by Gini Koch
“Accurate sarcasm, too,” Reader admitted.
After we all agreed that, sadly, it appeared that Mother did know us, we did as she suggested, with Reader passing a “no one is alone in a set of rooms, period” rule that Jeff and I wholeheartedly backed. Then we all did our best to not discuss our choices and all that jazz. Mother was really living up to her name.
The living quarters were nice, very much like A-C housing—bedroom, bathroom, living room setups, with additional bedrooms for those with larger families. Because we had three kids with us, we got one of the larger family suites.
Of course, we weren’t the only ones. Frankly, there were as many who needed family suites as those who didn’t. Since all the parents or guardians of the kids on board were also on board—other than Marcia—we were having an Embassy School and Daycare, Sidwell Friends School, and Martini Family Reunion all going on at the same time.
Well, at least a partial family reunion. Whether Jamie knew that certain family members were working against us or she just didn’t know those aunts, uncles, and cousins well, the Fontana, Carruthers, and Guerra families weren’t on board, which was a small favor for us and probably a big problem for Mom and the others left on Earth.
The Price and Valentino families were in full force, though we were lacking Jeff’s eldest niece, Stephanie Valentino, which was a blessing, though whether she and the Tinkerer were going to abide by the cease-fire he’d arranged with us at the end of Operation Fundraiser or not was anyone’s guess. Her “father,” The Clarence Clone, was with us, though. Which was good, since, somehow, TCC was a calming influence for the Martini clan. Why ask why?
Didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset that Jeff’s parents, Alfred and Lucinda, hadn’t made it on board. Jamie adored them as much as she did my parents, so her not wanting them along couldn’t be the reason. Either she was trying to be fair or somehow Alfred and Lucinda hadn’t chosen to run onto the ship while looking for the kids. Or there was some other reason I’d discover, probably at the worst time ever.
Reminded myself that, right now, whatever was going on with Earth was Mom’s problem and chose to stop fretting. About that. There was so much in front of me to fret about, after all.
Mrs. Maurer and the Lewises decided to take the largest family suite so they could also have the younger Kramer boys in with them, since Mason and Maverick were friends with Raymond and Rachel Lewis and Chance and Cassidy Maurer, and that way parental figures were watching them. We put Clinton in with Wasim, Naveed, and Gadhavi, in one of the “bachelor suites,” which settled the only kids on board without their parents.
Couples and smaller families buddied up—because no one truly felt safe on the ship—and they and the others divided into groups of four to six, depending. Hacker International were all put together, of course, with Jennifer gamely going with them, since she had the typical Dazzler weakness for brains and, being married to Ravi, she was used to the other guys and somehow seemed to look at this setup as a positive.
The press corps had a similar arrangement, since the Kristie-Bot was both a cyborg and therefore more than able to protect herself against unwanted romantic advances and all the guys with her knew it and, as near as I’d seen, none of them wanted to try anything romantic with her. For whatever reason, his hero worship of Mister Joel Oliver being the most likely one, Vance opted to room with the press.
Rhee went with Rahmi and Tito, and Mahin and Elaine Armstrong, the prior President’s widow and Jeff’s current Secretary of State, both chose to room with them. The men on Jeff’s Cabinet all chose to room together in two suites—other than Evander Horn, who opted to room with Len, Kyle, Raj, Drax, and Jeremy.
Truly hoped that we’d all remember who was where in case of emergencies, but had my doubts. Then again, maybe the trip would be uneventful now and we’d arrive safely, handle whatever the heck it was we needed to handle, and get back home without incident. I chose not to say this aloud, because I didn’t want Tito to confine me to quarters due to poor mental health.
“I can’t believe we’re in space,” Elaine said to me, as we all regrouped back at the command deck. “If only Vince could have seen this.” She looked out the windshield. “Not that there’s much to see, honestly.”
“Per Mother, that’s the space world flashing past us. For what all the nothing we’re seeing is worth.”
