Terraform (an Ell Donsaii story #15)

by Laurence Dahners

  “My house,” he said, “where we had the birthday party.”

  When she looked back at Zage, she thought he’d just waved at the guys in the SUV. Is he taunting them? she wondered.

  Then it suddenly all came together. Ell Donsaii’s son! She remembered the men who’d been wandering around her apartment complex when Eli and Ray were there. She remembered the big man who’d come into their lab to ask if everything was okay when Zage had been giving her the little canisters of pepper spray. As CEO/CTO of D5R, Donsaii probably got paid enough to hire protection. Or maybe D5R hired it for her? “Are those guys your guards?” she asked hesitantly.

  Zage grimaced, “‘Security detail,’” he looked at her, “that’s what we call ‘em. They’re really nice people.”

  Carley looked out the back window and saw the SUV making a U-turn to follow them. “Do they think you’re in danger?”

  He snorted, “They always think I’m in danger. But I’m not. I just didn’t want to talk to a bunch of reporters. At least not until I’ve talked to my mom and figured out how she wants to handle this.”

  “Your mom… Ell Donsaii?”

  He laughed, “I hardly ever see her as Ell. She’s always Raquel when I’m around.”

  “Oh,” Carley said, trying to come to grips. After a few moments, she said, “I guess your life must be pretty… weird, huh?”

  Zage shrugged, “I guess. It’s the only one I’ve ever had, so I really wouldn’t know.”

  Carley didn’t know what to say to that, so they rode in silence for a bit. Finally, she said, “So why… does your mother live as someone else? In disguise, and all that.”

  Zage jerked a thumb back over his shoulder. “Reporters. You saw what happened back there. That was within an hour of Pardo’s story coming out. I haven’t had to live with it, but of course, my mother has—as Ell Donsaii. I’m sure some people’d like being famous 24/7, but she says she likes being able to live an ordinary life like she can as Raquel.” Again they rode in silence for a while, then Zage continued, “Besides, there’re also the people who’ve tried to kidnap her… and me.”

  Horrified, Carley said, “Someone tried to kidnap you?!”

  “Succeeded actually,” he said darkly. “I was lucky to escape.”

  “My God! What happened?”

  “I probably shouldn’t talk about it.” He turned to her and grinned, “I thought you reported some pretty cool progress on your research this morning.”

  So says the boy who might’ve just come up with a cure for Alzheimer’s, Carley thought, realizing he’d intentionally tried to distract her, but deciding to go along with it. “Thanks. I’ve been pretty excited about it myself.”

  “I was thinking,” Zage said, then reeled off three excellent suggestions for confirmatory experiments and possible extensions of her work.

  Feeling a little dazed, she sank back into her seat to ponder them. It’s sure a good thing my AI recorded that for me…

  ~~~

  When they got to Zage’s house, there were reporters all along the road out front. Zage asked Carley to have her car pull down the driveway and around by the back of the house, not park in the front where she’d parked before.

  The reporters eased aside to let them onto the driveway, but then crowded the windows of the car taking pictures. Many of them shouted questions. Zage gave Carley a forced smile while ignoring them.

  When they pulled into the little parking area near the back of the house, Zage turned to her again to say, “I really appreciate your driving me home.” He waved back over his shoulder toward the SUV behind them, “I feel bad because the guys could’ve brought me, but the fact you were willing to do it means the world to me.” He opened the door and got out.

  ~~~

  Jason saw a little kid getting out of the car. It’s Donsaii’s boy! he thought exultantly.

