Lineage Part 2

Earth –

As the San Marcos entered the Sol System, they picked up various ages of Earth’s electronic signals. Ordered to capture and record these electronic and sound waves, Torres’ Intelligence unit then deciphered them. After studying the first report, Admiral Marinero turned the project over to his son to make sense of these sounds and images. Utilizing Warren Officer Suarez to help him sort through the stack and cubes of data, Manolo couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather spend tedious time with than Angela. Besides, she deserved a little down time.

With help from Scrak and Alphie, they discovered thousands of hours of radio and television broadcasts embedded within the electromagnetic waves. After they listened to the broadcasts, Suarez suggested they pipe the broadcasts through the entire ship; because by listening to it maybe it would help the crew understand the Earthling’s culture.

Fascinated by the vast variety of radio signals, the crew listened to these strange, exotic sounds and images coming from Earth. After a few days, music from various cultures and different musical eras were being listened to by the whole ship. Some crewmembers even began to form groups of fans with specific music genres.

The groups began forming from the earliest styles of broadcast music. The styles included; classical music, ragtime music, and jazz. As the ship got closer to Earth, World War Two became the hot topic of news reports and of shipboard speculation as to who would win. They also started listening to and enjoying the Big Band sound. The crew would go about their duties humming songs from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, the Andrew Sisters and Rosemary Clooney. On their off-duty time, they would sit for hours and listen to Count Basie, Artie Shaw, and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. They even picked up the dances of that era, via Classic Movie cable channels and danced for hours.

Quickly on the heels of the end of World War 2, came the Korean conflict. With this new war, a new kind of music came on the scene, Rock ’N Roll. Artists such as; Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson and Ritchie Valens became the crew’s newest interest.

Then Vietnam came along, and the scene changed from Rock ’N Roll to Rock. Bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, the Doors and Bob Dylan took the crew by storm. The best thing about having all these diverse types of music around was they could listen to any style of music at any time.

Those not totally fixated on music had the chance to explore another of Earth’s exports; the Hollywood Block Buster movies. They liked the older classics such as The Wizard of Oz and it’s a Wonderful Life, but when Stars Wars came out that really piqued their attention, especially Torres’ Intelligence Section. Then came Star Trek and the battle began; Star War vs. Star Trek.

The overall ideology of who the Rths were came into play then. Movies depicting the 15th and 16thcentury, the period where the New Spanish Empire gathered its inspiration, clashed with the newer, more modern films showing the idealistic future Utopia. As they made their way further into the Sol system, a debate within the officer corps began; was their Empire outdated and obsolete?

Judging by what they saw via the films, the Admiral was worried about Earth’s ability to detect their presence. So, he ordered the San Marco’s engineering staff place the newly developed ‘cloaking device’, as some called it, on the ship. The Professor’s team also came up with a ‘transmatter’ device like Star Trek’s transporter. Within a brief time, they perfected the usage of the ‘transmatter’ or ‘Transporter’; complete with Star Trek’s transporter controls.

Within a few days, the San Marcos made Earth’s orbit. The ship sat in a geosynchronous orbit above the equator. While traveling, Brother Delgado put together his landing party; it consisted of; himself, Sister Maria, Suarez, Alphie, Lt. Marinero, and Scrak.

The team helped in redesigning a shuttle with the newest weapons and cloaking device for transport. Their mission was to keep a very, low profile, find the weapons they needed; and return to the ship without incident. They knew the time constraints involved knew the Empire counted on them completing their mission.

Manolo head of the military part of the mission, wanted more military personnel along so, he recruited Ensign Santiago and Warren Officer Dominguez. When Rico Santiago found out that he was part of the landing party, he informed the friars. He and Friar Diego met privately the night before departure; Diego placed the Dominican’s sabotage mission squarely on his shoulders. Rico took on the burden with a smile.

The landing party had researched the best area to land and found that the San Francisco Bay area was the best place to seek ideas. The bay area had freethinkers, the willingness to use them and it also boasted technological resources. In addition, the area already hosted a well-established Observer outpost; Brother Delgado in contact with Glinda made plans to set-up a base there.

Captain James Allen, a USAF pilot on loan to the ultra-secret ‘Aurora’ project based out of an undisclosed black operation’s base in the Mojave Desert of California, was happy as he reported for duty that night. His transfer to the newly formed program called ‘Horus’ had made his year. Project Horus, named after the Egyptian mythical god-king of the sky, was the tightest kept secret in the United States Air Force’s arsenal of top-secret projects.

