“You are, Nemhain.”
“Then how do we find the Inauguration Stone?”
“I’ve no idea,” Oisin had to admit. “I’m guessing however that it’s probably in the Morrigan’s Depository, but then no-one knows where that is located either. I’m guessing though that it could be in Eire, as that was where the main Aos Si Imperial population was living at the time.”
Fionnuala had been looking closely at Joshua for a while.
“You were able to open the door to the pyramid I was imprisoned in, Joshua,” Fionnuala said turning to him. “That could only be done by someone with Aos Si genes. We’ve not spoken of your parents before, Joshua, but one of them must have had Aos Si ancestry.”
“Well my father was a Professor of Ancient History at Trinity College, Dublin,” Joshua explained. “I never knew him as he died when I was only 3 months old and I can only go on what my mother told me. He was English however, as is my uncle Henry, his brother,,” Joshua replied. “I lived in England with my uncle Henry, my father’s brother, from when my mother disappeared just after my 10th birthday. Uncle Henry never mentioned anything about being Aos Si.”
“Your mother disappeared, Joshua?” Fionnuala asked concernedly.
“Yes, without trace. We were living in Cork, in Ireland at the time.”
“Was she Irish then?” Oisin wanted to know.
“Yes, her family came from Cork, which is why we moved there,” Joshua replied, “but there was none of her family living there and as far as I knew my mother had no family members left alive. When I was older, I used to ask my mother about her family, but she always said they’d gone from Earth long ago, which I took to mean that they’d died.”
“Were those her exact words, Joshua?” Oisin queried, as he carefully studied the young man. “They’d gone from Earth long ago?”
“Yes, I always thought it a bit strange. She never said that they had died, or passed away, it was always ‘they’d gone from Earth’.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Oisin?” Fionnuala questioned, interrupting.
“Probably, Nemhain,” Oisin answered.
“Do you see the facial resemblance that Joshua has to someone that we both know, Oisin?” Fionnuala then asked him.
“I think so, Nemhain,” Oisin answered, turning his gaze back to Joshua. “What was your mother’s name?”
“Siobhan mac Eoghain, why do you ask?”
Oisin smiled now as did the Nemhain.
“Your mother, Joshua was one of the Fianna,” Oisin told him. “She was one of my father’s most trusted comrades and was left behind on Earth to help protect the Morrigan’s Depository. I never found out what had happened to her. When I was older, I learned that she had disappeared as you say and with her went the knowledge of where the Morrigan’s Depository was.”
“A member of the Fianna? What exactly are they?” Joshua questioned. It hadn’t been explained to him yet.
“They are an elite military unit and also the bodyguard of the Aos Si Triumvirate,” it was Fionnuala who answered. “Oisin is the acting Ceannaire commanding the Fianna in the absence of his father, Fionn Mac Cumhaill.”
“I see,” Joshua replied. What Oisin had said had shocked him, for he’d never suspected that his mother was anything but an ordinary Irishwoman who had dropped out of University to have her child and had then settled down to be a full-time mother. This was a whole side to his mother’s life; that he’d never known about.
“Yes,” Oisin repeated. “She was one of the bravest and the best.”
“Siobhan mac Eoghain was a true patriot,” Fionnuala told Joshua, turning to look at him. “You should be very proud of your mother.”
“You have an uncle, Siobhan’s brother, Conor, and an aunt, Siobhan’s sister, Ebhla,” Oisin told him. “They were both Fleet Galaxy Class Deltoid commanders who went with my father, when the Fianna fleet left Earth to escape being captured. Where they or my father are now however, I don’t know.”
“You said that Siobhan disappeared?” Fionnuala said, turning to Oisin. Joshua answered before Oisin had chance to.
“Yes, I’ll always remember it. It was the day after my 10th birthday,” Joshua answered. “She was at home when I left for school that morning and I can remember her saying that she had to go out, but should be back by the time that I got home. If she wasn’t, I was to go to Mrs Kelly’s. She was a friend of my mother’s and lived a few doors away.”
“Did she say where she was going to, Joshua?” Oisin asked
“No, which was strange, because she usually did,” Joshua replied shaking his head.
