by M. D. Cooper
“Her best bet at a long and happy life is or us to find Finaeus,” Jessica replied. “She said she needs him to get her father under control.”
“Or to start a civil war—or maybe just an all-out war,” Cheeky replied from the entrance to the bridge.
“Perhaps,” Jessica replied, hiding her surprise at Cheeky’s stealthy return.
“It’s a lot more than just perhaps,” Cheeky said with a scowl as she sat at her console with her coffee. “We’ve all seen it—whole sectors are like massive clumps of antimatter just waiting for a few stray hydrogen atoms to come along, and boom!” She threw her arms in the air for emphasis.
“That’s much appreciated,” Cargo replied.
“I wish you wouldn’t liberate AI at every station we get to,” Jessica said with a worried frown. “One of these times it’s going to bite us in the ass.”
“Not always,” Jessica replied, remembering the passel of slaves they had passed three stops ago. “Sometimes it won’t help to save them, it would just make things worse. We can’t help everyone.”
“Now you sound like you’re quoting a religious text,” Cheeky said.
Cheeky raised an eyebrow and glanced around the bridge. “You sure this AI liberation hasn’t liberated your senses, Sabrina?”
“Science supports the concept of god-like beings that can pre-date, and survive, the end of the universe,” Jessica replied.
Cheeky and Cargo gave her incredulous looks, and Jessica gave a short laugh.
“Stars…you guys lost so much in the dark ages. Primordial black holes, the ones that survive the big crunch at the end of the universe, and the subsequent big bang? They’re probably transuniversal; they’re where all technologically advanced beings will go after the stars burn out. If a meta-intelligence that survives the end of the universe—hell, an intelligence that probably makes the universe end so that it can spawn a new one…If that’s not a god, I don’t know what is.”
“I never took you for one of those types of wonks,” Cargo replied with a chuckle.
Jessica threw her arms in the air and looked at the overhead. “Sabrina, Iris? Back me up here.”
“Seriously?” Cheeky asked.
“Well, that hangs it,” Cargo grunted. “The universe is definitely fucked up. Doesn’t help us with our search, though.”
“I sure wish it would,” Cheeky replied. “Some trans-dimensional god swooping down and telling us where to go would speed things up a lot.”
“Look,” Jessica’s tone was terse, “I have a solid lead on the guy we started tailing in Aldebaran, the one who was trading in ancient Terran artifacts. He was headed here, to Ikoden, and just a few months ago. He may not be here now, but we’re gaining on him.”
“Funny, that he’s leaving such a clear trail,” Cargo mused.
Jessica groaned. “You can’t have it both ways, Cargo. I’m busting my ass to find this clear trail.”
Cargo laughed in response, and Jessica realized that the captain had been needling her. By the smile Cheeky had on display, she had realized it, too.
“Okay, okay,” Jessica let a smile slip out. “I guess I need to lighten up a bit.”
IKODEN
STELLAR DATE: 04.18.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Kruger Station
REGION: Ikoden System, Mika Alliance Space
For all her hopes, Jessica had not turned up a single lead in the Ikoden system. Kruger Station was the fourth interstellar trading hub they’d stopped at, and not a single dealer, legitimate or otherwise, had seen a fresh ancient Terran artifact in years. If Finaeus had come through here, he had not traded anything of that sort.
There was one last man she needed to see. He wasn’t the above-board sort of trader, and Trevor was with her for added…emphasis.
“Same as that guy two stations ago?” Trevor asked with a grin as they ambled through a dim corridor in a low-rent region of the station. “Or maybe a bit less aggressive…”
Jessica chuckled. “Maybe a bit—I think you broke his hand. I used to be a cop, remember? I’m supposed to be better than that.”
“Yeah, then you were a space jockey, and a Marine, and then a school-teacher, from what Cheeky told me…that’s something I would have loved to see.”
“I really enjoyed teaching the kids,” Jessica kept her tone from being too defensive. “And they liked me, too. We had a blast.”
“I love you dearly, Jessica,” Trevor said. “But I really can’t imagine you teaching kids. Were they older or younger? I don’t know which would be worse.”
Jessica would have slapped Trevor on the back of his head if she could reach up around his massive shoulders to do it. Still, he had used the L word again…fifth time that week if her count was accurate.
