Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (3 page)

“Ian, wait please,”

“Yeah?” Ian asked.

“How are you doing all of this? Holograms don’t even exist yet, and I don’t see the computers or the projectors it would need. Not to mention that it seems to be voice responsive,” she shook her head. “I know what I’m seeing is real, but I also know it doesn’t exist.”

“Not on Earth, no. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Beth,” Ian replied. “Although they were human, the Talosians were not from Earth.”

“Well, if you’re schizophrenic, then I guess it’s contagious!” Beth said, with a nervous grin. “Continue please.”

Ian did, and she became more and more interested in the images being displayed in front of her while he spoke. Ian finished the tale and Oly projected the hologram of Zeus for Beth.

“...so, I’m genetically identical to Commander Zeus, so I’m the only one that can take command of the ship. The ship will need a crew, and that includes a doctor. You’re the best one I know,” Ian finished.

“You want me to join the crew?” Beth asked amazed.

Ian nodded. “Yeah, I’ll need someone I can trust in charge of the medical section.”

“You do realize I am just barely out of residency, right? I would think you would want someone with a lot more real world experience for this job,” Beth said.

“Doctor Hayes, there is no one on Earth that qualifies for it. The technologies involved are so far advanced that I will have to retrain anyone that agrees to it,” Oly replied as he slowly took form to the right of, and behind Ian.

“This is the ship’s AI, Olympus. I call him Oly for short,” Ian said by way of introduction. “Oly, My personal guardian angel, Doctor Elizabeth Hayes.”

Since they had finished eating, Ian got up, and began clearing the table. He refilled Beth’s coffee before loading the dishwasher and starting it.

While Ian worked, Beth and Oly talked. She was adjusting to the situation remarkably well. Maybe Ian could ask her advice on how to deal with his feelings about Jenny, Cindy and herself? He’d wait to see how things went the rest of the day. If an opportunity doesn’t present itself, perhaps he’d speak to her then.

“Sir, do you want me to bring the shuttle back and drop off a domestic crone? That way I will be able to replicate communicators for the people you recruit, and it could be very helpful in keeping the house clean as well,” Oly asked.

“As long as you can do it without being seen or tracked, I have no problem with it. Where are you going to drop the drone so it can’t be seen?” Ian asked.

Oly pointed out the window into the back yard. “There should be sufficient cover there for the drop. The cloaking field for the shuttle can be extended slightly to provide a screen until the drone falls below the top of the privacy fence,” Oly explained.

“What’s a domestic drone? We’re not going to have any creepy spider looking machines running around the house are we?” Beth asked.

Ian laughed, but Oly answered her. “No Doctor, a domestic drone operated on a suspensor field, call it anti-gravity. It floats just off the deck. It has extendables that it uses in its various cleaning and repairing duties, and is equipped with a small replicator. Of all the things on Earth it might look like, it appears to most resemble a canister vacuum cleaner that floats off the ground.”

“Oh, so what does it do?” Beth asked.

“Aboard ship, domestic drones is responsible for keeping the ship clean, to include private crew quarters as well as public areas. They have a wide range of tools that make them almost a necessity to any household. If you do not like having it here, I can always remove it back to the shuttle,” Oly said.

Ian grinned, kissed Beth on the cheek, and headed for his room, to change into swim trunks. Jenny and Cindy would be arriving soon, and he wanted to be ready when they got there.

Although it was still technically morning, Jenny Laskar and Cindy Swift arrived right on time for a day of swimming and hanging out. Ian had promised them a cook out, and had put steaks in a marinade the morning before.

While Ian got a pitcher of iced tea and glasses, the girls and Beth went to her room to get changed for the pool. Ian had already swum the length of the pool twice before the girls made an appearance.

Three beautiful women in tiny bikinis only reminded Ian of the problems he was having with his feelings for the wonderful ladies in his life. They walked out chatting like old friends, and to tell the truth, they looked like three friends, since Beth really didn’t look any older than the other two.

He did notice however, that Jenny seemed to look a little shell shocked. Briefly, Ian wondered if Beth might have told them of his secret already. He didn’t think so, because Cindy wasn’t as excited as she would be if she knew. So Ian wondered just what was getting to Jenny.

