Tales From The Scrapbox Read online

"Colonel Loyan, sir!” A young, earnest officer called, turning from the communications consol and pulling his headphones from his ears.

  "Corporal," Larus Loyan said, turning away from the holo-tank where a training simulation was projected. "What's going on?"

  "Beta Squadron brought in a refugee; he's demanding to speak with you.” The corporal said with a salute.

  "I don't have time to speak to every refugee, Corporal," Loyan said, starting to turn back to the holo-tank.

  "Sir, I understand, but he says he has Doctor Ashain, from the Warder’s Project. He said you would understand why they had come, sir.” The corporal said hurriedly.

  Loyan went still as the room fell silent, and then said, "Have medical check her over and bring her to my office. I will be there shortly.” He barely acknowledged the Corporal as another squadron entered the flight ready room. Their designation read Alpha Squadron.

  Loyan regarded his visitor steadily, she was a tiny, blond haired woman who barely looked the eighteen years often attributed to her, but her hand had designed almost all of the programs they were depending on to protect them from the invading Alterian forces. "Doctor Ashain," he said.

  "Colonel Loyan," she said. "I never expected us to meet in person." She was clearly struggling to keep her face impassive, but Loyan had enough experience to see her confusion, determination, and oddly enough, grief, from her movements and her eyes.

  "Neither did I," Loyan said, "I was under the impression that you never left the Outpost."

  "That was true," Doctor Ashain said, "however, the Alterians makes that a foolhardy choice. Besides, the Outpost was destroyed. I was lucky to escape.” Her voice caught and for a moment she looked devastated, "Many did not."

  "I understand," Loyan said. "Doctor Ashain."

  "Colonel," Doctor Ashain interrupted. "Your soldiers cannot fight the Alterians. Not as they are. The Alterians are known for their use of cybernetics, both standing alone and when added to an organic creature such as a human. My study of their latest designs indicates that there is no weapon available to the soldiers you command that can stand for long if the Alterians continue to use the mix of cyborg and android that they have in other battles."

  "What do you suggest, then?” Loyan asked. He’d wondered the same thing ever since they’d learned just who had been going for their outlying defenses. Their people would fight to the last to protect Liana, but without assistance, they just didn’t have the necessary tech to defeat the Alterians.

  "Warders.” Doctor Ashain said, she picked up the case that had been sitting by her chair. "I have with me the results of a ten year project. Devices intended to create the advanced soldiers Liana needs to fight the Alterians. I have the programming codes, weapon designs and more."

  "Warders," Loyan said.

  "Project Warder was a pet project for our team," Doctor Ashain said. "We successfully completed devices and drones for two Operators, but they were killed in the evacuation." For a brief moment, Doctor Ashain’s sky-blue eyes darkened with sadness.

  Loyan considered Doctor Ashain's offer, even though he knew they needed what Doctor Ashain could give them, he didn’t want to appear too eager. "What do you need from me, Doctor Ashain?"

  "We need to identify potential Warders," Doctor Ashain said, "resources to create the drones and weapons they’ll use. Time, which I expect is the one thing we won’t get. I'll need to train the Warders in the hardware, and to use their abilities. The drones will need to be built, as well as the weapons. With help, I can have everything ready in six months."

  "We may not have six months," Loyan pointed out.

  "Six months is a generous projection," Doctor Ashain replied, "it took five years before we trusted the other two Warders with the more advanced drone weaponry."

  "There aren't that many resources that I can make available to you," Loyan said.

  "There are computer dump sites here, correct?” Doctor Ashain replied, she barely waited for Loyan's nod, "I can salvage what I need from there. As long as I remove the wireless components of any desktop I reactivate, the Alterians will find no access to my work, even if they have rejected Warder candidates on their ships.” Loyan looked down at his desk for a moment, dampening his urge to leap forward and shake the young doctor until she confessed where she’d gotten that piece of intelligence. He was almost positive that the number of people who should have known the information could have been counted on one hand with fingers left over. If Doctor Ashain knew, then there was a leak of some sort. Doctor Ashain cleared her throat as she sat back, "I can spend part of my time creating computers for your people to use as well as my own."

