Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (23 page)

"We do have
a window of opportunity," Jared offered, "I am certain at the moment there
is no active mind in the system other than Lucas of course, the question is,
can we trust him?"

Charlotte
nodded, "Yes, I think we can Jared, our experience with Lucas via that
small servitor says it all. At some level Lucas knows something is wrong and it
is something that is happening right under his nose. He doesn't like it, he's
afraid even, and he suspects it's a very cunning powerful Mind. Hilary doesn't
know of any Minds capable of doing it."

"Oh I
didn't say that exactly darling, I know of one Mind that could do it."

"Hilary,
it
isn't
Ham." Jared was quick to retort.

"If you
say so sweetie, and even if it was he'd have his reasons."

"Hilary -
I'll say it again, it isn't Ham." Jared's frustration with the suggestion was
obvious.

"Guys,
please, let's think about this." Charlotte stood and stretched. "That
thing in the man's hand, if there is something in it; could it be a small processor?"

Jared peered at
the visual again. "It would be a guess, but yes, of course. You're
thinking it might carry the stowaway, and if it isn't currently connected to
the system or active that would explain why I can't detect anything."

She turned to
him suspiciously. "Jared, how is it that you can do all these things
anyway? Your language is interesting; you say 'I' can't, not Hilary can't  - or
Ham . . . how is it exactly that
you
can check the system."

He smiled,
"Like you, I have a processor, I . . ." and for some reason he
clearly hesitated with the use of the personal pronoun and having to think
before continuing. "We . . ." he thought some more finally settling
on ". . .
He
searched the system."

"He? And
who is he?" Charlotte asked.

"Mori . .
. Mori searched the system."

"O . . .
K." Charlotte decided to leave the matter until later as Jared seemed
clearly reluctant to elaborate. Instead she returned discussion to the matter
in hand. "Since you cannot detect any other presence in the system it does
seem possible that the man is holding a processor with the secret passenger in
residence?"

"And it
is quite likely that the processor isn't connected anywhere on ship at the
moment, if it remains on the ship at all."
Hilary added.

Charlotte
looked doubtful at that suggestion. "Oh I think it's still here, Lucas
certainly suspects it and it seems quite possible he's protected himself by
pushing those suspicions deep into his  . . . god, can we call it his
subconscious?"

Jared stood and
stretched, uncurling from his hunched position where he had steeled himself for
at least an hour. Suddenly he towered over Charlotte. "We need a Lucas
copy to work with, a Lucas separate to the main system so that whatever alert
he is afraid of triggering can't happen."

"How will
we do that?" Charlotte asked.

"Jared,
if we can get a processor from the STEIN, something substantial that will house
the whole Lucas then we can seal this cabin and make it a war room."

He agreed. "Hilary's
right Charlie, there won't be anything on this vessel that will hold a Mind
like Lucas. I have an idea but I'll need to go over to the Behemoth; we could
say I'm visiting mother but it will need to be soon. When do we go through the
next Portal?"

"Uhh . . .
Hilary, when do we go through?"

"We
have time, it will be another twenty four hours. I suggest we gather back here as
soon as Jared returns from . . . visiting his mother. The question still
remains, how do we get Lucas to copy himself without alerting - whoever?"

Jared smirked.
"Leave that to me."

* * *

Dahlia Orbital, Gliese 667C System

Regan flexed
the android arms, pirouetted and moved smoothly into several yoga positions
marveling at the flexibility, the strength and the overall sense of power.
I'll
be knocking forty soon,
she reflected,
damn - my body on the Behemoth
can't begin to compare with this
.

She glanced
across at Hilary's avatar, likewise in a yoga pose. In Hilary's case it was cross
legged with the white dress bunched over her knees, hands steepled over her
mouth and eyes serenely closed. Somehow she managed to make the position look
elegant and Regan noticed for the first time she appeared to be hovering just
off the surface.

She was
updating with her 'Earth' persona, an update that Regan always carried with her
just as she would carry a 'Dahlia' update back on her return. The gracious lady
wouldn't be long Regan knew; an Orbital Mind of her power could absorb the
latest version of her counterpart in the Earth system in a minute or so at most
but she knew her AI friend would take a little longer. She liked to savor all the
new experiences and as such Regan didn't interrupt, despite her own eagerness
to catch up on the latest news from the Gliese system.

Ham was already
off on his own mission to Fifino, she had felt his departure on arrival, only
some deeply compacted backup remaining stored within her. She quite enjoyed
these moments, operating on her own, although she had the sense Ham would be
there in an instant should she call and not just from the backup. How, she also
had no idea, or even if those hopes were true. Regan settled down to wait,
mirroring Hilary's pose.

The gracious
lady's hands swept slowly away from her face and out to turn palm up, and she
held them as if in supplication. It was beautiful to watch.

"Well
Regan," she said with a broad smile, "you never fail to bring
interesting news; Jared and Mori? Now there's a twist I didn't see coming. And
me teaming up with Charlie on the Fair Passage, what a lark eh - I can see fun
times ahead. And I can see why you are here, so many new challenges . . . and what
is up with Aaron and Moriah?" She 'tut tutted' in disappointment and shook
her head sadly.

Regan nodded, "Well,
you can see why I might be concerned; Moriah seems to have succumbed to the
temptation of riches. Hilary, do you know anything about this Leith from
Fifino? He seems a smart cookie and he could just be someone with an eye for
the main chance, but I fear it's more sinister than that. I'm sure Moriah is out
of her depth in all of this and that man has taken advantage. And now Aaron has
been roped in with Ruben being the ace card; it's just not right."

