Chapter 6: Last resort

Heels in the Sand Island, Seychelles archipelago, Earth

Saturday, November 14^th, 3115 (fourteen months later)

Tonight’s ongoing entertainment seemed to be well attended and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I was not in attendance myself but was acting as a voyeur observing the distant action from the darkness of my main lodge’s roof-top patio.

The lodge’s lofty perch on top of the seventy-meter-tall rock outcropping gave me a near-perfect view of the party going on at the northern beach gathering area below. It was two hours after sunset and an almost-full moon was just beginning to rise over the waters off the island’s eastern horizon.

I was alone on my patio and I was also drinking, although the low alcohol content of the fruity cocktail I was currently imbibing made that of little concern. My voyeurism of the party-goers below was enabled by the magnification function built into my smart irises. Their dancing and gyrating movements were mesmerizing in the flickering light of the torches and the strobing stage-effect lasers. The lasers highlighting the wild, fluorescing pigments most of the attendees were wearing.

The two-dozen strong crowd was moving to the beat of music performed by an actual live band. Well, ‘live’ if you disregarded the fact that the only living human was the lead singer. The woman had such a great voice that it was easy to ignore the four human-looking mobile musical performer robots (not true androids I had learned) which accompanied her.

The songs they performed were a blend of rediscovered classics combined with a modern take of something synthetic and pulsing. I was enjoying the music as the throbbing beat could easily be heard and felt all the way up here. The crowd on the beach was certainly enjoying the music and I zoomed in to follow individual dancers as they demonstrated their best moves.

Most of the dancers had the athletic naturally-fit bodies of the recently re-shelled. I was unsure of their actual ages as I had not seen the bio list for this week’s guest. They were typically older humans as the truly young were often engrossed in their first professions or pursuits and had not yet felt the need for the type of extended vacations which my island offered.

After watching the party-goers for another quarter-hour, I was able to determine the best dancers and remember them by their unique dye patterns on their nude shells. I also saw pairings and small groups form as the dancers got to know one another better. Occasionally these groupings would drift to the fringes of the dance floor to chat or imbibe. Some would then continue off to one of the nearby small cottages to take things more private and horizontal.

Suddenly my dark patio was illuminated by a white glare coming from the southern horizon. I turned around just in time to see another flash illuminate the ocean off in that direction. As more flashes came every few seconds I realized that I was watching another Orion-type booster taking its shipment of ore or other heavy cargo to orbit.

From the bearing of the flashes, the rocket would have just taken off from Madagascar. The fusion pulses would continue for almost another six minutes as the craft climbed eastward and accelerated to orbital speed. The launching track was over a thousand kilometers away which meant I’d be able to see the actual fusion detonations in about three minutes when the launcher reached about a hundred kilometers of altitude.

Sure enough, just shy of three minutes later, I saw the actual distant flashbulb-like bursts of light. They were far enough away that my smart irises did not have to dim much to filter the harsh brightness but I still looked away. The party-goers below were shielded from the direct view of the launch by the island’s higher hills and this, plus the band’s brilliant lighting effects, made it unlikely that they would notice the ongoing launch.

I shaded my eyes and watched the orbital launcher for another minute until it went too far over the southeastern horizon. I sighed at the thought of another successful launch. Over the past year, I’d observed a number of them. We were now in full war mode after all; a fact that too many humans remained unaware of. But those of us that mattered understood how important these launches were.

The launches were the result of our terrestrial mines and manufactories operating at maximum output again, constructing and refining items we needed for the wormhole project and the attack to follow. Electronic hardware, superconducting alloys, power generation and storage equipment, all manner of fuels from the mundane to the exotic, all being produced and stockpiled as fast as our infrastructure allowed.

Now that the horizons were again dark after the launch, I returned to my voyeuristic spying on the ongoing party. Towards the back of the dancing throng and standing on a small, raised control console, a human and an android were overseeing the entertainment. I smiled as I watched the busy pair. It was my long-time android companion Ohmu and my great-granddaughter Serenity LB.

I’d hired Serenity seven months ago to act as the resident manager and chief entertainment director for my fledgling island resort. She had learned quickly on the job and I’d noticed a steady improvement in both the entertainment options available on the island and the positive feedback from my guests.

