A Job for Ash 

     After arriving at Alchibah we put ourselves into a slightly inclined equatorial orbit 600 miles up from the surface. This would give us a good view of the temperate regions though we would have to scan the polar areas at a later date. The inclination permitted stereo views to be processed from shots taken on different passes. We certainly had enough to look at for now. The ship’s instruments were scanning Alchibah’s physical data. Things like atmosphere, cloud cover and densities, magnetic field strength, surface temps, water coverage, volcanic activity, and, as much as deep radar permitted, mineral deposits. We were taking in thousands of images for the colonists to examine. There was a big screen set up in the dining area and some of the most interesting were shown for all to see. At least four people were involved in examining every image and rating them for colony site suitability. This was such an important decision that everyone’s input was needed.

     I was still busy but had found a few moments to sit with Janie in engineering. Arte Clark had been there when I entered but shortly he left saying that he had something to attend to and would be right back.

     We were looking at upland plains, others were viewing coastal areas and still others near shore islands. Each screen shot had a location based on latitude, easy to figure, and longitude based on the tip of what we were calling Meridian Island. As the magnetic field data came in we also recorded the deviation data. Luckily ‘Magnetic North’ was such that non electronic compasses would align with their needles pointing so that east was in the sunrise position but the location of the magnetic pole was some 30 degrees away from the geographic pole. This could have been an indication that the two magnetic poles were about to reverse, something which has happened many times on Earth, though never when science was advanced enough to study how fast it happened. Whatever mineralogical data was available was tagged and coded into the image header for inclusion into the main database. Any comment on the images anyone made was also included into the file.

     I heard the entry door slide open but didn’t turn around, figuring it was Arte returning.

     “Hello, Bartlett and Good Morning Ms. Cantarubias.” came a voice softly from behind me in a Southern drawl I almost recognized. I turned around slowly. It was Ashcroft William Andrews IV.

     “Why hello Ash”, I said, then waited for him to say something.

     “Well Bart”, he began, “My cousin Andy told me you were the one who collected all that data from the time we exited the Alchibah end of the wormhole and you needed it analyzed. Just exactly what are you looking for?”

     “There are actually two things…. Do you know if Andy is available?“

     “Last I heard he was going to meet me here. Said he wanted to talk to me, before I met with you. Guess that’s water under the bridge.” Ash said this with a most deprecating wan smile.

     I merely returned the smile. I was working on it, but hadn’t completely gotten over his recent involvement with the UNWG! “First of all we’re trying to see if there are any wormholes closer to Alchibah than the one we came through; the one that leads back to Sol. Ones that might be too small, or too far out of position to occult a star, but large enough for a ship to travel through, even if that ship was smaller than the Mayflower, say about the size of a freighter. Capt Travis is worried we may need a bolt hole.”

     “Ok, I can see that,” he paused a second then said, “What’s the minimum size the wormhole could be and how would the data reveal them?”

     “I’ll have to get back to you on size, it has to do with tidal effects and I need to check the numbers again. A small out of position wormhole would show up by causing some kind of stellar movement unexplainable by ships motion. It might be so slight in fact I‘m not even sure it would show up in the data. That’s the problem that has me stumped right now. So much data to scan at such high levels of precision.”

     Ash just grinned, “My ballgame Bart, if it’s there I’ll damn well find it!”

     Janie, who had been silent till this point, said in a tone that dripped with venom. “And just what makes you so sure you can locate something the Mayflower’s comps have been working on for six months and found no hint of?“

     Ash, somewhat taken aback, began to say something just as the engineering door opened once more and in walked a figure in a chameleon field jacket with ‘Stuart’ over the right breast pocket. “Ash, what did you do to Herr Dokotor Kellerman?”

     He turned away from Janie and looked over to Andy with a puzzled expression and said, “Just gave him some documents and had a short discussion, Why?”

     “Cause he is mumbling stuff about crazed southern mad dogs and I know I have not talked to him. So, cuz who else is left?”

     Ash said, still looking puzzled, “It’s a mystery to me.”

     Andy glared and said, “ What have you got on the UNWG coming after us?”

     “Short answer or long one?” Ash asked.

     Bart suppressed a laugh and said, “Short one for now, publish the long one in the E/A!.“

     Andy did laugh and agreed, “Short, I’m thirsty, been up for 23 -E- hours!”

     Janie said, her tone a bit less grim than brfore, “You’re always thirsty Andy!“, and then, with some genuine warmth, “It looks like you need to do some more reading. The Earth hour and the Alchibah hour are so close you don’t need to mention which one you’re using.  I’ve switched over to the Alchibah hour mode already. Not sure about the rest of the time system though.”

