Chapter 29
Alice
She'd made her way out. They had been some of the most fraught moments of her life, but somehow she'd managed it. She had hacked past every panel she could, no longer punching her way into them and ripping the cables out, but gently prying them back with her strong grip and manipulating the power relays until she momentarily shut down the security fields.
It had been slow work, but she'd managed it, and just in time.
They'd started to scan the ship. Her incredible hearing had picked up the hum of it. And out of all devices and systems, Alice had spent her life attuning herself to scanner beams. She could hear one from 20 meters away.
She'd flung herself from the final service duct just as the noise had grown.
Then it was out of the frying pan – as the human saying went – and very much into the fire.
She had made it out of the service ducks, but she was still on the ship.
Alice had jumped out of a panel along some kind of corridor. At first she was alone, and had precious few seconds to stare around her at the sleek corridor and the sleeker-looking consoles dotted along it. Then she’d heard footsteps.
Alice still had no idea what kind of a ship she was on. It could have been a Union Force heavy cruiser or a pimped-up pirate ship; without getting to a panel or forcing her way past the ICN’s security and into the ship’s database, guesses were all she had.
She also had footfall rapidly approaching her direction.
Alice pushed herself forward, scurrying low at first, one hand brushing across the ground as she pushed all her attention to her hearing and sense of smell.
Several days shacked up next to an omidium core had done wonders for her; her energy was back and brighter than ever, meaning her senses were sharper than they’d been in months.
She was a proper Old One. And right now she intended to use her specialized physique to accomplish the seemingly impossible; getting off this ship without anyone noticing and raising the alarm.
The footfall still loud behind her, Alice calculated she had several seconds until she came into view. She could also hear that the corridor just beyond her had at least two people in it.
Letting out a silent swearword, Alice surveyed the walls around her with a quick snap of her head. She saw an elevator panel just up ahead.
She ran to it. Her feet hardly touching the ground as she flew forward.
She reached it just as the people behind her rounded the corner that would lead them down Alice’s section.
Alice did not bother keying in the code that would open the door; she didn’t have the time. Though the elevator would no doubt take only several seconds to arrive, that was time she didn’t have. So pushing herself against it, she rammed her fingers into the tiny gap between the two tightly closed doors and she ripped them open.
The doors protested, the mechanisms holding tight, but they were no match for a highly-charged and incredibly desperate Old One.
Alice flung herself through the doors the second she had opened them. Right into the elevator chamber.
She had survived a three kilometer fall through a salt blizzard, she could probably live through whatever drop this elevator could supply.
She heard the doors slam closed behind her, and they instantly cut the illumination as they did.
Which just left Alice to drop. She did not allow herself to go far though. Angling till her body slammed against the other side of the shaft, Alice brought her fingers out and dug them into the metal.
She made her hands as strong as she could, and they easily ate into the metal. Sparks flew out as she gripped onto it, the plating bending and buckling around the force of her grip.
Gritting her teeth and swearing, Alice looked below her.
There was no visible end to the shaft; just blackness. It would probably snake around the whole ship. In a way, it would have been ideal to just drop all the way down, then find some way out of the belly of the vessel.
It would have been ideal, that was, were it not for the fact the ship was being scanned form the bottom up. Even ensconced inside the elevator shaft she could hear the persistent hum of the scanner beam. It would be sweeping the ship from one end to the other, every crack, every nook, every room, every possible place to hide.
So the only solution was to go up. Up and out. She would have to find some exhaust vent or hangar bay door, anything. She had to get out.
So Alice, still holding onto the shaft wall, looked up. Then she jumped. Seeing the thin lip of metal that led to the next floor above, she leapt up to it. Somehow her fingers latched on, found enough purchase for her to hold her body up. Then she jumped again. If there was nothing to latch hold of, she rammed her fingers into the metal wall, making a hand hold.
When she’d made it to the top of the shaft, Alice angled her body toward the last door above her. The scanner beam was quick and effective, and it was hot on her heals below.
Whatever was behind this door, she would have to open it and find out.
She was out of time and options.
So Alice pulled herself up, forced her fingers through the minute gap between the doors, and yanked them open.
Then she vaulted up and rolled through them.
She landed in someone’s quarters.
The elevator doors slammed closed behind her, the door giving an odd electronic chirp, probably unhappy that it had been manhandled.
But at least Alice was out of that dark and airless shaft.
Sucking in a breath of air, she did not immediately push herself up from her knees. With one hand flat on the floor, the other resting on her thigh, she darted her gaze around the quarters before her.
They were large but not particularly fancy. Functional, yes, usable, absolutely, but they lacked style and charm.
She finally pushed herself up, curiosity pushing her brow down as she walked slowly into them.
There was a large desk completely covered in data pads and the various ripped-up guts of weapons and devices.
