by Ben Winston
“Actually, your car will have nine hundred thirty-nine miles on it, and there is a paper trail of you traveling back toward your home town, where you stopped, and spent a few days. Of course if asked, no one will actually remember you there, but all the computers show that you used a credit card to purchase gas, food and hotels while you were gone,” Cole explained. “Dame Estelle had me do it so many times; I added it to my list of ‘routine’ things. I even changed the card numbers to reflect the new card Alex gave you.”
“Okay, so in other words, don’t worry about it, I’m covered?”
“Pretty much. Occasionally, we’ll actually need to stop by those places and pick up little memento’s and gifts, but I think we can get away without them this trip,” Cole said, smugly.
Chuckling, she kissed her fingertips, and pressed them against the bulkhead beside the hatch as she exited. “You did good work these last few days, Cole. Thank you.”
“You didn’t do too shabby yourself, Ariel. I’m proud of you,” Cole replied.
“Well, I better get back to the mansion. Please keep me informed on the status of Tewney and the Commander?” Ariel asked as she stepped into the lift.
“I will.”
When she got back to the car, she felt the hood and it was hot, as if the car had been running a long time. She opened the door, tossed her bag into the back seat, and got in. Cole had thought of everything.
She pulled the car up to the garage and hit the automatic door opener, the noise must have alerted the house that she was home because Alex, Karen and Tara came running out of the house grinning at her.
“What?” Ariel said as she got out of the car. “You people act like you haven’t seen me in a week!”
Chapter Eight
“Renny, the Admiral’s calling,” Tewney said.
“Put her through, please.”
“Renny, we’ve got a problem. His Imperial Majesty, Cr’ale the third, supreme ruler of the Empire of Stars and the Alliance of Free Worlds, has decided he needs to meet his great-granddaughter and is on his way there,” Hs’ean said as soon as her face came up on the screen.
“The Emperor is coming here? By the gods why? If the Kragan attack... Hell, if anyone attacks...” Tho’ren said, panicked.
The older woman nodded. “I know, and I agree, but he feels it’s of the utmost importance, so he is coming. I’ve once again told my fleet to turn around and come back; I think the crews are getting dizzy. We’ll be dropping out of hyper in a couple of hours and I’ll be taking a shuttle down to Ariel’s. I am expressly forbidden, by Imperial decree, to disclose any information to Ariel about her heritage. The old dear wants to surprise the girl,” Hs’ean said.
“Oh, I think he’ll do that all right. What about security? Her entire household is going to know something’s up when they get invaded by the Imperial guard. Any idea how we are going to hide ninety heavily armed, genetically enhanced marines in crysteel battle-armor from the general populace? Hell, the little hanger that houses Cole is far too small to land the Imperial cutter; it’s barely big enough for two scout ships!” Tho’ren said.
“Ariel’s household is not going to be a problem provided they pass the same psych tests they passed when Estelle hired them. They were going to be told anyway since Ariel’s house is going to become a control nexus for the buoys. Our problem is that the Imperial cutter will be landing in Ariel’s back yard. It’s up to us to ensure that it’s not spotted. I’ll be bringing down a few of the techs to devise a screening field; they tell me it’s almost like a holographic image, to cover the cutter once it’s down. The pilot will land cloaked, so that should take care of that,” Hs’ean said. “I’d like you to come with me, how are the repairs going?”
“Slowly, it’ll be at least another full day before we get the hyperdrive engine rebuilt, and almost two hours for the sub-light engines. Tewney got bent up pretty badly this time,” Tho’ren answered.
Hs’ean nodded, “How about you? How are you healing?”
“Tewney says that the bones have set, and I can use the arm and leg, but it’ll be another week before I should try anything strenuous.”
“When we get there, I’d like to pull Tewney into our repair bays and finish her up. That’ll give her some company so you can accompany me down to Ariel’s,” Hs’ean suggested.
“I think she’d like that, she’s been stuck with just humans to talk to for way too long. I thought she was going to have an orgasm when Cole showed up!”
A rude noise over the speakers in the cabin had both humans laughing. “Don’t listen to him Tewney, men will never understand us women!”
“That is very true, Admiral. However, will we ever understand them?” Tewney asked.
“Shh! They already think we do, it gives us an advantage over them, but we can’t let them know!” Hs’ean said conspiratorially.
“Okay, okay, enough about us poor, stupid men. Have you figured out how we are going to keep the Imperial Guard from standing out like a flare in the void? I think it’s a safe bet that the battle-armor is not common on Earth,” Tho’ren asked.
“Not a clue. Perhaps Ariel will have an idea we haven’t thought of, but only asking them to leave the armor off is not an option. They take their duty very seriously and are vehement about ensuring they have the equipment to do that duty. It would be easier if the estate were at least in a more remote location,” Hs’ean replied.
“It isn’t, and we can’t move it,” He sighed. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Ariel, we are going to have guests. You need to come to the hanger right away,” Cole said in her mind startling her awake. She and Alex were lying next to the pool getting some sun when she received a call from Cole.
“Guests? What’s going on? I don’t know if I can explain the sudden absence right now,” Ariel replied.
