CHAPTER 69

Mary's voice came on a second later, "I have a constant lock on yours and Hartwell's position. Ready to evacuate within 1 second, Sire."

"Thank you Mary, please be advised we need to gain as much of this information as possible. If possible Shelby, extend your shield around this building. Try and hold them off as long as possible." Derrick told her.

"I will do my best to not fail you Derrick," a proud sounding Shelby replied.

"Zan, Sherry I want you both to be ready to trans-warp if we need you." Derrick told the duo in orbit of the Imperial world.

"Yes Sire, we are ready to assist as quickly as possible." Both Zan and Sherry responded. 'Good,' Derrick thought 'now if we can actually get the transfer started, then we'd have good luck.'

Kimison looked at Rayburn to make sure he was asleep, good the ass wouldn't interfere once he got it going. Punching in more commands and instructions Kimison took a deep breath. Well Kimison thought as important as this was he had no choice. Rayburn was the real good brain they both knew, no big deal if he fried his brain.

Donning the head set device Kimison was reaching for the manual switch, Tempro appeared before he was able to touch the switch. "Sir, I advise against using the device until a full battery of tests has been done."

Sighing, Kimison withdrew his hand a second, "Tempro we really don't have the time, I've run all scenarios, it should be safe now."

"Sir I still advise against this action, I am afraid that..." Tempro stopped a moment as Kimison reached for and activated the system. "You deactivated my control and emergency shutdown procedures! Mother! I need you quickly!"

Kimison was smiling; he could already feel the rush of information as it started to flood his mind. Mary appeared a moment later just before Kimison started to scream.

Shaking her head Mary dived into the program. Looking around she could see that Kimison had almost absorbed Tempro's entire library. The only problem was there was no link for his mind to another library to go to. Then she heard Rayburn, "Mary, please hold that idiot still as I withdraw the both of you and do a gradual shut down."

Rayburn had been awakened with a start when Kimison had started to scream. Idiot Rayburn thought almost as rash as the emperor! Running through all the systems, Rayburn finally gained control and started the shut down, drawing both Kimison and Mary out as he did.

Ripping the head off as soon as he was back, Rayburn watched as Kimison's body started going into shock, the whole body twitching. "We need to get him to...," Rayburn was saying as Kimison disappeared. A moment later he too disappeared and was standing over the man on a medical table. "Stupid, stupid idiot!" Rayburn was muttering to himself as he tried to stabilize Kimison. An hour later Rayburn breathed a sigh of relief, it appeared that Kimison was going to be alright, at least 'til he woke up and Rayburn kicked his ass.

"I am reading about stabilization of all his systems, though I am unsure if irreparable damage has been done to his cerebral cortex or his memory centers. Neither Mary nor myself can determine this until he has awoken." Tempro informed Rayburn.

Rayburn nodded, as pissed as he was he couldn't really blame Kimison. They all owed the commander many times over he'd have done it had Kimison hadn't though, he would set up a few more safeties.

"The harmonic memory cells have to be adjusted to a finer point of .0001," Kimison was muttering in his sleep. Rayburn was writing everything down as it came out of the man's mouth. Shaking his head he turned and looked at the device, he needed to have a go himself but he was going to add more safe guards.

Mary could only nod she had to commend both men for their fierce loyalty for the emperor, but if they kept this up they were going to seriously destroy what was left of their brains! She estimated that Kimison had absorbed 90% of Tempro's library. Though nowhere as much as the emperor had taken it should be sufficient to up his intelligence. Sighing she just hoped that they didn't keep taking unnecessary chances like this.

The Captain of the Betrayal cursed when he saw the three ships give chase then disable half of those with him. With a sigh he ordered the others back, his ship would continue on. Nearing after exiting the trans-warp the Captain smiled, he should take the ships then... Cursing he saw that the emperor was on to their trick and was already rotating the ship shield frequencies. Descending they had to complete the mission, the knowledge the emperor could gain would seriously hamper their operations.

Brought out of his ruminations by a shrill tone emitted by the console he smiled, at least this was going to be interesting he thought. Landing the Captain started a fine thin blast of energy to disrupt the shield, smiling when at first it was working. Suddenly the frequency changed and almost sent a back surge to the ship. Cursing, the Captain smacked the shit out of the first officer, "Get on it you miserable ass! I want us in there NOW!" The first officer nodded as he picked himself off the floor across the room where he had landed.

Crap Derrick thought it was taking way too long to get in, "Mary, I am transferring control to you, I want as much as you can get."

"Yes Sire, I have already broken through all the security. I am initiating copy and transfer now. I estimate I need at least twenty minutes." Mary advised Derrick.

Aw shit Derrick thought, they would be through in ten to fifteen minutes damn it! "Shelby do all you can to keep them out including shooting them full of holes if possible!" Derrick advised her.

"Yes Derrick, loading a charge now!" With that there was a concussive blast outside the building, several yells then nothing.

"Download at 15% sire," Mary told them.

"Can you increase your speed in acquiring the information?" Derrick asked her.

"Yes Sire, but I warn you such an increase could destroy the data banks they are stored in. I..." Mary was about to comment further but then smiled. It was a good thing she thought it didn't afford the opportunity for the sects to have the information either. "Now increasing to twice the download speed. I estimate it will be another eleven minutes."

A lot better Derrick thought but they'd be two minutes short for full download. Looking over at Hartwell an idea started to form, making several motions to Hartwell he called Shelby and had all he needed in a moment. Hartwell nodded as Derrick took one bag and he the other and walked around the entrance to the building. They both stopped every few seconds to touch several spots then retreated back repeating the process at each subsequent door. Looking at his chronometer Derrick said, "we'll know in another three3 minutes."

"Download at 85% am now accessing more modern information. I see now how the president stayed in power." Mary had been watching the whole time; she knew that Shelby was afraid of loosening another salvo, afraid she might hit Derrick. It appeared that the sect was using a device that Mary had only seen once 950 years ago. As she recalled it was called a shield slicer, a most effective demonstration had been shown to the emperor who had rejected the idea.