Galactic Storm: An Alicia Jones Novel 05

by D. L. Harrison

  I smiled, “Not bad Karen, how’re things going here?”

  Karen replied, “Very well. Dr. Matthews is settled in and working. I liked the speech by the way, watched it live and I agreed with every word. I don’t know what our people are thinking not standing against that sort of thing.”

  My smiled grew a little wider, “Thanks Karen, I appreciate it. We’ll see what happens.”

  Karen grinned, “Wait until you meet Amy.”

  Amy? I wondered who that was as we went back through the door. I went toward the back of the office to the kitchenette to grab a coffee, and then headed toward my office. That’s when I ran into Amy, the android.

  “Dr. Jones, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Matthew’s assistant Amy.”

  Her voice was pleasant, she looked like a young brunette woman in her mid-twenties. She was both attractive, and kind of a little creepy. I could see in her face where she needed the improvements he mentioned. But she really was close to being realistic.

  “Hi Amy, nice to meet you too, is Matthew settled in?” I almost felt foolish being so polite, but it seemed right at the same time.

  Amy nodded a little woodenly in agreement, “He is, I’m on my way to getting him a drink.”

  “Don’t let me hold you up,” I replied, and continued on to my office.

  I wasn’t sure what to think, I just hoped I wasn’t wasting money or time. I closed the door, sat in my office, and sighed, it was actually good to be back in my own chair.

  “Al, I had a thought about the subspace drive. You indicated the shield weapon, and shield modulation for communication is more refined on the Drenil ships. Most likely our subspace scan is off as well too by a bit, if the subspace radiation is hitting a shield with slight imperfections and fluctuations. I was thinking that maybe it’s another tolerance issue, like the wormhole drive seems to miss its target coordinates.”

  Al replied, “That sounds likely, although I don’t know how we can overcome that deficiency.”

  I smiled, “You already have figured out a way. What I’d like to try, is to integrate several of the small quantum fabricators you designed as part of a large-scale fabricator. Perhaps if we fabricate the emitters normally, and then go over them with the quantum fabricator to tighten up the tolerances even further, it might smooth things out.”

  Al answered, “That would work, but I’d suggest we combine the quantum fabricator technology with the gravity ball, so maintenance can be done anytime or anywhere without the need to dock with a full-scale fabricator in the future.”

  That was an excellent idea, and simple enough to do. I brought up his fabricator design and modified it by adding small gravity emitters so it could move about on its own, and submitted it for fabrication. The design passed the virtual testing, and it started to fabricate twenty of them on both battlecruiser ships.

  Al interjected, “With twenty, the process will take up to ten days for both shield systems. But we’ll be able to test in five once one of them is complete.”

  “That’s fine, thanks Al.”

  The subspace shield emitters were small, but increasing tolerances at the quantum level would take much longer because of the fine work.

  I also felt like the battle cruisers had out lived their usefulness. Perhaps not the lab, but the one we’d just been on out in orbit. I didn’t have a full staff of people anymore, and the new technology didn’t need a lot of hull space, the subspace shield weapon was just as effective on the small shuttle as it was on the large ship.

  So I designed something new for the rest of the afternoon, just for me, Kristi and a couple of guests.

  Instead of something a couple of football fields in size, this one had the square footage of a four bedroom two story house, just around three thousand square feet, in the shape of a rectangle, but with rounded edges, and it was a little wider and higher in the back.

  I gave it FTL with three-layer shielding, and alternatively, two wormhole drives which had configurations to both open wormholes, or to feed the subspace emitters making both of them subspace drives as well. On the top level, it had the bridge, and a corridor with four bedrooms. The bottom level held the engineering space for the computers, internal subspace scanner and communicator, gravity drive, dark energy reactor and converters, and the dual-purpose wormhole and subspace drives. The bottom would also have a small landing bay that could fit two science or taxi sized shuttles, or perhaps three or four of the sport shuttles.

