“No---thanks,” she replied, settling a bit deeper in the nest she’d made. “You have been very...kind.” Her ears drooped. “I…I certainly didn’t expect---”
“I don’t think either of us expected what happened today,” I soothed, “but the main thing is you survived, and after a good night’s sleep and some more food I think you’ll be feeling a lot better tomorrow.” I sighed, shaking my head, then said, “I’m sorry, too, for sounding a bit unkind and unfriendly about your…well, your current female condition. Human females go through estrus cycles every twenty-eight days, but the only indication we males usually have of it is monthly mood swings in our mates. I don’t believe this---smell---that I’m picking up is real, and under normal circumstances I don’t think I’d find your natural scent offensive, if I even noticed it at all. In fact, from what I inferred from talking with Dr. N’looma this afternoon, I’m convinced my unnatural sensory response is the result of a terribly botched experiment. When you were to normally come into estrus, in about a month from now according to Dr. N’looma, I was supposed to suddenly find you ‘attractive’, which---they hoped---would help offset the animosity they predicted we’d both be experiencing about that time in the observation period.”
She blinked and her ears drooped again. “It’s not fair, Mr. Barnes. We didn’t---we didn’t even get to know each other before---”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling gently, “it’s a mess, all right. Good intentions got sidetracked by a murder plot, and your body’s natural timing---and my poor carpet---wound up the victims.” Her face drooped to match her ears, and I quickly added, “But you’re young and strong so you’ll recover, and I was able to clean the carpet---and our clothes are chugging along on the ‘super-clean’ setting in the washer. Things really are looking up!” After a moment or two of thought she looked slightly sideways at me, her head tilted, ears up, and the tip of her tail flipped a few times. I knew that, in her kind’s body language, she was smiling.
“And now, young lady, we need to take a look at the nutritional supplements you brought, as well as those that were stockpiled here when the room was set up for Dr. N’looma---and we also need to separate any potential poisons the damned ship’s med techs gave you. I want to send the good doctor pictures of them, so maybe she can find out just what they are---and possibly trace who’s behind this.” Her eyes widened. “Do you feel strong enough to deal with this tonight, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?”
She yawned and stretched---cute, and decidedly female---and said, “The supplements should be no problem, but I, too, want to look closer at the pills. I have some pharmaceutical training, and perhaps I can recognize them.” But once she dug the package with the half-dozen tablets out of her luggage in her bedroom it proved to be a mystery to her. “These pills have no markings that I recognize; some have no markings at all. The directions are hand-written, and only say to take all of them at once before sleeping.”
“I’ll carefully photograph them all, along with the instructions. Do you remember anything about the injections you received, both before you left and when you were brought out of stasis? The way they were given and your reactions to them might hold clues to what they were.”
After a moment of thought she said, “Along with the usual colonic cleanser pills, which you should have received a day before leaving for our world,” I nodded, “I was given three injections---”
I held up a hand to stop her, shaking my head. “I only got two injections; one to kill any ‘bad bugs’ I might be carrying, and another to immunize me against anything I might pick up in your world’s environment. Other than a little momentary flushing and tingling from the shots---and spending a day in the toilet---I had no adverse reactions.”
“I should have received the same basic formulas, adjusted for my Yularian biology, of course, but I also received a third injection that immediately made me feel---ill.” I frowned and she continued, “And once the med techs revived me after the ship landed here, they immediately gave me two more injections, which they claimed would help offset my illness.” She looked at me and I thought she was going to cry. “But…but I kept feeling worse and worse, and---” Yep, here came the tears.
What to do was never in question. Quickly moving to her side I carefully enfolded her into my arms---God, there was that damned smell! ---and let her cry on my shoulder, while being very careful what I did with my hands. I always kept a small roll of fabric-soft paper towels in each of my bathrooms, and once she’d gotten herself mostly cried out I left her sitting on the edge of her bed and fetched a couple of sheets for her to dry her eyes and blow her snout on. Despite their cultural air of elitist superiority, this young female Yularian was a long way from home, still somewhat sick and very frightened.
