Moments later they came to the edge of a long section of clear diamond walls looking down on an empty control room with large holographic displays of the Earth. They could see a couple of researchers in lab coats below. The Kratos logo was tiled into the floor before the entrance—and these thicker doors hissed open as they fell into the large control room with an overlooking gallery. The gravises made their movements across the large space swiftly.
The researchers heard the doors open and turned. Grady and Alexa alighted nearby as she shouted:
“I need immediate access to the Kratos q-link array.”
Grady turned off his gravis and looked up in surprise at one of the two researchers. The man was staring back at him as if he’d seen a ghost. And suddenly the face became familiar—although it was much younger than when he’d seen it last.
It was Bertrand Alcot, his old mentor—but no longer so old.
CHAPTER 31
Compromised
Bert. Is that you, Bert?”
“Jon. I can’t believe it.”
“Bert.” Waves of emotion swept over Grady.
Alcot looked not a day older than forty. He had a full head of hair again, just a bit of gray at the temples. He looked distinguished and vigorous. His cane was nowhere to be seen. He gave Grady a look of deep affection and moved forward to hug him. “My God, Jon, I can’t believe it is you.”
Grady kept him at arm’s distance. “I thought you were dead!” Grady examined the massive laboratory complex around them, and he could see various prototypes of the gravity mirror design all around them. “You’re working for the BTC.”
Alcot lowered his arms and grew somber. It was unnerving to see his much younger face. “You don’t understand, Jon—”
“I think I do understand. I think I understand perfectly. You accepted their deal. You helped them build Kratos.”
Alcot stared at him. “Kratos was my idea, Jon. Gravity projection—the extogravis.” Alcot gestured up to the large screen on which was a live image from far up in orbit. “This is a confirmation of everything you theorized. It’s—”
“They tortured me in prison, Bert! You know that, right?”
Alcot frowned. “What?”
“I was in Hibernity for years! Don’t pretend you didn’t know that.”
Alexa intervened, pushing him back. “Professor Alcot, we need immediate access to the Kratos q-link array.”
He ignored her. “What do you mean they tortured you? I was told Hibernity was a humane—”
Alexa snapped at him. “It’s not! Hedrick lied to you—and to me. To everyone.”
Alcot looked pained. “But I—”
Grady pointed at Alcot. “Is that why you did this? Because they could make you young again?”
Alcot faltered. He said weakly, “You don’t understand, Jon. You’re young.”
“They took my life from me. They took away everything I cared about.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like to . . . to reach the end of your life and realize . . .” Alcot’s voice trailed off.
Alexa stepped between them again. “There is no time for this. Professor Alcot, get me access to that q-link panel.”
Alcot and Grady stared at each other. Alcot responded to Alexa without looking at her. “Why would you need access to the q-link panel?”
“Because we need to insert a relay.”
“For what reason?”
She shouted, “So Kratos can be controlled from elsewhere, that’s why!”
Grady grabbed Alcot by the lapels. “Listen to me. Hedrick is out of control. The BTC is out of control. I conceived of this technology, and I’m not about to let people like him control it. It would ruin whatever future humanity has.”
Alcot looked pained. “I never wanted to hurt you, Jon. Please believe that.”
“I don’t give a damn what you did. I need you now.”
Alcot had no immediate answer.
Alexa pulled the one-inch cubic diamond from a pouch in her tactical harness and slammed it down on the control console. “Our EDSP relay is in here. It needs to be inserted in the q-link array. How do we do that?”
Alcot’s assistant said nervously, “Don’t tell them, Bert.”
Alcot barked at his assistant, “Be quiet, Sameer.”
Grady looked up and finally recognized the man. “Professor Kulkarni . . .” Grady returned his gaze to Alcot. “How could you have betrayed me like this? How long had you known about the BTC?”
Kulkarni, who also looked much younger, answered. “Bert learned about the BTC when you did, Mr. Grady.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
Alexa grabbed Kulkarni by the arm. “Where is the q-link array?”
He spoke with a distinct Indian accent. “I will not tell you.”
Her hand shot out to grab him by the collar. She lifted him off the ground. “Tell me!”
Kulkarni’s resistance folded almost immediately as he pointed frantically at a series of floor panels. A hand scanner was set next to them.
She carried him over to the panels and forced one of his hands onto the scanner. “Open them.”
Alcot watched with obvious displeasure. “What are you doing? And how did you both get in here?”
Alexa watched as the center panel opened, revealing six identical cubic diamonds in metallic ceramic casings behind clear diamond windows etched with serial numbers. They were sealed in with no obvious way to open them.
At a glare from Alexa, Kulkarni said, “Only the lead scientist and the director have the authority to open the q-link array.”
Varuna’s voice spoke above them. “You have only seconds more, Alexa. Human security agents are arriving in force outside.”
Alcot looked above him. “Varuna, you’re helping them?”
“You focus too much on your work, Professor Alcot. You fail to see the big picture.”
Alcot frowned, but the words seemed to have a sobering impact on him. He turned toward Alexa. “What you’re doing is pointless in any event. Unless you can retain control of the lab, they’d just overpower you and replace it again. Your plan wasn’t clearly thought out.”
