Abraxis Complex 2: Sword of Damocles Read online

  Sword of Damocles

  Book Two of

  The Abraxis Complex

  By Ben Winston

  Copyright © 2015 Ben Winston

  Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Contents

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Disclaimer

  Sword of Damocles

  About the Author

  Connect with the author or Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Dedication

  To my wife, Lori, without whom I would have surely never finished this book

  To my brother Michael, without whom this work would never have been published

  And to my mother, may she rest in peace, who taught me it’s alright to dream.

  Disclaimer

  This story contains fiction people as well as fictional places. Any resemblance to actual people of places is purely coincidental. It is not my intent to imply that any nation's intelligence service is bad or evil. This work is not a political commentary. I simply needed the fictional versions of those agencies to be bad for the story to work the way I needed it too. In other words, this is a work of fiction, written for the enjoyment of an audience. It is not intended to be taken as truthful in any way.

  Ben Winston

  Sword of Damocles

  Book Two of

  The Abraxis Complex

  'Prometheus' Base

  Shermandale, Utah

  North American Continent

  Earth, Sol System

  The agents that Jared had predicted arrived exactly as he'd expected. The new ID's kept the family's first names, but changed the last. It was something the Agency had done before with Jared and Sharon, so all the groundwork was already in place.

  Mandi's attempts at locating the cyber-intruder for the DoD mainframe only managed to confirm it was the Drellian team, but not their location. Mandi back-traced the intruder until she began running into code she'd only seen in some of Abraxis' subsystems.

  Abraxis confirmed it was the Drellians, because the code Mandi found was Abraxian in origin. It wasn't AI code, but it was of a higher level than was currently available on Earth.

  Greg was transported in secret to Prometheus, and Abraxis had Jared and Jon put him into a healing chamber. Beth looked on anxiously, but once the chamber was closed Abraxis reassured her that he'd made the trip just fine. He also told her that he'd instructed the medical computer, an AI in its own right, to 'keep Beth in the loop' as far as what was being done to her patient.

  The medical AI seemed to be excited to have a human counterpart, even if it would have to teach her almost everything. It seemed that once medical technology had reached what was considered a pinnacle in the Alliance, that field was left mostly to machines and AI like the MedComp. Beth scrunched up her face, and immediately renamed the machine Marcus after the fictional television character that had inspired her as a child. She even had a medical license and plaque printed up for him. She placed it right beside hers in the main office: Marcus Welby, MD.

  Most folks thought it was a joke, but the newly named Marcus thought that it was great.

  Shermandale, Utah

  North American Continent

  Earth, Sol System

  As predicted, the agency 'investigators' wanted to talk to all the kids, so the girls returned to town with a Marine escort, As soon as he was able, Greg was taken in as well. None of the investigators were allowed into Prometheus since the security access protocols hadn't been finished yet.

  During this time, the girls hadn't been idle. In their various offices, they each studied hard and learned most of what they would need to do their future jobs. Mandi divided her time between study and the shop, putting her lessons to use by opening and inspecting each of the hypersleds to make sure they had arrived safely and hadn't been degraded in the intervening time that they had been in storage.

  She was surprised and a little disappointed to discover that these sleds had been built centuries before and had not had any upgrades to their systems in all that time. She was even more surprised to find that there had been no upgrades developed either.

  Considering that Abraxis warned them against building a maintenance base, she supposed that no one had been doing any research on the equipment in order to improve their systems. It was almost impossible for her to believe that none of the other fixers out there would at least be curious enough to tinker and at the least make small improvements to the equipment.

  Jolene and Bella didn't spend all of their time in front of computers either. Part of the equipment package included flight simulators for the hypersleds, and they were both required to spend a minimum of three hours a day in them. Since the workout area had been completed, they had also been working with the man that Jared had asked for to handle hand-to-hand combat and physical training.

  Paul Richards was immediately impressed with his young charges, and even began working with Greg in a limited capacity to help him with his recovery as well as develop the reflexes he would need later.

  Paul had not been told about the main purpose for the base, and suspected there was something else going on other than Jared wanting his kids trained. However, to his credit, he made no report to his superiors other than his required weekly progress reports. For the time being, Paul accepted the cover story that the kids were just really bright, and they lived down here to help with the secret research.

  The other woman that arrived to train the kids, knew there was something else going on and was constantly asking what it was. Between the Marines, Jared, and Abraxis, they had caught her trying to sneak into the restricted areas almost on a weekly basis. Paul snickered and told Jared not to worry about it; she was naturally nosy and believed there was always something else going on. Basically, the agency wouldn't pay her claims any heed unless he, Jared, or Sharon corroborated them.

  At least her constant attempts to break in kept everyone on their toes.

  The second day after the report of the accident killing the entire Adams family was released to the public, the Drellians accessed the records, and every scrap of data about Amanda Adams was copied and carefully scrutinized.

  Abraxis pointed out that there was a good chance her remains had been visually verified since the morgue had been broken into that night. All surveillance footage had been erased, and the electronic locks shorted out. Shortly after that break-in, the attacks on the DoD mainframe had stopped.

