Chapter 9: Duck and Cover

She then led us out onto the larger western exterior balcony. It projected outward from the house and extended halfway over the river below. We were over a dozen meters above the turbulent flowing river and almost a hundred meters from the roar of the waterfall, so while we had to speak up a bit to talk, we did not have to shout. The sun was high enough that the balcony was exposed and warm. After standing at the outer railing and admiring the spectacular view for a moment, we took our seats at a large exterior table.

Liang soon brought our drinks and then departed. I saw that her– no, his backside was exposed by another opening of the perforated jumpsuit. I did not see any whip marks at least. The coffee he had brought was perfect.

Sahún spoke up. “John. I should tell you that I was a companion to your grandson, Ben. We were together for much of the last two decades. I’m also the mother of Serenity LB, your great-granddaughter. That is how I found this area and came to love this spot. Ben and I would spend a few weeks at your acreage every year when Serenity was young.”

Ah, that explained much. How Sahún had seemed to know me and why she had acted so familiar. It is also likely explained why I had gotten a birthday message from Serenity a few weeks ago. Even though we had never met in person or even spoke, the girl had likely been exposed to me from having spent memorable parts of her recent childhood at the old acreage.

She probably had inflated romantic notions of her great-granddad. I was sure that those would be cured fast if we ever met and she realized I was just another old crudge. Sahún went on to talk about her life with Ben and about Serenity. She also got me talking about some of my experiences in the area.

I was a bit chagrined to learn second-hand from Sahún that Ben had left the Earth half a decade ago. After his daughter had reached BM and went off on her own, Ben had relocated to Mars. He would be serving a twenty-five-year tour on the planet working on the early terraforming efforts there.

Apparently, his long-term goals were to go for a directorship. One of the requirements of that was a minimum of a half-century of civic duty. The Mars project qualified. Next, I learned about my great-granddaughter Serenity. Sahún told me what the girl was like when she had been growing up.

She’d been in no hurry to grow up and had waited to pass her BM tests at the age of sixteen, which had occurred just three years ago. The last Sahún had heard from her daughter was that she was sailing around the world on a catamaran with three other recently matured friends she’d met at her final youth school.

That explained why she had sent me the birthday wish from Samoa in the Pacific. It was an enjoyable conversation and although she had mostly just sat listening amused, Angelina had piped in a few times adding to the conversation. Before we realized it, almost an hour had passed.

“Oh, look at the time! It’s already past noon. I apologize for being a bad host. You two must be hungry. How does a roast beef sandwich sound for lunch?” Sahún asked.

We both indicated that that would be great and after a short pause, Sahún said that lunch would be served in five minutes. She must have used her implant to relay the request onto the autochef. Or, I realized, to her indent, who was probably back kneeling in the kitchen waiting for her orders.

Sure enough, in a few minutes the waif-like shell appeared with a tray containing our three meals. He next brought a pitcher of lemonade to go with the sandwiches. I watched him as he served us. He remained emotionless and resolved. I had met a few dominants and submissives in my life but I had never known of an indentured submissive before. Strange.

At 1:30 pm Angelina and I were back in the hopper and heading back towards my acreage. I was thinking about the woman we had just met.

“I wonder why Sahún had that indent staying with her?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” She asked in reply. I shook my head.

“Oh, I suppose with your years of wandering around you probably skipped keeping up with all the juicy gossip and intrigue on the forums.”

I just shrugged and gestured for her to explain.

“Her indent was her rapist, John.”

She noted my surprised expression.

“It’s true! It was quite the story at the time. Liang Qiang was in a training class with Sahún and became infatuated with her. She did not feel likewise and rebuffed his attempts, probably from just having recently separated from Ben. Well, that apparently pissed Liang off or something and one night after class, he drugged her and then had his way with her. The next day, she suspected something had happened and commissioned a scrutinor to run a full scan of all available recordings of the area.

“Liang Qiang was caught dosing her drink and arrested. A mind-scan of his recent history provided enough evidence to have him sent to trial on the legal sub-forum of Conscientia. It only took an hour to find him guilty. The trial was reviewed and confirmed by Iudex AI and later, during sentencing, Iudex gave Qiang three options to serve out his sentence.

