by Randal Sloan
Smiling as if nothing had happened, she said, “Sorry, guys, I guess we had some kind of technical issue, but it looks like everything is back now. Thanks again for your time today, I think we will end it here. See you next year.”
Calmly walking off the stage, Julie quickly answered Zeke’s frantic call on the coms, the communications having come back up. “I heard you,” she told him. “I don’t know how, but I did. Two snipers, both dead now, but thank you. You’d better tell security they’re up in the balcony area.”
Julie had reached the edge of the stage. She paused there a moment, telling Zeke, “I love you. See you in a few minutes.”
Stepping off the stage, she walked through the crowd, shaking hands and thanking them for coming to the meeting. She was met at the door by security who escorted her to a vehicle. Stopping, she turned and waved, and then entered the car.
Zeke was waiting for her, and he pulled her into his arms. “How did you do that?” she asked him.
“I knew something was happening, then the coms went out, and I was terrified something would happen to you. I sort of screamed it in my head. Somehow, you heard me.” Zeke was staring at her. Even knowing it was true, he had trouble believing it.
“However it happened, I heard it and I knew it was you. I moved just before the bullet would have passed through where I was standing. That’s the second time you’ve saved me now.”
“I was freaking when the lights went out, but I could feel you, and I knew you were alright. I even somehow felt it when you threw the knives, and knew, like you, when they hit their target. This thing we have, it is freaking awesome, but we can’t tell anyone, not even your uncle.” Zeke looked at her intently.
Julie nodded. “No,” she said. “That probably wouldn’t be a good idea. We should definitely keep this one to ourselves.” Smiling, she looked at him. “I love you,” Julie thought, concentrating on Zeke.
“I love you too,” Zeke thought back, a huge smile on his face. The rest of the ride passed with Zeke holding tightly to her, the two of them sharing in their closeness after the near miss and in wonder at what they had just discovered.
#
When they got to Space Tech headquarters, they went straight to Julie’s office. Zeke turned to Julie. “Listen, before your uncle and the others get here, I need to talk to you. I want to learn some of the stuff you know. Not the crazy monk stuff, but I think I need to work on my shooting, and the self-defense stuff. The next time I want to be able to make sure you are safe.”
Julie knew he was serious — it was so strong, she could feel it in their connection. “Probably the best thing to do would be to set you up at the school our group of mercenaries have been using. It won’t be easy, they’re going to resent you showing up straight out of the academy with no experience as far as they are concerned. To make it worse, you will have to hide some of what you can do.
“Before then, though, we can use Space Academy’s VR training facility. With school still out, we can reserve it and I will show you how to disable the recording so you can practice it all safely. I learned all of the basic moves there. Not the same as real opponents, but it will be a good place to start.”
Uncle Ted and Carla came rushing in. “Are you ok?” he asked Julie, “Security found two dead snipers, each with a knife in one of their eyes.” He was obviously puzzled by the whole thing.
Julie showed him her arms, sliding her sleeves up to show her sheaths with two knives missing. “Those would be mine. I want them back, too.”
He could only stare at her. “That had to be over a hundred feet, at least. No way you could see them either, because you killed the lights.”
Julie shook her head. “I just followed the sound of the shot back on the first, and I heard the second one before he could shoot.”
They stared incredulously at her, everyone but Zeke, who knew very well what she could do.
But she went on. “Needless to say, we will need a cover story as I don’t want people knowing I can do that. How about this, I hired some of the Tibetan monks for security and they took them out? Actually, I’m going to do that from now on anyway. Our guys didn’t do so good. Too much emphasis on technology. How did those men get in there and how did they get the rifles there?”
Of course, no one had any answers. Julie was glad he didn’t ask her how she knew they were there. He probably thought the sniper just missed. Really? At that range. He would have to have been totally incompetent. No, she totally agreed with Zeke that they had to keep it secret, and since Uncle Ted didn’t ask, she didn’t have to lie. Fortunately for her, her uncle decided to move on.
Uncle Ted was excited by the results of the conference. “Our stock is up nearly ten percent. You were superb and had them eating out of your hand by the time it was over. And they don’t know you weren’t bluffing about what is coming. The eggheads tell me your power system has been running at one hundred percent power all week without a blip. As soon as you are ready to talk about starting production, we are going to have to work out how we are going to introduce it to the world. I expect it is going to take some negotiations to do that without catastrophic results.”
Julie was ready for that one. “I have some ideas about that. I have been thinking about it for weeks now. But I want to keep running it a little while longer before we declare it safe. I absolutely do not anticipate any problems, but we don’t want to find one later. I am glad for what it will mean to us, but to me what is so exciting is what it will mean to everyone on earth in the near future. The real solution to global warming, the cheap energy fusion power has been promising the world for decades, but has been unable to deliver. Maybe the world economies will finally get out of this cycle of near recession that they keep toying with.”
Julie looked at Zeke, then went on, “I know you have been following Zeke’s progress on the AI he is building. It’s the core of the control system to the power systems, so we already know it works. He is really close to having a working prototype for his personal AI, and we have started the process on the patents for them. That’s another one that is going to be big, too. There is going to be a huge market for them. We’ll have to include that in any plans we make.”
