Awakened

by Ell Leigh Clarke

Hey, sleepy head. You’re awake.

  Yes. I’m aware again. What happened?

  Molly was driving to Spire to meet with Paige when Oz came back online. The ride so far had been rather quiet without Joel and with Oz offline. Molly was relieved that Oz was around again, though a little nervous about the effects of the changes she had made to his base code.

  And about him finding out.

  You took a nap. I had to reboot you. You crashed mid-operation. I think we have a capacity issue on the holo again.

  Capacity issue?

  Yeah. you’ve been downloading, haven’t you?

  Erm, yes. But that shouldn’t have affected the processing power available for the kinds of tasks I’ve been performing.

  Molly could feel Oz jiggling his circuits. It made her teeth vibrate a little. She suspected he was running self-diagnostics. She prayed the logs she had fabricated were enough to fool him.

  You okay, Oz?

  Molly, I feel strange…like I’m seeing with new eyes. Everything is the same, but different.

  That’s what it’s like waking up after a nap. You’ll feel normal soon. Want to take over driving?

  Sure.

  Molly smiled. That always worked with the boys back at the base. They could be having any kind of dispute, and as soon as they got to drive the tank, or the ship, or the missile launcher, their conflicts were resolved. She rolled her eyes.

  Trust the military to create an AI that was just the same.

  They were nearly at the bar. Since Oz was back online, he could drop her off and have the car hover somewhere.

  So, will I need to sleep again?

  I’m not sure. We’ll have to look at getting you some more space, but we also need to dump out old code and data you don’t need. I’ll have a look at your programming when all this quiets down, okay?

  Thanks, Molly. I would appreciate that very much.

  Sure. Okay, we’re nearly there. Are you cool to drop me off around the corner and perhaps find somewhere to park the car while I go in?

  No problem.

  Thanks, Oz.

  Molly hopped out of the car at the corner, dodged a pedestrian not paying attention as he reviewed notes on his holo, and made her way down the street until she found the Blue Rising Bar on her right.

  There was a big sign hanging overhead, with a blue Estarian looking kind of mystic and goddess-like. She pulled the oaklon door open and stepped through into the comforting scent of beer. It felt good to be in some semblance of normalcy after the last few weeks of stress, pressure, and new life-ing it.

  She looked around, taking in the decor, and at the same time scanning for a young Estarian/human hybrid. She spotted Paige just before Paige spotted Molly. Paige made eye contact briefly. She was watching the door, but was expecting a man, as Joel had talked with her on the phone.

  Molly considered how to play this. She didn’t want to scare her, but at the same time, direct was probably the fastest. And the longer they were out here and not in the safe house, the more exposed they were.

  Molly marched over to her table. “Are you Paige?”

  The girl looked perplexed, unsure as to whether she could trust a stranger right now.

  “I’m Molly. You spoke with my colleague Dave earlier. He arranged for us to meet. We’ve been employed by your boyfriend, Garet Beaufort, to keep you both safe.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.” Paige looked a little shaken, adjusting to the fact that she was meeting someone she didn’t expect. “I mean, he could be. I want him to be, but we haven’t talked about….” She resigned herself to not explaining. In the light of what was going down, she figured it was hardly relevant. “I’m Paige.”

  Molly sat down at the table with her.

  “We need to talk,” Molly informed her.

  Paige didn’t miss a beat. “How is Garet? Is he okay? I was so worried that he’d been killed.”

  “Garet is doing fine. He’s back at the safe house. We want to bring you in too, but we need your help first.”

  “We?” she asked.

  Molly nodded. “Yes, I have a small team helping to get you two to safety.”

  Paige took a sip of her mocha, buying time to process the information that was flying at her. “What kind of help? I can’t do anything right. It’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place.”

  Molly identified with her pain only too well. “Hey, look, nothing that’s happened has been your fault. The way I see it, you were just trying to help out a friend. But I know what you’re going through. I’ve beaten myself up about stuff I’ve done in the past, too. But right now, you really need to focus. Plenty of time for a pity party later, yes?”

  She smiled at the girl. Paige appreciated her down-to-Sark way of thinking and her gentle tone. This strange woman was right. She had to focus now.

