by Ivan Svogor
* * *
Mr. Holtzman was pretty amazed after Jess gave him the short version of the full story. Interesting, very interesting. The place where I used to work produced a lot of powerful computing equipment and software for processing data. I can recognize from the data structures that this ended up in the Antarctica research facility. However, the equipment was intended for asteroid mining models. It seems to me Jess that this secrecy has been going on for much longer than you might think.
Jess’s phone was ringing and she saw it's Miller. Mr. Holtzman, “can I make the call here?” - she asked.
He nodded to confirm, and as Jess picked up the call. A small projection of Miller materialized on top of her hand. “What's up?” - she asked.
“Jess, I'm here at Dave's cabin, and I am afraid to say that Delilah is dead. I found her sleeping and after a while, when she didn't respond I called help from the city. It turns out she overdosed on sleeping pills."
“I can't believe this”, said Jess. “What the hell is happening, why would she do that?”
Jess was visibly in shock as Miller proceeded, “I will be late so can you please tell mom and dad?”
“Alright”, Jess said. Mr. Holtzman made a facepalm gesture while Hank suspiciously looked at Miller’s projection.
“Jess, there is one more thing”, started Miller. “One of the investigators said that usually they check for video feeds because a lot of people have those. While Dave only had cameras on the outside, they found out that Dave’s computer was completely fried. All the data is lost beyond recovery. He said that this is very unusual. So, if you consider the unusual death of Dave's robots, this seems to be like a lot of bad luck in a very short amount of time."
Jess nodded and said, “you are right, do you think we should do something about it? Maybe request an additional investigation?”
“I don't know”, Miller said, “I'm still waiting for the investigators to finish their work here. See you later then.”
As the image of Miller went away, Mr. Holtzman said, “that is a lot of bad luck for a single-family indeed. In my entire career, I don't remember such computer failures, where all the data would be completely lost. That is highly unlikely. Hum, I might be paranoid and maybe I'm reading too much history, but, Jess, I have an idea. The memory device you have here contains all the research data, but it also includes facility-related data, as far as I can see here. You said that they are controlling what data is transferred and what is not, so maybe, we can restore whatever Dave sent to his home server.”
After several hours of looking through the videos, they also found a video of Jess’s presentation, but a soundless video of councilor Krueger and Kent talking near the hars.
“Jess, you see the flashing in the background”, asked Mr. Holtzman. “That is the classical camera calibration that Dave must have performed. They found videos from several angles more and then found the time of the last flash.”
“OK”, he continued, “now, we will be monitoring the surrounding data from the surrounding networks and look for large data spikes. On the screen, a graph emerged showing a pretty much straight line with several spikes."
“What is that”, asked Hank.
“One axis shows the network traffic, while the other, shows the time”, said Mr. Holtzman. “With this, I know where to look in the data. From the network traffic that was recorded by the Antarctica research facility, I can check whether they recorded anything. Bingo!”
“Now, I just need to force the computer to think of these as a video. I hope that the data is not encrypted, and if it was a Dave’s custom thing, probably it isn't. Most people don't bother with security until it's too late."
Mr. Holtzman was typing away while simultaneously using an eye tracker to move the windows around. “There”, he said. “Let's see what we have here. It seems that we need to project this in the holo-mode."
Mr. Holtzman removed some of the tools from one of the tables in the room, and soon after a holo projection appeared which showed a beautiful polar landscape recorded by Dave. The image was twitchy with colors suddenly changing and parts of the projection going out of focus, some of them being darker.
“I guess that is why cameras need calibration”, said Hank. Mr. Holtzman just nodded and increased the speed of the projection. At some point, they saw Dave as part of the projection. As the projection was getting better, it meant that more and more cameras got calibrated. Finally, when the image was nearly perfect, Dave was standing on a slightly raised stack of ice, typing away in his computer, probably finishing his work. Then, two of the robots suddenly started shaking and dropped dead, Dave seemed to be undisturbed with that, but then he looked up. His look was following a landing har. A person came out of it and stepped up to Dave. Then, that person stepped aside and forcefully kicked the ice stack. A piece where Dave was standing broke off and he fell. It is clear now that Dave was killed. The killer then took a piece of ice and viciously struck Dave's head. Then, the killer went back to the har and while taking off in an angle that blew the snow so it partially covered Dave, his har, and equipment.
Jess, Hank, and Mr. Holtzman were in disbelief. Jess started crying and she put her hand on her mouth as if to cover her cry.
“Why would someone do that?”- She asked as Hank was about to hug her.
“Mr. Holtzman, can you increase the resolution of this so we can see the faces? And hear the sound”, asked Hank.
“I am afraid not”, he replied. “This is just the calibration data, and it doesn't record audio, and the resolution is enough for the calibration so this is the best we can have from this data. I am really sorry. But maybe Dave recorded something, let's try again.”
