The Brotherhood let us sweat for a few days before finally gracing us with their presence. I can only assume that having your race spend several millennia as mind-altered slaves brings out the worst in people. Elder Brother was a control freak of the highest order, and while I understand where his need to dominate stems from, that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

So when the viewing screen came to life once more, I hoped it was a sign we might soon be free of his machinations.

“We have examined the data you retrieved,” he informed us, “and we must commend you on your efforts. You have uncovered all we had hoped to learn, and more. For that, we thank you.” The Chell leader inclined his head in acknowledgement.

“You’re welcome,” I answered. “Now that we’ve fulfilled our part of the bargain, it’s your turn. How soon can we expect to see a ship turned over to us?”

“I cannot say,” he replied. “The vessel you arrived in was damaged beyond repair, so we are awaiting the arrival of a replacement.”

I rolled my eyes. Unbelievable.

“You were the ones who damaged it,” I reminded him, “and without cause, I should point out. We were no danger to you, made no threatening gestures… in fact, our ship wasn’t even armed, something easily verified by long-distance scan.” I gave the overgrown hamster a hard glare. “So how about we skip past the excuses and get to the part where you give us a ship?”

His nose wrinkled in anger. “You are in no position to make demands, Terran,” he countered. “We will provide a vessel at our convenience, not yours,” he snapped before closing the circuit in a huff.

I shook my head in disgust. “That went about as well as I’d expected,” I sighed as Raven handed me a drink and sat down.

“Now what?” she asked.

I reflected on that for a moment. “Well, I suppose it’s possible they actually are in the process of whistling up a replacement, and simply ran into a snag,” I ventured.

She raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Yeah, I don’t really think that’s what’s happening either,” I allowed. “In fact, I’m almost certain it isn’t. Which doesn’t bode well for us, I’m afraid.”

“You think they mean to kill us,” she said quietly.

“I do,” I reluctantly agreed. “You’ve seen how paranoid they are… with good reason, I’m forced to admit. Keeping their secret safe is the only thing that’s kept them alive.”

“Only now we know the secret, too,” Raven answered.

“Therein lies the problem,” I grimaced. “They’re afraid that if they let us go, we’ll let the secret slip, and once that happens it’s all over for them. I figure it’ll take them a while to work through all the permutations, but once they do our days are numbered. Maybe they’ll try keeping us on a leash, trotting us out for high stakes missions, but even then there’ll always be the possibility of us wriggling off the hook and escaping. It’s just too great a risk in their eyes.”

“Pretty much the same conclusion I’d come to,” she agreed. “We have to escape now, before they pull the trigger.”

“I’m afraid that’s going to be easier said than done,” I told her, taking a long pull on my drink. “At the moment, I don’t see how it’s possible.”

“Hey, you thought getting out of that Eleexx research hospital was impossible too,” she reminded me, “but we still did it.”

“We had access to the hospital,” I pointed out, “and even then it took some seriously lateral thinking to pull it off. You can bet the Brotherhood will never allow us anywhere near their systems.” I shook my head, surrendering to defeat... when I froze as a thought struck me.

“I know that look,” Raven grinned, “you have an idea.”

“The beginnings of one, maybe,” I allowed, “but even if it’s possible, it’ll need a lot of fleshing out.”

Raven sighed. “Let me guess… it’s risky.”

“Very.”

“Slight chance of being successful?”

“More like ‘borderline nonexistent’, in fact.”

“Disastrous repercussions if it fails?”

“If it all goes wrong, it’ll probably be the last miscalculation I’ll ever make,” I said nervously.

She nodded, taking that in.

“... then let’s get started.”

As it turned out, the plan itself was simple enough, but we needed time to fine-tune the approach. The trick to any con is to offer your mark just enough bait to entice them, without scaring them off. Show them too much, and they’ll know it’s a scam. It’s a ballet, where a single word or casual glance can seal the deal… or seal your fate.

Raven and I rehearsed our parts until we had them down pat. Unsurprisingly, she took to the confidence game like a fish to water, which only deepened my already chasm-like concerns. Terran literature is filled with tales of non-human entities who once brought to life eventually turned on and destroyed their creators. So far we’d avoided that particular hazard, but if she was what I thought she was, then history had caught up to us at last. Right now I needed Raven more than ever, but deep down I also feared what she was, and what she might become.

