The Shox Gene Variant

by Bob Cooper

  “I’m leaving now for Aidan’s. Meet me there,” she said.

  ***

  Annie and Gretchen were working on several case files when Hillary and Billy walked in to the front part of the office. “Hi. Is Aidan in?” Billy asked Joey.

  “He’s in his office. Hold on. Aidan, the Bayberry’s are here to see you.”

  “Send them in,” he replied.

  Hillary caught Gretchen’s stare as they walked toward Aidan’s office.

  “Hey, have a seat. I assume you’re here because of our conversation yesterday.”

  “Yes. I’ve been losing sleep over this, but I know that if she doesn’t play this out, she’ll never have peace,” Hillary said. “So what should we do?”

  “I have a good friend at the Citizen Guard. Let me see if I can get him over here. Do you have time?”

  “Yes,” Billy said.

  While Aidan was talking to Captain Tom, Gretchen slowly walked by and looked in. Hillary watched her.

  “He’s coming right over,” Aidan said.

  “Is that the new person Acey said you hired?” Hillary asked.

  “Yes, her name is Gretchen. She’s sharp. Hopefully, we can get a handle on our caseload and eventually grow the business.”

  Hillary smiled politely and didn’t say anything further about her. Captain Tom arrived quickly, and after introductions, Aidan closed the door.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “This is Billy and Hillary Bayberry. Their daughter, Carina, knew I was at the Nelson’s mansion last night.”

  “Aidan, this is confidential, and you promised not …”

  “I know. Just hear me out. Carina was a schoolmate of Jonathan. She had a vision of me in the fire. We thought she might be able to help.”

  Captain Tom looked at Hillary and Billy trying to remember where he heard those names before.

  “Aren’t you the woman who was kidnapped about fifteen years ago by that wacko group ‘The Righteous Way’?” he asked Hillary.

  Terrible memories of that ordeal came back as she squirmed in her chair. “Yes, that’s me,” Hillary replied.

  “You were supposed to have some kind of superpowers,” Captain Tom said, smirking.

  “I don’t have super powers, you asshole. I can see things others don’t,” Hillary shouted. “We’re done, Aidan,” she said, getting up to leave.

  “Wait. Let’s all take a deep breath and settle down. Hillary is the genuine article, Tom. She has helped the Guard in many cases. And Carina was studied by the scientific community, and she is every bit like her mother and then some.”

  Tom realized he screwed up. “I remember now. I apologize for my comments.”

  Billy wasn’t sure he was sorry at all. “I don’t like this. It’s too dangerous for Carina to be involved.”

  “You should know by now how these things work,” Hillary said. “If we don’t let Carina resolve this, the thoughts and visions will continue to haunt her. You remember how I used to get?”

  “Yeah, I remember. So what do you want her to do?” Billy asked Captain Tom.

  “Here’s the situation. Jonathan Nelson is missing. We thought he was kidnapped and were waiting for the ramson note, but none came. His aunt and uncle were murdered in the house fire which leads us to believe this is not a ransom kidnapping. Someone wanted young Jonathan for other reasons. We need to find out where he is and why they abducted him.”

  Billy looked at Hillary who nodded her approval. “Okay. As soon as she has anything, we’ll contact you.”

  “Thank you.”

  ***

  Dirk finalized the arrangements and transferred the credits to Harry’s’ account. “I promise to have it back by the end of day tomorrow,” Dirk said.

  “Please try to bring it back in one piece, not like the Star Cruiser when you went on your Antares adventure. And make sure you have my forged medical certification on board with you, just in case.”

  “Don’t worry. Besides, I took out the extra insurance.”

  Harry raised his eyebrows, not convinced there would be no problems. “Here’s the log book. Please be careful.”

  Dirk got on his com link and called Carina.

  “Gramps, did you get it?”

  “I sure did. We leave at 0800 hours tomorrow morning. Be ready, and I’ll pick you up.”

  ***

  Raina called Acey before boarding the shuttle back to D.C. It weighed heavily on Acey that she didn’t spend more time with her sister. They promised to keep in touch. Aidan heard the conversation and rubbed her shoulders.

  “I feel so guilty being away,” Acey sighed.

  “Hey, you’re home now. How about you, me, and Annie go out to dinner tonight?”

  “I would like that,” she said, turning and kissing him.

  “Annie is at the Office. I’ll ask her to meet us,” Aidan said.

  ***

  Annie was showing Gretchen how to do background checks for security clearances and was pleased to see she was catching on quick.

  “Who were those people in the office?” Gretchen asked.

  “You mean the Bayberry’s? They’re friends of ours.”

  It was getting close to the time when Annie had to leave to meet her parents for dinner. They submitted the last background check and waited for the report to be sent.

  “Did you find a place to stay yet?” Annie asked Gretchen.

  “No. Not yet. Your father said he would show me around tomorrow.”

  “I’ll remind him. I’m meeting my parents for dinner in a bit.”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll send the last report out when I get it.”

  “Thanks. That would be great. Do you know how to lock up?”

  “I was just going to ask.”

  “Okay, let me show you the procedure.”

