Cutlass Sharpened (55 page)

“
Papa?”

“
Renee, ye be quiet too and
let me finish.” Her red lips pressed firmly together. “Davan Took.
Tell me, what day is it?”

“
May sixteenth.”

“
Sorry, Lad, but ye’re a day
behind. There is a good reason. I spent a full day going over the
cameras on ye as a high profile scientist of the past week up till
the murder and when ye went to sleep the night before the massacre
ye moved normally and spoke to everyone, asking them about their
families and got invited to some party planned for the weekend.”
The bridge was silent and staring at Davan about ready to faint.
“Except the fateful morning when I saw ye get out of bed and forgo
your daily ritual of drinking coffee, eating a pastry and watching
the news in the scientific community for any new ideas ye can
incorporate into yer work. Ye simply changed clothes, put on yer
coat and left. No one changes a routine so suddenly, nor do their
motions resemble jerking ramrod straight backs when they slouch
slightly.

“
When ye arrived at the
office ye barely spoke to anyone and when some of the assistants
asked why ye were distant, ye always replied the same way ‘I’ve had
a bad night.’ Nothing more for the man who loves to talk. They left
it alone, but ye were always cheerful even after yer mate cheated
last year without doing the courtesy of offering thanks for two
years together.

“
After a few hours, when ye
told everyone to get to work did they not realize ye pulled out an
assassin’s micro-blaster and killed each and every person with
specific knowledge of yer idea. Then ye woke up in blood the next
morn in the office. By then the blood was dry and all around ye. To
further prove it, the cleaners didn’t function. Had they, the blood
would have been cleaned.”

“
Papa, he was
hijacked
?!” Renee
gasped.

“
Most certainly. It explains
the disorientation and missing a whole day.”

“
I need to sit down before I
pass out.” A chair suddenly dropped from the ceiling and Davan took
it to put his head between his knees to keep from hyperventilating.
He still listened though.

“
I was actually in the
factory since yesterday invisible.” Jake said. “I made use of yer
distraction when I felt yer signature.” He told his daughter who
understood the context. “I figured he wouldn’t be stupid enough to
hide behind the bulkhead servers so I moved around without tripping
alarms with Steven and Visor doing recon for me on another front. I
got lucky soon as he started talking and it led me to the floor
above the server. Eventually he was going to come out as soon as he
said yer name lass and cursed an acrobat Hunter which I could only
imagine as Oliver. So I waited till his defenses were down, when
his plans went bust and he came out for me to shock him
asleep.

“
Before I was certain he was
a scapegoat, I checked his nanite level and verified he had five
times the recommended amount and they were keyed
not
to his biorhythms, but
to a different exterior program. Someone kept him asleep and
used
Davan
as the
actual murder weapon.”

“
But who would do something
so… so heinous?” Oliver bristled and got angry.
What if I were him and suddenly woke up in Renee’s blood.
Should someone take over me and I lose control… Nothing could be
more terrifying or malicious.
He thought as
he saw silent tears hitting the ground from the seated man who lost
everything. Droplets on the floor did not lie.

“
Someone who can make much
more money selling starship fleets and Booster Oil than see instant
teleportation planet to planet at practically no cost or
maintenance since warp technology would rely on the person, not the
tech nor fuel. Someone with intimate knowledge of his strides and
competition to find better means to transport. Someone with the
finances to bury the idea for several more centuries.”

“
Someone like you?” Davan
asked bitterly.

To the surprise of those listening Jake spoke
with compassion rather than get angry at the accusation. Even he
knew when a person needed someone to blame. “Aye, being king of the
pirates I do fit that category, but I’m not interested in warping.
I prefer sailing the stars, Lad. Enjoying the travels. Besides, I
have another mistress’ secrets to uncover. It has been me goal for
over nine centuries.”

“
How old are you?” Davan
choked out as the oldest person he knew was three centuries younger
and that was old.

