The Fall of the Absolute

by Karen Page

Chapter 32

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Chapter 32

There was silence. Disabling the device had seemed the foolproof way to remove the risk. That had been a dead end. The only solution they could see was to use the keypad and type in the code.

It had seemed so simple. It was obvious that an investigator undercover with Earth Fist had managed to be involved with setting the code. But why was there a method to disable it? Perhaps no code worked and it was there to waste their time. But they had that clue. It must mean something.

The three young women stared hopelessly at the two red dots and the clock gently ticking down to zero.

Hope palmed her forehead. "It's backwards. I'm an idiot for not seeing it."

"Seeing what?" Jennifer said, grabbing hold of Hope's hands as she reached for the keypad. "We have one attempt left. Tell us your brainwave."

Hope struggled for a few seconds before what Jennifer said filtered through. "The first code was backwards. We've been putting the code in the wrong way. We should have put it in backwards."

That made sense, but Jennifer wasn't rushing even though the clock was ticking down. She put the question out to everyone, "Any other suggestions?"

Theo was the first to respond, "Hope makes sense."

Kelly wanted to say that Hope always made sense but wanted to stay professional. "I agree."

"Reggie? Sofia?" Jennifer queried.

Sofia gasped at being asked. She wasn't expecting that. "Stand by with wire cutters, just in case? And no matter what, we pull these three after the code has been input?"

"Sounds good. Reggie?"

Reggie answered carefully, "Can the Station use a transport tunnel to take it away? I know there has been too much risk, but we are out of options."

"No. When the Yvestigans first visited the Rohastin, my systems were upgraded to remove bodily waste as the onboard facilities needed modification. The council didn't want full remote tunnel capability due to a concern that people would never walk anywhere."

Jennifer nodded, let go of Hope's hands, and squared her shoulders. If she was going to die, she was going to do it without fear driving her. "We go with Hope's plan and Sofia's backup. Stand by to pull the connector devices. Station, please update the Council on our status."

"The Council can't hear you but has been monitoring the status. The Human ambassador wishes you luck and says to make them proud."

"Like last time," Jennifer said to Hope. "Confirm each digit as we go."

Hope nodded and sat back down on the floor next to Kelly. She braced her hand like she'd done before and started. The same sequence as they'd done previously, but in reverse.

As the clock ticked down, Hope's calls of the numbers became more clipped.

"Keep it steady. Imagine you're spotting for Kelly," Jennifer said. "Look at the keypad, not the clock. Leave that to me."

Hope centred herself. "Zero."

It was a lot clearer. Kelly, Jennifer and Theo confirmed, the only others who had seen the code at Christmas.

"Five."

"Five," everyone confirmed, including Reggie and Sofia. They'd heard it so many times they knew it too.

Hope pressed the final button, and they all held their breaths. The three of them in the room looked intently at the two red lights. The third one lit green and the countdown clock stopped.

"Green," Jennifer called.

"Disconnect," Theo ordered.

"Disconnecting," Reggie responded.

There was no response from Sofia.

"Sofia!" Jennifer barked. When there was no response, she barked, "Eloise!"

"Sorry. Disconnecting."

All three were disconnected within the ten seconds. It was only then that Jennifer glanced back at the countdown clock. It showed thirteen seconds. Jennifer pointed to it. "We shouldn't have rushed. We had plenty of time."

Kelly and Hope looked at Jennifer and then both burst out laughing. Hope said, "We should have waited for one second. That's how it ends in the movies."

"I don't think my heart could have taken that," Jennifer said and joined her two friends on the floor for a group hug.

When they separated, Hope said, "Ring your parents."

"But it was an emergency before," Jennifer responded. "It isn't now."

"You rang and told them there was a bomb. You can't leave them panicking."

"Are you sure?" Jennifer said, not wanting to upset her friend.

"Very."

"I'm not looking forward to this," Jennifer said, switching on the DTD. "They are going to be very angry."

"Probably, but masking their anguish. They know you're an investigator. They have some ideas. I'm lucky that my parents have no clue. It's probably much easier for them."

The call was answered before Jennifer heard the first ring.

