Log 1 Matter | Antimatter (21 page)

“Thanks, Mum.”

Marc joined Ara on the thick carpeted floor,
slid another slice from his plate to hers, and they enjoyed some
stormy entertainment. Marc then told them about work, and how he
was now permitted to enter the dimensions used in HaV to begin
mapping.

“All three dimensions?”

“One day, but I’m starting in Klados. There’s
a shit load of matter there—”

“Marc!”

“Sorry, Mum. But there is.”

Pen went over to the bookshelf on the wall
behind Ara.

Marc leaned closer to Ara. “There’s some
species, the Eighth Race, who use matter to make—” he glanced at
Pen who was distracted “—all kinds of shit.”

“What kinds of—” she looked but Mum was back
“—things do they make?”

“They can make new plants, animals, things,
whatever.”

“Without Maya things have to be fabricated in
the Cardinal Unit don’t they?”

He gave her a strange look. “Not really, not
the lower unit matter stuff.”

Mum got up, picked up their empty cups and
plates and headed to the kitchen.

“Who are they?” Ara yawned again and put a
hand over her mouth.

“Don’t know, they’re pretty secretive.” He
patted his lap. “Lie down, the storm is picking up.”

Ara lay on the floor near the fire as Marc
stroked her head. They watched the storm build and rain pelt down
for hours. Ara resented Trickster’s intrusion in her life. With the
few days off she had coming up she wanted to go for rides with Marc
because they had grown apart a little over the last five years. He
was upset over something but wouldn’t tell her what and that pained
her.

“It’s not you,” he said softly.

“Then what or who? Aven?”

“Sort of. Aven is going to be working in
closer with your protection detail.” He glanced to see where Mum
was. She was still in the kitchen but soon headed to her
workroom.

“Isn’t that good for you?”

He didn’t answer her and she stared at him
from her position on his lap. “You’re worried about me. Why?”

“Just be on your guard, Ara. I don’t trust
Aven.”

‘Oh.” Ara felt his anger now, and his hurt.
She didn’t know Aven so how could she be on her guard? Some of what
that woman guard said now made a little sense. “Why did you go
farther away then?” She hurt over that but quickly said, “I don’t
feel you’ve abandoned me, it’s just that I want to help. I have a
feeling you thought that being away might be better or you were
fighting something.”

He stroked her head. “The first idea. I
thought by being away your security detail would forget something.
But it’s all sorted now.”

Ara relaxed again, but jumped a little when a
crack of thunder made the homestead vibrate. She grinned and looked
at Marc seeing him grinning as well.

Mountain Installation

Jamie wasn’t happy.

He was in his small, plain office after
hearing from Trickster. Ara was drained. Both Trickster and Marc
reported similar responses in different scenarios. She was willing
to forgo safety and comply without asking too many questions.
Emergencies shut her down rather than woke her up. She was more
concerned with others in normal life, but in Marc’s case, when he
went and stayed away, she had been too afraid to find out why he
had gone. Marc had forced his way back, telling Jamie to give it
up. Ara was who she was, and they had to work with what they had.
Jesran had agreed and now become his last hope in helping Ara shift
her perspective. He hated not being in control.

He almost threw down an EBrain still
displaying a message from Simon. Jamie had asked about Ara refusing
to be a part of whatever game was afoot but Simon told him the Maya
had instructions Ara was to do as instructed. Unable to constrain
himself, he called Simon.

“And who told you about the instructions?
Aven?”

‘She found them, yes. Bringing in Aven was
your idea, Jamie.”

“Well, I want her out.”

Simon was silent. “It’s your choice but there
is another way. Bring her closer.”

Jamie considered this and then muttered
darkly, “I hate when my counterarguments come back to haunt
me.”

Simon chuckled. “You weren’t wrong. To truly
protect Ara, you will need to know all the players and know the
game plan. You will need to make the cheats. Are you still in?”

“Why ask me that when you already know the
answer? I’m still in and will protect her.”

“Just remember, war games come in all shapes
and sizes. Have a think about your own weakness.”

For some reason that always angered him but
Simon was right. “Psychological.” Damn the military. He had never
told them about Leanne’s use of the implants against him. But they
knew. “Why aren’t I in the regular military?”

