Convex Icosahedron was now inclining his gigantic head toward Villainic. “What do you think?”
Villainic looked up from his very interesting fingernails. “I beg your pardon. What was the question?”
“Do you agree with Zeke or the rest of us?”
Villainic smiled. “Oh, my opinion? Of course. Well, I know Zeke’s interpersonal skills are quite poor, but in the past his schemes have proved remarkably successful. I think we should do things his way.”
Convex Icosahedron appeared to consider this. You can’t really tell with a guy who has a geometric shape for a head, but he put one hand on his hip and put another on a spot that might have been his chin. It looked sort of thoughtful.
“That being the case,” Convex Icosahedron said, “we should look into Zeke’s plan more carefully.”
I was about to object on the grounds that there was no rational reason to pursue a plan just because Villainic liked it, but then I realized I would be arguing against my own position. The only thing crazier than wanting to destroy Confederation Central was Convex Icosahedron changing his mind because Villainic had chimed in. Something about this did not sit right with me. I was going to have to keep an eye on things.
“I will need to meet with Zeke privately so I can learn more about where Ghli Wixxix is being held,” Convex Icosahedron said. “Once we formulate a plan, we will discuss putting together a team.”
“I already have a team,” I said quickly. This could be my chance to help rescue my friends. “Or at least I did. The first step is finding out where they are and getting them back.”
“I’m sure you have faith in your friends,” said Colonel Rage, “and you’ve all done some impressive things, but they’re just kids. I don’t think you can make the case that they’re vital to any operation.”
“I can make that case,” I said. “My friends have maxed-out skill trees, both original and Former.” I neglected to mention that the augments were unreliable because, well, that was private, wasn’t it? And my pronouncement got everyone’s attention, so there was no point in undermining it.
“These are going to prove to be very interesting numbers indeed,” said Convex Icosahedron.
“So, will you help me look for my friends? There was this guy, Ardov, and he managed to gain control of our ship. I don’t know where it went.”
“Yes,” said Convex Icosahedron. “We know about Ardov and we know where he took your friends. Unfortunately, I don’t think you are going to like it.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
Planet Pleasant. I’d been hearing about this secret and horrific Phandic research facility for a while now. It was where they sent beings who wouldn’t get with the program so they could be galactic guinea pigs in scientific experiments. It was where beings were tortured and sacrificed to the Phandic war machine.
I felt myself gripping the side of the table. I needed to be out of that room and on a ship headed for Planet Pleasant now. An hour ago. I couldn’t stand the thought of my friends being there—of Tamret being subject to their experiments. Again.
“Why are they there?” I asked. My voice sounded raspy, almost broken. “What’s going to happen to them?”
“I suspect the Phands wished to understand how you could have maximized the Former tech tree,” Convex Icosahedron said. “It only makes sense that they would bring your friends to their premier research facility to understand how this goal was achieved.”
“I’ve got to get them out of there,” I said.
“Hold on, son,” Colonel Rage said. “It’s commendable that you want to help them, but I don’t see how a suicide mission gets the job done. We’re talking about a top-secret military research facility. What makes you think you would be able to successfully exfiltrate them?”
“I don’t know, but I have to try.”
“You are on the cusp of becoming a victim of your own success,” the colonel said. “Just because you’ve made it this far doesn’t mean that you can succeed at whatever you want.”
“Then let’s figure out a way,” I said, “because I’m not leaving my friends there to be experimented on. I am going to get them out and then we are going to get Ghli Wixxix. We are going to defeat the Phands without blowing up Confederation Central. That’s the deal.”
They all stared at me, no doubt wondering who this kid was who was giving them orders. I wondered the same thing. I also wondered what I could possibly be thinking. Getting everyone out of the Phandic research facility was even crazier than breaking into a Phandic prison. I had no special skills, no amazing team to back me up. I had, in short, no reason to think I wouldn’t be killed or captured within seconds of arriving at this high-security research facility, assuming whatever ship I arrived on wasn’t destroyed before I got close.
I realized that Colonel Rage was right. I was so used to succeeding with my wild stunts that I had lost all perspective. I couldn’t do whatever I wanted just because I wanted it. With my previous successes, I’d had a ton of help—Tamret, Smelly, and, most recently, the military tech tree. The feeling of being invulnerable wouldn’t fade away, but the actual invulnerability was long gone.
It was time to stop telling these beings what to do. They were actual freedom fighters who had put together a base and a plan, and who had real knowledge of the enemy they faced. I would do what they wanted and follow their lead—unless that lead involved leaving everyone on Planet Pleasant and destroying Confederation Central. In that case, I’d do whatever I could to sabotage them.
Realizing I was, once again, making big plans I could not follow through on, I sat still, uncomfortable and miserable. I used to try to be a well-behaved kid. I liked following the rules and flying under the radar. I always wondered at kids who seemed to want to get into trouble. Now I’d become just like them.
I would have been perfectly content to sit back and let these beings make their decisions, to listen to those with more knowledge and experience, but every time I told myself to quit making trouble, I thought of my friends in that Phandic facility. I thought of Tamret.
