Entry Twelve

Entry Twelve:

            The carrier stopped briefly aboard a floating station in the middle of the vast Sea of Poseidon eight hours into their flight to refuel. It was an Arms controlled outpost and they were not allowed to disembark while their flight crew was changed. It would be another twelve hours before they would arrive at their destination. Jackie had fallen asleep in her seat with her head resting on Gavin’s shoulder while the Generates remained awake. Since Kylie’s confession, there had been an awkward silence amongst the group. Somewhere before they reached the outpost they had passed the group of islands where Conner was supposedly hiding. The signal, curiously, had not gotten any stronger as they approached, a fact which Goldie and Video had relayed to a representative from the Arms they were in communication with. There were still elite kill teams on foot combing through the islands while they were blockaded by air and by sea. They had reportedly found a number of shelters Conner could possibly have used, but most looked untouched. A fishing boat anchored off the coast of one bay had been confiscated and it’s crew questioned, but they had no information and permission to be in the area. The carrier had given the islands a wide berth in case they were at risk, but there had been no activity as they passed over.

            “What is she to you?” Deborah whispered to Gavin all at once. The others weren’t paying much attention and gave no mind. Kylie was in the bathroom and Deborah had slunk over to take her seat next to Gavin.

            Gavin looked over to see that Jackie was still asleep. “She’s important,” Gavin said at last.

            “Is she important to you?” Deborah pressed.

            “Of course,” Gavin said. “I can’t rightfully say anything beyond that. I’ve only known her for a few days. That goes for the rest of you too. No offence,” he added after a moment. “We’re all friends, of course.”

            “Of course,” Deborah said. “I think even Kylie is warming up to me, and I’ve done nothing but antagonize her.”

            “You think that’s a smart idea?” Gavin nodded to Fredriks as he looked up from his wrist unit, but Fredriks seemed disinterested and only smiled before returning his attention to the video he was watching.

            “I don’t know if I want her as a friend, or an enemy,” Deborah admitted. “She has resources to things I need, but how she’s gotten them makes me uneasy.”

            “It makes everyone a little uneasy,” Gavin said.

            “Back to you and Jackie, though,” Deborah steered the subject, “do you understand what she is?”

            “A Princess? I don’t know what you mean,” Gavin said, confused.

            “She’s half-Generate,” Deborah told him quietly. “Half-Norm. It shouldn’t even be possible, given the discrepancies between our two species and realities. Have you never given a thought to that?”

            “Not really,” Gavin admitted. “Should I have?”

            “Take a look at her bandage,” Deborah prompted.

            “What? Why?” Gavin looked at it.

            “I mean take a look under it,” she nudged him.

            “Why?” Gavin was reluctant.

            “Trust me,” Deborah said into his ear.

            Gavin sighed and slowly reached out and peeled back the edge of the bandage between Jackie’s eyes. She stirred a little, but didn’t really wake up. Gavin was shocked to see nothing but a faint scar and dried blood. He had seen Conner gash her face, and he imagined that the wound would be with her for many days. He carefully replaced it, which caused her to flutter her eyes a little and scratch her nose above where the bandage was placed. She looked up at Gavin quizzically for a second before shutting her eyes again. Gavin waited breathlessly for her to go back to sleep. “She’s healed,” he said at last.

            “Look at yourself now,” Deborah told him. “How’s you ankle?”

            “It’s fine,” Gavin admitted. He’d forgotten about his run-in a few days past.

            “It shouldn’t be,” Deborah shook her head. “If you were a Norm, you’d be crippled. That’s a Generate trait, Gavin. Jackie shares it. She’s not fully human, but she’s not really one of us, either. She ages normally, but heals quickly. She’s an absolute oddity.”

            “Does she know?” Gavin asked her.

            “I don’t think anyone knows,” Deborah admitted. “She’s a link between two species and two universes.”

            “We’re not different species,” Gavin argued.

            “We’re not even supposed to be able to co-produce,” Deborah explained, “as Generate have more chromosomes. That makes us a different species.”

            “Then how did Victor manage it with the Queen?” Gavin wondered.

            “He had a little help from Kylie,” Deborah whispered. “She said she made him have a procedure. Now I don’t know what that was, but if I can get a hold of her D.N.A., I could probably reverse engineer the basics.”

            “Well why don’t you ask her for a sample?” Gavin asked.

            Deborah shook her head. “I’m too nervous.”

            “She’s not as mean as she looks, Deborah. Just ask her nicely. You’re sitting right next to her, after all. She can probably hear you,” Gavin said, which made Deborah jump a little, but Jackie gave no sign of having heard. Fredriks, however, was watching them with some bemusement. Kylie exited the bathroom, and came back to where her luggage was secured. Deborah smiled and nodded at her blithely as she reached above her head. She found and opened a packet of rations and then took a seat in the far corner five seats down from them to eat. Gavin noted that Kylie made it a point to eat a small meal or snack every four hours, even when she was up late, although she could go far longer without food. Gavin imagined it had to do with the baby.

            Once Deborah was certain that Kylie was more interested in her snack than their conversation, she continued. “I’ll ask later,” Deborah promised. “If we can unlock the secrets of her D.N.A., it might help our species survive on this planet. If we can’t reproduce, our species will go extinct, Gavin, and we don’t have the resources to create our own Generates from scratch. There’s other benefits as well that could directly benefit the humans of New Gaia. We could boost their immunity to disease and find the cures to any number of ailments, including old age. We could make it so a situation like Plague Earth never happens here. With enough time and resources, the possibilities are practically endless and I’m not bound by the Corps rules of non-interference. I’d need your D.N.A. too,” she added, “but I’d have to give you a physical first.”

            “Why’s that?” Gavin asked suspiciously.

            “Kylie said she did something to you before you were born,” Deborah said, “and that you’re fertile. If that’s true, you’re the only one of us besides Kylie that can reproduce.”

            “As long as you’re not going to do anything as invasive as you just did to my privacy,” Gavin muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck where his node was. .

            “It’s a simple procedure I can do with a few accessories and my wrist unit. It’s painless and harmless, I promise you,” she assured him. “Although I’d like to run additional tests on Jackie. I’d be interested to see if Jackie’s healing extends to regeneration.”

            “Regeneration? Isn’t that just the same as healing?” Gavin asked.

            “Generates can regrow lost limbs. Obviously, I wouldn’t go so far as to cut off her hands,” she laughed. “All I’d need would be a small skin sample,” she explained.

            “Wait, we can grow our arms back if we lose them?” Gavin was shocked.

            “Yes. Why do you think they call us, ‘Generates?’ We can regenerate,” Deborah elaborated.

            “Then Jackie’s father…” he realized.

            “He’ll grow his arm back as good as new,” Deborah told him. “It should already be starting to bud. Sometimes they can grow back deformed, though, which would concern me. I hope that he has a good doctor,” Deborah pursed her lips and tapped them thoughtfully

            “Does Jackie know?” Gavin looked down at her.

            “I don’t imagine, although it’s a possibility. They are father and daughter and I’m not privy to what they talk about with each other. It wasn’t covered in his biopic. Victor made no mention of the difference between Norms and Generates. It’s fairly standard with Norms not to brag about our superiority. We wouldn’t want to make them feel inferior, and Victor has his role as King to think about. As far as I can tell from records, no Generate from A-6 has ever checked into a hospital on New Gaia. They’re blissfully ignorant about our genetic abilities,” she said.

            “Conner wouldn’t have known,” Gavin thought to himself. “He cut off his father’s hand not knowing it would grow back.”

            “I don’t understand his actions,” Deborah sighed. “I had always imagined that the family bond was stronger than anything, but I guess I ignored human history.”

            “How do you know so much about all of this?” Gavin thought to ask. “I thought you were a Researcher.”

            “With a specialty in medicine,” Deborah added. “Everyone has a specialty. Video already told you his specialty is communications. Goldie’s an expert hacker. Even Lance has a specialty in military history, making him practically an overgrown Researcher. I couldn’t tell you about Fredriks, or Lara, though. Even you must have some special field beyond piloting.”

            “I wouldn’t know it, along with half of what I’m supposed to know,” Gavin replied. “I’ve grown a little, but I’m still clueless about most everything.”

            “It doesn’t show,” Deborah patted him on the knee.

