Travels of the Orphan (The Space Orphan Book 3)

by Laer Carroll

  "I vaguely remember adults taking care of me and playing with children my age, but that's about it."

  "Hmm." The woman inspected Jane for some moments.

  "Well, I suppose I should let you get on with your mission. I can give you two pieces of useful information. These are the hypercom coordinates for the two Guardians in your home system. You can contact them when you get back there."

  She proceeded to give Jane the two long numbers for hypercom calls.

  "Thank you."

  "All part of my job. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

  "I'd love to hear more about your experiences as a Guardian but I got what I came for. I should not delay returning home even if you had time for me."

  Beth rose and walked Jane to the door to her office and into the hall outside it. There she said that the building's gravity shaft would return Jane to her taxi. She then bade Jane Goodbye and Good Luck with her mission. Jane thanked her, walked to the door to the shaft, and stepped into it.

  <>

  Jane did not linger at her temporary home in Bayview. She quickly packed up her meager wardrobe and other possessions and returned to the flight stage near the ground. A golden ball took her rapidly up and out of the atmosphere and toward her spaceship.

  On the trip she made her goodbyes to her several friends, which included the great AI Bayview. Susuki and Waymon and several other friends promised to visit Jane soon. She took "soon" to mean "within a century" given that the Galactics lived so long.

  Soon for her found her at the helm of FarReach looking at the huge Jovian planet which anchored the version of Earth that had been her home for the last several weeks. The two planets were lit on only one side, leaving the rest of the two planets in night. It was quite a beautiful sight.

  Then she turned her attention to her controls and activated them for a return to the Saturn-like planet in this system which had the subspace portal which would take her home.

  FarReach began to move. When it reached a couple of million miles it took the first of several hyperspace jumps toward home. As it did so Jane felt a great yearning for that place, for the people she'd left behind. And a great surge of joy.

  Chapter 16 - Encounter

  It took nine weeks of time outside the subspace tunnel to travel to Earth and three inside it.

  During the trip Jane had to merge with Robot several times to cool her anxiety about arriving at Earth too late to use her unique abilities to help in a space battle with the Frogs. She did not fully trust the optimism of the Guardian with whom she had spoken.

  She distracted herself often by watching old movies and playing music on her new OmniSonar electronic keyboard. As she did so she found herself composing scraps of a symphony inspired by her to visits to the two alien versions of Earth.

  It was mostly completed in very tentative form when she exited from the subspace tunnel. She took control of her SuperScout and set off via hyperspace jumps to Earth.

  When she came out of hyperspace five million miles from Earth she was instantly challenged by the Near-Earth Defense Force. This quick response pleased her, not only for its efficiency, but because the Force level was still the lowest level, One. This meant the Frog flotilla had not sped up its intrusion into the solar system.

  After providing proof of her identity she made one final jump to just under the lower Van Allen Radiation Belt and descended to Colorado Springs.

  As soon as she'd berthed the SuperScout in its hangar she phoned her boss General Willoughby. It was a Saturday and the woman was at her home.

  "Welcome back, Jane," said Willoughby over the videophone in the SuperScout.

  "Thank you, Ma'am. I bear good news."

  "Yes?" The woman raised her eyebrows.

  "It seems the Guardian who is the agent for the zone in which Earth resides is locally available. S/he, uh, sorry. That's the gender neutral pronoun in Interstellar. I've been immersed in the language and its words keep intruding on my English.

  "Anyway, she or he is on a short vacation of a few decades on the planet. I have a hypercom number for her--or him."

  "A 'short' vacation of a FEW DECADES." The general made a wry face.

  Jane smiled. "Yeah. I know. I spent about a month with Galactics. They really do think that way. I mostly interacted with fairly young Galactics of two to three hundred. Most of them look and act like teenagers. Very disconcerting at first, seeing no obviously old people and almost no kids.

  "That is the highlight of my trip. I've already sent off a more detailed encrypted report to you."

