Chapter 10

B.E.T.A. Mountain, Isolation Holding Cells

Niko was expecting the message from the Isolation Holding Cells when it came three days later and went there straightaway after informing Major Foxx and Commander Walsh as soon as she'd received it. She found Zulé sitting cross-legged on the bunk in the cell. He'd been sitting like that since being placed there after the deep scan Niko had performed.

Zulé spoke first. The first thing she noticed was that his voice had softened a little. It sounded less like a machine and more like someone who'd had vocal surgery. "Thank you for coming Ranger Niko. When I was an artist, meditation was an old friend of mine. I was glad to reacquaint myself so easily. I already know what you want to ask me, will I become a double agent for B.E.T.A. now that I've remembered who I was. I must refuse your request and instead, ask for asylum with the League of Planets."

Niko stood across the room from Zulé and said, "As far as I'm concerned, I understand completely, but those I answer to won't be so understanding."

Zulé answered back without skipping a beat, "I know that. In return, I'm prepared to give you all the information you want that I have. I have knowledge of things that are unknown even to the Andorian Science Bureau. Things that will compel B.E.T.A. to reevaluate everything they think they know about the Queen of the Crown."

"What kind of things?" Niko asked.

Zulé answered, "Things like why the Queen never seems to age to start. Also, you may think that there has only ever been one psychocrystal made from a human. The one you call Aliza Foxx . . ."

Before Zulé could continue, the door to the isolation cell opened suddenly and Zachary Foxx could be seen standing in the door, backlit from the lights in the corridor. He strode forward and grabbed Zulé by the neck with his bionic left arm and slammed him into the wall behind the bunk. Growling low, he said, "Tell us what you know agent before I twist your head off!"

Niko had sensed that Zachary was near, but she hadn't counted on this reaction. Even though she knew that her own strength couldn't break Zach's grip unless he wanted it to, she still put both hands on his. "Zachary! What do you think you're doing? Put him down right now and leave. This course of action you're taking won't get us anywhere!"

Zachary turned his head fractionally to track Niko with his eyes and said firmly, "Stand down Lieutenant! That's an order!"

Niko met Zach's blue eyes with her green ones and said calmly, "No Major, it's you who will stand down. This person is my prisoner, not yours. I never officially gave over custody to B.E.T.A. This person is still under my protection and will remain so for the foreseeable future. More so now that I can see you're not thinking clearly. Now, stand down Zachary. You know I'm right."

Zach's voice returned to its normal register, which was still pretty gruff most of the time. "Dammit Niko! Stay out of my head!"

Niko continued on in the same calm tone of voice, "I'm not in your head right now Zach. I don't need to be. The Galaxy Ranger regulations are all the insight I need right now. You know it and so do I."

Zach lowered Zulé and stepped away. Saying nothing more, he turned on his heel and left the room.

"Are you alright Zulé?" Niko asked.

Zulé returned to his cross-legged position from before and said, "To borrow one of your phrases, Ranger Niko, no blood, no foul. Ranger Foxx will never believe me but I can understand his reaction. I too, was once joined to another, what you call married. As I was saying, though you may believe that there has only ever been one psychocrystal made from a human, you would be wrong. Actually, there have been several hundred. The Aliza Foxx crystal and a few others are still in existence. All the others have long since been drained."

Niko's eyes widened a little. "Please explain what you mean by drained."

Zulé said, "Exactly what I said. Drained. The Queen of the Crown doesn't age because she feeds off only the strongest crystals she gets."

Niko couldn't stop her jaw from dropping a little at this piece of information.

Zulé simply looked at her before speaking again. "Already, I've given you something you never knew Ranger Niko. Now that I've given, it's time for the League and for B.E.T.A. to do the same. Once I've been given irrevocable asylum, I'll tell you more."

Before leaving the room Niko said, "Yes, you will," and walked out to report her findings up to this point.

Three hours later, Niko reentered the cell. "Both the League representatives here on Earth and B.E.T.A.'s leadership has agreed to your terms Zulé. Please come with me to somewhere more conducive to a long discussion."

A short time later, in a modestly appointed conference room, Zulé took a seat on one end of the table. To one side were Waldo, Zozo and Niko, the other, Commander Walsh, Q-ball and a stenographer unit. In front of him, Zulé had read through the Articles of Asylum and signified acceptance with a double thumbprint.

