“But…” I try to come up with a reason it is a bad idea. Since they’ve returned, I’ve only seen them the one time. Kate keeps urging me to go but… it’s not them. I don’t think they will ever remember who I am. I’m still glad I freed them—I just feel cheated.
Amelia, I know you are brilliant and you understand you cannot be a kid again.
“Your point, Captain Obvious?”
That does not mean you cannot have a relationship with them as adults. We are more than the sum of our experiences and memories. Regardless of whether they remember you, you are from them. They are your progenitors and they compliment you.
I sigh, rubbing my face and temples. Kate’s whammy is wearing off and the aches and pains are starting to set in again.
At least ask. Two more minds to crack this decryption means we can accomplish three times as much in the same time period. As much as Kate is helping you, your body will give out eventually. You will have to sleep. If we fail at our goals, what will we have accomplished?
“Who made you so smart?” I ask with a sigh.
Certainly not you.
I laugh, long and hard, sitting back in my chair and letting my neck stretch over the neck rest. “Okay, put them on line-one.”
Calling.
I have to go through a couple of nurses to get to them, but I finally do. I grip my chair arms as panic hits me square in the chest. My palms sweat and I clutch my armrests with all my strength.
Mom’s smiling face lights up the screen in front of me. Her hair is braided, an elaborate deal with lots of knots. She has on light pink lipstick and eyeshadow, almost like she’s going out on a date… oh crap. I glance at the clock; it’s seven at night. Stupid, stupid, Amelia.
“Amelia!” she says her face lighting up. “What a surprise. Let me get John… er, your father.” She rushes off-screen, shouting for Dad.
“Epic, they’re going out. I’m interrupting them!”
Do not let your fear make decisions for you.
I hate it when he’s right.
“Amelia,” Dad says as he and Mom sit down to face the camera. “Are you okay? We haven’t heard from you since the asteroid hit the bay.”
“I—I’m fine. I uh… if I’m interrupting I can call back later…”
Mom’s hand grabs Dad’s and they both look hard at me. “We’re not doing anything important. What’s going on?” she asks.
Epic blinks a light in the corner of the monitor a couple of times to encourage me. “Well, I need help decrypting an alien computer database.”
Mom hits Dad on the shoulder with a shout. “I knew that wasn’t an asteroid!”
“Yes, you were right,” he says rubbing his arm.
I can’t help but smile a little. “I used your notes on artificial intelligence to design Epic and he thought if there was anyone who could crack it, well it would be you, Mom.”
“Epic? You made him?” she asks.
I nod. “After the… funeral, Uncle Inezo packed up the house. I found your notebook on quantum computing and algorithmic programming—”
“You were six. How did you understand it?” she asks. There is no doubt in her statement, just curiosity.
“I didn’t, at first. But the more I read, the more it made sense. I dug through all the boxes until I had all your notes and textbooks. Eventually, the science just… clicked.” I snap my finger. “I was through all of them in a few months. After that… well, it was pretty easy to get more textbooks from your alma maters.”
She smiles at me, and I about die. It is the first genuine smile they’ve given me since I found them. God, how I’ve missed them. I sniff, trying not to let my emotions show. How could I have wasted all this time? Pythia was right. Not that I would ever tell her that. I made all sorts of bad decisions when I wasn’t even making decisions. I shake my head at my own stupidity.
I spend a half hour filling them in while Epic orders the computers they’re going to need for the work. By the time we’re ready to end the call so they can work, I really don’t want to.
“Call us back soon, okay?” Dad asks. “It was really nice to talk to you.”
“Of course. Thank you for the help.”
I kill the call and lean back. My whole body aches, but this takes one huge chore off my plate. Now I can focus on the alloy and my final project. Lux’s ship was surprisingly easy to scan. The Quantum Gate Drive she uses is as simple as a ZPFM. I just needed to wrap my head around it— mostly wrap my head around the idea of passing through quantum space to travel to other places using a form of quantum entanglement. I’m glad Carlos told me, even though he didn’t think I would believe him. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have ever even thought of the idea.
