Apollo’s cloaked airframe slipped through the rough atmosphere of Titan. Enid was glad he could fly on his own accord because there was no way she could control the craft properly with Kat on her lap. The pair were squished in. Thankfully Kat was as slight as Enid was usually.

“Apollo, book a room for Kat. Put it under Doctor Sarah Young. Say its her daughter or something.”

“I will let you know when I have confirmation. Would you like to do a flyby so the young woman can see a dome from the outside?”

“No, please, lets just get us out of here. Your cockpit is very tight.”

“Of course, Aunt Enid.”

Kat twisted slightly to get a better look at Enid. She shifted to shrug but could barely lift her shoulders.

“My sister created him.”

Kat looked back down to the dark control panel.

“This is amazing. Your sister must be a genius. A full-fledged sentient AI.”

“My sister is indeed a genius. Do you know who designed and built the first faster than light drive?”

“Some Aurelius corp scientist.”

“That Aurelius corp scientist was: Doctor Maria Aurelius. My sister. Long way from drooling over Roman soldiers.”

Enid laughed and then winced because it hurt in these tight quarters.

“I think she even had a hand in the domes.”

“Wow. Just wow.”

“Aurelius corporation is likely responsible for you being alive today. So maybe not all corporations are evil. Its more then likely the people who run them.”

“Well if…your daughter is dead, who…”

“Apparently they want me to do it, because my other daughter is too controversial.”

“What?”

“She was involved with some anti-corporate ‘terrorist’ attacks.”

“Sounds like I’d get along with her.”

Apollo’s voice filled the cockpit.

“We are about to land. Please secure yourselves as I transition air layers. It is raining below us.”

The 360 degree hologram that allowed the pilot to see what was going on all around the fighter suddenly appeared to be drenched in what appeared to be a thick vicious clear liquid.

“Local weather is: freezing ethanol rain. Temperature is -114 c. The rain is no concern. I am using gravitics to navigate.”

“Are you going to tell us to put our trays and seats into the upright position?”

“No, I am not equipped with a tray, and the seat does not move.”

Kat let out a short cut off laugh as she felt the same twinge Enid had when she’d laughed.

“Even I got that one.”

Apollo brought himself to a gentle landing. Enid could only describe what happened next as Apollo shaking himself dry. She hadn’t realized it but the skin that covered his airframe seemed to be variable dynamic. Only it could shift and shape itself to match the flying conditions. In this case a ripple went through it and the ethanol was flicked off around it and quickly started to evaporate. Kat was watching and just as wide eyed as Enid. The cockpit opened and Enid helped Kat out then followed her down the ladder that extended from Apollo’s airframe. Kat was point at him.

“Did you see that?”

“Yes, don’t ask me how.”

“I know how. He’s made of liquid metal.”

“What?”

“It’s programable metal. You tell it to be hard and it gets hard and stays that way until you tell it to be different. It’s got a memory. Its super expensive and rare. It is also self-repairing if you give it materials.”

“Interesting.”

“How…rich are you?”

Enid laughed.

“Multi-trillion now. But I don’t own him, just borrowing him.”

“From who? The WTO?”

“Maybe.”

“You stole him?”

“No, I know the Chairwoman. She… was a friend of my daughter.”

“Fuck, why not just invade?”

“Politics? Apollo is a black book project. No one but the team building him and testing him knows he exists you know AI’s…”

“Yes, they’re illegal.”

“Exactly so lets go with a highly advanced virtual intelligence. That mimics sentience hmm?”

Kat stopped and walked towards the rear of Apollo’s airframe and pointed.

“No fucking way. That’s…that’s an FTL drive.”

“How do you know that?”

Kat rushed over to Enid and the fighter shimmered into existence and was looking like a very expensive luxury shuttlecraft.

“Woah. He…”

“It’s the cloak. Don’t worry about it, now how did you know that was an FTL drive?”

“Cause of the blue light.”

“Have you worked on them before?”

“I…stole a suit and a hover-car when I was younger…went out to a warship in the graveyard a few times. It a power core…and a still working FTL drive. No antimatter though.”

“You should probably be happy about that last part instead of disappointed.”

“I guess.”

“You guess? Antimatter is dangerous.”

“I know but I wanted to see…”

“Kids will be kids I guess.”

“Anyway, I rescued a technical manual data crystal and studied everything. The blue lights. Those are the D-bands.”

“D-bands? Kat, I have no idea how any of that works. I’m just…just a I’m not sure what I am anymore but I’m no engineer.”

“Do you want to know?”

“You have until we reach my room then I want a shopping list to give to my assistant. And or Charlie depending on legality.”

