Tabitha held up a finger without turning around or stopping. “Leave Gracie out of it.”
Lance looked at Bethany Anne, nonplussed.
Jean rolled her eyes. “It’s a big-ass rifle she took off a Shrillexian in a bar fight on Devon.”
Lance’s confusion deepened. “I thought it was called High Tortuga now?”
Bethany Anne shook her head. “No, that’s old Devon. Jean’s talking about New Devon, which we’re just calling Devon since that’s the whole point of taking the planet over.”
Lance rubbed his forehead. “I’m sure it will all make sense soon enough.”
Jean and Gabrielle excused themselves, leaving Bethany Anne and her father alone in the sitting room to talk. Lance raised his eyebrows.
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes. “The twins are great, Dad. You only spoke to them a couple of weeks ago.”
They chatted for a while, catching each other up on the little details of life that were best exchanged in person. Tabitha joined them a short time later, followed by Jean soon after that.
Bethany Anne stood as Gabrielle returned with her hair wrapped in a towel. “Please tell me you didn’t use the last towel?”
Gabrielle grinned and shook her head. “Plenty left for you.”
Lance was distracted by an insistent beeping from his wrist. He looked down and made a pained face. “Sorry, ladies. I have to get on a video conference.”
Bethany Anne craned to see what he was looking at. “Oh, yeah? Is it something to do with the problem you’ve been having?”
Lance pulled his sleeve over his wrist before Bethany Anne could see anything useful and leaned over to kiss her on the top of her head. “I’ll tell you after dinner tonight. And no, I don’t need you to butt in.” He ignored her pout. “Just don’t take too long getting there, Patricia has been clattering around for days making… You know, I’m not sure. She hasn’t stayed still long enough to tell me.”
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Immersive Recreation and Training Scenario, Dinosaur Island
The foliage thickened steadily as Gabriel and Alexis pushed farther into the jungle. More than once they debated turning around, but each time they chose to press on and see where the path led. After what felt like an age but was more like a couple of hours, the twins noticed that the path widened some ahead.
Alexis pointed out signs of nearby animal activity—roughed-up bark on a tree here, a stripped bush there. “I wonder if we need to eat while we’re in here?”
Gabriel stopped to consider. He eventually shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out if we get hungry, won’t we?”
Alexis nodded and continued walking.
Gabriel followed her, keeping watch all around them. He spotted movement through a break in the foliage to the side of the path. “Hey, Alexis, look!”
Alexis followed Gabriel’s finger to a small clearing where a herd of pint-sized dinosaurs was busily stripping the leaves from the lower branches of the trees. “Oh, they’re so sweet!”
Gabriel started to go closer to get a better look. The dinosaurs turned orange lizard eyes on Gabriel the moment his foot strayed from the path.
Alexis grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Stay on the path.”
Gabriel looked at the dinosaurs warily as they went back to cropping. “Yeah, you’ve got it.”
They continued down the path a while until they came to the crest of a gentle rise. The twins stopped to look out over the rolling expanse of the game biome.
The jungle stretched as far as they could see. It was broken only by the pale blue line of a large body of water in the far distance, and a looming mountain off to the west. The path split at the top of the hill, giving them a choice of directions.
Alexis shared a concerned glance with her brother. “I think it’s time to get some help.”
Gabriel nodded. “Phyrro?”
The voice came from all around them. “Access denied.”
The twins looked at each other.
That wasn’t Phyrro.
Alexis sighed. I know that.
“Why can’t we talk to Phyrro?” she demanded of the voice.
“The system you are requesting has been locked out due to an inability to connect on this technologically deficient world.”
Gabriel frowned. “Meaning?”
“Meaning Daddy is a complete pain in the ass.” She stamped her foot and stormed down the path leading to the mountain. “Come on, we’ll figure this out by ourselves.”
Chapter Thirteen
The black teardrop spun like a bullet through the void, a trail of twisted and pitted metals, ice, and rock tumbling in its silent wake.
