by Cher Hollis
A voice brought Cassie back to the present, “Doch’ka, is that you?”
The voice seemed to vibrate inside her inner ears, with his thick accent very familiar. She’d found Mikhail instinctively, while her mind was elsewhere.
“Yes, Mikhail, it’s me,” she answered, as she completed the connection to the MD interface he was using.
“It’s so good to hear your voice, Cassie.”
“This will be the last time. I leave tomorrow night.” Cassie cleared the mental picture she could catch of Mikhail, as she spoke.
“Then I have been in time?” he asked, and it sounded urgent.
“What is it, Mikhail? Have you found out more information?” she asked, instantly anxious.
“It is not enough, Cassie, but it is all I could find. I hope it helps you.”
“What is it, Mikhail?”
“There was a warning sent to Earth, before the aliens first attacked our colonies in space. The message came from deep in space, far beyond the Milky Way.”
“Before,” she said, amazed. Then she asked, “Do you know what it said?”
“No, Cassie. Nor could I find who sent it. Only that it exists, on this everyone agrees.”
“Mikhail, I found out today that A-Tell believes prison colony militant Variants are involved in the alien attacks. They think those Variant militants are following Ramon. They believe it so much they’ve assigned a Variant Colonel to escort me to the U.S.S. Regan.”
“Ha, they are fooling themselves. The Variants, any Variant, would never align themselves with your father.”
“I know, Mikhail, but I have so little of the truth to work with. I’m still not sure why Lt. Colonel Black doesn’t trust me, when I was the one that freely came to them. I know there are many things I haven’t been told.”
“I shouldn’t have let you go. I should have hidden you,” Mikhail said, with obvious sadness and regret in his voice.
“No, father, many lives are being lost each hour out in space. No matter what deceits the military is using, I have to go and try to stop this. Besides, there is no place for me to hide from the likes of A-Tell.”
“They lie to you, little doch’ka. They are thinking they will try to bargain with your life. We both know this.”
“Yes, it has to be what they are thinking, with so many lives at stake. But I won’t go foolishly. As soon as I reach the Regan, I will use my BASE to break into UED’s international internetwork, and then I will find the answers to what they are hiding and find out what is really going on.”
Cassie’s voice was firm with conviction as her mind’s eye brought Mikhail’s face into focus. He was tired. She could see the worry lines around his grey eyes.
“Do it now, doch’ka, before there’s no hope of getting away from them.”
“I can’t do it from here, not without being caught. In The Way, in the middle of battle, no one will be watching and they will be linked directly to the international internetwork,” she explained, as she watched Mikhail shake his head with defeat.
“Can I see you, Cassie?” he asked. His voice held longing, which brought a mist to Cassie’s eyes.
“Not from there, father. But I can see you and looking at you makes me strong,” she said, with a catch in her voice.
“When will I hear from you again, doch’ka?”
“If I gain the international internetwork, I will find a way to contact you. Look for the last name Ramona, and you will know that it’s me.”
“You are very strong now, Cassie, stronger than Ramon.”
“You know that’s not true. He will never listen to me,” she said, and she knew it showed her vulnerability to the one man who would not destroy her for it.
“Do not let him destroy your confidence. I believe in you, my doch’ka, and you must believe in yourself.”
“I do, Mikhail. I don’t need Dr. De La Fluenta to be proud of me. I have the respect and love of the only father who matters. I will always remember that, Mikhail.”
“Search out the alien message as soon as possible. My intuition tells me it will prove invaluable. And this Colonel … is he the same kind of man as Lt. Colonel Black?”
“No, he’s honest at least. A man of personal values, I think,” Cassie said, and she surprised herself by believing it.
“Good, you must consider that you will need a friend, an ally. What is his name?”
“Colonel Bo Wyatt. Now I must go. There is someone tracing this link, someone coming up behind me. It could be coincidence, but I can’t take the chance. Remember that I love you,” Cassie called, as she took one last look at Mikhail.
“And I love you, my doch’ka. Always!”
Cassie broke the link, and then she mentally shot down a vertical passageway with the interloper hot on her trail. The inner world of the complex internetwork was like traveling through a laser light show. Her mind’s eye trailed through the colored byways, while her physical presence lost meaning.
It was one of the dangers of her BASE; it left her physical body vulnerable and unaware, until she returned her mind to it. The interloper veered off and made it appear as if it was a chance occurrence, but she was unconvinced.
She spent time going back and rechecking all her safeguards, until she was convinced no one would be able to tell that she’d been there. Then she shut down BASE and returned to the simpler MD interface in her barracks room. She took a deep breath, trying to relieve her tension, while she removed the retina scan. It was always the same, a strange feeling of coming back to the solid world.
She stood from the desk and rubbed her tired eyes, then she went and sat down on the one side of the hover-cot which wasn’t oddly tilted. That’s when she registered the sounds of music and realized it was coming from Colonel Wyatt’s room on the other side of the connected door.
