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Chapter Twenty-One: Mind Games
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Lambton Pemberley Monastir Hostel – Lionel's Lab
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1st July 1826
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I think we just found it…
Lionel, who had been skeptical about the whole endeavor couldn't help but let his doubts be felt.
You are sure about that?
It is just at the limit of our current range, answered *Link*. It is at one of the Lagrange Points between the Moon and Earth. There's nothing to be seen with a telescope but we feel something there. Something that feels like the electric field around one of the Big Lambton Generators… There is something there that can't be seen with normal means.
It could be anything but Ishalon's orbital lab.
It could but even if it has nothing to do with Ishalon, there's something stationed in that Lagrange Point and said something can't be seen… Whatever it is, it is worth to be looked at, wouldn't you think?
Lionel let out a long sigh.
Ishalon had visited Pemberley the month before and since then the kids had become obsessed with him and everything linked with him.
I really don't see what we will gain by stalking Ishalon. He's a human dinosaur but his skills are very uninteresting. He's no scientist and he is almost as dumb as normal humans. Niepçe and Babbage are a lot smarter than him.
He's interesting because of the means he possesses, said *Link, with its bothersome mental frown. It's through him that Uncle Charles has gotten his obsession with reckoning machines, what he calls computers. We've spoken with him and Babbage and he is right having computing machines at our disposal would help us with our scientific studies.
I agree, it would but if I remember well, he has one of those in South America. Why not look for the one there?
We've tried and we have been unable to enter the volume where we suspect him to be. There is something there that stops us. And we hope the one on Earth, because it is on Earth, has been better protected against scrying.
What is there to scry?
A lot of things are scriable, answered *Link*. Mostly people, of course, but we've been able to insinuate ourselves into the minds of animals and use their senses to get information about their surroundings. It's weird but it can be done. And we've recently succeeded in scrying leylines and leygrids. It is even weirder, but it is that that gave us the first hints about the fact that we are able to scry things.
What things can be scried?
Very complex things like Ishalon's wristcom, answered *Link*. It is not really a computer but it has a small -even tiny- processing capability and when we scried it we felt the incredibly complex inner streams of the device. That was the first time that we could feel that machines could be almost as complex as living beings.
You didn't tell me…
We weren't sure about what we did discover. It is only later that we made the relation with Uncle Charles' computing machine. We just couldn't envision that a computer could be so tiny. We let our prejudices take hold of our scientific mindset. And when we, finally, made the connection, he was already gone. Which was totally frustrating.
And since then, you are looking for him.
Or for one of his computers, corrected *Link*. He's a normal Human with lots of very interesting gear. The Human part is not half as fascinating than the gear parts. And we wasted the only opportunity we will perhaps ever get to study an interesting and fascinating computing device.
His science is centuries or millennia in advance when compared to ours. I doubt we could reproduce his tiny wrist computer.
Probably not, but nothing's written with us involved, but we still got a few insights about how this wristcom of his was working. We felt vibrating crystals and very subtle electric impulses. Lots of those electric impulses.
And what do you conclude from those observations?
It works with an electric power source but said power source is, when compared to one of our GGs, insignificant but still enough to get the whole thing working. And we've been baffled -still are to say the truth- by the vibrating crystals. What do they have for a purpose? Why would you need a vibrating crystal? It's at the same time frustrating and absolutely entrancing. We've got a glimpse at a very futuristic gear and what we saw has nothing in common with anything we already have.
And what are you going to do? Aside from exploring Earth's orbits I mean?
Earth's orbits are meaningful since we know that Ishalon has a base in orbit. He said it himself to Uncle Charles…
And Uncle Charles spoke about it with you?
There was a suspiciously long silence.
He thought about it when Ishalon was here.
You spied on him…
How many times do we need to explain that it's not spying? It's listening to shouted thoughts. We are the victims here…
Someday you'll be, perhaps, able to convince me of that! Let's not dwell on your victim status and let's go back to what's really interesting. You've found the lab, you said?
