Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus Page 21

  “From the sound of it, I think she might have convinced herself that her mother and Starlin aren’t dead after all. In the case of her mother, I can somewhat understand it, since Beth is identical to Marelynn, but I think Cindy has become Starlin to her. The rest of you are close friends. I think the biggest problem she’s having is the fact that she knows she’s having problems, and she’s afraid. We’re going to have to convince her that it’s alright to ask for help, and that help is available to her,” Janet replied. “We need to convince her soon, or this will eat her up inside.”

  “I’m supposed to have lunch with her in a few minutes. I was going to see if I could ‘borrow’ an unoccupied apartment down-side. She sounded kinda sad earlier when I talked to her,” Ian said.

  “Try to get her to talk about her mother and Starlin. I’m sure she’ll try to shy away from the subject, but try to keep her on it. She’ll have to start dealing with the grief, or admit there’s a problem. But remember, she comes from a society where suicide is acceptable,” Janet replied. “But, I believe Talena would ask you’re permission first since you’re her Guardian.”

  Ian got the dining area ready, before he called Talena. When she arrived, Ian led her to the table. “Sweetheart, I was thinking of holding a memorial service for those lost in Olympus’ last battle. Would you be interested in helping with that project?” Ian felt her stiffen.

  “Uh, sure Ian, what would you like me to do?”

  Ian crossed his mental fingers. “Well, Olympus is busy with the rebuilding and calculations for getting the ship off the moon, I was wondering if you would be willing to dig up a little information for each of the people we lost. Things like their names, Planet of origin, what department they were in, and their rank at the time of their death. I know there were an awful lot of them, but I’d like to honor them before we lift Olympus off the moon.” Ian paused, “If you’d like to include some additional information about Marelynn and Starlin, that should be fine.”

  Talena opened her mouth to say something, but stopped; her brow wrinkled, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. A single tear slipped down her cheek. “I'll do that if you think I need to, Ian.”

  “We all care a great deal about you, Little Kitten,” Ian replied as he moved around the table and held the softly crying girl to his chest.

  “I think I need to talk to Janet Laskar. I don’t know how to deal with this,” Talena finally admitted. “And I can’t lie to myself anymore.”

  “No, you can’t. We are all here for you, Little Kitten. Did anyone ever tell you that the first time Jenny saw you, she had a vision of you as our wives one day?” Ian asked.

  “No, no one told me. I think that would make me happy, Ian. You've all been very careful not to pressure me, or do anything inappropriate. For a while, I didn't even think you liked me like that. However, in many ways, I feel like I already am though. If asked, I’d probably say I was your wife unless I thought about it first,” she said sadly.

  “No, no one would push you, or even hint to more of a relationship until we knew you were ready for it. Losing your mother and girlfriend had to be very hard. We just wanted to help you get through that loss, and give you the time you need to heal,” Ian explained.

  “Well, you're the first male I've ever been even remotely attracted to, so I'm still a little confused. However, your right, I need to deal with Mother and Starlin first. I'll make an appointment with Janet,” Talena said and kissed Ian's cheek.

  Luke Belden was due to be released that afternoon, so Ian asked him and his wife to stop by his office before they went home. Ian and Elias were looking over the site layout trying to decide where to put the security shack when Luke and Lara arrived.

  Ian had visited Luke daily while Beth kept him down in the clinic, and the two men had become friends. Luke and Lara both now completely understood why Ian was doing the things he was doing, as well as everything that was going on.

  Luke could feel the changes taking place inside while the treatment fixed his addiction. He felt the knowledge the old AI was giving him at night was helping as much as Beth’s treatment. The actions of the petty old bastard that was his Father seemed so trivial now that Luke almost laughed whenever he remembered it. It never really occurred to Luke that Olympus might have been acting on the orders of Dr. Williams.

  “Luke, do you remember me telling you that the girls and I would be going up to the ship soon?” Ian asked.