The leading edge of the alien structure had been polished smooth by the constant barrage of minute particles traveling in the opposite direction at superspeed. The trailing end was made up of the smaller shards that continually came loose from the sides. Most were gathered by the slipstream and thrown into the vortex at the tail. From a distance, it could easily be mistaken for a massive comet.
Which was precisely the point.
A harder collision carved a slightly larger chunk from the rough teardrop and sent it spinning out into the vacuum. The alien structure slowed, shattering the illusion that it was a mere ice ball. A nest of long cables snaked out from the rear and pulled the dislodged chunk—a hollowed-out Leath battle cruiser—back to the main bulk.
An active Gate appeared a few hundred kilometers away. The cables retracted while the mass of wrecks adjusted its trajectory, picked up speed, and vanished through the Gate.
Yollin Sector, QBBS Meredith Reynolds
“Mommy, look at meeeee! Faster, Bethany Anne, faster!” Little Kevin squealed with delight as Bethany Anne stood beneath him with her hands raised to give him her own special version of an airplane. He was red-faced and grinning, his arms spread out as he made wide, seemingly unsupported laps of the room.
Bethany Anne glanced at Patricia, who nodded and held her thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart. She increased the speed of the Etheric energy loop she had created to fly her baby brother around a touch.
Kevin’s feet kicked with glee. “Wheeeeee!”
“Sure beats the usual way of doing it,” Patricia remarked to Gabrielle.
“This is nothing,” Gabrielle told her. “When Stephen and JM were nine, I found her doing this with them in one of the hangars.” She made a face at the memory. “She made full use of the space. I walked in to see my boys thirty feet up in the air.”
Bethany Anne snickered as she brought Kevin back down to the floor. “They loved it, Eric thought it was hilarious. You were the only one who had a problem, if I remember.”
Gabrielle narrowed her eyes.
Patricia paled. She held her arms out for Kevin, who was yawning after all the excitement. “Come on, sleepyhead. Time for your nap.”
Kevin looked at his mother as though she’d just stolen his world. “But, Moooom! Bethany Anne is here! And Aunt Tabbie promised me stories!”
Tabitha grinned at Patricia and shrugged. “I did promise the little tyke some stories.” She turned to Kevin, whose eyes were filling up. “I’ll take you to your room and tell you a story now, but you have to nap afterward, okay? You can show me all the cool stuff you have.”
The impending storm on Kevin’s face disappeared without a trace, and he let out another yawn. “Okay, then.”
Patricia gaped. “Tabitha, you live here now.” She held up a hand to answer Tabitha’s look. “No arguing. My boy has never agreed to take a nap in his life.” She knelt and kissed Kevin. “Love you, sweetie. Be good for Aunt Tabitha.”
Kevin smiled sweetly. “Yes, Mommy.” He fitted his hand into Tabitha’s and led her from the room, chattering the whole way.
Bethany Anne watched them go with a smile. She’d gone through a phase of wishing she had a little brother once upon a time. Someone to look out for and boss around had been her thinking back then.
Kevin may have come along too late f
or any of that, but it was so good to be home. To hold the boy in her arms and spend real time playing with him.
Patricia interrupted Bethany Anne’s thoughts. “Tabitha is amazing with Kevin.”
Bethany Anne nodded. “Kids have always loved her. She has a gift.” As many rough edges as Tabitha had, she couldn’t be faulted for the tenderness she showed toward the children. “She’s the same with Alexis and Gabriel. The twins worship the ground she walks on.”
Jean came in with a tray of snacks. “What are we talking about?”
Gabrielle leaned over and took a cookie when Jean put the tray on the table. “How great Tabitha is with little ones.”
Jean raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Yeah, but just watch her suitability as a role model plummet once they’re teenagers. That’s all I’m saying.”
Gabrielle snickered. “I wonder how Michael is getting on by himself with the terrible twosome?”