  The Agency believed their ruse had worked, and Mr. and Mrs. Danielson would be safe, along with their friends and acquaintances, twenty-two year old Greg Albrecht and nineteen year old Amanda Small. In Greg's case, his name was actually the family name of his deceased biological mother. Amanda's new last name had been Jared's grandmother's maiden name.

  Jolene and Bella didn't need their identities fully erased, but they did get modified. Both Bella and Jolene still had their last names and their parents; however, they were now twenty years old and had degrees from UC Berkeley and MIT. The story was that Bella met and even dated Mr. Greg Albrecht at Berkeley, and Jolene met Amanda Small at MIT where they had become good friends.

  Deep Space

  Solarian Sector

  “Fen’Ness, you have done well, and our Master is pleased.” Abranix whispered into his mind. Of course the damn computer would have to have waited until he was in the middle of a rest cycle.

  “Thank you Abranix. I am glad the Emperor is pleased with our efforts. Have you discovered our next assignment?” he asked trying not to yawn so the computer would hear him.

  “Indeed, Fen’Ness, I have. Our Immortal Master knows of your desire
to be allowed to return to your home and breed. This wish he will grant you if you complete one more assignment,” the computer replied.

  Startled that the computer had guessed their deepest desire, Fen’Ness almost collided heads with Not’Cern as he sat up in surprise.

  “Yes, that is our wish. What would our Master have us do?” he asked anxiously.

  “Since you have proven yourselves, you have been honored! The sector in which you are in currently has a rogue node in it. Find it, destroy it, and you will be allowed to return to your home world and breed. You are also to hunt down and retire any teams this rogue has managed to foster. However, if you destroy the node, your mission will be complete," Abranix replied. “This is not an easy task. Nothing is known about the node there. Prime cannot aide you in this hunt.”

  “This is indeed an honor! We will begin this hunt immediately!” Fen’Ness replied excitedly. His mates and he had been a young team, which is why they had been sent on this hunt. It was their first real hunt as a bonded unit, and they had brought honor on themselves with it. Their clan at home would welcome them back with open arms.

  “Finish your rest cycle, young warrior. Tomorrow is early enough to begin this hunt and will allow time for the other hunters to gather. You have done well, young one. End of Line.” The computer vanished from his mind.

  He was almost too excited to go back to sleep, but he managed to contain his excitement and at least recline back. He was very pleased with himself and his mates. They had worked hard, and even though they didn't have the honor of dispatching the hooman cub personally, they did manage to confirm its death.

  He pushed the new mission as far from his mind as he could so he could do what the computer had instructed him, and was soon, once again sleeping. The three specter ships joined together so they could sleep in the safety of the bio-metallic cocoon.

  'Prometheus' Base

  Shermandale, Utah

  North American Continent

  Earth, Sol System

  One afternoon, Abraxis asked Mandi what she was doing. She had been designing larger warships using the information and technology developed for the hypersleds.

  “I'm just tinkering really. It helps me understand the technology better if I do something like this. Once I'm done, I'll run them through simulations to see what weaknesses there are, and see if I can get any ideas for improving the sleds,” she explained.

  Abraxis almost looked disapproving at her use of free time. “I don't know how much information you will glean from such a simulation. I have almost a thousand cycles of battle records from the fleets to draw on. Once the hypersleds were developed, those battles show that larger ships became superfluous. You could simply review that data to find the answers you are seeking."

  “This isn't the same thing Abraxis. The warships I'm designing are using the technology developed for the hypersleds, not the technology of the ships used during those battles. Also, the act of designing them is giving me a better insight in how that technology works. I'm not actually proposing we build any of these ships. Think of this as simply an academic exercise for me to learn and gain a better understanding of how the engineering was handled,” Mandi explained.

  “Ah, I understand. Forgive me for being critical of your learning methods. I simply had not seen the value of this exercise. If you need my assistance with any of this, please feel free to ask,” Abraxis replied, much happier now.

  Mandi nodded to him. “Think of this as my 'simulator time' Eventually, I'll have a complete hypersled built in here to use as a test bed for theoretical designs and upgrades.”

  Abraxis nodded. “I can see the value of that now. It is an excellent suggestion. Perhaps, once you've finished it, I can pass along a copy of the simulation to the other teams in the sector.”

  'Prometheus' Base

  Shermandale, Utah

  North American Continent

  Earth, Sol System

  “It's just amazing,” Beth said in the final briefing/check-up for Greg. Jared and Sharon, as well as Greg and the girls were all there. “I understand now, how Marcus did it, but I sure wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Greg is fully recovered from his injuries, and I can safely release him back to full duty.”

  It had been a month since Greg had been almost killed by an abusive cop. He had spent the next week and a half unconscious and in a special capsule in the medical area of Prometheus. Marcus, the MedCom AI had not only regrown one of his kidneys, but helped the other to repair itself, as well as mended the broken bones and other injuries he had sustained.

