by Bob Cooper
Jose and Ignacio looked at each other and then at her.
“Well do you?” she asked again before they could answer.
“Uh, no. Of course not,” Ignacio replied.
“Well, then I say let’s proceed with the lawsuit. They have no right to shut us down, and I believe the courts will see it our way.”
“Acey….,” Raina tried to interject.
“And if our attorneys do not wish to represent us, we’ll get others,” she said, staring at Raina.
Acey stormed out of the room, and Raina ran after her.
“Look, Acey, hold on for a moment.”
“And don’t ever invite him to anything that involves me ever again!” Acey said, gritting her teeth as she stormed out the door.
6
W ith tears streaming down her face, she headed back to her apartment. Everything was imploding. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the city, she calmed down enough to realize the root cause of her meltdown—Aidan. She had to put him out of her mind. It is over. He made that clear when he left and never contacted her. It is over; it is over; she kept telling herself. Guilt pains came on strong as she realized how she acted in Raina’s office. Picking up her com-link, she contacted Raina.
“Hi, Acey. I’m so sorry…” Raina said before Acey could say anything.
“Hey, it’s me that should be sorry. I made an ass of myself and disrupted your meeting. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re forgiven, but you can’t let Aidan get to you like that.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m moving on.”
“I’ve got to go. Call me later.”
“Okay. Take care,” Acey said.
Acey no sooner hung up with Raina when she heard the door chimes. Looking up at the apartment monitor, there was Tim standing outside. She glanced at the clock and gasped. Dinner at eight—she forgot all about it. Her gut instinct told her not to do this, but then maybe Tim is what she needed, she reasoned—a fresh new face, someone that shared her need to explore, and someone who had the means to do so. She buzzed him in and waited by the door.
Driving towards Acey’s apartment, Aidan rehearsed what he would say to her. Aidan thought Raina told Acey about his involvement in the case, but apparently, from the outcome of the meeting, she didn’t. He would tell her the real reason why he didn’t contact her. He would tell her how sorry he was. He would tell her that he loved her. He arrived in time to see Acey walking to Tim’s vehicle. Aidan noticed Tim’s arm around her waist.
***
At the restaurant, a bottle of Aurigan Brandy was appropriately placed next to a bouquet of flowers. The table overlooked a cluster of Saguaro Cacti at the base of a small mountain range. Space music played, piped in through hidden speakers. As the waiter showed them to the table, Tim moved around to pull the chair out for Acey. She sat and smiled at him.
“Wow, I’m impressed,” she said.
“Nothing but the best for you,” he replied.
Silence fell.
A few seconds later, the uneasy silence ended when Tim took a piece of paper out of his briefcase and pushed it towards Acey. She looked at him before lowering her eyes to read it.
“Star Cruiser number X34789-B shall be leased to Tim Arden for a term no more than one week providing all terms as stipulated in the lease agreement filed with Galaxy Leasing Company are adhered to and followed without deviation….”
Acey stopped reading and smiled at Tim.
“You did it. I can’t believe you got it. Who paid for this? It had to be expensive.”
“Let’s say there are those interested in knowing what you found. The financials are in order. We can leave anytime you want.”
They made plans as they ate. When they finished their meal, Tim asked her to dance. There was no one else on the dance floor. The Brandy worked its magic as Tim put his arms around her. They danced slowly to the music with Acey resting her head on his shoulder. A slender, petite, young woman at the bar watched the two swaying to the music. Tim gave her a thumbs-up as he swirled Acey around. All was going according to plan.
***
Dirk waited impatiently in General Coburn’s outer office. She came out to greet him and then ushered him into an elevator. Neither said a word as it took them down to the parking level, where they got off. They walked to the back of the parking lot to a small door. Dirk could see recording devices scattered about.
“Please stand back,” she said to him.
Looking into the retinal scanner, a green light acknowledged her identity. Then a pale blue bolt of static electricity shot through her body causing Dirk to jump back. The door opened to two armed guards standing at attention.
“It’s okay now. We can enter,” she said, leading him to another elevator that descended further. When the door opened this time, they were alone, but Dirk could see evidence of security systems monitoring their presence. They waited about five more minutes without saying a word. Finally, a woman in a lab coat appeared as part of the wall opened.
“Good morning, General and Mister Saunders. Please follow me.” She took them to a conference room, past a set of labs where scientists were busily at work. An elderly, slim woman dressed in a gray business suit waited. Dirk recognized her instantly.
“Norma Roberts, what a surprise,” he said warmly shaking her hand.
“I see you two know each other,” the General commented.
“Yes, from our days at the Academy,” he replied.
“What are you doing here?” Dirk asked Norma.
An old spark rekindled, and Dirk smiled at her. Thinking back to when they worked together at the Academy, Dirk remembered the sweet, young and intelligent girl he planned to pursue. But fate intervened and cut his plans short with the death of Acey’s parents. From that point on, raising Acey became his focus.
“I’ll let the General explain,” Norma said.
