Target Aquisition

Finding x0x0 wasn't so much a matter of going and looking, but making it known I wanted to talk to her. She knew where to find me and would when possible. Business rags, gossip tabloids, and intel assessments aside, I'm genuinely fond of x0x0. I don't pretend to be able to fully understand her, but that's another matter. Still, I knew where Lily and Aurora were concerned, she'd either let me know where she was or she'd come to see me herself.

I know x0x0 is doing her best to explain to me what's going on with Lily and Aurora and Blue and her brother Mindo, and how Krenshar's come to fit into the whole thing. And, to be honest, I have trouble wrapping my brain around it. The biology and biochemistry are beyond me, though I admit neither are my forte. Of course, even Uncle Sobi, who is a biochemist, shakes his head and says "Sorry, Mei Mei, don't got enough data."

Unlike the biochemistry, I could follow the psychology. The Metaphysics though? Sentient's and Souls? That was the kind of discussion Shepherds and Monks had. When it came to souls, I was never sure whether x0 and I were talking about the same thing. Was a person's Ghost the same as their soul? Where they two names for the same thing? Where they separate? Did either even really exist, and did any of us understand it? The Shepherds talked about heaven while Buddhist monks talked about reincarnation. Couldn't both be right, yet billions of people believed in each Way. Billions more believed in nothing at all.

I didn't pretend to know. But to me at least, Lily was real. She had a Ghost, or a Soul, or whatever you wanted to call it. So did Aurora. So did Krenshar and Raids. They were people. I wanted to keep them all alive.

Such as it is.

The situation, as x0 described it, was complex. I'm not sure I understand it well enough to even try and explain it to someone else. The bottom line, though, was that Aurora, as she was now, was incomplete and trying to recover herself. Lily was more complete than she was supposed to be because Aurora, as she was before, as AuroraBlue, had demonstrated The Third Principle of Sentient Life: the capacity for self-sacrifice. For a cause, a loved one, for a friend. For her mother.

But that was before. This was now. AuroraBlue had become Aurora. Not just in the shortened form of her name I used, but a psychologically different individual. Her agenda was much as Krenshar's had been when he was under the influence of the corrupted Frame, and every bit as dangerous to the folk who called Hale's Moon home. It seemed likely she'd try and corrupt or kill anyone who got in the way of her plan. Except possibly me. Dragons don't kill their own kind?

You have much to learn
Dragons do not harm their own
A lesson coming

I knew far more of the details now, and the realization that AuroraBlue had been complete. Something in that realization had been enough to induce x0x0 to faint, and then slip fully into unconsciousness. But the last words she spoke before drifting off were "Save Lily."

That is the plan.

Of course, it was easier said than done. Keeping x0x0 safe aboard Wave Equation until she woke up was a non-issue. Given the proximity between Blue Sun's facilities and Krenshar's installation in the Destiny section, she was safer on my boat than she'd be either in our infirmary or her own offices. But the information that Aurora herself had arranged for Lily to be the 'target' of some kind of hunt actually narrowed my search parameters considerably.

Whoever they were, they wouldn't try to end Lily until they got word from Aurora. With Aurora still occupied on Hale's I had time to track them down and intervene. There were several options, of course. The lowest impact would be getting Aurora to order them to let her go. That was something I might actually be able to fake given a little more information on how the deal was arranged. Another alternative was simply paying them the agreed fee, or more if required, to not try and kill Lily. It was potentially expensive, but I was willing to deal with that. The final option was to simply go in and recover her myself. Part of me actually wanted to execute on that option. I'd never had a fondness for slavers and putting a few out of their misery would be a Kindness.

But that was a last resort. I still had to locate the target, though, hopefully, I'd know where they were by the time x0x0 woke up. When I knew where they were, and who they were, I'd be able to formulate the rest of the plan to bring Lily home. Or at least out of harms way. At home, there was still Aurora and the threats she posed.

Time draining like sand
Sister in peril unknown
It must be enough

Family matters

I'm not usually in the habit of worrying about people. Especially people who I know are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Didn't mean I didn't care about people. It just meant I didn't worry about them. Except, with Lily being gone as long as she has, I was actually starting to worry.

Over the last couple days I'd spoken with Cody, who'd had to promise not to go looking for her, and Kari, who was bound by no such promise. Even General was making noises about her being gone longer than usual. Keri'd gone so far as to start trying to track her down herself, but the trail'd gone cold after MacLaren's Drift. Cody said x0x0 might know, but Kari couldn't find x0.

