Ages in Oblivion Thrown: Book One of the Sleep Trilogy (32 page)

“You destroying Wallace springs to
mind. As does you not having a ton of perspective.”

“He was never really interested in
her. It was a scam. How did I miss that?”

“I can think of a few reasons. The
better question is how did she miss it? Anyway, if what you told me
is true, there must have been more than a job on his mind at one
time.”

“Right. Getting laid. Like that
means a damn thing.”

“Maybe it does. But that’s not my
worry. She is. Her altered mental status, if you will. I’d equate
what she’s going through to something like a fugue or dissociative
state.”

“I’m sorry, none of that means a
thing to me.”

“Both of those are events that
occur after trauma or…something so psychologically stressful, that
the brain physically tries to protect itself from further harm by
creating a break, a barrier.”

“So, you’re saying that the
programming she was given….”

“It created an artificial fugue.
It’s would be easiest way of brainwashing. Put the individual
through a prolonged period of chaos and tension. And as we figured,
while the person is in a sleeping state, that’s when suggestion
becomes possible.”

“I don’t know if I like the
implications of ‘prolonged’. How is that treated when it
happens…not on purpose?”

“Ah, well, that depends on the
individual. I don’t think you can find a one size fits all for
that, but this isn’t an ordinary case. If it was an organic onset,
I’d say therapy of some sort. But it isn’t. It’s a…surrogate
personality, one that was put in place, which means she’s probably
somewhere in there, screaming to get out.” It was obvious that Leif
hadn’t considered this possibility.

“What?”

“Well, think about it. This is a
persona that has nothing to do with Maeve. It’s like having
a…parasite, or a tiny robot controlling her. The likeliest means of
keeping Maeve out of the way, not cluttering up the process of the
mission assignment, is to trap her somewhere. If we can get at her
when she’s in a sleeping state, or even put her under hypnosis, we
can try to get her back.”

“And you know how to do
that?”

“Ah, no.”

“So it has to wait.”

“I’d say so. But I’d be willing to
bet that our odds will improve if we finish up on that island and
get her to someone who’s an expert in meditative
states.”

“The old guy. Kun.”

“That’s what I’m
thinking.”

“So we just have to keep from
getting our asses shot off until then.” They nodded in unison,
unwilling to think too far into the future on that
count.

۞

Bijul was ready to fly. Her new
ship was ready to leave the docks and head back to Earth. She’d
made some interior modifications. Her cockpit had been reconfigured
the way she preferred, and she’d carefully stowed an assortment of
weaponry inside a bulkhead. These items were chosen with a specific
intent.

Her goal was to prevent these
people from carrying out the mission that Colonel Tarkington
claimed they were going to do. They were supposed to prevent a war,
he’d told her. She needed war to come. It was the only
way.

Men like Tarkington didn’t
understand what conflict could accomplish. He saw it as a last
resort, something terrible and ruinous. Bijul knew that war could
open the floodgates to so much more. It always brought innovation,
invention, and opportunity. The last would be hers, if she could
grasp hold of it.

She knew now that the group was
going to split. She would be piloting one portion of it to Peru,
onto a mountainous plateau. The other half would be headed to a
sheep-populated island in the Mediterranean. Somehow, she knew she
would have to deposit her passengers and try to reach that island
as quickly as possible.

۞

“I don’t know why I’m agreeing to
this, but Captain Petrovich concurs with your assessments.” Tark
chewed on his lip, feeling the sting of a bad habit indulged far
too often of late. “You realize I could not only be removed from
command, but probably get shot for this?”

“You’re not going to be
shot.”

“Dmitry, neither of us can predict
what’s going to happen.”

“You’re going to stay here. We’ll
figure out how to deal with personnel later. I’m going to follow
behind with…certain numbers…but if you’re here, you’ll be safe. You
can always lock this place down.” They were quiet for a moment as
ramifications began to imagine themselves.

“I should do that now.” Tark
brought up a schematic of the station. He stared at it, unable to
think further than the sheer numbers of living creatures on
board.

“Colonel, Major, I appreciate your
anxiety over all this. You don’t know me from Adam, as the saying
goes, but you can trust me.”

“Sorry, Mr. Wallace, I doubt
that’s a selling point for us.”

“Dmitry….”

“No, it’s alright. I know what he
wants to say. It’s the same thing everybody wants to say about me.
They think I’m a flake, a…cad, I guess. I couldn’t ever tell them
the truth.” Wallace fidgeted uncomfortably with his stylus
pen.

“What’s the truth?” Dmitry could
feel dread settling down all around them.

“I was a recruiter. Maeve was my
assignment. My agency had followed her career for a while, she fit
all the qualifications, they wanted her.” He felt lightheaded, and
realized he hadn’t eaten in hours.

“You
let her go through the brainwashing
thing?”

“No, Major, you
don’t get it yet. I hit a
snag
.”

“A snag.”

“I kinda got in too deep, if you
follow me.”

“You fell for her.”

“Sort of. We got a little
involved…my agency dragged me back, reamed me out, and sent me back
to bring her in ahead of schedule.” Wallace seemed to grow more and
more pale as he sat in front of them.

“They wanted
to
kidnap
her?”

“Something like that. I definitely
failed on bringing her in. We didn’t know that we had somebody else
watching the watcher. There was a secondary agency feeding off our
intel. And…when they saw me hesitate, they moved in.”

“This doesn’t sound like a very
great platform for trust.”

“I didn’t want to see her get
hurt. We had no idea that anybody else was interested.”