Alice walked over to it, picked up the core chamber of a plasma rifle and raised an eyebrow as she did.
Then she stepped down a level into the main section. There was a large bed with a bank of huge windows right behind it. They showed an incredible view of the sky above.
Next to the bed was a small table. The bed was a mess, and the sheets were covered in muck. Suggesting whoever slept in them obviously didn’t care if their clothes or face was covered in dirt or ash or whatever they came across in their day-to-day lives.
Alice, a curious smile tugging at her lips, walked around the bed.
There was a chair off to the side, and it too was covered in junk. This time it was holo crystals. They spread right onto the floor. Alice had to step to the side to avoid squashing one under her torn shoes.
She looked back at the bed. Then she noticed the small table beside it. More to the point, she noticed what was on top.
An orb.
Simple, black, sleek, it was sitting on a stand.
It got her attention.
It called out to her.
She knew what it was in an instant.
She half ran over to it, not caring that the muck she’d picked up in the elevator dislodged from her shoes and marked the carpet; it was already dirty enough that another few marks wouldn’t be noticed.
Alice grabbed the orb up as soon as it was in reach. She brought it right up to her face, thumbing the sleek metal gently as a smile cracked open her lips, a laugh bubbling up from her belly a second later.
She hadn’t seen one of these in years.
She’d missed them.
And then Alice heard it. And she freaking remembered.
Eyes growing wide, she heard the scanner beam travelling through the level below her.
‘Idiot,’ she chastised herself bitterly.
Was she so far gone that the sight of someone’s quarters was enough to distract her form the fact she was trying to escape this ship?
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Apparently.
Maybe almost dying on Orion Minor had gone to her head. Maybe the precious feeling of relaxing in safety next to an omidium core had made her lax.
The point was, it was time to leave.
And Alice really only had one option.
Pocketing the orb and trying to justify it by the fact it would be far more use to her than it would be sitting as a pretty little ornament at someone’s bedside table, Alice walked over to the windows by the bed.
There was a moment where she just stood there and stared at them. They showed an unbelievably blue sky reaching up to meet the stars above. It was so peaceful. It was the kind of view she would have loved to fall asleep under.
The sound of the scanner beam below began to ring in her ears, and, her mouth suddenly dry, Alice knew she had to act now.
So she did.
Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes, for the briefest of moments, then she plunged a hand into her pocket and gripped her fingers around the smooth orb, her hold so tight that it felt as if she was trying to push right through it.
She was not, however, trying to destroy it; it was her ticket out of here. She was, trying to re-energize it. And contact was important; it sped up the process.
The little orb in her pocket was not a fancy bedside table decoration piece.
It was Old Tech. But unlike the soldier robot from Orion Minor, it would not try to suck the energy out of her the second she brought it back to life.
She knew exactly what his device was, and she trusted it completely.
As energy passed from her skin into the device, she felt it rumble and hum. It began to vibrate, the heat of it pushing through her pants and through her leg.
Then with a pop it shot right out of her pocket.
It hovered before her face, then in a show similar, but thankfully a great deal quieter and nicer, than the soldier robot’s, the metal of its surface began to move. It shifted up and down, chunks of metal dancing through it, catching the sunlight streaming in from the windows behind.
Then it made a high-pitched purring sound and bobbed up and down with a chirp.
Alice actually laughed.
She didn’t have time to grab it and try to give the electronic bauble a hug though. ‘Shut down the beam scanning this ship,’ she snapped quickly.
The bauble replied with a happy chirp, zoomed around the air for a bit, then shot towards a panel on the other side of the room. It hovered over it and a sent a light slicing towards it.
Alice watched carefully, her eyes darting from the orb to the panel.
She hoped this would work, but if it didn’t, she would go to plan b. And plan b was breaking the beautiful windows just behind her and taking her chances with the security that would no doubt show up seconds later.
‘Ship’s scanner beam disengaged,’ the orb replied.
‘Fantastic,’ Alice said, her eyes rolling back into her head as she shook her head fast. She wanted to cry, she really did. In fact, a tear did trickle past her blinked eyes.
The orb zoomed back to her. ‘It will be several hours before the crew of this vessel will be able to get their scanners back online.’
Alice smiled heartily. She didn’t particularly care if the scanners never worked again. She just wanted to get out of here.
She reached out a hand to the orb, and instantly it settled in her palm.
It made her smile even brighter.
Alice hardly got the chance to smile; her life was not a pretty one.
But it was a welcome sensation, and as her cheeks pushed up against her eyes, that single tear trickling down to her chin, she reveled in it.
‘What’s your name?’ she asked quietly.
‘Helper A-5-G—’ it began.
‘I’ll just call you Helper,’ she remarked softly.
They were all called Helpers. Because this was not the first such device she had come across. Alice had once had a Helper all of her own. Though it was a sad statement to admit to, it had been her only true friend. In a universe where she had to distrust everyone, Alice’s only solace had been a Helper that had shepherded her since childhood.
