![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nebris~Zoë Boutin-Perry lay in bed looking out her window. It was cracked open a hand width, a breeze softly stirred the linen curtains and the horizon was just beginning to glow orange with the coming dawn. She stretched languidly, naked under a single white cotton sheet.
A pretty young man slept soundly next to her. Zoë smiled when she thought of that. He was very pretty indeed, and, at twenty five, she supposed he was a 'man', though he had not seen or experienced one tenth of what she had at seven years his junior. But two months after her eighteenth birthday, she too was technically a 'woman'.
After lounging a few more minutes, she gave up on sleep for now, pulled on her short red silk robe - embroidered with yellow dragons, a birthday present from Uncle Harry - and padded quietly into the kitchen to make coffee. Earth had absolutely the best coffee in The Universe and she had gotten very spoiled by the variety of the stuff. For instance her 'breakfast' coffee was a strong dark French roast she took with orange blossom honey and heavy cream.
Dawn crept across the wooden kitchen table as she waited for the coffee to brew. Zoë looked around her little cottage, what her dad called a 'free standing one bedroom apartment'. This was her eighth 'home' and so far the one she liked the best, largely because it was all hers.
It was the first week in September, but the summer here in southern Ohio had been warmer than usual so she was comfortable sitting out on the porch. She sipped her coffee and let it wake her up bit by bit.
She thought she saw either Hickory or Dickory, her Obin companion/bodyguards, out of the corner of her eye, but they were always very circumspect when she 'had company'. Hardly anyone else on the Perry Compound would be up at this hour, except for whom-ever had milking duty.
The Perry Compound was a self contained and largely self sufficient two hundred and sixteen acres roughly one hundred and sixty five kilometers southeast of Dayton. It was two thirds farmland surrounded by woods. The Obin had set up a 'security perimeter' in those woods. At least, that's what they called it. Others would probably call it a killing zone.
Zoë was perfectly fine with a 'killing zone'. And to her small surprise, she was perfectly fine with being perfectly fine with that. Truth was, she hadn't been a 'girl' for a while now. Her passage to womanhood was not marked by a mere birthday or even the surrender of her virginity.
No, that moment had come when she found out that a demand she had made during the course of the fight to save Roanoak, a demand she had not thought through, a demand she had made with a certain amount of teenage ego, had cost the lives of nearly three thousand Obin, a race that regarded her as something between a goddess and an empress in waiting. That had driven a spike into her heart and had done so at the exact moment when she had to consciously and deliberately ask even more Obin to die in that struggle.
In the nearly two years since those events, Zoë Boutin-Perry had spent a considerable amount of time mulling them over. She had wept more than once and had shared those tears with The Obin themselves via Hickory or Dickory, who in turn shared them with the entire Obin race. She wanted them to know that she appreciated fully all that had transpired. And she wanted them to value their own lives as much as she did. She would never ever take those lives for granted ever again, though she had a sick feeling that she would ask them to fight and die for her again in the future.
The Obin had been described as a cross between a giraffe and octopus. They averaged around two and half meters tall and weighed roughly two hundred kilos. They were highly focused literalists and technologically formidable. They were also a race that the Consu had uplifted to Intellectuality, but had not given Consciousness. It was Zoë's biological father, the brilliant and vengeful Charles Boutin, who had done that and The Obin were so utterly and profoundly grateful to him that they swore themselves in service to his daughter after his death.
Through her childhood, she had been their racial model for emotional development. Said childhood was also the subject of extensive treaties between The Obin and the Colonial Union. Not a normal childhood by any means. But she had the good fortune of being adopted by John Perry and his wife Jane Sagan-Perry, a rather formidable couple.
Major John Perry [CDF, Ret] was a man who had impressed the Consu, saved Roanoak and ended Earth's isolation from the rest of the galaxy. Lieutenant Jane Sagan-Perry [CDF, Ret] was a ex-Special Forces Ghost Trooper grown from the DNA of Perry's late wife. Fate had thrown them together in the midst of a number of crises that affected the CU's very survival, not the least of which was raising Zoë.
After John Perry had 'pulled the CU's covers', he was a wanted man in the CU. But many on Earth were deeply grateful to him, so he and his family were able to settle not far from where he had lived most of his pre-CU life.
That his daughter had the resources of The Obin to call upon was of significant help. It was ZBP, LLC, a holding company set up by a DC law firm, that purchased the Perry Compound. ZBP, LLC had access to a dozen or more bank accounts with a collective floating balance in the neighborhood of two hundred million US dollars.
Zoë smiled remembering her dad's initial protests, all this 'breadwinner' stuff. Her mom had given him one of her 'are you serious?' looks and Zoë had simply said, “Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.” He more or less grunted at that and gave up.
But he did pen his memoirs in four months, as if to prove a point. “Among The Stars” was a major best seller, not only because his life was in fact pretty dammed interesting, but also because it provided a detailed look into life in the Colonial Union and its history that Earth's inhabitants had not seen before. That he 'omitted certain details and events' because of 'his concern for the security of the CU' merely added to his reputation and mystique, firing up vast amounts of speculation worldwide.
Then he turned his attention to running the Compound. Most farming could be fully automated, so very little extra help was needed. But some was and sorting out proper help from all the nutters and loons was a massive job to begin with. Plus there was the legitimate concern with brainwashed assassins from the 'third force'. The Obin handled that issue by themselves. None of the Perrys asked about their screening process and they didn't volunteer. But they did bring in three more Obin as a Security Team; Dock, Clock, and Mouse.
The names the Obin gave themselves came from Zoë's naming of Hickory and Dickory, another reason that Zoë reason to be thoughtful regarding her actions vis-a-vis the Obin.
She had asked Robin, that pretty young man who was asleep in her bed, about the screening process. Besides being a bit intimidated by the Obin, which was normal, he said that before they had asked a general list of questions, they had placed a metal skullcap on the top of his head and shined a dull red light on his face.
Then he mentioned that after he flew into Dayton airport, he was escorted to the parking lot by human 'security types', placed in a van with a black hood over his head, which was not taken off until he was in what he called 'the interrogation room', a plain concrete box he suspected was underground somewhere in the woods surrounding the Compound.
“Yes, that sounds like the Obin,” Zoë had said grinning. That was months before they became lovers and she hoped at the time that he wasn't going to be scared off by the experience. It wasn't that she was going to 'fall in love' with him. Her heart was buried along with her first love – and his entire family – in a filled-in blast crater on Roanoak. If not for a trick of Fate, she would have been buried there along with them. That was part of her 'growing up fast'.
No, it was that she had decided that she was going to surrender her virginity – she did use the word 'surrender' when she thought of this – upon turning eighteen. And Robin Fairchild seemed a perfect candidate to surrender it to, so smart [MS in Astronomy and Physics] and so beautiful, with his scruffy blond hair, bright blue eyes and lovely upper class English accent.
And she did, on the evening of her eighteenth birthday, a few hours after her party ended. She had enjoyed that so much that she repeated the experience, more or less, nearly ever night – and few times during the day – even since. She didn't rub it in her dad's face. He was old fashioned in a funny way. But she confided in her mom, who was a fairly radical person in many ways, and very supportive. Jane Sagan-Perry had even approved of her planning the thing the way she did. “The most emotional things need to regarded in cold blood,” she had said. Zoë loved her mom.
This morning she was regarding her life in cold blood. They'd been on Earth for coming up on two years now. Zoë had managed to see some of it beyond the Compound; Washington DC, The Beanstalk, Paris, the Space Museum at Cape Kennedy. She was fascinated not only by all the different accents and languages, but also by all the different alphabets.
Somewhere in there it dawned upon her that everybody in the CDF that she had met seemed to talk with an American Mid-Western accent, even Ghosts like her mom who'd never been to Earth. Even the people from the ten different CU colonies who were part of the Roanoak settlement sounded very much alike. In fact the only people she'd heard before she came to Earth who did not sound like that were the residents of Huckleberry, the world she'd lived on for most of her childhood. They spoke with a slight lilt that harkened back to their origins in India. But even they only spoke English, which Zoë had always thought of as 'Standard'.
She really wanted to get out into this world, the Home World, and explore all its complex facets. But who and what she was made that close to impossible. And in the aftermath of the destruction of Earth Station and The Beanstalk – about five months ago – she felt the bonds of 'security' tighten around her. As much as she enjoyed a comfortable life on the Perry Compound, she felt she'd go insane if this was to be her only life.