“So this other agency grabbed her
and did the initial programming that you talked about.”

“Oh, it was way worse than
that.”

“What do you mean?”

“The other agency was the nascent
beginnings of the Mithraic Alliance. They waited until she was out
running a night exercise with her company…she and Christensen were
the only two who survived.” Dmitry and Tark exchanged a
look.

“I take it that this is why you’re
eager to see the destruction of the Alliance.”

“Definitely up there on the
list.”

“Why did Leif live through it? Did
they want him too?”

“No, not at first. He came onto my
agency’s radar because he kept looking for her. He was dogged. So
we sent him to Norway to keep him out of trouble until we could
find her. At that point, I got some help in getting reassigned to
being a handler.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”
Dmitry was beginning to see why Christensen didn’t like the
guy.

“Leif lived because she sent him
back to base. Something tipped her off. He said so himself in his
report. Against his better judgment, he said he turned around and
went back. Someone had to go, though, because all their radio
equipment was dead. She must have known that he would do anything
for her….”

“He’s in love with
her.”

“He was. I can’t speak to that
now.”

“Except he almost ripped your
heart from your chest when you said something to that
effect.”

“Who knows. He was, and still is,
incredibly protective of her.” Wallace looked over to Dmitry
sympathetically. “Sorry, Major. If it’s any consolation, I don’t
think she ever felt the same.”

“Nope. Not much help.”

“Thank-you Colonel, though, for
helping us.” On that count, Wallace was completely
sincere.

“You still plan on departure
tomorrow, early morning?”

“Yes. We’ll try to time it so
we’re entering atmosphere at a heavy traffic timeframe. Our ships
are small enough to pass for tow-alongs, if we can slip behind
something larger.” At least, this was what Captain Nandra had told
him. He’d have to trust his piloting abilities to keep them out of
trouble, while the captain kept her end tight.

“Well, good luck. Keep Major
Petrovich abreast of your location. You’ll want him to find you if
anything goes wrong.”

“Oh, I calculate at least fifty
percent failure odds.” Wallace looked almost cheerful. Indeed, he
felt a great deal more at peace, having finally confessed to
someone other than Kun. He could finally see a little more
clearly.

Dmitry watched him leave, feeling
bleak. Maybe he’d give it one more try. The worst she could do was
land another punch…she’d said she had no wish to harm him. He only
knew that it would be impossible to watch her leave with Wallace
and Christensen. Not without saying something. Not without feeling
completely gutted.

۞

They were ready. As ready as
anyone could be, in setting off for war.

Leif and Josh each had their own
family references to war. The former still carried a photo of his
grandfather standing on the beach at Normandy. The latter had only
stories to remind him. Of an uncle who went to war for a country
that had locked up the rest of his family in an internment camp.
And a nurse grandmother killed when her hospital ship was
torpedoed.

As they slowly packed, and
organized themselves into two separate ships, Josh reflected on
those two stories. He’d grown up not knowing how to interpret the
muted pain that each circumstance had wrought on his family. After
having had his own experiences on deployment, he’d begun to
understand.

He understood that no matter what
anyone tried to do, in some instances no one has any control over
anything. His uncle had surrendered to that unstoppable tide. His
uncle had believed that the only way to change ignorance and hate
was through constant demonstration of something better. Josh had
always struggled with this philosophy. Now he understood it, even
if he disagreed a little.

He went to bid farewell to the
monks at the temple, but could not bring himself to seek their
advice. Instead, he sat in meditation for two hours, trying to
collect and organize his thoughts. He needed to be clearheaded. It
was possible he would be the only one who was, in the
end.

They had all watched Maeve warily
through the process of readying. She continued to behave in that
disquietingly automatic manner. She resisted attempts to be drawn
into conversation. She slept a precise eight hours for every
sixteen hours awake. She consumed a precise caloric intake. She did
nothing but research and prepare for what lay ahead.

۞

Dmitry could not help but feel
utter hopelessness. Maeve, or whomever it was in control of her,
continued to refuse his presence. She didn’t want to see him. He’d
begun to convince himself that she might die, or that he would, in
the course of this madness. After all, why should he be allowed
happiness? What had he ever done to earn it?

۞

Tark and Sa’andy watched as the
two small craft detached from the station, and began their progress
back to Earth. It was a final act. Irreversible. Tark wished he
felt more confidence in himself and his own abilities right then.
All too soon, Dmitry would be following the others, and the station
would go into martial lockdown.

Dieu me
pardonne
, he thought,
if I’m wrong,
we will all be in the
worst kind of situation.

“We are not wrong in this, my
love.” Sa’andy was watching him in her usual gentle
manner.

“I thought you weren’t going to do
that anymore.” He winked at her.

“I’m not exactly having to try.
You are an open book, and we’ve lived together for long enough…it’s
all just out there.”

“That’s a distinct disadvantage to
me.” He pursed his lips as she smilingly entwined herself in his
arms.

“Let’s try to remember that I’m
not like your Earth women.”

“Hah, that’s something I’m not
likely to forget!”

“Well, then, let’s work on not
being so worried about all this.” She took his hand and led him off
in the direction of their apartment.

۞

They had split off fairly quickly.
Leif and Josh tried not to contemplate their growing unease at
being separated from everyone else. Not that they doubted Capt.
Nandra’s ability to keep their friends safe. They were rolling into
a complete unknown. They’d be too far away to help if some ill
befell them, as well as the reverse situation.