Entry Six

Entry Six:

            Kylie was numb. Victor had gone off to call-in his report to the President, leaving her sitting on the front steps. The police had left after Jackie told them she refused to fill out any paperwork for them, but Moriss remained.

            “Gavin,” Deborah whispered in vain to him so as not to be overheard by Jackie, but she was standing right behind his shoulder, glaring at the back of Kylie’s head out the front door. She realized she was being silly, though, and continued in a normal speaking voice, “Gavin, we still have a mission. We need to bring Victor back home with us.”

            “This is his home,” Gavin replied. “There’s no way we could convince him to come with us and leave his family behind.”

            “Of course you could,” Jackie told him. “He hates me.”

            “I didn’t get that impression,” Gavin told her sympathetically. “He might seem a little exasperated with you, but then you did probably violate several laws today.”

            “Don’t any of you realize?” Video joined the conversation with Goldie, who remained mute. She looked a little traumatized by the events. Fredricks and Lara saw the group gathering and joined in, but Lance kept to himself, mostly pacing back and forth. “He can’t come with us. Once we leave this world time will continue to speed forward in relation to our own. Years will have gone by in the time it would take us to refuel and come back. His daughter here could have died from old age,” he looked at Jackie admiringly.

            “Don’t talk about me and my father like I’m not here,” Jackie warned him, “and keep your eyes to yourself.” Lara snickered to herself, but kept her mouth hidden behind her hand.

            Video tried to stammer an apology, but instead explained, “This was our one-time trip. We can’t realistically ship people back and forth between our universes. Quite frankly, with the way time has advanced so rapidly, this universe is of no further use to the Corporation since we would have no way to maintain trade. ”

            “I wouldn’t say that,” Fredricks thought it over and rubbed his pointed chin. “We’re basically frozen in time so long as we’re here. That would give us ample opportunity to study this world and see what it offers.”

            “What for?” Video asked. “The first team probably has enough information about this world after twenty-years. I doubt we could add anything to their report.”

            “You’re missing the larger opportunity here,” Gavin told them both. “As long as we’re here, we’re safe from whatever is affecting our own universe. We could probably live out our entire lives here without alarming the Corporation.”

            “You sound like you could leave if you wanted to,” Jackie had her arms crossed and was leaning against the stairwell. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re my royal prisoners.”

            “We are?” Gavin raised his eyebrow.

            “It may be a gilded, but it’s still a cage. Why do you think Victor stays here?” Jackie asked him as she picked something out of her teeth. “Even if you want to leave, your ship is already being confiscated by the Arms. You’re stranded here with me, like it or not.”

            “You can’t take our ship!” Deborah protested.

            “Who said I was taking it? I’m just a part of the Arms, I don’t run things,” she shrugged. “Tell them, Moriss.”

            “My lady is quite correct. While she holds rank in the United Arms, she does not have the authority to overrule such a decision,” Morris stood at ease with her arms behind her back, “and might I say what a pleasure it is to see you admit your place.”

            “My place is on the throne,” Jackie told her bluntly, “and you must never forget that.”

            “Gavin, we have to get back out ship,” Deborah protested.

            “Even if I wanted to, I don’t think we have what it takes to fight off an entire army,” Gavin held up his hands helplessly.

            “You don’t want to go back, do you?” Deborah accused him.

            “Not yet,” Gavin admitted, and Jackie smiled. “You said it yourself, we have all the time in the world. I need that time to get a grip on what I am, and what the Corporation is for me.”

            “You’re thinking of escaping, aren’t you?” she pressed him.

            “I already have,” Gavin confessed. “We’re blocked off.”

            “Deborah, we can’t leave anyway,” Video told her. “Victor’s been here twenty years. You think he and his crew never tried to leave? Whatever spatial distortion’s pulled them forward in time has also trapped us.”

            “We need more information,” Gavin told her. “We need to take the long road on this.”

            “Fine,” Deborah relented. “I’m the Researcher, I’ll see what I can find out from Victor and the others.”

            “That’s the spirit,” Gavin told her.

            “If you’re done playing with your little friends, Gavin, I want to talk,” Jackie pushed her way in front of him. “I want to know who your sister is,” she indicated Kylie, sitting outside the door. Lance hovered around behind her, not sure if he should interfere with her. Kylie had taken off her wrist unit and thrown it on the ground. It was beeping and flashing a red warning light.

            “She’s not really my sister,” Gavin tried to explain. “We’re both Generates. As far as I can tell we’re made from the same template. She’s our pilot, and the only one of us who knows how to fly.”

