Minx Ep. 06: Three Worlds

"Your nanobots are doing that?" asked the Director.

"So, how do we find the sabotage?" asked Minx.

"We'll need to know exactly what he handled, what he worked on."

"We did all the actual work and hands on stuff," sighed one of the assistants, a tired-looking, bespectacled young woman.

"But he brought the strange matter with him?" asked Dragon.

"Yes," said the Director. "I had some interactions with the man, and the materials he brought aboard my station."

"Materials?" asked Minx and Dragon simultaneously.

"He had a storage device for the strange matter he'd brought with him. He claimed he'd been near a neutron star when it exploded. He told us he had to act fast but had been ready to capture some strange matter in case of just such an event. He had collected all of what had been ejected. Doctor Samuels dismissed the idea of where Axis acquired the strange matter as being irrelevant, so I didn't press the issue."

"Director, I had thought you smarter than that." She actually seemed a little hurt by Dragon's words.

"Did he bring anything else?" asked Minx.

"A number of magnetic metals of various types with which to build the larger sphere you saw in there. He and Samuels transferred the strange matter and the larger sphere allowed them to inject particles for their tests. It was shortly after that Doctor Axis was called away."

"So, there could be a bomb hidden away in any piece of equipment he brought with him," observed Minx.

"Too blunt a tool for him," surmised Dragon. "The shell would have to be composed of materials that had been purified to remove all traces of radioactive isotopes. Otherwise, those emissions could destabilize the precious balance that Samuels spoke of. That's what I'd do; dope the material with radioactive isotopes in a heterogeneous manner. At low enough concentrations humans would never detect it."

One of the scientists raised her hand. "Uhm, sir? I was responsible for checking the shell materials for radioactivity. There was none."

"Did Axis ever have free access to the sensors?"

She looked concerned. "He did ask me about their sensitivity. He was concerned they might not be sensitive enough and made some checks and adjustments to be sure they were working properly...I thought he was being cautious!" she gasped.

"Then that seems to be the cause of the future disaster," Dragon said to Minx.

"We have to get out of here! Evacuate the station!" shouted one of the scientists in a panic.

"Nonsense!" shouted Dragon.

The Director looked thoughtful. "We have only your word that this sabotage has taken place or that Doctor Axis ever meant us harm."

Minx glanced at the door to the lab and spied Samuels coming toward them with a curious look on his face. She turned to rush the man but he slammed the door closed before she could reach him.

"Damn!" She tried to turn the wheel to unlock the door but it would not budge. "Why won't this open?"

"There's an interior master lock in case of an emergency!" The Director banged on the door with her fist. "Samuels! Open up!"

"He wasn't as self-obsessed as I'd thought," said Dragon shaking his head.

"Neither of us thought he'd pay any attention to what we were saying. Help us get the door open, Dragon!" called out Minx.

"Hold." Minx and the Director stepped away from the door, expecting Dragon to do something heroically physical with his infamous hyperman strength. "The shell is emitting radiation. There's a slight increase since we arrived. Clever! Axis is using at least one isotope to set off others. Once the emission becomes detectable through nearby equipment it will be accelerating at such a rate that the strange matter will be released before anyone can act."

"We're too late?" Minx asked, glancing at the others in the room.

"We have a few hours, at my best guess. Some of my nanobots are taking radiation readings very close to the sphere. I'm sending the data to the display right now in real time."

The junior scientists gathered around the display that had previously shown an image of Axis. Comments were exchanged and members of the group began to argue about what exactly the data indicated.

"It seems you were correct about Doctor Axis. Are you sure you don't want to share that nanobot technology?" the Director asked, as everyone stared at the data output. There were gasps of shock from the group, though Minx could not make anything useful from the stream of numbers except that one column was increasing.

"You've managed to regain my respect, Director. And, no, I won't be sharing them with you."

"Then we've got to get inside that room," observed Minx.

"I'll keep trying at the door," said the Director. "Perhaps he can be reasoned with."

One of the scientists came to the door to join her. "We'd best appeal to his ego. He might change his mind if he finds out there'll be no-one around to remember his name," remarked the younger woman.

"What can we do?" asked one of the other scientists.

"Do you have a display of this station?" asked Minx.

