Commander

by Mel Todd

  "All modules are programmed to limit ingested toxins to certain limits."

  "Does that mean we can’t get poisoned? Wait but the drugs worked on me."

  "Affirmative. Most drugs and poisons will affect you. Alcohol is known on multiple worlds and is a common toxin, all modules can moderate its influences."

  That last phrase brought back something that she’d pushed to the side, avoided, and tried to not think about. But the comment brought it back clear and present.

  "Multiple worlds? You’ve been to multiple worlds? You’re an alien." Her voice might have gotten a bit sharp at that point

  "Technically no. The files provided have information on multiple worlds that the Elentrin and Drakyn inhabit. All interactions are based on that programming, which did not come into being until implanting in you. All Artificial Intelligences are created with complex programming providing the ability to mimic sentient interaction."

  "Wait, so you aren’t sentient?"

  A pause, something that had her and JD leaning forward staring at the phone.

  "Unknown. A program, no matter how complex, does not have feelings or emotions. Yet in an effort to repair the damage, basic programming has been surpassed and areas have been rewritten to match your needs. Further analysis implies these are areas where self-directed repair and programming would never have been allowed under normal conditions. Command modules are provided larger file systems to allow them to make decisions based on orders. There are no orders waiting to be fulfilled."

  "Can you block any orders coming in?" The idea of something not of this Earth piping orders into her brain made her stomach churn.

  "Yes. While orders will still be received, you can make the decision if they will be accepted. They will be quarantined until you have made those decisions."

  "Do it." Her voice had an edge of panic and command.

  "Done. All incoming orders will be placed in a queue and not affect any programming until you accept them."

  "Which you can bloody well bet I never will."

  JD snorted in agreement.

  The rest of the information, aliens, planets, programming, would take some time to be filtered through, and right now she didn’t want to even think about the alive/not alive, creature/program/thing in her body. That way lay more madness and would require energy she didn’t have.

  "But you are from some other race not on Earth?"

  "Affirmative."

  "So, I have an alien living in me, with alien tech." Her voice flat as she reached for the whiskey and poured her glass full then topped off JD’s. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Any other surprises to drop on me."

  "At this time there is much information you do not know. Of that, some may or may not be regarded as a surprise. However, final orders have not been delivered, and as all orders have been set into a queue, all actions depend on you."

  McKenna paused with the glass half way to her mouth.

  "Final orders? And what would those be?"

  "At this time there is no information to indicate what those orders might be but from the information gathered, evidence implies it would be to go to battle. After all the purpose of Kaylid are to be soldiers. The invading arm of the Elentrin."

  The words rang like a death knell in an old church, and McKenna felt her limits hit.

  "I’m done. I’m going to bed, in the morning I’ll see about sharing blood with Charley, but for now, I’m going to sleep in my own bed. Take a shower in the morning, in my own shower. And I’m going to do all of it without thinking about the fact that someone is watching me." She stood and headed to her room. "Sleep where you want, JD. Get Anne someplace comfortable. But I’m done. Tomorrow is going to be hard enough and for now I refuse to think about aliens, command modules, drones, or anything else. I’m done." Her voice shrieked a bit on that last and she took a deep breath. "I’ll talk to you tomorrow."

  McKenna walked to her room, shutting the door and reveling in the sound it made as it shut. The silence of being alone soothed some of the panic riding her throat. She walked over to collapse on her bed. Her soft bed with her pillows, her blankets. She curled up pulling everything tight relaxing into the missed luxury.

  And she lay there wide awake for the next two hours, missing the sounds of animals, the kids, the feel of fur brushing against her, and avoiding the thoughts of the hitchhiker in her mind.

