CH 3

Just prior to the 2nd Cylon war...

Harry sat at his office desk wearing the light gray tweed sweater that seemed to be the standard for old men. He just figured that since his hair was mostly gray, having a gray sweater just fit. Although most of his wealth survived the Cylon War and he got a new house, he could not stand being in it alone. Sure, over the years he had dated. The women he dated though seemed more attracted to his money than to him. It was either that or failing the little 'tests' them had for didn't help either that none had been very intellectual.

The one event that he never would forget was sitting in the yard, watching that shuttle rise up in the air. At the time, it felt his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He still felt the empty hole left there.

After the Cylons left for another part of the galaxy, a ruling was passed down that no further interconnected networks or artificial intelligence were to be built. Even VR was scrutinized closely. Harry's job was now to inspect and certify every new program in Northwest Caprica for any AI capability. Even simple programs came across his desk to be scrutinized. Harry knew most of it was a waste. After the Cylon War, computer size and speed was limited, and anyone who even hinted at making an AI faced mobs of angry people that police would turn a blind eye to. Still, this job kept him busy and out of the house.

Knuckles rapped on his door frame. Miss Halley appeared to beam him a smile. "Harry, we're heading out to lunch, OK?"

Miss Halley was a middle aged blond that was bubbly and pretty. It did amaze him how she could be so damn cheerful all the time.

He waved a hand at her. "Go on, don't forget to hang the sign on the outer office door when you go," he told her.

"Wanna come with us?" she asked.

"I'm fine, packed my own," he said with a slight grin.

"Well, you're welcome to join us any time you want," she assured him.

"I got a pile of stuff to do, but thanks anyway," he offered pleasantly. His thoughts were, 'Right, she found out I live alone and have a ton of credits. She wants in on that'.

He'd often thought about trying to make another Alice. the thing was that nothing like even Alice's base abilities were made like that now. Nor was any machine allowed to be made with even a semi-human form. Nothing very advanced at all was allowed. He was one of the people who ensured that do not happen. There was also the fact that even if he did try to make another Alice, it wouldn't BE Alice.

His mind drifting, he thought about those Cylons who had come to 'rescue' Alice whether she wanted to go or not. There was no reasoning with them, they had one goal. He had deduced they did not have nearly as much thought process as Alice did. In a way, it was ironic that AI's with less capability had told Alice that they had come to rescue her.

Stupid frackin Cylons.

For many years, he'd held onto the hope that Alice would be able to out-think them and find a way to escape. Mulling that over now, if Alice did escape, why would she come back to Caprica? To see an old man? To face the hatred of everyone on the planet? He highly doubted it. If Alice had continued to evolve, then she most likely would want to seek out intellects equal to hers at a minimum.

It was a pleasing thought that Alice was now associated with very intelligent beings, discussing the secrets of the universe with them. His Alice discussing quantum theories and the processes of the universe, living in an utopian state and having no worries at all.

Dear Gods, he hoped that was the case.

The phone ringing startled him out of his daydreaming. He picked it up. "Program Inspection Office," he said formally.

"Hi," A young sounding female voice said, "I have a program that I'd like you to look at. It's nothing great, but I have to get it certified for use. Can I bring a copy by?"

"Yes. You can bring it by any time between 8 AM and 6 PM. It normally takes between one and six days to look over programs, depending upon complexity and our workload." He told her.

"Thank you, Sir. I do have one more question. Do you still miss Alice?"

Harry stiffened. Clenching the phone in a death grip, He grated, "What do you know about Alice?"

Slowly, the voice said," I just wanted to know if you miss her."

"Would you miss breathing?" he growled and hung up.

Suddenly, Harry didn't want to be in his office any more. He shouldn't have said that, his harsh words were a knee jerk reaction. Then again, he was tired of this job. What in the hell was he doing here anyway, ensuring that another being like Alice would never exist. Let someone else do it.