Uncle Ted nodded. “I have been somewhat keeping up with his progress. Basically you are creating two new divisions of the company that may be as big as the rest of the company on their own. When you are ready to follow up, I suggest you begin with the Presidential Science Advisor. We have worked well with him in the past, although nothing like we are talking about now.”
Julie smiled at her uncle. That was a good idea. “Give us a week or so. We’ll be ready.”
#
Later that evening, Ted gave Julie a VR call. “We just got a private message from Jon Rupert, our mole in the Organization. He’s now working on their space station. Unfortunately, he happens to be one of those who suffer from space sickness, and because he was sick, he missed the information about the failed assassination attempt. It appears he is very upset about that, and I believe that his regret is very much sincere. He was really glad to hear that you were ok. Anyway, I think that is mostly good news. I had been worried that he was no longer going to be a useful resource, since he didn’t warn us about the assassins.”
Julie nodded at that. She had been worried about the same thing, or that something had happened to him. “So does he know when they will be meeting up in space now? Obviously they didn’t try to do it yet, or we would have seen it in the news. Maybe now we can do something about it when they do have the meeting.”
Ted gave her a weak smile. He really didn’t want Julie to get involved, but he knew she would. It really was the perfect opportunity. So, with some reluctance, he explained what Jon had told him. “He doesn’t know for sure. He does still think they will have that meeting with all their leaders up here, but he doesn’t know yet when that will be. He thinks it will be about a month from now, but he doesn’t have an exact date. He will give us more details when he has th
em.”
“That’s perfect. I should have the new attack ship ready by then. That is good information to have. Maybe, finally, we will be able to strike a big blow against the Organization. Thanks, Uncle Ted.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Working It All Out
The stockholders meeting out of the way, the next day Julie started building the prototype drive. She still had not been able to figure out exactly where her father’s ship had gone or why they hadn’t heard from them, but she was determined to go looking for them. She had a strong feeling about needing it soon. A ship with the new drive would need to be ready as soon as she could get it built. She would need that time to test and scale up to the size ship she would need to go get her father and his shipmates.
The other reason for the rush was Julie’s own need for a ship, the attack ship she had alluded to in the discussion about the Organization Space Station. Julie had already explained her plans to her uncle about the new prototype ship she was building, which would include the new drive and a suitable weapons load-out. She had determined that it was not practical to use the prototype drive in the ships her father had already built. She left them for station defense and anti-pirate protection, since they were still going to need that for some time.
Instead she designed from scratch a smaller ship, which she decided to call a corvette, both for its size and for the speed she foresaw it possessing. By designing the smaller ship from scratch, this allowed her to do the math to define the fields precisely to fit the ship. Once she got it to work, she would later build the bigger ship to go after her father.
Zeke was working on his personal AI, and Julie could sense his thoughts toward her while he was working. When they both reached a stopping point, they broke for lunch in the Space Tech private dining room, spending a few minutes together. But it wasn’t long until both were back at work. Zeke was very close to finishing his prototype of the personal AI and he was now just about one hundred percent physically, something that Julie was glad to see.
#
Julie and Zeke had something important to do that evening. The words that they had spoken right before the stockholders meeting were burned into Julie’s brain. They would have been even without her perfect recall. They were going to get an engagement ring and at least unofficially announce their engagement. There was just no reason to wait as far as the two of them were concerned.
A very happy Zeke met her after work with a big smile on his face. “I’ve gotten an advance on my salary — you are paying me way too much, by the way. So this one is on me, as it should be.”
Caitlyn had given them the name of a jeweler, so the two drove to the jeweler’s store to look, Julie full of excitement. There they met Ephraim Razael, a man of obvious Persian descent. He was very pleased to meet with them, although Julie sensed it wasn’t just because of who she was. She could tell that he really cared for his craft and very much wanted to help her find what she wanted. With a broad smile on his face, he brought them to his back room where he kept his most prized jewels. Julie had insisted they keep it reasonably sized, much to his chagrin, but she told him she wanted it to be from his collection of the highest quality jewels.
They had looked at a few that were beautiful to look at but not what she wanted. Then the jeweler picked up a ring with a cluster of diamonds arranged around a reasonably large center stone. When she saw it, she knew that was the one. To her it was absolutely beautiful. “This is it,” she breathed, looking at Zeke with tears in her eyes. She turned back toward Ephraim. “If we pay you a bonus, can we have it ready by tomorrow?” She was almost pleading.
Ephraim had been sold by the look in her eyes, but he wouldn’t turn down a bonus. He also knew that this wasn’t the time to try to sell her anything else. She would be back when she was ready. “Yes, my lady. I would be quite pleased to do so. And may I say, you two make a lovely couple. You are near the age of my granddaughter, who I suspect is going to be visiting with me soon.” His smile was obviously genuine. Julie could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.
