system itself was pretty standard, nothing out of the ordinary that gave it ‘that Jon was here’ look. Certainly no water damage like the last one he saw.
It was early evening as Agent Tomas checked into his hotel room. Like Jon, he had his multipurpose, smart phone-like device with him and could access practically every computer network on Earth. It didn’t take long for him to pull up Simon’s bank account and discover the rent payments for their original lab and a bit more digging provided him with the address.
The next morning found Agent Tomas at the location of Simon and Gilbert’s original lab. No need to arouse suspicion by going in the front door, it was easy enough to interrupt the video feed for a minute or two while he slipped in the back. Locked doors didn’t pose much of a problem, Tomas’ device sent out electromagnetic fields that made lock tumblers tumble and pulled back dead bolts. Once inside, Tomas knew this was the real deal. All the junk you would expect to make a place looked lived in plus a teleport in the back. It didn’t take him long to discover the loop back circuit from the emitters that would fry the control consol, the unmistakable ‘Jon was here’ signature. He made a mental note to open the doors and windows before trying to access the system, just in case he needed to move a large amount of water in a hurry.
He took out his device, display screens appeared and he began the hacking process. It took him the better part of the day to get through it, but through it he got and without the need to go snorkeling. This was the station Gilbert and Jon both used and more importantly, he discovered that Jon was back on Earth.
14.
“Anyone want to tell me what just happened?” Gilbert asked. “Did we really have a secret weapon? That is so cool. We didn’t kill those guys, did we?”
“Probably should’ve, but we didn’t,” answered Ellie “It’s a defensive weapon, not designed to kill. We’d have to make another pass and blast them with our cannons if we wanted to kill them.”
“If we had cannons,” added Franco.
“Or a captain with balls,” muttered Talia.
“Enough, okay? I’m not a killer, we all know that. That’s why I hired you,” Ellie said pointing to Talia, “and that’s why I don’t have cannons.”
“I can understand and respect that, but why don’t you have shields?” asked Gilbert. “Seems like you’d need those.”
“It came down to shields or engines,” said Ellie. “I can get work with a ship that has engines and no shields, but I can’t get work without engines.”
“How’d you get the whatever it was that saved our bacon just now?” asked Gilbert. “That must have cost a pretty penny.”
“Not every job pays with cash,” said Ellie. My brother Jon belonged to a semi-secret research community. They have a nice little base tucked away on an asteroid and even though they try to remain unaffiliated with any governments, they end up taking the odd contract to help pay the bills. I bring them supplies and they install all types of neat things on the ship.”
“Let me guess what happened,” said Gilbert. “Either Jon stole something from them and had to go on the run or he boinked all the women and the men kicked him out.”
“Very funny,” said Ellie. “No, this happened when Jon was young, about 15 years old. He was a certified boy genius and they recruited him to do some biotech work. He got lonely and wanted a pet, but they had a strict no pets policy. So he ended up combining business with pleasure and built his own.”
“What do you mean,” asked Gilbert. “Something like a little kitty?”
“Something like a kitty with limitless strength that could be programmed to kill,” said Ellie.
“So not a Persian?”
“No,” said Ellie. “Anyway, he left on good terms and I started up a business relationship with them when I got the ship. Enough about my family history, can someone
It was early evening as Agent Tomas checked into his hotel room. Like Jon, he had his multipurpose, smart phone-like device with him and could access practically every computer network on Earth. It didn’t take long for him to pull up Simon’s bank account and discover the rent payments for their original lab and a bit more digging provided him with the address.
The next morning found Agent Tomas at the location of Simon and Gilbert’s original lab. No need to arouse suspicion by going in the front door, it was easy enough to interrupt the video feed for a minute or two while he slipped in the back. Locked doors didn’t pose much of a problem, Tomas’ device sent out electromagnetic fields that made lock tumblers tumble and pulled back dead bolts. Once inside, Tomas knew this was the real deal. All the junk you would expect to make a place looked lived in plus a teleport in the back. It didn’t take him long to discover the loop back circuit from the emitters that would fry the control consol, the unmistakable ‘Jon was here’ signature. He made a mental note to open the doors and windows before trying to access the system, just in case he needed to move a large amount of water in a hurry.
He took out his device, display screens appeared and he began the hacking process. It took him the better part of the day to get through it, but through it he got and without the need to go snorkeling. This was the station Gilbert and Jon both used and more importantly, he discovered that Jon was back on Earth.
14.
“Anyone want to tell me what just happened?” Gilbert asked. “Did we really have a secret weapon? That is so cool. We didn’t kill those guys, did we?”
“Probably should’ve, but we didn’t,” answered Ellie “It’s a defensive weapon, not designed to kill. We’d have to make another pass and blast them with our cannons if we wanted to kill them.”
“If we had cannons,” added Franco.
“Or a captain with balls,” muttered Talia.
“Enough, okay? I’m not a killer, we all know that. That’s why I hired you,” Ellie said pointing to Talia, “and that’s why I don’t have cannons.”
“I can understand and respect that, but why don’t you have shields?” asked Gilbert. “Seems like you’d need those.”
“It came down to shields or engines,” said Ellie. “I can get work with a ship that has engines and no shields, but I can’t get work without engines.”
“How’d you get the whatever it was that saved our bacon just now?” asked Gilbert. “That must have cost a pretty penny.”
“Not every job pays with cash,” said Ellie. My brother Jon belonged to a semi-secret research community. They have a nice little base tucked away on an asteroid and even though they try to remain unaffiliated with any governments, they end up taking the odd contract to help pay the bills. I bring them supplies and they install all types of neat things on the ship.”
“Let me guess what happened,” said Gilbert. “Either Jon stole something from them and had to go on the run or he boinked all the women and the men kicked him out.”
“Very funny,” said Ellie. “No, this happened when Jon was young, about 15 years old. He was a certified boy genius and they recruited him to do some biotech work. He got lonely and wanted a pet, but they had a strict no pets policy. So he ended up combining business with pleasure and built his own.”
“What do you mean,” asked Gilbert. “Something like a little kitty?”
“Something like a kitty with limitless strength that could be programmed to kill,” said Ellie.
“So not a Persian?”
“No,” said Ellie. “Anyway, he left on good terms and I started up a business relationship with them when I got the ship. Enough about my family history, can someone
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