The next time Elder Brother messaged us, I wasted no time.

“We’ve waited long enough,” I snarled, “and we’ve given you everything you asked for. Release us. Now.”

The Chell’s eyes narrowed. “Who is it you think you are, Terran?” he scoffed. “You will be provided with transport when we decide, not before, so I suggest you make yourselves comfortable.” His whiskers twitched in amusement. “For it may be a very long wait.”

I folded my arms and glared at him. “I don’t think so. Allow me to introduce to you an old Terran custom… the Trojan horse.” A dark smile crossed my face. “That data we gave you? It came with a little something extra… an insurance policy, if you will. Since you have continued to refuse our requests, the countdown timer has finally reached zero. It’s already worming its way through your systems, subverting your control. Soon, in a matter of hours, you’ll be dead in space.” My eyes bored into his. “Unless you give us what we want.”

He snorted in disbelief. “A pathetic attempt. We scanned that data thoroughly before we downloaded it.”

“Not thoroughly enough, it would seem,” I replied. “But don’t take my word for it. Why not make yourselves comfortable,” I sneered, throwing his own words back at him, “since you’ll find out the truth soon enough.” My threat now delivered, I sauntered back to the couch and sat down, placing my hands behind my head, exuding calm certainty.

Elder Brother flinched. It wasn’t much, barely noticeable, in fact, but it was definitely there. “You’re bluffing,” he said, dismissing my warning.

“Am I now,” I chuckled. “Well… we’ll see.” And with that, I cut the connection, before glancing over at Raven. “Care to wager how long he takes to call us back?”

“Not long, if he took the bait,” she shrugged, “though anything over twenty minutes, and we’ll have to go to Plan B.” She paused for a moment. “Do we have a Plan B?”

“... not so much,” I admitted.

“Wonderful,” she groaned.

As it turned out, almost eighteen minutes later, we received a transmission. “Show time,” I warned her, as the Chell’s furry face reappeared.

“Remove the virus from our systems immediately, or we will end you,” he threatened.

I smiled in return. “Already seeing the first signs, I’m guessing? It’s only going to get worse.”

See, here’s the thing… starships are complicated beasts. They comprise multiple systems, all working together, requiring constant monitoring. Thankfully, the computers handle the bulk of that, automatically making adjustments when needed, but at any given moment it’s a certainty that some of those systems are slightly out of alignment. They’re still well within tolerances, but to someone who has a seed of doubt planted within their subconscious, those same minor variances now appear to be disturbing trends. If they’re really paranoid, they’ll attempt to manually compensate for the problems they’re observing, and in doing so are all but assured to over-correct. Which will lead to another erroneous reading, requiring yet another correction, and so forth and so on. If they simply trusted their readouts, they’d be fine, but it’s the rare individual indeed who isn’t at least slightly skeptical about what their computers are telling them. Half of any con was understanding how an individual’s thought processes worked, and how to exploit them.

The hook was set. Time to reel him in.

“I’ve already told you our price,” I reminded him. “Give us a ship, and I’ll restore your systems.”

“Restore our systems, and I’ll consider it,” he fired back.

“No deal,” I growled. “And unlike you, I’ve got nothing but time.”

“Repair our systems now!” he thundered, slamming his fist into the table in front of him. “Or else I will destroy you!”

“Then who will remove the virus?” I asked with a chuckle. “Face it, Elder Brother, you’re out of options.”

He suddenly grew still. “Am I?” he cooed, touching a control screen. “Perhaps my options aren’t as limited as you think.”

Without warning, the temperature shot up thirty degrees. It was like being punched in the face, the massive heat spike rocking back my head and making me gasp. Raven was in even worse shape, as I stumbled to the bar for a bottle of water.

I never made it.

Elder Brother struck again, this time cranking up the gravity to 8 g’s. I only just managed to grab the back of the couch and slow my fall, otherwise I would have broken a hip at the very least as I crashed to the floor. I whimpered as an elephant settled in on my chest, crushing me, but he wasn’t done yet. With another sneer he touched another control, this time the temperature dropping by eighty degrees, sucking the breath from my lungs as my lips started turning blue.

