Book of the Guardian 3: The Last Mission

by Ben Winston

  "Mark told me she was built with the same frame as our ship, only without all the stuff we need, like weapons," Chloe added as she kissed Lisa on the cheek.

  "Then I'm sure the Flyer is a good ship," Bailey replied. Lisa seemed to be a little tongue tied and she was staring at her surroundings like she didn't believe she was there.

  "Lisa, are you okay?" Chloe asked.

  "I just can't believe I'm standing here! I never thought I'd ever even see a core world, and here I am, about to enter the Palace of the King himself as a guest." She paused a moment. "It's just so unbelievable!"

  John chuckled. "Well, not so much if you stop to look at these two!" he hiked his thumb to the still kissing pair.

  "Yeah, she didn't even bow first," Bailey said flatly.

  "I did send for a bucket of cold water, Sir," one of the guards replied with an utterly straight face.

  "Good thinking Corporal, I fear we may need it before they do something more embarrassing," Bailey replied.

  "I think it's safe to say this is as embarrassing as they'll get. I'm sure His Majesty would never harm her; especially like that," Mary replied.

  "No, he never would, which is why this relationship is so puzzling to me," Bailey replied. "I don't object to it at all, but I do worry for them. What kind of future will they have?"

  "I can't answer that Bailey, but I can tell you that the issue is being worked on," Mary replied.

  The guards stiffened and became more alert as an air car entered the landing area and headed for them. The Corporal that spoke whispered to Mark while the rest of the guards surrounded the mostly oblivious pair with their armored bodies. John motioned Mary to stay put, and accepted the side arms the Royal Guards handed him for himself and Gloria, while he and Chloe began walking toward the approaching vehicle. As she watched, both Guardians activated their enhancements, making them look like professional body builders. John actually grew a couple of inches.

  "There! That's what Marines are supposed to look like! John never told me why he didn't," Lisa replied.

  Mary swallowed the lump in her throat. "Lisa, they just activated their combat enhancements. This is what an enhanced Marine looks like under their armor. The guards around the King and your daughter would look the same if they were not in armor. Most images of Enhanced Marines are of them with activated enhancements."

  "So, why are they activated now?" Bailey asked.

  "Sir, please keep the ladies and yourself behind us. The vehicle approaching is as yet unidentified and unexpected. Until we identify it and its occupants there is danger." The Corporal said.

  Seeing the approaching Guardians, the vehicle stopped and an elderly gentlemen got out and held up his hands. "Guardians, I am no threat!"

  John and Chloe immediately recognized the man. He was the head of The Center which was the leading research facility for bio-molecular medicine and enhancements.

  "Manny! What the hell? We almost shot you!" Chloe called back to him. "Come on, we'll escort you the rest of the way,"

  Manny dismissed the car, which lifted off the tarmac, slowly turned around, and took off back the way it had come.

  "Okay, so why did you risk getting shot by coming out here like this?" John asked as they got to the man.

  Manny smiled up at John. "I wanted to be here to greet your paramour, John. I think she might be on to something with her ideas. There is a good chance we will be able to create a protocol that will allow an enhanced soldier and unenhanced human to be intimate! I don't know if she is aware of it, but there is a good chance that you could still father children! Can you imagine it, John? Becoming a father, after five thousand years?"

  "Does that mean I'll be able to have a baby, Manny?" Chloe asked.

  He looked a little sad, “not in the way you mean, no. The enhancements would never allow that much deviation. However, we might be able to extract a viable, unenhanced ova for implantation into a surrogate."

  "I've never regretted my decision to be enhanced to defend humanity, but I do regret not having a child first," Chloe said. "Then again, the only man I would have wanted to be the father was already an enhanced Marine I hadn't met yet."

  John took her hand, and used his comm to let the Royal Guard know what was going on. Then he deactivated his enhancements. The couple then lead Manny back to the waiting King and his guests.

