by Frank Carey
Felicity pulled the video back so the view showed her and Raul. "The beautiful woman is Felicity and her friend is named Raul."
"An Earth human this far out? Impossible." Trent whispered.
"Excuse me? I didn't catch that."
"Nothing. We look forward to meeting you, Governor."
"As I do you. Good day, Fleet Commander."
He walked to the door, but stopped when he was out of vid pickup range. He mouthed to Felicity, "My office."
She nodded, then returned to deal with the Nordican commander.
###
Alex grimaced as he stared at the image of the Nordican fleet. Ten ships, even ones in as poor shape as these, could do damage to the colony, something he could not allow. "I actually care about my colonists. Damn!" he muttered. "There may be hope for us yet." His musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come!"
Felicity walked in, closing the door behind her. She sat down and waited.
"They're the Nordicans who visited Earth, at least Trent is. He matches the image we have on file from Area 51,"
"Long-lived little fella, isn't he," she noted. "And totally surprised when he saw Raul. I would have expected some reaction when he saw you and me, but there was nothing. Raul, on the other hand, shocked him."
"That's because they're grifters, always on the lookout for a new mark. I've met their kind--terminated a few, actually-and they only show surprise when they meet people they've already hurt. Trent never expected to see a human this far from Earth and he slipped, big time."
"He's also unfamiliar with elf and Katalan physiology. He didn't think we heard his exclamation."
"Did Raul?"
"Barely."
Alex nodded. "When they arrive, I want you and Vasily to join me when we meet our new friends."
"Why Vasily?"
Alex tapped his ear with his finger. "Vasily's Storen and he has acute hearing, not to mention he's a pick pocket."
"Yes, sir. Sir, one more thing. While all this was going on, one of Jenna's daemon's found a discrepancy in the head-count of the colonists."
"What kind of discrepancy?"
"We have two hundred one colonists, not two hundred." She handed him a folder with the number "201" stenciled across the front.
"As if we don't have enough problems..." He stopped muttering when he read the name of Colonist 201. "Has anyone else seen this? Has Bryntana seen this?"
"No, and no. Is there a problem, sir?"
"Not yet. Have 201 assigned to one of the fields farthest from the town. Under no circumstances is he to come in contact with Bryntana. Understand? No contact."
"Yes, sir. May I inquire as to why?"
"Bryntana, God love her, is a troubled soul who rarely took a lover. 201 was responsible for the death of one of them. She suspects this and that is enough for her to terminate his miserable life and cause this whole redemption thing to hit the fan."
"Understood."
"Any hits from the other probes?"
"No. If they're out there, they're using better stealth fields than what we can normally detect."
"Well, Keep at it."
"Yes, sir. I will keep you posted. Anything else I can do for you?"
"Not right now. You may go. And Felicity."
"Yes, sir?"
"I just wanted to thank you for all the work you're doing for me and the colony. It is greatly appreciated."
She gave a slight bow. "I live to serve, sir."
She walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Waiting for her was a familiar face.
"Got a minute?" Jenna asked, her mobile leaning against the far wall.
"Sure. Walk with me, girlfriend."
They made their way down the corridor. "Where are you heading?" Jenna asked.
"Communications. I have orders to relay. So, what's up?"
"You know I'm not really artificial, right?"
"Look, I know this AI thing grates on you, but we're working on..."
"There's another AI on this planet."
"What? That's wonderful... Isn't it?"
"Her name is Kylie and she's trouble."
"Where... The depot!"
She nodded. "Her name is Kylie, and she's Josh's aunt, you know, the person who adopted him."
"Wow. How is that possible? They didn't have synths or even passable robots back then."
"Yeah, long story. Suffice it to say, we're also not supposed to interfere with any corporeal lifeform's path. We are only supposed to give advice, you know, inspire."
"Katalan mythology has the nine poets; immortals who inspired the mortals so they could become something greater. A large percentage of our people think we owe our civilization to those ladies."