Elated, because he had the chance fly the latest in American flight technology, the ‘ZZ-749’ or better known as the ‘Seth,’ Allen’s dream came true. This plane was everything he had ever dreamed of. As he became more acclimated flying his Seth, Allen truly felt like the Egyptian god of night and darkness. Looking down he knew he kept the citizens of the United States protected in their sleep, but what he didn’t know was that tonight’s patrol would change his life forever …

It was zero two thirty or 2:30 AM when Captain Allen noticed his vision was starting to blur. He also noticed that his heart rate had increased as well as his pulse. He had no idea he was experiencing Hypoxia or the lack of oxygen. When the realization hit him, Captain Allen was already blacking out. The flight controllers on the ground discovered the evidence of oxygen depletion about the same time Captain Allen did; by then, it was too late to help. They tried anyway; they tried to gain control of the ZZ-749, via remote control, to rescue Captain Allen. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time.

They were able to plot his descent and knew he’d splash down near the Marianas Trench in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After calculating his plunge, they contacted the Base Commander and informed him of Allen’s situation. Because of the secret nature of Captain Allen’s mission, the base was unable to mount a search and rescue operation; which meant Allen would die alone. They couldn’t even recover his body because, as far as anyone knew, his mission didn’t even happen. All they could do was look on as Allen’s plane plunged to Earth.

Aboard the San Marcos, the team tasked with keeping an eye on Earth’s aerial traffic also watched Allen’s fatal plunge to Earth. The scanner tech informed the bridge of Allen’s situation; luckily, for Allen, Lt. Commander Torres was on watch that morning.

Drulop, the Admiral’s drone, and Torres knew that pilots who flew the Horus planes were the best of the best. They also knew that Allen had prior experience as a fighter pilot and thought he would be an invaluable addition to their starfighter program. So, they convinced the Admiral to use the transmatter device to save Captain Allen from certain death.

Prior to Allen running out of air, and his ship smashing into Pacific; the San Marcos’ engineers snatched him out of the jaws of death and beamed him directly to sickbay. The ship’s doctors and staff awaited Allen’s arrival and quickly stabilized him when he materialized. With Allen safely aboard, the Admiral went back to his quarters to work on the thick file Torres had dropped off about the two friars stirring the hornet’s nest.

Hispania –

“I realize the mines may not look like much, but I assure you, Majesties, they are a formidable weapon. Coronado, please bring up the monitor,” Salazar requested. The monitors lit up with pictures of the electromagnetic spectrum. “This is the electromagnetic spectrum that I spoke of earlier. As you can see, some forms of radiation are good and others bad. The bad radiation, called ionizing radiation, can be very harmful to anything, but especially to humanoid forms; when these high-speed light waves pass through matter they do deep, down lethal damage.”

“How so?” the Queen asked.

“The waves leave a trail of ionized particles behind and they will do indescribable damage, especially when we supercharge them with speed.”

“Will they be enough to destroy a ship?” asked the King.

“Yes. The mines we are building will destroy many enemy ships, Sire. But, having just this one specific mine is not enough; we also need ones that will dampen any electronic signals.”

“Dampen signals, Uncle?” the Queen asked.

“The Dampening Field Mines, or DFM, will render any ship, caught within its target zone, without power; they’ll be completely cut off any power source. We believe the combination of mines will cripple the Deintus’ defenses and destroy a good part of their Battlefleet.”

“Then keep building them, Uncle, and let’s get them deployed as quickly as possible.”

New Spanish Empire - Colonies

After hearing about the escape of the four thousand captured Rths slaves, Biavar, knew that any moment she’d get a visit from that stupid 4th Prime, Zibar.

If only I could space him and blame it on an accident, she thought. But, she knew somehow suspicious would fall on herfor the 4th Prime’s death.

I guess I’ll have to listen to how my crew handled their escape. Little does he realize that I lost crew when the slave ship was over-run; his only concern is his bottom line.She was thinking as a tone sounded from her personal quarter’s door. She took a deep, soothing breath before she answered it and welcomed Zibar into her chambers.

The things they make me do for the service.She inwardly thought.

