by Chogan Swan
ShwydH tapped the screen to move on. “Investments in oil ventures will be pulled back and moved into solar and technology that will lower the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. This will help cut their power base free of the ability to drive their own demand in the energy market and, we hope, create a cascade of damage to his allies...”
~~~{}~~~
An hour later, Tiana wrapped up the discussion following ShwydH’s presentation with a call for any objections to proceeding. With none forthcoming, she authorized the plan and told AMM to send the execute codes. The counterstrikes to the assassination attempts—so long in coming—were launched. Private war was underway.
Chapter 26 — Fight for the Future
Kest eased into the balcony seat next to Ayleana at the back of Charleston’s Dock Street Theater. Tiana had rented the entire balcony for SST friends and the families of friends for the premier of Ayleana’s music and media production. Fight for the Future was a project that had taken six months to bring together Ayleana’s score and story blocking from hundreds of her sketches and a team of CGI animation artists, Kest had contributed piano, keyboard and guitar tracks and lots of running around for wherever Ayleana needed him. All this had to fit in with their schedule of album releases, concert-touring, training—as designed by Tiana—and the occasional time with friends and finding something fun to do.
Since the assassination attempt on Kest, their concerts were invitation-only events video recorded and streamed live to pay-per-view and theater outlets throughout the world. Kest didn’t delude himself that the musical success didn’t come—in large part—from the money and management Tiana’s foundation brought to the table. On the other hand, he’d seen the books and knew the cash flow was on the heavy side of positive for the music they’d made, but the real gain—for everyone—was the people being reached and responding. That would never have happened without the music.
Kest turned at a movement on his right made. Amber had appeared in the aisle to stand looking at him. She wore a silky red dress, parts of which might actually have been body paint. His nose flared as he registered her perfume and absorbed the view.
“That’s the look I was waiting for,” she said with a smirk then sat in the aisle seat next to him, leaning down to straighten the slit that went up to...
O.M.G!
He took a calming breath. It was weird how a dress could make skin seem sexier. It wasn’t like she didn’t run around the house with nothing on most of the time when they were in Arizona,.
“Easy, tiger,” Ayleana said distractedly, patting him on the leg.
Kest cleared his throat. “Nice dress,” he managed to say without squeaking.
Kest's eyes scanned the theater, hoping their security was airtight this time. Ayleana would be focused on the film she’d worked on so hard. It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to pay attention to security, but Amber’s team wouldn't let anything past. He looked over his shoulder. Tiana might be still and calm, but she wouldn’t be missing anything either. Jonah saw him looking and smiled.
The beautiful historic theater in the French Quarter had been sold out mere hours after tickets went on sale two months ago. Kest's mouth twisted, given the price of the tickets here and the theater’s normal clientele, many of the people in the seats were among the super-rich elite. He wondered how they would react to the show. The lights in the theater flickered.
On the floor below, people hurried to their seats. Two minutes later, the house lights faded. The screen lit with a view of a field of stars above a field of blue-tinted grass with the viewpoint behind two figures, one a young quadruped that might remind humans of antelope. The other was a young humanoid with a long tail and dark, red-swirled skin.
Ayleana’s score rippled underneath the scene like wind on the grass as the two gazed at the sky. The humanoid turned to the quadruped, pointed to the sky and spoke. Kest understood the Nii language, but English captions appeared at the bottom of the screen.
My planet circles that star. We have to go back soon. Maybe you can visit me there.
The theme of the dymba pledge wove through the score now as the viewpoint moved past the creatures and into the sky. The viewpoint flew through space, sliding past nebulae and immense spheres of plasma churning with nuclear reactions that threw light and heat into space and at planets of all types. Some were ringed with sparkling particles of ice and frozen gasses, some cradled water and life.
The viewpoint accelerated until the stars blurred then slowed as it passed a yellow sun with several planets orbiting it.
A blue-green globe with scattered patches of light brown and white spun out from behind the yellow sun and the viewpoint veered to approach it. Wispy, ragged clouds gave way to oceans and landmasses below them. They hurtled to the surface and skimmed across the waves at a speed that would have crushed humans had any been physically present. The sea grew dim as the viewpoint rushed to the dark side of the planet, making landfall on a desert coastland and slowing as it approached a young boy dressed in the simple robes of an ancient middle-eastern style. He stood on a hillside looking at the stars. The viewpoint panned around him to a close-up of his face and then his eyes and the stars reflected in them as he looked up.
The eyes changed as the viewpoint pulled back and showed the face of the black and red humanoid instead. Retreating further, it revealed her standing on a burning world. The music crashed in discords warning of danger. Mushroom clouds dotted the horizon, an arm swept her up and an adult of her kind carried her at reckless speed toward a starship poised to take off. The viewpoint zoomed to her eyes, motion stilled for a few brief moments as they reflected a billowing cloud of blastfront hurtling toward them, shut off at the last second when the ship hatchway slammed shut.
Dark, harsh chords framed a montage of war scenes, occupying armies enslaving sentient species of all kinds. Space stations exploding and victims fleeing from destruction and wreckage. Woven through the struggle were scenes of resistance. The young humanoid female reuniting with her equine friends in rescue missions or counterattacks, flying into space battles or aiding resistance fighters against the tyrant’s military.
