Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  “The result of all this, as you now know, I was made an honorary master and the young master eventually became the Master of the island that you know and love. Of course, as predicted, a year later the temple exploded, leveling several mountains, including the former monk compound. The Chinese government said it was a volcanic eruption, but I knew what it was. In fact, it appears that our enemies made it to the former monk compound just in time to be killed by the explosion, something I’ll always believe the young Master Kash somehow caused to happen to them.”

  Julie and Zeke stared incredulously at Uncle Ted as he finished the tale. Their regard for him had increased even more after understanding what he had been through. They also knew a little more about their enemies and their friends too.

  Julie hugged him and had one final word for him. “I want you to get with Professor Hollingsworth and get this written down. Not for general publication, but one copy for us and one copy for the Master Monk. Someday someone in our family may need to know this. I suspect now that our plans and our enemies have intersected, that they will continue to do so for generations to come. Most particularly involving my future daughter and son, whom I will do anything to protect.”

  #

  Even with all of the stuff going on when they returned, Julie wasn’t surprised that evening when she received a VR call from the First Lady. “I really need to talk to you before you go to get your father. Can you and Zeke come for breakfast tomorrow morning?”

  Smiling, Julie told her. “We were already planning on it. Somehow I knew you were going to call. I think I am beginning to see things. I already had a vision of our daughter and that was before the obelisk, which somehow I know you know about. And I had another vision just yesterday.”

  “Yes, I can’t tell you how I know, but I know about the obelisk, and I know about your task. I know you can’t directly talk about it, but I have some information to give you and you can just listen. So we’ll see you at 7 as usual?”

  “We’ll be there. I’ll tell you of my latest vision and the consequences that we had to deal with.”

  #

  The next morning Julie and Zeke travelled to the Presidential Estate for breakfast. This time they had time to go a little slower, so they could spend time enjoying the beautiful home of the President and First Lady. Julie figured it threw their timing off, because for once, both of them were already waiting in the breakfast room.

  As usual, the First Lady insisted on no business until breakfast was finished and Julie was happy to do so. The food was outstanding, and the coffee was even better. Finally, even the coffee was gone and the men left them alone. The First Lady hugged Julie and told her, ”I’ve been keeping a close eye on you, that is with my third eye. And my, oh my— I wasn’t even close on how much you two would change the world.”

  “And now you’re beginning to see things with your visions. That beautiful daughter of yours, she’s really going to be quite a handful. But first, quickly, I must tell you what I know about your task.”

  She looked intently at her near daughter. “You must take your father to the obelisk before you bring him back here. It is very important. And by back here, I mean here, as in our home. That is also very important. You must not take no for an answer. He’s not going to be used to that from you, but you have to convince him. I suggest you just get him in your ship and go straight to the obelisk. If you can do that, it will all go much easier.”

  She smiled at Julie. “That’s all the business I have. The rest is just the fun stuff. Tell me about your daughter. She’s going to be our goddaughter; that’s not debatable. Besides, you’re going to need my help with her. She’s going to be something else and not even you two will be able to handle her all the time. And by that I mean, she’ll have both your and Zeke’s nanites and the abilities that go along with that, as well as having the visions.”

  Julie nodded. “Yes, I saw a lot of that in my vision of her, and it was her I saw at the obelisk. Although I can’t talk about my task, I can talk about the rest of what I saw at the obelisk.”

  They talked for a long time. By the time Julie left, they both had been crying tears of happiness.

  #

  While the girls had been talking, Zeke and the President had been also talking. “My wife has told me about the obelisk and I’ve got to say, I’m a little jealous of you for having such an experience, but knowing how difficult your task was, I’m also glad it wasn’t me. Knowing so much about the battle beforehand had to be very difficult to deal with, yet you did so admirably. How did you do it?”

  “It wasn’t easy. I knew it was going to be bad. So I took every precaution I could to get ready. I even blew up a lab trying to do some of it without Julie.” That drew a raised eyebrow. “Yes, this time it wasn’t even on purpose. Luckily, I took every precaution I could. And that was using a tiny amount of the power that could be used in that weapon. But I built a shield that held even in that explosion.

  “To tell you the truth, sir, the hardest thing was hanging back while Julie had to fight nine of those pirates by herself, knowing they would be using nukes. Even when I gave her my best shields. But of course, she did it easily. If they hadn’t set off the big one when they did, she would have finished the other four off within a couple of minutes.

  “That got her so distracted that I got to take care of the rest of them. Boy, that new plasma gun is something else. I know you flew fighters in the Air Force so you’ll understand what I mean. It’s like a super gun that doesn’t miss; you don’t even have to lead them, it fires so fast.”

  “So that means your task is complete?”

  “Yes, so now I’ll be there to help Julie when she goes to get her father and then after that the wedding.”

  “Yes, and I know about that daughter of yours that you two have seen in visions. Catherine wants us to be her godparents and I hope you’ll accept us. That’ll give us something to do when we are done with this job besides going around and giving speeches.”

