The Apocalypse Contract

CHAPTER 37 - SYDNEY

Through two more pots of tea and another heaping plate of cookies, they continued working. A plan was emerging, but the devil was in the details.

"My ship is wimpy," Sydney argued. "It has less computer power and smaller engines. If we're going to sacrifice anything, it's the logical choice."

"That won't work," Mel insisted, "they'll recognize it. I stole my ship from that behemoth science cruiser. It makes much more sense for the cuneiform data to be on it."

"Won't they be suspicious either way? They have to see that we've been cruising together all this time, ever since you chased us down."

"I'm not so sure. You really did a number on their network. It's likely they don't even have sensor data for the early part of that. And once we got a good distance away from the base, they'd be looking at us through a haze of engine plasma. I doubt they can even pick out the individual ships when we're docked together like this."

"But when one of us turns around to head back to the base, they'll know the score."

Mel stared off into space for a moment. "Not necessarily. What if we do this?" She picked up a pair of cookies. "Imagine this cookie is my ship and the smaller one is yours. Now imagine... Roger, take that banana nut cluster and hold it up right there. OK, that's the alien base. Now I fly ahead, keeping you between me and the base." She brought her arms apart to show a gap appearing between both ships. "When I've gotten a decent distance ahead of you, I turn around and start accelerating back, still keeping you in between. Then you change vectors and shoot off to the side." She moved the vanilla wafer to demonstrate. "See? Now the base sees a second ship appear, heading right for them. It will just look like you were getting out of the way. They'll never know we used to be together."

Sydney looked at the arrangement of cookies. "Hmm. It could work."

"Sure it will." Mel popped her ship into her mouth. "I'll come flying in, all beat up and limping. When I get close I'll send a data dump with the cuneiform stuff, but I'll garble it, like my transmitter is busted. They'll get just enough to whet their appetite. They'll have to pull me in."

Roger didn't look convinced. "It's too dangerous. What if something goes wrong? You'll be captured, and we will have no way of rescuing you. Are you really willing to take that chance?"

"You're so sweet, being all worried about little old me, but that's meat-brain thinking. I'll make a copy of myself... a purpose built fragment. We send that into danger, while I stay here on this ship eating cookies." She stuffed another banana nut cluster into her mouth.

Sydney stared at her twin, trying to make sense of her words. "You would do that? After everything they did to you... copying and hacking your brain... you would go and do the same to yourself?"

"Sure, why not?" Mel looked confused. "The hacking wasn't the horrible thing, it was the lack of consent. But this is my choice. I'm volunteering."

Roger looked from Sydney to Mel. "Do I understand correctly? Are you suggesting you will make yet another version of yourself? A third Miss Rossiter to confound our enemy?"

"Well, not a full one," Mel replied, "just a fragment. Something halfway between me and one of the crows. I'll leave the intellect and hacking skills intact, but trim out a bunch of memories and tamp down the fear response. It'll be me, but sort of an idiot savant nerd me with none of my sparkling wit or vast knowledge of Korean dramas."

Sydney couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You can do that? I mean, not just that you're willing... you actually know how to do that?"

"Of course. You're forgetting, sis, I'm basically a patchwork of fragments. I had to learn to hack my own brain just to become a whole person. Also, one of my three primary subpersonalities is tailor made for this sort of work. Heavy on the intellect, skimpy on emotion. I'll use that as the template."