Earth –

Two hours and thirty minutes after his rescue, Captain James Allen, stirred within his med-web in sickbay. The monitors alerted the staff who told the doctors the young Captain was waking. Learning of Allen’s promotion to Major, when the Admiral’s drone hacked into the Air Force’s computer system, Admiral Marinero thought his ‘death’ shouldn’t affect his promotion and ordered a new set of uniforms and insignia for Allen reflecting his promotion.

As Major Allen came around, he heard someone calling his name above him. Not knowing who had rescued him, he played opossum. Ever so slowly Allen opened his eyes and saw something hovering above his bed, looking down at him. At that moment, he knew he was hallucinating.

Lieutenant Marinero landed the shuttle on top of the rooftop where Cat lived. The weather outside was a clear, bright, early Sunday morning in San Francisco. One of those days that started out crystal clear and advanced to pristine. The day was going to be perfect, Cat thought as she looked out her new bedroom window. The waves were rolling ever so slightly as they made their way into the bay.

Wow, what a beautiful day. Its mornings like this that make me love this city more and more.

As she was going through her stretching exercises, her commo unit went off; ruining the moment. She moaned just before answering. “Yes; what now?”

“And good morning to you too, Sunshine; we have visitors,” replied Glinda.

“Give me like fifteen minutes and I’ll be down.”

“We’ll be gathered in the second-floor conference room. Please hurry and put on a nice, clean outfit.”

“So, I can’t wear baggy pants and a muscle shirt? Everything else is in the laundry, sorry.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something appropriate, my dear. Oh, by the way, one of our visitors is family.” Glinda clicked off after dropping that bomb. Cat stared at the device in shock.

Crap! Cat exclaimed.

Double Crap! Alphie replied automatically.

What? Hey, who are you? Cat, was surprised by this sudden new voice in her head.

What do you mean, who am I? Who are you? Alphie countered.

Am I starting to lose it? I know I’ve been under a lot of stress but, hearing voices? What’s next, the Cheshire cat from Alice popping in for lunch? Cat’s mind wondered.

Who are you conversing with, Alphie? Anna asked.

I thought it was you, but maybe not, Alphie replied puzzled. The thought pattern is similar, but not totally the same.

Anna, hurry up. We need to get out of the shuttle and go inside, insisted Sister Maria.

Yes, Sister. We’ll continue this later, Alphie.

Cat inwardly thought her lack of sleep was making her a little loopy. Ever since those weird dreams from the other night; sleep, for her, was at a premium. She was still trying to figure out what the weird one about escaping prisoners was all about. She decided to blame it on Stevie telling her about all his crazy missions.

I doubt any of that stuff happened. He was probably having fun at my expense.

She took a quick look at her choice of clothes in front of the full-length mirror that Stevie had installed for her a couple of days ago.

I’m fabulous if I do say so…

Cat had chosen an outfit she bought at Abercrombie & Fitch. It was a white cotton Brenna, floral lace top with navy blue Belle skirt and a blue wrap bow around the midriff. Her black pair of Jimmy Choo Espadrille sandals completed the ensemble. Of course, she knew Glinda would outshine her, but she decided her first impressions on the family would be important.

Simple and elegant, is the statement I’m trying to make; not like some people…

She walked down to the second-floor conference room, and, of course, it was empty. She waited for a couple of minutes then started looking around. She finally decided to check out the roof. She opened the door to the roof just in time to see all hell break loose.

Cat quickly figured out their visitors were under attack. She saw Stevie and Bob taking up defensive positions near adjacent roof corners. They were laying down covering fire for the guests. She saw Glinda yelling and running toward a nun and a priest, she motioned for them to take cover. So, Cat did what any normal teenage girl would do under the circumstance; she pulled her Beretta out of a thigh holster and ran over to Bob’s position. Bob sensed Cat; he smiled and gave her a thumb up.

“Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed for an ambush?” asked Bob.

“I knew I should have worn my cammos; what the hell’s going on?”

Bob looked back to see Glinda finally corralling Brother Delgado and Sister Maria and getting them back into the shelter of the cloaked shuttle.

“Guess, someone found out we were having company and decided to greet our guests with a twenty-gun salute.” They both watched as Glinda and the clergy suddenly disappeared.

“Wow, you guys have cloaking devices, too?” Cat asked.

“News to me, I didn’t know we had that kind of stuff,” confessed Bob.

Lacking target, the attackers decided to start shooting at Cat, Stevie, and Bob. As they pressed the attack on the three defenders, Cat felt a subtle change in the atmosphere. Then the voice from before entered her thoughts …

What are your orders, Princess? Alphie asked.

