Sarin's War

by L. Fergus

  A door opened in the wall, and Sven entered. He looked around at the small room. “Where are we, moonbeam?”

  “UEE Roost,” Sarin said quietly. “This is where Kita, Nell, and I used to hang out.”

  Sven motioned to the walls full of items. “What’s all this?”

  “Just stuff. It won’t mean anything to you.”

  “It means something to you.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m here. I miss my friends and partner.”

  “You want to tell me about some of these?”

  “No,” Sarin said flatly. “You wouldn’t like the stories behind them.”

  “More evil handiwork?” said Sven with a disappointed look.

  The room’s door opened drawing their attention. Sarin’s jaw dropped when Kita walked through the door. “Don’t be so glum, love. We had a lot of fun collecting those.”

  “Athena, is this a joke?” Sarin snarled.

  “It’s coming from me, but I have no control over her. She seems to be a hidden AI routine in my primary kernel. I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “It’s not your fault, Athena,” said Kita. “I had to hide in case you were captured.” She looked at Sven. “Greetings, Mister Gjord. It’s good to finally meet you. I’m glad to see Jane has returned to you. Your generosity and planning have meant much to us both. It’s because of you she made it back alive. I’m sorry I couldn’t ask for your permission to partner with her, and you missed our tiny ceremony. I can tell you I would be lost without her.” She walked past Sven to Sarin and put her arms around her possessively, kissing her cheek.

  Sarin jumped away, her pulse racing. “What are you?”

  “It’s me, well, a hologram of me.”

  “A hologram doesn’t have warm, soft lips or a perfectly gentle touch.”

  Kita cleared her throat. “I was hoping it would be a warm surprise. I rewrote the simulator’s operating and hardware code to be able to model me as close to the real me as possible. I didn’t want you to get lonely or sad since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I thought this was better than any static or regular interactive hologram. It was the only thing I could think of. I was fairly certain you’d put in a new simulator at some point.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want them to find out. I only have a fraction of my memory, stuff Galina knows, and ancient history.”

  “It’s so lifelike,” Sarin whispered, touching Kita’s face.

  Kita took her hand and kissed Sarin’s palm.

  Sarin threw her arms around Kita and held her tight. Tiny tears fell down her face. “I’ve missed you so much. Please, tell me it won’t be another ten thousand years like last time.”

  “I honestly don’t know,” said Kita. “I know nothing about what’s going to happen to me.”

  “I can find out.”

  “Don’t go digging and expose yourself. You came back to Neptune to be kept safe.”

  “And leave you out in who knows where?”

  “You have your agenda here.”

  “I know, but…”

  “It’ll be ok, pretty blackbird.” Kita hugged Sarin tightly for a long time.

  Sarin sighed and giggled. “You even have that weird heartbeat boron construction gives us.”

  Kita chuckled. “Yes, contrary to popular belief I do indeed have a heart.”

  “And it’s mine,” Sarin said firmly. “Both this one, and the real one.”

  Kita smiled. “I will never contest that.”

  Sarin kissed her warmly, then passionately.

  “Damn, you even got the taste right too,” Sarin said softly, her head spinning a bit.

  Kita looked at Sven. “Sorry, Mister Gjord. It’s been a while.”

  Sven nodded slightly embarrassed.

  “I would also like to say that I will make this code available to you, and some other goodies stored in Athena. They should easily raise your yearly profits by at least one percent for the next ten years.”

  “Nothing can create that staggering growth for a company the size of mine.”

  “I had our daughter Lina run the numbers. She assured me they would. You should see what you’re getting before passing judgment.”

  “One percent is fifty-seven followed by a lot of zeroes.”

  Kita grinned. “Then I might have sent too much. I understand you have reservations about our intentions, methods, and morals. It’s true I carry a heavy reputation. I’m sure Galina and her people painted me in the worst possible light—a tyrant, dictator, murderer, a monster, and not a nice person all around. I’m sure they also told you they fixed Jane. I think you figured out that’s not true.”

