Marta

by Frank Carey

  "My Prince," Gloria said as she ran around and hugged her brother-in-law. This was followed by a big hug for me. Damn, she was strong. Female elves are famously strong, but Gloria took it a step further. She works out; I just know it.

  "Lucien, Marta," John, Gloria's human husband said as he took his turn shaking Harm's hand and giving me a hug. Dr. John Taggart, one of the premier biocyberneticists in the League. He was also a vice president of Elven Industries Limited.

  "Wait, you know one another?" Naala asked.

  "Yep," Harm said as he introduced the two of them to Naala. "This is my sister-in-law, Dr. Gloria Aymar-Taggart, and her husband, Dr. John Taggart. Together, they are owners and founders of Elven Industries Limited. Gloria is the creator of the Minotaur and Mauler suits while John is the designer of several hundred smaller bots and suits including snake, rat, cat, dog, and dozens used at Cosplay conventions League wide. This is Naala Finn, Team Luciana's agent."

  Naala looked like she was shaking hands with a pair of deities. We stood there and talked while members of the crowd stared in wonder.

  Harm stopped talking to examine a piece of equipment about the size of a cigar box. On the front was a large, high-density, fiber optic connector while on the back were a dozen smaller FO connectors. Two mounting rails adorned the sides. "What's that?" I asked.

  "A mark one mega-router. It’s used to route signals between the suit and the control platform via the two control consoles. This is what allows the console to fit into a laptop-sized computer."

  I wondered how all the equipment Christa and Bobby were using was so small.

  "Yes, all the teams use mark ones due to their stability, John said. I assume you're using a mark four or better on the Algonquin..."

  Harm continued to stare at the unit as he turned it over in his hands. "This is a prop, right?" he asked.

  "No, it's real," a bewildered John said as Harm opened the back to reveal an empty interior. "Shit!"

  "Naala, have the other reps check their units. I need to make a call," Harm said.

  I knew he was calling Bobby and Christa.

  ###

  "Everyone, please take your seats," Lady Sienna said from her seat at the head of the conference room table. "Let us begin. Linka, if you would give us your report?"

  I looked around the room and saw a lot of angry faces. Sitting on either side of me were the kids and Naala with members of the other teams ringing the table. It was a big table.

  Where the hell is Harmon? He said he was taking care of an errand and would join us shortly.

  "Yes, milady. Simply put, there isn't a mark one mega-router to be found anywhere in the station. All the team units, including spares, have been replaced by empty shells."

  "How the hell could this happen?" Frasier asked, his face flush as he slammed his fist into the table. "Where was security when this happened?"

  "We are reviewing recordings from all stall security cameras, but have drawn a blank. It looks like the units were replaced shortly after a team’s last match, at a time when its disappearance wouldn't be noticed. Team Luciana and Team Kimbra probably lost theirs when they shut down operations night before last while Elven Industries lost theirs during the Meet & Greet. This wasn't a simple lift of single device, but a coordinated theft of all of them."

  "Look, not to be blunt," Christa said, "but could this be some king of ploy by one of the other families to disrupt the final match? There is a lot of money bet on this game and..."

  Sienna shook her head. "We thought of that and analyzed the betting pools. No one gains from the match being called. The pain will be felt by everyone."

  "So, we're calling the match?" Team Kimbra's network engineer asked. "Can't we get replacements at least for Kimbra and Luciana?"

  Gloria shook her head. "We have units in a storehouse on Earth, but it will take a week to get them here using our fastest robotic courier."

  "I don't see we have a choice..." Sienna started to say, but stopped when Harm walked in carrying two spy-type aluminum cases which he set down on the middle of the table.

  "Not necessarily," he said as he opened them. Inside each case was a mark one mega-router.

  I stood up and gaped. "You didn't just print those?" I asked, remembering some robotic squirrels he printed during the Venecia Incident.

  "No, they're way too complex to print. No, these are the ones from the Algonquin. They're not new, but I rotate them through the system so they have the same number of star hours on them. I will certify they are both unmodified original equipment. One can go to Luciana and one to Kimbra. I will leave the details up to Lady Sienna."

