“Who are you?” Kier squeaked out.
“Captain Simon Dark, chief of the Imperial Security Service,” the man stated. “Out-lord, of course. I will now untie you and we’ll be able to talk.”
He bent over Kier and freed him. The young man stood with difficulty and, lurching forward, began to rub his blood-starved limbs. Then he tore off the dirty, blood-stained Special Corps uniform and threw it on the floor.
“This is a dangerous terrorist,” Kier nodded to Elena’s outstretched body. “She may wake up, and she’s armed.”
“Not hardly.” Kier’s interlocutor smirked unpleasantly. “You killed her, and I’ve just congratulated you for that.”
“I’ve killed her!” the youth exclaimed incredulously. “What do you mean? How?”
“Most naturally. When an out is in danger and he feels fear, his abilities sharpen and his power acts almost instinctively. In future, you’ll learn how to control this power—to a certain extent, of course.”
“I’m an out?” Kier staggered in shock.
“Without any doubt,” Captain Dark confirmed. “The corpse of this terrorist is excellent evidence. You can check her pulse. Although, the outs can easily distinguish the living from the dead, and the outs from the rest, without physical contact. You don’t even need ordinary sight for that. Close your eyes and try to concentrate on me. You’ll feel my presence.”
Kier obeyed and actually felt the consciousness of another person. An intricate mosaic of emotions …
At that moment, Kier’s perception was sharply switched off and replaced by a strong headache that, fortunately, disappeared just as quickly.
“Well, do you see now?” Dark said, more in affirmation than interrogation. “Remember that feeling. One out must not burst into another out’s consciousness. This is extremely dangerous! I allowed you to touch my personality, but usually we screen each other from doing so. I’ve just demonstrated to you how it’s done. Imagine that your body and consciousness are protected by a transparent, but resistant, armor. As though you are in an invisible pressure suit. Got it?”
“Yes,” Kier obediently replied. He examined his interlocutor in astonishment. The out-lord and boss of the ImpSec, or whoever he was, looked like any ordinary middle-aged man. He was attired in somewhat dusty, gold-colored pants, a T-shirt of the same color, and comfy leather shoes. No distinctive insignia or other signs of authority. Dark was different from most of the Northern Heartland’s inhabitants only in his dark, almost ebony-colored, skin.
“If you’ve had a good look at me, let’s sit down and talk,” the ImpSec boss offered.
Kier asked, “Here? Perhaps, we should go to my room or some other comfortable place?”
“There are no spying eyes and ears here, unlike at the other base facilities,” Dark clarified. “Believe me, I know it well. And we don’t need any data to be leaked.”
He waved his flashlight at several empty boxes of ultraplasticine the terrorists had brought. Being right next to the corpses of the McGregors and the explosives made the situation nerve-racking to Kier’s mind, though Dark seemed to feel quite comfortable.
And I’ve actually killed Elena! Kier thought, the horror of that awareness engulfing him. Not with a word, but with a thought! I didn’t realize what I had done. What terrible power is given to the outs! How did I get into this group of the chosen ones? And what shall I do with all this now?
“As I assume, you have several questions for me,” Dark started in a private conversation. “Ask me, don’t be shy! We have plenty of time. Nobody will bother us here, and without the connected special detonator, the ultraplasticine is as dangerous as common soap.”
“How have I become an out? And who are they in general?” Kier asked, after a small pause.
“Good questions. I see that you are smart young man.” Dark sat down cozily on his box and continued, “Long time ago, a lot of different states existed on the Earth, each of them controlled the defined territory. These states had their own administrations, armies, special services, and money. Quite naturally, they constantly had conflicts with each other. Approximately one thousand years ago, in one of the most powerful states of that time, which was in the territory of today’s Northern Gomorrah, there was born a man who had the same name as you. We know him as the Founder of the Empire, Kier the Great. However, in the initial period of his life he didn’t demonstrate any extraordinary abilities. His father was a lowly clerk and his mother was an ordinary housewife. Your namesake had successfully graduated from the New Babylon University in the specialty of biology and genetics. In the same place, he entered a post-graduate program. And at the age of thirty-one, Kier the Great was crowned as the First Emperor and ruled the world for more than forty years! The official version states that the Founder got the power of the gods, became the first out-lord, and thanks to that, he united mankind.”
“Such an interpretation has always seemed dubious to me.”
“You’d be surprised, but the official version is generally true. We just added a bit of mysticism and hid some details. Actually, the future Founder was working in the group of one Professor, a geneticist, who was his scientific supervisor. The group was conducting the detailed deciphering of one of the human genome sections, as well as the possibilities of its modification. Do you know what a genome is?”
“I’m not a biologist, but I suppose that this is the hereditary program that defines the species and some individual peculiarities. Each biological species has its own genome, although there are common traits. The nucleic acids are the material carrier of the information. Generally, it is the basis of life on the Earth.”