Serenity was young and this was her first real job, but she was eager, motivated, and willing to learn. Even better was that she seemed to be having the time of her young life despite the responsibility I’d heaped upon her. A third person approached Ohmu and Serenity. She (I could tell her gender from the nice pair of fluorescent-painted breasts glowing in the torchlight) began conversing with both of them.

After a moment I saw Ohmu turn and look up to where I was standing on the dark balcony. The android pointed directly to my location and I saw the two humans look up to my hidden perch as well. The group then returned to their conversation. It must have been amusing as the two women in the group began laughing.

After speaking for another minute, the painted woman left Ohmu and Serenity. I followed her progress as she left the party area and headed towards the lower terminus of the shuttle tube leading up to my lodge. Apparently, I would soon be receiving a visitor. I was not too concerned as Ohmu would never have allowed someone dangerous to visit me.

Five minutes later I heard someone ascending the spiraling stairs leading to the great room below. The stairwell and patio flooring brightened slightly, providing a glowing path for my new guest to follow.

“Hello? Anyone up here?” my unknown guest said.

I knew that voice! It was my touch-therapist friend, Angelina Pel Beraza.

“Angie! I didn’t know that you were on the Island!” I replied as I stepped forward to greet my friend.

We embraced and our long hug turned into a kiss which soon grew passionate. Finally, we broke apart, both of us smiling at one another. She laughed as some of her glowing pigment had transferred to my bare chest and shorts. I looked down and laughed with her. I now had swirls on my abdomen which mirrored her breasts.

“Not that I am not happy to see you Angie, but what are you doing here?”

“Serenity hired me, John. I’m part of this week’s entertainment package for your guests. I start work tomorrow though, as I’m taking tonight off. Everyone who arrived today will be busy getting drunk or looped and having fun at the party. Tomorrow, after they sleep it off and make their way out to the beaches I’ll go on duty. I will be a version of ‘that hot girl I met on the beach’ for some lucky person,” she said with a smirk.

“I would have thought that you’d be getting plenty of business down at the party?” I asked.

“I could have, but ‘all work and no play’ and all that. I specifically delayed the start of my working tour until tomorrow because I have other plans for tonight.”

Sometimes I can be slow but I soon realized exactly why she was taking the night off as she ran her hands down my torso and fondled my manhood through my shorts. We resumed our kiss and I let my hands wander also, caressing her illuminated paint-covered breasts and squeezing her firm little backside.

A few minutes later she pulled away and said, “Come, let’s go take a shower so you can help me get this party paint off the both of us.”

The next morning, I awoke to find Angelina still in my bed. She was already awake and watching me. She must have been up for a while as she looked too alert and chipper. I had learned last night after she had almost dozed off exhausted after our second round of lovemaking that she had traveled here directly from Borneo. This meant that her internal clock was still set four hours ahead of mine. I had been merciful and let her drift off to sleep.

She smiled when she saw that I was awake and functional. “Good morning lover. Join me for breakfast? I’ve waited for you and I’m starving.”

I checked my internal chronometer and found that it was already well after nine. I had not slept in this late for a long time. She was already wearing a silky robe so I pulled on a pair of shorts and followed her to the lodge’s kitchen expecting to find my great-granddaughter already up.

Instead, I found Serenity’s bedroom door still closed. But I did find a full breakfast already prepared and waiting in the warmer. It must have been Angie’s doing, as Ohmu was elsewhere. As we ate, we caught each other up on our activities over the past year.

She told me of her travels and of a few funny happenings with her clients (anonymous of course) while I told her of my busy recent four months. It was nice to catch up. In addition to being a wonderful lover, Angie was growing to be a good friend and I found that I enjoyed our time together.

We had just finished breaking our fast and had taken our coffee to the more-comfortable great room when my great-granddaughter came stumbling out of her room. She went straight to the coffee maker without acknowledging either of us. It must have been a very late night for her as she looked like hell.

“You look like hell Serenity,” I said when she finally joined us.

Angie reached over and smacked me. “Ignore the rude old guy. I take it that the beach concert ran late into the early morning?”