     Ash, thankful for the brief interruption, went right straight into his lecture. “OK, when we bugged out the bad guy’s had plans but, no budget. That means, no program in place. Projecting from their base, which does not include the Lancer’s drives; we can project three scenarios.”

     “But they have the Lancers drives now and may have had them for some time.” Janie interjected.

     “Well yes Ma’am, as much as a renegade MD could have given them” …. and clearing his throat Ash began again:

     “One, they want to come and nuke us and have it done with. They have to develop the drives and life support systems to put a four or five man deep penetration Fighter/Bomber and get it here. My projections show at least 6 (launch and use) years to develop and then deploy. If that case We can expect them in 4 years -E-.“

     Ash looked over to Janie and said, “I haven’t figured out the time system yet either so when I talk about my former masters I’ll use their time.“ Janie’s expression remained neutral and so Ash looked at me and continued. “Good news is that Lancer should be able to blow them to hell!”

     “Two, they decide to attempt a military takeover. We are looking at a cruiser with at least 200 troops and a time frame 10 years down the road. Remember they have to bring what their elitist mind’s think is overwhelming force! We should be able to stop that with the Lancer and an up gunned Mayflower hidden in the asteroid belt!”

     “Three, they try to beat us with more population. This is the max threat. We are looking 20 years down the road and our best defense is a solid infrastructure and just maybe the Capt.’s bolt hole!”

     “That’s how I see it, now, can I get a drink?”

     Finally my turn to get a word in edgewise. “Did you have the key, or have you broken the encryption on the rest of the cruisers files?”

     Looking somewhat sheepish Ash replied, “Well not exactly it’s tougher than I thought, but I’m thinking about ways to attack the problem and am going to work on it as soon as I get the wormhole search started.”

     “Good, Captain Travis gave us an almost verbatim version of your summary about a month ago. We need more and newer information if you can get it.” Ash nodded his head.

     “Andy a word with you before you go?” taking his cue from that, Ash proceeded to make his exit. “I know you say he’s good but is he that good?”

     “If he’s not I don’t know anyone else who is.” Andy replied thoughtfully. “I’ll keep on him. Ash needs to be liked so badly that he will drive himself harder than anyone else could.”

     “The twerp gets on my nerves”, Janie said. “And that Southern accent he switches on and off at will!”

     Andy laughed, “He’s like that. You love him or you hate him. But we don’t turn the accent on or off darlin’, we just sometimes ferget to suppress it! Anything else Bart?”

     “Nope. Good enough for now, get yourself that drink and I’ve got to get some sack time.”

As told by Ashcroft William Andrews IV

I was sitting in the temporary Data Center, somewhere in another space and time. I was interrupted by Kurt Kellerman banging open the door like a Rhino in Heat!

“I was told Young Man, that you might have certifiably clean copies of the standard diagnoses publications in your Data Base!” He said it in that Master to Peon tone of his!

Well, as I had linked the Lab network to Andy’s little monsters I in fact did; but, this guy just rubbed me raw!

“Well”, I said in my best Southern drawl, “I probably have it in here somewhere. Leave me what you need and as fast as the Captains’ priority search is over I’ll get it right to you.”

Then he came in that same haughty tone, “Young Man, I am not accustomed to waiting on tin pot dictators nor trumped up researchers both of who seem more like hired killers than what they purport to be!”

I probably never will remember coming out of that chair, cause the first thing I remember was shoving the barrel of my XD up his right nostril! “With you left hand, pass me your personal padd! And do it slowly!”

He complied and I placed it into the reader slot and punched several keys. “Down home they had a phrase for people like you. Plain ole snooty Asshole, comes readily to mind. That trumped up researcher was a Board Certified Thoracic Surgeon when you were still dreaming about getting into Med school! She got out of it to try to fix stuff with Bio-Sciences instead of a Knife. Hell, half of the drugs for Cyro sleep came from Her team.”

I punched several more keys. “ I do not know what she was onto that made the UNWG shut her down, except that it scared the hell out of them. So she became a clinician for the old U. S. SOCOM, that being the only job she could find! While running the drills so she could understand the stress involved, guess what happened? She got ID’d as the perfect fit as a partner for the deadliest man alive. You might have meant him, he’s my cousin Andy. Course theses days he’s also her husband. Don’t ask about her first one if you want to keep your teeth.”