She'd been born on Phoenix like her birth parents. Her father's work had then move around. Then her mother had died mysteriously and they wound up on a station orbiting Omagh. Her father was then called away and while he was gone, the Rraey seized the station and the colony. Then the Obin entered her life by taking all that away from the Rrary and bring Zoë to Arist, a planetary moon in the Obin home system.
There she was reunited with her father, who was working with the Obin on their 'consciousness issues', along with other things. They lived there for a few years, the Obin being her childhood companions and nannies. What she didn't know was that her father had developed a pathological hatred of his own species and was plotting with the Obin, the Rraey and the Eneshan to effectively destroy them.
She had certainly inherited her father's intellectual capacity. She wondered if she'd also inherited his, well, 'insanity', because his actions were clearly insane. Fortunately a CDF Special Forces unit put an end to them. And to her father.
It was Jane Sagan who took her off of Arist, one of only two survivors of that CDF unit.
She later found out that one of John Perry's oldest friends, Harry Wilson – 'Uncle Harry' – had worked with her father before he disappeared himself into Obin space. She talked to him the first time he visited the Compound.
“What was he like,” she asked him.
“Driven. Obsessive. Absolutely brilliant. One of the best minds I've ever worked with. And a bit of an egomaniac,” he'd said.
“Do you think he was a psychopath?” she'd asked.
Harry thought that over for a minute. “Well, John and Jane said to be honest with you, so I'd have to say there was probably an element of that in his makeup. Seeking revenge on those who have hurt is a normal human response. But Charles Boutin took that to what I'd have to say are insane extremes.” He looked at her sadly. “I'm sorry.”
She touched his hand gently. “That's okay, Uncle Harry.”
“You're worried that you'll become like him,” he said.
“Yes, that does bother me sometimes,” she'd said.
“Zoë, I truly don't think you have to worry about that. John and Jane have shaped you more than you realize and they may both be a bit crazy, neither of them is that kind of crazy.” He'd grinned. “If anything, John Perry is too damned moral for his own good.”
“Thanks,” she'd said, though she still worried about it from time to time...
She heard movement in the kitchen. She tilted her head slightly to listen, confirming that it was in fact Robin shuffling around getting himself some coffee. The Obin had been training her in combat skills for years. She doubted that Robin was aware that his 'sweet princess from the stars' was quite capable of killing him with her bare hands.
No, Zoë Boutin-Perry was not a 'normal girl' and she was not going to grow up to become a 'normal woman' either. Such was the nature of her life, which she was slowly but steadily accepting.
Robin came out onto the porch looking all ruffled and far too cute in his t-shirt and boxers. He smiled sleepily. “Good morning, darling,” he said and kissed her. The feeling that gave her led her to suspect they'd be back in bed before too long. She smiled. “Good morning to you, too.”
He settled into the chair next to her, sipped his coffee, looked out upon the morning sun. That was one of the things she liked about him. He didn't have the need to fill silence with small talk. Her thoughts shifted from esoteric to primal as she reviewed some of the things she had been reading the past few weeks; a beautifully illustrated volume of The Kamasutra, a treatise on Tantra and a manual on Kegel exercises.
After a few more quite moments, she stood, smiled at Robin 'in that way' and led him back to her bedroom. For the next hour or so she experimented with some of her new knowledge. Then she took a shower while her well sated lover fell back into a sound sleep.
She dressed in her usual t-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. [she'd fallen in love with cowboy boots, had a few dozen of them, her one real indulgence] More coffee, peanut butter on toast and out the door heading for the Compound's main building which everyone called The Ranch House. It was mash-up of Rec Center, communal dining room, meeting hall and general gathering place.
She was barely thirty paces out her door when Hickory and Dickory both appeared at her side. “Good morning, Zoë,“ the said in unison. “Good morning to you, too,” she said with a smile. She had figured they were 'lurking' while she was with Robin.
“We need to discuss something important with you,” said Hickory. He usually did most of the talking for the two of them. “Privately.” His emphasis on that peaked her interest.
She stopped, looked around. Not a soul in sight. “Here okay?'
Their heads did a swiveling scan of the area. “Yes,” said Hickory. “Here will be fine.” She did note that Dickory kept looking around.
“Okay, I'm all ears,” she said. Idioms of that nature would have confused Obin before, but they had learned to sort them out.
“We have a message from the Obin government regarding its birthday gift to you. We apologize that it is late, but there was the matter of negotiations with the Colonial Union that had to completed before we could broach the matter.”
Now her interest was seriously peaked. “Negotiations?” They both knew that 'what have you done now?' tone.
“Yes, your birthday gift requires some complex choices.”
“Spit it out!” she snapped. She hated when they tipped toed around her.
“The Obin government is giving you a planet for your birthday.”
She felt weak in her knees and was not sure if she wanted to scream or laugh hysterically.
“A fucking planet?!?” she yelled. They both flinched a bit, though only she would have noticed that. They most have the Consciousness Collars turned on.
She took a deep breath, calmed herself. “Okay. I'm sorry for yelling.” She took another deep breath. “What planet?”
“Arist.”
Then she did laugh. It had a slight edge of madness. Arist was a moon in the Obin home system, the place where her biological father had done his most significant work and had been assassinated by a CDF Special Forces unit, a unit commanded by her adopted mother, though Jane Sagan had not 'pulled the trigger' herself.
“It is yours to do with as you wish. There are a half million Obin on world. You can tell them to leave. You can blow the entire world up if you wish. It now belongs to you, Zoë Boutin-Perry, 'lock, stock and barrel' as you humans say.”
“So what about this required you to negotiate with the CU?” she asked.
“The status of your parents. If you take possession of Arist, they can become citizens of that world and the CU will vacate all charges against them. They will however both be banned from traveling within the CU for ten years.”
“Well...” she said.
“If you do take possession of Arist the Obin government would like to fund a university there named after your birth father. Said establishment would be focused on the study of consciousness and be open to any and all races.”
She smirked. “You certainly know how to hook a girl, don't you?”
“Is that a yes?” She could hear the hopeful tone in Hickory's voice.
“What prompted this gift? I know the Obin always think six moves head.”
Hickory and Dickory took a quick look at each other, then Hickory continued. “Yes, that is true. To use a human idiom, 'things are about to get interesting' and we would like to have you in a safer place than Earth.”
“I'd say things are pretty dammed 'interesting' already.”
“We believe that they shall get more so.”
“Lovely,” she said flatly.
“The universe is fluid and dynamic.”
“Ain't that the truth.”
They were all quiet for a moment.
“Okay, let's say I go for this deal. What else do the Obin have on the menu for me.” As fond of the Obin as she had become, she knew they were a tricky race.
“We strongly urge that you get yourself transferred into a new bioform.”
“Absolutely not! I'm not going to become a fucking Greenie!” She almost stamped her foot.
“No, not a CFD model. A Mark Twenty. It's fully human, looks fully human, just... better. We will provide you with full specifications.”
“So, I get my own planet. My parents get off the CU's hit list. I get a super body. And a university named after my father. Have I got that right?”
“Yes, in every particular.” Both Obin now regarded her very intently.
She mulled for a few seconds, then grinned ear to ear. “Sure, what the hell. It'll be fun.”
Both Obin started shaking. “You should turn off your Collars for while,” she said softly.
The stopped shaking. “Yes, thank you,” said Hickory. “The emotions were overwhelming us.”
Zoë looked toward The Ranch House. “Well, this will make for interesting breakfast conversation.” She looked back at Hickory and Dickory. “You have my permission to tell everybody back home I said yes. Now I have to tell my parents.”
“Yes, mistress,” they said in unison and hurried off.
She had gone maybe ten steps toward The Ranch House when it dawned upon Zoë what they had called her. She turned around, but they were both long gone. She muttered sneeringly to herself. “'Sure', she said. 'It'll be fun', she said.” She sighed, then continued up the path to The Ranch House.
~*~
John Perry had a look on his face like he'd been smacked with a dead fish. On the other hand, his wife looked quietly pleased. “They gave you a planet?” he sputtered.
“You know the Obin, dad. They do things in a big way,” Zoë said.
“It'll take me a while to wrap my head around that,” he said, then laughed. “But happy birthday, honey.”
“I'll need some help in running the place, you know.” She looked at both of them meaningfully.
Perry looked at his wife with a grin. “Isn't this sweet, my darling wife? Our baby girl is offering us a job.”
“And we're going to take it, John Perry,” said his darling wife with not-so-mock firmness.
“Oh, trust me, turning it down never crossed my mind.” He looked back at Zoë and grinned wider. “I would not miss this for...well, the world.”
“When do the Obin want you to take possession?” Jane asked.