“Excellent! It’s good to be dealing with an educated person. You have clearly been studying the information databases, closed to most of the simples. Almost all our novices are completely ignorant people that must have the simplest things explained in detail.”
“So, your namesake emperor was a geneticist. He didn’t make any breakthrough discoveries, but he was very lucky. His scientific supervisor was a real genius and during their research he revealed a hidden gene corresponding to emotional perceptions. As it turned out later, it corresponded not only to the perception, but also to the impact … hmmm, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This mysterious gene turned out to not only be hidden, but also passive—meaning it is present in all people, but usually it doesn’t manifest itself. The ingenious and slightly crazy Professor developed a preparation that allowed, per his opinion, the activation of the revealed gene. He conducted a trial preparation on himself, his team, and the students. On the whole, the trial ended as a complete failure. The gene didn’t want to be activated. Why—nobody knows—even now. But, as I had already said, the post-graduate Kier, later the emperor, got extremely lucky. The preparation had an effect on him. The passive gene ‘woke up’ and presented him with many new, wonderful abilities. He was able to feel and, what’s more important, to influence the consciousness and emotions of other people.”
“Let me guess what happened next.” Kier jumped up from the uncomfortable box, but then quickly sat down again in embarrassment. “After getting such abilities, the Founder learned how to subdue other men. Particularly, very rich and powerful people, businessmen, generals, politicians. Thanks to that, he became the ruler of the whole world. But, as I understand, such supernatural abilities manifested themselves not just in the First Emperor?”
“That’s right,” Dark confirmed. “But, there’s nothing supernatural in our abilities. Just another scientific experiment that changed the world. The same as the invention of writing or the appearance of firearms. Principally, everybody can sense and influence others’ emotions. But the majority does it poorly, unlike the outs. We can imbue an ordinary person with practically any emotion—loyalty, fear, hatred, sexual desire—and the person being impacted will perceive it all as their real feelings. The natural and implanted emotions are identical, from a biochemical point of view. In addition, we can put people to sleep, order them to forget, or to do something. Simple commands like “Sleep for half an hour!” can be given mentally, while the more complicated ones require verbalization. Outs can also inflict pain and kill by an act of will … as you’ve just brilliantly demonstrated.” Dark nodded at Elena’s body.
“You didn’t, however, explain to me how I became part of your exclusive club,” Kier said sharply, feeling discomfort upon remembering Elena’s death.
“Have some patience, young man!” Dark looked sternly at the youth. “After the Foundation of the Empire, the experiments of the genial Professor were continued. Of course, they were now under the full control of his former student. Despite all his undeniable achievements, Kier the Great was an utter idealist. He wanted all people to receive the ability to feel each other’s emotions. In my opinion, a world consisting of billions of outs would be horrible. Perhaps our civilization would have even ceased to exist.”
“In any case, nothing came of this idea. The Professor, together with the First Emperor, invented a new preparation that they reckoned would allow them to activate the sleeping out-gene in all of humanity. Under various pretexts, the preparation was injected en masse to different people. It didn’t distinctly influence the majority of the test subjects; however, there were exceptions, and as a result, dozens of new outs appeared.”
“For some time, the world was on the fringe of total chaos. The outs began fighting with each other and the Founder’s power wavered. Rumors of enigmatic dark lords, who could manipulate others’ behavior, spread amongst simples. Then, the Professor, pioneer of the out-gene, died under mysterious circumstances. Fortunately, our predecessors managed to come to an agreement and create the world order that has existed to these days, with little change.”
“This accord meant that we give the possibility of becoming an out to almost all the people. Everything is fair. The Founder’s administration spread the information through the epidemic of some dangerous disease that was named the Kandinsky-Clérambault virus. Supposedly, the virus causes fatal mental alterations in mature people, who think that they’re being manipulated and so forth. A specially developed vaccine was presented as a rescue measure. It was obligatorily administered to everybody who reached adulthood. Of course, only to the mentally sane. As you can guess, the very preparation for the out-gene activation was administered under the guise of the vaccine against the mythical disease. Thus, not only did we stop the rumors of the activity of the outs, but we also used the situation in our favor for the accession of our ranks.”
“So, that means I became an out back at school, when I was administered this allegedly anti-viral vaccine before passing the CALL?” Kier exclaimed. “It was back in the end of May. But why was the activation delayed? And why do you administer the preparation only to the adults? In general, how many outs are there? How do they get along with each other?”
Captain Dark waved his hand, stopping the stream of Kier’s questions.
“The exact mechanism of action of the preparation for ‘awakening’ the out-gene is unknown. The physical mechanism of the out-impact is also unknown; although it exists, without doubt. After the Founder’s death, almost all the studies in this field were stopped. Genetics, as a science, was forbidden. In the schools, teachers declared that people were created by gods by a way known exclusively to the gods themselves. Even at the universities specializing in biology and medicine, the data on genetics are given only in a basic form. The data on the comm-net are also strictly controlled. There is only one lone laboratory that conducts applied genetic research, which is subject to the emperor. The very out-activator is produced there according to ancient formulas, along with other items useful for the outs.”