I was holding Jamie and she hugged me. “It’ll be alright, Mommy. You’ll see. We’ll see lots of things soon.”
Kissed her head. “I’m sure you’re right, Jamie-Kat.” Sincerely hoped she was, at least about everything being okay, and also hoped that ACE was really committed to watching over all of us, because the reality of our situation was really starting to take hold, and I was more than a little worried about getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere, galaxy-wise.
Really wanted to talk to Elaine and Horn, as well as the others I was used to working with, and figure out what to do with the limited information we had. Was sure Jeff felt the same way. And yet, we had an uppity AI in charge who was going to counter anything we wanted to do.
Found myself wishing, and not for the first time, that Tim and I had somehow created a code where we could talk to each other without someone else catching on. Realized that Tim had already done that during Operation Confusion—he’d used albums and song titles to tell me what was going on.
Of course, several of the others had been with me when I’d cracked Tim’s code, Jeff, Chuckie, and Reader in particular. All of them would instantly realize what Tim and I were doing—and apply accurate translations—and since we’d promised Team Tough Guys we’d keep their presence a secret from everyone else, that meant that Tim and I could only use our code if we were alone.
So, I’d find a way to talk privately with Tim later. Right now, since we were all settled, it was time to figure out how we were going to handle things on board the Distant Voyager until such time as Mother relinquished control—if she ever planned to do so.
“First things first,” Jeff said. “Denise, I’d like you and all the kids—and I include the older kids in this—to go into the room where most of you were already snoozing, take your seats, and stay there, strapped in. Just in case.”
“I suggest all civilians join them,” Tito said. “And that includes your Cabinet, Jeff.”
Jeff shook his head. “In a bit, but I want to talk with everyone first and, right now, Cabinet aren’t civilians. My sisters and their husbands are, though.”
“I want TCC with us, please and thank you.”
At this, Sylvia Valentino looked worried. But TCC hugged her. “It’s alright sweetheart—if Kitty needs my help, then she’ll get my help.” Proof again and as if I needed it that The Clarence Clone was a zillion times better than the original model had ever been.
“Nothing active is happening,” I reassured. “We’re in one of the supposedly boring parts of the trip.”
“Mothers of small children are included in the ‘get to a safe place’ order,” Jeff said, looking right at Amy. “No whining.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m happy to help Denise and far be it for me to hear whatever brilliant plan you’re all coming up with.”
“Oh, we’ll tell you as soon as we know what it is, Ames, never fear.”
She snorted at me. “I can help with those plans, you know.”
“We know,” Chuckie said mildly. “But right now, we have far too many kids and civilians, and we need someone we know we can trust to keep her head in there with them.”
Amy laughed. “No need to ‘handle’ me, Chuck. I got it.”
“My child isn’t an infant and I’m the American Centaurion Ambassador,” Doreen said, “so I’m staying here.”
Jeff nodded. “But I want Irving and Ezra with the others.”
“Gladly,” Irving said. He was a total science nerd who’d scored a devoted Dazzler as h
is wife, and while he was a great guy and he answered the call when needed, Irving totally preferred hearing about the action as opposed to experiencing it. Had to figure this trip was falling into his Worst Nightmare category.
“Can I stay?” Lizzie, who was holding Charlie, asked me.
“Nope. What Chuckie said applies to you, too.” Hugged Jamie and put her down. “You go with Lizzie and behave.”
“I will, Mommy.”
Lizzie heaved a dramatic sigh. “I can help, but why listen to me? Oh, it’s because I’m ‘young,’ and supposedly have no experience. Always the way.” Then she took Jamie’s hand and flounced off with the others. Resisted the urge to make a comment about teenaged girls and their drama, but it took effort.
“Boy, have you rubbed off on her, Kitty,” Vance said. Chuckie and Reader both snickered, which allowed half of the others to snicker along, too.
“I’m ignoring all of you.”
“I’ll also be with them,” Naveed said, as Wasim trotted after Lizzie. “I’ll do my best to keep the teenagers in check. Keep us informed, please.”