I punched up another sequence. “On a personal note, having three Piled Higher and Deeper’s of my own; and being by the records two years older than you, the next Young Man outta your mouth will cost you those selfsame teeth! As for the Capt., I don’t see you putting your precious ass out where the hard calls have to be made.”

I reached out and placed his padd back in his pocket. “Here you go, Asshole. Latest and greatest copies of the PDR, Merck and if you have the stomach the UNWG treatment guide! Now take this and get outta my sight. One last thing, you break Sally’s heart and there will be more than me looking for you Asshole!”

With that I shoved him out the door! This was my morning for things I didn’t really want to do. Racking out the 2 Terra byte padd from the second reader station I thought of the next one.

God, after what I had just been through; finding Bartlett was the last thing I wanted to do!

From the Log Files of William Bartlett

     With less than two days to orbit I kept standing my bridge watches and had also been assigned a couple of other tasks by Captain Travis. While Larry Monroe and Arte Clark were supervising the refitting of the Mayflowers’ freighters for use as ship to shore transports, I was giving virtual tours of the freighters and the Mayflower, and along with the Jeep teaching multiple sections of “Intro to Robots 101″.

     When off duty, which was almost never, I sat with Janie Cantarubias and examined the portion of the long range planetary images being directed to her console. They were spectacular. She had snagged one of the larger displays in ships engineering because she could at least monitor the readouts while Arte worked on the freighters renovations.

     I recorded the virtual ship tours and let everyone know that the answers to specific questions could usually be found in the ship database or the E/A. I couldn’t really do this with the Robot classes as they were more instructional rather than descriptive.

     Each Robot session was scheduled to take four hours and had to be taught to small groups, eight seemed about the right number. This was to insure that everyone could get a little practice interacting with the Jeep. I started out by giving the robots specifications and explaining what they meant from a practical prospective. Then came describing what was meant by “Ownership” and the Owners’ programming possibilities and responsibilities. I next spent about half an hour talking about how literal the bots were and the importance of precise instructions and told some stories concerning incidents which had happened in the previous three years which illustrated the same.  After that a break and finally the Jeep would take time answering colonists questions and reacting to requests for the performance of some action from the class.

     Almost immediately I figured out that these action requests always had to be prefaced by the phrase “If I were to ask you to, (Insert the Question here), Jeep, what would you do?” I told the Jeep that anytime we were teaching a Robots 101 Class, except for those requests made by me, he was to assume any request for an action was proceeded by that “What would you do” statement and he would answer but make no attempt to actually perform the task.  At the end of the session some windup questions to me and “Class Dismissed”.

     With about 18 groups of colonists to instruct, some of the older children were included, it was obvious there wouldn’t be enough time to teach all those sections before we reached orbit but as we were finishing up our third section I had an attack of inspiration.

     “Jeep when we start section 4 in about 15 minutes I want you to teach both your part and mine. I will sit in the back of the class and you will introduce yourself and explain that you are delivering a lecture developed by Bill Bartlett and for the first two and a half hours will be speaking in his voice. At the end of that part announce the break and say that when they come back you will be acting as yourself. Tell them about the “If I were to ask you stuff” and finish in four hours. Understand?”

     “Yes Boss”

     It was quite good if I do say so myself. Using class three as the basis but bringing back a few of the things I had said earlier but dropped because I was interrupted or went off on a tangent the Jeep got the first half done just at the two and a half hour mark. It went as well after the break.

     “That was excellent Jeep. You get to teach all the rest of the sections. Just one suggestion.” The Jeep knew in “Bart Speak”, a suggestion was the same as an order, “As people enter before class ask each to please be seated because we will be starting promptly, and when you start the talk introduce yourself as Dr. Professor Robot J.P. Most humans are impressed by credentials. Got it?”

     “I think that was two suggestions Boss. I got them both.”

     “Oh and one more thing. It’s ok if you keep mimicking my voice but don’t wave your arms around and fidget so much, it makes you look silly, act more professorially. If you find that you need me you know what to do.” I said that while pointing at my communicator as I left the room.

     That worked so well I talked to the Captain about it and after he took a look at one of the sessions he thought it good enough to ask Arte to have his bot download the course and teach a few sections also.

     All the questions and action requests made to the bots were recorded and though some were rather inane most were well thought out. One question was asked in almost half the sessions and I found it both interesting and descriptive of robotic behavior.

     “R. J.P. do robots have a conscience?”

     “ What do you mean by a conscience?” Jeep would respond. And depending on how the questioner replied the Jeep would answer “Yes” or sometimes “No”.

