I frowned, snapped out of my building fugue, and looked over.
“What’s going on?”
Jessica growled, “Two of my people are dead. I’m having trouble nailing down their location.”
I brought up the security footage by the docks.
Two guards were definitely down, and it looked like a tornado hit the place. Walls were gouged out, and I felt chilled as I rewound the video.
Dale and Desirae. What the hell were they doing here, and how did they get on the station?
“We’re looking for a sorcerer and a vampire. Strong ones.”
On a hunch I ran a scan of the tunnels and small tram to the center of the station. They were moving fast down one of the tunnels. It wouldn’t take them long.
“They’re on the way here, locking down the command center and research labs.”
I connected with my magic and took care of that, as well as building the protective suit around me. Theoretically the shields should stop Dale from tearing the walls apart with earth magic to get inside. I also formed a number of shield emitters in the hallway in front their position as a trap, as well as a weapon or two.
I said, “Dale is a criminal, one I have history with and barely escaped from. I don’t know how he got here, or what he’s up to. He was the strongest sorcerer in my home town, but he should be on the wanted list back in the U.S. He’s a cruel bastard, and he was using me under duress for my talents.”
Jessica scowled, “So he’s here for you?”
I nodded, “I can only assume he’s here for some sick entitled need for revenge. The only question is if the U.S. government sent him or not.”
Maybe that last part was paranoid, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some black-ops group made some kind of deal with him after he’d been caught. They really hated me down there, even if I managed to save the world, and all because I’d simply refused to die and protected myself. The U.S., Germany, and England still hadn’t recognized us as a country.
The shield grid cut on when the sorcerer reached it, and the weapons were ready to fire from several directions. That part of the station was far from other people, so I wasn’t overly worried about collateral damage.
I opened a channel.
“Dale, what brings you by?”
Dale snarled as his earth magic failed to harm the emitters through the shield, and he sent out a powerful fire and air attack to destroy them. I wasn’t too worried, the shield was extremely strong, in the same class of the external shields which held off nuclear or anti-matter explosions. He was an extremely powerful sorcerer, but weaker than Jemma had been, and Jemma had failed to get through the much weaker shields of my suit.
“Are you done yet?”
Dale snarled, “Screw you.”
“Listen up Dale, I’m inclined to just flush you into space. You killed two of my citizens, and let’s face it, you kind of deserve to die. So, did anyone send you, or are you just stupid?”
Jessica said, “Got him. They arrived in a commercial shuttle under assumed names. They’re booked for one of the resorts.”
That made a certain amount of sense. It wouldn’t have been hard for them to leave America into one of the countries with a space port for tourism trade on the station. It also handily removed any evidential link that he was sent by the government. Assuming he was.
Dale said, “Let us go, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Jessica growled. She was clearly unhappy at the idea of the bastard getting away, or walking from a deal, and the glare she sent my way backed up that impression.
I switched off the comms and said, “Relax Jess, you have my word, they won’t leave the station alive.”
Cassie said over comms, “I’ve been monitoring, and I’m right outside the shield. Just knock them out, I’ll compel them as they wake up, and get us answers.”
Easier said than done, he’d have his own shields. I couldn’t even just starve him of oxygen, because his power over air could refresh it.
“Is it worth it? We’re in a different place now, politically I mean, and all the ships our allied countries are flying in space can’t fire on the Earth. Say we find out what kind of deal they got, and who sent them, wouldn’t it make all the other countries on Earth nervous if I assassinate the architect of this plan from orbit? They’re nervous enough of me already, it doesn’t seem prudent to remind them I could conquer the world if I wanted to, even if we both know I never would. Just ruling this station is a pain in the ass.”
I hated the idea they’d get away with it, but I wasn’t just a citizen protecting myself anymore, I was the president of a nation.
Cassie tilted her head, then chuckled, “You make a good point, the old way won’t work anymore, and I’m impressed you can see that. On the other hand, we’ll be able to bring accusations in media, social media, and when recognized in the U.N. we can call for sanctions. A political black eye won’t be as satisfying, but it’s something.”
Yeah, but it would be so much more satisfying flushing that bastard into space. I hadn’t forgotten his duress, or his threats against Jayna.
Dale scowled, “Well?”
After considering it for a moment, I added atmospheric shields to prevent losing air in the whole hallway, and then opened up a small tunnel to space. The air was quickly blown out of the small shielded cell in the hallway and into space. His power might’ve been able to filter air and remove CO2 and add oxygen, but it couldn’t create air. He might’ve been able to hold it in place against the vacuum if he’d been ready for it, but he was obviously taken by surprise.
I tried not to smile pettily at the shock and rage on his face. It only took a few seconds, and both of them hit the ground. I immediately buttoned it up and dropped the atmospheric shields. They both looked beat the hell up, but their chests were rising and falling in the corridor. I used the nanites to form tightly around them with weapons facing in, like a suit of death, except for their head, and then dropped the shield.
Cassie moved forward.
“After you find the truth?”
Cassie smiled grimly, “I’ll do what’s appropriate. A normal human assassin would get the benefit of the law and a trial, clearly this situation calls for a coverup, we can’t jail a sorcerer and vampire.”
