The Complete Clockwork Chimera Saga

by Scott Baron

  Daisy stepped forward and gave the silver-haired woman a warm hug.

  “Well, now, isn’t that something. We’re in each other’s debt, it seems,” Fatima said with a serene smile. “And tell me, how is Sarah handling having her other self back? Is it causing friction? Does the other Sarah know?”

  “Yeah, she knows. And there was a little head-butting at first, so to speak, but now things have settled into place. Plus, Freya designed a new, stripped-down type of neuro-band to allow her to talk to herself,” Daisy said, lifting up the edge of the headband holding her neuro-band in place.

  “Freya did what? That shouldn’t be possible––oh, but of course. Sarah is the same person.”

  “Yep. The only way two minds could tap into the same neuro.”

  “Such a clever vessel, your Freya. And how she has matured since I saw her last. In her actual time line, that is.”

  “She’s really coming into her own,” Daisy agreed. “Though her headstrong teen phase isn’t quite over yet.”

  Fatima laughed warmly. “Enjoy it while you can. That, too, is something you will look back on fondly one day.”

  Daisy looked around the training room she had spent so much time laboring and toiling in and smiled. Distanced from the exhausting abuse of it all, she actually found herself almost nostalgic for the difficult tasks.

  An inspiration struck.

  “Hey, Fatima, I was wondering if you’d consider doing me a little favor.”

  “Anything.”

  “Well, in that case, would you do for Sarah what you did for me? See if you can help her control her mind, train her to be more than she already is?”

  “I can try, Daisy. But remember, she was more advanced than you in meditation practices. She may be reluctant to engage in more training.”

  “But with her nanite arm, she really needs to learn to focus and control them. They listen to her, but mostly, it’s all subconscious at this point. I’m hoping, and so is Freya, that she’ll learn to control them consciously, but she needs help.”

  “Of course. I’ll do whatever I can,” Fatima replied. “Send her to me after dinner, and I’ll have a little chat with her. If she’s amenable to it, I’ll gladly take her on and help train her as best I can. One can only hope she’ll be as proficient a student as you were.”

  Daisy had only just left her friend, walking the quiet halls of Dark Side, when Finn caught up to her.

  “Hey, I was looking for you.”

  “What’s up, Finn? Everything okay?”

  “Well…”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t like the sound of that.”

  He looks upset, Sis.

  “I have a sneaking suspicion I know why.”

  “Finn, talk to me. What’s bothering you?”

  “I’m kinda freaking out here, Daisy. I mean, we’ve talked about this in the past. You know how I felt––I mean feel, about Sarah.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Shit. I knew it. What did she do, Daze?”

  I don’t know. Now hush, I need to pay attention.

  “Remember way back on the Váli? When you told me not to wait because life is short and you never know what’ll happen?”

  “Right before she died,” Daisy said, softly. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “That tore my heart out, Daisy. I was so full of pain and regret, I didn’t really know what to do with myself.” He shook his head sadly at the memory. “Hell, I even briefly considered suicide.”

  “Whoa, you’re not––”

  “No, no, it was just one really low spot, but what I’m saying is, I’ve been carrying around this regret for all this time, and now I have a second chance.”

  “I’m happy for you, man.”

  “I should be happy too, but Sarah is different now. It feels like she’s blowing me off, you know? Treating me like just another buddy no matter how hard I try. Does she dislike me, Daisy? You’re her sister. Has she said anything to you?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “Finn, you’re a great guy––”

  “That’s as bad as calling me nice.”

  “You know what I mean. And you are nice. But Sarah, right now, well, she’s really going through some stuff, and I think she’s kind of overwhelmed. Look, just be yourself. Be natural. I know she likes you––”

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “Dangerous territory, Daze.”

  I know.

  “Not in so many words, but I know my sister,” she carefully replied. “Look, keep being you. Once she gets her equilibrium straight, she’s bound to come around.”

