by Ron S. Nolan
"Well...anyway, Sabien converted the van to solar electric so we won't have to worry about finding fuel stations. The 'chrome plating', as you call it, is another one of Sabien's inventions. He claims that it has some attributes that may come in handy down the road."
Getting impatient, Astra reached for the handle to open the driver door and ordered, "Move your butt over and kill that cigar. I'll drive."
Suddenly there was the screech of squealing brakes and tires grinding on pavement. Torch stubbed out his cigar and pulled Astra headfirst through the window. A dash mounted vidscreen showed two USACO combat vehicles with flashing lights charging into the parking lot.
Torch fished in his pocket for controller that Sabien had given him and punched the ‘Hide’ button. The windows automatically rolled up and he guided the van silently out of the garage. He carefully worked around the cadre of armed troops and stopped just in time to avoid hitting two troopers talking on their microcells only a few feet in front of the van.
"What are you doing? Let's get out of here."
Torch whispered, "Shush, be quiet."
Just then the shuttle lifted off with a roar into the glare of the afternoon sun. The troopers shaded their eyes to watch the ascent then turned and headed for the building.
Astra whispered back, "I think you must be crazy."
Torch pointed to the window of the Deep Space Mining office. Astra was shocked that there was no reflection of the van. It seemed to have vanished into thin air.
She turned back to Torch and quipped, "You both must be crazy."
Torch laughed, "This controller activates the camouflage. It's another 'Sabien Special'. Our lab is full of his gizmos. He really is a genius you know."
"I do know that; he is my brother. I also know that he likes to come up with surprises–maybe you do too?"
Astra leaned back in her seat and lamented, "I used to only worry about the SDL, but now the feds are after me too? I don’t like this at all!"
The USACO captain stormed out of the building and spoke into this microcell. "Mr. President, there is no sign of Dr. Sanders or his party here at the Marin County Spaceport. Furthermore, Deep Space Mining staff refuse to release passenger information or cargo manifests citing planetary law. Further pursuit is impossible at this time. Yes sir, the shuttle has departed and we are returning to base. Out."
A senior aide standing nearby informed the President that Reverend LeRoque was on the line and that he would very much like to be added to his video conference call with Director Redstone.
“Go ahead Reverend, this is James Ray. I understand that the three of us have many mutual interests in common.”
“That is correct Mr. President. I have new information to share with you both. That is the reason for my call. One of our new SDL undercover agents started working at Astra Sturtevant’s lab this morning. His name is Carlos and he is the one that tipped us off that her lab was located in Oakland. I am sending you now some of the pictures that he took of the Ark and her hideout."
“I see. Go ahead.”
“Carlos informed us that Dr. Sturtevant and her party loaded the Ark and a second cold storage unit into a van that looked like one of ours and got away just as our team arrived. Carlos told us that he had overheard them talking and that Dr. Sturtevant was planning to head to Nicaragua to pick up more specimens."
The aide told the President, "Sir, the call you received from Torch Sanders may have originated at another location and then relayed to you via the Deep Space Mining office SATCOM. It is difficult to determine at this point in time.”
The President replied, “Or they may have actually taken the shuttle. Did you hear that Reverend? Apparently we have no way of checking on their whereabouts. But if you are right, our raid in the north may have been a diversion to allow them to escape to the south…clever aren’t they.”
“That seems likely Mr. President. I have my top staff searching for the van and will alert you when we find it.”
“Fine. I am willing to assist, but you need to locate them before they pass the state of Mexico’s southern border. Otherwise, they will be beyond my jurisdiction. Good luck finding them. Please keep me posted. Oh and Reverend, thank you very much for your generous campaign contributions. They have given my party a tremendous lift.”
“You are welcome Mr. President. Rest assured that we will be behind you when you run for your third term.”
******
After the troopers left, Torch lowered the van window and re-lit his cigar. Still feeling the adrenaline rush of their close call, he looked over at Astra, gave her a questioning gesture and asked, "Which way, Señorita?"
