Binary Pair

by Michael-Scott Earle

  And I had also told both women I needed to work through my feelings. Should I even be kissing either of them if I didn’t know where our relationship would go? Was I leading them both on? Was I painting myself into a corner where I ended up sleeping with both women? The idea felt wrong to me, but kissing both of them felt wonderful.

  We could die today. Fuck, we probably were going to die. If it weren’t the Lith Dae, or the drones, or whatever security measures were in the bunkers, it would be whatever monster or technology we found in the black temple. My relationship between Zea and Eve didn’t make much sense to me, and maybe it never would, but I leaned down to her chair and kissed her anyways.

  Her mouth was eager, warm, and passionate. She let out a small hum of pleasure when our tongues touched, and her hands reached up to cup my face. We gasped when our lips parted, and then we kissed each other again.

  “Damn,” she sighed when we parted a second time. Her fingers stroked my cheek, and she bit her bottom lip. “I want this to work out.”

  “I do too,” I whispered.

  “But I don’t see how it will,” her voice matched my whisper, and she frowned.

  “Maybe it won’t,” I said.

  “I need time.” She looked away from me, but her hands didn’t move from my face.

  “Same,” I said.

  “You should stop kissing me then.” She looked back to me and smirked.

  “I’ll work on it,” I replied with a chuckle.

  “Damn it. Don’t do that. Kiss me forever.” She raised her mouth again, and our lips met for the third time.

  “There, now Eve got one, and I got three. I’m such a catty bitch.” Z sighed again and then let her fingers fall from my cheek. “Go kick some ass, and don’t get killed.”

  “Bye Zea,” I said as I stood away from her. Then I turned and walked back toward the elevator.

  “Bye, Adam.” I heard her say, but then I was in the elevator and heading back down to the hold.

  The cars were positioned to drive down the ramp, and I gave them all a final glance before I reached the point car. Paula was sitting in the front seat, Kasta was sitting in one of the rear ones with her suitcase on her lap, and the open seat had my rifle in it. I was bringing the GKS multi-caliber assault rifle since we had the most ammo for it. I also liked how the gun performed the first time we escaped the drones. I still wore my twin pistols on my hips, and my massive chrome revolver was strapped to my chest in case something went wrong with the rifle.

  “We are good to go,” I said as I jumped into the chair next to Kasta.

  “Got it,” Paula said, and then she pressed a button on the front dashboard to close the metal hatch.

  Then we were rolling down Persephone's ramp and on to the road outside the city.

  “All cars are unloaded,” Kasta said into her transponder.

  “Copy that,” Zea replied. “I’m lifting off. Just in time too. Lith Dae’s shuttle just entered the atmosphere. Eve, you’ll probably have them in a few minutes.”

  “I arrived at the government center only moments ago,” the vampire said. “I’ll wait in the car until they arrive.”

  “Be at the southeast bunker in three and a half minutes,” Kasta said. “Then we’ll hold for you two to do your hacking magic.”

  “Got it,” Zea and Eve both said, and then Kasta took her finger off the transponder button.

  “Do you ever get nervous?” Paula turned around to look at me.

  “Yeah. Always actually,” I said. “It does lessen the more of these you do, but I don’t think it goes away.”

  “I’m really nervous,” Paula admitted, and I did see that her face was pale.

  “It’s reasonable to be nervous, but I’ll do my best to protect you both,” I said.

  “We know,” Kasta replied with a nod.

  “Are you sending some cars to the northwest bunker?” I asked with the hope that talking about the mission would get their minds off the danger.

  “Just did. I sent two, so we have two more with us right now,” the android replied.

  “Good.” I wanted as many cars as possible for a few reasons. First was so that Captain Renalta thought we had more people on Persephone than we really did. The second reason was so we had backup cars in case one of them got damaged, and third was because I didn’t want them to know exactly what car we were all in on the street. I didn’t know if any of Lith Dae’s ships could execute a pinpointed plasma attack to take out one of our cars, but the more on the ground, the better chance we had of surviving Renalta’s attempt to betray us.

