Alpha Rising (12 page)

So, the enemy used chemicals to disrupt the
gene pool?

“
Yes.”

Bach prepared his next
mental question.
If male DNA is disrupted,
how do men pass through the DNA security scanners?

“
Fragmented DNA remains
unique in each individual.”

Fragmented DNA?
A more troubling thought came to Bach’s
mind.
Is that why I’ve seen no
children?

The voice answered, “Yes, and yes.”

Now Bach’s mind drifted
beyond input for the thought cap.
So there
will be no more Duran children….

The female voice replied, “Processing
statement, processing question.” It then said, “Dura’s males have
lost reproductive capabilities.”

Trying to absorb the
information, Bach’s mind raced through an array of
possibilities.
Oh, my gosh. What if Durans
see me as a sperm donor? What if I become a target of male
jealousy? Oh, God! What if the Specter tries to neutralize
me?

The thought cap beeped and the voice stated,
“Input stacking, input stacking.”

Erase! How do I
erase?
he thought in a panic.

“
Erase?” asked the
voice.

Bach singled out his
thoughts.
Yes, erase, delete.

The green ball of light on
the screen stopped circling the orange ball. “Whew.” Bach lifted
the cap from his head, but after a few moments decided to take full
advantage of this resource while he could. Maybe all the scientific
concepts he’d thought up over the years could now become reality.
So he recalled his innovative theories one by one, then put the cap
back on and mentally presented them. The monotone voice informed
him time after time that his ideas were old technology. He
grimaced, thinking to himself,
I’m light
years out of my league.

The voice replied, “Light years does not
apply to mental process.”

With the cap still on his
head, Bach thought,
Now I feel
foolish.

“
You are no different than
before,” said the voice.

He returned the cap to the wall and
grumbled, “Enough of this.”

Mentally processing all
he’d just learned, he fiddled around with a light-emitting pen that
projected 3-D images on vibrating airwaves. He wrote his name, and
drew a spaceship in midair. When he accidentally flashed the light
across a framed panel left of the viewscreen, the semi-transparent
contents flinched in reaction. Stunned for a moment, Bach hurriedly
investigated. The panel, made of stimuli-responsive living tissue,
reacted to touch, light, heat, cold, odors, sounds, liquids and
simple voice commands.
Awesome
technology.

“
Good Afternoon.” Wilde
interrupted Bach’s concentration. “I see you’ve already figured out
a portion of our technology.”

“
Amazing stuff!”

“
Do you have any
questions?”

“
Almost afraid to
ask.”

“
Well, I’m your man when
you’re ready, and be sure to keep me informed of anything new you
come up with. Need to keep security tight. And just between you and
me, keep business with Lavender Rose to a minimum. She’s become
emotional since her spouse defected to Ulwor. Still good at her
job, but don’t burden her with anything outside of her regular
duties.”

“
Don’t worry, I’m only
browsing. But thanks for the insight.” Bach leaned back in his
chair. “Hey, would you like to go to lunch? I’m ready for a
break.”

Wilde walked off. “Sorry, can’t get away.
Schedule’s full.”

Bach watched Wilde depart
and tried to come up with a label befitting the peculiar
host.
Offbeat, aloof, weird? Maybe he’s
intimidated by my sperm donor potential. Nah. Some tech-heads just
aren’t wired for human interaction. But he is sort of
likeable.
When Bach tried to refocus,
forbidden thoughts flooded his mind.
I
can’t waste any more time. Need to find out how to get to Ulwor to
rescue my crewmates, how much fuel I’ll need to get there and back,
and what weapons I can get my hands on without raising
suspicion.
He scooted his chair closer to
the work area, pulled the cap from the wall, cleared his mind to a
single thought, then put the cap on his head.
Do they have fuel emission or nuclear power detection on
Ulwor?

No voice response.

The green ball of light circled the orange
ball on the screen.

A clicking sound filled his ears.

He shook his head, readjusted the cap, and
followed the green light with his eyes.

