by Frank Carey
"Scams, heists, jobs, grifts, anything illegal are now called capers."
"How long have you and your sibs been doing 'Capers'?"
"Since we could reach the controls of a conveyance. It just came naturally."
Alarms sounded. Moments later, the hatch opened and a very perturbed Atmar entered the room followed by four mercs. "Ladies, the situation has changed. You will come with me."
"Where are you taking us?" Shenda demanded as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
"Inside. Now, will you come with us peacefully?"
In reply, Shenda leapt for Atmar's throat.
"Shenda, no!" Aerith screamed as two mercs grabbed her by the arms, but she was too late. Atmar calmly stunned her sister.
"Take them to the lab. Tie Shenda up and prepare Aerith for the procedure."
One of the mercs picked-up Shenda's limp form and carried her out of the room while two more took Aerith. The team leader came in. "Report!" Atmar ordered.
"We have three Ithian warships, an EMEF battle shuttle and three League battle cruisers inbound. They have ordered us to stand down and prepare to be boarded."
"Put your people on full alert. What is the status of the corvette?"
"Destroyed. The last transmission shows it was blown out of space by a ship bigger than this asteroid. It appeared out of nowhere. It took out the corvette with one shot."
"Why wasn't I informed of this sooner?"
"We just found out from one of our probes."
"Prepare the shuttle for immediate launch. Pick ten men and wait for me. I will be sporting a new look."
"Yes, sir."
Atmar stood there wondering how his well-laid plans had gone so completely to shit. "Damn you, Harmon. Damn you to hell."
###
Aerith struggled against the restraints but to no avail. She was held tight to the table and no amount of squirming was going to change that. She lifted her head and looked around. She was in what looked like a laboratory. She was on a bed surrounded by equipment and control consoles. She realized she was wearing some kind of headset. Next to her was another bed, a headset lying on it.
"So, how do we feel?" Atmar asked as he emerged from behind a rack of equipment.
"Where's Shenda?"
"Relaxing comfortably," he said, while nodding to a spot behind her head. Aerith turned and saw Shenda glaring from a seat were she was bound and gagged. "She was adamant about stopping me, and I didn't want her yelling to wake you."
"What is this place? What are you going to do with me?"
"Roughly translated, this room is a cerebralizer. It can transfer the consciousness of a person from one living, breathing body to another. Unfortunately, the consciousness of the receiving body is destroyed. I plan to take over your body."
"You're mad!"
"No. Ever since I was excised from your father's body, I have found myself missing a real body, a place to call home. Since you and Harmon share DNA, the transfer should go easily. I'm sorry you have to die in the process, but I guess it sucks to be you."
"No! Damn you!"
Atmar smiled, then pressed a button on a control. Aerith fell back onto the bed, unconscious. He then activated the sequencer. All he had to do was lie down next to the young girl and place the headset on his head. In minutes, he would have a new body.
"Atmar!"
He looked up and saw Shenda and three other young elflings—one girl and two boys—standing next to her, identical down to their white sightless eyes.
He felt them in his mind.
He screamed.
Chapter Thirteen
Ciara sat down at the terminal, placing her coffee next to the keyboard while collecting her thoughts. The meeting with Earth's government representatives had gone better than she expected. In general, the representatives were more interested in the lab than in Atmar. The meeting ended with Ciara turning over all the information they had gathered along with Harm's codes for gaining access to the database. Ventos Prime had been contacted and several historians, including Tannith Aymar, were now on their way to setup a proper study and cataloging of the site. At least that part went well. Now, for the hard part.
"Computer, open secure channel to the Cube, Security Director Simms, priority channel, authorization Devlin-zero-one-alpha."
"Voice print required. Please state your name, surname first, given name, middle initial."
"Devlin, Ciara, cee."
"Voice print confirmed. One moment."
Ciara took a sip of coffee while she waited.
"Go for Simms," Clint said as his image formed on the screen.
"It's Ciara. We need to talk."