  Finn looked dejected as he accepted the uncertain future of his romantic hopes.

  “Okay. I’ll try to give her some space, I guess. It’s just hard, you know? I mean, she’s alive again. Here’s the one thing that I’ve been wishing for all this time, and I just have to sit back and be all, ‘Hi, Sarah, have some toast,’ and shit like that, when I just want to hold her close and never let go.” He sniffled a bit. “Sorry, that was probably kind of weird for you.”

  “No, Finn, it’s fine. I understand what you’re going through. But listen, I really need to get moving. Just promise me you’ll take it easy on yourself. She’s only been back among the crew less than a day. It’s a lot to take in, and she’s dealing with a lot of things besides seeing you again. Let her process it all. Give it time.”

  “Thanks, Daisy. You’re the best,” he said, giving her a hug, then slowly walking away down the corridor.

  “We need to do something about this,” Sarah said.

  I couldn’t agree more. We just can’t be too obvious.

  Daisy started walking again. She already had one more stop before heading back down to Earth, and a new task had just been added to her list.

  “But I don’t want to hang out up here,” Sarah whined. “We just kicked the aliens’ asses. I wanna go revel in our victory and taste the spoils of war!”

  “You’re ridiculous,” Daisy said with a laugh.

  “Genetics, sister of mine,” Sarah shot back.

  “Touché. But seriously, it’d be really good if you hung around Dark Side a little bit. Get to know everyone you haven’t already met. And also catch up with the ones you do know from the Váli. Things have changed a lot since they all thought you died. It might do you well to re-bond with them.”

  “Ugh, you’re not pushing Finn on me again, are you?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  Not helping, Sarah.

  “Well, he’s a good dude.”

  “Not happening, Other Me,” Sarah replied to herself.

  “Fine, be a spoil sport.”

  “Fine, I will,” she shot back to her disembodied twin.

  “Stop bickering, you two. I swear, it’s enough to make me want to stop wearing this stupid neuro-band altogether,” Daisy said, her hands jokingly moving to the band tucked in her hair.

  “Whoa, not cool, Daze.”

  “Yeah, what she said.”

  “Ugh,” Daisy said with a sigh. “Fine. But seriously, you should at least spend some time and get to know Shelly and Omar. They’re good people. And I also asked Fatima to talk to you.”

  “Sharing your guru, eh?”

  “She helped me more than I ever realized, and I was thinking, with her help, you might gain better control of that arm.”

  “I have plenty of control of my arm.”

  “I mean in the way Freya was talking about. Like when you made it shift shape. Imagine if you could do that all the time just by thinking about it.”

  Sarah considered the possibility.

  “Well, that would be pretty cool,” she admitted. “Okay, I’ll swing by and have a pow-wow with her. Worst-case scenario, I get some tea and a nice bit of meditation out of it.”

  “Cool,” Daisy replied. “Oh, and if Arlo comes back before I do, don’t mention time travel at all.”

  “Duh.”

  “And i
f he wonders where you came from, just say you were away on a run to Earth when he arrived and you got back to Dark Side after he left, or something.”

  “Don’t worry, Daze, I can improvise just fine.”

  “I know. Sorry. I just––there’s a lot going on, is all.”

  “You’re doing great, Sis. Now, get out of here before I change my mind and make you take me along.”

  Daisy knew better than to reply, instead turning on her heel and booking out of there before Sarah could indeed change her mind. Fifteen minutes later she had gathered Tamara and Chu for the trip and was comfortably strapped into her seat aboard Freya on a direct course for Los Angeles.

  Freya had only touched down briefly in LA before dusting off again with their VIP passenger aboard, but in her short stay, she had once again charmed the young Chithiid of Maarl’s encampment.

  “The youths are quite taken with your ship,” Maarl said, admiring her sleek interior as she carried them up the coast to San Francisco.

  “She’s a very social one, that is for sure,” Daisy noted with a warm laugh. Maarl joined her, his eyes crinkling merrily, glad for such pleasant company.

