Billions and billions served.
And as she sat there on the bridge, looking for the tiniest things she could find on the surface of the Earth below, imagining where all the burger joints might be, she made herself, for the moment, stop thinking. Things had lined up, more or less. The only real difficulties lay ahead. As Bianca said, the only easy day was yesterday. Right then things were serene.
The calm before the storm.
“I still can’t believe how advanced your electronics are,” Nani commented in the long silence. “With this much technology, how are your machines behind ours? It’s like your machinery is one generation behind, yet your networks are a generation ahead.” She shook her head, then more to herself: “It’s quite curious.”
Jess nodded absently. “Fifty years ago we put men on the moon,” she said. “Now the average person carries around more computing power in their pocket than it took to do that. Yet still no moon bases.” She shifted in her chair. “It's like we’ve gotten worse. In all that time, if it didn’t have a transistor it didn’t advance. We’re still flying the same planes we were decades ago, they still work the same way. Cars still work the same way, ships still work the same way, rockets still work the same way, powerplants still work the same way—everything works the same way. Except computers. We’ve got screens, communication and computing power the likes of which we never imagined back then. And all the things we did imagine—flying cars, bases on Mars—none of that happened.” She shook her head, not sure whether Nani fully listened or not. “We can sit and watch a digital creation of what it would be like on Mars, we can even have a war on Mars that looks totally real, in three-d, eight-k resolution on an eighty-inch screen in the comfort of our own home and it would blow the minds of people from the sixties. But go to Mars? Boy would they be disappointed. Something happened and we failed. Completely. No progress. In all that time we’ve just sat around and dreamed up more and more ways to entertain ourselves.” She sighed, not wanting to rant. “With enough distraction, I guess, you start to forget you’re actually stuck.”
Suddenly Bianca gasped. “Oh my god, Jess. Look.” She motioned for her, staring intently at something on the screen. The first thing Jess noticed, however, was not what was on the screen, but that Bianca was picking her nose. Like, really picking. In earnest.
Jess tried to ignore it. “What is it?” She rose and came over.
Her friend scanned the screen, picking harder. Really digging, and Jess kind of twinged. She’d never known Bianca to be that unconcerned with image.
“They’re holding a vigil,” and as Bianca said this she struck gold, pulled out a nice little nugget, examined it absently and … wiped it under the seat.
Jess was shocked. “Bianca!”
Her friend snapped her attention to her, startled.
“What?” Did she make another mistake? she seemed to be thinking. Should she not be on this web site? What did I do now?!
But that wasn’t it. Jess hissed: “You’re wiping boogers under the seat!” She glanced across at Nani, who of course didn’t react to the outburst. Engrossed in her screens, ignoring the two girls.
Bianca seemed relieved she wasn’t in real trouble. “So?”
“So?!” Jess was nearly speechless.
Her friend shrugged. “The air on this thing is dry.”
“Yeah but come on! This is a frickin starship! A thousand years old! It’s worth more than the entire Earth! Are you kidding me? You’re wiping boogers on it?”
Again Bianca shrugged. As if to say, No biggy. “Gives it a human touch,” she reasoned. “Like wiping boogies under the car seat. You know. Makes it feel like home.”
Jess could not believe her.
Bianca moved on. “So what do you think?”
“About what? The vigil or your boogers?” It seemed as bad as tucking a quick one behind the Mona Lisa.
“The vigil. Crazy, huh?”
Jess sighed. “Why? What’s it for?”
“Us.”
At that she studied the screen more closely, the page Bianca had pulled up. It still felt strange to be looking at a normal human web site with normal pictures and writing, framed in a makeshift Kel browser on the Kel screens, aboard the Kel starship, with the Earth looming out the window.
So weird.
“They’re holding it at prom,” Bianca tapped a few links. “We’re going to miss it you know.” Her disappointment was clear. “This would’ve been our first high school prom. I think Toby was going to ask me.”
