Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (32 page)

In minutes the shuffle began, with Ham's
android displacing first and then in quick succession others followed, four by
four, in a continual stream of soldiers displacing throughout the Palace, all
with their specific targets and objectives. Ham hoped it would create panic among
the guard with reports circulating of enemy here, and there, and there and . .
. Pretty soon they wouldn't know where to run. He hoped they would gain the
impression of a much larger invasion force than that actually faced.

Finally, with the last four successfully transferred
Ham made the last jump to join them. Leaving a full copy of himself on the
STEIN he simply displaced from the spot where he stood, down into the palace
and the Technical facility in particular. He arrived to the sound of gunfire,
good old fashioned semi automatic firing and to his dismay he saw two of
Brian's team already down and injured. With just another thought he instantly displaced
them back to the STEIN knowing as he did so that for the moment they would need
to look after themselves, perhaps with some servitor support. But there was no
time to worry about that now; he began to stalk the sound of gunfire, becoming
angrier with every step.

Twelve had displaced to this facility, and
now with two injured there should be ten remaining as far as he knew. Gunfire
and the sound of percussion grenades guided his progress but nevertheless he
coolly checked every room as he passed. A dead guard sprawled across the
corridor at one point caused him to pause as did the looks of frightened night
staff and he rapidly developed the opinion this wasn't an action he would
enjoy. It was one thing to have righteous objectives, to have the intention of
preventing greater injustice later, but it was quite another to effectively
invade, terrorize and take lives in the process. He started to have doubts for
the first time and quietly hoped that there was in fact a deadly virus, that
this wasn't only a Rexis Mind myth.

Distracted by these thoughts he failed to
see the palace guard hunkered down and partly hidden behind a pillar. The man
stepped out and fired without aim, two shots in quick succession. Larger than
bullets, the projectiles carved one hole through Ham's thigh and sliced a small
chunk from his shoulder. Ham turned slowly, raised his good arm and pointed
with his palm, releasing an energy pulse that lifted the guard from his feet
and threw him against the wall. Working the other arm he dipped one finger into
the hole in his thigh as if testing its depth then stretched and flexed it establishing
he still had movement. Confident he was unhindered he then proceeded on to find
Brian. The android seemed indestructible and he quietly considered what little
chance Regis would have against an army of these as fighter, and then shook his
head in frustration. That was the problem; Bob's friends did not have it in
them to even successfully defend themselves. Their programming would never
allow them to take a life, and as a consequence when the Regis move against
Rexis came, as it surely would, the Minds of Rexis would be lambs to the
slaughter. He gritted his teeth and increased his pace.

As quickly as the occupation had begun it
seemed to be over. Quiet had settled on the building although in the distance a
few explosions could still be heard, probably the fruitless firing of heavy
weapons at the STEIN. To Ham's immense relief he had passed no more bodies as
he continued to track Brian's progress.

[Brian, I'm homing on you, how goes it?]

"Sweet Bro, the building is secure and
we're almost there with the palace. There hasn't been much resistance really
and minimal losses. Ham, we have several prisoners here, I'm pretty sure they
aren't military but of course we can't communicate, I don't speak the lingo."
Brian's confident voice was a welcome sound that countered Ham's dire thoughts and
he smiled again at Regan's instinctive choice of this man so many years ago.

[Hold them there Brian, I'm two minutes
away.]

As he entered the room Ham could see six
people cowering in a corner with a huge soldier standing over them, his automatic
weapon casually draped over one arm. The staff were clearly no threat as he
could tell the soldier, one of Brian's most trusted lieutenants, was relaxed
and at ease; perhaps it was the rifle that intimidated them. Ham walked slowly
forward, never taking his eyes off the group and he could tell from their looks
they had picked something unusual about him. And then he saw it dawn, a look of
terror appearing on their faces and they pressed back against the wall. All
except for one and Ham didn't miss it, the flash of excitement in the man's
eyes as he realized this was an android. He decided to leave the man for the
moment and address the group collectively. Taking a position several meters in
front of them he calmly crossed his arms and scanned them slowly.

"Are you of the palace guard?" He
asked.

No one answered for a few seconds and he
was about to bark the question again when the only young woman in the group
took the initiative to reply.

"No - we are not of the guard, we are
research assistants." Unconsciously her eyes darted nervously, first to
the excited man then back to Ham. "Please, we are not soldiers, we are
just workers, don't hurt us."

Ham smiled disarmingly. "Thank you,
that wasn't too hard now, was it?" He again scanned the group slowly and
then began to pace, just a few steps to one side then back. "We are
looking for something that is very important to us, and I wonder if you may be
able to help. We have heard you have a weapon, a weapon able to disable all of the
technology of Rexis; a virus weapon to be specific. Now . . ." and he
paused before focusing on the woman in particular, "what can you tell me
about this?"

Her genuinely blank look told him
everything, and though he continued to look at her he also took in the others,
noting their enquiring glances at each other, the similarly blank faces and
their evident confusion. That is, all except for the excited man. Ham paused to
ponder, rubbed his android chin with one hand and looked down at the floor as
he spoke. "I can see you are confused, it is possible that you know nothing;
however I think it unlikely that such a story would have no substance, nor that
it would be a secret amongst such a paranoid people. No, I am sure that you
know something and I would like especially - to talk - to -" and his eyes
suddenly flicked up to the man, "you!"

Much to Ham's disappointment again he saw
the spark in the man's eyes, not the effect he was looking for. There was fear
there, yes, but fear definitely mixed with excitement and the man wasn't
cowering, he was more awed in fact. Giving up on his little ploy Ham became
quite polite.