  “It’s a shame we have this metal on top of the car,” Paula said after half a minute of silence.

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “I wanted to see the sunset, and the stars come out.” The blonde woman closed her eyes, and the blue light from the front screen of our car cast an azure shadow over half of her beautiful face.

  “You grew up on Ganymede?” Kasta asked me.

  “Yeah.”

  “What was it like?” the android asked.

  “The sun is far away, so the sun is small. Jupiter is beautiful, though.”

  “Is it cold?” Paula asked.

  “The terraforming helped, and the first ark crews added heating elements to the oceans. Most of the moon is water. When it does catch the sun, the surface is a beautiful gold. It’s still too dangerous to go outside without an environmental suit, so most people stay inside the cities. In some ways, it is a lot like Queen’s Hat, only larger, and we have a view of Jupiter and a dark ocean.

  “Are the people friendly? Or is it like Queen’s Hat?” Kasta asked.

  “It is like anywhere. Most people are good, but the few tend to spoil things.” I closed my eyes and clawed through the torrent of memories.

  “Will you go back someday?” Paula asked.

  “Yeah. I was arrested there. Took the fall for the Yakuza. I want to see my sister and mother, but I’d be worried the law agencies there might recognize me and arrest me again. I’m not in a hurry to go back.”

  “That is understandable,” Kasta said. “We would like to go with you when you do return.”

  “Of course.” I gave them a smile. “You can stay on board as long as you wish.”

  The twins both nodded and then Kasta pointed to the screen in front of Paula’s seat. “Almost there.”

  “I feel better,” Paula said.

  “Good,” I replied.

  “Their shuttle has landed next to my car. Commander Tunar-Roz has stepped out with five marines. They are all wearing heavy military plate armor with half face helmets.” Eve’s voice cut through our car like a knife.

  “How long until the sun sets?” I asked.

  “Five minutes,” Kasta said.

  “Their shuttle is lifting off, and they are approaching my vehicle. I will exit and meet them.”

  “Be careful,” I said to Eve.

  “Of course. I’ll keep my transponder open, and then you can watch through the drone once we get inside.”

  “Alright,” I said, and then I heard the sound of the car hatch opening through the transponder.

  “Hello,” Eve said.

  “Eve? I didn’t realize you were the computer expert.” I heard Tunar-Roz say in the distance.

  “I am somewhat skilled with them,” Eve replied, “but I will also have assistance from our experts onboard our ship.”

  “Very well. Let’s position by the security doors. We’ll need to run inside as soon as they unlock.”

  “Do you know which terminal we need to connect to?” Eve asked.

  “We have a general idea. The city planners’ offices are on the second floor, there are also terminals in the basement connected to the power grid of the city. One of them should work. You’ll have to figure it out.”

  “I will do it,” Eve replied, and then I just heard the sound of people moving.

  “We are muted, by the way,” Kasta said as I felt the car slow to a stop. “And we are parked right
in front of the doors to the bunker. We’ll be able to run in as soon as they open.”

  “I wish we could have brought one of those heavy military drones,” Paula said.

  “You mean the spider-shaped ones?” I asked.

  “Yes. They are really nice. Might not fit through some of the bunker passages, but it would take care of any auto-defense systems. I understand we don’t want Lith Dae to know what kind of weapons we have onboard, but--”

  “We’ll have Adam, he’s better than any machine.” Kasta winked at me, and I resisted the urge to point out the irony of her statement.

  “And we’ll have your dragonfly drones,” I pointed out. “They are useful.”

  “Yes,” Paula said with a long sigh, and I could tell she was starting to get nervous again.

  “How long have you been on that pretty ship of yours?” I heard Commander Tunar-Roz ask Eve through the transponder.

  “Since her first voyage,” my friend replied.

  “Where was she made?” Tunar-Roz asked.

  “Commander, I can appreciate your interest in our ship, but I would like to focus on the mission. You and your marines are a welcome escort, but I am still worried about the drones on this planet.”

