The Lost Aria (Earth Song Book 3) Read online

  Twenty field kits, twenty type five EPC (charged), two field expedition mess kits, enough to feed twenty people for a month, frontier water reclamation system, and a single reserve transport. All these items were low priority and wouldn't attract any immediate attention. The Chosen working in logistics would figure a field operation was in the works, note her three stars, and ship it. She tagged the request as urgent with a requested delivery date of tomorrow. It was a little risky to increase the priority, but she didn't have time to waste.

  Next she jumped over to the armaments subsystem. There she accessed the entire armory records for the Chosen detailing every field and shield generator, Beamcaster, ballistic gun, accelerator rifle, and Shock Rifle in the inventory. Also inventoried were bots considered of tactical use. She didn't initiate an order here; that would draw the attention of the Head Armorer, and then likely the Chosen Council. Instead she used another tablet to take notes on what was held in the meager locker at the Tranquility Portal. To her dismay, there were no Shock Rifles and pitifully few beamcasters. “I thought we'd learned a lesson,” she said in the quiet cockpit. She made some more notes and moved on.

  Next she opened her own system at the training branch and created an order. Her misfits were reported as field ready with a note for their scout commander to pay special attention to them for their first few missions; too willing to use force. And finally a prepared email was sent to an old friend that she would be calling in a favor.

  By the time all that was finished her car was descending to a landing at her private little island. Even as the car was settling and the impellers spinning down, she was leaping from the driver’s seat, tablets in hand, and heading for the door.

  Inside she continued her fevered pace, organizing notes, putting together her personal kit, and writing a few emails. The messages were designed with two things in mind. First they would cover her tracks and provide potential explanations should her plan work out and she returned before being listed as MIA. The second part was an admission of guilt and telling the Chosen council what she'd done, and why. It would work with the notes in her personal files, all of which would be unlocked once her plot was discovered. “They can have my fucking stars at that point,” she thought as she finished the disgustingly cordial letter, “this is nothing more than what they should have done years ago.” The medical data codex she was pursuing would save the lives of thousands of humans, and make millions more live longer, more productive lives as well. Not to mention saving one really good friend in particular.

  The next morning she was up as the early spring light began to glow through her living room windows. Late last night she'd finished her will, giving her car to Gregg, whose own was a much cheaper model, her home in stewardship to the Plateau Historical Society since she wasn't allowed to give it to anyone by law, and the rest divided up between her few close friends. Minu took a final look around then went to a cabinet by the front door. In the cabinet was her field belt, and the knife she'd carried on missions since her trials. Also were two blades nearly the same length. They all went into her duffel bag and she headed out the door. As the car climbed away she couldn't help looking back at the rapidly dwindling little island and wonder if she would ever be back.

  She flew to Steven's Pass at a leisurely pace, the flight again giving her time to work with the Chosen network and finish setting her plans in motion. Her first assignments in the Chosen were often working with Logistics to move materials around Tog worlds, and for that she was now grateful. It was amazing what you could do if you only had to hide it for a couple days, and didn't care if you got caught in the end. As she was flying over Chelan, she got an email informing her that the required shipment of fields kits, etc, were delivered and waiting in warehouse 12-A, only requiring her department heads sign off to be picked up. A transport was delivered in a nearby warehouse the previous night, having been shepherded there by a Chosen on his way home.

  Minu landed and carefully parked her car in a lower level of the lot, under cover, and emailed a service request to the dealer where she'd bought it. Silly me, I over loaded the drive; can you fix it for me? The request was additional cover. Her actions didn't suggest any suspicious behavior, after all. If anything went wrong, Gregg wouldn't inherit a torn up car too. An authorization to pay for the repairs from her personal account was included.

  Minu left the car behind, casting a last longing look at the sleek red flying machine, before lumbering down the stairs to the building entrance. The load of kit weighed out at nearly fifty kilos.