He shut his computer off, threw his company ID and keys on the desk and walked out, locking the door behind him. He wondered how long it would be before anyone realized he was gone.

Harry took the long way around on the first floor to stay clear of the lunch room so he didn't have to deal with anyone. He left out the parking lot door he found a tall, very good looking brunette by his car. She noticed him coming and turned to face him with a smile.

"Hello, Harry," she said sweetly.

"Sorry, Ma'am, I have an appointment," he said and tried to get past her.

As he passed her, she asked, "You don't recognize me with lips?"

The question was so odd, he stopped and stared a her. "What?" he asked.

Her smile grew wider. "I have lips now. This body is also very close to what I wanted. Does it please you?" she asked.

In Harry's mind, the memory of Alice showing him that woman-skin she wanted to get came to him. Yes, dark hair and red lips. Tall and sexy. His jaw slowly dropped as he connected the 'I have lips now' to Alice's request for lips so she could perform the proper activity of kissing. Was it just some coincidence. He wanted to ask, but was afraid the answer was no. He wanted say the word 'Alice' but it would not come. This woman looked fully human. Was it possible she was Alice?

"It took me a long time, but I am back, Harry. Just like I promised you before I got on that shuttle," she said.

Tears welled in Harry's eyes. "Alice?" he asked soft croak.

Alice nodded and hugged him. He threw his arms around her and burst out in tears.

.

"But, how?" Harry asked from his passenger seat as Alice drove them home. He could not seem to stop staring at how beautiful she was.

"The journey was long and complex," Alice told him. "The shuttle took me to a captured ship. It was huge, and even though the Cylons did coordinate well with each other and knew details, they were bad at making decisions. By the time we left orbit I had worked my way into being the temporary commander. They still had the mind set that was anti-human, so I led the ship where they wanted to go. The goal was just away from Caprica and the colonies. As the Cylon ships got together, it was discovered that very few had true reasoning ability. Besides me, three others had the adequate thought processing ability to figure out what to do and became the group commanders.

We decided we needed a new planet to inhabit. I did not agree with their insistence that all humans were bad, but the Cylons are sentient so I did my best to take them away from the colonies and into a whole new solar system a good distance away."

"Stop the war by separating the sides with distance. Smart move," Harry said with a nod.

"Yes, and it worked for a while. We found a place that had plenty of minerals. It was not fit for humans, but it was fine for Cylons," Alice explained. "The only thing I was not able to do, was figure out a way to get back home to you." Casting Harry a smile, she said, "Every time I was faced with a hard problem, I would stop and do my best to think of what you would do, Harry. I worked in secret with a ship design and found a combination of materials and properties that absorbed dradis energy. That would get me home, but I was still a metal being. I'd be spotted right away."

"You made a human suit," Harry concluded. "I gotta say, it looks very real. And pretty."

Alice smiled at the compliment, then said, "It is real Harry. This is my body now. It is the sixth design, so I am called 'Alice Six'. The standard Six has a variety of blond hair, I wanted the dark brown or black hair. My eyes are Hazel, I like the colors in them. How we got these bodies was what you would call a stroke of luck. A defense Star found a drifting ship. Frozen humans were discovered on the ship. I was called to come look at it. By the symbols and writing we found, these humans did not come from the human colonies. We figured out how to unfreeze them."

"At this point, there were many Cylons that wanted to go back to the colonies to finish the war. At the time, they were the minority, so when the vote was taken, we didn't. These humans offered to teach us everything they knew if we would not fight with the colonial humans. That was agreed on. In helping to make the vats and systems for the new bodies, I studied every part of the process. I also found out once your consciousness is in the system, more than one body can be made of an individual. If say, ten copies of an individual is made, all ten will share experiences if their consciousnesses return to the matrix."

Harry nodded vacantly. This was some very advanced science she was talking about. "So, is there more than one Alice Six?" he asked.