“The first was the standard five years of punishment labor followed by a full mind-data edit. Choice number two was ten years of civil service and a lifetime confined in a stunted female shell. There would only be a partial mind-data edit when he was eventually re-juved or re-shelled. The third choice was ten years of servitude under the control of his victim as an indent, assuming Sahún would allow it.

“During that time, he was also to be re-shelled in the stunted female shell as we just saw. He also spends the full indenture period under AI supervision. The AI ensures that they treat each other civilly, meaning he can’t hurt her further and she can’t inflict any cruel and unusual revenge punishment on Liang,” Angelina explained.

I knew that ‘cruel and unusual’ in this era meant permanent mental or physical harm. It would not prevent normal physical contact including sex, bondage, or even the non-damaging application of lesser amounts of pain. She was free to use him as a full sub if she wished. “What happens to him after that?” I asked.

“After the ten years are up, he gets his old shell back. He will have a probation overwatch until he goes in for a new shell or rejuvenation. Then he will have a mind-data adjustment to remove any unsavory compulsions which might remain. But, if he is found to have been rehabilitated then no full edits. He must have been remorseful as he chose the third option.”

I was silent as I digested that. I had directed the hopper to fly us back to the acreage by taking a circular route that first headed northeast and then back over Lake Renner. That was the impoundment lake that formed the top of the waterfall we had just visited. We were now passing over its waters. Angelina smiled at the large flocks of resting migrating geese which took flight as we passed low overhead.

There were far more here than back at my little fishing lake at the acreage, and I hoped that the hopper AI was smart enough to avoid any possible bird strikes. We reached the western shore of the lake and I spotted the only modern structure built on the long lake. It was a boathouse where I had kept an assortment of personal water craft and toys. I had also kept a fast electric speedboat. I smiled when I remembered blasting along the lake in the sleek boat at speed.

I pointed it out to Angelina and told her how I had taught my kids how to waterski with the boat that was stored there. She started to get excited until I reminded her what the current water temperatures were in the lake below. Still, the boathouse brought back many fun memories.

I would have to extend an invitation to Sahún and her renters for the free use of the water toys there, assuming they had not already been using it or had their own toys stored elsewhere.

Just then my skull vibrated loudly. I saw Angelina simultaneously sit up in shock.

—WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL— Please proceed immediately to the nearest designated shelter location as quickly as possible. — Further information will be forthcoming. — This warning has been authorized for immediate system-wide dissemination by Minervus —18:36.01.23 / 3112.10.11 — End transmission.—

I was still trying to understand the intense message and deal with my throbbing head when the hopper immediately spooled up to full power and tilted forward, accelerating under maximum G.

“What the hell is happening, John?” Angelina screamed.

I looked over and she had a death grip on her armrest and a panicked expression on her face.

I put my hand over hers. “I have no idea honey. But we will be back at the field base in a minute. We are safe,” I said, not knowing if I was a liar or a sage.

Minervus was the AI in charge of the defense of the solar system. For it to have issued a global warning like that ... Shit! It must be the Assemblage! But they were not due for a century? Did their scouts arrive early? I scrambled to think under the heavy maneuvering forces the hopper was putting us through. The prairie was rushing by very quickly below us and I saw that we were already approaching the field base.

For some reason, I suddenly thought of the woman we had just met.

“Angelina. Can you go into virtual and contact Sahún? If you can reach her tell her to fly over to the field base. I bet the base’s underground bunker is the safest place around,” I said to my frightened companion.

“I’ll ... I’ll try, John.”

I watched her expression go from scared to neutral. At least the virtuality broadcast layer had not been overloaded. The hopper reared back as we began decelerating and dropping. I saw the base ahead before it dipped below the hopper’s nose. One of the small hangar buildings had its doors open. We appeared to be heading for that.

—John. This is Ohmu. Are you in range? John, this is—

“I can hear you, Ohmu,” I said out loud.

—I have the underground shelter lift waiting at the surface. The hopper will land directly outside. As soon as you and Angelina are in the lift we will descend. Jess and Beatrice are already down in the shelter waiting. —

I told Ohmu about Sahún and her indent.

—Angelina was able to reach her. They will be leaving her isolation lodge in moments and will be heading to the bunker as quickly as they can. —

Angelina’s shell became animated just then. “I was able to contact her, John. She will be coming.”

