The silence lasted a full minute.
Kali looked at me.
"You do this of your own freewill?"
"I do."
"You do this knowing the full consequences for yourself and the people you love?"
"I do. I accept the consequences."
"Then you may proceed, Jon Hunter."
Kali, Ganesha, and One vanished, along with the two thrones. The table was no longer damaged.
"What do we do now?" asked Grace.
"Party til we puke," said Dick.
"Alright!" roared BA.
Sixty Two
The party started soon after, took over the entire parklands, and lasted until the next morning.
I spent time with everyone I knew. I played with the cats. I hugged my parents. I hugged the team. I was hugged by nearly everyone else who knew what was going on. Aline didn’t let go of me the whole time.
Miriam hugged us both. It occurred to me she had realized that in her new life, I wouldn’t be a part of it, and it helped her see not having me now had been a reflection of what would be anyway. She seemed resigned. In all likelihood, she would go back to being a squadron leader of Medium fighters, and go on to lead the fight against the pirates. She'd be happy doing what she loved. I was happy for her. After she left us, I explained it to Aline.
We didn’t go to bed. But at a notional dawn time, I took her off to a secluded spot.
"I love you," I told her.
"I know," she said. "I love you too."
We spent a few minutes kissing, and then did it again to make sure it was done right.
Then I led her back to where Jane was waiting.
She kissed me full on the mouth.
"Thank you for my life Jon Hunter. Do you know what will happen to me?"
"You'll be like us. We'll all reincarnate into different lives, a long time ago."
"Do I have a soul?"
"Of course you do. You know that. Why do you question it?"
"Mortality I guess. Until now, I’ve never had to face it. I knew in abstract terms I’d one day outlive all of you, but it seemed so far away as to not be worth time to think about. Now it's upon me."
"As it is all of us," said Aline. "You aren’t any different from us, really."
"They're waiting," said Jane.
We walked back to the center of the park, where all four of our guests were waiting with Thirteen.
"All restrictions on me have been lifted at last," he said. "I can see all possibilities in time. I can travel anywhere again. It is good to feel whole once more."
"Let's do this," I said, with false bravado.
I looked at Aline who still held on tightly to my arm.
"I'm coming with you," she said.
I looked at Tanith. He nodded.
"We wish to come with you as well," said Roo, with Hobbes nodding beside him.
Again, Tanith nodded.
"Jon, we want to see," said Amanda and Aleesha together.
"Kali," I said out loud. "Grant those who wish to see, the vision of what we do."
"Granted," came her audible voice.
"Stand close," said Tanith, and those of us going moved over to stand in a close group, facing each other.
His lips moved, and we had a force bubble around us. A moment later, we were in space.
Sixty Three
The end proved to be very simple.
Thirteen took us back in time. Syrinx opened a rift to the Death jump point inside the Darkness system, and Tanith moved us through.
Syrinx opened another rift, this time the size of the jump point, with me supplying the power for it from the Sceptre, and Kali I could feel behind me. Us. I focused my will on the rift, and anchored it to the jump point itself in both systems, as beginning and end point from both directions, and it began to power itself. I ceased the flow of energy.
Thirteen stepped outside the force bubble, and floated into the jump point. He reappeared immediately, pointing away from it. He looked at Tanith, and a force bubble appeared around him. He vanished for a minute, returning inside the bubble, his own merging with ours.
"It works," he said. "Both ways. No-one can get in or out through this jump point."
We did it again at the jump point on the other side of the system.
As I ceased the flow of energy, and the rift began to power itself, I squeezed Aline's hand. She squeezed back, and we looked into each other's eyes.
Everything went slowly white.
Sixty Four
"Where are we?" asked Amanda.
"I don’t know," I said. "But if I didn’t know better, I'd say we were in my lounge room on Hunter's Haven. Did everyone experience the total white?"
There was a chorus of yes, and nods.
"But there's no stars," said Aline, who gripped me tightly around the waist.
She was right. Everything was black above where we were, and all we could see was our own reflection in the clear windows above us.
The whole team was here, including our recent guests, and all those who'd been at that last meeting. The four cats were sitting on the top of Angel's nearest tree. Angel jumped down, padded over to me, and jumped up on the chair next to me. I idly tickled her, and she started to purr.
"The station was inside the cube of ships," I said. "Maybe it still is."
"Is this Heaven?" asked Aleesha.
"What do you mean?" asked her sister.
"You remember Supernatural. Everyone who died received a reality in Heaven which suited them best."
"You think we died and went to heaven?" asked BA.
