by Frank Carey
"I'm through. You can get back to work, but try to take it easy for the next twenty-four hours."
"Yes, sir," Mac said. He walked over to where Tayla was sitting and took her hand. "Thanks for saving us, young lady. Nice work."
She gave him a little smile, then returned to stare at a spot on the floor.
Mac looked up at Doc, who returned a nod toward the door. "She'll be fine, I promise."
As soon as Mac left, Tayla turned to Jacob and buried her face in his jacket to muffle the sound of her sobs.
"Hey, kiddo, what's going on?" he asked. He had never seen her cry like this in the years since her family adopted him as a teenager.
"He died saving us and I never got to thank him," she said.
Doc looked at Jacob and mouthed a silent "Who died?"
"Honey, Jenna pulled up the history books. Joshua Gray died over two hundred years ago on a planet light-years from here, or so everyone thought," Jacob said before launching into an explanation.
Doc sat down in a chair, his eyes wide with shock. "Oh my God. How could this have happened?"
"Two hundred years of bureaucratic paperwork. Ventos Prime, Elven Industries, and the Cube are in an uproar. I sent a message over the new hypertronic communications system, and we got the reply a few minutes ago. Prince Lucien, Dr. Aymar-Taggart, and Cube Director Devlin are on a tear."
"I bet," Orsi said as he retrieved a bottle and three glasses from the cupboard. He poured them drinks and handed them out to the two officers. "I read about Dr. Gray and his work while at the university. His death set Earth bioengineering research back decades. Some think he rivaled Dr. Aymar-Taggart in his knowledge of engineered biological systems." he stopped when he realized Tayla had stopped crying.
Jacob looked at her. "Feeling better?"
"He was real?"
"Yes, very. He survived over two centuries of storage in a primitive biomechanical suit so he could save our asses."
"He said I was the most beautiful space alien he had ever met."
"He had taste, a rare quality for someone with his IQ," Jacob said. "Doc, how is she otherwise?"
"Fine. Shook up, but fine."
"I want to get back to work," she said as she jumped off the table.
"Are you sure?" Jacob asked.
She nodded.
"Good, because I need you to talk to Jenna. She feels responsible for Joshua's second death."
"I'm on it," she said. "Thanks Doc."
"Take it easy," he called after her retreating back. He turned back to Joshua. "Any idea what happened to the FTL system?"
"Sabotage. The problem is we don't know if the saboteur is still on board. Ventos Prime is looking into it, but they're having to tread lightly since we're not supposed to emerge from other-space for another 599 months. I've ordered Jenna to lock down the hyper-comm until further notice."
"Wasn't this trip supposed to be a simple social experiment?"
"That's what Prince Lucien told me. Go figure."
A chime sounded. "That's me," Doc said. "Time to defrost our passengers. Care to join me?"
"I'd better. I need to brief Alex and Bryntana on the day's news."
"Won't they be overjoyed," Doc said as he grabbed his bag. They headed out to meet the new colonists.
###
The stasis bay was bustling as members of the crew aided the colonists as they left their cryostasis chambers. As a colonist emerged, the crew would give them a quick medical once over before sending them outside to see their new home firsthand. Things were going smoothly until a Katalan named Quint and a human named Charlie decided to have words.
"Get out of my way, you damn cat," Charlie yelled as the Katalan shouldered him out of her way.
Quint bared her teeth and roared in reply. Before Jacob or the crew could step in, a pair of elves--one male and one female--stepped between the combatants. "Now, now, you two. We wouldn't want to make a mess on this nice clean deck, now would we?" the male elf said.
"Who the hell are you, elf?" Quint growled.
"Think about it," the elf said. "You've had the ship's roster downloaded into your brain. Look under colony leader, and second in command while you're at it."
The light of recognition filled the combatants' eyes. "Alex," the Katalan whispered.
"Bryntana," the human added. "Forgive us. Cryosleep must induce grumpiness."
"With just a hint of stupid," Bryntana said. "Now go outside and cool off."