I just nodded and grunted as the hopper tilted even more before bringing us to a hover just outside the open hangar. It slid inside quickly in a cloud of dust and dropped onto its skids with a thud. Both cockpit hatches were already opening.

“Let’s hustle to the lift, Angie!”

Ohmu was waiting at the lift as we ran across the hangar. Behind us, the hopper quickly took off in a gale of wind. It was probably clearing the building to make room for more arrivals. I noticed it fly off towards the north once it had made it outside the hangar.

The lift started descending even before the doors had fully closed.

“What’s happening, Ohmu?” I asked. Angelina had a death grip on my arm.

“Much remains unclear, John. However, six hours, thirty-seven minutes ago the Argus Array detected a high-speed object just passing the orbit of Jupiter. The object’s speed is currently estimated at eight percent of light speed or roughly 24,100 kilometers per second. Early predictions of its trajectory include the Earth or very near to it. If the Earth is the object’s target, it will impact in 9 hours, 45 minutes.

“Due to the speed of the object, the probability that it is interstellar in origin is near one hundred percent. The VLA radio detection and ranging installation on the lunar far side will be within line of sight of the object’s approach vector in forty-three minutes. It will begin targeting the approaching object and will receive any returning signals sixty-three minutes later.

“Once those return signals are analyzed, the precise approach vector towards the Earth will be determined. If the Earth is indeed the object’s target, an exact impact point will also likely be determined at that time.”

The lift was slowing down. We must be approaching bunker depth.

“Ohmu. If the object is still over nine hours away, why the rush to take shelter?” I asked.

“Minervus suspects there may be other undetected objects with some possibly arriving sooner. The AI is bringing all available radio and optical sensors online to scan the AAV to search for additional objects. It is also reviewing the recorded past data from the Argus array and applying a more discriminating filter to see if any objects have already been spotted but ignored.”

The lift doors opened. Beyond was a long tunnel with many branches. We followed Ohmu who led us down the first left branch until we came to an enormous metallic hatch. It stood open and beyond I could see Beatrice and Jess standing inside. They were both frozen in virtuality and took no notice of our arrival.

We entered the secured bunker which was a large, rounded rectangular chamber about ten meters across by over forty deep. The curved roof was four meters over our head at its peak. I had flashbacks to the wrecked bunker I had lived in six hundred years ago. The area by the main hatch formed an open area ten meters square. Processor blocks, backup energy ESU’s, and other equipment filled the remaining thirty meters towards the rear of the cavern. There was a groaning noise as the large hatch began to close.

“What about Sahún and the indent?” I asked Ohmu.

“Ms. Shaluud’s hopper is still six minutes out. The lift had returned to the surface and they will be able to use it to descend to the lower levels of the field base when they arrive. Also, there is a nearby passing regional school VTOL that will be landing at this base in fourteen minutes. It carries seven children age’s six to eleven,” the android reported.

The big metal hatch clanged shut and the large metal perimeter clamps began to lock it down.

“You’re going to open the main hatch when they arrive right?” I asked the android.

“That would compromise your security, John. The late arrivals should be adequately protected in the outer tunnel areas until the precise danger can be assessed.”

I began to tremble as the suppressed rage returned almost instantly.

“Ohmu, you will open the fucking hatch when they arrive! Do you understand me?!” I shouted at the android. Jess and Beatrice both came out of virtual at the same moment. Their augments sensing an emergency and pulling them back into the real because of the scene I was making.

“John, it—” Ohmu froze. “John, I wi—” Again, it froze up. This time it remained frozen. Fuck!

I started to look around the chamber for the manual hatch release motor controls. Angelina looked fearful of my expression and backed away holding her hands up as if to protect herself from me. I was scaring her and tried to calm myself. Before I could move Ohmu resumed speaking.

“ ... Of course, John. The chamber will be opened for Ms. Shaluud and Mr. Qiang. It will also be reopened when the others arrive shortly after. I am sorry for the hesitation,” the android said.

I was still trembling. I looked around and saw the others all looking at me with worry. I took a deep breath and went to the row of emergency rations near one wall. I found a crate with water containers and grabbed a personal-sized bottle. I then slumped to the floor and took a big drink. The other three came over. Beatrice and Angelina still looked worried and nervous. Jess looked a little sad. He sat next to me.

“Are you OK, John?” he asked.

“Just give me a minute, Jess. I need to calm down.”