"And a complete inventory," answered the Director. "My password is canuck9."

A holographic image of the station appeared. Dragon peered at it carefully.

"Where are we?" asked Minx.

The image blew up as someone manipulated the controls, showing about a dozen human forms in a room.

"Zoom out a little, slowly," advised Dragon.

"There!" He pointed at the display.

"That research room is near the outer wall," observed Minx.

"Safety reasons," explained someone. "If there were to be a serious problem we could jettison that section in a matter of hours."

"That wouldn't help us now," stated Dragon. "If he was aware the room was being removed from the station he might deliberately release the strange matter in the hopes of being remembered for the disaster it caused. However, we can get suits from Hephaestus and cut our way in from outside. In case it matters to anyone here, Samuels won't survive."

The Director looked at the faces around her. "Do it. We'll try to get him to open the door and we can always contact you if we're successful, but I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Earth. We'll do what we can for Samuels once we gain entry to that chamber. Chu. Singh. Weatherall. Suit up. You'll keep trying to open the door and we'll evacuate this section of air."

"There are far worse repercussions than just the destruction of Earth. My galaxy would eventually be destroyed," corrected Dragon.

Minx grabbed his arm and started running for the exit. "Talk like that isn't helping!"

The Director yelled for someone to show them the way, but Minx and the hyperman were through three doors before anyone reacted. Once they left the strange matter research area with its bizarre doors they were able to travel with real speed.

"Aphrodite!"

"It'll be ready for you when you board Hephaestus, Minx. Do you want us to bring them to you, instead?"

"Very funny! We're almost there. Door open!"

However, as they entered the hangar they found the entry into Hephaestus open and their space suits laid out on the floor for them. They slid into the padded, form-fitting suits then checked each other's gas and temperature settings as fast as they could.

"One plasma cutter each and one laser rifle each, if you please Hephaestus," said Dragon with no trace of urgency. "You've used a plasma cutter?"

"Never." A panel opened and Dragon removed the tools. He handed a plasma cutter and a laser rifle to her. "Actually, I do remember using something very much like this once. On and off? This dial is for power setting? This one for balancing the reflected power depending on the material we're cutting through?"

Dragon smiled and nodded. "You were a space welder at some point in your past. You might even have helped build this station. We'd best cut two holes into the hull. Whoever collects the sphere on its way out needs to drop it off outside of Hephaestus. He'll grab it with magnetic grapples and we'll be on our way. Ready?"

"Yes. Are we going through the station?"

"Hephaestus has been flying to the optimum spot since we boarded. Open the airlock," commanded Dragon.

There was a rush of air into the near-vacuum of Earth orbit and they both kicked off and floated out, spinning slightly as they went. Then, they both oriented themselves and fired suit thrusters to bring them to the station's hull, almost in perfect synchronization. Boots magnetized and they both began cutting.

"What are we going to do with the strange matter? We can't just leave it floating around." Minx used her chin to turn up the cooling on the suit. They were in direct sunlight and building up a fair amount of heat. Sweat began to soak her coverall under the protective spacesuit.

"We package it, or Hephaestus does. I don't want to risk burying it in a burnt-out star at this point. I was thinking we accelerate it on the fastest trajectory straight out of the galaxy and leave it floating. It'll take hundreds of thousands of years before it reaches another galaxy and threatens anyone, millions or tens of millions or years if we can aim it in the optimum direction."

"You said we have hours. Almost through!" The memory of cutting through exotic metals and other materials in a spacesuit came back to her, although there were no details in the recesses of her mind as to where she had worked or exactly what she had been building. There was a suggestion that she'd been part of a team based on a station orbiting the Moon in her memory. Most of the memories were so vague and ephemeral she couldn't be sure any of them were real, except for the cut of the plasma as gases and rapidly-cooling blobs of molten material flew past her. That was very familiar.

"Me, too. Be ready. Hephaestus will undergo hard acceleration. No artificial gravity I'm afraid. I'll be in a pressure tube."

"We'll be in pressure tubes. Have Hephaestus prepare one for me. Aphrodite, download music update. I'll listen to that while awake in the tube."

"Gotchya, boss. Once you're in the tube it's one click for yes and two for no, okay."

Minx clicked in her throat, in response.

