Aurora, Wayward Pt. 04

He shook his head, "It will in a moment and I don't want you feeling scared as it will be loud."

She nodded, "He said I would feel nothing and our ancestors would be proud of me."

He put his helmet on. He kept her arm held and sent a telekinetic shield to hold her still to block any movement. He grabbed both arms again. He mover her arms to where he held her arm in arm and ran it over her skin and tripled the thickness of what he had. He had the energy shield as well from the belt.

He thought over, * Let it go off, I got her shielded. *

Aurora released the block and the bomb exploded and he managed to hold onto her and keep her safe. It dropped his own shield and damaged the surface of his armor; taking part of the black off his armor. He was tossed back, yet held the girl to him to cover her modesty. She cried in his arms.

He looked over, "Aurora, get your blouse off in the shuttle and put your armor back on and then bring it here."

She nodded and did what he asked in a hurry. Security services were looking to step in and Freia put up a wall, "Give them a moment he is waiting for a shirt from Aurora to cover the girl with. Her Father sent her in to be a martyr. Use your security to locate him in the crowds. Detain all males attempting to leave."

One of them used her comms to send the alert. Aurora came out and helped to bundle up the girl who was little more than 9-years-old. He looked at her, "Can you hear me?"

She looked at him funny. "Get me a syringe." He wrote it out in the dirt. She looked down but she said, "No."

He asked by writing it out, "Ringing?"

She moaned out, "No."

He looked and she was bleeding some from the ears. He took his helmet off and kissed her cheek. He wrote out. "I give you a shot of my blood and it would fix that. Your parents are not here to ask."

The Pena governor arrived on-site with her security detail. He looked at her, "You have a group dedicated to killing hybrids and keeping them from returning some cult from the past apparently. I need your permission to give her a shot of my blood. She may have lost her hearing from that noise."

The governor nodded, "As one of her parents attempted to kill her and the other is gone, complicit, or negligent she is a ward of the colony."

He shook his head, "I will take her into protective custody and raise her if need be. We can ask her."

He removed his gloved hand and got a syringe from Aurora who withdrew 5 ml of his blood and looked at the girl. He wrote on one side. Yes, to fix you. No, not to fix you?

She pointed at yes and cried. Aurora gave her the injection. He held onto her while her skin changed color. He wiped off the tears on her face. He looked at her, "Can you hear me now?"

She cried out, "Yes!'

He sighed, "Name of your father and any friends he might have had who felt this way."

She gave the security services people 7 names starting with her father.

Rocan nodded, "I wish to take you into protective custody aboard my ship. You can grow up there. You would be the only child of your age for the moment but I am giving you a choice. I fear for your safety after what they already tried to use you for."

She cried, "I think I would like that."

He looked at the Governor and she sighed, "How in the hell did you keep her from being blown up?"

He sighed, "I ran a telekinetic shield over her skin that was three times thicker than mine. I had body armor and a shield belt. She needed the protection I could provide. He had a remote detonator but he could have put a pressure one on the girl's chest so when she hugged me it went off.

Aurora alerted me to the bomb and while she jammed the communications. I knew he could have set all kinds of booby traps on her dress in case anyone tried to get to the bomb. Including a timer. I did tell you I am retired military."

The girl nodded, "It had a plunger on the chest and an old mechanical watch for a timer. He had a design and he built it himself. He hooked many wires and sensors up to it. It had metal bands with lasers. Those that would reflect off if they got out of line.

He had weights in the bottom of the dress to keep it from moving around too much as I came forward. He explained it to me. To let me know I would be welcomed with the ancestors for doing this. He pushed me forward and I came to you scared to death of dying but scared he would blow it up anyway if I did not do as he demanded."

Security services looked over, "They caught 3 of the 7 names attempting to leave the area."

He showed a pad with 30 pictures and she pointed at three. He looked at her as it flashed green. "Positive ID on all 3. This was a terrorist act using a child. They will not last long in our prisons."

Rocan nodded, "They were making a statement. Concerning the sacrifice of children being worth the cost."