“We will,” Jeff assured. He looked at the press corps, who all looked back with expressions that said they weren’t going anywhere. “Fine, fine, all of you can stay.”
“Why remove the others?” the Kristie-Bot asked.
“Mostly to not be interrupted every other sentence,” Jeff said meaningfully. “While all the adults and, frankly, all the kids, too, are willing and able to add in, we won’t be able to make any plans if the entire crew is in here.”
“We are an entire crew, aren’t we?” Tim asked thoughtfully. “I mean, we look like all we’re missing are Starfleet uniforms in order to be doing a live-action Star Trek reenactment or something. And, other than Christopher’s kids, all the kids are old enough to participate.”
“We have at least ninety people on board,” I added. Everyone looked at me. Shrugged. “I counted. I can do that, you know.” Of course, my original count of a hundred had included Team Tough Guys in it, but I was smart enough not to round up, lest someone else count heads and question how I’d gotten the higher number, Chuckie in particular. “So, yeah, we’re all ready for our mission, Commander Crawford.”
“Everyone can stop glaring at me,” Tim said. “Mother gave me that commission, I didn’t give it go myself.”
“Tim, what’s your point?” Reader asked slowly.
Tim looked at me. “My point, or rather, my question, is this—who made the decision to bring the people onto the ship who weren’t on it already when Mother began takeoff?”
CHAPTER 20
DIDN’T HAVE TO THINK too hard about this. “I think it was Jamie who made the choices, honestly.”
“I’m sure she called them all here, and possibly brought them all here,” Tim said. “But who told her who to pick?”
“Why would anyone have told her to pick anybody?” Jeff asked.
“Because the choices were selective,” I said as Tim nodded. “My parents and yours aren’t here. Three of your sisters and their families aren’t here. If Jamie could move the kids to her as if she was using an invisible gate, why not bring Marcia over from the White House to be with her children, too? Why is your Cabinet here at all? Sure, Jamie knows them, but it’s not like she hangs out with them. And where’re Nadine and Colette?”
“I assumed they got off the ship in time,” Raj said.
“Without the kids? I find it hard to believe that Nadine would do that, and Colette wouldn’t leave without me.” Looked around. “For that matter, where’s my A-C security team?”
“Same thing,” Raj said. “I think they got off in time.”
“Without taking civilians with them? Pull the other one, it has bells on. And Christopher, the fastest man alive, couldn’t find almost anyone to remove, and yet we have a tonnage of people on board.”
“What are you getting at, Kitty?” Christopher asked. “I took who I could.”
“No. I think you took who you were allowed to take.”
“What do you mean?” Chuckie asked.
“Look, we’ve been too busy to think about this, but now’s the time. Note that the majority of our trained security personnel aren’t here.” Looked at Len and Kyle, who were standing with the press corps. “In fact, I’m going to bet that Len and Kyle are only here because whoever told Jamie who to pick thought they were press, not security.”
“Naveed is security,” Chuckie pointed out. “And he’s here.”
“He’s in the role of parent or older, protective relative. So is Mister Gadhavi.”
Our resident grizzly bear nodded his head. “Mister Reynolds, I believe that your nickname should be put to use at this time. I feel that Commander Crawford and Queen Katherine’s point is the key one.”
“Caretaker begs the question of why Marcia wasn’t brought over,” Chuckie said, though I could now see the Conspiracy Wheels turning.
“Denise covers caretaker, for all the kids,” Claudia said. “But Kevin is security and he’s here.”
“He’s here in the role of parent, though,” Chuckie said. “But the Cabinet makes no sense, if you’re thinking that someone got all of the trained security personnel off the ship prior to takeoff.”
“All the trained security personnel that were identified as security,” Tim said. “I think that’s the key point. I mean, the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense are both well-trained military men.”
Fritz Hochberg, said VP, nodded. “But we weren’t here in those capacities.”