Walsh spoke, "The League thought it best if only we few already here at B.E.T.A. Mountain sat it on this first debriefing session. Lieutenant Niko and the man to my right, Q-ball, you already know. I am Commander Joseph Walsh, I command the Galaxy Rangers overall. Across from me are Ambassadors Waldo Zeptic of Andor and his colleague, Zozo of Kirwin. Also, we will be recording this session as well as any and all follow up sessions so that there is no question of proper procedure. Do you have any problems with this arrangement Mr. uh . . . how would you like to be addressed?"

Zulé looked at Walsh and said, "Just Zulé will be fine Commander, and I am satisfied with conditions as they are. I will inform you should this change. Where would you like me to begin?"

Waldo spoke this time. "Please elaborate on the statement you made to Lieutenant Niko a short time ago, about the Queen feeding off the psychocrystals."

Zulé nodded. "Very well; before I begin though, it must be understood that what I'm about to tell you was learned over time on mission after mission. Conquest after conquest; at the time of my crossing paths with the Paraboid, Captain Kidd, I had only to accomplish my scouting mission for the Queen and upon my return, I was to have been made into an Agent of the Black Armor, in command of my own capital ship. In preparation for that elevation, this body that you see before you was already in the process of the series of upgrades required. Among those upgrades, were memory engrams of what I'm now about to tell you."

Walsh spoke, "We understand Zulé. Please begin when you're ready."

Zulé spoke again after a moment. "The Queen of the Crown as you already know is a humanoid derivative. She came to power on our homeworld approximately three hundred earth years ago. Our species, including the Queen herself and all of the original agents, specifically their brains, mine as well, originates from what your astronomers call the Perseus Galactic Arm. The original name for our species has since been lost to the passage of time but for simplicity sake, you may as well refer to us as Perseans. As a people, we were already aware that there had been or still was other life in the universe. Ruins of incredible age were found on the outer most planets of our solar system and at first only fragments of records from those early civilizations. The original psychocrypt was found fairly early on but no one had the slightest idea what it was used for. Theories abounded; transmitter, energy generator, torture device, executions, religious ceremonies. Then one day, while investigating the psychocrypt, a researcher by the name of Zathura, fell and hit her head. In a daze this person placed their bloodied hand on the activation node and the psychocrypt came to life. The computer that controlled the crypt was semi-sentient and for lack of a better word, 'downloaded' a copy of its operating system, specifically, its purpose and how to use it, into this researcher. At first, no one even considered that the crypt was still operating even if only in a type of stand by mode. This researcher published her findings and became prominent in her field. Soon, with the help of the crypt computer, she became an authority in her field. That fame was parlayed into wealth and eventually into power. The woman who would be queen went into government and eventually had herself elected to the highest office. Unbeknownst to everyone was the fact that during her rise to power, the woman who would be queen was quietly experimenting with the crypt and learning how to use it to its fullest potential. It was during this time that she learned that she could extend her own lifespan with the crypt by extracting life energy from living subjects. At first, she used what you would call transients; I believe you called them 'homeless' persons. Never too many from the same area nor too often; only the charity organizations paid any attention and their complaints were largely ignored by the law enforcement of the time. After she'd learned everything she could about the crypt, she orchestrated a series of crises that deceived all the other governments of our world into looking to her for solutions. When she had all her plans in place, she took control, quickly and but for a few exceptions quietly. All the other world leaders were executed and she made herself Queen in fact as well as deed. The Queen was as mortal as any of you when she first came to power. Early on, she began aggressively exploring our area of space, looking for resources, other races to exploit by whatever means necessary. Eventually, she had everyone but herself converted into Agents whose only purpose was to further her goals. The Queen is the last organic member of our species. She feeds on only the strongest of the psychocrystals and they are what sustain her now. That and the only other thing she allows herself, a vice really. A taste she acquired from the first colony ship she had captured and examined. As long as she has a steady supply of strong willed subjects to convert to crystals, she's effectively immortal. This is not to say that she can't be killed, but such a thing is well nigh impossible as that she keeps herself surrounded by an entire legion of the best Agents and their Slaver Lord overseers."

Niko said, "You said to me that there had actually been several hundred humans turned into psychocrystals Zulé. What exactly did you mean by that?"

