The Last Spartan 1: Different Paths

by A. E. McCullough

  Iaido nodded his head in greeting. “Hello Athena. I gather that you are tied into Pax’s systems.”

  Athena paused and cast a sideways glance at Iaido. “I am not sure what you mean Captain. I am Pax or Pax is part of me if that makes more sense.” She tapped her forehead. “Everything that was Pax and Diana is here. I remember so much, our first hunt in Alpha Centari or the time we went dancing in Moscow to draw out that ambassador’s aide who was wanted for murder. Everything, well almost everything, there are some fragments in my memory but then that is expected considering what I have been through lately.”

  “Athena has become the embodiment of the Nemesis,” Jay added. “She is the ship and the ship is her. They are now bound together. I must admit I am unsure how far Athena can venture from the Nemesis. For now, she must remain ship bound until I can run more tests.”

  “Affirmative Master Chief,” said the ship’s voice. It was no longer the monotone voice of Pax but neither was it Diana’s voice but a blend of the two. “I would extrapolate that Athena is limited to one hundred yards from the main frame. Anything more and data streams will be at risk.”

  “Thank you Pax for your estimation.” Turning back to Iaido, Jay shrugged. “There you go. It’s the best I could do. I have programmed them to respond to their names but much of their database is shared. So…”

  “When I talk to one, the other could answer.” Slapping his friend’s shoulder Iaido said, “Outstanding job, Jay…absolutely outstanding.”

  Athena said, “Excuse me Captain, but the analysis of this dart shows that the shaft is actually a memory crystal. Preliminary scans show that there is data on this crystal but it is encrypted. However, it seems the code was in your military personnel file. It is your old Omega Squadron identification number, sir.”

  “Put it on the main screen,” Iaido said.

  “Affirmative,” said Pax.

  The screen darkened for a moment before refocusing into the image of Eve bound and gagged sitting on a large cylindrical object. She was in a dark room with no visible windows or doors. A man stepped into view; he was well into his fifties with a regulation military haircut that was more grey than black and his left ear looked as if it had been burned off.

  Iaido and Jay recognized him immediately as their former commanding officer, Major McDowell.

  “Greetings Achilles, it has been a few years. I have followed your career since your release from New Leavenworth. And I must say, it’s been impressive.” He gestured to Eve. “Now that I have your attention, I want to extend an invitation to join me at Castra Praetoria. Judging from your reputation, I know you will figure out where it is in time.”

  Stepping out of the picture for a moment, the image refocused back on the young girl.

  “If you look close enough, you can see she doesn’t have a lot of time, only twenty four hours from the time of this recording.” Major McDowell stepped back in front of the camera. “If you come alone and unarmed, I will set her free. If not, well…”

  The image refocused on the bomb underneath Eve’s feet for a second and then the screen went dark.

  Athena said, “I have analyzed the image of the bomb. Judging from its size, shape and all information available on the Major, I would extrapolate it to be a small proton bomb with a blast radius of five thousand meters, everything within that area will be vaporized when it explodes.” The corresponding data began to pop up on adjacent vid-screens. “Of course, it is only a guess but I would estimate the accuracy to eight-seven percent correct.”

  Iaido clenched his fists. “How long?”

  Pax responded. “The time stamp would indicate that the message was recorded four hours and twenty-three minutes ago.”

  “Which gives us less than twenty hours,” added Jay.

  Iaido scratched his goatee before asking, “Okay people, I have a question; why?”

  “What do you mean by why?” Talia asked.

  “Why now? Why this song and dance?”

  “Just like he said to get your attention,” DJ added.

  Iaido turned to Jay. “You know the Major. He never does anything without a reason and one that has been meticulously thought out. So, again I ask why? What is his endgame?”

  Talia said, “The answer is in the question. Why would he want you? What does he gain?”

