Boomer then tried to use his teeth to pry the vent open, but it was futile.
“Anything I can help you with?” said a familiar female voice.
“Mira? Is that you?”
“Affirmative, what are you trying to achieve?”
“I’m trying to open this vent.”
“Take a step back.”
Boomer obliged, and the vent retracted itself with a faint whooshing sound, followed by more mewing.
“Did you hear that, Mira? I’m not imagining it, right?”
“I did hear it, yes. What I don’t understand, however, is why didn’t my internal sensor indicate the presence of other life forms on board?”
“Did you run a self-diagnostic of your systems lately?”
“I have not.”
“Why not?”
“Ziron is monopolizing my CPU cycles. Furthermore, remote piloting and troubleshooting the other ancient vessels has also been CPU intensive.”
“He’d better be working on my smart armor.”
“He is. At my expense though.”
“How so?”
“Ziron has disconnected many of my secondary systems in order to cannibalize the parts he needs for his project. I don’t like it.”
“I understand how you feel.”
Boomer tried putting his paw through the vent, reaching to see if he could feel anything.
“That’s an interesting way of going at it,” commented Mira.
“Why’s that?”
“Well, if the creature or creatures are aggressive, you could get injured.”
“It sounds like a cat, probably a small one too, judging by the size of this vent.”
“Or it could want you to believe it’s small or harmless.”
That did it. Boomer instantly retracted his paw from the vent and took a few steps back.
“How’s that self-diagnostic coming?”
“My sensors in this area are compromised.”
“Can you beam whatever is in there out?”
“Not without sensor resolution.”
Boomer sighed. “For a super-duper AI, you’re not exactly impressing me with your skills, you know that?”
“I’ll have you know that impressing canines with my ‘skills’, as you say, is not a primary objective of my programming.”
Another set of overlapping mewing sounds echoed.
“I bet it isn’t. And it sounds like whatever is inside, there are more than one. Any bright ideas on how to get them out?”
Another stronger mewing sound resounded through the same speakers that Mira used to communicate with Boomer.
Three cute blue kittens came pouncing into the room. Because he didn’t expect them to come so quickly, Boomer jumped back, which seemed to give the kittens’ pause. But shortly after, they ran toward Boomer and started rubbing against him and licking him everywhere.
“So much for the vile creature’s theory,” commented Boomer. “Get off of me, you fur balls.”
The kittens ignored his objection.
“Mira, why are there three kittens roaming this ship? And, more importantly, how is that even possible?”
“I have no knowledge or explanations as to why the baby Sphynxes are here.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I’m no longer tapped directly into your brain, Boomer, and I’m not a mind reader.”
“Could these be…?”
“Be what?”
“Ziron’s offspring?”
“DNA scan complete. You are correct, Boomer. How did you guess this outcome?”
“Just call it intuition. Somebody has some explaining to do.”
4
On Darmak’s rental ship, Lacuna was inputting commands on the holo-interface.
Darmak scratched his head nervously.
“What?” asked Lacuna when the Domdori’s activity started to get on her nerves.
“Wut you do—een?”
“What do you think? I’m cooking dinner.”
An expression, part confused and part happy filled Darmak’s face.
“Wut we haveen?”
“Oh, for crying out loud, I’m looking for Kevin. Looks like I did well to put subspace trackers on his dog when I incapacitated him the first time I met those two. I’m getting a signal. Gotta love that nano-tech. I bet they didn’t know that not only was the device a stun baton but also a way for me to plant a tracker.”
As a rule, Lacuna was always suspicious of everyone, even more so with people she didn’t know. She had no way of knowing if her arguing to come along would work, so as she often did, she tried staying at least three steps ahead of her peers. Just in case.
“How fast is this ship?” she added.
Darmak shrugged. “It seem faaast. Darmak tink. Came here quick.”
The Domdori’s speech had been improving, somewhat, since he had started taking lessons, but Lacuna could feel that it would take a very long time for him to perfect the grammar and pronunciation. It simply wasn’t this particular race’s strongest asset. But at least they were very loyal.
“You know what, why don’t you look in the kitchen to see if there’s something to eat and whip us up some sandwiches. How does that sound?”
Darmak’s eyes lit up like an interstellar beacon, and he was out of the cockpit almost instantly.
I know I owe him, but man, I really need to tighten my hiring policy. Especially, when it comes to my right hand, at least.
Then again, his simpleton attitude is what she had liked about him. Not all the time, obviously, but she thought he was simply too dumb to ever try to double-cross her. Or maybe he was simply too kind. And since double-crossing was her middle name, Lacuna had specifically been looking for people who didn’t share her lack of morality when she filled the position for her assistant.
She brought up a second holo-screen on her left and checked the engine specs. It was a Mark V FTL engine, which explained why Darmak managed to find her so quickly. She was less than a day away at maximum speed to reach the Osiris and the rest of the fleet.
