I discussed my plan with Mirraya. She felt it was a worthwhile undertaking. She also had no alternate superior destination she could think of. I had Stingray do the cautious-approach thing, a light-year, then half that, etcetera. Soon, I was stepping out onto the dusty hangar deck of my one-time home. My family’s home. I headed straight to the area I had been stored. There were no signs anyone had been there since I was taken prisoner. That was a positive. The Adamant might just as well have destroyed the worldship based on general principles and their mean spirit.
I provided Mirraya with a head lamp to see in the near darkness. She offered to change into a cave beast or something, but I favored the plain and simple headset. I could tell she was disappointed. I was learning shapeshifters liked to play pretend a lot. The walk took us almost an hour.
From behind, Mirraya said, “Blessing wanted me to thank you.”
“Huh?”
“She wants to thank you for saving her from that awful Ralph creature.”
“When did she tell you that?”
“Last night while we were playing cards.”
“You were playing cards with the vortex manipulator?”
“Yes, why? Does that strike you as odd?”
“No, I guess not. Wait, we don’t have any cards to play cards with.”
“She made holo cards, silly.”
“But if she made the cards, then she knew what you had the whole time.”
“So? You don’t think she’d cheat, do you? I certainly trust her.”
“Who won?”
“She did, and before you say it, she won fairly.”
“Why didn’t she thank me herself? She is my cube hostess.”
“She feels you don’t like her, so she asked me to pass the thanks along.”
“Why would she think that? That ridiculous.”
“You’re always talking down to her, snapping at her, and you’re on a mission to find your old AI. She’s not stupid you know?”
“That’s so wrong. I talk to her like I would any AI or vortex manipulator.”
“And I’d imagine they’re all as intimidated as she is.”
“No, they weren’t.”
“So, you asked them if you intimidated them, and they all said no?”
“Not specifically, I guess,” I grumbled. “I never bothered to ask.”
“I rest my case.”
“Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll speak with her when we get back.”
“You don’t need to do it to please me. I’m not the one whose feelings you hurt.”
“Oh, so now her feelings are hurt?”
“No, they have been since day one. You only found out they were now.”
I rolled my eyes.
Somehow, of course, Mirraya knew that. “If you take an unconstructive attitude, you’ll have an unconstructive outcome.”
“Look, we’re coming up on the spot. Can we not continue this conversation later?”
Good. She didn’t respond. At least it was quiet enough that I could hear myself think. The doors were still open, and I could see the scuff marks where the hippo guards had come and gone. And the spot where they’d been zapped out of existence. Too bad, so sad. I began to scan the room carefully, but found nothing. I went from room to room working backward to the actual chamber I’d been shelved in. I used my probes as well as my eyes, but I didn’t locate any clues as to where Al might have been.
The table I awoke on gave me pause. It wasn’t every day I woke up from the dead, and the spot where that happened was kind of creepy. I explained that to Mirraya as we searched the room. Still nothing. No hidden compartments, no secret panels, nothing cloak and dagger at all.
“So how big would this Al be?” Mirraya finally asked.
I had to stop and reflect. I had no idea. “The programming that is Al could be very small. The power supply, however, would be huge, as would its housing.”
“Supposing someone took the power supply unit? It would still be worth something today, right?”
“Sure.”
“So, absent the huge power unit, what are we actually looking for?”
“Not a loose data chip. Al would need to be stably interfaced with the power and the outputs.”
“But possible as small as a data chip?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
I started looking for something much smaller. But it would still likely be hidden. Plus, if Al was, he’d be more likely to remain here undiscovered. I ran my probes across elevated surfaces I couldn’t see. Mirraya got on her knees and scanned under any remaining structures. We still found nothing. We were both getting frustrated.
“Look, kid, I say let’s take a break. If Al’s been here two billion years, a few more days aren’t a big deal. Let’s check out some of the parts of the ship I wanted to see last time I was here.”
“Sure, as long as you never call me kid again.” With that she brushed past me, making it a point to ram me good, and walked out the door.
Teenage space years, come sing it too, teenage space years. What had I volunteered for?
My house had been quite a distance from the engineering section. It was made longer since we could only use the stairs. The elevators had no power, and the lifts themselves were missing. Mirraya calmed down as quickly as she got pissed at me, so we had a long, pleasant talk. It was something we’d never had time to up until then.
“That was the main shopping district,” I said pointing off into the darkness. “Not much left now, I’m afraid.”
“It must be sad for you, Uncle Jon. You go to sleep one day with your home and family living and vibrant. You basically wake up the next day and they’re all gone, all ruined.”
“Yeah, it kind of sucks. But I still have my memories,” I tapped the side of my head. “That’s what really counts. I was going to outlive most everything anyway, so that part’s not so hard.”
“You talk a brave line, but I don’t believe you. It’s sad, and that’s all there is to it.” She wrapped her arm around mine and patted the back of my hand. “We’re two lonely travelers with only each other for family.”
She was right. Bright kid … I mean young woman.
“Hey, that was the biggest theater on Exeter. They did plays, movies, symphony music, even opera there. The opera I don’t miss, but the other stuff was great.”