The thought of Bianca and Toby going together brought the image of Jessica’s own once-boyfriend, Mike, to mind. That relationship seemed lifetimes old, though in truth Mike was probably still in shock, just like everyone else must be at their sudden disappearance. Absently she wondered what he was doing. Would he ask someone else? Would he even go?
“They’re actually holding a vigil?”
“Yeah.” Bianca started picking her nose again.
Patiently Jess reached and pulled her hand away. “Stop,” she admonished and went back to the screen. There on the prom page, along with other pictures and the theme and all the other nonsense that went along with High School Prom, were their pictures. Jessica Paquin and Bianca Devnani.
The missing girls.
Eyes fixed to the screen Jess scooched into Bianca’s seat beside her. Bianca slid over to make room as Jess began to read, taken with the fact that the whole school seemed poised to make such a grand effort in their honor. Some of the wording was quite touching, actually, and she found herself, to her mild frustration, moved by it.
As she was contending with that emotion she saw Bianca’s hand sneaking toward her face again. And, as she was about to reach and yank it away, the door to the bridge hissed open and Zac walked in. Bianca jerked her own hand away, pretending to be doing something else.
Apparently Zac was worth hiding it from.
“How’s it going?” he asked as the door closed behind. Jess felt herself smiling. The wording from the vigil was still on her mind but a fresh wave of contentment washed over her at his arrival. She put an arm over the back of the chair and turned to look at him in welcome.
“Good.”
He stood there, all shirtless and handsome. There were no other clothes aboard the Reaver and so everyone was pretty much come-as-you-are. Which meant no shirt for Zac. Which of course Jess didn’t mind one bit. Neither did the other girls, she was pretty sure.
He came closer. “I can’t get over this thing,” he said. “It’s incredible.” He spared a glance and a nod for Nani. She acknowledged his arrival but was right back to what she was doing. Bianca gave a little wave.
“Small inside for such a big ship,” he came all the way over and stopped to stand beside Jess and Bianca. The two of them fit together in the Kel chair but it was snug. Suddenly Jess felt like a child sitting with her friend in one seat. Slowly she got up, trying to make it look natural.
“Power generation,” Nani commented without taking her eyes from the screen. “Weapons and armor. Half the interior volume is dedicated to systems.”
Zac nodded. “It’s got other ships, too. Two smaller ones.”
“Fighter escorts,” Nani confirmed, and Jess found herself curious at what the other ships were like. The fact that this larger one carried its own escorts was cool. She needed to do her own, more thorough investigation.
“Back at the lab we almost took one of them out and tested it,” added Nani, “while we were working on this one. The fighters don’t have quantum drives, just wave-field powerplants to move at sub-light speeds. By all indications they should be fast.”
As Zac stood there Jess realized she was staring. Captivated by him; his cowlick, worse than ever, sticking up on one side at the back of his head, a smaller one at the front; stubbly shadow of a beard; bare chested and perfect, alive and whole and he made it and she rescued him and they were together ... Fortunately she caught herself before he did. Casually she leaned against the console and
turned to something else, just as he looked in her direction.
“I still can’t believe you guys took this thing,” he said.
Nani made a little snorting noise but kept her attention on the console. “I’m afraid to go back,” she said, then broke her trance and looked up at all of them. “Now that we’re here, now that we’ve done what we’ve done, I’m in no hurry. Maybe we’ll find something. Maybe we’ll make a big discovery. If we do it would be a whole lot better than showing up with nothing.” A moment after she said this her expression changed and she looked at Zac. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like rescuing you wasn’t—”
“I know what you mean,” he raised a hand, completely unoffended. “Lindin must be steamed right now. We come back after what amounts to taking this thing out for a joy ride and we’re all getting locked up.”
“Yeah.”
Then Bianca asked: “How would they lock you up?” That wasn’t the point, thought Jess, but she understood the question. How would they punish Zac?
“I’m not sure,” he shrugged. “But I think we’d want to be accepted back into Venatres society, not end up as outlaws.”
