“Daddy, what happened to the other guard?” asked Jonah. I sighed heavily.
“He's gone, son. In the line of duty. He saved us from harm.”
“He died?”
“I think so. Bad things are happening. Bad people are causing this. That's why I have to fight them.” For the first time in months his face was no longer filled with doubt and anger towards me. I put my hand around his shoulders.
“Was it an alien?”
“No, it was a killer probe bot.” Mary gazed up at me with innocent eyes and I wanted to weep. Pam's gaze had softened. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and put her arms around Jonah and Mary. Mary buried her face in Pam's chest.
“You've seen these things before?” asked Pam. I nodded.
“Only once, at a conference years ago. At the time they were only concept mechs created by a company called Sonneren, later bought out by a private military contractor.”
When we got to the hotel suite set up for us by Ellen I drew Pam aside. Maddie checked out the rooms thoroughly first before we entered. Then she stood watch down the floor we were on.
“Pam, I don't know how long we'll be here. Hopefully not too long but I have to go on another mission. This time to a space station.” I watched her closely. Pam drew in a sharp breath, frowning. She let it out slowly, running her hands through her hair. Finally, she answered.
“To Remus?”
“No. A different one. I shouldn't be telling you this but there's a plot I have to stop at the technology conference this month.”
“You mean where they'll be revealing the new stargate?” I nodded solemnly.
“They've been talking about that stargate all year long. It's the biggest stride into space since Vostok and Project Mercury.”
“I know. And my job is to make sure that it remains safe for all of us. Which means I have to stop it from happening.”
“Bob, I'm so sorry I accused you of cheating on me! I don't know what I was thinking. I can see now-”
“Don't blame yourself. I can see why you felt the way you did. But now do you believe me?”
“Yes, I do.” I held her in my arms.
“What's going to happen?”
“Alien loyalists are behind this. The reason why they tried to storm the house, the reason why I had bodyguards hired was because some of these loyalist aliens know who I am and they aren't happy with me ruining their plans over the past few years.”
“This is really true then? You weren't lying?”
“No. And there is certainly no other woman but you, Pam.”
“Bob, I am so sorry! I feel so ashamed!” She wrapped her arms around me.
“Don't be sorry! I understand why you were angry. We're all stressed out right now. I should have told you more about what my life is like now. I'll start now. When I get to this station I have to find a key for a device I have.”
“What device?”
“This.” I showed her the cube. It was about time. Her lashing out at me was my own fault. I had hidden too much from her, only telling her bits and pieces of things here and there. My wife needed to know what I was doing. She needed to know that she could trust me. This was the wrong time for our family to fall apart.
“And how far is it, this station?”
“Not as far as you might think. I won't be gone too long this time. In fact, it's imperative that I get back in a few days.” She seemed relieved which lifted my own spirits.
“It's just that it's been so hard not having any real clue what you were doing out there. My mind just all of a sudden started weaving fantasies.”
“Your mind works like mine. We tend toward conspiracies if a situation gives us a reason for them. I understand.” She smiled.
“So what happens now?”
“Ellen Vartan will keep you safe here. I'll make sure more bodyguards are hired but this place is already swarming with security.”
“This person that sent the bot after us was an alien loyalist?”
“Had to be. Pam, these guys are hiding in plain sight. They look and act and talk like humans. The bio-tech they've developed and employed is amazingly advanced. They may even have allies among humans. In fact, I know they do. Humans who have thrown in the towel in order to make huge profits. So they could be anyone. A very dangerous enemy.” Pam sat down on the couch, shaking her head.
“I guess this is a question I should have asked you long ago, honey. What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to keep the kids safe and be aware of your surroundings. I'm going to meet a friend. I told you about him. His name is James Jenkins. He's Jerome's little brother.”
“Diamond, right?”
“Yeah. We're both going to this station to look for the key to open this.” She gazed at the cube in my hand.
“This thing,” she said, “It looks ominous.”
“It may be our salvation. I have to stop the gate from being activated. This cube is both a cipher and a device that can deactivate the gate if I get there in time to crash the party.”
“And how on earth are you going to do that without being arrested, Bob?”
“I don't know yet but Diamond and I are forming a plan.” I sorely wished for Tulos and Rychik's help right now. And especially Genevieve's help. But I had to manage this one by myself. I wondered at the police angle, though. Hopefully, Ellen would have my back in time.
I turned on the holo-vid screen to WSEL. News broadcasts were on every channel now showing a growing and more belligerent protest movement rallying against the convention. In fact, the amount of people who had joined the protesters had swelled well beyond my own expectations. Vartan had surely been very busy whipping up protestors, hiring her own agent-provocateurs within their ranks and supporting them. The rest of the plan now depended on me to get to the actual gate.
“I have never seen protests this large over this. It almost seems like these people hate progress. Looks like the Luddite Brigade is at it again,” said Pam. “I rarely agree with their attitudes toward technology but maybe this time they have a good point to all this.”
“This time, their ideas and mine intersect. But not in ways they think. Some of those folks just hate progress but not all of them, I suspect. Some I think sense a danger here that no one else is paying attention to. Vartan is supporting their cause because it intersects with our own. It's about halting a lethal threat to the human family.”