  “Can I help you with that, Chosen?” asked a young intern. They were a new addition to the Chosen, pre-teen boys and girls who hoped to be Chosen someday that spent vacations and free time working at Chosen facilities, learning their future lives, and deciding if they really wanted to pick that path.

  “Thank you,” Minu said and handed off the pack. The boy's eyes bugged and he nearly collapsed under the load. He clearly hadn't expected a girl to be carrying that much weight. “Take that to the jump-off staging area, please.” He nodded and headed down the hall, teetering back and forth as he struggled to stay on his feet. Minu was glad there was nothing fragile in the pack. All she kept was her own small duffel bag, carrying a few precious items only she would see.

  Her next stop was the science wing. In the early morning there were only a few techs and young Chosen around working on projects and getting ready for the day. They all knew her; who in the Chosen wouldn't recognize the lithe built girl with flaming red hair, a gray arm, and three gold stars on her sleeve? She nodded in acknowledgment. They didn't even get curious when she went into Bjorn & Ted's lab and promptly filled her bag further with test instruments, sensors, spare parts, and anything else she could find useful. Then she saw a case resting on a table and peeked in. There were six guns inside, unmistakable relatives of the ones designed by Gregg and Aaron back before the Rasa Vendetta. Those had been primitive revolver style projectile guns, simple hand cannons with few refinements. They'd been copied from old earth weapons. These were of a semi-automatic pedigree, with a number of additional improvements.

  Minu picked one up and felt the heft. Milled from a solid block of dualloy, they were half the weight of the earlier design, and it fit her small hand rather nicely. Laser range finder and scope were integrated into the slide, as well as a tiny digital ammo counter visible only to the wielder. The general shape was not too dissimilar to one of the old Desert Eagle handguns she'd seen in a New Jerusalem tribe museum. Further investigation found a case of loaded magazines. Each mag held seven massive 18mm cartridges, much better than the old revolvers five. Unable to resist exacerbating her crimes, she appropriated a hoverfield powered cart, and loaded the crates.

  Outside and down to the ground level, Minu guided the hovercart loaded with all her gear and maneuvered it across the grass covered field. The skies were turning gray and Minu hoped it didn't mean rain, at least until she was done. She knew she was being far more conspicuous than she'd wanted to. A young Chosen woman pushing a heavily laden hovercart was sure to draw someone’s attention in the ops center. It turned out she was right, only it wasn't in the ops center that she was noticed.

  She reached warehouse 12-A, noting it was just around the corner from where she and her friends fought their desperate last stand against the Rasa only a few years ago, and floated her cart inside. There was the transport she wanted, parked just inside the door. She used her access code to open the craft’s doors and stored the cart inside. As long as she didn't fly the transport out the door, or take any of the other equipment stored here for her without first logging permission from a higher-up, no alarms would be sounded. Those alarms would eventually go off, but not until she was ready.

  Minu took the unloaded hovercart back out into the warehouse and one at a time found the consignments she'd requested. Food, kits, equipment, and charged EPC were all ready and waiting, as promised. One at a time she moved them over next to the waiting transport, all the while form
ulating how to stow them and how the mission would proceed. The only thing that surprised her was how clear headed she was. There was no fear in anticipation of what she was about to do, that being possibly the complete jettisoning of her career, or worse. Theft from the Chosen was not completely unheard of. Chosen themselves stealing equipment, on the other hand, might well be unprecedented.

  Finally after several hours’ work she'd moved all the goods just outside the transport’s big rear door and was ready to begin loading. She could have accomplished the entire task in minutes with the rack of bots stored in every warehouse. But again she needed to avoid notice, and the bots activation might draw attention in the ops center. Besides, she liked the physical labor. She wanted to know where every piece of equipment was stowed, how many of each was left, and most importantly if she had missed anything they might need.

  When everything was cued up in order to be loaded, Minu sat on one of the crates and consulted the chronometer on her wrist. Six hours remained before the others would be geared up in the jump-off room waiting for her. The only thing she wished she'd brought was some water, she was getting thirsty.

