The last item she stuffed into the last bag was her flute. Number 12 of 12. The finest ever made.
She returned to the airlock.
She opened first the inner door and the outer airlock doors on the Sedna. She hesitated before opening the first Station airlock door. It was normal protocol to close the inner ship door first.
She opened the first station door and stepped into the stations airlock. She stood there. One minute and the two and at four minutes she gently set the duffels down in the stations airlock and retreated into the Sedna closing all the doors behind her. People would wonder later what she was thinking as she stood there.
She went directly to the bridge then. Wex sat in the command chair and held her own face in her hands for a full minute before sitting up and wiping her face with her sleeves.
Methodically she began to bring the reactor sup to full power.
“Station traffic control this is The Grace preparing for departure. Standing by for vectors.”
She opened the blast shields all the way then. The view of the earth was so breathtaking.
She barely heard the instructions from the busy space traffic controller.
Wex smiled are the airlock gantry detached, and she gently flew away from Freedom.
***
The scream was wordless, high pitched, and brain piercing. No one could find its origin until the crowd separated and Worthington saw her running. It was a small girl, maybe eight years old, with long black brown hair drawn back into a tight pony tail.
She was running directly at Worthington, who was felled to his knees by the sight of her.
She crashed into her father wrapping her arms around his neck. She was crying now.
When her mother caught up, she had to politely press though the crowd with a worried face. When she saw them both, her hands flew to her mouth with a gasp, and she froze. Another girl in her early teens found her way to the scene and did not hesitate dropping to her own knees and throwing her arms around them both. She buried her face in her father’s neck saying, “I knew you weren't dead. I'd knew you'd find us.”
Jim locked eyes with the woman and stood, lifting the younger girl in his arms and drawing the older closer to his side. Slowly he walked to her. She stood up straighter; her eye was glistening with unshed tears.
“You're late.” She said, her voice cracking.
“I lived. I came back.” Jim choked out.
Then screams of another kind erupted from across the plaza. A man was falling from one of the balconies. Worthington looked up in time to see Po disappear around a corner on an upper level. As the crowds attention was on the man lying on the floor, a hand rested on Worthington’s shoulder, and a whispering voice spoke to him.
“Quickly, come with me.” It was Pho Pete. He led them around the end of the counter to the kitchen and prep areas in the back. Rand and Hume followed into a large room filled with recycle bins.
“They were right, Bobbie, they were following you. A man with from across the way had just gotten a Frange rifle aimed when a man and a woman stopped him. I saw it. She was fast.” Pete said.
“Where is Jude and Cine?” Worthington asked.
“Here.” They replied and stood from behind boxes that seemed impossible to hide behind.
“We apologize for not finding that one earlier. We did find two others in the crowd. They won't be following.” Jude said.
“They knew you lived, Jim.” Bobbie said, “They threatened us, demanded we inform them if you got in touch. They implied...” Bobbie looked at the girls, “So we ran. Just walked away from everything on Earth and came here.”
“Look you need to move.” Pho Pete said. “This is Danny. He is going to take you somewhere safe. Danny, take them to Aunt Ina's place. It’s still empty?” Danny looked to be about twenty or so trying desperately to grow his first beard.
Danny just nodded and headed to the utility door. It was a heavy door. In case of pressure loss on either side, it would hold a seal.
They stepped into a cluttered hallway that was full of recycle bins, unopened boxes and random objects of business. A utility vader was open directly opposite the door to the soup kitchen. They all got in.
“Station, please take us to level N221,” Danny said, and the doors closed. “Aunt Ina's apartment is close to the utility vader in west 221.”
“Will this be an imposition for your aunt?” Bobbie asked. Her head was still laying on Jim's chest.
“It's empty. Ina went to Mars on vacation two years ago and decided to stay.” Danny said as he watched the numbers increase on the display. “Pete has not decided what to do with it. He thinks she'll be back.”
It was right around the corner from the vader. It was also a huge apartment.
What they first thought to be a floor to ceiling window on the far side of the open plan apartment was just a piped in exterior view of the Earth. But it was still amazing.
“I will back with lunch in about an hour,” Danny said and then was off at a run.
As soon as the door closed, “We need to check in. Rand, you and Hume take the Ninja twins and make sure the ship is secure.”
They left without a word giving them the privacy they deserved. As soon as the door closed Bobbie spoke.
“I never doubted for a minute.” She was kissing him again, “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Not now, as soon as possible I will be getting you out of here,” Worthington said.
“Captain James Worthington, your family will not be going anywhere.” Freedom Stations AI said to them from all around.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
Rhea
“Rhea is the second-largest moon of Saturn and the ninth-largest moon in the Solar System. It is mostly ice and has only one settlement on it. A small research station that maintains a population of approximately 340 research scientists. But only three security officers.”
