Rift 4
Alexis's first problem was that Professor Hicks wasn't letting her out of the tower. She appeared to have so many concerns over this device that she kept Alexis busy practically 24 hours a day. Together or Alexis alone, simulation after simulation was done. It was informative, though, as Alexis was learning just what this device was designed to do.
The Cardiff Rift Manipulator
When the Rift becomes active, beings and objects could be transported through Rift flares either from one end of the Rift to another, or to another point in time on the same end of the Rift. Rift storms are also capable of transporting multiple objects and beings caught up inside of them through the Rift.
The Rift could cause time shifts, which could cause two different points in time to overlap and could transport beings from one of the two overlapping times to the other.
Alexis was learning a lot about how the device worked as well as the targets they were after. The first target was a new class of submarine. The propulsion looked more like the engines off of an old 737 jet plane that she hadn't seen in years. Then there was the single tail that looked more like the front end of a platypus.
She was learning that it wasn't so much the design itself, but what it was made of. If what she was reading was accurate, the skin of the entire sub was biological. Meaning the skin was alive.
It was a design that would reflect more like a biological than a submarine, plus thanks to the skin it was suspected that it could dive to depths no other submarine had yet managed.
Then there was the second target. It was a combination submarine and destroyer that was fitted with three dual rail guns that could be retracted into the fuselage of the sub. It had a winglet on either side far to the aft. On each winglet were three engines and above that midsection aft was a raised bridge. It looked fast and sleek.
Target number three resembled a tadpole in shape, but at 495 feet long with a crew of 70, it wasn't tiny. It used some kind of water jet propulsion with two engines on the lower aft end. It was the unique propulsion that had them interested.
Alexis resisted smiling and giggling. They planned on stealing them without having to actually send a crew on board to take it and sail it to a secure location. The Rift was going to take each one and send it as it was to a new location. She had to admit that the idea was unique and daring.
So far all of the simulations were functioning perfectly. She didn't understand the concept well enough to fault the simulations. However, any time you played with time and space there had to be hazards.
It did explain why this ship had so many power cores. This thing was a power hog in the extreme. It was going to take days for the power cores to recharge for the next one.
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Alexis had noticed that the younger Alexis loved to wander the ship and would often lose her escort who Alexis observed as they or it searched the ship as quickly as possible. The child also seemed to love using the pool. What she had yet to use was the game room.
Alexis also noticed that this Alexis didn't seem to like many of the children on this ship. She either refused to associate with them or simply ignored most of them. Alexis vowed to fix that after she could get out of this section and finally interact with her.
Alexis finally got her chance one day before they were to target the first submarine. Professor Hicks came to her and said, "B-5, please take these latest results to the captain. I think you'll find him and the first officer on the bridge.".
"Yes, Professor." Alexis had gotten used to the professor not commanding her. Yesterday she had taken the risk of actually talking to her like she did this time. Professor Hicks never said anything about it. Just took it for what it was.
But today… today this happened. "Thank you, B-5." Angela smiled at her then walked away to return to her work.
Alexis was starting to worry about the professor. Her life seemed to revolve around this Rift unit. She wasn't married and had no children. She was clearly brilliant since this device was her baby.
Alexis strode to the elevator that would take her down then walked quickly to the bow of the ship and took the stairs up to the bridge. Once she reached it she pressed the call button. The bridge was well shielded and the doors and walls were blast proof. It was one of the safer places in the ship, save for the windows at the front.
When the door opened she went in and approached the captain. "Professor Hicks ordered for this to be delivered to you personally." He took the data and turned his back on her. After plugging it in and observing it, he dismissed her.
While he was going over the data, Alexis took the opportunity to observe Richard with her own eyes. He really was a dead ringer for her father. She ached to wrap her arms around him and desperately wanted to call him Dad.
She almost missed being dismissed while she stared at him. She turned in place and exited the bridge. Once the door closed she collapsed against the adjacent wall. She couldn't help it, for the first time in a very long time she allowed herself to openly feel emotion. He wasn't her father, her logic told her that. Her heart wasn't listening though. "Daddy…" came out in a whisper.
Alexis could feel her lower lip quivering. She needed to get herself together before she was spotted. She righted herself and started slowly walking back to her station. She chose to take a less traveled direction to get back. Her primary memory was getting her there while her inner Alexis was still on the bridge wishing and making even more wishes.
She had been alone for such a long time.
Alexis almost ran her down and only just barely danced out of the way. "Alexis, I'm sorry I almost hit you." Alexis's barriers were down because she was hurting and didn't notice that she wasn't acting like a typical B-5 unit.