“Okay, well D-Bands, that’s a capital D. Those are what jump the ship into another dimension! And you just skim the boundary. I cannot believe they fit one in that little…ship. They usually take up half the ship with the size and the antimatter containment.”

“I’m not sure how much I should tell you, but apparently he has limited storage and he can shunt it into additional storage… in the form of high yield antimatter weaponry.”

“How fast does it go?”

“If he is to believed he took under twelve hours to make a round trip to Alpha Centauri.”

“Oh what I wouldn’t give to see another sun.”

“Trust me Kat, I’m there. And here we are…at my room. Come in.”

Enid found Bee waiting for her. Bee opened her mouth to say something then noticed Enid was not alone.

“She’s one of the Gremlins.”

“Yes and she wants to work for me, so I hired her.”

Bee shook her head.

“You seriously think you can trust her after what we did?”

Enid nodded she looked at Kat.

“Kat, do you have any intention of causing harm, to us, or messing up my mission to rescue my daughter?”

Kat looked quite hurt by Enid’s question.

“Kat just go with me here, do you?”

“No. I would never. Especially now.”

“There you go. That’s the truth. Tell Charlie we don’t need his services any longer. Once he gets Marco home in a week or so he’ll get the bulk of his payment. Tell no one she’s here.”

“But what about the DAS.”

Enid pointed to Kat. Bee quirked her head to the side.

“She is the one who had the Alpha passes shipped to Marco.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“What?”

“Unfortunately, we blew up her kit and the vehicle they used.”

“She’s a kid. And she has no implants.”

“It’s the truth.”

“You keep saying that like it’s a fact.”

“Because it is.”

“I don’t want to question you…”

“Then don’t.”

“Could you explain how you know we can trust her?”

“Because I know. It’s a thing I can do.”

Bee moved closer.

“But you’re mortal.”

“Ya, I’ve been able to sense the truth since I was born. Did you not read the second chapter of your holy book: For her earthly father poured on her all of his grief and misery, lay with her as no man should a child, hated her for her purity of heart. He wished her dead but dared not kill her for she held the secrets to the truth of men’s hearts. And with this power she could make him a great man.”

“But.”

“No buts, its literally somehow in that book.”

“So, it’s true?”

“Yes, everything but the bullshit about me being God’s dearest and closest daughter and an archangel and there was this crap about me being in the valley of death and guided by god from it after I submitted to my father again or some shit. Basically the 2nd chapter up until I ‘died’ is all good the rest is fiction. A bit flowery…though, with the whole bible style writing.”

The pair of faithful were staring at her.

“What?”

Bee spoke first.

“I thought some of it was exaggerated.”

“The middle part? No. It’s pretty true to life.”

“So your father…”

“Yes, lets not get into that please.”

Enid glanced at Kat. Bee nodded.

“Kat what do you need? Please tell me it’s not illegal.”

“No, its all legal. I need a computer. Crown. Fast internet connection that can’t be traced.”

“Okay last one I can take care of myself. Bee buy her whatever she needs and have it delivered to her room. And get her clothes just use the Young account.”

“Okay got it.”

“Thank you Bee. I need to get out of this armor. I feel like I’m glued to it. Kat, relax, this isn’t a dream. You are really here, and you really have a room. I’ll make sure Marco is kept far away from you. If he or anyone asks, no idea where you are.”

Kat nodded. Once she was left alone she peeled the armor off. This wasn’t much different then her time in medieval Japan. As a mortal she had been sweating from her exertions and the armor felt like it was going to pull her skin off with it at first but then it came off more easily. She tossed it aside and looked at herself in the mirror. Unlike her true form this one had no blemishes, no scars from her father’s brutality. But what she did have was so many bruises she couldn’t count them. With the armor off and along with its constant pressure she realized the pain was setting in. Her ribs were probably bruised at best, broken at worse. She sat on the bed and looked down at the armor. She pondered putting it back on. She gave up and just laid back on the bed and groaned. She lay there for a long enough the false sun had set and the stars were shining. She looked out her window and pondered if they were just randomly placed or if the sky mimicked what Titan’s sky would look like if it wasn’t organic molecule soup. Her musings were interrupt by a ding at her door.

“I’m not decent but can come in.”

She heard Morgan’s voice.

“By the Dark Mother, what happened to you? Should I call security?”

“This is what happens when you want flexible bullet proof armor. They won’t kill you but you’ll wish they did.”

“I thought…you’re not a borg are you?”

Enid laughed then made something akin to a groaning noise as she felt the stabbing pain of a hundred separate bullet hits.

“No, I told you who I was. I’ll get a Doctor.”