She’d loved that thing. It had kept her sane. Then one day it had been destroyed. As Alice had run from a pirate vessel, her Helper had gotten stuck in an errant transport beam. She’d never seen it again.
Swallowing hard, more tears trickling down her cheeks, Alice opened up her energy. She gave it freely to the zipping little orb. It would not take much; it would hardly dent her own reserves. But it would be worth it.
‘Thank you, oh great one,’ it replied with a cheerful tone and absolutely no hint of irony or humor.
It made Alice let out a sobbing laugh. ‘You don’t have to call me that.’
‘It is customary to refer to a member of the founding races—’ the orb began.
‘It’s fine. Call me Alice,’ she managed.
‘Alice,’ it tried out her name.
She liked the sound of it.
‘Alice,’ it said again, ‘Alice, what do you wish to do?’
‘Run away from this universe and never come back,’ she answered with a bitter laugh.
‘Computing possibilities . . . ’ Helper trailed off. ‘They are unlikely; though a multiverse is believed to exist, matter transference between realities—’ it began.
‘It’s okay. I know I can’t do that. What I need to do,’ she indulged in a deep breath, her gaze darting back out of those huge windows behind her, ‘is get off this ship undetected.’
‘Computing possibilities. Select timeframe,’ Helper chirped.
‘About now,’ she replied sniffing and finally pushing back the tears.
‘I will help, for I am Helper,’ it replied.
Listening to it, Alice could almost cry.
For someone who had been as alone as Alice always had been, finding a friend in Helper was indescribable.
It was also very timely. Because Alice knew that if she didn’t get off the ship in the next minute or so, her worst fears would no doubt be realized, and she would be discovered.
‘Computation of possibilities complete. I have selected the safest plan. Activating it now,’ Helper said, his little chirpy, electronic voice possibly the most welcome sound in the entire universe.
As Alice listened to it, she couldn’t help but grin, but she also shook on the spot at the same time, having to pump her hands back and forth just to keep herself steady.
She knew what Helper was doing, as he floated there in the center of the room, several quick, sharp beams of light shooting from his round body, she could guess what he was up to. He would be integrating with the ICN, no doubt bypassing security protocols and trying to wend his way into the network.
And no doubt, considering exactly what he was and who had built him, it would work.
After several gut-wrenching seconds, where Alice waited for Helper to accidentally flick some kind of safety switch and get them both court, it was over. With a happy little chirp, he shifted to the side, zoomed around a bit, then plopped straight back in Alice’s hand. ‘Complete. I have shut down the ICN, I have programmed shadows into the network, we are now free to leave this ship, they will have no scans of us, they will not be able to track us, and as long as we are discreet and use the back entrance, nobody will know.’
Alice’s small grin suddenly turned into a wide, genuine smile. She liked what she was hearing. Gone was the stress and horrendous desperation, because now she had a Helper.
With one last glance at the room around her, her eyes locking onto that incredible view, Alice walked back to the elevator shaft. This time she didn’t plunge down it, using her incredible grip to latch onto the metal walls. No, she actually used the lift like a civilized person. With the knowledge that Helper would prevent the ship’s on-board computer from detecting them, as long as she didn’t walk in front of any crew members, Alice would be fine.
Letting Helper direct her, the two of them made their way out of
the ship. Whenever she needed one, Helper provided a distraction, whether that be loosening a pressure valve in engineering, or momentarily blocking out all of the lights along a corridor, it worked. And within minutes she was out.
Alice could have crumpled to her knees, brought her hands over her face, and cried into them. She was just that relieved. Her fortunes had changed in an instant. If she hadn’t gone up to that room, if she hadn’t spied that orb, no doubt things would have turned out a great deal differently though.
‘I am Helper,’ Helper pointed out needlessly, ‘you are Alice, what will we do now?’
It was a very good question; in the space of a day, a very hectic and horrible day, Alice’s life had changed completely. She was on a different planet, she now had a friend, and for all intents and purposes, the galaxy now thought she was dead.
Picking and pulling at her lip, letting her hand brush up against the rim of her hood as she did, Alice walked along the metal gangway that surrounded the ships docked all around her. She tried to think. And then the reality, as horrible as it sounded, dawned on her. She may now have a friend and a new life, so to speak, but she was still the same old Alice in the same old hell. She could not allow herself to be discovered. And that would be the sum total of the rest of her life.
‘We must pause here for approximately 30 seconds; a ship will travel to our left, and if we walk out along the gangway now, it will gain a view of us,’ Helper suddenly chimed.
Alice did exactly what he said. But as she let her feet grind to a halt, her worn and practically destroyed shoes grating against the metal, she took the opportunity to think.