“Loyalist aliens, you say,” her voice trailed off and I wondered what she was thinking.
By now Vartan would have my house searched and secured. I was going to have to go back there a few hours or at least within the day to retrieve my day bag I had packed. I considered calling her to have Magnum accompany me back. We watched the live news feed for a few minutes as the protests grew more aggressive and chaotic. At least one hundred thousand people were now added to their ranks. Good going, Ellen! I kissed Pam.
“It's time for me to go. I have a Trojan Horse to stop.”
7
After banging out the plan to crash the convention and take down the stargate, we settled into figuring out how to go and come back from Gan Ning in one piece, unmolested.
I'd noticed on seeing him that he looked a bit roughed up. He had a black eye and stitches on the right side of his face.
“Don't ask 'cause I don't feel like tellin'. You aren't the only one with serious business out there,” he said. Beside that, he seemed his usual merry and carefree self.
“Alright. I won't ask.” I just hoped that whatever it was wouldn't cause problems for us down the road. We turned our attention to the Ghost.
“I've made some new improvements since last time. It'll get us out there in no time. Or almost no time.”
Gan Ning was not far from the moon. In fact, it would take about two days of travel to arrive there. Everything was riding the clock and I was feeling the heat. We could have used Magnum's help. Unfortunately, Magnum was busy and couldn't help us but I was allowed to get my bag from the
house after the police confirmed I was the home owner. I had a long series of questions to answer but that was it. I doubted that the police would be able to find out who had sent the killer bots which disturbed me but at least my family was in a place of safety. I hoped things remained that way while I was gone.
We arrived at a private starport preparing for lift off.
“Are we going straight away or making any stops?” I asked.
“One short layover at Remus. Ships that go in the direction near Gan Ning are watched by mercenary security forces. And those forces often require tribute if they arrive back to Remus from the station. I know someone on Remus that may be able to get us there and back without notice or, at least, they'll turn a blind eye.”
“I was wondering,” I said, sitting back, thinking, “if I could find a way to purchase a personal shield. Like a personal ghosting shield. Would that be possible on this station we're going to?” Diamond gave me a sideways look.
“And what would you know about that?”
“I know you use it on your ships. And I may be in sore need of it when I try to stop the gate from functioning. Something tells me it'll come in handy.”
“Sure. I can find someone who might be able to provide it. I can't make any promises. But there's a price to using ghosting tech as a personal shield. A slow kind of radiation sickness. Thought you might need to know.”
I was frighteningly calm about it. Besides, I couldn't see how to accomplish this without one and it wasn't as if I'd be wearing it all of the time. If I couldn't get one on the station, I'd get one from Vartan.
“Why didn't you ask the Boss about one?”
“It didn't occur to me to ask until now. If I can't find one out there I'll ask. I don't even know if they have the technology to create a personal shield yet. You know how smugglers, mercenaries, and pirates seem to be ahead of the ball on these things.”
I felt the gentle rumble of the ship lifting off. I tightened my seat harness, closed my eyes and settled into my seat, placing my hands on the armchair sides for support. Holo-vid overlay maps sprang up from the consoles and the console lights themselves lit up like little wildfires across the cockpit as Diamond's hands moved deftly, piloting the ship out of Earth's hazy atmosphere and into space. We entered some turbulence and he bucked the ship, pulling the stick down and getting it under control as we left Earth, its blue pale sky growing darker as we entered space. Remus seemed like a large evening star right above us. In a few hours, we reached the behemoth station. Diamond docked the ship at a fueling and repair shop.
“There's a guy here that we'll need to talk to in order to gain entrance at Gan Ning without too much trouble. And he'll take care of the “tribute” problem too.”
“Wow. I didn't realize folks at Remus were so corrupt.” Diamond snorted. I felt a wry, inward chuckle at my own naivete. “So, without too much trouble. Only a little trouble then?” I said. Diamond laughed this time.
“Only a little trouble.”
“What type of trouble?”
“I don't know. We'll see when we get there. It's a rough place and we might run into some folks who don't like me much.”
“I guess that's why we've got guns, Diamond.” He nodded curtly but didn't say anything.
Radiation poisoning. My mind kept coming back to it again as easily as thinking of blue sky and fluffy clouds. I should have been more bothered by it. It reminded me of the state I was in. More cynical and suspicious. I hated this darker side of myself, threatening to engulf the real me, the innocent “gee-whiz-that's-swell” guy, no matter how naive or inane, gee-whiz guy was a major part of me and I got the feeling that he was starting to disintegrate and disappear. He was the best of me. How did I reconnect to this innocence without losing the need to be more discerning of the world around me? Perhaps there was no way. A grievous position to be in.
And yet another part of me was becoming one with the previously suborned alien genetic material.
While the ship was being fueled we traveled by walkway to the First Ring center to find something to eat. I looked around warily at every person, shadow and corner.
“Worried about something?” asked Diamond.
“A little while ago I had someone following me. I was alerted by one of The Boss's other agents.”
“Well stay alert. You aren't the only one with that problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember what I told you about The Collector?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I sort of ran into him a few days ago. Needed some serious help getting out of that pickle. without luck helping me out I'd be a pickle right now.”