  To keep the doctor from suspecting anything, Colonel Loyan busied himself with locating the list of abandoned properties in the city. He wasn’t sure if she would take a flat rejection well or not, but there was no way he was going to permit anyone to tamper with the computer system until he’d located the leak. "I can only give you two assistants right now, Doctor Ashain," he said, "and I cannot promise that we will find enough Warders either.” He looked at the list for a moment, "I have an old military storehouse that I can make available now. Something else may become open in time, but I have thousands of people who need supplies and limited space."

  Doctor Ashain sighed, but nodded, "Very well. In time, however, I may ask for renovations to this storehouse, specifically a drone storage facility."

  Loyan signed some papers and pressed the intercom button on his phone, "Lieutenant," he said, "Please send Captain Felix to my office."

  "Yes sir," his secretary replied.

  "The Captain will see you settled in," Loyan said, "and he'll introduce you to your assistants."

  "Thank you," Doctor Ashain replied.

  Loyan watched Doctor Ashain and her assistants from afar. There were ups and downs, and twice Doctor Hesparn, being the only male on the team, showed up in Loyan’s office, threatening to quit. Somehow, however, Doctor Ashain, Dr Hesparn, and Doctor Ashainendall reached a point of harmony. As the number of evacuees grew, the trio was able to attach lab technicians to their project, however, none of them stayed. Most were driven away by the sarcastic banter that Doctor Ashainendall and Dr Hesparn enjoyed. The rest were put off by Doctor Ashain's lack of warmth, and youth. She refused to let anyone imply that they could control her or disrespect her work; as one young tech learned to his sorrow. Fortunately, they had competent surgeons and the young man would be able to have children some day.

  They finally managed to find a young man who could stay, named Jinx, who balanced his own sarcasm with a charm that baffled Doctor Ashain even as it secretly amused her. Jinx took over as the liaison between the three scientists and the various people who helped with Project Warder. He approved, from afar, the hiring of mechanics to build the Drones, over the protests of others. He even convinced the group to make plans for a true base for the Warders, complete with Doctor Ashain's network of cannons, and TV screens. It began to look like Doctor Ashain's six-month deadline would be met.

  Then The Alterians stepped up its attacks. It was with regret that Loyan asked Doctor Ashainendall, a munitions expert, to assist in defense planning. When it was time for the Warders to be selected, Jinx left. He had been too young to be considered and left in anger that his work would not gain the reward he had seemed to secretly desire. Dr Hesparn was the last to leave, taking over the environmental mechanics division after one too many accidents with the climate control devices had left the people either suffering from heat stroke or hypothermia. It was his stated hope that the Warder technology he'd been working with would transfer into ways to combat the Alterians's radiation poison.

  It was alone that Doctor Ashain entered the completed Warder Base for the first time. Loyan had planned to be there for the woman he now considered his friend and colleague, but had been caught up in the business of evacuating a continent. He was not there to see how the young woman took in the quarters desig
ned for her, and for the future Warders. He was not there when she sealed herself into the command center and activated her computer system, including the cameras and audio pickups that would enable her to maintain control of a group that would certainly be older than her.

  When his computer screen came on with Doctor Ashain's special transmission screen, however, he knew that she was settled in her new base. "Well?” He asked, glancing up from the stack of requisition forms; "Is everything to your specifications?"

  "It is," Doctor Ashain said, and then her voice changed, "I have considered using this voice modification, Colonel, what do you believe?"

  "I think it will successfully confuse any of your Warders as to your true gender, much less your age," Loyan replied after a moment of consideration.

  "Good," Doctor Ashain replied, "then it is time."

  "Time for what?” Loyan asked.

  "Time to find the Warders," Doctor Ashain replied. "I have taken the liberty of preparing an outline for an evaluation that will enable us to sort out those with the right mental capacity to accept the position as well as noting some ideas for physical testing."

  "All right," Loyan agreed, "I'll have one of the military shrinks contact you to rough out the final pieces of the first tests. Do you want to look at just the soldiers?"

  "I anticipate only one soldier will be necessary for the team,” Doctor Ashain said, “It is better that we allow for more individuality amongst the Warders to encourage the creative solutions that their robotic nemesis will lack.

  "All right," Loyan nodded, "I leave this in your hands, Doctor Ashain."

  Departure at Dawn

  A group of settlers prepares to leave the home they have always known for a new life in the wilderness.