by Frank Carey
"But I still love him," she said, while hugging his shoulder.
"What's so special about this Tantamount Plateau?" Ciara asked.
"Average altitude of ten thousand feet," Torren explained, "quarter-million square miles area..."
"And haunted," Bobby added with a shiver.
"Assuming a Wi-Fi signal from the tower to the server, we can narrow the area down," Harm said.
"On it," Christa replied as she ran checks. The globe changed to a satellite view. With a red ring denoting the area of interest. Torren pointed to a structure. "There."
Christa zoomed in. "Looks like a castle. I'll call Tannith and see what she thinks," Losira said. The kids looked at Harm.
"Professor Tannith Aymar, Chair of the History Department of Ventos Prime University. She's my adopted sister and your aunt. She's also Royce's cousin."
"Does your family tree give you a headache?" Christa asked.
"Sometimes. Mostly, it's me giving them headaches. Losi, while you check with Tanni, why don't Ciara and I go talk with the surviving kidnapper I stunned in the kid's room?"
"What about us?" Bobby asked.
"You three can come with me. I can introduce you to your aunt and show you around the castle. Harm, did you tell Tannith about the new additions to our family?"
Harm gave a sheepish grin.
"That's what I thought. OK, kids, let's go shock your aunt. Harm, meet us back at the Castle, OK?"
"Yes, My Queen," he said with a bow before taking Ciara by the arm and leading her off the ship."
Chapter Six
The prisoner sat at the kitchen table, his wounds dressed, flanked by two guards. He’d been given food and drink while security forces from three jurisdictions worked around him.
A tall elf and a human—make that Venlanten—woman walked in and sat down in front of him. He gasped when he saw the elf.
"You're not Loki," he said.
"And neither is he," the elf said as an agent walked in and handed him and his companion folders, "but you're Nelson, a Venlanten merc wanted on five planets for everything from petty theft to kidnapping to murder during the commission of a felony."
"I never murdered anyone during a job. I've been careful."
"OffSec and Royal security have policed the grounds and found eighteen wounded compatriots of yours. Six of those have died and four more are almost there. Under Ventosian law, you and the other living mercs are responsible for those deaths. The penalty for murder in the commission of a felony—in this case the kidnapping of members of the Royal family—is death. Since the kidnappees are my children, I get to pick the method of your execution. Hell, I can even do it myself."
"Who the hell are you if you're not Loki?"
"Like Loki, I go by a number of names. Let's see, I'm the Smuggler Elf, Harmon Aymar, but for purposes of this conversation, I am Prince Lucien Irithyl, brother to the Queen. Oh, I almost forgot, I used to go by Atmar.
The merc blanched, "Atmar is a myth, a ghost, a demon made up to scare children," the merc said as fear crept into his voice.
"Just like vampires," Harm pointed out referring to the Earth myths based on the Venlanten refugees which had made Earth home thousands of years ago.
"Then you know I can kill all of you in a second," he boasted, while standing up.
"SIT DOWN!" Ciara said as her eyes went black.
Nelson sat down while the guards stepped back, taking their weapons off safety in the process. Harm just sat and watched,
"Nelson, your people have a legend of the ultimate Venlanten, the super royal, correct?" Harm asked.
The merc nodded.
Harm pointed to Ciara and smiled. "Dir. Devlin is also a godparent for all my children."
Ciara turned to him, "Really?"
Harm nodded. "Really."
Ciara reached over the table, grabbed Nelson by the collar, and dragged him across the table so his nose was millimeters away from hers. Somewhere in the process, she went full Venlanten; her eyes going jet black while her canines and claws extended to their full length, the embodiment of the vampire legend. "You will answer every question he asks completely and honestly. If I even think you're lying, I'll rip your soul out and nail it to a wall."
The guards thumbed their weapons to full power and activated their heads-up displays.
Harm just watched.
Nelson went white with fear. "Yes, mistress."
"And as an added bonus," Harm chimed in, "I'll commute your sentence from death to life in prison."