“If I know them, they'd have a shuttle waiting right after lunch,” Zoë said. “But we need to wrap up our affairs here properly, have a going away party even.”
“With the emphasis on 'affairs',” Perry muttered.
“Oh daddy, shut up!” She swatted his shoulder.
He smirked, then turned serious. “I take it you haven't told your boyfriend about this.”
Zoë felt a bit stricken by that thought. “Shit,” she muttered.
“You better get on that, Zoë,” Jane said softly.
“Yes, I'd better had.”
Jane hugged her, kissed her cheek. “This is going be both grand and insane,” she said. “I can't wait.”
Zoë hurried off to talk with Robin.
“More insane that grand I'd say,” said John Perry.
“We get the CU's headhunters off of our trail and get to live in probably the safest place in this corner of the universe for all of us,” she said. “That is a bargain I'm more than fine with.”
“You have some ghosts on Arist, darling.”
“I made peace with them a long time ago. Though I wouldn’t mind if she gave the place a new name.”
“Well, she may be a 'young woman' in many ways, but she's also still a teenage girl. With an unlimited budget. I suspect she's going to change more than the name.”
They both laughed at that.
~*~
Robin turned as while as sheet when she told him, then a dull gray as Zoë unfolded the details and finally a bit green around the gills. She realized in that moment that he had never really thought through who and what she actually was.
“I have to stay here on Earth, “ he said weakly. “My studies and all, you know.”
She hugged him. “It's okay, darling. You can come along later. I'll have a lot to do when I first get there.” She knew that he'd likely never 'come along later'.
He fled the Compound that night, leaving behind most of his belongings. That she had not expected. She refused to shed a single tear over him, though a few snuck out.
But she still had Babar, her big dopey dog. He'd been exiled for the past few months because the 'noises' she made while she was in bed with her now ex-lover made him crazy. She'd put him on the porch the first night until he'd stopped whining and barking. She found out later Hickory had sedated him.
Now he was so happy to be back he knocked over half the furniture before he finally settled down. “Unconditional love, thy name is Babar,” she cooed at him. That night she resolved to name her new possession after her most loyal friend.
~*~
The send-off bash was ten days later. It was fairly sedate affair, a buffet, some canned music, a few outside guests and those who were living at the Compound. 'Uncle Harry' Wilson showed up. He was John Perry's oldest living friend and now a legend in his own right. After all he'd saved Danielle Lowen, the daughter of the US Secretary of State. by jumping with her out of Earth Station as it was being destroyed. The CDF had made him a captain for his troubles and the US government gave him a Medal of Freedom. He wound up dating Ms Lowen as well.
“They gave you an entire planet for your birthday?” he said.
Zoë grinned. “I've been a very good girl.”
Perry laughed. “Pull the other one.”
Zoë poked him on the shoulder. “Remember you work for me now, John Perry.”
Harry laughed. “Oh boy.”
“Oh, you have no idea. The Obin have started calling her 'Mistress'.” Perry said.
“That is a little embarrassing,” Zoë said.
“Its a protocol issue,” said Danielle Lowen, shrugging. “I'm a Washington brat. I know about these things.”
“That's what they told me,” Zoë said.
“You're going to get a new body?” Danielle asked.
“Yes,” said Zoë. “I'm kind of nervous about that.”
Harry and Perry both grinned.
“Piece of cake,” said Perry.
“Daddy, I did read your book.”
“I hear the CU is handing out Mark Twenties like they're party favors,” said Harry.
“It sounds like President Lowe is a real hard charger,” said Perry. “Getting rid of the DoC was pretty shocking.”
“It's my understanding that the CU is going to open up CDF recruitment to a much wider pool,” said Harry. “Including residents of Earth.”
“I can see why the Obin want to get you some place safer,” said Danielle. She hugged Harry's arm. “I might enlist just so I can keep up with my big green love machine.”
Harry's green cheeks noticeable darkened. The lot of them grinned and laughed at that.
“I love when he blushes,” Danielle said and kissed him on the cheek.
~*~
About two hours into the gathering an official CU floater arrived. Dock and Mouse greeted it, both carrying formidable looking Obin weapons. It's passenger debarked. He was wearing a conservative suit and looked familiar to Zoë, but she could not place him. Apparently the Obin could because they allowed him to pass.
He walked up to her and smiled. “It's been a while, Miss Boutin-Perry,” he said. She regarded him quizzically. “Frank Rybicki,” he said, extending his hand. She shook automatically. “You're...” She looked at his hand. “...pink.”
He grinned. “I'm in the System Guard now. We get Mark Twenties. They're...” “Fully human,” she said. “Why, yes they are, Miss Boutin-Perry. Only better.” Rybicki was one John Perry's old CDF commanders and the man who had recruited him for the Roanoak mission.
A thought struck her. “Can they be modified?”
“Modified how?” he asked.
“You know, have details changed, like height and hair color and so on?”
“Sure,” he said. “Mind you, I'm only a CDF grunt with a brass hat. But those would be pretty simple as far I understand the process.” He was about to say something else when John Perry approached.
“General,” Perry said evenly.
“Major,” Rybicki replied.
“You're still a general, yes?”
“Yup, Lieutenant General in the System Guard.”
“You always did manage to land on your feet.”
“Nine lives, too,” Rybicki said with a smile. “No hard feelings?”
“We're good, Frank.” This seemed to make Rybicki happy.
“I asked for this..'mission' personally.” He opened the small leather binder he carried, produced an official CU envelope. “This is a hard copy of your pardon, hand signed by the President herself.” He handed it to Perry. “Congratulations, John. You've landed on your feet as well.”
This drew a round of applause from all present.
~*~
A little after one am the gathering broke up. Except for Nieema Hassan, Zoë 's personal assistant, all of those who had resided at The Perry Compound would be leaving the next day. Some of them would make the journey to Babar latter on, but they had lives that needed to be 'wrapped up' beforehand.
Danielle had gotten moderately drunk and hauled Harry away an hour before. He was blushing again.
All three of the Perry's had finished saying their various good byes when Rybicki came up to them. “I'd like to have a few moments in private with all of you,” he said. He nodded in the direction of Hickory and Dickory. “I think Zoë 's...'friends' should join us, too.”
They all retired to John Perry's office.
“Zoë would you please ask your companions to turn off their Collars,” said Rybicki. “I've already turned off my BrainPal.”
“You can do that?” she said.
“Yes, it's an app that comes with the Mark Twenties. I strongly recommend you get one yourself.”
“Hickory, Dickory, please turn off your Collars.”
“Yes, Mistress,” they said in unison.
Rybicki raised his eyebrows at that.
“Protocol,” said Zoë flatly.
Rybicki looked at John Perry. “First thing I'd like to say is that among the New Unionists, you're thought of as a hero.”
Perry looked surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. Such opinions are made quietly for now, but you shook up the old order, which many of us felt corrupt and allowed the party to take over.”
“Us?” Perry said.
“I've been a Nuboo for a decade now,” Rybicki said. “But anyway, we're pleased to support you and yours in this new endeavor in anyway we can. That also comes from General Szilard and the President herself.”
“And you also want us off Earth as soon as possible,” said Jane.
“Yes, very much so,” said Rybicki. “It's no secret that the present US administration is going to be shown the door in this next election. And this Rodriguez character is making too much 'Earth First' noise for our comfort. We'd like the Perry family out of the mix and out of his reach. We're pulling all non-essential personnel out of the US. Even The Conclave is scaling back its North American operations.”
Zoë made a face. “He gives me the creeps. Too...smarmy and full of himself.”
Rybicki grinned. “Exactly. I suspect you're going to make a fine planetary ruler, Ms Boutin-Perry.”
Zoë blushed slightly. “Thank you.”
Rybicki continued. “We'll settle his hash however. Gaining office is far easier than running the concern.”
“Amanda Lowe seems to be doing alright,” said John.
“Yes, she is. And that is a special case. The New Unionists have been planning for this for decades and the LP's had made a total mess of things. Monkeys could have done a better job.” Rybicki smirked. “And we're not monkeys.”
He turned serious. “There are some awful scandals coming to light. You may have heard that the President nationalized Colonial Genetics.”
John was shocked by this, but neither Jane nor Zoë were. “Really,” he said, looked at Jane. “You knew this?”
“Zoë told me,” she said.
“Hickory keeps me up to date on CU affairs,” Zoë said.
Rybicki smiled. “So you've heard about the Sex Clone scandal?”
“Yes,” Zoë said.”Nasty.”
“The Sex Clone scandal?” John said.
