by Terry Mixon
“I’ll step out and let you get dressed,” Lily said. “Once you’re ready, we can head over and see what they’ve got for us to eat.” At his nod, she rose and walked out of the tent.
Jared found his neatly folded clothes on a nearby stool, and he dressed quickly. All he had was his shipboard uniform and knew that wouldn’t hold up over a long march.
The landing site they’d chosen was just a bit more than a thousand kilometers away from the Imperial Palace. That was under the best case. If they had to dodge around anything—like one of the abandoned megacities—that distance would increase.
His shoes were sturdy enough for shipboard wear, but not exactly made for traipsing about the wilds of a planet. Thankfully, they’d brought extra marine uniforms, including boots. If they’d survived Kelsey’s epic crash landing, that was.
If Jared thought talking to his sister would make her stop doing that kind of thing, he’d do so in a heartbeat, but that seemed like a fantasy. In any case, this time wasn’t her fault. The System Lord orbiting Terra had damaged the pinnace, and the crash had been the end result.
The second pinnace getting caught up in it might have been correctable with more experience, but he wasn’t going to quibble. The situation was what it was.
Once he’d dressed, he stepped out of the tent and joined Lily. The night still held sway, but it was starting to grow lighter off to the east. The smells of the wild and the sounds of insects and other creatures were profoundly strange to him.
Together, he and Lily headed off to where the cooks had set up. He could already smell something in the air. A little bit of woodsmoke and perhaps the hint of some kind of food. He wasn’t certain. It smelled like bacon, and he felt his stomach grumble. His last meal had been a long time ago.
To his surprise, Jared found most of the major players gathered near the cooks. Elise, Olivia, Sean, both Kelseys—Kelsey and Julia, he corrected himself—Commander Roche, and Carl Owlet were sitting around a lively fire. The only members of his leadership team missing were Talbot and Scala.
Everyone slid over just enough to make room for Lily and himself.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here,” Jared said with a chuckle as he sat. “Kidding aside, is everyone okay?”
The lack of smiles around the campfire told him that things were probably a little bit worse than he’d imagined. Putting aside his poor attempt at a joke, he looked around the group. “I can tell there’s more bad news. Give it to me.”
Kelsey filled him in on the loss of the drone network and the fact that the crash had cost them most of the small arms ammunition and rifles. That was bad news, but it could’ve been worse. No one had been killed, and they could still continue on to their target.
“I understand that this seems like an ugly blow,” he said quietly. “But it’s no worse than anything else we’ve faced along the way. In fact, this is far from the nastiest position we’ve ever been in. It’s going to be a hard march, but we’ve got everything that we need to make it.”
“How do we get off Terra once we’re done?” Julia asked. “Let’s say that everything goes smoothly—which I seriously doubt—and we make it all the way to the Imperial Palace and into the vaults below. Glory of glories, we recover the override. What then? We’ve still got to get off Terra and past the murderous AI in orbit. How do we do that?”
“We’ll figure that out when we get to it,” Jared said, keeping his voice calm and level. “The Imperial Palace is intact, so it’s entirely possible that there are small craft underneath it. Ones that we could potentially use to get to orbit, if they aren’t damaged or decayed beyond repair.
“Also, Persephone is hiding out in the system somewhere. Angela and her people will try to get us out if we call. We have the FTL link to them, though I don’t want to use it unless we absolutely have to. The details of how we escape really aren’t important right now because none of it matters unless we get the override, so let’s focus on that.”
He looked around the fire, meeting everyone’s gaze. “We need to get to the Imperial Palace alive and in one piece. Once we get there, we’ll get into the vault. I have the key and the right DNA, so I think that’s going to work. Kelsey has all of the Imperial codes that an heir to the Imperial Throne would have, so if we run into anything unusual, she can get us in.”
He gestured across the fire toward Julia. “Excuse me, I should have added that Julia does as well. Either of you could probably get us in. You both likely have the same set of authorization codes.”
He held his silence until they’d all nodded. “It’s going to be dawn soon, so we need to eat and start gathering what we need to take with us. Whatever we can’t carry, we’ll have to leave here, or transport to a safe location.
“I’m going to assume that the marines have deployed some of our tactical drones and that we have some potential cache points mapped out from the original drone network. Once the sun is up, I’ll review all that and make some decisions on the route we’ll take. I want to get away from here as quickly as we can manage.
“It’s possible that the AI will discover the crash site at some point. If that happens, we can expect to be hunted. That won’t be pleasant, so let’s hope that the System Lord never learns that we’ve made it down to the surface alive.”
He glanced toward the east. In half an hour or so, the sun would peek over the hills in the distance and their day would begin in earnest. It was the middle of summer where they’d landed, so it wouldn’t be cold. On the other hand, he really didn’t know how hot it was going to get. Or how muggy.
It really didn’t matter. They’d have to march every day, and it was going to be grueling. He and his people would do what they had to. Adapt and overcome, as Talbot would say. They didn’t have a choice if they wanted to save humanity from slavery at the hands of the AIs.