Ciara threw the merc back in his seat. The guards went back to standby with quiet sighs of relief.
"What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about the Tantamount Plateau," Harm said calmly.
While Harm took notes, Nelson spilled everything. When they finished, the guards took Nelson away while Harm and Ciara headed back to the Queen's ship. "So, I'm a godmother. That's kinda cool. Thanks."
"Marta and I could think of no one better. Thanks for accepting. You do accept, right?"
"Of course, you moron," she said, while trying to hide tears of joy.
###
"So that's our mom," Christa said as she and her brothers watched Team One debark from their ship. Prepared for a working day, each team member was wearing a customized suit of power armor. One of them, with "McMurphy" emblazoned on their right chest plate walked over. The three elflings watched as the suit stopped and opened, revealing a petite, red-haired woman wearing a green jumpsuit. She stepped down and slowly approached the three teenagers.
"Hi," she said as she stopped in front of them. "I'm Marta. I think we met, sort of."
Christa reached out and touched her. "You're real, aren't you?"
Marta nodded, fascinated by the three identical siblings. "Yep, I'm for real, and I married the elf. Speaking of the elf, have you seen Harmon?"
Bobby pointed at a nearby overlook. "Dad's over there staring at the castle," he said. "Are you going to save Shenda?"
"Oh, yeah. No one messes with members of my family. I will find who did this and deal with them appropriately, on that you have my word. Now, I'm going to talk to Harm, but I'll be right back."
Leaving the kids, Marta walked over to Harm and watched him for a moment as he glassed the castle with his binoculars. "How old are those things?"
He looked down at her and smiled. "I like antiques." He put the binoculars down and kissed her. "Damn, I missed you. It's been a helluva day."
"I heard. So, your doppelganger has returned. Royce is going to be so pissed."
"Tell me about it." He handed her the field glasses. "Check it out."
"Am I old enough to use these?"
"Barely, but you are cute enough."
"You suave devil, you," she said as she scanned the castle. "Surface-to-air missiles, blaster emplacements, and two force field emitter towers."
"Damn you're sexy when you talk like that."
"Mrrrow. We don't go in by air. This is strictly a ground offensive. Losira mentioned Christa found this place by doing a network trace?"
"Yeah, the girl is good, real good."
"Better than you?"
He nodded. "Maybe better than Atmar. She's one in a million."
"They all are. We'll need to cut off the network feed somehow. Isolate the castle from the rest of the InterWeb."
"Christa!" Harm yelled.
She ran over. "Yes, Dad?"
"I need a mirror-mirror on the router feeding this place."
She saluted. "Roger-dodger. One mirror-mirror coming right up." She ran back into the Queen's shuttle.
"Harm, she adores you. The counselors said it would take years for them to accept us, yet it's like they already do."
"Yeah, nothing beats a crisis to bring people together. I expected them to be wary of us for a long time, but we just connected right away. Enough of this self-analysis, we've got to get Shenda and Aerith back."
"We will. Now, what's a mirror-mirror?"
"A program t
hat spoofs the InterWeb into thinking the castle is still there and spoofs the castle into thinking the InterWeb is still there while separating the two. It's very useful when you're robbing a bank or breaking into a corporate server farm."
Marta looked at him. "You're kidding, right?"
He smiled.
"Dad, Mom, the mirror-mirror is online and ready to activate."
"Nice work, young lady. Marta, my dear, we are ready to proceed."
"Christa, Honey, how would you and your brothers like to meet my team?"
Christa beamed.
###
The five members of Team One stood around the field table while their suits recharged. Harm led the introductions. When he finished, Torren walked over to Royce with a dog-eared copy of one of his books. "Sir, could I have your autograph?"
"Sir? I'm your uncle, you don't have to call me Sir," he said as he signed the book. "Have you read any of the others?"
"He's read all of them," Bobby said.
"At least twice," Christa added.
"Thanks, Uncle Royce," Torren said as his eyes filled with adoration.
