Mission: A Venus Affair

by V. A. Jeffrey

  “Who are they?” This was a worrisome development. How would we even spot this new group? I needed to talk to Genevieve and Tulos. What did they know? “I’m well aware of the loyalist, rebel, and separatist conflict. But this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this group, Jinkx.”

  “Ah! Then this is a new splinter group I suspect. Or maybe they’ve been around far longer than anyone has actually known.”

  “It’s entirely possible they’ve been around for a long time flying under the radar and are only just now making their presence felt. Can you tell me anything else about them?”

  “I wish I could but that’s all I’ve got.” It was enough for me to build an investigation. And it was enough to frighten me. Just what we needed in all the other chaos.

  But wasn’t life just like that? Sucking the hardest when you needed it to be awesome?

  I was counting on Vartan to come through but I had some loose ends that had to be tied up before I entered the fray. There was one more piece of information that I was looking for. And if anyone could help me, it had to be the dwarf.

  “Jinkx, I have one more question before I need to go.” Jinkx raised an eyebrow.

  “This is getting mighty expensive.” I swallowed hard. Well, Vartan could foot the bill.

  “Is there any way that you could make an introduction for me to Yusef’s brother? I believe he runs a company called Mimicry.” Jinkx seemed mildly surprised.

  “You certainly get around. Very few people know about him unless they are in the arms business. His name is Alim. Does a lot of business on Earth and Gan Ning. Spends some of his time between Gunner’s Run and a small station near the Belt when he’s not Earth-side doing business. You’re looking to buy from him?” I nodded.

  “I think my boss could benefit from a relationship with him.”

  “And vice-versa, Very interesting indeed, this boss of yours. He doesn’t do business with just anyone. He works through two contacts. His brother Yusef and a woman who goes by the title The Chemist. But I think he would make an exception for your boss.”

  “Thank you,” I said gratefully. He grinned cynically.

  “No need to thank me. Just because I can get you in contact with him doesn’t mean he will do business with you. Or your boss. I don’t usually give this number out, but you seem an honest, innocent man. I don’t think any harm will be done.”

  “Thanks, Jinx,” I muttered.

  “Yusef has a special number he uses when dealing with clients who want to do business with Alim. So when you call, it will be Yusef on the other end you’ll be dealing with.” He took out a slim, short gold datapad from his jacket pocket and disengaged the stylus from it. He stared up at me and narrowed his eyes, giving me a shrewd look.

  “Oh, and before I give you that contact number, I don’t want cash or credits. I want part of that metal prize you picked up on the Venusian satellite. Do we have a deal?” Let’s just say I was not happy to hear this. But I didn’t want to make an enemy of this guy. He seemed a good ally. I sighed heavily and then nodded. At this rate, there would be hardly any left over for Vartan to use. But if Alim was a conduit through which she could get more of it, perhaps I could bear it.

  “How much?” I asked warily. Jinkx flicked his stylus with subtle flair after writing the number down, along with some other information. He motioned for me to approach and slid on a small, down-loader device at the top of his pad. A little blue light flashed from it. I took out my own comlink device and touched the bottom of the pad. The download link started.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I only want half.” And that, on top of Livilla’s cut of one third!

  I grinned and bore it.

  11

  With the Venusian affair done I looked forward with trepidation to the near future as I made my way back to my family. They were waiting at the hotel, glad to see me again. My kids fell about me, and my wife too. Magnum and his team had kept them safe. But this was the last time I was going to let them go without taking prudent measures for their protection and care in the name of a vacation.

  We had a few days left on our vacation and I made a point to make sure our activities were kid-centered. Mary actually steered us to the best places to eat, having spied them while on jaunts with Pam.

  We went on the Amazing Venusian Night Jungle Tour, not to be confused with the Venusian Passion Tour For Lovers, the following evening. Here, we were ushered into a small cable car and took a ride through the city’s major and minor gardens at night in the northern and western quarters, starting with the fabulous Hanging Gardens at our own hotel.

  False as it was, the biosphere made Vepaja seem the lush, verdant jungle city it really wasn’t, and it didn’t matter. For now, it was all fantasy and fun.

  The ride took us throughout the whole of the city and its jungle park close to the city limits, just beyond the energy wall. Everywhere on the perimeters of the safe part of the jungle, I noticed security drones and from time to time, well-armed park rangers riding along with the tourist hover cars, which gave me at least some peace of mind.

  We also parked our hover cars on the ferry and rode the ferry through the small, green sea under a star-filled, moonless sky. From far off south we could see the shining tips of the spires of Cythera that flashed like brilliant jewels. I smiled inwardly. The way to Cythera, the southern jungle, which the tours avoided, was truly wild.

  To everyone’s amazement, and the pin cameras were flashing and clicking like crazy from tourists, we happened to see plesiosaurs dip, spin and swim below us in the underwater ferry and then once we got back to camp the children got a chance to feed the less exotic creatures, a delight for them. We traveled to the Eyraud Beach campgrounds, a mile from the sea and slept in a lodge tent, roughing it for fun.

