13 Degrees of Separation (22 page)

He made an agonizing decision, he wrote a subtle sabotage
of his own work, as well as a series of viruses. He destroyed all his hard copy
backups and then replaced them with his virus infested versions. His wife
entered and hugged him from behind, forcing him to pause and cover his tracks.
They kissed and he forced himself to act nonchalantly, like nothing was wrong.
At dinner he carefully viewed his family, and listened as they described their
daily school activities. He caught the occasional snuck glance from Marcus to
him or to the others. What he heard in the subtext he didn't like.

<|> <|>
<|>

He hatched a plan to escape the next morning, and over
three days prepared. It was three agonizing days of waiting for the ax to drop,
trying to act normal. He knew his chances of getting off the planet were small,
but he had to do something. His viruses embed themselves in the mainframes of
the Horathian empire, as did his other works of sabotage. His 'assistant'
became more strident and demanding that he finish his current project, and he
grimly ignored it.

“The last time I checked, you were my assistant, not the
other way around,” he rounded on her. “I'm free to work on whatever I want,
whenever I choose. I am... thinking about how to improve the computer system
and network and I'll be focused on that for a while.”

“But that's not what we need!” she said in exasperation.
“The computers are fine! We need you to focus on the force emitters!”

“I'm focusing on what I want for now, and letting that
issue percolate for a while. Sometimes I do that when I run into an issue with
the math or the engineering of a project, especially of something of this
importance. We need to get it right correct?” he asked. She nodded. “Very well
then. Go work on the research of emitters for me, specifically their history.
Look into the database for the various engineering and see if you can come up
with any diagrams from each evolution.”

She frowned, jotting down what he said. He knew that would
keep her busy for some time. She nodded grudgingly and then retreated before he
assigned her any more make work.

<|> <|>
<|>

The next evening he unleashed his plan. Staying up late, he
spoofed the hidden cameras in the house he had discovered and set off his
virus. Then he stuffed his pockets with currency, fake ID's and a prototype
Gauss pistol he had made six years ago. He went to bed with the jacket nearby.
The first virus exploded a breaker down the street an hour later, awakening the
neighborhood and forcing an evacuation when sparks ignited trees nearby. Soon
that entire end of the block was an inferno as homes and tinder dry plants
caught fire.

His wife rose to stare out their bedroom window at the
flames. He rose with her. She put her robe on and then rushed to the boys room.
In the confusion he made his escape, but he was followed by his eldest son Marcus.

“You did this didn't you?” Marcus accused him when they
were out of the street lights and across the field. People were milling about
in groups, the police had yet to get organized, but he knew they were working
on it.

“Did I?” Leo asked.

“You did. Damn you! That's why you're running!” Marcus
said, trying to catch up.

“Come with me son,” Leo said.

Marcus shook his head grimly. He had to stay on his
father's heels, if he didn't he'd lose him. “Do you know how much I've hated
you? Ever since I was old enough to realize it. To hear about how clueless you
were. A national treasure,” he scoffed, shaking his head in scorn. “My dad! And
they expected me and Daren to be the same way, but we're not. We're too much
like mom apparently, that's why they gave up on trying to turn us into perfect
little copies of you.”

Leo frowned. “An idiot savant, brain dead about the world
around him, kept ignorant. So tell me, what finally woke you to the obvious
father? That chimp?” his son demanded.

“I had Neo and alien friends. Did you think I'd stand by
and let a mob beat one to death before me?” Leo asked softly.

“We had to keep you ignorant, mom said it was for your own
protection. Do you have any idea what it was like being threatened by your own
mother? How she even threatened to kill me when I was six? How I had to go to
mandatory secret police training? How I couldn't have any friends over for fear
of breaching the secret and removing the veil. How I had been teased about my
father's ignorance?? When someone found out it was ugly! Two of my friends and
one of Daren's had been punished for threatening to give away the spy game, and
now they hated and feared them now.” Marcus shook his head in rage. “How much
they hate me at school!”

“I'm sorry son, sorry you had to go through that. We should
have brought you up on Antigua. It would have been different.”