"Yeah, like that. We're not supposed to adopt and raise a corporeal.”
"Or save one's adopted son's life by rescuing him from a destroyed TP suit?"
Jenna hung her head. "A life I almost ended while trying to save the Valera, her crew, and her passengers."
"That's it, isn't it?"
"What's it?"
"You're afraid to face her after your actions nearly killed her kid."
Jenna stopped and leaned against a wall while focusing her attention on a spot on the floor. "Yeah. I don't know what to say to her."
"Here's a thought, why don't you walk up to her and say hello."
"I can't do that. It would be awkward."
"So? She's here, and she's Josh's mother. That ain't going to change. Josh adores you, and he adores her. You might as well kill the elephant while it's still small. Anyway, your mobile is on site, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is." She stared at the floor for a moment more. "Fine. Oh, I almost forgot," she said before launching into Josh's findings about the sabotaged self-destruct system and the volcanic caldera.
"Where's Josh now?"
"Still in the depot, probably tracking down more stuff. The guy is a machine."
"Okay, I need to get stuff done. Can you brief Alex for me?"
"Sure. My subset in the city can take care of talking to Kylie."
"Must be nice. Anything else bothering you?"
"Nope, and thanks for the help."
"Hey, we're shipmates; we're there for one another."
They hugged, then Felicity headed to Communications while Jenna headed to Alex's office.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Kylie was reading through the Elven Industries catalog when there was a knock at the computer center door. "Josh, is that you?"
"Is what me? I'm about ten minutes away from the vault," he replied over the comm.
"Sorry, someone is knocking at the center door and I thought it was you."
"Nope, I'm down the aisle with grenade launchers and bazookas."
"Sorry for bothering you."
"You never bother me."
"You are just so damn sweet. Kylie out." She manifested a hologram and walked over to the door before opening it. Outside stood Jenna in her combat mobile. "Hey, Jenna, I was wondering when you'd pay me a visit. Come on in."
"Hey, Kylie. I've been busy helping run a colony and all. Love what you did with the place."
"You likee? I'm still adjusting the qi. So, are you pissed at me?"
"I almost killed your son. You should be pissed at me."
"Come on in and have a seat. We definitely need to talk."
Jenna followed her in and took a seat next to the terminal while Kylie manifested her synth body and pulled up a chair.
"OK, you didn't almost anything to Josh. None of you--Tayla, the crew of the Valera--knew he was in BORIS until it was too late. Hell, no one knew BORIS was inside that temporal stasis chamber. You did what you had to do to save the ship. You should be damn proud."
"But Josh..."
"He's fine. Yes, a number of coincidences had to occur for him to survive, but occur they did."
"Bio-goop?"
"Yeah, I had one remaining tank with no consciousness to put inside. I don't think you comprehend
the happiness I felt when I found him in that unit. It was like the Creator had given me a second chance."
"He's a great guy. He didn't even blink when I told him he would die if he pulled that ring. He smiled, reached down, and pulled with all his might. I'll be honest; I wept when the drive separated."
"You were always a softy. Well, as you know, he's fine."
"Where is he, by the way?"
"I sent him over to a vault to retrieve some anti-personnel charges. We need to rig this place to drop into the caldera before any of the death gets out."
"What will you do when the depot is no more?"
"I was hoping to stay with the colony for a while. You know, get to know my son, maybe help you."
"That would be nice. I'd like that."
"So, what's the word on this Tayla woman? She from a good family?"
"The Hardy's run the Sokuhl home world and the Sokuhl helped co-found the League."
"OK, that works. Um, not to throw a wrench into things, but how does your boss feel about all this blowing shit up?"
"You know about... Right, you're in my system."
"It saves so much time. So, how does he feel?"
"He wants it destroyed, but done in a way that doesn't affect the planet's ecosystem."
"You're with him, aren't you?"
"A hologram of Alex appeared. "Hello, my name is Alex and you must be Joshua's adoptive aunt Kylie. A pleasure to meet you. That has to be the most realistic hologram I've ever seen. Even in projection, it looks like a real body."