He looked up at the statue. The governor started to cry, "I want that statue gone by morning!"

He waved everyone back and sent a telekinetic surge into it from his anger and blew the base and feet right off of it. The crowds still around just stared. "Now I have made a statement in response that they should understand. Let a couple of the reporters through. Aurora, please take the girl to the shuttle and Freia swords out, stand at the entrance to the shuttle."

She nodded, *You look like hell. *

He thought to her, *Will power is very low. *

She walked up to him and tried what he did at the sword ceremony and feed her some of her will power. He nodded, *That worked Benevolent Justice. *

She smiled and went to the shuttle entrance.

He looked over, "I am not taking questions, just making a statement. Aurora sensed the bomb on the girl and jammed all communications. She has alleged that her father did this to her to keep the promise of his ancestors that no hybrids would ever return.

I put a telekinetic force field around her skin all over her body. That was a taxing thing to do. If she hugged me the bomb went off. The dress had multiple booby traps to set it off and they had at least one person with a remote trying to set it off. 3 men were taken into custody.

I held her arms at length like that to hold her at bay. I kept one hand on her with the shield solid around her while I got my helmet on. Then I told Aurora to stop blocking the signal. Her eyes were closed but her eardrums ruptured from the explosion being so close.

The governor granted me permission to give her a shot of my own blood. She's now in the protective custody of the Home Guard because you have a group of zealots I had never heard of before in my day. They tried to strike against me using a child.

The governor said she wanted the statue down by tomorrow. I made sure to send them a message, using children as weapons are the lowest form of scum you can have in your society. They tried one as there first act. Maybe the land mine but I do not know or care at this point.

To all mothers out there who have children, watch them all. If you know of any in this group who talk about watching for the return of the hybrids and sending children off to the ancestors. Call it into the Security Service and limit what those animals can do.

I know women could be part of this group as well. I leave it to you ladies to help us find them. The 3 men taken into custody she picked out of 30 pictures and had all 3 of them correct with the names she gave them. That is all."

He turned and walked away from screaming reporters wanting to ask questions and boarded the shuttle. The doors closed and he went to the controls and took them up. Freia was holding the girl in her lap while her captain's chair in the second seat faced Rocan, "What are you thinking about?"

He sighed, "My 9 children that I lost when this system was destroyed. Nothing I could do to protect them. Including your sisters who were her age."

Freia nodded, "I was thinking about them as well."

The girl looked up, "He was the father of your sisters?"

She nodded, "Yes, my mother had twin girls from him."

He looked over, "I had 7 sons as well. Those were the only little girls I had. One son had just entered the military. All of them were killed when this system was destroyed. I cannot save this system. I cannot save those who wish to turn a blind eye to what we showed them."

She looked up, "He said that woman was his ancestor and you were spreading lies about her."

He sighed, "He just tried to kill you as she did to so many children. Without remorse."

She nodded, "I did not see a way out. I only hoped he was right about the ancestors."

He sighed, "One day you will pass and then you will find out about the ancestors. No need to rush that. Live life first. Work to make a difference instead of a stain on the ground."

She nodded and cried, "I will try to do better."

He shook his head, "This was not your fault. Where was your mother?"

She shrugged, "Do not know. He does not speak of her. Even when I used to ask. It just made him angry and I stopped asking."

He sighed, "You might not even be his child."

He hit his comms, "Security Services." He looked over, "You probably know who I am. The man named Jackar Grio. We want a blood test to confirm paternity. The girl has no knowledge of who her mother was and he was ready to throw her away like that."

The guy nodded, "You have a doctor to do the blood testing?"

He nodded, "We have the medical facilities we just need his DNA sent to us electronically."

Aurora came over with a medical kit and collected blood that had come out of her ear. She looked at him, "Just to be sure."

He nodded, "Good catch."

She went back to the medical bay in this shuttle and ran her DNA she came back a moment later and kneeled before the girl, "Did you know you had leukemia?"