     Thus begins the history of, and my involvement with, the teaching profession on Alchibah. Not a bad job but I thought  nothing that ought to take up anyone’s full time.

Connor

“Oh do please come on,” said Lucy.“Well I’m nearly ready now,” answered Mrs. Beaver at last, allowing her husband to help her into her snowshoes.“I suppose the sewing machine’s too heavy to bring,” said Mrs. Beaver.

“Yes. It is,” said Mr. Beaver, “a great deal too heavy…”

I loved reading to the girls. They were nearly too old for it now, but I hoped they’d indulge me for another couple years. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe in particular held a special place in my heart. My grandparents had read it to my father time after time and my father had read it over and over to me when I was a kid; I suppose I was passing the tradition on to my kids. It always made every place we went feel a little like home to me, and I think my little ones felt the same way.

…”Come on,” cried Mr. Beaver, who was almost dancing with delight, “come and see! This is a nasty knock for the witch. It looks as if her power is already crumbling.”

I closed the book.

“Aw come on Dad,” Arra protested. Then Aya: “We want to see Father Christmas!” That was the twins for you. It was almost like they finished each other’s thoughts sometimes. Sure as hell finished each other’s sentences.

“Sorry, later. I’ve got to go see a woman about maybe doing some vet stuff.”

“I thought you didn’t do that anymore. I mean, since the fire and everything.” Aya said.

“I don’t. But if I’m the only one around then I might just have to. Someone’s gonna have to take care of all the sheepses and horsees.”

“Daa-ad,” Arra punched me in the arm.

“Ow!” I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know, cut out the baby talk. Alright, we’re gonna swing by the Parker’s cabin on the way so you two can stay with their girls.”

“Nice! Emily and Liza are sooo cool,” Arra said as we got on the cart, “and Karyn ain’t bad either.”

“Aw, give her a break, she’s only three.” Aya replied. “I’m sure she’ll be twice as cool as you when she’s our age.” Arra stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Ten minutes later I pulled up out front of the makeshift Bio Lab and hopped out. I had told myself I’d never treat another animal again, but it looked like I might just not have a choice. Well, I was about to find out. I took a deep breath and walked in. Seemed like I was just catching the end of a conversation.

Linda (Karyn, Liza and Emily’s mother) was just saying, “I’m hungry. Let’s go to mom’s.” As I opened the door three heads turned my way.

“Hi Sally, Linda. Mariana I presume?” I asked, smiling. I extended my hand to a hard-eyed blond. “Connor Benjamin. Sally here mentioned you might be able to find use for a vet.”

“You’re a vet? I was getting worried we didn’t have one onboard. Damn right I can put you to work,” Mariana replied.

“I should probably also let you know I’ve got a doctorate in zoology. I’m hoping it might come in handy in dealing with the new species we encounter planet side.”

“A doctorate? You didn’t tell me that,” Sally chided playfully. “Any other tricks up your sleeve we don’t know about?”

“A few,” I shrugged. “But like I said, I haven’t worked with animals in a while. I’m sure it’ll come back to me quickly though. Come on, let’s walk and talk. I could certainly use some of that food Linda mentioned.”

Jaisa

I never intended to end up on this ship headed for the outer reaches of space and our new “home.” Riiiight. I’ll believe that when I see it. I haven’t had somewhere I could really call home since our house burnt and honestly, I never expected to have one again. I guess I’m here for the same reason Dad is – family. I almost didn’t come, but I just couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing my little sisters again. I love Dad. It would break my heart if I had stayed while he left, but he would understand. Aya and Arra need me though, almost as much as they need Dad. So here I am, 500 trillion miles from anything and everything I’ve every known. Kinda sucks. But then, this is the adventure every kid always dreams of. The Wild West ain’t got nothin on this! I guess I’m willing to give it a shot.

Dad put the room together just like he knew the twins and I would like it. He’d sort of been on daddy overdrive since Mom died, but I guess I understand that. Lord knows I needed it for a while, and I think the girls still do, a bit. All the moving has been hard on them. If this works the way it’s supposed to though, we’ll be done running. Like dad said, done running, done killing.

I’m not so sure about the second part though; there are still a lot of people that need to get dead, and the sooner the better. I guess that’s up to Uncle Gabe now. He certainly knows what the hell he’s doing. I doubt he’s good enough to get the job done, but then, I doubt anyone is. Not him, not Sinopa, not any of them. And it looked like The Fox was done fighting too. She’d been keeping pretty much to herself except for the incident with the exploding flour, and so had we, so I don’t think she noticed Dad or I yet. That would be a fun reunion when it happened. I certainly intended to give her an earful for running and not staying to fight, but that could wait.