  Her boss's eyes turned toward the side of the view screen then back toward Jane.

  "I see a flag on my mailbox icon. That's probably it. It just appeared."

  "If it's OK I'll go to my home and freshen up. Then you and I can contact the Guardians."

  "Negative, Kuznetsov. That's a job a lot higher than our pay grades. I'll study your report and send the information up the command tree. They'll decide who talks to the Guardians. You take a week off."

  "Aye, aye, Ma'am."

  The view screen blanked back to black. Jane put the SuperScout on Standby, rose to get her luggage, and left the vehicle for an automated limo to her home.

  <>

  A long hot bath later Jane made videophone calls to the Kuznetsovs, Natalie and her family, and Phil. Given that she had the weekend and the following week and weekend off they had no trouble convincing her to come to LA to a welcome home party.

  Jane booked a ride on a commercial plane to California. She was met at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank by Phil. At sight of him she ran to him and, dropping her luggage, hugged and kissed him very enthusiastically.

  Laughing after they disengaged he said, "I take it that you are happy to be home."

  Looking up at him she said, "I am indeed. I have a lot to tell. But I'll save that for the party. Tell me what you've been doing while I was gone."

  He did so in the half hour the robotic limo took to make it to the Kuznetsov's home. There she was swarmed by her parents and by Natalie and her husband.

  During the long meal she caught up on what her parents and Natalie and Robert had been up during the four-plus months she'd been gone. She also got brief snapshots of what their children had been up to.

  Sitting in the living room with various drinks at hand Jane gave some of the highlights of her trip. After almost two hours she stood up.

  "Well, I'm a bit tired. Phil and I had better get on the road before I fall asleep."

  In the robotic limo Phil said, "Are you really tired?"

  "Are you kidding? I've just spent three weeks in a spaceship lying about. I've got lots of energy available for--whatever."

  He took her in his arms, grinning. "Well, I have some suggestions for that whatever."

  <>

  On Monday Jane contacted Kate and Klaus back in Colorado Springs after they'd had time to come into the office and settle in. Over the encrypted link she briefed them, then got a report on what had been happening in her absence.

  Much progress had been made in the war effort in the four-plus months of Jane's trip.

  Some of it was good. Almost twice as many space craft had been built and put into service. Skeleton crews had been trained up and emplaced. Recruitment had been accelerated.

  Some of it was not so good, at least according to Klaus. He said, "They really stuck it to you, Boss."

  Kate, more in tune with Jane's thinking, said nothing.

  In Jane's absence the military establishments had evolved. This was partly because the United Nations had decided it was time to reveal the existence of the Frog incursion into the solar system.

  They had downplayed the threat, saying that the flotilla would not arrive at the orbit of Pluto, the informal "edge" of the solar system, for at least two years. The distance from its present position to the edge was immense even for ships traveling via hyperjumps.

  The UN spokesperson had also said that the Space Defense Force was in a
healthy state and growing every day.

  To ensure that it was well run there had been placed a complete operational command structure above Jane, the "developer" of the SDF. These included experienced military veterans and a Supreme Commander, a Russian General named Sergei Antonov.

  "Sorry, Boss," said Klaus.

  "You may be, but is she?" said Kate.

  Klaus raised his eyebrows.

  "I'm not," said Jane. "It was never my intent to be boss of the DF once it was operational. I don't want to be involved in the day to day work. I want to be a free agent to lend a hand wherever it's needed."

  "And where is that?"

  "Not sure, just yet. Maybe developing more effective weapons. Or new weapons entirely."

  Or maybe as a lone fighter ranging ahead of the main defense force bringing Hell to pay with her special weapons. If the Guardians didn't come through with aid.

  <>

  During the week Jane spent most of her time with her parents, Natalie and her family, and Phil. On the following Sunday she returned to Colorado Springs and the next day to work. In conversations with Willoughby her job was reported to be transitioning to advanced weapons research.