Maybe less, if she removed some of the safety features of the Mark V. Even though she had turned to crime for as long as she could remember, she was a pretty skilled engineer. She knew her way around engines. Bypassing some power restrictions, boosting the injector’s flow, she could easily get this engine upgraded to nearly Mark VI speed, which would cut thirty percent off of her travel time.
That was, if nobody attacked them on the way. Bypassing the safety feature of the engines was fine for smooth sailing. If they got attacked, however. . . Then again, she still had a lock on the pirate fleet, though they would soon exit her small ship’s sensor range.
“Let’s see if this boat has drones,” she said aloud to herself.
She was pleasantly surprised by the answer. The drones weren’t fast enough or advanced enough to relay sensor data forever, but they might just do the trick. Right now, she needed any sort of bargain to convince Kevin that she was on his side. That was, of course, if he didn’t have that information already. But there was no way of knowing that.
Lacuna deployed all three of the ship’s drones and sent them in a vector that would ensure maximum contact for the longest time. Just like she had done for the engines, she decided to give them a boost by redirecting their shielding power and injecting it to the drones’ tiny engines. They would blow up like air balloons the moment they were fired upon, but she hoped that even if one or two got shot at, maybe one would still provide helpful telemetry while she headed toward Kevin.
The more forthcoming she was, the better that reunion would go, so, with very little conviction, she tried pinging her home network and accessing it with her codes. Unsurprisingly, her admin account had been disabled. Whoever was sitting in her chair right now apparently didn’t do his or her due diligence, as Lacuna could still use a backdoor she had put in place.
She activated a program that would ping all her contacts in the system and have t
hem report to her. Hopefully, some of these contacts weren’t aware of her demotion yet, and she could acquire valuable info to give to Kevin. She couldn’t just knock on the Osiris docking port empty-handed.
I’m going to need to be on my best behavior for this to work.
There was only a single, yet significant, problem in her plan. Nice wasn’t in Lacuna’s forte.
* * *
Kevin blinked his eyes open.
His head was pounding with pain. It took awhile for him to remember where he was and gain context.
On their last visit, Kevin had convinced his captors to release him from his bindings for a minute. He had tried escaping, but that didn’t go as planned, and more physical pain had ensued. If only Kevin had his smart armor, he would have crushed the two pirates. As proud as he was of having tried to escape using only his courage and might, they had proved lacking where results were concerned.
The good news was, he managed to get back on his feet. Kevin dusted himself off and looked around the place he was in. It sure was a change from the cold and damp prison cell. He was standing on pretty, bluish-gray stones, with grass and lush vegetation all around. About twenty-five meters in front of him were large stony columns that reminded him of Greek or Roman architecture. Though technically there was very little difference about the two, the latter had just plain copied the former.
The place seemed peaceful and that was a welcome change of pace. Suddenly, Kevin thought of his spider companion.
I hope Leg’olas is okay. I could literally sense her anguish while the pirates kicked the crap out of me. I wonder why that is.
“Welcome,” said a female voice behind him.
Kevin turned around and didn’t see anyone to whom the voice belonged.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
“My name is not important. I’m glad you’re awake. Your training can begin.”
Training? What training?
“I’m not used to talking to people I can’t see. Can you show yourself?”
To Kevin’s surprise, a floating woman de-cloaked in front of him.
“That’s a neat trick.”
“One I’ll be happy to teach you.”
The woman floated about ten centimeters above the ground, and even though that should have freaked Kevin out, her overall demeanor and the sweet features on her pretty face didn’t project any ill will. She was stunning, with long purple hair and wearing an intricately crafted dress that made her look like a magician.
For a moment, Kevin got a Lord of the Rings vibe from her.
Something’s not right, though.
Why would the pirates bring him here, and why was the woman being so nice? Something didn’t add up. Kevin made a mental note to keep on his toes and expect the shit to hit the fan at any moment.
Better to be ready than sorry.
“How so? I’m not sure I understand,” said Kevin.
“You will soon, my young apprentice.”
Apprentice?
That immediately brought the word Padawan to Kevin’s mind, but how could it not?
“What exactly am I an apprentice of?”
“Well, sorcery, of course,” said the woman with a jovial laugh.
“Sorcery, huh? That sounds pretty cool.”
“Your mind is a thing of beauty, you’ll be a tech sorcerer in no time.”
I wonder if that has anything to do with B5’s tech mages. I guess I’ll know soon enough.
“Alright then, show me.”
* * *
Boomer used his internal implant to call Ziron.
“Mind coming to my quarters? There’s something I have to show you.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of some delicate work for your smart armor. Can it wait?”
Boomer pushed away the one kitten that had been licking his face continuously for the last ten minutes.
“No, it’s rather urgent.”
“Alright, I’ll be there shortly.”
Ziron flew in the room on his hovering cushion, and his eyes grew wide when the kittens mewed at the same time.
“What the hell is this?” Ziron asked.
“I was kind of hoping you could tell me,” said Boomer. “I imagine they’re yours?”
“I…that’s…what?”