  “I’m sure I’m speaking for both of us when I say, yes, absolutely. She is going to be something else, that’s for sure. I saw her, first in Julie’s vision, which she was able to share with me, and secondly, at the obelisk. And yes, we are going to need lots of help. But you should see her fly her little ship. Wow, she was amazing.”

  About that time, Julie and the First Lady returned. Zeke could tell Julie had been crying, but he could feel her emotions, so he knew they were tears of happiness and not something bad. So they talked a few minutes, thanked their hosts, and were soon headed back home. Home now being Space Tech station, and no thoughts of anywhere else. It was good that they had the gravity plates to make living there much more practical.

  #

  The work progressed rapidly on the Admin module on Space Tech station. Julie was spending a lot more time there since they were finished with the Organization and she was having to wait to hear from her father. In the evenings they managed to take a little time off too. Emily came up to visit, so she and Julie were able to spend a good bit of time together. As her maid of honor, Emily had been trying to get Julie to agree to a bachelorette party, and Julie would have none of that. She finally agreed to meet Emily and some of the girls she knew from school at an informal get together at a local restaurant near the Space Academy, but she made Emily promise nothing would happen while they were there.

  Of course, for Julie it wasn’t so simple. She couldn’t just go just anywhere she wanted as she had to arrange for security to be there, and for a team of monks to be sent too. To simplify the job for security, she decided to rent the whole restaurant for the evening. She paid them a high enough bonus they didn’t argue. Zeke wasn’t too happy she was going to be away from his eye in a public location either. He was just too protective of her sometimes, but she had learned to trust his instincts, so she agreed to let him fly their little corvette in an overhead patrol.

  The day after that would be the earliest she expected to hear from her father, so sh
e welcomed the chance to be away for just that evening. Something to take her mind off her worries about her father that she tried to keep at bay. She also relished the idea of seeing some of the girls from school that she hadn’t seen in a while.

  The night of the party came quickly. Julie and Zeke flew down to Space Tech headquarters in the corvette. Julie would take a limo from there to the party. Then Zeke took back off and flew an overhead patrol. She was glad that he had figured out how to tweak the drive system so it worked in even the denser atmosphere. As a consequence, he pretty much owned the airspace. She was still amazed at his ability to manipulate the fields. Her eyes got a little misty when she thought about their daughter doing that too. Soon, she thought, soon.

  Apparently all the security paid off, because everything went without incident in the restaurant. Julie actually had a good time at the party talking with the girls who had all known her as Miranda. It had only been a few months ago to them, but to Julie it seemed like a much longer time. Unsurprisingly, they all had to talk about the changes going on with the new technology Space Tech was soon going to be delivering. One girl was showing off her new personal AI she had just gotten. But being girls, the talk soon moved on to more important things in their world, boys mostly, and Julie laughed and cried with them as they talked.

  They had also invited Caitlyn and the soccer girls, and this time they were a big plus to have at the party. Caitlyn talked about working for Space Tech and that had a lot of the girls looking at her in envy. Julie knew she would have to help them out.

  “Ok, work hard on your schoolwork and submit your applications. I’ll have our AI flag any applications from the Space Academy to my attention, and we’ll try to find a place for you. Only if you will be willing to work hard to get there, and only if we can find a place to fit you in where you’ll be happy and be a good fit for us.”

  They all responded positively to her statement, which Julie was glad to hear. Because of the warm feeling they gave her, Julie even let them talk her into going out on the dance floor when all the girls ganged up on her. She had avoided that the last time as Miranda when she had seen Caitlyn and her friends out on the dance floor, convinced that they would use it as an excuse to catch her with an elbow or two.

  Not only was the expectation this time different, when she got out on the floor, Julie was surprised at what happened next. Dancing was not something she had done in the past, but she had done a lot of gymnastics. On the island, the movements taught by Mama Kash had been a lot like dance too. She started moving slowly, watching what the other girls were doing, but the rhythm from the music began to affect her. She easily learned their moves and before she knew what was happening, she somehow found herself competing with Caitlyn and some of the other girls.

  When the song playing picked up it’s tempo, the girls’ competition really started to heat up. Some of the other girls started to drop out but Caitlyn remained beside her. Julie realized again just how talented Caitlyn actually was; her abilities on the soccer field were not just a fluke. Luckily for Julie the song ended before it got too carried away.

  Julie smiled to herself as she stopped to take a break. Caitlyn’s talent meant her and Joe’s children would have a lot of potential ability. Someday, she foresaw that would be important for her future daughter and son. They would need friends that could challenge them a little.

  A laughing Emily came up to give Julie a hug. “You set this up,” Julie told her as soon as she could catch her breath. “You knew I wouldn’t be able to resist competing with the others.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t be able to help it,” Emily told her. “Unfortunately, everyone here knows about you, so I couldn’t make it an official contest, or no one would have participated.”

  The girls danced for some time afterward, Julie just enjoying the camaraderie, but no longer pushing herself to compete. She had to admit, Emily knew how to pull off a good, clean party.

