by Saxon Andrew
“If my image is seen back in the colonies, then it will become known that my daughter and I didn’t die in that crash. I can’t take that risk.”
Sig sat down on the bed, “How long ago did that crash happen?”
“Fifteen-years.”
“So, if your image is seen on Earth, what do you think anyone seeing it in the colonies might think?”
“They’ll think I’m still alive!”
“No…they’ll think another citizen on the cruise copied the appearance of a woman that died. You know all the images of deceased colonists are removed from the central computer. Besides, you might need this image to escape the guild putting a contract out on you, if by some miracle we make it back.”
“There’s no way I’ll use it in the colonies. Are you crazy?!”
“Lis! Focus! You were listed as dead years ago and anyone in the colonies can now duplicate your appearance without the fear of being sued. Just change the coloration you use, use your new mimicking skills to make you a little taller, and the system used by the Council will ignore you.”
Lis stared at him and thought about what he was suggesting. “I’ve never used my normal image, since I joined the guild.”
“Did you use it when you joined?”
“No.”
“Then there you go.”
“You can be so, so…”
“Logical?”
Lis rolled her eyes. “Promise you won’t laugh.”
“I won’t! Just make the change and allow me to take an image to insert in my duplicator.”
Lis sighed and suddenly changed her image. She looked up at Sig and saw him staring at her with wide eyes, “Am I that bad?”
“Do you remember that hostess that greeted us at the bus?” Lis’s eyes narrowed and she nodded. “I tell you honestly, she has nothing on you. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Quit lying, Sig! I’m only five-feet-four inches tall and my body is…” She paused and looked down at herself, “…embarrassing!”
Sig took her by the hand and walked her into the bathroom and stood in front of the large mirror, “Look at yourself, Lis. Take a good look!”
Lis looked at the mirror and was shocked. She touched her face, “Is that me?”
“Yes! Why did you possibly think you weren’t beautiful?”
“I guess I didn’t feel beautiful after my husband betrayed me.”
“He was a pig!”
“But he had three-other-wives!”
“And I suspect he had them before you married him. You need to remember that he took one look at you and immediately decided that he wanted you.” Sig nodded toward the mirror, “That is what he saw, and I have to say if I were in his place, I would have felt the same way. Now come with me and stand up against the wall.”
Lis followed Sig into the bedroom and stood against a clear white wall. Sig snapped a picture and Lis said, “Your turn.” Sig jerked his head around to her. “You’ll need to use your normal genetic image as well, right.” Sig rolled his eyes and handed Lis the imager. He sighed and instantly changed. Lis stared at him and said, “You aren’t as tall as I remember.”
“I’m a geneticist; I was able to increase my height.”
“Your face is nothing like it was when I met you in the Guild Master’s office.”
“I tried to improve it, Lis. Will you take the picture! I know I’m nothing much to look at.”
“I can see what you’re thinking, Sig.” Sig was silent. “You think that after I’ve seen your real appearance, there’s no chance I’d ever be interested in you.”
Sig’s eyes were sad and his demeanor distraught, “You already told me I had no chance. I didn’t think that revealing my appearance would make a difference. I’m far from handsome and I know it. One thing for sure.”
“What’s that?” Lis asked.
“Lis, if you and I are together in our normal appearance, no one will see me.”
Lis snapped the picture and handed the imager back to Sig. She didn’t know what to say. Sig was right; he had a very ordinary appearance. He went to the duplicator, attached the camera to it with a cable, pressed a button and Lis asked, “Have you ever been in love, Sig?”
“Do you mean have I ever been in a relationship?” Lis nodded. “There were women in school that expressed an interest in me, but I saw their real motivation.”
“What was that?”
“They knew I was a brilliant genetic scientist and they saw me as a means to be wealthy. They didn’t want me; they wanted what I would earn. Women that were already wealthy, didn’t even give me a second look. I think that the love of wealth pretty much removes any love a person might possess. I must confess that the two-couples we mimicked on the cruise really loved each other. I believe it was due to them not being wealthy.” They changed their appearances back to Sig and Lis. Sig said over his shoulder as he operated the duplicator, “I’m giving you a major’s rank and I’m going to be a lieutenant. We’ll still be married, and your name is going to be Karen Albritton. My name will be Talon Albritton.”
“That doesn’t sound like Ka.”
“You can pronounce it with a short A if you choose.”
“You know if they scan our IDs, they’ll immediately know we’re not who we claim to be.”
Sig shook his head, “They don’t have a master computer with all the names of their military, Lis.”
“Oh?”
“Earth is still behind the colonies in computer sciences. That’s why they make IDs that can’t be duplicated. If the ID passes a scan as being real, then the holder will be considered real. They honestly don’t believe their ID’s can be duplicated.”
“And you know this because…”
“Remember, I have a direct line into the guild’s computer. The guild has been attempting to duplicate an Earth ID for several years and have failed miserably. The Guild Master learned from his informer that all one needs to infiltrate Earth’s military is a valid ID. I suspect that Earth is not far from developing a computer to track all their forces, but they’re not there yet. These IDs will get us into the Orlando Military Complex, if we can come up with a valid reason to get in. This is our best opportunity to make that happen.”