"About what? What the hell is going on, Ciara? This place is going nuts with news about kidnapped princesses and an elf lab found on Earth's moon."
Ciara explained.
"Shit. You mean this Loki was part of Thia's group? How the hell did we miss that?"
"Because he didn't want anyone to know he was part of it, which is also why he didn't use his real name."
"Don't keep me in suspense, just spit it out."
"His real name is Atmar."
"Atmar's dead. Records say Royce Aymar killed him over a decade ago."
"Pull up security recording Irithyl-zero-one."
Simm's grim look turned into a frown as he watched the recording. "Shit. Not only is he alive, he's gotten hold of a state-of-the-art synth body. How did he find one that looks like Harm?"
"That's what I need you to find out. I'm thinking someone took John Taggart's soul machine from the tombs and used it to pull Atmar from the nanite ball just as Royce destroyed it."
"That's impossible. Taggart's unit would have had to been in the ceiling to pull that kind of transfer off, not to mention the power requirements are astronomical."
"Which makes me think it was a Special Projects prototype. They wanted their genius assassin, and I wouldn't put it past ex-Director Muntz to have one built on the QT."
"It'll be difficult to find anything after this much time."
"I understand, especially since his disappearance. Open an investigation, anyway, and we'll see where it leads. One thing about OffSec: we have patience."
"Aye, ma’am. Anything else?"
"Not right now. Keep me apprised. Devlin out,"
"I hate having to suffer the sins of my predecessors," Ciara muttered, while turning-off the terminal. Grabbing her coffee, she headed out into the corridor where she ran into a tall, willowy elf woman."
"Queen Mother Lenora," Ciara said, while bowing deeply from the waist. Lenora was one of the real power players in the League, especially after handing over the reins of running Ventos Prime to her daughter, Losira. "I take it you’ve heard."
"Heard? Heard that my son adopted four elfling children without telling me. Heard that Aerith, and one of her new sisters, was kidnapped by Atmar and a team of mercs? No, ma’am, I'm just here for a mani-pedi."
"The four children were orphans, abandoned at birth, and they are scared shitless of being separated. Harm connected with them on some level. I hear they're smarter than him and that makes him happy," Ciara replied, unfazed by Lenora's withering gaze. Ciara Devlin was the only person in the league unafraid of Lenora, a fact the Queen Mother valued greatly.
"My son chooses his friends well. You approve of this adoption?'
"Harm is happy. I approve. Life is simple."
They walked down the corridor while Ciara gave Lenora a more complete briefing. "Two refugee ships. Another planet of elves. The mind boggles."
"You get used to it. When my people left Venlanta, the arkship to earth was one of a dozen. We're still trying to find the missing ones."
"Are you sure you want to?"
"Good point."
"You have been told we're going to the Ith system, haven't you." Lenora asked.
"No, but I bet you're going to give me the details."
"Earth, Ventos Prime, and the League are each sending battle cruisers to bac
k up Losira and Team one. Ventos is also sending EMEF Team Two."
"Why Team Two?"
"They're my body guards. They go where I go."
"So, you're going? What about running the planet?"
"My husband is more than competent to keep things running while Losira and I are gone. I would like you to accompany me aboard my flagship."
"I would be honored. When do we leave?"
"Right now."
###
The Tuglat, Washington, and Pride of Ventos dropped into real-space just inside the Ithian system. An immediate scan showed no sign of the Mariposa or any other ship for that matter.
"Captain, where is my son's ship?" Lenora asked, more than a little perturbed.
"Unknown, ma’am. Scans are clear," the captain replied as she looked out the forward viewer.
"May I suggest you call Team One on their private channel?" Ciara said.
"Do it," Lenora ordered.
The captain nodded to the comm officer. "Do it," she ordered
"This is the Pride of Ventos calling EMEF Team One on secure channel. Do you copy? Over." He stopped and listened to his earpiece. "Captain, we have an incoming reply, but it isn't Team One."
