"Pleasant establishment,"
Ray commented as he and Mouse entered the dimly lit room that smelled of rancid
fish.
"We won't be stayin' long, sugah," Mouse squinted through
the cloud of acrid smoke, searching.
The pixel brain better be here, or else…
Mouse spotted him through the purple haze and without
waiting to see if Ray followed, strode purposefully towards him.
The zero binome didn't seem to notice the hacker and
mercenary at first as she towered over him.
He seemed content as he leaned his chair against the grease-smudged wall
and downed yet another I/O shot. The
bottle before him was nearly empty.
Mouse hated this place, a hotel and tavern for the criminals
and derelicts of System 998. The place
where they found themselves had a name, but any sign of it had rotted away
after hours of neglect. Right now, it was merely called, Crash's Place. Whoever Crash may be (or might have been)
was a mystery. Yet this was the place
Mouse always seemed to find the best jobs and the most accurate information –
if she used the right methods of persuasion.
"Hello, sugah."
The binome answered with a raucous belch. Ray made a noise of disgust.
"Not you again," the binome slurred his words. "What'cha want now?"
"Besides being stranded on some nice tropical system with
nothing but the sun and a case of I/O shot?"
Mouse's fangs showed in her smile.
"Information about a certain armada headed this way."
The binome spat out a stream of liquor and his bulbous frame
shook with coughing. After a few nanos
he choked out, "Are you totally random?"
"Maybe, sugah," Mouse drew her katana from its sheath and
lowered the blade until it rested under the binome's chin, "Maybe just a
little."
The binome swallowed, "Guess it doesn't matter. We're all dead sprites and binomes anyway."
The binome staggered from his chair and fell facedown.
"Should we help him?"
Ray asked.
"Nah," Mouse re-sheathed her weapon.
The binome hauled himself up and continued to stagger
unceremoniously until he stood before the stairs leading to the upper levels,
"Come on," he hiccupped once before pulling himself upwards by grasping onto
the banister.
Once on the second floor, he led the pair down a dimly lit
corridor. Unidentifiable sounds issued
from behind some of the closed doors and at one point, a door was wretched
violently open and a sprite was tossed out to sprawl unconscious across the
hall.
The zero binome stopped at the last door at the end of the
hall and produced a key card and after several failed tries, inserted it into
the keypad slot.
"Cursors and crashes," Ray muttered at the condition of the
room.
The zero binome flopped on the bed and for all intents and
purposes seemed to drop immediately into downtime.
"Hey!" Mouse aimed a
violent kick at the bed.
"Okay, okay," the binome sat up. "They're going to have to stop here to refuel. Our station is the only place between here
and Mainframe for that."
"Okay, any place else they'll stop?"
"System 444."
"They'll get food and weapons," Ray said. "I know the place. It's a merchant's system."
"Hmm," Dot would be interested in that, Mouse thought. "When will they get there?"
"How should I know?"
The binome asked. "I only know
that's where they'll stop."
"And how big's the armada?"
Mouse sat down beside him on the edge of the bed.
"Bigger than what I'll bet Mainframe has," the binome seemed
to delight in delivering this dire news.
"They completely crashed System 101.
You know how? Death Strikes."
"Death Strikes?" Ray
asked.
"Kamikazes," Mouse spat.
"Sprites and binomes sacrificing themselves and for what?"
"You might as well forget Mainframe surviving," the binome
said. "Hey, is it true that the
renegade Guardians are --,"
Mouse held her hand up abruptly signaling the binome to be
silent. An eerie hum suddenly began
outside the door. The sound increased
with each passing nano.
"Move!" Mouse
suddenly screamed as recognition dawned.
She bolted off the bed and shoved Ray aside, nanos before the door and a
good portion of the wall exploded in a fiery net of smoke and stone.
"Don't move!" A
voice cried.
Through the smoke, Mouse could make out several dark figures
as they poured into the room. Mouse
reached for Ray and hauled him up. The
search engine was coughing fiercely and Mouse was faring no better. Several of the figures advanced towards them
and Mouse drew her katana.
One of the masked figures leveled a laser rifle at the
flame-haired mercenary. The smoke was
beginning to clear. Two others had the
zero binome in their grasp.
"You will stand down," the one with the laser rifle ordered
them. "Drop your weapon and surrender."
Mouse glanced back at Ray.
"Hope you got a plan, sugah?"
"Of course," Ray said calmly. "Just do as I say, love.
When the time comes, go for the window."
"I said drop your weapon," the armed sprite repeated. "Don't make me ask again."
"You won't have to, mate," Ray said. "My lady friend and I were just leaving."
Surf Baud came streaking through the hole, catching their enemy
off guard. Mouse figured that was as
obvious a signal as any and in the confusion dashed for the window. She leapt, heedless of the glass and crashed
through. It was a short fall, but there
was a good chance she'd still be hurt.
Then Ray was there, catching her on Baud and they were
ascending.
"Thanks, sugah," Mouse smiled. "But we ain't out of the recycle bin yet."
