The Trilisk Revolution (Parker Interstellar Travels) (8 page)

Kirizzo
was familiar with this behavior. Called complaints, these statements were a
form of soft negotiation which hinged upon the compassion of the listener.
Kirizzo refused to budge.

Telisa3
slowly left the room.

Kirizzo
checked Telisa3’s internal bomb. Its diagnostic reported full function. Kirizzo
felt satisfied. When Telisa3 came under Trilisk control, it would activate,
releasing the agent that Kirizzo had copied from Maxsym’s lab. Kirizzo hoped
that would come as a surprise to the Trilisks.

A
humming noise arose behind Kirizzo. The column released another Terran.

“Shiny?
Where is everyone?” called Magnus3.

“Magnus
has learned, studied, absorbed mission parameters?” Kirizzo asked.

Chapter 10

Imanol’s
shuttle floated on the water beside a rocky but beautiful island in the Aegean
Sea. He opened a top hatch and climbed out. The sun felt warm on his face but
the wind was cool. He smelled the complexity of planetary air.

Imanol
lingered only a couple of seconds, then he was back to business. He grabbed his
pack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he took a large black case and tossed
it into the water. It floated nearby. Imanol slid down an angled side of the
shuttle and slipped in. He swam slowly away from the shuttle, pulling the case
with him.

Four
attendant spheres skimmed the water nearby, zipping around like nervous
dragonflies. He lingered in the water, waiting for the attendants to scan for hidden
sensors or traps. They did not detect any danger. It was almost time. A couple
of minutes had been allocated for him to apply countermeasures to any sensors
or security systems he discovered on the beach. When he got the signal from the
Vovokan orbs verifying it was time, Imanol got behind the case and pushed it
toward shore with powerful leg kicks.

He
walked out onto the sand of the island. His Veer suit had kept him dry.

So
far, so good. The other team members are in action now, too.

Imanol
lugged the big black case up the beach, headed for high ground. Straight ahead
he saw only a rocky hill. The few trees he saw were on flatter ground to his
left.

The
house is supposed to be right up there.

The
beach Imanol had landed on was shielded from the house by the hill. He still
felt exposed out in the open. If there was hidden security the attendants
failed to detect, they would notice his arrival. Then he would be walking into
a trap.

He
sent one of his attendants forward to verify that the island looked like he
thought it should. The sensor had found the house within a minute. It was right
where his intelligence said it should be. The device scanned the dwelling and
found life.

Trilisks!

The
scan was positive. The device told Imanol in his PV that both the targets were
on the island.

Blood
and souls. It’s a good sign I’m not dead already. If they were all powerful, I
wouldn’t have even made it this far.

Imanol
increased his pace. It was hard going with the heavy case, but he had been
training with PIT since he joined. He had the energy he needed and lots to
spare. The tiny trail he followed led up the side of a hill overlooking the
house, which was built on a lower, flatter hill by a small bay. Imanol followed
the general route he had used in simulations built upon their model of the
island. Though the tiny details were different, the overall terrain was as
expected. Imanol saw details absent in the simulations: a scrap of fabric… a
lizard… a reddish rock. He stared at the rock, wondering if it held a hidden
camera… or a laser.

As
he neared the top of the rise he slowed. He dropped lower and crept farther,
keeping his cover. Then he dropped to the ground and opened the big case.

Inside
sat two cylindrical weapons secured by formed foam in the case.

Imanol
pulled the first rocket launcher out of its soft prison. His plan was to kill
both of them at the same time in one shot. The explosive of the warheads was
surrounded by the toxin Maxsym had manufactured. That way, they might both die
so quickly that there would be no response. He slung the launcher over his
shoulder.

He
checked his sidearms for the tenth time, even though they were configured to
notify him of any problems. They told his link all was well. Then he grabbed
the second launcher and turned toward the ridge he was on. He opened the
electronic sight and piped it through to his link. The augmented silhouette of
the house appeared in his personal view, right through the solid rock between
him and the dwelling. He could see two life forms—they looked human, though
running a bit hot. That was typical of the super-bodies created by the Trilisk
columns.