"Put it on the main viewer," the captain replied.
A human male appeared. He was sitting in what looked like the command chair of a military vessel. "This is Capt. Stavos of the Ithian Space Fleet Cruiser Pride of Atlantis. Surrender or we will fire."
"Captain!" Lenora ordered as she went full warrior queen, "Raise shields and prepare..."
"My Queen," Ciara said calmly, "May I make a suggestion?"
"Make it quick!" Lenora growled.
"Let me handle this."
Lenora slowly turned and looked downward at the Venlanten director with a look which would crumble granite. Ciara smiled. "That is why you brought me along, isn't it?"
Lenora squinted at the smaller woman. "Hmmmm. Please," she said, nodding to the screen.
Ciara turned and looked at the Ithian captain, taking a Venlanten snapshot of him. "Capt. Stavos, my name is Ciara Devlin. How's your day been going?"
Frowning, the captain replied, "I've had better."
"I know what you mean. Look, all we want is to retrieve two young ladies and the maniac who kidnapped them. We sent a ship, aboard which were the Prince and Queen of Ventos Prime, three teenagers and the five-member EMEF Team One, to get them, but we lost contact. Have you seen them?"
Stavos leaned back in his seat and thought for a moment. "They're our guests aboard this ship. There was a problem."
"Let me guess: Harmon."
"Actually, his three children stole the Mariposa and mounted a rescue mission to the asteroid. He was understandably upset..."
"You let three teenagers steal a ship, and you've detained their parents? Are you mad?" Ciara yelled. "Captain Renga, battle stations..."
"Director, wait!" Stavos said quickly. "We know where the Mariposa went and have eyes on the asteroid storage facility. Your people are truly our guests. Please, come aboard and see for yourself."
"We would be honored," Lenora said, smiling. "Your shuttle or ours?"
"We well send transportation immediately."
"Thank you, Captain. You are most kind. We will be waiting. Lenora out."
When the screen returned to a view of Atlantis Rising, Lenora and the Bridge crew looked at Ciara. "Battle stations? Really?" the Queen Mother said, with a bemused look on her face.
"Sorry. I got a little over protective."
Lenora put her arm around Ciara's shoulders. "You'll make a good elf. You have spirit. Come, let’s go, and see our people."
"Captain, urgent incoming message from the Cube for Dir. Devlin."
Ciara walked over and put on a headset. "Go for Ciara... What! Copy that. Devlin out." She handed back the headset. My Queen, your son will be the death of me."
"What has he done now?"
"I'll explain on the way over to the Atlantis Rising."
Chapter Fourteen
Harm paced the visitor's lounge like a caged animal while Team One and Losira calmly sat and talked. "Harm! Sit!" Marta yelled. "Your pacing is driving me to distraction."
He stopped in front of the door's lockpad.
"Lucien, don't," Losira said. "The Captain assured me they were going to send a ship after the kids. The team they're sending will check for the facility and your probes are out there."
"We have to do something," he said as he reached into his pocket.
"What? Breakout? I'm as worried as you are..." She stopped when she saw him holding the red hacker ball.
"I know you are, but I can do something about it," he said as he started to place the ball against the plate.
The door opened.
Ciara, Queen Mother Lenora, and EMEF Team Two stood on the other side.
"Ciara? Mother?"
"Surprised to see me, Lucien?" Lenora said, while glancing at the hacker ball. "You weren't really going to try to break out, were you?"
"Not try, do. Why are you here?"
"She insisted," Ciara said as she led in Team Two who were carrying spare gear for Team One. "Harm, when were you going to tell me about you building two Mariposas?"
"Never, why?"
"Mariposa Two just signaled the cube that it had gone to combat footing."
"Shit, those kids are good. Can we leave now?"
"Yes. Lenora and I are staying here to open diplomatic relations with Ith. Three League and three Ithian ships are going to wait for you to extract the kids before going in. You, Losira, and Team One are going to take the facility and get your kids back. You be careful out there, elf, understand me?"