After the twins got settled in (Dad was reading them The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe again) I strapped on my Python and headed out to walk off the buzzing headache I still had from the cryo. Waking up had been a bitch, but hell if I was going to let Dad know that.

I headed for the bar (the Last Stop I heard people calling it now). Seemed as good a place as any. Besides, a little Jameson’s or McPherson’s might help with the headache.

I hadn’t gotten a hundred meters when who walks around the corner but Kaye. Kaye, that gorgeous blond boy who proved himself resourceful, brave and quite literally hardheaded all at the same time in that little invasion we had before takeoff. I should have been the one thrown against the wall in the blast, not him! He was just a kid; he had no business getting blown up without me there to protect him! I froze in my tracks.

“Miss,” he said, taking my hand gently in his and bending down to lightly kiss it. A shiver ran through my body. What on earth was that all about? And that accent… “Me name’s Kaye. ‘Tis a pleasure to meet you. Heard you were quite the fine shooter back ther’ in the greenhouse.”

“Uhhh. I mean, I…it’s nice to meet you. Jaisa.” I blurted out, pulling my hand away. What the hell was wrong with me, stumbling over my words like a drunken toddler? He was just a kid! A fine looking one, to be sure, but he couldn’t be more than…

“So y’ know how t’ handle that un?” he asked, gesturing towards my revolver.

“I, yes, I shoot some,” I answered, lamely (I thought). Lord, if he tried to punch me I’d at least know what to do. This was torture.

“Neveh have m’self, growin up here ‘n all. Blastin’ I know. Guns ‘re new t’ me. Mebe y’ could show me sometime, after we get t’ tha surface?”

“Sure. Sure, I’d love to.” I smiled. I was regaining a little composure at least.

“Well, ‘m off. Cap’n has me on ‘n errand. ‘Twas good meeting you, little miss.” He dipped his head slightly and was off.

Why that little! Little miss? Damned if I was going to give him shooting lessons! Still…

I hurried on to the bar. My headache was getting better, but that Jameson’s definitely still sounded pretty damn good.

Connor

Alright, I was calmed down. I packed the weapons back up, got my shaving kit out (the old straight razors, not that disposable junk) and cleaned up. De was right, the last thing the girls needed was a scraggly(er), scruffy(er) version of their dad greeting them. I put on my Mk23 and the kerambit and headed back to cryo.Judging by the number of empty coffins (I have to stop thinking of them like that) it looked like about half the colonists had been woken up so far. An older couple was greeting a beautiful girl of about Jaisa’s age that looked a little shaken up. The cryo must not have gone well for her. I didn’t see De around, so I settled for getting the attention of a gorgeous blond who appeared to know what she was doing around the cryo tubes.

“’Scuse me, miss? I’m looking to find out when Jaisa, Aya and Arra Benjamin are going to be woken up.” She looked up.

“Hmm…” she glanced at her pad, “they’ve already been disconnected and are in process. Jaisa should be up in five minutes and the other two a little after that. Sally, by the way.” She held out her hand.

“Where are my manners? Connor.” I said shaking her hand. She was wearing a wedding ring. “The girls are my daughters.”

“Well, it’s good to meet you. You’ll probably want to go get your wife before they wake up.” She had obviously noticed the ring I still wore as well.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, we’re here alone…She passed on a while back. Probably wouldn’t be here if she were still alive.”

“I’m so sorry. I just thought…I’m sorry. I didn’t, I mean…” she trailed off. The poor girl looked horrified.

“No, please, don’t be. It was a long time ago and I’ve accepted it now.” And how many bodies did I leave behind me in my path to that acceptance? “Heck, it’s my fault for still wearing the ring. So, why are you here?” I asked, trying to change the topic. “For the grand adventure or just for the perks?”

“Oh the perks, definitely the perks,” she laughed, if a bit uneasily. So that had lightened the tone of the conversation. Good. “Although sometimes I think my husband came just so he could be the most important person around. Which hasn’t worked out so well for him. But that’s his problem. Enough about that though. So, who are you?”

“Used to be a veterinarian, although that seems like a lifetime ago. I’ve also dabbled a little in this and that.” I shrugged, “Mostly I’m just trying to be a good father, but it can be tough.”

“You seem like you must know how to handle yourself though. I mean, you’re carrying, which I’d say less than a third of us are.”