  “The Political Bureau has graciously given me Jane’s history and a report on you.”

  “So was I close?” asked Kita. Sven remained silent. “That Political Bureau list is mostly accurate. Morals are such a silly thing. It’s all a matter of perspective. I do what I think is right for me, Jane, our family, friends, and my people. I’m not tyrannical, but I’ll accept dictator. Like all wise leaders—I stay informed, make big-picture decisions, and find the right people to put in the right places to carry out those decisions.

  “Speaking of which, did you know two of your granddaughters are exceptional leaders? Quill ruled the Empire of Hades with Athena in my stead. I mentioned Lina. She was the CEO of my company, KitaCorp. She started when she was fourteen, and the company grew at a steady eight to ten percent. I think when it was over, I was worth approximately five hundred trillion dollars,” the number caused Sven’s eyebrow to twitch, “including assets and liquid assets on hand, mostly gold, gems, other precious metals, and industrial compounds. All of which I assume Galina helped herself to. I doubt they killed my little lightning bug quickly.” Kita frowned, looking upset. Sarin gave her a supportive hug. “I’m going to miss her.”

  A hologram of Lina, the Angel known as Surge, appeared. The young woman smiled happily as electrical arcs jumped around her hair. Even though her black dress, stockings, boots, and jewelry looked cheap and ratty, they were of the highest quality.

  “Did you say lightning?” said Sven.

  “Yes,” said Kita.

  “Lina could generate massive electrical currents and store them like a battery using electromagnetic waves,” said Sarin. “She can unleash the electricity in a lightning storm, a bolt, or with her hammer. She often said to save the company money, she’d plug herself straight into KitaCorp’s Headquarters building’s main power system.”

  “She might still be alive,” said Sven.

  Sarin gasped. “What?”

  Kita’s hologram froze.

  “One of my corporate spies inside the Political Bureau sent me a note about a new alien power source the Bureau just found. She said it could do what you described.”

  “Oh god, I’ve got to get her out of there,” Sarin lamented. “Kita?” She snapped her fingers in front of the hologram and then sighed. “She must have programmed herself in a hurry. She doesn’t usually make these kinds of mistakes.”

  “I have access to her code and can fix it,” said Athena.

  “Is she on the station? And how did you get spies into the Bureau?” Sarin asked Sven.

  “The power source is on Earth, and the same way they get them everywhere—slowly and carefully. Though I’m usually checking to make sure they’re not stealing our tech, or seeing what they’re working on.”

  “Do you know where on Earth?”

  “The main headquarters in Moscow. You can’t go there. They’ll kill you before you even get inside.”

  “I am not going to let one of my girls be tortured and experimented on if I can stop it. And they can’t kill me.”

  “But Galina might still be working with Ht’aed, and he can trap you, if not delete you,” said Athena.

  “He wouldn’t dare touch me. He may be more prolific than me, but I’m right behind him.” Pride and death often go hand-in-hand.

  “And where would we go if we f
reed her? We don’t have a safe place to retreat to.”

  “I have to do something,” Sarin snarled. She didn’t like feeling helpless.

  “Brute force might not be the answer, moonbeam,” said Sven. “Do you have any idea how she generates her charge?”

  Sarin shook her head.

  “I do not have the exact biological models Kita used to construct Lina’s bionanites, but I do have her DNA,” said Athena. “In later Angels, Kita used a combination of DNA and bionanites to create the Angels’ abilities. It is unlikely they will sequence her DNA anytime soon. It’s magnitudes more complex than human DNA. It’s more likely they will try and understand the bionanites.”

  “What is a bionanite?” said Sven.

  “It is like a nanite, but of biological construction. Unlike a nanite, which must operate around cells, bionanites are often part of a cell’s organelles. This allows a cell to possess abilities along with its normal functions. It will most likely take the Political Bureau’s scientists a long time to discover them. Other bionanites work like regular nanites, except the body can generate them in the appendix, an area previously unknown to have any function.”

