[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
smile and his eyes shone brightly. "I've just gotten back from Thunder Isle,"
he declared proudly. "Grant cooperated with me finally. He allowed me to take
the temporal dilator's memory cards."
Kane leaned toward the lens, his face growing large on the screen. He
squinted, as if he were trying to see into the past. "Grant, if you're
watching this thank you. You had a lot to forgive and even though it took you
ten years, you forgave me at last."
He sat back in the chair. "But you let me have more than the memory
cards...you helped me crystallize theories and suspicions I've had for many
years, and I'm going to put them into words for all of you to chew on. When
Sam and Erica finally realized none of us in Cerberus were going to join them
willingly in their war to overthrow the barons, they
Sea of Plague
117
decided to reduce our options. They purposefully allowed Baron Cobalt to
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return and take over again."
Kane heard Grant mutter something indistinct, as the implications sank in. The
digital copy of his future self continued, ' 'There was no way Cobalt could
have secretly enlisted the backing of the other barons and managed to grab
back the reins of power without help from some quarter. I always suspected Sam
had something to do with it. How else could Cobalt and the other barons know
Cerberus was occupied?''
The on-screen Kane shrugged. "It's possible Sam could have pretended to
negotiate terms with Cobalt, knowing in advance he couldn't be trusted. If
that happened, Sam would have essentially financed his own war of attrition.
"As for the Nirodha movement, at this point in your time period, they're just
a small rag-ass sect of fanatics controlling an isolated part of Assam. In the
near future, they'll receive a special kind of assistance in order to expand
their field of operations and sphere of influence and gain new recruits. The
practice of Tantric sex worship never died out completely in India... that was
a powerful tool and inducement to join up.
"And thus the shit continued to be stirred up, with the Pischaca revolts and
the Nirodha exporting their terrorism. A society built on war and threats of
war is usually too distracted to question itself. With those
goddamn SQUIDs linking his mind to everybody else's, Sam pretty much owns
humanity. He's accomplished in one generation what the barons tried to do
118 JAMES AXLER
for ninety years...unifying the world under one whip, like a team of horses."
Kane paused to inhale a long breath. He exhaled it and tilted his head toward
the camera. "For me, for
Bry, for Grant, it's been twenty-seven years of suffering through wars,
hardships, strife, personal loss and recently, faulty plumbing. I grew old and
gray while Erica, Lakesh and Sam retained their youth...and the three of them
stay together, linked by the SQUID implants while everyone and everything that
meant anything to me was taken away, so they could build the world the
imperator wanted. His adaptive Earth. This is my last chance to keep it from
happening."
Kane pushed his chair back from the camera. "I already turned the data cards
over to Bry, and we'll be making the retrieval attempt shortly. Before we do,
I need to locate Tanvirah, because I don't trust her to be out of my sight
when we power up the dissociator. I don't know if she's here as a pawn of Sam
or if the reason she gave actually has some truth to it, but at this juncture
I can't take the chance."
The scene faded and almost instantly returned, the screen once again
displaying a medium close-up of
Kane. "It worked," he announced. "Sindri came through alive and whole and
apparently as nasty as he was when I you last saw him. I've already briefed
him on what Bry and I hope to accomplish by injecting him into your time
period. He's agreed to it, but then I haven't given him many options."
He paused to smile, but it looked a little forced. "I hope this works, but if
it does, I won't know it. I
won't be here to think about it. But if it does work, do me and yourself a
favor even though you won't
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Sea of Plague
119
like hearing this " He took a deep breath, then declared in a rush, "The next
time you're alone with
Brigid, stop acting like an idiot and tell her how you "
There was a distant sound from offscreen, like the bursting of a wet paper
bag. Kane turned to his right, his face registering surprise and
consternation. Then the screen went dark. No other image flickered across it.
The people assembled in the auditorium didn't speak or so much as cough.
