Baeven strapped her down in her flight togs, tight onto a medbed in the center of a mid-sized, bone-white lab room.
She gasped and felt her eyes pop.
The medbed stood nearly upright, causing her agony yet again. Her weight sagged against the restraints. A stifled sob escaped her; she leaned back slightly. She struggled to swallow.
At a distance to either side of the lab, two halves of a circular table and chairs popped up from the floor panels and surrounded her.
Naero tried not to struggle or move, allowing her body to heal.
Several minutes passed before the players filtered in.
New examination equipment emerged from the ceiling and wall panels, closing in around her like angry torture bots.
The lights in the back of the room dialed way down, leaving her spotlighted up front for everyone to watch, like an experiment test subject.
Eleven individuals took seats at that circle table in the darkness, four more than before. Six of the eleven had bodyguards standing behind them at the ready.
Lights came on at Naero from above. Her eyes adjusted. The first one to scan and examine her from his displays looked like a high-level tech of Stellar Industries, a humanoid Naivatch.
She could tell by the deep black skin of his hands and the purple flesh beneath the fingernails. His palms and the soles of his feet would be bright violet.
Deeply private about their appearance, the Naivatch showed only their hands when abroad, the rest of their body wrapped in robes or covered in blast armor and a visored helmet, like this one.
He turned impatiently to Baeven.
“Why have you brought us here, Vatril? And who are these others? This girl carries no information whatsoever–”
“You will all refer to me as Baeven from now on.”
The Naivatch waved one hand, revealing his purple palm. “If you insist. Who are these people? Allies of yours in this massive scam? What are you trying to pull? If she indeed carries the kind of data Triax claims, there’d be some detectable trace of it. No one can prove anything like this.”
“As always, you could be right, Na’Darroch,” Baeven said.
He paced between the two tables. “But as we all believe, this data is Kexxian. The trick is to determine how the ancient masters hid and encrypted it. None of us can take the chance that it is indeed present and that others shall retrieve it first.”
The others appeared restless and impatient, in no mood for further failure or delay.
“We demand proof.”
“Stop wasting our time, Betrayer.”
“Show us something, or your life is forfeit.”
Baeven half-smiled.
“Time to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.” He turned to one of the new arrivals, a heavy-set woman with short blond hair and pale blue eyes, wearing a high-level Krupp Corps uniform.
“Madame Garrold, provide us with your information.”
She nodded. “Our researchers discovered an anomaly on the surface DNA on scumworld algae and mold spores in sectors of a rimward spiral arm thought to have been included among the Kexx ancients.
“It took us over two centuries to break the encryption.”
“And what did you uncover?” Baeven said.
Everyone waited.
“Music files. Kexxian music, very intricate–even beautiful.”
The emissary from Gelden Corps snorted. “What good is that to us?”
“It proves,” Baeven said, “that the Kexx had a way of imprinting coded information right on the very DNA of living organisms that was both self-replicating and eternal. The information was neither changed nor corrupted in any way, after millions of years. Am I correct, Madame Garrold?”
“Yes, and we believe this method of transmission was very commonplace to the ancient Kexx. They could do so with great ease. This ability made every form of life and existence they had contact with potential computerized storage devices.”
Baeven turned to another new guest, a small pale man with long black hair, wearing a green kimono suit, from Hita Corps.
“Master Kurita. Give us the details on the strange plague that destroyed the distant colony of Tora-3, eighty-seven years ago.”
Kurita bowed his head slightly.
“Tora-3 was also believed to be an important homeworld of the ancient Kexx, home to many important ruins. We stumbled upon it quite by accident during our early expansion period. The colony found several mysterious artifacts that were dead to us. Nothing could make them function or reveal their purpose.”
“And, as we all know,” Na’Darroch added, “the colony was completely destroyed.”
“Yes,” Kurita continued. “The terrifying plague awoke and destroyed all life on Tora-3. It is a Black Zone, a Dead Zone to this day. No ship or probe can land on its surface and take off again. All tek disrupts and negates. Nothing living can survive on the planet’s surface.”
“And what caused the plague? What form did it take?”
Kurita bowed again, and looked slightly nervous.
View screens popped down from the ceiling. Vids started up.
Kurita narrated.
“These vids are top secret. Only high-level directors have ever seen them. This is the first time they have been shown outside of the Hita Board of Directors.”
Techs in a lab were scanning or performing some kind of medical procedure on what looked to be a mid-sized anthropoid.
“That creature was a blue-haired mountain ape, native to Tora-3. They swam in the heated mineral lakes and pools scattered throughout the volcanic mountains on one of the continental coasts. A deep genetic scan stumbled upon something strange. Techs located a wealth of encrypted alien data, right on the surface of this species’ DNA. The techs grew excited and called in the best researchers of that period to decode the information.”