"Hi," Jennifer said shyly.

"Are you okay?" Ashleigh asked, surprising Jennifer with her calmness. She'd expected shrieking or shouting.

"Yes. We all are. Sorry I hung up on you earlier."

"We understood time was precious. Well, I did, and in the end so did your ma. She's on standby with a team to help if needed."

"It will need someone to dismantle it, but its location means not many would be allowed here. The countdown is stopped, but I doubt it is safe. We are leaving that job to experts. It's human tech, so might be easily misunderstood by other species. Communication is still down."

"I'll let Becky know. Evan has worked out a kludge. If you call from an open area, they can work out a hop. He said it would be like a beacon they could lock on to."

"We need to clean up. Let her know it will be at least thirty minutes, probably longer."

Ashleigh laughed. "Understood. And if it is longer, we aren't going to be angry. We're pleased you and your friends are safe. We are proud you didn't run, even if it does make us worry what else you get involved with. I love you."

"I love you too. I normally just work in the shop. You and ma probably have had worse escapades than I have. Anyway, I'll send a message when I'm showered."

When Jennifer ended the call, she said to the five exhausted individuals, "We're done. Go get cleaned up if you need to. Station, any joy with interfacing with external communications?"

"No. But that is for tomorrow. Perhaps you could see if the Igorotorans can have a look now there isn't any other issue."

"There is a bomb team coming from Earth. One of us will supervise the removal. You can hop them directly here, but how can we remove them without them knowing where your discreet systems are?"

"I will get my maintenance bots to build something. An enclosed box they can stand inside. It will then take them out without seeing where they are or were."

"Like an elevator! Or perhaps the enclosed box could contain a Transport Hub. That way it doesn't need to move."

Jennifer sensed what she could only describe as a smile before fading away and leaving the group chat.

"Shall we all meet up later for a drink?" Jennifer asked the team.

Sofia didn't say anything. "Sofia, aren't you joining us?"

"I'm not sure you'd want me around. I'm not part of your team."

"I'm not either," Reggie said. "I work with Jennifer in the shop. But needs must."

Jennifer rolled her eyes at Reggie using her line. "You're the team administrator for the Space Racers team Kelly and Hope are in. It would only be natural for you to be there."

"Ah, if you phrase it like that, I will see you later. I can't believe only an hour ago we were having lunch."

They all disconnected. Jennifer followed Kelly and Hope out. She'd arrived via an internal hop and actually had no idea where on the station she was.

* * *

"Who is Eloise?" Theo asked Jennifer as he gently washed her back.

"Ah, you caught that. Eloise is the person Sofia claims to be. You remember me telling you about the kidnapping of my parents when I was young? Well, Eloise was one of the ten French children. Whether that's true or not, I've no way to verify. She did know things that weren't in the report that my mum mentioned."

"You could ask your mum to come to the station, and have them meet," Theo suggested, as Jennifer started on his back.

"Yes, but that would potentially out her. If true, she probably doesn't want to revisit that time of her life."

"And if we got Kelly to ask her dad, then he'd know that we know."

Jennifer nodded, enjoying the feeling of her hands on his firm back. "Exactly. Probably best to leave it as it is. We could ask Overwatch to check, but that might set off alarms on Earth."

"Leave it be. It's not like we will be doing anything other than listening."

"Don't jinx it," Jennifer laughed. "This has been nice. But ..."

"Work calls. I know. Good luck with the Council. Do you want me to deal with your ma?"

Jennifer pondered. "No. If you, Hope or even Kelly get involved, others that are with her will wonder how you are involved. I'm more visible and they might not query it."

Jennifer went up to the Ambassador floor with Theo. Jennifer waved bye as he went towards the office he shared with Rupert. She turned and headed towards the council waiting room.

The Reginadde aide was there. "The Council are assembled. Follow me."

Visiting the council was getting old. If it wasn't the council, Georgina, Vers'am or the Reginadde Ambassador would want to see her. The room was as it normally was; bare, with the members standing in a circle.

"Please, come and stand in the centre," Vers'am, the council leader, requested.

Silently Jennifer did as he'd requested.