“There is also a branch of this laboratory where, for a sum of money, they define a blood relationship; mainly, of the vors. You, being the son of the ruling count, must be aware of the according decree on the obligatory test for ancestry. Apart from that, we, the outs, do not approve of scientific research in the field of genetics.”
Kier wanted to ask “why,” but restrained himself. The youth cautiously rubbed his recently hurt knee, while Dark continued.
“The preparation action manifests itself in a small number of people one or two months after administration. We managed to stabilize the population at a level of approximately ten billion people back in the days of the Early Empire. That’s why the outs’ population is also stable. As a rule, four or five new outs appear annually and, presently, our population is five hundred and two people. You’ll be five hundred and three. The preparation is not administered to children and adolescents. Their behavior is too unpredictable. Several ages ago it seems, under the rule of the Emperor Xerxes I, an experiment was conducted and it led to the death of three outs.”
“Death?” Kier was surprised. “But, as I understand it, with such abilities, the outs are almost impossible to kill.”
“Yes, for an ordinary person, but an out can easily kill another out. Moreover, the out who did the killing would also die.” Dark’s voice became sharp. “Remember, Kier, if you try to use your abilities on another out, you will certainly get a backlash. It happens by instinct, as in the case of the terrorist girl you’ve killed. Usually, the outs screen from each other, but if you ram your way through the hedge or if you lost self-control, the so-called ‘adhesion’ may occur. When two or more outs create a strong bond with each other, they can’t disrupt it and that soon leads to their deaths. When I allowed you to feel me, and then I screened you, you must have felt a headache. Did you feel it?”
“Yes,” Kier confirmed.
“So, if you had continued to ram into my consciousness or if I’d made a backlash, then the ‘adhesion’ would have happened. We’d have both felt the increasing headache, and then would have died in great pain.”
“In this ancient experiment I mentioned, there were two boys of ten and twelve years. They quarreled over some toy. There was also an adult woman-out, monitoring the experiment. She tried to reconcile the boys, in vain. As a result, all three of them died. The autopsy showed a massive cerebral hemorrhage and signs of a very strong pain shock. All in all, you can do whatever you like with ordinary people, but with other outs, you should behave extremely cautiously and politely. Mutual respect of outs is the base of our society.”
“I’ll remember that,” Kier agreed hurriedly. “From what you’ve said earlier, it appears that all the outs must be completely equal in rights. How does this play along with the Empire and the emperor’s existence?”
“Of course, all the outs are equal in rights; otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting here telling you the secrets of state. Our society is as tolerable as possible for human kind. The emperor doesn’t have a special power over other outs. He is just the first among equals, something like an Ultimate Arbiter. Besides, the emperor administrates the affairs of the vors and the simples. Just as the prime Dwarfin, ministers, out-satraps, and I do.”
“The emperor’s power is hereditary?” Kier asked.
“Of course, not. The children of outs become ordinary people. Although, we take care of our descendants and often they hold high posts in the Empire. The emperor is elected by a general meeting of all the outs. This is called General Assembly. He can be removed from his post at any time. We don’t have monarchy or aristocracy, young man!” Dark smirked. “We have a collectivist oligarchy. Although, as a rule, the emperors rule for their lifetime; we value stability.”
“Collectivist oligarchy?” said Kier, surprised. “But a mob can’t make any reasonable decisions!”
“It is not that simple. The outs have their own rules. It can’t be another way. As you’ve just noticed, no out would tolerate another out wielding undue privilege. And this way everything is just. The elected emperor and his administration handle the control of vors and simples, supporting the stability of the Empire. The other outs are released from that. In exchange, they are willing to give their colleagues additional power. Naturally, the set deal can be changed, if necessary. During the last ages, there were several cases when this or that group of outs challenged the ruling emperor. However, most of the outs have supported stability. Only the Emperor Kambyses I, who was known among the outs as Kambyses the Insane, was removed after twenty years of rule.”
“What did he do?” Kier inquired. “And why was he called the Insane?”
“According to our historical data, the Emperor Kambyses I went mad. It happens even to the outs. Suddenly, he appointed an administration consisting only of the vors and the simples, and declared his son, who was not an out, the official heir to the throne. In addition, he wanted to cancel the production and distribution of the out-activator. The General Assembly removed Kambyses from his post. Right after the vote, the former emperor tried to attack almost all the outs simultaneously and died, together with some of his enemies. Fortunately, nothing like that has been repeated since.”
It means that there is also a fight for power amongst the outs. Kier made the conclusion to himself. All this talk of justice and equal rights is hypocrisy! Even if Dark is not lying, the random distribution of out-abilities cannot be fair. The established society of the outs consists of far from the best people. Maybe that is why the world controlled by the outs is so hideous?