We believe so, but there is no proof. We found something in the Lagrange Point that is positioned towards the Sun. The thing is totally different from anything we've ever felt before. But it is extremely far away, and we don't have the range to really study it. We just feel its presence… It is like a subsonic wave that bothers you but that your ears cannot hear.
Will your range increase any time soon?
It could, said *Link*. We just need to go to orbit.
You're crazy if you believe that any of your parents will agree to see you go up into orbit. You know them like I do. They flip out when we swim in the lagune and they stop to see us! Imagine how they will react if anyone of you alludes at an orbital cruise…
There are ways to organize things without our parents' authorization. You could be of help there… We thought about pretending to be at Saumur with you…
They won't trust me with your guard. Half the Pemberley staff -and at least Maureen and Jane- will be with you. No chance to ever get out of their supervision. You know like I do that Aunt Jane has a lot of experience when it comes to find out that something is amiss.
We still need to go up there, insisted *Link*. We are stuck here.
No, you are not. You've seen -felt- spied-, whatever, how the insides of a super modern minicomputer works. I know that you won't forget even a small detail of what you felt. Work on that and try to understand what happens within said minicomputer.
He took a long breath.
You are the best when it comes to understand how things work and how to upgrade them. Here what you'll have to do is to create a machine that does the same things but with means and materials we have at our disposal. We don't need a wrist sized computer. We just need a computer, whatever size it has…
We still need to go to orbit.
Let's not become too insistent, please. Going into orbit is a dangerous business and a business where toddlers have nothing to do.
We are no…
I know! But it's not me we need to convince, it's your parents. Without them agreeing we won't get you aboard a spaceship, believe me.
But…
I know ! I'll speak with Uncle Geoffrey. If there's one who we need to convince, it's him. If we get him on our side, he'll be able to convince his wives and with Jane and Maureen agreeing the rest will be a lot easier.
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Pemberley Park by the Lake
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2nd July 1826
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We didn't even imagine that electricity could be used on such low levels…
They had spent the day under the trees around the lake and or with Wave's friends in the water. Towards the outside they had been normal kids taking pleasure playing in the water and riding their dolphin friends.
In fact, *Link* was working in the background on the Ishalon crucible.
Now we know and it has sense since it doesn't have meaning to use high voltages when what you want is not linked with the transport of power.
Once more they looked at the memory they had gathered while IShaon was present in Pemberley.
The power exchanges are uninterrupted. There are hundreds if not thousands of different interactions within the layers of the minicomputer. It must have a meaning. It is surely not random.
Once more they focused on the memory.
Do we know what the minicomputer was doing while around Ishalon's wrist? He wasn't using it, why is there so much traffic within it? Let's look at the whole memory not only at the part focused on the wristcom.
And so, they did.
There is a link between a small part of the computer's inner electric waves and Ishalon's heartbeats. I'm sure of it. It seems to be a monitoring effect. I'll show you.
They all focused on the signals in relation with the Heartbeats.
It's true, it is monitoring his heartbeat. And probably a lot more than that.
This time they went over everything they had memorized about Ishalon and the machine at his wrist.
There is a lot more going on than just monitoring Ishalon's health. The monitoring part is only a small part of what it does. But the health monitoring is the only thing we can easily follow. There we have a chance to discover how it is done. There we have a chance to discover how they have taught a machine to continually look after its wearer's health.
Once more they focused on the memories they needed and began to dismantle them into ever smaller bits.
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- I wonder what they are doing, said Jane while looking at the score of kids playing in the water.
Maureen frowned at her sister and turned around to see what Jane was doing.
Like herself she was looking at the kids and their dolphin friends.
- They are playing with their friends seaknights as usual…
Jane shook her head.
- That's for us. And for all those others who are currently looking after them.
Maureen was about to protest when Jane took her hand in hers.
- They are playing seaknights, I agree. But that's not all they are doing. I have seen them play that awfully specific game a hundred times and I've learned to recognize how each of them reacts. That's not what is happening here. They are linked as we speak and the only reason why they are linked is because they are very busy dealing with a problem.
