The Relativity Bomb

by Arlene F. Marks

  “Are you complimenting me on my technique, Drew?” she said, flashing him a grin.

  He gave her an appraising look. “I’m just wondering what other surprises you might have in store for me.”

  She reached across the table and laid a hand over his. “Well,” she told him, “if things continue the way they’ve been going, I’m guessing you’ll be finding out soon enough.”

  With that, Lydia got up and left as well.

  Alone at the table, Drew took a thoughtful sip of his java and let a single realization fill his mind: They’d survived. There were still mysteries to solve, and the worst danger lay ahead of them, but for at least the next short while they were all safe. The Daisy Hub crew had dug deep and managed to pull a bunch of rabbits out of their disparate and extremely divergent hats. War had been averted. Secrets were still protected, his own in particular. And — both comforting and disturbing to contemplate — it appeared that Humanity, like Drew Townsend himself, had “friends in high places”.

  The Stragori might not want to rejoin the Human race, but — if Karlov was to be believed — they were determined not to let it die out, either, not as long as the Directorate had a say in the matter. They had taken over Earth, secretly shaping and directing Humanity’s progress. Sending Humans out to proliferate among the stars.

  According to Karlov, the Directorate’s motives had been nothing but altruistic. Everything had been done for the benefit and protection of the Human race. Whether or not that was true remained to be seen. Life was full of uncertainty right now, and Drew had no doubt that the future would be an unfriendly place. Nonetheless, for the moment, they were safe. Daisy Hub would fight another day, with or without alien assistance. And for Drew Townsend, that was more than enough.

  EPILOGUE

  As Barry Novak pulled into his parking spot beneath the Kings’ headquarters in the Zone, a figure stepped out of the shadows and stood waiting in front of the hologram-protected elevator door. It was Nayo Naguchi. Cursing inwardly, Novak paused to compose his features before leaving his PV. He was returning from having tea with Madame Vargas for the third time in a week, and the outcome was not something he wished to discuss outside of a clean room.

  As though sensing the reason for his reticence, Naguchi boarded the elevator with him in silence and stood beside him, facing frontward, for the duration of the eight-floor trip. Novak led the way out of the car and down the hall to his private office, each footstep seeming to inflate the anger and tension inside him a little more.

  Once the door was closed behind them, Naguchi dropped into one of the falsahyde chairs. He looked Novak up and down, then said, “She didn’t go for it, did she?”

  “No. The moment I mentioned that he was Stragori, her mind slammed shut, and nothing I’ve said since then has been able to reopen it. She wants the EIS to have nothing to do with him.”

  “So now what?”

  “She’s ordered me to terminate him.”

  “Of course, she has. I repeat, so now what?”

  “So now Nestor Quan dies,” Novak informed him stiffly.

  “Changed your mind about giving him a new identity, have you?”

  “He dies, Nayo. Termination is final. A body will be found and identified.”

  “Like mine was? Don’t spout the party line to me, Barry. In all the years we’ve been associated, I’ve never known you to let a direct order stand in your way. And neither has she. She’s probably expecting you to disobey this one.” The corners of his mouth quirked briefly. “So, if you really wanted to surprise her—”

  “Surprise isn’t exactly the effect I have in mind,” Novak declared darkly.

  A light flashed repeatedly on his desktop.

  Naguchi raised an eyebrow. “Shall I leave so you can answer that?”

  “Not necessary. It’s a status report from Rodrigues. Nothing urgent.”

  “You gave him a direct channel?”

  “And a mission. We’ve known for a while that Madame Vargas has eyes and ears on Daisy Hub, someone who reports directly to her and takes orders only from her, including carrying out hits on targets of Vargas’s choosing. So, I’m making Paul Rodrigues my eyes and ears on Zulu. It may be hours away from Daisy Hub, but the Ranger platform and short-hoppers are all heavily armed. And once he discovers the identity of Vargas’s plant…”

  “Termination?”

  Novak scowled. “You know that’s not our call. It’s up to Townsend to decide.”

  “Sure it is,” Naguchi murmured, his face now wearing an inscrutable mask. “And my name is really Randall Chin, and Nestor Quan has only our best interests at heart. Be honest with yourself, Barry — how far do you actually trust Drew Townsend?”

  “As far as I need to,” came the unhesitating response. “And if he remembers his years on the street, that’s how far he’ll trust me too.”

  — «» —

  Juno Vargas took a mouthful of Earl Grey tea and closed her eyes, savoring its citrus notes for a moment before she swallowed. Behind her, the clean room door opened, then closed again.

  “I’m sorry to be late. I had to be certain I wasn’t followed.”

  Angeli crossed to the armchair and sank into it, letting out an aah of relaxation. The long braid of hair was now twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck, making her look even older than her forty-five years. But there was an entire revolution in her eyes, like an ember on the cusp of bursting into flame. The news would be good. It always was, when Angeli brought it.

  “You’re not too late,” Juno told her. “There’s still half a pot left.” She leaned forward and filled the second cup on the silver tray, then turned the tray and slid it closer to her guest. “So,” she continued, “how did it go in Vancouverville?”