"Through!" they announced almost simultaneously. The portions of hull flew off past them, followed by various debris from the laboratory.

Once the flow stopped Minx thrust her head into the hole. The sphere was gone but Minx spied Samuels clutching his throat and turning blue through the glass. She had little sympathy for him, though she noted the space-suited scientists finally manage to open the door to the laboratory as she looked in.

"Got it!" declared Dragon. "Get your head out of there, Minx! They've got autosealing!"

Minx pulled back and watched as a blue foam leaked into the gap from the surrounding undamaged hull. She turned off the magnets on her boots and kicked herself away from the station. Thrusters fired and she was headed for Hephaestus' airlock. Dragon was orienting himself to the airlock, sphere tucked under his left arm.

"Aphrodite. Contact the director..." began Minx.

"Done."

"Director Kowalski!"

"I read you."

"We're flying the sphere out of the galaxy. We'll be back in...oh, hell. I have no idea when we'll be back. Out."

"Bridge," said Dragon as the airlock closed behind them and they begin to strip off the spacesuits. "Hephaestus, you know where we're going. Take the sphere to the lab and package it. Full acceleration and then as fast as you can once we're in the pressure tubes."

"How's he going to...?"

"Get that suit off, Minx! Save it for later!"

As she stripped off the space suit she spied three, metallic and segmented tentacles, each ending in four-fingered clamps, extend into the airlock and grasp the sphere. Once they were in only their coveralls they ran for the bridge. Portals dilated open ahead of them, easing their passage. Minx wasn't looking forward to her stay in a pressure tube, but it had to be done. Her past experience had been excruciating and she hadn't been able to sleep a wink the entire six days under high gravity acceleration.

Upon entering the bridge Dragon pointed to the two pressure tubes, empty of liquid at this time, and began removing his clothes. "We have to be nude."

Minx copied him, a little surprised at this revelation. She spied a number of ports inside the open tubes. "I haven't seen this type of setup before, Dragon."

"You'll regret coming with me. Too late now."

Dragon took a deep breath then stepped into one of the tubes. Minx did the same.

"Release your breath," commanded Dragon. "Breathe normally. That's the air recycler. Those two attachments on your lower left are waste removal. Connect them first. Once your mask is on you won't be able to talk, so don't try. They tube will seal and begin filling. Feel free to open your eyes whenever you wish. The red button high on your right is emergency release and will allow you to get out in an emergency. Here we go."

The opaque doors closed and hissed as the seal set. Minx grabbed the waste receptacles and held one against her groin and the other against her butt. She was surprised to feel penetration in both her front and back but it wasn't painful. The pressure tube slowly lowered itself so she was lying down as she attached the mask over her mouth and nose. Cool fresh air was immediately available to her and she felt a warm and viscous liquid begin to fill the tube. Looking down, it appeared as if she was slowly sinking into a dark honey.

"We're beginning to lose artificial gravity, boss," said Aphrodite. "Just relax and my man will take care of you. I bet this is much better than that emergency mission to Proxima Centauri, isn't it?"

Minx clicked once.

"Are you going to sleep or do you want some music first?" There was a pause of a couple of seconds. "Oh! Ha-ha! I forgot! Do you want some music?"

Minx clicked.

"These systems should really come with visual entertainment. I'm going to suggest that to Dragon at the next staff meeting, as soon as we start having them. Now, I've grouped the music to your liking. Eighty per cent rock and rock variants, with twenty percent pop, lunar electric, Bolin new jazz, and orchestral thrown in to change things up. There's a new variation called pig hop that started on Mars about a year ago - I don't know why it's called pig hop - but it fits into your past likes pretty easily so I've mixed the odd piece in here and there."

Minx clicked again.

"In case you're wondering, Dragon is doing fine. Hephaestus is feeding him selections from classical, swing, jazz, funk, rock and roll, rock, folk, and something new called electro which seems to be mostly electronic noises combined into a variety of rhythms. I suspect it might be a hyperman creation."

Minx clicked twice.

"Do you want to listen to the same thing as Dragon?"

Minx clicked.

"Understood, you sentimental little meat bag. It'll be nice to share something with someone else while you're in the pressure tube, won't it?"

Minx clicked.