Quint and Charlie walked out of the room, occasionally glancing back at Alex and Bryntana. When they were gone, Jacob walked over and introduced himself to the two colony leaders. "Nice work with those two. I thought I would have to use a big stick on them. Captain Jacob Townsend at your service."
"Captain!" Alex said as he took the captain's hand and shook it. "I'm Alex and this is my number two, Bryntana."
"Nice to meet you both," he said as he shook the wary Bryntana's hand. "Governor, I formally turn leadership of the colony over to you."
"How formal," Bryntana said.
"It gets worse," Jacob said before launching into a recap of the day's events. Alex, Bryntana, and every colonist in earshot stopped and listened in shock as Jacob recounted the tale of Dr. Joshua Gray. When he finished, their only reaction was stone cold silence that was finally broken by an increasingly angry Bryntana. "Some plarking asshole tried to kill me?" she yelled. Everyone in the room looked at her. "What?"
"Excuse us for a moment," Alex said as he took Bryntana by the arm and led her into an unused storeroom.
"What?" she growled while breaking free of his grip.
"Why are we here?"
"So's not to have our heads removed for crimes against the state?"
"No, we're here to become less sociopathic, remember?" he said while cuffing the back of her head.
"Ow!"
"Don't be such a wuss. Now, what did you do out there that defeats the purpose of our being here?"
"Nothing!"
"Ehhh! Wrong answer. First, you asked why someone was trying to kill you. Wrong question. The correct question was why someone was trying to kill all of us."
"Oh."
"But that's not all. You should have first mentioned the fact that some poor schmuck from old Earth, someone who never heard of elves or the League, died saving out tails after being in temporal stasis for over two centuries. Look into your damn augmented memories and see what he did, dammit. One minute he's stopping a disaster, then the next minute he's rolling out of bed in the wrong body and being told he has to die again."
"You're really getting into this redemption thing, aren't you?" she yelled.
"You're damn right I am. I may be a sociopath, but I really want to live. Got it? Now, get out there and apologize, then at least try to act like you feel bad that the genius schmuck died so you can live!"
She glared at him before ripping the door open and striding back into the room with Alex close behind.
"You two through?" Jacob asked.
"Yes," Bryntana said. "Sorry about that. What I meant to say was how sorry I was to hear about Dr. Gray, and I'm angry that someone tried to take us out, though I'm not surprised. We are all guilty of multiple crimes against virtually every species in the League."
The crowd nodded in agreement before getting back to the task of debarking.
Alex pulled Bryntana and Joshua close. "Any idea who sabotaged the drive?"
"No. Unfortunately, it could have been a suicide assassin who's still aboard the ship."
"Which means they could still be with us," Bryntana noted.
"Which is why I took the liberty of contacting the other governors. They have agreed to keep a heightened state of awareness."
"Excellent. I want to get acquainted with the rest of the colonists before I meet to discuss our next steps. Perhaps you and your first officer, Cmdr. Hardy, can join us for dinner tonight?"
"We'll be there." Jacob reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of comms which he handed to
Bryntana and Alex. "They work like ship's comm. Say a name and they'll automatically connect to the appropriate unit. They work off biometrics so you can swap units as needed."
"Thank you," Alex said.
"Ms. Bryntana, you should really try smiling," Jacob said as he started to walk off. She gave him a half-hearted attempt.
"Now was that so hard?" he asked as he walked outside.
She started looking for one of her knives, but came up empty handed.
"Come on, Bryn. Time to schmooze," Alex said as he took her arm and led her outside.
###
Engineering was quiet except for the sounds Mac made as he set the ship's power plant over to ground operations. Jacob walked over and peered over the engineer's shoulder as he worked. "I'm so going to get you a bell," Mac said. "You're just too damn quiet."
"You're just too caught up in your work. How goes it, by the way?"
"All set. We now have power for the town. I talked to Shelly and she says the IWU is up and connected to the other colony sites. Alyson's planetary InterWeb is now online."