  The kids were sleeping in the adjacent tent. We had an open-air ceiling covered with fine mesh and muslin drapes. High above I thought I saw a flight of meteors spray through the sky. I smiled. For reasons unknown, it seemed a good sign, whatever the future held. All the more so because it was artificial. It was as if some hand of beneficence reached out and gifted the sign to me through the harsh acid blanket of Venus for much-needed strength. Or maybe it was just the programmed atmospheric vagaries of the bio-dome. It gave me a good feeling.

  Pam turned to me, her auburn hair was soft and longer than I remembered on the cruise ship. It fell across her face. I gazed at her through the pale light and shadows. Her eyes were gleaming bright. She had turned on the music. Les Baxter’s Tahiti: A Summer Night At Sea was playing softly in the background.

  Ah, the joys of exotica. Even with the mishap or hiccup, or whatever you wanted to call it, this trip was a very good idea.

  “So, did you find what you were looking for?” I looked at her in mild surprise. We were so busy spending time together as a family these last couple of days that I had never mentioned it. Nor did they ask me questions before now.

  “I did. Something important for U-net. A special metal for a weapon that Vartan wants to build. I’m not sure how she plans to build it or what it’s going to look like yet.” I left all the gory details about Gerard and his people out for now.

  “It’s for the war that’s coming?” Pam’s voice was slightly tremulous.

  “Yes. Everything is for that. And my gut tells me that we have a fighting chance now. Or maybe it’s my alien sense telling me.”

  “That reminds me, when are you going to go in for a real check-up with the doctor, honey?” Okay, this is random and sudden.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Well. . .because of what you told me about your experience at Hussa. It makes me wonder. You’ve said that because of it, you have visions and that you can tell when aliens are near. Something like a third kind of sight or a seventh sense. A third eye sort of thing, as my friend Diane calls it. I just wonder if the changes are reflected in the DNA. You really should go and see about it. I want to know that you’re okay. That we’re okay.” I was silent for a moment. Going
to the doctor wasn’t my favorite thing in the world to do. I resisted it even more than most guys I knew. But once Pam started insisting on something she was going to have her way about it. It made me want to resist immediately but I saw the sense in it.

  “Honey, I love you and it worries me, that’s why. We don’t know what kind of changes could happen to you later. Maybe cancer will develop or something. Who knows?”

  “True, but cancer isn’t the deadly malady it once was over a century ago. Treatment only lasts seven days.”

  “I know. But there is also the stress you’re under. The drinking worries me. I know you don’t drink much but that sort of thing can become dangerous when someone is under great pressure. Especially the sort of pressures you’re under.”

  “Look, Pam, I’m not going to become a drunk on you.”

  “I know honey, but there is actually something else I need to tell you. About why I don’t drink these days.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  12

  Pam had nearly everything packed and organized neatly. A feat that was truly astounding, considering all the stuff we brought on this trip. If things were left up to me we’d be in a frantic mess. The ship back to Earth would be boarding in three hours but Vartan had sent her private ship to retrieve me. I had debated for a long time whether to bring my family with me or have them sent off in the luxury liner ship back to Earth. I decided to send them home, preferably to the apartment Vartan had ready for them near her secret laboratory. As for the new baby coming along, my wife wasn’t showing yet. I wasn’t sure whether to cry or jump for joy at the news. I was still stunned, walking on a cloud after the news she’d dropped on me.

  The U-net base in Langrenus now housed a state of the art medical facility and Vartan had a small medical staff working for her there. I told Robin through a brief mail message of the find of the ferroelectric metal for which she was very surprised and seemed excited for. Magnum was now onboard the Vermillion, acting as head of security. I wished for a few more days to linger here but it was time to leave. I checked for mail messages one last time. There was one. It was from Livilla:

  Dear Mr. Astor,

  I’m glad you made it safely back to your family. Keep your shipment, or what’s left of it. I have all that I need from this deal. It was good working with you. Perhaps we’ll do it again sometime.

  Regards,

  Livilla

  I was puzzled. So she didn’t want any of the metal at all? Something had to give here. It was all too strange. Livilla had to benefit or profit somehow. Maybe Diamond could shed some light on this. But for now, I was happy to keep my share, which was back to half. I wasn’t going to complain but I filed this in the back of my mind to inquire about later.

  Magnum chimed the doorbell to retrieve us. Jonah jumped up and ran to let him in.

  “Dad!” he called unnecessarily, “Magnum is here again!”

  And not a moment too soon. I’d started noticing at the beginning of the trip that sometimes I would get stares and even a few whispers from the people around me when I was out and about.

  A labor mech was helping Pam with the kids and luggage and getting them out the door. The chest with the special metal was already en route on the Ghost to Ms. Vartan’s lab.

  “Magnum, what’s going on with the two battle mechs you left behind on Cupid’s Bow. Have you heard anything?” I asked, feeling worried for the little community there.

  “Just yesterday something very unexpected came up.” Pam glanced at both of us but left the suite and went down the hallway, guessing that this was confidential talk.

  “What?”