  “What kind of documentation do you have on bionanites?”

  “Not much. Kita was very secretive about how she generated the Angels’ powers. We do, however, have a live specimen who, I’m sure, will willingly donate some.” Athena looked at Sarin.

  Neptune’s rings, no. I won’t. Sarin raised her hand. “I’m not giving up anything until he promises to treat Kita and me beyond some childlike terrors and accept who we are. I’m not going to give up my love’s life work to get us kicked out on the street. I’m tired of being threatened because he doesn’t want to accept and understand.”

  “You killed your mother,” said Sven, his eyes narrowing.

  Sarin crossed her arms defensively and felt her anger surge. “Yes, because she endangered everyone I care about. I did give her an option, even though I knew which one she’d take. I admit, I enjoyed doing it, but I’m sad I had to. I’ve seen beautiful wildflowers ground up by tank treads and smashed by boots, but the soldiers and tanks have to get where they’re going. More often than not, when you return later, the flowers are back, and any trace of the war machine is gone.”

  “Are you saying you can bring your mom back?”

  Sarin shook her head. “I mean I hope you find someone new who makes you happy after I’m gone.”

  “You’re going to leave?” Sven said his mouth hanging open in surprise.

  “Yes, Daddy, I am. Kita, Lina, Athena, and I will leave when we’re finished. You’ve made every indication you don’t want us here, and that’s fine.”

  “That’s not true and where would you go?”

  “It’s a damn big equation out there, Daddy, if you haven’t looked out the window recently,” Sarin snarled. “Where we go isn’t your concern.”

  “Jane, you just got here and aren’t going anywhere. Be realistic—Kita isn’t coming.”

  “Kita is coming!” Sarin yelled. She ground her teeth angrily as she stifled a scream. “Come on, Athena. Shut it all down. We’re leaving.”

  She held up the metal ball Athena traveled in.

  “Where are you going? You can’t leave,” said Sven.

  “Movement complete, Mom,” said Athena.

  “Triton,” Sarin said acidly.

  “Triton? There’s nothing there.”

  “I know.”

  “You’ll freeze to death.”

  Sarin collapsed into a point of light. “No, just my tears.”

  “Moonbeam, don’t go. Maybe it’s time to talk to someone.”

  “Daddy, you’ve learned nothing about me and only cemented what you want to see. If there’s one thing I have learned in ten thousand years, it’s to accept people as they are. It was a rule among the Angels. I forget the wider world is a much crueler place.” Sarin vanished.

  Sven sat at his desk reading the quarterly earnings of several of his less profitable divisions. A chirp from his Arcom took his attention. “Yes, Kristi?”

  “There’s a General Lyakhova here to see you.”

  Sven closed his statements. “Of course, send her in.”

  He stood to greet Galina. Kristi held the door open for the General. Synthetic skin covered half her face. Usually used temporarily for burn victims or the like, hers looked permanently grafted in place. He found it odd that anyone would choose to do so, unless the injury was so catastrophic there were no options for repair. Cases like that were rare. It was too bad. She’d had a striking beauty about her, but then, the synthetic skin had a certain beauty too. Its soft white coloring and the perfect features without any definition gave her a beauty often associated with androids. The synthetic side balanced well with the organic. He smiled, hiding his surprise and curiosity.

  “General, how good to meet you in person,” Sven said cheerfully.

  “Thank you, Mister Gjord.”

  Even the best engineers couldn’t replicate the human voice from a synthetic source. You just couldn’t replicate a sound wave accurately enough to fool the human ear. The General’s was excellent, if not half an octave too high for Sven’s liking. She might prefer it that way. They had succeeded in keeping her harsh Russian accent.

  He gestured to the bar. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Sven rolled one of the plush chairs from a small conference desk over for her. “Please, be seated.”

  “Thank you,” she said, taking a seat.