  Frasier stared at the two units. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.

  Before I could stop him, Harm quietly said, "I was the crazy pilot at Segue Six. I find solutions to problems that vex the people around me."

  Frasier's eyes went huge. He, like the rest of the squad at that time, heard rumors and stories about the pilot of the mysterious freighter that took out a platoon of unfriendlies with a ball of fire. "They said you died. That they had to pry your dead hands from the controls."

  "Actually, they buried the control yoke with me."

  Linka gave a quick look of disbelief before getting the meeting back on track. "Lady Sienna, with your permission, my people will escort these units to Test & Certification."

  "Yes, of course." She looked down the table at the Head of Certification. "How long?"

  "Three hours."

  "If I may," Harm said. "I would like to offer the services of two of my EMEF Team members, fully and conspicuously armed, of course."

  That'll send a message. Yep, my husband does have his moments.

  "Princess Christa, do you have any objections to this plan of action?"

  "Nope. I'm for anything that lets the match continue."

  "Excellent, then let us proceed. Prince Lucien, I accept your offer. We will keep the rest of you posted. Now, I must go out and allay the fears of our fans.

  With that, the meeting adjourned. As the group left, I hung back with Harm. "How did you pull that off?" I asked.

  "Algonquin is an old frame which I try to keep in original condition with a few modern accoutrements. Unfortunately, she can't fly until I replace those units. I hope you don't mind, but we may have to take public transportation."

  "I think I can deal with it," I said. "Your kids are damn proud of you."

  "How about my wife?"

  I kissed the fool. "Beyond proud. Frasier, on the other hand, now thinks you're a ghost."

  I had a twinge of fear knowing how close that story was to the truth. I remember finding the bullet scar in Harm's shoulder, the one that passed through the hull as the team boarded the Space Vixen. How the hell he was able to fly the ship back with that wound is a question we both ask even to this day.

  Chapter 26 - Nefarious Deeds

  Janga Mref, a multi-species SpecPro agent, walked into the lab and waited as his contact finished adjusting a piece of equipment. Mref stood on a catwalk that ringed a spherical chamber approximately twenty meters in diameter. At the center was a ten-meter diameter platform that connected to the outer catwalk via four radial catwalks. Control consoles ringed the outer edge of the platform.

  A figure--Janga's contact--stood on a spider lift five meters up the wall where he was working on a piece of equipment. The spider lift was exactly as it sounded--eight legs ringing a stage, each leg terminating in a gripping claw. A spider lift could transverse the entire interior surface of the room while maintaining the horizontal level of the stage so that the operator had a stable platform to work on.

  The interior surface of the room was covered with equally spaced boxes--twenty-four in all--attached to crystal spheres. The boxes were all mark one mega-routers.

  "Do you have something to report, Janga?" the figure said as he walked the lift over to the next router/crystal pair.

  "Yes, sir. Prince Lucien..."

  "Harmon Aymar," the figure corrected.
r />   "Yes, sir, Harmon Aymar has supplied both teams with a matched pair of mega-routers. The match is still on for tomorrow night."

  "Why that resourceful son of a... Well, good for him and us. We need the distraction of the match to cover our work. How did he get mark ones on such short notice?"

  "He cannibalized his ship, the Algonquin. It seems to be the only ship in the sector still using that model mega-router."

  "Typical, self-sacrificing Harmon. Willing to give his life for a good cause. Any sign that our plans have been discovered?"

  "No, sir. No local or Cube chatter to indicate they have any idea of what we are doing."

  "And the artifact?"

  "It has been studied, recorded, and destroyed. As far as OffSec is concerned, the artifact was stolen and subsequently sold on the black market."

  "Good, so our anonymity has been preserved. One final question: what of the jewels?"

  "They will arrive just before the match begins."