“Antigua! That mudball? We're going to plow it into the
ground 'Dad'!” his son sneered.

He closed his eyes, thinking that information over, trying
to wrap his brain around the hatred in that voice. “Son, Marcus, I know your
life has been hard. I can't change that. I didn't do it, you know that. Not on
purpose. I'm asking you to come with me!”

“No! If I let you go... they'll do things to me! To Daren!
To mom! Turn around or I'll make you!” Marcus snarled, finally catching up to
him. “You traitor!” Marcus snarled, grabbing his shoulder.

Leo turned to see the knife in his son's hands. He shook
his head, trying to back away but he stumbled. “I know, I'll be free of you,
we'll all be free of you! I'll say a mugger did it!” Marcus said, waving the
blade before him. “Then we'll be able to do what we want!”

“No Marcus!” The boy lunged to stab him and Leo stuffed his
hand in his pocket while he tried to roll. The knife hit him in the shoulder
and he bellowed in pain and anger. He had done it! His son... Marcus had a
rictus of hate on his face, eyes demented.

Leo turned, wrestling with the boy but feeling his life
blood spilling and soaking into his shirt and coat. The pistol came out on its
own and he pulled the trigger. His son bucked as the small nail rounds tore
into his abdomen at point blank range. He killed the boy in self defense, not
that self hatred didn't tear at him anyway. He teared up, crying as he pushed
the dying boy off him. His son gasped, eyes wide with shock. A moment later he
laid still. Anguished Leo  ran into the night, hiding from the intelligence
officers he knew would be coming after him.

<|> <|>
<|>

He was finally cornered in the spaceport warehouse, where
his wife went in to secure him. Anguished he confronted her from afar, flinging
his accusations at her. “Was any of her love real?” his echoing voice demanded.
She bit her lip, not sure herself. She tried to bluff it out, tried to get him
to surrender and talk it out. “Right, and that's why you came in here wearing
body armor and carrying a pistol Major?” he demanded.

“So you know about that?” she asked.

“I know it all now! The shades are gone! I'm no longer the
ignorant love struck fool!” He snarled.

“Then you leave me no other choice Leo. I'm sorry,” she
said. She changed to full officer mode, and came after him. In the struggle he
was shot, as was she. As she laid there dying he stroked her blond hair, one
hand on his wound knowing it was mortal.

He could hear footfalls of the boots of troops coming in to
their location. “Was any of it real?” he asked softly. Her eyes were glassy
though, she was dead. He groaned as he turned, pulling his tablet out he sent
one last order through to the network.

He smiled bitterly. “Take that you bastards,” he whispered,
his final reserve of strength fading as his heart slowed. The tablet slipped
from his nerveless fingers. He didn't need it any more, it was done, he was
done. He felt bad for Daren, but there was nothing he could do for the boy now.

His final act of spite launched itself outward, ripping
into the power grid, tearing at the software controls to the fusion reactors he
had meticulously built. He smiled weakly at his so called assistant as the
woman came into his field of vision. He laughed softly for but a moment before
the continental reactor scrammed itself and the lights flickered and died with
him. Slowly his last breath leaked out of his body. He felt numb, relief that
it was done.

“What did you do?!?” his assistant howled, jerking his
corpse up by the shoulders in a futile attempt to get answers. Only an
enigmatic smile answered her. A death head's grin and a cooling body. Angrily
she tossed the body down.

<|> <|>
<|>

“So it's confirmed?” Newly crowned Emperor Ramichov asked.
He was clearly unhappy with the turn of events, it marred his carefully planned
rise to power. It was a blemish he couldn't tolerate, Horathian intelligence
was usually so careful about such things.

He sat back, replenished in royal red and purple as
befitted his rank. His robe was trimmed in Neo tiger fur, the last of that
feline species to exist on his planet. He stroked the fur as he listened to the
report. He had been briefed about the incident and had made certain his ire was
well known. Heads would literally roll for such incompetence and bungling. Such
things could not be tolerated.

“Yes sire.”

“How far back does this push us?” The emperor demanded,
eyes cold as he stared at his staff.

