Helen shook her head. “No, nothing was shipped in. We have far more important things to ship in than huge plants. I tweaked the growth compounds, and they are working even better than I would have expected though I’m monitoring the big palms pretty closely. I want to make sure the roots are developing deeply enough, or the first hurricane we get might knock them all down.”
Piper grunted, then her eyes glazed over as she stared off into the distance. “Where does it come from,” she said slowly. “I keep running it over and over in my head, but of all the things my imagination comes up with, nothing is ringing true.”
Helen gave Piper a long look, equally as troubled. “I think all of us have the same questions and concerns. It’s been ten years, and it still doesn’t make any sense. Something happened to us that night, and I wonder if we’ll ever be able to explain it. However, I take solace in the fact that everything I’ve done, and everything I see the three of you doing, is positive. We’re building on something, and I think it’s something that will help us all. I have to believe that God wants us to do this.”
“Demons and Angels?” Piper said softly. “What if it was aliens?”
“Same answer, Piper. There’s no reason that Science and Belief can’t co-exist. At least, as long as you don’t let too much human malarkey get in the way.”
Piper grinned and gave Helen another hug, nodding. This hadn’t been the first time they’d discussed this, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. Even Colleen, Piper and Alex’s grandmother, was intensely curious about what had happened, and she didn’t have any more insight than the rest of them despite having been clinically dead for an unknown amount of time.
At one hundred and seven years old, Colleen not only recovered from being dead, but she was in better shape than her early seventies and her health was still improving. All of them had experienced benefits like that, though Colleen was the most dramatic by far.
A jingle of music interrupted the two women, followed by a small flashing light on the top of Tad’s tiny fuselage. Helen looked at Piper, raising an eyebrow. “It takes messages, too?”
“Of course,” Piper answered. “And it also plays holographic games. If I couldn’t make the DPA’s better than the phones and computers out on the market, I shouldn’t be in this business. Tad, who is the message from?”
“The communication is from Alex Drake, miss,” Tad answered. “It isn’t marked with any alerts. Would you like to answer the caller?”
Piper nodded, purposefully not answering her floating companion to show off that the little machine could pick up non-verbal cues as well. The small device’s fans whirred to life, lifting Tad up so he could broadcast a holographic headshot of Alex.
“Piper! How are you doing, sis? I hope your flight wasn’t too dreary. Even with our planes, it takes a few hours.”
“It was okay, though I am glad I won’t have to do that too often. Are you on the island?” Piper asked.
“Not yet. I’ll be arriving within the week. I meant to be there when you arrived, but something came up.”
“Is everything okay?” Helen asked, stepping next to Piper. Alex saw her and smiled though he didn’t look overly happy, otherwise. Whatever had delayed him obviously had him worried.”
“Not sure,” Alex answered. “We’re getting some questions from the U.S. State Department. Apparently, they didn’t realize we meant to create an island out there and don’t know what to make of it. I had to fly to L.A. to meet with some of their officials tomorrow.”
“We knew that was coming, though,” Helen said. “We’re well outside of two hundred miles of any country, but someone was bound to notice and become concerned. What do you think they’ll say?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve let Johan know and will keep you updated. I’ll try to keep them from getting too worried, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see some fly overs or even a warship show up to get a peek. Hopefully, they don’t get too curious or try to pull anything about us being U.S. citizens.”
Piper grinned. “Do you want me to hack into the state department and see what they’re saying?”
Alex blanched. “No! Heaven forbid that they catch you.”
“They won’t catch me,” Piper said confidently.
“So you say. Still, we don’t need to go there yet. If we need to take that step, we need to do it carefully. We don’t need any of our people thinking we’re trying to set up in opposition to any country, especially the U.S.”
“Fine, ruin my fun, but keep me updated,” Piper said. “For some reason, I’m nervous.”
Alex nodded. “Me too. Don’t worry; everything will be okay. Talk to you both soon.”
A second later, the hologram flicked off, followed by Tad announcing that the call had ended. Helen and Piper exchanged glances, hoping that their worries were unfounded.
Chapter 5
Time: August 2, 2027
Location: State Department Building, Los Angeles
John Malcom walked into the room with his crappy cup of coffee and sat, taking a long drink before breathing out a sigh. It had been yet another long week, and to top it off, he and Leann needed to meet with some representative of a company that had done something odd with an island. An Island, of all things. He was getting sick and tired of these idiot jobs that the central office kept sending him to investigate. Stupid busy work.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Leann said, smirking at John from the chair she’d claimed at the long table. Her laptop was open in front of her, and she looked far too perky for John’s taste.
“Do you have to do that?” John said, pulling out a bottle and spilling out two ibuprofen into his hand. A few seconds later, he had popped them into his mouth, followed by a few gulps of coffee.
“Do what?”
“Be all-” John waved his hand in the air, “-morning persony. Why bother anyway? I don’t see what could be so important about some rich schmuck and his private island.”
