Althea paused. “And when it all goes wrong?”
Viekko shrugged. “Then, at least we know. So what do you say? Not sayin’ nothin’ will happen, just askin’ you to let me take you somewhere nice.”
Althea sighed. “No, Absolutely not.” She pulled herself into the hallway and started floating toward the hibernation chamber. “Sod nice. I want to go to the darkest hole in Arkester. Someplace where we can drink terrible beer, and I can watch you brawl with the first man who looks at me wrong.”
Althea got a grip on the handrail just above the hatch to the hibernation chamber. She paused there for a moment until Viekko caught up with her. Then, with no warning, she lunged forward and kissed him. It was just a quick peck on the lips; nothing passionate, just a small show of affection and, perhaps, a promise.
With that, she opened the hatch, pulled herself inside, and closed the door behind her.
Viekko took off his hat to wipe the sweat from his head. He floated by the closed hatch for several seconds before he pushed himself away and went to his own quarters to get ready. Viekko always hated hibernation. But, as he squeezed himself into the sensor array suit, he couldn’t help but smile. At least this time he would have something good to wake up to.
****
It was so late it was almost morning at the Colombian Province Radio Telescope Installation, and Isra stood outside to watch the sunrise. Venus was a few degrees above the horizon and, soon, it would disappear in the glare of the sun. She let out a deep breath and watched it condense into fog in the freezing air.
The door to the control room opened, and Joseph stuck his head out. “There you are. It's freezing, what are you doing out here?”
Isra breathed out another cloud of fog. “I had to realign the dish again. It seemed like a good time to come out for a little fresh air.”
“I just put some tea on. Would you like some?” he asked.
Isra smiled. “That would be nice.”
She sat down at a table in a cramped kitchen area as Joseph retrieved a couple of cups. “Investigation still going on?”
“Why do you think I have been spending so much time up here lately?” She leaned back in the chair. “It will be fine. There were some in the Ministry that were lining up to press charges, but they do not have evidence of any wrongdoing. Luckily, it is hard to prove if one is actually responsible for instigating a revolution. At this point, it is more politically expedient to let the whole incident fade into memory, along with my crew and me.”
He set a steaming cup and saucer in front of her. Without thinking, she reached out to grab it and ended up knocking it forward, spilling some liquid in the process.
Joseph took in a sharp breath as he looked at her. She could feel him looking at the black eyepatch with the edge of the rounded, diamond-shaped scar peeking out from the top and bottom. “I'm sorry, Isra. I should have…”
“It is fine,” said Isra, taking the cup. “I am learning to live with it. And there are advances in cybernetics I am considering.”
He sat down across from her and smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Although I confess, I find the patch to be very...what’s the word… rakish. Sexy, in kind of a dangerous way.”
Isra laughed and touched the cloth patch. “Well, in that case, perhaps it was worth it.”
For several minutes the two drank their tea and enjoyed each other’s company in silence. The last few weeks had been an exhausting series of hearings, tribunals, and councils which were all fancy names for a large group of old, powerful people gathering together to yell at her. At that moment, Joseph seemed like the only person on the planet that wasn’t trying to destroy her.
This was nice, she decided. It didn't change anything, but it didn't need to. She had no control over what was going to happen to her or her team, and any effort to the contrary was Sisyphean. She would continue to fight but, just for this moment, it felt really good to just give up.
As Joseph finished his tea, he said, “Shall I go check on the dish?”
Isra shook her head. “Why bother? My window is almost up anyway. Is that offer for dinner still good?”
“I thought you didn't eat dinner this late,” said Joseph standing.
“Of course, that would be absurd. Breakfast?”
“I know a great place.”
She didn't know where this thing would go, and for the first time in her life, she was okay with that.
****
Cronus rolled over in bed and started to put his pants back on. It wasn’t strictly needed here in the Electric Bordello, but it was a hint.
Starwood rolled over. “Jayzus, already? I know we pay by the hour, but this is almost insulting.”
The woman in bed was technically the same woman he saw before he left for Venus, but her look was completely different. She had changed her hair to dark brown, her skin was pale, and her breasts had gone from freakishly huge to quite small, small even by Earth standards and almost nonexistent for the Electric Bordello. Cronus was tempted to ask if it were possible to spread some engine grease on her face and maybe figure out a way to get that acrid smell of soldering in her hair, but that was probably a little on the nose.