I lifted the lockdown, but I shielded and closed off that part of the hallway just in case. I had faith in Cassie, she was an ancient and powerful vampire after all, but Dale scared the shit out of me and I wasn’t going to risk anymore deaths.
Cassie, Jessica, and I sat around the command table in the command center less than an hour later.
Cassie said, “Their mission was to kill you, and kidnap and smuggle Diana off the station, they really want their best scientist back. Their plan was to steal one of the station’s shuttles. According to Dale they were to receive a full pardon for mission success, they were slated for death back in the U.S. for their crimes by the supernatural task force in the FBI, they’d been caught a little over a month ago.
“Regardless, they’re no longer a problem. I’m not sure what we can do about this though, not without exposing the supernatural. It’d be a risk to make accusations, because we can’t show evidence, or a trial, to back it up. The U.S. would demand that accountability, then stonewall and say you’re just lying, unstable, and a danger.”
I blew out a breath, “Yeah. Who was behind it?”
Cassie said, “An agent in the CIA, that is in the know about the supernatural world. Dale didn’t have his real name, and who knows who his boss might’ve been. I don’t like it, but we may have to call this good, at least Dale is no longer a threat. You’re the leader of a nation, there will be other assassination attempts. The cost of doing business.”
Oh, that was encouraging… not. I was angry about it, but on the other hand not all that surprised either. The U.S. government really hated me, and I didn’t see them acknowledging Astraeus as a country anytime soon.
“The damage is removed, and station repaired
of course. It was easy with the nanites. What about our guards, did they have family on the station?”
Jessica shook her head, “I’ll write letters for their parents back on Earth, but neither of them were married, or had children.”
It just seemed really wrong to me, that the bastards behind it wouldn’t get their comeuppance, but it just wasn’t that simple anymore. Damn politics, I felt angry and dirty, it felt like a betrayal of the deaths of my security people, even if we’d killed the ones that did it giving them justice in that way, if not the architects behind them. Still, pushing revenge of any kind would just hurt us in the long run.
Chapter Seven
When I entered our living quarters that evening, the scents of bacon, ham, steak, and venison reached my nose. Was that lamb? My mouth watered, it’d been a while since I’ve had any of that, and our cattle and farm idea to make the station more self-sufficient was still on the drawing board. Sure, the crops were a done deal on the automated farms on the bottom levels, but cows, pigs, milk, and all that were still in the planning stage.
My sister Jayna, along with Cassie and Diana were already in the kitchen when I walked in. There were sausage links cooking in a pan on the stove, and several trays of meat that were cut up into samples.
Diana said, “Surprise.”
I couldn’t help my smile, and my stomach might’ve grumbled, but I took a moment to kiss Diana quite thoroughly before I sat down at the table.
“What’s all this?”
Diana smirked, “Give it a taste.”
I gave the steak cut up in cubes a try, and I sighed in pleasure at the explosion of flavors on my taste buds. At Diana’s urging, I tried the rest of it, bacon, lamb, buffalo, pork, venison, sausage, and it all tasted good, but the texture of the meats all seemed a little off. Delicious though.
“It’s all good, but what’s the deal?”
Diana said, “One of my scientists ran with the idea of cultured meats as a possible alternative to an animal farm. The added benefit is it’s right here on the station, and with this we’re completely self-sufficient as far as food production goes. Sure, we can still import, but we have everything we need for healthy balanced diet right here on the station now.”
I made a face.
Diana laughed, “Cultured meats never really caught on because without fat it tasted disgusting, does any of this taste bad to you?”
I smirked, “No, it’s really good actually, how?”
Diana said, “Obviously, a steak or side of beef is impossibly big for the energy to matter device. There’s not much difference actually, as the various cultured meats grow in a vat. What made the difference is using the energy to matter technology to form and create microscopic globules of fat, and to form them right inside the meat as it grows. What do you think?”
I smiled, “It’s great. The texture is a little off, probably because the fat isn’t a solid piece through the meat, but the taste is perfect, and I’ll get used to it. So, outside of art and other luxuries, the station is fully self-sufficient now?”
Diana shrugged, “Pretty much. Furniture, art, linens, not so much. We could do it though, if we had to.”
“What else?”
I could tell she wanted to ask me something, just by her body language. Whatever it was, she was excited about it.
Diana smiled, “I want a ship. An automated test ship I can control. I’d like to move it somewhere the other ships can’t see it, maybe in another solar system, not one of the ones with a colony planet but just a dead system. Our ideas for more advanced weapons and power systems are at the point they need to be tested. It doesn’t seem prudent to do so where others can see us. Can you build me something that acts like an extension of the station, and give me full rights to it?”
I nodded, “It does seem prudent to keep an edge of advancement for ourselves, just in case, and that will prevent questions that would arise if we blow stuff up in our solar system. I’ll have something ready for you in the morning.”