Jessica wasn’t certain if her AI was in favor of the idea. Iris could be very hard to read—all AI were, but Iris doubly so at times.
Jessica replied.
Jessica let out a mental sigh.
Jessica remembered how she and Trist had accidentally slipped into their marriage. It wasn’t unlike how things had gone with Trevor. Both pairings were the embodiment of the “opposites attract” cliché. What was it about criminals that drew her in?
Jessica groaned inwardly. If her AI wasn’t right, she would have told Iris to shut up and stay out of her love life, but the AI could see into her mind well enough to discern her true feelings—even if she tried to hide them from herself.
She wondered, for a moment—before it made her head hurt—what it would be like to be an AI, to have no facility for deluding oneself, to never rationalize. Would it be liberating, or exhausting?
“Well that was a conversation killer,” Trevor said. “Was it because I used the L word, or were you lost in contemplation of the good ol’ days?”
“Sorry, I was being chastised by Iris for not reciprocating yet,” Jessica replied, surprising herself with the honesty of her response.
To her relief, Trevor laughed. “No offense, Iris, but you can’t rush love with us humans. We have to take our time at this stuff, not everyone goes at the same pace. For me, it is enough to know that my saying that I love her hasn�
�t made Jessica run for the hills.”
“Well, we’ve been trapped on the same ship most of our time together—not a lot of places to run to,” Jessica replied.
“Now that, that is the sort of thing that takes all my certainty and tosses it out the window,” Trevor replied with a mock grimace. “But I’m tough, I can take it.”
Jessica didn’t speak for a moment, attempting to find just the right words. “I’m getting there, Trevor, I didn’t really expect fall for you, I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
The corridor narrowed, and Trevor fell behind Jessica as they navigated the twisting path between conduit and garbage.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, either,” he chuckled. “Especially with how good your ass looks in those pants. Your swagger really makes it pop.”
Jessica joined in his laughter. His general conviviality and ability to find a silver lining in any situation was one of the reasons she was falling for him. His deep appreciation of the work she put into her ass also didn’t hurt.
A few minutes later, the corridor widened and became noticeably cleaner. On their right lay a nondescript black door adorned with only a simple white circle.
“That’s our stop,” Jessica said with a nod toward the door.
“Looks like just our sort of place,” Trevor replied. “Well, my sort of place. at least.”
The door’s simple appearance hid some serious tech. Every probe she tried to slip past instantly lost communication.
Jessica shrugged and rapped on the portal in the pattern she had been given. She hoped it was the ‘we’re buyers, let us in’ knock, and not the ‘we’re cops, shoot us through the door’ knock.
“Sure hope it’s the right knock,” Trevor said and she laughed.
“You a mind-reader?”
“Yeah, it’s a hobby. Someday I hope to travel the stars and make millions,” Trevor grinned.
The door slid open with a soft whistle, and Jessica sent a swath of nano in ahead of her, determined to ferret out any surprises before she stepped in. The nano revealed little more than her unaided eyes could see of the dim room beyond.
Stacks of artifacts and curiosities filled the space. Some were carefully displayed, while others were strewn about with little concern for their value.
A cough brought her eyes to a man obscured by shadow in the back of the room.
“What are you here for?” he asked without preamble.
Jessica stepped into the room, but not too close; her probes were having a hard time getting a full scan of the proprietor. It was hard to tell if the shadow to his right was a weapon or just some sort of ceremonial stick.
“We’re interested in trading Terran artifacts,” Jessica replied. “I got word that you were the one to talk to around here—that you know a lot about old Earth.”
The man chuckled. “Yeah, I do at that. But I don’t have anything to trade, go away.”
Jessica wasn’t about to be deterred so easily. “What about other people asking…or trading? I heard there was a guy coming to Ikoden who traded in the stuff.”
Iris said.
<’Kay, then I won’t.>
“No one that I know,” the man replied. “If that’s all you want, then get the hell out of here. I have nothing for you—what are you grinning about?”
Jessica tried to force the smile from her lips but failed. “Because you’re him, you’re Finaeus.”
The man in the shadows straightened. “Who?”
“Oh, you know, Seraphina Tomlinson’s uncle. She says hi, by the way.”
* * * * *
Finaeus slammed his cup on the simple plas table and stood, turning away before placing his hands on the kitchen counter.