She looked at Maureen.
- Which is normally nothing I care about. I know they like solving problem and they do it constantly without caring about me knowing about it. It's the fact that they try to hide their current task with a show that bothers me.
Maureen shrugged.
- Why bother? I too have seen them focusing on problems for years now, I know that they are not like our other children. They have a rather disturbing finality in their behavior that could push people into fearing them. So, it could be that they are trying something new like putting up a front to reassure those who could feel threatened by their abnormal behavior.
Jane shook her head once more.
- It could be, but we are the only ones looking at them right now and they know it since they are continuously listening to what happens around them. And by listening, I mean their gift to hear thoughts. Their act is for the both of us and it does bother me that they are trying to hide something from me.
- Kids do that from time to time…
- Kids, yes! *Link*? I really doubt it.
- You are more than bothered, love, you are worried…
Jane didn't answer immediately but went on looking at the perfectly staged play session.
- Do you remember, said she finally, the time when Betty was obsessed with flying and using parachutes?
- Of course, I remember. They slipped away and we couldn't find them for almost a day. That scare will be burned in my heart till the end of time.
- *Link* is preparing something similar, whispered Jane. It is the only explanation why they would try to con us…
- What would they try?
- I don't know but what I know is that they are sure that should they ask we will refuse it. Or at least that's what *Link* thinks. And considering *Link*'s extraordinary gift to extrapolate, I'm very certain that he is true.
- Shouldn't we ask them?
Jane looked her sister in the eyes for a long moment.
- *Link* is perfectly capable of lying, love. They had done it before, twice, but it was not serious enough to make me throw a tantrum but I'd like to avoid pushing them into that specific path more than they already are.
- We are those who should show them their limits…
- I know and both times I got them to understand that I knew and that I wasn't happy with their attempt. But if I'm sure the individual kid has gotten the message perfectly, I'm not so sure with *Link*.
She sighted.
- I think that *Link*, as a whole, considers me as its/their mother figure. And they listen to me and my advice and they even accept to take my comments into account.
There she shook her head.
- But that doesn't mean that, if something comes out of their calculations that they consider as more important than my support, they will exclude me of their preparations.
She pointed at her daughter who was currently riding the smallest Dolphin in the school, a young female named Flying Foam who was probably as smart as any normal Human kid she had encountered.
- You see how Cassandra is stiff while Foam jumps? That's how I see that she's not there playing but with *Link* computing something they deem urgent and not to be shared with us.
- You are right, that's not our normal Charlotte. You do have the eye of hawk…
- And lots of experience when dealing with very smart little people who, sometimes, look at us as the enemy…
- Isn't enemy a little bit too much?
- With *Link* at the helm? I don't think so. *Link* is something totally new and it is, probably, the smartest Sentient currently on Earth. And I have the same difficulties with them than I had with Lionel when it comes to teach them that normal Humans and, in *Links*'s case, that upgraded Humans are people too. Like Lionel, *Link* knows that they are vastly superior to anybody else, Lionel included. The only thing that has, until now, saved us, is their discovery that when *Link*ed they are unable to make any autonomous creation. That linking puts their individual creative talents to sleep. They don't like it and, if one can believe Lionel, they have tried and tried and tried to overcome that flaw. Even when two similarly talented members link, like Louisa and Lydia who have the same gift for Music, their common talent becomes infertile. As if it had been switched out. It irks *Link* quite a lot but I've spoken with James and Charlotte, when they are not *linked* they like to be 'alone' and creative. It even seems that after having been *linked* their creative talent is boosted and literally asks them to create.
Maureen stood up, went behind Jane and embraced her from behind.
- *Link* worries you?
- A lot because when *linked* they are no longer humans, they become a mind who has its own agenda. It could be a wonderful gift for Mankind, but it could also become his worst nightmare. And I feel that it weighs only on me to do what's necessary to avoid the nightmare and promote the Gift.