  Sven sat behind his desk. “So, what brings you here, General?”

  “The Bureau would like to offer its condolences for the passing of your wife.”

  “Well, thank you. It was a tragic event.”

  Galina nodded. “How is your daughter, Mister Gjord?”

  On a side screen on Sven’s desk, an old-fashioned command terminal opened. The cursor blinked then a message appeared, “Don’t lie to her. She can sense if you do. Kita.”

  Sven sighed, pretending it related to the question. He’d heard rumors from spies and colleagues that Galina had an incredible intuition for detecting lies. He would heed the AI’s advice, and worry about how she had gotten into his private network later.

  “She is not well, as you can imagine. She’s having trouble adjusting to life here. I’m adjusting as well. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a child in the house.”

  “I have been told she doesn’t go out much.”

  “No, she doesn’t. She’s a different person from the girl that left. She even gave away most of her wardrobe.”

  “That is surprising. I do hope you are making the villa comfortable for her.”

  Another line appeared in the terminal, “She’s watching you.”

  Sven glanced quickly at the text, then back to Galina, “I’m trying. We’ve put in a new entertainment system and simulator. I’ve decided if I can’t get Jane out of the house, she can at least leave virtually. I’m hoping it will be a bridge for her.”

  “I hope she adapts quickly, Mister Gjord. If you need help, my facilities are open to you.”

  “Thank you, General, but that won’t be necessary. I have a battery of experts who are working with her. They assure me things will improve.”

  “I understand you’ve increased your security systems.”

  Sven chuckled and smiled. “Yes, to keep the boys out.”

  “So you do approve of me,” appeared in the terminal, followed by a smiley face.

  Galina nodded.

  Sensing pleasantries were over, Sven moved to business. “What can I help you with, General? I know you’re a busy person and don’t have time for personal visits.”

  “The Political Bureau and the government find it is a priority to keep in personal contact with our major suppliers. We like to keep an open communications channel to identify problems, concerns, and new orders, of course,” Galina said in a well-practiced tone.

  Sven nodded at
the standard government line. “Of course and we do appreciate it. We do like to keep our major purchasers happy.”

  “I’m sure you do. Recently an interesting report crossed my desk.”

  “Oh?” Sven said, raising an eyebrow.

  “It described research into a new way of generating enormous power, in a tiny area. I’m afraid I am not a scientist or engineer, so please mind my simple-speak.”

  “I understand, General. I often have to stop my people and ask them to translate,” Sven said, smiling warmly. He tried to remember what division was working on such a project.

  “Don’t worry,” appeared on the screen. “I planted the files on Lina in a lab in Rio, they’re working on power generators.”

  “I haven’t heard of my Rio division making any breakthroughs,” said Sven. “It might be an undergraduate’s work, perhaps?”

  “The reason I am here, Mister Gjord, is to inform you that the Political Bureau has seized this facility and its staff. We consider this a matter of pivotal importance to the Empire. We will return it to you when we’re finished.”

  “To wring it dry, you mean?” Sven said tersely.

  “Consider it a favor, Mister Gjord. We have done you one.”

  A new line appeared on the terminal, “That didn’t take long…”

  “I do thank the Bureau and the Emperor for returning my daughter, but you do not need to take my property. You can just ask, and I assure you we can work out a deal.”

  “There are times for negotiating deals, and there are times when action needs to take place.”

  “If you mean first contact with these aliens out on the frontier, that doesn’t mean it gives the Empire the right to take what it wants.”

  Galina smiled slowly. “The Empire can take whatever it wants when it wants, Mister Gjord. I suggest you remember that.”

  The terminal cursor began to blink rapidly. “So, this is what it’s like to be on the receiving end.”

  “When is this seizure to take place?” said Sven, maintaining his composure.

  “It has already happened,” said Galina, her eyes twinkling.

  “I hope you plan on sending over some documentation and are willing to work on a schedule for return?”