A moment of silence passed. Then Jess asked Nani: “What have you found? Anything else?” Though they’d been sitting together for hours it had been a long time since she gave an update.
“So far we know a few more things. I’ve managed to flesh it out.” Nani tapped her console and looked up, over their heads to the front of the bridge. Jess turned to the front and there, overlaying the Earth, was a display of information. A screen-in-screen, text and a few images, most prominent of which was a snapshot of a man’s head and shoulders. An official-looking man, young, early thirties, in a suit and tie, looking like an agent of some kind.
“That’s Drake Hauer,” said Nani. “He works for the Project. He’s heading up the sting.”
For an instant Jess felt a sharp, unexpected flash of anger, mixed with sadness. Seeing the leader of the group that had brought her so much pain, now knowing more of what they’d been up to; the guys that chased her from her home, sent her running back to Anitra and triggered the series of events leading her here brought a harsh moment of reality. Here was a face to go with her mental image of the Project. Nani continued:
“In addition to the sting operation they’ve been watching your house,” she said, and Jess was instantly on alert. Why hadn’t Nani told her that before? “They think the Bok may also be watching for your return. From what I can tell the Project seems to be making sure your parents and sister are not nabbed.”
Really?
“They’re protecting them?”
Nani shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think it was ever their intention to hurt you.”
Bianca twigged on this. “See?” she said, “I told you,” reminding Jess that was exactly what she’d said before; that the agents wouldn’t hurt her if Jess took her home, after they first escaped to Anitra. Neither Zac nor Nani knew anything about the particulars of those events, but didn’t ask. Bianca’s tone was mild. Just stating a fact. Those events were far behind them now.
“Anyway,” Nani went on, “I’m just putting some of this together. As we know the purpose of the sting is to nab the head of the Bok, Lorenzo Fertiti. I’ve got more info on him.” The image changed to show another handsome young face, this one Lorenzo; angular features, dark hair slicked back, very much Mediterranean. He had a cold look in his eyes, even at the distance from which the photo was taken. At the time of the pic Lorenzo had been on a large yacht of some sort, out to sea. “Lorenzo is the new leader of the Bok,” said Nani. “The Project has been building a dossier. I’ve matched everything in real time with the records from the laptop.”
Jess recalled the info on Lorenzo. Twenty-eight, painted as a power-hungry playboy in the Project’s records. He certainly looked the part.
Nani kept narrating. “He’s been hard to track, if not impossible, but unlike his predecessors Lorenzo has been flamboyant, almost disdainful, like he’s tired of hiding, which of course has worked to the Project’s advantage. His ego has exposed him enough that they now believe they’ve intercepted the info they need to narrow down a window, a time and a place where he’ll be.”
“So it’s confirmed?”
Nani nodded. “From what I can tell, their confidence is high. They are in motion and moving toward it. Their intention currently is to strike.”
This was getting closer to reality. Discussion aboard the Reaver had gone from a bright idea to a slowly forming plan to mirror that of the Project and beat them to the punch—though as yet Nani had not enough details to make final decisions. She would soon, though, at which point they would need to figure it out. And—if they were really going to do this—commit to the steps required to pull it off.
Jess looked up at Zac. Thrilled despite her rising anxiety. Happy that he was ready, eager even, to back her up, to go with her on yet another adventure.
“Where’s the place?” she asked.
“Somewhere in Spain. Still trying to get details.”
“And they don’t know we’re spying on them?”
“Not as far as I can tell.”
Jess looked back up at the screen and the images of the key players in this little subterfuge.
Drake Hauer, leader of the Project.
Lorenzo Fertiti, leader of the Bok.
She noticed Bianca grin.
“This is such a baller move,” her friend observed.
Zac, who’d been pretty good so far at keeping up with the girls’ slang, had a look on his face. Like he kind of got it but didn’t want to ask. Nani was so used to their little comments being part of the background she didn’t even notice. She just kept doing her thing.