Music started mid-way through a song. It was a melodic rock song with powerful drums and intricate bass and guitar work. The singing was in Japanese. It flowed very nicely though she could not understand all the lyrics, except when some English words were occasionally thrown in.

"That's one of the classics from the early twenty-first century, in the original version and not one of the twenty-seven covers available. They were a Japanese group called Band Maid...wait. Do you want me to add commentary?"

Minx clicked twice.

After a few hours Minx slept. Aphrodite lowered the volume on the music until it was completely silent inside the pressure tube. She watched sensor readings carefully so she would be ready to turn up the volume gradually when Minx woke. After a nanosecond's consideration she contacted Hephaestus, and then Dragon's A.I. fed anaesthetic into the two pressure tubes so that the occupants would sleep away the next twenty-four hours. Poor little biologicals, thought Aphrodite, they should have thought ahead to make their ordeal easier.

Chapter 10: Celebration

After an unknown amount of time a Strauss waltz was interrupted by Aphrodite's voice. "We've released the packaged sphere into intergalactic space, Minx. Well, it's still within the Milky Way's halo but Hephaestus aimed it toward an empty patch with nothing to interrupt its flight out of our galaxy as it exits at a hair's breadth from the speed of light. My guy monitored the storage unit on the way and everything works perfectly. There's still radiation emanating from the materials Dragon and Hephaestus used to build the storage unit but it's so low the strange matter should be safe for the next million years at least. Now, we're turning back to Earth. Dragon wishes to return there for some unknown reason. The round trip will get us back to Sidra Energy Research Station five days after we abruptly left. Do you need anything from me?"

Minx clicked once.

"Food variation?"

Minx clicked once, again.

"Done. You know Dragon has been quite intent to have the same soup fed to him every meal. You're spoiled, probably because I'm such an amazing chef."

Minx wondered if her ship was preparing her food and then transporting it onto Hephaestus and to her pressure tube, or if Hephaestus was simply following Aphrodite's recipe and guidance. Perhaps there was a third alternative that she hadn't considered.

"When I finally have a body maybe that's the profession I'll select. Grand Chef Aphrodite! Hephaestus will serve tables, while you and Dragon can be cleaners or greet people at the door of my restaurant. Of course we'll have waiters, but you two will have to prove yourselves before you get promoted to waiting tables."

Minx blinked her eyes. The interior of the pressure tube was dimly lit. She clicked once.

"Well I'm glad that's settled. I thought you'd put up more fight. That's why I decided to bring up the subject while you were in the pressure tube. Dragon seems less enthusiastic about the idea. Do you have any messages for him before I leave you alone?"

Minx clicked once.

"Got it. Tell him you're desperately in love with him and willing to try any kinky thing he can imagine."

Minx clicked twice as loudly as she could manage.

"Oh. Something more mundane, Minx? I'll let him know you're thinking about him."

Minx clicked once.

"I love you, too."

Almost five days later the liquid was drained from the pressure tube. Minx reached for the waste tubes but they had already disengaged and were retreating into their ports. She pulled the mask off and breathed in air that smelled strangely stale. The tube's door opened. A few metres away Dragon stepped from his tube unsteadily, leaving a dark golden mess on the floor.

"You..." Minx croaked. She cleared her throat then tried again. "You're quite a mess. Almost makes me regret wanting to have sex with you as soon as we're clean."

"Why wait?"

She held her hands up to hold him back. "Cleaning first. Then fun."

They each spent at least an hour in their refreshers, then dressed in cream white coveralls. When they met back on the bridge she found the floor spotless and the pressure tubes had disappeared. They both laughed at the idea they had dressed identically.

"The Director is eager to see us," observed Dragon. "She's left thirteen messages, seven of them after we re-entered the solar system."

"Are we headed to the station?"

"Hephaestus is headed there and we'll be docked within forty minutes."

Minx put her hand on Dragon's chest, found the seam and started opening his coverall. "Lots of time."

Their mouths met and they both hummed as each enjoyed the familiar taste of their lover. Dragon struggled with Minx' coverall as she tried to push his back and down. Arms hugged and then released as they freed themselves of inhibiting fabric. Minx's knees went weak and she pulled Dragon to the floor with her where he pushed her onto her back and climbed over her.