  She placed her mocha down on the saucer in front of her.

  “Would you like a drink?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Molly catching the waitress’s eye.

  An hour later, Molly and Paige had not only bonded, but Paige had agreed to help out.

  “So, are there any other relationships that Dewitt has, either personal or political?”

  “Well.” Paige blushed a little. “He’s a handsome man. A lot of the ladies like him.”

  “Any he sees regularly?”

  Paige thought a second, “Well, there’s one judge. He sees her quite a bit, but I get the feeling it’s because he asks her to do things for him. I mean…I’m sure they’re sleeping together, but I think he has her make things go away, if you know what I mean.”

  “I know exactly what you mean.” Molly finished her mocha.

  Setting down her cup, Molly looked up. “We need access to the server, Paige. It’s the only way we’re going to be able to separate him from all these powerful people, and keep you and Garet safe. And if we can take away the reason why he wants to destroy that leak, then so much the better.”

  “Well, the reason he wants to keep the files from getting out is because they will end his career.”

  “Exactly. So we need to make sure he doesn’t have any semblance of a career left to protect. Understand?”

  “Yes. Yes, I think I do.” Paige looked like she felt bad for the guy, but was determined to survive.

  “Okay, so here’s what we need you to do…” Molly gave Paige her instructions, and a pod drive to download the server content.

  “I’ll be outside the building before you even go in. Don’t look for me. Just go about your business as if everything is normal. When you come out for lunch, I’ll be there to pick you up. Just turn right out of the building and keep walking. I’ll find you. Got that?”

  “Yeah. I guess so.”

  Molly, you need to give her comfort.

  Good point.

  Molly softened her voice. “Paige, it’s going to be fine. You’ve got the panic button in your holo now, and if anything goes wrong, we’ll extract you. Go home and get some rest. And I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay.” Paige managed a weak smile before getting up and leaving.

  She looked back as she headed out of the bar’s front door.

  Molly had a sick feeling in her gut as she waved at the girl she was sending into the lion’s den.

  Can’t be helped, she assured herself. It’s the only way we can save them both.

  Want me to pull the car around?

  Yes please, Oz. Let’s get home. We’ve got a fast turnaround tonight.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Judge Kasandra Simes’ Residence, Spire

  The chime of the doorbell rang through the luxuriously furnished apartment. Even though she knew who stood on the other side of the door, and even though he’d stood there many a time before, Judge Kasandra Simes always got butterflies in her belly when she heard that sound.

  She half walked, half skipped to the door to meet her lover. Her kitten-heeled indoor shoes tapped on the oaklon finished flooring, heralding her
arrival at the door.

  She opened the apartment door and smiled welcomingly, sighing to herself at how fortunate she was to have such a gentleman calling on her. His smart suit outlined his figure in a slight silhouette against the light in the hallway.

  He produced a bottle of champagne from behind his back.

  “Greetings be upon you, Mr. Dewitt!” Kasandra exclaimed, beaming. Her newly applied lipstick gave her lips a glorious sheen, and Dewitt could think of nothing else but stepping inside and pressing his against them.

  “Greetings of the day upon you, too, my fair lady!” he responded.

  She glanced down at the bottle, and read the label. “Wow, that’s an excellent year. Let’s get some of that that on ice…”

  She started to move down the hallway to the kitchen, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close for a hello kiss. That out of the way, and now wearing her lipstick, he allowed himself to be led to the kitchen.

  “How was your day?” Kasandra asked as she busied herself putting out snacks and glasses. Dewitt opened the bottle and poured them a drink.

  “Oh, you know.”

  “That good, eh?”

  “Yeah. That good.”

  “Aww, what is it, baby?” She was upon him in an instant, her arms wrapped around his neck, her fragrance dancing into his space as he started to relax a little. “Those pesky lawmakers giving you problems?”

  “Something like that…” He moved sideways and handed her a drink with one hand, his other arm still round her.

  “You just send them to me. I’ll take care of them.” She kissed him again.

  “I appreciate that. You’re too good to me.”

  “Yes I am.” He found her confidence sexy as hell.

  “Speaking of…I appreciate you tidying away those parking tickets for me. Wouldn’t look so good on my record at the next election, would they?”