"Guess going back to Ship is out of the question," Ray
glanced behind him and saw three of the guards pursuing them on zip boards,
"They've got to be kidding."
Baud streaked away, leaving their pursuers in the
distance. "Now what?"
"We find out who they were," Mouse said. She was loath to leave Ship, but Ray was
right. If the masked guards knew who
they were, then they probably had a guard on Ship. "Then we find a way off this system."
"We getting' a new ship, love?" Ray asked. "As much as I
like being this close to you, I can't carry us both through the web."
"Guess we are," Mouse looked back and muttered an oath,
"Unless they catch us first."
Behind them two ships were fast approaching. The first shots passed dangerously close.
"Hang on, love." Ray
dove and the wind stung their faces.
"Ask the User that I can out fly them, otherwise it's not going to be a
landing we'll walk away from."
***
CHAPTER 3
UNREST
"Thank you," Dot smiled at the male sprite on the other end
of the vidwindow. "Your help is greatly
appreciated."
"We've no love for Daemon here, Ms. Matrix," the sprite
replied. "We're happy to help. We just wish we could do more --,"
The image began to distort suddenly. Waves of static interference drowned out the
sprite's next words.
"Um – Ms. Matrix – hello?
Hello?"
The picture completely faded into static.
"Cursors," Dot muttered.
"Oh well, at least I have this."
Dot held up the disk with a smile.
On it, were specifications for an engine upgrade, which could be
installed in the reconstructed Saucy Mare.
Of course she could just vid-window Gavin, if the communications weren't
down.
"Phong?" Dot called.
"Yes, my child?"
"What's the problem with communications?"
"Apparently, we're experiencing some interference," Phong
said. "It is some type of power surge
within Mainframe, although we haven't pinpointed it yet."
"Keep working on it, and keep me posted," Dot said. "You say it's within Mainframe? So it can't be something Daemon is doing?"
"Well --," Phong began, "it could be, my child, if --,"
"If what?"
"Morning Dot, Phong," Enzo entered the office carrying
several bags, "I brought you breakfast."
Dot smiled appreciatively at her little brother. He'd been such help lately. She really needed to find some way to thank
him. "That's sweet of you, Enzo. So you knew I left without eating this
morning?"
"Um hmm," Enzo unloaded the bags while talking in his usual
56K speed. "I got this from the
Diner. Do you know the place is
packed? Ronnie's wowing them with her
food and she's got Cecil wrapped around her little finger. Java, two creams and no sugar right? And I have donuts. Cocoa for Phong with lots of whipped cream. Hey what's up with the communications?"
"Right," Dot turned to Phong, even as she reached for the
java. "You were going to say Phong,
that the only way it could be Daemon is if we had a spy in our midst."
"That is the most likely possibility."
"A spy?" Enzo
upturned his worried face to her, "Do you really think so, Dot?"
"We don't know," Dot sighed. "Enzo, we're going to be working on this problem for awhile,
would you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Dot!"
"Take this disk to Gavin at the docks. Make certain Mr. Christopher scans it."
Enzo took the disk and stuck it in his belt, then he saluted
his sister, smartly, "Yes Sir, Ma'am!" He turned to go, then grabbed a couple of donuts and dashed out
the door.
"Let's get to work, Phong," Dot immediately addressed the
business at hand.
***
Enzo zipped across Mainframe, while munching on a chocolate frosted
donut, his mind on past events. Dot had
really appreciated the food. So what
else could he do to make things easier for her? Well deliver the disk for one.
Easy enough.
As the young sprite approached the docks he noticed a crowd
of people gathered at Pier 14. Someone
had set up a pile of crates to form a makeshift stage and perched atop it was
Captain Syn. Despite his intentions to
deliver the disk quickly, curiosity got the better of him and he zoomed in for
a closer look.
The crowd was cheering at something Captain Syn had just
said that Enzo didn't catch. He
compressed his board then skirted the crowd, trying to get a better view. No one paid him any attention at first.
"I have made numerous attempts to speak with the
Command.com," Syn said. "And each time,
I've been turned away. Just two seconds
ago when I went to speak with her, I was attacked by her brother, the renegade,
Matrix."
Syn's words were followed by various exclamations of outrage
from the crowd.
"Now that isn't true," Enzo muttered aloud. Well the part about Matrix hitting him was
as far as Enzo knew, but according to Dot, Syn had started the whole
thing. But then again, Matrix hitting
him had only made it worse. Still, on
the other hand, Enzo guessed he would have done the same thing if he saw Syn
threatening Dot.
"And I ask the question," Syn went on, "Is this woman
competent enough to be Command.com? It
makes one wonder about her level of intelligence."
Hello! Enzo
had heard enough. He decompressed his board
and flew up over the crowd, "Hey!"
The eyes of Syn and the crowd followed him as he glided down
atop the stage. "You can't talk about
my sister that way!"
"And what is this? A
little green spy?" Syn smirked.