Mr. Holtzman scrolled fast through the projection and at some point, the projection partially captured the parking lot of the Antarctica research facility. They saw several men having a discussion. Among them, there was also Ryad Cox and at some point, he was choking another man that was there.
Jess came to a realization and she was suddenly petrified.
“What is it, Jess?” - asked Hank. “What's wrong? Did you recognize someone? The only people visiting the facility were you Hank, and the councilor Krueger with his entourage."
Hank looked at the holo image which was still a bit more careful, he struck his fist on the desk and said, “of course. That violent son of a bitch! It's Ryad Cox, I know him from the academy."
Mr. Holtzman interrupted the moment, by saying, “Dave was probably on to something. By accident, he must have recorded something that they discussed. If only they knew there was no sound. I wonder what is that important, risking such a crime. That gene has been suppressed for a while now, and we haven't had a murder for a very long time. You need to hide."
He paused a bit and continued, “most likely, Delilah’s death also isn't an accident, nor the fried computer that Dave was using. They are cleaning up their mess. Are the two of you involved in any of the ways? Think!”
Jess was still pretty confused about everything and then Hank said, “no! We came home from the Antarctica research facility, then we found out about Dave from her parents, then about Delilah and now this. “
“I think you guys are in danger, you should go somewhere and lay low for a bit”, said Mr. Holtzman.
“Mr. Holtzman, Are you a military man?” - asked Hank. “You sure do talk and think like one.”
“No I'm not”, replied Mr. Holtzman, “but I've been here long enough to know what the human mind and ambition are capable of doing.”
Hank said, “alright, I know a place where I can take you, Jess”.
“Good!” - said Mr. Holtzman ”I wish you luck with that”.
* * *
Later in the day, the family was still in shock and disbelief. There was a wonderful lunch on the table, but nobody had much appetite. They were discussing life, the vulnerability of the human body, the history and philosophy of life. Several hours passed, Mr. Holtzman already went home, and Miller stood up just
as the night was approaching.
“I need to get going”, he said, “I'll come back tomorrow in the afternoon.” He said goodbye and Hank and Jess went to see him off. Miller continued to the parking in front of the house, while Hank and Jess stood under a small gazebo that was overseeing the parking.
Just when he reached his har, Miller turned around and said, “It was a long day”, and sighed.
“It sure was, take care Miller”, responded Hank.
Jess raised her hand to say goodbye, and Miller did the same, then he faced his har and noticed something coming in from the air.
For a second there, Jess was blinded by a sudden and vicious explosion of Miller’s har. Simultaneously she felt strong back pain as the shockwave carried her body through the wooden fence of the gazebo. The burning sensation on her face and ringing in her ears left her completely disoriented. In pain and confusion, she was laying on the lawn and opened her eyes. Hank was a couple of meters away from her. She tried to move but her body wasn't listening, so she was just anxiously rolling through the lawn in pain.
Somehow, Hank picked himself on the knees, but then, another explosion came from the garden, and then the final one that completely demolished the house. He managed to stand up, he ran to Jess, helped her up by the elbow. Jess was still in shock so Hank quickly checked whether she was wounded, and since she was too weak to stand on her own, he picked her up and started running. He was also in a bit of a shock and had issues managing the balance, but he plowed through. He was running away to the safe distance from the ranch, and all around them were the cows and horses, chaotically running away from the house. Finally, Hank estimated that the distance he covered should be safe, so he stopped and turned around. What he saw, actually took several seconds to sink in. A military-grade har equipped with cannons was hovering around the house. As a military man, he knew that those cannons have their purpose for the mining ships, but on Earth, those are only used in military ranges. At that point it was crystal clear that someone with good connections wanted them dead, so he proceeded to run as fast as his feet could carry him. He arrived at the bank of the river and they both jumped in and the water carried them to the bush. Hank was pretty sure that no saw them run away, but he crawled deeper into the bush.
Jess was finally getting control of herself and she got to him to see what was happening. Not so far away, she saw the har scanning the area. From the distance, a pretty big aircraft was gaining shape, a kind Jess never saw before. Then, it started emitting a strong pulsating light which has rendered the entire house completely flat within a minute. The area looked as if nothing had happened except that there was a huge fire recently with a pile of ash and dust.
From the distance, it was clearly visible that Mr. Holtzman was intrigued by this show and he must have turned on one of his front porch lights. As the perpetrators realized what happened, they proceeded to his home. Within less than five minutes the same fate happened to Mr. Holtzman’s house and pretty soon, the valley was peaceful and silent. It was night already and the silence was deafening, both Jess and Hank were in pain and nausea. Jess was shell shocked, she could not process the thought of losing both of her brothers and parents in two days. She refused to believe that this is reality. Hank tried to calm her down, but cold from the wet clothes she could not stop shivering and crying. Finally, Hank had an idea to hide away in Mr. Holtzman's underground lab and regroup, if something is left of it.