"Ahead of schedule! Governor Alex will be so glad."
"Doesn't he have a last name?"
"None of the elves do, at least not ones they'll tell us. Maybe someday, when they have reintegrated into society," Jacob said. "Until then, we call them by their first names. Have you seen Tayla?"
"She's in Networking with Jenna's mobile."
"Thanks." Jacob said as he walked over to the Network Control Room where Jenna lived. He knocked.
"Come in," a voice said from the other side. Jacob reached over and hit the button that opened the door into the equipment packed room. He walked in.
"Tayla? Jenna? It's me, Jacob."
"Back here by the primary power taps," Tayla called out.
Jacob walked to the back of the room where he found his first officer standing next to a silvery, humanoid form. "Hey..." He stopped when the silvery being walked over and buried her face in his jacket. He shook his head. "What's going on?"
"I killed him."
"You saved us. I saw the tapes. You and he did the right thing. There's a thousand sapient beings who'll agree with me."
"You sure?"
"Yep. Absolutely sure."
She patted his chest, then stood up straight before walking to an alcove. She backed into it, connecting to the ship's power and network systems. "Thanks, bossman. You know how to make a girl feel better," she said as she transferred to the ships computer network.
"Tell that to my ex-wife," he quipped. "By the way, Alex and Bryntana are thawed and online."
"What are they like?" Tayla asked.
"Alex is OK for an assassin. I think he'll make a good administrator. Bryntana, on the other hand, is a little twitchy."
"Twitchy?" Jenna asked.
"She keeps reaching for her knives. Give her time. I think she'll come around. Jenna, what's the offload status?"
"Mobiles are bringing out the last of the housing modules while the aerial drones have already mapped out the site. We just need the governor's approval to start setup. I'll call him."
"Good. Introduce yourself while you're at it. I don't think he's ever dealt with an AI before."
"Ain't he in for a surprise," Jenna said as she made the call before getting down to business.
He turned to Tayla. "As for you, young lady, we need to check on the rest of the defrostees before changing into more formal attire."
"Huh?"
"We've been invited to join the governor and his second in command for dinner."
"Ooooh, I hope I have something to wear!"
CHAPTER FIVE
For the rest of the day and part of the night, the colonists, aided by Jenna and her mobiles, erected housing units inside the clearing per mapping provided by drones and approved by Alex. Each unit contained quarters for two colonists with power, running water, waste disposal, and InterWeb access, a process being repeated at the other four colony sites, each aided by their own version of Jenna. By the end of the day, the colonists were exhausted, but happy they could crawl into warm beds kept dry by roofs over their heads.
Since little was known about the dangers which may lurk in the forest surrounding their little village, Jenna used one of her mobiles to place a perimeter security system around the town. Made up of several hundred sensor-equipped posts, the PSS would warn the colonists of any incursion into their town. Jenna kept careful watch as her charges slept the sleep of the exhausted.
Jacob and Tayla walked up to the governor's residence and knocked on the door. He was wearing a brand spanking clean uniform while Tayla opted for a cocktail dress. "You know you rock that dress, Sister."
"Why thank you, kind sir. It's just something I had laying around."
"Right. How are you feeling?"
"Better. Six hours of construction work will do that to a girl."
"You know, you impressed at least a dozen colonists when you tossed those bags of concrete up to the second floor."
"I do what I can."
The door opened. Standing behind it was Bryntana in an equally beautiful cocktail dress. "Captain, Commander, please come in," she said as she stepped out of the way.
"Damn girl," Tayla said as she walked by the young elf.
"Right back at you," Bryntana replied.
"Captain Townsend, Commander Hardy, welcome to my humble abode," Alex said.
"Our humble abode," Bryntana reminded him.
"Are you two... You know..." Tayla asked.
"It's complicated," Bryntana said as she gave Alex an enigmatic look.
Alex smiled. "How are you faring, Commander?"
"I'm fine now, sir. Thank you for asking."