  Late in the evening as things started to wind down, Julie was approached by one of the girls she remembered from her time at the Space Academy. Nicole had been especially friendly to her when she had struggled with many of the others. That seemed like a long time ago now, but it had only been a few months. Nicole and Miranda both had shared a lack of knowledge of their past. Nicole had been adopted at an early age and knew nothing about her parents and Julie had known nothing about her past with her complete memory loss. Julie hadn’t even been told her real name; as Miranda Summerlin she had been struggling to find her way and it had been quite traumatic when she had learned the truth.

  When Nicole came up to her, Julie was struck by just how much she looked like Xiu and wondered about that. Nicole was the name she had been given by her adopted parents, but she was obviously of pure Chinese lineage.

  “You know my adopted father,” Nicole told her. “Doctor James Hollingsworth, your special Envoy, is my adopted father, although we haven’t spoken in over a year. I blame him for what happened to my mother, who left us when he had an affair. She’s been missing for over two years now. He called me the other night, saying that he really needed to see me and I don’t know what to do about it.”

  Julie replied to her gently, “You have to see him. No matter what he has done in the past, he is still your father. I’m speaking from my own experience here. I didn’t know who my father was for several months when I was suffering from my memory loss, and by the time I found out who he was, he was missing. And now I am hoping and praying that I will get to see him in a couple of days, but I still don’t know that will happen. You dare not risk missing this time with him.”

  Seeing the response in Nicole’s eyes, she went on, “Speaking from the time I’ve spent with James, he has a good heart. I’ve seen an undercurrent of sorrow in him; I suspect he is just as sorry about what happened as you are. I can’t explain what I know, but I know he has just had an experience that has changed him. It did for me, so I’m sure it did for him.”

  “Thank you,” Nicole told her. “I really miss him sometimes, but I didn’t want him to think everything is ok either.”

  “He knows. By not talking together, the two of you have actually made things worse, not better. In fact, he’s invited to my wedding, so I expect to see you there as his guest. You were a good friend to me when I needed one, when I didn’t have that many friends.”

  Julie remembered her flash of the events just after her wedding, and Nicole was there in her vision so she decided to reinforce it a little. “Emily will like that. With our guest list so small, I suspect she’ll be a little lonely.”

  About that time Emily came up to them. “What’s this about Emily?” she asked.

  “Nicole here is going to be coming to our wedding, and you’re in charge of looking after her. And I’m looking forward to introducing her to my other envoy, Xiu, who is from China. Xiu looks enough like Nicole to be her sister. I bet she might even be able to help Nicole find out about her family.”

  “Ok,” Nicole told her. “I’m convinced. One way or the other, I’ll be there. I’ll try to work it out with my father, but if not, is it ok if I come with Emily?”

  “Absolutely, but that’d better be as a last resort.” Suddenly, Julie had an idea. “You and your father both like pizza?” she asked.

  Nicole nodded. “It used to be one of the things we did together as father-daughter.”

  “Then this is where you need to go.” She sent Nicole a VR contact link to the little restaurant that she and Zeke liked so well.

  Julie felt something click into place, like a puzzle piece fitting together in a puzzle. She sat there quietly a little while, wondering what it all meant.

  #

  The party wound down shortly thereafter. The last to leave Julie, Nicole and Emily were just starting to leave the restaurant when Zeke sent Julie a mental warning. Someone was attempting to attack their party. It appeared to be by an organized group and he was taking action to protect her and her companions.

  Especially worried
about her friends, Julie instructed the girls to get behind her. She stood ready to defend them if necessary. Determined to never be unprepared, she had worn her knife sheaves hidden under her sleeves. She loosened her sleeves, just in case.

  Later Julie would find out that a rebel Chinese strike team had somehow infiltrated the country. The team had been sent by the real group Julie opposed in the temporal war, thinking to make a preemptive strike against her. They had obtained weapons from an undiscovered Organization cache, including a couple of handheld missile launchers. Their plan was to fire one of the missiles, a surface-to-air missile, at Zeke and his overhead patrol, and then when he was distracted, fire the second missile at Julie and her party. While all that was happening, a second group would attempt to infiltrate along the streets, and if the second missile failed to hit its target, they would attempt a physical attack on Julie.

  Unfortunately for them, their plan didn’t work out quite like they had planned. Zeke in his overhead patrol spotted the two groups before they got close enough to get into position. He immediately radioed the security teams, including the monks Julie had brought along. So they were ready for the second team. Secondly, they had no idea of the capability of his ship. They should have done better research. When Zeke changed directions, heading directly toward them, the one with the surface to air missile panicked. He launched his missile toward Zeke before they were anywhere near close enough to be able to launch the second missile.

  What Zeke did next was beyond what they could conceive. Because his ship was fully armored and shielded, the puny little missile was like a buzzing insect. Rather than attempting to get away from it, Zeke instead accelerated toward it. He moved so fast that the missile never even locked on to him, and he flew his ship straight through it as if it wasn’t there. The resulting explosion shattered some of the nearby windows but did nothing to his ship. And he had already figured in his head the trajectory of the missile, so he sent his ship moving even faster toward the team that had launched the attack.