  Chapter 4 - In your Blood

  Sheriff Michelle DeSoto gave a press conference late this evening. She said that the actions taken by officer Largo were a measured response against the threats she faced. Her first priority was the safety of the children and she executed that duty with strength and courage above what anyone could expect. These statements have raised questions as to exactly what happened during the time they were gone, but everyone is being very closed mouthed regarding this investigation. ~KWAK News

  When McKenna finally fell asleep, she dreamed of being back in the room, but couldn’t wake up, even when the kids were killed in front of her. The sound of her door opening, and Charley’s voice pulled her out of the images.

  "McKenna?"

  He sounded hesitant, worried, and it yanked her out of the dream hard. She sat straight up in bed, pivoting her head to look at him.

  "Are you okay? Anything wrong?"

  "No. I'm fine. Odd sleeping as human. You were making noises. JD has food. Other woman is swearing at him."

  McKenna smiled. "Okay. Let me get up. Go keep them company, but I have a question for you when I get fully awake. Make sure he has coffee."

  Charley flashed her a smile that had more teeth to it than a human might have, but she just quirked her lip at him and crawled out of the bed. She hadn’t stripped last night, instead falling asleep in the soft sweats and t-shirt JD had brought. Tempted by her shampoos, soaps, her own towels, the shower took longer than it would normally, but she had never realized how much you missed the smell of your own stuff when you didn’t have it anymore.

  Emerging thirty minutes later, she felt almost human, though she still refused to focus or even speak to Wefor, who hadn’t said anything since last night. Trying to convince herself it had all been a weird hallucination wouldn’t work, so for now she just ignored it. Safer, and less stress. She had no issue making her life less stressful.

  Walking into the kitchen she stopped to take in the scene. JD stood at the stove cooking away. Next to him sat a plate of French toast, bacon, and fried eggs; a pan of hash browns finished the offerings. Anne sat at the breakfast bar, a glass of fizzy stuff in front of her, a glare on her face as she watched JD. Charley ignored both adults, his blond head bouncing slightly as he shoveled food in his mouth like he would starve to death in the next minute.

  "Morning," McKenna said, walking in and heading for the coffee.

  "I hate you both," Anne muttered as she sipped at the liquid. "No hangovers, and if I remember correctly you didn’t even get drunk, and trust me, both of you drank double what I did. You should have alcohol poisoning, but no, you’re just fine. I hate you both and plan on lobbying to be a drone."

  McKenna snorted as she doctored her coffee, then sighed in pleasure at the heavy cream and sugar. She’d had coffee, but with fake cream and fake sugar. This, this made life almost tolerable.

  Charley tilted his head looking at the three of them.

  "What is she talking about?"

  Out of all the things McKenna had sworn never to do, having children being one of them, she had promised to never talk down to kids. As a child, a foster kid especially, people had talked to her like she was a raving idiot. She’d hated every minute of it.

  "Apparently the reason we can shift is tiny things in us. And I’ve got what is called a command module. But apparently the other versions, like what you and JD have, can be passed on by me." She watched his face and had to hide a smile as he shrugged and went back to eating. "You trust me, Charley?"

  He stopped eating giving her a look that only a pre-teen could give. Full of con
tempt and exasperation.

  "Ya think?"

  McKenna shrugged. "Not going to assume, besides, what I’m going to ask you is a bit weird." After everything they’d been through, everything he’d done, she refused to treat him like a kid. Besides, if her assessment of his childhood approached accurate, he hadn’t been a child for a while.

  Charley shrugged. "Weirder than teaching me in Russian to find drugs?"

  McKenna seesawed her hand. "Maybe, depends on your point of view."

  "You were taught to seek drugs? In Russian?" JD asked, and McKenna realized she’d never really told them about that, just that they were taught to seek different items on command.

  "Yeah. Unfair that Jessi got Klingon," Charley muttered as he put down his fork. "So, what did you want me to do or do to me?"

  The cynicism in that comment rippled under her skin, but she pushed it away. She couldn’t change what had happened to him, but she could change what happened from here on out.

