Date: 2021-08-23T22:00:00+00:00
Description: Zhenyi Hypatia Drakos had two astrophysicists as parents, one Greek and one Chinese. They gave her a love of space and the intellect to study it. Her name, glasses and independent spirit made her the target of bullies from her first day of school. To survive Zen adapted by becoming self-sufficient and capable of fighting back. When the pulsar she discovered at age thirteen begins changing, she discovers that humans are not alone in the universe. Draconis is the story of how Zen shares this news with the world and prepares herself and the planet for what is headed their way.

Blizzard

Draconis - Book 6

Ethan Stand

Copyright © 2021 by Ethan Stand

Ethan Stand owns the content in this book and reserves all his legal rights of ownership. ‘Blizzard’ is published for your personal enjoyment. He allows quotations in book reviews and social media posts. In fact, if they are positive reviews, he encourages their use. If you want to use it for some other purpose, then email him and get his written permission, if you don't then you may not reproduce or use it.

ISBN 13: 978-1-922336-20-0 (E-book)

‘Blizzard’ is fiction, Ethan isn’t writing about real people and doesn’t intend in any way to point the finger at anyone. If there is a similarity, then it’s unintentional and a coincidence. Some of the places, nations, corporations, institutions, public figures, books, movies and songs Ethan mentions are real. Ethan has used them in a made-up story (fiction), i.e., IT ISN’T REAL.

Ethan designed the cover using Photoshop. Vellum was used to prepare the e-book.

Published by Ethan Stand in 2021

You can find out more at www.ethanstand.com or write to Ethan at ethan@ethanstand.com.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 1

After waking up early Monday morning, Zen had a series of meetings with various groups she’d set up. She also talked with people who’d managed to get through Margaret’s rather stringent policies on who could and couldn’t talk to Zen. This included a head of state and several high-ranking policymakers from other countries along with half-a-dozen members of the Australian Parliament. After the last one, she flicked back through her notes and then reread the report from the group she’d set up to work on recycling plastics to help supply the structures needed for the pods. She made some additional comments which had arisen from the meeting then sent a copy to Phil. She attached a note that read, “Do you want to oversee this, or will I farm it out privately?”

She hadn’t expected an instant response, so she was surprised when Phil knocked on the door twenty minutes later. He said, “They’ve achieved this already?”

“Yes. It’s energy-intensive, but we’ve so much plastic, and from what they’ve described it’s fairly easy to use moulds, even large intricate ones. If the fusion reactor works out, then it’ll be feasible and much faster than what we’re doing with steel. We could start preparing the plastics, sorting, shredding and washing them in preparation. We could do it with raw materials, but this works just as well on the recycled plastics, and we have, or can access, heaps of that. The data shows the product is at least as strong as steel.”

“What are the pros and cons?”

“It’s a good use of our resources when we’re going to struggle to find the steel. It’ll be easier to use in construction because of its weight. We can achieve high definition in the moulding process and cut back even further on construction costs. The cons have to do with the unknowns. It’s a new technology and the plastics could perish in a decade rather than several hundred years. I doubt it, but it’s possible. I could list off several other unknowns to do with how it might react to the elements and time, but the truth is that only time will tell.”

“What do you mean, me or farm it out privately?”

“If you do it, then getting access to a fusion reactor is pretty much guaranteed. I think that’s the most efficient use of resources and the public programs that have already started are doing well. However, if I’m reading the reports right, there is a segment of the community still thinking we’ve overreacted. They’re pushing back against the national government investing so heavily in this infrastructure and exploiting the workforce. If that means it’ll be hard to get the momentum moving on this, then I’ll set it up as a private enterprise, but you’ll end up paying more in the long run.”

“Leave it with me. As you say, I think that’s the most efficient way forward. Why aren’t you wearing your suit?”

“Sorry?”

“Your armour. You need to wear it from now on.”

“What? You want me to wear it back to the camp?”

“Yes. It’ll be a good test to see how it holds up under constant use, and it’s the best protection we can offer.”

“You do realise I’ll stand out even more.”

“Yes. I’m sort of counting on it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Look, we need a bigger armed response on the national level and the best place to get these personnel are from the people we’re training right now. I’ve read the reports, and most of those in that camp will make excellent officers in the years to come. I know the concept is for a prepared citizenry that’s capable of defending itself. The truth is, though, we’ll want some of those, the best ones, to take a stand and be prepared to take the offensive. You already know this, and although you’ve been careful not to come out and say it explicitly, you have very clearly implied it was one of the hard choices we’d have to make.”

Zen looked down then after taking a few deep breaths looked up and said, “I know, it’s just one of those things that makes all this too heavy. Knowing that people will be killed because I set them up to join the offensive. I wanted to hide from that reality for a bit. Selling someone their death by a shiny piece of really cool armour seems callous and cruel.”

“Zen, the kids at your camp understand. They were there when you were shot. They understand. I don’t want to trick them, so feel free to be loud in explaining the dangers. Either way, they’ll see people walking around in the suits before long anyway. Also, it’s more matte than shiny anyway.”

Zen nodded then said, “It’s a bit, um, embarrassing to wear as well. Doesn’t hide much.”

“It hides everything, and besides, if you hadn’t thought it looked cool, you could have made it ugly and chunky.”

“Ewww, that would be worse. OK, I’ll change into it after lunch.”

* * *

When Zen arrived back in her office dressed in the suit, she had to put up with dozens of questions and compliments. When she was finally alone, she FaceTimed her family and showed them the suit and talked for an hour then sat and revised her to-do list. When Miriam arrived three hours later to get her for dinner, she found Zen staring at the monitors, although all of them were blank. She said, “Zen, is everything OK?”

She had to repeat the question before Zen replied and said, “Yes, everything’s fine. I was just thinking about one of the reports I read yesterday. I also need to see if Wes can work out a way to modify the suits so it’s easier to pee when wearing them. I pretty much have to take it all off just to pee.”

“I thought you could just pee in them.”

“Miriam, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should, or so people keep telling me.”

“Did you just deflect from the report?”

“Yes. The idea’s not quite formed yet so I’ll wait for a week. Hopefully, it comes together by then.”

“Dinner’s ready then it’s time to head back.”

“Can we make it a bit later? I’d rather not have to answer all the questions about the suit until the morning.”

“Sure, it’ll give you more time to ponder that report.”

After dinner, Zen sat thinking and doodling until nine then took the helicopter back. Mark hadn’t seen the suit and was almost speechless when Zen walked to the helicopter. It took nearly the entire trip to answer all his questions, and it was clear from his responses that he wanted one for himself before too long.

* * *

The next morning when Ida’s alarm went off, Zen was already dressed except for the helmet and harness. As Ida sat up, she looked down and squealed before saying, “Sweet divine figure of your choice, what are you wearing? Oh, that is so not fair. Is this the suit you talked about? Well? Answer the questions Drakos, and turn around as you do so.”

Zen did as she was asked. Ida’s questions had woken most of the others, and Zen was soon surrounded by all nineteen girls and trying to answer their questions. Finally, Zen said, “OK, the questions will wait, you better get dressed so we’re on time for PT.”

Noor said, “No one on that field will be able to concentrate with you dressed in that. Have the corporals seen it?”

“No, a few of the guards probably did last night, but it was dark, and I had the LEDs and colormesh off.”

“LEDs? Colormesh?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even show the LEDs to the people back in Canberra, but the faint circuit pattern can light up. There are dozens of effects that are really cool, but I’m waiting for the right time to use them. The colormesh lets me change the basic colour of the suit.”

As the others dressed, Zen added the helmet and harness. She could feel all the eyes on her and open and closed the helmet to check it worked then added the sheaths and slipped her knives in then added her firearms. Ida said, “You need to upgrade the weapons to match the suit.”

“Don’t worry, I’m working on it.”

When Corporal McNamara stepped into the dormitory, she started to say something then just stared. Finally, she got her mouth working and said, “Zen, I’ve only one question. When will I get mine?”

“I’m working on it. General Fletcher did ask for several thousand.”

“OK then, that is so totally awesome. OK, one more question, do the contours I can see match you, or are they generic?”

Zen blushed and said, “Um, they’re from a mould of my body and an MRI to match the muscle strands. The suit’s powered and will increase speed and strength.”

“Besides making that even cooler, it means I need to put in some extra work. Alright, if I have to look good so do all of you, let’s go.”

It was clear that the suit distracted almost everyone on the field and about halfway through PT, the captain came to have a look. After watching Zen do the full range of movements, he stepped closer, then said, “General Fletcher said you’d be wearing a new suit. He didn’t mention any details. Is it bullet resistant?”

“Yes, Sir. At least up to the standard of the previous vest I was wearing.”

“How does that work?”

Zen said, “To show the General I asked him to hit me. He didn’t, but Agent Friedler did. She said it was like hitting a wall. The suit hardens automatically.”

The captain said, “Would you mind?”

“Not at all, Sir. I suggest not too hard as it might break your fingers.”

The captain hit a little harder than Miriam had and stood rubbing his knuckles as he looked at the suit. Finally, he said, “How many are they making?”

“This is the first model, and we’ll make as many as we can. The main problem is the cost and the need to match the suit to the individual. Dr Bateman mentioned a starting number of ten thousand.”

“Any other surprises?”

“It’s power-assist armour, up to three times. I haven’t tried it yet because I’m waiting for the tests to say it won’t cause damage.”

“So, no advantage just yet?”

“It’s needed to make the suit viable. It’s heavy, but with the setting I’m on, all it does is reduce the strain, so it feels like I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt.”

“Everyone will want one.”

“I know, and I discussed that with Dr Batemen, he mentioned that’s one reason he wanted me to wear it. Oh, with the helmet I have a display that’s able to show me anything that I could get from an app. It has cameras that can show me a full three-sixty view and extends into UV, infra-red and shows thermal. It has connections for work underwater, and we’re working on a more robust version for the people who go into space.”

“Who is we?”

“I started a company which made this. It’s part of what I do on the days I’m not here, Sir.”

“Zen, thank you for the explanation. I’ll need to tone up a bit if I’m going to ask for one of those, but that’s just between us.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“OK, carry on, Trainee.”

Zed smiled and returned to her exercises. She was the centre of attention for most of the day, and when they began working on the pods, there was a ring of construction workers staring at her as she worked. Most people were used to the suit by Saturday, and it was clear that many were working harder than ever to make sure they had the chance to wear one. Wednesday morning the captain and his staff were on the field and joining the others for PT.

Zen, found it much more comfortable without having to wear the vest and turned down the power assist function to add some resistance to her movements. She didn’t do it all the time but always did during PT and strength training. She was especially pleased with the suit’s flexibility as it didn’t restrict any of her capoeira moves. The batteries lasted for over twenty-four hours, and she kept several spares stored on the harness. On the flight back Saturday evening, Mark shared that the groups would be starting weapons training the next week.

Chapter 2

BB had brought Hal down for another visit and loved the new suit. BB said she’d worn the lighter helmet a couple of times to work and people were already asking where they could get one. Sunday morning, Zen played with Hal, and after breakfast helped him make a jigsaw puzzle Margaret had brought for him from her home. He then watched a video while she read reports and looked at the latest data from the gravity waves. When he’d finished, they had lunch, and then BB took him to the park while Zen had a conference call with Wes and his friend in Perth. They were confident they’d have the production processes for the armour worked out within the month with all the people they had working on the problem.

After dinner Zen spent time with Hal and BB until Hal headed for bed then went back to the office to look through the last of the reports. She’d finished them by ten, so she opened the report she’d been looking at the week before. Zen put it beside the similar report from the same group explaining what they’d done this last week. Finally, she had an artist’s rendition of what the construct might look like using the latest data and put that up alongside. She finally put the monitors to sleep and went to bed just after one.

Zen looked after Hal in the morning, and they played hide and seek with his detail and hers. After morning tea, BB took Hal to an indoor swim centre, and Zen sat and stared at the reports again and looked at the construct and then began slowly doodling and making a few notes. When BB returned, she came to get Zen for lunch and said, “You’ve been staring at those all day. What’s wrong?”

“Everything. I mean, it looks alien and all and I sure it’s a fairly accurate representation from all the data I’ve seen, but why did they build it like that. It makes use of the equations like we showed the other week, but it doesn’t appear to make the best use of the available science. From what we’ve been able to work out from the new work being done on gravity fields, there are several other ways they could have made it. Ways which would have used less energy and given it greater protection and manoeuvrability.”

“Would those other designs have caused the same disturbances at this end?”

“Almost certainly.”

“What other options have you thought of why they might have done it this way?”

“I’ve narrowed it down to culture, construction or combat.”

“What does that mean?”

“They’re the three things I’ve seen in these other two reports as well. They’re from the people working on the plans for space. First is culture, so, we’re bipedal and used to both operating in a gravity well and having to deal with air-resistance and other frictional forces. It’s subconsciously defining almost every part of the planning process. Also, the people working on it haven’t been able to put aside the mindset of needing a propulsion system. If we’re going to manipulate gravity and fall through space, so to speak, then we don’t need the huge engines always pointing backwards. I’ve been that blunt with the planning group and in my comments a dozen times, but it hasn’t had much effect. I wonder if that’s why the Draconian construct is shaped like it is. If so, what does that tell us about them?

“Construction could also force a particular structure into the design depending on what materials were available and what the expected stresses were. For example, I’d consider something spherical and without windows. This is going to be piloted using instruments, and the pilot might need some more sophisticated instruments to help know where they are in relation to the other objects, especially with light speed delays to consider. That way we could skip the idea of turning the ship, so to speak. That will save on a range of structures and simplify the design. I’m sure there are other viable options which match the technology better than what’s being considered. Besides the cultural problem people have in envisioning that, we also don’t yet have the expertise in manufacturing what that looks like to allow that to happen seamlessly. Personally, I think we could get there with some work, but no one is prepared to spend the time.”

“Deep down, I suspect their reason though has more to do with conflict. The options someone has for weapons and how to both fire and aim them, change the design options. Their ship is partly formed by the technology to move FTL, but I think they also have some large weapon that necessitates that shape. We’re also forcing the design to match our weaponry rather than seeing if we can change the weaponry to match the most efficient design. It bothers me because an efficient design is the best thing if we want to reach the incoming asteroids on time. There’s also the issue of trying to understand what their weapons are and how that can be mitigated by our defence.”

BB sat and considered the answer then said, “What’s your thinking?”

“Do what I did with the suit. Set up a separate research team as a private enterprise. I know it splits our expertise but hope we’ll have the time to meld the results together.”

“Why are you so resistant?”

“I don’t really want to do something in competition, or that sends the message to the people involved that I don’t think they’re doing their job properly. Also, they do have some of the best, and in some ways, I’d be choosing a team from the second tier.”

“Zen, if you’ve shared your thoughts with them and tried to get them to change then any competition is on them. As for second-tier people, don’t be a snob. You know as well as I do that a lot of people are not at the forefront simply because of numbers. Not everybody can be a full professor, and so others languish in the cold until someone dies.”