Leann quirked her eyebrow at John before frowning. “Did you read the file, John? This isn’t just some idiot and a party boat.” She slid a paper file folder over to him.
John opened it and glanced down, seeing a satellite picture of a strangely round island. On the opposite page, a dossier went over some basic information on some company named Empyrean. He flipped through a few pages before leaning forward, his mouth in a grim line as he continued reading. Finally reaching the intelligence analyst review, he finished and looked up at Leann in disbelief. “They made a freakin island? How can someone make an island in the middle of the Pacific?”
“Exactly what we’re trying to figure out,” Leann said. She flipped her laptop around, showing John a picture of a handsome, young man walking off of a private jet, and next to it an older man. “The younger man is Alex Drake, and the older is Johan Olmstead. They went into business together after building one of those wonder islands in Dubai. Then, out of the blue, Johan practically gave the company to Alex.”
John pulled the laptop closer, reading through the stats next to each of the pictures. Johan Olmstead wasn’t a surprise: long-term success in his field of architecture and massive building projects over almost thirty-five years. Alex, on the other hand, was far more interesting. Some sort of prodigy who became involved with Johan only about eight or nine years earlier, then buying Olmstead Enterprises and using that as a nucleus to make Empyrean only five years ago. He quickly paged through some of the information about the island they created for the Sheik and couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Well, it looks like they took what they learned in Dubai and used it,” John said, running through the information once more. He was older, almost at retirement age, but his mind was still more than quick enough to put the facts together. “But in five years? In the deep ocean, they built an island in only five years? How?”
Leann stood up, moving next to him and swiping a finger across the screen to a sub-category. She stood up, pointing to some technical schemati
cs and facts. “You should pay more attention to the world, John. I know you're trying not to, but it might help. Alex was the inventor of instacrete and apparently several other very recent technologies that have made building things a much different process than it used to be. It’s still not available in the States because we take forever to approve anything, but its working miracles in many other parts of the world.”
“No doubt that approval is being delayed by some of our corporate overlords,” John said sardonically, continuing to read quickly through the information. “My god. This explains how they were able to make an island. I guess the question is, how much further are they planning to go? Since it wasn’t a pre-existing island, no county has any sort of claim on it, and its well outside of any countries two hundred mile economic zone.”
“That is the million dollar question,” Leann said. “Still, there’s nothing to be alarmed about yet. Let’s just hope that our attention is enough to keep them from doing anything too crazy.”
A knock on the door interrupted them, followed by one of their office workers peeking inside. “Alex Drake is here.”
“Show him in,” Leann said, grabbing her laptop back from John and taking her own seat. This was really just an initial interview, and she had no clue where it might go. They didn’t have any specific worries, but that was part of the problem. The analysts had gone crazy with supposition, proposing everything between cults to illegal cloning experiments. From the satellite photos, it didn’t look like anything more than a fancy business park, if a bit larger, but there was no way to tell. That and greenery had sprung up almost overnight.
She smiled to herself, wondering where this particular mystery was going to go.
Chapter 6
Time: August 2, 2027
Location: State Department Building, Los Angeles
Alex sat in the waiting area for only a few moments before being shown to the nondescript meeting room. As he entered, he took in the sight of the two agents waiting for him. An older, silver-haired man in a gray suit sat along the window. The other agent was dressed in a more contemporary, if still identifiably government issue, dark pants suit that complimented her short haircut and intelligent eyes. Alex couldn’t help but keep his eyes on her for a few moments longer, appreciating her dark beauty before stepping forward to shake both agent’s hands.
“Thank you for coming, Doctor Drake,” Leann said, shaking his hand a moment before John did. “My name is Agent Leann Bates, and this is Agent John Malcom. Please have a seat.”
Alex gave Leann his most winning smile before taking his seat. “Alex, please. Can I ask what this is about?”
“We just had a few questions, Doctor… I mean Alex,” Leann said pleasantly.
“About the island?” Alex asked.
Leann nodded. “Well, yes, about the island. No beating around the bush I see. That’s good; I like that.”
“I like it, too, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say at this point. It’s an island we’ve built. Now we’re building our world headquarters. What’s the problem?”
John let out a dry chuckle. “Doctor Drake, you can’t possibly believe that building your own island out in the middle of the Pacific isn’t going to raise some questions with some people.”
“And what kind of questions would those be?” Alex asked.
“Questions like why would someone need to be separate from any countries’ laws, or what some corporation would possibly want to do unmonitored out in the middle of the ocean,” John said. “I don’t even want to think about potential banking issues. We’re already having enough trouble with that little bag of cats in the Caymans.”
“Those are awfully pessimistic questions, Agent Malcom. I can’t blame you, though. Honestly, there are a lot of shady people out there that pose as businessmen. The only thing I can say in our defense is the history of humanitarian projects we’ve undertaken. Have you reviewed those?”
John glanced at Leann, signaling her to take the lead since he had not done his homework. She raised her eyebrow at the older man but took up the line of questioning without missing a beat.