The industrial adviser winced. “At least a quarter Sire,
perhaps two. The damage to the civilian infrastructure is extensive. The fusion
reactors did a lot of damage to themselves before they could be scrammed.
Fortunately the loss of life was minimal. Fortunately also, we had backups and
back up to the backup files.” He waved a hand to indicate the palace balcony
where they could see the lights coming on as the sun went down.

“So no real harm done?” the emperor demanded, turning to
his most trusted aide.

“I don't know,” long term?” the aide asked and then
shrugged.

The emperor waved an airy hand. “I mean while taking El
Dorado into account.”

The aide froze and then shook his head. “No sire, no harm
done to our long range plans when we take that into account.”

“Good,” the emperor whispered, turning to look at the
nightly vista outside his palace balcony. The capital was quiet beautiful, but
his eyes were on the ships and space stations in orbit. “Good.”

The End

Cast:

Antigua: Ralphie Irish bar, Alice,

Savo, Howie, Petunia, Shari, Ezri, Sparks, Freeze, Regina,
and others.

Jake

Olaf: only other experienced space hand. Friend of Petunia

Kaira: space rigger. Experienced electrician in the
station. New to space walks.

Gord- security

Desi: sales rep

Brock: green space hand

Yuri: Female Veraxin space hand and junior pilot

Clio and other AI help

Theo force: paramedic

Olga Jersey: mother to Mairi, blue hair, small elfin body.
Reddish gold eyes. Exotic beauty. Gambler. Looser.

Mairi Jersey: small blue haired red eyed pilot. 17. Smart
girl, hard to read but good with math, orbital and spacial mechanics. Excellent
depth perception.

Harif: wanna be mechanic works on the bitch

The Warners: Taylor and Rasha: reservist officers on
station council. Shareholders of Yard dogs. Control military assets in system
as well as one and only gas giant refinery in system.

Hishina Fu owns part of shares of Yard dogs secretly. W out
husband's knowledge.

Toni Chambers: daughter of Captain of Kiev 221, works in
the media

Kennet: Jr station council member, spy for the pacifists.
Resistance from other council members.

Dreyfus: attorney for McDougall

Malcolm and Ian McDougall: twin industrialists on the
station.

McDougall mining and refining corporation

Sunrise metal fabrication

Peter's Plastics inc

Umbrella corporation

Zark freight

Rinwerk's industrial works

Zap Electric and gas

Chapter 1

Little Mairi Jersey paused as she got off the boarding
tube, moving to the side to avoid anyone else coming in behind her. She checked
her bags with one hand and the duffel slung across her back. She had her
clothes as well as her mom's. Her mother was coming, a case of nerves had sent
her to the refresher again.

Mom... she'd regretted taking her mother. She knew she did
already, now that her eyes spied the casino sign. “Great, that's just great,”
she swore softly. She ran her free hand through her wavy hair.

She had hair now, real hair, about two centimeters long and
not the peach fuzz she normally sported. On a whim she'd let it grow out on
their way here. It had taken nearly a year to get from Senka to here. She
finger combed her hair once and then dropped her hand, clenching it a few
times. “Come on mother,” she growled through gritted teeth.

“Waiting for someone?” a voice asked. She turned and noted
a chimp working on a piece of equipment. She turned back with a sigh.

“Yeah, my mother.”

“She meeting you here?” the chimp asked, finishing up what
he was doing and racking his equipment. She turned to note it was welding
equipment. Interesting.

“No, well, yeah. She's in the refresher. Again,” she growled,
looking down passageway.

There was a clatter and then a familiar figure came rushing
forward. “I'm coming, I'm coming. Just nervous,” her mother said, brushing at
her poodle skirt. She'd said it was her lucky skirt for some reason and refused
to part with the patched thing. Mairi turned away muttering about time. Her
mother poked her. “Hey! Mind your manners lady. I
am
your mother,” she
said.

“Yeah. I know that mom,” Mairi muttered rubbing her arm
where her mother poked her. She was self conscious about all the eyes on her.
Some thought it was a parental discipline session. She was just glad her mother
was acting half way decent. Now if she could only get her past that damn sign
before she saw it...