“Please have a seat. When I got your call about your daughter and the others finding out about the Progenitor Project, it wasn’t a big surprise. We knew we couldn’t keep it a secret forever. Someone was about to stumble across the artifacts as we had done. The question is—what do we do now?”
Dirk was made aware of the find some years ago. At that time, little was known about the artifacts. He anticipated being part of the team to continue the analysis. But then, the artifacts became a highly classified military project.
“I am cleared to tell you that these artifacts deal with our human origins on Earth and possibly all life origins in our universe. We think we found genetic material preserved from every generation since human inception on Earth. We don’t know who collected it or why, but our latest tests show the samples found on Dysnomia contain human DNA. Your granddaughter and those on her team have the potential to bring this to light. I don’t have to tell you what impact this could have on our religious and social systems without a proper disclosure process.
If that’s not enough, the IIA has taken it upon themselves to be the self-appointed guardians and will do anything to keep it a secret,” General Coburn reported. “But there are those of us who believe the time for disclosure is now. The citizens of Earth have a right to know. But this must be done properly; otherwise, there will be chaos.”
“Is Acey in any kind of danger?” Dirk asked frantically.
“I’ll come right to the point. Yes, she is if she continues to pursue this lawsuit. The IIA will do whatever they need to do to stop her. I need you to do two things: Stop this lawsuit from going forward and work with Norma to determine the best way to make this information public. The timing for public disclosure has never been better. With your contacts in the public, academic and government sectors, you are our best choice to accomplish this,” the General said.
“What about the IIA?” Dirk asked.
“You let me worry about them.”
***
Acey woke up with a definite buzz in her head. A wave of nausea hit her as she tried to sit up in bed. Lying back down for a moment, sh
e waited for the feeling to pass. The irritating buzz of the com link continued until she answered.
“Hello,” she managed to get the words out of her cottonmouth.
“Hi, Acey. Did I wake you? Sorry. But I have some fantastic news. Billy and I are engaged,” Hillary said.
Acey struggled to process the information. Engagement and marriage were antiquated institutions, and knowing Hillary, Acey thought a traditional relationship would be the last thing she would do.
“Acey, are you there?”
“Yeah, that’s great, I guess…” Acey said, cutting her response short as her stomach started to churn.
“Acey, are you alright? What’s wrong?” Hillary asked somewhat put off by Acey’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Nothing, I’m fine. Just a little woozy from last night. Why don’t I meet you for breakfast across from the Gallery? I want to hear all about how he proposed.
“Uh, like you mean lunch. It’s one-thirty in the afternoon.”
Acey looked at the clock.
“Damn. There’s some stuff I have to do first. I’ll see you at five for dinner. Got to go!”
Acey closed the com link and threw on some clothes. Running down to the elevator, she cursed having missed it. Finally, she made her way down to the first floor.
Joe waited patiently in the café. She was a half an hour late, and he was pulling out his com link ready to call when Acey showed up, out of breath from running.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Acey said, eyeing the folder that Joe held.
“I was ready to give up. You look flustered,” he said.
Acey caught her breath and sat down at the table. Ordering a glass of water, she tried making small talk with Joe. But she immediately recognized deep concern on his face.
“Just what do you plan to do with this?” he asked.
“Raina and Robert need the details of what’s on Dysnomia so they can prepare for the lawsuit,” she lied.
“Acey, I thought the lawsuit was not going to proceed.”
“Well, Ignacio and Jose’ decided that we should continue to pursue it,” she said, getting herself deeper into the lie.
“Look,” Joe said, “the initial surveys we did on Dysnomia show some very promising veins of Iridium Ore. We got the jump on the others and filed a claim. If this information gets leaked, claim jumpers can pick that site clean in a matter of days.”
“I didn’t know that. I understand your concern. I’ll make sure that Raina uses discretion with these documents. Uh, I really have to go. Thanks for everything,” she said, gulping down the water as she headed for the door.
Joe watched her leave. Something didn’t add up. He had no reason not to trust her, but his gut instinct told him he shouldn’t have given her the surveys.
Stryker snickered to himself as he finished recording the last of their conversation from the next table.
***
Aidan entered the front door, acknowledged the receptionist, and walked directly into Raina’s office.
She was distressed from the disastrous meeting yesterday. She had never seen Acey that upset and knew it had to do with hiring Aidan.
“Hi. Have you talked to Acey?” Aidan asked before Raina said anything.
“Yes. She called and apologized for the meltdown at the meeting.”
Aidan shook his head and took a deep breath. He knew it was because of him.
“What is going on between you two, may I ask?”
“I ran into her a few days ago. I tried to explain where I was and what I was doing, but the words wouldn’t come out. She became totally outraged and stormed off before I could say anything more. Did she know I was working for you? The look on her face at the meeting yesterday suggested she didn’t.”
“That’s my fault. I got totally immersed in preparing for the meeting, and I forgot to tell her,” Raina said.
“I went to her place last night to try to explain things, but I saw her leaving with some guy. They looked quite cozy. All I could do was watch as they got into his cruiser and drove away. I got the registration information from scanning his vehicle’s id chip. His name is Tim Arden. Do you know him?”