Julia stepped into the tent they’d been using for drone monitoring. The only person inside was Carl Owlet, who was busy tearing down the computers and packing them away. He looked up as she approached.
“Good morning, Highness. What can I do for you?”
She opened her mouth to ask a question but then paused. “I haven’t said a single thing, yet you already know that I’m not your Kelsey. The regeneration on my face removed the scarring, and we look exactly alike, right down to our hair length. How did you know it was me?”
He smiled. “No one else—other than Talbot and Admiral Mertz—would be able to tell, I’d wager, but I’m the one who installed some of the extra hardware inside our version of you. Well, not personally. Doctor Stone did that, but I designed it. You don’t have the same gear, so that means you’re not my Princess Kelsey.”
She found one of the folding fabric seats and sat slowly. “And you figured that out in just a few moments. Were you worried that I wasn’t Kelsey and checked?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. The identification was almost subconscious. I have the same hardware installed inside myself as my princess does. That means my equipment recognizes her equipment on a deep level. It’s almost like an electronic handshake. My implants use that to know which one of you I’m speaking with. I set that up when I found out you were visiting, as it seemed prudent.”
She found herself smiling slightly. “That’s very proactive. I’ve heard a lot about you, Carl Owlet. I haven’t met you in my universe, but I sent a message home to find and recruit you as soon as I heard your story. One doesn’t find a genius of your caliber every day.”
He grimaced slightly. “I wish people wouldn’t take things to that extreme. Yes, I’m smart. Yes, I’m plugged into the Old Empire technology. All that said, plenty of people could’ve done exactly what I did. I was just in the right place, at the right time, with the right know-how, and put everything together.”
“Humble, too. That’s a plus.”
His brows furrowed. “Excuse me?”
Julia’s smile widened slightly. “Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking about somethin
g that I mean to do when I get back to my universe. Basically, I’m making a mental checklist of how I need to approach my version of you to talk about… an alliance, shall we say.”
“If other me is anything like me, he’ll jump through hoops to help you.”
“I certainly hope so. We could really use his help. I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about the situation in my universe, but we’re behind the eight ball. I picked that phrase up from your version of Kelsey, by the way. I’m not really sure where it comes from, but it means we’re in a difficult place. A much worse place, really.
“We don’t have the ships or technology that you do, and the Rebel Empire is aware of us. The AIs have already taken control of Pentagar, and it’s only a matter of time before they come for Avalon. We’re going to need every bit of help we can get.”
Before he could respond, she waved a hand dismissing everything she’d just said. “Let’s just leave that aside for the moment. I know Angela Ellis from my universe. I think with all of the changes that have occurred, she’s basically filling the same role for me that your Talbot does for your version of me, minus the romantic aspects. I know her really well, and I have to say that I’d never have expected you to be her type. No offense.
“I understand that there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, not just in how you think and act, but that you’ve got grit, as Kelsey would say. That’s important. Don’t dismiss what you’ve done. It takes a lot of hard work to achieve success.”
Carl shook his head. “Angela is a special case. She and I meshed under a weird combination of circumstances and pressure. I never expected anything like that to happen, and in your universe, I’d wager that other me is probably not going to get along with her very well at all. Are you trying to figure out if you can set up other me up with other Angela? Please don’t.”
She cocked her head slightly to the side and pursed her lips. “I’m not in the habit of playing matchmaker. My own love life is hard enough to figure out. For my part, I don’t see me and other Talbot getting along the same way that Kelsey and he do here, for similar reasons. I’m not Kelsey. I don’t think like her, even though I have the same implants, mostly.”
She gestured around at the packed equipment, ready to change the subject. “Are we taking all this with us? It seems like an awful lot to carry.”
He shook his head. “We’ll leave most of it inside the crashed pinnaces. I’ll probably pack one of the computers to take with us, just in case we need the extra computational power when we get to the Imperial Palace, but honestly, there’s not going to be a lot of science on this mission. We’d hoped that we’d be able to examine a bunch of stuff there when we landed, but that’s going to have to wait for another visit. If there is one.”
With that, he gestured toward the tent flap. “I think we’d best get to where the marines are laying out the equipment. It’s time to get some durable clothes and boots that are more suitable for hiking.”
She nodded and stood, having made up her mind. This young man was worth further attention. He might just be who she needed. Of course, convincing other him of that might be a challenge, but she was willing to put out the effort for someone she now thought of as a warrior scholar.
By the time they reached the Imperial Palace, she’d know for sure if he’d make a suitable consort. No one could hide their true natures on a march as difficult as this was going to be. Over the next few months, they’d all find out how tough they really were.
And, just in case, Julia would make certain that other him and her Angela didn’t meet before she’d wooed him. No matter what he said, she wasn’t going to tempt fate. Her luck had been mostly bad for the last few years, and she’d be damned if she was going to blindly take that kind of risk.
Her Angela would just have to find someone else. Maybe she and other Talbot would make a good pair. Perhaps she’d have to try her hand at matchmaker after all, once the universe wasn’t trying to kill her and everyone she knew.