That was ok. I could find x0.

x0x0 was the obvious starting point for tracking Lily down. There were a number of worlds out here on the Rim she might go to for her hunt, starting with Blackburne. Never mind the Downport had been more or less burned to the ground by the Reavers, and even the wastelanders had mostly evacuated the world. Blackburne wasn't actually dead. It was just mostly abandoned. Even more so since the Reavers themselves had gone back into the Black. Given her history with Blackburne, it was high on my list of potential targets.

Problem would be actually finding her. I'd gone looking for my little sister more than once in the past and even with Wave Equation's sensor platform, and our little recee drone, and the fact that Lily's signature was about as unique as it got, it'd been hard to pinpoint her location. I'd want to have a good idea she was on any particular world before I started trying to locate her on the surface.

Which meant my first step would be getting a lead on where she'd gone to hunt. Narrowing down the potential target worlds was relatively easy. Lily had her favorites and there were practical limitations as to where she could, and would, go. That made my life somewhat easier. Though it was still only a probabilistic change. The key would be seeing if she'd tuned up anywhere, and until I got hold of x0, I'd have to rely on other methods.

There were half a dozen people I could contact easily who might know something of her whereabouts, and getting waves off to them would be a start. There was also the resources I could tap through Intel section.

With the exception of military installations and some of the larger colonies, records keeping out on the Rim was sloppy at best and openly falsified at worst. Still, Lily wasn't actively trying to hide her trail. Much. There was a fair chance that I could pull a hit from travel records, assuming she'd actually been somewhere they kept travel records.

It was worth a shot. Considering I could list Lily as a personal asset, should the question arise, it was within my purview to request a data dive. If I got a hit, great. If not, I'd have to concentrate on other lines of inquiry. While fugitive recovery wasn't my forte, it wasn't entirely outside my skill set and I had a personal interest in getting her home safe.

I know you're hunting little sister.

But I still want you home safe.

Into the new year

It was a quiet Year's End. The only surprise, and a pleasant one at that, was a bit of time with Duncan. It'd been a while since we'd seen much of him. Seems some of the personal relationship rumors we'd heard were true, and he'd taken to living aboard Raivenn more or less full time. Not that I blamed him. That boat was a large part of his life, and I'd spent quite a lot of time living on my boat as well over the years.

Ultimately though, it was quiet. There were parties locally here on Hale's Moon, and Buddha only knew how many on other nearby worlds. The 'moment' of Year End was officially based on the Earth that Was calendar and time sync for a place known as Greenwich where there was a weather observatory. Keeping that time was, of course, ridiculous. But it was tradition.

It was actually kind of funny, holding to that tradition based on the calendar of a world we'd abandoned hundreds of years ago. Sure, most worlds in the 'Verse had their own local traditions and local "New Year" celebrations, based on their actual orbits. It was just the 'standard' year that everyone held to. Adapted, obviously, to celebrate at local Midnight.

This year, midnight found me right where I needed to be: at home with my wife.

Though it also had me thinking about other things. Aurora wasn't acting herself. She had the whole surly teen thing going, but it didn't make sense. Even with her radically altered biological growth rates, her mind reaching that aggressive, defiant, disrespectful, stage didn't make sense. Something was wrong that I couldn't even identify, let alone fix.

And what was up with Lily's hunt? One of Aurora's comments had me worried. Lily on the hunt wasn't something I needed to understand, but I'd never worried about her before. I'd have expected her back already. In fact, another day or so without word, and I'd be out there looking for her myself.

Buddha help anyone who's harmed her. For he knows I won't.

Sister on the hunt
Who is in the most danger?
I will come for you

She'll be home. I have faith in her ability to take care of herself when she's in a bad situation. I just don't have much faith in her ability to avoid getting into the bad situation in the first place. Just means I'll have to wish her a happy Year's End a little late is all.

Another year goes by

The celebration of the New Year is strictly a calendar event. For no reason other than tradition, the Alliance officially still recognizes the old Earth that Was calendar. Never mind none of the worlds of the 'Verse were especially close to the old calendar. Different worlds. Different orbits. Different rotational periods.

Keeping the old calendar was convenient, at least. It gave a common reference period, even when the local cues were completely different. Still didn't make it any easier though when you were trying to convert calendar dates and such to local references. Since everyone, for the most part, kept local time wherever they were, it was sometimes a bit dicey keeping things coordinated. Like trying to call your mother to wish her a happy birthday, only to get the comms service because it's the middle of the night back on Ariel.