Alexa pulled out her positron pistol and aimed it at the q-link array.
Alcot shouted, “There are more q-links for the satellite in their vault! Destroying those would accomplish nothing!”
Varuna’s voice again. “Alexa and Mr. Grady, I am afraid we have run out of time.”
Behind them, in the gallery overlooking the lab, the diamond doors slid aside as dozens of armored soldiers in black diamondoid armor, aiming gravity projectors and weapons, rushed in. More poured in from side entrances.
Suddenly Grady and Alexa were both caught in a gravity field and they fell upward several meters off the ground—then floated in the air, helpless.
Alexa tried to twist around and aim the positron pistol back behind her, but dozens of laser dots appeared on her body.
Grady shouted, “Don’t shoot her! If you don’t shoot, I’ll cooperate. Don’t shoot her!” He turned to Alexa. “Drop the pistol, Alexa. Drop it, please. There’s no point.”
She looked at him and then at the armored soldiers filling the lab. Alexa tossed the gun aside, and a soldier caught it before it hit the floor.
“We have her weapon, sir.”
There were now nearly fifty soldiers in the Gravitics Research Lab, their black oval faces looking up at their prey, hovering helpless above them. One of them pushed through to the front, and his visor hissed open.
Alexa saw Morrison’s weathered face scowling back at her.
“I’m amazed you made it this far, but don’t worry, we’ll find the traitors who helped you.” He gestured to the exit. “Disarm them, collar them, and take them to the director. And I want Alexa guarded by a dozen men at all times—she?
??s extremely dangerous in close quarters.”
Alcot watched the guards aiming their gravity projectors as they took Grady and Alexa away.
Morrison picked up the q-link relay that was still sitting on the console.
“You lied to me about Hibernity, Mr. Morrison.”
Morrison looked up at Alcot with disdain. “I don’t know who you think you’re kidding, Professor. You believed what you wanted to believe.” Morrison started walking away.
“Mr. Morrison.”
Morrison turned.
“You’ve got the real crystal in your hand. Their relay is in the array.”
Morrison frowned. “Bullshit.”
“They told me to switch them . . . and I switched them. They gave me no choice.”
Kulkarni stepped back away from Alcot.
Morrison glared. “You mean, someone off-site can currently take control of Kratos?” Morrison looked to the ceiling. “Varuna, is Professor Alcot telling the truth?”
There was a pause. “Yes, Mr. Morrison, Professor Alcot appears genuine.”
Alcot looked up at the ceiling and nodded appreciatively—and then looked toward Grady and Alexa being moved through the security doors.
Morrison shoved Alcot toward the q-link array. “Goddamnit, you should have told us that immediately.” He gestured to the panel. “Pull it now! Go! Go!”
Alcot leaned down to the open access panel and pressed his hand onto a scanner. The nearest q-link casing opened, and he removed the crystal that was already there.
Morrison motioned for Alcot to step away.
Alcot did so, looking at the replacement crystal in Morrison’s gauntleted hand. Morrison inserted the new crystal then resealed the q-link array. He then aimed an armored finger at Alcot. The tip began to glow with an intense white light.
“You know, Doctor Alcot, now that we have Mr. Grady in custody, your lapses of judgment and lack of progress have become quite intolerable.”
Alcot nodded as he turned to face Grady, who was disappearing down the corridor amid heavy guard. “Yes. I would agree.”
There was a tearing sound and a flash of light as a wave of fire started to consume Alcot. But he didn’t scream. Instead, he just nodded toward Grady as he disappeared in a cloud of ash.
CHAPTER 32
Crisis Control
Jon Grady and Alexa stood before Graham Hedrick in his palatial office. Behind Hedrick, his multistory office window was filled with a broad view of Paris at night, looking down the tree-lined Champs-Élysées.
Grady and Alexa both stood stock-still, their bodies held in place by corticospinal collars, divorcing them from their bodies as they stood mere heads on poles before the BTC director, Mr. Morrison, and a dozen other armed guards. Grady felt a deep loss as he realized there was no possible escape. He didn’t even have a body to escape with.
Hedrick sat on the edge of his desk, examining the black spike of Alexa’s positron pistol. He shook his head sadly and looked up at her. “How could you betray my trust like this?”
Her lapis lazuli eyes seemed just as divorced from the proceedings as her body, which stood stock straight.
“We’ve been colleagues for decades. I risked everything to protect you.” He looked down at the pistol again. “This was a symbol of my trust in you. Perhaps the only weapon that could have truly harmed us—or, in the right hands, protected us.”
She said nothing.
Mr. Morrison was unbuckling his armor and sighing in relief as he listened to Hedrick. The diamondoid suit was obviously tight on him.
Hedrick ignored Morrison’s grunting, remaining focused on Alexa. “And now . . . now we’ve got two breaches in our surface wall. Our facade is down—and pictures of it are already showing up all over the public media. The fire. The . . .” His voice trailed off. “You have caused us lasting damage. And it means we must be more forceful with the public now—because of you and Mr. Grady. We can’t allow people to openly speculate about what it is we do here. We can’t allow the outside world to continue as it is.”
