CH33
It is now one month later: (Late August)
Natalie and Kate are now just short of 9 months pregnant, and both are reaching that stage where they wish they weren't pregnant anymore.
Natalie is working only half days at best. Kate is finding herself staying in bed longer and doing less. Thankfully school doesn't start for another month and even then she is going to have a substitute teacher doing her class for the first month as Kate will be on maternity leave.
"How you doing son, all packed?" Jim calls out from the office he shares with his wife, who is at home at the moment.
"Jenn packed everything nice and tight, we're all set." Don answers back.
"You two have a nice flight." Jim offers and goes back to work.
Don stops and picks up his brother and they drive onto the base. Once there, they first go through their flight plan and why they are going out.
Don's surviving type B space fighter has been modified with the new navigation thrusters that are going to go on the new fighter and bomber that is close to completing construction.
This flight will allow them to make any necessary design changes before it becomes too late.
Next comes getting suited up. This is followed by walking their planes and stowing their flight bags.
"It's going to be good to get back out into space again." Tom has wanted back on the horse since the last time he had his ship shot out from underneath him.
Don and Tom get clearance and are up and headed for space in just a few minutes. The new fighter and bomber will take about the same time, however everything else will be very different.
Don and Tom do a full burn and then shut down. It allows them to sit back and look at the stars while pulling up a video of where they have come from, as they watch the Earth get smaller and smaller.
"Five minutes to burn Rambler one and two." Don and Tom are advised.
"Rambler one copies, ready for burn around Mars." Don responds.
"Rambler two copies, Saturn here we come." Tom responds.
It only takes a few minutes before they both shut down their burn and start their run towards Saturn.
Tom kills his communication with Earth and checks his position. "Don." Tom turns his system right back on. Tom doesn't need to see to know that Don has put his landing gear out for a moment. However, he spins his ship on its axis and then pulls his landing gear right back in again. This is followed by Don killing his communication with Earth. "Tom." Don turns his system right back on as well.
The two of them continue out and around Saturn just outside of the rings where they bob and weave putting their new thrusters to the test. What they don't see is the that Evergreen is buried just inside the rings of Saturn, even though both of them know it's there, and that it's likely the Evergreen is watching every move they make.
"Thruster fuel now at 66%, Rambler One and Two are heading to next site." Don informs Earth.
It is just as Rambler One and Two are headed straight for the moon and pull up using an emergency course correction that a rogue asteroid is seen starting to leave the rings of Saturn.
Earth watches it move out. It likely gets caught back up in the gravity well of Saturn and merges back into its rings. "Rambler One and Two report condition. We monitored a rock leave the rings and circle round before being caught in the gravity of Saturn." Earth calls out.
"Rambler One, everything is in the green." Don responds. "Rambler Two, everything is in the green." Tom responds.
"We copy Rambler One and Two; we monitored a minor disturbance. You are cleared to come home." Earth tells them both. That has both Don and Tom smiling since that meant their package has been picked up since their sensors are too primitive to pick up what Don left behind.
"Rambler One and Two copy. … Let's go home brother. If memory serves L is cooking tonight." Don offers. "She going to try one of grandma Jo's recipes that she got from her mother. See if she can do it justice." Tom answers back.
An hour later the two of them are going through a debriefing and analysis of their flight and every move that was recorded.
Jenn and Meg are exiting their shuttle just as Don and Tom are going over their flight data. "Anything?" They ask as the exit the shuttle. "The flight was clean; they left no debris for us to remove. Sensors show the area as clean." Meg tells him. A walk through decontamination is next for Jenn, Meg and their flight bags.
Jen and Meg walk to the amusement area on their way home and stop to watch for a little while. Meg reaches down and pulls out a block from her bag, places it up against the bulk head wall and leaves it there. From here they both go home.
Communication from the Evergreen is tightly controlled so there is no way for Meg or Jenn to communicate with Richard. However Richard knows this and knows that they promised that they will do this, so there is no reason to tell him that their part is complete. Besides, if it works, he will know soon enough.
The amusement area is shut down and the maintenance guys move in to start working on the rides for tomorrow, as well as the cleaning crew. While they work, the block wakes up, extends its 6 legs and scurries away.