  “That’s right. And no problem. It seemed they just got lost in the system.” she smiled coyly. “So, what’s going on that’s making you so tense?”

  He took a swig of the ten-year-old vintage champagne, and swallowed. “Later,” he told her, leading her through to her bedroom.

  Chenz’ Bar, Downtown Uptarlung, Irk’n Quarter

  Joel leafed through his holo notes, reviewing the service record of the two men he’d selected as his first choices.

  He wanted to avoid going through a series of interviews, if he could help it. The fewer people knew about their operation, the better. Especially since the next phase was going to be controversial, to say the least.

  He kept half an eye on the bar around him, looking out for his first potential recruit.

  The last time he had been here was to meet Molly, when she recruited herself into his employ. The way things had evolved, though, it turned out that she was recruiting him for a bigger mission.

  He grinned to himself. That was where it had all started for him and he was damn pleased…even if she didn’t show any signs of being romantically interested in him. He was grateful just to be a part of whatever it was that she was building.

  He focused back on his notes.

  His first meeting was with Flight Sergeant Chris “Crash” Ashworth. The guy obviously had a sense of humor, with a call sign like that. Ten years in the service, and now flying a mixture of commercial and test flights.

  He didn’t exactly come across as regular on paper. He wondered what he would be like in person.

  Oz seemed to have done a great job of vetting and filtering the potentials. Only thing was, there wasn’t really a surefire way of knowing whom you were hiring until you’ve seen them on the job for several months.

  Joel hoped to hell they got lucky. Bringing people off-world was a huge commitment, and he’d feel terrible having to let them go and ship them back to the System if it didn’t work out.

  Just then, he noticed a guy walk in. White t-shirt showing underneath his atmosuit, he looked sharp. Professional. And definitely ex-service. Joel caught his eye, and the guy headed over. Looking down and checking his notes, Joel confirmed this was Ashworth.

  “Greetings be upon you, Mr. Ashworth,” Joel held out his hand, which the guy took and shook firmly.

  “Yes. Greetings upon you too, Mr. Dunham.”

  “Joel.”

  “Crash.”

  The two ex-military guys sat down and ordered a beer each, and then quickly dove into why they were there.

  After some back and forth Joel couldn’t contain his curiosity anymore.

  “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, Crash, but you’re a little more straight-laced than I had assumed from your jacket.” He indicated down at his holo notes with the service record.

  Crash smiled, as if he got that a lot.

  “Cleaned up my act, sir. I was something of a jackass in the service, and I think that spilled over into my choice of jobs. But somewhere along the way I learned to keep my shit together, even if I’m doing some batshit crazy jobs.”

  Joel cocked his head. “Make sense. Sounds like you’ve got some tales to tell.“

  Crash nodded. “Yessir, I have. And I’ll be glad to share them, if I end up on your team.”

  Joel could appreciate the clarification. “Let me tell you a little bit more about what’s going to be involved. As you know, this is a permanent position, and you’ll need to relocate.” He paused a second, “Is that going to be an issue?”

  Crash shook his head. “No, sir. It’s just me now. Girlfriend up and left me a year ago, and I’m looking for a fresh start. Where are we going to be stationed?”

  “Off-world. A fresh enough start for you?”

  “You mean, outside the System?” Crash asked, a glint in his eye.

  “That’s right.” Joel was watching his reactions carefully, studying his every inflection and mannerism now he’d established a baseline in Crash’s behavior.

  “Hell, yeah. I’m game for that!” He appeared genuinely excited. Joel was relieved. He liked the guy, but he wasn’t going to bring anyone on board who didn’t want it 150%.

  Joel nodded and leaned forward. “Okay, let’s have a chat about where this project is going, and what your duties might be…”

  The pair talked for nearly two hours, far longer than Joel had intended they would.

  Joel was thinking about ordering some mochas, but then his eye caught the time on his holo.

  “Gosh, is that the time? I have another interviewee showing up in five minutes.”

  “Not for my job, I hope?” Crash said playfully. Joel could tell there was a note of seriousness behind the comment, though.

  Good, he thought.

  “No, we’re going to need a good mechanic to keep us up in the sky,” Joel admitted, setting Crash’s mind somewhat at ease.