  Chapter 34

  "Manny, I know you are excited about Mary's idea, but we could have shot you, for cryin' out loud!" Mark said to the absent minded scientist.

  "Again, I apologize, Highness, It is just that her ideas are so exciting! The entire lab is on fire with new purpose and direction!" Manny said excitedly.

  "Doctor Halverez, I am flattered that you came to welcome me, but I hope you understand that I would like to spend some time with the people I love before I get to work," Mary replied.

  "I do understand, Doctor St. Andres. I am not here to try to sweep you off to the labs. I simply wished to welcome you to our planet, and," He suddenly looked surprised as he remembered the other part of his errand. "I wanted to bring you this!" he pulled out a small pouch and handed it to her. "These are your credentials in our organization. I have set your clearance level to that of our senior most researchers. It is a very rare thing to find one such as yourself with such an innate grasp of our profession, especially at such a young age.

  "I have approved the building of the installation on Bethel's Anvil; I have to say, it is far past time we had a facility out there to assist the wounded farmers and construction workers. I have wanted such a facility out there for a long time, but have lacked the appropriate personnel to assign to it. Granted, we have the medical personnel for it, but not the leadership. We need a senior researcher to undertake the leadership role for the facility. I have taken the liberty to assemble several candidates for you to choose your staff from. Since the facility has yet to be built, you should have plenty of time to get to know each of the candidates and make informed decisions." He took a last sip of his tea and rose.

  "I will leave you now, my friends. Marebella, feel free to come to The Center at any time. You are a member of the staff now, and as such, you have an office as well as a research laboratory. There are several assistants available for you as well."

  "Doctor, the Guardians all need controller upgrades. Do you have the open facilities for that to be handled immediately?" Mary asked.

  Manny bobbed his head. "I do. One full suite is reserved solely for use by the Temporal Guard. However, in the past it has been a very difficult, if not an impossible task, to get them in for upgrades. If you can accomplish this task, you will again have won my never ending gratitude."

  "Thank you, Doctor. I will call to reserve it for me as well as for the team; I will get at least two of them in for upgrade as soon as we can decide on the controller for them," She paused and sadly added. "We will also be retiring Guardian-Commander William Curran at his own request."

  Manny stood silently for a moment. "I had heard that might be the case. The loss of Major Degrassi has proven to be too much for William. If he will permit it, I'll make the arrangements to perform the service myself"

  "With your permission, Doctor, I would be honored to assist," Mary replied. "Will is a good man. He should be sent on his journey by people that respect him."

  Again Manny bobbed his head, only slower this time. "I will see to it. Thank you for the offer. I will leave you now." He turned and quietly left the room.

  "When one of us falls in battle, he takes it almost as hard as we do. To perform a retirement himself must tear his heart out," Chloe said.

  "He cares for all of us," Mark said. "That's why he is the head of The Center. There are better bio-mol researchers out there, and we actually do employ most of them, but if they cannot, or in some cases will not, empathize with their patients, they have no business dealing with them directly." He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "John, Chloe, as an apology, and through pure self-serving motivation, the crown ha
s reserved the entire restaurant you had reservations at. This way you can have dinner together with Mary. However, you won't be the only diners. That is, if Gloria would accompany me out to dinner? Mr. and Mrs. Saint, you are invited as well as chaperones."

  Bailey and Lisa looked at each other, then back at the King. "Sire, we'd love to go, but I don't think we can afford..."

  Mark waved it off. "Mr. Saint, I invited you as my guests. In fact, you are on this planet as my guests. You do not need to pay for anything, I only ask that you not buy something I might have trouble explaining to the Ministry of Finance!" he joked.

  "Sire, that is too kind, but we do have some money saved up. Lisa and I were going to take a vacation once Gloria moved out. On our way here, we agreed to use that now, and this could be our vacation," Bailey explained, and Lisa nodded.