“This thing?” I asked, brushing my hand against the HK. “It used to be my brother’s; he wanted me to take it, so I did. Given all we’ve been through I figured it might not be a bad idea to keep it handy.” Yes, that’s right, I’m just a country boy. I’ve spent so much time hiding and pretending to be something I wasn’t it was hard to stop. Maybe I would learn to trust these people, but secrets are damn near impossible to get back in once they’re out. “Well, I should go see to Jaisa. It was good meeting you.”

“You too hun. Oh, before I forget, you should go see Mariana about getting in on the Bio Lab, being a vet and all. I’m sure she could use you. And maybe we could continue this over drinks in the lounge tonight. Kurt will probably be busy doing doctor things until later and I’m sure you could always use another friend.” She smiled.

“Ain’t that the truth? Sure. Sounds like a good time. I’ll be there as long as the girls are alright.”

I wandered over to where the girls were sleeping. It was so eerie seeing them under glass like this. Way too much like an open coffin for my taste. A tall man who I assumed must have been Sally’s Dr. Kurt entered the room and started monitoring the equipment.

“You the father?” he asked curtly.

“I am.”

“Good. This one will be awake in about a minute and the other two a minute or so after that. That Garronde woman thought you would want them to wake up together.” With that he was off. Something about how he referred to the girls almost as things really rubbed me the wrong way. Weren’t doctors supposed to care about their patients? But there was no time for those thoughts to fester, as the green light on Jaisa’s machine started blinking and the cover came open.

And there was my beautiful, tough as nails daughter blinking groggily like she was just getting up from a long nap. She was the spitting image of her mother: long black hair, olive skin, a swimmer’s build. My wife used to joke that her Hawaiian genes beat down my Irish ones when they were fighting over what to make her like. Sometimes when I looked at her I really felt like I was looking at the young woman I met nearly twenty-five years ago. It made me heartsick each and every time it happened.

“Dad? Are we there yet?” she yawned, grinning at the memories of endless car trips and happier times. “The twins up yet?”

“You,” I said, embracing her as she got up, “always trying to be laid back about everything. I love you so much.” I was almost crying now. “We’re going to have a good life now, ya hear? No more running, no more killing.”

“I know Dad, I know. I’m glad I came. We’re going to have quite the time here, I just know it,” she said, stepping back. “Now, what’s first?” She always acted the tough girl. She was damn good at it too. Just wish she didn’t have to be.

I smiled and wiped away a tear. “Oh, the girls are waking up!” And sure enough, the lids of their cryo tubes had just started to open.

“Rise and shine girls!” I exclaimed, putting away the tears and painting a broad grin on my face. “We’re almost home!”

“Dad!” they yelled in unison. I kneeled down and hugged them both. “Was that really four years?” That was Aya. Then Arra, “There’s no way!”

They did understand how huge what we just did was, I was sure of it (they’re both very bright), but they weren’t half bad at the tough girl, I’m doing just fine act either. Only for them it really was an act. For Jaisa it was becoming less and less and act and more and more really her, which scared me. She had killed three people on this very ship, back at the greenhouse. Lord only knows how many before that.

“Yuppers, it most certainly was!” Jaisa responded. She loved the girls as much as I did. After Luana died she had become like a mother to them as well as their cool older sister. She thrived in the role. I had never heard her use “yuppers,” “sweetness,” or any of her other silly little expressions with anyone else. The twins always roll their eyes (like they were doing now) and pretend to just tolerate her goofiness, but I think they secretly appreciate it. They haven’t really been able to be kids with anyone but her since they were too young to remember.

“Come on, let’s go see the room.” I said, waving them to follow me. “We’ll be on the planet soon, but might as well get settled in a bit here. I’ve already set it up.”

Connor

You know when you fall asleep in a chair and wake up an hour later, only you don’t realize it was more than a few seconds until you see a clock? That’s what coming out of cryo was like for me. Except the hour was damn near four years long and the clock was a new planet. Surreal doesn’t even come close.

So the first thing I saw was a hardened old woman who looked like she may just have eaten nails for breakfast that morning. Kinda reminded me of grandma.

I stepped out of the coffin that had been my home for far too long and extended my hand. “How do you do ma’am? Name’s Connor Benjamin.”

“Ma’am? Well now, that’s something you don’t hear much anymore. Hilde Garronde. Just for that you can call me De, all my friends do. Now out with you, I have others to attend to. Not everyone takes the cryo so well.” Clearly this woman knew her job and knew it well. And I had managed to get on her good side, which was a plus. I could do with some friends, given that I had kept to myself up ‘til now. Had a lot to think about. Still did, but I couldn’t be a shut in forever.