"Spy?" Was this guy
totally basic? "What do you mean
spy? I live here. I have as much right to be here as anybody."
"And I suppose you'll tell your sister about us, so she can
stop us?"
"Stop you from doing what?"
"Oh no little boy. You'll
find out soon enough and so will your sister."
"You'd better not do anything to hurt Dot!" Enzo warned.
At that the crowd erupted into laughter.
"We'd better not?"
Syn's smirk turned malicious, "There's little you or your sister can
do. I warned her that if she weren't
careful things would happen. You can go
tell her that, little boy. Now go
away. We have important matters to
attend to."
"No."
"What did you say, boy?"
"You heard me," Enzo stepped forward. "What part of 'no' don't you understand?"
"Well looks like the little sprite has some circuits after
all," Syn's smile showed yellowing teeth, "But you'd better watch what you
say. Your big brother Matrix isn't here
to protect you. Or would he be your
father? What is he to you anyway? I've heard how you were compiled. For that matter just what are you? Nothing more than a cheap carbon copy."
"Shut up!" Enzo
screamed.
"A freak of the User that's what you are!" Syn's voice rose.
"At least I'm not some big fat loser!" Enzo shot back.
Syn's smile vanished to be replaced by a sneer. "A freak,"
the burly captain started towards the young sprite, "and one that needs a
little discipline."
Enzo knew he had one of two choices. He could hop on his zip board and fly away, or
he could defend himself. Running, he
knew, would only confirm what Matrix had said about him. That he was nothing but a weak little
sprite. But Syn was almost as big as
Matrix and what chance did he have against him?
Well he would try his best, and convince Matrix (not that he
cared what that big ugly green guy thought) that he was not a weak
little sprite.
Just as Syn reached him, Enzo decompressed his board,
grasped the handle tightly and swung the device as hard as he was able.
It was a bad swing.
Enzo knew it the moment he started.
He also knew he probably wouldn't get a second chance. Hopefully the
board would work well enough for him to escape. The disc caught Syn on the knee and to Enzo's utter surprise, the
captain went down.
The crowd exploded into shouts of outrage. Enzo hadn't expected to hurt Syn, much less
have him down groaning in pain, while grasping his knee. The zip board slipped from the young
sprite's fingers. Enzo was barely aware
of the running footsteps until a shadow fell over him. He turned to find several men, undoubtedly
Syn's crew, surrounding him.
The next few nanos were the worst of Enzo's life. He found himself being grabbed and jostled
violently. Enzo could do no more than kick
and punch although he wasn't causing the men any injury as they shoved him back
and forth between him. Enzo realized he
should have held onto his zip board.
"Hold, ye scalawags!"
A familiar voice suddenly rang out over the confusion, just as someone
shoved Enzo from behind and he fell to his knees. The men surrounding him disappeared from his view one by
one. Enzo looked up in time to see
Princess Bulla hoist one of the men over her head and toss him off the stage.
"Tell yer men ta stand down!" The voice ordered.
Syn was on his hands and knees staring defiantly into the
face of Captain Gavin Capacitor. The
pirate lord had his cutlass positioned over Syn's throat.
"Stand down men!"
Syn gasped as Gavin pressed the sword point deeper into Syn's throat.
Enzo was never so glad to see anyone in his life. Mr. Christopher took his arm and helped him
up.
"That was impressive, young Enzo," Mr. Christopher
said.
Enzo beamed, "Thanks, Mr. Christopher."
"But what brought you down to the docks in the first place?"
"Oh yeah," Enzo sheepishly reached into his belt and pulled
out the disk. "Dot asked me to deliver
this."
Gavin ordered the crowd to disperse and they did so, rather
reluctantly, and not without a few snide remarks and grumbling. Then he approached Enzo, "Ye all right, Enzo,
lad?"
"Where's my cap?"
Enzo searched the ground around him with growing apprehension.
"Cap?" Princess
Bulla held the crumpled and dirty article of clothing.
"Cursors," Enzo
muttered. It was his favorite cap, but
he had been more concerned about his icon, which surprisingly had come through
the ordeal with little damage. With a
wistful sigh, Enzo removed the disk from the cap and replaced it on his right
shoulder. "Thanks Gavin, you really
saved my bitmap."
"Tis' all right lad, as
long as you weren't seriously injured."
"He's a little bruised it would seem," Mr. Christopher
noticed. "We'd better get him to the
Principal Office."
"Oh no," Enzo sighed, "Dot's got enough trouble, but when
she sees me like this --,"
"Don't ye worry, Enzo, lad," Gavin winked. "Ya just let ole Gavin fix things with yer
sister. Wait and see."
***
Dot tried not to let her true feelings of anger and
frustration show as Gavin recounted the tale of the dock disturbance.
"Ye should have seen him, Dot lass," Gavin nodded to where
Enzo stood while Phong fussed over her brother and dabbed at his cuts with
antiseptic. "He fought like a true
pirate, he did. Made this old web dog
proud."