            Jackie’s hand snaked out and grabbed Deborah by the wrist and held it in a vice-like grip. “Do you care to explain what you’re doing with my future King?” Jackie asked as she rubbed her eye with her free hand.

            Deborah was able to break free with a little difficulty. “Nothing,” she rubbed her sore wrist. Everyone was paying attention now. “I was just complimenting him.”

            “I bet,” Jackie said doubtfully as she stretched and yawned. “Looks like we’re here,” she said and nodded to the cockpit, which helped break the tension. Gavin could feel the slight shift as they began their descent. A red light went on by the rear bay, and Gavin could see the ocean subside and the desert begin through the cockpit window. He put his hand over Jackie’s knee in anticipation, which made Jackie smile.

            “This is it, losers,” Kylie said as she dropped her tray of food. She bounded over to her luggage again and drew out a strange weapon that snapped over her wrist unit. It fit around her entire wrist over the unit itself and was banded, with a long stem that extended past her knuckles and formed a barrel. “Time to gear up.”

            “Gear up?” Gavin protested. “We don’t know how any of this stuff works. I don’t think I even know how to use a gun.”

            “Just…” Kylie sighed and put her hand over her face in disappointment. “Just try and look tough, okay? Seriously.” She pulled out a strange looking device that looked like an egg with spider legs and threw it to Fredriks. He caught it, then puzzled over it for several seconds before putting it in his hip satchel. Lance was given a gun that weighed half of what he did, which stretched up his arm to a padded brace that fit over his shoulder. The barrel of the gun itself was wider than his mouth could stretch. There were three magazines inserted into as shielded fitting. The brace had shield that protected the side of his face by his shoulder with a scope that flipped out over his right eye. He had to use both hands to lift it, and still had to struggle. Gavin knew by the look of it that he could barely hope to pick it up.

            “Isn’t this a bit much?” Gavin asked as she gave Lara something that looked like three swords strapped to two shotguns. “Conner’s still at the islands. Plus we’re heading into a military base with more armed men than we have bullets, who probably aren’t too keen on us going in loaded.”

            “That’s a good point,” Lara said as she looked at the weapon. The jagged blades pointed upwards along the barrels and stretched out past the nozzles and were made of a clear blue crystal. The holster stretched from her hip past her knee.

            “We came here to kill a man and claim what’s ours,” Kylie told him. “I brought the weapons to do that with.” She opened a package on the crate and pulled out what looked like a simple pistol. It was no longer than his hand from the heel of his palm to his fingertips and silver. It was little more than a cylinder with handle. She looked it over then looked at him. She put it back in its leather holster and then slowly handed it over to him expectantly.

            “What’s this?” Gavin said as he took it out and looked it over. As he turned it in his hand, Kylie instinctively ducked to the side and put her hands up.

            “Careful with that,” she told him. Her worried look didn’t subside until he put it back in its holster and buckled it to his belt. “These are just precautions. That reminds me,” she dug deeper into the pallet of goods and brought out a wrist unit and tossed it to him, then looked at Jackie for a moment and found another for her. “They’re basic units. Nothing preloaded. You can use them to communicate, though, and to track each other.”

            Jackie strapped hers on then got her pack. She tied it to the back of her hoverbike and donned her black Arms helmet then patted the seat behind her for Gavin. Gavin accepted it after slinging his pack over his back. He could feel the turbulence building up as they drew lower to the ground. They were practically skidding along the sand dunes. He held on tight to Jackie, and she gave a daring look at Deborah, who didn’t know what to make of it. She tried to ignore Jackie as she donned her heavy pack and held onto the top rail for support. Jackie revved up her engine and it filled the interior of the carrier with a humming noise. Gavin strained to look past her shoulders and saw a low built structure in the distance as the carrier slowed down. Jackie flipped down her visor, but kept smiling at Deborah. They cleared a high fence marked by numerous watch towers, that seemed to stretch on forever, then approached an airfield. The carrier positioned itself above a landing pad then touched down gently. The guards at the rear of the carrier waited for confirmation from the pilot to open the hatch.

            They led the way out the back of the carrier as its engines died down and it settled on its props. Jackie started up her hoverbike in earnest and detached the cables holding it down. She slowly backed it out of the carrier and turned it around before dismounting. Gavin was a little disappointed, as he expected a longer ride.

            Outside of the carrier, they were greeted by a group of five soldiers standing at attention with a man in a uniform that was a dark suit with a yellow shirt and a badge pinned to his breast and a black beret. He had a thin-trimmed white beard without a moustache and a stern disposition. He stood with his arms folded behind his back and legs straight and together. Beside him was a man with an unkempt beard and a curly mass of hair. He was rather tall, and wore sandals and slacks with an untucked T-Shirt sporting the name of a band underneath an open long sleeved shirt that billowed in the warm wind coming out of the desert. Kylie saw this man and let out an exclamation of surprise. She bounded down the ramp and squealed in delight as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the bare patch of his cheek. She nestled her head in against his shoulder and hugged him tight.

            “It’s good to see you,” the man said. “Until Victor called me, I thought we’d never meet again.” The officer in the front of the group looked at them out of the corner of his eye while his posture and expression remained unchanged.

            “It’s good to see you too, Kevin,” she said as she pulled back a little to look him over. “You look terrible. I mean you let yourself go. How did you get fat?”

            “I’m not fat,” Kevin protested, looking down at himself. He didn’t actually look fat to Gavin, but he didn’t have the same perfect physique as the other Generates he’d met. The rest of the crew slowly emerged out the back. There was a transport cart waiting for their luggage. Lance eyed the group of soldiers watching him warily as he emerged with the enormous gun he was carrying. He was very carefully to aim it away from anyone, with the barrel lowered, and he immediately placed it on the cart quite delicately.

            Jackie got off of her hoverbike and walked up to the officer in front. She saluted him sharply as she stood at attention, and Gavin did the same. The officer returned her salute. When she took off her helmet, the group of soldiers standing behind them immediately bowed. “Princess,” the officer said. “To what do I owe this honour?”

            “I’m reactivating myself, sir,” she informed him as she tucked her helmet under her arm.

            “You don’t have the authority to do that, your majesty,” he replied as he pulled a device out of his coat pocket. He tapped at it for a second and then replaced it. “You’re still on medical leave and you don’t have the clearance necessary to make it back into the ranks.”

            “With all due respect, sir, I’m more than capable of serving my country,” Jackie said firmly.

            “At ease, soldier. That goes for the lot of you too,” he snapped back over his shoulder at the men and women still bowing. “This isn’t the palace. I may be short-handed out here, but an injured princess isn’t going to help me win any wars. I’m going to have to waste men guarding you.”

            “I don’t need a guard detail,” Jackie responded, “and I’d like to keep my presence here under wraps. Please sir, I just want to serve.”

            The man laughed. “Impossible. By this time it’s probably already plastered all over the news feeds. No, I can’t force you out of my base with the Presidential clearance you have with you, but you’re not about to serve in my ranks in your condition.”

            Jackie looked a little despondent, but nodded, “Yes, sir.”

            “And which one are you?” his eyes snapped over to Gavin.

            “Gavin Dales, sir,” Gavin held out his hand to shake. The man looked at it and kept his arms behind his back.

            “General Arthur Ford,” the man replied as he surveyed the others. “We’ll take your belongings to the quarters we have set aside for you. I expect you want to see your ship.”

            “Yes, sir,” Gavin replied eagerly. Jackie donned her helmet once more as the general turned and led them across the field. There were a few hangars, a fuelling station, and planes lined up, but Gavin couldn’t see the Aurora. There was one squat building that was connected with a flight tower. General Ford led them to this while their gear was towed to another entrance by one of the soldiers wearing a worker’s variation of the uniform. Two guards let them enter the building and they came into a room that looked like the lobby to an office building. Ford led them to an elevator at the rear of the room while a secretary watched them pass by. Two more guards were stationed outside the elevator. Gavin noted that there were no windows in the room at all and the elevator itself was located behind a thick wall that seemed to serve no purpose other than to place a barrier between the elevator and the front entrance. The elevator itself was oddly placed. From the outside, it looked as though they were on the first and only floor of that level, unless they took the long hall down the right that led to the flight tower. Here, General Ford had to show his clearance badge and sign a register with one of the guards who stood at a podium. Only after was the doors opened, and they climbed onboard. The elevator itself and the door were spacious, allowing all of them inside. The soldiers turned back to the lobby, however, leaving them by themselves with General Ford.

