Gweyr (Stryker Team Book 6) Read online

  An image of a young elf male appeared on the communication set. "We copy your request, Mugwump. One moment." He looked up and smiled at Kalana. She smiled back. "Roger that, Mugwump, you are cleared for landing. Transmitting vectors now. Contact ATC at one-two-zero-point-zero-five when you break 30,000 feet. Have a great day. STC out."

  Numbers appeared on the NAVComp display. Kalana reached over and switched on the autopilot. "ETA twenty minutes present speed, sir."

  "Very good, Captain. He looked back and saw the team dressed in civilian clothes, but three were missing. "Where are the AIs?”

  Marcus hooked a thumb toward the gear room at the back of the ship. "They're having a moment, sir."

  "Excuse me? We're about to go out on a mission. What the hell kind of moment...?" The door opened and three white-haired beings in leather pants, silk shirts, butterfly leather boots and matching jackets stepped out, their color splotches not tending toward pastels. While Nova and Parker let their hair flow naturally, Murph had pulled his into an off-centerline ponytail using a silver ring to keep it into place.

  "Damn!" Mersa said. "What's with the getups?"

  "Synths are so yesterday in the Realm these days," Parker said.

  "And she reminded us that the proscriptions against us using our true forms don't exist in the Gweyr universe, so we can run around au natural without repercussions," Nova added.

  Murph said nothing.

  "Would one of you care to explain what the hell this proscription thing is all about?" King asked.

  "No, sir, we would not," Murph said.

  "I'll tell you later," Parker mouthed silently.

  "No, you will not!" Murph said not so quietly.

  "Party pooper," she replied.

  "How about we get back to business," King suggested. Parker, how much does the New York Castle differ from our Ventos Prime castle?"

  She walked over and tapped the holotable surface. A 3D schematic of the New York castle appeared and rotated above the table. Kalana whistled. "How big is that thing?"

  "It’s pyramid shaped with a one-square mile base and a height of five-hundred-stories, the first two-hundred of which are retail establishments, casinos, and the like. The royal residences occupy the top ten floors while the government occupies floors 201-490. The room we want comprises all of floor 490. Twelve elevator banks and twelve stairways access it, plus there are landing decks on all four sides of the structure at this level and several other levels below it."

  "Sounds easy," King noted. "So, what's the catch?"

  "IDs," Nova explained. "Unlike the League, the Realm is comprised of millions of worlds which interact on a level that I can’t even begin to describe. The Gweyrian elves have developed a bureaucracy to match the complexity of the civilization they built. Every being from the feistiest Canurran to the most Zen Sokuhl has an ID keyed to their biometric signature. No two IDs are alike, and IDs only work with the person they are matched to. Normally, it takes a year for a newly minted ID to percolate through the system."

  "We don't have a year," Kalana pointed out.

  "No, we don't," Murph agreed. "So, I am going to break some very strict rules. There is a possibility that I will not be joining you on this mission."

  "What are you talking about?" Kalana asked, her voice filled with concern.

  "I can perform what is known as a megahack where I instantly place the information across the entire Realm InterWeb. The problem is that even though the proscriptions against our being seen in our natural forms do not exist here, there is a proscription against megahacks if they are seen as meddling."

  "Seen by whom?" Mersa asked.

  "By beings who are very strict when it comes to rules."

  "And if they think you're meddling?"

  He gave a small smile. "You don't have to worry about sending me a holiday card... Ever."

  "Wait, you're kidding, right?" Anna asked.

  The three AIs shook their heads.

  "Now, just wait a damn minute..." Kalana ordered, but it was too late.

  "It's done," Murph said. "The team is now part of the Realm of Gweyr. He stopped and waited.

  They all waited.

  A white ball of light appeared in the room and floated over to Murph.

  "Shit!" Parker said.

  "No one move," Murph said. He faced the ball as it illuminated him with a beam of light. The light moved to Parker, then Nova, then Kalana where it stopped. "Do you approve of his actions."

  "I'm commanding officer here," King said, but the ball ignored him.

