New Frontiers- The Complete Series

by Jasper T. Scott

“How?”

  “I managed to resuscitate you, but you didn’t wake up, so I rushed you to med bay and hooked you up to life support. While I did all of that, we made it to the safe zone. The Adamantine was badly damaged, but not disabled. The fleet picked up our crew and our fighters while I piloted the Adamantine back to Earth from the auxiliary bridge. She’s still in Sakamoto Shipyards being repaired. By now the repairs should be close to done.”

  “Close to… we lost the bridge and more than thirty decks off the prow. How long was I out?”

  McAdams looked away and stared at the holoscreen, watching as a dog jumped up and caught a Frisbee thrown by its owner. “Looks like a nice place to visit. I wonder what mindscape that is…”

  Alexander scowled. “Commander, I asked you a question.”

  She turned back to him, and her smile faded dramatically. “You’ve been in a coma for the past six months, Alex…”

  Chapter 22

  “Six months?”

  McAdams nodded.

  Alexander blew out a breath, taking a moment to process that. As his shock faded, he asked, “What did I miss?”

  McAdams launched into a quick summary of events. Tensions between the Alliance and the Solarian Republic were at a standstill with both sides preparing for war, but not yet doing anything to engage in it. The Solarians still denied their involvement in the attacks on Lunar City and Earth, while the Alliance insisted the Crimson Warrior contained irrefutable proof. No one outside a few top-ranking military and government personnel had been allowed to see the alleged proof, but the media had run those stories all the same.

  The Gulf impact crisis was mostly over with the death toll up to fifty million worldwide. All the fires had been put out, so impact winter wasn’t a concern.

  People were moving from above-ground apartments and homes into automated habitats underground—if you could call a cluster life support tanks with 24/7 Mindscape connections a habitat.

  Mindsoft began construction of the first one as soon as laws were changed to allow full-time Mindscape connections, and then construction companies all around the world had followed their lead. Now, over a billion people were already enjoying the safety and peace of mind afforded by their new accommodations, with another seven billion expected to move into automated habitats within the next six months. Dolers, more than any other demographic, had gone for automated living. But a few of the world’s rich had decided to take temporary leave of their real-world activities. What better way to stay safe from subsequent attacks? To further entice the independently wealthy, luxury versions of the underground habitats were being built using embedded holoscreens and simulated outdoor spaces to create the illusion of above-ground living.

  Alexander blew out a breath and shook his head. “Pretty soon the world as we knew it is going to be one giant ghost town. Bad time to be invested in aboveground real estate. Must be worth pennies now.”

  McAdams nodded. “The government is auctioning off old housing projects as quickly as people vacate them.”

  “They must be desperate for money.”

  “Actually I don’t think so. Automated living isn’t financed by the government, so they’re saving a lot of money, even if you just count savings on utilities.”

  “So how do the dolers afford it?”

  “Renting a life support tank is dirt cheap. It actually saves them money, too, because they don’t have to worry about buying food or clothes or anything else for that matter—just one flat tank rental fee.”

  Alexander snorted. “I guess everyone wins, then. Maybe the Alliance had a motive to attack itself after all.”

  McAdams regarded him curiously.

  Alexander explained, “You and I both know the president lied about the Solarian involvement in the attacks.”

  McAdams quickly glanced over her shoulder to make sure that they were alone. Seeing that they were, she turned back to him and whispered, “You really think our own government attacked us?”

  “I can’t prove it, but there seems to be some fringe benefits for them.”

  “Not enough to outweigh the money they’ve spent on disaster relief. Besides, whatever surplus they have now is going into building new fleets and refitting the old ones. Sakamoto Shipyards are working around the clock.”

  Alexander shook his head. “Clearly we don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet. I need to get out of here so I can investigate.”

  McAdams reached for his hand and squeezed it. “You need to rest and recover.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “I don’t care. It’s not your job to solve the world’s problems. You need to look after yourself. It’s okay to be a little selfish sometimes.”

  Alexander frowned. “Talking like that, you’re going to make me wonder if there’s something you’re not telling me. Please don’t tell me you’re part of a conspiracy.”

  McAdams’ eyes flashed. “Don’t be stupid! I almost lost you, Alex. That’s all.”

  Alexander nodded. Feeling a familiar flicker of something, he smiled and said, “When I get out of here, I’m going to take you out someplace nice. In the real world.”

  McAdams looked wary. “What about your wife?”

  “My wife?”

  “Catalina.”

  He shook his head, not getting it. “What about her? I haven’t seen her in years.”

  “Maybe you should.”

  “Where’s this coming from?”

  “Alex, you’re not even legally divorced, are you?”

  Alexander frowned.

  “I didn’t think so. You need to get closure with her. If you still want to take me to dinner after that, let me know. We’ve got at least another month to wait before the Adamantine is done with her refits, so we’ll have plenty of time to see where you and I stand before then.”

  Somehow she’d seen straight through him. There was no point denying his romantic intentions. “I’m going to hold you to that, Viviana.”

  She nodded and squeezed his hand again. “You’d better.”

