by K Bledsoe
Ten yards from the door her heightened hearing caught footsteps behind her. From the sound, she guessed it was the female security guard hurrying to catch her before she left. She was tempted to ignore her and quicken her pace to leave before she caught up. She hated this part of being a Xa’ti’al more than the fear and disbelief. But she should play the role.
Lenore heard an intake of breath, so she turned and stood with her hands clasped behind her back, trying to appear harmless as she waited for the young woman. The guard slowed her pace and closed her mouth; evidently, she had been about to call out to ask Lenore to stop.
“You have a question for me?” she asked, tired of waiting for the girl to overcome her shyness. “Eithne, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” said the guard on an exhale. “How did you know my name?”
Lenore shrugged and didn’t bother to mention she had memorized all the information about every member of the faculty and most of the students. “There are always some who aren’t afraid to ask questions.”
As expected, Eithne’s eyes sparkled with excitement as words began tumbling out. “How did you become a Xa’ti’al? I thought I saw the shooter paralyzed. Was that you? And did you really grab his gun with the powers of your mind? I remember it flying to your hand. How is that possible? And what…”
Lenore held up her hand to stop the barrage. Eithne blinked and visibly struggled to be quiet.
“I cannot give away my secrets.” She smiled gently. “But I am amazed at how accurate some guesses are.” She watched Eithne’s chest swell with pride. It never hurt to perpetuate the myths that the Xa’ti’al had certain supernatural abilities when, in reality, it was simply amazing technology. “And you don’t ask to become a Xa’ti’al, they will find you if you are worthy.” She always wanted to laugh at that line, but this girl had no chance to ever join the elite ranks. Lenore could tell, she’d seen it countless times. She nodded a farewell and turned to leave.
“Wait! Is…is there any advice you can give me?”
Lenore bit her tongue on the sharp retort and instead looked back at the expectant guard. Might as well try to help her, do something good with the idiotic mythos for a change.
“Think before you shoot.”
Chapter Four
“Ok what did you pull from the corpse? It better be good or our trip home will be delayed,” said Lenore as she entered their room. She carefully deactivated the various devices hidden about her person and stripped her gear off, packing them in their respective storage cases lined up on the bed.
“Hello to you, too,” Quinn said sarcastically.
Lenore didn’t bother to comment since Quinn always tried to impose manners on the family and they equally tried to ignore him.
He sighed. “I got three clear prints and remnants of identification in the pocket that wasn’t disintegrated. Fake, of course, so Allison will have to run a trace for the manufacturer. That should lead us to the organization.”
“Excellent. Wait, how did you know the ID was fake?”
“I did a retina scan.”
“The head was vaporized, how…”
“I managed to pull a scan before he was so dramatically interrupted.”
“You did?” Lenore searched back through her memory, rather surprised that she didn’t notice her own son in the room. “The blond student with the green striped shirt?” In answer, he flourished the wig he’d had tucked in an inner jacket pocket. “That’s a new one. Impressive. Except…” His grin at her praise disappeared as she continued. “Why weren’t you on the fourth floor like you were supposed to be?”
He turned away, packing his own bags. “The top floor was completely deserted. I had nearly finished when you contacted me, and I knew everyone was down at lunch.” He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant yet wouldn’t look directly at her. “I was hungry, too, so I figured it would be less out of place if I were in the lunch room.”
Now he looked up, and Lenore could see a slight challenge in his stare.
“Good thing I was,” he said.
“No, the good thing was that I was there. If I hadn’t been, you might have been killed.”
“Aw, Mom. I know how to duck. And besides,” he gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re always there so I knew I was safe.”
Though Lenore didn’t feel this subject was over, she let it drop as she grabbed a pile of clothes and headed for the bathroom. “I’m going to shower. Send what you pulled to your father and sister. With the information gathered from the body and fake ID, we should wrap this up on time.”
“Already done.” Quinn bowed with a smile and indicated the pad on the table. “Just waiting for a response.”
Lenore nodded, trying not to look too approving. Quinn went back to whatever he had been doing when she came in, probably sorting his various disguises.
As Lenore showered, she tried to decide how she felt about her fifteen-year-old son now able to create his own covers that were good enough to fool her. Granted, he was gifted with the perfect features for camouflage. His skin was an exact mix of her white and his father’s dark brown, very easy for makeup to alter. Straight, sandy-colored hair about finger length that took dye and/or curling almost too easily and hid under a wig with no effort. A subtle lens or choice of clothing easily changed the color of his gray eyes. On one hand, she was proud of his burgeoning abilities. But on the other, she knew he would want more difficult duties, and she didn’t want any of her family in that kind of position. Safer cases meant less money, but it was worth it to keep her family out of harm’s way. She was grateful that her daughter preferred computers, and her husband preferred tinkering with his inventions, so that they were safe and sound back on the ship.
Chapter Five
“They are nearly in range,” yelled Diarmin as the ship rocked. “That one was too close. What’s wrong with the shields? They won’t activate.”
