Rebuilt: A Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Novel (Jake Dani / Mike Shapeck)

by Victory Crayne

  Rebuilt

  Jake Dani woke on Earth to find that everything he knew had changed. Gone were his clothes and his comm. Everyone he knew had attended his funeral. His girlfriend, Gancha, was wanted for murder. His friend Deek, a captain in the Zor Metro Police Department, was suspended while under investigation for tampering with evidence that Jake had provided. The Binger colony being setup in Telmot was in danger from the bigotry of anti-Bingers. His best buddy Ron had been killed. And a coup was being planned to take over the government of his adopted hometown. To top it all off, his nemesis wanted him dead—and was powerful enough to do it.

  All while Jake was a prisoner on Earth.

  The first five chapters are available for reading on www.crayne.com.

  “…is an extremely well-crafted espionage/sci-fi thriller. Readers will love this absorbing mystery and its strong, dynamic and influential hero.”

  - C. Putsche

  “It's a very nice blend and quite an imaginative story. Many are fleeing to the planet thinking they can escape their past such as their criminal past, dangerous past, or escape arrest. They bring old world thinking and views with them and bring this newly colonized planet back to a time where ignorance led to more crime and suffering, racial views askew with new world technology.”

  - B. Perez

  “If you love science fiction and suspenseful stories, you have to read this book! …fast-pace action scenes peppered with great dialogue. The characters created were colorful yet realistic. Unlike Earth, Rossa is run by a new set of rules. Criminals escape the cops by fleeing to Rossa, thinking no one will find them. Wrong.”

  - N. Light

  “I recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi, thriller and/or mystery combinations. One thing I particularly liked is that many of the supporting characters are well developed, atypical, and just plain fun.”

  - S. Barnes, editor

  “…runs an espionage ring on the planet Rossa, an overflow world where people go to escape an overcrowded Earth. Unfortunately, they take their [cultural] baggage with them. I can’t wait for the next novel, and neither will you. Read it today. I would award seven stars if I could, but I’ll have to settle for five. It’s that good.”

  - J. Bowers

  “The story hits the ground running and rarely lets up. The chance for the characters and the reader (me) to pause and catch my breath are few. Jake is in and out of trouble so often that you'd think he had an evil spirit riding on his shoulder. Well, such is the life of a spy, I guess. But if that's it, I'll pass and just read about it (more fun).

  The characters are well-developed and sympathetic (I don't like stories where I don't care what happens to the major characters).

  I'm sure the next book will be a fun ride too -- if Jake lives through it.

  - Tank

  Rebuilt

  By

  Victory Crayne

  Chapter 1

  “Where am I?”

  The room was unfamiliar. I was not at my apartment nor at the operations center. All I could remember was traveling to Earth and undergoing a nano-rejuvenation.

  I glanced around me.

  The walls sported a light blue on the top half and beige on the bottom. Except for the wall that housed the telly. That was white. The bed I lay in was large enough, especially in length. At six foot one, I often had difficulties in finding a bed I could be comfortable in.

  The room contained only my bed, a light brown dresser of four drawers on the wall opposite the foot of my bed, two upholstered chairs in a light brown print on my left, and a small circular brown table between them. On the wall opposite my bed was a telly. No mirror. On one wall rested a window but the dark blue curtain let in no light. The only door to my left was shut. The white and beige walls glowed to light up the room.

  I glanced at my left wrist but could not see my comm. Instead, I stared at the tattoo everyone received soon after they were born. In my baby years, the tattoo could be used to track my location in case I was kidnapped. Later, I got a comm to lay over it, powered by the heat of my blood. Everyone wore a comm and used theirs to communicate.

  No comm. Only the tattoo from my childhood.

  The red blanket on my bed didn’t ring any bells. I flipped the cover off and looked at the sheet. White. I had on thin light-blue pajamas I didn’t recognize.

  What the hell?

  I pulled the cover back and sat up on the edge of my bed. In front of my feet I spotted black slippers of the type worn in hospitals.

  None of this made any sense at all.

  Where the hell were the clothes I came in with?

  I put my feet into the slippers and walked to the window.

  “Open window.”

  The curtain remained closed.

  I looked for a cord to pull and found one on the left side. So I pulled it and stared at my hand. My fingers were different.

  The curtain slid aside but that didn’t help much. The window was covered with a black something. I touched it only to learn it was part of the glass or was painted on the outside. I could not scratch the covering. So I had no idea if it was daylight out or where I might be.

  That did it. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I rushed to the beige door.

  “Door open.”

  It didn’t.

  I looked for a slot and slid the door aside.

  One big guy in a green uniform turned toward me. Behind him stood three robots, dressed in the same green. It was hard to tell when a robot stood at attention. One thing was clear. All four were six feet or higher and looked strong.

  “Where am I?”

  The guy lifted his left wrist to his mouth.

  “He’s awake.”

