by L M Lacee
She drew in a deep breath dragging her thoughts from the dark hole they wanted to slip into. Some days she swore it was becoming harder to keep herself from falling in. She acknowledged the look from Heather and the pat of comfort from Melody. Knowing she had to keep trying for these special women who had crept into her heart and soul. The same ones who fought every day to keep her balanced and give her hope, her friends, her sisters, her family. And there were all the women counting on her, the same ones waiting for the word to say they were leaving, and especially for herself. She had a semi-normal life now and as tenuous as it was; it was hers and she would keep on fighting to live it.
She drew in several more calming breaths and within minutes she could reach for her tea. Again in control, and enter the discussion the other two were having about Peyton, and where and what she had decided to do this time.
EIGHT:
Peyton handed the flash-drive to the small woman dressed in her traditional attire. She was directing entertainment for the Ambassadors on board the Warship tonight. She assured her for the chance to be taken from Earth with her two sisters, she would make sure the Commander named Roeah, would receive the drive.
Peyton knew from the information they had about the Warriors that they were in bondage to the Coalition by way of Ambassador Thanikis Jenerika. She wanted to believe the information she had received the night before about the Commander wanting a way out of servitude for himself and his Warriors was true. She hoped he would be brave or desperate enough to accept the drive and would actually look at it.
She walked away from the port and the very sweet woman, who promised she could deliver the flash-drive with a hopeful heart and her mind in turmoil. Praying the advice she had received bore fruit.
By the time her mag train arrived at her terminal, she had settled her racing heart and calmed her chaotic thoughts. Peace like she had not felt for years stole over her like a blanket of warmth as she hailed a land vehicle. And the closer she got to her home, the more she was positive her plan would work. Divine intervention of a kind, sort of assured her it would.
Letting her land vehicle go at the corner of her street, she practically skipped down the sidewalk, feeling her heart lighten with each step. Sweet, cheerful laughter filled her mind; the plan had been initiated, and the first steps put in place. She and her new family just had to hope a little longer, soon their entire future could be… No, she thought, it would be changed. After all, she had help from the most unlikely of sources.
Until two days ago she would have scoffed at the idea that a star or planet could be sentient, but that was two days ago. Now she had her eyes and mind blown open and knew differently. Having one’s mind and soul touched by something as vast and powerful as she had been, changed a person’s perspective forever.
For the first time in twenty-five years of life, she felt complete; it was as though a missing part of herself had been found and locked in place. Finally she could see the meaning to her existence, and it was enough to make her giddy with relief.
Arriving at the front door of the house that had been her home since she was five years old. The same home she and her friends had shared for the last few months was a little surreal. Without their knowledge and consent, Peyton had decided everyone’s future, not just her family but for all the women who depended on her to protect them. She was going to change their lives forever, and as she stood looking at her home, she thought it probably would not be for the last time.
Sucking in a breath she realized; she did not know how to explain to the three women on the other side of this door why she had done what she had. At least not without sounding like a crazy person.
Deciding she would just have to wing it, she squared her shoulders and opened the door. But before she could call out that she was home, Melody’s arms tightened around her in a quick hug of welcome. Then they were racing to the kitchen, laughing as they fell into their chairs.
When her favorite coffee cup was placed in front of her and the others had taken their seats. She sipped her drink in between giving them all an abridged version of her reasoning for implementing her plan without their input. Then she gave them a blow by blow account of the flash-drive hand over, and the name of the woman who would contact them shortly.
Once the three of them got over their shock and disbelief at her audacity for contacting the fearsome Commander. They went through what she had written and came to the same conclusion they assumed she did. That he would not believe her.
Peyton allowed them to believe this. Even though she had it on good authority, the Commander would be compelled to come to her home. Then they discussed how to get the woman and her sisters to Runnerdale when they notified them the flash-drive had been delivered. Which Peyton informed them the woman said would be around midnight that night.
She did leave out the visit the previous night from her new friends, hoping to explain who they were and where they came from. When she had settled it more in her own mind. It was still just so fantastical even to her and she experienced it.
While the three friends sat and digested the plan, she began humming as she thought over the steps they would have to take. If they were going to colonize uninhabited worlds in another Universe. Firstly; for that to happen, they needed women with skills, intelligence and the pioneering spirit. Secondly; they would need to notify the women who were already willing to leave Earth and have them move to Runnerdale as soon as possible. Then Peyton smiled as she remembered the list of women deemed unworthy for export that she had downloaded from the secretary’s computer.
She looked up from her tablet and asked. ‘Darby, did you ever look at the information I sent to your computer from the government office?’
Darby looked up from her computer and blinked a few times, then shook her head. ‘No, why?’
‘Darby, there is a list of a woman we need to contact on there.’
‘Oh shoot.’