Considering the fanfare of last year's Year End celebrations, it's almost a surprise there's nothing in the works that I know of for this year. Not that I'm especially worried about it. Not being much of a social animal, whether I spend Year End at a party, with a close friend, or just alone in the Black doesn't matter so much.

This year, I would spend it with family. At least one of them. The one who mattered most right now. Though, uncharacteristically, I was actually missing other members of my frontier family. Lily was off on her Hunt. Aurora was . . . not acting herself. In fact, her behavior was more than a little disturbing. In fact, she was close to getting taken out behind the hangers for a brief lesson in humility.

Understand something, Tiny Dragon. Krenshar may be feeding you the 'Greatest warrior in history' line, and you may have bought it. But the fact remains I can still hand you your skinny little ass. Genetic predisposition and conditioning is no substitute for actual experience. Ask an Operative of the Parliament. They know.

I was honestly close to my wits end with her. Something changed. Something I can't put a finger on. But her spending much of her time with Krenshar, 'Daddy' as she calls him, didn't appear to be helping the situation any. He was a person, certainly. A good one at that, or so I wanted to believe. But he had no experience as a parent. How could he? Krenshar was a machine. Artificial intelligence in a robotic shell. The Ghost may be real, but that didn't mean he had any clue how to raise a little girl.

Part of me wanted to intervene. I had a vested interest in her development, but I'd agreed to give Krenshar's 'colony' as much autonomy as we could manage. Never mind the entire enclave was on land subleased from Blue Sun. x0x0 had her own reasons for giving them a sizable chunk of the land she'd leased from the colonial government, which translated to me and the rest of the town council.

Still. If things continued to deteriorate with her I'd have to step in and put a stop to it. Considering how she was treating me now, I couldn't see a trip behind the hanger making our relationship any worse.

Right now though, I didn't want to think about it. It was Year's End and I had a few minor preparations to take care of. Even if it was just me and 'Brina tonight, I wanted it to be a night to enjoy.

We may still be looking for a vacation, but at least we had each other.

According to tradition, the Yule holiday on Earth that Was happened towards the end of the calendar year during the Winter season in the Norther hemisphere. For many folk back then, at least if you believed the little history we had left, a "White Christmas" was something they looked forward to. Was hard to reconcile the calendars and the seasons of our homes now with that old calendar, but folks still tried. They still wanted a white Christmas even out here, where we were pretty much guaranteed a dry Christmas.

There's been a lot written over the centuries about what the holiday meant and to whom. Being raised with Buddhist and Shinto traditions, my perspective on these holidays was 'something my friends did'. I always understood, and enjoyed, the tradition of giving each other presents, but the religious aspects weren't my world. It was the Shepherd's Way. Where I could respect it, and those that followed it, it wasn't mine.

But it was the Way for several people who were very close to me. For them, I could celebrate this season. Share a bit of the good. The joy they felt in the midst of a chaotic 'Verse. The fact was, you could share folks friendship and good will regardless of religion. The holiday was a convenient reason to be extra nice to one another. If only for a little while.

That's something I can share.

Whether someone believes in the Shepherd's Way or not, it doesn't really matter. No reason we can't set aside our differences, if only for a day, and put some good in the 'Verse. Spend some time with friends. Spend some time with family. Have a kind word for a stranger. Lavish some affection on the folk you love.

Enjoy your holiday. No matter what the weather.

Calibration

Traffic in our part of space has been picking up recently. Strangely, perhaps, we've seen more boats in and out of the small colonies like ours, and MacLaren's Drift, since the incident with Sentry and Mikie and the loss of Caliban. Par for the course, perhaps. Though we're so far from either of those worlds that incidents there are more a footnote in the evening Cortex News report than a cause for increased traffic. Can't complain though. Some of them have taken advantage of the new maintenance platform, and more than a few of them have left some extra coin at Fooks. Would make more for landing and transshipment fees, that is if we charged much more than cost. Assuming anyone bothered to collect the fees in the first place.

Intel was still coming in, albeit slowly, from multiple points. Someone back in the Core was taking their sweet time with the analysis and dissemination of pertinent data. That, or they were ignoring requests from field commands. Again. Realistically, it was probably a combination of information overload and priority dispatch. There wasn't just one monolithic Intel unit in the Alliance. It was called the Intelligence Community for a reason. There were a lot of us. Local and regional law enforcement units. Military units for different branches, commands, even specializations within the different branches. SigInt and ImageRecon. Personnel. Criminal versus Military versus 'Government'.