“Because of where you come from.”

Jamie’s eyes narrowed at that sly comment.
After he said goodbye to Simon, he strode up the narrow passages to
his cabin. After sealing the hatch in the storeroom and checking
the door was concealed, he took up a low calorie beer and drank
while pacing around his rooms. The storm was just passing over
Ara’s homestead and heading for Saratoga City. He stared at the
beaded bottle and put it down; he returned to the cooler, picking
out a normal beer. Marc laughed at him when on the “heavy” stuff.
He was sure Simon wasn’t referring to his deep cover, just his
experience with Leanne. Jamie had held so tightly to his true
origins of being “Solaris” he almost felt like an Aryan Avatara.
And he was an Avatara, just not an Aryan one. It seemed odd to him
at first thinking of how there were so many species in the worlds
but that they were repeated in different systems. Aryans, Vakar,
Kavakar, Three Empires and Grands that consisted of the Energy,
Dark, and Antimatter Beings, and they all made groups of three.
Now, in their Triad systems it made sense. What didn’t make sense
were the Chaos Beings they knew little about and Marc struggled to
find any data on them. But Jamie could see they were all converging
on one person, Ara. And he was right there next to her. Good thing
he had all that training with powerful females.

“She must be the most important person in the
world.”

“No, Jamie. She is not.”

Jamie spun around, not having heard Trickster
approach. He peered at the male dressed in Tuan clothing, and not
much of it. Trickster barely looked at him as he walked over to
join him staring out of the window towards Ara’s home.

“Nyx is the most important person in the
world. She is the only one holding back the Chaos Empire from
destroying trillions of lives. But Ara is the Vanguard.”

Jamie considered this but before he could
form any additional questions or thoughts, Trickster carried
on.

“Even if Nyx succeeds in her mission and
continues to support Monad’s Old Technological Regime it will all
be for naught if Ara can’t get us all home.”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

“You will, and soon. Have patience, my
friend. Keep my secret for some time and I will keep yours.”

Jamie grumbled his agreement. “Doesn’t it
still make Ara the most important person?”

“No.” Trickster lifted Jamie’s low calorie
bottle to his lips and sipped it with pleasure. “If Nyx
discontinues her support of Monad, and supports the Chaos Empire,
it won’t matter if Ara fulfills her role.”

“Ah. I see.” Sort of. “What is the
Safeguard?”

“I cannot say yet. If Tartarus changes sides
then nothing changes. Chaos will try to reign still. Nyx needs the
Vanguard prepared for anything.”

“The Function Tests?”

Trickster nodded. “I can’t track the Natal or
find their base of operations. It has to be in Iota though.”

Jamie nodded. He had learned on Perza Space
Station, from the Snakes, that Ara would be subjected to nine
Function Tests. Being a Vanguard for Nyx—supposedly the most
important person—explained why Ara was going to be tested. The
Vanguard wasn’t about making decisions, it was about being ready
and getting everyone home, just in case. Poor Ara. “Wait, are you
saying you want me to search?”

Trickster shrugged. “The Function Tests will
expose Ara to more danger and that is why you were chosen for the
role as Sentinel. I ensured the Aryan Military did not detect the
damage to your neural implant when you were a child. I needed
you.”

“Huh?” Jamie’s mind refused to work.
Trickster seemed to be saying he had prevented the most secret
organization in Aryan Space from finding out what Leanne had done
to his neural pathways. Jamie had thought he’d dealt with that!

“I chose you, Jamie. I programmed the
Cardinal Unit and chose you to become the Sentinel while still in
Lekas Milo.”

“But why? I was … um—”

“I know.” The brown eyes were sympathetic.
“Your Sawol, Jamie. Your Sawol is a match to Ara’s.”

He cursed. “That makes it more dangerous, a
weakness.”

“Only from your perspective.”

Damn it. Trickster was trying to nudge
Jamie’s perspective even while Jamie was trying to nudge Ara’s. He
had to take his own medicine to help her. “Alright, what’s the
first step?”

“You already took it.”

Jamie nodded. It was the step Ara needed to
make, recognize and be willing to open her mind. “Why didn’t you
fix my implant?”

