Near Future 1: Awakening
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And then the Organization had attacked the family of Doctor Randolph, resulting in the death of his wife and his daughter Julie being injured so severely that she was in a deep coma. Jon had secretly watched the VR of the violin concert solo Julie had played just before the attack, and he fell in love with her and her music. He alone knew it was his uncle that had ordered the attack, led the men there, and he was sure it was his uncle that had fired the fatal missile. He always had to carry the biggest gun, so he knew it was him. He secretly vowed to find a way to stop his uncle and the rest of them.
The first step on the path to recovery of his soul had begun when he was assigned to a team sent to infiltrate the hospital to check on the status of Doctor Randolph's daughter. He asked to get on the team, playing the part of the anxious young recruit who had wanted to do more for the Organization. His uncle bought it all hook, line, and sinker. Once on the team he used his considerable skills to set the others up to get caught in a raid by Space Tech and the local authorities. He sent them an anonymous tip, but he fudged the VR signature to look like it came from one of the other team members.
Jon used the time when no one knew where he was to send a VR message to Doctor Sam Randolph's brother Ted, the medical doctor, and arrange to meet him at the hospital. He then used his abilities to make his way through all the security to reach the hospital room where Julie was kept, and that was where the doctor found him, tears running down his face as he looked at her. The security team had been ready to grab him, but it was obvious to Ted that he meant no harm, so the doctor called the team off.
"I am so sorry for what they have done," Jon told him. "I am willing to do what it takes to bring them down, and especially my uncle, who is the one that is responsible for this." He pointed at Julie who was lying without moving in the hospital room, head wrapped in bandages and lots of equipment hooked up to her. "Her music was that of an innocent who cared deeply for the world and those in her circle of family and friends. And he has taken her away from her family and from the world."
"I am willing to become a deep mole within the Organization, working however long it takes to get you what you need to take them down. I have considerable skills," he went on to say, pointing to his surroundings. "With all of your most excellent security, I was able to get this far. I expect it will take a long time to get you what you need, but I'm your man if you will have me."
That was when he had started to work for Space Tech, and he slowly helped them chip away at the Organization, always managing to make it look as if it was someone else that was the leak or it was some other point of failure. To make it more believable, a couple of times he even made himself look like the hero by saving someone at the last minute who would have been caught otherwise.
It had been hard, too. On one occasion he and one of the men he had set up were called in to see his uncle. He was more than a little nervous about that, but he couldn't see how they could have caught on to him. His uncle was standing there waving around the pistol he loved to carry with him. "I've called you two here because I wanted to show you what we do to traitors." Raising his pistol, his uncle shot the man in the head while he was standing beside Jon. Jon had almost freaked out, but his uncle then turned to him, "Jon, they told me you were the one who helped us catch this man. Thanks for being such a big help to the Organization."
The incident had reinforced to Jon that he had to be extremely careful in everything he did, instead of what his uncle had intended it to do. That, and it made him hate the man even more.
All of this had enabled Jon to earn the reputation as the troubleshooter for the Organization. This resulted in two things that were very good for Jon. It eliminated him from being assigned to a terrorist team, something he could never have done if he had been asked to do it. And it let him get himself deeper into the inner circle of the Organization, where he was able to learn more and more about what they were planning.
Jon had just received some information that he considered a serious problem. He had learned that the Organization had planned an attack on the Space Academy, and they were sending a research team in to verify everything was in place for the attack. He had barely caught the information in time to get assigned to the group. They were going in as part of the construction work in the area. The main area of construction was at the observatory for the telescope being built at the school, and the only resource they had there was an outside crew that had been loaned to them by their sponsors. He had no idea what they were doing there, but they were the ones setting up the attack. His group was going in for observation only, taking advantage of a subcontract job at the library that required completing the installation of fiber optic cable. Jon was going as the one in charge of the connections in the server room.
Jon's plan was to try to warn the school in time to prevent the attack from being successful. He already had picked out the fall guy for his team, the one he would make look like was the leak. It was a man he really didn't like, so he didn't mind setting him up. From his position in the server room, he would be able to send the warnings and give the messages the right amount of bread crumbs leading to the other man. It would take a subtle approach. It couldn't be too obvious, or they might see through it.
CHAPTER SIX
New Beginnings
Local universities begin the spring term midweek and all the local schools say attendance is up this year, especially in the technical fields. The local test admission scores average was up a quarter of a percentage point, surprising many who expected it to remain unchanged, but one official warned it was a statistical anomaly which would likely reverse after this term. Off the record the official, who requested to remain anonymous, said that a single score had been received that was the highest he had ever seen, and that one score had moved the average. He could not give any clue as to who was the genius that recorded the new high as all test scores are maintained in the strictest confidence, and only reported in aggregate to the statistical group. The official did indicate the score was verified by the testing agency.
