Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance (13 page)

This information was never discussed in any history book I ever read. Even father had never said anything about it. “Could those behind the UN be related to the Cabal?”

“Interesting question Athena. It is possible that someone from The Program was sent out to the colonies. I will put our intelligence agency on it. Maybe they have heard something. Now, please tell me about your AI.”

“What do you want to know? I mean he’s not all that unusual. There are some AIs in the military.”

“Ah yes, but none that are free of human influences. Those Artificial intelligences need prompts in order to do their tasks. They have no free will or independent motive such as your Wilson has. What does Wilson do when he‘s not helping you?”

I started laughing. “He likes to dance.”

“Dance? You have a dancing AI that lives in your head?”

“Sort of, it does sound crazy doesn’t it? He likes to hack into computer systems and cause trouble. He likes to say that when he gets bored he has to find something to do. Usually it’s at some poor unsuspecting humans expense.”

“When you say dance, what do you mean?”

“He likes to take over drones or robots and play a style of music called ‘disco.’ He then dances. He introduced something called line dancing to Hong Kong. It is all the rage now.”

Amalie started laughing. Still chuckling she pointed at my head. “I remember disco music from Old Earth. So you have a guest that plays really bad music.”

“He does crazy things when he’s bored. He took over some robotic starfighters and scared the repair crew half to death; he robbed a casino, he became an author and published his manifesto of world domination as a parody business book. He then used the credits to build a disco club in our capital city. Lots of things like that. It’s like having a little brother around all the time. But I would miss him if he was gone.”

“Athena tell her not to be scared, but I cracked the encryption on her computers so I can make an appearance.”

“Don’t do anything rash.”

“I’m sorry Athena, did you say something?”

I shook my head no. “Grandmother I was responding to Wilson.He said to tell you that he cracked the encryption on your computers and is going to make an appearance.”

“What, he broke into my computers? Impossible.”

The large vid screen lit up and on it was the cowboy persona that Wilson liked to use. “Howdy ma’am mah name is Wilson Theai.”

My great-grandmother took one look at Wilson’s computer persona and began to giggle. She pointed at the screen. “That’s Wilson?”

I nodded yes to her. She began laughing again. “That … that face… I remember that one. Wilson, is Buzz in there with you too?”

Wilson’s computer persona started laughing. “Ma’am, you are the first to recognize the persona. I am afraid that I did not receive the personal for Mr. Lightbeer. I could try and find the vid associated with it if you like. Athena, I like your Grandmother.” And then he was gone.

“I think I understand what you mean about him being goofy. Or even Donald.”

“Who is Donald?”

“Forget it, my attempt at humor. Tell him to be careful with the information that he finds in my computers. Too many secrets in there.”

Amalie stood up and told me to follow her. “Come along Athena, let me show you the rest of your family.” At the end of the hall were a set of double doors. As we entered the lights slowly came up. Lining the walls were dozens of large portrait style paintings. Amalie sat in in the chair at the center of the room as I wandered around the room. I could see the resemblance in many of the pictures to my brothers and sister. I spent over an hour staring at the pictures and reading the biographies that accompanied them.

Chapter 17

“Major Niers do I have to stay in this hell hole of a house forever?” Commodore Vakulinchuk had been trapped inside this damn house for almost four months. Four months of watching people outside walk back and forth.

“Sir, you can’t go outside until the heat is off you. Right now members of the PPL Intelligence are searching the galaxy for any trace of you. They will hunt you down if you show your face. This is called a safe house for a reason.” The Major was on his last nerve. He’d sacrificed a large portion of his life protecting this man; now he wanted to kill him. The message he had received from the Inner Council was to continue to protect Vakulinchuk, for now. Peter was tempted to toss him out the door and let him fend for himself.

“So far you have never lied to me. However, I grow tired of this place and these people. This is Mars; I want to go out and experience it. But I will do as you say. For now.”

“Great. Can I get you anything? Food, drink, recreational drugs? Just kidding about the drugs. Sir, relax. This is the best that the Cabal has to offer on this planet. We will keep you safe.” The Major turned and left the room. There was a lift at the end of the hall. Peter punched in a special code and took the lift down to the main floor. Only people with the code could use the lift to travel beyond the fourth floor.

Government records said that the house belonged to the Beckett-Crowne League and was used as a convalescence home for it’s members. Few members ever visited or left. The main floor, set up to resemble a reception area, was hardly ever used. The receptionist spent her days studying and watching her favorite vid romances. As such, she was surprised when the front door opened and two men in military uniforms entered.

“Welcome to the Beckett-Crowne League Convalescent and Rest Home. How can we help you today?” The receptionist pressed a button under her desk alerting security to a possible threat.

The taller of the two men looked vaguely familiar to her. “We need to see the house Warden!”

One of the inner doors burst open at the word ‘Warden,’ armed security troops quickly surrounded the two military men. Even the receptionist had drawn a weapon and was pointing it at them.

“State your name and business here and you may survive what comes next.” The words were spoken by the leader of the security force. His name was Teufel. That was the only name that anyone ever called him. Dressed all in black leather carrying only edged weapons he had worked his way up in the organization through strength of arms. Few crossed him and lived.

“My name is Admiral William Dorr, Commander of the Martian Defense Force. My companion is Lieutenant Nagetier, my aide.”