            The elevator descended swiftly. Gavin noticed that the all-steel finish of the elevator had no visible controls. General Ford looked upwards at a camera aimed down at them. After what seemed like an unusually long time, the elevator stopped, and the doors slid open, revealing a vast cavern.

            “Welcome to Sub-Sector,” Kevin waved his hand. The cavern was lit by numerous suspended lights along a steel grate walkway. To the one side of this walkway were workstations and offices cut out of the red-hued rock. To the opposite side was a vast chasm that. Water flowed from a hydro-electric dam on the far end of the chasm and descended into absolute darkness. The roar of the water made it quite deafening. Opposite the dam was a rail station leading upwards out of sight at a steep angle. Over the chasm itself were three steel platforms forming a bridge over nothing. On the middle platform there was the Aurora. Above it was a large crane that could swing to reach the damn and the rail station. “This is a natural cave system, with all the fresh water you could want. The Arms have been building it up as their base for nearly a hundred years since it was discovered during a survey. We’re deep enough in here that no bombs could ever reach us. The dam over their powers everything and the rail station leads up to the surface. The car’s wide enough to carry entire tanks up and down. Further up the rail there’s apartments and storerooms. We have enough supplies to last us a ten-year siege if we have to. Just don’t fall off the side. Seriously, it’s happened. They didn’t spare much to make the rails,” Kevin warned. “I conduct most of my research here.”

            “Have you cracked her open yet?” Kylie didn’t seem particularly impressed by the set-up, while Lance gawked around.

            Kevin shrugged. “It would have been a matter of time,” he said. “I couldn’t lock down the passcode, but I have my system working on it. Frankly, I have better things to occupy my time than to play around with your old clunker.”

            “My clunker?” Kylie snapped. “Do you know how much work I’ve had done on her?”

            “A lot, I remember,” Kevin said dismissively. “I also remember that she was never anything to crow about back on Last Point. Maybe that’s why nobody ever took a good look at her hull. Anyway, why are you Pilots always so defensive about your ships? Is it because you’re not allowed to have babies of your own?”

            “Do you want me to mock your research projects?” Kylie snapped back irritably.

            “My research projects are above reproach,” Kevin replied. “I’d have a prize by now if these philistines believed in rewarding earnest scientific endeavours.”

            “If you two are done, and believe me when I say you are, I want this bird opened up so my men can make use of it,” General Ford said.

            “So we can make use of it,” Kylie corrected him. His expression went immediately darker.

            “Yes, I’m aware of what the President offered you in exchange for your services,” General Ford said after a moment. “Make no mistake that this bird is staying where it is, though, and when you’re done with your business it will belong to me.”

            “Like you’d even know what to do with her,” Kylie scoffed.

            “Kylie, please, it wouldn’t do to make the General upset,” Kevin warned. “Although it happens quite often. Here,” Kevin flashed his badge at the guards posted by the bridge over to the platform. As they walked over the expanse, Gavin couldn’t help but look down. Deborah, walking beside him and Jackie, followed his gaze, and immediately grew queasy. She reached out to steady herself against Gavin’s arm, and Jackie laughed at her. Deborah retracted her hand once more and cleared her throat before moving on.

            Kylie shooed away one of the workers milling about the Aurora before surveying her. “There’s not a scratch on her, not that we could,” Kevin assured her as she went around once. Kylie mainly ignored him as she continued her search. Satisfied, she stopped by the rear foot and entered her command into her wrist unit. The doors opened and the platform descended. “Hurrah,” Kevin said somewhat sarcastically. “I suppose now I can stop running my hacking program.”

            Kylie walked up the ramp into the hull and breathed deeply, as though it were fresh air. “I’ve got my baby back,” she said mostly to herself.

            Gavin looked around suspiciously, as if expecting to find something hiding in the corners. “I’ve had them start work on a fuelling charger. Should be complete in a couple or years or more,” Kevin said. “I assume you already know about the situation with the reality barrier? Even with more fuel, this thing isn’t going anywhere fast.”

            “I know why we can’t get back to our universe,” Gavin said, “but did you try breaking through into another?”

            Kevin shook his head. “Didn’t work either. It’s like someone locked all the realities. I’ve gone over countless theories and the only thing that ever made sense was direct interference. Someone is doing this on purpose and the resources they have must be literally infinite. Once I realized that, I stopped working on the problem.”

            “You gave up so easily?” Deborah was a little disappointed.

            “Not because the problem was difficult. It was. I stopped because I knew that if I were successful in breaching the barrier, then whoever’s doing this would turn their eye on me and this world, and that’s bad news for everyone. I can’t create a defence unless I know what we’re up against, and I won’t know that until they’re already set upon us. They could wipe out our plane of existence without batting an eye, for all I know,” he gave a little shudder.

            “I’m going to boost our scanner with the ship’s systems,” Goldie said as she went over a console in the Navigator’s seat. Lara went with her to help her access the controls.

            “So where’s the loot?” Gavin asked as they crowded around the ship.

            “Right under our feet,” Kylie explained. “Here,” she tapped her wrist unit once more and the floor began to slide away. Gavin was a little surprised. He could not even see the seams before they opened. He had to quickly hop out of the way as the floor beneath him disappeared. Deborah was likewise caught and nearly fell into the opening, but Gavin caught her by the arm and pulled her back. Jackie frowned at the two of them as they regained their balance.

            The opening ran the expanse under where the two cargo pallets were placed. Inside, as Gavin peered, he saw an area that filled the entire foot of the ship.

            “To think this is all undetectable,” Kevin said as he admired the cargo. Most was secured under netting, but there were a few loose items. “This is what I’m interested in,” Kevin said as he dropped down the short ladder. He crouched down in the shallow chamber and scuttled up to a box. The chamber itself was teardrop shaped and the box was fixed in the corner. “I couldn’t believe it the first time you showed me this,” Kevin said as he opened up the top panel. He removed a tablet device and held it over the controls inside. “This scrambler is probably worth more than all the weapons you have in here. I should thank you, Kylie. I based most of my scrambling tech on this and now it’s used across New Gaia. It’s made me a rich man.”

            “Scrambling tech?” Deborah asked. “Are you the reason why we can’t get a signal of this area?”

            “I had a hunch you were the one responsible,” Kylie said. “These cave men don’t have the know how to make that kind of tech on their own. My scrambler is a hand-me-down from another dimension. It’s specifically designed to jam scanners like the ones we use in the Corps. It’s what makes my secret stash invisible, but it can also be used to play hell with GPS, satellites and other communication systems. I’m surprised you were able to find a way to copy it.”

            “I was only partially successful,” Kevin admitted. “After all, I only had that one opportunity on Plague Earth to really get a good look at it. The system I came up with takes an incredible amount of power, unlike yours, which runs on batteries. If I can take a closer look, I could miniaturize my tech so that the average soldier could carry it with him.”

            “Knock yourself out,” Kylie shrugged. “There’s no use in hiding it anymore. Did you mention you were rich?” she added with some interest.

            “Very much so,” Kevin admitted, “but I spend most of it developing new projects. Since the Arms are my biggest buyers, they let me use their resources to cut down on costs and in exchange they get first pick. Too much of what I developed in the past seemed to make it into Rebel hands, like my scramblers. Everyone out here in the desert has scramblers, so everyone’s pretty much blind.”

            “You’re saying that all this world’s scrambling technology came from you?” Deborah asked with some curiosity.

            “You’re welcome,” Kevin said as a reply without looking up

            “I only ask because Prince Conner apparently has possession of scrambling technology far in advance of what you have on market,” Deborah said. “That would mean he either expanded on your tech and made his own upgrades, or he had help.”

            “Well he didn’t have any help from me, that’s for sure,” Kevin looked up. “I ran through the videos they sent over of the attack, but I can’t make heads or tails of it. The only thing I’m clear on is that there’s a sudden tech gap, and I intend to bridge it, starting with this scrambler.”

            “Where’s your wrist unit?” Gavin said as he noticed Kevin didn’t wear one.

            “I reversed engineered it out of existence,” Kevin said as he pulled a small tool out of his shirt pocket. “I used it in different inventions, and never really saw the need to put it back together or market it. Wearable gadgets had already gone out as a fad here on New Gaia.”

            “Guys,” Lance said to them and motioned towards the cockpit.