“It's even worse than it sounds,” said Rybicki. “The CEO of Colonial Genetics and his Board of Directors vowed to fight the takeover. But then reports surfaced that they had been making clones purely for the sex trade. This is included child clones as well. They used modified BrainPal to train them, raise them as totally sexualized beings. They sold them to brothels and to private owners. And when they were no longer wanted, they were euthanize, though some were ritually murdered.”
He let that sink in. “Two days after this came out, the CEO and two Board members committed suicide. And this reaches into at least twelve planetary governments and their law enforcement. Because of that the President turned the entire investigation over to CDF Internal Security.”
“Melanie Ehrenfest,” said Jane quietly.
“Exactly. So they're done. And more suicides have followed,” said Rybicki. “But the larger fallout is that this scandal is engulfing the Liberal Progressive Party. Nearly all of their leadership and a fair number of rank and file are complicit in one way or another, even if they just 'looked away'. They're being politically destroyed.”
“Leaving only the New Unionists standing,” said Zoë.
“Essentially,” said Rybicki. “Yes, I know that kind of power had its dangers, but we have a very clear and focused set of goals, all of which have been thought out and in place for a long time. The hope is that will keep us on track.”
“And the 'third force'?” said Jane.
“Ah, the heart of the matter,” said Rybicki. “And why I wanted all possible recording devices turned off. We have been over and over the various possibilities and the one we've come to is this.”
He looked at all of them. “We believe it concerns a race with which all of you have had intimate contact.”
There was dead silence in the room. After a beat, Jane said, “The Consu.”
“That has been our conclusion as well,” said Dickory. All turned toward him. “At least, that is what Hickory and I have been told.”
“Figures,” muttered Zoë.
“But why,” asked John.
“Because they're the fucking Consu!” said Zoë with some vehemence.
“It was been speculated it is some sort of 'intervention' on their part,” said Rybicki. “It did upend all CU politics and pushed the New Unionists into power a good twenty years before we thought we'd get there. And given the way things were going, that would likely have been too late for all of us. Now we have a fighting chance.”
“Jesus,” muttered John.
“So there you have, Major. You're a secret hero in the CU, which is rife with sex scandals and political suicide and the Consu are tinkering with our racial destiny.” Rybicki grinned. “Any questions?”
John looked at the Obin. “How soon can you get us out of here?”
~*~
The passenger cabins on the Obin Diplomatic Cruiser Crescent Moon were decorated to look like those of a Eighteenth Century European sailing ship. That was Zoë 's idea, as was the ship's name. The Obin didn't name their ships, only numbered them, but this was the first vessel of the Babaran Defense Force, so it had to have a name.
The 'wood' was really just a ultra-lightweight surfacing, but it looked and felt quite real, which was the point. Zoë was quite pleased with it. At the moment the Crescent Moon was heading away from Earth to its skip point. It would take only a single jump to Babar, which made it feel closer. She didn't dwell on the detail that the jump was near maximum range for the ship and that an equivalent CU vessel would have required three jumps.
She was looking at the cabin's viewscreen. It was normally set to show the star-field around the ship, but she was looking at the plans for Boutin University and the capital city of Babar, Lumière, the French word for 'light'. She felt she should honor her old French roots.
Though she had some small knowledge of the subject before, Zoë had begun studying city planning in earnest right after she'd accepted her gift. The university was more or less on the site of her father's old laboratory, a place where she'd spent a few years of her childhood, not that she remembered much of the landscape.
She thought it best to place Lumière nearby, but not too close. She knew they would grow together in time, but wanted to give each place the room to develop their own character. It was pretty clear that Lumière would be 'political' from day one. She wanted to keep that from contaminating the university as much as possible.
She had decided to lay the city out using the Parisian Model. About seventy kilometers to the east from the university's site was a winding river. She would have the city built upon its banks, with grand bridges and wide boulevards that radiated from traffic circles with beautiful monuments at their center. However, the monuments would be works of art, not emblems of politics. Lumière was to be a city that matched its name.
She drew a line from the city's center to the university's center, then marked it at the midpoint. From there she drew a line thirty five kilometers to the north. That would be the location of the Babar's main spaceport. Of course she would consult with the Obin on all these details, making sure they were practical.
A soft female voice issued from the ship's annunciator, “Attention. We will be skipping in exactly one minute.” That voice was also Zoë 's idea. It took a more strident tone for emergencies. She smiled at the sound of the thing.
~*~
They debarked from the shuttle into the late winter of Babar's northern hemisphere. There was still some snow on the ground. Even with the excellent cold weather gear the Obin had provided, the transition from the still warm Mid-West was a bit of a shock. But the flag flying above the temporary camp warmed Zoë 's heart: a bright green silhouette of an elephant on a chrome yellow field. When they saw what she was looking at, both John and Jane came to attention and saluted it. She repressed a squeal and hugged them when they 'at eased'.
Francois L'Ingénieur du Plan [Francois 'The Chief Engineer']
Joseph-Marat L'Chasseur à Cheval [Joseph-Marat 'The Light Cavalryman']
L'Navire [navire=ship]
Du Navire
De La Navire
Zoe had the Obin who were to be her 'subjects' – aka those living on Arist at the time – take French names, a male first name, as the Obin were all functionally 'male', and a descriptive last name. This was how she would begin to correct her 'nursery rhyme' mistake. Hickory and Dickory both take the last name L'Compagnon. All are addressed as Monsieur.
In the matter of titles, which are needed for reasons of protocol and legal documents, Zoë is to be known as The Proprietor [of Babar] and when addressed officially, as Mistress. Otherwise, she's still just Zoë. Or Miss Boutin-Perry if one is being formal.
“We're going with the 'constitutional monarchy model'. As Proprietor, more or less the 'queen', I am Head of State. John, you'll be my Prime Minister, therefore Head of Government and Jane, you'll be Minister of Defense. Oh, and I making you both lieutenant generals. I don't think we'll need higher ranks than that.”
Francois L'Ingénieur shows the Perry's the underground cloning facility. It is quite large.
“Dad, you're going to need to go into a Mark Twenty.”
He groans. “Ugh.”
“I'll stick with my Mark Eighteen for while,” said Jane. “It'll be good enough for the next few years.”
“I wonder if Amanda Lowe has any idea what she has started with all this cloning free for all?”
“Functional immortality for the human race?” said Jane.
“Exactly,” said John.
“From what the Obin tell me, that is at the center of her plans,” said Zoë.
John shook his head. “Oh, brave new world.”
John asks Harry to come to Babar.
“Oh, man, I'd be like a kid in a candy store. But I can't right now. I'm the CU's “hero of the moment' here on Earth and Abumwe really needs all the help she can get right now.”
“I'd never figure you'd go all patriotic.”
He shrugged. “More a sense of duty. I've been CDF a long time now. And the CU is in deep shit.”
“God bless you, Harry Wilson, you really are a hero.”
“No, I'm not. I just kept my shit together and followed my training.”
“That is a textbook definition of heroism.”
“Look, John, just keep a spot open for me, okay?”
“One will be guaranteed forever, Harry.”
At her request, the Obin purchase and transport a small herd of African elephants to Babar.
Among themselves, the Obin also call it EtanZoe, which translates as either 'Zoe's World' or 'Zoe's Domain'. It is also a wordplay on 'Eten' which means 'gift'. Hickory and Dickory disclaim any responsibility for this.
The Obin also convince Zoë to take a Mk 20 'upgrade' because 'things are going to get interesting'. She is 1.7 meters [5foot 7], has mousy brown hair and brown eyes. She requires her new body be 1,85 meters [6 foot 1/2 inch] have jet black hair and 'very bright' green eyes. “If I am to be a ruler of a planet then I should look impressive.”
The Mark Twenty Z. “Z?” “Yes, the A is the basic model and B through F are CU models with different modifications. We chose 'Z' because we don't think their new models will get that far. It also stands for Zoë.”
Babar is a terraformed world. Took four centuries to convert. Boutin University is to have a Terraforming Sciences Dept.
The Obin reproductive method was for some of them to 'go into season' and lay a large number of 'eggs' – soft fleshy sacs – and them those not 'in season' would spray them with a fertilizing hormone en mass.
The Consu changed that. Now they clone the 'eggs' and then spray them. They do no know why the Consu changed them in that fashion as they are now totally dependent upon that technology for procreation. This happened about twelve hundred years ago.
They share this secret with Zoe in strictest confidence. This is also when they tell her about the Consu 'uplifting everyone'. That information they say she is free to share as needed.
