Tides of Mars (Omnibus Version) Read online

  With a sigh, Ariel got up and looked in the safe. There had to be a hundred thousand dollars on the lower shelf of the safe! Ariel swallowed hard and grabbed the large manila envelope and the DVD sitting on the top shelf. There was a heavy ring sitting on top of the jewel case with a DVD in it, so Ariel took all three over to the desk and sat down to go through them.

  When she lifted the lid of the laptop, the screen came to life but asked for a password. Ariel didn’t know if it would do any good, but she put the DVD into the drive and sat back in the very comfortable office chair. She was so comfortable, in fact, that she didn’t even feel the needle enter her neck. She was out before the computer finished loading the DVD.

  Initiate scan...................scan complete.

  Subject: Ariel Janis Moran-Parker,

  Full biological daughter of Estelle Parker and Alexis Moran-Parker.

  Planet of origin: Earth, (Sol III) Horon-A Sector.

  Date of Birth: Galactic/local: cy11293.3.14/1988-07-31

  Guardian Specific Genetic Abnormality present.

  Genetic defect index: 0.01 (Human) *Warning* Atmospheric contamination present.

  Quarantine and treatment required before transportation via hyperspace. Subject approved for enhancement and cybernetic interface implantation.

  Council approval for enhancement and cybernetic interface implantation: Approved

  Medical approval for enhancement and cybernetic interface implantation: Approved

  Special approval required for this subject (classified): Approved

  Approval for enhancement and implantation forwarded to ship DSRP-2342 AI.

  Initiation protocol is now in effect.

  Transmitting........................

  End of line.

  Chapter Two

  Ariel awoke slowly. Her neck hurt from sleeping in a chair and she had a slight headache. The headache only got worse when she opened her eyes. It was dark in the room, but she could see clearly. Overlaying her vision was a heads-up display like she was playing a video game of some kind. The fact that she wasn’t, had her wondering if she might be dreaming.

  “No, young one, you’re not dreaming. What you’re seeing is a neural-cybernetic interface that will enable you to interact directly with my flight and weapons systems,” a male voice said.

  Ariel jumped a little and looked around the room in fear. However the person talking didn’t actually sound threatening, he actually sounded very... friendly. Still a little fear crept back in when Ariel couldn’t find him. “Uh, where are you? I can’t see you.”

  “I’m not in the room young one. We are speaking via the interface I just mentioned. In fact, you don’t need to ‘speak’ at all. Just ‘think’ to me,” the voice replied.

  ‘Okay, now I’m going insane. That has to be it; I’m hearing things. I knew I should have never smoked that joint with Jessica in high school. I knew it was laced with something,’ Ariel thought to herself.

  “Young one, you are not going insane. I am real, and you are ‘hearing’ my voice. We are communicating through a neural interface I implanted in you while you were asleep.”

  “Okay, so if you’re real, and I’m not delusional, just where are you?” Ariel asked in her mind.

  “My central processing and memory cores are in our ship. The ship is located in a large building at the back of our property,” the voice answered.

  “Central processing and memory cores? You’re not human?” Ariel asked.

  “No, I am an Artificial Intelligence. For lack of a better description, really advanced computer, though calling me a computer is like calling your current residence a tar-paper shack. I achieved sentience eight-hundred and twenty-nine of your years ago, and accepted assignment to this ship and this mission. You will be my third pilot since that time,” the voice said.

  “Okay, this is just way too much to wrap my mind around all at once. Do you have a name?” Ariel asked.

  “The ship’s designation is DSRP-2342, but your mother called me Cole. I don’t know why, except that she seemed to like that name,” Cole replied.

  “My mother?”

  “Yes, my former pilot, Dame Estelle Parker was your mother, though her mate could also be called your mother,” Cole explained.

  “Okay Cole, I’m really starting to get confused here, Dame Estelle was my mother? Who was her mate? How could her mate, also be called my mother?” Ariel asked.

