by Mel Todd
"So I guess you know one that might work?"
"Maybe," the word full of reluctance and something else.
"So how do we lay our hands on this person and convince them to help us?"
"First you probably shouldn't blow up the ambassadors’ ship just yet." Everyone paused and looked at him and she swore she heard the soldiers heave a sigh of exasperation.
"Is there a person we need there? Is there anyone else we can get on this ship?" McKenna knew the universe was out to get her at this point. Nothing ever worked the way it should.
Ash nodded towards the captured crew member, still visible via the open doors to the captain's room. She sat glaring at them with a mix of rage and fear so obvious, McKenna almost expected lasers to emerge from her eyes and kill them all on the spot.
"That level of hate and fear for the Drakyn and contempt for Kaylid is bred into almost all of them. They'll let you kill a billion lesser beings than even think about helping you." The stress he put on lesser beings carried a wealth of information about how he'd been treated. "Very few manage to escape that indoctrination. The one I'm thinking of might have."
"Might? You don't know for certain?"
His tail flicked out and almost hit her but stopped just short.
"I can guarantee you she has never spoken to me and would have no idea who I am." He almost sounded affronted.
"Then how?"
I swear if I have to drag every bit of information out of him, I'm going to scream.
She watched him and wanted to swear he looked uncomfortable. But she just waited, glaring even as she felt Toni huff in annoyance in her mind.
"She is the ambassador that landed in the country I believe you call China."
"You have got to be kidding me." McKenna moaned.
"No. Why would I kid about Ambassador Thelia? She is the best chance we have for finding an Elentrin that would be willing to work with us." He sounded like he might plead but didn't believe his own words enough to do it.
McKenna just looked at him even as she felt everyone waiting for her. With a deep breath she looked at him and spoke slowly. "Please explain why you think the person who is almost directly responsible for all the deaths in China would ever help us."
Chapter 30 - Paths Forward
Reports are flooding in about the swarm of shuttles attacking the Earth, but it is so sporadic that the true scope isn't easily grasped. While they are targeting more urban areas, the presence of an Elentrin is deadly. People fawn all over them, treating them like gods, and they will do anything for them. Even in cultures that are reserved they kneel before them, willing to protect them from others. At this point, the numbers of them seen at the last count was five, but the one that visited New York has not been seen since. The government has not commented about the whereabouts of that alien. ~TNN Invasion News
"Yes, please do. At this point I'm pretty sure if the UN ever meets again, they'd issue a warrant for her arrest for war crimes," JD said from behind her. McKenna almost jumped. She hadn't heard him come up behind her. Instead she drove her elbow back and grinned when he responded with a small oof. "What was that for?" He protested rubbing his stomach.
"Sneaking up on me and being yourself. Do I need any other reason?"
JD grumbled, rubbing his abdomen. "Fine. See if I storm any more alien spaceships for you."
Cass giggled in her mind and McKenna realized she felt better. Whether it was the banter, or just his presence, some of the stress had lowered.
"You know you love it, and you'd whine if I left you behind." Her counter was met with more laughter in her mind.
"Point. Fine, just watch where you put those elbows. They're sharp," he groused but faded back to doing something else.
Damn, I love these people.
McKenna focused on Ash again. "So explain, why this particular woman?"
[Perhaps I should explain this aspect. It might make more sense.] Ash's AI spoke and she shuddered a bit. It was just different enough from Wefor that she had to learn to get used to the odd reverb again. It was as if they were both on slightly different wavelengths and she couldn't carry over one to the other.
"Okay, but what do I call you?" She asked the question, aware that in the background Perc was explaining to the soldiers the AI was talking. The men shook their heads and went back to talking to him and sketching diagrams.
Ash's claws made a scratching sound. "It's just an AI. It doesn't need a name."
"It’s a thinking being. Not a machine. Everything should have a name." McKenna couldn't say why the names were so important but dehumanizing beings was part of what got them into this mess. She'd not do anything to make it spread.
[Thank you. I would like to be called Elao.]
Ash went still at that. "You would?" he asked, though he slipped into Elentrin for that question.
[I find it appropriate. Do you not?]
He cleared his throat and looked away from all of them, intent on the information before him.
~Subtext?~ Cass asked, her voice soft.
[It means hope in his language. The one he only speaks in his dreams.]
Ash froze for a moment, even his tail not moving, but after a minute the tension faded.
"It is indeed. Very well, Elao," he said the word slowly as if tasting each vowel. "Explain your research over the last many, many reyan."
"Wait a second, I want to hear this, but time is ticking, I don't have the time at this moment for a history lesson," McKenna interjected, cutting off anyone before they could start getting into storyteller mode. "Short version, hundred words or less?"
[You do not ask for much do you?] Elao's voice floated through a hint of disappointment flavoring the words.
McKenna made a show of looking around her and then back at Ash, whose tail twitched. "Given the current situation, I think it’s a valid request."
[As you wish.] Three muffled laughs came on the heels of that comment and McKenna had to fight her own laugh. [The Ambassador Thelia is not a conformist, though she acts it. Long ago I set up tracking for requested queries and information research to learn about anyone who asked more than the minimum. She pushes and pulls and then presents exactly what the higher ups want. What I find most interesting are the children.]
