“Thank you Baudric. I have to attend to other things, but someone will come along shortly to show you to your quarters and other amenities.”
“Thank you, Nora.”
Eve turned to the door and was half way through it when Baudric asked; “Was Freeground responsible for the attack?”
She looked over her shoulder and saw that he was reading the recycling request on the front of the book. “Partially. One of their people developed the Holocaust Virus. We believe they’re the source of much of the hatred towards the Order.”
“Do me a favour; next time we get a shot at them, make sure I’m in on the action.”
“You’ll get your chance, Baudric. First, you’ll have to go through some training. We need to know what you’re really capable of so we don’t put you in unnecessary risk.”
Eve was relieved when she was in the hall and the door slid closed behind her. A few strides took her back around the corner where Lister Hampon was watching holographic displays all around him as they scrolled through the active analysis of Baudric’s thought and memory patterns.
“I can’t believe it!” he said excitedly. “Somewhere in that process was the key to grafting an entire, functioning, improvising, creative personality with a framework body! You did it! You cracked what we’ve been chasing for years! He’ll think, intuit, and adapt like any soldier while maintaining perfect loyalty and all the controls built into the new framework structures are still in perfect operation.”
“It was simple. I only had to give his emotions focus. Use something from his past that I could attach to real objects. In this case, I used his father and the ring he inherited. It’ll be easier with others. Baudric’s imagination had to build a lot of bridges on its own.. If we could create some sort of crisis where people lose loved ones it’ll work even better.” As soon as she said it aloud Eve regretted it. The emotions she experienced while she was linked with Baudric when she told him his father had been killed were still fresh, and the thought of causing that kind of pain in others almost made her feel physically ill.
“You mean a real crisis?” Hampon asked enthusiastically. “We could orchestrate something tonight.”
“It may not be necessary, we’ll know after a few more subjects. No need to disrupt our stock.”
“You’re right, no need to diminish our flock. Is there any chance you can write a program that will create memories like you did? By observing, recording and editing?”
“I’ll have one for you by tomorrow.” Eve said as she watched a Junior Crewman lead Baudric from the chamber. He would be shown the best treatment, receive private quarters befitting a Major.
“So the theatrics with the stasis tube, is that necessary for all the future frameworks?”
“No. As it turns out, Jacob Valance became emotionally whole because of his memories, even though they were unconscious in his case. He wanted to believe he had a past and the evidence of it helped him find an emotional foundation.”
“Do you think you could make the leap with others? Implanting unconscious memories instead of taking a risk with a fabrication?”
“Maybe if you have a few years to develop the technique, but the key is that they have to have a reason to be loyal that extends deeply into their emotional core. This new process leaves the frameworks with their memories intact with the exception of the ones we need to replace in order to implant an emotional contract. In the case of Baudric, the contract is simple; our enemies killed his father, now he’s dedicated to our cause until we have no further use for him. The accident you made with Jacob Valance was leaving him with a memory leak that influenced his subconscious.”
“There was no way we could have known Doctor Marcelles built a hidden backup into that framework. Now that we’ve finally gotten this far, we don’t need Marcelles, and we don’t need to retrieve Jacob Valance. I can’t thank you enough, Nora.”
Eve regarded Lister Hampon with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll find a way for you to thank me eventually.”
Chapter 10
The blurry privacy barrier surrounded Oz, Jason and Agameg as they sat in the command seating and viewed a tactical hologram of Hood's scans. "I haven't seen a carrier group like that since I was back on Freeground. They have nine of those hardened battlecruisers," Jason observed. “Looks like you were right. There’s no way we’re not in for a losing fire fight if we manage to get out of this nebula.”
"Do you think Frost's last volley at the battlecruisers we've already come against hit, Agameg?" Oz asked.
"It's quite likely. His people were right on target for the most part and there's little chance that the lead cruiser could manoeuvre in time," Agameg replied, his big, singular coloured green eyes were in a half squint as he examined the tactical hologram closely. "The only weakness I see in this carrier group's formation is their proximity to each other. Considering the speed the ships we've already encountered have exhibited, it's something they could solve at a moment's notice."
"That's why I'm thinking we try to go in the opposite direction. I'd rather come up against the three battlecruisers we've already bruised and get by them instead of running into that carrier group. Even if that carrier was alone she'd have us if she could keep up," Oz pointed at the five kilometre long, four kilometre wide carrier. It was a rectangle with concave sides, evidence of hangars and launch ports dotted the top and bottom while the sides were reserved primarily for heavy long range weaponry. "Just this beam emitter on the port side was enough to wreck a Uriel with full shielding in a tenth of a second burst."
"Not to mention it struck Buster's fighter at a range of tens of thousands of kilometres. That indicates a high ratio of particles to energy, something that would tax our shields heavily."
"How long would we last under the pressure of a focused beam?"
"No more than a minute."
"Not enough time if they have half our thrust." Oz thought for a moment, looking at the tactical diagram. "It's been four hours. Chief Grady had better have those thrusters installed." He looked to his personal command and control unit and scowled. "Pending." A channel opened between him and the Chief. "Times up. We have to make a run for it before we have a nebula full of ships scanning for us."
"We're still decontaminating. I don't want to run these pods while there's a risk of burning through the main transfer conduits."
"Can you speed it up by flushing them somehow?"
"I can try, but the abrasion damage to the interior of the conduits will make them more delicate and there could be clogs or worse."
"You have thirty minutes. Then we're making a run for it."
"Yes sir."
"You're thinking what I'm thinking," Jason said quietly.
"If you mean I'm guessing that's not the only carrier group in the area, you're right," Oz said quietly.
"I'm sorry sirs, but I have to ask; why would they dedicate so many resources to finding us? I’m aware that this is a wanted ship, but the pursuit will eventually cost more than the reward," Agameg asked, his green oval eyes widening.
"I'm not sure. If I were in the command seat on the other side I'd say the motivation has to be political."
"That's the only reason I can see," Jason agreed. "Jake’s being accused of killing billions of people, who knows how many governments want to get their hands on him. He’d be a powerful token in interplanetary negotiations."
"It's a good thing Edward and Leland failed to recruit enough people to man a ship. They may have given away our position," Agameg smiled. His soft, thick lipped mouth stretched in a wide smile that seemed exaggerated in comparison to a human’s.
"Hope they're enjoying their stay in the hold of that ship. The pilot we put in charge forced them back there when evacuees started boarding. "