When it absolutely, positively, has to get there. . . eventually

Rumors have a way of taking on a life of their own. It's actually the stock and trade of several branches of the Media, and several Psych Warfare units have made their reputations in the business as well. With few exceptions though, the best rumors have just enough of a grain of truth in them to make them sound plausible. Those are the ones that need to be followed up on since they are potentially the most damaging.

The rumors out of Caliban had that feel. I knew Krenshar. I'd had faith in his being a real person for a long time and, deep down, I believed that person was good. There'd been a few incidents that made me doubt that, recent rumors out of included. But every time I'd had reason to doubt, a bit more digging had shown one of two explanations. Either he was under external influence which, in some cases, over-rode what he wanted to be doing. Or it was a matter of perspective. Krenshar always, always, did what he thought was right. Only, what appeared right from his perspective might not appear right by ours.

I finally did what I should have done when I first got wind of him reactivating the labs on Caliban.

I called him.

The wave from Caliban about the fire, and Aurora's wave shortly thereafter looking for transport off, had me concerned. The fact of the matter was disturbing, but not especially surprising. Lily had somehow convinced Cody to come help her wreck the labs. Evidently, she'd seen the 'parts jars' and thought Kren was cloning Aurora, selling her in pieces to the Alliance, and not cutting her in for a piece.

Did I mention my Mei Mei was sometimes a little unstable?

Krenshar explained what he was up to, and why. Including his belief that Lily and Aurora were both "broken." By his reasoning, they were both supposed to be hybrid synthetics. Part organic, part artificial life.

His entire purpose for being on Caliban was to try and fix them. When he'd interfered between Lily and Blue Man, he'd put a wrench in Mindo's carefully choreographed operetta. Regardless, he believed that they were both going to die if he didn't manage to get it sorted out and find a way to bring them to the hybrid state he thought Mindo had planned for them.

Was he right? Were they supposed to be hybrids? I didn't believe so, but then he'd done more direct research than I had. There were, however, two people who knew the truth. Mindo himself knew what he'd planned. At least I hoped he did. There were a few points where it looked very much like he'd lost control of his effort to play God and there was no telling how close reality now was to what he'd intended.

There was, of course, the issues of Mindo not being exactly fond of me, and his propensity for bending the truth to suit his needs of the moment. Or, more simply, he was a liar and didn't like me. I wouldn't hurt him though. Much as I might want to. Needed to set a good example for the girls, after all. The fact was, even if x0x0 gave me access to her brother, chances weren't good for me getting the information I needed out of him.

Which left Blue.

If anyone knew how it was supposed to have come down, it was Blue. But would Blue tell me the truth? I didn't even know how to describe my relationship with the Blue Man AI. I just hoped I could trust him to tell me the truth.

Probably. Though it would mean tracking him down enough to talk to him. He's said he's always here, which technically he probably is. He's just not always paying attention.

For most of the folks on the Rim, "Peaceful" means no one is shooting at you. By most folks standards, Hale's Moon's become a very peaceful place.

They don't know the half of it.