  “Long story short, Earth for Terrans has a new chapter on the west coast, twenty members strong. Before I left, they’d already identified four suspected Stragori agents, one of them on the District Council, no less. There are two main street gangs, and I spoke with both their leaders, separately and then together. They’re willing to support the Reformation, but they want something in return for their loyalty.”

  “Let me guess,” said Juno with a mirthless smile. “They want to keep their power?”

  “Their turf,” Angeli replied, mirroring her expression. “Same thing.”

  Of course, thought Juno. The generous deals that Dennis Forrand had offered as enticements to those who could help him build the Earth Intelligence Service were, unfortunately, well beyond her own resources. As a result, in places like Vancouverville and Havana there had been no clean slates and fresh beginnings, just bargains with uneducated thugs and criminals who guarded their paltry spheres of dominance with the ferocity of a dragon protecting its hoard of gold.

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I pointed out the benefits that everyone would enjoy if the Reformation was successful and that nobody would receive if it wasn’t. I informed them that they could either take part or take their chances. Then I left.”

  “And when push comes to shove?”

  “Hard to say. The Vancouverville bunch could go either way. I should have better luck with Hickman in Greater London next month. He’s calling all the gang leaders together for a summit meeting to hear our proposal.” A pause, then, “It’s a shame Barry Novak won’t come onside. I understand why you’ve chosen to keep your brother in the dark about this, but wouldn’t it be better if the organization presented a united front?” Juno pretended not to hear her. Swallowing her exasperation, Angeli tried again. “What if I had a talk with Novak? I’ll bet I could persuade him to reconsider.”

  Juno made a face. “You’d be wasting your time. The man consorts with Stragori agents. In fact, he’s trying to make a deal with one right now. I thought Forrand was bad, hiring a Stragori to look after my brother in detention, but Novak is worse. Would you believ
e that he had the nerve to come in here and suggest to my face that the EIS formalize an alliance with one of the Stragori factions?”

  “How did you answer him?”

  “I turned him down flat, of course. An alien race is headed for civil war and he wants to put Earth smack in the middle of it? It’s insane.”

  Angeli cocked her head and remarked, “And it’s the Stragori. And you still trust him?”

  Cool gray eyes found her face and rested there for a moment.

  “Strange though it may sound,” said Juno with a tiny shrug, “you and Barry Novak are the only two people I feel I can trust right now.”

  “Even though he ‘consorts with Stragori agents’?”

  “He can consort all he likes. I know who they are. And when the time comes, I’ll be the one who orders the hits. Once the Stragori are gone and the Reformation is launched, there will be only one side for the EIS to be on — mine. And if he knows what’s good for him, that’s where you’ll find Barry Novak as well.”

  If you enjoyed this read

  Please leave a review on Amazon, Facebook, Good Reads or Instagram.

  It takes less than five minutes and it really does make a difference.

  If you’re not sure how to leave a review on Amazon:

  Go to amazon.com.

  Type in The Relativity Bomb by Arlene F. Marks and when you see it, click on it.

  Scroll down to Customer Reviews. Nearby you’ll see a box labeled Write a Review. Click it.

  Now, if you’ve never written a review before on Amazon, they might ask you to create a name for yourself.

  Reviews can be as simple as, “Loved the book! Can’t wait for the Next!” (Please don’t give the story away.)

  And that’s it!

  Brian Hades, publisher

  About the Author:

  Born and raised in Toronto, Arlene F. Marks began writing stories at the age of 6 and can’t seem to stop. Although she’s been published in multiple genres, her first love has always been speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror, Onder Magazine, and Daily Science Fiction. Her science fantasy novel, The Accidental God, was nominated for the 2015 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Arlene lives with her husband on Nottawasaga Bay but spends an inordinate amount of time in the Sic Transit Terra universe. She welcomes visitors to her website:

  www.thewritersnest.ca

  ** Pre-order Bonus **

  Thanks for purchasing the pre-order edition of The Relativity Bomb. This edition of the eBook contains a BONUS, “A Time Traveler’s Guide To 2399 C.E. Earth,” that will not appear in any of the regular eBook editions nor the regular print edition of the book.

  WHAT MAKES THE RELATIVITY BOMB STAND OUT?

  “First of all, it’s Book 3 of a series and the direct sequel to Book 1, so anyone who liked The Genius Asylum is going to want to continue following the lives and adventures of its characters.

  “Second, Sic Transit Terra is written for people who enjoy reading mysteries and working puzzles. Like the clues of a cryptic crossword, each book set in this universe contains at least one puzzle for the characters and the reader to solve together. It may be a riddle or a logic problem, or perhaps a maze or an anagram. In each case, the answer to each smaller puzzle brings the reader and characters one step closer to solving a much larger and more important one. The Relativity Bomb is part of a story arc that addresses one of the great mysteries of life: Why does it take us our entire lives to grow up, mellow out, and understand what is really important?” —Arlene F. Marks

  Please enjoy the novel and the BONUS. Your comments, posted on your blog or website, plus your review, posted to amazon.com, will help to expose this book to a wider audience.