  “Yeah, a good portion of the folks down stairs are pretty anxious to go too.”

  Ian grinned. “Trust me, I know!” he chuckled. “It looks like the girls and I’ll be going up tomorrow night. However, I’m going to need someone to take over for me down here while we finish getting the ship ready. I was wondering if you’d be interested in the job.”

  “You want me to take over running this place?” Luke asked, incredulous.

  Ian smiled at the look on his and Lara’s faces but nodded his head in confirmation. Elias had had to cover his mouth with one hand as he suddenly became very interested in the hologram hovering over the table. His face was turning red with suppressed laughter.

  “Look, I know it seems like awfully short notice, but trust me here; there isn’t that much that you can’t get caught up on. Even if there were, I’ll still only be a call away,” Ian explained.

  “I... uh, I’d like to talk it over with Lara if I could?” Luke asked.

  “Sure! I really am sorry about the short notice, but until I met you, I didn’t know who I was going to leave in charge here. Elias was adamant that it not be him, and I was afraid I was going to have to just try to do both jobs. I really do have to get up to the ship as soon as I can. We need to start work on getting her off the moon as soon as possible,” Ian said.

  “Luke,” Elias said, entering the conversation for the first time. “You’ve been one of my best workers, as well as one of my best friends since I hired you all those years ago. If it hadn’t been for the drinking, I would have asked you to help me with the running of the company. Now, I don’t claim to know everything about all this that Ian does, but I think something like this is what you were meant to do.” He grinned, “But you know I don’t believe in fate!”

  The big man looked at his pretty wife, and she nodded at him with a small grin on her face. “We’re where we’re meant to be, doing what we’re meant to do. Tara has found the loves of her life and moved on, now it's time for us to move on as well.”

  “Are you sure, Honey? This is going to have longer hours then doing construction,” Luke asked her.

  Lara shrugged, “You’re going to need a secretary. I’m pretty sure I can learn to do it. At least now I’ll know for sure if you’re sleeping with your secretary or not!”

  “I guess that answers that question. When do you want me to start, Ian?” Luke replied, smiling at Ian and Elias.

  “Why don’t you go drop your stuff off at your house, then come back. I can give you a briefing on the stuff that’s active right now, and that’s coming up shortly. Lara can get the low-down from Jenny,” Ian suggested.

  Luke nodded his agreement. “I’ll see you in a few minutes then.” Smiling, he took his wife’s hand, and they left the office.

  Shortly after the Beldens left, Jenny asked Ian if he had time to see Janet Laskar, and also wanted to know if he could spare a few moments for a Dr. Amal Punjab and his wife, Alba.

  “Sure sweetie, Elias and I are just about done I think.” Ian said, glancing at a nodding Elias.

  “Janet is already here, but the Punjab’s called in. I’ll let them know they can see you right away,” Jenny replied over the intercom.

  “Okay sweetheart, by the way, Luke Belden is the new Administrator here, so if he shows up, he can come on in.”

  “Excellent, I’ll let the rest of the family know we are definitely leaving tomorrow,” Jenny replied.

  “Thanks love. Send Janet in please.” Ian released the button as Janet opened the door, and took a seat at the conference tab
le.

  “What can I do for you, sweet lady?” Ian asked.

  “I’m here for the meeting you’re going to have in a few minutes. But before they get here, I thought I would tell you that I’ve gotten a few more recruiters going, and we should be getting a lot more people soon. I hope you have some trained shuttle pilots, because, I think you’re going to be needing to make daily flights for a while, especially once the moon base gets up and running,” Janet said.

  “Moon base?” Ian asked.

  Janet just smiled and winked at Ian as he got her a cup of tea from the replicator.

  Ian and Elias finished their discussion of the site layout, and Elias asked if he could stay for what sounded to be a very interesting conversation.

  Shortly, Luke opened the door for a couple of Indian descent, allowing the tail end of the couple’s congratulations for Luke’s promotion to be heard.