“You’re telling me she got back in?” he asked. “Starssakes, why the hell would she do that?”
Jessica shook her head. “I really don’t know. I got the intel secondhand when she sent us the Intrepid’s colony location.”
Finaeus turned back toward Jessica, his aging eyes hard and piercing. “The GSS Intrepid…that damn ship is nothing but trouble!”
Jessica nodded slowly. “It’s designated ISS now, not GSS, but yeah, she’s sure messed up with it.”
“I wish I knew why it’s here now. We studied its entry into Kapteyn’s Streamer. It shouldn’t have exited the gravity lens for another five hundred years.”
“Well, that’s news to us,” Jessica replied.
“You’re a colonist, then, eh? I thought so,” Finaeus said as he sat back down at the table. “From the samples I managed to grab of your DNA, it looked like you were Earthborn or just a generation or two from it.”
“Guilty,” Jessica nodded. “I’m from Athabasca in northern Canada.”
“I know where Athabasca is,” Finaeus grunted. “I grew up in Portland, then later in Vancouver. Not too far from Athabasca in the grand scheme of things.”
Hearing the names of those cities brought back memories of her youth, of school tests, and family vacations to the Pacific coast.
“All this talk of Earth…I’m going to get all nostalgic here,” Jessica said with a smile.
“So, you’re here on Sera’s behalf, to get me to go to Airtha?” Finaeus asked. “She probably needs me. If this is what’s going on. She’s going to be in some seriously deep shit.”
“We have a dead drop we’re supposed to use to get the word back to Sera when we find you. It’s not far from this system,” Jessica replied.
“Then more waiting and waiting,” Trevor sighed. “Dead drops don’t exactly scream fast service.”
Finaeus glanced at Trevor. “So, the mountain man speaks, does he? And here I thought you let her do all the talking.”
“Only on Tuesdays,” Trevor said with a grin.
Finaeus waved a dismissing hand. “No matter. We don’t need a dead drop. We’re not going to Airtha.”
“No?” Jessica asked. “Where is it that we’re going?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Finaeus turned his deep frown her way. “We’re going to wherever the Intrepid is. That’s where Seraphina and my good-for-nothing brother are going. It’s where we’ll finally turn the tide against him.”
LAST STAND
STELLAR DATE: 04.18.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Kruger Station
REGION: Ikoden System, Mika Alliance Space
Jessica and Trevor led the crotchety Finaeus through the warrens of Kruger Station to Sabrina’s berth. Along the way, Finaeus demanded they stop to pick up some of his favorite cooking supplies, new clothes, and half a dozen other items he was certain he would need. By the time the ship was in sight, they had a full float of supplies trailing behind them.
Jessica replied.
Jessica sent a cloud of nano ahead and scanned the crowds, looking for anyone lingering, moving too slow, or paying too much, or too little, attention to them or Sabrina.
<
Noted,> Jessica responded to the ship’s AI.
“You see it, I assume?” Finaeus asked quietly.
“I see a few things,” Jessica replied. “What are you referring to?”
“The woman leaning against that bulkhead on your two o’clock, the guy pushing the cart on your seven, and the woman chatting up that vendor on your nine,” Finaeus said with a small nod.
“OK, I’d missed the woman on my nine—where could she have a weapon in that skimpy dress?”
“You both missed the kid coming straight at us,” Trevor whispered. “He’s got a sonic device in his right hand.”
“Oh shit!” Jessica swore and pulled a dampener from her jacket just as the young boy tossed the device at them and ran.
For a split-second, a rising tone assaulted her eardrums, and then the dampener reversed the wave form, canceling the device out. The crowd around them stopped, confusion clouding their features before they began to rush out of the vicinity.
“I guess they know what that was, or they don’t want to stick around and find out,” Trevor replied.
Jessica pulled Finaeus behind the float loaded with his goods. “Stay here, we can take them.”
“Great, you do that,” Finaeus replied as he pulled out a file and began to clean under his nails.
She nodded to Trevor and then across the dock-way. He took her meaning and dashed across the open space, taking up a position behind a stack of crates bound for New Eden—of all places.
Jessica tried to find the two women and man they had spotted, but they had disappeared into the crowd.
A figure in the mass of people rushing by lit up in her vision, and Jessica turned her body to avoid a strike from a light-blade.