“What went wrong?” Baeven asked.
Kurita violently motioned toward the screens.
In the vids, without any warning, chaos and destruction exploded.
Weird specks of light burst out of the test subjects and the equipment monitoring the apes.
People exploded, imploded, or dissolved and melted right in their clothing.
Strange ribbons of coruscating light and dark tendrils and thrashing tentacles of shadow ripped through techs, guards, equipment, and the very walls before the vids blacked out.
Master Kurita shook his head. “To this day, no one knows for certain. But the destruction spread from that lab to all over the entire planet. Within seconds, the plague killed everyone and everything on Tora-3.
“From the final data streams, it is believed that the techs unlocked a vast source of data encrypted on the DNA of the native apes. But this time, the information was somehow protected. A defense mechanism triggered, destroying the information itself and everything around it. Our officials didn’t know what to call such destruction, so they referred to it as a virulent plague. But as you can see from the vids, it was something much more.”
He speaks of a level thirty-four defensive protocol. A very severe planetary level response.
Quiet, Om. We need to listen to everything they have to say.
The reps from Marsten and Brannock Corps tried to protest, talking over each other.
“This is ridiculous. What good is something that self-destructs in this fashion?”
“So, even if we decode the Kexxian Data Matrix, we have to get past this doomsday defense mechanism?”
The Gravlink Corps rep sneered. “This deal sounds worse all the time.”
“My good friends,” Baeven said. “What valid enterprise doesn’t entail a little risk? What if there were a way not only to detect the presence of such data streams, but unlock them, without triggering these nasty, inconvenient self-destruct protocols?”
“We don’t have the tek to do so,” the man from Omni Corps blurted out.
“Perhaps we do,” an odd little voice noted.
Light struck the speaker from another direction and
the medbed spun around to face the third new arrival, while the other lights dimmed. Because of her small size and the focus on the troubling vids, few had seen her take the stage.
“I am Mxgob, trading agent for Brannock Terraforming. I am also of the Cumi Medtek Consortium.”
Naero’s eyes focused on a small bipedal mammalian humanoid less that a meter tall and, somewhat akin, in appearance, to a large Terran mouse.
The Cumi remained an ancient race by any modern standards, also famous for their vast medical and genetic knowledge, trade, and negotiation skills.
Naero’s parents had been on friendly terms with some of their leaders.
One of these creatures, a deep-space traveler and medtek, had given her and Jan that strange medical scan concerning the ancient plague that her parents seemed so afraid of.
With an apparent basis in fact it seemed now. The horrific vids from Tora-3 were still fresh in her mind.
Mxgob cleared her throat and clasped her hands behind her.
“My people traded with the Kexx, long ago at the beginning of our enlightenment, and just before they faded away. We currently use a very similar method of encoding our own data files in molecular DNA. It is somewhat simpler, more primitive, but the principle is basically the same, just at another level. And without the hyper-violent security protocols.”
She held up a strange-looking scanner.
“With permission, I will access my ship’s archived data records for information on ancient Kexxian encryption methods. Even a million years ago, much of their tek remained highly advanced, beyond even our standards today. But because of our trading relationships with them during their final centuries, we were able to adapt and incorporate some of their most basic systems and the underlying concepts of their technology within patterns of our tek that survives to this day. Ours even operate on the exact same principles and electromagnetic frequencies.”
The thin lady with orange hair and white eyes from Odyssey Corps broke in, striking the table in front of her with her fists. “Can you or can you not detect the existence of the Kexxian Data Matrix in this spack?”
“I believe I can. With some modifications to present equipment, I think I can duplicate the process, bypass any built-in security, and access the raw encrypted data. It will need to be decoded and translated further from that point to make it usable, of course.”
Heads turned to Baeven, eagerly.
He finally nodded his assent to the small furry creature.
“Mx, if this is a trick to bring in outside help, I will skin you. Access your ship, but do not attempt to send any signals or activate any other systems. You will be monitored.”
“I object,” another buyer said. “I’m with Chikara Corps. This could all still be just a big set up to trick us into buying something that does not exist.”
“All of you have your spies. You know Triax’s efforts,” Baeven said. “Check your sources. They would not be expending this much effort chasing after nothing.”
“Perhaps, they too, are deceived,” the Matashi rep said. “The Cumi are known to lie at will when profit is involved. This creature could be in league with Baeven. Don’t be surprised if she discovers something fantastic.”