  Smiling, Luke introduced the couple as Dr. and Mrs. Amal Punjab. Ian shook their hands, and offered them places to sit around the conference table. “I’m afraid all I can offer you for refreshment is cold water, soda, coffee, or tea made from a tea bag.”

  Amal thanked Ian but declined, but Alba and Luke asked for water. Ian opened a small refrigerator, grabbed the waters, and a root beer for himself.

  “Now, Dr. Punjab, what can we do for you today?” Ian asked.

  “Well, I’m not sure how or where to begin, Mr. Williams, but I was asked to approach you. We of the scientific community have noticed certain inconsistencies in the flow of people into and out of the village. We have had many wild theories offered for this situation, however, we’ve found that most are based more on imagination than observation,” Amal began. “We would have a very hard time believing anything untoward was occurring, however we are at a loss to explain this observation, and that is a situation that many of us find most uncomfortable. Curiosity, after all, is the driving force behind discovery.”

  “Doctor, you and your wife remember Mrs. Janet Laskar don’t you?” Ian asked.

  “Of course, Mr. Williams, she was the one that approached us about the opportunities here,” Alba replied this time, smiling at the other woman.

  Taking the cue from Ian, Janet rose, and said in a clear voice, “Olympus; holographic display mode please.”

  Ian, Elias, and Luke sat and listened to Janet retell a compressed history of the ship. Both Elias and Luke listened closely, and stared at the holograms that were projected with the same intensity as the Punjab’s. By the time she was finished with her narrative, her audience was awed; which was a reaction she was getting used to.

  “That... that is...” Amal hesitated. “Mr. Williams, I do not know the reaction of the rest of the people here, but once the rest of the researchers learn of this, it will be impossible for most of them to contain their excitement. I’m afraid that word would be spread across the world as fast as most could call their colleagues. There will also be a near riot to begin research on most of the alien technology. Please understand that the knowledge wouldn’t be spread for profit, or out of any malicious intent, but simply because that is how such things are handled. If you plan on divulging any of this information to the rest of us, I would certainly take that into consideration.”

  “I would be willing to bet that once the Dr. and his friends get a good look at most of this, they are going to need a place to work, that’ll be safe from discovery by the government, as well as a place were communications could be controlled,” Janet said grinning at Ian again.

  Ian rolled his eyes at her. “The moon base?”

  She nodded. “It’ll eventually become a small city, however, it would be the ideal place for research, and if Dr. Punjab would consider administering it, it would also be a place that most of them would be comfortable with.”

  Amal and Alba both looked a little confused and overwhelmed. So Ian made a decision. “Oly, can the Punjab’s use the teaching tech?”

  In a slow sparkle of lights, Oly shimmered into existence beside Ian’s chair. “Yes, Commander.”

  Ian introduced Olympus and the two stunned scientists. “Dr, Mrs. Punjab, Olympus is the ship’s Artificial Intelligence Associate. This is the same Olympus that Janet told you about in the history lesson.”

  Olympus performed the gesture of Namaste toward the Punjab’s and both stood and returned the gesture of greeting.

  Ian stepped over to the replicator, and got two sets of contacts and communicators while Olympus explained their use. After handing them over to the couple, Ian turned back to Janet. “So, how do we go about starting the base thing?”

  “Well, once the Punjab’s are up to speed on everything, we can actually start hammering a design out, but at first, we’ll need several areas where people can do research, and perform experiments safely. You’ll also need a small space docking facility, and a small scale ship yard. Eventually, our flight school will be there.

  “Considering the primary function of the place, you might want to consider another AI for it; it’ll need one,” Janet replied.

  Ian nodded thoughtfully. “How about we give them a few days to adjust, then they can come up to the ship, and we can work out the details of the base. I was kinda thinking about an automated data center to back-up as much as our cultural information as it can.”

  “Uh, forgive me, but did you say ‘up to the ship’? How would we get there, and why would we need to go?” Amal asked.