The Technological Mennonites from Roanoak request residence on Babar, which is of course granted. Over time, most of them in the CU migrate to Babar. Many students from Boutin University – of many races – come to spend time with them as a way of 'reconnecting to their basic natures'.
A pretty young man slept soundly next to her. Zoë smiled when she thought of that. He was very pretty indeed, and, at twenty five, she supposed he was a 'man', though he had not seen or experienced one tenth of what she had at seven years his junior. But two months after her eighteenth birthday, she too was technically a 'woman'.
After lounging a few more minutes, she gave up on sleep for now, pulled on her short red silk robe - embroidered with yellow dragons, a birthday present from Uncle Harry - and padded quietly into the kitchen to make coffee. Earth had absolutely the best coffee in The Universe and she had gotten very spoiled by the variety of the stuff. For instance her 'breakfast' coffee was a strong dark French roast she took with orange blossom honey and heavy cream.
Dawn crept across the wooden kitchen table as she waited for the coffee to brew. Zoë looked around her little cottage, what her dad called a 'free standing one bedroom apartment'. This was her eighth 'home' and so far the one she liked the best, largely because it was all hers.
It was the first week in September, but the summer here in southern Ohio had been warmer than usual so she was comfortable sitting out on the porch. She sipped her coffee and let it wake her up bit by bit.
She thought she saw either Hickory or Dickory, her Obin companion/bodyguards, out of the corner of her eye, but they were always very circumspect when she 'had company'. Hardly anyone else on the Perry Compound would be up at this hour, except for whom-ever had milking duty.
The Perry Compound was a self contained and largely self sufficient two hundred and sixteen acres roughly one hundred and sixty five kilometers southeast of Dayton. It was two thirds farmland surrounded by woods. The Obin had set up a 'security perimeter' in those woods. At least, that's what they called it. Others would probably call it a killing zone.
Zoë was perfectly fine with a 'killing zone'. And to her small surprise, she was perfectly fine with being perfectly fine with that. Truth was, she hadn't been a 'girl' for a while now. Her passage to womanhood was not marked by a mere birthday or even the surrender of her virginity.
No, that moment had come when she found out that a demand she had made during the course of the fight to save Roanoak, a demand she had not thought through, a demand she had made with a certain amount of teenage ego, had cost the lives of nearly three thousand Obin, a race that regarded her as something between a goddess and an empress in waiting. That had driven a spike into her heart and had done so at the exact moment when she had to consciously and deliberately ask even more Obin to die in that struggle.
In the nearly two years since those events, Zoë Boutin-Perry had spent a considerable amount of time mulling them over. She had wept more than once and had shared those tears with The Obin themselves via Hickory or Dickory, who in turn shared them with the entire Obin race. She wanted them to know that she appreciated fully all that had transpired. And she wanted them to value their own lives as much as she did. She would never ever take those lives for granted ever again, though she had a sick feeling that she would ask them to fight and die for her again in the future.
The Obin had been described as a cross between a giraffe and octopus. They averaged around two and half meters tall and weighed roughly two hundred kilos. They were highly focused literalists and technologically formidable. They were also a race that the Consu had uplifted to Intellectuality, but had not given Consciousness. It was Zoë's biological father, the brilliant and vengeful Charles Boutin, who had done that and The Obin were so utterly and profoundly grateful to him that they swore themselves in service to his daughter after his death.
Through her childhood, she had been their racial model for emotional development. Said childhood was also the subject of extensive treaties between The Obin and the Colonial Union. Not a normal childhood by any means. But she had the good fortune of being adopted by John Perry and his wife Jane Sagan-Perry, a rather formidable couple.
Major John Perry [CDF, Ret] was a man who had impressed the Consu, saved Roanoak and ended Earth's isolation from the rest of the galaxy. Lieutenant Jane Sagan-Perry [CDF, Ret] was a ex-Special Forces Ghost Trooper grown from the DNA of Perry's late wife. Fate had thrown them together in the midst of a number of crises that affected the CU's very survival, not the least of which was raising Zoë.
After John Perry had 'pulled the CU's covers', he was a wanted man in the CU. But many on Earth were deeply grateful to him, so he and his family were able to settle not far from where he had lived most of his pre-CU life.
That his daughter had the resources of The Obin to call upon was of significant help. It was ZBP, LLC, a holding company set up by a DC law firm, that purchased the Perry Compound. ZBP, LLC had access to a dozen or more bank accounts with a collective floating balance in the neighborhood of two hundred million US dollars.
Zoë smiled remembering her dad's initial protests, all this 'breadwinner' stuff. Her mom had given him one of her 'are you serious?' looks and Zoë had simply said, “Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.” He more or less grunted at that and gave up.
But he did pen his memoirs in four months, as if to prove a point. “Among The Stars” was a major best seller, not only because his life was in fact pretty dammed interesting, but also because it provided a detailed look into life in the Colonial Union and its history that Earth's inhabitants had not seen before. That he 'omitted certain details and events' because of 'his concern for the security of the CU' merely added to his reputation and mystique, firing up vast amounts of speculation worldwide.
Then he turned his attention to running the Compound. Most farming could be fully automated, so very little extra help was needed. But some was and sorting out proper help from all the nutters and loons was a massive job to begin with. Plus there was the legitimate concern with brainwashed assassins from the 'third force'. The Obin handled that issue by themselves. None of the Perrys asked about their screening process and they didn't volunteer. But they did bring in three more Obin as a Security Team; Dock, Clock, and Mouse.
The names the Obin gave themselves came from Zoë's naming of Hickory and Dickory, another reason that Zoë reason to be thoughtful regarding her actions vis-a-vis the Obin.
She had asked Robin, that pretty young man who was asleep in her bed, about the screening process. Besides being a bit intimidated by the Obin, which was normal, he said that before they had asked a general list of questions, they had placed a metal skullcap on the top of his head and shined a dull red light on his face.
Then he mentioned that after he flew into Dayton airport, he was escorted to the parking lot by human 'security types', placed in a van with a black hood over his head, which was not taken off until he was in what he called 'the interrogation room', a plain concrete box he suspected was underground somewhere in the woods surrounding the Compound.
“Yes, that sounds like the Obin,” Zoë had said grinning. That was months before they became lovers and she hoped at the time that he wasn't going to be scared off by the experience. It wasn't that she was going to 'fall in love' with him. Her heart was buried along with her first love – and his entire family – in a filled-in blast crater on Roanoak. If not for a trick of Fate, she would have been buried there along with them. That was part of her 'growing up fast'.
No, it was that she had decided that she was going to surrender her virginity – she did use the word 'surrender' when she thought of this – upon turning eighteen. And Robin Fairchild seemed a perfect candidate to surrender it to, so smart [MS in Astronomy and Physics] and so beautiful, with his scruffy blond hair, bright blue eyes and lovely upper class English accent.
And she did, on the evening of her eighteenth birthday, a few hours after her party ended. She had enjoyed that so much that she repeated the experience, more or less, nearly ever night – and few times during the day – even since. She didn't rub it in her dad's face. He was old fashioned in a funny way. But she confided in her mom, who was a fairly radical person in many ways, and very supportive. Jane Sagan-Perry had even approved of her planning the thing the way she did. “The most emotional things need to regarded in cold blood,” she had said. Zoë loved her mom.
This morning she was regarding her life in cold blood. They'd been on Earth for coming up on two years now. Zoë had managed to see some of it beyond the Compound; Washington DC, The Beanstalk, Paris, the Space Museum at Cape Kennedy. She was fascinated not only by all the different accents and languages, but also by all the different alphabets.
Somewhere in there it dawned upon her that everybody in the CDF that she had met seemed to talk with an American Mid-Western accent, even Ghosts like her mom who'd never been to Earth. Even the people from the ten different CU colonies who were part of the Roanoak settlement sounded very much alike. In fact the only people she'd heard before she came to Earth who did not sound like that were the residents of Huckleberry, the world she'd lived on for most of her childhood. They spoke with a slight lilt that harkened back to their origins in India. But even they only spoke English, which Zoë had always thought of as 'Standard'.
She really wanted to get out into this world, the Home World, and explore all its complex facets. But who and what she was made that close to impossible. And in the aftermath of the destruction of Earth Station and The Beanstalk – about five months ago – she felt the bonds of 'security' tighten around her. As much as she enjoyed a comfortable life on the Perry Compound, she felt she'd go insane if this was to be her only life.
She'd been born on Phoenix like her birth parents. Her father's work had then move around. Then her mother had died mysteriously and they wound up on a station orbiting Omagh. Her father was then called away and while he was gone, the Rraey seized the station and the colony. Then the Obin entered her life by taking all that away from the Rrary and bring Zoë to Arist, a planetary moon in the Obin home system.