  * * *

  Alexander didn’t have trouble tracking down Catalina. All it took to find her was a quick search of the net. She was living in a Human League district of the City of the Minds. And, she was a Human League Senator, of all things.

  I guess a lot can change in five years.

  “Here we are—45 Mulberry,” the driver of the taxi announced as he pulled the hover cab to a stop in front of a gated driveway.

  Alexander ran his wrist over the sol scanner in the back. A green light flashed on the device and a pleasant tone sounded. He frowned at the hefty fee—$59.50—that flashed up on his ARCs. Human-driven taxis were a lot more expensive than self-driving ones, but they had a monopoly on transit to and from League districts. Self-driving taxis weren’t allowed.

  “Thanks,” Alexander said as he climbed out of the cab.

  Walking up to the gated entrance, he touched the buzzer. While Alexander waited for an answer from the holocomm, he admired the grounds of Catalina’s estate through the bars of the gate across her driveway. Leafy green trees stood hunched over the lawn, guarding her home from view.

  The holocomm sprang to life and suddenly Alexander saw his wife standing in front of him, a hologram projected over his ARCs. She looked every bit as beautiful as she had the day he’d met her more than forty years ago.

  “Alex?” She looked and sounded shocked to see him.

  He was equally shocked to see her. Her hair wasn’t artificial blond anymore, but her natural brown, likewise for her eyes. She must have set her ARCs to show the natural color of her irises—a mesmerizing shade of chestnut.

  At the sight of her looking like that Alexander experienced a flash of old memories—the day they’d met, their first kiss, the proposal he’d spent weeks planning on a shoestring budget… their simple courthouse wedding, and the fiesta her family had thrown for them afterward on her grandparents’ farm.

  Alexander mustered a smile, but it only made it halfway up t
o his eyes. “Caty,” he said.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Can I come in? We need to talk.”

  “Ah, sure, give me a moment…”

  The gates swung open and Alexander walked up the driveway. As he walked he caught glimpses of her home between the trees. It had no less than three floors with corinthian columns flanking a high entrance, and there were gleaming walls of floor-to-ceiling glass everywhere. What is it they say about people who live in glass houses? he wondered absently, shaking his head. Looks like you got along just fine without me, he thought with a bitter twist of his lips.

  Before he even reached the over-sized doors in the entrance, they swung open, and Catalina came striding out. She wore a skin-tight silver dress that shimmered in the sun and showed off every curve. Slits in the sides revealed bare legs as she glided down the stairs toward him. The dress somehow managed to be equal parts sexy and sophisticated, but not at all what he would have expected from an Alliance senator. They reached the bottom of the stairs together. Alexander stopped, but Catalina kept walking and enfolded him in a warm hug.

  “I missed you,” she breathed close beside his ear. His heart warmed, and she withdrew to an arm’s length, her eyes searching his. “Where have you been all this time?”

  “Where have I been?!” Anger swept away any warmth that might have been there a moment ago. “You were the one who walked out the door!”

  “To go after our son. I went looking for him to explain why we never told him about his father, not because I was planning to leave you for Dorian.”

  “So why did you? You didn’t call, you didn’t text, and you sure as hell didn’t come home. I lived there without you for an entire year before I finally decided to sell the house and leave,” Alexander said.

  Catalina took a step back and regarded him incredulously. “After the fight we had, can you blame me? You were the one who should have contacted me. When I said I was going to go find Dorian, with or without you, you told me to go! And good riddance. You said all I ever did was hurt you, so I thought, stupid me, that maybe you meant it, and maybe I shouldn’t hurt you anymore.”

  Alexander scowled. “I was angry. You always took Dorian’s side.”

  “Because you were always too hard on him!”

  “I was hard on him, because I didn’t want him to turn into a shitless asshole like his father. Do you know what a shitless asshole is good for? Nada.”

  Catalina blew out a breath and shook her head. “You always had a way with words. I thought you came here to apologize, but no. Same old Alex. Proud as a peacock and nothing to show for it.”

  Alexander frowned. “Don’t put this all on me!”

  “No, you’re right. That isn’t fair. It was both our faults. We spent over ten years waiting to be together. When we should have been newly-weds we became pen pals, and when it was all over we were a pair of strangers, and you were stuck raising someone else’s son. Maybe we could have worked at it and got to know each other again, but instead we gorged ourselves with virtual fulfillment in the Mindscape like everybody else. We had a chance, Alex, but we threw it away. Why do you think I joined the Human League after we separated? The Mindscape ruined us.”

  “You mean you threw it all away,” he said, righteous indignation making him see red.

  “Yes, I cheated, but I apologized, too. I spent years apologizing. I tried to rekindle the romance, to make you feel desired and appreciated, but instead of responding, you pulled even further away and spent even more time in the Mindscape.

  “By the time I went after Dorian, our marriage was an empty husk. You get back what you give, Alex, and after I cheated, you used that as an excuse to never give me anything ever again. So yes, when it came time for one of us to prove to the other that we still cared, of course I wanted you to be the one who came running.”

  Alexander gaped at her, unable to argue or agree. Too many hurts had piled up on both sides for too long. Now those hurts stood between them like a mountain, too high to climb or see past.

