Pax Galactica - A Space Opera

Chapter 45 - Thus To All Tyrants

Decker looked at the sprawled out body of Helios from the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath. He was ready.

<We're doing it,> thought Decker. <How long would it take you to get set up enough to warp in the raw antimatter?>

<From here? At least three seconds,> replied the tiny little blob on Decker's lower back which was all that remained of the Suit in the lower dimensions.

<That might not be fast enough. I'm going to do what I can but when I give you the signal get it done as fast as you can.>

<I've been waiting for the signal. Don't worry about me, you just figure out when you going to give it. We don't have forever.>

<Suit, it's been an honor serving with you.>

<Wow, you really are going to do it now aren't you? I don't know what to say. It's been an honor to serve with you too.>

<Goodbye, Suit.>

<Goodbye.>

Decker gave Ophelia a significant look and this time they were no misunderstanding. They couldn't afford to give each other any further acknowledgement.

"Have you spoken to the other members of the Neutronium Dragons?" asked Decker. "You can't let the Lodge Mistress speak for everyone."

"She speaks for them all," replied Helios. "They won't go against her. They are rigid like that."

"Sam isn't," said Ophelia, dropping the nickname for once. "There could be others like him."

"He's just a Squire," said Helios. "He didn't have the chance to be indoctrinated into all their nonsense yet. I'm not going to waste any more of my time on unworthy minds. I have none to spare. I am in the process of becoming. It demands all my attention."

Good enough, thought Decker. Hopefully she's not being hyperbolic.

He looked over to Ophelia one final time before he sent the signal to kill them all. That's when he noticed it. Right behind her. The walls, the impossible-looking walls, had conformed to the actual shape of the Heptagon.

And they were black. The entire interior of the Heptagon was being surrounded by a pitch black field.

"WHAT IS THIS?" demanded Helios.

In a move that blew out its primary field manipulator the Sic Semper Tyrannis displaced the whole interior of the Heptagon out into empty space. Without any shields to protect her Helios wasn't able to react in time to stop it.

Decker and Ophelia's Suits immediately began to deploy as fast as they could, hoping to save the lives of their wearers.

The Inxon constructs, with all their strange geometries, could not survive unprotected in the orderly physics of this universe. They began to unfold, to writh and boil, as they attempted to resolve themselves inside these new baseline physics. They twisted themselves into all kinds of semi-possible shapes, into optical illusions, before they dissolved away forever.

Helios had placed too much of herself into the Heptagon. It was like her mind was the thing that was boiling away. She suffocated to death, screaming as her brain died piece by piece.

Decker was aware he was floating. He wanted to gasp for air but there was nothing to gasp for. He could feel his Suit crawling painfully slowly across his body. He was so cold. He didn't think he was going to make it. Vaguely he was aware that he had won.

Everything faded to black.

* * *

Decker woke up. He blinked. His eyes hurt. Then again, your eyes always hurt the first time you used them.

The next thing Decker realized was that he was hungry. He sat up immediately in his bed.

He was in the Sick Bay. He was in a fresh body. A.R.C. must have picked up his deathward. They must have understood his plan!

Decker could her the hum of AG as the nurse drone approached. It no longer annoyed him.

"Oh good," said the drone. "You're up. I'll page the Lodge Mistress."

"Thanks," said Decker. "Is there any way I could get something to eat?"

"Deja vu," said the Drone.

The drone floated off and returned with a tray of various unappealing geometrically shaped health food. Then it fetched the Lodge Mistress.

Lodge Mistress Quartermass came into the room while Decker was already eating. She sat across from the bed and watched him eat the plain brown rice. In his excitement he hadn't remembered the be specific enough when he asked the drone for food but he didn't care.

"That was quite resourceful of you back there," she observed.

"Thanks," replied Decker, his mouth full, "I was worried you didn't understand what I was getting at."

"You did us proud. I rescind my expulsion."

Decker didn't know how to respond to that. He swallowed his mouthful of rice.

"Where's Ophelia?" he asked."Er- Squire Annesdaughter."

"She's fine," said the Lodge Mistress. "She's over on the Ship With The Unnecessarily Long Name That All Kinds Of People Are Going To Be Inconvenienced By. Although she's Ranger Annesdaughter now, I think you'll find."

"Already?"

"The Violet Motley has no sense of ceremony," said the Lodge Mistress. "Speaking of which, finish your rice. You've got somewhere to be."