            “I thought you were supposed to be the pilot,” Jackie frowned at her wrist unit. “I thought you could teach me some tricks.”

            “I was never trained,” Gavin shrugged.

            “I’ll have to find some other use for you,” she sighed. “You’re not going to make it around here just by being a pretty face.” She trod over to Kylie, and nudged her in the small of the back with the toe of her shoe.

            “What do you want?” Kylie said glumly.

            “I want to know what you and my father are,” she demanded.

            “Nothing, it looks like,” Kylie said briskly. “We were lovers for two years. We had to keep our affair private so as not to affect our mutual careers. We always talked of the day we could finally leave the Corps and be together as husband and wife. Now I find out he found a way, only he left me behind.”

            “So he left you for my mother,” Jackie pondered. “She’s not going to like you.”

            “And who’s she?” Kylie asked, looking at her. Where Kylie had seen the family resemblance between her and her father, Gavin couldn’t truly place it. He imagined she shared more in common with her mother.

            “The Queen, of course,” Jackie made a flighty gesture to encompass the entire compound. “Ruler of all you survey.”

            Kylie laughed. “Oh really? What’s she going to do, have me executed?” she stood up and got in close to Jackie.

            “She’s been known to,” Jackie smiled back at her. Kylie, however, did not look fearful.

            “I’m certain it won’t come to that,” Moriss assured Kylie. “Her majesty is quite benevolent, but loving of the King.”

            “So Victor’s been living in a fairy tale book?” Kylie bit her lip and shook her head in disbelief.

            “Who did you think you’d be, his knight in shining armour? He’s not the one that needs rescued,” Jackie laughed meanly at her.

            Kylie had her fist balled up, and her arm pulled back, but she let them both go slack as she said, “I’d hit you, but I’d only be hurting him.”

            Jackie saw she’d been ready to strike her and grew furious. Still, she stayed her hand. “I don’t know if I like you, or hate you yet, so maybe I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time. Don’t slip up.” With that, she stormed back into the palace and burst through the door where Victor had disappeared behind. Inside was a lavish study lined with rich, dark wood. It was crescent in shape, with a recessed sitting area surrounding a holographic projector on the concave wall. A symbol of a falcon against a shield rotated in the air as Victor looked back over the leather couch at her intrusion. “I nearly killed your girlfriend just now,” she told him as she put one foot up on the couch by Victor’s head and leaned over him.

            “Jackeline, this is not a time for interruptions,” an authoritative voice from the projector’s speakers told her.

            “I think this is a perfect time,” she argued. She saw Gavin lingering outside the door and nodded for him to come in. “My new lover is upset the Arms is taking his ship from him. Is this how we treat out guest?”

            “They are our guest, but of an unwelcomed sort,” the screen told her. “They bring grave tidings from beyond. We have enough to concern ourselves with at home than to become involved in their problems.”

            “Typical,” Jackie complained. “Do you see what I have to deal with?” she asked of Gavin. “The man doesn’t even show his face. You’re risking an inter-dimensional incident.”

            “Don’t play at politics, child,” the voice told her. “We have the legal right to confiscate their vessel.”

            “You were going to leave them to the prisons,” Jackie told him. “If I hadn’t gone to rescue them, they would have been shipped off to the camps. My father would never have known his rescuers had arrived.”

            “Your father’s concerns with his home are in the past,” the voice told her. “He’s come to accept his role in our society, and you should as well. You shall relinquish the prisoners back to the authorities for further questioning.”

            “I will do no such thing,” Jackie told him sternly. “I’m holding them under my own authority on my own holdings. You don’t have the jurisdiction to overrule me in my own house.”

            “That may be so, but you’re making a grave error in judgement,” the voice warned her.

            “I’ve never been so clear. I’ll make allies out of these strangers just as my mother did with Victor,” she told him.

            “And look how well that turned out for the rest of his crew of travellers,” the voice replied.

            “Enough!” Jackie waved her hand through the air and hung up on the voice. “Can you believe that man?” she fumed.

            “I know these are trying time, but please, Jackie, I needed his insight on this matter,” Victor said.

            “I stood up for you just now,” Jackie told him. “He thinks you’re his slave.”

            “I virtually am,” Victor sighed.

            “Is this all true? We really are your prisoners?” Gavin asked Jackie.

            “Yes,” Jackie told him, “you have to be. Outside these walls, the President holds all the power. As long as you’re my prisoner here, you’ll be free.”

            “You have to understand he’s mistrusting of other Generates,” Victor told him. “There was some unpleasantness involving our arrival here, and he’s not wanting to repeat history.”