  Annie walked through the process and then left. Gretchen waited and sent out the last report. Before going, she took out her com link and made a call.

  “It’s a glorious day for the Fourth Reich,” came a voice over the link.

  “Indeed, it is, Father. I am now employed with the firm as we planned. I have access to databases that the general public does not. I will send you any pertinent information I find.”

  “You have done well. I will contact you with further instructions.”

  ***

  Annie pulled into the restaurant parking space and the doorman ran out to greet her. The desert rain was unusual for this time of year, and Annie waited for him to open the umbrella. Stepping out of her vehicle, they ran to the entrance.

  “Thank you,” Annie said, handing him a tip.

  “You’re welcome. Your parents are already here.”

  Annie greeted the bartender, and the maître de showed her to the table.

  She went straight for Acey and hugged her. Acey and Aidan never had children of their own. Aidan became Annie’s legal guardian when her father, Aidan’s best friend at the time, died with no surviving relatives. Aidan promised to raise Annie. When Acey and Aidan married, Annie was five years old. Later, they legally adopted her.

  “It’s so good to be home with you guys. I missed you,” she said, kissing Annie.

  Aidan felt content to have the family all together and ordered a round of drinks. Acey told them about being on Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, and negotiating an agreement that was lucrative to all parties involved.

  “Are you home for a while?” Annie asked.

  “Yes. I have plenty of paperwork to do. But I plan to spend a lot of time with you guys. How about we go hiking on Monday? Can you take some time off?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Aidan said, looking at Annie.

  “Uh, Dad, don’t you have something to do on Monday?”

  Aidan shrugged his shoulders. “I give up. What?”

  “You said you would show Gretchen around the city to find an apartment.”

  “Damn. I forgot all about that. How about we do the hike next week?”

&n
bsp; Acey wasn’t happy with Aidan being off with an attractive young woman, but conceded. “Okay, next week it is. Annie and I can go shopping on Monday.”

  “Yeah, that sounds great.”

  Their dinners came, and they continued talking about business. Aidan chose not to mention the incident at the Nelson’s mansion or Carina’s involvement with the Guard.

  ***

  Carina was on the com link. “Gramps. Where are you? You’re late.”

  “I’m on my way. Be there in five minutes.”

  Her parents were at the Gallery cleaning up from the party the night before. She told them Dirk was taking her on an adventure outing. From her point of view, she was telling the truth. Dirk’s cruiser pulled in front of the house. Carina jumped in.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Yes. Let’s do this.”

  The B-Class starship was at the hangar just as Harry said it would be.

  “Wow. It’s a beauty,” Carina said, eyeing the smooth lines and the gleaming silver skin.

  Dirk typed in the access code, and a ramp came out from a door at the belly of the ship. Carina stood there motionless, a little nervous, but excited about her first trip through the solar system. Dirk put his hand on her shoulder, gently urging her up the stairs. Once inside, Carina saw four seats in the cockpit area. Behind that was a complete bar, a small kitchen, and hidden sleeping compartments.

  “This is so cool, Gramps.”

  “Take a seat over there and strap in. It gets bumpy until we get into space.”

  After getting permission from the station control, Dirk lifted off. He kept an eye on Carina as the ship accelerated out of the clutches of Earth’s gravity. Carina’s eyes were wide open, and her knuckles white from gripping the arms of the seat. Once in space, she felt a bit more relaxed. But the experience felt strange to her.

  “Have you ever experienced zero gravity?” Dirk asked.

  “Once, in a simulator on Earth.”

  “Not the same. Take off your harness and watch your head as you float up.”

  Carina took his advice and soon was on her back floating as if she was doing the back float.

  “Oh, my god,” she said, twisting her body into a fetal position and spinning.

  “Be careful. You don’t want to throw up in zero gravity,” Dirk said.

  Carina knew what he meant and pushed into the back. Through a large window, she saw Earth falling away.

  “Come sit back down, and I’ll turn on the artificial gravity. Then we’ll begin our tour.”

  Carina complied as Dirk slingshotted past the moon for extra speed.

  Dirk zoomed the camera as they flew by.

  “See those structures down there. That’s the spaceport for New Moon City. It’s also where the Academy trains its pilots. I learned there, and later I taught there for a while.”

  “I don’t see any city.”

  “New Moon City is underneath the moon’s surface. One of these days I’ll take you there.”

  “Where was Aunt Acey when you were off working there?”

  “She was with me. She was quite young.”

  “Mom mentioned that she was with you on Antares.”

  Dirk cringed remembering the circumstances. “Yes, Antares is a sun with planets going around it. Just like our solar system. One of the planets is Antares Proper. That’s where we were.

  “Why was my mother with you on Antares Proper?”

  Dirk sat back and stared at the monitor without answering. Carina could tell she hit a raw nerve.

  “We’ll talk later about what happened but for now, enjoy the scenery.

  A red planet came into view. “Is that Mars?”

  “Yes, and if you look closely, you’ll see the archeological sites that the Academy maintains. Your Aunt Acey got her training there. Better put your harness back on. We’ll be going through the Asteroid Belt.”

  Carina returned to her seat next to Dirk.