--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: General Patricia Chase, senior member of the Earth Defense Coalition.
<<<>>>
“Listen, Watkins. I am the only one that is allowed to see him now.” Kristin Vittori explained for the last time. “Now shut the hell up about it. With McDonald off base, I am in command.”
Watkins sat at his massive console in the system center of the research base. He watched her ass as she walk by in her conservative winter Earth street clothes.
The lone prisoner actually thought he was in On Earth in Detroit.
She walked into the prison cell dome.
She was the only one allowed in here. It was a pain in the ass. But it was the only way to keep the prisoner's nature, let alone his existence, a secret.
The entire dome was a simulation of the sky above Detroit. Day and night, in all weather. In the center of the dome was a structure that McDonald thought of as an elaborate movie set. It didn't look like much on the outside, but it didn't need to. She entered the facade and walked down a long corridor that made it appear to be a dirty warehouse.
The door slid open, and she entered a large room that resembled the inside of a warehouse. Subtle clues everywhere indicated that it was in Detroit.
High dirty windows provided filtered light as Kristin proceeded to the center, where there was a huge clear box enclosing an area seven meters on a side. Industrial lighting hung from the ceiling above the cell.
There was a man in the box.
A thin mattress and a neatly made bed lay on an elevated section. Opposite, a tabletop was attached to the wall, beside a stump of a stool that rose from the floor. In one corner, there was a basic toilet and sink. The entire thing hovered above the floor on three clear legs.
She climbed onto the visitor's platform that was near, but not touching, the cell. She pressed a button on a console there and the freestanding screen that showed various TV shows all day went dark. Another button activated the intercom.
“My name is Kristin. I will be working with you while Dr. McDonald is away.”
“So, the Chancellor has reeled him in? I bet he took the weapon and the new AI with him. How can I help you, Kristin?”
“The same way you were helping McDonald. Innovations.” Kristin said, “Except with less bullshit this time.”
“We have a hard ball player. Excellent.”
“Tell me your name, fucker,” Vittori growled.
“My name is Vincent Joseph Turkot.” He said politely setting down the book he was reading.
“I don't believe you.” She said.
“Why would you not believe me?” Turkot asked.
“You have been here for years, and you have never told Dr. McDonald your name.”
“He never asked me so nicely.”
“How old are you?”
“That is a bit more difficult question. Time is difficult to measure when you've ignored it as long as I. I first came to the Earth just over 100 million years ago. During the beginning of the war.”
“What war?”
“These questions are far more refreshing than I thought they'd be,” Turkot said.
“Answer the question.”
“The greatest war this galaxy has ever seen. The war that destroyed the Earth.”
***
“Captain James Worthington, your family will not be going anywhere.” Freedom Stations AI said to them from all around. “Your ship is gone.”
“Eleven minutes ago it requested departure instructions and has now left Freedom space.”
“Jimbo, this is Barcus. The Grace/Sedna is gone. I have secured the cooperation of Freedom Station's AI. We can now securely use Freedoms comms. I need to check on Stu; he's not responding.”
“Station is Rand anywhere near a comms unit?”
“They are now in a crowded lift on their way back and do not have privacy,” Station replied.
“What is their ETA?” Jimbo asked.
“One minute.”
“Girls, why don't you explore a bit,” Bobbie said to them.
“Will you be right here when we get back?” Clara said with a stab to his heart.
“Yes, Pumpkin.” Jim said smiling, “I'll be right here.”
The girls wandered down the hallway to explore the rest of the apartment.
The door chime interrupted their kiss far too soon.
“Come.” Worthington.
Hume and Rand entered and quickly closed the door behind them. “Sir, do not just open the door like that. What if it was not us?”
“I knew it was you. What's with the bags?” Jim asked.
“The Sedna is gone. It looks like Wex has taken it. It looks like she packed all our personal affects.” Rand opened one of the duffel bags on the dining table and started to remove items.
She held up the flute.
“I think she'll be back,” Rand said.
***
Vittori just stared at Turkot for at full minute. “What do you mean destroyed the earth? What war?”
Turkot just stared at her for a while in return.
“Are you saying you visited Earth hundred million years ago and spent so much time traveling at the speed of light it brought you here?”
“Something like that,” Turkot said as if he was losing interest. He started reading his book again.
“That was the end of a battle. A meteor hammered the earth and put an end to that Scarecrow. He was on the wrong track anyway. I pressed reset is all and took the planet for myself. Seeded it and never expected it to all happen so fast.” He began reading again.
“What is going on? Why did Dr. McDonald leave in such a hurry?” Vittori was frustrated.