"Lucile?" Rick is curious. He's sitting in bed rubbing Kate's feet, listening to her moan in pleasure.
"Don and Tom have completed their flight. I detected nothing leaving either of their ships. They were both at the moon when a rock was monitored leaving the rings of Saturn only to return. Communication intercepts indicate that it is believed to have been a rogue rock that was re-captured by Saturn's gravity well." Lucile informs them.
"So Meg and Jenn have the package." Kate comments as she focuses more on Lucile than what her husband is doing to her feet.
"We won't know until it sends a micro burst with the data that will be compressed using the encryption that I designed." Lucile points out. "Then it will proceed onto its secondary mission." Lucile adds knowing that she shouldn't keep it a secret.
"Secondary mission, what secondary mission?" Lucile now had Kate's undivided attention.
"I made a small modification to its design and added something to its programming." Lucile hangs her head low and stares at the carpet on the floor. "Lucile?" What had Lucile done, Kate wonders.
"Rick came home with an injured Guinness so I modified its programming and physical capabilities. After it connects itself to the old Evergreen computer and sends what it finds, it's going to find its way into the medical facility." Lucile makes a face of "Please don't turn me off.'
"Medical? What is it doing in medical? The records we are after should be in the main computer." Kate points out.
"It's not looking for medical records, it's going to steal some nanites and hold them in storage inside itself. It will then make its way to one of the airlocks, eject itself out into space where either Don or Tom will pick it up on their next run and bring it back here." Lucile explains.
"Nanites? But we already all have nanites. The boys aren't scheduled to get their modified versions for a few years yet, after they go through the mandatory testing." Kate doesn't understand.
"Guinness." Rick offers softly, which gets Kate's eyes to open wide as she looks from Rick back to Lucile.
"There should be enough to inject Guinness, Maggie, Caesar, and Zoe. It should come close to doubling their expected life spans, more or less." Lucile looked like she was ready to cry.
"I can't let them die if I can do something about it. They may be dogs, but they're part of this family too. I watched all those tears over a simple cut to one of his pads. I had to do something." Lucile defends her actions.
"And Don and Tom know about this?" Kate asks starting to feel even more proud of Lucile.
"Jim, Natalie, Jenn and L, too." Lucile nods her head. Lucile had only trusted the Douglas clan. Lucile couldn't have Rick, Kate, Alexis or even Amanda try and talk her out of it. "Don and Tom were happy to do it. They even got kisses from their wives and Natalie for it." Lucile adds.
Kate works her way out of bed and stands in front of Lucile. "I know this won't work the way I want it to, but, …" Kate holds out her arms and does her best to hug the thin air that the image of Lucile is taking up. "You're amazing Lucile, simply amazing. And if there is a series 5 or 6 on the Evergreen, you are already heads and shoulders above it and are going to kick its ass." Kate smiles and goes back to trying to hug Lucile. Lucile wipes away the tears she doesn't have. "Thanks, I just hope this works."
"How long before we know something?" Kate retreats back to the bed where Rick starts working on her shoulders. She's ever so thankful that she has married Rick.
"I have only a basic knowledge of the layout of the Evergreen. Scout-in-a-can is programmed to be autonomous and find his own way deep into the computer core where he will attach himself and download what he is programmed to find. After a quick burst he moves to the nanite storage area where he will ingest enough for all 4 dogs and then make his way to the closest air lock." Lucile explains her plan.
"Tom and Don will do another flight in a few days and pick him up, hopefully. The two main problems are that the Evergreen's main computer core is totally hooked up to this possible new series of AI and it find out what I'm doing. The other is for Don or Tom to find him out there in the middle of nowhere." Lucile has an idea about that.
"Scout-in-a-can?" Kate didn't understand.
"It's from an old 1990 movie called Spaced Invaders. It's about a group of idiots from another planet that hear the War of the World broadcast and decide to attack Earth. They land on a farm where the sheriff's daughter befriends this little robot named Scout-in-a-can. It was cute. Stupidly silly, but cute." Lucile shrugs her shoulders.