Listening closely, Cassie was surprised to recognize ancient classical music. It was Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto “The Emperor” if she wasn’t mistaken. Cassie reclined, while she smiled, because she liked classical music. As the dramatic chords filtered through the walls, she began to wonder about Colonel Wyatt, who fate had sent her way.
“It’s been too long since I’ve been around a man I thought was attractive,” she whispered.
It wasn’t that Colonel Wyatt was strikingly handsome, but he placed high on her list of rugged attraction. His face had maturity with strong masculine hard angles, while his physical appearance was very well built. She sighed—she was such a fool for being attracted to him, so far their personalities were like fire and water.
The fact he was a Variant made it a double-edged-sword for her, and frankly, she was surprised she could even be attracted to a Variant like him. But he was quite commanding in a way that made her feel unexpectedly shivery inside.
“Not that I would want him—” she mumbled, unable to finish the thought.
It had to be the Colonel’s complex nature that piqued her interest. And those eyes of his—what she wouldn’t give to see the graphic blueness of them looking at her without a hard mask or annoyance. Cassie knew the exact moment, and it had been when his ex-wife had called out that Robert had been his friend. That was when she’d been captured by the Colonel’s obvious emotional struggle and locked into the mystery behind his compelling eyes.
But the Colonel only saw her as a dowdy, messily dressed woman, and nothing like she really was.
“Unless,” she murmured, with an idea forming.
It was the last night she would be on Earth, and that meant it was going to be the last time she would have a chance to wear civilian clothes. She and the Colonel were alone in the barracks where there was no one to see her if she showered and changed into better fitting and more flattering civilian clothes. Then all she needed was an excuse to knock on Colonel Wyatt’s door—
The music might be her reason. She could ask him about the music.
Cassie got up with the excitement of her plan motivating her to be bolder than she’d normally be, while she
shoved aside an inner nagging voice that said she’d promised to tell him if she went anywhere.
“But he couldn’t possibly mean a shower room that is just down the hall,” she declared.
Bo listened to the sounds of music, while he absently massaged his temple. He was sitting in a hover desk chair, while he tried unsuccessfully to relax. It seemed since the day started, he’d been on the verge of anger. Wearily, he realized the tension wasn’t going to leave easily, so he decided to look at the Data Cubic the reticent Lt. Colonel Black had given him.
He knew part of it would be a detailed report on Ela Cassandra De La Fluenta, his new assignment. Bo considered that Miss De La Fluenta would be unnerved if she realized all the report would contain about her, because he’d seen personal data reports before.
It was one hell of an assignment—
Reaching around, Bo pulled the Data Cubic with its periscopic viewer from his uniform coat, which was hanging on the back of his chair. He set the Cubic on the desk and raised the periscopic viewer, which brought up the holo-pictures first. A three dimensional holograph picture appeared. It was ghost-like and slowly rotated in front of him, while it floated in the center of the mirrored glass.
Bo sat forward with his eyebrows lowered as he looked at the vision that turned slowly in front of him. “How can that be Cassie Ramona?”
The holographic image showed Cassie to be a very attractive young woman of obvious Latin heritage. She had long inky black hair, fascinating dark eyes, and full rich lips. Her breasts pushed against a sheer silk blouse, which enhanced their fullness, while her long legs spilled out from a snug brown skirt and her tawny skin glowed with color.
Suddenly it came to him; she had disguised herself.
“Of course,” he said.
He would have insisted she do the same, if he’d been in charge of keeping her mission secret. Any man would notice the lovely dark-haired beauty the Cubic showed, but the disheveled mess she’d impersonated would be overlooked as uninteresting.
Bo couldn’t take his eyes off the hovering figure. She was exquisite. But one hundred percent natural born. He grimaced, but he still didn’t stop looking at the hovering image, while he tried to pick out parts of her to compare to what he’d seen so far.
After long moments, he finally shook free and activated the status report, which displayed a hovering holographic box, much like the picture image, only it was stationary.
“Quarter click,” Bo stated, and it made the report skim down past the introduction.
He read through the cursory status report from the beginning. Thirty-five years old, complex network specialist, never married, no children, daughter of Dr. De La Fluenta and Marella De La Fluenta. Both parents deceased.
Bo paused and shook his head. He had unclear feelings for the creator of his race. It was cynicism. How could he despise the man who had made his existence possible, but when he’d considered what quality of life that really had been at times, then how could he not loath him?
He had lived through the times of virtual slavery and it was hard to forget or forgive.
The possibility that Dr. De La Fluenta was still alive had the makings of social upheaval for Variants. He had to admit it was a smart move to seek out a loyal military Variant for any assignment that involved the man’s daughter.
Returning his attention to the data cubic, he noticed the cursor flashing red. “Is there a security check?” he asked.
The stationary holo-screen collapsed and a red light flashed on its flat surface. Bo placed his palm on the smooth surface and he watched the red line as it crossed his palm. The holo-screen returned to float in front of him when he removed his hand, and then the outline of his hand disappeared.
Intentionally, he didn’t read the minute-by-minute details of Cassie’s entire life. Instead, he skipped forward to the more recent background data, provided for his eyes only, as shown by the security lock.