The music dimmed as the point of view withdrew from a space battle until only stars were visible. Stars that became the sky over the young boy’s head. As the boy stood looking up, the stars dimmed as the sky brightened. The boy turned on his heel and walked toward the rising sun.
The harsh chords returned, now framing a montage of scenes that were clearly terrestrial. Two thousand years of the history of earthly oppression and slavery: Roman crucifixions and the gladiator rebellion, the Spanish Inquisition and persecution of Jews, the pillaging of the South and North American continents, the African slave trade, industrial and mining labor abuses. Nazi concentration camps, the Soviet slaughter of millions, the Chinese... Power always in the hands of a few who abused it for their own gain.
The music softened as the scene became two starry skies. One side of the screen showed a young human couple the other the humanoid and her equine friend. The theme of the dymba pledge began playing and the dymba and the humanoid began to sing the words and music that had moved the galaxy.
Ayleana’s voice sang the part of the young nii; Tiana, the voice of the dymba. The translation scrolled at the bottom of the screen.
The night is dark, the way is long...
At the song finale, the dymba reared and the other three raised defiant fists as the war music rose again and an aggressive rendition of the pledge theme countered it, responding to each strident phrase with an affirmation of resistance and freedom. The song continued as credits rolled, beneath a banner with the words:
Rising to honor these heroes is appropriate
The credits were not to the teams contributing to the production, but to freedom fighters throughout Earth’s history. Harriet Tubman, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. more...
Kest and everyone in the same balcony section rose, as did about half the remainder of the audience after t
hey’d recovered from the impact of the video. When the credits ended ten minutes later, the entire video had only taken forty-three minutes.
The words, ‘Please be seated for Part II’ came on the screen.
Without a pause, Noam Chomsky’s bespectacled face came on the screen as Requiem for the American Dream began playing.
Kest smiled and sat. Though he knew the follow-up movie’s every word, he was going to enjoy watching it in the company of the super-rich. On top of that, a beautiful female sat on either side of him.
Chapter 27 — Happy Birthday
The armored SUV pulled in through the gate of the backyard security fence of Tiana’s Charleston mansion. Through the open window, Kest breathed deep of the salty night air blowing across Battery Park from the ocean. Kest was still pumped from the show at the Dockside Theater and the reception afterward, but he’d started to relax. He’d loved meeting people who engaged with the message—Ayleana had a signal to tell him if someone was sincere or not.
Daniels put the gear in park and shut down the motor.
“Don’t get out yet, please,” Tiana said from where she sat in the third row seat with Jonah and Jacksie, Jonah’s lead bodyguard. “I want to have a quick conference with everyone, and then I need to talk to Aylie.”
Kest let go of the door handle and sat back next to Ayleana, looking over at her and Amber to see if they’d been expecting this.
Tiana nodded to Kest. “Jonah and I will fly out tonight. We need to get back to our current project sooner than we’d thought.” She smiled at Kest and Ayleana. “Congratulations, you two, the show was a great success. Meeshala reports that it has lots of people talking. It’s already gone viral on the internet. At last count, fifty million viewings were tallied in the U.S. Your following has ballooned.”
Tiana looked past Kest’s shoulder “Austin, you and Jacksie will come with us. Daniels will take us to the airstrip and come back here to second Amber.”
She turned back to Kest and Ayleana. “The reason I wanted to be in that particular audience tonight was to see how the enemy would receive it. On that front, I can tell you that most were very unhappy. What their next response will be is my major focus. Jonah and I will be in touch tomorrow after we’ve reviewed the current situation. We’ll have a conference-call late morning or early afternoon your time. Kest, it was good to get the chance to see you again, and I’ll look forward to the next.”
“Same here, Kest.” Jonah said. “Goodnight Amber.”
Amber glanced at Kest as she reached for the door handle. “Race you to the cookies and ice cream,” she said, opening her door.
Ayleana squeezed Kest’s leg where her hand had been resting as they rode. “See you in a while.”
Kest pulled himself out of the SUV and followed Amber down the walk and up the stairs to the screened porch and back door of the mansion. He caught up to her as she unlocked the door.
“Everything going ok, Minerva?” Amber said as she opened the door then locked it behind Kest.
“All systems nominal,” said the AI in the Majel Barrett voice it normally used in Charleston.
“Alex,” Kest said. “You know this already, but we were a big hit tonight.”
“I know,” Alex replied. “Congratulations.”
Amber waved her hand. “Focus Kest. Ice cream. Cookies, My room. Time to talk.”
“Got it,” Kest said. “I’ll get the bowls and spoons.”
“Just get the spoons. We can eat out of the cartons. You want the Cherry Garcia, right? I’ve got the Joe-Joe’s and the Chunky-Monkey.”
“Hot coffee is brewed,” Alex said.
“How did you know?” Kest said.
“Probability algorithms,” Alex replied. “Utility for hot coffee tonight or ice coffee tomorrow was indicated. It was a safe bet.”
