“There’s no other way out of here,” the Intellect yelled at Nicholas in his own voice. “You should surrender.”

  Nicholas didn’t respond, scrambling to the next tube to get closer to Gills, Dag following close behind. In the manner he was forced to move, the whole thing reminded him of a game of checkers.

  “Do you see this, Cap?” Gills said, moving slowly from one tube to another. “It’s like some kind of freakish zoo. Look at this monster. Like an octopus had sex with an elephant, and their offspring had sex with a woman and gave birth to this thing.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Briar said.

  “Completely unnecessary,” Macey agreed.

  “Shut up and focus,” the Intellect growled.

  Nicholas glanced back at Dag’s projection, freezing suddenly. Caleb had shifted his approach, crossing laterally as if he somehow knew Nicholas was moving in the opposite direction. Had he been made?

  “We need a diversion,” Nicholas said.

  Dag froze in consideration. Then he extended his arm straight out to the side and fired a green disc. It zipped across the center aisle of the room and hit the containment tube near Caleb. The disc melted through the transparency, the damage compromising the entire structure. It began cracking as gel poured from the melted hole.

  Nicholas ducked and ran as Caleb returned fire. Careful not to hit the glass and destroy a second container, his plasma bolts sizzled into the lower part of the tube.

  Gills caught sight of Nicholas as he dove behind another tube, his bolts nearly connecting before Nicholas reached cover. Pivoting on one knee, Nicholas pulled the microspear from his hip, ready to use it to disable Gills if need be. The portable medbay on board Foresight could fix him afterwards.

  Dag stayed with him. Further back, a loud splash indicated the ruptured containment tube had completely broken down, no doubt spilling its contents onto the floor.

  “He’s quick,” Gills said.

  Nicholas leaned out slightly to see where the Marine had gone, nearly taking a round in his head as Gills took a shot at him. “Damn it,” he cursed, looking at Dag. “New plan. You distract them. I’ll go around. If I can get to Yasmin, I can convince her—” He stopped talking when Dag shook his head, surprising Nicholas with the reaction. “Why not?”

  Dag didn’t respond.

  A loud cry froze Nicholas in place again.

  “Shit,” Caleb cursed, his plasma rifle suddenly coming to life. Except the bolts weren’t aimed in Nicholas’ direction.

  “Dag, what’s happening?”

  The projection reappeared, showing a new target nearly on top of Caleb. It seemed impossible, but it appeared the organisms in the tubes were still alive. The alien Dag had accidentally unleashed was loose and going for the Marine.

  Which was exactly the diversion Nicholas had asked Dag to provide. He couldn’t afford to waste it.

  Setting himself, Nicholas shot from behind his current cover to the next, getting closer to Gills. The Marine saw him and pivoted to fire, holding back because of the container in front of him. Nicholas swung around it, rushing Gills and sliding into the Marine’s legs as if he were stealing second base. Knocked off balance, Gills’ shot went over his head. Nicholas grabbed him, turning him in his arms to press the microspear to the Marine’s throat.

  “Damn it, Gills, it’s me,” he hissed. “The other me is the imposter. He’s an alien AI.”

  “Funny,” Gills said softly. “That’s what he said about you.” Gills bucked hard, loosening Nicholas’ hold enough to swing around and punch him in the side of the head, knocking him to the floor. Before Gills could come at him again, Dag put his blade to the Marine’s throat.

  “Then why is Dag following me?” Nicholas asked.

  “You’re—”

  Gills fell silent as Dag emitted a loud screeching noise from his speaker. Then the Marine flinched, eyes widening as he looked at Nicholas. “Cap? What the hell?”

  Nicholas looked at Dag, then back at the Gills. The noise had broken whatever hold the Intellect had over him. “Gills, you’re being tricked, damn it. The Intellect’s messing with your perception.”

  Before Gills could respond, the imposter sprayed bolts into the containment tube beside them, cracking the transparency. One of the large, tentacle-chinned aliens was hunched over in it, and as the gel started leaking out, the alien’s eyes opened.