Astra glared at him, then grabbed his cigar and threw it out the window. She jerked her thumb to the south. Torch couldn't help but wonder...maybe I should have gone on the shuttle after all?
-- CHAPTER 15 --
Deep Space Mining, Inc.
Moonbase
Rodrigo helped Sabien roll the Ark on its dolly down the back ramp of the shuttle and drag it into the corridor. "Welcome to our version of paradise. I'll let the boss know that you're here. Just wait in the lobby. It's at the end of this hallway."
Sabien pulled the Ark down the passageway being careful not to scrape the walls of the narrow corridor. Suddenly he took too vigorous a step, launched upward and smacked his head against the ceiling. Just as he recovered his balance, trying to remember something about how to deal with lunar gravity, he overstepped again and crashed abruptly into a tall, thin somewhat humanoid-looking creature covered head-to-toe with colorful iridescent scales. As Sabien looked into its dark brown, almond-shaped eyes, its skin rippled with waves of light alternating between shades of green and red. Feathery multicolored locks cascaded from the top of its head to mid-back sparkling highlights that matched its skin coloration.
Sabien stepped back in alarm, "What is the world?" The creature lunged forward, grabbed his hand, and held on tight. Sabien froze, "Help! Somebody! Anybody! Help!"
Moonbase Commander, Robert Sanders came bolting up from behind and started laughing hysterically. "I'm Torch's dad. You must be Sabien. Welcome aboard. The whole base has been looking for this critter. It escaped yesterday, but has been eluding our searches until now. Pretty smart I reckon. There is a free drinks night reward in the bar for the person that finds it. Congratulations you are the winner!"
“What kind of creature is it? I have never seen anything like it."
"It's a long story, but I will give you the condensed version. You may have heard of the SpeeZees Lab. They specialize in advanced bioengineering and are based here because they routinely incorporate human genes in their research–which is now illegal back on Earth. They are one of our major tenants."
Sabien was still trying to extricate his hand from the alien, but it had a surprisingly strong grip, so he gave up for the time being.
Sanders continued. "Anyway, one of their new interns was running a training simulation. Apparently she started with a virtual artificial intelligence partner that at first assisted and then gradually took full control of the design process. The intern said that her simulation was supposed to determine if skin cells containing nano scale photosynthetic arrays could serve as an energy source for a human’s metabolism. But as far as she knew, it was all just a virtual exercise."
Sabien, said, "Sounds like something I might have come up with. I would like to meet the intern...nano technology is my passion too."
He held up his hand with the creature still firmly attached. "But, this is no simulation, what happened?"
Sanders laughed, "While the intern was busy designing our friend here, we had a meteor storm which knocked out the power base-wide for a few minutes. We still don't know exactly how or why, but the AI seems to have sent a command signal to the lab's advanced 3D bio printer, which went to work and began printing the design.
"So how old is it?"
“Only about two weeks calendar-wise, but about mid-twenties physiologically and mentally
. The Intern thinks it is still maturing and evolving. The SpeeZees Lab director assigned a security guard to keep watch while trying to sort this out, but somehow it escaped."
Sabien was awestruck; he had never seen anything like this. He commented, "Amazing. It smells wonderful–sort of like jasmine. Do you need help taking it back?
"The Ark and the creature both go to the SpeeZees Lab. We’ll stow the Ark first, then deal with your new friend. It must like you the way it's hanging on. That's weird; it wouldn't let anyone touch it before. Here let me try...." As soon as Sanders reached for its free hand, the creature hissed and its skin turned a bright red. When Sanders pulled back, it changed to a deep green color.
Sabien observed, "Red must signal danger. Green is the all clear.”
Sanders nodded. “That's interesting. Looks like you have a new buddy, but we need to get going. We have a bunch of SDL supporters on the base that would be extremely disturbed if they learned that the infamous Ark was stashed right here under their noses. That’s why I brought this." He unfolded a tarp and flipped it over the Ark.