"Yes, ma’am,"
"Captain Aymar," Capt. Ketch said as he stepped into view. "I want to apologize for this dust-up…"
"It is I who owe you an apology. I get protective when it comes to my kids. That's why Losi's the Queen. I suck at diplomacy. Here, a token of my appreciation for all you have done." Harm took out a hula girl and gave it to the captain then held out his hand.
The captain took Harm’s hand and shook it. "Good luck, Captain."
Harm nodded then followed a security contingent back to the shuttle bay. As he walked, Marta took up a position next to him. "What was that bit about a second Mariposa?"
"It's nothing..." He stopped, when she took him by the arm.
"Tell me."
"After Segue Six, Maranta Five, and Venecia, I realized my aversion to weaponized freighters was going to get someone killed. I'm your husband, the kids' father, and the scion of Houses Aymar and Irithyl, and I came close to failing all of you, so when Losi gave me Mariposa, I found another hull and built a second copy, only this one has enough firepower to take on a Protector-class battle cruiser. Since I do so much work with you and Team One, I stocked it with enough small-arms firepower to equip all EMEF Teams. That's what the kids are driving right now, and the little dickens have found a way to activate all offensive and defensive systems. I think the three of them have had it with us adults lollygagging and have taken matters into their own hands."
She stared at him. "Damn, you don't do anything small, do you?"
"Nope. I think we need to brief Team One, don't you?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. Harmon..."
"Yes, my love."
"You did real well. I'm proud of you."
He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Thanks."
###
Royce and the rest of Team One looked shocked when Harmon described the modifications he had made to Mariposa 2. "Sir, you think you might make some of those for us Marines?"
"I think Ciara has taken care of that. I imagine an order is being placed with Gloria for a few of them, though I have to say I'm impressed with this ship."
"It’s a prototype," Royce said. "We'll see how she does. This ship may be the shape of things to come. Harm, what did you find out from your probes?"
"There is a Trojan asteroid at L4 and it's ho
neycombed with passages and corridors. The kids are due to arrive at any moment. I can only assume they'll find an airlock and connect to it with the cloak still running, which will make it hard for us to find."
"What kind of heat are the three of them packing?" Master Sergeant Zon asked.
"You've been reading those detective novels, haven't you? The Mariposa has two racks of small arms—one under the lounge and one in the aft hold ceiling. Both racks contain standard EMEF weapons and gear from hunting knives to mini-gat-blasters. The report from the ship's computer indicates those teenagers are combat trained, I just don't know..." he stopped, when he looked at Royce. "Spit it out, Major."
"Team one and I showed them our stuff during our trip out from Ventos Prime. They seemed interested in what we did."
"Yeah, and I bet they could give you a run for your money in one-on-one combat just from that short exposure. These kids are hyper-intelligent sponges. Hell, they were able to commandeer one of my creations from only watching me fly a few legs of this trip. It’s like they were bred to survive. Gods, I would like to meet their biological parents."
"Why?" Stal asked.
"First, to see what gene pool produced them, then to punch them for making them orphans."
"Amen to that," Sana said.
"Look, we'll be there in half-an-hour, and I need to close my eyes. Do you need me for anything else?" Harm asked.
"No," Royce replied. "Go lie down. We'll wake you when we get there."
Harm waved, then walked over to a seat where he sat down and closed his eyes. He dreamed of Segue Six.
Chapter Fifteen
Christa, Bobby, and Torren stood over the ventral hatch and checked their equipment one final time. "Dad knows how to carry out a theme," Bobby noted while he checked his pulse rifle.
"What do you mean?" Torren asked as he did the same.
"Ventral and dorsal hatches are fairly useless on a freighter..." Bobby explained.
"Except as emergency exits," Christa continued.
"But they're great on assault craft..." Bobby said.
"Especially when they're equipped with universal docking collars..." Christa said as she took up the narrative.