“Because the weapon was completed. Again. That AI more so.” He said. “If you don’t mind I’d like to finish reading this today.” He turned his back to her without another word.
She walked away. She would not beg him for information.
Getting back to the main control room she found it empty. Now she had a place to vent her anger.
She activated the comms and spoke. “Hearn, where that hell is everyone?”
There was no answer on the comms.
“Base, locate Hearn.” There was no response.
No reply.
“Base. What time is it.” There was no response.
“Oh shit.”
***
The navigation in the space around Freedom Station and of Earth controlled space took longer than the trip to Saturn. The research station on Rhea wasn’t easy to find. But she found it. Just as she knew, she would.
She also found the main hanger empty.
No one challenged her. No one met her at the bottom of the ramp. She was not surprised by the bodies on the floor in the corner of the hanger. She walked with confidence, holding a handgun in her hand loosely.
A woman’s voice came over the PA as she opened the airlock door and entered the hall.
“This is a security alert. We have intruders. Comms are down. People are dead. Security protocol one. Shelter in-place. Await the all clear.”
Wex paused and held up the gun. When a security guard rounded the corner at a jog, she shot him in the face sending him sprawling at her feet.
She dropped the handgun and picked up the man’s Frange carbine in one smooth motion. Just as she placed the sling over her head and leveled the carbine, two more men rounded the corner.
She instantly killed them both.
She dropped the one hundred round mag out of the gun even though it was still almost half full and retrieved another full one from one of the dead man’s vests.
She knew where she was going and knew she was being watched on the cameras that lined the halls. Expressionless she moved thought the corridors.
“Hearn! She is in B7 moving toward W1. Stop her!” came over the PA system in panic.
***
Hearn said to Matthews, “We’re under specific orders to nuke the base if it was penetrated.” Matthews was already in the small shuttle warming it up.
“Roger that! I am sick of this shit hole.” Matthews replied.
Hearn opened the plain door with a scan and ident procedure. The room was simple and had a single console in the center. He logged in and passed several additional levels of security. He brought up a direct comm path to the shuttle. “Matthews, let me know when you are ready.”
“Two minutes.” Replied Matthews.
Hearn began the self-destruct sequence.
The emergency escape shuttle was a short range no frills craft. It was conventional propulsion with simple grav-plates for takeoff, landing, and inertial dampening. They would be on the other side of Saturn before the base blew.
***
Kristin Vittori watched this woman cut through the entire security staff. She wasn’t moving toward the prisoner as she expected. She was moving toward the labs in the center of the base. She entered the first lab and didn’t shoot anyone. She calmly walked past thirty shocked lab techs that were frozen where they stood.
Room after room she moved deeper into the base.
Finally, she reached a lab that was adjacent to the server room.
She shot out the glass.
Leveling the carbine for precise aim, she destroyed the fragile globes of the remaining AIs on the base. When she was done, she dropped the carbine and turned to walk out the same way she came in.
***
“Hearn, we are a go as soon as you are here.” Matthew’s said over comms.
“Acknowledged,” Hearn said as he began initiating the command sequences.
***
When the AI’s were destroyed the auto-tracking on the security system stopped working. Vittori brought up security cameras manually the showed the inside of the warehouse that held the prisoner. He was oblivious, still reading his book.
Unable to do anything else, she grabbed her a side arm and ran.
The doors opened to the command center, and the alarm was echoing through the compound. The noise was loud and covered the sound of her running feet as she moved through the comple
x. She went down six levels and all the way across the complex without seeing anyone. All the stupid drills suddenly seemed to be less than stupid.
She skidded to a stop at the warehouse entrance and to speed things up she set her gun down on the console shelf.
As she pounded the last character into the access sequence and hit enter.
From behind someone grabbed the back of her head and smashed her face into the console as the doors slid open.
***
Slowly Vittori was coming conscious as she was being dragged by her heels. Her feet were dropped and her head lulled to the side trying to make sense of what is happening. She saw Turkot reading the final page of the book and after closing the cover tossed it to the floor and casually moved to brace himself in a corner.
The forklift sped into view and crashed into the cube, spearing it with the two tines. The tines spread and the cell shattered. Turkot landed neatly on his feet.
Vittori watched him walk out, as a woman fell in step with him.
“Hello, Wex. So very nice to see you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
Sometimes it All Goes Wrong
“The Solstice 31 War began here.”
--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: General Patricia Chase, senior member of the Earth Defense Coalition.
<<<>>>
“Station, I am passing to you the Ident codes for a ship I need to contact,” Barcus said to the station AI as he walked down an empty corridor. “Here are the general coordinates.”
“That’s in the belt, Barcus. A dangerous section of the belt.” Station replied.
Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3 Page 94