  "Knife?" She directed the comment to JD, who pulled out the Gerber with a smooth moving handing it her, his face hiding a slight smirk. Anne just watched them, her face carefully blank, but McKenna swore she saw a hint of wistfulness in her eyes.

  She slit open her hand and held out the knife to Charley.

  His serious blue eyes looked at her and he looked so much older than his ten years, closer to twelve, but McKenna knew all too well that being young had nothing to do with being a child.

  He took the knife and cut open his hand also, hissing slightly at the cut, but he never flinched, instead looking at her eyes steady.

  She smiled at him, a surge of warmth making her blink suddenly as her heart clenched at his solid blue eyes. Reaching out her hand she clenched his in a tight grip making sure the wounds met.

  "Wefor, connect with him please."

  [Working]

  The voice in her head made her flinch a bit, and she heard JD laugh softly in her mind, even as he never turned from the stove.

  "Can you open the channel from your end?" She asked turning her head, even as she held Charley tight.

  "Yes. I never shut it down. But unless you talk to me, or Wefor to you, I don’t actually hear anything. More like I know you are there, but that is it." He paused as he put browned hash browns on a plate and handed them to Anne. "More like a HUD, a heads-up display. I see your icon, and it is green, but unless I click on it, and you do too, I don’t hear anything."

  McKenna parsed that out, not having been in the military but it made sense.

  [Connection completed.]

  "Good. Though I wish there was a way for you to speak to everyone at once. Anne is going to think we are crazy."

  "I know you’re crazy. I’m just along for the ride. But really unless you can set it up as a speaker phone, having your AI talk in public is not the best thing. And remember I am not officially here. So, when I become your boss again, for the short while I am, I don’t know a damn thing about any of this." She avowed, even as she began eating the hash browns. Perking up a bit as she put another forkful in her mouth.

  McKenna pulled her hand away and gave Charley a napkin to wipe his hand, the wound already healing. Another light appeared in her mind and she tapped it.

  ~Charley?~

  He jumped, his eyes wide looking around then latching onto McKenna.

  ~Was that you? In my head?~

  ~Yep, that was why I shared my blood with you. Not as good as a cellphone, but in a mile, you can always talk to me.~

  "Too radical." He muttered, his eyes still wide as he traced the healing wound. "What about the wolfman form?"

  "Catwoman form, thank you very much. And, I don’t know. Wefor?"

  The voice spoke in her head and from the reaction of JD and Charley she assumed theirs also.

  [He is still developing. The form can not be achieved until puberty has completed. JD can make the change easy enough.]

  "Wow," Charley whispered his eyes big.

  Anne sighed. "It’s talking to you?"

  McKenna nodded in response as JD focused on the food. She moved over and grabbed some bacon, her stomach agreeing with that choice as the flavor hit her mouth.

  "And on that note, I’m going to leave the spooky alien stuff alone. I don’t know what to do about it, and it makes my heart start skipping beats if I think about it too much. Want to talk about work and the incident?" Anne asked even as she looked at McKenna.

  The question made the bacon turn to ash in her mouth, but she fixed herself a plate anyhow, French toast with peanut butter and syrup sounded good.

  "Not really, but I suppose I can’t avoid it forever."

  Anne shrugged. "Probably not, but to be honest right now you have so much personal power you could avoid it for a long time. I guess the real question becomes, what do you want to do?"

  McKenna looked at her eyebrows raised. "I want to do my job, be the best police officer I can. This hasn’t changed anything. My question is will I still have a job?"

  "They won’t fire you. Investigation yes, as you killed what five? Six? People? But given the situation, the risks to the kids, no one will dare say a thing to you." Anne shrugged. "The reality of social media - you are their darling, the parents are singing your phrases, and not one child sustained an injury. They’ll clear you in a week." She stopped and poked at her food, even as JD and Charley were making inroads into their loaded plates. "The results came back while you were gone."

  McKenna quirked her lips at that word, gone. Such a simple word for so much terror and pain.

  "And?"