‘If Alice does not have a ready plan, let Helper suggest one,’ he beeped softly by her ear. ‘We must return to the Empire. To the founding fathers and mothers. To the great races that seeded this universe.’
As Helper spoke, Alice could not help but smile. Which was ironic, because there was nothing in his words that should make her do anything but sob and cry. There were no founding fathers and mothers, there were no great races or empires. They were all dead, save for her. And it was a reality and fact she hated to revel in, but one she faced every single day of her life.
Maybe Helper read something into her silence, because he suddenly began to chirp softly, then there was an electronic whiz of air, almost like a human gasp. ‘This Helper has integrated with the global ICN network. It understands,’ it said, its voice dropping low.
Alice knew what that meant. Helper would have just downloaded the information stored on the ICN of this planet in an instant. And in doing so he would have refreshed his memory banks, filling them with the history of the past 100,000 years. A history that was alarmingly free of the Old Ones.
Maybe Helper turned to her, maybe if it had possessed the equivalent of electronic eyes, it would have narrowed them in commiseration. ‘We are sorry for our loss,’ Helper finally added.
Our loss. Those two little words rang in Alice’s head. Not just her loss, because Helper had lost too. That was the funny thing about Old Tech, no matter how hard you tried to get around it, it seemed alive. Not just technology, not just machinery, but somewhere deep within was the ghost in the machine.
Pressing her fingers into her brow, letting her face twist up into a hearty frown, Alice finally moved forward.
‘It is the suggestion of this Helper unit that we seek out some kind of safety for the time being. Then we will come up with a plan for the future.’
A half smirk twisting through Alice’s powerful frown, she let her gaze flick towards Helper. A plan for the future, now didn’t that sound grand. But no matter what the details, Alice already knew what it would consist of. Running and hiding. If she was lucky, Helper would stay with her forever, but Alice was not lucky. Maybe not in the next week, or month, or year, but she knew the two of them would get into deep trouble, and somewhere along the way she would lose him, like she had lost her previous Helper unit.
Trying not to be pulled too far down into her swirling sorrow, Alice raised her head, glaring out at the sky around her. She was on some kind of docking ring unit. It was massive, and she knew from experience it would contain multiple levels dedicated to various activities. While the top layer housed ships that came and went, the actual guts of this floating monstrosity would be full of shops, apartment blocks, promenades, and everything else you could fit into a massive city in the sky.
Staring up at the clouds above her, noticing the slight sheen and flicker of the weather field that would surround this entire unit, keeping the atmosphere locked in place and ensuring whatever horrendous winds outside didn’t tear through the equipment, Alice began to grind her teeth.
She didn’t like this. Being stuck up in the air. At least on Orion Minor, though she had technically been cooped up in Block Alpha, she had always been able, if the situation had dictated, to return to the planet below. Up here she didn’t have that opportunity.
‘Integrating with the docking ring’s ICN again,’ Helper chimed from beside her, ‘I will compute the safest route and ascertain the safest place to hide.’
Letting him get on with what he did best, Alice found herself walking forward, listening to the heavy sound of her footfall as it resounded through the metal grating below her. Every step was solid, and the bang of the metal underneath seemed to shift right through her.
For some reason, for some strange reason, it brought one thought and one face swimming before her mind. John Doe. No doubt he was still back on Orion Minor.
As she thought of him, half of her mouth twisted up into a smile, while the other side plunged down into a frown. That man had been tenacious; she had seen the look of determination in his eye, and the thought of it served to reinforce to Alice the fact he was a very dangerous enemy. And yet she could not forget the kindness. The fact that though everybody else in the Security Centre had seemingly forgotten her, he had always acted to try to keep her safe.
Put it out of your mind, she thought to herself sternly.
‘Helper,’ she suddenly found herself asking, figuring that if she engaged in conversation, it would stop her mind from wondering, ‘exactly what planet are we on?’
It was a question she should have asked before, but her mind was addled. There was too much to think of and too much to process.
‘Orion Major,’ Helper answered immediately.
Orion Major. The sister planet of Orion Minor, the one where all the well-to-do, rich, successful, and intelligent people ended up. There were no slums on this planet, just the cities of integrated, interconnected docking rings, floating above the beautiful, crystal-like water planet below. She had seen pictures of it, she’d even played with the occasional interactive hologram, but this was the first time she had ever set foot on the planet, even though the actual surface was kilometers and kilometers below.
Grinding her teeth together, narrowing her eyes, Alice let one hand distractedly pull over a metal railing by her side. She didn’t like planets like Orion Major; the security was too good, and there was nowhere to hide.
She’d have to get off here, eventually, but maybe Helper was right, and for now they really needed to regroup and plan.
‘Follow me,’ Helper chirped by her side again, and he zoomed forward, though just a little, then he turned on the spot and appeared to wait for her, somewhat like an excited pet or child.
Swallowing all the stress and fear, Alice followed.