- Back into feeling guilty and overwhelmed?
- It was my silly idea…
- We already spoke about that, it was an excellent idea, and it did regenerate the link between you and your sisters, all your sisters, me included. *Link* is a byproduct, we, all of us, need to understand and to educate. Look at it as a bonus God has offered us for our good behavior.
Jane couldn't help but laugh at Maureen's comment.
- A byproduct? Well, if it is the case, God has really been generous with us. Two ways to transform Mankind in less than a couple of decades, that's quite the burden, don't you think?
- God knows every man and woman's heart and soul. He doesn't make mistakes when it comes to choose the right persons for a job. You've already shown that you are the best. Who else would you have him choose? Somebody less talented who would have floundered the whole thing?
Jane's laugh was soon back.
- Am I the best?
- Depends on the matter, of course. When it comes to love and understanding, there is no doubt. When it comes to tidy up you are indeed under-average. Luckily for us all we are rich and able to afford lots of servants.
- I do make efforts…
This time it was Maureen's turn to laugh.
- Twice or thrice a day? Sure… But even that is too much, love. As I said we have servants aplenty and they love to be with the woman who smiles at them and thanks them each time they do the job for which they are handsomely paid. I was joking, love. Forget tidying up and focus on what you love and do best: be the best mother any kid could wish for and by being that you'll end up having educated even the most difficult offspring Mankind has ever produced.
She pointed at the dolphins and the playing kids.
- Let's ask them why they are role playing themselves, shall we? I'm sure that they will be more than satisfied to be able to stop doing it.
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Lionel, dear?
Yes, Mamma Jane?
*Link* is currently trying to con me and Maureen and I'd like to know why… You wouldn't have an idea, would you?
Con you? What an ugly word…
They are role-playing themselves while playing with the school. I'm quite sure that behind the bucolic scene they offer to the world they are busy thinking, reckoning and computing.
They do that all the time…
Never while trying to make me believe that they are normal kids, dear. And when they do that the experienced Mom in me begins to ring every alarm bell she knows while shouting 'be cautious they are up to something…'.
Jane could literally hear Lionel mentally grumbling at his foolish siblings.
I'll be there in less than a minute, Mamma Jane. I'm at the grove, learning how to feel leylines. I'm becoming better…
I never doubted that you would master that too…
It has never been easy. I'm not gifted for that…
So, now you know how normals feel when you try to teach them all that extremely easy stuff you understand almost instinctively.
Indeed, and it is not satisfying! Being the smartest should encompass every mental skill! And magic is mental…
Magic is magic, dear. It needs a gift and a teacher, or you'll never master it and it is a good thing since I doubt that magic users are spontaneously good people… Just look at Rob Roy…
He's a good man…
He's a scoundrel and a con artist who has a gift when it comes to teach young boys! I like him too but that doesn't make him a good man. Let's hope that Tilana will be as successful with him as I was with my scoundrel of a husband.
He's perfect as he is, protested Lionel. He doesn't need to be changed.
There are always angles that need to be smoothed, dear. You'll see that happen when you've found the girl you need.
I doubt that I will ever find one, Mamma Jane. First, I don't have time to waste on superfluous relationships and I very much doubt that there is a girl smart enough to catch my attention. I couldn't live with a dimwit you know, that, don't you?
Dimwit is such a definitive statement, dear. Don't forget that there are millions of girls around the world and we, as a family we have lots of occasions to travel. I'm quite sure that somewhere in the world there is a girl who's as smart as you wish for and also interested in the same stuff than you. We will just have to wait and always look for the One you need. I've looked around me during my whole India trip.
And you found none…
The Indians tend to hide their girls, dear, it was difficult but, you are right, those I could see and evaluate weren't smarter than the average girl around here. But we still have a decade or two before it is too late…
Don't waste your time on that, I'm sure there are better things to do.
Like speaking to *Link* about what they are hiding, you mean?
Once more she could hear the mental teeth grinding.
