Escaping the Cradle

by Karen Page

Part 51

---

Part 51
DATE:FC+203

Chapter 51
DATE:FC+203

The school summer holidays had never been an issue previously. Grace Brown, Kelly's mother, had been a stay-at-home mother, and during those six-week holidays Jenny would go and play at Kelly's. This year was the first since Grace had returned to employment.

The whole Brown family had been abroad on holiday, but for the second part of the school break they had to juggle childcare. They suggested a few holiday clubs to Kelly, but she asked if she could spend time with Jenny. Becky and Ashleigh were more than happy to have her around.

Then this unexpected invitation had arrived. It was a day that Kelly was supposed to be with them. Ashleigh didn't want to let Becky go on this trip by herself. Jenny would never forgive them if they went to the Rohastin station without her. That meant taking Kelly with them or causing a childcare issue to the Browns.

The previous evening, when Ashleigh had taken Kelly home, she'd done the only thing she could do. "Becky and I have to go away tomorrow. We are taking Jenny with us and are happy to take Kelly too, if that's okay with you."

"I sense a but," Clive stated, gazing at Ashleigh.

"It would mean taking her out of the country."

"That's—" Grace started, but her husband interrupted her.

"How far out of the country? I presume you will be in Eos. That ship can go quite far."

Ashleigh nodded. "Yes, we've an invitation to the Rohastin—"

It was Ashleigh's turn to be interrupted. This time by Kelly giving a scream of excitement. "Oh please," she begged her parents. "Please let me go with Jenny."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's something we can allow," Clive said, hating upsetting his daughter. An older woman with grey hair walked into the room. "Your great auntie Mavis is around."

"But Dad..." Kelly whined.

"If they are going there, they will have meetings to attend. That isn't going to be very exciting," he pointed out.

"My sister Tina and her husband are coming with us," Ashleigh pointed out. "Kelly knows Mr and Mrs Poop."

"And then there's her safety," Clive added.

Mavis Brown talked for the first time. "Just because that station isn't human, doesn't make it unsafe. I had the pleasure of hearing Luke and Tina in a concert once while they were at school."

Ashleigh gaped at Mavis. She knew exactly who her sister was. By the puzzled looks on Clive and Grace's faces, it was obvious that they had no clue.

"You're letting her learn. Don't stop now. She is a good friend with Jenny, and they look out for each other. The world is changing and this will give her an opportunity that very few have had. Yes, you want to keep her safe, but I believe with the people she would be going with, she will be safe. And what stories she'll tell you when she gets back."

Grace and Clive shared a look. They felt torn. They wanted the best for their daughter, but they were also worried. Clive gave another glance at his pleading daughter and his heart melted. "Okay. She'll have her passport with her in the morning."

"Oh, thank you!" Kelly cried, giving her parents hugs.

"I'll let them know," Ashleigh said.

"The aliens?" Clive asked, looking across. "I heard Earth-1 was launched today. Is it operational already?"

"Yes. As was the Mars satellite."

* * *

Luke had only been back in the UK for a week, and since being debriefed, Tina and Luke had planned to visit. When Ashleigh had informed them that they were going to the Rohastin Station they'd been happy to tag along.

They'd arrived early, and Hughes had tutted, even though she knew they were coming.

"When I spoke with Kelly's parents last night about her coming, there was an older lady there. She said she knew you. A Mavis Brown. Do you want to come and say 'hi' while we get Kelly?"

"Absolutely not," Luke said instantly. "Sheesh. That lady scares me."

"There, there," purred Tina, patting her husband.

"Do you want to come with me?" Ashleigh asked Tina.

"No way. She didn't get the role she had in SIS for her tea making skills."

"SIS?" Ashleigh asked.

"MI6," Tina clarified. "You know, the UK's version of the CIA."

"Right and her nephew is GCHQ. Blimey. What a family."

"I like your new home," Tina said, changing the subject. "It's really you."

"Thanks. We like it too. We looked because we needed somewhere with extra security. We didn't think we'd find something so us. There's also room for Eos to land without causing our neighbours to panic."

"Auntie Tina! Uncle Luke!" Jenny yelled, barrelling down the stairs.

"Hey," Tina said, opening her arms. Jenny rushed in and gave her a hug.

"Ma'am," Hughes said, coming into the room. "Kelly Brown is just coming up the drive. She is being delivered by a Mavis Brown."

Tina and Luke took a step back.

"Her aunt is lovely," Jenny informed them. "She taught Kelly how to defend herself. That's where she learnt to kick the kidnapper in his balls."

Tina laughed. "Okay Jenny. Let's go meet them."

In the end, Kelly jumped out of the car, and waved bye to her great aunt. Mavis waved back and went on her way.

Luke looked around. "Is Becky good? I need to speak with her."