"OK, why don't the four of us go and get some lunch, while Team One and Harm make plans?" Losira said as she led the three elflings back to the shuttle.
"They're so damn cute," Royce blurted out.
"Thanks, I think," Harm said.
"How about we get back to the job at hand?" Marta asked.
Royce shook himself. "Right, the castle. What are we looking for?"
"A clue about where Atmar is taking Shenda and Aerith. He needs Shenda's DNA for some reason. We need to find out what that reason is," Harm explained.
"And you think the clue is in the castle," Marta said.
"Roger that. According to Nelson the Merc, Atmar and his crew of the despicable were holed-up in this place for months waiting for their search to come up with something. It was only by happenstance that the search led to my kids."
"You want us to keep the damage to a minimum?" Sgt. Sana Eloen asked as she examined the documents—a map of the area and a diagram of the castle generated from drone-collected data—spread out on the table.
"Roger that. You'll just have to curb your natural tendencies," Harm quipped.
"Me? I'm just a demure girly-girl," Sana noted as the speared a poisonous spider to a tree trunk using a nail file.
"For which we are truly grateful," MSgt. Zon said.
"Copy that," Sgt. Stal agreed.
Royce studied the diagram. "I'm thinking an approach from the south. We could breach here and here. Sana, since you're working on getting your commission, what are your thoughts?"
"We breach here," she said pointing to the back of the castle, the part hanging over a chasm leading to the river below. That entrance leads into what looks like the kitchen."
"That climb is insane," Marta noted. "No one would expect an incursion from that direction. Good call, Sergeant."
"I agree," Royce said. "Harm, you'll stay here on standby in case we need an extraction."
Harm nodded.
"And listen, elf," Marta said, standing toe-to-toe with him. "No stunts, understand?"
"What stunts?" he asked, with a look of pure innocence.
"No Space Vixens!"
"Aw, Gee...!"
"You heard me. Now, go fill in the Queen and our kids."
"Yes, ma’am." He kissed her on the cheek before heading back to the Queen's ship while the others suppressed laughter.
###
When Team One entered the castle, they did so without challenge. Inside they found several members of the support staff including an elf by the name of Pater who claimed he was Loki's assistant. Once the castle was deemed clear, Harm, Losira, Ciara, and the kids entered and headed to where Team One was holding Pater.
Harm and Losira walked in and found Pater sitting at a small table. Taking seats across from him, Losira started the interview. "Do you know who we are?"
"I know you are Her Majesty Queen Losira. As for the gentleman, I am at a loss. He is the spitting image of Loki, the lord of this manner and my employer. I’ll admit that I have not been keeping up with current events of late."
Harm reached over and shook Pater's hand. "Howdy. Many people know me as Harmon Aymar, but you can call me Prince Lucien, brother to Losira and father to the two girls kidnapped by your boss.
Pater swallowed. "How did you find this place? Loki assured me it was impossible for anyone to back trace the InterWeb link."
"My daughter is an extremely proficient hacker. It took her less than ten minutes to find the router node feeding this place and even less time to spoof the router into thinking the link still existed. My friend, you are sooooo screwed. Do you know what the penalty is for kidnapping a member of the Royal family, not to mention harboring known felons? Now, couple that with espionage, planting spyware, oh and tampering with the InterWeb."
"What can I do to mitigate this?" Pater asked.
"Look, I have no desire to walk you in front of a firing squad," Harm explained. "You tell us everything you know about Loki's plans, and I will see about absolving you and the rest of your crew of all wrongdoing. How's that sound?"
"Absolutely wonderful. What do you need to know?"
Losira leaned over the table. "What the plark is going on?"
###
While members of the three security forces spread out through the castle, Pater led Harm, Losira, and Ciara into a darkened room filled with computer equipment of all kinds including several red hacker balls. At the center of the room, in a pool of light, was a dais holding a very large, very old book. Harm walked up and looked at it without touching it. "This book was Loki's obsession since the day I first I met him," Pater explained. "This room was filled with technicians, each working long hours at their terminal. One day, the terminals were off and the technicians sent away, replaced by mercs. That's when he set up the router worm."