That too…
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We thought it would be better to show them a normal scene…
With you a normal scene is you lying around in the Nursery and looking at the walls with unfocused eyes, not playing with Dolphins.
They wanted us to swim, protested *Link*. We followed suit.
You could have swum an hour or two, couldn't you? What's so important that it can't wait an hour or two?
We've got an insight in Ishalon's wristcom. We believe we have, finally, understood how computers work.
That's good news but that's not the real reason why you attempted to con Mamma Jane. I know you, that was not urgent at all. You are preparing something else and now that she suspects you, you'll never be able to get it done. Why are you always believing that trust is an overrated feeling? You can trust mamma Jane, when what we propose is reasonable, she's on our side… It has to do with your wish to go into orbit, hasn't it?
We need to climb up there… It's vital!
So, I'm right! I spoke with Uncle Geoff this very morning and he agreed with he fact that some things are best taught to youngsters. We weren't even negotiating about taking you up there but about the how it will be done! He is, as we speak, looking up the latest spaceship blueprints to decide if they are safe enough to risk us! And you, you go all cloak and dagger! We spoke about it yesterday! Why couldn't you trust me for just a day?
We know we are different. We feel how the normals look at us…
The family supports us and protects us. It is their job to have us accepted by the society, not ours. Each initiative we take draws more attention upon us.
That's why we roleplay to be normal…
Which is of no value with Mamma Jane and Aunt Maureen since they already know everything about us and our strengths. And it is not necessary to play a role, just let everybody out of the link and let them be themselves. It will be much more natural to see them act like normal kids than trying to fake their other normal side…
But we are in a hurry…
No, you are not! We are in no hurry. For now, we haven't built any of the necessary machines. We still need to find ways to produce the vibrations we know will open a gate to elsewhere. But we need something that's steady and that doesn't have the lability we've witnessed until now.
A real computer would be a great help.
Indeed, but since we aren't in a hurry we can take our time and think about every aspect that could go wrong. We don't want to see a portal snap out of existence and close while we or any of us is on the other side! You know how difficult it is to find the exact same vibration a second time. With our current vibration generator there is always a small discrepancy and that discrepancy will be enough to make it impossible to go twice to the same place. We need to secure that aspect of the tech or we will lose people.
Hence the necessity for a real computer.
I already acknowledged your words, but it doesn't change anything at the safety problem we are currently facing. As long as we are unable to create and recreate a very specific vibration, we don't open a portal, that's it.
There is, perhaps another solution, said *Link*. We could look into the problem from another perspective. The vibration is the key to open the lock, but as with a key, once the portal is open, the key isn't needed anymore.
They could feel Lionel's frown.
For as long as the door is open, we just need it to remain open. And to get that we believe we just need enough energy to maintain it open. It is a real waste of energy, but it is better than being lost on the other side of a portal we will probably never be able to open again.
It's perhaps a path we should explore, agreed Lionel, but even if it is a good idea it doesn't erase the real reason, I'm speaking with you. And don't play dumb with me you know perfectly well what this is all about. Prepare your excuses, I'll soon be back with mamma Jane and Maureen.
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- You warned them?
- Yes, they are probably preparing their arguments…
- Good, said Jane. Let's enter that arena. I'm impatient to hear why they tried to con us…
- Kids are, from time to time, a little weird, said Maureen. I'm quite sure that they never intended to con us.
Jane shook her head.
- You are kind to defend them and I invite you to play their advocate when we are together, but be warned that I won't accept any excuses. They need to trust us, and they need to give us reasons to trust them! If we don't reach that point, we will be in a real pool of shit for quite a few years to come.
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What was that about?
We want to go to orbit, answered *Link*, and we were preparing ourselves to get there.
Getting aboard a spaceship won't be as easy as getting aboard Betty's airship. Stowaways are easily found on spaceships, there's no real space to hide.
Every bed has a safety module underneath and those modules aren't, for safety reasons, opened before an emergency. Nobody would have seen us.