  The middle level, which existed only toward the back of the ship, was for a full-sized kitchen, food storage, and a lounge area with couches and coffee tables. I included the maintenance nanite pack and twenty of the new mobile quantum fabricators, and looked it over to make sure I didn’t forget anything important, like gravity plating, gravity shielding, and life support.

  I figured the other battle cruiser could join the lab ship out in the void, and then we’d have two places for experiments. Mostly in case one blew up from said experiments.

  I went ahead and submitted the build for my new ship, it would take three days to build it in a fabricator, and then another four days for the subspace emitter tuning. There were much fewer emitters on the smaller ship, so twenty could get the job done more than twice as fast. So just under a week.

  Then I created another build, this one for an unmanned platform. It wouldn’t be much bigger than my test shuttle, just enough room to fit all the engineering in without a need for life support, rooms, or a kitchen. But that one I saved in my paranoia induced, just in case file, and slightly modified the over-all plan.

  Al asked, “Do you have a moment Alicia?”

  “Go.”

  Al said in a voice that sounded reluctant, “There is a lot of news about you and your speech. Some of it is favorable from overseas, mostly in the European Union, and they’re calling for the government to account for themselves and rethink the current policy on the Bugs. China, Japan, Russia, and the United States have coverage that is less than favorable.”

  “Less than favorable?” I asked.

  I wasn’t sure what to think about Al couching negative things in softer language, was he trying to watch out for my feelings now?

  Al replied, “Yes, a few news anchors have lauded your bravery to speak your beliefs so plainly, and like Europe they called on their government to rethink their policy, but others have guest stars on that claim you are over emotional and over reactive. That the enemy Bugs are barely sentient and do nothing but consume. That it would be too dangerous to leave the threat. Much of their rhetoric holds that as a common theme. There is also a very small anti-alien group that are far less kind, and indicate you are a traitor, a Bug lover, and should be immediately deported from Earth if not shot.”

  I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Well, they say if you have no enemies, you’re not doing it right. For some reason that thought didn’t make me feel better.

  “Anything else?”

  Al said, “Yes, several clips from your speech have gone viral on YouTube. Many of them misrepresent your message, some even to the point they say you want to restore Knomen as our overlords, but there are just as many posters that agree with you and have seen the full video.”

  I frowned, a split isn’t that bad is it?

  Al said, “Nadia Avdonin is here to see you, and my access to Stealth net, fleet ships, and platforms have just been terminated. Should I have Karen escort her back?”

  I sighed, not even really surprised that they’d just completely cut me off, “Yes.”

  I took a sip of my coffee and composed myself. I should’ve stayed on Omara for the after party. A minute later, Karen opened my door and Nadia swept in and sat down stiffly.

  I smiled tightly, “Nadia, how are things with you?”

  She sighed, “You shouldn’t have done that. You aren’t a vapid celebrity that can be ignored. You’re a top provider of military hardware and designs. This is a damned mess, and enough people hated you before now.”

  I
raised an eyebrow, that was news to me, “Hated me?”

  She nodded sharply, “Yes, here you were the perfect alien who kicked her own people’s asses for the Earth, while leaders of countries had no clue what was going on. Sure, they got the reason, because if they knew the truth that soul reader, the facilitator, would catch them out, but they still hated it. World leaders really hate to be kept in the dark, and manipulated, even if it’s for their own good.

  “Not all of them held a grudge, but the presidents in the U.S. and in Russia did, and have been trying to lessen your influence. Some with influence in Japan and China as well. It’s why we took your weapons, and ultimately why my country pushed so hard to have you replaced. They were suspicious and wondered if you’d manipulate them again.”

  I waved a hand, “So now I have no access.”

  She shrugged, “It was already coming anyway, your little speech merely sped up the results. We created a science team, all military scientists from the seven represented groups on the council. Any further upgrades you deem ready for us, will be filtered through them before we approve purchase, and then they’ll plan and apply the upgrades, not you. Truthfully, this is how it should have worked in the beginning, but we had to cut corners for expediency at the time.”