I click over to monitor two and pull up the schematic for the Mark IV. If it works, I’ll have a suit that reforms on the fly. Everything will be smaller, thinner, and lighter. This will be my war machine. Which means no kinetic lance or grenade launcher. I need speed, maneuverability, and firepower. I’m going to double up on the Emdrive: two full power particle beams, a single IP cannon, my sword, and the mass driver will round out my weapons. I’ll have the same ECM suite and maybe even active camouflage if I can nail it—
Hours fly by. I don’t even notice Kate until she touches me. But instead of feeling better my eyes start to close like they’re on rails.
“K—Kate… What?”
“Sorry hon, it’s time for sleep,” she whispers in my ear as she gently lifts me out of my chair. I can’t help but snuggle with her; she’s so warm and I hadn’t realized how cold I was until that moment.
“Epic… send to Mom and Dad,” I manage to say before sleep takes over. She lays me down in bed, crawling in next to me, holding me tight, brushing my hair out of my eyes.
“So you don’t have any bad dreams.” I fall asleep with her whispering in my ear.
95
The Enterprise conference room has to be my favorite place in the whole building—besides my lab that is. With its massive oak table and giant screen, I love to come up here in the middle of the night and watch movies on the fifty-foot UHD projector. I’ve never really slept that well, not for as long as I can remember. Having a place to go where no one will bother me, but I can be loud, has always helped.
I wish the image of the dark side of the moon were a movie. At least then it would only be a horror movie. Lux helped us download the footage from her ship’s cameras for us to go over. I could’ve just used what Epic copied, but I didn’t want her asking why I already had it…
“It is just a small fleet,” she says in her clipped English. Her speech is improving, I think mostly due to all the time she and Tony have spent together over the last week. “Five troop carriers, three capital ships, four harvesters, and what you would call ‘screen door units’.”
Luke chuckles. “Screening units, Lux,” he corrects gently.
“Sorry, still new to all this. Despite my ability to pick up your language, some colloquialisms will take me longer.”
“How do you do that, exactly?” Carlos asks. It’s still weird, having him here. He’s always belonged to my non-super life. The boy I play games with. The kid who introduced himself to the disabled girl on the street. I always loved how fearless he acted. Seeing him here, all beefed up and thoughtful, it doesn’t quite jive with my residual image of who he is. If I think of Carlos, I think of my friend. But now he is the new Protector more than my friend, and I don’t know how I feel about that. As sad as it is to lose my version of Carlos, I can only hope these changes are for the better.
Kate glances at me; maybe she picked up on my morose thoughts, but I just shoot a tight-lipped smile back at her. Her eyes narrow as if she doesn’t believe me, which makes me genuinely smile. The result is a giggle from her which she immediately stifles. “Sorry,” she mutters.
“The abilities the One imbued me with allow me to sense energy patterns, absorb light, redirect energy, and a host of other things. Our language is based on light, I can
sense the electr… uh,” she stops for a second running her hand through her long, straight blonde hair. A very human gesture if I ever saw one.
“Electrons?” I offer.
“Yes! Those. I can see them in your brain and when you speak they move in a certain way and I just mimic the way the electrons move,” she finishes with a smile.
“Amelia, uh would you care to translate?” Luke asks.
“Hmm?” I glance up from my drawing pad. I was still working on three different things at any given moment. “Oh, she’s an fMRI machine. She can see the way your brain works then copy it. The same as her shapeshifting powers allow her to mimic who she’s looking at.”
Luke glanced from me to her. “Then why do you still look like an Asian supermodel?”
“Careful,” I growl. Kate laughs at my sudden jealous outburst from his glowing compliments.