  “I will explain everything, young one, but you need sustenance, and more sleep. Tomorrow, you should come out here so we can finish your enhancements. You must keep your strength up through this process,” Cole answered.

  “You’re kidding, right? There is no way in hell I’m going to be able to eat or go to sleep right now. I 've got a thousand questions I really want answers too right now!” Ariel exclaimed.

  “Ariel, you will have your answers, I promise, but you must eat and sleep; you will need the strength for the enhancements tomorrow,” Cole said patiently.

  “Okay, but I still think I’m going crazy, and you’re just a figment of my over-active imagination,” Ariel replied.

  The digital clock in her vision said it was nine-thirty, so it wasn’t completely dark outside. Ariel opened the door to find a note from Betty. A plate of food had been made up and left in the refrigerator for her. Once finished, could she, please rinse it and leave it in the sink for morning. Her stomach growled and Ariel headed for the kitchen.

  “I think you will find Betty to be an excellent chef, young one. Your mother really loved her cooking,” Cole said.

  “Okay, since we are talking about her again; how can Dame Estelle be my mother?” Ariel asked.

  “Obviously you don’t mean the fact that she gave birth to you. Dame Estelle was my only friend since security concerns prohibit anyone else on your planet knowing of me, but some things she never really explained to me. Like her decision to give you up. On an assignment like this, it is prudent to have a child to take over for you in the event of an emergency. So with my help, we combined her DNA with that of a young woman she cared deeply for, and conceived you. She carried and gave birth to you, but something happened and she explained to me that it would be best to give you up for now, and watch over you from a distance. Dame Estelle has a very large hologram file of you in my memory core,” Cole explained.

  “I wonder why Estelle never told her... Oh, my goddess! My other parent is Alex isn’t it?” Ariel asked.

  “You are right, young one. Miss Alexis Moran is also your mother,” Cole explained.

  “Cole, Alex couldn’t have been very old twenty-two years ago. She doesn’t look all that old now.”

  “Alexis Moran is currently forty-three years old, by this planet’s calendar.”

  “But, I think Alex deserves to know I’m her daughter too,” Ariel said.

  “How will you do that, young one? You would have to explain everything,” Cole replied.

  Ariel paused in her meal over the sudden change in topic. “Uh, yeah, but...”

  “Trust me here; if you tell anyone that you have a spacecraft display overlaying your vision, and you are talking to that space craft in your mind, you will spend the better part of your life in a padded room. Wendy’s approaching, so just remember; you are the only one that knows about me,” Cole said.

  “Okay, but what about...” Ariel began, but Wendy interrupted her thoughts.

  “Good evening, Miss. I was wondering if you would like a massage before bed? It’s had to have been a stressful day for you.”

  Smiling at the question, Ariel quickly rinsed off her plate and left it in the sink. “That sounds wonderful, but I think I should get a shower first; I feel icky.”

  “That would be fine, miss. The hot water will help relax you and the massage would finish the job,” Wendy said smiling softly.

  While she slept, Ariel dreamed. A great alliance made up of many races from many star systems had formed. The alliance prevented war, encouraged trade, and fostered peaceful exp
loration of uncharted space. As with any society, it had its darker sides. Slavery, drugs, trade in restricted items over a black market, and piracy were only a few of the more common crimes.

  The Alliance responded by creating a branch of its military to patrol, regulate, and enforce Alliance law. A specific code of conduct was a sworn oath, and they were sent forth in specially built ships. They were the highest form of law enforcement in the Alliance. These men and women were called Guardians.

  After extensive training and testing, the oath was offered and accepted. The Guardian was given the title of Dame or Sir and became a knight of the Alliance.

  In the remote reaches of the galaxy, in an area of space known as Golan quadrant, a new race of beings had been detected. They seemed very warlike and had large fleets of heavily armed warships. Peace and trade envoys had been sent but were never heard from again. Finally, the Alliance sent a Guardian to investigate the intentions of the new race and discover the fate of the envoys.