  He gazed into my eyes.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but you must remain in your room until the doctor comes.”

  “Doctor?”

  Behind them I observed another wall across a wide hallway. It had the same color scheme as my room, blue on the top half and beige on the bottom.

  I turned to the human I had spoken to.

  “Can you at least tell me where I am?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. The doctor will explain everything.”

  He looked aside. “Door closed and locked.”

  The damn thing slid shut. I inserted my fingers in the slot and tried to slide the door aside as before, but it wouldn’t budge.

  I stared at the off-white color of the door.

  “Damn!”

  I was a prisoner.

  Chapter 2

  A glance around the room revealed no clock on any wall. Having nothing to do, I retreated to the bed for some serious thinking.

  I recalled going to the rejuvenation center to get a template made, paid for by my boss and spymaster, Acorn. I was a spy, as were many Bingers. My father Petro’s younger brother was Berry Dani, who was the Binger spymaster. Berry preferred to call himself by his code name of Acorn.

  An American and Japanese team developed the Bordland Drive for faster than light travel. Humanity finally got the chance to explore beyond the Solar System.

  Two years later, jump gates were discovered and humans migrated to the planet Rossa. At last, we became a multi-planet species. Then chaos came. On an exploratory mission, a Chinese spaceship encountered another species, the mercons from the planet Durr. As often happened when a group of humans met someone from outside their tribe, hostilities soon started.

  In the Earth-Durr war of 2035-2043, Dr. Bing used snippets of DNA from captured alien mercons to enhance human intelligence, strength, and healing abilities. He inserted the snippets into huma
n embryos and the children born of such experiments became known as Bingers.

  After the war ended, human prejudice against the hated mercons persisted and was directed onto the Binger children. Almost every Binger family had at least one member who had been killed in the persecutions. The families went underground and changed their names.

  Berry was a full Binger and had married Arlene Smith, a normal human. Their union had produced two sons, Charles and Albert.

  After graduating from college, Berry went to work for the American CIA and had received promotion after promotion until he worked his way up the org chart to second in command. Along the way, he learned everything he could about analysis, field operations and training. When the CIA purged itself of Bingers, he left before his own DNA was discovered.

  Then he formed the Binger Intelligence Service, which became known as BIS. He tried to recruit every Binger as soon as they finished their education, either from high school or college.

  His son Charles graduated with a bachelor’s degree and joined BIS. On a mission inside Russia, Charles Dani was killed.

  His brother Albert turned to a life of crime and on a one poorly planned caper, got caught while taking the jewelry of a rich man’s wife. Acorn pulled a few of his influential strings and managed to get the sentence for Albert commuted as long as he migrated to the new planet of Rossa and changed his name. Albert chose Ron Boscoe.

  On Rossa, Ron and I became buddies and I used his help on several of my private investigator contracts. At one time, Ron asked for my help on a spy mission. The idea was to rescue my father Petro. Petro had only joined BIS on condition that Acorn not recruit me. After I rescued my dad, and nearly got killed in the process, I made a deal with him. He was to drop out of BIS and go back home to Earth to care for my mom and run his engineering business. I would take his place as a BIS agent.

  I didn’t learn until later that Acorn could hardly believe his good fortune, for he had had his eyes on me for a long time.

  After several assignments on Rossa, in which I excelled as a spy, I heard rumors of my eventually replacing Berry.

  Six months ago, I got a coded message from Acorn. He was getting a template made in the rejuvenation clinic. Since there existed a small chance he would die during the process, he wanted me to take over BIS if he couldn’t.

  I breathed a sigh when he woke up. I didn’t really want to go to Earth and be stuck behind a desk.

  Later, he wanted me to come to the home planet and get a nano-rejuvenation template made too. On a BIS nickel. It wasn’t exactly a request. More like an order.

  And who wouldn’t want to get a template made? I could later return to the rejuvenation clinic and get a full rejuvenation done. I would have my body turned back to the age of my template but I’d get to keep my memories. Talk about the ideal solution to aging!

  Acorn said in his message, “I can only afford Second Class. Bring along my son. When you get here, you can spend a few days with your parents. I’d like to see Ron again.”

  Things were quiet on Rossa at the time, so we made the journey from Rossa to Earth, covering the twenty-five light years in thirteen days. I left Vincent Stone in charge of the BIS team in York on Rossa.

  My visit to my father Petro and my mother Maurine lasted three days. The last time I had seen them was five years earlier, and that was my dad only.

  When I arrived at the clinic, I changed into blue pajamas and allowed the doctor to inject a sedative into my left arm. The only sensation I got was the full feeling under my skin after the injector hissed. Gone were the days of needles piercing skin. Injectors used compressed air to press a solution under the skin over an artery.

  I went to sleep and woke up in this room by myself.

  Chapter 3

  What the hell can I do?

  If I had my comm, I could at least tag Acorn and get help.