Lis’s ID popped up in the machine and he handed it to her, as he waited for his to complete and Lis asked, “Sig?”
“Yes.”
“The reason you asked me to wait until the mission was over to decide about us being a team was because you thought I’d never be attracted to you. You wanted time for me to get to know you.”
Sig sighed, “It was wishful thinking, Lis. It’s not who I am or my appearance that prevents you from wanting to be with me…it’s what I am. I’m a killer.”
“So am I, Sig.”
“That doesn’t bother me. But I understand why you feel like that.”
“Tell me why you think so?”
“Because your dead husband was also a killer; I know he killed his daughters by those other women.”
Lis stared at him, as he turned to the duplicator and his ID popped out. He stared at it and sighed. He put it in his leg, put the printer away, and stood up. “We need to go out and purchase some clothing that will pass muster on Earth.”
“Sig, I’m sorry I can’t be what you want.”
Sig shook his head, “That’s just it, Lis. You’re exactly what I want. Let’s not discuss this again, ok?” Lis nodded and looked away. The desk communicator buzzed, and Sig walked over and picked it up, “Yes.” He paused and said, “Now is a good time. Come on up.” He turned to Lis, “Our assigned hostess wants to meet with us about our itinerary.” Lis nodded and saw Sig gather control of his emotions.
• • •
A few-minutes later, they heard a knock on the door and Sig forced a smile before opening it, “Are you Mr. Sig?”
“I am.”
“May we come in?”
“Please.”
Sig stepped aside, and Lis wondered if bein
g a hostess required that they be gorgeous. This hostess was breathtaking and the woman with her was also incredible. Lis stood up and smiled, “I’m Lis.”
The hostess smiled, “It’s a pleasure to be serving you during your stay on Earth. I understand that you’ve requested a tour of the Tampa Bay area.” Lis and Sig both nodded. “I see you’ve also requested a tour of Kennedy Space Center and Disney World, is that correct?”
Before Sig could reply, Lis quickly answered, “Yes, but Major Montana has requested that we contact him, and he’ll set up a VIP tour of Kennedy and Disney World.”
The hostess’s eyebrows went up, and Lis handed her the card the Major had given her, “He asked us to contact him at the number on the card.”
The hostess examined the card, pulled out a communicator, and punched in the Major’s number. “Sir, I have two-tourists that tell me that you will arrange their visits to Kennedy and Disney.” She listened for a few minutes and said, “Lis and Sig, Sir.” She listened again and ended the contact. Lis saw she forced a smile before saying, “I will take you off the schedule and you will need to contact Major Montana for your tour of Kennedy and Disney World. When may I set up your tour of Tampa?”
Sig smiled, “I think we want to just rent a transporter and ride around the city a few days before we take a tour. We’d also like to spend a few days on the beach after we do that.”
The hostess flashed a dazzling smile at Sig and it would have most men falling to her feet, before saying, “What about a week from today at ten am?”
Sig returned her smile, “That would be good.”
The hostess looked at her assistant, “Contact them in six-days and make sure nothing has changed.”
The assistant nodded, then turned to them, “I’ll have a transport arranged to be delivered to you in the morning. The front desk will notify you when it arrives.”
Lis smiled, “That is outstanding service! Thank you so much for taking such good care of us.”
The hostess nodded and exited their room with her assistant. “Sig.”
“Yes.”
“That woman is going to try and catch you alone.” Sig’s brow furrowed. Lis continued, “It’s highly unusual for an officer in the military to intrude into a tourist’s schedule. She’s extremely curious about that and she’s going to try and see what’s going on. She’s also in the military.”
Sig nodded, “She called the Major, Sir. Did you read her?”
“I did. She’s hoping she can blind you with her beauty and get you to lower your defenses.”
Sig tilted his head and then straightened it, “That won’t happen.”
“Oh?”
“She’s nowhere near as beautiful as you are. I’ll look at her and compare her to you; she’ll come up lacking.” Sig said it matter-of-factly and went to unpack. He wasn’t saying it to score points; he was just saying what he thought. Lis stood up and helped him unpack.
• • •
The next day they drove around Tampa and were fascinated with the old buildings from before the holocaust. The towering sky scrapers were amazing and the small round building in the middle of them looked out of place. Lis looked at her tour guide and read, “This building was declared a historical site before the nuclear war. It’s a glimpse into ancient Tampa architecture. It was once considered a tall structure.”
“There’s nothing like it in the colonies,” Sig remarked.
“I wonder if the offices inside it are pie shaped.”
Sig shrugged, “I have no idea. Do you want to stop and see?”
“I’m not that curious about it,” Lis replied. “Most of the new buildings have been built around the old center of the city. According to this guide, the new city extends more than fifty-miles around the old city.”
“They’ve been busy over the last four-hundred-years. Where do you want to go now?”
Lis said sub-vocally, “Just drive around, Sig. We have to appear interested and I’m reasonably sure we are being tracked.”
“Do you sense anything?” he replied sub vocally.
“No, but I wouldn’t detect satellite coverage and there’s a good possibility that this transport has a tracker in it.”