When the lights came back up, Kane walked to the center of the stage. Gravely
he surveyed the stunned faces in the auditorium he knew and the many he
didn't. He couldn't bear to look at either Grant or
Brigid. ' 'We just saw a glimpse of the future, one that begins in about a
month. It starts with the assault on Cerberus, and we already know how that
ends."
There was stir, a shuffling of feet, a creak of chairs and fearful murmuring.
Kane sensed Brigid moving up behind him. It took a great deal of effort not to
look at her. He couldn't think of anything relevant or comforting he could say
to her or the assembled people. For those who couldn't deal with what they had
just seen and heard, nothing he could say would change their reactions.
"I'm expecting Sindri to fill out the rest of the picture for me," Kane said
quietly. "But regardless, we have two options, two paths to follow that might
avert the future. You're free to make your own choices.
I've already made mine."
Then he turned and left the stage, passing Brigid, Grant and Sindri on his
way. He beckoned to the little man with a forefinger. "Come with me."
Chapter 8
Lakesh lost all track of time while waiting in the cell. The overhead neon
strip always burned bright, unlike the lights on the upper levels, which could
be adjusted to simulate daytime and sunset.
He had tired quickly of shouting through the heavy door and of pounding on it.
All he had accomplished was to make his vocal cords and his hands sore. For a
little while he tried to distract himself by pacing around the cell, measuring
it off, even though he knew its dimensions.
Although Lakesh hadn't taken a hand in actually designing the Cerberus
redoubt, he had often looked over the construction specs and blueprints while
it was being built, back when the Totality Concept's
Overproject Whisper still shared space with Overpro-ject Excalibur in the
Archuleta Mesa.
Constructed in the mid-1990s, no expense had been spared to make Redoubt
Bravo, the seat of
Project Cerberus, a masterpiece of concealment and impenetrability. The
researches to which Project
Cerberus and its personnel had been devoted were locating and traveling
hyperdimensional pathways through the quantum stream. Once that had been
Page 64
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
smile and his eyes shone brightly. "I've just gotten back from Thunder Isle,"
he declared proudly. "Grant cooperated with me finally. He allowed me to take
the temporal dilator's memory cards."
Kane leaned toward the lens, his face growing large on the screen. He
squinted, as if he were trying to see into the past. "Grant, if you're
watching this thank you. You had a lot to forgive and even though it took you
ten years, you forgave me at last."
He sat back in the chair. "But you let me have more than the memory
cards...you helped me crystallize theories and suspicions I've had for many
years, and I'm going to put them into words for all of you to chew on. When
Sam and Erica finally realized none of us in Cerberus were going to join them
willingly in their war to overthrow the barons, they
Sea of Plague
117
decided to reduce our options. They purposefully allowed Baron Cobalt to
Page 62
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
return and take over again."
Kane heard Grant mutter something indistinct, as the implications sank in. The
digital copy of his future self continued, ' 'There was no way Cobalt could
have secretly enlisted the backing of the other barons and managed to grab
back the reins of power without help from some quarter. I always suspected Sam
had something to do with it. How else could Cobalt and the other barons know
Cerberus was occupied?''
The on-screen Kane shrugged. "It's possible Sam could have pretended to
negotiate terms with Cobalt, knowing in advance he couldn't be trusted. If
that happened, Sam would have essentially financed his own war of attrition.
"As for the Nirodha movement, at this point in your time period, they're just
a small rag-ass sect of fanatics controlling an isolated part of Assam. In the
near future, they'll receive a special kind of assistance in order to expand
their field of operations and sphere of influence and gain new recruits. The
practice of Tantric sex worship never died out completely in India... that was
a powerful tool and inducement to join up.
"And thus the shit continued to be stirred up, with the Pischaca revolts and
the Nirodha exporting their terrorism. A society built on war and threats of
war is usually too distracted to question itself. With those
goddamn SQUIDs linking his mind to everybody else's, Sam pretty much owns
humanity. He's accomplished in one generation what the barons tried to do
118 JAMES AXLER
for ninety years...unifying the world under one whip, like a team of horses."