“Uh,” she blushes, “It’s limited to the first few people I see. I can revert completely to my natural form but then I have to start the process all over again. Despite what you hear, I think in my language. The changes I’m making to learn yours are physical, not mental. Same thing with my looks and I…” she glances at Tony and smiles, “Like this look. It pleases me.”
“When this is all over,” Teddy interrupts, “I’d love to have you in a hospital for about a hundred years.” Teddy doesn’t talk often, but when he does, I listen.
“Do you think she could advance our medical science?” I ask.
“How could she not?” he replies running his hand over his hairless head. “My wife… the MRIs can’t see through her skin because of her powers. If Lux can…”
“I’d be happy to help when we have time,” she says in her sweet soprano. “However, my first duty is to my people. Every day I delay is another day the Th’un murder them and plunder my planet.”
That sobers the room up. Carlos breaks the silence.
“When we sacked Thebes, Alexander had the survivors sold into slavery. Not because he was a callous, evil man, but because he never wanted to siege a city again. He did everything he could to keep the siege from happening, even offered to spare everyone if the two men who started the insurrection would surrender. When they didn’t, he left nothing on the table. Even sent in the reserves.” Carlos pauses, his eyes stare far away for a moment.
“I didn’t know you read history, young man. We should talk sometime,” Teddy told him.
“Read history? I was there. He really didn’t want to kill anyone. They just… they left him no choice. After that, when he said he would do something, no one doubted him.”
“You were… excuse me?” Teddy asks.
I knew Carlos had gone back in time—he’d even mentioned fighting with Alexander—but… I can only imagine how brutal that must have been.
“Teddy,” I say. “You read the brief on Pythia and the Oracle of Delphi?”
“Y—yes but I thought… well, I thought they were metaphorical or something.” He’s as much a person of science as I am, and I have serious problems with Pythia, even if her explanations all seem perfectly reasonable. “I’m sorry, young man, please continue.”
“You think it’s hard to believe hearing about it,” he says with a grin looking over his shoulder at the big black man, “Try going to bed here and waking up there. Culture shock to say the least.” His grin seems genuine but a look from Kate tells me there is more to the story. “My point is, we had a purpose for what we did, most armies do. What is the Th’un’s purpose?”
Lux looks around the room before her eyes come to rest on Tony. He encourages her with a smile. “They’ve built up their economy in such a way that if they aren’t constantly conquering and importing wealth, they’ll collapse. Once they… tame… a population, they deploy these massive harvesters,” she points at the screen and a golden laser beam emanates from her finger, like a shaft of light. The ships I thought of as troop transports illuminate.
“I thought those were troop ships?” Luke asks, reading my mind.
“These are,” she highlights two ships that are remarkably similar. “These are harvesters. Hundreds of feet high. They deploy them on mountain ranges and drive them back and forth carving huge swathes out. Transport ships transfer the minerals via quantum gates they set up at the location. This way they don’t have to break orbit once they’re here.” She turns her back to us while she speaks. I can see her shoulders shake a little.
“Augustina? Is this what they’re doing to your planet?” I ask in a whisper.
“Yes.” She turns and walks to Tony, putting her head on his shoulder while he pats her back.
“We need to kick their ass here, then go to Luxilla and do the same,” Tessa says with a growl. She’s unusually quiet for these kinds of meetings. I usually have to tell her to pipe down. Today, though, she seems almost morose.
There’s a consensus from the team, one I certainly support. Except there are a few minor problems.
“Everyone who can survive in the vacuum of space, please raise your hand?” I ask in a hushed tone. I raise mine, of course. I built Arsenal with the goal of going to space. The new MKIV will undoubtedly fit the bill.
Lux follows me then finally, Carlos. Which totally surprises me. “Carlos? How?”
“It’s hard to explain, but basically, the breastplate allows me to survive in any environment. The trick with the spear isn’t me holding my breath. I just don’t need to breathe when I don’t need to breathe.”