  Rising from under the dense bushes he’d been hiding in, he stepped forward and leveled his AR-15.

  ~~~

  It was Mary’s day to monitor feeds for Donsaii’s various security teams. This included signals intelligence from Allan, Ell’s astonishing AI. Allan also watched the video feed from the AI cameras of the people they were protecting, from the AI cameras of the security team, from any nearby security cameras, and from drones which continuously flew invisibly high above their charges. He flagged questionably dangerous events with astonishing accuracy whereas ordinary AI’s missed the obvious and ran false alarms all the time.

  Mary’d just run her eyes over all the screens when the alarm went off. She looked back up to see a red circle flashing on the video from Zage’s overwatch drone.

  Someone’s coming out of the bushes! she thought as she shouted “Zage-team, threat! 40 feet northeast!”

  To her own equipment, she said, “Zoom in.”

  The picture rapidly zoomed in and was suddenly repeated on a much larger screen above the rest of them. “Shooter!” she screamed as she saw the barrel of a gun out in front of the man in her top-down view.

  A bloom of smoke appeared at the end of the barrel.

  ~~~

  Barrett was looking back over his shoulder, checking the damned reporters lining the street for possible threats when Allan’s alarm went off and Mary’s call came in.

  His head spun to the front.

  He opened the door and leaped out of the slow-moving vehicle.

  He saw Vince jumping out the other door as he shouted at the driver, gratified to see she’d flipped the switch to put the car in manual, “Run over the bastard!”

  Barrett was running and the vehicle was accelerating when his gut clenched at the unmistakable sound of an AR-15 firing.

  ~~~

  Carley’s car had just started to back up when she heard a loud banging. Her first thought was that the car ran into something—an event which would be bizarre while it was under AI control.

  When the banging repeated, over and over, she spun around trying to figure out where it was coming from.

  She saw a man with a rifle striding forward and firing it towards where Carley’d last seen Zage.

  Heart in her throat, she looked for Zage.

  He lay on the ground.

  His little body shivered at the impact of another bullet.

  She threw open the door of her car, wondering what she could do but determined to do something.

  The SUV roared by, ripping the door off her car. A moment later the vehicle ran over the shooter.

  On weak knees, Carley got out and stumbled toward Zage.

  Two men ran past her and dropped to their knees beside the boy.

  Arriving moments later, she knelt beside them, crying, “Zage!”

  But, with all the shots the man had fired, she knew her young friend was dead.

  Seeing bullet holes in his shirt, she reached out and put her hand on his chest. His hard, rigid chest…

  The man next to her moved and she could see Zage’s grey face…

  No, she blinked, some kind of grey material covered his face. To some extent she could see through it. Zage’s head and eyes were moving. He looked alarmed but not dead.

  What?! she thought.

  Suddenly his chest softened under her hand. Or, actually, she realized, his shirt softened beneath her hand. Now she was actually touching him. “What the…?” was all she managed to say.

  The man next to her was pulling the grey stuff down from around his head. “Zage!” he said, sounding horrified, “You okay?”

  Zage nodded, “What happened? My clothes got so stiff I fell over. While I was falling it felt like somebody was slapping me.” He tilted his head to look down at the grey material, “And this stuff just shot up around my head. What the heck Barrett?”

  The man said, “Your mom didn’t want you worrying. But all those new clothes she got you this summer have inflatable graphene armor in them.”

  “Why’d it inflate?” Zage got an angry look, “And then slap me? It hurt!”

  “I’m so sorry Zage.
We missed a guy in the bushes. He was shooting at you.”

  Zage’s eyes widened, “Oh!” He looked remorseful, “Sorry I yelled. I guess it’s a good thing it inflated.”

  Carley stared, thinking graphene was too flexible to serve as armor. Then wondering whether—if it was in a cellular structure and inflated to a high enough pressure—it could actually get rigid enough to stop bullets.

  Barrett said, “You’ve got every right to yell.” He tilted his head, “I need to pat you down to be sure you aren’t seriously hurt somewhere and just don’t know it. That happens sometimes.”

  Zage nodded and Barrett started patting him all over, asking if it hurt. Carley saw the other man was taking Zage’s pulse but still looking all around for threats.

  She looked around herself. The reporters out at the street had taken cover behind their vehicles.

  A woman with military bearing trotted up carrying a rifle, though Carley somehow knew it wasn’t hers. She looked tight but nonetheless spoke calmly, “Shooter didn’t make it.”

  Barrett nodded. Carley thought he seemed pleased, but he almost completely hid the emotion.

  Zage told Barrett nothing seemed any more tender than it would’ve been if someone had slapped him. He got a curious look on his face, “How’d the armor know to inflate before the guy even fired his gun?”

  Barrett shook his head unbelievingly, “I don’t know.” Then in a low tone he probably didn’t mean Carley to hear, he said, “Probably that freaky AI of your mother’s.”

  Zage got a focused look that suggested his AI was talking to him. Then he turned curious eyes on Barrett and waved down at his shirt, “Did you know all these decorative buttons are actually cameras and radar emitters?”

  Barrett snorted, “No, but I should’ve guessed. Did your AI see the guy and inflate the armor?”

  Zage gave a wondering nod, “Apparently so.”

  Carley frowned. She didn’t think AI’s were capable of such a thing. Hers sure as hell wasn’t.