Alphie, I’ve told you … oh, never mind, go stealth and deal with the threat, Anna replied.

Deal with them, how?

Kill them Alphie and do so at once. We have friendlies on the roof that will die if not helped.

Aye, aye, Chief.

See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?

After hearing this exchange in her mind, Cat knew that her supposed dreams were real. What she just heard in her head was real; she was not daydreaming especially when a stray chip of brick from a ricochet hit her in the left cheek. The pain increased the reality as a trickle of blood slowly made its way down her face.

Damn and I just bought this top, too.

And it looks lovely on you, Miss, Alphie linked to her as he passed within inches of Cat’s position. She felt something moving by quickly in the direction of the shooters and whatever it was, was fast and invisible.

What the hell was that?Cat thought; then she heard a rapid succession of muffled explosions coming from across the street. Followed by more muffled sounds in another direction; and then by a third set, further off, a few seconds later.

All shooters are dead, chief. You can tell the landing party it’s safe to come out now.

Thank you, Alphie, I’ll let them know, replied Anna.

Cat stood up and looked across the street to the other building.

“Got a death wish, kid?” Bob asked, still crouched behind the brickwork.

“Naw, it’s safe now. Something by the name of Alphie, took out the bad guys,” Cat replied looking down at him.

“It’s safe now, Stevie,” she yelled. Stevie slowly looked over the ledge and stood. He made his way over to Bob and Cat.

“What happened?” asked Stevie.

“Damn if I know,” Bob replied. He looked at Cat, “How did you know they were neutralized?”

“Damn if I know,” Cat replied mimicking him. She watched Glinda gliding by, surrounded by military personnel escorting the priest and nun. “What’s with the clergy? Are you getting married again, Stevie? Who’s the lucky girl or ...ah, whatever?”

Bob snorted a response and Stevie chuckled. The group went through the door that Glinda held opened; she looked at Cat’s group and said, “Hurry it up. We don’t have all day.”

“Ah, you’re welcome. We’re fine.” She pointed to her cheek, “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be okay!” Cat yelled as they made their way over to the door.

“Tell me what you did besides almost get your butt shot off?” Glinda asked.

Cat thought a moment and said, “I was the diversion.”

“Well, it looked like your diversion just cost you an Abercrombie and Fitch top and probably a couple of stitches to your face.”

“Yeah, but you should see the other guys.” Stevie snickered and stopped as Glinda eyed him.

“Go get cleaned up and meet us in the second-floor conference room, as you were instructed.”

“Sure, but a little gratitude goes a long way, you know,” Cat said as she exited. She walked down the stairs on her own, but only after shaking for the first few steps.

That was a close one, she thought.

Then why were you out there? Getting shot is not a pleasant thing, Alphie warned.

Huh, what? Oh, not you, again, Cat groaned.

I’m sorry if I startled you before, that was not my intention. Let me start over, please. My name is Alphie, and I am the personal drone of Chief Warren Officer Angelica Suarez. And you are?

Crazy… at least it feels that way.

No, I mean your name; you do have one, don’t you?

Ah, yeah everyone has a name and apparently, now my hallucinations have names, too.

Senorita?

Cat, just call me, Cat, everyone else does.

Fine, then Senorita Cat …

Nope, just Cat. No, Senorita here buddy, now, who are you again?

Maybe this will help.

In a flash, Alphie materialized in front of Cat as she’s pulling on another top. Cat almost fainted. “What is it with you guys and scaring the crap outta people? First, Stevie turned into a tiger and licked me and now you pop out of nowhere, unannounced. Hey, how did you do that?”

“I do apologize, Cat. I was in stealth mode when I flew by your position earlier and took out your assailants. That new top suits you by-the-way. I might add, you have a remarkable resemblance to my owner, Chief Suarez. She recently got promoted to chief.”

“I’m glad for her, so that was you that whizzed by and took out the trash? Your nifty shooting, saved our bacon, little dude!”

“What colorful language, I’d love to hear more of it, Cat, but I believe we are needed in the conference room; might I add this will be a meeting I’m looking forward to.”

Before Alphie and Cat arrived, Lieutenant Marinero and his staff took care of everybody’s luggage. They stowed them in temporary quarters that Glinda assigned to them during their stay. Like the efficient manager she was, Glinda had prepared for everything; except for what was walking toward the conference room.

“If I may ask,” Glinda started, “How did you take care of the Deintus agents that ambushed you?”