Kylie gave Jenna an "Oops" look. "Yes, the previous inhabitants loved their media systems."
“Kylie, if I may be blunt. What the hell is going on?"
"Another feisty one. In a nutshell, we think we can drop this facility into a volcanic caldera using the explosives Josh is retrieving. The system was designed to do this without harming the city above."
"Assuming the designers had their shit together when they built the place. Why was it sabotaged?"
"Unknown. I wasn't here at the time, and I can't find anything in the records."
"Why are you here?"
"I needed a place to light to mourn the death of my son. This depot was as good as any."
"You know the facility better than any being in this universe. Does it need to be destroyed."
"Yes."
"Good. Jenna, I'm recalling the others to prepare for the arrival of the Nordicans. I'll send a vehicle back for you when you're finished."
"Copy that. We'll keep you posted. Jenna out. Well, that went well, considering."
"Have they gotten used to the 'In two places at once' schtick yet?"
"Nope, and it never gets old."
"Josh, this is Kylie, do you copy?"
"Yes, Auntie, I copy. Everything OK?"
"Peachy. Listen, I've had a nice talk with Jenna and Alex and everything is good. She's with me while the rest of your team is headed back to town to help prep for the arrival of the Nordicans."
"Josh, this is Jenna. Alex wants to keep your existence secret from our new friends for now."
"Good idea. I'm glad you two have hammered things out. I'll call you when I'm heading back."
"I love that kid," Kylie said. "We'll keep you posted. Kylie out."
"Hey, he knows I was just kidding. Now, let's get to work."
###
Tayla found Jacob and Bryntana admiring the view from a second story balcony. Finding the stairs, she walked up to join them. "Hey, you two, find anything interesting?"
"Hey, Tayla. Actually, we have," Jacob said as he pointed outward. "Using satellites and the bugbots, we were able to map out the extent of the depot in relation to the city. About one quarter of the city is devoted to industrial concerns in a roughly elliptical-shaped area. This shape maps out the perimeter of the caldera underneath. Between the caldera and the industrial section above is the depot."
"Let me guess, the industrial section is robotic?"
"Yep. This building is located just outside the industrial sector which is why it has a balcony. We have found only doorless buildings within the perimeter. We've also found a maze of tunnels underneath the buildings, presumably used by robotic delivery systems.”
"It's as if they were trying to minimize casualties in the event of a scuttling," Tayla noted.
"Scuttling?" Bryn asked.
"Old seafaring term for deliberately sinking a ship," Jacob explained. “It's pretty much meaningless on a spacecraft since all you would do is let the air out. On an ocean, you could sink the ship in deep water, rendering it inaccessible."
"You are a fountain of knowledge," Bryntana said as she wrapped her tail around his waist.
"I'm the captain; I have to be." His comm went off. He tapped his ear-piece. "Go for Jacob... Right... Got it... Out." He tapped the earpiece again. "Charlie, we're being recalled back to town. What? Are you sure? OK, get back here ASAP. Jacob out."
"What's up?" Tayla asked.
"Alex wants us back pronto. We're to leave Jenna and Josh here to finish up the rearming of the self-destructs." He saw the look on Tayla's face. "He'll be fine. He's got two AIs watching his back."
"If you say so. Does he know the plan?"
"Yes, he's been briefed."
"OK then."
"What about Charlie and Quint?" Bryntana asked. "Did they find something?"
"Old tracks, as if someone was running around the industrial sector. We've picked up nothing on sat imagery or on probe scans, so whatever left them must be long gone. Charlie's going to leave a couple sentry sticks at the entrance just in case, and we'll leave Jenna a message when we get back to the truck. I think we can assume Charlie and Quint were seeing something from the past.
"I hope so," Tayla said with a tinge of worry in her voice.