  “I am indeed pleased that your scientists have been making headway on understanding, and hopefully recreating, the Ra’az warp technology,” he said, nodding toward Chu, who smiled and nodded back, not having a clue what was just said. “While we do possess their old equivalent, it was a massively underpowered technology and would take us years to reach their fleet utilizing it.”

  “I know, but the new tech could warp your ships there instantly. All we’d need to do is have a little distraction so they don’t notice the new vessels in their ranks.”

  “Which should be easy enough to accomplish if we time our arrival correctly. You see, smaller contingents of ships peel off from the main fleet to scout other planets. All we must do is watch and wait for such a window of opportunity.”

  “Then you jump in with the same number of ships, mimicking their ident codes, and you’re in.”

  “Precisely,” he said, looking over Freya’s interior arrays. “She truly is magnificent. If only we had technology of this magnitude on all our ships. The battle would be over in an instant.”

  “But my girl’s one of a kind,” Daisy noted.

  “Well, two, if you count Marty. He’s very similar tech.”

  I know, but no need to tell Maarl about that just yet.

  Freya, though capable of making the trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in minutes rather than hours, was taking the scenic route along the coast, flying low enough for her passengers to enjoy the view on her monitors.

  “Hey, Daisy, wanna see something cool I’ve figured out?” she chirped.

  “Speak Chithiid, Freya. We have company.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Now what did you want to show me?”

  The floor beneath their feet suddenly turned transparent, the waves below them as clear as if there were nothing separating them from the long fall.

  Maarl jumped a little at the unexpected shift in view.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Freya said. “I should have warned you. I just thought it was cool, is all.”

  The grizzled Chithiid let out a hearty laugh.

  “Oh, you marvelous thing, I appreciate your apology, though none is needed. I find myself rather enjoying the unusual view. But tell me, how did you achieve this?”

  “Well, I built the ship with the help of nanites, so we––”

  “Nanites? What are these?”

  “They’re like tiny machines that join together to make bigger things.”

  “Like cells, then?”

  “Yeah, you could say that,” she replied. “But mine are able to shift their form. I’ve been trying to get them to adapt to different colors, kind of like active camouflage, like what I was hoping they’d do for Sarah’s arm.”

  “Whose arm?”

  “Nothing,” Daisy interrupted. “Just a repaired injury to one of our crew.”

  “Ah, I see,” Maarl replied.

  “Anyway, I had them act like fiber optic lenses. Or maybe a monitor screen. I don’t know which is the better analogy. In any case, they’re now showing what’s outside, as if they were a window.”

  “Really cool work, Freya. But next time, let’s warn our passengers, okay?”

  “Righty-o!”

  “Oh, dear Lord, has she been talking to that crazed AI ship?”

  I hope not. But if she has, I hope that’s all she picked up. Kip was more than a little too fixated on toast for my taste. And that’s from a woman who likes the stuff.

  “When we arrive at the facility, you will want to land at the area closest to the water. That is where my friend has set up his camp,” Maarl directed as they neared San Francisco Bay.

  “Not inside?”

  “No. He was forced to live indoors all those long years, so he is now spending his newfound freedom enjoying the view of the water and the fresh breeze it affords him.”

  They set down just outside of the makeshift encampment soon after, Freya barely stirring the dust as she lowered to the ground.

  Tamara was glad to stretch her legs, while Chu was almost sad his ride aboard the amazing ship was over.

  “She’s so cool, Daisy!” he cooed.

  “Thanks, Chu!” Freya replied.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Daisy agreed.

  “Sorry, Freya. I didn’t mean to talk about you like you weren’t there.”

  “No worries. We were talking in Chithiid while you were there, so that was kinda rude too, I suppose. But hopefully we’ll have some modified neuro-stims set up to speed your language learning curve.”

  “Hey, someone’s coming,” Tamara warned.