Serenity just nodded. A few sips of coffee energized her enough to speak. “The band stopped playing after two. Everyone trickled off to their bungalows over the next hour and it was after three before I could have the mobile units begin doing a proper clean up. A few idiots decided on drunken moonlight swimming which kept Ohmu and the sentry units busy. It was almost four-thirty before I made it back up here.”

She took another sip of her coffee and then smirked towards Angie. “By the way, I saw that you never made it back down to the party after ‘visiting’ gramps up here so I loaned your beach cottage room to Rose. She had planned on sleeping aboard the electro-jet until it left later this morning. She should be getting up to leave just about now.”

“That’s fine,” Angelina said dismissively. “Yes, John was kind enough to offer me a place to stay.”

I caught my great-granddaughter’s quick grin. Angie must have told her about our past intimacies.

“Rose?” I asked.

“Rose Stone, the singer,” Serenity said. “It was her band that performed last night. Now that it’s mid-morning, they can finally take off without pissing off too many of our sleeping guests.”

My great-granddaughter was becoming more animated as the coffee was beginning to work its magic.

“Rose Stone ... would Rose be short for Rosetta by chance?” I asked.

“That’s right! How did you know?” Serenity asked, surprised. “Have you heard her music before?”

Angelina also looked curious. Of course they would likely not have heard of the Rosetta Stone. I was suddenly reminded that I was in the company of two young women who each had over two hundred years less accumulated knowledge and wisdom than I had. Oh well.

“Lucky guess,” I replied, deflecting the true reason I’d guessed the singer’s name.

As if on cue, we heard the wind-up noises of electro-jet transport’s turbine engines. Serenity’s face went blank as she went into virtual for a moment to oversee the band’s departure.

A few seconds later she said, “Ohmu reports that the band’s performance units and all their equipment are loaded onto the aircraft and that Rose is safely aboard. They are now headed off to a gig in Africa. She also reports that the beach cottage Rose used has been fully cleaned and restored for your use Angie.”

“Good, Thank you. I had better go and get ready to start my shift,” Angelina said as she rose.

I rose with her and we gave each other a long hug goodbye. Her silky nightgown felt wonderful beneath my hands but I kept our separation non-sexual in consideration of my great-granddaughter’s presence. With a final kiss, Angie was off. I did manage one small squeeze of her backside before she managed to escape. Serenity just rolled her eyes when I glanced at her to see if I’d been caught.

While I was still standing I went to the kitchen to refill my coffee. I brought a fresh carafe back with me knowing Serenity would also soon need a refill. I also brought a plate of warm pastries which I had subvocally instructed the auto kitchen to start preparing the moment I had seen her stumble out of her room. She snatched them from me eagerly.

My great-granddaughter and I spent a relaxing half-hour just having a nice chat. It was our first real chance to sit down and visit since I’d arrived back on Heels a few days before. I’d been gone for the past four months working and returning to my island was my first real break in all that time.

I was relieved to learn that Serenity had done a great job running the place in my absence and no major issues needed my attention. She told me about the problems and minor accidents which had occurred and how she had solved them. She beamed when I told her how proud I was of her and that I could not have done better. It looked like the island was in good hands. When I left here to return to work in two more days, I could do so without worry.

When she finished it was my turn to share what I’d been up to for the past four months. Serenity already knew some of the story from my periodic virtual messages and also from following the Conscientia news forums. For the first two months of my absence, I’d been on a worldwide media tour. I filled her in on some of the lesser-known happenings which had occurred during that blitz.

I’d been traveling around the world promoting the idea that humanity should never align itself with the Assemblage. Furthermore, I had pushed the plan that we should go further and destroy the enemy ark as soon as it was feasible. The second global forum on the subject had been approaching and I wanted to sway human opinion enough that my direct meddling to force the outcome would not be as noticeable.

Hannah had joined me for some of the rallies. In front of live audiences, she had retold her story of personal suffering under the Assemblage’s original attack. I’d added some previously-unknown details of my life back before the reset. Our mutual tales of woe seemed to resonate and the more rallies we attended the larger the number of attendees became.

We did virtual appearances as well but the results were better when we could press actual flesh. We began to see a slow but steady shift in attitudes on the subject. Maybe it was the novelty of the live performances but the results were clear and the lesson was noted by many.

