Charlie nodded. “That was you with the sword, Lexi? We examined the bodies.”
“Yes, that was me.” Lexi glanced at Ron. “You told me the Helgans cleaned up if they lost.”
He shrugged. “I thought that’s what they did. But then again, they never lose. I expected we were going to be dead. At any rate, they should have. It’s a major violation of Accord policy to leave alien bodies on Level-Two worlds.”
Lexi looked at him, smiling wryly and shaking her head.
“We expanded the investigation to other people who had contact with you. Was Jameson the professor who had the artifact?” Charlie asked.
Lexi’s expression turned grim. “Yes.”
Charlie’s expression matched hers. “He is now locked up in a mental hospital. Did your artifact do that to him?”
Lexi’s expression hadn’t changed. “No. I did. We can talk more about that in private.”
Charlie nodded. “OK, then, you stowed away to stop Ron from invading Earth?”
Lexi finally smiled again. “Yes.” Turning more serious, she added, “Keep in mind, Dad, I am currently trying to save my planet from an alien invasion, one that will leave no one alive when they’re done with us. Running off with Ron and Geena got us to the point where we might be able to stop the Kreesh swarm. It’s not a sure thing.”
Charlie sighed. “Point taken, Lexi. Still, it was easy to put two and two together,” he said. “Lexi Stevens, state rapier champion, last seen a mile from the bodies of two seriously sliced up aliens. It all seemed unlikely, but there it was. He was in bad shape by the time we got to him but we sewed the one who was still alive back together. We’ve been interrogating him ever since we learned his language. He refused to speak the only other alien tongues we know. He still has nightmares about the demon stick woman with fire hair. Other than the demon part, that kind of sounded like you, honey. I thought I would never see you again, Lexi.”
Chapter 46
Charlie, This is Lexi
Lexi smiled at her father. “I always intended to come back and visit, Dad. My life has been pretty much nonstop since I joined Ron and Geena. We’ll fill you in on that later. As to the surviving Helgan, we assumed his people would take him when they left.” She paused, thoughtfully. “The Helgans, Helgan mercenaries at least, are bullies. I intentionally cut him up to send the rest of them a message. If they left him behind, the message may not have been delivered. Now, though, I may want him. Tell me, how much do you know about the space-threading civilizations of the Accord?”
“Just what they tell us, which isn’t much.” He spared a meaningful glance at Andy. “And what we get from our Helgan captive, which is even less. How did you get involved with them? I mean, I understand about your leaving with Ron. But if I’m understanding this correctly, your friend Jis there is the ruler of an entire world.”
“Yes, she is. She’s also a member of my team. But, later, Dad. How would you like to know everything about the Accord?”
“Lexi, at the moment I’m more interested in knowing what is going on with you.”
“Fair enough,” Lexi began.
“Let us answer that, dear, you won’t do yourself justice,” Geena interrupted. “Your daughter, Charlie, stowed away on my ship, chasing after my son. Ron is my child. I know I look Lexi’s age but I’m in my fifties by your calendar. The two of us made a living as insurance investigators. We were on Earth searching for a quasi-religious object stolen from the Ackalonians. They call it the Rose of Insight. Most of the Accord think it’s called the Rose of Light. Jameson had it. That much you know.”
She paused. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of educators. I’d be surprised if you had. They’re an alien technology that implants knowledge directly into the user’s brain. We own one of the few in existence. Lexi used it that first night she was with us in order to learn how to pilot my ship.” She laughed. “They covered quite a bit more than piloting. She has a very impressive take-charge personality, Charlie. The next day she took over my business and none of us have ever regretted it. She is undoubtedly one of the most impressive intellects in Accord space today. Jis, I think it’s your turn.”
“OK. With Lexi’s help, the three of them succeeded in recovering the Rose of Light,” Jis said. “It was stolen from my father and somehow wound up on Earth. The Rose is an ancient crystalline device created for my people,” she paused and for a moment looked really puzzled as she stared at Andy for a brief moment before turning her head to meet Lexi’s eyes. “I just realized that may not be true. It wasn’t necessarily created for us. It may have been created specifically for Lexi. That never occurred to me before.”
Lexi frowned as she shook her head. “Not possible.”
Jis, still looking directly at her, shook her head slowly. “No, it’s not possible, but still very likely, love. Trust me.” She looked back at Charlie. “Some Ackalonians can, to a certain extent, sense the future. We can tell when others are lying. We sense emotions. The Rose is a tool for training, focusing and enhancing those abilities. When Lexi retrieved it, its internal pattern copied itself into her mind. That, as far as our scholars know, has never happened before. They’re still having trouble believing it is even possible.” She shrugged. “However, Lexi seems to have turned doing the impossible into a hobby.” With a small laugh, she added, “I made an annotation to that effect in her confidential file two years ago.”
Urania-avatar took up the tale. “Four months ago, we came across a derelict warship of unknown origin. That’s it on your monitor. We believe it to be the most advanced warship ever constructed in the volume of space known to the Accord. It was built by the same race who developed educator technology. Sentient computers are rare, but like me, the derelict’s command-comp was a member of the club. It killed its crew nine of your centuries ago and tried to do the same to us. Guess who prevented that from happening?”