There she was reunited with her father, who was working with the Obin on their 'consciousness issues', along with other things. They lived there for a few years, the Obin being her childhood companions and nannies. What she didn't know was that her father had developed a pathological hatred of his own species and was plotting with the Obin, the Rraey and the Eneshan to effectively destroy them.
She had certainly inherited her father's intellectual capacity. She wondered if she'd also inherited his, well, 'insanity', because his actions were clearly insane. Fortunately a CDF Special Forces unit put an end to them. And to her father.
It was Jane Sagan who took her off of Arist, one of only two survivors of that CDF unit.
She later found out that one of John Perry's oldest friends, Harry Wilson – 'Uncle Harry' – had worked with her father before he disappeared himself into Obin space. She talked to him the first time he visited the Compound.
“What was he like,” she asked him.
“Driven. Obsessive. Absolutely brilliant. One of the best minds I've ever worked with. And a bit of an egomaniac,” he'd said.
“Do you think he was a psychopath?” she'd asked.
Harry thought that over for a minute. “Well, John and Jane said to be honest with you, so I'd have to say there was probably an element of that in his makeup. Seeking revenge on those who have hurt is a normal human response. But Charles Boutin took that to what I'd have to say are insane extremes.” He looked at her sadly. “I'm sorry.”
She touched his hand gently. “That's okay, Uncle Harry.”
“You're worried that you'll become like him,” he said.
“Yes, that does bother me sometimes,” she'd said.
“Zoë, I truly don't think you have to worry about that. John and Jane have shaped you more than you realize and they may both be a bit crazy, neither of them is that kind of crazy.” He'd grinned. “If anything, John Perry is too damned moral for his own good.”
“Thanks,” she'd said, though she still worried about it from time to time...
She heard movement in the kitchen. She tilted her head slightly to listen, confirming that it was in fact Robin shuffling around getting himself some coffee. The Obin had been training her in combat skills for years. She doubted that Robin was aware that his 'sweet princess from the stars' was quite capable of killing him with her bare hands.
No, Zoë Boutin-Perry was not a 'normal girl' and she was not going to grow up to become a 'normal woman' either. Such was the nature of her life, which she was slowly but steadily accepting.
Robin came out onto the porch looking all ruffled and far too cute in his t-shirt and boxers. He smiled sleepily. “Good morning, darling,” he said and kissed her. The feeling that gave her led her to suspect they'd be back in bed before too long. She smiled. “Good morning to you, too.”
He settled into the chair next to her, sipped his coffee, looked out upon the morning sun. That was one of the things she liked about him. He didn't have the need to fill silence with small talk. Her thoughts shifted from esoteric to primal as she reviewed some of the things she had been reading the past few weeks; a beautifully illustrated volume of The Kamasutra, a treatise on Tantra and a manual on Kegel exercises.
After a few more quite moments, she stood, smiled at Robin 'in that way' and led him back to her bedroom. For the next hour or so she experimented with some of her new knowledge. Then she took a shower while her well sated lover fell back into a sound sleep.
She dressed in her usual t-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. [she'd fallen in love with cowboy boots, had a few dozen of them, her one real indulgence] More coffee, peanut butter on toast and out the door heading for the Compound's main building which everyone called The Ranch House. It was mash-up of Rec Center, communal dining room, meeting hall and general gathering place.
She was barely thirty paces out her door when Hickory and Dickory both appeared at her side. “Good morning, Zoë,“ the said in unison. “Good morning to you, too,” she said with a smile. She had figured they were 'lurking' while she was with Robin.
“We need to discuss something important with you,” said Hickory. He usually did most of the talking for the two of them. “Privately.” His emphasis on that peaked her interest.
She stopped, looked around. Not a soul in sight. “Here okay?'
Their heads did a swiveling scan of the area. “Yes,” said Hickory. “Here will be fine.” She did note that Dickory kept looking around.
“Okay, I'm all ears,” she said. Idioms of that nature would have confused Obin before, but they had learned to sort them out.
“We have a message from the Obin government regarding its birthday gift to you. We apologize that it is late, but there was the matter of negotiations with the Colonial Union that had to completed before we could broach the matter.”
Now her interest was seriously peaked. “Negotiations?” They both knew that 'what have you done now?' tone.
“Yes, your birthday gift requires some complex choices.”
“Spit it out!” she snapped. She hated when they tipped toed around her.
“The Obin government is giving you a planet for your birthday.”
She felt weak in her knees and was not sure if she wanted to scream or laugh hysterically.
“A fucking planet?!?” she yelled. They both flinched a bit, though only she would have noticed that. They most have the Consciousness Collars turned on.
She took a deep breath, calmed herself. “Okay. I'm sorry for yelling.” She took another deep breath. “What planet?”
“Arist.”
Then she did laugh. It had a slight edge of madness. Arist was a moon in the Obin home system, the place where her biological father had done his most significant work and had been assassinated by a CDF Special Forces unit, a unit commanded by her adopted mother, though Jane Sagan had not 'pulled the trigger' herself.
“It is yours to do with as you wish. There are a half million Obin on world. You can tell them to leave. You can blow the entire world up if you wish. It now belongs to you, Zoë Boutin-Perry, 'lock, stock and barrel' as you humans say.”
“So what about this required you to negotiate with the CU?” she asked.
“The status of your parents. If you take possession of Arist, they can become citizens of that world and the CU will vacate all charges against them. They will however both be banned from traveling within the CU for ten years.”
“Well...” she said.
“If you do take possession of Arist the Obin government would like to fund a university there named after your birth father. Said establishment would be focused on the study of consciousness and be open to any and all races.”
She smirked. “You certainly know how to hook a girl, don't you?”
“Is that a yes?” She could hear the hopeful tone in Hickory's voice.
“What prompted this gift? I know the Obin always think six moves head.”
Hickory and Dickory took a quick look at each other, then Hickory continued. “Yes, that is true. To use a human idiom, 'things are about to get interesting' and we would like to have you in a safer place than Earth.”
“I'd say things are pretty dammed 'interesting' already.”
“We believe that they shall get more so.”
“Lovely,” she said flatly.
“The universe is fluid and dynamic.”
“Ain't that the truth.”
They were all quiet for a moment.
“Okay, let's say I go for this deal. What else do the Obin have on the menu for me.” As fond of the Obin as she had become, she knew they were a tricky race.
“We strongly urge that you get yourself transferred into a new bioform.”
“Absolutely not! I'm not going to become a fucking Greenie!” She almost stamped her foot.
“No, not a CFD model. A Mark Twenty. It's fully human, looks fully human, just... better. We will provide you with full specifications.”
“So, I get my own planet. My parents get off the CU's hit list. I get a super body. And a university named after my father. Have I got that right?”
“Yes, in every particular.” Both Obin now regarded her very intently.
She mulled for a few seconds, then grinned ear to ear. “Sure, what the hell. It'll be fun.”
Both Obin started shaking. “You should turn off your Collars for while,” she said softly.
The stopped shaking. “Yes, thank you,” said Hickory. “The emotions were overwhelming us.”
Zoë looked toward The Ranch House. “Well, this will make for interesting breakfast conversation.” She looked back at Hickory and Dickory. “You have my permission to tell everybody back home I said yes. Now I have to tell my parents.”
“Yes, mistress,” they said in unison and hurried off.
She had gone maybe ten steps toward The Ranch House when it dawned upon Zoë what they had called her. She turned around, but they were both long gone. She muttered sneeringly to herself. “'Sure', she said. 'It'll be fun', she said.” She sighed, then continued up the path to The Ranch House.
John Perry had a look on his face like he'd been smacked with a dead fish. On the other hand, his wife looked quietly pleased. “They gave you a planet?” he sputtered.
“You know the Obin, dad. They do things in a big way,” Zoë said.
“It'll take me a while to wrap my head around that,” he said, then laughed. “But happy birthday, honey.”
“I'll need some help in running the place, you know.” She looked at both of them meaningfully.
Perry looked at his wife with a grin. “Isn't this sweet, my darling wife? Our baby girl is offering us a job.”
“And we're going to take it, John Perry,” said his darling wife with not-so-mock firmness.
“Oh, trust me, turning it down never crossed my mind.” He looked back at Zoë and grinned wider. “I would not miss this for...well, the world.”
“When do the Obin want you to take possession?” Jane asked.
“If I know them, they'd have a shuttle waiting right after lunch,” Zoë said. “But we need to wrap up our affairs here properly, have a going away party even.”