  ~~~

  They all went in the house, where Zage declared that some ice cream was in order. He got it out of the freezer and started dishing up bowls for everyone who’d take one. At first it was just Zage, Carley, and the three security guys. The way she felt, Carley didn’t think she could eat any ice cream. Within minutes more and more security guys started showing up, astonishingly, most of them came up the stairs inside the house, as if they were coming from the basement.

  So did Ell Donsaii, running up the stairs to drop to her knees and hug her son.

  Shan Kinrais did drive up and come in the back door. They’ve got to have some kind of tunnel entrance, Carley realized, picturing an entrance down the street somewhere. A place where people can come in without being seen, she thought.

  Thinking about the tunnel, she looked around at all the security people. Having this much security has got to be really expensive. I know Donsaii’s a big muckety-muck out at D5R, but her salary can’t be big enough to pay all these people can it? Oh, and own the farm next door where she’s supposed to live? And have some kind of exotic AI? And pay Zage’s tuition at Duke?!

  After a while, Carley decided D5R had to be paying the security people for her. Probably they pay for the high-end AI too.

  Soon there were so many people there that Carley felt like an eleventh wheel. She wanted to apologize to Zage’s parents for bringing him home instead of letting him ride with his security, but they seemed swamped with everything going on. She looked outside and saw cops everywhere, some parked right behind her car. She asked her AI to check with the car and see if it’d be able to back out, but her AI said the car couldn’t go on the road missing a door.

  Suddenly tears welled in her eyes. She’d done okay until then, but thoughts of what’d nearly happened to Zage crashed over her.

  And what his life would be like now that the world knew who he was.

  And wondering how she was going to get her car fixed.

  How would she even get home?

  She shook her head in frustration. At least the last one was fairly simple. She had her AI start arranging a rental car. Though I don’t know how I’m going to afford it…

  She startled when a hand settled on her shoulder. When she turned Ell Donsaii was holding out a Kleenex. “Sorry you got caught up in our mess,” Donsaii said, eyes filled with sympathy. “We truly appreciate your giving Zage a ride home today. The fact that you were getting out of your car while that guy was still shooting tells us the kind of person you are.” She gave Carley an intense hug. When she leaned back to look at Carley again, she said, “I know your car’s ruined. We’ve got a car coming for you, but if you need to go now, one of the security guys could take you?”

  “No, no,” Carley said wiping her eyes. She blew her nose, then said, “Thanks.” Then, saying what she’d been worrying about, “I keep thinking that if I’d just let Zage ride home with his security team, none of this would’ve happened.”

  “Maybe,” Donsaii said, then shrugged, “on the other hand, maybe our security guys would’ve gotten shot up too…” She gave Carley a serious look, “Don’t do the ‘what if’ thing. It never helps.” She reached behind her and picked up a bowl. “Ice cream?” she asked.