No
sign I’ve alerted them. This is insane. I’m shooting two near-immortal aliens
on a remote island that look just like regular humans.

He
watched them. One stood at a counter, perhaps a kitchen counter. The other sat
nearby. He could tell by their movements that they were talking. Chatting. They
looked relaxed.

I
hope they come out onto their porch for some tea. Why do I feel like such a
murderer? I’m doing this for all of Terra… aren’t I?

Imanol
could not shake his doubts. He kept arguing with himself as he scooched up to
the top of the rise just a meter before him.

What
if these are good Trilisks? They’re going to die without a chance. Snuffed out
by me. I could be killing innocents. I’m going to rocket two unsuspecting…
things.

He
rallied his resolve.

There’s
no chance to win if they’re warned. It’s too dangerous. The risk is huge. It
affects the whole planet. I can’t play fair with the enemy. Not this enemy.

Imanol
prepared the launcher to fire. Its missile was maneuverable enough to shoot
over the ridge and rapidly line up on the house, so Imanol did not have to get
a direct line of sight.  He acquired the house and kept scanning the
windows. He just wanted to catch sight of them—then he saw someone running for
the house. He quickly sighted the weapon’s targeting sensors onto the newcomer.

Imanol
stared aghast. He froze.

It’s
not possible. That’s me!!!

Imanol
was paralyzed by confusion for another moment, then he understood.

It’s
a duplicate of me. From a Trilisk column.

“Damn
it Telisa, you should have told me! This is idiotic!”

Imanol’s
duplicate ran up to the back of the house. The copy was wearing a Veer suit and
carrying a weapon. Imanol watched through the weapon sensor. The others inside
suddenly turned toward the back. The sitting one rose. They were alarmed. The
duplicate paused, then entered the house. Imanol felt sure he had just broken
in. One of the Trilisks grabbed a pistol from a drawer. Another grabbed a
knife.

Trilisks
fighting with pistols and knives?

The
windows of the house shattered open. Half a second later, Imanol heard the
retort of an explosion. But there was no smoke or fire.

“Blood
and souls!” he exclaimed aloud.

Was
that a grenade? Maybe just a frag grenade. Not incendiary, obviously.

His
duplicate was off the scanner. Imanol sent an attendant sphere in closer.

Did
they blow him up with a thought? Did he have an accident with a grenade? What
the hell is going on?

Imanol
felt acutely vulnerable again. He glanced around behind his position, but saw
no danger. Then he flipped back to the rocket launcher view.

Inside
the house, the two Trilisks were in distress. They fell to their knees.

Something
has… poisoned them? Of course… Maxsym’s gas!

“A
gas grenade?” he wondered aloud. “Where did I go? Why did you guys leave me in
the dark about this?”

It
seemed ridiculous to think that Imanol’s duplicate had blown himself to bits
with a gas grenade. It just did not track.

Wait.
Duplicates can be controlled by Trilisks! They must have taken control of him,
had him blow himself up with the grenade. But they did not know it was
poisoned.

The
forms inside were still on the floor in the house.

“This
is for me,” Imanol said. The grim humor of his statement curled the ends of his
lips up a fraction, despite the anger he still felt at being duplicated again
without his permission.

Imanol
launched his rocket just over the ridge with the launcher locked onto the
house.

Fooooom… Kablam!

It
slammed into the big house. Debris erupted from the open windows. Then the
house started to burn. The bodies inside remained still.

“Insanity,”
Imanol muttered.

That
was so easy. I was sure the Trilisks would just kill me in an instant. That one
picked up a knife! Siobhan is breaking into a massive fortress and I get a
duplicate and a Trilisk with a Ginsu.

Imanol
took a deep breath. It was hard to believe all this was even happening. He had
never experienced such major confusion in any of the drills. He admitted that
was a shortfall of their training. They had dealt with reasonable
contingencies, but never anything like this.

