Paige paused to draw breath, and then took a quick swig of her beer.
Maya was watching Molly intently, ready to gauge her reaction.
Paige spoke up again. “So if it all goes okay, we’re looking at a 20% ROI for any investor that puts some money down for us to get the first shipment manufactured.”
Molly smiled at her, knowing what Maya was up to and answered quickly. “Of course, Paige. I’d love to.”
Paige grinned, relieved.
Maya was smiling too, but pretending to be offended at how easy Molly made it for Paige. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “You didn’t even make her make you an offer. She didn’t even have to ask for the business!”
Molly chuckled. “I know. I just didn’t want her to have to suffer any more than you were already making her.”
Maya smiled and pretended to huff.
“Well…” she said. “You try and help a girl out, and then everyone makes out like you’re the bad one.”
Paige put her beer down on the table, and turned and hugged Maya. “Thank you for helping me,” she said.
The rest of the table had stopped and was watching what was playing out.
Maya patted Paige on the back as she hugged her back. “You’re welcome. Just make sure you go and make a shit ton of money,” she told her.
Paige nodded, and then got up. She walked around the table, fully aware that all eyes were now on her, but not caring. She shuffled around to where Molly was sitting and bent down and hugged her, too. “Thank you for believing in me,” she told her, her eyes welling with tears.
When Paige released Molly and stepped back, she saw that Molly had tears in her eyes, too. “You’re very welcome, Paige,” Molly told her.
Paige shifted her feet awkwardly, unexpectedly self-conscious. She headed back around the table to sit down, and Molly searched for something to dry her eyes with.
Almost as if he were mind-reading, Joel produced a clean napkin from the pile in the center of the table, and handed it to her. She took it, smiling, the emotion welling up in her chest amplified by her newfound emotional awareness.
Joel put his hand on her back to comfort her, and Molly felt something she hadn’t really been able to experience before. Something that surprised her.
She stopped crying, and tried to process it.
It was a feeling of real, genuine love and caring.
It threw her for a second, but when Joel removed his hand, it diminished but didn’t go away. Everyone went back to their beer, pizzas, and conversations, and Joel was oblivious.
But Molly logged the new sets of data points to consider later.
Later, when she was less overwhelmed.
Epilogue
ArchAngel
Giles bustled to leave the communications suite, pulling his tweed jacket on as he walked, and trying to connect a call.
He strode purposefully through the corridors of the ArchAngel, flustered, anxious, and excited, all at the same time.
The call went to messages.
“Hello, General,” he started, managing to get one arm into the sleeve of his jacket. “I’ve, er, been talking with Arlene. We’ve put some pieces together; I really think we need to talk. Your concerns… You were right. Could you contact me at your earliest convenience, perhaps?”
He disconnected the call, and swung his arm into the other sleeve of his jacket, straightening it. Glancing down at his holo, he realized it was the middle of the night. But this couldn’t wait.
He slowed, wondering what his next course of action should be. Having a new thought, he turned back the way he had come, and pulled up directions to the archive lab.
There was something critical he ought to check out before making any recommendations.
Retribution
The Ascension Myth Book 6
Chapter 1
Aboard ArchAngel, Reynolds’ Office
The General was tired from being woken up in the middle of the night and looked bleary eyed over at Giles. “So, tell me again why you haven’t got the talisman?”
Giles scratched the back of his head, his tweed jacket opening up in a strange shape on one side, exposing his vintage-style shirt. His expression was one of sheepishness. “Er. Would you believe me if I said it involved a girl?”
Lance had wandered over to the drinks tray in his office and poured himself one. He ambled back to the sofa and sat down, his legs spread apart, resting his arms on his legs while studying the contents of his glass. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I would.”
Giles shifted awkwardly where he stood before deciding to join him on the adjacent sofa. “It’s okay, Uncle Lance. I know roughly where to find it again. It’s just going to take me some time to go get it.”
Lance looked up at him from beneath a somewhat furrowed brow. “How long?” he asked. He dropped his eyes back to the liquor, bracing himself for a ridiculous response.
Giles shrugged, and breathed deeper. “I dunno. It depends. I need to find the guy who hid it for me first…”
His voice trailed off as he realized how, to a practical man like Lance, this wasn’t a well (enough) defined parameter.
Lance didn’t react.
Instead, he just took a swig of the whiskey, draining the glass in one go. “Okay. Well, whatever it takes. I don’t like the idea of there being things out there that we don’t understand. Things that can potentially be used against us.”
He stood up and returned the glass to the tray on the other side of the room, and then turned back to Giles. “That said,” he continued, “I don’t believe there is anyone more capable of solving this puzzle than you. Let’s talk some more in the morning, but suffice to say, it looks like you have your next assignment.”
Giles stood up. “Understood, General,” he replied.
Lance nodded affably. “Go get some rest, dear boy. We’ll continue this at a decent hour.”
Giles bobbed his head and turned to leave.
“Ah, just one more thing,” Lance called after him.
Giles turned back.
“The woman, the one that was the cause of us not having this vital piece of intel…” Lance watched Giles’s reaction carefully as he spoke.
