Cassie didn’t hesitate to respond, treating a conversation with a time traveler (I guess) trapped on the Moon like a normal thing.

“We need to get into the equipment in this room. Someone’s shut off access and I’m assuming it’s you.”

Victor eyed her, “Who sent you?”

Furrowing her brow, Cassie said, “Sent us? No one. We’re here on our own.”

Victor scowled, “No one flies to the Moon for fun. You came here for a reason. Who sent you? Was it Rook? One of the others? The Dominators? The Cabal? Who is it?”

Cassie glanced over at me, but said, “No one. We’re here on our own.”

Victor chuckled, “Sure you are. I’ve spent over 50 years here and no one’s here for themselves. They may not know it, but they’re here serving one faction or another.”

He sneered up at her, “Red Lightning used the Cabal’s potions. Russian Victory used a Dominator code phrase. I don’t think he even knew it. The last visitors were the True, but they didn’t know me. Rook warped them. He corrupted them just like he corrupted me.”

“Uh huh,” Jaclyn said over the comm. She didn’t have to say more. Her tone said, “He’s nuts.”

I didn’t try to argue, but he wasn’t completely wrong either. Red Lighting did use the Cabal’s potions, but Victor had no way of knowing he wasn’t in the Cabal. Russian Victory probably did get exposed to the Dominators. Grandpa told me that the Mentalist had to do something to Russian Victory’s head. I’d assumed that it had been to reverse Soviet brainwashing, but Dominator modification made just as much sense or more.

As for Rook, I knew it was true. I’d seen Rook use Dominator commands on him. Victor wasn’t wrong about what he’d seen, but the conclusion that factions in the Nine controlled everyone seemed paranoid.

I had my doubts that I’d be able to argue him out if it. If he’d spent 50 years making up his paranoid universe, I didn’t think I’d be able to talk him out of it in a few minutes.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Part of me wished Daniel had come along, but whatever Abominator design Victor had used on himself had to have included mental defenses. Daniel could easily have found himself in the same boat as the rest of us.

We might have to trick Victor into it, but I didn’t know how. If I listened to him, maybe I’d be able to come up with something that fit into his delusions.

“Hey,” I said, “how did Rook corrupt you?”

Victor turned to stare at me, “He made me impure. He corrupted me. He controlled me!”

Transparent spit flew from his mouth, disappearing as it hit the edge of the Starplate, just like his purple energy blast. Was his spit an energy blast?

Over the comm, Jaclyn asked, “Do you have a plan?”

“Not really,” I said, watching Victor. “I’m fishing for something I can use.”

Marcus had been moving the entire time we talked with Victor, landing next to the first cluster of Abominator machines, “If you can distract him, I’m going to hack into their network.”

He’d mentioned that his Xiniti implant had directions for doing it, he might as well. Besides, he’d majored in computer science in college. Even with my nagging feeling that it should be me, he might well be the best qualified between the two of us.

I said, “Go for it.”

Rachel said, “Keep him talking. I’ll help.”

Over the PA, I said, “How does Rook control you? From what I’ve seen, you’re more powerful than he is.”

He started sobbing, big sobs, the kind where you’re almost embarrassed to be watching, maybe especially so when you’re about to screw the guy over. If the guy needed anything, he needed a therapist.

He also needed all of the Abominator modifications removed from his body, but that was far out of my reach.

Then Victor’s sobbing stopped and he started screaming, “I’m nothing more than a tool! I can only do what they tell me. I have to stay. I can’t leave until I come back with it. That’s all that matters. Only I can find it here, so I have to stay. I can leave, but I can’t make myself do it.”

He pounded what appeared to be empty air at the edge of the Starplate, generating purple lightning and a lot of it with every hit. The light illuminated the room.

My implant warned me that based on Xiniti battles with Abominator servants, the purple lightning might throw objects out of phase and into other universes. I might have scoffed at that except that I’d built cross-dimensional positioning systems into the suits and mine was throwing up errors every time Victor hit whatever invisible barrier the Starplate had created.

Rachel, meanwhile, had floated toward Victor and said, “The Dominators did this to you.”

He dropped his arms to his side and said, “Yes,” and then stood there, doing nothing.

Over the comm, Marcus said, “It worked. I’m on their network. This is crazy. I haven’t touched anything yet, but—”

As he said that, Victor’s body glowed a brighter purple and he shouted, “What are you doing?”

At that moment, lights glowed on Abominator equipment across the room. It was less like the light in a dark room turned on and more like standing in the dark in the center of a circle of glowing eyes.