Additionally identifying himself, he said, “Colonel Bo Wyatt, third wing detachment, U.S.S. Regan, Falcon Three.”
The holographic screen flickered and brought up its data in report form, which he read out loud. “February sixteenth, at twenty-two hundred hours, a transmission of unknown origin was received when it bounced through the tenth quadrant facility at Duvall Station. This message warned of imminent alien forces. Intentions hostile.”
Bo’s jaw tightened. “Rumors were true.”
He knew they had to be … why else mobilize the entire UED forces out to The Way before the first alien attack? And that was right after broad news coverage about every living soul disappearing from that same space internment facility at Duvall Station, and then the televising of that one blurry and menacing clip of a huge red alien, unthinkable in human terms, which had thrown everyone into panic.
What he didn’t know was what that damn warning message said exactly, and who in the universe could have sent it.
Shortly, Bo realized he wasn’t going to find the answers he’d hoped to find through the report; it seemed A-Tell had left out that part, and they’d left out the rest of the auto-security surveillance of Duvall Station, which he knew had to be in existence, but not shared with him or the general public.
He burned to know what it showed, because he thought the men and women who were dying to fight the alien battle had a right to know and had a right for any advantage it might bring them.
The report did state that military analysts had concluded the criminal Variants, which had disappeared from Duvall Station, were unknown quantities. Bo knew they had disappeared before the first alien attack.
The report also stated that since that time, other Variant prisoners were disappearing from space internment colonies attacked by the aliens. Also, in any of the internment colonies attacked the prison support staff, who were natural born women, were disappearing, and all natural born men were killed.
Military analysists fully supported the belief that Dr. De La Fluenta was an informant to the aliens. Analysists believed there was a good probability he was the instigator of the aliens attacking humans. And the analysists thought he had possible support from Variant prisoners formerly linked to Earth’s militant factions. The reasons for those conclusions, so far, were the unbelievable strategic targeting of the world’s space colonies by the aliens.
That was something Bo and his fellow military fighting personnel had all but concluded, after fighting the aliens and having seen how they knew exactly where all of the world’s colonies in space and on other planets were. There was no way the hostile aliens could know that without being given the information somehow, and it put UED forces at an already serious disadvantage.
Bo reclined in his chair and swiveled it, as he looked away from the holo-data screen, while he thought about the part that had puzzled him the most.
“Makes no sense,” he muttered.
If Variants could be involved, he felt strongly that they would never follow or align themselves with Dr. De La Fluenta, especially the militant ones.
What about the vagueness? There were glaring holes in the report. Could those deadly red aliens be forcing the doctor and the criminal Variants to give up the positions of Earth’s space colonies?
It was obvious that UED channels were withholding information in the report or he thought the more accurate truth was the world powers did not know. He knew how hard it was to pull threads of information together out in space. And the alien war, coming out of nowhere, had them at a serious disadvantage.
He rubbed his side where shrapnel had breached his ready suit. It had mended quickly with advanced accelerated healing, but damn it, he could still feel the sharpness piercing him as he’d fought a losing battle with those damn red creatures.
“Then we have, Cassie.” He turned his chair toward the desk once more. The report read, “A-Tell has formulated the conclusion that Ela Cassandra De La Fluenta, the only child and living relative of Dr. Ramon De La Fluenta, remains advantageous to the situation at this time. But she will
remain Code Three and classified Unfriendly until restorative verification.”
“Snipers,” Bo muttered with disgust.
He shook his head and deactivated the Data Cubic, and then he stood to stretch. Lt. Colonel Black had sentenced Cassie to nothing less than the status of an enemy spy. Code Three meant high security risk, and “unfriendly” meant the enemy, while “restorative verification” never happened in that man’s military.
Bo paced the room as he wondered if the woman knew what she was getting herself into, because it seemed as if she were freely giving herself up to the madness. He could easily imagine what the powers-to-be meant to try to do with her, and he thought she knew too; she was quick enough to figure it out, but—
“If she’s a damn spy, I’m a natural born,” he said.
Then the words she’d spoken to him, in haste, came back to him. I wish I had one person to call a friend.
At that moment, it had felt as if Cassie had reached into his guts and pulled out parts of him. He had believed she’d meant those words so much he’d let his self-imposed guard down for a moment, and he knew she’d seen things in his eyes and on his face he shouldn’t have revealed.
That had been a mistake. Experience had taught him what a liability it was to reveal his true feelings. And to do it with a natural born. Christ, he had to be crazy. But his damn ex had him so riled he hadn’t been able to hide it.
Bo shook his head, trying to clear it, and then he noticed it was getting late. His brooding thoughts had gotten him nowhere. So he decided a shower, and then bed was in order. It would be a long day the next day babysitting the most interesting woman he’d met in a long time.
He took off his military dress shirt and left on his black pants and undershirt, then he grabbed a pair of khaki sweats, his shaving kit, and a towel. Leaving the music playing, he made his way down the hallway to the shower room.