“I’m not really being a snob, Mum, I just don’t know how to gauge expertise at that level. I’ve tried, but all those people have joint papers on these things. Even the patents don’t help.”

“Then it’s just as well you have a mother who knows how to network. What do you need?”

“To help with the main ideas I need at least one aerospace engineer, a materials engineer, a mechanical or specialist weapons engineer, several machinists, an interior designer, a superior gamer slash game designer and a writer of hard science fiction.”

“A writer of hard science fiction?”

“I need someone who can see past what is and see what can be without being tied into the current way of thinking.”

“The gamer?”

“They understand what moves can be made and what controls need to be together or separate. They’re not so wedded to the way things are controlled as to how they can give the most control to the player, or in this case the pilot, the engineers or the weapons people.”

“And the interior designer?”

“Engineers tend to be driven by function alone, and this needs to take a step back from that and find a creative way to achieve the same functionality. They’ll learn best in the consultative process, or at least that’s what I found doing the suit. Some of Jamilla’s comments actually brought the engineering into better focus. It helped focus the team on what parts of the function could be adapted and achieve the same purpose and what was essential.”

“I’ll find the engineers and machinists, and you find the interior designer, gamer and author. How will you set it up and how long do I have?”

“I’ll need names to Margaret before next week so she can arrange a conference. If it’s based on the ability to manipulate gravity, we can fly it from anywhere. If I want to be hands-on, which I do, then it’ll need to be near here. I’ll see if I can lease a large section of one of the industrial parks.”

“Will you tell Phil?”

“I’m sure he’ll find out, but if I don’t say anything officially, he’ll be freer to choose how to respond.”

With a decision made, Zen was able to focus on her other responsibilities. After lunch, she finished her reports and answered dozens of queries before contacting Jamilla and picking her brains on an interior designer. Once that was arranged, she contacted several authors to see what traction she could get then got ready for the trip back to Camp Cameron.

* * *

After the morning PT, the squad leaders were called aside again and the process of fitting the internal panels. Civilian teams had added the water, sewage, power and data linkages to pods on the lowest accommodation level. The squad leaders were shown how to fit and secure the internal panels into place and simultaneously connect them to the utilities. Attaching the panels wasn’t complicated, but it did require the same attention to detail as the framework if it was going to last through the years.

Each panel was constructed differently depending on its intended position in the pod. Most were a variety of moulded polycarbonates and most had preformed attachment points on the inside to allow a range of accessories to be added when they became available. The configuration being used for the area the trainees were going to live in set aside two pod-arrays for each shelter. From the design, this provided sixteen regular dodecahedrons with each panel formed in the shape of a regular pentagon. Each edge was two metres in length. The pentagons had all been braced to strengthen the structure, and the dodecahedrons had been aligned with a horizontally orientated base and ceiling.

In each set of eight, five had been configured to provide living quarters for two trainees in each. Of the remaining, one was a communal toilet and shower facility, the other two were configured as common areas. They were outfitted either as recreational areas, small gyms or armouries. Other arrays were configured for offices, more extensive public areas and training rooms. Once the squad leaders were comfortable that they understood what was required, each squad was assigned a civilian contractor to help install the first two pod arrays. Then the trainees were to finish the rest. The pods were large enough that they could be reconfigured to take up to four individuals with comfort. Still, all the research pointed to the larger spaces as being better in the long term for mental health.

This was also the week when the trainees began their training with firearms. Each day, four of the platoons spent the day away from the pods and other training and learnt about the weapons they were to be issued. Each would receive one bullpup assault rifle, the Enhanced F88 (EF88) Austeyr and a Self-Loading Pistol 9 millimetre Mark 3. Once these had been issued, the trainees were taught the main aspects of safety and how to disassemble, clean and reassemble each weapon. They were then taken to one side of the camp where a range had been set-up.

Zen was pleased she’d had the earlier training with John and Miriam. She was tagged by Corporal Sadlier to help give more personal help with several of the trainees who were struggling. Zen was the only trainee issued with ammunition, although several others had shown enough improvement that the corporals were confident they would be able to sign off on their citizen firearm licences within the week.

On Saturday before Zen was due to leave she and Ida were taken aside by Corporal McNamara. “Zen, your dorm will be moving to the pod facility on Monday. I’m assuming you’ll want to share a pod with Ida but need both you and her to confirm that before you go. While you’re gone, we will transport all gear to the other facility. For security reasons we’d like you to take all your gear with you and bring it back on Monday evening.”

“I’m fine to share with Ida. She’s a good friend.”

Ida said, “What? No witty or snarky comments?”

“I have lots but not about this. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.”

Ida nodded then said, “Agreed. Corporal, I’m good to share with Zen.”

The corporal looked back and forth between them and said, “Thank you. That’s all.”

As they walked away, Ida asked, “Do you mind which part of the pod you get?”

“No. I was thinking that’s a lot of space for just two of us and I’m tempted to bring some knick-knacks.”

“Why didn’t they put four of us in them?”

“Half the camps will do that, and one will fit six. Mostly the idea is to get a sense of how it affects mental health. Several of the camps will be fully outfitted with the different accessories and see if that helps when preparing advice for people planning on how to pack their stuff. I’m not sure if we’ll get one of the horizontally split pods, vertically split or shared doubles. If you have a choice, I’d probably prefer the shared double. It has a shared living area and feels more spacious with the open plan, the trade-off is in the smaller sleeping areas. I’m OK with whichever you want.”

“Will we have the option?”

“No idea. I promised not to peek at how they were going to assign them.”

“Why didn’t you go the simple cube-shaped pods? It would make things easier.”

“Some of it had to do with structural stability. I know we could have engineered the cubes, but this used fewer materials in the long run. Some was a matter of aesthetics, including research I’d read on long term incarceration and how curves helped reduce mental illness. The options in this design lend themselves to curvature. Moving from one array to another isn’t something that can be done rapidly. If the bunkers get attacked, then we need the ability to quickly close off sections and slow down invaders. We’ve incorporated exits designed for speed, but they’re hidden in the complex structure.

“The staggering of the arrays lets waste and grey-water connections to be added with the necessary slopes already taken into account. This reduces the distance between levels and needs less water. The array format means people have direct interactions with up to seven neighbours if the pods are single-occupant or fifteen if they’re double. Again this is recommended by studies into mental health and the effects of living in apartments. There are other things, but they’re some of the main ones.”

“Oh, I thought it was mostly because it looked cool and futuristic.”

“That’s a given.”

“Glad we cleared that up. Come on, I’ll help you pack.”

Chapter 3

Sunday morning, Zen read through the reports and researched the people her mother had recommended. She then finalised the list of people she wanted to talk to about the spaceship designs. After lunch, she went to Lucas Heights on the helicopter to speak with Ted and Leon about what the working fusion reactor they’d built.

Once she was in the huge warehouse they’d used to house the reactor, she said, “Is there anything different or new in the design that I won’t be able to pick up easily in the reports?”

“I don’t think so. The gravitational effects inherent in this design decreases the number of neutrons which escape the magnetic shields and increases the internal current. We’re not sure why yet but we think it’s almost certainly associated with the increased presence of Helium-3. We’ve a lot of work to do to understand all that’s happening, but we’ve averaged 314 electrical megawatts and 290 thermal megawatts. One of the models suggests we might be able to decrease the thermal output by a factor of ten or more. To do that we need to find a way to focus the gravitational forces to align with greater accuracy with the plasma flow.”

“Where are you building the next one?”

“In the Jenolan Caves system. We can build one this size, and it should cover the city’s needs at the moment and its close enough to hook it into the grid to help supplement supply. Phil’s also having one constructed at the plastics facility we’re building just north of Campbeltown.”

“When will you make the plans public?”

“Phil and the PM want to talk with you about that. I’ll leave the discussion to them.”

“What about miniaturisation?”

“We’ve done some modelling, and alongside the new iteration of this size we’re hoping to build one half the size.”

Zen looked over the plans and then spent time talking with the team working on manipulating gravity and dark matter. With access to the new reactor, they were hoping to be able to begin some practical experiments within the month. On the way back she was quiet and spent the evening working her way through the different reports from the two teams she’d talked with. She finally went to bed around two after finishing a paper outlining her suggestions on the reports for each team.

Even with the late-night, she was up before six. After a workout and breakfast, Zen was in the office by the time Margaret showed up at eight. It took Margaret two hours to work through the list of things Zen had for her, and then she headed in to see Zen. She said, “Hello Ambassador, I’ve arranged those meetings as requested for after lunch. Agent Friedler will be here in half an hour to escort you to Parliament House for your meeting with the Prime Minister.”

“Thank you, Mrs Cosgrove. Thank you also for helping organise things with Mrs Hahipene. In her report, she was most explicit that you went above and beyond to help her source what she needed. Also, I looked through the timesheets and saw that most of the staff in the office are averaging sixty or more hours in the office each week. I checked across the government offices, and that was significantly higher than average. Should we hire more staff? Are they overloaded? I don’t understand the protocol on dealing with this.”

“Ambassador, firstly, it was my pleasure to help Mrs Hahipene. As for the staff situation, I suspect that we could do with another three or four, but I suspect the hours won’t change significantly. I’m not sure how exactly to explain it, but they want to do the best they can. They’ll read a report three times, just to make sure it’s correct when they would usually send it out with a minimal final edit. They understand the significance of what they’re doing and are trying to make a difference—however they can. The other difference is they know you read their reports and in government that is an unusual thing for a minister or ambassador to do. Having their work valued means a lot to them.”

“Please let them know I appreciate it although I’ll try and let them know as well. Go ahead and look for more staff. I’d best get ready for Miriam, although wearing the suit really cuts down on needing a large wardrobe.”

The PM hadn’t seen the suit Zen wore, except in pictures, and the first ten minutes of their meeting involved questions about the suit. When he asked about the power assist, Zen said, “The initial results are in and the sports medicine people are confident there is no observable damage through using the enhanced function. They did warn that excessive use of the power assist could reduce natural muscle tone if the wearer wasn’t careful.”

“What can it do?”

“It increases body strength approximately three times. The assist function not only uses the energy in the springs to add power, but it also hardens parts of the suit to protect the bones and joints. I could hold someone over my head for over an hour but wouldn’t be able to move far. Another option would be to throw something, or to hit something. Tests have shown the wearer can bend some metal bars and easily punch through a wall, jump higher and run faster. I’m going to slowly use the assist function in my personal training times to lift weights and use the treadmill or punching bag. If I used it with unsuited people, I’d easily hurt them unintentionally. I’ll add more activities when I learn exactly how it assists.”

“How long before you can start producing them?”

“For individuals, we can do that now. The scarcity of materials only lets us make at most two a week besides what we set aside for future development needs. I was thinking that you should have one made.”

“I’m not built to have my body on display like that.”

“Sir, there is nothing stopping someone wearing a suit over the top of it. I know it would give me some peace of mind that you were better protected.”

Phil was nodding slowly and said, “I like the idea. Over a few weeks, we could have better protection in place for you and people like Ted and Leon who’re lynchpins in our response.”

The PM looked at Phil and said, “That would include you.”

“I realise that and I’ve been working out, trying to slim it a bit before I have to get one.”

“You didn’t think to tell me to do the same?”

“I did, but it isn’t polite to tell your nation’s leader he’s a bit tubby.”

Zen was trying not to smile and failing. She said, “Mr Morris, I’ve had Wes setting aside the material since last week. Whenever Phil can arrange it, there is material ready for both of you to be outfitted.”

When they’d finalised the details on the suits, Phil said, “We primarily wanted to talk about the fusion reactor. Giving people the details on how to build them will mean explaining the theories we’ve been working on as well. Ted and Leon have written some scientific papers describing that, but they both agree that without your input they wouldn’t have got this off the ground. They’re uneasy about putting this out without your input and without appropriate recognition being given.”

Zen was silent for a moment, then said, “It’s strange, two months ago and I would have been demanding that recognition. Now I’m more than content to let it go. I’m thinking it’s best coming from CSIRO and let the progress be identified with the government initiatives.”

The PM started chuckling, and Phil said, “That last sentence was almost word for word what several senior ministers suggested. They went so far as to ask that we do a limited polling survey to find the option that gave the government initiatives the greatest boost. While the PM and I weren’t surprised by the results, they were. Just less than eighty percent of those involved in the study were more in favour of the government initiatives when they were shown to have had your close scrutiny and support. Your brand recognition is high, and with the civilian masks being rolled out in the Jamilla West stores that’s only going to improve.”

“And you know about that, how?”

“I’ve been communicating with Wes and Jamilla. I asked them to let me talk with you before they mention their plans.”

Zen was feeling cornered, and the smile on the PM’s face didn’t help. “What plans?”

“They’re wanting to release the masks under a new label, ‘Zhenyi Drakos’. Jamilla has a logo, and Wes has incorporated it into the helmet design. They did some initial testing, and the logo and name had higher acceptance than the study we did.”

“People are crazy.”

“No arguments from us on that, but not about this. This is making sure we use everything at our disposal to achieve our purposes. Less than ten percent of teenage girls still have long hair since you had yours cut. Princess Charlotte also had a short pixie cut, or as they say these days, a ‘Zhenyi’.”

“They do not say that!”

The PM snorted, then said, “I’m truly sorry Zen, but that is what they say. Both my daughters have asked for a ‘Zhenyi’.”

Zen put her head in her hands, and Phil could see she was blushing. He said, “Zen, it’s what you knew would happen. I chatted with Miriam, and she explained your reasoning. It is still sound. They’ll buy your helmets, and they’ll have confidence in the technology because you’re involved. We need to get this out soon, so I want you to stay here until it’s done. How long will that take?”

“I’ve meetings after lunch that’ll take up my time till dinner. I’ve looked at their reports, and we discussed the design. I could add some detail by four tomorrow morning. That way I’ll be back before PT.”

“I wasn’t wanting you to have to do an all-nighter. What about heading back tomorrow night?”

“If I don’t get it done I’ll do that. Still, I’d rather keep to the timetable as I suspect any changes will throw some people for a loop.”

Both men nodded then Phil said, “True. What are the meetings about this afternoon?”

“This and that.”

The PM had to laugh when Phil put his head in his hands and started moaning. When Phil looked up, he said, “I’ve learned that’s your code for I don’t want to tell you but will if forced to.”

Zen nodded and said, “Pretty much. I honestly think it’s better if you wait a few weeks then try and find out on your own. It’ll give you greater freedom in how to respond, and it leaves me free to do something I think I need to without the constraints you might throw my way.”

“Is it illegal?”

“The project itself is neither illegal nor immoral.”

Phil glanced at the PM, who simply raised his eyebrows and left the decision to Phil. Phil said, “OK, I’ll leave it for a few weeks.”