She quickly scanned through her computer and started retrieving names, then she seemed to go completely still. No one was sure she was even breathing. When Heather was about to ask if she was all right, Darby started cussing and she cussed badly. They had discovered that when she first moved in with them.
‘Wait Darby, please stop.’ Melody begged as the other two laughed so hard they were holding their stomachs.
Darby looked at them with tears in her eyes, worried now Heather leapt from her chair and encircled the smaller woman’s shoulders. ‘Darby, what has you so upset, tell us, so we can help?’
‘I should have looked earlier, there is the new software program they are using and so much more here. I am so sorry.’
Peyton looked as confused as the other two women as she asked. ‘Why are you sorry?’
‘My cyber- hackers and I have spent months trying to find the information that is here.’ She shook her head as she said. ‘Everything in here is important. I have been so annoyed I could not find it anywhere, and I’ve had it all this time. It just slipped my mind to look at the information because I was sad.’
Melody snorted. ‘Seriously, there is no apology warranted for that. We all were sad and any of us could have looked into what was downloaded.’
‘Not really, it is on my computer.’
Melody raised her eyebrows as she asked. ‘And your point?’
‘Because it is coded to me, so you couldn’t have opened it.’
Heather kept her laugh from escaping at Melody’s frustrated expression and Peyton’s amused gaze. She gently told her. ‘Darby, she was trying to make you feel better. It was not a literal example.’
Darby’s confusion vanished as she smiled one of her rare smiles and said. ‘Oh, I see, thank you Melody.’
‘Okay.’
Peyton eyed Darby’s computer, saying. ‘I bet I could crack it.’
Terrified that she may try, Darby placed her hands over her computer. Her face reflected the terror she felt at the thought of Peyton destroying or dismantling her computer to break into it.
She had been horrified when they had first moved into Peyton’s home and found dismantled bots. As well as computers in various stages of repair and other small appliances in parts and or modified. Practically every room had something that was partially dismantled on the floors or beds. Before they could use the kitchen, they had removed fourteen boxes of parts from the counters and cupboards.
The home's power and environmental systems had been made from components that were not designed to be used for those functions. Although Peyton had made them work as she had with the modified house bots and communication systems. As much as Darby was appalled by what she had done, there was no escaping the fact these were all masterpieces of engineering which defied Darby’s explanation.
It had taken her three solid weeks of working ten hours a day to secure the house and repair all the equipment Peyton had dismantled. When she had asked her why she never seemed to complete a task.
Peyton had shrugged, looked confused for a minute and then explained she became bored. Especially when she discovered it was not as difficult to fix as she thought it would be. This was not a logical answer, or at least not for Darby. She then asked her was there a reason she had made so many new and inventive modifications to the house. She replied, she just wondered if it would work. This also escaped Darby’s logic.
Eventually, after listening to Darby ask why, again and again, every time she found something new in pieces or destroyed, or something working that should not be possible.
Melody in the voice she had used to command her soldiers ordered Darby to not ask why again.
When Darby had asked innocently. ‘Ever?’
Melody had yelled. ‘Yes!’ Then stormed from the house. Fascinated with the display from the normally contained General, she had not asked why again, at least not in Melody’s hearing.
Darby screeched now as she pleaded with Peyton. ‘No… no… no, do not try please. It is very sensitive and coded to me, if you try it will self-destruct.’
Peyton’s eyes gleamed as she pointed out. ‘Only if I do it wrong.’
‘Let’s say you tried and failed and leave her computer alone.’ Melody warned Peyton, who scowled but said no more.
She wasn’t the only one to hear the tone of exasperation in Melody’s voice, which meant she was going to yell if she pushed the point anymore.
Darby gave Melody a grateful smile, which she returned as she asked her. ‘Can you do what you want to now?’
‘Yes.’ She started tapping away on her computer, very relieved, although she maintained part of her attention on Peyton just to be sure.
Heather smiled as she said. ‘Let’s get dinner ready. Afterward Darby will have all the names on the list and we can compose an email and send it out. I am sure there are other things we have to put in place, if we are to leave.’
Peyton and Melody agreed, leaving Darby to dive completely into her computer, notifying her people she had the new program. Somewhere along the way, the Coalition had altered all the Government’s computers.
They used a type of firewall that none of Darby’s people had seen before, which prevented her cyber-hackers from breaking into their computers. This was the first copy of the program she had got her hands on. Now not only did she have a sample, she had the whole encrypted coded program allowing her cyber-hackers entry to any of the Coalition and Government computers. From now on there would be nothing they could hide from her and her people, happiness bubbled through her system like champagne at the thought.
Her little data bots went crazy extracting the new codes and breaking the Coalition’s encryption. New storage programs were duplicated and upgraded by her people within minutes of receiving the information. Other bytes of data were sent to differing cyber-hackers to decipher and use or disseminate as needed.