“Look,” I said after perching on the edge of the bed next to her, “you’re safe for now. This house has a very special security system, and I’ll wager there are elements of it that even those who made the upgrades for Dr. N’looma don’t know about. I turned the ‘special’ stuff off before I left to keep it secret, since it’s not yet available to the general public.” She looked at me with a puzzled expression, but all I’d say was, “I’ve made some good friends in unusual places over the years, and they occasionally do favors for me.” That answer seemed to satisfy her, so I added, “There are also weapons in the house, and now that I’m in much better physical condition I shouldn’t have any problem using them should it come down to that.” I patted her hand in a human-style gesture. “But I’m betting it’s not going to come down to that, at least not tonight, so the thing you need to do now is to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a much better day.”
Standing, I pointed out a small water bowl---Yularians couldn’t really drink out of glasses without using straws---and the intercom button near the bed. “You need me during the night, just hit the red button and it’ll activate every unit, so no matter where I am in the house I’ll hear you. The windows are armored, locked and electronically guarded, and the drapes are light-proof so nobody can see in. Both the bathroom door and the main bedroom door have inside locks, so if it makes you more comfortable you can lock yourself in for the night. Just consider that, if you get sick and need me, it’ll take me extra time to bypass the locks.” Her eyes widened. “My bedroom is at the other end of the hall and I have my own bathroom, so I shouldn’t disturb you.” I glanced at the clock on the night stand, then at my trusty Rolex, an extravagance I’d treated myself to decades earlier. “It’s only eight p.m., but you’ll probably sleep until at least mid-morning, so I won’t disturb you unless I haven’t heard you stirring by ten a.m.”
She nodded, then glanced at her luggage. “Why don’t I move them to my office?” I said. “We can go through them in the morning and see if there’s anything in them that you didn’t pack. Personally, I don’t think they’d risk anything stupid like that, but right now I don’t trust as many people as I did when I walked off the ship this morning. OK?” L’raan was happy with that plan, and moments later her bags were secure in the other room, and the connecting door in the bathroom was locked from inside the bathroom and secured with an old-fashioned friction wedge under it, so even if the lock was defeated---say by a small robot hidden in the luggage---it would have a tough time forcing the door open. “When I leave the office I’ll secure the hallway door, too, so that if anything nasty even tries to break out of the room, I’ll know about it immediately.”
I took the pills and the note and headed for the door, adding, “If you get hungry during the night you know where the food is in the kitchen, and I think you can figure out my human-primitive appliances.” She yipped a small laugh; a good sign that her spirit was improving. “I’ll be up a few more hours, then I’m turning in.” I suddenly yawned, and it felt good. “Even though this freshened body is a lot better than it was three months ago it’s been a long day, and I’m looking forward to the best night’s sleep I’ve had since before you were born. With no more prostate trouble, I shouldn
’t have to get up every hour or so to pee.” She yipped laughter again as I left the room, closing the door behind me.
The instructions Dr. N’looma had given me about how to securely send her information were easy enough for even a dumb human to follow, and it didn’t take me more than fifteen minutes to detail the pills and the note, along with an update on how the patients---both of us---were doing. I was tired but feeling better than I’d felt in more years than I’d like to admit; while I now looked to be in my fifties, I actually had the physique and health of a man of thirty. L’raan had quickly secured her room and killed all but her night light, and from the “snoop” switch on the master intercom in my room, all I could hear was her soft, regular breathing as she slept.
As promised, after shutting down everything in the office I secured the door with a little electronic gadget that would literally raise the dead if somebody---or something---tried to exit the room. I didn’t think our unknown Yularian thugs would try anything as stupid as planting any robotic tricks in her luggage---and I made a mental note to check my lone bag over carefully before going to bed! ---but I also didn’t trust them not to try something, just in case their little stunt with the poison didn’t work. Trying to kill an innocent young female---and then no doubt offing me---was cold and cruel, but it also told me that the bad guys were serious, and I had to be just as serious in my counter-measures.