  “I guess there’s nothing left to say then,” Alex said in a toneless whisper. He felt numb.

  “I guess not,” Catalina said, and crossed her arms over her chest. “If you didn’t come to apologize, then what did you come for?”

  Alexander stared at her a moment longer, memorizing her beautiful face, imagining for a moment that the mountain wasn’t there between them, that they could wipe the slate clean and start again, a new life, a fresh start… but deep down he knew that was naive.

  “I came to give you this,” he said, producing a small disc-shaped holoreader from his pocket and handing it to her.

  She accepted the reader with a frown and activated it. A divorce petition sprang to life, hovering in the air above her palm, along with a holographic lawyer—a bot.

  “Hello, I am here to assist you with your divorce. Please read each of the issues in the petition carefully and provide a clear verbal response. You may also choose to provide an explanation for each answer you give.”

  Catalina sneered at the bot, no doubt annoyed that she wasn’t dealing with a human instead. She looked back to Alexander. “What is this?”

  “I’m filing for divorce. There aren’t any issues to contest. I’m conceding all of our possessions to you. I put them in storage after I rejoined the Navy. You’ll find the details in the petition. All you have to do is indicate your agreement.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  Alexander glanced up at her mansion and half-smiled. “I guess I don’t. You can leave what you don’t want in storage, and I’ll come back for it someday.”

  “We’ve been separated for years. Why now?”

  “I met someone.”

  “I see…”

  “My XO, Viviana McAdams,” he explained. “We’re serving on the same ship again.”

  A muscle jerked in Catalina’s cheek. She knew all about his history with McAdams. “That’s where you’ve been? In the Navy?”

  He nodded.

  “And she makes you happy?”

  He hesitated before nodding once more.

  Catalina frowned and scanned the divorce petition hovering above her palm. After a moment, she said, “I agree with all issues. File uncontested.”

  “Thank you, Miss de Leon,” the bot lawyer replied. “That will speed the process greatly. There will be a waiting period of 90 days, after which your divorce will be finalized if neither of you has a change of heart. You have my condolences for any pain this may have caused. Remember, divorce is a tragedy, but the greater tragedy is staying in an unhappy marriage.”

  The lawyer bot vanished, and Catalina passed the holoreader back to Alexander. She regarded him with a joyless smile and said, “I’m happy for you both.”

  Alexander detected the lie in that statement, and wondered if he should draw attention to it. “Thank you,” he said instead.

  “Goodbye, Alex.”

  Catalina started to leave, but then something else occurred to him. “Wait—”

  “What is it?”

  “There’s something else… it’s about the war. You’re a senator. I thought you might know something.”

  “I could say the same thing. You’re an admiral of the fleet.”

  “Well, I do know something, but I don’t know who it’s safe to tell. Can you keep a secret?”

  Catalina’s brow furrowed. “I’m a politician. That’s part of the job description. What’s going on, Alex?”

  “Is it… safe out here?” he asked, looking around her front yard.

  “Are you asking me if the trees are bugged?” she replied, amusement warming her voice.

  Alexander dropped his voice to a whisper and said, “President Wallace lied about the Solarians’ involvement in the attacks.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He lied. He doesn’t have proof that they’re the ones who attacked us.”

  Catalina’s eyebrows pinched together. “How do yo
u know that?”

  “Because I was the one who captured and boarded the ship that supposedly attacked us. I didn’t find anything on board to suggest their involvement, and I reported that back to Earth. Right after that we received newscasts from Earth of the president claiming we found undeniable proof of Solarian involvement aboard that ship.”

  Catalina gaped at him. “If that’s true, then you and your crew need to testify. You might be able to prevent a war.”

  “Maybe, or else we’ll be discredited as Solarian spies.”

  “You have a heck of a reputation, Alex. People will trust you.”

  “And what if we meet an unfortunate end and someone buries the story before it breaks?”

  “You think that’s even possible?”

  “You tell me. Why did the president lie? Maybe because the powers that be want this war to happen. Maybe they engineered it.”

  “If that’s true, then you’ll have to go somewhere safe until the story breaks…” Catalina’s eyes drifted away from his and she began nodding. “We’ll win a referendum after a scandal like this.”

  “You’ll what?”

  Catalina’s eyes found his once more. “It’s no secret we’ve been trying to declare our independence from the Alliance, Alex.”

  “What for? So you can start a war with them in fifty years’ time?”

  “No, so that we’ll still be around in fifty years. Bots are going to take over completely, Alex, and when they do, we need to still have enough of our independence left that we can do something about it. It’s survival of the fittest, and they’re so close to being the fittest that it’s terrifying.”

  “They’re not self-aware. When have you ever seen a bot do anything besides what it was programmed to do?”

  “All the time! They rewrite their own code as they learn.”

  “To do a better job. They can’t rewrite the low-level stuff, the rules that keep them from turning against us or harming us.”

  “You can argue all you like, but the writing’s on the wall.”

  “Yeah, I saw plenty of that writing on my way here,” Alexander said, thinking of the rainbow of graffiti he’d seen in the transition zone between the Utopian side of the City of the Minds and the League side.