Read Online Spheres of Influence-eARC by Ryk E Spoor - Free Book Online Page A

have thought, Marc C. DuQuesne. There isn’t much of a chance I won’t worry about your feelings.
    On the other hand, she also was quite capable of acting as though she could. “All right.” Since he was now in formal mode, she shifted gears. “Dr. DuQuesne, it’s become clear that Hyperion’s legacy is less and less in the past, and more and more in the present. From what Saul said, the coverup—deliberate and otherwise—has wiped out more records than I had imagined possible, so obviously you can’t just tap a database and dump the details to me and Mentor. But I really don’t feel that we can safely go forward without understanding—without really understanding—what we’re dealing with, both with this Maria-Susanna and with the other Hyperions. And with you, for that matter.”
    She saw an almost imperceptible twitch. “Yes, I know that goes against your grain, Dr. DuQuesne, but as Simon might say we’ve already got an incredible number of unknowns in this Arena equation; I don’t need my own people putting more X’s in my calculations.” She reached out and touched his hand, shifting gears again. And I’m perfectly aware of the effect. And he’s probably aware that I’m doing this deliberately.
    And it’ll still work . “Marc…Hyperion’s legacy has been driving everything almost since we arrived. Maybe before. That’s one of the reasons you joined in the first place, isn’t it?”
    DuQuesne’s gaze was almost amused as she began, but by the time she reached the end of her question the smile wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were gone. He looked down at his hands, then gripped hers gently. “You’ve…come to know me pretty well, I guess. Yeah. And it’s not as simple as one reason, either.” He looked distant. “Having somewhere to go that I wouldn’t be watched, that’s always been important—even before I realized my life had been nothing but someone else’s live-action entertainment. But…” Now he did smile. “But, you know, there’s also the fact that Marc C. DuQuesne, no matter which version, was a traveller, an adventurer, an explorer. And I wasn’t just DuQuesne—I was Seaton’s equal and friend, Marc DuQuesne combined with M. Reynolds Crane, and we were also both…well, Samms and Kinnison, too, in a way.
    “What I mean is, that a chance to be on the first FTL ship? That wasn’t even a question for me, Ariane. That was me. That was what…what me and Rich did . We built the Skylark not just for the military, not just to test theories, we did it to do something no one else had ever done and see the universe that no one else had seen.” There was a glitter in his eyes that shimmered like water, and his voice trembled slightly. “Dammit, yes, it was all a lie, it never happened…but by God that’s me . It’s still me, Ariane, and somehow…I guess somehow being there, on that first trip…it was almost as if that proved that it wasn’t really a lie. The details, yes…but the soul, no. And it was, I guess, a way of making peace with Seaton—saying that I’ve done it for real, just like we always meant to.” He looked up. “If that makes any sense.”
    Hell yes. “Yes, Marc. It does. And I don’t want you to ever doubt how much we owe you—owe Hyperion, with all its twisted legacy. If you hadn’t been along, if you hadn’t been what you were, I sincerely believe we might never have gotten home. But, Marc, I have to count on you as my second in command. I have to know what’s in your past that might jump out at us. We need you, Dr. Marc Cassius DuQuesne—I won’t lie about that. Honestly? You could keep every possible secret and I still wouldn’t kick out out of the crew; I can’t afford to, not going up against the Molothos and Amas-Garao and the Blessed and who knows what else—plus your former teammate Maria-Susanna. But I really, really want to know everything I can about Hyperion so it can’t bushwhack us again—because my gut tells me that