They talked through several more issues then Zen headed back to Draconic House for her meetings. As before she spoke with each person separately before gathering them together in a conference style. Strangely, from her way of thinking, it was the author who found the idea the least feasible. He said, “You seriously think you’ll have the technology available to manipulate a localised gravitational field within six months.”

“Yes, what I’m saying is we already have the emerging technology to do that. The brief goes beyond that, I’m suggesting we’ll be able to nest gravitational fields in such a way as to dampen gross inertial effects. This will allow the craft to undergo gravitational acceleration beyond what the human body can cope with.”

“It just can’t be done.”

“Then you’re probably not the person to help with this project.”

“Wait, wait, I’m sorry if it came across that way. I do want to do this, and already my head is trying to look for how that would work, but if you can do those things then that changes almost everything about how we do space travel.”

“It does, it takes us into the realms that have been the playground of science fiction writers for years. What I need is an accurate, consistent world built with these abilities as a part of our arsenal. I also need an insight into what the aliens might be able to do if their technology utilises these concepts as a part of their mature science.”

“OK, wow, I’m on board. I’ve a group who I work with when doing a book, we toss around the ideas, and that helps keep it real. How much can I tell them?”

“If you’re on board then we’ll discuss it in the group meeting later today. What we’ve done with the other groups I’ve started is to suggest that people are in the group, or they are not. If you need these friends, then make sure they are fully cognisant of what we’re doing and tell them they have to abide by our security protocols. If they don’t they’ll be shut out forever.”

“You have other groups?”

“Yes.”

“Doing what?”

Zen had kept the screen on her face the whole time, and she smiled and stepped back until the suit was in full view. She said, “Like this power-assisted bullet-resistant armour that’s configured for use in space.”

As she finished, she had the helmet slide into its full protection mode. She stepped close, so all he could see was the alien-looking faceplate, and said, “This is the first iteration, imagine what it’ll be like in six months.”

She then had it return to its most open form and said, “So, are you interested?”

“Absolutely, Ambassador.”

Chapter 4

Zen had already made notes about her thoughts and suggestions concerning the fusion reactor technology, so it wasn’t that difficult to pull it together into a consistent paper. By the time she’d finished adding the figures, notes, appendix and other links she didn’t finish until five in the morning. She’d already packed, and as soon as she’d sent the files, she headed out to the helicopter which Miriam had called for when Zen had mentioned she’d be done in ten minutes.

Zen was asleep before the helicopter was outside the Canberra city boundary. When they arrived, Mark waited until they were coming in to land before waking her up. He said, “It’s just after six. Miriam let Captain Payne know you’d be late and he suggested you take your time and join the trainees at breakfast. That will give you time to find where you’re staying and get things set up in your pod.”

Zen checked which of Mark’s team was with them this week then said, “If we’re in the pods, what will you and Brett be doing?”

“Much the same as we are now. General Fletcher also asked us to begin preparing a handbook for operations inside a staggered pod system like this. We’ll be working through the urban combat manual and adapting it. He said you’d suggested it was something we needed to have in place before we got too far into the Pod project.”

“I did, I was hoping he’d give you the task but wasn’t sure.”

“Can I ask why you want it done now? General Fletcher suggested you were the best person to ask.”

“I’d rather adapt the bunker’s design plans early if they need to be tweaked to make the defence of the bunker more efficient. Most combat handbooks are written for a set environment. We wanted to partially design the bunker to make it easy to defend. We consulted with two or three so-called urban-warfare experts during the design phase, but we need a hands-on review to see if it does what we’d hoped. There are ways to adjust the design if it helps with line-of-sight, blocking manoeuvres, clearing procedures and things like that. At this stage, I hope the changes are small, but if there is something significant we need to change things before five-million people are in an un-defendable coffin.”

Once on the ground, Zen stepped out onto the snow then touched the sleeve of her suit before reaching for her bag. Two things happened, her helmet fully closed and the LED circuit layer was activated under the colormesh layer that Wes had added. Slowly the suit turned white and then Zen played with the LED controls and formed a green leaf pattern across the suit to resemble the grass, leaves and branches showing through the snow. Mark said, “OK, that is super cool.”

“I know, right! I’ve only managed to program a few preset patterns at the moment. We’re looking at incorporating tiny sensors and have them map the environment around the entire suit so the suit can be made to basically disappear. With our current technology, you have to move slowly, but it’ll be in my next suit. The biggest problem is it gives off a slightly greater heat signature. We’re looking at ways to add a transparent thermal sink which lets us match local temperatures. At the moment it’s too fragile, but we’ve got some people working on it.”

“How can we suddenly do this when we couldn’t three months ago?”

“We could have, but people don’t like to share. The technology in this was pulled from dozens of research labs from around the world. Once we have it working, we’ll reciprocate and share the tech like we are with the fusion reactors.”

“These companies actually came on board and shared, that’s amazing.”

“Um, sort of. I might not have told all of them that I was borrowing their tech.”

“You stole it!”

“Borrowed! We’ll give it back, and we’ve improved it so they should be happy.”

“Aren’t you making money on this? How will you share that?”

“They’ll be free to make stuff in their locales. We’re focussed on the people coming here. Besides, the money is just for the next year, or so, then it’ll most likely go out of style. At this point it’s just a way of keeping score, so to speak.”

“Are you winning?”

Mark couldn’t see Zen’s face, but he could hear the glee in her voice. “I’m doing OK.”

* * *

As they approached the entry to the pod trainee area, Zen had her suit change back into the black colour. A soldier showed her to the pod she was sharing with Ida. She needed her lanyard to swipe into the double pod array which housed her sleeping group and then into the pod she was sharing with Ida. Their pod was orientated lower than the central walkway and Zen was pleased as she stepped down into it to find it was one of the shared doubles. Ida had left a sticky note saying which of the small sleeping rooms was Zen’s.

Zen left her gear in her sleeping area and then checked the map she’d been handed by the soldier who’d shown her the way. She had a shower to wake up then waited for Ida in their shared area. There was plenty of room to set out seats, desks and entertainment furniture, but all that was there were the chairs that had come from their old shelter. When Ida arrived, she rushed to the showers then gave Zen a hug when she was clean. She said, “The captain said you were held up. Is everything OK?”

“Yes, just had to finish a paper before I came. I didn’t send it through until five. I’m glad we got the shared double.”

“Yeah, this whole array has them. Not much furniture but the captain said there are plans to trial some and he’s put in a request. We do have all the mattresses and stuff for the beds. With some carpeting, a few sofas, a curved screen home theatre system and we’ll be set.”

“We’ve ramped up our domestic production of as much of that as we can and ordered everything possible from overseas. The problem is that most international export sectors have either crashed or their governments are nationalising the entire manufacturing sector.”

“Do a buy-back internally. We could repurpose stuff which people can’t bring with them. We’ve millions of screens in schools, colleges, family rooms that no one will use or even have a way to bring with them. Even if we don’t use them, we’ll be able to use them for parts or even one per pod array.”

“Good idea. I’ll pass it on. We’ve started some schemes like that, but it’s more from commercial enterprises at the moment. It’ll need some work to flesh out into a workable strategy because we don’t have the money to do a buy-back. People have suggested a barter system. Every time we try and work that through it becomes a way for people to achieve a better standard than others even before we start.

“I know the reality is that those who are rich will have a better quality of items than the poor. Long term that’s OK, as long as it fits in their pod and doesn’t drain too much of the city’s resources. That’s why a huge curved screen is unlikely for a single pod unless the energy we get from fusion means that’s cheap and almost endless. If it is, then it’ll be likely people can have that if they can afford to get it in.”

“I thought everyone has two-metre squared.”

“That’s the plan, but we all know that someone will pay their poorer neighbour to let them use half their space. We don’t want to over-police it as long as we don’t have people losing their basic entitlements like space, air, food and water.”

“So, I won’t be able to sell my shower time to someone who wants two every day?”

“If we can stop that happening, then we will. Being clean is a health issue, and that can easily become a community issue. One way around that is the pod array system. We’ll limit the water to each array. If someone in the array barters theirs with their neighbour, then they have to share their array with someone who smells, and they become more susceptible to sharing disease to that pod. Everyone can see ways to rort the system, but we have to try. Truth is, we’re hoping to over-engineer those systems, so water doesn’t become an issue where people feel they need more or less.”

“So what’s the biggest issue?”

“Food. It’s weird, we can make a suit like I’m wearing but the technology to grow food for a whole city without access to farmland and live animals is going to be tough. We can almost do the horticulture but how we get enough of the right proteins in the mix is difficult. If we’re going to have to be an almost closed system, then we still need to improve our waste reclamation technology. We have several think tanks and focus groups working on it. I’m hopeful it’ll start coming together soon now that the energy issue is dealt with.”

“How is it dealt with?”

“We’ve managed to build a stable fusion reactor. They’re starting on two more this week. If we can keep up the pace, then we’ll have the energy to help recycle more efficiently. Of course, we’ll still need to find a good supply of deuterium. The other change might be an increase in the number of cities and decreasing their size. We needed the larger cities when we were restricted by energy. With the technology developed so quickly, we can spread out a bit more.”

They kept talking as they made their way through the tunnels to the dining hall. As they got their food, Ida said, “I am going to find living underground hard though. It’s only been two days, and I miss the sky.”

“That’s another reason for smaller cities. We need to have things for people to do because otherwise, people will struggle to find meaning in their everyday lives. Each of these places will probably end up like city-states, and that means having their own infrastructures for government. With enough energy, we may even be able to filter air efficiently enough to let people have flowers, herbs and even cook in their pods. If we can do that, then if we can get small businesses to start up, that will help with the boredom as well.”

“What can people work toward? What will their dreams be?”

“No idea. If we survive the aliens, then we need to reclaim the surface and even use the new technologies to move off this planet. One group is working on preparing a curriculum which redesigns the whole educational system to help reset our understanding of how we help people achieve their potential. Teachers will be valued and resourced, students who are motivated will have the resources to advance quickly, students with difficulties will have focussed attention. Everything we’re trying to do here in this camp.”

“Dibs on exploring the solar system.”

“What do you have to offer?”

“What?”

“What will you do? I’m cool with people wanting to go, but what will you do? Space marine? Pilot? Environmental specialist? Doctor? Engineer? Astronomer? Miner? Cook? If we’re going to build habitats, and we are, then we want people who bring skills to the program.”

“So, being an exceptionally cute friend of Zen doesn’t count?”

“Leaving the cute descriptor aside for the moment—no. Now, if we need a space marine and your one of the twenty applicants then being known might come into play if it’s impossible to choose who’s most suited any other way. To be honest, though, if it came to that, we’d just take both applicants.”

“Fair enough. I was hoping to be a doctor, but this derailed that. What do I do?”

“Download a medical text and study an extra hour each night. Ask the captain for permission and volunteer in the clinic. Be the person with the answers when they’re needed. Offer yourself as an apprentice to one of the doctors. Everything in our society is changing. If we don’t step up and pull it into the shape we think is good then someone else will shape it to their plans.”

Ida didn’t say anything as she ate and let the other girls ask Zen questions. Every now and then Zen caught Ida looking at her. As they washed their dishes, she said, “I’m sorry if I said something to hurt you, Ida. You are my friend.”

“You didn’t. You just got me thinking. I’ve been mostly passive in this whole experience and letting it direct me. I just realised I’ve not had to give up control of my life so much as I’ve chosen to give it up. I still have options, and I can still hold myself accountable for my future. I think I’d settled to do the best I could in this new reality without realising that I had a part to play in determining what that reality will be. You woke me up.”

Zen reached over and gave Ida a hug then said, “Thanks for explaining. I’m still fragile with the whole having a friend the same age thing.”

“Sheesh, when I meet Sahara I’m going to give her a medal. I really hate to think what you were like before she got hold of you.”

* * *

That night after dinner, Corporal McNamara knocked on their door holding two thick folders. When she’d entered, she said, “Ida, the captain approved your request. You may stay up an hour extra each night as long as it doesn’t impact the rest of the program. Here is the basic curriculum to be certified as a medic in the Australian Army. When you know the theory, then let me know, and the camp doctor will test you. If you pass, and that’s a score of ninety-eight per cent on the test, then you will be released from some aspects of the training to work with the medic. How many others have you discussed this with?”

“Zen and I talked this morning. I’ve had a few conversations with others from this pod array about what Zen said to me, that’s all.”

“I see. Well, it seems you and Zen have started another new trend. I’ve requests from five others to discuss options with the captain for extra study time. One hour only!”

“Yes Corporal, thank you.”

As Ida turned to face Zen, she said, “I’ll be applying for the position of medical officer on that ship of yours, Captain Drakos.”

Zen smiled and said, “Welcome aboard, Commander.”

After they’d stopped laughing, Zen went to bed while Ida sat and started reading through the medic’s training manual.”

Chapter 5

When Zen arrived back at Draconic House on Saturday, she went straight to bed but woke up early. When Miriam entered Zen’s suite on Sunday morning, she found Zen curled up on a sofa, drinking her coffee. Zen was staring at the small fire she had going in the fireplace. Miriam sat and said, “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about everything that’s happened in the last three months. It’s been almost thirteen weeks since I talked to Phil that first time. We’ve come a long way and so much has happened. We’ve got fusion power, we’re almost on target for the cities we’d planned, although with the early warning systems we’ve developed we might need to do more than that with the numbers surviving. Even saying that sounds callous when over a hundred million around the world are dead and five times that number are in refugee camps or homeless. Eighty billion birds are dead along with hundreds of species now extinct. Europe’s harvest prediction suggests they’ll manage to produce less than half what they usually do and rationing has started in dozens of countries. Our pollinator numbers are under half what they were a year ago, and that’s after we moved thousands of hives into protected environments.

“The US has gone from being one of the major centres of the world to being a war-torn fractured landmass with five main epicentres of power. Some areas have no form of government at all. They’ve mostly stopped fighting, but there are twenty million dead. They’re now three months behind everybody else and heading into a winter which will kill another thirty or forty million at least. Several tribal groups have vanished completely through ethnic cleansing programs in several countries in Africa and Asia. On a positive note, North Korea opened its borders, and they’re working with South Korea to build cities.

“Sea levels have risen by ten centimetres, we’ve lost ten percent of satellites and solar activity is increasing. Here we’ve finally got all kids fifteen and older being trained across the nation except the seven percent withheld by their parents. What do we do with families who haven’t participated in the training? Do we lock them out of the bunkers? We’re about to focus on the eighteen to twenty-five age group, and I think we’ll get an even larger proportion of people not participating. I’m not really in the decision-making group anymore, but I suspect people will ask for my opinion.

“The basic infrastructure for the spaceport is almost finished, and people begin arriving next week. I was on the committee that set everything up, but since then it seems to have lost its momentum a bit with all the squabbling and posturing. I’d love to rant a bit about it, but it isn’t my concern anymore either. The face-masks are working well, and we’re managing to produce two thousand a week, but that’s not even a tenth of the demand. We’ll almost double that every week, but it’ll be another three months, at least, before we have even twenty million done. By then, air quality will be killing the elderly and the very young and doing permanent damage to anyone else.