A male voice overrode both the female voice
and the clicking sound. “Unauthorized data request! Alert! Alert!
Security breach!”

Bach gasped and pressed the sides of his
head where the man’s voice came from. He whispered in a panic, “No,
no, don’t send an alert. I didn’t know it was wrong, I just thought
of it for a moment.”

“
Alert!”

“
Please erase!
Cancel!”

“
Alert!”

His voice increased in
volume and he shook the small video screen as if that would stop
it. “Please cancel. I was only trying to learn.” The clicking sound
continued. “Oh, shoot, I have to
think
it!” he said in near panic. He
calmed himself.
Cancel. Please
cancel.

“
Denied.”

Why?

“
Security breach.
Prohibited inquiry.”

Heart pounding, Bach’s eyes
flashed from side to side.
What’s going to
happen to me?

“
Reprimand.”

Reprimand? Who from?

“
Altemus.”

Altemus.
Bach sighed with relief and didn’t wait for
another response. He jerked the cap from his head, talking to
himself, “I’ll explain to Altemus. He’ll understand why I was
curious. It’s a normal reaction to wonder about things. I’m not an
underground Duran dealing confidential info to the Ultimate World.
He’ll understand.”

Bach felt like everybody in the room was
looking at him. He glanced around, but the Durans were going about
their business as usual. As his heart slowly returned to a normal
rhythm he looked for something to divert his attention. A soft
purple glove lay nearby. He read the directions printed on the back
and pulled the Electro Glove onto his hand, then sketched a few
basic designs with his fingertip on an illuminated drawing pad. An
unexpected array of data and images flashed on the view panel. The
device quickly captured his full attention. He sketched an
illogical spacecraft prototype just to see what would happen. A
maze of lines zigged and zagged across the panel, and soon a
dimensional schematic developed. “Yes!” he babbled in excitement.
Then an annoying bleep accompanied by a series of garbled images
overlaid his data, and a bright red band, “Input Halted” flashed on
the panel. His work disappeared. Wondering what he did wrong, he
read the directions on the glove again.

Now the panel flickered back to life with a
printed message. “Hello, my earthling friend. Anything I can help
you with? Love, from Station 3.”

Bach rolled his chair back and looked over
his shoulder toward Station 3. Lavender Rose! She smiled, then
scrawled on her touchpad. The input displayed on Bach’s panel.
“I’ve locked you out. You can’t have full access. How about
lunch—sparkling water?”

Wish she’d leave me
alone
, he grumbled inside his head.
But she won’t take no for an answer.
Giving in to good manners, he grudgingly nodded
while squirming inside for a way out, then snatched off the Electro
Glove and grabbed the energy drink in frustration. As he drew the
mug to his lips, a stream of bubbles appeared on the surface. He
poked at them with his finger. They didn’t break, but sank and
resurfaced. He pushed them under again, but this time the murky
fluid reacted with a change of color to a translucent yellow. The
Specter’s face materialized, and taunting words rolled from his
silvery tongue. “Join us, Bach. Your skills and devotion will serve
us well.” He waited for a moment. “Your crewmates, and the one you
love, miss you.”

Bach’s stomach wrenched at mention of his
loved one and his crewmates. He slammed the mug on the touchpad in
anger. The sticky drink splashed over the workstation and dripped
from the pad to the floor. The Specter’s words faded, “Time’s
running out.”

Bach leapt from his chair, grabbed his tools
and paperwork, and shook them off. At the same time, a note from
Lavender Rose appeared on his data panel. “There’s a mop in the
closet. Do you want me to get it for you?”

He glared at her and mouthed the word, “No,”
as he plopped into the chair and blotted the spill with paper
scraps.

Then someone rolled his chair forward as far
as it could go under the desktop with him in it. Lavender Rose
pressed her body against his back, then reached over his shoulder,
stroked the touchpad, and whispered from her pouty red lips, “Now
you’re shut down. Let’s go.”

“
I have to clean up this
mess.”