“Apparently, you’re as shocked as I was when I found them, which I didn’t expect. Who’s the mother? And, more importantly, why isn’t she here? Cats don’t tend to abandon their young at birth. You have some explaining to do. And why don’t they talk like you? Not that I mind.”
Ziron’s eyes were fixed on the baby Sphynxes with a mixture of surprise and fear.
“We don’t exactly reproduce like human cats…”
“Meaning?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Try me.”
Ziron sighed. “Very well. The mother releases the embryo very young, sometimes even without noticing, as they are so small when this process happens. Then the embryo generates a force field around itself, like a shield egg if you will, while it grows and reaches maturation. When that is completed, the force field drops, and the youngling is born.”
“That makes no sense whatsoever.”
“I told you it’s complicated.”
“Are you telling me the mother might not even know she had babies?”
“Yes.”
Boomer looked at Ziron with a befuddled expression.
“This has never happened to me before,” Ziron continued. “I—I, this is embarrassing…”
“Just spill it.”
“I thought I was sterile, really.”
Boomer chuckled. “All evidence to the contrary.”
The kittens’ mewing intensified as they ran circles under Ziron’s floating cushion, trying to leap up and snag one of the cushion’s tassels.
“I think they want to say hi to their daddy,” Boomer said with a smirk. “Get down and meet them. They’ve already licked the crap out of me.”
“They licked you?”
“Yes, cats do that.”
“For the umpteenth time, I am not a cat!”
“You sure could have fooled me.”
“You don’t understand, they’ve bonded with you already. The first person they lick they will consider their caretaker.”
“Nonsense, they want you to get down, they wouldn’t care so much if they didn’t recognize their daddy.”
“Leave the room.”
“What? Have you lost your marbles?”
“Just indulge me, please. We need to make certain.”
“Certain of what?”
“Just leave the room, will you?”
Boomer was mumbling incoherently as he trotted out the door. To his surprise, the kittens followed in a line.
“What’s going on!?” exclaimed Boomer.
“That’s what I was afraid of. They’ve imprinted on you. Looks like you’re going to be my children’s caretaker.”
Boomer barked three times, which caused the kitten’s initial reaction to freeze in place, but they quickly recovered and came to Boomer and continued licking him.
“Get off of me, I’m not your father!”
“Well, for all intents and purposes, and whether you want to admit it or not, you are.”
“Hell no!”
“I’m afraid that’s how these things work.”
“I am not caring for these…things.”
“Come on now, they’re cute.”
“For a cat, maybe. I’m canine, if they were pups that would be a different story. I can’t even provide them with nourishment.”
“I’m not a cat, and neither are they. Until they reach maturity in a few weeks, they can sustain themselves by absorbing energy from the engine’s emission, as a matter of fact, they can drain energy from any source.”
Boomer looked at Ziron, baffled. “No food?”
“They can eat, but my species evolved in space, we adapted to get the energy our bodies needed from space travel itself.”
/> “Isn’t it dangerous if they drain energy from our system? Couldn’t they blow up the ship?”
Ziron suppressed a laugh.
“What?” insisted Boomer. “What’s so funny?”
“Have you looked at them? They’re small, their drain on any system is negligible.”
Boomer growled, not happy with Ziron making fun of him. Though he knew there had to be some irony in there, as he was the first to take pot shots at the Sphynx any chance he got.
“I want to go home; you guys are crazy. We should never have helped you in the first place.”
Ziron hovered next to Boomer and tried petting him on the head. He stopped when Boomer growled and bared his teeth.
“You’re not getting away that easily. You’ve messed up our lives, I hope you realize that. Kevin and I were perfectly happy doing our own thing on Earth.”
“You can keep telling yourself that all you want. Whatever makes you feel better.”
Boomer barked. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Maybe you were fine on Earth, I don’t dispute that. Doesn’t look like it takes much to please you anyway. Throw a ball, eat food, and chase your tail, that’s an easy existence.”
“Hey!” protested Boomer.
“But, I can tell you that the reason Kevin jumped into danger without hesitation is because he always wanted something more out of life. Something bigger for him to do. That’s a very human thing, according to the research I’ve conducted about your world. Eventually, Earth will participate in the grand scheme of things on an intergalactic level. And Kevin knows that being the first human to do this is significant. He may even go down in the history books.”
Boomer thought about it, and he knew Kevin hadn’t exactly been the happiest young adult. It didn’t help that he hadn’t been admitted to the school he longed to attend, nor did his fractured relation with his father.
“Did you talk this over with him? Did he say those exact words?”
“Not exactly, but remember, I had access to his mind, and, as such, I could access not only his conscious mind but also his subconscious mind.”
“And, as I recall, he wasn’t very happy about that.”
“Nevertheless, Boomer, I understand your frustration. But what’s done is done. Earth is no longer the isolated planet it once was before our pilot crashed on it and asked Kevin for help. Indirectly, Kevin has put in motion actions that will impact your civilization as a whole.”
Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series Page 24