            “What kind of unpleasantness?” Gavin asked.

            “It’s best not to discuss it just now, but be thankful you met me first,” Victor explained. “It looks as if there won’t be much we can do to help you, or myself at this point. The President is more concerned with our own war than anything else. You’re unwanted on this world.”

            “What war?” Gavin threw up his hands. “I saw the whole planet. There’s no rubble lying around, or smoke in the air. Where’s all the fighting?”

            “This is a large world, Gavin, and we’re far from the conflict,” Victor explained. “Most battles take place in the desert, or in orbit. Don’t worry, you’re fairly safe here, but I can’t guarantee it. If you want to know more about the conflict, you’d be best to ask Jackie. She just returned from her second tour,” he said with a measure of pride.

            “You’re a soldier?” Gavin asked her, impressed.

            “I’m a pilot,” she refuted him. “One of the best.”

            “I’d love to hear more,” Gavin admitted, “but I have to see about my crew.”

            “They’ll have to remain here,” Victor explained. “For the moment, you’re classified as political prisoners. Jackie has the authority to keep you here and to escort you when you’re off the premises, but if you try to leave you’ll be snatched up by the police and sent to a prison camp.”

            “Why?” Gavin demanded. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

            “Exactly,” Jackie told him, smiling. “Vice-President Woo doesn’t see it that way, though, he thinks you’re infiltrators.”

            “That was the Vice-President?” Gavin was a little confused. “I thought you were calling the President directly.”

            Victor frowned a little. “These days my access to the President is limited. My wife is the only one who can really reach him, and she’s away at the moment. Even if I could reach her, I’m not exactly eager to tell her my ex is here with us.”

            “She’s off on a tour of the front-lines,” Jackie explained. “She refused to take me for protection because she thinks I’m an embarrassment.”

            “You’re anything but,” Victor told her. “It’s your antics of late that have her concerned.”

            “So I’m an unruly child acting out, is that it?” Jackie snapped at him. “Sorry,” she apologized after a minute. She turned back to Gavin, “I don’t want you to get the impression we bicker and fight all the time. With the restriction the VP has placed on Victor, we’re all going a little stir crazy.”

            “Since I wasn’t born here, I’m a person non-grata,” Victor explained. “Even though they name me King, it’s just a formality. I have no political power other than celebrity. My daughter uses her position in my place for these types of matters, but her power only stretches so far. The police have no authority to arrest her for her antics, or to try those she chooses to make her prisoner. Most of her power beyond that is merely honorary. She has tremendous sway over the press, however, because of her status. It seems the more outrageous she acts, the more they love her. Her two tours solidified her standing in the people’s hearts, although the VP blocked her from receiving and condemnations.”

            “I couldn’t avoid the draft, not that I wanted to. I’ll fight and die for my country. Woo could never say that about himself,” Jackie explained.

            “Why is the VP so hard on the two of you?” Gavin asked.

            “He thinks we’re an antiquity, and we are,” Victor admitted. “Beyond that, he’s trying to consolidate his power and undermine our authority, and that of the President’s. He was elected to office as head of a rival political party from our own. He wants to unseat the President himself and install himself, but the law won’t allow it. A few are concerned he might try for a coup, and I’m one of those who believes it.”

            “If he tries, he dies,” Jackie promised. “I’m not having him plunge this country further into Civil War.”

            “Wow, there seems like a lot is going on here,” Gavin was a little overwhelmed.

            “You have no idea,” Victor shook his head. “When I married my wife, I knew I’d be stepping into something I wasn’t truly prepared for. I never though the levels of political intrigue could stretch as far as the do.”

            “Right now, you’re an X-Factor, so that makes you a valuable ally,” Jackie told Gavin. “Woo would rather wipe you off the map entirely than to deal with you. I’m not expecting you to throw your hat in with us right away, but at least you’ll be able to keep your head to place it on.”

            “I suppose there’s nothing we can do but to trust you,” Gavin admitted reluctantly. “I can’t speak for the others, though.”

            “You’re their Captain,” Jackie told him bluntly.

            “Of one day,” he held up a single finger. “I’m a complete armature. Only a fool would follow me blindly.”

            “You’re selling yourself a little short, Gavin,” Victor told him. “My experiences as Captain were trying, to say the least, but I managed and I moved up in rank. I’m sure you’ll do fine for yourself.”

            “Is there anything we can do to at least get out ship back?” Gavin asked.