“
Housekeeping robots will
take care of it.” Her cheek brushed his. “I’m keeping you on
limited system access until you have lunch with me.”

“
Altemus said I’d have full
access.” In the midst of stress and irritation, Bach felt his
temperament soften from Lavender’s bewitching fragrance.
Why does such an aggravating person have to smell
so good?
He tried to stand, but his chair
was too far under the desk and Lavender was still behind it, so he
turned his head to one side. “Not hungry right now.”

She moved her face to within inches of his
and looked into his eyes.

He stammered, “And, I, uh, have too much on
my mind.”

“
Like what?” she asked
playfully.

“
I just saw the Specter for
the third time.” He hesitated. “Does he know
everything?”

“
No, Bach, he doesn’t know
what you’re thinking. But he does have a direct link to emotional
distress. He’s come in through your mind to torment you at a time
of weakness. You have a period of growth necessary before you’ll
understand how to deal with it. Do I make you weak?”

He tensed.

She pulled his chair back, swiveled it to
one side, gripped the armrests and said, “I’ll be glad to teach you
everything I know.”

Bach pushed his feet hard against the floor
and inched the chair backward. Lavender Rose held fast. He motioned
with his head toward a digital readout on the wall. “Sorry. I’ve a
meeting with Altemus … right about now.” He put his hands on her
waist, moved her aside, then race-walked to a vacuum lift. As the
door slid closed, the last thing he saw was Lavender Rose sitting
in his chair at his work bay. She grinned provocatively and
waved.

*****

The lift door opened with a
pneumatic hiss at the communications wing’s sprawling upper level.
Bach’s getaway stride ended at his mentor’s office. Uncomfortable
about arriving unannounced his first time at the office, he
hesitated at the half-closed door and noticed at eye level, an
unusual nameplate of polished black stone encircled by gilded
leaves. Fancy gold script spelled out the name, Altemus
Rider.
Hmmm. Rider, that’s the only last
name I’ve seen or heard.
He registered the
find in his brain and rapped on the doorframe.
“Altemus?”

“
Come in, come in,” the old
man bellowed in a stress-filled voice.

Not knowing if he should swing the door full
open, Bach squeezed through without opening it farther. Altemus sat
behind a cluttered desk twenty feet away with a beeping electronic
device in his hand. He didn’t look up. “Bach, good to see you. Come
in. Sorry I wasn’t able to work with you this morning. Can I help
you with something?”

“
Uh, well, not really. I
just stopped by to say….” His words trailed off at seeing a
wall-sized window to his left overlooking the assembly floor where
Jenesis’s new starship was under construction. “You supervise
construction from here?” he asked in surprise.

Altemus still didn’t look up. “I can’t get
around as well as I used to—this is a workable solution. Only go
down there for hands-on inspection at critical points. New
starship’s specs have no margin for error.”

On the window ledge, two furry animals lay
stretched out in pleasurable sleep. Bach approached slowly, noting
their tufted ears and bunny tails. “What are these? I didn’t know
there were animals in Dura. They almost look like cats.” He stroked
the orange striped one and a soothing vibration rocked its little
body, but it didn’t stir.

“
They’re wurrs. Star brings
them with her every day. Orange one’s Arro, gray and white one’s
Lotus. She leaves them in my office because I spoil them.” He
nodded to himself. “They’re the only animals left in Dura.” Altemus
finally looked at Bach. “Let’s set aside time to bring you up to
date on Jenesis’s essentials.”

“
Sounds good. I scanned the
intelligence system this morning, and even with limited access, I’m
amazed at the technology here.”

“
Limited access? You have
full security clearance.”

“
Lavender Rose just told me
I don’t.”

Altemus slammed his wrinkled hands on the
desk and pushed himself up with a pained grimace. Seating his
trifocals on his nose, he grumbled, “I gave her explicit
instructions to initiate full capabilities for you, and to schedule
a briefing on our current projects. Did she get with you at
all?”