“I might be able to,” Glacier says quietly. “I don’t eat, sleep, or breathe in full elemental form. I’d… I’d rather not unless you really need me,” she says in a hushed whisper. She’s sitting right next to Carlos and even I can tell they’re closer than two people usually sit. I smile, I’m glad they’re still getting along.
“Even if you could, Monica, you’d have no way to move around. I’ll keep it in mind, but I think you’ll be of more use on the ground team.” She sighs, letting her head rest against Carlos’ broad shoulders. “That makes three of us against the fleet. Here is what I suggest, we break the team into two groups…”
96
My apartment under the building is as cozy as ever. I’m sitting in my special chair, it massages my legs and helps with circulation, and is also really frigging comfortable. I’m doing my three favorite things in the whole world.
Eating Bianco’s, drinking a Coke, and playing Halo with Carlos. It’s almost like I’m sixteen again. Five years sure feels like an eternity.
“Aaaand head shot,” he says with a smug smile. Okay, playing Halo may not be my favorite thing anymore.
“Since when did you get so flipping good at this game?” I ask with an exhale. I used to be able to take him six of ten, no problem. I haven’t won a single match this entire morning.
“Magic,” he says with a grin.
“Magic my shiny metal butt,” I mutter. I toss the controller down and lean back to take another bite, followed by a drink of Coke. It’s just us down here. Tony and Lux are off wandering around Phoenix. Monica is home with her parents. Luke is arranging some help for his ranch in case we have to leave the planet suddenly. Kate is helping Teddy with some tests on his wife. And I have no idea where Tessa is. She never checks in with me.
“Don’t be a sore loser, Niña. You’re rusty, is all. Probably all the playing against those losers online. Now the real competition is back and you’re getting your groove back.”
“Uh-huh,” I say. My heads starting to ache. I reach over for the aspirin and he gives me a look. “What?”
“You take a lot of those every day. It’s been a week since Antarctica. Are you still hurting? I thought with Teddy you’d be healed by now.”
And I would have been if I hadn’t foolishly locked myself in my lab for 24 hours and worked my bottom off.
“I am better, just not best.” I down a few aspirins with my next sip. “What I really need is for my suit to finish.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You’re building a new one?”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “I would’ve thought their tech would be…” He shrugs, “more advanced?”
“In some ways, they are. The way they travel across the stars is amazing, not to mention the way they make their ships… but that pretty much is the end of it. My quantum computers are more powerful than theirs. And Epic is light years ahead of what they can make.”
“I knew you’re smart, Niña… but you deciphered alien computer code and tech in a week?”
“I…” my face heats up and I look away, Carlos has always treated me with awe, his compliments always get right at my heart. “I had help,” I finally say. “I’ve spoken to Mom and Dad a few times and they’ve really sped the process up.”
Amelia, you are required in the lab.
“Coming.” I glance over at my chair then Carlos. “Muscles.” I snap my fingers, “Chair. Pronto,” I say with a smile. Carlos leaps up to mock attention and snaps a salute. Grinning, he walks over and lifts me up like a paperweight. I can’t help but blush as I rest against his rock-hard biceps.
“Wow,” I murmur. He coughs politely before putting me down in my chair. “I kind of meant just go get my chair. Dork.”
He looks down, running his hand through his hair, “Yeah, I realize that now. Sorry.”
I let it go with a shrug, “No worries. Follow me, sir.” I roll over to the bookshelf and pull on John Steakley’s Armor. The shelf slides open, revealing my lab. Carlos whistles.
“That’s so cool.”
“I know, right?” The ramp down lets me glide into the room. The lab’s square footage is four times the apartment. Off to the right, I have three display cases. Each has a set of my old armor in it. The MK I with its acid scoring and pitted metal. The MK II hangs in slightly better shape, but the helmet is partially crushed from Behemoth’s blows. The MK III is intact; I upgraded for upgrade sake, not because I had to. My current armor—my three-point-five—is on a maintenance cycle in the automated factory below the lab’s floor.
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