Dyllys
Chapter Ten

Parrisran onto the bridge with Faran and Dyllys close behind. Esper was already thereand had the ship ready for flight. After she had given Parris the message shehad ran faster than any human could back to the ship. Dyllys could haveperformed the same, but she wanted to make sure that Parris and Faran made itback alright. When they reached the bridge, the two of them were stillbreathing heavily from their flight back.

“Getus as far away from Rinascita as you can Esper and let’s hope thatHector gives chase,” Parris ordered. Esper’s hands flew deftly over the screenbefore her and Dyllys could feel a slight jolt as the Salvatoredisconnected from Rinascita.

Parrisran to a seat on the far wall of the room and pulled up a screen. Dyllyssurmised it was the radar. She could see the RFID information displayed for theInterdire. It was heading in a direct line to Rinascita which wasunidentified on the screen. The Salvatore was veering steadily away fromboth the Interdire and Rinascita; it too was unmarked on thescreen. Dyllys watched as the Interdire inched ever closer to Rinascita.Rinascita was still as yet not moving.

“Whatare they waiting for?” Faran asked.

“It’sa big cobble of ships they have there, it takes time to get it moving. I’m moreconcerned with the fact that the Interdire is not following us,” Parrisreplied.

“Youdon’t think they will attack Rinascita do you?” Dyllys quested.

“Itdepends on if they think that it means anything to us.”

Thethree of them stared at the screen intently watching the movements of eachvessel on the screen. Faran was holding his breath until he finally saw the Rinascitamoving away from both the Interdire and the Salvatore, then helet it out with a sigh.

“Takethe bait,” Parris whispered to the screen.

Dyllysgripped the back of his seat tightly and they heard the metal protest. Faranlooked at her and she shrugged, “Sorry, don’t know my own strength.”

Theyboth looked back at the screen and watched with relief as the Interdirestopped pursuit of Rinascita and instead took up chase of the Salvatore.

“Theycan’t catch us, can they?” Dyllys suddenly asked.

“Well,seeing as I thought that I had completely disabled their engine when I attackedthem – I don’t know,” Parris finished.

“Youdon’t know?” Faran asked.

“Esper,you may want to go faster,” Parris said abruptly. Dyllys watched the Interdirestart to gain on the Salvatore.

“I’mgoing as fast as she will go,” Esper replied, “I don’t understand why they aregaining on us, unless –”

“–they’ve magnetized their haul,” Parris finished. Parris hit the terminal he waslooking at and spun his chair around to look at Esper, “No use burning out ourengines.”

Dyllysfelt the slow deceleration as Esper shut down the main and auxiliary engines.

“Sowhat do we do,” Faran asked.

Parriswas lost in thought for a moment and then suddenly he grinned and turned to Dyllys,“I have a plan, as long as you are willing.”

“Whatsort of plan?”

“Doesit matter?”

“WellI guess not.”

“Sowhat are we doing?” Faran asked.

“Atthe moment? Nothing. We’re going to let them detain us.”

“Thatsounds like a really dumb plan,” Esper suddenly said.

“Areyou saying you have no idea what I’m thinking Esper?”

“Inever have.”

“Thathurts, you know,” Parris replied, “At the very least you trust me don’t you?”

“Wellthis can’t be more foolish then that time on Einzer.”

“Einzer?”Faran asked.

“Ignoreher, she just hates that she doesn’t understand how my plans always work.”

“WellI guess all we have left to do is wait,” Dyllys said and she sat down in one ofthe unoccupied chairs.

WhenHector walked onto the bridge of the Salvatore he sneered. “I thoughtyou would put up more of a fight.”

Parristurned his seat to look at Hector, “And give you the satisfaction of marking upmy ship, I don’t think so. I know when I’m beat.”

“Ishould shoot you right here and now for the trouble you have caused, but fatherinsists on speaking with you. It’s been over ten years now, hasn’t it,” Hectorsaid, he pulled Parris from his chair and had his guards lock Parris’s handsbehind his back.

“Toobad it couldn’t have been longer.”

Dyllyswas staring at Parris. So he was a Davenport. Everything suddenly made sense toher. She stood up as a pair of guards edged towards her. Hector stopped them.“Careful with her, she’s stronger than any android you’ve ever encountered, andwe can’t afford to damage her.” Hector walked away from Parris and came up toDyllys. “I have something special for you.” He uncoupled from his belt a pairof bulky handcuffs, he flipped a switch on it, and the inside turned a strangehazy blue. When he slid them onto Dyllys’s wrist she went limp. A pair ofguards took her and put her on a dolly that stood just outside the doorwayhovering in the air. Esper was placed in the same fashion at her back. WhenFaran, too, was detained with his hands behind his back, they left the Salvatoreand were taken to the detention centre aboard the Interdire.

“Areyou okay?” she whispered to Esper, inaudible to the human ear.

“Justcan’t move,” Esper replied.

“Ididn’t think this would work on me.”

“Youare still a machine, as am I, even if you think as a human.”

Esperwas right. It was strange for her, being trapped in this form yet thinking as adifferent one. It wouldn’t be long now, she could feel it. She felt anotherlength of her hair crumble to dust. Esper must have felt it too.