“With the emphasis on 'affairs',” Perry muttered.
“Oh daddy, shut up!” She swatted his shoulder.
He smirked, then turned serious. “I take it you haven't told your boyfriend about this.”
Zoë felt a bit stricken by that thought. “Shit,” she muttered.
“You better get on that, Zoë,” Jane said softly.
“Yes, I'd better had.”
Jane hugged her, kissed her cheek. “This is going be both grand and insane,” she said. “I can't wait.”
Zoë hurried off to talk with Robin.
“More insane that grand I'd say,” said John Perry.
“We get the CU's headhunters off of our trail and get to live in probably the safest place in this corner of the universe for all of us,” she said. “That is a bargain I'm more than fine with.”
“You have some ghosts on Arist, darling.”
“I made peace with them a long time ago. Though I wouldn’t mind if she gave the place a new name.”
“Well, she may be a 'young woman' in many ways, but she's also still a teenage girl. With an unlimited budget. I suspect she's going to change more than the name.”
They both laughed at that.
Robin turned as while as sheet when she told him, then a dull gray as Zoë unfolded the details and finally a bit green around the gills. She realized in that moment that he had never really thought through who and what she actually was.
“I have to stay here on Earth, “ he said weakly. “My studies and all, you know.”
She hugged him. “It's okay, darling. You can come along later. I'll have a lot to do when I first get there.” She knew that he'd likely never 'come along later'.
He fled the Compound that night, leaving behind most of his belongings. That she had not expected. She refused to shed a single tear over him, though a few snuck out.
But she still had Babar, her big dopey dog. He'd been exiled for the past few months because the 'noises' she made while she was in bed with her now ex-lover made him crazy. She'd put him on the porch the first night until he'd stopped whining and barking. She found out later Hickory had sedated him.
Now he was so happy to be back he knocked over half the furniture before he finally settled down. “Unconditional love, thy name is Babar,” she cooed at him. That night she resolved to name her new possession after her most loyal friend.
The send-off bash was ten days later. It was fairly sedate affair, a buffet, some canned music, a few outside guests and those who were living at the Compound. 'Uncle Harry' Wilson showed up. He was John Perry's oldest living friend and now a legend in his own right. After all he'd saved Danielle Lowen, the daughter of the US Secretary of State. by jumping with her out of Earth Station as it was being destroyed. The CDF had made him a captain for his troubles and the US government gave him a Medal of Freedom. He wound up dating Ms Lowen as well.
“They gave you an entire planet for your birthday?” he said.
Zoë grinned. “I've been a very good girl.”
Perry laughed. “Pull the other one.”
Zoë poked him on the shoulder. “Remember you work for me now, John Perry.”
Harry laughed. “Oh boy.”
“Oh, you have no idea. The Obin have started calling her 'Mistress'.” Perry said.
“That is a little embarrassing,” Zoë said.
“Its a protocol issue,” said Danielle Lowen, shrugging. “I'm a Washington brat. I know about these things.”
“That's what they told me,” Zoë said.
“You're going to get a new body?” Danielle asked.
“Yes,” said Zoë. “I'm kind of nervous about that.”
Harry and Perry both grinned.
“Piece of cake,” said Perry.
“Daddy, I did read your book.”
“I hear the CU is handing out Mark Twenties like they're party favors,” said Harry.
“It sounds like President Lowe is a real hard charger,” said Perry. “Getting rid of the DoC was pretty shocking.”
“It's my understanding that the CU is going to open up CDF recruitment to a much wider pool,” said Harry. “Including residents of Earth.”
“I can see why the Obin want to get you some place safer,” said Danielle. She hugged Harry's arm. “I might enlist just so I can keep up with my big green love machine.”
Harry's green cheeks noticeable darkened. The lot of them grinned and laughed at that.
“I love when he blushes,” Danielle said and kissed him on the cheek.
About two hours into the gathering an official CU floater arrived. Dock and Mouse greeted it, both carrying formidable looking Obin weapons. It's passenger debarked. He was wearing a conservative suit and looked familiar to Zoë, but she could not place him. Apparently the Obin could because they allowed him to pass.
He walked up to her and smiled. “It's been a while, Miss Boutin-Perry,” he said. She regarded him quizzically. “Frank Rybicki,” he said, extending his hand. She shook automatically. “You're...” She looked at his hand. “...pink.”
He grinned. “I'm in the System Guard now. We get Mark Twenties. They're...” “Fully human,” she said. “Why, yes they are, Miss Boutin-Perry. Only better.” Rybicki was one John Perry's old CDF commanders and the man who had recruited him for the Roanoak mission.
A thought struck her. “Can they be modified?”
“Modified how?” he asked.
“You know, have details changed, like height and hair color and so on?”
“Sure,” he said. “Mind you, I'm only a CDF grunt with a brass hat. But those would be pretty simple as far I understand the process.” He was about to say something else when John Perry approached.
“General,” Perry said evenly.
“Major,” Rybicki replied.
“You're still a general, yes?”
“Yup, Lieutenant General in the System Guard.”
“You always did manage to land on your feet.”
“Nine lives, too,” Rybicki said with a smile. “No hard feelings?”
“We're good, Frank.” This seemed to make Rybicki happy.
“I asked for this..'mission' personally.” He opened the small leather binder he carried, produced an official CU envelope. “This is a hard copy of your pardon, hand signed by the President herself.” He handed it to Perry. “Congratulations, John. You've landed on your feet as well.”
This drew a round of applause from all present.
A little after one am the gathering broke up. Except for Nieema Hassan, Zoë 's personal assistant, all of those who had resided at The Perry Compound would be leaving the next day. Some of them would make the journey to Babar latter on, but they had lives that needed to be 'wrapped up' beforehand.
Danielle had gotten moderately drunk and hauled Harry away an hour before. He was blushing again.
All three of the Perry's had finished saying their various good byes when Rybicki came up to them. “I'd like to have a few moments in private with all of you,” he said. He nodded in the direction of Hickory and Dickory. “I think Zoë 's...'friends' should join us, too.”
They all retired to John Perry's office.
“Zoë would you please ask your companions to turn off their Collars,” said Rybicki. “I've already turned off my BrainPal.”
“You can do that?” she said.
“Yes, it's an app that comes with the Mark Twenties. I strongly recommend you get one yourself.”
“Hickory, Dickory, please turn off your Collars.”
“Yes, Mistress,” they said in unison.
Rybicki raised his eyebrows at that.
“Protocol,” said Zoë flatly.
Rybicki looked at John Perry. “First thing I'd like to say is that among the New Unionists, you're thought of as a hero.”
Perry looked surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. Such opinions are made quietly for now, but you shook up the old order, which many of us felt corrupt and allowed the party to take over.”
“Us?” Perry said.
“I've been a Nuboo for a decade now,” Rybicki said. “But anyway, we're pleased to support you and yours in this new endeavor in anyway we can. That also comes from General Szilard and the President herself.”
“And you also want us off Earth as soon as possible,” said Jane.
“Yes, very much so,” said Rybicki. “It's no secret that the present US administration is going to be shown the door in this next election. And this Rodriguez character is making too much 'Earth First' noise for our comfort. We'd like the Perry family out of the mix and out of his reach. We're pulling all non-essential personnel out of the US. Even The Conclave is scaling back its North American operations.”
Zoë made a face. “He gives me the creeps. Too...smarmy and full of himself.”
Rybicki grinned. “Exactly. I suspect you're going to make a fine planetary ruler, Ms Boutin-Perry.”
Zoë blushed slightly. “Thank you.”
Rybicki continued. “We'll settle his hash however. Gaining office is far easier than running the concern.”
“Amanda Lowe seems to be doing alright,” said John.
“Yes, she is. And that is a special case. The New Unionists have been planning for this for decades and the LP's had made a total mess of things. Monkeys could have done a better job.” Rybicki smirked. “And we're not monkeys.”
He turned serious. “There are some awful scandals coming to light. You may have heard that the President nationalized Colonial Genetics.”
John was shocked by this, but neither Jane nor Zoë were. “Really,” he said, looked at Jane. “You knew this?”
“Zoë told me,” she said.
“Hickory keeps me up to date on CU affairs,” Zoë said.
Rybicki smiled. “So you've heard about the Sex Clone scandal?”
“Yes,” Zoë said.”Nasty.”
“The Sex Clone scandal?” John said.