Brother Delgado, by design, was their spokesperson when it came to uncomfortable questions.

“On the voyage here, a new drone prototype named Alphie was fabricated,” Delgado replied. “His stealth capabilities allowed him to disappear and using his weapon’s array he took care of the assailants.”

“I never knew such a thing was possible, Brother.”

“As Brother Delgado said, he is a new drone prototype,” replied Scrak.

“I assume the Drone Council commissioned his new status because of this crisis?” Glinda asked.

“Yes, we, ah… I mean. Yes, we did, Senorita Cruz,” advised Scrak.

Glinda looked at Bob and Stevie. “Guys, do me a favor and please let me have a few moments alone with our visitors. Make sure you take a couple of the naval party and check across the street and close the area off.”

They nodded and left without saying a word. As soon as the door closed, Glinda, who was keeping a steady gaze on Suarez, said, “My dear, Anna, why are you here and in that ridiculous get-up? Your parents mentioned you were coming but not as a; what is that costume?”

Anna, who had been trying to unsuccessfully hide her face from Glinda, looked up from the table and replied, “Dear Cousin, I could make up an extremely delightful story that would make sense, but Sister Maria has stressed the importance of being truthful. So, instead of answering, I’ll just be quiet.”

“What am I missing here?” asked Manolo as he looked at Suarez. “You never mentioned to us you had a cousin working as an Observer on Earth.”

“Well, I kind of forgot with all the invasion and stuff, sorry, Sir.”

“Do you not know who she is?” Glinda asked curiously. As soon as the words left her mouth, Glinda regretted saying them. She saw the look that came across Anna’s face as well as the priest’s and the nun’s. But, before Manolo responded, Cat and Alphie walked through the door. As soon as Anna and Cat saw each other; they both froze; for each was a mirror copy of the other, one dark-haired, the other blonde. The room became completely silent until Alphie shattered the quiet.

“May I introduce, Cat Stevens, from Earth?” he asked.

Glinda, stood, as Cat and Anna studied each other; she cleared her throat and said, “Well, yes, this is Cat and she has recently joined the Observers. We met her a few months ago and since then has become a vital member of our group.”

“But, why does she look so much like you, Suarez?” Manolo asked.

“She not only looks similar to the chief, Lieutenant, she is also a 90 percent gene match with her,” replied Alphie. This time the room got so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“But, how is that even possible? Isn’t she from Earth?” Manolo inquired.

Cat gave him a look that would freeze water and said, “Ah, I’m standing right here in the room with you, dude and yes, I’m from Earth.” She looked at Glinda. “Is this what you meant when you said that family was coming to visit?”

At that point, Anna stood and so did the others by reflex.

“I need to speak with my cousin and Cat alone, please,” she said softly, but with authority.

“You are quite right, my dear,” began Sister Maria. “We’ll leave you alone.” She headed to the door followed by the others. Manolo, bringing up the rear, looked doubtful, but left anyway. When the door closed, and the cousins seated again; Anna continued, “Do you have any more surprises, cousin?”

“Oh, don’t start on me, Anna. I know how you get when you use that tone,” Glinda snapped.

“Fine, then just telling me, what is going on?”

It took Glinda over an hour to explain why Cat had stayed hidden for, so long. Anna only interrupted a few times with question as Glinda explained. As she finished, Anna looked quickly at Cat and then turned to Alphie. “Are your calculations absolutely correct with the gene match?”

“Without a doubt, Princess,” he replied. As soon as Cat heard Alphie call Anna, Princess, she stood up and pointed at her.

“So that was you?” Cat asked hysterically.

“What was me? What are you talking about? We’ve never met,” Anna coolly replied.

“Maybe not in person, but you guys have been setting up camp inside my brain for a couple of days now.” Cat started moving around the room agitated. “And all along I thought I was going nuts, hearing strange voices and seeing crazy things. And, by-the-way, what was up with the prison break in a spaceship? Was it real, or one of the wild dreams you put inside me?”

Anna looked at Alphie with a strange look on her face. “Do you think it’s possible that she…Ah, I mean, what’s going on, Alphie?”

“The only logical explanation is that the both of you are somehow linked together. How or why I can’t even begin to conjecture, but this is further evidence that she is your one and only true first cousin.”

“Did you say mom and dad told you I was on the ship?” Anna asked demurely.

“Crap!” Alphie exclaimed.