Bethany Anne shrugged and snagged a brownie. “Either he’s doing just fine, or they’re…”
Jean and Gabrielle were quick to jump in.
Gabrielle went first. “Mind-reading their father to wrap him around their fingers?”
Jean followed with, “Escaping into the Etheric?”
Gabrielle shrugged. “Making pets out of the local wildlife?”
Jean smirked. “Setting the base on fire?”
Patricia put a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, my! What active imaginations you have! I’m sure it won’t be all that bad.”
Bethany Anne fixed her stepmom with a serious look. “No, it could be even worse. All those things actually happened in the last six months.”
Jean snorted into her coffee. “And then some.”
“And there was me, complaining that Kevin fusses over his nap.” Patricia shook her head. “Although I will say, your brother has a stubborn streak a mile wide. I can’t think where he gets that from.”
Bethany Anne grinned. “Wait until he brings back something like a four-foot boa constrictor and tells you its name is Huggy.” She turned to Gabrielle. “It was Huggy, right?”
“Who cares?” Gabrielle shuddered. “That monster was not a snake. Snakes don’t make eye contact and salivate when you walk into the room.”
Patricia grimaced. “Sounds dreadful, sweetheart. Makes me glad that Lance and I didn’t pass that level of enhancement onto Kevin. While he is stronger and smart for his age, we’re not having any adventures like that with him.”
She crossed her fingers mentally that the situation remained the same. “So, how advanced are the twins now? Your father tells me that they’re developing abilities with the Etheric already. How are you both coping with that?”
“Mmmhmm.” Bethany Anne nodded and finished chewing the mouthful of brownie while she thought it over. “It’s a challenge, I’ll admit. Michael and I agree that they need to be trained to prevent another accidental crossing like they did on their birthday.”
“But they’re only three years old,” Patricia fretted. “Should they be training so young?”
“They’re nothing like three-year-olds.” Bethany Anne smirked. “Besides, we’re making it a game for them. Look, we’re not going to stay on High Tortuga forever, and there will always be assholes who would attack them to hurt me. We’re not your conventional family, so raising them the conventional way would be failing them as parents. This way they’re prepared for whatever comes.” She thought for a moment. “Well, as well as we can.”
Patricia still wasn’t convinced. “Yes, but they’re still toddlers, even if they don’t look or act like it. How are they handling this ‘training?’”
Bethany Anne raised her eyebrows a couple of times, a smile splitting her face. “Like a pair of badass Reynolds kids, of course. How else?”
High Tortuga, Space Fleet Base, Michael’s Office, Vid-Doc Room
Michael slapped the top of Eric’s arm and pointed at the screen. “Here comes some fun.” He tossed some popcorn into his mouth and offered the bowl to the others. The screen still showed Alexis and Gabriel, who were having an encounter with some small dinosaurs. Gabriel had spotted them through the foliage and moved to investigate.
Scott took the bowl. “What fun?”
“If they leave the path, they trigger a game event,” Michael revealed.
“What kind of event?” John asked.
Michael grinned. “Nothing too big at this early stage.” He looked a little disappointed when Alexis pulled Gabriel back. “Just a little taste of what’s to come that would have given them an advantage later in the game.” He shrugged. “No matter. If they miss the next one, I will send one of you in to assist.”
“What are they doing?” Eric pointed at the screen. Alexis and Gabriel had stopped at a fork in the path.
Michael turned the volume up, and they heard the children calling for their EI.
Phyrro’s voice came from the speaker. “The children are calling, and I cannot reach them.”
Michael held a finger up. “Alexis and Gabriel are learning self-sufficiency, Phyrro. They will not always have access to EIs and AIs to guide them through the decision-making process. See, they’re thinking about their options.”
The twins were stalled at the fork.
Darryl frowned. “Which path do they need to take?”
“They will take the route to the mountain,” Michael told him. “The game is designed to lead them to the next stage, and Alexis would never choose the sea.”
“What if Gabriel takes the lead?” Darryl asked.