“Interesting. We are visited by the weasel and the rat. Which is which do you think? Who sent you to us?” Teufel withdrew a Pugio dagger from his waist and began twirling the sharp looking triangular blade. The hilt was decorated with a pyramid and the eye of providence.

“My contact in the Cabal told me if I ran into trouble to come to this house and ask for ‘the house warden.’ He said that someone here would help me.” The Admiral was now sweating heavily and his hands had a slight tremor to them.

Teufel cocked his head to one side. “I think that you’re lying to us. Something about you isn’t adding up. Take them below! We’ll find out the truth our way!” The security force rushed the two officers and dragged them into the lift. Instead of going up, it went down into the bowels of Mars.

The lobby was quickly cleaned and sanitized. No trace of the two men would be found if they had been followed.

Outside on the street the two men’s entrance was witnessed by Dar and her team. Vid images were recorded and sent to the Intelligence Office in Hong Kong’s Embassy. Facial recognition gave the identities of the two men to a shocked room. Did the Cabal control that much of Martian society?

Watching through the Embassy’s security cameras Wilson recognized the faces in the images. He quickly scanned and stored the official records and documents. He teleported himself through the communication lines and found the house in question. Someone had protected the building. Built into the very brick and mortar were fine copper wire and screens that trapped all electronic communication and prevented it from leaving the house.
It was one big Faraday cage. Jumping to a satellite view, Wilson studied the house looking for a way in. Bingo! Clipped to one of the front windows was a small vid antenna. A cord connecting the antenna ran through the slightly open window to a receiver owned by the receptionist. Her soaps would spell their doom.

Just to be cautious Wilson sent in a clone of himself. The clone beamed himself through the antenna into the vid console. Didn’t anyone here use firewalls? The receptionist was none the wiser when her console blinked on and then off suddenly. This was an old house and the wiring was tricky. Tracing the the security lines Wilson found two systems. The real one and the decoy. Below the house was a series of tunnels dug into the bedrock. The Admiral and his aide had been stripped naked and were strapped into what a quick search called a
crux decussata.
It was obvious that they were about to be tortured. None of this bothered Wilson in the least. These two had tried to kill his best friend and big sister. Besides what humans did to each other had no bearing on him. He followed the security cameras up stairs and found who he was looking for. As an afterthought he downloaded the houses databases. Maybe they held something interesting.

Chapter 18

Amalie Dorr was the most fantastic woman I had ever met in my life and she was my great-grandmother. That made her that much more special. She had married into what eventually became one of the biggest dynasties on the planet. For the past few hours we had sat in the portrait studio. She regaled me with the stories of the extended family I did not know I had. I in turn told her the good and the bad tales of mine. My stories brought us both to tears. Our family had overcome many challenges. Neither of us knew that the greatest challenge was yet to come.

There was a knock at the door and Gaston Pebbleberry swept in. “Good afternoon ladies. Primus you are needed in your office. Members of the assembly wish to speak to you. I can take Miss Athena on a tour if need be.”

“No, Athena can witness this. She is family, she needs to understand how all of this works.Come along dear-heart. There are politicians to terrorize.” She hopped up from the chair and hurried out of the room with Gaston and I trailing after her. Old woman indeed!

We entered he office at the end of the hall. A sea of faces greeted us. The entire assembly was present. Amalie pointed me to a nearby divan chair. I sat and watched a legend in action.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the assembly what is it I can do for you today?”

“Primus we are concerned, Senator Reid has brought accusations to our attention.” The man speaking was older with graying hair and a mustache.

“And what has Britt said about me this time?”

‘Primus, the senator is concerned about your health and your lack of a qualified replacement if something were to happen to you.”

“In other words, you are concerned who inherits. Let me make something clear, to all of you. I am NOT grooming a replacement. You can thank that snake-in-the-grass Demetrius Dorr, the now former Admiral, for starting those rumors. As for my health, do I look sickly to any of you?”

“Not really no, Primus.”

“I had this very conversation with Senator Reid earlier this morning. He is persistent. As for inheritance,” She paused and looked at all the faces on the screens. Many of them were now peering into the cameras, as if that would make them be closer. “I have always had a successor or should I say successors. Many of you were too young to remember my daughter Juno. She had a child before she was killed. That daughter raised a family offworld. I have two great-granddaughters and two great-great-grandchildren on Hong Kong.’

Many of the crowd of vid heads jerked in surprise at this revelation. Several shook their heads in disbelief. They didn’t want to believe it.

“My great-granddaughter Athena Lee sits right here before you. Many of you saw her yesterday in the amphitheater when Demetrius made such a fool of himself. Athena, show them the crystal please.”

I pulled the crystal from my pocket and held it up. “That legacy crystal was prepared by my granddaughter Amelia, daughter of Juno. It can be tested if you wish. Athena’s sister Minerva Lee also has a crystal of her own. My line has not died out as some would have you believe.”

“Primus, why hide them? Why all of this deception?”

“Deception? I have not told any untruths. Search the records until you are blue in the face. I have never answered untruthfully. I was asked by this very body more than thirty years ago as to the whereabouts of Amelia. I responded that she had followed her heart and left us. If you chose to misinterpret that or were led to believe something else, that is not my problem.”