Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (37 page)

[Regan, I have another thought.] Hilary
joined her at the water's edge. [It might sound as if I'm defending Reubus, but
really I'm not and I do think things are coming to a head there. He's
avaricious; no doubt about it and it's becoming obsessive, not just good
business. Regan, I think this system is going to need to stand up and declare
what is acceptable and what is not. It's going to be political as well as
economic pressure that needs to come to bear.]

[So what are you suggesting?]

[I think you need to come to Gliese in
person, and as soon as possible. In person you bring together the cyber and the
humanoid influence that will get majority support. I think that's what's needed
to rein in the likes of Reubus and those following his lead.]

Regan stared out over the lake thinking
things over. The religious fervor that always greeted her personal arrival in
the system did not sit comfortably and yet the wisdom in Hilary's thoughts did
not escape her. The knowledge that taking a 'hands off' approach in the Gliese
system had left the door open to the likes of Reubus, allowing him to establish
monopoly dominance did not sit well with her either. She quickly came to a
decision.

[Okay Hilary, I agree.] She turned back
to Ham who was still sprawled and grumpy in his deck chair. [First, Ham; you, Hilary
and I will do a lightning tour of the Orbitals and drum up support from the
leadership. We need to prepare the way for a confrontation when I come in
person. I don't want to take more than a few days at most because we need to
get back to Orion to see out the celebrations on Rexis, and as soon as that's
over we'll get away in the STEIN Traveler and come to Gliese; how long do you
think it will take?]

He sat up now, far more interested with action
proposed. [We could be back here in three weeks if we jump between the portals.
The STEIN can get between them much faster than when we were going to Orion;
after all we were only held up by the speed of the Fair Passage.]

[That's agreed then, and Ham, with your
permission I think we should leave copies of ourselves with Marin and Leah, to
work on liberating Aaron and the family.]

He looked surprised. [With my permission
. . . you don't need that babe?]

She smiled. [I'm learning, Ham my man -
I know how you feel about me copying myself.]

And they exchanged a knowing look before
Regan turned to Dahlia and clasped her hands in a thank you grip. [So, that's
it then Dahlia; we'll be here with Marin if you need us, and we'll be there in
Orion preparing to come back soon - until then, thank you my dear friend.

. . . And they disappeared.

* * * * *

Chapter Twelve

Something felt wrong as she jogged the
track around Hillary Station and for a good kilometer a niggling feeling of
concern stayed with her, growing to an anxious ache that pressed more and more on
her consciousness. And then she realized what was wrong, it was that she was
alone, completely alone, with no one running alongside her and no one else to
be seen on the rim tube track that stretched out ahead before curving away in
the distance. Stopping now with her heart pounding, she turned to look back but
could see there was no one following either and then she looked up through the
diamond glass where a movement did catch her eyes, something in the distance.
Two figures were riding jet skis in space, twirling about each other, racing
and chasing. It all seemed so wrong, how were they breathing out there, and who
were they? She called out hopelessly, yet with the feeling they might or should
hear her, and sure enough the figures did pull up and turn in her direction.
She could see them confer, as if they were deciding whether or not to respond
and then they began to cruise in quietly, not in any hurry, even reluctantly.
Who is it, she thought as they drew nearer, one taller by far than the other .
. . was it Marin and Leah? And then while still too far away to make out detail
it appeared they were slowing down as if something were holding them back, like
long bungy cords, and as she peered into the distance she had the sense there
was also something there, something that was holding the end of the cords. And then
somehow she knew, with a dream certainty; she couldn't see it but she knew what
it would be holding them back.

It would be an arm, an android arm . . .

With a gasp Regan woke in a familiar clammy
sweat, her heart still pounding. Looking around she could see she was in the Behemoth
transfer room, still resting in the chair with the massage gently working her
back and legs. They must have just completed the jump to Orion.

"Are you there, Hilary?"

"Yes of course dear, welcome back, are
you all right?"

"I think so, just a dream sequence as
I came through, that hasn't happened before."

"Anything you want to share?"

"No, it was nothing, but I'd just like
to rest here for a while Hilary and update on the latest happenings since we
jumped, perhaps you could keep the massaging going for a short while."

"Of course dear, as long as you want
and as you are doing the same thing perhaps I could update with the latest from
Dahlia?"

"Yes of course, and feel free to
rummage around in there while you do. You might see something I've missed.
Where is Ham by the way, I sense he's not with me directly?"