“Nice.” Kest noted—not for the first time—that Alex tended to talk to him with minimal personality overlay. He’d decided to accept that as a compliment.
Kest pulled the spoons out of the drawer and turned just in time to catch the pint of Cherry Garcia as it sailed across the kitchen.
Amber kicked her shoes off and bent over to pick them up. “Bring a cup for me, please,” she said before pulling her dress up and running for the stairs. Kest followed. By the time he got to Amber’s room, she was already in sweat pants and pulling on a t-shirt. Her dress hung on the hooks on her closet door. She jumped on the bed—where she’d already tossed the ice cream—to sit cross-legged. She reached out for her coffee, and Kest handed her a cup on a saucer.
Kest put his cup on the bedside table, picked up his ice cream and sat. “So what are we talking about?”
Amber held a finger up, wait a minute style, and took a bite of her ice cream. “MMMM!”
She looked at her watch. “Hang on a second,” she said and took another bite of ice cream, following it with a cookie. “Minerva, what is the datetime?” she said.
“The datetime is twelve a.m. and ten seconds, June the tenth of the year two thousand twenty-two,” the AI’s voice responded.
“Happy Birthday, Kest,” Amber said.
Kest grinned. “All that, just so you could say it before anyone else?”
“No, because you are eighteen now. The world considers you an adult. Though I'd already come to that conclusion, I decided it would be best to bow to convention before having this discussion.”
She licked ice cream from her fingers where the carton had brushed against them. “But I'll wait until you lose that deer-in-the-headlights expression.”
Kest shook himself mentally. “Ok, Let’s talk,” he said.
“Minerva,” Amber said. “Security protocol, block access to all video and audio in this room except for tier one authorized personnel.”
Kest had to shake himself once more, pretty sure the headlights were gleaming in his eyes again.
Amber continued. “Right. You know my birthday is in ten days.”
“It’s on my calendar.”
She snorted. “Like you wouldn’t remember to just add ten to yours.” She took another bite of ice cream. “What’s your life expectancy, Kest? Not including accidents or murder risks.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Me neither. How old do I seem by current society’s measuring stick?”
“Twenty-four, maybe.”
“Have you ever heard of the one-half plus seven equals not creepy rule?”
“No.”
Where is this going?
Amber grinned. “Here it is then. Starting at my apparent age of twenty-four, half of that is twelve. Add seven to get nineteen, and you would still, appear too young to be in a relationship with me without society considering it creepy.”
“Is this a hypothetical discussion?”
“Did I not use the conditional?”
“Yeah...?”
“Then it’s still hypothetical.”
“Okay.” Kest took a sip of coffee for something to do. He was wide awake now.
“Before I continue, I want to tell you that Ayleana knows I am talking to you about this.”
Kest nodded and took a slow bite of ice cream.
You can’t let Cherry Garcia go to waste...
Amber’s mouth twitched up on one side, almost like she could hear his thought. She took a bite as well. “In seven years, nothing will have changed. You will still appear eighteen, and I will seem twenty-four.
With our aging rates, I estimate it would take twenty-two years for us to appear as an acceptable couple by society’s rules. If we go by actual age, since I’m now one hundred, it would take seventy-eight years before we met that rule. The point is,” she waved her hand. “There aren’t any other human women you won’t outlive except me. Oh, and my daughters.”
Kest couldn’t help it. It popped into his head and he had to say it... “I sort of had my eye on Ambrosia...”
He caught the cookie before it hit him between the eyes and grinned.
Kest nodded. “I think all females are eminently pragmatic. Don’t you?”
“Busted,” Amber agreed. “Okay, I’m just going to lay it out for you.” She sighed in surrender. “I’ve lived long enough to have acquired immunity to the ‘love bug’, thank God. But I still have the need to have relationships with people I care about and trust. I also need intimacy in my life... various kinds of it .”
She gave him a slow double wink then grinned. “In the past five years, I’ve finally found a few people I may not outlive if they don’t get killed. Some are human and some aren’t. I would like to have them around not only for my sake, but for my children. I’ve only been attracted to two of them. One is off the market, and the other one is you.”
Amber took another bite of ice cream and closed her eyes, savoring it. “I’m not saying you need to rush into any decision. Barring mayhem, we should both be around awhile, and I’m committed to keeping you alive, even if you decide to pursue someone closer to your own age... like Ambrosia.”
Kest grinned again. “What would that be like? I’d always be outnumbered with all her siblings taking her side....”
“Why, Kest,” said Amber in a perfect Blanche DuBois voice. “How eminently pragmatic.”
“I plead self-defense,” Kest said, sipping coffee through his Cherry Garcia.
“Have you ever made a snap decision? Ever?”
Kest bit his lip. “Let me think about that...”
Amber laughed. “You made me almost snort Chunky Monkey through my nose.”
Chapter 28 — Threefold Cord
Kest tried to wrap his head around Amber’s proposal as they worked their way to the bottom of the ice cream cartons. Her comments about immunity to ‘the love bug’ made him curious.
Doesn’t everyone want to experience love?
When Ayleana appeared in the doorway, he was thinking about re-opening the topic