by Selina Brown
“Hmmm. Aven said she couldn’t reconnect you either. Maya had forbidden the link.” His mind grasped what she had said. “You think that’s all connected to the reason you are a Mobile Unit?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“What about what Viper said?”
“They need to get out, don’t they? They’re the ones that made me the Mobile Unit. That’s why they’ll try for alliance to join them or corrupt me to lead or weaken me to use.”
Jamie didn’t say it but they’d probably keep alternating and trying combinations of those three things. She’d done a good job working with so little, she’d matured significantly after the vote and it surprised him to find that hurt him so much, but he was still worried about why the Snakes wanted to wear her down so that she’d kill herself. What was the benefit in that? “Well shit.” Jamie rubbed his head. “We have to get out, they want to get out, neither wants the other to get out; it’s not just a race because how are you going to get us out and stop them?”
“And here’s the really ugly factor, will those outside want us dipshits fucking up their lives and bringing out, deliberately or accidently, a pile of Chaos fuckups?”
Jamie burst out laughing. “Ara!” He couldn’t stop grinning. He had a sudden inspiration. “Lesson One: The Nature of Conflict.”
“Huh? I think Tara said Karu taught that.”
“Balin actually. But that’s where we are going to start. I’ll leave the philosophical, psychological stuff with someone else.” He felt suddenly gleeful and ignored her sudden antipathy. He switched and deliberated about the preparations to move to Kios. She “knocked” on his head.
“Are you still flapping your mind over it?”
“I’ll be with you all the way, no matter what.” He felt good about that decision.
“Even though it’s a babysitting mission?”
Jamie chuckled. “A baby who helped me to help her. But I’ll take what I can get since I really don’t know what the hell is going on anymore.”
Ara sighed. “You and me both but we are in the Alien Crucible and Matter | Antimatter was the catalyst for what I have to do. I’ve got one more thing to show you though.”
Coral
Jamie sat down and stared at the mirror.
Ara knelt in front of him. The necklace oozed out and Jamie screwed his face up, much as she was doing. He saw the black metal with nine small frames with pink stuff and three larger frames one with a jewel, an oval, lying on its side. “Looks like red coral.” It was an opaque red, with something embossed—a weighbridge used to balance?
“That’s really repulsive, sweetie.”
“I know. I can’t get it off.”
“The only thing is I know it’s linked to the function tests, I was there when Maya, well I think it was Maya, placed it in … um … in your body.”
“Ah. I’m worried my memories will be fudged again.”
“I’ll make sure Aven doesn’t do that again, or stops it from being done. I had the impression she was acting under orders.” He brushed her hair from her face and placed the mirror on the bed. The necklace sunk into her pale skin. It reminded him of his NaPP. “As a last resort I’ll act as your compass. I just want to know two things.”
Ara looked at him, amused. “Just two?”
“Why did Aed have your hand dunked in that pool?”
“Something about turning me off and on to hide me from the Natal; whatever the Natal did on my hundredth didn’t work.” She shrugged. “The Triad thing? I’m not sure. They turned my Sawol ‘off’. They need me to keep my Nexus ‘on’. It’s a little odd.”
Jamie nodded. “Fair enough. Next, where the fuck are we? Where exactly is Tatsela?” They listened to a loud droning. “And why are there king bees?”
“That’s three. Choose one and you shall receive possibly misleading, incorrect, and ridiculous information.”
Jamie held her face in his hands and kissed her nose.
Logged
Matter
There must be more matter than antimatter if we exist. Yet we need more antimatter or less matter now to ensure existence, so maybe I can antimatter Maya or make a hole to get out of this crazy test.
Ara Katron
The Year of Irony and switched “on” (I think)
Hidden File: Access Level 1 Venus
Encryption start. 01000001 01101100 01100001 01110011 00100001 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001101 01101111 01110010 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01000101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110010 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100101 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101111 01110010 01101110 00100000 01100001 01110011 01110101 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010 00101110 Encryption end.
About Selina Valen Brown
I had a cool bio on the “About Me” website, but then they changed the site and my cool bio was wiped. Essentially, “About Me” became less about me and more about “About Me”. Visit https://about.me/mypompeii if you want to see the not about me stuff.
My head is filled with nonsense just like that, but occasionally I pull it all together and make stories. So, once I have an idea, I work it, draft it (several drafts), craft it, and edit, edit, edit. And then, there’s the beta readers and reworking, and finally the proofreader. Phew! Wipes sweat from mad eyebrows.