“What’s opera?”
“Yeah, I agree?”
“No, that was a question not a statement.”
“Oh. That’s kind of hard to describe. Really loud singers dress up in ridiculously overdone outfits and sing in languages no one understand. For hours and hours. Christ, I think some of them are still going on. We should go check. I mean, they never seemed to end for me.”
“Who’s Christ?”
“It’s a figure of speech, you know, used for emphasis.”
“But who does that refer to?”
“My society’s main deity. Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
“If he’s your God, why is he his own son?”
“Long story,” I smiled back at her.
“I believe we have a long time,” she said jerking my elbow.
“On my planet, the concept was the cause of wars, upheavals, and lots of bitter arguing. We can discuss it in the future. But that’s who Christ was.”
“Ah, Uncle Jon, you said he was? Is your God dead?”
“You know you have a way of asking the toughest questions.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s really annoying. You should work on your communication skills. Most of my teenage daughters only talked about boys, music, and boys. Maybe you should stick to the script?”
“I so glad we came here. I never get you to talk like this. How many daughters did you have? How many sons? How many wives have you loved? How many other gods did humans have? Did you believe in them? Do you believe in them? Do you believe in this Christ fellow?”
“Do you ever stop asking questions? Come on. Boys, music, b
oys. Okay, maybe shopping too, but only if there are boys and music at the mall.”
“What’s a mall?”
“I think I’ll turn off my audio circuits for now.”
“You will do no such thing. If you do, I’ll turn into a flegrite. They’re so scary anyone would have to scream. You don’t want me to have to do that, do you?” Man, she did the best pouty lipped begging I’d ever seen.
“No. But let’s stick with local geography and leave the philosophy for another time, okay?”
“Sure.”
“That, over there, was a mall. A mall is a grouping of stores and restaurants. There was usually some central theme tying them together, you know, discount shops, high-end merchandise, something like that?”
“We didn’t have malls. We had fair days once a week. People came from all over to buy and sell.” She pulled me closer conspiratorially, “My friends and I went to look at the boys mostly.”
“That’s my girl … I mean budding young woman.”
She smiled joyfully back at me.
“Did you have a special boy back home?”
“Oh no. Father wouldn’t permit it, so I never asked.”
“A lot of my first girlfriends faced similar dilemmas.”
“They dated you without their father’s permission? How ghastly.”
“I tried my best to ease their pain, but you’re too young to know about that, so we’ll leave it out.”
“No, I’m serious. Among the Deft, to date without a father’s permission is a big deal. The boy might have been killed.”
“Ah, that’s kind of extreme. That might even have slowed me down.”
“One boy I knew, Sharral, was caught walking with a girl, and they were holding hands. The boy was beaten by her father, and Sharral was sent to his uncle’s home far away.”
“Glad I wasn’t raised on Locinar then. I’d have had a hectic adolescence. Hey,” I said to break the mood, “that was a park. Did you guys have parks?”
“I guess so. We had lots of forests and places to play. There were some places families went together to swim and hunt.”
“I bet it was unfair to the animals when the Deft hunted them. I mean, you guys could turn into anything. Bambi never stood a chance.”
“Who’s Bambi?”
“The prototypic cute woodland creature.”
“And humans killed them for sport. That’s awful.”
“No, he was in the movies and storybooks.”
“Ah. What happened to him in those?”
“Hunters killed his mom.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah, kind of. But come on, they didn’t kill Bambi himself.”
“Probably ran out of ammunition,” she muttered.
“Something like that,” I said, smiling at her. Man, she was cute.
Before I knew it, we’d arrive to my old place. I use the word place because that’s about all it was: the location where my home had been. Time, and more specifically scavengers, had removed most of it. Once a mid-century modern two-story house with white-picket fences and a cropped lawn that was inviting in a casual manner. Now, the foundation, a few bricks, one partial joist, and a bunch of rubble were the sole guardians of my estate. I was not surprised, but I was bummed.
“That is what’s left of my last home, the one I slept in for my last night before,” I waved my arms crazily in the air, “puff, the future kidnapped me.”
“It looks like it was grand.”
“Yeah, it kind of was.” I shrugged. “Things change.”
She hugged my arm and rested her head on it. “Tell me about it.”
“I do not feel that will be necessary.” I scuffed up her hair. Naturally, like any self-respecting teenage girl, she despised that. That, of course, was why I did it. Plus, I was certain no teenage boy would see her in such disarray. Not hardly.
I stepped into the ruins. I kicked a few boards and probed a pile of debris, but big non-surprise, I didn’t find anything useful. Hell, a hundred families might have lived here after mine. Toño said the worldships were still occupied for tens of thousands of years. I started to leave when a curious thought struck me. If I was going to leave myself a clue here, a message, I bet I could have done it. The human download of Jon Ryan lived here for many years with his—our—family.
Yeah, I was a cantankerous and crafty fellow. Still was. On the off chance the robot did wake up, he’d have to know I’d come straight to this spot. He’d also know untold millennia would have passed before I did. He could safely assume the place would be in ruins. Where would a clever, handsome, jet-jockey like me hide a secret missive? In the foundation. No one would tear up thick cement while scavenging. If the site hadn't been repurposed, anything entombed in the ground would still be there.
