by Frank Carey
"FTL systems are building to an overload. Ejection systems are off-line. Mistress, the goddess Aite is functioning as the ship's artificial intelligence."
"Is she aware of us?"
"No, mistress, I have masked all sensor scans and network incursions."
"Dammit. Can you link with the ship's network?"
"Working. Mistress, crisis has been averted. Manual ejection of the FTL drive has been initiated. Drive sled has separated from ship and is being pushed into high-orbit." The building shook. "Drive unit has detonated."
"Whew. That was too close. Computer, discretely download the Valera's database. I have a feeling we're going to have neighbors.
"Yes, mistress." New alarms sounded.
"What now?"
"An object has entered the atmosphere. Analysis indicates it will survive re-entry."
"Dammit. Identify object."
"A synthetic power suit. Model unknown."
"Where will it hit?"
"Near here. Should I harden the defensive field?"
Kyle hesitated. Something nagged at her, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Call it goddess' intuition. "No. Make a window and let it hit. Prepare a gatherer. I want to see this suit."
"Yes, mistress. Impact in ten minutes."
"I guess we wait."
###
Kylie watched as the retrieval unit brought the remains of the suit into the lab, gently lowering it onto a work table. She walked over and examined the carcass. She saw status lights glowing from underneath the torn and charred synthetic epidermis. "Damn, this is one tough unit..." She stopped, leaning over to examine something on the suit's chest. "B.O.R.R.S Unit. Property of Area 51. Contact Dr. Joshua Gray at 702-555-1212... Shit! Computer, full scan of suit. Is there a consciousness inside there?"
"Emergency scan initiated. One consciousness found."
"Is it viable?"
"Completely intact."
"Transfer into printer module 598 and initiate body reconstruction."
"Mistress, are you sure?"
"I'm sure, dammit. Follow my orders."
"Yes, mistress."
The BORIS unit lit-up as if centered in a searchlight. Moments later, the light went off along with all the status lights. Kylie saw nothing of this as she was already half-way to the printer room.
###
Kylie stepped over to the printer cylinder and watched as the cycle finished. Designed by the previous occupants of the city, the printers contained in this room were designed to "print" living entities using bio-organic glue. Not synths--synthetic life forms--these were living, breathing exact copies of the bodies taken from a stored consciousness's DNA imprint. It was a unique, though efficient, way to carry people through the centuries.
When she first arrived in the city, she found this room with all but one printer empty, the consciousness assigned to the last print not to be found in the consciousness storage unit. According to the computer's record, the missing consciousness had simply moved on to a higher plane of existence. Now, the printer was printing someone who Kylie was sure was her long dead son, Joshua.
The goddess of memory paced in front of the printing chamber as it was finishing its final cycle. "Computer, are you sure this is Joshua?"
"Yes, mistress. All parameters match Joshua Gray's DNA imprint. A scan of the Valera's history files show that Joshua died in the same laboratory as this BORIS unit. The description of the equipment in said laboratory matched a Denebian soul transfer unit. I calculate a 99% likelihood that your son was inside the BORIS unit when it was ejected from the Valera along with FTL unit... Cycle complete."
Kylie watched as the cylinder opened to reveal a humanoid form laying inside.
"Joshie!" Kylie whispered. "Is he... Is he... Is he alive?"
"Yes, all biosigns are normal. Brain wave activity indicates a deep sleep."
A pair of overhead lifting arms picked up the bed frame Joshua was sleeping on and carried it and him to a doorway at the end of the room. "Where are you taking him?"
"To the decant room where he will be washed, clothed, inoculated, and given a full physical. Thankfully, the Valera has a complete record of human-normal physical parameters.”
Once her son disappeared through the door, Kylie sat down and wept. Eventually running out of tears, she wiped her eyes before turning them to the ceiling. "Thank you, Hera and Zeus for this gift,,,"
Alarms sounded, interrupting her.
"Warning. System failure," the computer reported.