Zulé said, "As the Queen spread her reign throughout our sector of space, she assimilated the histories of other species. Several of those that were taken had already been to Earth many times as well as other worlds like Andor and Kirwin. Sending remote probes to your section of the galaxy, the Queen was intrigued by your species, so similar to her own. She was most fascinated by your duality, your capacity for phenomenal acts of cruelty upon others of your race and at the same time, your efforts to raise your collective consciousness to better yourselves. By this time she had already created the Slaver Lords as a class of supervisors as well as her ability to see and act through them, wherever they may have been."

Q-ball spoke now. "But how did she acquire her first humans for the psychocrypt? We've never lost a colony or even a single settlement for that matter."

Zulé nodded as he spoke. "True, but how many colony ships have been lost?"

Q-ball opened his mouth to make a rebuttal but stopped as Zulé's words struck home. "I see your point now. To our knowledge, there have been at least two ships confirmed lost and as many as two others listed as 'missing and presumed lost'.

Zulé said, "Thanks to the memory engrams I received in preparation for donning the Black Armor, I can confirm that three of those four lost ships were in fact captured by us. The one that got away was due to its proximity to the Tarkon solar system. The Heart rescued it from us. That is why the people of Tarkon are so leery of high technology, because of survivor accounts of us, the Agents of the Queen, though they don't know that in any way but as legends. Of those three we took, all but the youngest and oldest of its occupants were turned into Agents or psychocrystals. The Queen was astounded by the sheer power of a human-made psychocrystal. It takes about seven Girkins to make one crystal, an average of two or three Andorians, one, if the Andorian in question is very old and has developed their mental faculties to their fullest, and almost a dozen Kiwis. If not for the ability of the League of Planets to learn from its mistakes and turn defeat into a steady string of small victories, the Queen would have assimilated the Earth by the beginning of your twentieth century, long before you'd have been able to mount any kind of resistance to her forces."

Waldo spoke just then, "Even though I believe I already know the answer to this question, it must still be asked so that it is in the permanent record. What happened to the youngest and oldest of the colonists whose ships were seized?"

Zulé looked over to the elder statesman. "As harsh or tactless as it may sound Ambassador, to put it simply, they were terminated as being unusable to the Queen."

Waldo looked away from Zulé and said sotto voce, "As I suspected."

Zozo was beside himself with impotent rage and was barely able to say, "That heartless, soulless, thing has much to answer for. May she burn in all the hells that have ever been or ever will be, slowly, agonizingly and for all eternity."

Walsh, who had said nothing after Zulé began speaking turned to Zozo and said, "For what it's worth Zozo, I concur wholeheartedly with your statement."

Niko spoke. "Zulé, do you have any idea why the Aliza Foxx crystal is still active?"

Zulé shook his head. "While I don't know for certain why that is, if I were to speculate, I would have to say that there is some kind of mental bond between it and your Major Foxx. It is known to us that the two were mated, and for a time the Queen used the crystal she has to telepathically torment Major Foxx. Perhaps in using the crystal as she did, the Queen somehow . . . altered the persona within it. If I may ask, did the person of Aliza Foxx ever display any psychic ability?"

Niko shook her head, "Not around me, at least not openly. You would have to ask Major Foxx himself but considering he nearly wrenched your head from your shoulders when you met the first time, I wouldn't suggest asking him directly."

At that moment, the door opened and Zachary Foxx walked in. Walsh, fully aware of what had transpired in the holding cell earlier, stood up, focused his attention on Zachary and said, "Major Foxx, you were not invited to participate in this conference due to your, shall we say, emotional conflict of interest with regards to this person, the former Agent Zulé. Why are you here?"

Looking around the room, Zachary said, "I won't waste anyone's time or intelligence with an empty apology for my actions of earlier. I only just found out that this conference was taking place. Since you didn't leave specific orders with anyone saying that I wasn't allowed into this meeting Commander, I felt I should be here all the same. Unless you've relieved me of duty that is, sir."

Walsh resumed his seat before speaking. "Not at this time Major, but I very nearly did when I was told that you assaulted Mister Zulé. That being said, I was still very disappointed in you Zachary. Since you are here now, and you're right in that I didn't order you kept away, you may join us for the remainder of this discussion, provided that you sit completely opposite Mister Zulé. In point of fact, for right now, in this room, you will remove your badge and slide it across the table to me so that if you lose your composure again, you will be unable to activate your implant or your thunderbolt. Do I make myself completely clear Major?"

In answer, Zachary did as he'd been told. Taking his badge off, he slid it across the table and sat down on the far end of the table from Zulé.