We were docked close to the inner ring where the hospital sections were located. Gleaming, shiny, nearly always looking pristine and grand; that was Remus Station. A display of wealth, power and high organization of the western alliance nations. It was comforting to see, especially since soon we'd be in the wilds of space. We stopped by a sports bar to grab a drink and something to eat. I promised to pick up the tab while Diamond pinged someone on his com-link.
“He's coming to meet us here,” he said. We were shown a small booth near the corner and a holo-vid menu rose from the table as the waitress programmed today's menu for us.
“What would you gentlemen like to drink today?”
“I'll have a Black Fox IPA,” I said.
“I'll have the same,” said Diamond. A few minutes later our beers came as we sat looking over the menu. I took a drink and glanced at the large holo-vid screens surrounding the bar. There were a series of soccer games on: Austria vs Mexico on one, Palestine vs Israel on another and on a third farther away, Ghana vs Nigeria. Next year would be the Great Games when the reigning Southern Hemisphere teams played against the reigning Northern Hemisphere teams. The biggest block of games of this century. It was hard trying to keep score of all the great games going and hard to decide which to focus on. I decided to focus on Palestine and Israel. I ordered peanut chicken soup and lobster rolls. Diamond ordered Greek pizza and we both ordered more beer.
“Diamond, I have another favor to ask.”
“What?”
“It's about the guy who runs, uh, Gunner's Run.”
“Hey don't say that too loudly around here,” he warned. I lowered my voice.
“Right. I was wondering if there was a way that we could get Jinkx to inform us about activity going on or near Jupiter?”
“Evil alien activity?”
“More than that. Any sort of unusual activity, even when it comes to weather patterns and storms on the planet.”
'”I can drop him a line, talk to him. But you can bet Jinkx is watching what goes on out there already. He doesn't need me or you to tell him.”
“I know. But I need to know what he knows, Diamond. I'm just wondering if there's any way he'd be willing to pass on pertinent information to us at U-net.” Diamond took a drink, his gaze unusually serious.
“I'm sure he'd oblige. But he charges every time you break wind. Jinkx is a greedy little bastard but I see the value in having him as an information source for U-net. I'll ask him. He'd be crazy to say no. Just be ready to pay through the nose because he ain't gonna give it to us for free. That free pass with the detonators was a one-time deal.”
“I understand.”
Money was no longer a problem now that Vartan was fully backing me in this. I thought of the weaponized alien DNA Vartan was working on. There was that as a bargaining chip, if push came to shove.
God, I hated gray areas. And I was wading further and further in them.
Jinkx had already told us he was aware of alien activity and was monitoring it. Nefarious as he was within the world of smugglers and thieves, he seemed a decent enough guy to me where it counted. He may very well become an important contact in the future.
“Whatever he can tell us on hostile alien activity is worth a lot.”
“I'll see what I can do. I think it's a good idea to forge a relationship with
him on this.” I couldn't believe it. I used to be a boy scout. Now I was aligning myself with smuggling kings and other dark characters. Diamond seemed to sense my distress. He slapped me on the shoulder.
“Look man, just think of it this way, it's all for the best cause in the universe. Just remember that.” A serving mech brought our food on trays and hovered off. Right after that, our contact showed up.
He was a short stocky man and very fit under his starched, slim fitting body suit. He wore a crew cut and regarded us with cold, steel gray eyes and a too square jaw. His demeanor was a bit chilly but he was cordial enough.
“Hey there, Diamond. Got your ping,” he said.
“Thanks for coming, Vince.”
“Want anything? I'm paying,” I said casually.
“In that case, I'll have a Red Bone Brew House IPA,” he said without missing a beat. “Thanks. So how can I help you fellas?”
“We're on our way to Ning and we need to find a key to a cipher.”
“Ah, Ning.” He said in a low voice. He fiddled with something under the table and suddenly the air and the ambient sounds changed around our booth. I saw a near invisible curtain like substance draw down around our booth. It was a privacy drape. “Don't need everybody listening in on your business. So, what sort of cipher are we talking about?”
“An alien one.” I pulled it out and set it on the table.” Vince studied it for a few moments and then looked up at me with an appraising look.
“Well, now. What a find. First time I've seen an alien one. The guy you'll want to contact when you get to your destination will be Yusef. If anybody knows what will unlock this it will be him. He deals in encrypting and decrypting secrets of all kinds.” I glanced at Diamond.
“Yusef is still operating on Ning?” he asked.
“Yep,” said Vince. “he's backed by his brother these days. I don't know too many people willing to cross his brother." Vince then looked at me. "And he takes special appointments only. He won't see just anyone. Who should I say is coming to see him?”
“Bob and Diamond Dog,” said Diamond. “He's heard of me. I did a job for him once.”
“Good. It shouldn't be much of a problem getting a meeting set up by the time you two arrive. He's located in the bazaar in the Gray District. And by the way, I'm sure you guys know, Yusef don't take credits. Only cash. I'll let him know to expect you both in a few days.”
Mission: Blackguard Conspiracy Page 9
