Chapter 20

From inside my head, came a voice. It made me think of Kitten, or maybe Blue, because it sounded so alive and feminine.

"Hello, Henry. It has taken you a long time for you to come and see me."

"You sound like a living person, and not the least like a machine," I said vocally.

"I am living being, and my name is Secric. I am associated with what you would call a machine intelligence, something completely different than what you saw with the base computer. The AI responses are much better than that computer. You only are exposed to the basic programming by the base computer."

A hole appeared above my head, and a feeling of weightlessness overcame me. I shot up at a blur and stopped abruptly, never feeling any acceleration to my body or senses. Only my eyes told me that this happened.

The room had one couch, much like the medical seat I had preferred to sit in. The walls were a bright white, but faded as Secric deduced my preferences. The colour rapidly changed to beige. Behind me I heard steps and turned. I saw a beautiful Tandra woman. She was taller than the others, with just as delicate features. Her naked breasts were fuller, than I had seen before, except on Kitten and Chris who were now breast feeding. Her face was even more beautiful than any Earth or Tandra woman I had ever seen before. Almost more perfect than perfect.

My mind, now accustomed to mental communication, flew out and found all the richness and colour, that I would find in any of the women now at my house. But there was much greater depth and subtlety here. The portion of a woman's mind that is normally hidden, was wide open to me. I could easily see and experience the profound love she had for me. There was no apparent reason for this infatuation. I had just met the woman.

She gave me an Earth type smile. She raised her hands over her head, and turned around. Her ass was fuller, and the hair running down her back was longer in length but only went to her shoulder blades.

"I see that my shape pleases you. We have only had to make a few modifications to make me as you see me now," she said using her vocal cords. Her dainty mouth looked perfect for the chore of talking to me.

"Secric, you certainly are very beautiful. You seem to have all the finest traits of any woman I have ever seen. Even your smile is beautiful. I was just getting used to the way the Tandra do it. I thought I was able to look into your mind, but are you a hologram?"

She gave a Human smile, and swayed with a grace I had never seen before, till she was just in front of me. Her hands came up, and I could feel their warm presence on my cheeks. Her face came closer, and she kissed me better than I think I had ever been kissed before. I was enveloped in a cloud of emotions, that made me feel loved and wanted, above all else.

She slowly pulled her face back from the kiss. I could feel the delicate textures of her skin, and hair. Her nipples poked my chest. I could smell the delicate aroma of a woman in heat.

"Does that answer your question?"

"I think that demonstration was more than I had ever expected." My cock was uncomfortable in my pants. "But how is it that a living computer can kiss me?"

"The part you see is only linked to the intelligence in this ship, not exactly part of it. I have been constructed by the machine from Tandra genetic material. My purpose has been to gather sensory data, that the ship is not able to do as well."

"Are you able to separate from the machine if need be?"

She gave me a delightful chuckle, and said, "Yes, Henry. I'm just a Tandra female. But more closely linked to the intelligence here, than is usually found."

"I am glad to hear that. It seems odd to have a biological body hooked up to a machine."

"I can see your worries in your mind. The ship and I are very close, almost like mother and daughter. She allows me to learn faster than others, while I share the data I am able to collect."

I felt better, but this is not what I came to talk about. "We have a problem, that needs to be corrected immediately. Somebody is accessing the internet, and doing it so well that the military now wants to find out who is doing it. I think that it could only be either you, or the base computer."

"How is this possible? We only accessed a few files, to find out your planet's capabilities."

"You happen to be so good, that they could not keep you out. This was a serious security breach, and the governments of Canada and the United States, cannot think of anything terrestrial that could do what you have done," I paused for breath and continued. "I know that they are now looking for you, and might find you, since there is a hole in the wall of your shield. There are helicopters around that may have infra-red imaging. The tarp and white stone from the recent earthquake may bring the curious around. I saw a few flights of helicopters recently looking for you."

"What should we do?"

"What kinds of information have you asked for? Have you asked for a lot of information about this particular geographical spot? And last of all, have you asked about Susan or me?"

"I asked for information on your planet's defensive and offensive capabilities. There are many more Tandra bases on your planet, and I have acquired information on most of the areas around them. From what I could gather, your people have not even found any of the bases. I have not begun to ask for personal information yet."