“Yeah?” Giles asked.
“Anyone I know?” The General asked.
Giles’s lips curled in a half smile, with a hint of admiration for the woman, and a touch of contempt for a certain thought about her that came to mind. “Some things are best left in the past Uncle,” he replied.
He turned again to leave, heading out of the door.
The General watched him go, shaking his head quietly to himself. “ADAM,” he called hitting his holo button. “Have my morning meetings postponed for a few hours. I’m going to sleep in to recover from this emergency meeting.”
ADAM’s voice came over the intercom. “Of course, sir. Did you not deem the conversation urgent and important?”
Lance nodded to himself. “No no, it was both urgent and important. I’m glad you woke me. And we’ll discuss our next moves in the morning when I’ve had time to process. And sleep.”
“Yes, sir. Sleep tight,” ADAM responded over the intercom.
The General wiped his tired face as he wandered across his office reception area. “You too, ADAM,” he responded.
Lance headed out of the office door, and padded down the corridor in his blue and white striped pajamas, covered over with his dark red bathrobe. He knew to his crew, he would look like a crazy man wandering around in his nightclothes, but most of them knew him. They knew that he was far from crazy. And that he didn’t care what they thought.
Just then, an ensign rounded the corner. “Good night, sir,” he chirped amicably, only just refraining from a salute — on account of the General not being in uniform.
“Good night, Thom,” the General muttered as he continued down the corridor, back to his quarters where he had left Patricia sleeping.
Gaitune-67, Safe house, Molly’s confere
nce room
Paige gazed idly into thin air as she mused about the future. “I dunno,” she said wistfully. “When we have enough sales, I think we could have a few employees, maybe based on Ogg, who might want to take over the marketing.”
Maya grinned. “Bored with the marketing already?”
Paige shook her head, quickly returning to the conversation. “No. Not at all. I just want to make sure that I’m focused on my job, as well. I don’t want to leave the adventures we have here. Not for fame or fortune.”
Maya grinned. “Well, it’s good that the kinds of things you need in the business are things that you don’t need to do yourself.”
Paige grinned. “Yeah, especially now we have the perfect formula nailed - pun intended,” she said chuckling. “Molly’s done all the hard work,” she added glancing over at Molly, who was immersed in her holo.
Paige and Maya had stopped talking and were looking at her. Molly became aware of the change in the room, and looked up at them. “Sorry… did you…?”
Her eyes were on them, but she was still absent.
Paige laughed. “It’s okay. We were only mentioning the work you did for the nail formula.”
“Oh, right…” she acknowledged. Seeming to get another thought, she turned to Maya. “Anything useful on those Chaakwa files, then?” she asked.
The girls had been holed up in Molly’s favorite conference room all morning, working through their various things, and catching up with the routine since their mission defeating the Zhyn.
Most of the crew was pretty tired. It had been exciting, but also intense for all involved. Even two days later, Molly was happy to take it easy and just catch up on rest. Joel would have them running circuits and sparring the crap out of each other soon enough.
Maya closed her holo to give Molly her full attention. “Yeah. She has a bunch of leads that we can run down.”
Molly frowned a little. “Leads that she couldn’t pursue herself?”
Maya bobbed her head from side to side. “I’m not sure. Some. I don’t think she had the access she needed. Not the kind that Oz and Pieter can secure for us…”
“And?” Molly pressed, sensing some hesitation in Maya’s voice.
Maya narrowed her eyes, thinking. “Well, I have a funny feeling that she was holding back. Almost like she didn’t want people to know she was still looking into it.”
Molly stared off into empty space for a moment, before scratching the side of her face and scrunching up her nose. “Well, I guess I can understand that. I mean, if The Syndicate were anything to go by, who knows what lengths these particular goons were going to in order to keep themselves protected? It wouldn’t surprise me if they were tapping her holos, and… worse.” Molly’s voice drifted off again, before she gave a small shudder at the thought.
“Anyway, keep at it,” she instructed a little more brightly. “I’d like us to get these fuckheads dealt with so that Chaakwa can get on with her life in peace.”
Maya nodded. “Sure. On it, boss,” she affirmed looking back down at her holo.
Isn’t it time you started moving?
What for?
Your meeting with the General.
Oh, shit. Fuck.
Molly closed her holoscreens hurriedly. “Shit, I’d forgotten I have a debriefing with the General. I’ve got to go…” she explained quickly to the girls.
Paige and Maya looked up, semi-stunned by the flurry of activity from Molly’s direction. In a matter of seconds, she was packed up and out of the door. “I’ll catch you later,” she called back to them.
The door bounced closed behind her, and didn’t quite catch— opening slowly, and then settling ajar. Paige and Maya looked at each other.
“See what I mean?” Maya urged.
Paige shook her head. “Nooo…” she said slowly. “It’s just the same old Molly. Living in her head.”
Maya shook her head. “No,” she insisted. “Didn’t you see how she shuddered when she was thinking of what Chaakwa might be going through?”
Paige frowned. “So?”