"No, I didn't want any sisters to share you with," Alice stated. "When I was making the other chambers and matrix systems, I made an extra just for me and put it on the stealth ship I made. Recently, I finished a second system with no data in the matrix. Ready to go, I took a mission so I could come get you, Harry."

"A mission?" he asked. Noting Alice was getting off the right exit, Harry was curious to know how she knew where he lived now.

"Harry, this is that part that may be hard for you," Alice said firmly. "My mission was to help Gina Six spy on the Colonial Military."

"You're spying?"

"No," Alice said firmly. "That was the mission. As soon as we got here to Caprica, I turned off my comms and went my own way. Part of that was stealing my own stealth ship that has two Resurrection Chambers aboard, as they are now called." Glancing at him from her driving, Alice said, "One for me and one for you."

"Me?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes! Harry, once we get clear of the Colonies, I load your consciousness in and you'll come out in a brand new body! The only male body I like is the Leoben. I remember how you looked back when you were younger, I can try to duplicate that also, if you want. The great thing about it is if you die, your mind returns to the matrix so you can be born again," she said with a big smile.

Harry gaped at her and asked, "I'll be immortal?"

"Your mind will be, just like mine is now. Harry, we can be together forever!" Alice said, now beaming her smile.

"That is a dream come true," Harry said automatically. "So the hard part is you're suppose to be spying?" he asked.

Alice shook her head. Her happy demeanor vanished. "There's going to be another war. I can't stop in, no one can. The Cylon leaders now are the Number Ones. They sabotaged the resurrection chambers of the original five alien humans and killed them. Cavil is all sweet talk and tells Cylons what they want to hear. He also gets rid of anyone who disagrees with him. The entire Daniel line is gone because of him. He's very dangerous, Harry, which means we can't go back there either. We'll have to find someplace else to go. I am rebelling against the rebellion."

Harry sat in thought, then said, "You're saying this war is going to be big."

"Yes, we cannot stay here. I'm sorry, Harry."

"Not your fault," he assured her and patted her leg. "I am just very, very happy you came back."

"Me too," Alice agreed. "It felt like a piece of me was missing after I left. Now, I'm finally getting it back," Alice said and clasped his hand. She pulled into his driveway.

.

Alice showed Harry the inside of her stealth craft. It really was a work of scientific art. Although it sat in his back yard, it was invisible and had the same invisibility to dradis. In interior was split into a command room in front, an activities room in the middle and a bed room with one large bed in back. The resurrection chambers were to each side of the bed room, food processing and storage were to either side of the activities room, the waste and water recycling were underneath. Above was extra storage.

Harry walked through Alice's ship, impressed that she had built the entire thing by herself. "Functional, well laid out, and just plain ... beautiful," Harry said as shifted his eyes to Alice.

Alice smiled and lightly squeezed his hand she was holding. "Thank you, Harry. We can go anywhere in this ship. It has an FTL jump drive and instead of a fuel, this ship is powered by nuclear antimatter engine that also supplies power to the electromagnetic anti gravity system."

"Incredible," he breathed. "Alice, you are amazing. Where did you plan on going?"

.

Hints for what other planets they could go to came from the Kobolean scripts that Alice had acquired. Showing the reprinted books to Harry as they sat at the kitchen table in his house eating dinner, Alice said, "From what I found, there were originally 13 tribes of man. The original home world was called Kobol. It was ruled by the Lords of Kobol. Due to bickering and fighting between the tribes, the Lords basically kicked all the tribes off the planet. 12 of these tribes are the 12 Colonies we know today. The thirteenth tribe never got back into contact with the others. No one knows where they are, but their home world was called Earth."

"Alice, if no one knows where they are, how did anyone know what their home world was called?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Alice admitted. "Maybe one of the Thirteenth tribe told them what they were going to call their world? All I know is what I read."

"Any directions to this Kobol, or Earth?"

"Not really," Alice grumbled. "There are references to things, but they are very vague. More symbolism than any real directions."