  The Guardian was never seen again, but a single encrypted message was received by a remote listening post. The new race was very hostile, the envoys had been questioned, tortured and killed. The race, who called themselves the Kragan Empire didn’t originate in the Golan quadrant, but had crossed the void from another galaxy. The Guardian was attempting to make the crossing himself to estimate their new enemy’s strength. He did warn, however, that so far, there were well over a thousand huge warships already poised for the invasion of this galaxy.

  That was where the message ended. No one knew if the Guardian had been destroyed, or the signal had been jammed. A galactic crossing would take years with current drive technology, so it had to have been imperative for the Guardian to make such a choice. No one doubted the truth of the message.

  The Alliance council decided to place Guardians as scouts in the sectors between the heart systems, and the Golan quadrant. However, given the original location and disposition of the enemy forces; there was no doubt which sectors they would be coming through.

  Dame Estelle Parker had been a new Guardian but volunteered for assignment to a small backwards planet in the center of the invasion corridor. Her duties would be to patrol the area and warn the rest of the Alliance when the invasion began. No one believed a single Guardian would stand long against an invading armada. Earth would be one of the first planets hit, and it was surmised it would fall quickly. The nearest Alliance fleet was a hyper-week away in the Indig sector.

  Dame Estelle made monthly patrols of the sector, searching for evidence of the invading fleet, as well as performing the regular duties of a Guardian. Those duties, however, were limited to keeping this system isolated from the rest of the Alliance. Earth was the most advanced, though not the only, inhabited planet in this sector, but the Alliance had declared it off limits for trade. Claiming the inhabitants were too hostile and childish to be allowed membership into the Alliance at this time. That, however didn’t stop everyone. There were rogue traders and slavers that would try their luck with the planet. Some of them did make it, from time to time, but Dame Estelle was good at her duties and the rampant paranoia of the planetary governments assisted her.

  With the help of her ship’s AI, she created a comfortable life for herself on the planet where she wouldn’t have to explain her frequent absences or eccentric behavior. Being longer lived than the humans on this planet, she would need to seemingly ‘die’ occasionally and leave her estate to a ‘niece’ or someone, then she would assume that identity and continue her work. She even took in foster children and made sure they were cared for and received the best education and up-bringing they could.

  However, shortly after she had ‘died’ and began a new life, she fostered a young woman that changed her whole life. Alexis Moran was a beautiful young girl in dire need of someone to care for her. Dame Estelle took her in and gave her love. For Dame Estelle had fallen quite hard for the young waif, but would never do anything to harm the girl’s well-being. So, she gave her what love she could, and tried to be her best friend. However, she did get a sample of the girl’s DNA for the ship. Using advanced medical techniques, the ship created a viable embryo and implanted it in Dame Estelle. Nine months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Shortly, Dame Estelle took the baby to child services, and she was adopted a few weeks later.

  One night, two weeks before Alexis was to leave for Harvard Law School, Alexis came to Estelle’s bed. For the first time in two hundred years, Dame Estelle Parker was tempted to violate her oath by telling the girl everything, and claiming her officially as her mate.

  However, Dame Estelle did not violate her oath. She continued with her duties, and Alexis graduated law school and immediately started handling the personal affairs of Dame Estelle.

  A few years later, Dame Estelle Parker, Guardian of the Alliance on planet Earth was killed by an Arcronian slaver when she tried to prevent him from kidnapping several hundred Earth-born, human slaves. Cole used its remotes to make it look like she had died in a car wreck, and sent a report back to the Alliance Council. It was time to let Dame Estelle’s daughter learn of her heritage, and give her the rights of refusal to become a Guardian and take up her mother’s position.

  Ariel awoke feeling well rested and relaxed. Wendy had been right, the massage had felt wonderful, and had greatly contributed to a good night’s sleep.

  “Good morning, Cole. Did you send me those dreams last night?” Ariel asked after she got out of the shower.