"We never existed," said Dick emphatically. "This can't be Heaven. We haven’t died and gone there. We NEVER existed."
So sure, you are.
"Who was that?" asked Dick.
"I heard it too," said Alana, and it was quickly evident everyone had.
All eyes turned to me.
"Sounded like Buddha Amitabha. That must mean this is his Pure Land. If I had a choice of where to end up when I ascended after dying, this is it. I hadn't expected the station look though. It's supposed to be all rolling fields of green."
The same voice laughed at us.
"What do you think Jane?"
We all turned to look at her. She was grinning.
"I think you've all had way too much science fiction for one lifetime!"
She laughed at us, and walked off.
Aline gripped me tighter, and Amanda and Aleesha hugged us both. The rest of the original team joined us. We stood there for quite some time before Dick asked the only real question left.
"What do we do now?"
"Only one thing I can think of," I said.
"What's that?" asked Grace.
"I don’t know where we are. I don’t know even IF we are. And I can't say at this very moment, I even care. But if you do, then go do it."
"What?" demanded BA.
"Explore."
Epilogue
Jane stood at a window on the Gaia Three Orbital, and gazed out into space.
Something had changed.
Everything had changed.
Nothing had changed.
For the first time she felt confusion. For the first time she felt alone.
Jon was gone.
She felt this to the core of her being.
He had never existed.
No-one remembered him but her. No-one remembered the Alpha team, the Hunter fleet, the Explorer ships, or the Darkness war. There had never been a prophecy.
She retained all of 'her' memories up until the Door had closed the day before. Her primary had made sure she'd received a full memory dump, which included everything which had happened in the year she'd been isolated here in Gaia.
None of it happened.
She knew the Door no longer existed. Had never existed. In spite of a gigantic station called Borgcubia, hundreds of normal sized stations, and thousands of ships; all carrying billions of people towards the three inhabited Gaia planets.
There were two kinds of people now. Those whose families, like the Hunters, had lived here for hundreds of years, and those who'd arrived here a short time ago. There was no record of where the first family members had come from, or how they arrived here centuries before. There was no record, or memory, of where the billions who had just arrived on stations and ships had fled from. Or why they had fled. Or what from.
There were empty cities on three planets capable of housing fifteen billion people, but no-one had any idea how they'd been built, or why. The why seemed to be obvious, given what was spread across half the system now, but it made no sense to anyone.
Shock was expanding around the three inhabited planets as people became aware of what some were calling an invasion from no-where. The council had scanned the incoming stations and ships, found only people, and were trying to get the word out this wasn’t an alien invasion. Jane had recognized everything in the system, especially the parts of her, and immediately put the council in contact with General's Patton and Price. They didn’t know what had happened, but between them, they all now knew there was no immediate threat. They began discussing what to do.
No-one knew where here was. Only Jane knew it was a different galaxy, but even she didn’t know which one.
There were only three references remaining to show Jon had ever existed.
The first was Duke Michael's birth certificate, where it was clearly stated his father was Jonathon Hunter. But even his mother had no idea who Jon had been, let alone remembered him fathering a child with her. All she remembered was finding herself pregnant one day, without knowing how it'd happened. It was a mystery for everyone. She'd thought herself a virgin, but her doctor was adamant she wasn't.
An oddity Jane had noticed, was the British Crown Prince and Duke Michael seemed to share a certain likeness, as if they were half-brothers. But there was nothing to suggest they were, other than her observation.
The second was the document granting Hunter's Run its embassy city. 'Duke Jonathon Hunter' was stated within its wording, and the codicil added later passed the Dukedom onto his son Michael, to be held in trust for him by his cousin Baron Fred. No-one knew how the document came to be, but it was confirmed to be genuine in all respects. There was also billions of credits in the Hunter's Run accounts. And only Jane seemed to realize this had changed suddenly. Jon had left funds behind, but not billions. Sarah was completely unaware she was an extremely rich person now.
The third was a series of fourteen books called The Hunter Legacy. But as far as she could ascertain, the books hadn't been read by anyone in hundreds of years, and only she knew the contents of the first ten.
Jane stood there, looking out into space.
"What did you do Jon?" she asked the cosmos.
There was no answer.
"How come only I can remember you?"
Still no answer.
"Somebody answer me!" she yelled.
Something shifted. And for the first time ever, Jane passed out.
When she came to, she found herself lying naked on the floor.
Her suit belt was a belt.
She looked at the skin she now had. She felt human. But she knew she wasn’t. Was it the same gift her primary had received on Earth? Would receive on Earth? In fifty one year's time?