  Moving over to the command chair, Iaido sat down. “Okay, let’s look at this logically. Major McDowell doesn’t do anything without a plan. He knew we would be here at Haven and laid a trap for us, only to leave me this message. He also knew that it would take time for the message to get to us; which he would’ve worked into his calculations. So, either he is hiding on Haven, which is unlikely or he is within a four hour radius of us.”

  “But Haven is twenty minutes from a jump point that could take you just about anywhere; even using the four hour time limit,” DJ said, “this region of space is awfully busy.”

  “There are approximately one-hundred and twenty-seven starbases or colonies within that travel time,” Pax added. “Not counting the numerous ports on some of those colonies or any unregistered habitats that might have been built on an asteroid or moon.”

  “That’s a lot of area to cover” DJ said.

  Talia shook her head. “No. The Major said that Iaido would be able to find him, so he must’ve left us a clue to his whereabouts.”

  “He did.” Iaido said, “What did the Major call his home, casa preatoria?”

  “Negative,” responded Pax. “It was Castra Praetoria. It is Latin for ‘barracks of the Praetorian.’ Historically the barracks was located in Rome but since that city was destroyed during the Arabic Wars it is unlikely that is what he meant. I have accessed Haven’s database and they have no record of any Praetorian.”

  “Mars,” Jay said. “He’s on Mars.”

  DJ asked, “How the fuck would you know that?”

  Jay said, “Praetorians. They are the company that hacked into Iaido’s database yesterday. Diana and I were able to backtrack the hackers to that company and since the Major said he was at the barracks of the Praetorians, the logic follows that he is on Mars.”

  “That makes sense.” Iaido said, “But it still doesn’t answer why he would kidnap Eve or what he will gain from having me follow him. The Major always had one rule for combat; every action leads to an advantage or takes away a disadvantage. So, which it is?”

  “Hmmm…” Jay said. “What if it’s simpler than that? What if the Major just wanted you out of the way?”

  “What do you mean by that?” Iaido said.

  “Follow me on this. The Major knows your predisposition on picking up strays. And he would know that you would follow the kidnapping of the Sgt. Major’s daughter and would do anything to save her, hence the set-up.”

  Talia asked, “Would he really detonate the bomb and kill an innocent child?”

  Iaido nodded. “Yes. She’s only a pawn to him. And pawns are only used to create openings by their sacrifice. But what would he gain by this? He knows he can’t hide from me. He knows my skills. Hell, he was instrumental in my creation. So, what is the endgame?”

  “I dunno.” DJ said, “More of your hatred? A bad day? Death?”

  “No.” Talia spoke quietly. “What turns mountains to dust and seas to deserts?”

  “What the fuck is that?” DJ asked, “Some sort of elvish poetry?”

  “No, it’s a riddle and the answer would be time. The Major gains time by having me chase after him and rescue Eve.” Iaido turned back to his control panel and barked, “Pax!”

  “Aye sir?”

  “Compile a list of all major events and probabilities of points for a terrorist attack for the next twenty four hours; have anything to do with the President or the UNCF at the top of the list.”

  Both Pax and Athena answered in unison. “Aye, aye sir.”

  Iaido turned back to his companions. “While they narrow down our possibilities, we need to be ready to strike whenever and wherever we are needed; I d
on’t like being used.”

  “Does that mean you are going to leave Eve to her fate?” Jay asked.

  “You know me better than that. When have I ever left a man behind?”

  “Never,” Jay said, “even when it would be the smart thing to do.”

  “Exactly. But we will need to make a surgical strike…swift and deadly. A snatch and grab. Jay, make sure your new toy is ready for combat and see if there is anything you can do to the engines to squeeze out more speed.”

  “Roger.”

  “DJ, I want to you to check out the ship and tweak it for combat. Athena will aid you in anything you need.”

  Iaido handed Talia a memory crystal. “Here is everything we have on the Sgt. Major’s death. I would like you to double check the data and see if you can find anything we might’ve missed and get med-bay ready, I have a feeling we are going to get bloody on this one.”