“Oh! A real casino! As I live and breathe! I never thought
I'd see a real one! Come on!” She grabbed her daughter's arm but her daughter
jerked back.

“No mom, quarters first then food then work. Remember? We
agreed? You were turning over a new leaf?”

“But, I just want to look...” Her mother said mournfully.
Mairi took a deep breath, set her shoulders and gripped her mom's hand. “I
mean...”

“No mom,” Mairi said gently. “Because you can't stop at
just looking. No,” she said firmly as their eyes met. “No means no. We've got
priorities. We've got just enough money for a week's lodgings, exactly what we
will need to get the bitch unpacked and for me to get fuel and find some work.”

“I...” Her daughter held her steely gaze. Finally her eyes
fell. “Fine,” she muttered, crossing her arms. She looked around and away.

“You've got to check in first,” the chimp said, pointing to
the custom's booth. “Full med check too. We don't want any viruses or nothin
here,” he said.

“Oh? Thanks mister.”

“Howie. Welder tech first class,” he said, holding up the
badge clipped to his collar lapel. She looked at the image on it and then
nodded.

“Thanks um Mr.  Howie.”

“Don't mention it. And it's just Howie.”

“Sure, um, thanks,” she said wiggling her fingers in a
thanks and good bye. She turned to the custom's booth. The other passengers on
the good ship Mariah's Mischief were already there milling about in line. It
seemed like they had some time to kill.

“Oh let's go over there!” her mother said eagerly, grabbing
her arm to get her attention. Mairi turned as her mother tugged her off balance.
“See?”

She looked to where her mother Olga Jersey was pointing.
Then she looked down to see the stern looking security officer under the water
park sign. She turned to her mom. “Later mom,” she said patiently. “We've got
to check in first,” she said.

“Oh very well,” Olga sighed and stomped to the line. Mairi
shook her head and went over with her. She stood there, moving forward
obediently when the line moved. After a while she got tired of looking at the
posters she couldn't quite read clearly yet so she pulled a tablet out of her
patched pouch and hit the on button. A few quick taps and she was in the local
net. She tried to parse through the words but reading had never been her strong
suit. She'd been exceptional at mechanics and spacial orbital mechanics but
puzzling out one unfamiliar word after another had her exasperated. She looked
up and spotted a sign. “Yard dogs! Hiring now.”

“Well! That's interesting,” she muttered turning. It wasn't
as flashy a sign as some of the others though. Tiny really, and not in a place
people could easily see it. There were a bunch of signs, some  were about
various restaurants, a pizza place, a sub joint, a grocery store and of course
the casino and the water park.

“I so want to go there,” Olga said, staring lovingly to the
casino. Mairi caught her look and sighed, knowing her mother would break her
promise the first chance she could. She looked at the sign with baleful eyes
and then caught the “Now hiring” just under it. Her lips pursed in a slow
whistle.

“Mom, what about working there?” she asked.

“You... you don't think they'd hire someone like me!” her
mother looked up and laughed. Her laugh startled a couple ahead of them. Mairi
smiled as they looked back at her. They shrugged and looked on.

“Anything is possible mom, fresh start. And just think, if
you are in the casino, and working for them you'd get your gambling itch and
not lose
your
own money!” She was fairly certain her mother would never
go for it, but she had to try.

“Darling that is a marvelous idea,” her mother said turning
a beautiful smile on her daughter. Then her face clouded with a thoughtful
look. “Though finding some rich man to take care of me, I mean us would be
appealing too...” she murmured.

Mairi sighed, shaking her head mournfully. Her mother was
on to that again. She'd harped about her great plan for the entire trip. A
sugar daddy she called it, someone to take care of her in her 'old age'. Her
thoughts turned to why they'd ended up here instead of their intended
destination. When the MM as the crew called her picked them up in Senka while
passing through to Triang she'd been eager to go. Her mother hadn't she didn't
want to lose the world she'd lived in. She hadn't been happy about losing Edgar
or any of the other contacts she'd made over the years. Friends she called
them, though Mairi knew better. They were all users, each preying on the other
in turn.

