Featuring poetry by Chad Mullens. Thanks Chad!
Before
humanity began its conversion into a space-faring race, the Uni-Net was born.
Much about the origins of the largest interplanetary communication system has
been lost to the sea of time. Some histories put the creation as early as 2088,
while others as late as 2200. Lancer tells me it was somewhere around 2132, but
a few years before a probe on Barthus confirmed that the upgraded "internet"
had ansible qualities. The science behind the system is known as the
"Heim/Stein Principal", named thus for bridging the gap of Burkhard
Heim and Albert Einstein physics. It's said by some that the Uni-Net harnesses
the power of the collective minds plugged into it. They also say that if every
human left the "mental" dimension, we'd lose the ability to tap into
it again.
Why
is this all important? I don't know.
I don't know how this Virtual World my mind
travels through works.
I don't know why time has no meaning here.
I don't know why the Corane refer to it as the
"spirit plane", but mean something different from their religion's
soul space.
I don't know how, but I'm sitting across the
booth from my father, who died when I was eight.
"Ma'am?"
He doesn't recognize me. Of course not, last time he saw me I was an eight year
old girl. "I'm not sure who you think I am, but we have some things to
discuss."
I
motion to Jean-Pierre to
put away the viral injector."You are Bert Sinmoral,
form..." I could feel a lump in my throat rising, "Governor of the
Isle of Van Solaria, most powerful man on the planet Nuevo Pluto."
"I'm
just an honest man looking out for some folks on a speck of dirt. Look, I know
a guy whose outlook on things in general is a lot more sinister." He
pulled a flat, rectangular piece of paper out from his coat pocket. One side
seemed to have some writing on it, while the other have a picture of the
Governor's Mansion on it. He laid the paper, picture side up and slid it across
the table to me. I hand it over to Jean-Pierre, who begins downloading it to the Cutlass.
"I'm
glad to see you trust me already. That is a control program. It will override
any other programs commands and give you full access to any system it finds
itself in. The code for unleashing this puppy is 'High Times."
"At
the Nines." I finished for him. It was what he'd always say to mom when he
spoke about the good ole days.
"How
did you?" As he sat gaping at me, I pulled my necklace out from under my
shirt.
"You
told me to take this with me where ever I go, no matter what. I do. Even here,
where we're surrounded by ones and zeros. You found out from someone, probably
Lancer, that the Scarlet Slash is the person who'd get the job done for you,
right?" He nodded. "Well that's who I am. After my family was killed
by the forces of Henry Hawkins, I was brought up by the Bernatelli Family. They
taught me how to fight, and to survive, but it was my father who taught me help
others survive too. You told me, never give up. Gotta learn everything you can,
so that you can understand whatever it is you're looking at. It was a few years
before I understood what this necklace was. A steel/titanium hybrid, enclosed
in carbon nanotubes. Incredibly flexible, amazingly strong, yet soft. It won't
slice through skin, no matter how hard you pull, but if you twist, it'll leave
a mighty indian burn. " I tilted my head up to reveal the scare I received
from my first clash with Henry Hawkins.
"Nica?
How? I mean, family was kil..." the words poured out of his mouth,
uncontrolled, meandering, while his mind worked furiously to make sense of it
all.
"What
did they tell you about using the Uni-Net?" I pressed a call button on the
top of the table; which pulled up the Nines service menu. Help files and FAQs appeared
on a the tabletop.
"It's
not my first time into the hive. I know time has no meaning here. My first time
into the Nines I meat a young man who was a member of the first crew of the
asteroid ship, "The Pebble". That was one of the first generational ships
in 2250. But understanding that my little girl is the Terror of the Five Territories?"
He paused for a moment. "Was it at the Spring Gala?"
"Yes.
Hawkins somehow found out about the safe room, staged some kind of emergency,
and had men waiting there when the family fled for safety."
"But
you?"
"Uncle
Vic grabbed me and ran away from the mansion. He..." Father raised his
hand to stop me.
"I
knew I could rely on Victor. He came to me about two weeks ago, with some problems. I also had a bit of suspicion.
My worries alone was just paranoia, but coupled with his... We made plans, I
was going to oust Hawkins and have him removed from Committee. We completely
changed out the security force, gave our previous group a nice vacation to the Cerulean
Shore. It was the replacement group wasn't it?"
I
nodded, "Now that you know, will you do anything different?"
"No.
I've already done everything Victor or I could think of. Undoing anything I've
done would just tip my hat to Hawkins. If he were to figure out that I knew
about his attack at the Gala, he might be able to do worse."
We
sat there for a few moments in silence. "How many days until the Gala for
you?"
"Two.
You may remember I just came back from a conference." I nodded in reply.
"As usual I have gifts for everyone, yours being that necklace. A Corane half-blood
gave it to me. Remarkable gent, supposedly 200 years old, and he barely looked
a day over sixty. Said I should give it to a child of mine who was of a fiery
heart. That it would mark her, in more ways than one. I'll be sure to remember
to tell you that now, that's for sure."
Jean-Pierre leans over to whisper in my ear.
"Just got a notice from Trevor, looks like the program was a back door
into the asteroid ships. Marla checked on our package, and everything seems in
place for our next rendezvous."
I nod, then to my father, "I wish
we had more time, but you have no idea how timely this info you've given us is.
There's something we need to do and the clock is ticking."
"So you really are a Space Rebel?
Streaking across the galaxy in a hot rod ship, blasting away all the corruption?"
"Sir," Jean-Pierre speaks
up, "You may not know me, but I know you. My father and uncle were on your
security squad, the ones that went on vacation. They told me everything they
every knew about you, and the things you did. It's been an honor working with
Nica, and it's an honor getting to meet you. Don't worry about your little
girl, they have a saying about her merry band of outlaws. Scarlet
is red and bruises are blue, mess with the band and they'll mess with you...
"Ha!" My father slammed his
hand on the table. "That's how it outta be! Say, "he asked Jean-Pierre,
"was your father Henry Renal?"
"Yes."
"Well. I know you're in good
hands." My father then unlocked the booth and we all stepped out. We hug goodbye
then he heads for the door. In the back ground someone turned on the old fashion
Juke Box, and a song by late 20th century band, The Foo Fighters, starts to
play. Marla walks from my bar to my left side just as he turns to wave before
shutting the door.
"Was that, who I think it was?"She
asks as Dave Grohl sings out the first line of the chorus:
There goes my hero
watch him as he goes.