"He defended your honor, quite admirably, Ms. Matrix," Mr.
Christopher chimed in.
As much as she wanted to scream at Enzo that he should have
been more careful, Dot found that she couldn't. He looked so proud of himself right then, that Dot chose not to
steal his thunder. And yes, deep down
inside, she was impressed that he had stood up for her.
So instead of yelling, she said, "My knight in silicon
armor," while she smiled at Enzo, making her brother's grin widen and his chest
puff out as proud as a peacock gif.
"Of course lass, we were only there to clean up after the
lad," Gavin went on. "He had the
situation well in hand."
"You should have seen Syn crying like a girl," Mr.
Christopher smiled, "No offense, Ms. Matrix."
"None taken," Dot knelt by Enzo, "Thank you, little brother,
but please be more careful next time. I
don't want anything to happen to you."
"I will, I promise, Dot."
"Specks?" Dot turned to the bespeckled binome, "Please
dispatch three CPU's and have them escort Captain Syn to the Principal
Office."
"Right away Dot."
Dot didn't care what Syn did to her, but she would not under
any circumstances tolerate his attacking her little brother.
***
"So now it's kidnapping Ms. Matrix?" They were the first words Syn uttered when
the CPU's brought him in.
"Captain Syn, have a seat, please," Dot said with
barely suppressed fury. "I want to know
why you attacked my little brother.
He's a 10 hour old sprite for User's sake!"
"Attack him! I don't
know what the little pixel brain told you, Ms. Matrix --,"
Dot slammed her hand on the consolee, "Not one more word, do
you hear me? Not one more insult to my
family. Captain, you are a guest in my
system, but I will not have you intentionally starting trouble for
whatever warped reasons you may have."
"Ms. Matrix, I've told you people are afraid that Daemon
will come here because of the Guardians."
"Which is understandable considering," Dot removed her
glasses and tapped them on the consolee edge.
"But Guardians or no, Daemon would have come here regardless. And that's absolutely no excuse for inciting
a riot and especially not for attacking my brother!"
"I didn't attack --," Syn modified his tone as Enzo entered
the room. "You need to teach him some
respect. A good swat on the backside
will --,"
"Captain Syn that will be all!" Dot bolted from her chair
and slammed both palms on the consolee.
"Cause trouble again and I'll have to incarcerate you." Dot felt the all
too familiar ball of tension form in the center of her forehead. "Good day."
"Very well, Ms. Matrix," Syn smirked. Dot knew it meant further trouble from the
man.
"Dot, you okay?"
Enzo approached her after Syn left.
"Yes – no – I don't know," Dot sank back down in her chair.
"What can I do?"
Enzo gave her a worried look.
"Well stay out of Syn's way for one," Dot tried to smile.
"Oh no," Enzo gave her a strange look. "Hey Phong!"
The aged sprite rolled into the room. "Yes, my child?"
"I think Dot's sick, maybe we should take her to the
infirmary," Enzo said.
"Enzo," It must have been her sickly smile. "I'm fine."
"You do look pale, my child. Why don't I fix you some herbal tea?"
"All right," Dot figured if she agreed, they'd stop
worrying, although she'd been getting these headaches a little too frequently.
"I'll take care of you, Dot," Enzo gave her a determined
smile.
"Did you hear me young man?
You can help by staying away from Syn."
"Dot, this is my system, I can go wherever I like."
"I didn't say you couldn't go anywhere," Dot squinted her
eyes as the headache flared, "look, just stay out of his way, promise?"
"Promise," she could tell by his tone that he had no
intention of doing so. She had a
feeling that her hyperactive little brother would run afoul of Syn more times
than she wanted to contemplate.
***
"So it wouldn't be
exactly like I was disobeying Dot," Enzo reasoned. "I mean we know Syn is up to something, right?"
Frisket tilted his head
and whined. Enzo threw the ball across
the grassy field of Floating Point.
"So who could blame me
for checking things out at the docks?
Maybe seeing what's going on with the ships?" Enzo had to struggle to pull the ball from Frisket's mouth. "Yuck, dog drool! So what do you think, Frisket?"
Enzo tossed the ball again.
Frisket barked once as he
chased the ball and scooped it up with his tongue, swallowing the toy whole.
"My thoughts exactly,"
Enzo smiled.
***
"Are you sure this thing
will work?" Syn asked.
"It did before, didn't
it?" Lynx replied, "I say, this is quite a device your man rigged up. Where did you say he was from again?"
"Look, I don't want to be
cooped up in this room all second," Syn made a gesture with his arm.
"Your quarters a lot better
than mine," Lynx muttered. And I
could stand it better myself if you didn't reek.
"Get on with it," Syn was
losing patience. He moved over to a
chair and lowered his bulk down gingerly.
"That boy did a number on
your knee, didn't he?" Lynx smiled. The aging binome captain didn't look up from
his task of making adjustments to the machine, but he knew his question had
riled Syn.
"If I ever catch him
alone," Syn rubbed his knee, "I'll teach him a few things. That little brat and his high and mighty
sister will get theirs."