            Gavin wandered over with Jackie and Deborah. The rest of his crew had squeezed themselves into the small cockpit, with everyone crowded around Goldie and Video. Goldie pointed at her monitor. “Now, I’m getting a lot of interference here with the scramblers, but I’ve started to isolate the signal by overriding military satellites.”

            “You might not want to mention that so loudly,” Gavin cast a glance back at General Ford, who was trying to make sense of the ship. He had brought in two researchers to scan the interior.

            “I’ve definitely pinpointed the location of your wrist unit, and it’s on those islands. Once I narrow it down, I can give the exact coordinates to…” Goldie stopped as something on the screen began to bother her.

            “Let me try,” Video offered as he leaned in and adjusted the image. “The satellite imagery is sharp enough to pick up individual people. We can keep track of everyone on the islands.”

            “Except this is where your unit it,” Goldie focused on a point. “I think I can almost see it.” She was showing him the image of a sandy beach. She kept zooming in until the camera picked up a faint glint. “I think that’s it. It’s just… lying there in the sand.”

            “He left it,” Jackie said breathlessly.

            “I did,” a voice said. Gavin looked past his shoulder as Conner poked his helmet around the pilot’s seat and smiled at them.

Entry Eleven

Entry Eleven:

            “What’s she doing here?” Kylie immediately asked when Jackie came onboard. The President had sent an Arms transport carrier that was mainly used for shipping troops. It was long and short with a circular hoverjets mounted at four corners These were still humming as the carrier idled and waited for it’s passengers to board. Inside, there were rows of seats along the walls, with a long corridor down the centre where their gear was strapped to pallets. What little space there was at the rear of the row was take up by Jackie’s hoverbike. She had wanted to load her father’s as well, but there simply wasn’t enough room. Upon discovering her bike parked in the driveway, she had looked it over cautiously but could find nothing wrong and eventually complimented Gavin on his flying.

The carrier looked as if it could carry about fifty people. The entrance was through the rear cargo hatch where two soldiers stood and bowed as Jackie walked by. The carrier was parked outside the main door where it stretched across the wide driveway. The whole vessel was painted a hazy purple to match the dusk sky while the inside was dull grey and poorly lit. There were no windows along the sides. The only view to the outside world was in the cockpit, where a dome stretched outwards from floor to ceiling. The ceiling itself was little over five-feet tall. Lance, who was over seven-foot, was particularly miserable and had to occupy two seats next to Goldie and Lara.

            Gavin unslung his pack and stashed it in the overhead, noting that Kylie was sitting next to Deborah by themselves, while the rest of his crew sat opposite and down a ways from them. Jackie came up behind him and glared at Kylie, as if daring her to complain. She was carrying her own gear and had donned her black Arms uniform, complete with yellow stripes across the breasts. She was the most heavily armed person in the group with two sidearms, a bandolier with ammunition and three grenades and a rifle. She had all of this in her room, Gavin discovered to his discomfort. The grenades had been in her sock drawer. She had drawn her hair back as tight as it would go into a bun and hadn’t put on any makeup.

            “Jackie wanted to come along,” Gavin said to Kylie at last as he took a seat next to her and buckled himself in.

            “This is our mission. You can’t bring your girlfriend along,” Kylie argued without looking at Kylie. Jackie was carrying a large duffel bag which she had refused Gavin’s help with, along with the help of her own servants who were seeing her off. Moriss wasn’t present, as she was visiting at the hospital. She deposited it in the overhead with some effort and sat next to Gavin. Once she was seated, the two soldiers accompanying them came in and closed the bay doors.

            “Jackie has the most combat experience and actual military training,” Gavin said in her defence.

            “It didn’t do her any good last night,” Kylie retorted.

            Jackie leaned far forward in her seat to look at Kylie. “Do you want to say that again?” Jackie challenged her.

            “How are your injuries?” Deborah quickly cut it to break off what she assumed would be a fight.

            “They’re not as bad as hers are going to be,” Jackie said as she sat back in her chair.

            “Ladies, please, there’s no need to fight,” Fredriks tried be to tactful. He was leaning forward with his arm resting on his knee. He was the only one of them who was growing stubble. Upon reflection, Gavin realized he looked older than any of them, while being the same age. Even Kylie, at 47, was younger looking. It wasn’t particularly anything other than the shallowness to his jawline and his more protruding brow that made his entire head seem like a triangle. Even the way his hair was styled and slicked back gave this impression.

            “We need to focus on the mission,” Gavin told the two.

            “Our mission was to secure A-6,” Deborah said mostly to herself in a mutter. “Now look at us.”

            The carrier gave a jolt as the pilot got consent for clearance. They’d been informed the journey would take several hours. Without windows, they wouldn’t be able to track their progress except by using their wrist units, which Goldie and Video were immersed in. Goldie assured them that at their speed they would reach their destination before Conner, who had stalled somewhere along an island region. Gavin was relieved by this news, as it proved that Conner might not know where the Aurora was being kept. They had contacted the President directly with Conner’s location, and he had sent in a team to investigate. The islands themselves were considered uninhabited, but were still a part of their country. Their deal was still in place even if Conner was captured or killed prematurely.

            “How far along is your training?” Kylie asked as she idly read news reports on her unit.

            “How do you mean?” Gavin asked as he leaned back and tried to get comfortable on the hard seats.

            “Could you fly the Aurora if you had to?” Kylie asked him without looking up.

            “I could probably do alright inside the atmosphere,” he claimed. “Outside, though? I’m still clueless. I can’t get my head around the warp system, either. If I had to dock it, I’d end up with a pile of scrap.”

            “That could be good enough, for now,” Kylie mused. “You’re further along than I thought.

            “Goldie has the others loaded up,” Deborah mentioned. “They’re not noobs anymore.”

            “Maybe I should unlock the specs for the weapons we’re packing,” Kylie suggested as she went into a menu on her unit. “These are what we have with us, and this is what we have on the Aurora.”

            “Those… are illegal,” Deborah said as she looked at the file that opened up on her unit. “Like city-destroying illegal.”

            “These have no practical application,” Lance complained as he looked over the specs. “Something like this one could wipe out everything in a three-mile radius. Even then, we don’t know the conditions of Conner’s shift suit, along with its make and model. He could still emerge unscathed.”

            “I never said we had to use them, I’m just showing you what we’ve got, and what could be used against us if things go wrong,” Kylie explained, casting a glance down at the two soldiers at the end of the aisle. There was a din in the carrier from the humming jets, and she practically had to shout.

            “This was wildly unethical for you to bring along,” Deborah shunned her. “Trafficking in this kind of weaponry could land you a lifetime on a prison planet.”

            “Tell someone who doesn’t know and might care,” Kylie said snippety. “I’ve been carrying these hauls my whole life, which is considerably longer than yours, First. This is just a sample of what I could have brought. A ‘demo,’ if you will. If we’re trapped here, we can always try to sell them off to the President and retire nicely.”

            “I’ll do nothing of the sort,” Deborah argued.

            “Suit yourself,” Kylie shrugged. “There’s more profit in it for me.”

            “They’ve already been confiscated,” Fredriks pointed out. “I doubt we could sell them at this point, if that’s even an option.”

            “It is,” Kylie assured him. “Not even someone like Kevin would know how to use these babies. All you have are the specs with none of the hands-on know-how. Lance is a Soldier, and he’s probably clueless. Besides, each one of these is specially locked. I’m the only one who knows how to unlock them.”

            “Alpha-Delta-Omega-Zeta-Epsilon-Alpha, Texas,” Gavin recited.

            “Okay, so I’m the only one with the genetic code to unlock them,” Kylie said after a moment of shock. Gavin slowly held up his hand then pointed at himself. “What?” Kylie asked him, but then it slowly dawned on her. “Okay, so Gavin and I are the only ones who can unlock the weapons. My point is that these munitions are game-changers, but at the end of the day they’re just toys for boys. They’re more for show than for blow. Half of them would kill you the second you pull the trigger. That’s why we can’t just hand them over. We’d end up with a crater as wide as the ocean the moment our gracious hosts decide to take them for themselves.”

            “Can you try and explain how you came into possession of these arms?” Deborah said as she went through the list a third time. Over three-quarters aren’t even from out home dimension. Possessing even one of them qualifies as war-crime.”

            “You want me to sit here and tell you my life story, is that what you want? Because we’re not at that point in our friendship yet,” Kylie told her.