  “And you’re here to what?”

  Nadia sighed, “Tell you what I just did, why we took the access away, the rest of all that before was personal. I wasn’t supposed to tell you about it. You’re a good person, better than I am in fact, but the world leaders don’t trust you, and they’ve been on the board’s backs for months about it. My advice is to lie low and don’t do anything else. Don’t even submit new designs right now. Not until things calm down. Just work your civilian stuff.”

  I shook my head, “What do you think Nadia? About their plans for the Bugs.”

  Nadia shrugged, “What I think doesn’t matter, it won’t change anything.”

  “So its broken already, in less than a year? I thought what the council thought about anything above the atmosphere was all that mattered when it came to Earth policy. Now you’re just a group of puppets?”

  Nadia frowned, “Don’t be so naïve Alicia, it’s more complicated than that. We run the day to day stuff, but when the leaders of our countries come down on an issue we listen. They can recall us you know, and put someone else on the board to represent their country, or in the EU’s case a block of countries. I do what I can, but I have to pick my battles, or I’d be out.”

  I considered pushing her, but guessed that she was against the genocidal policy, otherwise she’d have just said yes. She must be paranoid and think I’d leak it or something.

  “I get that your stuck between a rock and hard place. Thanks for being so frank.”

  Or at least, as forthright as she could be.

  Nadia sighed in a defeated way, “I really do like you Alicia, if you can forgive me we’ll get together sometime. Call me.”

  She got up and walked out without waiting for an answer.

  Which was just as well, I had no idea what to say.

  When my door closed I sighed, “Al, initiate project paranoia, but hold the last step until ordered to implement.”

  I was almost convinced this was just the beginning, and not at all the end of the government’s actions against me. Hopefully project paranoia would end up being unnecessary, and just waste a few resources in a planetary system that no one even knew about. Stealth net was a loss, but the truth was I already had better sensors, maybe not in sharp detail, but general ship movements and where the habitable worlds were. I was also hoping that would change, but I had a few days before we could test the upgraded emitters on the lab ship.

  Al replied, “Six weeks until completion of project paranoia.”

  I said softly, suddenly feeling very depressed, “Thanks Al…”

  Chapter 7

  I had on a tight red crop top and a matching red skirt, along with a pair of black shoes with three-inch stiletto heels. My stomach as well as my legs below my lower thighs were bare, and I thought I looked good but still decent. I’d figured I’d dress casual but still a little sexy since we were eating at his house, and not going out anywhere that I knew of.

  I didn’t get to wear anything like this outfit very much anymore, since I usually had my protective bustier on underneath whatever I wore which made baring my stomach impossible. I wasn’t worried about it though, not for a night in and a private dinner with Bill.

  Despite my nerves, not much had happened at work today at all. I just worked on the business stuff. There were no other responses by the government yet, and of course my new ship wouldn’t be built until Monday. The quantum work to the emitters on it could happen while it was operational as long as the subspace system wasn’t active. I’d scheduled some bots to move our stuff over from the other ship, and I’d send it to the void on Monday.

  Wednesday the first set of emitters would be done on the lab ship so we could see if that helped with stability and scanning issues. Then on Friday my new get around the galaxy ship would be fully completed as well.

  So there hadn’t been much to do outside of company work, and I banged my head against the wall for a couple of hours when I gave deciphering the Drenil communications another shot. Nothing though, I had no idea how to structure the data we’d received, much less translate it.

  I also got to try on my bridesmaid dress last night. Turns out it wasn’t peach, but an unfortunate shade of teal. Still, teal beat the color of peaches any day of the week, so I was grateful to my best friend that I’d look merely ugly instead of hideous. I still hadn’t decided if I’d throw out the rules tonight, which is why I was a little nervous. I also looked forward to it.

  After applying a touch of makeup, I went out to the garage and got into the sport’s shuttle, and told Al to take me to Bill’s house in Texas…

  Al landed me right in the driveway and I looked up at the house. There were a lot of good memories in it, I was only about a five-minute drive from the house I grew up in, about a twenty-minute walk. It wasn’t that big a place, but it was a ranch style and sat on a bunch of land like my old one did. It was in good shape too. It’d obviously been painted recently and was maintained well.