“Even if we have the masks in place we’re still struggling with the processes to provide enough clean filtered air. The masks are set up for it, but we still have to make and distribute batteries and oxygen tanks for those working outside. I haven’t read the report yet, but last week we were almost ready to mass-produce the armoured suits. We’ll still need the MRI and a cast, but by now we can probably make the materials in sufficient quantities to make maybe a hundred suits a week. That’s brilliant, but not even close to what we need to do.

“We’ve started ten cities and need to get moving on another thirty if the smaller city program takes off, which I think it will. We’re manufacturing and installing fifty thousand pod arrays a week. That’s enough for almost a million people and is unbelievable really if you think we’ve got that happening in three months. At that rate, it’ll still take us two years to make room for the hundred million we’ve planned for, and we don’t have that much time. We need to quadruple that number, and then we’ve still got hundreds of other processes to get in place. Sorry to carry on but that’s where my thoughts were this morning.”

Miriam had sat in one of the other chairs and said, “When you lay it all out like that I can see why both Phil and the PM look like they’ve aged five years in the few months.”

“What about you Miriam, how’s the family?”

“They’re doing OK. It was touch and go for a few weeks about whether we could work together with the countries around us. Still, in the end, a common enemy brought a sort of peace to the region. My dad is an engineer, and he’s been heavily involved in building cities for our people. I’ve been able to send through what happens here, so I’m still in Mossad’s good books for now. I’ve some younger cousins, and they’re doing a similar program to what you are but with a much stricter discipline regime. My grandparents are older, and they’re already struggling with things like air quality and access to power. Hopefully the reactors they’re building will come online soon.

“I know you discussed it with Wes, but I took a leaf out of your book and funded a small company which is making masks like yours. We’re a few weeks ahead of the rest of the country with production, and I’m hoping my grandparents don’t just give theirs away when they arrive this week. I thought we were doing well, and we are. You’ve just reminded me that there is even more to do.”

Zen got to her feet and said, “Yep, then on that note, is there anything else I need to know before I head over?”

“Yes. There has been an increase in threats against you and your family. We’ve stopped or thwarted two plans to abduct Hal and your parents in the last week. Mostly mercenaries looking for the payday. The bounty on you doubled when the report of the reactors came out, and it’s doubled again since then. People know you have more to offer and even though you’re giving it away freely some of the countries assume you’re hiding as much as your giving. From what we can tell there are not many feet on the ground yet, but there will be within a few weeks if we don’t come up with tighter security.”

“What do my parents say?”

“They’re more concerned about Hal and you.”

“What do you need?”

“Can you convince them to come here?”

“Maybe, but they love where they are and what they do.”

“They’ll have to choose sooner rather than later. Once they’re in a shelter, it’ll be hard to visit or move.”

“I’ll talk with them. Anything else?”

“Get them suited up, Hal too. I know it’s expensive, but it gives the agents a little more leeway.”

“Do the agents need suits?”

“They can wait their turn.”

“What about the principal agents? Eloise would have more chance to get Hal to safety then. The same would be for Mum, Dad, Phil and the PM. You could have one.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I think Mark is up first. He’s with you more often. How much will that cost?”

“At today’s prices, it costs about one-and-a-half-million a suit.”

“That’s a bit outside our budget.”

“Oh, I’ll pay for them. I’ll explain it to my folks when I chat with them later.”

Miriam slowly nodded then said, “OK, I’ll arrange for the agents to have the MRIs and casts done.”

“Um, how open are you to helping me with a small prank I’ve been working on?”

“A prank?”

“Yes.”

“Who are you playing it on?”

“Mark. I knew he’d be getting a suit eventually and I’ve already had the materials for measuring his suit sent here.”

“You really think its a good idea to rile your main security?”

“No, its a terrible idea but that doesn’t change the fact that I really want to do it.”

“What is it?”

After Zen explained, Miriam finally agreed and was still chuckling when she showed Zen into Zen’s office.

* * *

Zen spent six hours working through the various reports then talked with her parents and Hal. They finally agreed to get the suits made. Zen warned her father what she was arranging for Mark, and after thanking her profusely for not doing the same to him, he asked for video. Miriam had arranged for Zen to be escorted to the new facility she’d leased in one of the industrial estates. Zen spent four hours talking with the team there before being flown to Lucas Heights to speak with the team involved in working to manipulate local gravity fields. By the time she got into bed that night it was after two.

Even so, she was up and in the office at seven Monday morning reviewing more of the raw data and preparing for almost twenty meetings Margaret had lined up for her during the day. At eight, Margaret walked in and said, “Excuse me, Ambassador, do you have a moment?”

“Certainly, Mrs Cosgrove, the first meeting isn’t for twenty minutes. How may I help?”

“Dr Bateman chickened out on something and sent me in to ask you to do it on his behalf.”

Zen just nodded, so Margaret said, “He was supposed to be interviewed by 60 Minutes about the state of the new cities and the progress. They’re doing a special on them next week. He says he can’t make it and wanted to know if you could?”

“Nope, sorry, I’m too busy.”

“Ambassador, I know that is true, but this is something I think maybe you might consider doing. People are afraid and need reassurance. Despite all the rhetoric of the fringe groups, people trust you.”

“When did they want to do the interview?”

“It would need to be this afternoon.”

“Do you know if they’ve been granted access to one of the sites?”

“They’re still working on that, but they wanted the overview first to let them know what footage to get.”

“Let me think on it for a few minutes and please see if I can have fifteen minutes with Phil somewhere after lunch. If I have to do it, then maybe we need to be more proactive and see if we can use it to our advantage.”

By lunch, Zen was exhausted but satisfied that most of the meetings had been productive. She ate at her desk, then went to meet Phil. He said, “Sorry to palm them off to you, Zen, but the truth is, I’m swamped.”

“I understand, how’s the suit?”

“It’s more comfortable than I thought it would be and my detail loves the extra protection. Both the PM and I have been targeted by some locally-grown fringe groups, and it’s a relief to the family as well. Diane asked me to thank you.”

“Should I ask what’s happening between you and Ms Kensington?”

“No, you should leave that alone. Mrs Cosgrove said you wanted to discuss the 60 Minutes thing.”

“Nice deflection. Yes, we’re about to have the eighteen-to-twenty-fives go through some training. We need the rest of the population to get behind both their removal from the workforce for a few months as well as stepping up to put in the extra hours needed to build the infrastructure. I know we clamped down hard on the media when it was in the initial phase, but I couldn’t see where the reporters had been allowed into a training site since then.”

“No, we’ve been focussed on the training and Alistar hasn’t been keen to show what’s happening. We asked the media to step back, and they did.”

“Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if Captain Payne will agree to a reporter being embedded for a week. One of the reporters can come with me for the week. We’ll see the pods in action, both being built and lived in. They’ll need to agree to pixelate the faces. If they do that, then I’ll agree to two interviews, one at the start and one at the end. Not only will they see the training we do, but they’ll get to live in one of the pods. We get to show the training and encourage people to get on board.”

“What if it backfires? What if the response is to push back harder against what we’re doing?”

“Then we know where we stand, and it’ll be easier to draw a line in the sand. Honestly, at this point I’m not confident we’ll have everyone in a bunker by the time the surface becomes too toxic for life. If we’ve been open and upfront and they push back, then I’ll find it easier if they end up being locked out.

“Phil, one of the contractors who’s climbing all over the site where we are is seventy-six years old. He’s got arthritis and has to use the power tools, but he still does a twelve-hour-shift six-days-a-week. He’s got fifteen grandkids and wants a life for them, a future. His wife is working in the kitchens providing food for the workers. They turned up on their own initiative and aren’t being paid. There is no way I’ll stand by and let their family be locked out. I’ll walk past people sitting in their homes and waiting for the bunker to be ready while they moan and complain about austerity measures and conspiracy theories on my way to get his family. By then, I doubt I’ll lose any sleep over it.”

Phil nodded then said, “I’ll talk with Alistar, and if Captain Payne agrees, I’ll let Margaret know.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, before you go, I heard what happened to Sergeant Furneaux, and I suggest you watch your back. Apparently, Miriam arranged your little prank to occur in the SAS barrack here on site. I heard a rumour that Mark proved it is possible to string twenty expletives together in a single sentence without repetition. Both yours and Miriam’s names were also in that sentence.”

“Do you know if they got any video?”

“I can’t say, but I do know that Miriam has taken the rest of the day off and can’t be found.”

Zen was still laughing when she got back to her office.

Chapter 6

Zen went back to work and spent some time adapting some of her suit’s programming to facilitate some additional camouflage options. She also added a voice command module so she could activate it without using her hands. She was still working at six when Margaret knocked on the door jamb and said, “Ambassador, the 60 Minutes reporter and cameraman are waiting downstairs. Do you want to meet them before you leave?”

“Mrs Cosgrove, that was a very nice way to remind me to be a good host. I’m almost finished, then I’ll come down. Were you able to get those few things I’d asked for?”

“I did. They’re in my office. Sergeant Furneaux is also waiting downstairs with Corporal Mousa. If I might, I would warn you to be very careful, the playing of pranks in the military is an honoured tradition and not to be entered into lightly. Your timing was exquisite and your execution flawless, but I’d suggest he has many years experience so you must remain vigilant.”

“Thank you, Mrs Cosgrove, I shall.”

Zen armed herself then grabbed the two small suitcase-sized bags Mrs Cosgrove had for her before walking downstairs. As she left the staircase, Mark and Jean-Marc stepped away from one of the walls near the entrance. Mark was glaring at her, and Zen couldn’t help smiling. It had taken her several weeks to set up the prank, and the look on his face was everything she could have hoped for.

Miriam had given Zen access to the materials sent for soldiers and agents to have full casts of their bodies made. Zen had removed and replaced some of the materials. When they’d covered his body with a coating of oil, they then placed a thin plastic sheet over the skin before applying the plaster. This was to stop his body hair from sticking to the plaster and to get a smooth surface for the cast.

In the oil she’d substituted, there were several additional ingredients. Also, the plastic layer which had been pre-cut for his body shape was made of different materials than the usual plastic sheet. When this was placed on his body, it interacted with the substituted oil in two ways. Across his chest and back, the oil reacted with the plastic to form a waxy glue like the wax used when people waxed their legs and arms. Across the rest of his body, the oil reacted with the plastic to form a dye which she’d been told would wash off after a month or when new skin replaced it.

Although she couldn’t see it, she knew from what she’d designed that there was a rainbow pattern ringing each of his arms and legs with the word ‘A-HOLE’ worked into the pattern. If it had worked as planned, and by all accounts it had, then the same word was printed in bright green across his chest and back in the only places where he still had body hair on his torso. There were arrows etched in orange and purple on his buttocks as the special underwear had also had the die added. Wes had assured her that there would be no problems making an accurate suit.

As she got close, she said, “Ready for another week?”

Mark growled, “Zen, it isn’t funny. I’d arranged for some time with my family this afternoon. My wife and kids came up for the weekend from Victoria, and this afternoon I was supposed to have some alone time with my wife. She couldn’t stop laughing long enough for even a tender kiss. My kids are both under ten, and we’d mostly protected them from your last use of that word, but today they’re running around laughing and yelling ‘Daddy is an A-hole’ at the top of their voices. My wife joins in, and they all do a dance waving their butts around.”

Zen couldn’t help laughing, and she almost had to sit down. Jean-Marc spoke in Arabic and said, “Be careful Lady Zen, he’s still a little raw over what happened when you were shot. This was good for him, but you might let up a little bit.”

Zen came to her feet and replied, also in Arabic, “No problem and what’s with the Lady Zen business?”

“I can’t say, just let that lie.”

Mark was still glaring and said, “What did he say?”

“He suggested I should have made the letters bigger as they’re hard to see with your rather sparse chest hair.”

Mark glared at Jean-Marc and Zen said, “OK, look, I’m sorry I wrecked the family time. I really am. Family is important, and I wouldn’t have hurt that if I’d known. I’m not sorry about the prank, but I am about the timing if it ruined the time with family.”

He shook his head and said, “I know. Just so you know, my wife is a fan of yours and this put you through the roof in her estimation. She and the kids love the timing. She begged me to let you off with a warning, but I’m sorry, I can’t. There will be consequences, and they will be appropriate.”

Trying very hard not to smile, she said, “I knew that before I planned anything. I will warn you that I tend to escalate things rather than let them lie, so do take care.”

Zen could see two people standing near the door with bags. She recognised the woman as Shamara Abbas, one of the 60 Minutes team and a cameraman she knew from her research was Bill Williams. She greeted the two then said, “Are you OK if we talk on the helicopter as it’s getting late?”

Shamara said, “That’s fine. Can we tape the flight in?”

“I’ve no problems you taping anything you want to. You have to pixelate out all faces and names except mine unless you have either Captain Payne or General Fletcher’s permission. If you swing an interview with any of the contractors or trainees then keeping their identity or not is between you and them. The location of the camp is general knowledge by now, so feel free. Captain Payne sets the rules at Camp Cameron so you’ll need to talk with him about what you can and can’t record.”

Zen turned to Mark and said, “Mark, what about you and Jean-Marc? I’m guessing you want zero exposure.”

He nodded and turned to Shamara and said, “As the Ambassador said. Nothing can be shown of the corporal here or me. We’re not thrilled with her whereabouts being exposed but understand it’s a moot point anyway. Even so, we want her security to remain a secret as much as possible.”

Once they were all aboard, Shamara said, “Ambassador, I understand you’ve already been attacked at the Camp.”

“Call me Zen, and that’s true. It was before they added these two to my detail and I was wearing the bullet-resistant stuff the security detail had given me. Both the people who attacked me were known CIA operatives.”

“May I asked what happened to them?”

“They died in the attack.”

“Can you share any more details?”

“As long as its background and not shared.”

Shamara nodded. Zen said, “I should warn you I took that nod as the equivalent as a promise.”

When Shamara didn’t say anything, Zen said, “OK then, um, I killed one, and the other was shot by Camp Security. Two of the camp guards were shot, and two suffered a serious concussion.”

The rest of the trip was spent in silence with Zen trying to get some sleep.

When they landed, there was a squad of soldiers waiting along with Captain Payne. He said, “Trainee Drakos, I’ll let you head in to your quarters. I’ll show Ms Abbas and Mr Williams where they will be staying and set some ground rules. General Fletcher said this was your idea so I’ll add my lack of sleep onto the large list of problems you’ve caused me.”

“I feel suitably chastised, Sir.”

“Good, then off you go.”

Zen waited for Jean-Marc to go ahead of her, then made her way into the array complex. Ida was up studying when Zen arrived, and after catching up on what was happening, Zen said, “I have a present for you.”