“Something’s bothering me Joshua,” Oisin suddenly said. “You said that you and your mother left Dublin to go to Cork, where she said her family came from. Your mother, however, was born on Si Fionna, the Aos Si home world in the Orion Constellation and her family came from there too. As far as I am aware, Siobhan had no connections whatsoever with Cork.”
“That’s correct, Joshua. Where is this Cork anyway?” Fionnuala asked.
“It’s in the south of Eire, Nemhain,” Oisin answered.
“Oisin, I think it is in order for you to call me by my given name, especially as you are the acting Ceannaire of the Fianna,” Fionnuala told him. “Do you agree?” Fionnuala turned and asked Iseabail.
“Yes, in fact I think it would be best if we all use our given names within this group,” Iseabail replied. “Do we all agree?” All agreed.
“So why did Siobhan chose to settle in Cork to bring up her child, after the death of Joshua’s father?” Fionnuala looked in turn at Oisin and then Joshua.
“I’ve no idea, Fionnuala,” Oisin answered.
“Nor I,” said Joshua.
John had been listening intently to all that had been said but had also been thinking.
“You said that Joshua’s mother had been left behind on Earth to help protect the Morrigan’s Depository. Were any other members of the Fianna also left behind?” John suddenly asked.
“No, when I said she was left to help protect the Morrigan’s Depository, it was to ensure that the automatic security systems operated correctly and were also maintained and to ensure that no one attempted to break into the Depository,” Oisin explained. “Why do you ask John?”
“Well, I was wondering if Joshua’s mother went that day to check up on the Depository. If so, as she was expecting to get back home in time to be there when Joshua returned from school, then it can’t have been located too far away from Cork.”
Chapter 28
Earth Orbit, The Nemhain’s Command Deltoid
Wednesday 14th September 2005
Everyone stared at John for a moment digesting what he had said and then Fionnuala nodded.
“That could be so, John,” the Nemhain said, looking over to Oisin. “She would have had to be fairly near to the Morrigan’s Depository to monitor it.” Oisin nodded in agreement.
“But my mother was in Dublin as a student up and until I was born. She was there for two years at least,” Joshua pointed out.
“Students have holidays Joshua as I well know,” Iseabail said. Kate nodded in agreement at this. “Any routine maintenance could have been carried out then and I daresay she was ready to respond to any emergencies.”
“That must have been difficult though with a young child to bring up on her own and no relatives in the area,” Kate practically suggested. “She couldn’t just disappear and leave you on your own Joshua.”
“I used to go and stay with Uncle Henry, at Oxford, in England during the summer holidays,” Joshua told them. “As I said, he brought me up after my mother disappeared. There were odd times too when I used to stay at Sneem with my auntie Etain, well she wasn’t really my auntie, but my mother said that I should call her that. Mum used to go off on her own for hours when we stopped with Etain. Usually I’d go everywhere with her, but on these occasions, mum said I had to stop with Etain. When I asked her why, mum said she had some grown-up business to attend to.”
“Where is this Sneem, Joshua?” Fionnuala asked him.
“It’s in County Kerry in the south west of Eire. We used to get the train from Cork to Killarney and then auntie Etain used to pick us up from there in her old station wagon,” Joshua told them.
Oisin had taken a slim tablet computer from his pocket and was using the search engine.
“Well now, this is very interesting, very interesting indeed. Do you know what Sneem translated into the Irish language means?” He asked. Everyone shook their heads. “Well, it is An tSnaidhm which in English translates as ‘The Knot’.”
“The Knot, that’s an old Aos Si nickname for the Fianna. It refers to your badge of office,” Fionnuala said looking over to Oisin.
“Indeed, it does, Oisin agreed. “It’s possible that this Sneem was founded by the Fianna, way back when the Aos Si first settled in Eire,” Oisin thought for a moment or two and then asked. “This auntie Etain, Joshua, how old would you say she was?”
“I really don’t know. It was very difficult for me to ascertain her age and funnily enough, each time I saw her, she didn’t seemed to have aged any,” Joshua told them.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking Oisin?” Fionnuala asked him.