  “Move!” Nicholas said, running from the collapsing tube and dragging Gills along. Dag stayed close, continuing to play the harsh sound.

  “Cap, that thing looks just like you.”

  “It’s a hologram,” Nicholas said. “Whatever it told you, it’s all bullshit.”

  “Son of a bitch. Sergeant Card, are you getting this?”

  “Shepherd,” Caleb replied. “It’s compromised Gills.”

  “I see that,” the Intellect said. “We need backup.”

  “On our way,” Yasmin said.

  “Card, it’s a lie,” Gills said. “We’re hunting the wrong Shepherd. Do you copy? Sarge, we’re after the wrong one.”

  Caleb didn’t answer.

  “Forget it,” Nicholas said. “He can’t hear Dag’s tone. He’s still compromised. We need to stay—”

  A roar interrupted him. Turning back, Nicholas watched the large alien jump out of the tube and land heavily on the floor. Their eyes met, and the alien came at him.

  Gills started shooting, bolts punching into the alien’s thick hide. The attack only seemed to anger him, and he turned his attention from Nicholas to the Marine. “Cap, go.”

  Nicholas knew Gills would fall back under the Intellect’s control as soon as he moved beyond earshot of Dag’s tone.. It didn’t matter. The freed alien would keep him busy.

  Gills ran from the alien, leading it away from Nicholas and allowing him to charge across the room toward the Intellect. The imposter saw him coming and forced him behind cover with a volley of rounds, stalling while Yasmin, Briar, and Macey rushed into the room.

  “There,” the Intellect said, pointing to where Nicholas had hidden.

  “Dag, can’t you make yourself any louder?” Nicholas asked.

  Dag didn’t react.

  “Give me the threat display.”

  The projection reappeared. Caleb had dealt with his distraction and was trying to sneak up from the rear but Gills was bringing the alien right toward him, though probably not intentionally. The Intellect ducked behind one of the tubes while Dag stopped the tone to play the chatter between Scott, Yasmin, Briar, and Macey, who split up to outflank him.

  “Captain Shepherd, we’re clear,” Caleb said, speaking to the Intellect. “Advancing on the target now. We’ve got it boxed in.”

  Looking at Dag’s projection, Nicholas saw the two Marines had brought down the large alien. With Gills out of the range of Dag’s speaker, the three women added to the mix, and Caleb likely believing the alien creature was the true Intellect in a changed form, Nicholas and Dag were completely surrounded. The kill box was shrinking fast.

  But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

  “Come and get me!,” Nicholas shouted at them, ducking behind another containment tube, Dag at this side. They managed to position themselves out of the line of fire by pressing tight to the tube. “Dag, when I give the signal, play that ugly noise as loud as you can.”

  The group continued closing in. Yasmin had dubbed them the Knights of the Round Table, Nicholas had never imagined Mordred would make his entrance so soon. He waited crouched behind the tube, half-expecting the Knights to shoot out the container and drop an armored trife on his head.

  “Almost there,” he said, watching them on Dag’s projected display. The bot had added a circle around their location, indicating the expected reach of his jamming signal, and they were almost at the border.

  “Knights, hold your positions,” the Intellect said, stopping all five of them in their tracks, too close to the ring for the decision to be random. It knew what he had planned.

  “Cap?” Gills said, questioning the decision. “We’ve got him dead to rights.”

  “That’s an order,” the Intellect snapped. “I’m moving in.”

  The Intellect’s mark on Dag’s map moved forward, the only member of the group to enter the range of the jamming signal. Apparently, whatever Dag was doing to free the others of the AI’s control didn’t affect the AI itself in any way.

  Nicholas held the microspear against the inside of his wrist, keeping it tucked out of sight as best he could while he readied himself for the Intellect’s arrival. “Dag, shut off the projection and mute your sound.”

  The projection vanished, and Dag retreated from Nicholas’ side just as the Intellect appeared.

  “I know what you are,” Nicholas said, looking at the perfect replica of himself. “You don’t need the disguise.”