"Did he say where he got the book or why it was so important?"
"He never said why he was so obsessed with it, but he did say he got it from the moon."
"Dana or Lutz?" Harmed asked, referring to Ventos Primes two satellites.
"Luna, Earth's moon. Specifically, inside a dark side crater named Babakin."
Harm tapped his earpiece, connecting him to the global communications network through his ship. "Mabel, check the Space Almanac for any mention of a base in Babakin Crater on Earth's moon. Yes, I'll hold. Yes, I'm still here. OK. Thanks." He turned to his companions. "There is no known moon base in Babakin crater." Harm took out his scanpad, ran it over the book, and whistled when he saw the results. "This is bad, the leather cover is of Earth origin while the age of the book dates it back to the time of Atlantis."
"Shit, that means it’s from the time of Nochmar and the elven diaspora," Losira said.
"Nochmar!" Ciara exclaimed. I thought we were through with that creature.
"You know of Nochmar?" Pater asked, in a frighteningly reverential voice.
"Yeah, we met," Harm said. "I helped him redecorate his quarters. Pater, did Atmar mention anything about booby-trapping these terminals?"
"No. One day he came in and turned the power off. The room remained sealed after that."
"Harm, can you read this book?" Ciara asked.
"No, but I bet Tanni can. The woman lives for this sort of thing. OK, we need to get a sweeper team in here to check for booby traps. When they clear the room, we need the kids and some techs to start pulling data. Finally, we need Tanni in here to decode this book."
"Meanwhile, Ciara and I will get on the horn with Earth to inform them about the moon base and get permission to get inside it."
Harm turned to Pater and asked, "Pater, did Loki mention any names with regards to this moon base?"
"Only one and only once. He muttered something about someone named Thia."
Harm looked at Ciara and Losira. "Shit, Thia. This is not good."
Chapter Seven
The shuttle Valkyrie la
nded next to the Mariposa, its passenger and pilot debarking as the ship's engines spun down.
"Tanni!" Harm called out as he ran out of the castle and up to his adopted sister, first hugging her, then her companion, Pilot Penelope "Penny" Scott, the Valkyrie's skipper and Tannith's spouse.
"Harmon!" Tannith replied as she looked over her brother's shoulder at the castle. "I see you found something!"
"I didn't, Atmar did."
"He's alive?"
"Sort of, he's running a synth. Look, we didn't want to worry you, but something happened at the house."
"What?"
He explained. Penny and Tannith blanched.
"That bastard! How dare he?" Penny exclaimed.
"Where's this book?" Tannith asked as she got her angry, over-protective aunt on.
Harm took them inside, but stopped when he spotted the kids. "Christa, Bobby, Torren, got a second?"
They walked over. "These are your aunts, Tannith and Penny."
Tannith and Penny melted as they shook hands with the three elflings. Meanwhile, Ciara walked up with news. "The sweep is finished. The techs found nothing, so we powered the terminals, and they've started downloading data."
"Good. Where's Team One?"
"Checking the grounds for any gifts left by the previous occupants. They'll be done soon."
"OK. Kids, sisters, you’re on."
Once inside the room, the sibs and Penny went to work at a pair of terminals while Harm, Ciara, and Tannith examined the book.
"Yes, definitely from the Nochmar era," Tannith said as she donned white linen gloves. She pulled the book closer and gently opened it.
"Is it a religious text?" Harm asked. "Perhaps directions on how to defrost another megalomaniac?"
Tannith smiled. "No, it’s a catalog."
Ciara frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's a catalog. I can see why Atmar had such trouble reading it. I'm probably one of only a couple of scholars who were able to study the texts we freed from Dr. Thia's cache." Thia was the mad Nochmarist whose cult attempted to retrieve the evil emperor from his prison in an alternate dimension, an attempt thwarted by Harm and several of the people standing around him.
"What's it a catalog of?"
"Answering that may take a little more time. Harm, be a dear and get me some tea, please."