The young lord cut his seditious thoughts short and asked Dark, “And how did you get here, and in such a timely fashion? During the last two months, I could have been killed a lot of times. Why haven’t you interfered earlier? If the outs are so few, as you’ve said, each of them must be of a great value.”
“Each out is the highest being and his life is of great value,” the boss of the ImpSec agreed. “Unfortunately, we can’t foresee who will become an out and who won’t. The out-activator acts only on one person out of twenty million. There is no preliminary specific test for out-abilities. Although, I’d be glad if we managed to invent something like that. It would have made my job, and the job of all the out-satraps, much easier. We must spend a lot of time and power searching for the potential newcomers. You can’t entrust this to subordinates. When the power of the outs awakens in young people, they start to go crazy. But often, as a result of the long investigation of suspicious facts, we find only some cunning crime. The only thing that we can do is control the time of the new outs’ appearance. The out-activator is administered to all the school graduates simultaneously at the end of May. Accordingly, the newly-hatched outs start trying their abilities during the summer. These problems are usually solved by the autumn.”
“So that’s why the Empire has the compulsory secondary education and the unified time for passing the CALL?” Kier guessed.
“Because of this and other reasons, too,” Dark said. “I have to admit, Kier, that we were really lucky with you. Not only have you not done anything crazy, but you’ve helped to stop big troubles. That’s another reason I’m so open with you. You and I may cooperate in future. To mutual benefit, of course.”
These bland words made Kier wary.
“I know too little for now, Captain. By the way, why do you have such a humble rank? For the boss of the ImpSec.”
“Tradition,” Dark replied shortly. “And my appearance here … there’s nothing mysterious in that. The first time you attracted my attention was when Captain White started reporting to his boss about all this romp around the county of the Vorsmiths. In the beginning, I wasn’t really interested. Usual we try not to interfere in the quarrels of vors. Although, Count Vorsmith was included in the ‘processed’ contingent of the out-satrap. Just as all the rulers of the most important counties of the Empire.”
“Do you mean to tell me that my father is a bio-robot controlled by the outs?” Kier was terrified. “But his behavior was quite ordinary—human. I didn’t watch the count for very long, but still I know enough …”
“Your fantasy is too wild!” Dark stopped the lad. “All people are bio-robots, ultimately. We just regulate their programs. The main thing here is not to overdo it; otherwise, instead of a valuable servant, you can get a useless biomass. Usually, the out-master implants into a human several universal behavioral imperatives. Such ‘processing’ forces a person to fulfill all the master’s orders and makes any actions against the Empire impossible. As for the rest, the personality is preserved. Although, there could still be some side effects. For example, I’m aware that your father-count was inclined towards alcoholism, which can be seen as a form of a slow suicide. A direct suicide is, of course, banned to our contingent. I suppose that Bella ‘processed’ the count too roughly.”
After sensing Kier’s bewilderment, Dark added, “Bella Dogtiar has been the out-satrap of Northern Heartland for almost forty years. An unpleasant woman, but you’ll possibly have to deal with her.”
“Tell me how you came upon the Aurora Borealis Base and me,” Kier insisted.
“If you’d just stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you,” Dark snapped with annoyance. “I’ve noticed that a lot of suspicious things started to happen around the Aurora Borealis Base. Of course, we knew that the local commander, Morosev, had been selling weapons for a long time. He had business with Baron Hell from New Roma—you should have heard of him?”
Kier nodded.
“And with the Gomorrian terrorists. Believe me, we had reasons to turn a blind eye to his so-called “business” ‘til the due time. The main clue, however, was the woman you know as Elena Disconti.”
“That’s a fake name?”
“Oh, yes. She’s changed her identity a lot. There is a way to deceive the comm-net, when even the palm and eye retina scan doesn’t work. The appropriate virtual program was earlier available for the outs only, but after some events—though, it’s not important now. Actually, Disconti—let us continue to call her by that name—is close to Mr. Lemen himself. In his circle, she supervised Rimland and Northern Heartland. Purchases of weapons, recruitment of new followers, terrorist acts. I have been trying to get to this outstanding woman and make her work for me for a long time, but she always snuck away at the last moment in the most unbelievable ways. Besides, Disconti not only masterfully changes her identification, but also her appearance. This time, she recruited these two young people.” Dark pointed his finger at the McGregors’ corpses. “She bought them out of jail and registered the girl as her daughter. They were both social outcasts and that’s why they agreed to cooperate with ease. Such things happen often. The machinations with personal data on the comm-net are also quite wide spread. Have you heard of Khavilla the Cunning?”
Kier remembered his own speculations on this matter and nodded.
