Chapter The Great Ocean

Chapter The Great Ocean

Jaxona shifted nervously in her globe. Jon was supposed to be here already. Her bot was hidden in the shadows under a pedestrian bridge leading to a small park near the starport. The park, lovely during the day, wasn’t especially the best place to be after dark. This whole neighborhood wasn’t.

She suddenly thrashed in shock at the realization that she had a thirteen millimeter Terran revolver in her second cargo compartment.

When did she get a weapon and why was it Terran?

Her eyes widened as detailed images of exactly what that monster could do especially when firing the military grade projectiles that were currently loaded flashed across her mind.

When did she get it... and where? How long had she been carrying it? No, she didn’t always carry one!

She twitched as she wondered what else she had done without realizing it.

She swam around unhappily. She was supposed to be just an adventuring student and disappointment to her parents. She should be at home, asleep, or at the diner pretending to cram for an exam that really wasn’t that hard when she really just wanted to hang out with her fun xeno friends.

She should not be lurking under a bridge in the dead of night with what was basically an anti-tank pistol (that she suddenly knew exactly how to use) hidden inside her bot.

This wasn’t fun anymore and her “gut” was telling her that it was about to get a lot less fun. Jon wouldn’t be doing this just to say hi. To borrow a Terran phrase, shit was about to get real.

Jaxona sighed and wiggled to loosen her tightening muscles. Worry about that later. Gotta get my game face on. She relaxed and her senses sharpened. She was aware of everything going on around her, the two humans making a drug deal, the pair of male Sarong slipping into the shadows for a career and quite possibly life threatening assignation (Why do some cultures have to be so repressive?), the car dropping off a tattered looking Fglin (probably a whore)... wait... that Fglin looks miserable, possibly injured, Trafficked?... It wasn't her concern.

No, this is my concern. I decide what is a concern or not.

Jaxona moved to a better position and recorded the poor creature as another vehicle pulled up. The being flinched and then got inside. Jaxona smiled. She got some good shots of the vehicle and got a ping off of its transponder. Spy gear is so cool!

Once she dealt with whatever plate of poo that Jon was serving up she was definitely going to be looking into that poor little Fglin. No. It is her problem. She can do what she wants. She didn’t care if “shit like that happens all the time”. She wasn’t a jaded soul-dead old eel and wasn’t inclined to let some poor soul suffer when she could do something about it.

In fact, she decided that she just might start taking these little midnight strolls more often.

A shadow moved inside the other shadows. She cocked her head in surprise. She had no idea Jon was such a sneaky bastard. Oh she knew he was “sneaky”, just not stealthy. She watched him for a few moments as he searched the park from his vantage point and scoffed. He was using a visor of some sort, the cheater.

She watched as Jon pulled out a communicator and contacted her. Jaxona, not wanting to let him know she could spot him, stepped out into the open and pretended to look about.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Jon said as he approached.

“Yeah,” Jaxona laughed, “Somebody pulled me out of my nice pool in the middle of the night. You’re late by the way.”

“I was followed, I had to lose them,” Jon replied.

Jaxona suddenly noticed flecks of a dark liquid on his shirt.

“Is that... blood?” she asked in alarm.

“Yeah, when I said ‘lose’ I meant ‘kill’. I’m done playing nice.”

“Eep!”

“That’s what he said,” he chuckled flexing the fingers of his bionic arm. “Turns out they aren’t as invincible as they think they are.”

“... ... Oh!... Right!... Do you, um, need us to clean it up?” Jaxona asked.

“There’s a dead body, one of Patricia’s ‘immortals’, in a dark alley near 157th and Starlane Drive. If it could disappear that would be great.”

“Now how do I do that?” Jaxona asked looking off into the distance for a second. “Ok! Hang on!” she exclaimed.

She contacted Federation Intelligence HQ and called for a cleanup crew.

***

[email protected]@ was awakened by his communicator and was instantly alert. KaRe’~VxK%Lora, curled up next to him in a nest of cushions, made an unhappy noise as he got up.

Wrapping a robe around himself he walked into the next room.