  The lift made its way back to the central platform where its occupant stepped off and walked over to where Janga stood. "Excellent. Soon, all of our hard work will come to fruition," Josiah Muntz, the late-director of OffSec Special Projects Division, said with a smile and a wink as Janga just stood and watched.

  ###

  Ciara stared at the report--glared would be more appropriate--while throwing styluses against the wall. There was a knock at her door.

  "Come!" she growled while launching another writing instrument of death.

  Zen, her Sokuhl administrative assistant, walked in with fresh coffee and a box of styluses. "Director, you may find these to be more effective. I had the armorer put better points on them," he said while handing her the box, then pouring fresh coffee into a clean mug.

  She gave him a long look between narrowed lids before grabbing one of the new weapons and embedding it an inch into the wall. "You're right, thanks. Any word from the med team?"

  He calmly handed her a report before stepping out of her line of fire.

  "I saw that," she said while she sat down and read the report. "Dammit!" she yelled, jumping out of her seat to embed a stylus six inches in the wall. "I want Dr. Fine in here, NOW!"

  Moments later, a tall elf physician walked in escorted by two members of security in full combat garb. "Really?" Ciara said to Zen.

  The Sokuhl calmly shrugged before waving the two officers off. Once they were gone, Ciara pointed to the chair across the desk from hers. "Sit. Coffee. Tea. Booze, Doctor?"

  "No thank you ma'am," he replied nervously.

  "So, would you mind explaining this?" she said, throwing the report in front of him.

  "It's not a living body as we first thought. It is a perfect reproduction--a super clone, so to speak--down to the genetics, fingerprints, and other biometric signatures. There was a highly sophisticated control interface embedded in the brain which allowed the operator to run the body as if it were their own. The control unit absorbed into the brain tissue the moment the clone's body stopped functioning."

  "Who the hell made this thing?"

  "Ma'am, we don't even know how it was made. This is beyond anything we've ever seen. A computer search of the Tomb’s inventory turned up a blank, and Cora is begging us to ship the remains to them for study. This is even more advanced than anything created by Drs. Aymar and Taggart. Hell, this creature is at least two generations beyond Harmon’s pioneering work with printed synths."

  "This isn't a synth?"

  "No, it's a functional sapient sans brain. The thing I examined breaks at least a dozen treaties just by existing."

  "So, the original is alive?"

  "He was alive the last time he used this abomination."

  "Thank you, Doctor. That will be all."

  Dr. Fine bowed and walked out of the office, followed moments later by Zen entering. "Order's ma'am?"

  Get me Lenora Irithyl on a secure line."

  "Yes, Director," Zen replied as he walked out to his desk in the outer office area. After a few minutes of pacing, the communications unit bleeped.

  "Go for Devlin," Ciara said while sitting down to face the screen. It flashed as an image of an older elf woman formed.

  "Ciara, how nice to hear from you," Queen Mother Lenora said. "Can we make this quick? We have a situation here..."

  "I'm aware. Harm has briefed me. Are you sitting down?"

  Lenora frowned, something that would strike fear in most people. Ciara wasn't most people. "I'm sitting."

  "Muntz is alive."

  Lenora bolted upright, nearly knocking her communicator over. "Impossible! You were standing there when I took that dog's head."

  No wonder Harm has cats, Ciara thought to herself. "You killed an advanced clone run through a remote connection. We just ran another autopsy of the remains and we found bio circuitry in the brain."

  "So that animal is alive. Why go through such an elaborate and expensive ruse?"

  "Other than to avoid being killed by an angry elf mother? We think it has something to do with a massive bribe he made to the SFL, a bribe which led to the SFL Final and semi-finals being held on the station instead of Tralaska."

  "You followed the money and found a not-so-dead rat?"

  "Actually, your son and daughter-in-law did that. We just took the ball they handed us and ran with it. My Queen, about the crown jewels. Perhaps we should divert them."

  "I thought of that, but if they're here, they’re under my control and protected by two EMEF teams. I am convinced that we could drive Muntz to ground if we change our plans this late in the game. Do we have any idea what he plans to do, assuming he plans to do something?"