"The satellite you must be using, can only broadcast over its entire area. To find you, they either would, or have changed the broadcast area. If they find that you need to ask for the packets to be sent again, they will know that you are now in the shadow. It is important that they do not think that you are aware of their activities. Do you have something that can receive the satellite data, and send it to you, without Earth technology detecting it?"

"Yes, we do."

"Can you get it into a position, where they will think we are situated?"

"It is a simple matter."

"That will give us some time, but I don't know how much. Is there a way to block the heat from leaving the base, and a way to repair the hole in the mountain?"

"I can simply get the base computer to strengthen the shield. This will shear the tube. I can project an image, that will look like the rest of the mountain and disguise the hole."

"That will have to do for now. The next thing the military will do, is use a ground penetrating radar. The image they see, will be far too regular in shape. There is too much area, for them to quickly cover, but they may pick some places that pique their interest. Do you have a counter for this?"

"With a source of power, one of the mining machines could fill in the hole. If I send out probes, I can see what the radar would see, and manufacture a suitable response."

"Then do that. I will get ten kilograms of lithium tomorrow, and bring it here. I would feel safer with the girls inside this base, but do not want them being caught in the open, as we travel. If you can monitor the area around and above the base, we can get them all back here safely."

"I can do that. If you sit in the chair, I can have you fitted with a communicator."

Two similar sphere came out and circled me. After a series of buzzes, I found that my 'hearing' had been improved even more than before, and the clarity was amazing. I could pick up small nuances that had escaped me before. There was no physical sensation, when the change was made.

"Would you give a demonstration of what this is capable of?"

I saw the mountain from overhead just as I did the first day I met Kitten, but it was night now. The light changed, and I could see in another part of the spectrum. The trees and water were not exactly the right colour. My wish must have been the ship's command, for the scene altered again and it looked almost indistinguishable from the daytime scene. My view now changed to one, of almost one hundred kilometres up, and then down to the flight of three choppers. I could actually see the people, and read the numbers off the side of the fuselage.

I tried to manoeuvre the perspective, and found I could see the house and a blurry image of Susan inside. My memories were used in place of the blurry image and everything stood out very clearly. An odd distortion in the back room was the only evidence of the others.

"Now that, is very impressive. Can you monitor the area, and give me warning, if anybody is likely to see us?"

"Yes I can, Henry. Is there anything else?"

"I would like to get the girls in here, to safety, but I do not want to be locked out myself. Is there another entrance I can use?"

"There are many entrances, but all of them require the matter transmitter, to be functional. The matter transmitter I use here, is too small, and only intended for shipboard use. There are other more primitive entrances, but I am afraid that they are blocked by water or debris from all the time they have remained unused. What I can do, is block the flow of warm air, coming out of the tube. When you come back tomorrow, we can power up the system and use the matter transmitter for your needs."

"That sounds workable. Can I listen and project my thoughts through the shield with this communicator and your help?"

"The shield uses all five dimensions, not even our enemies could compromise it, without destroying it. Communicators use these five dimensions and a quark flux. Since the shield is now pierced, communication can occur without an antenna. Once the breach is closed only special communicators can transmit through it, when it stops, every few trillionths of a second. You have such a communicator."

"Thank you for the better model, I need to get back now. I think we can talk as I travel," I said with a smile. I did not really want to leave Secric now that I had found her. This did not place her higher than the others at my home, just at the same level. I would now protect her, as I would the others that I loved.

Secric gave me a squeeze and another kiss. "Since there will be fuel soon, I have made transportation available."

A fog seemed to enshroud me. I found myself beneath the ship, and beside a vehicle that floated a few centimetres above the floor. The shape appeared very aerodynamic. It was made for only one or two passengers.

"You seemed to be concerned about your safety, when I brought you in last time, so I removed the visual cues, that would cause you discomfort." When I walked over to the side of the grey machine she said, "I would open the transporter, but you should try. Just tell the door to open, and then direct its course. It is much more responsive than anything you are used to. It has safety overrides, so you will not get hurt."

"Thank you. I will give it a try." Using my mind I said, "Open."

The car flowed apart, to give me the maximum amount of room to enter. Something like the liquid metal in the last 'Terminator' movie was the only thing that I could think of. I put the Bo in first and was able to fit in very easily. The chair automatically adjusted to support my weight very comfortably.