“Probably. I’m thinking that auntie Etain, as you know her, Joshua, is an android, possibly a Fianna one, placed in Sneem to monitor the automatic systems guarding the Morrigan’s Depository. It was probably Etain who carried out the routine maintenance, only having to call upon Siobhan in an emergency. This would have allowed your mother to have more freedom,” Oisin thought for a moment and then asked. “How long did it take you to get to Sneem from Cork, Joshua?”
“The train journey could take up to two hours and then from Killarney to Sneem was a good hour’s drive.”
“A good three hours or more journey then.” Fionnuala said, looking over to Oisin again. “Too long to travel by that means if there was an emergency, I’m thinking. You agree Oisin?”
“Agreed. Siobhan must have had another means of transport.”
“A Deltoid?” Fionnuala suggested, but Oisin shook his head. “She didn’t have one allocated to her and we’re talking of a time before the personal teleportation devices that we now have were invented. However, planetary surface teleportation relay stations existed. If there was one at Sneem and one wherever the Morrigan’s Depository was situated, then Siobhan could travel there within seconds.”
“I think then that this Sneem needs to be reconnoitred,” Fionnuala announced. “Perhaps Joshua, Kate and John could carry that out. They’d need some protection with them, whilst JT is still a threat, but no doubt the Fianna could provide that. In the meantime, Iseabail and you and I need to plan how we are to stop an Andromedan invasion with the limited forces we have at our disposal. Not forgetting too that we need to deal with JT, once and for all.”
“I suggest sending Morann and Padraig with Kate, Joshua and John. Padraig knows Eire well and Morann knows all that is necessary about androids. I can also arrange some support from the local Fianna agents in the area.” Oisin told them. “It could be that the Morrigan used an old Fianna base, or depository, near to Sneem. After all there wouldn’t have been time to construct a new one, with the Morrigan knowing that she faced imminent arrest and imprisonment,” Oisin looked concerned. “Something bothers me though. I would have expected Etain to have followed the emergency protocols and reported in, when Siobhan didn’t contact her for an annual report,” he then said. “Siobhan would have contacted Etain each year you see, for the records of what routine maintenance had been carried out. When that didn’t occur, Etain should have contacted Fianna Command and reported this. That obviously didn’t happen. It’s possible that she might have malfunctioned. Take care, you three, I’m not sure what you might find when you get to Sneem,” Oisin said, looking at them all in turn.
“Wouldn’t anyone have gone to find out what had happened to Siobhan?” John questioned.
“Siobhan was in deep cover. No-one knew where she was living, or the whereabouts of the Morrigan’s Depository. Apart from Siobhan, only John Trevaskis Senior and the Badhbh, knew where it was and after what happened to her at JT’s hands, Catriona couldn’t remember where it was.” Oisin told them. “I’m guessing that a mental block was activated when JT attempted to interrogate her. I’ll brief Morann and Padraig and then you’d all better get going as soon as you can. We have no time to lose.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Conch Cay, The Bahamas
Wednesday 14th September 2005
The Andromedan had headed straight for his laboratory as soon as his Veetol had touched down and was at present selecting one of his test subjects. JT had not heard from Morag since arriving at his private island, which was worrying, but what was more worrying however, was that the comms link between JT and Terry had died. This indicated that the cyborg had been eliminated. A further worry for JT, however, was who could have been responsible. If Oisin had got the better of both Terry and Morag, then JT knew that he was in serious trouble and that Oisin would be now be hunting for him.
JT had therefore had to put his emergency plan into action. He had been trying to clone members of his race, but although he’d successfully cloned himself, the clones only lived a matter of hours before dying. That didn’t matter however, for what JT had planned. His test subject selected; JT then set explosive charges throughout his laboratory. JT next went to his luxurious mansion and wiped all the data files from his computer there and also initiated a programme that would wipe all knowledge of JT from the minds of the androids who had served as his staff on the island. He could of course have terminated them all, but if his new plan succeeded, then he would need them all again one day in the future.