From the sophisticated house security control station behind a side-hinged painting in my bedroom I activated the enhanced security system, not the readily visible simple one in the entrance foyer the property caretakers had used in my absence. This one was advanced-military grade, using a smart AI with both manual and voice controls. It only took a moment to “train” it to my new voice print, then I said, “Bertha, you’re now on full alert. Monitor the entire property out to fifty feet beyond the fence and gate, as well as every room in the house. Note that I have a female Yularian house guest in the remodeled bedroom, and that my office is secured with locks and a ‘screamer’ alarm on the hall door. The house guest is ill, and may get up during the night and leave her room, possibly to get food or look outside through a window if she’s restless. You are to awaken me quietly if she leaves her room other than to use the attached bathroom, and if she attempts to go outside make no overt alarm and allow her to exit the house. If she quickly reenters, secure the door. By that time, I’ll be up and monitoring the screen in here, or will be otherwise investigating. Unless we have a major intrusion she is not to know you exist until I make your presence known to her, probably tomorrow. For all other minor alerts, including animals that appear to be snooping around the house, awaken me as per prior instructions. Acknowledge.”
“Understood, Tom,” the no-nonsense contralto voice responded, and a status display on the ten-inch screen quickly showed me that all systems were green.
“I’m going to bed now,” and I swung the painting back in place. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Tom,” the AI said, “and welcome home.”
“Thanks, Bertha. It’s good to be back.”
As I said, the AI was smart. I’d helped develop the programming algorithms it used, and had been promised distribution rights if the system was ever made available to the public. For now, though, I kind of enjoyed having ‘her’ all to myself.
Chapter 5
Night Moves
“Tom, wake up! Tom, wake up!” came the low but insistent voice, interrupting the most wonderful night’s sleep I’d had in ages. “You need to be awake now, Tom! This is not a drill or a false alarm; wake up now!” Old habits die hard, and the old habit of paying attention to Bertha’s “emergency” voice bounced me awake almost immediately.
“I’m up, Bertha,” I croaked as I swung out of bed, several of the nightstand and small lights coming on dimly under the AI’s control. Moving over to the hidden control panel I swung the painting to the side and said, “Show me.” Bertha did, and what I saw on the little security screen brought instant, hard chills to my nearly naked body, and a single, faint click that seemed to come from deep inside my head.
Scurrying across the grass between my security fence and the house were a half-dozen things the size of cats---but they weren’t cats. They didn’t move like cats; they didn’t move like anything I’d ever seen. “Detail image,” I said, and a light-amplified close-up of one of the things sprang into fairly sharp detail. No, it wasn’t a cat; it wasn’t even an animal.
“The house is also being scanned by a low-power laser snoop-beam on the windows, apparently searching for any sound. As soon as the beam started I initiated sub-audio frequency ‘white noise’ throughout the entire house, which should defeat such technology.” Moments later the mechanical intruders reached the house and Bertha said, “The devices are apparently probing for openings to the house. Instructions?”
“Do not let them gain access!” I almost shouted. “Kill them as quickly as possible, and show me where that snoop-beam is coming from.” The monitor screen instantly switched to a grainy, light-amplified telephoto view showing an unmarked panel van parked just outside the main gate, then the AI switched the screen’s view to something entirely different; a vantage point just under the front porch eve, and it was moving.