  Carley laughed, unable to turn this woman down. “Yes, please. Sounds like just the thing to get me out of my funk.”

  ~~~

  The police interviewed Carley and downloaded the records from her AI.

  Shan Kinrais stopped by to express his thanks that Carley’d given Zage a ride.

  Barrett talked to her for a while, saying how much he appreciated everything she’d done. He seemed a little choked up about it. She told him it was nothing, while simultaneously wondering what, if anything, she’d actually done that was actually helpful.

  Finally, the police started to leave. Carley asked her AI to connect her with someone that could tow her car in for repairs. However, as she was talking to a towing company, Barrett stepped around from behind her and waved his hand in a halting motion. “Don’t worry about your old car. We’ve got a tow truck here already.”

  Carley quirked him a smile, “Are you insulting my somewhat ancient vehicle?”

  “Oh…” he said, looking surprised, then pointing out the window, “no, just differentiating it from your new car. Didn’t Ell tell you? She bought you a newer model… You know, for all you did for Zage.”

  “Oh!” Carley said, looking where he pointed and seeing what looked like a brand new model of her vehicle. “But… but I really didn’t do anything…” How could even Ell Donsaii possibly afford a new car on top of all this other money she’s spending?! Carley wondered, thinking about how Donsaii famously drove an old Ford Focus.

  “You were Zage’s friend when he needed one,” the big man said, surprising her by wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Because of who he is, he doesn’t have many. He talks about you a lot, and today we got to see why he cares so much about you.”

  Trying not to blubber herself, Carley looked around the room. Donsaii was hugging one of the other security guys. Zage was asking one of them if she was sure she didn’t want some ice cream. Shan Kinrais was coming out of the kitchen with a tray full of snacks. It’s like they’re one big family, she thought with surprise.

  I’ve got to go tell them thank you, but that I can’t possibly accept a car. And, of course, I should say goodbye to Zage before I go…

  ***

  Zage came down to breakfast hoping the shooting wasn’t going to mess up his life. His mother was pouring herself cereal like she almost always did. His dad said, “Hey Z-man, I’m making waffles with pecans in ‘em. Want some?”

  “You bet!” Zage said, hoping this apparent normalcy meant that his parents had decided they could just keep living their lives the way they had been.

  No such luck.

  When Zage ventured that he was excited about what he had going on in the lab that day his mother stared at him for a moment, then set down her spoon. “Sorr
y kiddo. I figured you wouldn’t want your life to change, but even if we try to keep it like it is, people would change it for you. Paparazzi hanging around all the time. Everyone treating you differently. If you want to have anything like a normal life, you’re going to have to live at least part of it in disguise.”

  “But…! I’ve got to keep taking my classes and going to the lab!” he said, alarmed. Then embarrassed because his voice had trembled.

  His mother and dad looked at one another briefly, then his dad said, “We thought you’d say that. We talked to Steve last night about how we might be able to make that happen.”

  “How?” Zage asked, wiping at an eye and wondering why he couldn’t control his emotions.

  “Steve thought maybe the security team could take you to the lab in a delivery van. You’d get into it in the garage at one of the team members houses, over near your mom’s farm. They’d unload you at the loading dock back behind the building Dr. Barnes lab’s in. If there were people watching the dock, they could even put you in a crate and wheel you into the building on a dolly like an actual delivery.” His dad shrugged, “Some of the younger guys on the security team could wander the halls of the building, looking like students.”

  Zage thought the whole plan sounded creepy, but decided that now wasn’t the time to object. He could negotiate for something less intrusive after things had cooled down. “So, I can go to the lab today?” he asked hopefully.

  His mother laughed, “No. Today we’re moving to the Pittsboro house. Then we’re going to take a little vacation out of the country while all the excitement dies down around here. We’ll come back after they get tired of turning over every rock looking for us.”

  “But… But I’ve got to read the results of my last experiment!”

  “Could Carley do that for you?”

  “I can call her?” he asked hopefully.

  His mother nodded. “I think we can trust her. Ask her not to tell anybody what’s going on.”

  “I need to talk to Dr. Barnes too. I’m hoping to get permission to apply for an animal protocol so I can start some new experiments.”

  Ell pursed her lips, then said, “Okay, but let me talk to her first. There’s some stuff I need to talk to her about anyway.”