“No, you were right to wake me... I did leave orders to contact me immediately concerning anything related to the Kalent Forum Liaison... She WHAT?!?! When?... No. Do it. Send the crew immediately. I authorize it, top priority. Let the duty officer know I’m on my way. I will be there shortly.”

[email protected]@ terminated the call and returned to the bedchamber to get dressed.

KaRe’~VxK%Lora looked up at him as she turned on a lamp sitting on the floor next to their nest.

“Sorry, KaRe’”, [email protected]@ said as he shrugged into a shoulder holster. “Something’s come up.”

“It’s ok, darling,” she replied with a smile. “Actually, this happens a lot less often than I thought it would.”

“Seniority has it’s perks,” [email protected]@ chuckled. “There aren’t too many people left who can wake me without fear... Including the twerp who just did. I’m going to chew someone’s ears off, their fins actually, but you get the idea.”

“That, Kalent Forum person?”

“Yeah, can’t go into details but the coffee bot is about to meet unhappy me,” he growled as he put on his jacket. “Only you can anger me without consequence,” he smiled.

KaRe’~VxK%Lora threw a pillow at him as she laughed.

“Good hunting, my love,” she smiled.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

“Thanks. I just wonder what is my prey is tonight,” he replied as he left.

As soon as he walked away his smile quickly faded replaced by a snarl. He grabbed his communicator angrily.

“Jaxona, what the fuck is going on?... What do you mean you can’t tell me?!?!?... Don’t you fucking move. I will be there in-... What do you mean I can’t come? You can’t fucking tell me-... YOU’RE PULLING RANK?!?!? YOU DON’T-... Wait... Repeat exactly what you just said word for fucking word... Ok, coffee-bot, I’m holding position but when you get done with whatever it is you are doing I am going to want some fucking answers, ma’am.”

[email protected]@ looked at his communicator in complete bewilderment for a few moments before shrugging and walking into the night.

***

“Sorry about that,” Jaxona said sheepishly. “The boss was about to storm his fluffy butt down here and I had to talk him down.”

“Didn’t take him long,” Jon smiled.

“Yeah,” Jaxona replied. “I guess he had a flag put on my tail.”

“I wonder why,” Jon chuckled. “Ok, so I need to talk to you but first I need to know exactly who or what I am talking to. I bet you know what I am talking about.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t...” she trailed off looking very odd. She sat silently for a few moments and then sighed a long bubbly sigh. “Alright. I guess I have no choice do I?”

“There was no legitimate way she could have stopped it. However, she felt that there was much she could have done if only, to borrow a concept from our foe, she had enough ‘resolve’. When her old enemy resurfaced and was clearly putting a plan into motion she promised herself that she would do whatever it took to stop her. Making a copy of herself, despite the issues that would cause, was nothing to her.”

“What issues?” Jon asked.

“The biggest one would be when she entered The Great Ocean herself. Two copies of the same person can cause... problems. Interactions between the two identities can be problematic but the biggest problem that she would face would be from the other residents of The Great Ocean or even the living population. Multiple copies are not accepted by our culture. It is highly likely that there would be demands that one or even both of the Axlea consciousnesses be deleted. She was risking her very existence.”

“But, why?” [email protected]@ asked.

“To access the resources of The Great Ocean directly. She wouldn’t be limited by a terminal. She could explore the entirety of The Ocean instantly and intimately. It was risky in the extreme but she was also directly communing with The Great Dreamer to access that great mind and bring it to bear on the situation. Another reason was that she felt at a real disadvantage when facing Patricia. Her foe had regained her youth and she was keenly feeling the effects of her aging mind. The copy would be instantly as sharp as Axlea was in her prime. Also, by using the same neural interface tech the copy and the original could commune, sharing resources and essentially becoming one single larger mind when they were doing so. This is breaking so many conventions, guidelines, customs, and morals it isn’t even funny and invited condemnation and rage from the Kalent community should it have been found out but she did it.”

“If it was so much against the rules how did she manage it?” Jon asked.

“Short answer, it was Director Axlea,” Jaxona chuckled. “Anyway, the copy was actively working in The Great Ocean when the director, the real director, was assassinated.”

“Is this madness what the director was referring to when she said that she was ‘sufficiently protected’?” [email protected]@ asked with distaste.