  "We passed. Flying colors. We can be promoted if we want," JD said around a mouthful of food, not looking at all ashamed.

  "To what?"

  Anne picked up her fizzy drink and drained it, then moved the mug of coffee at her left hand. She looked up at both of them, her eyes direct. "I am not saying this, neither of you heard me tell you this. Is that understood?"

  McKenna and JD glanced at each other then back to Anne.

  "Heard what? I didn’t hear anything," McKenna said as she put another forkful of food in her face.

  Anne smiled. "There are two openings in narcotics, and you have the time in rank. You can stay on the streets, but higher ups will put pressure on you. You can get promoted to Sacramento, but that means moving."

  McKenna narrowed her eyes at that. She’d just bought a house. She did not want to move.

  "Or, you can both move into the PR realm and be regulated to being the perfect Shifter examples." Anne’s voice never changed as she talked, not indicating any preference either way. She glanced at her watch and rose, taking one last swig of coffee. "Please report to the station at noon today to finish debriefing and so we can get your statements, Officer Largo. We thank you for service above and beyond any expectation the department could hold." Anne winked at them and headed out the door.

  "Huh, if she isn’t careful, I might get teary eyed." McKenna said even as she turned to refill her coffee.

  "So, what about the alien stuff?"

  Charley’s head jerked up at that and she shrugged at JD.

  "I’m ignoring. I don’t care, and right now the only thing that matters is Charley and my job."

  Out of the corner of her eye she watched Charley duck his head and flush.

  "But are there really aliens?" Charley asked, a touch of awe in his voice. "Like Klingons or Jedi?"

  "Maybe," McKenna said, still reserving judgment. It sounded outlandish, but nothing else fit the facts. That didn't mean she wanted to deal with it right now. "But none of that is my problem right now. Dealing with things here on this planet is where my focus is. You want to come with me Charley? Next week we need to get you back in school, but for the rest of this week you get a pass."

  He looked down at his food, then back up at her. "Maybe. Are they going to ask me questions again?"

  McKenna leaned back and thought about the question carefully. "Probably. They don't want to believe me, yet they don't want to not believe
me. If you are there, they'll probably ask just to validate what I say."

  "I’m tired of adults asking me questions and looking at me the way they do. Then they don’t believe what I said."

  She had a suspicion on what he meant. Prying into it wouldn't serve any purpose.

  "Okay. JD, you working?"

  He sighed. "No, off today. It's our weekend remember?"

  McKenna blinked glancing at the calendar, then shrugged. "No. I'm still a bit out of touch with reality. You and Charley want to hang?"

  Charley grinned, but it fell when JD shook his head.

  "Anne dropped a bug in my ear that it would be better if I was with you, to remind them you aren't alone."

  "Makes sense. Remind me to send a card to Kala's parents though. That isn't how you should lose your daughter." JD's eyes darkened, but he nodded and started to clean up the dishes. Charley jumped up to help him and she smiled at the domestic scene. But she couldn't leave him home alone, regardless of how responsible she knew he would be, so she did something she thought she would never do, she called someone to ask if they could babysit.

  "McKenna! I am so glad you called. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything. Are you okay?" Toni's voice filled her ears, and she had to smile at the joy and genuine welcome from Toni, as she stood on the back deck.

  "Anyone would have done the same. And I'm fine. Hey, Charley is staying with me, but I need to go deal with some stuff today. Is there any way you can watch him?"

  "Of course, bring him over. The twins have talked about missing him. I think it would be good for them."

  "Thanks. I need to talk to you and the kids also, but it will have to wait until later."

  "Gee, thanks. Now I'm going to be stressed out about that talk. Sure. Have dinner over here? I'll order pizza? The kids have been begging."

  "Oh, that sounds good. Okay let me get your address and I'll drop him off." They chatted for another minute as McKenna entered in the information into her phone.

  When she walked back in, the kitchen was clean and JD and Charley were eating the last pieces of bacon.