"Identify."
"Stealth field failure. Force dome failure."
"Energy dampening field dome?"
"Nominal."
"Those systems were due to fail anyway. Now, the crew of the Valera have a mystery. It'll give them something to do."
"Mistress, may I speak?" the computer asked. Kylie was amazed at the sophistication of the system."
"Of course."
"Will not the revival of your son be construed as meddling by your ex-husband?"
Kylie closed her eyes. "Yes, but I couldn't let Joshie die in that suit."
"I have a suggestion."
"Are you sure you're not an AI?"
"No, mistress."
"OK, what is your suggestion?"
"The crew of the Valera is currently preparing a colony a few miles from here. Perhaps it would be best to transport your son there before he awakens. This will maintain your secret while reducing the shock to his system. Invariably, the colonists will make their way here..."
"And I can reveal myself under less insane conditions. Computer, you're a genius."
"Thank you, mistress. I do what I can."
###
Kylie and her load materialized inside a dark room. Carefully, she put her sleeping son in a chair in front of a computer terminal. "Sleep well, my son. Soon, very soon, we will be reunited, she said as she kissed his forehead before disappearing into the dark air.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Alex laid back in the recliner and closed his eyes in an attempt at shutting down his brain, at least for a little while. He was invigorated by the work he did today. As the head of the Adrestia assassin organization, work consisted of pointing his people at the right target while dealing with the occasional demon or psychopath. Now, he directed the actions of two hundred colonists, most of whom never took an order in their life. He hated to admit it, but he loved his new job.
The door burst open followed by Bryntana, in tears, running in and up the stairs to her room.
Bryntana never cried, ever. Ventos Prime's sun rose in the east and set in the west. That was the same level of truth as Bryntana never crying. He got up and headed upstairs as the sound of a door slamming shut filled the house.
He walked up to her door and gently knocked. "Bryntana, are you OK?"
"Leave me alone!" she sobbed.
Bryntana never sobbed.
"You don't sound OK. Can I come in?"
"Leave me alone."
"Bryntana, what happened?"
The door swung open. He saw her standing there, tears streaming down her face. "They adopted me!"
"Who adopted you?" he asked while following her into the room.
"The Hardies, Jacob and Tayla. I'm their damn sister!"
She sat down in a chair, and between sobs, explained what happened with Tayla. He got her a drink from the room's bar and handed it to her. "So, what's the problem? As I understand it, they will now lay down their lives to protect you."
"That's not all," she said. "My tail is interested in him."
"What?"
"My godsdamn tail has taken an interest in Capt. Jacob Townsend!"
"Really? You can do that?"
She gave him a look which could melt adamantine alloy. "Yes, I can do that," she hissed.
"That is so wonderful. I couldn't be more proud of you."
"What?" she said before downing her drink.
"Bryntana, if you can fall in love, then the rest of us have hope. I could just hug y
ou!"
"Back off. I'm not in love."
"You're tail says differently. What are you afraid of?"
She started to sob. "I... I... I don't want to kill him."
"Why on Alyson would you kill him?"
"He'll end up like my first husband."
"No he won't. His psych profile says he's normal."
"He sold sapients to the Wombats..."
"That's a cover story. He and his crew are normal smuggler types. They got into some trouble with a Tralaskan crime family, so Prince Lucien let them come along with us to start a new life. I think all the pods have at least one person who's acting under a witness protection cover story. So, you see, he's not going to hurt you and neither is Tayla. The Sokuhl adoption is real. Those two will die to protect you."
"Are you sure?"
"I am governor of this colony. It is my job to be sure. I suggest you don't fight this. Just let it happen. The tail thing isn't a guarantee of a perfect future, but it is a start."
"Hrmph," she said. Then she hugged him. "Thanks for the pep talk. Now, get out of here. I need sleep."
"Yes, ma'am," he said. He got up and walked out, leaving her to her thoughts. It was only when he closed the door that he remembered about the sensor data analysis. "Oh well, I guess we'll talk in the morning."