So, you hope, said Jane. And why do you need to go to orbit?
We need to spy on Ishalon's Computer that is hiding at L1.
L1?
That's the Lagrange point between us and the sun. It's a stabilized gravity point that never moves when you consider the Earth. It's perfect to put modules you want to be able to easily find again. But it is stealthed…
Stealthed?
Invisible and not traceable with the radars we have. But we still can feel that there is something up there. But it is too far away. Our range is not large enough. We hope that from orbit we will be able to penetrate the protections and get a look at the module's computer.
What's that new whim, asked Maureen. Babbage is already working on one of them.
Babbage's computer is a boosted reckoning machine. Ishalon's computers are a lot more evolved. They are what we need to study. We need to jump to real computers as soon as possible. It is the next step to climb the tech-levels.
What induced your new passion for computers?
Ishalon's wrist computer, answered *Link*. Thanks to it, we discovered a lot of things we just hadn't thought of. And now that we know, in broad terms, how a computer works we would like to have one that we could study at leisure. And the one in Ishalon's orbital lab would be perfect.
If you get into said lab…
No need to get into. We have ways to feel our mind within things. And thanks to Ishalon's wrist computer we now know that our mind's feelers can even penetrate things. At least we can penetrate highly evolved machines like computers.
Whatever *Link* thinks and believes, I won't let my not-yet five-year-old children climb into orbit to spy on a multi-millennia-old computer!
Uncle Geof was a little less definitive, Mamma Jane, intervened Lionel. He agreed with me that it would be a good idea to teach zero-G displacement to the young ones as soon as possible. Earth's future is in the skies and giving the little ones the best and most thorough training to help them to survive in space did seem to agree with him.
That's because you presented him your shiny cover-story, dear. I'm quite sure that he knows nothing about the real reason the *Link* bunch wants to be in orbit.
We would have told him, said Lionel and *Link* in the same thought.
Someday, I'm sure you would have done it, but not immediately… Am I right?
You can't be sure, it could have happened a lot earlier than you think. No decision having been made, everything's possible.
Are you trying to lawyer yourself out of this mess?
Nobody tried to follow that slippery road.
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- I vote for the demand, said Charles who was immediately frowned upon by every mother present at the council. Which was every woman but Janet and Betty who frowned, nevertheless.
He didn't flinch even under such heavy suppressing fire.
They had all gathered under the attic in Charles' Ishalon proof special lab.
- We do need the computer technology, and I have been the one to insist on that matter since we've come back from South-America. If need be, I will develop a better, safer and more reliable spaceship to transport them. Just to be sure that nothing can happen. And must I remind you that my airships, planes and spaceships are the most secure transportation means in the world?
- There were fatalities, said his wife.
- Not because any of my machines were faulty. There were always outside factors involved.
- Meteorites are outside factors too, said Lizzy. And an encounter with a meteor will probably end badly for both protagonists. With the difference that one will have passengers aboard while the other is a simple rock tumbling through space.
- The probabilities are minute, grumbled Charles.
- Still too high for my liking, insisted Lizzy. Up there, if anything happens, it is lethal.
- I've included every possible safety element within my latest spaceships, protested Charles. My engineers are the best and they know their job better than anyone else and since they are the ones who do the testing in orbit, they are extremely focused on not forgetting anything.
- We've been up there with an airship/spaceship combo and, if you happen to be able to forget the vomit reek, we got back on Earth without any problem, said Maureen. I won't say that it was pleasant, but I never thought that we would die while up there.
- And we have radars to look out for meteors and meteorites, said Geoffrey, Lizzy's son, who had been, for quite a few weeks now, nagging at his parents' patience to get the authorization to climb into orbit.
Lizzy shot him a thunderous glance the adult he was chose to ignore.
- The kid is right, said the older Geoffrey, Charles shipyards have launched a few remarkably interesting prototypes these last years. And the Astarté will benefit from all the experience his engineers had gathered while in orbit. She will be awesome.