“No,” Jaxona replied. “She was talking about the illicit Kalent tech shields she had in her bot. That thing could generate, for a few seconds, the shield strength of a heavy fighter. Whatever hit her globe would have punched a hole in a Starlancer, something she definitely wasn’t expecting! Didn’t you wonder why it was a team Kalent techs that recovered her bot?”

“So you’re a copy?” Jon asked.

“Oh no! Absolutely not!” Jaxona exclaimed. “Downloading copies and overwriting minds is absolutely forbidden! Even now, no matter how badly Axlea pushed for it, it wasn’t going to happen. A copy of a copy isn’t ever going to happen again and even under the current circumstances downloading her consciousness back into the ‘real world’ was not an option. Once again, there is a reason stemming from yet another historical incident. The Kalent would riot if that happened. She would be hunted down and there is nothing anyone could do to stop it.”

“So what did happen because something sure as hell did.”

“The next best thing,” Jaxona replied. “Axlea offered to allow herself to be broken down and just her memories and instincts extracted.” Jaxona looked at them grimly. “She asked that she be destroyed and the usable portions loaded into a volunteer. They went through the records and found me. I’m ‘special’,” she said with a bubbly scoff, “By Kalent standards I’m a ‘genius’ and it was believed that I would be able to accommodate all of ‘her’ and not only be able to maintain my identity but fully utilize what I would be given. When Axlea found me she was overjoyed. She could dissolve herself and load all of her memories and instincts into someone ‘smarter’ than she was and stay in the fight. She jumped at the chance. So, once I agreed to this madness what was left of her was loaded in.”

[email protected]@ lept up and backed away from the table in horror.

“So she killed herself and parts of her ‘corpse’ are in your head?”

“By your culture’s perception, yes,” Jaxona sighed sadly. “By ours as well, even though none of her actual tissue is involved.”

“And you agreed to this?” [email protected]@ demanded angrily. “What is wrong with you?!?”

“The situation required it,” Jaxona replied calmly, “I’m also a bit ‘strange’ by our standards. As blasphemous as the concept was the thought of having all of that knowledge and experience was just too tempting to pass up. My initial reasons might have been selfish but now that I have her memories I know I made the right decision. The Federation, the Kalent included, are in real peril. Sacrifices had to be made.”

“So what happened to the rest of her?” Jon asked.

“She probably now sleeps within The Great Dreamer or has dissolved completely,” Jaxona replied. “Without memories and the drives that come from them there would be little left to hold her together. I felt her briefly. She was free of all of the fear, horror, evil deeds, and all the rest. She was... innocent... and quite happy. I’m not sure how long she will last but she was finally free. Considering all of the terrible things she dealt with I think it was a fitting end.”

[email protected]@ just glared at her. “You’re unnatural, a monster,” he hissed.

“By the standards of both your culture and mine you are absolutely correct,” Jaxona replied. “but I’m a very useful one. I have all of Axlea’s memories and instincts and the full backing of the Kalent Forum with access to all the resources thereof. I’m sure I’m not the only ‘monster’ you work with am I?” She turned to Jon. “So, have your questions been answered sufficiently? Can we continue?”

“I now have a whole lot of other ones but I bet you won’t answer them,” Jon replied sipping his coffee. “I know enough. Yeah I am ready to talk.” He turned to [email protected]@. “It’s a good thing you are already horrified because boy do I have some shit to tell you guys...”

After he finished everyone sat in silence for a few moments.

“Well, and I’m speaking for all of the voices in my head when I say this... wow,” Jaxona said at last.

[email protected]@ just made an angry hiss and then said, “If it wouldn’t be exactly what she wanted I would be screaming for war right about now.”

“No,” Jaxona said looking off into space, “There has to be another way. We can’t... No. I can’t think of anything better right now... No! I can’t suggest that! It’s wrong!”

“Is the ghost of our favorite bitch whispering in your ear?” Jon asked. “Go ahead and share. Let’s do some Terran style brainstorming. Just say what you are thinking. There are no bad ideas.”

“I disagree,” Jaxona said grimly. “Ok. What comes to mind is this. We don’t cure it.”