On the topic of mad eyebrows, I consider myself a mad writer with a secret desire to be a mad scientist. But the truth is I’m a bit lazy when it comes to anything not writing. And that, my reader friends, includes final editing/proofreading. I try my best but I just can’t spot the mistakes in my own work. Nor am I a grammar queen, or even, princess. In fact, I’m probably on par with the grammar joker or torturer which is why I pay a professional to proofread my work. However, because I’m a little bit naughty sometimes I sneak back in and add a few things
Anyway, I’ve been writing since I was a kid and not just the compulsory writing they make you do at school. I did actually write because I loved, and still love, stories. From wooden blocks, to paintbrush (with no paint), to crayon, to paintbrush (with paint), to pencil, to the almighty pen—I still remember when I passed my pencil strokes and was allowed to use a pen—to typewriter, to recorder (that didn’t last), to keyboard connected by cable and then cordless, to stylus (didn’t like that either), back to cordless keyboard I have been creating and designing stories.
I’ll keep writing as long as people enjoy them. And if they aren’t enjoyable, then I’ll return to the real world and live in other people’s stories.
Cheers
S. V. Brown
Other titles by S. V. Brown
Alien Crucible runs from Log 1 through to Log 18 - visit http://www.aliencrucible.com/
Kingdoms Away - being reworked for eBook and print
Praeda Chronicles - free on my website (see “Connect with S. V. Brown”)
Swackle - free on my website
Short stories and writing hints at http://lonecreature.com.au/
Connect with S. V. Brown
Twitter
https://twitter.com/S_V_Brown
Website
http://www.selinavalenbrown.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/selinavalenbrown/
Log 2 Pass | Fail Taster — Jet (not proofread)
“I promised Ara I’d be with her the whole way!” Jamie yelled at Simon, his Aryan Military handler. They were in the Saratoga mountain installation currently being packed up ready for the move to the Orixa Station, more specifically to Kios, the planet Ara would be apprenticed under Kavela, Iota’s only planet engineer.
“Not for her apprenticeship you won’t.” Simon’s freckles were more evident as he turned pale with worry. “We’ve given Terzon the mission.”
Jamie didn’t care. He’d resign. He’d set up his own detail. He sat on his bare desk and crossed his arms over his
chest ignoring all the cons against taking unilateral action. “I’ll not abandon her.”
Simon stood in front of him, scratched his head and mussed up his red hair. “Jamie, we’re not removing you completely from the protection detail. But you need to work with Leo on the Ruse of War issue. Terzon will contact you regularly.” Simon lowered his voice even though the bulwark security device was on. “This is our chance to draw the Establishment out a—”
“You’re using her as bait.” Jamie brushed past Simon and stalked around the room, he stopped at a high stack of crates and collapsed his arms and then his head on the top. “She is not just bait for Maya, for us, for Nyx or whoever the else is in on this Alien Crucible.” Jamie lifted his head and stared at the blank wall. The Establishment’s methods were ruthless and they already had Kavela and so many others in their rotten core it made Jamie feel sick.
“Your psychological profile reveals you just aren’t suitable. Stay and help Ara in a different way or leave. I’m leaving you an archived log I think may help your decision.”
Jamie didn’t even say goodbye as Simon left. He turned and saw a rolled up scroll on his desk.
Sub-Log I
Archived Consortium Log
Nyx stood on a round metallic platform right on the brink of creation material, Chaos energy and matter. Tartarus once said looked like a golden lake. He stood next to her now, resolute and angry. He was bitter over the Consortium’s decision that the new emerging Chaos Entity was too young to rule. He thought Monad’s old technological system was corrupt while Nyx was unconvinced.
“The results were unclear.” The massive Natal’s dark red living metal face seemed to absorb the golden light. Even though he was one of the oldest Natal, kroTan stood on a lower sled so that they didn’t have to look up to see him. He was over thirty stories high.
Above them the black velvety Void revealed no life systems close by. It had recently become apparent to them that they weren’t at the beginning of life, but at the end of a one hundred-thousand-year old cycle, and this fed Tartarus’s argument that it was a chance for a new world order.
“The Alien Crucible must be resolved,” Nyx snapped out the words while flinging her arm causing her long hair to shift slightly over her bare shoulders.
“And about time,” said Tartarus darkly.
He was her long-time friend and brethren, and right now his oval face was contorted with ill-concealed agony. He was wearing dark pants over which hung a long open shirt revealing his tanned skin. His feet were bare.
She ignored his sensuality…