  I thought of bursting through the door and overpowering the guy and bots on the other side. Even if I escaped, I still had on only my damn thin pajamas. And what would I do next? I needed a plan.

  While I waited, I heard a knock on the door.

  “Come in!” I yelled.

  The door slid aside and a woman in a brown business suit stood in front of the four guards. Her hands clasped a matching color purse. She entered and the door slid shut behind her.

  A Caucasian woman of five feet six inches, short black wavy hair, toned-down makeup, and wearing a maroon skirt suit and white blouse. The image was conservative and professional. She extended her hand with a smile.

  “I'm Dr. Deanna Boyne.”

  Her handshake was gentle but confident, the kind that put a patient at ease.

  “Please come in, Dr. Boyne. I apologize for my lack of attire.”

  “I understand, Mr. Dani. May I call you Jake?”

  “Of course. And where are the clothes I came in here with?”

  “Your pajamas were a simple precaution to discourage you from leaving until I had a chance to explain.”

  “And you have lots of that to do, Dr. Boyne. I came here for a template, not incarceration.”

  “Shall we sit at the table and talk?”

  She pointed with her head to the small table between the two guest chairs centered under the window.

  She sat in the one closest to the door.

  If I hoped to get any answers, I had better listen. So I parked my butt in the other chair.

  I saw her comm on her wrist and wondered about overpowering her and taking it. But she could have it coded only to respond to her voice. I still needed a plan.

  “Mr. Dani, something unusual has happened. This has happened only twice before, at other rejuv clinics, but this is a first here.”

  I sat back, alarmed.

  Oh oh.

  She was going to tell me I came out “different.”

  I couldn’t tell if something was wrong. How could I? I still had two arms and hands, two legs and feet, and a head.

  My god! My face! Was she going to tell me I had a different face?

  “I assure you, the template went successfully. You are the same person.”

  I must have exhaled because she smiled. I pulled my eyebrows down.

  “Then why are you here and why am I prisoner in this room?”

  She replied, “After our talk, you are free to go.”

  I stood and walked to the door.

  “Door open.”

  It did and I stared at the guy with the three bots.

  Then I froze and turned my head in her direction.

  “What did you mean by ‘something unusual has happened’?”

  “Please close the door.”

  “Door close.”

  This time the damned thing obeyed me.

  I took the chair opposite her.

  She stared at me as if she were forming her response carefully. “I'll explain everything, but first I want you to close your eyes and take ten deep and slow breaths.”

  “Relax, eh?”

  She nodded.

  I did and when I finished and opened my eyes, she continued.

  “What I have to tell you is going to require you be patient. Something unusual has happened to you. First, let me assure you your procedure worked flawlessly. There is nothing wrong with you.”

  “Then why can't I leave?”

  She put up the palm of her hand as if to silence me.

  “Sometimes life gives us surprises, and not always good ones. Sometimes we draw a hand of cards with a disaster in it. It's how we handle it that makes all the difference between a well-adjusted and happy life. Or a broken and bitter one.

  “You went through the template procedure and the results were normal. But I'm afraid it's later than you think. More than a few hours have passed since you came in to the clinic. As a matter of fact, more than a few days.”

  Whoa!

  “How long?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It's been more than a few weeks.”

  That made both
of my eyebrows arch and I opened my eyes wide.

  She continued, “As a matter of fact, it's been five months.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “What?”

  Oh oh. Had I been in a coma?

  “You went through the template procedure and woke up normally. You left the clinic and went home. Unfortunately, events after that led to a tragedy…and, I'm sorry to say, but you didn't make it.”

  I had died? Memories of the pre-op briefing came to mind. I had been told that I might die during the operation, but her explanation didn't sound right. I had gone home and died?

  Then the truth slammed into my brain.

  I was a rebuilt. Brought back to life from the template of Jake Dani.

  #

  Most folks who can afford to get a template wait until they showed signs of aging, usually after thirty years. If they had the money and could afford it, they could go back to a clinic, and get the age of their body turned back while retaining their memories. Telomeres would be lengthened, fat would be reduced, and connective tissue rebuilt.

  If they waited another thirty or so years, they could return to the rejuv clinic and get a new body but with their accumulated memories intact. There appeared to be no limit to the number of rejuvenations one could have but so far only a few hundred people had done rejuvs twice. None had done more than two.

  It had never happened but there was another possibility. That of being rebuilt from scratch.

  This could only happen if the person died and someone else paid to have them “rebuilt” from their last rejuv or template. If that happened, the “new” person would have the memories as well as the body from the time they had their last rejuv or template. But no memories after that. Couldn’t. Those memories were not available as of the last rejuv or template.

  And, of course, provided the dead body was used. If none was available, a cadaver could be used. But the memories and DNA of the cadaver would be destroyed.

  In my case, I had only one template done and no rejuvs.

  “How long ago?”