            “Not at the moment, no,” Victor shook his head. “The President is the only one who can help us. I’m certain once news reaches him, he’ll contact us directly. From there, it’ll be a challenge. I wouldn’t keep your hopes up.”

            “Your ship is probably going to be converted for use in the Arms,” Jackie explained to him.

            “Terrific,” Gavin muttered. “Let me go tell the others.”

            “Don’t go do far, handsome,” Jackie called after him, and Victor shook his head at her.

            The rest were waiting for him, including Kylie, who distracted herself by admiring an oil on canvas painting hanging in the lobby.

            “It doesn’t look good,” Gavin told them. “We’re being blocked by the Vice-President. Jackie and Victor are going to try to help us out, but in the meantime, we have to stay in their good graces. Kylie, I’m not sure how easy that’s going to be for you, but I’m here to support you,” Gavin told her.

            “Support me? You don’t even know me,” Kylie smirked at him.

            “That’s right. I don’t. I don’t know any of you. All of this is crazy,” Gavin confessed. “That’s why I’m stepping down as your Captain. I’m not fit to lead you, or anyone else.”

            “You can’t,” Deborah protested.

            “She’s right, Gavin, you literally cannot,” Fredricks elaborated. “Only Corporate has the ability to strip you of your title. If you abandon your duties, you’ll be court-martialled.”

            “You just need more training,” Video encouraged him. “Don’t give up just yet.”

            “We need someone to guide us,” Deborah insisted. “If not you, then who?”

            “Why not you?” Gavin replied. “You’re more competent than I’ll ever be. Look at me, I’m a day old and I’m already a disgrace. I’ve been captured twice and nearly killed my wild animals. Now I’ve stranded us here. How could you possibly think I’m doing a good job?”

            “You have a point there,” Video admitted, “but at least you’re willing to say it.”

            “I don’t know how to lead,” Gavin insisted. “I’m just acting and saying what I think you want me to be acting and saying. One more misstep on my part and you could find yourself dead.”

            “It’ll get better,” Video told him. “Goldie and I were talking, and we think we can jury-rig our nodes to complete our training. All we need is time and a little luck.”

            “Really?” Gavin asked, hopefully. “Well I guess it’d be worth a shot. I honestly don’t know if I continue the way I am. I feel like I’ve already hit the wall with what little education I have.”

            “We have all the gear here with us. If they let us experiment, we should be fine,” Video insisted. “We can even rig a basic communications relay with Corporate. We’d have to figure out the rate of distortion between our two universes and compensate for it. Unfortunately, by the time we send out a signal, they’ll likely think us dead.”

            “It’s looking a bit bleak,” Fredriks admitted, “still the accommodations are more than favourable. I think we could all be quite at home here, assuming that we’ve been invited to stay?”

            “Jackie wants us here, but I don’t know where we’ll be laying our heads,” Gavin said. “To be honest, I think she just wants us as political pawns, but the alternatives aren’t there.”

            “Of course you can all stay,” Jackie said as she came up behind him. She reached down and gave his buttock a quick squeeze, which made him jump considerably. “You can sleep in my bed, if you like,” she teased. She made certain to note Deborah’s reaction, which was shock. “Tonight, though, I think we should celebrate. After all, it’s your birthdays. I’ll have the help show you where you can freshen up, and assign you rooms. We have enough spare beds for you to be picky. You,” she pointed to Kylie, “are going to be sleeping on the far side of the palace and I better not see you out of your bed tonight,” she warned.

            Kylie looked as if she was about to say something, but she gritted her teeth and gave a phoney smile. Gavin smiled back genuinely at her as a way of thanking her for her restraint.

            “I want you to understand you’re my guests here,” Jackie said in a more civil tone. “Feel free to use the grounds as your own, but you can’t leave without risking your own safety. Do you understand?” They grumbled a reply, and she nodded, pleased. “Good, now be off,” she shooed them. “Gavin,” she pulled him in closer and whispered into his ear. “Let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?” Gavin had to agree. He’d been wearing the same dirty uniform since the incident with the wart hog. Deborah watched them carefully as they went up the stairs together, and he looked back at her. “Is she someone special?” Jackie asked her, without having to turn her head to know he was looking down at Deborah.

            “She’s a good friend,” Gavin admitted.

            “You’d think you two wouldn’t have had the time to be friends yet,” Jackie replied evenly, “but I believe you. Are you and I friends, Gavin?” she asked him, pressing him up against the wall at the top of the stairs. They were just out of eyesight from the rest.

            “Of course,” Gavin replied, trying to moisten his mouth. She was making him feel rather nervous.