###
"Jenna, you scamp!" Josh whispered as he flipped on the vault lights. He stopped and stared. In front of him was a space about as big as a large department store, filled with industrial racks. On the ceiling were signs designating a grid system using different symbols, symbols which he could read. "You think of everything, Auntie."
He walked over to a terminal and brought up a catalog of the vault contents. "Let's see... Here they are." He looked up, then headed to the back of the room.
His first stop was a temporal stasis storage pen containing small, tracked vehicles with two seats and flat beds designed to move merchandise around the facility. After checking them out, he grabbed one and continued on to where the charges were located, but stopped when he saw a sign below a wooden box. "Oh, now that's what I'm talking about." He grabbed it and threw it on the back of the vehicle before continuing on. After a few more stops, he found the charges and the detonator and loaded them securely on the bed before heading back out into the depot. Once outside, he called his aunt. "Auntie, it's Josh. Do you copy?"
"Go for Kylie."
"Auntie, I got the charges and a vehicle. I'm heading to the first inspection room. I see you programmed the locations of the other rooms. I'll give you an estimated finish time when I'm through with the first room."
"Copy that."
"Are you two keeping out of trouble?" he asked.
"Hell no. This catalog is incredible. I found the printer Computer used to create the BORIS unit. The damn things big enough to print a tank!"
"I'm glad you're having fun. I should be finished soon. Josh out. The last few days have been so weird," he said as he drove up next to the access hatch. One of the items he took from the vault was a hatch opener. According to the instructions, it can be used to open any hatch in the complex, so Josh took it from its case and placed it on the hatch. It beeped and the adamantine rectangle lifted from its frame and slid aside, revealing the stairwell. "Nice. The Jarrion thought of everything." Grabbing a charge, he headed down the stairwell, whistling a jaunty tune as he got to work.
###
"Welcome to your new home, Mr. Gray," the guard said as he pushed Joshua into the six foot by nine foot co
ncrete cell. "The schedule is on the wall. Have a great day." He slammed the cell door shut, leaving Josh to his thoughts.
He sat down and stared at the wall. "Nice job, Moron. Now you've done it. The parents have dumped you and your new home makes a cracker box look like the Waldorf. Yep, great job there, Tex." He hung his head in defeat. "At least the hamsters have shut down for the moment."
"Ah, but they will be back," a voice said from out in the hall. "Hamsters are like that. They may rest, but they never leave."
Josh looked up and saw the door open, with no guard in sight. Instead, a beautiful woman, about his mom's age with flaming red hair, stood there watching him. He felt strange. "Who the hell are you... Aunt Kylie?"
"Joshie!" she yelled as she ran in and engulfed him in a hug. Kylie was small, like his mother, but she had a gorilla grip. Josh was positive she could snap his spine if she wasn't careful.
"Auntie, I've screwed up big time. Mom and Dad have disowned me, and I'm in here for the next six years. I..."
"Shhhhh. Slow down there, Kiddo. Now, what did you do to earn a stay in Hotel Juvie?"
"I hacked into a Defense Department server and left some digital graffiti."
"Is that all?"
He shook his head, then detailed what he had been doing for the last few weeks. She gaped at him.
"You can do that?"
"He nodded. It keeps the hamsters at bay."
"Ah, sacrifices to the hamster gods. Tell me, would they be satisfied if you did something society would find useful?"
"Yeah, I think so. I've never tried."
"Well, then, I think I have a solution. How scared of this place are you?"
He looked at her and she saw the fear in his eyes. It blew right past his surliness, and his teenage bravado. He was totally alone and he knew it.
"I have a friend of mine who I would like you to meet. He's a teacher..."
The surliness asserted itself, manifesting as an eye roll.
"Of course, there is Bubba down the hall who is looking for a new friend."
Auntie one; surliness zero.
"Like I was saying, my friend is a teacher and I think you should meet him. His name is Sensei."
"Is he going to teach me Zen?"
"No, he's going to kick your ass every which way to December, then he'll teach you what you need to know to decide your path in this world."