“That is not within my mission
parameters.”

Great.

At sixty years old, Ara was well into her skills
training.

She noticed Kavela more over the years—Caleb
called him “the old fogey”—as her interest in engineering grew.
Caleb had introduced her because Kavela was interested in Caleb’s
abilities with design and spatial anomalies. Kavela was always so
polite to her, and she had to admit to a little flushing at his
attention. He was rather dashing even though he had a bald head.
His tattoos were very interesting but he only tolerated her as one
might tolerate the very young, or a gnat.

Over the years, Ara made several new friends,
another Sarington, two princes, a princess, a farmer type named
Jesran who was an Avatara Modernus, another programmer, and an
artist named Marlin. At first, she had been worried Jesran might be
like Ike, but time revealed he wasn’t anything like him. Ara was
aware that she was prejudiced and struggled to learn to forgive.
Over another fifty years, they grew into each other forging true
friendships. They learnt to protect each other, look after each
other, and tease with love.

They celebrated with her when she completed a
zoology degree. She had finished the course in twenty years, part
time with a robotics major. She had two high awards, and could
teach now if she wanted to. They took her out to celebrate.

Beachside City

The sun was hot, waves were high, and
laughter reached his office window. Cobra stood leaning out,
staring at the blue ocean before him. The sands were white, dotted
with those making the most of the warm day. He had studied Ara’s
family very carefully over the years. He had even walked amongst
the guests for her one hundredth birthday. Meg, Ara’s little
sister, had seen him and ran up, pleased he’d come.

He spent some time here and some time on
Sparta Prime. On the Spartan planet, he picked up information
regarding psychological warfare. No doubt, Tarus would hate that
approach. It was ironic that the very Lacuna he was against
actually helped their cause in such a practical way; it was their
main source of material and inspiration.

Over the years, he discovered which members
of Ara’s family could be manipulated. Frustrations built as only
one was fragile enough to tip, but he grew bored with Caleb’s life.
The First-Gen had been surprisingly resistant to manipulation and
he was sure Trickster had not been helping the prince. Young love
and passions wouldn’t follow the rules; Caleb was the only one Ara
was genuinely interested in, and he was often away.

Pen and Terance had already made their own
problems, though, by pretending to be Inferors to raise Ara,
interfering with Nyx’s own greater plans. He could threaten to
report them but he guessed that the Aryan Government already knew.
The media was another idea.

He couldn’t give himself away too much in
this early stage, but subtle comments and dreams could act on a
weak mind. Kavela was almost in play; Viper was doing a good job
there. He almost laughed when he heard Ara had a crush on the
Pure-Gen. Not that Kavela was a really a Pure-Gen, just another
pawn in their game. He had a Pure-Gen biosuit, memories wiped, and
while Ara grew, Kavela was being groomed for a much larger
game.

Soon, the fruits of his work would start to
be felt. At times he may have regretted planning against Nyx and
her Vanguard, but he had no regrets about severing himself from
Monad’s Old Regime. It was corrupt and it had to go. He closed the
window, annoyed now because he was supposed to be on a break, and
headed out, grabbing his surfboard along the way.

Homestead

Ara tossed and turned, unable to sleep after
the one hundredth birthday day. When any Aryan turned one hundred
they were given a pendant with the Triad symbol, the Superlunary,
Nexus, and Sawol. Every Aryan had those three things locked in
their bodies, making them one. But when Ara had tried to get
technical about it, and download data, the Cardinal Unit blocked
her. She called Korbet.

“I’m not your personal lawyer, honeybee.”

“I know that,” she said with asperity. “But
you could point me in the right direction.
Pllllleeeeassseeeee.”

He laughed over the Voice. “Alright, and you
did call me on your new Voice rather than use ArT. But I already
know that the Cardinal Unit forbids anyone access to those
records.”

“See, I did call the right person. I even
have you programmed into my new Voice.” Her voice was smug. Caleb
had sent her an oblong Voice that had the colors and markings of a
strawberry. He had one that looked like chocolate. Most people
thought they were immature, but strawberries and chocolate meant
something to them both from their childhood, their first kiss.