She nodded. Aurora smiled, "That shot that fixed your hearing will have fixed that as well."

Rocan sighed, "You should get an initial scan of her while we travel. It will only take a few seconds."

The girl went off with Aurora and got on the table. She looked around, "What is that hissing noise?"

He smiled, "It is decontaminating the air and suits. The shirt you are wearing." It cannot get the poison out of you that takes time on the table. An hour session for several days and then it will be out of your system."

She looked over, "Should I do that now while I am on it?"

Aurora helped her up and took her back to him after the scan completed.

He shook his head, "We will use the medical bay aboard the battleship. It has multiple beds and Freia and I will be on them. Hopefully, hers is just a quick checkup."

He pointed and her eyes got big, "It is massive."

He nodded, "Compared to the military fleet of this age, you are correct. The bay doors opened and they landed with just a slight spring from the gear. He walked her over to the door and then took her to medical. "Name?"

She smiled, "Lena. You know my last name."

He nodded, "If he was your father. Open medical records, new for Lena, scan for toxicity and then Drakor DNA."

Aurora took a small sample and compared the results from the DNA test, "It did not alter the markers for determining the paternity of the child. I pulled up the DNA results of him from a previous stint in jail 12 years ago on Gresan. He is definitely not the child's father.

Running her DNA against the system database and I have a match. I found two articles on her in the news. One reporting a baby abduction from the hospital; he worked as a janitor there at the time. Then she was murdered 3 days later and they found DNA under her nails. That DNA is a match. This occurred on Risen after he was released. No known relatives found. Wait. This is odd. His DNA is still 1% Drakor?"

He nodded, "His parents?"

She checked, "Both dead and their DNA is on file and they were both at 1%. It looks like 20% DNA either got shared around or there was some inbreeding going on. Comparing parent's DNA to each other.

They were brother and sister and their parents were as well from what I can see. With genetic defects. It's like each generation had been inbreeding to keep their bloodlines 'pure.' The Drakor DNA was unable to fix all of the defects after being watered down so much. Pulling up the other 2 men. She shook her head, "Both are brothers of his, yet they all had different last names. One of them apparently is the product of his brother breeding with his own mother."

He shook his head, "Send your findings to Security Services and check the other names on the list."

She nodded, "They are in the system and they appear to be distant cousins of the other 3. About 5 generations before if I had to guess. The system is saying 6 generations."

She ran an exhaustive search of the entire database, "I ran a search and came up with 34 more names related to this group one woman had 7 children with 6 of the others. Four of them died soon after birth from birth-defects. Sending these findings to Security Services as well."

A few minutes later he laid in medical undergoing his decontamination. The monitor overhead activated. It was an officer from Security Services. He sighed, "How in the hell did you put all of that together so quickly?"

He smiled, "Aurora did the work. They might be descendants of the founder. She was a rather twisted individual. I gave you a list from the known database of DNA as to how many you have out there.

Including three boys. In the 12 to 15 age range. They probably used DNA from themselves, shots of blood, for several generations. Then it got skipped or something. They stopped injecting it from one generation to another. Which watered down the numbers more."

He nodded, "You going to adopt the little girl?"

Rocan smiled, "Not sure yet. Freia loved me from the age of 13 and when she found out what was done to me; she loved me still even with the mechanical arm and leg and missing eye. She volunteered to join the expedition and I think my friend's former mate, she worked in government, might have pulled some strings for her daughter to at least get put on the list for selection. She is 19.

I fought like hell to keep my commission. My War Hero status helped with that as well. I made it to retirement age and had not planned to stop until being made a hybrid and given a different mission. I had little choice in the matter but the human leader who was not happy about having to help me. He gave me some good advice. Question everything and everyone."

The guy chuckled, "That was his advice?"

He nodded, "He did not want me walking into a room to be dissected."

The guy laughed, "Given what you laid on the people today, I have to say he had his reasons for feeling that way."

