Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten (77 page)

“Don’t do that,” she warned.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I replied at once, frozen in her grasp.

Her voice remained stern.  “Don’t ever kiss me like I’m your sister.  If you want to kiss me, kiss me on the lips or don’t kiss me at all.”  I couldn’t believe how mad she was, but then…
what?
  Had she just…?

She had!

I let the tension flow from me, relieved, but, like my mom always told me, I would respect her wishes.

“Are you sure?”

“If there is one thing, in this whole fucked up world, I can be sure about, it is this,” she murmured, pulling me.

I bent down and kissed her sou
ndly on the lips, because… mama didn’t raise no fool.

Funny how I didn’t even realize the number of girls willing to share me had just increased to five.

Fucking Mona!

{ ¹
The Grudge
: a 2004 American/Japanese
supernatural horror film
, and the first installment in the American
horror
film
series
of the same name
.
}

{ ²J-DAM: acronym for Joint Direct Attack Munition; is a guidance kit that converts
unguided bombs
, or "dumb bombs" into all-weather
"smart" munitions
. }

~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Earth Summer – 2385)

The Corvette

It was five Earth Rotations later
, they arrived at Draxis Corporation’s secret shipyard, hidden deep within the sprawling industrial complex of the Deep Core Mining Company.  Deep Core itself was simply vast.  It was nearly one hundred kilometers in length and breadth and towered an impressive one thousand decks above the main deck that directly faced the dark side of the moon.  It literally swallowed Draxis, which was merely a two cubic kilometer block of factory, but it was where all of the Aegis Synod’s Null-tech was manufactured.

With offices in New York, Rome and Tokyo - its’ world headquarters in Angel Free Town - no one would ever suspect that the Keeper’s most prized technology wasn’t constructed on Earth at all.  It was done in space, behind the shadow of the Moon, away from prying eyes.

Deep Core’s mega-works was called, Aegis 1; thus, the tiny – by comparison – space docks owned by Draxis was termed, Aegis 2, and was buried within the northeastern quadrant of the complex of Aegis 1 (relative to the surface of the Moon).

The pilot of the Null-ship eased the bulky, misshapen craft into the correct collection sleeve within the external docks of Aegis 2.  A full de-cloaking of the ships’ stealth defenses, ten minutes prior, was all the notice operators of the facility had received that the Keeper and his Synod had arrived.  There had been a mad scramble to find proper accommodations for the unique needs of a Null-ship, but, ever efficient, it hadn’t taken Estefan’s people too long to figure out what to do.  The unexpected and the unusual was what they had come to relish working for the Solar System’s
most powerful man.

Standing at the Bridge, Estefan watched the intricate dance between the ship and the collection sleeve, its’ plethora of connector units and hoses creep-crawling about the outer hull of the spacecraft, programmed to search out their individual plugs, nozzles and fittings autonomously.

“We have hard dock,” announced the Pilot to the front left of the Captain’s cocoon-like chair.  At the same time, the Null-ship vibrated, as it became one with the station.

“Very well, synchronize all systems to Aegis 2’s ‘Swarm and initiate full takeover mode,” ordered Captain Edward Covington, waving away his ‘Swarm, coming to stand next to the Keeper.  “We are ready, m’Lord.”

Estefan nodded.  “Have my wives meet met at the main airlock.  We will take our leave of you and your crew, Captain.  They have performed with excellence and deserve commendation.  Please provide me with a complete manifest.  I would like to thank them personally for their hard work and care of my family, and you too, of course, Captain...”

Captain Edward nodded, allowing a thin line of a smile.  He knew how generous the Keeper could be at times.  He was already looking forward to the gifts and the perks and the women (and men) his overlord would soon be showering
upon him and his crew.  A few of days in bed with a couple of flexible young girls seemed just ticket.  He could almost feel their supple skin and flexible bodies rubbing against his own…

A harsh warble, followed by a continuous claxon ripped him from his train of thought.  It was the emergency master alarm!

“Report!” shouted the Keeper, his ‘Swarm somehow already activated and conducting a system-wide query.

Reyna’s seductive voice replied within five seconds.  “Ships inbound, from vector 2.225 degrees off the elliptic…

“..Tracing origins… stand-by, stand-by, stand-by...

