Daughter Of Ethos: 0.5 - 1 - 2

by L M Lacee

  Suddenly the anger and pain were gone, and a choir of voices spoke to her. Hush, brave sister Melody. Our daughter will be with you again soon. Have faith in the abilities we endowed her with.

  Who are you?

  I am the Star Child. The Star Daughter, the one you know as Peyton is ours.

  How can you talk to me?

  We are using a filter.

  That is not really what I meant, but whatever. So what is a filter?

  Sunshoona.

  Huh! Alright then, that sort of makes sense in a weird kind of way. So as you are here, may I ask a question or two?

  If you must.

  The Entity sounded bemused and a little put upon. Melody grinned at the tone as she asked. Why are you called the Star Child?

  She felt a sigh blow through her mind before they answered. We are a combination of all that has come before and who are now and those who will come. Is that not what a child is?

  Yes, in a broad sense, I suppose it is.

  Laughter sounded in her mind. Your next question fierce Melody.

  Why do you say ours, when there is only one of you?

  Is there? We already said we are a collection of those before us and of those now and to come. To simplify, we are many; we talk with one voice or with many.

  Melody frowned as she went over the words again in her mind and knew she had been very gently rebuked.

  She groused. Well, okay, that seems as clear as mud! She heard another sigh, before they could say anything she stated. It seems I better read those histories the Warriors have as soon as possible.

  She felt their nod of agreement rather than saw it. Our Daughter chose her sisters wisely. Sister Melody do not fear, all will be well.

  Melody muttered. ‘It better be.’

  She was positive she felt another sigh before she knew they had gone. Grinning at the thought that she could piss off an Entity, supposedly billions of years old, amused her. Until she remembered why she had been talking to said Entity in the first place. Immediately she tagged Darby, Heather, and Hawk.

  She felt a headache coming on and laughed, she annoyed the Star Child, and they gave her a headache, seemed fair to her.

  While Melody had been conversing with the Star Child, Peyton had the new magnetic restraints the Warriors had introduced to Earth placed around her wrists. Which seemed strange as she was not under arrest but she did not quibble. If they felt more secure escorting a five- foot-three woman in restraints, so be it. The restraints were very nice, they barely weighed anything. She remembered Kerol had said they were impossible to break out of and could only be released with a code. She wondered if they would give her a set so she could find out what kind of metal they were made from and how they were constructed. After all, it would be a good way to apologize for placing them on her. Looking around at the hard faced guards, she thought maybe not, she would ask Kerol or Willian for a set to look at.

  Seated in a land vehicle on her way to a shuttle, several miles from her town. She was a little intrigued as to why the Ambassadors felt it necessary to send so many soldiers to arrest one small woman. Her ascension to Star Daughter had not been made public, only Commander Roeah, the three Warriors with him and her sisters knew. She was sure the traitor she suspected they had, did not know, so why the show of arms. She decided it must be for the Warriors benefit, she could think of no other reason.

  Of the twenty-four soldiers, only two were men the rest were women. It was very telling, Melody and her soldiers had been dismissed because women should never be Warriors, and here she was surrounded by women. She guessed once the Warriors had deserted, Ambassador Jenerika had gotten over his revulsion in having female soldiers in the army.

  She knew all Melody’s soldiers were with her at Runnerdale, and as far as she and Melody knew the women dismissed from the forces overseas were in hiding. Awaiting the call to let them know it was time to leave. Melody or her friend Netta would have heard if any of the women had been forced to serve in the new military, so these appeared to be new recruits.

  It seemed Commander Roeah was right when she asked him days ago, what he thought they would do for an army now he and his Warriors were gone.

  He had assured her where there was a will, there would be a way. As Peyton looked the women over, it begged the question who had the Government enticed to serve or were they all conscripted. Sadly she wondered if it was what the women felt they had to do to survive, she hoped it was not.