"Umm hmm."
"You don't believe me?"
"Oh I'm sure you will,
dear Captain Syn, and be thrown in jail or have to deal with the big version of
her brother or the Guardian when they return."
"If, they return."
"If?" Lynx looked at him. "Do you know something, I don't?"
"Isn't it obvious? You know as well as I do what Daemon is
capable of. They don't stand a chance
against her. That's why I'm doing this."
"Stirring up trouble?"
"More than that," Syn
smirked. "I'm going to have a strong
backing of as many people as possible.
Then no matter what happens, it'll be me they come to. Not some weak woman."
"Gathering them like
sheep?"
"Something like that."
Lynx looked towards the
door as someone knocked.
"Enter," Syn called.
The tall gangly sprite
that entered didn't spare Lynx a glance, but approached Syn, "Captain, I'm
pleased to report that we have strong support in several of Mainframe's
sectors. Mainly our people, but others
are being sought."
"Excellent Kurt," Syn
nodded. "Your machine works like a
charm. You're quite the tech guy."
"Yes," Lynx agreed. "Tell me Mr. Daverage, can you communicate
with people outside of Mainframe?"
"Why would you want to do
that?" Kurt asked.
"Just curious," Lynx went
back to the machine. "You'll have to
verify if the adjustments I have made are correct."
Kurt approached the
machine. "There is more than curiosity,
I gather."
"Perhaps you can sway
other systems to Captain Syn's noble cause."
"Good idea," Syn smiled,
completely missing Lynx's sarcasm.
Kurt, who glared at Lynx with critical eyes, did not. Lynx disliked Kurt Daverage immensely, but
held his tongue. The sprite didn't seem
suited to be Syn's first mate. Kurt
seemed too – perfect. He dressed
impeccably, kept his pale green hair flawlessly groomed, and never showed any
serious emotion on his face.
"Such wit," Kurt
smiled. "Captain, when will we make the
next test?"
"Eighteen hundred hours,"
Syn smiled. "Tell me Kurt, what other
machines can you make?"
"What do you need?"
A sudden commotion cut
into the conversation. Above them, came
the sounds of several heavy objects falling, intermingled with shouts, and
followed by running feet advancing towards the cabin.
Frantic pounding, then,
"Captain!"
Kurt went to open the
door, "Yes?" He said to the harried
binome crewmember.
"Trouble top side!"
"Now what?" Syn grumbled.
Kurt was already out the
door and at the same time, drew the short sword at his hip.
***
Enzo watched from behind
a stack of crates as Frisket wreaked havoc on the crew. The big red dog was obviously having the
time of his life. No one noticed the
small green-skinned sprite as he slipped from one hiding place to another. Frisket was proving to be the perfect
distraction.
After a few nanos,
Captain's Syn and Lynx, and another man Enzo had never seen before came from
below decks. His chance came, when
Frisket brought down a stack of barrels which contained live web slugs and the
slick creatures caused even greater difficulties.
Enzo crept below decks,
using the same way the three men had.
It didn't occur to him
how he was going to get back out but he figured he'd think of something. Enzo went along checking doors and finding
nothing, until he came to a fancy carved door, which he figured, was probably
Syn's room. To his surprise it was
open.
The first thing Enzo
noticed was the machine.
He had no idea what it
was. It had a lot of buttons, dials, and
lights on a rectangular panel, with a vid screen. It looked old, and seemed to be a patchwork job. Enzo was so engrossed in his examination of
it; he didn't hear the sounds of footsteps behind him.
"There's an old read me
file," the voice startled Enzo and had him turning quickly to face the tall
magenta-skinned sprite he had seen on deck, "Curiosity deleted the cat."
The sprite drew a small
sword, "You didn't really think someone wouldn't notice you?"
"I got down here didn't
I?" Enzo tried his best to sound
defiant but he couldn't keep the tremor from his voice.
"Yes," he said. "But how did you expect to get back out?"
"My dog--,"
"-- has been taken care
of."
"What do you mean, taken
care of?"
"You really should worry
about yourself," the man said.
"I'll bet this machine
has something to do with the communications being out," Enzo stalled for time.
"I have no idea what
you're talking about," the man actually smiled. "You shouldn't be down here.
Naughty boys must be punished."
"You won't do anything to
me! I'm just a kid!"
He shrugged and started
forward, "That makes no difference to me."
"It does, however, to
me."
"What?" The man turned at the sound of the new voice
and before he could react a fist was slammed into his face and he went down.
Captain Irina stepped
into the room, "Are you all right, boy?"
"Wow," Enzo said, "that
was something! You're Captain Irina
aren't you? Cool! I've never seen a lady captain! Well Mouse is I guess, but she isn't a real
captain. You laid him out good, where
did you learn to hit like that? Thanks
for saving me! He was going to delete
me! This machine is what's messing up
the communication! We have to tell my
sister! Can you --,"
Irina stepped forward and
placed three fingers on Enzo's lips, "You talk too much." Then she took him by the collar and dragged
him on deck.