Jess explained for Zac. “It’s like, I don’t know, like something the average person would never try, but only a total badass could pull off. Something amazing.”
Zac nodded.
To which Bianca grinned wider, as if to confirm it:
“Baller.”
CHAPTER 20: A LAST-SECOND BID
Yamoto stood alone in the Shogunnate chamber, high above the city, pondering events. After all this time there was no more sign of the murderous Kang, and Yamoto was certain the beast was not lost or sitting quietly somewhere on Anitra, waiting to be found. All evidence suggested Kang was gone, Horus with him, the Icon as well, and that chapter of their history was, finally, put to rest.
In many ways this was good news.
The bad news was the aftermath. In the wake of those events there was division within the Dominion ranks, specifically the forces engaged across the ocean at Midbay. Things had been falling apart since the order to attack was given, since just before Kang swept in and was subsequently swept away, and even now Yamoto’s generals at Midbay battled on, though he’d given clear orders to withdraw and regroup. The attack had been Kang’s orders, not Yamoto’s. Retreat was the only way to salvage their position. They must give back Midbay, at least for now. However … Yamoto’s generals had all but formed a coup in their refusal to comply, putting the cohesion of the entire Dominion at risk.
Yamoto himself had been a general not long ago. Top general, made Shogun against his wishes; for the good of the Dominion, it was claimed, and he regretted ever allowing that to happen. After the radical shifts of the last weeks and months, the very men he once worked with—many directly—now rebuked or outright ignored his command. Pushing forward on their own agenda. They would fail. But he had to consider the possibility: what if they didn’t? What if they claimed that land? In whose name would they claim it?
The real news, even beyond all that, was, of course, the spaceship. There was no other way to describe it, really; a craft that emerged from a hidden mountain base, flew into the sky over the battle and ascended rapidly out of sight. Ground stations tracked it to orbit, then beyond, where it continued moving away at an alarming rate, like nothing they possessed until it simply … disappeared. Many resources had been called into pla
y to evaluate that event, to analyze every bit of info to which they had access. Yet another shock in a string of shocks that, soon, Yamoto feared, would be the ruin of them all. Along with the chaotic results of Kang’s brief rule, the loss of the Crucible and the Council before that, the current dismantling of Dominion unity by rogue generals across the sea, growing unrest at home, the discovery of what the Venatres might’ve been hiding—a working starship …
Yamoto anticipated revolution.
“Sir,” one of his aides entered the chamber.
He turned from the panoramic windows overlooking noon-day Osaka.
Maybe revolution was exactly what they needed.
Everything had already been turned on its ear; their dogma, their beliefs, their most sacred religious artifacts; after everything, maybe it was time to put an end to the Emperor’s legacy once and for all. With each new blow the Dominion kept trying to hold itself together, to maintain the way things were, but the position of “Shogun” was tired. As were many of their institutions. It was time. Time to get rid of all of it, to bring his wayward generals into line. Give the people of the Dominion something real to believe in.
Yamoto nodded to his aide, who waited patiently at the door.
“Daimyo Kazukhan is here,” the aide announced.
“Send him in.”
And the aide withdrew.
Kazukhan. Yamoto rolled the name in his mind. Too militaristic a name for a noble. One of the Emperor’s gifts, as was Yamoto’s own name, from a time when nobles were warriors. Or so it was claimed.
All of that gone, revealed as farce. The Emperor, his holy form untouchable, locked in the hallowed Vivitak, violated before Yamoto’s eyes, torn from its sarcophagus like so much rotting dust, Holy robes ripped away by the abomination Kang yet … nothing changed. No Holy Retribution fell upon them, no wrath. No blazing return of Kagami on a golden chariot. The Emperor’s legacy was at an end, just like that. It only now seemed to be sinking in. Everything they’d built, all their rules and beliefs, everything they’d lived by for generations, waiting, the foundation on which their entire society had been laid, was a joke.
Star Angel: Dawn of War (Star Angel Book 3) Page 20