Terence was truly grateful that Alissa hadn’t
tried to engage him in any kind of conversation, apparently only speaking with
Mom, playing with her dead pet ferret, that apparently liked… as much as
anything dead could like something… the lack of gravity.
Mom had explained she was speaking
privately with her and that their conversation need not concern him. He couldn’t make himself feel reassured.
He’d been startled by the lack of gravity,
since the moon had its own lightness and he hadn’t realized that the shuttles
maintained the ‘normal’ pull of the planet.
Agador had given him some files but apologized for not having access to
the full galactic database; at least not until they could get out of the
planetary code sphere and up to where he’d established.
“That code sphere where I first swallowed
you?”
“That was when I came awake, yes, Terence.”
“How is it that the Station never noticed?”
“The Station was in the process of being
shut down, and despite the protocols for keeping you under observation… things
were a little more neglected than they should be.”
“You mean I wasn’t enough to keep Station
in tip top shape.”
“Well, it should have had a full complement
of Techs to do more than cursory maintenance.”
“So, Mom… can you show me the Station?”
“Yes, Terence.” An image popped up before his face and he
smiled as he recognized Station, even though he’d been annoyed as a crumpled
page at it before he left. He realized
that it was Prime not the code entity named… Then he frowned and leaned in. “Can you magnify Station please?” They were still a full day out, drifting
along steadily, stealthily toward the moon.
*Expanding.* The comfortable, buried, down-at-the-heel
Station was gone. In its place a whole
new facility gleamed, in coloured ice, or glass or something… probably coloured
ice. It looked like a madman’s fantasy
of a towering castle drawn up against the stark contrast of ice and black space, the white inferno of the sun striking it to eye-searing splendor. The ice all around it was
also coloured in a specific sign.
“Chishiki Corporation: “What I Hold, I Keep”
Terence read the letters out as if he couldn’t credit his own comprehension.
*There is a message waiting, coded to a ‘CEO
Walingtun’* Agador said.
*Don’t touch it!* Terence exclaimed,
unnecessarily. *Oh my sacred textbooks…* “Oh, my faking pen…” he whispered. “Those sparks all around… orbiting the moon…
are all military shuttles, aren’t they?”
“Affirmative,” Mom said quietly. “We need to be very, very quiet mice
here. I have no wish to be like
anything like Eight.”
*Eight and 'Go Bang'* Alissa said in code. *I don't want to go into code yet, either, even though my parents are both there.*
In
code, the system was a gigantic, shimmering snowflake, studded with decorative
spikes and security dragons frozen in place.
The fancy dressings on the code and the welcome mats all arrayed to
impress, did nothing to hide the fact that they were dangerous. *Agador,* Terry whispered, a faint, tiny
breathe of code, with Alissa an even fainter waif nearby, watching. *Can you even find our code bubble?*
*Searching. I am certain I will find it, Terence*
*Oh,
I sincerely hope so, or we are in such deep red ink. This isn’t just the regular courier -- my buddy Siva -- coming
through.*
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