by Selina Brown
Iota
Station: Perza
Galactic System: Sarato (Spiral Galaxy)
Planetary System: Saratoga
Homestead
Ara touched her face, feeling the warmth.
It was a glorious, sunny day and getting warmer. Dad was busy checking his fields of tall things, and moving the cattle to another paddock. Ara liked the cows but not the tall things because she got lost in them one day and Marc had to save her. She had to use her “big girl’s voice” to tell him of her impending death and how sad he’d be, but Marc told her Maya had sent him an emergency log. When they returned to the homestead, Mum was waiting at the foot of the steps, and her expression was one of annoyance. “Ara, you aren’t supposed to use Maya as your personal communications device.”
“But Mum—”
“Ara.” Pen’s voice came hard.
“I almost died in there.”
“Stop exaggerating.”
She mumbled, “Nuts.”
“To your room, young lady.”
“I’m not a lady!” She stomped her foot trying to make Mum understand that.
“Now!” Mum pointed up the stairs. “Or no playground.”
Ara glanced up at Marc to save her but he held out his hands. She grumbled and stomped up the stairs, emphasizing with each step that she wasn’t a lady.
Marc turned to Pen. “We need to talk about that log.”
She nodded. “Ara seems to be able to tell the Cardinal Unit and Maya what to do. It’s unprecedented.”
Marc sighed. Technically, he shouldn’t be getting logs from the CU anyway, but he reported it to Jamie who told him that Ara had been sending her guards logs via the CU, ordering them around. Marc groaned aloud over that bit of news. Jamie didn’t answer to him but had given him that news for a reason, probably to remind him that Jamie was “The Sentinel”, not the Aether. He passed along the message to his parents as they sat discussing Ara in their little office near the lounge.
He linked with Ara’s bright mind, sensing something odd. She was grumbling over being confined to her room when a malign presence tried to connect to her but she brushed it away. Marc jerked upright, and began to run up the stairs, hearing laughter echoing in Ara’s mind. “You’re a strong little thing, aren’t you?” She poked her tongue at it, mentally, and then imaged the flipping of her fingers at it. Marc missed a step landing heavily on his knees laughing at himself and at Ara’s actions.
Iota
Station: Estancia
Galactic System: Milky Way (Spiral Galaxy)
Planetary System: Earth
England
“Cheeky brat.” Viper watched two raggedly dressed characters leave the café by climbing the rail. He hated his current body. It was too thin for his tastes. He also noticed when he was close to Cobra they began to sync in a sense of what they felt and thought. Only Krait seemed to be able to maintain his individuality.
“Who?” Cobra glanced at the retreating figures.
“Ara.”
“Ah. Listen, I’ll be on Sparta Prime most of the time, building up some mischief there.”
Viper sipped his drink. “Does this coffee taste alright to you?”
“It’s not coffee.”
“That explains it. What is it with these ridiculous clothes?”
Cobra, as usual, looked at ease, handsome, and his blue eyes were amused. Cobra shrugged. “It’s the 1500s. These are high-class clothes and, besides, I like the leather jerkins.”
“Well, I consider this body too thin so it’s making me look a little manlier.” He rapped at his codpiece.
Cobra smiled but returned to the topic. “This is just one part of the plan, I have my finger in the Avatara pie, here on Earth, Sparta Prime, the Three Empires and Grands”—Viper was surprised—“and more.”
“And I have the Establishment and sub-Maya and Cardinal Units. Together we’ll keep everyone focused here. Ara will be too busy being philanthropic to really do any good.”
“Ara’s not the problem. While the notion of her being the Vanguard is ridiculous, her worth is in being the Mobile Unit. The Natal are the problem and as long as we keep them out or busy with the Nine Iotan Function Tests we’ll be fine. As fine as we can be.”
Tarus AKA Krait, was recording their activities after he noted their corruption levels fluctuated.