Suddenly
Imanol had a dark thought.

An
army of duplicates, sent to kill the Trilisks? What if I’m a duplicate, too?
What if the others are experiencing the same thing? Are there several PIT teams
out there and we don’t even know it?

“Dammit
why does everything always get so screwed up?”

Imanol
discarded the spent missile cannister and unslung the other from his back. His
forward attendant did not see any Terran shapes. It paused to observe a rodent
fleeing the burning house. Imanol had half a mind to shoot the next rocket at
it just in case it held a Trilisk. The attendants did not report it to him as a
target.

Imanol
made it down his hill and walked through some tall grasses toward the house. He
saw something built of stone ahead, nestled against the softer hillside. It was
an old archway with rotting doors. Beyond, Imanol saw the entrance had been
blocked with a stone wall.

An
old root cellar? Or an escape route.

Imanol
told an attendant sphere to watch the old entrance. He moved around it toward
the house. As he approached the smoldering porch, he drew his laser pistol and
slung the missile launcher over his shoulder.

I
can’t believe they sent a duplicate without telling me. I’m not going to work
with these bastards ever again. I could have killed myself. In either
direction. In both directions!

He
had watched the Trilisks fall. Now the whole house was burned almost to the
ground. The plume of smoke rose high into the sky. He thought of the ashes of
the other Imanol lying among the ruins. That had been a perfect copy of him.

If
I had known my duplicate was on this mission, I could have gone in at the same
time, we would have had a better chance.

An
attendant sphere signaled for his attention. It was the one by the old cellar
entrance. A scan showed that a tunnel extended from the entrance deep into the
rocky ground.

Of
course. It could not be that easy. But my mission is done, isn’t it?

Imanol
sighed. He knew he had to check it out.

Well,
it was almost easy.

Chapter 11

Jason
found himself on familiar ground once exiting the Vovokan shuttle. Flair Five
walked near him, scanning the roof for danger. Jason looked back at his craft
and saw only a Terran aerocab sitting on the landing platform. It fit into the
rooftop scheme of New York perfectly. The building he had landed on was tall,
over fifty stories, but there were taller ones nearby. In fact a spacescraper
was adjacent to it.

Time
to get to work.

Jason
had set up a control center in the building below. It had everything he needed
to coordinate with Cilreth. Soon they would be finding Trilisks for the orbital
attack. Jason did not have to hack anything; he was authorized to access the
building because Parker Interstellar Travels had paid to use the space. Tension
built inside as he made his way down to his little control room. Flair Five did
little to make him feel at ease.

Jason
unlocked the door with his link and walked into the suite. Something was wrong.
He looked around at the equipment. Everything looked intact, but some of his
storage units had moved. A heavy duty window screen he had set up to hide
everything from spying eyes had been folded and set against the wall. His link
threw up feeds onto the view anchors he had set up on the walls.

Someone’s
been here.

Flair
Five dropped from Jason’s link. He turned to look at the guardian machine.

“I’m
under network attack,” Flair Five said out loud.

“Turn
it off or lose it,” a male voice told Jason.

Should
I? Technically I should resist as much as possible…

A
shot rang out. Flair Five convulsed and went still.

Why
do I bother having a guard robot, anyways?

“I
see your stunner. Don’t reach for it,” the voice said. Then a hand fished the
stunner out of his suit. Jason stood still. A firm hand turned him around. Four
men dressed in black had come into the room behind him. He heard more coming
out of hiding in the suite.

“Jason
Yang, of Parker Interstellar Travels,” one of the men said. The speaker was
tall, like most of the other men, fit, with short cropped hair. He had a lined
face that spoke of experience.

Men
in black suits. How cliche. I’m screwed.

“Yes,”
he said, resigned. Of course they already knew exactly who he was.

“We
know what you’re doing. We just want to know why,” said the man. “Come with
us.”