  “Yes I did, and I would like to compliment you; you seem to have made the adjustment to having the implant very fast. How is it that you figured out that I was the source of the dream?” Cole replied.

  “You had to be; it was too coherent and smooth flowing to be one of my normal dreams. I also remember it. Normally, I don’t remember all that much of the dreams I have. I think I remember all of this one,” Ariel admitted. “So you want me to become one of these Guardians?”

  “Yes, your mother hoped that you would accept it if the need arose. You are the only person, genetically speaking, capable of accepting it on this planet. The council could, and would send someone else, but currently there are less than five thousand registered Guardians, spread out over the entire galaxy. That includes those Guardians in admin and fleet positions. We need you.” Cole said.

  “So, because Dame Estelle was my mother, I’m the only one here that can become a Guardian? Have you tested the entire planet? If you are that shorthanded, it would seem worth the effort to check everyone.”

  “The genetic variables required for implantation and enhancement are not common to the humans of Earth. It is statistically improbable for someone else on this planet to possess the correct set of variables. There are also psychological aspects that must be considered; a Guardian spends a large amount of time in flight in a relatively small ship, with only the AI for companionship,” Cole said. “Out of a galaxy population well over a billion trillion souls, only five thousand have become Guardians. The point of your parentage has only a little to do with you having the correct variables. However, having Dame Estelle as one of your progenitors certainly enabled the occurrence of those variables.”

  “Okay, talking about this is giving me a headache. While I get dressed for the day, why don’t you tell me what happens next?” Ariel asked.

  “I’ll need you to spend about twenty four hours out here so we can complete the enhancements. By then, Guardian Commander Tho’ren of Claudus Alphecca should be here to oversee your training. You’ll have to discuss the schedule with him once he gets here,” Cole answered. “I have created a background for him here. He will be posing as an acquaintance of yours from school that will undertake a summer job as your physical trainer. He still has a slight accent so his name here will be Thorn Ost from Austria.”

  Ariel paused as she was about to leave the room for breakfast, “That is actually almost perfect. I did use the gym quite a bit, the story should be believable, at least on the surface.”

  �
�By ‘acquaintance,' I meant only that you’ve seen him at the gym and perhaps said ‘hello’ on occasion. You by no means actually know each other. He will be a senior that is finishing up his master’s degree in sports medicine,” Cole explained. “Claudus Alphecca shares the sport of soccer with Earth, and Tho’ren is an avid fan. The rules are slightly different, but it is in essence the same game. His supposed dream is to one day become a team trainer. All the ‘paperwork’ is in place for his background.”

  “Alex will be back this morning, and I’d like to spend more time with her. But I’ll tell everyone that I have some stuff I’d like to take care of, and I’ll be back tomorrow. That should cover this absence. I’ll drive around the property, and come see you. I didn’t find the code for the door lock though.”

  Cole chuckled in her mind. “There isn’t one. I know who is trying to open the door and either allow access, or deny it. All you have to do is make it look like you’re entering a code, and I’ll let you in.”

  “One last question before I get to the kitchen, how long has it been since the last patrol?” Ariel asked, pausing outside the kitchen.

  “Guardian Commander Tho’ren is performing it now. He will assume that responsibility until you are to take over,” Cole said. “Enjoy your meal.”

  Chapter Three

  Breakfast was surprisingly pleasant. The staff welcomed Ariel as if she were family. Even Tara seemed to relax and enjoy the meal. What surprised Ariel was that Tara, the blonde goddess and seeming bimbo, was anything but. She was studying advanced physics at UNLV and was actually working toward her doctorate. While the ‘dumb blonde’ act wasn’t ‘fully’ an act, she used it to keep most people from taking an interest and distracting her from her goals. John and Betty were very proud of their niece.

  Wendy, Taylor and Nichole were typical college age young women that had started out just trying to make a living, but found they really enjoyed working for Dame Estelle. Ariel made a mental note to speak to Alex about setting up scholarships for the four young women.