Whatever the man had said
had been done to Frisket proved to be untrue.
The dog had cowed not only Syn's entire crew, but also Syn himself. Gavin and a few of his crewmembers were also
on deck and the pirate lord gave Enzo a stern look when Irina dragged him
forward.
"Now Enzo lad," Gavin
said, "I smoothed things over with yer sister before, but I'm sure it won't be
so easy this time."
"But Gavin, I saw
something downstairs!"
"Not another word, lad,"
Gavin admonished.
"Captain Capacitor,"
Irina said, "I believe the boy has been punished enough, but he did find
something of interest below decks."
Enzo turned and stared in
astonishment at the female captain.
"I must agree Lady
Irina," Gavin said.
"Captain Irina,"
she corrected fiercely, "I addressed you as captain, I demand the same
respect."
Gavin's crew suddenly had
other things to do and moved away in various directions.
"My apologies, captain,"
Gavin took her hand and kissed it.
Irina tilted her head and
the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, "Quite all right, captain."
"Hey!" Syn suddenly yelled from his perch atop a stack
of crates, "Would you call off this stupid mutt!"
Enzo gave Syn a superior
smile, "That was the most basic thing you could have said."
***
Dot tossed her organizer
down on the desk, "What have you got to say for yourself, young man?"
"I guess I'm sorry
wouldn't work," Enzo looked sheepishly at his feet. He stood before Dot's desk and wished she hadn't closed the door.
Dot groaned, "I seem to
remember specifically telling you to stay away from Syn."
"Yes, Dot."
"And what do you do? Have Frisket destroy half his ship!"
"He called Frisket a
stupid mutt. I can't help it if he made
Frisket mad."
"Enzo Matrix!"
"Dot, would you listen to
me? I found something on Syn's ship
that --,"
"I know, the strange
machine, Irina told me everything that happened. And that's another thing!
Obviously that Kurt Daverage is totally random! Do you realize what that would have done to
me if he had --,"
Dot's eyes filled with
tears and a blush of shame burned Enzo's cheeks. He had really messed up that time. "I'm sorry, Dot."
"I thought I taught you
better than that! Haven't I always told
you that you have to take responsibility for your actions?" Dot had never yelled at her brother before
it was becoming a struggle. "I know you
want to help Enzo and you've been doing fine, but this – what am I going to do
with you?"
Dot walked around her
desk and caught Enzo in a fierce hug, "Don't you ever do something like that
again!"
Enzo knew she was crying
and that only made him feel worse. He
had been trying to help, but now he had only made things worse for himself and
Dot.
"I'll do better, I
promise."
"Enzo," she looked at him
with moist eyes, "Do you realize what Syn could do with this?"
That had never occurred
to him until now, "I—I don't know."
Dot stood, "I have Syn
and his first mate confined and have property of his in my custody. What do you suppose he's going to do?"
"What can he do?"
Dot sighed, "I may not
have anything to hold them on, except disrupting the communications and that's
not a serious enough charge to do so for very long. Of course, we'll hold his first mate because we have Irina as a
witness to his threatening you, but we may even have to release him. Now do you think I want to waste time on
this with Daemon's Armada only nine seconds away?
"No."
"Enzo --," both sprites
turned as the door came open slightly.
Phong poked his head in,
"Excuse me, Dot?"
"Yes Phong?"
"We have a slight
problem."
"Oh, now what?"
Dot followed Phong outside
into the War Room. Enzo waited a few
nanos before doing the same. If it
wasn't too serious a problem, maybe he could slip away and hide out somewhere,
maybe at Old Man Pearson's Data Dump until it was over. Then once Dot cooled down, he could tell
her everything from his point of view.
Phong had a vidwindow
open that displayed an outside view of the Principal Office. A small group of people was marching back
and forth as they held signs and placards and were saying some unpleasant
things about powers that be of Mainframe.
"Oh for User's sake," Dot
muttered.
"Perhaps we should speak
with whomever organized this gathering," Phong said. "Shall I dispatch a CPU, my child?"
"No, no," Dot said, "I'll
go myself."
"Dot, I want to come with
you."
"Enzo --,"
"Please, Dot? I don't want you to go out there
alone." Enzo saw the majority of the
protestors were members of Syn's crew.
"All right," Dot ruffled
his hair, then said thoughtfully, "By the way, where's your cap?"
***
Too bad Matrix isn't
here, Dot thought. One look at the older version of her brother
and people usually thought twice about causing trouble. But Matrix, along with AndrAIa and her love
were fighting Daemon. Dot suppressed a
shudder at the thought of any of them as prisoners of the super virus.
The crowd noticed her
approach and gathered to wait for her.
"Greeting," Dot decided
not to get too close, "Who among you is the spokesperson?"
The crowd parted and to
Dot's astonishment, Captain Lynx walked forward. "I am, my lady."
"You?" Dot couldn't believe it. She thought she had found at least one ally
with the captains. "Why?"