Sig said out-loud, “Let’s drive around and see what’s here.”
Lis smiled, “That’s a wonderful suggestion.”
The hostess listened to their conversation and shook her head. These two had gaps in their conversation. She guessed it wasn’t really that abnormal, many couples she tracked didn’t even talk to each other very much. She turned the tracking duty over to her assistant and went to meet with another couple. She needed to get the man alone.
Chapter Eight
“Sir, I really think we should wait to bring Dr. Meier back.”
“Major Montana, we have every tourist that went on the cruise alone being tracked. If any of them go anywhere near to Orlando, we’ll be on them like green on grass. Dr. Meier is yelling about being delayed and I can’t give him a good reason to delay him any longer. He has access to the same reports we do and is extremely angry at our delay. Unless you can give me a solid reason to believe he’s in danger, I’m going to allow him to come back.”
Duncan shook his head, “I know the abilities of the guild assassins and something just doesn’t feel right, Sir.”
“I don’t want your feelings, Major. I want facts! You got that!”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Do you have any facts to support your…feelings,” the Colonel sneered.
“No, Sir.”
“Talk with me when you do. You’re dismissed.”
Duncan did an about face and marched out of the Colonel’s office. He left the building shaking his head; was he being paranoid? He sat down on a bench outside the huge building and forced himself to focus. After a few-minutes, he lowered his head, “Why did that woman shake her finger at him before disabling the spotter? What did she not want him to see? He blew out a harsh breath and said firmly out-loud, “FOCUS!”
He thought, what do we know for sure? Ummm…the woman and her husband were on the escape pod. Wait a moment…the only thing known for sure was the bag he tagged with a spotter was on the pod. There was no physical evidence that the couple was on it. He assumed they were on board, but the explosion wiped out any evidence that anyone was on board; any bodies would have been vaporized. If they weren’t on the pod, they certainly weren’t on the ship; the crew’s search turned up empty. He thought a moment more and said out-loud, “Assume they weren’t on the pod. Where could they be?” He focused on that thought. Could they have taken the place of another couple on board? But he saw most of the passengers on board when the couple was out of their cabin. Wait a minute! That couple he met just before leaving the ship weren’t seen. He lifted his communicator, “Captain, I’m wondering if you would look at your billing manifest and let me know how much a couple was charged on the voyage here?”
“Why do you want to know, Major?”
“I want to pay for it. I believe I insulted them and feel bad.”
“Who is the couple?”
“Lis and Sig, Sir.”
“Give me a moment.” Duncan waited, and, after a few minutes, the Captain came back on the frequency, “Their bill is three-thousand-fifty-eight-credits.”
“Isn’t that somewhat low?”
“Not really. If they chose to dine at the free-buffets, it’s in line. We’ve had many passengers that aren’t wealthy enough to use all of our facilities and that bill matches very well with them.”
“Thank you, Sir. Please send me the bill and I’ll handle it.”
Duncan closed his eyes and said forcefully, “FOCUS!!” If they were the assassins, then they’d make sure there was a financial trail during the cruise; they wouldn’t be stupid. He thought furiously and then remembered; the couple had come out of a cabin next door to the missing couple. She had to disable the spotter to prevent him from seeing them move their luggage into the next room.
Whoa, back up
! Every piece of evidence says the couple was on board the escape pod. And how would it be possible for them to board as two-different-couples? If he presented this idea to his commander, he’d be put in a psych ward. But it fit and explained why the spotter was disabled. He was forced to admit that it was a stretch…but…he needed to see that couple again. Ummm…would the ship’s manifest show that they were never in the same place as the missing couple? He thought about it and thought, Nahhh. They probably had one of them from the missing couple purchase a meal and one from the other couple make a purchase at the same time and place. That’s what he’d do, and if his suspicions were right, there was no way to prove otherwise. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Now he knew he was acting paranoid but didn’t care; that was his job.
• • •
Sig and Lis drove to Clearwater Beach and spent the day out in the sun and swimming in the gulf. The white sand, the cool breeze blowing off the gulf, and a clear blue sky was perfect. Lis fed a cracker to a seagull and the locals yelled at her, as a hundred other seagulls came diving in. She apologized and sneaked another cracker to one seagull that stayed behind.
They stayed the entire day and felt something new, at home. While they were wading in the shoreline, one of the locals told them to check out Pass-a-Grill Beach. The next morning, they followed the computer’s instructions and found the beach at the end of the peninsula. It was incredibly beautiful, not crowded like Clearwater, and had a restaurant right next to the beach. Sig and Lis wore bathing suits that were modest, however, Lis was still quite beautiful. She received a lot of long looks from the locals and the modifications to her appearance didn’t detract from her near perfect shape and fine features.
The next day, Lis decided to go back to the beach and Sig backed out, “I need to get into the guild’s computer to see what’s going on. Will you be ok without me?”
“I won’t stay all day. Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll start back.” She kissed him on the cheek and left the room. Tal went into the guild’s computer and confirmed that the Guild Master knew about Zak and Jil’s deaths on the escape pod. The Guild Master contacted the new President and informed him his worries were over; the former president’s assassin had been killed.