  “Eh,” Tunar-Roz grunted. “We’ll talk more inside then. Sun is setting. Get ready boys. The doors will unlock a few minutes after the drones start to swarm us. Keep Eve alive.”

  I heard the Marines grunt, and I felt a bit of relief pour into my stomach. I knew Eve’s usefulness to Lith Dae would end as soon as she uploaded their program, but I was grateful they were going to protect her up until that point.

  Then Eve would take care of them.

  “Sun is setting,” Kasta whispered. “The drones will launch soon.”

  “Alright.” I slowly let out a breath.

  Then we waited for a few more minutes.

  “Incoming from the north!” A marine had shouted half a moment before rapid gunfire came across Kasta’s transponder.

  “South!” I heard another marine shout, and the volume of the gunfire increased.

  “First wave is down! West at eleven o’clock!” I heard Commander Tunar-Roz shout over the bullets.

  “How long for the door?” One of the marines screamed.

  “Another few minutes!” Tunar-Roz shouted.

  “Fuck,” I growled as I rubbed my face with my hands. I hated that Eve was there without me.

  “She’ll be okay. The swarms seem to gradually pick up their intensity at dusk, we managed to escape with just you shooting them,” Kasta reassured me. “They will make it.”

  “Another up above us!”

  “That wave is gone! Focus on the east!”

  “Reloading!”

  “Cover the left! The left!”

  “I’m out! Reloading!”

  “Focus on the west ones!”

  “Shit! It’s on Carvin! Get it off!”

  “Ahhhhh!”

  “Fuck,” I growled as my fingers tried to dig into the armor plates on my thighs. It sounded like they were getting swarmed, but I didn’t have any sort of visual so I couldn’t see exactly what was going on.

  “Door is unlocked! Gord and Maxwell, push on that son of a bitch! Now!” Commander Tunar-Roz’s voice cut through the gunfire as if it was a mortar round, and I heard two marines shout a confirmation.

  “Grab Carvin! Get inside! Go! Go! Go!” There was more gunfire. A man screamed, and then there was silence.

  Kasta, Paula, and I stared at each other for an agonizing ten seconds. Then we let out a gasp of relief when we heard Eve’s voice.

  “We are safe,” the vampire woman said calmly, and I could hear the panicked breathing of the Lith Dae troops standing near her.

  “Carvin, how you feeling?” Commander Tunar-Roz asked.

  “I’ll be fine, Commander,” the man answered.

  “Looks like a good chunk of your cheek is gone. Maxwell, get some new-skin gauze on Carvin, or he’ll never get a date.”

  “Yes, Commander,” another man said while a few of the other marines chuckled.

  “The foyer appears to be undamaged. I am surprised the fountain in the middle of the room is still working.” I knew Eve was narrating for our benefit.

  “We cut the power to the door, but left the rest on the building so we could access the terminals,” Tunar-Roz said, but her voice sounded somewhat far away, and I guessed that Eve had walked to the fountain.

  “It is pretty,” Eve said. “I wish my friends could see it.” I heard bubbling water now.

  “Whatever. We’ll get moving in another minute, as soon as Carvin’s face is put back together again.”

  “I will unpack my drone,” Eve said.

  “Your drone?” the other woman asked.

  “Yes. It is a surveillance model in case I need assistance accessing the computer. Would you like to look at it before I turn it on?”

  “Yeah,” Tunar-Roz asked, and there were another fifteen seconds of silence. “Alright. This looks fine. Go ahead and turn it on.”

  “I can pull it up on my wrist,” Paula said as she opened the pull-out screen on her watch. The drone had just come online, and the video wasn’t coming through yet.

  “I thank you and your men for protecting me,” Eve said.

  “Uhh. Yeah. That’s our job,” the other woman said, and I heard some hesitation in her voice. They probably didn’t expect Eve to be so nice, and I could only wonder what thoughts the vampire woman was reading. Eve’s conversational approach would be the same even if they all thought they were going to kill her. She would try to be nice to them in an effort to change their minds.

