Hunter Legacy 11: Home Is Where the Hero Is (17 page)

"I don’t want to do this."

"Do what?"

"Lead the people I love to their
deaths."

"Even if it means saving a good chunk
of the human race?"

"Why are they more important?"

"All beings are equal."

"Yeah, but some are more equal than
others."

"Not really. Some egos pretend they
are. Those you know and love seem to be. But it's an illusion."

"Illusion or not, why do the people I
love have to die to save people I've never met before, and never will?"

"So has it ever been. The few protect
the many, so a race survives."

"Are we worth surviving?"

"What do you think?"

"I think the longer I see people, the
more I prefer my cat."

"Ha-ha. That’s been around since the
cat was domesticated."

"Just how many will we save? If the
Darkness arrives at the other end of the spine in six months, it leaves us six
months to move billions into a single system. It's not enough time to get
ready. It's not enough time to move so many stations and ships so far. Sure, we
might save most of the Australian sector, and some of the Sci-Fi and American
sectors, some Brits and a few Canadians, and maybe, just maybe, some from other
sectors who leave up spine as soon as the defense starts, but is there really
any point?"

"Isn't saving even a few million worth
it?"

"You mean is saving a few million
worth sacrificing myself and everyone I love?"

"Yes. Isn't it?"

"Not when we have no way of sealing
them off so the Darkness can't get them."

"And what makes you think you
won't?"

"Because we don’t, and I can't see us
developing far enough in six months to be able to come up with anything that
powerful."

"Maybe you don’t have to."

"What does that mean?"

"You have what you need. All you need
to do is figure out how to make it do what is necessary."

"Fine. Why me?"

"Sometimes, there is only one."

"Why me?"

"You know? I asked the same thing. Two
and a half millennia ago."

"And what answer did you get?"

"What makes you think I got one?"

"So we have to choose to drink the
poisoned wine?"

"Such is freewill."

"What if we choose not to?"

"Would we be the one if that was ever
going to happen?"

"I guess not. So we have no freewill
after all?"

"Oh we had freewill. We made the
choices before beginning the life."

"So why do we fight it?"

"Freewill again. Once you're in the
foxhole, freewill does allow you to question why you agreed to dive into it in
the first place."

"But once you're in, you're in?"

"Yes. The choice was made before you
were born. Life is about understanding the choice."

"To know is to die?"

"Yes. And no. Those who finally do understand,
often die in that moment. An exit point opens up, and they take it. For others,
it gives them the courage to crawl out of the foxhole, and do what they agreed
to do. Some of them die at that point as well, but their death has significance
for others. And some live through it, and go on to whatever they agreed to
beyond the foxhole."

"Which did you choose?"

"It was sort of both at the same
time."

"So you were the one?"

"In a way."

"If I'm the one, does that mean when I
die I become an ascended master like you?"

"You are an ascended master now. You
did the spiritual work. You experienced ascension. When you do die, you will
join us. But who said anything about you dying?"

"You didn't disagree before."

"Everyone dies sometime."

"I'm nineteen years old. I know the
Darkness takes me. If it's here in six months, the likelihood is, I won't turn
twenty."

"Nothing is certain."

"Generally speaking? Or in just this
instance?"

"Both. Those who have seen to it you
were born, trained, and made ready for this task, are rolling the dice as much
as you are. All else they tried failed."

"So no pressure."

"Only that which you put on
yourself."

"What happens if I fail?"

"There is no such thing as
failure."

"You said the highers failed in
everything they tried."

"So they did. But failure isn’t in
itself a problem. Like everything, it's how you react to what happens which is
the important thing. Something not having the desired outcome isn’t failure,
even if that label is applied, when you learn from it, and try again."

"So I'm just the next attempt?"

"In a way, yes. Some pretty high
beings had to admit they chose wrongly in order to make this next attempt. It
doesn’t matter what level of existence you are at, how you react to what
happens is still the most important thing."

"So I'm reacting badly now?"

"Your reaction wasn’t the best, but
given the curve balls thrown at you, you've done okay. You have most of what
you need now. You've had time to process. You've a lot of support, both from
those who love you, and the highers. Where you go from here, and how you go
about it, is all that matters now."

"So full speed ahead, and damn the
torpedoes?"

"Perhaps. There is a lot of history
you can choose from. Both what worked, and didn’t work. And not all of what you
have to draw on actually happened."

"Learn from history, or you're doomed
to repeat it?"

"Not really. But what you face has
happened to groups of humans before."

"How did they fare?"

"Badly."

"You mean they died?"

"Not all of them. You should know
this. You studied the history you needed to know."

"How do I do this alone?"

"You're never alone."

"Huh? You see those tracks along the
beach? There are two of us, and only one set of tracks."

"That’s because I've been carrying
you. Don’t you think it's time you stood on your own feet again?"

I stood there on the beach, looking out
over the surf towards the moon.

"Jon?"

I turned to see the four of them standing a
short way away. Aline, who was my girlfriend. Amanda and Aleesha, who were
joined to me in a special way. And Jane, my companion and best friend.

"Yes?"

"Who were you talking to?"

"You didn’t see him?"

"Him who?"

Aline was asking, but the others seemed
equally curious.

"Jesus and I were walking the
beach."

"Oh."

It wasn’t a questioning Oh, more an acceptance
Oh.

"Are we leaving now?" asked
Amanda.

"What's the time?"

"Late enough, especially if you want
to make the Shipyard in time for the launch."

"Let's be off then. I think I'm done
here."

