by Scott Baron
“I don’t think he’ll need to explain much. You wanna bet she’s been listening in?”
Only a fool would take that bet, Daisy chuckled quietly.
“Yup. And even after you told her not to tap the comms anymore.”
Ha! As if we can ever put that genie back in the bottle.
“Seriously.”
Kids, am I right?
“I tell ya, Daze, she’s a precocious one.”
Yeah, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Daisy greeted the following morning contentedly from the warm comfort of Vince’s arms, her one-time aversion to her partially non-organic boyfriend a thing of the past.
It had taken a lot of thought, a healthy dose of introspection, and nearly losing him to finally break her of that prejudice. The loss of Joshua on the planet below had also played a part.
Even more so the selfless sacrifice of George Franklin weighed on her. He had not only proven himself as human in heart and spirit as any flesh and blood man, but was also willing to lose it all without hesitation to protect humans and AI alike.
On top of all that, at the end of the day, Daisy had come to terms with the fact that like it or not, with her genetically strengthened body, she was a modified human, too, just not in the way Vince was.
“We good to go, Daze?” Sarah quietly asked her sleepy sister as she crept back into her consciousness.
Yeah. And thanks for the space, Sis, she replied, stretching lazily.
“Privacy is important,” Sarah noted. “And besides, I really don’t need to have you and Vince’s primal grunting stuck in my mind for the rest of my days.”
Daisy let out a low chuckle.
Well, technically, it’s still my mind, so I think you’re stuck with it regardless.
“Ugh,” Sarah joked.
The two shared a silent laugh, then Daisy slid from Vince’s arms and started donning her clothes.
“Babe, what are you doing? The meeting isn’t for another couple of hours. Come back to bed,” he urged, rolling over.
Daisy admired his physique as the sheet slid aside, then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
“You rest. I’ve got a few things I need to do before then.”
Vince watched her finish getting dressed appreciatively, a happy little smile on his lips.
“Have fun storming the castle,” he said as she moved for the door.
Daisy smiled at him brightly, then stepped out into the hallway.
She wasn’t in any sort of hurry as she made her way to see Fatima, but she walked with a spring in her step regardless.
“You know she’s going to say ‘I told you so,’ right?”
Never know. She might not.
“Well-deserved if she does, though,” Sarah said smugly.
Daisy paused outside her mentor’s door a moment. She took a deep breath, then stepped through. The silver-haired woman turned to greet her.
“I told you so,” Fatima said with a big grin.
“Gah! I knew you would say that!” Daisy replied with a chuckle.
“Told you so,” Sarah added with a giggle.
Fatima walked up to her and grasped her by both arms and studied her a moment before pulling her in for a tight hug.
“Thank you, Daisy,” she said when she finally released her.
“What’s that for?” Daisy asked, confused.
“You’ll know soon enough,” Fatima replied with a Sphinx-like grin. “Now, tell me all about your adventures. I see you and Vince are on good terms again.”
Daisy blushed ever so slightly.
“Yeah, things are good there. Better than good, actually.”
“I’m glad. You two complement one another well. And now you have a little one to look after.”
“Whoa, hang on a minute, Fatima. We’re careful. I’m not––”
“I meant Freya.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“An impressive––and stubborn––being, Daisy. Kind of reminds me of someone I know.”
“I can’t imagine who,” Daisy said with a laugh. “But she’s a good kid. She just needs a bit of guidance, is all.”
“Again, sounds like someone I know. And from what I’ve seen so far, you’ve given her a solid foundation, especially for such an unconventionally-birthed AI.”
“I wish I could say I planned it that way, but it was all an accident.”
“Perhaps. Nevertheless, you’ve done an admirable job thus far. And what’s this I hear about you teaching her to meditate?”
“How did you––?”
“The other AIs were discussing it with myself and Commander Mrazich. Once they got past the fact that it is an entirely unheard of practice for an AI, they––somewhat reluctantly––recognized the benefits your teaching her to do that had on her psyche’s formation.”
“Learned it from you, Fatima.”
“And now you’ve passed it on, as it should be.”
“The learner is now the teacher. The circle is complete.”
“I like that, Daisy. Did you just make that up?”
“Uh, yes. Yes, I did,” Daisy said with a little smile.
“You’re such a liar!” Sarah blurted.
Daisy’s smile grew ever so slightly.
“I’ll see you at the meeting, Fatima,” Daisy said. “I want to go spend a little time with the kiddo before we get into it.”
“Of course. You have fun out there, and send Freya my love.”
“Her love? A little strange, that.”
Maybe, but she likes her, and that’s all that matters.
“True, that.”
Daisy turned and walked from the room, heading to the airlock for a nice little walk across the surface of the moon.
“Hey, kiddo!” she said, pulling her helmet off as she stepped into Freya’s hangar.
“Hi, Daisy!” the chipper AI greeted her, the myriad machines barely slowing their work as she did.
“Wow. Looks like you’ve been busy. What’re you working on, Freya?”