###
The sound of the Valera's master chrono chiming 0300 hours echoed through her deserted corridors with only Jenna present to hear. Then there was another set of ears, though these were very confused.
A tall male human appeared at one of the terminals in the Computer Center. He was on the younger side of thirty with light tan hair and a bare face. He was wearing a blue, one-piece uniform with the logo of the United States Air Force on one shoulder and Area 51 emblazoned on the other. He was sleeping. As she watched, he woke up and looked around, his face a jumble of confusion and wonderment.
"Hello?" He asked into the dimly lit room.
"Identify yourself," a voice ordered.
"Dr. Joshua Gray, Head of Bioengineering, Area 51. Where am I?"
"Raise your right hand."
He complied. "Am I supposed to take an oath?"
"Quiet. I'm checking your identity," the voice said as a beam of light came from the ceiling and illuminated his raised hand. It stayed for a moment before winking out.
"Did I pass the audition?" he asked.
There was no answer, only silence.
"Hello?"
"Dr. Gray, what's the last thing you remember?"
"Waking up in a dark room filled with computer terminals."
"Before that."
"The most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon as I reached down and pulled a big ring embedded in the floor. Wait a minute. I was in the BORIS unit. I remember having to use the tentacles..."
"Before that."
"I was in Area 51. I had just shut down an overload of the BORIS's power supply. What the hell is going on?"
"You 'died' milliseconds after that last memory was recorded. They found your body sitting in front of a control console at Area 51. You single-handedly saved Nevada and possibly the world as you knew it. The second memory was recorded right before you ejected this ship's FTL drive, saving it, me, and over a thousand sapients from a fiery death."
"You're her, Jenna, the ship's AI!"
"Good, your memory is intact."
"And the girl, Tayla Hardy?"
"She's fine. They're all fine."
He looked at his hands. "How long have I been dead?"
"Over two hundred years."
"Then how the hell am I staring at my hands, scars and all?"
"My initial scans confirm you are alive and who you say you are. I have no explanation as to how you and your body is suddenly sitting in my Computer Center. I do have a video record on file of your cremation. Would you like to see it?"
"Jenna!" someone yelled from behind Joshua. He turned and saw Tayla standing there, her fists on her hips.
"Hey Tayla. Look, Joshua has returned from the dead!" Jenna said in a jaunty tone.
"Stop it! Don't listen to her, she's just being mean," Tayla said as she walked up to Joshua with Jacob, Doc, and Mac close behind. Joshua continued to stare at her. "Why are you staring at me?"
"You're as beautiful as I remembered. I'm trying to convince myself that I haven't died and gone to heaven."
"You haven't died," Jacob informed him as Doc ran a scanner over the enraptured engineer from the past. He leaned over and whispered, "Does that line really work?"
"What line?"
"He's in shock," Doc announced as he injected something in Joshua's arm. Tayla caught him as he crumpled to the ground. "Get him to Sickbay, stat!"
Tayla picked him up and whisked him out the door with Doc close behind. Jacob leaned against the console and shook his head. "Someone is playing games with us. First a city appears out of nowhere, now a dead man. I don't like any of this crap."
"Do you think he's part of this?"
"Willingly? No. Did you see the look on his face when he saw Tayla? That was real. He was happy to see her alive. No, he's a pawn. We need to find the person moving the pieces around the board."
"What about Alex and the others?"
"We tell them everything. They are supposed to pull together and work together. It's one thing to build a town and plant crops. This is something else. Mac, could someone or something from this planet have initiated the FTL overload and prevented us from doing a manual eject of the core?"
"Sure, but why go through all that except to ensure our destruction. Hell, launch a missile and be done with it."
"I don't know. My mind doesn't work that way. Let's go talk to Alex and Bryntana. Maybe they'll have some insight."
"What about Dr. Gray?"
"Yes, what about Dr. Gray?"