“Commander Tho’ren and Admiral Hs’ean are arriving. As for explaining your absence, don’t. In fact, it might be better if you brought everyone in the household with you,” Cole replied.
“What’s going on? Has the invasion begun?” Ariel was so surprised she almost answered him aloud.
“No, it hasn’t but something else has come up, and your entire household has to be told the secret. The Emperor is coming for a visit.”
“Cole, I think this neural thing is broken; I could have sworn you said the Emperor is coming.”
“It’s not broken, and he is. He is coming to see you. Admiral Hs’ean and Commander Tho’ren will be here soon. It would be easier for the staff to accept the truth if they could actually see the ship land. Please, you need to hurry; we only have a few days to get ready,” Cole said.
“Alex, how would you like to know a little more about Estelle’s life?” Ariel asked.
“I would like that a lot, Ariel, but how can you show me that?” Alex asked.
“We need to gather the rest of the household. They need to know this too. Come on, we need to put more clothes on,” Ariel said ignoring Alex’s question.
Looking puzzled, Alex followed Ariel into the house to change. Once they got changed, Ariel used the intercom to call everyone to the kitchen. John had been inside, taking a break from the sun, and visiting Betty, so they waited.
Nichole had been helping Tera wash cars, and both women were dressed in wet bikinis. Karen and Taylor had been doing other chores and were hot and sweaty. Ariel asked them if they could take quick showers, and come right back, this was important, and urgent.
The girls dashed off, while John and Betty looked at Ariel with curiosity. Ariel smiled at them, “I’m taking you all out to see that big building on the back edge of the property. Dame Estelle had to keep it secret, along with a few other things. Today, I will be letting you all in on them. There is a reason why, and in the course of showing you all this, you will learn the answer to that question.”
“This is all pretty cloak and dagger, Ariel. Are you sure all this is necessary? I mean do we really need to know all of this?” Betty asked
.
“Yes, you do. Something has come up that you all have to be told the whole truth. Please understand, this was never an issue of trust; Dame Estelle trusted all of you completely. It was more of a matter of plausible deniability. You are all going to see some fantastic things today. I want you to remember two things; none of it is fake, and nothing you see will be dangerous to you,” Ariel said
They sat in uneasy silence for a few moments, until the girls returned. Then Ariel led the group out of the house, across the huge back yard to the side door of the building. “Open up, Cole, we’re all here.”
The door popped open without Ariel touching the keypad or turning the handle, she pulled the door the rest of the way open and let the group enter before her.
“It’s empty. There’s nothing in here!” John said looking around.
“There’s not supposed to be anything in here. This is where Dame Estelle would park the car when she’d leave for a week. Come into the office everyone, you’ll get answers quickly,” Ariel said.
Everyone followed her into the office, and she closed the door. They all felt the room start to move as it lowered them to the hangar level. “What the...” John said and the other girls also started in surprise.
“Ariel, I placed six translator earpieces in the top left drawer of the desk. Please hand them out to our guests. Also, please remain in the lift for a few more minutes, because Admiral Hs’ean’s shuttle is on final approach and about to land. The engine sound would deafen an unprotected human,” Cole said into Ariel’s mind.
Ariel opened the drawer and removed six hearing aid looking devices; each wrapped around the back of the ear instead of fitting inside of it. “You’re going to need these, please put them on while we wait. We can’t leave yet as a shuttle is landing in a minute.”
The group was gathered at the windows that once looked out into the empty building above them. The group was staring at Cole, and the small remotes that scurried around in preparation for the incoming craft.
“No fucking way!” Tera said, watching attentively. “You want me to believe that ship out there flies in space?”
Ariel shrugged, “What you choose to believe about the ship is irrelevant. What is important is that you believe this is real; which is why I brought you all down here. Incidentally, that ship does fly in space and does it very well. The ship about to land also flies in space, and, in fact, will have just come from there.”
The rest of the group was starting to get that look of disbelief on their faces as well, especially Alex, who looked to be getting very pissed off.
Ariel sighed, nothing is ever easy. “Look, why would I go to such elaborate ends to create a hoax for you guys? No one but us is ever going to see this, so why would I do it? The next question is; when would I have done it? Don’t you think one of you would have seen all the equipment it would have taken to dig all this out? You can look at this, and not believe any of it is real. I asked you all to remember two things; none of this is fake, and you have nothing to fear from any of this.” Just then, a small shuttle craft moved down the tunnel, spun around so its nose was facing back the way it had come, and settled to the deck beside Cole.
Ariel was about to lead the group out of the room when she noticed that no one had put the translators on, and no one was following her. “The devices I gave to you will allow you to understand what is said because all of our guests don’t speak English. If you will all follow me, you will see firsthand that this is not a hoax.”
“I knew it! See! These ‘aliens’ are humans! I knew this was all fake!” John said.
“Yes, they’re human, but they’re not from this planet. So are any of you going to follow me out of here, or are you all going to stay in here and foolishly cling to the feeble hope that, for some unknown reason, I am lying to you?” Ariel said testily.