“Of course we have. To be honest, your company has been quite generous in a staggering number of places in the world,” Leann said, looking down at her laptop. “The work you’ve done in Micronesia during the tidal wave of 2025 must have cost billions alone.”
Alex shrugged. “Not quite as much as you’d think with some of the innovations we’ve developed, but it was necessary. None of the local nations were going to get enough resources there in time,” Alex paused, giving Agent Bates a long look. “It was our duty to help.”
“It does speak in your favor,” Leann said. “Still, it does make us a bit curious. Is the island going to be open to the public? You’ve built an airport that looks like it can handle fairly large planes. Is this some sort of resort that you’re creating?”
“In time, we plan to have tourists. First, we have to build the infrastructure to support a larger population. One of the advantages of creating your own island is being able to create all of its features, and we plan on building some pretty spectacular ones.”
“That sounds wonderful,” John said. “When can we arrange a visit? I haven’t been on the beach in ages.”
Alex laughed and nodded. “Actually, that’s a good idea. I know that there are agencies that won’t be able to help but meddle, but we really don’t have any intention of being a problem. So, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll invite you and Agent Malcom to come visit our tropical paradise, and I’ll give you a personal tour of the island. With some caveats, of course.”
John harrumphed. “Caveats? What kind of caveats?”
“We’ll provide transport, and I’m going to ask you not to bring any spy devices,” Alex said. “But I can have you out there in a few weeks if you want?”
“Plenty of time to hide the bodies, eh?” John said.
Alex pursed his lips and shook his head. “Really, Agent Malcom? Do you really think we created an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean just to bury bodies? I promise you there won’t be any volcanos to build a secret lair within. Besides, it will take at least that long for you to get permission from your superiors, I’m sure.”
Leann smirked at her partner before turning back to Alex. “That sounds like a good beginning. How can we contact you to arrange transport?”
Alex grinned and took out a card, sliding it across the table toward Leann. “I’m sure this will match your records, but this is a good number. We can pick you up from any West Coast city.”
Leann stood, holding her hand out once again to Alex. “Very well, Alex. We’ll be in touch. Thank you for your time.”
After Alex left, John couldn’t help but whistle the tune to Goldfinger.
Chapter 7
Time: August 10, 2027
Location: Type 7 (low value) system ES21R1(un-named) Red Dwarf – Designated for low-grade mining use.
Tur Galon Zeinbrikka breathed in, eliciting a shuddering, high-pitched laugh that expressed his extreme satisfaction with the transmission he had just received. He didn’t usually lose control like this, but it had been good news. Very nearly the best news he’d heard in his almost three hundred years as head of his family.
Their agent had been successful in his initial contact with the regional governor’s office. More importantly, their agent had been in contact with the high-level official that had far exceeded his resources trying to win big on the gambling moons of Tentabon V. It wasn’t the first time, either, but Galon had found out that the officials clan wasn’t going to cover him this time, leaving him at the tender mercies of the Vimorian Red Syndicate.
That little tidbit of information had cost a large number of credits, but the real cost would be what he would need to spend buying the mining rights to several quarantine systems forty-eight lightyears into the forbidden zone. Even out here on the edge of controlled space, it wouldn’t be cheap to bribe an official of the Union. The Kalex tended to
be sticklers, and even in as much trouble as this one was in, it wouldn’t be easy to get him to ignore the rules.
Still, he had the credits to pull it off, buy the official’s silence, and the will to put all of his families physical assets from their current assignments into this endeavor. It wouldn’t be cheap, but If they did this right, they would have years of no competition, zoning laws, or license fees. All of which would result in massive profits.
He couldn’t help but revel in another bout of chittering celebration. It had taken quite a bit of time for the message to reach him, and arranging everything would take quite a bit more. Pressing a button on his desk, he waiting for the response tone before speaking.
“Captain Tesh, please set course for business headquarters. Our grand endeavor seems to be coming together, and I want to be centrally located to organize everything.”
“Yes, sir. Do you want me to send out the recall message to the other mining ships?”
Galon swiped his hand in the negative, even though the captain couldn’t see it. “No, it would not be wise. There are still things to arrange, and I don’t want to pull them off of their current sites if things fall through. Besides, this system is fairly close to headquarters, so these ships are best kept here pulling profit until we’re ready for the large deployment. A few years won’t matter.”
“Agreed. Is there anything else, sir? Otherwise, I’ll have the navigator begin on the calculations and have non-essential crew start getting into stasis.”
Galon grimaced, licking his teeth in distaste. He hated the stasis pods, or more importantly what happened when he came out of them. The liquid used always made him choke, retch, and sometimes pass out once he emerged; it was a very undignified situation for the head of the family. Not every one of his race had this reaction. Maybe one out of fifty Jezerine had it, which wasn’t very rare, but he hated it none-the-less. Still, there were some things he could do to stall before he had to go under.
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