"She's in her study," Ashleigh responded. "I think she wants to thank you herself. Your insightful shout in Birmingham cleared the crowd."

Luke was ashen. "Does she know it was me?"

"Yes. She recognised your voice. Go and see her. She isn't angry with you."

"He's been so nervous," Tina said when her husband had gone to find Becky. "He was also frightened what I'd have thought."

Ashleigh gave her sister a gentle hug. "It must be hard sometimes; having to be someone you're not."

"Sometimes. But often the result is worth it."

"Did you get into trouble for shooting that chap?"

"No. But I did have a lot of counselling. He was the person I wished I'd killed last year," Tina admitted quietly. "I was upset with myself. If I'd killed him then, would those French children not have been taken."

"If it wasn't him, it could have been someone a lot worse," Ashleigh said. "You did the right thing. I went to see them the other day. I received a few emails from them. I've no idea how they got my address, but I wanted to see they were okay. Three of them had parents that knew what was happening, the rest was hoodwinked. Those three have been taken in by their 'buddy' family."

"That's so..." Tina trailed off, lost for words.

"Yeah."

"I'm not sure if the news has broken yet," Tina consulted her phone. "No. Not yet. But Interpol were provided evidence about the upper leadership of Earth First."

Ashleigh blinked in surprise at the mention of Interpol.

Tina continued, "Most had a role in organising Earth Fist too. They didn't care about the aliens. For them it was a money-spinning business that they were funnelling into drugs, human trafficking and worse. Police in six different countries arrested the leadership last night. Then there were raids on some of the 'businesses' they were funding. Hundreds of people that were held against their will were freed."

Ashleigh's mouth fell open at the scale of the investigation. "Did all the investigators get out?"

"I believe so. The ones I know about anyway. There are some in deep cover that we just aren't told about."

When it was getting close to departure time, they all gathered at the rear of the building.

"What are we going to be doing on the space station?" Jenny asked Tina as they waited for Eos.

"Well, first thing you need to do is show me where these shops are. Fancy going to a shopping mall and then only eating there. And I hear Aunt Caroline has met one of the aliens before me. That doesn't seem right."

Jenny giggled. "I've no idea where those shops are. Last time we were escorted. And Ma said that we are going to different coordinates. Similar but not quite the same as previously."

Ashleigh said, "Last time we had diplomats onboard. This time, it is just us. We won't be going to the diplomatic bay. Shinara said that someone would be with you. I'm sorry that Ma and I will be elsewhere."

"I know," Jenny said, sadly. "But Ma needs you."

Kelly had been stood next to Jenny watching and listening but not commenting. She loved her time with Jenny's parents. It was so different to her normal sedate life at home. She loved her parents, but this was so different. She felt special that she was included. She still looked up at the night sky with her telescope, but no longer looking for Eos. She was looking at the stars and trying to imagine what might be there.

Eos landed on the concrete pad that had been laid on the left side of the rear garden and they all walked out, leaving the three bodyguards behind. To Ashleigh, it felt like a cross between playing hooky and a slice of freedom.

Kelly didn't know where to sit and hesitated just inside the door. Jenny leaned in behind her and suggested they sit together away from the adults. Becky laughed softly. Children were children. When they had a choice, they never wanted to sit with the adults.

After shutting the door, Sam came to the back. "Okay, three of you have never done this journey before. It can feel a little strange the first time. Don't panic. The feeling of nothingness is something you get used to if you do it a few times."

Ashleigh nodded. She remembered the first long jump she'd done. Those three seconds in an interdimensional tunnel weren't something to forget. It wasn't painful, it just felt odd. There had been so many other things happening that she'd never got round to asking Evan or Liam about it.

Kelly looked unsure, so Jenny held her hand. By the time she'd opened her mouth to say something, the trip was over. Sam was still standing close by, not having even moved to join James.

"Was that it?" Kelly said. "I was more frightened because of the warning."

"Ah. Good to know," Sam said. "That was the first time I'd given that warning. Perhaps not a good idea then?"

Kelly shrugged. "Knowing that feeling is expected was good. It is strange. I just worried it was going to be stranger."

When they got off, there were four people waiting. Becky recognised Ro'toran, and the young Reginadde girl that Jenny had become penfriends with. There was a Reginadde couple with her and Becky wondered if that was her parents.

"Remember, Reginaddes don't use names," Jenny reminded Kelly. Kelly nodded, glad of the reminder.

Jenny grabbed Kelly's hand and they rushed together to speak with the Reginadde girl. Kelly was a bit slower with her Hytuna but after a few moments was chatting away, the two others slowing down a bit to help her.

James and Sam locked up the ship. This wasn't a work trip, so they decided to join Luke and Tina with the two girls.

"We have a device that will help you," Ro'toran said when they'd all gathered nearby. He showed a small item which was about 3cm x 1cm x 1cm. The top was shining white. "This is a communication and guidance device which has been adapted to work with humans. Put it in your hand and speak your name. Once that is done, it should ask you to name it. You then can store it on you. Just think the name you've given the device, and it should help you."