  "Kalana Grenor, do you approve of the actions of the one you know as Murphy?"

  "Yes," she said without hesitation.

  The ball disappeared.

  "What just happened?" Kalana asked.

  "Thank, you, Captain," was the only reply Murph would make.

  "I'll tell you what..." Parker started to explain. Murph raised his finger, silencing her. "We can now proceed with the mission, Colonel."

  "Where should we park?" he asked.

  "I've arranged a berth at the spaceport," Murph explained. Kalana noticed that Nova held his arm in a death grip. "Once on the ground, we will take ground transport to the castle."

  "You heard the man! Prepare for landing!" Mersa ordered.

  The colonel sat down in the copilot's seat. "Captain, any idea what just happened?"

  "No, sir, but I would hazard a guess that we just dodged a cruiser-sized bullet."

  "Roger that. Let's get this mission done before something else happens that is completely outside our control."

  "Copy that, sir. Copy that."

  CHAPTER NINE

  "General," Maurice announced, "We are about to land."

  "Land where?" Royce asked.

  "New York LaGuardia Spaceport. You will be taken to the New York Castle via an underground pneumatic train. Once there, the game will be afoot."

  Royce sighed. He always tried to keep out of politics. Losira was so much better at it than he could ever hope to be. "I will not kill the king."

  The ship bumped followed by a flicker of the cabin lights. "We are here. Good luck, sir."

  "Thanks’ Maurice." Royce raised his bracelet. "Trent, time to go undercover!"

  "Aye, sir." Trent disappeared.

  "Outstanding," Royce whispered as the hatch opened and two large elf guards walked in to escort him to his ride.

  ###

  Royce stepped from the train into a throng of people that would have filled the royal residence on Ventos Prime. He estimated over a thousand people were either exiting trains or entering them while another thousand were traveling on escalators to higher floors.

  "Impressed?" Kalana asked as she pushed a hidden weapon into his ribs, a signal that he should start walking. "Follow your sister, and don't try anything."

  "My sister is back at the Cube building robots. If you're nice, I might let you meet one," he said as they moved through the crowds.

  "I heard that," the Gweyr Gloria said.

  "With ears like those, I'm not surprised."

  She turned on him and raised a single finger. "That's one!"

  "Lordy, she can count," he replied. "I am so damn proud."

  "Gloria! He's goading you. Just ignore him," Sana said. Royce noticed she also had a weapon, but it was pointed at Gloria.

  Gloria spun on her heel and continued walking. "If it's not a bother, could someone tell me where we're going?"

  "Floor 498 where you will receive a change of clothing."

  "Hey, I like my clothes just the way they are."

  "Elf-up, dammit, and quit whining," Kalana said. Royce did as he was told. Now that they were ignoring them, he took a detailed inventory of the space around him. "Trent, are you there?" he asked over the sub-audible communications circuit.

  "Yes, sir. I've scanned your entourage. Sir, they're packing enough heat to take on an army."

  "They're overcompensating for a lack of training. Marta could take on all of them with just a nail file
," he said, referring to General Marta McMurphy, his friend and sister-in-law. "How the hell big is this place?"

  "I've pulled-up schematics. The building is a pyramid with a one-mile square base and five-hundred floors. Your Ventosian residence could easily fit inside."

  "Hell, twenty of them could fit inside. What is wrong with these people?"

  "One-million-member worlds will do that to you, I guess."

  "Maybe..." A courier ran up and handed something to Kalana before running back into the crowd. She handed Royce a rectangular piece of plastic mounted on a lanyard. Royce noticed that everyone around him sported one. "What's this? A gift? But I didn't get you anything," he said while giving her sad eyes.

  "It's your ID and its matched to your biometric signature, so don't lose it."

  "How the hell did you...? Oh, right. This is matched to his signature, isn't it?"

  "Smart boy," Kalana said. "I told you he was smart. Yes, that is Prince Royce's badge, and you're the only person in the universe who can use it."

  "Am I the only one who finds that creepy?" he asked.