#
On the next Monday, Zeke and Emily met Miranda at the hospital to take her to school. They were going a couple of days before classes started to help Miranda get settled in. Once again, Miranda had to be wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair. This time, however, Doctor Ted accompanied them to the door. Looking directly at Miranda, he gave her his sternest look. "I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to keep the monitoring device with you. And that you must call me if anything, anything happens."
"Yes, Dad. I suppose you'll want to know about my first date and everything," Miranda said with a laugh. "Seriously, I will call if anything happens."
As usual, Zeke was the chauffeur, and he picked them up at the door. As they started the drive toward the school, Zeke gave them a big smile. "Well, I've got bad news for you two. The guy that was the RA for your floor heard that you were coming and dropped out of school, so guess who is the new RA?" He proudly put on a baseball cap with the letters "RA" printed on it.
Emily laughed, "That's ok, I know how to handle you after so many years of practice. And I'm sure you'll figure it out pretty quickly that with the two of us as roomies, I'll be on Miranda's side, too."
Zeke grinned. "Yes, but you also need to remember that I am responsible for PT for our group. Physical Training but we all call it Pain and Torture. So keep that in mind, If necessary I can require extra work in PT." He laughed at Emily's grimace. PT was not one of her favorite pastimes at the school. Then he got serious. "But more importantly, I will get to watch out for you, Miranda, and help you transition into your PT. Don't worry, Miranda, you are excused until Doctor Ted releases you, so you have some time."
Then Emily turned to Miranda with a serious look and said, "I need to warn you, Miranda. Caitlyn is also attending our school. Her father has a lot of money, and he's paying for her tuition since we don't have any athletic scholarships. At least she will be in the athletic dorm and not in our dorm. Their ve
rsion of PT really is torture and once every few weeks they will get to lead the whole school in PT. Luckily they just had their slot. What do you want to bet that Caitlyn gets it when it's their turn and tries to take it out on you."
Miranda gave a sigh. "Yes, I figured Caitlyn would be here, but I hope she stays away from me. And I guess I will just have to be ready when she gets the slot."
Zeke gave Miranda one of his patented looks. "Fat chance of you avoiding her and Em's right about the PT. I tried to tell Caitlyn that I'm not interested in her, but she didn't listen. And with you rooming with Em and staying in the same dorm as me, it probably will only make it worse."
Miranda sighed and figured she would have to try to avoid the girl as much as possible. She decided to change the subject. "So, guys, what classes are you taking?" Miranda knew that with her testing out of all her basics, she probably wouldn't have any classes with Emily, and she wasn't planning on taking any computer classes.
Of course, Miranda was right. Emily was taking basic courses and she said as much. "Most of them should be easy but I'm really worried about my math class. Everyone says the teacher is very hard and the book is horrible."
Miranda assured her, "I'm pretty good at math. I'm sure that I will be able to help. What else are roomies for?"
Zeke was taking advanced computer courses. "Just a couple of computer classes and the new class they started teaching this year on AI design. Geek 300!" he said, really not wanting to come across as one, but he had realized a long time ago that you might as well embrace it.
Emily pointed a finger at her brother and said, "The boy is quite the genius with his computers. He is the reason we are both here. That, and the fact that our father is a retired colonel from the Air Force, and he pretty well gets everything he wants. He worked out a deal for us both to come here since Zeke was so highly sought after. We are like you in that we will be considered reserve officers, and will not be required to complete a term of service for our attendance. And Zeke is far enough ahead, he will have enough credit to graduate at the end of this term if he wants to." She gave her brother a strange look. He knew where she was going with that. They would have to wait and see, wouldn't they?
Zeke tried to play down his ability and asked Miranda, "And what exactly are you taking for your classes?"
Miranda had hoped to stay quiet about her classes, but she should have known that they would be asking. "I am taking an advanced math, astrophysics, an astronomy class, and a special projects class. I am a little worried about the special projects class, because I will have to team up with someone else in the class. I guess by this time, the two of you have figured out that I am a little shy about meeting new people."
Emily looked at her brother with one of her special little smiles and said, "Zeke, don't you still have one course to add to your classes for this term? You should take this class and be Miranda's partner. You two would be able to work closely together I am sure."
Zeke gave her one of the looks he reserved for his sister who was always meddling in his business. He had thought she would slow down after the disaster with the Caitlyn therapy trips. He knew that she was sorry about that one. Hah! At least that enabled the two of us to meet Miranda, something that wouldn't have happened without that. But he didn't say any of that. "Well maybe. I'll have to think about it."
They arrived at the school, with Zeke letting Emily and Miranda out in front of the dorm. Miranda and Emily easily found their room and unpacked, with Miranda finishing quickly and then helping Emily. A little later Zeke drug them off on a tour of the campus. They also showed Miranda the food court and the place she suspected would become her favorite spot, the coffee shop.