“
I passed a thousand, eight
years ago. Perhaps ye would know me better as the sixteen year old
lad who bled on the Geo Record.”

Oliver’s jaw dropped about as far as Davan’s
hearing this. Oliver saw Renee nod for him to believe it.

“
Aye, it was me who stumbled
upon her skirt to peek under for the glimpse of paradise.” Jake
thumped his chest with a flat palm. “I was that lad who was key to
the advancement and discoverer of the Solarians farewell gift and
decipherer of the notes left behind. And until I learn
everything
I’ll never rest
till I get all their spoils. I was the first psionic person in
human history and to this day I remain the strongest in raw power
too. I’ve fought both great Creelin warriors and Keptl swarms. So
if ye can remember who I was ye can understand that if my pursuits
weren’t still on the Geo Record I could shit out yer invention in a
few weeks.” Jake put a hand on the man’s shoulder and looked him
dead in the eyes. “I didn’t risk me neck pulling ye back to me ship
after the stunt ye pulled, could it even slightly come back to bite
me in the arse.

“
I don’t want another good
mind killed by someone who goes against what science stands for.
But what I
can
do
is give ye a chance to complete yer life’s work to this point. I
want ye to finish what yer predecessor could not before having his
neck strangled by the noose. I could not retrieve yer confiscated
data, but I did already buy every piece of equipment ye had in your
lab so ye can work without fear of being hung for a crime
someone
made
ye
commit. All I ask is that ye take that gaping hole ripped in yer
chest and fill it with anger. Use that anger to complete what yer
family started. Use it to make sure they didn’t die in vain. If ye
require anything, ask. Ye need to lay low for a couple years.
Besides, I have too much money as it is from all me patents alone.
I want ye to do this not for me, but for them. I have no need for
further fame and ye need to regain the pride of yer own name. This
I promise.

“
Ye become part of my crew
in secret for now… and later we’ll find the assholes responsible
for denying the free exchange of ideas on which this empire
stands.”

Davan wiped his teary eyes and nodded. “For
my family. I’ll do it for them.”

“
Good lad.” Jake pat his
back. “Now go with me daughter to get those nanites flushed from
yer system so ye don’t endanger
me
family.” He turned. “Lass, after ye settle in I
want ye and Oliver to eat at me table for supper
tonight.”

“
I’d love that, Papa. Oh,
before I forget… I’m having a thousand lab rats delivered courtesy
of the army for our aid today. Make sure it’s sent to my lab on
level eight rather than med bay.”

“
Ye take care of the new
crewmember and come to supper. I’ll make sure yer pets arrive
safely. And make sure whatever ye plan for yer boyfriend doesn’t
compromise his availability tonight.”

“
Almost forgot about that!
Thanks, Papa.”

“
Yeah,
thanks
.” Oliver’s sarcasm was thick as
he walked away, standing between Davan and Renee.

Jake watched as his only child took Oliver’s
hand in her own and it looked so natural neither realized they had
done it, but Renee took Oliver’s right hand, leaving the left free
to use the sword. The elevator shut and they were gone. Behind
Abdul said “Jake, we’ve been friends going on four centuries. What
is going on? Who is that guy? I know you well enough to know you’d
never see anyone good enough for Renee. What makes him
different?”

“
That is me secret, Laddie.
Now I can at last uncover the final secrets and know me girl is no
longer alone. Make the call and tell the crew to be back by nine
hundred or be left behind.”

“
Aye, aye!”

The elevator ride was done in silence, but
mainly so Davan could be alone to process just how much his life
had been turned upside down. Renee stuck to Oliver’s side and
didn’t let him go. Eventually though the doors opened on level nine
and she said “Davan, go left.” He looked up, his gaze haunted yet
mildly angry.