  Indeed, an old Chithiid, even older than Maarl, was slowly making his way toward them. Maarl waved his four arms in greeting as he drew near.

  “Most excellent to see you, my friend,” he said warmly.

  “Likewise. And are these your scientist associates?”

  “That one is,” he said, gesturing to Chu. “He has plans and diagrams from the Ra’az. Many captured items from the warp facility. All he needs now is your help deciphering them.”

  “One of the many tasks we face,” he replied. “We still must learn to override the Ra’az kill switches on our ships, and even our gauntlets, if possible.”

  “Daisy believes she can accomplish those tasks,” Maarl replied.

  “Perhaps. But it is an alien technology, and a difficult one to understand at that.”

  Daisy, understanding all that was said, turned to Tamara.

  “Hey, power up your whip and move some stuff around.”

  “Why?”

  “All of theirs are locked. I want to show them we can make them work.”

  “Why not use yours?”

  “I’m still working on it,” she replied, uncomfortable at the in-between place she’d still have to go if she wanted to use the formerly anger-driven device. “I don’t want to do a half-assed demo, is all.”

  “Oh, all right,” Tamara said, raising her metal arm.

  “You may wish to observe this,” Daisy said, just as the whip beam played out from her friend’s metal arm, moving debris around the area before retreating back into its housing.

  The Chithiid were stunned.

  “You integrated that into human technology. How did you do this?”

  “It was something I figured out some time ago,” Daisy replied. “The point is, I am confident in our team and their abilities. If you can help us recreate these warp orbs, we should be able to make your fleet, as well as your gauntlets, functional and free of Ra’az controls.”

  “As always, you surprise me, Daisy,” Maarl said with a warm laugh. “Now, let us determine how best to proceed.”

  “We start working on the tech right here. Right now,” Daisy replied. “Chu and Tamara will stay here to work on the project. Once you put together a team of tech-savvy scientists, we will then prep them
for space travel and bring them to Dark Side, where our lab facilities are already hard at work on the problem.”

  “Our people, to the moon base? I do not know how many will volunteer, now that they enjoy the freedom of fresh air.”

  “Tell them it’s a chance to kill the Ra’az,” Daisy suggested. “I have a feeling that may sway more than a few of them.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “These are really cool!” Freya’s voice said through the multi-limbed mech that was examining one of Arlo and Marty’s small satellite surveillance units in Hangar Three, turning it over for study in its composite grasping apparatus.

  “Thanks. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out,” Marty replied.

  “I mean, this is a really, really clever design. And the way you routed the power inputs to drip-feed an energy cascade via solar re-charge is so freaking sweet. Totally out of the box thinking,” Freya gushed.

  “Aww, thanks. I mean, I guess they’re kinda cool like that,” Marty said.

  You hear that? Freya’s embarrassing the guy.

  “An embarrassed AI. Who’d have thought?”

  She does get a little carried away at times. And she is pretty much a super-genius, so I guess I can see how a fellow AI could be a little overwhelmed by the attention.

  “Yeah. It’s kinda cute, two powerful ships and both a little bit awkward.”

  Deadly but cute, you mean.

  Arlo watched with great interest as Freya’s mech spun and examined the recording satellite with its strong, yet delicate appendages.

  “Big spidery thing doesn’t freak you out?” Daisy asked.

  “Nah, I’m used to mechs,” he replied. “Back home we used to design and make all kinds of ’em for fun.”

  “Really?” Daisy said, surprised.

  “Excuse me, Arlo,” Marty interrupted. “Freya has uploaded her antivirus packet into this satellite. You wanna give it a go and see if the immunization worked before we do the rest?”

  “Sure thing, bud. You do the honors.”

  “Okay. Here it goes,” he replied. “Sid, whenever you’re ready.”

  “Sending the transfer now,” Sid replied, a very-firewalled hardline from his sequestered storage systems releasing the AI virus into the little satellite.