"You sound better," said Aleesha.
"Did your talk with Jesus help?"

"It seems so."

"Then he gets our thanks," said
Aline. "We were getting worried about you."

"Today is the tomorrow you worried
about yesterday."

"Deep," said Jane.

The gig dropped lightly on the beach beside
us, and without another word, we climbed in. I looked back at the sand from the
hatchway. One set of footprints led back to where I'd been standing looking at
the moon. There were two more prints next to the last pair of mine. Those
prints meandered up the beach. I shut the hatch.

Gunbus was waiting above us, and while Jane
flew us to Outback, the four of us went to bed. Angel curled up next to my head
as usual. She seemed content to be moving again, even after enjoying her few
days in the sand. Maybe she missed her brother and Nut. Who could really tell
what went on in the mind of a cat? I wasn’t even sure what was going on in my
own.

I lay there watching a popup of Gold Coast
receding into the distance. Say goodbye to another home.

Maybe Aline was right.

Home was where we were.

The Cruiser slid out of the shipyard bay
without any fuss. Slice and I were standing on the Bridge of Apricot One.
Gunbus was still docked at her side.

Jane entered from behind as the Cruiser
stopped just ahead of us. There was a slight clunk, as Gunbus undocked, and
headed back to Nexus. BA wanted the twins back. There was a mixture of
anticipation and dread on their faces. The whole concept of BA and boot camp
certainly induced dread in me. But I wasn’t needed for it. They were.

Angel was sitting in Slice's chair. Slice
seemed to think this was funny.

Apricot was Chinese looking. Small in most
dimensions, with very pale skin, she was deceptively delicate looking. She stood
where Jane normally sat when controlling my Gunbus. Slice caught me looking at
her and grinned.

"Custom made droid underneath the
suit," he said. "The standard security droid is too tall. I wanted a
good looker, but in a shape my wife wouldn’t object to."

"She doesn’t like Chinese?"

"She knows I'm not attracted to them.
Unlike you."

The grin turned into a laugh, and I
couldn’t stop myself laughing with him. Aline wasn’t Chinese. She was Japanese
American Australian. Although I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn there was
some Chinese in there somewhere.

"Please don’t tell me you call her
Blossom?"

Apricot Blossom? It was all I could come up
with to needle him with.

His laugh became a roar, and it took him a
moment to get a grip again. Apricot gave me an amused glance, but said nothing.

He nodded to Apricot, and the Corvette
moved towards the Cruiser. It was a standard Cruiser design. The usual big
turrets top and bottom, with hanger underneath instead of some of the smaller turrets.
The main difference was the huge openings in her sides, to allow the Hives in
and out. In addition to her normal armament, she was fitted with a dozen
capital ship missile launchers down each side, with Mosquito launchers and
Point Defense turrets covering all remaining empty space.

Apricot docked us neatly in the Cruiser's
Hanger Deck. The Corvette only just fit. If Slice wanted a gig or shuttle, it
would need to be hangered in the Corvette. She led the way out into the Hanger
itself, and to the access shaft. We jumped upwards one at a time, me carrying
Angel, much to her disgust. I had to tell her Jane had no control here, so she
couldn’t do the jump herself. Jeeves brought up the rear.

There was only a single deck for living on with
life support, plus a Cargo Deck, but this was more than enough space for a
small crew.  There wasn’t one, yet. Apricot lead us to the CCC. Not being the
top deck, the ship didn’t have a standard Bridge. But the CCC was just as good,
since the HUD and side screens displayed the same as you would have seen
looking out windows.

I held on to Angel, in spite of her
squirming to get down, until Slice took his captain's seat. When I did put her
down, she immediately jumped up onto the console, and the forward facing guns
fired. I hastily grabbed her and lifted her up again. Fortunately, the front of
the ship wasn’t pointing at anything but empty space.

"Oops," said Jane. "Should
have warned you about that."

"Console is now off," said
Apricot.

I placed Angel down again, and she sniffed
at the new ship smells. She turned towards me, and meowed loudly. Jeeves
plopped a cat mat down beside her, she nodded to him, stepped on, turned around
three times one way, reversed and did a turn the other, before sitting down,
facing the view.

"Now the cat is settled," said
Slice, "let's get on with the acceptance testing."

He gave me enough access to follow them
through all the menus and systems. It took two hours before he was satisfied.

"What do you think?" he asked me.

"Looks good to me. But I can make a
few software upgrades if you like?"

"What kind?" asked Apricot.

Jane looked at her, and they communed for a
few seconds. She nodded to Slice and he nodded to me. I nodded to Jane, and she
plugged herself into the data port beside Apricot. She and Apricot both changed
into metal robots.

"You have been upgraded," said
the one behind, in a grating metal impersonation of a voice.

"I am now designated Cyber
Controller," said the other one, in a different version of the same voice.

"What the fuck?" yelled Slice,
jumping up from his seat.

The two AI's shifted back into themselves,
and giggled together.

I lost it looking at Slice's face.

The HUD suddenly changed with my
enhancements, and Slice gulped.

"Nice," he said to me. "But
why the sideshow?"

I shrugged.

"Jane likes doing things like
that."

Jane and Apricot grinned at me.

Slice sat again.

"Let's get this show on the road
then."

Apricot contacted Bob over on the shipyard
with acceptance of the ship, and received blessings to depart shipyard space.

Once well away from both the shipyard and
the jump point, Slice put the ship through its paces. It handled just as well
as Gunbus did, and everything fired the way it was supposed to.

Shortly after, we jumped into Nexus.