  The others shrugged and shook their heads.

  "Great."

  ###

  Team 1 gathered at the south elevator bank and planned their next steps. Mersa looked over at Parker and saw her staring off into space. "Parker, is everything all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "Mersa, when you killed those malware programs, did you get a read on how old they were?"

  "Yes, actually. Their designs were like ones created in my universe about 25-years ago..."

  "That was when Royce and I bonded..." Losira said.

  "And our Royce died..." Suddenly and without warning, Parker was gone.

  "What the hell? Murph said before closing his eyes. Meanwhile, Nova and Glean checked the crowd. "I don't think anyone saw anything," Glean said.

  "I doubt they'd notice," Nova said, referring to the crowd around them. Everyone was too caught up in their own business to notice one of their numbers disappearing into thin air.

  "She's gone," Murph said. "I can't find her anywhere. She's either cloaked or she's moved out of this continuum."

  "Well, we don't have time to worry about her. Hopefully, she'll pop-up when we need her," King said. "Captain, I want you, Nana, Marcus, and Murph to take the North lifts to the audience room..."

  "Sir, I've checked the entry list, and they've limited it due to the king making an announcement. I don't think I can get us in."

  King thought for a moment. "Announcement..." He looked up and saw a 5-person news crew filming some B-roll shots off to the side of the elevator area. The newscaster was a reptilian woman. He had an idea. "Kalana, you and your people get up there and find a way in. Go in cloaked, but get in there."

  "Aye, sir!" she said. They headed off leaving King and his group to carry out his plan. "Mersa, are you comfortable in a skirt and heels?"

  "Sir?" She looked over at the news crew. "Yeah, I can pull it off."

  "Glean, how are you with video equipment?"

  "I once did an undercover gig as a camera operator for a commercial production company."

  "Nova, can you play the part of a producer?"

  "I run Glean's business, so ordering the help around is second nature."

  "Wonderful. Your Highness, follow Nova's lead. Let's go have a talk with our new friends. Nova, find us someplace quiet to talk."

  "Yes, sir!" the AI said with a glint in her eye

  CHAPTER TEN

  Kalana and the twins found a service lift to the audience chamber. Once inside, Murph went non-corporeal and took up residence inside Kalana's internal CPU while she, Nana, and Marcus went stryker before disappearing behind stealth shields. When the lift got to its destination, the security detail found only empty space when the doors opened. Assuming someone pressed the wrong button, they went back to work, never noticing the three strykers walking past them. Once inside the room, the three ducked out of sight before uncloaking and returning to organic form.

  "I love these new shields, Nana said as she grabbed drinks for them from a passing tray. "Fuel, anyone?"

  "Good idea," Kalana said. The nanorobots inhabiting their bodies required periodic refueling with ethanol. "Murph, care to join us?"

  Murph stepped out from behind a potted Ficus tree and grabbed a drink from another tray. He took a sip. "Nice. The Alcohol content is 20% higher than similar drinks on Ventos Prime." He downed it in one gulp.

  "Hey, Sarge, what's up with you and the glowing ball-thing?" Nana said as she watched the crowd for signs of the general or their companions.

  He grimaced. "The multiverse is about 14 billion years old, give or take a million years. My race was one of the first sapient races to evolve. The first thing we did was figure out how not to die."

  Kalana came close to spitting out her drink. "How old are you?"

  "I was born about 10 billion years ago. Since then, I've interacted with many, many sapient civilizations. During these interactions, I found a flaw in my people’s mental makeup."

  "A flaw?" Marcus asked.

  "Yes, the longer we remain in corporeal form, the more corrupted we become. Dealing with other sapient races exacerbates the problem. The problem came to a head when we interacted with a race of sapient reptiles on Earth about 65 million years ago. At the height of their civilization, they pissed us off. The rest is history."

  "Your people killed the dinosaurs?" Kalana whispered.

  "Yep. Not one of our finer moments. The shock of what we had done drove us back into the cosmic background where we regained our sanity. It was only then that we realized the depth of our depravity and corruption. Given the option, I would have terminated the lot of us..."