I deployed my probe fibers and looked for a seam, soft spot, or chamber.
“What in the scared sands of Levelip are you doing?”
“Looking for a letter.”
“Ah, that would explain it.”
I stopped and stared at her. “It would explain what?”
“Your insane behavior. You’ve cracked. No big deal, Uncle Jon. It’s not a problem, only an issue.”
“Funny gi … young Deft. No, I think I might have left myself a message.”
“If you did, why wouldn’t you know where it was?”
I turned to her again and tapped my fingers to my chest. “Not this me. Another me.”
“Ah, my bad. We’re back to the insane issue again. I’ll factor that in.”
“I told you. After years of being in this hunk of metal, I decided to download back into a mortal human. That’s why this me was turned off and forgotten.”
She shook her head. “No, I think I’d recall hearing that. Besides, you’re crazy. I’m factoring it.”
“Whatever,” waving her away with my palm. “Hey, come here. I think I found it.”
“Always ready to aid the mentally unbalanced.” She stepped over quickly.
“It’s right here. There’s a metal box about eight centimeters down.” I pointed vaguely to one side. “Go see if you can find something to smash the concrete with. I don’t want to risk burning though with my laser.”
She didn’t respond. I looked up. Her clothes were off and she was melting into … wow, she remolded into a rock creature. Not like the Horta. No, this was like a snowman made of rocks, with big rock hands. She moved past me as gracefully as a pile of rocks could and stood over the spot I’d indicated. Then she started pounding. Wham. Wham. Wham. In a few seconds, the concrete was dust. She raised her stone clubs in the air and yelled in triumph. She sounded like a clogged vacuum cleaner.
I knelt and brushed aside the concrete while Mirraya melted back into herself and dressed. I really focused on the concrete dust with locked-on focus. I hit the box surface, let out a yelp of my own, and pulled it free. It was the size of an industrial bucket, minus the handle. I rubbed it clean with my sleeve. These words were etched on the surface.
HERE LIES THE MORTAL REMAINS OF JONATH…
Psych! Had you going there for a second, right?
Now open the damn box and let me RIP ;)
I tilted the lid toward Mirraya, and she read it.
“Man, am I funny,” I said with a chuckle.
She cocked her head sideways at me and replied. “As long you think so, I’m satisfied.”
“This is good stuff,” I said, whacking the dusty top with the back of my hand.
“Yes, but I’ve already established that you’re insane.”
I walked to the foundation rim so we could sit. Then I pried open the lid. There was a letter on top of some other stuff.
Well I’ll be damned. You did wake up. I bet Kayla twenty bucks you would, and Toño a cool hundred. I only wish they were alive to pay up and I was living to collect. This mortal thing might have been a mistake.
Seriously, I hope you’re doing okay. I don’t know how long you’ll have been awake at this point. I can only im
agine the shock you’re feeling. Please, please do not be angry with Toño. I lobbied him to dismantle you so what happened wouldn’t. I said he could do it long after I was dead, if that helped. He couldn’t do it. He loves us so much. Those passionate Spaniards. Proud, stubborn, and opinionated. Once they decide something, that’s the way it must be. I doubt you’ll see him again, but if you do, forgive him. The poor soul has not been able to forgive himself.
I’ve been human again about fifteen years. It was the right decision. I’m healing the wounds time inflicted on me. I wish you could have had the same peace. I pray that someday you will. Please know, at the very least, that it’s possible.
I know you’re curious, so I’ll tell you. Kayla took a few months to adjust to Jon Ryan 3.0. The body they put me in and all the plastic surgery made me look like us, but not enough to fool a wife. She teased me for ages that I was better looking, better in the sack, and smarter than you. Pretty sure she was kidding. Anyway, finally she found something else to tease me about, so it was all good.
Focus on the fact she loved you. I bet she probably still does. We both know she’s that kind of gal. I don’t know why I mention it, but she can’t stop laughing about that time you had Toño watch the kids and you two went away for a second honeymoon. Remember? The time you ordered room service and got the el diablo buffalo wings? You didn’t wash your hands very well before you made love to her. Yeah. She still accuses me of what you did, and I was a stranger at the time. Dude, I was still a child. She loves you, man. Smile.
I put some junk in this can. Nothing of real value, just sentimental stuff. I had JJ make you a holo. He loves you too, man. Big time. I included a few photos, your high school class ring, and the trophy Jane Geraty gave us for knocking her up. Only the best souvenirs from our life made the cut.
That’s all I can tell you. I wish there was more to say. That is all I can give you. I wish there was more. Mostly I wish I could be there to slug you in the arm and tell you everything is going to be okay. But I bet it doesn’t look that way to you about now. No. You and me, we’re problem-magnets, and they stick to us like Velcro. I can tell you this. You will be okay. I promise. And if I’m wrong, tough luck. You can’t sue me cause I’m dead. Na na na na na.
Embers: The Galaxy On Fire Series, Book 1 Page 12