  “He's fully healed after only one month? Could you have been wrong on the diagnosis?” Jared asked.

  “No, I wasn't, and just to be sure, I had other opinions on his prognosis at the time as well. Once we got him here, Marcus actually congratulated me on the accuracy of it. Carla and I are learning a whole new way to practice medicine. Watching the repairs being done to Greg was almost like watching a magician perform magic,” Beth replied.

  “But you're sure I can get back to work then?” Greg asked.

  Beth nodded. “Absolutely. At this moment, I would venture to say you are one of the four healthiest people on this planet. With your permission, I'll begin getting the rest of our people run through medical and get them checked out.”

  “Everyone but Sybil and Paul for now. I just wish we could run everyone through it; the Marines too,” Greg said. The rest of the group echoed the sentiment, and the meeting broke up.

  A couple of days later, Paul cornered Jared in one of the corridors. “Can I talk to you a minute, Agent Danielson?”

  “Of course, Paul, what's up?” Jared replied.

  “Uh, privately?” Paul asked looking up and down the hallway they were in.

  “Sure!” Jared said like this wasn't unusual as hell and led the man to his small office. Jared noticed that Abraxis still had the green LED lit to let him know there were no other listening devices present.

  “Should be plenty private in here. Whatcha need, Paul?” Jared asked.

  “I want you to know that I know when not to ask questions about something. I'm still not asking, but I think you might have made a mistake in security,” the man began.

  “How so?” Jared asked.

  “Greg. There is no way in hell he could have been healed from the injuries he sustained. 'Everyone' knows how badly he was injured, and what those injuries were. I'm certainly not going to say anything to 'anyone' about it, but I'm not the only one here,” Paul said. It was clear that when he said 'everyone' and 'anyone' he was talking about the Agency. He was trying to warn Jared that Sybil would report that Greg was healed far too quickly, and that something was in fact going on here.

  Jared sighed. “I was kind of afraid of that. The problem is, he needs to get trained as quickly as possible. Besides, Sybil has already seen him, so that cat's out of the bag. She's a gossip, does she have enough to be believed?”

  “Isn't a healthy Greg enough?” Paul said. “Honestly, I don't know what other proof could be offered to them. You know our bosses better than I do, how do you think they'd react to this?”

  Jared looked thoughtful for a moment. He pushed a button. “Abraxis, could you ask Greg to join me in my office? It's kind of important.”

  “Right away, Agent Danielson,” a male voice replied.

  Paul smiled, but didn't ask who Abraxis was, nor did he comment on the unusual name.

  While they were waiting for Greg, Jared asked Paul if he wanted anything to drink. Since it was still pretty early in the day, Paul accepted some juice. They didn't get much further into small talk before there was a discrete knock at the door.

  Jared opened it to let Greg in. He nodded to his instructor before taking a seat in front of Jared's desk. “What's up?”

  Jared indicated Paul. “Paul has brought it to our attention that Sybil is aware of how quickly you were healed. He fears she will report it, and they might take it seriously this time. I kno
w how I would handle this situation, but I would need your permission first. How do you want to handle this?”

  “Do we have any way of knowing if she reports everything she finds?” Greg asked. “I mean, certainly the Agency would have reacted already if she was reporting everything, right?"

  Jared shrugged. “We have no way to know for certain. I do know she is considered a gossip, and a lot of what she reports is ignored as false. But we have no way to tell how the Agency filters out the truth from fantasy with her. If she reports that you’ve healed up and are back on active duty already that would be simple enough for them to check on.”

  Greg looked thoughtful for a few minutes. “It's in the nature of the beast to be paranoid. That's why I wanted you to have this position. So if you tell me she is a security risk, than I have to believe you. However, we still need her knowledge so we can't sanction her yet.” He paused again, still thinking. “I think we should give her the tour,” Greg finally suggested, reasonably.

  “Excuse me?” Jared asked.

  Greg tried not to laugh. “I said, I think we should give her a tour of the facility. Our first stop would be Medical for a physical.”

  Paul looked like he was trying to not listen, and Jared looked at his son like he'd lost his mind, then the light came on for him and he laughed. “You are far too devious, sometimes.”

  “Yeah, well, I know you're not going to like this; I want a few Marines down here for base security. Paul can train them in hand to hand, but I'll handle their weapons training,” Greg said. He turned to Paul. “How about you? Would you like a tour as well?”

  “I don't know, do I get a 'physical' too?” he asked a little fearfully.

  Greg chuckled. “Yeah, you would, but it wouldn't be the same one Sybil will be getting.”

  “Well, I’m human so I am curious, but I really don't need to know. So, maybe I should pass at least for the time being,” Paul said. "After all, I can't be forced to tell what I don't know.”

  Greg nodded his understanding. “I would still like to offer you the benefits of the advanced medical facilities. We can always blindfold you or something to get you there if you want to go. As long as you swear that you will keep the secret, I will swear that nothing you don't have prior knowledge about will be done to you. Agreed?”