            “Do I intimidate you?” she asked, leaning in closer. Her breath was on his as she looked unblinking into his eyes. He could now see a little more resemblance between her and her father.

            “A little,” Gavin admitted, trying not to break contact with her eyes. “Not in a bad way, though.”

            “Not in a bad way,” Jackie replied slowly. “Are you smart enough to know you’re being used?”

            “I’d gathered as much,” Gavin said without any malice. “I’m not sure how much is show, and how much is real.”

            “That’s the fun of the game, isn’t it?” Jackie told him. “My whole life, people have watched me. They wanted me to be something I wasn’t. Now I’m my own person.” She leaned in closer still until her body was pressed against his. She seemed mindless of the stain on his shirt. “Don’t you want to be like me, Gavin?”

            “More than a little,” he said after some thought.

            “I can show you how,” Jackie promised him. “I know all about where you come from,” she whispered to him, searching his eyes. “My father taught me everything there is to know, in case one day he was able to return. He promised me to take me with him, but that’s back when I was a little girl with a head full of nonsense. Now, your universe sounds sad and pitiful to me. Even my father has come to realize that. You’re better off here with me, in this land. Stay with me, and I can show you to love it. If you want to be a pilot, I can teach you how to fly. I can give you so much.”

            “Why me?” Gavin asked her, standing up straighter. “I’m not that valuable to you.”

            “Do you think you’re just a pawn?” she asked him, somewhat upset. “I’m going to use you, yes. That doesn’t mean you’re not your own man. I like you because you’re a blank slate. You’re as new to this as a child. I can teach you, like my mother taught my father.”

            “Is this all about daddy issues?” Gavin asked her.

            “Not at all,” Jackie said. “Well, maybe a little. Truth be told, I’ve been wooed by every man out there, and I’ve entertained a few prospects. It all gets so dull. They want me for what I am, not who I am. You have no idea what I am.”

            “I don’t know who you are, either,” Gavin added.

            “You’ll find out. Besides, I always thought it was romantic how my mother bagged herself a star captain from outer space,” she laughed at him. “Come on,” she dragged him down the hall to one of the rooms. “We need to get you dressed in something more appropriate.” The room was identical in size and shape to her bedroom, but with a much different setting. The furniture all looked antique, with a four-poster bed with drapes. It was either imitation, or genuinely from Earth. He reached out to touch the dresser, marvelling at how it connected him to Earth. It was only recently that he believed himself from there. In his own mind, he had imagined his school was somewhere in America. Thinking back before his birth gave him a sudden pang inside his head, and he doubled over. “Are you okay?” Jackie looked back at him, concerned. She was picking through the wardrobe looking for something. He tried to take his mind off his half-remembered past and looked instead at a photo frame on the desk. This itself seemed an oddity in the time of holoprojectors. The frame was antique, but the photo itself looked recent. In it, he saw a younger Jackie, dressed in white, She was with her father and what he assumed was her mother, sitting upon a throne and adorned with a jagged crown of gold and diamonds. She was rather beautiful, he thought, in a regal fashion. She didn’t look as much like Jackie as he first imagined her to. Her hair was blonde and came down to her chin. Her cheeks were dimpled and her teeth were flawless like the pearls she wore. Victor was dressed in a white uniform with yellow tassels as if he were a prince in a cartoon movie.

            There was a boy in the photo as well. He looked older than Jackie herself in the picture, as if he had only entered his teenaged years. He looked sullen, and barely smiled like the others. While Jackie and Victor both had their hands upon the Queen’s shoulders, his arms were pressed flat against his sides. His hair was dark and slunk across his head and his eyes looked past the camera.

            “Who’s this?” Gavin asked her, holding up the photo.

            She came quickly across the room and set the photo face down on the dresser. “We don’t talk about him,” she said plainly.

            “Sorry,” Gavin said quickly, but he knew it must be her brother. It was his room they were in. His name and why he was not present would have to stay a mystery. There were cologne bottles on the dresser, half used, and a hairbrush upturned, as if waiting for him to come back. With housekeeping, there was no telling how long he had been absent, but the room felt rather cold and empty.

            “This is about your size,” she said, holding up a dark suit.

            “You’re playing dress-up with me?” Gavin felt the woollen fabric of the suit as she found him a white shirt. He continued to look around. There were numerous photos of the family together, and one of a white dog. Most were old, however, with Jackie not appearing any older than ten or so. There was a book on the nightstand, although he couldn’t make out the title the way it was placed.