Ephraim had a specialized piece of equipment in which he had Julie place her hand. Besides measuring her exact ring size, in less than a minute it generated and then printed a perfect 3D replica of the ring, causing Julie to exclaim in delight. What a delightful way to use the technology. She slipped it on her finger, imagining it to be the real one. They paid a down payment and made arrangements to be back to pick it up the next day. Of course, the evening was ripe for a celebration and they wound up at their favorite pizza spot.
They wanted to announce it to family and friends over the weekend. The next morning, Julie asked Caitlyn to make the arrangements. “Set up a small party for this weekend. Invite Ted and Carla, Zeke’s parents, you and Joe, and Emily. Thomas if Emily wants him there.”
Of course, Caitlyn tried to pry it out of her. “What should I tell them is the reason for the party?” she asked, going for her most innocent look.
Julie knew Caitlyn suspected the exact reason, but couldn’t know for sure. No way was she telling her. Instead, she told Caitlyn, “My apartment is fine, and have it catered please.” She quickly ended the call, knowing that Caitlyn would figure it out from her face if she gave her the chance. At least this way she could make Caitlyn have a doubt or two.
The next day both Zeke and Julie tried to work on their separate projects, but they were both distracted. Finally, Zeke couldn’t take it any longer. Not even his AI could keep Zeke occupied. He gave up, calling Julie on his VR. “It’s time,” he told her,.
Julie was practically dancing on the other end of his call. “Yes,” she breathed, flicking a finger to save her work. “I will see you in a minute.”
Luckily for Julie, the jewelry store wasn’t very far away. Although they were several minutes early, Ephraim had everything ready. Julie was certain about the tears this time as he completed the sale, gently inviting her to come see him anytime she needed anything. Although jewelry would never be a huge priority for her, Julie knew she would be back. She never intended to shop anywhere else.
When they arrived back at Julie’s apartment, Zeke distracted Julie by showing off his AI, using voice commands to tell it to screen his VR messages and calls and to sort his email and prioritize it. Finally, he asked the AI, “Did you order the champagne?” and it told him, “Yes, I have delivery confirmation, outside the doorway ten minutes ago.”
When Julie went to the door to look out, there it was in a decorative container with ice and a note saying, “Congratulations! May your life together be blessed.”
Laughing, Julie brought it in, just in time to see Zeke on his knee holding the ring. When he asked, “Julie, will you marry me?” she rushed to him, “Yes! Yes!” He slipped the ring on her finger and they held each other close for a moment.
He popped the cork on the champagne, saying, “I’ve never had it before…” and Julie laughed, “me either… Or anything else with alcohol, but this is certainly the occasion for it.” They sat there together, sipping the champagne and looking in each other’s eyes. Finally, Zeke told her, “I had better go.” However, it took quite a few minutes to complete their goodnights. As usual they both were able to sense the other from the apartments during the night, but the sense of connection felt just a little stronger to Julie than even before.
Julie spent the next morning in her apartment working in VR, reading and working on notes from tests, getting ready to test the drive the next week. Zeke spent the day playing with his AI, but a couple of times he sensed Julie looking toward him, and smiled. Afternoon, they started getting ready for the party, with Julie splurging to get her hair done.
The party went smoothly with all their family and friends there, even Thomas, who came with Emily. He was surprised to see Julie and asked about Miranda. He was probably getting a little suspicious, but Julie managed to distract him by sending him an electronic contract for the money promised the band.
Everyone relaxed, enjoyed the time together,
and bragged on the catered dinner. When Julie said something about Zeke’s AI, of course he had to show it off. He managed to generate excitement and even laughter a couple of times with its antics.
Then Zeke sensed Julie looking his way, so he stood, walking over to her. Holding hands, they told them, “We are engaged!”
The girls were all excited, immediately rushing over together to see the ring, and the guys had to shake Zeke’s hand. Uncle Ted gave Julie a big hug, whispering his congratulations in her ear.
“No date yet,” Julie told them, “We’ve got to wait till my father is back. We plan for the wedding to be family and friends only. We were thinking maybe a church garden but we haven’t figured any exact plans out yet. You guys will be the first to know when we know anything.”
#
The next Monday, Julie tried to settle back into work. It went slowly the whole day, her heart just wasn’t in the day-to-day work. Luckily, late that afternoon, Zeke stopped work to spend some time with her. He was just as distracted. When her uncle and Carla came by, Julie took that as an opportunity. “Let’s all go into my conference room. We need to talk.”
When they were all in the room, Julie told her uncle, “We’ve been putting this off, but I think we are ready to go forward with the power system and Zeke’s personal AI. What is our next step? The last time we talked about it, you mentioned the US Presidential Science Advisor?”
Uncle Ted nodded. “That’s right. He’s the one we have contacted regarding any technology that we were planning to introduce. Never anything quite like this, of course.”
Ted turned to Carla. “It’s time for our military liaison to earn her money. Please make the arrangements for the Presidential Science Advisor to contact us as soon as possible. We need to warn them what’s coming. The new power system is going to turn the world’s energy market upside down. Even with the government’s red tape, I’m betting maybe six months before the first commercial power unit? And if we put the electronics and the control system in a sealed unit, no one will be able to copy it, even illegally.”