“…Origin – the Kuiper Belt.  Destination – Luna Prime.

“My Lord, it is the returning fleet of Jacob Rodriguez, Chief of Security, and High Commander.”

“
Mother help me!” exclaimed Estefan.  “Run life-search; is my cousin on board any of the ships returning?”

The Neuro-Nanoswarm swirled and flickered above his head.  “Negative, my love, he is not present on any of the returning ships.”

Estefan sighed.  “Hail their new commander and have them dock here at Aegis 2, inform him, or her, I want a full report as soon as humanly possible.”

“As you wish, my love.”

He waved his ‘Swarm away.  “Captain,” he said inclining his head.

“M’Lord,” was the cyborg’s reply, but the Keeper had already vanished from the Bridge.

*****

Estefan arrived at the main airlock, small teak box with ornate hinges and an undefeatable, poison locking mechanism, tucked under his arm.  He was dressed more casually today, wearing self-stitching jeans, a tight-fitting black knit shirt and matching black, thick-soled work boots.  It was the sort of outfit he wore when he had a lot to do, forgoing pomp and circumstance, opting to leave his priceless suits and shoes in his armoire for the day.

All eight of his wives were already waiting for him, milling about nervously.  By now, they had heard the news that Jacob’s fleet was inbound – without Jacob.  They were dressed casual as well, having dawned shorts or mini-skirts, or skin-hugging tights with a variety of blouses and tops in a wide array of color.  To a one, they wore either flats or sneakers, most of them of the accelerator variety.  If they needed to move quickly, they could.

His eyes lingered over Mena and Ruby, who had been kind enough to come to his bed the earth-night before and express their sexual prowess in a variety of tantalizing acts.  Ruby was being coy and glanced at him through her
eyebrows.  Mena, on the other hand, stared right back with a smoky cast to her face.  She had never been shy.  She liked for him to remember it was her who had fucked him, thoroughly, whenever one of their trysts got especially steamy.  Usually, he didn’t need her to do anything to help his memory.  Mena was a goddess in bed.

“What have you heard, Effy?” asked Ramona, wringing her hands.  She had known Jacob years before she had been his girlfriend and later, his wife.

“Nothing new, Mona, but I’ve instructed the captains of the remaining ships to rendezvous with us here on Aegis 2.  We’ll know more soon enough.  First, I want to get this thing stowed and secure,” he answered pointing at the expensive wooden box halfway hidden under his arm.  The box with the ludicrous pair of sunglasses within it, tucked neatly in fluffy swaths of velvet.  He still found it unconscionable that the Shadow Spark was hidden within the lens of Ray-Ban Aviators.  Every time he thought about it, all he kept thinking was what
Maverick
would have to say about it.  Absently, he wondered how many years had it been since he’d last seen
Top Gun…

He shook the stupid thought from his head and gestured toward the airlock.  “Let’s get to the Corvette and put this madness behind us.”

The women moved as a unit.  He unlocked the air-tight aperture.  It opened like a giant part of a camera, spiraling open from the center outward.  They walked through it and the outer one beyond, which was exactly the same only slightly larger, and came into an attenuating umbilical, large enough for them to walk through, three abreast.  It wasn’t a long distance to the multi-deck terminal, but the way meandered, so it seemed to take longer than it should’ve.

They walked through yet another pressurized portal as they came into the terminal proper and were met by both Anthony Cardenas and Ellen Fernandez, the CEO’s of Draxis Corporation and the Deep Core Mining Company respectively.

Anthony strode up to Estefan at once, extending his hand.  “Dad, it is good to see you,” he said as the shook hands for a few moments, then embraced.  Estefan had to do so with one arm only.

“I miss you, boy.  How have you been?” asked the concerned father into the ear of the other.

“Good, good – business is steady, orders are steady, and so there is no need to worry.”  He broke their embrace, but not fully.  He looked directly into his father’s eyes.  “War can be extremely profitable.”  His arched brow told Estefan he had heard something of the goings on while the Synod had visited Europa.