- Not awesome enough to make me risk my babies' lives, countered Lizzy who was clearly in a stubborn mother-hen mode.
- You won't be able to stop them forever, said Kitty who was of two minds in this matter. The mother of three was reluctant to have her babies risk their lives while the proud wife of the world's best spaceship builder was more than a little interested by a flight in orbit. And Once the Astarté is launched we will have at our disposition the best spacefaring vehicle available.
Here she shot a apologetic smile in direction of Lizzy.
- And I will admit that my presence aboard is already a certainty.
- You are an adult, Kitty, at least that's what your passport says, and nobody can stop you from doing foolish stunts. But your daughters are too young to…
Here she stopped and frowned at her sister before looking at Charles.
- You weren't considering taking them with you, were you?
- Well, said Charles, the Astarté will be the safest spaceship ever build and had I the least doubt I wouldn't fly with her. So, since I trust her with my life, I see no reason to deny such a great adventure to my babies…
- They are too young to be sent into the void, insisted Lizzy just before looking at her husband. Fitzwilliam, you are clearly the only reasonable one here, do something.
Fitzwilliam was visibly delighted to have been put into the present situation began by nodding in his wife's direction.
- You are right, dear, I'm the reasonable one, here and whatever my brothers should decide, I will prevent them to enlist our youngest into their plan. They'll stay with you while we climb to orbit.
Lizzy's frown was immediately focused on him.
- What do you mean by that, Fitzwilliam?
He didn't seem to look impressed.
- I have a seat already booked on the Astarté, dear… I spoke with you about it, don't you remember? The Spaceforce inauguration tour… You agreed to the plan a few months ago.
- You never spoke about the orbital part, Fitzwilliam!
- I must have forgotten to speak about it when Charles came up with the new formula for the Tour.
Lizzy shot him an angry glance and looked around her.
- Who else goes up with the Astarté.
All the males of the family lifted a finger… Even Edward Gardiner raised a hand from the background of the cellar.
Lizzy couldn't help herself but shake her head at the total lack of wisdom the family's males were showing.
She finally took a long breath.
- I should have known… When it comes to foolish plans, men are and will always be immature creatures.
- Well, said Jane, they won't be without female company, dear. We are quite a few who have accepted to be at their side during the Tour. It was, since the very beginning, designed as a demonstration to show that the family has trust into the new Spaceforce. It will be the occasion for my very first orbital worldwide interview…
Lizzy couldn't help but frown at her sister.
- Tu quoque sorori! [You too, sister ?]
Jane struggled with her sister's visible disappointment.
- I didn't invite you since I knew that not only weren't you interested, Lizzy, but that you have repeatedly shown reluctance to send people up there. As you say it regularly, the void is no place for Mankind. So, I would only have faced a refusal, and really I'm not interested in locking horns with my sister just for the pleasure of it.
She stopped the incoming reactions with a firm hand gesture.
- But on one point I do share Lizzy's point of view. Young children have no place in orbit, however insistent they can be. I know that, one day, they will be old enough to avoid their parents' veto. But we are not there yet and whatever Charles says about the safety of his spaceships, the risk of an accident remains, meteors and other space hazards included.
She looked at her husband who had been, with Charles, a fierce advocate for the youngsters' flight in orbit.
- Whatever *Link*'s opinion about themselves is, we all know that the little ones are not yet as agile and nimble as I think they should be before being authorized to climb up there. They have been physically lazy these last months and it's only because of the bug's refusal to have a host who's obese that they are as slim as they are. But they clearly don't like physical activities and that has to change. I'm no calisthenics fan but even I follow a two-hours long daily training with Maureen to be in top form and to avoid losing my edge. As of now, I know that they are not physically up to the challenge should an accident occur while in orbit. I will stop opposing them the day I'm sure that should anything happen up there, they have the natural fitness to do what's needed to get into the nearest survival pod without outside help. As of now, we all know that it isn't the case and that's why I will join Lizzy and ask you to be firm and refuse to give in to their nagging campaign.