It has both Rick and Kate giggling. "You and your movies." Kate shakes her head.
It was three days later when Lucile suddenly shows up while everyone including Alexis and Amanda are eating dinner. "I just got a data burst." Lucile is dancing and then suddenly disappears just as fast.
"Data burst?" Alexis doesn't understand.
"We're trying to find out if the Evergreen has built a 5th or even 6th generation AI unit." Kate explains, which is partially the truth, though mostly a lie. "We'll be right back." Kate and Rick get up and go down to their master bedroom where they find Lucile waiting for them.
"What have we got?" Kate asks just as Rick closes the bedroom door, knowing that Lucile would warn them if someone tries to listen in.
"Scout found a ghost connection to another system." Lucile starts off with. "So there is another system." Rick surmises.
"I believe so. It appears to have a connection to the data storage for the original Evergreen computer, leaving that system to control the Evergreen." Lucile agrees. "However that is likely to change in the years or months to come. I wouldn't leave it in control, just in case, if it was up to me."
"So what is the data you got?" Rick asks, since that was the purpose of this spy mission.
"Amanda was offered to go on the trip that I reserved for Alexis, only seconds after I confirmed her reservation. Amanda received a promotion to attend at half the cost that you paid for Alexis. Like any good brochure, it was written especially for her." Lucile tells them.
"So it was a set up." Kate sits down on the bed dejectedly. "What about Amanda herself? Who is she?" Kate is ready to start crying, knowing this will destroy her daughter.
"It appears that she is who she says she is. Her DNA is stored on the Evergreen just like yours and everyone else's is. Her nanites initially did what they are doing for the boys." Lucile tells them.
"Keeping them healthy without preventing them from aging at a normal pace until they reach puberty." Kate and Rick knew what the nanites are doing for her sons and what they would do one day. "At least that's one thing. What else?" Kate asks.
"Amanda is human. … It appears that her parents were chosen due to their involvement with advanced ship weaponry. It was just dumb luck that they were killed with massive body damage." Lucile tells them.
Kate falls backwards onto the bed. "Thank god. It means that Amanda isn't part of some great plan that the Silence has." Kate is happy for that.
"Scout found one more thing. Amanda's father invented the pulse laser that the ships were using prior to the new design. However his design was limited at the time due to the technology of the day. I think I can modify the nose gun on the fighter to fire a modified version of his design. The damage should be greater than the current design, plus so long as the ship has power the pilots could fire it forever." Lucile is smiling.
"Meaning they will never run out of ammunition." Rick understands, since actual rounds took up space. "What are you going to do with the extra space?" Rick knows Lucile is anything but slow.
"If I route the ship's power through an amplifier it will increase the power of the pulse laser. Perhaps even allow them to fire it without the ship's engines running, just at a much lower power level." Lucile explains.
"Invite Natalie and Jim over for dinner tomorrow, please. We need to talk. You think you can have the design changes completed by then?" Kate asks knowing both of them were going to love it.
"I already have and sent a design change request to their computers at work." Lucile is smiling, since she is showing off again. Kate shakes her head thinking she should have known better. "You still amaze me Lucile, even today."
"And what do we have?" Rick asks pulling Kate up into his arms. "Peace of mind that Amanda won't hurt Alexis because she isn't who she says she is." Kate answers looking into Rick's eyes. "Plus her parents have helped us survive because of his design." Rick points out.
"Have you been spotted and is Scout still safe?" Kate turns to worrying about being found out.
"The burst was a tight beam so it should go undetected and Scout is still working on disengaging from where he is. Next stop will be the medical area. Once he gets there I can start coordinating on when Don and Tom can go out and pick him up and bring him home." Lucile offers.
"What do we do with Scout once it is back?" Rick wonders since it is essentially a spy.
"I'm sure we'll think of something babe, besides we owe it for this." Kate gives Rick a quick kiss, since she's still in his arms.
"KATE, RICK, WHERE ARE YOU TWO?" Rick and Kate can hear Natalie in one ear and hear her yelling from the front door.
"Sounds like somebody has already read Lucile's design request change." Rick starts laughing.