22nd July
13:52 GMT
"Orange Lantern."
"Miss Gozzi.
"
Her expression is neutral, looking neither pleased or displeased, surprised or expectant. I'm tempted to think that that's a Coluan thing, but I don't have anything like enough data to conclude
that.
Commodore Amalak raises a decanter of something blue from behind his bar. "Vran?"
She doesn't look around, preferring to focus her attention on me. "Water, please."
"
Both of you?" Amalak sounds mildly put out, and his tone causes Miss Gozzi to frown slightly, glancing his way and then back at me as I raise my own glass. "What's the point of owning these drinks if my business partners refuse to share them with me and be appropriately impressed by my generosity?"
I smile at his good humour, taking a sip of my water as I do so.
"How can I assist?"
Realising that she's not going to change her mind, Amalak tosses back his own drink and pours another of the blue stuff. "Orange Lantern wants to know something
you might know, and I think that it's in the interests of our organisation to further improve our relationship."
She nods. "I have not yet been able to learn anything definitive regarding the Citadelian implants. If you wait a few days I can focus my efforts-."
She cuts herself off as I shake my head.
"I already know. The implants connected every Citadelian to the First. He was able to keep them unified by sharing his own way of thinking.
"
"The First Citadelian?" She frowns. "I had assumed that he was long since dead. What evidence do you have?"
I raise my left hand and generate a construct image of our confrontation, letting it play with subtitles as I continue talking.
"A few months ago I had to recall my ring from a considerable distance away, and inadvertently called rings out of the Beast's cave on Okaara. Five of them found their way into the hands of the Citadel. One he kept for himself, the other four he gave to new-generation 'smart' Citadelians.
" I speed up the images as the talking stops and the fighting begins.
"As you might deduce by the fact that I'm standing here and the Citadel Empire is in disarray-.
"
"With the First's death the implants no longer serve any purpose. Or at least can't unify the Citadelians in the same way." She watches carefully as I shoot the First dead, then I dismiss the construct. "Their empire will survive on inertia and ignorance for a time, but you fought him openly. That information will spread."
"I had always aimed on taking down the Citadel eventually. This will just speed things up a little. But it isn't why I wanted to speak to you.
"
"Clearly."
"I was wondering if you could give me a lead on the present location of Vril Dox.
"
I see a
coil of fear within her. "No. I have no idea where he went after abandoning Colu to his creations. And getting further information would be far too risky for me to attempt it out of mere curiosity. The security systems of the Computer Tyrants are
exceedingly comprehensive." She takes a deep breath, her equanimity returning. "If you wish to look for him I would suggest asking the Computer Tyrants yourself. If anyone is still in contact with him, it will be them, and they may be prepared to trade knowledge to an alien."
Why-? Oh, she thinks I mean
Brainiac, or… I knew Vril was a clone, I didn't realise they had the same name. Oh dear. I have..
assumed that Vril-. That Brainiac 2 exists here. But if Brainiac just never decided to create a cloned lab assistant…
"Ah, no. I heard a… Rumour that Brainiac had a clone-son..? It was him I was hoping to track down, not the original.
" Although…
"Not yet, at any rate. I can't imagine Brainiac treating anyone as an equal, so I suspect that such a boy would possess his primogenitor's intelligence while utterly hating the man. Such a person would be
very useful to me.
"
"During the period in which he ruled Colu, Vril Dox did not share information on his personal life with the population. If he did clone himself there-" She raises her hands into a typing pose and a holoscreen appears in front of her. "-would be little directly observable evidence." She begins typing, data scrolling across the screen in several directions as she accesses her own intelligence sources. "Can I assume that this 'rumour' does in fact have a solid espionage base?"
"I have… Access to
unusual sources of information.
"
"That woman in the background. A Guardian?"
"Not any more. She quit about three billion years ago.
"
"Hm."
"Speaking of which…
" I look over to Amalak.
"Green Man hasn't given you any trouble, has he?
"
He moves his glass away from his mouth and swallows. "He's watching us, but as yet he hasn't taken any action against us. The Crown Imperium have increased their force concentration near their border, but they're keeping away from Jarko's territory. It looks like a purely defensive posture. Reminding us that while they can't chase down every raider they
can strike at our bases with a level of force which we can't stop." He smiles with the left side of his mouth. "Yet, at any rate."
"Commodore. Please, try to avoid antagonising the largest stable civilisation in this region of space.
"
"O
h." He waves his glass vaguely. "It won't come to blows. Just a little sabre-rattling to reassure Jarko that I'm on his side." He smiles suddenly. "Oh, that reminds me: your Spider-friend-."
"I may have what you want." I turn back to Miss Gozzi. Her text screen has now been joined by the image of an orange-yellow toblerone-shaped ship. "Most races with any sense have avoided Colu since Vril Dox seized power. The only exception is
this vessel."
"Who owns it?
"
"
The Dominion."
The Dominators. I
thought I remembered something about them being involved. Culturally, they're quite a lot like the Psions in an 'evil science race' sort of way. Unlike the Psions, the Dominators are tightly unified and tend to avoid direct confrontation. They buy small numbers of slaves for experimentation, but their most notable-.
"Is there a Dominator prison in the area?
"
"Yes."
Another image flashes up and
oh my goodness me. That's a
big one.
Dominator run prisons are famously hard to escape from. They're also fairly popular with interstellar civilisations as the Dominators are perfectly happy to hold prisoners cheaply. In return for a tithe of the prisoners for the purpose of biological experimentation, though the Dominators take care to generally only use the worst inmates. Unless they get someone
really interesting. Ugh, very high end sensors, minefield and shields, and most likely exotic defences as well. Not to mention a small patrol fleet and Dominion fleet reinforcements not too far away. Getting in there is
not going to be easy.
"Have you got precise details on their defences?
"
"No, only a partial plan." I feel the data packet being relayed to my ring. "Obviously, you did not receive that from us. We have no desire to confront the Dominion."
"Any idea what they want with a Coluan?
"
"If a clone of Vril Dox is indeed being held there, I would guess that they wish to use him to better predict the actions of his sire. Coluan neurophysiology is sophisticated, but if they simply wished to study our brains then there are far easier members of our species to acquire. I personally am more concerned with what they gave the Computer Tyrants in exchange."
"Problem for another day.
" I nod to her and then to my host.
"Thank you both for your help. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a prison to break.
"