  "Mr. and Mrs. Saint, while we are alone, I would like for you to call me Mark." He had to hold his hand up to forestall the argument Bailey was about to make. "Because, there is a very good reason I asked you to come here. You see, when I was a young man, I was raised with a certain respect for those around me, as well as a certain type of manners. I know it might sound old fashioned in the extreme, especially in today's society, but I would like your permission to court your daughter for the purpose of our eventual marriage."

  "You want to marry Gloria?" Lisa asked.

  "Yes Ma'am. We have talked for the better part of a week, and we both seem to really like the other person. I would like your permission to see if we are compatible enough to live together," Mark said. Gloria looked excited, and hopeful.

  Bailey looked confused. "Please don't think I'm not agreeing, I just want more information. If you're still enhanced, and what you said about long time soldiers not being able to be unenhanced is true, how is this going to work?"

  "Well, for now, our relationship will have to be platonic. Currently, there is no way for us to be any more than we are right now. I'm told that may be able to change soon. But even if it doesn't, I would still like to have Gloria in my life," Mark replied. "I really care about her, and want to share my life with her for as long as she'll let me."

  "Gloria, Honey, how do you feel about him?" Lisa asked.

  "I think I'm in love with him, Mom. It's been such a short time though. I agree with him, we'll need to see where this is developing between us, and if it is something for the long term. Although I do hope it changes, if all I can have from him are kisses and hugs, then that's what I'll take. If either of us needs sex, well, I'm sure we can figure out something there as well," Gloria replied.

  "I know we're not actually part of this conversation, and we really shouldn't be, however, when we were walking Manny back to the rest of you, he said something about Mary's research making it possible not only for intimate physical contact, but also for the possibility of offspring," Chloe replied carefully. "Maybe not for an enhanced female to actually carry and give birth to a child, but the possibility exists for the use of a surrogate."

  "So much for the surprise I had for you two," Mary said dryly.

  John took her hand. "He was just excited, sweetheart. He made it very clear that this whole line of research came from you."

  "I didn't know that," Mark replied. "Now I'm really hoping you'll agree!" He grinned.

  Bailey looked at his wife who smiled and nodded. "Look at her Bailey, she's happy. Isn't that all that really matters?"

  Bailey nodded. "I can't see a reason to say no; and Lisa's right, as long as Gloria's happy, who am I to say no?"

  Chapter 35

  Dinner was wonderful. Hanna had been correct in her choice of restaurants. The food was excellent, and the ambiance of the dining room comfortable and intimate. Of course, the simple fact that it was also the most heavily booked eating establishment in the capitol city was proof of that.

  However, all of that was secondary to his dining companions. Mary and Chloe imposed on the palace valet service. Even though it had been impossibly short notice, the ladies looked amazing. The paparazzi most definitely made bank from the many holograms captured as the small group got out of the armored air limo to enter the restaurant.

  The following day, all the gossip rags in the Kingdom were filled with images of the group, as well as speculations about who they were, and what the relationships to the King and the other notables actually were.

  The next day, Chloe excused herself to return to MIIO and the Promethean code. Mary smiled and asked if she could show her to The Center first. Chloe grinned and the pair left John to his own devices. Mark would be busy with Kingdom business most of the day, leaving John at loose ends. He decided to take Mark up on his offer of the use of the Palace studio.

  Wearing a plain duty cover-all, John sat down in front of the camera's and began talking about himself, as well as being a Temporal Guard.

  It was candid and truthful. He didn't try to glamorize anything, in fact he stressed the horrors of war and battle. Describing a few of the atrocities he'd witnessed during his career, and going into detail of the most recent attack on the world of Haven. He downplayed the actions of the Guardians, to the actions of the fleet, and the actions of the soldiers and sailors he worked with. After almost five hours of talking, John spoke of the first battles, explaining what made him decide to become a soldier as well as enhanced. How close the human race had come to extinction, and the terrible fight for survival as their race fled their world.