Then he took the dolly handle and said, “Let's get going before we draw any attention. This is a small facility and word travels fast.” The creature followed along holding onto the back of Sabien's jacket as they headed down the corridor.
One of the senior bioengineering technicians was waiting for them at the main entrance to the SpeeZees Lab. He was very happy to see the creature being returned to the lab–although it refused to let go of the newcomer's jacket. The tech led the entourage into the inner recesses of the lab past a menagerie of bizarre animal and plant life housed in a myriad of tanks, flasks, cartons and cages. The creature tagged along closely behind, sniffing and chirping.
Sabien complimented the technician. "Quite a collection you've got here."
The tech beamed. "Expanding and enhancing nature is our primary mission. What we do up here is amazing!"
They entered a small, windowless room at the rear of the lab. The tech said, "You can use this cubicle for storage. Right now one of our workers is adding the extra security that Torch requested with a full backup power system."
After the maintenance girl finished installing the locks, she handed Sabien a pass card, tapped the door and boasted, "Super-titanium. It was refined right here on the base."
On her way out, she added, "No one that is unauthorized will get in unless they take out the whole wall ...and that would require a major explosion."
While the tech, Sanders and the creature waited outside, Sabien wheeled the Ark into the cubicle, removed the tarp, and restarted the cryo generator that he had turned off when disembarking from the shuttle. Steam began flowing smoothly from the vents on the top and sides. Satisfied that it was working properly, he closed the door of the cubicle. Moments after he secured the locks, the creature once again grabbed his hand. Sabien turned to the tech and asked, "Alright we are done here, now how about taking care of my new friend?"
The tech replied, "Director Hiroshi would like to meet with you in the conference room. I will take you there now."
While Sanders and Sabien waited for Director Hiroshi to arrive, the being still held tightly to Sabien's hand. The intern that had created the creature joined them and tried to take a plasma sample, but the creature turned a bright red and hissed at her–just like she had done before.
Sabien said, "Here let me try,” and told the creature, "I don't think this will hurt." The creature blinked its eyes and allowed Sabien to take the sample. Feeling encouraged, the intern handed Sabien a portable breath analyzer. After observing how it worked on Sabien, the creature took the analyzer, held it to its mouth and took several breaths just like he had demonstrated.
The intern said, "Wonderful, thank you both very much." She snapped a couple of pictures and rushed the samples to the lab for analysis.
A few minutes later Dr. Hiroshi arrived accompanied by the senior tech and the intern. Hiroshi approached the creature, but turned back when it fired off a warning hiss and a barrage of red skin flashes.
He addressed Sanders and Sabien. "This really is a magnificent being, however adding the artificial intelligence aspect was an interesting idea…but it has really confused the situation. To be totally honest, we really don’t understand very much about what is actually going on with this organism. It is quite unique in many ways that we are still discovering."
Sabien looked interested, so Dr. Hiroshi continued. “In essence, we now seem to have an intelligent humanoid-plant hybrid. By that I mean that in addition to the full human compliment of genetic coding, this being’s genome has incorporated a complete set of Photosystem II plant genes that produce light-driven enzymes that oxidize water to produce ATP and oxygen."
The Director accessed several diagrams on his notepad and showed them to Sanders and Sabien. He continued. "In essence we have a brand new species that can breathe and consume food for energy like a human or it can produce energy and oxygen from sunshine and water like a plant–a New-Human if you wish. Oh and it is likely to be one that is extremely intelligent. It has already accessed several terabytes of information from the lab's cloud network."
Sabien looked at the New-Human and asked, "Do you understand me?" It slowly blinked its eyes and nodded yes.
Hiroshi said, "And that poses a host of multiple, very serious complications. Our legal department is in a state of turmoil over how to proceed from here. Since the New-Human has a complete Homo sapiens genome, it automatically has full human rights. So according to our legal gurus, it is endowed with the same inalienable rights that you and I have–including freedom of choice.”