  Thanks for your support,

  Brian Hades, EDGE publisher

  A TIME TRAVELER’S GUIDE

  TO 2399 C.E. EARTH

  — «» —

  A SIC TRANSIT TERRA PUBLICATION

  ©2675 C.E. by Earth Central Archives

  WELCOME TO THE TURN OF THE 25TH CENTURY! TO MAKE YOUR VISIT AS ENLIGHTENING AND ENJOYABLE AS POSSIBLE, LET’S BEGIN WITH A RECAP OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS POINT IN TIME.

  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARTH

  Beginning with the establishment of the World Court in 1999 and continuing with the aftermath of the second Near Eastern War, the United Nations began gathering political power. Encouraging findings from the SETI project led to a resolution in 2036, making the Secretary General of the UN Earth’s official planetary representative in the event of first contact with any sentient alien species.

  Two years later, Earth’s space program went into high gear, with plans to begin mining the asteroid belt. Earth Fleet Control was established to oversee the construction and launch of the first five mining and cargo vessels. It was decided to staff the operation by commuting prison sentences into work contracts — at least until all the engineering flaws were detected and taken care of.

  The same year, 2038, saw the beginning of a worldwide amalgamation of data into the Earth InfoCommNet, which was intended to replace all then-existing databases and communication systems. The alpha wave of InfoComm units was installed in North America in 2042 and ran parallel with telephone, radio, television and the internet for three years. The beta wave, gamma wave and delta wave simply replaced the other systems.

  In 2091, a pandemic originating at a scientific conference on the west coast of North America spread quickly through the industrialized world, killing more than 130 million people in its first year and slowing much of Earth’s scientific and technological progress to a crawl for another five after that. The death toll had climbed to almost half a billion when the virus responsible for the disaster suddenly went dormant. It took seventeen years after that for medical scientists to identify the virus and develop a way to neutralize it. However, it was a virus, and it mutated. This pandemic was the first of several to flare up at irregular intervals over the next 200 years, each outbreak more devastating than the last.

  By 2100, the InfoCommNet had been online worldwide for almost 50 years and the UN had been renamed Earth High Council, with direct oversight of both Fleet Control and Earth Data Management. All citizens had been issued biowafers containing complete personal, financial, legal and health records. These data diskettes, about the size and thickness of a credit card, replaced all other forms of identification. The Earth Standard Credit Unit (nicknamed the escu, written as SQ) had been established, and hard currency was subsequently abolished. All financial transactions took place via the InfoCommNet. InfoComm fraud, including hacking, data tampering, and the creation or possession of a netvirus, became a capital offence. Three executions later, there remained virtually no threat to security on the InfoCommNet.

  By 2135, the High Council sat atop a hierarchy of Regional and District Councils. All international trade barriers had been eliminated. Standards of measurement were harmonized (and metric) worldwide. The engineering flaws that had dogged the mining operations had all finally been resolved. Passenger transport ships were now a realistic possibility. Plans to establish a colony on Mars had been taken out and dusted off. Fleet Control had been given jurisdiction over all offplanet transportation and was busily establishing safety standards and protocols. In 2153, Data Management and the newly formed Earth Relocation Authority (ERA) began identifying and preparing the first 100 candidate families for the Mars colony. That same year, the High Council established the Space Installation Authority (SIA) to manage and oversee the project-in-progress.

  By 2160, wood pulp was being phased out of the manufacture of paper. Synthetic fuels had been developed, but Personal Vehicles (PVs) were so heavily fuel-taxed that many people could no longer afford to own them. Artificial Intelligence (AI) had been refined and adapted to a variety of everyday applications, such as “smart paint” and “smart fabric”. Advances in genetic
research made it possible for doctors to regulate or prevent cell (re)growth electrochemically. Paralysis from spinal cord injury was a thing of the past. Invasive surgery was reserved for dire emergencies. Some types of cancer were beaten, although the viral variety continued to mutate, like its cousins — HIV and necrotic fasciitis, among others — providing ongoing challenges to the medical community.

  As well, after nearly a century of legal wrangling and moral vacillation, experimentation with fetal stem cells had finally been granted legitimacy, leading to a succession of breakthroughs in the areas of organ and tissue regeneration. By 2170, stem cells were being routinely harvested in utero for deposit into government-mandated and -operated stem cell banks, containing both general inventory and personal reserves. A stem cell registry ensured that personal deposits followed their donors wherever they went. Vaccines developed by Alzheimer’s researchers to prevent the onset of the condition had been tested and found to be effective in varying degrees against other types of neurological disorders as well. Children born in this decade could expect an average productive lifespan of 100 years.

  In 2172, the next pandemic struck, wiping out half the population of South America and decimating the rest of the western hemisphere before the virus responsible once again went dormant. For six years, the medical community dropped all other research to focus on tracking and eradicating the organism. Pharmaceutical corporations began competing against one another in a race to develop drugs to combat the pandemic virus. Politically, Earth was in chaos. Then a group of strong leaders headed by Adam Vargas reestablished Earth’s High Council and began a massive Reorganization of the planet. They redrew all the geopolitical boundaries and made the restoration of order and the acceleration of Earth’s space colonization program their top two priorities.