The Diego Diaries: Intrusion (dd6 91)
-0-On the way to Earth2
They were silent as they took in the panorama outside the car. The late afternoon traffic was gathering since shifts were changing and some businesses were nearing the end of their business day. They rode through town, then out onto the highway that led into the sticks where three habitats for humans were placed. It was a huge topic of conversation among the leadership that some humans could whine about human habitation on Mars when there was a military settlement (N.E.S.T. HQ), an advanced science installation (the now United Nations Sciences Habitat), a consulate for political, economic and cultural exchanges (The United Nations Consulate of Earth Affairs on Mars), Earth 1 which was the first 'colonial off world settlement', the huge new Earth2, another 'colonial off world settlement', The Resort of Autobot City, one of three wholly-owned human businesses on Mars, the other two being Galaxy Productions and Autobot City Adventuring as Rick Harris renamed his company, and finally, the vast Family Habitation in the tower in the Mare Tranquillilatis. This was the extent thus far for humans living permanently on Mars with a total population of about 6,250 individuals. They were children, teens, babies, elders, and adults, all of them welcome and all busy with their projects, jobs and education.
Perhaps it was the total number of humans here (6,250 and growing) versus the total number of humans there (7,000,000,000 and growing) that threw everyone off. No one knew. It was another inscrutable factoid of Life With Humans for the bots.
"How is it, Kyle, that their vehicles are the same size as ours, mostly, yet when they stand they're skyscrapers?" Mariah asked at last. The Mausoleum and Basilica were in the distance along with the Metro Districts, all of them on both sides of the highway.
"I don't know," Kyle said as the miles clipped by in the flow of traffic that was starting to thin out. "Pierre and his family are coming tomorrow."
"Good. It will be good to see them again," Mariah said as they got closer to the Mausoleum. "That's their burial ground, right?"
Kyle nodded. "It is. Strange to bury a car."
The engine revved loudly startling the pair, then settled down to its normal perfection as they flew along. They glanced at each other, then straight ahead. "I'm sorry, Kyle, for not putting on the gear. I hope this thing holds together to get us there. I won't do that again."
"I think that's commendable," Kyle said as he watched terrain go by outside the windows of the vehicle. It was a very thin distance between them and the end of things. They would have an entirely different opinion of gear by the time they reached Earth2. It was silent for a moment, then they passed the Basilica. "I would like to explore the different places around here."
"Some are off limits. Owen will know," Mariah said. "We can go around and sight-see when they let us out."
"Soon, I hope. I want to speak with the economics director and those who manage the economy," he said as they entered Metro District 1. Nearby, the others gleamed and hummed with activity as between each were immaculately cared for terrain and wide gleaming highways. Some roads turned off heading different directions; where, they didn't know. "These cities are sentient. These cities are alive. Films and television don't do them justice."
Mariah nodded. "Owen wants the tech."
"He does. I don't see how he can get it but if anyone can, he will," Kyle replied as they sped onward heading through another metro district before hitting the open road ahead. The military vehicle followed on their bumper.
"Fuckers. Let them try," Epps said darkly as they flew along behind Jazz and the two. The boys inside the vehicle listened as Niall drove them along. "We're going to have to be on our toes."
"We will be," Lennox said grimly. "We're going to catch them here and end this shit if its the last thing I do."
They sped along eating up the miles until the first of the three big habitats showed itself.
-0-Down the road
"There it is," Kyle said as Earth 1 hove into view. "Earth 1. We need to cultivate them as friends and neighbors. They have friends among the bots and some of them have privileges."
"The Wilkersons. They have a bond with Prime because of the baby," Mariah said. "What would it be like to have to write 'Autobot City, Mars' on your papers for your birth place?"
"I don't know. I think it would make things difficult, rather than easy," Kyle said as they jetted past the huge facility and vast paved parking lot that surrounded it.
"He won't be the only baby born here. We live here now, too, and more humans will have them," Mariah said. She looked out the other window. "This is a monotonous place, view-wise. I wonder what the social life is like? How long are we going to be here, Kyle?"
"I'm setting up here, Mariah. I can do what I do anywhere. We can come and go but I'm transferring into the habitat for the purposes of business. Owen and I have some ideas and when Perry gets here we're going to work on them. This is only the beginning," Kyle replied as the Consulate came into view on the right side of the eight lane highway they were traveling over. "There's the Consulate. I have to touch base with them, especially Carly Brooks-Spencer. She's the gatekeeper, I hear, and she's engaged to the business agent for the Prime, Sam Witwicky."
"He's the son of that woman, Judy Witwicky. I don't know about her. She seems a loose cannon and someone I'd have a hard time connecting with," Mariah said doubtfully.
"Try. She's important here. That family is ground zero with the bots and carry huge weight here. Besides, she and the others started and operate The Resort. That's no small matter. She knows how to get things done with the Prime and that will be powerful for us to have her on our team if we can," Kyle said.
"I doubt that she will be helpful. I heard that the older locals have gone native. You do remember Olivia Bolger. I know her mother and its a touchy thing. I had brunch with her when I came down for the horse shows. She's uncertain what's going on with Olivia. I wouldn't count on drawing them in," Mariah said.
"That's your job and Allison's," Kyle said as the massive form of Earth2 began to show up ahead. "You and Allie have to make friends and let us know the ropes. Look at that," he said leaning forward to see Earth2 better. "Fuck. I knew it was big but … wow."
They were silent as the car drove onward, turned left at the entrance, then drove forward toward the massive gigantic multi-story building that began to loom immensely ahead. It slowed, then moved forward to drive into the building, into an entrance in the front. It was followed by the military vehicle, then massive doors closed behind them.