“She’s made three connections that we know of to the Cardinal Unit. There were three logs when I went to check.”
Cobra raised his eyebrows. “And?”
“One was a check on the Saringtons, one was about healing her brother, and another was about being lost in a corn field. She activated an emergency beacon where Marc was sent a log via the Cardinal Unit from the sub-Maya to rescue her.”
Cobra stared at Viper and then burst out laughing. After he calmed down, they both watched the humans being “human”. Most looked tired, ragged and worn, but a few were dressed in gorgeous clothes, chatting about whatever humans chatted about.
“I know it’s funny but there are encrypted logs from her as well and we don’t know where they are going other than down to Saratoga.”
“Alright, just keep an eye on it.”
“Nyx is going to be pissed when she gets her memories back and finds out what we did to her, even more so when she learns about what we did to her beloved Vanguard.”
Cobra shrugged. “Our dear sister deserves what she gets, that arrogant bitch, and if hurting or driving Ara to her death makes her see sense in the end then that’s good.”
Cobra didn’t miss the look that crossed Viper’s face.
He warned him, saying, “Don’t get soft on her like Krait still is. Now, remember, there are still loyal Amatal inside the test sites so we will need to apply our own pressure. We are on a deadline.”
“Out of interest, do you remember meeting Ara before she was placed in the biosuit?”
Cobra shook his head. “Those memories are vague, maybe that’s why I’m immune to her. What was she like?”
“Similar, but cheekier now with that genotype we added.” Viper put down his drink in disgust, shaking his head. “This is horrible. Oh, I still can’t access Ara’s dream state.”
“I’m not surprised, Korbet applied a mind-lock. But Trickster has access.”
Viper swore and leaned towards Cobra. “When were you going to tell me about Trickster?” Not getting a reply, he shoved his cup away. “If the Four of the Eight are working actively against us…”
Cobra held up his hand. “They called themselves the Consociation of the Eight. They are preventative, not aggressive. Marc being there was just coincidental.”
“I don’t quite believe that. Could it be our hidden assist working against us?” They were careful even now to speak of the dictates. But Viper held a hard copy. He read the first part:
Dictates of the Righteous
From this year, 77 000, on this day, 32nd Years of Seven, Tartarus challenges Nyx who will ascertain the validity of the Chaos Empire to replace the Old Technological Regime.
Sub-Log IX resumed
“No, I’m sure she is loyal to our cause.” Cobra sipped his tea thinking it not sweet enough and studied the horse and carriage across the cobbled road. “Worry more for our brethren.”
“Alright. One Sibella is worth more than the lot of them anyway. Erebos never did see her potential.” Viper fell back into his hard seat. “What’s the first plan … no, the most delicious part?”
Cobra leaned forward. “I’m using Kavela, and the work you’ve done, to screw with her—”
Viper was sitting up, craning his neck. “There’s Karu and Balin. Let’s follow.”
They got up, leaving some coin, and followed the red-haired Adonis and his colorful companion. “What a fop.”
“Balin’s a killer, don’t underestimate him.”
“I won’t.” Viper felt a few drops of rainfall. “Go on.”
Cobra outlined the plan and ended by saying, “…when they get their m
emories back I hope that will help tip our Nyx over the edge.” He tapped the table. “News on Krait? I had the impression he didn’t get out of the Lacuna yet.”
“In another test site, preparing for our arrival.” Viper saw Karu and Balin turn down an alley. They both felt the energy used as they activated a transportal, probably to go to another location on the planet or up to one of the many rangers hovering in space like vultures.
“This is disgusting, a test site in a test site.” Viper tried to turn his mind to a bit of relaxation but the anger of the injustices always threatened to boil over especially seeing a ragged little boy with skinny and dirty arms crying in an alley.
Cobra pulled at his arm as he began to veer off into the narrow smelly lane.
“Don’t.”