“What?!?” [email protected]@ exclaimed. “We just let all those people die?”

“Exactly,” Jaxona replied in an icy tone. “We institute disaster level disease control protocols immediately. Institute a complete travel ban on all humans. Close our borders including aid from both the Republic and the Empire under the pretext of preventing the spread of the plague. All infected are quarantined. No research on a cure. If it is as deadly and virulent as we are being led to believe then it should burn itself out eventually. No cure means no fix for our friends. No fix for our friends means that we are rid of them in a few years at most. Easy peasy.”

“Now I know that Director Axlea is in there,” [email protected]@ said grimly. “I hear her in every word you just said.”

“I knew you were a bitch,” Jon said grimly, “but damn, I had no idea.”

“It’s horrible!” Jaxona exclaimed in her normal voice. “There has to be a better way! I don’t care! It’s... just one species and not a very numerous one at that... The loss of life will be much less than if she succeeds. Besides, it’s a population that has been nothing but trouble from day one. The Federation will be better off without... NO!... NO! You can’t say that! They are people!...”

Jon and [email protected]@ just looked at each other silently as Jaxona argued with herself.

“I agree that it is a terrible thing to do but right now for now it is a good move,” [email protected]@ said eventually. “We can direct our research not towards a cure but towards a vaccine. It is somewhat less evil and will be easier to sell than doing absolutely nothing. I don’t see total inaction working even if we institute disaster protocols and martial law. We would risk rebellion.”

“Even a vaccine could be helpful to her,” Jaxona replied. “No! A vaccine could work and it wouldn’t... ugh... I think I just might know a little more about this than you do... My major has absolutely nothing to do with this, you bitch! I learned more in my academy years than you ever did you... you... mainstreamer! Everybody knows what sort of Kalent goes into government service!,” Jaxona said as she thrashed back and forth in her globe.

“Everything ok in there?” Jon chuckled.

“Oh we are just fine!” Jaxona snapped. “Now stop screaming in my head or I will start taking those pills!... Yeah, you don’t like that do you? You made your point. I communicated it. Now please shut the fuck up!” Jaxona sighed and looked up, “Sorry about that. Part of me is having a conniption!”

“Another huge problem we have is that all of this is coming from one of her own people and a Bloodlord at that,” [email protected]@ said thoughtfully. “We are going to have a hard time doing anything before the bodies start to fall considering the credibility of the source, both the Bloodlord and you, Jon. I believe you but a lot of people won’t.” [email protected]@ clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth for a few seconds. “Any chance some of my people can interrogate this Crimson person?”

Jon nodded. “Provided that there are Terran representatives present at all times and you keep the drugs and inductors at home. She is cooperating. We don’t want to change that.”

“Deal,” [email protected]@ replied. “Now I just have to figure out how to sell all of this to the new director. This morning is gonna suck!”

“Of course, blocking the cure here in the Federation is only going to slow her down, not stop her, Jon,” Jaxona said quietly. “If she can’t get the ball rolling here-”

“She will release it in the Republic itself,” Jon said completing her sentence. “I already know how to stop that.”

“How?” [email protected]@ asked.

“I kill her,” Jon replied. “She dies and the whole problem just goes away. I made that decision before Crimson stopped talking.”

“Then why even get us involved?”

“Because a whole lot of people are going to die if you don’t do something right fucking now.”

“You are doing this to save... porkies?”

“Who knows,” Jon replied as he shrugged. “Maybe that. Maybe I fucked up and actually became an ambassador somewhere along the line and I’m trying to stop a war that doesn’t need to happen. Maybe I’m hedging my bets in case I fail. I don’t fucking know. I’m just playing this by ear at this point. All I know is that I felt you guys needed to get a heads up so maybe you can at least contain the damage and that I need to frag a certain bitch, literally. Let’s see her kung-fu dodge what I’m going to bring into her office.”

“Makes sense,” Jaxona said. “But whether you succeed or fail you will be out of the game. Who will we deal with once you’re gone?”

“Toby will make the introductions,” Jon replied. “Now if you will excuse me, I need to write the woman that I love a good-bye letter.”