  "I know I've been very long winded tonight, folks. If you've sat through all of this, I would like to thank you for listening to me. Although I will continue to serve our race and protect as many of you as I can, I want you all to know how... fulfilling my life has been. I've seen our race harried and bloodied, entire cities destroyed from orbit, planets lain to ruin. Our losses are now uncountable, but we are still here. In spite of all of that, we have not only managed to stay alive, but we have thrived. We've made so many advances that if I hadn't seen the events with my own eyes, I would begin to doubt what our histories tell us.

  "That is my reward. That is the reason I became a soldier. That is the reason I am still here. Because we have the right to live. Yes, we made mistakes back before the Tammerain destroyed our home. But we learned from them, and we have come far. Our journey isn't finished either. The Tammerain now want to kill us; they claim their Goddess sees humanity as a blight in her perfect garden.

  "I'm not, nor have I ever been, a religious man. But I just can't bring myself to accept that a divine being could order the utter destruction of an entire race. If she's the 'Divine Being', then... why did she create us in the first place? Further, if she's so omnipotent, why doesn't she just...wipe us out herself?" He shrugged. "I'm not trying to be mean by asking that, I'd really like to know the answer.

  "Anyway, the bottom line is that the Tammerain are coming back. This time they claim that they are here to free all of you from all of us. By us, I mean every enhanced soldier in the kingdom. Basically, they want to make sure all of your protectors are destroyed because their goddess told them that we have split our race, and that we enhanced soldiers are an affront to her. You know, if I thought that would keep you all safe, I'd have been the first one in line at the airlock. But my questions still apply. If we are such an affront to her, why did she allow us to perfect the enhancement process? Why does she allow us to continue? Why doesn't she take us out herself?"

  John shook his head. "Nope, I don't believe it for a minute. The Tammerain are here to murder every man, woman, and child of the human race because a drugged up, adolescent girl told them too," John smiled. "One last thought to leave all of you with; if we were such an affront to their Goddess, how come the Tammerain didn't even know we existed until our exploratory ships encountered one of their planets? Since she is a Goddess, shouldn't she have already known who we were and sent her forces after us eons ago? We had no defenses then, they could have easily wiped us out, but they didn't. Why?

  "Please give that some thought the next time you hear one of our
people telling you that the Tammerain will leave us alone if we simply got rid of our weapons. The Tammerain will never leave the human race alone. I don't claim to know why they won't, but as long as they believe their Goddess is telling them we need to die, we will be hunted and murdered like those people on Haven. It's up to each of you to decide, in your own heart, what you are willing to do about it. I'm John Aster, Good evening."

  The entire studio, which had gained a few dozen people while John had been speaking, erupted into applause as the over-head lights faded out and the lights on the cameras shut off. John realized he had a larger audience than he had thought.

  Chapter 36

  Gloria, at Mark's request, spent the day with him as he dealt with the normal, mostly mundane business of the Kingdom. She was expecting to be bored, but was soon very fascinated by how much of the interplanetary business the Kingdom actually handled. For the most part, that's exactly how Mark ran the government; as a business.

  Past a normal introduction, no one seemed to question Gloria's presence either. That is until there was a security alert, at which time Gloria was quietly escorted back to her quarters. She didn't mind since the alert happened very close to the end of the day and she was getting a little tired.

  The over-all retreat of the Tammerain forces gave the kingdom the time it needed to get most of its forces moving to the positions they needed to be in to defend the population centers. Now the Tammerain fleets were once again on the move. No attacks had happened yet, none of the Tammerain forces were even close to the border yet. The alerts had come from the hyperspace sensors along the border registering the large scale movement of ships towards the border.

  Even though it had been established the Tammerain forces had discovered cloaking technology, it was impossible to 'cloak' a hyperspace signature. Since the Tammerain Ambassador had left the palace, Mark no longer had anyway to contact the Tammerain leadership to try to stop what was coming diplomatically. However, deep down, he knew there could be no diplomatic solution to this war.