  Flying in space felt as natural to Dirk as it did many years ago when he commanded the Academy’s Star Ship. Like riding a bike. You never forget. They made it through without any problems.

  “That must be Jupiter.”

  “It is. The largest planet in our solar system. You can fit about 1300 Earths within it.”

  Dirk saw that Carina was enthralled. But it wasn’t until the rings of Saturn came into sight that she grabbed her backpack and pulled out a tiny hi-res camera to begin filming. Dirk took them through the outer rings, and she gasped as he danced in and out of its icy boulders.

  “That’s as far as we go,” Dirk said. “We’ll head back and check out the dark side of the moon before we land on Earth.”

  Carina was finishing the last shots of Saturn when an alarm went off. “What’s that?”

  Dirk didn’t answer as he frantically interrogated the computer logs for the problem.

  5

  Another alarm sounded – this one warning of a hull breach. “Go into that closet over there and take out two suits,” Dirk shouted.

  “What?”

  “Get the suits now!”

  Carina ran to the closet and pulled out two space suits. Dirk put his on quickly and then helped Carina with hers. “Please, what is going on?” Carina asked in a panic.

  “We’re going to lose atmosphere soon if I don’t find this hole and fix it.”

  Dirk noticed how terrified Carina looked. “But don’t worry. I’ll fix it.”

  He turned to the computer which showed him the location of the leak. “There it is. It’s in the rear cabin. I want you to contact Earth Space Communications and tell them what happened. Ask them if there is anyone close by in case we need assistance.” He opened the communication link for her and then went in back.

  “This is Space Com. How can I help you?”

  “Your space suit has a built-in microphone. Go ahead and tell them we have a problem,” Dirk said.

  “Uh, this is Carina Bayberry, and I’m here with Dirk Saunders, and we have a hole in our spaceship.”

  There was a moment of silence. “Please stand by.”

  Carina watched as Dirk patched up the small hole with the emergency breach kit.

  “Ms. Bayberry, there is no one in that sector of space. Are you able to proceed?”

  Just as Dirk was putting the finishing touches on the seal, the breach exploded into a more massive hole, this time leaking all the atmosphere. Dirk would have been sucked out if it wasn’t for him being wedged in between the storage units. He was knocked unconscious from the blast. The suits responded by pumping oxygen and warm air but not before Carina briefly lost consciousness.

  “Ms. Bayberry! Please respond. Is everything all right?”

  Carina awoke. “No, Dirk is unconscious, everything’s floating. All kinds of lights are flashing, and the ship is tumbling. We have our suits on, and I feel sick to my stomach.”

  Again, no response. “Hello, please help us!” Carina yelled in a panic.

  “Hi, Carina. My name is Cowboy. We’re gonna git you back here safe and sound. You do what I say, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, holding back her tears.

  “First, check the stabilization dial on the top left of the con. It should have STAB written underneath it. Do you see it?”

  She moved over and found it. “I see it.”

  “What is it doing?”

  “It’s flashing red.”

  “Okay, now press the button next to it and let’s see if it resets the gyros and gets you steady.”

  She pushed the button. There was a whining sound, and then the ship flipped end-over-end throwing Carina into the monitor and then back. The ship righted itself and became steady.

  “It worked! It worked! We’re not tumbling.”

  “That’s great! Now, go over to Mr. Saunders and see if he is still unconscious.” Carina rushed over. She detected him breathing shallowly, and there was a cut on his forehead with a small trickle of blood running down his face. “He’s still unconscious and has
a cut on his forehead, but he’s breathing.”

  “Okay, let’s check the navigation system. The flight plans were put into the computer before you left so we need to see if the nav computer is following the flight plan. Look on the monitor in the lower right-hand corner and tell me what you see.”

  Carina found four rows of letters and numbers. All displayed a specific value except for the last row. It was spinning through numbers faster than Carina could make out.

  “I see four rows of numbers and letters, but the last one is spinning very fast.”

  This time there was silence. Carina waited and then repeated what she said.

  “Okay, little lady. That means that the nav computer lost the plan for the return trip. But not to worry. We can fix that. You stay calm and do as I say. All right?”

  “Uh, okay. What do I do?”

  “I’m checking your flight plan now. We’re going to modify it, so I get you back to Earth faster. I’m uploading it now. Recheck the monitor and tell me what you see.”

  “Nothing’s changed!”

  Carina heard a string of cuss words. She looked over to Dirk. He was no longer wedged in and was floating in the back.

  “Hi, Carina. Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to fly that tin can back to Earth.”

  “I can’t do that. We’re going to die, aren’t we? Oh, my God!” she said, bursting into tears.

  “Carina. Cowboy doesn’t let his friends die. Do you hear me? Now pay attention, and when you get back, we’re going to make you a Starship Captain.

  Carina looked back at Dirk again. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said, sobbing.

  Cowboy walked her through the use of the controls and told her how to monitor her speed and direction. She couldn’t believe his instructions enabled her to bring the ship in. Amazingly, she saw Earth.

  “Is that Earth?”

  “Yes, it is, sweetheart. You made it. Look at your monitor. What do you see?”