Zen opened one of the bags and took out several packages and a tactical backpack. She said, “This is what the special forces medics carry in the field. It’s full, so I suggest you swap out resources at the clinic to keep things in their use-by-date. These other packages and the other bag have extra equipment that you might need, and I suspect they will be hard to come by is a few years. There are titanium surgical tools, a set of different scopes and stuff.”

Ida sat looking at the gear and sat speechless for a while then said, “Really, this is for me?”

“Yeah, there is no way I want to be a doctor.”

Ida hugged Zen then grinned and started opening everything. Zen said, “I’m going to grab a shower and have an early night.”

When Zen got back from her shower, Ida said, “There was an announcement that there was going to be a reporter here with you.”

“Yeah, Shamara Abbas from 60 minutes is here.”

“You trying to sell the program or the pods?”

“Both.”

“Where is she staying?”

“I suggested she and the cameraman stay in one of the split pods. Apparently, they have a few vacant ones near where the corporals are staying.”

* * *

PT times had finally been changed so that they were done in ability groups. The next morning as Zen and her top-level group headed into a large open stadium type area within the arrays, she could see Shamara already inside with the cameraman. Their instructor, Corporal Badcoe, led them in stretches then they started laps. The circuit was set along the outer edge of the flattened area. While it was mostly oval in shape, it followed the slope of the arrays, and there were both descents and ascents. The design allowed for these to be raised and lowered, but for the moment they were set to the slope. Altogether the track was two hundred and fifty metres around. They did thirty-two laps before stopping at the lowest part of the track where a series of bars and obstacles had been set up under the flattened area.

The corporal made them run through the obstacle course three times before another eight laps and then a cool-down stretch. Some of the other groups were still finishing as Zen headed to the showers. She’d been slowly lowering the power assist setting and could feel the resistance with every step. As a result, she was sweating profusely, although the suit was easily capable of wicking that away. As she ran, she’d been careful to keep hydrating.

Zen took the suit off in the shower and rinsed it out. She’d discovered that this kept most of the residual odours from building up. She’d asked Erin, the chemist, to look for ways to help give the suit a proper clean. The outside was easy as most things simply slid off the surface. Once she was dry, she changed into new underwear and rinsed the old then got back in the suit. She hardly wore anything else these days except when she slept. While she waited for Ida, she cycled through the various voice commands. She left the suit matching the camouflage pattern on the jackets and pants issued to the trainees.

When Ida appeared, she said, “OK, that’s cool although the black looks more dangerous.”

Zen stepped close to the wall panelling and in Mandarin said, “Athena, full helmet and set outside to pod panels!”

Her helmet closed in, and the suit changed until it matched the pale blue colour of the panels. Ida looked closely then said, “If I don’t move, it becomes hard to see you, but I still see because of the depth perspective and shadows.”

“We’re hoping the next iteration will be able to match from all angles. I’ve almost finished the software.”

“I understood the word ‘Athena’.”

“Yeah, that’s the code for the suit to prepare for voice commands. Athena, goddess of wisdom, war and weaving. I figured it matches the suit pretty well.”

“When I get mine, can I change the name? Something like Brigid as a goddess of healing.”

“Yes, it’ll be up to the user to choose the code phrase. It’s nothing close to being an AI although I have been adding bits of code I’ve purloined from different places that have been working on the whole AI question.”

“There are times, Zen, when I think you have no morals at all.”

“I have morals, it’s just they’re what my dad would call either under-developed or purposefully piecemeal.”

“I’m pretty sure they are highly developed, so I’ll go with purposefully piecemeal. You ready?”

Zen changed the suit back to the tan brown and green camouflage then followed Ida to the dining area. Shamara arrived a few minutes after them and gathered some breakfast before joining them at their table. Besides Zen and Ida, Noor, Kelly and Quinn were with them. After everyone was introduced, Shamara said, “Sorry for all the questions but is PT that intense every morning?”

Quinn said, “Pretty much. Once or twice each week we get to go for a run outdoors, but they’re really trying to wean us off that.”

“So, what’s it like living indoors, all the time?”

Kelly said, “I’ve found it really hard to get used to. I’m in a split pod, and the isolation is hard. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the communal areas. I think I’d be better with a shared-pod like Zen and Ida have, but even then I miss the sky. Maybe with some pictures on the walls, it will be better, maybe a changing view or something. I know those things are being discussed and I’m hoping we can swing it.”

Shamara looked at Zen and said, “That sounds pretty negative. Do you mind if I report comments like that?”

“Not at all. That’s between you and Kel. I’d rather people prepare for what it is going to be like. I think my only hope is that you’ll be fair and give representative airplay to the range of opinions.”

“What about you?”

“I’m probably not the best person to ask. I don’t mind being indoors and I’ve been able to escape back to Canberra each week. If anything, I miss the wind on my face from when I rode to school each day. As Kel said though, we’re looking for ways to simulate that in some of the public areas but it’s way down the list of essential changes at this point. Kel’s need to see outside is a far more common reaction. The shrinks are trying to decide if in the long term having that idealised view of the surface will be more damaging or not. If the future has scenes with red skies and dead trees, will we want to see that or not?”

Shanara and Ben followed Zen around for most of that first day and then after an interview spent the next few days with different groups. Zen saw little of Mark, but she’d programmed her suit to look for his face in the cameras which constantly checked her surroundings. Each time she saw him, she turned and waved to let him know he’d been spotted. On their flight back late Saturday, he said, “You do realise that suit gives you an unfair advantage and will mean I need to do something sneaky.”

“Of course, I just wanted you to know I was keeping watch.”

Shanara had done a second interview that afternoon. When they landed back in Canberra, she said, “Zen, thanks for arranging that. I’ve enough material for several stories and think it gave me a pretty good grasp of what’s been happening. I’ll be burning the midnight oil tonight if we’re going to get something on air tomorrow so I’ll say goodbye.”

Miriam had been waiting and was talking with Mark off to one side. When Shanara left, she moved towards Zen and then walked with her to the residence. She said, “Both your parents are here with Hal. He was targeted yesterday, and it was almost luck that Elise recognised an attack box being formed by some mercenaries and changed their route. They still tried to abduct him, but Elise managed to get Hal out with him only hearing the shots, he saw nothing. We had three wounded agents and two dead attackers. We have one in custody, and four escaped. Your parents asked us to not mention it until you were back here.”

Zen had stopped to listen and said, “Who were they?”

“Mercenaries, three ex-soldiers from here and four from overseas. The one who was captured is from here and has been charged with treason. We’re still looking for those who escaped. Hal’s asleep, your mother is calm, but your dad is seething. He’s not mad at you but can’t seem to stop snapping at everyone. I even heard him snap at Hal and that’s something none of you has ever done.”

Zen nodded and headed inside.

Chapter 7

Her mother met her at the door, and after a hug, Zen stepped inside. Her dad was there, and she walked to give him a hug, but he stepped back and said, “Where have you been?”

Zen said, “Wow, you really are being unreasonable. I don’t even get a hug. When did you decide this was a reasonable way to talk with family?”

“When people tried to kidnap my son.”

“So, shooting at your daughter hardly ruffles your feathers but trying to grab your little boy eradicates your self-control and turns you into this.”

Ed stepped closer and started talking in Greek and almost yelling as he described how Hal was defenceless and his being kidnapped was her fault. Zen responded calmly but kept pushing at her dad, deriding his loss of calm and his illogical behaviour. When he started swearing, she used Mandarin and said, “Athena, full helmet and power assist to maximum.”

The next time he swore, she swept his legs out from under him, but instead of letting him fall, Zen caught him on her shoulders and lifted him then started walking out of the house. He kept yelling as she easily carried him outside, then headed out onto the front lawn. People came running, but she ignored them all as she walked towards the pool. He was still swearing and yelling, but there was no way he could escape her grip and banging on her back or kicking had no effect on the suit.

When she got to the gate around the pool, she reached down and tore it off its hinges then jumped into the centre of the pool. It was the middle of winter, and the water was only two or three degrees centigrade. Still, Zen felt none of that as the suit regulated her temperature. Ed, on the other hand, had stopped yelling and was trying to get to the edge. Zen grabbed him and threw him back into the centre of the pool. After the third time, he stopped trying to move to the edges and said, “OK, enough, I’m freezing.”

“Have you calmed down?”

A huge sheepish smile lit his face as he said, “I have, you wicked child. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I know it wasn’t your fault. I was just so scared. I died inside when you were shot, but I know you’ve the skills, and he’s defenceless. Will you forgive me?”

She stepped close and after changing the settings on the suit said, “Of course. I’ve just heard what happened and when it sinks in I suspect you’ll need to be the one calming me down. Don’t forget about mum. She might be serene, but she’s still scarier than both of us put together.”

Ed climbed out of the pool and saw maybe fifteen guards with their rifles out and facing the perimeter. He said, “Stand down, everyone. Can’t someone have a simple swim without everyone watching? Ah, where are the towels?”

Zen walked her dad back, and after he’d had a warm shower and changed, he apologised to BB and Miriam then sat opposite Zen and said, “I am sorry.”

“Dad, I’ve already let it go. I need to go check on Hal and get some rest. I’m glad you’re all safe.”

After hugging both her parents, Zen headed to her room. She found it hard to sleep as she kept looking at Hal lying beside her and letting the possibilities swirl around in her head. She did eventually fall asleep, and the next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake by her little brother.

They sat and talked before reading some books and playing, and then Zen took him across for breakfast. It was pretty clear to her that the soldiers were like her dad and angry that Hal had been attacked. Every time they glanced at him, their faces went hard. When Miriam arrived, Zen asked, “Were the ex-soldiers SAS?”

Miriam nodded and said, “One was, he’s the one we captured. Why do you ask?”

“The soldiers are pretty angry.”

“Yeah, when I told Mark, he went quiet, and I could feel the anger pouring off him. They aren’t happy with anyone harming their Lady Zen, especially one of their own.”

Almost whispering, Zen asked, “What’s with the Lady Zen stuff?”

Miriam also lowered her voice and said, “I’ve only picked up a bit here and there, and you mustn’t ever mention it where they can hear. They’ve sort of adopted you as their mascot, but it seems to have almost the sense of a liege or patron. Don’t change anything you do but don’t be surprised if they react strongly if you’re disrespected. Strangely, your prank on Mark just upped their respect.”

Miriam chuckled as Zen blushed then said, “Let it go. You also need to push what happened to one side. You reminded me just last week that we’re in a race and we’re losing.”

Hal made it clear he’d been listening and even understanding some of what they said, he leaned in and said, “Lady Zen never loses her races. She’s the fastest.”

Miriam couldn’t help laughing, and Zen blushed even more then said, “Are you almost full? If you are, we can go watch something, or you can help me do my work.”

“Can I watch some fighting?”

“Why do you want to watch fighting?”

“’Lise and Mummy don’t want me to remember, but I know Nick and Ella were hurt. If I learn to fight, then I can help.”

Zen nodded and said, “Do you want me to teach you some things like I teach people at the gym?”

Hal nodded, so Zen said, “OK, let’s go get cleaned up, then we’ll go to the gym, and I’ll show you a few things.”

Miriam said, “Are you nuts? Your mum will freak out.”

“No, she’ll probably want to talk about it, but she started me when I was five. I know she wishes I’d started earlier. We’ve talked about it before and agreed to wait until he asked to learn.”

BB found them half an hour later as Zen was working with Hal using a simple game to help him develop some basic moves. She couldn’t help smiling as two SAS soldiers helped by making the same motions. When Hal saw BB, he started to move until Zen said, “Hal, focus here please. Wait till we finish before running to Mummy. When we’re in trouble, we have to see what’s happening but keep the focus on the person who is in front of us.”

Hal stopped and finished the game then looked at Zen, who said, “Well done, Hal. Go say ‘Hi’ to mummy after you thank Corporal Neil and Corporal Chelsea.”

Hal turned and thanked the soldiers before running to BB. Zen thanked the two soldiers then went to talk to her mum. BB said, “What’s that about?”

“He asked to learn. He knew something happened and wants to help Nick and Ella.”

BB nodded and said, “Do you have to get to work?”

“I do, but we need to talk this out. I know what happens is up to you and dad, but I’d still like to talk it through with you.”

“Yes, I know. I also want to thank you for dealing with Dad last night. I need one of those suits.”

“We have the materials being prepared. One for Hal too. They were going to be shipped to Brisbane, but we can do the moulds and MRI here this afternoon or tomorrow.”

“Go work for a bit, and I’ll get Hal ready for church. Don’t be surprised if your father drops in to chat.”

As BB headed back inside, Zen made her way to her office and settled down to read through the various reports. The team working on local gravity effects had been given access to the fusion reactor for testing purposes. Some of their results were promising, and their design produced some local changes within ten centimetres of the field emitter. Zen spent an hour getting all the information straight and laid out on the screens around her room. She also mapped the effect in four dimensions on her screens.

She spent a second hour reading through the different papers and making notes around the room and then a third. Ed had dropped by three times, but she hadn’t noticed him, and he’d left her alone. When BB arrived back from church, she and Ed talked through their options until lunch while Hal played with his toys, then BB said, “I best go get Zenhyi.”

Hal jumped up and asked to go, so all three went to get her. They found her still focussed on the gravity issues, but when Hal ran in, she put her markers down and picked him up. She said, “So, you just get home?”

Hal said, “No, we’ve been back for a long time. Mummy and Daddy did talking, and I did drawing and made stuff. What are you doing?”

“I’ve been working on ways to make us fly like you do in a plane. Oh my, is it lunch time already? What will we eat?”

“Macadonalds!”

“I don’t think McDonald’s is healthy for you, what do you think?”

“I want Macadonalds. I want to play in the playground.”

Zen looked over at Miriam who’d followed Zen’s parents over. Miriam started to shake her head, then sighed and said, “Let me check.”

Half an hour later, Zen, Hal, BB, Ed and fifteen SAS in full tactical gear stood in line at the McDonald’s store in Fyshwick. Hal had a Happy Meal while Zen had a Double Quarter Pounder with fries and a strawberry shake. As she ate, she could see the crowd gathering outside but ignored it as much as she could. When she’d finished, she watched Hal while he played in the playground. Several families braved the frisking and the soldiers, but most people waited outside and stood taking pictures.

After half an hour Miriam signalled it was time to leave and Zen did one last slide with Hal then carried him out to the car. She ignored the comments and questions but took the time to smile and notice people. As she got in the car, she turned to the driver and said, “Tell Miriam there are three people at the back of the crowd who are in the ASIO database. It identified them as working for India’s R and A Wing. I’ll send the pictures to her phone.”

Zen downloaded the pictures from her suit’s cameras and sent them through to Miriam. Within minutes all three had been surrounded by the SAS and were in custody. Miriam got back in the car and told the driver to head back, then said, “How did you recognise them?”