Oliver stayed close as they entered the med
bay and she said “Lay down.” as a gel cushioned bed slid from the
clean wall and an orb dropped. Oliver didn’t let danger near Renee
as his sword hand was at the ready to strike. His helmet stayed on
and Davan didn’t look in his direction with other things plaguing
his mind. Oliver felt a pain in his chest for the man, but didn’t
let it affect his nature to see his woman safe.

The orb began a full body scan and Renee said
almost right away “Papa was right, Davan. I see the nanite levels
and even if all you were left with nothing but more than your head
you still would not die right away. Right now they are dormant.
Without knowing the range, the real murderer needs to take control,
I need to take them out.”

“
Do it.” The man said,
turning to her. “Please.”

“
Hold on, Red.” Oliver spoke
up. “I don’t know how the nanites were introduced, but if the
foreign nanites have a different programming than biorhythm then
what if
those
have
a self-destruct function to shut down his internal organs to cover
up the identity when you run a serial number search on the nanites
you plan to extract.”

“
I didn’t think of that.”
Renee bit her bottom lip. “It would make sense in that context.
They could also kill him if we do nothing if they believe he can’t
be captured. I don’t want to risk time trying to create nanites to
counteract what you brought up.”

“
Renee, flash me a data
packet on nanite removal from hijacked victims and reprogramming
nanites.”

“
Give me a minute to link to
the Medic network.” Through her new chip she found it faster than
she dreamed and downloaded the packet just as fast to look and see
he had the palm size tablet aglow in his hand. She linked to it and
transferred the files in what is known as flash transfer or flash
for short.

Fifteen squares appeared and his unfocused
gaze absorbed the blurring screens as his left hand on the
holographic instruments moved rapidly all the while standing.

Davan stood and asked “What the hell are you
doing?”

“
He’s learning everything
there is on nanites and how to save your indigo ass. I don’t have
time to wait and get them out of you safely so he is doing
it.”

“
That is not possible.
Nanite study took even me three years to fully
comprehend.”

“
You’ll find Oliver is
superior in many ways to what we think we know. Just be quiet for a
few more moments.” Renee glared, but he got the message and didn’t
say another word.

Forty three seconds later he shoved the
tablet in a pocket and turned to Renee and said “Make me a point
zero three six two nanite solution of Davan’s rhythms.” Renee
turned to the wall where her synthesizer was placed inside and a
few seconds later a clear vial came out filled with a clear liquid
having swimming nanites too small for the human eye to see inside.
She handed him the vial which his vambrace snatched.

“
A multi-tool!” Davan gasped
from the bed as he recognized it for what it was.

Oliver closed his eyes and let what he
learned reprogram the active shards for a full minute before the
thumb thick and long vial came out. “Here. This should now trick
the foreign nanites into believing these are his natural biological
cells that will bond to the others and strip them of all
preprogramming and make absolutely sure there is no risk of a
failsafe program.”

“
Thanks.” She took the vial,
inserted it into the injector chamber of the small pistol and came
over to Davan to shoot him in the carotid artery without him
feeling so much as a pinch. Aside from the cool feel of metal, the
needle was too fine to be felt. “Now we wait.”

“
Who
are
you?” Davan asked as he sat up and
peered at the man covered in armor. “And how did you come by a
multi-tool as well as a star-saber?”

“
Maybe some other day. Right
now you need to take care of one issue at a time.” Renee said
directly. “You are not ready to learn about my man or of his
capabilities. Right now you need to grieve and go through the
stages. We aren’t going anywhere so just take it easy.”

“
You’re right.” Davan
deflated. “Too much will make me more numb than I’m already
enduring. How long must I wait?”

“
Lay back down so I can
check the percentages of the deactivation.” She told him and he did
so. She restarted the orb’s in-depth scan and only through her eyes
she said “About seventeen percent so far have been nullified.” She
gave updates at every ten percent more, watching Oliver’s little
helpers search out each and every microscopic shard. Both foreign
and original. Eighteen minutes later she said “That is full hundred
percent deactivation. Now to get them all out.”