"He merged with his other as soon as
you came through and left you sleeping. It was only a few minutes ago."

"Oh - fine." And Regan closed her
eyes to begin searching cyber space, in a flash reviewing all that had happened
while they were in Gliese. At the same time she had the sense that Hilary had
joined with her and was updating her files, merging with the latest from Dahlia
that she always brought back with her. Soon Hilary/Dahlia would again be a new
whole.

Regan's review didn't take long. In the few
days they had been away the Behemoth, Ascendant and Fair Passage had made orbit
around Rexis and preparations were well underway to disembark. She could see
Charlotte had everything in hand, even dealing admirably with some testiness
from the Commander of the Ascendant, young Rubik, who seemed reluctant to cede
the lead role to an amateur. Charlotte had quietly pointed out the need to work
together, praising the Commander for his expertise and experience and its
usefulness in the operation, and then simply commenced getting the job done.
Regan chuckled at her no nonsense approach, her ability to smooth the ruffled
feathers and win support not only of passengers and crew but also the Rexis
transitional team who were assisting with medicals and disembarking. And all
this with only the transparent film over her head giving support to the work
under the skin. She seemed totally unaffected by the neural web and again Regan
marveled at Ham's expertise. The woman was a dynamo who obviously wasted no
time recovering and like Jared it seemed incredible how fast she was up and about.

Of most concern was the situation on Regis.
The latest report showed the STEIN still hovering over the palace but effectively
it was in a state of siege from the Regis forces as they still held the acting
Premier Maynard hostage. She could see from the palace was also  surrounded
with citizens, unarmed but effectively in peaceful protest mode and the
question remained,
where to from here?

[Ham?] She called to him

[Yo babe, I can tell you've caught up with
things.]

[I have, that situation on Regis concerns
me; am I up with everything?]

[Not quite, the good news that has just
come in is that we've dealt with the genovirus it seems. The holding mainframe
on Regis is destroyed and as you know we've already destroyed the copy that
young Perin carried here. The bad news is that the people of Regis still think
that Bob's mob assassinated their leadership and invaded their planet. This
whole thing is a set up by the acting Premier Maynard whom we hold.]

[Hmm, young Perin might be the key here.]

[You can't mean that sniveling weasel?]

[Yes, that sniveling weasel; he may at
least be a weasel we can control. I wonder how he'll feel when he finds it was
his uncle who set this up for his own power grab, and that he considered Perin
himself expendable?]

[Okay, I can see where you might be going
with this, what do you want me to do?]

[Increase his education slightly, show him
the files and recordings I've just reviewed and feel free to edit them as you
go. Make sure he clearly sees the role his uncle played in all this and what
Maynard's true intentions were. Prepare him for me will you, I think you know
what I mean. When he's ready we'll talk and in the meantime I'm going to enjoy
the celebrations with the colonists.]

[Sweet babe, I'm onto it.] He had a gleeful
sound to his voice.

Regan slipped from the chair and
straightened her suit, checking out her image in the mirror as she did so. She
stood there a moment, noting the near forty year old woman that looked back and
sighed. It wasn't so much she was unhappy with what she saw, only that the
undeniable aging process triggered thoughts of how much was changing, and so
quickly.

[Is Charlie subbing yet Hilary?]

[Not yet Regan but all the signs are it
won't be long; she still has her ear piece though if you want to contact her.]

[That's okay, I'll leave it to you organize
things, can you please set up a meeting for the control room, I'd like to
clarify what role she wants me to play in the celebrations.]

[Oh I know she wants you involved, don't
worry about that.]

[Hmm, well as long as it's not over the
top, I'd rather stay in the background.]

[Regan, you can forget that right now! The
natives of Rexis are eager to see you in the flesh and the colonists are so
excited it's unbelievable. No, I'm sorry babe, you can forget hiding away; it's
the old story, you're a rock star.]

Regan gritted her teeth at the news, feeling
anything but a rock star and wanting to be nothing like it. [Well, what will be,
will be; I'm heading for control now.]

[I'm sure she will meet you there soon, we're
just discussing a few things with Ham.]

Regan stopped in mid stride, her antennae
twitching. [What's that all about?]

[Oh nothing important dear, we can talk
later.]

[Uh huh . . .] Regan resumed her walk not at
all satisfied by the response; Ham was up to something, she knew it.