“Hammy? Your thoughts?” This was directed by me to Brigadier General Marvin Hamlin, who was easily Chuckie’s equal in terms of identifying real conspiracies and no one’s equal when it came to hiding from the Forces of Evil. Hamlin had managed to hide from the Mastermind for years before we’d been able to bring Cliff down and let Hamlin back out into the light.
Hamlin grimaced. “I don’t feel that we have all the intel that we need, but it surely seems that the selection of who is and isn’t on board is far from random.”
“My issue is that with all of us here,” Horn indicated himself and the rest of the Cabinet members, “America’s sitting with only the Secretary of Education at the helm.”
“I’m sure Marcia will handle things appropriately, Vander,” Jeff said. “And Angela’s there, as are all the Joint Chiefs.”
Horn shrugged. “That’s not my point, Jeff. Marcia’s a good lady, but she’s going to be under tremendous pressure, and while the others are all more than seasoned, still we have all of us on a spaceship going toward an unknown destination, which leaves the country and the solar system at risk. If the Mastermind were still alive, I’d say that he’d planned this.”
“He’s not and there’s no way he could have thought and planned this far ahead. But we have the Tinkerer and the Shadow around, so it could have been one of them. But I don’t think we have enough to go on yet.”
“Keep talking,” Chuckie said. He was staring at the ceiling but he didn’t look like he had a good idea yet.
“What about our other A-Cs?” I asked, always happy to oblige my besties. “Why did you all stay on board?”
“I didn’t feel able to leave the ship,” White said. “Not as if I was ill, but as if leaving was a terrible idea.”
“Me too,” Gower said.
Raj nodded. “But I wasn’t going to leave without you and Jeff anyway, Kitty.”
“Right. And, let’s face it, neither would Nadine, Colette, or my entire A-C security team, all of whom are mysteriously not on board. Jamie loves Nadine and Colette—if she was choosing, I feel confident she’d have chosen them. And she also loves Keith, the head of her Secret Service detail, and he’s not here, either.”
“I got all Secret Service off, Kitty,” Christopher said. “Remember?”
“I do. But I think you got them off be
cause, again, whoever planned this didn’t want them along.”
“Mother’s choice of who’s doing what job also doesn’t seem random,” Tito said. “Tim’s suddenly somehow the Commander? I mean, he’s a Commander in Centaurion Division, but if we’re talking a military action, then Jeff should have been chosen.”
“But he’s assigned to Weapons,” Tim pointed out, “and, as we’ve seen, Mother tends to enforce her rules.”
“And I’m Communications and while that does actually make sense, why does it matter? I think it clearly matters to Mother, but why?” Waited. Mother said nothing. Which was interesting.
“I did not program the ship for any of this,” Drax said miserably. “None of this should be happening.”
“It won’t affect your relationship with the military,” Reader reassured. “We’re clear this isn’t what you wanted.”
“I don’t think it was Ixtha,” Rahmi said thoughtfully. “When we were all in the enforced sleep, she was speaking to us. She was quite . . . grateful . . . that we were coming. She wanted warriors far more than the children. I believe that Charlie and Jamie made her feel that the warriors could not come without the children.”
“The kids’ part in this I get, mostly. Charlie wanted to go on a vacation and my guess is that Ixtha reached him in the DreamScape before she ever talked to me.” Plus, ACE had pretty much confirmed this. “So, I can see him and Jamie ensuring that Ixtha felt they needed to come along. It’s the fact that Ixtha chose people who are not obviously warriors or security that’s the real hundred-thousand-dollar question.”
“So,” Chuckie said slowly, “maybe whoever chose the personnel isn’t Ixtha.”
We all nodded. “That makes sense,” Reader said. “But if so, then who chose the personnel? And how did they make, convince, or fool Jamie into doing it?”
“And that’s our next hundred-thousand-dollar question.” Waited. Mother still wasn’t chiming in. Which was, for how she’d been prior, out of character.
Tim noticed it, too. “Mother, who actually chose the ship’s crew? As in, why are some of us here and others not?”