“It's even worse than it sounds,” said Rybicki. “The CEO of Colonial Genetics and his Board of Directors vowed to fight the takeover. But then reports surfaced that they had been making clones purely for the sex trade. This is included child clones as well. They used modified BrainPal to train them, raise them as totally sexualized beings. They sold them to brothels and to private owners. And when they were no longer wanted, they were euthanize, though some were ritually murdered.”
He let that sink in. “Two days after this came out, the CEO and two Board members committed suicide. And this reaches into at least twelve planetary governments and their law enforcement. Because of that the President turned the entire investigation over to CDF Internal Security.”
“Melanie Ehrenfest,” said Jane quietly.
“Exactly. So they're done. And more suicides have followed,” said Rybicki. “But the larger fallout is that this scandal is engulfing the Liberal Progressive Party. Nearly all of their leadership and a fair number of rank and file are complicit in one way or another, even if they just 'looked away'. They're being politically destroyed.”
“Leaving only the New Unionists standing,” said Zoë.
“Essentially,” said Rybicki. “Yes, I know that kind of power had its dangers, but we have a very clear and focused set of goals, all of which have been thought out and in place for a long time. The hope is that will keep us on track.”
“And the 'third force'?” said Jane.
“Ah, the heart of the matter,” said Rybicki. “And why I wanted all possible recording devices turned off. We have been over and over the various possibilities and the one we've come to is this.”
He looked at all of them. “We believe it concerns a race with which all of you have had intimate contact.”
There was dead silence in the room. After a beat, Jane said, “The Consu.”
“That has been our conclusion as well,” said Dickory. All turned toward him. “At least, that is what Hickory and I have been told.”
“Figures,” muttered Zoë.
“But why,” asked John.
“Because they're the fucking Consu!” said Zoë with some vehemence.
“It was been speculated it is some sort of 'intervention' on their part,” said Rybicki. “It did upend all CU politics and pushed the New Unionists into power a good twenty years before we thought we'd get there. And given the way things were going, that would likely have been too late for all of us. Now we have a fighting chance.”
“Jesus,” muttered John.
“So there you have, Major. You're a secret hero in the CU, which is rife with sex scandals and political suicide and the Consu are tinkering with our racial destiny.” Rybicki grinned. “Any questions?”
John looked at the Obin. “How soon can you get us out of here?”
The passenger cabins on the Obin Diplomatic Cruiser Crescent Moon were decorated to look like those of a Eighteenth Century European sailing ship. That was Zoë 's idea, as was the ship's name. The Obin didn't name their ships, only numbered them, but this was the first vessel of the Babaran Defense Force, so it had to have a name.
The 'wood' was really just a ultra-lightweight surfacing, but it looked and felt quite real, which was the point. Zoë was quite pleased with it. At the moment the Crescent Moon was heading away from Earth to its skip point. It would take only a single jump to Babar, which made it feel closer. She didn't dwell on the detail that the jump was near maximum range for the ship and that an equivalent CU vessel would have required three jumps.
She was looking at the cabin's viewscreen. It was normally set to show the star-field around the ship, but she was looking at the plans for Boutin University and the capital city of Babar, Lumière, the French word for 'light'. She felt she should honor her old French roots.
Though she had some small knowledge of the subject before, Zoë had begun studying city planning in earnest right after she'd accepted her gift. The university was more or less on the site of her father's old laboratory, a place where she'd spent a few years of her childhood, not that she remembered much of the landscape.
She thought it best to place Lumière nearby, but not too close. She knew they would grow together in time, but wanted to give each place the room to develop their own character. It was pretty clear that Lumière would be 'political' from day one. She wanted to keep that from contaminating the university as much as possible.
She had decided to lay the city out using the Parisian Model. About seventy kilometers to the east from the university's site was a winding river. She would have the city built upon its banks, with grand bridges and wide boulevards that radiated from traffic circles with beautiful monuments at their center. However, the monuments would be works of art, not emblems of politics. Lumière was to be a city that matched its name.
She drew a line from the city's center to the university's center, then marked it at the midpoint. From there she drew a line thirty five kilometers to the north. That would be the location of the Babar's main spaceport. Of course she would consult with the Obin on all these details, making sure they were practical.
A soft female voice issued from the ship's annunciator, “Attention. We will be skipping in exactly one minute.” That voice was also Zoë 's idea. It took a more strident tone for emergencies. She smiled at the sound of the thing.
They debarked from the shuttle into the late winter of Babar's northern hemisphere. There was still some snow on the ground. Even with the excellent cold weather gear the Obin had provided, the transition from the still warm Mid-West was a bit of a shock. But the flag flying above the temporary camp warmed Zoë 's heart: a bright green silhouette of an elephant on a chrome yellow field. When they saw what she was looking at, both John and Jane came to attention and saluted it. She repressed a squeal and hugged them when they 'at eased'.
Francois L'Ingénieur du Plan [Francois 'The Chief Engineer']
Joseph-Marat L'Chasseur à Cheval [Joseph-Marat 'The Light Cavalryman']
L'Navire [navire=ship]
Du Navire
De La Navire
Zoe had the Obin who were to be her 'subjects' – aka those living on Arist at the time – take French names, a male first name, as the Obin were all functionally 'male', and a descriptive last name. This was how she would begin to correct her 'nursery rhyme' mistake. Hickory and Dickory both take the last name L'Compagnon. All are addressed as Monsieur.
In the matter of titles, which are needed for reasons of protocol and legal documents, Zoë is to be known as The Proprietor [of Babar] and when addressed officially, as Mistress. Otherwise, she's still just Zoë. Or Miss Boutin-Perry if one is being formal.
“We're going with the 'constitutional monarchy model'. As Proprietor, more or less the 'queen', I am Head of State. John, you'll be my Prime Minister, therefore Head of Government and Jane, you'll be Minister of Defense. Oh, and I making you both lieutenant generals. I don't think we'll need higher ranks than that.”
Francois L'Ingénieur shows the Perry's the underground cloning facility. It is quite large.
“Dad, you're going to need to go into a Mark Twenty.”
He groans. “Ugh.”
“I'll stick with my Mark Eighteen for while,” said Jane. “It'll be good enough for the next few years.”
“I wonder if Amanda Lowe has any idea what she has started with all this cloning free for all?”
“Functional immortality for the human race?” said Jane.
“Exactly,” said John.
“From what the Obin tell me, that is at the center of her plans,” said Zoë.
John shook his head. “Oh, brave new world.”
John asks Harry to come to Babar.
“Oh, man, I'd be like a kid in a candy store. But I can't right now. I'm the CU's “hero of the moment' here on Earth and Abumwe really needs all the help she can get right now.”
“I'd never figure you'd go all patriotic.”
He shrugged. “More a sense of duty. I've been CDF a long time now. And the CU is in deep shit.”
“God bless you, Harry Wilson, you really are a hero.”
“No, I'm not. I just kept my shit together and followed my training.”
“That is a textbook definition of heroism.”
“Look, John, just keep a spot open for me, okay?”
“One will be guaranteed forever, Harry.”
At her request, the Obin purchase and transport a small herd of African elephants to Babar.
Among themselves, the Obin also call it EtanZoe, which translates as either 'Zoe's World' or 'Zoe's Domain'. It is also a wordplay on 'Eten' which means 'gift'. Hickory and Dickory disclaim any responsibility for this.
The Obin also convince Zoë to take a Mk 20 'upgrade' because 'things are going to get interesting'. She is 1.7 meters [5foot 7], has mousy brown hair and brown eyes. She requires her new body be 1,85 meters [6 foot 1/2 inch] have jet black hair and 'very bright' green eyes. “If I am to be a ruler of a planet then I should look impressive.”
The Mark Twenty Z. “Z?” “Yes, the A is the basic model and B through F are CU models with different modifications. We chose 'Z' because we don't think their new models will get that far. It also stands for Zoë.”
Babar is a terraformed world. Took four centuries to convert. Boutin University is to have a Terraforming Sciences Dept.
The Obin reproductive method was for some of them to 'go into season' and lay a large number of 'eggs' – soft fleshy sacs – and them those not 'in season' would spray them with a fertilizing hormone en mass.
The Consu changed that. Now they clone the 'eggs' and then spray them. They do no know why the Consu changed them in that fashion as they are now totally dependent upon that technology for procreation. This happened about twelve hundred years ago.
They share this secret with Zoe in strictest confidence. This is also when they tell her about the Consu 'uplifting everyone'. That information they say she is free to share as needed.
The Technological Mennonites from Roanoak request residence on Babar, which is of course granted. Over time, most of them in the CU migrate to Babar. Many students from Boutin University – of many races – come to spend time with them as a way of 'reconnecting to their basic natures'.