They did as they'd been instructed. It surprised them when they heard a voice, similar to their own, inside their heads asking to give their device a name. They then were asked to look around. They saw names associated with each person there. Each of the Reginaddes had some type of identifier shown next to them. They were symbols that weren't Hytuna, but what they signified wasn't mentioned.

"Thank you," James spoke first. "How does it work for humans?"

Ro'toran explained. "The doctor Shinara took brain scans and worked out how to interface it. Our engineers then modified these devices for human brains. Other species have these, so it is good that it works for humans. It means you can talk to each other while onboard and the station computer can guide you to places."

"While Becky and Ashleigh meet with the doctors, I thought the rest of you might enjoy trying Space Racers."

The young Reginadde girl got all excited. She explained to Jenny and Kelly that she'd only tried it twice, but on the second time she'd managed to complete the training circuit without the onboard computer having to stop her crashing.

"Are you going to join us?" Tina asked James.

James, the ex-RAF fighter pilot and ex-ESA astronaut, gave her a withering look. Nonchalantly he said, "It might be nice to give it a go."

"It's a good job Andy and Helen aren't here," added Luke. "This is fun, not competition."

"Oh, they have competitions too," the Reginadde said brightly. "Most species have their own sports, but Space Racers is one of the few that everyone takes part in."

Jenny rushed to her Ma and gave her a hug. "Good luck."

Becky and Ashleigh followed Ro'toran to the doctors. The ship bay was larger than the diplomatic one, but there wasn't anything else different about it. The biggest change was they were lower in the station, so they had to make their way up. Ro'toran explained that there was a series of gentle ramps which they'd used when they'd gone to eat during their previous visit. However, this time they went a different way.

Ro'toran took them to a small room. "This is a transport hub. Ask your device for the diplomatic level, and you will be taken to it."

There were no markings, no signs, nothing to indicate what level they were on. Ashleigh asked her device, "What level am I currently on?"

"Hangar two."

It felt strange asking something using her mind, rather than verbally. "Take me to the diplomatic level."

The only reason Ashleigh knew she had moved was Becky and Ro'toran disappeared. Ashleigh grinned. It was like the ship hops, without the ship. "Diplomatic level," the device helpfully told her.

Becky blinked into existence in front of her with Ro'toran close by.

"Once you arrive, move out," Ro'toran said. "You don't want to block it for others."

Ashleigh felt momentarily chastised, before she realised it was just etiquette. You don't stop at the top of stairs, so why would you stop at the end of being transported via interdimensional tunnel?

Ro'toran led them to a large room, but instead of being a meeting room, this was undeniably a medical room. The five diplomatic doctors were there.

"You look better than when we last saw you," Vam'tar, the Alphonian doctor said.

The last time they'd seen her, she'd been in hospital after being kidnapped. "I feel a lot better too. Thank you all for your help."

"It's what we do," said the Reginadde doctor. "Let us discuss helping you complete your transition, which I was told is what humans call the process. Shinara examined in great detail what the Malachi Virus does. She took your scan and created a digital twin inside the medical computer. Various changes to the virus were run to see the impact on your body at the physical and cellular level."

"The basis of it was illegal Yvestigan technology. It was ruled illegal because it could be used as an indiscriminate weapon to drive people mad. What we have doesn't change your mind and it isn't indiscriminate. It can't spread. It is no longer a virus but transmits via a cellular delivery system."

Becky sat there, wide eyed. Ashleigh holding her hand.

"I don't want you to do anything illegal or unethical," Becky said.

The Reginadde stated solemnly. "What we have created isn't illegal and it isn't unethical. You will be as humanly female as it is possible for us. You will have the correct organ structure. But you will not create embryos."

Becky gave a dazzling smile. It was more than she could ever have hoped for. "Thank you. That sounds perfect. Since my partner is female, I think not having embryos won't be an issue."

"What is the process?" Ashleigh asked.

"Becky will lie on the bed. She will be put to sleep while the change happens." Shinara consulted a tablet in front of her. "It will take six human hours."

Shinara moved a few trollies out of the way, so Becky could get to the bed. She lay down and looked across at what was happening.

"I love you," Becky said to Ashleigh, and before Ashleigh could respond Becky's eyes closed. She was already unconscious

Ashleigh was shocked. It was happening so fast.

"There isn't anything you can do now," Ro'toran said kindly. "Why don't I take you to your friends. The doctors will be busy making sure Becky is well. You have your device, so they can contact you when she is about to wake up."

Ashleigh glanced at Becky. The doctors were busy around her and were paying no attention to Ashleigh or Ro'toran. With a worried last glance at Becky, Ashleigh let Ro'toran guide her out.