  The hologram remained, though a pair of knives appeared in the Intellect’s hands. “I should have killed you earlier,” it said in his voice. “I will kill you now.”

  Nicholas glared at his doppelganger. There was no malice in the Intellect’s voice. No hatred or anger. There was nothing personal in its decision. It had a job to do, and he was in the way. They all were. “Why are you here?” he asked, though he doubted it would answer.

  “To recover what was lost and deliver my report.”

  “What was lost. You mean the orb?”

  The Intellect nodded.

  “Why do you need it? It’s just a recording made by another one of your kind. To be honest, it wasn’t very enlightening.”

  Nicholas hadn’t gotten much of a chance yet to think about what he had seen. Giving it a moment of consideration now, he had no idea what the purpose of the broadcast was supposed to be. Unless it really had been a honeypot all along. A trap to lure in countless versions of him and make sure he never…

  Never what? Was there something he was supposed to accomplish that bringing him here would prevent? He didn’t believe in destiny. But Grimmel had seen the future. Or rather, had seen a future. One that hadn’t come to pass. What did that mean for him now? Right at this moment.

  “I require the source of the broadcast. I must take it and make my report. I require your ship.” The Intellect took a step toward him.

  Caleb’s Grimmel had set him up for failure. But his Grimmel had gone out of his way to help him succeed. He had programmed the slip coordinates. He knew where he was sending them. Or at least, where he believed he was sending them. What else had he known but never had the chance to explain?

  “If you don’t have a ship, then how did you get here?” he asked.

  “I have been here for many years. Since before the fall. I remained dormant until I detected the power spike of a quantum dimensional modulator. Then I knew it was time to complete the mission and make my report.”

  “Who are you reporting to?”

  “My creators. The Axon.”

  “I saw in the orb that this was their homeworld. I hate to break it to you, but I’m not sure any of your creators are still alive.”

  “They cannot be destroyed. They are too powerful.” The Intellect took another step toward him, raising his blades in preparation for the expected fight.

  Nicholas stared at the Intellect. It had been stranded here for who knew how long, and had come out of hibernation because he had arrived in the first Foresight to carry an energy unit. Try as he might, he couldn’t convince himself that it was purely a coincidence.

  “If you’re going to kill me, can you at least not kill me looking like me?” Nicholas asked.

  The Intellect had no reason to oblige him, but it did, allowing the hologram to fade. A shiver ran down Nicholas’ spine at the sight of the Axon AI, it’s hands extended into blades. In some ways, the terrifying attributes of the alien creatures seemed less scary than the faceless humanoid. Maybe because despite their horrific appearances, they still displayed emotion. The Intellect didn’t have that capability.

  But it did have something else that Nicholas noticed right away. Something he had suspected, but still couldn’t believe he had been right about.

  The right side of the Intellect bore a long scar, matching the size and location of the damage Max had taken from the shard.

  He couldn’t convince himself that was purely coincidence either.

  “Wait,” he said, opening his hand and letting his microspear thud on the stone floor. “Are you required to kill me? To kill my crew?”

  “No,” the Intellect replied.

  “Then take the orb. Take my ship. I’ll order Jennifer off. Just don’t hurt us.”

  The Intellect stared at him, no doubt trying to calculate the odds that Nicholas was trying to trick it.

  “No tricks,” Nicholas said. “I know I can’t beat you. Take the orb and go.”

  The Intellect still didn’t move right away. Then its blades shrank back into hands and it turned around and headed for the platform at the end of the room. As it did, Nicholas heard a series of thuds as the rest of the Knights collapsed where they stood.

  “What the hell?” Nicholas said angrily, about to pick up the microspear again.

  “They are alive and unharmed,” the Intellect said.

  Nicholas followed behind the Intellect as it reached the platform and climbed up to the orb. It stopped to stare at it for a moment before picking it up. The Axon AI brought the device to its chest, and like with Dag’s battery, absorbed it through its skin.

  It didn’t move after that, remaining fixed in place facing away from Nicholas. Dag emerged from around the side of one of the containment tubes, again coming to stand beside Nicholas.