She paused a moment. “The sentience is dead and it’s now our ship. It is from both data that ship possessed and from Jis’s and Lexi’s precognitive abilities that we learned of the Kreesh. Believe me, Director Stevens, when I tell you that without Lexi, we are all going to be dead very soon.”
“Look, Dad,” Lexi cut in, “We obviously have a lot to talk about. Some of it is personal and some of it not so much. The personal stuff we can talk about over dinner, later, if that’s OK with you. For the rest, how soon can we meet on an official basis? I need to follow up on the other ship up there and I want to bring down a couple of the other members of my staff. You bring anyone you want. Oh, and bring the Helgan too, if you would. I’ll take him off of your hands.”
She paused. “Earth is facing a doomsday scenario here within the next few years. There is no way for you to survive the Kreesh swarm. Our only hope is to stop them before they get here. I don’t know your protocols for this, but you must have some. So do what you have to do. I’ll be back in three hours. Does that give you enough time to round up your people?”
“Not physically,” Charlie said with a smile. “But we have this advanced technology thingy called video conferencing. Let’s say at two o’clock.” With a brief smile and a nod, Lexi and her team vanished.
Charlie watched the empty space where Lexi sat a second earlier, then turned to Andy and asked, “What do you think, my friend?” Before Andy said, anything, he added, “Lisa, please stay.”
Andy considered. “Jis is beyond any doubt truly Jis Boc Seckan. I met with her briefly when we discussed sending me here. She is indeed the Plicora of Ackalon, the successor of Ad Boc Seckan, who stepped down almost two of your years ago. I was at the ceremonies. As I mentioned earlier, I met Lexi and her partners at one of the receptions. I understood them to be insurance investigators working for a partnership they formed and subsequently named Aeolus Investigations. That fits with everything else they said. I do know they were the ones who restored our Rose to us. Everyone on Ackalon knows that much about them. Aeolus had by that time also earned a formidable reputation among
the upper echelons of several other Accord governments. Even then, it was clear Jis thought very highly of them. And now this.” He shook his head. “As I said, there is no doubt in my mind that Jis is who she claims to be. Are you sure Lexi is your missing daughter?”
Charlie nodded. “She can’t be anyone else. Besides, her ship’s avatar, Urania, is named after a Greek muse. I’m a little rusty on my Greek mythology, but I’m pretty sure the name of their partnership derives from the name of some minor Greek god. That’s typical Lexi. I’m a little surprised she didn’t name the big ship Zeus.”
It was Andy’s turn to nod. “I probably know a few things about her that you don’t. I didn’t know she was related to you though. I would have mentioned it if I had. I didn’t know she was from Earth. That still seems unlikely. I do know, for instance, that after recovering the Rose, her team was hired to find and rescue several kidnapped members of the Borgolian royal family. Jis went with them on that mission. I’m not sure how or why. They not only accomplished the primary mission, they also came back with a number of prominent citizens taken from several other planets. In other words, Aeolus wound up in a very short time with high-powered, grateful friends throughout the Accord.”
He paused. “I didn’t know Lexi was a planetary leader. Again that seems unlikely. I’ll tell you though, Ostrieachia is a lot like Earth in many ways. By that, I mean, politically, they have multiple nations that are frequently at odds with each other. Sound familiar? They do have starships though, which, along with what was probably a global government in name only, qualified them for Accord membership. The Aeolus team left for there immediately after the coronation. That was a few days before Jis sent me here. I’d love to hear the story on what they could have done that left your daughter in charge of an Accord member world.”
Charlie smiled. “So would I. It seems we’re getting stories at dinner. You should come.”
Andy nodded. “Oh, I intend to. Only an idiot would turn down an invitation to dinner with the beautiful Plicora. You know I can tell when someone is lying? Everything Lexi said was true. None of them were lying. I’ve never heard of anything like avatars. Charlie, the technology they’re using just doesn’t exist; it doesn’t exist anywhere.” He pointed to the monitor where the monster ship, now without the holographic alterations, was displayed, with the much smaller one unmoving nearby. “That ship is hundreds of times the size of any ship in the Accord.”
Charlie looked at the screen too. “What do you know about those swarming aliens?”
Andy thought a moment. “Yes, she spoke of the Kreesh. I’ve always believed them to be a myth. If they are real, and can’t be stopped, then her threat to let you be eaten by them is not without basis. The legends say they swarm by the billions and when they come across a planet with sufficient biomass they begin to feed. No one has run into them at least since the Accord was formed. The legends date back tens of millennia.”
He paused again for a moment, looking thoughtful. “I’ll tell you something else. The bylaw they mentioned has never before been activated. Anyone who gave it any thought believed it never could be, even in a crisis, considering how hands-off all of the member worlds are. Who could they all possibly agree to give that much power too? Who would they trust with it? Look at that ship. They called it the most advanced warship ever built. Lexi and her crew represent the perfect solution to the Article Seven paradox. The Accord is turning over control to someone who already has more power than any of them do individually or collectively. If she wanted to run the place, I suspect she could make it happen with that one ship alone. Keep that in mind.”