Viper yanked his arm away trying to control the pain in his heart. “I was just going to put him out of his misery, just like everyone in the Lacuna needs to be put down.”
“That’s why I stopped you. We don’t need you in jail,” Cobra said grimly, “or breaking out of jail.”
“Do they even have jails?”
Cobra shrugged. “Evidently not for parents.”
Iota
Station: Perza
Galactic System: Sarato (Spiral Galaxy)
Planetary System: Saratoga
Homestead
Marc sensed five-year-old Ara close by trying to listen through the door. Cheeky brat. It was a few months after the playground outing and they were talking about Tekko, Ara’s new friend, in the small office. Ersen and Sacha were both with friends but Marc joined in with the meeting. Jamie had come and gone, already preparing for the new arrivals. They knew who Tekko’s father was, of course, but were worried about introducing the Dark Matter Beings into Ara’s life. Soon after the meeting, Tekko and his family moved to Saratoga, orders of the Maya no doubt. They lived close to the city on the beach rather than the farmlands where Ara grew up. They were all mechanics, engineers and builders so Ara’s world expanded to include the Saringtons.
Ara, who’d been caught lying and flipping her fingers when angry, was counseled by a male who visited her sometimes. She had been told to be honest and she was. He seemed happy enough with her answers but eyed Marc, Sacha and Ersen off on the way out. “If you are all worried, Ara wouldn’t say where she learned to lie or give people the fingers. But she did inform me that her younger brothers, um, Ashley and Henry, were picking up both habits as well and maybe I should counsel them too.”
All three blushed. As Ara skipped out and passed them with a cheesy grin, Pen and Terance joined them.
The counselor said, “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Before their parents could start on them, they scattered.
Marc lay on his bed that night aware that Ara’s mind was busy thinking about Tekko and her talk with the counselor. He lightly linked to her mind and heard a surprise conversation between Ara and a male.
“…I lie sometimes and kissed a boy.”
“Did you lie about kissing a boy?”
Marc relaxed, it was only Korbet. Jamie made him learn the mental signature of the Planet of Law contact.
“Huh?”
Korbet was “smiling”. “Goodnight, busybee.”
Ara used a tone Marc was too familiar with. It was her “grownup stern mental” voice.
“I want to talk.”
Marc dreaded that Ara would try to make Korbet talk via the Cardinal Unit. Sure enough she did.
“Ara, the CU isn’t your personal Voice. And, I’m a little busy right now.”
“But it’s sleepy time.”
“For little girls, and so you should be sleeping.”
“Oh, nuts,” she said in her best voice, trying conventional means to charm Korbet. “What are you doing?”
“Working on a new law for ranger cargo transports as they…”
“That’s boring!”
“Enough to put you to sleep?”
“I went farming today, there’s so much to do!”
“What did you farm?”
“Um … strawberries.”
“Did you eat them all?”
“Only in my basket, and maybe some of Marc’s and Dad’s when he wasn’t looking. I got told off and they made me cry.”
Marc grinned; it was more like all of his strawberries.
“Poor baby.”
“I’m not a baby … or a cry baby!”
“Goodnight then, strawberry.”
She said grumbling, “Night night said the frog to the…”
“Knight as he leans over to kiss…”
“The princess of light.”
Her giggle filled Marc’s heart with joy.
“I’m going to marry a knight or a…”
“Frog?”
She giggled again. “No silly, the knight kisses the princess.”
“Are you sure? Who’s leaning over to kiss the princess?”
“Um…”
“Goodnight, farmingbee.”
…
“Hello, Marc.”
‘Oops. Just keeping an eye on our girl.” Marc released his link with Ara.
‘I know, she’s a handful. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Marc mused over the contact. For Korbet to have picked up on his presence meant he wasn’t muting his Aether energy enough or Korbet was more than he seemed, or more than Jamie told him. Sighing with resignation that this was just the start of how complex things might become, he closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep. He heard a knock on his door.
“Come in, Ara.”