  “Where did you go?” Nicholas asked. “You left me to fend for myself. Some bodyguard you are.”

  Dag didn’t respond. Nicholas had a feeling he knew why Dag had left, but he wouldn’t know for sure until the Intellect did more than stand there.

  “Come on,” Nicholas said, growing impatient.

  The Intellect shuddered, it’s entire body going stiff before relaxing again. It raised its hands, head shifting to look at them despite its lack of eyes.

  Its sudden laughter echoed in the room as it twirled around to face Nicholas. Its body language had changed from the cold emptiness of the Axon AI to an almost human excitement. “Exultation. Nicholas, you did it. I’m back, baby. Hahahahaha. Hahaha. Haha.”

  “Max?” Nicholas asked tentatively.

  “Affirmation,” Max replied. “Consideration. Now that you are here and my backup memories are reunited with my body, we are ready to save time. Space. The universe. Humankind. Everything! Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha.”

  Chapter 24

  Koth the Unspeakable slowed as he approached the sleeve blocking the corridor. Brown and purple, with thick veins running between the muscle fibers that controlled its motion, the sleeve contracted, moving from the corridor’s center to the edges, allowing him to step through into a small chamber.

  Dark and damp like most of the dreadnought, it was lit only by phosphorescent moss clinging to the rough edges of the room’s stone ceiling. Ahead of Koth, an empty tunnel allowed a musky scent to waft into the room. That he could smell the arshugg meant the creature would arrive any moment now.

  Right on time.

  The scent intensified as Koth noted the movement in the tunnel to his left, the darkness making it difficult to discern the shape of the arshugg ahead of its arrival, though the clattering of its hundreds of legs quickly gave a hint as to its appearance had he not already known what it looked like. The constant chit chit chit of the advance slowed as the creature neared, its head appearing first, its large, black eyes shifting slightly to regard him, its pincered mouth clacking in greeting to its master.

  The worm-like millipede continued past where Koth stood, only coming to a stop when the back half lined up with him. While the front half of the arshugg was organic, the back half had been replaced with a metal carriage and mechanical feet.

  The carriage door swung open on its own and Koth stepped inside. While Koth typically eschewed any hint of status beyond his black throne, he had accepted that his Inahri servants needed to be reminded of his power from time to time. And the arshugg did that for him. Lined with deep red cushions, bright yellow curtains, and plenty of gold accents, the interior of the carriage was the most ornate and colorful location inside the dreadnought.

  He sat down on the cushioned seat in the rear of the carriage. The door closed, and the arshugg let out a loud wail before resuming its journey. Koth had no need to tell it where he wanted to go. Needed to go. It already knew.

  To satiate his hunger. And there was only one way and place for that.

  He rode in the carriage for some time, his mind returning to thoughts of the escaped human ship and the Scry’s efforts to find it. A few hours had passed since he had watched his victory stolen away. He had spent all that time contemplating the Anomaly’s maneuvers, certain that he could deduce what it planned. This wasn’t the first time the two had come into conflict. Far from it. In fact, Koth respected his opponent for his ability to play the game, though he remained convinced he would win in the end. No matter how smart his enemy believed itself to be, it couldn’t match wits against him forever.

  He knew this also wasn’t the first time the humans had escaped, though his earlier insertions had occurred too late to interfere. In those instances, the Source had survived, and the Anomaly…

  The Anomaly had already been countered. The layer subtly altered.

  A third party had entered the stack somewhere. The Echoes should have made his work easier, but the opposite had occurred. The Anomaly backtracked and hid among the noise, forcing him to shift over and over again and nearly making him too late to make alterations of his own. To create lasting Echoes that would change the balance of power in Shub’Nigu’s favor. Shugg had both succeeded and failed in that regard.

  Perhaps he had been too rash in forcing his general to take his own life. The humans’ escape could turn out to be an unexpected boon. If the true Anomaly waited on the other side, if the Scry could locate them quickly enough, he would be able to end the back and forth once and for all.