And none of them talked to each other.

An exaggeration, perhaps. There was actually an entire unit, several of them in fact, who's entire job was to try and coordinate and distribute relevant information between the different Intel services. The problem was, not surprisingly, there was just too much information to handle and disseminate in a reasonable amount of time. And of course, there was still compartmentalization, 'need to know', and territorial conflicts to content with. Even though we were, at least in theory, positioned to avoid most of that, there were still insane logistics and uncooperative personnel to deal with.

Which meant I was still waiting for Intel requests to get processed and sent out my way. Tag never asked why I wanted to know anything. He never had. Even when I was a trainer and not a field agent. If I'd asked for information on something, it was never questioned. It was just taking longer than it used to.

The funny thing, perhaps, was that I probably had a better idea where Sentry, at least, was than anyone in the Core Intel community. Not that I planned to tell them anything about that. Though Tag did support my assertion that the Londinium nuke was a False Flag event and that how I handled the fugitives, if I found them, was at my discretion.

I was going to discretely pretend I didn't know where they were.

I'd even gotten an encrypted wave from Sentry the other day. He apologized for any risk he'd put the colony at when he'd been by with the injured JJ, and thanked me for reminding him of that very risk. You're welcome, Sentry. Though I'm going to skip sending a reply on the off chance someone picks it off. No sense putting him at further risk.

Thing was, someone had been paying attention to the feeds. Someone in Alliance command had spotted hum, but had also spotted him boarding a boat to boost off Hale's. The patrol that showed up a day later was a little more thorough than they had been in the past couple months, but they were still polite. Asked a few questions about the fugitives, then went their way without so much as overturning a storage crate.

Might have been the Blue Sun and KHI presence here, or a polite word whispered up the chain of command to back off, or maybe just Silvermane being rational about the whole situation. In any case, they didn't raise much fuss in spite of Sentry being spotted. Something I couldn't rightly complain about.

Still. While recent events didn't bode well for Year's End, there was always hoping it would get better.

Tis the season - somewhere

There are days that x0x0 honestly surprises me. With everything that's been happening over the last few weeks, between the trial and subsequent escape, the troubles on Caliban and the Replicants coming home to Hale's, and some more personal issues, it's been a bit confusing. A bit depressing on some level, truth be known. But x0x0's somehow managed to brighten the whole Gorram colony.

We don't really have Seasons so much on Hale's Moon, as an epicyclic change in ambient light and radiation. Our axial tilt was only a couple of degrees and our orbit around Kalidaza was close to spherical. While Penglai was in orbit around Kalidaza with us, as a protostar it wasn't any brighter than Bai Hu, a type A0, or even Georgia, a G0, in our sky. Our seasons, such as they were, weren't the usual cycle.

And it was always dry.

That didn't stop x0x0 from importing a fair bit of preserved greenery and decorations for the Yule season. She'd set it up to celebrate a season we didn't have, based on a calendar we didn't use, from a world that was lost to history, to celebrate a holiday based on events that may, or may not, have happened twenty one hundred years before the Exodus from Earth that Was.

Not that it mattered. It was awful festive and the townsfolk loved it. Even had people dropping in from nearby colonies to have a gander. There was a cynical streak in me that could see it as Blue Sun making nice in a public relations sort of way: Give the people something cheerful so they'll look the other way when Blue Sun did something that maybe they shouldn't ought to.

But I also knew x0. At least as much as I could. And I could see x0 setting all that up because she really did want the folk here to have a bright spot. Reminded me that this time last year, on the old calendar anyway, Sabrina and I were just getting together. Didn't matter that I didn't follow the Shepherd's Way, there was a reason to celebrate the season.

Such as it was.

The Dry season.

Always the Dry season.

Was a good distraction though. Sentry and Mikie were still on the run. Or in hiding. Or something. Krenshar and his kin were still settling in, along with, it seemed, a fair number of folk who'd had digs on Caliban. Somewhere out in the desert what remained of the Loyalists, if anything remained of the Loyalists, weren't having a good time of it. And deep beneath Hale's Mother Bot and her young were still biding their time. Unless the thing had spontaneously shut itself down.

Ah . . . the holidays.