Still, change was slow. After the first month, I still had doubts that we would cause enough of an impact to get the majority shift needed to vote for the attack. Those fears ended one evening during a live rally in old Finland. As the rally wound down to a close, someone tried to assassinate me.

I call it an assassination attempt despite the fact that there was little chance that I could ever be successfully assassinated. But it made for a more-dramatic story and we ran with it. Since my mind-data backups and spare shells were as protected by Naomi as any could possibly be, there was little actual chance for any success. The knowledge of my protection had to have been known, or at least suspected, by my attackers. How they expected to prevail was beyond me.

Serenity asked many questions about the assassination attempt and I had to describe in detail what had occurred. She asked me about the couple who had tried to kill me. I told her about that happy pair: Lilith and Sigmund Modesto. I went into detail about who they were and why they hated me. This led me to rehash the tragic story of the Modesto children and how they’d died in my care ten years ago in China.

Their deranged parents apparently still carried a great deal of angst towards me for causing the death of their kids. Even more bizarre was the fact that they were more incensed by my efforts to have their dead children brought back to life in new shells.

That went against their beliefs and I’d made it worse by the recently enacted changes I’d made since to kill those beliefs. I’d acted to prevent followers of Amor Fati from being able to delete their children’s stored mind-data if those children suffered accidental death. Now, it seemed that the more-hardcore followers of that stupid belief wanted me dead. The Modestos were at the top of that list.

Serenity wanted to know about the actual attack and I had to admit to her that there had been little actual danger. Naomi’s security net had easily detected the Modestos’ plans long before they could be initiated. The AI had waited just long enough to expose their scheme so that there was enough clear evidence to prove their harmful intentions. The pair were arrested and indicted on numerous charges with the most severe being attempted murder.

In the end, after a thorough review of the evidence and with the consultation of the peer-justice sub forum on Conscientia, the arbitrator and judge, Iudex AI, had found them only guilty of attempted destruction of property (my shell). There was a range of possible sentences for that lesser crime with the average being light probation. Naomi intervened during sentencing and caused Iudex to give them the maximum sentence, which was full mind alteration.

Before you worry, Naomi did not act in such an extreme manner on its own as it had back during the accident in China. No, this time the AI had acted upon my direct request. Was it unethical and immoral on my part to impose my own justice and morality on the Modestos? Hell, yes. It was! But ... Goddammit! They tried to kill ME! There was no way in hell I was letting them get off with just a slap on the wrist for what they had attempted. Especially not when I had the power to alter the outcome.

If I had to ever face judgment for my actions from some higher authority someday, then so be it. I’d face it with pride as I’d acted to save the lives of children. Of course, I didn’t tell Serenity about Naomi’s direct interference in the Modestos’ sentencing at my behest. I kept that truth close to my chest. The only person I did tell was Hannah, although I would probably also share the details with Uxe the next time we met face-to-face.

There had been one positive result from the attempted assassination. The news had gone viral and had spread across the entire solar system. As it spread, it carried along with it sympathy for my cause and greatly aided the effort to sway popular opinion toward attacking our enemies.

When the second global forum took place two months ago and the next vote was taken, my proposal to attack the enemy had passed by an overwhelming margin. Humanity was now fully committed to the war path. Did I feel any guilt for my part in causing that outcome? Not one bit. If humanity ever came to regret the vote, I’d be long gone and beyond remorse.

Since it was so widely known, I skipped rehashing the events of the second global forum. I was about to explain where I’d been since the forum when I was interrupted by someone stumbling out of Serenity’s bedroom. It was a confused-looking and clearly hung-over man wearing only party paint.

Apparently, despite the extremely late hour, my great-granddaughter had brought someone home last night. Serenity glared me into not commenting as she got up to see to the poor fellow. She went over and had a brief hushed conversation with him. It ended with her giving him a quick peck on the cheek and sending him on his way with nothing but a disposable cup of coffee.

I smiled as he scampered off heading towards the lodge’s exit. He would have to brave the winding path leading down to the beach area wearing nothing but the remains of last night’s illumination paint. At least most of the other party-goers were still sleeping in their bungalows and would miss his colorful walk-of-shame.