Her father didn’t look away from the screen as he was too busy attempting to escape their attacker, but Allison knew that he trusted her to find the problem.
“The computer worm is chewing away at the shield program as fast as I can build it back up,” she replied. “I told you that last site I hacked into might cause problems.”
“Yes, but we got the information your mother needed, didn’t we?”
“But finding that drug lord’s hideout is what downloaded the worm into our systems. It gave our ship’s location to them and is also eating away all the other safety protocols as well.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Ok, how about this? In about two minutes our reactor will…”
“Hold that thought,” Diarmin said as he punched at the controls, taking the ship into a wild spin. Allison braced herself as the ship arced around and jolted as he launched two concussion missiles in rapid succession. The screen lit up with a fiery blaze near the rear of the craft and the attacking ship spun on its axis, engines sputtering out.
“Ha, that’ll help,” Diarmin said and punched in some more commands “Back to the original course. Now what were you saying, Allison?”
“I was going to say our reactor would go critical unless you stopped them. Now, I can focus on the shields aaaaaaaand…. there, back up. Worm vanquished, and the Grand Master Allison Kelton defeats the enemy again.” She pumped her fist into the air and then snickered.
“What did you do?” asked her father.
Allison turned wide eyes his way.
“What? Nothing?”
“Alli, what?”
“I just thought I’d give as good as we got.”
“What?”
“Only a little something to remember me by.”
“Tell me Alli or I swear…”
“I introduced my own worm. One that collapsed their shields and will also destroy all their own worms and viruses. Their firewalls are gone, and anybody can see their files. All their files.” She hit a key and turned the computer screen, so her father could see it. The picture was of a nu
de butt with the caption “I’m an ass! Free info about this ass courtesy of the Pirate Peri!”
Diarmin shook his head. “Allison Catherine Kelton, how many times have I told you…”
“I cut the link, Dad, and wiped the origin data. There is no way this can be traced back to us.”
“But you use that Pirate avatar way too often. That will eventually be recognized.”
Allison felt an excited rush as she smiled. “I hope so. That’s how hackers become famous!”
“And get caught. No more avatar viruses.”
“Yes, Father,” she said as she crossed her fingers behind her back.
Chapter Six
“Well, that was a bit anticlimactic,” said Quinn.
“Hm. Can’t argue with that.” Lenore and her son were watching the local authorities cuffing the few people that had escaped the burning building. The information Allison had found led Lenore to this place which housed a drug lord who had used the school terrorists as a distraction to keep the authorities focused on the shooters, allowing for easier illicit activities. Lenore had reconnoitered, planted several bugs, and had planned the best way to take them down when all hell broke loose.
People, random citizens as far as Lenore could tell, had gathered outside the building, yelling obscenities. As she mused on how to get past them to avoid detection, a few of the mob started throwing Molotov cocktails through the windows, and within moments the entire building was afire. Authorities pulled up far too quickly to be called for a fire and, instead of arresting the drug lord and his cronies, they were forced to rescue them from a massive blaze. She and Quinn watched from a safe distance as the group was dismantled and the bosses taken into custody.
“Destroy the bugs, please,” Lenore said to her son.
“Already done. Well, the ones outside. The fire obviously took care of the rest.”
Lenore gave a grunt in approval, but she was baffled.
“What went wrong?” she muttered. Nobody she had met in this city, much less on this simple planet, had the knowledge or even abilities to crack this case. Yet someone else had figured it out and given up the criminals.
“Maybe this,” Quinn held up his personal comp pad which displayed a local broadcast explaining that the criminal organization had been betrayed from within. Someone had leaked all the private information about their illegal activities to the public. Both WorldNet and IntergalacticNet, or IGNet as it was commonly known. Her best guess was that the outraged people attacking the building were the victims of said criminal activities.
“It doesn’t look like anyone has claimed a reward,” commented Lenore as they both scanned the news stories. “Not even the school for killing the patsy shooter.”
“Maybe we can still…um never mind.” Quinn turned up the volume on the reader as another story aired, this one about a rumor of Xa’ti’al involvement.
“This Just in. we have an anonymous source who can confirm the rumor and claims to have met the legendary Xa. Thank you, noble soldier, whoever you are, and that the only reward you seek is justice.”
Lenore clenched her teeth on a groan as she felt her stomach turn. She should have known that mentioning the Xa would come back to haunt her, most likely thanks to the principal or security guard at the school. Anyone who truly knew the Xa’ti’al knew that they never did anything for free. But the damage was done.
So, no reward money for her and her family. That was annoying but not as much as someone beating her to the punch, whoever this “source” was. She longed to find out who it had been, but it would change nothing and only waste their time. Quinn nudged her out of her reflections. He seemed to know her thoughts.
“At least we will get home when we originally promised.”
***
In less than twelve hours the shuttle docked with the family yacht in a new orbit around the planet nearest to Carmal. Lenore gave her husband a hug, and then touched middle finger and thumb to Allison’s, her daughter’s preferred method of greeting.