            “You have to look your best for the big party,” she told him, although she now sounded distracted. She paused, to look around the room with him. “I miss him,” she confessed at last. “It still smells like him.”

            “I’m sorry,” Gavin didn’t know what the circumstances were, but he could feel the sincerity in her voice.

            She put the suit gently down on the bed and backed away. “Never mind about this. I’ll find you something else. Let me show you to the shower,” she led him from her room and back into her bedroom across the hall. “I’ll have something fresh brought up by the time you’re done.”

            “Thank you.” She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, which featured a large, oval tub. The walls and floor were mosaic. “Are you… just going to stand there?” he asked her, nervously.

            “I might,” she said, but she didn’t seem quite interested. Gavin flashed her a quick smile, but looked away. He unzipped his shirt, and she gasped at him. It wasn’t from excitement, however, but instead it was from shock. There were dark bruises on his chest. He noticed as well, and touched them gingerly. Oddly, they didn’t hurt as badly as they looked. She came over to inspect him. “Did the police rough you up? I’ll have them locked up in their own jails.”

            “I think it was from the warthog,” Gavin remembered.

            “Does it hurt?” she asked him.

            “Not quite,” he said, honestly enough, but she thought it was bravado from the look on her face. He did wince though when he sat down to take off his boot. He wore no socks, and inside his foot had swollen. There was a red mark from where he had been struck.  “Ah,” he said simply as he looked at it. The initial pain from his injury had subsided, and he didn’t remember when he had stopped needing to limp.

            “Let me look at that,” she knelt down to inspect his foot. “I’ll get some ice after. You need to keep off this.”

            “It’s fine,” he insisted. “I’m not sure what I am, but this kind of thing doesn’t really seem to bother me.” He flexed his foot freely. Already the fresh pain he felt upon taking his boot off subsided.

            “My father’s the same way,” she confessed. “He use to cut himself without realizing, and the wounds would heal before he had a chance clean up the blood. You’re more than human.”

            “Am I human?” he pondered.

            “Of course,” she smiled at him, as if he were being silly. Gavin honestly didn’t know if he felt as a human being should.

            “I’m a little different,” she said, as she pulled up her shirt. Gavin thought she was about to disrobe, but she stopped short of her breasts, revealing a large scar that encompassed the side of her body. “Got this on my last tour. The last two ribs here are implants,” she said, touching them. “The press doesn’t know about this. If they did, I’d never be allowed to fly again. You can keep a secret, can’t you?”

            “Of course,” Gavin assured her.

            “They had to replace my kidney,” she continued. “They were going to find a donor, but with my family’s connections we were able to have one grown fresh. My liver’s still not where it should be at, even after the surgeries. People notice when I turn down drinks, but they make their own rumours. Right now, the press thinks I’m pregnant. They keep showing unflattering pictures of me and they talk about how fat I’ve gotten. Can you believe that?” She caressed her side. “They haven’t guessed at the truth. Most of them think I got kicked out of the Arms when I went dark a few months back. They said I’d run off to be with some billionaire playboy while I was in surgery. The doctors can’t really do anything for me cosmetically for at least another few months. I don’t know if I should even bother, but bikini season is coming up. Are you disgusted by me?”

            “No, you’re perfect,” he confessed. “I mean…” he blushed a little.

            She let her shirt drop. “I always wanted to be a Generate. It’s silly, I know, but who doesn’t want to run faster, jump higher? I work out constantly to stay in this kind of shape, and now I’m starting to lose it. I haven’t been able to do any kinds of crunches since they cut me open. I’m getting all flabby.”

            “I wouldn’t say that about yourself,” Gavin tried to comfort her. “Does it hurt?”

            “I keep myself pretty well loaded with pills. Any more and it would kill me,” she laughed. “Sometimes I think it might. I couldn’t leave poor old dad all by himself, though. He’d be so lonely.” She sat down beside him next to the tub. “They say I might not be able to have babies.”