"You are wrongly holding
Captain Syn and his first mate," Lynx said.
"You were on board Syn's
ship when the incident occurred," Dot said, "Until we can ascertain exactly
what transpired, they will be detained.
If they are found innocent of any wrongdoing, they will be released.
"How can we be certain
they will?" Lynx said.
"You have my word."
Lynx turned to the crowd
and they conversed in murmurs. Dot
caught a few sentences along the lines of, "Are you sure we can trust
her?" "Isn't she with the Guardian?"
"I would like to speak
with them to be certain they are being well cared for," Lynx turned back to
Dot.
Normally, Dot wouldn't
have agreed but as a show of good faith she said, "Of course. Please have your people disperse."
This raised a protest
from the group, but Lynx waved them away, "You heard her, go now."
Still they remained,
their shouts of refusal increasing.
"It will be all
right!" Lynx shouted over the din. "I'll be out soon."
The crowd seemed doubtful
of that. Dot motioned for Lynx to
follow.
"They'd just find someone
else to lead them," Lynx said as they walked.
"Sheep, that's all they are. But
they can't help it. They've been
through much. They saw most of their
leaders destroyed."
"And what's your read-me
file, Captain Lynx?" Dot said. "Stepping in for Captain Syn?"
"They came to me," Lynx
said, "I couldn't refuse."
"Of course you could
have."
Conversation ceased as
Dot led her companions to the lower levels of the P.O. Several storage rooms had been recently
converted to holding areas (Dot disliked calling them cells) and it was within
two of these areas that Syn and Kurt Daverage were being held.
Two CPU's stood guard and
Dot motioned them aside. She activated
her organizer and punched in the codes to unlock the door to the cells. Immediately, Syn and his first mate stepped
out.
"What's going on
here?" Syn balled his meaty fingers
into fists and took two steps towards Dot, "Are we being released?"
"You can't hold us here,"
Kurt said.
"Gentleman, until I find
out what happened on Captain Syn's ship and I verify that you pose no threat to
the safety of Mainframe, I do have a right to question you as this system's
Command.com." Dot motioned again to the
CPU's. "Please follow me."
"What are you doing here,
Lynx?" Syn addressed the binome
captain.
"Your followers asked me
to lead them in a protest," Lynx replied, "You're gaining a following as you
wanted."
"Lynx!"
Dot turned and glared at
Syn, "I must advise you it would be unwise to incite any more trouble in my
system, captain."
"Afraid your plans might
be found out?"
"What a loser," Enzo
muttered.
"What did you say?"
"He believe he said you
were a loser," Lynx nodded at Enzo.
"You little --,"
"Enough," Dot halted
before the door to the War Room and expelled a frustrated breath as they
entered. Phong rolled forward, "Phong, would
you contact Captain Irina and have her join us in my office, please?"
"Of course, my dear."
"We'll need some extra
chairs."
***
Dot settled behind her
desk, "Now I want some answers. Enzo,
what happened on Syn's ship?"
"Why are you asking him?"
Syn whined, "It was his fault --,"
"You will have your
chance, Captain Syn." Dot said. "Right now, I want to hear from my brother."
Dot recorded Enzo's words
in her organizer as her little brother spoke.
He didn't exaggerate (she could always tell when he was) just told his
story in a quiet yet firm voice. The
only interruption had been when Syn made a comment about Enzo being on his ship
in the first place. Dot silenced him
with a glare.
"Now you, Captain Syn,"
Dot said, when Enzo finished.
Now his story; Dot could
tell; was filled with embellishments.
There were many accusations and a lot of hand waving and by the time Syn
was finished, his face was purple and sweat had gathered on his forehead. All Dot said was, "Umm hmm – now you Mr.
Daverage."
Kurt Daverage was much
too cool for Dot's liking. He reminded
her in some ways of Megabyte.
"And what of your threats
against my brother?"
"Oh I was merely trying
to frighten him," Daverage said. "I
wouldn't have hurt him."
"That's a lie!" Enzo piped up, "He was going to hurt
me! He said so."
"All right Enzo," Dot
said.
"Little boys do tend to
exaggerate, Ms. Matrix."
"I'll ask that you keep
your comments to yourself," Dot turned to Irina, "Can you tell me what you saw
and heard Captain Irina?"
"Mr. Daverage stated he
would punish Enzo and advanced on him," Irina said, her voice level, "I took
this to mean that he planned some harm to the boy, so I acted."
"And what of that?" Daverage said, "I want to level charges
against that woman for assaulting me."
"Do what you feel you
must, Ms. Matrix," Captain Irina stood, "I will be on my ship." Before Irina left she nodded to Enzo, "Watch
yourself, young one."
"You're just going to let
her walk out of here?" Syn said.
"Captain Syn," Dot glared
at him, "Well Captain Lynx, what was your interest in all of this?"
"Merely assisting Captain
Syn, Ms. Matrix," Lynx said.