  “One of my lieutenants has informed me that there was a war against the town perpetrated by The Collector and his people. I doubt The Collector himself showed up. His minions were there. More of these scoundrels had shown up. One of my lieutenants counted fifty ships on the attack. My mechs were able to keep the townspeople safe from the worst of the bombings and cloak the town for at least two days but the defensive weapons I’d provided them were beginning to fail by the third day. Fortunately, two other forces had arrived on the scene, taking the miscreants by surprise. Quite a bit of carnage was created, to say the least. It was reported to me later that several people from these unknown ships were out looking through the corpses in the wreckage.” Curiously scary, I thought.

  “Were they robbing them or scavenging the wreckage?”

  “No. That is the interesting thing. They found a smuggler who was shot down from the air battle that ensued after their arrival, still alive. They carried him back to one of their ships. But no one from the town has been killed. Their satellite is temporarily down. My mechs there are busy making repairs to their ships and equipment where they can. I have commanded them to leave in seven days as these mechs are resources that will be needed elsewhere, unless you have some reason as to why you want them to stay on the satellite longer?”

  “I’ll contact them to see how they are doing when I get to Langrenus. Thank you for your help, Magnum. I know this is highly irregular.”

  “Indeed. I am satisfied that I could be of service in the matter.”

  There was a question in my mind as to their future. And would the Trans-African Artisanal Alliance still want to be involved if the situation hadn’t died down? Not likely. The alliance preferred using the myriad, various, complex legal systems in place on Earth and elsewhere, of which they were extraordinary experts at navigating, to advocate for the clients they took on. But it would take some weeks before their representatives arrived at Venus anyway. Hopefully, by then the conflict would be completely over.

  I was fastening my carry-on bag and getting ready to leave the suite when Pam came back in as I was locking the door.

  “Honey,” she said with a worried look on her face, “you’re all over the news again. This time on the main networks. I suspect that’s why Ellen had the Vermillion brought for you.” Magnum glanced from me to my wife.

  “Ms. Vartan, as we had discussed before, has a plan of action for all of this. Robert will be debriefed as to the protocol for this situation when he arrives in Langrenus. Security will be present for you and the children when you arrive home. She has been preparing for this eventuality for a long time.”

  “How did she know this would happen so quickly?”

  “She’s been monitoring the alien phenomenon for many years, Mrs. Astor. And how it affects earthlings and even humans in other parts of the solar system.” Magnum’s comlink device he wore on his belt erupted in light and beeped several times. “Excuse me, but our hover cab is here. If you will, Mr. Astor,” Magnum gestured at me and waited expectantly for me to follow.

  “Just give me one more minute, Magnum,” I said.

  “As you wish. Do not tarry any longer. We do not have much time left.” Magnum left. Pam had gone back inside and turned on the large entertainment holo-screen, turning on the news. I moved forward to gaze at it.

  “But dad’s one of the good guys! You have to let them know what’s really happening out there, dad!” said Jonah indignantly.

  “Who says he’s bad?” asked Mary.

  “No one, yet. But things can change in the media you guys. It can change in just a few hours,” said Pam. She looked at me with an expression that held all the questions one could ask, thoughts that poured out like heavy rain: Will the media skewer you alive and tarnish our name? What about the experiment that’s changed you? What kind of DNA will the new baby have? Will the baby survive? What about our children? What about our family’s safety? What will happen to us? What will happen to you? Will you come back alive? What will happen to the whole world? To our place in the universe? What?

  What about us?

  The footage of the incident of me in the conference room at the Sci-Tech convention was playing in clear definition on the screen. It almost shocked me. The news scroll below was giving warning of a pending important announcement. And then it came.

/>   “Ladies and gentlemen we have a special news bulletin. The footage we have just shown you has been around for a few months now but it was not known if such footage was authentic or fake. We have determined that at least some of the footage is real. We have seen nothing like it. As for this part of the footage, please pay special attention as this man here appears to pull the face off of another man. It is indeed strange footage. What are we witnessing here? With all the protesting and difficulty outside of the convention center, many missed what was going on inside. This is not the only footage we have of what looks like aliens disguised as humans. We have invited Admiral Katherine Carson who works with the Western Hemisphere Space Alliance. She helms the dreadnought USS Texas2, in case we are dealing with a unique, internationalist terrorist attack, and we also have invited astronomer Dr. Bel Nagy from the Orson Welles College Observatory to help explain this phenomenon, if indeed it is truly an extra-terrestrial phenomenon. . .”

  If only they knew what was really happening out there. If only they had paid attention and stopped prevaricating and pretending aliens didn’t exist. We wouldn’t be facing the disaster that was looming.

  The way things were being framed, I wasn’t being portrayed as a kook. At least not yet. But the questions being raised by the news presenter on this station was carefully neutral. I’d thought that it would have been quite clear that my actions at the convention were meant to stop the alien plan for a sneaky takeover. Seemed clear to me, anyway.

  “It’s time to go home and I’ve got a lot of work to do. You guys will be spending a lot of time at Vartan’s high-security accommodations, away from the media or anyone else. She has a few apartments and houses hidden away in secret locations in case this gets ugly. If people on Earth are just now waking up to this issue you can bet the loyalists will be stepping up their attacks very soon.”