  “You look tired!” Minu spun to see Cherise leaning against the warehouse’s open doorway. “Been busy?”

  Chapter 13

  January 5th, 522 AE

  Warehouse 12-A, Chosen Headquarters, Steven's Pass, Bellatrix

  A dozen lies ran through Minu's mind in the time it took her to answer. “Just moving some gear for the training division. No biggie.”

  “Hours before start of business?” Her dubious look said it all. “I know your boss; he calls a girl in my section for all his dirty work. In more than a year I've never seen any of his people move their own gear.”

  “Uhm...”

  “Don't bother,” Cherise said and stepped closer, surveying all the gear laying around the transport in carefully stacked piles. “You honestly think I wouldn't see an order of this size?”

  “Did anyone else?”

  “No, I made sure of that. Now, you want to tell me what's going on?”

  “It's Pip,” Minu started, then explained the entire situation. Cherise listened quietly, the pain and realization slowly dawning on her face as Minu laid it all out.

  “I didn't know it was that bad. I don't get to see him often enough, I know, and I hate myself for it. It's just so damned far to travel and all.”

  “Don't apologize,” Minu told her and the two embraced. “Who wants to spend a few hours holding hands with a man that's been essentially dead for two years?”

  Cherise nodded and moved Minu out to arm’s length while keeping her hands on the redhead’s shoulders. “You really want to take this kind of a risk? I know, just answer the question.”

  “I might be able to save him,” Minu said, “and maybe many more.”

  “Okay, so when do we leave?”

  “Well, my team will be- what?”

  “I said when do we leave?”

  “I'm leaving, not you.”

  “I dare you to try,” Cherise said, standing up straight to her full nearly two meter height and looking down at Minu.

  “I might surprise you,” Minu whispered menacingly.

  Cherise' demeanor broke and she laughed, her friend joining her. “You probably would at that, but I'd still beat the shit out of you, and do you want to go out to God knows where covered in bruises and miscellaneous bite marks?”

  “You'd like to give me some bite marks, I bet!” Cherise laughed even harder. “You're dead set on going along, I suppose?”

  “Yep.”

  Minu glanced at her chronometer and groaned inwardly. She hadn't planned on extra mouths. Cherise saw the look on her face and walked out of the warehouse to return a second later carrying several crates identical to some of those already stacked for loading. “I planned ahead, just like you.”

  “Traitor.”

  “Glass houses, young lady.”

  With Cherise helping her, the final loading and stowing took half the time Minu expected. “I think you need some more gear, Boss,” Cherise said, panting as they finished and wiping sweat from her forehead. Minu smiled at the use of Boss. It brought back both good and painful memories of her trials and missions shared with her closest friends, especially the one she was setting out to save. An old familiar tingle started in her toes and worked its way upwards. The game was afoot.

  “Let’s go collect the rest of the team,” Minu said. She shouldered her personal field kit and snapped the belt around her waist.

  “Will anyone say anything about me going along?”

  “Why would they? Besides, I've been freelancing teams of scout trainees onto the junk piles of the frontier for months.”

  Cherise took her own pack and belt then trotted to catch up with Minu. “That's a new sword,” she said and tapped the sheath Minu was buckling on her back. “From Tamara?”

  “Yes, she gave it to me on Friday. Something she wanted me to try out, I don't think she was expecting an extended field test.” Cherise carried one as well, but the more traditional Katana fit onto her belt.

  They entered through the old ground level entrance that once led to the Portal chamber, now just another entrance to the building, and then down to the basement level where the new Portal chamber was located. Just outside the heavily armored dualloy vault holding the Portal was the control room, and the jump-off room directly adjacent behind redundant force fields. She entered the later without glancing into the control room and there found her team waiting.