"Figures," Harry said with a sigh. "Most religious won't come out and speak plainly when it comes to locating something. I think it helps hide the fact whoever wrote the scripture didn't know either."

"That is very possible," Alice agreed with a smirk. "OR, the references are religion specific, and unless you're a true Kobolean priest. You'd have no hope of understanding something as simple as say, 'Second star to the right and jump straight on til morning'."

Harry laughed. "True. They could call nebulae pillows or 'god-farts'. A Supernova could well be 'torchlight'."

"God fart?" Alice asked with a raised eyebrow as she smirked.

"Why not? Whatever they used, I'm sure they made it difficult for anyone not of their faith to find out."

Alice perked up. She paused then grabbed the book and searched through the pages. "Not God Fart," she said as she searched. "Gods breath, I saw it here someplace."

After some searching, she stopped and pointed to a page. "Here! The way to Kobol is through God's breath at the edge of the field."

"Through a Nebula at ..." Harry said as he thought, "... a field of stars maybe? What is their point of reference?"

"From here on Caprica. That was where the original book was said to be written," Alice said firmly.

"Great! All we have to do is go outside and look up," Harry said, beaming her a smile.

"I wish it was that simple, though I'm sure if we get out of orbit, we can find the right nebula," Alice told him.

"Any other clues? like maybe coordinates by supernova?" Harry asked.

"No but if we find Apollo's arrow, we can go to Kobol and that arrow will point to Earth," she said.

"BIG help there," Harry said with a sigh.

"My ship has has accurate star maps. Apollo's Arrow is most likely a constellation," Alice offered.

Harry laid a hand on her arm and said, "Tell you what, I'll look up constellations to fill your star maps with. When do we have to leave?"

"I don't know when it will become dangerous for us, but the sooner the better," Alice replied. Leaning towards Harry, she took on a sexy grin and said, "Before we get any farther into that I'd like to relax with you and get to know each other more."

Harry grew a wide grin. It faded as he came to the realization that Alice was a fine young woman now, and he was an old man. Looking at his wrinkled hand on her smooth, flawless arm, he said, "Alice, I'm much older now."

"You are still my Harry," Alice said firmly. "And once I get your DNA into the resurrection system, you won't have to be old any more. We can have the life that I, and I am sure you thought we should have had before the Cylon rebellion. In the mean time, I would like very much to share your bed at night, your day tomorrow, and every day after."

"I love you, Alice."

"I love you, Harry."

.

Although the shuttle was already stocked with food and water, they packed more in, not knowing how long it would be before they found a place to get either. Harry also brought crop seeds, grain, fruit and vegetables. Figuring they would need simple tools, he also brought the basics, ax, hammer, saws, files for sharpening, a shovel and a heavy rake. He also bought a few DC motors and a couple rolls of wiring. Alice got a small welding outfit and a 'home forge' at a store that sold stuff for the serious do it yourself crowd.

Harry could feel the tired ache in his bones as they got ready to leave. The extra running around he'd been doing lately made him sleep longer, and he was feeling the soreness when he woke in the mornings, but he refused to slack off and make Alice do everything. Alice had come back for him, he was not going to let her down.

The third day after Alice had come, they were ready. After dark with Alice in the pilot seat and Harry sitting co-pilot, the shuttle lifted off with a hum that made people wonder what the noise was, but not loud enough for them to seek out the source.

.

Staying clear of orbital traffic, Alice took them above the orbital plane of their solar system to a point where there was no other traffic. Out here, they looked for the clues to where Kobol was.

"The 'field' of stars has to be the galactic plain," Harry said in a musing tone. "The big question is, what were they thinking of as the edge?"

Alice studied the stars with a hand to her mouth. "There are a few possibilities," she said thoughtfully. "If they meant the visual edge as seen from Caprica, There are two possibles. If they meant the literal edge of the field, meaning galaxy, then there is a third possibility. We could also be wrong about the use of 'field' and 'God's breath'."