“I’ve linked my suit to ASIO’s facial recognition program, it highlighted them on my display panel. I have it set to monitor for threats. It’s still a bit experimental, but I’m slowly adding more options.”

“Then you’re right that we need that capability. They were quick to be on-site, so that’s the last trip to McDonald’s for a while.”

Back at Draconic House BB took Hal in for a sleep and Ed followed Zen to her office. He said, “I dropped in a few times this morning, but you were pretty focussed.”

“Yeah, I’m working on the localised gravity effects and making suggestions from what I think has been happening. It’s already pretty clear we need to have more power, so I’ve also been looking through what’s been happening with the fusion plants. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to chat, and I sort of feel bad about throwing you in the pool.”

“Don’t be. I needed it. I think the rage has slowly been building up inside since this whole thing started and it just boiled over.”

“How has mum been dealing with it?”

He was almost glaring as he said, “By her religious mumbo jumbo!”

“Whoa, that really touched a nerve, Dad.”

Ed stepped back, then said, “I just don’t understand how such a smart woman could fall for the fables and stories.”

“Is she? Is she smart?”

“What?”

“Do you really think Mum is smart? Is she intelligent?”

“Until I’d seen all you’ve done I would have said she’s the smartest person I know.”

“Is she crazy? Is she loopy? Does she believe everything and anything she hears?”

Ed sighed and said, “No, she’s the most level-headed person I know, and that includes you.”

“Is she honest? Does she have personal integrity?”

“Yes, I’d say it’s almost a failing of hers.”

“Then your conclusion is false. She hasn’t fallen for fables and stories. I’m not saying she’s right, but I would say I’m pretty convinced she’s not delusional. Are you sure you aren’t angry because she came to a different conclusion than you have and it’s forcing you to take another look at something that’s pretty central to your self-identity, something you’re happier to leave alone?”

“What are you? A shrink?”

“My new room-mate’s mother is a shrink, I’ve picked up some stuff.”

“I don’t believe in God.”

“OK! Why not?”

“There is no evidence?”

“Where have you looked?”

“The world is too chaotic for someone to be in control?”

“Chaotic or evil.”

“Evil suggests an objective morality exists.”

“Chaotic says nothing about the presence or not of a god figure. What is your hypothesis?”

“There is no god.”

“If one of your students tried to propose a hypothesis, ‘there is no such thing as aether’, you’d fail them. If they said, ‘there is something called aether that does blah blah blah’ then you might pass them. It would depend on whether or not they defined what they were talking about and showed that they’d taken the different variables into account. When they showed the hypothesis was false, you’d suggest they redefine what they mean by aether and try again.

“In the same way wouldn’t you suggest the hypothesis is that there is a god who has control over the world, or over the universe, or over the weather, or whatever? You can then look at the evidence one way or another to see if it supports your hypothesis or not. That’s what mum did. She read the various treatise and evaluated the evidence then came to a considered opinion. She defined what she meant by ‘control’, and all those other things god is supposed to do.

“If anything, your rabid denial is closer to believing mumbo jumbo than her faith. If you really think she’s wrong then go back to the evidence and work your own way through it and show her where she’s in error. Personally, I hope you are right, but I think you’ve been approaching the issue like a troglodyte.”

Ed stared at Zen for almost a minute before his face slumped and he said, “I like my position. It lets me do what I want to.”

Zen hugged him and said, “Why do you think I like your position too? My only problem is I think the people who tried to attack Hal are wrong no matter how you look at it. People would say that from their perspective, they’re ethical in protecting their own people. I think that’s rubbish. There are so many things people explain away that I believe are always wrong—things like rape, child abuse, torture. I know I picked extreme things, but if I start getting more precise, I start questioning my own actions, and I want the freedom to steal knowledge to help my family.

“I like being the one who chooses right and wrong, but there’s enough grey in that that I have to think there might be a god or something that’s beyond my understanding that’s got some power over things. I have to give Mum a fair hearing sometime—especially if I’m going to have to make decisions on which million people live and which million people die. The survival-of-the-fittest just doesn’t seem right. I’m looking for a way to decide that without having that weight on my conscience, which, by the way, is another reason I’m agnostic.”

Ed brought her in for a hug and said, “You’re right. I’ve been unfair on your mother, and the reason is I like being master of my own destiny. If I promise to think about the issue more objectively, will you help me understand what these equations mean?”

Zen laughed then walked Ed through the different boards.

Chapter 8

When BB came to find them, she was dragged into the discussions, and they had to take turns trying to play with Hal. In the end, Zen left her parents looking at the boards and played hide and seek through the offices with Hal. She roped several agents into the game, and it was almost an hour before Nakul said, “This isn’t just a game, is it?”

“No. He needs to learn to be still, to move slowly, to have an exit. A few years from now, this might save his life. These are things we’re learning in our training.”

“I’ve nephews and nieces his age. I’ve not given a thought to how to help them. How do we get the message out?”

Zen thought for a bit, then said, “We’ll ask the ABC to change the format of shows like Playschool. They’ll change the games to teaching the kids skills like this. I’m not an expert in either children or evasion, but we need to get a group together and work on preparing kids. I’ll see if I can get a think tank working on this before I head back on Monday night. There are so many things slipping through the cracks because we’ve no time.”

After dinner back in her suite, Zen played with Hal on the floor while they all watched 60 Minutes. The entire show was focussed on the pods, but the presenters explained they had material for another show and that it would be aired the next week and would focus on the training the teenagers were going through. Hal loved the footage of Zen in the pods. While Shamara had included Kelly’s comments, she’d also added Zen’s personal observations.

BB turned the TV off as the credits rolled through and said, “How soon before people will be moving into the pods?”

“We’re filling them as they’re built at the Jenolan Caves site. They’re struggling to stay on top of the food needs and waste management, but we need to house the people from New Zealand somewhere. We’re also slotting other refugees in where we can. The hardest thing is knowing if those people are buying into the program as a whole. What do we do if one of the families from New Zealand decides to just laze around all day and not pitch in? Do we toss them out after saving them?

“We want to start moving in the most vulnerable, but that means bringing in their carers and probably their families. Not all of those are on board by any means. Some expect us to look after their ageing parents while they still continue to march in protest at these measures we’ve put in place. It’s an ethical and administrative nightmare. People like you guys and Wes and the others working on getting things done are still generally safer in enclaves like this place, but that’s also because all our production resources are here.

“There’s been some talk about building a central command bunker, but we’re all wary of how that will work out in the long run. I trust the PM and Phil, but I’ve still doubts about some of the others. Ten years from now and I’m not sure what’ll motivate me, especially if my head’s been filled with war, loss and suffering. All that to say, I don’t know. I do know I want to be in the same place as you three. At the moment, though, I have to be here and at the Camp.”

Ed said, “We talked this afternoon, and we think we need to move down here for all our sakes. We’ve been a bit lost without you, and even though you’re an adult now, we still want to be a family. We can both do our classes online, and we’ll talk it through with the university and work out the timing. Having the suits will give us a little leeway with how soon we make the move, but know that we’ll move to where we can be a family.”

After a group hug, Zen took Hal up for a bath and tucked him in before heading back to her office.

—

She put aside her work on the gravity fields and read through the other reports she’d been sent from the various groups and people she was responsible for. She finally finished this at three in the morning and headed for bed, exhausted. Hal woke her just before five-thirty and asked for another lesson in fighting. Zen spent time helping him do some basic warm-up exercises then they practised the moves from the day before. This was really nothing more than learning how to do a straight punch with each hand and a straight kick with each foot. She also worked on helping him do some basic gymnastic rolls and tumbles.

After half-an-hour, Zen got into her suit and they headed over for breakfast. Both BB and Ed had MRI’s scheduled, but Wes had suggested Hal have a more generic suit made. It would have the same defensive capability but without the extra power function beyond helping carry the weight. He’d talked with several paediatric physiotherapists, and they’d all mapped out the main areas where he could put the springs.

He’d also sent a different form of mould. This hardened almost instantly once a catalyst was added. Zen had to arrange for Hal to be standing in a liquid that had a gel-like consistency. She then had to get him to stand still and add several drops of the catalyst using a long probe to make sure it was evenly spread through the mixture. Within thirty seconds, the gel would turn solid but still have a slight give so Hal could breathe.

Before seven, Zen dropped Hal back to her parents and prepared for the long list of appointments and meetings Margaret had arranged. By noon she was exhausted and was glad when Hal and BB visited to get her for lunch. Hal stayed with Zen in her office after lunch while BB and Ed went to get their MRIs. Hal watched a movie while Zen finished the last of her video conferences and wrote up the ideas she’d had with Nakul the day before.

BB and Ed picked up Hal mid-afternoon, leaving Zen a few hours to wade through the pile of reports that had accumulated on her desk. Over three-quarters were summary documents collated by her staff on topics she’d requested, putting together information from research and reports generated across the globe. The rest were a sampling of outliers that either contradicted the consensus views or didn’t fit neatly into any of the categories she’d set up.

When Zen didn’t arrive for dinner with the family, BB went to see how long she would be. She found Zen standing at the podium facing the wall of screens and making notes on her laptop. Each of the screens showed data in some form. Several were graphs; others were tables of numbers, lists or diagrams. BB watched Zen for a few minutes, then stepped up beside Zen and said, “Zen, dinner’s ready. How long will you be?”

Zen shook her head as if clearing it, “I can come now. This can wait, and maybe a break will give me some focus.”

Taking a last look at the screens, Zen turned everything off then turned to leave with BB. BB said, “What’s the problem? I only had a brief look, but the screens I looked at seemed disconnected.”

“They are. They’re from the summaries my staff put together on a whole range of issues. They’ve basic similarities because they have to do with what’s happening, but the issues are diverse and cover everything from changes in sea level to the production numbers for the plastic recycling program. Something seems off.”

“What do you mean? Off?”

“Um, it’s hard to explain. I’ve been reading through everything, and it all makes sense. The data is clear, and it brings together what’s happening in the various areas of research and preparation. When I’d finished reading it the first time, it was like working on a Sudoku and then realising that whoever designed it hadn’t given you starting numbers that had a unique solution. Something is missing, but I can’t see what it is. There’s a part of the puzzle that I think my subconscious expects to be here, something I should be seeing, but I’m not.”

“Are all the reports there?”

“Everything I’ve asked for and several I hadn’t. Even the set of reports I’d asked for about outliers and opposing research covered pretty much what I expected.”

BB continued asking questions until they reached Zen’s apartment. Once there, they both changed their focus to Ed and Hal. After they’d eaten, Zen played a card game with Hal, then helped with his bath and put him to bed. Once he was asleep, she chatted with her parents about their plans for moving to Canberra. BB’s father had finally been given the all-clear to fly, and he and BB’s mother were due to arrive mid-week. The plan had been for them to stay with BB in Brisbane, but Ed had convinced BB to stay in Canberra with Hal. They’d made arrangements for Zen’s grandparents to fly directly into Sydney before coming to stay with BB.

“Are you guys going to live here?”

“We won’t be here at Draconis House, but Phil’s arranging something nearby. Several of the embassies have closed. They are being converted to temporary high-security accommodation until they have to move to one of the pod sites. Dad will be going back to Brisbane for a few weeks to finish up some research he’s doing. Even though most direct-contact classes have already been phased out by the university, we’re still teaching online, so I can teach from here.”

“What about your research?”

“I can do everything here as easily as I could in Brisbane. Your gravity equations and the DBDP really opened things up, and I’ve got more research options to choose from than ever. Both dad and I are busier than I can remember.”

“I read a report on the work you two are doing. I’m just glad you can do it from here. I’m actually surprised you have time to teach classes.”

“We’re no longer teaching anything at the undergraduate level. Most of our students are either doctoral or post-doctoral candidates. Two of my so-called students have won the Nobel prize in physics, and they’ve enrolled in my class as the fastest way to get up to speed with what’s happening. The truth is Dad and I are just keeping ahead of the curve. Our understanding of gravity, dark matter and relativistic effects is growing exponentially.”

Zen’s face slumped slightly. She said, “Yeah, I know. I tried to read some of the latest research and realised how out of touch I was with what’s been happening. I glanced through the draft paper you and dad co-wrote on a theoretical model to explain observed fluid-dynamic properties of dark matter within artificially modulated gravitational fields, and I still can’t understand why you used Muronga’s equation for entropy 4-current to describe the dissipative fluxes.”

“At the moment it’s the best option we have. We know it doesn’t explain the fluxes entirely, but it gives a good approximation for the moment.”

“Why didn’t you extrapolate from your work on gravitational gradients and dad’s work on decompositions?”

Both Ed and BB froze. After a prolonged pause, Ed said, “Because it didn’t occur to us. What are you thinking?”

Zen seemed embarrassed and looked down briefly. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Well, I thought maybe you could incorporate the work we reviewed from that work at CERN on leptonic flavour. I think mum’s work on dark matter suggests that it might be made up of several flavours in the same way that leptons and quarks are. If you extrapolated the fourth-order Lorentz boost that’s implied by her work on gravitational gradient and combined it with a Thomas–Wigner rotation to take account of the non-collinear boosts generated by both the quasi-flavour suggested for dark matter, and what you would get from your suggested modification to Reynolds decomposition I think it would not only describe the fluxes but also explain them.”

BB’s eyes went wide as she focused on Zen. She slowly reached out and brought Zen in for a brief hug. Letting Zen go, she said, “That’s brilliant. What made you think of it?”

“I don’t know. The different pieces just seemed to go together somehow. Besides, it’s only a thought and might not work. I only did a rough model of what I thought, and while it looked close, it might be no better than what you did.”

“Maybe not, but it does flow from the theory, and it makes more sense than using Muronga’s equation to simply describe what we’ve observed. Before you go tonight, send me the notes you made, and I’ll work on them with dad. If you’re right, then we’ll be another few steps closer to being able to artificially generate useable gravitational fields.”

Ed, though, had already grabbed some paper and had started to scribble some ideas. Within minutes all three had their heads together discussing the concept. In the end, Zen had to force herself to leave the discussion around midnight so she could get to Camp Cameron and get some sleep before having to do PT the next morning. Miriam was waiting with Zen’s bag.

Miriam said, “Almost a metre of snow has fallen since you left, and another storm front is already moving in. We’ll land near the base of the mountain, and you’ll need to finish the trip on some army snowmobiles they’re bringing down for you. Phil suggested you wait here a week, but when I talked with Captain Payne, he said they’ve planned several group training exercises and thinks you should be there. You’ve the deciding vote.”

“If Captain Payne thinks I should be there, then that’s what I’ll do. He’s been understanding about the constraints on my time and has reworked things around to fit my schedule.”

“I was pretty confident that’s what you’d say. Mark and Jean-Marc are waiting outside. They’ve both been fitted with suits and want you to upgrade the software from the standard package that was pre-installed. Wes said your personalisations are at least a generation ahead of what they use at the moment. He said you’re still working through what should and shouldn’t be included, and that’s why it isn’t for everyone.”