“It is my contention
to avoid it for the time being,” said the Keeper quietly to his oldest surviving child.  “But don’t misunderstand me, son, if someone wants to pick a fight with us, I’ll gladly oblige all comers…”

Anthony nodded and backed away as his half-sister stepped between them.

“Enough talk, I want to give my Daddy a squeeze,” said Ellen, somehow managing to sound like a little girl despite the fact she was one hundred and fifty eight years old.

Estefan’s face beamed at the attention and he embraced his second oldest daughter (with Sandy) as tight as she hugged him.  Their heads arched back from their bodies after a time and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before breaking away from him entirely.

Anthony already had his mother in his arms.  He engulfed her tiny frame and spun her around in circles as though she were a Raggedy Ann and not the woman who had given birth to him.

Sandy came up then and placed here arms around both Ellen and Estefan.  The others hung back for a second, letting the family groups present enjoy a little “alone time”, even if it was for only a few minutes and they weren’t actually alone.

“Are you alright, Dad?  I heard things got a little hairy on the Jovian Moon,” inquired Ellen, more subtle than her brother.

Estefan bobbed his head.  “We’re all fine thanks to your mother.  If it hadn’t been for her, I don’t know how we would’ve got out of the mess we found ourselves.”  He craned his neck to give
Sandy a peck on the cheek.  Ellen glowed like she used to when she was ten, watching her parents express their love before her.  Even now, Estefan could tell it filled her heart.

Some things never change.

The immediate family members came apart and the extended members rushed into the fray, expressing much more warmth and animation than the last time they had been together.  They were outside the strict traditions of a Gathering.

A few minutes later, after the din had died down and the conversation slowed, Estefan looked toward his oldest living child.  “So Tony where is this Corvette docked, I would like to get rid of this annoying piece of cargo under my arm and send it on its merry way.”

“It is one level up and two berths down,” replied his son.

They wasted little time, making their way toward the newest – and fastest – spacecraft platform to
have come from Anthony’s, Draxis Corp. shipyards.

They had named it a Corvette after many of the sleek combustion engine cars, sea faring ships and later, Grav-cars, Skycars and Spacecraft, named for the same reason.  Earlier renditions boasted of raw power and unadulterated speed, but this Corvette was different.  Yes, it was fast.  Yes, it was sleek.  And yes, it was much, much more than that.  It was shaped more like a bullet than anything else one could compare it to with a pointed nose followed by a featureless cylinder.  It was nearly two hundred meters long and twenty-seven meters wide and completely smooth.  It was stealthy as most ships were nowadays, but it was also Null-capable, so it couldn’t be detected by Celestes.  But, that wasn’t its only evasive feature
though.

It was the first to employ what Draxis was calling a
Chameleon hull.  Chameleon wasn’t a new tech, but it had been perfected by Anthony and his vast team, so the ship was almost as good at visual concealment as was an octopus.  It wasn’t just background color and tint it could replicate; it could duplicate texture as well, which was a giant leap forward in Chameleon capability.  If it landed amongst pebbles and boulders, it outer hull would form like pebbles and boulders all along its surface, even give off the same ambient heat or lack thereof.  It could literally disappear in plain sight.

Like all the Corvettes of the past, it was fast as well.  It was the
only
vehicle in the Solar System thus far equipped with Grav-Jump 10-rated engines, capable of reaching 99.96% the speed of light, a velocity unheard of, even in twenty three eighty-five.

Estefan walked down a similar umbilical he had traversed a few moments ago and enter the Corvette alone.  He entered the Null-Corvette and immediately trudged up to the ships’ armored Null-hold, which was effectively a Null-field within a Null-field, and placed the exquisite wooden box within.  Upon locking the hold, he made his way to the automated Bridge and set the Null-ship to “elusive-burst, random flight”, and then left without glancing about.

He came into the midst of his family, his mind set, his expression grim.

They all stood near an observation window, watching the Null-Corvette glide away on impulse-mode until it was but a speck against a thousand, thousand specks.  A second later, it became a solid line, stretching across the cosmos for as long as the naked eye could see.

The Shadow Spark was safe, finally.

It was only a few moments later, Flavia’s Neuro-Nanoswarm chimed.  The remnants of Jacob’s fleet had arrived.

It was time to get answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~