4
Talbot watched as Adrian and his marines assisted the Fleet personnel and civilians in adjusting their new clothes to fit properly. Thankfully, they’d done most of the measuring before they’d come down to the surface.
Adrian had known they’d be on Terra for a while and seen the problem of worn-out shoes and clothes coming. The standard marine loadout for deployment included one set of extra boots and a total of four uniforms, and that’s what everyone now had.
Even back in the days of the pre-expedition New Terran Empire, Avalon had made some tough boots and clothing for their marines. The Old Empire had them beat, hands down. The footwear would survive the worst Terra could throw at them, and the fatigues were almost as durable.
He and Kelsey had arrived late to the party, but they’d also come prepared. He’d made certain to bring along his normal loadout and had forced her to bring the pack that he’d prepared for her.
Like his pack, hers didn’t just contain fatigues and boots, but a complete marine basic kit. She’d moaned and groaned about having pinnaces to get them to where they’d needed to go, but he’d stood firm. Now he could smugly tell her that he’d been right, and she’d be forced to admit it.
He chuckled at his own joke.
This march was going to be hard on the Fleet personnel, but he was confident that they’d make it. The civilians, on the other hand, had him concerned. Scientists, as a group, were a bit on the sedentary side and not used to exercise or privation. There were exceptions, of course, but those folks were definitely rare in that particular population sample.
This march would involve juggling some priorities. The entire group was chained to their slowest person. That meant they’d need to speed up the weakest among them to a level that would get them to the Imperial Palace in a reasonable amount of time, without turning them into casualties.
And you could only push someone so far. He’d just have to accept that they wouldn’t get to their target as quickly as he’d like. Of course, his standards on how long the trip should take were different than Admiral Mertz’s. The flag officer might not realize how much faster marines as a group could march than the other shipboard personnel.
Adrian stepped over as Carl and Julia came over to the tables they’d set up so they could get their gear. Talbot eyed the woman that looked exactly like his wife. She didn’t know him at all, and she certainly didn’t care about him in the same way as Kelsey. It was weird and more than a little spooky.
He watched Julia as she headed into the ladies changing tent. Unlike the marines, whose members were used to stripping down and armoring up in a mixed gender environment—not that they were doing so out here in the open—the Fleet personnel and scientists still had body modesty, so they’d arranged for multiple tents for everyone to change in.
Kelsey had lost her body modesty years ago. Julia had not. One more difference.
“She’s an odd one,” Adrian said quietly. “She looks like our princess, but she’s not the same woman. She doesn’t think the same way as your wife. She’s not as impulsive or outgoing.”
Talbot had been shocked when Kelsey had finally told him that her doppelgänger from another universe was with Admiral Mertz. She’d found out over the FTL com but hadn’t said anything to him until they’d arrived in the Terra system.
That annoyed him, but he could see how it was something that would get under her skin. They’d have to talk about it, once they had time.
He was going to have to get to know this other woman. She was a potential threat, and one that was close to Admiral Mertz. Adrian had admitted that he was worried about her in the same way.
The admiral had a habit of taking in strays. Of course, so did Kelsey. One of these days, that was going to bite them hard, and he wanted to be ready when it happened.
“Thankfully, we only have her and Commander Roche to keep an eye on,” Adrian continued. “They’ve both behaved well so far, but they probably don’t trust us very much, considering how Admiral Mertz in
their universe was a traitor. Frankly, I’m amazed that Julia has come around to even considering that he might be different here.”
“Are we certain that she has changed her mind?” Talbot asked slowly. “If I was among potential enemies and thought one of them was a murderous sonofabitch, I might be inclined to lie about how I felt about him, if it offered me an opportunity to get what I wanted.”
Adrian shook his head. “The problem I see with that train of thought is that she went on the mission with the admiral specifically to get him down from orbit safely. Admittedly, he’s the only one of us that has the Imperial DNA to open the vault, but she went above and beyond. She could’ve let Commander Roche do the heavy lifting.”
Talbot rubbed his face. “It’s not exactly like we can do any kind of testing to see if she’s a threat or not. That would require direct access to the AI we left on board Persephone.”
The AI in question was Fiona. She had the same hardware as the System Lords, but with clean code and some additions that Carl Owlet had made. She was loyal to humanity and could use her special connection to an individual’s implants—with their consent—to check and see if they were telling the truth.
Well, he’d just have to keep an eye on the woman. She might have the same implants as he and Kelsey did, but she wasn’t a Marine Raider. Even if ambushed, he felt confident that his wife could tie the other woman into a pretzel without much trouble at all. She was, after all, a sensei in the Art.
The Art was a compilation of martial arts styles put together by the Marine Raiders of the Old Terran Empire. It favored his wife’s small size, and she’d had the benefit of months of training at the hands of an experienced sensei before anyone else had even started learning it.
Ned Quincy had once been a Marine Raider himself. A fully trained one, and a master of the Art. One of the best in the Old Empire.
Kelsey had inadvertently created an AI version of him when she’d pulled a bunch of memory files into her implants from his body once they’d recovered it from stasis aboard Persephone when they’d discovered the ship in the graveyard around Boxer Station.