“Look,” I said. “I’m sorry I keep making demands. You obviously know your stuff, though destroying Confederation Central makes no sense. Otherwise, though, I’m sure you’re on top of things. I just want to help my friends. I want to get them away from Planet Pleasant, but I have no idea how to do that.”
“This is war, son,” Colonel Rage said gently. “I understand that you want to save the people that matter to you, but what counts is the mission, not the people who carry it out. In this case, any attempt to rescue your friends would end in disaster.”
“Actually,” said Convex Icosahedron, “I’m not quite sure that’s true.” I couldn’t say for sure, because his booming voice didn’t come with a whole lot of inflection, but he seemed to find this exchange amusing. Maybe it was how he held his big game-piece head slightly to one side, the colors shifting across its surfaces in undulating waves that somehow reminded me of laughter. He bounced on his heels and wiggled his gloved fingers. “There are certain design exploits in the facilities at Planet Pleasant that we have known about for some time, but we lacked operatives who were able and willing to make use of them or targets of sufficiently high value to make it worth our while to try.”
“Of course!” said Adiul-ip, suddenly quite animated. “His youth will confuse their sensors.”
“What does that mean?” Colonel Rage demanded.
“In Phandic culture a being is not considered to be, well, an actual being until it becomes an adult,” Adiul-ip explained. “Their sensors are calibrated with this bias in mind. It makes it much easier for adolescents to infiltrate even a high-security facility like Planet Pleasant.”
I knew about the Phands’ disregard for young people, but I’d had no idea that this bias could become a strategic advantage.
“Wait a minute,” I said, suddenly realizing something. “Does that mean the only reason we got away with rescuing my father and stealing
those ships was because we’re kids?”
“As I understand it,” said Adiul-ip, “you performed intelligently and with great courage during that mission. You managed to avoid detection entirely. Had you made some strategic errors, however, it is likely they would have been less costly for you than they would have been for adults.”
“I believe we can take advantage of this weakness and get you to the planet surface undetected,” Convex Icosahedron said, “but from that point, it will be up to you. You must find your friends, rescue them, and make your way to the prison to free Ghli Wixxix. Because of the nature of this operation, we will have to maintain radio silence, which means we will not be able to coordinate with you. You will be entirely on your own.”
“Let’s slow down,” I said, even though I didn’t want him to slow down at all. I wanted him to speed up. I wanted to know everything, and I wanted to know it at once. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way, and I knew I had to hear more about this plan because these guys could very easily have something entirely impractical in mind. “What do I do once I’m there? How do I get them out?”
“We will review with you the intelligence we have on Planet Pleasant, though it is limited,” Convex Icosahedron said. “Once you are on location, you will have to improvise, and you will have to find your own transport. Unfortunately, with our tight timeline, we can’t help you any further than that.”
“What timeline do you mean?”
“If you cannot succeed within ten standard days, we will have to proceed with the original plan,” he said.
The original plan was to destroy Confederation Central.
They were asking me to do the impossible—to save my friends and then rescue the prisoners. If I couldn’t do this undoable thing, millions of beings were going to die. I was about to tell them that they needed to come up with another plan, but I realized what it was that I would be walking away from. Alice could still be unconscious, for all I knew, slowly dying from whatever Ardov had done to her. I needed to show Mi Sun that she could count on me, that I would get her back to her family. I couldn’t leave Steve and Charles and Dr. Roop to whatever cruel experiments and tortures the Phands devised for them.
Most of all, I thought about Tamret, and how she planned to go back to Rarel with Villainic. If I could rescue her, if I could show her that even without upgrades and Former powers I could still look after her, maybe she would change her mind. That was selfish, and I knew it, so in my own defense I’ll say I was also thinking about how much I couldn’t stand for her to be subjected to the Phands and their experiments. Even if I knew I had no chance of impressing her or changing her mind, I would still risk anything to save her.
That was the reality, though. I had no reason to think I could succeed where someone else, anyone else, might fail. I wasn’t Zeke the hero anymore. I was just an ordinary kid who was neck-deep in trouble.
I was about to speak—to say something just to buy myself more time—when something flashed before my eyes. It was just an instant, a bit of static, and then it was gone, but I knew what it was. My HUD. It had, for the merest instant, flickered into existence with a bit of static, a few readouts scrolling data. It was there and then it was gone, but maybe it was coming back. Maybe it would return with all those upgraded abilities, and if it did, nothing at Planet Pleasant would slow me down.
“I’m in,” I said, forcing out the words before I could change my mind. “If there’s a chance, I’ll take it.”
“Good,” said Convex Icosahedron as he rose from his chair. His silvery tunic shimmered excitedly in the room’s light. “I will let Adiul-ip brief you on what we know about Planet Pleasant. The two of you need to be prepared to leave in six hours. Every moment counts.”
I looked at Adiul-ip. All this time I’d presumed he was an adult. Had I gotten that wrong? “I thought only children could go on this mission.”
“Not Adiul-ip,” said Convex Icosahedron. “Villainic. He goes with you.”