"Hmm, and I
gather Ham is already off somewhere to track down more information on Leith?
I'm sorry Regan; I can't tell you any more, I have no information about him. Do
you have concerns about the patent applications?"

"Yes and
no. I don't think they would hold up in our courts or yours as strictly
speaking Aaron didn't develop the Portals on his own. Having said that, his
work advancing Tihan's energy ideas could really bear fruit and I don't want
anyone else to lock it up, after all this system already has enough problems
with market dominance. I'd hoped that Aaron’s work might even become open
source, free to all and that would really remove the stranglehold that Reubus
has on the region with his energy monopoly."

It didn't
escape Regan's attention that Hilary's eyes seemed to glaze over at just the
mention of Reubus's name. "Hilary, you're not falling for Reubus are
you?"

She laughed
wickedly. "He is a business bad boy isn't he?"

Regan dipped
her head and looked at her suspiciously. "You don't sound too unhappy
about it; babe is there anything you need to tell me?"

"Oh Regan,
a lady never talks about such things." And she winked lewdly.

"Hilary!
Don't tell me you've fallen for his greasy charms?"

The gracious
lady looked disappointed. "Truthfully, no - but he's not so greasy really.
You can't blame him for being good at what he does and I can think of worse
things than such a liaison."

"Just be
careful babe, Reubus is always maneuvering for business advantage and I'm not
sure you'd be happy having your reputation and name associated with him."

"Regan, I
wouldn't mind a cyber tumble if it presented itself but I'm not about to fall
for a charmer. The Orbital comes first, and you're not far behind." She smiled
reassuringly.

Regan rose in
one smooth motion, not even using her arms yet staying perfectly balanced, as
she gloried in the strength of those beautiful legs. In a second she was back in
business mode addressing the coming meeting with Reubus.

"Have you
heard anything about his plans Hilary, how is Reubus doing with his business
overall?"

"He's
frustrated Regan, no question about it. The loss of Tihan Orbital for his planned
system transport hub has really set him back but he hasn't lost hope. Regan, Tihan
is the problem, he's struggling to make the interest payments on their debts
and Reubus is threatening to invoke penalty clauses which will make the
situation far worse. I have been helping but I can't afford to risk this Orbital
too."

"You
mentioned penalty clauses?"

"Yes - it's
just the standard money lender type of thing. Tihan remembers Reubus talking
about them but he never thought he would reach the position of being unable to
pay. If I wasn't carrying him financially the debt would already be triple."

"Hilary, you
can't be throwing away money covering his interest surely?"

"No of
course not, I'm taking positions in Tihan government corporations too, exactly the
same kind of thing Reubus is trying to do."

"And Tihan
is happy about that?"

 "He has
no choice really but, as I said to him, better the Dahlia you know than the
Reubus you don't."

"Hmm - I
guess so."

"Regan, if
I don't do it then Tihan will fall to Reubus and at least I'm limiting my
interests to less than fifty percent in each business."

"So that
means Tihan will still be running things in each case?"

"Yes -
unfortunately."

Regan stopped
pacing and screwed up her mouth in frustration. "That clearly won't work
darl, Reubus is right, I don't think Tihan is up to it."

"I agree
but I didn't think you'd be happy for me to take a higher percentage."

"Hilary,
you did the right thing, and with the best of intentions but clearly the
problem will get worse for Tihan before it can get better. Go for fifty one
percent, controlling interests from now on. We will look after Tihan."

"I'm glad
you said that, and Regan - there's something else." Hilary hesitated, a
look of concern on her gracious face.

"What?"

"It may be
nothing, but Reubus seems to be lifting his military spending."

"Oh
really?" Regan did another stretch while she pondered the new information.
"I guess there's no point in delaying my meeting with him; he'll be
expecting action and I need to get my own feel for what he's up to. Hilary, if
I'm not back within the day - find Ham."

"Of course
dear - be careful."

They exchanged
smiles, and then Regan slid back to the floor to settle into a lotus pose. She
rested there a moment, a picture of serenity . . . then departed for Reubus
leaving the powerful android form behind.

* * *

As visits to
Reubus Orbital go, this one proved most disturbing. Instead of finding the one
Reubus, either in avatar or android form as usual she found four versions of
Reubus waiting for her, all android copies. More disturbing was finding he had
also copied himself into the regan android she had seen on the earlier visit.
It was naked, soiled and sickening.

Reubus showed
no concern over her arrival and seemed either unaware or uncaring of how
inappropriate the situation was. It was obvious to Regan that he was trying to
stack the meeting in his favor and trying to put her on the back foot. To have
him strutting and posturing in a female android, particularly one strikingly
like herself was insulting. Fortunately the whole act was so camp it undermined
any purpose he may have intended and Regan found it slightly amusing. In fact
it raised questions as to Reubus's sanity. It didn't help that the Orbital Mind
also chose to speak through the scantily clad version as if there was nothing
unusual about the behavior. To have the old male Reubus voice issuing from a
buxom female completed the insane picture and Regan couldn't help herself. She
laughed out loud.

"You find
something funny Regan?"

"I'm sorry
Reubus, I do find it hard to stay serious when you choose to meet with me and
speak from an android version of myself; particularly when the voice is several
octaves below my own." She tried to smile warmly, and failed.

He seemed not
to notice. "I find that I quite like the form and function of the female,
and it has proved useful in several negotiations, if you know what I
mean." The android smiled lasciviously. In the background she could see
the female Reubus lounging into a chair, a draping position with one leg over
the arm looking practiced and ready for action. Regan shuddered.