn't hesitate and in
a blink, without them even needing to break stride she took them further up the
coast to Wainui, a beautiful surf beach on the coast near Gisborne. Waves were
now crashing in from the right as they continued to walk north.

 She apologized, "I'm sorry dear, I
didn't think - perhaps we could also move on to some other business."
Hilary shuffled uncomfortably, missing her own step as she seemed to consider
something she wanted to say . . . and then she stopped completely, hauling them
to a halt. "You know how important confidentiality is to me - and I do not
share personal information gathered in my observations with anyone - period -
unless it is particularly important."

Regan took her hands. "Of course
Hilary, we know you track everything and we have never known you to gossip.
What is it?"

Despite herself Regan smiled. Actually
Hilary
was
known to gossip a little, but only between the three of them,
oh, and with Mary, and Charlie as she had since found out. And to be fair if
she did share something they would only be humorous snippets or stories,
nothing deeply personal or anything that would break an important confidence.
Hilary was ordinarily the picture of discretion, especially considering her knowledge
of every single thing happening on Hillary Station and the Step. And of course
Hilary also knew Ham missed nothing anyway.

She turned to him first. "And I
know you're aware of what I want to say so why haven't
you
said
anything?"

"I've been leaving you room to tell
Regan yourself." He feigned innocence.

"Ham, you know how hard this is for
me, I swear, you are slowly trying to corrupt me."

"Hilary - this is your area not
mine; you know I don't like to cross boundaries of responsibility."

At that statement both Hilary and Regan looked
at him in amazement and shook their heads. Finally Hilary simply gestured with
her hand and a screen appeared in front of them, with Aaron and Moriah locked
together on the bed.

"Regan, you need to hear
this." And Hilary rolled the recording from the beginning.

* * *

The Senate Building, Planet Rexis, in the Orion Nebula

The avatar waited, shimmering nervously.
Bob's visage was typically dandy, with stove pipe trousers, winkle picker shoes
and a brilliantly colorful shirt in blues, reds and yellow that while amazingly
varied in pattern seemed to work just right, abounding with personality. He had
picked it especially for this meeting and yet now, as he glanced down at the
sleeve he had doubts,
too cheerful?

He looked at the lifeless androids stored
in the locker, one male one female, and then again checked the time. As the
seconds ticked down his tension seemed to increase and then he commenced what
appeared to be a slow intake of breath . . . he held it . . .

The android to his left, the woman, seemed
to change in some way - life? The change would have been imperceptible to most but
Bob saw it and despite his attempt to stay calm, he let out an anxious squeak.
The eyes flicked open, and the face broke into a smile - a smile that quickly
faded when Bob's distress became apparent.

Regan stepped out into the room and looked
around in alarm. She closed her eyes and concentrated . . . nothing . . . and
then she turned slowly to focus on the dandy man.

"Bob . . . where is Ham?"

"I'm so sorry Regan - we . . . we lost
him, we went on reconnaissance to Regis and we became trapped in the palace,
and . . . and he didn't make it out."

She wilted slightly at the knees and then
recovered. "How could he not make it out, you're here; Bob - what
happened?"

He looked desolate and shook his head
sadly. Then he stood and walked to her, reaching out a hand to touch her
shoulder. He was determined he wouldn't shirk responsibility.

"Regan, I hadn't backed up, I never
back up; I was arrogant and thought nothing would happen to me. And then we
became trapped because of an accident with a silly child." He looked away
in embarrassment. "I had told Ham I had no back up and well - he didn't
have to do it but he charged through first, so that I would have time to jump.
There was no time for him, he was shredded, I'm so sorry."

Regan looked stunned at the news. "You
must have visuals, show me."

"Regan, they're not pretty, and they
don't help."

"Show me!" She barked.

Immediately the wall lit up with a visual
and they turned together. She could see Ham's android from a back view with him
charging at a wall and it appeared there was a dent there with a fine crack
visible . . .
metal?
She winced at the impact and then continued to
watch as Ham turned and walked back before bracing and charging again, and
again, and again. With each return she could see the effects of the crushing
impacts on the android’s soft tissue and she quietly hoped he had done the
sensible thing and blocked all sense of pain, an ability she knew all the
androids provided. Ham then stopped and leant forward to peer through the crack
which had widened with the blows.