“Do they have a cure for bruised, cracked or broken ribs yet?”

“No.”

“Then just get them to prescribe something for the pain.”

“But…”

“Morgan, then doctor part of my name is the only true part of it, and I’ve been hurt enough I know what is wrong. I just need something for the pain. Preferably something that will not impair me.”

“I’ll take care of right away.”

“I would appreciate some food too. I just wasn’t feeling up to moving that much but I’m starving.”

Morgan nodded and rushed off.

*****

Morning found Enid leaning on her balcony railing in a bathing suit and loose fitting cotton beach shirt. Well morning was more like just before noon but the painkillers had gotten her through the worst of it. The ribs would take time but the bruises were gone. Even in this quasi-mortal state she had remarkably fast healing. She wouldn’t be running any marathons and any attempt to rescue Hazel would need to be delayed for a few days. Bee and Kat walked in. Enid glanced back at them and then back out to the simulated ocean. She honestly couldn’t tell the difference from the real one in Okinawa, save the beach lacked the…character of the one by her old oceanside apartment. She took a drink of the coffee. If the packaging were to believed authentic Columbian coffee beans grown from twenty-first century survivors.

“Dark mother!”

Bee winced when Kat spoke. Enid waved her hand.

“Lets not go around calling me that, how about you just go with doctor.”

“Doctor Who?”

“Not that doctor.”

Bee and Kat looked at Enid like she was crazy. Likely not for the last time. Bee motioned towards Kat.

“First FTL transport brought her order in. When they mean overnight…they really mean overnight.”

Enid chuckled and held her side.

“Guess shipping cost more than the stuff.”

“Basically. Are you alright?”

“Yes, just, recovering from the bullets.”

“Didn’t your armor stop them?”

“Yes but that is a lot of kinetic energy to disperse that fast and it couldn’t keep up. So I have a few injured ribs. Isn’t the first time, and is probably not the last. Any rescue is going to be delayed though.”

Enid looked at Kat.

“Everything to your satisfaction?”

“Yes! A Decker Corp 3400? They haven’t even put them on shelves. And this crown. Just wow. It is 1000 ms response time! That’s almost as good a datajack.”

“I’m guessing that is all good stuff.”

Kat blushed.

“Yes. Thank you so much. It replaced what I lost and then some.”

“Good.”

Enid looked to Bee.

“Bee, could you do whatever she needs to have done to get those Alpha Passes ready and into the corporate sector security?”

“Sure, are you sure you’re alright.”

“I will be in a few days. Just going to take a beat. Lay on the beach and just soak in the sun.”

“Make sure you two get some time as well, please. Once we start its going to get very stressful very quickly.”

Enid watched Bee and Kat leave. She held her side and sighed. She mused it might take more then day but she couldn’t risk leaving Hazel in the clutches of BMC for too long. She wondered what mad experiments they were up to a thousand years later or if it even was the same BMC. Amee surely would have said something, right? She pulled out an old laptop and hooked it up to the adapter she’d purchased at a junk store. And started going through the list of atrocities she’d uncovered as Seraph with the aid of Amee.

She saw cloned me on the list. She pondered how the red-headed vampire had faired in the following years before the Grey. She was definitely on the list of beings that would need to be disposed of by this new world order. Nanites would raise her from the dead every morning and kill her every night somehow overcoming the mystical poison that Lilith had inflicted on her Children. There was the super powered randos they caused by the vaccinations. The terrorist she’d fought, the poor people who thought they were chosen by God. Keeping a vampiric werewolf on ice for decades until she and Lysander rescued her. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of either of her youngest brother or his wife. Those were the least of their crimes. Amee told her about a thirteen year old girl who had developed telepathy after she was injected with experimental gene therapy to cure a genetic disorder. Amee had befriended her while imprisoned in a BMC facility…the girl had died when Amee escaped. BMC had euthanized all their captured subjects. Most of which were put there because Enid had captured them as Seraph. She frowned. She hadn’t had a chance to go after them before. Karma was coming for them, a thousand years too late. Enid sighed and put the laptop away.

By the time Enid had reached the south beach she had an original copy of the first edition novel The Count of Monte Cristo. She silently pondered how many people alive today could read it. English infused with words from multiple languages seemed to be the order of the day. Most of the recovered pre-Grey literature and media was in English. It made sense. She found a nice lounge chair and gingerly sat down on it touching her side when she felt a twinge from her ribs. Enid looked at the book and pondered the parallels with her own story. She was a prisoner in her own right, a prisoner of time, and not of her own making. She wasn’t however innocent. With a small shake of her head, she opened the book and started to read the words of Dumas.