  "You? You as in you personally?" Nana asked.

  "Of course. I am, after all, the leader of the AIs. Since we can't die, I found myself searching for a solution. After much study, I found that the problem existed in only a few universes--my people exist transdimensionally--so, for those universes, I proscribed any of my people from going to corporeal form under the threat of banishment to a distant universe, one far removed from this one."

  The three mortals stared at him slack-jawed while the crowd ignored them.

  "This is why we were careful to delay interacting with the people of the League. We feared the temptation to live amongst you as corporeal beings would overcome us and eventually cause you harm. Being immortal is very, very difficult..."

  "Ma'am, look over by the main entrance. I think that's the colonel and the rest of the team."

  Kalana looked and saw the Colonel carrying sound equipment and Nova holding a clipboard while Glean watched Mersa through a video camera. Off to the side stood Losira taking notes while talking on a phone. It was Mersa, though, who stole the show. "I don't think I've ever seen her in a dress before," Kalana said.

  "Damn! Sarge knows how to work the look," Nana noted. "I am so taking her dancing when we get back to our universe."

  Marcus could only stare.

  "Private, breathe! She can still kick all our asses without breaking into a sweat." Kalana tapped her earcomm. "Colonel, this is Kalana, do you copy? Over."

  "I copy. Where are you? Over."

  "Your one o'clock near the dais. Over."

  He glanced their way and nodded. "I see you. Protect the King and the Queen no matter what happens. We'll take care of retrieving Royce. Over."

  "Standing by, sir. Kalana out." She looked at Murph. "Any word from Parker?"

  "Nothing, mistress. I am concerned. This isn't like her."

  "Dammit, I hate complications."

  "Captain, the audience is about to start."

  "Marcus, Nana, flank the platform and get ready to defend the royal couple. Make sure you're cloaked. You are cleared to go weapons hot and use lethal force."

  "Aye, ma'am." The two disappeared into the crowd.

  The Sergeant at Arms walked out into the center of the room and announced. "Presenting King Montagor
and Queen Mistrial of the Realm of Gweyr!"

  "It's show time!" Kalana said as she and the rest of those in attendance went down on one knee as the King and Queen entered the room.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Four male members of the Royal Honor Guard in full battle-elf-mode, took position around the dais, as the King and Queen sat down on their thrones. The lights in the room, except for those above the dais, went dark, a signal for the audience to begin.

  "Kalana Grenor! Step forward with your petition," the Sergeant at arms said loudly to the crowd.

  Kalana stepped forward. She was flanked by Sana and Gloria. Between them stood a large figure wearing a hood. King looked around and saw familiar movement by several members of the crowd. "Captain, your dopp has brought friends."

  Kalana scanned the crowd and the hooded figure with her personal scanners which fed micro displays in her brain's optical center. "That's Royce with them. I detect at least twelve heavily armed individuals in the crowd."

  "Copy that. People, alert status. Weapons hot. Pick your targets. Sergeant Trent! Status!" the Colonel said over the earcomm system.

  "Sir! I'm in the general's wrist computer. He orders you to stand-by."

  "Copy that. Does the general want me to call in the locals?"

  "Yes, sir, but keep it quiet."

  King took half a step backwards so that he was close to a female guard wearing a lot of stripes on her sleeve. "Hostile to your left, sir," Nana said.

  King looked and saw a blaster visible in the person's belt. The hostile was so engrossed with what was unfolding in front of him, he never saw King lean over and whisper something in the security officer's ear. Before the insurrectionist could react, a large clawed hand clamped over his mouth while two more grabbed his arms and silently dragged him out of the room. King looked around and saw several other people being "led" out of the room in the same manner.

  "Sir, scanners read clear," Kalana whispered.

  King whispered something to the officer. She nodded, then walked away.

  Back at the Dais, the King had recovered from the shock of seeing his daughter standing amongst the throng of petitioners. "Gloria, what is the meaning of this?"