            “Friendship?” Deborah scoffed.

            “Yes, friendship. Or did you want to be enemies?” Kylie asked her pointedly.

            “I want to be enemies,” Jackie clarified.

            “No one cares what you want,” Kylie said flippantly.

            “My point is that you are obviously a smuggler,” Deborah said as she lingered on an image of a bomb. “And not one that particularly cares about her toils beyond the payday.”

            “That’s a fairly accurate statement,” Kylie admitted. “Yes, I’m as criminal as balls. Does that satisfy you, little Ms.Perfect?”

            “Once you’re in front of a war crime tribunal, yes,” Deborah said. “Do you know what this is used for?” Deborah displayed the image of a bomb.

            “That’s a classic,” Kylie complimented it.

            “It could kill millions,” Deborah stated flatly.

            “It could, but it won’t. Debbie, do you know how many nuclear missiles America and Russia had during the Cold War in our universe? How many of those did they fire? Those kinds of bombs are for show.”

            “Why don’t you ask Universe 7241-C, or Universe 1282-T?” Deborah asked her. “You don’t know what people are capable of.”

            “I know precisely what they’re capable of,” Kylie told her. “What they’re capable of doing and what they do are two different things. There are ten guns for every human alive and you’re still here.”

            “I didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone as despicable as you,” Deborah protested.

            “Then you didn’t think hard enough,” Kylie said. “I’m not even the worst. I could afford to be choosy about who I sold to. The gangs, rebels and armies who bought from me already had a fair-sized arsenal. One more bullet wasn’t going to add anything to the bloodshed. Most were just collectors, or resellers. Most of what I sold would never see any use beyond firing ranges and demonstrations.”

            “And the ones that did?” Deborah prompted.

            “Listen, I’m not a terrorist,” Kylie said irritably. “You’ve caught me and I’ll admit to being a smuggler and a very good one at that.” The crew exchanged uncomfortable looks at her admission. Jackie tried to gauge Gavin’s reaction, but it was resigned. “What is it that you think we do for a living? We’re traders. We exchange goods. To the public perception we deal in raw materials, but that’s a lie. We have all the resources we need at home. We’re mainly working with consumer goods, including weapons. In my private smuggling ventures, I could afford to be choosy about whom I sold to. As part of the Corporation, I never had that luxury. I’ve been ordered by Corporate to hand over their weapons caches to bloodthirsty warlords, who then used them to mow down the defenceless opposition, all in the name of cheap labour. As a smuggler, I could sell weapons to those hapless few looking to defend themselves.”

            “So you’ve played both sides of the fence and made a profit, and you think that makes you a Saint?” Deborah surmised.

            “I’m not Saint,” Kylie admitted. “I’m only saying I’ve done worse things while working for the Corps than I have behind their backs.”

            “You’re a traitor,” Jackie said plainly.

            “I’m an entrepreneur,” Kylie retorted. “I’ve done everything they’ve ever asked me to without resistance. That’s why I’m B-7. You think it’s easy, though? You want to know what kind of blood is on my hands? Why not ask your father about the things he’s had to do. You don’t get to A-6 without wetwork.”

            “My father’s not a killer,” Jackie strained against her seatbelt.

            “He’s killed,” Kylie shook her head at her stupidity. “I know he’s killed more than his share here on New Gaia for your pointless war. Don’t try and deny that. That’s probably a drop in the bucket from the operations he’s been on. Ever see him clean-sweep a planet?”

            “What?” Jackie was confused.

            Kylie merely laughed at her then broke out in a sob. She covered her face and wept. Gavin and Deborah looked at each other across Kylie’s hunched shoulders as she leaned forward against her shoulder restraints.

            Lance cleared his throat and said in a soft voice. “You and Victor both were on Plague Earth.”

            “It was over two years ago now,” Kylie said as she regained some composure and wiped a tear from her eye. “An alternate Earth was overrun by something called the M-Virus. It was an airborne disease that caused madness, then death in a matter of a few short weeks. The people infected with it became extremely violent before it ruptured the blood vessels in their brains. The entire planet was on course to being infected, with no hope of a cure. We originally stepped in to try and create a vaccine, but the size and scale of what was happening was too much to deal with and we didn’t have the time. The population had already gone from eight billion to two. The strange thing about it all was they were the ones who made First Contact with us. They had just reached the stage where their world was able to create holes in the fabric of reality. They had been able to send out a distress signal, and we picked it up by happenstance. We were there to help As Generates, we were the only ones immune to the virus.

            “With the situation hopeless, we’d been told to pack up and evacuate. The locals weren’t happy with that. There were riots. That’s when I first met Victor. Back then he was still B-12, same rank as me. He was still trying to hand out supplies as they were pelting him with rocks. I had to drag him out of there myself. We were boarding our ships when we were given the Final Order.

            “Now that they had reached the alternate reality stage in development, Corporate believed the threat of contamination slipping out of their universe was too great. We couldn’t just confiscate their tech and abandon them, because they still had the resources and knowledge to build more. Our influence had inadvertently advanced their science program generations and it wouldn’t be long before they could physically breach into our universe. We had to kill them.

            “We’d already been equipped with the weapons to do it. When we left Last Point, Corporate had told us it was for our protection. We thought they were for show, mostly, since the locals were in a blood frenzy. We thought all it would come to is firing one off in space to scare them into submission if it ever came to it. We never saw violence that bad on Plague Earth. Most of the militaries had already broken up. Those that were left were more interested in defending themselves from the hordes of plague victims than waging war. The disease was airborne, though, so even they couldn’t defend themselves. There were sealed bunkers full of dead.

            “The plan was for us to blockade the planet from orbit and just nuke it. The world had until the last ship was in space to live. That happened to be my ship, the Aurora. Everyone was horrified by the plan, of course. There were some that saw the merit in not letting them suffer, or alternately to protect our own Norm population. Victor and I weren’t a part of those groups. We saw how many of our own ships were already in position. Victor went so far as to suggest firing on our own men to stop them, but I talked him out of it. I think that when I first started to love him. I gave him a better plan. I told him we could smuggle out a small group of people onboard the Aurora and find another world for them to settle. Their world would be gone, but they’d still have their lives. We had already absorbed all of their history, culture and technology into our databanks. We could give them enough supplies and knowledge to create their own world. Problem was, time was running out. Victor went along with it, as well as Reginald from my own crew, Kevin from his, and believe-it-or-not, Donovan. We smuggled thirty-one people onboard. There was no time to be picky. There were different families, different races and different ages. Anyone we could grab. If we’d been smart we’d have picked them younger and stronger and more prone to survival in general, but they were clean and that’s all that mattered. Victor never thought to ask how I knew to hide them. I think Kevin guessed, but he never questioned. Reggie was the only one who was in on my second-job.

            “We left Plague Earth behind while Corporate barked at us on the communicators for being late to the party. We took up our position and…” she made a trigger finger. “There were twenty-two ships in total. It would only take about five with the load we were carrying to wipe out the planet. I was the last to shoot. Victor didn’t want me to carry the burden alone, so he put my hand over his when we pressed down on the trigger. That’s when I knew I loved him. By that time, our shot was wasted, but Corporate couldn’t punish us for non-compliance. Plague Earth was already a fireball. Two billion people were dead in a flash, along with all life on the planet. We’d committed global genocide.

            “I managed to find an Earth from my records that was uninhabited by human life, and we slipped away on our return to base to drop them off. They weren’t particularly grateful. One of them tried to choke Victor to death when they found out what we’d done, and he just stood there and took it. I had to punch the guy to get him off. We abandoned them there with enough supplies to last them a year. I still remember the little girl watching us leave.

            “Back home, Victor was commended for his charitable work and promoted to A-6 and we began our years-long affair. There were suspicions about our unscheduled rendezvous before reaching Last Point, but I paid off the right people with the right bribes. I was even able to sneak back to the New Earth where we left the colony with fresh supplies about two months later. Victor had wanted to come with me, but it would have raised too many questions from Corporate. What I was doing was risky enough. Only Reginald came with me on that run.

            “We found them. They were all dead. One have them had the virus, and it spread to the others. They probably only made it through the first month. They were the last of their kind, and they were gone. Reginald and I gave them a proper burial and went home. I couldn’t bear to tell Victor. It would break him. I doctored some photos and showed them to him, and he ate it all up. I told him how they had built their own little village and…” Kylie choked. “He believed me. I faked two more trips, and he sent me off each time with a kiss. I just sat in the Aurora in the middle of nowhere and drank.