“Many vors and especially simples are very inventive,” Dark continued. “The huge population of the Empire extremely complicates my job. Generally, this is the basic problem of the outs. Five hundred people must control ten billion people. We can completely ‘process’ one hundred thousand individuals at best. It’s practically impossible to do a timely check on who’s behind one or another suspicious fact; is it a global plot or a small fraud? Of course, we’ll sort it out eventually—the Imperial Security doesn’t eat its bread for nothing—but it can happen too late. In your case, Kier, it was almost too late. Fortunately, one of my analysts turned his attention to the suspicious stir around the Imperial University in New Babylon. And there, too many leads came together: Academician Genius’ expedition to this base under the Canute project, the mysterious, clearly faked, personality of Disconti as boss of some dubious company, and Commander Morosev, who had been selling weapons to Gomorrians for a long time. I was scheduled to arrive here tomorrow.” The boss of the ImpSec paused and corrected himself. “To be more precise, already today, at noon, to personally sort out the problem.”
Kier couldn’t restrain himself from acid scorn. “But then you would have only witnessed the ocean waters instead of the base!”
“I don’t think so,” Dark answered seriously. “You’ve done almost all the work for me. Honestly, I didn’t expect the heir of Count Vorsmith to be implicated in this story, and then it turns out that he is an out-lord, in addition. By the way, you’ll be only the fifth vor amongst the living outs.”
“If you were going to arrive here at noon today, then what are you doing here now, at night?” Kier decided to understand the whole situation.
“I had turned on a live broadcast of the Genius’ show. Fortunate accident. I rarely watch the comm-net and rely on the analysts’ summaries, but I decided to make an exception in this case. The Canute project was initially supervised by my department. When the academician told of an ancient forgotten pipe where we’re now sitting, I immediately guessed what threat it created. Thirty years at the post of the Imperial Security chief are worth a lot. As I was not far away from New Roma, I managed to get here quickly by my personal jet.”
“Wait!” Kier was surprised. “It appears that you’ve become the chief of the ImpSec somewhere at the age of eighteen or twenty. How did the emperor and the other outs agree on that?”
“I became the head of the Office in my forties,” Dark smiled. “I’m now seventy. Alas.”
“You look no older than forty, or fifty at the oldest!” Kier wondered even more. “You have almost no wrinkles or gray hair. Excellent muscles …”
“You are used to judging age by the appearance of the ordinary people,” Dark said, as explanation of Kier’s mistake. “The outs have other standards. Excellent medicine, rejuvenation technologies that are closed even to the vors, and lots of other things. You don’t need to worry about this matter just yet. But let us get back to Disconti.”
“Most of all, I was astonished that she wasn’t afraid of personally participating in the Genius’ show. Astounding impudence! Most likely, she thought that her accessories would blow up everything sooner than somebody would wake up. She was always notable for extremely bold thinking and action. I suppose that this natural trait of her character was amplified during the ‘processing.’ It had been helping her for a long time, but in the end, it ruined her. When my personal jet landed on the top of this world’s wonder”—Dark pointed his flashlight at the curved ceiling—“I met our gorgeous terrorist in her helicopter, ready to fly off. Fast work on her part, but not fast enough. Several minutes were enough for me to puzzle out Disconti’s consciousness. After getting the essential data from her, I hurried down here. I’ve felt the presence of another out, unknown to me, and the consciousness of the terrorist girl back in the elevator. I decided not to get involved and see what would happen. My arrival didn’t solve much. You did a great job!”
“That means that Disconti was arrested?”
“What for?” Dark was surprised. “I’ve just ‘erased’ her consciousness a bit and let her fly away. She’ll have time to serve our purposes.”
“Does this insane idea to explode the dam truly belong to Lemen? Does such a man really exist?” Kier asked.
“Unfortunately, he exists,” Dark confirmed.
“But you can implant anything you like to ordinary people! All enemies of the Empire should have been defeated by the outs a long time ago!” The young man tried to catch the ImpSec boss on an obvious mismatch.
“You are mistaken,” Dark replied patiently. “The problem is, Lemen can also implant anything he likes to ordinary people. He considers himself a ‘national leader’ and aspires to take the place of the emperor of the independent Gomorrah. For now, Lemen is an ambitious out-renegade and the main threat to the Empire. We cannot track him down.”
“What if I’d stayed sleeping in my room this night?” Kier couldn’t help asking one more question. “What if I’d been killed today or earlier?”
“That’s too many ifs,” Dark parried. “You won the Grand Prize in the lottery when the out-activator acted on you. And speaking of everything else … I admit, you could have died. The outs are not immortal. We live long due to the medical innovations, not our abilities. Regardless of the rumors spread by us, the outs can’t evade bullets, move things at a distance, or inflame them with a stare. Biologically, we are not very different from the simples.”
Yeah, I thought something like that! Kier mentally congratulated himself.
“Let’s consider that you are a very lucky man,” Dark continued. “But your appearance here is not random at all. Before my explanations, you were not aware of your out-abilities, but you already had them. The out-activator acts slowly. You must have met Disconti in the Hydro-Meteo Center, in the base corridors, in the elevator? I saw you on the comm-net at Genius’ show. The outs can read emotions at the distance of several hundred meters.”
“Are you trying to say that I realized in advance what the terrorists’ intentions were? I swear I didn’t know a thing!”