“This is taken from one of my security spiders. I have one moving to engage each of the intruders.” The heavily-amplified image was jerky, but quickly moved down a roof post to the ground, then scuttled toward one of the things that seemed to be studying the concrete foundation near the front porch, probably trying to see if it could drill into it. The security spider, a woods rat-sized multi-legged robot straight out of a scary science fiction movie, paused for five long seconds about two feet from the intruder, then spat a high-energy laser pulse aimed at the rear quarter of the thing. A sharp, overwhelming flash followed, and I could faintly hear numerous sharp staccato reports from outside. Moments later the video feed from the spider cleared to show the intruder’s “butt” to be a twisted, smoking mass, with the machine apparently totally disabled. “The spiders reached attack positions almost simultaneously,” Bertha stated, “and the intruders’ power sources---apparently non-nuclear---were located by radar and infrared, then all spiders disabled the intruders at the same time. The intruders never reacted to the presence of the spiders, so we may assume those responsible for them have no idea why they’ve failed. I detected ultra-wave radio signals apparently linking the intruders to the van, but since I disabled the machines those signals have stopped.”
“Good job, Bertha,” I said, finally allowing myself to release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Keep watching for further activity while I go wake our guest. She needs to be aware of what’s going on.”
Moving quickly to the intercom controls, I keyed the alien’s room and listened for a moment; quiet breathing. She was still asleep. “L’raan!” I called, then called several more times until I heard her stirring. “You need to wake up fast, dear. Unfortunately, I was wrong; our ‘friends’ are attacking tonight. I’m coming to your door now, and I need you to come with me.” I threw open my bedroom door and hurried down the hall to her door, where I tapped on it and called her name again.
To her credit she didn’t waste time, fumbling it open almost immediately. I didn’t waste time, either, gesturing for her to follow me as I hurried back toward my bedroom. Once we were both inside I motioned her over to the security screen and said, “Bertha, show L’raan what just transpired.” The AI did, and again to her credit the Yularian didn’t cower or run screaming back to the security of her room. Still, she was obviously upset.
“Bertha is---?” she asked once the brief video report was finished.
“Bertha is the security AI that I hinted at earlier. ‘She’ spotted the van, detected a laser audio snoop-beam and countered it, then woke me in time for us to watch the intruders approach the house. Bertha has a great deal of monitoring and defensive capabilities, but I want you to take a good look at those intruders and tell me what you
think.”
L’raan glanced momentarily at a still image of one of the things on the screen, then looked at me. “There is no need for opinion, Mr. Barnes. I’ve seen those before. Our military use them for infiltration and…and neutralization of enemy positions. They can climb, dig and cut their way through almost any kind of building, even through steel doors if given enough time. Your Bertha was fortunate to be able to disable them as quickly as she did.” The Yularian glanced back at the screen where the image of the intruder was still displayed, and she finally began to tremble. “Had even one of them gotten inside, we…we probably would not be having this conversation.”
I gently drew her again-nude form close for comfort---for hers or mine I couldn’t say---and said, “I think it’s time I raised the bar, and raised it high.” When she looked at me, puzzled, I simply said, “Stay close to me.”
After retrieving a small .45ACP autopistol from my nightstand, we hurried back down the hall to my office, where I first disabled the screamer attached to the latch, then spoke into the air, “Bertha, are you sure there’s been absolutely no activity from inside the office?”
“No motion or signs of energy, Tom.”
“OK, we’re going inside and I’m going to make a phone call while at the same time I’ll be doing a videophone transmission. Be sure you monitor L’raan’s luggage for any kind of sudden activity, and alert me instantly should you detect any kind of unusual movement or energy there, or anywhere else. Understood?”
“Understood, Tom.”
We entered the room, switched on the lights and I quickly keyed in the special security code on the Yularian videophone. It went into record mode on the other end, unknown light years away, which signified Dr. N’looma wasn’t available. No problem. She’d eventually see and hear what transpired next. I swung and adjusted the video pickup to a wide-angle setting that covered enough of the room to show both L’raan standing nearby and me as I sat at the desk, then I touched the speaker phone button on my hard-wired house phone base and keyed in a number.
Last Dance of the Phoenix Page 4