  They all wore a uniform somewhere between the Warrior’s sleek black one and the fatigues of Earth’s army, making them appear shapeless figures. Every one of them wore a military buzz cut, which did nothing for them other than make them appear as though they were pretending to be soldiers.

  Once in the shuttle, her captors seemed more relaxed. Peyton couldn’t see why they would be. She almost smiled thinking that the Warriors should not be these soldier’s first concern, that place should be reserved for Melody and her sisters. That thought kept her calm and appearing outwardly at least unworried, even when the officer told her in a voice that aimed for sinister and missed by a mile.

  ‘We are transporting you to an undisclosed facility at an undisclosed destination. Do not try escaping.’

  Peyton dipped her head in acquiescence as she replied. ‘Furthest thing from my mind. I mean, I am not under arrest or anything, right?’

  His answer was a grunt and a look at the only other man on the shuttle who shrugged in return. Peyton leaned back in her seat as the shuttle lifted off. Annoyingly it was her first time flying in one of these crafts and she was under arrest. Really, it was so unfair.

  She should have taken Kerol up on his offer of a flight last week, when Melody and the others had gone for a ride. That way she would have been able to ask questions and see how the shuttle worked. She sat back and decided to enjoy the experience.

  After what she thought had been about ten or fifteen minutes of travel, they arrived at their destination, an underground tunnel. Once the leader and most of the soldiers had exited the shuttle, it was then Peyton’s turn to disembark. But before she could stand she was nudged in her shoulder with a rifle.

  She looked up at the woman who stood taller than her and had a nasty puckered scar running down her face. With a leer at Peyton, she poked her again, harder this time. Annoyed, Peyton let flames enter her eyes as she stood. The woman stumbled back from her, grabbing the arm of a muscular woman and asking. ‘Did you see that?’

  ‘See what? You crazy bitch, I saw nuttin’ you been on the shosole again?’

  Shosole, Peyton knew, was a new drug making its rounds on Earth and the name was slang for stolen soul. The drug literally created madness and eventual death in just about everyone who used it, whether that use was days, weeks or months. It was highly addictive and always fatal in one form or another. Meaning if the drug did not kill the user, they would eventually become brain dead. Hence the name, stolen soul, and some said with their souls stolen they became killers.

  Unfortunately, the drug did not work well for extended use with human anatomy, or so Heather had ascertained. When she received a sample to find out what it was supposed to do and what it actually did.

  The drug was said to strengthen muscle and cognitive sharpness. It was rumored that when it was taken, it enhanced all the senses and stimulated brain activity. Bringing to light abilities humans didn’t even know they possessed.

  Darby was positive it was produced off world. She was also convinced it was distributed at the Jenersar Ambassadors insistence. Although there was no proof for her suppositions, she just said everything pointed to him.

  The scarred soldier snarled. ‘No, I swear, her eyes had flames in em.’

  Peyton raised an eyebrow and quirked her lips at the other soldier, as much to say is she crazy.

  Annoyed, the huge female soldier said to the scarred soldier. ‘You shut up.’ Then she pointed her rifle at Peyton and motioned her with it, barking. ‘Move!’

  Peyton steppe
d from the shuttle only to enter a tunnel and climb into a small ground train that looked like a long submarine. The trains were electric and ran on one rail; they were fast, smooth, and noiseless.

  The scarred soldier stood with her eyes glued to Peyton, who stood several feet from her. Straps dangled from a pipe that hung suspended from the ceiling, apparently the army decided their soldiers did not need seats.

  Once settled in the tube, no one offered to take her restraints off, forcing her to stretch up to hold on to the strap as best as she could. Usually, they were adjustable, either they were not working in this section or no one knew how to make them work or maybe they enjoyed her discomfort. Regardless, no one other than her swayed as the train moved. Obviously, Peyton thought, the army did not bother to maintain their trains and rail, probably because they had shuttles now, it was a shame the shuttles didn’t go underground.