“I am Director Prebin from Omni Corps,” the thin woman said. “It was we who first contracted the exploration of Kexxian ruins wherever they were located. By rights, anything found should be returned to us as our rightful property. Our original exploration team was slain by raiders on Chosala-5. One survivor escaped, rescued by a Cumi ship, and supposedly turned over similar information to them before dying. The Cumi never told us what came of it.”
“Then you no longer have a legal claim,” a familiar voice said.
Naero twisted her head painfully before the medbed even moved.
There sat Adrin, dressed impeccably. “Come now, even if such knowledge exists, it would not be monopolized for more than a few decades.”
“But in those few decades,” Na’Darroch, the Naivatch from Stellar Industries said, “those who did monopolize and apply it could drastically affect the fortunes and prospects of their competitors.”
“You are new to this gathering as well,” Madame Garrold said. “Please, identify yourself as we all have. This is an open auction.”
Adrin leaned into the light and removed his head covering. Naero counted nine ornate braids.
“Mellis Tarret VI,” he said, “Patriarch of the Matayan Cartels, Emperor of the Matayan peoples.”
“What a joke,” the Gelden agent said. “The Corps crushed your so-called empire when you were a child. The Cartels do not exist anymore. I thought you were on Triax’s leash? They will strangle you with it when they learn of your duplicity.”
Adrin remained calm. “Perhaps.”
There was something different about him, a puffy slackness around his eyes and mouth. Perhaps he’d been ill.
“Those who do not serve the Corps faithfully shall perish,” the Matashi rep chanted.
“I am not here to bandy words with slaves and cult underlings,” Adrin said. He suddenly looked ready to draw battle knives and go at them all.
Naero gulped.
Unknown to her, she had twice joked around with the Matayan Emperor, a man rumored to be so ruthless–he killed his parents with his bare hands in order to seize power. What would happen if she fell into such hands?
Would Baeven allow that?
“Finally, I have it,” the Cumi blurted out. She continued to stare at her handcomp. “The Kexx sometimes encrypted their knowledge directly onto the pico energy level of a genetic pattern. This could be performed on an individual, or set to be self-replicating within a species.
“Such data can be limitless in quantity and invisible to almost all normal scans. If the subject is slain, or there is a significant loss of body temperature, the data is lost. Other security codes could be added if need be. I just need to calibrate my equipment. It shouldn’t be more than a few moments, and we’ll have our answer.”
“Are you certain about this, Mx?” Baeven said.
“Quite certain. Similar processes were rumored to exist among the Drians, and may have even originated with them.”
“What about the spack girl?” Na’Darroch insisted.
“Even a preliminary, deep level genetic detail scan on a wide range of parameters should reveal the encrypted data as clumps or scoring echoes on the surface of the individual’s DNA patterns, once you know what to look for and where. We should proceed to do so immediately.”
Mxgob looked to Baeven once more.
The outcast nodded.
She punched up the scanning sequence.
“What about any security codes?” Director Prebin said.
“With these methods it could take hours, perhaps even days to implant or retrieve such data,” the Chikara rep said.
“Yes,” the Cumi cautioned, “days to retrieve, but only a few minutes to detect. And simple detection will not activate any inherent security programs.”
“You hope. In theory,” Emperor Mellis added. “Otherwise, we’re all dead.”
“This creature could still be lying,” the Arnett Corps rep said. “How do we know it isn’t in cahoots with this rogue?”
“I’m not so sure,” the Omni woman said again. “We have evidence to believe that the Kexxian Data Matrix does indeed exist, and that it could be encrypted on a person. It is possible that this spack girl has personally undergone such a process.”
Naero said nothing; neither did Baeven.
The preliminary scan finalized.
Everyone in the room waited, transfixed.
What is happening, Naero? Enemies are attempting unauthorized access. Unacceptable. I must have access to our defensive protocols.
Om, I don’t have any answers for you. I don’t even know what those protocols are, let alone how to activate them. Are they part of the Kexxian Data Matrix?
In part, yes. Yet they are part of us now too. I could use them to defend us or o
ur ship in case of an attack. I could free us and help us escape. But all access to them has been completely blocked and cut off. I can tap into the nearly limitless Cosmic powers locked in the depths of your mind, but much like your imagination, I cannot yet manifest anything and make it real.
Naero knitted her brows briefly. Cosmic power? Limitless? Om, what are you babbling about?
There is a great power hidden within the deepest recesses of our mind, Naero. I am barely able to touch it, but I haven’t found a way to use any of it. Not yet. I think your correct term for this is bloody hell, bullshit, or perhaps damnation. I begin to comprehend the concepts of swearing and frustration. Very useful.
Keep trying Om. Just check with me before you…unleash anything.
I will try. But if our defensive protocols ever do come online, I do not require your permission to defend us or our secrets. And you have secrets all your own that did not originate from me or our Kexxian Matrix.