Little Alexis remained silent. "Are you lost?" But she still remained silent. Undeterred Alexis plowed on. "It's a really big ship, you can get lost easily. Would you like to know a secret?" Still visibly upset, little Alexis nodded.
"Put your hand anywhere on this panel. You can do that anywhere on the ship," Alexis said and watched her look up at the panel. "You'll have to jump a little. Think you can do that?" Alexis smiled when little Alexis jumped and hit the panel with her hand. "Now tell it what you want. Try asking where your dad is now. Go ahead, ask."
"Where's my daddy?" Alexis asked softly.
A voice replied to her question. "Commander Castle is presently located on the bridge."
"You did it! Now ask it to show you how to get there."
"How do I get there?" Alexis asked with a little more voice.
"Please follow the lights on the panels," the voice answered. She saw a line of lights start flashing starting from where she was now.
"See, that wasn't so hard. Tell it anywhere you want to go and it will show you how to get there," Alexis explained.
Little Alexis was all smiles and wiped away the few tears that had escaped. "Thank you!" She wrapped her arms around Alexis's legs.
Alexis hugged her back. "You're welcome." Alexis rested her lips on the top of the little girl's head. She hadn't felt this good in a really long time. All that work getting on this ship had just proven to be worth it.
Alexis let go of her and started following the lights but stopped suddenly and turned back. "What's your name?" After all, everyone had a name. Even if she had to give them one.
Her name? "My name… My name is…Lex, you can call me Lex." Alexis didn't dare scare her by giving her her real name. The little girl wouldn't understand.
Her heart both broke and soared when Alexis smiled at her. "Thank you, Lex." She turned to follow the lights that would take her to her father.
"You're welcome Alexis, very welcome," Alexis answered softly after Alexis had turned a corner.
Alexis floated back to her station in the tower, reported back in to the professor, and went back to doing simulations, not that she was paying attention to them any longer. She had seen Richard and met Alexis!
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The time had come. Professor Hicks was practically standing on her as they both watched the charge for the Rift device start to build up. Their target was just sitting there under a heavily protected dock area. The place was crawling with guards. Add to that there was plenty of cover over it hiding it from satellites.
The professor activated the comm unit. "One minute, Captain, everything is looking good." She liked what she was seeing. It was matching the simulations nicely.
"Standing by, Professor," the captain responded then looked at Rick.
"All clear here, Captain, however…" Rick thought he saw something, but he wasn't sure what.
"Explain, Commander. You have 30 seconds." There was still time to cancel.
"We know the submarine is hidden from satellites and even today they can't see it. The roof above it looks like a standard concrete structure. Why are none of the guards anywhere near it, let alone above it? There aren't even any weapons near it." This had perplexed him when he had studied the target.
"We've been over this as has Command. Ten seconds."
Rick kept silent, it bugged him but he just couldn't say why.
Professor Hicks was ready to come out of her skin. This was going to be the first real test of the device. Before now it had all been simulations. It was too dangerous to do a test and chance that the device be discovered.
Alexis watched her display. "Five seconds, Professor Hicks."
The professor hustled over to her station and prepared to make history. Three, two, one. She pressed the panel that would activate the device.
They watched both video feed and scans of the area as the device activated. A massive orange column of what looked a lot like lightning struck the roof of the structure that hid the submarine.
What happened next wasn't what anyone was expecting. "What the hell!" Alexis shouted then began typing madly, her fingers moving in a blur. The professor watched as the single column suddenly splintered into more of them than she could count. An instant later Alexis looked up and saw an orange electrical energy strike the professor who screamed.
Rick and the captain were watching their video feeds and saw the same thing. Suddenly the captain gave a long, loud, piercing cry. Rick saw brilliant orange lightning strike him as it bypassed the roof of the ship.
A moment later Alexis, who was still madly typing, watched as a massive electrical strike engulfed the ship, making it glow with a brilliant orange radiance. A moment later her screen and the lights went out and she was forced to wait a few seconds for the emergency lights to activate. When they did, she realized the professor was gone. There was no burn mark or anything else to show that she had ever been sitting there. "What the hell?" Alexis shouted yet again.
A huge problem was the only power that was available was the emergency lighting. It also meant the elevator down to the rest of the ship would be out.
Rick stood there; the captain simply vanished and his vision went orange. Everything turned orange for a moment before returning to normal. For a moment the only light was the light through the windows. Looking down he saw everything was offline. Nothing had power until suddenly the emergency lights snapped on.