"Wait, children? What children? You have children on these things?" McKenna didn't quite shout the question, but Toni and the others had all moved closer and were now very interested. It was weird not knowing where to look when the AI was talking. McKenna had much more sympathy for people now when Wefor spoke. Ash still had his back to them, and it just felt rude to turn away. Besides, she didn't have anything to do until after this was taken care of.
[No. But Thelia has always collected children. There are rumors as to her unnatural interests in them, rumors I believe she encourages. But I have tracked them. She has a storage units devoted to them and sends them to planets where she has connections. She never keeps them and from everything I've been able to track, they live better than most Kaylid.]
"What am I missing? Why should this tell us anything about her?"
"This, I think I can answer." Ash turned around as he spoke, his tail lax, the white almost looking drab. "Your children are aging, growing, correct?"
McKenna glanced at Toni feeling the same confusion. "Sure. A bit faster than normal, but Wefor told us that might happen—that usually children weren't turned because they weren't as useful as adults. And that the nanobots couldn't attach to sperm because they were too large for the sperm to carry them."
"Not exactly. Apparently, the solar flare you mentioned did widespread damage. Usually when a swarm of Aly Mites is detached, they generally prevent non-adult implantations. Their requirements forbid it. When I altered the swarm, plus the solar flare, that requirement seems to have been lifted. Nanobots lock you into the perfect version of yourself and expend energy to achieve it. A child hasn't reached it, so they tend to lock them into the most perfect version, which means their aging stops right there.
They don't grow older though their brains continue to develop."
Everyone in the room made a sound, the horror of that idea. To be a child forever, to never grow up.
"She collects them and from everything Elao has been able to find out, they are treated well, protected. Kept as pets, but still. Most would just elimi—kill them and be done with it. She is unusual in that she doesn't seem to follow the House of Rircn creeds though she gives it lip service. Most wouldn't see it without years of observation."
There was a wealth of layered information there that would have to wait.
"Wefor, add to my list House of Rircn, searching out kids and make sure they are all aging, and finding these children and altering the bots so they can age—if they want to."
[Done.] Even the AI sounded vaguely horrified. [The information in the databases had been corrupted, so extrapolation was done. The assumptions arrived at were obviously wrong.]
McKenna shrugged. "I'm rather glad to know you aren't perfect. Makes me feel better and like you aren't judging my every action."
"Oh, no. I'm doing that," Toni said and bumped McKenna with her shoulder. "But so far you aren't doing too bad."
"Gee, thanks." McKenna rolled her eyes. "This means we need to get over there and get her?"
"Yes. The sooner the better. The last information briefing I was a part of indicated one more sending out of Ambassadors to spread the Glory and then the destruction would commence. While the Silik was expected Keric did not indicate if it would change the plans to destroy your planet."
"Great and now that they know we’re here it might speed it up. How desperate are they for more troops?" McKenna asked, looking at the ship hanging there in space.
"Relatively, but if the other ships fled, they would be fine for another generation or so. This is a large haul."
"Fine. But we need to get going. Guys," she asked turning to look at the soldiers and Perc, "did you come up with an idea on how to get over to the ship, grab the woman, get back, and then blow the ship up in a very 'don't fuck with us' manner?"
Roark glanced at the others and nodded. "We think so. Been working with Captain Willis and Sextan on the ground and they think they have something that will work. Very showy and relatively small."
"Okay, what do we need?" she asked and Roark grinned at her.
"We got this. We just need Perc here and Ash to come with us to grab the target then back out. You stay here and let us do it. This is what we do." His calm assured voice made her nod before she realized she had.
"You don't need me?"
"Nope. You're too valuable and right now for this mission there isn't a reason to risk you."
"Great, I'm valuable. Yay," she drawled out and Toni elbowed her.
"Stop it. You're being a worrywart. Let them be."
McKenna flicked her tail at the woman, but Toni ignored it as she stared out at the ship.
"Okay, when? Time might be of the essence."
A swirl of light appeared and grew larger until a man stepped out, holding a large duffel bag. He had a vague familiarity, like she might have seen him in all the mess but didn't remember talking to him.
"That was interesting. Not going to say I enjoyed it, but I've done worse. Howdy, folks." The man, his skin the color of hazelnuts, with dark brown eyes and curly hair, seemed unfazed by the strange array of people in the area.
"You got what we need to do a really big explosion via a remote?" Roark asked nodding at the bag.
"Yep. Will make sure it’s invisible, but unless they build with something harder than diamonds this will tear a hole in just about anything." He patted the bag with a smirk.
"Then we go now." Perc looked at all of them. "I have the schematics for that ship in my head, too. We’re going into their engine room, setting the bombs, then headed to grab this girl. I know what she looks like. They have filters and Rarz or I can knock our people out if the filters don't work."
McKenna swallowed, she wanted to protest, to say she had to come, to say don't go. Instead she nodded. "Good. Yell if you need anything. Ash, will you start showing Toni what else she needs to know?" She redirected her attention to him so she didn't make a fool of herself.