Why don't I believe
you? Dot thought. "And what of
that machine, Captain Syn?"
"It's mine. You have no
right to take it."
"Was it the cause of the
loss of the communications?"
"No."
"Then what is it for?"
"That's my business."
"All right, Syn, you want
to play it this way, we'll just hold onto it until we can figure out what it
is."
"What? You can't--,"
"Captain Syn, Mainframe
is my system and no one can tell me what I can or can not do here. If that machine is a threat to Mainframe's
safety, it is my right." Dot reached
over and pressed "save" on her organizer.
"This appears to be a case of one sprites word against another, but I
will do this and all parties involved will comply. "Captain Syn, you and your first mate and crew are confined to
your ship until further notice. Captain
Lynx, the same goes for you. You will
perform only the necessary duties and you will not interact with any citizens
of Mainframe."
"What? You can't!"
Syn cried.
"I thought I just said
that I could? My concern is the safety
of Mainframe, not your wants."
Syn slouched in his chair
and sulked.
"Enzo," Dot raised an
eyebrow when her brother seemed ready to protest, "You will stay away from
Syn's ship, understood?"
"Yes, Dot."
"Understood?" She glared at the three sprites before her.
"Yes, Ms. Matrix."
"Very well," Dot stood,
"Allow me to escort you out."
It was a silent group
that followed Dot outside. It was late
evening now, and Dot was tired and hungry and looking forward to stopping in at
the Diner and tasting some of Ronnie's near famous food.
To her concern, the crowd
seemed to have increased in size. A
cheer was raised as Syn stepped forward, waving and smiling like a bad
politician.
"Captain Syn!" Dot's
hands went to her hips.
"Of course, Ms. Matrix,"
Syn smirked, "I have unfortunately been confined to my ship for reasons unknown
to me."
"Unknown!" Dot and Enzo spoke in unison.
This caused the crowd to
go into a fury. They pressed forward,
shouting and shaking their fists. Dot
grabbed Enzo and pushed him behind her.
"Cease and desist!" Dot raised her hands, "Please, everyone
calm! There's no cause for violence."
The crowd was converging
on them, and Dot was about to yell to Enzo to run for the Principal Office when
a scream erupted over the noise.
Hexadecimal had appeared
out of nowhere, her face twisted in a wicked smile.
"Sheep," Hexadecimal
shook her head. "The binome captain was
right. They are mindless sheep."
Twin balls of red-hot
energy came to life in Hexadecimal's palms, "I believe you were told to cease
and desist? Would anyone care to
argue?"
The crowd needed no
further urging. They all turned and
fled as one.
Hexadecimal turned to
where Syn stood in a paralysis of fear, "Hmm, what a plump sprite you are! I'll bet you'll cook up nice and tender!"
Syn made a sound, which
was something between a gasp and a croak, "This isn't over, Ms. Matrix!" Then he turned and ran.
Hexadecimal made the energy
balls dissipate, then she burst out laughing, "What fun! I think I've found a new special friend!"
"Umm – Hexadecimal?" Dot said, careful to keep her voice even,
"Thank you
but --,"
"Oh, you're quite
welcome, Dot dear. That was my good
deed for the day. Bob will be so
pleased!"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh he asked me to help
you before he left. I didn't know how I
would do it, but I promised I would."
"Bob asked you to
help?" Enzo chimed in, "Dude! That was so cool, Hex, I think you made Syn
wet his pants!"
"Did I?" Hexadecimal clasped her hands together in
delight, "then it was worth it!" She frowned, "Young man, did you just pay me
a compliment?"
"Well – yeah," Enzo said.
"Then I shall grant you a
wish," Hex smiled, "I could do something quite entertaining to this Syn
person, would you like that?"
"Yes!"
"No!" Dot fought to stay in control as Hex turned
blazing red eyes on her. Dot realized
that this was basically the first time she would handle Hex alone. Bob always could but what if she
couldn't? "I mean, well, it's going to
be hard enough keeping things under control.
That crowd was afraid for now, but they'll get their courage back soon enough."
"Oh come now Dot, don't
you think I can handle anything?"
"I know you can Hex, but
I don't want to hurt anyone and frighten them anymore than they already are."
"Then you don't want my
help?" Hex's voice was low.
"Sure we do!"
"Enzo," Dot warned. Now what?
They probably could use Hex's help, but what if they couldn't control
her? What if she went on a
rampage? What if she joined with
Daemon when the armada arrived?
A memory came to
Dot. Something Bob had once told
her. Actually, it was something Bob had
repeated after receiving the advice from Phong.
Keep your friends
close and your enemies even closer.
"Yes, we could use your
help, Hexadecimal," I must be out of my mind. "Why don't we go to my office and talk?"
"Why don't you walk with
me, little one?" Hexadecimal smiled down at Enzo.
"Um – well, okay."
"Bob said I could trust
you, Dot," Hexadecimal said. "I hope
you can learn to trust me."
Not likely, Dot thought.
Bob, you owe me big time for this one.