Michael raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you even know my children?” As if to prove his point, Alexis took charge and demanded to know why they couldn’t speak to Phyrro.
“Daddy is a complete pain in the ass.” Alexis stormed down the path to the mountain as the guys cracked up at her outburst.
“I did not teach them that,” Michael told them as he pointed to the screen. “That was all Bethany Anne.”
“She sounded just like BA,” John managed through his tears of laughter.
“Come on, Gabriel!” Alexis pushed ahead to get to the top of the next rise.
Gabriel decided it was safer to remain a few paces behind his sister until her temper passed. “I don’t see why Dad thought it would be a fun game without Phyrro to help.”
Alexis snorted. “Who said it wasn’t fun?”
“This isn’t like any game I’ve played before.” Gabriel spread his hands out to indicate the surrounding jungle. “It’s got no purpose. What are we supposed to do, just walk through the jungle endlessly?”
Alexis stopped in her tracks. “You’re right, I think we missed something.” She clenched her fists and stamped her feet. “It’s too late to go back now.”
They climbed to the top of the rise and stopped to choose their route through the valley below.
“Look.” Gabriel pointed at a clearing at the bottom of the valley, where a mixed group of dinosaurs was drinking from a long pool. “They look like plant-eaters.”
“Herbivores,” Alexis supplied.
“Walking thesaurus,” Gabriel shot back. He began working his way down the scree-covered slope, using the trees to keep his speed down. “Come on, I want to get a closer look.”
Alexis gave him a doubtful look but followed just the same.
John turned his head to Michael. “Are they herbivores?”
Michael nodded. “Those ones are, yes.”
Darryl, Scott, and Eric exchanged glances.
John kept watching with his arms folded, assessing the whole time. “They’re gonna be in the shit if they keep that up,” he remarked.
The twins crashed through the foliage at the edge of the pool, startling the smaller dinosaurs into scampering away.
Gabriel dashed over to a long and moderately large dinosaur with a line of bony plates along its spine. “Alexis, it’s a dragon!”
Alexis remained by the tree line. “If it is a dragon, then where are its wings?”
“Oh, yeah.” G
abriel looked downcast for a moment but brightened when he put a hand on the dinosaur’s side and it didn’t immediately move away. “Shall we ride them? Maybe we shouldn’t. Mom wasn’t messing around when she told Dad we weren’t to go near any dinosaurs.”
“Well, technically they’re not real dinosaurs, so we wouldn’t be breaking Mom’s rules.” Alexis still hesitated. “I don’t know…”
Gabriel was already scrambling up the dinosaur’s side. Alexis sighed and threw up her hands. “I suppose we’ll get to the mountain a lot faster if we’re not walking. Now, how do you steer a dinosaur?”
“I don’t know, ask it?” Gabriel shinnied along the neck until he came eye to eye with the dinosaur, who had just noticed the tiny human for the first time.
Its eye flew wide in alarm, and it shook its head to remove Gabriel from its neck. Gabriel clung tightly and whooped. The other dinosaurs lifted their heads, spooked by the noise. They stopped drinking and began a stampede to get away from the pool.
Alexis danced and dodged around to avoid being crushed by the fleeing feet. “Gabriel, get down from there!”
Out of nowhere, Gabriel’s steed was tumbled to the ground by another dinosaur, a raptor-looking predator that was a little larger than the peaceful plant eater. Gabriel dived from its head and landed in a roll to avoid being crushed.
Alexis screamed when the raptor tore the throat out of the herbivore and splashed her with blood. She shook her hands rapidly to get it off. “Ugh, Gabriel! It’s slimy! And hot!”
Gabriel grabbed her hand and pulled her under a large bush. “Yeah, well, we’re going to be dead if we don’t get out of here. Look, there are more.”
Alexis followed his finger and saw the rest of the raptor pack coming at them. “Follow the herd, quick! Run!”
Compelling Evidence Page 11