She realized she should have gone for ear buds or some form of leave me the fuck alone when she was pulled from the dark nineteenth century prison back into the gleaming false sunlight of the dome. The voice was male. She shielded her eyes and gently lifted the brim of her sun hat. He was a handsome man or appeared to be so. As with most augmented humans in this day in age he was just a little too perfect. Threatening to slip from desirable into the uncanny valley. He had been tanning obviously. He had short brown hair and his shirt and bathing suit screamed New York Financier on vacation.

“What was that?”

“I was just commenting on your book. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one outside of a display case.”

Enid quirked an eyebrow.

“Books were meant to be read, not gawked at from behind glass.”

“I don’t believe I recognize the language on the front…”

“It is French.”

“You can read it?”

Enid blinked at him.

“Do you think I’m just staring at the pages trying to figure it out?”

Enid slipped her rather abused bookmark into her spot and closed the book. It was an inch wide strip of tattered purple velvet embroidered with a yellow flower by Eyre in the Middle Ages when she was a child. Enid had been using it ever since. She couldn’t tell by the cheeks of his false face plate but the body language spelled out his sudden embarrassment.

“Well…its just… you don’t have any implants and you look so young. I assumed…”

“Assumptions make an ass out of you. Are you an ass?”

Enid cracked a slight smile. The tenseness in the man’s shoulders eased.

“I try not to be.”

“Try harder. Mr….?”

“Daniel, Daniel Goodson.”

“I’m Doctor Sarah Young. Nice to meet you.”

“Doctor?”

“Yes. Medical.”

“You need to tell me your secrets. I spent a fortune and I still look like I’m in my thirties.”

“My secret is clean living and no cybernetics.”

Enid glanced down at her book wistfully when Daniel sat down in the lounge chair beside her. She should have just been rude and scared him off. He seemed to notice the Dark Mother pendant around her neck.

“You worship the Dark Mother? Is that why no cybernetics?”

“No, this was a gift from my security detail. Wanted me protected.”

He chuckled.

“Sounds like someone I’d fire.”

“Sounds like you’re a shitty boss.”

“I have been accused of that. First day here, what’s good?”

“The synthetic burgers on the north beach.”

“Why would I want to associate with people like the dregs that would be there? If you ask me this whole resort should be more exclusive.”

Enid shook her head. This guy was so not her type. Even if she was looking.

“I could be those people. Maybe I won an all-inclusive vacation? Maybe some wealthy corporate executive paid for it because I saved their child?”

He looked at her again.

“With a French book that is probably worth more than the net worth of every single one of those people staying here put together? Not likely. No you’re likely a doctor who is so good at implants that people travel from all over the system to see you. That’s the only way you’d have that kind of money.”

Enid sat up and looked at him.

“I’m actually a pediatric surgeon who worked for a dollar a year at a children’s hospital. Because the children of those people are just as worth saving even if they can’t afford it.”

“Oh, I think I touched a nerve.”

Enid held her side as she took a deep breath to launch into a tirade and got stuck hunched over. Contrary to the expected response from Daniel he actually had a look of concern cross his blue eyes.

“Are you alright? Should I call staff?”

Enid waved her hand dismissively.

“Just a fractured rib. Waterskiing is dangerous.”

He stood up and helped her lay back down. Enid started to breath easier now that her lungs weren’t artificially compressed by the rib. He released her arm and back and sat back down.

“So tell me, Dr. Young. How does a pediatric surgeon who works for a dollar a year afford the most expensive resort in the system.”

“Truth or fairy tale?”

“I’ve always been partial to the truth.”

“My family have been major shareholders in Aurelius for generations. Back to before the Grey.”

Daniel’s eyes went wide and his mouth parted slightly.

“This?”

Enid held up the book.

“My family bought this in France in 1846, one of my ancestor’s daughter’s bought it for her as a gift. The bookmark was made by a family member in the fourteenth century. Just before the black death. We’d have grand noble titles, if such a thing existed these days.”

“How has your family kept it all together for so long?”

“Some were vampires, they survived the great cold and kept our history alive.”

“Is that why no implants? They going to bite you?”

Enid smiled.

“How do you know they haven’t already?”

“Well for one we’re in the sun…and two, vampires heal fast, don’t they?”

“You got me. No, my body is just not compatible with cybernetics. I will never be able to get one.”

“I’ve heard of that. Hey at least BMC has amazing organic implants and genetic therapies. Old money like yours probably pocket change. I could probably even get you a deal.”

His words snagged Enid’s rapt attention instantly.

“How could you manage that?”

“Oh, I’m the Executive Vice President of Mid-system for BMC.”

“Really?”

“Yes really.”