Leaving the mansion, JT then went down to his private beach and walked down to the water’s edge, entered the water and started to swim out to sea. JT had learned to swim when he’d moved to Great Conch Cay and his nanobot enhancements enabled him to be a fast and excellent swimmer, far superior to any human. He also had the stamina to cover great distances without tiring. JT knew that it was about 74 nautical miles to the landfall he wanted to make, near to Freeport, on the Bahamas and could have swum all the way there if he’d wanted to. He had decided however, to see if he could get a lift there, even if it were only part of the way there.
It was a short while later, after he had swum about 7 nautical miles, that JT spotted a boat, about half a mile away. It looked like a fast power boat and as far as JT could see it was stationary in the water. He swam towards it, a plan quickly forming in his mind. JT had excellent eyesight enhanced by the nanobots he had implanted and focusing in on the boat, he saw only one person, a man probably in his early 40s who seemed to be tinkering with one of its twin engines.
Swimming faster, JT also took the precaution of swimming underwater so as not to immediately attract any attention. Nearing the boat JT surfaced and started waving his hands about and called out loudly for help. JT just hoped that the man had good eyesight, or hearing and would spot him. It was a minute or so before the man did spot him, but after giving him a look, the man carried on with whatever it was he was doing, making no attempt whatsoever, to throw JT a lifeline. Suddenly the engines started up and the man went to the front of the boat to where the wheel was. The boat began to move away, rapidly increasing speed.
Angry now, JT managed to pull his vaporizer out of the holster he’d put on and quickly turned the selector to another function the weapon had. This would temporarily disable the engine of the power boat. Pointing it in the direction that it was disappearing in he pulled the trigger. Almost immediately the boats engines spluttered and stalled. Cursing loudly the man turned back to attend to them again, which gave JT the opportunity to swim to the boat and clamber aboard it.
“Thank you,” JT spluttered, giving his best attempt at appearing to be near exhaustion and making out that the man had purposely stopped the boat’s engines.
“What you are doing ou
t here mister?” the man turned and suspiciously questioned him, wiping his hands on an oily cloth and giving JT a hard stare. “These ain’t the waters to be going out in for a swim.”
Looking closely at the man, JT saw that he was younger than he had originally thought and probably in his early to mid-thirties. Rather scruffy-looking and unshaven, with close cropped, sandy coloured hair, the man was tall with a lean, muscular body and was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts which had both seen better days. Yes, the Andromedan thought, this body will serve me very well with a few slight modifications.
The man was now looking suspiciously at JT and probably wondering how a man who was seemingly in his early fifties could have survived in the water, dressed as he was in trousers, shirt and a cagoule, the pockets of which seemed to be filled with various items of some kind. JT recognized the look he was being given as the one that a predator gave its prey, for it was a look that JT had used himself many, many times. When JT saw the man’s eyes then move to a gun, JT hadn’t spotted before, JT knew he had to act fast.
Before the man had time for any further thought, or action, JT suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the man around the throat with his left hand. He then pressed a ring he wore on the index finger of his right hand against the side of the man’s neck. A tiny needle in the ring injected the man with a quick acting, deadly poison which would leave no trace and leave the cause of death unknown. JT lowered the man to the deck and then took a small, flat, circular disc from the pocket of his cagoule. It was a camouflage device supplied by the Aossi Corporation and had the added bonus of adhering itself to any surface that it was placed upon. Looking around the boat, JT decided to place it at the front of the boat next to the control panel. Now the boat would be invisible to the eye and would also not register on any radar screens. JT then picked up the gun and threw it overboard into the sea.
JT now needed to transform the man’s body into that of William Geacher, the host that he no longer required. The man had been of a similar size to Geacher and with the ageing and other elements that JT had programmed into the shape-changing nanobots, including Geacher’s DNA profile, an exact facsimile of him would be created. Satisfied that he had extracted the elements from the man’s own DNA, that he required for his own transformation to another human body form, JT then injected the nanobots into the man. It would take about three hours for the man’s body to change to that of William Geacher, but the wait would be worthwhile, for it would then stand up to all the forensic tests that JT knew would be carried out when the body was eventually found. Finally, JT took the dead clone of himself and implanted it into the man’s brain. Now, any examination of the body would determine that JT had been using it as a host and had died along with it. Oisin and the Fianna would hopefully then be convinced that JT was no longer alive and would stop looking for him.
The Sol 3 Agenda Page 31