Raina thought for a moment. She knew that name. Finally, it came to her. “He’s one of the astro-archeologists going on her expedition,” she said, looking alarmed.
“We have to talk to her before she does something stupid,” Aidan said.
***
Acey steadied herself as she got into the shower. A traditional wedding for Hillary, she thought. How, unlike Hillary. Traditional weddings were passé in today’s society. Hillary didn’t have a conventional bone in her body. She grew up in a tolerant and open childhood where she could explore and question anything. Her artistic talents dictated her behavior through adolescence—from how she dressed to the bohemian crowd she hung with.
In spite of her eccentricities, Acey and Hillary were the best of friends. The one thing that set Hillary apart from anyone that Acey knew was her telepathic abilities. Acey witnessed this first hand on Antares when Hillary telepathically communicated with alien beings. It shocked Hillary to find out she possessed these abilities, but it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Her mother had these “gifts”, as she called them. They made her mother’s life hell—full of ridicule and persecution. Hillary made everyone swear not to divulge her secret. She did not want to be labeled a “freak” like her mother.
Looking at her buzzing com link, Acey noticed it was Dirk. This was his sixth call. She had to take it.
“Hi, Dirk. How are…..”
“Acey, I need to talk to you right away. Can you stop by my office right now?
“Uh, I can’t now. How about tomorrow morning?”
“Acey, listen to me. You need to back off from the lawsuit. It could endanger you and those around you.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I know because I was told. You need to back off,” he said, growing frustrated.
“I’ll stop by tomorrow morning, and we can discuss it further. Got to go.”
“Acey, listen to me….”
She hung up and contacted Tim. “Hey, I have the info on Dysnomia.”
“That’s great. Send it to me. We leave the day after tomorrow, so be ready. I’ll pick you up at 7:00 AM.”
“Got it,” she confirmed.
***
Stryker waited in the central square for instructions. He watched the sunset with a close eye on the many people milling around. A young woman in shorts and a tight tee-shirt sat down next to him. Myra looked like an Academy student. His eyes scanned her from top to bottom, and she smiled at him.
“Why Colonel Stryker, when was the last time you saw a young female? You’ve been in the field too long,” she said, crossing her legs seductively.
It caught Stryker off guard, and he blushed. He wasn’t expecting someone her age—not in the IIA. Hell, he had underwear older than her. But she was a welcomed sight compared to whom he usually dealt with.
“You’re probably right. I do need to get out more. I have the complete dossier on the Saunders family,” he said, giving her the file.
“And what did you give General Coburn?” she asked, leafing through the pages.
“Pictures of the artifacts they found, but I left out the details.”
“Good work. Those artifacts and all the lab work they’re doing must be destroyed. I have a team working on that as we speak. And one more thing,” she said.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“General Coburn is no longer an ally of the IIA and jeopardizes our mission with all her talk of disclosure. She must be eliminated as soon as possible.
7
S tryker squatted in the cold drizzle and waited on the rooftop of the apartment building across the street. Getting off the shuttle an hour ago, he had no time to acclimate to the cold, damp weather of the capital city. He felt it seep into his old bones. His military career brought him to many missions on and off-world, and t
he conditions never bothered him. Most of his friends left this game a long time ago—either dead and forgotten or hiding on some extra-terrestrial world, living off government subsistence.
He believed in the IIA and would probably die defending it. Once humans ventured out to the stars, the Earth needed protection from whatever evil was out there. He dedicated his long career to the protection of humanity. The younger ones in the IIA ran the show now, so he had to prove his worth every day to stay in their good graces. It was becoming more challenging to do, not that he felt less than them, but because his seniority and service record wasn’t valued. They very rarely listened to him. He was viewed simply like someone to do their dirty work.
The rain came down harder, and he covered the long-range sonic disrupter under his black range coat. Sonic disrupters proved most efficient for assassins these days. No loud bang, no powder residue, no casings—only a pulse wave that shattered internal organs and blood vessels from up to a mile away.
The door he had his eyes on opened, and General Coburn stepped out with her dog. In the common area, there was a patch of grass specifically for pets. As she approached it, Stryker took aim. He watched her knowing this would be her last act on Earth. Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger. He noted the time—7:43 PM.
General Blair Coburn fell backward. Her dog barked and watched the blood pour out of her every orifice.
***
At 7:50PM, Norma Roberts finished documenting the results of her ongoing experiment. The alarm system sounded, and the lights went out as she packed her things to get ready to leave. The emergency lighting came on bathing the entire area in a purplish hue that made it difficult to see. Moving to the hallway, she could hear glass shattering.
“What’s happening?” she yelled.
No one answered. Then she heard the unmistakable shots from blasters. She heard screaming and ran back into the lab, locking the door behind her. Frantically, she considered her options as the screams grew louder and the shooting came closer. Explosions hurled glass and metal through the hallway. Hiding under the table, she pulled out her com link. Calling General Coburn, she got no answer. The glass wall shattered as black figures came crashing through. Her heart pounded, and the tears in her eyes obscured the com link’s display.