“Perhaps, you were not directly aware of that,” Dark clarified. “The human brain is a complicated thing. Sometimes it presents us with strange surprises. It’s even truer for the outs than others. The multiple stresses you’ve experienced recently provoked the amplifying of your out-abilities, to the point where the quantum leap happened.”
Kier recollected his ill-founded suspicions toward Morosev, Disconti, and the McGregors. Did he really start spying on them only because of his passion toward Elena? What had actually motivated him to go to Karlsen’s storage room that night? And how did he manage to find a camouflaged entrance into the ancient pipe? Indeed, that was too many coincidences!
I was never inclined towards adventures, the youth thought. I recall that I felt a threat coming from Vorobyov even before he took his gun out. And Harry’s fear and despair when he made his confession? This wasn’t manifested on his exterior. And my refusal to follow the convincing blandishments of Mark and Petr during that memorable meeting? So when did I become an out?
“You see!” Dark commented on Kier’s thoughts, and then added, “Don’t be afraid! We can’t read thoughts, only the emotions. It’s just that I know this situation well. You’re not the first novice-out I’ve explained such things to.”
Kier remembered his talk about outs with Harry Karlsen. At that time, he had vocalized the fantastic idea that the outs could be aliens from other worlds and Harry objected, saying he believed in their existence only when he’d see them personally.
He said it right to my face! And my own joke in response to Brutari’s warnings about the outs was the closest to the truth. Monster-mutants! It’s just that they don’t feed on flesh and blood, but on people’s souls. And I’m one of them!
“And what will be with the Vorsmiths’ county?” asked Kier, to distract himself from his unpleasant reflections.
“Nothing,” Dark replied indifferently. “As I’ve already told you, we value stability. Less fuss with the new people. So, your father will remain the Count Vorsmith. Of course, the natural chain of events will sooner or later lead to the time when his place will become vacant and will be taken by some of your relatives.”
“But, I’m still the official heir of the count!”
“Don’t you worry about that. Kier Vorsmith will officially die and your body won’t be found. We’ll provide the suitable legend. You will gain a new personality with a fully-fledged identification. We often act this way with the novices. Changing your name is not obligatory; the Empire is full of Kiers. Parents love naming their sons in the honor of the Founder. Your surname is also trivial; you only need to remove the prefix vor. Instead of Vorsmith, we can make a Newsmith or Naysmith out of you. How do you like this variant?”
“Hi, out-Lord Newsmith,” Kier mumbled. “I hope the comm-net won’t identify me as a resurrected dead man during the palms and retina scanning?”
“It won’t.” The ImpSec boss dispelled his doubts. “We upload an appropriate program into the comm-net. I already mentioned it when I told you of Lemen and Disconti. During the scan, all your bio-parameters will be perceived in a modified form, per your new personal profile—anywhere in the Empire. We didn’t have any glitches on this part.” Dark paused, and then added, “Of course, you can still stay Kier Vorsmith and become the count instead of your father. I suppose Bella Dogtiar won’t be against it. Every out is free to choose his own destiny. But you will strongly surprise, and even disappoint, me if you make such a choice.”
Kier mused for a moment.
“I won’t disappoint you,” the young man finally decided.
* * *
When Kier got out of the ancient discharge pipe, few things had changed at the Aurora Borealis Base. The night corridor was just as empty and quiet, the emergency lamps still provided the same dusky light. Kier returned his room, accompanied by Dark.
Once inside, the chief of the ImpSec retrieved something that looked like a mobile comm from the pocket of his pants and pushed several buttons on it.
“Clear. No bugs here,” Dark stated. “It seems you don’t pose a special interest to anybody.”
Kier shrugged and headed for the toilet.
“If you are not against it, I’ll use your comm-terminal,” Dark said offhandedly. Without waiting for Kier to reply, he came to the table and started dialing a number. Shortly, an unfamiliar male voice was heard. The young man listened to the conversation through the noise of running water.
“Lieutenant Vorwolf, the Imperial Security, Aurora Borealis Base.” Dark’s interlocutor made an official introduction.
The chief of the ImpSec didn’t introduce himself, instead he simply asked, “Where is Commander Morosev now?”
“In his apartments,” Vorwolf immediately replied.
“Can you show the image?”
“Unfortunately, no. The commander’s apartments are completely screened from external scan.”
“But he’s definitely there?”
“Our monitoring has shown that the commander went to his room before midnight and didn’t leave it again.”
“Is he alone?” Dark continued his interrogation.