“Stop!” Raven cried out. “It’s a trick! There’s no virus!”

“Shut up,” I hissed, as Elder Brother gazed at her with sudden interest.

“Is that so?” he chuckled. “Tell me more.”

“For God’s sake, don’t do it!” I shouted.

“Please,” she chattered, “... so cold…”

Suddenly the temperature returned to normal, then the gravity eased back as well. “There,” he said magnanimously, “just as I found it. Now what were you saying?”

Raven hugged herself, glancing nervously in my direction while I shot daggers at her. “It’s true,” she repeated, “there’s no virus. It was all just a scam, so we could escape. Please, let us go,” she begged.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he sneered. “You’ve just now proven that we can’t trust you.”

“Bastard,” I swore, baring my teeth. “You crossed the line. When I get my hands on you…”

“You’ll never get that chance,” he taunted us. “In a way, I should thank you. We’ve been debating what to do with you, and you just made the decision a simple one.” A self-righteous smile appeared on his face. “Goodbye, Alphad Aemon,” he said as he reached for the console.

“WAIT!” Raven shrieked. “We know where the Precursor homeworld is!”

His hand froze. “Another deception,” he sniffed.

I tried to grab her, but she slipped out of my grasp. “It’s true,” she pledged, “we learned of its location in the Eleexx facility. They didn’t even know about it.”

“You fucking bitch, what have you done?” I screamed in anguish. “You’ve doomed us!”

The gravity slammed into me once more, crushing me, though Raven seemed unaffected. Elder Brother peered intently at her. “If this is true, then tell me where it is.”

She bowed her head. “I can’t,” she whispered, before raising a shaking hand and pointing in my direction. “He knows the location, not me.”

The Chell glanced over at me. “Is this true?” he asked.

“Go to hell,” I said through gritted teeth, “I’m not telling you shit.”

The gravity rose even higher, as I heard the bones in my chest begin to creak. My skull was pressed to the floor, unable to move, as the last bit of oxygen in my lungs was forced out. My eyes darted frantically as I felt myself slipping away.

Raven was kneeling at my side seconds later, looking up to the video monitor. “Don’t kill him,” she implored the Chell. “Please... he’ll tell you where it is, I promise.”

The weight crushing down on me eased slightly, just enough for me to suck in a shallow lungful of air. “I can kill you with the press of a button,” Elder Brother said haughtily. “If you wish to live, then you will show me the location of the Precursor homeworld.”

I fought to catch my breath, even as I stared angrily in his direction. “Before you do something foolish, may I remind you I can do this forever,” he said pointedly. “The question is, can you?”

I swallowed. We both knew the answer to that. The gravity eased back some more, enough for me to prop myself up on my elbows and take a deep breath. I focused on that for a moment, of just getting enough air to think clearly, as the overgrown hamster glared at me. “If I were you, I would choose my next words very carefully.”

He had me. He had us, to be specific, and what’s worse?

We both knew it.

“... fine,” I cursed, “I’ll show you… but it’ll be on my terms. I’m not going to just tell you where it is.”

“Do you enjoy pain?” the Chell asked, as the gravity hit me once more, driving me to the deck. “Tell me.”

“I… tell you… where it is... I’m a... dead man,” I managed to get out. “My way… or no way.”

An eternity later, the gravity disappeared. “I'll tell you what,” he said magnanimously, as I gulped great lungfuls of life-giving oxygen. “I’ll grant you limited access to our navigational systems. You can take us there. Or... we can go back to what we were just doing.”

I shut my eyes and turned away, only to feel Raven’s hands on my face.

“Please, Alphad,” she whispered. “If you don’t, he’ll kill you.”

I winced. She was right. With no other options left, I managed a brief, choppy nod in his direction, not trusting myself to speak.

“Splendid,” the bastard all but purred. “We will contact you shortly,” he said, before blinking out.

I waited a full minute before I dared say a word. “Thank God,” I said hoarsely, struggling to stand up. “Not sure how much more of that I could take.”

Raven breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you think he bought it?” she asked.

“Guess we’ll find out soon enough,” I shrugged.