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J
enny had been having the visions since she was eleven. Over the last seven years she had learned how to read them, but not always understand them. If her vision was clear, what she saw would happen; if it was fuzzy or out of focus, it could be changed. Most people called them premonitions, Jenny felt like they made her a freak.

The only people she’d told about them were her parents, because sometimes they frightened her. However, one reoccurring vision she’d had warmed her heart. (Among other things) She’d had it so many times; she had taken to calling it simply The Vision. At first it was mostly fuzzy, but it showed her best friend, Ian, and her getting married, but the rest was fuzzy. Over the years, it had slowly changed in different ways, but never got much clearer. Tonight, the vision had been mostly crystal clear, and there was a lot more to it.

It had also been very arousing, and detailed. Now she had confirmation of something that she was only beginning to suspect would she be marrying her best friend Ian, but also Beth and Cindy. That last part confused her, she liked the other two women well enough sure, but why would she need to marry them?

She had cried out in her sleep, which is what had awakened her, and she knew her mother had come to check on her.

“Come in, Mom,” she said, not realizing her mother hadn’t knocked yet.

The door opened quietly and her mother, Julie, came into the room. “Are you okay, Honey? We heard you crying out.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I had ‘The Vision’ again. This time though, it was pretty clear. I know what will happen, and I think you should probably sit down,” Jenny said pulling herself up to a sitting position.

“Why don’t I go get your father, and we can talk over a cup of coffee in the kitchen. He’s worried about you too,” Julie said.

“Yeah, you probably should since what I saw will involve both of you as well,” Jenny said.

“Okay, we’ll see you downstairs, honey,” Julie said as she left to fetch her husband.

Jenny chuckled as she got out of bed and got dressed. She caught a whiff of herself and headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up before confronting her parents. At least she knew they would make wonderful grandparents.

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“O
kay honey, what’s this all about?” Bill asked his daughter gently. He really did love her. She was a great daughter, she didn’t go out and party, nor did she go for the ‘badboy’ type. She hadn’t had a lot of close friends, except for the Williams’s boy, Cindy Swift and that young doctor Elizabeth Hayes. He also knew from hearing her describe her visions, that she would one day marry Ian.

“How do you two feel about becoming grandparents?” Jenny asked grinning from ear to ear. “That’s only one of the highlights of this tale.” She took a deep breath and forged on. “I’ll be moving in with Ian and Beth. Cindy and I are supposed to go over there for a day in the pool tomorrow and Ian will finally confess his love. Although it won’t be just for me, although he has loved me the longest. He will admit he has feelings for Cindy and Beth too, and it’s because of that he hasn’t come to me yet.

“Here’s where things start to get a little weird. You know I love Cindy and Beth has been a great friend. We will agree to, uh, share him even though he will officially marry me.” Jenny explained.

“Are you sure that’ll work, dear? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a deal like that working out. Jealousy and pressure from the society will eventually destroy it,” Jenny’s mother, Julie, said.

Jenny nodded. “I know, and normally, I’d agree with you on that, but there is a lot more to this tale. Remember, I said things start to get weird?” when they nodded, she continued. “Now it’s heading straight into the twilight zone. Last night, While Ian was at the graduation party, he was approached by someone. I didn’t see who it was really dark. Anyway, this person convinced Ian that he was the long lost Captain of an ancient crashed starship...”

Bill did a double take. “Wait, did you say
star
ship?”

Jenny nodded. “Yes Daddy, that’s what I said. The thing is, it’s for real. There really is a huge ship crashed on the dark side of the moon, and Ian is its Commander. I will be living with Him, Beth and Cindy there. The three of you will be there too, you’re going to join us as crew.”

“Honey, I know your visions are always right, but this is a little hard to wrap my head around.” Julie said.

“Wait,” Bill said. “Did you say
three
of us?”

Jenny chuckled. “Is your needle stuck? You’re repeating yourself.”

“You know what I meant, now, what did you mean? Who’s number three?” Bill replied.