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Good.” The elder out seemed to be satisfied. “From this moment, you are Captain Vorwolf and the head of the ImpSec branch at this base. You’ll receive all the documents by the comm-net. Now, listen closely. There is a hidden entrance into the ancient discharge pipe in the cleaner’s storage room, near the local Hydro-Meteo Center. On the plans of the base, the pipe is mistakenly shown as fully immured. Using the hidden entrance into the pipe, you’ll discover a cache of explosives stolen from the Special Corps armory and the bodies of two terrorists. They were destroyed by you, personally, during a special operation. By the way, you’ll be granted a state decoration for your heroic actions. Return the explosives to the Special Corps, burn the terrorists’ bodies, and throw the remains into the ocean. Carefully check the ancient pipe and seal all holes. Later, you will need to completely re-immure it.” Dark paused for a moment, then added, “Switch off all the monitoring cameras on the base for the next two hours. Delete all camera records covering the last eight hours. Explain this loss of data as the impact of virtual virus, launched by the Gomorrian terrorists. Don’t tell anyone of our talk and destroy the recording of it. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir! Serve the Empire!” answered the lieutenant—now Captain Vorwolf. The connection was terminated.
Washed up, Kier came out of the toilet with a towel in his hand and asked, “Why did he obey you? Or can the outs influence other people through the video?”
“Unfortunately, no,” said Dark, casting away Kier’s guess. “But the office of the local ImpSec is not far from here, on the border of my abilities, and the image on the comm screen helps to tune to the consciousness of the person. If he had been somewhere far away, for example, in New Roma, I couldn’t have done anything. Usually, such problems are easily solved through my ‘processed’ deputy-generals.”
“And why did you ask him about Morosev?”
“I’ll be paying a goodbye visit to the base commander.”
The head of the ImpSec’s face stretched into a predatory smile.
“And how did it turn out that Morosev was not included into the ranks of ‘processed’ by outs? He is the Special Corps General, an important, big fish.”
“Not very important, as we’ve thought,” Dark explained. “The commander of some secondary arctic base, being young, fought for some time in Gomorrah. Later, he made his career in the department of administration and logistic support. He was born a simple.” The chief of the ImpSec stopped and asked Kier, “Do you intend to leave this base?”
“Yes, and as quickly as possible. Just as soon as I get changed and bundle some things.”
“Then come with me. My personal jet is at your service, Lord Kier!”
* * *
Two armed watchmen in green uniforms, guarding the entrance to Morosev’s anteroom, did not make a move when Kier and Dark walked past them. The youth felt the soldiers fall asleep momentarily, obeying the mental order of the ImpSec chief; although the men continued to stand with their eyes wide open and grasping the machine guns. Dark had dealt with all the people they met in a similar way, though there were few about the Aurora Borealis Base at night. The door to the personal apartment of the Special Corps General was locked. The ImpSec boss again pressed some buttons on his ‘wonder-comm’ and the door silently opened.
And I believed that all these electronic locks and door scanners were really tough, Kier thought.
He was now in Morosev’s cabinet for the third time. It was dark, except for the faint glow of the comm-terminal display. Despite it being the deep of the night, the general was awake. The outs walked on the soft carpet right to the metal table, where the glistening bald head of the commander hovered.
The kind grandpa was lounging nonchalantly in a comfortable armchair, his legs on the massive table. The general’s uniform was unfastened. At last, the base commander raised his flushed face and his eyes widened in astonishment.
“Ensign, what the demon—and who are you?” he addressed the dark-skinned man.
“Captain Dark, the chief of the Imperial Security,” the elder out-lord officially introduced himself. “I have bad news for you, General.”
“And I’m the Emperor Darius III!” Morosev barked rudely. His left hand moved to reach something, but suddenly froze halfway.
“Yesterday, you were present at the talk show of the Academician Genius,” Dark continued, as if nothing had happened. “In particular, there was talk about an ancient discharge pipe inside this dam. It is listed as fully immured on your official plans, but in reality it is not. The Gomorrian terrorists, who bought the ultraplasticine from you in exchange for drugs, were going to blow up the pipe patches tonight and make something like local flood. Besides this, you have sold weapons from the base armory to Gomorrians, Baron Hell, and many others.”
At last, Morosev realized that there was no joke. He unsuccessfully tried to shoot up from his armchair while shouting, “I have already conducted the inner investigation and was going to act! The ultraplasticine was stolen from the base arsenal. Some of the officers or the guardians were probably involved. I’ve found out that all the stolen detonators were defective and can only be activated manually. Even if they got into the terrorists’ hands, no explosion, moreover, no flood, would be possible!”
“One of the terrorists was ready to sacrifice her life. It’s a well-known feature of Lemen’s people,” Dark said. “And stop lying to me! You did nothing. Your spoofery with the defective detonators didn’t work. If it hadn’t been for me and this young man”—the ImpSec boss nodded at the silent Kier—“the dam would have already been destroyed.”
“Either way, there was no explosion,” Morosev abutted. “And you’ve got to prove everything else. If even you are really the chief of the Imperial Security, I’m subject only to the Special Corps commander, Marshal Kafer! I’ll immediately contact him—”
“I think we don’t need to worry out-Commander Kafer. I’m here and I can manage it myself.” Dark’s voice became threatening. “You not only committed treason and abused power, which we could have excused, but, because of your stupidity and greed, you have actually compromised the security of the Empire. That we do not forgive!”