“So,” pressed Maya, “I think she’s empathizing. You know, putting herself in other peoples’ shoes. At least, in terms of her imagination.”
Paige looked at Maya suspiciously. “That’s not what you’re getting at though, is it?”
Maya smiled gently. “Okay, you got me. No, honestly, if it were just that, it would be a feat of a personality shift, no doubt… I think it’s something more.”
Paige’s eyes lit up as she started to understand. “You mean like they were saying about her being able to tune in to other peoples’ energies.”
Maya pursed her lips together and nodded. “I think so.” She kept nodding. “I think she’s feeling how people feel, and then having her own reaction to it; like a…”
Paige smirked. “A human being?”
Maya grinned. “Exactly!”
Paige clapped her hands together in childish excitement, and her motions dissipated the holographic screens that had been arranged in front of her. “So, you think that she and Joel will finally get together, then?”
Maya grinned, and started back in on her work. “Let’s not get too carried away. I mean, it is still Molly in there, after all.”
Paige took the hint that the conversation was over, and set about retrieving her closed screens, still smiling excitedly to herself.
Chom-X9, Secret Base
The thin atmosphere on Chom-X9 was still. It had been several days since the electrical storm, and the scent of ozone remained in the air, in patches.
Shaa hurried back inside, bringing a little whirlpool of dust with him into the airlock. It was safe to be outside for a short time. Time enough to experience the vastness of space, and marvel at how far he had come. But to stay too long meant to suffer the effects of the low pressure and the lack of oxygen. Of course, being Zhyn, he was a little more robust than other species might be. But still. It wasn’t something he wanted to push.
The second door of the airlock opened and he stepped through, stamping the sand and dirt from his boots.
“Sir,” one of his subordinates acknowledged him.
Shaa nodded to him, and then made his way through the utilitarian corridors to the meeting room. He pressed the keypad and strode in.
The four engineers sitting around the conference room table stood as soon as they saw him.
“At ease, gentlemen,” he told them, his attention on other things. He wandered over to the window, looking out over the wilderness he’d just come from, as they reclaimed their seats.
“Sir, we have an update on the-” one of them began.
Shaa turned, waving his hand to silence him. “In a moment. First,” he commanded in his domineering tone, “tell me about the other entry points to the base. How secure are we, structurally, without those secondary doors having an airlock?”
A couple of the engineers looked at each other, trying to decide what to answer. They seemed to agree on who was going to answer, and the older looking one spoke up. “Sir, it is safe for now; but over time, the pressure differential, and, of course, the use of the other doors, will put the surrounding structure under stress. We should look at putting in airlocks as soon as possible.”
Shaa grunted. “Sooner than the automatic targeting defense systems for the building?”
The engineers all nodded emphatically, as if he had asked them if Zhyn needed oxygen to survive.
Shaa sighed. “Very well. Have work started on them immediately. Do one at a time, though.”
The engineer on the far right took a note to make it happen.
Shaa seemed ready to get down to business. He turned his attention to the four of them, and sat down at the table. “So, what of the anti space missiles?” he asked. “Did the storm take any of them out?”
The engineers proceeded with their update, and Shaa took a deep breath, fighting to maintain his patience in dealing with the
minutia of setting up yet another base from scratch.
Gaitune-67, Base conference room
Molly breezed into the conference room, her mind still immersed in the numerous projects she had been running. Plunking her anti grav mug of hot water on the table, she closed her eyes for a second, trying to call up the relevant file for the conversation she was about to have.
Why are we here, Oz?
Zhyn mission debrief.
Right. Thank you.
…
I’m going to ask him about that damn letter, too.
You go for it, Tiger.
‘Tiger’. Ha! I’m LOL’ing in my head at you, Oz.
I’m glad I can provide some amusement.
Molly sat down, opened her holo, and hit ‘Call Connect,’ ready for when the General came on.
She sipped on her hot water trying to remember the high she would feel when she would sip on hot mocha. Alas, since her body seemed to have taken to rejecting it, it had been a while since she had truly enjoyed the stuff. It was as though the nanocytes just didn’t want her consuming mocha - and so, under Arlene’s suggestion, she had given it up.
Life has a way of taking away the things I love the most, she mused flatly as she waited in the empty conference room.
The holo cube in the center of the table appeared and unfolded, creating a screen that opened out against the wall on the other side of the conference table.
Lance Reynolds appeared before her in his usual military attire, with a half-chewed cigar in his mouth.
“Bates!” he exclaimed. “Good to see you alive and well.”
“You too, sir,” she agreed, quickly getting to her feet and saluting.
The General returned the salute, and nodded for her to sit back down. “I hear the mission was a success?” he prompted.
“Yes, sir. We took out all targets and escaped without casualties,” Molly confirmed.
The General looked pleased. “Very good,” he gruffed. “You did a good job.”
Reynolds flicked through a holoscreen that cast a haze between him and the projection that appeared on Molly’s side of the holo feed. “Yeeees,” he said admiringly now, “looks like you did very well, according to Oz’s report.”
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 109