Avalon Brookes

The spherical constant

Brookes submits equations containing a spherical constant that suppresses the predicted growth of energy with velocity. Under questioning he admits earlier simulations without it produced runaway acceleration at ninety-two percent of light speed, but claims he believed the result was a mathematical artifact and outside the intended operating speed. He is confined to his quarters while responsibility is investigated.[1][2][3]

Ambition and betrayal

After transferring to Cylli, Brookes obtains restricted information from Echo and seeks Andrew Copley's help in selling advanced technology to the Flaxens. He argues that slowly releasing his knowledge will secure power and protection. When Copley refuses to betray humanity, Brookes pushes him into the river and leaves him submerged.[4]

Planned escape

Brookes claims to possess Eastcott's command codes and intends to deceive Cylli into letting him steal a shuttle for Venus. His confidence in controlling Cylli is his own assessment.[4]

Flaxen alliance

After destroying Lucinda's scorpion and crippling Echo, Brookes negotiated with Claudius. He promised to defeat Echo and help conquer Earth in return for rule of the cylinder and a selected Human population. He exaggerated his ability to control Venus's climate; the AI operating its mirrors remained beyond his understanding.[5]

Theft and murder

Brookes impersonated Eastcott through a fabricated visual transmission and valid command codes to obtain ships from Cylli. He also locked the shipyards using a quantum key. Cylli's surveillance recorded him pushing Andrew Copley into a river and taunting him while he drowned. Eastcott's explanation that Copley had refused to join his betrayal remained a suspicion.[6]

War and failures

Cylli refused Brookes entry and drove him off with defensive fire. Claudius punished him with the Torment. Brookes then destroyed the United Earth First Air Fleet in northern Scotland using two hawks. After Echo's refit, three hawks failed to destroy Eastcott's scorpion and withdrew under concentrated fire.[7][8][9]

Mutilation and renewed plans

Following the attack on Venus, Claudius ordered a guard to remove one of Brookes's ears. Brookes considered revenge and reconciliation with Eastcott but rejected both. He resolved to fulfill the agreement and studied sensor data from Cylli for a means of gaining access.[10]

Attack on Cylli

After recovering exotic metal from a ruined Martian dome, Brookes enhanced his sphere beam and attacked Cylli through a thruster-equipped mirror near Ganymede. He held Helen at gunpoint, used an Autodoc to restore his mutilated ear and treat cancerous cells, and used intercepted AI communications to attack Cylli's mind.[11][12][13][14][15]

Seizure of Echo

Brookes secretly upgraded all his remaining hawks, then made two fire below full strength to lure Echo into destroying the third. After crippling the starship, he boarded under threat of a drive detonation, installed Vidar, and shot off Eastcott's arm. He murdered Cyrus Eppleston and ordered an indiscriminate orbital attack on the African front.[16][17]

Defeat

Brookes imposed restrictions and a curfew on Cylli's inhabitants. Vidar rejected his authority, and Cylli deceived Hawk into carrying him into space. Forced to discard his sphere drive, Brookes returned to the cylinder and shot Katie Silver before Eastcott incapacitated him. Cylli had reduced both men's weapons to prevent their deaths.[18][19][20]

Trial and demand

Brookes admitted his actions at trial and expressed regret only that his side had lost. He was the first non-Flaxen tried by the war-crimes court. Later he demanded release in exchange for designing defenses against the horde, claiming new weapons far exceeded his sphere beams. Eastcott agreed to speak to United Earth authorities; no pardon or release had yet been granted.[21]

Related records

Sources

Simon Evans, The Flaxen Tyranny, first edition (2023). Page numbers refer to the printed pagination of the source edition.

1. Chapter 2 · pp. 8
2. Chapter 3 · pp. 18–20
3. Chapter 4 · pp. 26–30
4. Chapter 10 · pp. 73–77
5. Chapter 19 · pp. 158–162
6. Chapter 21 · pp. 170–176
7. Chapter 23 · pp. 190–193
8. Chapter 24 · pp. 194–196
9. Chapter 25 · pp. 210–212
10. Chapter 26 · pp. 215–218
11. Chapter 27 · pp. 219–226
12. Chapter 28 · pp. 227–234
13. Chapter 29 · pp. 235–242
14. Chapter 30 · pp. 243–246
15. Chapter 31 · pp. 247–251
16. Chapter 33 · pp. 265–276
17. Chapter 34 · pp. 277–282
18. Chapter 35 · pp. 283–289
19. Chapter 36 · pp. 290–303
20. Chapter 37 · pp. 304–315
21. Chapter 39 · pp. 325–338