            “I…”

            “Not that I particularly wanted them, but being royalty, it’s expected of me,” she explained, ignoring his slight interruption. “I like having that option open. Before this happened, I thought I might settle down. He’s gone now,” she put her hand over his mouth. “That woman downstairs, your sister, we’re a lot alike.” Gavin realized she must be on the verge of tears, but her eyes were dry. He put his arm around her shoulder, feeling a bit awkward. “I can’t even cry anymore. I don’t know if it’s the pills, or me. I’m wrong inside. Look at me, I’m babbling to you and you’re a complete stranger. That’s how bad it’s gotten. You might be all I have left. All my friends are dead, or they’re idiots. Wait until you meet Jennie, then you’ll see.” She sighed. “It’s been getting so hard trying to keep up this charade with the press. They’ll find out, and where will that leave me? If I don’t have my wings, I’m nothing. Even with all my connections, they might not let me in the cockpit again. These people think I live for parties and the high life. For me, it’s just the wings. The people I know and the people I meet don’t understand that. Only my squad ever understood and they’re gone. Everyone leaves. All I have left is this disguise. I can fly around town and raise a ruckus. I can be seen with movie stars, and the press eats it up. The crazier I act, the more people love me. It distracts them from their tiny lives and the war. A week ago, twenty people died in a suicide attack, and the top story was of me slipping out of my top.”

            The sat in silence for a long time. “I’m sorry I had to unload just now. I can’t even talk about this stuff with my psychiatrist. I’m too worried they’ll try to ground me, or give me some other pill that will do nothing. That’s why I picked you. I saw you in that room and I realized you were the answer to a lot of problems I’ve been having, if you’ll help me.”

            “Help you how?” Gavin asked cautiously.

            “I need someone to be my boyfriend,” she explained, rubbing her legs. “This thing with the press thinking I’m pregnant, I need to milk it. I can’t use any of my regular boy-toys for this. I don’t like them anyway. Things out there in the field are getting worse and more people are listening. If I can distract them long enough, the blowback won’t be as intense.”

            “That’s… not healthy,” Gavin decided. “For anyone.”

            “It never is,” she admitted. “Maybe that’s not the greatest plan. I don’t really make plans, I just act, and it’s worked well so far.”

            “Maybe you should start planning,” Gavin said, “although I’m not the one to give advice on that.”

            “Do you really like that other girl?” she asked suddenly.

            “I don’t even know what I like,” Gavin replied easily.

            “You think I’m crazy,” she said sadly.

            “A little. Maybe. I don’t know what to think. You’ve obviously been through a lot these past few months,” Gavin offered.

            Jackie reached out and turned on the tub for him. Hot water poured out of four faucets as she mulled things over.

            “Am I interrupting?” Moriss was suddenly standing in the doorway. Gavin tried not to look guilty, although he knew he’d done nothing wrong.

            “You most certainly are,” Jackie replied without looking up.

            “Let me be specific. I am interrupting,” Moriss said quite pointedly with something that was not a smile.

            “Have it your way,” Jackie sighed. She suddenly put her hand over Gavin’s chest and pushed him backwards into the tub. A great rush of water splashed everywhere, soaking her in the process as he spluttered. He struggled for a bit and managed to sit up. Water was quickly filling his uniform and his hair stuck to his face. Jackie laughed uproariously as she bounded out of the room.

            Moriss lingered a moment longer, staring at Gavin with her steely grey eyes before slowly shutting the door behind her. On the other side, he could hear them arguing, but he couldn’t quite make out the words. They soon faded to silence as they walked away.

            Gavin has his first moment of privacy since being born. He struggled with the rest of his clothes and let the drop onto the soaking wet ground. Inside his uniform there was something appearing close to a circuit pattern, which he could not fathom the use for. He looked around at his surroundings and found an alarming number of products lining the edge of the bath. He opened the lids, one by one and carefully sniffed at them before putting them back. Gavin leaned back and tried to relax as he planned his next move. Obviously, he had to throw his lot in with Jackie, not that he had much choice in the matter.

            Momentarily, however, he heard a knock at the door. “Who is it?” Gavin asked, knowing that Jackie would never think to knock.

            “It’s me.” Gavin recognized Video’s voice.

            “Yeah, what is it?” Gavin called out. His voice gave an echo off of the tiles.

            “There’s something you need to see after,” Video told him without elaborating.

            Gavin rubbed his temples. “I’ll be out soon enough,” he looked around and realized he had no clothes to wear.

            “Don’t take too much time,” Video insisted, and then he heard him walk away.

            Gavin finished soon after and dried himself off with the towels he found. He inspected his bruises in the mirror and decided they looked worse than they were. After arranging his hair, he realized he still didn’t know how to proceed without his uniform. The bathroom door opened up, and Gavin turned around, startled, and pulled the towel tighter around himself. It was Moriss instead of Jackie. On one finger she held the clothes hanger for a dark suit similar to the one he’d seen in her brother’s room. She tossed it at him unceremoniously and he quickly reached out to grab it before it landed on the wet floor. “One of Victor’s,” she explained. “My lady was going to waltz in here herself, but I was having none of that. So let me take this opportunity to give you your only warning. My lady has taken you in and there’s nothing I can do to put you out, although it would please. If you cause her any grief, I’ll be delighted to wring your neck. Her safety is of my upmost concern and you’re to do nothing to endanger that.”