“No problem, I can’t give them what I’ve got, but I’ll upload some add-ons that’ll boost their capabilities.”

“Why not what you have?”

“Um, it’s still a work in progress and needs more testing.”

“I’ve known you long enough to know that was only a partial truth.”

“No comment.”

“Do I need to know?”

“No. Well, maybe. But I’m not saying anything until we’re in one of those super-secure rooms cut off from the world and you’ve signed an NDA in blood.”

Miriam stopped and turned Zen to look at her. Miriam said, “Have you explained what you’re doing to anyone?”

“Nope, and I don’t plan to share anything in the foreseeable future unless I’m forced to. Let it go, please. Have a little faith.”

“Oh, I have faith. Faith that whatever you’re doing is several steps beyond the crazy and dangerous sci-fi scenario that’s running through my head. Please be careful.”

Zen grinned as she pulled free of Miriam. “I’m always careful.”

“Hah!”

Zen spent a few minutes complimenting her guards on their suits as the pilots did a final check before taking off. Zen had hoped to sleep on the flight, but after uploading the add-ons to their suits, she spent the trip writing a detailed email to Mrs Cosgrove. Her conversation with Miriam had helped her understand what had been lacking in the reports she’d read.

Chapter 9

Two of Camp Cameron’s security force were waiting with five snowmobiles at the edge of the wilderness area. The helicopters had stayed low and flown beneath the thick snow laden storm clouds. Zen knew from listening that they’d been flying blind and relying solely on the instruments for the last twenty minutes. As soon as Zen and the soldiers had disembarked, the helicopter disappeared back into the night the way it had come. Zen followed it briefly using the infrared cameras on her suit.

Zen and her SAS guards could see reasonably clearly in the overcast conditions using the suit’s multiple cameras and sensors. The program Zen had been working on compiled the various signals and put the assembled image on their suit displays. The two security personnel from the camp were wearing night-vision goggles. Zen asked her suit to connect her, Mark and Jean-Marc to the soldiers through their communication system.

Once they were connected, one of them, a sergeant, said, “It’s not so bad down here, but the storm’s still dumping snow up at the camp. Even so, the trip should be fairly straightforward and shouldn’t take more than an hour. Mark, we’ve planned a different route back to camp than the one we used to come here, and the patrols who’ve used the route before suggest there should be no problems even in the current conditions. Can you see with those suits, and are you OK with the plan?”

“These suits actually give better views than what you’re wearing. We’re fine to follow your lead on the route. Zen, if we are attacked in this weather, I doubt they’ll be aiming to kidnap you, so leave the response to the four of us. I want you to go to ground and hide. To be safe, though, let’s switch things up—you take the fourth position behind Jean-Marc and me.”

Zen changed her suit’s settings to match the falling snow. Her latest changes included subtle movements in the pattern to resemble her changing surrounds. As she sat on the snowmobile, the suit below her thighs changed to blend with the snowmobile’s colouring. The program update she’d uploaded for the other armour had included the new camouflage option so she sent instructions to Mark and Jean-Marc to speed things up. Soon it was almost impossible to see the riders on the three snowmobiles in the centre of the group. After checking everyone was ready, the corporal who’d come down from camp led the way from the clearing. Within metres, the five had disappeared from sight, and even the sound of the motors was muffled, and then swallowed, by the falling snow.

They’d been travelling for just over twenty minutes and were working their way along a thin track which ran lengthwise along a steep ridge when a stream of bullets from several automatic weapons on the hill above them shattered the silence. The attack was focussed on the four snowmobiles at the rear, with most being directed at the three in the centre. Five of the bullets hit Zen on the torso, and two hit her helmet. Although most of the bullets’ momentum was absorbed by her rapidly hardening suit, enough remained that, when combined with the bullets that thudded into her snowmobile, she momentarily lost control of the vehicle. Instead of dragging the machine back onto the trail, Zen let herself slide sideways off the seat to roll several metres down the side of the hill.

Both Mark and Jean-Marc had also come off their snowmobiles, but with their new armour, they’d not suffered any injuries. Jean-Marc’s helmet had been hit four times, and structurally its protection capability was compromised even though it continued to filter and warm his air—his display was undamaged. He’d slid partially down the hill while Mark had dismounted and knelt on the trail sheltering behind his snowmobile. The sergeant who’d been behind Zen had been blown off the side of the ridge and was several metres lower down than Zen.

Zen shifted her EF88 Austeyr assault rifle to her hands and started shuffling back along the ridge toward the downed sergeant. Even as she did, a red danger signal flashed on her OLED display and then showed an image of the corporal who’d been leading them. He had turned to face along the trail and was aiming the weapon at Mark. Even as he lifted it, Zen swung around and sent two short, fully automatic bursts in his direction; one burst hit him in the face and the other his chest. As the danger signal disappeared, Zen swallowed several times—she’d killed one of her own guards. Taking a deep breath, she knew there was nothing she could do, so she slithered the rest of the way to the wounded sergeant.

Both her SAS guards had begun firing up the slope towards their attackers but Zen ignored the firefight. After re-slinging her weapon, she used the power assist function to move the wounded man until he was lying flat, and she could see the front of his body. Speaking in Mandarin, she said, “Athena, identify and triage the wounds.”

Even as the voice she’d chosen for her suit began listing the wounds that showed up on the suit’s sensors, six more danger symbols appeared on an image of the slope above where she was. Zen interrupted the list of injuries and said, “Athena, send those locations to the other suits. Make sure to highlight them and send updates if anything changes.”

Zen had been working on the suit’s programming even before she’d actually received hers, and since she’d been wearing it, she’d been constantly adding and updating a wide range of different protocols. Often she’d done this while listening to lectures or during training exercises. One addition had been to upload information from the folders Ida had received using an electronic copy Zen had found in the folders. She’d then added some code she’d stolen then created a filter to let the suit access the material using the included flowcharts and a range of diagnostic subroutines. The end result was it gave the suit the ability to make a range of first-aid decisions.

The suit identified the two main concerns as a wound to the sergeant’s right upper leg where a ricochet had broken the femur just above the knee and then travelled along the leg muscle, ripping open the femoral artery. The other significant wound was in his upper chest, again on the right side where Athena suggested it had pierced his lung.

Zen noted the order that it was recommended they be dealt with and asked, “What’s recommended to deal with the leg?”

“Pressure on the wound site and above. Bare the leg and apply a tourniquet five to seven centimetres above the exit wound. Use a broad trauma bandage and tighten until the bleeding stops. Packing the wound with gauze is also indicated.”

Zen pulled her knife and started to cut the clothing from the upper right leg when her display flashed red. She heard Mark yell, “Grenade!”

Even as her suit highlighted the small bomb heading in her direction Zen flung herself over the sergeant, wedging herself against the slope above his body, her arms holding him tight. The grenade would have landed landed a metre up the slope from Zen’s body but it exploded a foot above the ground. Zen felt the whole back of the suit go rigid, then she and the sergeant were blown tumbling down the hill, Zen’s hardened body armour protecting both her and her patient. When Zen’s intentional movements inside the rigid suit were picked up by the sensors, the armour softened so she could slow, then stop, their descent. Mark yelled, “Zen, you OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Throw down a first aid kit.”

“I’m on my way.”

“No, it’s not for me. Just throw it here.”

Mark pulled the first aid kit from his pack and tossed it down before both he and Jean-Marc responded with grenades of their own and advanced up the hill.

Zen had to scurry across the slope to get the kit but by the time the sounds of fighting died out, she’d cut off the sergeant’s entire pant leg and used it as a tourniquet before wrapping a hemostatic bandage over the leg wound. She then focussed on the chest wound. The sergeant hadn’t responded to anything Zen had done except that his breathing had become more laboured. Zen could see bubbles in the blood coming from the wound in his side. Athena directed her to cover the wound with a vaseline covered gauze then tape it so no air could enter the chest cavity.

As she finished taping the gauze in place, Mark’s image appeared on one side of her display. He was coming down the hill toward her. He said, “There were six attackers. Four are dead and the other two were wounded and escaped. From the blood trail, I think at least one of them won’t get too far. Corporal Jenkins was killed. Were you hurt?”

“No, the grenade tore up the back of my suit and did a lot of damage, but the armour stopped everything. The sergeant, though, is in a bad way. He’s lost a lot of blood, and I want to get an IV line in for the Ringer’s solution. He needs to get to a hospital.”

“We’re twenty minutes from anywhere, and the radios aren’t strong enough in this terrain and with all this snow to get through and we don’t have enough working snowmobiles to take everyone. I’ll stay here and watch the sergeant while you go with Jean-Marc and get help.”

“I’d rather stay to help with the sergeant while you keep watch. I don’t trust them not to circle back on you.”

“I’m aware of the danger, Zen, and that’s why I want you to go.”

Zen took a deep breath to argue then let it out slowly. She said, “OK, if you think that’s best. Do you know how to put the IV in, or do you want me to do it before I go?”

“I can do it, but how do you know how to? We had to train for it.”

“I don’t, but I uploaded the medic course to my suit. It’s also programmed to use the cameras and sensors to help identify problems and to direct action.”

“That would be useful. Can you transfer that programming to mine?”

Zen’s answer was direct, but without any sense of deceit, “No.”

Mark paused then said, “OK, we’ll do it your way. Jean-Marc, take the corporal’s snowmobile and get help. Zen and I will stay here and look after Kent.”

Jean-Marc quickly transferred his gear to the snowmobile then disappeared up the trail. Mark said, “First, I want to thank you for the way you responded just a moment ago. It made my job easier and it let me think about what you were saying objectively. Let me dig away a flat section for you to lie Kent on, then I’ll set up on overwatch in case they come back.”

Zen got the IV bag ready, and after Mark had moved Kent to a more protected flat area further along the slope, he watched as she inserted the IV. He said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone get the vein first go before.”

“Athena used the suits thermal sensors to outline its position for me. Her voice let me know when I’d reached the right place.”

“Athena?”

“That’s the name I’ve given to my suit’s controlling software. It’s the phrase I use to activate the voice-activated option.”

“How soon before we can get add-ons like that?”

“You already have the voice activation option, but it’ll be a while before some of the other upgrades give you full use of the sensors. They’re still a work in progress.”

“I assume it was you who sent the attackers’ positions. That really increased the effectiveness of our response. Those sub-routines of yours were critical to ending the fight so quickly. We need them as soon as possible.”

“Um, I’m glad it helped.”

Mark noted the slight hesitation and said, “Zen, you do realise you’re not very gifted at deceit.”

“That’s not really accurate. It’s just I haven’t had much practice at being deceitful verbally. My parents don’t lie to me, and until this year, I never really talked to anyone who I needed to deceive. My dissimulation before that was achieved almost solely through silence and gestures. People can’t tell why you’re quiet, so it’s easier to mislead.”

“So what didn’t you want me to find out?”

“Why would I suddenly tell you? I still don’t want you to know about it.”

“Did you steal the code which highlighted the attackers?”

Zen said nothing, and with the mask on Mark didn’t get any visual clues. After a protracted silence, Mark said, “OK, point taken. I’ll let it go. I’ll move up toward the trail and set up. With the masks not broadcasting except through the headphones, we can still talk if we have to.”

“Before you go, can you help me wrap Kent in a thermal wrap? He doesn’t have the suit to keep warm, and he’s losing heat pretty quickly.”

Mark helped lift the body so it could be wrapped. Halfway through, Athena said, “You need to check if the leg wound is still bleeding and if you can remove the tourniquet.”

Zen said, “Mark, hold on a second.”

Zen loosened the tourniquet, and when the wound started bleeding, she quickly retightened it and said, “Athena, what options are there?”

“The lower leg is not receiving any blood and will probably need amputation if it is not preserved in some way. The manual suggest wrapping it in something waterproof then storing it in cold iced water.”

Zen said, “Mark, can you hand me one of the large bin liners from the first aid kit?”

Putting the leg in the waterproof bag, Zen used tape to seal it, then left the leg out of the thermal wrap. She took a second bag and added snow until it was a quarter full before emptying her water bottle into it. She then put the sealed leg in the second bag. Finally, she packed snow around the leg, making sure to have a layer of iced water between the snow and the first covering.

Once she was done, she settled herself near Kent’s head with one gloved hand resting on Kent’s neck inside the blanket. She instructed Athena to keep a watch on his vitals using the glove sensors and let her know if anything changed. Meanwhile, Mark had made his way up the slope to the place head chosen. Nothing had been said for almost five minutes when Mark said, “Zen, there wasn’t much we could have done to prepare for that attack and to be honest, I’m pretty surprised the Americans are still after you with all the trouble they’ve had.”

Zen took a while to think through what had happened, then said, “It wasn’t them.”

“Nobody else wants you dead. Everybody else wants what’s in your head, and they would have gone for a kidnapping.”

“Will you keep this conversation just between you and me for the moment?”

Mark went quiet for almost a minute, then said, “OK, I won’t say anything unless I get the clues from elsewhere. Even then, I’ll only say something if it’s going to affect your safety.”

“Your suit records everything but its equipped with a privacy setting—and you need to tell it to keep the conversation quiet and you have the option to set a codeword. I keep everything coded and private, so it can only be used if I want to release it.”

There was silence, then Mark said, “OK, this is now private.”

Zen paused then, with a calm but lifeless voice, said, “I’m pretty sure this was domestic.”

“What? No, Zen, we checked the dead and everything points to them being ex-military and probably highly paid mercenaries. I can’t imagine them working for the various local hate groups who want you dead. Most of those groups are crazy and mercs like this wouldn’t work for them.”

“That changes nothing because I don’t think it was either a fringe group or a hate group. I also wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them weren’t ex-anything but were still in active service.”

“That sounds crazy and even more unlikely.”

“Mark, just think about what we know. Be objective. They knew the route we’d be on and the corporal not only led us straight to them, but he obviously let them know our route and that he’d be in the lead. Visibility isn’t good enough for them to have been so accurate unless they’d had help.”

“The falling snow muffles the noise and I suspect that’s why they picked us up late. They knew you wouldn’t be in the front so they aimed at the ones that might have been you. Besides, if your right, then why did they kill him.”

Zen said nothing as she realised Mark hadn’t been aware of what had happened. She let the silence stretch, then after several false starts to try and explain, she finally asked Athena to send Mark the image of the attack from her perspective—right up until she’d killed the corporal. There was no reaction from Mark for almost five minutes, then in a slow and measured voice, he said, “OK, that changes things. Zen, thank you for trusting me with that, and thank you for doing what you did. Being that close, he might have got enough hits to get through the armour. But why would someone in authority want to kill you? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ve no hard facts, so I can’t prove anything. All I have is a theory.”

“I’m listening. Don’t worry, this is still private.”

