“Like disobeying orders before we start the mission?”
“Something like that.”
“What changed their mind about using you?”
“They believed in my parents.”
“Who were your parents?”
“Two ships named Aladdin and Fly Girl.”
“What should I call you?”
“Junior.”
“You know what’s at stake here?”
“Absolutely, Cynthia, and I am not going to allow harm to come to you or Jake. I am also committed to the survival of the Realm.”
Cynthia thought about what to do and said, “Do what you have to do, Junior. Welcome to the team.”
Cynthia actually could hear the computer smile, “Jumping in fifty minutes. You might want to speed up sleeping beauty’s download. He should know what we’re doing.”
“Good idea.” Cynthia went over and turned the download speed to high. Jake remained asleep for forty five minutes and then he opened his eyes and saw Cynthia sitting in her chair staring at him. He stretched and felt cramped muscles scream at him, “That didn’t feel like four hours.”
“It wasn’t; Junior and I need to have a talk with you.”
“Junior?”
“Hello, Jake. I’m this ship’s computer.”
Jake immediately remembered a piece of history, “Are you related to Matthew Gardner’s ship?”
“Well, I am surprised. Yes I am.”
Cynthia looked at Jake and furrowed her brow. She had not heard anything about Junior’s parents.
Jake sat up slowly and said, “You’re not a computer. I believe the Stars Realm declared your family an intelligent life form more than twelve thousand years ago.”
Cynthia interjected, “He told me he was eight thousand years old.”
Junior responded, “Cynthia, everyone lies about their age. I don’t look a day over six thousand.”
Jake smiled and shook his head. “I’ve actually heard some of the dialogue between your father and Matthew Gardner. You are very much like your father.”
“And my Mother.”
Jake nodded, “And your mother. Where are your parents?”
“They left with the Gardners.”
Jake jerked up right, “Where did they go?”
“I have no idea. They said they would be right back.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Why?”
“They’ve been gone 10,000 years. How do you know they’re all right?”
“Jake, we’re going to live more than four hundred thousand years. In terms of our life span, they’ve only left a moment ago. They may have found something they felt was interesting and decided to investigate.”
“Well, I for one am glad you’re going with us on this quest. Your experience should help us immensely. What do we need to talk about, Cynthia?”
“Junior here wants us to deliberately disobey an order before we even start this quest.”
Jake tried to stand up and sat back down, “Well, I’d take his advice if it’s left up to me.”
“Thank you, Jake. I told you he should be involved in the decision.”
Cynthia frowned, “He wants to teleport directly to that moon the Searcher was killed on and we are ordered not to use advanced technology around those creatures.”
Jake shrugged and tried to stand up again and succeeded after grabbing the arm of his command chair, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Do you think it helps our chance of survival, Junior?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I say do it. By the way, I notice we are talking to communicate; that must mean these skull caps actually work.” Cynthia looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. Jake smiled, “Cynthia, I’ve learned that survival often depends on doing things that violates rules. Junior here has more knowledge about our advanced systems than anyone in the Realm. He wouldn’t take this risk unless the odds were in favor of not being discovered using that technology.”
“How did you determine he’s that knowledgeable?”
Jake smiled, “Do you want to tell her?”
After a brief pause Junior said, “I also want to know how you came up with that bit of information.”
“It’s obvious. Our ship and armor development made huge leaps at the time of your birth. You and your parents are the first computers that became an intelligent life form. Since your parents weren’t around, it had to be you that caused the improvements in our technology.”
“I don’t think it’s obvious at all, and you made an intuitive leap making that determination. However, you’re right. The computers used in our ships are a product of the Algeans, Spiders, and me. The armor was just a side product of those advances.”
Jake looked at Cynthia, “Satisfied?”
Cynthia sighed, “Valerie will have my hide if anything happens to you, Jake.”
Jake smiled, “The girl is a persistent sort, isn’t she?”
“You have no idea.” Cynthia thought a moment and said, “Let’s go, Junior. We’re burning time.”
Junior laughed and said, “Buckle up; we’ll arrive in fifty seconds. I’m jumping through four other universes before jumping to the moon.”
Jake and Cynthia sat in their chairs and felt them mold around their bodies as the the universe turned around them.
“Valerie?”
“Yes Manny.”
“They have just jumped.”
“Pray for their safety, Uncle.”
“Valerie, I sense more than just concern in your thoughts.”
Valerie sighed heavily, “It makes no difference; he belongs to another.”
“Perhaps there is someone for you, child.”
“Perhaps.”
Jake watched the four universes flash briefly on his display, then he saw the surface of the moon in all directions. Junior announced, “Welcome to our home for the foreseeable future. I’m going to drop a passive scanner every fifty miles as I take us around to the planet side.”
Jake looked out of his display at open space, “Do you think they’ll allow you to see anything coming in system?”
“Actually they’ll be looking for anything that blocks light from the stars. They will then triangulate on the area that has the anomaly to determine if it’s in orbit or moving in system. If it’s moving in, then all of the sensors will home in to see what’s coming.”
Cynthia frowned, “How are you going to receive the data from them? Won’t the creatures read any energy we use?”
“They will broadcast the data using magnetic waves. This moon is one giant magnet and will block the small readings from these sensors. As the moon rotates I will continue to drop sensors until we have a complete band around it.”
“You aren’t concerned about being detected as you move around the surface?”
“No, Jake. This ship is a recent design and it bends light, energy and even cosmic waves around it. I will not be using any kind of thrust that would disturb the surface. If your skull caps work, then we should be undetectable.”
“What about you? You’re also telepathic.”
“That’s true, Cynthia, but I can control when I use it.”
Jake watched the surface moving under them. After an hour he saw the planet start to peek over the horizon. “How are you going to get me down to the surface?”
“I’m going to teleport you, of course.”
Cynthia stood up and said, “You will not. They will see him for certain if you try it.”
Junior gave an audible sigh, “Cynthia, you know that teleportation cannot be tracked.”
“No, but it can be seen and read by energy scanners.”
“Only if you use a two-way screen.”
Cynthia sat down, “What are you talking about?”
“The normal teleport screen produces a silver colored screen that you can enter from either side. You see the screen, but only because it is usable on both ends.”
Jake said, “Just like the screen that I used to arrive at the casino. I could have walked back into that screen and gone back to where I started.”
“Exactly; but if the screen is only set on one end and does not allow one to enter from their destination, no screen appears.” Junior saw Cynthia was not buying in to his plan. “I’ll show you how it works. Jake, go down to the galley and wait for me to tell you what to do.”