  If the train was maintained as it should have been, there should have been little to no movement of passengers, no swaying or stumbling about like she was doing. Finally, annoyance got the better of her and the cuffs dropped from her wrists.

  Every person looked down at the melted restraints lying on the floor and then back to Peyton, who now stood flat-footed with one hand holding the strap and the other braced on the half wall next to her. She raised her eyebrows at them and said. ‘It’s better this way.’

  It seemed her voice spurred them into action as all hands left their straps and grabbed for weapons. The scarred soldier muttered to the soldier next to her.

  ‘Told you.’

  Before the officer could issue orders to shoot or something else just as stupid. The train came to a jerking halt, sending all but Peyton, who had remained holding her strap to the floor. When the doors opened, she stepped over the officer and exited the train and was unsurprised to see that Thanikis Jenerika. Jenersar’s Ambassador to the Coalition of Planets and recently to Earth was waiting for her.

  He looked her over and smirked as he dismissed her with his eyes, causing Peyton to smother a laugh at his attitude. Waiting with him was a male who Peyton knew was the newly elected Earth Ambassador to the Coalition, Ian White.

  Didn’t she feel special? She thought as she waited, while her captors sorted themselves out. That was not the case for the Ambassadors, they seemed to be unimpressed with the soldiers. Tight-lipped the Earth Ambassador motioned two of his guards, men of course, to escort Peyton into the building.

  She looked neither left nor right as they entered and walked down the long underground corridor. Cement walls surrounded her, causing an intense feeling of suffocation to overtake her, for a few seconds she was paralyzed with fear. Then she realized it was not her, but the essence of what made her the Star Daughter, which responded to being underground.

  The guards guided her toward an interrogation room. It was very hard to ignore the Ambassadors scathing orders to the officer and his soldiers behind them. She did not hear the soldier telling them about her eyes or how she had removed the restraints. She would have laughed if she had seen the looks they received and the softly spoken curt orders for them all to report to medical by the embarrassed Earth Ambassador.

  The guards showed her into a room that Peyton was sure in a previous life had been a large storage closet. There was no window, and the walls were reinforced cement block. It had a table and four bolted chairs, all made of iron, of course.

  They looked cold and uncomfortable; she wondered if all interrogation rooms looked like this. Maybe it was just the army. She would have to ask Melody.

  When told to sit, she asked. ‘Any chance of coffee?’ The looks she received from both males said definitely no. ‘Shame.’

  Sighing, she looked both males over as they stood either side of the door, they were not young or inexperienced. Both looked like they had seen enough of life to know what was right and wrong, and yet they were here. She was puzzled it seemed wrong for soldiers of their years to be doing this.

  Taking a chance, she said casually as she looked at the opposite wall. ‘In case you were wondering, the reports of General James death are incorrect, she is alive and well. She is my friend and on behalf of her, I ask, why are you serving here? You have to know, our Government is selling women. Why are you turning a blind eye to what they are doing?’

  She turned her head and stared at them both. The soldier on the left looked at the one on the right and received a small nod. In a soft voice, the first soldier replied. ‘We are pleased the General is alive, we never believed the virus could get her and Ma’am you assume we are doing nothing about it?’

  Peyton’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, I apologize, it was a case of jumping to conclusions.’

  He nodded and whispered. ‘Don’t worry about it; we understood that would be what people would think when we took this assignment. Miss St. Hill, don’t worry, we won’t let them hurt you.’

  She smiled. ‘Thank you, but I can take care of myself.’

  They both looked at her doubtfully, but there was no more time to talk as the soldier who had not spoken, quietly said. ‘They are on their way.’

  Peyton gave a nod, then wiggled on the hard chair and closed her eyes. She spent a few minutes looking into the vast knowledge of information; she had been gifted with from the Star Child and found what she needed. Slowly and methodically she added to the shield which protected her mind and was again unsurprised that she seemed to have a thin barrier already. She wondered if every human had the same. The thought crossed her mind that maybe she created it when she was young, or maybe it was because she had always been more than human.