After a moment, it seemed to Kier that the darkness in the cabinet condensed. Dark was quietly standing with his hands behind his back, but something was emanating from him, something aimed directly at Morosev. The youth felt a terrible pain coming from the general. The man, so used to instilling fear in others, was now choking with terror. The base commander fell from his armchair to the floor at the feet of Dark, desperately crying out, “I’ve always served you loyally! As a dog! Spare me!”
Those were Morosev’s last words. His cry became a drawn-out howl, arms and legs jerking convulsively, as blood, mixed with saliva, flowed from his bitten lips. Kier felt the general’s agony in such detail that he became terrified himself and his knees treacherously shook. With another part of his consciousness, Kier caught a splash of evil joy emanating from Dark. The slow, torturous murder of Morosev delighted the elder out so much that he forgot Kier’s presence, and the need to screen himself.
This Dark is a real monster, the young man thought. Compared to him, Captain White is just a shallow punk. If all the outs are like this, then I went from limbo into hellfire itself!
Meanwhile, the now-former commander of the Aurora Borealis Base sobbed pitifully for the last time, and then slipped into silence upon the floor of his cabinet. Captain Dark cast a finishing look at the dead body, and then stepped over him and occupied the now-empty armchair in front of the working comm-terminal. The ImpSec boss focused and began inputting various commands for several minutes.
Suddenly, a red lamp lit up on the comm-terminal and an alarm sounded. Dark hurriedly pushed one of the buttons and the display showed the image from the camera installed on the top of the megadam.
“Lemen, you bastard!” the elder out exclaimed.
Astonished, Kier stepped closer and froze in front of the display. The camera showed the fire flower of a large explosion blooming on the dam top. Then, shards of debris went flying everywhere. One of the large smoldering pieces fell into the temporary studio, where only yesterday Academician Genius broadcast his show to all the world. Plastic chairs caught fire. Distraught people were running in the smoke, illuminated by the rays of the night sun. One of them, in the Special Corps uniform and engulfed in flames, was rolling on the dam surface and screaming terribly.
“My personal jet!” Dark continued to lament.
“What’s happened?”
“Blasted bitch!”
“Disconti?” Kier guessed. “But you told me you ‘processed’ her consciousness and let her go.”
“I got ahead of myself,” Dark had to concede. “I didn’t know, when that was done, that I would meet you in this antediluvian pipe. The terrorist girl really could have blown up everything. I ordered Disconti to get out of here, to go to Zassadar and await my new instructions. I saw her get in the helicopter, and then I hurried downwards. Apparently, I missed some hidden mental ‘hook’ in the dark consciousness of this woman. Lemen probably covered his back, in case his valuable agent got into the hands of another out.”
“She lifted off in the helicopter, flew to Zassadar, and then this mental ‘hook’ switched on,” Kier finished Dark’s thought. “Your will, and Lemen’s, fought in her. Lemen won and she returned.”
“Fortunately, I wasn’t there.” Dark sounded happy. “Even outs can’t stop a falling helicopter. I could have tried to ‘process’ this woman again on her approach, but it’s doubtful I would have done so in time. Of course, I could have killed her, but it would have been useless. Disconti specially directed her helicopter into my jet.”
Kier was staring at the display image of ‘the roof of the world.’ The fiery bacchanalia still burned on. Cries, moans, panic …
If I had died there now, after all that I’ve gone through … that would have been a real divine irony! I wonder if Disconti wanted to blow up the entire dam with her insane ram-attack, as it was planned in the beginning—or was she just committing suicide and trying to take Captain Dark into hell as well? It seems that all these impressive fireworks on the dam surface are no more than a small itch for such a hyper-concrete monster. We didn’t even feel the shock down here. If it hadn’t been for the alarm on Morosev’s comm-terminal, we wouldn’t even know what happened.
“I want to ask you, Lord Kier, not to tell anybody of my small mistake with these terrorists,” Dark said, disturbing the thoughts of the young man. The chief of the ImpSec had already gotten over the first shock and his voice was confident again, and his emotional screening secured. The elder out inputted some additional commands on the comm-terminal and the display went off. Then Dark continued, “As you understand, I’m not a man to quarrel with. I will report everything to the emperor myself. By the way, there is a lucky side in this event. We can announce that the heir of Count Vorsmith died in this terrible explosion. I’ve just turned off most of the cameras of the Special Corps on the base and deleted all the recent records. It could be done only from the commander’s terminal. We will take one of the remaining helicopters and the pilot and get to Zassadar. Then we will take the plane to New Roma, and later I will go to Outland to the emperor’s palace. You will hide in a reliable, comfortable place in New Roma. You will rest there, get the hang of things, and then we will have a serious talk. Do we have a deal?”
Kier, who only felt deep tiredness and apathy now, automatically nodded.
“Kier Vorsmith is dead! Long live the out-Lord, Kier Newsmith!” Dark made an ironic gesture of reverence to him.