            “I’ve still never told him. I think he thinks they’re still out there. Reggie was the only one who knew and he’s dead. The worst part about anything is that the only thing we did during that operation that was in any way moral would get us sent to prison if it ever got out. So yeah, I’m a smuggler and a murderer. The smuggling part is the only thing Corporate considers criminal. With infinite lives on infinite worlds, the only thing they care about is infinite profit.”

            “Why would my father not tell me about this?” Jackie demanded as she swallowed hard.

            “I guess he edited that part out of his books, along with me, and dozens of other operations where he had to get his hands dirty,” Kylie shrugged. “It’s not something most people would admit to. No one who ever went to Plague Earth talked about it, except Donovan, and Kevin and I were the only ones who’d talk to him about it. I think Donovan wanted to end it after that. He kept talking about how he saw their faces. He was going to volunteer to be sent to a prison planet. Volunteer. We talked him out of it mainly because we were worried he’d talk and we’d all get sent. You know what happened after all of that. I could blame myself for what he did, but there’s no understanding his actions. Conner probably did him a favour.”

            “Is any of this even true?” Jackie asked. “I can’t believe my father would be a part of something like that.”

            “It’s true,” Gavin rubbed the back of his neck where his node was. The information floating around in his head confirmed it. Lance nodded as well. As a Soldier, his training had apparently covered key military actions acted out by the Corps.

            “I…” Jackie shook her head and hung it. “I never knew. I think he tried to tell me once. He used to tell me a story at bedtime about a secret village far, far away.”

            “Please don’t tell him you know,” Kylie insisted. “He’s not as strong as you think he is. As for why I told you, I needed to get it off my chest. I need to get a lot of things off of my chest. The weapons I have can be used in many ways. Nothing I have on this list could cause the same level of destruction, but we have to be careful about how they’re used, and who is using them. We can trust this world’s government to an extent. They have powerful weapons, but they’ve never used their full force against the Resistance. That’s not to say they won’t in the future. Conner, however, is a wild card. We know he could only use them to harm countless people. The same goes for the Aurora. If need be, we have to be willing to take them both off of the board. We’ll either leave this world behind, or let them self-destruct if need be.”

            “Those options are on the table,” Gavin agreed, “but that’s as a last resort.”

            There was a murmuring between Lara and Lance, but Goldie interrupted. “The team the President sent in to investigate the islands has come up blank. Conner’s signal is still in the area, but they can’t locate him.”

            “Is there no way to isolate the signal?” Gavin asked.

            “No. It has something to do with this world’s scrambling technology. It’s more advanced than our own. The closer we get to the disputed territories where it’s being used, the less clear the signal will become. We won’t know where he is until he’s right on top of us,” Goldie admitted.

            “Well, then we can only hope we can stay ahead of him,” Gavin said.

Entry Ten:

Entry Ten:

            Jackie was lifted from her dark thoughts when a guard opened the door to the hospital room and her mother was escorted inside. Her mother was wearing the same style of outfit she preferred, which was a white business dress with no sleeves, a pillbox hat, heels and elbow-length gloves to match. She was carrying a small purse in her hand. She had taken off her makeup, and was looking older than Jackie ever remembered her looking. She could see the crow’s feet and laugh lines. Her hair mousy-brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, but there were grey hairs showing. She stood tall and straight, but she was diminutive compared to her daughter.

            Jackie rose to her feet somewhat unsteadily and gave an informal curtsey to her mother, as she had been trained to do as she was old enough to walk. For a moment, her mother merely stood there and looked her daughter over. They had barley seen each other during the past few months and they had spoken even less. Jackie had dyed her hair since their last encounter and she had received the gash across her face from her errant brother. A bandage had been attached to her face, but the wound was superficial.

            “Where are the nurses?” she asked as way of a greeting.

            They had a private room at the hospital, which was only fitting as their family had paid for the hospital itself. The entire room was done in a mosaic tile that her grandfather had favoured using mostly cream colours and violet. A similar motif could be found at the palace itself.

            “Tending to the other patients,” Jackie explained in a low voice as she fixed her hair. “They’re a little short staffed because of the attack. Dr.Ross is in the other room going over his file. No one here has ever had to treat a Generate before and they’re a little confused about his readings. He’s in stable condition. They gave him something for the pain, and he keeps drifting in and out of sleep. He has a slight fever, but his hear beat is strong. He’s weak when he talks and I can’t quite make out what he’s saying.”

            Victor was laid out on a down-covered bed with the remainder of his injured arm bandaged and propped up in the air. He was breathing slowly into a mask placed over his mouth. A monitor nearby kept a steady reading of his vitals. He was sleeping soundly and hadn’t stirred when the door opened.

            The Queen went to her husband’s bedside and he daughter obediently pulled up a chair for her to sit in. She remained standing while her mother put her hand over her husband’s remaining hand, which had several tubes sticking out of it. “Vic, can you hear me?” she was the only one who called him Vic, which he hated. “It’s me.”

            His eyes fluttered open slowly, but he didn’t focus on anything. He looked up at the mural on the ceiling of a meadow clearing. She sat in silence like that for a while, but Victor drifted back into sleep.

            “What did he say?” her mother asked her.

            “The doctor? He said that he expects Victor to make a full recovery. For now he just needs his bedrest. They didn’t even have to operate on his arm,” Jackie explained.

            “I meant your brother,” she clarified. “What did Conner have to say?”

            “I…” Jackie shook his head. “He was erratic.”

            “What did he say?” she pressed her a little more sternly.

            “What does it matter?” Jackie grew defiant. “He’s a madman, mother, who speaks only in lies.”

            “He’s your brother,” the Queen fixed her with her eyes.

            “Half-brother,” Jackie corrected him. “If that. I’ve disowned him, mother. Perhaps now you’ll do the same.”

            “Am I to give up on my son?” she asked her. “Then what of my daughter?”

            “What are you saying?” Jackie was horrified. “I’ve fought for this country, not against it like that terrorist.”

            “I have two children,” she told her, “and neither is fit for the throne. Can you imagine my shame?”

            “Your shame?” Jackie’s mouth was slack. “Mother, I know you’re upset, but listen to yourself.”

            “No, it’s time. You’ve gone too far with your dalliances. I could ignore the tabloids so long as I didn’t read them, but now your face is everywhere. You think I didn’t hear about your exploits at home while I was away? I was told you shot up a police station.”

            “That’s being too dramatic,” Jackie protested. “All I did was fire off a gun.”

            “And you think that’s becoming of a future Queen? Jackeline, my husband and your father is lying on this bed. His arm is missing. Who led him to this?” she held up her hand inquisitively after sweeping it over the form of her husband.

            “This isn’t my fault,” Jackie insisted, although deep inside she felt guilty and her voice faltered.

            “Then whose is it? Is it that boy you were with? What is his name? Why was he with you?” she demanded.

            “He’s Captain Gavin Dales,” she explained. “He came to help rescue our father, along with his crew.”

            “Rescue? You mean steal him from me. Your father always told me that the Corporation might come back for him and that he could be tried for abandoning his duties,” she explained, “and you were helping him? Are you that eager to be rid of him?”

            “It’s not like that,” Jackie tried to reassure her. “Gavin only wants to help us. It’s hard to explain.”

            “Donovan was in the Corporation with your father, just like this Gavin Dales, and look how that turned out,” she said as she gave Victor’s hand a squeeze. Victor murmured and stirred before falling back to sleep.  The Queen listened to Victor intently, but he didn’t make another sound. “I saw what the news had to say about this Gavin. That he’s your new boy toy,” the Queen said with disgust in a lower voice.

            “He’s just a friend,” Jackie insisted without much conviction.

            “Moriss is outside that door and she has something different to say. She says you’ve been sneaking around with him inside the palace. My own home. You’ve disgraced yourself,” she claimed.

            “That’s enough!” Jackie snapped. “I don’t have to listen to this nonsense from you. I don’t know what Gavin and I have, but it’s a lot healthier than the other relationships I’ve been in, including my relationship with you. If you don’t like the way I’ve been acting, then disown me. All I ask if that you do it to Conner first.” Her bravado faltered at the end and she crossed her arms and looked away from her mother sullenly.

            The Queen merely looked at Jackie for a long while before turning her attention back to Victor. “You never answered my question. What did Conner say?”