Invigorated, the hacking community came alive, Darby knew no one would sleep for days as they educated themselves on the new information and software.
After dinner Peyton, Darby and Heather settled down with tablets secured of course by Darby. Compiling lists and tasks, because each of them believed they were leaving Earth. And when they did, their departure would be with as much equipment and resources as possible.
Melody watched them for a while as she paced back and forth across the kitchen and finally declared. ‘We need my kind of people and equipment too?’
Darby nodded her head and handed over a tablet she had on the table beside her. ‘Everyone who has some kind of training and knowledge to get the equipment you require, is in there.’
Melody laughed, shaking her head as she walked to her chair, murmuring to Peyton. ‘I should have known.’
She agreed absently. ‘Yep, Army girl, you should have.’
Melody made a face at her, Peyton grinned back in reply. It was going to be a busy few days for the four friends.
NINE:
That night, after combing through the information obtained from the Government's computers, the four women drafted an email and sent it to every woman on the list. Explaining why they were never destined to be chosen to leave Earth and how thankful they should be for that fact. Also, the email explained what their new life was to be at the hands of the Government and the Coalition if they remained here. Finally, the missive asked if there was a way to leave Earth safely and go to a world in another Universe. Would they want to go?
By dawn the next day, their emails were inundated with a single word. ‘Yes.’
A few even asked. ‘When do we leave, now would be good?’
Once Peyton and the others got over the shock of all the replies. They shifted gears and worked almost around the clock, securing and making sure any woman that needed immediate help received it.
Then the friends decided it would be detrimental to their cause to have all the women arrive at Runnerdale at once. So they spent time working out ways and means of communication and travel for when they alerted the women to come to Runnerdale.
Darby, at Peyton’s urging, had some of her cyber people use the cloned storage programs to gather and store all of Earth’s digital world for future use.
Within minutes of Darby issuing the request, her people went searching to their heart’s content, retrieving as much information from computers as they could find.
They gathered data from the digital libraries and from there it escalated to whole recorded pictorials of the world’s museums and galleries. Every piece of music they could find was collected. They also made sure to include all the recorded histories of the different cultures and their languages from before the Virus struck.
All medical disciplines and branches of the sciences were included, basically they downloaded everything they could from all the worlds’ education centers.
Peyton requested Darby to have one or more of her people gather if possible, every piece of literature as well as every movie they could find. Melody who adored anything western made sure her genre of movies and music was on the list as well as all the old and new entertainment programs.
When Darby asked why she felt this was a worthwhile endeavour. Peyton had smiled and told her she believed all the items she had listed were things people would miss once they could not just reach out and get them. But more importantly, it was so they would not forget how absolutely inventive, creative and imaginative humans were.
Darby had nodded her agreement and then sighed, telling them that if the Data Master she had designed and built when she was a child was still operational. The collection would have been completed in minutes, as they would have only had to go to the one source for all the information. Shocked at Darby’s disclosure, Peyton was sure her heart stopped for a minute.
Heather asked Darby what she meant by Data Master. Darby explained as a child she had been commissioned to design and help build an A.I. Then she told them what the A.I. was capable of. Heather and Melody were spellbound by her explanation. None of them appeared to notice how quiet Peyton had become or how shallow her breathing was.
W
hen Heather asked how it was destroyed. Darby had frowned and rubbed her cheek, saying they still had no idea. The components were so broken down, that they could not even get a vid on who destroyed the complex and there was no way to have the A.I. tell them. Because it was totally gone, as though it had never existed. She shrugged and said it was still a mystery to this day.
Peyton decided right then and there to say nothing. It was not lying she reasoned, just sparing her new sister’s feelings. As no one seemed to notice her silence, she thought she had covered her shock well. Content with her decision, she listened as Darby and Heather continued discussing the Data Master and what it was designed for.
Unfortunately, she had forgotten the sharp-eyed Melody, who angled her body toward Peyton, shielding her from the other two women as she murmured
‘Girl, could you look any guiltier?’
Peyton raised her eyebrows and said dismissively. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Really, you going to go with that?’
‘Yes, and if I did do what you are suggesting, it was for an excellent reason.’
Melody placed a hand over hers as she asked. ‘Did I say otherwise?’
‘No, you didn’t.’
‘Well, shut up then.’ Melody laughed as Peyton made her usual comment.
‘So rude.’
Darby looked at both women, then shrugged and went back to her computer as she thought about what she and her people were doing. Collecting all this stuff Peyton and the others wanted. She understood the need for the medical and scientific information that made sense. Although the need for what she termed, the fluffy things which cluttered up their world baffled her.
Maybe, as she looked at Peyton walking out of the kitchen, maybe it took someone who appeared scatter-brained and confused most of the time to understand it.