I used my magic to spin off another probe ship and set up the permissions. I chose a random star within our fifty light year sphere that had no life bearing planets in it according to the data the grays gave us, and I sent it that way. The only thing I locked down was the probe’s weapons systems wouldn’t work in any other solar system. I had no doubts Diana wouldn’t use it to attack someone, but she had a lot of scientists under her, and it just seemed prudent to follow the same rules I’d made up for everyone else. It would take hours for it to get far enough out to open a wormhole, but it’d be in place by morning for her team to work with.
It was also set up to keep getting larger, and to spin off small daughter ships for testing and remote sensors. I supposed they’d be granddaughter ships in relation to the station, but point was if they accidentally blew up the main daughter ship, we’d have data on it.
“What kind of weapons?”
I was assuming she meant the advanced energy production that could make nanites self-powered, and therefore the ships as well, without a separate reactor. I knew they already cracked the small-scale power which was already being offered in our devices and ships. They would work on the kind of power I wouldn’t be comfortable with putting on a planet’s surface, or even in the atmosphere, like the fusion plants. They’d been working on it for a while, the biggest problem was making that kind of thing safe. If every nanite was its own reactor, then one exploding could lead to the whole ship going up. Presumably, it was why the grays didn’t do that.
If the shields failed in battle on the current ships, the damaged nanites on the hull would just be sloughed off, and new shield systems would be built. With their own power, that could cause a chain reaction. Instead of brushing off some damage, the same attack could destroy the whole ship in secondary explosions. She must be confident they can get around that issue somehow, or at least they were going to give it a try.
Diana replied, “A few things, we’re not sure what if any of them will be viable yet. I’ll let you know in a week or so.”
I smiled, “Sounds good.”
I turned over control, and I let her know it’d be in place by morning.
Diana pointed at the trays and said, “So, can we go into production on this, offer it to our people and the resorts as a low-cost alternative to importing meats.”
“Yes, we’ll also add it as an option on the ships we sell. It might be more cost effective than building cattle farms for the colonies once the ships are ready to go next month.”
Cassie said, “They’ll still need cows for milk production.”
That was a good point. Still, it was a good plan, and would minimize that kind of need at the least.
We dropped the work at that point, and the conversation moved to more everyday things.
“You look fantastic, honey.”
Damn, she really did. My Diana went from dressed down sexy librarian to goddess when she dressed to the nines. Lovely green eyes, long raven hair, a face that got more beautiful to me every day, and her tight athletic body was wrapped up in a sinful red dress and black heels.
She truly was breathtaking, and I’d long since gotten over the fact she was older than I was. I was hoping once the life extensions were approved, she’d lose even the small worry over it that she still held. Eight years was nothing compared to the centuries we’d have together, if our relationship went the distance in all other ways outside of that shallow worry. Really, that was her biggest worry I thought, she was very sure of me otherwise most of the time, or so it seemed to me.
We’d been living together the last four months or so after all. About three and a half since she’d left Earth and joined me.
It’d been a while since we’d gone out, but after dinner I’d convinced her to give it a shot. Of course, we’d have a guard presence with us in public, something I’d arranged with Jessica earlier. I wasn’t just the owner of a station anymore, but president of a country. Presidents didn’t usually go to dancing clubs at resorts.
Still, it wasn’t as dangerous as it sounded. We had sensors that could pick up any weapons or explosives, and I’d feel a mage or other supernatural with my magic long before they were close enough to take a shot at me. It was only the over two-mile distance between the center of the station and the docking ports that had allowed Dale to slip on board station without me feeling him. He’d never gotten close enough to be a true threat to me.
Diana smiled, put her hands on my chest, and gave me a light kiss. She looked happy, and more than a bit breathless and excited that we were going out. I’d also like to think the admiration in my eyes had something to do with it as well. Now that the station was up and running, we wouldn’t be stuck inside all the time, although for security sake we probably shouldn’t do it more than two or three times a month, and on random nights. As time went on, more and more places would be open, I hoped anyway.
“Thanks, you look pretty good yourself.”
We left our home which was right near the command center at the center of the station, and we got onto a lift that would take us to the edge and then up a few levels to where the resorts were. I took her hand as we got off, and I noted the security team that subtly followed us and pushed them out of my mind.
Between the three resorts and a few independent bars and clubs, there was more than enough variety to choose from. It was a little bit like Vegas that way, lots of variety in clubs and bars, and there was gambling and even chapels to tie the knot and get married in space, overlooking the earth which looked like a large blue, white, and green marble.
We went to a jazz dinner club which had a live band. It was bright and clean, subdued yellow walls, white tablecloths, fancy chandelier lighting over the tables but the dance floor was a bit dimmer. Of course, we’d already eaten, so we just had a couple of drinks at the bar to loosen up, and then hit the dance floor.
More than a few people recognized us of course, but they let us be, and in truth I hardly even noticed overmuch, being mesmerized by her sparkling green eyes and the way she moved her body in that tight dress on the dance floor. We had a lot of fun, danced, had a few drinks, and made our way home a few hours later. Where the second part of our date started, and I got to peel that sexy red dress off of her. It was a hell of a night, and something I was determined to do again.
Astraeus Station Page 6