            Jackie shook her head once more. “Something about a key to everything and dad’s hand. I didn’t understand. I thought he was going to kill me and father both. I don’t understand why he didn’t.”

            “He loves you,” her mother said.

            “That’s impossible,” Jackie told her. “He doesn’t understand love. I think he inherited that from you.”

            “I know what love is,” she caressed her father’s hand, “more than you’ll ever know.”

            Jackie took a deep breath. “Did you visit me?”

            “Did I what?” the Queen replied.

            “When I was shot down. Did you visit me in the hospital? Father told me you stood by my bedside, but I don’t remember ever hearing your voice. Did you visit me?” Jackie fidgeted by tapping her finger on her bicep.

            “No,” the Queen admitted without looking at her.

            Jackie couldn’t bear it anymore and she fled the room with what little composure she had. Moriss was waiting outside with the guards. She stood at attention when she saw the door open. The guards bowed as customary. Jackie looked up and down the hall, not remembering which direction to take. “I can’t be here,” she said when her eyes finally settled on Moriss. She adjusted her hair out of habit and recalled she didn’t have a vehicle with her. “Drive me home.”

            Moriss gave her a sympathetic look and led her down the hall.

            “Can we talk?” Deborah asked Kylie as she confronted her in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen. The others had already eaten breakfast while Kylie remained in her bedroom preparing. She was holding a tray of butter and a muffin she had already taken a bite out of.

            “We’re talking now,” Kylie pointed out as she used her hip to close the fridge. She went over to the marble counter and spread butter on her muffin. Deborah watched her intently, which caused Kylie some irritation. “What is it?” she practically slammed her knife down on the counter.

            “These weapons of yours,” Deborah mentioned, “where did they come from?”

            “From the Armoury,” Kylie shrugged. “Where else would I find guns?”

            “The Armoury?” Deborah nodded slowly, making it apparent she didn’t believe her. “So if you requisitioned them from the Armoury, why weren’t they on the ship manifest?”

            “I didn’t write the ship manifest,” Kylie explained. “With the staffing shortages, it’s possible there was an oversight.”

            “I doubt that,” Deborah claimed as she leaned on the counter. “You smuggled those on board. With how you were bragging to us about the amount of firepower you were packing, that must have taken some effort. Did you have to pay off customs?”

            “Have you been talking with Gavin?” Kylie bit into her muffin and reached for another.

            Deborah wouldn’t say. Instead, she tugged on the cloak Kylie was wearing. Kylie batted her hand away irritably. “You’re certainly packing on the pounds,” she said. “It’s hard to tell sometimes with this ridiculous thing you’re wearing, but I’ve seen you sneak in here at night.”

            “I think I might break that pretty little nose of yours,” Kylie contemplated.

            “How many months?” Deborah said evenly.

            “How many months?” Kylie repeated.

            “How far are you along?” Deborah asked more directly.

            “I’m going to kill Gavin,” Kylie crumbled the last of the muffin she was holding, then looked at the fresh one and took a bite.

            “He didn’t have to tell me and he didn’t,” Deborah told her. “I can tell by your belly. That outfit of yours is a bit snug, after all. How much longer did you think you could hide it? Is that why you were so desperate?”

            Kylie fumed, but said nothing.

            “How did you do it?” Deborah asked after a staring match.

            “I’m not going to explain the birds and bees to you,” Kylie gave a wry smile.

            “Not that,” Deborah almost blushed. “No, how did you manage? We’re supposed to have been born sterile.”

            “Not all of us,” Kylie said. “It depends on your donor, but you’re mainly right. Only a few of us sneak through. There’s other ways aside from being born. If you’re as smart as you’re pretending to be, then you already know who the father is. I made him get the procedure, although he was reluctant. He wanted children, but he was worried about what it would do to our careers. This was going to be my big surprise, and now I’m stuck with a baby he doesn’t want,” she put her hand over her stomach. “That’s why I want the Aurora. It’s better if I leave and he never finds out.”

            “You can’t go back to Last Point,” Deborah told her. “Do you know what they’ll do if they find out?”

            “You have far too much respect for the people upstairs. They’re not really the ones running things on Last Point. If you think my affair was scandalous, then you’d be shocked to find out what else is going on behind the curtain. There’s gambling, embezzlement, smuggling, piracy, booze, drugs and human trafficking, to name a few vices. At the end of the universe, you can get away with pretty much anything. There has even been a few murders, although everything’s been kept quiet. It wouldn’t do for that news to leak and ruin the Corporation’s stellar image. Oh,” she noticed Deborah’s expression, “did I shock you?” Don’t be so naïve. The people you’re working for are far from Saints. You’re lucky to have found this world. It’s a paradise compared to what was waiting for you on Last Point. In my opinion, a pretty little thing like you wouldn’t have made it to retirement. You ask too many questions,” she poured herself a glass of juice from a type of fruit that only grew on New Gaia resembling an apple but tasting nothing like it.

            “I’m telling you this because you would have found out on your own. Take Donovan for example. When I knew him, he was perfectly boring. He always obeyed orders and took after Captain Victor. He never stood out in the crowd, but he was always a part of it. People liked him. He knew about me and Victor too and he approved of us. He helped us keep our secret going. Then for some reason he found himself stranded here and he changed. I don’t know what would have pushed him over the edge, and I’m not going to speculate. He killed his closest friends, his family, and he joined the terrorists. Over what?” she grew suddenly heated. “Sorry, but it hurts. Weeks ago, Donovan was a friend of mine. I was immensely relieved to see he survived the attack, but my mind was focused in on Victor. I never could have suspected what he’d do. Now, he’s dead, and he deserves it, but still it’s like a little piece of my life has fallen away. This was going to be my greatest moment of hope, and now I’m left with nothing but this baby inside of me. I suppose that will have to be enough. I have to start thinking like a mother and acting like one, but I have to seclude myself somewhere to do it. The scandal of me having this child would destroy Victor and his family, and that’s the last thing I want to do.” She put her hand over his mouth. “I keep thinking of Victor in a hospital bed. I don’t want to see him like that, but I want to be there for him. They won’t let me,” she shook her head. “I envy you, Deborah. You’re new, you’re fresh and you’re eager. My whole life feels like it’s behind me.”

            “I don’t know what to tell you,” Deborah said softly. “I came in here with accusations, but I never thought about how hard all this must be for you. It was devastating enough being woken up to find the organization I was created for was on the brink of destruction.”

            “Let it fall,” Kylie shrugged and poured herself another glass. “Forget I said that,” she looked at Deborah out of the corner of her eye as she slammed her glass down. “Forget I said any of this, or at least don’t let the word spread around. I have something of a reputation to uphold, even if it’s all going to rot in a few months. I hope I have some of your trust. It occurs to me that if we ever make it back to Last Point, you’re in a position to see me get strung up. Can I make a bargain with you? We’re traders by nature, after all.”

            “I’m not so sure,” Deborah was uncomfortable and rubbed her arms.

            “Relax, I’m not going to screw you over,” Kylie assured her. She reached out and put her hand over Deborah’s stomach. “This is empty. For you, it’s always going to be that way.” She grabbed Deborah by the hand, which gave her a start, and put it over her own stomach. “Now feel this. Can you feel the heart beat? It’s in there somewhere. If you’re good to me, that can be inside of you. I know people who can perform the procedure. There’s a few on Last Point that will do it if the price is right, and I know a few other places, some of which are not even in the same universe as our own. I can make arrangements. I can wet hands. Even if we never make it back, I have the basics recorded on my wrist unit. We could adapt our technology and do it here on New Gaia. You could be a complete woman, Debbie,” it was the first time she’d ever been called Debbie. “You could start your own family. You could become a mother. Think about it.”

            “I…” Deborah cleared her throat. “I’d like that. I want to feel human inside,” she said in a rush.

            “I can make it happen,” Kylie cupped her chin. “Do you like my brother?” she asked, and then gave a laugh when Deborah shied away. “Pity, he seems to like this grubby Princess of his. You two would look so cute together. Imagine what your babies would look like.”

            “Stop it,” Deborah pleaded.