Chapter 15
Jess was broken and devastated. She completely lost her will to live and her mind could not settle. The horrible scenes of what just happened were playing back in her head on a loop. Over and over she lived through this desperately trying to envision a different ending and finding an explanation that maybe, somehow, her mom, dad and brother have survived.
As they finally walked to Mr. Holtzman’s house, they headed to the shack next to what used to be a house. As they entered, a quadruped robot strongly ran into Hank and knocked down both of them. Then, it produced a taser, and just as it was about to tase Hank, it stopped, and Mr. Holtzman emerged from the hatchet on the floor.
“I thought you guys were dead”, he said.
As the robot was backing off, Hank replied, “yes, we thought the same thing about you”.
“Are you alright Jess?” - asked Holtzman. She was silent and shivering.
Hank and Mr. Holtzman picked her up and brought her down to the lab. Alright, I have something here that might feel you better. Sam was also there and he, while shocked, was happy to be in the company of people. He realized that something is wrong so he started licking Jess’s hands and placed his head under her right arm as if he wanted her to hug him.
I have some pills that will make her sleep and process this situation easier.
Jess took the pills and finally said, “thanks”. After a few minutes she started feeling very tired, she had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She looked around, Hank and Mr. Holtzman were talking, Sam was lying next to her and she realized that she was in a safe place. She slowly fell into deep dreams.
As if seeing through thick fog, and feeling dizzy, Jess found herself walking through, what used to be her lawn. She saw Hank and Mr. Holtzman rushing out of the thick bush. She was looking around in confusion as Hank was carrying someone out of the bush toward the har. She looked around and all she saw was waste, nothing but reminders of what used to be here. Once a place of joy and happiness, suddenly turned into a reminder of sadness, of the tragedy that took her family away. She felt completely numb and for a very moment, as she gazed upon nightly stars obstructed by the moon light, she felt at peace.
That image quickly went way as if sinking into deeper waters. Jess was flying in the har, above endless water. Hank was flying, but whenever she asked him, he ignored her. It felt almost as if she is invisible to him. She looked through the window and realized they were descending to the sea. They were close to the water, almost crashing, but she didn’t care. She felt completely indifferent, and for a moment, just before the image was lost, she saw her parents in the back seat of the har.
* * *
Jess was waking up from a terrible nightmare, and as she was slowly opening her eyes she saw a huge aquarium in front of her. Not quite believing her eyes, she tried to open them once again. However, the aquarium was still there. She was fairly confused at this point, as she doesn't remember being in this room ever. She was sleeping in the chair, still wearing her clothes from the day before, however she was covered with a blanket. The light in the room was coming from the aquarium, there were several paintings on the wall, and there was a small carpet on a hardwood floor. There was another aquarium on the other side and in the ceiling. She stood up and walked around the room a bit, looked at the book collection, which was mostly on the subject of governance, strategy, and negotiation. Also, there was an entire shelf dedicated to history and psychology.
The door of the room was knocked then a woman entered. The woman was a bit older, and if she could give a comparison, Mr. Holtzman would be right up there with that one. She was slow but confident in her movement, grey-haired with a dark lock on the side, “Hello Jess”, she said.
A bit reserved and scared, Jess replied in kind, “hello, where am I? - at this moment Hank came through the door and hugged her. “I am very glad to see you”, she said, “where are we?”
“Jess, come with me, we will explain everything”, responded Hank.
They walked through a tight hallway with coral themed decoration to a large oval room which seems to be a living room. The entire ceiling was also filled with water but this one didn't have any distinguishing features the aquarium normally has.
“What's up with this place and aquariums?” - she asked.
On the sofa, Mr. Holtzman was working on his computer. As he saw her he said, “oh, Jess, good morning, please, sit with us”.
Everyone sat down, and Hank started talking, “as you remember Jess, there was a horrible explosion at your parent’s place, and in Mr.
Holtzman’s as well. At this moment we believe that this intentional action with the purpose of killing you. Given the projections we saw with Mr. Holtzman, at this moment we think that Dave recorded something or at least someone high up, all the way to the council thinks that incriminates them. There is something very weird going on and the Antarctica research facility is on it. We would like you to help us find out. At the moment we are roughly 30 meters below the surface of the sea in an underwater city called Aquary, off the coast of southern Europe in the Mediterranean. This here is Mr. Holtzman’s old friend Kamila Potts. At the moment, she is the only one Mr. Holtzman trusts, and at this moment, I'm not sure to whom I can trust”.
“We are underwater”, asked Jess, “those aren't aquariums?”
She looked at Mrs. Potts who said, “yes dear, we are underwater in my home, away from everyone, and every interest”.
Jess never before knew about this city and she was still under the impression from everything. As she slowly processed the fact they are underwater, she looked at the ceiling, above which a small school of fish casually swam by.