“Janet of course!” Jenny said. “I’m a precog, you really think I didn’t know?”

“Well, we hoped,” Julie said blushing. “But, since you know about it, I guess we don’t have to hide it anymore.”

“I appreciate you trying to make sure I had as normal a childhood as I could considering, but I’m an adult now, so you don’t have to worry about me anymore,” Jenny said. “But like I was saying, all of you will be there as well. However, we will be moving to a small community in New Mexico before we go up to the ship, I’m not sure why, I didn’t see that part.”

“When will you be moving in with Beth and Ian?” Julie asked.

“Graduation day. I won’t need to take everything, just some clothes and such. We can get the rest later. It’s not like I’m moving to another state or anything!” Jenny said grinning.

“What about college, dear?” Bill asked. “I thought you were excited about going?”

“You’re kidding, right? College or a chance like this? I don’t think I could turn this down if I had to!” Jenny said smiling. “Besides, Ian will be there, so you know I’ll be there too.”

“So, why did you cry out in your sleep? Does something go wrong?” Bill asked.

It was Jenny’s turn to blush. “Uh, no Daddy, nothing goes wrong as far as I can see.”

“So why did you scream?” Bill asked, cluelessly.

“I don’t think she was screaming in fear, Dear,” Julie replied and patted Bill’s hand.

“If it wasn’t in fear, then why else would she...” he paused and blushed himself. “Oh! Uh, never mind, sweetie, forget I asked.”

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J
enny had never told her friends about her ability, she thought it made her a freak, so she hide it from everyone except her parents. So, when she got to Beth’s she had a very hard time not treating the others differently or acting differently around them.

When they all got out to the pool, Jenny had to fight herself not to jump in the pool and kiss Ian passionately. One thing was sure; Ian Williams was going to be a very happy man.

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W
atching the three women seemed to give Ian courage. He decided to just go over and tell all of them what was going on, and exactly how he felt about all of them. Put everything out there, and let the chips fall where they may. He felt he knew all three of them pretty well, which was one of the reasons he cared about them so much. He believed that no matter what, they would always be friends and that they would at least seriously consider going with him on this adventure.

He got out of the pool and walked over to where the girls had gathered. Picking up his towel, he dried off before getting some tea and sitting down.

“So, how is everyone’s weekend going?” Ian asked.

“Same ol’, same ol’,” Cindy said. “The parents are still nagging me to pick a college. Dad wants me to go to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and Mom wants me to go to UCLA. I’ve been considering applying to the Air Force Academy though, maybe I can get into the Astronaut program that way.”

Ian already knew that, but he thought her mentioning it would be a good lead in to what he wanted to ask them.

“Okay, Ladies, there is something I need to ask all of you. Well, not Beth since she already knows, but I need to ask both of you,” Ian said looking at Jenny and Cindy.

“Should we go inside for this? Will anyone over hear us out here?” Beth asked.

“I doubt it, even if they did, they would only think I was telling you all a story. You have to admit, this sounds more like a Science Fiction story than anything else,” Ian replied.

“That’s true, I know I wouldn’t have believed you if it hadn’t been for the images Oly showed me,” Beth agreed.

“Who’s Oly?” Cindy asked.

“He’s the holographic avatar of an ancient alien AI aboard a starship that crashed landed on our moon a long time ago,” Jenny answered, shocking Ian and Beth.

“Whoa, how did you know that?” Beth asked.

“What? You mean she’s right?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah, she is, but I don’t think she knows the whole story,” Ian said looking at Jenny with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I don’t think I do either. Look, you go ahead and tell the tale, and I’ll tell you guys how I knew this afterwards. Will that be okay?” Jenny asked.

“Okay, but don’t think you getting out of here without an explanation, Beautiful!” Cindy said.

Ian shook his head, but began the story just like he did for Beth earlier that day. Once again, Oly projected the images he was talking about, but they looked more solid due to the bright sunlight in the backyard.

It was clear both girls wanted to ask how the images were appearing, but Beth held a finger up to her lips to tell them to be quiet, and wait. This time, Ian gave more detail, and even Beth was paying attention. When he finished, he introduced Olympus to his friends.