HAWK

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: BREACH (1/6)

All was quiet inside the Pegasus.

The lone X1 robot watching over the four bio-mechs hadn't moved an inch since it had boarded ten minutes before. It was slightly intrigued by the robot at the end of the line - the one that looked like a primitive version of itself - but its orders were to simply guard them for the time being. Lines of green code scrolled slowly over its face, computing only the silence.

Except it wasn't silent. There was a strange, faintly musical sound that it felt drawn to.

After several minutes of listening, the X1's code started to pick up speed. It scrolled by faster and faster, line after line until the sound became a voice.

'Turn around...'

The X1 turned and found itself looking at the strange black ship behind it, the one with all the holes. A doorway suddenly appeared in its side.

'Enter...'

Abandoning its post, the X1 walked towards the ship and stepped through the door where it found itself looking at a large silver box. The top of the box suddenly split open and slid away.

The entrance behind the X1 closed.

* * *

Kas shut her eyes and raised a trembling hand to her face. She combed back her mohawk, feeling a cold lick of sweat glaze her palm. She wasn't sure how she was going to play this out, but she knew the second the door had closed that she would probably never see it open again.

'Tell me what you know,' the alien said.

Kas opened her eyes and looked into the alien's.

'I know everything,' she replied. 'I know who the Federation is, I know what you've done and I know what you're doing now.'

'Explain what you mean.'

'The Federation isn't some noble body out to enlighten and empower the galaxy; it's out to consume it.' Kas looked at President Mantana crumpled on the floor and saw him gazing back at her with the eyes of a child. He was as clueless as he was powerless.

'The Federation is an artificial intelligence,' she continued, 'the relic of an ancient solar system that wiped itself out thousands of years ago. That's why they won't let anyone into their home. They don't want anyone to know the truth. Selva wasn't destroyed by terrorists or aliens. It was destroyed by the Federation because our solar system became a threat. That's why they're moving the IRIS: they're going to use it to import neutron stars and change the mass of the sun. They're going to make Primi go supernov--'

The alien lifted her off the floor by her neck with astonishing speed. It pulled her closer until their faces were mere inches away from one another. It had gripped her under her jaw in such a way that she could still breathe.

'Where did you get this information?' the alien asked her.

The question was inevitable, but it was the one Kas had been dreading. She didn't want to tell the truth about Rhaspa and Mana, but she also knew she couldn't remain silent - Worm and Captain Mack were depending on her. She looked into the alien's eyes, ready to tell it the truth... and froze. In their reflection, she could just about make out Governor Swanne, still standing by the window and gazing out at the IRIS behind her.

The idea struck her like an arrow. It would be a terrible risk, she knew, but in her gut, she felt it had a chance.

'From Governor Swanne,' she croaked. She saw the distorted reflection of Swanne turn around, pulled at last into the conversation.

'What nonsense are you talking about?' Swanne spat.

'There's no point in lying anymore. Tell them what you told me.'

The alien looked from Kas to Swanne. The governor laughed nervously.

'This is ridiculous!' she said. 'I haven't told her a thing! I don't know anything! Can't you see she's lying?!'

'She's the one who's lying,' Kas countered, still a full foot off the floor. 'Swanne's known about the Federation for a long time.'

'Lies!' Swanne roared. 'Every word she says is a lie!'

'If you say so. But I bet the Federation would be very interested to know more about your experiments on Eidol. Specifically, how you created an AI that became self-aware.'

Kas felt the alien's grip on her loosen ever-so-slightly. It was working. She had to keep going.

'Swanne used it to create a virus capable of hacking X1's. A virus which she sent to Selva, hoping to take control of them and fight the Federation with their own weaponry, but the Federation realised they were under attack and blew the entire station.'

The alien lowered Kas back to her feet and started walking towards Swanne who was backing up against the window.

'You don't honestly believe her?' Swanne tried as the alien approached.

'You created the virus,' it said.

'No... it's not like that... I created an AI, yes, but only to help me make bio-mechs! Once I realised it was self-aware, I killed it!'

The alien arrived directly in front of her and stopped.

'Your actions have set in motion the termination of your entire solar system.'

'I have no interest in attacking the Federation! I only wanted to further science!'

'Who else knows of this location?'

'I-I don't kno--'

The alien grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground. It slammed her against the oval window, threatening to crack her skull open.

'Who else knows this location?' the alien repeated.

'Y-you're asking the wrong p-person!' Swanne rasped. 'Ask the bounty hunter! She's lying--'

The alien slammed her against the window again, tightening its grip around her neck until her face started to turn purple. Kas decided she didn't want to watch anymore and was about to look away when a flash of colour directed her gaze back to Swanne face.

Her eyes were bright green.