Chrome Symphony - Chapter 7

Shell stood up from the maintenance chair. The technicians had replaced both of her cybernetic arms. Her previous arms had been completely disabled from the damage she had taken aboard the mystery ship. Moving her fingers and wrists, Shell tested the new limbs to make sure they were functional. Her legs had also been repaired.

"Thank you," Shell said to the technicians.

Walking out to the waiting room, Shell waved at Camay, Jax, and Chester. Duncan had been on his way to see how she was doing and met her in the hall on her way out to the waiting room.

"Everything tuned up?" asked Duncan.

"Yes, I'm good to go," replied Shell.

"You won't need to go back into that thing," Camay told her. "We are going to need you and Duncan to perform a dive into a probe and perform a precise hacking operation instead."

"Oh?" replied Shell.

"The military is securing the ghost ship right now. Crest has private security setting up a special jamming and blocking mechanism that will limit the sphere's effects past the security perimeter," said Camay. "Using the data we extracted, we've determined the best way to do this and Crest is already implementing it. Still..."

"Yes?" said Shell, "Is it going to be a problem?"

"We really only have this one shot," said Camay. "You and Duncan need to activate NEA726's orbital cannon's self-destruct and then time it absolutely perfectly. If it doesn't happen with the correct timing, the system will adapt to what we're doing and likely... obliterate the security perimeter."

"No pressure, though," joked Duncan.

Shell put her hand over her face. "You mean the fate of the world rests in our speed and timing?" she asked.

Jax nodded. "You're the only deckers with the skills to pull it off," said Jax.

Duncan patted Shell on the back. "Imagine that," chuckled Duncan.

"Oh, and by the way..." said Camay, "Atlas, Renk, and Jess are headed out here. They've decided to use their abilities to help us in case anyone tries to interfere with you physically. They'll be working with the rest of Crest's security forces."

Looking at the television monitor, Shell saw a shock wave hit the military fleet, launching their ships backward. A few seconds later, the shock wave hit the colony, causing everything to shake a little.

"That's a little too close for comfort," said Duncan.

"Right," replied Camay. "Let's launch that probe right now."

As the special Crest executive shuttle arrived, Camay and Jax rushed off to the docking area to greet Jess, Atlas, and Renk. Duncan and Shell went to a protected room where they could concentrate once they entered the dive that connected the two of them to the probe's systems.

"Thank you for coming, President Price," said Camay.

"The pleasure is all mine," replied Jess. "Atlas and Renk have been assigned as personal body guards for Duncan and Shell while they carry out their crucial mission through the probe drone."

Camay smiled. "We're putting a lot on their shoulders."

Atlas and Renk waved to Camay and Jax as they hurried off to the research building where Duncan and Shell were preparing themselves.

"Dr. Thameh," said Jess, "the situation on Earth is destabilizing. Adepts all over the world are falling under some kind of mind control. I think Mulhauser is influencing them. I'd suggest raising your security substantially as we have information that a faction may try to invade the colony to stop this operation."

Camay's smile disappeared. "I see," she replied. Camay quickly sent a message to the head of security, warning him of a potential invasion threat.

Camay then handed Jess a set of dive gear.

"What's this for, Dr. Thameh," asked Jess.

"I don't want to distract them or interfere," replied Camay, "but I thought it would be important for us to accompany them during the dive so that we can provide support."

As Jess, Camay, and Jax walked through the colony back to the research building, Camay looked around. "I suppose they'll have to quarantine the adepts who live here until the threat of Mulhauser's influence diminishes," said Camay.

"Crest has developed a drug," replied Jess. "It neutralizes the adepts' characteristics, making the nano technology temporarily unresponsive to the sphere's influence. It's not fully tested but we've brought a shipment along with us for emergency use."

After they entered the building, the three of them took the elevator up to a conference room near Camay's office and they sat down.

"Tea?" offered Camay. "The operation will begin momentarily so if you'd like something, we should have it now."

"No thanks," said Jess, as she put on her dive gear and closed her eyes.

Duncan and Shell sat quietly in a sequestered, sound-proofed room. They had directly connected themselves to a powerful transceiver station attached to the outer hull of the L1 colony. The dish pointed toward the location of the mystery ship, toward which the probe sped.

The optical sensors on the probe had become Duncan and Shell's eyes. Camay, Jax, and Jess were with them inside the dive; their voices were audible as if they were with them inside the probe's complex control system.

"I've obtained a data link to the sphere," said Duncan. "It's still unlocked from using the unlock code. It appears we won't have to use Jess's proximity bio-metrics to unlock it."

The ghost ship emitted another shock wave. Camay maneuvered the probe, dodging the brunt of the wave. In the moment the wave pushed the probe off course, Duncan scanned for signs of the orbital cannon's control systems.

"I was unable to locate any of NEA726's systems," said Duncan. "I'm not sure that sphere is giving us enough of an opening."

"Keep trying," replied Camay.

The probe rushed further toward the ship until it entered the cargo bay where the group had recently gained entry with their shuttle.

Chester ran into the room where Camay, Jax, and Jess were. The three of them were in a dive session, accompanying Duncan and Shell inside the probe.

"Dr. Thameh!" yelled Chester.

Camay opened her eyes. "We're in the middle of a crucial operation," she responded.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt," replied Chester, " but we have a really bad situation in the colony. All of the adepts are going berserk!"

Camay stood up. "As I'd feared," she replied.

Chester and Camay ran down the hallway and took the elevator down to the street level. Atlas and Renk were fighting off a large group of crazed people, all seemingly under some kind of mind control. Some of them were using their powers, firing ether blasts toward the security personnel.

"They just started attacking us," said Atlas. "They're under some kind of remote influence and they are trying to get into the research building."

Atlas threw a couple of adepts back, only to be hit with an ether blast. Atlas was thrown to the ground. Chester jumped back, trying not to get hit.

"This is bad," said Chester.

Duncan noticed that Camay had disconnected from the dive.

"Jax? President Price? What's going on?!" asked Duncan.

"Dr. Thameh was pulled away. Chester just reported that the adepts in the colony have fallen under Mulhauser's influence and are attacking security trying to get inside our building!" said Jax.

"Not good. Not good at all..." mumbled Duncan.

Shell was concentrating on opening network connections whenever the sphere emitted shock waves. The probe had been hit several times as it at in the ghost ship's cargo bay.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," said Duncan, "but we can't maintain a network connection to anything on that asteroid. We know it's there..."

"Yes?" demanded Jax.

"We know it's there," replied Duncan, "but someone has to physically go through the space time distortion to reach the orbital cannon. Also, the security lock has re-engaged and the code we have isn't working anymore. Mulahuser's gotten wise to what we're doing. We could jam the system temporarily if we could get it unlocked again. At least... we could get it unlocked long enough for someone to get through the portal it creates."

"Are you absolutely sure there's no other way?" asked Jax.

"It's likely a suicide mission," said Duncan.