  "We're following up on an idea of Marta's. We'll know more soon. Meanwhile, I ask that you and the rest of your brood be careful."

  "Yes, ma'am. It amazes me you don't have children of your own," the elf queen quipped.

  "I have a son. He's about your height with your eyes and tail. Watching him is like trying to keep track of a kindergarten class."

  That got a chortle out of Lenora. "I must get back to work. Keep in touch. Lenora out."

  Ciara stared at the dark screen. "Be careful, my friend. Be damn careful."

  Chapter 27 - The Chrono Ticks

  Harm and I stood out of the way and watched Bobby and Trent carefully take the silvery case from the certification tech and place it on the table with the reverence usually reserved for religious relics. Meanwhile, Christa took care of the paperwork associated with the assigning of the properly tested and certified mega-router to Team Luciana. As the tech and his entourage passed by, harm slipped them one hundred credit Ventosian coins as tokens of appreciation. The last time I saw that many smiles on geek faces was when they unveiled the latest pocket quantum-computer at a tech convention on New Tennosh.

  "Did you just bribe them?" I asked, not a little astonished.

  "It would be a bribe if I gave them the coins before the testing and presentation. Giving them the coins afterward is an expected courtesy," he explained.

  "How the hell do you know all this shit?" I asked while taking his arm and hugging it.

  "First rule of smuggling: Make friends; the only way to make friends is to know people's customs. Don't get me wrong. I've had setbacks. I almost got eaten by a Malturan wombat when I inadvertently made a pass at its mate."

  I lifted one eyebrow. "Really?"

  "Yeah. Ended up giving her a herd of cattle as a peace offering."

  I buried my face in his side to stifle the laughter. "You hit on a male Malturan wombat?"

  He shrugged. "What can I say?"

  "Mom!" Christa called from the network console. "We're ready for you!"

  "Ah, a general's work is never done. Wish me luck," I said as I reached up and gave him a kiss.

  "Knock'em dead, my love," he replied.

  I let go and walked over to the platform where Bobby and Trent waited with my harness and headset. I put it on, then I got up on the platform as Christa powered the system." />
  "OK, boys, bring it on!" I said as I walked Brenda out onto the training floor. Because of the time crunch, Brenda was sharing the floor with Tayla. I could see Frasier on Team Kimbra's platform working his suit, running Tayla through standard test and calibration movements.

  I started out slow as Bobby and Christa tuned the new mega-router. I could feel the minute changes in response as I worked through every muscle group I had and some I didn't know I had. "Yes, much better," I said. "Harm, how old is this mega-router?" I asked, having already assumed it was a newly manufactured replicate.

  "These two were salvaged from the Space Vixen," he said.

  I stopped. We all stopped. "Dad?" Bobby asked."

  "What's a space vixen?" Trent asked.

  While Bobby explained the Space Vixen incident to Trent, Harm explained to the rest of us, "I salvaged a lot of parts from the Space Vixen and used them to rebuild the Algonquin. If you look carefully, you can find bullet holes in some of the cabinetry."

  "Why?" I asked.

  "When I saved you and the team, I realized I loved you, deeply loved you, and I made the decision to get back together with you some day. I didn't know when, and I didn't know how, but I was going to do it, even if it killed me. All these salvaged parts serve as a reminder of that decision."

  I looked through the holograms surrounding me to see Christa and Bobby with tears in their eyes. I didn't know what to say. I was at a total freakin loss for words. Finally, it came to me. "OK, enough of the maudlin. We have work to do. Elf, you and I are going to have words later." I saw him standing there with a grin from ear to ear. Damn him for reading my mind.

  I went back to working Brenda and myself to the bone while my team took and analyzed data. Soon, I was getting bored, so I asked Christa to put on some music. "What kind?" she asked.

  "Um, I don't know. How about twenty-first century contemporary instrumental. Something Mediterranean."

  "Got it," she said as an orchestral piece filled the space around me. I changed from workout to dance.