Taking another deep breath, Zen said, “I think we’re reaching a political tipping point. It was only as we left Canberra that I realised I hadn’t asked for any reports on what was happening politically, here on the domestic front. The PM and Phil have been the ones pushing the agenda, and they’ll need to start making significant changes to our governmental processes in the near future. The changes will give those in authority, people like them, a lot more power. As bad as that might sound, the changes are necessary. There really isn’t any other way that I can think of to make the plans work.

“Now, I know this sounds weird, but apparently, they’ve done surveys and found that a large proportion of the population trusts programs and incentives if they’re known to have my personal involvement. At the moment, I’m seen as not only being clearly on board with what the PM is doing, but I’m identified as the instigator of that direction. I think someone wants to change that narrative. If they can take me out of the equation and maybe even apportion some blame to the PM for my death, then the power dynamic at the top will change dramatically.

“People at that level also know I trust General Fletcher, but if I’m killed while under his care, then he too could also be out of the top job. Like I said, it’s only a theory. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two who escaped even have access to more resources nearby. They were set up and ready with hardly any warning. I just need to work out if I’m still safe enough to finish the training here or if it’s best to head back. It’s the other reason I wanted to stay here with you rather than heading straight back to Camp Cameron. I needed to think this through.”

“Zen, if your right, then we need to share this with Miriam and Dr Bateman. They’ll need to increase the PM’s security.”

“I know, but I’ve only put it all together since the attack. The other problem I have right now is my armour. It needs replacing, and soon. The grenade didn’t break through the armour layer, but it did a lot of damage. The overall effectiveness rating of the armour on my back is now less than fifteen percent. I’ve been working while we talk, trying to reroute some of the functions, but I haven’t been very successful. Power levels are still dropping faster than they ought to, and I’ve had to shut the heating function down except to my extremities.”

There was another long silence, then Mark said, “I’m going to check the bodies for clues. I was going to leave it for others, but now I don’t think that’s prudent or safe. We’ve got another twenty minutes or so until Jean-Marc returns with people. Will your suit keep you warm until then? Will it help to change the battery? I have a spare.”

“It’ll be OK. I’m warm enough, and I have another battery if I need it, thanks.”

As Zen watched Mark move carefully up onto the trail, Athena flagged some changes in Kent’s condition.

Chapter 10

Zen saw a red flag appear over the diagram of Kent’s body she’d had Athena place to one side of her display. She said, “Athena, what is the concern with Kent?”

She wondered what Athena would respond with as she’d not explicitly mentioned that Kent was the sergeant’s name, much less the name of the patient. Zen was reasonably confident the program would make the connection. She’d been surprised earlier at the level of intuitiveness the new code she’d added earlier that day had made to the application. Athena’s synthesised voice responded instantly, “The level of oxygen in his blood is dropping. His breathing is becoming laboured and more rapid as the body works to get more oxygen. The manual suggests these symptoms are indicative of a possible pneumothorax causing his right lung to collapse. The thermal camera on the helmet would allow for a more certain diagnosis.”

Zen carefully unwrapped the chest area from the blanket and opened Kent’s shirt. After thirty seconds, Athena responded, “Thermal imaging shows a patch of abnormal heat near the centre of his right lung. It appears to be near the surface but behind the ribcage. This suggests a pneumothorax which consists of blood and fluid between the chest wall and the lung.”

“How can I help him?”

“He requires surgery, and extrapolating the current scenario, it will need to be done before other help arrives. The build-up of fluid is causing the lung to collapse. A large needle or tube should be inserted into the fluid to drain the area. This might allow the lung to re-inflate.”

Zen opened the first aid kit. After reviewing what was included, she removed the scalpel, a bottle of medical alcohol and some plastic tubing. She used the alcohol to clean Kent’s chest over the area her display indicated she’d need to make an incision. She also cleaned her gloves and the tubing. Using her left hand, she opened the package with the sterile scalpel and, gritting her teeth, she pushed the blade through the skin at the spot Athena indicated. It slid between two ribs and into the flesh beneath. When blood began pushing past the blade and almost spraying out the small gap, Zen withdrew the scalpel and pushed the tube into the hole. Within moments a bloody liquid filled the tube. Zen lay the other end to one side, where it began draining into the snow.

Swallowing hard to stop herself from retching, Zen checked Kent was breathing easier and then used some gauze and tape to hold the tube in place before rewrapping Kent’s body. As soon as the blanket was back in place, Zen moved over to one side, and after opening her mask, she vomited several times into the snow. Mark heard the sound and was down at Zen’s side moments later. He said, “Are you OK? What’s the matter?”

Zen spat a few times and took a sip of water from the helmet’s hydration mouthpiece. She rinsed her mouth out, then spat again and in a shaking voice said, “Sorry. I’m OK. Really I am. I’m just scared, and I’m tired, and I wimped out while cutting into his chest with all the blood. It pushed me over the edge for a second. Give me a moment and I’ll be OK.”

Mark opened his own mask and placed his hands on her shoulders. Turning her to face him, he said, “Zen, there is no need to be sorry, and it isn’t wimping out in any way. Honestly, I’m in awe at how you’ve handled things tonight, and if you weren’t scared after what’s happened, then something really would be wrong.”

Zen took a deep breath and, in a whisper, said, “Maybe, but I can’t seem to stop my mind from playing and replaying what happened over and over. Part of me just wants to curl up in a ball and hide, but I can’t. I hate that Kent might die because of me, and I hate that I killed Corporal Jenkins. I thought I’d gotten used to people wanting to kill me, but all the terror from being chased and shot has come rushing back in, and I’m terrified of what will happen in a few minutes when I’m surrounded by people again. I don’t know who to trust. I don’t know who wants to kill me.”

Her voice had started shaking as she spoke, and when she finished, she was almost sobbing. Mark pulled her close and held her for a minute until Zen got herself under control. Eventually, she pushed back against his chest, and in a stronger, more controlled voice, said, “Thank you. I do know I can trust you and Jean-Marc, and that helps.”

Mark nodded slowly, then said, “Your stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for. You’re also right to be concerned, so there’s no way I think of that’s as a weakness. When the others arrive, I’ll warn Jean-Marc what’s happened, and one of us will be with you at all times. I’d almost finished checking the dead, and they have nothing incriminating on them which points to who sent them. If you’re right about them having a base near here, we need to search for that before we do anything else. They’re almost certainly packing up. We need to find them and get something to point to who’s after you. Zen, I think you can trust Captain Payne. If he’s with Jean-Marc, then I’d like your permission to tell him what we’ve discussed and get his help.”

Zen nodded, then had her mask close. She said, “Fair enough, I trust him too. I’m a little worried people won’t understand why I shot the corporal.”

“Don’t worry about that. The clip you sent me makes what happened very clear. Besides, if anyone has a problem, they’ll have to deal with me.”

Zen smiled somewhat wanly behind the mask, knowing Mark was trying to be encouraging and that it wasn’t going to be as simple as that. She said, “Thank you. I’m OK now and need to check on Kent.”

Mark took the hint and headed back up the slope. Instead of returning to his previous oversight position, he moved to give himself a better view of where he expected Jean-Marc to appear from. If others at the camp were involved in trying to kill Zen, he wanted some warning.

Less than five minutes later, he heard the faint hum of multiple snowmobiles. Less than a thirty seconds later, nine of the machines appeared. All of them had their lights on, and four were carrying a passenger. Two of the snowmobiles were towing stretchers which Mark knew had been requisitioned from the nearest ski resort. Even before the first snowmobile appeared, Mark initiated a voice connection with Jean-Marc. “Jean-Marc, Zen believes the attack was ordered by people in the army or in our own government. She has evidence that Corporal Jenkins set us up, and I believe she’s almost certainly right. While I talk with whoever is in command of this group, you go watch over her. No one except the medical personnel are to get close. Be extra careful as her suit was compromised by the grenade.”

Jean-Marc was in the lead snowmobile, and he stopped twenty meters short of the bodies angling it so the others couldn’t readily get past. He said, “No wonder she wanted to stay here. Captain Payne is here because of his dead and injured men. I’ll go to Zen and let you send the medical team down after I get there. You should know that Kent wasn’t the corporal’s usual partner. That would be Sergeant Levinson, and he’s here as well. He said he needed to check on his partner.”

While he’d been speaking, Jean-Marc had got off the snowmobile and headed towards where he knew Zen was. Mark stepped out from where he’d been watching and walked towards the machines. He could see that the other riders were agitated at having been brought to the unexpected stop some distance from the bodies and ruined snowmobiles. Mark stopped five metres short of where Jean-Marc had pulled up. He called out, “Captain Payne, could I speak to you for a moment before everyone steps all over the crime scene? The medical people can head down to where Kent is, but it would be good if they stayed on the edge of the trail. I’d like everyone else to stay where they are for the moment.”

Captain Payne held up his hand for everyone to stop moving and then motioned for the doctor and medic who’d come along to move ahead. He then stepped away from the others and walked steadily towards Mark. He stopped less than a metre from Mark and said, “Sergeant Furneaux, what’s the problem?”

Mark opened his mask and stepped close, then, almost in a whisper, he explained Zen’s hypothesis and what he’d seen. As he did this, Jean-Marc had reached Zen and taken up a position behind her. His weapon was angled away from the others, but his eyes never stopped watching them or the medical personnel. When the doctor arrived, he looked down at Kent and said, “What’s the situation? I see you’ve wrapped the patient to keep him warm. Why is the leg packed in snow?”

Zen took a breath and explained the sergeant’s wounds and what she’d done. Even before she’d finished talking, the two medical people had begun to unwrap the body to check the details. Just as Zen had done, they released the tourniquet slightly before retightening it. They checked the leg and did nothing except repack the snow. Besides changing the now empty bag of Ringer’s solution, they didn’t make any other changes.

The doctor looked up at Jean-Marc and said, “Corporal, could you get one of the stretchers? We need to get the sergeant to a hospital as soon as we can.”

Jean-Marc’s voice was respectful but firm, “I’m sorry, Sir, but I’ve been ordered not to leave Ambassador Dracos unguarded.”

With a touch of agitation, the doctor said, “Then perhaps you can take the ambassador with you? Go get a stretcher. That is an order.”

“Respectfully, on this issue, you are outside my chain of command, Sir. The ambassador and I will be staying here.”

The doctor came to his feet and stared at Jean-Marc for a moment before sending the medic to get a stretcher. He said, “Corporal, this will go in my report. I suggest you are prepared to explain yourself to a board of inquiry.”

“Yes, Sir. I understand.”

As the medic hurried to get the stretcher, Mark had finished describing what had happened to Captain Payne. The captain asked, “Not that I’m seriously going to doubt Zen’s reasoning, but are you certain the corporal was going to fire at you?”

“I am. That’s why Corporal Mousa stopped short of where he’d planned. He mentioned that Sergeant Levinson was Corporal Jenkins’ usual partner. I’m taking no chances.”

“If she’s right, then this changes my plans. I was going to bring her back with me, but until we know for certain who’s involved, she’s probably safer back in Canberra. How confident are you that she’s correct?”

“Very. Dr Drayson believes the way she can connect different bits of information is savant-like, but without the usual corresponding disability. If she is right, then I want to track the two who escaped because we need to find who’s behind this We’ll need to move fast before they break camp and disappear. She’ll have to come with me because I’m not confident to send her back to either Camp Cameron or to Canberra until we know who we can trust. Another problem is that Zen’s suit was damaged in the attack, and it’ll take a week to get a new one.”

“Who can you trust?”

“Zen said she trusts the PM, Br Bateman, Miriam, me, Jean-Marc and you. I was confident that all those on her security team were clean, but then there is Corporal Jenkins. She’s also pretty confident she can trust General Fletcher.”

“Agent Friedler is on her way to where you were dropped off. She plans to pick up Zen and take her back to Canberra. A separate medical helicopter is coming to get the sergeant. This storm isn’t letting up, and if anything, they are predicting it’ll get even stronger. If there is a base near here, then even if they do manage to pack up they’ll have to leave on the ground. We need to let Agent Friedler know what’s happening so she can get the air support to make sure they don’t escape. With me are the two medical people, one of the eight-man squads from camp security and Sergeant Levinson. How many are you comfortable to have around Zen?”

Mark considered the options then said, “What if I take Zen, Jean-Marc and four of the squad. You would need to go with the others to meet the helicopters because someone needs to explain this to Agent Friedler, and I don’t want to put it in writing just yet. I’m pretty sure Agent Friedler will have additional agents or security with her. Before you leave, we’ll set up some contact locations. I’d like Agent Friedler to send help and resources to those locations. If Levinson is involved, then she may be able to send his information as well.”

“Which way will you head?”

“I’m not sure yet. I know it sounds weird, but I need to ask Zen what she thinks. She’s already probably thought of the most likely places to look. By the way, I know we all forget it at times, but she’s still only sixteen. She’s so competent that we forget she’s got the usual mix of teenage insecurities. She operated on the sergeant and saved his life but then puked because of the blood. She saved my life by killing the corporal and saved the sergeant by shielding him from the grenade blast. The blast destroyed a lot of her armour and could have killed her, but she’s more worried that you’ll be mad because she killed Corporal Jenkins. If you can, I’d appreciate it if you could reassure her.”

Captain Payne stifled a laugh and said, “I’m not sure those are very normal teenage insecurities, but I do understand. The PM talked with me personally when he knew Zen would be coming to this camp. In fact, he said I was given this camp instead of one of the others primarily because I had two teenage daughters. He hoped I would be able to understand the very enigmas you just described. Don’t worry, I’ll let her know that she did the right thing.”

Zen watched as the captain left Mark and headed back to the snowmobiles and the waiting soldiers. Mark’s voice came through the headphones of her helmet, “Zen, when you’re finished there, then you and Jean-Marc head up to the trail. Captain Payne will deal with what happened here. We’re going to take four of the other soldiers and see if we can find the two who escaped from here and look for their base. Are you going to be warm enough with the problems your suit is having?”

“Yes. If I keep moving, then I’ll be able to stay warm. When I sleep, I may need something warm around the torso. I have a spare battery with me, but I can just lock the suit in its flexible mode if it runs out. The biggest problem is that the fluid filtering and transport system isn’t working. My sweat is pooling in the legs. I’ll slip off the boots and empty it out when it becomes uncomfortable, but I’ll need something to use an external water supply to hydrate.”

After making some arrangements, Captain Payne talked briefly with Zen and relieved some of her concerns. Twenty minutes after the snowmobiles had arrived, Mark led his small team up the hill in the direction the two survivors had gone—his group had four of the snowmobiles. In his mind were the three points Zen and he had come up with as the most likely places the attackers might have put their base. Captain Payne then led the others along the trail to meet Miriam. Sergeant Levinson had been very agitated that he couldn’t go with Zen and Mark but not enough for Captain Payne to accuse him of anything then and there. He decided to wait until they’d met the helicopters.

— End of Episode 6 —