###
Joshua was in a town square surrounded by people with blue skin and white hair. Screams erupted as each burst into flame before disappearing in a cloud of ash and smoke. Standing in front of him stood a woman, laughing as the people around her flamed out of existence.
Joshua screamed.
"Hey, easy there, Doctor Gray," Doc said as he held the young human by his upper arms.
"What? Where... Where am I?"
"You are in the Valera's Sickbay. You've been asleep for several hours. You were in shock, so I gave you a sedative. How do you feel?"
"OK, I guess," he said. He stopped and stared at Doc’s pointed ears, yellow and slit-pupil eyes. Then he saw the tail holding a small scanner.
"Stay with me, Joshua. You're not hallucinating. I'm what you call an elf."
"Do you make toys for nice children?" Joshua asked with a weak smile.
"No, I'm not that kind of elf, nor do I help Santa with presents at Christmas time."
"Oh. So there are elves and Sokuhl?"
"And over forty other species. Welcome to the League of Planetary Systems of which Earth is a proud member."
"Wow. I thought working for Area 51 was crazy."
"I did a rotation there. It was, and still is, crazy."
There was a knock at the door. "Come!" Doc said. The door opened as Tayla walked in.
"Hey Doc, how's your patient?"
"Fit as a fiddle and probably hungry."
A growl from Joshua's stomach confirmed the doctor's diagnosis.
"Well, we can fix that," Tayla said. After helping him off the table, she hooked her arm through his and led him out the door.
"Kids," Doc said as the door closed behind them.
###
"Where are we going?" Joshua asked as they walked down the corridor and outside into the morning sunlight.
"The town mess hall. The accommodations are a little rough, but the food is fantastic... What's wrong?" she asked as she came to an abrupt halt.
He knelt down, took a handful of soil, and let it run out between his fingers. "This isn't Earth."
She knelt down next to him. "Nope." She looked up and got h
er bearings. "Earth is many light-years east and the Sokuhl home world is closer and to the right. As the young girl said to her dog, you're not in Kansas anymore."
"You saw that movie?"
"Many times. It's considered a classic."
"Damn." They stood up and continued walking. "So, what do you all do for a living?"
"In a previous life, we were criminals. Now, we're colonists given a second chance. Does it bother you that you've thrown your lot in with a bunch of miscreants?"
He shook his head. "Everyone should be given a second, even a third and fourth chance. I know I was."
"What happened?" she asked as they stood up and continued walking.
He looked in her eyes and found himself lost in them. "I've always been good with computers and making things. When I was fifteen, I fell in with a group of very bad people. I wrote code that brought down a country. When I saw what I did, I turned myself in and did time. My parents disowned me, but my aunt took it upon herself to straighten me out. With her help, I got into Cal Tech where I earned two PhDs and became a model citizen, well, an OK citizen."
She laughed and hugged his arm. "And now you're here, helping us."
"Yeah, kinda crazy, isn't it?"
They walked up to a building. "This is it," she said.
"Prefab?"
"Yes. Once we're established, we'll harvest trees and build real homes."
"I love log cabins," he said. "My aunt had one. I must have chopped a hundred cord of wood while I lived there."
"A house made from trees?"
"Complete with outdoor plumbing and a wood stove. Every morning, I got up and washed in the river as long as it hadn't frozen over. Damn good times."
"OK, you'll fit in perfectly." She swung the door open and led him inside.
He stopped when the room erupted in applause. Several colonists--many non-human--walked over to shake Joshua's hand. He was dumbstruck. Tayla sat him down between an Olympian and a Katalan, leaving him to talk while she prepared him a plate of food. When she returned, she found him singing sea shanties with the rest of the table. When they finished, she made apologies, then took him to another table to eat his meal in peace.
"What a wonderful group of people," he said. Then he saw another group sitting alone in a corner. There were about twenty of them, all elves.
"What's with them?" he asked. "They seem nervous."