  Those above her in the military breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to take this change in her status gracefully, from head of the SDF to a "mere" weapons researcher. True, she was only a brigadier general but she wasn't just any brigadier. She was the architect of the modern space force, an inventor unparalleled in history.

  Mostly she sat in her office at JPL and thought, and visited offices within the SDF, finalizing procedures she'd set into place, and helping modify them as requested by the higher command structure.

  She also waited to see who would contact the mysterious two Guardians residing on Earth. And waited. There were fierce discussions of who should do it. The President of the US, the SDF Supreme Commander, who?

  <>

  It was the week before Christmas when Kate spoke up loud enough for Jane to hear her in her next-door office.

  "Got a call from an Anna Prince, you know, the billionaire. You in?"

  "Sure am.

  "Hello, Ms. Prince. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

  "It struck me recently that in all these years I still have not made your acquaintance. If you're free this Saturday evening perhaps you'd join me and a small group of friends in dinner at my place. Bring Mr. Newman, by all means."

  "I'd be delighted. Exactly where is that? And when?"

  <>

  It was 7:00 in a mansion not too far from Phil's. They arrived via a Flyt robocar and were met at the door by none other than their hostess.

  "So pleased you could come, General Kuznetsov. And good to see you again, Mr. Newman."

  As they shook hands Jane took stock of the billionaire. She knew her background, of course. When her parents died when she was in her early 20s she'd abandoned a life of carefree existence and taken over their multimillion dollar company. Despite expectations that the playgirl daughter would ruin the company she'd instead turned it into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse. It was heavily invested in technology, including aircars.

  Physically she was tall and feminine but had a powerful physique not unlike those Jane had seen among Galactics. She had long curly black hair and a beautiful face and exuded energy.

  "Call me Jane, please."

  "And me Phil," said Jane's friend.

  "Then I'm Anna. Come meet my other guests."

  Those were a mix of technology entrepreneurs and entertainment higher ups. After a half-hour mixer they dined a dozen strong around a table. Anna sat at one end and seated Phil at the other. No one seemed to find that strange; Phil had been famous for years.

  The conversation was eclectic, mixing politics and technology and the alien invasion equally with other subjects.

  When it came time for dessert Anna stood and said, "I have a few matters to discuss with the General. Please pardon us. Carry on, everyone."

  Jane stood, wine glass in hand. Phil looked askance at her. She smiled and said, "Stay here, dear. I'm sure it's some very high-tech stuff and you'd be bored silly."

  He nodded and returned to conversation with an entertainment exec on his right.

  The billionaire led her to a hallway off the dining room and from there to a carpeted study lined with book and media shelves. It included a desk fronted by three easy chairs. But it was to a conversation nook in one corner to which they retired.

  Seated Jane sipped from her wineglass and waited.

  Anna Prince studied her over her own wineglass.

  "I need to properly introduce myself. I am Heyalna green gene-line Wilet-34 cross orange Aluet-237. I am the Guardian for the Galactic Zone which includes Earth."

  Jane was unsurprised. The resemblance to Galactics which she'd noticed earlier had prepared her to discover that Prince was a Galactic. That she was a Guardian as well was not a great surprise. There were not likely to be a lot of other Galactics residing on Earth.

  Prince was waiting for a response.

  "Pleased to make your acquaintance. And you can tell your friend to quit hiding her presence and come join us."

  With that she looked over Prince's shoulder at the invisible being standing behind her chair.

  The being turned visible. She was a beautiful blond with a build similar to Prince's: tall and strong with wide shoulders and hips and narrow waist. Another Galactic.

  The woman grinned and rounded Prince's chair to offer a hand to Jane.

  Jane rose and exchanged handshakes with the stranger, then sat as the woman sat in the easy chair next to Prince's.

  "My name is Karen Danburn. Like you I was born off-Earth and grew up here, in my case from about a year old. I've been acting as the Guardian of Earth for the last fifteen years or so."