The group finally slowly moved over to join her at the door. “Why is it that none of you can believe what you see? Are you all so conditioned to disbelieve, that you refuse to acknowledge what your own senses are telling you?” Ariel asked. “Ask yourselves what it would take for you to accept this as reality, so we can prove it.”
Silent communication had been passing between Ariel, Cole, Tho’ren and Hs’ean. They knew the situation with the staff as well as Ariel did, so when the requests for proof came, they were ready.
“Show me one of your weapons, and demonstrate it. If I can’t explain what I see, I’ll believe you,” John said.
Hs’ean turned to one of her guards and issued an order. The battle-armor clad marine stood to attention and nodded his head once before turning to John. The Marine, pointed to the device still in John’s hand, then tapped the side of his helmet so John understood he needed to put the translator on. John did, and the big marine led him a short way back down the tunnel.
Tara stepped forward next. “I would like an explanation on how these... Ships can fly in space with what look like standard jet engines. I would also like to know, if these are capable of faster than light travel, how they do it, since it’s impossible.”
Hs’ean turned to a small group of people that had just got off the shuttle, and asked a question while indicating Tara. Immediately the whole group raised their hands and grinned at the woman. Grinning, Hs’ean pointed to one of the young women in front of the group and the girl came forward to take Tara’s hand. She was led over to Cole, and the girl began explaining to Tara how the various systems worked.
Ariel took Alex’s hand and led her over to Cole. The hatch slid open and Alex was taken inside. Ariel showed her the first deck, then led her up to the sleeping deck. When she had shown her all the amenities there, Ariel took her over to the lounge.
“Alex, I want you to meet the man that was in Estelle’s life, Cole, the ship’s AI. Cole, this is Alexis Moran.”
“It is a deep and profound honor to finally meet you, Lady Parker,” Cole’s voice issued from the walls.
Alex jumped at the sound and looked around fearfully. “Wh... Where is he?”
Ariel was still holding Alex’s hand as she smiled gently. “We’re inside him; he’s the ship.”
“The ship? But he sounds so... human. I don’t understand,” Alex said as a tear slid down her face. “I know she was in love with him, so he has to be human, doesn’t he?”
“My Lady, I loved her too, but no, I’m not human, I am a sentient artificial intelligence that serves as the ship’s conscience. I am incapable of physical love, though I did enjoy the time I spent with Dame Estelle. She will always have a special place in my memory,” Cole said.
“Cole, will all of them get a neural implant as well?” Ariel asked silently.
“No, only Guardians get those,” Cole replied.
“Can you explain to her who I am, now?” Ariel asked.
“My Lady, Dame Estelle cared for you very much. Even from the first, she took you in because you were special to her,” Cole said to Alex. “That’s why she helped you finish school, and sponsored you for the Bar exam.
“I still don’t understand why she couldn’t tell me about all this; I would have understood!” Alex replied though tears streaming down her face. Ariel got her some tissues and returned to her seat beside the distraught woman.
“Alex, mother couldn’t tell you about all this because she wasn’t allowed to. Those orders almost weren’t enough. However, there is one secret that I have no idea why she didn’t tell you; I believe that you have every right to know,” Ariel said glancing at the ceiling for Cole to take over.
“Twenty-two years ago, Estelle brought me a sample of your DNA and made a request of me. She wanted me to create a viable embryo that could be implanted in her so she could have a child to continue her line. I’ll spare you the details, but I did as she asked and nine months later, Ariel was born. She never told me why she gave her up for adoption, or why she never told you, but Ariel is your biological daughter,” Cole explained.
“I was twenty-one years old. I was a royal pain in the as
s too. I thought she didn’t care for me, and was feeling very alone and abandoned. I thought she was going to ask me to move out, so I was mean to her.
“I could never understand why she didn’t. Some of the things I said to her back then were cold-hearted, and mean. I remember it would only make me madder when she tried to take me in her arms to comfort me, I would refuse and storm away in a huff.
“One of the things I said to her was that she was such a cold-hearted bitch that she couldn’t have a child of her own because no one would consider sleeping with her.”
Alex wiped the tears from her face. “I don’t know much about being a mother, but I’m willing to try, at the very least I will be your friend.”
“My Lady, Ariel, Admiral Hs’ean asked me to tell you that the rest of the household are finally convinced that all this is real. They are ready to head back to the house so they can explain the rest of what’s going on,” Cole interrupted.
“Cole, with Ariel’s permission, I’d like to come back and visit you from time to time if that’s all right?” Alex asked.
“Of course, My Lady. You are welcome aboard anytime we’re not busy,” Cole said.
As Ariel and Alex left the ship, Ariel noticed that there were a lot more remotes running around and that they seemed to be going through a small hole in the back wall of the hanger. Out of courtesy, she didn’t immediately ask Cole about them but filed it away for later.
Ariel noticed that John and Betty seemed to be staying near Hs’ean a lot and the girls were all but hanging off of Tho’ren. Tara was totally engrossed in conversation with the gaggle of techs that had accompanied Hs’ean and seemed oblivious to her surroundings. With the guards mostly herding the techs along with the group, they all headed back to the main house.