Kane paused to inhale a long breath. He exhaled it and tilted his head toward
the camera. "For me, for
Bry, for Grant, it's been twenty-seven years of suffering through wars,
hardships, strife, personal loss and recently, faulty plumbing. I grew old and
gray while Erica, Lakesh and Sam retained their youth...and the three of them
stay together, linked by the SQUID implants while everyone and everything that
meant anything to me was taken away, so they could build the world the
imperator wanted. His adaptive Earth. This is my last chance to keep it from
happening."
Kane pushed his chair back from the camera. "I already turned the data cards
over to Bry, and we'll be making the retrieval attempt shortly. Before we do,
I need to locate Tanvirah, because I don't trust her to be out of my sight
when we power up the dissociator. I don't know if she's here as a pawn of Sam
or if the reason she gave actually has some truth to it, but at this juncture
I can't take the chance."
The scene faded and almost instantly returned, the screen once again
displaying a medium close-up of
Kane. "It worked," he announced. "Sindri came through alive and whole and
apparently as nasty as he was when I you last saw him. I've already briefed
him on what Bry and I hope to accomplish by injecting him into your time
period. He's agreed to it, but then I haven't given him many options."
He paused to smile, but it looked a little forced. "I hope this works, but if
it does, I won't know it. I
won't be here to think about it. But if it does work, do me and yourself a
favor even though you won't
Page 63
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Sea of Plague
119
like hearing this " He took a deep breath, then declared in a rush, "The next
time you're alone with
Brigid, stop acting like an idiot and tell her how you "
There was a distant sound from offscreen, like the bursting of a wet paper
bag. Kane turned to his right, his face registering surprise and
consternation. Then the screen went dark. No other image flickered across it.
The people assembled in the auditorium didn't speak or so much as cough.
When the lights came back up, Kane walked to the center of the stage. Gravely
he surveyed the stunned faces in the auditorium he knew and the many he
didn't. He couldn't bear to look at either Grant or
Brigid. ' 'We just saw a glimpse of the future, one that begins in about a
month. It starts with the assault on Cerberus, and we already know how that
ends."
There was stir, a shuffling of feet, a creak of chairs and fearful murmuring.
Kane sensed Brigid moving up behind him. It took a great deal of effort not to
look at her. He couldn't think of anything relevant or comforting he could say
to her or the assembled people. For those who couldn't deal with what they had
just seen and heard, nothing he could say would change their reactions.
"I'm expecting Sindri to fill out the rest of the picture for me," Kane said
quietly. "But regardless, we have two options, two paths to follow that might
avert the future. You're free to make your own choices.
I've already made mine."
Then he turned and left the stage, passing Brigid, Grant and Sindri on his
way. He beckoned to the little man with a forefinger. "Come with me."
Chapter 8
Lakesh lost all track of time while waiting in the cell. The overhead neon
strip always burned bright, unlike the lights on the upper levels, which could
be adjusted to simulate daytime and sunset.
He had tired quickly of shouting through the heavy door and of pounding on it.
All he had accomplished was to make his vocal cords and his hands sore. For a
little while he tried to distract himself by pacing around the cell, measuring
it off, even though he knew its dimensions.
Although Lakesh hadn't taken a hand in actually designing the Cerberus
redoubt, he had often looked over the construction specs and blueprints while
it was being built, back when the Totality Concept's
Overproject Whisper still shared space with Overpro-ject Excalibur in the
Archuleta Mesa.
Constructed in the mid-1990s, no expense had been spared to make Redoubt
Bravo, the seat of
Project Cerberus, a masterpiece of concealment and impenetrability. The
researches to which Project
Cerberus and its personnel had been devoted were locating and traveling
hyperdimensional pathways through the quantum stream. Once that had been
Page 64
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]