Rocan nodded, "He was a descendant of the First Hybrid. The first hybrid justice ever. That woman killed 3,000 of his children. Others killed another 7,000. Then I came out of it being weighed as a Justice. Seeker of Justice is my sword name. Right now, I have her in protective custody. In 10 years, she might want to be one of my mates and that would be weird if she were my adopted daughter."

The man nodded, "Understandable. Given that age stuff you talked about and how much you changed from that file photo; I have to say you have a believer in me. You came armed with a ton of information. I understand why you wanted the people to know. I will let you go."

Rocan looked up, "Show me the local news channel. The Security Services guy called him again. He sighed, "Is she going to keep doing this? She sent us a list of all their contacts with the message histories going back 5 years with members of this little group."

He shrugged, "Until they sign onto the Home Guard treaties and acceptance of our laws. Aurora will run amuck to root out corruption. Especially when they attack us. Me specifically and with a little girl. I would say she is pissed off and wants this cut out of our society. Wouldn't you?"

The man sighed, "Yes." He ended the call.

Aurora came over and kissed him, "You went to 7% going without your helmet. One treatment should do it. Lena was almost 60% because of her compromised immune system. That man probably could not afford to get her treated.

Less than 1% on Freia and she has gone to the bridge already. She is still in shock at how you saved this little girl."

He looked over and she watched an animated show on the screen. He looked at Aurora, "Get your backup unit online. I want her doing an MA analysis on her finding out where she is at on her learning. She may have little formal education. Especially if she was home and sick a lot."

She nodded, "Your right we should get that going. You want her to have an implant?"

He shook his head, "No but subliminal teaching, while she sleeps, is not a bad idea. Like you did for the other ladies, they learned a lot that way."

She looked over, "I will put her in quarters just beyond the officer bulkhead. I will have Bora stay across the hall. Easier to call her that than Borealis which was my name. This will give me a chance to work on my nurturing side of things. Speaking of MA analysis, I do not have one on you."

He sighed as she pointed at the girl, "He is doing this as well." She looked over and then started taking the test. He handed her the pad 12 minutes later not looking at the results. Aurora had a shocked expression. You are 275! She went to the bridge and ran the test against Freia. She came back down, "She is running at 270!"

He nodded, "We spend all that time in sleep mode with you sending us all of that data through the interface."

She nodded, "We need to do Telepathy testing on you and your telekinesis as you seem to have both going strong."

He nodded, "Trying to exercise them both."

Justice Incarnate spoke to him, * Her efforts to increase your education through your interface is very ingenious. We believe you are right that a large part of that is her doing with our modifications.

They appear to be amplifying them. Jack Travus already had a very highly educated background. Astra had never tried that with any others. They were expected to come in well educated. *

Jack thought of Victoria and he could swear he heard her speaking for a moment. Justice incarnate responded, * You did that but you did not do that. You thought of her and we checked on her.

You heard her mind mumbling but we heard her thoughts clearly. You should test the range of your telepathic abilities with Freia when you get a chance. Your presentation was long but well thought out.

Keeping why they want that metal as an unknown was a good call. That would have been a big deterrent to getting your Sentinels accepted. That and the nature of the enemy being AI units with no moral code. It just wants to expand and consume.

Organics are beneath it and they will destroy those that get in their way. If as you stated they went to a location with no AI units that enemy would have ignored them unless the metal was there. Worry about the tasks in front of you. What you did to the girl to save her life is extremely difficult for one so new at this.

We watched in amazement as your anger fueled your will to keep her protected. Then the statue you destroyed. We know you tried for the whole thing but you did bring it down. You are not strong enough for that. I do not normally talk about these things with those who are in their trials.

Yet, I felt an obligation to your people for what happened in the other timeline. Not being able to save or protect them in a fight that should have been ours alone. You presented a sound plan forward. We thank you for the information you brought with you.

We contacted those who deal with time events and presented the evidence to them. They concurred with leaving you here to try and save them as you know you cannot save the system. You were adamant about that and we are as well. That system needs to be destroyed. Else another AI mind like that one could rise again. *