Sabien shrugged. “That is quite a dilemma, but I should probably get settled in and figure out what I am supposed to do next. It was a pleasure meeting all of you.”
As Sabien unsuccessfully tried to extricate his hand from the New-Human, Hiroshi ignored him and continued, “If it wishes, we will be more than happy to provide it food, water and shelter. The problem is that the SDL, and we believe that there are several on the base, may consider it some sort of abomination and could possibly do it harm. Our legal department therefore has issued the opinion that you, Robert Sanders as Base Commander, have complete jurisdiction in this matter."
Hiroshi rose to leave. “The New-Human is now free to go. But we would still like to continue observations and testing on a regular basis. It appears obvious that it has chosen Sabien as its guardian and if you Robert Sanders as Base Commander concur, the matter is now completely in his hands," he laughed, "I mean that literally!”
He handed Sabien his notepad and said, “Please sign the release form."
"Wait a minute, I just got here. How can I be in charge?"
Sander's was trying hard to stifle his laughter. As he stood, he said, "I agree with your conclusions Dr. Hiroshi." He turned to Sabien. "I have to get back to my office. We can sort this out later. I suggest you go and collect your reward. Just so you know, Genie doesn't allow SpeeZees critters into her establishment, but I think you should stop by the bar and have a talk with her. Maybe she can give you some advice. See you later my friend. Oh and welcome to life on the moon!"
After Sabien signed the document, Hiroshi offered his congratulations and handed him a bag of water bottles. "Just make sure it gets plenty of water and sunshine. Oh and feel free to contact us if you have any problems."
As Hiroshi shook his hand, Sabien inhaled a deep breath of air and slowly exhaled. Maybe I should have gone with Astra after all.
He grabbed the bag and headed for the Luna Lounge. The New-Human followed along, but seemed to understand that it must wait outside. So as soon as they arrived it slumped down against the wall next to the door with a wistful sigh.
Sabien gave the creature one of the bottles of water which it drained in one long, uninterrupted swallow, so Sabien handed it the bag containing the rest of the bottles.
The humanoid blinked its sensual eyes and seemed to be smiling as it began to groom its exquisite
headlocks.
"Okay. You wait here. I'm supposed to get advice from the bartender. Try to stay out of trouble."
The New-Human's skin shined a radiant green with silver highlights that moved in ripples along its arms and legs.
Sabien picked up the empty bottle and said, "I will get some more for you inside," and entered the lounge.
-- CHAPTER 16 --
Pacific Coast, California
With Torch at the wheel, the van meandered through the back streets of San Francisco until they reached the entrance to Highway 1. What once had been a checkpoint security booth now lay in ruins beside the road next to a graffiti covered sign that warned,
Road Closed Due to Flooding
The oncoming traffic consisted mostly of licensed underwater salvage company trucks towing dive boats used to rescue appliances and personal belongings from the thousands of submerged homes that lined the highway. In spite of a barrage of signs that warned about the consequences of illegal poaching, scavengers wearing wet suits blatantly stashed their treasures in the back of pickup trucks while others openly traded merchandise by the side of the road.
As they passed a flooded Union 76 gas station with its signature giant orange ball sign barely above the sea surface, they were nearly sideswiped by a lane straddling cargo truck. Torch asked, Wow did you see that?"
Astra replied, "Maybe you should switch off that camo business?"
“You’re right. I forgot about it.” Torch searched his pockets, found the controller and clicked it making the van visible just as a scooter approached them in the oncoming lane. The surprised rider swerved and nearly lost control. Astra grabbed the controller from Torch’s hand. "Maybe I should be in charge of this. Oh and keep on the lookout for a market. We need to stock up for the trip."
She could immediately tell by his frown that Torch wasn’t used to taking orders, so she smiled and said, “Thank you.”