            Gavin thought briefly to mention that she was a hardened pilot and more capable of harming him that vice versa, but he wisely kept his mouth shut and nodded.

            “I’ll see you at dinner,” she said as she closed the door behind her.

            Gavin let out a long breath and got to the business of dressing himself. It was somewhat large on him, so he rolled up the sleeves and cuffs. There was no button at the collar of his white shirt, so he tried pulling it as tight as he could to hide the bruises on his chest. As for his feet, he found a pair of leather sandals outside the door. He had to be careful as he strapped the sandal on his injured foot. Jackie was nowhere to be seen, but he could hear others talking in the hall outside her bedroom.

            As he finished, Video poked his head in the bedroom door. He looked cautiously up and down the hall before entering. Gavin immediately noticed he was now wearing two wrist units, and he had a large satchel attached to his belt he had recovered from their gear. “This urgent,” he assured him as he crossed the room. “Take a look at this,” he held up the wrist unit on his right arm and flipped through a series of charts and images.

            “What am I looking at?” Gavin asked after a moment. He knew he was looking at vital statistics, but he couldn’t quite grasp their meaning.

            “Lance brought this to me,” he explained. “It belongs to Kylie.”

            “Then stop playing with it and give it back,” Gavin told him sharply.

            “I couldn’t find her,” he said somewhat unconvincingly “I thought I could patch it up to access a flight training program for you, but I came across all of this. Look at her last recorded vital readings.”

            “That’s…” Gavin slowly began to piece things together. “She’s been sick, but she’s refused numerous appointments with Medical,” he read. “She didn’t even go in after the viral attack.”

            “They never should have cleared her for this mission,” Video explained. “Look at her last conversation in her contact list. She’s been calling favours all over Last Point. It gets worse, too,” he said as he brought up another file.

            “She’s been checking on me,” Gavin noted.

            “Since you were first conceived,” Video nodded. “There was a flurry of activity with her calls beforehand and then she checked up on your status in utero constantly.”

            “Why?” Gavin demanded. “She acted as if she only found out I existed yesterday.”

            “You’ll have to ask her,” Video shrugged. “There’s a lot of stuff in here, and most of it’s incriminating. She basically hacked her own unit so none of this stuff could leak back to Corporate. I think this is how she managed to keep up her relationship with Victor.”

            “This seems like a lot of contacts and go-betweens for something that probably amounts to making out in the broom closet,” Gavin pondered. “She’s definitely been lying to me, but I don’t understand why.” He glanced over at his bloody uniform. Kylie had been completely ready to defend him when he got in danger, but dismissed him as a potential sibling.

            “Here,” Video made an entry into the wrist unit then detached it. He placed it on Gavin’s left wrist where he had worn his own unit before Jackie commandeered it. “I have it set so it’ll gradually upload data into your node. You’ll gain knowledge this way without really understanding where you’ve learned it from.”

            “Isn’t that dangerous?” Gavin was more than a little apprehensive.

            “It’s subconscious,” Video explained, “unlike your original training. It’ll all take place in the background of your thoughts.”

            “It sounds like mind control,” Gavin protested.

            “A little,” Video admitted, “but since it’s subliminal your conscious mind chooses how to interpret things. It can’t change your behaviour directly. It’s more like you’re reading a book in your sleep.”

            “If you say so,” Gavin was once more out of his depth. “I’ll keep looking into this. I want more information before I confront Kylie with the facts. She’s in a fragile enough state as it is.”

            “Jackie’s saying we’re expected at dinner in fifteen minutes,” Deborah said as she looked into the room. Gavin closed the screen on his wrist unit, but Deborah had no way of knowing if it was his or not. She looked him over. “You look good in a suit, but you need to do something about your hair,” she complimented him. She herself was still in uniform.

            “Thank you,” Gavin said as she passed.

            “Goldie said we can rig up something better for you later and give you more of a head start on your learning,” Video told him after she left, although there was no reason Deborah could not be included in the conversation.

            “Goldie actually talks to you?” Gavin sounded doubtful.

            “Yeah, she seems to know more about this than me,” Video admitted sheepishly. “I don’t know why she doesn’t talk to you, or the rest. Lance and me seem to be her favourites.”

            Gavin just shook his head. “We’d better get downstairs. Not a word of this to Kylie in the meantime. I need to get a reading on her.”