"We received a message from the Station that the whole structure and everybody inside it was in danger. That flag was later removed. Is the danger fully gone?"

"It has been mitigated. When Trudy made her play, three devices were found at crucial positions in the Station structure and one by one of its control systems, which we found to be a human bomb. It activated a countdown clock with a timer of thirty human minutes. There wasn't time to get an expert here of any species."

"You disarmed a bomb?" Georgina said incredulously.

"We deactivated it," Jennifer clarified. "And because of that we were able to remove the other three devices. A specialist team will need to remove the bomb. The Station is building something so whatever team performs the task isn't aware of the computer location."

The Reginadde Ambassador asked, "Do you know who is behind this?"

"It was Earth Fist on instructions from Trudy. I spoke with a human bomb expert. During the call, he outed himself as the bomb maker."

"You have a ship and therefore a method of leaving," Georgina said. "Why didn't you?"

"And leave everyone else to die?"

The Oracle spoke, "I don't need names. Just how many on the station worked on this. Disarming the bomb and the three devices?"

"Six. Seven if you include the Station computer helping and advising."

The Oracle looked surprised and seemed to withdraw.

"Do I have your permission for a specialist team to remove the bomb? Hopefully the Station is able to create a mechanism to keep the location of its core secret." Jennifer asked when nobody else seemed to have questions.

Vers'am nodded. "As long as you supervise. I'm aware it will mean your colleague will need to run the shop by herself for a period of time."

"I believe my ma will be in attendance."

Georgina asked, "How are they going to get here with interdimensional communication down?"

"I will act as a beacon for them. What they do to arrive based on that, I have no idea. I trust Star Bright that if they ask for that, then they can get here."

"We thank you for your service to the Rohastin," Vers'am said, dismissing her.

Jennifer turned as if to go and then stopped. "I have one question, if I may?"

A few of the ambassadors glanced at each other.

"Of course."

"When the Alphonian and Reginadde interceded on Earth, it was to keep them on a path. Not too much peace or they would stagnate, but not too much conflict that the species died. Do you feel that this is happening with the Rohastin too? The Rohastin was starting to stagnate. Suddenly things have been shaken up with things like the Urattr."

The Oracle looked uncomfortable. "I'm not sure if this is the correct forum—"

The Reginadde Ambassador interrupted him. "An interesting analogy. Do you have any idea who might manipulate us like that?"

Jennifer was quiet for a few ticks. She glanced up and saw faces looking intently at her. "The Lyondoa."

The ambassadors looked confused and Jennifer was surprised. Did they really not know who built the Station? Was it shrouded in the mists of the past that they were no longer in their history? As she scanned their faces, she saw the Oracle. He knew the name. The Scotutr Ambassador saw the Oracle too.

"Oracle, who are they?"

"They were the species that built the Rohastin Station. They moved on to give the upcoming species room to grow. It would be against their principles to interfere. That is why they moved away."

"The Founding Species?" Vers'am asked, in shock. "None of the information gives a name. Just that they created the Station and Hytuna as a shared language."

The Oracle snapped, "They didn't want their name to be known. They don't want to be worshipped or remembered. They moved away to give this area of the galaxy a fresh start under the emerging species."

"But you know of them?" Georgina said.

"Only because the Rohastin will grow and explore. One day we will be reunited. Things have already started to change. The Council are looking at things differently. You intervened with the Reginadde in a way you've never acted before. Non-species food is spreading away from here. Not just human chocolate, but other things. Jennifer's shop was the first to sell multi-species and on the Station, it is now the norm. The Rohastin of today isn't the same as it was a cycle ago. We aren't the same."

"So, if the Founding Species isn't interfering, what has shaken up the Rohastin?" the Frotanian ambassador asked.

The Oracle didn't look at anyone. "There is only one change. Humans. They operate like no other species that joined the Rohastin. They ask questions we don't. They share in ways we don't. They demand in ways we don't. They sometimes seem to operate with emotion rather than logic. They want to know things and explore with ferocity we've stopped doing. Is this because they are younger or because of who they are? I don't know, and it scares me, as I never know what they will do next."