What the hell are you talking about? We don’t have enough problems? Look where we are. Just keep trying and let me think to myself for a bit. My brain is already on overload.
Then Naero realized something.
Baeven always played everyone.
He wasn’t about to sell her to any of these bastards, especially if she actually had the Matrix.
She still didn’t understand his real plan.
Baeven analyzed the final results of the scan at last.
“Definitive proof,” Baeven said. “Traces in this young woman’s metabolism point to the fact that she carries the Kexxian Data Matrix on her DNA. The pattern is there for all to see. Check your downloads on your screens. Most of you are techs; you can perform the cross-checking process yourselves.”
Several more tense moments passed.
At first no one said very much. Finally the Chikara rep snapped his head up and shouted.
“I start the bidding at twenty gigamegs.”
“Thirty!”
“Fifty!”
“One hundred gigamegs,” the Omni woman said. “Our final offer.”
The research base rocked violently from several small explosions.
Mellis Tarret stood up, murder written across his face as if it were blood.
“I offer all of you your lives and safe passage,” he said. “Any who oppose me shall perish for their insolence. The Imperial Matayan Fleet is upon you all. Our power will shine once more. Surrender the spack girl and my grandson’s clone to me unharmed, and I will guarantee your safety.”
Naero blinked. Grandson’s clone? Ellis was just a clone? Did he know that?
More explosions. The audience room erupted into chaos. Corps agents and bodyguards fought with each other. Matayan mercs in power armor ripped their way through the walls and surrounded Mellis Tarret VI.
Baeven flung himself over Naero; she screamed in pain.
Several energy blasts passed right through him, one went right through her face, but did no harm.
She should be dead.
Baeven phazed them both completely through the deck and into a shielded control room one level below.
He smiled at her. “Re-join your friends, Naero. They’re waiting for you in an assault ship in Cargo Bay 2.”
“I...I don’t understand,” she said.
“Our plan worked. I’ll hold our new acquaintances off. Take the Kexxian Data Matrix to our people. It cannot fall into the hands of anyone else. The Corps will stop at nothing to find you now.”
“Baeven, I–”
“Go. I’ll lead them away and catch up to you when I can We have our answers.”
Naero limped away, remembering the quickest path to Cargo Bay 2. Several bots stood around the craft. She spotted Gallan, Ellis, and Tarim strapped into their cockpit launch chairs, stunned or drugged.
As she guessed, the assault ship stood fully loaded, armed, and ready to rip.
A massive pulse of energy beam blasted through the complex, tearing a gaping hole large enough for her to fly through.
How nice.
She vectored the assault craft and shot forward into space.
Scans showed an intense naval battle erupting. Dozens of Matayan warships of every shape and size broke off from the main fleet to intercept her small escape craft and those of the Corps emissaries scattering in all directions.
Two of the emissary ships got vaporized right in front of her.
Matayan mercs and marines swarmed over Baeven’s ship, trying to board it. It fled and prepared to jump, dodging erratically.
A direct hit from an old Matayan battleship spinal gun vaporized another emissary vessel.
A tremendous volley of energy fire and close range missile strikes struck havoc among the Matayan forward elements.
No sign of where the attacks came from.
Formations of swift pursuit craft tore after Naero in waves.
She punched it.
Asteroids rocketed up from the surface of the moon itself, ripping into the Matayan fleet at close range.
Powerful mass-drivers on the moon’s surface zeroed in on them.
Five sleek, black strike ships uncloaked, swept in out of nowhere, and formed up around Naero.
They kept pace with her easily, layering their shields full to the rear to protect her escape.
Elite Shadowforce escorts, unlike any craft Naero had ever seen before. No markings or insignia.
“This is Shock Five-Leader. We have you covered, spacechild. Commence jump immediately. Get out of here.”
“You bet your ass.” Naero checked her systems. Everything already preset. Baeven hadn’t missed a trick.
They’d need every second against the torrent of concentrated naval fire coming straight at them from the Matayan fleet.
Even the powerful flanking shields Shadowforce threw up couldn’t withstand that volume of intense fire.
Concentrated fire from multiple spinal guns came right at them.
Destruction imminent. Access limited. Attempting level eighteen repulsing energy screen.
Two of her rear-guard escorts vanished in flames.
All her shields buckled.
Om cried out. We face destruction. Unacceptable!
She re-routed her remaining power in the space of a heart beat, but it wasn’t going to be enough.
Then she gasped. Haisha. Something in her mind ripped free.
A huge pulse wave of energy tore through her.
For just an instant, a massive energy signature swelled up behind her craft, barely enough to deflect the enemy’s overwhelming barrage.
Naero seized that instant to blast her ship into jump.
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