“Sorry. I just. I've got things to get back to.”
The woman sat up. “What's the matter Cronus? Is there something wrong? Something I'm not doing right?”
“No, you're fine,” said Cronus. In his own head, he added, better than fine, you’re perfect, and that's the problem.
“What the hell happened on Venus?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You were distant before you left. Now... it's like being in bed with a lamp pole. I almost checked to see if your connection was still up at one point. It was like I was just banging away at your avatar.”
“Sorry. My mind is elsewhere. Do you have the files?”
The woman got up and pulled a plain yellow folder from under the bed. She held it up. “I do as I promise. What about you?”
Cronus picked up a small briefcase by the nightstand. He placed it on the bed and opened it. There were three stacks of paper inside, and each one of them was a few hundred pages thick. Starwood sucked in a quick breath when she saw it.
“This is only about a third,” said Cronus. “There was an ancient ship full of old information. The Corporation was never aware this data left the planet. I only just compiled it; I haven't had time to read it all. And there will be more.”
The woman flipped through the pile with a hunger in her eyes that suggested she might start drooling at any moment.
“The file,” Cronus reminded.
The woman tossed the file at him and pulled the briefcase over to her.
Cronus opened the folder and began the skim the contents. After a few minutes, he closed it again. He shut his eyes, and it disappeared in a flash of white light as he downloaded the files themselves. “You told me this was important. Worth all the data from Venus and more. This is just research findings. Available in any number of Neuvonet science journals.”
Starwood glared at him. “There’s nothing like this anywhere. These came from Amir Jicarrio’s personal files. Top secret even among high ranking ministers. Look at page fifteen.”
Cronus closed his eyes. The folder appeared again, and he opened it to the page she indicated. He skimmed for a while and then began to read out loud. “Given everything we know, it is impossible for the vessels that were recovered in low Earth orbit to have originated from this planet. How then two human children came to be inside is possibly the greatest mystery.”
“Flip to the last page,” said Starwood, leaning back on the bed.
Cronus flipped to the end and started reading. “The mental state of the boy since we began the experiments has deteriorated dramatically. The girl is holding up better, but I can see signs that she will share the same affliction. It is clear to me that the lab environment is doing nothing but harm to these children. To that end, I have put in a request. I don’t know if the military science
council will even consider it, but I don’t see any other choice. I want Isra and Shamir to live with me, and I will raise them as my own.”
Cronus looked up, and the folder disappeared again. “Isra never mentioned a brother.”
Starwood rolled her eyes and said in a sarcastic tone, “Really? The brother is the most unbelievable part of that? What about not being from Earth—”
Cronus didn’t let her finish before he unplugged. The world disappeared, and he found himself sitting in his chair at home, surrounded by his equipment. He reached over to the main terminal to open a new application. A series of icons floated in the air around his head, and he selected one. Then he was surrounded by thousands on thousands of points of light. Each was one of the millions of Ministry files he had access to. He spoke the words, “Shamir Jicarrio.”
The points of light started spinning around him, as his computer system accessed each and every file looking for any mention.
It was a search that would take days; maybe even weeks if he committed to a full scan of all known classified documents. Months if he tried to access Corporate accounts. But he already knew what he would find. There would be the odd person with a similar name, but he’d be able to refine and discount those search results quickly.
Cronus took off his goggles and sat back in his chair. So Isra has a brother —a brother that does not exist. The implication that she was not from Earth didn’t bother him. Ministry files were often full of strange conclusions and wild speculation. Cronus always suspected that most Ministry officials were frustrated boys with wild imaginations.
But Isra existed. There were no records of her before she was ten, but she existed.
He pulled on the goggles and watched as the program jumped from file to file at amazing speed.
“Shamir Jicarrio,” he said out loud. “What happened to you?”
JEREMY L. JONES
Writer. Brewer. Traveler. Slightly crazed human-person.
He is the author of the Ruins of Empire Series along with hundreds of other books that, for the moment, only exist in his own head. He lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife, a cat named Mist and an office where he can lock himself away and write down the crazy stories he dreams up. He can be found wandering the craft beer scene sampling the fermented arts created in his home town, or in his garage making his own.
Find out more about the Ruins of Empire series at www.ruinsofempirebook.com
And for more from Jeremy L. Jones, check out
www.sagaofinsanity.com
Templum Veneris Page 36