“Oh, I’m just slapping together some of the components that were just lying around already partly built. I was going to get to them a while ago, but then I wound up flying out to get you, and then I got to meet all those cool people in the base.”
“Heh, yeah, sorry I distracted you from you project.”
“No, it was totally worth it! And Sid, and Mal, and even Bob all chipped in to get me started with a few AI puzzles and games. It’s really neat, though I do still prefer building stuff to just playing games in my head.”
“Well, at least it’s a little something to help keep you busy when there’s nothing else to do.”
“Yeah. And I even got to talk to Cal. It was so cool! He said he would talk to the others on the surface to see about having them all chip in another puzzle or game or two. I guess we’re all unique, so all the games and stuff are totally personalized. I’ll be the first to get to play someone else’s games!”
“Sounds pretty impressive.”
“Yeah, I know! He said since I was born without inhibitors slowing my brain down, it might take a lot to keep me occupied as I grow up. Do you think that’ll be a problem, Daisy?”
“Oh boy.”
Oh boy is right, Daisy agreed.
“What’re you going to say?”
What else can a mom say?
“I think you’re amazing, Freya. And being really smart and thinking really fast is a good thing. Sure, you may sometimes be a little bored, but that’s just because you’re that much faster than the others. But I’ll tell you what, if it’s something that truly concerns you, I’ll be happy to work on some more meditation and focusing techniques with you.”
“But I already learned those.”
“I know, but this time we’ll practice together. Would you like that?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“Oh, man. Any minute she’s going to become the surly teenager who doesn’t want to be seen with Mom.”
/> Daisy chuckled to herself.
I guess I’m just lucky I won’t have to chaperone any awkward dates with other teen AIs.
“As if you could do much to stop their hijinks, anyway. Right?”
Tell me about it.
“So, I’ve got a meeting in about an hour,” Daisy said, pulling out a box of miscellaneous model ship parts. “You want to see what new designs we can come up with together before then?”
“Yeah!” Freya exclaimed.
Daisy nearly jumped when one of the remote-controlled mechs unexpectedly lurched out of its charging cradle and agilely danced around the whirring machines before settling softly at her side.
The manipulation arms extended and began digging through the contents of the box, seeing what might fit together.
“Like I said. A handful.”
Daisy was quite sure her sister was one hundred percent correct. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Commander Mrazich stood in front of Dark Side’s assembled crew. Three were notably absent.
While Captain Harkaway’s prognosis was good, with the med lab machinery confidently predicting he would be cleared of all traces of the deadly pathogen he had come into contact with while in the atmosphere within a few weeks, the same could not be said for the other two missing parties.
Gus and Ash would never sit among their friends again.
Mrazich looked over the group, surveying his people. The loss was felt, of that he was certain, but several days had passed, and sleep, counseling, and, of course, their victory over the Ra’az, had seen their spirits rising by the day.
They had all gone through the blender and somehow managed to come out the other side.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said. “I’m glad to have you all here with me today as we discuss our next steps. Sid, I assume you and the others are tuned in as well?”
“Yes, Commander. Mal, Bob, and I are all here.”
Daisy waited for it. Looking around the room, it seemed the others were waiting as well.
“Freya?” Commander Mrazich said, looking around expectantly with a slightly arched eyebrow.
A silence hung in the air a few moments.
“I’m here too,” she finally admitted.
“What did we tell you about––” Sid began.
“It’s all right, Sid,” Mrazich interrupted. “Freya should be part of this conversation, too.”
Though she made no reply, Daisy could almost hear the young AI’s smile.
“There will be months, if not years, of mop-up to do on the surface. The Ra’az and their loyalists were defeated, but they didn’t just go away. Ra’az are easier to ferret out, of course, but the colluding Chithiid are already doing their best to blend back into the general population.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Tamara said. “They betrayed their own people. No mercy.”
The general mood was one of agreement.
“That’s a discussion to be had with our new allies, and it’s a decision that they should ultimately be the ones to make,” Mrazich said. “We won the day, people, no two ways about it. The Ra’az communication hubs were not only disabled, but thanks to the assistance of our new Chithiid allies on the ground, they were rendered permanently non-functional.”
“They were solid fighters, once things got moving and they stopped worrying about being found out by the Ra’az,” Shelly said. “Four arms prove to be pretty darn helpful in a brawl.”
“Yeah,” Vince agreed. “We were at a disadvantage in the warp facilities. We might not have been successful in San Francisco if not for their direct help.”
Daisy knew he was still hurting from the loss of his new Chithiid friend. Truth be told, she was missing Craaxit quite a bit, herself. He had been the linchpin of the operation, and if not for his exceptional resourcefulness, the Ra’az would still be in control of the planet, and with a functional warp drive to boot.
“We have to help them retake their planet,” Daisy said. “I promised Craaxit, and I sincerely hope you will all help me keep that promise.”