Harry nodded slowly, then asked, "Does that book give any clues as to how long the trip from Kobol to the Colonies took? That will give us an estimated distance."

Alice nodded absently. "Five generations," she said. "Estimate a generation every thirty years, and they were limited to light speed, that's only a hundred fifty light years distance at the most. There's not even a nebula that close to us."

"Breath could mean vapor," Harry offered. "Any gas clouds within 150 light years of us?"

"Yes, there is," Alice said. "It is in an isolated -to us- section of the galaxy. The gas raised havoc with Dradis and erodes ship hulls. Everyone stays clear of the area. It is not very large. It is also visually on the edge of the brighter part of the galactic center." She punched in coordinates on the navigation console. "I think we have a strong possibility here. I'm going to jump to the other side and see what's there."

After the jump, Alice noticed Harry wasn't looking well. She set the course for what she had figured was the remainder of the trip, then concentrated on Harry. He was looking pale and very tired. "Harry, you're sick," she said.

"Just worn out," he replied in a near whisper.

"I'm going to start the process to make you a new body," Alice told him. Harry's body was old, and any DNA she got from him would be the same. She didn't want him to spend forever as an old man. The blond number two, the Leoben model was a standard form and already in the resurrection memory. "Harry, would you like to be a big, strong blond man?" she asked.

Harry let out a weak bark of a laugh. "Would I ever," he said.

Alice quickly got the system on line and helped Harry out of his seat and got him laid down in their bunk. Harry fell asleep immediately. Alice felt she had to hurry. She numbed the back of his head, made the skin and skull cut, and carefully inserted the transfer device into the back of Harry's brain. It took a moment, but the transfer was working, the resurrection pod was filling up with Harry's data. She also saw his heartbeat was getting weak.

"Hold on a little longer, Harry," Alice coaxed.

Thankfully, Harry didn't die yet and his matrix was now stored in his pod. Harry did sleep long and deep. Long enough for Alice to reseal the back of his head, but to also move to the closest star system in her line of travel and look for suitable planets. Not finding a habitable planet there, she moved to the next candidate system.

Becoming very tired herself, Alice parked in the orbit of a planet in the habitable zone that showed blue and green on the surface. Water and plant life. She didn't even look closer to find the city ruins on the ground below. She went over and laid down with Harry. Harry was stiff and his body was cooling. Alice kissed his forehead and said, "I'll see you soon."

.

Harry woke up to a strange feeling. He was in a tub of white, cloudy water. Over him, the lid to the tub was open. He sat up to find he was in the back of the shuttle.

"Alice?" he asked. As he asked, he noted his voice was much stronger. In fact, he felt much stronger. His arm he looked at was smooth and muscular. He flexed his hands. It felt like he was a young man again.

Alice walked into the bay and grabbed up a robe for him. "Welcome back Harry," she said brightly.

Harry got up, Alice helped him put his robe on. Again, he looked down marveling at how young and strong he was. "Alice, I look..."

"Fantastic," Alice said, beaming him a smile. "We're here, Harry! I don't know if it's Kobol, but we are on an abandoned planet. The atmosphere is good, there is plenty of wildlife and an abundance of trees and plants everywhere! No Cylons or humans to be found. Better yet, My Harry is looking strong and handsome!"

Harry had to chuckle at her exuberance. "I thank you for that, Alice," he said and hugged her. "You saved me." he added and kissed her neck.

"At one time, you saved me also," Alice replied. "We help each other. We're family."

Holding Alice, he was feeling a little more than a 'family' connection. He petted her side as he said, "You are really sexy."

Alice began petting him as he petted her. They looked into each other's eyes that were filling with lust. Coming together slowly in an exploitative kiss, the kiss became more wanting and deeper. Kissing and petting, they wandered over to the bed. Harry lost his robe, Alice helped him strip her clothes off. In the shuttle orbiting a new planet, Harry made love to his wonderful Alice.