She shot an imperative glance in her husband's direction.
- I agree that they, as us too, should have the zero-G training as soon as possible but as long as they still have things to learn here on the surface, postponing their orbital training course seems, to me, the smart procedure.
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- They are disappointed…
- I know, but it was the right thing to do, answered Jane to Maureen. We need to stop giving in to their every whim just because we are in awe with their collective smartness. Smartness doesn't automatically induce wisdom. And when everything is said and told, even if they are smart they still are kids whom we need to show their limits.
- I was sure that you would accept…
- And I would have if Lizzy hadn't stood up. Her refusal showed me that, once more, they have been manipulating me. *Link* is a master in that matter. They know what angle to use to get us in the direction they wish.
She smiled at her sister-wife.
- I'm quite proud to see their accomplishments. But that doesn't mean that I will accept to be manipulated when I'm lucid enough to see what is happening. I do love James and Cassandra even when they are included in the *Link* collective but we must be careful, the collective has clearly its own agenda, and they all hide it from us.
- What agenda?
- I don't know, I think Lionel knows but it's only a feeling. And he could believe that he knows while he could be the victim of their manipulations like everybody else. They are good at those oblique approaches.
- Aren't you a little bit paranoid, here?
- I don't think so, I don't believe they are a danger for us… They do love us, I'm sure of it but we must never forget that when linked they are no longer only our children. They are a collective who's very aware that he's intellectually sky high above the rest of us. I hope we will be able to convince them that *Link* is only a tool at their disposal and not an end in itself.
- But *Link* has a clear personality.
- Each different *Link* has its own personality and that's our luck. That's why I insist with the kids that they change the sub links as often as possible and that they never have less than four sub-links within *Link*. It is the only way to ensure that they won't be smothered by a *Link*'s attempt to take over.
- You distrust *Link*?
- With every fiber of my Self, acknowledged Jane. *Link* is a cold bastard who looks at us and even at his members as simple components. Simple tools it wants to hire to do its bidding.
- Shouldn't we stop everything then?
- Too late for that, love, Pandora's Box is open and, thank God, we've been there when it wanted to spread its malevolence all around itself. We are in command and, hopefully, when the kids are grown-ups, they will be in command. For now, we are in an extremely dangerous phase. When the little ones, with their huge intelligence and low wisdom, are still easy prey for the master manipulator they create each time they link.
- You think that that need to go into orbit is *Link*'s doing?
- Not entirely! The kids remain kids and moving into orbit looks like a great adventure they really want to have. But that's the way with the best manipulators: they build their own scheme on the foundation of the others' dreams. And don't forget that *Link* knows them in and out.
- You are scaring me, Jane…
- No need, love. We've been lucky until now, but we've outgrown the necessity to be lucky. Now that I know how the spiders spin their web, I have developed the tools to protect the little ones. And us by the way… Luckily for us, the little ones trust me and listen to me. They no longer link without me being present and they follow my advice when doing it. And they agreed that should I be out of touch and they feel the need to link nevertheless, they know which combo I want them to use when I'm not with them. That *Link* is the least egotistical, it loves problem solving and it is good at it. So, considering the pretext *Link* always uses, that *Link* looks like the optimal choice.
- But…
- No, interrupted Jane, it is not. I've thought about it and I've surveyed it thoroughly, that *Link* is as safe as possible, it is not playing me like some of the others, but it still is a *Link*...
- Which means a time-bomb in the making…
- I really hope not but, you are right, we are not yet out of the danger zone. It still could blow in our faces.
- How do you even hold out under that pressure?
- Because they are my babies and I love them enough to never even think about abandoning them! And last but not least because I think it is the price to pay for all those marvelous gifts God gave us. Nothing comes for nothing and I prefer being here avoiding the bomb's explosion than trying, in some not-so-distant future, to rebuild after the bomb's exploded.
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Next chapter soon to come… A Chapter about Computers, *Link*s and Brilliant young researchers.
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