"Please, call me Alex," he said as he reached down and kissed her hand.
"And he means that," Bryntana said as she took his hand and gently slapped it.
"Drinks anyone?" Alex asked while heading to the bar with Bryntana in tow.
"That would be wonderful," Jacob replied.
"It’s like watching a pair of cats playing," Tayla whispered.
"That's what worries me," Jacob whispered back.
"Jacob, I have to complement you and your crew for the work you did today. Where did you learn to build a town?"
"Fourth rule of smuggling. Adapt to any situation. We've never built a town, but we can read instructions."
Alex stopped and looked at Jacob. "I knew someone who was fond of those smuggler rules."
"Prince Lucien when he went by Harmon Aymar, the smuggler elf. Our paths crossed a few times. He took a shine to me and my crew."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Yes. What about you? I heard a silly story that you and a couple dozen elves tried to blow up Earth."
"Those silly stories. I wonder how they start."
"Let's get something straight. My crew and I took some ill-advised jobs, jobs which got us here. I assume you and yours did the same. I say we forget about the past and concentrate on the present and future."
"Here, here!" Alex said. "A toast to the new future."
They raised their glasses, then drank. Once settled, the meal was served. After they ate, the four adjourned to the living area for drinks and conversation. As they settled in, Alex's comm beeped. The governor got up and walked out of the room to take the call, leaving Bryntana to her own devices.
"So, you two are brother and sister. How does that work?" she asked.
"My parent's freighter crashed on the Sokuhl home world," Jacob explained, "killing everyone on board except me. I was about twelve at the time. Tayla's family found me in the wreckage. They took a shine to me and adopted me."
"Damn, you know how to bullshit," Tayla said while cuffing him. "You left out the part where you jumped between me and an orsa serpent, saving my little scaled ass while almost getting killed in the process."
"An orsa serpent?" Bryntana asked, fascinated by the story.
"A reptaloid fifty feet long, five wide, with twenty clawed
legs and a maw big enough to eat a public conveyance," Tayla explained. "With only a knife, this fool pushed me out of the way as the serpent tried to swallow me whole, swallowing him instead. Before my parents could do anything, the creature upped and died as this scrawny human kid cut his way out."
"You are making too big a deal..."
"Silence! This is my story. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, he cut his way out, then stood there, covered in blood and gore with a knife in one hand and the creature's heart in the other. Father adopted him on the spot."
"Damn. What about your family, the ones who survived?" the elf asked.
"They all died in the wreck," Jacob explained. "I was totally alone, yet all I could think about was saving this gangling girl from the monstrosity attacking her."
"You know I could have taken it."
"Yeah, but your clothes looked new and I was bored..."
She cuffed him again. "You know, Nayla still chides me about not going to battle with that damn thing."
"Nayla?"
"My identical twin sister," Tayla explained.
"She's a Major in the Elf Marine Expeditionary Force under General Aymar," Jacob added.
"She was on Earth when you and your crew tried to destroy it," Tayla said while sipping her drink.
Bryntana choked. Tayla leaned over and patted the elf's back as she helped her catch her breath. "No harm, no foul since you failed."
Bryntana just looked wide-eyed at the two of them and smiled. She was saved further embarrassment by Alex's return.
"Jenna got the satellites up and working. Her first scan found a city about thirty miles from here."
“This planet is supposed to be uninhabited," Bryntana said.
"It was until the satellites made a second pass. This city appeared between scanning runs, a span of less than two hours."
###
The four of them were greeted with whistles as they entered the Valera's bridge. "Very funny, Raul," Tayla said as she returned to her first officer role. Bryntana remained silent.
"What do we have?" Jacob requested.
Felicity tapped a switch on her console. An aerial image of a forest appeared. Running down the center was a meandering river. "this was the first scan." She tapped the switch again and the image changed to that of a large, circular city with a river running down its center. "One hour, forty minutes, and thirty-eight seconds later. Jenna confirms the river is the same as are the tree patterns on either side of the river."