“Will do. One question though; when are they waking my girls up? I want to make sure I’m there when they do.”

“Names?”

“Jaisa, Aya and Arra. They didn’t wake them up before me did they?” She glanced down at her tablet.

“No need to worry about that dear, we were very careful to wake parents first. Ah, here they are. You’ve got two hours. Might I suggest you go shave in the meantime? I doubt your little ones are used to the mountain man look. Your belongings were put into…let me see,” she glanced at the computer pad again, “room 21. Just head out that door and tell the golf cart where to go.”

Giving her my thanks I hustled over to the door she had indicated. If I hurried I could get the rooms set up for the girls before they woke up. They hadn’t had a real home in six, no, in ten years now. If I could get them a head start on one I was going to.

The room was sparse, but what could really you expect from a mining base? Gray bunks, your basic footlockers, not a hell of a lot else. Obviously not meant to be family friendly. Oh well, do the best with what you’ve got, right? I’d been operating on that philosophy for so long now that it was second nature.

I put the twins’ stufties on their bed – they always slept together for the first while when we moved to a new hiding place, and I’m sure this would be no different. I’m sure they would grow out of that soon (and hopefully we could stop moving around now), but at 9 they were still small enough to fit on the same bunk and un-self-conscious enough to not think it weird. That being done I put Jaisa’s Colt Python under her pillow and secured her kerambit in it’s quickdraw sheath on the wall side of the bed out of view.

Oh how things had changed. It seemed like just yesterday that I would have been putting her favorite little bunny on her pillow. That was before the “Riots.” Now I put a revolver that had claimed lives under it and knew that she would thank me. That was no life for a beautiful young girl. She should be worrying about prom and boys, not goonies and handloading. If only we hadn’t been at that protest, if only one of a thousand things had gone differently. But nothing really would have changed. Given my family it was only a matter of time before we ended up on the UNWG’s dead or alive list. The massacre at the Riots had only accelerated the inevitable.

About 10,000 had gathered in the city to protest the UNWG’s actions in the 2^nd Belt War. It was the biggest protest in years. After Chicago a lot of people in the movement had been too afraid to take to the streets anymore, and the sheeple all viewed us as violent crazies and anarchists (that’s totalitarian propaganda for you!). In reality it was a completely peaceful protest. They opened fire when my father, the late, great Governor Benjamin, was leading the group in prayer. He never asked to be the leader of these people; he just did what he felt he had to. He was governor of Vermont when the US announced its plans to join the UNWG and he knew a bad idea when he saw it. Vermont voted to secede two years later. There was hell to pay when they killed him, let me tell you.

The story later was that we were being subversive and he had been “inciting the protestors to riot.” In reality they just wanted a chance to capture my father. That they got to test out their newest “non-lethal” weapons was just a bonus. Only this time they missed the “non” part. A hundred and thirty seven people were killed that day, including my parents, my wife and both my sisters. My brother and I only survived by chance. Well, I survived by chance. He survived because he’s built like a friggin tank.

God I need to stop playing that scene in my head.

I got up off the bed where I had been sitting and walked over to the luggage. Checking on my little armory always helped get my mind off things. First came my Mk23 - the military version, of course, and all tricked out too. That (not so) little bugger was as rugged as they come. Next came my blades. The other kerambit got placed aside; that one was staying with me for sure. The only HI khukri I had in the luggage, the YCS, was holding up just fine, as was the HI-Koster Bowie. Man they were beauties. Had to leave some other stuff behind to bring them, but they were simply such deadly works of art that I couldn’t leave them behind.

Wish I had more with me, but on such short notice and with so little room I hadn’t been able to take much of the rather substantial arsenal I had amassed over the past few years. Oh well, I’m sure they were being put to good use back home by Gabe and his old SSEAL buddies. Thank the lord he had friends in low places or we never would have been able to take even this much. I hoped the rest of the firepower and steel I had shipped with my tools and the extra ammunition and clothing had gotten to the Mayflower before I did. I guess I could now say one good thing about living on the run; I did get lucky that I had to ship that stuff ahead.

Don’t let the brochures fool you, waking up from cryo is a bitch. Some are doing better than others…lucky bastards. My head hurt, I was stiff as a board, looked like a gargoyle, and my mouth was so dry I’m still thirsty. But life goes on….