  Jane smiled. "And I've been sort of acting as the Guardian of the solar system. So here we meet, like Shakespeare's three witches. Whatever shall we talk about?"

  The other two returned her smile. Prince spoke.

  "The Frog incursion is an obvious topic. You can be assured that we each have sufficient force to nullify it acting together or alone. Before we show ourselves, however, it would be better--and this is Galactic policy and not just an individual position--if Earth confronted the Frogs alone."

  The blond Danburn said, "The principle behind this--as you'll find explained in the Encyclopedia--is that each system usually should be able to handle its problems without Galactic intervention. As a practical matter, Galactic forces can't be everywhere. It's a big universe."

  Prince said, "What a Guardian can do in the case of the Frog incursion is tip the balance. I will show up at the confrontation with the Frogs in a suitably intimidating vehicle and support your discussion with them."

  "What if they won't talk? Just attack when we show up at some gathering place for their forces."

  "The Frogs are pragmatists, not driven by some ideology. If you're weaker they'll take advantage. If stronger, they'll compromise. Or if unable to compromise, retreat. They're not driven by desperation. They could retreat to spend several more decades looking for a better situation."

  "And if they attack," said Danburn, with a smile that was feral not friendly, "we'll kill them all."

  Prince looked at her with a frown. "The Frogs are bringing their children with them."

  Danburn looked back at her. "Oh, OK. We'll just kill lots of them."

  Prince looked back at Jane. "Oh, these kids. Always going to extremes.

  "So, yes, we will destroy enough of the incursion forces to make clear a war will not be worth the possible gains."

  Jane glanced at Danburn. The woman showed no signs of anger at being corrected. Jane got a feeling that this was not the first time the two had had differences of opinion and settled them amicably.

  "So exactly how will you support me?" Jane said. Prince answered.

  "When the bigwigs finally decide who will talk to us via the hypercom addresses you gave them we
'll say 'Talk to Jane Kuznetsov.'"

  "Oh, that will make me popular."

  Danburn said, "Somehow I doubt you give a shit."

  Jane nodded agreement.

  "You'll tell them to deploy as if you will not be given obvious support. The Frogs need to be focused on the SDF not me. I'll hide nearby and appear only if it seems as if the Frogs will not compromise with you."

  "And," Danburn said, "We MAY just destroy a few of their ships to add convincing weight to your arguments."

  Jane gazed from one to the other. They presented a unified front not just verbally but visually. They looked like two sisters, maybe even twins, with their tall strong builds and beautiful faces. The only obvious difference was hair color, blond versus ebony.

  "They, the bigwigs as you say, may not listen to me."

  "They," the blond said, "any specific 'they' you name to me, will listen religiously after I appear in their bedrooms late at night and say, 'Get with the program, dipshit.'"

  "Or," said Prince with a smile, "perhaps a little more diplomatically."

  "Hey, I'm a former Marine. We prefer straightforward language."

  "So how will I contact you?" said Jane. "Via the hypercom addresses I was given?"

  "Not need for that," said Prince. She took out a smartphone and handing it to Jane. "Just clone my private phone number."

  Jane did so and handed the phone back. Danburn also handed over her smartphone for her number transfer.

  Prince said, "You and I are now friends, as far as anyone outside this room knows. That includes Phil and your family and friends. We can chat any time, have lunch or brunch or whatever. I'm a tech industry figure like you and no one will think it strange."

  "I have a security firm," said Danburn, "for both physical and electronic security. You could very well be consulting me about, say, encryption methods."

  Prince said, "I think that just about covers the essentials. Let's rejoin my guests. You and I, and you and Karen, can talk more anytime you like."

  "I will most certainly like," said Jane as she rose in company with the other two.

  The blond "former Marine" shook Jane's hand, then turned away toward a second door to the room, disappearing from human sight as she walked away.