  “I’m good, Commander,” I heard Carvin say.

  “Let’s get moving then. We’ll try the second floor first. Then hit the basement if none of those terminals work.”

  The video came on, and I saw the group of marines standing next to a metal wall some eight meters from Eve. My friend was standing beside a stone fountain, and I saw that it was crafted to look like a spiral of flowers. The camera on the drone was excellent, but the inside of the building was dark, and the marines all had lights on the front of their rifles. The drone was still adjusting its light algorithms, so it was hard to see some of the finer details of the fountain.

  “Are there any other security systems in the building?” Eve asked Tunar-Roz.

  “We think it was just the doors, but my men will take point.” The armored woman nodded to the group of marines, and they moved toward a wide set of stairs at the far end of the room.

  Most of what I saw of the city made me think it was designed with function over form, but the foyer of the government center was lavishly decorated with sculptures, hanging artwork, elegant columns, and crown molding. The floors looked to be made of polished marble, and the carpet covering the stairs looked like thick velvet.

  We watched the group ascend the stairs. The marines knew what they were doing. The armored men all held their weapons at the correct angles and had them pointed to cover each other. The group made it up to the second floor without problem, and Paula let out a slow breath.

  “Do you think something is in the building?” I asked the engineer.

  “No, but I do feel like I’m watching one of those horror vids, and any second now the monster is going to jump out and eat them.” Paula let out a light laugh, and Kasta joined her.

  “Let’s hope not.” I smiled at them and then turned my attention back to the small screen on her wrist.

  The team made it to a cluster of computers, and the commander gestured to one of the sets there. “This is you. Do your thing.”

  “Thank you,” Eve said as she slid into the seat. The drone had been hovering above the group, but it floated down to Eve’s shoulder and examined the terminal set up.

  “Press the square green button on the top right,” Zea said over the transponder, and Eve did so. The screen immediately flickered to life and showed a grid of menu options. There were all written in Russian, so I had
no idea what they said. Zea couldn't read Russian either, but then she told Eve to press on the screen at the third icon down in the second row. Another screen popped up with a blank field and more Russian writing that I guessed was asking for a password.

  “Ahh. It is the interface menu. I wonder how Zea knew that?” Kasta said.

  “She is good,” Paula replied. “Really good.”

  “She told me she was the best on her planet,” I said with a smirk.

  “We would believe it,” both of the twins said at once. Then they looked at each other and shared a mirrored smile.

  “Alright, you are going to connect the data drive into the slot at the bottom of the console on your right,” Zea said.

  “Here?” Eve asked as she pointed to one of the four different holes.

  “Yeah. Just plug it in and let’s see what happens.”

  Eve pushed the data fob into the port, and Commander Tunar-Roz stepped closer so that she could look at the screen. Nothing seemed to happen with the password field, and Zea let out an annoyed huff.

  “Press the yellow button on the top left. Has an arrow pointing left,” Zea told Eve.

  “Done,” Eve said, and the screen flickered back to the earlier menu grid.

  “Hold on a moment,” Zea said as the drone pivoted down a bit to look at the terminal controls. It stayed there for a dozen seconds and then the camera pivoted up to look at the screen. “Press the power button again, to turn it off, then turn it on a few seconds later. When you turn it on, push down the button with the wavy line and the number one.”

  “Like this?” Eve asked after she turned the power back on the terminal as she held down the button.

  “Yeah. That’s it,” Zea said. “Now click on the screen where I told you to go before.”

  Eve repeated the motion, but the password bar came up again.

  “Damn. Okay, we are going to do this like twenty more times until I find the right hardware jimmy.”

  “I thought you were a computer expert?” Commander Tunar-Roz asked as she looked at the drone. “You should be here to do this yourself.”

  “Hey lady, you do your resting bitch face, I’ll do my computer stuff, and together we’ll get this computer system working. Deal?”