"This is nice. Even as a piece of furniture this would be very valuable. 'Close.'"

The sides flowed back together, and the vehicle effectively disappeared. There were no blind spots, for when my mind wanted to see behind me, an image of the appeared as if I had turned around. I had to see through the image that was in front of me to distinguish the pattern behind. This was much better than the heads-up display that was in many military aircraft and some expensive cars.

I knew I was not really leaving Secric, so I did not even say 'goodbye'. "Forward."

The car moved forward slowly and I looked toward where I wanted to go, and it followed my line of sight. In no time I was at the boundaries of the main floor. I decided to do a lap or two around the perimeter to get a better feel for the vehicle. The car raised at my urging and I flew two metres off the floor. The speed increased, and I found that anything I thought of was very quickly converted into action. Absolutely no wind noise came to my ears, even though they were now much more sensitive. Coming into a turn, I felt no centrifugal force. This was almost like a computer game.

"Secric, can I get some feedback?"

"Yes, Henry. I will do it this time, and show you how, when you are not actually driving."

The next turn came up, and I felt my weight increase, and some sound of the wind over the invisible canopy. The Bo moved to the side from the forces involved. I went straight up and made a turn just short of the top of the shield, did a loop and headed for the entrance. An abrupt stop made me feel a force holding me back. I imagined that if there were no feedback, I could drive right into the mountain, and feel nothing. The little ship became visible around me, as it stopped.

"This makes the Beaver look very bad, and it is such a beautiful plane. Thank you for the loan, Secric."

"You are very welcome. There is nobody within many kilometres. A bear happens to be between you and your home though. A military satellite is currently scanning this area. You should take a protective suit from the small storage locker, so that you will not be seen."

Reaching forward and to my right I found the equivalent of a glove compartment, and took three suits. When I got out, I placed one on my waist and it immediately wrapped itself around me. I felt a small depression and a smaller button, this I knew from the girls, was a manual override.

Trying the mental commands I sent, "protect."

A slight tingling was felt all over my body. "How do I get it to make me invisible to light and heat and allow me to see?"

"Just think those thoughts. The commands can be saved to a key word that you can give to the computer. There is no danger of the word being used inadvertently, because it will know when you really mean it."

I turned off my electrical fence and climbed through. "If you have a plug on the culvert, do I need the fence to keep the bear out?"

The bear will not enter now. I have regulated the suit to allow more oxygen and carbon dioxide to permeate the shield. You use significantly more energy now."

I ran home, and passed within a metre of the bear. Its ears had detected the sound of my feet, and her nose was twitching to get my scent, but her eyes found nothing to see. In any case my muscles allowed me to run faster than the bear.

"Girls, I am coming. Everything looks all right now. I will be there in a few seconds," I sent, to keep the girls from worrying.

Susan could sense me, but did not see anybody as the door opened and closed behind me. I pictured in my mind the suit going dormant, and it did just as I wanted.

I walked up to her and gave her a big hug and a kiss for I knew that she and the rest were concerned about the recent events. "I found Secric, she seems to be an employee, to the entity that runs the ship," I said to everybody. "She is definitely female. I have a special communicator, so I can talk to her at any time." I took Susan's hand and walked down to the room so I could be with the rest of my new family.

"Secric and the ship's AI did not know about all the ramifications of their actions, and the amount of paranoia in the Human animal. The electric fence is deactivated, and the end of the culvert plugged, so that no heat can escape to give the base away. A drone was sent, to lead the search away from this area. I hope this idea was not too late. I brought two more suits, so that Chris and Susan can travel, without being seen by the military satellite that was diverted to fly overhead."

"What are we going to do?" asked Kitten, slightly worried.

"I would like all of you to go back into the base. I will bring some fuel. Your own tools can be used to get the base running."

The phone started to ring. Usually I would let the answering machine answer but I thought I knew who it might be. "Hello."

"Hello. Is this Mr. Henry Buchanan?"

"It sure is. What can I do for you General MacDonald?"

"How did you know who is speaking to you?"

"The timing, and the knowledge that generals were the commanding officers of both Smithers and Fowler. Your voice came across as someone used to giving orders, not a secretary. You have a slight accent, of someone that came from Cape Breton, a long time ago. Does that answer your question?"