She felt more than heard the soft laughter in the back of her mind and lifted her head to watch them go. The portal winked out and McKenna focused on the light in her mind, it stayed strong and vibrant.
~We're here. We're fine. Setting up the bombs now.~ Perc's voice spoke in the mindspace and then was gone.
McKenna blew out a stream of air and looked at Ash who hadn't moved, just looked at her.
"What?" she asked, feeling like she was missing something.
"What do you think I know that I could show your cohort?" He seemed truly puzzled and McKenna had to process that confusion.
"How to use the stations? Fly the ship? Lock it down?" She frowned. "And explain how you can talk in our minds when we haven't shared nanobots with you?"
[That would be my doing. When we corrupted the commander programming, I tapped into the wavelength for your trans-harmonics, making sure our nanobots could send and receive on that frequency. That is how we could pull you into training sessions and pass information to you.]
"Okay, that makes sense. I can live with that. But don't you know how to fly this thing, or can't you at least tell us how to get people off faster?"
An odd sounding whistle came from him as he looked at her. "I am a Kaylid, a servant, a slave to them. I have no idea how to fly. I can use some of the communications because I've been here for so long, but not much else."
That took McKenna back a bit and she took a deep breath as she realized they'd been gone for barely three minutes. If she kept counting seconds, she might go crazy. A flash of light caught her attention. "What about the shuttles. Can we get control over them? The ones that come down to Earth don't have any pilots in them."
His head tilted and he looked at her, ears and tail both twitching. "I had not considered that. Is there a way?" The last part almost sounded like a thought and he looked around muttering. "I'll need to go into Keric's office and use his informant. Maybe there is."
"Informant?" McKenna frowned. There hadn't been anyone else in the office.
Ash stopped on his way towards there, turning to look. "Compent? No, Corpent?"
"Oh, computer?"
"If it runs databases and provides calculations, yes." He turned and continued on his way.
~I'll never understand why some words translate exactly and others don't.~ Her amused frustration was clear.
[Assuming that was not a real question, no explanation will be provided.] Wefor said,- still sounding a bit off.
~It wasn't, but thank you.~ She turned to look at JD and Toni who both look bored and stressed at the same time. They needed to do something, but what? She couldn't create or control portals—yet. She stood frozen, watching her planet and listing all the things that could go wrong.
~McKenna?~ Perc's voice pulled her away from her fretting.
~Yes?~ Toni and JD turned to look at her.
~We have a problem.~
Chapter 31 - Complications
Reports from Africa read like pulp stories. Natives attacking from the trees, real animals attacking the invaders, crocodiles grabbing them, even women and children attacking with spears. While the invaders’ weapons are proving superior to most other weapons, the number of shifters they are gathering from this continent, outside of Egypt and Libya must be sparse. ~TNN Invasion News
Every muscle in McKenna's body went rigid and her gaze locked on the small ship still in the viewscreen.
~What's wrong?~ Her thought snapped out, even as she braced herself for an explosion.
~I'll tell you in a moment. We're coming back now.~ As she registered his words, a silvery portal started to form. From the corner of her eye she could see Ash step into the main area, but he hung near the door, watching, body tense.
JD and Toni had moved over to her while the still tied-up Elentrin
looked confused and terrified. McKenna hated how glad she was that this invader feared them.
Perc stepped through first, and some part of her uncoiled. Roark and Coran followed, then an Elentrin, the vivid purple hair drawing her attention. Rarz followed a moment later and the portal collapsed.
The woman stood there, tight leggings in a slivery white, with a flowing-over garment in light green that remind McKenna of a variation of a kimono. It looked like she wore a tight-fitting tank top underneath it. But mostly it looked elegant and effortless, which only highlighted how grimy they all looked.
She looks way too self-satisfied. What was her name? Thelia?
Her people were all alive and there was no visible harm. That calmed her down enough to pay attention to the woman. She'd seen her image on TV. She'd led the China invasion. Stunningly beautiful as all the Elentrin seemed to be, she looked around with an aura of curiosity on her face. Something flickered across that perfect visage as she spotted the tied-up woman, who glared at her.
"Rarz, can you move our unwilling guest to the other room, and when you come back, shut the door?"
Thelia glanced at her, a flicker of approval in her eyes before she continued to look at them, hands clasped behind her back as if she was inspecting them. Everyone stood, watching everyone else as Rarz picked up the woman and put her in the other room. He stepped out, Ash making way for him, and the door closed.
"So what exactly is the problem? She won't help?" McKenna asked the question but didn't look away from the woman.
"Oh, I don't have an issue helping. Though I have a few conditions." Thelia replied turning to focus fully on McKenna.
"And those would be?" Concern and frustration could be tasted in the mindspace, all coming from Perc. But nothing that made her think they were all about to die. McKenna saw JD and Toni move so the woman was in between all of them, her back to two at any point.
"Ah, ah, ah. I must have my inquiries addressed first." Her voice was melodious and McKenna felt the tug.
~Wefor,~ panic in her thought.