“Yourlife is ending,” she said flatly with no inflection, but Dyllys could tell thatshe was confused. Androids didn’t die.

“Yes,I am.”

“Willyou make it through until Parris completes his plan? You seemed integral.” Ithurt to think that Esper’s only concern was that Dyllys survive until she wasno longer needed. Esper was an android after all, and didn’t care for a lifelost. It wasn’t so long ago that Dyllys had felt the same, or, rather, notfelt. Dyllys wished right then that she could fulfill Parris’s wish for Esper.She couldn’t imagine loving someone and having them be unable to return thatlove. She could see it though when she closed her eyes and remembered Faran’sface. She could see his torment when he tried so hard to make her feel again.She was a fool to think she had the right to run away from that kind of pain,when she had made him suffer that every day for fifty years.

Dyllyswatched as they passed by the room that she and Faran had been in previously. Theyhadn’t had time to try and repair the damage. She smiled to remember Faran’ssurprise when she had ripped the door open. She saw Parris take a glance at it.

“Hada problem with a prisoner?” Parris asked.

“Yes,he did,” Dyllys replied, “Me.”

“Remindme never to make you angry,” said Parris. Dyllys couldn’t help but smile atthat.Parris received the butt of a gun to his head from Hector for hisaudacity.

Hectorput them in a room that was different from the one that she and Faran hadoccupied. This one had a series of cells within one room divided by electrifiedsteel bars. Esper and Dyllys were put together. Faran was put in one alone, aswas Parris. Dyllys and Esper were in the center, she was facing Parris’s cellwhile Esper faced Faran’s. Hector didn’t stay to gloat. He left without a word,to Dyllys’s relief. She wanted to talk to Parris, as apparently did Faran.

“Youare that bastard’s brother?” Faran said the moment they were left alone.

Parrisdidn’t deign a response. Instead, he looked at Dyllys.

“DidI ever tell you how I got my name?” Parris asked.

Dyllyswent to shake her head and remembered she couldn’t move, so instead she spoke.“No.”

“OnAncient Earth there was a culture known as the Greeks. They had many tales, butmy mother loved the story of Troy. I would understand if you didn’t know of it,it’s extremely old.”

“Iknow of it.”

“Asdo I,” Faran replied, “your mother named you after the Prince of Troy, Paris,then?”

Parrisnodded, “I guess you need to understand a bit about my family to understand mymother’s choice in this. To her my name was very symbolic. It wasn’t long aftermy mother gave birth to Hector that she realized what kind of man my fatherwas. She didn’t realize that her parents had given her over to the essentialhead of the Ordalis order until she saw the atrocities he wreaked in the nameof science. She was bitter over it but powerless to do anything to stop him.The best she could do was get herself killed. So, instead she had another son.As Hector was already ‘corrupted’ by my father, she needed a son that she couldaugment.

“Shenamed me Parris because she remembered that in Greek mythology just beforeHecuba gave birth to Paris she had a dream of giving birth to a flaming torch.That dream was interpreted by the seer Aesacus as foretelling the downfall ofTroy. He said that Paris would be the downfall of his homeland. That wasexactly what my mother hoped that I would be to Davenport Electronics.

“Iwas a bitter disappointment to my mother. She watched me follow in Hector’sfootstep for twenty years. My father thought I was his most promising prize, agenius in the engineering of androids, and I was. It was around the time that Iwas creating Esper that I realized the truth behind DE. She was going to be thenew AS series android--that is why she has a model number--but it was around thetime that I was completing her that I found the flaw in my father’s formula.That was the year that my great grandmother decided I should know about you.All the pieces fell into place and I became what my mother had always wanted.Unfortunately, I never got to show my mother that she had hope, because she hadgone insane years previous and had killed herself.

“Mygrandmother gave me the idea that I should replace you, so I left Ordalis Centralwith Esper on the Salvatore. I didn’t know how to replace you, so insteadof looking for you, I did things I thought would lead to information about you.

“Iguess in the end we have Faran to thank for me replaceing you. He was the one thatled Davenport Electronics right to you,” Parris finished.

Dyllyslooked at Parris with clarity, “You want me to be your Trojan horse.”

“Myfather wants to see me, convince me to come back, and he needs you to make hisandroids complete. Because Salazar was the best, he made perfection in you,Dyllys, and my father and his father before him could not emulate that sameperfection. So we are going back to the heart, to Ordalis Central.”

“Goodplan, but how do you suppose we get out of here?” Faran asked.

“Wedon’t want to get out yet.” Parris replied. “Besides my brother is an imbecile.Seeing as I have never been caught by him before I don’t think he realizes yetthat I know the password to operate everything aboard this ship of his,including the code to our handcuffs.”

“So,we’re still waiting then,” Faran surmised.

“Isay we sleep while we have the chance,” Parris added and then with a quickmaneuver he brought his hand in front of him and he lay down on the hard coldground of the cell and closed his eyes. Faran followed suit and soon Dyllys andEsper could hear their steady breathing, the breath of sleep.