“We owe them our full support, and nothing less,” Chu said. “We just need to figure out the tough part now.”
“What’s that?” Reggie asked.
“How,” he replied. “Even with the captured star charts showing the location of the Chithiid world, and even that of the Ra’az, we simply do not have the means to reach them. At least not in any of our lifetimes.”
“We could use cryo-stasis,” Omar suggested.
“Yes, but even though the functional warp technology the Ra’az possess is incredibly underpowered, they would still be able to fly circles around us the moment they detected our ships.”
“And they could ensure the Chithiid suffered catastrophic losses before we could react,” Finn added. “And once they are on to us, there’s nothing stopping them from messaging the fleet with their functional comms. It might take years for them to return, but they’d come back to Earth with guns blazing, and all that work to disrupt their comms stations would be for nothing.”
“It’s just a shame we weren’t able to capture a warp ship,” Chu groused. “That would have made all the difference.”
“I tried,” Daisy said. “But they shot their own ship out of the sky rather than let us take it.”
“I know,” he replied. “It just sucks, is all. Have the team in San Francisco been able to dig up any more data from the facility?”
“Not much,” Mrazich said. “Unfortunately, the loyalists torched most of the lab spaces when it looked like it would fall to our forces. For now, the captured diagrams and parts you have are it. How’s your progress deciphering the notes?”
“Slow going, Commander,” Chu replied. “There’s enough to give me a starting point, but that starting point is somewhere in the middle, and I’m going to have to re-create what came before, then figure out what comes after. It has promise, but realistically, it could take years.”
“Maybe I can get you some help,” Daisy posited.
“What are you up to, Daze?”
I think we should take a little trip and find Craaxit’s old buddy. The one who got the San Francisco facility to finally help us. If anyone could source someone able to help Chu, I think he’d be the one.
“You really think you can find him? It’s gonna be pretty chaotic down there.”
Maybe, but Craaxit said he was older than the others, and my guess is after helping his people win their freedom, he’ll be easier to find than most.
“What do you propose, Daisy?” Commander Mrazich asked.
“I’m going down to the surface to find our contact who convinced the San Francisco Chithiid to join us. He was good friends with Craaxit, and one of the keys to our success.”
“You think that you’ll be able to locate him?”
“We shall see,” she replied. “I’ll let you know what I find when I get back. Hopefully the news will be positive.”
She gave Vince a quick kiss goodbye and headed for the door.
“See you guys tonight.”
The intimidating shape of Freya’s stealth ship sent many Chithiid scattering when she silently appeared out of nowhere, swooping in low over the Los Angeles barracks that had formerly housed her deceased friend.
“No weapons trained on us, Daisy,” she informed over her internal speakers. “I mean, there are plenty around, but nothing aimed at us.”
“Not yet, at least,” Daisy said warily. “I’d have expected at least a few of them to aim at us, though, you know? This is kinda weird.”
They flew a low circle over the buildings.
“What do you think, Freya?”
“It looks like there was a pretty big fight here. See those blast marks? And the outlines piled up under those tarps look like a mix of Ra’az and Chithiid.”
“Probably the masters and their loyal followers.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. What do you want me to do, Daisy?�
�
Daisy scanned the area below. The buildings were rather tightly situated, but an open courtyard area was close enough to provide a safe landing site.
“Put it down over there, Freya. Just to the left of that building.”
“Okee dokie,” she replied.
The ship was eerily quiet as it lowered to the ground, the pulsing anti-grav systems providing an invisible cushion onto which it settled.
“Keep your scans running. You see anything out of the ordinary, you let me know, okay?”
“Will do.”
“And monitor my comms. I’ll keep them open so you can hear what’s going on.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can set them to transmit passively even when they’re turned off.”
“Say what, now?”
“Yeah, it’s something I learned to do when I reviewed Mal’s logs of your escape from the Váli.”
“Ha! Like mother, like daughter!” Sarah laughed.
Sincerest form of flattery, right? Daisy agreed.
“You going to be okay over here? Not too bored? You have those new games you can run on a subroutine if you need.”
“I know, Daisy, but I’ve got other stuff I’m working on to keep busy.”
“All right, kiddo. I’ll be back before you miss me.”
Daisy keyed open the exterior airlock door and stepped out into the warm air, unarmed but for the sword strapped to her back.
“You smell that?” Sarah asked.
There was a faint smell of burned fuel in the air. And a fainter one somewhat reminiscent of barbecue.
“It’s not barbecue, Daze.”
Oh, believe me, I know, she replied. Okay, let’s find this guy.
Daisy stood tall and walked slowly, but confidently, toward the cluster of barracks. Chithiid were emerging all around her, looking at her with curiosity, but nothing that could be called aggression.
The growing crowd suddenly parted to make way for an older Chithiid as he walked leisurely toward Daisy and her ship.
“Think that’s him?”
I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think it’s a pretty good bet.
The Chithiid stopped directly in front of her and smiled warmly. His escort were likewise warm and relaxed.