When Charlotte entered control five minutes
after Regan the first thing Regan noticed was that she was rubbing the side of
her head as if exploring.

"Problems Charlie?"

"Oh - god it's good to see you Regan -
No, nothing in particular anyway, just some changes Ham made to the operation,
future proofing apparently."

Regan rolled her eyes. [Ham, where are
you?]

The beautiful man appeared to Charlotte's
right, one hand on her shoulder as if they were sharing good news, conception or
something like it. "Regan, you will be pleased I know, we made good use of
the time during the operation and Charlie is very pleased at the enhancements I
was able to include in the procedure, aren't you Charlie?"

"Err . . . I think so, although I'm
not sure I know exactly what's happened."

"Of course you do, we discussed
everything, as you were going under."

Ham turned back to Regan to find her
glaring at him with arms tightly crossed.

"Babe," he appealed to her,
"you know how extensive the operation is, and I'm so good at it now it
would be criminal to not include all the potential for upgrade that is
possible. And Charlie was quite definite that she wanted to continue to have
Hilary working with her."

"So . . . Charlie now has the full fit
out, is that what you're telling me?"

"Well not the full fit out, nothing
like Jared, that's for sure."

"Oh, well that's a relief
anyway." Regan's sarcasm was obvious.

Charlotte raised her hand like a
schoolgirl. "Excuse me, Regan, perhaps you can put it in language I can
understand." She sounded hopeful.

Regan sighed loudly. "Sit down
Charlie." They both took seats.

"Ham, in his infinite wisdom, has
taken it upon himself to not just give you the neural web Hilary discussed with
you, but to also include a small processor. What this means is that you now
have in your head a tiny computer and a shielded power source that will outlive
you. From what Ham has indicated to me it means that Hilary can now reside in
your head providing you instant access to more information than you can imagine
and should rightly have access to. That makes me very nervous although you have
shown nothing but loyalty and responsibility to date."

"And Regan," Hilary butted in,
"you should know me by now; I know where my loyalties lie."

"I know that Hilary, which is another
reason I haven't flown right off the handle." She turned her eyes on the
beautiful man. "Ham." and she sighed knowingly "Why didn't you
discuss this with me?" And then without waiting for an answer she threw
her hands in the air. "Oh don't bother answering, it's because I would
have said no. Right, let's get on with things I need to know all about the
celebrations and progress on getting the colonists down to the planet. Then we
need to get the Behemoth to Regis, pronto."

* * *

It was embarrassing; all the speeches
extolling her virtues, vision and strength, the cheers from the ecstatic and
happy colonists, the unwanted attention of the aging Rexis males who all seemed
so confident of their prowess; it was too much and Regan just wanted to get
away. Yet she could see humans would do well here, and with drive and
determination humanity would thrive on the planet. Furthermore the technology
flow in both directions offered opportunity for trade and development beyond her
wildest dreams. Without question Gliese also offered opportunities, but the
wide open trade and immigration possibilities here on Rexis were incredible.

Perhaps her greatest joy came with the
speech from Bob on behalf of the Mind’s collective. His gratitude at working
with Regan and her team shone through with every word. His hope for the future
and belief that great things would result from this new start under Regan's
leadership quite took her breath away, as did the fact that everyone applauded and
no one seemed to question the proclamation. In fact, such was the expectation
of her continued participation it became obvious she couldn't just up and leave.
After consultation with Ham the decision was made; they would both copy themselves
to androids and remain there for the time being. At the same time, they would
also move. There was business to be done after all, on Regis first, then on to
Gliese and the avaricious Reubus.

So, how to handle young Perin?

[He's ready.]

[Okay Ham, I'm on my way up now.]

Charlotte and Regan made their way across
the Fair Passage flight deck and on into the elevator.

[Do you think he'll work with you Regan?]

[I don't know Charlie; I guess it depends
on how persuasive Ham has been.]

The elevator took them straight to the
liners control room, and they found it empty of crew for the moment with most
choosing to attend the celebrations. As they entered they could see the avatars
of Hilary and Lucas chatting in the background while Ham's powerful android
dominated the relatively squat form of Perin who was waiting for them. The look
on Perin’s face as they approached was one of hushed awe and he stepped forward
nervously to take first Charlotte's, then Regan's hand in greeting. In Regan's
case he held it as if it were magnetized and looked into her eyes as if searching
for something before turning back to Ham.