Some people brought their families, or at least their other. Luckily I’m not the only one alone, otherwise I might as well jump out the airlock. I think it is too early to figure out who/what the cliques will be, and where I’ll end up. I think there are a couple of us watching, and waiting, to figure it out. Not like there’s much else to do right now.

I overheard someone talking about taking DNA samples from volunteers (or everyone?). Isn’t DNA a bit personal to start rounding up? Maybe there’s a good reason for it, but it seems awfully like something UNWG would do. I know there’s at least one traitor on board, who knows how many more. How do we know this isn’t being cooked up by one of Them?

Luckily we’ve been able to take a look at Alchibah. Looks ok enough, though there’s not much to see at this point (damn clouds). I can’t wait to get down there and see what it’s like! What will the animals be like (I’m assuming there will be some), and the plants? What about the colors (perhaps the ground cover won’t be green, but purple or red)? They’re going to need people to explore, and I’d love to be one of them. I can’t help much in the way of science, but I can do what I’m told.  Ugh, so much excitement, but also so much time.  Must. Practice. Patience.
One thing I’m not looking forward to, however, is the long year. I hope we are able to pick a spot where the winters won’t be bad! Not like we’ll know until they happen…eek!…

I was sitting in the waiting room outside cryo waiting on Ash!  Good Lord but I had better things to do but, I needed the smartass fighter jock!

Ash staggered out through the double doors looking pretty much worse for the wear!  “Maybe I should throw you back and get a real Jet Jockey,” I laughed.

He just groaned and grunted, ”Hell, I’m surprised you guys woke me up!  Guess I’m still branded as the traitor, right?”

I came out of my pocket with his XD and handed it to him butt first, “Nope, the stay awake crew found the real one.  Dr. Van Vogt was as dirty as sin.  Hell, he tried to sneak Fleet Commandos in as part of the plan.  Did you know about that part?”

He looked puzzled, “No, how the crap did he do that?’

“Apparently the second ship tried to slip them in as cargo in Cryo sneak chambers,” I said.

“Gutsy but, a little dumb.  That’s why you said you would never use them wasn’t it?”

“Spot on Cuz, it’s a stupid play!  Now down to business, you have some people on this tub who really don’t trust you yet!  Good news, those same people are ready and willing to work with you.  They have your open files and need your skills the same way I do.  Hell, Mariana even needs you for some research.”

He grinned, “Oh Lord, I bet it hurt her to say that!  What does she need anyway?”

“She needs DNA data basing on a population with cross-reference and real time disease projection!”  It was my turn to grin as a face went white.

“Good Lord, any other miracles before breakfast?” He moaned

“Yeah, I need a cross reference of 150 Ice Cubes full of Astrophysics data and the Capt. needs a back trace of UNWG ship development that has a chance of coming after us.”

Ash slumped against the wall of the corridor, “And what do I have to pull off three Manhattan Projects with?”

I grinned, “On that cuz you may be very pleasantly surprised, come on I will show you!”

We started down the corridor towards our temporary Data Center when I spotted the Three Musketeers, “Heads up Ash, the Lab Rats approach.”

He was still staring with his patented dumfounded look when Mariana spoke up,

“Here are our first two ‘volunteers’.  Open up for a swab sweetheart and Ash open that jaw or I’ll break it open!”

She then proceeded to do a swab of each of our mouths and snapped the swabs away in sterile containment tubes.

I asked bemused, “Starting DNA samples already?”

She just gave me that intentionally dimpled smile, “Drug sweep is finished, no time like the present.  Five down and how many stubborn one’s to go.  Your guess is as good as mine!”

I just grinned back, “Good luck, cause you are gonna need it!  Come on Ash; let me show you your pit!”

We entered the Data Center and he saw the old Plasma display and flex control station I had scrounged up and said, “Well I/O and control looks good.  What’s under the hood that’s what counts?”

I was well and truly grinning when I showed him unit 1, “How about four of these in an end link Cuz?”

He was for once speechless for about a minute, “And how did you manage to get 4 of the five of these brutes ever built?”

“Wrong again cuz, the fifth one is running Mariana’s lab.  I designed them dumbass, these were the price for the three patents that came from them.  That and the fact that there would be no more built.  Bet, that went out the door five minuets after we left!”

The look was one that I was waiting for, that high priced brain went in to overdrive as he took control of the system and the look went somewhere into a different space, “Oh yeah cuz, give me some time here but this is doable.”

I just turned softly and left for Hanna’s place.  I had my leash and in spades!