Quinn bounced up and down on his toes. “Hey, you fixed the grav plates, Dad.”
“Rigged up an alternate, but I have no idea how long it will last this time,” replied Diarmin. “Don’t leave anything sharp lying around.”
“I hope you have another job,” said Lenore, as they headed down the ladder toward the cabins. “This one did not end up as planned.”
“Really?” asked Diarmin, eyeing Allison. “Why is that?”
Quinn answered. “For some reason, the authorities and random citizens got to them before we could. Someone publicly broadcast their identities and crimes. Everyone saw them and reacted as any mob would.”
“Hm. Wonder how that happened?” Diarmin looked significantly at his daughter.
Allison blushed, not easy to tell with her dark complexion unless you knew her well. Which her family did.
“What did you do?” Quinn and Lenore asked in unison.
“All I did was recode their worm program and reintroduce it into their system to destroy their security,” answered Allison. “Only on the ship’s computers, but it must have been linked to the planetary base as well.”
“So, someone noticed and went hacking, broadcasting the files for everyone to see?” asked Quinn.
“Well, I… um… wish I could say that but...” Allison hung her head and began to shift her weight from foot to foot, worrying at imaginary dirt under her fingernails.
“Explain, Allison,” said Lenore, noticing her daughter wince at the curt tone.
“The parameters indicated an automata-based program, so when I refactored the code-”
“Don’t try to confuse us with tech-talk. In laymen’s terms please,” said Diarmin.
Allison sighed. “I didn’t realize part of the program was a unifying link to all connected systems. It’s how they gave our location to the ship that attacked us, so when I reversed it, it did the same with the files, sending to anyone who had a system within receiving distance.”
“Ship? Attack?” Lenore now looked at Diarmin and by the sheepish look on his face, it was something he hadn’t planned on revealing. “Let’s circle back to that later shall we?”
“You cost us a job. We needed that money,” Quinn said to his sister.
“Not to mention it could have cost us our lives,” said Lenore.
“No way,” Allison vigorously shook her head. “There was absolutely no possible way to trace that program back to the ship or to you two. It was a completely different class, not even a sub—”
“But what if we had been in that building when the mob attacked?”
Allison’s head jerked up, eyes wide in surprise. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. It was an accident…I thought…I…” She didn’t finish.
Quinn threw up his hands, swung his bag over his shoulder and disappeared down the ladder toward his cabin.
Lenore just stared at her daughter until she squirmed and turned even a darker red. “A week’s resources, gone.”
Allison bowed her head again. Her hair drooped, no mean feat for such long spiraled locks. After a few moments she gained her voice. “I did find another job. Pays twice as much.”
Lenore looked at Diarmin, but apparently, he was letting her take the lead. Lenore sighed. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Facing down terrorist shooters and obstinate people is simpler than trying to get through to children. “Well, Allison. I know you didn’t mean any harm but, in the future, consider all the possibilities.”
Allison looked up and nodded, hope in her eyes.
“I will consider various punishments which we will discuss later.”
Allison’s face fell again, and Lenore finally relented enough to put out a hand in a beckoning motion. “Well, let’s have that new job.”
“I’ll get the reader. It’s at my station.” Allison raced down the corridor toward the bridge.
Before following, Lenore headed down the same ladder as Quinn to carefully place her storage case in the cabin closet and tos
s the clothes duffel on her and Diarmin’s bed. She eyed the duffel with envy, wishing she could toss herself on the bed beside it.
Can’t rest yet, she thought. She left the bedroom, continued down the corridor and ascended the other ladder to the bridge.
Allison’s fingers flashed on the keyboard, downloading data into the personal reader. She handed the tablet to Lenore then returned to her computer. Lenore eyed her as she joined Diarmin at the command console, knowing her apparent contriteness wouldn’t last long.
“The original report is years old. How are we supposed to pick up such an old trail?” Lenore shook her head.
“Now, you’ve done more with a lot less, dear,” said Diarmin. “Remember that family heirloom that had been lost for three generations?”
“And a princess? Surely such an important person would have meant the most extensive searches and investigations.”
“Well, then those will be well documented, and you can find out where they went wrong like you always do,” he replied.
“Mmm,” she said, pursing her lips and giving him a sour look. “Don’t think your attempt at flattery is going to distract me from our little discussion.” He reddened, but she wasn’t sure if the embarrassment was because she caught on to his ploy or that he hadn’t mentioned the attacking ship. “I suppose you have already read this,” she said, still somewhat irritated.
Diarmin answered in a soft voice. “Of course. And done a bit of investigating as well.”
She didn’t know which annoyed her more, him using that tone to calm her down, or the fact that it was working.
“And are there one or two missing girls? These reports say two, but most focus on only the princess.”
“Alli and I were confused about that as well.” Diarmin rubbed the side of his nose. “We even researched stories from the planet, both news and whatever passes for folklore these days. Some mention only the missing princess, some that she had a companion with her. Almost nothing is known about the other girl, so we assume it was a random friend that happened to be with the princess that day.”