The door opened and closed. Ara tiptoed over and climbed into his bed. “I’m scared.”
He tucked her in and turned onto his side. “Silly. You shouldn’t read those scary stories at night.”
She snuggled into his arms. “I love you, Marc.”
“I love you, too.”
At some stage, Ara woke and found Marc gone. She rubbed her eyes and headed out to the passage hearing quiet voices filtering from downstairs. That was strange. She tiptoed and carefully crept down the stairs to the family room. She recognized Korbet’s voice. Why would he be here? And when she closed her eyes and concentrated really hard she felt the heartbeat of her main guard. She had to be very quiet and avoided all the creaky parts on the stairs. She shuffled down on her bum, feeling the scratchy carpet through her PJs. Reaching the bottom step, she peered around the wooden bannister and she saw a light coming from Dad’s main office. She glanced around in the dark, seeing cat eyes, and walked slowly until she could hear what they were saying. Puddy Unit 2 followed her, brushing up against her leg and purring too loudly. Ara absently patted her head.
“…the rumors going around about Ara being the Mobile Unit are getting out of hand.”
Ara had never heard Mum so upset. Dad was comforting her and murmuring something.
“What about the schools and her teachers?” Marc was asking now.
“They know not to say anything. But she’s going to find out, one of the kids will hear something and start their own rumors. They all know she’s different, but they aren’t sure why. Thankfully, she is well liked.”
“Of course she is, Terance! She’s always helping them with something.”
Ara’s chewed on her finger. What were they talking about? She always knew she was—
“They are saying that the Mobile Unit will trigger an indiscriminate release of antimatter and it will kill billions.”
“That’s ridic—”
“No!” Ara burst out at the same time and clamped her hand over her mouth, but, luckily, the cat meowed loudly. Ara ran back and froze on the first step, her mind drawing a blank about which steps to avoid. She balled up her hands so tightly it hurt. Which steps? Ara heard someone walking to the door. “It’s just the cat.” Just as she heard Marc saying something about checking on her she remembered the correct sequence and ran up. Just in time, Ara jumped into bed, and pulled the sheet around her. Her heart pou
nded and she silently begged Marc not to come in. She hated to hurt things, why would she kill billions? Surely, Maya wasn’t using her for that?
It was then that Ara received a data log from the Cardinal Unit, and it confirmed her worst fears.
CARDINAL Unit 9 (CU) Cycle and Logs
Reporting on MONITOR Mobile Unit
1117317627853867
Results from CU scan
Matter/Antimatter +0.66
Difference Matter/Antimatter +0.07
MONITOR returning to date 1% feasible data
COLLATE data
COMPARE data
End check
Was this why Maya was so nice to her now, because of what she was doing? Ara was determined to make sure—make sure of what? Ara didn’t know who to talk to. She knew some people seemed scared of her. Now she knew why. As her bottom lip wobbled, she shoved the sheet in her mouth to stop herself from crying. She shoved too much in and gagged.
“How long was Ara gone from Marc’s bed?”
“Just a few minutes. She went down the steps and hovered at the door, I was about to tell you but saw her come back.”
Jamie stared hard at the guard on duty. Since Jamie hadn’t informed anyone of the meeting it was partially his fault.
“Was she upset when she came in?”
“More worried about being caught I think, shoved some sheet in her mouth to keep quiet maybe.”
Jamie nodded and decided to look over the surveillance later but he asked Marc to keep an eye on Ara the next day.
Sub-Log X
Beachside City
Jamie, Diane, and Peter, who was a new member of their inner circle, studied the plans Terance had submitted. They were in a small, plain room. Peter was blond, blue eyed, and muscular. Jamie liked him because he had several ranger licenses. Peter had also worked for hundreds of years with King Max and Togin who was a loud but efficient warlord. Peter had a slightly offbeat sense of humor that left them either laughing uproariously or blushing with embarrassment.