Rick moved over to the communications panel. "Engineering, respond." He waited before repeating it. Getting no reply, he moved to where the captain had been standing and found nothing. It was like he'd never been there.
Looking out the bridge windows showed that they were still at sea and since they weren't pointed toward land all he saw was ocean. The ship itself looked unchanged. The VTOL was still strapped down to the deck and looked unharmed.
He decided to try again. "Medical, respond." He waited a moment. "Professor Hicks, respond." He waited a few moments this time. "This is the bridge, anyone respond." Rick waited even longer. Getting no response, he checked each and every display and found everything was dark.
"Weapons, respond." Rick waited. "Security, respond." He waited some more. When he got nothing he moved to open the wall panel that exposed hand-held communication ear buds. "This is the bridge, anyone respond." They worked off of batteries and were not part of the ship's main power. "This is the bridge, anyone respond."
Little Alexis was in daycare and was playing when suddenly everything went orange. Looking around she didn't see anyone. Leslie, who had been watching her and the other kids, was gone. "Leslie?" Alexis called, then suddenly everything went dark. Alexis screamed her name in the dark. "LESLIE!" Then the emergency lights came on and she was all alone. She wandered around looking for everyone. How had they disappeared so suddenly? Hide and seek had never been like this. Leslie had never left them while they played.
"Daddy?" Alexis tried calling out a new name and got nothing in return.
She remembered something so she went into the passageway and jumped up to touch the panel. "Where is my daddy?" Alexis called loudly. However, she didn't get an answer back. Alexis decided to try again. Maybe she hadn't pressed the panel properly. She jumped and slammed her hand against the panel. This time she knew she had touched it. "Where is my daddy?"
She was beginning to panic. Everyone was gone, the ship was darker then it ever had been before and she was alone. Alexis jumped up and hit the panel again. "Where is Lex?" Frightened, tears started to fill her eyes. Alexis had run across the B-5 unit that was named Lex more and more and she was fast learning to like her. It never occurred to her that the B-5 unit wasn't a her.
Alexis screamed her name. "LEX!" What she didn't know was that Alexis was running down the emergency staircase and had just opened the access door when her enhanced hearing heard Alexis scream her name.
"Alexis!" Alexis herself was a little scared. The device had not functioned properly and she had no idea what it had done. What she did know was little Alexis sounded scared out of her wits. She ran as fast as she could in the direction that she thought the voice had come from. She practically flew down walkways between rooms. Her first idea was to go to the bridge to find out what had happened. But Alexis was now her first priority.
Then Alexis saw her. She was wailing with tears running down her face while she spun in place, looking wildly around her. "ALEXIS!" Alexis called out and ran as fast as she could till she got close to her. She came to a halt, knelt in front of her, and reached out to hold her tight.
"Gone… all… gone," the little girl told her between the hiccups that crying so hard had given her.
"I know sweetie, I know." Actually she didn't know. She only knew for certain that Professor Hicks was gone. "Let's get you some water first." Alexis stood, taking little Alexis with her and stepped back into the daycare unit to find a glass of water.
"Here, drink it slowly, just sips." Alexis held the glass and helped her drink. It took a few minutes but Alexis was drinking now rather than sipping. "Can you tell me what happened, sweetie?" Alexis wanted to hear it from her point of view. She stroked the child's arms softly and pushed a stand of hair out of her face.
Alexis compressed everything into simple words. "Orange… dark… gone."
What the little girl said made sense to her. That was what had happened to her. Still she looked around. They were in daycare. There should be an adult human watching them and there should be other kids here, too. "Everyone?" Alexis questioned and little Alexis nodded, her eyes wary. Even though Lex was with her she was still uneasy.
Alexis took the glass of water from her and set it down. "Let's see if we can find your father." Alexis had a piece of her family here, holding her hand. Now did she still have the other piece? After finding Richard they could try and start to figure out what had happened and what it will take to restore power.
"Ready?" Alexis looked at little Alexis. She had relaxed; she nodded her head. "Good, let's go." She picked her up since carrying her with her strength was easy.
Little Alexis wrapped her arms around Lex's neck and held on tight as she walked. "Lex?"
"What sweetie?" Alexis was already pretty sure she loved the little girl.
"Luv you." She buried her head into Lex's shoulder.
Alexis kept walking but turned her head to look at her. "I love you too, sweetie, very much." She held her a touch tighter and did her best to kiss her head with her plastic lips.