  * * * * *

  After prepping the med-bay, Talia sat down at the computer console and popped in the memory crystal which contained all the data concerning the death of Sgt. Major Spenton and his wife.

  At first glance, Talia found the images disturbing. They were completely three dimensional and could be viewed on the vid-display or projected into a hologram. Additionally, the images could be manipulated to nearly any position or magnification. As she began to work with the program, she felt many of the lessons imparted to her during her training to be a Mystic slip into place and she began to study the information in a detached, professional manner. Talia was so engrossed in studying the autopsy file that she jumped out of her chair with a shriek when the black mandible of Xerxes entered her field of vision.

  Xerxes seemed not to notice her discomfort as he stared past her at the image on the screen.

  Feeling uncomfortable with being alone and so close to the large Mantis, Talia stood up and began to back away. However, Xerxes had different plans. With a few chirps and clicks, he grabbed her with his two lower arms and easily lifted her from the ground.

  Talia shrieked and tried to struggle but realized almost immediately that it was useless.

  Xerxes turned her toward the vid-display.

  Talia closed her eyes tight; not wanting to face whatever Xerxes had planned for her. With a few chirps in his language, he shook her gently. Talia forced herself to open one eye slightly, still fearing to see whatever was coming. But Xerxes was pointing at one of the autopsy photos of the Sgt. Major’s deceased wife. The image was zoomed into five hundred times of normal and showed the twin pin pricks on the base of Amy’s skull. It was at that moment when an old lesson from her time in the Seminary came to Talia and realization flooded all over her.

  Feeling her relax, Xerxes gently set her down, stepped back, folded his arms and waited.

  Talia’s fingers flew over the controls of the computer. Bring up every image and report on the pin pricks before she turned to the large Mantis and asked, “You know what this means don’t you?”

  Xerxes nodded.

  “Does Iaido and the others know anything about this?”

  Xerxes shook his head.

  “What can we do?”

  Xerxes shrugged his shoulders, then lifted a leather bag from around his neck and rattled it.

  Recalling everything she had ever learned about the Mantodea culture, she realized that Xerxes is actually a medicine man or shaman of his tribe. And if anyone in his culture would know about this mark, it would be the tribal shaman. “You think this is something we were destined to confront? That it’s our sacred duty?”

  Xerxes nodded.

  “Should we tell Iaido?”

  Again, Xerxes nodded.

  “Do you think he will believe me?”

  Xerxes gestured to her, then to himself and placed his mandibles together in a tight grip.

  “Okay… but even then will he believe us both?”

  * * * * *

  Athena glanced at her handiwork. The Captain had called a sit-rep meeting for 2300 hours, thirty minutes from now and since the Nemesis was housing three times as many as normal occupants, she had taken on the responsibility to adjust the common areas accordingly.

  Her first order of business had been simple, assigning each new crewmember a berth. The Captain had insisted that she assign herself a cabin which as an android didn’t make sense to her but then…he was the Captain. His ordered didn’t have to make sense; they were just to be followed.

  Resetting the ship’s galley to the original specs was easy. Athena was finding that being hooked into Nemesis’ mainframe was very liberating. She could access and collate data at a staggering speed, many times faster than before the merging and without having to use a HID - Human Interfacing Device - such a keyboard or even an access port for implants. This left her able to perform other mundane tasks at the same time, which brought the term multi-tasking to a new level.

  She had dismantled the Captain’s dojo and transported it to the cargo hold, where she had found the original furniture from the Nemesis’ years of UNCF Fleet service stored; the furniture was functional but not particularly comfortable. Actually setting up the furniture was relatively easy, just a comparison of data. Compare the data stored in the Nemesis’ mainframe to the actual position of the table and adjust accordingly. However, many of her memories before the merging were a bit disturbing and kept intruding on her thoughts. She found the memories of her lovemaking with Iaido the most disturbing.

  Pax said, “The table needs to be moved twenty-three centimeters to starboard to match UNCF regulations.”