Returning to the dorm, the girls spent the evening chatting. Miranda talked about her memory problem, and explained how it was funny that she could remember how to use a VR on a computer, but she didn't know what foods that she liked until she tried them, just like her love of coffee that she had discovered. The worst thing was she couldn't remember anything about who she was or her parents. When she talked about her parents, Emily saw that there were tears in her eyes and hugged her. Eventually, they moved on and chatted about less serious things, with Emily going on and on about this and that at the school.
#
The next day, Emily had to meet her mother downtown, so Miranda wandered about the campus. She had a map she could see on her HUD, but she wanted to see the real layout and what everything looked like up close. She first came to the military training area, complete with a shooting range, armory, and who knew what else. She wondered how well she would be able to do in the training program there. Somehow she felt that she had trained with basic firearm and self-defense skills, but she had no idea why she thought that and she doubted that she had done that well with it.
Moving past the training area, she came to the soccer field where the girls' team was practicing, including Caitlyn. She watched Caitlyn playing soccer and admitted that the girl was really good, but she couldn't believe the way she hogged the ball in practice. She was distracted by another student who walked up and turned back just as a soccer ball was coming toward her head. Without thinking, she snagged it out of the air. She looked up to see Caitlyn holding her hands up like it was an accident, but she knew that it was done on purpose.
Miranda also knew there was nothing she could do about it, but she couldn't resist throwing the ball back to Caitlyn. It wasn't her fault if she threw it back a little too hard. The look on Caitlyn's face when she caught it was enough.
Knowing she'd made things worse, but feeling a little smug about it anyway, she left the soccer field and came to a number of the major buildings of the school. When she got to the library, which they had not gone inside the day before, she excitedly rushed in to take a look. She saw many books and was glad that libraries had some real books even though everything today was electronic. Then she saw a sign that said "Special Research." So she followed the arrows to a new area in the library that had no books, but several computer stations and a number of small rooms that she guessed were for enhanced computer access. She heard a sound, and looked up to see an older man with white hair. When he came toward her with a friendly smile, she assumed that he was a librarian, so she gave him a nervous smile of her own.
He quietly said, "I have a treat for you, if you will follow me." He led her to the biggest of the separate rooms, just sticking his head in the door and announcing to the AI, "Grant all Access." Smiling, he walked away, leaving Miranda staring at him as he left.
Miranda couldn't help but wonder why he didn't even ask who she was or why she was there. Or if that was the appropriate access level. But then when she stepped into the room, a full-sized VR interface opened up in front of her and she stared in amazement. She had no idea such an interface existed. It filled the whole room and many objects appeared life sized when she pulled them up. She could even walk around and look at something from every angle. She spent a few minutes playing with it, but suddenly she realized that she could research her physics problem with the full tools available to the school. She then spent hours diving into the problem until suddenly a floating VR information icon appeared in front of her with a message, "The library is closing in 15 minutes. Please, complete your work and bring any books you need to the automated checkout station."
Miranda realized that she had a severe headache and was feeling a little dizzy. She also noticed for the first time that she had a VR message from Emily saying, "Pizza in the room..." That made Miranda realize just how hungry she was, too.
As soon as she could get her equilibrium back, Miranda headed to the dorm room. She didn't mention the library. Classes were starting the next day, so Emily was ready to crash early, and that was perfect for Miranda, still fighting the headache although the pizza helped with the dizziness. She dreamed of a giant VR in a hangar in what was obviously Space Tech Space Station. In the dream, a beautiful little space ship seemed to coalesce out of the VR image. Many, many years later, she wo
uld remember that dream and smile.
#
As Zeke knew, Miranda had been excused from the morning PT for the first week and she continued to walk with a limp. However, she didn't find getting to class to be especially difficult, since all of her textbooks were electronic and once downloaded, she only had to carry her pad. The notes and assignments from the professors for all of her classes were also available in a similar manner. And to Miranda, all the classes seemed easy but at the same time very interesting. The special projects class did not start until the next week, so Miranda walked down to the lab where she was amazed at all the equipment they had. She wanted to try her idea for the project, but wondered if the project class would give them a big enough budget in the class to accomplish it, and more importantly, if she could get anyone to work on it with her.
Early afternoon found Miranda at the shooting range for the first class of her military training this term. It was taught by a former Sergeant from the military. He was not only a large man that appeared very competent, but he was very smart and Miranda sensed an edge about him. That man had served in combat; of that she was certain. He told them that on their first day all of the students would be shooting for their baseline to determine their handicap for the various internal competitions for the term.
Everyone was given a pistol and strongly worded safety instructions on how to load and how to handle the pistol for shooting. Then they were each assigned to a shooting station, and were all instructed to take a test shoot, each student firing five shots at the target. Miranda stepped up to her station and without thinking, rapidly fired her five shots. She gasped when she realized that she had hit the center of the bull's-eye five times. When the instructor walked up and retrieved her target, he assumed that she had missed four times and luckily hit the bull's-eye one time, because each shot had passed through the same hole at the exact center, leaving only one mark. Realizing that she should not have been able to do what she had just done, she wisely kept quiet about it.