She'd been tempted to leave her mother there. Sorely
tempted. After all, she had to leave the nest sometime right? And her mother
was an adult, she could theoretically look after herself right? She'd been
doing it since she'd been twelve and pregnant with Mairi, or so she liked to
tell her daughter over and over. Of course Mairi knew better. Granddad had been
the real one taking care of both her and her mother during that time.

She smiled a little when she thought of the MM. It was her
first experience on a starship, she'd liked the experience. Much better than
the Tin Plated Bitch, though it was pretty run down, even more than her little
tug. She'd had enough to pay for their tickets and to transport the Bitch. But
when the chief caught her wandering he'd drafted her to work. She hadn't
minded, it had kept her busy, and the ship credit's he'd paid her were for an
untrained hand but had gone a long way to pay her mother's gambling debt she'd
somehow racked up. How the hell her mother had found a game... she fought a
sigh of exasperation.
That
had certainly soured her mood, finding out
about that just before they had arrived in Triang orbit. Finding out her mother
had put
her
ship for collateral had seriously put her in a foul mood.
They'd had heated words over that, luckily ship's security hadn't been called.
She'd made it clear to the crew that the bitch was
hers
and
off
limits. What her mother did to pay her debts... After that her mother had fewer
games to play and therefore stayed in their quarters and sulked. Mairi didn't
care, she was kept busy working off the debt anyway.

Mairi's foul mood hadn't lasted for long, because when they
had arrived in Triang they'd found out about the news of admiral Irons and
Antigua. The Captain had been fascinated by the newly restored factory station
and had changed course for the nearby system. A few of the people had been put
out about the course change but he was the Captain. They were given a choice,
be dropped off in Triang or head on to Antigua and possibly to Pyrax through
the B450a warp chain down to Gaston and then back over to Pyrax.

Many people were as intrigued by the station as the Captain
and crew were so no one had taken him up on his offer. They'd even picked up an
extra 100 passengers for the short hop. The ship had been crowded but again
she'd kept busy and away from the passenger lounge. She'd never seen so many
people in one place in her life and it was a bit scary for her.

Fortunately the Captain's course change had altered their
ticket. The Captain could have stiffed them but he was an honest sort and he'd
given them a partial refund. So, instead of getting off in Pyrax as they'd
thought they'd gotten off here in Antigua on Antigua prime.

When it was finally their turn Mairi took charge. They
asked about the Tin Plated Bitch. The interviewer was amused by the name. He
shot her a look. She just shrugged it off looking away. “I didn't name it, I
just fly it.”

“Okay.”

“Anything else to declare?” he asked. She put the bags on
the counter. He put them through some sort of rectangular scanner and then
sorted them out on the other side.

“Why'd you put it in the box if you're just going to ruffle
through it anyway?” Olga asked. He turned to her and was hit by her high
voltage smile of charm. Mairi tried hard not to roll her eyes but it was
difficult. Her mother flirted with just about anyone who wasn't another split
it seemed.

The customs agent smiled back and then shrugged. “The
scanner only gets some of it, we have to eyeball the rest. He took out a bottle
of hooch and looked at it.

“Uncle Edgar's finest,” Olga supplied as the man tried to
puzzle over the label.

“Hooch?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay there is an import fee for that.”

“Lucky us,” Mairi sighed and waved him on. He tore through
her mother's accumulated clothes and then through the three coveralls Mairi
had.

“So you going to be here long or passing through? Heading
to the planet?”

Mairi shook her head. “No, we're spacers. Senkan's born and
bred. I've got the Bitch and I want to put her to work as soon as I can.” She
craned her neck to see around him to the machine chattering away on the
counter. A card popped out with her mother's picture on it. She blinked in
surprise. She hadn't seen a camera. She looked around but didn't find it.

The customs agent nodded as he handed them their photo
id's. “Good for you. We need people like you out here. Job listings are over
there or on the tablet. I'll give you a card with the web address.”