  “The ‘why’ is because that’s where I’ll be, and as for the how... follow me, and I’ll show you a few wonders right here in river city,” Ian said as he led the couple out of the office and over to the elevator.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Luke and Lara Belden took over the jobs of administer and assistant like they’d been doing it from the beginning. The transition allowed Ian and family to finally move to the ship. The only one that was a little nervous about the move was Talena, and Janet Laskar was with her a good portion of the time since the Laskars were moving aboard at the same time as the Williams’.

  Cindy, of course, bitched about just getting home and having to turn around and fly back to the moon. Since she was standing next to the personnel hatch whining to Jenny, the loading passengers did their best to hide their smiles at her playful complaints. However, her bitching stopped when Jenny took over flight duties, so Ian could drag a not at all resisting Cindy into one of the bedrooms for a little while.

  A recently recruited structural design engineer was reading something off a small tablet computer as he walked up the hall. He was about to open the door to what he thought was the head, when he heard something come from the room that told him he was in the wrong place. He looked at the door in confusion then looked back toward the lounge, then up toward the cockpit. He mentally slapped his head, turned around and stepped into the correct room across the hall.

  Beth, who had been sitting with a couple of her nurses, watched the man, and grinned. She quickly pointed the man out before he vanished into the correct room. “Who is that man? I don’t recognize him.”

  Alisa answered this time. “He’s new, an engineer of some type. I was introduced to him, but I can’t remember his name. I know it was something really odd though.”

  “Serin Vax. A friend in engineering told me he was a really... uh... focused individual,” Mikala said.

  Alisa tried to contain her giggles as she looked at Beth. “Dr. Williams, I thought you told us that your wives got pregnant at the same time you did?”

  Beth nodded. “We did. It was a busy weekend.”

  “So... why is Cindy so much bigger than Jenny and you?” Alisa asked.

  Beth looked a little apprehensive. “Honestly, I hadn’t noticed that she was until we began boarding for this flight. Once we get to the ship, I’d like to get her into a diagnostic unit for a full prenatal physical. One of three possibilities exists; she is giving birth to a full grown person, she has developed problems with her uterus or the baby, or...she’s got more than one bun baking.”
<
br />   “Yes Doctor,” Alisa replied and made a note on her own tablet.

  When the shuttle finally landed in Alpha bay, there were literally hundreds of domestic drones waiting to unload the passenger’s personal effects and zip off to the quarters assigned to those personnel.

  As Ian watched, the drones would zip out the back of the shuttle, and down the Hyper-missile ramp. Although they were the same, none of them seemed like the slow moving, friendly acting, 'floating canister vacuum machines' they’d had at the house. The drones had the personal effects off-loaded before the last passenger had finished gawking, and left the landing bay.

  In the maglev, a list of destinations formed, and reorganized, as people added their destinations. Since Ian and family were in the car, ‘Command Quarters’ remained at the top of the list.

  The family found Oly waiting for them at the door to their quarters. Oly smiled and bowed his head to Ian in greeting. “Welcome aboard, Commander and family. Please enter your new quarters. I hope you enjoy them.”

  Ian walked in and stopped in the middle of a room that very much reminded Ian of the one they had left behind at Beth's. However, it was just different enough so he knew he wasn’t, but it was enough like it that he didn’t think he’d have any feelings of displacement.

  The rest of the family was awed and amazed as well. Oly seemed very pleased with their reactions, and had a big smile on his face. “I tried to use the same basic layout and ‘feel’ of your original home. I tried to make this as familiar as I could.”

  “This is awesome, Oly! You did a great job, but the hallway is longer, and doors don’t seem to be in the right places,” Beth said.

  “...and no back yard pool?” Cindy said cheekily.

  “Of necessity, I had to deviate from the original floor plan somewhat. The Master suite and sanitary facilities are larger to make room for the oversize bed. The sanitary is separated from the master suite by a large dressing room that is surrounded by closets and dressers.