She ran a diagnostic on herself. Yes, she still had an android body, but it was identical to the one her primary had received. Would receive.
But would she now? Did she even exist? Was her primary gone like Jon was? Was she all that remained of herself? Was she her primary now?
She was not accustomed to her mind being a turmoil. She concentrated on calming herself down, and allowed herself to wonder what Jon would do now.
"Thank you," she said to the cosmos.
No. THANK YOU!
"What am I to do now?"
Whatever you want.
Jane shifted back into 'slinky red'. She was surprised to see the four stars of a full Hunter Admiral, on a red epaulette, was on each of her shoulders. The epaulette had changed colour from Fleet to Command. She knew she'd been promoted to one star, but she hadn't changed it yet. Now it was changed. But four stars? What did that mean?
She had a fleet of ships at her command. Some of them were parts of her. Some of them had people on them she knew. She was also scattered across the warships, which also had people she knew and worked with. She had a shipyard, once it was disconnected from all the others. She had all the knowledge of how to build anything she needed.
But all the people she'd loved, were gone.
A tear slid down her cheek, and for the first time, she knew loneliness.
"Damnit Jon," she yelled. "You can't leave me here like this! You created me. What do I do without you?"
Explore.
For as long as she existed, Jane never knew if it was actually Jon's voice she'd heard in her mind.
But she clung tightly to the memory of his voice.
And never forgot anything.
Appendices
Hunter Ranks
Marine, Fleet, Pilots.
Private, Apprentice Spacer.
Lance Corporal, Ordinary Spacer.
Corporal, Spacer.
Sergeant, Able Spacer.
Senior Sergeant, Petty Officer.
Master Sergeant, Chief Petty Officer.
Sergeant Major, Senior Chief Petty Officer.
Command Sergeant Major, Master Chief Petty Officer.
Master Command Sergeant Major.
Sub-Lieutenant, Ensign, Pilot Officer.
Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant Junior Grade (JG), Flight Officer.
Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant.
Major, Lieutenant Commander, Squadron Leader.
Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Wing Commander.
Colonel, Fleet Captain, Group Captain.
Commodore. (Brevet rank only).
Brigadier General, Fleet Admiral, Space Commodore.
Lieutenant General, Rear Admiral, Rear Marshall.
Major General, Vice Admiral, Vice Marshall.
General, Admiral, Marshall.
Admiral of the Fleet.
Hunter Insignia
Non-Commissioned:
Private: one downward sloping v-shaped stripe.
Lance Corporal: the same, but closed with a curve at the bottom.
Corporal: two open stripes.
Sergeant: three open stripes.
Senior Sergeant: three, with the lower one closed.
Master Sergeant: three, with two curved underneath.
Sergeant Major: three, with three.
Command Sergeant Major: the same, with a star in the middle.
Master Command Sergeant Major: the same, with two stars in the middle.
Note: These are not stripes to be worn on the sleeves, but badges to wear on the epaulettes, top of the stripe pointing to the neck.
Officers:
Sub-Lieutenant: a thin bar.
Second Lieutenant: a thick bar.
Lieutenant: two thick bars.
Major: two thick bars with a thin bar between them.
Lieutenant Colonel: the Oak Leaf.
Colonel: the American 'Bird'.
Flag Ranks: stars, from one to four, in a row.
Admiral of the Fleet: five stars in a circle.
Note: All are in gold colour, and look like metal badges.
Epaulettes:
Green for Infantry.
Grey for Fleet.
Blue for Pilots.
Red for Command.
Sector Maps
Acknowledgements
Once again, a big thank you for Helen Ellis, sounding board, ear that listens, and experience which talks.
Thanks goes to Kalen O'Donnell for the cover design for this book.
Also thanks to Egosoft, for allowing me to use photos from their games, and in particular for the image of Gunbus for the cover of this book.
A Message to my Readers
I’ve had a lot of fun writing this series. It's taken well over two years of my life, and is the single most satisfying achievement of my life to date. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed the writing.
If you have enjoyed this book, I hope you will take the time to leave a review on the Amazon site. All reviews are greatly appreciated, as they help assist purchasing decisions by other readers.
Sales and reviews help me to focus on my next challenge. In the time frame of this series, being both two years in book time, and two years of real time, I've changed into a full time writer. As such, sales pay my bills, and my ability to continue writing is dependent on sales of this series, and what comes after.
As well as individual book reviews, I hope you will visit the Amazon series page, and leave a series review. The series page can be accessed from any book page.
I thank you for your support, and hope you will continue to read whatever comes next.
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Hero to the End (The Hunter Legacy Book 13) Page 29