-0-Inside
Beyond the space behind a wall of glass, Owen Harris and his son, Rick, along with daughter, Rain, watched the vehicles stop in the big space where all who came here had to wait for release and the all clear. A red light flashed on the wall, then changed to yellow, then green. The military vehicle disgorged its passengers as the car opened its doors. Mariah and Kyle Davis stepped out, then stared around. The hatch door slid open allowing the Harris family to walk into the space. Mariah hugged both her kids, then Owen. He shook hands with Kyle, the two greeting each other like brothers, which to some extent they were. Pierre and Kyle were the brothers that Owen Harris never had, they were that important to him.
"I'm glad you could come. I missed both of you," Owen said as he turned to the soldiers. They were standing with grim and angry expressions. He looked at all of them, then stepped closer. "Is there something wrong?"
"I don't know, Harris," Lennox said with a cold bitter tone. "Check them out."
Harris turned to look at the pair. "Where is your gear?"
"It's my fault, Owen. All of it," Mariah said as she stood with her son's arms around her. "I am sorry."
Owen turned to the soldiers and felt impotent once more. There was something about them that made him feel puny, an unaccustomed and unwelcome feeling. "Oh. What now, Major? I hope that we can have a … a break here. This is new to all of us."
"Is that it? Newness? What about deadness? Would that be new enough for you too?" Lennox said with anger in his tone. "I'm detecting a pattern here, Harris. First, your daughter and now her."
"We're sorry, Major," Kyle said, hating the weakness in his voice even as he spoke.
"Blame me, Major. No one else is to blame but me," Mariah said.
"I blame all of you. I blame you for coming here to a zero mistake environment improperly cloaked. I blame you," Lennox said casting a cold eye on Kyle, "for doing the same. And, Harris," he said turning to Owen, "I hold you ultimately responsible for both because you're the leader of this installation. You're the one ultimately responsible for the actions of the people under your command. I'm pissed. Do you feel me?" he asked hotly.
"Perfectly," Harris said.
"You both have demerits. One more and you're gone. Forever. Is that clear?" Lennox said as the three nodded. "I can kick Presidents off world and they won't ever come back. That's my brief. That's my duty and my mission. I'm here to protect, to keep people alive and not fuck up the great reputation humans have here. Don't do this again. Tell them the rules, Harris, or you're going down the road as the ultimate authority here." Lennox glared at all three, then walked to the vehicle. The others climbed in, then he leaned out. "Go inside. We have to go."
The group walked to the door which closed and locked behind him. They watched through the glass as the car and the soldiers received the all clear, then drove out swiftly to return to the city nearby 24 Cybertronian miles away. It was silent a moment, then Harris turned to both. "You had better commit the manual to memory or there's going to be hell to pay."
They walked back inside, three masters of their own universe who couldn't remember back to a time when anyone had ever spoken to them like that before. The kids followed, one fuming for his parents and one secretly tickled pink.
-0-On the way back
"You crack me up, Lennox. I don't think people talk to them that way."
:Fuck 'em, Jazz," Lennox said over Jazz's radio. :They better get it together. I'm not going to their funerals:
Jazz chuckled. "Speaking of funerals … I heard that they get limited outside access tomorrow. How does that work?"
:They have to go out in groups of four. They have to use the vehicles from the facility and they have to have a local with them, one that has complete sway and veto power over the outing: Lennox said.
"Sounds like fun. Make sure that Judy Witwicky gets old Mariah," Jazz said.
:You read my mind: Lennox said grimly as they roared down the road in the swiftly falling night toward the cities who were beginning to twinkle with lights galore.
-0-New York City, New York, The United States of America, Planet Earth
Pierre Beliveau hung up the phone, then turned toward his wife and son. "That was Owen. Mariah did what Mariah does and nearly got herself and Kyle thrown off world."
Allison, his wife, blinked with surprise. "What did she do?"
"She went to the planet without gear," Pierre 'Perry" Beliveau said as he sat in his comfortable chair in the living room of their hotel suite. His son, Cameron and his wife, Allison sat across from him sipping cocktails from the bar. "Major Lennox read them the riot act." Perry grinned. "I'm sure that Kyle and Mariah appreciated that a great deal."
"That was stupid and careless. You can die in seconds there," Cam said. "Say what you will, you have to toe the line or he'll throw you off. I had a few friends find out about him and he's a straight arrow about safety. He's also incorruptible, honest and sickeningly courageous. He has the greatest regard and acceptance from the bots as anyone there."
"Hes' also a citizen," Perry said. "We have to be very careful, very scrupulous in our dealings. Whatever the rules are, we follow them to the letter."
The two nodded. In five hours, they would take a cab to the airport, go through Cybertronian Customs, then board a vessel for Mars. It was almost too much to believe but they were going. They would do it the right way, all of them.
-0-Later that night
Mariah Davis stood at the window staring out at an alien landscape and sky. This was another world and for a moment a sickening wave of homesickness washed through her. Then it passed. Her children were here and this was a way to get one up on the vicious cycle of gamesmanship with the rest of her social circle. She wasn't just visiting here, she was going to live. She would make sure she got to go home, especially during the season, during Fashion Week, during horse season in Virginia, and all the other times she had penciled in on her yearly schedule. She would have tales to tell and the press would follow her like lovesick puppies. It was almost enough for her to put the bitching out she had been given by Lennox out of her mind.
Almost.
-0-TBC 8-13-17 edited 8-14-17
Tickled pink means to become happy and pleased to the highest degree. To be outstandingly amused.