“I think it would be better—” I began, but Convex Icosahedron shook his massive, inexplicable head.
“That is how it must be, Zeke Reynolds. Villainic goes with you or I must cancel the mission.”
“Once more,” said Villainic quite happily, “we shall be buddies.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
* * *
Seven hours later, Villainic and I were sitting in a ship even smaller than the escape pod. I was practically in Villainic’s lap, something I didn’t particularly enjoy. Villainic smelled a little bit like orange soda. I’d never noticed that before. I really could have gone my whole life without knowing anything about Villainic’s odor.
Convex Icosahedron’s plan was actually a pretty good one. It had an Empire Strikes Back feel to it. The service ships in and out of Planet Pleasant followed the sort of orderly, predetermined route favored by evil space empires, both real and fictional. The pod we sat in had been dropped near that route and given an inertial push. Moving, as we were, without any sort of engine power, we’d look like nothing more than space junk. If all went well, a supply ship would pass by us, and we would magnetically attach to its hull, after which we could then get into the facility without anyone noticing us. The downside was that we had no chance of rescue, so if things went badly, I would be stuck drifting with Villainic forever.
I still had no idea why he was coming with me. I understood that he was the only other being in the renegade camp who was young enough to avoid whatever sort of sophisticated grown-up detector the Phands used, but that didn’t make him an asset. I had tried to explain that. I’d made it clear that Villainic was not part of my team, just some cat guy I was stuck with, but Convex Icosahedron said that the numbers showed Villainic needed to go with me, and—evidently—there was no arguing with that particular Geometric Upstart once he started talking about the numbers.
The renegades certainly prepped me for the trip. They gave us both fresh clothes—dull brown jumpsuits that made us look like prisoners, but that had been treated with PPB-resistant armor. I liked that. They provided backpacks with food and moisture packets and weapons—including injectors tailored to Phandic physiology that would produce almost instantaneous unconsciousness. It would be far better to proceed stealthily than to go in with weapons blazing, so I knew these would come in handy. Finally, toward the end of Adiul-ip’s briefing, Convex Icosahedron reentered the room. With great ceremony, he held out a gloved hand to show me what looked like a little noose. It was a circle of silver rope, knotted at one end, with a long string dangling from where the rope closed. The whole thing was about as wide as a coffee cup in circumference.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It is very old,” Convex Icosahedron said. “Technology belonging to those you call the Formers. You may need to interrogate beings on your journey, and it will help you to know if they speak the truth. This item is a piece of code given physical form, but it can incorporate into your data bracelet. The Lariat of Veracity, as it is called, will alert you with a mild buzz whenever a being lies to you.”
“The Lariat of Veracity,” I repeated. “You mean a Lasso of Truth? Like Wonder Woman’s?”
“I could not say,” Convex Icosahedron responded thoughtfully. The colors began to shift more rapidly along his many-sided head. “Perhaps.”
“Why would the Formers make a lie detector in the shape of a lasso?” I demanded.
“Why would they make cockroaches?” he countered. “Why would they make kiwi fruit, which are delicious but difficult to peel? Do you want something that will help you, or do you want to ponder the mysteries of the cosmos?”
I held out my arm. Convex Icosahedron placed the Lariat of Veracity around my data bracelet, and I watched as it seemed to meld into the device. In a matter of seconds it was gone, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.
“I am a very pretty flower,” announced Convex Icosahedron.
I felt a mild buzz, slighter even than a cell phone on vibrate, but still noticeable. ?
??This could come in handy.” I said.
“I have no doubt you will use it wisely,” said Convex Icosahedron.
I waited for the buzz, but surprisingly, he seemed to really believe what he’d said.
• • •
After Adiul-ip’s briefing and Convex Icosahedron’s presentation of the cool gadget, I’d had a moment alone with Colonel Rage. I still hadn’t forgiven him for betraying us back at the Hidden Fortress. I never would.
I therefore put my most burning question to him. “What is the deal with Convex Icosahedron?”
“Son, I wish I knew. I can’t even figure out if he’s a living thing or some kind of talking toaster. All I know is that these aliens seem to trust him, and they appear to be on the up-and-up, so I am going along with them for now. I don’t have any better options if I want to get those invaders off our planet.”
“But why does he want me to take Villainic along?”
“No clue about that one either. As near as I can tell, that alien is nothing but a liability. Either he’s got a skill set none of us have seen yet, or Convex Icosahedron is keeping something from us. Based on what I’ve seen, I’m more inclined to think it’s the second one. He’s definitely playing his own game.”
“You think he’s a bad guy?”
The colonel shook his head. “No, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s not working with the Phands, but I do think he may have his own agenda, something other than which of these two civilizations comes out ahead. After all, we don’t know who his people are or what they want. No one will tell me much about him, or how he got to be their leader.”
All of which meant I was heading into a very dangerous situation with a guy I couldn’t count on because another guy I didn’t much trust insisted on it. The only thing that gave me any comfort was the fact that there was no way Villainic and Convex Icosahedron could possibly be working together.