Chapter 47
Briefing
At two o’clock on the dot, Lexi appeared and said, “Dad, I’m back.” In addition to Andy, and the Helgan, there were five other people in the room, one wearing the uniform of a three-star general in the US Air Force. The others were in business attire. Lexi nodded to them while noting that thirty-three additional men and women were looking out at her from insets on a very large flat-panel monitor that took up the back wall of the room. “Can we hold off on introductions until the rest of my team comes down?” Indicating the Helgan, she said, “I want to talk to him.” She noticed the Helgan cringe.
At her father’s nod, she walked over and in Henimin, his native language, said, “I’m Lexi. We met before. What’s your name?”
He scowled at her. “I have no name. I lost it when I lost my honor.”
“OK, then. I’ll point out you were trying to kill me and leave it at that. I’m going to offer you the opportunity to regain your honor. I have been escalated to Supreme Commander by the Accord. Your world has not yet ratified the decision, but it soon will. You don’t belong here. Your team should have collected you before they left. I’m going to have these people release you. You can go home, or you can have a position on one of my ships. Think about it while I discuss this with the representatives of this world. You speak English?”
“Yes. I was bored. They taught me.” He was still scowling. It looked like the Earth doctors did a good job stitching him back together. Maybe his team leaving him was a consequence of losing one’s honor? Still, leaving non-human bodies on a Level-Two planet was against Accord law. They should have taken him and his dead cohort anyway. Ron must have really rattled when he boarded their ship to rescue Geena. If the ship was gone, at least he didn’t kill all of them.
Lexi stared at the nameless Helgan for another moment before walking back to where her father was standing. “You ready?” she asked. Glancing at the monitor, she saw some of the insets were still empty. Those displaying faces had a small banner at the bottom of the inset with the occupants’ name and title as well as the flag of the nation they represented.
“Yes,” he said, motioning her toward the head of the table. “We’re all here.”
“Ron,” she said out loud, “Come on down.” Almost instantly, six people appeared around her. Despite being forewarned, several of the physical attendees jumped when that happened.
Charlie, standing behind a small podium, spoke first. “As you all have been informed, for the first time ever, as of this morning we are in direct contact with representatives of the Accord.” He gave them a moment to consider the six-limbed Vankovian, a second alien who appeared to be mostly stone, the giant of a man his daughter was in love with, and the three others. “As we meet here, a drastic change is rippling throughout that civilization. They are consolidating their military forces under a single command as they prepare a defense against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. They’re soliciting our help.” He paused and smiled at his daughter, “Marshal Stevens, your turn.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of this impromptu meeting is to introduce you to me, my team and the issue we all face. I need you to understand why I am fully exposing the Accord to Earth. I learned only a few hours ago that a representative of the Accord has been stationed here for the last year and a half in an advisory capacity. I am therefore going to assume that you are familiar, in general at least, with the planets, governments, and races of the Accord. If you have questions, please interrupt as appropriate.”
She paused, noting glances go toward Andy. “My name is Lexi Stevens. Coincidentally, I am the daughter of Director Stevens. I left Earth three years ago. Since then, I have been traveling between worlds as the leader of a problem-solving team we named Aeolus Investigations. I am also, to use the Vankovian version of the title, now Marshal of the Accord. The office of Marshal was provided for at the beginnings of the Accord. I am the first person to ever hold the position. It is not military in nature, nor is it political. That being said, shortly every military organization in the Accord will be following my orders. Every political entity will be following my lead. My job is to ensure the survival of the Accord.”
One of the civilians caught her eye. She nodded to him. “I’m Daniel Mudd, the US Secretary of Defense, Ms. Stevens. May I ask how you were able to leave Earth?”
Lexi smiled. �
�That is probably the easiest question I’ll be answering in the foreseeable future. I stowed away on a starship belonging to a pair of insurance investigators. My reasons for doing so are personal. I’ve never regretted it. It’s not worth taking our time discussing it. It is mentioned in the bio packets you’ll receive after we breakup here.”
Mudd nodded and Lexi continued, “With me this afternoon are my lieutenants. Ron and Geena Samue are natives of the planet known as Cardin’s Paradise. The very muscular, gray-haired woman is Urania. All three are members of my troubleshooting team. This is Jis Boc Seckan, Plicora of Ackalon. The man immediately to my left is Prince Jadkim E’Kret, representing the planet Borgol, where he is second in line for the throne. Also with me is Seekateeki, High Admiral of the Vankovian Empire, on loan to me for the duration of the emergency. Our biographies, a definition of what being Marshal of the Accord means, documentation on my warship and the limited information available to us concerning the enemy we face are all included in the materials that will be sent to you after this meeting.”
Aeolus Investigations Set 2: Too Cool To Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens Page 40