            “I’m only teasing,” Kylie laughed again. “You deserve more for the position you’ve put me in, but you’re better off an ally than an enemy of mine. Remember that. When my tongue doesn’t cut, I have a knife in my boot that will,” she leaned in close until their foreheads were almost touching. She stopped suddenly and turned to see Lance walking by in the hallway. He was oblivious to them. “He’s cute too, in a muscular sort of way,” she grinned devilishly at Deborah who shrank from her. “All I’m saying is that you’re a pretty girl with prospects. Play your cards right and that will take you far. Be friends with me, and you’ll be a complete woman.”

            Deborah thought for a long time. “You’re nothing like Gavin,” she said at last. “Isn’t that odd? You look like you could be the same person. The exact same,” she pressed.

            Kylie held up her hands. “You’re good,” she admitted. “Too good for your own good. Gavin and I are closer than you’d think, or are you telling me you think a bit closer?”

            “I’m not saying anything else,” Deborah told her, “other than I ran a D.N.A. scan on you two with the equipment you had us pack along.” She stood a bit straighter and put her hands on her hips.

            Kylie paled a little, so her freckles showed a bit more prominently. “What did you find?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

            “Enough,” Deborah shifted her hips. “Let’s just say you’d better be right about your promises, Kylie, and that I don’t take kindly to threats. I’m nobody’s fool, least of all yours. If you want to keep secrets, that’s fine with me. Just don’t pretend as if they’re secret to me,” with that she walked out of the kitchen triumphantly, leaving Kylie to contemplate her position.

            Gavin was woken up by the weight shifting on his bed. He had been dreaming that he was flying Jackie’s hoverbike, with her behind him on the seat with her hands around his chest squeezing tight. He had been soaring high over the city, looking down on everything as the sun shone in the distance. Everything was tinged by that strange purple haze of the sky. He’d been free and content.

He turned over and saw Jackie sitting next to him on the edge of the bed. He was still fully dressed save for his boots and jacket, as he had learned that his clothes never needed to be washed, save for being wiped down. He propped himself up on his elbows and sat up. It was the middle of the day and he had gone down for a nap after his restless night. She put her hand over his. “Jackie, are you alright? I wanted to visit you at the hospital, but they wouldn’t let me come,” he explained as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He felt much better after a short rest and his wounds didn’t hurt as much. Even the pain in his ankle had faded.

            “I was worried about you too,” she admitted. “I never really saw what happened to you after the explosion.” She took note of the numerous bandages on his face. The durable fabric of his clothes had helped shield him from most of the shrapnel and the heat. A solider next to him at the scene had been killed by a flying shard of glass.

            Gavin looked at the bandage across her face, which she was trying to conceal by letting her blue-dyed hair fall down over her eyes. “How’s your father?” he asked.

            “Well enough, considering,” Jackie shrugged and picked at imaginary fluff off of the covers he lay on.

            “I’m sorry about getting in the way back there,” Gavin admitted. “I thought I was saving you. I nearly got myself killed.”

            “You probably saved my life,” Jackie sighed. Gavin had carefully put away the pictures of her brother into drawers and she noticed their absence but said nothing.

            “I keep trying to think that if I hadn’t interfered that maybe your father might not be in the hospital now,” Gavin shook his head at himself.

            “I’m still surprised we’re even alive. Conner hated my father. I think that hatred drove him to become what he is today,” Jackie said as she looked at a blank spot on a wall where a picture had hung. “I can’t figure out why he let him live.”

            “I know why he took your father’s arm,” Gavin hastened to explain. “The wrist unit controls the locks on the Aurora. If he has it, he can steal our ship.”

            “Is that why?” Jackie mused to herself as she gingerly touched her bandage. “Maybe it’s for the best. Maybe he’ll fly far away from here and never come home. Maybe he’ll find happiness out there in the stars. I’m being silly, though. I know he’ll use it to kill more innocent people.”

            “The President gave us clearance to chase after him,” Gavin explained. “There’s a shuttle coming to pick us up and take us to the Aurora. We’re hoping to get there before he can.”

            “Is there room for one more?” Jackie asked him.

            “Haven’t I got you in enough trouble as it is?” Gavin asked her.

            “You didn’t do anything. I’m the one who told me father, knowing he’d go off half-cocked. I never expected us to run into Conner this far into the city, but it’s not your fault either. Stop trying to apologize to me when you’ve done nothing wrong. As for me, I need to go after Conner. I need to see him face some measure of justice, even if I’m the one that has to bring it to him.”

            “You could get yourself killed,” Gavin argued. “I’m not entirely fond of our chances, either. We haven’t figured out a way to neutralize his armour, and that makes us vulnerable.”

            “We’ll think of something.” Jackie sounded doubtful. “Thank you, by the way.”

            “For what?” Gavin asked her.

            “For fighting for me,” she said. “This isn’t your battle.”

            “No, it’s really not,” Gavin admitted, “but I don’t want anything to happen to you. Maybe that’s why it’s best if you don’t come.”

            “I’m coming,” she insisted. “That’s a royal order. Besides, I can’t stay here.”

            “Why is that?” Gavin asked.

            “I don’t want to get into it right now,” she chewed on her finger. “If you have the Aurora, will you leave?”

            “We don’t know how to get home,” Gavin said. “I wouldn’t leave just yet in any event,”

            “Why is that?” Jackie asked him.

            “I don’t really know how to explain it,” Gavin said sheepishly.

            “Is it… that you don’t want to leave me?” Jackie prompted him hopefully.

            “I suppose that might have something to do with it,” Gavin said evasively.

            “Are you in love with me, Gavin?” Jackie asked him directly.

            Gavin stared blankly for a second, then concluded, “I don’t know enough about love to answer that. All I know is that I care about you deeply.”

            Jackie stared back at him. “I’d come with you, if you wanted to leave,” she said. “For a while, at least. I’ve always wanted to fly out into space. Back when I was flying, I always thought how frustrating it was to reach out the heavens and not be able to escape. I wanted to go beyond the sky and leave all this petty fighting behind. I can’t leave, though. I’m the heir, unless my mother disowns me.”

            “I never said I was leaving,” Gavin reminded her. “I have a job here and I was ordered to see it through.”

            “You’re not convincing in the slightest,” Jackie admonished him with a coy smile. She kicked her legs on the side of the bed.

            “You’re right,” Gavin hung his head in defeat. “I have all these programs in my head telling me what to do and who to be, and I can’t even listen to them. I don’t know who Gavin Dales is, or if he’s even real. I feel like I’m stringing everyone along. My crew downstairs listen to me because I was given the title of Captain, but I’ve never done a single thing to earn their trust or to gain their loyalty. I know they’re as lost as me, though, and that my mistakes can hurt them in their faith. My mind keeps going over how Conner took that gun of his and ran it over your face,” he traced the air in front of her fresh scar, “your beautiful, beautiful face.” Jackie tightened her lips at his words. “He could have killed you and I was helpless to do anything about it. He tossed me aside like a ragdoll,” he said emphatically. “I think he tried to kill me and didn’t even bother to look to see if he did the job right. He shot the wall right where I was and I would have died if he’d been aiming properly. That’s how little I am, but all these people are depending on me to be something I’m not.”

            “You’re something, Gavin,” Jackie told him. She reached out and put her hands through his hair, which was still singed from the explosion. She held a lock of his orange hair in her hands and looked at it carefully. “You’re something to me.”

            “What am I?” Gavin implored. “I have all this information and thoughts running through my head and I don’t know what do with half of it. I know the annual gross national income for a country on a planet in my universe I’ll never visit. I think I could fly the Aurora, if it ever had the chance. I know there’s a little switch in the cockpit panel that does absolutely nothing. I mean literally, it does nothing,” he made a gesture by compressing his index finger and thumb and flicking his wrist. “It’s not even hooked up. They designed and installed it for a long-range model they never completed. Why do I know that? For some reason too, I feel like stuffing my face with muffins.”

            “Are you cracking up on me?” Jackie didn’t know if she should laugh or be concerned.

            “I shouldn’t worry you like that,” Gavin apologized. “Sorry, but it feels like I’ve lived years in the space of days. Even being gone from you for a few hours felt like years,” he reached out and put his hand over hers.

            Jackie squeezed back. “So you missed me?”

            “I did,” Gavin nodded.

            Jackie leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. Gavin closed his eyes while Jackie left hers half-open. When she pulled back, she said, “Thank you. I think I missed you too.” After a moment, she realized, “That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?”

            “Yes,” Gavin said breathlessly.

            “Well there’s plenty more where that came from,” Jackie beamed at him.