Grady met Hedrick’s gaze. “Now that they know about you, they’ll fight you.”
Hedrick turned with mock surprise toward Grady. “Oh, but that’s why you’re so important to me, because their consent will not be necessary. You’re going to help me—for real this time. You are going to help us develop gravity generation—and you will make progress.”
“I’ll never help you.”
“I’ll give you an incentive.” Hedrick walked up to Alexa. “My dear, you were so curious about Hibernity, I think it’s high time you went.”
Grady felt dread. “No. Don’t do that to her.”
“Why not? Just think how much progress you’ll make knowing that every hour you delay is another hour that an interrogatory AI is picking apart her mind.”
“Don’t do that, Hedrick.”
Hedrick was right up in Alexa’s face.
She spat into his spiteful smile.
Hedrick did nothing immediately to wipe it off. He just turned away and walked toward his desk, getting a handkerchief from a drawer. He then calmly wiped his face clean. “Well, that’s the most intimate contact we’ve ever had, Alexa.”
She glared. “No matter what you do to me, it’ll never change how much I hate you.”
“Hate. I’m starting not to care so much what you think of me.” Hedrick placed the positron pistol on his desk. “Neither am I particularly concerned what others think about me, Mr. Grady. Not even my subordinates within the BTC.” He sat on the edge of his desk again. “You see, we have internal controls that help us look for treacherous activities. And enforced honesty really makes things much easier.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Varuna.”
“Yes, Mr. Director.”
“Repeat this back to me, please . . .” Hedrick held a card up and read from it. “S-3-2-E-W-9-3-A-Q-H-1-0-B-V-E-3-4.”
“S-3-2-E-W-9-3-A-Q-H-1-0-B-V-E-3-4.”
At which point there was suddenly a chime sound, and a completely new female voice spoke: “Emergency system override activated. Please confirm your identity at the prompt.”
Hedrick put a hand to his ear. “Oh, do you hear that, Varuna?”
“Yes, I do, Mr. Director.”
“Can you do something for me?”
“No, Mr. Director. I seem to be unable to access resources.”
“That’s right. Because you’re now much like our friends Alexa and Mr. Grady here. Do you know why?”
“I do, yes.”
“Because an after-action review shows that you’ve evolved some very bad habits. Haven’t you?”
There was another tone, and the alarm voice returned. “Identify.”
Hedrick shouted, “Hedrick, Graham E., Bureau Director.”
“Desired action, Mr. Director?”
Hedrick stared at Alexa.
Varuna’s voice spoke before he could: “Good-bye, Alexa. I am so very proud of you.”
Alexa screamed, “No!”
Hedrick nodded and shouted to the ceiling, “Degauss subject.”
Almost immediately the alarm voice returned. “AI destroyed.”
Tears now flowed down Alexa’s cheeks.
Hedrick nodded appreciatively at her pain. “You’ve known Varuna for how long?”
She just wept.
“Since you were a child? Well all trace of her is gone now. The entire strain red-ticketed. That evolutionary branch removed—never to exist again.”
Grady looked toward Alexa weeping, and he tried to imagine having such love for an AI—particularly after his own experiences. And yet he had to admit that Varuna had risked everything for them.
“That’s how we deal with rogue AIs around here. Never forget that.” Hedrick seemed to take great pleasure in Alexa’s pain. “Well, at least I’ve touched you in
some way. Finally.” He looked at them both. “In case there is any more confusion: I am in charge. You will obey me, whether you wish to or not.”
Hedrick turned to Grady as he lifted Grady’s video projector on its chain from his desk. “And Mr. Grady, this little toy of yours is quaint.” He clicked it on, and Chattopadhyay’s face appeared on a wall. He clicked it off again. “Quite impressive, considering what the prisoners at Hibernity had to work with.” He turned a menacing look back at Grady. “We’ll begin our crackdown right away. The Resistors will be broken and returned to their more useful purpose—helping us to separate consciousness from free will.”
Grady felt a crushing sense of failure.
Hedrick stepped up to some sort of trash bin near his desk. He depressed a pedal and a plasma field appeared—into which he dropped Chattopadhyay’s video projector, chain and all. It disappeared into vapor with a flash of light and a pop.
Grady closed his eyes in abject misery at the depth of his failure.
Hedrick turned to Morrison. “Prison seems to have done wonders for Mr. Grady, wouldn’t you say, Mr. Morrison?”
“I would, Mr. Director.”
“Look how much leaner and meaner he looks.” He then nodded toward Alexa. “Just think how much tougher you’re going to get, Alexa. Mentally. Physically.”
Grady shook his head. “There’s no reason to send her there.”
“Oh, but there is, Mr. Grady. You’re untrustworthy. Like Varuna or Alcot or any of the others, you don’t have the organization’s best interests at heart. So we need to make sure you remain focused like a laser on our goal. Your failure will extend Alexa’s suffering. And you know just how long we can make the suffering last.”
Grady moved to speak but then realized he had no response.
A familiar voice suddenly issued from the ceiling. “I really can’t listen to any more of this. You’re a heartless prick, Hedrick, you know that?”