  Athena shook her head to clear away her thoughts and retorted, “I realize that. I like it better here instead.”

  “Negative.” Pax said, “You were not paying attention to your duties. These memories are a hazard to our well-being. They should be purged.”

  “No!” Athena screamed. “They’re mine!”

  “Athena?” called a musical voice from the passageway that led aft. Talia moved down the ladder with sublime grace. “Are you okay? I thought I heard you arguing.”

  Smoothing out her jumpsuit, Athena flashed a crooked smile to the Sylvan. “No ma’am. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I was talking out loud to myself.”

  “That statement was inaccurate,” Pax said. “You were talking to me.”

  Talia paused, glancing between Athena and ceiling of the galley. “I thought you and Athena were one?”

  “Negative,” said Pax. “We have been merged but we are two and shall always be two.”

  Athena actually blushed. “It’s hard to explain. While we share much, memories, data and such, we have both retained some of our independence. Pax has areas in her data core that I don’t have access to, while there are areas in my neural net that I am striving to keep private.”

  “That is good to hear.” Jay said moving up the ladder from engineering.

  “Jay!” Talia exclaimed. “You’re walking!”

  “Ta da!”

  The Master Chief extended one leg forward so the two women could see them better. He had heavily modified his chair by adding four bulky mechanical legs. They whirred and clicked with every movement but they allowed a greater range of movement within the tight confines of the ship. His chair walked or scurried down the passageways with a motion similar to that of a spider or a crab.

  Jay chuckled. “They are a bit primitive but they seem to do the trick. I forgot how difficult it was moving around a starship without legs. In my lab, everything was flat; aisles were wide and easy to maneuver, but up here…” He shrugged. “But functionality wins over appearance any day.”

  Talia moved forward and gently hugged him. “I think they’re lovely.”

  Jay smiled briefly and moved up to Athena, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder he asked, “How are you faring my dear?”

  “I’m fine. Pax and I were having a disagreement about a certain course of actions concerning some fragmented memories.”

  Jay glanced up at the ceiling and said, “Pax. You are not au
thorized to delete any files that were part of Diana’s memories, no matter how small or insignificant.”

  “Command acknowledged.”

  “If they are causing you concern, set up a partition and move all related memories to that area.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Any other complaints? Headaches? Nausea?”

  “Headaches? Nausea?” Talia asked, “From an android?”

  “Just because her systems are manmade, that doesn’t mean they do not have the ability to feel pain.” Jay turned to regard the sylvan. “Pain and discomfort are the body’s way of telling us that something isn’t right. It has been effective for nearly five millennia, why shouldn’t I copy it?”

  Talia shook her head in disbelief. “I…I don’t know. I’m sorry. This is completely new to me. In the Empire, androids are bulky things, much like your new legs. They are created to serve a function. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  Jay rolled his eyes. “And your race calls yourself enlightened.”

  Before Talia could say anything else, Iaido and DJ entered the galley. Athena immediately snapped to attention and called, “Attention on deck!”

  Old instincts and habits seized the ex-military men; DJ and Jay snapped to attention while Talia just glanced around unsure of what was happening. Iaido had paused in mid-stride at the command before he realized Athena was calling attention for him. With a wave of his hand he said, “At ease.”

  Athena and the two ex-military men relaxed.

  “Athena, let that be the first and last time you call attention for me. Formal military discipline and doctrine has no place on this vessel.”

  Athena’s stance was still rigid but the more relaxed ‘parade rest’ with feet shoulder wide, hands clasped behind her back. “Aye, aye sir!”

  DJ was laughing so hard tears streamed down his face. “Oh my god! I haven’t been called to attention in over ten years! Hell, I didn’t even know I could still do that!”

  Moving up to the table, Iaido pulled the chair out, reversed it and sat down with his arms resting on the back of the chair. “Judging from your shape Marine, you need more exercise and less drinking.”