  Regardless of why or how, she added to her shield, making it resilient against intruders. Reasoning if she could mind speak, then it seemed more than likely the Warriors could and as they were supposedly modeled after the Jenersar people. Then Ambassador Jenerika had to be able to. So she strengthened her shield while she hoped Melody was okay and had reached the others.

  TWENTY-EIGHT:

  Melody was pacing the lounge of their home when Heather and the others finally appeared. She told them without preamble. ‘They came and took her, Government soldiers. She said we have to implement oh boy. Also, we have a traitor. Is that even possible? Did you know she can talk to you in your mind? And the Star Child talked to me and said she would be fine and not to worry… I am worried.’

  They both hugged her as Heather assured her they were worried too. Darby walked into the kitchen saying as she went. ‘Yes, it is possible we have a traitor. We cannot check everyone’s credentials and intent when arriving here. Stop worrying, we will find whoever it is and we will find Peyton as well. Oh boy, will be up and running shortly.’

  Heather announced. ‘Good, I am making tea.’

  The Warriors had explained tea was the most common beverage in their Universe, apart from alcohol. Which seemed to be as plentiful as it was on Earth, more so Kerol thought. He also told Melody that every world made tea and alcohol differently and all alcohol was made at different strengths. There were worlds where the citizens could become inebriated by the strength of what Earth referred to as soft drinks. On other worlds, Earth’s strongest alcohol was like water. It all depended on the people’s tolerances.

  When queried by Darby as to what he meant, he had explained. They had sampled all of Earth’s alcoholic beverages and found them interesting, but hardly strong enough to be worth drinking. When Heather had asked about wine, he had told them until coming to Earth; they had not tasted such a beverage, but they thought it was a nice refreshing drink.

  Heather had nearly lost her composure as she ordered Peyton to make sure they took wine with them, and then she pointed at Darby and demanded. ‘Who do I talk to about grape vines?’

  Darby had also been unamused. She made Peyton promise to make sure she got enough whiskey for her and Melody. Peyton had promised and then mumbled it was not whiskey she was worried about, it was her beer.

  Darby had stamped her foot and growled. ‘Whiskey, do not forget.’

>   Peyton instantly made the calls, then Kerol had said that each world had its own form of fruit juice or favorite drink. Water was always in demand, and not all planets had as much as Earth.

  Lukkas told them that even if a planet had an abundance of water, there was never a guarantee that it would be as clean as Earths. This was why the Warriors always carried a personal filtration unit.

  Coffee they had explained was a totally new beverage, one they had only ever tasted on Earth. Kerol had said in passing, that he was doubtful it would ever be as well liked as tea, unlike hot chocolate or just chocolate milk. Which the Warriors had discovered and craved almost as much as the women.

  The three sisters had made the Warriors swear to never tell Peyton that coffee was not readily available in their Universe.

  From the day Melody had found out about there being no coffee on other planets. She had delegated some of her soldiers and women from all over the world to buy and load containers with every conceivable type of coffee they could find. Fear of Peyton without caffeine was a real living thing, so far no one who had met or been in contact with her. Complained about time spent on computers or shopping for the product. Although an equal amount of time was spent obtaining chocolate for the women and Warriors. A world without either did not bear thinking about or so Heather was heard to say often.

  Once Darby had been made aware of this fact, she contacted a fellow scientist. A botanist, Nina Jones, to insure she knew it was important to include in her collection of plants. Coffee, chocolate and grapevines.

  She had assured her she had been contacted already by Heather about the vines as for the coffee plants. It seemed Peyton was not the only one to drink coffee. She told Darby she and several of her team were working with a few Warriors on a way to grow coffee and chocolate plants in another environment. Nina had also been working on a hybrid coffee plant. Which she was packing with her other experiments and every conceivable plant, tree, flower, grass they could lay their hands on. Everything and anything was being stored in stasis containments for the trip.