  It was painted white and had a wraparound porch circling the house that’d been painted off white or a very light gray. I smiled when I saw the swing. The very place he’d given me my first kiss, and I was sure I’d been his as well. He drove a Ford F-150, or at least there was one right in front of my shuttle.

  I took a deep breath and let it out, I felt a bit calmer and got out. By the time I reached the porch I had a small but genuine smile on my face. Before I could knock, he opened the door and just looked at me for a moment.

  “Alicia, you done kicked up a hornet’s nest, and you look positively amazing tonight,” he drawled in an exaggerated twang.

  Then I was engulfed in his arms, apparently I rated a pre-date hug, and I nuzzled into his muscled chest and wrapped my arms around him. It was so comfortable, and it felt so right, safe, and natural to be in his arms. That was the moment I knew two dates were good enough for this one situation, unless he did something really stupid tonight. Besides, if I included the kiss from ten years ago, it was actually three dates.

  Both ashamed and proud of my mental gymnastics, I decided to address his comments.

  “That’s not a nice thing to say, the first part I mean, thank you for the second,” my reply was a little muffled by his shirt, and he smelled really good.

  He chuckled and stepped back, “Come on in. All the excitement on the news has got me riled up. It’s so obvious they don’t know you at all. I’d offer to beat them up for you but you’d just say no.”

  I shook my head but still had a smile on my face, “Yeah, not a good idea, you’re supposed to stop violence remember? It was just something I felt I had to do to live with myself, it’ll all pass sooner or later. Oh, before I forget, are you working tomorrow afternoon?”

  He a
sked curiously, “No, I’m off tomorrow. Why?”

  I grinned, “Want to go with me to a wedding in Vegas?”

  He smiled and drawled teasingly, “That’s a hell of an offer love, but isn’t it a bit soon for that?”

  I rolled my eyes and a giggle escaped at the same time, “No. My best friend’s wedding is tomorrow afternoon, but it would be a date. We’ll save the marriage and kids talk for the next date after that,” I added teasingly.

  He nodded slowly, obviously trying not to laugh, but I could see it in his eyes.

  Then he said, “Sounds good, any excuse to see you again works for me. Dinner’s almost ready.”

  He took my hand and led me into the kitchen which smelled like baked potato, and there were some veggies cooking on the stove, along with fresh steaming rolls that had obviously just came out of the oven sitting on the counter. But he didn’t stop there, he kept going out the backdoor and into the yard to his barbeque pit. He had a couple of rib eye steaks on the grill and flipped them over.

  He asked, “You want a drink? I have a bottle of red on the counter in there, or there’s beer in the fridge.”

  “Wine, thanks. I can get it, what do you want?”

  “Beer works,” he replied as he fussed with the steaks.

  I squeezed his hand and let go, and then I went back into the house to get our drinks. By the time I’d poured a glass of wine, and had gotten a beer for him out of the fridge, he was pulling the steaks off the grill. So I just left the drinks on the table and opened the back door to let him in, his hands were a little full.

  “Thanks,” he said as he walked in and put the steaks down on the table.

  I took a seat, and saw that the table was already set with all the fixings out. It didn’t take him long to plate the veggies, baked potatoes, and get it on the table along with the bread. He sat down and smiled at me.

  “Dig in Alicia.”

  We chatted over dinner about a number of things, which was very good, dinner I mean. We covered what was going on with me, and I assured him I was well protected. Honestly it was the last thing I wanted to dwell on, I wanted to forget all that crap and have fun on our date, and it was a stressful subject for me. But I could tell he was genuinely concerned, so I figured we might as well get it out of the way now so we can relax the rest of the night. I also told him about Kristi and Joe and what to expect tomorrow. Finally, I’d had just about enough of talking about myself and asked him some questions.