  “Was it really necessary to start this early?” Var’at yawned, jaws opening impossibly wide showing rows of razor sharp teeth.

  “I can’t thank you enough for this.” Minu put a hand on his shoulder and nodded to the squad of fellow Rasa waiting nearby. They all carried combat gear of their own manufacture and were armed with their particularly nasty flechette dart guns. “You know this is not sanctioned and we’re liable to get in a lot of trouble.”

  “We are not concerned. We pay our debts to friends. Good to see you again,” he said and greeted Cherise.

  “You as well,” the tall woman replied.

  “Everyone ready?” she asked and did a quick once around the room to be sure. “Okay, we're taking a transport, so I need to arrange to have the garage door opened,” The massive dualloy door could be opened to admit as big a vehicle as could fit through the Portal. Minu left her gear and went across the hall to the control center, and her first major setback.

  “I have a team ready to go off world,” she said as she walked through the door. The duty officer turned around and Minu felt her heart sink.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Ivan Malovich snapped, looking up from the tablet he'd been reading. The sole satisfaction Minu felt at finding him sitting there was the five gold stars on his cuff. It was two years since his atrocity caused the Rasa Vendetta and the lives of thousands of humans. The Chosen didn't just toss out members, not even a colossal screw up like Ivan. He'd gone from four to five stars, and apparently stayed there. Maybe permanently?

  “I'm doing my job,” she recovered quickly, “I have a team to go out on a training mission to the frontier.”

  “There isn't anything on the mission log,” he replied. During the trials, Ivan's group of thugs ambushed her own team, injuring many of them and almost killing Minu. One of his friends raped her and forever changed the course of her life as a sexual being. After killing the rapist she'd done her best to kill Ivan that day and he to kill her as well. And despite all that, his eyes still followed the curve of her hips and breasts like he was sizing up a steak dinner.

  “I have authorization to freelance teams on the frontier,” she told him.

  “According to the records you have unlimited access to Deep Blue, on the frontier,” he admitted with a disgruntled tone in his voice.

  “I want to go to FAX109, and I'll need an unlocked PCR.”

  “I can't give you an unlocked Portal Control Rod!” he complained. �
�And why do you want to go there, nothing’s there?”

  “Why and where I am going is not your concern. And as for authority, I am that authority. Now, are you going to do it or not?”

  “The day shift duty officer comes on in two hours,” he told her and Minu knew he wasn't going to be intimidated, “you can just wait until then.”

  “Waste of my time, five star,” she snarled and marched out the door back to the jump-off room. “Mother fucker,” she spat once out of earshot from the obstinate Ivan.

  “Didn't go for it, did he?” Cherise asked. No doubt she'd recognized his voice. Cherise shared a history with Minu concerning Ivan.

  “Of course not.”

  “What's going on?” Var’at asked.

  “I want to go to a…unique destination,” she said. “The little twit in charge won't let me go without authorization.”

  “You didn't file a mission plan, did you?” Cherise asked.

  “Of course not, you think I'm stupid?” Cherise just stared at her. “I thought it through as far as I could, but I'm not a criminal at heart.

  “Need some help?” a new voice asked. Minu jerked in surprise to see Aaron walking up to her, a big smile on his face.

  Minu instantly looked at Cherise, accusation in her eyes. The look she got in reply said it all. “Who else did you call?”

  “Uhm,” Cherise said and Minu suppressed the urge to slap her in the back of the head. The urge must have at least partially manifested into some movement because Cherise took a half step backwards, out of Minu's reach. “I didn't know what you were up to!”

  “And just decided to come here and stop me.”

  “No, decided you might need our help,” Aaron said firmly, and suddenly Minu felt like a total asshole. In partial repayment of the accusation she quickly brought Aaron up to date on her plan. “I'm in,” he said without even waiting for her to explain further. “Gregg wanted to, but with him in charge of the Rangers, we both agreed it was better that he stayed where he was or risk losing them to someone who didn't care, or worse.”