For the next several minutes, Niko, Waldo and Zozo brought Zachary up to speed. When he was up to date he said, "Aliza did register on the PSI index but very weakly. During her initial testing, it was determined that when she was excited she measured at about a .5 or .8, depending on the subject being discussed at that time. When she was relaxed and receptive or focused clearly on any one thing, she measured at 1.2 or 1.4; but that was only when she was tightly focused on something." Motioning towards Zulé with one hand, he continued, "If that person, and I use the term loosely, is correct, then when the Queen was using Aliza's crystal to torment me, her innate ability has been amplified somewhat. Whether this is a direct side effect of the Queen herself or the Queen's use of the Mindnet or something like it, I can't say."

Zulé listened and when everyone else was done talking, he said, "Now that you know some of what I know about the Queen herself, but not all, I will tell you why I can't be your double agent, though part of me, the part that remains of the organic being I once was would like nothing more than to help you flush the Queen out of an airlock."

Zachary spoke first, "And why is that?"

Zulé leaned back in his chair a little. "Every Agent and every Agent of the Black Armor, during their service has a subspace marker. This device is hardwired into the Agent shell. When an agent is killed or goes into stasis lock as I did when I ejected into hard vacuum, that marker ceases and the computers in the Queen's outposts relays this status update to the master computer in her palace. If an Agent tries to reenter any and I mean any facility that is tied into this system, the control computer locks down everything in that facility, deletes all data and triggers a virtually instantaneous reactor meltdown. The Queen learned the hard way that an Agent can be subverted and used as a remote probe. Incidents such as that have occurred in the past and she took steps to ensure that it couldn't happen again. If I go into a Queen controlled facility, without an identity lock bypass and escort by other Agents or Slaver Lords, the facility will be destroyed. Even if I had that bypass and escort, the computer would simply reboot the hardwired programs in my brain and I would turn back into Agent 11811 and cease to be Zulé. Either way, I lose what I have only just regained. At such time as the Queen is deposed or outright killed, and the master computer reprogrammed, I will be happy to assist you any way I can after that."

Niko considered what she'd just heard and then said, "So what your saying Zulé, is that after this subspace marker goes inactive, the master computer largely marks that particular Agent as 'Missing and presumed lost", until a reboot is performed?"

"Exactly, Lieutenant Niko." Zulé said.

Zachary spoke. "If we can't use you to get inside the Queen's fortress in order to get to her directly, what good are you to us now?"

If Zulé was bothered by Zachary's statement, he didn't show it when he spoke. "I may not be able to help get you in, but I can help you to find where she'll go to ground next. After that, it's on you and the rest of the Galaxy Rangers."

Walsh said, "What do you mean exactly when you say 'Go to ground next?"

Zulé said, "Haven't you ever wondered just why you've never been able to capture the Queen? Yes, you've come close a time or two but otherwise; you've been fooled by her Slaver Lord apparition every time."

Walsh spoke again. "Now that you mention it; yes, we'd like to know why we've never been able to capture her."

The touch of humor in Zulé's voice was noticeable when he said, "You've never caught her because she moves herself and her pyschocrystals around every few months. Sometimes she's on Tortuna, sometimes in hyperspace. Other times she goes back to the homeworld in the Perseus Arm although the planet now is almost entirely taken up by factories. Raw material comes in from all over her realm and is made into fighters, capital ships, weapons and agent shells just waiting for a brain to be implanted. I can tell you where she'll be in approximately two of your months. Surprisingly she has few places she goes where she feels anywhere remotely safe."

Zachary spoke again, "Where will she be in two months?"

Zulé said, "In two months she will be in transit to the homeworld. Her ship is manned entirely by Agents, both Black Armor, regular and Slaver Lords. I can instruct you on how to sensor mask your approach to her ship, dock and go aboard. Naturally, she travels with a battle group when she does this. A small infiltration team should be able to board her transport if a large enough distraction can be made to allow you to get in close to her ship. After that, you're on your own. If you can get to her and capture her, you will win the day and the war. The approach will not be easy though."

Walsh said, "You let us worry about the approach. So long as the information you provide is accurate, then we can end this destructive conflict and bring law and order back to the galaxy at large. If, however, you betray us with false information, asylum or no, I will personally see to it that you are dismantled and your parts scattered to the corners of the League, making sure to leave your brain with enough functionality to allow you to contemplate your folly in betraying us. Have I made myself clear Mister Zulé?"

Zulé inclined his head fractionally and said, "As crystal, Commander, to borrow another one of your human phrases."