Again, he realized he was aiding and abetting the breaking of rules and orders. But these were human rules and orders so did it really count? Perhaps not even his mother or the Council would care about his breaking these. Humans were, after all, a lesser species whose reasoning was often clouded with their barbaric instincts. What he had seen Jace do today was far more important to investigate than to honor human laws.
The soldier retreated five more steps and licked his lips nervously. His eyes flickered all over Jace’s pale and sweaty face, taking in the pain the young man clearly was in. It was evident that the soldier feared contracting whatever alien disease that Jace had. Khoth nearly sighed.
“Uhm, well, then you’d best be on your way!” The soldier swallowed hard. “I’ll just ah, stay here and let your father know that you went for uhm, those tests. When he gets back that is. I’ll just… stay here.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Jace said. He still smiled at the soldier, but he seemed a little grayer than before. Khoth stirred uneasily. Was Jace’s condition deteriorating? “Commander, remember, you are to go down that way. That’s where the, ah, tests are going to be administered.”
Jace pointed down the hallway towards the Osiris digsite. The soldier pressed himself to the wall and edged away from them as Khoth carried Jace past him.
“You lied to that soldier,” Khoth pointed out when they were out of hearing distance.
“And you went along with it,” Jace pointed out back.
Khoth frowned. He had. “That is true. I did have qualms about doing so.”
“Really?” Jace let out a faint laugh. “That surprises me.”
“Why do you doubt me? Which way?” Khoth asked as they had come to a T-intersection.
“To right and then left next chance you get,” Jace told him and pointed North. “Gehenna’s in that general direction.” Khoth moved swiftly as had been indicated. Jace continued, “As to your question about thinking you’re not above breaking some rules and telling some lies? Well, you saw I was awake, but didn’t tell my dad. You know that Gehenna is more important than anything right now.”
“I do not know anything about Gehenna. You were going to tell me or will you go back on your word?” Khoth asked.
He had a feeling that they were going to be breaking more rules and telling more lies before they got to this Gehenna. He needed to know what he was risking his honor again for.
“Gehenna is an AI. To be honest with you, I’m not sure of a lot. But since you’re helping me, I--I think I should tell you everything. Not to mention, she said she brought you to me to help,” Jace said.
Khoth thought of how his ship had suddenly not obeyed his commands. Had Gehenna somehow been able to access the Exarch’s systems and control them? This was utterly new. No AI had ever been discovered in Precursor tech before. Various species of the Alliance had dabbled in creating AI, but all had pulled back from such research when the dangers it presented outweighed the good. But if Jace was truly in touch with a Precursor AI… well, that changed everything. Getting Jace to Gehenna was suddenly the most important mission he could have.
“Tell me everything you know,” Khoth said.
“Okay. So let me tell you about my dreams…”
Jace told him of his dreams, of the training that he could half remember, of Gehenna being able to contact him more clearly once he had a Precursor gun, of connecting with the Osiris, and, finally, of Metal Rain. Khoth said nothing as Jace talked. His mind whirled with the possibilities of what Jace was telling him.
The Alliance should not have left the Osiris in human hands. That this human was somehow connected to a Precursor AI was unthinkable. That the connection was far from perfect was, undoubtedly, because humanity was simply not evolved enough to connect to it properly. If the Osiris had been in Thaf’ell hands then the connection would have been successful the first time.
Khoth was guessing at some of this, but past discoveries had shown that those races with a greater association with the Precursor species were able to access higher levels of their technology. While in the hands of a Xols, a Precursor gun was able to fire single shots, but in the hands of a Thaf’ell the gun would transform to offer different rates of fire, different energy levels and even different effects. So it only made sense that a Precursor AI could do far more with a connection to a Thaf’ell than to a human.
While he had somewhat doubted the course he was on by violating human laws, he realized now that he was doing the right thing and acting for the greater good. Captain Jack Parker had made it clear that he had no intention of letting Khoth know about the AI and Jace’s connection to it. That was unacceptable. No, he had to find out everything about this Gehenna for the Alliance.
As Jace finished with what had happened after the death of the Khul, he glanced down and saw that Jace’s eyes were shut and sweat poured down his face from the effort. Khoth felt a tug of worry.
“Gehenna claims that if you complete this connection that you will be well?” Khoth qualified.
“Hmmm, yeah, that’s what she says,” Jace got out. “Turn right here. And then… then we need to go down.”
Jace directed them into a hallway that ended in some kind of lift. The doors to this lift were guarded by two human soldiers. The soldiers were not the only security measures for use of the lift. His exo-suit’s scanner told him that it also required various DNA scans and access codes to work.
Khoth could easily get past the two human soldiers, because under the Alliance’s agreement with the humans, any Alliance soldier of his rank was automatically granted access to the Osiris. But he had not yet had time to get formally added to their primitive security systems. And while he was certain he could have simply bullied his way past regardless, he could not do so successfully with Jace in his arms. The soldiers would immediately contact Captain Parker and their quest would be at an end. But he needed to get to Gehenna as much as Jace did now. So there was really only one course open to him, which was to use the Alliance’s superior technology to override the soldiers and the security.
“What are you thinking?” Jace asked.
He looked down and saw that Jace’s eyes were open and watching him carefully. What would the young man think of his solution? Causing human soldiers to fall unconscious and then hijacking a life was potentially beyond what Jace had thought it would take to get to Gehenna. Would he balk at such actions?
“We have a problem. Three problems.” Khoth tipped his head to the soldiers and the elevator.
“Oh, shit, yeah.” Jace bit his lower lip and more beads of icy sweat coursed down his face as he took in the setup. “You don’t think my infection ploy will work with them?”