"Perhaps we could talk in
private."

"Yes, yes of course." The man
stood quickly and eagerly.

"Don't tell them anything
Siebel!" another barked, drawing a threatening glare from Ham.

The excited man glanced back at his colleague.
"You fool Rohan, there is nothing to hide." Then ignoring his other coworkers,
he and Ham walked from the room, through to an adjoining office with Brian
following.

"So your name is Siebel?" Ham
asked.

The man nodded assent but seemed more
interested in coming forward. "May I?" he asked, gesturing and
indicating that he wanted to touch Ham's body.

Although taken aback Ham nodded and the man
stepped forward to reach out with a trembling hand and touch the arm Ham
extended, stroking, palpating and squeezing it before stepping back to marvel
at the android.

"I apologize for my presumption, for
me this is a dream come true. You . . ." and for a moment he seemed lost
for words, "you are my field of expertise and yet here, all we do must be
done in secret, and all my work comes to nothing. We are backward and narrow
minded, and it is to our cost."

Ham cocked his head doubtfully. "Yes,
well, we will see. I gather you have no love for this technological
backwater?"

"On the contrary, I love my planet,
and my people, but I am frustrated yes; we could achieve so much more with
technology. I feel sometimes this policy is more about pride and stubbornness
than reason."

"Siebel, I can tell you know of the
weapon I spoke of and you also understand what it is intended to do. How can
you hold your views while supporting the genocide of intelligent Minds?"

"Oh, I don't agree with it, but mine
is not to fight the beliefs of my people. I have conflicts yes, but I have my
work and the chance to advance things slowly, and you are the aggressors, not
us. We are simply defending ourselves by ensuring we have the ultimate defense ready
should it be needed." He seemed to hesitate, and then frowned before
continuing. "But seeing you here, in the flesh, not some machine but a
personality, a life . . ." He shook his head again in amazement. "It
does bring all my concerns and doubts to the fore."

Ham shook his head, not in confusion but in
frustration. "Siebel listen to me, we are not aggressors, we are simply
trying to preserve the lives of our kind and protect the society on Rexis. The
knowledge that you have such a weapon and are committed to use it is enough to
bring us here. The people and Minds of Rexis have no interest in your planet except
perhaps to trade with it; now, where is the weapon?"

"But we wouldn't use it."

"Then why do you have it? Siebel, what
would happen if your leadership changed? What if a less moderate senate
proposed moving against Rexis; do you see? As long as this weapon exists, Rexis
can have no peace. Now I ask you again, where is the weapon?"

Siebel had gone quiet at Ham's words and he
stood thinking deeply. Ham let him; Siebel, he judged, should be the one to speak
next. Out of the corner of one eye he could see Brian beginning to move,
raising his rifle butt threateningly, and Ham quickly raised his hand to stop
him. In any case Siebel did decide to speak, and he looked concerned.

"There are two places it is held now.
The genovirus is stored on a dedicated mainframe in the basement of this building;
it's isolated from everything else just in case; I can take you there."

"You said there are two, where is the
other."

Now Siebel looked most concerned, even
apologetic. "The acting Premier, Maynard, he holds a copy - for what
purpose I don't know."

Ham and Brian exchanged looks, a raised
eyebrow from Brian asking the question,
what do you want me to do?
Ham
turned back to Siebel. "Where does this Maynard live?"

"Presently in the palace grounds, he
has occupied the Premier’s apartment following the death of Darius."

Ham closed his eyes and concentrated,
bringing up the floor plans of the palace. Once located in his data banks he
planned the best path and copied the file. "Give me a moment Brian, I'm
sending you a file now with his location. Take a team and bring him back here,
then we'll meet again in this room. While you're doing that Siebel and I will
go down and deal to the mainframe."

On Brian's glasses the small image appeared
with his current position and the destination. He didn't hesitate, walking
quickly away while barking orders for others to meet him.

Ham turned to Siebel, who was still
following his every action in awe. "Shall we go Siebel, you lead the way."

The passage to the basement was via stairs
and Ham pondered the huge contradictions in this society, where technology was
eschewed in some areas while utilized where it suited them in others.
Clearly
compromise wasn't a problem to facilitate the workings of this government.
How
very humanoid,
he thought.

Siebel hesitated at a door and stepped
aside for Ham who proceeded through first, now finding himself in a large
sterile room which he scanned quickly for life. In only fractions of a second he
confirmed no hidden dangers, not people, nor weapons or alarms; and why should
there be? Anyone able to penetrate this deeply into the palace would already
have dealt with all guard defenses. Ham smiled in satisfaction at the success
of the operation, and with no loss of life, so far at least. He turned to
Siebel and simply raised his eyebrows questioningly; it was such a natural look
that it again drew a gasp of wonder from the young scientist.

"This worship is getting terribly
tiresome Siebel. Get used to it; I am a Mind, I think, I feel, I am. Now -
where is the virus stored?"

Siebel gestured to the box like structure
in the centre of the room, quite separate from the various work stations;
however without knowing what cabling there might be beneath, its isolation
couldn't be confirmed.

"How do you access it, cable or
wireless?" Ham asked as he walked to it cautiously and lightly touched the
surface.

"We access only by cable and only from
a dedicated portable tablet to keep it isolated from our own systems.  Sir, we
are already backward compared with Rexis; we certainly don't want to corrupt
what little and pitiful programming we do have."

Ham's look became threateningly stern. "And
how can I be sure you are telling the truth?"